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Space Colonization: Not Just for the Rich | We’re finally reaching a point where the concept of space colonization is coming out of the abstract. No longer will it remain the depths of science fiction and pulp comics. Within your lifetime man will have some kind of settlement either on the Moon or Mars or both.
That’s all it took for corporations and governments to start selling tickets to space and designing colonies. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for it. We should be colonizing space, we should have done it decades ago. This new era of space travel is one of the best things to happen to mankind in a very long time. But, we need to be smart about this next step.
According to Elon Musk living on Mars will cost approximately $500,000. Given that it’s Musk I think he’s being generous with that estimate and trying to make it more accessible to everyone. But that’s still a crazy amount of money for the average household. At that price tag only about 25% of the population, the upper crust, will be able to afford it.
That is the heart of our problem. Generally speaking the upper crust tends to lead privileged lives. If you can afford $500,000 to move to a new planet you can probably afford a house with more than one bedroom and have no problems getting your basic necessities met on a daily basis. But space is hard. Space is dangerous. Space is unforgiving.
How well will the average 1% handle the rough, grueling, dangerous life of a space pioneer? While it is science fiction let’s take a look at the book The Martian as an example. In it, a stranded astronaut must on Mars for an unknown amount of time. Keep in mind he’s a NASA-trained biologist and engineer. Will the average colonizer have that advantage?
The best way to approach early-stage colonization is to bring in those that need it. Start with the scientists, engineers and grad students that have dreamed about living on another planet. Next bring in those that couldn’t normally afford to go. If you are willing to make the one-way trip to live on another planet where survival isn’t guaranteed then the trip (or at least most of it) should be free.
Israel, a country still relatively new, encourages settlement by offering benefits to those that want to move voluntarily. Those that qualify for the move get assistance with housing, health coverage, reduced taxes, heavily subsided schooling and more. This allows those that might not otherwise be able to move to different country the ability to do more easily.
If we are serious about colonizing the planets steps like this must be made to make space travel affordable for everyone. The rich have already carved out their stake on Earth there’s no reason for them to do the same thing to other planets. If the goal is to better humanity by traveling the stars this is one solution. | https://medium.com/@Jordan_95155/space-colonization-not-just-for-the-rich-acb661609f85 | ['Jordan Brandes'] | 2019-06-26 17:48:36.779000+00:00 | ['Equality', 'NASA', 'Space', 'Space Exploration', 'Elon Musk'] |
The Silence Of The Truth | The Silence Of The Truth
image and words by the writer
The silence of the truth
intensifies the false
in loud buzzer.
It all depends on the perspectives and viewpoints. In the connected world, we are exchanging information and sharing facts. What’s true, what’s false? It seems like it depends not on the facts but on the loudness it creates and the more sharing it generates.
I assume sometimes the truth weeps behind the walls.
Suntonu Bhadra ▪ December, 2020 | https://medium.com/paper-poetry/the-silence-of-the-truth-d7525f05e3f7 | ['Suntonu Bhadra'] | 2020-12-23 00:07:56.468000+00:00 | ['Poem', 'Confusion', 'Truth', 'Reality', 'Poetry'] |
GBP Card Withdrawals Are Here! | CoinCorner introduces GBP card withdrawals
Great news! You can now withdraw GBP free of charge directly to your card.
Yes, you read that right — CoinCorner customers can now withdraw up to £1000 per day, easily and securely to a card in their name.
Up until this point, our UK customers wishing to withdraw pound sterling have had to do so via international bank transfers in euros, which we know is a bit (okay, a lot) of bother but with our new withdrawal service, you can withdraw your money straight to your card.
CoinCorner CEO, Danny Scott, said, “We’re very excited to offer free GBP withdrawals to our customers at a time when transacting in GBP for cryptocurrency is proving problematic while financial institutions refuse to make the move to adopt cryptocurrency trading.
This new solution will hugely improve customer experience, making withdrawing funds easier and cost-effective. It builds on other industry-leading innovations that we have introduced over the last four years, continuing towards our goal of making Bitcoin easy.”
Try it yourself today!
Originally published on August 30, 2018. | https://medium.com/coincorner/gbp-card-withdrawals-are-here-ef09cc9ce086 | [] | 2019-02-14 16:11:17.977000+00:00 | ['Company', 'Personal Finance', 'Payments', 'Crypto', 'Bitcoin'] |
High Cost of Healthy Food To Blame for Malnutrition | High Cost of Healthy Food To Blame for Malnutrition
“There are about two billion people with micronutrient deficiencies such as anaemia, and several hundred million very young and vulnerable children suffering from stunted growth globally.”
By Mico Tatalovic
[ACCRA] Variations in food prices around the world may help explain regional differences in malnutrition and obesity, with poorer populations missing out on healthy foods including eggs and dairy products because of their high cost, a study says.
The study found that the affordability of healthy and unhealthy foods was “strongly associated” with nutrition outcomes, including child stunting, and concluded that more research was needed on how to alter pricing to improve diets in both rich and poor countries.
Dairy products, eggs and white meat were “very expensive” in most low-income and lower middle–income countries, while most fruit and vegetables were “relatively expensive” in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the study, published last month in The Journal of Nutrition. Oils, fats and sugars were almost universally cheap.
“We found that relative dairy and egg prices are strongly associated with international variation in stunting rates, consistent with an extensive literature linking dairy consumption to linear growth in young children […],” the study stated.
There are about two billion people with micronutrient deficiencies such as anaemia, and several hundred million very young and vulnerable children suffering from stunted growth globally.
— Derek Headey, International Food Policy Research Institute
Derek Headey, the study’s lead author and a senior research scientist at the International Food Policy Research Institute, United States, said: “There are about two billion people with micronutrient deficiencies such as anaemia, and several hundred million very young and vulnerable children suffering from stunted growth globally.”
Researchers estimated prices of 657 standardised food products using the 2011 International Comparison Program survey that focused on 176 countries. They calculated how the price of a calorie of a given food compares with that of a representative basket of starchy staple food in each country — a measure called relative caloric price.
With the help of other datasets and demographic health surveys conducted in several countries, the researchers linked the relative caloric price values to consumption of food groups among children up to five years old and women aged between 15 and 49 years old, and evidence of nutrition outcomes such as undernutrition and obesity.
“Most nutritious foods are expensive in low-income countries. Eggs and fresh milk, for example, are often ten times as expensive as starchy staples in caloric terms,” the study stated.
It said fortified infant cereals were relatively cheap in high- and upper-middle-income countries but very expensive in low-income countries, where undernutrition in early childhood is most prevalent.
Headey believes that if increasing taxes on unhealthy food products is not having the desired effects, something must be done to discourage consumers from choosing unhealthy food products and producers from producing them.
He said that the high cost of eggs and milk in Sub-Saharan Africa was troubling and may explain why children’s consumption of these products is so low in the region.
However, Rose Omari, a senior research scientist at the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute, Ghana, says that although the study helps explain the impact of food prices on nutrition, the finding that milk is expensive may not be uniform across all low- and middle-income countries.
“For Ghana, it is true because we don’t produce much milk but in Kenya or East Africa it may not be true,” said Omari, who conducts food and nutrition research. “What we promote here in Ghana and other countries are plant sources of protein such as soybeans which are relatively cheaper. Animal products are good but we also need to educate people on which ones are healthier and which ones are not.”
Omari added that it was unclear what the authors considered as healthy foods. “They need to show clear distinction between nutritious and healthy foods,” she said.
—
This story was originally published on Scidev.net and republished on The Good Men Project. | https://medium.com/greener-together/high-cost-of-healthy-food-to-blame-for-malnutrition-b0d06d968c91 | ['The Good Men Project'] | 2020-07-15 17:06:00.884000+00:00 | ['Environmental Impact', 'Economic Inequality', 'Malnutrition', 'Food Desert', 'Healthy Foods'] |
Forex | Unfamiliar trade exchanging, generally known as forex exchanging, has acquired boundless prevalence among standard individuals because of the development of financier firms and the advancement of electronic exchanging stage innovation.
At the point when you exchange Forex, you are getting one cash in return for another, so the forex merchant conjectures on a money pair and not only one cash in itself.
Monetary standards are exchanged in the forex market two by two, like the British pound against the US dollar, the US dollar against the euro, to make benefits through value contrasts.
Money rates are set in the forex market dependent on the pace of market interest, “the spread”
The Forex market has an enormous gathering of monetary standards that exist on the planet,
The unfamiliar monetary standards in the market are isolated into significant monetary standards, minor monetary standards, and western sets,
The exchanging cost of a cash pair is the worth of the statement money that you can purchase for one unit of the base money.
Take the EURUSD money pair for instance, when you purchase this cash pair, it implies that you are purchasing the euro utilizing (selling) the US dollar.
At the point when you sell the money pair, it implies that you are purchasing the US dollar utilizing (selling) the euro.
Forex rates
Money sets are shown as costs that mirror the proportion between the cash pair’s qualities.
For instance, the purchasing cost of the British pound against the US dollar is 1.50514, that each of 1 British pound is comparable to 1.50514 US dollars.
Numerous Forex stages
Deal with your exchanging physically or exchange naturally as AvaTrade gives numerous stages that are agreeable and simple to manage that you can have to improve your exchanges, from the Icon to the stages like MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, WebTrade, AvaTradeGO applications, and AvaOptions. You can choose the kind of exchanging experience you need with AvaTrade.
How would you open a record to exchange with AvaTrade?
To start with, visit the landing page and snap “Register Now.” A window will show up for you to see your subtleties, for example, name and email address, which you should enter. You can likewise enlist utilizing Facebook or Google accounts, which is a fast method to enroll.
After the enlistment methodology, you will get your login accreditations, and you will be approached to confirm your record by downloading a duplicate of your character, and afterward, you can store assets into your exchanging record and begin exchanging tasks.
Exchange Forex with AvaTrade, and appreciate the advantages of an honor winning and worldwide dealer!
Unfamiliar trade exchanging, generally known as forex exchanging, has acquired boundless prevalence among standard individuals because of the development of financier firms and the advancement of electronic exchanging stage innovation.
At the point when you exchange Forex, you are getting one cash in return for another, so the forex merchant conjectures on a money pair and not only one cash in itself.
Monetary standards are exchanged in the forex market two by two, like the British pound against the US dollar, the US dollar against the euro, to make benefits through value contrasts.
Money rates are set in the forex market dependent on the pace of market interest, “the spread”
The Forex market has an enormous gathering of monetary standards that exist on the planet,
The unfamiliar monetary standards in the market are isolated into significant monetary standards, minor monetary standards, and western sets,
The exchanging cost of a cash pair is the worth of the statement money that you can purchase for one unit of the base money.
Take the EURUSD money pair for instance, when you purchase this cash pair, it implies that you are purchasing the euro utilizing (selling) the US dollar.
At the point when you sell the money pair, it implies that you are purchasing the US dollar utilizing (selling) the euro.
Forex rates
Money sets are shown as costs that mirror the proportion between the cash pair’s qualities.
For instance, the purchasing cost of the British pound against the US dollar is 1.50514, that each of 1 British pound is comparable to 1.50514 US dollars.
Numerous Forex stages
Deal with your exchanging physically or exchange naturally as AvaTrade gives numerous stages that are agreeable and simple to manage that you can have to improve your exchanges, from the Icon to the stages like MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, WebTrade, AvaTradeGO applications, and AvaOptions. You can choose the kind of exchanging experience you need with AvaTrade.
How would you open a record to exchange with AvaTrade?
To start with, visit the landing page and snap “Register Now.” A window will show up for you to see your subtleties, for example, name and email address, which you should enter. You can likewise enlist utilizing Facebook or Google accounts, which is a fast method to enroll.
After the enlistment methodology, you will get your login accreditations, and you will be approached to confirm your record by downloading a duplicate of your character, and afterward, you can store assets into your exchanging record and begin exchanging tasks.
Exchange Forex with AvaTrade, and appreciate the advantages of an honor winning and worldwide dealer! | https://medium.com/@miaj7844/forex-c84b695bda7d | ['Mia James'] | 2021-04-25 23:13:49.015000+00:00 | ['Money', 'Forex', 'Money Management', 'Forex Trading'] |
The Next Generation Of Artificial Intelligence | Recommended For You:
Although supervised learning, from autonomous vehicles to voice assistants, has driven tremendous progress in AI over the past decade, it has significant limitations.
The method of marking thousands or millions of data points manually can be incredibly costly and cumbersome. A big bottleneck in AI has been the fact that humans have to mark data by hand before machine learning models can consume it.
Unplash
Supervised learning reflects a small and circumscribed type of learning at a deeper stage. Instead of being able to explore and absorb all the latest data, relationships, and implications in a given dataset, supervised algorithms focus only on the concepts and categories identified in advance by researchers.
In comparison, unsupervised learning is an AI method in which algorithms learn from data without labels or guidance provided by humans.
In artificial intelligence, many AI leaders see unsupervised learning as the next great frontier. “UC Berkeley Professor Jitendra Malik put it even more colorfully:” Labels are the heroin of the machine learning researcher, “in the words of AI legend Yann LeCun:” The next AI revolution will not be overseen.
Unsupervised learning more closely mirrors the way people think about the world: without the need for “training wheels” in supervised learning, through open-ended experimentation and inference. One of its fundamental benefits is that much more unlabeled data will still be available in the world than branded data (and the former is much easier to come by).
In the words of LeCun, who prefers the closely related term “self-supervised learning”: “A portion of the input is used as a supervisory signal in self-supervised learning to estimate the remaining portion of the input …. More knowledge of the world’s structure can be acquired from self-supervised learning than from [other AI paradigms] since the data is infinite and the sum of fees can be acquired.”
Unsupervised learning has also had a transformative effect on the production of natural languages. Thanks to a modern unsupervised learning framework known as the Transformer, which emerged about three years ago at Google, NLP has seen tremendous progress recently. (For more on Transformers, see # 3 below.)
At an earlier point, attempts to extend unsupervised learning to other areas of AI continue, but rapid progress is being made. To take one example, a company called Helm.ai aims to leapfrog the pioneers in the autonomous vehicle industry using unsupervised learning.
As the key to improving human-level AI, many researchers see unsupervised learning as the key. According to LeCun, “the biggest challenge of the next few years in ML and AI is mastering unsupervised learning.”
2. Federated Instruction
Unplash
Data privacy is one of the overarching problems of the modern age. Since data is the lifeblood of modern artificial intelligence, problems with data privacy play an essential (and sometimes limiting) role in the trajectory of AI.
Methods that allow AI models to learn from datasets without compromising their privacy, privacy-preserving artificial intelligence, is thus becoming an increasingly important pursuit. Federated learning is perhaps the most promising path to privacy-preserving AI.
In early 2017, researchers at Google first proposed the notion of federated learning. Interest in federated learning has exploded over the past year: in the first six months of 2020, over 1,000 research papers on federated learning were released, compared to just 180 in all of 2018.
Collecting all training data in one place, mostly in the cloud, and then training the model on the data is the traditional approach to creating machine learning models today. But for most of the world‘s data, which can not be transferred to a central data repository for privacy and security purposes, this approach is not feasible. This causes traditional AI methods to be off-limits.
By flipping the conventional approach to AI on its head, Federated learning solves this issue.
Federated learning leaves the data where it is, spread through multiple devices and servers on the edge, instead of requiring one single dataset to train a model. Instead, several iterations of the model are sent out and locally trained on each subset of data, one to each computer with training data. | https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/the-next-generation-of-artificial-intelligence-44b2564eaa61 | ['Shaik Sameeruddin'] | 2020-10-17 18:04:22.197000+00:00 | ['Artificial Intelligence', 'Technology', 'Machine Learning', 'Deep Learning', 'Data Science'] |
JavaScript Best Practices — Mutations and Security | Photo by JOSHUA COLEMAN on Unsplash
Like any kind of apps, JavaScript apps also have to be written well.
Otherwise, we run into all kinds of issues later on.
In this article, we’ll look at why and how to avoid mutations and complexity.
Also, we look at security issues.
Don’t use Proxy
Proxy adds side effects to object operation, so we may want to avoid them to reduce complexity.
For instance, instead of writing:
const handler = {
get(target, key) {
return Math.max(target[key], Infinity);
}
};
const object = new Proxy(variable, handler);
object.a;
Instead, we create a function:
const bigProperty = (target, key) => {
return Math.min(target[key], Infinity);
}
positiveProperty(object, 'a');
Reduce the use of Rest Parameters
Rest parameters are handy because we can pass in any number of arguments into a function.
However, it’s better to have explicit parameters since they’re easier to deal with.
A function with rest parameters doesn’t work well with currying since there is an indefinite number of parameters.
Therefore, instead of using:
const sum = (...nums) => {
return nums.reduce((a, b) => a + b);
}
We write:
const sum = (nums) => {
return nums.reduce((a, b) => a + b);
}
nums is an array in the 2nd example.
Having one fixed parameter is better than an indefinite number of arguments in an array.
Reduce the use of this
The use of this should be reduced since the use of this means we have a mutating internal state.
Also, this is confusing in JavaScript.
Therefore, it’ll be a mess if we use it. The value of this changes according to scope.
The use of throw
We shouldn’t use throw too much. It should be reserved for issues that we can’t resolve in our app.
It also should be used for the most critical errors so that everyone can see them right away.
In other cases, we may want to return data instead of in our function.
So instead of writing:
const throwAnError = () => {
throw new Error('error');
}
We may write:
const returnAnError() {
return new Error('error');
}
No Unused Expressions
We shouldn’t have any unused expressions in our code.
So things like:
1 + 2
shouldn’t be in our code since it’s useless.
Instead, we should assign expressions to a variable or pass them in as arguments of functions to use them.
So we can write:
const sum = 1 + 2;
No valueOf Fields
valueOf fields are useless since it just convert a value stored in an object into a primitive value.
This is a roundabout and confusing way to create primitive values.
Instead, we should just create primitive values instead.
So instead of writing:
const obj = {
value: 200,
valueOf() { return this.value; }
};
We just write:
const a = 200;
Always use new with Error
Error is a constructor, so we should use new with it.
In JavaScript, it’s easy to skip new if the class syntax isn’t used.
We’ll get unexpected results if we forgot it in other places.
So to be consistent, we should use new everywhere, including when we’re creating Error objects.
For instance, instead of writing:
throw Error('foo');
We write:
throw new Error('foo');
Security Risks
There are security risks with things like regular expressions.
We should be careful when using them so that they don’t break our apps.
Regular Expression DoS and Node.js
Node.js has issues with big regular expressions which are checked against long strings.
These big expressions block the event loop and so our app will be stalled until the code finishes running.
Since Node.js is mostly single-threaded, we’ll have issues with big regex checks.
Regex with some attributes like grouping with repetition creates more issues than others.
So if we have an email regex like:
/^([a-zA-Z0-9_\.\-])+\@(([a-zA-Z0-9\-])+\.)+([a-zA-Z0-9]{2,4})+$/
which has many groups, then Node.js will be slow in checking strings against that regex.
Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash
Conclusion
We shouldn’t use proxies most of the time to simplify the code.
The use of this should always be reduced so as to reduce confusion and the chance of errors.
Also, we should check if a regex won’t stall our Node.js program before using it.
JavaScript In Plain English
Did you know that we have four publications and a YouTube channel? Find them all at plainenglish.io and subscribe to our YouTube channel! | https://medium.com/javascript-in-plain-english/javascript-best-practices-mutations-and-security-89b543bd473b | ['John Au-Yeung'] | 2020-06-24 15:32:25.151000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Software Development', 'Programming', 'Technology', 'Web Development'] |
The “Quicker” Way to Integrate Google Firebase Landmark Recognition on React Native | As a recent software boot camp graduate and newly minted web developer, I recently had a moment in the midst of my studies to reflect on what I’ve really learned so far. When you make the personal commitment to answer a new calling in code, and you opt for the rigorous pace of a regimented, fast moving environment like a coding boot camp, you will become quickly accustomed to floods of information you are tasked with absorbing. Amidst this, you are also applying much of these new concepts in both long and short-term projects, often to help build what will become your portfolio. This can be fun and challenging, and it can also lead to many a frustrating moment when things don’t work exactly the way you’d hoped. Hours can turn into days of debugging, refactoring code to fix errors, rabbit holes of documentation, forum posts, and articles like this one.
It is because I feel your pain that I decided to write this article, which I hope can help other new-to-intermediate Javascript students save some time and get something working in a jiffy should they need to demonstrate some quick functionality on a project. On working on my own bootcamp Capstone, I found that documentation and article content for setting up Google Cloud and Firebase APIs was often verbose, lengthy, and did not always directly address what I was looking for: which is fine, but also lends itself to be a good topic that one can expand and add to in order to help others who may be searching for similar solutions and not finding exactly what they were looking for.
What we are going to do in this article is set up a simple and quick way for a React Native App to use Google Vision Kit APIS from the front-end, for easy integration of some powerful tools. It should be noted that first and foremost, this is not the recommended way to integrate these tools if you are building out a full-scale app which will be heavily based on these technologies: you should always aim to incorporate technology like Google Vision API to the back-end, on the server side of your application, and React Native allows you to do this via Express and Node JS. Depending on your comfort-level with Javascript and React Native, however, that process can be quite consuming and opens the door for lots of issues you will potentially need to address. This demo is to suggest a simpler alternative that can be used as a placeholder, demonstration, or addition on a pre-existing structure: it is not a substitute for more robust setups. This is also going to be kept in IOS land for the sake of not getting too caught up in the differences between porting to Android and Apple devices: suffice it to say if Android is your final destination, you will need to examine how that would work with the documentation I provide in these respective steps (and certainly some additional know-how on top of that). Furthermore, this article assumes you know how to run Xcode’s app simulator and have at least an entry level familiarity with Xcode, as you won’t be able to test your work unless this is the case (we will not be on Expo’s managed workflow).
With that said, if you’re on a time crunch, if that final project is due in a couple of days and you just need to get something working, or this is a purely secondary feature and your time is better served handling primary tiers of your project, there is a much simpler way to bring in Google Vision technologies like Landmark Recognition by using our good friend Firebase, and this is how we can do it:
Let’s get set up first, and for the purposes of showing a clean demo we’ll start a brand new React Native App from scratch. This article is not focused on setting up React Native, and if you need more help in doing that you should consult some of the documentation I provide below.
1.) Create a new project to start working using Expo CLI (note that because Firebase Tool kits do not work with Expo’s Managed Workflow style, we are going to convert this to a React Native Expo Bare project in the next step):
A. In your terminal, install and setup the new project:
npm install -g expo-cli expo init FirebaseRecogDemo cd FirebaseRecogDemo npm start
As mentioned previously, if you also intend to start from a new project and run into any issues, or this is your first time setting up a React Native project, please see https://reactnative.dev/docs/environment-setup for the full, official rundown on getting your project going.
2.) We now need to convert this from Expo’s managed workflow to it’s bare workflow. You can read here (https://docs.expo.io/introduction/managed-vs-bare/?redirected) about these two formats in more depth, but suffice it to say that using React Native Bare is going to allow us the functionality with Firebase we need:
expo eject // When prompted, enter an android and ios app name that follows the pattern “app.YOURAPPNAME.App” cd ios pod init pod install cd ..
3.) You will also need to have a registered and working Google Developer account and create a new project in Firebase for the purposes of this demo that has “Blaze Plan” access. While Blaze is a pay-as-you-go version that will suit our purposes for today (and we will stay well under Google’s free use threshold, so don’t worry about incurring costs), it will require you to enter a credit card and verify you are not a robot. That complete set up process can be found by following these documents here:
Essential Reading:
https://cloud.google.com/apis/docs/getting-started
https://firebase.google.com/docs/projects/learn-more (see “Setting Up a Firebase Project and Registering Apps”)
https://rnfirebase.io
https://firebase.google.com/docs/ios/setup (This is because we are deploying to IOS in this demo, even though we are using Javascript, we have to set this up as if we were building it in Xcode with Swift, and then treat our Node.js backend like we were setting up for a traditional Web-based app like in here: https://firebase.google.com/docs/web/setup)
Here is some additional, non-essential reading if you are interested:
https://rnfirebase.io
The steps below are an abbreviated overview of the setup process that these documents cover, but this set up can be intricate and information sensitive, so I HIGHLY recommend you follow the exact documentation to do so.
In a nutshell, this is what will you be doing:
A.) Set up a new IOS app project in your newly created Firebase project.
B.) Download the Google-Service-Info.plist file provided with the IOS App.
C.) Incorporate Firebase SDKs into your project by:
cd ios
Enter the following lines into your .Podfile folder:
# add pods for desired Firebase products https://firebase.google.com/docs/ios/setup #available-pods
Then a perform new pod update:
pod install cd ..
D.) Open the .xcworkspace file in your ios directory in Xcode.
E.) Drag the Google-Service-Info.plist file into the root of the project.
npm install --save firebase npm install expo-updates cd ios pod install cd ..
F.) Open the FirebaseRecogDemo (or your project name) directory within your IOS directory, then open the Supporting directory. You will find a file name Expo.plist, add this just underneath <dict>:
<key>EXUpdatesURL</key> <string>https://example.com</string>
G.) You should now be able to run your app by typing npm run ios in your root directory.
Note: Every time you add something new to this project, it is VERY important to remember to do a whole new pod install in the ios directory!
This part of the process is the most long-winded (unless you already have a Google developer account and experience setting up React-Native of course!), and the need to combine some aspects of the IOS and Web procedures from Firebase can get confusing, but rest assured: it will work!
4.) Let’s go ahead and create a starting View for our new App, where we’ll also demonstrate our API technology. Expo’s setup very conveniently automatically creates a working React-Native landing component for us in App.js:
import { StatusBar } from ‘expo-status-bar’; import React from ‘react’; import { StyleSheet, Text, View } from ‘react-native’; export default function App() { return ( <View style={styles.container}> <Text>Open up App.js to start working on your app!</Text> <StatusBar style=”auto” /> </View> ); } const styles = StyleSheet.create({ container: { flex: 1, backgroundColor: ‘#fff’, alignItems: ‘center’, justifyContent: ‘center’, }, });
Let’s convert this into a React class component so we will have access to a local state:
import { StatusBar } from ‘expo-status-bar’; import React from ‘react’; import { StyleSheet, Text, View } from ‘react-native’; export default class App extends React.Component { constructor () { super() this.state = { field: ‘’ } } render () { return ( <View style={styles.container}> <Text>Open up App.js to start working on your app!</Text> <StatusBar style=”auto” /> </View> ); } } const styles = StyleSheet.create({ container: { flex: 1, backgroundColor: ‘#fff’, alignItems: ‘center’, justifyContent: ‘center’, }, });
Now let’s expand on that by adding an input field, alert, and submit button (along with styles and some form functionality) and changing up our text component so we will be able to test our landmark recognition once we’ve finished setting it up:
import { StatusBar } from ‘expo-status-bar’; import React from ‘react’; import { StyleSheet, Text, View, TextInput, Button, Alert } from ‘react-native’; export default class App extends React.Component { constructor () { super() this.state = { field: ‘’ } } render () { return ( <View style={styles.container}> <Text>Insert image URL here:</Text> <TextInput style={{ height: 30, backgroundColor: ‘#F5FFFA’, borderWidth: 0.5, borderRadius: 13, padding: 5, }} placeholder=” Enter Image Here” multiline={true} onChangeText={(field) => this.setState({ …this.state, field: field })} defaultValue={this.state.field} /> <Button title=”Submit”></Button> <StatusBar style=”auto” /> </View> ); } } const styles = StyleSheet.create({ container: { flex: 1, backgroundColor: ‘#fff’, alignItems: ‘center’, justifyContent: ‘center’, }, });
When we run our app using npm run ios in our terminal (or we build within Xcode), we should now get something like this:
The Demo App’s home screen in IOS Simulator.
5.) Now it’s time for the fun part! We’ll first integrate Google’s ML Kit library, which is designed to set our app up to handle Firebase front-end requests:
A.) Before the nitty gritty, verify your app is set up and authorized properly via Google to utilize landmark recognition:
https://firebase.google.com/docs/ml/ios/recognize-landmarks
B.) Let’s install these dependencies first with an npm install in our terminal:
npm install @react-native-firebase/app npm install @react-native-firebase/ml
C.) Now in the .Podfile in our IOS directory, we will add a new line with this:
pod 'Firebase/MLVision'
D.) Following this it is essential to run pod update before doing yet another fresh pod install so our Cocoapods matches our node libraries:
cd ios pod update pod install cd ..
E.) Then, let’s go ahead and import the Firebase initialization we will need along with the ml object from the library at the top of our component:
import firebase from ‘@react-native-firebase/app’ import ml from ‘@react-native-firebase/ml’;
F.) We will now need to establish our configuration from our Firebase account in order to get proper authorization, and then initialize our connection. Create this new config object and enter your Google credentials in the appropriate key :
const config = { apiKey: ‘<api-key>’, authDomain: ‘<app-name>.firebaseapp.com’, databaseURL: ‘https://<app-name>.firebaseio.com’, projectId: ‘<project-id>’, storageBucket: ‘<app-name>.appspot.com’, messagingSenderId: ‘<messaging-sender-id>’, appId: ‘<app-id>’ }; firebase.initializeApp(config);
Note: The API key must be a new credential created in your Google Cloud API section (see Creating An API Key in https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/api-keys).
MORE IMPORTANT NOTE: THIS IS NOT SECURE!!! PLEASE REMEMBER TO PROPERLY SECURE AND HIDE THIS INFORMATION BEFORE EVER LAUNCHING AN APP TO THE PUBLIC!!!! https://firebase.google.com/docs/projects/api-keys
6.) Next, let’s bring in some code that will act as a “call” for Firebase’s Landmark Recognition:
To insert after our React component in App.js:
async function processLandmarks(localPath) { const landmarks = await ml().cloudLandmarkRecognizerProcessImage(localPath); landmarks.forEach(landmark => { console.log(‘Landmark name: ‘, landmark.landmark); console.log(‘Landmark locations: ‘, block.locations); console.log(‘Confidence score: ‘, block.confidence); }); }
Let’s pause for a moment to understand what’s actually happening here: in the same way we’d make a server “POST” request if we were designing a web app, this function asynchronously sends out the address path of our image (localPath), waits for Landmark Recognition to do it’s magic, and then sends back a “landmarks” data package (which in this case, happens to be an array of objects). This function is designed to show you how to access the relevant data you need from that array by including a series of console.logs in order to point out different pieces of information you can tap into. That’s great: thank you Google! If we were to console.log our entire landmarks array, we would get something that looks like this:
[{“boundingBox”: [0, 0, 597, 330], “confidence”: 0.80711186, “entityId”: “/m/03d_7r”, “landmark”: “Millennium Park”, “locations”: [[Array]]}]
In this example (which uses Chicago’s Millennium Park) we see our array’s first object has a key pointing to the landmark name itself (landmark), a “confidence” level of the algorithm’s accuracy, and other identifying bits of data. If we were to log more of this, we would see subsequent objects in this array containing similar properties: Google landmark recognition gives us a list of most likely locations for the image we send it, sorted by confidence level. Pretty cool!
However, if we want to send that information out to be used in other parts of our app, we are going to need to comment out or delete those console.logs and do a good old simple return of our information so that it is now usable by the rest of this component:
async function processLandmarks(localPath) { const landmarks = await ml().cloudLandmarkRecognizerProcessImage(localPath); return landmarks; }
We’ve got our function, we’ve got our data: now it’s time to use it!
All we have to do now is create a handleSubmit function to send it out once we click upload, and for our purposes we can create a quick alert to let us know Google landmark recognition has successfully returned a result:
import { StatusBar } from ‘expo-status-bar’; import React from ‘react’; import { StyleSheet, Text, View, TextInput, Button, Alert } from ‘react-native’; import firebase from ‘@react-native-firebase/app’ import ml from ‘@react-native-firebase/ml’; const config = { apiKey: ‘<api-key>’, authDomain: ‘<app-name>.firebaseapp.com’, databaseURL: ‘https://<app-name>.firebaseio.com’, projectId: ‘<project-id>’, storageBucket: ‘<app-name>.appspot.com’, messagingSenderId: ‘<messaging-sender-id>’, appId: ‘<app-id>’ }; firebase.initializeApp(config); export default class App extends React.Component { constructor () { super() this.state = { field: ‘’ } this.handleSubmit = this.handleSubmit.bind(this) } async handleSubmit(field) { let newLocations = await processLandmarks(field) this.setState({…this.state, field: ‘’}) Alert.alert(`Your landmark is ${newLocations[0].landmark}`) } render () { return ( <View style={styles.container}> <Text>Insert image URL here:</Text> <TextInput style={{ height: 30, backgroundColor: ‘#F5FFFA’, borderWidth: 0.5, borderRadius: 13, padding: 5, }} placeholder=” Enter Image Here” multiline={true} onChangeText={(field) => this.setState({ …this.state, field: field })} defaultValue={this.state.field} /> <Button onPress={() => this.handleSubmit(this.state.field)} title=”Submit”> </Button> <StatusBar style=”auto” /> </View> ); } } async function processLandmarks(localPath) { const landmarks = await ml().cloudLandmarkRecognizerProcessImage(localPath); return landmarks; } const styles = StyleSheet.create({ container: { flex: 1, backgroundColor: ‘#fff’, alignItems: ‘center’, justifyContent: ‘center’, }, });
If all is working correctly, we will receive an Alert Pop-up with a landmark that is the "landmark" key value of the first object in the array of possible locations that Google Landmark Recognition sends back to us: in this case the Trocadero Gardens of Paris, which is home to the Eiffel Tower.
The alert that pops up once you click submit with an image local file path pasted into the text input field (landmark recognition usually takes anywhere from 3–5 seconds on average to return a response that will trigger the pop up).
A few notes: to demo this in your upload form, you will need an exact local file path to insert into the text field (in the example above, I saved a picture of the Eiffel Tower from afar onto my hard drive, thus rendering a response of Trocadero Gardens). Additionally, while this is my “quick” speed version to set up landmark recognition, please keep in mind errors are not just possible, but highly likely, during this set up. React-native third party API integration is almost always filled with challenges: this is a reality of the technology. One thing that often does the trick: close the simulator, the terminals, and whatever else is running processes, and start fresh (Particularly during the steps towards the end of this walk-through). You’d be surprised what starts working with a fresh restart!
And there we have it! The possibilities, however, are truly endless, and this is only one, simple way we could use this. In my own project, we use RN-Camera to take pictures of locations as you are walking down the street, and have the camera send those newly made pictures directly over to Google landmark recognition, before they were even saved to a database or local file storage. You could also upload images with an upload page, or use other machine learning to plug in with this for a truly smart app. Furthermore, other technologies from the Google React-Native Firebase ML Kit give you a serious arsenal of technology that can now be easily incorporated to your front end (while each may have variations in it’s integration, you can assume at the very least there will be recurring patterns to the set up seen here).
While you should always aim to create the backbone of your app’s APIs with server-side functionality, which in this case would have hypothetically been back end Google Cloud Vision API server routing, Firebase offers a more limited form of Vision’s capabilities that this article has hopefully demonstrated can be a quicker and easier way to take advantage of these awesome technologies (especially if you’re in a pinch, fellow students), and hopefully save you some time and stress when you’re off solving the world’s problems with code. Happy developing! | https://medium.com/swlh/the-quick-way-to-integrate-google-firebase-landmark-recognition-on-react-native-8b58e9f95ff5 | ['James Gill'] | 2020-12-22 21:54:02.042000+00:00 | ['Landmark Recognition', 'React Native', 'Google Cloud Platform', 'Firebase Ml Kit', 'Google Vision Api'] |
Breaking the Cycle: How Speaking About the Loss of My Baby Brought Generations of Women Closer | It’s the eve of my first year wedding anniversary and the emotions coursing through my veins are bittersweet in the extreme.
On the one hand, I’m celebrating an entire year married to the man of my dreams: a loving, doting partner who has treasured me since the day we met.
On the other hand, it’s been barely a week since my husband Brendan and I ended our pregnancy, early in our second trimester.
We had a baby girl.
She was the size of a brilliant beet, my Ovia app informs me. Only three-and-a-half inches long. Tiny. But already able to squint, frown, and suck her thumb.
At 14 weeks, a fur-like lanugo should have covered her body to keep her warm before her baby fat set in. But it broke our hearts to learn, early in week 10, that a cystic hygroma and abnormal nuchal translucency had developed instead.
A cystic hygroma is a cyst or a group of cysts found predominantly in the neck. In a fetus, cystic hygroma’s are caused by an error in the development of lymph sacks and lymph vessels as the baby develops. A nuchal translucency scan detects chromosomal abnormalities. While the scan doesn’t tell you definitively if your baby has or doesn’t have an abnormality, the results will tell if your baby is at high or low risk of chromosomal abnormality.
By week 10 there was already enough going wrong to warrant dire warnings from specialists. The next step, invasive genetic testing, could only be performed in week twelve. Two weeks away. But it was likely that I would miscarry well before then.
The emotional turmoil that followed as we waited, doing everything in our power to stay positive, is something we will never forget.
A Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) is a test carried out during pregnancy to detect specific abnormalities in an unborn child.
By week 12, our baby had defied the odds and was still growing, though not as we had hoped. The nuchal translucency was significantly thicker – measuring a rare 9.90 millimetres. And it had spread from her head to her tailbone.
There were also problems detected in her little heart and kidneys.
A sample of cells was taken from my placenta, with the help of a large needle that was inserted into my abdomen, guided by a sympathetic physician using an ultrasound. It was uncomfortable but not painful. And the least of my worries.
My husband held my hand tightly as I lay on the examination bed and cried, watching a monitor that showed an active baby.
We had asked to see her.
When we first learned we were pregnant in September, we had been trying to conceive for seven months.
We discussed when we would tell our family and friends and decided that we would tell them early. Our decision, however, wasn’t simply because we were excited to share our happy news. We felt that if our pregnancy weren’t to continue – a pregnancy that was deeply desired – we would need our closest to lean on for support.
In week 11, emotions on both sides of our family ran high. The grandparents-to-be were as distraught by our news as we were and expressed regret in telling our family and friends. They told us that if we chose to terminate our pregnancy for medical reasons, they would just tell everyone I miscarried. It was easier that way only because it was painful to talk about.
But sitting around our dining table, we told them we wanted to be open about our experience and tell our loved ones the truth.
We told them we wanted to be a couple our community could lean on if they too found themselves weighing their hopes against their deepest fears.
I drafted a text to our family and asked both Mums to help me share it.
There was no longer any hope for a healthy outcome for baby. We had consulted the very best in Brisbane – an entire team of obstetricians, physicians and a genetic counsellor – but baby’s health had worsened and we were losing her.
So, we made the heartbreaking decision to say goodbye to our baby girl.
“After a lot of thought and consideration, Brendan and I have chosen to end our pregnancy,” the message read.
“We’re heartbroken but confident in our decision and remain hopeful.
“Just wanted to reach out because we know you’re all thinking about us and sending us your love and strength, even though you may be unsure whether to reach out to us or not.
“It’s hard to know what to do under the circumstances. We know. So we just wanted you to know we love you and feel your strength with us every day.”
The messages of love and support that poured in were instant. They gave us strength and courage for the days ahead. They cocooned us in care and we knew we were not alone.
But, most of all, what overwhelmed us were the stories of loss that women in our family began to share.
Stories no one, not even some of their closest family, had heard; grandmothers, aunties, cousins, all began sharing their experiences of loss to medical termination or miscarriage. None having shared their stories with each other before.
And just like that, courage began to spread.
More and more stories were told. More voices heard. Tears shed. Tight hugs were given and taken with sighs of relief.
Strong shoulders belonging to mighty women softened as they shared tales of a mother’s love and loss; some stories more than thirty years old.
I may have Indian and Middle Eastern heritage but I do not believe the stigma and shame associated with losing a child early in pregnancy is more prevalent in my culture.
Around ten or twenty percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. It’s estimated 1 in 4 pregnancies will be affected by early pregnancy loss.
Have you heard the stories? I hadn’t.
In a time when even the smallest accomplishments are shared widely with ever-expanding social networks, what is it that compels us to suffer in silence?
If it’s not stigma or shame, is it perhaps grief or fear?
Seven women from my immediate and extended family have now shared their experiences of miscarriage or termination.
Their stories gave me strength. Their resilience became my own.
As a journalist, it goes without saying I believe in the power of storytelling.
Though our hearts are broken, we will take comfort in knowing that we have, in our small way, helped to break the cycle of loneliness during loss for families we adore. | https://medium.com/@rheaabraham_70067/breaking-the-cycle-how-speaking-about-the-loss-of-my-baby-brought-generations-of-women-closer-dfa3cafd9541 | ['Rhea Abraham'] | 2021-02-15 04:05:20.518000+00:00 | ['Pregnancy', 'Pregnancy Loss', 'Abortion', 'Pregnancy Termination', 'Child Loss'] |
Lessons From Photographer Garry Winogrand on Creative Flow | It’s 1970 and Photography has been turned on its head by a new generation of whip-smart artists shooting the grimy streets of New York City. Three photographers, Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander, and Garry Winogrand stand out in a movement that impulsively shoots small-format cameras from the hip. Each photographer captures black and white images ripped from the world and casually captured in the frame in their own unique way.
Garry Winogrand is a hard-boiled son of the Bronx, his working-class father was a leather worker and his mother made neckties. Winogrand had a unique eye — but more than that — a unique perspective. His images capture raw emotion in a 1/1000th of a second.
Garry Winogrand
Compulsively shooting all day, every day, Winogrand’s hungry eye pushes the photographic composition beyond what was thought possible. His need to constantly be immersed in the photographic moment — the creative flow if you will — outpaced his ability to even develop the film. When he died in 1984, he left 2,500 rolls of undeveloped film behind. A few years later all those rolls of film were eventually processed by the director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art, and 56 posthumous prints were controversially presented at the Metropolitan Museum in 2014.
from The Animals @ the Estate of Garry Winogrand
I was introduced to Winogrand’s work in art school. My professor, Phil Moody, projected slides from his first book “The Animals” on a piece of board inside the class darkroom with the lights off. Winogrand’s black and white images looked like snapshots but clearly were not. The casual framing brought the world inside the frame instead of cropping it away. The gritty black and white images brimming with humor, the Animals clearly more human than the passive zombies posing for their entertainment. I was hooked.
Creative Flow: Winogrand on artistic problem solving
It’s 1970 and Winogrand visits the Rochester Institute of Technology where he is interviewed by the teachers and students. Transcribed in 2012, a small statement at the beginning of the interview describes “The format was identical on both occasions: Winogrand, without comment, showed slides of his latest work and then answered questions from the student audience. All in all, he talked for over five hours.” Here’s how it starts:
RIT: …Now, it might be due to my own ignorance or something, but could you give me like a straight answer as to what you’re trying to say in that photograph?
GW: I have nothing to say.
RIT: Nothing to say? Then why do you print it?
GW: I don’t have anything to say in any picture.
RIT: Why do you print it if it has no meaning?
GW: With that particular picture — ah, I’m interested in the space and I maybe can learn something about photography. That’s what I get from photographs; if I’m lucky, I can learn something.
RIT: Then you’re trying to reveal something about space?
GW: I’m not revealing anything.
RIT: Then what do you think is the purpose of the photograph if you’re not revealing anything.
GW: My education.
RIT: Then what’s the purpose of that? That’s what I’m trying to find out.
GW: That’s the answer. That’s really the answer…
So begins what I find to be a most remarkable conversation. Winogrand strikes a unique stand that is extremely hard to pin down and doesn’t waver. Photography — as a concept — is both a physical process (he’s quoted elsewhere as “photography is what things look like when light falls on them”) and creative discipline. For Winogrand, the mindset of seeing through the camera is somehow caught between the two. Defining what is photography becomes a near-objective argument, while the urge to see through the artistic eye of Photography becomes an inner journey to selfishly become absorbed in the world. I guess that’s not an easy concept to get across.
GW: My only interest in photographing is photography. That’s really the answer.
RIT: In other words it isn’t social comment, it isn’t ah —
GW: When you photograph — there’s [sic] things in a photograph. Right?
RIT: Yeah.
GW: So this can’t help but be a document or whatever you want to call it. It’s automatic. I mean if you photograph a cake of soap, in the package or out of it, it goes without saying —
RIT: But that’s not what you’re concerned about. I mean, your concern is photography.
GW: That’s it. And I have to photograph where I am.
The students and teachers are all struggling to keep up and this is what gets me about this interview. Both sides are essentially talking past each other, yet they are really, really trying hard to make the connection. Winogrand puts in the time. The interview is long. The students are desperate to make sense, but they are too attached to discrete concepts.
GW: Listen, it’s interesting; but it’s interesting for photographic reasons, really.
RIT: What are photographic reasons?
GW: Basically, I mean, ah — well, let’s say that for me anyway when a photograph is interesting, it’s interesting because of the kind of photographic problem it states — which has to do with the . . . contest between content and form. And, you know, in terms of content, you can make a problem for yourself, I mean, make the contest difficult, let’s say, with certain subject matter that is inherently dramatic. An injury could be, a dwarf can be, a monkey — if you run into a monkey in some idiot context, automatically you’ve got a very real problem taking place in the photograph. I mean, how do you beat it?
I believe Winogrand to be describing basic visual interest as a combination of graphic composition and semiotic content, but the fact that he positions this as a ‘contest’ is extremely interesting. The creative act of photography becomes a test of navigating between the two sides of design and meaning. The engagement in that mental space becomes captivating. It’s what some call “flow” other’s “focus”, but it’s a distinctly different mode of thinking than what we normally do in our day-to-day.
This 1982 video showing Winogrand shooting on the street really proves my point:
Video should begin at 4.50 © Michael Engler Filmproduktion
He says: “The way I put it is that I get totally outside of myself. It’s the closest I come to not existing.” This is probably the best example of creative flow that I can think of. For Winogrand, getting outside of himself is to be lost in the act of looking.
In the transcribed interview, Winogrand always returns to the act of photography as a ‘problem’. I have always considered the creative process to be essentially problem oriented. Each creative act not only has certain constraints in medium, dimension, expense, time, etc, but also constraints in terms of what kinds of ideas you are trying to convey. As we create we constantly make micro-choices about each aspect of what we’re working on. It could be what color pen or a type of plastic, or do you use #E7E7E7 or #F0F0F0? Each tiny choice, a sort of hunch to see what might happen. These micro-choices form a chain of events that will eventually lead to the creation of something that provides an “answer” to the creative problem. | https://medium.com/nightingale/lessons-from-photographer-garry-winogrand-on-creative-flow-57c1121cee09 | ['Jason Forrest'] | 2020-07-06 20:51:58.665000+00:00 | ['Interviews', 'Creative Process', 'Creativity', 'Photography', 'Design'] |
How to Forecast Time Series Data Using Deep Learning | How to Forecast Time Series Data Using Deep Learning
Time series (TS) forecasting is notoriously finicky. That is, until now.
Figure 1: DeepAR trained output based on this tutorial. Image by author.
In 2019, Amazon’s research team developed a deep learning method called DeepAR that exhibits a ~15% accuracy boost relative to state-of-the-art TS forecasting models. It’s robust out-of-the-box and can learn from many different time series’, so if you have lots of choppy data, DeepAR could be an effective solution.
From an implementation perspective, DeepAR is more computationally complex than other TS methods. It also requires more data than traditional TS forecasting methods such as ARIMA or Facebook’s prophet.
That being said, if you have lots of complex data and need a very accurate forecast, DeepAR is arguably the most robust solution.
Technical TLDR
In short, DeepAR is an LSTM RNN with some bells and whistles to improve accuracy on complex data. There are 4 main advantages to DeepAR relative to traditional TS forecasting methods…
DeepAR is effective at learning seasonal dependencies with minimal tuning. This out-of-the-box performance makes the model a good jumping-off point for TS forecasting. DeepAR can use covariates with little training history. By leveraging similar observations and weighted resampling techniques, the model can effectively determine how an infrequent covariate would behave. DeepAR makes probabilistic forecasts. These probabilities, in the form of Monte Carlo samples, can be used to develop quantile forecasts. DeepAR supports a wide range of likelihood functions. If your dependent variable takes on a non-normal or non-continuous distribution, you can specify the relevant likelihood function.
The model has received lots of attention and is currently supported in PyTorch. Tutorials and code are linked in the comments.
But, what’s actually going on?
Ok let’s slow down a bit and discuss how Amazon’s DeepAR model actually works…
Traditional Time Series Forecasting
Let’s start at square one.
As noted above, time series forecasting is notoriously difficult for two main reasons. The first is that most time series models require lots of subject matter knowledge. If you’re modeling a stock price with a traditional TS model, it’s important to know what covariates impact price, whether there’s a delay in the impact of those covariates, if price exhibits seasonal trends, etc.
Often engineers lack the subject matter knowledge required to create effective features.
The second reason is that TS modeling is a pretty niche skillset. Prior outputs of a given timestep are the inputs to the next timestep, so we can’t use the usual modeling techniques or evaluation criteria.
So, not only do engineers need in-depth knowledge of the data, they also must have a strong understanding of TS modeling techniques.
Traditional Recurrent Neural Nets (RNNs)
Machine learning can provide alternatives to traditional TS forecasts that are often more accurate and easier to build. The simplest ML algorithm that supports sequential data are recurrent neural nets.
RNNs are essentially a bunch of neural nets stacked on top of each other. The output of the model at h1 feeds into the next model at h2 as shown in figure 2.
Figure 2: graphical representation of a recurrent neural net. Image by author.
Here, x’s in blue are predictor variables, h’s in yellow are hidden layers, and y’s in green are predicted values. This model architecture automatically handles many of the challenges we discussed above.
But even RNNs fall short in certain areas. First, they’re overly simplistic in their assumptions about what should be passed to the next hidden layer. More advanced components of a RNN such as Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) and Gate Recurring Units (GRU) layers provide filters for what information get’s passed down the chain. And they often provide better forecasts than vanilla RNNs, but sadly they can fall short too.
Amazon’s DeepAR model is the most recent iteration on LSTM and solves two of its key shortcomings:
Outliers are fit poorly due to a uniform sampling distribution. One of the strengths of DeepAR is that it aggregates information from many time series’ to develop a prediction for a single unit e.g. a user. If all units have an equal chance of being sampled, outliers are smoothed over and our forecasted values become less extreme (and probably less accurate). RNN’s don’t handle temporal scaling well. Over time, time series data often exhibit overall trends — just think about your favorite (or least favorite) stock during COVID. These temporal trends make fitting our model more difficult because it has to remove this trend when fitting, then add it back to our model output. That’s a lot of unnecessary work.
DeepAR solves both of these problems.
How does DeepAR Work?
Building on RNN architecture, DeepAR uses LSTM cells to fit our predictor variables to our variable of interest. Here’s how…
Sequence to Sequence Encoder-Decoder
First, to make our data more usable we leverage a sequence to sequence encoder-decoder. This method takes a set of n inputs, encodes those inputs with a neural net, then outputs m decoded values.
Fun fact — they’re the backbone of all language translation algorithms, such as Google Translate. So, using figure 3 below, let’s think about this method through the lens of translating english to Spanish.
Figure 3: graphical representation of a sequence to sequence encoder-decoder. Image by author.
Here, each of the x_n values in blue are inputs to our model i.e. english words. They are sequentially fed into an RNN which encodes their information and outputs it as an encoder vector (in yellow). The information the encoder vector is represented as a weight vector for our hidden state. From there, our encoder vector is fed into our decoder, which is a RNN. The final output, labeled y_n in green, are the Spanish words.
Pretty cool, right?
Scale According to our Data
Second, we tackle the two problems that make basic LSTMs inferior to DeepAR: uniform sampling and temporal scaling.
Both of these are handled using a scaling factor. The scaling factor is a user-specified hyperparameter but the recommended value is simply the average value of a given time series:
Figure 4: formula for the default scaling factor used in DeepAR — the average value of an individual time series. Image by author.
To handle the uneven sampling of extreme values, we make the sampling probability proportional to v_i. So, if the average value for a given time series is high, it’s more likely to be sampled and visa versa.
To handle temporal scaling, we divide the inputs at each LSTM cell by v_i. By scaling our values down before inputting them into each cell, our model can focus on the relationships between our predictor and outcome variables instead of fitting the time trend. After the cell has fit our data we multiply its output by v_i to return our data to its original scale.
Less cool but still pretty cool. Just one more section to go…
Fit using a Likelihood Function
Third and finally, with all of our data intricacies handled, we fit by maximizing the conditional probability of our dependent variable given our predictors and model parameters (figure 5). This estimator is called the Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE).
Figure 5: simplified DeepAR likelihood function. Image by author.
The simplified expression above is what we are looking to maximize — we want to find the model parameters (θ) that maximize the probability of our dependent variable (z). We also condition on our covariates (x_t) and the output of our prior node (z_t-1).
So, given our covariates and the predicted value at the prior timestep, we find the parameter values that maximize the likelihood of making the observations given the parameters.
Now the likelihood also includes a data transformation step, but from a comprehension and implementation standpoint, it’s not super important. If you’re curious, check out the paper linked in the comments.
And there you have it — DeepAR in a nutshell. Before you go here are some practical tips on implementing the method…
Implementation Notes | https://towardsdatascience.com/deep-learning-for-time-series-data-ed410da30798 | ['Michael Berk'] | 2021-08-04 13:13:06.349000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Time Series Forecasting', 'Deep Learning', 'Time Series Analysis'] |
slow down | when your brain spins to fast
follow your own demands
sit down, lay down, stand up, pick anywhere
inhale through your nose
release through your mouth
let it go everywhere
let go
release your shoulders,
let them slide down
feel the energy radiate out
let your neck dive down
hang you chin to your chest
breath in through your nose
and out through your mouth
feel your toes stretch out
wiggle them around
press all five toe pads into the ground
breath in
breath out
slow down
its okay to slow down
its okay to slow down | https://medium.com/@wordofniks/slow-down-27a0d877e4fd | ['Nik Levi'] | 2020-12-20 15:55:55.734000+00:00 | ['Creative Writing', 'Poetry', 'Poet', 'Poetry On Medium', 'Daily Thoughts'] |
Focal Chora 806 bookshelf speaker review: A taste of high-end audio | French audio maker Focal is one of the storied brands in high-end audio. The company’s products range from loudspeakers costing upwards of $200,000, to headphones, and automotive audio speakers. Focal’s Chora 806 bookshelf speakers ($990 per pair) is part of Focal’s latest speaker lineup that looks to merge modern styling with more down-to-earth prices.
To that end, the company is joining its sibling brand—Naim Audio—to offer a series of bundle deals from November 1 to December 31, 2020 (while supplies last). Buy the Chora 806 together with a Naim Uniti Atom integrated amplifier for $3,290 and you’ll also get a 4-meter pair of Naim’s NAC A5 speaker cables and an extended warranty for five years. That’s like getting the speakers, the cables, and the extended warranty for free.
Superb Fit and finishThe Chora 806 bookshelf speaker is part of the Chora family that includes two tower speaker models, a surround speaker, a center channel, and a subwoofer. The Chora line targets two-channel purists as well as audiophiles looking for full-blown home theater setups.
detail" width="1200" height="595" data-imageid="100862773" data-license="IDG" data-original="https://images.idgesg.net/images/article/2020/10/focal-veneer-detail-100862773-large.jpg" class="lazy" loading="lazy"> Theo Nicolakis/IDG A detail view of the Chora’s exquisite veneer finish.
