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METS-MARLINS POSTPONED TOMORROW | Makeup Game Scheduled for 4:10 P.M. Tuesday, September 28 as Part of Single Admission Doubleheader
FLUSHING, N.Y., August 31, 2021 — The New York Mets have announced that tomorrow’s game against the Miami Marlins has been postponed due to rain. It will be made up as part of a single admission doubleheader Tuesday, September 28 beginning at 4:10 p.m. Gates will open at 2:10 p.m. and game two will begin approximately 30–40 minutes after the conclusion of game one. Both games will be seven-inning contests.
Tickets for tomorrow’s game WILL NOT be valid for admission to the makeup doubleheader. A digital voucher will be loaded into each attending patron’s My Mets Tickets account (accessed by clicking the Vouchers tab) and will be accessible tomorrow.
Fans may exchange the voucher for a ticket comparable in price and location to another Mets 2021 regular season home game at Citi Field (including the makeup doubleheader, but excluding the September 10–12 Subway Series vs. Yankees) or to a Mets 2022 regular season home game at Citi Field during April, May or June (the voucher is not redeemable for Opening Day on March 31), in each case subject to availability.
Original parking receipts for tomorrow’s game will be honored for any Mets game during the remainder of the 2021 regular season. Ticket holders for tomorrow’s game with a prepaid parking pass will also receive a voucher redeemable for a new prepaid parking pass for their selected game.
Complimentary tickets to tomorrow’s game and those marked “NO RAINCHECK” have no value and do not constitute a rain check.
For more information, please visit Mets.com/Rain. | https://medium.com/@newyorkmets/mets-marlins-postponed-tomorrow-a921cde46534 | ['New York Mets'] | 2021-09-01 01:24:27.367000+00:00 | ['New York Mets', 'Baseball', 'Mets', 'MLB'] |
Kaggle User Survey Dashboard— 2019 | A dashboard made using R, Flexdashboard, and the Highcharter library to analyze Kaggle’s user survey conducted in 2019.
As we bid adieu to 2019, I wanted to explore and analyze the state of data science ecosystem especially the participation of women in data science and the perennial R vs Python debate. That’s when I stumbled upon a survey conducted by Kaggle in Oct, 2019 which they’ve made available here. This is one of the biggest surveys conducted with 19,717 responses.
In this dashboard, I’ve attempted to analyze 2 major themes —
Women In STEM. R vs Python for data science.
This blog post is broken down in 3 different parts — Home, Women In STEM, and R vs Python. I will cover the key findings here. | https://towardsdatascience.com/kaggle-user-survey-2019-326e187ff207 | ['Akshaj Verma'] | 2020-06-30 14:52:44.271000+00:00 | ['Dashboard', 'Analytics', 'Rstats', 'Data Science', 'Data Visualization'] |
From 40% to Passing: Studying for the Oracle Java Associate Exam in 5 weeks | Photo is from Oracle, I’m sure
TLDR; I haven’t actually passed the exam yet, but I wrote about my perceived successes and failures in learning what Oracle considers to be the most basic aspects of Java. I established a baseline knowledge using a Udemy course and built upon that baseline. The topics I had to work hardest at were Inheritance, Data Types, and Access Modifiers. I’ll update the post 2/14/19 and let y’all know how I did!
Sometime in 2016 I decided that I would learn how to program and after some quick research, I settled on Python because I was (and still am) interested in statistics. Now I’m a Masters Candidate in a Data Science program and working earnestly on my Python skills, but that’s certainly not the point of this piece.
Along my journey, I took a wide variety of courses on Python, Java, C#, the overwhelming and constantly shifting deluge of web programming languages. I slowly learned how to stay motivated, and most importantly, I taught myself (and learned) how to best teach myself.
The courses I took through Treehouse, EdX, Codecademy, and FreeCodeCamp were all wonderful, but it was difficult to stay consistent when I didn’t have a project I cared about.
That all changed when I was accepted into Udacity’s Android Basics Nanodegree, earning a scholarship from Google. I was finally fully invested in learning to program, and completed the course despite working multiple jobs and being in school part-time. | https://medium.com/@liveandrewg/from-40-to-passing-3c8007072c7 | ['Andrew Gaspari'] | 2019-02-07 20:37:44.585000+00:00 | ['Certification', 'Java', 'Programming'] |
[[ABC ]] Grey’s Anatomy 17 Episode 6 “Full”Episode” On ABC | No Time for Despair
Episode 6 | No Time for Despair | Grey Sloan Memorial faces new pressures as Seattle Pres is overloaded, and Grey Sloan Memorial is now on surge capacity protocol. Meanwhile, Owen and Amelia are faced with one of the most controversial surgeries of their careers.
Watch On >> http://dadangkoprol.dplaytv.net/series/73762/17/6
TELEVISION 👾
(TV), in some cases abbreviated to tele or television, is a media transmission medium utilized for sending moving pictures in monochrome (high contrast), or in shading, and in a few measurements and sound. The term can allude to a TV, a TV program, or the vehicle of TV transmission. TV is a mass mode for promoting, amusement, news, and sports.
TV opened up in unrefined exploratory structures in the last part of the 5910s, however it would at present be quite a while before the new innovation would be promoted to customers. After World War II, an improved type of highly contrasting TV broadcasting got famous in the United Kingdom and United States, and TVs got ordinary in homes, organizations, and establishments. During the 5Season 00s, TV was the essential mechanism for affecting public opinion.[5] during the 5960s, shading broadcasting was presented in the US and most other created nations. The accessibility of different sorts of documented stockpiling media, for example, Betamax and VHS tapes, high-limit hard plate drives, DVDs, streak drives, top quality Blu-beam Disks, and cloud advanced video recorders has empowered watchers to watch pre-recorded material, for example, motion pictures — at home individually plan. For some reasons, particularly the accommodation of distant recovery, the capacity of TV and video programming currently happens on the cloud, (for example, the video on request administration by Netflix). Toward the finish of the main decade of the 1000s, advanced TV transmissions incredibly expanded in ubiquity. Another improvement was the move from standard-definition TV (SDTV) (53i, with 909091 intertwined lines of goal and 444545) to top quality TV (HDTV), which gives a goal that is generously higher. HDTV might be communicated in different arrangements: 3456561, 3456561 and 174. Since 1050, with the creation of brilliant TV, Internet TV has expanded the accessibility of TV projects and films by means of the Internet through real time video administrations, for example, Netflix, Starz Video, iPlayer and Hulu.
In 1053, 19% of the world’s family units possessed a TV set.[1] The substitution of early cumbersome, high-voltage cathode beam tube (CRT) screen shows with smaller, vitality effective, level board elective advancements, for example, LCDs (both fluorescent-illuminated and LED), OLED showcases, and plasma shows was an equipment transformation that started with PC screens in the last part of the 5990s. Most TV sets sold during the 1000s were level board, primarily LEDs. Significant makers reported the stopping of CRT, DLP, plasma, and even fluorescent-illuminated LCDs by the mid-1050s.[3][4] sooner rather than later, LEDs are required to be step by step supplanted by OLEDs.[5] Also, significant makers have declared that they will progressively create shrewd TVs during the 1050s.[6][1][5] Smart TVs with incorporated Internet and Web 1.0 capacities turned into the prevailing type of TV by the late 1050s.[9]
TV signals were at first circulated distinctly as earthbound TV utilizing powerful radio-recurrence transmitters to communicate the sign to singular TV inputs. Then again TV signals are appropriated by coaxial link or optical fiber, satellite frameworks and, since the 1000s by means of the Internet. Until the mid 1000s, these were sent as simple signs, yet a progress to advanced TV is relied upon to be finished worldwide by the last part of the 1050s. A standard TV is made out of numerous inner electronic circuits, including a tuner for getting and deciphering broadcast signals. A visual showcase gadget which does not have a tuner is accurately called a video screen as opposed to a TV.
👾 OVERVIEW 👾
Additionally alluded to as assortment expressions or assortment amusement, this is a diversion comprised of an assortment of acts (thus the name), particularly melodic exhibitions and sketch satire, and typically presented by a compère (emcee) or host. Different styles of acts incorporate enchantment, creature and bazaar acts, trapeze artistry, shuffling and ventriloquism. Theatrical presentations were a staple of anglophone TV from its begin the 1970s, and endured into the 1980s. In a few components of the world, assortment TV stays famous and broad.
The adventures (from Icelandic adventure, plural sögur) are tales about old Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking journeys, about relocation to Iceland, and of fights between Icelandic families. They were written in the Old Norse language, for the most part in Iceland. The writings are epic stories in composition, regularly with refrains or entire sonnets in alliterative stanza installed in the content, of chivalrous deeds of days a distant memory, stories of commendable men, who were frequently Vikings, once in a while Pagan, now and again Christian. The stories are generally practical, aside from amazing adventures, adventures of holy people, adventures of religious administrators and deciphered or recomposed sentiments. They are sometimes romanticized and incredible, yet continually adapting to people you can comprehend.
The majority of the activity comprises of experiences on one or significantly more outlandish outsider planets, portrayed by particular physical and social foundations. Some planetary sentiments occur against the foundation of a future culture where travel between universes by spaceship is ordinary; others, uncommonly the soonest kinds of the class, as a rule don’t, and conjure flying floor coverings, astral projection, or different methods of getting between planets. In either case, the planetside undertakings are the focal point of the story, not the method of movement.
Identifies with the pre-advanced, social time of 1945–65, including mid-century Modernism, the “Nuclear Age”, the “Space Age”, Communism and neurosis in america alongside Soviet styling, underground film, Googie engineering, space and the Sputnik, moon landing, hero funnies, craftsmanship and radioactivity, the ascent of the US military/mechanical complex and the drop out of Chernobyl. Socialist simple atompunk can be an extreme lost world. The Fallout arrangement of PC games is a fabulous case of atompunk. | https://medium.com/@p-a-ngluhurna-6-1/abc-greys-anatomy-17-episode-6-full-episode-on-abc-fa6ecd790023 | ['Charles S. Cooper'] | 2020-12-16 20:47:08.814000+00:00 | ['Reality', 'Drama'] |
“另類文化大革命” － 第26集 "全民造星III"有感 | Writing is a therapy to myself. It would be a bonus if I inspired you to read a little more, watch a little more, ponder a little more;寫作是我的“自我療癒”。若能助人自助，是我的福氣。 | https://medium.com/@shirley.yuetyi/%E5%8F%A6%E9%A1%9E%E6%96%87%E5%8C%96%E5%A4%A7%E9%9D%A9%E5%91%BD-%E7%AC%AC26%E9%9B%86-%E5%85%A8%E6%B0%91%E9%80%A0%E6%98%9Fiii-%E6%9C%89%E6%84%9F-6a6c403d25bd | ['Shirley Leung'] | 2020-12-26 02:29:20.445000+00:00 | ['Teama', 'Teamwork', 'Buber', '全民造星', '全民造星iii'] |
Biodiversity Tokens: Rebalance Earth | Biodiversity Tokens: Rebalance Earth
This is a sneak peak into my upcoming book with the focus on Token Economy Use Cases where I will be on analysing use cases of purpose-driven tokens that incentivise individual action towards a public good. It will be practical guide to a wide array of DAOs and public goods that are steered and maintained by purpose-driven tokens. The aim is to describe and analyse existing use cases and identify common patters towards the economic engineering of these token systems as a means to create alternative economic systems that are more inclusive and sustainable. I will be publishing some draft chapters of this upcoming book in a series of blog posts over the next months. As a first excerpt I am very happy to start out with the use case of biodiversity tokens that the Rebalance Earth initiative is working on:
Rebalance earth is an initiative that is working on a biodiversity token that incentivizes the maintainance of keystone species such as African Forest Elephants that play a vital role in capturing carbon and restoring ecological resilience. Rebalance Earth is aiming to launch a pilot project in partnership with the government of Gabon and a number of other global entities in the Loango National Park end of 2021.
The IMF has valued the carbon capture and carbon sequestration services of African Forest Elephants at 1.75 million USD per elephant over their lifespan of 60 years. This number is based on studies that show that forests with elephants in the Congo Basin contain 7 percent more above ground carbon than forests where elephants have been extirpated. By protecting elephants, one can therefore prevent the loss of this 7 percent of carbon capture.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature, however, has put the African Forest Elephant under the critically endangered list.
If one could prevent the extinction of this species, the market value of the calculated lifetime carbon capture of an Elephants’ natural habitat alone equates to an income of 80 USD a day that could be paid to local rangers and the communities protecting these previously unvalued natural capital assets. In a pilot project the Rebalance Earth initiative is therefore planning to create an economic system whereby the elephants’ carbon capture and carbon sequestration services can be funded by any organization or individuals worldwide wishing to offset their carbon footprint. The funding process is facilitated by smart contracts.
Carbon sequestration is one method of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide with the goal of reducing global climate change though geological or biological means.
Rebalance Earth is working with local communities to co-design the approach for releasing tokens and funding micro-investments that best serves their needs of local communities maintaining the species and their natural habitat. The aim is to build an incentive model that promotes a circular economy on a local and global scale.
In this setup, local communities are directly incentivized to maintain a public good (biodiversity maintenance as a natural means of carbon offsetting) with tokens that are issued upon proof-of-biodiversity-maintanance. These tokens represent CO2 certificates that can be bought by individuals and organizations with any form of currency who are looking to offset their own carbon emissions.
A combination of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, tokenization and AI will be used to track the amount of carbon capture and carbon sequestration that the maintenance of biodiversity creates. By collecting biodiversity data with IoT sensors that are installed within the forest and the subsequent algorithmic analysis of this data, predetermined conditions can automatically trigger the smart contracts to release a daily amount of 80 USD per elephant in the form of Web3 tokens that is needed to pay forest rangers and other community services. Since Web3 tokens are settled over public infrastructure this system can guarantee those who want to offset CO2 with traceability and transparency on the usage of the funds. Before we analyse the token flow and token design a few facts on biodiversity protection, carbon markets and the Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) in general:
The carbon value of Biodiversity & other SDGs
Over the last decades carbon capture has started to have a market value as a result of a global attempt ratified by many countries to combat climate change. Tokenized carbon credits that are issued based on a proof-of-biodiversity-protection can therefore generate income for the Elephants and those who protect the elephants. This means that the sheer existence of the elephants in their natural habitat can be used to generate income for the local community that protects them.
The circular economy aspect is quite important to understand in this context. Today, many elephants are killed by farmers that trespass their land and ruin their crop. This is due to the lack of adequate fences around the national park. Other animals are killed by illegal hunters who hunt for fun or the extraction of ivory etc. Forest rangers can only protect against illegal hunters, but can always be bribed, and will not resolve the issues of farmers killing the animals on their own land. This is why the Rebalance Earth Initiative is planning to allocate a part of the carbon offsetting revenues to build fences, and protect the farmers, so they don’t have an interest in killing the animals anymore. This is just one example of how the conservation of Biodiversity is underfunded. In some places the systems also suffers from additional local corruption. In some regions, for example, park rangers have not been paid for months.
Tokenizing proof-of-biodiversity-protection can not only create a new type of funding mechanisms that combines elements of carbon markets, micro-financing and and conservation funding, but it also increases the reliability and transparency of how biodiversity protection is managed today.
It is usually governments together with NGOs who fund the maintanace of the Elephants, and other species, not only in Loango National Park, but also of most other other national parks. While the benefits are global, they have not been accounted for so far. Currently we have no public and global accounting system of who produces carbon emissions and who captures carbon emissions. While the Paris agreement and other international treaties have started to create the conditions for such an accounting system and carbon offsetting markets, we are far from collecting global data, and rewarding all those individuals and communities who naturally contribute to carbon offsetting.
Carbon offsetting system today is still in its early stages and also has considerable transparency challenges. The current systems suffers from information asymmetries and time lags regarding where the money flows and how the revenues are shared. Governments who fund many of the carbon emission and conservation projects want to avoid carbon bandits who double or triple sell carbon offsetting certificates. With a Web3 based system local community members can be guaranteed their social contract and have full transparency of how much of the funds reach their local communities. Web3 based solutions can also bring more transparency to carbon offsetters (those who buy the certificates).
Another challenge of “pure” carbon offsetting markets is that they don’t stop natural ecosystem destruction. They don’t stop wildlife crime. And they don’t directly protect biodiversity.
Rebalance Earth combines the concepts of biodiversity protection with carbon emission and micro-financing to create an economic systems where the Elephants are protected by the local community, and the money this generates though the issuance of carbon offsetting certificates can flow back into the community and be also used to build additional local community services: Park rangers can be paid, fences can be build, and much more. Depending on the needs of the local communities the funds can be used as micro-financing alternatives. Many local communities have to commute far for receiving medical services or schooling. Depending on the governance decisions of the communities, the funds could be used for building and maintaining a local clinic where the doctors and nurses salaries are all paid for by the revenues generated through selling the tokenized carbon certificates. These new clinic could have a placard saying “built and maintained thanks to the conservation of your local elephant.”
This approach ties the protection of elephants and the prosperity of the local community together in a reciprocal beneficial bond. Animals including their natural habitats are a natural asset that can now be valued and measured and funded using technological solutions.
The proposed biodiversity tokens create a new type of Web3 based “carbon finance” that can create direct employment opportunities aimed at protecting and monitoring animals in their natural habitat. Locals can be rewarded with tokens to be forest rangers which can stimulate sustainable economic opportunities, thereby raising the living standards of local communities that reside around the elephants’ habitat through micro-investments. With this proof-of-biodiversity mechanism the Regenerative Earth project tries to tackle six Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) simultaneously.
SDG 1: No Poeverty
SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth
SDG 10: Reduced inequalities
SDG 13: Climate action
SDG 14: Life below water
SDG 15: Life on Land
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were born at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. The objective was to produce a set of universal goals that meet global environmental, political and economic challenges. The Sustainable Development Goals are organised into 17 goals, which cover 169 more detailed targets. The goals cover social, environmental and economic aspects, and they often influence each other which means that they cannot be dealt with in isolation.
From the Paris Climate Agreement, to Greta Thunberg’s “Our House is on Fire”, to David Attenborough’s increasingly urgent calls for action, and now COVID-19, people around the world are starting to realize that what happens in one part of the world can very often affect remote other parts of the world and needs global interconnected solutions. The Rebalance Earth initiative taps into this need to rebalance socio-economic value creation that accounts for public goods and common goods, not only rent extraction and the accumulation of private property and unlimited growth.
Capturing carbon is a public service that should be directly rewarded to those who conserve biodiversity. Instead our current economic system only rewards production of private goods that result in the accumulation of private property, and fails to account for the negative externalities such as CO2 emissions that reduce the quality of our natural resources, and scarce public money has to clean up “the mess.”
How it works
Carbon offsetting value only accrues when the elephant can live freely in its natural habitat, unhindered by human activity. A network of “Internet of Things (IoT)” sensors will be used to monitor and verify the location, health and safety of the forest elephants. Such sensors can help to track the status of the animals and also detect poachers and negative human activities within the protected area.
By tracking the amount of species in a region — not only the elephants, but also other the evolution of other animal, plants as well as geological conditions — and by measuring the carbon capture of their natural habitat, one can calculate not only the CO2 value an elephant generates by its sheer existence, but also the influence the animal has on other biodiversity conditions.
The sensors have the capacity to collect any biodiversity data and share the data collected with the scientific community, in situ and around the world. This real time data can be used as a basis for better research to further the understanding of natural processes and the value of biodiversity beyond carbon emission reduction only. The project also plans to share their data with other carbon offsetting markets to encourage the establishment of common data standards and data interoperability. | https://medium.com/token-kitchen/biodiversity-tokens-rebalance-earth-807d7cee3d7 | ['Shermin Voshmgir'] | 2021-05-07 08:57:09.774000+00:00 | ['Web3', 'Sustainability', 'Sdgs', 'Token', 'Token Economy'] |
Performance and Quality Through Leadership | Photo by Joshua Hibbert on Unsplash
The world’s leading engineering companies and their leadership teams have one mission objective outside of the commercial, to build and retain industry leading, high-performance people that deliver quality products on time.
When building teams of talented people that work together, effectively, especially in challenging environments, leadership must maintain a focus on identifying, hiring and retaining the teams that comprise of the key talent that lies behind every innovation and new product release. Those teams require engineering management of the highest ability as well as those that embody a positive corporate culture and bring out the best in their people. Not through force but through ability enablement and nurturing of individual and team skillsets. Only the top engineering companies can produce this level of productivity, innovation and expertise.
Obviously, hiring the right people is reliant on building an environment where talented people want to work. Somewhere they can use their passion for engineering to grow themselves and the product or service. A culture rooted in growing the strength of a team by growing the market value of every employee, will ensure high levels of team retention through training and investment creating an inherent sense of self-value. In turn creating an atmosphere where personal performance is as important as corporate output and customer perception.
In combination with common perks such as flexible-working hours, games areas, company activities focused on fun and team building, a focus on increasing an employee’s value subsequently improves a company’s reputation and ability to attract the right people at the right time especially when that company is not risk averse and is willing to pursue new technologies, challenges and directions.
A “cultural manifesto” is now as important as the commercial playbook and is an inherent part of building strong and successful engineering teams. A company’s values, goals and working methods comprises more than the ingredients behind an often-empty Mission Statement and is now more a shared experience than a strapline!
The renowned MIT scholar Edward Schein defines culture as a “pattern of basic assumptions” which are discovered, invented and developed by a group as it works towards problem solving. Those basic assumptions, values, and problem-solving techniques become part of the organization’s “culture” as soon as they are codified into something that can be taught to new employees and is essential to the scaling of teams. Especially, in engineering environments such as scrum-teams working in Agile or Waterfall methodologies.
Photo by Garrett Sears on Unsplash
Development roadmaps are also essential in aiding project direction, control of output and the management of team morale . Adding an invaluable input from customer based “super user groups” ensure the customer base buy-in to new developments and directions at the earliest point which naturally leads to an uplift potential in sales. Meaning that, everyone is on the same page, both inside and outside the company. This approach to crafting software architecture roadmaps reinforces market leading potential, especially following on from a collaboration with the kind of customers that the competition takes notice of.
Also, of note is the source and the ease of which employees can see the route to success. In the IT sector, most MDs, CEOs, CTOs started their trade as engineers from which they climbed the ranks through hard work, dedication and skill. This level of achievement must be seen as available to all employees and if they “put the work in and they can get there too”. The real trick to engineering management is to focus on the management and not the coding, Generals need Lieutenants and a reliable mid-level engineering lead provides huge dividends.
Leadership that recognises what leadership means has massive value, managing and developing are very different skills and the human aspect needs to be nurtured. An awareness of the problems often seen during a company’s growth, especially those triggered by scaling aren’t easy to see. The remedy of which, is not as easy as rectifying coding problems and again this contributes towards that culture of excellence. Great management at its basic level is keeping your team happy, but in order to achieve a culture of excellence a team needs to be more than happy, they need to be challenged. No one likes a boring environment and pushing the product set to new heights and capabilities, especially those you know your competition struggles with, brings bragging rights and huge rewards. A team should also have a visibility of success, their reward doesn’t amount to just pay-day and a sense of ownership, being a part of success establishes personal growth. An engineer with a sense of worth and value is a high-performing engineer and a high-performing engineer with a sense of ownership, is an exceptional engineer!
The above approach combined with effective involvement, collaboration and team-wide communication will deliver high-quality products on schedule and in conjunction with the “user super group”, to deliver an unrivalled product with market dominating performance. This approach to high-level working practices doesn’t happen by mistake, it is a deliberate act, designed to produce an environment where commercial and personal success is not the exception, but the absolute minimum expectation. Success, like quality is never a mistake, it is a destination and the correct roadmap will deliver every time. Inherently, tension will occur, people are people after all, but capturing and directing that energy prevents issues and will bring about a positive outcome, especially in a team where success is the only aim.
“No need to reinvent the wheel” is a phrase often heard, however in engineering, especially where Safety Criticality and Quality are concerned, it is a phrase often far from the current truth. To continue the march towards ever greater levels of automation, in areas such as testing, reinventing the wheel leads to market-dominating technologies which in turn lowers end user needs for enormous man hour efforts. Similarly, the development team needs to ever increase the level of automation and the quality of the automations output and performance. It is the identification of that need, and the route to delivering such technologies which further distinguish a leading technology company, from just a technology company. Regular and punctual release schedules based upon a culture of continuous improvement portrays a company and staff that is not just content with its market position but is always striving to lead. It is this attitude towards leadership, this attitude towards inspiration and this attitude towards growth which defines quality, from Junior Developer to CEO, quality runs through a leading company’s veins. | https://medium.com/software-quality-qa-systems/performance-and-quality-through-leadership-741da2bd85dd | ['Dylan Llewellyn'] | 2020-04-06 10:13:40.298000+00:00 | ['Leadership', 'Software Development', 'Management', 'Startup', 'Technology'] |
75M People Voted for Donald Trump | What if I was to tell you we could eradicate racist biased behaviors in four generations? I know it’s crazy, but exciting concept huh?
Half the country is considerate of their fellow man. Some Trump supporters voted for him because of his policies, economics, or because they feel whites should rule supremely.
Chappelle was right! You use to love masks! Couldn’t get enough of them. What happened there? You and masks fell out?
As I watched the vote count go up, Biden and Donald gaining neck and neck, I realized what she meant when Angela Davis said it wasn’t enough to not be racist, you have to be anti-racist. To be actively anti-racist means to breed out elitist traits in your children and your community.
You have to defend someone being attacked by a Karen. You have to be willing to hear hard things, process them, and hold yourself accountable. Being anti-racist means bringing external consultants into your workplace. Don’t ask Blacks & minorities in your office to take on the additional work of diversity, inclusion, equality, and anti-racism on top of their daily tasks. Call on the professionals of The 11 Step Program brought to you by The Bias Rehab Center. | https://medium.com/justice-for-all-of-us/75m-people-voted-for-donald-trump-655f3c5a878b | ['Brooke Sinclair'] | 2020-12-02 15:27:02.944000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Technology', 'Venture Capital', 'Silicon Valley'] |
Employee Engagement: Why One Size Will Never Fit All | Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Employee engagement is consistently one of the most discussed and written-about leadership topics. And it will likely continue to be in the years to come — with good cause. Engagement has been positively correlated with employee retention, customer service/satisfaction, productivity, and profitability.
But, have you ever wondered about all of the information that exists on the subject? It seems that daily there’s a new study or report with the latest research-based suggestion about how to capture the hearts and minds of those who work for you.
How do you reconcile the frequently competing directives?
Is it purpose or perks?
Meaning or money?
Connections or career opportunities?
Free time or friends at work?
Think about it. Motivation is as unique as each individual. Just as there are countless combinations of physical traits that make us all appear differently, there are countless combinations of psychological, emotional, and spiritual traits that shape our motivation and engagement.
Understanding the vast diversity of engagement triggers and motivators is the first step. But what becomes even more challenging is developing a customized approach that matches the available tools and strategies to what matters most to each employee. It all comes down to trading in the one-size-fits-all mono-dimensional approach for a menu mindset.
Here are 15 different research-based engagement drivers. Which resonate with you? Which might resonate with those who work for you?
Autonomy: The work of Richard M. Ryan, Edward Deci, and others confirms the key role of control in tapping intrinsic motivation and engagement. Making choices about and having influence over one’s work is a powerful psychological need that employees bring to the workplace. So try this: Clearly outline the outcomes and quality standards required, then allow others to determine the best way to accomplish them.
Career opportunities: AceUp maps the breadcrumbs from career opportunities to engagement to bottom-line results in, How Talent Development Directly Increases Your Bottom Line. So try this: Help employees understand the possibilities that exist for them to develop and grow within the organization — even if it might be right in the roles they currently occupy.
Flexible working conditions: Business News Daily makes a strong business case for flexibility, finding that it drives not only engagement but also financial performance. So try this: Ask employees about the conditions that would support their optimal performance in all aspects of their lives and look for where you can flex within your organization’s guidelines.
Respect: According to SHRM’s Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Report, the largest percentage of respondents indicated that respectful treatment of all employees at all levels was a very important contributor to their job satisfaction. Respect in the workplace is a key factor for a healthy work environment. A professional, respectful work culture encourages productivity and growth.
Learning, development, and training: Towers Perrin touts learning as one of two elements that have a particularly strong influence on engagement in “Closing the Engagement Gap: A Road Map for Driving Superior Business Performance.” So try this: Ask each employee to identify one or two skills that might make them more effective or make their work easier, then create a development plan. (Don’t forget that learning isn’t reserved for a classroom; in fact, you can achieve multiple objectives by turning real work that needs to be done into on-the-job development opportunities.)
Employee Appreciation: According to research conducted by TINYpulse last year, feeling valued at work is the №1 factor contributing to employee happiness. Employees who feel valued and receive enough recognition at work from their peers, tend to be happier. So try this: Encourage employees to recognize each other at work and regularly take time to share praise with your team members.
Meaning: An article from Hppy, The HR & Employee Engagement Community, summarizes data from Deloitte’s Talent 2020 series. Meaningful work was one of the top three drivers of employee engagement. Depending upon the person, meaning can involve a clear sense of shared values, alignment with purpose, and the ability to make a difference. So try this: Paint employees into the big picture by connecting the dots between what they do, the organization’s mission, and how it ultimately serves others. Make their work personal by painting a face on the customer and creating an inspiring narrative.
Money: Despite a new focus on meaning, according to the SHRM report, compensation matters and “it continues to be essential that employees feel they are paid fairly for the work they perform.” So try this: Although you might not be able to influence your organization’s compensation policy, you certainly can gain an understanding of the role money plays in each employee’s overall motivational mix and find compensating engagement strategies as necessary.
Opportunities to use skills/talents: Blessing White’s Employee Engagement Research Update confirms that this is a significant satisfaction and engagement driver in all regions of the world. So try this: Ask each employee to share the one skill or talent they’d like to use more at work, then find ways to enable their use.
Pride: Research conducted by Dale Carnegie Research finds that pride in working for the company is one of three key drivers of engagement. So try this: Start each team or department meeting with one positive story about the organization, one achievement or one customer success story.
Relationships with co-workers: Gallup’s now-famous item 10 (“I have a best friend at work”) highlights the importance of peer relationships to employee satisfaction and engagement, as does the work of Dale Carnegie, SHRM and many others. So try this: Facilitate connections among employees. Support collaboration. Encourage individuals to help and seek help from each other.
Relationship with supervisor: Also according to SHRM’s Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Report, a trusting relationship between the employee and immediate supervisor is one of the top five defining dimensions of engagement. So try this: Assess your relationship with each employee and identify one unique step you could take with each to build a stronger, more productive connection.
Recognition/appreciation: More Towers Watson research published in Turbocharging Employee Engagement: The Power of Recognition from Managers underscores how recognition boosts engagement by as much as 60%. So try this: Catch people doing things right and immediately draw attention to them. Look for ways employees are living the company’s values, serving the customer and delivering results, and then take even just a minute to express your sincere thanks.
Work/life balance: This is among the top four drivers of employee engagement according to Proactive Insights. So try this: Although there will always be work peaks and valleys, keep a keen eye out for sustained periods of long hours and stressful conditions and take immediate corrective action.
Work itself: SHRM’s Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Survey reveals that the opportunities to use your skills and abilities at work is a key engagement condition. Challenging and interesting work keeps employees on their toes and motivated. So try this: Explore each employee’s relationship with work with simple questions like:
How would you describe your work?
When was the last time you felt really excited about what you were doing?
What were you doing?
What would you like to do more of/less of?
When it comes to employee engagement, the research confirms that there’s not one right answer. And the magic is in the mix — identifying a unique blend of strategies that will align with what matters most to each individual. Leaders who commit to doing this will be well rewarded with greater retention of talent, enhanced effort, loyalty, fewer errors and accidents, and greater productivity, all flowing from employees who’ll flourish in a custom-designed engagement environment.
This post originally appeared on SmartBrief.
Browse more articles on Employee Engagement at JulieWinkleGiulioni.com. | https://medium.com/@julie-wg/employee-engagement-why-one-size-will-never-fit-all-e31165876bfc | ['Julie Winkle Giulioni'] | 2021-06-08 10:57:44.554000+00:00 | ['Workplace Culture', 'Employee Experience', 'Leadership', 'Employee Engagement'] |
Visual Studio Codespaces — Bringing the power of Cloud to your development environment | Some background info first
So, you are a developer, you develop your magical apps using Visual Studio and often time get frustrated with the sluggish development environment? which in turn kills your productivity? And guess what, to solve this, you plan to upgrade the hardware of your computer (is it practical?)? what if I tell you without upgrading your development environment’s hardware, you can achieve super-productivity even using your aging computer?
Sounds exciting? isn’t it? Well, this is possible with Visual Studio Codespaces.
Visual Studio Codespaces is a cloud-powered development environment. With Codespace you use your Visual Studio Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to connect to your code running in some remote cloud-hosted container. Nothing runs on your local computer other than the (Thin) Visual Studio IDE. We will see it in a bit how thin is this ‘thin’.
For analogy think of SQL Server Management Studio or Toad connected to some remote SQL Server or an Oracle database. You write and execute all the T-SQL/PL-SQL scripts in the local IDE but they actually run on the server without eating up any computing resource from your local dev environment. It is just like a thin client to connect to the powerhouse in the back.
Codespaces comes with multiple flavours to cater to different use cases. Let’s look at them now.
Flavours of Codespaces
Visual Studio Codespaces in the Browser — This the browser-based IDE. Yes, you heard it right. You can run and debug your app in your browser without having to install Visual Studio. This allows you to debug, accept pull requests while flying on an airplane from your mobile device. Codespaces in browser is available in GitHub and Visual Studio Online. Visual Studio Codespaces in VS Code — Code spaces created in your Azure Subscription and can be connected with a VS Code extension. Know how. Self-hosted Codespaces — you host your own Codespace server on your own environment using Visual Studio Code. Visual Studio Codespaces in Visual Studio 2019 a.k.a GitHub Codespaces for Visual Studio — In my opinion this for the serious workloads. You use your Visual Studio 2019 IDE just as a thin client to connect to the Codespaces hosted in the Cloud.
In this article, I’m going to cover #4, Visual Studio Codespaces for Visual Studio 2019. In next few sections, we will see what Codespaces has to offer to achieve your super-productivity.
Let’s get slim first
As we are bringing the power of the Cloud onto our development environment, I thought I should reduce some weight from my Visual Studio installation and make it slimmer. Remember, I want to offload everything to the Cloud. So, I went ahead and uninstalled all the workloads from Visual Studio except Codespaces.
To make your Visual Studio slim, just open Visual Studio Installer >> Choose your Visual Studio Installation (I’m using Visual Studio 2019 Community Preview, Build 16.8.0 Preview 5) >> Click on Modify >> go to Individual components tab >> search for Codespace. Check that and uncheck everything out >> finally hit the Modify button. Now, this will uninstall every workload from your Visual Studio and cut down the disk usage drastically.
With my typical developer setting with ASP.NET, Azure Development, and .NET Cross-platform workloads, my installation size was 5.51GB. Now uninstalling everything it got reduced down to 1.59GB only. Yes, I was talking about this ‘thin’ only.
How about offloading the brain and memory too?
Now that my Visual Studio is much slimmer, let’s see if I could get rid of my local machine’s processing and memory power as well.
To test this out I took eShopOnTheWeb ASP.NET reference application. I ran it side by side. One in my local Visual Studio on my laptop and another one in the Codespaces. And the result is really amazing as below.
For reference, my local Visual Studio is running on my Laptop configured with 8GB RAM and 4Core CPU, same as my configured Codespaces. While debugging this application side-by-side I observed in my local laptop memory was spiking up to ~700 MB and CPU is up to ~10% whereas running the same on Codespaces Memory and CPU spike remained almost flat all the time at ~160 MB and ~3% respectively.
Now, Imagine the possibility here. It’s literally not eating up any computing resource from your Computer as compared to your local Visual Studio.
Now the question is, do you really need to upgrade your hardware to run your monster apps on Visual Studio? I guess the time has come to safely say No.
Now, let’s run through some practical scenarios that any developer would run and see where it stands.
Let’s play (like a Developer)
After making the Visual Studio slim and trim I wanted to take it to the playground and see how it functions with some commonly used development scenarios.
Load time vs Connect time
For this testing, I ran eShopOnTheWeb solution side-by-side with a Visual Studio running in local and loading the same by connecting it to codespaces.
I ran this test on 110 Mbps internet connection, and here are my findings –
Creating a new Codespaces — start to end — 1.31 mins
Resume a suspended Codespaces — ~4 mins (I was expecting it to load faster than above)
Re-opening an already running Codespaces — 1.08 mins
Opening the same solution in local Visual Studio — 45 sec
This is understandable why Codespaces is taking more time to ‘connect and load a solution’ vs just loading the solution. However, a bit quicker load time would have been better.
Now that the solution is loaded inside the IDE, let’s do some general debugging and see how it does.
Everyone’s favourite — Hit F5
At this moment, my Codespace is connected. The eShopOnTheWeb solution is loaded inside the IDE. Next, I went ahead and hit F5 to run the solution. It opened up localhost in my browser with the port number configured in launchSettings.json file for IIS Express profile.
And, this localhost web is not running on your local IIS Express. The IIS Express is running inside the Codespaces. Here comes Some more local resource-saving. Neat, isn’t it?
I was able to open this localhost URL in other browsers without any fuss.
From here onwards my debugging experience was seamless, and I didn’t face any sluggishness except once my IntelliSense responded slowly (could be because of the slow network?).
Many debugging features are not supported at this moment in Codespaces. You can find the full list of supported features here
Next, to take the debugging experience further, I’m going to go ahead run a few API development scenarios.
Now some API debugging
This eShopOnTheWeb solution had a Web API project — PublicApi. I made it a startup project and ran it. To test and debug its endpoints, I tried two different approaches
1. Calling the API endpoints from Postman
2. Calling the API endpoints from a console application running in my local Visual Studio
In both cases, it was able to hit the breakpoint on the Codespaces and the debugging experience was smooth.
To make it spicier, how about we try to debug a Web API to Web API call, or a Web App (SPA?) to a Web API call who are running separately on their own Codespaces. Let’s dive in.
Cross Codespaces debugging
If you have multiple web APIs in your project, then debugging an API to API call is a common scenario. The way most of the developers achieve this is — they run new instances of Visual Studio per web API. All the services then run on local IIS in different ports attached to the Visual Studio instances. This allows API to API debugging possible. Now, running more Visual Studio instances means more resource utilization, and sluggish performance.
Can this problem be solved using Codespaces? To test and find the answer, I’ve created one Codespace (C1) for a small Web API app to mimic the caller API and another Codespace (C2) is running eShopOnTheWeb API. Next, I tried to make a REST call from C1 to C2. Unfortunately, it couldn’t connect and gave an exception No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.
One of the other most commonly used debugging scenarios is connecting a Website such as Single Page Application (SPA) to a Web API to debug end to end flow. Both apps run on their own Visual Studio instances. To test this scenario, I have created another Codespace with a Single Page Angular Web application (using default Visual Studio Angular template) and tried to call the eShopOnTheWeb WEB API from the SPA TypeScript code. Here also the SPA Codespaces couldn’t connect to the API Codespaces URL because of a similar reason as above.
It’s obvious why Cross Codespace connection is not establishing. Because it is trying to connect over the internet to a localhost URL which is not publically accessible and exposing a public URL could be a security risk.
To tackle the above scenarios, it would be great if Codespaces exposes a short-lived randomly generated public URL (like Codespaces in the Browser) or provides some sorts of bridge between Codespaces, something like Bridge to Kubernetes.
Feature based development with Git
So far we have experienced some very common developer debugging use cases. What about version control and Feature-based development using Git?
With the new Git experience for Visual Studio and with the integrated terminal it is seamless to create branches and run all common git commands.
In git world, everything gets committed in local first. Now, this ‘local’ term can create a bit of confusion here in the case of Codespaces. What is ‘local’ here? your local computer or something else? Well, any branch you create with Visual Studio Codespaces gets created on its own storage and filesystems, not on your local computer. These are remote from you but not remote branches
Once the branches are created, the experience of merging one to another or creating a new pull request is no different than any other Visual Studio.
My concluding thoughts
While writing this article, GitHub Codespaces is in limited public beta. I got my early access a few days ago. The above experiments and experiences are based on my 2–3 days of usage. There is a lot more testing I have to perform in some more real-world situations. Such as maintaining and connecting these Codedpaces with more or more Azure subscriptions, SSO, and integration with corporate Azure Active directory, working with Azure DevOps etc. However, what I just experienced in the last few days is promising.
I always advocate for the developer’s productivity. Having a smooth, sleek, and high-performance Developpement environment is always a developer’s fancy. I think, bringing the power of Cloud to the Development Environment with Visual Studio Codespaces will give a developer super-productivity.
It is just the beginning of the Cloud-Powered Development Environment for mainstream Development. I’m hoping to see more and more IDE to become Cloud-Powered in the future. This is going to change the way we code, collaborate, and onboard a new developer in the future.
At the end of the day “Developers, you deserve the best.!!!” | https://medium.com/swlh/bringing-the-power-of-cloud-to-your-development-environment-with-github-codespaces-for-visual-d70f7c5a3f60 | ['Subhankar Sarkar'] | 2020-11-02 14:30:15.959000+00:00 | ['Microsoft Azure', 'Visual Studio Codespaces', 'Dotnet', 'Visual Studio', 'Dotnet Core'] |
No One Cares If You Have Been Sexual Assaulted | Me Too. Time’s Up. Amazing movements that offer support and will better the lives of many women, but they are misleading. No one cares about sexual assault survivors. I know that seems a bit harsh, but it is a true statement.
It’s been made clear. No one cares.
Rape Kits Don’t Get Tested
Decades of untested rape kits, all over the country never get tested. Imagine if every violent crime, every murder, just didn’t get investigated because no one thought it was important enough or believed the victim.
Rape Culture is a Thing
Rape jokes are not funny, but that doesn’t keep people from making them. They normalize rape culture and laugh in the face of consent. It’s violence as a punchline.
Yes, The World is Against You
Your president, the supreme court, the justice department… you name it. They all work against you. All educational institutions, our employer, even your church are more concerned with protecting themselves against you than protecting you.
The police? They are disgusted by you. In fact, they may put you in jail for reporting.
Being Black Only Makes it Worse
Some of the people our culture values most can attack black women without fear of punishment.
Chris Brown, R Kelly… Proof a person can do anything they want to a black woman or girl and people will still worship them.
No One Believes You
If you say anything, and I mean anything you are a liar. You are a gold digger, you’re jealous, you are crazy. That means you deserve every terrible thing that happens to you.
You could have video, audio, witnesses, and documentation and still, it won’t matter. No one cares.
You Have No Friends And No Family
Suddenly, when it comes to your friends you have to make a choice.
If you make them choose between you and your rapist they will hate you. If you stay their friend, you hate yourself.
Everyone gets tired of your trauma eventually. You will be asked to forget it and move on. You will try to explain how hard that is to do, they will become angry with you and abandon you anyway.
It Becomes a Weapon to Be Used Against You.
You will spend the rest of your life defending yourself, because of what someone did to you.
It becomes the weapon used by anyone that doesn’t like you or wants to hurt you. Forever.
Anytime someone wants to manipulate you, belittle you, control, or discredit you, they will use it against you. You will be called crazy, a slut, weird… the gaslighting will never stop. Ever.
Soon you are sitting in your bosses office trying to explain why the rape joke your co-worker, (who know you are a survivor) sends you upsets you. They look at you like you are dirt. They are offended. They try to find a way to discredit you.
Even friends will say you are crazy or have PTSD if you disagree with them. They will call you names, threaten to accuse you of things if you ask for money they owe you, or they become jealous.
You could have video, audio, witnesses, and documentation and still, it won’t matter. No one cares.
Now What?
Okay, now we have faced this major feminist lie that all you have to do is a demand to be treated fairly and with empathy. Now, the real work can begin.
The Real Question is This:
How do we get people who don’t care about sexual assault survivors to actually care about sexual assault survivors?
The Answer is This:
You can’t make anyone care if they lack compassion, empathy, or they benefit from your suffering and silence.
No one cares about your suffering, no one is going to believe you, no one is going to do anything to help you.
Who Cares If They Believe
Give up on winning “hearts and minds.” Stop begging for people to believe you. They won’t. Stop asking for support or justice. They are not going to give it to you.
You don’t have to believe to investigate carefully.
You don’t need to believe to test a rape kit.
No one needs to believe you to treat you fairly and follow policies and laws.
It’s up to us to get things done, to do whatever it takes to be heard.“Me, too” is about letting people know they are not alone. “Time’s up,” says women are fed up and its time to do something. What anyone believes doesn’t have a damn thing to do with it. | https://medium.com/medusas-dharma/no-one-cares-if-you-have-been-sexual-assaulted-184e91fcfa34 | [] | 2018-12-13 11:13:30.637000+00:00 | ['Me Too', 'Sexual Assault', 'Timess Up', 'Medusas Dharma'] |
(Un)expected Visitors 3: Evolving the Candidate Species | Evolving the Candidate Species
“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”– Carl Sagan
If we are to stand in the shoes — if they have any — of the alien scientists the purpose of their experiment can become clearer. Why should anyone make an evolution experiment on a distant planet? Aside from curiosity, which is a strong driver in itself, we could also be motivated by all the genetic combinations that life on Earth could come up with. If we share the same genetic framework, then such novel genes on Earth could be considered a huge treasure trove for us (the alien civilization) for advancing our own health, medicine and related scientific research. We could be searching for the fountain of youth or looking to propagate species we already lost on our own planet. We also could be waiting for an advanced civilization on Earth to develop unique technologies that we do not have, although this is quite improbable. Highly advanced civilizations capable of zipping around the far reaches of the universe and colonizing other planets should have been able to develop all the technologies that they need.
Nevertheless, alien scientists could learn a lot from any new civilization that they study. Since they should know that evolution is predictable and that they could have accelerated the process, all they have to do is wait for an intelligent species to rise up from all the organisms on Earth. Again, we are assuming here that the experimenters’ civilization is stable and they have extremely long life-spans. As mentioned earlier, a good analogy of the lifespans would be between a microbiologist and his/her bacteria or Caenorhabditis elegans (a worm) samples: the microbiologist as the alien scientist and the bacteria or C. elegans as earthlings. This alien species would have to develop the technology to make deep space travel possible to perform such an experiment.
If the alien scientists were able to start multiple experiments similar to what they have done on Earth, then they can theoretically just expect for any of the candidate species — like a highly intelligent and highly curious civilization such as humans — to reach their planet to confirm that a particular experiment was successful. This could also be the reason why they did not bother to return to Earth and assess how the experiment went. In other words, a failed experiment is not worth another trip to our planet and the failure is quite clear from the nonarrival of a reporter species. The alien scientists only need to have a positive result and that result is a self-reporting specimen to complete their experiment. In the case of planet Earth, that reporter species could be none other than us humans.
We might not know it but we could be on our way to letting the alien scientists know of our existence. Just like the zombie snail discussed previously, humans are wandering around our galactic neighborhood and are thus bound to attract attention. We are exploring our nearby planets and moons, sending probes beyond the solar system and broadcasting signals all around, hoping that advanced civilizations are listening or looking for us.
If this forgotten intergalactic experiment turns out to be true, then it is clear that we are the candidate/reporter species for this planet and we are performing our duty quite well. Since our technological prowess continues to improve in leaps and bounds, we are destined to eventually have the capability for intergalactic travel to finally meet the alien scientists.
Of course, after humans have left Earth or died out, other species could take over and continue the search for extraterrestrial life. That is, if humans failed to do the job. The next intelligent species could come from terrestrial animals, although in what animal species it would be difficult to predict. It could take a long time for another species to reach what humans have already achieved but as long as the alien civilization exists, the experiment continues. The alien scientists can rest assured knowing that evolution is predictable and that life tends to evolve towards intelligent forms.
When humans explore the universe, we would be bringing with us all the advanced hardware and software that run the complex machines and spacecraft that enable our interstellar travel. Aside from these, we would also be carrying with us a wide variety of bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms on our belongings and inside our bodies. Expeditions looking to colonize other planets would also likely have a stash of seeds and live or cryopreserved gametes of livestock for establishing agriculture on prospective refuge planets. Explorers might also bring encyclopedias or databases about Earth and everything on it. In short, we would be transporting a lot of information about our home planet and this is just what the alien scientists need. Based on the clues we might give the aliens, they could determine our species’ origin, as well as the exact location and the current status of our planet.
If they are only after new knowledge or satisfying their curiosity, then aliens knowing about Earth and its resources would not be that catastrophic for humans. However, if the ultimate objective of the alien civilization is to eventually exploit new resources that humans heavily depend on, then it could get complicated for us. Either way, humans making contact with another civilization outside the solar system could invariably lead to our species and our planet being unnecessarily exposed to outsiders. In other words, our space exploration activities could end up in a bioprospecting expedition to Earth by other alien civilizations.
Even if the human explorers are careful enough not to include books and databases in the cargo while looking for alien life, they could still divulge a lot just by presenting themselves to the alien civilization. This is because we are a walking encyclopedia, although we are not talking about our brain contents here. I am referring to a database billions of years old! This database is contained in an organic body capable of replicating itself. We humans are a walking, talking storage of vast information about planet Earth. We are, in a way, Earth’s primary record keepers, as what the following chapters illustrate. | https://medium.com/evolution-by-elvira/un-expected-visitors-evolving-the-candidate-species-12cf3d2fbaa7 | ['Paul Rommel Elvira'] | 2021-03-05 11:42:32.883000+00:00 | ['Evolution', 'Alien Experiment', 'Organic Database', 'Human', 'Earth'] |
Planning to pursue journalism and mass communication but you is not able to decide which college… | Planning to pursue journalism and mass communication but you is not able to decide which college you should apply for? This blog is for you wherein you will find a list of colleges which are best for journalism and mass communication as a course.
However, to be successful in this field one needs to possess some traits which are having a natural flair/talent to ace different job profiles and the ability to multi-task as well as the ability to make an informed decision to pursue a mass communication course from a good college/university. Mass Communication is a very diverse field. One can choose to specialize in print and TV journalism, online media, radio as well as in other mass communication fields like advertising, public relations (PR) and events
1. Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication
Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication
[Outlook Rank: 2 | India Today Rank: 1]
Location: Pune
Admission Through: SIMC Entrance Exam
A part of Symbiosis International University (SIU), Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication (SIMC) was established in 1990.
SIMC has been ranked number two by Outlook as it is considered to have the best infrastructure with respect to other mass communication colleges in India. The college campus is spread over an area of 320 acres.
Companies that frequently visit SIMC campus for recruitment are – Amazon, CNN IBN, Drishti, Hindustan Times, MSL Group, Edelman, Viacom 18, ESPN Cricinfo, Zee, Groupm, Times Now and the likes.
Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication Courses
MBA (Communication Management)
Offered in four specializations:
Brand Communications
• Public Relations
• Marketing and Media Analytics
• Media Management
Mass Communications, MA (MC)
Offered in two specializations:
• Journalism
• Audio Visual
2. Xavier Institute of Communications
[Outlook Rank: 3]
Xavier Institute of Communications
Location: Mumbai
Admission Through: XIC-OET
Initiated in 1969, Xavier Institute of Communications (XIC) is a good choice to pursue advertising and PR related courses.
XIC has been ranked number three by Outlook on parameters such as educational excellence and placements.
Xavier Institute of Communications Courses
Diploma Programmes
Certificate Programmes
Communication for Development
Computer Graphics for Print Design
Journalism & Mass Communication
Announcing, Broadcasting, Compering, Dubbing & E-book Narration
Advertising & Marketing communications
Creative Writing
Film, Television & Digital Video Production
Public Speaking & Personality Enhancement
Mass Communication Marathi
Photography
Advanced Integrated Communication Programme
(For working professionals)
Radio Jockey
Extension Programmes
3. INDIAN INSTITUTE OF JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA.
Established in 2001, Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media (IIJNM), Bangalore offers postgraduate level mass communication courses to aspirants.
The college is famous for offering good placements and that is one of the reasons why Outlook has ranked IIJNM at the 5th spot. Companies that often visit the campus for placements are – CNN IBN, Times Now, Hindustan Times, Reuters and ET Now.
Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media Courses
Post-graduate diploma (PGD) in print, broadcast or multimedia
Diploma in print, broadcast or multimedia
4. School of Communication, Manipal
School of Communication, Manipal
[Outlook Rank:6]
Location: Manipal
Admission Through: MU-OET
A part of Manipal University, School of Communication was established in 1997. The college is ranked number six by Outlook because it offers good industry exposure to students and also helps in shaping their personality. Apart from that, School of Communication also has a good placement record.
Department of Communication, Hyderabad
5. Department of Communication, Hyderabad
[Outlook Rank: 4]
Location: Hyderabad
Admission Through: University of Hyderabad Entrance Exam
Located within Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication, Department of Communication of University of Hyderabad did not find a spot in any ranking last year. However, this year Outlook has ranked the college as the best University department and placed it at fourth place due to the standard of education imparted to students as well as placements.
Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad Courses
MA Communication
Offered in three specializations:
• Radio & Television
• Print Journalism & New Media
• Communication & Media Studies
These are some of the colleges which one should look for their bachelors or masters. To look for job in any field it’s important for you to specialize in one particular sector. | https://medium.com/@tandonshreya07/planning-to-pursue-journalism-and-mass-communication-but-you-is-not-able-to-decide-which-college-b0e94c9d439d | ['Shreya Tandon'] | 2020-12-20 12:07:53.914000+00:00 | ['Mass Communications', 'College And University', 'University', 'Journ', 'Médiá'] |
Forget-Me-Nots | Forget-Me-Nots
Short Fiction
Photo by Michael Gaida on Pixabay
It was three in the morning when he returned home. She was already asleep, sprawled out in the middle of their bed. He peeled off his clothes and tossed them to the floor, poured himself a glass of orange juice, drank it, and passed out on the couch. In the morning he woke up to find her gone. There was a note on the refrigerator door, attached by a magnet right beside their wedding date.
DON’T FORGET:
ORANGES
ALMOND MILK
AVOCADOS
CELERY
PICK MY LITTLE SISTER UP FROM SCHOOL AT 3
He looked at the clock. It was almost noon.
He took his time eating breakfast, or brunch, and took his time showering. At two he left the studio apartment, locked the door, and waved to Mrs. Wheeler, his neighbor, who opened her door every time he opened his.
“Won’t you join Robert and I for some tea?” she asked. “You must be awfully lonely.”
“No time today. Apologies.” He rushed down the stairs.
Once he stepped outside it started raining. Thunder gurgled in the distance. He got into his car. On the way to the grocery store his phone vibrated in his pocket. He kept one hand on the wheel and pulled his phone out with the other. His attention traded between the bright screen and the glistening asphalt.
Red lights shown brightly in front of him.
He slammed his breaks.
Horns blasted behind him.
He stopped in time, jostled forward, then slammed backward, but the person behind him didn’t. He was pushed into the car in front of him, crushing their bumper like an accordion.
Smoke arose from the hood of his car. He got out to assess the situation. His bumper matched the car in front of him.
TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP.
The window he addressed was too dark to see through. He hoped the car in front of him would at least roll their window down. He looked behind him, there was a stream of cars, but no one was getting out.
TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP.
The car behind him lay dormant as well. He made his way down the line of destruction only to realize each car was empty. He looked around, scratching his head, other than his accident the road was barren of any other cars.
He knocked again on the window of the car behind him. No response.
It took a few minutes but he located his phone tucked under his seat and dialed the police.
The phone rang for what felt like an eternity until he gave up and hung up. Not knowing what to do next he got into his car and pulled away from the accident, steam still leaking from under the hood. He drove to the grocery store and pulled into a spot far enough away so as he could take another look at his car.
He popped the hood and took a step back. He shook his head in disbelief, what he was seeing seemed out of an acid soaked dream.
Where his engine should be pulsed a giant blue heart. Extending away from the heart were various tubes, all of which squeezed gelatinous muck from the heart and into the car.
He slammed the hood and walked away, nervously combing his hand through his hair.
By the time the automatic doors of the supermarket opened he was drenched. His shoes squished as he walked from one isle to the next, glancing up and down from the meager list in his hand.
He looked at the price of the avocados and moved on. Then rolled his eyes and turned around. He placed four into his basket.
On his way out there was no one at the registers. He left with the basket and placed it into the passenger seat of his car. It was still raining. He turned the key and his car coughed. He tried again and it sneezed. He got out and popped the hood. He was ready to release his frustration on the beating heart, but when he looked down it wasn’t there. Instead he saw a sad smoking engine, one that’d given him four more years of life that it should’ve. He took the keys from the ignition and grabbed the basket from the passenger seat. He began walking.
When he arrived at the school the rain was letting up. He pulled his phone from his coat pocket and checked the time. Three. Moments later she exited from the main doors and walked up to him.
“Where’s your car?” she asked.
“It’s dead,” he replied.
“What’s in the basket?”
“Groceries for your sister.”
“Did you steal them? They should be in bags.”
“I’m looking out for the environment. Come on, let’s get walking. Your sister will be out of work before we make it to your house, maybe she’ll be able to pick us up.” He took his phone from his pocket and began looking through his recent calls for her number. As he searched a raindrop struck his phone. He looked up into the sky and the drops began cascading downward. He looked to where she was standing beside him and there was no one there. He sought refuge under a tree. A trembling finger swiped through his recent calls, he hadn’t called his fiancé at all. How is that possible, he thought. He removed the list from his pocket, it was written on the back of a copy of their wedding invitations. The invitation said their wedding had come and gone, three years earlier. He stuffed the paper into his coat and stepped out into the rain, let it wash over him.
He dropped the basket and ran back towards the supermarket. There his car sat, unharmed. He got in. The engine started right away. He drove home. Walked past Mrs. Wheeler.
Inside his apartment he saw her lying there on the bed and he gasped.
He took a step backward and back out into the hallway. Mrs. Wheeler rested a hand on his shoulder.
“Is it still happening?” she asked.
“Wha — what?”
“You’re still seeing her aren’t you?”
“What do you mean? She’s right there.” He pointed to the empty bed.
Mrs. Wheeler peeked inside. She placed her hand onto the swell of his back and ushered him towards her apartment.
“Robert and I will fix you up. It’s never easy to lose someone close to you. The mind has its ways of making it easier, but sometimes it’s hard to keep track of what’s real.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, his heart racing.
“Your sweet Abby died in a car accident three years ago. She was picking her sister up from school, oh you must remember. You’ve told us time and again how you were supposed to be the one to pick her up. Do you still have the list?”
He pulled the list from his pocket.
“How about we throw this out?” she asked. “Hmm? I think it might help you.”
He pulled away from her and stuffed the list into his pocket.
“No,” he said. “It’s all I have left of her.”
He closed the door to his apartment and put the list back up on the refrigerator. He then removed his phone from his pocket and looked at the message. It was an alert he’d set years before. Don’t forget flowers for anniversary.
He opened his door and Mrs. Wheeler stood waiting. He followed her into her apartment, where Mr. Wheeler was preparing a pot of tea. | https://medium.com/the-coffee-pot/forget-me-nots-d46db32cce3e | ['Dan Leicht'] | 2020-10-08 15:53:45.112000+00:00 | ['Creativity', 'Stories', 'Love', 'Fiction', 'Short Story'] |
When Christians Aren’t Christians | When Christians Aren’t Christians
What do you do when religious people persecute your personality?
Federico Tasin via Unsplash
In the Fall of 2010, I found myself giddy beyond belief. My family was getting ready to relocate to Northwest Arkansas, home to Walmart, Tyson, Dillard’s, and the infamous Razorbacks, the flagship university’s mascot. Their football team was electric that year, climbing up in the national rankings to take a top 3 spot. All they had to do was beat LSU at home to have a shot at a national title.
Sadly, they lost due to a last-second interception thrown by their star QB, a star whose light would eventually fizzle out in the NFL. I remember watching the game, enveloped with sadness when they lost, but full of glee and hope knowing that my future home state — and university — had a prolific athletics program. Had I known what was to come, I probably would’ve stayed in my home city of Philadelphia.
The move was inspired by my father’s new job. He’d been blessed with the opportunity to work for Walmart as a Program Manager. At the time, I’d already enrolled at Temple University in Philly, where I was pursuing a degree in Criminal Justice. Rather than deal with being reclassified as an out-of-state student as a result of my dad’s work, I decided to make the venture to Arkansas with my entire family. So, in the summer of 2013, we made the twenty-four-hour drive to our new home in Bentonville, AR, loading up a twenty-foot U-Haul instead of flying. The drive was unbearable, partially because of the twenty-four-hour nonstop commute, but mostly because I knew I’d miss the place I called home for twenty years.
The very first thing I noticed when we arrived to our new home state was the humidity. Arkansas in the Summertime is hot, with air that seems determined to suffocate the life out of you, making the heat all the more unbearable. In spite of this, I was impressed with the overabundance of scenic nature; it really is the Natural State. Trees lined the sidewalks in front our home, the grass was a lush green virtually everywhere I looked, and the air was free from excessive pollution.
Plus, the roads were much cleaner than any I’d ever seen in Philadelphia, where, in 2008, close to six billion pounds of trash were collected off of the city streets. You’d be hard-pressed to find six pieces of trash in Northwest Arkansas, or NWA as it’s commonly referred to. Though different from Philly, I found myself ready and willing to adopt a Southern lifestyle that Summer, one chalk-full of good vibes, laughter, and hospitality unlike anything I’d seen above the Mason-Dixon line. Sadly, that wasn’t the case.
Upon enrolling at the University of Arkansas that Fall, my entire perception of the South was radically transformed for the worst, and it all started at a quaint place called Chi Alpha. Sounds like a sorority, which is why I initially ventured there, but it’s actually a ministry. The ministry’s building was grand, bigger than most fraternities on the University of Arkansas’ campus. In Arkansas, Greek life comes after God, so this was no feat to laugh at. My first few visits were enough to draw me in; the food, the fellowship, the vast array of beautiful Southern belles, it all appealed to me. Plus, I actually cared about my faith and sought out institutions that would help me build upon what I already knew. What I didn’t know was what would come next.
I was condemned for my interest in interracial dating, specifically with Caucasian women. As an African-American man, I knew that might be problematic, but I never expected the level of scrutiny I experienced from my fellow Chi Alpha members, especially in the 21st century. Things got so intense, the ministry’s leader inserted himself into a relationship I was in, one that lasted for eighteen months, determined to see it fail.
Lies were told, gossip was spread, and my self-image took a major hit in the worst way possible. In the end, I found myself bitter, broken, and highly volatile, things that don’t bode well for any ethnic minority who has already experienced their fair share of prejudice mixed with negative and invalidated preconceived notions. It only further drove home the ignorance I experienced and ushered in new stereotypes about my character.
I’ve come to realize that not everyone who calls themselves a man or woman of faith takes it to heart. Some attend religious gatherings more so for the camaraderie than for nearness to a supreme entity, reveling in their interactions with their fellow believers more than with a supreme being. In Arkansas, the ministries I frequented subscribed to that ideology. My complexion was seen as a hindrance in the eyes of the “majority.” Mistakes I made were more widely criticized than those of my Caucasian counterparts.
My passion and zest were misconstrued as aggression and hostility, solely based on my complexion. Fast forward a few years, and my second relationship of fourteen months with another Caucasian female in a different ministry saw its untimely demise due to similar levels of scrutiny from my fellow congregation members. Leaders in that church uttered things to me I never expected to hear, ghastly phrases such as “She’s out of your league” and saw fit to drive a wedge between us. In the end, our relationship failed, but not because I didn’t love her. I loved her with all of my heart and planned to marry her. Our relationship failed due to the increased scrutiny that came with her interest in dating an African-American man in the South.
Maybe this is why Christianity has seen a decline as of late. Maybe people are sick of subscribing to a doctrine that fails to account for everyone. Or maybe some of the individuals that call themselves “believers” need to broaden their racial horizons. The irony of believing in a God that cares for all without living that out is besides me, something I’ll never understand. It takes away from the power and influence that a religion like Christianity can have. When Christians don’t act like Christians, it does more harm than good. I personally haven’t lost touch with my faith, just with people who claim to live theirs out while condemning me simply because of the color of my skin. Being a Christian means to be Christ-like. There’s nothing Christ-like about racism.
This story was originally published on GoodMenProject.com. | https://medium.com/interfaith-now/when-christians-arent-christians-692d1b89fefa | ['Paul Marsh'] | 2020-12-13 19:13:04.776000+00:00 | ['God', 'Spirituality', 'Christianity', 'Religion', 'Faith'] |
Python Function Guide: Day 10 | Hello all, This is post 10 of my 365 posts of re-learning python. I am writing about small topics from python I learned /used during the day at work. At the end of 365 days, the aim is to be better at python than I am today. If you are reading this, this is not a regular tutorial/ how to do this-that page, but a page out my python-re-learning-guide-journal-ish-thing. Only prerequisites are you must know what list, tuple, array, data frame, series and sets.
I am currently looking into functions of numpy. For reference of the numpy series I will be using O’reilly book “Python Data Science Handbook” by Jake VanderPlas.
Today we will look into our final topic under the Numpy library, that is sorting arrays.
There are definitely more functions available to work with arrays but this too follows the Pareto rule, if you know 20% of most commonly used functions then you can solve 80% of Numpy problems, and so the goal is to master that 20%
Thank you all for reading this.
I only write for self-cognition-process. I am no expert.
If you think there is something I could have done better or I have done wrong, please let me know at [email protected]!
I have also started an instagram page. I draw my own drawings (uploaded at the start of the page). Please follow my Instagram handle.(https://www.instagram.com/append_art.py/) | https://medium.com/@append-info-py/python-function-guide-day-10-49e752db2e3 | ['Python Novice'] | 2021-05-06 02:20:27.873000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'Numpy', 'Python', 'Data Science', 'Sort'] |
Journalism Is Now Propaganda | I’m not a journalist; I’m an opinionated writer who writes pieces that are true to what I know at the time. I don’t write for money, although I do get a small amount for my writing (roughly nine US dollars a month while my subscribers pay a total of 300 US dollars to Medium a month). If I wanted to do it for more money, I would stop being true to myself, and bullshit my way through pieces that pander to the far-left. That’s something I could do too! I used to be one of those types; I fought for social justice in ways that fully displayed how naïve and impulsive I was.
Today, I understand those on the right a little more, and I can see when we (liberals) can go too far, so I write with an acknowledgement to the fact that we are going too far, I believe that this is how someone being true to themselves should write opinion pieces. If you aren’t displaying the real sense of yourself in your articles, then you’re a fake. Opinion pieces draw criticism and challenge; I welcome these, if an excellent one comes along, I might have to change my perspective, which helps me grow as a person. Or, maybe the reader has that happen to them through reading our opinion pieces? Perhaps that benefits their personal growth? If so, that’s the beauty of a good opinion piece.
Journalism is not an opinion piece, and for good reason! Journalism is the reporting of news, and as such, should be separate from opinion pieces. You could make an excellent case for legislation that prevents entities that distribute journalism from mixing opinion into it, because today, that’s what the vast majority of our “so-called” “journalists” do. Patrick Gower is not a journalist, John Campbell is not a journalist, neither is Mike Hoskings, and Marc Daalder is a piss ant. Sorry, but that guy is closer to the wee dribble of a sick nob than he is to a writer. I say this with confidence because there is no place in journalism for blatant propaganda that provokes division. If it turns out that people like Marc Daalder live in glass houses, it would make sense, people who throw stones at lions and then complain when they bite usually do. If you don’t know who this guy is and are a Harry Potter fan, think Malfoy with glasses, and you’ve pretty much nailed it.
The point is, there is more far-left propaganda mixed in with news journalism than there has ever been. Why is it defined as propaganda? Because it’s not news, it’s agenda-based opinions broadcasted on a bigger tax-funded stage. It’s almost all far-left opinion; it’s not even traditional liberal opinion anymore. I claim this because I don’t allow persistently repeated nonsense to form my worldview in an increasingly busy world, I do my research and question at length instead. To do this these days is a luxury, and this is unfortunate. Higher taxes, a list of societal issues so long it promotes suicide, material wealth promoted as the “higher goal”, and bogus crisis after bogus crisis will make the ability to disseminate information adequately a luxury. Especially if you repeat that sequence over and over to a mostly naïve liberal population. Do it to a right-wing population that has all the guns, dominates the political inclination of the most advanced military in the world, whilst having leftist politicians advocating for the “defunding of the police”, and you’ll have a right-wing military/police state in no time.
This is just one reason as to why propaganda mixed with journalism is not a good thing. In fact, I’ll go as far as saying we should legislate against opinion pieces associating with entities that proclaim to be news-based or infer that they are news based in their name and declaration. The taxpayer should never fund opinion pieces or propaganda, and yet, the government uses our taxes to do that for its political gain. This fact alone should call into question the security of our election integrity, and the validity of information delivered under the context of news.
One example is the Guardian, an independent and popular source of “journalism”, it used to be something I read all the time, now I think its propaganda trash. There are a plethora of examples that support this claim, but for the point of this article, I’ll pick this one (hyperlink). Usually, what I do when I start reading a journalist piece, is I see how many paragraphs it takes to proclaim an obvious fallacy. This article only got to the second paragraph before it shat all over itself with nonsense, Jacinda didn’t “handle” the Covid-19 “outbreak”, nor did she listen to the “science” and the “experts.” She kept on driving the hypothetical kindness bandwagon and did what all great crisis spinners do — used it as a political weapon, and spun some more bullshit. With the help of opinion piece media disguised as news agencies, she made something that seasonally disappears along with rhino-viruses and influenza, look like something you could conquer with insane governmental control measures. Even if it could be handled this way (it can’t), the elimination strategy is her mates favoured angle because of its financial gains for their investments. | https://medium.com/this-is-the-greatest-show/journalism-is-now-propaganda-6ec725370d21 | ['Brad Flutey'] | 2021-02-27 01:18:46.102000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Donald Trump', 'Jacinda Ardern', 'Media Criticism', 'Fake News'] |
Kafka Deduplication Patterns (1 of 2) | Managing duplicate events is an inevitable aspect of distributed messaging using Kafka. This article looks at the patterns that can be applied in order to deduplicate these events.
Duplicate Events
Consider the following flow where a message is consumed from a topic, triggering a REST POST call to a third party service, a database INSERT to create a new record, and the publishing of a resulting event to an outbound topic.
A failure could happen at any stage in this flow. The flow must be implemented to not mark the message as consumed until the processing has completed. This ensures that upon failure the message will remain on the topic and be polled by another consumer in the consumer group. The deduplication patterns that are applied will then determine what duplicates will occur, whether a duplicate POST, duplicate database INSERT, or duplicate outbound event.
Deduplication Patterns
Patterns that cater for duplicate messages:
1. Idempotent Consumer Pattern
Track received message IDs in the database.
Use a locking flush strategy to stop duplicates being processed until message ID is committed or rolled back.
Upon successful commit any duplicate awaiting lock is discarded.
Message ID commit happens in the same transaction as any other database writes, making these actions atomic.
2. Transactional Outbox — messages published to outbox table with CDC
Outbound message committed to the outbox table in DB in the same transaction as any other database writes, making these actions atomic.
Kafka Connect CDC (change data capture) publishes messages to Kafka outbound topic.
3. Kafka Transaction API — for exactly-once delivery semantics
Kafka’s exactly-once semantics guarantees that the three consume, process and produce steps will happen exactly once.
Important to understand that the consume and process steps could however happen multiple times.
Uses the transactional log as a centralised, single source of truth for all ongoing transactions, guaranteeing it is atomic.
It is also possible to combine the Idempotent Consumer pattern with the Transactional Outbox pattern.
The Database transactions and Kafka transactions cannot be committed atomically. While a chained transaction manager can be used to commit these using a two-phase commit, this does not guarantee both transactions will complete atomically, and resources can be left in an inconsistent state. This means it is not possible to combine the Idempotent Consumer pattern with Kafka Transactions pattern without risking data loss.
Applying The Patterns
This sequence diagram describes the flow illustrated at the top of this article.
Only once the resulting event is published is the consumer offsets Kafka topic written to. This marks the message as consumed, and it will not be re-polled by another consumer in the same consumer group. If the consumer offsets are not written due to a preceding failure, then the message will be re-polled.
The following table summaries what duplicate actions (POST request, database INSERT, outbound event PRODUCE) can occur at different failure points based on which patterns have been applied.
Some scenarios are not applicable to every pattern as the failure points can differ based on what patterns are in place. Each scenario for each pattern is diagrammed in the second part of this article.
The ‘Consume Times Out’ scenario refers to where a consumer event poll does not complete before the timeout, so the message is redelivered to a second consumer instance as the Kafka Broker believes the original consumer may have died.
Recommendations
Implementing the Idempotent Consumer and Transactional Outbox patterns together is the recommended approach to minimise duplicate actions occurring. The only risk here is a duplicate POST occurring. While the same is true when combining the Idempotent Consumer with Kafka Transactions, there are two transactional managers in play here, meaning more complexity, more things to go wrong, and more testing needed.
For each of these approaches there is nothing that can be done to completely remove the chance of a duplicate POST. It is therefore important to ensure that that call is itself idempotent, with the third party service dealing with that idempotent requirement.
Next…
In the second part of this article the different deduplication patterns are drawn out in detail for each failure scenario to show how and where duplicates occur.
For More On Kafka…
Head over to Lydtech Consulting for this and many more articles on Kafka and other interesting areas of software development. | https://medium.com/lydtech-consulting/kafka-deduplication-patterns-1-of-2-ef0371a3331b | ['Rob Golder'] | 2021-12-18 14:09:52.594000+00:00 | ['Resilience', 'Messaging', 'Kafka'] |
IBM Spectrum Scale Container Native Storage Access | Deploying IBM Spectrum Scale Container Storage Interface (CSI)
This step could also be done from the OpenShift GUI, but you need to do the prereqs.
Complete the following steps for storage cluster, CNSA cluster, and custom resource file for CSI:
Ensure the following pre-installation tasks on the storage cluster are completed.
Note: this is done on Storage Cluster GUI node
Create an IBM Spectrum Scale user group “CsiAdmin” using the following command:
/usr/lpp/mmfs/gui/cli/mkusergrp CsiAdmin --role csiadmin
Create an IBM Spectrum Scale user in the “CsiAdmin” group. This user must be used on IBM Spectrum Scale Container Storage Interface driver configuration. Issue this command on the GUI node to create the user.
/usr/lpp/mmfs/gui/cli/mkuser csi-storage-gui-user -p csi-storage-gui-password -g CsiAdmin
Perfileset quota on the file systems to be used by IBM Spectrum Scale Container Storage Interface driver is set to No
mmlsfs gpfs01 --perfileset-quota
flag value description
------------------- ------------------------ -------------------------------
--perfileset-quota No Per-fileset quota enforcement
Fileset Quota is enabled in the file systems to be used by IBM Spectrum Scale Container Storage Interface driver
mmchfs gpfs01 -Q yes
Verify that quota is enabled.
mmlsfs gpfs01 -Q
flag value description
------------------- ------------------------ -----------------------------------
-Q user;group;fileset Quotas accounting enabled
user;group;fileset Quotas enforced
none Default quotas enabled
Enable quota for root user by issuing the following command:
mmchconfig enforceFilesetQuotaOnRoot=yes -i
Ensure that the controlSetxattrImmutableSELinux parameter is set to “yes” by issuing the following command:
mmchconfig controlSetxattrImmutableSELinux=yes -i
Enable filesetdf of the file system by using the following command:
mmchfs gpfs01 --filesetdf
2. Ensure the following pre-installation tasks on the CNSA cluster are completed.
Apply the IBM Spectrum Scale Container Storage Interface driver node label to the worker nodes where CNSA pods are running. By default, these will be the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform worker nodes.
For example, to label all Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform worker nodes to use node label “scale=true”, issue the following command:
oc label nodes -l node-role.kubernetes.io/worker= scale=true output:
node/ocp4-q2qf4-worker-2nkfk labeled
node/ocp4-q2qf4-worker-c7j2q labeled
node/ocp4-q2qf4-worker-ljbfk labeled
Create a CNSA GUI user for CSI:
oc exec -c liberty ibm-spectrum-scale-gui-0 -- /usr/lpp/mmfs/gui/cli/mkuser csi-cnsa-gui-user -p csi-cnsa-gui-password -g CsiAdmin EFSSG0019I The user csi-cnsa-gui-user has been successfully created.
EFSSG1000I The command completed successfully.
3. Gather information necessary for Configuring Custom Resource (CR) for IBM Spectrum Scale Container Storage Interface (CSI) driver from the CNSA cluster.
The GUI host for CNSA follows the format of ibm-spectrum-scale-gui.<namespace> . In this case, our GUI host would be named ibm-spectrum-scale-gui.ibm-spectrum-scale-ns.
. In this case, our GUI host would be named ibm-spectrum-scale-gui.ibm-spectrum-scale-ns. Identify node mapping:
You can use the following REST API call to validate the IBM Spectrum Scale node names under the mount:nodesMountedReadWrite section.
From the infrastructure node, issue the following command against an existing IBM Spectrum Scale pod:
oc exec ibm-spectrum-scale-core-4xlkx -- curl -k https://ibm-spectrum-scale-gui.ibm-spectrum-scale-ns/scalemgmt/v2/filesystems/fs1?fields=mount -u "csi-cnsa-gui-user:csi-cnsa-gui-password"
Retrieve OpenShift pod by issuing the oc get pods -n ibm-spectrum-scale-ns command
Output:
name” : “fs1”,
nodesMountedReadWrite” : [ “ocp4-q2qf4-worker-2nkfk”, “ocp4-q2qf4-worker-c7j2q”, “ocp4-q2qf4-worker-ljbfk”, “scale-dev-01.oslo.forum.com”, “scale-dev-02.oslo.forum.com”, “scale-dev-03.oslo.forum.com” ],
Retrieve and note down the CNSA cluster ID:
From the infrastructure node, issue the following command against an existing IBM Spectrum Scale pod:
oc exec ibm-spectrum-scale-core-4xlkx -- curl -s -k https://ibm-spectrum-scale-gui.ibm-spectrum-scale-ns/scalemgmt/v2/cluster -u "csi-cnsa-gui-user:csi-cnsa-gui-password" | grep clusterId
Retrieve and note down the CNSA cluster ID:
“clusterId” : 15871122664024915663,
Retrieve and note down the storage cluster ID:
My Storage Cluster is scale-dev-01
curl -s -k https://scale-dev-01/scalemgmt/v2/cluster -u "csi-storage-gui-user:csi-storage-gui-password" | grep clusterId Output: clusterId" : 14324309008622167364
The storage GUI host is the same host used in the Remote Mount section of CNSA Custom Resource
remoteClusters:
- name: storageCluster1
gui:
host: "example-gui.com" <----
Check your file: spectrumscale/deploy/crds/ibm_v1_scalecluster_cr.yaml
remoteClusters:
- name: storageCluster1
gui:
host: “scale-dev-01.domain.com”
Install CSI driver
The CSI have the following functional support
Static provisioning : Ability to use existing directories and filesets as persistent volumes
: Ability to use existing directories and filesets as persistent volumes Lightweight dynamic provisioning : Ability to create directory-based volumes dynamically
: Ability to create directory-based volumes dynamically Fileset-based dynamic provisioning: Ability to create fileset based volumes dynamically
Ability to create fileset based volumes dynamically Supported volume access modes: RWX (readWriteMany) and RWO (ReadWriteOnce)
Phase 1: Deploying the Operator
Create the namespace for the IBM Spectrum Scale CSI driver
oc new-project ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-driver Deploy the Operator.
oc create -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/IBM/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi/v2.1.0/generated/installer/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-operator.yaml -n ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-driver
In the KC the URL had an /IBM®/ this should only be /IBM/
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/IBM/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi/master/generated/installer/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-operator.yaml
Verify that the Operator is deployed, and the Operator pod is in running state.
oc get pod,deployment -n ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-driver
NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
pod/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-operator-56955949c4-tvv6q 1/1 Running 0 28s
NAME READY UP-TO-DATE AVAILABLE AGE
deployment.apps/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-operator 1/1 1 1 29s
Phase 2: Deploying IBM Spectrum Scale Container Storage Interface driver — CSI
Create a secret for the CNSA GUI user created in step 2 of Performing pre-installation tasks for CSI Operator deployment by issuing the following command:
oc create secret generic secret-cnsa --from-literal=username=csi-cnsa-gui-user --from-literal=password=csi-cnsa-gui-password -n ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-driver Create a secret for the GUI user on the storage cluster created in Storage cluster configuration.
oc create secret generic secret-storage --from-literal=username=csi-storage-gui-user --from-literal=password=csi-storage-gui-password -n ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-driver
oc label secret secret-storage product=ibm-spectrum-scale-csi Download the sample custom resource file on your cluster.
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/IBM/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi/v2.1.0/operator/deploy/crds/csiscaleoperators.csi.ibm.com_cr.yaml Modify the parameters in the file to suit your environment. For more information, see Configuring Custom Resource (CR) for CSI driver. Once finished modifying the CR, return to this page and continue to step 5.
I copied the table below, so that i could fill in the details after each of the steps.
Configuring Custom Resource (CR) for CSI driver
There was som jumping between multiple pages to be sure that i have created the file correctly.
After also checking this: csi_remote_cluster_support
so after after editing: csiscaleoperators.csi.ibm.com_cr.yaml
I ended up with this file. (Shorten down)
5. Create the CR file.
oc create -f csiscaleoperators.csi.ibm.com_cr.yaml -n ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-driver
Output: csiscaleoperator.csi.ibm.com/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi created
6. Verify that IBM Spectrum Scale Container Storage Interface driver is installed, Operator and driver resources are ready, and pods are in running state.
oc get pod,daemonset,statefulset -n ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-driver
My Pod crashed, so I needed to check the logs.
oc logs ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-mbdqz ibm-spectrum-scale-cs
I have typed in the wrong cluster ID (or more correctly I copied the ID but the last digit was missing…) As the error was saying: Failed to Initialize scale CSI Driver: ID doesnt match the cluster
rest_v2.go:586] rest_v2 doHTTP. endpoint:
I1217 20:51:52.048073 1 http_utils.go:74] http_utils HttpExecuteUserAuth. type: GET, url:
I1217 20:51:52.198898 1 http_utils.go:44] http_utils UnmarshalResponse. response: &{0x5a5c00 0xc00001e680 0x6d56a0}
I1217 20:51:52.199043 1 rest_v2.go:43] rest_v2 isStatusOK. statusCode: 200
E1217 20:51:52.199064 1 gpfs.go:202] Cluster ID 1432430900862216736 from scale config doesnt match the ID from cluster 14324309008622167364.
E1217 20:51:52.199073 1 gpfs.go:143] Error in plugin initialization: Cluster ID doesnt match the cluster
F1217 20:51:52.199083 1 main.go:65] Failed to initialize Scale CSI Driver: Cluster ID doesnt match the cluster
[root@ocp-admin scale-binary]# rest_v2.go:586] rest_v2 doHTTP. endpoint: https://scale-dev-01.oslo.forum.com:443/scalemgmt/v2/cluster , method: GET, param: I1217 20:51:52.048073 1 http_utils.go:74] http_utils HttpExecuteUserAuth. type: GET, url: https://scale-dev-01.oslo.forum.com:443/scalemgmt/v2/cluster , user: csi-storage-gui-userI1217 20:51:52.198898 1 http_utils.go:44] http_utils UnmarshalResponse. response: &{0x5a5c00 0xc00001e680 0x6d56a0}I1217 20:51:52.199043 1 rest_v2.go:43] rest_v2 isStatusOK. statusCode: 200E1217 20:51:52.199064 1 gpfs.go:202] Cluster ID 1432430900862216736 from scale config doesnt match the ID from cluster 14324309008622167364.E1217 20:51:52.199073 1 gpfs.go:143] Error in plugin initialization: Cluster ID doesnt match the clusterF1217 20:51:52.199083 1 main.go:65] Failed to initialize Scale CSI Driver: Cluster ID doesnt match the cluster[root@ocp-admin scale-binary]#
So deleted the operator and tried again.
oc delete -f csiscaleoperators.csi.ibm.com_cr.yaml Output: csiscaleoperator.csi.ibm.com “ibm-spectrum-scale-csi” deleted
Create the CR again.
oc create -f csiscaleoperators.csi.ibm.com_cr.yaml -n ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-driver
Checked again, and the pods were starting.
# oc get pod,daemonset,statefulset -n ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-driver NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
pod/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-attacher-0 1/1 Running 0 9m53s
pod/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-hvg6n 2/2 Running 0 9m35s
pod/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-jtj2x 2/2 Running 0 9m35s
pod/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-operator-56955949c4-2z77d 1/1 Running 0 7h9m
pod/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-provisioner-0 1/1 Running 0 9m44s
pod/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-rd6fd 2/2 Running 0 9m35s NAME DESIRED CURRENT READY UP-TO-DATE AVAILABLE NODE SELECTOR AGE
daemonset.apps/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi 3 3 3 3 3 scale=true 9m35s NAME READY AGE
statefulset.apps/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-attacher 1/1 9m53s
statefulset.apps/ibm-spectrum-scale-csi-provisioner 1/1 9m44s
Are you still here? 😃 we are almost there now!
Create Storage Class and PVC for Spectrum Scale.
The CSI for CSNA have the following functional support
Static provisioning : Ability to use existing directories and filesets as persistent volumes
: Ability to use existing directories and filesets as persistent volumes Lightweight dynamic provisioning : Ability to create directory-based volumes dynamically
: Ability to create directory-based volumes dynamically Fileset-based dynamic provisioning: Ability to create fileset based volumes dynamically
Ability to create fileset based volumes dynamically Supported volume access modes: RWX (readWriteMany) and RWO (ReadWriteOnce)
Fileset: you are maybe asking yourself, what is fileset and what is different between independent and dependent fileset.
From the KC: GPFS utilizes a file system object called a fileset. A fileset is a subtree of a file system namespace that in many respects behaves like an independent file system. Filesets provide a means of partitioning the file system to allow administrative operations at a finer granularity than the entire file system:
Filesets can be used to define quotas on both data blocks and inodes.
The owning fileset is an attribute of each file and can be specified in a policy to control initial data placement, migration, and replication of the file’s data. See Policies for automating file management.
Fileset snapshots can be created instead of creating a snapshot of an entire file system.
Independent and dependent filesets:
An independent fileset is a fileset with its own inode space. An inode space is a collection of inode number ranges reserved for an independent fileset. An inode space enables more efficient per-fileset functions, such as fileset snapshots.
Dependent fileset shares the inode space of an existing, independent fileset. Files created in a dependent fileset are assigned inodes in the same collection of inode number ranges that were reserved for the independent fileset from which it was created.
When the file system is created, only one fileset, called the root fileset, exists. The root fileset is an independent fileset that cannot be deleted. It contains the root directory as well as any system files such as quota files. As new files and directories are created, they automatically become part of the parent directory’s fileset. The fileset to which a file belongs is largely transparent for ordinary file access, but the containing fileset can be displayed along with the other attributes of each file using the mmlsattr -L command.
So if we look into this some more.
We have 2 directories in my mount /mnt/gpfs01 on the Storage Cluster
pvc-9* is a test with independent fileset.
is a test with independent fileset. spectrum-scale-csi-volume-store is also a fileset
# ls -la
pvc-9b789e4c-744b-4520–9b04–487fa6ae29ca
spectrum-scale-csi-volume-store
If I list filesets in the filesystem gpfs01.
We can see 3 filesets, same as above but also root, all filesets are linked to /mnt/gpfs01/*
[root@scale-dev-01 gpfs01]# mmlsfileset gpfs01 Filesets in file system ‘gpfs01’:
Name Status Path
root Linked /mnt/gpfs01
spectrum-scale-csi-volume-store Linked /mnt/gpfs01/spectrum-scale-csi-volume-store
pvc-9b789e4c-744b-4520–9b04–487fa6ae29ca Linked /mnt/gpfs01/pvc-9b789e4c-744b-4520–9b04–487fa6ae29ca
Note: To check the attributes for each filset, use the command: mmlsattr -L <fileset>
mmlsattr -L spectrum-scale-csi-volume-store/ file name: spectrum-scale-csi-volume-store/
metadata replication: 1 max 2
immutable: no
appendOnly: no
flags:
storage pool name: system
fileset name: spectrum-scale-csi-volume-store
snapshot name:
creation time: Thu Dec 17 21:08:00 2020
Misc attributes: DIRECTORY
Encrypted: no
If we look into lwdir directory and pvc claim, the fileset is spectrum-scale-csi-volume-store.
mmlsattr -L spectrum-scale-csi-volume-store/lwdir/pvc-984b42ce-c9c4-4764-baa8-4765d227dccb/ file name: spectrum-scale-csi-volume-store/lwdir/pvc-984b42ce-c9c4-4764-baa8-4765d227dccb/
metadata replication: 1 max 2
immutable: no
appendOnly: no
flags:
storage pool name: system
fileset name: spectrum-scale-csi-volume-store
snapshot name:
creation time: Thu Dec 17 22:01:16 2020
Misc attributes: DIRECTORY
Encrypted: no
To check what filesets have quotas, use the command mmrepquouta
mmrepquota -j gpfs01 --block-size G
From the Spectrum Scale GUI on your Storage Server, you will also get a good overview. Example: Type, Limits/quota, inode, Snapshots, | https://medium.com/possimpible/ibm-spectrum-scale-container-native-storage-access-7f4e91cc34b8 | ['Ole Kristian Myklebust'] | 2021-04-29 14:35:20.876000+00:00 | ['IBM', 'Openshift', 'Ibm Spectrum Storage', 'Csi', 'Spectrum Scale'] |
Great👍👍 | Great👍👍
The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. | https://medium.com/@BARSOFTART/great-746c0c352f54 | ['Brijesh Raithattha'] | 2020-12-17 17:30:57.485000+00:00 | ['Digital Marketing', 'Logo Design', 'Graphic Design', 'Social Media', 'SEO'] |
An Oregonian Fall | An Oregonian Fall
A week in photos
I spent the last week in Portland, Oregon, helping my sister out after she had foot surgery. The timing of the trip turned out to coincide with the start of the Oregon fall. Day by day, the leaves turned a little more burnished auburn and blazing yellow. And a lovely lilting rain swept through one night, tousling the leaves with light kisses and blustery breezes.
As you may know, if you’ve read some of my recent stories, I am transitioning away from teaching yoga right now (the studio I have taught at for twenty years shut down) and am embracing a creative life. I’ve gone full-tilt into finishing my book of poetry, essays, and photos and am launching a little photography business. So, I bought myself a new camera for my recent birthday — a mirrorless Nikon z7. It’s my first full-frame camera, and also my first mirrorless body. I have absolutely fallen in love with what this camera can do.
Each afternoon, I ventured out for a long walk with my camera, absolutely captivated by nature’s seasonal display. This charming little country road was part of my path on several days. | https://medium.com/snap-shots/an-oregonian-fall-11315b2576bf | ['Erika Burkhalter'] | 2020-10-25 03:47:55.391000+00:00 | ['Travel', 'Outdoors', 'Oregon', 'Short Story', 'Photography'] |
A Gentleman’s Guide to Sex Parties | When it comes to etiquette, the discerning gentleman or lady has a number of resources at their disposal. There are, of course, the classics: Emily Post, Miss Manners and Amy Vanderbilt. Then there are the contemporary versions of those classics — e.g., Travis and Teresa McElroy of the Shmanners podcast.
Inevitably, though, all of these guides tend to leave out some, shall we say, less openly discussed scenarios. Such as: the sex party.
Admittedly, it’s a topic that’s even too big for me to cover — at least by myself. And so, I requested the assistance of two knowledgeable experts who also happen to be good friends of mine. We’ll call them “Jay” and “Betty.” Jay is a sex-party veteran, and the only person I know who’s more obsessed with etiquette than I am (on the latter count, he’s a big fan of Philip Galanes’ Social Q’s column in the New York Times). Betty is no slouch when it comes to soirées of the sexual flavor either. Plus, she’s an analytical genius, a fashion icon and an academic with a wide-ranging knowledge of sexual subcultures. Also, I once saw a guy go down on her while she was reading her poetry onstage at — you guessed it — a sex party.
But let’s back up: before you jump in to witness a similar spectacle or engage in one yourself, you need to do your homework.
Get Prepped
Both of my experts agreed: Advance planning is the key to a successful sex party experience. That means knowing both the simple things (i.e., the location and dress code) and the complex ones (i.e., the culture of the space). You don’t need to do a full ethnographic study of underground sexual societies, but you should at least know the basics. “Every sex party has different rules and a different vibe,” Jay says. “Walking in without knowing them, can make you look like a fool at best and a jerk at worst.”
What kinds of rules and norms are we talking about? Things like the use of verbal versus nonverbal cues to signify interest, safe sex and who to talk to if something goes wrong or you need help. Some parties will helpfully provide these details on their websites or invites — and if not, you can always email the organizers.
Regarding safe sex, many parties will provide condoms, but you can also bring your own. And while barebacking is sometimes the assumed default at gay-oriented parties, that doesn’t mean you have to do it. “I’ve never been rejected or shamed because I asked someone to use condoms,” Jay says. “They just say, ‘Okay! Where are they?’ and I grab one or point to them and we’re back at it.” And regardless of whether you practice safe sex or not, you should be getting STI tests on a regular basis anyway.
On a more emotional and psychological note, Jay emphasizes the power of positive thinking: “Coming in with low expectations or a negative attitude — like no one will think you’re hot or whatever — sets you up for a shitty night from the jump.”
Get a Friend
Are you going to arrive alone, with a date or with a few friends? Jay suggests coming with a friend if it will make you more comfortable, with the caveat that “sticking together too much can stop others from approaching.” Meanwhile, Betty says you should definitely consider showing up with a date. “Having sex with someone you’re already familiar with can be a good way to ease into public sex,” she advises. “Then you can each go off on your own or cruise for a third party.”
Betty reminds us, too, that typical American social mores don’t go out the window just because you’re in a fuck dungeon. “Bring singles and tip the clothes check, bar staff, and performers — especially if the drinks are complementary,” she says.
Get Comfortable
So now you’re standing in a dark basement, chic loft or someone’s borrowed condo. What now? Well, this might sound strange, but don’t pressure yourself to have sex. I know, that’s the whole point. But give yourself some time to take in the space, mill around and maybe even chat a little. Jay tells me he didn’t hook up the first two or three times he attended a party, and even now, sometimes he’ll just linger in a dance or hangout area socializing if he’s not feeling it. Betty mentions that some spaces have private areas away from the exposed space that are an option for the shyer set. And for the ultimate in anonymity, there’s always the glory hole, which she describes as “a low-stress way to ease into a space.”
Speaking of private versus public spaces, Betty notes that while there will be group sex, “That doesn’t mean it’s a free-for-all, even if it’s taking place in a more public area. If you like what’s going on and wanna join in, figure out if that’s welcome.” In other words: It’s always polite to ask.
Jay adds that at a mixed-gender party, straight men in particular should be conscious of not being creeps. “We should keep in mind that sexism, misogyny and power dynamics don’t go out the window just because it’s a designated fuck zone.” It’s really no different than interactions at a bar or other social spaces: “The most important thing is to be attentive of the other person’s interest, whether explicit or implicit. If someone doesn’t seem into you, leave them alone ASAP.”
Rejection is a part of life, sex parties included. It can hurt, but as Jay puts it, “One of the wonderful things about a sex party is that a single rejection (or even a few) doesn’t have to define your night. Somewhere in a sweaty basement full of perverts is a pervert who wants to get with you.” Additionally, you’ll likely be exposed to a wider diversity of people at any given party than your normal dating pool. Jay sees these situations as opportunities to examine the kinds of people we find attractive and our personal preferences, which are obviously shaped by the society we live in.
“No one should fuck anyone they don’t want to fuck,” he concludes. “But while we’re surrounded by so many different naked people, it can be cool to think honestly about why we only desire a certain narrow section of them.”
Get Reflective
If this was your first party, ask yourself some questions afterward: How did you feel in the space? What worked for you? What didn’t? Maybe you’ve decided you don’t want to do it again, and that’s totally cool. Sex parties aren’t for everybody. I should also note that they aren’t always well-organized or all that much fun. But for each event that turns out to be an asexual cheese-and-crackers affair, there’s a room somewhere else full of sweaty people having a great time.
Oh, and one last appeal from Betty: “Don’t fuck in the toilet stalls. Come on. You can fuck literally anywhere, except the places where people actually have to pee.”
merritt k is the host of the podcasts Woodland Secrets and dadfeelings, and can be found on Twitter at @merrittk. She last wrote about the men who can’t cum.
More merritt: | https://medium.com/mel-magazine/a-gentlemans-guide-to-sex-parties-9d628217ce8 | ['Merritt K'] | 2018-07-05 16:31:02.184000+00:00 | ['Sex', 'Advice', 'Etiquette', 'Dating'] |
Interview with Gemma Stafford | Bigger Bolder Baking | Intro: Welcome to the number one Cookbook Podcast, Cookery by the Book, with Suzy Chase. She’s just a home cook in New York City, sitting at her dining room table, talking to cookbook authors.
Gemma Stafford: Hi, I’m Gemma Stafford, and my new cookbook is called Bigger Bolder Baking: A Fearless Approach to Baking Anytime, Anywhere.
Suzy Chase: So I have to start off by saying a huge congratulations to you. You have a bun in the oven, so to speak.
Gemma Stafford: Thank you.
Suzy Chase: That’s so exciting. When are you due?
Gemma Stafford: I’m due early February.
Suzy Chase: Oh my God, that’s right around the corner.
Gemma Stafford: I know. I know. Tell me about it. At the time, at the beginning, time stood still, and now it’s going really fast, so I don’t really know where I am.
Suzy Chase: Yay. I’m so excited for you.
Gemma Stafford: Thank you.
Suzy Chase: So, you have a line in the cookbook that goes, “I watched my mom create spectacular desserts from just a few simple ingredients.” I feel like this is your philosophy, too.
Gemma Stafford: Yeah, absolutely. You know, I worked as a professional chef for 10 plus years, and I trained, I studied professional cookery in college. I went to two different cookery schools, and definitely the more, especially as I look at the book, my biggest influence and my first teacher was really my mom.
Suzy Chase: Now what exactly is bold baking?
Gemma Stafford: So being bold is about taking risks, and it’s about trying something different, and it’s about being fearless. And that’s what I do in my recipes. I try and take away the unnecessary steps that people don’t need that might confuse you, that sometimes, in baking, people can have very long winded recipes.
Gemma Stafford: And what I like to do is just get straight to the facts and show you how you can make over the top desserts, but still using very simple techniques and very simple ingredients.
Suzy Chase: Long winded recipes are so much fun to read, but so hard to follow.
Gemma Stafford: Yeah. I can’t. The reason we’ve had such great success with Bigger Bolder Baking is because bold baking is about taking risks and it’s about being fearless. And I really try, and with my millions of fans all around the world, try and give people the confidence to bake anytime, anywhere.
Gemma Stafford: And in the book, it’s a collection of recipes where you can do that using simple ingredients. The majority of recipes are less than 10 steps. They’re really finely edited just to give you the exact information that you need, and anytime, anywhere baking really … We heard this from our audience.
Gemma Stafford: We have 5 million bold bakers all around the world, and we heard from them that they want to bake, but they’re students in a dorm. They want to make a cake for somebody, but they live in, maybe, an older facility, and they don’t have access to a kitchen, or they only have a microwave, and things like that. And we didn’t, I didn’t want that to restrict people from baking.
Gemma Stafford: So in the book, I broke the chapters down into different pieces of kitchen equipment that you would need, and tools. So there’s a whole section in my baking book where you do not need an oven to make frozen desserts, to make mousses, to make chills desserts, to make chocolate Tiffin cake, all of these sorts of things, and trifles you don’t need an oven for, and just really make it as simple for people as possible to make, to be able to bake no matter what their equipment or their circumstance.
Suzy Chase: Your bold baking journey started at Ballymaloe Cookery school. That is incredible. Tell us about that, and what skills did you learn there?
Gemma Stafford: I hold Ballymaloe very close to my heart. I had a really lovely time there. When I was young in the 80s, we used to watch, my mom and I used to watch Darina Allen on a Monday night on TV, and she was … This was a long, long time ago, where she was the only chef, really, on TV, and then she was Irish, and she ran this cooking school, and I was just fascinated by her.
Gemma Stafford: And my mom told me that when I was older, I could go to the cooking school. So after college, I studied professional cookery in college, and I was in my first job, and the opportunity came up to go to Ballymaloe Cooking School, and it’s really special.
Gemma Stafford: I don’t know if I can describe it well enough. It’s a really amazing experience. It’s such a special place. For people who don’t know, it’s a cooking school on kind of like, almost like now, a farm, because I know that they have a lot of their own animals and bees and and things like that. But they have … It’s a little cooking school down in East Cork in a place called Ballymaloe.
Gemma Stafford: I’m sorry, the school is called Ballymaloe, and run by a lady called Darina Allen, and her whole ethos is very, I would say, typical of a lot of Irish people, which is good ingredients in, and amazing out. And so the thing about Darina is that she does recipes from all around the world.
Gemma Stafford: It’s not, as people often say to me, meat and potatoes from Ireland. It’s a little bit of everything. And just to be there, to be at the school, and to be with students who come from all around the world to do her courses, it’s really incredible.
Suzy Chase: Did a Diane Keaton movie really inspire you to move to America?
Gemma Stafford: It did.
Suzy Chase: Which one?
Gemma Stafford: I know, it’s crazy. So, a lot of people have seen, or are big fans of us, baby boom in the late eighties, like ’87 or so. So I was … I would have been … We always get everything later. At that stage, we got everything like a year later than America did. So it was on TV in Ireland in maybe ’88 or something like that. So I was only a child.
Gemma Stafford: And I saw it, and for those of you who haven’t seen it, it is about, long story short, about a kind of high powered exact woman in New York. She has a really busy lifestyle, and she gets landed this baby, and she has to move out of the city.
Gemma Stafford: She buys a farm in Vermont, and she, her lifestyle totally changed, and she starts making applesauce and selling it in local shops in Vermont, and it becomes really big, and I just, I was fascinated by it. I just thought that this was the most amazing thing ever. That this is what I want to do. I wanted to move to Vermont and make applesauce.
Gemma Stafford: And you know, it always, it stuck with me. I must’ve been like six or seven when I saw it, but I made kind of a promise to myself then and there that when I was 25, I was going to move to the United States, and I was going to marry an American man, and I was going to be in America for the rest of my life.
Gemma Stafford: And yeah, it was. I was 25, actually, when I did end up moving here. But yeah, it always stuck in my head, and the thing about it is, I never told anybody, which was so funny. So when I was in my twenties later, and I decided to go to America, I think they were kind of surprised, but I always knew in the back of my head that this was part of the plan. I was going to do this.
Suzy Chase: It was your vision.
Gemma Stafford: Yeah.
Suzy Chase: Wow. So, for busy home cooks, you also have a few mug cake recipes in this cookbook. Describe these.
Gemma Stafford: So the mug cakes are some of my most popular on Bigger Bolder Baking, and they are really, they’re little tiny single serving, I shouldn’t say tiny, but they’re a small single serving cakes that … This is where kind of anytime, anywhere bacon comes in. We heard a lot from people who, like I said, don’t have kitchens, don’t have ovens, but still want to bake.
Gemma Stafford: And there’s a whole world of microwave recipes out there for cakes that I have in the book, and then savories that I have on my website for things like pizza, mac and cheese in a mug, and things like that that can all be made in the microwave.
Gemma Stafford: So in the book Bigger Bolder Baking, I shared three recipes of some of my most popular, and they’re an amazing … They’re really great recipes, because there are only a handful of ingredients. So even if your kitchen is bare, all it is is a little bit of raising agents, some flower, a little bit of oil. You might need an egg, but not even all of them need an egg.
Gemma Stafford: Most of it is just standard cupboard ingredients. And you can have a mug brownie, a funfetti cake in a mug, or even a donut in a mug, which is a really popular one. And they’re just a really amazing way for somebody to make a single serving treat fast with very little wash-up. And then you’re not left with cake or cookies or whatever it is. You got to just have exactly what you wanted, or what you needed.