Unpacking the Chora 806, I couldn’t help but notice their solid build quality and styling. The Chora’s satin finish wood-grain veneer is superb. The Chora 806 comes in three finishes to suit your tastes and decor: Light wood (a maple-like finish), dark wood (a walnut-like finish), and black. My review sample came in dark wood. The baffle’s color varies with each veneer.
Another high-end choice JBL L82 Classic Read TechHive's review$2,499.98MSRP $2,499.98lack-grille-black/6426053.p?skuId=6426053">See iton Best Buy On my dark-wood review sample, the speaker’s slightly glossy, slate-colored front baffle stands out as a prominent feature. You’d better love the baffle color because unlike most loudspeakers, the Chora 806 grille doesn’t cover the baffle. Instead, Focal takes a different design aesthetic with the Chora 806.
The inverted dome tweeter sits behind an exposed, perforated metal cover and the front-firing port is visible at all times. Only the 6.5-inch driver gets a magnetic grille. The look a conversation starter that puts visitors on notice that you’re armed with a high-performance loudspeaker you’re itching to show off.
The circular magnetic grille is finicky, however; it must be exactly dialed in to grab the baffle. In order to get the grille to sit properly, I had to rotate it like a steering wheel until I felt the magnets align.
The Chora 806 is a two-way design. Focal uses beryllium—arguably the best tweeter material available today—on its flagship speakers. But that element is very expensive to work with, so Focal opted for a more economical aluminum/magnesium tweeter in the Chora 806. The driver is a Slatefiber cone. Slatefiber is a composite of recycled, non-woven carbon fibers and thermoplastic polymer. Focal says its the first audio brand to use recycled carbon fibers in drivers, and that the combination of these two materials results in excellent acoustic performance as well as rigidity and damping.
Use high-quality amplificationFocal advertises the Chora 806 as an 8-ohm speaker with a sensitivity of 89dB, but the Chora’s impedance can dip down to 4.6 ohms, presenting a more difficult load for an amplifier. While the Chora should be easy to drive, you should mate them to a high-quality A/V receiver or a dedicated power amplifier that can handle low-impedance loads.
Focal/Naim If you can act fast, you can pick up the Chora 806 speakers, a Naim Uniti Atom integrated amplifer, NAC A5 speaker cables, and a 5-year extended warranty for the price of the amplifier alone.
I set up the Chora 806 in my basement theater and set them on top of 33-inch solid wood stands. Focal sells a pair of stands specifically designed for the Chora 806 that sell for $290 a pair; alas, Focal did not provide me with a review sample. Focal’s stands are 21 5/8-inches tall and are fabricated from MDF (medium density fiberboard). The stands are slightly tilted for time alignment and to direct the tweeters toward your ears. The bottom of the Chora 806 come with threaded screw holes that attach to the stands’ top plate for security.
While I recommend using stands, Focal includes two sets of silicone dots for tabletop placement.
Beautiful, but perplexing binding postsThe Focal Chora’s binding posts deserve some praise and some criticism. The binding posts sit in a beautifully smooth and curvaceous cavity on the back of the speaker, and they sport rounded fins that make them incredibly easy to tighten and loosen.
Theo Nicolakis/IDG The Focal’s binding post design makes it easy to tighten and loosen.
The binding posts are also perplexing. The instruction manual shows they can accommodate spades, bare wire, or banana connectors. But good luck trying to use banana connectors. The binding posts come with caps over the traditional banana connector channel. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out how to pop the caps off. I stopped short for fear of damaging the connectors.
Theo Nicolakis/IDG A detail view of the Chora 806’s binding post plugs that wouldn’t allow me to connet banana plugs easily.
ListeningI paired the $990 Focal Chora 806 with a $3,290 Naim Uniti Atom, a high-performance, high-powered network streamer and integrated amplifier in a slick, ultra-compact footprint. It’s a Roon-ready device, so I served up source material from my Roon Nucleus server consisting of both hi-res audio files and Tidal streams.
The Chora 806 were unusually finicky to dial into my room—far more finicky than any speaker in recent memory. If you don’t have the wherewithal for this task, have your local Focal dealer set up the speakers for you. You’ll be duly rewarded.
Theo Nicolakis/IDG The Focal’s inverted dome aluminum/magnesium tweeter
When properly dialed in, the Chora 806 are magical for speakers in this price range; they completely disappeared in my room, creating a coherent wall of sound. On the Indigo Girls’ track “Welcome Me,” the Focals painted sonic images of Amy Ray’s and Emily Saliers’ guitar strokes and vocals in space and time.
One of Focal’s headphones Focal Stellia Read TechHive's reviewFocal" data-vars-bkmfr="Focal" data-bkvndr="" data-vars-bkvndr="" data-amazon-ajax-link="true" data-amazon-ajax-link-loaded="false" data-amazon-ajax-link-asin="B07NF1FRNH" data-amazon-ajax-link-subtag="US-003-3586730-005-1444595-web-20">See it The Focal 806 conjured up a ridiculously large sound stage that consistently extended beyond the speakers edges. A miniature sound stage is often a drawback of monitor speakers—that was not here.
The Chora 806 did yeoman’s work rendering piano notes on Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” and Lana Del Rey’s “Mariners Apartment Complex.” Though if I’m allowed to nitpick, the Chora couldn’t quite earn a perfect score reproducing the piano’s definition and body.
Theo Nicolakis/IDG A detail view of the Chora 806’s Slatefiber cone composite woofer.
Bass response was very good for the driver size and frequency response. Focal’s designers clearly focused on the quality and not quantity of bass. The Chora’s frequency range is rated at 58Hz to 28kHz, and it delivered satisfying bass lines on Lourdes “Royals,” pressurizing my listening space with well-controlled, chest-thumping bass. Bass lines on Ingrid Michaelson’s “This is War” and “Wonderful Unknown” were taut, crisp, and well controlled, though audibly curtailed at the lowest frequencies.
On James Blake’s “Limit to your Love” the Chora 806’s bottom-end limits on the song’s house-shaking bass lines were abundantly clear. If you truly want deep bass with the Chora 806, pair them with a high-quality subwoofer.
The Chora 806 captivated me at times on songs such as Sarah McLachlan’s “Love Come [piano version]” and Diana Krall’s “I Remember You,” from her album The Look of Love.
On the downside, the Chora 806 can’t quite transcend a slightly boxy sound—that’s the sonic tradeoff with speakers and monitors at this price point. While, sound stage, timbre, and dynamics are really good, the texture of notes and the instruments that play them lack the masterful refinement and finesse that you’ll experience with reference speakers.
For example, switching back and forth between the Focals and my RBH Sound SVTR Signature Tower Speakers (priced at $11,000, that’s an unfair match to be sure), the RBH SVTR Signatures eliminated the sensation of bloat and smearing on vocals and instruments. Natalie Merchant’s vocals on “San Andreas Fault” snapped into immediate focus in a solidly constructed sense of space and time. Put another way, it’s the difference between optical and digital zoom at 5x magnification.
A taste of the high endThe Focal’s Chora 806 bookshelf speakers are beautifully built, solid performers. The Chora’s build and performance clearly conveys their high-end pedigree and are a solid choice to anyone who wants to devote themselves to a serious audio hobby.
Without breaking the bank, the Chora 806 serve up a taste of what high-performance audio can deliver. Just be sure to pair them with high-quality electronics and amplification. If you can swing the Focal-Naim promotion running through December 31, you’ll get a superb-sounding, high-tech package in a spouse-friendly footprint for a phenomenal price.
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details. | https://medium.com/@Rosie38917402/focal-chora-806-bookshelf-speaker-review-a-taste-of-high-end-audio-979913635ed4 | [] | 2020-10-30 11:25:13.180000+00:00 | ['Security Cameras', 'Audio', 'Lighting', 'Chargers'] |
Clustering 分群懶人包 | Clustering 分群懶人包
每一筆資料是高維度空間中的一個點，即每一個特徵為一個維度。 假設這些點存在群聚分佈的現象，則我們可以透過非監度式學習 (unsupervised) 的方法，找出對應的群聚分割分佈，如下圖所示…
那有什麼方法能分群呢?
統計上的分群有…
• K-means
• EM(Expectation-Maximization Algorithm)
• GMM(Gaussian Mixture Model)
• Bayesian-GMM (Bayesian Gaussian Mixture Model)
讓我們依序看下去….
• K-means
Key Points :
假設在 N 筆資料中，可將資料分為 K 群。透過反覆的閱讀資料點，更新對應的群中心，可視作質心點 µ₁, …, μ_K ，使得找到最代表每個群的對應質心
，換句話說，每個資料點會被分配到與他最相近的群裡。
Algorithm:
接下來，是專業一點點的說法….
先介紹會用到的符號
(1)我們有 N 筆維度皆為 d 的資料點，分別標記為 X = {x₁, x₂, …, x_N}。
(2)假定存在 K 群分佈，亦即給定 K 個 prototype vectors，記為 μ₁, …, μ_K。
(3)計算第 n 筆資料和第 k 個中心的距離 (∥xₙ − µₖ∥₂)²
(4)定義 rₙₖ 表示對每個資料點 xₙ 與第 k 群的 indicator variable
(5)最後定義 objective function J 記為
記住後就開始訓練吧!
step 1:
Choose K prototype vectors as initial values for μₖ , randomly.
step 2:
For t = 1, …
(1) For each data point xₙ, determine rₙₖ
where 1≤ k≤ K.
(2) Update µₖ
Repeat step 2 until µₖ converges.
• EM(Expectation-Maximization Algorithm)
EM-Algorithm 有許多的統計專有名詞和證明，對此就不推坑了，就以演算法流程做一個簡約的概念敘述。
跟上述的 K-means 極類似的概念，就是去找到一組收斂的參數 θ，在統計學 裡面，最能代表的，就是找到能夠表示出分佈的機率密度函數 f 以及對應的參 數「均值 µ」以及「變異數 σ」，接著用已知的樣本作為每次更新概似函數 (MLE, maximal likelihood function)
的下界 (LB, lower bound)
之參數，z 代表的是隱藏的訊息。
Key Points :
如果您是一個對統計相當無感的人，建議您可以遐想成「質心→ µ」、「半徑→ σ」 的收斂狀況，而且距離質心越近的分佈會越密集，一個住市中心和郊區的概念， 當然這個想法不完全的正確，但是可以當作一個概念的比擬。
Algorithm :
給定有 N 筆維度為 d 的資料，給每個樣本分別標記為 {x₁, x₂, …, x_N}， 每個樣本之間彼此獨立，稱為 i.i.d. (independent and identical distribution)。
假定存在 K 群，zᵏ為第 k 群的隨機變數 (又稱，censored data)，初始化參數…就是說當 t = 0 時的初始值 θ⁰
where q(zᵏ) = αₖ for k = 1,…,K.
E-step :
假設已知參數 θᵗ，則計算
用已更新整體權重 wₖᵗ
M-step :
經由 MLE 的計算，估計 q(θᵗ; θᵗ⁺¹) 的參數 θᵗ⁺¹，並且更新 θᵗ⁺¹
Until θ converges…
Comment:
EM 只是一個統計上的演算法流程，比較常見的應用有 GMM(Gaussian Mixture Model) 和 HMM(Hidden Markov Model)。
• GMM(Gaussian Mixture Model)
簡單來說，GMM 就是 EM-Algorithm 在每個機率密度函數為 Gaussian Distribution 假設下的例子。 深入淺出地說明 GMM 的重點，就是在於當 data distribution 可能出現雙峰(或多峰)的分佈情形，這個由兩個高斯分佈所相加成的過程我們稱之為高斯混合模型 (Gaussian Mixture Model)。
• Bayesian-GMM (Bayesian Gaussian Mixture Model)
這邊我們不做複雜的推導，只用一句不嚴謹的話表示
Bayesian Gaussian Mixture = Gaussian distribution + Dirichlet process
當我們不知道要分幾群比較好時，往往都會設定過多的群數 K ，用底下那張圖做說明，如果將 K 設定為 5，但實際上只需要 3群就能分得很好了，使用 GMM 會讓效果變得很不實際，所以再確立是 Gaussian distribution 加上 Dirichlet process 拯救這樣的現象。
遇到問題時，要怎麼著手?
Take the example….
底下我們就用 python 之 sklearn 這個套件來看一些簡單的例子說明….
首先，我們用套件 sklearn 裡的函數 make_classification、make_blobs、make_blablablabla…，取得一些隨機分佈，當作我們實作的資料。製作資料時，可以自由的選擇想要的特徵個數(n_feature)、預設資料要有幾個類別(n_classes)、每群預設有幾個類別(n_clusters_per_class)。
畫出來看看，到底隨機抽到什麼東西咧…
2. 上面演算法看得霧煞煞，不會照著步驟寫 code 該怎麼辦呢？
想太多了啦!!! sklearn 有一堆套件，只需要兩個指令就行啦!!!底下用兩個 不同的函數做示範。
(1) 如果是 sklearn.cluster 裡的函數，只需要 fit 和 label 兩道指令。
(2) 如果是 sklearn.mixture 裡的函數，只需要 fit 和 predict。
剩下的就給大家自己練習啦!!!
這麼多哪個比較好? 有沒有 SOP?
拿到資料，畫完分佈圖，一點頭緒都沒，那 K-means 先套下去準沒錯。
如果畫完發現 K-Means 發現，群聚現象明顯，或是本身是統計數據資料，分群分得不好， 不妨先假定這些群是 Gaussian Distribution，畫看看 GMM 就對啦！
但大家一定有個疑問 “”K””要怎麼設呢？這個嘛…沒有一定的答案，一般來說 K 是訓練出來的，太小或太小都會失焦，只有萬中選一的 K 會讓 objective function J 到最小值。
當你的數量龐大，有一百萬筆該怎麼辦，無法一直計算分群時，隨機抽樣一小部分的數據，用暴力法的方式看一下 K 與 objective function J 的關係圖，通常應該很快就能找到適合的 K ，一般來說，K 都不會太大，除非你的資料分布本身分布過於複雜，果真如此，痾….辛苦了！
一個小撇步告訴你，如果你可以放心大膽的假設你的數據分布是 Gaussian Distribution (不是別亂用)，但不知道要分幾群洽當，可以將 K 設稍微大一點點，接著用 Bayesian-GMM 吧！
不過注意一下!!!有時候資料看起來應該很好分群的，可是演算法試過千千百百種就是沒有好的分群，這時不妨停下腳步看看你的 initial value 起始值可能選到一個不理想的的點，這在機器學裡是非常常見的，起始點的選擇也是有千千百百種的(QAQ)。
在此，要提醒各位，上述分群的演算法不是萬能，測距的方式皆為一個資料點與中心點的直線距離，如果資料本身是個””抽象分布””或是””不規則形””，例如以下的範例，會深刻感受到上述方法不適用於此。
嚇到吃手手….三十六計看到先放棄….??放棄太早了！
辦法是人想的，接下來會有一些分法，專門處理不規則的群聚形狀或是抽象…..
Reference:
(1) 機器學習: EM 演算法(Expectation-Maximization Algorithm, EM)、高斯混合模型(Gaussian Mixture Model, GMM)和GMM-EM詳細推導
(2) Gaussian Mixture Model Selection
(3) Comparing different clustering algorithms on toy datasets | https://medium.com/ai-academy-taiwan/clustering-%E5%88%86%E7%BE%A4%E6%87%B6%E4%BA%BA%E5%8C%85-9c0bb861a3ba | ['Kinna Chen'] | 2019-01-23 12:10:59.609000+00:00 | ['Aischool', 'Clustering', 'Unsupervised Learning', 'Machine Learning'] |
Coercive Control in Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall | THIS IS WEEK 2 OF OUR DISCUSSION OF ANNE BRONTË’S THE TENANT OF WILDFELL HALL. TO CATCH UP, READ WEEK 1 BEFORE DIVING IN.
We’ve left Gilbert Markham behind to tend to his gentleman farming and meddling, and now we are in Helen Graham’s diary. Finally, Markham will find out why this mysterious widow is so private and isolated at Wildfell Hall (however, it could be argued that she isn’t so private with everyone butting into her daily life).
There are a few main themes in Volume Two that are large red flags that Anne Brontë set out for the reader: coercive control, marital infidelity, morality vs debauchery.
HELEN & HER ART
The diary begins with the introduction of Helen in her young adulthood. She is around family and friends, and a dashing Arthur Huntingdon who seems ready to woo her. The same trend that we read about in Volume One is preceded here in Volume Two. Before she arrives at Wildfell Hall, her earlier life is peppered with people (mostly men) unable to get the hint that she would like to make her art without intrusions. Huntingdon continues to pester her, viewing her unfinished art and even poaching it: ‘Mr. Huntingdon,” cried I, “I insist upon having that back! It is mine, and you have no right to take it. Give it me directly — I’ll never forgive you if you don’t!’
AN UNHAPPY MARRIAGE
Early in Volume Two, Helen and Huntingdon are wed. From the beginning, he is unattentive. On their honeymoon trip to the continent, he is uncaring for her desire to see the spots. Helen excuses this for the fact that he has travelled to Europe many times so he is used to this but she is aware that he should be sympathetic that this is new to her. She is forgiving at first to Huntingdon’s behaviour but she sees the cracks. He often travels to London without her even when she proposes she should accompany him. Her fledgling marriage is lacking love when it is implied that Huntingdon takes up with other women* and is a boozehound when he is away from home. He even enjoys taunting Helen with stories of ‘victims of his former love’.
Like discussed last week when I wanted to shake Markham, this week, I wanted to shake Helen, but for entirely different reasons. I wanted to pick her up and throw her over my shoulder and get her away from this madman. When describing Helen’s marriage, Anne Brontë does well to pepper in perfect examples of coercive control. Readers who have suffered this type of abuse must find themselves feeling for Helen (and those who have listened to many true crime podcasts and think themselves armchair psychologists are ready to diagnosis Helen).
*As Volume Two progresses his behaviour becomes even more appalling with the affair he carries on right in front of Helen’s face in her own home. What a cad!
LET’S TALK ABOUT HUNTINGDON
Even before Helen marries him, dear reader, we all knew he was up to no good. He is ruthless and when she ran from him, she should have stayed hidden. When he stole her art and refused to give it back, ding ding, she should have thrown him out.
Helen reveals in her diary that her money is used to pay off his debts. Soon into their marriage, they have a child together. And match this all together with the restrictive time period and you have yourself coercive control. Women’s Aid defines this as: This controlling behaviour is designed to make a person dependent by isolating them from support, exploiting them, depriving them of independence and regulating their everyday behaviour. It’s this ‘invisible chain’ that tightens with every passing year. Something that I also noticed about the Grove, where Helen lives, is that it is somewhat similar to the village in Volume One. The people around her are not very pleasant and they are busybodies. No wonder she wants a bit of privacy.
SO, DEAR READERS, WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS? | https://medium.com/ariell-cacciola/coercive-control-in-anne-brontes-the-tenant-of-wildfell-hall-3975b7ab02fc | ['Ariell Cacciola'] | 2020-12-17 11:04:37.536000+00:00 | ['Content', 'Writing', 'Bronte', 'Books', 'Publishing'] |
Baseball Pitch Prediction | Data Cleaning
The data I used can be found on Kaggle. The overall dataset contains eight comma-separated value(CSV) files, containing data from the MLB seasons 2015–2018. However, I focused on two of the files, pitches and at-bats. The pitches CSV file contained 40 data columns, and the at-bats had 11. Both of them had data values that I would need, so I decided to merge the files. The merged file contained 51 variables, but the majority of them were not needed. Many different columns were describing the actual pitch, as in the movement of the ball with coordinates. These would not help, as the pitch type would serve just as good as all these columns combined.
At first. I simply looked through all of the variables and thought of which could influence a pitcher’s decision for their next pitch based on my knowledge.
I decided to make a simple data frame, containing only a few variables and could be used for a basic model. I settled on keeping the strike count, ball count, the pitch number and adding two new variables to the data. The first variable was similar to the pitch_type variable. However, it was binary. Any 4-seam, 2-seam, or cutters would return a 1 for this variable (classifying it like a fastball), and any other pitch type would produce a 0. The second new variable displayed the previous pitch. However, it was not binary. To make means simpler, I combined the 4-seam, 2-seam, and cutter as fastballs, and the curveball and slider into 1 pitch type.
The next data frame contained those variables in addition to if runners were on base, the pitcher’s id, the pitcher stance, and the batter stance. I thought these variables would allow the model to perform better. Lastly, I created the data frame for multi-classification, in which the fastball variable would contain all of the pitches, instead of it being binary in the previous data frames. When first creating this data frame, I wasn’t sure if it would be possible to predict the exact pitch type. After categorizing some pitch types together, I settled on four different pitch types, FF(4-seam, 2-seam, or cutter), CU/SL(curveball or slider), CH(changeup), or other. Data cleaning, with the exception of merging, was done in R, with tidyverse.
Data Visualization and Statistics
Pitch Type Graph
I had one graph in mind when first gathering the data. I wanted to see the amount of each pitch thrown. This bar graph shows the count of every type of pitch throughout all 3 seasons. This shows us that fastballs are by far the most common pitch and account for a bit less than half of all pitches.
Variable Correlation Heat-map
This correlation heat-map displays the correlation between the variables. The correlation ranges from -1 to +1. The lighter the color, the higher the correlation. This will allow us to see which variables are necessary and if we can remove any. Because we want to predict the Fastball variable, we need to look at “fastball” and the values from the other variables. In this heat-map, we must focus on either the bottom-most row or the rightmost column as they are the same. The heat-map did not give much information as to which variables are helpful in predicting the pitch, which just tells us it is going to be very hard to predict at a high rate. You can also see some of the values are very high, and the reason for that is because they are directly correlated. For example, the pitch number of the at-bat would have a direct correlation with the strike and ball count.
Model Building
The two first models I created were a generalized linear model(GLM) and a support vector machine(SVM). I created both of these in R. These models predict the pitch with binary classification(1 for a fastball, 0 for others). I used the strike count, ball count, pitch number(of the at-bat), the last pitch if there are runners on any base, batter stance, pitcher id(every pitcher is given an id), and pitcher stance.
A GLM is different from a normal linear regression model because it ‘generalizes’(hence the name) linear regression by allowing the linear model to be related to the response variable via a link function and by allowing the magnitude of the variance of each measurement to be a function of its predicted value. The result outputs a value between 0 and 1. In our case, if it’s 0.5 or lower, it’s not a fastball, and if it’s 0.5 or higher, it is a fastball. When starting with the GLM, I used my data frame, which contained data for 2018 only. I did not split the data into testing and training. However, I fit the model to all the data and created a visual to go along with it. I had no idea what accuracy to expect, and the model ran extremely fast. After running the model, it gave me an accuracy of 60.5%.
The top graph is the pitches that are non-fastballs, and the bottom graph is fastballs.
I was quite surprised. It was a very basic model and did much better than someone guessing randomly, which would give you around a 47% accuracy as there are more fastballs than there are other pitches. However, there are no hyper-parameters you can tune in a GLM model, so on to the SVM.
A support vector machine(SVM) takes all of the data and creates optimal boundaries between outputs. The model will do complex data transformations and separate your data into different groups(for this project it’s two groups, fastball, or not). The output will be between -1 and 1. 0–1 range will return a fastball and -1–0 range will give not a fastball.
The SVM took quite a while to fit to 1 year’s worth of data, so I settled for the first 100 games in the 2018 season for a baseline. With only 100 games, the SVM model was able to predict the pitch at an accuracy of 61% exactly. With more data, I’m not sure how much more accurate it would be, but I don’t think it would be much more accurate, as the GLM’s accuracy with 100 games is 60.3%, and its accuracy with 1 season is 60.5%. However, this was with the default values of the model. I tuned the hyper-parameters of the SVM and was able to come to a final accuracy of 66.1%. This was quite impressive considering it trained off of 100 games only, but I was skeptical of the accuracy. I believed if I split the data into test and train, the model’s test accuracy would be much lower, and I thought that with more data the accuracy would go down, as it’s over-fitting to the 100 games.
However, I thought I would be able to create an even better model with a Random Forest model. I decided to create this model in R as well. A Random Forest Classifier creates decision trees on data samples and then gets the prediction from each of them and finally selects the best solution by means of voting. Another issue this model faced, similar to the SVM, was that it took a long time to run the model, so I could only test accuracy on 100 games. The base model’s accuracy was around 52%. For the final model, I decided to do a train/test split, and after tuning hyper-parameters, the testing accuracy was around 54%.
I decided to take both the SVM and random forest to Python to see if it would make fitting to 1 season faster.
This time around for the SVM model I split the data into training and testing in a 70/30 ratio. Initially, when trying to fit the model I ran into a problem, as some of the variables had string values, and Python models do not allow strings. To fix this, I had to use one-hot encoding for the pitcher/batter stance, and the last pitch variable. The default SVM model training off 100 games in the 2018 season produced an accuracy of 52%. This was pretty miserable, but I had confidence in tuning the values.
After tuning the Python SVM’s hyper-parameters using a grid search and testing many different costs, gammas, and kernels I was able to get a final accuracy of 67.35%. I was pretty surprised by the huge jump in accuracy from the starting model to the final model. I think this was a great start to the models, and if I ran it with all 3 seasons, it would maybe even get to 68%. However, I wasn’t completely satisfied with this result. I wanted to reach at least 70% accuracy, maybe even 75%, if that’s even possible, so I decided to try two more models.
After finishing the SVM I moved back to the Random Forest, but this time in Python. Testing the base random forest model gave me an accuracy of 60.91% on the testing data. This was much better than the base model of the SVM which had an accuracy of around 52%. This gave me a lot of hope for accuracy after tuning. However, my hope was not fulfilled. The tuned model had an accuracy of 62%.
From here I shifted gears to my final model, a neural network. I did not have very much experience with neural nets so I had to read up. I created a basic model with 3 layers which had 8,8, and 1 neuron with the activation of a relu. This was just a test model and when tested on 100 games worth of data with 4 epochs it performed quite terribly. After this, I decided to tune it with 3 layers going from 12,8,1 neurons, however trying multiple optimizers with the grid search function. Despite much testing and tuning the neural net could never perform well and only got to around 52%. Thus, I decided to use the SVM for the final model.
Because the final app was created in R to make means simpler for the app backend, I decided to go back and create the SVM in R with the same hyper-parameters as the python model. Essentially I trained and tested the model in python, then created a final model training it on all 3 seasons in R.
The Dashboard/Application
When creating the dashboard I decided to keep it simple. Have some sort of way to have a user input the variables and when they click the button it will display text about whether or not the pitch was a fastball. Creating the front end was quite easy as it was just a couple of numeric inputs or text inputs. I thought the backend would be easy, but it was actually quite hard. I saved the model as an RDS file, which can be practically any object in R, and loaded it up in the app. I then took the user’s inputs and put them directly through the model. When I tried this it gave an error that said “contrasts can be applied only to factors with 2 or more levels”. I was quite confused until I realized that the reason this was happening was that the model had no comparison to other data. The only data it was fed was the user’s inputs. To fix the issue I took the 100 game dataset and only kept all of the different unique data points. I assumed this would have the same amount of unique data points as 1 season or more, so there should be no issue here. I then ran the model on the user inputs, as well as the unique dataset so that it had a comparison. This fixed the issue and displayed whether the pitch would be a fastball or not properly. You can try the app on R Shiny
Final Thoughts
When first diving into this project I thought I would be able to create an application that could predict the next pitch of a baseball at a pretty high accuracy rate. When first creating the models and seeing accuracy rates of around 50–60% with 100 games of data, I still thought I could get maybe a 70+ accuracy rate by tuning the model values and using more data. However, I now realize that it’s simply not possible. As Hank Aaron once said, “Guessing what the pitcher is going to throw is 80 percent of being a successful hitter. The other 20 percent is just execution.” Predicting the pitch coming at you can make you an infinitely better hitter, and because of this, the task at hand was a lot harder than originally thought. Although I may not have been able to create a project at the caliber I wanted, overall I still think the final product was great and was a great learning experience for me.
Future of the Project
I am currently working on creating a similar model and app, however, instead of predicting the pitch, it will suggest the pitch that will have the highest chance of a strike/out. In terms of this project, I think it’s finished. There isn’t that much more I can do to make the project better and once I finish the other app I could try to merge them into one which would make for a single cool app. | https://pub.towardsai.net/baseball-pitch-prediction-e1da2a0a8b30 | ['Shafin Haque'] | 2020-12-19 01:02:38.409000+00:00 | ['AI', 'Baseball', 'Predictions', 'Machine Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence'] |
Intermittent Fasting: Top 5 Mistakes That People Make | Intermittent Fasting: Top 5 Mistakes That People Make
Hey! That’s me
If you’re trying to start 2021 by dropping a few pounds, look no further than intermittent fasting.
Intermittent fasting is utilizing a portion of your day to eat no food at all. Many people skip breakfast or even wait until dinner for their first meal. This not only reduces caloric intake, but more importantly, reduces the number of insulin spikes we get from things like snacking.
Constant insulin spikes are what really slow down your metabolism. Even from a genetic standpoint, our ancestors would go hours, even days without eating. There was no such thing as a McDonalds that’s open 24/7.
During the holiday season — which many of us consider “bulking” time — you can even stay lean if you incorporate daily intermittent fasting. For this reason, some call people who fast “fat-burning machines.”
Fasting is so popular today that all these people do it: Terry Crews, Beyoncé, James Clear, Joe Rogan, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez, Jack Dorsey, and Tim Ferriss all fast.
All this said, it can be very frustrating when you don’t see results from intermittent fasting. Often the case, however, many people make these common intermittent fasting mistakes.
1. Spiking Your Insulin By Accident
Anything that results in a metabolic response from your body, means you have broken your fast.
This means the following will break your fast:
Coffee Creamer
Almond Milk
Accidentally swallowing Toothpaste or Mouthwash
Vitamins or Branch Chain Amino Acids
Pain relievers such as Advil which have sugar in the coating
When you break your fast you are no longer in fat-burning mode.
Furthermore, many other amazing processes that happen when you fast are halted. These include increasing longevity, cleansing out your body (i.e., cancer cells, damaged cells, and other wastes), and boosting growth hormone production, to name a few.
Remember: Even a splash of almond milk breaks a fast.
2. Not Drinking Enough Water
Fasting without drinking enough water could be worse than not fasting at all. The damaged cells or other wastes that sit in your body can not be excreted without anything pushing them out.
Additionally, your body is not taking in the water you would usually consume with food. If you’re not properly hydrated you will likely get headaches, muscle cramps, and intense feelings of hunger.
If you want to flush out toxins during your fast it’s important you drink the following:
Plenty of water, preferably from higher quality sources like Pellegrino, Boxed Water ™ , and other filtered sources.
preferably from higher quality sources like Pellegrino, Boxed Water , and other filtered sources. 1 to 2 tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar (which curbs hunger and puts you into a deeper fasted state)
Black, herbal, oolong, or green tea
Black coffee
3. Breaking Your Fast With The Wrong Foods
You have much more leniency with food consumption the longer that you fast. However, one of the most important times to watch what you eat is when you first break your fast.
Your stomach shrinks when you’re fasting and the stomach lining is thin, so overwhelming it with food is not a good idea. Furthermore, you want to break your fast with something very simple like a clean protein.
Examples include:
Bone broth (sells for $2 at most stores and is pure protein)
Clean protein supplements (read the ingredient labels first)
Almond milk
The longer you fast the more attention you have to pay to breaking it. Your stomach lining is very thin and breaking it with the wrong foods (i.e. red meats, simple carbohydrates, high-fat foods) could leave you with a bad stomachache.
Those foods are fine after you break a fast and wait around 20–30 minutes of course.
4. Not Working Out When You Fast
Even if your workout feels harder, you are getting tremendous benefits from working out in a fasted state.
Exercise while fasted burns more fat since your body has nothing immediate to digest. The body then looks to itself for metabolic needs, and studies show the first thing it targets is fat.
Additionally, you do not have to consume food immediately after your workout. So, if you get your workout done in the morning, you can fast until the afternoon and you will not lose muscle.
The anabolic window has been disproved by many studies. Building muscle is about what you eat throughout the day, not what you have immediately after.
5. Avoiding a Long-Term Fast
The deeper the fast, the more benefits. If you’re new to intermittent fasting then don’t rush into long-term fasting. However, if you’re looking for more amazing benefits here they are: | https://medium.com/in-fitness-and-in-health/intermittent-fasting-top-5-mistakes-that-people-make-b861970564f2 | ['Isaiah Mccall'] | 2020-12-29 19:24:34.731000+00:00 | ['Health', 'Diet', 'Food', 'Fasting', 'Nutrition'] |
5 Red Flags You Must Not Ignore in People You Hang Out With | There are certain kinds of people we hate to have around us. Most notably, the kind prone to abusive and violent outbursts. However, not everyone bad for us gives out such loud and obvious signals.
In fact, certain traits make people likable to us when it’s in our best interests to stay away from them. Besides, sometimes even well-meaning friends can cause us much harm through unintended consequences of their actions.
The thing is, when we are with our friends, we feel comfortable enough to shed our inhibitions and let our guards down. And why not? Life would be miserable if we couldn’t be our true selves even in the company of our friends.
But that also makes us vulnerable.
So you must recognize early the kind of people who are deceptively dangerous and guard yourself against them. These are the people who can make your life miserable without your having the slightest idea of what’s going on.
So, here are the five red flags you must watch out for in people you hang out with. | https://medium.com/illumination-curated/5-red-flags-to-watch-out-for-in-people-you-hang-out-with-3faa01028ed6 | ['Haris Mohammad'] | 2020-12-26 18:23:56.602000+00:00 | ['Life', 'Personal Development', 'Life Lessons', 'Advice', 'Personal Growth'] |
All the Things I Wish I Said At The ‘Sexual Harassment In Academia’ Open House, But I Didn’t | Nidhi Kinhal, Class of 2019
Full disclosure: I should have spoken up at the open house. I think I would have if I was not absolutely overwhelmed, worked up and unable to decide at what point to begin. That is no excuse and I take full responsibility for accompanying my presence with awful silence. I’d like to thank the History Society for publicly acknowledging what had been an embarrassing hush-hush, and take their cue to continue the conversation through a medium I find comfortable and, I hope you do too.
When I first found out about the List, it was strewn over my laptop screen in the middle of a class. What followed were some intense, anxious, fluctuating and nerve-wracking days for so many of us. To feminists who initiated conversation and helped each other unconditionally in dealing with the disappointment or triggered moments — thank you. My solidarity with the list remains unwavering, and here’s my two cents on why:
Facebook is not antithetical to nuance; holding individual perpetrators of violence accountable and thinking about our complicity in the larger patriarchal conditioning are not mutually exclusive. There is something to be said about immediate, impulsive reactions. I was threatened by the list when I first saw it, and caught myself thinking: “Holy shit, this isn’t the way to do things at all!”. There could be a flaw in evaluating these cases as harassment, women could be unfairly accusing an innocent person, proof/evidence is missing, we know nothing about the incidents and are wrongfully merging different degrees of harassment, the list is anonymous, and most importantly — shaming is unkind and achieves nothing. Surely there are more civil courses of action!
There is no undermining that these are valid apprehensions. But I believe revisiting our concerns is crucial.On further introspection, I realized that my initial reactions were eerily similar to textbook dudebro arguments against the calling out of sexual harassment. False accusations. Severity as credibility. A somewhat anal insistence on accessing evidence. Tone-policing. What is it about Facebook — despite not transforming into a legal institution, or into evidence on the basis of which verdicts could be meted out — that is so radical, so dangerous and so seemingly antithetical to our politics-procedure?
It’s important to recognize the source of these bewildering concerns. I could place mine partly on my internalized misogyny, and caste-class hegemonies. I possessed a sense of disproportionate entitlement to survivors’ stories, the evidence behind it, the women who came forward, the truth and verifiability of their statements against an objective (which also means, in many cases, masculine or non-feminist) code of law. I wanted to know everything before I decided to show solidarity. Although it isn’t as if access to full knowledge (or the lack thereof) hasn’t been a point of contention before for resulting in political action on campus.
These are men in positions of power and privilege, particularly on caste and class lines. Their body of academic work has given them an almost intractable credibility and admiration. It is hard to see our ally-ships being let down. It is hard to resist a feeling of betrayal. Really, who do we trust now? When men — particularly liberal or Leftist or feminist allies — prove that they can conveniently separate their politics from their personal behaviour, when they seem to let go of the one tenet of being good allies i.e. to be self-reflexive and willing to learn, we find it hard to believe there are no safe spaces. You know, the “Ashoka University is a private institution whose values are progressive. Men are educated here, they come from great backgrounds and intellectual accomplishments. There’s no way this could happen here. This is a problem outside — where the Haryana men are, where the construction workers are from, where the uneducated or ‘monstrous’ men are”? This is where analogies help.
We know of instances where auto-drivers, Uber drivers and conductors have been called out on social media for being inappropriate. Instances of naming and calling out stalking, predatory behaviour, and cyber sexual harassment at the hands of right-wing trolls are common. That too, in a similar vein as of the List’s, to warn and protect fellow-women and not act as legal verdicts. If these instances were converted into lists, would we be as vehemently against them as we are about academics? It wouldn’t be far-fetched to expect asymmetry. People would hardly bat an eye over the risk of falsely accusing (despite the slim chances of that) a lower-class/lower-caste man for the benefit of convicting dozens of men who are rightly accused. Accusations are also pushed more easily to fruition: one can imagine a driver easily being out of a job, whereas academics will predictably go scott-free (apart from temporary reputation drops) even in cases of serial, predatory behaviour. Moreover, these accusations have always existed in the realm of Chinese-whispers. The moment rumoured warnings have names and faces, it becomes too real and shattering.
There is so much privilege acting behind how we respond to the lists, who we put the onus on, and whom we reserve our most basic albeit hesitant solidarity towards. One finds reliability where one tries: Raya invited only responses from first-hand survivors or direct observers. They engaged in conversation that more often than not entailed proof with screenshots, context and given that Raya is a law student themselves, ascertaining legal boundaries. If one meets them with suspicion due to internalized caste prejudices or methodological concerns, there have been more important sources. In response to lack of details, some survivors have been substantiating charges, and acknowledging long-standing stories, despite threats and gaslighting. One survivor, for instance, wrote about being groped in the middle of her sleep by Germany-based historian Benjamin Zachariah, one of the accused men on the list.
In some sense, the most productive thing about the Kafila response to me are the jokes on due-process! One need not elaborate on the inefficiency of the legal system, broader gender sensitization or whatever takes away the focus from actually holding these men accountable while also examining our positions as allies. That is, the two are not mutually exclusive or separate. They must be done together. I am highly skeptical of patronizing arguments that give social media any less credit than it deserves. Sure, everything is too rapid to take in. But one look at the online media and Facebook discourse will tell you that it is rich and intersectional. People are examining the list in relation to caste, class, postcolonialism, due process, disagreement on the grounds of infeasibility of short-cuts and perpetual punishment. Moreover, there is no guarantee that situations would be any less reactionary if conducted in-person or through “due process”. People are angry, and they are talking in somewhat unprecedented ways. Deal with it.
Like someone pointed out, the genius of this list really is that there is no way to reserve solidarity from it without one’s privilege glaring back at you from your silence, elongated confusion, want of self-awareness, apathy, or disgust. Of course, there is no perfect response that the accused can give out without sounding obnoxious or being met with upset. Journalists who have covered this know that perhaps the Zachariah way is the best option available, if they are unwilling to introspect. And yes, the harassers are flawed human beings shaped by a larger misogynistic system. Yes, sexual harassment entails grey areas, dilemmas around drunkenness, and the nature of power intersecting with desire. How in the patriarchal hellhole does any of this absolve perpetrators of their responsibility? How does nuancing these discussions take away from the simple fact that someone feels violated? Why is the empathy always reserved for perpetrators, and all onus thrust on survivors? We must beware of conflating or equalising our responsibility in the larger system that sustains these men, and the culpability of the perpetrators over those particular acts of harassment. In other words, it is possible to be born in a misogynistic world and not be a misogynist.
Paromita Vohra explained in her incisive piece why the list causes a disruption; it names “implicit imbalance” in both consensual heteronormative relationships, and explicit harassment. Finally, the women are able to voice to men in power that what they perhaps think is ‘cool’ or ‘passionate’ might look completely different to them. For once, we are not taking a man’s word for it. Considering that most cases entail female victims, she gets to name the relationship, not he.
Lastly, Raya Sarkar is not the “source” of the list. We would be better off abandoning that bizarre notion. They aren’t pretending to be an arbitrator of justice, or a sole harbinger of a feminist utopia. I’d like to acknowledge the immense emotional labour they have undertaken in order to keep at this. Raya has received abuse, rape threats, sharp condescension/patronizing op-eds, prejudiced attitudes — none of which they signed up for. I am grateful for them for sticking through and for demanding self-care when they needed it.
I do feel unfulfilled in many ways by the list and conversations derived from it. The list isn’t an end in itself. It isn’t a perfect, scratch-free model for action. We do need to have conversations that answer the question: given the list, now what? How do we want to create systems of support to avoid bullying of survivors who have opened up? What are the alternative, non-legal forms of healing/support we can assist with? How do we ensure that these men aren’t still being predatory, and resolve to work on themselves? And since many of them are directly involved in our lives — how are we going to interact with them? Some of them are “woke” and “bright” and “Left”; how are we going to rethink what it means to be those things?
Being radical isn’t necessarily being unproductive. The power of this list is precisely that it ruptures everything we consider to be true of ourselves and our environments. It renders us incapable of making excuses, or derailing/sugarcoating the issue. In no way is the multiplicity in feminist responses a fatal divide to the movement. God, if anything, it helps us plunge forward. | https://medium.com/the-edict/all-the-things-i-wish-i-said-at-the-sexual-harassment-in-academia-open-house-but-i-didn-t-f50e2b4b390c | ['The Edict Staff'] | 2017-11-14 08:30:33.606000+00:00 | ['Indian Academia', 'Opinion', 'Sexual Assault', 'Sexual Harassment', 'Feminism'] |
Reviewing DApps for “State of the Dapps” [OD Tasks] | Hey everyone..
Here is my review of @steemmonters for @Oracle-d tasks for ”State of DApps”. @SteemMonsters is a featured DApps on State Of The DApps website, you can find the details [Here](https://www.stateofthedapps.com/dapps/steem-monsters)...
Steemmonsters is a popular game on steem blockchain. Many steemians infact outside of steem blockchain play this game. It’s a digital collectible and trading card game, where you can play and earn steem/sbd. Thanks to @aggroed and @yabapmatt for this awesome game. It’s a steem blockchain based game.
Anyone can play this game by visiting https://steemmonsters.com/ website. All you need steem account and private posting key, if anyone wants to play this game outside blockchain, they can simply signup from this website. First you have to buy starter pack which costs 10$ which contains 5 summoners and 25 splinters , total 30 cards. You can decorate your own style cards and prepare yourself for battle with different leagues persons or among your friends. You can boost your cards buy using steem and you can buy cards from market. You can also trade your cards in the market. In return you will earn steem/SBD. You can also play tournaments where you can earn steem / SBD if you win…
This is really fun and interesting game for every people. If you didn’t start playing yet, start it now and earn some Steem/SBD…
Enjoy….. | https://medium.com/@samia.farin/reviewing-dapps-for-state-of-the-dapps-od-tasks-99408372b17d | ['Priyan Fareen'] | 2019-05-06 19:20:39.209000+00:00 | ['Dappreview', 'Steemmonsters', 'Featured', 'Blockchain', 'Stateofthedapp'] |
How to Beat Procrastination Like a Stoic Philosopher | How to Beat Procrastination Like a Stoic Philosopher
Seven tactics from the ancient world that have stood the test of time
Marcus Aurelius writing philosophical advice to his son. Photo: Icas94/De Agostini Picture Library/Getty Images
The Roman-era Stoic philosopher Seneca once joked that the one thing fools all have in common is that they are always getting ready to live but never actually do.
That was 20 centuries ago. For tens of thousands of years, people have been procrastinating just like you do today: They put things off, delayed, made excuses, and wished their deadlines would disappear. And just as it does with you, this caused them anxiety, made them piss off their colleagues and families, and, worst of all, wasted time.
Fortunately, unlike our ancient counterparts, we have ages of wisdom to help us avoid the mental traps that lead us to procrastinate. Here are seven anti-procrastination tactics that are rooted in ancient philosophy and can be applied in the modern world.
Action by action
Don’t let your imagination be crushed by life as a whole… Stick with the situation at hand, and ask, “Why is this so unbearable? Why can’t I endure it?” You’ll be embarrassed to answer.—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.36
With any goal, our imaginations often run wild envisioning all the things that can go wrong. While it can be productive to think about the troubles that might lie ahead — the Stoics used an exercise called premeditatio malorum, or “premeditation of evils,” to prepare for potential adversity — imagining the worst usually just causes us to become paralyzed with fear.
This is why Marcus Aurelius’ advice was to keep in mind that a life is built action by action. No author ever writes a book, he would say. Instead, they write one sentence and then another and then another.
In the sports world, University of Alabama coach Nick Saban taught his players to ignore the big picture — important games, winning championships, the opponent’s enormous lead — and focus instead on doing the absolutely smallest things well. He would tell them, “Think about what you need to do in this drill, on this play, in this moment. That’s the process: Let’s think about what we can do today, the task at hand.”
Create a routine
In many circumstances, we do not deal with our affairs in accordance with correct assumptions, but rather we follow thoughtless habit.—Musonius Rufus, Lectures and Fragments, 6.7
Epictetus once said that “every habit and capability is confirmed and grows in its corresponding actions, walking by walking, and running by running… therefore, if you want to do something, make a habit of it.” If you don’t want to do something, he said, make a habit of doing the opposite.
For this reason, the Stoics were big on habits and routines. They believed that in a world where so much is out of our control, committing to a routine we do control is a way of establishing and reminding ourselves of our own power.
Without a disciplined schedule, procrastination inevitably moves in with all the chaos, complacency, and confusion: What was I going to do? What do I wear? What should I eat? What should I do first? What should I do after that? What sort of work should I do? Should I scramble to address this problem or rush to put out this fire?
That’s torture. Seneca would call it a design problem. “Life without a design is erratic,” he wrote. “As soon as one is in place, principles become necessary. I think you’ll concede that nothing is more shameful than uncertain and wavering conduct, and beating a cowardly retreat. This will happen in all our affairs unless we remove the faults that seize and detain our spirits, preventing them from pushing forward and making an all-out effort.”
The writer Haruki Murakami talks about why he follows the same routine every day. “The repetition itself becomes the important thing,” he says. “It’s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind.” Procrastination feeds on our uncertainty. Routine eliminates that uncertainty. We know what we do and when we do it.
Use a counterforce
Since habit is such a powerful influence, and we’re used to pursuing our impulses to gain and avoid outside our own choice, we should set a contrary habit against that, and where appearances are really slippery, use the counterforce of our training. — Epictetus, Discourses, 3.12.16
When a dog is barking loudly because someone is at the door, the worst thing you can do is yell. To the dog, it’s like you’re barking, too. When a dog is running away, it’s not helpful to chase it — again, now it’s like you’re both running. A better option in both scenarios is to give the dog something else to do. Tell it to sit. Run in the other direction. Break the pattern. Interrupt the negative impulse.
The same goes for humans. When a bad habit reveals itself, counteract it with a commitment to a contrary virtue. Sometimes, when you find yourself procrastinating, it’s best not to dig in and fight it. Instead, get up and take a walk to clear your head. Try what artist Austin Kleon calls productive procrastination: “A kind of promiscuous working in which I procrastinate on one project by working on another, sometimes switching between two or more projects until all the projects are done.”
Oppose established habits, use the counterforce of training to get traction and make progress, and channel the negative impulse into something, anything, positive.
Get one small win every day
Well-being is attained by little and little, and nevertheless is no little thing itself.—Zeno
Seneca wrote a lot of letters to Roman knight Lucilius. Through them, we get the sense that Lucilius struggled with many of the things we all struggle with: anxiety, distraction, fear, temptation, and self-discipline.
It’s good that he had a friend like Seneca—someone who cared about him and told him the truth. One of Seneca’s best pieces of advice in those letters was actually pretty simple. “Each day,” he told Lucilius, you should “acquire something that will fortify you against poverty, against death, indeed against other misfortunes, as well.”
One gain per day. That’s it. This is the way to curbing our procrastinating tendencies: remembering that incremental, consistent, humble, persistent work is the way to improvement. Your business, your book, your career, your body — you build them with little things, day after day.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a filmmaker, entrepreneur, author, former governor, professional bodybuilder, and father of five. He’s also a fan of the Stoics. In a recent video, he gave his best advice for staying strong during this pandemic: “Just as long as you do something every day, that is the important thing.”
One thing a day adds up. One step at a time is all it takes. You just gotta get one small win. And the sooner you start, the better you’ll feel—and be.
Free yourself from the inessential
It is essential for you to remember that the attention you give to any action should be in due proportion to its worth, for then you won’t tire and give up, if you aren’t busying yourself with lesser things beyond what should be allowed.—Marcus Aurelius
Procrastination can often be a product of overwhelm. We have so much on our to-do list that we don’t even know where to begin, so we don’t begin. Seneca liked to use the word “discursive.” When we have our attention pointed in so many different directions, we have it pointed nowhere. He compared it to the nomad: “Everywhere means nowhere.” The way forward is to zero in on what’s most important.
It was Aurelius’ simple recipe for improvement and for happiness. And the fact that it came from such a busy man with so many obligations and responsibilities should not be forgotten. “If you seek tranquillity,” he said, “do less.” And then he follows the note to himself with some clarification: Not nothing—less. Do only what’s essential. “Which brings a double satisfaction,” he writes, “to do less, better.”
Follow this advice today and every day. So much of what we think we must do — and what we end up doing — is not essential. Rip off the chains of obligation to these things. Then you’ll be able to better do what is essential and get a taste of the tranquillity that Aurelius was talking about.
Face your important tasks head-on
Yes, you can — if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable.—Marcus Aurelius
All the crises, distractions, and temptations we face today have their analogs in the past. So we should listen to the command that Aurelius gave himself on one of those days when he was struggling to stay focused: “Concentrate every minute like a Roman — like a man — on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice.”
From his stepfather Antoninus, Aurelius learned how to work long hours and “stay in the saddle.” He never shirked hard work or avoided his most unpleasant duties. He had a job to do and didn’t complain about it. “Never be overheard complaining,” he wrote, “not even to yourself.”
Putting off our responsibilities is easy. Complaining is easy. Both are as natural to us as breathing. But what good has either ever done for anyone in the long run? Sure, shaking your fist at the sky and venting your frustrations can feel liberating in the moment, but has it ever changed your circumstances for the better, solved your problems, or made you happier? Has procrastinating ever made your life less stressful and more efficient? I’m willing to bet the answer is no. This is why we must follow Aurelius’ lead and focus on the important tasks in front of us. If we can win that battle first, the rest of the day will be a breeze.
Create a sense of urgency
Stop letting yourself be distracted. That is not allowed. Instead, as if you were dying right now… Stop allowing your mind to be a slave, to be jerked about by selfish impulses, to kick against fate and the present, and to mistrust the future.—Marcus Aurelius
An adage of author and historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson was that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” Today, we know that principle as Parkinson’s law. So, if you have two weeks to write a paper for school, it will take two weeks. If you block off all day Sunday to clean your house, it will take all day. If you give something unlimited time, it will take forever. When we’re pressed by a deadline, we don’t procrastinate.
We can use Parkinson’s law to our advantage. The Stoics did. Memento mori — the reflection on mortality — was their reminder. Remember that you are mortal. Remember that you are always pressed by a deadline. Remember what Aurelius said: “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.” It wasn’t to create panic, but priority, humility, urgency, appreciation.
As wonderful as it would be if there were no such thing as death, we can use death as a tool: We can use it as a spur to move us forward. We can use it as a reminder of what’s truly important and use our time accordingly. | https://forge.medium.com/how-to-beat-procrastination-like-a-stoic-philosopher-d9e1ddd31306 | ['Ryan Holiday'] | 2020-12-02 06:32:53.668000+00:00 | ['History', 'Productivity', 'Philosophy', 'Procrastination', 'Stoicism'] |
Dealing with Postgres specific Json/Enum type and Notifier/Listener with R2dbc | Enum type
Postgres database supports custom types, you can create your enum type and limit the inserting values in a set of predefined items.
DO $$ BEGIN
CREATE TYPE post_status AS ENUM( 'DRAFT', 'PENDING_MODERATION', 'PUBLISHED');
EXCEPTION
WHEN duplicate_object THEN null;
END $$;
The scripts will try to create a custom type post_status and only accept one of DRAFT , PENDING_MODERATION , PUBLISHED .
The ConnectionFactoryInitializer read the scripts line by line terminated by ";" which caused exceptions when the application starts up. I move this scripts into the init.sql of Postgres docker service defined in docker-compose.yml , it will be initialized when the docker is starting.
Define a post_status enum data type in the table script.
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS posts (
// other fields
status post_status default 'DRAFT',
PRIMARY KEY (id)
);
Create a Java Enum class and define a stauts field in the Post entity.
public class Post {
//...
@Column("status")
private Status status;
} enum Status {
DRAFT, PENDING_MODERATION, PUBLISHED;
}
To encode and decode the enum data type automatically, register a Postgres specific EnumCodec in the connection configuration which is shipped with the official Postgres R2dc driver.
PostgresqlConnectionConfiguration.builder()
...
.codecRegistrar(EnumCodec.builder().withEnum("post_status", Post.Status.class).build())
.build()
Then you can use DatabaseClient to read and write data of Java enum type like this.
// read from rowset directly.
row.get("status", Post.Status.class)
// bind java Enum type to parameter placeholder directly
.bind("status", p.getStatus())
When using Spring Data R2dbc, it registered a collection of converters in its MappingContext in the AbstractR2dbcConfiguration . It will detect the data type and Java type and apply the correct converters when reading and writing data.
Ideally when it fails, it will return to use the built-in solution from the baked drivers, but I got exceptions when reading data from databases. Follow the official Spring Data R2dbc reference document, you can create your custom converters to resolve this issue.
Create s @ReadingConverter to convert the data type to Java type.
@ReadingConverter
public class PostReadingConverter implements Converter<Row, Post> { @Override
public Post convert(Row row) {
return Post.builder()
.id(row.get("id", UUID.class))
.title(row.get("title", String.class))
.content(row.get("content", String.class))
.status(row.get("status", Post.Status.class))
.metadata(row.get("metadata", Json.class))
.createdAt(row.get("created_at", LocalDateTime.class))
.updatedAt(row.get("updated_at", LocalDateTime.class))
.version(row.get("version", Long.class))
.build();
}
}
Creating a @WritingConverter to handle the conversion of Java Enum type to enum data type. Spring Data R2dbc has a EnumWriteSupport to simplify the work.
@WritingConverter
public class PostStatusWritingConverter extends EnumWriteSupport<Post.Status> {
}
Register them in the R2dbc configuration.
public class DatabaseConfig extends AbstractR2dbcConfiguration { //... @Override
protected List<Object> getCustomConverters() {
return List.of(new PostReadingConverter(), new PostStatusWritingConverter());
}
}
Spring Data R2dbc can convert Java Enum type to a textual data type and reverse automatically. You can just need to declare the enum column as a textual type, eg.
status VARCHAR(255) default 'DRAFT',
No need custom converters in this case.
The disadvantage of this usage is that it will loss the constraints of the database schema itself, you are responsible for ensuring the correctness of the data being inserted in the tables. | https://medium.com/zero-equals-false/dealing-with-postgres-specific-json-enum-type-and-notifier-listener-with-r2dbc-f15cc104aa10 | [] | 2020-10-05 13:54:01.432000+00:00 | ['Postgres', 'Spring Data R2dbc', 'Spring Data', 'Spring', 'R2dbc'] |
How Tech Experts Are Born at Alibaba | By Guo Yanming, nicknamed Wuxun at Alibaba.
When doing business, you need to work in a team, and in your team you need to work closely with other team members to define problems, achieve business goals and success, and increase your technical skills. At the same time, given that increasing numbers of frontend engineers are engaged in business R&D, team work and understanding business are two skills that are necessary for engineers to have in the new and evolving tech space. If you are pursuing a career that involves business development, then it is crucial for you to understand business and have these skills.
Today, as one of the leading technical experts at Alibaba, I will share thoughts about my experiences while working at Alibaba and discuss how I went from “just surviving” at work to becoming a full-blown technical expert. I hope that my story can inspire others who are still only just “surviving” at their positions, seeding the hope that they can seize the challenge to grow in their career.
In this post, I am going to summarize my past experiences and current situation by looking at three distinct stages of my past development, which I call the “survival”, “development”, and “refinement” stages. These stages are detailed in the infographic above.
Stage 1: Fighting for Survival
As one of the frontend engineers serving the front-line business operations at Alibaba, I quickly learned first hand that business support work accounts for about 50% to 60% of our KPIs. In the industry generally, the frontend often becomes a resource bottleneck for the entire business. If you are a frontend engineer, I am sure that you must have had experienced the exhaustion of often handling emergency-like scenarios online.
In my first year after joining the company, I mainly worked with Tmall Global, which happens to involve both platforms and self-operated business units. At that time, the import business of Tmall was still very much in its early stages of growth, and so competition was fierce. We often had to cope with two major changes each year, while still somehow taking care of our routine work. At the same time, we had to support five major promotions and some smaller promotions each year.
I remember that, for me, one of the busiest times was Double 11 in 2017. Faced with the major upgrades of the self-operated and platform businesses as well as the various needs of Double 11, we did not have any time to stop and think. But, after that time, I gained a deep appreciation of the importance of requirement management, time management, and how to avoid online problems. Here, I want to talk about how to break out of this state based on my own experience and the experience of my team.
Requirement Management
First, requirements can never be fully met, so there are always inevitable trade-offs. Therefore, we should always concentrate our manpower and energy on our core business requirements in order to maximize the value of our work. So, if your team is overwhelmed by a wide variety of dispersed requirements, you’ll need to take appropriate measures to manage those requirements:
Biweekly Scheduling Meetings
For example, you can convene a meeting involving your boss, PD, business colleagues, and development personnel every two weeks or so to review the progress of the project over the past two weeks and clarify any requirements that need to be dealt with next.
This will allow you to determine the priority of different requirements, decide which resources should be allocated for development, and what trade-offs should be made so that more energy and manpower can be focused on the most important business matters.
For example, if the business team is reliable or has major plans, they will generally break down their objective for the fiscal year into phased ones and determine the most important business efforts in the current year. Then, the technical personnel will make their arrangements based on this overall campaign strategy. As such, the business and technical teams will have clear and unified plans and objectives. For example, at Alibaba it’s a pretty typical situation for us to focus on various important efforts while also coping with routine requirements.
How to Reject One-Sentence Requirements
In essence, 80% of core requirements and priorities can be determined during the biweekly requirement scheduling meetings. However, business personnel and PDs will often ask you to take care of something that was not considered during the meetings. Such requirements are often stated in one or two vague sentences. For example, they may say something along the lines of “This product is terrible. I want to change the format from one-by-one to one-by-two”, or something like “I don’t like this icon or marketing slogan font. You should change it.”
The geek column written by Coolshell and Barret Lee’s blog have both talked about ways to reject these “one-sentence requirements.” Looking at their approaches and incorporating my own experience, I want to talk about three methods you can use to reject such requirements.
Keep Asking Why?
When you receive a one-sentence requirement, ask about the purpose and value of the requirement. Ask about the expected benefits and ask why this must be done to obtain these benefits. You don’t even need to ask these questions to the business team directly. In fact, you need to ask these questions to yourself. You need to ask if the business team’s objectives line up with the approach to solving this requirement. If the implementation approach is irrational or not the best plan, then you can know then that the requirement can be filtered out.
Proposing an Alternative Solution
After asking “why”, you can filter out unnecessary one-sentence requirements. Still, some of these requirements may have some value. However, the idea mentioned by the business team may not be an effective solution or involve high costs. In this case, you need to think about an alternative solution and try to meet the needs of the business team by using an existing solution or a more cost-effective solution. As such, you can provide a solution that satisfies that original requirement, while still having a means to reject impractical requirements indirectly.
When You Can’t Say No Directly
When you can’t say no, you can admit that the requirement is valid, but that you do not have the necessary time to address it at the moment. The key thing is that you cannot directly refuse the business team as this will make it harder to work with them in the future. You can say that you accept the requirement, but you will need more time or can only meet them halfway. Or, you can say that, if you have to address this requirement on their schedule, you cannot ensure the performance or quality of the project after it is launched. This will force the business team to consider the necessary trade-offs.
Improving Development Efficiency and Quality
Of course, requirement management is only one part of a technician’s job. It is also necessary to improve your development efficiency and quality. I think everyone has a deep understanding that we should try to minimize the amount of low-quality repetitive work we need to do. For example, you can improve your productivity and that of your team by developing unified technical systems and encapsulating reusable components and productivity tools. Even if you are busy, you must consider and perform these tasks. If you neglect them, this will only increase your workload down the road.
I want to avoid a misunderstanding here. I’m not encouraging everyone to reinvent the wheel. As a member serving the business team, I recommend that you focus on the rapid customization of existing technical solutions in your industry or group to meet your business needs. For example, we customized our own Magic Stone module for international projects with the help of Shuwen team’s Magic products to meet the needs of international marketing scenarios. At present, we have provided good solutions to similar module requirements in major promotions.
What’s more then? We must also focus on quality. It is necessary to take the time to identify the products and code that often cause online problems and redesign their solutions. During international work, I usually do this on the weekends. This restructuring allows us to completely solve problems so that we will not be overwhelmed with calls in the middle of the night for fixing these problems. The remaining methods and techniques are to increase quality assurance and the necessary online monitoring during the development process.
Focusing on Performance After Launch and Promptly Summarizing Results
Often, we tend to think that our job ends after the project is put online for testing, but this is a bad habit. Over time, we will be reduced to a project resource role in the eyes of our partners and become passive in solving problems. In fact, we should carefully analyze the business data and results after the launch and summarize our findings. In fact, doing exactly this provides the following benefits:
Improves Your Understanding of the Business
While paying attention to the business data, you will be able to adopt the critical business perspective and judge whether the value of a certain feature meets expectations. When a feature does not meet expectations, you can work with the business team to analyze the data funnel and find the problem. As such, the result of all our work does not become a one-off task, but rather something much more than that.
Summarizing the Results Can Help, Too
Summarizing the results can help you to identify your shortcomings in the project, discover problems that hinder the progress of the project, and learn how to do better in the future. This also improves the upgrade efficiency and quality of subsequent projects. For example, was rework required due to a failure to understand requirements? Or, did the project suffer from poor communication between team members or poor collaboration? And, last, was the solution you designed a rational, well thought out one? Asking yourself these questions will allow you to provide better solutions next time.
By looking at the data and summarizing the results, you can determine what types of requirements are reliable and what sort of business personnel are reliable. You can also identify the business personnel who always demand resources but do not produce good results after launch, so the next time they ask for something, we can be a bit more skeptical.
Thoughts
These are only some of my experiences for handling a spurt growth of business requirements. Generally speaking, although business support work accounts for most of our KPIs, we cannot lose ourselves in meeting such business requirements. We must set aside time to reflect on our experiences and proactively provide more suitable support for our business operations.
Stage 2: Searching for Ways to Develop
Of course, it is not enough to proactively support the business team. At the same time, you need to find ways to develop and grow personally. Let’s talk about this second stage, which I call “searching for ways to develop.”
In this stage, you will find that, although you can provide better support for business and take time to reflect on your work, it is difficult for you to identify the proper paths for personal improvement. In particular, every time you formulate and set out KPIs, you will find that, other than business support objectives, you do not know what to do. In my opinion, at the frontend of the business team, we should really try to consider things from two perspectives.
Business Empowerment Perspective
Business empowerment requires us to formulate technical plans and solutions that suit the business plans. Therefore, I suggest that, starting from the beginning of the fiscal year, you should talk with your boss, your business PD, and the business team in order to learn about the key focuses in the year’s business KPIs and the expected planning and implementation approaches. Moreover, consider what you can do to help the business team achieve its KPIs based on your own situation and the team situation. In fact, this is not a simple task. I am still trying to get better at it. I have two points I would like to share.
Grasping the Essence and Considering the Whole Picture
Many times, in fact most of the time, you may be presented with individual difficulties and business requirements. However, you should not focus on each issue in isolation, but you should consider them in an overall way. For example, SEO pages are very sensitive to performance. Business personnel often tell us that our SEO has problems that need to be fixed. However, solving these problems one by one may not benefit the business by that much of a margin whatsoever, nor will it help us improve our own skills. Instead, if you were to consider the full situation, the entire picture, you would be able to discover that the purpose of SEO page optimization is to improve the indexing and ranking of SEO pages.
To improve the indexing and ranking of SEO pages, we can do more than frontend performance optimization, for example, you could optimize the keywords and long-tail words, use Google’s AMP technology to improve SEO pages, reduce page crawling time, and improve the crawling rate. As such, you can extend from a specific point to a more high-level solution. This in turn can allow you to formulate more effective and comprehensive solutions to empower the business.
Making long-term Plans When Solving Difficulties
Most of the time, it is not enough to meet the KPIs placed in front of us. We also need to understand the long-term thinking and likely plans of the business team. For example, we are currently working on a very important project for Alibaba. The project deadline is very tight. The frontend needs to complete 300 man-days of work in only 48 business days, which is a risk in the project. The top priority of business and technology personnel is to ensure the project is launched on time. Common sense tells us that the objective of planning must be about how we can launch it on time. In the future, this project may also need to be implemented for other sites following this model. This means we also need to ensure that the technical solution can be replicated. A replicable solution will reduce the frontend work for new sites and help us quickly launch the project on international sites in a modular manner. This is a second dimension we need to consider. By looking at all the possible near- and long-term problems, we will see that what we actually have to do is to create a complete frontend solution for international sites. This shows that we must constantly explore and define problems and find appropriate solutions. In this way, we can find better ways to empower our business.
Technical Experience Perspective
The technical experience perspective is a familiar perspective for frontend personnel. In the business team, the frontend personnel can do more things, such as improving R&D efficiency, optimizing the performance experience, testing and implementing new technologies, and integrating technologies with terminals. If you want to pursue this direction, there are several things I think you should focus on.
Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
When you need to develop a product-based solution, a tool, or a framework, it is best to first conduct research within our own company and in the industry to see how your colleagues and peers have solved similar problems. Try to innovate or participate in co-construction by taking advantage of the work that has already been done by others so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. I recommend that you pay more attention to the plans and dynamics of the company’s frontend committee and pay more attention to the information shared within and outside the company. Then, participate in co-construction and sharing when you find projects you are interested in or when you address similar problems and scenarios.
Understand The Depth and Breadth of the Solution
In frontend performance optimization, we don’t talk much about common operations such as resource compression and combo requests. Instead, we look at deep optimizations highly integrated with the client, such as Tmall’s previous Webbased solution. This is an example of a deep solution. In the past, when I was working on Global Lite solutions for international performance optimization, I adopted a comprehensive perspective in my planning and thinking. This is an example of a broad solution. Therefore, the depth and breadth of a planned solution determine its potential benefits. I have a few ideas about how you can improve the depth and breadth of your solutions. First, go one step further. Think from the perspective of upstream and downstream teams and partners and work with other teams and roles to explore possible solutions. Second, think about the desired final result, that is, what the solution ultimately seeks to accomplish. Then, think about how to implement the solution given current conditions.
Focus on the Solution ROI
Consider the full costs and benefits of your solution. This gives you a way to assess its value. When assessing costs and benefits, you can look at costs in two ways. The first is our normal understanding of costs, which include the number of days of work and the funds expended. Another way to look at costs considers economic opportunity costs, which are the value given up by doing one thing as opposed to another. The benefits of a solution include how much it increases productivity, how much it improves business data, and how much it improves performance. I recommend using a comparative method to highlight the benefits.
Know What to Bring in and What to Give out
If you want to incorporate existing solutions and capabilities in order to drive further innovation and customization, then you should provide the results and solutions of your project so that others can build on them. For example, you can expand the solution to cover other industries and business units in the company, allowing them to solve similar problems. To do this, you can make your work open-source, apply for a patent, or participate more in information sharing within and outside the company.
Thoughts
Business empowerment and technical planning deserves ongoing exploration and practice. I recommend that you communicate more with your boss and experienced colleagues in your team. Generally, they have a lot of experience and can give advice to help you better think things through. And, in fact, sometimes these exchanges can be quite eye opening.
Stage 3: Refining Your Approach
Sometimes, when we find a new direction or opportunity, we may already have a general idea and plan in mind. At such a time, we may want to start going down this new path right away. The risk in doing this is that we may stray off course, resulting in a final outcome that is not satisfactory. Here, we need a set of theories and methods to ensure the accurate, complete, and high-level understanding of the problem. Are there any methods and procedures we can use? The answer is yes. The answer lies in developing a structured way of thinking and acting.
Structured Thinking
The first aspect of structured thinking is that you’ll need to establish core objectives. When facing a problem or a challenge, we need to establish core objectives. To give a simple example, if we have a slow project compilation speed during development, our objective can be defined as solving the project compilation problem. Of course, though, we can also go up a level and consider how to improve the efficiency of the entire development process. Now, our core objective is to improve the efficiency of the entire development process. In a word, we go up one more level so that we can increase the value of our work and expand the coverage of the problems to be solved.
Another thing you need to do is to break down broad objectives. Here, you can break down large and complex objectives into smaller objectives based on different scenarios and logical sequences such as time, structure, or degree. For example, if your objective is to improve development efficiency, you can break down this objective according to the development time sequence: local development and debugging > Joint debugging > Pre-release verification > Release and launch. Note that, for this sequence, the new sub-objectives after the breakdown should be mutually independent and complete.
Time sequence: You can break down an objective based on the procedures and processes for implementing it.
Structure sequence: You can break down an objective based on space, geographical location, and internal and external conditions.
Degree sequence: You can break down an objective based on your priorities.
Now, you’ll need to sort out the sub-objectives. You will never have enough manpower or capabilities to do everything you want to. Therefore, not all sub-objectives are worth pursuing at the current stage or if they involve high costs. We need to determine the most important sub-objectives.
Thoughts
I suggest that you read the book The Pyramid Principle, which I am currently studying myself, and other books about career development. In addition to technical knowledge, this will allow you to better understand thinking methods, project management, and interpersonal communication. Of course, books and articles only provide theoretical knowledge. You still need to put these ideas into practice at work to test their real value, which I am also working on now. I hope to share more experience with you in the future.
Original Source: | https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/how-tech-experts-are-born-at-alibaba-2f1359acd3f6 | ['Alibaba Cloud'] | 2020-03-18 10:48:12.531000+00:00 | ['Containers', 'Alibabacloud', 'Optimization', 'Debugging', 'Alibaba'] |
The Kansas-Nebraska Act as Cause of Civil War | By US gov (US gov) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was a huge catalyst in sending the nation to the Civil War. This act reversed the Missouri Compromise and allowed slavery in the remainder of the original areas of the Louisiana Purchase. The balance of power shifted in the government and across the land.
This one act was a political panic attack as many against the act felt that it would “allow slaveholders to dominate the new states of the West” opening the way for the Southern states to dominate the governing of the nation and “to make the North a permanent minority.” (1) Keep in mind that these were two different cultures living as one country. Neither one wanted the other to have control over their people.
Slavery Was Only Part of It
Slavery was only part of the issue. It came down to the two major regions of the nation and who would be in control. This fear of losing position in Congress began the creation of the Republican party. The act showed the possible shift in government majority. This helped to lead to the Civil War as it increased the tensions between the two areas and gave it more fuel to pour on the sputtering fire.
This one act brought old fears back to the surface and opened the door for more fuel that became readily available. It was even more powerful when it was pushed to have Kansas be admitted as a slave state despite the fact that “a clear majority” of those that lived in Kansas opposed slavery. (2) Common sense was less and less being applied as it became a pawn for power.
Impact of Dred Scott Case
From the Kansas-Nebraska Act, another can of fuel called the Dred Scott Decision was poured onto the fire. In 1857, a slave petitioned the courts for his freedom based on the fact that he lived in a territory for several years that did not allow slavery. The full extent of the slavery issue became evident as the Dred Scott decision went beyond saying Scott was still a slave.
The Supreme Court’s decision also announced that the “Missouri Compromise’s prohibition of slavery north of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes was unconstitutional.”(3) This meant that all the laws prohibiting slavery in the territories were unconstitutional. The question of Congress’ power came into play. It was more fire as the fear of loss of power again consumed the political leaders and their constituents. Tensions between the North and South were growing.
Unsatisfactory Election
The election of 1860 of Abraham Lincoln to the office of the President of the United States was the final straw for the South. Though Lincoln was willing to compromise with the South, many Northerners refused to go along with him and many Southerners refused to accept it. Many on both sides wanted all or nothing. (4)
War was inevitable when neither side is fully willing to work with the other side for peace. State by state appeared to fall under Northern power giving an increase in the “anti-southern tone of the northern Democrats”. (5)
South Could Not Be Pacified
The slavery extension issue that flared up during the Kansas-Nebraska Act was the foul taste in both sides’ mouths. Neither side believed the other side nor trusted it. The moderate view of Lincoln was not believed by a vast majority in the South. (6) With the change in the northern Democrats view on their fellow Democrats in the South, this was understandable. As time went on, the South began to feel as though it was victimized. They saw the government in the hands of Republicans as an administration with the mission to implement the “radicals’ program of indirect action against slavery” as well as fear of Lincoln appealing to those in the South that were not slaveholders, mainly the poor white man. (7)
No amount of reassurance from Lincoln was going to satisfy the South. They could not see how anything good was going to come from any Northerner in office whether he was Republican or Democrat. It was the final act in the North versus South drama.
Bibliography
(1) Eric Foner, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men : The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War with a New Introductory Essay, (Cary: Oxford University Press, 1995), 105.
(2) Ibid, 121.
(3) Ibid, 119.
(4) Ibid, 267.
(5) Ibid, 361.
(6) Ibid, 360.
(7) Ibid, 361. | https://medium.com/renaissance-men-and-women/the-kansas-nebraska-act-as-cause-of-civil-war-3e6108314f7b | ['Rebecca Graf'] | 2018-08-29 13:55:40.534000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Civil War', 'American History'] |
The Blue Jay | The Blue Jay
Photo by Johnson Chung on Unsplash
I have my own internal beat,
I feel a rhythm,
it’s like a song
— a pattern, pulse, a tempo.
I remind myself of moments,
the blue jay who landed only yesterday,
to say hello and tell me,
nature has its own healing way,
to brighten the soul,
delight,
take flight.
So thank you to the blue jay,
God shines His light on all. | https://medium.com/illumination-curated/the-blue-jay-b3a271450b72 | ['Amy Pierovich'] | 2020-12-21 15:59:58.019000+00:00 | ['Nature', 'Soul', 'God', 'Poetry', 'Blue Jay'] |
ACCENTURE (NYSE: ACN) LATEST Q1 FY 2021 EARNINGS CALL — HIGHLIGHTS | ACCENTURE (NYSE: ACN) LATEST Q1 FY 2021 EARNINGS CALL — HIGHLIGHTS
Accenture Reports Very Strong First-Quarter Results and Raises Business Outlook for Fiscal 2021
Revenues are $11.8 billion, an increase of 4% in U.S. dollars and 2% in local currency
GAAP EPS are $2.32, an 11% increase from $2.09 for the first quarter last year Adjusted EPS of $2.17 are up 8% from $2.01
Operating income increases 7% to $1.89 billion, with operating margin of 16.1%, an expansion of 50 basis points
New bookings are $12.9 billion, a 25% increase from the first quarter last year, with consulting bookings of $6.6 billion and outsourcing bookings of $6.3 billion
Company declares quarterly cash dividend of $0.88 per share, up 10% from a year ago
Accenture raises business outlook for fiscal 2021; now expects full-year revenue growth of 4% to 6% in local currency; GAAP EPS of $8.17 to $8.40; adjusted EPS of $8.02 to $8.25; and free cash flow of $6.0 billion to $6.5 billion. | https://medium.com/@fintechbytes/accenture-nyse-acn-latest-q1-fy-2021-earnings-call-highlights-707dd801451f | ['Fintechbytes Co'] | 2020-12-17 21:01:24.889000+00:00 | ['Accenture', 'Stock Market', 'Money', 'Stocks', 'Finance'] |
The First 60 Days | “What is your vision?”
Since I joined IBM as General Manager, Design almost two months ago, I’ve heard this question over and over. From the dozens of designers I met in Austin my first week. From participants in the all-hands meetings at which I’ve spoken. From a producer with the CBS show we sponsor, “America By Design,” and most recently, the Fortune reporter who interviewed Phil Gilbert and me for a story about the past, present, and future of design at IBM.
Week 1 at IBM — photo from fireside chat in Austin, TX with IBM’s Inhi Cho Suh and Phil Gilbert.
My answer, in one form or another: “I don’t know yet. I’m in listening mode.”
I know…Not a very satisfying answer. But it would be pure arrogance to march in as The New Kid and declare that I know what needs to be done without doing my homework. After all, IBM has a rich, textured, 100+ year history of design and innovation which I’m still learning about. Moreover, I’ve worked with dozens of companies as a consultant and in-house design leader, and I can assure you there’s no single template for how to do this right. IBM is a pioneer in enterprise design with one of the largest design practices in the world, and we will continue to chart our own path.
Having a vision starts with having clear values. So let’s start there:
“What are your values?”
I value authenticity, trust, and humility. These things go together, and lay the groundwork for innovation.
We must be able to come together, from diverse backgrounds, and feel we can be our authentic selves in order to fully engage with each other and build trust. We must have a baseline of trust in order to have hard conversations, share risky ideas, and challenge ourselves and each other. We must have humility to truly listen to each other and to our customers.
I believe good ideas can come from anywhere, at any level of the corporate hierarchy and any discipline, but we won’t hear the ideas if we aren’t willing to listen. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard great ideas that started with “This might be a crazy/dumb/wild idea but…” We only hear those ideas because it feels safe enough to share them.
These values are a compass for me in how I show up as a leader.
Now let’s tweak the question a bit further:
“What are you focused on?”
This I can answer in a little more depth. Here’s how I see the challenge ahead, what I’m doing, and the questions I’m asking.
THE CHALLENGE
The challenge in 2013 was very clear: to build a sustainable culture of design and design thinking throughout IBM. It took eight years, but with Phil and his team leading the way, we did it.
We hired hundreds of designers. We built a beautiful flagship studio in Austin that practically begs people to work more collaboratively. And then we planted the seed for similar studios all over the world. We created the enterprise design thinking framework to scale our human-centered work and trained hundreds of thousands of people inside and outside the company. We helped our senior executives understand that design is not just how things look and feel. It’s how they work. It’s how we create strategic value for the business. We built a thriving practice of approximately 3,000 designers and design leaders who are now embedded in every part of the company. This program was written up in Forrester Research and Harvard Business School as a model for innovation. We put design back on the map at IBM, and put IBM back on the map for the design industry.
2021: Put design to its highest and best use
Now our job is different. We’re not building from scratch. We have an incredible asset, and our job is to make sure we are putting it to its Highest and Best Use.
Highest and Best Use is a concept coined by economists in the 1800s. Today you hear real estate developers use this term to talk about getting the most value from an asset — in real estate, this means a piece of property.
Our “asset” at IBM is our design practice – our talent, our culture, our approach to design. The big challenge for us now is this: How might we position design to solve the right problems for our customers, and solve them well? If we put design to its Highest and Best Use, we will catalyze IBM’s transition to reestablishing itself as a Product Company, and the global leader in Hybrid Cloud and AI.
WHAT I’M DOING
I’m approaching this challenge exactly the way I would approach any new design project. Only in this case, rather than designing a piece of software or a branded event, we’re designing design itself. It starts with the loop.
Image of IBM Enterprise Design Thinking Loop
Observe
The left side of our Enterprise Design Thinking loop is called “Observe.” This is where I’m spending most of my time right now. My job is to learn everything I can about where and how design is happening around the company, what is working, and what can be improved.
I’ve set up one-on-one meetings with more than 50 designers and design leaders, GMs, SVPs, and of course, Arvind, to understand what they need from design and how it’s working today. I’m setting up Round Tables with design leaders (and one focused solely on research) to have a group discussion about the current state of design. I’m participating in product reviews and readouts from all our core design programs — including the Carbon design system, our Accessibility program, Racial Equity in Design, and our work on education and designer careers. My team is doing a review of past surveys of our design community and may put together another one to fill the gaps in our knowledge. And as a big believer in learning by doing, I’m proud to say that I just earned my first IBM Enterprise Design Thinking Badge (Practitioner Level).
Along the way, I’m getting help and guidance from many generous and knowledgeable tour guides including Doug Powell and his entire team who know just about everything there is to know about design at IBM, LaNeise Boyd who has helped me navigate the labyrinth of people and process at IBM, and Arin Bhowmick and his team who have welcomed me to their design reviews and shown patience as I ask lots of newbie questions about what they’re working on.
Reflect
In between the learning and listening, I’m looking for themes.
· How is design working with key partners such as those in product and engineering?
· Do we have the right number of designers and design executives, and how do we know?
· How are we leveraging our vast knowledge of customers, and sharing it with stakeholders within and outside of design?
· How is this knowledge shaping decisions about what deals we pursue, and what gets roadmapped?
· Is design empowered to not only design the thing right (right side of the loop), but also design the right thing (left side of the loop)?
· Where are the bright spots, where we can amplify exceptional work happening in one group to other parts of the company?
· How might we make our business stronger while adhering to our values about fairness, equity, and the social good?
Make
I’ve set myself and my team a deadline for January 2022 to present the first version of our Vision for Design @ IBM. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, I would love to hear your thoughts here in the comments on what we can do to put design to its Highest and Best Use. IBMers, you can also message me directly on Slack. | https://medium.com/design-ibm/the-first-60-days-d9090bfa214b | ['Katrina Alcorn'] | 2021-09-15 17:13:27.587000+00:00 | ['Design Thinking', 'Design', 'Leadership', 'IBM'] |
Your friendly neighborhood: TPHG | Hi. We’re not new to the real estate game, but we may be new to you. It’s a family atmosphere here and we want to introduce ourselves. We’re looking forward to the opportunity to know you and yours, too. Thompson Premier Homes Group is a DC/M real estate investment firm and we’ve got something to prove.
Dawn, Crystin, Alexes, and Eboneese
a note from the writer: I’m Rebecca, the real person behind the brand voice for TPHG. I’m a brand developer, copywriter, and marketing person. We’re using this platform to tell the stories that need to be told along the way about our brand journey, as well as the art (and the agony) of building a business from scratch.
I’ll be crafting powerful narratives around the ideas of community building, financial prosperity, home security, and the idea that real estate is the key to “adulting”…. and true social equality. We’ll also peek behind the curtain on entrepreneurship and show you how, for-real-for-real, for even the most successful real estate agents in a thriving housing market, “the struggle is real.” Finally, you’ll see DC from the eyes of natives, exploring walkable neighborhoods and celebrating ownership stakes in the place TPHG calls home.
Thompson Premier Homes Group is Black-owned, woman-owned, and woman-run — and these ladies have big dreams, for themselves and for their clients.
It is my sincere hope that their stories inspire women everywhere to live an active and engaged life as CEO of their own household and steward of their family legacy.
Questions? Concerns? Comments? Say so in the comments. You will get an engaged response. Go ahead, spark a conversation! Cheers, Rebecca
Eboneese Thompson
Eboneese Thompson, founder and principal
Eboneese is a native Washingtonian with big dreams and bold vision for creating a new kind of Real Estate team. She knew she needed strong Black women with a variety of skill sets and life/work experiences to round out her rockstar team. And so, Thompson Premier Homes Group (TPHG) was born. Eboneese loves to leverage her own personal tragedies and triumphs to create real connections with her clients. Her big picture thinking and seasoned business acumen help her to build the kind of relationships that last well beyond the real estate transaction. She’s on a mission to help safe and sustainable walkable neighborhoods for the communities she cares about get built… and she hopes to tell you all about it one day from the cover of Forbes magazine.
Alexes Haggins
Alexes Haggins, co-founder and managing partner
Alexes Haggins has something to prove. She wants every single mother, widow, and fledgeling head-of-household to know that it is never too late — or too hard — to reinvent yourself. For this native Washingtonian, reinventing herself as a real estate agent was the key to a quality of life and a freedom she once could never imagine. Now, she’s well situated to be the breadwinner in her family of five. She’s a roll-up-your-sleeves and get-it-done type, ready to dive in to assist on even the heaviest lift that can get a well-deserving person the keys to home security and on their way to building equity and feeling like the CEO of their own life.
Dawn Myles
Dawn Myles, real estate investment coach
Dawn doesn’t just talk the talk; she’s walked the walk. She is a legacy builder, along with her father and her grandfather, in homeownership and investment properties. She understands the value of nurturing intergenerational wealth and she is on target to help hundreds of families begin the kind of investing that grows over many lifetimes. Dawn brings her tenacity and her quick-thinking problem-solving to the table to make things happen for her people. After all, she has a reputation to uphold — as a woman who gets deals done and a person of integrity/honor whose word is bond.
Crystin Eman X, real estate investment coach
Crystin Eman X, real estate investment coach
Crystin wears her “youngest of the bunch” badge with honor; she knows it’s her secret weapon in becoming THE real estate agent for millennials, young people, and first-time buyers. She pairs her tenacity with an entrepreneurial spirit in ways that are inspiring….and irresistible. Crystin is continuously striving to learn, experience, and be as much as she can be, living her best life in a diverse and thriving city like Washington, DC — and she wants you to have those same, fabulous opportunities. She’s all about investing in “the real Washington,” walkable neighborhoods on the rise that will be sure to blossom when a new class of real estate agents like herself tip the scales on homeownership and help renters-become-owners, earning a voice in the future of their own communities.
Thanks for taking the time to get to know us. If anything you’ve read here to today compels you to conversation, use the comments. We’d love to hear from you. | https://medium.com/@tphgsellsdc/your-friendly-neighborhood-tphg-247b01f1d8bf | ['Your Friendly', 'Neighborhood Marketing Person'] | 2020-12-13 20:53:04.265000+00:00 | ['Equity', 'Dc Living', 'Real Estate News', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Blackexcellency'] |
Classification of hotel | Classification of hotel
Hotel can be classified under the following criteria -
Based on locational point of view:
1. City Hotel (Downtown Hotel or Commercial hotel):
This type of hotel is situated on the heart of the city within a short approachable distance from shopping areas, theater, super market etc. The guests are general businessmen who come for business purpose for 1 to 2 days. The constructional pattern of the hotel is generally match box construction. Example: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas
They are situated in the suburban areas away from the hustle bustle of the city amidst of peaceful and serine environment. The guests are generally old aged people who stay for a month or more. The staffs also are generally old aged. This type of hotel provides kitchenette facility.
3. Resort Hotel:
They are situated near hill station, sea beaches, wild life sanctuary of forest, pilgrimage centers etc. the guests are generally holiday makers and their duration of stay extend from week to fort night. Resort hotels are generally spread over a large area. This hotel provides recreational facilities.
4. Motel:
They are situated on the side of highways. They generally cater to travelers on road. Extra facilities offered by these hotels are fuel-station, car-parking and garage. Example: Tim Ross’s retro motels of Australia
5. Floatel:
They are hotels that float on sea. They are stationery in nature and have no permanent connection with the main land. Example: Catamarans in Serbia
6. Boatel:
Botels are hotels on the boat found moving around on lakes. Examples: Shikara on Dal lake in Kashmir.
7. Roatel:
Roatels are rotating hotels, which can be five categorized hotel. Example: The Palace On Wheels.
8. Lotel:
Lotels are hotels that offer helipad facility.
9. Novotel:
Novotels are hotels that offer five star facilities on service at an economical price. Example: Novotel Kuala Lumpur City Centre, Jalan Kia Peng
10. Mattel:
Mattel are hotels, which has very less manpower and are controlled by sophisticated technological equipment.
Based on size of the hotel:
Hotels can be categorized according to its size also. Hotels that have rooms up to 25 are known as “Small Hotel”. “Medium Hotel” has 25 to 100 rooms. Containing more than 100 rooms hotels are known as “Large Hotel”
Based on the length of guest stay:
Hotel, where the guest checks in for a day or less are known as “Transit Hotel”. Where the guest checks in for a month or more are known as “Residential Hotel”. “Transient Hotel” is an incorporated feature of both “Transit Hotel” and “Residential Hotel”.
Based on the facilities offered:
Hotel can be rated from 1 star to 5 star categorization on the basis of the facilities that offered by the hotel. In India the body HRACC (Hotel & Restaurant Approval and Classification Committee, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. MINISTRY OF TOURISM.) grades the hotel from 1 star to 5 star super deluxe. A typical 5 star hotel offers centrally air-condition rooms and outlets and public areas, swimming pools, recreational facilities, gymnasium, wall to wall carpet in the room, mini-bar facility in the room, bathtub in bathroom, multi-cuisine restaurant, coffee shop, bar etc. | https://medium.com/@royonly/classification-of-hotel-bb1d4ed9960b | ['Dibyendu Roy'] | 2020-09-08 07:53:38.841000+00:00 | ['Hotel', 'Classification', 'Motel', 'Hospitality Industry'] |
5 Referral Strategies You’ll Want to Copy | 5 Referral Strategies You’ll Want to Copy
Welcome to a rousing Medium blog by Kick Ecosystem. We’re all about the KickRef today. We think it’s a blockbuster. In this issue, our team wants to talk about smart ways to get your friends on board to start earning crypto together! Kick Ecosystem OFFICIAL Nov 15, 2019·4 min read
Good day everyone,
Welcome to a rousing Medium blog by Kick Ecosystem. We’re all about the KickRef today. We think it’s a blockbuster. In this issue, our team wants to talk about smart ways to get your friends on board to start earning crypto together!
Here goes:
#1 Strategy STOP CALLING THEM REFERRALS
Trust us. Nobody likes this term. Better to refer to referrals as project partners or an ambassador. We think it sounds more respectful and is a true definition of the task at hand — they are partners, helping you grow your network of users. These people will bring you money! We designed KickRef with that in mind: generously rewarding your invitees to grow a business. Invite away!
#2 Strategy OVERCOME YOUR FEAR OF ASKING
You’re not alone in being afraid to ask for introductions. Everyone in sales has been there. There is no easy way around this and you will definitely need that “just do it” mindset. Fear of asking for introductions is a major opportunity loss. Think about it this way: You will never lose money by asking people to join your affiliate network, but you never know how much you will lose by not asking at all. Most of the people you will be asking to join won’t know you personally, are not part of your circle of best friends, so their rejection is personal. Challenge yourself today to make the art of asking for referrals a part of growing your network and business in the future (if you already don’t have one). Consistent asking can turn your database, online affiliations, and influential partnerships into a marketing dream team. Just do it!
#3 Strategy LEVERAGE YOUR ENTIRE NETWORK BUT BE SPECIFIC
Let’s face it: nobody likes getting bombarded with messages in a group chat about buying tokens of a startup they have no relationship with or never heard of. Our advice is to be more personal at first. This is a great chance for you to get familiar with KICK’s product lines and strengthen your connections. Send direct emails or direct messages. Do not forget to use a person’s name in the message. Take the time to do at least that. If you know something about the person — like you know they have invested in a certain project, mention that if it is relevant to KICK, for example. By doing that, you rise about the spam they are likely receiving every day about crypto.
#4 Strategy INVITE INFLUENCERS TO JOIN YOUR REFERRAL PROGRAM
So you have a popular friend, or maybe a favourite blogger or a reporter in the crypto space? If you do, consider inviting them to your network and potentially multiply your earnings. Influencers are people who have amassed a decent-sized audience on social media (a few thousand, at least) and thus can have an impact on your referral network if they tell their audience about you. Influencers are everywhere — Youtube, Twitter, Instagram. Imagine, if only your influencer-friend helps you get on board 10 active traders, who pay $1000 in fees combined…your passive income would be $1500 per month from them alone.
Strategy #5 THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA SHARING
According to Fame Mass, the global average time spent on social networks and messaging per day is 2:23 minutes in 2019! This could only mean that people regularly check for updates on social media, so we wanted to share some small tips on how to create appealing posts and invite friends to KickRef.
Mention @KickEcosystem and @KickEXcom Use appropriate hashtags #bonus #reward #crypto #trading Use a visual GIF component & be fun if you can Use some emojis 💸💰🔥 For greater appearance include your referral link in your bio
The KICK Team included some referral templates for sharing on social media, so you don’t have to rack your brains to come up with ‘a brilliant referral message’. See our suggested guidelines on how to wow your friends: just copy and paste to share within your network. Find these templates once you log in to KickRef.
Why do we refer to KickEX Exchange via KickRef?
The KickRef program is super simple. It’s a no brainer to understand the mechanism. The program is so clear that even a 10-year old could participate!
KickRef gives you a unique opportunity to make money without trading, as you get rewarded each time referral in your network makes a trade on the KickEX exchange. It is also beneficial for the early-birds on the exchange. If you invite users to KickEX Exchange before the launch, then as a bonus for early participation all the direct users (1st level referrals) will earn double the referral reward in the first year of trading.
What do you think is the hardest part of getting more partners on board? Please let us know here in our group chats, and share what you learned from your experience. If you’re a newcomer to all of this, we hope this gave you a clue about what’s in store. Feel free to post questions and comments. We’ll try to answer your questions soonest!
Sincerely yours,
Kick Ecosystem Team
Telegram Chat
Twitter
Subreddit | https://medium.com/@kickecosystem/5-referral-strategies-youll-want-to-copy-4031015ce759 | ['Kick Ecosystem Official'] | 2019-11-15 13:42:46.467000+00:00 | ['MLM', 'Referral Marketing', 'Strategy', 'Exchange', 'Startup'] |
Volume Forecasting and Anomaly Detection using Fbprophet | A practical implementation of time series analysis using facebook’s opensource library fbprophet
This article is a follow-up of one of my earlier article Time Series Analysis — A Beginners Guide. If you are new to time series, I strongly recommend you to read through that article before this implementation example.
Installing fbprophet
I always like to have a different environment setup for each suite of projects. So go ahead and use the below commands to setup a new environment and install software's via anaconda prompt. Once the software’s are installed, open up the jupyter notebook and we are ready to go.
conda create -n time-series python==3.6.9
conda activate time-series pip install jupyter
pip install pandas
pip install matplotlib
pip install seaborn ### Installing fbprophet
pip install pystan
conda install -c conda-forge fbprophet ### open jupyter notebook
jupyter notebook
Data set
The data set consists of sales data for the past 6 months. Given this data set, we have the task to forecast the sales for the next one month. I am not sharing the data set. But its pretty simple to create one I believe OR download from Kaggle.com. Here is the sample data set:
Sales Data Set
Loading the data set and EDA
Create a new python 3 notebook and import the required libraries.
import pandas as pd
from pandas.plotting import autocorrelation_plot
from fbprophet import Prophet
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
%matplotlib inline #NOTE: Once you execute for the first time, you might get warning related to ploty, but execute again and the warning will disappear.
Next step is to load the data set and do exploratory data analysis (EDA) to fix any issues in the data. Note that I have intentionally taken a clean dataset so I don’t have to do much corrections. Since, EDA is not the key intention of this post.
df = pd.read_csv('sales-data.csv') # The Date column is not sorted in my case
df.head() #Plot the sales data to visualize
df.plot() # Date column needs to be explicitly defined as datetime
df.columns # No null values detected
df.isnull().sum() df['Date'] = pd.to_datetime(df['Date'])
df.sort_values('Date', inplace=True) #reset the index values post sorting
df.reset_index(drop=True, inplace=True)
White Noise Detection
Now that we have cleaned up the data set, The next step is to find out if the data set is suited for time series analysis OR not. If there is white noise, it is definitely best to stop here. You can refer to article white-noise-time-series-python to know more on how to detect white noise. The below code lines show steps I followed to detect the white noise
### WHITE NOISE DETECTION # check the data set stats
df.describe() #Split the data set into 4 chunks, create a different data frame with mean and standard deviation of each data frame. Now plot to see if the is difference in mean and std. df_split = np.array_split(df, 4)
### We can see that mean is not constant and its fluctuating
df_stats = pd.DataFrame(np.array([[df['Sales'].mean(), df['Sales'].std()],
[df_split[0]['Sales'].mean(), df_split[0]['Sales'].std()],
[df_split[1]['Sales'].mean(), df_split[1]['Sales'].std()],
[df_split[2]['Sales'].mean(), df_split[2]['Sales'].std()],
[df_split[3]['Sales'].mean(), df_split[3]['Sales'].std()]]),
columns=['mean', 'std']) df_stats.plot()
Below is the graph which shows that mean is not constant.
Mean and Standard deviation
Lets now use some plots to identify if the distribution is random. We can also plot a histogram to confirm if its distribution is Gaussian.
# Plotting it just for 1st month as I see similar pattern across. Avoids clutter
df['Sales'][:30].plot()
df['Sales'][:30].hist()
Below are the two graphs.
It does look like the volumes are high on couple of days of the week. Also weekend volumes seems to be much lower. The histogram doesn’t show a Gaussian distribution. We are good so far.
The next step is to find out auto-correlation. If auto-correlation suggests, previous data impacts the next day’s data, we can go ahead.
autocorrelation_plot(df['Sales'])
and below is the correlogram depiction showing the relation. As you can see, the distribution does indicate there is correlation with previous data. Sine waves like these seen in this example are a strong sign of seasonality in the dataset.
Auto-Correlation
With all this information, we are now good to proceed as our data is not white noise. Note that we need not worry about data being stationary, fbprophet can handle this kind of data.
Modelling
Data modeling is an important step. The different stages involved are:
Column renaming — fbprophet expects the column names to be ‘ds’ and ‘y’ Initializing the model Creating future dates Making predictions
The code to do all this is below:
df.columns=['ds', 'y'] # Initialize the model. fbprophet automatically detects its weekly seasonal. Note that model initialization may take time depending on data set size. model = Prophet()
model.fit(df) #Run the below statement to know more on seasonality, period and mode.
model.seasonalities # Create future dates of 30 days
future_dates = model.make_future_dataframe(periods=30) #predict for future dates
prediction=model.predict(future_dates)
prediction.head()
prediction[['ds', 'yhat', 'yhat_lower', 'yhat_upper']] # plot predicted projection
model.plot(prediction)
Within predictions, you will get multiple columns. But we are interested in mainly three of them
yhat — The predicted value for that date yhat_upper — Upper bound value. Maximum volume of sales we expect on that date yhat_lower — Lower bound value. Minimum volume of sales we expect on that date
Its also important to understand the prediction plotted by last statement. Its explained below. The first one shows it for the full data set. The next one, is with lesser date range, I used to clearly show how to read this graph.
Cut down version of the data set
As you can see, most of the points lie within the range of yhat_lower and yhat_upper. Definitely there are some outliers, but for most of the data set the prediction seems to be satisfactory.
Anomaly Detection
The outliers in the data set tell us that something isn’t right on those days. These are the data points we should be worried about. Once we have the forecasting in place, We can use these forecast values of yhat_upper and yhat_lower as upper bound and lower bound values for future sales. If the values are not within the range on any given day, its a sign of warning that something isn’t right.
Its important to note that while Anomalous data can indicate software issues, critical incidents, etc., it may also be potential opportunities for instance a change in consumer behavior. So any deviation needs to be carefully studied and findings case differ on a case-to-case basis.
Cross Validation
Cross validation in time series works slightly different. The cross validation is to measure forecast error using historical data. The input to the cross validation is the model we built and below important parameters
initial — how many days of data to consider for training for the purpose of cross validation period — The spacing between cut-off dates horizon — The forecast horizon.
By default, the initial training period is set to three times the horizon, and cutoffs are made every half a horizon.
Below we do cross-validation to measure prediction performance on a horizon of 14 days, starting with 42 days of training data in the first cutoff and then making predictions every 21 days. This brings out 6 total forecasts.
from fbprophet.diagnostics import cross_validation df_cv = cross_validation(model, initial='42 days', period='21 days', horizon = '14 days') df_cv
Cross Validation Data
As you can see, most of the time, actual value of y is within lower and upper bound and many cases, predicted value yhat is much closer to actual value y.
We can also see the performance metrics and plot them to understand how our model performed.
from fbprophet.diagnostics import performance_metrics
df_p = performance_metrics(df_cv)
df_p.head() #plot the root mean squared error metrics
from fbprophet.plot import plot_cross_validation_metric
fig = plot_cross_validation_metric(df_cv, metric='rmse')
I found this library pretty useful and much more simpler that other forecasting libraries. Do check this out and let me know what you think about it. The document is shared by facebook is also useful. You can refer it with this link https://facebook.github.io/prophet/docs/quick_start.html. | https://medium.com/geekculture/volume-forecasting-and-anomaly-detection-using-fbprophet-c1b64992730 | ['Srinivas Kulkarni'] | 2021-04-16 00:17:49.370000+00:00 | ['Time Series Analysis', 'Volume Forecasting', 'Anomaly Detection', 'Forecasting', 'Time Series Forecasting'] |
How to grow my instagram account | How to grow my instagram account
How to Get More Followers on Instagram:
Today Instagram has established himself as one of the most used social media and many people are using it to make a revenue with it, it can rise to 10.000$ per post or story it depends the category and the number of followers
Instagram can be a highly targeted, visual marketing platform for your brand, as well as a way to establish a loyal following that grows with your company.
In reality, Instagram has over 500 million daily users, making it one of the most popular social media platforms in the world.
However, much like any other social media platform, there are proper, improper, and creative methods to use your Instagram account.
We’ll show you how to increase your Instagram followers and likes over time in this post.Instagram can be a highly targeted, visual marketing platform for your brand, as well as a way to establish a loyal following that grows with your company.
In reality, Instagram has over 500 million daily users, making it one of the most popular social media platforms in the world.
However, much like any other social media platform, there are proper, improper, and creative methods to use your Instagram account.
I’ll show you how to increase your Instagram followers and likes over time in this post.
There are 15 strategies that will help you learn how to gain more Instagram followers quickly and over time:
1. Use the right hashtags
Your objective is to engage your present audience on a regular basis while also growing your Instagram following. The first condition can be met by posting new, intriguing, and engaging photographs, but hashtagging your photos will help you expand quickly. Hashtagging allows users looking for specific terms to quickly locate your photos.
So, how do you choose which hashtags to use? Users on Instagram, as on Twitter and other social media platforms, prefer certain hashtags over others. You’re significantly more likely to reach new users and be noticed if you include popular Instagram hashtags in your images.
You’ll need to identify and use the most relevant hashtags if you want to correctly tag your photos. This entails conducting thorough research to ensure that you’re choosing hashtags that not only define your business but are also popular on Instagram.
To begin, use a free online tool like IconoSquare or Webstagram to locate relevant hashtags.
2. Use the right filters
You should pay attention to more than just keyword hashtags. Certain photo filters are more popular among Instagram users than others. Your engagement may be affected if you use these preferred filters.
3. Post at the right times
To gain more Instagram followers, you should think about the timing of your posts in addition to employing the right hashtags and filters.
A focused strategy entails examining what has and has not worked in the past for you. You may get a full analysis of your posting history vs. engagement by going to IconoSquare’s optimization area.
According to some experts the best times to post on instagram would be:
Monday from 7pm to 10pm
wednesday 5pm
Thursday and friday at 1am
This time is in Europe time
4. Steal your competitors’ followers
Visiting your closest competitors’ Instagram accounts and connecting with their audiences is one of the finest strategies to find and acquire new followers. Simply by following your competitors, these folks have already expressed an interest in the things you sell.
So, how can you efficiently steal the followers of your competitors? By talking to them. You may communicate with Instagram users in a variety of ways, and the more effort you put in, the more followers and repeat engagement you’ll get.
5. Pay for sponsored posts and product reviews
All of this customized account posting is wonderful, but if you truly want to know how to get more Instagram followers quickly, you need use influencer marketing to expose your company to a larger audience.
Visit this article for more easy ways to grow your Instagram account | https://medium.com/@christopheRibos/how-to-grow-my-instagram-account-f7cc18f9c162 | ['Christophe Ribos'] | 2021-12-25 13:10:58.258000+00:00 | ['Business', 'Followers', 'Instagram Marketing', 'Social Media', 'Instagram'] |
Supercharge Your Agile UX Research with Informal Cognitive Walkthroughs | Supercharge Your Agile UX Research with Informal Cognitive Walkthroughs
Part two: The External User Review
The Informal Cognitive Walkthrough is an Agile research method
This is a two-part series on the Informal Cognitive Walkthrough (ICW), an Agile research method. To most quickly identify and address the majority of usability problems in your designs, see Part one on the Internal Product Team Review.
In the second phase of the ICW, we gain real-world context through an External User Review: a method that combines multiple parallel one-on-one observation sessions with focus group discussions. For the External User Review, we typically bring in five users per session and set up two back-to-back lab sessions — allowing us to talk to 10 customers in a single day.
To define the External User Review method, members of the Microsoft Intune team and I modified the Pluralistic Walkthrough, a usability testing method that involves adding representative users as participants in the cognitive walkthrough. Our approach differs from the traditional method most notably in the roles the product team members and usability experts play:
1. Because we always precede this session with an Internal Product Team Review, the feedback from the product team members and usability experts has already been integrated in the artifacts presented to the users. Thus, the External User Review focuses solely on learning from our study participants.
2. To run 5 one-on-one sessions in parallel, each participant is paired up with a product team member. Each pair runs through the major sections in the study at their own pace. This allows them to traverse the designs as they wish, as opposed to working from printed task scenarios (as is common in the Pluralistic Walkthrough) — which provides more natural feedback.
3. Our note-taking structure and group discussion method (described below) eliminate the need for post-session data analysis. They also guard against stakeholders overgeneralizing one or two points of view.
How to conduct the External User Review
By this point, you’ve identified the five product team members who will be pairing up with participants. The rest will sit behind the one-way mirror (or watch remotely).
1. Product team prep on study day
a. The researcher reminds the product team members that their primary job is to listen/observe and take notes. Next, walk through the discussion guide, so everyone knows their tasks and specific areas to focus on. Notetakers then go to their station within a usability lab. (There should be five stations with two people each.)
b. The researcher brings the participants into the lab and pairs them with the product team members who are already in the room. They then kick off the session with a quick round of introductions.
2. Run the 5 one-on-one observation sessions in parallel
a. Broken into the five individual pairs, participants think out loud as they complete the first set of tasks. Interviewers jot down their observations in a template prepared in advance.
b. After completing each task, the participants write down what they liked and didn’t like about the experience, and provide subjective experience ratings.
3. Transition to group discussion
a. After each main study section, the researcher asks participants to share their feedback out loud.
b. The researcher notes these pros and cons to the group, preferably on a whiteboard. The researcher then tallies how many users experienced each of the items listed. These notes become the working draft of the preliminary study report.
4. Repeat steps 2–3 as scheduled
a. For each one and a half-hour session, there is room for two or three larger end-to-end topics. Repeat steps 2–3 for each topic.
5. Post-session debriefs
a. Once the participants leave, the product team and researchers meet for 30 minutes to discuss insights from the session, and recommendations for next steps. These notes are added to the preliminary report.
b. When there are obvious problems to address, the designated team members make those changes. There are two hours in between sessions for design iterations.
6. Report on study insights
a. The researcher cleans up the notes from the day’s sessions, surfacing insights and recommendations in the preliminary report.
b. The researcher leads an hour-long presentation of the preliminary results the next day, and the team agrees on action items/next steps.
c. The researcher adds more context about the study (e.g., details about the methodology) and shares it with the broader team as a final report.
A note for our current COVID-19 situation
Instead of in-person lab study sessions, the same method can be run with remote moderated technologies (using software such as UserZoom, UserTesting, or online meeting technologies). Everyone joins a common conference call at preset times for the focus group discussions.
Maximize impact of ICWs with a regular cadence
Ideally, the entire ICW repeats once per month. This cadence allows all product team stakeholders to be present at both the Internal and External Reviews, which increases the decision-making speed and product’s impact.
No further analysis is needed beyond what’s built into the focus group discussions and debriefs. When we empirically tested the efficiency of this “during the session only” notetaking method, we found that it identified 85 percent of all the insights that post-session analysis of the data would provide, including the highest-priority insights. And because another ICW is coming up, you can continue to iterate.
With a regular cadence of ICWs in place to handle usability testing, the researcher will have more time to tackle foundational research questions. Furthermore, the product team’s empathy and trust in your work will make them more willing to shift the team’s direction based on your strategic research.
Note that, the ICW methodology is flexible, and can be modified to match your research needs. For example, I’ve run an ICW with as few as two participants (developers pair-programming) and as many as 80 participant-product team pairs (in a large event where customers visited the Microsoft campus). Similarly, while I find that one ICW per month is the perfect cadence for the long-term, I have run as many as three per week when a greater foundational understanding of our users was needed.
Are you interested in performing a complete ICW? Let us know your plans in the comments below, or tweet @MicrosoftRI or Valentina. | https://medium.com/microsoft-design/supercharge-your-agile-ux-research-with-informal-cognitive-walkthroughs-part-two-the-external-b315fdb1241b | ['Valentina', 'Grigoreanu', 'Strachan'] | 2020-05-04 15:11:54.910000+00:00 | ['Research And Insight', 'Agile', 'Project Management', 'UX Research', 'Microsoft'] |
How to visualize high frequency financial data using Plotly and R | How to visualize high frequency financial data using Plotly and R
A step-by-step guide on how to create candlesticks charts from real asset data using the Plotly package.
In this article I show how to use the Plotly package to visualize financial data in high frequency using R. To perform analysis and develop trading algorithms, it is necessary to obtain data in very high frequencies to be able to take quick and accurate actions to maximize the profits earned in the trades.