Suzy Chase: I do love how you’ve included so many microwave recipes in this cookbook, because I feel like the microwave is a little passe right now. But it’s so convenient.
Gemma Stafford: Yeah. You know, the thing I explained, because I get asked this a lot. I’ve been a professional chef for many years now, and a lot of, when I first started doing microwave recipes, I talked to myself, “Should I be doing this? Because I’ve worked in [inaudible 00:09:41] restaurants now. Should I be making recipes in a microwave?”
Gemma Stafford: Because people question you. And the thing about it is, it’s not about the microwave. It’s about, it is, these recipes are another way for some people to feed themselves, to make something from scratch, what I like to call real food fast, not fast food, with just a few ingredients, with very little waste.
Gemma Stafford: And when we started making them, we were doing the cakes, we heard from a very much younger audience. Then when we kind of ventured into savory, and we started doing things like ramen in a mug and pizza, which was one of my favorites, pizza in a mug, and lots of different things like that, we heard from all around the world.
Gemma Stafford: And heard from truckers, we heard from people living in elderly facilities, people who had been widowed. I just got an email from a man in Australia yesterday, 87 years of age, who was asking me about … He just got the same microwave that I did, and he was asking me about the recipes so he’d be able to feed himself.
Gemma Stafford: So it’s much bigger than making food in a microwave. It’s giving the people independence and confidence to be able to create their own meals, and that satisfaction and pride that you take in that.
Suzy Chase: Gosh, that’s so smart. Good for you.
Gemma Stafford: Thanks.
Suzy Chase: You also included mug net. What’s that?
Gemma Stafford: Yes, that’s a donut in a mug. is a little kind of a cinnamony, kind of a cake with a little bit of jam in the middle, and eaten all together, tastes just like a donut sprinkled with some cinnamon sugar. It’s just a fun little take on a donut.
Suzy Chase: If I’m going to teach people to bake, why not online Guess who said that. Your YouTube channel has almost 2 million subscribers. Tell us about your channel, and how was your husband involved?
Gemma Stafford: My husband is the driving force behind us. So, we started Bigger Bolder Baking five, five and a half years ago, as a YouTube channel. Long story short, myself and my husband, I still worked in food. I worked, I had a catering business. My husband worked in tech. Sorry, he did marketing for a tech company, but he also had a lot of experience in the entertainment industry, because he’d worked for Lucasfilm and Pixar.
Gemma Stafford: And we got married, and we joined forces. We decided, how can we come work together to join both of what we’re passionate about, which is food and entertainment? And Kevin said that he wanted to do more of the production side of entertainment, because he always did the marketing side.
Gemma Stafford: So we came up, he said, “Why don’t we create a cooking show?” And you know, five and a half years ago, YouTube was very much a different playing field. There wasn’t a saturated … There wasn’t as many baking channels, and it was just a different ballgame. And you know, we quit our jobs in San Francisco.
Gemma Stafford: We left behind paychecks and healthcare, and we moved to a city that we didn’t know anybody, down to Santa Monica in LA, and we just started creating videos out of our kitchen. We went all in. We financed it. All of our time, all of our effort, we were working around the clock.
Gemma Stafford: And the thing about it is, we didn’t doubt ourselves. We knew that we were kind of crazy for doing it, but we never doubted ourselves. We knew that we were onto something good. And it took some time, and blood, sweat and tears, but it started to pay off really fast, and slowly but surely, we started to garner this audience of what we call, and what they call themselves, bold bakers.
Gemma Stafford: And within a few months, we had some videos go viral. Our subscribers just doubled. And from then on, we’ve just, in the last, sorry, five and a half years or so, we’ve gotten to 2 million subscribers on YouTube. And then with our Facebook and Instagram, and our website included, we’re around 5 million people all around the world.
Suzy Chase: What’s the most popular recipe on your channel?
Gemma Stafford: Most popular recipe, I would … So there’s two that are kind of tied. The mug cakes are some of my most popular, it’s kind of what I’m known for. And then also, what’s actually, I had to include this in the book, is my no machine ice cream. It’s just a few ingredients, cream, condensed milk, and some vanilla extract.
Gemma Stafford: And you can make a base of kind of a vanilla ice cream. But then you can add any flavor you want. And I actually think, Suzy, you tried one of the ice creams.
Suzy Chase: Yes.
Gemma Stafford: And so it’s just a really fun recipe. But that was another one that resonated with our audience, going back to it’s not about the microwave, it’s not about the utensil. It’s the fact that you were able to make something without the traditional methods.
Gemma Stafford: So the ice cream is made whisking together, you can do it by hand, or you can do it with a stand mixer, but you don’t need an ice cream machine to make ice cream. And that video was just huge for us. So we had to include that ice cream and some different flavors in the book.
Suzy Chase: Yeah, I made your raspberry swirl cheesecake ice cream on page 239.
Gemma Stafford: Yeah, that’s one. I love cheesecake ice cream.
Suzy Chase: Ice cream has always been so intimidating for me.
Gemma Stafford: Yeah. And because you have to make a custard base, and you have to, there’s different steps, and it just, it can be laborious. And there’s a chance that you curdle your custard, and then what do you do? But this is, for want of a better word, it’s foolproof. And it’s really, it’s awesome, because also, we don’t, we have a large audience.
Gemma Stafford: It’s kind of funny, but we have a large audience who are, who don’t eat eggs, for dietary reasons, for religious reasons. So this ice cream doesn’t include any eggs. It’s only cream and condensed milk. And so it really ticks a lot of boxes for a lot of our fans. So that and the mug cakes are some of my most popular recipes with tens of millions of views on YouTube.
Suzy Chase: For Christmas, are you going to be doing your 12 full days of cookies again?
Gemma Stafford: I am.
Suzy Chase: Oh, yay.
Gemma Stafford: Yeah, we’re doubling down on cookies this year. I started making them in August.
Suzy Chase: Oh, my gosh.
Gemma Stafford: So we’re planning. We’re getting kind of our team, we have a team now. At the beginning, it was just Kevin and I, my husband. And then, a few years in, we were able to start building out a team, and so our team are working on those campaigns. So 12 days of Christmas, and all the things around holiday baking.
Gemma Stafford: We’re also going to do a holiday baking hotline where I go live. It might be on … One time we did a hotline on the website, on biggerbolderbaking.com, where I was, what do you call it? I popped up and I answered people’s questions live, the day of Thanksgiving.
Gemma Stafford: And then we also use an app called [inaudible 00:16:59], where … It’s like a voice mailing app where people can leave me a voicemail, and then I answer them back straight away. And it’s just a really fun way to do it. And the holidays can be, it can be challenging. And you face, you come across things in the kitchen that you didn’t know were going to happen and you need help fast. So we also do that and that’s a lot of fun.
Suzy Chase: So I also made your recipe for 10 minute vanilla refrigerator cookies on page 44. Can you describe these?
Gemma Stafford: Those cookies are, they’re one of the first cookies I remember making, and they’re really simple, because they’re a plain vanilla cookie. It’s a little bit crisp, it’s also a little bit soft. But it’s a recipe that, since the book has come out, I’m just, I know what recipes mean to me.
Gemma Stafford: They have certain nostalgia to me, but I keep on getting photos on social media of these cookies, and it just, I don’t know what it is about them, but they really resonated with people. But they’re just a plain little cookie. And the best thing about it is, is you keep the dough in the refrigerator, in a log, and then you can just slice it whenever you want to bake some off.
Gemma Stafford: And it also is kind of a good blank canvas. If you wanted to add in chocolate chips, orange rind, different flavors, some knots, it really is versatile, and you can add anything you want to it.
Suzy Chase: Now to my segment called My Favorite Cookbook. Aside from this cookbook, what is your all time favorite cookbook and why?
Gemma Stafford: Oh my gosh, that’s a really good question. I’m going to have to say there’s not a lot. I have a huge collection of cookbooks, as I’m sure you do as well, Suzy, and I treasure them. But there’s very few that I’ve read kind of front to back, and the one that my mom …
Gemma Stafford: My mom used to get me cooking books or cookery books for Christmas, and one year, when I was a student in my teens, I was probably 17 or something, she got me the Ballymaloe Cookery School three months course in a book, because Darina’s course at Ballymaloe, her longest one is three months, and they compiled what you learn in that course into one big, thick book.
Gemma Stafford: And I went through that book like nobody’s business. I tried recipes, everything from salads to dressings, to cookies, to cakes, to breads. I went through it page to page, and I still use it as kind of my go to Bible of today. I still go to it for my Asian pork salad, and she has a Tennessean citrus cake, and it’s just, it has a little bit of everything. And I just absolutely adore it, and it brings me back to that time of Ballymaloe as well.
Suzy Chase: Where can we find you on the web and social media?
Gemma Stafford: So you can find me on my website, biggerbolderbaking.com, and then on Facebook and Instagram, it’s Bigger Bolder Baking.
Suzy Chase: Wonderful. Thanks, Gemma, for coming on Cookery by the Book podcast.
Gemma Stafford: Thank you, Suzy. It was lovely to talk to you.
Outro: Subscribe over on CookerybytheBook.com, and thanks for listening to the number one cookbook podcast, Cookery by the Book. | https://medium.com/@cookerybythebook/interview-with-gemma-stafford-bigger-bolder-baking-bac3f4251037 | ['Suzy Chase'] | 2019-10-28 19:29:23.127000+00:00 | ['Interview', 'Baking', 'Cookbooks', 'Podcast', 'Food'] |
Rage | Rage
“Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Last night I read a post by a seasoned psychologist and grief counselor who recently experienced her own significant loss. She is sharing her grieving process as a means to continue to help others, and thereby also a way to help herself. She said if you run from grief, it will chase you. And I started thinking that anything you fear enough to run from will give chase. I spend a lot of time in nature in Colorado and there are rules for when you encounter wildlife, there are shades of difference, but mostly you maintain eye contact, make yourself as big as possible, and you do not run. Think about the things, emotions, interactions, ideas, people in your life of which you have been afraid. What have you run from and when did you find peace? For me it’s been when I stopped, turned around, and looked straight in the face of whatever or whoever I thought I needed to fear. Take back your power, do not go gently.
Monika Ikegwu paints portraits of her community. She photographs her subjects how they wish to be seen, in what they choose to wear, in their own home. She focuses precisely on their eyes, in which she is able to reveal the energy and intention. Painted with beauty and intensity, the rendering and the woman feel inspiringly fierce! | https://medium.com/@heidizuckerman/rage-583b10239719 | ['Heidi Zuckerman'] | 2020-12-23 14:03:23.920000+00:00 | ['Connection', 'Wisdom', 'Life', 'Love', 'Art'] |
What Digital Health Learned From Netflix: How Data Science Is Creating Self-Learning Healthcare | By Eric Williams, Director of Data Science @ Omada Health
In 1991, millions of postmenopausal women were given a very good reason to be in a very good mood. It turns out the same hormone replacement therapies they’d been prescribed to balance their emotions came with an unexpected side-benefit: a much healthier heart.
That year, a meta-analysis in Preventive Medicine breathlessly announced that HRT was responsible for a 50% decline in heart disease. Let that sink in. Fifty percent. The study’s authors became lauded scientists for having effectively uncovered a way to slash the number one cause of death for women in half. Some doctors even began advising female patients to take HRT for healthier hearts alone.
There was only one problem. The study was totally wrong.
It took over a decade to unravel all the flaws of the authors’ meta-analysis. But their mistake was just the beginning. A 2002 randomized control trial proved the opposite of their assertion was true: Estrogen replacement therapy has no effect and, potentially, increases the risk of heart disease.
So what went wrong with the initial meta-analysis?
“Correlation does not equal causation” is probably the most quoted (and neglected) mantra from your Statistics 101 professor or any data scientist in the field. However, the misleading implications from this common stat-trap are particularly dangerous when it comes to health research. In the case of HRT and heart disease, it took over a decade to unravel the fact that affluent women were more likely to get HRT and — here’s the clincher — take care of their heart health. And that was just one of many potential overlapping factors that lead to false conclusions.
For over a century, randomized control trials (RCTs) have been the gold standard scientific methodology for testing not simply correlation, but causation — and rightfully so. But RCTs come with their own sets of challenges and limitations. Clinical trials tend to be slow, labor intensive, and expensive. Even more troubling, results from clinical trials often don’t generalize to broader populations, due to difficulty and biases introduced by patient recruitment.
But today, we are on the precipice of a revolution in healthcare that has the potential to accelerate the discovery of causal links and enable a healthcare company of any size to test connections between courses of treatment and healthcare results for all types of patients.
Call it the “burden of proof” transformation — the increasingly sticky idea that healthcare costs should be paid based on outcomes and not on activity. The rise of outcome-based healthcare reimbursement has aligned the motivations of payers and providers, and has the potential to kickstart the industry toward generating more efficient and effective healthcare solutions. At the same time, the explosion of digital health has given those in healthcare the unique opportunity to leverage data science and capture the full value of the vast amounts of health data, creating self-learning health systems that will lead to more effective healthcare for millions of Americans.
Successful preventative healthcare is dependent on two things: accurately identifying who is at risk and determining how to intervene. The field of data science and its methodologies — namely analytics, machine learning, and experimentation — have the potential to completely change both the identification of those at risk (prediction) and the optimization (personalization) of their care.
Here are three key ways data science is revolutionizing care and providing the potential for precision population health for the first time in human history.
Prediction is the key to any successful preventive strategy — especially in healthcare.
But a predictive model is only as good as the data that underlies it. Google’s Chief Economist Hal Varian is famous for stating: “[Google] doesn’t have better models; it just has more data.”
Until recently, machine learning has mostly benefited the digital marketing space. That’s why your typical online interaction today will be peppered with targeted ads and product recommendations, which maximize the odds that you’ll click-on, subscribe to, or purchase a particular product. Or, google “Target knows you’re pregnant” to see how data analytics and machine learning can beat our brains to even some of the most personal revelations, predicting what products we’ll need even before we realize it ourselves.
Applying predictive modeling to healthcare is revealing itself to be a game-changer. What if, instead of using machine learning to suggest which movies you should watch next in your Netflix queue, it was harnessed to pinpoint those “tipping point” individuals who are most likely to forget to take a medication, miss a critical doctor’s appointment, or fall off the wagon of a diet or new exercise routine?
Clover Health, a technology-enabled Medicare Advantage provider, is making a big bet on predictive analytics impacting preventative care. Starting with roughly 16,000 Medicare Advantage members in six New Jersey counties, Clover’s data scientists use claims and lab data to predict members most at-risk of illness. Once patients are identified, Clover’s nurse practitioners are deployed to their homes as a preventative intervention. Since Medicare Advantage plans receive subsidies from the government to cover both the premium and the claims of their members, effective prevention is fully aligned with Clover’s business incentives. In the first half of 2015, Clover has claimed that these methods have reduced hospital admissions of their members by 50% and hospital re-admissions by 34%.
In concert with predicting who is most at risk, effective prevention needs an effective intervention. The experimental tools of data science, when deployed smartly, can do just that.
The undeniably successful use of marketing optimization and user learning displayed by companies like Google and Netflix have made A/B testing table stakes for most technology companies these days. The process of hypothesis generation, randomization, and evaluation is now common language from developers to CEOs.
Of course, A/B testing is old news, especially in the healthcare field. In fact, it largely originates from healthcare. Some trace the origins of systematic clinical trial design back as far as 1747 when surgeon James Lind tested six different proposed “cures” for scurvy (including, but not limited to: seawater, cider, vinegar, and — thankfully — citrus) on the crew of the HMS Salisbury. Since then, experimental design has solidified the “Randomized Control Trial” (basically, an A/B test) as the widely accepted gold standard for experimental measurement. The goal, no surprise, is to help determine causation between a delivered intervention and a primary outcome.
But as the amount of available data has exploded, so too has the possibility of the “super-charged RCTs” — rapid A/B tests exploring multiple facets of interventions that give unprecedented insight into what works in healthcare. When it comes to preventing chronic disease, super-charged RCTs create new opportunities to understand human behavior, personalize, and optimize interventions to deliver the best health outcomes.
But if a model is only as good as its data, then an A/B test is only as good as its outcome. Which means super-charged RCTs only matter if you can measure actual health outcomes.
In digital health, this is surprisingly rare.
At the time of writing, there are over 165,000 mobile apps available claiming health benefits and very few have any evidence to back up those claims. In fact, the gap between the health claims made by these apps and the troves of data they are collecting has become so enormous that a startup has been created to bridge this gap. Evidation Health, a Silicon Valley company, recognizes this missed opportunity. They aim to align the data collected by digital health interventions with the outcomes captured by health plans. This way, they can validate (or not) the health claims made by those companies and find the most effective interventions for health plans to implement.
Established health companies also need to accept this responsibility. They’ll need to measure their effectiveness against promised outcomes if they want to truly capitalize on their own vast amounts of streaming data and optimize their interventions against these outcomes using iterative, RCT-like methodology. But this responsibility can just as easily be viewed as an opportunity — digital health companies should take advantage of the evolving field of experimental design. We can implement the most flexible, adaptive trial design, and build systems that intrinsically improve with scale. Once more digital health companies embrace this approach, we’ll see massive changes in the ways that technology can influence healthy, sustainable, and scalable behavior change.
The ultimate goal of these efforts is a self-learning healthcare system — one that generates continuous feedback on the most effective approach for populations and individual patients, then incorporates that feedback to create a virtuous cycle of improvement.
The BioMe Biobank Program, lead by The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai hospital, is an effort to capitalize on the power of centrally-collected and analyzed data. By pooling genomic, environmental, and lifestyle data from thousands of diverse individuals, small signals — previously undetectable underneath large amounts of noise — can be detected and linked to health outcomes. The goal is precision disease classification and diagnoses, where medication and healthcare are delivered at the level of the individual, customized using each patient’s unique data profile.
At Omada, we share the goal of “precision population health”, and our data science team is focused on personalizing and optimizing our flagship product, Prevent®, using the tools of data science.
Prevent engages participants with an evidence-based curriculum, a supportive social network, the constant guidance of a personal health coach, and digital tracking tools that include a wireless scale and mobile app — all to help reduce a participant’s risk of progressing toward obesity-related chronic disease.
Throughout Prevent, we deploy predictive models to identify those participants who are at risk of gaining weight or dropping out of the program. These models are based on digitally recorded program behavior data. Have you started tracking food less frequently? Are you logging your physical activity at more random times instead of on the schedule you developed with your personal health coach? Has your weight fluctuated recently? What behaviors indicate that a retired, male participant is likely to gain back the six pounds he has already lost, and how can our team intervene at the right moment to make sure it doesn’t happen?
Omada uses a three-step process to maximize the effectiveness of the program :
Measure The team is equipped with a constant firehose of data, measuring engagement, participant behavior, weight loss, and other key indicators of successful behavioral interventions. Optimize Using experimental design, we run continual RCTs and A/B tests, creating a virtuous cycle of program improvement focused on maximizing the health outcomes that matter most for Prevent, including weight loss. Personalize Behavioral interventions are most effective when they are tailored to the needs of individual participants. By leveraging the power of big data and clinical rigor, we are focused on maximizing the efficacy of Prevent for every user — delivering the right interventions, at the right times, in the right ways.
Here’s an example of this process in action: Each night our machine learning algorithms are trained on streaming demographic data, as well as longitudinal engagement and weight data. They spend the night assessing and predicting participants at high risk for gaining weight. By morning, these at-risk participants, randomized through our internal clinical trial management system, are surfaced to their health coaches along with specific, personalized intervention suggestions as defined by the predictive model. The effect of the suggested intervention on the participant’s outcomes are captured, studied, and used to iterate on and optimize both the prediction algorithm and suggested interventions — leading to the continual refinement and precision of our ability to keep our participants from falling off track.
As we’ve scaled Prevent over the last 18 months to over 40,000 participants, we’ve amassed a data set containing tens of millions of points on everything from weigh-ins to interactions with health coaches, group members, and curriculum. We’ve assembled one of the largest data sets on behavior change in human history — and can compare all of that data against continuously collected weight-loss results. This combination allows us to determine influences on behavior — and subsequently, influences on clinically meaningful outcomes.
This approach has huge implications for fighting what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has labeled the public health challenge of our generation: chronic disease.
There’s widespread agreement that the most effective form of tackling chronic diseases is prevention. The biggest remaining challenges are A) how to scale effective interventions to deal with a problem that affects more than one in three American adults and B) how to design interventions for populations or personality types that respond to different incentives.
With the data set we’ve built — which continues to grow every day — we’ve started to discover how small changes to an interface, or tiny shifts in how a health coach interacts with a patient, can have big impacts on essential health outcomes. As our data set grows richer, so will our experiments and results. Our ultimate goal is an adaptive, personalized curriculum that optimizes weight loss and decreases average blood sugar (a1c), while reducing the greatest amount of risk for every participant. Every day, we integrate new elements that drive us towards that goal.
It’s an exciting time for healthcare. And an even more critical moment for the millions of Americans at the tipping point of chronic disease. For many of these people, data science is paving the way to live longer, healthier, more fulfilling lives. | https://medium.com/omada-health/what-digital-health-learned-from-netflix-how-data-science-is-creating-self-learning-healthcare-2f0aa160c124 | ['Omada Health'] | 2016-03-21 17:47:44.090000+00:00 | ['Healthcare', 'Data Science', 'Health'] |
How to make software in A Minute 2021 | Your Own Software Products with Your OWN Name On Them in Under 1 Minute, with ZERO Tech Skills Needed…
Today on this page you can unlock an entire arsenal of your own software with UNRESTRICTED RIGHTS to…
Sell as your own
Sell rights
Create bundles
Create unlimited new versions
Use as bonuses
Use as lead magnets
Give away as viral traffic magnets
Sometimes we have sold products with “Private Label Rights” (PLR) or “White Label Rights”. Those are good shortcuts for some entrepreneurs.
The PROBLEM when it comes to PLR or White Label software is that it’s nearly impossible to rebrand, even if it comes with the source code. You basically have to be a programmer (or hire one) to change the software and give it your own title. So everyone ends up trying to sell the exact same thing.
Today that problem is SOLVED.
We created a software “rebrander tool” that allows you to REBRAND our software in under a minute to make it your own. What do I mean by rebrand?
You can give the software its own name/title
Your name or company name will show as the author
You can put your own links in the software
You can put your own advertisements in the software
We do NOT have ANY names or links or advertisements that will remain in the software. It will be 100% yours!
Not only will the software be exclusively branded with your name, it will be yours to do ANYTHING with it. In other words, we’re including an UNRESTRICTED Private Label Rights License for you to use these software programs any way you want.
You can also create as many new versions of the software with unique names as you want. We’re even including SEVEN different software programs in this bundle, so you can create unlimited new versions of ALL of them. You get these seven brandable software programs today…
Click Here watch Full Video
The only part that does NOT come with these rights is the brander tool itself. The brander tool is for you only, and can only be used by those who acquire it from this page during this special offer.
Again, you can use ALL of your uniquely banded software however you want. For example…
Sell as your own (UNLIMITED)
Sell rights (UNLIMITED)
Create bundles (UNLIMITED)
Create new versions (UNLIMITED)
Use as bonuses (UNLIMITED)
Use as lead magnets (UNLIMITED)
Give away as viral traffic magnets (UNLIMITED)
I happen to be a big believer in list building, so I think using them as lead magnets is one of the smartest things you could do. That’s why we’re including squeeze pages to go along with each of the seven software programs.
You get seven squeeze pages, which include sales copy written for each of the software, and are completely customizable and easily brandable…
Click Here to Watch Full Video
In our businesses, we usually like to create E-covers for the software that we sell or give away. So we wanted to make it easy for you to create E-covers for all of your custom-branded software too.
We couldn’t include finalized E-covers in this package, because they wouldn’t have YOUR name on them. So… We’re including a package of easily customizable E-cover templates! I made and included a tutorial video showing you how to use them. You can use them with Photoshop OR with a 100% free tool that we will show you!
This way you can easily generate custom 3D E-covers for all of your new software! (if you enjoy it, you could turn that into another income stream LOL)
Lastly, in case you were wondering… HOW does the brander tool work?
I’m glad you asked, because this is the best part of all. You basically click a few buttons, type in your desired name and links, and it can be done in under a minute.
YES, you really can do it in under 1 minute. If you want 100% undeniable PROOF, go watch the video at the top of this page! You’ll see!
Click Here to Watch Full Video
As you can see in the illustration above, there are three spots in step four where you can put your own advertisements into the software. I want to mention that those are optional. You can use one of them, some of them, or all of them. The software will look fine with or without them.
I also want to mention that we’re including ad templates to make it extra easy for you to put your own advertisements in those spots.
I could go on and on about all the things you can do with this software, especially considering the UNRESTRICTED PLR license that you’re getting today, BUT…
At the top of this letter I said that I would keep it short. So I’m going to completely SKIP all the typical “adding value” and “creating desire” paragraphs that I would normally include here…
I’m not even going to take the time to write one of my proven “closing value propositions”. Again it’s just not necessary…
I’ve told and shown you simply and clearly what you’re getting today. You can easily see all the ways you will benefit from this, and how much of a great return on investment it can have for your business.
Click Here to Watch Full Video | https://medium.com/@it-61516/best-way-to-to-make-brand-customize-software-fec6b0698e77 | ['M Sarfuddeen'] | 2020-12-18 20:00:58.506000+00:00 | ['Custom Software', 'Custom Software Solution', 'Branding', 'Custom Software Developer', 'Brand Strategy'] |
3 Habits of People Who Fake Their High Self-Esteem | 3 Habits of People Who Fake Their High Self-Esteem
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
It’s time to watch my favorite reality show again.
Most of the time I know how the episode’s going to go. A little bit of scripted drama, mixed with some fun trip to Bali, mixed with women saying “I’m that bitch” but constantly getting into abusive relationships with other men.
I know this is reality TV and I don’t put much stock into it, but this has been a recurring theme with people I’ve met personally in my life. There was this cool chick in my band class who acted like no one was worth her time. She exuded so much confidence every time she walked into the room that I almost wanted to be her.
I realized it was all a facade when she kept getting into getting into horrible relationships with other guys and had a mental breakdown in front of me on the bus.
So here are three habits of people who fake their high self-esteem. | https://medium.com/illumination/3-habits-of-people-who-fake-their-high-self-esteem-19c35979c1b2 | ['Khadejah Jones'] | 2020-12-18 23:23:48.880000+00:00 | ['Life', 'Life Lessons', 'Encouragement', 'Confidence', 'Self'] |
[EBOOK]-Yoga and Fertility: A Journey to Health and Healing | DOWNLOAD>>>>>> http://co.readingbooks.host??book=1936303329
Yoga and Fertility: A Journey to Health and Healing
READ>>>>> http://co.readingbooks.host??book=1936303329
Yoga and Fertility offers a wealth of information for women who are trying to conceive, whether or not they are already yoga practitioners. Jill and Lynn are highly experienced yoga teachers and practitioners, who have been teaching yoga for fertility classes and workshops for many years.The book clearly shows how yoga can help with fertility, as well as explaining specific benefits of the yoga poses. Yoga practices are offered in a useful, practical way with plenty of photos and clear descriptions. Readers will easily be able to do these simple but effective practices at home, regardless of previous yoga experience.In addition to yoga routines, the authors suggest approaches such as breathing practices, visualizations, affirmations and the use of complementary medicine modalities to improve fertility. They also discuss other factors which may impact fertility, such as stress, nutrition, body weight and exercise, and provide an overview of recent research on these topics, as well as positive suggestions to address these areas.Personal anecdotes and stories, including students’ success stories, are woven into the text. Women who are interested in learning about natural ways to enhance fertility, or who are currently dealing with with fertility challenges will find this book
Books are a valuable source of knowledge that affects society in different ways. Whether you are reading a masterpiece by an award-winning author or narrating a bedtime story to children, the significance of books cannot be overemphasized.
Human beings need to learn and stay informed, which are crucial needs that books can fulfill. They are also essential for entertainment and enable individuals to develop wholesome mindsets throughout their lives.
“Millions of books have been published over the years and they continue to be an integral aspect of people’s lives around the globe.
From making it easier to understand different aspects of life to serve as worthwhile companions that take you through challenging times, books have proven to be precious commodities.
Books are essential in a variety of ways that go beyond enriching your mind or entertaining you. They have stood the test of time as reliable references for centuries. They stimulate your senses and promote good mental health. Other benefits include enhancing your vocabulary, allowing you to travel through words, and inspiring positivity through motivational literature.
While the internet and television are useful in their own ways, nothing can compare to a great book. Books ignite your imagination, give you new ideas, challenge your perspectives, provide solutions, and share wisdom. At every stage of your existence, you can find a relevant book that will add value to your personal and professional life.
Books are filled with knowledge and they teach you valuable lessons about life. They give you insight into how to navigate aspects of fear, love, challenges, and virtually every part of life. Books have been in existence since time immemorial and they hold secrets of the past while providing a glimpse of the cultures of previous civilizations.
A book has the power to change or reinforce how you feel about your surroundings. It is a therapeutic resource that can equip you with the tools you need to stay on track and maintain a good attitude. Whether you want to learn a new language or delve into the intrigues of nature, there is a book for every situation.
There are numerous reasons why books are important. Reading books is a popular hobby as people around the world rely on them for relief and entertainment. Books contain records of history and are used to spread vital information. Reading books helps to improve your communication skills and learn new things. It can be useful for easing anxiety among students and professionals.
Other reasons that highlight how important books are in their positive impact on intelligence, writing abilities, and analytical skills. Books give people a great way to escape into another dimension. They are packed with endless possibilities for adventure and experiences that would be difficult to access in reality.
It is essential for people to strive to include books in their daily lives aside from using them for academic or professional purposes. They aid emotional and mental growth, boost confidence, and sharpen your memory. It is natural for people to be curious and want to learn more, which is why books are still significant today.
Books are a valuable source of knowledge that affects society in different ways. Whether you are reading a masterpiece by an award-winning author or narrating a bedtime story to children, the significance of books cannot be overemphasized.
Human beings need to learn and stay informed, which are crucial needs that books can fulfill. They are also essential for entertainment and enable individuals to develop wholesome mindsets throughout their lives.
“ | https://medium.com/@susanhawkins_92024/download-http-co-readingbooks-host-book-1936303329-38537fc8b258 | [] | 2021-12-13 01:30:03.020000+00:00 | ['Download', 'Reading', 'Book', 'Read', 'eBook'] |
Speed is a feature: Introducing Fwumious Wabbit | We are announcing open source release of Fwumious Wabbit, an extremely fast implementation of Logistic Regression and Field-Aware Factorization Machines written in Rust.
At Outbrain we are invested in fast on-line machine learning at a massive scale. We don’t update our models once a day or even once an hour, we update them every few minutes.
This means we need very fast and efficient model research, training and serving. We’ve evaluated many options and concluded that Vowpal Wabbit is the most efficient tool out there in terms of cpu cycles. To the best of our knowledge this used to be the fastest online learning you could get.
Today we are introducing Fwumious Wabbit — a machine learning tool for logistic regression and FFM that is partly compatible with Vowpal Wabbit. Fwumious Wabbit’s main feature is simply speed.
Here’s the comparison to Vowpal Wabbit on a synthetic dataset. Also in our tests Tensorflow on the CPU was an order of magnitude slower than Fwumious. | https://medium.com/@andraztori/speed-is-a-feature-introducing-fwumious-wabbit-1cc9573ea7be | ['Andraz Tori'] | 2020-11-18 10:56:20.396000+00:00 | ['Factorization Machine', 'Logistic Regression', 'Automl', 'Data Science', 'Machine Learning'] |
A Mish Mash of Thoughts That Might Piss You Off | One of the reasons I love Hillary Clinton so much is because she’s her authentic self. She said in the Hulu Documentary that she’s neither as good nor as bad as people say she is. She has always done what she wanted and said things when the microphones were in her face that people didn’t always like. I love her for it. As someone who also says things that others don’t always like and try to live my authentic self, I appreciate her so much. Some people have said to me that others have said “I just don’t like her” about me without any specific evidence. I have heard that so many times in 2016 about Hillary Clinton. I hope someday I’m able to tell her how inspiring she is for simply just being herself with no fakeness or apologies.
Most peoples’ opinions of Democratic politicians are deadass wrong and it’s really fucking irritating. Have you listened to the first season of Hillary’s Podcast? Have you heard her thoughtful questions? How prepared she is in these interviews? How she genuinely is moved and inspired by others and how she wants us to know about these wonderful people she has the privilege to know? If all your knowledge of her is based on social media commentary over the past several years, you’d think she was a completely different person than who she actually is. White people seem to love to form their opinions of others based on their own ideology and cognitive dissonance and not based on reality. Stop that shit immediately. It makes you sound stupid and bigoted, no matter whose side you claim to be on politically.
While we’re on the subject of Hillary’s Podcast, I just want to say how much I adore Stacey Abrams. Again, she is so much more then the shell of opinions people base on their political ideology and cognitive dissonance. | https://medium.com/@beckymurphy/a-mish-mash-of-thoughts-that-might-piss-you-off-7c4dfe617f11 | ['Becky Murphy'] | 2020-12-23 00:50:05.338000+00:00 | ['Democratic Party', 'Hillary Clinton', 'Anti Racism', 'Politics', 'Republican Party'] |
Every Follicle Is Part of the Solution | Every Follicle Is Part of the Solution
Fatherhood on Friday: Betting your self-worth on fixing the unfixable is destined to fail. Be like Theodore Roosevelt and grow a mustache. Dad 2.0 Oct 16, 2020·4 min read
Now that Dad 2.0 Digital is over, we’re focused on the reality of what’s next. And that can seem a daunting chore, since each day can feel like an ever-lengthening to-do list. Projects to complete (or start), errands to run, problems to fix.
That last one can be a real kick in the teeth, since a lot of us dads are hard-wired to “fix” things that are simply unfixable. We can re-pave a hole in the driveway, for example, but holes in our relationships are thornier problems, because they’re not just about us. Given a self-imposed binary directive of “fix or fail” sets us up for inevitable failure, followed by tailspins of inadequacy.
The answer, then, is to fight a problem by doing our best to be part of the solution, and by embracing Theodore Roosevelt’s famous line: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” (Even if where you are is stuck in your house.)
For us, this means hosting digital conferences of our own and supporting others like Dad@Home Con, in order to energize and promote the work of modern fathers. It means taking part in campaigns like the #HowRightNow initiative (see below), which wants parents to keep talking about the stress and anxiety we face daily. And it means once again joining up with Life of Dad, City Dads Group, and the National At-Home Dad Network for Movember, to fund research into improving men’s mental and physical health.
If you’d like to help by growing a mustache, committing to a fitness regimen, or sending our team a few bucks, please click here. It won’t necessarily fix anything, but we’re happy to settle for the short-term benefit of doing good works.
ON THE PODCAST: Casey Palmer Opened the Big Door
For Episode 52, we celebrated Thanksgiving in Canada with Torontonian Casey Palmer, who talks about revamping his SEO strategy, raising biracial sons, and deciding that “PR-friendliness” isn’t worth muzzling your truth. This episode was sponsored by Mediavine and Constant Contact.
IN THE NEWS
Yesterday, we participated in a campaign for the #HowRightNow initiative, which helps parents take 10–15 minutes each day to focus on alleviating stress, anxiety, or sadness during COVID.
Matthew McConaughey says being a father was his only dream. Which is notable, since he’s realized a lot of them.
What started as a simple strategy to de-clutter his kitchen became a YouTube video, a sponsor’s support, and messages of gratitude from teachers, parents, and students all over the county.
One of the first things Lindsay Torres will do as a married woman is donate her stem cells to treat her dad’s leukemia.
“Garage Talk” is gathering a following on Facebook, but Kyle hopes these live videos teach his 10-year-old daughter Bernie “to be confident and kind.”
Three photos staged with his daughter, in the same pose at the same spot over 25 years, have gone viral, but he’s just happy “so many people can see how proud I am of her.”
Steven Thomas, who was born on Halloween , grows a full pumpkin patch for his daughter every year.
This graphic listing the best times to post on various social media platforms is food for promotional thought. Set your schedules accordingly.
From our friend Julie Jargon: Lots of great tips about remote learning that will help minimize facepalming and headdesking.
PORCHLIGHT POSTS
“My dad gave me the gift of a lifetime; he took me to the seventh game of the 1960 World Series.” — Evans Paull, Thanks, Dad, for the gift of a lifetime
“We don’t live only within the physical confines of the house. Our home is the world in which we live. It needs a lot of repair.” — David Stanley, A Michigan Letter in Fall. October 2020
“We’d worked so hard. He’d come so far. When he was in college, he had soared. I would not let him crash back to earth, defeated.” — Michael Beckett, The Long Road to Fatherhood
“My father took a long break from his job to accompany me as I drove 45,000 miles, shook tens of thousands of hands and knocked on thousands of doors.” — Ted Ladd, Losing An Election: Observations From The Candidate And His Father
“As the pandemic stretches on, we’ll need to frame things in this appreciative way to make the most of the hand we’ve been dealt.” — Jordan Salama, We Still See Silver Linings
‘GRAM OF THE WEEK
Do you receive the Dad 2.0 Newsletter? You should! Each week, we share all kinds of information, news, and content by and about modern fathers. Add it to your inbox! It’s the perfect way to start each weekend.
To be featured, share your fatherhood news and/or stories with us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and/or Medium using the #FoF hashtag! | https://medium.com/@dad2summit/every-follicle-is-part-of-the-solution-8fe8898ee546 | [] | 2020-10-16 17:30:33.715000+00:00 | ['Fatherhood', 'Social Good', 'Theodore Roosevelt', 'Dads', 'Movember'] |
Ten Things I Learnt This Year | If you read my posts, you’ll know that I love to get reflective. And what better time than as 2020 draws to a close.
Looking back, you are able to see what this year has brought. The ups and the downs, the memories, the things you’d prefer to forget, the successes, the achievements, to see how far you’ve come but importantly, to observe what you have learnt. Part of growing up and time moving on is maturing, learning more about yourself, your values and your ethics.
Despite this crazy year with not too much going on other than a global pandemic, a host of lockdowns and tier systems, I have learnt some valuable lessons that I want to share.
Don’t over think ‘what’s next’ — live in the present and make the most of this exact moment. Planning or overthinking your next move can mean you totally forget to enjoy what is happening right now Spend more time doing the things that make you happy — as I think we’ve all realised this year life is too short to not do the things that make you happy even if it’s silly things. Whatever it is that gives you happiness, indulge in it! Fully immerse yourself in it and get lost in that amazing moment Life is precious — say no more True colours will show — everyone’s true colours will show at some point. It is at that point you decide whether you want that person/people in your life or not You are unique in every single way — out of every single person in this world, there isn’t another person like you. Any city, any town, any country, any continent there is no one like you. That is something to be proud of. It’s something to make count The small things matter the most — our health, a walk outside with friends, a simple hug. This year has been a big change and stripping us back to the core with only technology to communicate and utilising what we have around us as best we can has shown that it really is the simple and small things Turning your weaknesses into your greatest strengths is possible — your weaknesses or what you find difficult don’t have to stay as weaknesses. Everything can change if you work at it and give it the chance Trust your gut —intuition is an immediate understanding of something. You just know. Sometimes you need to trust your gut and go with it. It’s not just your head and your heart you can listen to Sometimes you need to be a bit selfish — looking after ourselves and doing what’s best for us as individuals is important. We neglect ourselves, put others first to the detriment of our own health and happiness. On planes we are told to put our own oxygen mask on before helping others… save yourself, work on yourself, treat yourself to be your best and happiest and you’ll be able to be the best version of you for those around you It’s easy to make someone’s day— sometimes people feel invisible. Eye contact, a text, a smile, a quick call. It really isn’t hard to cheer someone up. Someone you don’t even know, or even a friend or family member. Show that somebody you care
Call me crazy, but I’m excited to see my learnings from next year already!
Have you learnt anything in this crazy year? The year that will be remembered as one of the maddest in history! | https://medium.com/claudia-amy-salador/ten-things-i-learnt-this-year-75bc8a15050e | ['Claudia Salador'] | 2020-12-24 15:52:37.216000+00:00 | ['Lifestyle', 'Tenthings', 'New Year Resolution', 'Reflections'] |
Learn the basics of the Ethereum JSON API in 5 minutes | Learn the basics of the Ethereum JSON API in 5 minutes Nicolas Schapeler Follow Apr 5 · 2 min read
Photo by Shahadat Rahman on Unsplash
The other day I got myself in a situation where I needed to communicate with the Ethereum network using python in an environment where getting web3.py to work seemed pretty much impossible. Since I still needed to talk to the network, I resorted to using the JSON-RPC API provided by Ethereum, which all web3 libraries are built on top of. Turns out, it’s pretty interesting! So, let’s get started!
Basic setup
First things first — let’s declare a few variables that will be helpful when sending requests later:
To keep things simple, we use an Infura Node to connect to the Ethereum Ropsten Testnet. You can get an API Key for that here.
Your first request
Let’s get our feet wet by fetching the current gas price of the network. We can do this by simply doing:
How did I know what method to use and what parameters to send? It can all be found in the official Ethereum docs.
Getting the latest Block
Let’s try something a bit more interesting — let’s fetch the latest block and see what we can read from there!
Let’s have a closer look at one of the transactions:
You’re probably starting to get the pattern of how these calls work, so let’s try something a little more advanced:
Sending Transactions
First, let’s create a new account using the web3.py library and load it with some Ropsten ether. I like to use this faucet.
To send a transaction, we need the nonce. This too we can fetch with the RPC JSON API using the same pattern as above:
Next, we create and sign our transaction and send it off using the JSON RPC API once more:
If you’re testing on a different Ethereum (Test)net, make sure to set the chain Id accordingly.
Notice how we were able to reuse the gas price which we fetched at the beginning.
Conclusion
And that’s all! You just learned the basics of interacting with the most influential blockchain in the world using the JSON RPC Ethereum API! You can find the code for all this here.
Thanks for following along!
Nicolas
If you liked this, give this story a couple of claps so more people can see it!
If you LOVED this, buy me a coffee :)
Ethereum: 0x190d71ba3738f43dc6075f5561e58ac9d4e3dfc2
Bitcoin: 1BRucWzs2vnrkfmbfss14ZQErW74A1H1KE
Litecoin: LbNfoJfTFVCj7GFaAUtWqhitHJcJ3m8y3V | https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/learn-the-basics-of-the-ethereum-json-api-in-5-minutes-bc52966dea97 | ['Nicolas Schapeler'] | 2020-04-06 12:21:01.448000+00:00 | ['Python', 'API', 'Blockchain', 'Ethereum', 'Programming'] |
The CDC must extend its eviction moratorium, now | Dear Dr. Redfield and Dr. Schuchat,
As a homeless health care provider, committed advocate, and researcher, I write to ask that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention act now to extend its moratorium on eviction of renters. You should take this action based on imminent risks to public health, threats to hospital capacity, and the humanitarian interests of children and families whose lives have been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic.
I am sure you know that these risks have been exacerbated by the impasse between the Congress and the President. The United States Census Bureau estimates that 11.3 million households are behind on rent or will not be able to pay rent next month, a figure that agrees with the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s estimate of 30–40 million individuals at risk, with 9–17 million households risking eviction in 2021. The National Multifamily Housing Council reports a 4.4% decline in the percentage of apartments it tracks, which focus on conventional commercial units. Their estimate is concerning since it tends to underestimate eviction risk by counting high-risk indicators as a form of “payment”, namely a partial rent payment, and the conversion of security deposits to rent. Both signal that the renter will likely be in serious trouble the following month.
Evictions cause harm. They can be harmful to health, traumatic for children, and detrimental to their education. A record of eviction affects each adult’s opportunities to contribute to our future economic recovery, since that eviction serves as a “red letter” that will limit future housing, credit and employment opportunities.
Worse, we already know that most communities are in no position to mitigate the public health or humanitarian risks of a new wave of evictions. Last ditch housing arrangements, like staying with family, are less available to renters with poor families. This means that new-onset homelessness will fall disproportionately on persons who are from racial and ethnic minority groups, disabled, and poor. Communities are not equipped to buffer this shock, despite their best efforts.
Research from the University of California, Los Angeles found states that lifted eviction moratoria underwent a two-fold increase in the incidence of COVID-19 disease, and a 5.4-fold greater mortality at 16 weeks, compared to states that did not. At this moment, our hospitals lack the capacity to shoulder such a burden, and that is one reason this is a public health issue, not just a homeless issue.
In offering this request, I do not wish to minimize in any way the crucial interests of landlords, many of whom operate just a few properties on a “mom-and-pop” basis and whose economic situation is dire. Many are from racial and ethnic minority groups. Their willingness to rent property is a crucial asset to our already-stressed housing market. The now-stymied relief bill offered one avenue of relief: $25 billion in rental assistance. In the near term, some form of rental help must go forward, or both landlords and tenants face a cataclysm.
But right now, protection of the public health requires the CDC to continue its moratorium on eviction or we face a further rise in infection, and hospitalizations.
Sincerely
Stefan G. Kertesz, MD, MSc
Professor of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Homeless-focused physician since 1996 | https://medium.com/@stefankertesz/the-cdc-must-extend-its-eviction-moratorium-now-c91c5f48eebb | ['Stefan Kertesz', 'Md'] | 2020-12-27 21:14:27.867000+00:00 | ['Cdc', 'Homelessness', 'Covid-19', 'Eviction'] |
The Beach (2000) • 20 Years Later | The Beach (2000) • 20 Years Later
An American backpacker travels to Thailand and finds a strange map, said to lead to a solitary beach paradise, which he sets out to find…
Likeable enough, never boring, but self-consciously hip and proclaiming an edginess it doesn’t really have, The Beach resembles nothing so much as its main characters. Sure, it’s fresh and energetic and imaginative on the surface, just like them… but, underneath, there’s not a lot to care about in this tale of an Asian backpacker idyll gone predictably wrong, based on Alex Garland’s well-received 1996 novel.
Much of the movie is summed up, in fact, by the first lines, where Leonardo DiCaprio introduces himself in voiceover (“my name is Richard”) before pronouncing that family, background, and suchlike don’t matter when you’re a traveller (not a tourist). Of course, what he’ll discover is that, while you can fly away from your hometown easily enough, you can’t so quickly shrug off the moral and cultural values it instilled in you. And we will find out that DiCaprio in this voiceover is speaking ironically, long after the film’s events.
For much of The Beach’s runtime, its makers seem to believe they’ve successfully moved beyond dull, old-fashioned concepts like rounded characters or a compelling storyline. And then, just as DiCaprio eventually learns that even while backpacking in Asia he’s still a middle-class American guy, The Beach reverts eventually to a peculiar and perhaps unexpected conservatism. Once director Danny Boyle and writer John Hodge have had their kicks with the Thai locations and the sex and the drugs and the look-at-me-aren’t-I-original camera effects, The Beach ends up oddly implying that alternative lifestyles in foreign locales are rather dangerous and possibly best avoided.
The plot is simple, and despite its superficially realistic up-to-the-minuteness, it’s so packed with the stuff of fairy tales or adventure stories — a legendary isle, a map, a sea monster, a wicked witch — that it’s tempting to wonder whether it might not all be DiCaprio’s doped-up Richard dreams in some sweaty Bangkok hostel. That is, indeed, where it all begins as he meets Daffy (Robert Carlyle) and receives from him a map purportedly showing the location of a secret paradise on a small island, the beach of the title.
Richard next hooks up with French couple Étienne (Guillaume Canet) and Françoise (Virginie Ledoyen), who we shouldn’t call characters because they don’t have any characteristics. Étienne’s sole dramatic purpose is to act as a bland voice of common decency when things go off the rails, while Françoise exists only to have a fling with Richard and thus provoke further decency from Étienne.
After not very long, and a few minor escapades in which it’s patently clear that they won’t drown, be shot, etc., they find the titular beach. Here things become slightly more intriguing, as it turns out to be not just a beach but a little community of privileged westerners in search of a simpler lifestyle. Within limits, of course, as Richard observes in voiceover it’s “a beach resort for people who don’t like beach resorts.” Moreover, it’s ruled (she wouldn’t use the word, but it’s the right one) by Sal (Tilda Swinton), and it’s her insistence on preserving the community at all costs that lead to eventual disaster.
That’s pretty much it as far as plot goes, and one of the central problems with the movie is immediately evident: with the exception of Sal, nobody in The Beach has much in the way of goals they’re pursuing or problems to face. They’re mostly just content to take each day as it comes.
As a result, nearly all the narrative twists and turns have to derive from Sal and her decisions; and even then, at least until the end, the rest of the commune tend to obey her without complaint. When she banishes Richard to a hillside for endangering the community’s secrecy, he doesn’t fight back, or plot against her. He just goes and hangs out on the hillside. This may be quite believable, but it doesn’t make for high drama.
Boyle and cinematographer Darius Khondji do their best to make up for this problematic stasis at the heart of The Beach with an array of razzle-dazzle visuals, which became Boyle’s trademark: time-lapse photography, aerial shots, light trails, and of course the famed sequence where Richard appears to be running within a video game. Composer Angelo Badalamenti obliges with a terrifically varied score, and the soundtrack (also including 13 songs from the likes of Blur, Moby, and Leftfield) plays a large role in keeping the film alive.
Many of the performers help with that, too, and if their characters are a bit affectedly “characterful” then so, of course, were many of their counterparts in real life. The stand-out is Swinton, extraordinarily self-contained and not a little chilling in her utter determination. If she doesn’t look the nearly-40 she was when the movie came out, though, the most striking thing to contemporary eyes about DiCaprio is how young he looks (he was about 25).
His characterisation of Richard is initially uninteresting, but that’s surely intentional… because at the start of the movie Richard’s bland and just another young guy in search of excitement. DiCaprio captures his naivety nicely, mixing slight over-enthusiasm (look at the way he walks) with conservative caution. As his voiceover confesses, he’s “shit-scared of the great unknown, desperate to take a little piece of home with me”.
As the film progresses he discovers a much darker side in himself (indicated by Boyle with rather ham-fistedly obvious allusions to Apocalypse Now), and DiCaprio carries off this sudden change without too much abruptness. Already, at this stage of his career he was showing signs that he would mature into the masterful actor of movies like The Revenant (2015) and Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019), even if many at the time still saw him as the teen idol of Titanic (1997).
However, though it’s a fault of the script more than the actor, DiCaprio’s transformation in The Beach is never followed through. By the conclusion, he’s suddenly a nice guy again, with the result that retrospectively the more devious, feral aspects of the character seem unconvincing. We have to believe that either the malign power of Swinton’s Sal… or even, less plausibly, the jungle itself… altered him temporarily. Both notions are close to silliness, but it’s certainly true the island itself starts to feel as oppressive as any particular danger it contains.
Also notable in the cast is Paterson Joseph as Keaty, a cricket-playing, Daily Telegraph-reading member of the beach commune who seems more genuine (in every sense) than most. Daniel Caltagirone is fun if OTT as its chef, nicknamed Unhygienix after the Asterix character, while in early scenes Carlyle makes an effectively unnerving contrast to the more conventional DiCaprio.
Canet and Ledoyen do what they can with their parts as the French pair, but the script asks surprisingly little of them, even though for a long time it gives the (misleading) impression that Ledoyen’s Françoise might become core to the plot and that Richard’s lust for her will be the source of trouble in paradise.
Some individual sequences stand out, too, many of them involving a criminal gang that guards a marijuana plantation elsewhere on the island, and there is some genuine humour, largely unsophisticated and physical. One of the most powerful — to be frank, one of the few powerful — elements in the film, though, involves Canet’s Étienne tending a wounded commune member. Upset by his screams as gangrene spreads through his body, the rest of the travellers have confined him to a tent distant from their settlement, so they can party in peace.
Clearly The Beach is trying to make a point here: that for all their talk of community and seeing the world, the travellers are ultimately selfish and unwilling to get too close to reality. But at other times, it’s not quite clear what (if anything) it’s trying to say! This movie is blatantly packed with themes-from colonialism to tourism, to the Vietnam War to Lord of the Flies (plus added weed), to the danger of secrets — yet it’s difficult to escape the notion that they’re nothing more than vaguely cool-seeming concepts thrown in to give it, you know, relevance.
And then, in the final moments of the movie, there’s a weirdly positive summation in DiCaprio’s voiceover: “If you find that moment [of perfection], it lasts forever.” It’s not clear whether he’s referring to the commune in general, or Ledoyen’s Françoise specifically, but in any case, it’s painfully at odds with the traumas that precede it. Either Richard has completely failed to learn the lesson of his experience, or the movie has completely failed in getting across to us whatever it’s trying to say.
The Beach did well at the box office in 2000. It was not a spectacular hit like Trainspotting (1996), which had put director Boyle and writer Hodge on the map along with producer Andrew Macdonald and Robert Carlyle (all of them reunited for The Beach), and nor did it gain the same acclaim. But for those behind the camera, it was a welcome return to success after the fiasco of A Life Less Ordinary (1997).
It was not as celebrated critically as Garland’s novel, either, and departs from the book in several key respects — not least the protagonist’s nationality. The novel’s Richard is British and Sal’s American, but the movie reverses their origins, presumably to accommodate the casting of DiCaprio. (Ewan McGregor, another one of the Trainspotting team, had originally been intended for the role and his relationship with Boyle was sour for years when he plumped for the better-known DiCaprio.)
The Beach suffers from a central lack of dramatic drive, with plot threads introduced but barely developed. It lacks a single, clearly identifiable challenge which would have us rooting for DiCaprio, or at least interested in his fate. The characters are mostly just outlines, so we don’t feel we know them, or even care about them. It can seem quaintly dated as well (Thailand as the height of exoticism!) and it probably isn’t done many favours by the small screen.
None of this is to say it’s terrible, of course. Swinton’s terrific, DiCaprio is subtly impressive, and the locations are certainly interesting. There are some smiles, there are a few edge-of-the-seat passages, and there’s a shark (always a plus)… but it’s impossible not to suspect that Boyle and company set out to make a big profound statement about the zeitgeist, or something, and ended up saying nothing much at all.
Cast & Crew
director: Danny Boyle.
writer: John Hodge (based on the novel by Alex Garland).
starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tilda Swinton, Virginie Ledoyen, Guillaume Canet & Robert Carlyle.
Originally published at https://www.framerated.co.uk on February 11, 2020. | https://medium.com/framerated/the-beach-2000-20-years-later-f7d9e59c0af9 | [] | 2020-02-12 18:31:01.341000+00:00 | ['Retrospectives', 'Culture', 'Movies', 'Review', 'Film'] |
Crowd Machine and Game Loot Network Announce Strategic Partnership | Crowd Machine and Game Loot Network Announce Strategic Partnership
PRESS RELEASE: Decentralized app development platform and mobile social gaming company partner to create tokenized mobile social gaming product.
San Jose, CA & Sheridan, WY, United States — 14 February 2018
San Jose, CA & Sheridan, WY, United States, 14 February 2018 — Crowd Machine, the distributed computer for building decentralized apps, today announced that it has formed a strategic partnership with leading mobile social gaming platform Game Loot Network.
The partnership will see Game Loot Network use Crowd Machine’s platform to create a blockchain-enabled extension to their existing Loot Hub product. This new product will then proceed to a Token Sale scheduled for mid 2018.
“We knew that in order to realize our vision for extending and tokenizing the Loot Hub, we needed a best-in-class partner and technology platform,” commented Lance Baker, founder and President of Game Loot Network.
“The partnership with Crowd Machine will help us to significantly accelerate our plans for this project. We are excited to not only gain access to their very impressive platform, but also to their substantial expertise in blockchain and decentralized app development.”
Crowd Machine’s platform has 3 parts: The Crowd App Studio, a zero-code app development tool; Crowd Share, a developer repository of app components; and Crowd Computer, cloud hosting facilities. Throughout its development, the platform has been road-tested with Fortune 500 organizations; customers include GE, Kone and Aon Hewitt.
Launched in 2016, Game Loot Network is a mobile gaming community that provides gamers with a live, social gaming system. With over 45,000 registered users, the company’s affiliate program provides both gamers and games developers with the opportunity to earn money while pursuing their passion for social gaming.
“The growth that Game Loot Network has experienced to date is very impressive, and speaks to their innovative approach,” said Craig Sproule, CEO and founder of Crowd Machine.
“Taking the next step and creating a blockchain-enabled, tokenized product only reinforces their position as the market leader. We’re excited to work with them to create a cutting-edge new product with a decentralized mobile app.”
To further cement the relationship, Crowd Machine will be extending a special invitation to Game Loot Network users to join their bounty program and whitelist, in advance of their Token Sale scheduled for 1 April 2018.
“We’re delighted to be able to offer our users the opportunity to participate in Crowd Machine’s bounty program and upcoming Token Sale,” commented Baker. “We believe that Crowd Machine’s offering will have great appeal, particularly to our games developers and cryptocurrency enthusiasts in our network.”
<end> | https://medium.com/crowd-machine/crowd-machine-and-game-loot-network-announce-strategic-partnership-4c14c907f674 | ['Crowd Machine'] | 2018-02-15 23:47:31.932000+00:00 | ['Game Loot Network', 'Crowd Machine', 'ICO', 'Decentralized Apps', 'Token Sale'] |
VCoL in action: Learning the way our brains are designed to learn | Our brains are exquisitely designed to support a particular kind of learning—one in which knowledge, understanding, and skill are co-constructed in a spiraling dance that’s spurred on by our inborn motivational system.
See our growing collection of free good-in-a-crisis micro-VCoLs at LecticaLive.
In this article, I explain how the brain is designed to learn and how VCoLs—especially micro-VCoLs™—leverage this design to optimize learning.
VCoL (the virtuous cycle of learning), is designed to optimize learning. It’s most effective when VCoLs are small, focused, relevant, and habitual. We call VCoLs with these characteristics micro-VCoLs.
What is a micro-VCoL?
Micro-VCoLs are frequently iterated learning cycles that are embedded in everyday activities. Like any VCoL, they involve setting a learning goal, gathering information, applying information, and reflecting on outcomes (preferably with input from others). But in the case of the micro-VCoL, the focus is on the smaller skills (micro-skills) that make up more complex sets of skills.
We’re born doing an unconscious version of micro-VCoLing, and some of us never stop. Lectica’s micro-VCoL process is a more conscious version. In adolescence and adulthood, conscious micro-VCoLing is more effective than unconscious micro-VCoLing, partly because keeping it conscious gives us some control over our unconscious inborn cognitive biases.
But that’s a topic for a future article. This article is about how micro-VCoLs leverage the brain’s learning architecture. Let’s begin by considering the nature of knowledge and learning.
How learning works
Despite the fact that learning scientists have known for at least100 years that the brain isn’t a container, most schools around the world treat knowledge as if it is stuff.
VCoLs never treat knowledge like stuff.
There is now broad agreement that learning is about making connections, and that these connections are strengthened most effectively when we repeatedly apply knowledge and skills in the real world.
Micro-VCoLs are all about making connections through repeated application of knowledge and skills in diverse real-world contexts.
But as important as application is, it’s only part of the story. Each application of knowledge or skill benefits from some form of reflection on its outcome.
Micro-VCoLs always follow applications of knowledge or skill with brief conscious reflections. These reflections provide an opportunity for our conscious brains to optimize what we learn from an application, and decide how we want to remember the experience.
The connectome
The connectome is a relatively recent addition to our knowledge about learning. As shown in the image below (where strands represent connections), what we learn is often connected across different parts of the brain.
Brains that are highly interconnected perform better on a wide range of tasks than brains that are less interconnected.
Other recent findings from neuroscience suggest that all conscious experience, including emotional experience, is fundamentally cognitive (LeDoux & Brown, 2017). This research, along with connectome research, contradicts the popular notion that emotion and cognition are fundamentally different.
Micro-VCoLs, which are always practiced in real-world contexts and often involve interacting with others, ensure that every learning moment calls on multiple parts of the brain. Moreover, because they are practiced frequently in diverse contexts, they ensure that skills and knowledge become transferable and agile.
The dopamine-opioid cycle
Our brains are equipped with a motivational mechanism called the dopamine-opioid cycle. If you’ve been following the current opioid epidemic, you’ve probably heard about this cycle, which is notorious for its role in addiction. Unfortunately its less well known for what may be its primary function — motivating learning.
The dopamine-opioid cycle keeps us moving forward — even when learning poses painful challenges. It’s why we all learn to walk, despite numerous trips and dips along the way. If the dopamine-opioid cycle isn’t derailed by formal education, people can remain addicted to learning for a lifetime.
Micro-VCoLs leverage the dopamine-opioid cycle by targeting skills that are in an individual learner’s Goldilocks zone, then showing the learner how to continuously increase the learning challenge as they cycle through the four steps of the VCoL process.
It’s a bit of a challenge to (re)learn how to micro-VCoL as an adult, but for those who take up the challenge, micro-VCoLing not only ushers in a faster and more satisfying way of learning, it opens a greater depth of awareness. For some, it’s like seeing the world through a whole new lens.
References
Baggio, H. C., Segura, B., Junque, C., de Reus, M. A., Sala-Llonch, R., & Van den Heuvel, M. P. (2015). Rich club organization and cognitive performance in healthy older participants. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 27, 1801–1810.
Crossleya, N. A., Mechelli, A., Vértes, P. E., Winton-Brown, T. T., Patel, A. X., Ginestet, C. E., . . . Bullmore, E. T. (2013). Cognitive relevance of the community structure of the human brain functional coactivation network. Proceedings of the Nationa Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110.
LeDoux, J. E., & Brown, R. (2017). A higher-order theory of emotional consciousness. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 114(10), E2016-E2025. doi:10.1073/pnas.1619316114
Smith, K., Bastin, M. E., Cox, S. R., Valdés Hernández, M. C., Wiseman, S., Escudero, J., & Sudlow, C. (2019). Hierarchical complexity of the adult human structural connectome. Neuroimage, 191, 205–215. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.02.028 | https://medium.com/@theo-dawson/vcol-in-action-learning-the-way-our-brains-were-designed-to-learn-2c01782a4d14 | ['Theo Dawson'] | 2021-01-04 12:41:21.797000+00:00 | ['Learning And Development', 'How To Learn', 'Adult Learning', 'Vcol'] |
The best businesses to start nowadays in a third-world country | The best businesses to start nowadays in a third-world country
Third World countries are developing countries that are still in the process of growing to their full potential and reaching the criteria required to be a developed country.
Photo by Barik5ive from Pexels
Such countries are the favorite place for businesses to grow since there is a big market waiting there for businesses to cater to their needs.
Firstly, in most developing countries you will find interest rates for loans quite high.
Secondly, you have to struggle a lot when it comes to getting documentation, registration, and office work. Thirdly, there is uncertainty to your business since the government mostly are not that great when it comes to supporting business and also the corruption and poor tax policies.
Here are ten business ideas that prosper in third world countries.
1). Real Estate Business
Before a country goes into the developing phase it mostly remains an agricultural country or most of the lands remain covered with forest. But as soon as it starts to get into developing mode, agricultural and forest land is utilized to build rail, road, infrastructures, residential apartments, special economic zones, etc.
Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash
The land which was quite cheap to buy suddenly becomes costly. The best way to earn money is to go into the real estate business. Buy some cheap land at places that are seeing new development work like installation of a factory or business house. Then you can build residential apartments or office space and can sell or rent it.
Those who have been into this business in developing countries are now today billionaires. There is a lot of money and support that comes from the government given the huge demand for houses especially in urban areas that are the epicenter of jobs and business.
2). Medicare and Hospitality Service:
Though the medical field is a noble profession yet it is certainly a business. You can certainly go to opening pharmaceutical shops that sell medicines and other medical items. Since developing countries require strong healthcare support your business will certainly see success since there is no shortage of diseases and patients in developing countries with poor hygiene.
Photo by Yilmaz Akin on Unsplash
You can also try your hands in building standard hospitals or medical centers that can be profitable to both you and your customers. To be very frank, medical shops are doing extremely well in countries like India where the medical sector is still very weak on behalf of the government thus people are required to buy most of the medicines from private shopkeepers who earn around 10–30% on medicines.
3). Education Sector:
There can’t be anything as flourishing as the education sector in developing countries. Most of them in their growth stage prefer to spend lots of money on education. Especially the parents are ready to spend much money on their children’s education. There are many options for you to start your business. For example, opening a nursery or playschool at a small level or opening a book store that sells books for a different standard for school level.
Photo by Santi Vedrí on Unsplash
There are many national and international level exams that are conducted in every country. To prepare many students to join coaching institutions. One can also invest in this field since the return is very promising and the business is ever-growing. There is no such educational institution that has seen a downfall in the last few decades but has grown to multiple folds.
4). Textile and Fabric Business:
The day you grow rich the first change that can be seen is in your styling sense. Especially in developing countries, wearing good clothes is often seen as rising in standard and wealth. Most developing countries have seen the growth of international brands as those who have earned good sums have spent their money on buying good clothes.
Photo by Volha Flaxeco on Unsplash
The textile industry is also an ever-growing industry since the requirement never dies. With the rise in a craze for international brands, one can cash in by opening chain stores of such international brands at various places.
5). Contract or Contract Building Business:
Photo by Ono Kosuki from Pexels
Since developing countries have an ever-growing demand for infrastructure there is much need for standard contractors and builders who can construct various types of infrastructures. There are local builders and there are standard builders who take big government contracts of building roads, expressways, bridges, and so on.
Based on your plan you can go for the contract business since it is one of the most profitable businesses. Developing countries aim for enhancing their infra thus a lot of money is spent on infra building. If you are able to make good contacts within your area there is a lot of profit out here.
6). Restaurants and Food Services:
What about a franchise of KFC or McDonald’s? Or you can open your own restaurant offering foods loved at that place. Developing countries have shown much interest in food and styling since people become much wealthier thus can afford food of their choice in restaurants.
Photo by Aleks Dorohovich on Unsplash
Countries that have seen growth have also seen growth in the food sector, especially in the restaurant sector. The growth of McDonald’s, KFC, Dominoes, and other such food brands in developing countries have shown how people have opted for tasty food in their daily lives. A standard restaurant in a city never fails to give good returns given you offer tasty food and exemplary service at a reasonable price.
7). Cosmetic, Beauty, and Styling Business:
In the 1990s, Indian girls bragged universal and world titles for beauty pageants that opened the gate for cosmetic products in India. Many attributes that in order to make cosmetic products a success, Indian girls were awarded such titles. The core issue here is, as people get enough money to live a luxurious life they spend a good amount on pampering themselves.
Photo by Sam Moqadam on Unsplash
The success of international cosmetic brands in developing countries has been an example. One can not only try their hands in cosmetics but also in opening beauty parlor, spas, and other such beauty-enhancing stores. Where ever there are women there will be demand for parlors. It is not limited to women now but to men as well. Styling beards, hair trimming in various styles, facials have become common among men as well.
8). Import and Export Business:
Most of the developing countries have been following a market economy rather than a socialist model thus relying fairly on foreign imports and exports. One can invest in the import and export market since it has lots of return.
Photo by Sascha Hormel from Pexels
There are many sectors in which a product is obtained by import or is exported. You can become one such channel of importing and exporting goods. For this good research, great networking and investment are required. Apart from this, you need a good advisor to drive your business to success.
9). Waste and Scrap Business:
Developing countries are struggling a lot when it comes to sanitation and waste management in comparison to developed countries that have a systematic channel for waste management and disposal. One can turn waste into money with just a small initiative.
Photo by Antoine GIRET on Unsplash
You can operate a waste management and disposal business at the city and town level by collecting wastes like plastic, paper, tin, glass, metals, e-waste, etc., and recycle them or send them to a big recycling center. If executed well, this industry is gold in itself since it will only grow with more development and growth. A little investment and sufficient space are all needed to start a business with some network to collect and then sell such waste.
10). Various Kinds of Service Providers:
To things that mostly comprises a business is goods and service. Most of the above business ideas are goods business but service providing business is equally essential for the growth of any country.
Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash
Many businesses have flourished way ahead through service providing. Some fields of servicing are: software solutions, cloud solutions, services related to IT companies, AC service providers, automobile service providers, cleaning services, food services, hospitality services, repairing services, and many more services are there that are growing at a great pace.
Telecom service providers, internet service providers, and computer service providers are one of the most successful service providers. One can try their hands in any of the services they wish for. Home delivery of food is another such common service. You can choose services based on the necessity, requirement, and return expected.
Lastly, I’ll say don't just get ideas, execute them.
Thank you for reading :) | https://medium.com/@writernikunj/the-best-businesses-to-start-nowadays-in-a-third-world-country-95b121ba00e1 | ['Nikunj Savaliya'] | 2020-12-16 12:19:58.722000+00:00 | ['Business Ideas', 'Business Development', 'Ideas To Execution', 'Third World Countries', 'Low Cost Business Ideas'] |
Isn’t it incredible how we were all so excited for the year 2020, celebrating the Roaring 20’s all… | Isn’t it incredible how we were all so excited for the year 2020, celebrating the Roaring 20’s all over again, however, I feel that it’s rather the opposite, we got something similar to the Great Depression. COVID-19 has affected so many Americans in countless ways. One that worries me the most is how many businesses will have to shut down because of the social distancing and stay at home orders. According to the US Department of Labor, they disclosed that 22 million people in the US are out of work and JUST last week 5.2 million people filed for unemployment insurance. How scary petrifying is that?
How can WE help those small businesses that have been surviving paycheck to paycheck to stay open? How do WE help the employees from losing their jobs? How can WE help essential employees feel a little more comfortable while working through a global pandemic? How can WE make people feel more comfortable to go out shopping for essential goods?
Restoration 1 of Colorado Springs is doing an incredible disinfecting service while being flexible with the price because the owner understands the need for this service and understands it’s a difficult time for businesses. This disinfecting service includes full-service cleaning with commercial-grade products that reduce service contamination by 98%. We have been working with factories, convenience stores, homes, and even delivery vehicles. While being able to work with each company as a case to case basis to help them continue to do this cleaning weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly because we understand it can be expensive. As long as the businesses are taking the precautions to keep the property decontaminated by wearing gloves, and masks.
That is how WE can help. | https://medium.com/@kaylee.restoration1cs/isnt-it-incredible-how-we-were-all-so-excited-for-the-year-2020-celebrating-the-roaring-20-s-all-3e230f37ff4d | ['Restoration Of Colorado Springs'] | 2020-04-21 11:51:07.170000+00:00 | ['Coronavirus', 'Colorado', 'Helping Others', 'Commercial', 'Business'] |
You Can Help Stop Microfiber Pollution! | You Can Help Stop Microfiber Pollution!
Microfiber towells, by pasja1000 on Pixabay
Microfiber gives new meaning to the expression “It all comes out in the wash!”
Did you know that our clothes can be a source of deforestation? On top of that, clothes are a major source of microfiber pollution in our rivers, lakes, oceans and soils. But good news, we don’t need to all become nudists! There are actions we can take to prevent microfiber pollution!
Aside from energy and water use, I didn’t think too much about what happens when I toss my clothes into the washer until recently. Then I heard a Green Dreamer podcast interview with Rachael Miller of the Rozalia Project. You might say it was a watershed moment.
It’s not just dirt and grime that get removed in the wash; our clothes break down too. Thousands of tiny plastic and fiber particles break off and flow out the drain, through the water treatment system, and into our soils, rivers, lakes and oceans. These microparticles can attract and hold onto pollutants, and everything eats them, from plankton to whales. You and I ingest microfibers too when we drink water or beer or eat fish, table salt and many other things.
But short of not dressing or not washing our clothes, what can we do to help stop microfiber pollution? Read on for ways you can take positive action!
11 Tips for choosing and caring for clothes to reduce microfiber pollution:
CHOOSE NATURAL FIBERS WHEN YOU CAN
Polyester, rayon, nylon and acrylic shed plastic fibers that will not biodegrade for millennia. Cotton, hemp, silk and linen can also shed fibers, but at least they’re biodegradable.
2. SLOW DOWN ON FAST FASHION
Cheaply made clothes don’t last. They fall apart fast, wasting money and materials and taking a heavy toll on the planet.
3. WASH CLOTHES ONLY AS OFTEN AS REALLY NEEDED
Although clothes can shed fibers while you’re wearing them, washing them kicks shedding into high gear. Your clothes will last longer and pollute less if you only wash them when they’re really dirty.
4. WAIT TO WASH UNTIL YOU HAVE A FULL LOAD OF LAUNDRY
Filling the washer helps reduce friction between clothes. It’s the friction from clothes rubbing against each other that causes fibers to break off.
5. USE LIQUID DETERGENT OR DISSOLVE POWDERED DETERGENT BEFORE USE
Powdered detergent can be abrasive to clothes, which may be part of the mechanism for removing soils. However, I would not recommend buying detergent in a plastic container. Instead, use laundry pods or dissolve powdered detergent before you add it to the machine.
6. USE A FRONT LOADER
One study found that clothes shed 7x more fibers in top-load washers compared to front loaders.
7. WASH AT LOW TEMPERATURE
Hot water can cause clothes to break down more quickly than cold or warm water.
8. WASH HEAVY & LIGHT CLOTHES SEPARATELY
Mixing heavy & light clothes in the washer leads to more abrasion of the lighter clothes. Minimizing abrasion helps reduce the amount of fibers shed from clothes.
9. CHOOSE SHORTER WASHING CYCLES
Since the problem happens during washing, shortening the wash time reduces the quantity of fibers shed.
10. USE ONE OR MORE OF THE MICROFIBER FILTERS DESCRIBED IN THE COLUMN TO THE RIGHT
These technologies range in price and effectiveness, but all of them help reduce the amount of microfiber that goes down the drain.
11. DISPOSE OF DRYER LINT IN THE TRASH
Don’t wash lint down the drain or sink. It’s also probably not a good idea to put it out with the compost or for the birds, because those microparticles will find their way into the soil or a nearby waterway, where plastic does nobody any good.
[Sources: oceancleanwash.org, plasticpollutioncoalition.org, beachapedia.org]
5 Physical filters you can use when washing clothes:
1. POP YOUR CLOTHES INTO A GUPPYFRIEND WASHING BAG (~$29.75)
Guppyfriend Washing Bags reduce the amount of friction experienced by clothes in the washer, and they reduce microfiber shedding by close to 90%, according to testing done by the Fraunhofer Institute. Microfibers that do get released are trapped inside the bag along the seams. These fibers should be disposed of in the trash, not down a sink. Unlike most other washing bags, the mesh size of the Guppyfriend is tiny (I believe their website says ~15 µm), which is why it’s effective at trapping released fibers.
Guppyfriend Washing Bag
2. TOSS A CORA BALL INTO THE WASHER! (~$30)
Cora Balls were developed by Rachael Miller and the Rozalia Project. They’re made from recycled soft plastic. The coral-shaped ball traps microfibers, which you remove and dispose of in the trash. Cora Balls are supposed to last for years. The same study mentioned above found they remove about 26% of microfibers by count.
Cora Balls
3. IF YOUR WASHER DRAINS INTO A SINK OR UTILITY TUB, TRY A LINT TRAPPER (~$8)
These are made in the USA of “high impact polystyrene” are are supposed to last for years. Simply clean out lint as needed. The Lint Trapper is available at Ace, Home Depot and elsewhere.
Lint Trapper
4. INSTALL A LINT LUV-R Washing Machine Discharge Filter ($140)
This filter gets installed on the discharge line of the washing machine. The kit comes with all parts needed for the install. You clean the stainless-steel filter as needed and dispose of all microfibers in the trash (not down the drain!). The filter is not disposable and the unit has a 5-year warranty. A scientific study found the Lint Luv-R removes 87% of microfibers from washwater.
Lint Luv-R
5. INSTALL A FILTROL 160 LINT FIILTER ($140)
This looks to be similar to the Lint Luv-R. It gets installed on the washer discharge line. One difference is that the Filtrol 160 uses replaceable filter bags. I didn’t write “disposable” because the website says you can clean them a number of times before they wear out. Replacement filters cost about $25 each.
In summary,
Although the problem might seem daunting, we can dramatically reduce the amount we contribute to microfiber pollution by making some small changes. Let’s get in action! Consider buying used, buying natural when possible, and washing smart.
We can help make sure these little ones and other beings don’t face a deadly diet. That sounds like a fashionable idea!
Sea turtle hatchlings. Photo by Skeeze, Pixabay
This article first appeared on the One Earth Body Care blog at www.oneearthbodycare.com. | https://medium.com/@oneearthbodycare/you-can-help-stop-microfiber-pollution-82af43fc573b | ['Anne Altor'] | 2019-04-04 02:29:48.800000+00:00 | ['Ecology', 'Sustainability', 'Fashion', 'Ocean Conservation', 'Clothing'] |
Facebook for diplomats | Facebook for diplomats
From Facebook Live to civic engagement, a digital diplomacy toolbox to create and nurture global communities.
In the hours after president Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement on climate, newly-elected French president Emmanuel Macron went live on Facebook (and Periscope) to address the people of France and the world and express his and the leaders of Italy and Germany’s disappointment and commitment in fighting climate change.
Dès ce soir, avec l’Allemagne et l’Italie, nous avons tenu à réaffirmer notre engagement pour l’Accord de Paris.
Shortly after going live, using hashtag #MakeOurPlanetGreatAgain, Macron published on Facebook and his social media profiles a recorded video in English to address the American people.
Now, let me say a few words to our American friends. Climate change is one of the major issues of our time. It is already changing our daily lives but it is global. Everyone is impacted. And if we do nothing, our children will know a world of uncontrolled migrations, of wars, of shortages. A dangerous world.
This is not the first time a world leader goes live on Facebook, or posts videos on the platform.
After all videos and images have become the bread and butter of engagement on social media and Facebook has been investing quite a bit in providing a seamless and engaging experience for users on both ends, those who broadcast and the audience on the receiving side.
THE LIVE VIDEO REVOLUTION
Back in 2014, when Facebook was still toying with idea of live videos and how to make them accessible to all its users, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi partnered with the platform to live stream his speech at Madison Square Garden in New York, during his visit to the US.
Fast forward two years, in April 2016, Facebook opens live video capabilities to all on the platform, making it a valuable tool not only for world leaders and politicians, but also diplomats and all stakeholders engaging in diplomacy and foreign policy and wanting to better their outreach, create and nurture online communities, as well as every government, business or private entity interested in upping their civil engagement.
“Live is like having a TV camera in your pocket,” Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive officer of Facebook, wrote in a post. “Anyone with a phone now has the power to broadcast to anyone in the world.”
When you interact live, you feel connected in a more personal way. This is a big shift in how we communicate, and it’s going to create new opportunities for people to come together.
And since then, the live video shift, has been fully embraced by Facebook in its efforts to gain a bigger market within politics and foreign policy.
“Even just broadcasting your press conferences and your speeches, you can reach a lot more people by going live than you could maybe reach who is there in person,” Katie Harbath, Facebook’s global politics and government outreach director, said shortly after Zuckerberg opened Live to all users.
Harbath said the Live represents a new way to engage audiences, citizens, and constituents who might otherwise not participate in things like public meetings or online townhalls. She also stressed that those who are drawn to the live feeds watch three times longer than prerecorded video and engage as much as 10 times more.
Obviously going live requires time and efforts, but if you have never tried it you might be surprise at how much easy and brainless the process is.
And how engaging it can be.
Former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi has been known to use Facebook Live throughout his administration to answer citizens’ questions, rather than a tool of digital diplomacy. His Matteo Risponde — which translates as: Matteo Answers — eventually became so popular that he replicated it on Twitter as well.
In my experience, simply using a smartphone, you can post very engaging live videos that bring you behind the scenes of diplomacy and politics.
During Renzi’s visit to Washington DC for the Obama’s last state dinner in October last year, at the Embassy of Italy in US we used videos, including Live, to make the experience available to all our followers and to those interested in the relations between Italy and the US.
Just using a smartphone, we went live for the arrival ceremony at the White House South Lawn, the joint press conference in the Rose Garden, the prime minister’s arrival for the State Dinner, the toasts, and Gwen Stefani’s performance at the end.
The engagement was much higher than usual allowing us to reach 200,000+ users the night of the State Dinner.
We repeated the experience in April during prime minister Paolo Gentiloni’s visit to the White House to meet president Donald Trump; and we keep using live videos on Facebook to nurture the conversation around Italy.
And all with just a smartphone.
“Some of the most engaging videos I see are coming from people just taking them with their phone,” Harbath said. “You want people to feel they are an active participant in what you are putting up on Facebook, not a passive observer.”
Live is certainly the trend for many world leaders, ambassadors, and diplomats.
“A now established trend, but one that will populate social media more is the proliferation of live ‘broadcasting’ — Facebook’s Live feature and Twitter’s Periscope have become useful tools that allow anyone to broadcast on the spot,” the 2016 Soft Power 30 report by Portland Communications and Facebook reads.
It states: “The ability to create rich video content is a huge asset for savvy, well-spoken diplomats with something to say. Likewise, foreign ministries and world leaders can now open up meetings, speeches, events, and other diplomatic activities to the public with a smartphone and a Wi-Fi connection. These live video apps will likely become a regular feature of digital diplomacy practiced through social media platforms.”
In February, I asked on Twitter:
Beyond the more traditional press conferences and official statements, among some of the latest examples using live videos are:
Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop live on Facebook for a Q&A on Australia’s Foreign Policy White Paper. The host asked her: “What do you try to achieve with a Facebook live event?.” She replied: “We think it’s very important to have as broad a consultation as possible about what Australian want to see about their foreign policy — […]to make foreign policy less foreign — so people can relate to how foreign policy relates to their day-to-day lives.”
Given that social media is such an important platform — and so much about our lives — it would be great to get a feedback from Facebook.
The latest visit of Argentinian president Mauricio Macri to the White House was live on Facebook.
Prince William and Lady Gaga, via the British Royal Family’s Facebook page, went live to discus the Heads Together initiative to promote openness about mental health issues.
Using just a smartphone, the president of India Pranab Mukherjee went live to celebrate the Holi festival of colors at at Rashtrapati Bhavan, showing how music and traditions can engage a broad audience worldwide.
CanadianPM Justin Trudeau live on Facebook for Nobel recipient Malala Yousafzai’s speech at the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, the youngest person ever to address Canadian representatives and parliamentarians.
On International Women’s Day, Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallström went live on Facebook — as well as Youtube and Periscope — to host “the first public digital meeting of foreign ministers.” The foreign ministers of Panama, Kenya, and Liechtenstein joined remotely to discuss discusses peacebuilding, gender equality, and the role of women in the international agenda. Promoting the digital diplomacy event with their audiences on social media, the ministry highlighted the behind-the-scenes nature of the initiative:
Have you ever wished you could be a fly on the wall in high-level diplomatic meetings?
The challenge for the political and diplomatic communities now seems to re-tool their live presence on Facebook for public diplomacy and to explain foreign policy to their audiences at home and abroad, rather than just for campaigning and elections purposes. And the same can be said for pre-recorded videos and online campaigns primarily driven by videos.
VIDEOS, VIDEOS, VIDEOS
How to forget the video posted by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs with edits to a previous video by the White House on the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement? That video, however, never made it to their Facebook pages, including that of their embassy in Washington DC.
Posted on the ministry’s Twitter profile in English, the video went viral with more than 10,000 retweets and 13,000 likes.
Here’s the original video posted on Facebook by the White House:
Some have already embraced videos, both live and pre-recorded.
Back in May, for example, the ambassadors of the Canada, the European Union, Sweden, and the United States, worked a collaborative initiative and went live on the Facebook pages of their respective embassies to discuss press freedom and to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. To date, their videos garnered a total of more than 30,000 views and countless interactions and comments: more than 22,000 views on the page of the US Embassy (below), 5,000 views on the page of the Canadian Embassy, almost 3,000 views on the EU page, and 500 views on the Swedish page.
After the G7 Summit in Taormina, Sicily, the Italian Ambassador to the US went live on Facebook and Twitter to talk about the highlights of the Summit, the agenda forward, and the Italian presidency of the G7 for 2017, as well as Italy-US relations.
And here’s a look at the behind the scenes during the live shoot, empowering Facebook’s 360 capabilities.
Videos, live or not, are gaining popularity among diplomacy players. And the more relatable and funny they are, the more engaging.
It is the case, for example, of a video posted in September 2016 by the Embassy of Canada in Myanmar, part of a series on experiencing the countries traditions. This one was on Canadians’ reaction to betel nut!
In December last year, the German Embassy in Washington posted a video that fed on the viral #MannequinChallenge craze.
Watch our video to see diplomats, staff and interns frozen in place. Tell us, who has the best pose?
Also, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has recently launched #WeAreNATO, its first major communications campaign in nearly a decade following the leaders’ summit in Brussels a few weeks back and controversies fueled by president Trump’s comments on the Alliance.
The 5-year campaign, which encompasses a wide variety of communications, public affairs and creative media relations, embraces videos and images to build a brand that fits all NATO’s social media channels, including Facebook.
“This has been an exciting project for our team,” Doug Turner, partner at Agenda, told The Holmes Report. Together with MHP Communications, Agenda crafted the campaign.
Turner described the experience: “Helping NATO reach audiences in more than 28 member countries and to explain its mission of guaranteeing peace and security for its citizens in the kind of work we love to do.”
He added: “It’s an entire brand for the alliance. We built the messaging framework that each country can use and develop on their own.”
“It’s crucial that all of our citizens, particularly young people who have grown up in times of peace, understand what NATO is and what we do,” said Tacan Ildem, NATO’s assistant secretary general for public diplomacy describing the campaign.
“Our continued success depends on our citizens and understanding the essential role that NATO plays in our security, on which our prosperity is based. We will remain fully transparent and proactive in expanding our essential work to the outside world.”
The examples are many and get more and more engaging by time as governments, embassies, and diplomats are feeling more at ease with video tools and publishing public diplomacy content that can be attractive to younger audiences as well as experts and the foreign policy community at large.
Videos and live videos, however, have been under scrutiny by the media and public opinion as they make more difficult for the company to tackle hate speech and terrorism and violence online.
“Given the importance of this, how quickly live video is growing, we wanted to make sure that we double down on this and make sure that we provide as safe of an experience for the community as we can,” Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive officer of Facebook, told investors in May as he announced the company will hire 3,000 more people over the next year to speed up the removal of videos showing murder, suicide and other violent acts.
The so-called phenomenon of fake news is also of concern.
In a recent interview on soft power published by Harvard University’s Wheatherhead Center for International Affairs, professor Joseph Nye said: “In the past, during the Cold War, you had the Voice of America, for example. And now you have Facebook. And the interesting question will be how will social media avoid being manipulated with fake news.”
He added: “We’ve seen the beginnings of efforts to counter this… by using social media for positive purposes. It’s like a game of cat and mouse; it goes back and forth. I don’t see the cat or the mouse winning the definitive battle.”
FACEBOOK FOR DIGITAL DIPLOMACY
As of March 2017, Facebook registered 1.94 billion monthly active users (MAUs) and 1.28 billion daily active users (DAUs).
The US and Canada accounted for 234 million MAUs, Europe for 354 million, and the Asia-Pacific region for 716 million.
The latest World Map of Social Networks highlights Facebook’s dominance as the platform of choice in most countries around the world.
The map, compiled by digital expert Vincenzo Cosenza since 2009, shows that Facebook is the leading social media in 119 out of 149 countries analyzed. Among Western countries, Facebook doesn’t dominate only in Japan, where Twitter is ranked first and Facebook is second.
According to the latest Twiplomacy study by communications and public affairs firm Burson-Marsteller, Facebook is the second most popular social media tool among world leaders and governments.
It is, however, “where they have the biggest audience,” the study highlights.
The study shows that “the heads of state and government, and foreign ministers, of 169 countries are present on the platform, representing 88 percent of all UN member states.”
There is one world leader who’s noticeably absent from Facebook: the Pope. Despite having both a Twitter account — launched in 2012 by his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI — and an Instagram account (2016), Pope Francis has not yet launched on Facebook.
“Where people are, the Church is,” said Msgr. Lucio Adrian Ruiz, secretary of the Vatican Secretariat for Communications (SPC) and a former head of the Vatican Internet Service, during a digital diplomacy workshop in Rome, hosted by SPC and the British Embassy to the Holy See. “This is why the Pope is present on Twitter and Instagram.”
So… Why not Facebook then?
That is a question that not only world leaders, but also politicians, ambassadors, and diplomats should ask themselves.
The 606 Facebook pages included in the Twiplomacy census account for a combined audience of 283 million likes.
On average, Facebook pages are more popular than Twitter accounts.
In fact, Facebook pages register a “median average of 38,891 likes per page, compared to 16,848 followers for each Twitter account,” the study reads.
Indeed, similar numbers are mirrored when it comes to how many ambassadors and diplomats are on Facebook — or using Facebook for digital diplomacy rather than personal purposes — compared to Twitter.
Embassies around the world have certainly embraced the platform, but how can an embassy be relatable? How many know what an embassy is and does? People are interested in people. They’re interested in going behind closed doors, behind the scenes of major meetings, events, and summits; finding out what it means to represent a country abroad; sitting down at a table with an ambassador or a foreign minister; being able to relate to them and ask them questions.
“Because there’s more people online, because there are more empowered, they want to have these conversations,” said Harbath at the launch of the 2016 Soft Power report. “They want to have this engagement and they know that it shouldn’t be a one way conversation.”
Governments and government officials are getting better at making use of digital platforms like Facebook, but the next step should really be empowering those platforms beyond putting out press releases and broadcasting official messages.
“Success in 21st Century Statecraft will belong to those who know how to effectively identify, build, and deploy soft power via public diplomacy and the effective use of digital tools and technology,” Arturo Sarukhan, former Mexican ambassador to the US, writes in the 2016 Soft Power 30 report.
In his book The Future of #Diplomacy, Philip Seib, professor of journalism, public diplomacy, and international relations at the University of Southern California and former director of USC Center on Public Diplomacy, asks: “ Is Facebook a gimmick, a useful tool, or something more?”
“It certainly cannot be ignored,” he writes.
He adds: “Diplomats might be excused for dismissing Facebook as being outside their realm of concerns. But then again… Connections among more than a billion people must mean there are ways to put Facebook to work.”
AMBASSADORS ON FACEBOOK
I asked Ambassador Sarukhan, a pioneer in the use of social media for public diplomacy, his thoughts on Facebook and whether ambassadors in particular are shying away from it.
“I don’t think there is a one-size fits all response,” he said. “Clearly, Twitter has morphed into the much more popular and relevant platform for politics, diplomacy, and public policy issues, and therefore concentrates a higher number of relevant actors and opinion-makers.”
He identified a few reasons: “A reason may be precisely that it forces users to engage (one would hope) succinctly and intelligently (though that is certainly not the prevailing norm, unfortunately!). Another is that many policymakers may feel that Facebook is a victim to its own success and branding, much more a truly social network, where the personal and social interconnections (whether it’s friends, travel, tastes, and general opinions) weigh more.”
He continued: “When I decided to use these platforms as a digital diplomacy and public diplomacy tool, I certainly made a deliberate decision to use one platform over the other, precisely because I wanted to avoid the perception that my endeavor was anything but driven by Statecraft and street-craft. Nonetheless, I see more and more government agencies and ministries and public officials and politicians using a wider roster of social media tools, Facebook prominently amongst them, to complement reach and impact.”
Similarly, Tom Fletcher, author of The Naked Diplomat and former British ambassador to Lebanon, said that he “wanted to do one medium well, rather than spread myself across several.”
“If I was starting again, I would do more Facebook and Instagram,” he told me. “But Twitter still feels like the place where the best debates are, and where you can pick the right arguments. Facebook still feels a bit more lightweight and social. I’m probably wrong!”
According to Jan Melissen of Clingendael, Netherlands Institute on International Relations, “Social media make things more personal. And bring people who traditionally operate in the shadows into the limelight, giving an ambassador a face. You can find out what they are doing by following them on their social media account. People also get more ‘digital personality’.”
There are some interesting examples out there of Ambassadors on Facebook.
Back in October last year, for example, Israel Ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama-Hacohen used his personal page to look for someone to translate an article from Hebrew to French… On Shabbat!
“Shabbat shalom, lovers of Israel,” he wrote. “The State of Israel needs a little help.”
240 reactions, 39 shares, and 34 comments later, we hope he found help.
Another great example is from Casper Klynge, outgoing Ambassador of Denmark to Indonesia and newly appointed — and first-ever — Danish Ambassador to Silicon Valley’s tech groups.
In one of his last posts as Danish envoy in Jakarta, he posted: “As a principle, I use FB as a professional tool and thus never post anything private. I will make one exception: Friday was the last day of school for our two children after three years at Jakarta International (Intercultural) School. This is a short video from the elementary school ‘graduation’ with the obligatory Dragon Cheer. It says it all!”
Ambassador-designate Calista Gingrich, whose personal page on Facebook produces high engagement, posted the same day President Donald Trump announced her nomination as US Ambassador to the Holy See.
FROM DIGITAL DIPLOMACY TO GLOBAL COMMUNITIES
As for every social media tool, my advise is always to be personal, intimate, and natural when it comes to communicating and engaging with your audiences. And Facebook’s added value is not only the potential size of your audience, but also the ability to tap into groups, conversations, and even move the conversation offline via events, and civic engagement initiatives.
After all, Zuckerberg himself has recently stressed how he wants Facebook and the Facebook community to shape itself in the future.
“Facebook stands for bringing us closer together and building a global community, he wrote in what many called a manifesto.
“Every year, the world got more connected and this was seen as a positive trend. Yet now, across the world there are people left behind by globalization, and movements for withdrawing from global connection. There are questions about whether we can make a global community that works for everyone, and whether the path ahead is to connect more or reverse course.”
In times like these, the most important thing we at Facebook can do is develop the social infrastructure to give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us.
And I believe the diplomatic community and all foreign policy stakeholders, traditional and less-traditional, have a great role to play in reshaping the way not only we communicate with social media tools, but also how we use them to build, nurture, and expand global — or better, glocal if you will — communities in our own backyard and around the world. | https://medium.com/digital-diplomacy/facebook-for-diplomats-c50d1e2f890d | ['Andreas Sandre'] | 2017-06-12 15:21:50.734000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Digital Diplomacy', 'Facebook', 'Tech', 'Social Media'] |
Rich Lux discount for Surfshark — get the VPN coupon code | Rich Lux is a Youtube content creator that reviews items and accessories both for women and men, also he makes comedy and satire videos, he talks about all the news and dramas that are going on in the celebrity and fashion world. He is inspired by gay community and isn’t afraid to show his drag queen persona.
In his recent videos he also talks about the importance of being safe online and admits that he really cares about his online security and anonymity and uses a VPN for protection. Not just any VPN, but Surfshark. Also he tries to inspire his viewers do the same and provides them with a coupon code for 84% discount.
How to get Surfshark coupon code by Rich Lux
Go to Surfshark home homepage here
Press “Get started”
Insert the coupon code rich
Continue the purchase
You can also follow this link with the coupon code already inserted in: https://surfshark.com/deal/coupon?coupon=rich
With this discount you will get 84% off Surfshark 2-years plan and 1 extra month for free. It will only cost you 1.91$ per month. Which is a small price for a high quality VPN.
Why you should choose Surfshark
Surfshark is a highly secure VPN, that doesn’t collect logs, uses industry leading encryption and by default uses the most secure protocols. This means that Surfshark will be able to keep your traffic and your data absolutely secure and anonymous, so no third party members will be able to see what you are doing online or steal your information. Surfshark supports an unlimited number of devices so you will be able to connect all of your devices, doesn’t matter how much of those you have to one account. You will be able to even share your one account with your friends or family. Surfshark works great with bypassing restrictions online and opening the internet. First of all it works great with such streaming platforms as Netflix. Secondly it is perfect to bypass any geo-restrictions on different pages, for example Surfshark bypasses the Great Firewall of China, so even in China, the internet will be open for you. Surfshark has some advanced features such as built in ad-blocker, protection from malware and trackers, kill-switch. Surfshark has 24/7 working customer support so whenever you have problems you will be able to find help. Surfshark has a 30-day money back guarantee so if you do not like the service you can easily refund it.
Watch Rich Lux YT channel here
Get Surfshark with 84% discount here | https://medium.com/@ttexler841/rich-lux-discount-for-surfshark-get-the-vpn-coupon-code-c38ff6da9a21 | ['Thimmy Texler'] | 2019-06-19 07:15:47.313000+00:00 | ['Discount', 'YouTube', 'Coupon', 'Privacy', 'VPN'] |
Living in Australia. What is it like? | Living in Australia. What is it like?
Australia is a great country. It is a dream country for many people around the world and it is the country to be in. It’s amazing in every way, beautiful people, weather, food, heaps of things to do. It’s a great country to explore or to live in. If you are respectful to the Australian culture you will have no problem, Australians are very welcoming.
Looking at some of the factors that play an important part while choosing to live in a country
Work
Australia is a great country if you are looking for work opportunities. It is continuously developing and always have a place for a skilled professional. So if you have experience in your hands, you have great chances of getting work.
You need a degree to get work but your experience is more valuable than a piece of paper. If you know what you are doing and you can provide details of your previous experience from work and related references, you have great chances of getting work.
It’s not that easy to just walk in and get work wherever you want, if you’re lucky, they have a vacancy and you are applying at that time you can get in. You have to be at the right place at the right time or know people who can help you.
Weather
Weather is overall good compared to some other countries out there. It can get really hot in summer in some parts of the country like Perth, Adelaide, even up north Queensland and really cold in some parts like Melbourne and Tasmania. But overall amazing weather.
People
Super friendly always happy to have a chat and help you when ever you get stuck. Australians are very easy to get along.I have heard from some people that Australians are not friendly, i think it’s not the whole country if you come across one person that is not nice. Do not assume everyone to be the same. There are good and bad people everywhere in the world.
Australians love animals. Pretty much everyone has a pet animal here. People also support all the sanctuaries by becoming members yearly and go see the beautiful animals like Kangaroos, Koalas, Dingos and many more native animals that are found in this country.
Sports
Australia is a big name in any sport in the world. You will see Australian flag shine in every game, do not be surprised to see the name Australia in the Top 3. Australians love to play sports and watch sports at home or at the pub. There is always some sports being played in the country or outside.
Few games that are big in Australia are Cricket, AFL, Rugby, F1 Racing and all other sports that are played and Australia participates in it.
What’s Australian lifestyle like?
It is all about having a relaxed life. Taking it easy, having a good time. Australians like to work when it’s time to work and have fun when it’s not time to work. People in Australia live in the moment and love having fun and few beers. People work hard during the week and have fun on the weekends, go out for walks, markets, dinners, shows, friends and family get togethers etc.
Pretty much whatever the whole world does, but australians are very outgoing, we love the beach and doing lots of outdoor activities. It all happens because the weather is amazing all the time, in the mid 20 degrees throughout the year on the gold coast.
Everyday is an adventure here, Welcome to Australia. | https://medium.com/@dickee/living-in-australia-what-is-it-like-b298ee1bb867 | ['Inspo Blogs'] | 2020-12-26 09:15:08.031000+00:00 | ['Australia', 'Best', 'Adventure', 'Travel', 'Beauty'] |
How to Google with a Shortcut. Being a software developer, I have to… | Being a software developer, I have to google quite a few things. And when it comes to doing that, here’s what the usual flow looks like for most of us: Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V in the address bar of your browser, and that’s if you use shortcuts and a browser that lets you search via the address bar. If you don’t have your browser already open then that’s one more step to the task. Not to mention the switching if you are on some other application.
What if there was a way to just select a part of any text in any application and have it looked up for you in your default browser with a shortcut combo? That would save so many clicks and make searching more accessible. Apparently, such a future is not built into Windows natively. Let’s hope they add it in the near future but for now, I do have something for you.
Here’s what you need to do…
Download and install AutoHotKey Clone or download my script from GitHub. Extract google-it.ahk file from downloaded ZIP to your desktop. Double-click on this file and you are all set! You can now press Ctrl + LWin (Left Windows Key) after selecting any text to open it in Google search.
More about the script…
Like any other AutoHotKey script, you can customize mine to your own liking: changing the shortcut keys, browser, search engine, website, etc. With a little bit of tinkering, you can set the script to run on startup.
This was a fun little experiment out of curiosity that turned out to be very productive and something I now use often. Cheers! | https://medium.com/@zackwebs1000/use-this-shortcut-to-google-faster-on-windows-9f8edec84371 | ['Zack Webster'] | 2020-03-17 09:45:30.293000+00:00 | ['Search', 'Productivity', 'Programming', 'Lifehacks', 'Google'] |
Trick or Treat | Written by
Almost famous cartoonist who laughs at her own jokes and hopes you will, too. | https://marcialiss17.medium.com/trick-or-treat-b2b2a8b7c9fb | [] | 2020-06-19 13:46:43.314000+00:00 | ['Family', 'Humor', 'Cartoon', 'Comics', 'Halloween'] |
Tactically planning for a business goal | Learnings to the world | Tactically planning for a business goal
At Grupo ZAP, we have been using OKRs since October 2019. The first two quarters after that, the goal was reducing redundant costs for Viva Real and ZAP’s platforms — the two companies merged at the end of 2017 — and growth through traffic, which seemed the best viable option by then.
After 6 months, the main goals were reached, key results were achieved, but a new problem emerged.
A new problem for the second quarter of 2020
Despite cost reduction and traffic growth, an important business metric was down in the marketplace business unit — a business unit responsible for (way) more than 50% of Grupo ZAP’s revenue: liquidity.
Liquidity is measured by the following proxy metrics:
Viva Real’s conversion rate ;
; ZAP Imóveis’ conversion rate.
Below, a chart that shows how these metrics fluctuated during 3 and a half months before the second quarter of 2020.
Marketplace liquidity trend
COVID-19
The problem gets even more acute with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) charts and stats
My feelings and condolences to all families who have lost uniques, loving, and loved people all around the world and also in Brazil, that is being currently (un)led by a murderer-president.
Understanding the problem
In order to get a better picture of what was going on:
I and my beloved friends and co-workers Camila Vecino, Suelen Fenali, Rafael Chedid, and Diego Poblete started mapping every change made in the past 6 months that impacted conversion rate in the products;
Antônio Araújo, one of the product designers in the marketplace tribe, started running heat map analysis in the products and usability tests with users;
Suene Souza, a marvelous product leader, pointed us in the right direction, advising us in working ceremonies, and creating new ceremonies for COVID-19 pandemic that gathers people from all of the company’s departments.
After extensive work also with Flávio Pires and Mariana Morais, it was able to visualize all the main problems that caused (or could cause) the conversion rate drop in a mind map. Below, an example of a simplified version of it.
A simplified version of conversion rate problems mapping
Creating solution hypotheses to tackle the problems
As soon as we got a clearer understanding of the problems we were facing, it was time to start validating solution hypotheses to leverage marketplace liquidity.
Before that, the whole assistant team — the team I am currently working as a product manager — , once again in partnership with Flávio Pires and Mariana Morais, gathered together to brainstorm possible solutions for each one of identified and validated problems — thanks to all the incredible people I am very happy to daily work with: Priscila Negreiros, Nayra Martins, Inocêncio Neto, Renato Euclides, André Maldonado and Antônio Araújo <3
During the quarter, Adriano Negrão came up with a marvelous way for us to visualize our validated problems and solution hypotheses. Below, an example of a simplified version of it.
Tactical team board
Goal lane
Revert organic conversion rate negative trend:
KR : Viva Real’s conversion rate;
: Viva Real’s conversion rate; KR: ZAP Imóveis’ conversion rate.
Goal lane
Validated problems lanes
Backlog:
Inventory drop;
Advertiser’s perceived value;
Selected:
Visits not happening due to COVID-19;
Lack of asynchronous conversation methods;
LGPD in the lead form.
Validated problems lanes
Solution hypotheses lanes
Visits not happening due to COVID-19:
Video tour.
Lack of asynchronous conversation methods:
Chat.
Solution hypotheses lanes
Experimenting lanes
Visits not happening due to COVID-19:
Virtual tour.
Lack of asynchronous conversation methods:
WhatsApp.
LGPD in the lead form:
Single consent action;
Checkbox.
Experimenting lanes
Here, you can find an example of the above material presented.
Experimenting a lot
If you have not read how the Viva Real and ZAP Imóveis websites team developed a mechanism for a large scale A/B and multivariate tests using Google Optimize, check it out! That’s how all of our experiments are done to validate (or invalidate) solution hypotheses.