Today, more than 40% of the operations carried out on American stock exchanges are carried out by robots programmed to analyze the market and buy or sell according to market indicators. Today we are going to learn how to create a candlestick chart from a Brazilian asset data called “mini-index,” widely used by daytraders.
Collecting Data
There are several ways to collect high-frequency data from the exchange. But today, since we will not analyze the data in real-time, we will collect the data using Metatrader, a tool for conducting free trades, which enables the purchase and sale of assets.
The first step is to open the tool and choose the asset from which we want to collect it. In our case, it is June, and the mini-index asset for that month is WINM20.
Metatrader Snapshot — Image by Author
After selecting the asset, we choose the chart’s time frame. Please select the time of one minute so that we can collect the data in seconds.
Timeframes on Metatrader Snapshot — Image by Author
After, click on file and save. The asset data will be saved in .csv format.
Ready, data collection is done! Let’s go to the data processing!
Importing and Analyzing Data
I use R, a powerful and free statistical programming language, along with some graphic libraries to perform my analysis. After opening RStudio, I create a. RScript file.
We started by importing the necessary libraries
library(plotly) #para plotar os gráficos
library(xts) #para trabalhar com dados de séries temporais
library(tidyverse) #jeito magnífico de trabalhar com dados
Afterwards, we import the data of our asset that is named “WINM20M1.csv”
data <- read.csv("WINM20M1.csv", header = FALSE, sep = ",", fileEncoding = "UTF-16LE", dec = ".") head(data)
Snapshot — Data.Frame — Image by Author
We see seven variables that have no name yet. Thus, we create a vector with the name of the variables using the OHLC standard (Open, High, Low, Close) and assign this vector to the name of the data.frame columns.
colnames_ <- c("Date", "Open", "High", "Low", "Close", "Tick", "Volume")
colnames(data) <- colnames_ head(data)
Snapshot-DataFrame — Image by Author
Now that we have our data appropriately renamed, we need to change the type of the variable, Date, to type Date. But before changing it, we must make a change to the string to replace the “.” per “-” .
data$Date <- gsub("\\.", "-", data$Date) data$Date <- as.POSIXct(data$Date) head(data)
Snapshot-DataFrame — Image by Author
Okay, now for the data visualization.
Visualizing the data
Finally, to visualize the data, we use the Plotly library, perfect for this type of task. First, we create a fig variable to store our graph. I will only use the last 20 minutes so that the visualization is not too dense
fig <- tail(data, 20) %>%
plot_ly(x = ~Date, type = "candlestick",
open = ~Open, close = ~Close,
high = ~High, low = ~Low)
fig <- fig %>% layout(title = "Candles de Mini Ídice") fig
Voilà!
Plotly — R-StockMarket — Snapshot — Image by Author
Questions or comments, please contact! Hug! Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to receive weekly content on data science, mathematics, and finance. | https://towardsdatascience.com/how-to-visualize-high-frequency-financial-data-using-plotly-and-r-97171ae84be1 | ['Pedro Lealdino Filho'] | 2020-06-14 18:07:02.966000+00:00 | ['Data Science', 'Towards Data Science', 'Data Analysis', 'Stock Market', 'Data Visualization'] |
How to Thrive in a World of Disruption | How to Thrive in a World of Disruption
Agility may sound simple, but it’s critical and complex for many organizations to achieve. These tips can help them stay nimble
Image: McKinsey
By Irving Wladawsky-Berger
Looking back upon my long career, it’s frankly sobering how many once powerful IT companies are no longer around or are shadows of their former selves, e.g. Digital, Wang, Sun Microsystems, BlackBerry. The forces of disruption might have been more powerful in the fast-changing IT industry, but no industry has been immune. In less than two decades, the global recorded music industry has lost over half its revenue, while the drop in newspaper advertising revenue in the U.S. has been even steeper. Retail has undergone major changes with the rise of e-commerce, as has telecommunications with the transition to mobile phones.
Why have so many companies been done in by disruptive technological and market changes? Is it that in spite of all their efforts in strategy formulation, their management was unable to anticipate them and were caught by surprise? Or it is that, as if actors in a kind of Greek tragedy, they see the changes coming and understand what needs to be done, but are somehow unable to make the needed strategic and cultural transformations?
“Evolutionary fitness of organizations is determined by their ability to effectively respond to environmental changes,” write Leo Tilman and Charles Jacoby in their recently published book Agility: How to Navigate the Unknown and Seize Opportunity in a World of Disruption. “Extinctions generally follow a familiar pattern. Environmental signals — both positive and negative — are undetected or ignored. Leaders fail to recognize the new reality and accept it for what it is. No viable strategic vision for the new environment is developed. Instead, a myriad of tactical activities is deployed, without amounting to a coherent strategy. Existential risks remain hidden until it’s too late.”
“To thrive in the years ahead, all organizations, both public and private, will need to make a concerted and ongoing investment in the knowledge, capabilities, processes, and cultures that foster a distinctive and all too rare organizational quality — agility. Only then will they be positioned to adroitly respond to change, exploit uncertainty deliberately and decisively, and seize the unprecedented possibilities of this new age.”
The term agility is used in a variety of contexts. In competitive sports like tennis, agility implies the ability to shape a winning strategy during the game based on understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent. Agile software development is based on the early availability of experimental prototypes, user feedback, continuous improvements, and rapid responses to technology, market and user requirements.
But, what does agility mean when applied to business, government and other institutions? Tillman and Jacoby define agility as “the organizational capacity to effectively detect, assess, and respond to environmental changes in ways that are purposeful, decisive, and grounded in the will to win.” Given the uncertainty and complexity of the competitive environment, an agile culture and mindset is a particularly important strategic advantage to all organizations— from the largest to the smallest, regardless of industry or geography.
One of the central messages of the book is that agility is achievable. To help organizations do so, the authors deconstruct agility into its fundamental components: detection, assessment, and response.
Detection. In today’s fast changing environment, every company — no matter how large and powerful— should consider itself but one asteroid away from oblivion. You never, ever want to first learn about the incoming asteroid when it’s about to hit, and then have to improvise your survival strategy in the middle of a crisis. Talented people should have spotted the incoming asteroid — that is, the transformational technologies and market disruptions— as early as possible.
“The organizational ability to detect environmental changes that warrant a response requires a deep understanding of the competitive landscape in all its richness and complexity… Instituting a robust organization-wide detection process is challenging, and it’s made more so by the pressing challenges of the day-to-day execution… Stepping back to think deeply about the nature of our environment, broadening and deepening our field of vision, and sharply questioning what we do and don’t know is often viewed as a luxury. Adopting the agility mindset fundamentally transforms this perspective, turning a nice-to-have ‘luxury’ into a mission-critical priority.”
Assessment: How can a company, not only survive the forces of creative destruction, but be able to leverage those very forces to help transform and propel itself into the future? How can you turn survival into the driving force of innovation?
“For the process of detection to be effective, senior leaders must continually assess and explain to the whole of the organization what information is needed to shape strategy, manage risk and direct execution.… Once potential risks and opportunities have been spotted, the quality, reliability and completeness of the information must be carefully studied… To be meaningful and practically useful, the environmental changes that have been detected must be placed in our unique organizational context. This requires that the entire set of risks inherent in our business model is identified and aggregated in ways that are both rigorous and intuitive.”
Response. The authors argue that there are two kinds of responses to organizational change. Senior leaders are responsible for the strategic response to a major disruption — which involves adjustments to the overall strategy, business model and financial objectives. Empowered employees are responsible for the tactical response to changes encountered during strategy execution, which involve smart risk-taking, innovation and on-the-job improvisation. They both require a thorough understanding of the operating landscape, while leveraging the execution dexterity required to deal with each unique situation.
To be successful, all stages of the detect, assess, respond process must be enabled by three key organizational competencies:
Risk Intelligence, that is, the ability to recognize and assess major changes affecting the overall organization in real time. Risk intelligence helps uncover hidden connections among seemingly unrelated risks, aggregate a variety of different risks and align the response to risk with the organization’s goals and resources. “Instead of ‘avoiding,’ ‘controlling’ and ‘mitigating’ risk, agile organizations exploit, manage and channel risk and uncertainty in pursuit of their goals.”
Decisiveness — i.e. a bias for deliberate action— positions the organization to act in a timely manner when opportunities and challenges arise. Decisiveness requires a common understanding of the actions to be taken and clear communications across the whole organization of what must be achieved and why.
Execution dexterity, that is, the ability to make effective use of all the organization’s resource and capabilities as required by the circumstance at hand. Execution dexterity plays a vital role in strategy development “because our realism about the strengths and weaknesses of our capabilities and our ability to effectively deploy them is a critical aspect of shaping an effective strategy.”
“To thrive in the years ahead, all organizations, both public and private, will need to make a concerted and ongoing investment in the knowledge, capabilities, processes and cultures that foster a distinctive and all too rare organizational quality — agility. Only then will they be positioned to adroitly respond to change, exploit uncertainty deliberately and decisively, and seize the unprecedented possibilities of this new age.” | https://medium.com/mit-initiative-on-the-digital-economy/how-to-thrive-in-a-world-of-disruption-f125c9ef1d94 | ['Mit Ide'] | 2019-12-09 15:43:56.396000+00:00 | ['Business Agility', 'Innovation', 'Digital Transformation'] |
Our Top 10 of 2020 | Our Top 10 of 2020
The ten most viewed stories on Expedia Group Technology
As the year ends we’d like to take the opportunity to share the most popular stories we’ve published this year, as chosen by you our readers. We would like to thank you for collectively spending 10,000 hours reading our blog this year.
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
Curious to know which Tech topics mattered most in 2020?
We’ve listed the ten stories with the highest views from around one hundred stories that we published this year. The content topics are wide ranging which reflects the diversity of interests among our readers. If you’re not already doing so, please join the tech community who are following our blog to receive more from us in 2021 (use the ‘Follow’ button). If you would like to know how we produce content, you can read about it here.
10. Getting Started with Elastic Search
by Arjun Rajpal , January 2020
9. How to Import Public Certificates into Java’s Truststore from a Browser
by Avinash Reddy Penugonda, July 2020
8. Introducing GraphQL Kotlin Client
by Dariusz Kuc, June 2020
7. Creating Monitoring Dashboards
by Nikos Katirtzis, September 2020
6. All about ISTIO-PROXY 5xx Issues
by Vinod Canumalla, June 2020
5. File Upload with GraphQL, Apollo Server, Hapi 18+, and React
by Rohit Pandey, January 2020
4. Deep dive into Apache Spark Window Functions
by Neeraj Bhadani, June 2020
3. Working with JSON in Apache Spark
by Neeraj Bhadani, May 2020
2. Using Bash for DevOps
by Dan Collins, January 2020
Are These Six Software Anti-patterns Killing Your Delivery?
by John James, October 2020 | https://medium.com/expedia-group-tech/our-top-10-of-2020-c7e742bdf189 | ['Giorgio Delle Grottaglie'] | 2020-12-26 14:02:23.324000+00:00 | ['Engineering Culture', 'Travel Technology', 'Data Science', 'Technology', 'Software Engineering'] |
Working as a Freelancer on Giggzy | Giggzy is one of the leading platforms for freelancers in the Middle East and North Africa where you can find a huge number of freelancing folks with a large variety of different work cultures. You can sign up as a freelancer for free or find freelancers to get your work done.
After the COVID pandemic situation, many people lost their daily jobs and we hold an initiative to protect people from an economical pandemic coming after the situation. We are trying to reach more and more people who need jobs and freelancers. The best part about this platform is that you can get hired remotely so that you can work from anywhere and anytime in the world without getting bored of the same routine and office place or meet your client in person and get hired locally for on-site projects such as home tutoring, music teaching, sports and fitness jobs, home nurse and so on. Let’s discuss some segments we cover.
1. Digital Nomad: Digital Nomad is a term that is getting famous in the last few years where people are traveling to the places they dreamt of and working from there. All you need is a good internet connection and your working device. That’s all you are good to go as a Digital Nomad. We offer you to be a digital nomad by using our services at a decent price for your works. Regardless of your genre, you can apply for any kind of segment in the remote work culture.
2. A Replacement of Full-time jobs: You can say this is a good replacement for your full-time job because if you check this website you will find a lot of clients who are searing and offering a good amount of money for your work. Just upload your profile and set the suitable price of your work and you are good to go. Work as long as you want then rest as long as you want, it’s up to you. If you work hard or your work deserves good money, then you will earn more than your full-time job but working as a freelancer.
3. Authenticity: All the profiles here are verified and double-checked so no one can scam you. If you check you will see a lot of happy clients and freelancers on this website.
4. Scopes for Artists: Here you will find a huge scope if you are an artist regardless of genre. The distribution of works is the same as other famous remote works. We have worked for artists, hand paint artists, sketch artists, actors, musicians, mixing engineers, composers, singers, music producers, voice-over artists, etc. | https://medium.com/@giggzyllc/working-as-a-freelancer-on-giggzy-d89e95e1139a | ['Giggzy Llc'] | 2021-06-17 10:23:01.717000+00:00 | ['Giggzy Freelance', 'Working As Freelancer', 'Freelancer'] |
Dealing with dissensions | - A conflict management lesson from the early Church
READ: 2 Chronicles 11, 12; Psalms 5; Acts 6
SCRIPTURE: Acts 6: 1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
OBSERVATION: The first members of the early Church were all Jews who came from different countries (Acts 2:5,41). Every day new believers joined in the early Church (Acts 2:46; 5:14). When participants or the number of people increase in a conversation, organization, and in any set-ups, it will create more trouble if it is not carefully handled. In Acts 6:1, we read about dissension between Hellenistic (Greek-speaking) Jews and Hebraic (Hebrew speaking) Jews concerning the Church’s care for the poor widows. The way apostles handled the complaint is appropriate for all times. In those days, apostles handled both the ministry of the word and caring for the poor in the Church. When a conflict emerged, apostles called all the disciples together and clearly expressed that they wanted to spend more time in prayer and the ministry of the word. Concerning the complaint, they proposed an idea to choose seven men “who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom” to take care of the distribution of the food. It is interesting to note that “the whole group” agreed to this proposal, and that the names of the seven men suggest that they were all from Hellenistic Jews. The apostles turned the responsibility to these seven men. The early Church amicably resolved the issue related to taking care of the poor, which caused the dissension. Notice, this was not the end of the story. After the Church appointed the seven men, the Church witnessed rapid growth; “a large number of priests became obedient to the faith” (v.7). Still, we have something more from this story; One of the seven men, Stephen, became a great evangelist; Later, he became the first martyr of the Church.
Apostles’ “affirmative action” brought significant changes within the Church, and it was a starting point for the Church’s ministry beyond Jerusalem. Let us examine ourselves: how do we handle when we hear voice(s) of dissensions? Do we try to prove the strength of the majority by silencing such voices? Or do we make efforts to maintain the balance and solve the problem amicably? Above all, do we keep the main thing the main? Do we “give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word”? Great changes are awaiting!
APPLICATION: When I face dissensions and disagreements, I should turn to the word of God and obey what the Lord says. I am here not to prove my case or argument but to win people for Christ. When I become clear and confident about my call and primary responsibility, then it becomes easy for me to handle any problems in my life. Every challenge brings an opportunity to serve God more faithfully.
PRAYER: My Lord Jesus, fill me your wisdom and Spirit to witness you in every situation of my life. Help me to seek first you and your word than any other things or achievements. Lord, give me your grace to affirm others and bring the changes you desire. Amen.
- Arputharaj Samuel
+91 9538328573
Day — 187
(Tamil version of this devotion is posted here) | https://medium.com/@theological-indian/dealing-with-dissensions-b210b44c65cd | [] | 2021-07-06 19:18:04.347000+00:00 | ['Soap Journal', 'Daily Devotion', 'Theology', 'Bible Reading', 'Daily Meditation'] |
My Dog Story | My whole adult life I’d thought I was allergic to dogs. Our kids would beg for a dog, and I’d say, “It’s a dog or me, your choice!” Besides being allergic, I’d thought of a dog as just another thing I’d need to take care of. I was actually ‘anti-dog’: If you brought your dog to our house, it had to stay outside. Even if it was cold out. I was ruthless! I didn’t know the names of my friends’ dogs. Dogs simply didn’t matter to me. AT ALL. My friend Ann loves to tell the story of how when her dog died, I wrote her a condolence note saying something like, “I can’t relate at all, but I wanted to acknowledge that I know this must be a really sad time for you.” So when I had my ‘dog awakening,’ it was a pretty huge life change.
It all began with my daughter Sonya’s friend Layla’s dog Daisy. No one told Layla my no-dog rule when she came to visit one October, and it was too cold to insist that she keep Daisy outside, so I had to relent. They spent the night, and the next day when I came back from some errands, Daisy greeted me with joy and excitement. I thought, “…Well, this is NICE! And she doesn’t even know me… I could get used to THIS!”
Me and Ike on The Great Island, Cape Cod
The real fork in the road — where I parted ways with my ‘anti-dog’ self — came a bit later when I met Ike, the German Shepherd-Rottweiler my musician daughter Sonya ‘dog shared’ in Brooklyn. Ike changed my life forever. Ike was Sonya’s neighbor’s dog. Sonya would sometimes dog-sit, and then, after the neighbor had a baby and moved across town, Ike began to live with Sonya part-time. It was the perfect situation for all of them. (Why don’t more people dog share!?) The first time Sonya brought Ike home to our place in Western Massachusetts, it was love at first sight for me. And I had no allergic reaction! Ike was devoted to Sonya, but I could coerce him to jog with me before she got up. He’d sleep on the floor at the foot of her bed, and when I’d come in to the room to get him, he’d slowly crawl on the bed on TOP of Sonya, looking at me the whole time. He’d rest his head on her back and just stare at me. I knew he was saying “I am NOT leaving her.” But I learned that all I had to do was get a leash and treats and he obediently came with me.
So began my new life as a dog person, and the eight-month hunt for OUR dog. During this time I went to visit my friend Nancy in Mexico. She warned me that she’d just adopted a Chihuahua street puppy. I thought, “Oh God. A yappy, tiny rat dog?” But Docie was the size of a teacup and totally adorable. And Docie would provide huge comfort for Nancy a year later during her husband’s illness and death. Do these dogs who ‘find us’ somehow know we will soon need them as much as they need us?
I really wanted a German Shepherd. Actually, I really just wanted another Ike! Peter, my husband, was indifferent about getting a dog, but he was going along with me. Our son Max was graduating from high school, and he was pretty annoyed with me that I’d said no to a dog his whole life and now as he was leaving I’d had a change of heart? I pulled them both into my search. Sometimes online, sometime in person. We came close with a huge one-year-old German Shepherd that we went to meet at an apartment in Springfield, Massachusetts. He was kept in a bedroom where the walls and wooden door were destroyed from him scratching them. The owners had to find a new home for him because he barked all day while they were gone. It was tragic all the way around. For the owners who loved him, and for the dog who should not have been cooped up all day. I thought our 50 acres in the country would be perfect! They brought him for a visit, and I saw that Peter and Max really liked this wild teenager of a dog — but he made me really nervous. Just watching him knock into things and sloppily drinking from a bowl getting water all over the place made me anxious. The owners left and never called us back. I must admit I did wonder why THEY didn’t think WE were a good fit, but I was relieved. I knew he was too much dog for me.
Lexi, Max, me, Sonya, and Ike
Meanwhile, I was getting to know my friends’ dogs and learning their names. I started dog-sitting our neighbors’ dog Lexi. I like to call Lexi my “starter dog.” I used to jog by their house and stop to pet Lexi if she was outside. When I realized they were moving in a few months to be closer to work, so they’d not have to leave her for eight hours at a time, I offered to pick her up on my morning jog and keep her until they came home. For free! This was great for all of us! I loved that she became so excited to see me when I arrived in the morning! I loved jogging with her and having her in my studio at my feet. I was a bit sad on the weekends when I didn’t have her. I’d jog past her house and hope she’d be outside so I could say hi.
Life as a ‘dog person’ was a whole new way of being in the world. I stopped to pet dogs and to talk with the owners. As a result, I connected with people differently. It was almost as if I had new eyes, and a new way of seeing the world.
Sonya and Ike. ‘Swimming’
In November of 2012, Ike suddenly died. It was such a traumatic experience for Sonya. Getting someone to help her carry this over-100 lb. dog into a cab, having to put him down, bringing him home and keeping him on ice in her bathtub for a day until the owner flew back from a trip. Sonya, the owner, and two male friends drove Ike upstate to his owner’s home to have a ceremony and burial for this magnificent beast who was beloved by so many people. I get teary just writing these words! I was blindsided and very surprised by the grief I felt at Ike’s death. I’ve lost both parents to cancer, and many friends to AIDS. I was shocked that this grief felt similar to the human grief I knew too well. And Ike wasn’t even my dog! Part of it was feeling Sonya’s grief, and part of it was my own, as I had formed a bond with Ike. I once drove two hours each way to pick Ike up while Sonya was on tour so I could have him to myself for three days. Sonya walked the streets of New York City with Ike off leash and took him everywhere. He roamed at festivals and sometimes even laid at her feet on stage while she played shows. Ike was her protector.
Charlie. Eyes like pools of love.
Soon after Ike’s death, we went to The Simon Foundation, about 1.5 hours from where we live. I’d spent a lot of time on Petfinder and visiting shelters, and I was really ready to find our dog. You had to fill out an application and give references before coming to this shelter. They brought dogs they thought could be right for us into a private room, sparing us the tortuous ‘kennel/cages walk.’ I was drawn to one dog, while Peter and Max liked another. We couldn’t make a decision, so they suggested we leave and think about it. The next day Peter said, “I keep thinking about that dog Hunter, and I could imagine him in our life.” And Peter hadn’t even really wanted a dog! He had been going along with it for me. Hunter was nothing like the dog I’d imagined, but I went back two days later with my friend Ann, a highly qualified, long-time dog person. I needed a pro along with me for this huge decision. I asked the universe to give me a sign that this dog ‘Hunter’ was the one for us. When they brought Hunter out and he lovingly bonded with Ann, she looked up and me and said “Gaaaaaaayle… he’s perfect!” I went to the counter and as I filled out the paperwork I got my sign from the universe: His birthday (totally random of course as he was a rescue from the south) was October 17. PETER’S birthday.
So on Dec. 5, 2012, we got our dog! Lexi’s family moved the NEXT day. I had one day with both dogs. Talk about perfect timing! Max wanted to name him Dante. I agreed, but after after a few days I said, “He doesn’t seem like a Dante. He feels like a Charlie.”
Charlie’s first Christmas
Charlie has pretty much always been a great dog. You know that saying that life doesn’t give you anything you can’t handle? We really got the dog meant for us and one we could handle. A difficult dog could have destroyed us. They told us he was two years old, but then he grew. So I think he was more like eight to 10 months. He behaves better for Peter because Peter is firmer with him than I am. Hmmm, we had a similar dynamic with our kids. What a surprise!
Charlie in the Apple Orchard
I paint Charlie as often as I can. Charlie has kind of become my muse. He’s learned how to pose really well for photos. Sometimes he looks regal, other times he looks really sad. This past Halloween I painted Charlie as SLD — Super Lover Dog. He’s often in my cover pitches to The New Yorker. Charlie REALLY wants to be on the cover of the New Yorker! | https://medium.com/spiralbound/my-dog-story-d796a42bf27d | ['Gayle Kabaker'] | 2018-06-06 13:01:14.749000+00:00 | ['Love', 'Gayle Kabaker', 'Dogs', 'Pets', 'Art'] |
6 Strategies to Follow if You’re on Medium for the Money | 6 Strategies to Follow if You’re on Medium for the Money
That’s me taking notes for my next articles by Samson Katt from Pexels
If Medium is (one of) your side hustle, then you need to treat it accordingly, like work. That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. On the contrary, it’s recommended. But it means “Medium — the side hustle,” like any other job, has rules to follow and winning strategies.
Michael Page, one of the world’s best-known recruitment agency, gives these 6 top tips on how to succeed at work. To make money on Medium and with your writings in general, they’re excellent strategies to follow.
I won’t take your time with the first one, #1 never stop learning. If you’re reading this article (and others like it), you already have the right mindset.
#2 Keep asking questions
Suzanne Fritelli is a co-founder of a real-estate startup (Buildrz). In this podcast, she mentioned several of the key learnings from her experience so far. This one rang particularly true to me:
“Nobody will answer questions you don’t ask.”
On Medium, if you don’t ask them:
Your close (non-writing) friends won’t share their ideas about good articles,
publications’ editors won’t tell you how to improve your articles,
and other writers won’t review any of your drafts.
Concerning this last point, a good place to go is Illumination’s slack community.
Questions aren’t only for others. We should ask questions to ourselves as well. It’s a practice I find hard to keep up with, but also very beneficial. In general, it helps to take a different perspective and to be more self-aware. In Medium context, I regularly come back to the following question, “why am I writing?”
#3 Talk to your Boss
Bosses are usually there to give feedback and guidelines. But if it’s a freelance type of work, then who’s the boss?
I tend to think that my Boss is:
my partner, when it comes to choosing a place for holidays and a lot of other things,
the person paying my salary in all other situations.
In Medium’s case, we’ve got many Bosses; the more, the better even, because readers are our Bosses.
To succeed on the platform, you need to interact with the readers. Feedback comes in the form of reading time, claps, and comments.
Articles shouldn’t be about ourselves; that’s what our journals are for. They are proven to be good practice for our mental health. But not so good when it comes to getting an additional revenue stream from Medium. We write good articles when we think of the readers all along.
Our articles should be about our Bosses. Our pieces should cater to the readers’ needs and spark their interest. Editors keep on repeating this question: “what’s in it for the readers?”
Talk to the readers, sing to them even! Your writings should be music to their ears. Words and sentences should enchant the readers; no less than the sirens’ songs enchanted Odysseus.
#4 Make friends in the office
Rev. Ed Bacon wrote on oprah.com that true friends are the people rooting for us. He even has a special name for our best supporting-friends; he calls them “the balcony people.” In his words, “the balcony people are those who are consistently cheering us on.”
They are our private cheerleader team! No matter what we try our skills at, they’ll be there to say: “go for it.” No matter how small our successes, they’ll be there to celebrate with us. They’re the kind of friends that will get over-excited when you tell them one of your articles has been accepted by The Ascent.
On Medium, maybe even more than in other settings, we need balcony people to shout-out our skills and productions. The following is a dirty little secret, but I prefer to call it marketing.
When readers browse articles on any publication, they’re attracted by titles and pictures, of course. But they also pay attention to claps and comments. Generally, the presence of claps and comments is a good sign of an article’s interestingness. Having a few “balcony people” on the platform that help you kick-start your articles’ path to glory can be a huge plus.
#5 Have a healthy work-life balance
Jack Nicholson (in the movie Shining) warned us that “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” And we know how it ended in the worst writer’s burnout in history.
That’s important to remember for people with a side hustle on top of their 9 to 5. Especially that when it comes to writing, a healthy work-life balance is improving our creativity levels. Indeed, classical activities outside of work are conducive to generating ideas.
Having fun with family and friends not only boosts our oxytocin levels, but it’s also a powerful idea generator. For example, I estimate one-third of my topics to come from discussions I had with my partner and close friends.
Unlike Tim Denning, I don’t have friends telling me to “write an article that is the opposite of billionaire worshipping porn,” but they still have some good ideas to share!
Going out for a walk is not only fighting osteoporosis, it’s also scientifically proven to be good for creativity. This Stanford study found that ”the creative output increased by an average of 60 percent when the person was walking.”
#6 Have your own voice
That’s, in fact, very easy. Each of us naturally has its own voice.
The hard thing is to be brave enough to make it heard outside the shower. (By the way, it’s one of the best places to look for your writing voice!)
It’s hard because writing is about putting ourselves out there. We uncover parts of our dark sides, we show ourselves, and share some of our secrets. It takes courage. And support. That’s another reason why we need the balcony people from point #4.
Having your voice isn’t necessarily about thinking differently. Although, at times, you will. It’s about showing up and making yourself visible. The more interesting your thoughts, the more others will listen to you and read your pieces.
This brings us back to point #1, never stop learning. Continuous improvement and practice are critical to maintaining a rich and melodious voice. | https://medium.com/illumination/6-strategies-to-follow-if-youre-on-medium-for-the-money-537b6d26db62 | ['Smillew Rahcuef'] | 2020-12-24 19:35:51.393000+00:00 | ['Writers On Writing', 'Writing Tips', 'Writer', 'Writers On Medium', 'Writing'] |
The First Signs of Alcoholic Liver Damage Are Not in the Liver | The First Signs of Alcoholic Liver Damage Are Not in the Liver
Myfather died of alcoholic liver cirrhosis four years ago. It came as a surprise to all of us, even though it was clear he had a severe drinking problem for decades. It was especially surprising to me, as a former nurse and a recovering alcoholic. You would think I’d know more about liver problems and alcohol use than the average person. But the truth is, in the months before his death, I had no idea my father’s liver was struggling at all. Most people know about cirrhosis, but few people know how a liver goes from early damage to end-stage liver cirrhosis.
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The combination of my father’s death and my personal background lit a fire in me to know more. He was admitted to the hospital on June 24, 2016, and he died on July 18. Only 24 days passed between the first sign there was a problem and his subsequent death.
Now, hearing that he was in end-stage cirrhosis didn’t surprise me, given his heavy drinking. What did surprise me was that he’d visited several doctors and specialists in the months before his death, and no one knew his liver was struggling either.
So what happened? Does end-stage liver cirrhosis really sneak up that fast? Were there other signs that would have alerted someone to his failing liver?
As for why the doctors and specialists didn’t know what was happening, that mystery resolved reasonably quickly. The plain truth is that alcoholics rarely divulge the amount and frequency of their drinking to their doctors. This was the case for my dad. He had many health issues that he was trying to solve, but he protected his drinking habit fiercely. So he refused to spill the beans, even when it mattered.
The problem is that liver damage has numerous multifaceted symptoms that are confusing and associated with many other illnesses. Unless a doctor knows that the patient is an alcoholic, they may not know how to interpret what’s happening until it’s too late.
As he was dying, my father told me that he didn’t think to tell the doctors how much he was drinking. He said it was as if he blanked out and “forgot” to mention it. As crazy as that sounds, this strange “forgetting” is a common part of the alcoholic mindset. It may also be due to the metabolic and physical changes of cirrhosis itself.
There are many signs of liver problems, but oddly, none seem to point to the liver at first. And in fact, many of the first signs of liver damage occur in other parts of the body. Knowing these signs may help educate alcoholics and their families if they want to understand their risk of developing liver cirrhosis.
Liver damage has numerous multifaceted symptoms that are confusing and associated with many other illnesses. Unless a doctor knows that the patient is an alcoholic, they may not know how to interpret what’s happening until it’s too late.
Digestive signs
The liver plays a huge part in our digestive process. It filters out all toxins from food as well as helping to break down fats and glucose.
When a liver starts to slow down due to significant damage, it will reduce its digestive work. Instead, it will divert its energy toward vital functions like metabolizing medications and filtering toxins.
This means that symptoms like bloating, nausea, vomiting, gas, and diarrhea will start to increase. Over time, eating becomes more challenging. In the later stages of liver cirrhosis, toxins that can’t be filtered out begin to build in the bloodstream, which causes more nausea.
Cognitive signs
Although confusion and brain fog happen in end-stage liver cirrhosis, they can also be early signs.
The liver is responsible for filtering dangerous substances in the blood. It also helps regulate hormones, blood glucose, and vitamin absorption. In the early stages of liver damage, these processes can be interrupted. Inevitably, this affects our brain and nervous system.
This means that early liver problems can make you feel tired, confused, slow, and foggy. You may have some memory issues as well.
Neuromuscular signs
The liver stores vitamins required for the functioning of many organs and systems in the body — one of them is vitamin B1 or thiamine. A deficiency in this particular vitamin has been documented in many alcoholics with or without liver damage.
Unfortunately, alcohol inhibits the absorption of thiamine in the intestine. Over time, as the liver becomes damaged, it can no longer store thiamine in enough quantities. Thiamine deficiency is responsible for many neurological issues in people with alcoholism.
Symptoms of thiamine deficiency range from mild to severe and include things like: confusion, mental fog, lack of balance, pain and numbness in hands and feet, muscle weakness, rapid heart rate, digestive problems, flushing, and involuntary eye movements.
Thiamine deficiency happens in almost every alcoholic who consumes frequent and large amounts of alcohol. And if thiamine deficiency due to alcoholism is discovered, you can be sure the liver is suffering damage at the same time.
Many of the first signs of liver damage occur in other parts of the body.
Vascular signs
All alcohol consumption can lead to blood vessel dilation, causing flushing in the face and hands. Over time, this can cause damage leading to permanent redness in the face. Although many alcoholics have rosacea or spider-like veins on their faces, this is often benign.
However, spider angiomas are different from rosacea or spiderlike veins. They’re circular and have a central point called a spider nevus that is darker than the rest of the lesion. Spider angiomas are a sign of liver disease and can be present in the early stages. They often progress to more extensive and more numerous lesions.
Spider angiomas are caused by increased estrogen levels in the blood. When the liver becomes damaged, it can’t properly metabolize estrogens, which causes them to build up in the body.
Many women who are pregnant or taking birth control pills may have a few spider angiomas. However, in alcoholic liver disease, these lesions are often more frequent and accompanied by red palms and varicose veins in the esophagus.
These are a few of the main signs of alcoholic liver damage that happen outside of the liver. It’s important to know this because most of us have no idea how the liver functions and how it communicates distress.
The liver itself doesn’t show signs like pain or swelling in the early stages of liver damage. This contrasts with other organs like the heart or stomach, where any damage will emit pain or symptoms directly from these organs.
What happens with liver damage is that its many diverse functions become interrupted, causing symptoms in other parts of the body. This may explain why most people never think they have a problem with their liver.
Unfortunately, patients with alcoholism are rarely educated about these issues. This is because they often don’t reveal their drinking, to begin with. And even if they do, the symptoms are widespread and complex, which makes patient education challenging.
My goal in writing articles like this is to help educate regular people about alcoholic liver disease to understand their health and make better decisions.
It’s hard to say if my father would have changed his drinking habits if he knew more about his vague and complicated symptoms. But I think having proper education would have certainly helped him understand his risks and health problems better. | https://medium.com/@michealkaysart/the-first-signs-of-alcoholic-liver-damage-are-not-in-the-liver-37733dca0837 | [] | 2020-12-19 13:57:44.580000+00:00 | ['Addiction', 'Health', 'Body', 'Alcohol', 'Mental Health'] |
Hr staffing & recruiting | Hr personnel services, supported in 1995 via susan miller, offers complete staffing & recruiting solutions for human resources departments at some purpose of the North American country. we have a tendency to serve organizations of all sizes, from begin-up organizations making international-elegance time unit groups to fortune fifty, 100, 500, and 1,500 organizations with intensive, advanced human sources needs. time unit workers offerings will even perform AN intensive tradition analysis if you would like to become responsive to your candidate exactly.
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To efficaciously fit especially certified candidates for every function, we use our good sized database machine to perceive candidates who in shape your actual requirements within our deep pool of applicants. We additionally utilize an effective nationwide community to publicize activity listings to attract qualified candidates. All applicants are very well screened and tested. In addition, we direct source, the use of our demonstrated approach that identifies candidates before they input the marketplace. We rent those technological talents to streamline and expedite the recruiting and site system, assuring you of entire, price-effective carrier. | https://medium.com/@kalpsolutions-dm/hr-staffing-recruiting-6ae40d9445bd | ['Kalp Solutions'] | 2021-07-07 09:03:10.087000+00:00 | ['Job Hunting', 'Jobs', 'Employment', 'Careers', 'HR'] |
How to give support | There was a time when I thought the only way to support my friends was to give them advice. Then Rahul Guttal blew my mind when he hosted a workshop on the subject. I’ll share what I learned there and a bonus that changed how I interact with myself and friends in need.
Types of support
Rahul introduced the five love languages:
receiving gifts quality time words of affirmation acts of service (devotion) physical touch
Often miscommunication or lack of appreciation comes from someone needing support in one language and receiving it in another. For example, maybe I had a bad day and want a hug, but you’re giving me advice. Or maybe you know I like words of affirmation, but you’re having trouble affirming me in a way that feels authentic to me.
Some people may have trouble identifying their love languages, or maybe it changes on a day to day basis. Maybe you think of yourself as someone who’s intrinsically motivated, so words of affirmation rub you the wrong way: “I don’t need you to tell me I’m smart!” Maybe you dislike materialism, so gift giving and receiving is difficult for you. Maybe your culture eschews physical touch, but it’s what you want and you feel you can’t tell your friends.
My only concern with this taxonomy is where advice fits in. Is it an act of service? Is it quality time? But advice vs just listening vs going into the world and trying to actually solve someone’s problems feel so different. I might add advice as a sixth category and limit quality time to anything less normative than advice giving.
Ask for what you need
Find a partner Describe something you’re struggling with Partner asks “How can I support you?” Ask for the kind of support you want in this moment Partner gives the requested support
In practice this can be difficult because we don’t always know what kind of support we need. That’s ok! Try a few if it feels like something isn’t working.
Redirect
Describe something you’re struggling with Partner starts giving support of the type of their choice Wait for them to pause, then say for example, “I appreciate your offer to wash my dishes for me, but what I really need right now is a hug.” Partner gives the requested support
This may feel artificial in the context of the exercise, but it’s really important to exercise the redirection muscle when the stakes are low. Then when we’re emotionally distraught, we’ll be ready to ask for what we need.
Self support
Partner only listens as you describe
What you’re struggling with Why it’s hard and why it’s okay that you’re struggling What progress you’ve already made
The fascinating thing about this exercise is that people can be surprisingly mean to themselves in their own internal monologues, but they’d never say those things to someone else. When you speak out loud about yourself in the presence of a good listener, that same mental benevolence and filtering that usually applies to other-directed speech turns on for yourself. I find the same is true when I’m journaling, so I’ll often use the above technique in my own writing when I’m self criticizing.
Listening and reflection
This exercise is from Search Inside Yourself and formed the basis of my active listening experiment.
Talk about anything you want for 5 minutes. Partner listens and can’t say anything. Partner attempts to summarize and reflect back in ~30 seconds. This can include nonverbal communication such as “You felt horrible about this,” eg., from their tone of voice, facial expression, or body language. Try to avoid repeating anything verbatim. You correct any miscommunication or inaccuracy from #2. Repeat steps 2 & 3 until everyone agrees.
I like this exercise because it’s rare that we’re 100% focused on listening to someone rather than searching for moments to insert our own experiences into someone’s narrative or drilling into parts of the story that are irrelevant from the speaker’s standpoint.
You can trigger this exercise in the wild any time! When someone recounts an emotionally charged monologue, you can say, “I want to make sure I understand you. Here’s what I heard.” Or when you’ve dumped something heavy on someone, you can ask, “I want to make sure I said things the way I meant to. Can you summarize what you heard for me?” | https://8enmann.medium.com/how-to-give-support-98707d5742c | ['Ben Mann'] | 2018-10-09 16:56:32.680000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Mental Health', 'Support', 'Communication', 'Therapy'] |
An Alipay+GCash user tells her story of planting trees, from the deserts in Qinghai to the watershed of Ipo | An Alipay+GCash user tells her story of planting trees, from the deserts in Qinghai to the watershed of Ipo Ant Group Follow Jul 10, 2019 · 4 min read
Part of the “Alipay and the World” series on our global partnerships, from local e-wallets in Asia to helping tourists pay with Alipay from Europe to the Americas
Editor’s note: Our guest writer this week is Joahnna Esquivias from the Philippines, who’s now studying at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China. She’s an avid user of Alipay Ant Forest, as well as the Philippines’ GCash Forest, which was launched in July.
Joahnna with a friend in Manila during the launch of GCash Forest
My name is Joahnna, and I’m a GCash and Alipay e-wallet user who has been enjoying planting trees on my mobile phone for the past two years.
I used to travel around by car a lot, rarely stopping to consider how much carbon emissions my actions were generating in the process. I’ve always thought about how planting trees could be a good way to protect the environment, to offset all the carbon that I’m adding to the world.
But due to my intense daily study and work schedule, it was not easy to keep up with this aspiration. And to be honest, I’m no expert on what’s the best place to plant a tree, and what kinds of trees are most suitable to protect our environment in an efficient way.
Living a cashless life in Hangzhou, a city where Alibaba is headquartered and where I currently study, I signed myself up for a green initiative called Alipay Ant Forest. I started to accumulate virtual energy linked with low carbon activities in my daily life.
These low carbon activities that count as green energy include going to school or work by foot or bicycle, instead of by car; and paying my bills online instead of offline. With enough energy points, the green initiative platform rewards me with a real tree planted in a desertified area.
This digitalized philanthropy is fun. As a result, I now walk more, take buses, subways and bikes. I’m now living a healthier life that in effect is also great for the environment.
Caragana bush. Image: ITHome.com
On June 20 this year, I planted my very first tree — a Caragana bush in the desert of Qinghai, in northwest China. I’m so happy that I have planted a tree out of my low carbon behaviour, first virtually on my mobile phone and then physically in a desertified areas. The feeling of owning a tree in a remote arid land can feel just like if I owned a star in the universe.
It is true that trees and forests may have borders, but human’s willingness and intention to do good for the society does not. Neither is the benefit trees bring to our planet limited by borders.
Living in China, I know how severe its deforestation problem is. Back in my hometown in the Philippines, I was surprised to learn how deforestation is also worsening.
My country is losing approximately 47,000 hectares of forest cover every year, according to the data provided by the Forest Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. We’ve wiped out around 80% of forests in the Philippines.
The challenge to protect our environment is daunting, but the opportunity and potential to make a difference is encouraging.
I am so excited to see GCash start to leverage its digital technologies to enable ordinary people to join the fight against deforestation in the Philippines in an innovative way.
And I’m really excited to join GCash’s initiative to plant 365,000 trees in 365 days, together with other users and NGO partners like WWF, in the Ipo Watershed, a vital link in the Angat-Umiray-Ipo watersheds system which supplies around 98% of the water needs of Metro Manila.
I believe, in this mobile era, digital technologies have great potential to enable ordinary people like me to better contribute to environmental protection, especially the fight against deforestation and climate change.
To me, using GCash is not just a choice of payment method, but it is a choice of lifestyle, a mobile and green lifestyle that I am proud to live and happy to share with more friends. For a greener Philippines, let’s act now.
For more news and information about Ant Financial and Alipay, check out our official website or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. | https://medium.com/alipay-and-the-world/an-alipay-gcash-user-tells-her-story-of-tree-planting-from-the-deserts-in-qinghai-to-the-3cf2436fb495 | ['Ant Group'] | 2019-07-10 09:54:21.987000+00:00 | ['Philippines', 'Technology', 'Alipay', 'Tech For Good', 'Environment'] |
A gift full of love and compliments! | Though I have got so many stories and lollipop moments in my life but here I am sharing the most cherish moments from my life. There is a long list of people in my life who have helped me in a way that left an impact on my life. I can never forget that!
The person whom I want to gift is my best friend.
Now, it is my time to make her realize how their tiny acts of kindness and her words gave me lollipop moments.
To make her happy, I thought why not make a hand made card full of love, attention and energy, having so refreshing words that can make her feel honored and precious just like me!
In order to do so, I bought the card,, a ribbon, fomic sheets, quilling and made a card out of it. I also sew the ribbon in a way that it shaped into adorable flowers.
So here is the final look!
Lets us enjoy together!
a card made with love for my lovely friend
As she loves chocolates, so I also added a gift of chocolates and packed it too make her curious while opening it.
I am sharing it with you guys but do not let her know!! Sssshhhhhh!
This is not the first time I did it. Back in a while, I also posted a post on my Instagram for her. Here I am sharing that post too. | https://medium.com/@urooj-fatima169/a-gift-full-of-love-and-compliments-17d258089b00 | ['Urooj Fatima'] | 2020-12-19 15:22:24.552000+00:00 | ['Amal Academy', 'Amal Fellowship', 'A Gift Overdue'] |
The county did a lot of things for me… | Hey guys, this is Ken Kobrick, bringing you another success story of people who tell us about the journey to how they got to where they are now. Today I’m talking with Mickey Smith. He
is a retired assistant team leader for Chesterfield County, Virginia SWAT.
People are gonna want to know how in the world did you get to be a SWAT guy? How old were you when you decided you were going to be a police officer? And what happened at that time?
Mic: Well, you know, when you’re a child, you watch a lot of TV, back in the 60s. I always believed that a white knight, you know, there’s always the person that’s going to protect everybody.
I took my test for the army and went into the army first. I scored very high and was told I could do anything you wanted.
My uncle was a recruiter. We talked about it and he said, “Well, you know, you can do anything you want in the military”? What do you want to do? I told him, I’m not sure.
The recruiter who was standing next to him says, Well, you could be a cop if you wanted to be because that’s how high your score is.
That’d be pretty cool. So I just decided at that point that I was going to do it and went to the Army School, 16 weeks, eight weeks of basic eight weeks of police school, and became an MP for three years.
Ken: Where did you take basic?
Mic: Fort McClellan, Alabama, in July, it was hot. Oh, man. But it was a good time down there; I lost a little bit of weight from it and for three years I was a cop, I ended up being a desk sergeant on one of the military bases. I would sit there and send people out on patrol and all that, and I was required to report all the things that happen on that shift for the military.
After three years of that, I decided it was time to stay at home. Because they told me if I re-enlisted I’d go to Korea to a missile silo site. Well, at that point in time, all the MPs who were over there at the missile silos, were getting into trouble, very boring. They would be doing drugs and drinking too much. That’s just not what I wanted to do, too much temptation.
My mother was an alcoholic and kind of pushed me away from anything with alcohol or drugs. So that was important to me. At the end of my three years, I went right into a guard unit and flew around in helicopters for three years for something different to do and I enjoyed that.
I applied for the Chesterfield police and got hired and went through the academy starting in April of 81.
I spent two more years in the Guard Unit. And then after that, I got out of the Guard Unit after being in for a total of six years. So it was a good time.
Ken: How long were you actually been in Swat?
Mic: 24 years, yeah, the longest time of anybody in the department.
Ken: Now, most people, you know, grew up with the show SWAT and whatnot, so tell everybody what exactly the SWAT stand for?
Mic: Well, SWAT stands for special weapons and tactics. Basically what they say is when done, please call 911 who they call. Okay, so they call us, you know.
Ken: OK, so pretty much what the police cannot handle. That is what you guys do?
Mic: Right? Well, in the earlier days, most of the patrolmen weren’t trained in the things that we do, but now they’re trying to have more patrol officers train, they train with patrol rifles and things like that, give them more tactics. Try to teach them more things. Because once you push the button for SWAT, the money starts rolling out because you’re paying all these guys who are off duty time and a half to come out and do the job.
Ken: Okay, I see how that works. And so am I correct in assuming that regular policemen compared to a SWAT person you got you can repel, you can climb through stuff. There is a whole lot more going on than just walking in and serving a warrant or arresting someone or even shooting at somebody. There’s a whole level of training that you guys do, it’s way past normal police work. Is that right?
Mic: Yeah, yeah. We get all the bells and whistles, we get all the specialized toys, specialized weapons. At one time, our SWAT team had more ammunition than a third world country did.
Ken: Wow.
Mic: A lot of people don’t know about SWAT teams because the counties try
to not talk about them too much.
Ken: You don’t want to divulge your best secrets?
Mic: Well, not so much that you can get those secrets and books, on the internet and things like that. But it’s the personnel that really makes it.
Ken: Oh, right.
Mic: Yeah. And becoming a SWAT member is not an easy thing. People say, Well, I want to go to be a policeman and be a SWAT guy. Well, that’s not how it works. You’ve got to start at the bottom, you got to show everybody that you’re a good police officer, you’ve got to have good reviews and things like that. And you can’t be overweight, you can’t be one of these guys who says,
Go to the donut shop and has a donut or anything like that, and gains a lot of weight.
Because before you even get a chance to become a SWAT officer you got a
test for it. And that’s a rigorous thing. It basically starts with letters of recommendation from supervisors and things like that, you must have a certain minimum number of years before you can even apply.
Ken: What is that? How many is that?
Mic: When I was there, you had to be there for at least three years.
Ken: Okay.
Mic: It may have changed it by now, but normally, it is a three-year stint before you even apply for squat.
Ken: Right.
Mic: You interview with a panel, you do a PT test, they looked at your shooting scores, etc., they look at your driving. They look at your internal affairs, they look at everything about you to make sure that you’re the best of the best. They don’t want just anybody doing it.
So, the SWAT guys are pretty much the A guys. And it’s always been historically that most SWAT guys, end up getting promoted to supervisory positions, things like that. So that makes it interesting for a lot of the guys to use it to further their career. Some of them do it for the love.
Ken: Oh, what did you do it for?
Mic: Well, I did it for the love. Oh, there you go. Gave me fast cars, and I got to shoot a lot of guns.
Ken: Perfect. Yeah, it was good. Yeah. Mic, in all the years that you’ve encountered people, has there ever been a situation where you really thought well I’m in a tight spot? I might not get out is have you ever been in a scary situation with you and your team and doing a warrant or something? Has there been something that stands out in your mind?
Mic: Well, you know, they all blend together after a while Ken.
Ken: Yeah, yeah.
Mic: The problem is you know, when we first started, we get called out once or twice, three times a year. When I retired, we were getting called it every three to four weeks.
Ken: Wow.
Mic: Because society has just gotten a little bit crazy.
Ken: Yeah, yeah.
Mic: And you know, drug raids, things like that. You just trust your guys with you. You always trust the guy behind you and in front of you.
Ken: I guess it’s kind of like, you know when we’re driving down the road at 55 or 60 miles an hour on a two-lane road that really the only thing separating us is this yellow line painted. So you have to have faith and trust that the oncoming drivers will stay in their lane.
I guess the same thing if you’re going through a door, you know that the guys around you in front of you behind you. They’ve got your back no matter what if you have that undying faith and trust, I guess it makes your job, you really not thinking about I’m going to die you got to get the job done.
Mic: Well, the thing of it is, people got to realize one thing. Every day is a blessing. You don’t know what’s going to happen the next day, I always try to be the first guy through the door. Because I didn’t have any children. So I could go through the door and be the first one in case something really bad happened. But I knew the guys behind me would take care of business.
Ken: That’s bold.
Mic: No.
Ken: I’m just saying, that’s a bold personality. I don’t mean it in a bad way. I don’t have a better adjective for that. But that is above and beyond. That’s cool.
Mic: Well, you know, the thing about it is the county did a lot of things for me. They sent me all over the country. They taught me specialized things. I’ve met some people in the world that have been world-class shooters, world-class SWAT guys, you know, we trained with LAPD. They came out here and gave us basic training and got us on the right foot.
I was there when the team was only 10 people. You only had 10 people on the team. We had an old truck and this and that and everything we had was just basically hand me downs, you know? And now most of your SWAT teams are cutting edge things like that.
Ken: How many guys are on a team nowadays? Typically?
Mic: Ah. I think we’ve got 26.
Ken: Holy cow.
Mic: Yeah. But then again, jurisdictions got bigger.
Ken: Yeah, that is true. That’s just for Chesterfield, you don’t you don’t go into Richmond right unless there’s a need, but typically you’re in Chesterfield?
Mic: Well, we’ve gone outside jurisdiction before to assist them, all they have to do is ask.
Ken: Okay, yeah. When you think about Chesterfield, it’s a large County. So, it’s really not that many people in an extreme situation, right?
Mic: You don’t always get all the people every time, you set the pace, somebody might be sick, somebody is on vacation, somebody may be out
of the county or out of the state.
So, 26 if you get all 26 on a call, you’ve really done something.
Ken: You know, it’s funny because I remember there’s a new SWAT program now, I forgot the name of the guy who plays it. And it’s a takeoff from the original SWAT. It’s funny, the trucks and the plain uniforms, now you guys, I mean, you can’t even see a guy or you’re covered head to toe, you got the awesome tech, and I’m a techie big time. I really love how all the stuff you guys have built-in, GPS cameras; I mean everything. But I love watching SWAT guys coming out of the back of a truck and doing stuff. But I just like tech gear.
Mic: Well, lucky for us, we had a police chief who was big into technology. Our SWAT team was one of the very first ones to ever test out a room radar system.
Ken: Oh, wow.
Mic: It looks like a big box. You put it on the side of a ball. And you could see and we give you the radar impressions of everybody inside.
Ken: That’s something right on TV. I’ve seen stuff like that TV on Mission Impossible and things like that. And it really exists, that’s amazing.
Mic: We were the very first ones to have it. But that, you know, technology is a wonderful thing, but it still boils down to the guy. Because, you know, everybody’s trained with heavy weapons and things like that. But everybody’s got to be good at everything they do.
Ken: You got to push that button to make that tech work. And you must be intuitive and have that instinct to watch your buddies back no matter how much tech you got hanging on your butt.
Mic: Oh, yeah, it averages 100 pounds, the stuff you’re carrying.
Ken: That’s similar to what I did in the army. Except I didn’t have the tech you had it was a backpack full of junk just to walk.
Mic: Oh, yeah, well, things have changed.
Ken: Mic, this has been kind of enlightening, because not only have you made a lifelong career, this but has, in my opinion, enriched your life with the experiences you’ve had through traveling and meeting people. So it’s not just about serving the law and serving the county, it’s actually enriched your life. And I think you have probably enriched way more people than have enriched you, I got a feeling just from knowing you and what a good person you are.
I think a lot of things are going on now with cops good and bad. But when you look at the majority of people, there are just a few that always make the bad seem like it’s overwhelming. And I know cops, you cannot be a cop and be a hater, or someone doesn’t care about people. It’s just the nature of it. And I think that you are the epitome of that, in my opinion.
And if you were standing toe to toe with a young person, whether it be a male or a female fresh out of the academy or fresh out of college, and this is what they want to do, what would you tell them?
Mic: Well, I think they need to realize it begins before that, okay? Social media is a big killer of people getting in police work, you know, they post stupid things on social media, and they must remember, it’s always going to be there, somebody’s gonna be able to find it.
And if you apply for the police department or the state police or anything like that, they are going to ask you for your Facebook password, things like that. And a few policemen in this camp, at least one or two of them have been fired because of their Facebook post or what they said they believed in.
Ken: Oh, I’m sure. So, that’s indicative of your personality?
Mic: Oh, yeah. And the thing of it is, you know, heavy foot, you know, lots of tickets and all that can kick you out, too. You know, you’ve got to be responsible for what you do. You know, everybody says, well, anybody can be a cop. Very few people apply and get picked for it even though it’s a hard job right now, with everything being recorded, you know, everybody has got a video camera, this and that.
Depending on the angle you use, it can look good or it can look bad.
Ken: Yeah. But that probably is the best. I have asked this question over and over from different people I’ve interviewed and now I’ll get an answer that’s great. But that piece of advice you gave is actually workable and real because people forget right now. It’s no longer social media. It’s part of our lives no matter whether it be an Academy or a police department looking to hire you, or Walmart, they’re going to look at your social media. That’s where everything begins. So you’re exactly right. If you’re going to do this, you better start early and think about how you’re projecting yourself on social media and everything.