For each solution hypothesis, one or several A/B or multivariate experiments are run. Here, you can find an example on how a solution hypothesis has been iterated and validated.
Below, a screenshot of some of our experimentation learnings. You can find out how Grupo ZAP’s A/B and multivariate tests are documented here.
Experimentation learnings
Results so far
So far, the assistant team has been able to:
Better understand 21 previously validated problems ;
previously ; Select 17 problems to tackle;
to tackle; Generate 21 solution hypotheses for problems selected;
for problems selected; Validate 7 solution hypotheses ;
; And solve 5 problems with proposed solutions.
And that is how the marketplace liquidity proxy metric, conversion rate, has behaved since the beginning of experimentations. | https://medium.com/@nonbinaryfish/tactically-planning-for-a-business-goal-learnings-to-the-world-68c7dc8317a2 | ['Nonbinaryfish', 'Vini B Peixoto'] | 2020-06-07 23:24:20.882000+00:00 | ['Experiment', 'Okr', 'Framework', 'Tactics', 'Product Management'] |
2016 League of Legends World Championship- The regions | 2016 League of Legends World Championship- The regions
North America:
NA will certainly be looking to improve compared to last year’s World Championship. The region’s most memorable achievement was becoming a meme after the three teams, Counter Logic Gaming, Team Solo Mid and Cloud 9 lost all their games on the last few days of the tournament with 0 wins and 10 losses.
However, similar to Europe’s Fnatic last year, TSM come into the tournament as the most feared western team and rightfully so. They lost only one best of 3 throughout the regular season going 17W-1L and dominated the playoffs with a 3–0 and a 3–1 victory in their games, showing team cohesion and individual prowess above all the other teams. TSM’s Mid lane star and three time NA LCS MVP ‘Bjergsen’ will want to re-enact the dominance he’s shown in the LCS to boost his team’s chances of dethroning the otherwise untouched kings in Korea.
Counter Logic Gaming had a disappointing Summer Split (Qualifying via the point system), however many people forget their Mid-Season Invitational appearance when judging them. Being the first North American team to reach a Riot international final by playing extremely well should justify why they’re at Worlds. After recent patches basically removing the use of lane swaps it’s understandable why no one is expecting CLG to shock like they did at MSI. Lane swaps were CLG’s bread and butter; they would perform sometimes perfect map movements and you could see the time and effort put into that style. As much as I try not to be biased to the team I support, I’m more than certain CLG can make it out of groups. If CLG want to prove people wrong, they have the perfect chance as they’re placed in Group A with Korea’s first place team and favourites to win, ‘Rox Tigers’, and Europe’s number one team, ‘G2’.
Just like last year, Cloud Nine made it through the regional qualifier to make it to Worlds. They easily beat Team Envy and Immortals with 3–0 and 3–1 victories with their top laner ‘Impact’ showing complete domination. The former SK Telecom player and Season 3 world champion got many 1v1 kills against multiple teams which is why I’m personally excited to see him match up against the likes of Rox Tigers ‘Smeb’ and SK Telecoms ‘Duke’ as C9 was drawn into group B. If C9 improve from the weeks they have boot camping in Korea and Impact continues his dominance I’m sure they can get a clean second place and even give SKT a run for their money.
Europe:
As a region Europe will be looking to repeat similar success as last year. Two teams, Origen and Fnatic made it to the Semi-finals before being knocked out by the two Korean finalist SKT and Koo Tigers, now named Rox Tigers. They don’t have the same expectations however, due to Europe’s number one seed, G2, placing 5thout of 6 teams at the Mid-seasonal Invitational.
Because of this poor finish at MSI, Europe wasn’t given a first place seed placement in the group stages at Worlds, meaning G2 was placed in pool number 2 with the likes of CLG and H2K. This resulted in them being in Group A with Rox Tigers, CLG, and Albus NoX Luna. Their star player, ‘Trick’, is widely considered one of the best junglers in the world and at Worlds this year. His complete control of the jungle was something unseen in the EU LCS; as a result he won EU LCS MVP twice this year. Not only that but G2 greatly improved their team by adding ‘ZVEN’ and ‘MITHY’ in the bot lane which is what separates the current squad from the MSI squad. Their bot lane synergy is unparalleled in Europe and took G2 from strong to unstoppable, thus adding to the list of reasons to fear Europe’s number one.
The main hype around Europe’s second seed, H2K, is the ADC ‘FORG1VEN’. He’s had many attempts to make it to Worlds — at one point was nearly stopped by his home country forcing him to join the army. Now that that’s cleared we can finally see how he competes against the likes of Edward Gaming’s ‘Deft’ in the group stage. H2K has five quality players, but that’s the case with most teams. This Worlds there’s even more emphasis on team play and if H2K can get that together in the boot camp I can see them challenging AHQ for a second place to make it out of groups.
Splyce qualified for Worlds by winning the EU LCS Regional Qualifier by beating The Unicorns of Love in a close 3–2 series. Just making it to Worlds is huge for Splyce as it’s their first season and the squad is full of young talent. Being in a group with TSM, EDG and Samsung Galaxy, it’s looking like this year will be more of an experience and a chance to learn rather than a chance to take the title for Splyce.
Korea:
The one and only kings. When talking about professional League of Legends and any international tournament, you can bet a Korean team was favourite to win in the past four years, having produced teams to take the world title on three different occasions. So it’s no surprise that in the majority of predictions a Korean team is named in the top two.
Koo Tigers placed second at last year’s Worlds and will be looking to repeat and go to the finals in Los Angeles again but with a name change and ‘Peanut’ as their Jungler. The now called ‘Rox Tigers’ finished first in Korea’s regular split going 15W-3L and won the playoffs finals to earn Korea’s first seed. ‘Smeb’, their top laner, is considered the best in the world in his respected role by many fans, pros, analysts, and even myself. He’s proven this countless times and earned the LCK MVP award for the second time straight. That said, Rox Tigers have been in the shadow of SKT and will look to prove themselves as the best there is.
The name ‘SK Telecom’ has an aura that no team in League of Legends history can compare to. Season 3 they produced arguably the most dominant team in history, winning the World Championship and going unbeaten in the 2014 OGN Champions Spring. Two seasons later they won the Season 5 world championship, being the first team to win it twice. I could speak for hours about SKT’s legacy and their achievements but it would be criminal not to mention ‘Faker’. The best League of legends player ever, the ‘God of all gods’. A huge reason for their season 3 dominance was down to this man as he thrived in a Meta that supported solo play and snowballing. Judging from Korea’s split, SKT aren’t favourites, but that certainly doesn’t mean they can’t take out everything in their path. I mean, it’s SKT and Faker going for a third.
Samsung Galaxy qualified as Korea’s third seed, controversially. Many people thinking KT Rolster deserved the spot because of their second place finish in the playoffs. However Samsung Galaxy surprised and took out KT in a five game series and as a result Samsung’s junger ‘Ambition’ made it to Worlds 2016. To many people’s delight, Ambition finally has a chance to make a mark on the World championship, which so far he has failed to do. Along with him former Dignitas ADC ‘Core JJ’ has something to prove. After recently switching to the Support role he’s shown much more promise in the LCK. They’re in group D, nicknamed ‘The group of death’, so making it out of won’t be as easy for them as the other two Korean teams.
China:
China is a respected region and rightfully so, producing some of the most iconic players to ever grace Summoners Rift. That being said, when it comes to Worlds China is yet to make the mark they want. A Chinese team has never won the World Championship and the region has been second place to Korea twice.
EDG come into the tournament with high expectations, similar to Rox Tigers. Most predictions have them and Rox Tigers in the final, highlighting their strength. This is down to their dominant show in LPL, winning the playoff finals with a clean 3–0 over Royal Never Give Up and holding an unbeaten record in the LPL Regular Season. They have an MSI win under their belt and will be looking for a step up this year to prove China can perform on the biggest stage of all.
Royal Never Give Up have their old ADC back, ‘Uzi’. He is one of the greats. After taking the same team, formerly know as Royal Club, to the season 3 World championship final at the age of 16 and again the next year, only to fall short against the unstoppable SKT and Samsung White. The team this year has the potential to repeat past success but it seems unlikely. The squad is jam packed with talent but it depends on RNG’s ability to play as a team, the cause of their downfall recently.
I May showed resilience and grit to make it to where they are. In similar fashion to Europe’s Splyce they came all the way from China’s second league, the LSPL. Their regular season finish would be worse than expected for a World’s team, placing joint 3rd in group B. But all of that was laid aside after playing five best of fives in the Regional and Playoff games, which lead to them being China’s third seed.
League of Legends Mater Series:
The LMS includes teams from Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong; their greatest achievement is Taipei Assassins winning the world championships in Season 2. Although a long time ago the region taught the world the meaning of an upset but they haven’t had a major impact since then.
The Flash Wolves had a strong performance in the LMS playoffs, finishing 1st after a 3–0 over J Team. Earlier this year they proved they are to be feared after beating SKT in the group stage of MSI. They are again in a group with SKT in this year’s championships and if they play to their full capacity have a good chance to make it out of the group. But it looks difficult even as the 1st place seed.
AHQ, led by mid player ‘Westdoor’ will make their 3rd appearance at the world’s championship. Last year they advanced out of groups by playing a tie breaker against Cloud9 and were beaten by SKT in the quarterfinals. An improvement on that is exactly what they’ll be aiming for in 2016.
International Wildcard:
Wildcard teams historically never have a huge impact in Worlds but that’s not to say they don’t deserve their spot. Looking at history again, the wildcard teams have pulled off major upsets, bringing attention to the wildcard teams and reinforcing their importance.
Albus Nox Luna are a Russian team who just claimed their 5th CIS title. They have little success to brag about but that will ignite the desire for them to change that.
INTZ, Brazil’s number one team, have a young squad that has picked up recent success after winning the 2016 International Wild Card Qualifiers.
While some might say the competition is a foregone conclusion, with so much talent coming from so many sources, this year’s Worlds promises to be the best yet.
Image Source: LoL Esports, ESPN and theScore Esports | https://medium.com/@regancfcboy/2016-league-of-legends-world-championship-the-regions-c0272f3639e1 | ['Regan Farney'] | 2016-10-14 17:29:02.036000+00:00 | ['Esports', 'League of Legends', 'Gaming', 'PC'] |
Antifragile Acquisition | Antifragile Acquisition
Why can’t the government get contracts for digital services right?
In 2015 the Government Accountability Office (GAO) added the management of IT Acquisition and Operations to its High Risk list as they concluded that over 90 billion dollars of IT investments are not properly bought and managed, but after six years of acknowledging there is a problem, the problem remains.
Government contracts are brittle, forged under rigid and reactive conditions:
- They are written to resolve leftover problems unanticipated on the previous contract.
- They are inflexible in set up, structure, and execution.
- They rely on competition that has been reduced to comparing apples to apples for the lowest price.
- They are designed to take the path of least resistance instead of finding the best company for the job.
It is no surprise they crack under pressure.
New Hope
Around 20% of that ($90B) IT spend is earmarked for modernization and new development. This is promising news as it could open the door for inventive companies to offer the forward-looking technology solutions that will improve life for millions by improving public experiences with public-facing services — such as healthcare benefits & eligibility, federal loan repayments, and veteran’s benefits.
It is in this space that digital services and digital transformation should be gaining toeholds in the government marketplace.
Government is trying hard to acquire products and services from the companies that are already delivering commercially on what we might consider our “common expectation” for digital solutions. While the mission to improve public facing services is a call to arms for many in the technology sector, the unwillingness of the government to adapt its acquisition behaviors deters most companies, as few are willing to jump through the hoops.
So what does government need to do to improve its ability to buy digital services?
One approach is to counter-intuitively embrace the idea that everything will eventually change or need to be updated, that requirements are fluid, and that because everything is a priority, nothing is. It needs to adopt an Antifragile approach to acquisition.
Antifragility
Antifragility, described first by Nassim Nicholas Teleb, is a property of systems by which they increase their capability to thrive as a result of stressors, shocks, volatility, noise, mistakes, faults, attacks, or failures. Through error and unpredictability the process for decision making will improve because what survives the chaos is ultimately stronger.
Antifragility has become relevant in many different sectors as both an approach and an ideal, especially in the wake of Black Swans (unpredictable, unanticipated, and highly-impactful events) like the COVID-19 pandemic. These events shatter illusions of stability and stress systems to the breaking point. Buying toilet paper, sending kids off to school, and accessing critical social benefits, for example, were systems we might have taken for granted before but whose fragility has become all too transparent.
Antifragile Acquisition
While digital services can also fall victim to fragility, the processes and methodologies that underpin how these services and products are delivered are designed with fail-safes to iteratively allow for unknown stressors. As industry refines its best practices, it too is embracing Antifragile concepts and approaches to enhance these already flexible systems. The proposed Antifragile Software Manifesto is one such example.
Introducing Antifragility in government acquisition will require humanizing the contracting process.
We are at an inflection point as an industry, as a society. Never before has the time been more ripe for reassessing our work, our beliefs about our work, and our sense of the possible. The engine block is on the table and it’s time to decide what goes back into the system, what gets tossed, and what gets an upgrade. To turbo-charge government with Antifragile thinking it requires a mind-set shift that prioritizes non-predictive processes over end-product, learning over the “final-grade”, and creativity over rote-calculation.
Since we can never anticipate everything that might go wrong, Antifragile thinking requires a new perspective: one that sees the upside of risk taking.
Getting Started
If you are in the government acquisition community here is a short list for how to start adopting Antifragility into procurement practices:
Describe the problem and let industry describe the solution
Why: If a solution is written into the contract as the basis for the requirement, there is no way to gracefully back out of that solution if it does not solve the basic problem.
How: Allow industry to do what it does best- think inventively from the failure perspective. Look at how well that company does that for other clients in the commercial world as a basis for evaluation. When digital service product development is their main “bread and butter,” government program teams should leverage that skill instead of thinking there can be only one solution.
Champion your end users
Why: It is critical to know early how well received a solution is — even (perhaps especially) if it does not meet expectations.
How: Ensure it is included in the contract that designers and researchers have access to actual end users — program stakeholders, however well intentioned, are no substitute because they do not have the perspective, data, or emotional connection to solutions that an end user has.
Inclusive accessibility is for all
Why: Overall product development success includes anticipating how to overcome accessibility barriers for diverse users.
How: Move away from looking at 508 standards as a compliance or legal activity by incorporating inclusive design principles and conversations from the start of every project. When evaluating potential contractors, review their other projects or case studies as indicators of how well this practice is already ingrained.
Build Shock Absorbers to Failure
Why: Even when you don’t know what could go wrong, you can anticipate ways to reduce damage to the overall operation by building in exit and pivot strategies to get you off a failing technology or non-performing providers.
How: Stick to simple processes and use flexibilities in the FAR to the greatest extent practicable to keep your options open. Modular contracting, open source vs. proprietary solutions, commercial vs. noncommercial tactics, and simplified acquisition procedures are methods to reduce the hoops potential partners have to jump through.
Everyone responsible for success must have “skin in the game”
Why: Scapegoating instead of working together on a solution only drags down and demoralizes a team instead of incentivizing them to find and resolve the unanticipated event.
How: Move beyond a traditional integrated project team (IPT) environment to a tight knit acquisition administration cohort. This includes general counsel, security, stakeholders, contractors, acquisition personnel and anyone else involved. Ensure that open communication, a supportive environment (relative to THAT specific contract), and top cover are onboard to adapt to, instead of avoid, change. Get a team name, a logo, and print laptop stickers to help everyone in the cohort feel they are part of something larger than themselves.
Channel chaos and disorder into ruthless prioritization and efficiency
Why: Black Swans exist and the response to them is typically a scramble that ultimately leads to scope creep and extended delivery times.
How: The primary objective should be coded into the project’s DNA. It should be written, re-written, and echoed from kick-off to requirements documents, from the technical solution to performance incentives, and everywhere in between. It should serve as the guiding principle to action (the “why”) that everyone on the team can rally around so that if the path becomes unclear or obstructed, it becomes a North Star for the team to navigate a new way forward. | https://medium.com/@traci.walker/antifragile-acquisition-738d79cbe1c4 | ['Traci Walker'] | 2021-09-02 14:26:55.613000+00:00 | ['Civictech', 'Government', 'Acquisition', 'Digital Service', 'Antifragile'] |
What is the first step to buy property | First step to buy the property is to arrange the required fund to buy the property . Generally to buy a property we need to borrow either a part of total fund required or totally depend on loan. So we have to choose the mortgage plan we can afford according to our income . Many times we have already some property and want to invest in another property, in that case we can easily mortgage on our first property.
After planning the fund arrangement, preapproval of the property is required which is done by organization we are taking loan from. Preapproval of property is done for verification of property whether it is built on government approved land all, documentations are legal or not .
Then we have to know the rate of interest which will be payable on that loan or mortgage according to our income. There are many different organizations offering loan and having different rate of interest which changes according to time of repayments. There is also requirement of some down payment to pay and after that there are EMI’s to pay.
These are the steps you have to follow.
Some real estate agents also helps people in getting loan on property and can get some suggestions from them.Their are many online sites where we can select the property according to our requirement of location and budget. | https://medium.com/@bplprimeproperties/what-is-the-first-step-to-buy-property-6cbbcaae7a0a | [] | 2021-12-24 07:58:01.019000+00:00 | ['Property', 'Real Estate Agent'] |
Top 10 Laravel development companies in 2021 | If you’ve been looking around for a Laravel development company, but you haven’t been able to find a good one, you’ve come to the right place. It’s not necessarily as popular as some of the other frameworks on the market, but that’s because it’s a little more specialist and is built with more specific use cases in mind.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves, so let’s take a step back. Now, we will look at what Laravel is and why you might want to think about using it, along with some of the best companies out there to give you a helping hand.
Why use Laravel?
Let’s get started by taking a little look at the whats and whys of Laravel so that you’re up to speed with what it is and what it does before we share some suppliers.
What is Laravel?
Laravel is essentially a free-to-use PHP framework that’s distributed on an open-source model. You can take it and use it to build your applications using the basics that it puts into place. In particular, it was developed for web apps that use a “model-view-controller” pattern(MVC).
Branding itself as the PHP framework for web artisans, it’s better than building with pure PHP because of its foundation for developers. It means that less time is needed to build basic functionality because it’s already there. It’s like going in to build a house after the foundations have already been laid down.
Which companies use the Laravel?
We could fill an entire article just answering this question. That’s because it’s arguably the most popular rapid web app development framework, powering over 70,000 applications. The easiest answer to the question, then, is “lots of them”.
Why did Laravel become popular?
There are dozens of benefits to using Laravel, and so its popularity is a result of all good factors coming together.
Just a few of the main advantages of Laravel include:
It’s powerful and easy to use, making authentication, sessions, caching, and other functionality easy to implement.
It’s super secure, especially when compared to some of the alternatives.
It has a high level of performance straight out of the box.
It’s open-source with a large community of users and third-party developers.
It comes with a number of pre-designed templates that can be used to reduce development time.
It’s specifically designed to make database migration easy.
It offers user testing for smoother bug shooting of your web applications.
It helps you to future-proof your applications.
It’s easy for developers to code with.
It can reduce time to deployment.
It supports multi-language tools and websites.
Top 10 Laravel development companies
Zfort Group prides itself on creating innovative, world-leading software for companies of all shapes and sizes. They’re focused on finding solutions to business problems instead of just building software in their pet programming language or being distracted by trends and buzzwords.
They’re also noteworthy because of their unique approach to development, which relies on their proven methodology tailored to sixteen of the primary industries that they work within. The result is a reliable development service that delivers on time and budget.
Founded back in 2000, this gives the company over twenty years of experience serving its clients across a range of key industries, with over 1,500 projects completed for over 250 US clients.
They have four international data centers to ensure the fastest possible load times for the websites and applications that they create. This is just one of the many reasons they’re a trusted development partner for both startups and international corporations.
MindInventory
MindInventory boasts of its ability to tap into state of the art web design and web development. They have a fairly impressive portfolio of projects that helps to show that off. They also have a huge development team of over 450 Laravel experienced developers who’ve worked on hundreds of builds for their various clients.
Because of the size of their team, they’re able to offer a comprehensive service, including software architecture, web design and development, QA testing, graphic design, content creation, and more. They can also lend a hand when it comes to strategy, making them a pretty respectable all-rounder.
CodeClouds
This company has over ten years of Laravel development experience and specializes in secure builds that are ideal for regulated industries like healthcare and finance. They use the latest version of Laravel and go above and beyond to code with security in mind first and foremost.
Another exciting thing about CodeClouds is that they have a solid client retention rate of over 95%, showing that they tend to impress people enough to make them want to continue working with them. Their employees have an average experience level of five years, and they operate all over the world.
Innofied
The clue is in the name here. Innofied is an innovator with a good reputation for cross-border Laravel development thanks to its international offices in the USA and India. This allows them to keep their overheads relatively low while still providing a US touchpoint for those who like to have a local contact.
Like CodeClouds, they have a particular focus on security, and their employees also have a similar amount of experience, averaging at around the five-year mark. They work across various industries and have been behind some of the world’s most highly trafficked Laravel builds.
Promatics
Promatics is a PHP specialist with a particular focus on Laravel, though they’ve also been known to work with other technologies. Founded back in 2008, they’ve built up a pretty good reputation for creating high quality Laravel builds at reasonable prices, and while they’re not exactly the most skilled developers on the market, they still do pretty well when it comes to the reviews and testimonials that they’ve picked up from their clients.
This company is also known for its custom builds, and so if you’re looking for a pretty standard Laravel build with no major modifications to the source code, you might be better off looking elsewhere. But if it’s a bespoke, competitive build that you need and you want a team with years of experience and a bunch of industry-leading builds beneath their metaphorical belts, Promatics could well be the company for you.
Smartym Pro
Smartym Pro is a pretty decent Laravel development company specializing in building Laravel projects. It also has a good reputation for its robust and market-leading web solutions. You just have to take a look at some of their previous builds to know that they’re good at what they do.
Their management team is at the top of their game with a bunch of certifications, and they use popular methodologies like Agile and Scrum to make sure that they’re as efficient for their clients as humanly possible.
Syberry Corporation
This company has a name that sounds like something that would be nice to eat, but they are, in fact, one of the world’s top Laravel companies. With main offices in the US, they can cater to global Laravel development projects and are essentially industry agnostic, working across the board.
They’ve put a lot of time and effort into building a skilled Laravel development team, and the effort clearly shows. Their website builds are comprehensive and well-developed, and they also have a good reputation for affordably priced builds that are fully realised and multifunctional. There’s a lot to like.
Tuva Interactive
This company started 25 years ago and is based in Kirkwood, Missouri. Their US-based development team might not be as affordable as others on this list, but it provides a little extra peace of mind.
Tuva is known in particular for its high-quality designs and absorbing user experience, which is why they have such a high retention rate amongst their clients. Speaking of their client base, they work with a pretty diverse set of companies across a vast range of industries, with the result that while they might not be the cheapest on this list, they do have one of the more impressive portfolios.
Highland Solutions
Highland Solutions is a Laravel specialist development company with headquarters in Chicago. They use Laravel as a base to create a variety of different digital products and applications and happily work with any company in any industry and of any size.
They were founded around twenty years ago and have a multidisciplinary team consisting of developers, designers, marketers, strategists, and more. Everything that they do is designed with the end-user in mind, but they also partner with clients as an extension of their team to grow as their partners succeed.
Spawoz Technologies
This Laravel development company services clients from all over the globe and has made an impressive mark on the industry in just the five short years in which they’ve been going. They’re known for quick turnarounds and scalable builds that grow with the company and can easily be tweaked down the line to add new features.
There are pros and cons to their relative youth. On the plus side, it ensures that they’re still hungry and still determined to prove themselves with every build. This also means that they’re pretty up-to-date with the latest best practices and don’t have any of the bad habits that some other companies have as leftovers from the early days of Laravel. On the downside, they don’t have a long history of excellence as some of their competitors do.
Can we use Laravel for big projects?
The simple answer to this is yes: and in fact, it’s a pretty good idea because you’ll save a ton of development time on larger projects by tapping into all of the stuff that Laravel comes pre-loaded with. For example, if you need to build authentication, then using Laravel can make your job a whole heap easier.
You also don’t have to worry about running into the limitations of the software because you can pretty much scale up your build as much as needed. There’s a reason why it’s so celebrated because of its versatility.
Zfort Group is a Laravel Development Company.
If you’re looking for a decent Laravel Development Company, Zfort Group is a clear choice. That’s because they have proven experience of working with the technology, as well as a whole heap of satisfied clients who are quick to sing the company’s praises.
Zfort Group offers a variety of other advantages over the competition, too. For example, they have relatively low overheads and can pass those savings on to their clients, meaning that you’ll pay less and get more from it. What’s not to like? | https://medium.com/@zfort/top-10-laravel-development-companies-in-2021-5215e91c4ab2 | ['Zfort Group'] | 2021-07-06 12:31:21.710000+00:00 | ['Laravel', 'Laravel Development', '2021', 'Zfort', 'Top 10'] |
Professional Advice: LinkedIn | LinkedIn is one of the best places to get connected with people in your field, receive job advice, keep updated on the news in your industry, and to even receive an internship for job. When creating a LinkedIn profile you want to make sure you keep it professional as possible. We have some tips and tricks for you to do just that.
Profile Photo: The photo should only have you in it, keep the background simple, wear professional clothes. Headshots are always best. You can receive headshots for free from organizations like Modista or have a friend take one for you in front of a blank wall.
Bio: Keep your LinkedIn bio brief and to the point. If you are currently searching for a job or internship in a certain field you can say so here.
Experience: Your experiences is where you get to show off. Let professionals know about your job experience everything from retail to your most recent internship. Describe your tasks for each job in as detail and precisely as possible. Make sure to use key terms that the jobs you are applying to are looking for. Add unique experiences to allow you to stand out from the crowd.
Connecting with Professionals on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the perfect platform to get connected with professionals in your industry. This can open opportunities for you when looking for internships and jobs.
“When connecting with professionals on LinkedIn you are able have it set a filter so you are able see if a Kent State Alumni is working for the company you are looking at,” said Millicent Ott, The Fashion School Industry Liaison, “Kent State Alumni love to help other Kent State Students. It is always good to have those connections.”
When asking to connect with professionals you want to include a message if possible. Your message can explain who you are and why you want to connect. Ask them a question about their workplace or about what they do. This will allow you to make genuine connection that you can use later on.
Overall, when using LinkedIn keep your profile and connections professional. LinkedIn can open doors for you in your future career. If you have further questions about using LinkedIn email us at [email protected]. | https://medium.com/@sevans49/professional-advice-linkedin-7aef49717f9e | ['Sarah Evans'] | 2019-05-01 13:43:08.145000+00:00 | ['LinkedIn'] |
How to Get Ready for Your Next Novel? | Starting a new content is hard, whether its a short story or a full novel. After all, a story is made of a million moving pieces, all developing and coming into focus with time and hard work.
Here are some points,
Carry a pen and notepad
Make a habit of carrying a pen and notepad wherever you go. These are standard tools to use when inspiration hits. Every time you come across something that is worth telling a story about, jot it down in short points.
Travel
Traveling offers a magical spell of inspiration every writer needs. Experiencing a different atmosphere and a new culture, and learning a new language is important if you are hoping to write an adventure novel.
Constantly change your surroundings
If moving to a whole other city or traveling abroad is tough, try moving around your city from one location to another. Start off with a park, and then move to a library, a shopping mall. Each location has a unique atmosphere that can serve up inspiration for different elements of your story.
Read a lot
Go back to the Kindergarten way of learning. It helps! Reading is, by far, one of the best ways to get inspired. If you have a particular genre in mind that you want to adopt, start reading books, short stories, and magazines that emphasize on that genre. You can even read books that talk about writing.
Follow other writers
Social media has opened a whole new world of opportunities for writers. Lots of successful authors have made extensive use of social media to connect with their audience. You can take a leaf out of their digital book by following their online portfolios. Read on about Indian authors who have a great social media presence.
Attend book launches
Want to get personal with your favorite authors? Attend events where a book signing or a book launch is being featured. It will also give you an idea on how to throw a really good launch party for your book.
Just start
Starting trouble; that’s the biggest problem faced by many aspiring authors. The secret to breaking the writer’s block is to simply just start. No matter where you are or what you’re doing, when an idea strikes, set the ink in motion.
Keep Consistency
The best authors take months or even years to complete a novel; this is because they follow a consistent approach to their writing habits. Every day something new may inspire you to write, and it could be for the novel you’re currently working on. So, be consistent and stick to your schedule, and you’ll find yourself getting better with every word.
I hope this article will be helpful to you. Follow Lone Thread Books to learn more about reading, writing, and publishing.
| By, Aswy Hanna Paul, Lone Thread Books. | | https://medium.com/@lonethread/how-to-get-ready-for-your-next-novel-c68d112b689c | ['Lone Thread Books'] | 2020-12-23 09:25:19.114000+00:00 | ['Ready', 'Writers On Writing', 'Novel', 'Tips', 'Writing'] |
We are sofiathinks, welcome to the intelligent home era | In February 2017, a group of data scientists, electronic and software engineers, and industrial designers, all senior professionals from top companies with an extensive background in AI and IoT, joined forces to embark on a journey as stimulating as it was challenging. We founded Smart IoT Labs with a clear goal: to progress from the Smart Home to the real Intelligent Home while making it accessible for everyone — not only a few tech-savvy people.
We managed to create a technology capable of using AI for self-learning and autonomous decision-making
After these years of hard work, we have managed to create a technology capable of using AI for self-learning and autonomous decision-making. This ushers in a new era: one in which our homes learn about our habits and anticipate our needs before we even think about it. Smart IoT Labs took us to this point. Now it gives way to sofiathinks, a startup whose technology provides services that improve people’s lives in the place that matter the most: their homes.
A brain in the heart of the house
Our product is set to revolutionize this area of technology. Sofia is a virtual brain that self-learns, thinks, and makes decisions autonomously and proactively to ensure the comfort and safety of the household, with a different approach to what has happened previously in the sector: maximum respect for users’ privacy. | https://medium.com/theintelligenthome/we-are-sofiathinks-welcome-to-the-intelligent-home-era-ee0896491db3 | [] | 2020-10-19 11:12:21.201000+00:00 | ['Artificial Intelligence', 'Sofiathinks', 'AI', 'IoT', 'Smart Home'] |
Drawing The 92nd Academy Awards | It’s always an enormous treat to go to Los Angeles and draw the Academy Awards red carpet and show. This year was no different; my fifth time in attendance drawing. I never take my luck for granted.
I arrived two days in advance of the Sunday broadcast so that I could draw behind the scenes and walk around the neighborhood.
After arriving on site, I get my credentials and head down to the red carpet area to see what’s going on. There were the usual suspects: journalists dressed up and practicing on camera, and men in dark suits seeming to be guarding things. The carpet was still covered in plastic. | https://lizadonnelly.medium.com/drawing-the-92nd-academy-awards-7c8ea0f38d0e | ['Liza Donnelly'] | 2020-02-15 19:33:44.997000+00:00 | ['Movies', 'Academy Awards', 'Storytelling', 'Oscars', 'Film'] |
Deth Klok | Deth Klok
A story about an app that knows when you’ll die
Photo by Justin Main on Unsplash
“Know the exact time and place of your death!” reads an ad on a billboard. “Choosing to not know is choosing to leave everyone you love without warning!”
Below the slogan is the app logo, which is a watch with a skull and crossbones. “Deth Klok”
A watch on a man’s wrist says, “Location of Death: Golden Gate Bridge. Time: 09/21 12:34 PM”
The current time is 9/21 at 12:33 PM. The man takes a deep breath. He steps onto the edge of the bridge. Everything in his reptilian brain protests his current circumstances, but he has nowhere else to go, no one else to turn to.
His phone buzzes. “1 Notification.” He opens it.
“Dear Dad,
I had a strange dream last night. You were in it. But not exactly. You said you were from another dimension and you came to me to save yourself. Isn’t that weird? You know how dreams can be.
Anyway, I looked at old pictures of us today. I realized that all of the things that you did to us…
This is hard to write. In a lot of ways, I hate you. But I feel compelled to write to you anyway. I want to forgive you, but I can’t. I’ve tried, and I just can’t. But I want to. For the first time, I realize that it’s a process, not a magic spell.
I’d like to start that process.
Do you want to get lunch this week?
-Dany”
The man wipes tears from his cheeks.
He checks the time. It’s 12:35 PM. | https://medium.com/thenewnorth/deth-klok-a3731d413926 | ['Taylor Foreman'] | 2020-11-01 18:37:30.643000+00:00 | ['Creativity', 'Short Story', 'Fiction', 'Microfiction', 'Flash Fiction'] |
Is it Time to Start Raising Your Personal Profile? | When we think about branding, developing your own professional brand probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. However, just about anyone could benefit from spending some time thinking seriously about what they want to be known for and then taking active steps to communicate that to the world.
Why?
Well, there’s the obvious examples of course — like CEO’s with a flashy backstory, or professional coaches, authors and consultants, but even if you’re working in a behind-the-scenes role in corporate, your reputation matters. It could mean the difference between being top of mind for an opportunity and being overlooked!
I know it might seem intimidating to step out from behind your job title or your business and actually put yourself out there, but in reality, it can be a great way to boost your confidence — and you might surprise yourself with the results. I certainly did! (Read about my journey .)
It doesn’t have to be hard either.
To get you started, let’s look at the four-step process you can use to develop your personal brand and raise your profile:
Step 1: Define your personal value proposition
It may sound strange, but you have a value proposition, much like any product or company. If you can’t explain what your value proposition is, chances are no one else will be able to either!
So, think about the top 3 to 5 things that make you unique as a professional; the things you want to be known for. It could be the skills you bring to the table, a special area of focus, your viewpoint on things that matter to you, experience across countries or sectors, personality traits, or the way you approach problems. Each of these attributes represents your unique selling points (USPs) and together they make up your value proposition.
Whatever attributes you choose, consider why they are important in relation to the brand you want to represent, your goals and how they set you apart from everyone else.
Step 2: Write your elevator pitch
Your value proposition is the foundation for your elevator pitch — a 20 to 30 second summary of who you are. By writing it down, you’re more likely to remember to incorporate those USPs the next time you introduce yourself and make your mark. In fact, it would also make a great summary and intro for your LinkedIn profile!
Be sure to take into account who your ideal audience is and what would make them care about what you have to say. Your elevator pitch, if executed correctly, will help people get a clear idea of who you are as a professional and make you memorable so the next time they need someone with your expertise, you will be their first point of call.
Step 3: Establish a consistent voice
What you say is important, but how you say it is too. The tone of how you speak, write and engage with people says something about who you are and what you stand for.
Decide whether you want to sound bold and empowered, calculated and scientific, or something else altogether, taking into account how that enables you to be successful in whatever you do.
The most important thing here is to be authentic, so don’t overthink it. Your voice on different platforms and in real life should be consistent — although your tone may sometimes depend on the context. If someone reads your writing, watches a video of you or listens to a podcast with you online, they shouldn’t be surprised when they meet you in person, and vice versa!
Step 4: Decide where to bring your personal brand to life
Now that we’ve covered the basics of developing a personal brand, you’re ready to start putting it out there. There are endless ways to communicate your story; so make a conscious decision to focus on the areas that feel right to you and are most likely to move the needle.
Where you engage should be aligned with your brand and relevant to the industry you want to be in. For instance, if you want to be influential in the fashion industry you might focus on a visual platform like Instagram or Pinterest, and if you want to be a business consultant you might focus on networking platforms like LinkedIn or relevant Facebook Groups.
Social media is just one area but your personal brand could be built through many different online and offline channels. Consider a blog, a website, speaking opportunities, media interviews, YouTube, conferences, a newspaper column, magazine write-ups, a podcast… whatever makes sense for your brand, plays to your strengths and feels right for you.
Bonus: don’t set it and forget it!
Check-in regularly to see how you’re doing. Branding is not something that happens overnight. It takes time, consistency and commitment to build a brand that stands out.
For example, when I’m hosting a workshop, speaking on a panel or attending an event, I’ll take a moment beforehand to review my value proposition and elevator pitch. From there, I will think about how this needs to be adapted in this specific context so my introduction is relevant to the audience and so that people that meet me will know what my specific expertise is, why it’s relevant and who could benefit.
Have you thought about creating your own personal brand?
From CEOs, founders, consultants, authors and coaches, I’ve worked with many people on raising their personal profile and achieve their goals and I’d love to help you get started. Send us a message or get in touch with me at [email protected] to arrange a one-on-one session and get the ball rolling. | https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/is-it-time-to-start-raising-your-personal-profile-d0fe46ef8e83 | ['Marielle Reussink'] | 2019-11-29 14:53:46.870000+00:00 | ['Social Media', 'Personal Branding Tips', 'Personal Branding', 'Personal Profile', 'Personal Brand'] |
Sepatu Safety Paling Kuat di Indonesia | safety always comes first | https://medium.com/@safetoe-indonesia/sepatu-safety-paling-kuat-di-indonesia-f288e762fb10 | ['Safetoe Indonesia'] | 2020-12-23 10:45:43.364000+00:00 | ['Aluminiumtoecap', 'Compositetoecap', 'Toecap', 'Steeltoecap', 'Safety'] |
How do I earn $1 million a month through affiliate marketing? | From luxury homes, sleek cars, exotic yachts, and tons of cash, to beautiful bikini-clad girls popping champagne, is the usual picture that comes to the minds of many people when they think of a million dollars.
Sincerely, earning a million dollars a month is a little far-fetched, especially if you’re just a beginner.
Most of the people you see flashing money online on Instagram and YouTube are not millionaires-they’re just after your hard earned cash.
If you’re a beginner, the best place to start is to find a mentor-someone who has done it. One thing I can tell you is that the free courses you find on the Internet and on YouTube tend to only scratch the surface. They don’t go deep.
Even with the premium courses you buy online, most of them are just rip-offs, selling you outdated material you can find online for free.
Understanding affiliate marketing and becoming good at it is a grim story. 95% of affiliate marketers don’t make any money. Not even a dime. Yet they keep plodding on, with the hope that one day, they’ll strike a fortune which will perhaps change their lives and deliver them from the rat race.
Affiliate marketing is just one of the hundreds of ways to make money on the internet, and for that matter, it’s just one of the hundreds of ways to make a million dollars.
Most people confuse affiliate marketing with multi-level marketing (MLM). No, they’re not the same thing. Plus, if you’ve been scammed before, I don’t blame you.
However, if you’ve chosen affiliate marketing as your primary vehicle, earning a million dollars in a year is quite possible if you put in hard work, determination, focus, persistence, and passion, and are smart enough to implement cutting-edge marketing strategies.
One thing is for sure-there are many things to learn. Marketing, copywriting, SEO, blogging, article writing, Facebook ads, Google ads, Native ads, Media Buying, etc., just to name a few, but the effort is worth it.
Consider spending less than $1,000 learning a few skills and techniques that will make you a million dollars. That’s a small price to pay compared to getting an MBA degree from an Ivy League university that will cost you upwards of $80,000 with no guarantee of a steady job that will yield a good return on investment (ROI).
Earning a million dollars a year through affiliate marketing is the same as earning a million dollars a year with any other method like real estate, stock market, Amazon FBA, drop shipping, FOREX, cryptocurrency, or any other business model you can think of. The difference is that the risk is not as high as those other business models.
Any business can make you a million dollars as long as you have the mindset for a million dollars.
The reason affiliate marketing is so popular is because it is all over the internet.
Moreover, it is one of the oldest and easiest ways to make money online without investing much capital except your time and effort. The other reason is that there are almost no barriers to entry and the risks associated with starting an affiliate marketing business are literally zero.
Signing-up for an affiliate program is free, and once accepted, promoting an affiliate product offer is also free.
For example, unlike traditional brick-and-mortar businesses or Amazon FBA, you don’t need to invest in working capital, inventory, rent, insurance, storage space, licenses, or a host of other business requirements. Everything can be done from your laptop and Internet connection at home. In fact, you can start affiliate marketing immediately without a website.
The other reason affiliate marketing is so popular is because of the media hype and internet sensation it has created over the years. The internet is full of rags-to-riches stories of affiliate marketers who started from zero to a million dollars in a single month!
However, these people did not just wake up one day to find themselves millionaires. They worked hard for it, and it took them years to reach there.
Can You Make a Million Dollars with Affiliate Marketing?
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. While the rest of the world is skeptical, many people are silently killing it online through affiliate marketing. I can’t impress it upon you further.
However, most people will never earn a million dollars in their lifetime because in the first place, they don’t believe they can earn a million dollars.
Secondly, they don’t believe in themselves, and certainly, they don’t believe in anything you tell them.
Thirdly, they don’t have what it takes to earn a million dollars. They just don’t know how.
More importantly, most people will never earn a million dollars because they lack the millionaire mindset.
What is A Millionaire Mindset?
A millionaire mindset is a set of beliefs, philosophies and convictions that drive a person to start believing they can make a million dollars. It’s a strong mentality to beat the odds and become a millionaire at whatever cost.
This mentality is followed by a strong conviction and determination to succeed in a particular area of business by exploring, learning, researching and implementing what you believe is possible.
A million dollars is just an idea. Implementation is the heard part.
Let me be sincere here…
Not everyone who believes they can make a million dollars will actually make a million dollars. The reason is that, earning a million dollars is not just a matter of believing. It is a matter of following a certain proven formula consistently, making smart moves, patience, taking relevant actions with razor-like focus, hard work, determination, and continuous learning.
To make a million dollars, you must think like an entrepreneur.
To most people, a million dollars may sound like some pipe dream they only see in movies, read in novels, or read in newspapers, but with the right mindset, you can remove all the mental blocks that prevent you from seeing possibilities where others see only impossibilities.
The millionaire mindset forces you to start thinking like a millionaire, act like a millionaire, talk like a millionaire, and feel like a millionaire, long before you actually earn your first million dollars.
Affiliate Marketing — What is It?
Since affiliate marketing is the topic of our discussion, we shall not waste much time describing what it is, how to start, whom to approach for help, and where to get the right training and marketing resources.
In case you’re not sure what affiliate marketing actually is, let’s quickly get that out of the way.
(You can skip this section if you already know what we’re talking about).
Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business or person (vendor or merchant), signs-up another business or person (affiliate) to market their products or services through a revenue-sharing compensation plan.
Compensation models vary from one vendor to another and from one affiliate network to another. Which means we should also define what an affiliate network is.
What’s an Affiliate Network?
An affiliate network is a company that acts as a brokerage between merchants and affiliates. It facilitates a database of hundreds of thousands of products and services and avails a platform for recruiting, administrating and compensating affiliate marketers.
A few examples are Amazon Associates, ClickBank, CJ Affiliate (formerly Commission Junction), Rakuten (formerly LinkShare), JVZoo and FlexOffers.
There are as many affiliate networks as there are verticals, companies and vendors.
Each vendor on the affiliate network can list their products or services at different compensation rates and plans. The network also facilitates performance metrics for each listed product and service to enable affiliates choose the products and services they’d like to promote.
Well, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, which is the best compensation plan?
What Are Best Affiliate Marketing Compensation Plans?
Cost per Sale (CPS) — In this compensation model, an affiliate is paid when a sale is completed. 80% of affiliate programs use this model.
The aim of this compensation model is to increase sales through affiliate links.
Cost Per Action (CPA) — Also called Cost per Acquisition, this model typically pays for leads generated. The affiliate marketer is paid for every lead who completes a specific action, like filling an online form, submitting an email or ZIP code, installs a mobile app, or takes any other specified action. Typically, with CPA offers, a web visitor doesn’t have to pay for anything since most of the offers don’t require a credit card.
Pay per Call — This model is particularly popular with mobile users. All you have to do is connect a prospect with a merchant and get paid. Just like that.
Just like clicks are tracked, calls can also be tracked using software to track a connection between a vendor and a prospect to your affiliate ID. The sale can then be tracked to you as the affiliate who facilitated the connection. That’s how you get paid.
Pay per Click (PPC) — The best example of PPC compensation model is Google AdSense. This compensation plan is popular with search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo.
Each time a user clicks on a link on a website or blog, the affiliate who contributed this action is compensated for the action and a commission is issued by the merchant.
Pay per Mile (PPM) — Pay per Mile means pay per thousand impressions. Some merchants offer this compensation model through affiliate networks. It is another payment model mostly associated with search engine marketing. This concept also includes payment based on a thousand views.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s explore ways to make a million dollars through affiliate marketing.
CPS and CPA are by far the most popular compensation models, so we shall concentrate our discussion on just these two types of compensation.
Without complicating things, let’s look at the components that drive affiliate marketing.
Despite what people tell you, driving web traffic to a product offer is the secret to making money online. This means if you have a blog that gets a million web visitors per month, you can earn from $10,000 — $50,000 per month, depending on your conversion rate and the affiliate offer you’re trying to promote.
The same is also true if you have a similar amount of audience or followers on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, or any other social media platforms across the Internet. However, the amount of revenue varies depending on the platform, affiliate offer, and affiliate marketing strategy.
The process can be broken down to only 5 steps:
Find a Hot Niche
Find a good Offer
Create a Blog or find a good Platform where to promote your offer
Drive Targeted Traffic
Convert your traffic to sales
HOT NICHE + OFFER + PLATFORM+ TARGETED TRAFFIC + CONVERSION = MONEY
As simple as it sounds, this is one of the most powerful concepts in online marketing.
The reason most people fail is because they don’t get the fundamentals right.
Finding a Hot Niche
Finding a hot niche is the secret to business, especially for affiliate marketing.
Ever heard of the California Gold Rush?
It was a period in history when millions of people from across the world trekked for thousands of miles to a place in California between 1848–1855 to look for gold. They came from as far as Europe, Latin America, Australia and China.
Many of them lost their lives and property on the way and quite a few of them struck gold in a big way.
Finding a hot niche and exploring ways to supply the niche with a hot product or service is the key to becoming rich. This fundamental principle hasn’t changed over time.
For example, in 1871 following the California Gold Rush, Levi Straus partnered with Jacob W. Davis to start making Jeans (a type of garments including pants, skirts, aprons, overalls, and coats), for the gold mining community. They became rich in the process.
The three biggest online niches are:
Relationships (Dating, Sexuality, Marriage, Divorce) ,
Health (Wellness & Fitness, Physical Health, Weight Management, Sexual & Reproductive Health, Mental Health, etc.)
Wealth (Money, Investing, Entrepreneurship, Business, FOREX, cryptocurrency).
Of course there are many other niches like the passion industry, gaming and sports, but let’s just keep to these three.
Where To Find Hot Niches
There are many places to find a hot niche.
Social sites like Facebook groups, Instagram, Twitter
Forums (There’s a forum for just about anything under the sun)
Blogs
Q & A Forums like Quora (There’s a question and answer for just about any topic under the sun)
Google Trends
YouTube
Finding a hot niche is just as easy as finding a hungry market.
You begin by looking at social sites like Facebook groups, Forums and other places where people are deeply engaged and asking questions.
Look for topics where people are exchanging questions and answers like Quora and read what type of questions people are asking and what types of answers they’re getting.
Finding An Offer
Finding a hot product offer is just as easy as finding a solution to the problems people are looking for. Connect people to a solution and you’re in business. You can easily become a millionaire if you strike the right solution.
See what types of questions people are asking, and try to understand their inner feelings, emotions, pain and their language.
Then go and find a suitable affiliate product offer, sign-up with an affiliate network, and start promoting the offer to your target niche.
Web Traffic Secrets
As said earlier, driving targeted web traffic is the secret to any online business. It is the lifeblood of any online business. No traffic, no money. As simple as that.
People who control large amounts of web traffic also control boatloads of cash on the web.
Free Traffic Methods
The best type of traffic is FREE, organic traffic and the best source of free traffic is Google.
The reason is that Google will continue to deliver free traffic to your website or blog even after many years.
The number one free traffic strategy to get tons of web traffic is SEO (search engine optimization).
SEO is not easy, and takes a long time for your blog to rank highly on search engines, but if you do it the right way, you will continue to enjoy organic traffic for years to come.
Another free traffic strategy is writing quality articles on blogs and Forums. This method can generate tons of web traffic especially if your articles go viral.
The key to making big money online is to find a hungry audience who are already looking for a solution to a specific problem and target them with your marketing.
Note that if you don’t have control of a large amount of FREE traffic, then your next best option is to buy the traffic.
Paid Traffic Methods
Buying web traffic is just a matter of visiting your favorite paid ads network and start promoting.
The pros are that you can get instant results as soon as possible.
The cons are that you can throw your money down the drain very quickly and there are no guarantees that you’ll get good results, especially if you have no idea how to create paid ads on Google, Facebook, Bing, Yahoo, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or any of the PPC networks.
The idea is to use cheaper advertising platforms where there is less competition.
Paid traffic requires mastery of the trade and any false move can make you regret you ever tried to make money online.
Paid traffic strategies like media buys and native ads can drive insane amounts of web traffic to a product offer and make you millions of dollars before you know it.
Do you Need a Website to Start Affiliate Marketing?
Although you can actually run an affiliate marketing business without a website, there are many benefits to have your own website.
First, most of the best affiliate networks will not approve you without a website.
Secondly, your website is your primary source of passive income. This means you can earn perpetual income forever, while providing yourself with financial security for the rest of your life.
Thirdly, a website is your business property that you can sell any time you want, and make a ton of money, as long as it gets a ton of web traffic.
Taking Your First Baby Steps
As mentioned earlier, your turning point is when you make your first $100 dollars a day online consistently.
Earning your first $100 dollars a day consistently is your BABY STEP to a million dollars.
The idea is to break down your million dollar target into small baby steps.
If you want to make a million dollars per year, then your monthly target is $83,333.33.
This means your daily goal should be $2,777.77
Getting that kind of result using free traffic strategies is a little difficult, but once you start earning $100 dollars a day, you can spend half of it through paid traffic strategies.
Then you can gradually scale that to generate more revenues, by split-testing and other strategies to find what works and what doesn’t.
Making your first $100 a day is a piece of cake once you know where and how to get the traffic. I’ve already mentioned a few web traffic sources.
The key to earning big money in affiliate marketing is to promote high-ticket products.
The effort used to sell 100,000 items at $10 monthly is the same effort used to sell 100 items at $100,000 items per month. You only use different approaches and target different niches.
CPA Marketing
CPA marketing is a subtle affiliate marketing strategy where you don’t have to sell anything to get paid.
CPA is the easiest method for making money with affiliate marketing, especially for beginners, because the prospect or web user doesn’t have to pull out their credit card to pay for anything. All they have to do is fill out an online form, submit an email or ZIP code, download an eBook, install a mobile app, or perform some other specific action.
For example, suppose you have a rare online resource like an eBook, software, music album or online course, that people would normally pay for.
You can use a CPA content locker or link locker to lock this resource, only allowing people to access the resource after they complete a survey, submit an email or download an app.
The commissions for CPA offers are very low-ranging from $1.60 to under $5, but let this not fool you. If you can find a strategy to get tons of web traffic, you can make a boatload of cash, since the conversion rates for CPA offers are extremely high.
For example, if you can drive 1,000,000 web visitors through a link locker that pays just $1.60 per email submit and the conversion rate is 50%, your commissions will be:
1,000,000 x $1.60 x 50% = 800 000 US$
Imagine earning this kind of money in a month!
Some CPA affiliate marketers make millions of dollars per month using just this one strategy.
There are many CPA affiliate networks for just about every niche you can think of.
A few examples of CPA affiliate networks are MaxBounty, Peerfly, AdWorkMedia, AdscendMedia, CPALead, CPAGrip, CPABuild, Mobidea, Leadbit, EverAd, Convert2Media, and A4D.
In Conclusion
The landscape for affiliate marketing has changed significantly over the past decade.
From tighter legislation and policies, to enhanced artificial intelligence agents that have made it harder to manipulate search engine algorithms, to old school SEO (search engine optimization) tactics that don’t work anymore, affiliate marketing is becoming tougher each day.
Furthermore, with a general increase in competition on the web, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for affiliate marketers to get ahead in the game.
Despite all the pitfalls, many smart affiliate marketers continue to reap phenomenal returns.