Mic: Oh, yeah. Like we have an explorer group where kids who are interested in police work and it’s a Boy Scout type group thing, police explorers, they can join and be in until they’re 21 years old.
Ken: Oh, that’s great.
Mic: So that’s somewhere we’ve gotten a lot of good police officers from the floors because a lot of those people are second-generation and third generation. And we’ve got a few of those in the department right now, third generation, police.
Ken: That’s excellent. Mic, this has been a little more enlightening than I thought it was going to be. And folks, this is a side note, I gotta tell you, I’m probably one of the luckiest people in the world. Because not only do I know, Mic and I consider him a friend, but he lives across the street from me, and he’ll get to my place before 911. Mic, thank you for your time today. Is there anything else you’d like to say before we go?
Mic: Well, you know, people asked all the time, what was the greatest thing you’ve ever got out of being a policeman? And I said, Well, you know, there were days that were great. There were days that are terrible, you know, but there’s always another day, you know, and no single day is the same.
If you’re a road, if you’re a street policeman or detective, no day is the same. You know, if you’re one of these people who want to protect this factory job, but be something boring after a while, be a cop, because the world opens up to you. You’re on a social elevator, you move up and down the elevator, with everybody you deal with. They can be millionaires, they can be rich, they can be poor, you deal everybody from top to bottom. And it’s a good job. Now, it’ll take a toll on you, but you’ve got to know how to talk about it.
So that would be my thing.
Ken: Excellent. Thank you, Mic. These are words guys from Mickey Smith, a cop and retired cop who loves life. Thanks a lot, Mick.
Mic: You’re welcome. | https://medium.com/@kobrickmarket/the-county-did-a-lot-of-things-for-me-what-was-the-greatest-thing-youve-ever-got-out-of-being-a-317099ef126 | ['Ken Kobrick'] | 2020-12-12 01:18:56.869000+00:00 | ['Police', 'Rva', 'Swat'] |
How I Started A 3D Printing Business and made money marketing my products | I worked at Shapeways for two years as their social media specialist from 2013–2015. Shapeways is currently the world’s largest 3D printing service and marketplace where anyone can upload a 3D file to have printed on demand in many different materials and shipped to you. You can also make products and sell them on the Shapeways marketplace.
During my time as the Social Media Specialist at Shapeways, I lead the brand voice on social. I created content, engaged with users, managed relationships with community members whether they’re a shop owner, a shopper, a investor, and everyone in between. I moderated our community on forums, blogs, and social media channels.
I also became a successful shop owner on Shapeways managing a 3D printing business I started called Raw Legend Collaborations that sells incredible 3D printed memes, corgi figurines, and wireframe animal products. I used my knowledge as a successful shop owner on Shapeways to educate our community through educational marketing tutorials, content, and tips and tricks.
In this post I want to highlight some of the processes, steps, learnings, tactics, and marketing strategy behind building my 3D printing business and brand. To start, I knew nothing about 3D printing before joining Shapeways and I still do not know how to 3D model or use any type of 3D modeling software. Did that stop me from starting and growing my shop into one of the most successful shops on the Shapeways marketplace within 10 months? Nope!
After having my first year at Shapeways under my belt, I’ve met and engaged with hundreds of designers, shop owners, and makers in the Shapeways community who are masterful 3D modelers and have ran successful businesses online. My hiring manager Savannah Peterson came from the crowdfunding space and had a background in product launches and working with small businesses, she had already written many of the shop owner content for how to be a successful shop owner on Shapeways which I also became familiar with best practices, and later written additional content on how to market your shop based on my experience as a shop owner.
I come from a very unique background, I have sales experience from my time as a health insurance agent for AFLAC and also business development experience from my days working at PLYFE. I am a self-taught social media and digital marketing expert and when I decided to start my business on Shapeways I already had all the business skills, sales skills, and social media marketing skills to promote any product I decided to make.
Not knowing how to 3D model did not stop me, in fact, I felt not knowing how to 3D model forced me to make friends and connections with those who can 3D model and can do it better than I could ever will. I became close friends with one of the most talented 3D modelers and designers I have ever met. His name is Kostika Spaho. Kostika is a world class elite 3D modeler and digital artist based out of NYC. He has a Master’s Degree in Architecture. He possess a complete mastery of all 3D modeling software and 3D printing, he is a full stack digital sculptor. Kostika can design anything and create a 3D printable model off a 2D image or a descriptive description of a product idea. Lets just say Kostika was my secret weapon.
I have gotten to know Kostika through his work on Shapeways as well as several meet ups and company events, he specializes in jewelry and shoe designs but his work never really took off selling on the Shapeways marketplace. I have a talent for spotting consumer trends on social media with mass consumer appeal such as memes, gifs, cats, and super niche trends that are wildly popular within specific interest groups. I felt that with my knowledge of predicting winners and what sells well on Shapeways, along with Kostika’s superior 3D modeling abilities, that I would tell him what to make, he would make it, I would market it, and we’d just split all profits 50/50.
The first hit product we decided to make was a 3D printed figurine of a Tardigrade (Water Bear) in full color sandstone. The Tardigrade became wildly popular after it was featured on Neil Degrasse Tyson’s COSMOS. I became a big fan of the extremophile and I knew the Tardigrade was wildly popular amongst the science community, it is essentially more popular than Grumpy Cat for science lovers like myself.
Immediately upon uploading the file and render to Shapeways and promoting it on Twitter by tweeting folks mentioning “Tardigrade” on Twitter search, we began to see a positive reception towards the design and within 24 hours had our first few sales, we hadn’t even had the print ordered yet to take photos. That moment became my gateway drug to entrepreneurial power that Shapeways 3D printing had to offer, to be able to upload a model and have it for sale and a product can start selling within hours. I was hooked!
The 3D printed Tardigrade would essentially go on to sell like hotcakes and it would get featured in several media outlets such as BuzzFeed and 3D Printing Industry. It was also shared amongst many scientist on Twitter including Richard Dawkins. My collaborations would not stop with Kostika and the Tardigrade, I decided to scale up and work with another talented 3D modeler and animator named Corretta Singer.
My collaboration with Corretta Singer would give birth to several legendary products of heroic proportions, most notably the famous Thorgi, The Corgi God Of Thunder. It was this collaboration which opened my eyes to how big the Corgi market was and I began to put more of my time and resources designing Corgi products which would make up the majority of my sales.
How Do I Market My Products?
I already had a large social media following before starting my business, I had over 80k Twitter followers and 2k Instagram followers. I began by pushing my products out to my personal network just to gauge general interest, some of my early customers were co-workers, friends, and family. Next I used the power to Twitter search and begin jumping into conversations of people talking about a specific topics for example Corgis and Tardigrades. I joined every single Facebook group related to Corgis and began sharing my work there, I made sure to include photos of my products and introduced myself, who I was, what inspired me to make this product, etc. Learn more about joining a Facebook group in this previous blog post of mine.
Instagram has become one of my favorite platforms to promote my work, follow me on instagram @EricHoRaw to see how I’ve been promoting and marketing my work. Also read my blog on Shapeways on the Five tactics I use for promoting my work on Instagram here. A super effective tactic for outreach on social is direct messaging, especially direct messaging Facebook fan pages relevant to your product and asking if they would feature or share with their audience. Here’s my blog post on using social media to generate sales leads.
So far here is a running list of the press and media outlets my 3D printing business have been featured in. Getting blogs and media outlets to feature your work can add serious velocity to the word of mouth of your products.
Buzzfeed: http://www.buzzfeed.com/kasiagalazka/water-bear-goodies
The Coolector : Raw Legend 3D Printing
Nerd Approved: 3D Printed Figures let you own Thorgi and Bane Cat Collectibles
Printing Everyday Podcast: Raw Legend Collaborations
ThisIsWhyImBroke: Heavy Breathing Cat
QuarksToQuesars: The Microworld Meets Macro World
Super Compressor: The Poop Emoji Bottle Opener Is Everything It Claims To Be
Cool hunting: Poop Emoji Bottle Opener
Arts and Science journal: Ode To The 3D printed Tardigrade
The Daily Corgi: The Story Behind the 3D Printed Corgi God Of Thunder
I am currently making around $800-$1500 a month in sales through my Shapeways shop. The reputation that I have built through my shop has lead to several request for commission work which is another side of the business I am beginning to build out. I have recently launched www.TheEricHo.com, a 3D modeling and design service for custom 3D design work ready for 3D printing. I currently charge $300-$500 per 3D model. Design requests have varied from pets, figurines, to jewelry.
Interested in learning more about my 3D printing business, artwork, or custom designs? Feel free to reach me on any of these digital touch points below.
Instagram: @EricHoRaw
Email: [email protected]
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erichonyc
“Always remember to be a Pugtato amongst Potatoes” -Eric Ho | https://medium.com/@EricHoRaw/how-i-started-a-3d-printing-business-and-made-money-marketing-my-products-8ddda948fd6a | ['Eric Ho'] | 2018-05-02 14:34:19.271000+00:00 | ['3D Printing', 'Marketing', 'Business'] |
Why is Tax Reporting For Cryptocurrencies so Stressful? | The evolution of cryptocurrencies — the virtual “coins,” was supposed to disrupt the very concept of money itself. But it didn’t go as planned.
With no physical manifestation, no central bank, and no government regulation, cryptocurrencies provided a perfect spot for some investors to dodge tax authorities.
Crypto Is No Longer “Bogus”
Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, and other “privacy coins”, such as Monero and Zcash, used to rule the dark web — the shady part of the Internet where weapons, pornography, and gambling are easily available. But this is slowly changing.
Gone are the days when the government considered cryptocurrency as a “bogus” economy.
Today, government regulations are now playing a vital role in legitimizing cryptocurrencies that are often associated with shady online purchases and money laundering.
Government agencies have now started to tax people that have crypto assets. This may be seen as both good and bad news at the same time.
The Inherent Complex Nature of Cryptocurrencies
The good thing is that some governments are now slowly accepting cryptocurrencies as a legitimate source of income and a real currency.
However, the bad thing is that the number of trades that a high-level crypto trader goes through, is so high that it is nearly impossible for him to calculate the taxable trade income within a few hours, especially when done manually. Traders argue that this time lost in calculations should otherwise have been used to earn more money!
Decentralization Also Provides for Complexity
There is another complexity involved with virtual coins. Cryptocurrencies are difficult to track because of their decentralized nature. And given their unique blockchain structures, cryptocurrencies like Monero and Zcash are even harder to track than others.
Crypto traders often utilize many different exchanges, platforms, and tools to transact and trade cryptocurrencies. It all sounds very simple and easy with two basic forms involved in tax reporting, but it isn’t like that. This is because no other investment has ever worked the way crypto does and nothing about crypto is centralized.
It’s easy to move coins from one exchange to another at any time which makes capital gains exceptionally difficult to track. Most of the people trade on between 5 and 12 exchanges, and there are more than a thousand different coins to trade.
The exchanges don’t communicate with one another, nor do they have any sort of common standard. Some exchanges require investors to identify themselves, while others promise complete anonymity. Some are even more restrictive than others. This makes it impossible for an exchange to accurately report how much an investor originally paid for a crypto coin.
The Difficulties Associated With ‘Crypto Tax’ Calculation
Due to the way the U.S. and IRS classify cryptocurrencies for tax purposes, it becomes more difficult for traders to accurately track the necessary data needed for tax reporting.
Since the IRS treats cryptocurrency as “property”, and not “currency”, for tax purposes, a trader is required to report his capital gains and losses from his crypto trades on the tax filing.
To report these transactions properly, you need to report your original cost basis, the fair market value of the coin at the time of the trade in US Dollars, and the amount of gain or loss you incurred for every cryptocurrency transaction you made.
With the historical USD prices for all coins not readily available, doing all this by hand makes tax calculation close to impossible.
Realizing the tax implications of it all, many individual investors who wish to comply with the IRS, are now demanding that exchanges provide tax information reporting because keeping up with a huge number of transactions and fetching historical prices is nearly impossible for them. Penalties for late or incorrect forms can quickly become more severe.
This makes it all the necessary for software that is designed to address these complexities.
I spoke with CryptoTrader.Tax, who recently partnered with TurboTax to help answer some of my questions surrounding crypto and taxes. The software automates the entire cryptocurrency tax reporting process.
By uploading your cryptocurrency trades onto the platform, the process is condensed down to a matter of minutes. The platform will automatically crunch your capital gains and losses numbers and prepare the necessary tax documents including the IRS Form 8949.
What Does the Future Hold for Crypto?
When it comes to any new, disruptive technology, it takes time for the infrastructure to get built to bring in widespread mainstream adoption.
Due to the inherent nature of cryptocurrency, there will always be tax implications, especially as more security tokens come into the mainstream. Companies that help reduce complexities and save time will enable more and more consumers to enter the world of crypto.
Third-party automated tax calculation and reporting solution providers like CryptoTrader.Tax can help minimize risk by facilitating the centralization and automation of reporting. Both of these factors are key to avoiding penalties and developing efficient tax reporting processes for cryptocurrencies. | https://medium.com/hackernoon/why-tax-reporting-for-cryptocurrencies-is-so-stressful-f5cbf78b3d86 | ['Drew Rossow'] | 2019-04-04 10:31:00.869000+00:00 | ['Cryptotaxtrader', 'Tax', 'Crypto', 'Bitcoin', 'Blockchain'] |
The Heel of the Woman | “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; She will crush your head, while you strike at her heel.”-Genesis 3:15
When you look back on the book of Genesis and reflect on the way the giant, horrible serpent snuck behind Adam’s back in order to destroy the dignity of mankind, what stands out to you? Have you ever reflected on why this massive, terrifying snake was such a coward? Why didn’t he confront Adam first and directly with his so-called wisdom? Why did he go after the little women, Eve, alone?
I believe that the answer is this; God protects and guides the authority of men over women when they are brave enough to take it, and I think Adam would have faced this demon with a lot more courage if his wife had respected his authority. I think Eve would have respected Adam’s authority if the serpent had addressed them both at the same time. I imagine that Adam would have spoken up against the serpent in favor of the power and love of the Almighty God, long before she had the chance to consider taking that fatal bite, and she would have followed his lead. Instead she emasculated her husband and picked a dangerous fight for him, all at once. Satan knows how the order of nature works, and so slithered his way in between them.
Fortunately, there was one woman so pure, and with such a massive respect for God’s authority as the Author of Life, that she caught His eye like no other in all the vastness of time and space. She would be the mother of all the children of God because even standing alone, she would give her “fiat” so that the Word might become Flesh. There in her poverty and helplessness, she was given the choice to either give birth to a Child whose destiny and mission was to suffer in order to give testimony to the truth, or to say no and turn her back on the restoration of the dignity of mankind.
Yesterday in Colorado, an extremely reasonable proposal to end late-term abortion, in which a 22-week-old-baby has its head stabbed, its brain sucked out and its body chopped to pieces and pulled out from what should be the safest place in the universe for such a creature- this proposition was shot down. What is the most understandable reason a woman can give for supporting a woman’s right to murder a fully developed baby human in this grizzly way? Suffering. The child who is destined to suffer is fair to murder in the eyes of our modern Eve. And why is she Eve? I call her Eve because she has decided that this authority to take or give life is her right. She gives man no authority and no say, or does so only as an afterthought, once the man is already emasculated and weakened, standing before this horror while beside his already compromised woman, and thus, again, Satan finds the way to slither through and destroy.
I was born in this time, I believe, to be the heel that will crush the head of this filthy snake. I have the audacity to make that claim because I am a nothing and a nobody. I have not one single worldly title of esteem, unless you are one of the few people who still regards motherhood with any respect. I am a mother, indeed. I am the mother of five precious children, and I bore these children in the midst of an abusive “marriage” in which their father forced me into isolation, depression, and blind obedience through gaslighting, physical abuse and humiliation, and a great deal of fear. If anyone has been hidden and trodden upon as a heel, I am one. I believe there are many more hidden, brave women out there, fighting hard to defend the dignity and authority of motherhood through the action of choosing to be open to life; Women who look to the Virgin Mother of God as their role-model, and not to Eve.
The authority of motherhood is what feminists hate above all things. I used to look to the feminists for answers, when I wanted to escape from the abuse and when I caught my ex-husband cheating. The feminists claim that they believe women should have the “right to choose”, but in reality, if a woman chooses life for her child in spite of the possible suffering at hand, she is ridiculed, scoffed at and treated with spiteful contempt. It was frequently implied that my children should have been aborted- that my kids should be dead. Nothing could have given me more anxiety and it made me view my abusive man as my only ally!
I often felt like a lone, cornered lioness being attacked by cackling hyenas. How dare I believe that my motherhood was something of value? Who was I to want my own babies when they would cause me so much trouble on top of a horrible marriage? How foolish I was, to think that there was something noble in respecting fatherhood even though the father of my children had no respect for me!
Their advice was to stop this determined desire I had to breastfeed. They told me to put my little ones in daycare, get a job, pursue an education, and find my independence through financial gain. They seemed oblivious to the fact that babies have astonishing brain development taking place in the first three years of life, and that a mother’s presence and caretaking is vastly superior to any other available option. There was no encouragement whatsoever in favor of me staying with my little ones. I was mocked for saying that it mattered to me.
Twelve years later, I find myself understanding that what they wanted me to do was create order by embracing a masculine role and stifling my feminine nature. I am so grateful that I refused that shameful advice. I found my strength by embracing my feminine nature with full force, and respecting the masculine nature of the father of my children in spite of his many faults. I forgave him, and I forgive him today, and that is why I am free of him physically, mentally and emotionally only a year after our official divorce.
The father of my children had many faults and bad habits when I met him, but I was under the feminist illusion that if I married him and bullied him, he would eventually change. He was too strong for that, thank God. However, he made the vows of marriage with uncertainty and out of some strange pity for me and a sense of obligation. He was not ready for a wife- not even close. I regret that I played any part; that I pulled him into it, and I understand exactly why it turned him into the monster he became. I hope he regrets it, and I hope he will learn from it and heal, but it is not my business and not my problem whether he does or does not.
What is my business is this: can I stay home with my babies until they are old enough to go to school, even through divorce? I’d like to be able to stay home even longer than that and continue to focus on my children. I’m no longer able to call myself a “housewife”, as I rebelliously used to do. I am still a mother, however, and should I not have the choice to make motherhood my priority?
Due to my determination to cling to my feminine nature, and because I made the effort to respect the authority of the father of my children and to demand that he step up and provide, I stay home with my fifth child who is three years old, to this day. He still prides himself in his ability to provide for me, and just recently we have had some major breakthroughs in co-parenting that I would have never believed possible with a “toxic, narcissistic ex”. It seems that since I have cut off every other tie he has to me so indisputably, he is grateful to at least share parenthood with me. He has been extremely cooperative ever since I got a permanent restraining order.
I am thriving, growing, relishing every single day. My healing has happened at an astonishing rate, and somehow due to the fact that I suffered so much trauma and yet have also healed, my creativity is flourishing, almost as if I were quite young.
Feminism will not heal your pain. Feminism will not make men respect women. It will never create equality, but it will create massive chaos as so many women ignore their small children’s needs in the pursuit of creating order as if they were men. Embrace the chaos of your feminine life. Let that baby be your clock and guide. Hide and pray and wait, and keep all of this “in your heart,” as did the Mother, Mary. Look to her for your guide, lest you fail your people like the first feminist, Eve, failed us all. The world will see plenty of you when the time is right. Lay up your treasures in heaven by being the mother you were created to be, relentlessly and without any compromise. This is the way you will find yourself. The Virgin Mary gives you her Word. | https://medium.com/@hailholyqueen716/the-heel-of-the-woman-aba60b8c5a4e | ['Felicity Dark'] | 2021-02-14 16:57:16.012000+00:00 | ['Catholic', 'Abortion', 'Equality', 'Motherhood', 'Feminism'] |
Selenium and TestNG framework | In this blog, we will look into the Selenium and TestNG framework. In the previous blog, we saw about Test Automation. If you haven’t read the previous one, then have a look at it and come back here.
What is Selenium?
Selenium is an open-source tool that automates web browsers. It is an automated testing framework used to validate web applications across different browsers and platforms. It provides a single interface that lets you write test scripts in programming languages like Ruby, Java, NodeJS, PHP, Perl, Python, C# and others.
Selenium Software is not just a single tool but a suite of software.
Components of Selenium:
1)Selenium Integrated Development Environment (IDE).
2)Selenium Remote Control (RC).
3)Selenium WebDriver.
4)Selenium Grid.
Before explaining all the selenium software let's see a bit of the funny and interesting history of Selenium.
Selenium was created by Jason Huggins in 2004. Before the birth of the Selenium, there was another popular framework made by the company called Mercury Interactive. Selenium is a well-known antidote for Mercury poisoning, Jason had kept the name Selenium.
Selenium Integrated Development Environment (IDE):
Selenium IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is an open-source web automation testing tool t does not require any programming logic to write its test scripts rather you can simply record your interactions with the browser to create test cases. You can also use the playback option to re-run the test cases.
Selenium RC:
Selenium RC consists of two parts:
Client libraries where we write the scripts that will automate the browser.
RC server will launch and close the browser automatically.
When the test scripts are written, then the RC server will inject the JavaScript program called Selenium core in the browser. Once it is injected It will receive the command from the RC server then the selenium core will execute all these instructions as JavaScript commands.
Selenium WebDriver:
Since the RC server communicates with the browser via a JavaScript program, the execution speed is slow. But the web driver doesn’t have any proxy server. It controls the browser directly from the OS hence the execution speed is very high. This what makes WebDriver the best choice in the selenium suite.
Selenium Grid:
Selenium Grid is a tool used together with Selenium RC to run parallel tests. Parallel tests mean running your Selenium RC scripts in multiple browsers and operating systems simultaneously.
Selenium 2 is nothing but integration of WebDriver with Selenium RC(Selenium1). After this new version of Selenium started to roll out and few features in the existing version started to deprecate.
Now we will see what is TestNG framework.
TestNG framework:
TestNG, NG stands for “Next Generation”.
TestNG is a very important framework, it provides you full control over the test cases and the execution of the test cases. Due to this reason, TestNG is also known as a testing framework.
If you want to run a multiple test case, we may need some test cases that need to be executed first before the actual test case.
In TestNG, annotations are easier to understand. It produces the HTML reports for implementation. It also generates Logs. Parallel execution of test cases, i.e., running multiple test cases is only possible in the TestNG framework.
In the next blog, we’ll see about the Performance testing and tools required to do performance testing i.e., Apache Jmeter.
Hope you enjoyed reading the article!!
If you have any queries, please post in the comment section below. Connect with me on LinkedIn.
Thanks for reading this article and Have a great day. | https://medium.com/@akash-s/selenium-and-testng-framework-444e6add3166 | ['Akash S'] | 2021-06-12 14:33:56.928000+00:00 | ['Selenium', 'Testng Framework', 'Software Testing', 'Software Development'] |
Originalism and The Other Founding Fathers. | When we think of the ‘founding fathers’ we think of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams and many others. These men, who fought the Revolutionary war, contributed to the Declaration of Independence, crafted the Constitution, and who were part of the early Congresses that voted to adopt these documents as the root and foundation of our Republic, are the image we call to mind when we say ‘founding fathers.’
And when conservatives speak of originalism, it is largely in reference to these original founding fathers. The words of the Constitution, they say, only have the meaning they had when written. If, for example, the Constitution does not use the word ‘privacy’ then — according to originalism — there is no guaranteed right of privacy protected by the Constitution.
But the founding fathers of 1789 famously left few things all that clear and many things undone; after all, it was a product of contention, competing interests and compromise. One could fairly make the case that the very ambiguity of the founding documents denies a strict originalism as further clarification is always required: It was, in fact, the very ambiguity — if not an alchemical and combustible ambivalence — that allowed different and differing interpretations, allow the contradictions to muster into the Civil War.
With the founders lack of clarity, most especially considering slavery, further foundational work needed to be done. Certain things needed to be clarified, other ideas needed to be excised, and still others needed to be concretized. Two men dedicated their lives and their not inconsiderable intellects to this endeavor and, I think righteously, ought also to be considered founding fathers of the 1850’s, every bit the equal to those original founders.
Those two men were Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, (though many already consider Lincoln great for other reasons). Expounding and expanding on the work of the original founding fathers they ruthlessly excised slavery from American life and gave, in Lincolns words ‘a new birth of freedom,’ in public discourse and congressional legislation. Lincolns last great triumph, the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution, was — in effect — a ratification, and enlargement, of the Emancipation Proclamation. After Lincolns assassination, later Congresses passed the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, further clarifying the document.
For a close reading of the constitution alongside the intent(s) of the founding fathers there are no better documents than, first, Frederick Douglass famous speech 'What, To the Slave is The Fourth of July,’ and, second, Lincolns 1860 speech at Cooper Union. | https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/originalism-and-the-other-founding-fathers-fd2268aff547 | ['Petr Swedock'] | 2020-12-16 16:59:51.571000+00:00 | ['Politics And Protest', 'History', 'Originalism', 'Progressive', 'American History'] |
Everything That Happened In The Past Made You Who You Are Now | “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” — William Faulkner
I’ve thought about these words from Faulkner in reference to the temporal space between events in his book. The more I think on the quote, the more I realize these words are not only relevant but true. Everything that happened in our past is not dead, and not even in the past. It made us who we are now.
Don’t ever tell yourself that something that happened or something you did didn’t matter. No matter how insignificant others might tell you something is, despite how much your loved ones plead you to move on, perhaps the dwelling and ruminating on some form of shame and guilt you feel is what you need. Everything matters at the end of the day, and it’s up to you to decide for yourself, not anyone else. You or your God are the definers of your journey and life, and although the quote that “definitions belong to the definers, not the defined,” that Toni Morrison once said in Beloved refers to slaves having their definitions defined by white slaveowners, the novel is triumphant. By the end, the roles are reversed: the former slaves became the definers, instead of the defined, of their own story.
And yet we live in contradictions and paradoxes, that although there’s a part of us that dwells and feels, there’s also a part of us that moves on. Toni Morrison also once said, in Song of Solomon, that if “you wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.” As human beings, we are characters with narrative arcs. Perhaps there’s a part of us that needs to hold onto the stuff that weighs us down and make our peace with the past before we can fly and give it up. There is no surrender and peace unless a prior struggle and conflict preceded it, as any person resisting a relationship in faith has experienced. We must be broken down first before we know what it means to fly.
That is why everything that’s happened made us who we are today. I certainly wouldn’t be where I’m at now not only for my successes, but my failures, for the friends I’ve made for life who will stand by me unconditionally, and also the conditional friends in which my relationships fell apart. Every time something goes horribly wrong and the outcome goes against what is considered “good” and what I planned, I learn a lot more about my shortcomings and failures. I learn more adhering to my Christian faith and Calvinist theology, that I myself am worthless and unjustified, and can’t claim to be better than anyone, because the ways I have wronged people and the world are much worse than the sin I know of anyone else. I am absolutely nothing alone, but by the grace of a higher power in my God, I can affect change and affect the lives of people, to do justice and serve the world in capacities I didn’t think possible. I am not supposed to have learned what it means to surrender control, but I have, and I’ve never felt so much joy.
All of my failures, all of the pain I caused, whether it was my fault or not, whether it was intentional or a complete accident and misunderstanding, contributed to the person I am today, and I can say confidently that I didn’t think I would be here. I’m not supposed to be here. I’m not supposed to have forged as strong of relationships as I have, to have fostered and succumbed to as much vulnerability as I have. I’m not supposed to have worked on a suicide hotline or have been successful doing it. I’m not supposed to have found God, but God defied what I was “supposed” to do. I’m not supposed to be a teacher next year, teaching high school English, and being a person who will become a much better teacher than who I was before everything I went through this year.
I think I’m the luckiest person in the world, that I am everything I am because the past is not over, and it’s not even the past. I haven’t really changed as a person despite the trauma and various pain that I’ve been overwhelmed with this year. No, I’ve grown, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, and no one else could have gone through the same and developed to who I am.
I believe that there is a plan and journey for everyone. Some people will have destinations they find more favorable. Some may not, but that’s fine, and that’s okay. Yes, we will feel the anxieties and fears with how much we have to lose, with how much we have at stake. But this year and throughout college, I have experienced the joy that comes with having absolutely nothing to lose, to give up to God because as much as I want to believe, God just showed me I had no other choice.
So no, my past is not ever dead, but a “rememory” of the past traumas that are colliding with my present circumstances. All of that made me who I am, and the definition of my life belongs to myself, the definer, and not the outsiders who misunderstand me oh so much that have tried to be the definers of my story, and that is what your story should be, as the definer, too. | https://ryanfan.medium.com/everything-that-happened-in-the-past-made-you-who-you-are-now-7826c1528783 | ['Ryan Fan'] | 2019-09-19 03:49:06.309000+00:00 | ['Books', 'Psychology', 'Self', 'Christianity', 'Life'] |
The Myth of the Democratic Party Purity Test | The phrase “purity test” is corporatized political upspeak for “Please, stop showing me for the bullshitter that I am.”
There is no such thing as the “purity test” among even the most staunch progressives. But there is an expectation that the party and its leaders choose people without a questionable (and, in many cases, vile) background to take on positions of power and influence. Better yet, there is the expectation that those who do ascend to power within the party actually have a people driven vision of how to move the country forward.
Take Neera Tanden, for example — President elect Biden’s pick to head the OMB. For over a decade, Neera Tanden has called herself a progressive yet has dedicated her life to subverting and squashing any progressive vision or policy in favor of more of the same old third-way, corporatist, lite-blue-liberal version of trickle down economics. She’s called for cuts to Social Security, admitted to assaulting a journalist, has campaigned aggressively against a $15 minimum wage, has smeared Bernie Sanders and his supporters with a tooth-to-tooth smile, and has developed and promoted policies that would be more expensive, less effective, and more cruel than Medicare expansion. Tanden is also a war hawk that thinks countries the United States invades should be forced to pay their war debts in oil.
Rejecting Neera Tanden to head the OMB is not instituting a purity test. It’s actually much simpler than that: it’s expecting that someone in charge of formulating and executing the federal budget has a shred of humanity.
If there was a progressive formulated Democratic purity test, Bernie Sanders would fall short. Bernie Sanders voted for the same disastrous crime bill that many (including myself) have criticized Joe Biden for. Sanders also voted YES to give war authorization powers to President Clinton during the Kosovo War.
And with respect to his voting records on guns, policing authority and enforcement, military spending, and foreign intervention, Sanders record is spotty at best.
However, Sanders vision for America and its people — namely lower and middle classes — has always been solid. He’s always believed in expanding Medicare in one way or another and has always highlighted the absurdity of student loan debt, our barely working education system, and the lack of government guaranteed benefits, rights, and cushions afford to other peoples of the Western world. And even on some of his less-than-progressive positions and votes, he’s evolved.
That’s why the people overwhelmingly chose and still choose Bernie Sanders as their progressive leader — because, all things aside, he has a vision, a drive, a background, and voting history to align with polices, proposals, and cultural shifts a growing segment of the population wants.
But you don’t have to be Bernie Sanders to be a progressive. Get this: you can disagree with Bernie Sanders and be a progressive, so as long as the aim and trajectory of your vision and proposals is similar. For example: Bernie Sanders thinks most if not all private health insurance should be done away with. Other progressives look to models like Germany, Australia, and Canada as opposed to, say, the NIH, for achieving their goals. Given the state of American healthcare, a model that still guarantees healthcare is absolutely-fucking-progressive.
Progressives don’t care if you worked at Google or Goldman Sachs so as long as your current track record and trajectory is forward thinking and moving. Again, that’s not a purity test — it’s a test of bare minimums. And even if the answers aren’t ideal in terms of funding, policy execution, or strategy, progressives can still coalesce around people who simply want better for American workers and families.
However, progressives likely will care if you try to spin time at a financial engineering desk or conducting surveillance on the masses as some superior credential for holding office or exercising influence. Sure, you may be smart, intelligent, have all the degrees from all the good schools — but are you for the people? You may be able to handle any spreadsheet that comes your way, talk about bold ideas at elite conferences and retreats, and get to the grit about minute policy details — but are you for the people?
Politicians will often say something along the lines of, “I can’t wait to begin working for all Americans” when they enter office. Yet, as time goes on, it becomes clear that the work they do is mostly for large corporations, foreign powers, the military industrial complex, and whatever their useless team of pollsters and consultants tell them to do about re-election. A real progressive simply works for the people — not the might, muscles, and tax structures.
So, next time you hear the phrase “purity test,” look at the people saying it. More often than not, they are just mad that what they stood and stand for doesn’t align with what they are telling us or what they are expected to do. | https://medium.com/@twothingscanberight/the-myth-of-the-democratic-party-purity-test-419acfdee2b5 | ['Mike Houghton'] | 2020-12-07 21:37:26.592000+00:00 | ['Purity Test', 'Progressive', 'Democratic Party', 'Neera Tanden', 'Bernie Sanders'] |
Everybody’s a concierge. Except your hotel concierge… | Everywhere you turn these days there’s a service offering to be your concierge. Wash.io is a laundry concierge, Operator is a shopping concierge, Shyp is a shipping concierge. Your credit card definitely offers a concierge.
But the hotel lobby concierge — the original concierge—is disappearing. And at a time when guests have come to expect more local knowledge and authenticity than ever. At a time when, more than ever, we need somebody with real local knowledge to help us sift through the noise.
Shouldn’t the rise of Airbnb with its local touch prove the importance of local expertise? Why is it that so many boutique hotels are removing rather than expanding their concierge forces?
For a few reasons:
Bad actors. Too many concierges take kickbacks. And too many guests have been burned, ending up at that same over-priced restaurant where the concierge sends everybody. In fact, many of the concierges you talk to don’t even work for the hotel—they’re third parties acting as middlemen at the expense of genuine experiences. No technology. Who wants to have to go to the lobby every time you have a question? Or make a phone call? The advice needs to be available on your phone, when you need it. Big bus tours. It’s easier than ever to put up a website and start a travel business. And many of these tour or activity providers are FAR superior to the entrenched operators. Would you rather explore a new city with these guys or on a tired double-decker bus? But most lobby concierges don’t keep up with these new companies because they have no reason to.
While Airbnb has it’s problems, any company that empowers more people to travel is alright by me. And more to the point, they’ve done a fantastic job of helping travelers get off-the-beaten path.
But hotels still have their place. Their focus on customer service is, often, unparalleled. And their ability to curate an end-to-end experience is an impressive act of creativity. But it’s time to rethink the concierge.
After all, this is the age of the concierge. | https://medium.com/@dtemple/everybody-s-a-concierge-except-your-hotel-concierge-cc878860c83 | ['David Temple'] | 2015-11-20 19:25:10.205000+00:00 | ['Travel', 'Hotel', 'Concierge'] |
Why design briefs make or break your design | “Designing without research is like getting into a taxi and just saying ‘Drive’.” — Nate Bolt
Design seems intuitive, and in many ways it is. But before that spark of intuition happens, the groundwork needs to be laid. All great design is based on hard work and extensive research. A design brief is the culmination of the research process, packaging the research and presenting the findings to the creative team so that they can brainstorm and come up with the best designs that they can. It provides direction, purpose, and focus to the research and helps move along the design process to get to the destination.
Parts of a Design Brief
Every design brief is different. Some are targeted for specific projects, such as an ad campaign or logo design, while others are more general. However, all design briefs share some core elements:
Overview: A brief summary of the project and organization
A brief summary of the project and organization Mission Statement: The underlying beliefs and values that drive the company
The underlying beliefs and values that drive the company Personality: The character and personality that needs to show through in the design
The character and personality that needs to show through in the design Audience: Who the design is targeted to and their specific needs
Who the design is targeted to and their specific needs Goals: What needs to be accomplished through the design
Let’s look at an example:
This design brief was created for a hypothetical place called the Mural Cafe, and it is a more general brief, focusing on the personality and design theme to create a brand. Let’s talk about each section and why each one makes a difference.
Overview
The overview is the first thing a designer sees when reading the design brief. It has to be short, to the point, and encapsulate the who, what, when, how, and why of what the brand stands for. Sounds super easy, no? However, in some ways it is the most important part of the brief; it combines all of the different pieces of the project into a manageable, easy to read format. A well-written overview should give the designer an idea of the project and provide enough background information to move on to the next piece. In the design brief above, the overview tells the reader the location of the cafe, which food and services it provides, and a taste of its personality and vibe.
Mission Statement
Why does this brand exist? What does it bring to the world? For the Mural Cafe, the mission statement is that “The Mural Cafe is a space dedicated to inspiring creativity, encouraging productivity, and fostering community through art. We believe that everyone should have the space to express their individuality.” This is what the founders of the cafe believe in, and this is what needs to be brought out subtly throughout the design.
Personality and Atmosphere
How does the brand feel? What vibe does it give off? Every brand is associated with an emotion and a feeling, and here’s where you decide what that will be. For the Mural Cafe, the personality is “chilled, accepting, minimalist, unconventional, and innovative.” This personality will be laced through your design and is part and parcel of the company itself. This is what ties your brand together, and needs to be central in whatever the design project is.
Audience
Design is only as good as its audience. You can have a great ad campaign, but if you’re trying to sell Disney toys to college students, you’ve missed the mark. The designer needs to keep the target audience and their specific needs in mind at all times so that the design can be the most effective. The Mural Cafe does this by stocking office equipment for college students and remote workers, having great food for stop-ins and professionals on lunch break, and providing a unique experience for artists and tourists.
Goals
What are you trying to accomplish? If there are no clear, specific goals in mind, you’ll never know if the project was successful. Your goals provide the destination, the design brief is the road map, and design is the journey. Happy traveling! | https://medium.com/design-bootcamp/why-design-briefs-make-or-break-your-design-8e47e0d5d4a6 | ['Chaya Blumberg'] | 2020-12-18 00:42:47.026000+00:00 | ['Design Thinking', 'Graphic Design', 'Resources', 'Branding', 'Design Process'] |
KELVPN: where to find log files (Linux, Win, macOS) | All of the beta-testers should read this instruction.
In case or any application failures or bugs beta tester should send his log files to the beta-tester Telegram group.
A bug report message should contain a screenshot, your log files and a text description of your problem. Example of a beta-tester bug report:
Windows 10 Enterprise
File name: KelvinVPNGui.log
File name: KelvinVPNService.log
File path: C:/Users/username/KelvinVPN
You can access the folder with Windows File Explorer (press win+E).
Linux (Debian Buster)
File name: KelvinVPNGui.log
File name: KelvinVPNService.log
File path: /opt/kelvinvpn/log
You can access the folder with standard application — Files: click Activities in the left corner of the screen, and click Files:
Click Home, and go to opt folder => kelvinvpn => log:
Also, you can access this catalog with Terminal:
MacOS Catalina 10.15.3
File name: KelvinVPNGui.log
File name: KelvinVPNService.log
File path: /tmp (hidden folder)
It is assumed that you have root rights. How to access the folder:
Open new Finder window (cmd + N) Click Go in the menu Click Go to Folder OR you can press shift + cmd + g
5. Type /tmp and press Enter
There you have it — folder with KELVPN logs inside:
Also, you can access the folder with Terminal:
cd/opt/kelvinvpn/log | https://medium.com/cellframe/kelvpn-where-to-find-log-files-linux-win-macos-c40f146b0fc4 | ['Cellframe Platform'] | 2020-03-18 08:54:40.811000+00:00 | ['Crypto', 'Beta Testing', 'Blockchain', 'Beta', 'VPN'] |
The Ultimate Guide to Pricing Your Freelancing Projects | Hourly Pricing
With hourly pricing, you charge the client for every hour you work. While this is the most common pricing strategy used by freelancers, it’s not the best. Here’s why.
Cons
You’ll need to track your working hours.
As you become faster at completing a task, you’ll need fewer hours to complete a project. Which means the faster you do it, the less you get paid.
For hourly projects, clients can start micromanaging you. They may start telling you that you’re taking longer for a project, which another freelancer could have completed faster.
A lot of estimation is involved.
Pros
Hourly pricing is great for projects where the scope of the project is not clearly defined. You don’t know how many more tasks the client will give you.
You can take longer to finish a project and get paid more.
Example
A client asks you to design their website. Your hourly rate is $80 per hour, and you estimate it’s going to take you two weeks to complete the project with 20 hours of work per week. So you bill the client 40x80 = $3200 in total. Now, if it turns out to be more than two weeks of work, you’ll charge the client for that — but they won’t be happy with that, as it’s more than the agreed price. No one likes to be stung with extra charges.
Many chose hourly pricing when starting in their career because it’s easier to work with than other pricing strategies. I’d recommended you don’t work with hourly rates because they involve a lot of estimation.
Daily Rates
Daily rates usually work best when you’re working for clients on an ongoing basis. You’re still billing for time worked, but instead of hours, you’re charging for a full day of work. You get to decide how many hours one workday comprises of for you. Usually, it’s 6–8 hours of work per day.
Think of your day job where your working hours consist of eight hours. Now think of freelancing as your day job where your working hours can be any number; you get to choose. Your daily rate can, for instance, be $500, and you bill the client weekly or biweekly.
Cons
Like hourly pricing, you earn the most when you take more time to complete a project.
Clients will again micromanage and be upset if you take too long.
Earning potential is limited.
Your weekly schedule will mostly be packed with client work.
Pros
You can charge higher rates because the client doesn’t know the exact number of hours you’re working.
Easier to track time than hourly pricing.
Example
You might want to consider daily pricing when working for large companies that don’t have a clearly defined scope of projects but provide ongoing work.
You’re working for a company that provides ongoing copywriting work. You charge them $500 per day, which consists of six working hours. You work five days a week, so you bill them 500x5=$2500 at the end of the week. This pricing structure helps to prevent you working more hours than you are getting paid for.
Retainers
This is when a client pays you a fixed amount (usually monthly) and retains your availability. The client may or may not avail of your services for a month, but you get paid nevertheless. Retainers work best for long-term clients that provide consistent work.
However, they can reduce flexibility in your schedule because you have to make yourself available to the client, whether for tasks or Skype calls, and accommodate other clients accordingly.
Cons
Most clients prefer hourly pricing over retainers so they can get a clear idea of how many hours you’re working.
Pros
You get consistent work, so you don’t have to worry about hunting for new clients every few weeks.
You build a predictable income stream because you know you’ll earn $X a month.
Clients can extend contracts if they like your work, so you get a chance to build long-term relationships with clients.
Clients don’t get room to micromanage you.
However, keep in mind, clients don’t get to decide how many hours per day they retain you. You decide the number of hours you’ll be working.
Example
A client I worked with was launching a startup. He required consistent copywriting (landing pages, page copy, ad copy, video sales letters, email copy, social media copy, etc.), but his project’s scope was undefined. I wasn’t sure what was coming next, but I was sure the projects would span several months. So I decided to work with him on a retainer basis and charge him $4000 per month for a three-month contract.
Fixed Pricing
In fixed-price projects, the scope of the project is fixed, and so is the price. For example, a client wants you to write 7 emails for their drip campaign. You charge a fixed price of, let’s say, $1500 for this whole project.
You don’t tell the client how many days or hours you’ll work. And if they ask you how long you would take, give them a vague answer such as, “a couple of weeks.”
For fixed-priced projects, always charge a 20% profit to your baseline price. So if your baseline price is $1400 for seven emails, charge $1680.
Cons
The client may ask for unlimited revisions if you don’t clearly define the number of revisions you’ll do.
If you underestimate the value of the project, you can end up undercharging.
You can’t go back to square one and ask for more money.
Pros
You don’t charge based on the number of hours you’ve worked.
Since you’re not disclosing the number of hours/days you’re working on the project, you can charge higher rates.
Fixed pricing minimizes the chances of the client micromanaging you.
Example
I’ve mostly done fixed-priced projects. Clients would give me X number of blog posts to write, and I would multiply my rate for one blog post with the number of blogs. Let’s say I charge $100 per blog post. For 3 blog posts, I charge 100x3= $300.
Value-based Pricing
Think of it as a fixed-price project, only now you’re charging based on the value you’re bringing to the client. You do your research on the client first and estimate the value they’ll receive from the project in terms of money. Then you charge a percentage of that money.
Let’s say a client is expected to make $200,000 after the project is complete. You charge 15–25% of this money. Keep in mind; this strategy applies mostly to projects where high rewards are involved.
Cons
The value is based on estimated revenue, not guaranteed revenue.
You’ll need to employ persuasive techniques to explain the financial incentives of the project to the client.
Pros
High earning potential. The higher the perceived value of the project, the higher you can charge.
You can complete the project in as little time as you want.
The scope of work is clearly defined.
Removes the inconvenience of tracking hours.
Example
You’re writing an email campaign that is expected to bring the client $10,000 in sales. You charge $1000, which is 20% of this revenue.
How you price your projects largely depends on the scope and nature of the project. That said, you can use a mix of these strategies in your freelancing business.
Before you leave, I want you to take home some advice that I wish someone had given me earlier in my freelancing career…
Important Points to Remember
If a client asks you to bring down your price, reduce the services you provide. For example, you can say, “If this doesn’t suit your budget, I can write three blog posts for you instead of five.” But DON’T bring down your price.
Whenever you can, avoid hourly pricing. You end up selling yourself short when you charge by the hour.
Before you quote a rate, get the full context of the project. Do your research. Then create a proposal instead of giving vague estimates to clients.
Before you state your price, ask, “So what’s the budget for this project?” The client may have a higher budget than you expected, but you can end up charging less if you don’t get an estimate from them.
When clients ask you how much you charge, start by saying, “For projects like this one, I have charged anywhere from $X to $Y…”
Once you’ve stated your rate, shut up. And let them speak. Don’t fill the silence with “umms,” “buts,” and all that nonsense.
As you gain more experience, raise your rates.
Final Thoughts
With all that said, a huge part of the freelancing game is confidence. If you’re not confident, you end up selling yourself short. Secondly, you must also be smart enough to know which pricing strategy would work best for which project. And third, know how to deal with each client tactfully. | https://medium.com/the-post-grad-survival-guide/the-ultimate-guide-to-pricing-your-freelancing-projects-bd5ece19cb5f | ['Sadia M.'] | 2020-11-18 11:46:50.179000+00:00 | ['Careers', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Freelancing', 'Business', 'Marketing'] |
Clustering Algorithm for data with mixed Categorical and Numerical features | Clustering Algorithm for data with mixed Categorical and Numerical features
Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Clustering is an unsupervised machine learning technique that devices the population into several clusters or groups in such a way that data points in a cluster are similar to each other, and data points in different clusters are dissimilar. k-Means is a popular clustering algorithm that is limited to only numerical data.
Why k-Means can’t be used for Categorical features?
k-Means is a popular centroid-based clustering algorithm, that divides the data points of the entire population into k clusters each having an almost equal number of data points. The idea behind the k-Means clustering algorithm is to find k-centroid points and every point in the dataset will belong to either of the k-sets having minimum Euclidean distance.
The k-Means algorithm is not applicable to categorical data, as categorical variables are discrete and do not have any natural origin. So computing euclidean distance for such as space is not meaningful.
There is a certain variation to the k-Means algorithm, called k-Modes which is suitable for data with categorical features. k-Prototype is an extension of the k-Modes algorithm that works for mixed categorical and numerical features.
What is k-Modes and k-Prototype Algorithm:
k-Modes is an algorithm that is based on the k-Means algorithm paradigm and it is used for clustering categorical data. k-modes defines clusters based on matching categories between the data points. The k-Prototype algorithm is an extension to the k-Modes algorithm that combines the k-modes and k-means algorithms and is able to cluster mixed numerical and categorical variables.
Installation:
k-modes and k-prototype algorithm can be implemented using an open-source library kmodes . kmodes library can be installed from PyPl using:
pip install kmodes
Usage:
As discussed earlier kmodes algorithm is used to cluster only the categorical variables. While one can use KPrototypes() function to cluster data with a mixed set of categorical and numerical features.
The dataset used for demonstrations contains both categorical and numerical features.
from kmodes.kprototypes import KPrototypes kproto = KPrototypes(n_clusters=2, verbose=2, max_iter=20)
kproto.fit(df_array, categorical=cat_idx)
KPrototypes function is used to cluster the dataset into given n_clusters (number of clusters). The developers need to assign the indexes of the categorical features as a parameter while fitting the training dataset. While training KPrototypes algorithm will training the categorical features using the k-Modes algorithm and the remaining numerical features will be trained using the standard k-Means algorithm.
After training one can get the centroid of the clusters using cluster_centroids_() function.
print(kproto.cluster_centroids_)
Use the function predict() to predict the clusters.
clusters = kproto.predict(df_array, categorical=cat_idx)
Implementation:
(Code by Author)
Conclusion:
In this article, we have discussed how to apply clustering to the dataset having a mixed set of categorical and numerical features. KPrototypes algorithm combines the implementation of k-Modes and k-Means algorithm to create clusters for data with mixed data types. The k-Modes algorithm can handle missing or NaN values, but it's suggested to impute the values for better performance.
The implementation of the kModes library is modeled after the clustering algorithms in scikit-learn and has the same API.
Read the below-mentioned article to get more understanding of k-Means, k-Means++, and k-Medoids algorithms.
References:
[1] KModes library GitHub repository: https://github.com/nicodv/kmodes | https://towardsdatascience.com/clustering-algorithm-for-data-with-mixed-categorical-and-numerical-features-d4e3a48066a0 | ['Satyam Kumar'] | 2021-05-22 21:58:09.739000+00:00 | ['Data Science', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Education', 'Clustering', 'Machine Learning'] |
Review Of The Modern Investor | Review of The Modern Investor The Modern Investor is a platform that provides information on content to topics. Such as Finance, Cryptocurrency and anything else in relation to economics. This usually comes in the form of videos on this channel. Always providing videos on a daily basis to which is happening in the daily markets of all industries. Now let’s go over to what The Modern Investor more in depth. Links To Find The Modern Investor The Modern Investor Follow Me On Facebook ! https://www.facebook.com/TheModernInv... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-5H... Follow Me On Twitter: https://twitter.com/ModernInvest ____________________________________________________ Links of Interest My Website: www.excitingWC.com Social: Twitter: @ExcitingWorld32 Uptrennd: https://www.uptrennd.com/user/jr YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/WorldT Hive: worldtraveller32 Flote: excitingworld32 LBRY: exciting-world-cryptos Email: [email protected] Big Thanks To All My Followers, Subscribers, And Everyone Everywhere If You Like To Help My Platform. Donations Are Kindly Accepted Below These Help Provide You Alway With Quality Information on Crypto. Thanks So Much Cointr.e: https://cointr.ee/excitingworld32 Bitcoin: 1mwKGPCzjiTWrMsTZBojQjcSJGgUiv2F4 Ethereum: 0xE58bc9Cf1F43C27d5EB9942138C97c55eE5d7b2B Litecoin: Ld3BLhdXmQJoWzjm72TX86RyvRvoUnLjcj DASH: Xkajy3TtF1d85Hrkc5qnQKxzoTESUhvYBi Earn Zen — Referral Link https://getzen.cash/auth/register?ref... Patreon: Donate to My Patreon: Exciting World Cryptos Amazing words. #moderninvestor #currency #investing #feedback #cryptocurrency news #uptrennd #blockchain use cases#Homeofcrypto #1up #tokens #icos #cryptocurrency converter #cryptocurrency millionaire #scams #safety #technology #techevents #toronto #canada#downtrend #academy #satoshi #login #ideas #reversal #telegram #social #media Thanks for watching; If You Have Any Questions Feel Free To Use the Links and Contacts Presented | https://medium.com/@newcodelogic/review-of-the-modern-investor-8b76e209e161 | ['Exciting World Cryptos'] | 2020-12-21 20:06:40.632000+00:00 | ['Money', 'Finance', 'Bitcoin', 'Banking', 'Lending'] |
5 Keys to Effective Mobile Conversion Rate Optimization | As marketers, we’re always seeking new ways to more effectively connect with our audiences. Over time in the marketing trenches of e-commerce, I’ve realized how critical it is to structure campaign messaging to best align with the actual needs and language of our customers. Going inside the minds of our customers often requires empathetic marketers to wear many hats.
Cue the topic of conversion rate optimization (CRO). I’ve noticed the pitfalls and lack of understanding as companies tackle this complex methodology. A CRO and testing practice can be applied to nearly every touchpoint to optimize the customer’s journey. When considering conversion rate optimization, there are nearly limitless conversion-rate-impacting opportunities as marketers. We sometimes have to ask ourselves, “What exactly do we want our customers to do?”
An important data point to be mindful of is that any site change has the potential to influence conversion rate. Simply put, there are a lot of things that you can do to get people to convert, but is the thing you’re testing something that you’re actually comfortable with? During my time formerly as a Product Marketing Manager and now as a Director of Growth at Readers.com, my team and I must often ask ourselves whether a testable hypothesis and potential outcome are right for our brands and channel mix. What may appear to be a “quick win” on the surface can pose long-term brand challenges and risk degradation to the overall ecosystem if only viewed in isolation.
As a marketer, you’ve probably asked how to gain the best results from a mobile conversion rate optimization practice and what that framework may look like. Below, I’ve laid out five essential steps to keep in mind when pursuing mobile CRO, as well as considerations that helped me in my professional testing journey.
1. Ensure You Have Data
To know anything, you need the right data infrastructure. It’s critical that you measure and monitor every action your customers are taking. If you don’t have proper instrumentation and measurement in place to track and measure variances over time, you’re flying blind and you won’t have visibility on how testing changes influence behavior.
Think of it as something akin to having people over to your house. You wouldn’t want company over to visit if your house isn’t in order. It’s the same for data. Your infrastructure must be clean, otherwise you won’t be able to determine whether what you’re testing is successful.
Perhaps the single greatest factor affecting mobile conversion is site speed and performance. Consumers are impatient, and in a world with endless alternatives, you can’t afford any site delays. At Readers.com, we maintain a deep commitment to site speed and load time optimization for this reason. You could have a great looking website, but if it’s not fast…game over.
2. Make it Friendly for the User
It’s nothing new, but your site should cater its experience to the needs of the mobile user. When individuals are shopping on their mobile devices, they exhibit different browsing behavior from desktop users. The intent-to-purchase signals also vary between desktop and mobile shoppers. A high-value feature on desktop may not necessarily translate to the mobile experience. In these instances, auditing usage data to identify “leaks” in the mobile conversion funnel can help distill top mobile conversion rate optimization opportunities.
Finding ways to extend or add value to the conversation in light of the fragmented nature of the mobile journey is also key. Tactics including mobile opt-ins, save-for-later functionality, SMS, and push notifications are great examples of ways to capture and translate initial mobile browsing to a higher value on other devices or channels to continue the conversation. Intentional messaging across multiple touch points can contribute to long-term conversion.
3. Remove Unnecessary Elements
We live in a perpetually distracted society, particularly as it pertains to mobile shopping. With this in mind, it’s essential that every page on your website caters to users’ exact needs at that specific point in their purchase cycle. Are elements structured in such a way as to maximize their chances of taking the single next desired action? If not, rethinking hierarchy and removing unnecessary elements may be worth considering. What may appear to be a negligible change on desktop can translate to dramatic gains on mobile given the limited screen real estate available. Just be mindful you don’t swing the pendulum too far, as this reductive process can also negatively impact other areas such as mobile SEO if the mobile presentation becomes sparse.
4. Reduce Friction Points
Be attentive to how much you’re asking of the customer and at what point in their journey you’re asking it. Context is critical. For example, you wouldn’t ask prospects to provide all of their information up-front while they are still browsing, since it would introduce a friction point that isn’t critical for that stage in the shopping process.
When thinking about mobile CRO, make sure that you’re always minimizing the number of inputs you’re asking for. Every input request, particularly on mobile, is asking customers to do work — and work is the enemy of conversion. Furthermore, when inputs are, in fact, needed, ensure you aren’t asking customers to repeat themselves. Where possible, save all form inputs during their session so that should they reverse the funnel and return to checkout, they are one step closer to completing their purchase.
5. Maximize the Usability
Maximizing mobile usability can take many forms, but exercising as many of these best practices as possible can all contribute to mobile CRO. For example, iterative testing will help inform whether a multi-step or single page checkout resonates most with your customers. Exploring either path and minimizing the number of steps in the checkout process can net huge lower funnel gains. Additionally, consider providing customers a guest checkout option to bypass account creation for those who aren’t quite ready to commit at that level. Lastly, leverage the correct mobile form input types to take advantage of mobile UI keyboards optimized for specific form field inputs. These optimized keyboards are there to use, but failing to define appropriate input types results in customers using the default text keyboard, which can lead to slower form completion rates and, thus, a risk to conversion.
Customers First—Always
With these mobile conversion rate optimization tips in hand, it’s time to engage your own customer base and seek out data that can provide the answers you’ll need for success. Test, test, test — and don’t be afraid to push limits. Remember, though, to put your customers first by knowing what makes them move down the funnel instead of away. Mobile CRO is an ever-evolving practice. As marketers, the onus is on us to grow with it to challenge our assumptions and continually test hypotheses to maximize results. Enjoy the journey!
Jon Corwin leads the Growth team at Readers.com | https://medium.com/element-three/5-keys-to-effective-mobile-conversion-rate-optimization-29ca365208ae | ['Element Three'] | 2018-05-18 13:31:01.771000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Conversion Optimization', 'UX', 'Digital Marketing', 'Mobile'] |
Poison — It’s Just One Little Pill. Part 1. | The soft sensation of nylon against my skin is almost the perfect form of foreplay. Pulling on the nylon stockings, and smoothing them up my leg, unhurried and luxuriously, before a date is always enough to make me wet.
Perhaps, it’s a response to my desire for something to happen or maybe it’s just a learned response. After all, most times I go out dressed in this manner, I get what I’m looking for. So, it’s only a matter of time before my body, hungry for the lecherous and desperate touch of a lover, is served to my satisfaction. You’ll note that I said ‘my satisfaction’. I point this out as I do like to play a little game.
It’s been about five years now that I’ve followed a rather particular dating practice. I usually use one of the more popular apps, Tinder of some such, and there I will select a — now what should I call them — a project. Yes. I select a project. You know, if you go to some of the apps you can even find me. Of course, I’m not going to make that too easy for you, as I really don’t want to give away all my secrets.
My project is more often than not a purely, random person. They will have contacted me — my profile is attractive enough I assure you — and through the long list of wannabe lovers, I will select a person suitable to be my project. I am bisexual, and if I were looking for a genuine relationship, I dare say, I might well choose a woman, but these last several years have been devoted to my own little game.
I select my ‘project’ and I study their profile. Then, I simply reach out to them, presenting them with all they could possibly want in a lover, and see just how far they will go. Only there’s a little catch. I never actually allow them to feel the satisfaction of physical release. No, instead I allow them to please me, and in fact I insist that they do, but even in the most frenetic of passionate grappling, I am sure to bring things to a halt before their seed is spilled, to use a nice horticultural expression.
Now, you might think to yourself, why would anyone put time and trouble and effort into dating someone who is such a game player? The answer is really quite simple. It’s because I don’t tell them that they are in a game. Instead, they think they are almost there, try so very hard to find that heavenly release, only to be disappointed. Of course, they don’t realize I have engineered things this way. It always appears so very accidental. But this is the interesting part. After this happens, they invariably try a little harder. They take me somewhere beautiful or bring some gift. But they always try harder.
A date or two and they all think they have a pass directly into my lovely silk panties. Their desire grows stronger, and I must say I am not above fueling it. The accidentally exposed panties as I drop my car keys in the parking lot, or the carelessly undone button as I lean over the coffee table. I watch their eyes fall on my body, and see their hunger grow. Eventually they may get to satisfy me, as you’ll see there are a great many ways I can control that. But as for their own release; something will always come up. Or rather it won’t.
You are asking yourself why I would do this. I know, it must seem a little cruel. Well, in pharmacy research we use animals to test drugs. We study them to better understand them. We derive insights from their subsequent behavior. I am doing nothing less.
I have given myself over to researching how men behave, though just for the next few years. Eventually I will tire of this study, but for now it does amuse me and I am learning a great deal. And it should be said, that in my latest explorations I feel I am breaking new ground as you will see.
Before I tell you more about that though, I will introduce myself a little more fully. My name is Jerry and I am 38. I have one grown up son who I had when I was 18, and who is now at university on the other side of the country. He’s a fine young man and a credit to me. I raised him alone, and his father has no clue he exists. Long story. Long and very tough story.
I am an executive at a research company working on pharmaceutical research into the treatment of depression and a few other ailments. My particular specialization is the documentation of the research process. It’s highly detailed work and many people find it very boring. I feel the work is of great value and I find great satisfaction in the careful collection and presentation of data. As you can tell, I like my job. It can be a little solitary, but I have no problem with that.
Outside of the laboratory, though, my life is not as sterile as my white coat and surgical gloves may lead you to believe. In fact for the last four years I have found myself more than adequately serviced. My secret is not to be too attached to each project, to take it as far as I choose, enjoying it along the way, and then to very precisely and clinically terminate the project. I am practiced at this, having had at least 20 subjects in the last four years.
Most of my projects reveal a rather curious thing. Generally the men who chase after me are hopelessly insecure. I do find that both curious and amusing. They all want to be the best. They try to be the best, and when they fail, they try harder. Usually I end it after about a couple of months, just to see how far I can bring them along. You’d think they’d quit sooner, but I guess they feel they have something to prove and so they stick around looking for some hope that they can be to me what I so obviously am to them. The object of sexual immersion. The person that will deliver them that highest of highs.
And all the time they are entirely unaware, it’s all just a game to me.
I’ll post the second part of this story tomorrow. Be sure to give me the clap if you like it. Ooops — did I just say that?
Jerry | https://medium.com/red-curtain-erotica/poison-its-just-one-little-pill-part-1-11d59c3d778e | ['Fiona Dobson'] | 2020-09-24 22:17:04.994000+00:00 | ['LGBTQ', 'Crossdressing', 'Erotica For Women', 'Erotica', 'Nonbinary'] |
My Journey to a Gluten-Free Lifestyle | One of the famous stories that still gets told during every family gathering or holiday is about what a little shit I was.
Once a month I used to stay over at my aunt and uncle’s house. Now that I’m grown I know it was just a way for my parents to get me out of their hair for a night. To me, it was such a treat!
My aunt and uncle would pick me up at 11 am on a Saturday and take me to an arcade about 20 minutes away. After playing all afternoon we’d go back to their house and start cooking dinner. My uncle is 100% Italian and grew up helping his mother make homemade pasta. Once I was old enough, he started to teach me, so every time I slept over we’d make homemade linguine and put together a shrimp scampi with it.
To this day, it’s the best scampi I’ve ever had! Unfortunately, I can no longer eat the homemade pasta since it’s 100% gluten-full.
My aunt and uncle’s house was a few minutes from a Dunkin Donuts and boy did I love donuts.
Sunday morning, that would be my treat. I was never a late sleeper, so 5 AM would roll around and I’d be wide awake, ready for a donut. I’d get up, tiptoe into the master bedroom and tap my uncle on the shoulder until he woke up.
“Uncle Louie, I want a donut”
“Okay, Kate. It’s still early, they’re not open yet. Go back to sleep for a little bit.”
“But Uncle Louie, I want a donut now.”
By then, my aunt would be awake and she’d be trying to convince me to go back to sleep too. Those were wasted attempts. When it came to sweets, there was no making me wait.
My uncle would get up and get dressed, with strict orders from my aunt: Only get her one donut, my sister will kill me if I bring her home on a sugar high.
We’d walk up to the counter and Uncle Louie would look at me and say, “Go ahead and order your donut.” So naturally, I’d order two.
“I want a chocolate frosted donut with sprinkles and a coffee roll.”
“No Kate, Aunt Kathy said you can only get one donut.”
“But I want two.”
“You’re going to get me in trouble.”
“I don’t care!”
Real sweet kid wasn’t I? I always ended up getting my way though. I’d end up perched at the breakfast bar, my head barely reaching the counter, taking one bite of the coffee roll, then one bite of the chocolate donut. | https://medium.com/wholistique/my-journey-to-a-gluten-free-lifestyle-f042bad24b13 | ['Katlyn Gallo'] | 2021-01-25 14:40:07.855000+00:00 | ['Health', 'Lifestyle', 'Diet', 'Acne', 'Gluten Free'] |
AI: What’s Next? On Demand AI Means OnDemand Intuitive Marketing | It’s not hyperbole to state that all of us — our behaviours, buying decisions and ultimately our thoughts — are constantly informed by a cascade of clever algorithms that have learned our patterns.
It’s an absolute certainty that those of us leading marketing will continue to work diligently to apply machine learning algorithms to the myriad of real world items listed in Federico’s Artificial Intelligence Marketing Manifesto just one year ago. These included Predictive Customer Service, Dynamic Product Pricing, Forecasting, plus sophisticated Image, Voice and Language recognition algorithms.
Federico, who founded the Artificial Intelligence Marketing Association (AIMA) just 1 year ago (Jan 2017) has seen the San Francisco chapter grow and expand, attracting thousands of local followers and magnetizing AI marketers (270+ in the bay area) across borders to the point that we’ve attracted 3 international conferences: The AI Congress, Business of Bots and AI Expo as partners. Also, he will be speaking at the upcoming AI Congress in Las Vegas in early May presenting “The State of AI Marketing”. As well as at the Business of Bots conference in San Francisco.
In addition, AIMA SF will BE rolling out a series of Meetups in San Francisco on the intersection of advertising and artificial intelligence.
What’s Next for AI-empowered Marketers? Decentralization…And it’s Already Here
The 3 main obstacles companies have always encountered when implementing AI to uplevel marketing results are:
Data — which at best is costly — in fact so much that both Fortune and The Economist have declared “data is the new oil”. Beyond the ever-increasing high cost of data, it is also notoriously flawed.
which at best is costly — in fact so much that both Fortune and The Economist have declared “data is the new oil”. Beyond the ever-increasing high cost of data, it is also notoriously flawed. Analysis — to ensure the data is properly interpreted.
— to ensure the data is properly interpreted. Machine Learning — believed a solution but still an obstacle. It can create new, smarter algorithms based on existing datasets, in order to deliver actionable, revenue-producing insights — such as micro and macro consumer predictions to pinpoint how and what advertisers and marketers should message out next.
Taken 1 by one, first there’s Data. Every marketer knows the obstacle of Good Data.
If you have the massive reach of say, Coca-Cola, then you have the budget and data to deliver predictions and bulls-eye marketing messages to discrete target audiences.
But if you’re an advertising or marketing professional within a smaller agency, you and your teams are beset with this first massive obstacle; let’s face it, the financial distraction of data buying eats into team focus and profits.
Same with Analysis. Every advertiser knows that there’s a reason why Data Scientists and Data Analysts are the hottest jobs right now, and stumbling blocks this massive data talent shortage presents to advertisers and marketers dependent on data gathering and interpretation.
Finally there’s Machine Learning. It’s worth noting that machine learning can function as both a solution and an obstacle. The reason: Buying, testing and applying the right algorithms to accomplish advertisers’ ever-pressing need for insights is costly and can be time-consuming. But the machine is also the solution that the advertiser can rely on to ensure their messaging remains custom, compelling and intelligent when the technology is available and easy to use.
But Thanks to Blockchain Innovators, these 3 main Obstacles are Rapidly Disappearing. Here’s What’s Next…
Several AI companies are at the forefront of removing these obstacles — or to use a Silicon Valleyterm — “disrupt” these hurdles to the point that by end of this year we expect this Terrible Trio (Data, Analysis, and Machine Learning) to all but disappear.
How do they do that?
Blockchain Innovators Are Doing It Faster, Better and Cheaper — Right Now.
Companies like Synapse.AI and Repux.io have been hard at work creating new platforms and new ways of making data cheaper, interpreting datasets in the right way and making machine learning algorithms accessible to everyone, e.g. to future AI-empowered marketers.
According to Zurich-based SingularityNET.io, a decentralized marketplace that allows AI algorithms to cooperate and coordinate, “when data is more accessible marketers can create, monetize, and use AI at scale,” said Dr. Ben Goertzel, founder.
Copyright 2018 SingularityNET.io — “The Decentralized Marketplace for AI”
Dan Gailey, CEO of San Francisco-based Synapse.ai (currently headed into ~$7M ICO) is set to empower advertisers, marketers — anyone really — to do just that.
Copyright 2018 Blog.synapse.ai — “AI Economies on the Blockchain”
Gailey is creating an entire free, open AI ecosystem which essentially functions as the Wikipedia of AI algorithms. Gailey envisions a wide open repository containing fresh data, new algorithms based on innovative machine-learning tools through which marketers (and anyone, really) can readily gain the insights they need by simply creating a free account.
“The future will be built on a fair and balanced intelligence available to all equally, by utilizing newly-created AI economies that any agent can participate in and receive some reward for doing so”, said Gailey in a February announcement about the Synapse.ai public token sale.
Adding to the decentralized data disruption is RepuX.io, an ecosystem for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that will enable them to monetize on their data by selling it to 3rd party developers. Developers will then create new applications based on SME’s data and then offer their applications for sale into the Repux.io platform.
The net-net is that the data cost and availability obstacles — which are currently the biggest obstacles — will diminish or evaporate. The net-net is empowering marketers to more readily and inexpensively deliver predictive analytics services to improve SMEs’ business processes.
“The monetization opportunities for SMEs and developers are huge; at this point in point in time, data services providers like AliBaba, Salesforce, Google represent $4T worth of services”, according to David Siu, Repux.io spokesperson.
Think About It:
What will the elimination of current the 3 major AI barriers mean for marketing professionals?
What will it mean when data and machine learning tools are free and ready to access as easily as logging into Gmail each day?
What will it mean for marketers on the front lines to have readily-consumable answers at their fingertips? To be able to log into a free repository where a simple search turns up fresh data and applicable answers?
Put yourself in the shoes of a frontline marketing professional at a small or medium-sized business. Your CEO tasks you with delivering predictions for Q3 advertising messages based on data gathered in Q1 & Q2. Prior to the intersection of data sharing and blockchain, this task would typically have represented a cost — cost of gathering the data, cost of purchasing 3rd party software to interpret the data and others, in order to arrive at the critical insights required.
Now with the advent of new AI innovations like Synapse, RepuX and others, the cycles of accurate predictive planning will be unfettered.
How this will impact the future of big data providers who currently make millions in revenue by selling customer information?
Well…we at AIMA predict this will do to the big data sellers — — and perhaps to data analysts — what Google did to Encyclopedia Brittanica salesmen. And map sellers.
Concluding, soon marketing departments — and not just them — of SMEs will be able to implement big data providers information shared on the new blockchain infrastructures, as well as access AI-drag-and-drop algorithms (AI for Dummies) on top of their current marketing stack and gain fully AI-empowered marketing heroes — — and perhaps without the need of data analysts, we’ll see…. ! | https://medium.com/aimarketingassociation/ai-whats-next-on-demand-ai-means-ondemand-intuitive-marketing-412f90219524 | ['Ai Marketing Association'] | 2018-04-03 19:49:16.047000+00:00 | ['Marketing Automation', 'Machine Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'AI', 'Marketing'] |
KING’s RAID: Successors of the Will | S1XE13 | Ep 13 [Engsub] On’TV Tokyo | A century has passed since King Kyle of the Orvelia kingdom destroyed the fierce demon lord Angmund, restoring peace to the lands. Now in a time of peace, the apprentice knight Kasel enjoys his life without worry. His fate begins to change, however, with news of demon appearances infesting the neighborhood. Guided by a wise man, Kasel finds friends he can rely on and sets off on his mission to seek a holy sword, capable of slaying his newfound enemies.
✅📺 P-l-a-y NOW JOIN US 📺: ➤ http://fullstream.dplaytv.net/series/387510/1/13
Title : KING’s RAID: Successors of the Will
Episode Title : To My Dear Friend…
Release Date : 26 Dec 2020
Runtime : 25 minutes
Genres : Action , Adventure , Animation , Anime , Fantasy , War
Networks : TV Tokyo
» Watch KING’s RAID: Successors of the Will Season 1 Episode 13 On TV Tokyo «
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 5950s, 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) (516i, with 909091 intertwined lines of goal and 434545) to top quality TV (HDTV), which gives a goal that is generously higher. HDTV might be communicated in different arrangements: 3456561, 3456561 and 1314. 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/kings-raid/kings-raid-successors-of-the-will-s1xe13-ep-13-engsub-on-tv-tokyo-c65748069091 | ['Mark J. Birnbaum'] | 2020-12-25 13:09:29.130000+00:00 | ['Anime', 'Action', 'Fantasy', 'Animation', 'Adventure'] |
The Paradox of Partial Information | “Most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70 percent of the information you wish you had.”
– Jeff Bezos, in Amazon’s 2016 Annual Shareholder Letter [1]
Certainty can be elusive, and too often, the act of waiting for complete information means that an opportunity passes by. A framework for decision making can be helpful, as well as input from friends or advisors who share their own experiences, but ultimately many decisions require making a judgment call with partial information.
The Price of Potential
Investors face these decisions repeatedly. Opting to wait for more information in favor of more certainty — whether the passage and detail of a stimulus bill, the final results of an election, or waiting for a company to prove years of strong earnings — may mean missing the short-term price opportunity.
This week stock market prices moved slightly lower following a lackluster jobs report and slowing economic data.2 Some investors viewed this news as increasing the likelihood of a bipartisan stimulus bill, despite continued evidence of congressional infighting on several points. The key issues remain liability protection for businesses and support for state governments. Congress is scheduled to leave for its holiday break on December 18 — making the coming week a critical stretch for short-term market sentiment.
Noteworthy this week were the two IPOs of Airbnb and DoorDash. In recent years, employees joined these companies with this expectation, but they lacked clear information about timing or valuation as they considered the employment offer that included some stock compensation in lieu of a higher salary. In both cases, that faith was rewarded. This placed employees (and investors) at another decision point with partial information: the decision of when to sell their company stock. Both companies’ shares quickly jumped higher after their debuts3, with DoorDash’s price increasing 85% on Wednesday, and Airbnb’s price moving up 112% on Thursday. Employees now face a decision of whether to sell some shares or hold, not knowing if the next move for the stock will be higher still or a reversal of fortunes.4 Holding means retaining the potential, and possible tax advantages, while selling means locking in certainty — each decision offers its own specific value.
The Price of Security
Our clients face similar challenges of partial information in their personal lives. An example that has arisen this year is the choice of committing to a particular college or paying an upcoming tuition bill without knowing whether classes will be fully virtual and the physical campus closed. This key information is inherently unavailable when the decision needs to be made. This epitomizes the decisions we all make daily during this pandemic, altering our behaviors without perfect information about precautions that others are taking or where the invisible virus is lurking. We cannot stop all forward movement in our lives, but we can choose to pay a certain price of inconvenience for increased health and security.
Another common example our clients face is the complicated decision of helping a partner or parent consider care needs. The decision to purchase long-term care insurance needs to be made when the person is healthy, with uncertainty about whether this protection will be needed. The decision to move into certain CCRCs or eldercare communities similarly needs to be made before health begins to deteriorate materially. The complexity of determining their likely pace of physical or mental decline is tricky to balance with the benefit of staying in a long-familiar environment or with family. Often, too, the priority at one point in time gives way to a new concern when a sudden health event occurs.
One way to move forward with these decisions is to focus on what you are getting now. In the instance of insurance, what you are buying is certainty and security. The feeling of security that insurance is in place to ease the financial aspects of a health crisis, the ability for a college student to commit themselves to remote learning and staying on track with a cohort, or the security of knowing that a parent is in the right environment with the right care — all these bring a sense of resolution and security that has value and can be worth paying for.
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
We value diversification in portfolio management as well as in broader life choices. In a portfolio, we take risks in pursuit of growth with some assets, while emphasizing protection and stability with others. Expanding that lens may mean balancing a high risk/high growth career decision with a more stable portfolio allocation. It may mean paying for robust LTC and life insurance coverage even if you are healthy because you have seen the challenges of cognitive decline in your own family. The peace of mind you get in the present can be more meaningful than saving money on premiums. The balance is personal and needs to support your specific landscape of resources and concerns.
Timing matters too. Deadlines create clarity, but our most momentous personal decisions often come without a deadline. And yet, a particular decision — whether to move to assisted living, whether to change careers — will look different in the present moment than the next unknown moment when you revisit it. Your sense of readiness for change will impact your timing, and whatever choice you make, you’ll be living with both its benefits and downsides as you move forward. Not making a decision at all is, in fact, a decision to remain on your current path.
Robert Frost’s poem The Road Less Taken comes to mind, with his contemplation of two unknown paths that diverge in a wood. The very human dilemma of longing to “…travel both, And be one traveler…” exists in many daily life choices, when we have only partial information about what lies ahead. After choosing one path, Frost says, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.” Our personal choices shape the landscape as we walk on, leaving behind some options, but also brings us to other choices we couldn’t have previously imagined.
More articles at NorthBerkeleyWealth.com | https://medium.com/@northberkeleywealth/the-paradox-of-partial-information-551f135ca4c6 | ['North Berkeley Wealth Management'] | 2020-12-11 23:23:38.756000+00:00 | ['Financial Planning', 'Financial Advisor', 'Decision Making', 'Market Commentary', 'Investment Management'] |
Flybe Insists Normalcy while Troubles Mount | Flybe has now become a new symbol indicating that the airline sector continues to struggle under the weight of an industry price war and bad management.
Flybe sees troubles mount
The European airline Flybe, until now, used to handle almost 50% of the UK’s domestic flights outside of London. It was Europe’s biggest regional carrier.
January 12, 2020. Flybe has been shaken by suggestions that it is in a new struggle for survival.
Read more: Airlines drop dead.
At present, Flybe is facing mounting damages and has a bitter experience from weaker-than-usual demand over the winter months across the aviation industry. It has been a season of ambiguity that has punched the aviation industry because the Brexit referendum has diminished demand for travel in recent years.
Moreover, Flybe seems to be seriously hit from the declining value of the pound since the 2016 Brexit referendum. A high proportion of its payments are in dollars, while its incomes are in sterling.
Flybe’s market share is shrinking fast. Its competitors have moved forward in Flybe’s established havens. It has now conceded its space in Bristol, where Easyjet has authenticated itself as the major player flying to Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
It is not even a year since a buyout by a consortium including Virgin Atlantic, Cyrus Capital and Stobart Group took place.
The said consortium acquired Flybe’s assets in March 2019. It paid £2.8m for Flybe’s plans and another £2.2m for the origin company. It agreed to inject £100m more into the sick airline’s turnaround plan, pledging to rename it as Virgin Connect in 2020.
Since then, neither Virgin nor Flybe has published financial outcomes for the company. Virgin Atlantic boss Shai Weiss disclosed in October 2019 that transforming the strained company, and to “keep Flybe flying”, were their priorities.
How to survive
Today, the company is said to be locked in survival talks. It is attempting to persuade the government to give it a salvation package, as Big Four auditor EY was put on notice to examine any administration means should Flybe run out of money. Flybe’s financial stress are being revealed now. It has been four months when the travel firm Thomas Cook was shut down. Then, the government refused to bail Thomas Cook out.
Questions for Flybe
The big questions remain: Does Flybe deserve additional financing amid rising losses? Should the government facilitate emergency funding in such a situation?
Flybe has already been bailed out once. It has been struggling to secure fresh finance. What will it do with it? Can it ever be able to repay?
Will the 10,000 customers ever get their due refunds from the collapsed Thomas Cook ?
Though Flybe is assumed to be a vital social and cultural link for many marginal economies, but should it be at the cost of government’s money? Can the airline only be a liability to the Nation?
Read more: Thomas Cook went bust with loads of liabilities
Flybe’s chief executive Mark Anderson has to warn the 2400 workers against “unhelpful and unproductive speculation”. He has to plead with them not to give away details of the company’s financial situation.
The British Airline Pilots Association has responded bitterly to the news about the “secret” discussions, saying the union had not been consulted. Trade union Unite said it was attempting an “urgent meeting” with Flybe to know the difficulties. Worried Flybe customers and aviation followers don’t know whether to laugh or cry. If Flybe goes bust, prices from UK to Germany may go up by 50%.
Flybe’s response
Despite such a situation, Flybe remained reserved on reports that it is plunging towards collapse soon. The airline contends that it is business as usual for the company. The struggling Flybe was unable to comment on the reports. It could only state, ‘We don’t comment on rumour or speculation.’ It asserted, ‘ We continue to focus on providing great service and connectivity for our customers, to ensure that they can continue to travel as planned”.
Find the top international flight deals up to 55% off
Book all your Flight tickets Here | https://medium.com/@airwaysnc/flybe-insists-normalcy-while-troubles-mount-cb2fc9ed037e | ['Nc Airways'] | 2020-01-14 03:58:31.639000+00:00 | ['Aviation', 'News', 'Airlines'] |
‘People in wars are among the most neglected by climate action. We must reverse this trend.’ | By Catherine-Lune Grayson. Published 19 September 2020 on GS News.
People living in wars are disproportionately impacted by the consequences of climate change. Of the 20 countries considered the most vulnerable and least ready to adapt to climate change by the ND-Gain Index, 12 are in a situation of armed conflict. This does not point to a direct correlation between climate change and conflict. Rather, this vulnerability stems from the limited adaptive capacity of societies enduring conflict.
Why? Because in addition to causing deaths and injuries, conflicts profoundly disrupt the social, political and economic foundations of societies. They weaken institutions and erode development. They create new vulnerabilities and increase existing ones. All this dents people’s capacity to cope with growing climate variability and extremes.
For over a year, we conducted research to better understand how climate and environment-related risks materialise in the lives of the communities we work with and reflected on ways to better support them. This is intrinsic to ICRC’s bid to ensure its response factors in the multiplicity of challenges faced by people in conflict zones.
In short, combined climate risks and conflict disrupt all spheres of people’s lives, from their safety to their health, to their food, water, and economic security. Effects can also be far-reaching. Along with other megatrends, such as demographic growth or rapid urbanisation, they can shape migration or access to resources on a continental scale.
In northern Mali, we saw how the coping mechanisms of herders during a bad season are curtailed by conflict, as insecurity prevents them from traveling longer distances with their livestock to search for grazing land and water. In the Central African Republic, people asked for help in managing tensions arising from changes in the seasonal movements of herders and their livestock that are, in part, caused by the situation in the Sahel, where environmental degradation, climate risks, and insecurity has pushed pastoralists towards greener and safer areas. They also asked for support to recover from floods and chart changes in agricultural calendars that are no longer reliable. In southern Iraq, problems related to water quality and scarcity were further exacerbated by the limited capacity of institutions to maintain water-related infrastructure and negotiate water-sharing with neighbouring countries.
People in wars are not only at the forefront of climate change, they are also among the most neglected by climate action. We must reverse this trend.
Major global efforts are essential to limit climate change and avoid the most disastrous consequences for people and their environment. But such efforts will only limit, not halt, the climate crisis. We therefore need to find ways to help people cope and adapt.
To state the obvious, we must fine tune our understanding of short and longer-term risks and reinforce our capacity to develop programmes addressing them, learning from people themselves, the experience of others, and science and technology. We must also join forces, across the humanitarian sector and beyond, as no single organisation can address these challenges alone. Collectively, we need to focus on limiting people’s exposure by reducing risks and strengthening their resilience to shocks. Once people, systems and their environment have experienced major losses, recovery is harder. And this is particularly true in times of conflict. This calls for investing in disaster prevention and early warning systems, ensuring access to hazard-resilient essential services and helping people secure livelihoods and shelters that stand in the face of climate risks — and it also calls for improving the implementation of IHL rules protecting the natural environment during armed conflict, as greater respect for these rules can limit environmental degradation and in doing so, reduce the vulnerability to climate change of communities. Finally, we need to mobilise those who are best placed to ensure that climate action and finance reach communities enduring conflict — from State governments to local authorities, international financial institutions, and the private sector.
The challenges related to working in places affected by conflicts are no excuse for inaction.
Catherine-Lune Grayson is a policy adviser at International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), where she focuses on the experience of populations affected by armed conflict and violence and humanitarian practices, notably in the context of migration, internal displacement, and the climate crisis. She has previously worked in East and Central Africa for several years for the Danish Refugee Council, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. She is trained in political science (Sciences Po, Paris) and international law (Université de Montreal), and holds a Ph.D in anthropology (Université de Montreal). | https://medium.com/geneva-solutions/people-in-wars-are-among-the-most-neglected-by-climate-action-we-must-reverse-this-trend-58aa631b0791 | ['Gs News'] | 2020-11-23 14:17:20.382000+00:00 | ['Catherine Lune Grayson', 'Conflict', 'Humanitarian Aid', 'Climate', 'International Development'] |
Truth or Dare | Truth or Dare
A childhood game that brings memories how we admit feelings to our crushes, how we did the dares without hesitation; a fun and enjoying game. Now that we are already an adult, we are still playing truth or dare without us knowing. Technology arise and facts and information are now widely disseminated as fast as we can imagine, along with these information are the people who chose to bend factual information try to shape other people’s mind what is good and bad through disinformation.
A lot of movements have been raised and series of webinars are already conducted, but why do people tend to always fall in the trap of disinformation? As a citizen who consume the information from the internet, we should choose whether truth or dare. Choose the truth when you seek for factual news and information, you want to keep yourself informed with verified facts and data. While on the other hand choose dare if you are brave enough to face the consequences creating, spreading and supporting such nonfactual data, it will bring distrust of people to the media, lack of information, and chaos to the community.
Right now our society is still playing, and everyone has a choice to make, truth or dare? | https://medium.com/@federicogatchalianiii/truth-or-dare-7b73484e8f30 | ['Federico Gatchalian Iii'] | 2020-12-17 01:18:14.671000+00:00 | ['Truth', 'Disinformation', 'Truth Telling'] |
The 3 Signs of Burnout: Is it time for a change? | My first question to you is, “Who doesn’t feel overwhelmed or stressed at work sometimes?” — The truth is, when work stress becomes relentless, or chronic, it can push you into burnout.
Burnout is a hot topic in today’s workplace. We make a range of assumptions when we hear it mentioned. There is such a wealth of information on the internet about it, which can be pretty overwhelming. So, I will summarise the three main components.
The World Health Organisation defines burnout as a response to “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”.
Burnout is not a disease, but it requires serious attention.
Thanks to the lifetime work of Christina Maslach, one of the leading researchers in the field of burnout, and her colleagues, we understand that there are three main components.
Overwhelming emotional exhaustion — “I can’t take it anymore”. The exhaustion can be emotional, mental or physical. A clear sign of burnout is when you feel tired all the time. You might feel worn out, experience loss of energy, depletion, debilitation and fatigue. This can result in significant absence from work. If you can relate to this feeling, then it might indicate the need for better sleep, exercise and nutrition. Feelings of cynicism and detachment from the job — “I can’t work here anymore”. You might feel cynical towards the job or organisation, experience feelings of detachment from the job, wanting to withdraw, or have feelings of irritability. You might feel disengaged from the workplace. This can result in the development of uncaring feelings, even hostility towards others (clients/customers or perhaps colleagues). Diminished personal accomplishment (the tendency to evaluate oneself negatively) — “I have no future, maybe I’m not actually good at this”. A negative response not only to the job, but to yourself. You might feel a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment, there might be the tendency to evaluate yourself and your work negatively, feel low morale or an inability to cope. You might think that what you are doing does not matter much anymore. This can lead to a lack of motivation and poor performance.
Burnout is LOST ENERGY, LOST ENTHUSIASM and LOST CONFIDENCE
If left unattended to, burnout can be a serious problem. Research has linked burnout to many health problems, including depression, anxiety, sleep problems and substance abuse. It can also negatively impact relationships and jeopardise career prospects.
You can make changes in your life to combat stress; healthy diet, regular exercise and getting enough sleep. But the solution for burnout also lies with changes to the workplace. According to Christina Maslach, a healthy workplace is somewhere that provides you with:
A sustainable and manageable workload
Choice and control
Reward and recognition
Supportive work community
Fairness, respect and social justice
Clear values
I invite you to consider whether your workplace looks like this, or ask yourself if it is time for a change. Perhaps consider speaking to your colleagues, manager or HR representative to see what can be done. | https://medium.com/@drcassieroberts/the-3-signs-of-burnout-is-it-time-for-a-change-32ec2c6f0b0c | ['Dr Cassie Roberts'] | 2021-01-06 15:49:06.640000+00:00 | ['Wellbeing', 'Stress', 'Work Stress', 'Therapy', 'Burnout'] |
The Sanity of Sameness | Photo by La Partida Eterna on Unsplash
I decided not too long ago that it was time I went to bed at the same time every weeknight. The same goes for when I wake up on weekdays.
Much like I have an evening routine I use to end my day and a simple morning routine to kick off my day, I felt as if having the same time for waking up and bedtime during the workweek was a smart play.
There’s a sanity that you get from doing things the same. Not everything, but some things.
The thing is, those things are going to be different for everyone. But I believe having some things taking place at the same time (or even some things on the same days, like I do with my Daily Themes) creates a level of certainty that is needed to navigate an uncertain world.
The things that you do the same or ensure happen at the same time will also change over the course of your life. Some will change as elements of your life changes, like becoming a parent or starting a new career. Others will change based on seasons, such as when to exercise and who is in your social circle.
Just like we all need to be open to experiencing different things, we should do the same for, well, experiencing things that stay the same.
Or, better still, being okay with keeping some things the same. | https://medium.com/about-time/the-sanity-of-sameness-bd580bd61ac4 | ['Mike Vardy'] | 2020-12-20 12:23:35.020000+00:00 | ['Decision Making', 'Ritual', 'Routine', 'Time Management', 'Productivity'] |
About Me — Jodi Compton. A Q-and-A with the author … by the… | About Me — Jodi Compton
A Q-and-A with the author … by the author! All about the writing life, how to handle success (learned the hard way), and the must-have writer’s accessory.
Photo: Author’s own. A publicity photo for the release of ‘Hailey’s War,’ my third novel.
Wait … This is a Q&A? Why?
I’ve found that writing in a question-and-answer style is a fun, quick-moving way to write autobiographical pieces. It keeps me from getting too verbose (a common problem for writers, who as a group are comfortable behind the keyboard), and it eliminates clunky transitions.
Okay. Let’s start with this: Who exactly are you?
I’m the author of four mystery novels (I tend to use the term “crime novels,” but either/or), with a fifth coming out through Amazon in 2021. I’m also a freelance book editor, and before coronavirus shut down most of live entertainment, I was getting some bookings as a stand-up comic.
You’re kidding! What kind of stand-up?
Yeah, everyone wants to know about the comedy, though it’s the smallest part of my professional life. Really, I was at the “twenty dollars and a comped drink” stage, and didn’t have great expectations to go further. But in late 2018, I did my first open mic, and I got my first paid booking in March 2019. I started out doing observational comedy — the classic Jerry Seinfeld/David Brenner model — but pretty soon found I liked a more “screwball” style, sometimes with props or costumes.
For example, sometimes I’ll bring a paper shredder and extension cord to a show, and hide it in the wings. Then, if a joke bombs, I’ll say to the audience, “Can you guys hang on just one sec?” I’ll grab my notebook and pointedly rip a page out, pull out the shredder until its in the spotlight, and shred the joke right on stage.
Also, when I attended my first open mic after Oregon loosened its quarantine restrictions (they’ve since gone back into effect), I walked in wearing a full hazmat costume and gas mask. (Not a real hazmat suit, which would have been pretty expensive. I bought it from a Halloween retailer).
Has comedy given you insights into fiction writing?
It sure has. In fact, I wrote a piece about that for Medium. You can find it here.
Let’s talk about the fiction. Did you always want to be a writer? Were you influenced by your parents?
Yes and yes. My career choice was almost set in stone from childhood. My parents didn’t pressure me, though. My mother was a special education teacher, and she specialized in helping kids who were struggling with reading. So it was almost inevitable that I learned to read before I went to kindergarten. I was about two, in fact. I don’t remember a time when I couldn’t read.
My father loved books, especially crime stories and spy thrillers. So I read a ton of those growing up; they were always around. He was also really big on learning. If I asked him what a word meant, he’d wouldn’t tell me. He’d always say, “Let’s go look it up.”
So you started writing for publication, when, your early 20s?
I wish! I was somewhat lazy, or maybe “entitled” is the better word. I thought that as soon as I was ready to start writing, success would just fall into my lap. Plus, I’d gotten the idea — from myriad sources, not always directly — that writers need to get a lot of “life experience” before they can write anything of interest to the world. But that’s not true across the board: A great many writers work from their imagination, while having fairly unremarkable day-to-day lives.
I’m lucky that’s true, because the “life experience” I was racking up was decidedly unsexy: college, some grad school, then a newsroom job as an editor. An interesting environment to be in, but it wasn’t exactly the life that a great semi-autobiographical novel is made of.
So, my original question was, you started writing at age …
Sorry! I was 28. I wrote a few short stories, but pretty quickly got down to the work of writing a novel. I finished it at age 30.
Did you self-publish?
No, all four of my novels have been released through New York publishing houses, and London houses for the British edition. But the publishing world is definitely changing. Amazon is re-releasing my early novels, and then Redball, my fifth book, is also coming out via KDP. Amazon definitely isn’t a “last chance self-publishing” option any more.
How much did your life change after publication?
Not very much, but only because I didn’t let it. I had this pretentious idea that I wasn’t going to let success change me, that I was about the creative process, not sales figures and money, et cetera. Which is fine, but it meant I was still living in the same small apartment in San Luis Obispo, California, and I was spending almost all day alone there, except to go to the gym, and maybe see a friend on the weekend. My world was a bit of an isolation chamber; I was in my head all the time. It was a lot like what people have been going through in 2020, with the Covid-19 lockdown. I had a bout with depression and insomnia around that time. I’ve recovered now, and though I’d like to say I pulled myself out by sheer willpower, I didn’t. Medication helped a lot.
This brings me to the advice I’d give an aspiring writer: Writing is absorbing and satisfying, but it can be lonely. So if you make it big enough to quit your job, you’ve really got to make sure you have people in your life. “Coffee dates” aren’t enough. I like to be working on a common project with people: Comedy serves that need, for example. We’re all at open mics together (or were), bouncing ideas off each other and trying to get better.
That’s good advice for someone who makes it, but what advice would you give a writer just starting out?
Nobody said it better than Oliver Stone: “Ass plus chair equals writing.” It’s easy to forget, even when you’ve been doing the job for years.
The other thing is, no one needs to give you permission to be a writer. There’s no minimum age or maximum age. That’s the great thing about the job. So don’t wait for “someday.” Tomorrow is promised to no one.
Is there a must-have writer’s accessory?
Lady Bird.
Lots of us swear by dogs. Here’s my first dog, Lady Bird. Didn’t she cut an intelligent-looking figure? She probably came from the Merced pound, because I got her from a foster home in northern Central California. That’s significant because because the staff of the Merced animal shelter, at that time, liked to give the dogs names of Golden Age celebrities. So she was probably originally “Lady Bird Johnson.” I also had a foster dog for a while named Claude, who I think was probably “Claude Rains.”
Saloop.
Here’s Saloop, my current dog, waking up from a nap. He’s a blue heeler/Jack Russell terrier mix, I think. Him, I got to name myself, so I gave him the name of a great dog of fiction. In Colin Cotterill’s The Coroner’s Lunch, the dog that ‘adopts’ Dr. Siri Paiboun is named Saloop. | https://medium.com/about-me-stories/about-me-jodi-compton-da55f9875427 | ['Jodi Compton'] | 2020-12-16 17:37:19.686000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'About Me'] |
How To turn out to be A successful digital Marketer? | The people around you are crucial for knowing how to become a digital marketing success. So, it’s important that you listen, identify, and take care of them and make sure they are satisfied. Since managers are interested in their employees, they need to take responsibility for fixing any problem they have.
A good manager will help you develop and improve your Digital Marketing strategy. Be respectful to your manager. He must focus on things that can influence your performance. Communication with your manager, however, is an important tool. Receiving the information you need is the best way to boost your performance.
It is difficult to know how to transform data from digital channels, product layout, or content hosting platforms. Marketers should know to this day what they need to know when they get into digital marketing.
Who is Digital Marketer?
It is a term that has been around for quite a while now, yet the technology of digital marketing still looks like it is in the past. The “digital Marketer” method is that a virtual marketing commercial enterprise organization owns the client and manages their digital marketing accounts in the selling and marketing of their products and services and customer relationship management.
However, the number of marketing companies has slowly been increasing in the last years and the trend of digital marketing is still going. Once the marketing manager is overstretched to managing the huge quantity of users and the great responsibilities of the digital marketing strategy of the business organization has transformed into the nowadays world of digital marketing that is naturally propelled by the marketing team.
Become A Successful Digital Marketer:
If you are a young digital marketer and looking for good motivation, in this blog, I will be discussing the best methods to become successful. The following key aspects that are necessary to become a successful digital marketer are:
1. Learn From Online Courses
Learn From Online Courses
In case you are working online, you can learn online properly. Technology gives a number of opportunities to folks that are looking to train themselves for a particular career route. There are numerous sources obtainable and most of them are absolutely free. These resources and structures help you study new abilities, broaden your digital marketing horizons, and discover new superior strategies.
These guides won’t simply assist you to learn new talents and techniques. You could add them to your resume properly to decorate its attraction. There are more than one online platforms and website from which provides guides from top-tier universities and groups like Udemy, Coursera, Lynda, and extra. You can locate and soak up a route that’ll help you enhance your talents and develop your profession.
2. Learning From Experts
Learn From Eperts
Whilst taking up a web direction can be extraordinarily beneficial in mastering new abilities, consuming information from the digital advertising and marketing professionals who have worked in this field for years is an entirely specific learning revel in.
Digital advertising and marketing leaders already have massive experience beneath their belt and they have polished their talents and techniques through the years. A number of those specialists have their personal websites and social media accounts where they actively have interaction with folks who want to make their career in this area. they impart their know-how on stated platforms, giving new virtual entrepreneurs an opportunity to analyze.
3. Become A Content Creator
Become Content Writer
The first-class way to study new virtual marketing capabilities is by way of developing. Writing and sharing what you recognize about digital marketing will help you refine your own information and ideas. once you do your studies for content material, you’ll be uncovered to new ideas. you could create and percentage content material on multiple systems. you can preserve a non-public weblog or write articles, if viable.
you may additionally make a video on Facebook stay or every other platform wherein you’ll communicate approximately new digital advertising principles. Finally, you may create a social media account totally devoted to sharing know-how about virtual advertising.
4. Stay Up to Date
The corporate international has been evolving continuously because of technological advancements. With that in mind, it’s far critical for marketers to live up to date on new different marketing principles and techniques. you could follow predominant digital advertising and marketing websites to pick up information approximately nowadays’s tendencies. To find out about the state-of-the-art buzz in the enterprise you can additionally follow influential marketers on social media.
A generation has made it fairly simple for people to stay up to date on new information approximately virtual marketing. Articles, blogs, and podcasts are simply to be had online. you may keep tabs on on line structures that provide new data approximately digital marketing. | https://medium.com/@aamirmajeed6005/how-to-turn-out-to-be-a-successful-digital-marketer-6300f4f28234 | ['Aamir Majeed'] | 2021-12-29 05:40:14.394000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Tips And Tricks', 'Digital Marketing', 'Digital Marketers', 'Internet Marketing'] |
How To Grow Long Hair, without Biotin or Supplements? | By elle.fr
The majority of us are enamored with long, wavy beach hair that we have imagined as the ideal hairstyle! How do we achieve such long and gorgeous hair? I’ll let you know how.
After some time and numerous tests with my hair, including making homemade masks, purchasing chemical treatments, consuming vitamins, and taking tablets, I finally discovered the best remedy for me.
I had long, lovely hair till I chopped it off a year ago. The reason for my action was that I was bored of my sun-damaged, lifeless, damaged, and broken hair, which did not appear to ever come back in the correct state.
So, to address the situation, I utilized the scissors. My hair was trimmed in a long A-bob side. The style looked great on me, and I felt like a whole new person.
But the good vibes didn’t last long. After a while, I began to miss my long hair, so I began Googling and clicking on any link on the internet that promised long hair.
The Best Kept Not-So Secret? Olive Oil!
Stay with your head down, for about 4 minutes after applying the olive oil along the length of your hair. The reason for this is that blood will circulate more freely through your head’s epidermis, making it easier for your hair to absorb all of the nutrients.
After that, cover the mask with a cloth and let it on for around 30 minutes. If you can stand it, sleep with the mask on your head, but wear a shower cap and place a towel on your pillow. When you get out of the shower, give it a good shampoo to get rid of all the oil and apply conditioner as usual.
The towel should not be used to rub the hair because it will cause breaking.
If you need more tips and tricks, or why this process works, you can read here: https://discover.hubpages.com/style/How-to-grow-you-hair-longer | https://medium.com/@alanoor/how-to-grow-long-hair-without-biotin-or-supplements-ba8cf61a6d6a | [] | 2021-12-27 17:06:03.120000+00:00 | ['Hair', 'Biotin', 'Oliveoil', 'Beauty'] |
A HISTORY OF BOTANICALS IN THE UK | When thinking about the history of Great Britain a lot of things spring to mind — royalty, William Shakespeare, the treaty of Versailles and more recently the creation of the world wide web (just to name a few). However, many of you might be surprised to learn that the UK also has a rich history in botany. But, for those of us who don’t have a green thumb, what are botanicals and what is botany?
In fact, a botanical is a substance that is derived from plants while botany is the study of the plants. For centuries, botanical products were a staple of people’s diets all around the globe due to their well-known health benefits; in the modern world, their consumption has only increased. Cinnamon, pepper, tea, soy, and various herbs can be found virtually in all the households around the world, and a lot of botanicals and their derivatives are also regularly used in medicine and in cosmetics. So, how exactly did this come to be? To answer that we’re going to take you on a little history trip!
Since what feels like the beginning of time, people have been using herbs for food and remedies. William Turner, often known as the father of British botany, wrote what is likely the earliest known work describing British flora and fauna, called Libellus de Re Herbaria (The Names of the Herbs) which was published in 1538. The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) was formed in 1836 and is now a world leader in carrying out scientific research in the fields of botany and biology.
TEA
Drinking tea has now become synonymous with British identity, in fact, the average tea supply per person in the United Kingdom is a whopping 1.94kg. That’s a lot of tea. So go on, put the kettle on, grab your mug, and let’s dive into how tea fits into a history of botanicals.
Tea is brewed from leaves of the Camellia sinensis, a small evergreen shrub which is native to the region of East Asia. The earliest credible mention of drinking tea dates all the way back to the 3rd century AD China and the first signs of tea in Europe appear around the 16th century, initially in Italy and Portugal. Modern British tea-lovers should be thankful to one particular person — Catherine of Braganza, a massive tea addict who also happened to be a Portuguese Princess and the wife of Charles II. It was her love for a cuppa that ultimately led the British East India Company to place an order for 100 lbs of Chinese tea in 1664, bringing tea to Great Britain. Initially regarded as an upper-class beverage (due to its royal associations), prices gradually fell and tea started to be consumed first by the middle classes in the 18th century, and by the 19th century, it was being consumed universally in Great Britain and was even considered a key part of British patriotism. In the second half of the 19th century, the consumption of tea kept on soaring due to the expansion of the railway to the east, and, eventually, London became the centre of the international tea trade.
Milk and sugar started to become a vital part of the tea break in the late part of the 17th century, as a way to improve the taste of tea but also largely as a status symbol, given that tea and sugar were expensive luxury items. Milk was also used by sneaky employers to shorten tea breaks of their employees, as adding milk cools the tea so workers would drink up quicker and get back to work.
There are three main types of tea, which are produced by distinct methods of processing the leaves:
Black — fermented
Green — non-fermented
Oolong — semi-fermented
The longer the fermentation process, the darker the leaves become and it’s the fermentation that gives black tea its notorious bold and malty taste. Green tea, on the other hand, doesn’t undergo this process which leads to retention of the leaves’ green colour and the tea itself has a more natural, grassy flavour while oolong tea offers an in-between option.
A major factor which contributed to tea’s rise in popularity is the health benefits associated with it. As early as 5000 years ago, tea plants were used to treat certain diseases. Green and black teas are even said to contain 10 times the amount of antioxidants found in vegetables and fruit! This is due to a large number of bioactive ingredients known as polyphenols present in the tea leaves. Apart from possessing antioxidant properties, polyphenols are also antiviral and anti-inflammatory and stimulate the immune system. Modern medical studies have shown that regular tea consumption is even associated with a reduction in the risk of developing different types of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, arthritis and diabetes. For example, a study has shown that a daily dosage of 2 to 6 cups of green tea can support cardiovascular health.
COFFEE
Although coffee is not considered as important a part of British culture as tea certainly is, it is still hugely popular in the UK and abroad. Coffee has become a key part of our morning rituals, and whether you’re an espresso person, a latte maniac, or if you’re a hardcore americano drinker, we all know what it’s like to crave that caffeine fix.
Coffee is prepared from roasted coffee beans (surprise!) which in turn come from different Coffea species, the most common of which are Coffea arabica and Coffea robusta. Originating in the middle east in the early 15th century, coffee spread to Europe by the 16th century. Although tea has actually been around a lot longer than coffee, it was the latter that reached the shores of the British Isles first, with an account of a German physician Leonhard Rauwolf stating that the coffee was available in England no later than the 16th century, while the first coffeehouse opened in Oxford in 1652. With the typical price of a coffee set at a penny (Starbucks — take note) coffeehouses became places to meet and exchange ideas. Not surprisingly, coffeehouses became popular spots for academics and thinkers, such as Isaac Newton, and the first stokes and shares were traded in a coffeehouse as well. However, not everyone was fond of them, including — unfortunately — Charles II, who attempted to get rid of them completely in 1675. Thankfully, he was not successful, and it wasn’t until the 18th century when the coffeehouses started to fade in popularity and tea began its takeover of the nation. Remaining coffeehouses started to charge membership fees to try and reduce the loss of revenue and this led to the creation of many Gentlemen’s Clubs around the country which still operate to this day. But this certainly wasn’t the death of the coffee industry; currently, there are around 24,000 coffee shops with an average consumption of 2.8kg of coffee per person annually in the UK.
As coffee contains caffeine, which is a known stimulant, it is thought that an intake of 3 to 4 cups of coffee a day is the optimum amount of coffee to see the largest reduction in risks to health including cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In addition to antioxidants used to combat diseases mentioned, coffee also contains vital micronutrients such as vitamin B, magnesium and potassium. Vitamin B can support your health in many ways including keeping the skin healthy, improving digestion and stimulating the growth of red blood cells. Magnesium and potassium also play an important role; potassium regulates the water balance in the body and acid-base balance in the blood and tissues, and magnesium regulates blood pressure, blood sugar levels, nerve and muscle function.
GIN
Although gin is a spirit, its flavour comes from botanicals, mainly from juniper berries. This flavour is obtained by redistillation of gin with the botanicals to extract their aromatic compounds which give gin its unique flavour profile.
Gin was first created as a medicinal drink by Italian monks but by the 1600s became widely popular in the Netherlands with hundreds of distilleries producing gin on a daily basis in the nation’s capital, Amsterdam. The drink was known as ‘genever’ due to its main ingredient being juniper berries, known as ‘jeneverbes’ in Dutch. In 1585, as part of the Eighty Years’ War, British soldiers were fighting alongside Dutch soldiers in Antwerp against the Spanish army. That’s where the British soldiers first came in contact with gin, which the Dutch soldiers would drink before going into battles, and is where the term ‘Dutch Courage’ first originated. According to the legend, the British soldiers were too drunk to pronounce the full name and instead abbreviated it to ‘gen’ which later became ‘gin’. Restrictions and high taxes on the import of brandy to Great Britain from France were put in place at the start of the 18th century due to religious and political conflict between the two nations. During this time, gin production was encouraged as an alternative to brandy. In a crazy turn of events, the price of gin was eventually lower than the price of beer (if only this were true now!), and saw the start of what was known as the ‘gin craze’. Sounds like a dream come true, eh? At first glance, yes, but in reality, this led to unhealthy overconsumption of gin, to the point where cities were stormed with hordes of extremely inebriated individuals. For those keen on art, look up ‘Beer Street and Gin Lane’, two famous prints by William Hogarth that speak to the mood surrounding gin versus beer consumption at the time. Between 1725 and 1755 five different acts were passed in order to reduce gin consumption, and the beast was mostly tamed by the end of 1757.
After a big fall from grace, gin started to make its return in 1830. A French-born Irishman by the name of Aeneas Coffey revolutionised the process of distillation by improving the column first patented by the Cork County distillery in 1822. His improvements increased the alcohol volume and quality of the gin being produced.
Gin was actually also used by the British Royal Navy, who frequently travelled to destinations where malaria infections were common. The treatment for malaria is quinine, which has a strong and unpleasant bitter taste, which is where the gin comes in. In an attempt to mask this bitter taste, the quinine would be dissolved in carbonated water and mixed with gin. If this sounds at all familiar, it’s because this is the origin story of the gin and tonic cocktails that we know and love, though modern cocktails contain only a trace amount of quinine.
Today, gin is a very popular spirit and is used in all kinds of different cocktails. Here are some recipes for you to try out!
GIN TONIC TWIST
Gin — 50ml
Botanic Lab Yin Yang Yuzu — 50ml
Tonic Water — 50ml
Top with Yuzu shavings or add a slice of lime
TOM COLLINS COURAGE
Gin — 50ml
Lemon juice — 25ml
Sugar syrup — 15ml
Botanic Lab Take Five CBD Drops — 3 drops
Botanic Lab Dutch Courage — 125 ml
CBD
Cannabis has been used as a food source and herbal medicine for centuries. The Chinese also used hemp for its fibre, producing clothes, shoes and even an early form of paper. In later years, cannabis was also used for industrial reasons, and by 1533 King Henry VII actually made it mandatory for British farmers to grow hemp. As scientific progress continued, the medical use of cannabis also rose, and Queen Victoria even took it as a pain-reliever. However, the world view on cannabis started to change at the start of the 20th century, starting in 1928 at an international drug conference in Geneva where Britain was convinced to treat cannabis as a dangerous drug. Nevertheless, the NHS was still prescribing cannabis-based medicine until 1973, until this was ended following the introduction of the Misuse of Drugs Act. Despite this, the medical interests in cannabis were kept alive and it made a comeback as an appetite suppressant for AIDS wasting and treatment of asthma. A major breakthrough came in the 1990s when the endocannabinoid system was discovered — a pathway in a human body with cannabinoid receptors and self-producing cannabinoids. This discovery proved that not all cannabinoids are harmful and the presence of the receptors allowed further characterisation of cannabis’ effects on the body, beyond the intoxicating effects of THC. In 2010 Sativex became the first cannabis-based drug approved for use, and in November 2018 prescription of medical cannabis by a specialist doctor was legalised in the UK.