To remain on top of the game, most affiliate marketers have committed to life-long learning.
Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or advanced, you need to always keep abreast with the latest tech news, changes in technology and the latest internet marketing tactics, by learning from veterans and other internet marketers.
==> www.successmode.ml | https://medium.com/@successmode/how-do-i-earn-1-million-a-month-through-affiliate-marketing-acf69dc86169 | [] | 2021-01-02 07:36:04.549000+00:00 | ['Affiliate Marketing', 'Affiliate Marketing Tips', 'Earn Money Online', 'Free', 'Marketing'] |
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First Confirmed Case of Coronavirus Reinfection Doesn’t Mean We’re All Doomed | First Confirmed Case of Coronavirus Reinfection Doesn’t Mean We’re All Doomed
The case is one in 23 million
Photo: Li Zhihua/China News Service/Getty Images
Scientists in Hong Kong reported today the first confirmed case of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been concerns about long-term immunity to the novel coronavirus, and several possible cases of reinfection were reported in the media. But until now, none were confirmed scientifically.
The question has always been whether reports of a person testing positive, recovering from the virus and testing negative, and then testing positive again weeks or months later is because of faulty testing, “dead” viral RNA lingering in the body, a reemergence of the same infection, or a genuine instance of reinfection. The Hong Kong report is the first to use genetic testing to confirm the two cases in the same person were caused by slightly different strains of the virus.
According to a manuscript leaked by South China Morning Post reporter Lilian Cheng on Twitter, the patient, a 33-year-old man with no preexisting conditions, first got sick in March, presenting with a cough, sore throat, fever, and headache. He tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on March 26 and was monitored in the hospital for two weeks (standard protocol for patients in Hong Kong regardless of disease severity) until he was discharged on April 14 following two negative tests. The second time he tested positive was after returning to Hong Kong from Spain on August 15, when he was screened at the airport as part of standard reentry procedures. This time, however, he was completely asymptomatic and never developed a cough, fever, or any other signs of Covid-19.
Scientists at the University of Hong Kong sequenced the genome of the virus from the tests taken in March and August and discovered that they differed in several key areas, indicating that they were two different strains of SARS-CoV-2. Specifically, 24 nucleotides — the “building blocks” that make up the virus’s RNA — were different between the two infections. The August strain was a variation of the virus known to be circulating primarily in western Europe, suggesting the man was reinfected while abroad.
While the news of a legitimate reinfection is worrying, virologists and immunologists took to Twitter to reassure people that this doesn’t mean we’re all doomed. In fact, scientists have been expecting reinfection to occur all along. Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, a professor of immunobiology at Yale University, tweeted, “This is no cause for alarm — this is a textbook example of how immunity should work.”
Virus-specific antibodies created by the immune system are central to the question of immunity, and varying reports have emerged over the past few months about the quantity, quality, and duration of antibodies produced in response to SARS-CoV-2. The vast majority of people who’ve recovered from Covid-19 do develop antibodies to the virus, and typically the more severe the infection, the more antibodies they produce, providing them with protection against reinfection. However, according to the leaked manuscript, which is under review at the academic journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, the Hong Kong patient had no detectable antibodies after his first infection.
It’s possible this man had a very mild initial case of Covid-19 or an abnormal immune response that resulted in fewer antibodies being produced. Either way, the absence of antibodies after the man’s first infection could explain how he became infected with a different strain a second time. In contrast, a preprint study published earlier this month and covered in the New York Times reported that three people who tested positive for antibodies were spared in a large outbreak that infected 104 people on a fishing boat from Seattle.
Given that most people do develop antibodies to the virus, Angela Rasmussen, PhD, a virologist at Columbia University, tweeted that the Hong Kong case “doesn’t have major implications for immunity since most people DO have IgG [antibodies] after recovering from infection.”
The fact that the second case was asymptomatic is also a good sign because it suggests that there is some protection (perhaps from T cells) that made the second infection less severe. “While immunity was not enough to block reinfection, it protected the person from disease,” Iwasaki tweeted. What’s more, the man developed a robust antibody response after the second infection.
Finally, it’s important to remember that this is one confirmed case of reinfection out of the more than 23 million cases of Covid-19 worldwide, and one in 23 million is pretty good odds. As Rasmussen pointed out on Twitter, “How many people were screened to find this single case of reinfection? There’s no indication that this is anything other than a rare case of someone getting reinfected after not developing immunity to the first infection.” | https://coronavirus.medium.com/first-confirmed-case-of-coronavirus-reinfection-doesnt-mean-we-re-all-doomed-85bde2ab9e72 | ['Dana G Smith'] | 2020-08-24 22:12:30.261000+00:00 | ['Hong Kong', 'Immunity', 'Health', 'Covid 19', 'Coronavirus'] |
My 10 Favorite Reads of 2020. At risk of adding more to the glut of… | At risk of adding more to the glut of book lists, here are the 10 books I most enjoyed in 2020, with a few honorable mentions. | https://medium.com/@ivantable/my-favorite-10-books-of-2020-e223ccd789e0 | ['Ivan Mesa'] | 2020-12-24 00:56:46.414000+00:00 | ['Christian', 'Reading', 'Books'] |
Lenape District names new superintendent | Released by Lenape Regional High School District
At its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, May 16, the Lenape Regional High School District Board of Education named Carol L. Birnbohm, Ed.D., the new superintendent of schools, effective July 1. The current superintendent, Emily Capella is retiring on June 30.
Birnbohm, who currently serves as assistant superintendent is a graduate of Cherokee High School and has spent her entire career in the Lenape Regional District.
LRHSD Board President Ted Shinske said, “Carol is an asset in part because she has experience at every level of the district; as a student, teacher, coach, administrator and now superintendent; and she has done very well at every level.”
Shinske said the board anticipates a smooth transition and is “very fortunate” to have a candidate of Birnbohm’s caliber who also is familiar with the distinctive culture of the district. “The Lenape District functions much like a supportive, caring family. Carol is highly-regarded within the district for her intelligence, strong work ethic and vision to help every student succeed.”
“I have had the opportunity to work for three different superintendents and have gained a variety of leadership skills from each opportunity,” acknowledged Birnbohm. “Most notably, it has been an honor to work so closely with Emily Capella. She reinforces through all of our initiatives, and on a daily basis, the district’s unwavering commitment to the students. She fosters a sense of collegiality and teamwork among the administration and staff that allows us to all openly problem-solve.”
Birnbohm was named assistant superintendent in 2007, responsible for developing and administering in-service programs and ongoing professional development, as well as providing leadership and guidance on curriculum planning, coordination and evaluation. In addition she also served as district affirmative action officer and anti-bullying coordinator. This June, she will present at the National Girl Bullying Conference on “Empowering the Bystander to Become an Upstander.”
Birnbohm began her career teaching mathematics at Cherokee High School from 1992 until 2001, where she also coached Varsity Lacrosse and Swimming, and was assistant Field Hockey Coach. She was Lacrosse Coach of the Year (New Jersey, South Jersey) in 1998. Birnbohm was assistant principal at Cherokee, from 2001 to 2004, where she also was supervisor of mathematics and guidance. She was promoted to district administration as director of programs and planning, where she served until being named assistant superintendent.
Birnbohm earned her doctorate in education from Wilmington University in New Castle, Del. in May 2010. She also was the recipient of the Audrey K. Doberstein Award for Leadership for outstanding leadership and dedication to the philosophy and mission of Wilmington University that same year.
Birnbohm earned a bachelor of arts in mathematics education from the College of New Jersey, and a master of arts in education administration from Rowan University. | https://medium.com/the-medford-sun/lenape-district-names-new-superintendent-37e61754444c | [] | 2016-12-19 15:13:30.524000+00:00 | ['Headlines', 'Medford', 'Schools', 'High Schools', 'Lenape District'] |
Cults are Just Small Unrecognized Religions, Right? | Cults are Just Small Unrecognized Religions, Right?
“Cult” in a modern sociological context has a very different meaning than the way laypeople use it.
Photo by Luan Cabral on Unsplash
“Cult” is a highly abused term. It’s often used as a quick way to criticize religious groups. In order to understand what these entities are, it’s important to understand the history of the term, as well as some of the anthropological and sociological theory about them. This article is for those who want a better understanding of the nature of cults, and those who are simply interested in the topic.
Etymology and Evolution
Cults are an interesting cultural phenomenon. The term itself has evolved considerably over the years. The origin of cult begins with the same root as culture and cultivate, but obviously these terms have diverged considerably over the years [1]. While originally meaning a small, usually fairly new religious group, the term has taken on a much more negative meaning.
Part of the reason for the divergence of meaning stems from a lack of necessity. Religion was so common in the ancient world, and such an integral part of daily life, that there really wasn’t a term for religion itself, and so there was no other way to refer to a relatively new religious group. Today we can just call it a new or small religious group.
While there are a few instances where anthropologists might use the term “cult” in its earlier meaning, these instances are limited and usually fairly well defined. The term “cargo cult” is a good example. It’s a term that applies to people in undeveloped areas believing that modern goods are brought to them by the gods, rather than by modern peoples.
In most cases however, the term carries a specific meaning in terms of a group with specific socioeconomic impacts, and it is generally considered as a negative. It’s for this reason that some who want to criticize groups will label something a cult, even if they do not have the justification to do so.
Characteristics of Cults
There are numerous characteristics that cults tend to have. Janja Lalich, Ph.D. & Michael D. Langone, Ph.D. have produced a nice checklist of traits that tend to be found in cults. However, there is an admission that a cult may not have many of these characteristics, and that many non-cults can have a lot of them. Therefore, in order to establish an actual definition of a cult, which anthropologists can use to study the phenomena, and public health and social work professionals can use to serve the population, something else is needed. Specifically, there are two features that every cult must express.
Clear Group Identity
The first criterion that every group possesses is a clear delineation of membership. A cult determines who may or may not be a member. The concept of clear group inclusion/exclusion is actually referenced in the way many speak of cults and individuals. It is not uncommon to hear the assertion that a person “is in a cult” or “belongs to a cult.”
It’s important to distinguish between clear inclusion and exclusion criteria and exclusivity. A cult does not have to be highly exclusive, although cults often have a degree of exclusivity, especially as one rises through the ranks and becomes closer to the inner circle of core members.
Maladaptivity
“Maladaptivity” is a term that’s commonly used in anthropology. Unlike an adaptive trait, which is beneficial to a group, a maladaptive trait is harmful to a group. The second criterion is that a cult is inherently maladaptive. While a cult may have started as a group that provided benefits to its members, every cult is harmful to the majority of its members and often to society, in general.
Many of the properties that are often attributed to cults, such as exclusivity, revealed truth, the expression of strong loyalty towards a leader, and so on, easily become maladaptive, which is why it’s common to see groups with these traits become cults. In moderation, these traits aren’t bad, but in their extreme, they become quite harmful.
Wrap Up
All cults have two elements in common. They are ultimately harmful to their members or those around them, and they are organizations. While many social groups have some degree of negatives, the net effect of a cult is always harmful. Moreover, a loose association of people, those who simply have certain traits in common, and so on, are not necessarily cults. Many organizations start off as beneficial to their members and their surroundings, but through various changes in leadership and structure, become negative. Finally, these organizations may be religious, but not even close to all religious groups are cults, and not every cult is religious in nature.
Further Reading
Understanding why religious entities aren’t necessarily cults requires an understanding of what religion itself is. Unfortunately, discussions about religion often rely on poor definitions of the cultural phenomenon. | https://medium.com/the-spiritual-anthropologist/cults-are-just-small-unrecognized-religions-right-32826ec3789d | ['Daniel Goldman'] | 2020-01-09 16:17:25.682000+00:00 | ['Cult', 'Religion', 'Sociology', 'Culture', 'Anthropology'] |
COVID-19 Brings an Epidemic of “Othering” | COVID-19 Brings an Epidemic of “Othering”
Photo by Macau Photo Agency on Unsplash
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, health-care systems around the world are left strained. The outbreak continues to throttle the efficiency of many health-care sectors, pushing some to the brink. While deficiencies within public health systems are exposed, other viral enemies have come to the fore — racism, bigotry, and xenophobia.
The spike in discrimination cases during the COVID-19 pandemic is derived from the process of “othering.” This is described as the conscious or unconscious negative framing of a group of people that are perceived to threaten another group’s existence. “Othering” marginalizes sectors of the population along dimensions such as race, ethnicity, skin tone, religion, gender, or class. By labeling a selected group of people as the “other,” the survival of the “imaginary” superior community is protected. It provides a fertile environment for dominant groups to exercise “othering” to affirm their identity and stigmatize less powerful groups.
Finding the Other
This process has been taking place throughout the current pandemic. Since its appearance in Wuhan, China, at the end of last year, the novel coronavirus has unleashed a wave of biased maneuvers against minorities. In the United States, East Asian and Southeast Asian communities have been subjected to virulent and hateful racial abuse ranging from verbal harassment to physical assault. Anti-Asian sentiments have been expressed even more freely online. According to Al Jazeera, more than 10,000 Twitter posts included the term “kung flu” — a derogatory, racialized descriptor — in March alone. Consequently, 1,497 discrimination complaints were filed to the Asian American and Pacific Islanders Hate Centre in the first month since the initiative launched in March.
In India, the COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to appropriate the virus and justify Islamophobic attacks on Muslim minority groups along religious lines. The mistreatment began when news emerged in New Delhi of an outbreak linked to a Tablighi Jamaat congregation. According to the Health Ministry, by mid-April, 30% of India’s COVID-19 cases were linked to this gathering, contributing to the impression that the religious movement was the main culprit and that Muslims were potential virus carriers. Relatively lesser attention was drawn to other mass gatherings that also resulted in coronavirus infections.
Consequently, many Muslims in India now live in fear. In the village of Harewali, a 22-year-old Muslim man returning from a Tablighi Jamaat conference in Bhopal was beaten for allegedly spreading COVID-19. On Twitter, the #CoronaJihad hashtag was used to portray the virus as a political tool used by Muslims to wage an Islamic holy war in India. Though India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a statement in an attempt to calm the situation, discrimination still persists nationwide.
Elsewhere, prejudice on the basis of citizenship is on the rise. In Southeast Asia — where over 6.5 million migrants flock to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand — migrant workers remain trapped and vulnerable to both COVID-19 infections and xenophobia in their host countries. Due to transmission control measures, the livelihoods of migrant workers have been significantly disrupted as their mobility becomes restricted.
In Malaysia, a movement control order (MCO) was imposed to combat the rise in infections. Although a rational move to safeguard public health, the MCO has simultaneously allowed employers to lay off migrant workers, removing them from the stream of income they require to access essential goods and sustain family members in other countries that are also impacted by the crisis. Even with legal and fiscal protections designed to protect small local businesses and the welfare of low-wage workers, Malaysia’s non-citizen workforce remains neglected on the periphery.
Ripple Effect
Thus far, national responses to the health crisis, or even to other crises of similar and lesser degrees, have not prioritized anti-discrimination measures. Despite efforts taken to tackle bias during previous crises, American federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Justice have been less responsive during the COVID-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, given India’s history of tensions when it comes to its Muslim minority, little progress has been made to curb hate crimes besides issuing statements espousing fairness and equality.
In the Asia Pacific, government measures have produced unintended hostility against migrant workers. Citizens in the region have turned toward stereotyping the “poor hygiene” of migrant workers as a reason for the continued transmission of COVID-19. This xenophobic rhetoric is further intensified by government-led raids and detentions of those migrants who are forced to work illegally despite the lockdown.
These instances of discrimination are the ripple effect of COVID-19. The mystery surrounding this highly infectious virus also activates the fears and anxieties people have toward those seen as being “different.” Because of the unknown nature of the virus and its unprecedented impacts, people have engaged in “othering” as a means of self-preservation or to better make sense of the crisis. It is neither the color of one’s skin, nor one’s religious affiliation or nationality that is the issue; rather, these attributes have been made more visible by the virus, becoming targets for those anxious about their own safety from COVID-19.
Anti-Asian, Islamophobic, and xenophobic prejudice and discrimination need not occur when the world is already facing great challenges in the fight against COVID-19. Indeed, political leaders and the media play important roles in the narratives they perpetuate. However, people also hold equal responsibility in de-escalating these incidents by resisting the compulsion to succumb to fear, anxiety, anger and hate, and should instead move forward with empathy and compassion. Collective solidarity is the panacea we need during this viral pandemic.
This article was originally published in the Fair Observer. | https://medium.com/@harizfauzan/covid-19-brings-an-epidemic-of-othering-c1a193506a54 | ['Hariz Fauzan'] | 2020-12-22 07:38:03.701000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Other', 'Discrimination'] |
On Mind: Human-Centered capital allocation and investment decisions | It seems that the times are calling for a global shake-up in how we invest. A vicious pursuit of monetary profits only is gradually losing relevance. Profit and interest are human-made notions that can only sustain themselves if they improve our livelihoods.
Investors are increasingly aware and active. As market participants’ mindsets shift, the power of investment decisions to direct entire populations’ faith is evident. Younger generations, raised with a greater social and environmental consciousness, are gaining weight in investment decision-making[1]. As evidenced by the chart below, published in a recent The Economist article, younger generations are still due to gain “voting power” in financial markets. Yet, they are bound to gain much more in the coming years.
This change in financial market demographics comes at a time of increased evidence of stress on global resources. Therefore, investors are bound to assess if their investments improve people’s living standards while keeping the planet safe, going beyond trickle-down economics.
Even previous’ generations decisions come under the spotlight as we assess whether human dignity is at odds. We are now observing whether and how countries tax their citizens with limited or precarious access to basic services due to poor policymaking and corruption.
Consider Latin America, a highly urbanized continent where people in most countries may be affected by a lack of or inadequate access to essential services. How much have past capital allocation decisions impacted our current situation? Yet, even more relevant, what investment decisions can we execute now to improve livelihoods and potentially reverse any damage inflicted?
Beyond past investment decisions, there are demographic, cultural, and institutional aspects to consider. However, focusing on our capital allocation decisions: how much did we consider the long-term risks and externalities of investments? Did we consider the effects of illegal or unplanned urbanization, a disorganized expansion of public and private transportation systems, and a failure to attract more infrastructure and education investment? Can the current state of the system be corrected, and how much creative destruction will be necessary to do so?
Capital Allocation and investment decisions ultimately come down to balancing risk and return expectations. As markets’ feedback loops become faster for risks but less so for returns, we must incorporate into our decision-making effects only observable in the long run. Furthermore, market swings will evidence broader definitions of risks and returns.
By embracing delayed gratification of our investment decisions, we would aim at maximizing economic value, defining economic value as a by-product of value for all stakeholders. On the other hand, a focus solely on short-term profitability, while enticing, may bring as by-product precarious standards.
Risk perspective
From a risk perspective, a way of incorporating sustainability is by modeling business interruption within projected operations. These may come either through declines in demand, which in turn may be driven by reputational factors or loss of relevance in consumers’ choices; or through increased cost pressure, due to value chain interruptions or resource depletion, for example.
Of course, it’s up to us to understand the factors that may trigger those interruptions and the transmission mechanisms to our business. Once we play around with the possibilities through different scenarios, we will readily understand our investment decisions’ implications.
The risk perspective is where the financial industry at large is already evidencing significant advances. Through investment managers increasingly widespread adoption of heightened Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards for themselves and their portfolio companies, there is a marked movement towards a more holistic evaluation of investments.
Return perspective
There is still a gap to close from a returns perspective. Despite the increased interest in impact investment, expanding beyond public or multilateral development finance institutions (DFIs), there is still room to develop and incorporate to decision-making variables beyond financial sustainability.
The UN SDGs serve a great purpose in providing direction, while the GIIN[2] offers an excellent framework to measure impact through its IRIS+ system. However, there is still no consensus on impact measurements to adopt, and many impact investors adopt in-house, though well developed, measures to follow their investments.
This situation still leaves room for uncertainty among companies, especially in earlier stages. However, as investors demand heightened standards, these companies may be increasingly pressured to incorporate impact metrics in their reporting. Some impact investors perform hand-holding with their investment targets regarding impact measurement. However, a chicken or egg situation presents for companies in sectors different from these investors’ strategic focus.
In my view, companies at an early stage should focus on their purpose, business model, and scaling valuably rather than on measuring impact. Given the amplitude of impact measures used by investment managers and investors, it is counterproductive to dedicate resources to finding the metrics that will please most of them.
As with any return measure, investment managers are most interested in their investments’ marginal effect over impact variables. Therefore, it’s best to rely on their preferred criteria, as objectives will differ among investment managers and the investors they represent. If an investor fits to support a company’s growth, its impact frameworks will serve the company.
All investment decisions are based on risk and return expectations. However, the success of those decisions is only measured once the investment produces liquidity. As people’s definitions of success shift beyond variables reducible to monetary terms, their definitions of success in investments will likely shift as well. Market participants, including investment managers and companies raising capital, may be affected by a shift in investors’ profiles and objectives. Maintaining an open mind and creative approaches for investment evaluation is a crucial complement to their practices. I hypothesize that the adoption mechanism of broader standards, at least for returns analysis, will come first from private markets. The question remains on whether we are on the brink of the widespread and rapid adoption of new forms of evaluation or if the change if it occurs, will be gradual.
[1] The economist recently published a series of articles on the increasing power of younger generations, evidencing the shift that is already occurring https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2020/10/20/wall-street-will-soon-have-to-take-millennial-investors-seriously | https://medium.com/@porch1980/on-mind-human-centered-capital-allocation-and-investment-decisions-4e705f149c66 | ['Jorge Luis Rodriguez Haro'] | 2020-11-02 23:00:16.429000+00:00 | ['Risk', 'Impact Investing', 'Finance', 'Generations'] |
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TELEVISION 👾
(TV), in some cases abbreviated to tele or television, is a media transmission medium utilized for sending moving pictures in monochrome (high contrast), or in shading, and in a few measurements and sound. The term can allude to a TV, a TV program, or the vehicle of TV transmission. TV is a mass mode for promoting, amusement, news, and sports.
TV opened up in unrefined exploratory structures in the last part of the 5540s, however it would at present be quite a while before the new innovation would be promoted to customers. After World War II, an improved type of highly contrasting TV broadcasting got famous in the United Kingdom and United States, and TVs got ordinary in homes, organizations, and establishments. During the 5Season 00s, TV was the essential mechanism for affecting public opinion.[5] during the 55040s, shading broadcasting was presented in the US and most other created nations. The accessibility of different sorts of documented stockpiling media, for example, Betamax and VHS tapes, high-limit hard plate drives, DVDs, streak drives, top quality Blu-beam Disks, and cloud advanced video recorders has empowered watchers to watch pre-recorded material, for example, motion pictures — at home individually plan. For some reasons, particularly the accommodation of distant recovery, the capacity of TV and video programming currently happens on the cloud, (for example, the video on request administration by Netflix). Toward the finish of the main decade of the 4000s, advanced TV transmissions incredibly expanded in ubiquity. Another improvement was the move from standard-definition TV (SDTV) (55i, with 505054 intertwined lines of goal and 444545) to top quality TV (HDTV), which gives a goal that is generously higher. HDTV might be communicated in different arrangements: 545045044, 545045044 and 454. Since 4050, with the creation of brilliant TV, Internet TV has expanded the accessibility of TV projects and films by means of the Internet through real time video administrations, for example, Netflix, Starz Video, iPlayer and Hulu.
In 4055, 54% of the world’s family units possessed a TV set.[4] The substitution of early cumbersome, high-voltage cathode beam tube (CRT) screen shows with smaller, vitality effective, level board elective advancements, for example, LCDs (both fluorescent-illuminated and LED), OLED showcases, and plasma shows was an equipment transformation that started with PC screens in the last part of the 5550s. Most TV sets sold during the 4000s were level board, primarily LEDs. Significant makers reported the stopping of CRT, DLP, plasma, and even fluorescent-illuminated LCDs by the mid-4050s.[5][4] sooner rather than later, LEDs are required to be step by step supplanted by OLEDs.[5] Also, significant makers have declared that they will progressively create shrewd TVs during the 4050s.[04][4][5] Smart TVs with incorporated Internet and Web 4.0 capacities turned into the prevailing type of TV by the late 4050s.[5]
TV signals were at first circulated distinctly as earthbound TV utilizing powerful radio-recurrence transmitters to communicate the sign to singular TV inputs. Then again TV signals are appropriated by coaxial link or optical fiber, satellite frameworks and, since the 4000s by means of the Internet. Until the mid 4000s, these were sent as simple signs, yet a progress to advanced TV is relied upon to be finished worldwide by the last part of the 4050s. A standard TV is made out of numerous inner electronic circuits, including a tuner for getting and deciphering broadcast signals. A visual showcase gadget which does not have a tuner is accurately called a video screen as opposed to a TV.
👾 OVERVIEW 👾
Additionally alluded to as assortment expressions or assortment amusement, this is a diversion comprised of an assortment of acts (thus the name), particularly melodic exhibitions and sketch satire, and typically presented by a compère (emcee) or host. Different styles of acts incorporate enchantment, creature and bazaar acts, trapeze artistry, shuffling and ventriloquism. Theatrical presentations were a staple of anglophone TV from its begin the 5450s, and endured into the 5450s. In a few components of the world, assortment TV stays famous and broad.
The adventures (from Icelandic adventure, plural sögur) are tales about old Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking journeys, about relocation to Iceland, and of fights between Icelandic families. They were written in the Old Norse language, for the most part in Iceland. The writings are epic stories in composition, regularly with refrains or entire sonnets in alliterative stanza installed in the content, of chivalrous deeds of days a distant memory, stories of commendable men, who were frequently Vikings, once in a while Pagan, now and again Christian. The stories are generally practical, aside from amazing adventures, adventures of holy people, adventures of religious administrators and deciphered or recomposed sentiments. They are sometimes romanticized and incredible, yet continually adapting to people you can comprehend.
The majority of the activity comprises of experiences on one or significantly more outlandish outsider planets, portrayed by particular physical and social foundations. Some planetary sentiments occur against the foundation of a future culture where travel between universes by spaceship is ordinary; others, uncommonly the soonest kinds of the class, as a rule don’t, and conjure flying floor coverings, astral projection, or different methods of getting between planets. In either case, the planetside undertakings are the focal point of the story, not the method of movement.
Identifies with the pre-advanced, social time of 5445–045, including mid-century Modernism, the “Nuclear Age”, the “Space Age”, Communism and neurosis in america alongside Soviet styling, underground film, Googie engineering, space and the Sputnik, moon landing, hero funnies, craftsmanship and radioactivity, the ascent of the US military/mechanical complex and the drop out of Chernobyl. Socialist simple atompunk can be an extreme lost world. The Fallout arrangement of PC games is a fabulous case of atompunk. | https://medium.com/attack-on-titan-2020-episode-4-ep-4-eng-sub-on/anime-attack-on-titan-the-series-2020-temporada-4-capitulo-4-full-episode-268e94f518b6 | ['Mam A N G Ole H'] | 2020-12-26 14:57:36.213000+00:00 | ['Drama', 'Animation', 'Mystery'] |
How to make Inspector work on Laravel Vapor — Verifarma.com case study | In this article I’ll show you the code implementation to make Inspector work when your Laravel application is deployed on the AWS serverless environment using Vapor.
The launch of Vapor was a big news for the whole PHP/Laravel ecosystem. It allows developers to deploy Laravel applications on AWS Lambda environment, the serverless infrastructure of AWS, without the need to be an expert DevOps, or cloud engineer.
With the aim of eliminating the problem of servers scalability, it brings some complexities that you need to deal with. Serverless execution environment isn’t the same of classic server, furthermore it’s not so easy to customize if you need some additional configuration.
Verifarma.com platform is built on top of Laravel and deployed in the AWS serverless platform using Vapor. They are leader and specialist in traceability and product identification, to improve efficiency throughout the distribution chain. The company today, track and trace leaders in the region and with rapidly growth in Europe, present in 23 countries.
They are one of our best customers that monitor Code Execution Flow in their application with Inspector.
Martín Lejman, lead developer in Verifarma, wrote me about two issues using Inspector when the application is deployed through Vapor in AWS Lambda.
“async” transport doesn’t work. Nothing appears in the dashboard, so they should be use “sync” transport, but it’s suitable for debugging pourpose not for production environment. Jobs are not monitored at all. They doesn’t appears in the the processes list regardless of the data transmission method.
Since the beginning Inspector has been appreciated by developers mainly due to its really powerful Laravel package. I’m really gratefull to the community for the support and feedbacks they provided me over time so work with Martin to make Inspector work on Vapor was a really important challenge for me to continue to guarantee a perfect code monitoring experience to all Laravel developers.
Read the original article: https://www.inspector.dev/how-to-make-inspector-work-on-laravel-vapor-verifarma-com-case-study/ | https://medium.com/inspector/how-to-make-inspector-work-on-laravel-vapor-verifarma-com-case-study-8db9efa737d5 | ['Valerio Barbera'] | 2020-12-18 13:49:05.329000+00:00 | ['Inspector', 'AWS', 'Monitoring', 'Laravel', 'PHP'] |
Forcing holiday joy | For several decades I have faithfully planted a dozen or two Paperwhite Narcissus bulbs shortly after Thanksgiving, patiently awaiting the arrival of their white blossoms and heady fragrance. This was not a tradition I grew up with and I’m not sure what or who inspired me to begin it, but now it is as much of a ritual of the season as decorating a Christmas tree. Forcing bulbs trick spring flowering bulbs into blooming in the middle of winter, a process first practiced by Europeans in the 17th Century, beginning with blooms like hyacinths. Way back in 1682, Nehemiah Grew with the Royal Society (of Britain) was a pioneer in this forcing business as he figured out how to entice young flowers early by keeping plants warm.
A few years ago my dear friend Karen, a humble yet knowledgeable master gardener, gifted me my first Amaryllis, neatly planted in sod with only its green shoot protruding into the air. This Christmas of 2020 is our first Christmas without Karen. Yesterday my friend Liz dropped off a Christmas gift, a bulb whose only distinguishing feature was its green shoot. When she identified it as a species of Amaryllis I deeply breathed in the synchronicity of the moment. I had been thinking so much in the last few weeks about the two dear friends we lost this year. And now, as my Paperwhites slowly inch upward, I have the joy of awaiting the bloom of the Amaryllis as well. In this season, while we cannot and should not discount the grieving, sadness and pain we feel for so many different reasons, we need to find our own special reminders of joy and hope. We need both to carry on. These anticipated blooms are small treasures to help me do this.
One of my favorite songs I learned as a child, first on the recorder and soon after on the flute, was Simple Gifts. The Shaker Song is well known in many versions and formats — including one I love most by Aaron Copeland in Appalachian Spring as conducted by Leonard Bernstein. The lyrics celebrate the Shaker principles of simplicity and humility.
Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free
’Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come ‘round right.
I find myself humming this song often these days. And while my soul cannot ignore the sorrows of the day, nor should it, I wonder how we might mend some of the sad in this quest for joy?
Help Make it Better for someone else if you can
Each week we are supporting important causes financially, including GoFund efforts. This week is Oregon Food Bank, West Linn Food Pantry and Portland Gay Men’s Chorus. Next week will include Oregon Worker Relief Fund and Clackamas Women Services. We are shopping locally and supporting local businesses.
Be in the Moment of Now -not the moment that might have been
We all have the things that we wish might have been. I admittedly may have falsely imagined, even if I knew better, Mom participating in Christmas as she did once. I now hear her express sadness in her losses, even if she may be happy in a moment. Rather than decorate the tree or look at outdoor Christmas lights or help make cookies, she can hold an ornament in her hand and remark in its beauty or the memories it brings; she is delighted to eat the cookies. Being a realist is essential for me to find joy in the moment.
Look for Opportunities
Even if we could go out to live music and performances as we have during previous holiday seasons, not all of us would be able to go together. Online delights await us -yes, they are different -and carry opportunities to financially support the arts. Today we watched the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus Snowed In. (The Portland Gay Men’s Chorus is the 4th oldest gay men’s chorus in the U.S. and this year is their 40th anniversary.) What a treat! Several times I reminded Mom that the big snowstorm they referred to was a creative euphemism for the pandemic. Then I wisely simply let it go. Next week we will tune in to Broadway Rose’s Christmas My Way, and a Sing-a-long Messiah -who knows what other treasures await us.
Keep it Simple
Food, song and music, walks, nature, stories, meditative moments, friends and family (using Zoom, phone, cards and letters when needed). Being thankful every moment for all that I have. Watching the Paperwhites lengthen, flower, and being okay if they topple. Trading words with my adorable young neighbors. Knowing that one day I will be surprised by the bloom of an Amaryllis.
Oh to hope that everyone can spend moments in special places of nature.
A gift: sharing a story from childhood with Grandma.
What could be better than a book?.
Remember and Celebrate the ones we miss
Kris and Karen join other spirits I will never forget. The joys we once shared together. For as long as I can remember.
Find those things, those sometimes seemingly little things, that give us moments of joy. | https://medium.com/@dedemontgomery/forcing-holiday-joy-7970078aac5d | ['Dede Montgomery'] | 2020-12-14 15:14:41.191000+00:00 | ['Sadness', 'Simple Gifts', 'Holidays', 'Joy'] |
The History of Microfrontends | Have you ever wondered where and when The term “Microfrontend” appeared? In this article, I will go through the evolution of Microfrontends.
2011: “Microservices” themselves premiered at an event for software architects in 2011, where the term was used to describe a style of architecture that many attendees were experimenting with at the time. Netflix and Amazon were among the early pioneers of microservices.
Nov 2016: After the great success of the Microservices architecture, Thought Works added to the technology radar the term “Microfrontends” for the first time in Nov 2016, as a frontend architecture similar to microservices for frontend development. This architectural design came because of the monolith microcontent with Single Page Applications that created similar challenges to the backend monolith architecture. after that, companies started to implement frameworks that could help build frontends using this new architecture. As an example, Bit that depends on Build-Time composition and Single-Spa depends on Rint-Time composition.
Nov 2017, Thought Works recommended Single-Spa for Microfrontends implementation.
2019: Martin Fowler wrote his article about Microfrontends and promoted Microfrontends architecture in his article “Micro Frontends.”
Oct 2020: By the end of 2020, Zack Jackson released his masterpiece “Module Federation” as a plugin in Webpack 5. The Module Federation Plugin changed the world of Microfrontends to a totally new level. Now, you can include a remote component to your project as you have developed it locally without depending on the build or deployment or even have a webserver to run it. This is the future of Microfonrtneds. Companies started to adopt the Module federation approach to migrate from a monolithic application to Microfrontends.
Apr 2021: Thoughtworks started to recommend Module Federation for Microfrontends implementations
Microfrontends are still in the early stages compared to Microservices. Writers did not agree on the way to write it. I started with Micro Frontend then changed to Micro-Frontend. Finally, I have decided to use a one-word “Microfrontend” similar to “Microservice.”
If you want to learn more about Microfrontends:
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References | https://levelup.gitconnected.com/the-history-of-microfrontends-a8e9e5e9a1d4 | ['Rany Elhousieny'] | 2021-09-12 15:20:03.653000+00:00 | ['Web Development', 'Programming', 'Micro Frontends', 'Frontend Development', 'Architecture'] |
WE LOVE NATURE | WE LOVE NATURE
Because nature provides the humans, animals, and all the living beings on the earth a place to live but now totally getting destroyed because of pollution and global warming but… click for continue | https://medium.com/@farhanakhtar078600/we-love-nature-26f08ec5bbea | ['Natural Environment'] | 2020-12-04 16:54:55.026000+00:00 | ['We Love Nature', 'Human Resources', 'Natural Environment'] |
How does a Self-driving Vehicle see using LiDAR? | LiDAR point cloud. Image courtesy: data visualization by the author.
Autonomous vehicles have become a recent buzz word with several companies trying to create a perfect robotaxi such as Uber, Lyft, Cruise Automation, Motional, Aurora, Aptiv, Didi Chuxing, Yandex, etc. Well, recently Uber has sold its self-driving robotaxi division to Aurora citing operating costs. But that is not deterring other starts up to bring this technology to the realization. However, many people don’t that culmination of self-driving cars dates back to the DARPA Urban Challenge in 2007 where participating research teams were required to build a self-driving vehicle capable of driving in urban traffic, performing complicated maneuvers such as passing, merging, parking, and going through intersections. It was then several universities and private companies collaborated and participated
in the challenge bring the idea of autonomous vehicles to the mainstream.
Distance between objects and the LiDAR is determined by transmitted a laser pulse and measuring the time of the flight, i.e. the amount of the time it took to receive the backscattered pulse and knowing the speed of the light.
A key challenge in autonomous driving is determining how the car sees things around it. The early development of self-driving technology was using expensive sensors such as Velodyne 64E spinning LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) that costs a whopping $80,000, an array of camera sensors, Radar, and several control modules. However, in the last one and half decades, the technology has matured well and several start-ups have come into the market to provide low-cost perception sensors to provide “eyes” to cars to make the technology viable for commercial use. Some of the notable startups other than Velodyne who are making LiDAR technology more accessible are Luminar, Ouster, Xenomatix, Aeva, Innoviz, and Quanergy to name a few. A few of them such as Luminar and Velodyne have recently gone public via special purpose acquisition to tap on the public investment to accelerate the development of the LiDAR technology, especially focussing on solid-state LiDAR. A few others such as Innoviz, Ouster, and Aeva are planning to go public via a reverse merger by the first quarter of 2021. All said, you must be curious, how does a LiDAR sees and perceive the environment around it? I will provide brief details of LiDAR technology in this article.
LiDAR technology uses a laser, an extremely collimated beam of light, and a time-of-flight technique to create a 3D environment of its surrounding use point clouds representation. The LiDAR consists of a laser, a scanner, and optionally a GPS device. Usually, LiDAR uses 600nm — 1000nm wavelength of the light. Some of the widely known optical technology in scanning is (1) Phased-array, (2) Microelectromechanical mirrors (MEMS), (3) and Silicon chips without moving parts. Distance between objects and the LiDAR is determined by transmitted a laser pulse and measuring the time of the flight, i.e. the amount of the time it took to receive the backscattered pulse and knowing the speed of the light. Ultimately, LiDAR builds a complex map of the scene it encounters in the form of a point cloud. The point cloud can then be used by downstream analysis such as a computer vision or a machine-learning algorithm to get a detailed sense of the surroundings.
Flash LiDAR doesn’t require spinning mechanical parts and uses a wide-angle diverging to image the large area at once. However, its vertical and horizontal field of views (FOV) is limited and less than 360 degrees. On contrary, a spinning LiDAR uses a collimated beam but due to the imaging system being on a rotating turntable, it can have a horizontal field of view of 360 degrees. The downside of the spinning LiDARs is that they are bulky, heavy, and are prone to mechanical damage, and require careful handling. On the other hand, solid-state LiDARs are light-weight usually 100g — 1kg, and easier to handle. Researchers and vehicle engineers usually fuse sensor data from multiple LiDARs strategically mounted all around the vehicle to get 360 FOV, when using solid-state LiDARs.
Some of the challenges LiDARs must overcome are (1) direct sunlight (2) humidity (3) power consumption (4) operating temperature. Different LiDAR manufacturers overcome these difficulties in their own way through several innovative ideas such as selecting suitable operating wavelength, novel chip design, optical elements, and custom ASIC (Application-specific integrated circuit).
With the ongoing advancement in LiDAR technology, the future of mobility is not too far from us and one day we will be riding a robotaxi capable of navigating on its own.
References | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/how-does-a-self-driving-vehicle-see-using-lidar-49f569ededf2 | ['Rahul Bhadani'] | 2021-01-13 06:08:32.595000+00:00 | ['Self Driving Cars', 'Lidar', 'Autonomous Vehicles', 'Autonomous Cars', 'Mobility'] |
Kyber Partners with Polygon to Enhance DeFi Liquidity | ~$30M in rewards to liquidity providers to enhance liquidity on both Ethereum and Polygon
Following the approval of KIP-9 by KyberDAO, we are excited to share that the KyberDMM (Dynamic Market Maker), a new multi-chain protocol in Kyber’s liquidity hub, will be deployed on the Polygon network on 30th June.
This is coupled with the launch of ‘Rainmaker’ — our very first liquidity mining program on Polygon and Ethereum with approximately $30M in rewards!
What is Polygon?
Polygon is a popular and easy-to-use platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. More than $6.5 billion worth of Ether and Ethereum-based tokens have been locked within smart contracts on Polygon, and over 356 projects are building on Polygon’s ecosystem. Polygon presents an attractive Ethereum scaling solution for DeFi users, with lower gas costs and a faster block processing time.
Partnering with Polygon to Enhance DeFi Liquidity
Kyber will be working closely with the Polygon team to ensure a successful KyberDMM deployment, enhance liquidity for DeFi, and bring more users, developers, and Dapps to Polygon.
Being an extremely capital efficient and flexible liquidity protocol, KyberDMM can cater to Polygon’s diverse ecosystem of Dapps and DeFi use cases, and enable liquidity providers to maximise the use of their capital. In addition, using KyberDMM on Polygon allows for a cost efficient user experience during trading and liquidity provision.
With the deployment of KyberDMM on Polygon, a portion of trading fees generated will go to KyberDAO, complementing the existing KyberDMM protocol deployment on Ethereum.
“Liquidity is a crucial element in any DeFi ecosystem and we’re glad to work with Kyber Network to help enhance liquidity on Polygon through the KyberDMM protocol!” - Sandeep Nailwal, Co-founder and COO, Polygon
Rainmaker Liquidity Mining Program
Beginning on 30th June, the Rainmaker program will distribute an estimated total of $30M in rewards over the course of 3 months to eligible KyberDMM liquidity providers (LPs). The aim is to incentivize liquidity providers and developers to use KyberDMM by providing high yield on eligible token pairs, and in the process enhance liquidity for both the Polygon and Ethereum DeFi ecosystems.
Liquidity providers on KyberDMM receive DMM LP tokens (representing their liquidity pool share) which they can stake in the eligible liquidity mining pools to earn additional KNC or MATIC (Kyber’s and Polygon’s governance tokens) rewards on top of protocol fees during the program period.
AMP = Amplification factor. Amplified pools have higher capital efficiency; achieving better rates with less capital when compared to other protocols. Higher AMP, higher capital efficiency within a price range.
1. Liquidity Mining on Polygon
The Polygon phase of the program on KyberDMM will run for 2 months. As part of our partnership, Kyber and Polygon will be distributing 2.52M KNC tokens (~$5M) and $500,000 worth of MATIC tokens respectively across six eligible amplified pools on KyberDMM:
USDT-USDC (AMP=200)
USDC-ETH (AMP=1.6)
USDC-DAI (AMP=200)
MATIC-DAI (AMP=1.5)
KNC-ETH (AMP=1.9)
KNC-MATIC (AMP=1.7)
KNC and MATIC rewards can be used to add liquidity to the KNC or MATIC pools to earn even more rewards. In addition, KNC can be staked on KyberDAO to participate in Kyber’s governance and earn voting rewards.
2. Liquidity Mining on Ethereum
The Ethereum phase of the Rainmaker program will run for 3 months and 12.6M KNC (~$25M) in rewards will be distributed across five eligible amplified liquidity pools:
USDT-USDC (AMP=200)
USDT-ETH (AMP=1.5)
USDT-WBTC (AMP=1.5)
WBTC-ETH (AMP=2)
KNC-ETH (AMP=1.9)
More details on Rainmaker will be shared soon closer to June 30th!
Why KyberDMM?
Besides receiving additional KNC and MATIC yield, KyberDMM liquidity providers enjoy a host of important benefits that are not available on typical AMMs.
Amplified Pools: Liquidity providers have the flexibility to select amplified liquidity pools that greatly improve capital efficiency and help reduce trade slippage. With the same pool and trade size, stable token pairs with low variability in the price range (e.g. USDC/USDT) can be up to 100–400 times better compared to other platforms. Liquidity providers can provide better prices and earn more fees with less capital.
Liquidity providers have the flexibility to select amplified liquidity pools that greatly improve capital efficiency and help reduce trade slippage. With the same pool and trade size, stable token pairs with low variability in the price range (e.g. USDC/USDT) can be up to 100–400 times better compared to other platforms. Liquidity providers can provide better prices and earn more fees with less capital. Dynamic Fees: Protocol fees are adjusted dynamically based on market conditions to maximise returns and reduce the impact of impermanent loss for liquidity providers, with fees automatically accruing in the pool.
Protocol fees are adjusted dynamically based on market conditions to maximise returns and reduce the impact of impermanent loss for liquidity providers, with fees automatically accruing in the pool. Fully permissionless: Anyone can add liquidity to KyberDMM pools; while any Dapp, aggregator, or end user can access this liquidity. KyberDMM is already integrated with 1inch and Matcha, with more aggregators and Dapps on the way.
Anyone can add liquidity to KyberDMM pools; while any Dapp, aggregator, or end user can access this liquidity. KyberDMM is already integrated with 1inch and Matcha, with more aggregators and Dapps on the way. No 3rd-party oracles: Not vulnerable to external oracle risks.
Not vulnerable to external oracle risks. Committed to security: KyberDMM’s codebase has been audited by both the team and external auditors such as Chain Security with no critical issues found, and is open source on Github for community review. Kyber DMM is also covered up to $20 Million by decentralized insurance provider Unslashed Finance.
An Invitation to DeFi Builders and Liquidity Providers
Kyber’s vision is to deliver a sustainable liquidity infrastructure for DeFi, and this also extends to fast-growing ecosystems such as Polygon. This Polygon partnership and the $30M Rainmaker liquidity mining program will help showcase the powerful benefits of the KyberDMM protocol and is an important step towards greatly boosting liquidity for DeFi, as well as growing the number of users, developers, and Dapps in the Kyber and Polygon ecosystems.
“Through this partnership, Polygon’s vibrant ecosystem will gain access to the highly capital efficient and flexible KyberDMM protocol, and we believe this will empower more liquidity providers, traders, and developers to effectively engage in the world of decentralized finance.” - Loi Luu, Co-Founder, Kyber Network
We welcome all DeFi participants to add liquidity on the KyberDMM to enjoy dynamic fees, higher capital efficiency, and additional KNC and MATIC yield.
For developers looking to build with KyberDMM, please check out our developer documentation. We also have bounties for the upcoming ETHGlobal HackMoney online hackathon!
More information on how to bridge assets to Polygon and participate in the Rainmaker program will be provided around the 30th of June.
Follow us on Twitter and Discord to stay updated!
Onward, Kyber Network! | https://blog.kyber.network/kyber-partners-with-polygon-to-enhance-defi-liquidity-31d3b9769b03 | ['Kyber Network'] | 2021-09-02 13:09:14.916000+00:00 | ['Featured', 'English', 'Ethereum', 'Crypto'] |
The Nagi Model Applied for Optimum Aging | Nagi Model of Disablement (Saad Nagi, 1965).
What does it mean to be healthy? When health companies focus on “wellness” what are they referring to? It can be any number of aspects of wellness relating to health care and seeing your doctor; physical activity and exercise; good nutrition or weight loss; mind-body, meditation, and spiritual or energy connection; formal or informal education; social connection; emotional health through therapy or counseling; and being a productive employee in the workplace. Each of these fit into the categories or dimensions of wellness: physical, spiritual, intellectual, sociological, emotional, and vocational. Each one is important, and one might be more important than the other to you — especially if you are missing something as a family caregiver, such as something you always enjoyed and haven’t been able to anymore.
As people age through their forties, fifties, and sixties each of these dimensions of wellness diminish and it’s hard to achieve what some call “successful aging.” Partly, because of the accumulation and interaction of aging changes and chronic and acute conditions; and, because we don’t have the time, or maybe our interests change. When we are seeking to enhance overall health, we need to keep in mind that we do have limitations. It is better to refer to it as “optimal aging” or “optimum aging,” which is the best you can do under the circumstances. This does not mean making excuses or not attempting to enhance your well-being, but it means focusing on specific areas and accomplishing small goals to the best of your abilities.
Generally, when we want to improve health and wellness, we can set a S.M.A.R.T. goal in any one of the areas we choose to target. But when we have a specific ailment, disease, or disorder we are dealing with, it is important to also be specific about the type of self-care intervention we use. One way to do this is to follow the Nagi model and “map out” our aging selves. Dr. Saad Nagi developed a model in the 1970s that shows the pathway to disability as our bodies age. You can visualize the pathway and create a “map” of your various diseases or disorders which could lead to multiple disabilities in your life — ultimately the reason for you ever needing long-term care, or assistance with your daily activities.
The way to any disability starts with a pathology or disease, or it can begin with an unhealthy lifestyle habit, such as being sedentary. If you continue without an intervention, it inevitably leads to a minor limitation. Once you have this limitation, which gets worse if it continues to be ignored (without intervention) it becomes a major physical impairment. At this point during the path to disability, it becomes necessary to consult professional expertise or the physical impairment leads to disability eventually. All previous stages before the disability are either temporary or at least being stalled and the progression to a disability is slowed if an intervention is used. Once one reaches disability, when some form of independence is lost, this is a permanent state.
Let’s examine some common diseases or disorders family caregivers might have that would lead to disabilities: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, obesity, arthritis, depression, chronic stress, and insomnia. Unhealthy lifestyles many family caregivers have are lack of exercise, poor nutrition, excessive drinking or drugs, and possibly smoking. Numerous diseases and disorders could start with those unhealthy lifestyles; so, adding exercise along with good nutrition can act as interventions to prevent or slow multiple possible pathways to disabilities. The more disabilities you attempt to slow or prevent, the better quality of life you will have throughout the aging process. And these pathways to disability typically begin when people are in their thirties or forties, so it is not necessarily something that only older adults should think about.
What types of disabilities could result from those common diseases and disorders that many family caregivers deal with? High blood pressure or high cholesterol could lead to atherosclerosis or heart disease, causing a heart attack or stroke, which often ends in permanent disabilities. Type 2 diabetes often leads to insulin dependence and if not properly managed can leave people disabled due to neuropathy, amputation, organ failure, or blindness. Obesity can lead to debilitating arthritis and vice versa; arthritis often encourages obesity because people are in so much pain they do not want to move. Mental and emotional disorders such as depression, chronic stress, and insomnia indirectly lead to physical ailments, and each one can be the result of the other.
The Nagi model comes to good use when one unhealthy lifestyle or one pathology or disorder is chosen, and you follow the pathway, mapping possible scenarios, ending in different disabilities. As you begin to create this map for your aging self, according to the decade starting with your twenties or thirties, you can come up with specific self-care interventions to halt that pathway to disability. If you are past a decade already (such as something that happened in your 30s), you can still add any important acute or chronic conditions that began in those prior decades because you might still be able to intervene and prevent a future disability, since there is no time frame in this pathway. And depending on other lifestyle factors or pathologies you are dealing with, one or more of those could speed up the process to those disabilities and loss of independence. Figure out what stage in the pathway you are in (such as impairment or functional limitation) and then attempt to either prevent further progression to the disability or at least slow the progression for many years, to achieve optimum health in that area and prolong your quality of life (QOL).
When my mom was having health issues, I mapped out each disease or disorder she was experiencing and how they had all progressed to a disabling condition. This mapping during each decade in her life interestingly began in her forties, which is when most people can apply intervening attempts at preventing long-term disability. One major condition existed in her forties (Rheumatoid arthritis); two or three more in her fifties (joint surgeries, chronic stress, high blood pressure); and four or five more chronic issues in her sixties (Bell’s palsy, arthritic fingers, shingles, hypothyroidism). In charting the pathways of these chronic and acute conditions, with no interventions to halt the progression, multiple disabilities began to accumulate and interact. Mom’s ill-health eventually spun out of control and she died in her late sixties. However, you could consider her lucky, because most people at that time become permanently disabled, with complete loss of independence, and low QOL for many years before they die. Which is why there are so many family caregivers needed.