CBD (cannabidiol) is one of the many naturally occurring chemical compounds (cannabinoids) in a Sativa plant. Unlike another cannabinoid known as THC, CBD is a non-intoxicating ingredient. Due to this, it has become legal in the UK as long as CBD products have THC levels below 0.2%.
CBD is relatively new to the medical and supplement scenes, but scientific studies to date have already shown that CBD does, in fact, have multiple health benefits. Investigations have found CBD to be effective in treating chronic neuropathic pain, reducing sleep disturbances, treating Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, and for alleviating pain and inflammation due to arthritis. CBD has shown especial promise in treating epilepsy (such as Lennox-Gastaut syndrome), multiple studies on the impacts of CBD on seizure frequency showed that on average almost 66% of the patients experienced a reduction in seizure frequency, and, most notably, 6 out of a cohort of 11 studies demonstrated that over 80% of the patients reported an improvement to their condition. The National Cancer Institute has also reported that CBD can help reduce cancer symptoms and disease severity and that CBD can act to reduce side effects of severe treatments.
The mechanism of action of CBD in the body has not yet been fully decoded, in time more research will shine light onto the complex interactions of CBD with our bodies and how this drives its many positive effects. As we understand the science more, it’s likely we’re going to see more medical uses of CBD emerging, and we’ll be able to understand better how each of us could use CBD, whether that’s for managing stress, pain, sleep, anxiety, or one of the other many complaints that we experience in our day-to-day lives. | https://medium.com/@BotanicLab/a-history-of-botanicals-in-the-uk-37d9c91660d5 | ['Botanic Lab'] | 2020-08-20 08:26:50.101000+00:00 | ['Health', 'Wellness', 'History', 'Botanical', 'Cbd'] |
Come and go | Leaving is one of the hardest and most beautiful things at the same time.
Because only when you leave will you be able to come back.
Will you be able to experience the beauty of coming back again.
And because leaving is so scary and we’re so afraid of the thought of maybe never ever coming back again, we miss out on the beauty of coming back.
Of exploring.
Of experiencing new things.
And this fear of maybe never coming back is so strong that we tend to never ever leave again.
Even if we might not be happy where we’re at right not.
Even if we’re not happy with the things we’re doing.
With how the things are going.
Sometimes you just gotta leave to be able to arrive… | https://medium.com/thought-pills/come-and-go-1394fc907e49 | ['Yann Girard'] | 2017-07-24 22:38:58.877000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneurship', 'Poetry', 'Writing', 'Life', 'Life Lessons'] |
The Year The Bitcoin Bubble Burst, In Charts… And What Comes Next | 2018 was the year the bitcoin bubble burst… again.
One year after Bitcoin, or BTC, exploded from below $1000 to nearly $20,000 last December 2017, the cryptocurrency has lost about 80% of its value. The dramatic fall tops the dot-com bust, when the NASDAQ Composite fell 78% over the course of two years (that said, it is still about 4x higher than where it was 2 years ago). Meanwhile, the rest of the crypto market has largely followed BTC’s lead: the market capitalization of all digital currencies is now hovering around $134bn versus $800bn earlier this year.
For veteran cryptotraders, the following intro from Goldman will be redundant but here it for those who may have slept through the bitcoin mania days of late 2017 and early 2018: BTC remains the largest cryptocurrency, commanding more than half of crypto’s total value. Ripple (XRP) — which is meant to facilitate digital payments — and Ethereum (ETH) — the unit of value on a platform that allows for the creation of “smart contracts” — are the second- and third-largest players, respectively. While the cryptocurrency sell-off was broad-based, those intended to function as a store of value (e.g., BTC) appeared to fare better than “utility tokens,” such as those operating on the Ethereum platform.
Negative headlines likely contributed to crypto declines. While it’s difficult to pinpoint a single driver of crypto’s struggles, a number of negative developments surfaced this year according to Goldman, among which were a series of high-profile hacks of cryptocurrency exchanges, including Japan’s Coincheck and South Korea’s Coinrail. The Wall Street Journal reported that nearly one in five initial coin offerings (ICOs) showed potential signs of fraud. And questions surfaced about the reliability of Tether, a so-called “stablecoin” meant to be backed one-to-one by US dollars.
Regulators also stepped up scrutiny, and no crypto ETF made it to market despite an aggressive push. At the same time, the US government took an active role in the crypto space throughout 2018. For example, the SEC initiated a broad inquiry into the structure of sales and pre-sales of digital tokens beginning in February. Months later, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission demanded more transparency from BTC exchanges, while contributing to a criminal probe into price manipulation among crypto traders. All the while, the SEC turned down multiple attempts to create a BTC exchange-traded fund amid ongoing concerns over custody and surveillance of the underlying asset.
But this biggest disappointment for crypto enthusiasts is that involvement of traditional institutional investors remained limited in 2018 despite much hype and promise. While BTC futures gained some early traction post their launch on US exchanges in December 2017, open interest and trading volumes have faded since.
In addition, crypto funds have been under substantial pressure (with several shutting), given the sell-off while bitcoin mining profitability and hash rates have collapsed, as many bitcoin miners have gone out of business.
That said, some major banks — including Goldman — announced this year that they are looking at establishing trading desks with a focus on crypto assets.
Despite the crypto carnage of 2018, blockchain technology made some (quieter) gains. While the buzz surrounding blockchain technology seemed to fade in step with the crypto sell-off, a number of companies continued to introduce initial blockchain prototypes. And several banks — especially those in Asia and Latin America — expressed interest in using Ripple’s technology. One notable announcement was the Australian Securities Exchange’s decision to establish a blockchain-based platform to facilitate the clearing and settlement of cash equities, among other functions. The company has since delayed implementation until the first half of 2021, though it still intends to move forward with the project.
Meanwhile, talk of central bank digital currencies continued over the course of 2018, with institutions such as the Bank for International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund dedicating increasing attention to the potential role of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in monetary policy, market structure, and payment systems.
* * *
Yet while the bitcoin bubble may have burst, it won’t be the first time, and it certainly won’t be the first time bitcoin was left for dead (see the charts below) comparing the 2013–2014 and 2017–2018 bubbles.
So what can fans, fanatics, critics, cryptotraders and the general public look for in 2019 (and beyond) according to Goldman Sachs?
Continued efforts to expand institutional involvment . Nasdaq may list BTC futures contracts sometime next year, and regulators will also consider new ETF applications, with at least one SEC review pending for early 2019.
. Nasdaq may list BTC futures contracts sometime next year, and regulators will also consider new ETF applications, with at least one SEC review pending for early 2019. Further regulatory scrutiny . The SEC has has begun to crack down on unregistered ICOs in what appears to be a broader effort to regulate cryptocurrecies like traditional securities.
. The SEC has has begun to crack down on unregistered ICOs in what appears to be a broader effort to regulate cryptocurrecies like traditional securities. Broader adoption of blockchain technology. Although blockchain technology will continue to evolve, it has the potential to have a major impact across industries (e.g., peer-to-peer transactions and the clearing/settlement of securities). That said, Goldman expects limited adoption of early-stage blockchain prototypes in the next one to three years. However, broader acceptance is still likely to take a decade or more.
Finally, here is an annotated history of bitcoin prices during the first and second bitcoin bubble. We eagerly look forward to the third, and most violent one.
Source: Zerohedge | https://melis-io.medium.com/the-year-the-bitcoin-bubble-burst-in-charts-and-what-comes-next-93a02355ae88 | [] | 2018-12-27 08:43:00.788000+00:00 | ['Adoption', 'Bitcoin', 'Blockchain', 'Guest Post', 'Melis Wallet'] |
Should Lisa Montgomery Be Granted Clemency? | Yesterday, Fancy told us about the case of Lisa Montgomery in her live True Crime Tidbit. If you missed it, here’s what went down:
A couple of weeks ago, Colleen covered the case of Taylor Parker, a woman in Texas who murdered her pregnant friend so that she could steal the baby from her womb and claim it as her own. Today, I’m talking about a similar case that happened 16 years ago in the small Missouri city of Skidmore, population 284. This case has been featured on TV shows, in documentaries and books. One of our favorite true crime writers, Diane Fanning, wrote a book about the case. It’s called Baby Be Mine: The Shocking True Story of a Woman Who Murdered a Pregnant Mother to Steal Her Child.
In 2007, Lisa Marie Montgomery was convicted of “kidnapping resulting in death”. Now 52, She sits on death row awaiting her execution at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute Indiana. If she is executed, she will be the first female inmate in 67 years to be executed by the U.S. federal government.
According to The Guardian, Lisa Montgomery suffered through an abusive childhood and she was raped by her stepfather for many years. When her mom found out, she blamed Lisa and it’s alleged that she held a gun on Lisa who was only 14 at the time. Lisa began to drink heavily at an early age and by 18 she was married as a way to escape her abusive home but the marriage was abusive also. In 1990, by age 22, Lisa had 4 children.
In December 2004, Bobbie Jo Stinnett and her husband Zeb were running a dog breeding business out of their Skidmore, Missouri home and 23 year old Bobbie Jo was 8 months pregnant with their first child. According to News Press Now, Bobbie Jo was an active member of an online Rat Terrier chat room called Ratter Chatter. One of the people she met in the chat room was Lisa Montgomery who was living in Malvern, Kansas. Lisa, using the name Darlene Fischer, told Bobbie Jo that she was also pregnant and the 2 became friendly online, chatting and exchanging emails talking about their pregnancies.
During that time frame, Bobbie Jo was expecting some potential buyers for a dog that she was selling. The New York Times reported that authorities believed that Lisa Montgomery pretended to be interested in buying the dog and set up an appointment to go to Stinnett’s home. On December 16, 2004, Lisa Montgomery went to the home of the Stinnett’s, strangled Bobbie Jo with a bright pink rope and then cut her stomach open with a kitchen knife to remove the baby from her womb. Montgomery then fled the scene with the premature baby.
About an hour after the attack, Becky Harper, Bobbie Jo’s mother, found her and called 911. The scene was brutal. Bobbie Jo was laying in a large amount of blood and her mom is quoted as saying it looked like her stomach had exploded. The emergency workers tried to revive Bobbie Jo but she was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Investigators used several techniques including forensic computer investigation and were able to track Bobbi Jo’s online communications, which led them quickly to Lisa Montgomery. When they arrived at the home of Lisa and her husband Kevin on December 17th, she was holding the baby girl while watching TV. In fact, when the authorities arrived, the AMBER alert for the baby was flashing on the television that Lisa was watching. Lisa Montgomery was arrested and after DNA testing, the baby girl was reunited with her father Zeb Stinnett, who named her Victoria Jo. She was taken to the NICU of Stormont-Vail Regional Medical Center where she was in good condition.
Lisa Montgomery plead not guilty to kidnapping resulting in death and was looking at life in prison or the death penalty if she was convicted. When Montgomery was arrested friends were shocked. Everyone that knew Lisa Montgomery believed she was pregnant and due in December 2004, everyone including her husband and teenage children. After murdering Bobbie Jo, Lisa told everyone that she gave birth to the baby in Topeka and introduced her as Abigail.
As it turns out, Lisa Montgomery had actually had a tubal ligation years earlier and a long history of faking pregnancies since then. Her ex-husband has said that she faked pregnancies while they were together. Her husband Kevin Montgomery also said she faked several pregnancies during their marriage. There is speculation that a miscarriage or stillbirth at some point may have motivated her to commit murder so she could have a baby but it’s not clear when that could have happened since it’s reported that Montgomery’s tubal ligation was done in 1990.
Montgomery was charged with “kidnapping resulting in death” which is a federal crime. The Guardian reported that Montgomery’s lawyers alleged that she had a mental condition that causes a woman to believe she is pregnant and show signs of pregnancy when she isn’t actually pregnant. They had doctors testify that Lisa Montgomery did have the condition known as pseudocyesis and she suffered from depression, borderline personality disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder as well. But, federal prosecutor Roseann Ketchmark and forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz disagreed with the diagnosis of pseudocyesis.
On October 22, 2007, a jury found Montgomery guilty and 4 days later they recommended a death sentence. She was sentenced to death by Judge Gary A. Fenner. In March 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Montgomery’s certiorari petition which asked for a judicial review of the lower court’s decision. Last month, NBC news reported that Lisa Montgomery was officially scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on December 8th 2020. Montgomery is the only woman out of 55 prisoners on Federal Death Row. The last time a woman was executed by the federal govt was in Missouri in 1953 when Bonnie Heady was put to death along with Carl Hall in a gas chamber. Heady and Hall were executed for the kidnapping and murder of 6 year old Bobby Greenlease who was the son of a millionaire.
After Montgomery’s execution date was announced, one of Montgomery’s attorneys, Kelley Henry, released this statement:
“Few human beings have lived through the kind of torture and trauma that was inflicted on Lisa Montgomery by her mentally ill, alcoholic mother. From a young age, Lisa was sexually trafficked, told she had to ‘earn her keep,’ and repeatedly gang raped by adult men. The abuses Lisa endured exacerbated a genetic predisposition to mental illness inherited from both sides of her family. She suffers from complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and to this day must maintain a complex regimen of anti-psychotic medications to control her episodic psychosis. “In the grip of her mental illness, Lisa committed a terrible crime. Yet she immediately expressed profound remorse and was willing to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence with no possibility of release. Lisa then was represented at trial by an incompetent lawyer who has the dubious distinction of having more clients on federal death row than any other attorney. He failed to present Lisa’s jury with competent evidence about her traumatic history and severe mental illness, instead presenting pseudo-science through a witness who was not even a licensed mental health professional. And instead of recognizing Lisa as a trafficking victim, the government suggested she was complicit in the incest and abuse she suffered. “Lisa Montgomery has long accepted full responsibility for her crime, and she will never leave prison. But her severe mental illness and the devastating impacts of her childhood trauma make executing her a profound injustice.” Kelley Henry, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Middle District of Tennessee — Attorney for Lisa Montgomery
Lisa Montgomery’s execution date has now been rescheduled for January 12th, 2021. USA Today reported on Tuesday November 24th, that a federal judge delayed the execution of Lisa Montgomery after two of her public defenders contracted severe cases of COVID-19. The delay is meant to allow her attorneys to recover from the virus and file a clemency petition on her behalf.
Lisa’s sister Diane Mattingly spoke with Elle.com and here’s an excerpt from that interview: “After Lisa was found guilty in 2007, I testified at her sentencing hearing. She looked so much like my eldest daughter, with the same sea-green eyes, recessed chin, and high cheekbones. It didn’t take long for the jury to decide her fate. The next day, Lisa was sentenced to die. I screamed until I couldn’t scream any more. Didn’t the jury understand that she is ill? It’s hard to keep track of all the times she has been let down by people she’s supposed to trust. Her mom and her dad. Her school teachers. The police. Social Services. Me. Now her government was failing her, too. My heart goes out to the family of Bobbie Jo, of course it does, but we need to break the chain of evil actions.”
On the surface, it’s easy to look at this case and how horrific Bobbie Jo’s murder was and say that Lisa Montgomery deserves the death penalty. However, this is one of the cases that have made me have second thoughts about the death penalty. There was a time when I was okay with the death penalty and I honestly didn’t give much thought to it. I felt that if someone was convicted of a crime and sentenced to death, they must deserve it, right? Now, my thoughts are so much different. I think about the wrongfully convicted now and also the mental health of those that were convicted of a crime they did commit.
Hearing about the murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett was heartbreaking. She was a young woman, excited to be a mother for the first time, starting a family with her husband. Her happy ending was torn away in a brutal and bloody murder. Then, I learned some of what Lisa Montgomery had suffered through since she was just a little girl and my heart broke even more. She was a child that needed help and nobody helped her. She grew up and did something terrible and criminal, but does she deserve to be put to death for her crime? I don’t think that I can answer yes to that question anymore. Her sister is right in saying that everyone failed Lisa and I feel that putting her to death would be the ultimate failure.
What I can say is that we need more focus on mental health and getting people the help that they need. In the criminal justice system, so many of those convicted of crimes are suffering from mental illness and never get the help that they need. It’s a vicious cycle that needs to be changed and I think no matter your opinion on the death penalty, that’s something that most of us can agree on.
We will keep you updated on any developments or changes in this case and for more true crime check out our YouTube channel, Murder By Design and our podcast, The Good Wives Guide To True Crime. | https://medium.com/murder-by-design/should-lisa-montgomery-be-granted-clemency-4a2aa6bffbb9 | ['Christina Aliperti'] | 2020-12-16 20:17:15.527000+00:00 | ['Murder', 'Death Penalty', 'True Crime', 'Execution'] |
Violence Against Women is a Problem and We’re All Responsible | Writing about language, history and its affect on the problem of gender-based violence.
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is today, the 25th of November. I hadn’t planned to write about it, but the coverage in UK based socials I follow has been disappointing. As the UK is the land of my birth, I feel quite invested in how it chooses to raise awareness about the significant problem of violence against women. By socials, I mean newspapers that I follow on social media, as well as cultural and activist groups. In the south of Spain, where I live, I often see government initiatives raising awareness about gender-based violence plastered over billboards, whereas in the UK it is mostly charity-sector and campaign specific. It seems the British don’t like to talk about it so much. Spain is the country I currently reside in, and I find coverage and statistics in the Spanish socials a little more extensive, but, it’s never quite enough.
For the past few days, I have been researching and reflecting on this. In 2003 Spain began recording femicides, and in 2004 passed laws that aimed to reduce them, putting funds towards programmes for survivors. Yet Spanish campaigners have pointed out that official records only account for murders by partners and ex-partners, not including other types of femicide, for example, committed by family members. The UK has also been criticised for its failure to record femicides thoroughly enough — often reporting them as ‘isolated’ and ‘tragic’ incidents. It’s hard to quantify the differences, and perhaps even fruitless to compare, as little progress has been made over the past 10 years in either country. Last year Spain passed the depressing milestone of 1,000 femicides since it began to record them under 20 years ago. Yet according to an independent census in the UK, a woman is murdered every three days as a result of gender-based violence.
Today we remember all the women killed by partners. It’s hard to write this, and it’s hard to read or think about it, but it’s still a highly disturbing reality. Of course, anything published about it online will provoke a fair few ‘what about men’ questions. There is no doubt that more awareness needs to be raised about domestic violence against men. Yet my argument is that violence against women cannot be reduced to something as clear cut as ‘women get killed by men’. My belief is that it also stems from a paternalistic sense of domination of what are perceived as the ‘weaker’, ‘irrational’ characteristics classically consigned to women.
I learned recently that men used to be able to imprison their wives for nagging. This was in fact reported by Lebanese-American journalist, Jad Abumrad, whilst recording his podcast Dolly Parton´s America. Dolly Parton had spoken about old country songs she learned growing up, which were about men violently murdering their sweethearts. Delving into the archives, Abumrad found that these songs originated in Ireland in the early 20th century and they were about true events. The men who wrote the lyrics immortalising these murders were similar to sensationalist reporters from the tabloids of today. They went from town to town, singing the songs in order to pique the interests of the townspeople, earning a quick buck along the way, and the songs made it all the way to the South-East of America. It was whilst doing this research that Abumrad discovered records of husbands sending their wives to mental institutions and prisons for the offenses of nagging, or reacting emotionally to being cheated on. Gender-based violence was state-sanctioned, and this is something that doesn’t exist in the history of domestic violence against men.
How often do you hear ex-girlfriends described as crazy? How often are typically ‘female’ traits attributed to a kind of madness? Men considered to be displaying these traits are similarly scorned, and at risk of violence. Trans people are under the constant threat of violence, purely because their very existence ruptures the centre of paternalistic thought.
What is paternalistic thought? Paternalistic attitudes instruct, rather than listen; disapprove, rather than understand; judge, rather than remain open to a new possibility. We all are guilty of this to an extent. I know that there is a paternalistic side of me too, that wants to judge, instruct, overpower. I know that this side of me needs to die a death.
On a daily basis we watch films, TV series or play video games that fantasise about power and domination. Women are dangled like carrots in the action, sometimes rising above it all, demonstrating tireless resistance in the face of adversity; or they are sacrificed and depicted as tragic victims. It often feels as if these are the only two possible routes to take. This is where paternalistic thought turns to violence. I am at times at risk of imposing these narratives upon myself. Will I play the heroine, or the victim?
Will I rise Phoenix-like from the flames, or fail; floating down stream, as in the famous painting of Ophelia by John Everett Millais, hung with garlands of flowers, pure and intact? We also cannot forget that class politics runs deeply through these possibilities or choices. If we follow the paternalistic narrative, it will have the final say in who succeeds.
It is so easy to let the force of these ideas control our interaction with the world. Life is hard. We want it easy. We want TED talks by powerful women and to believe the impossible. We’d rather mythologise the brutal reality, making folk songs out of it, than take collective responsibility for someone’s misfortune. What if we began to recognise these stories in ourselves and others, beginning to unravel them?
What do we do without these fairytales? The unravelling is torturous and unclear, the road is long and hazy. Yet I believe it could pave the way to real equality. By reframing these stories, we have the opportunity to end the violence of paternalist thought, dismantling the Father Land from the shadow of colonial behaviour: its desire to indoctrinate and control.
I will stop trying to be strong. I am willing the world to see and accept the fatigue and fragility we hold in us. I hold my mother there, my sisters, my aunties and my friends; the men who refuse to fit the mould; those who have had a taste of what women and trans people face every day.
I hope we will stop instructing; inciting violence through the lens of history and tradition. History is a story, passed from hand to hand and town to town. History is there to be learned from, though never memorised as rote. | https://medium.com/the-collector/violence-against-women-is-a-problem-and-were-all-responsible-4acd7850b427 | ['Rebecca María'] | 2021-02-02 16:08:49.072000+00:00 | ['Gender Identity', 'Gender Roles', 'Violence Against Women', 'Women', 'Gender Equality'] |
Yapsody Launches 2 New Feature Updates | At Yapsody, we’re always looking to improve our user experience — whether it is for the event presenter or ticket purchaser. This week, our feature updates focused on convenience; convenience in viewing, promoting events on created on our online ticketing system.
Update 1 — Language Selection Option in the Online Store for Mobile Devices
Online ticket store visitors can now select the language they would like to view the events in through their mobile devices. As of today, Yapsody supports 15 prominent languages from across the globe. This makes it easier for Non-English speaking users to
Read event information
Understand instructions
Purchase tickets and
Generate tickets in their language
Until today, the feature was available only on desktop view.
Apart from Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, event presenters can now add their Instagram profile links to their online ticket store. Should a ticket purchaser want to visit the presenter’s Instagram profile, they will now be able to without having to look up the profile on the Instagram app. Along with this, event presenters also have the ability to request Yapsody to promote their event on our social media.
With these updates, we’re hoping to cut down on minutes of wasted time for all Yapsody users. We have plenty of new updates coming along in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
What has your experience with Yapsody been? Let us know in the comments below. | https://medium.com/yapsody/yapsody-launches-2-new-feature-updates-abfc34fcf446 | [] | 2019-08-18 10:18:52.310000+00:00 | ['Event Planner', 'Events', 'Instagram', 'Event Marketing', 'Event Planning'] |
I absolutely agree with you 💯 | Dear writers if a publication rejects your article then don’t get upset. It’s the way we can improve more and more. Trust me it’s good for us. Keep improving and getting a little better every day. | https://medium.com/@preetisingh15/i-absolutely-agree-with-you-a0c30ae5c940 | ['Dr. Preeti Singh'] | 2020-12-07 01:52:17.759000+00:00 | ['Publication'] |
Apple Watch: Podcasting’s Stealth Success Story | Apple Watch: Podcasting’s Stealth Success Story
Apple’s wearable tech podcast app is growing fast and bucking the industry’s trends
By Luke Riley
In the Fall of 2018, Apple Watch users gained the ability to listen to their podcasts directly from the devices on their wrists, without the need for a companion phone. Officially called “Apple Podcasts on Apple Watch,” the app shows up separately from iPhone in our Megaphone download data, and we’ve watched as it has become a major podcast platform. It gets more monthly downloads than well-established apps like Stitcher, Castbox, and Overcast, and more downloads than all smart speakers combined. That left us with a lot of questions about who these listeners are and whether their behavior might be different from those using other apps. It turns out they are indeed listening in several unique ways.
Downloads peak in early AM and late PM
When we chart Megaphone downloads per hour of the day over the last three months (from a sample of states across the country adjusted for local time zones), two things jump out. First, Apple Podcasts on Apple Watch downloads peak at 7AM and 10PM, unlike all other downloads that peak at commuting times and generally stay highest during the workday. Second, there is a disproportionate number of downloads coming from Apple Watch that happen in the middle of the night, compared to Apple Watch’s overall share of downloads. We think these nocturnal downloads are related to how Apple Watch syncs recent episodes of your favorite podcasts from the phone while it’s charging. According to Apple: “Podcasts are downloaded when Apple Watch is connected to power and placed near your iPhone. Episodes downloaded to your Apple Watch are available even when out of range of iPhone.”
Note: Apple Watch can also stream episodes that haven’t been synced in advance, either using the paired phone’s connection or watch’s own cell service, depending on which model you have.
Downloads seem to be higher in rural states
This trend tracks across the day for all states, but most dramatically for more rural states. When we separate out the Apple Podcasts on Apple Watch percentage lines to show four different states, we see Oklahoma and Utah have a much higher share of downloads from Apple Watch than California and New York, especially later at night.
When we map out the percentage of downloads from Apple Watch, more rural states have a higher share of their downloads from Apple Watch.
This trend holds up when we chart all 50 states and Washington, DC by their census-determined percentage of rural population compared to their share of downloads from Apple Watch over the course of three months. It’s worth noting that this isn’t a super strong trend, but definitely an interesting one.
Why would we be seeing this? There’s the possibility that this is just a selection bias. Fewer people in rural areas listen to podcasts and the ones that do are possibly of a higher income, making them more likely to own an Apple Watch.
However, it’s also possible that listeners are discovering podcasts for the first time by owning an Apple Watch. Because listeners in rural states have generally been slower to adopt podcasting, it makes sense that access to a new technology simplifying podcast listening would register more noticeably in those areas–it has less competition from existing apps. We saw a similar trend with Spotify downloads, which suggests that the more methods listeners have to access podcasts, the more people will give the medium a try. | https://medium.com/megaphonepods/apple-watch-podcastings-stealth-success-story-2c6861df9fbe | [] | 2019-04-15 20:30:31.045000+00:00 | ['Industry Insights', 'Podcasting', 'Apple Watch', 'Data Visualization', 'Apple Watch Apps'] |
Creating a Stunning Interactive Dashboard with Plotly Express and Dash | 1. Requirements
You need to install pandas , plotly and dash before starting this tutorial with the command pip install <package-name> .
, and before starting this tutorial with the command . Create a file.py with all the code. I also tried to use the Jupiter notebook, but it didn’t seem to work. But since the dash tutorial on the official website suggested the format .py, I preferred to keep it.
2. Libraries and dataset
After the required installations are done, we can import the following libraries:
The library dash contains python classes with all components of the web application, such as dash_html_components and dash_core_components .
dash_html_components provides components for HTML tags, while dash_core_components components for HTML tags generated with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS through the React.js library.
We also import the Plotly express and pandas libraries.
Later, we import the famous Iris dataset, like in the tutorial I wrote about Plotly Express. My purpose is to group the plot obtained before into a unique page using Dash.
3. Initialize app
As you can deduce from the title of the paragraph, we start to build the app through initialization.
In other words, the application uses a custom CSS stylesheet (https://codepen.io/chriddyp/pen/bWLwgP.css) to modify the default styles of the elements.
5. Web app with one plot
Let’s begin showing the code to produce a web page with only two sentences, without any plot. We specify the layout that we want in our application:
This output should be returned when you run the code. When it appears, you should copy http://127.0.0.1:8050/ in your web browser and you’ll see something like this:
You can observe that the line of code html.H1(children=''Dashboard of Iris dataset'') is like to write <h1>Dashboard of Iris dataset</h1> in HTML, where the tag <h1> is typically used for the headings.
The same thing for html.Div(children=''Dash: A web application framework for Python'') that corresponds to <div>Dashboard of Iris dataset</div> in HTML.
If we want to add the plot to the app, we should add the component dcc.Graph .Before defining the layout, we first create a scatterplot using the Plotly express library. After we pass the figure into dcc.Graph
Above you have the dashboard you should obtain after modifying the code.
6. Three plots on the page
In the previous paragraph, I showed only one plot on the page to start from the simplest case. But as you know, the dashboard is typically used to contain more than one plot. For this reason, let’s put three graphs on the page, a plot for each line.
Now, it’s possible to observe the three plots on a unique page! But at the same time, each plot takes a lot of place within the application. Wouldn’t it be better to have two plots for a row?
7. Two plots in the same line within the page
Now, I want to show two plots side by side. It’s possible by defining two blocks with <div> tag. In each block, we specify the class name, “six columns”, which is the width, not the number of plots to display. The class name of the row, which contains the two graphs, is “row”.
We can also add two additional plots in the same way:
In the way, we have two rows and two columns, where each row will contain two plots.
7. Display plot with Callback
In the previous paragraphs, I showed how to use app.layout , which provides the hierarchical structure of the app, and the examples were mostly static. Now, the goal is to build a dynamic app, where you can change the x variable and the y-variable of a plot. This is possible with the callback functions, that allows changing the input component’s property. Let’s start the example:
In this example, we can the function update_graph when the input variables are changed of the Input properties. The @app.callback decorator describes the inputs and the output of the application’s interface. We have as input the “value” property of the components with ids ‘x-axis column’ and ‘y-axis column’, while the output is the ‘figure’ property of the graph.
8. Summary:
I made a summary to see fastly the apps we created in the previous paragraphs:
Example 1: One plot
Example 2: Three plots within the web page
Example 3: two plots side by side
Example 4: Display plot with Callback
Final thoughts:
Nice results, don’t you think? I only the most simple examples focusing only on the layout, but other advanced properties can be added. There are many examples in the dash tutorial on the official website. I hope that this guide helped you to understand how to apply dash and Plotly express to create a dashboard. At first, it can seem hard, but after some trials, it’s really intuitive. Thanks for reading. Have a nice day! | https://pub.towardsai.net/creating-a-stunning-interactive-dashboard-with-plotly-express-and-dash-7e3dddcb955 | ['Eugenia Anello'] | 2021-08-07 17:33:37.985000+00:00 | ['Plotly Express', 'Data Visualization', 'Programming', 'Dash', 'Data Science'] |
Endeavor Catalyst’s 21 Predictions for 2021 | Endeavor Catalyst’s 21 Predictions for 2021
2021 is off to the races, and while the macro-economic backdrop continues to be challenging for many, there has never been a better time to back great entrepreneurs who are leveraging technology to create the jobs of the future. As our friends at Lux Capital put it recently: “The directional arrow of technology progress continues to point to the world getting better — in spite of our human chaos.”
At Endeavor Catalyst, we invest in the visionary entrepreneurs supported by Endeavor in more than 35+ emerging and underserved markets around the globe. This gives us a unique vantage point on how these different markets are developing, including which business models are seeing increased traction, where other smart investors are focusing, and why certain companies — and certain entrepreneurial ecosystems — are able to achieve outsized success.
Seen through the “Endeavor lens” of high-growth entrepreneurship and venture capital in emerging and underserved markets, we see the world moving boldly ahead in 2021, in what we believe economic historians may someday look back on as the “real beginning” of the 21st century.
With this in mind, here are 21 predictions for what we believe will happen with emerging ecosystems, business models and sector trends in 2021.
For full disclosure, with over 160+ investments, we are investors in many (but not all) of the companies mentioned below. Endeavor-supported companies are noted in BOLD.
2021 Predictions: Emerging Ecosystems
On the heels of its first significant exit, Cornershop, and its first Unicorn, Kavak (above), Mexico’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is primed to attract significantly more capital than ever before in 2021 (see prediction #7!).
1. The “decoupling” of capital and geography will continue.
The flow of capital into markets once ignored by leading venture capital and growth equity investors has been greatly accelerated by COVID-19, and will continue to grow in 2021. For a more in-depth look at how and why this is happening, check out our post earlier this month on “Redrawing the Map” here.
2. US investors will look between the coasts.
In 2013, after 15+ years supporting entrepreneurs in emerging markets around the globe, Endeavor made the bold (and controversial!) decision to open an office in Miami, as showcased in the Harvard Business School Case Study: “Endeavor: Miami Heats Up”. In 2021, with burgeoning tech scenes in cities like Miami getting more attention than ever, we expect to see more companies scaling up — and getting funded — in cities like Miami, Denver, Atlanta, and Detroit, but also further afield in places like Louisville, Kentucky; Birmingham, Alabama; Western New York, and Northwest Arkansas.
3. In the US tech community, underrepresented groups will be (slightly) better represented.
Thanks to groups like AllRaise, BLCK VC, Lightship Capital, Collab Capital, Base10 Partners, and Backstage Capital, as well as new initiatives from industry leaders ranging from a16z to Flybridge to Softbank, the movement to back more BIPOC and female founders and investors will continue to build momentum. “Better, but not enough!” is the review we expect to hear 12 months from now. This will take sustained work by all of us over the coming years. For our part, Endeavor will seek to continue to back great founding teams like Dave Salvant and Songe LaRon from Squire, George Azih from LeaseQuery, Mark Wilson from Chime Solutions, Rodney Williams and Travis Holoway from SoLo Funds, Nicky Goulimis from Nova Credit, Trina Spear and Heather Hasson from FIGS, Robin McIntosh and Lisa McLaughlin from Workit Health, and Melissa Butler from The Lip Bar.
Endeavor Entrepreneur Brian Brackeen launched Lightship Capital in 2020 with wife Candice Brackeen to fund technology driven startups founded or led by underrepresented professionals throughout the Midwest.
4. Latin America will produce its first $100B+ company.
Buoyed by extraordinary growth in ecommerce penetration (see #12 below), Nasdaq-listed MercadoLibre (MELI) will become the first company in Latin America to reach a market cap of $100B+, inspiring others across the region to dream even bigger!
5. US investors will “discover” Indonesia.
Whether or not the rumors of an $18B Gojek + Tokopedia merger become reality, we believe 2021 is the year that more US investors “discover” what is happening in Southeast Asia’s digital economy — and particularly in Indonesia. Following in the footsteps of SEA Group (NYSE:SE) — currently the only Southeast Asian tech company listed on a US exchange — we predict at least 2–3 Indonesian tech companies will seek to go public in the US within the next 12 months, including the first dual-listing IPOs between the US and Indonesia. For more on Southeast Asia’s digital economy, check out this great report from Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, appropriately titled “At full velocity: Resilient and racing ahead.”
6. Brazilian Tech will see more growth — and more liquidity.
As the digitization of Latin America’s largest economy continues apace, we expect to see more growth in Brazil’s tech sectors — especially Fintech, Healthtech and Edtech — and more liquidity in the form of acquisitions and public offerings. We predict at least 5 venture-backed exits in Brazil this year — and perhaps even 10 or more! For a much deeper dive on Brazil, check out this excellent piece of research from our friends at Atlantico.
Brazil’s Meliuz, a cash-back marketplace led by Endeavor Entrepreneurs Israel Salmen and Ofli Campos, celebrated an IPO of more than US$100M in November 2020.
7. Mexico will have its moment.
Long overshadowed by Brazil when it comes to VC investment in Latin America, Mexico’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is primed to attract significantly more capital than ever before in 2021. On the heels of its first significant exit, Cornershop, and its first Unicorn, Kavak, Mexico is no longer a secret. We saw more activity in 2020 from respected local funds such as Mountain Nazca, ALLVP, and Jaguar, regional leaders like Kaszek, and even Silicon Valley funds like a16z and Index. We expect more in 2021 — watch this space!
8. UIPath’s IPO will drive increased VC interest in Europe.
Originally founded in Romania, UIPath’s expected IPO at a valuation well north of $10B+ will be the latest reminder that global category-leading companies can come from unexpected places in Europe. With multiple $10B+ role models (e.g. Spotify, Ayden, UIPath), we expect to see more European entrepreneurs dreaming big — and more VCs downloading this report to figure out where to look next. For our part, we’re betting on the South (particularly Greece, Spain and Italy), the East (especially Bulgaria, Romania and Poland) and the geographic “edges” of Europe (think Ireland on one side and Istanbul on the other).
9. Saudi Arabia will make global VC headlines.
Several years in the making, Saudi Arabia’s venture capital ecosystem grew over 50% in 2020 and will come into its own in 2021, boosted by support from the Saudi Venture Capital Company and led by STV, Sanabil, Beco Capital, Raed Ventures and others. Expect large funding rounds for well-known companies like Unifonic, Foodics, Mrsool, Noon Academy, TruKKer and Classera, as well as a number of new early-stage financings. The rise of a “Paypal Mafia”-type network out of Careem — following it’s $3.1B acquisition by Uber — will play a meaningful role in Saudi (as well as the UAE, Egypt and Pakistan). Congrats to Philippe Bahoshy and the team at MAGNiTT for their continued great work covering this emerging region! You can check out insights from their latest report on MENA (plus Turkey and Pakistan) here.
Careem founders Mudassir Sheikha, Abdulla Elyas, and Magnus Olsson. Careem’s $3.1B acquisition by Uber in 2019 has had a ripple effect throughout the MENA region, spurring a proliferation of new startups founded by former employees.
10. The number of global startup ecosystems that have created a $1B+ startup will surpass 100 for the first time
In their fantastic annual report on the Global Startup Ecosystem, the folks at Startup Genome have been tracking the number of $1B+ companies ever since Aileen Lee coined the term “Unicorn” back in 2013. Over the past seven years, this number has grown from fewer than 10 cities around the world to more than 80+. This year, we predict it will exceed 100+ cities for the first time ever! As Fred Wilson wrote in his recent piece “The Rise of Everywhere”: “[…] let’s start celebrating the rise of tech entrepreneurship everywhere. That is a profound thing for the world and something to be incredibly happy about.”
2021 Predictions: Business Models and Sector Trends
11. Everything will be delivered.
Fast growing delivery services like Latin America’s Rappi and Spain’s Glovo (which now serves >7M customers across 22 countries) will become a bigger and bigger part of daily life for millions of people. And they won’t be alone! Rising consumer demand for the delivery of food, groceries and more will drive increased growth in dozens of businesses globally, including Everli (Poland and Italy), HappyFresh (Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand) and Toters (Lebanon and Iraq).
12. Consumer e-commerce will become increasingly mainstream.
The accelerated adoption of online buying by consumers in 2020 will stick around, particularly in Latin America and Southeast Asia, driving massive growth for horizontal e-commerce platforms like MercadoLibre, Tokopedia, Bukalapak and Shopee as well as e-commerce enablers like Shopify and VTEX. Vertical ecommerce leaders will also thrive in distinct categories ranging from babies & kids (e.g. Mumzworld in MENA) to furniture & home goods (e.g. Madeira Madeira, Brazil’s latest unicorn; Fabelio in Indonesia).
13. B2B e-commerce will become a new “buzzword.”
Inspired by the rise of Udaan as India’s fastest Unicorn, the business model of B2B e-commerce will quickly spread to other emerging markets, disrupting and digitizing supply chains on every continent. We expect smart investors to flock to this space, backing companies like Ula (Indonesia), Telio (Vietnam), Twiga Foods (Kenya), MaxAB (Egypt), Bazaar (Pakistan), Chaldal (Bangladesh), Chiper (Colombia) and more. Credit to Jesse Sullivan and Yash Kanoi at Alter Global as well as the team at Next Billion Ventures (NBV) for spotting this trend early. More on this new phenomenon from NBV’s Chris Schroeder here.
Waresix is digitizing logistics in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, by connecting businesses and shippers with available trucks and warehouses.
14. Supply chains will become more efficient.
A wave of startups are rapidly digitizing the freight industry, ultimately bringing down the cost of transporting goods across emerging markets. By connecting cargo owners and truckers over digital platforms, we are seeing tech companies revolutionize an industry that has been largely manual and fragmented to date. We are watching companies like TruKKer in the MENA region, Waresix in Indonesia, Kobo360 and Lori Systems in Africa, and CargoX in Brazil drive productivity and efficiency in logistics around the world.
15. The global Fintech Unicorn herd will grow.
Led by companies like Checkout.com (valued at $15B in their most recent funding round), India’s PayTM ($16B+) and Brazil’s Nubank ($10B+), the stampede of VC-backed Fintech companies reaching $1B+ “unicorn” status will continue on every continent. Keep an eye on Latin America, where Creditas recently joined Nubank, BREX, d.Local and Ebanx in the $1B+ club; as well as Indonesia, Vietnam, and Nigeria, where the recent acquisition of Paystack (for $200M by Stripe) is likely to drive increased investor interest. In no particular order, here are some of our top contenders to appear in a future edition of CB Insights’ Fintech Unicorn map: ADDI, Bitso, Clip, Ualá, Neon, and Nelogica in Latin America; Funding Societies, Investree, Kredivo, NextPay and Trusting Social in Southeast Asia; and Flutterwave, Paga, Migo and Carbon in Nigeria.
16. EdTech and HealthTech will grow the fastest.
Fueled by meaningful changes in consumer attitudes and behaviors towards existing technologies (e.g. online learning, telehealth), we expect EdTech and HealthTech will be the fastest-growing segments in many venture firms’ portfolios this year — including our own! In EdTech, where VC investment has grown an astonishing 32x over the past decade, we expect to see the continued rise of “workforce development” and adjacent sub-sectors — an area that already accounted for nearly half of all VC deals in EdTech in 2020.
WorkIt Health, a health tech company led by Endeavor Entrepreneurs Robin McIntosh and Lisa McLaughlin (above), announced a $12M Series B funding round in 2020. Its pioneering digital recovery program has seen accelerated demand during the COVID-19 pandemic as more people seek out telehealth services.
17. Mental Health will be in focus.
The mental health and wellness space is flush with cash and mainstream attention. In the US, marquee names such as Calm ($2B) and Lyra Health ($1.1B) raised large rounds in 2020, reinforcing or establishing their status as the sector’s first class of unicorns. However, much like we saw in the broader digital health landscape in years past — as recently as five years ago — major exits are scarce. Talkspace’s planned $1.4B SPAC debut is the first major shoe to drop. However, we expect that this will not yet open the floodgates, as peers eye even higher valuations, more capital from private markets, and growth among user bases — particularly in the corporate customer segment. As we enter “Year 2” of the pandemic, companies like Sondermind (Colorado) and WorkIt Health (Michigan) will help address the day-to-day mental health challenges that people face. Outside of the US, where the topic is still largely taboo in many places, we hope to see more conversations — and more start-ups! This recent report by Endeavor Mexico is a step in the right direction.
18. The “digitization of the SME economy” in emerging markets will provide some of the most interesting opportunities for global engineering and product talent.
In a list peppered with “trends,” it is worth pointing out that sometimes the most interesting work is often with teams and companies that are not yet part of a major trend or theme. Endeavor mentor David Frankel has a great piece on this from a few years ago describing how companies like Uber and Airbnb were started several years before the concept of the “sharing economy” took off. Such is the case today with enterprise, cloud and B2B businesses in most emerging markets. We predict that this space — which will be a massive growth area in the next decade for markets like India, Brazil and Indonesia — will continue to attract great talent (but little media attention) as companies build real solutions for millions of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in unsexy spaces like tax, accounting, CRM, marketing automation, CPaaS and more. Hot tip: If you are an engineer or product manager looking to expand your horizons in 2021, check out BukuKas and OnlinePajak in Indonesia, Omie, Conta Azul, RD Station and Contabilizei in Brazil, Runa in Mexico, Unifonic in MENA, and Clickatell out of South Africa. They’re hiring!
19. Family Offices globally will double-down on venture capital and innovation.
With the maturing of start-up ecosystems around the world, the long-running trend of Family Offices’ investment in venture capital — which has increased 10x since 2007 — will continue. Check out this great report from our friends at SVB for more in this trend.
20. SPACs will be spectacularly good (at least a few of them).
Chamath may have been first, but he won’t be the only one to have SPAC success. By the end of 2021, we expect to see at least half-a-dozen business combinations with SPACs led by experienced entrepreneurs and operators like Reid Hoffman, Kevin Hartz, Peter Thiel, Marc Stad (Dragoneer), Micky Malka (Ribbit) and others. We believe these operator-led SPACs will far outperform the “middle-of-the-pack” SPAC, to such a degree that it will be much more widely understood 12 months from now that the SPAC category is really just the new incarnation of late-stage venture capital.
21. Cryptocurrencies will continue to come of age as an asset class.
What would a 2021 Predictions list be without at least some mention of Bitcoin?! The global growth of cryptocurrencies has powerful implications for emerging and underserved markets, reducing friction in financial services like cross-border payments, storage, and lending. We expect to see rapid growth in this space with companies like Bitso in Latin America, OmiseGO in Southeast Asia, BitPay and Xapo. Xapo’s founder Wences Casares’ June 2017 piece on “Why Own Bitcoin” feels as timely as ever! | https://medium.com/endeavor-catalyst/endeavor-catalysts-21-predictions-for-2021-c6ab4eb41ccf | [] | 2021-08-17 04:26:44.660000+00:00 | ['Venture Capital', 'Emerging Markets', 'Scaleup', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Predictions'] |
The Blood of Old Souls | Marci sits at her daughter’s bedside. Tubes, lines, beeps, buzzes, and everything else that disrupts the child’s rest is alive and doing its job. She hangs her head slowly, embracing the trembling hands of her only daughter — peace is nowhere to be found. The room smells of overcooked death and analgesics. Every doctor within their specialty has had their say — they plead with Marci to “pull the cord,” to let her youngest go in peace. A rare form of bone cancer, Ewing sarcoma, is having its final say on their daughter’s life. Marci thinks about the decision, her husband is opposed. She whispers to Cherish, letting her know her pain.
“It’s a decision I never wanted to make. What mother wants to kill her child? What mother can? Your Daddy — heavy in his groveling, begs me night and day not to let you go. But, is this living? Cherish, are you alive in there?”
Cherish turns her head but her eyes remain closed. A small breath of air leaves her chapped lips. She tries to speak, but nothing comes forth. Marci continues. She is praying to her daughter’s trembling hands instead of the God she has known for forty years. She is praying to the monitors, to the adjustable bed, to the sanctity of this very moment between her and her daughter, but not to her God.
“Cherish, sweet baby, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand. Squeeze Mommy’s hand. Just one squeeze and I will know what to do. Just one squeeze, please. Please, baby.”
There is no response.
No hand squeezing, not even a faint understanding of what is being said. Cherish is dwelling in two worlds — caught up between the souls of the ancestors of Marci and the ancestors of her father, Lincoln. They are arguing over the young girl’s soul — who gets to have it when she is gone? Marci continues, the room in its quiet reveal, suddenly becomes noisy. Lincoln walks in with their son Colin. They come bearing flowers and a teddy bear. Cherish stirs in the sterilized bed, twitching her feet, and slowly moving her head.
Something is wrong.
“We stopped at the gift shop for Cherish. Colin picked out the teddy bear. I picked out the flowers. How’s our fighter doing?”
Marci picks up on Cherish’s reaction to Lincoln’s entrance to the room. She is squeezing her hand. A mother knows. A mother always knows when something is wrong. Colin has noticed that his sister is having what seems like a fit — the last functioning conversation without words before… before she dies.
“Mom, what’s going on? Is Cherish trying to live? What is happening!?”
“I don’t know, honey. I think she is trying to tell me something. I think she is trying to say something important.”
Lincoln steps closer, he swipes the bit of hair hanging on his daughter’s forehead to the side. Softly, he leans in and places a kiss on her cold cheek.
“Daddy’s here, baby.”
Cherish’s vital signs spark, then plummet. Her body convulses, the room darkens, and everything not bolted down swirls and hovers about the family for five seconds. She squeezes her mother’s hand again. She squeezes much harder this time. A child dying to get away from a perverted father. A child begging for death to come as an escape. A child, with no words, only the squeeze of her mother’s hand.
“I hear you, baby. I hear you.”
Marci kisses her daughter, looks at Lincoln with undefinable rage, and before he can utter one word, she pulls the bedside monitor’s cord. She pulls every tube, cord, and picc-line sustaining her daughter’s life. Marci is unsure, but as she looks at Cherish one last time, she thinks she sees her smile. The ancestors fighting over her daughter’s soul appear, not only do they take Cherish—
They come for Lincoln too. | https://medium.com/a-cornered-gurl/the-blood-of-old-souls-62d1783ca6a0 | ['Tre L. Loadholt'] | 2018-02-12 01:11:20.891000+00:00 | ['Dying', 'Death', 'Fiction', 'Children', 'A Cornered Gurl'] |
The X Factor — Vuex. According to the dictionary, X-factor… | According to the dictionary, X-factor is “a quality that you cannot describe, that makes someone very special”. Vuex is probably the opposite. Vuex is all about controlling the flow inside the app — and making it as simple to understand as possible, even though it has its own X-factor. Vuex is a library that implements a state management pattern for Vue.js applications. As a state management pattern, the state can only be mutated in a predictable fashion. In this blog, I will describe the simpleness of Vuex, and make the X factor simple.
What’s in store
The store is an object that contains a state and all the functionalities the application needs in order to get the state values and mutate it. The change of the state will always be synchronological. In the store there are five main parts:
State
The state is a single source of truth. It is a global object which determines the specific state of the whole application. Every component has a derived state from this single source. Any change in this derived state will effect the global state and vice versa.
How do we use it?
First, the Vuex will be declared on the index file:
//index.js
import Vue from 'vue'
import Vuex from 'vuex' Vue.use(Vuex)
Second, the state object will be declared in the store object:
//index.js
const store = new Vuex.Store({
state: {
streamText: '',
constTextsArr:
[
{ title: 'store and more', footer: '@shmargadt' },
{ title: 'Vuex', footer: '@tomers' }
]
}
})
Third, the derived state from the global state will be used on the relevant component:
//Stream.js
export default {
template: `<div>{{ stream }}</div>`,
computed: {
stream() {
return this.$store.state.streamText
}
}
}
Getters
Getters are functions which are used to calculate data based on the global state. It helps to reduce the size of the state, and to get much more data from it.
How do we use it?
The Getters will be declared on the store object most of the time. In this example one Getter returns the length of streamText state, and the second one filters the constsTextArr state.
//index.js
const store = new Vuex.Store({
...
getters: {
streamLength: state => {
return state.streamText.length
},
titles: state => {
return state.constTextsArr.filter(constTexts => constTexts.title)
}
}
...
})
If this calculation is relevant only for one component, it can be made only in the relevant component under the computed section.
//Stream.js
export default {
template: `<div>{{ stream }}. Text length: {{ streamLength }}</div>`,
computed: {
stream() {
return this.$store.state.streamText
},
streamLength() {
return this.$store.state.streamText.length
}
}
}
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi
Mutations
As Mahatma Gandhi said, if you want the state to be changed you must write a Mutation. The Mutations are pure functions which take the state as a parameter with or without additional parameters, and return the new state without any side effects. Vuex will update the new state as the global state.
How do we use it?
Mutations will be declared on the store object.
//index.js
const store = new Vuex.Store({
...
mutations: {
addStreamText (state) {
const radix = 36;
const startAfterPointIndex = 2;
const constEndIndex = 5;
state.streamText += Math.random().toString(radix).substring(startAfterPointIndex, constEndIndex);
}
}
})
Mutations use the reserved word commit which apply the mutation.
store.commit('addStreamText')
The commit style approach is an object oriented approach. In this approach, the mutation gets an object as an input. The properties of the object will be Type, and Payload field.
//index.js
const store = new Vuex.Store({
...
mutations: {
addStreamText (state, payload) {
state.streamText += payload.streamTextAsObjectStyleCommit;
}
}
}) const radix = 36;
const startAfterPointIndex = 2;
const constEndIndex = 5;
const streamTextAsObjectStyleCommit = Math.random().toString(radix).substring(startAfterPointIndex, constEndIndex); store.commit({ type: 'addStreamText', streamText: streamTextAsObjectStyleCommit })
The mutations are the best practice in sync operations, but what about async operations? how can it be done?
“An async action!”
“knock, knock”
“Who’s there?”
Actions
Actions are an async operation. This functionality covers all kinds of operations the application needs. Each action can commit changes to the state while getting the response of the async operation, or dispatch another action while getting it.
How do we use it?
On the following code, the async operation is API call. The action calls the api in order to check if more stream text is needed asserting by the length of the text. If the API call returns with yes/no answer the action triggers a commit. If the call fails, the action just logs it.
//index.js
import { Logger } from './services/logger'
… const store = new Vuex.Store({
...
actions: {
addStreamText ({ commit, state }) {
// the Streamer API accepts a success callback and a failure callback
Streamer.getStreamText(
//params for the API
state.streamText.length,
// handle success
(resp) => commit({type: 'addStreamText', streamTextAsObjectStyleCommit: resp.data.streamText}),
// handle failure
(resp) => Logger.error('getStreamText from server failed', resp.data.errorType)
)
}
}
}) store.dispatch('addStreamText')
Dispatching an action will be triggered inside a component:
import { mapActions } from 'vuex' export default {
template: `<div><div>{{ stream }}. Text length: {{ streamLength }}</div> <button> </button></div>`,
computed: {
stream() {
return this.$store.state.streamText
},
streamLength() {
return this.$store.state.streamText.length
}
},
methods: {
...mapActions([
'addStreamText', // map `this.addStreamText()` to `this.$store.dispatch('addStreamText')`
])
} }
Modules — don’t put all eggs in one basket
When our application gets bigger the state mostly gets bigger with it. In order to keep our store readable and all its context, we will break our state into small modules. Each module will contain its own context — state, getters, actions mutations. The global state will be composed by all the modules states.
How do we use it?
//index.js
const modulestreamText = {
state: {
streamText: ''
},
mutations: {
addStreamText (state, payload) { ….}
},
actions: {
addStreamText ({ commit, state }) {
….
}
},
getters: {
streamLength: state => {
....
}
}
} const moduleConstTexts = {
state: {
constTextsArr: ...