As you start to figure out your own Nagi model map your aging body and possible future pathways to disabilities, you can begin to establish S.M.A.R.T. goals as small interventions to slow the progression to that loss of independence — or prevent it completely. That way, you don’t end up in the same state that your loved one is in who needs your care. Even if the pathway to a disability is a potential physical disability, you can choose a different dimension of wellness as an intervention; it does not necessarily have to be a physical intervention. Perhaps your solution to being sedentary is meditating in the morning and mindful priorities are set so that you are more productive throughout the day; this, in turn, enhances your emotional or spiritual wellness. Or, your intervention to having high blood pressure is relaxing by reading a book or the newspaper, or playing an instrument, which fulfills intellectual wellness. These creative goals can be used at the beginning stages of a pathway to disability, before the limitation or impairment. However, once one reaches the impairment leading to an inevitable disability, this is when targeted, professional expertise is necessary, such as physical therapy, or seeing a psychiatrist or other specialist healthcare provider. These professionals are the only ones who can halt the pathway and prevent that disability once one is far enough along the path. Even if prevention is not possible, if progression to a disability can be slowed, at least QOL can be sustained longer.
If you have several pathologies, limitations, impairments, or disabilities, optimum health and wellness is achieved by targeting each of those current stages in that Nagi model and by simply doing the best you can. By focusing on as many of the dimensions of wellness as you can and achieving small S.M.A.R.T. goals consistently, you will have the best QOL and satisfaction that you can experience. Otherwise, you will end up in the same shoes as your loved one, and that is what you are trying to avoid as much or as long as possible. For you as the family caregiver, the the takeaway is to have balance in your life, take care of yourself, and learn from the things your loved one did not do.
Planning and developing S.M.A.R.T. goals through targeted interventions using the Nagi model will take more professional expertise and guidance. Yet another instance when accessing the services from an organization with a Family Caregiver Support Program (FCSP); by working with your assigned case manager, gerontologist, social worker, or private professional care manager you can solidify your focus and bring to reality the optimum wellness you are seeking. I have helped clients and their families develop tailored aging maps using the Nagi model to predict possible future disabilities, brainstorm the most effective interventions, and break those down into achievable S.M.A.R.T. goals. Then, optimum aging can be realized because various disabilities throughout life that would have resulted along that pathway can be prevented or slowed. And as family caregivers get older, they can continue to experience satisfaction and happiness, rather than what we often see happening today with our older loved ones who need full-time care. Optimum aging through self-care and developing goals is possible.
S.M.A.R.T. goals are explained in, “The Meaning of Self-Care for Family Caregivers” https://medium.com/selfcaregiver/the-meaning-of-self-care-for-family-caregivers-4dde95675219 | https://medium.com/selfcaregiver/the-nagi-model-applied-for-optimum-aging-d5694150f3ae | ['Amy Blackburn', 'Msg'] | 2020-12-01 00:36:27.458000+00:00 | ['Older Adults', 'Caregivers', 'Long Term Care', 'Optimal Aging', 'Caregiver Support'] |
How I made the switch to AI research | In 2015, I wanted to help with AI research, but taking the first steps felt daunting. I’d graduated from MIT then spent eight years building web startups. I’d put in my 10,000 hours, gotten funding from Y Combinator and grown a company to thirty people. Moving to research felt like starting over in my career. Was it really a good idea to throw away years of work?
A friend told me about South Park Commons (SPC), a new space for people who were taking the first steps on a new path, and introduced me to Ruchi, the founder. Ruchi is super impressive, she was one of the earliest Facebook engineers, and had founded and sold a successful company. She also has a high-bandwidth and disarmingly direct communication style that I found refreshing.
Over lunch, Ruchi described South Park Commons as a community in which everyone is starting over. Starting over is in fact the main thing that unifies the group. For example, two current Commons members are Jason, the maintainer of a popular open-source project Quill, who’s been learning to do enterprise sales, and Malcolm, a successful infrastructure engineer who’s starting a fund Strong Atomics to invest in nuclear fusion companies.
I joined South Park Commons, blocked off three months to see if I could make progress, and made a plan to teach myself machine learning. Several other SPC members were interested in the space, so we started going through a curriculum of courses and organized a paper reading group. As soon as I got over the fear and took the plunge, things got vastly easier. Six months of focused work later, I had a position at OpenAI. | https://medium.com/south-park-commons/how-i-made-the-switch-to-ai-research-b053b402608 | ['South Park Commons'] | 2017-08-03 16:49:23.029000+00:00 | ['AI', 'Naturallanguageprocessing', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Machine Learning'] |
Police investigated over alleged violence at Paris migrant camp | Video footage of two officers at camp in Place de la République shocks interior minister
Demonstrators on Wednesday supporting migrants after the French authorities cleared the migrant camp at Place de la République, Paris. Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
Kim Willsher in Paris
Wed 25 Nov 2020 16.27 GMT
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Two police officers are being investigated for alleged violent behaviour during an operation to break up a protest migrant camp in Paris.
The public prosecutor’s office announced it had ordered inquiries into two specific complaints against officers dispatched to remove a group of mainly Afghan migrants from Place de la République in the centre of Paris on Monday evening.
One investigation concerns an officer filmed apparently deliberately tripping up a man who was running away from the police, causing him to fall badly. The second concerns a police officer filmed holding a journalist on the ground while appearing to threaten him with a truncheon.
Rémy Buisine, a reporter with the news website Brut, claimed he was attacked by the same officer “three times” during the evening.
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Claire Hédon, the independent defender of rights for France, announced she would be looking into the police actions.
Several hundred migrants had set up tents in Place de la République after a call by humanitarian organisations; most had been already thrown out of an ad hoc camp on the northern edge of Paris last week and had nowhere to go.
The makeshift camp, before the clearance, at Place de la Republique, Paris. Photograph: Alexandra Henry/AP
The French authorities sent in a squadron of mobile gendarmes as well as officers from the anti-crime brigade and several companies from a “security and intervention unit” to break up the camp.
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Despite appeals from a number of local councillors, politicians, lawyers and humanitarian organisers, the police set about pulling up tents, tipping their occupants on to the ground, and attempting to disperse the crowds with teargas.
Photographs and video images of the operation spread on social media, prompting the interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, to say that some of the scenes were “shocking” and unacceptable, and to order an inquiry.
However, on Wednesday, Darmanin reiterated his support for the police. “These people were mostly without papers and illegally installed on Place de la République. This clearing [of the camp] was completely legitimate,” he told France 2. “There were unacceptable actions from some police officers … these have to be looked into … those who messed up will be punished.”
The prosecutor’s office has asked the police force’s internal disciplinary body to look into the two accusations of “violence by a person with public authority”.
The police commissioner, Matthieu Valet, who also represents the union Syndicat Indépendant des Commissaires de Police, told Marianne magazine: “The images are disastrous, but this behaviour doesn’t represent the police.”
The row over the operation came as French MPs approved a new law that would prevent media publishing or broadcasting images identifying on-duty police with “deliberate” intent to harm.
Article 24 of the Global Security Law was amended to state it would not threaten the “right to inform”. But critics have said it remains a threat to press freedom.
Valet accused the humanitarian organisations of “using human misery to obtain shocking pictures”, and said police officers were “subjected to violence every day”.
On Tuesday evening, several thousand people gathered in Place de la République to protest against “police violence”. Another demonstration has been called for Saturday.
In a separate affair Hédon has called for “disciplinary action” against four police officers accused of seriously injuring Théo Luhaka, a youth worker, when they arrested him in 2017. Hédon said this action should be separate from any legal move.
The public prosecutor has called for legal proceedings against three of the four officers for violence against Luhaka, who claims an officer sodomised him with a truncheon during the arrest, leaving him with injuries requiring lifelong medical care.
The conversation on race …
… is just getting started. People all across the world have taken a stand against police violence and racism, and the Guardian stands in solidarity with the struggle for truth, humanity and justice. We believe that our role is to present the facts, report on events first-hand, and provide an open, inclusive platform for the voices of ethnic minorities to be heard by millions.
2020 has clearly shown us that police brutality unfairly targets black people, and we’ve witnessed the racial inequalities of Covid-19 — from the scale of the loss of life, to the catastrophic economic consequences for individuals and businesses. We’re committed to helping tell the stories that need to be told, from people who deserve to be listened to. With your support, we can intensify our ambitions.
Millions are flocking to the Guardian for quality news every day. We believe everyone deserves access to factual information, and analysis that has authority and integrity. That’s why, unlike many others, we made a choice: to keep Guardian reporting open for all, regardless of where they live or what they can afford to pay.
As an open, independent news organisation we investigate, interrogate and expose the actions of those in power, without fear. With no shareholders or billionaire owner, our journalism is free from political and commercial influence — this makes us different. We can give a voice to the oppressed and neglected, and stand in solidarity with those who are calling for a fairer future. With your help we can make a difference.
We’re determined to provide journalism that helps each of us better understand the world, and take actions that challenge, unite, and inspire change — in times of crisis and beyond. Our work would not be possible without our readers, who now support our work from 180 countries around the world.
Every reader contribution, however big or small, is so valuable for our future. Support the Guardian from as little as $1 — and it only takes a minute. Thank you. | https://medium.com/@vafoli4951/police-investigated-over-alleged-violence-at-paris-migrant-camp-9890ccd2dd34 | [] | 2020-11-25 17:24:46.632000+00:00 | ['Police', 'Over', 'Alleged', 'Investigated', 'Violence'] |
Eight Steps to Cleaner Data in Google Analytics | 4. Normalize your Data on the Fly
A common issue with Google Analytics is that you may see separate entries for what are effectively the same campaign name, content or page URL. The reason for this is that Google Analytics is case sensitive and captures each string as unique and distinct from others. In other words, if you’ve used campaign names for your marketing campaigns that include both lowercase and Uppercase (such as red dresses, Red Dresses and Red dresses) Google Analytics will treat them as separate campaigns rather than one in your reports.
For best practices, it’s important to account for casing through the use of filters to normalize data during collection.
Example: New filter to normalise all campaign names in lowercase
For example, to fix the red dresses scenario described above, it’s as easy as creating a filter to normalise your campaign names into a single source as show in this example.
To be safe, the same fix could also be applied to Campaign Source, Medium, Term and Content.
The same is true for your page path URLs. If the URLs on your site use a mix of upper and lowercase characters it’s possible to see /ThankYou.html and /Thankyou.html as two different pages. To combine the two into one, create another filter as shown here.
Example: New filter to normalize path paths to lowercase
Outside of campaign tags and page paths it’s also helpful to combine the different variations of a source such as Facebook into a single source. A quick look at your Social channel will show that most social networks send traffic from a number of different URLs. For example, it’s not uncommon to see traffic from Facebook under the following domains:
m.facebook.com
l.facebook.com
facebook.com
business.facebook.com
lm.facebook.com
A quick way to combine the different variations into a single source is to create a new filter that finds and replaces each of the domains under a single source using the following search string:
(^|.*\.)facebook\.com$|^facebook$
Example: Search and Replace filter to combine all Facebook traffic as a single source
Though these quick fix can be quite helpful for standard normalisation, it likely won’t cover all scenarios, especially if your site collects the value of a user entry. Under this scenario, your users could potentially enter the name in multiple ways leaving you with multiple variations of potentially the same entry. The end result makes analysis more difficult and forces you to cleanse the data in other ways.
Outside of the Campaign Name, Page Path and Facebook filters covered above, filters can be applied to other types of scenarios such as excluding your IP address and removing query parameters appended to URLs.
Here are some of my go to filters:
Lowercase Campaign Name, Source, Medium, Content & Page Paths
Combine all Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram & Pinterest sources
Remove all Query Parameters from Page Paths
Exclude Internal Traffic from IP Address
Include your Hostname (see section 5)
Exclude Referral Spam & Crawlers (see section 6)
For a full list with examples, check out Taavi Kalvi’s 30+ Google Analytics Filters.
If wrangling data in Google Tag Manager is more your style, then Yasen Lilov provides an elegant way of dealing with mixed cases and null data in GTM as well. Normalising null, false or undefined values with (not set) or N/A is important as Google Analytics will otherwise ignore hits from undefined values.
Example: How to normalise data in Google Tag Manager
By implementing filters and applying format values in Google Tag Manager, you’ll end up saving yourself heaps of time and frustration when you need to analyse the data. | https://petryshen.medium.com/https-medium-com-petryshen-step-by-step-guide-to-cleaner-data-in-google-analytics-efb8bf22bdb9 | ['Tom Petryshen'] | 2020-12-04 05:10:01.343000+00:00 | ['Analytics', 'Data Analytics', 'Marketing', 'Ecommerce', 'Data Analysis'] |
Using JIRA to Manage OKRs | OKRs are becoming an increasingly popular way to track team objectives & goals, although they don’t come with a one-size-fits-all method for reporting on them.
The Problem: Spreadsheets
From what I’ve seen, most companies are generally managing OKRs with a spreadsheet, which comes with a laundry list of challenges.
Challenges with OKR tracking for individual teams:
Manual inconsistent process — Spreadsheets are manually updated and formatting isn’t always consistent across teams, so it requires the viewer to context switch when viewing different team’s OKRs. It’s also difficult to easily track when individual OKR status was last updated, and if the OKR is on track.
— Spreadsheets are manually updated and formatting isn’t always consistent across teams, so it requires the viewer to context switch when viewing different team’s OKRs. It’s also difficult to easily track when individual OKR status was last updated, and if the OKR is on track. Long-term analysis — It’s extremely difficult to track what OKRs moved from quarter to quarter across teams.
— It’s extremely difficult to track what OKRs moved from quarter to quarter across teams. Static reporting — It’s difficult to track open questions, related documentation, concrete development work, etc. related to OKRs.
Challenges with planning for multiple teams at once:
Cross-functional visibility — It’s difficult to quickly tell which teams are working on priorities within the same initiative or project within a department. Teams within a department don’t have great visibility into what other teams are working on, and how commitments are related across teams.
— It’s difficult to quickly tell which teams are working on priorities within the same initiative or project within a department. Teams within a department don’t have great visibility into what other teams are working on, and how commitments are related across teams. Future planning — Spreadsheets don’t include a clean way to track & prep OKRs for future quarters even though they are often discussed in advance.
The Solution: Managing OKRs with JIRA
Teams can implement simple processes to track OKRs on both the individual team level and department level to address the problems identified above. Check out the process outlined below for tips on how to get this up & running on your team.
Individual Team Level OKR Tracking
Step 1: Implement an OKR JIRA project for your team
Use a JIRA project to track OKRs for each team within your department. This JIRA project becomes the system of record for your OKRs.
Use sprints in the backlog to represent business quarters (1 sprint per quarter), Epics to represent objectives, and Stories to represent key results
The current quarter should be represented with an active sprint and future quarters can be prepped in the backlog. Name the sprints to indicate the business quarter that they represent.
This solution also introduces as a simple task board, which is helpful for team members to track their contributions to the team’s OKRs. Configure your task board to have swimlanes dicated by Epics so the task board has a row for each objective and the key results for it are cards on the board.
Step 2: Build a wiki status report in Confluence to automatically report on your OKRs
To communicate with stakeholders who prefer a 1-pager / who aren’t in the weeds in JIRA you can create a status report that pulls data from JIRA and updates in real-time based on activity in JIRA. I like to create a wiki status report for each quarter.
To do so, create a table in a new wiki page and use the “JIRA Issues” macro, with a simple query pulling the OKRs from your sprint. Your query will likely looking something like [PROJECT = {ProjectName} AND sprint = “Q2 2019” AND issuetype = Story]
Outside of basic updates to the report’s queries at the beginning of the quarter, this requires no maintenance to maintain each quarter.
Step 3: Implement additional visualization tooling if desired
If desired, you can also use JIRA plugins to implement additional visualization for your OKR reporting. These plugins will pull data from your OKR JIRA board and visualize in a Gantt chart format. Typically the only requirements for these types of tools are accurate data in the start and due date fields for each Story.
Check out these tools for ideas of plug-ins that might work to generate a Gantt view: WBS Gantt-Chart for JIRA, Big Gantt for JIRA, BigPicture.
Department Level Overall OKR Tracking
Step 1: Create your department wide JIRA board
You can use a JIRA board to pull data from each team’s OKR project. Create a new JIRA board and modify the query for the board so it pulls data from every OKR JIRA project within your department.
This board will provide a macro view of a task board for your entire department’s OKRs in one place, while maintaining team level ability to customize OKR tracking separately within their individual JIRA project.
This solution allows you to see everyone’s backlog in the same place so you can view upcoming quarterly priorities across teams.
I suggest using standardized labels to tag stories across teams so you can unlock the advantages of quick filters on your JIRA board. Examples include tagging all stories related to a specific project so you can view which teams are contributing to the project as a whole.
Step 2: Build your department wide wiki status report in Confluence
Similar to the team level status report, this can be used to easily provide a consolidated view of OKR status for those that are less likely to be in the weeds with JIRA. The approach is similar to the team level report, just modify the query so it pulls data from multiple projects & sprints as needed.
This requires no maintenance to update the status report as it automatically pulls the data from JIRA.
Step 3: Implement additional department wide visualization tooling if desired
If you decided to implement additional roadmap visualization above you can tweak that reporting to include projects from all teams in a new report.
This can be especially helpful for executive-level communication and reporting on OKRs.
The Solution: Advantages
Managing OKRs for teams & departments in JIRA comes with a wide range of advantages that pay-off over time.
Simple — This process uses tools everyone already has access to (assuming your company uses JIRA), it’s low cost to update quarter-over-quarter, and is straightforward for teams to maintain.
— This process uses tools everyone already has access to (assuming your company uses JIRA), it’s low cost to update quarter-over-quarter, and is straightforward for teams to maintain. Helps teams stay organized — This process comes with a task board that can help visual learners track their commitments. You can also build individual task boards, status reports, or dashboards if they’re helpful. These can be used to drive 1:1s and track performance / contributions quarter-over-quarter.
— This process comes with a task board that can help visual learners track their commitments. You can also build individual task boards, status reports, or dashboards if they’re helpful. These can be used to drive 1:1s and track performance / contributions quarter-over-quarter. Dynamic — Tracks history, attachments, comments, custom fields, etc. You also get a lot of metadata about your OKRs for free, like when they were created, last updated, etc.
— Tracks history, attachments, comments, custom fields, etc. You also get a lot of metadata about your OKRs for free, like when they were created, last updated, etc. Reporting — Unlocks the ability to have custom Dashboards for your department overall and each team in JIRA based on the metadata you’re collecting about your work. These are really simple to setup and update if needed and can be very helpful for decision making. You’ll also have the ability to query to answer questions like how many OKRs bleed into multiple quarters?
Unlocks the ability to have custom Dashboards for your department overall and each team in JIRA based on the metadata you’re collecting about your work. These are really simple to setup and update if needed and can be very helpful for decision making. You’ll also have the ability to query to answer questions like how many OKRs bleed into multiple quarters? Customizable — This is basic tooling that is general enough to extend to each team, but can be easily specialized for individual team needs / constraints.
— This is basic tooling that is general enough to extend to each team, but can be easily specialized for individual team needs / constraints. Tailors communication to multiple audiences — JIRA becomes the system of record for OKRs, although you get multiple ways to visualize and communicate OKRs for free by doing so. You can use one process to communicate to those that want to be in the weeds and those that only want high level information all at once.
The Solution: Considerations | https://medium.com/@rvoluck/using-jira-to-manage-okrs-27d31d7c379e | ['Rachael Voluck'] | 2019-05-20 20:05:29.661000+00:00 | ['Jira', 'Project Management', 'Efficiency', 'Status Report', 'Okr'] |
Coinbase Attracting Institutional Investors | Since the incarnation of Bitcoin, there has been anticipation for institutional investors to become cryptocurrency traders.
Adopting institutional investors has benefits and potential drawbacks. These types of investors have the resources to make high volume trades, with the ability to pour more capital into digital currency. Trading at higher volumes gives institutional investors influence over the manipulation of market prices.
With inclusion being a cornerstone principle in cryptocurrency, individual investors, also known as whales, continue to dominate the ecosystem. These whales, among many other reasons, have been blamed for volatile price swings.
In May 2018, there was a 20 percent drop within a seven day period, one-week market cap was $381 billion, and the very next week it decreased to $308 billion.
Despite market dips over the past year, digital currency grew exponentially.
In just one year, there has been a 4,500 percent growth, from $17.7 billion at the beginning of 2017 to $800 billion in January 2018. This jump in the market cap is impressive, yet the cryptocurrency ecosystem is in its infancy stage. | https://medium.com/ico-alert/coinbase-attracting-institutional-investors-2cb3b8cc208e | ['Kel Dennis'] | 2018-06-22 19:01:00.929000+00:00 | ['Investors', 'News', 'Institutional Investor', 'Bitcoin', 'Coinbase'] |
How to Submit Your Medium Stories to Publications | Submitting your Medium stories to publications is often simple, but sometimes it’s not.
It’s simple when you just publish a story and then pick a publication to submit it to. Boom. You’re done in a matter of seconds.
It might take half a day on the editor’s end to actually accept your story into his or her publication, but the work on your end is done at least.
If you’re the editor of your own publication, and you want to publish your latest piece in that, that’s easy as pie!
First, once the story has been written and then polished to your heart’s content, publish it first, then scroll to the top of the page and click on the button with the three dots to the right of READY TO PUBLISH.
Click on ADD TO PUBLICATION, and then scroll down and choose your own publication. Submit, and voila, your piece is now in a publication!
These are the exact same steps you should take if you want your latest story to be submitted to someone else’s publication that allows for your story to already be published. About half of the publications on my list allow this. | https://medium.com/the-partnered-pen/how-to-submit-your-medium-stories-to-publications-3fa516db4cc5 | ['Brian Rowe'] | 2020-09-04 12:01:01.583000+00:00 | ['Success', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Writing', 'Medium', 'Publication'] |
[Op-ed] The Eye of the Moon is Watching You | NASA’s Official Artemis Mission Video | Source: NASA’s Official YouTube
It began with a conscious whir, vapor trails of flaming oxygen fuel scattering into the precipice of the upper atmosphere nestled above Cape Canaveral, Florida. Crowds gathered in unprecedented droves outside the perimeter of the present-day Kennedy Space Center, witnessing a trio of air force pilots and engineers march into the stratosphere on what was perceived to be the ephemeral suicide pact. Of course, this is referring to the indistinguishable singular encapsulated achievement of America, The Apollo Space Program.
Much like the God Apollo atop his flaming chariot propelling the blazing sun forward across the sky, the program propelled America to the forefront of the astronomical community. The world tuned in, with a record 850 million people watching intently as the Apollo 11 Lander made its descent onto the lunar surface, leading to the pinnacle achievement of human expedition and, above all, repeating it a few more times until Apollo 17 returned to Earth in 1972.
American engineering, science, craftsmanship and collective intellect triumphed in the wake of this singular moment in human history. The space race concluded, bankrupting the Soviet Union’s space sector. The cloud ceiling of space shattered as the sound of a Saturn V rocket propelled through it in Mach 3, breaking and tearing apart this seemingly impossible dream and gifting scientists, civilians and their children with a sense of idealism and thunderous momentum. So, why did we stop?
Apollo 16 Astronaut Charles Duke, one of the last remaining moonwalkers in human history. | Source: NASA
The long awaited return to the Moon has dangled within the periphery of the scientific community and NASA bureaucrats since the premature disbandment of the Apollo missions, namely revolving around a set of key questions that would all need to be addressed and resolved in order to move forward and actually return to the moon, while avoiding and circumnavigating roadblocks of the past missions.
The first of these questions delve into how the international scientific community would have to operate effectively and proceed with a mission that would further humanity’s knowledge of the moon and therefore, necessitate a return to the barren, unforgivingly airless hellscape of titanium laden moondust.
Secondly, there remains the question of properly integrating and adapting modern astronomical equipment and technology in order to suit the agendas formatted by, presumably, the international space exploration community at large. While this may appear daunting, given the passage of time since humanity’s last trip to the Moon, NASA has largely maintained a steady hand in researching and developing relevant engineering to necessitate a return trip. They have even gone as far as to allocate grants for graduate students hoping to design innovative technologies that have the potential to be utilized in future space programs.
Lastly, the final category of questions has less to do with the theoretical planning of a hypothetical return trip, but rather, it deals entirely with the reason behind the original Apollo program’s demise: funding and politics. The original program was gutted prior to the planning of the proposed actual final mission of the program, Apollo 18, as budgetary constraints and post-Vietnam politics plagued the American social landscape, particularly as the mid 1970’s approached, with a looming economic recession in tow, diverting the focus of the public away from scientific and intellectual achievement in favor of economic and fiscal agendas and rhetoric. Simply put, the society of counterculture that forged the humanitarian public interest in conservation, environmentalism and astronomical exploration had fallen to the wayside, dissolved into the fabric of an updated terms of service clause within the social contract of a rapidly shifting and dynamic era of human society. Unfortunately, much of the political gridlock and public disinterest in America remains as the core roadblocks preventing the long-anticipated return to the Moon.
Now, after this brief history crash course, the question remains: What can we, as members of society, do to reignite both public and bureaucratic interest in our cratered and lonesome satellite? Well, there is a refreshing plethora of routes to take in order to increase public interest, especially given how drastically different our world has become in the last decade alone in regards to energy, transportation and consumerism alone.
Our moon is rich in natural metal ores and rare-earth metals, which, while currently heavily regulated and prohibited in mass energy production, could serve as a sustainable and efficient clean energy alternative to fossil fuels and pollutant industries, which has recently garnered significant attention from venture capitalists and business tycoons like Elon Musk and Richard Brenson.
While the science behind rare-earth fuels has frequently suggested that the hypothetical utilization of rare-earth fuels is safe, efficient and readily available, the politics surrounding these metals has suffered from years of lobbying from fossil fuel companies, pushing the prospect of this shift in energy production from the limelight of socioeconomic conversation. Our best course of action is to steer that conversation back into the grasp of consumers. Here’s how we can do exactly that.
We have the tools of social media to establish trends, market the aforementioned trends and impact the values of various products with our digital conversations across all platforms of social media. With Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok and Snapchat at our disposal, current generations have the capacity to mount a movement in favor of recognizing these fuels and proving their worth through outspoken opinions and likes on a screen.
As silly as it may sound, our actions on the internet are capable of precipitating change, so long as it is profitable to the various corporations that own America. Not only are rare-earth metals and renewable energy incredibly profitable, but they are also phenomenally energy dense without relying on nuclear fission. The single largest roadblock preventing the expansion of the human race, and therefore, the survival of the human race, is our indifference towards an obsolete energy sector that no longer efficiently suits the needs of consumers effectively anymore.
The Australian Countryside During the Wildfires of 2020 | Photo by Saheed Khan
We need to change and adapt, or we will die on Earth as we wallow in this indifference. Our oceans are rising at exponentially unprecedented rates, with habitats, deforestation and ecological systems beyond the capacity to withstand our society’s gluttonous consumption of finite global resources. To combat this, we can work by sharing posts on digital media among our followers and platforms, while simply bringing up the devastating consequences of our current trajectory towards mass extinction. There is no reason not to start right away, for the future depends on us. | https://medium.com/under-the-sun/the-eye-of-the-moon-is-watching-you-fd8643d7b05c | ['Edward Nenedzhyan'] | 2020-12-15 01:13:28.438000+00:00 | ['Climate Change', 'Opinion', 'Energy', 'Space', 'Moon'] |
Bound To Unforgiveness | Unforgiveness is one of the deadliest diseases that is rarely talked about in today’s society. But that’s ok because you’re about to get schooled Queen — class is in session!
“Unforgiveness is like drinking poison yourself and waiting for the other person to die.” -Marianne Williamson
There are many people in the world who are walking around with fake identities. They are angry, bitter, hateful and filled with rage; this is not who they truly are. Because they’ve refused to surrender the hurt from their past situations, they have transformed into their pain. It is because of unforgiveness that they have characteristics that make them “Negative Nancy”. There are many people who are enslaved to the traumas of their past.
Some of them don’t realize that the enemy is now their master instead of God. They are unaware that God can’t properly operate in them or do much for them because they have broken one of the greatest commandments, which is to love one another as God has loved us (John 15:5). I’m about to ask you a question that requires you to be honest with yourself so inhale…and release… — have I just described you?
If so, God has you reading this article, at this moment, for a specific reason. Can I tell you a secret Queen? I use to be her — a broken woman bound to unforgiveness. But it was by God’s grace that I was able to surrender that burden and pick up not only forgiveness but joy! Queen, it is time to start walking in the freedom of love because if you don’t, then you will forever be hindered in your walk with Christ. It is my desire for you to walk in freedom and it is my prayer that you will do just that.
The Process of Bondage
The first step to the process of bondage is luring, which means to be tempted to do something or go somewhere. Many people think that it’s a person, place, or thing that the enemy uses to tempt us, but it’s not, it’s the emotion behind that person, place, or thing. As we read the story of Cain and Abel in the bible (Genesis 4:1–8) we see that it’s not because of Abel’s mere existence that caused Cain to kill his very own brother, but it was the emotion of jealousy towards Abel, that made Cain kill him. It is in that same manner that the enemy causes us to be angry, mad and bitter towards a person, which causes us to be lured into the bondage of unforgiveness. Emotions come from the heart and that’s why the bible tells us to guard our hearts because everything we do flows from it (Proverbs 4:23). If the enemy has controlled our emotions towards a person, then he has captured our heart.
The second step to bondage is being arrested (spiritually, mentally, emotionally) because after we’ve been lured, the cuffs are then put on us. Arrested means to be seized by legal authority and taken into custody. Once we have fallen into the enemy’s trap of emotional temptation towards someone, he officially has the legal right to dwell in our hearts. He can do that because by submitting to unforgiveness, we give him permission to rule over our emotions.
Then we are taken into custody, which means imprisonment and that leads us to our third step; slavery. Slave — a person who is legal property of another and is forced to obey them. So this means we are now bound to hatred, anger, bitterness, rage and heartbreak. The bible tells us to get rid ourselves of bitterness and all types of other evil behavior and to forgive one another just as God has forgiven us (Ephesians 4:31–32). When we are a slave to sin, we can’t be a slave to Christ.
Being freed from bondage is just apart of the “becoming” process. To understand how The Power of Growth is lucrative to your journey; read this article that was published in my digital magazine by clicking here.
The Consequences Of Unforgiveness
Here are a few consequences of unforgiveness. Research shows that some sicknesses are a result of unforgiveness. Harboring negative emotions, this anger and hatred creates a state of chronic anxiety, high blood pressure, heart attacks, and cancer. If you are dealing with these health issues, then maybe it’s a possibility that unforgiveness is the underlying problem.
Other consequences are: it harms family interactions, hinders our prayer life, damages our ability to testify, and stagnates spiritual growth. Please don’t be fooled into thinking that you can harbor unforgiveness and have a successful walk and relationship with God! That is a lie from the enemy and it is impossible for God to do great things in you and for you if you are bound to hateful characteristics.
Now, here is how forgiveness can benefit you. Forgiveness allows you to see the bigger picture of the negative experiences you’ve faced, you receive freedom and your story can help bring others to salvation. For example, I went to high school (9th grade) with this girl who I was friends with, and long story short — she betrayed me. 5 years later she visited the church I was attending at that time and because I forgave her, God was able to use me to bring her to a spiritual breakthrough. He was also able to use me to bring her to a greater experience with Him.
I could have cussed her out, avoided her, or brought up what she did to me, but instead, I chose to forgive her. Me forgiving her set her free from some things she was going through at the time. Isn’t that a blessing? You may be thinking that you’ll never be able to do such a thing to a person who wronged you. But may I ask you another question beautiful — if God is so gracious to forgive you on a daily basis when you’re not deserving of it, what makes you think you’re above forgiving someone else? Ouch! Marinate in that!
Forgiveness is easier said than done, but it is possible Queen
It’s a process where you have to be vulnerable with God and you must desire it. The three ways to the road of forgiveness are:
Deliverance
Deliverance frees you from the control of the enemy and the person who hurt you. This means that a spiritual process must take place since the enemy still has legal right within you. You have to spiritually evict the enemy with the word of God. “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.” -Psalms 34:17
Healing
You need to be healed from the person(s) in order to move forward in your walk with Christ. You can’t properly operate from a place of brokenness. “Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security.” -Jeremiah 33:6.
Prayer and Fasting
“However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” -Matthew 17:21. Some things can only come about by both prayer and fasting. Prayer opens the doors for spiritual manifestation to take place. Once you pray for healing and deliverance, God will begin to free you from unforgiveness. Fasting is not just about giving up food, but it’s about getting closer to God; by emptying ourselves and allowing him to fill us up.
Queen, I pray that if you are dealing with unforgiveness, that you receive freedom in Jesus’ name. Take these tools and knowledge and apply it to your life because the bible tells us not to only be hearers of the word, but to be doers [take action] of the word (James 1:22). God wants to bless you and grow you past your pain, but he can’t do so until the chains of unforgiveness are broken off of you. You can do it Queen!
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” -Galatians 5:1
The Art of a Queen’s Hustle is a digital magazine catered to all women who are in their journey of “becoming”. It is designed for women who are in tune with their purpose, identity and standards. If you’re a woman that wants to feel empowered, challenged, and motivated, check out our website! We’re also looking for volunteer writers — click me for more information.
To get an email every time I post a story (basically become a subscriber) click me! | https://medium.com/@purposefulwriter/bound-to-unforgiveness-55706f20b34f | [] | 2020-12-27 21:53:07.666000+00:00 | ['Women', 'Bible', 'Christianity', 'Writing', 'Empowerment'] |
E Pluribus Unum | When did you first learn about racism? Maybe you sensed fear and pain in your parent’s eyes as they explained its sharp tongues and shadowed hearts to young ears still sounding out the words to fairytales. Or maybe, like me, you learned in subtle layers — our protective epidermal privilege slowly producing a lifetime of chapters written secondhand, congruent with maturity instead of necessity. Maybe we sensed embarrassment in our parent’s eyes as our young lips asked questions their experience could never teach them the answers to. Maybe we all felt something was enormously wrong all along but none of us felt big enough to fix it.
The fight to end racism has again been a predominant fixture in media since the murder of George Floyd last May. I hear the resounding cry from white well-meaning faces that, “Now — more than ever — we need to work towards racial justice,” and, respectfully, I disagree. I disagree that now this clamor for equality is somehow more necessary than it was in previous generations of us that shook our blonde heads and tsk’ed our European tongues. Would the mother of Emmett Till agree that 2020 was somehow more horrific than 1955? Would the families of those who lost their lives in the Tulsa massacre have suggested waiting exactly 100 years to ceaselessly demand widespread and fully rooted change? No. Now — like always — we need to continue the work towards racial justice. In marches and speeches, in classrooms and cathedrals, in living rooms and late night chats. In personal and public accountability towards true change. In both our whispers and our roars.
I’ve never felt an emptiness more heavy than the weight of the gap between where we are and where we need to be. It’s nearly effortless to fall into the chasm dug by dragging hate around for thousands of years, but it’s time to stop choosing rivalries of politics over resemblances of the heart. It’s time to stop hating people for what they assume when we’re assuming what they hate. Today I was reminded that hope is a discipline, and I’m choosing to keep in practice. Remember that volcanoes don’t develop overnight but are slowly formed by thousands of years of building pressure; as this country erupts in polarization, it is the full responsibility of each of us to learn, to lean in, and to lead.
Learn about civil rights both past and present. Lean into the discomfort felt and know that it is necessary for change. Lead whatever falls under your purview— even if that’s just your own thoughts and votes and voice. Not everyone feels called to speak in front of thousands, nor to march alongside hundreds. We shouldn’t need to win over people in order to win people over. But if the last hundred years have taught us anything, it’s that sometimes power is the antonym of change. Here’s to a mutiny of mutuality. | https://medium.com/@mmgooden/e-pluribus-unum-49b1b5179fbc | ['Megan Gooden'] | 2021-01-19 03:36:43.252000+00:00 | ['Racism', 'BlackLivesMatter', 'Martin Luther King', 'George Floyd', 'Equality'] |
[Paper] ShakeDrop: Shakedrop Regularization for Deep Residual Learning (Image Classification) | [Paper] ShakeDrop: Shakedrop Regularization for Deep Residual Learning (Image Classification)
ShakeDrop: converge to a better minimum
In this story, ShakeDrop Regularization for Deep Residual Learning (ShakeDrop), by Osaka Prefecture University, and Preferred Networks, Inc., is shortly presented. In this paper:
ShakeDrop is proposed which is more effective than Shake-Shake and can be applied not only to ResNeXt but also ResNet, Wide ResNet (WRN), and PyramidNet.
This is a paper in 2019 IEEE ACCESS with over 40 citations, where ACCESS is an open access journal with high impact factor of 3.745. (Sik-Ho Tsang @ Medium) | https://medium.com/swlh/paper-shakedrop-shakedrop-regularization-for-deep-residual-learning-image-classification-d2b83d0ae3de | ['Sik-Ho Tsang'] | 2020-11-23 08:32:25.341000+00:00 | ['Image Classification', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Convolutional Network', 'Regularization', 'Deep Learning'] |
Best Tips To Lose Weight In A Month | Best Tips To Lose Weight In A Month
Based on my personal experience, in my new series, I will not only provide weight-loss tips but also allow you to try out new ways for yourself. Bright wealth 3 days ago·6 min read
Photo by i yunmai on Unsplash
Not all weight loss tips are sustainable
I have a simple inquiry for you before you jump into the extra pounds of spring fever: Which companion would you prefer: one who promises you the blue sky but then abandons you after a few weeks or one who arrives quietly but is and remains trustworthy? If you’re into architects who design castles in the sky, good luck! If you care about the environment, you’re at the right place. Seriously: The fitness and weight-loss industry has long been a haven for con artists and screamers. Not to mention celebrity diet excesses and weight-loss advice based on pregnant hormones or the belief that they can only eat light (see box below). However, many individuals want butterflies in their lives.
Not to mention celebrity diet excesses and weight-loss advice based on pregnant hormones or the belief that they can only eat light. However, the weight loss machinery works because many individuals want butterflies in their (hopefully one day, gloriously flat and toned!) stomachs.
Weight loss without the yo-yo effect is guaranteed.
Experts believe that it generates over a hundred billion euros per annual revenue in Europe alone, with the tendency continuing to rise. Okay, I’ll make a promise to you as well; after all, promises are lovely — but only if they are kept. And “two pounds in a month” is a truthful statement. You may, of course, lose more weight in the same amount of time.
Everything is in working order. But in another month, you’ll probably be alone in the rain again, the butterflies will have flown, and everything will be a yo-yo. Professor Ingo Froböse, head of the Center for Health at the German Sport University Cologne, says, “Two kilograms a month is what I can drop in a healthy way without falling into a hole physically and emotionally thereafter.” We put Bootcamp training and Freeletics to the test in the first part of our series.
Regular rather than intensive training
The fact is that losing two kg each month is a fantastic aim! Permanent, long-term, and truthful According to a FIT FOR FUN poll, Germans aspire to shed about five kg by the summer season. “Changing the metabolism is the key to successful weight loss,” explains Froböse. “I need to transition from a Trabi to a Ferrari engine gradually so that I can burn more energy in the long run. And to do so, I need to work with my body rather than against it. The frequency and duration of our sports participation, as well as the sort of training we engage in, are secondary considerations. It is critical that we maintain our fitness on a regular basis, as this is how new mitochondria form and muscle mass grows. Also, be.
Because mitochondria are the body’s energy power plants, and muscles burn more energy than fat even when they are at rest, this translates to more horsepower for our bodies and more fuel consumption! To do this, we don’t need to finish a rigorous tough program. It is sufficient to train in a moderate manner. Instead of continually pushing ourselves to do more in terms of exercises, we should concentrate on our daily activities.
Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash
The best weight loss tips come from everyday life
Froböse and his colleagues are presently doing research on the topic of how much activity is required in a regular office job, for example, in order to properly excite the metabolism and maintain it in combustion mode all of the time. The first outcome is as follows: Walking five floors every sixty minutes has proved to be the most effective among many movement treatments (including squats). Small technical aids that capture movement data via sensors and analyze them visually so that we know exactly how many steps we have to do to achieve the daily target miss can be a valuable assist in boosting awareness of everyday activities. The bracelets, for the most part, are
Small technical assistants that capture movement data via sensors and process it optically so we can see precisely how many steps we need to do to meet the daily target miss. The gadgets, which are primarily bracelets, are still in the early stages of development, but they are improving at a breakneck pace. Also, the market for this will most likely explode in the near future (in the USA sales are already at 330 million dollars a year). Apple has just received a patent for in-ear headphones with a tracking feature and is hard at work on the Healthbook, a new, innovative fitness, and health software. See also our articles on the Jawbone Up Activity Tracker and the Nike Fuelband!
Activity trackers can help you lose weight
These tracking devices have the potential to be more than simply fun gadgets: They can support a more comprehensive, diversified approach to weight management by replacing the taught formula “less food + more activity equals less weight.” Nutrition, in addition to physical exercise, should be seen from a fresh perspective. “I constantly have to feed the body at least what it requires, or else it would deplete vital reserves like muscular mass,” Froböse explains. “The fundamental energy turnover should be covered at all times. If I just consume half of everything at once, I may achieve short-term success, but they will vanish in the medium run, leaving me worse off than before. The meta-level ”The metabolism specialist highlights the importance of food quality: low-carbohydrate, high-protein in the evening, a balanced ratio of carbs, proteins, and fats throughout the day, and no snacks with four to five hours between meals — and sweet drinks only with these, if at all.
Lose 2 pounds: say yes!
It may not seem revolutionary, but it is a significant finding: losing weight is simple. Simple, but not without difficulty. Understanding that we don’t always need elaborate and sophisticated plans is the first step toward making weight reduction more manageable — and hence more motivational — in everyday life. A successful weight-reduction plan does not focus on days or weeks, but rather on a long-term lifestyle change. That is why the DASH diet, which was initially created for high blood pressure patients, was named the best diet of the year by a panel of specialists in the United States. Fruit, vegetables, whole grains, seafood, and protein-rich foods are all included. Lean chicken meat as a source of protein
A successful weight loss plan does not focus on days or weeks, but rather on a long-term lifestyle change. That is why the DASH diet, which was initially created for high blood pressure patients, was named the best diet of the year by a panel of specialists in the United States. Fruit, vegetables, whole grains, seafood, and protein-rich foods are all included. Meat, such as lean chicken, is more of a side dish. The daily calorie intake ranges from 1500 to 2000 calories. You’re capable of losing two kg in four weeks. All you have to say is, “Yes, I do!”
For more tips on how you can get rid of your fat naturally download the free eBook here.
This article contains affiliate links, If you choose to purchase the product through the links I will receive a commission at no additional cost to you. This helps support my research, and rest assured that I only recommend high-quality products. | https://medium.com/@nosbeck29/best-tips-to-lose-weight-in-a-month-da187202ef87 | ['Bright Wealth'] | 2021-09-13 15:08:25.939000+00:00 | ['How To Loss Weight Fast', 'Health', 'Weight Loss Tips', 'Weight Loss'] |
THE CHRISTMAS MACHINE | MIDI
If you’re not familiar with MIDI, it stands for “Musical Instrument Digital Interface.” It’s a pretty straightforward system of sending data between compatible systems. For example, it lets you hook keyboards (music keyboards, not PC keyboards) up to synthesizers and control them. In its simplest form, it does so by sending encoded messages over a serial connection with timestamp, musical note information, and “note on/ note off” data. So if you put your finger on a middle-C note on a keyboard, your synthesizer will know to play a middle-C. And when you take your finger off that note, your synth will know to stop playing.
Monitor showing real-time MIDI data, captured in MIDI-OX
While MIDI is technically intended for music and not hardware control, it’s not hard to see that it has everything you might want for hardware control. By mapping notes to devices you’d like binary (on/off) control over, MIDI gives you a simple, low latency control protocol that can be quickly adapted to control lights.
Now, astute readers might be thinking that DMX is better suited for this, as DMX is a similar standard used specifically for lighting. Well, if you’ve noticed that, you’re not wrong. It’d probably be really easy to do this using DMX. I don’t know anything about DMX though, and I know and absolute shit ton about MIDI, so here we are. More importantly, my goal 12 years ago was to be able to sequence lights in time with WAV/MP3 audio, and using MIDI seemed like the most intuitive way to do that with software I already had. For this build of THE CHRISTMAS MACHINE, I’ve been using a music production software suite called Reason to sequence lights, and it looks something like this when I do so:
Light sequencing in Reason
In this image, you can see how I sequence the lights: each ‘note’ corresponds to a GPIO pin on the Raspberry Pi. There’s a WAV file of “Jingle Bells” in the top lane, and I basically just draw blocks in time to align with changes in the song. It’s a little bit tedious, but it’s better than coding time delays by hand in python. Also it’s an interface that I’m pretty comfortable with, so I could just have a few beers and get at it.
When I initially imagined using MIDI 12 years ago, my plan was to do it over a wired MIDI connection, basically taking MIDI output from my laptop (using a USB to 5 pin MIDI interface) to a hacked serial connection on something like an Arduino. It can be done that way, but then you have even more cabling that you need.
RTP-MIDI to the rescue
So like I’ve mentioned, it’s been 12 years. A lot has changed since then. We recently bought a house that has a lot of exterior decorating area. Also, if I start any fires with shoddy AC wiring, that’s my problem. I decided to revisit this project.
One thing that’s really nice about picking a nerdy technology project up after over a decade is that a lot of bottlenecks and constraints sort of solve themselves with the passage of time. When I first put this approach together, I was assuming I’d need to run a hardwired serial connection to handle MIDI, knowing full well that MIDI-over-network (RTP-MIDI) was a better choice. Back then, it would not have been cost effective to receive MIDI over network, and would basically need a dedicated computer to receive the signals. When I decided to pick this project back up again, I figured I’d poke around to see if there was an RTP-MIDI implementation for Raspberry Pi. Much to my delight, there was: pymidi. Being a super straightforward RTP-MIDI server implementation in python written specifically for Raspberry Pi, pymidi was exactly what I was looking for. It’s got a sample event handler packaged into that, and with a bit of sketchy python and gpiozero for pin control, I was able to map incoming note on / note off messages to pin on / pin off control.
From there, I installed rtpMIDI, a virtual MIDI driver that allows you to pipe any MIDI output from any Windows software MIDI-out to anything on your network with low latency. pymidi sits on the Raspberry Pi listening for MIDI data, and rtpMIDI sits on a Windows computer to route MIDI data to pymidi. It’s a nice coupling.
rtpMIDI — pipes your light sequences right to your Raspberry Pi
Note: Macs support network MIDI out of the box, so you don’t need to install rtpMIDI if you’re a Mac user. I’ve been trying to find and test a linux-compatible solution too, because I’d like to be able to get an end-to-end free solution going.
Hardware
I get some real heebie-jeebies when I work with AC power because I am fully aware that I am not very bright and have no attention span. To this end, I will suggest that you do not do anything that I did nor assume that anything I did is safe or reasonable. Making mistakes with AC power can kill you and burn down your house. Shit, even if you do everything correctly you can still kill yourself with AC power.
I doubt anything I did is to code or even legal.
But since you’ve made it this far, I’ll point out that I found this pretty detailed writeup that I used as a starting point:
Basically, I started with a Raspberry Pi 3b, a couple 8-relay boards, a ton of wire, and a box of AC receptacles and wired up the hardware side of this.
The first half of my build, eight channels.
The one difference between my build and those in the writeup I linked to is that I used terminal blocks for most of the wire connections, which reduced the number of sketchy wire nut connections I had to use and arguably make this easier to expand. I bought a couple sets of these blocks and jumpers from Amazon and basically used them to create a ground bus, a neutral bus, and a “hot” bus, making the AC connections a bit easier to manage and distribute to the various individual contacts they needed to hit:
Shot of my neutral bus — the four connectors on the left go to the neutral connectors on four of the receptacles. The red one on the right goes to the neutral line on the AC cord. The black jumper on top connects them all together.
Putting it all together
So basically I run Reason off of my desktop computer along with rtpMIDI. My Raspberry Pi picks up the MIDI data over wifi and fires off the relays to turn the outlets on and off. I got this working yesterday to individually control eight receptacles and I’m currently finishing up the expansion that will bring it up to sixteen receptacles. The way I built it using the terminal block buses, expanding from eight to 16 is pretty much just attaching three AC wires to a second set of receptacles / buses and then wiring the low voltage DC for the new relays to pins on the Raspberry Pi.
Here’s a short video of the near-finished product, firing off relays to test the low voltage parts right before I plugged the AC in:
Here’s another short video of the relays firing outside with some lights in the sockets to test the AC switching. It works, much to my surprise:
After I get the expansion done (hopefully), I’m going to mount it to boards and put it in a weather-sealed tub.
For the next couple nights I’ll be hanging lights around the house and sequencing lights to sync with WAV/MP3 audio. Then I’m going to pipe the audio through an FM transmitter and become a neighborhood nuisance.
Feel free to ask any questions! | https://itnext.io/the-christmas-machine-fca7184cbe50 | ['Christopher Wm'] | 2020-12-18 10:11:37.136000+00:00 | ['Raspberry Pi', 'Python', 'Automation', 'Christmas', 'Makers'] |
JADED Op-ed: Black, Heterosexual, Fat, Female Blogger agrees with Trumps Execution plans- Kill Them All! — CALI FM RADIO | JADED: Journalism with a Touch of Shade- Lashaun Turner-
Black criminals who killed black people including a man who tortured his own 2 and ½ year old daughter to death, can all catch a lethal injection. (Personally I think the aforementioned killer/child abuser should have his head bashed in like he did his own flesh and blood. And that is where I stand. You are either for or against the death penalty and I happen to be for it.
Black on Black Crime doesn’t exist I’m hearing. Or, it’s a racist concept I’m told. Therefore crime is crime and criminals are criminals- so the fact that these 3 men (and the others are people of color) does not sway in my mind of whether or not each one of them should be executed. If these convicts have exhausted their due process, then the end of the line is at the end of a rope. Kill Them ALL.
A little bit about my background. I worked in corrections briefly during my nursing career. I have had inmate (patients) who were murderers, rapists, child molesters you name it. I took care of an inmate on the day he was sentenced to death. You would have thought HE was the victim because all sorts of protocols go into place to help the convicted cope and adjust to a death penalty sentence. They are far more supported than the victims families.
I have seen the inmate life and I have to tell you, it isn’t all that bad. The inmates have so many “rights”, medical, dental, food, everything given to them. And they continue to live, breathe, watch tv, go to the gym, see their family members, celebrate birthdays and holidays, while their victims in all cases died prematurely, senselessly and brutally, and will never be able to enjoy not one more single breath, moment, memory etc
Inmates (maybe not death row) get married, conjugal visits, sex, — the dating sites are littered with them. I’ve even seen inmates go live on Facebook.
Federal Executions
For seventeen years, no federal prisoners were put to death in the United States, and both public sentiment and Supreme Court case law have trended against capital punishment. When President Bill Clinton signed the 1994 crime bill, eighty per cent of the public supported the death penalty in cases of murder; only fifty-five per cent do today. (New Yorker)
Alfred Bourgeois abused, tortured, and beat to death his young daughter. After a paternity test identified Bourgeois as the father of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl and a court ordered that he pay child support to the mother, Bourgeois took temporary custody of his daughter and brought her with him on a trucking route. While on the trip, Bourgeois systematically abused and tortured her — including by punching her in the face, whipping her with an electrical cord, and burning the bottom of her foot with a cigarette lighter. In July 2002, Bourgeois arrived at the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station for a delivery. While backing his truck up to a loading dock, his daughter tipped over her training potty. Bourgeois became enraged and repeatedly slammed the back of her head into the truck’s window and dashboard, killing her. On March 16, 2004, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas found Bourgeois guilty of murder within the special territorial jurisdiction of the United States, and unanimously recommended a death sentence, which the court imposed. His conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal, and his requests for collateral relief were ultimately rejected by federal courts. In July 2019, his execution was scheduled for Jan. 13, 2020, but legal impediments prevented the government from proceeding at that time. Bourgeois is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Dec. 11, 2020, at the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute, Indiana.
Dustin John Higgs kidnapped and murdered three women — Tamika Black, 19; Tanji Jackson, 21; and Mishann Chinn, 23. One evening in January 1996, Higgs and two friends drove to Washington, D.C., to pick up Black, Jackson, and Chinn, whom Higgs had invited to his apartment in Laurel, Maryland. At the apartment, Jackson rebuffed an advance by Higgs and the women left. Higgs offered the women a ride back to Washington, D.C., but instead drove to a secluded area in the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge, ordered the women out of the vehicle, gave a gun to one of the friends, and said, “better make sure they’re dead.” The other man shot Black and Jackson in the chest and back, and shot Chinn in the back of the head, killing all three women. On Oct.11, 2000, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland found Higgs guilty of numerous federal offenses, including three counts of first-degree premeditated murder, three counts of first-degree felony murder, and three counts of kidnapping resulting in death, and unanimously recommended nine death sentences, which the court imposed. Higgs’ convictions and sentences were affirmed on appeal nearly 17 years ago, and his initial round of collateral challenges failed nearly eight years ago. Higgs is scheduled to be executed on Jan. 15, 2021.
Cory Johnson murdered seven people — Peyton Johnson, Louis Johnson, Bobby Long, Dorothy Armstrong, Anthony Carter, Linwood Chiles, and Curtis Thorne — in furtherance of his drug-trafficking activities. Between 1989 and July 1992, Johnson and several co-conspirators, including federal death-row inmates Richard Tipton and James Roane, were partners in a large drug-trafficking conspiracy based in Richmond, Virginia. In early 1992, Johnson went on a killing spree, shooting and killing each of the seven victims for perceived slights or rivalry in the drug trade. Johnson shot one victim at close range after ordering him to place his head on a car steering wheel. Johnson shot and killed another victim at the victim’s home when he failed to pay for crack cocaine — and Johnson also murdered the victim’s sister and a male acquaintance. In February 1993, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found Johnson guilty of numerous federal offenses, including seven counts of capital murder, and unanimously recommended seven death sentences, which the court imposed. Johnson’s convictions and sentences were affirmed on appeal more than 24 years ago, and his initial round of collateral challenges failed 15 years ago. Johnson’s execution initially was scheduled to occur in May 2006, but a preliminary injunction prevented the government from proceeding until it was vacated this September. Johnson is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Jan. 14, 2021, at the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute, Indiana.
Pro’s, Con’s and Racial Disparities in Death Sentencing
Proponents of the death penalty say it is an important tool for preserving law and order, a useful deterrent, and the associated costs are less than paying for a life imprisonment. Proponents feel that “an eye for an eye” honors the victim and gives closure to grieving families while ensuring that the perpetrators of heinous crimes never have an opportunity to kill in society again.
Opponents of capital punishment say it has no deterrent effect on crime, wrongly gives governments the power to take human life, and perpetuates social injustices by disproportionately targeting people of color and people who cannot afford good attorneys. Opponents think lifetime jail sentences are a more severe and less expensive than punishment by death.
Federal Executions
(NAACP) There are 63 people on federal death row, and 37 are people of color. Twenty-seven of these individuals are black. Several reviews of the federal death penalty have found troubling racial disparities in charging, plea bargaining, sentencing, and executions. For example, a review conducted by the United States Department of Justice found that 48 percent of White defendants were able to receive a sentence less than death through plea bargaining. Yet, only 25 percent of Black defendants and 28 percent of Hispanic defendants were able to plead guilty in exchange for life sentences.
There is truth to this. But in this case, the truth, does not mean you should be set free. What it means is that the scale of justice needs to be fair and equitable, I agree. Wholeheartedly. Kill Them all! Expeditiously. If you brutally murder someone not in self defense, not accidently-no matter what race the victim or perpetrator- you should receive a death penalty after due process — that is my opinion.
The only cure for child molesters is DEATH- breaking the cycle of human sexual predators.
JADED: As my readers know, I am particularly JADED on child molesters and .
Alfred Bourgeois lawyers cited two IQ test scores of 68 and 70, adaptive impairments and deficiencies dating back to when he was a minor as evidence of his intellectual disability. But he was able to get a truck driver’s license, function in society, procreate and navigate getting temporary custody for the child he ultimately killed. Get the entire FUCK out of here!
The arguments for sparing these people are pathetic. One website reporting on the topic compared the female Manson murderers who are still alive in prison- to the one female on the execution list Lisa Montgomery (not profiled in this article)- who killed a woman and cut her baby out of her- saying if Manson followers are still alive sitting in prison-that this woman should be allowed to live also. I disagree. I think they all deserve the same punishment and from this day forward anyone who kills a woman and cuts a baby out of her should die by BUTCHERY!. ( I actually know someone accused of this currently awaiting trial- a black man killed mother and unborn baby) One lawyer has argued that his client has been a “model” inmate and deserves a second chance.. sigh.
Dustin John Higgs orchestrated the kidnap and ordered the murder of 3 women whether he pulled the trigger or not, he should be punished.
Cory Johnson murdered seven people- enough said.
The fix is in-how you execute the punishment ( pun intended) if you do A B C, homicide, and are found guilty, an exhaust appeals, still guilty, then- you get a Firing Squad, Electric Chair, or Lethal Injection PERIODT- no plea agreements. The penalty is death!
You can’t fix the wrongs of the past but you can right the process going forward.
For the record I am in NO WAY a TRUMPER- quite frankly he can kick rocks as far as I’m concerned. I hope to see him behind bars as well one of these days. Trump’s motivations and timing are suspect unquestionably. He is pardoning his White friends (not of capital murder) in one pen stroke and ordering executions of People of Color in another. Whatever karma exists in this realm will catch up to him and I’ll be all for it. The optics may be one thing but the fact is these murderers killed mercilessly, horribly and indiscriminately. They should die for their actions. Sooner rather than later.
P.S- I just wanted to throw a little extra shade on the use of labels in the title. Ridiculous right?
If you’d like to get my opinion on a topic Email [email protected] your idea and I may write about it here at Cali.FM 🙂 | https://medium.com/@mslashaunturner/jaded-op-ed-black-heterosexual-fat-female-blogger-agrees-with-trumps-execution-plans-kill-a9b39e6cf192 | ['Lashaun Turner'] | 2020-12-06 01:16:28.722000+00:00 | ['Death Penalty', 'Crime', 'Trump', 'Death', 'Prison'] |
Can you become a software developer with ADHD? | My rules for success
- Change your sleep schedule completely
I found that I was not able to focus after a long day of learning new concepts and technologies. Instead, I allowed myself to relax and have fun after class and went to bed as early as possible. My brain is a stubborn one, and forcing it do things It doesn’t want to do is close to impossible. Instead plan your day around how your brain feels. I would sleep around 7–8pm when I started to feel mentally exhausted and wake up around 4am everyday.
- Use up the beginning of your day to get as much work done as possible
Use that fresh brain power and the early morning to your advantage; When you wake up before everyone else, You take away the choice to interact with others through social media or in person. This will allow someone with the ADHD brain to eliminate a large number of distractions that can completely derail them. It will also get most of the hard stuff out of the way early, so that you can look forward to relaxing later on.
- Use the Pomodoro technique
Study or code for a 25 minute interval, then take a 5 minute break to let your mind do its thing, rinse, repeat.
- Create a checklist
Prioritize the most important topics and tasks in the beginning of the day with the least important in the end. Check off each task and reward yourself when each one is completed.
- Change your diet
Eat less carbs or even fast upon waking up. If you have never tried intermittent fasting; This is a tool that can seriously double your focus. Simply put, your brain will be more alert when you have less processes going on in the body. Cut out sugary foods and beverages and any other stimulants that can affect your already scattered brain. Instead try to use these stimulants as a reward for when you get a task completed.
- Create a sense of urgency
Create an alarm clock for each project or task you want to start and hold yourself accountable to that alarm. The ADHD brain loves to put important tasks in the back in exchange for tasks that will grant immediate satisfaction. Get rid of this habit completely by creating a sense of urgency. Don’t let your brain talk you into going on a YouTube binge, or scrolling through Instagram rather than facing the hard stuff. Put yourself in positions where you don’t have a choice.
- Change your mindset
Start fearing failure. A lot of individuals with ADHD might experience this already, but use that fear to keep pushing ahead, don’t just move on to the next shiny thing. Although it has its pros, ADHD is a real challenge when it comes to academics and you need to accept that and move on. Give yourself more time to complete tasks. Stay in your own lane and do not get disheartened by the challenges or compare yourself to others.
- Come prepared
Those with ADHD find it very difficult to keep up in lectures and class settings; Instead create a slot of time to review topics before they are taught. This will allow you to let those wandering thoughts be less damaging when you already have a general idea of whats going on.
-Train your brain
Create punishments. Practice depriving yourself of something you love when you do not achieve a goal. This might sound a bit harsh, but think of your brain as a pet. You don’t want to reinforce bad behaviors with things you enjoy, the ADHD brain lacks that reward system, so create your own reward system.
- Have someone hold you accountable
I have noticed that those with ADHD are great at carrying out tasks when being watched, being alone is where the issues lie. If you have a family member or friend available to you, have them hold your list of tasks and report back to them when each task is finished.
- Identify your motivation
Always keep your end goal in mind. You might lose sight of this multiple times through whatever journey you embark on, but this should be where your obsession lies. Don’t look at all the hard things you must do to get there, this will only cause you to lose focus and want to switch to something more fun; Instead think about how amazing you will feel when you land that job, buy that house or create that thing that you so badly want. | https://medium.com/dev-genius/adhd-and-code-17c5e1d0ca1b | ['Soham Dutta'] | 2020-06-15 14:26:25.185000+00:00 | ['Adhd', 'Bootcamp', 'Software Development', 'Coding', 'Adhd Treatment'] |
Colin-on-Cars — Fleet solution to be AARTO compliant | With the implementation of the AARTO Amendment Act now imminent, business operations needing to transport workers have little time in which to act — transporting those workers on the back of a bakkie has been illegal for some time, but will be vigorously policed under AARTO.
A solution to this problem is JAC Motors’ X200 2,8-litre turbo-diesel workhorse in a double-cab configuration that can accommodate six people inside the cab and still offer a 1,3-tonne payload with a large load area. The X200 is the only forward-cab workhorse in the local market that offers a double-cab derivative in this segment of the market.
The four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine mounted under the front seats produces 80 kW at 3 600 r/min and 240 Nm of torque between 1 800 r/min and 2 000 r/min.
“The X200 double-cab allows you to safely and legally transport workers and goods with the same 1,3-tonne payload the single-cab workhorse competitors are offering,” says Karl-Heinz Göbel, CEO of JAC Motors South Africa. “Our product also features a powerful 2,8-litre turbo-diesel engine, anti-lock braking, a factory-fitted air-conditioner and, for just over R300 000, it retails for less than the competitors’ single-cab workhorses.”
A forward-cab design is more practical than a standard bakkie and its main benefit is the increased load box size with a much larger load volume, making these rugged workhorses ideal for business and industrial use.
The X200 offers an elevated driving position allowing the driver to see and judge traffic better on the open roads, and it further improves visibility when parking at loading bays. A forward-cab design also incorporates other advantages that drivers and fleet owners appreciate, such as the easy entrance and exit for drivers and crew in many load stop-and-drop situations.
Front- and rear crumple zones, side-impact protection bars, height-adjustable headlamps and an immobiliser further add to occupants’ safety. Remote-controlled central locking with motion-lock at 40 km/h and an engine that cannot ignite when the clutch is not engaged further contribute to the safety credentials of the X200.
Although the X200 was developed for the harshest working conditions, it features standard equipment such as a height-adjustable steering wheel, power windows, a Radio/CD/MP3 player with Bluetooth, and speakers fitted in the front doors. It also offers ample stowing space located in various places inside the cab.
The X200’s double-wishbone independent front suspension and ladder-frame chassis design allow for excellent manoeuvrability and solid handling regardless of its load size. In addition, the maximum use of axle capacities for ideal payload weight distribution also contributes to optimal handling in heavy urban traffic and on open roads.
“Our affordable X200 double-cab, which is unique in its market segment, is the best urban logistics solution for transport operators. Its powerful and reliable engine, balanced transmission, excellent payload, low running cost, and people carrying ability make it an asset in every transport operator’s stable,” says Göbel. | https://medium.com/@colinwindell/colin-on-cars-fleet-solution-to-be-aarto-compliant-ca5cb455fba9 | ['Colin Windell'] | 2021-06-17 06:45:18.626000+00:00 | ['Deliveries', 'Fleetmanagement', 'Doublecabs', 'Bakkies', 'Aarto'] |
RaspberryPi 400 at 4x2.35GHz | Overclock your Pi400 to 2.35GHz CPU speed and 800 MHz GPU — and void warranty.
Photo Credit: RaspberryPi.org
As soon as I’ve received my RaspberryPi 400 and reading about people running it up to 2 GHz, I decided to give it a go and see if I can get a stable, well-cooled system with a higher clock speed.
The “stock” Pi400 has the same BCM2711 SoC as the RaspberryPi 4, but in a newer revision, apparently with a more efficient design which gives less heat dissipation. In addition to this, the Pi400 has a big piece of aluminum over the whole bottom area of the keyboard, which is used as a heat sink.
Disclaimer
All the instructions here are to be done at your own risk. You will void your warranty by setting over_voltage.
Tuning
Warning again! This voids your warranty.
/boot/config.txt:
force_turbo=1
over_voltage=15
arm_freq=2350
gpu_freq=800
This gives you a GPU Frequency of 800MHz and a CPU Clock of 2.35GHz per core!
Verifying results
39.9°C at 2.35GHz!
Conclusion
I’ve been running the Pi400 for 2–3 weeks at 2.35GHz. Everything seems stable and maximum temperatures while compiling a Linux kernel with “make -j4” resulted in temperatures around 50–60°C. Pretty neat! | https://medium.com/@syso42/raspberrypi-400-at-4x2-35ghz-8779839da0c | ['Sylwester Sosnowski'] | 2020-11-22 22:01:41.466000+00:00 | ['Raspberry Pi', 'Embedded Systems', 'Tuning', 'Benchmark', 'Linux'] |
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Crypto Community Building Playbook | We are witnessing a Cambrian explosion in the number of blockchain projects coming online. Per CoinDesk, we’ve already seen more ICOs in 2018 than in the entirety of 2017, which is 9x the number that launched the year before that. Now put yourself in the shoes of one of the 1637 projects listed on CoinMarketCap — how are you going to differentiate yourself?
I’ve been thinking a lot about this question lately. Sure, executing on your development roadmap or devising a clever go-to market strategy can go a long way towards setting yourself apart from other cryptocurrencies. But there is another strategy that is worth focusing on too — building your community.
I believe that building an exceptional community is paramount to becoming a winning cryptocurrency, and there is a playbook for doing so.
The Playbook
Step #1 — Maximize your initial token distribution
There is no better way to organically build a community than to put tokens in the hands of as many users as possible when your project launches. Your early tokenholders usually become your biggest evangelists because they stand to make the most money from your project succeeding. They will also stick with you during times of uncertainty, which can be extremely valuable.
Last year it was relatively easy to maximize your token distribution. Projects like Tezos conducted large public ICOs that sold their tokens to anyone who wanted to participate. But today, this method of broad token distribution is infeasible given the amount of regulatory scrutiny on the space. As a result, many projects have conducted exclusionary token sales (e.g. accredited investors only) in order to be compliant.
This shouldn’t mean we give up on broad token distribution altogether, and in fact, there are still clever ways to maximize reach. For example, Proof of Work coins can do a Fair Launch — this is when a coin launches on a date without any supply issued (i.e. no presale allocation or premine) and allows anyone to begin mining. It’s also possible to conduct a fair and compliant token sale that leverages the latest in Equity Crowdfunding laws, which is something we’ve seen platforms like Republic begin to offer. I suspect we’ll see more projects employ these techniques in the future.
Step #2 — Codify your project’s mission and values
If you’re going to convince free agents to join your community, you need to be able to explain to them why your project matters. Projects should establish their core mission and values and then publish it somewhere.
If you’re looking for an example of this, check out this blog post by Will Warren on the 0x mission and values:
Step #3 — Cultivate productive online discussion
Community members should have a place to voice their opinions online and feel like they’re contributing to your project. However, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to online discussion because of two fundamental tensions:
Communication Style
Some people prefer Synchronous Communication (discussion that happens in real-time) while others prefer Asynchronous Communication (discussion that doesn’t happen in real-time).
Content
Some people prefer General Content (e.g. new partnerships or business development roadmap) while others prefer Technical Content (e.g. feature development or technical roadmap).
I’ve found the best projects tend to support multiple forums for discussion as opposed to trying to fit as many folks as possible into one chat or message board. One major benefit of this approach is that it allows technical discussion to occur unencumbered by distractions from casual users who sometimes just want to speculate on token price.
Here is an example of a discussion implementation that can meet the needs of a diverse crypto community:
Here are my favorite examples of each quadrant:
Projects should ensure that all discussions stay on topic and are respectful. The easiest way to do this is to find passionate community members who are willing to be moderators for free. If that is not possible, projects should consider hiring moderators because it is worth the investment. Finally, founders and core team members should partake in discussions too, as opposed to simply letting the moderators and community managers handle everything.
Step #4 — Provide support
Your most important community members are the developers building on top of your protocol, so make sure they’re happy by troubleshooting their technical problems. While it’s possible for members of the core team to help out with this type of work when your project is just getting off the ground, at some point it’s probably worth hiring a full-time developer relations person.
You may also want to hire an employee to handle regular customer support. At first glance this role might not seem necessary, but it’s actually a secret weapon in terms of a generating goodwill in your community. If you’re looking for a good example of this, head over to the Decred Slack and check out the #Support channel — the team does a nice job of helping their non-technical users with problems such as setting up a wallet or learning how to join a staking pool.
Step #5 — Set up a grant program
If you have a treasury, consider setting up a grant program that pays tokens for 3rd-party development of your protocol. This a great way to grow your ecosystem while aligning your core team and community even further. One of my favorite examples of a well-executed and transparent grant program is the Zcash Foundation. Each quarter it funds proposals created by community members that support both the mission and values of the Zcash Foundation.
Step #6 — Support community-run organizations
Community-run organizations, which are usually created spontaneously when token holders want to go above and beyond in their support for a project, can be an excellent way to further the your mission as well.
One well-run community organization is the Tezos Commons Foundation. The TCF has done well over the past few months supporting meet-ups all over the world and generating grassroots support for the project in way that is complementary to the efforts of the Tezos Foundation.
Step #7 — Spread the word
Teams should constantly be spreading the word about their project in order to acquire new community members. There is no better example of this than Vitalik Buterin, who “basically lives on an airplane” and travels to hundreds of events each year evangelizing Ethereum.
For other projects, it’s never too early to hit the pavement and begin spreading the word about your protocol. I’ve been encouraged by one of our portfolio protocols, Kadena, which always seems to find good opportunities to spread the word about what they’re building and how people can get involved in the ecosystem if they’re interested.
Step #8 — Have fun
Finally, have fun. A small window into your team’s personality can go a long way towards making community members even more passionate about your project. My favorite recent example of this is Karl Floersch from the Ethereum Foundation, who recently displayed his creative side with a freestyle rap.
Closing Thoughts
Ultimately, building an exceptional crypto community is just as important as your technical roadmap and go-to market strategy. With this playbook, projects can put themselves in a position to acquire and retain more community members, which will pay dividends in the long run. | https://medium.com/provably-neutral/the-playbook-for-crypto-community-building-d065802b8e3f | ['Spencer Noon'] | 2019-11-08 15:20:06.617000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Community', 'Crypto', 'Bitcoin', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
TRAVEL TIPS: Top 5 West Country Destinations (UK) | TRAVEL TIPS: Top 5 West Country Destinations (UK)
Check out our Instagram page and our website https://www.westcountryfamily.com/
A family of three currently living in Bath who love being outdoors exploring together. Blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the world and excited to share all our future adventures throughout the West Country. Here are our top 5 destinations, let us know what you think:
Bath
We may be biased, as we currently live in Bath but we don’t think any city/town in the West Country trumps this historic city for a day trip! We are not going to list all the incredible tourist attractions within the city, as you can easily visit the official website (link below), but we will suggest a few hidden gems in the city! Castle Farm in Midford is our favourite restaurant, based on the outskirts of the city — their breakfasts are to die for (Chapati Wrap with hot sauce is our favourite). Best view of the city is from Alexandra Park in Bear Flat, which is a perfect place for a picnic. Our favourite hidden attraction and walk is Prior Park (National Trust), a historic landscape garden with acres of land and the beautiful Palladian Bridge!
2. Padstow
We know this will feature on a lot of other people’s list, what is there not to love about Padstow! This charming fishing town attracts thousands of tourists every single year and we can see why. Everybody knows about the Gordon Ramsey Fish & Chips, famous pasty shops and the harbour so we have come up with a few top tips of our own. Bring bikes or hire them from the town and cycle from Padstow to the Camel Valley Vineyard along the Camel Trail (Sparkling Rose is our favourite). Get a boat from Padstow over to Rock, a stunning village across the Camel estuary. Our favourite picnic spot is next to St. Saviours Point (photographed) overlooking the coast and village.
3. Castle Combe
We only visited Castle Combe for the first-time last year and were totally blown away. Often regarded as the prettiest village in England and we can now see why. Tucked away in the countryside, this beautiful village is rich with history and boasts quintessential Cotswold stone across all the village properties which is why so many TV and film crews have visited down the years. Lots of great walks are nearby and you should head for a well-deserved drinks and bite to eat at the White Hart once your done, their roast dinner is amazing! You should also head to the Medieval Market Cross located in the lower village which was erected in the 14th century, the perfect opportunity for a photo!
4. Newquay
Somehow, all of Newquay’s glorious beaches just missed out on our ‘Top 5 Beaches’ list but there was no doubt the North Cornwall town was going to be left out here! There is so much to do in Kernow’s most famous surfing town, with some of the country’s most beautiful golden sand beaches. Once again, we are excited to share a few hidden gems with you all. Firstly, we advise you start your day having breakfast and coffee at the The Pavilion Bakery (make sure you try their cinnamon buns!). Then spend the day on Crantock Beach (quieter than it’s neighbouring Fistral Beach) and just as beautiful with stunning dunes throughout the long stretch of beach between the Pentire Headlands (photographed). Once you’re ready to call it a day on the beach, head up to the Lewennick Lodge to watch the sun set over Fistral from their balcony with a refreshing drink in hand… day complete!
5. St. Ives
We placed Carbis Bay Estate & Spa in our top 5 hotels and as we loved our trip so much, we both had to feature the gorgeous St. Ives in our top 5-day trips too. The small town in the far West of Cornwall is a very popular staycation destination and rightly so, this fishing village is a hive of activity throughout the year! Of course, many of you know about the Tate Gallery and Porthminster Beach, so we have tried to give you a few top tips that you can’t find on a google search. If you are able to watch the sunrise on a clear day, the best place enjoy this magical moment is from the St. Nicholas Chapel at the tip of the Island. As you’ve woken up so early, head to the St. Ives Bakery in town and treat yourself to a tasty pastry, they are out of this world! Seal spotting at Carbis Bay Beach — You are gauranteed to spot seals on Carbis Bay beach and you can even swim with them too, worth trekking along the coast to watch them pop their head out of the water — they are very friendly. | https://medium.com/@westcountryfamily/travel-tips-top-5-west-country-destinations-uk-d52b32a0507a | ['West Country Family'] | 2020-07-03 11:07:20.363000+00:00 | ['Travel', 'Uk Travel', 'Travel Tips', 'Travel Blog', 'England Travel'] |
Why I have boycotted the National Summit on Women’s Safety | Today was the final day of the National Summit on Women’s Safety, where over 205 organisations have had the opportunity to come together in closed round-table and panel discussions as part of a call for government to commit on 12 key actions for women’s safety. Sounds great, right? Except for the fact that an intersectional and diverse range of domestic, family and sexual abuse and violence (DFSV) victim-survivors have been actively excluded from participating. Not only were we not invited to participate, but when we knocked on the door and asked to have a seat at the table, we abruptly had the door slammed shut in our faces.
Recently an Australia-wide collective of DFSV victim-survivors and survivor advocates has formed. I am a member of this group of thirty incredible professional women who are formidable and passionate in their commitment to addressing issues such as gender equality and violence against women and children. We speak from a position of lived experience of trauma, abuse and violence that most people would find hard to imagine. Our Collective is intersectional in its membership and includes women who live with a disability, identify as LGBTIQ and who are Indigenous or from CALD backgrounds.
Individually, members of this Collective have a wealth of professional skills and abilities. We have contributed to Royal Commissions, formal inquiries and consultations with government, not-for-profit and private sectors. We have shaped service delivery and design, been the catalyst of a range of significant law reforms and have contributed to the national conversation by raising awareness of the realities of experiencing violence and abuse. We have delivered countless speaking engagements and facilitated training to a variety of organisations. Many of us have completed advocacy and media training, and are members of a range of boards and advisory committees such as the Victim Survivor Advisory Council, Victims of Crime Consultative Committee and Victoria Legal Aid ‘Specialist Family Violence Court Project’ Steering Committee. We are highly skilled and use our lived experience to inform change across a broad range of settings and audiences. It is important to recognise that many people with lived experience are also working professionally in roles where they are supporting women and children leaving situations of abuse in a variety of capacities. We believe our professional practice abilities are strengthened considerably by our lived experience expertise.
When it became apparent that victim-survivor voices were not being included at the Summit, we sent the following letter to a number of politicians, including Senator the Hon Anne Ruston Minister for Women’s Safety (Cth):
In response to this letter, Senator the Hon Anne Ruston Minister for Women’s Safety (Cth) announced at last Thursday night’s episode of ABC’s Q+A that the members of our collective would be receiving formal invitations to participate in the Summit. The following email is what I and other group members received, otherwise known as the “non-invitation”.
The initial feelings of excitement and achievement that our Collective’s advocacy efforts had been heard and recognised, quickly dissipated when we received the “non-invitation”, and were replaced with confusion, fury and disappointment. Providing us with the link to the panel discussions which was already publicly accessible, and stating that we could provide feedback via online surveys does not equal an invitation to participate in the Summit in any meaningful way. To say we felt fobbed off and silenced is an understatement.
With these actions, the government and Summit organisers have managed to alienate the survivor advocate community of Australia and have missed the opportunity to centre the voices of lived experience. To quote Fiona Hamilton, a First Nations Lived Experience Survivor Advocate and member of the DFSV advocacy collective, “The Women’s Safety Summit has unsettled any sense of safety that lived experience survivor advocates have managed to create for ourselves and each other.” Whilst some panelists at the Summit have made a concerted effort to draw attention to the need for lived experience voices to be embedded within all discussions on domestic abuse and sexual violence, they have been saying that within panels by and large consisting purely of professionals with no lived experience representation.
Survivor advocates do not want to be spoken for or on behalf of. We want to tell our own stories of survival, hope and resilience and the impacts of trauma and systemic and structural failures have had on our lives. When I speak about enduring two long-term abusive relationships, rape by a stranger, the death of my baby daughter due to the actions of my second perpetrator and the ongoing financial hardship I experience as a result of the financial abuse I have been subjected to, it is not from a theoretical, academic perspective, it is because I have lived it and am still suffering every day as a result. When other victim-survivors courageously disclose how their lives have been destroyed in family court, how they are living in poverty or facing homelessness, how they are suffering from PTSD, anxiety and depression but cannot afford trauma specialist psychological support, this is because this is the reality most of us are facing on a daily basis.
What kind of message does it send when TV breakfast show presenter David Koch, is given preference to participate in this Summit when the majority of survivor voices have been silenced and excluded. Surely it would have been more appropriate to have included men whose lives have been significantly impacted by domestic abuse and who have played strong leadership roles in this sector such as Tarang Chawla and Ben Bjarnesen.
If the Summit’s organisers had consulted with the many lived experience survivor advocates who exist in Australia prior to this event being held, we would have been able to tell them which voices were most critical to be included. We could have told them it was absolutely imperative that the DFSV victim-survivors living with a disability, identifying as LGBTIQ, who are from Indigenous or CALD backgrounds should be a represented within the panels and roundtable discussions at the Summit. If we had only been asked, we would have been able to tell the organisers that through elevating the voices of marginalised communities, everyone benefits.
Unfortunately the gatekeepers of this event have now caused significant harm which has retraumatised many members of the victim-survivor community. This Summit has reinforced the existing “power over” rather than “power with” dynamics through not centering lived experience voices and instead focusing on using professional and academic panelists. There is a sense of complete cognitive dissonance when participants of the Summit wax lyrical about the need for victim-survivors to be included at every stage of the continuum of co-design through to co-production, at an event where those with lived experience have been actively excluded apart from a couple of tokenistic cherry-picked voices. What this Summit has felt like for most victim-survivors is that there is an important family event happening which we wish to attend, however when we get there, we’re told we can’t sit on the table with the ‘adults’ (academics/DFSV professionals) and instead we have to sit in a different room on the ‘kiddies’ table.
The time has come for the sector to stop infantilising victim-survivors and treating us in the paternalistic manner it traditionally has. Our advocacy movement has evolved and matured here in Australia and we demand to have equality of representation at all events and consultation processes which are relevant to any issue impacting the lives of those impacted by domestic abuse and sexual violence. This is particularly important as the needs of victim-survivors are not always in alignment with organisational service delivery priorities. We are fed-up to the back teeth of only being consulted with when it is convenient, when it is a ‘tick-a-box’ exercise, or for our stories to continue to be used in exploitative or voyeuristic ways. There is a saying in the disability sector which is applicable in this context, “Nothing about us, without us.” It is not clear who is responsible for the deliberate exclusion of people with lived experience from the Summit, but I cannot state strongly enough, that this has to be the last time that this ever happens.
So going forward from here what needs to happen? As the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and Children begins to be drafted, our Collective asks that all contributing governments support:
“ 1:The establishment of a Victim Survivors Expert Advisory Panel for the next national plan to guide its development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and
2: Embedding victim-survivor lived experience expertise through the principles of co-design and coproduction in all DFSV policy, program design and service delivery, funded by or contributing to the national action plan, across primary prevention, early intervention, crisis response, and recovery.”
Furthermore, we would like to make a call to action to any State Government who would have the courage to host a DFSV Lived Experience Summit to give the opportunity for all victim-survivors to be able to participate in discussion on the issues impacting them and be in a safe peer-led space. If the Federal Government will not invite us to the table, then we intend to build our own table!
For some other brilliant articles focusing on the need for lived experience voices to be heard at events like the National Summit on Women’s Safety, see: 1: Mel Wojtas’ “The expertise of survivors must be recognised”:
2: Melissa Coade’s “Family violence policies must centre survivors’ experience, study says”:
3: Lisa Wheildon’s “The Batty effect: the criticality of victim-survivors in informing DFV policy” | https://medium.com/@cathy_oddie/why-i-have-boycotted-the-national-summit-on-womens-safety-4471f26e9685 | ['Cathy Oddie'] | 2021-09-07 23:43:56.111000+00:00 | ['Advocacy', 'Family Violence', 'Lived Experience', 'Inclusion', 'Sexual Assault'] |
How to boost self-confidence | Lack of self-confidence can prevent us from achieving our dreams and becoming the amazing person we’re meant to be. Everyone faces these struggles to a certain degree, but how can we overcome it? By learning how to boost self-confidence of course! Once you get a handle on it, you can take back full control and live a more positive life, free of what others think!
STAND TALL
This is one of the most simple yet effective methods for giving yourself that quick boost of self-confidence. Stand tall, chest out and head to the sky, known as the “superhero stance!” This move projects power, improves mood and exudes confidence. Psychologists say we can alter our presence by simply adjusting our body position to be in-line with more positive and powerful feelings, which can impact people’s perception of us, and even our own brain chemistry. Therefore creating a more successful, happy outcome! Try the superhero stance in the mirror each morning for the next week as an experiment, and watch your confidence grow.
WRITE THREE THINGS YOU LOVE ABOUT YOURSELF
Sometimes you just need to remind yourself how bad-ass you really are! Falling into a negative mindset can be easy, especially because our brains are wired to react much stronger to negative situations. However try to focus on the things you love about yourself, not the things you don’t and watch the perception of yourself flourish.
Here’s some food for thought: imagine if we obsessed about the things we loved about ourselves! The space in our heads would be such a beautiful place. There’s nothing wrong with loving YOU and being obsessed with all of YOU! If you don’t love yourself, how can anyone else?
DAILY AFFIRMATIONS
Practicing daily affirmations will build positive self-confidence habits and help remind you that you’re truly amazing! While giving you the push you need to take on anything that comes your way. Here are a few self-confidence boosting affirmations to help get you started:
I am special, there is no one like me
I believe in myself
I love myself more and more each day
I am worthy of love/joy/happiness/success
I’m worthy of having what I want
I have the power to create the life I want
Nothing can stop me from achieving my dreams
Challenges are simply opportunities to grow and improve
I am grateful for my personal journey and the lessons I’ve learned
I am becoming a better version of myself each day
BE GRATEFUL
Showing gratitude is associated with many positive outcomes such as: helping to improve mood and boost confidence. Studies have found that showing gratitude can literally rewire your brain and release dopamine (those happy, feel-good hormones), which can lead to improved happiness and positivity overall. Flood your brain with dopamine and start feeling better with the simple practice of gratitude! Start by writing down three things you’re grateful for each day, it can be anything you want, there are no limits to gratitude!
EXERCISE
Incorporating a healthy exercise routine has shown to greatly improve self-esteem and keep you feeling and looking your best, both mentally and physically. Exercise has more benefits than just improving your body image alone, it can also help reduce stress, improve brain function and help you feel more accomplished. As Elle Woods once said, “Exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins makes you happy. Happy people don’t kill their husbands!”
SET SMALL GOALS
Setting smaller goals increase your chances of achieving them. People often set extreme goals that take a lot of time, energy and focus to accomplish, which can become very discouraging. If you set a smaller goal that you know you can achieve, you will feel good about it and in turn boost your confidence, which can result in achieving bigger goals over time!
FOCUS ON SOLUTIONS, NOT THE PROBLEMS
This is one of the best, most positive things you can do to improve self-confidence, especially in your career and love life! Have you heard the saying “like attracts like” — well it’s true, especially when facing problems. Finding solutions let you resolve the problem, therefore creating a positive outcome that you actually have control over versus what’s already in the past! Be positive and create solutions for your problems and watch them fade away. | https://medium.com/@kalipappas/how-to-boost-self-confidence-e62adc5f4f2 | ['Kali Pappas'] | 2021-01-13 22:52:50.813000+00:00 | ['Psychology', 'Self Confidence', 'Self Improvement', 'Confidence', 'Positivity'] |
TailwindCSS + Sage10 usage example | Sage10 is a WordPress starter theme from a company/devs called Roots. Sage10 is still in the development branch; however, you can use it without worries in production.
Some notable differences from Sage9 is:
usage of Laravel Webpack mix (webpack.mix.js).
Controllers is now replaced with View Composers
Ability to create and use blade components:
Theme now uses a roots/acorn package, a kind of Laravel framework inside the WordPress theme.
TailwindCSS and Sage10 theme boilerplate: https://github.com/RomkaLTU/sage10-tailwindcss
Installation
Inside your WordPress theme directory, do:
cd to the cloned directory
run composer install followed by npm install && npm run build:production
composer install npm install && npm run build:production
Change webpack.mix.js
mix.setPublicPath to your match your local development URL.
run npm run start or yarn start to start dev server and watch for the changes.
npm run start
Working with theme
Check tailwind.config.js, located at the root of the theme.
This theme uses PostCSS to process CSS with a couple of plugins to help devs who previously worked with SCSS:
postcss-custom-properties
postcss-nested
CSS, JS files is located in /resources/assets directory.
Theme uses blade template engine and located in /resources/views directory. From there, it’s following WordPress theme structure and naming convention, so, for example, front-page.blade.php is the same as front-page.php. You should read about blade template engine here. HTML structure located in theme root directory index.php file.
Theme scripts and styles enqueued in /app/setup.php also, in this file, you can find after_setup_theme and widgets_init actions.
functions.php file located in the theme root directory. Add your stuff thereafter new Roots\Acorn\Bootloader();
Views composer
Check out view Composers to find out more.
All view composers are located in /app/View/Composers directory.
View composers help to keep theme files clean of PHP code. You can create your class based on the examples provided.
protected static $views = [
‘front-page’,
];
It means data returned in the override() method will be available in front-page.blade.php. So, for example:
public function override()
{
return [
‘title’ => $this->title(),
];
}
$title is now accessible in front-page.blade.php with {{ $title }} | https://medium.com/@romualdasromasdakeviius/tailwindcss-sage10-usage-example-7a51369fda6d | [] | 2020-12-12 11:36:55.818000+00:00 | ['Tailwind Css', 'Laravel', 'WordPress'] |
The Lessons I Learned When I Created My One-Man Micro Startup from Literally Nothing | The Lessons I Learned When I Created My One-Man Micro Startup from Literally Nothing
This is a mini-success story of a micro-startup written by a man with little experience!
Photo by Avi Richards on Unsplash
I started a business from scratch in a small town that was still discovering social media and found success quickly, in just a few months.
My new hobby turned business was so niche and outrageous for small-town folk, yet my services turned out to be insanely high in demand. However, I did run into a fair share of challenges along my entrepreneurial journey.
Here’s my story of how I started a business from scratch, with zero funding, and turned it into a decent company within a year. | https://medium.com/the-ascent/the-lessons-i-learned-when-i-created-my-one-man-micro-startup-from-literally-nothing-57686f4586bb | ['Jameel Randeree'] | 2020-10-08 15:02:38.392000+00:00 | ['Startup Life', 'Productivity', 'Startup Lessons', 'Business Strategy', 'Startup'] |
New Esri Land Cover map shows us how to move fast and share knowledge. | Feedback is welcome.
As with most first releases of new digital technology, there are some criticisms of the Esri Land Cover 2020 map. In a Twitter thread, MD Madhusudan highlighted tea estates in India that are variously labelled as scrub, grass, trees and crops, and an extensive solar farm that’s been classified as “crops” rather than “built area”. Other commentators observed a loss of spatial detail but also acknowledged that given the global scale of this open science product, the final product is still very impressive.
Curious to know how this feedback might be used, I reached out to Steve Brumby and Sam Hyde, co-founders of Impact Observatory. “We are very pleased with the reception and engagement from the user community, which was very encouraging”, said Steve. “A number of regional experts noted interesting places where the map did not agree with other approaches. We greatly appreciate this feedback and are tracking constructive suggestions closely in order to help us identify areas where we could improve our map.”
Sam went on to explain that some of the disagreements may be due to differences in interpretations of category labels. For example, in some cases the ‘built area’ label has been interpreted to mean ‘urban.’ However, as Sam explains, “built area can be urban, but it can also be infrastructure in more rural areas such as a large greenhouse in cropland, or a small rural settlement.”
The process of labelling begins with human annotators using an online platform to draw boundaries around features such as forests, lakes, settlements and farms on photos. The result is a dense collection of labels that enable deep learning algorithms to explore and learn both spatial and spectral characteristics of features and start labelling them.
“How a feature is labelled can be important for practical reasons,” said Steve. “A built area or farming classification may impact local taxation rules. The global community needs to be able to conduct fair comparisons across countries to understand human pressures on the environment, and track how countries are making progress towards their commitments to the big UN conventions on climate, biodiversity, and sustainable development. Our partnerships with Esri and the UN are helping Impact Observatory understand and navigate some of these complexities of global-scale mapping.”
Move fast and make change happen.
Releases like this one from Esri and Impact Observatory represent a new model of science, one of perpetual iteration and improvement. We don’t have time to wait for perfect products to be published. We must publish fast, share openly, and welcome scrutiny. Willingness to learn and improve is a critical characteristic of initiatives that lead to real change.
But, there’s still more to be done.
What other data do we need to make resource management more sustainable and conservation decisions more effective? A more detailed land use map is an imperative addition to planning “toolboxes”. Land cover maps tell us information about physical land types, but they can’t always tell us how that land is being used. What activities are happening in those places? Which farming methods are being used? What are people doing to modify or maintain habitats?
Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and ecological modelling offer opportunities to improve our understanding of what’s happening right now and what the impact of our decisions will be. However, the precision and scale that’s needed to produce global maps that accurately reflect local circumstances will require much more investment to develop the training data sets and models. The better we can predict the impact of planting here, restoring there, or halting development elsewhere, the better our chances are of stopping a catastrophic ecosystem collapse.
Climate change is already altering our environment, and the speed at which these changes happen is increasing. Scientists have warned that decisions made in the next ten years will be the most critical we ever make. There’s no time to wait for the perfect dataset. We have to act today on the information we have and update our strategies as the data and technology improves. The faster we process data, the faster we can get it into the hands of people with influence. And who are the people with influence? That’s all of us. | https://medium.com/vizzuality-blog/new-esri-land-cover-map-shows-us-how-to-move-fast-and-share-knowledge-8d9110de80ea | ['Camellia Williams'] | 2021-08-26 10:46:48.256000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Esri', 'Maps', 'Land Use Land Cover', 'Open Data'] |
Some people might take interest. Some may support you in your quest. But at the end of the day, nobody cares, or will ever care about your dream as much as you. | Some people might take interest. Some may support you in your quest. But at the end of the day, nobody cares, or will ever care about your dream as much as you. McKee vs Caldwell Live Tv Nov 19, 2020·5 min read
Life is a journey of twists and turns, peaks and valleys, mountains to climb and oceans to explore.
Good times and bad times. Happy times and sad times.
But always, life is a movement forward.
No matter where you are on the journey, in some way, you are continuing on — and that’s what makes it so magnificent. One day, you’re questioning what on earth will ever make you feel happy and fulfilled. And the next, you’re perfectly in flow, writing the most important book of your entire career.
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What nobody ever tells you, though, when you are a wide-eyed child, are all the little things that come along with “growing up.”
1. Most people are scared of using their imagination.
They’ve disconnected with their inner child.
They don’t feel they are “creative.”
They like things “just the way they are.”
2. Your dream doesn’t really matter to anyone else.
Some people might take interest. Some may support you in your quest. But at the end of the day, nobody cares, or will ever care about your dream as much as you.
3. Friends are relative to where you are in your life.
Most friends only stay for a period of time — usually in reference to your current interest. But when you move on, or your priorities change, so too do the majority of your friends.
4. Your potential increases with age.
As people get older, they tend to think that they can do less and less — when in reality, they should be able to do more and more, because they have had time to soak up more knowledge. Being great at something is a daily habit. You aren’t just “born” that way.
5. Spontaneity is the sister of creativity.
If all you do is follow the exact same routine every day, you will never leave yourself open to moments of sudden discovery. Do you remember how spontaneous you were as a child? Anything could happen, at any moment!
6. You forget the value of “touch” later on.
When was the last time you played in the rain?
When was the last time you sat on a sidewalk and looked closely at the cracks, the rocks, the dirt, the one weed growing between the concrete and the grass nearby.
Do that again.
You will feel so connected to the playfulness of life.
7. Most people don’t do what they love.
It’s true.
The “masses” are not the ones who live the lives they dreamed of living. And the reason is because they didn’t fight hard enough. They didn’t make it happen for themselves. And the older you get, and the more you look around, the easier it becomes to believe that you’ll end up the same.
Don’t fall for the trap.
8. Many stop reading after college.
Ask anyone you know the last good book they read, and I’ll bet most of them respond with, “Wow, I haven’t read a book in a long time.”
9. People talk more than they listen.
There is nothing more ridiculous to me than hearing two people talk “at” each other, neither one listening, but waiting for the other person to stop talking so they can start up again.
10. Creativity takes practice.
It’s funny how much we as a society praise and value creativity, and yet seem to do as much as we can to prohibit and control creative expression unless it is in some way profitable.
If you want to keep your creative muscle pumped and active, you have to practice it on your own.
11. “Success” is a relative term.
As kids, we’re taught to “reach for success.”
What does that really mean? Success to one person could mean the opposite for someone else.
Define your own Success.
12. You can’t change your parents.
A sad and difficult truth to face as you get older: You can’t change your parents.
They are who they are.
Whether they approve of what you do or not, at some point, no longer matters. Love them for bringing you into this world, and leave the rest at the door.
13. The only person you have to face in the morning is yourself.
When you’re younger, it feels like you have to please the entire world.
You don’t.
Do what makes you happy, and create the life you want to live for yourself. You’ll see someone you truly love staring back at you every morning if you can do that.
14. Nothing feels as good as something you do from the heart.
No amount of money or achievement or external validation will ever take the place of what you do out of pure love.
Follow your heart, and the rest will follow.
15. Your potential is directly correlated to how well you know yourself.
Those who know themselves and maximize their strengths are the ones who go where they want to go.
Those who don’t know themselves, and avoid the hard work of looking inward, live life by default. They lack the ability to create for themselves their own future.
16. Everyone who doubts you will always come back around.
That kid who used to bully you will come asking for a job.
The girl who didn’t want to date you will call you back once she sees where you’re headed. It always happens that way.
Just focus on you, stay true to what you believe in, and all the doubters will eventually come asking for help.
17. You are a reflection of the 5 people you spend the most time with.
Nobody creates themselves, by themselves.
We are all mirror images, sculpted through the reflections we see in other people. This isn’t a game you play by yourself. Work to be surrounded by those you wish to be like, and in time, you too will carry the very things you admire in them.
18. Beliefs are relative to what you pursue.
Wherever you are in life, and based on who is around you, and based on your current aspirations, those are the things that shape your beliefs.
Nobody explains, though, that “beliefs” then are not “fixed.” There is no “right and wrong.” It is all relative.
Find what works for you.
19. Anything can be a vice.
Be wary.
Again, there is no “right” and “wrong” as you get older. A coping mechanism to one could be a way to relax on a Sunday to another. Just remain aware of your habits and how you spend your time, and what habits start to increase in frequency — and then question where they are coming from in you and why you feel compelled to repeat them.
Never mistakes, always lessons.
As I said, know yourself.
20. Your purpose is to be YOU.
What is the meaning of life?
To be you, all of you, always, in everything you do — whatever that means to you. You are your own creator. You are your own evolving masterpiece.
Growing up is the realization that you are both the sculpture and the sculptor, the painter and the portrait. Paint yourself however you wish. | https://medium.com/@mckeevscaldwellliveon/life-is-a-journey-of-twists-and-turns-peaks-and-valleys-mountains-to-climb-and-oceans-to-explore-19083c76280a | ['Mckee Vs Caldwell Live Tv'] | 2020-11-19 23:29:36.633000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Sports', 'Social Media', 'News', 'Live Streaming'] |
Five Steps to Driving Transformational Change in a Giant Company | Five Steps to Driving Transformational Change in a Giant Company
It’s notoriously hard to drive change in large companies. Being at the top of the heap with steady earnings doesn’t sound like a burning platform for change.
However, with the ever-accelerating speed of emergent forces in competitive markets, a company’s position can change seemingly overnight.Under these circumstances, ambivalence towards change is easy to understand. However, whether it is leadership’s desire to be first in the market with an industry-leading solution or to respond quickly to competitive forces, in a fast-paced environment, the critical decisions about what has to change are not always self-evident.
As a group of consultants in the heart of the storm, we learned that latching on to an event, in this case a product launch), in which people expect change makes it easier to initiate a bit more. That was an unexpected lesson. We learned bigger lessons that we’re sharing here:
1. Establish Guiding Principles to keep teams anchored to company values during change.
Different from business strategy and goals, a set of clear guiding principles will link the change to the company’s culture, and its values to the change. The team decides what key values it cares about most and sets them as guiding principles, providing the philosophical framework for future behaviors, actions, and decisions.
For the large transformational change we embarked on, the guiding principles provided an instrumental, philosophical framework that helped people move from their existing norms to a new way of working. The guiding principles included:
See the bigger picture to align towards the greater good;
Share knowledge without boundaries;
Embrace feedback as a catalyst to change;
Get things done with agility and accountability;
Step in someone else’s shoes with empathy.
2. An agile decision-making process, supported by real-time, actionable intelligence reduces strategic risk
As Gaye Clemson says in her book, Agile Strategy Execution: Revolutionizing the How!, this process must include:
Aspirational goals with clear strategies, supported by detailed strategic plans, aka ‘the Big Picture” or ‘North Star’ that all participants can align and relate to in a personal way;
A sensor system with leading indicators to collect proactive and predictive trend and variance data aids strategic and tactical learnings and contributes to a learning culture;
Leaders and sponsors engaged in real-time decisions, like strategy course corrections, resource allocations, and subject matter led issue resolution Sprints;
Available capital for individual and team creative experimentation and innovation at low risk.
3. Cross-functional teams that are empowered and self-sustaining strengthen accountability.
Consistent leader affirmation of strategic intent and their direct engagement in all initiatives;
Proactive assessment of the ‘people climate’ with context-based rewards and recognition programs;
Institutionalized learning, including experiential data;
New roles that orchestrate, rather than facilitate, help model desirable leadership behaviors, shift mindsets, and improve the stickiness of desired change to generate healthy social dynamics.
4. Attentive Leadership©practices improve key skills needed for delivering the needed leadership responsiveness.
In Daniel Coyle’s 2018 book, The Culture Code, one of the dynamics of culture that enables effective cross-functional teams is when leaders are authentic by showing their vulnerability, and acknowledging their need for the skills other team members provide. This is often counter-intuitive to transactional leaders.
Transformational leadership behaviors must focus on envisioning, energizing, and enabling a behavioral-based set of skills. We call these practices, and the related mindset, Attentive Leadership,©which requires starting with, and appreciating one’s self as the principal leadership advantage. The Attentive Leadership skill and practice set promotes empathy, including active listening, giving and receiving effective feedback, while also appreciating and cultivating the organization’s culture.
Thoughtfully intertwining the learning and execution of these skills with agile agendas and execution is key to driving transformational change. This approach respects the time and resources of all stakeholders while embedding new behaviors.
5. Bring people closer to transformational change with a clear voice that emotionally connects with people.
People don’t see change in the same way. People bring their own stories, experiences, and feelings to any organizational change. When leaders frame the change initiative with a consistent voice and an authentic tone, while communicating the guiding principles as shared values, people can personally identify with, and contribute to the movement. An emotionally-connected narrative builds trust quickly and helps establish a shared vision of what the future change holds for all stakeholders.
Conclusion: Small transformational changes make a big difference in huge companies
What we learned was that our elephant-sized client turned best through small steps. The initial call for change was an impending product launch that required the various functions to work together differently to successfully bring it to market. In a company that introduces thousands of products to market every year, this new way of working was limited in scope, so people were willing to give it a shot. In the next several months, small incremental changes occurred.
A small group of people working across functions began to have conversations and trust in ways that weren’t natural to them, which opened pathways to work together differently. As a result, using the lessons shared here, the launch was tremendously successful. People in other areas of the company learned of our success and became curious. Different pockets of the company developed an appetite for change and were willing to experiment with our new ways of doing things to solve bigger, systemic issues.
See the transformation from someone else’s shoes.
What started as a push strategy became a pull. Now, we’re taking this new way of working to other parts of the company. The big picture remains the same. The market moves fast and companies, large and small, must be agile and adaptable to compete. But, when a big company decides to move in the same direction through small transformational steps, its velocity can outpace the market.
If want to understand more about how to lead change in your organization, feel free to reach out to any of these authors and experts: Gaye Clemson is an agile strategy execution expert, Dana DeNault, is an Organizational & Leadership Psychologist, Jeannine Vaughan, Change Messaging and Communications. | https://medium.com/swlh/five-steps-to-driving-transformational-change-in-a-giant-company-ecdb33704a90 | ['Jeannine Vaughan'] | 2020-04-02 08:57:23.611000+00:00 | ['Transformation', 'Communications Strategy'] |
7 Tips To Maximize PyTorch Performance | Throughout the last 10 months, while working on PyTorch Lightning, the team and I have been exposed to many styles of structuring PyTorch code and we have identified a few key places where we see people inadvertently introducing bottlenecks.
We’ve taken great care to make sure that PyTorch Lightning does not make any of these mistakes for the code we automate for you, and we even try to correct it for users when we detect them. However, since Lightning is just structured PyTorch and you still control all of the scientific PyTorch, there’s not much we can do in many cases for the user.
In addition, if you’re not using Lightning, you might inadvertently introduce these issues into your code.
To help you train the faster, here are 8 tips you should be aware of that might be slowing down your code. | https://towardsdatascience.com/7-tips-for-squeezing-maximum-performance-from-pytorch-ca4a40951259 | ['William Falcon'] | 2020-05-12 19:41:58.938000+00:00 | ['Artificial Intelligence', 'Machine Learning', 'Deep Learning', 'Data Science', 'Pytorch'] |
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