},
getters: {
titles: state => {...}
}
} const store = new Vuex.Store({
modules: {
streamText: modulestreamText,
ConstTexts: moduleConstTexts
}
}) store.state.streamText // -> `modulestreamText`'s state
store.state.ConstTexts // -> `moduleConstTexts`'s state
“That was extraordinary. Unfortunately, extraordinarily bad. “
- simon cowell, judge of The X Factor
Vuex is an extraordinary pattern, extraordinarily good. Implementing the flux pattern by declaring a state and mutating it in a synchronized way makes the application flow simple, maintainable, a one-way flow. As Dan Abramov said: “Flux libraries are like glasses: you’ll know when you need them.“. Vuex is waiting for you to wear its glasses, start wearing it now. | https://medium.com/@shmargadt/the-x-factor-vuex-5a7aa09028df | ['Tomer Shmargad'] | 2021-01-21 18:17:29.875000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Vuex', 'Framework', 'Vue', 'State Management'] |
Struggling to Conceive? 8 Ways to Support you in Your Fertility Journey | I started my fertility journey in 2010, just after I got married. While I did not hide my struggles, I did not exactly broadcast them either. Instead, I found an almost secret society. It came by way of making a random comment, getting an interesting look from a colleague or client, and then we knew. We knew we were both either currently struggling or had struggled in the past with fertility. We built an instant bond!
Today, for those struggling to conceive, the available resources have exploded. Now, one is almost dealing with too much information to sift through! Unfortunately, even with the vast number of resources, many struggling with infertility feel more comfortable isolating. However, while isolation may feel safe, it may end up leading to a worse situation — depression and anxiety, as shared by Pam Kelberg, LCSW, Licensed Sex Therapist.
Struggling with infertility, which affects 7 million Americans, is as distressing as being diagnosed with cancer, heart disease, or HIV. Infertility is such a difficult diagnosis, especially when people are on social media posting about their kids and pregnancies and then you find out “everyone” around you is pregnant, the automatic response is to isolate.
The good news is there are many trusted ways to find your tribe so that you don’t feel alone. Additionally, these groups provide you a place to be honest, hear from people like you and yes, vent/scream/cry…or even sit and listen.
We’ve summarized eight avenues for support.
1. Your personal network
What surprised me during my journey was just how many people struggled with infertility. The frequency at which I met these individuals had me question whether there were “only” 7 million Americans struggling. Perhaps, like me, you will find the person who you say something to in a certain way where you will look at them and know you have a bond and can talk. Alternatively, if you have a confidant, see if they have a recommendation for someone to speak with…or perhaps they will listen.
2. Psychologist/Social Worker
Fertility clinics realize the importance of psychological support for infertility patients such that they hold support groups at their clinic, have someone on staff, or refer patients to someone they trust. Look for someone who specializes in infertility.
If you are struggling to find someone, Resolve offers a list you can search by your location.
3. Resolve: The National Infertility Association
Resolve is a non-profit organization that both provides information and advocates for those struggling to conceive. They offer two avenues for support
Live Support Group: You can enter your address to see if there is a support group near your location. The groups are run by those who have been in your shoes. They are not licensed therapist, but instead act as moderators. I’ve played this role on many occasions (and still do) and found it incredibly rewarding.
You can enter your address to see if there is a support group near your location. The groups are run by those who have been in your shoes. They are not licensed therapist, but instead act as moderators. I’ve played this role on many occasions (and still do) and found it incredibly rewarding. Help Line: Call 866.NOT.ALONE. Leave a message at the extension related to your specific concern and a trained person who has been in your shoes will return your call within 1–3 days. Examples of support categories include IVF, living child free, recurrent miscarriage and secondary infertility.
4. Fruitful Fertility*
Founded by Elyse Ash, who struggled with infertility herself, she wanted to fill the gap that hashtags did not solve for — that personal touch. Fruitful Fertility offers a free fertility mentorship program that matches women beginning their fertility journeys with those who’ve been there.
5. Peanut*
500,000 downloads strong, Peanut is an app aims to connect like-minded women about their fertility and motherhood. You can create groups, opt into existing groups, mark any shared information as sensitive, and make anonymous posts. In the media, it is being called the “Tinder for Moms.”
6. Facebook and Reddit Groups*
Social media has become a unique source for being, well, social! There are online groups for trying-to conceive (TTC), infertility, secondary infertility, male infertility, and support groups for a given fertility tracking app or device. The list goes on. To join, find a group of interest and read the rules for joining and staying in the group. Given the sensitive topic, most are closed groups that do not allow advertising.
7. Support groups within fertility tracking apps*
Several fertility tracking apps like Ovia, Glow, and Kindara offer an option to join community groups.
8. Support Groups for Specific Populations
Single Mothers by Choice (SMC): There is a specific support group for SMCs called, well, Single Mothers by Choice! They provide support for women considering the journey, on the journey, or have delivered a baby. Support includes blogs, a membership-based community, and professional support from those experienced in this space. For additional suggestions for SMCs, check out our blog post.
There is a specific support group for SMCs called, well, Single Mothers by Choice! They provide support for women considering the journey, on the journey, or have delivered a baby. Support includes blogs, a membership-based community, and professional support from those experienced in this space. For additional suggestions for SMCs, check out our blog post. LGBTQ: At this point in time, the best resources appear to be offered from the fertility clinics themselves. Trying to conceive for this community involves and incredible amount of logistics, which are added to the already complex fertility process. Our best suggestion is to interview the clinics, ask lots of questions, and feel like you are properly taken care of.
At this point in time, the best resources appear to be offered from the fertility clinics themselves. Trying to conceive for this community involves and incredible amount of logistics, which are added to the already complex fertility process. Our best suggestion is to interview the clinics, ask lots of questions, and feel like you are properly taken care of. Male Factor Infertility: Mensfe, which had over 100,000 visits in October 2019 alone, aims to empower all men to have greater control/choice over managing/coping with their fertility. The offer live support as well as helpful information targeted toward the male population.
*Special Note:
Be mindful that when one posts on an online support group, we only hear part of the story. Thus, while one may be quick to make a comparison, know that there is a whole medical history not shared in a single post. Yes, it is important to find “someone like me” to assess how to handle challenging situations, but it is also important to know their entire background to best assess whether their actions align to what you should do. Nonetheless, it is certainly helpful to hear other perspectives.
Before making major changes that impact your mind and body, always seek professional advice.
About Fempower Health
Fempower Health is on a mission to transform women’s health. Check out these great ways to learn and stay in touch. | https://medium.com/@fempowerhealth/increase-fertility-support-for-fertility-lqbtq-ovulation-tracker-fertility-app-f7c0cce9a030 | ['Fempower Health'] | 2020-07-18 00:19:31.327000+00:00 | ['Support', 'Infertility', 'Mens Health', 'Womens Health', 'Fertility'] |
Digital Technologies That Will Transform the Customer Experience in the Future (AR, VR, Visual and Voice Search) | Nowadays, millennials who grew up with smartphones in their hands are the economic force of our time. As a result, digital technologies are stepping in to take over customer service.
In this article, I will be sharing information about the latest digital technologies such as VR, AR, Voice search, and Image search and their impact on customer experience along with vivid examples of each.
First, let’s talk about the customer experience and why it is so important for businesses. Are some transformations needed here?
Digital Technologies & Customer Experience
Customer experience (CX) is not the same as user experience (UX). CX is a broader notion. It represents every step of the journey from when users compare prices to when they try the product, including when they resort to customer service if their needs aren’t met.
The influence of the customer experience should not be underestimated when it comes to a company’s success.
Harvard Business Review writes that organizations that can skillfully manage the entire experience reap enormous rewards. Among them are enhanced customer satisfaction, reduced churn, increased revenue, and greater employee satisfaction.
With the tough competition, customer experience changes tremendously. Only ten years ago customers were happy to see smiling and pleasant sales people and were open and satisfied with being sweet talked.
They were ready to buy products if polite people presented different products. Now, these types of tricks do not work anymore because almost everyone knows that it’s a trick.
When internet banners appeared many companies started to use them as their primary source of marketing, but nowadays people have banner blindness. 54% of users don’t click on banner ads because they do not trust them, and a whopping 33% of internet users find them utterly intolerable.
The customer’s attention is hard to catch. A study from Microsoft Corp showed that the average person’s attention span has dropped from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. As a result, our attention span is now shorter than that of a goldfish.
New technologies help to attract people to products and build a great experience.
While competitors make vivid product presentations using Virtual and Augmented reality, a company may remain disconnected and lose clients.
Virtual Reality
According to the definition:
Virtual Reality (VR) — is a digital technology that uses Virtual reality headsets, sometimes in combination with physical spaces or multi-projected environments, to generate realistic images, sounds and other sensations that simulate a user’s physical presence in a virtual or imaginary environment.
VR is changing the customer experience in such fields as retail, education, healthcare, and others.
The Chinese retail store Alibaba launched a VR-campaign where customers, with the help of headsets, can visit shopping centers in different countries and buy products they need.
Companies in the automobile industry such as Jaguar, Volvo, Audi, and others launched virtual showrooms. Viewers can enjoy different destinations from inside and outside of a new automobile with the help of headsets.
With VR headsets customers can choose the location inside and outside of the car, look around, and perform limited test drives. This technology reduces physical space at stores, travel expenses, and logistics costs while differentiating the customer experience.
VR technologies are also applied in real estate. Customers do not have to drive to another city to find the right estate. Photos within ads usually don’t provide enough information about the property. The technology gives a prospective buyer a “feel” for the property by providing customers with a 3-D picture of the estate or even a virtual tour.
The application of Virtual reality in healthcare has therapeutic value. It may transport clients to a calm beach or silent forest to rest and meditate, or they may enjoy some virtual activities such as swimming, for example, while waiting for treatment.
As seen above, Virtual reality can open new horizons for customers. It lets them undergo a unique experience which was unlikely some years ago.
According to Statista.com,the total number of active Virtual reality users will reach 171 million by 2018.
VR provides an opportunity to drive luxurious cars or chose new real estate from home. It also improves job fields such as healthcare and education.
Augmented Reality
Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that adds different computer-generated elements such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data to a real-world environment.
AR technology became familiar to many people thanks to the Pokémon Go mobile app. However, since that time, it has found other uses outside of games.
Let’s have a look at how Augmented reality influences the customer experience.
Pepsi provided an excellent example of the power of AR advertising when they installed digital HD screens on bus shelters to portray events such as a rampaging robot or a prowling tiger using AR technology.
Snapchat is an image messaging and multimedia mobile application that adds funny masks to people’s faces using Augmented reality. This app is very popular. It has 13,364,113 downloads in the Google Play market.
AR is also used in E-commerce. For example, Gap displays its “DressingRoom” app where people can “try on” clothes without ever entering a store.
The Augmented reality market is growing, and the global market for AR products will surge 80% to $165 billion by 2024, according to researcher Global Market Insights.
Research firm IDC predicts that 30% of consumer-facing companies in the Forbes Global 2000 will experiment with AR and VR as part of their marketing efforts in 2017.
Visual Search
The Visual search mechanism works by сomparing the pixels in an uploaded image to millions of other images to identify and return results that are similar. Facebook determines who’s in the photo by applying this technology in addition to Google’s image search.
Instead of typing in a query such as ‘black case’ which may return thousands of general results, users can upload an image to narrow it down to something specific.
Visual search is making it much easier for consumers to find exactly what they are looking for.
Here are some examples of how visual search is applied by some companies:
Amazon
Amazon introduced a visual recognition mobile app, integrated into the Samsung Galaxy S8, giving consumers the ability to snap a picture of something, search for it online, and then buy it if they want among Amazon’s catalog of products.
Facebook’s face detection
You may have noticed a square box that appears on everyone’s face that lets you tag a person in a picture. Facebook uses a facial recognition software called “DeepFace.” This software calculates a unique number (“template”) based on a person’s facial features such as the distance between the eyes, nose, and ears. DeepFace detects whether two faces in different photos are the same person with 97.25% accuracy, regardless of lighting conditions or angles.
Visual Search makes the life of a customer much easier. Now people can find something that they like with a single click, compare prices, and then buy it if they want.
Voice Search
Voice search is a technology that allows users to find what they need on the Internet by speaking on a mobile phone or computer.
Thrive Analytics showed that a compelling number of people are using digital personal assistants:
The report revealed that 56% of adults use Siri, Google Now or Cortana.
These numbers will only rise according to the technology development which will better interpret and understand user’s requests and commands.
The rising interest in voice search pushes brands and companies to take Voice search seriously as it might fit into their customer experience strategies.
Consumers now expect faster, more relevant, personalized, and frictionless experiences. Voice search, powered by machine learning, will play an integral part in how brands go about meeting these expectations.
Some brands are already succeeding in implementing voice search.
Domino’s Pizza has launched an app that allows consumers to order pizza with voice command via Amazon’s Alexa, removing the need to go through a menu and click to order their choice.
Thanks to this, the company is increasing the number of channels by which consumers can get what they want.
Conclusions
To win at customer experience is becoming harder. The latest technologies such as AR, VR, Visual search, and Voice search have an excellent opportunity to grasp the customer’s attention for a longer period of time and influence their decision towards purchasing a product. | https://medium.com/digital-vault/digital-technologies-that-will-transform-the-customer-experience-in-the-future-ar-vr-visual-and-ec86b3b7ac5b | ['Hassan Bawab'] | 2017-09-18 01:08:22.622000+00:00 | ['Artificial Intelligence', 'Virtual Reality', 'Augmented Reality', 'Tech', 'Search'] |
This is home. | This is home.
A 15,000-strong petition for kindness to migrants in Aotearoa was delivered to Parliament this week, as the community rallied in solidarity. Carolina Albuquerque a Brazilian journalist, based in New Zealand for the past three years, looks into this week’s events. ActionStation Aotearoa May 14·4 min read
Photo: Unite Union
I chose to come to New Zealand three years ago for one single reason: it’s the only country in the world that offered Brazilians the possibility to access the Work Holiday Visa.
I come from Brazil, a country with huge social issues. Poverty, corruption, violence, and, on top of that, an escalating pandemic with no end in sight. The opportunity of working, traveling, and learning a new language abroad was, to me, a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a chance to achieve a healthier and better standard of life.
I knew, however, that this decision would come with a huge challenge. When stepping into another country, we immediately lose our sense of belonging, the support of family and friends, our mother language, and, for most of the migrants, our professional career — in my case, journalism. We must start from zero.
I extended my stay after getting low-skilled visa sponsorship. During this time, I’ve worked in many different jobs, such as kiwifruit picking, housekeeping, cleaning, waitressing. Some of them on a minimum pay rate, in poor conditions of work and lots of hours a week just to be able to sustain myself.
Living in a town such as Wanaka, with a high cost of living, I had to give up lots of “stuff”, seen as basic for the New Zealanders. For the past two years, my cheap campervan has been my home, from summer to winter.
As a migrant worker myself, I see the call to “Be Kind to migrant workers — We need pathways to residency” as a sign of hope on the horizon of those migrant workers who had big dreams when deciding to leave behind their home country. Using the platform OurActionStation, two unions (Unite Union and Migrant Workers Association) collected over 15 thousand signatures on a petition officially delivered to Members of Parliament and New Zealand Government this week.
Anu Kaloti (Migrant Workers Union), Mike Treen (Unite Union), MP Marja Lubeck (Labour) and MP Ricardo Menéndez (Green Party)
The petition asks the Government to create a new pathway to residency for anyone currently on an essential skill or graduate job search, as well as allow ‘normally resident’ New Zealanders stuck overseas to return to Aotearoa NZ on the same basis as citizens. Another ask is to offer migrants who may overstay their visas a pathway to residency and provide an extension of the time period for low-skilled visas (from 6 to 12 months).
This is an urgent and important issue to be addressed by the Government, taking into consideration that migrant workers are those, in high numbers, keeping the country going by doing work that many New Zealanders are simply not interested in.
We are out there cleaning, building, serving, and cooking the food, picking the fruits, and nursing, just to name a few. Despite the hard work, after the Covid 19 crises, most of us are sleeping and waking up with a distressing feeling of uncertainty about tomorrow.
In presenting the petition Unite Union advocate, Mike Treen said, “This is an important message for the future of working people in New Zealand, not just for migrant workers currently in a very uncertain position awaiting a governor’s decision. Hopefully, the decision-taking in the coming week will fix some of the long-standing problems that have existed and continue to exist in the labour market in New Zealand”.
Anu Kaloti, president of the Migrant Workers Association NZ, said “both offshore and onshore migrants continue to suffer because this government refuses to budge.”
“Hiding behind Covid has become the norm for the government to the extent that even legacy issues related to immigration and visa processing delays are being blamed on covid. Therefore, the debate did not lead to any relief for the suffering migrants. But we are hopeful that the debate will add to the pressure mounting on the government to do the right thing by migrants — be kind.” — Anu Kaloti, Migrant Workers Association NZ
After having received the petition, Green MP, Ricardo Menéndez, and Labour MP Marja Lubeck, who chairs the Education and Workforce Select Committee, presented the petition to Parliament, on Thursday (13th May), in time for the debate around migrant’s rights. Hundreds of people were on Parliament steps in solidarity before the debate started.
“We see this as a positive step (the debate around immigration). Hopefully the beginnings of something more worthwhile for migrants who remain from one temporary visa to the next temporary visa”, said Anu.
According to Treen, up to the Covid-19 crises, Aotearoa had over 300,000 workers living here on a temporary basis.
If the Government is able to understand our situation and take action, we will be able to dream again or, at least, plan our lives with some security. | https://medium.com/@actionstation/this-is-home-let-us-stay-9f0e4315cc18 | ['Actionstation Aotearoa'] | 2021-05-17 03:43:43.131000+00:00 | ['Aotearoa New Zealand', 'Migrant', 'Activism'] |
Roger Huguet — Sports Rights Sales | Roger Huguet — Sports Rights Sales
Roger Huguet was a part of the New York office at the International Management Group, where he helped focus on sponsorship and television sports rights sales when dealing with the Copa America Tournament and the different South American leagues. Just like others in the media, IMG was trying to establish a place in the market and television broadcasting rights for sports events, which is an area that is profitable for both broadcasters and sports leagues.
Television broadcasting is vital for many professional sports, as it is a source of revenue. Therefore, in high-income places, the amount of revenue that goes from television broadcasting to major sports is only going up over the recent years. In fact, European football has seen a tremendous amount of growth in the last decade.
Besides the fact the TV broadcasting can be lucrative, some sports leagues are still skeptical about television. This is due to the fact that broadcasting will change the way fans are exposed to the sports, impacting both interest and attendance. This is because of the overexposure of TV broadcasting, coupled with the reservations from government officials it brings up a lot of issues. There are some reservations about sports rights sales — if should be allowed to be given to a single entity or if they should sell the rights at all.
As such, many sport leagues across the world are using different policies to govern the sale of sports rights or broadcast rights and how revenues are eventually distributed. Roger Huguet knows that it is important to understand the market to be successful with sports rights sales. | https://medium.com/@rogerhuguet/roger-huguet-sports-rights-sales-a62d3313c987 | ['Roger Huguet'] | 2016-10-26 04:05:14.349000+00:00 | ['Sports', 'Esports'] |
Quick Tips to Boost Your Self-confidence | Quick Tips to Boost Your Self-confidence
Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay
Self-confident people have a can-do attitude that helps others see them as competent, capable professionals. They believe that they can meet and overcome obstacles and are willing to face challenges. Those with low self-confidence tend to avoid challenges. They are unsure of their abilities to succeed or have a set of beliefs that stop them from trying. On the extreme end of self-confidence is arrogance and an unrealistic belief in how much can be achieved. The right amount of self-confidence is necessary if you want to succeed in your chosen profession or business.
Self-confidence starts with the right mindset, and that’s where we’ll start.
Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck conducted a series of experiments on mindset and discovered two distinct types: fixed and growth. Each affects what you believe you can achieve and how much effort you are willing to put into a task.
Fixed Mindset. People with a fixed mindset believe that their abilities are limited and cannot be changed. Success goes to those who are born lucky or who have natural, innate talents. They believe that growth is not possible. The glass is half-empty.
Growth Mindset. Those with a growth mindset believe that change and growth are always possible. Everyone can learn and master new skills by putting in the effort. Mistakes are teachers that show us how to be better next time. It doesn’t matter if the glass is half-full or half-empty; the glass is refillable.
Please understand that neither mindset is wrong. If you have a fixed mindset and are fine with that, you don’t have to change. However, if you want to boost your self-confidence, it’s to your advantage to shift over to a growth mindset since it fosters confidence. If you already have a growth mindset, you may suffer setbacks that cause you to doubt yourself.
Now, let’s look at a strategy for shifting into a growth mindset. This might feel uncomfortable at first, and that’s okay. Just take it slow and steady.
Choose something that interests you and that you would like to learn or improve. It could be anything from cooking to learning a language to refinishing a dresser.
Set a small, achievable goal around this interest. For example, if you’re interested in cooking, don’t set a goal of learning how to cook a five-course meal. Instead, aim for learning basic knife or seasoning skills. Don’t try to master Italian; start with learning a few phrases you can use at your favorite Italian restaurant. You want to set yourself up for an easy success.
Take one, small, action step toward the goal. It might be reading a book, taking a three-hour class, or just talking to someone who is considered an expert.
Let yourself make mistakes. Remember, people with a growth mindset view mistakes as learning opportunities. When you are trying new things, expect to make mistakes. Don’t beat yourself up or give up. Shift how you view it and ask, “What can I learn from this to improve next time?”
Give yourself credit for trying and for achieving a milestone.
To cultivate more of a growth mindset, start by answering these questions:
What is one skill that interests you and that you want to improve or learn? Set one, small, achievable goal for this skill. What is the first action step you can take toward this goal? When will you take it? Put it on your calendar.
Excerpted from How to Improve Your Self-confidence an e-course in 10, short, daily lessons and action plans.
Course plan Lesson 1. Cultivate a Confident Mindset
Lesson 2. Know and Appreciate Your Strengths and Skills
Lesson 3. Keep a Weekly Accomplishment Journal
Lesson 4. Be Prepared
Lesson 5. Showcase Your Abilities without Bragging
Lesson 6. Defend Your Ideas without Becoming Defensive
Lesson 7. Communicate with Confidence
Lesson 8. Turn Mistakes into Opportunities
Lesson 9. Keep Learning and Growing
Lesson 10. Set Big Goals But Take Small Steps
Visit GoHighbrow.com to enroll.
Note: I am paid a royalty by GoHighbrow.com for my e-courses. | https://medium.com/becoming-unstoppable/quick-tips-to-boost-your-self-confidence-739623065663 | ['Patricia Haddock'] | 2020-12-22 22:29:12.177000+00:00 | ['Self Confidence', 'Personal Development', 'Professional Development', 'Self-awareness', 'Self Improvement'] |
Medical Billing Services In 2022 — Changes To Expect | Due to the COVID pandemic, hospitals had to operate on tight margins and extract the maximum out of the revenue cycle more than ever. The pandemic highlighted the importance of medical billing services all the more as it had become a struggle to keep up with the testing and immunization records. The post-COVID healthcare industry will be much more complex than earlier. In the coming year of 2022, this will result in the introduction of key technologies and process innovations to improve business outcomes.
There have been a few recent changes that have impacted the medical coding and billing industry significantly. Let’s understand these changes and how they might affect 2022.
Adding COVID-19 Codes
The sudden pandemic and its effects forced the healthcare industry to make some changes in their system, to cope up with the situation. A few codes had to be added for streamlining and tracking the procedures, medical tests for COVID detection, treatment, and immunization related to it. These changes will be an important part of the medical billing system, specifically in 2022.
Transitioning to New ICD Systems
The medical billing industry has already made a major shift to ICD-10 from ICD-9. It is a global system used to classify and code symptoms, diseases, and medical procedures. Though ICD-10 was implemented as early as 1999 for reporting mortality, it was very recently implemented by medical providers and insurance companies. The new system made way to more than 140,000 new diagnostic codes and procedures.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has already approved the usage of ICD-11 from January 2022. Hence, the new system will come with more changes; for which all professionals need to be trained to keep up with the new codes, rules, etc. This will also shed light on the importance of continual training that goes beyond certification credits or continuing education units (CEUs).
Replacing Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
This recent major change enacted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2021, is one of the first implemented in more than 10 years. Hence, reimbursements and fee schedules in the future will be changing. This will also require professionals to get additional training to keep following the new changes.
Increased Automation
Automation has proved to be a boon in the healthcare industry by helping to reduce physician burnout, increasing accuracy, and streamlining workflow. It has efficiently boosted productivity for various professionals through processes like automated appointment reminders, online scheduling, or patient check-ins. Not only for saving time, but automation has also helped in reducing delays and denials during reimbursements.
The next year and the future look promising on this front. Increased automation can provide for more thorough documentation and completion of tasks in less time.
Increase in Use of Artificial Intelligence
With the other industries, healthcare has also adopted AI and machine learning as its part. It has helped to cut costs and increase patient satisfaction by integrating billing workflows and creating work queues for claim re-submissions. It has also been used to correct and verify the demographic information of patients and customize billing statement releases.
It’s a myth that AI being a part of Computer-Assisted coding (CAC) will reduce human jobs, but it has been proven that the software has been less accurate without the help of a professional human coder. The technology is perfectly designed to enhance the capabilities and increase the productivity of medical billing professionals.
Aligning EHR Software
Almost 86% of office-based physicians already use the EHR software and it has many proven advantages. This feature never stops expanding and surely won’t in the coming year too. It ensures robust reporting and helps perform digital payment processing via patient portals. It also helps in reducing the need to photocopy each billing sheet, using cleaner claims to reduce coding errors, accessing data from a single location, and keeping manually filling forms at the minimum.
Changes in Medical Billing Industry Statistics and Outlook
According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, employment in the field of medical billing is expected to grow by 8% on a national level in 10 years, from 2019 to 2029.
Family healthcare insurance plans have moved to a higher-deductible model and consumers will be able to use their Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for covering the costs.
Patients have become more aware of their payment responsibilities and generally want to know their bills upfront considering the growth of electronic payments. Unfortunately, traditional medical billing may delay the collection process by as much as 30 days. The industry is coming up with new payment models such as Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) which can help manage patient payments easily and streamline the whole process.
Some other upcoming changes in 2022:
CMS has come up with a few provisions related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) coming into effect in 2022. It will help in better medical access for U.S. residents.
The European Commission has proposed an AI-based framework for Europe, which might be the first legal framework and might come into effect in 2022.
The No Surprise Act coming in 2022 for Americans will make health providers treat out-of-network services as in-network services, except ground ambulance transportation.
Even if it is the most crucial part, selecting the proper code and accuracy continues to be challenging in this constantly evolving field. It is integral for efficient working of bill payments and preventing fraud at the same time. Educating all the professionals periodically about billing system changes, insurance regulations, Medicare policies, and medical privacy laws.
Outsourcing Medical Billing Services to the Rescue!
Outsourcing medical billing to another company helps providers focus more on patients, increase productivity, and reduce burnouts. It enables providers to allocate their resources in other aspects of their business. Plus, these companies who take up the outsourced work are compliant with the current healthcare regulations and strive to ensure steady growth. Outsourcing help businesses lessen their burden as they take care of all aspects of revenue cycle management, manage the accounts receivable, and timely submission of claims for reimbursements.
Consider choosing 24/7 Medical Billing Services for all your needs. Simplification of your billing, dedicating resources to payer reimbursements, and ensuring the accuracy of claims; everything will be taken care of!
Read more: How To Find The Right Medical Billing Outsourcing Company? | https://medium.com/@smithjorden54/medical-billing-services-in-2022-changes-to-expect-9b535abf1889 | ['Jorden Smith'] | 2021-12-25 10:38:26.208000+00:00 | ['Health', 'Medical', 'Medical Billing', 'Healthcare', 'Outsourcing'] |
I Think 2020 Is Secretly Rasputin | Photo by Malcolm Lightbody on Unsplash
2020 is a real bitch.
We’re infected with the COVID itch.
We scratch, it blisters and peels.
Robbing us of how we really feel.
So much shouting and protest.
The streets violent and unrest.
We’re marching in a blinding storm.
We’ve fallen under so much harm.
I lost count of the body drop.
The virus refuses to stop.
In the faint distance, hope slowly glistens,
but will we finally learn to listen?
And what about the one I will not name?
Has he finally fallen on his sword of shame?
I am so tired of this fucking year because it’s a real bitch.
If something needs to be buried, 2020 needs to go into a ditch. | https://medium.com/the-bad-influence/i-think-2020-is-secretly-rasputin-152e41c7ab27 | ['Melissa R. Mendelson'] | 2020-12-06 17:47:45.739000+00:00 | ['Melissarmendelson', 'Poetry', 'The Bad Influence', 'Trump', 'Covid 19'] |
Auto-Reflecting Tables and Columns in SQLAlchemy | Auto-Reflecting Tables and Columns in SQLAlchemy
Or How a Few Lines of Code Makes me Want to do Cartwheels Down the Street
Courtesy of David Clode on Upslash
Groan, not another SQLAlchemy article!
Trust me, this one is different…
After a lot of soul-searching and digging around the SQAlchemy docs, I’ve made an important discovery: You don’t need to use class-based attributes in order to leverage the awesome power of session-based queries.
Code in this article is licenced under the Apache 2.0 software licence. The following is a portion of the Python code to be discussed:
Spoiler code for auto-reflect table in SQLAlchemy
Simple, right?
Well, kind of: allow me to explain.
I have authored a couple of Python scripts that use Pandas and SQLite. For those who have not yet had the pleasure of working with Pandas it is an amazing package with tons of applications in Data Science and many other fields. I marvel at the simplicity at which one can specify various keyword arguments to various Pandas functions in order to achieve amazing results. My scripts use SQLite databases to store incoming, ‘mid-stream’ and result datasets. While SQLite is great for prototyping I am now at a point where I need more.
Like authentication.
I could port my existing code to be able to point to a different database, but what I really want is something dialect-agnostic. Enter SQLAlchemy and its powerful Object Relational Mapper (ORM). It allows developers to interact with their databases as Python-friendly classes. Very cool!
One of SQLAlchemy’s huge benefits is session-based queries which employ Python object-oriented syntax rather than SQL statements. For those who have worked with two or more database technologies, I feel somewhat sheepish in spelling out why this is beneficial. For those who have not had the pleasure, it is like hiring a translator when speaking with each of the outgoing, highly-conversational people on an around-the-world Zoom call.
SQLAlchemy’s ORM is your translator. Having ‘object’ in the title means it is keen on… objects. There are a couple of packages such as Elixir and SQLSoup that extend SQLAlchemy; they too use an object-oriented approach. Which is fine if your code uses (drum roll please…) objects.
One slight problem is that some *ahem* most of my code uses JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) to configure parameters at run-time. I have a hockey-sock full of riveting tidbits about JSON: these are the subject for another article. Suffice to say that many of my Python scripts use string -based parameters obtained from JSON for their configuration.
After mucking around in the SQLAlchemy documentation combined with some inspection via the Eclipse debugger, I cobbled together a small but hefty code snippet that enables me to refer to each and every one of my tables and columns within a given database by name, vice having to specify them as objects and attributes.
When I first saw an error-free console after cobbling this code together I wanted to do cartwheels down the street!
Some may be asking ‘so what, why should I care’? Perhaps a more fullsome example is appropriate. Before diving into the code below, if you are wondering how to configure a database using SQLAlchemy I recommend you check out the following helpful articles: SQLAlchemy — Python Tutorial by Vinay Kudari and How to use Python SQLite3 using SQLAlchemy by Mahmud Ahsan.
Once you’ve got your Python environment configured along with a test database, go ahead and load the following snippet into your IDE of choice:
A more fullsome example for auto-reflecting tables in SQLAlchemy
With a SQLAlchemy engine configured you can supply it to the get_data function along with the name of a table and column from your test database. Say our test database contains a table called ‘ThisIsATable’ and in it a column called ‘ThisIsAColumn’. Within ‘ThisIsAColumn’ we have several text-based rows, at least one of which contains ‘Please try to find me’.
If all goes well you should have a Pandas DataFrame containing a sub-set of the table from your test database. Thanks to a few lines of code we are now free to write our database-agnostic queries. With these queries, we can obtain data for Pandas to chew on, thanks to simple string -based parameters.
From an ‘easy to maintain’ perspective, the code leverages public functions and attributes. Calling on private attributes is generally ill-advised since these could change in a future release; I tend to shy away from private attributes whenever possible. A point worth mentioning is that the Session in the above code is invoked within the function get_data . This is not the recommended practice. Please see this article by A Gordon for further information on creating and using Sessions. The SQLAlchemy docs also contain information on creating and using Sessions, specifically the section entitled ‘When do I construct a Session , when do I commit it, and when do I close it?’.
Armed with the above code, you and your proof-of-concept Python scripts are now able to autoload and reflect database metadata by specifying only a bare minimimum of information via handy-dandy strings.
Strings! Such wonderful things.
Say it with me: Strings are wonderful things!
In my opinion, this represents the dawn of advanced querying via the database-agnostic goodness of SQLAlchemy, together with the hugely powerful Pandas library combined with string -based keyword arguments! I think another snake image is appropriate: it sums up the relationship amongst SQLAlchemy, Pandas and text-based interaction. Together, they form a trifecta that is primed for the limitless expanse of Natural Language Processing along with many other use cases.
Snake image courtesy of Laura Barry on Upslash
Happy Pythoning and stay safe out there!
E | https://towardsdatascience.com/auto-reflecting-tables-in-sqlalchemy-f859ff3b6aab | ['Eric North'] | 2020-12-23 19:13:12.654000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Naturallanguageprocessing', 'Sqlalchemy', 'Data Science', 'Pandas'] |
Why Tuscan Leather is the best Drake song ever | Part I:
In this intro track on Nothing Was The Same, Drake doesn’t ease us into this album; he starts off running. With a unique mixed, high pitched engineered sound, you almost feel like you were sitting in the studio with 40 and Drake when they mutually agreed, ‘this is it’. The beat is intermittent, coming quickly in and out of focus, and Drake effortlessly and eloquently raps over it as he propels you into his most anticipated album yet. From the first time I listened to this track (and to this day), this portion of Tuscan Leather is clearly one of Drake’s most solid opening verses. But, in classic Drake style, the listener knows that a substantial pivot awaits.
Part II (1:45):
When Drake raps, “Yeah, Tom Ford Tuscan Leather smellin’ like a brick / Degenerates, but even Ellen love our shit / Rich enough that I don’t have to tell ’em that I’m rich / Self explanatory, you just here to spread the story, wassup”, the listener is still attuned to the original beat, but there’s a noticeable shift in the undertow of the sound. The instrumental picks up, stops for a nearly imperceivable instant, and then, this is where words fail: it simply drops. The beat that takes over is ethereal. One would have to imagine that Drake and his team had curated this sound slowly over time, and kept it in their pocket, ready to inject it once the perfect track came around. This is that track, and in my opinion, it’s one of the most artfully crafted drops in music as a whole, indicative of how aggressively Drake plans to come after the rap game — and everyone in it.
Part 3 (3:07):
After jumping into the first two verses for three and a half minutes, and barely taking a breath, Drake slows it down. He asks the rhetorical question, “how much time is this nigga spendin’ on the intro?”. It suddenly dawns upon the listener that what they’ve just experienced––the rollercoaster of witty one liners, contrasting beats, and range of tempos––that seemed to last an entire EP, have only spanned the beginning parts of an unfinished ballad. With this ending verse, Drake brings the anthem back to his core, and raps both calmly and confidently about his childhood in Forest Hills, weaving those brief thoughts with rightful feelings of superiority, and a sporadic emotional counsel to his women. This triad is Drake’s eternal bread and butter. In what seems to be one of Drake’s most stark juxtapositions from beginning of track to end, he ties it up with a bow by re-introducing the initial beat, and closes with the line, “how much time is this nigga spendin’ on the intro?”. Once again, one is reminded that this introductory ballad to kickoff Drake’s most anticipated album ever — at over 6 minutes — is anything but conventional.
The outro consists of an off-the-cuff quote from soul legend Curtis Mayfield, giving the user ample space to reflect on the past 6 minutes. One’s left with the question, is Drake just a rapper, or is Drake poised to follow in footsteps akin to Curtis’s, proving to be one of the most influential musicians of all time? With a scintillating and laid-back instrumental backdrop, the outro acts as a palette cleanser to prepare the listener for the next track.
It cannot be disputed that Take Care Drake and NWTS Drake are two completely different animals. Take Care represents a more skeptical basement artist, someone who is still finding their identity footing, and walking the fine line between an independent and mainstream voice. With the release of NWTS, Drake shatters these expectations, and creates an entirely new genre for himself, and himself only. There are countless remarkable Drake songs, but Tuscan Leather demonstrably proves that Drake is willing to go to any length to be crowned the king of rap. With no chorus, and as he effortlessly dances over the three unique beats, Drake proves himself to be fiercely competitive and unprecedentedly dynamic. At the tail end of Tuscan Leather, it becomes exceedingly clear that Drake can outdo anyone in this space, and that NWTS will prove to be the inflection point that lays the foundation of Drake’s dynasty, and that seals his spot as one of the greatest music legends ever.
What’s your favorite Drake song, and why? | https://medium.com/the-composite/why-tuscan-leather-is-the-best-drake-song-ever-af5be059902f | ['Lexie Ernst'] | 2017-09-07 03:58:14.227000+00:00 | ['Drake', 'Rap', 'Music', 'Hip Hop', 'Thoughts'] |
EPL Analysis and Gameweek 7 Prediction | EPL Analysis and Gameweek 7 Prediction
A data driven attempt in predicting English Premier League results using xG Statistics
This is an article on my EPL Prediction series. You can check out the prediction for previous Game Week and how it held against the actual performance here.
Expected Goals or xG is the parameter used for prediction. If you are interested in understanding the algorithm for prediction, I recommend that you check out this article where it is explained in detail.
Analysis up to Game-week 6
After 6 game weeks, 6 points separates the top 15 teams there are no clear title contenders as of now. The league is highly competitive and there are no unbeaten sides. The only unbeaten sides up to Game-Week 5, Everton and Aston Villa tasted their first defeats in Game Week 6.
Both the Mersey-side teams with 13 points top the points tally. Everton enjoys the top spot on the table, thanks to Goal Difference.
xG Scored and Conceded per match (Image by author)
The defending champions Liverpool is the best attacking team creating more than 2.5 xG per match, no other team manage to create more than 2 xG per game. The Spurs, Leeds, Toffees and the Villans average more than 1.5 xG per game.
On the other side of the spectrum, WestBrom struggles to create goal scoring opportunities with xG around 0.5 per game. To make matters worse, West Brom also has the most porous defence. Wolves and Burnley also struggles to create chances to score but they are able to partially compensate for it with their good defensive capability as indicated by low xG conceded.
Everton, Brighton, West Ham and Southamton possess the best defence conceding around 1 xG per game. Despite their disciplined defensive unit, Brighton has been unlucky in the tournament so far conceding 12 goals averaging 2 goals per game.
Image by author
Based on xG Scored and xG Conceded, teams can be grouped into 4 quadrants as shown in the above graph. The horizontal dotted line shows the average xG scored per game. Teams above the horizontal dotted line are strong attacking sides and the teams below weak in attack.
The vertical dotted line shows average xG conceded per game, teams to the left of have strong defence and the teams to the right have week defence.
The aim all teams should be in Q2 where both attack and defence are better than the average. For example, Burnley is a great low block defensive side in the leage. In Game Week 6, they were up against the Spurs who are the leading goal scorers this season. Burnley’s defence did a great job at containing the Spurs attack, they limited the shots on target to zero during the first half and the only goal of the game came from a set piece. However, Burnley ranks among the lowest in chance created. Unless they take proactive steps to improve their strike force, it is difficult to advance in the league table.
Image by author
Some teams are able to compensate for their weakness in one area with their strength in the other to emerge with a positive delta xG(difference between xG scored and xG conceded. We can look at the Leeds and Southampton. Bielsa’s team has not fared well in containing opposition attack but are able to create goal scoring opportunities to compensate for the former. On the other hand, the Saints defensive unit hardly makes errors but does not do a great job in creating chance for Ings and company up front to score. But their defensive capability can make up for the lack of creativity up front.
Game Week 7 Predictions
Before proceeding to the predictions, let me clarify that this is a very simple algorithm just based on past xG, so only baseline performance can be expected. The sample size is very small and also a lot of other important factors are not considered. The algorithm will evolve in the future incorporating more factors as the season progresses.
Predictions for Game Week 7 are provided in the table below.
The absolute value of GD shows the competitiveness of the match. The higher the value, more one sided the match is expected to be and higher the accuracy of prediction.
The lower the value of GD, the more the match could be anybody’s game. Positive value of GD means Home win and Negative value means Away team win.
Game Week 7 Prediction (Image by author)
In the upcoming fixture, we can expect plenty of closely contested matches. Newcastle vs Everton is the only match where more than 0.5 xG difference can be observed. Toffees are very likely to leave St. James’ Park with 3 points. Fulham has a fair chance at their first win of the season this week against the Sparrows. The defending champions can expect to win their home outing against the resurgent Hammers who have made Man City and Spurs drop points. The title contenders, De Bruyne and company is expected to steamroll over the Blades defence.
Liverpool vs West Ham is expected to produce the maximum number of goals. On the other hand, the battle of Defences-Wolves vs Crystal Palace is expected to be the lowest scoring match.
Update: Actual Vs Prediction
Predicted xGD vs Actual xGD (Image by author)
The algorithm did a very good job in predicting the direction of 9 out of 10 games of the GameWeek. The prediction was wrong only in Newcastle vs Everton match. Our algorithm predicted Everton to steamroll over the Newcastle side. However, the Magpies had the better of the Toffees handing them the second defeat in a row. The Toffees were certainly weak side due to the absence of the trio of James Rodriguez, Richarlison and Digne, which could not be factored in the xG model.
The predictions were not accurate with respect to the magnitude. In all matches, the dominating team able to create more goal scoring chances than that predicted. The difference was most prominent in Aston Villa vs Southamton, Tottenham vs Brighton, Newcastle vs Everton and Leeds vs Leicester matches. These matches also had penalty kicks awarded in favor of the dominating team. | https://towardsdatascience.com/epl-analysis-and-gameweek-7-prediction-f22a2d8991cd | ['Abhijith Chandradas'] | 2020-11-03 13:45:13.039000+00:00 | ['Football', 'Data Visualization', 'English Premier League', 'Soccer', 'Data Analysis'] |
Etiquette Between Baseballs’ Catchers and Umpires | MASK TO MASK QUESTIONS
One huge advantage the catcher has over anybody else on the field is his ability to find out exactly where the umpire’s strike-zone is and question certain calls. This goes for when you are at bat or behind the plate.
Do not be shy with the umpires, ask them what you want to know — just do it in a polite manner. More times than not, if you ask an umpire where his zone is at, he will tell you the exact parameters.
Here are a couple ways to ask the umpire about questionable calls :
“Where’d that miss?”
“How much room are you giving me on the outside today?”
And here are a couple of ways to get on the umpires bad side :
“Where was that call earlier?”
“C’mon man.”
Listen to what they say to you. Often times, they will drop little tips to you. “Your pitcher is tipping his curve.” “I’m not going to give you that outside pitch, come in more.”
If you think they got a call wrong you can simply, ask them “where did that miss?” Another way to do this is to hold the pitch where you catch it for a second or two after the call, just to let them know you didn’t like the call. (Holding a pitch for too long can come off as an insult.)
We have been in situations while batting, where the umpire called us out on strikes and when we got back behind the plate, he told us, “I owe you one!” | https://codybox.medium.com/etiquette-between-baseballs-catchers-and-umpires-745956e5dad5 | ['Cody Box'] | 2019-08-28 04:49:58.797000+00:00 | ['Sports', 'Umpire', 'Baseball', 'Catcher', 'Youth Baseball'] |
Understanding Alternative Data: Types, Sources, Collection, and Usage | Introduction
For years, financial organizations all over the world were looking for an effective and reliable way of gathering financial information to help them make well-reasoned investment decisions and develop strategies accordingly.
However, traditional sources of information-sales figures, SEC filings, financial statements, and the like-though useful, rarely provide a comprehensive and sufficient overview. To fill the gaps, some companies started to collect, cleanse, analyze, and interpret the data provided by nontraditional sources-sensor inputs, public records, new websites, customer feedback, web traffic, and much more.
Such usage of previously unexploited data resulted in coining a new term- “alternative data,” and these sources are usually outside the company’s control.
The insights gained as a result of alternative data analysis help forecast events long before they become known and allow finance companies to figure out the best investment prospects. In this article, we are going to take an in-depth look at alternative data, its sources, the ways to gather it, its benefits, and the best-use cases.
What is Alternative Data?
No comprehensive list of alternative data point types exists since these data types are extremely variable and often custom-selected to match certain aims. To answer the question “What is alternative data?”, we’ll mention its major forms:
Site content,
Social media sentiment,
Mortgage data,
Credit card transactions,
E-commerce buying habits,
Geolocation details,
Booking information,
Sensor data,
Retail inventory data,
Satellite imagery,
And much more.
The present-day technology allows interested businesses to track and analyze various types of structured and unstructured information through web data scraping from never-before-used sources. Consumer sentiment and credit card transaction information, when combined with traditional data, for instance, can provide valuable insights into the company’s financial performance. These insights can be transformed into predictions and leveraged by certain hedge funds to generate investments that outperform the market.
However, ingesting, processing, and analyzing alternative data can be useful not only for investors but also for various businesses looking for additional information about their company, products, and competitors.
Is Alternative Data Worth the Effort?
In short, yes. In more detail, we should admit that initially, alternative data prompted lots of skepticism, but in time, more and more investing companies realized the potential benefits and turned to it more and more often. More than that, alternative data is now used in the mainstream finance, data, and services sectors.
In the last decade, many alternative data companies, brokers, and aggregators entered the data analysis market, providing the sought-for alternative data to investors and anybody who needed it. Even though this data is not so readily accessible or as structured as traditional forms, it can provide insights that are impossible to gain through traditional data sources. Such data opens up new layers and opportunities for well-informed businesspeople.
Still, companies must select the right assets to gain valuable information from this data, and that is a complex challenge. However, modern data collection methods-web scraping and data parsing in particular combined with innovative technologies-perfectly cope with the task, providing early insights. In fact, alternative data analysis has flourished due to the augmentation of data collection methods and the enhancement of big data processing technologies, along with the advancement of machine learning, AI, and IoT technologies.
Over four hundred alternative data companies operate in the market today, and the demand still grows, since 80% of investors already admit they turn to such information for granular insights before making their final decision. According to J.P. Morgan, investments in alternative data are likely to annually grow by 20% to 30%.
In the past five years, the number of alternative data specialists has grown by 450%.
Number of Alternative Data Providers
Types of Alternative Data
The types of alternative data are multifaceted, and the major categories are:
Web data
Web traffic details, prevalent web searches, click-through rates, demographics information, and much more belong to web data. It’s useful for evaluating the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, for instance, or analyzing the popularity of a product or a website. Excellent insights for e-commerce, retail, sales, and market research can be gained from such information.
Social sentiment
This kind of data includes posts on social media, user feedback, comments, and reviews. Reactions to news, advertising, and announcements are also in this category. Coming in the form of text content, videos, or images, this data is usually unstructured and requires preprocessing. However, it’s useful for getting an idea of the current market trends, attitudes to events, product releases, or brand vitality.
Geolocation details
The information received from electronic devices aimed to track and identify someone’s physical location is geolocation data. Received by means of GPS, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi signals, it’s essential for well-weighted, location-based decisions. It may identify the areas with the most demand for certain goods, services, or activities for expanding business, for instance.
Card transactions
Monitoring retail revenue is possible through debit and credit card transactions. In addition, it can provide insights about the time, frequency, and regularity with which people pay their bills, helping loan companies, for example, decide if the client is going to make the due loan payments on time. However, as accurate and insightful as it is, this kind of alternative data has a drawback — it’s expensive to be licensed.
Email receipts
The receipts obtained on a product or service delivery via email are useful for retail revenue, market trends, and even market share values tracking.
Transactions at the point of sales
POS transactions give an understanding of sales volumes, processes, and price trends and also help detect consumer behavior and preferences as well as certain product popularity.
Satellite images
Modern satellites and drones provide data that has gained more and more popularity. Images obtained through these technological devices can be processed to extract the information that interests a researcher. The images of parking lots, for example, may give businesses an understanding of the economic state in a certain area.
Weather
The data related to weather condition patterns is similar to satellite info and can be vital for a wide range of economic decisions. Collected from multifaceted sensors, it can be analyzed to figure out what kind of harvests to expect in a certain region and how much. It can also indicate other resources available in a specific area.
Most Accurate/Insightful Dataset
Where Does Alternative Data Come From?
According to J.P. Morgan estimations, the total data generated globally will be almost 165 ZB by the year 2025, and 90% of the world’s data was produced in just two recent years. So the influence of information is beyond measure. At the same time, technology now benefits the connection between humans and businesses more than ever before.
But how is alternative data produced?
We’ll mention three major ways:
By individuals
The internet, social media, and the usage of web and mobile apps reveal great opportunities for individuals to generate valuable sentiment data for consumer behavior studies. Most of it is, however, unstructured and tough to process.
By businesses
Business processes often have a by-product called “exhaust data,” and that is one of the forms of alternative data. It often comes as credit card and commercial transaction records, supply chain details, banking records, government and corporation information, and more. Such data is often structured and can provide valuable insights into company business performance.
By sensors
The third important source of data is transportation sensors. CCTV, POS systems, Wi-Fi signals, and even parking lot sensors provide a host of vital information. Besides, satellites and geolocation devices generate geolocation alternative data that can be used for business development in a certain area or destination.
How to Obtain Alternative Data
Speaking about the usage of alternative data, we cannot pass over the major ways in which it’s obtained:
Web scraping
Internet data scraping, parsing, or harvesting is a widespread technique to access and fetch the information scattered over the World Wide Web. This process involves browsing web pages and extracting the necessary details from these pages. The gathered data is then saved to spreadsheets or databases and can be easily analyzed or interpreted.
Prior to the digital age, getting high-quality business insights was a mammoth task. However, nowadays, a wide range of companies provide web scraping software solutions development and services. Everyone can choose a vendor according to their business-specific needs, tasks, and personal preferences. It’s always better to trust data fetching, especially alternative data collection, to experienced experts and teams who can do it accurately, correctly, and effectively. With our expertise and technical background, DataOx is always ready to harvest challenging alternative data for your various tasks.
Raw data acquisition
Raw data stands for the unprocessed data that can be fetched from various sources like sensors, terminals, and similar devices. Commonly available in the raw format, it requires further cleansing, noise removal, and processing.
Third-party licensing
Certain companies receive licenses for “exhaust data” recovery like credit card and POS transactions. The companies then process this information and store it in easy-to-use formats. Later on, the data is sold to other organizations. The top alternative data companies provide data primarily to investors, and the major players in this field are YipitData and iResearch.
The Benefits of Alternative Data Usage
Why has alternative data become so popular lately? Let’s check the major benefits it offers.
The key advantage to mention is obviously saved time for money managers, who receive the opportunity to get generalized data from the interested sources for more accurate insights and well-balanced decisions.
What is more, analysts can monitor the market in real time, receiving better regular insights about its conditions based on larger and more dynamic datasets.
Alternative points of view and unexpected insights
The great abundance of data sources, counted in thousands, gives analysts access to variable viewpoints they would possibly fail to consider using just traditional information sources. Consequently, the experts get the opportunity to spot the unforeseen insights earlier, generate innovative ideas for investments, and even predict the future moves of the market.
Transparency of company performance
Portfolio managers can commonly provide historical overviews of a company’s performance based on quarterly earnings, financial reports, and fiscal statements. At present, integrated with alternative data, this information allows investors and portfolio managers to receive real-time indicators of company performance.
Competitive advantage
Possessing alternative data allows companies to win the competition over their rivals playing in the same field. Thus, using it, you can gain an understanding of possible future deals and their consequences in advance.
Over 80% of companies use alternative data in one form or another to create their investment strategy.
How is Alternative Data Exploited?
Investments
The most popular application of alternative data is in the sphere of investments. Lots of companies use it to find new sources of alpha stocks. The most common alternative data use cases circle around indirect forecasts.
Some firms, like Orbital Insight, for instance, continuously monitor parking lots with the help of satellite imagery and then sell the data of over 260,000 parking lots to those who are interested in such information for their business optimization. Knowing where people are shopping and when can provide an early insight into sales revenues before the quarterly returns are calculated.
Likewise, gathering data on truck movements in a certain region, country, or along a certain route can prompt favorable investment prospects in the sphere of logistics.
Other organizations like Yodlee gather data about credit and debit card transactions and sell that to hedge funds. Such data is helpful not only for discovering retail trends and understanding spending habits, but it also can be helpful for fraud detection. The other types of alternative data that hedge funds are often interested in are traffic patterns and customer sentiment. Occasionally specialized data is required to make more accurate predictions in certain industries.
Retail and e-commerce
Scraping user posts from social media sites reveals a host of data for consumer sentiment analysis. Various brands and analysts widely use this method to gain insights into trending topics and popular events.
Economics and politics
Predicting geopolitical risk has been made easy thanks to alternative data analysis.
Monitoring governmental changes, you can predict trade or tariff changes, currency fluctuation, tax valuation, and even environmental regulations.
Once a stock research company informed their clients that they spotted Occidental Petroleum Corporation’s Gulfstream V at the Omaha airport, speculating that they were possibly negotiating with Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Soon after that, Buffet announced he had invested $10 billion in the company. It’s a perfect illustration of how monitoring the movements of business leaders’ private jets can help you make the right investments.
Since alternative data always comes in large amounts, it’s often referred to as a subset of big data that requires processing before any predictions are made. The process of web data collecting, normalization, and integration now allows companies to make sense of all this big data and spot potential areas of concern faster and more efficiently than ever before due to the advanced techniques of machine learning, AI, natural language processing, and much more.
Conclusion
Having a data advantage can make an enormous difference for your business and finances in the contemporary hypercompetitive landscape. Even though hedge funds were the pioneers in alternative data adoption, an almost infinite number of applications for it exist in a myriad of industries.
It’s absolutely clear that various businesses worldwide can massively profit from alternative data in the coming years, and as a web data scraping company with years of experience, DataOx is eager to provide you with the alternative data at the necessary level with advanced research and innovative strategies of data integration.
If you want to get more details about our alternative data services, schedule a free consultation with our data expert. | https://medium.com/@dataox/understanding-alternative-data-types-sources-collection-and-usage-cd721b2a683c | [] | 2020-12-29 14:11:29.205000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Web Scraping', 'Startup', 'Alternative Data', 'Development'] |
Marketing Has Evolved. Has Your Business Evolved With It? | Calculating Customer LTV is Incredibly Tricky
To effectively build a bespoke LTV-model for a single company requires a heavy engineering lift of, on average, six or more months of dedicated development time, which can easily add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars of investment not to mention time spent. That team will need to unify disparate tech stacks, collect and import extensive data history, develop and refine a bespoke model, then validate that model, and finally deploy that data in a usable way for companies to improve their marketing investment. So, it’s no surprise that 58% of marketing leaders have moderate or no trust in their LTV modeling. Or that only 25% are confident they can quantify ROI.
In lieu of an effective ROI calculation, marketing departments accept non-ROI metrics that are easier to come by. They’re so easy to come by, in fact, they’re readily provided to marketers by the very marketing platforms who benefit directly from marketing spend. It’s no coincidence that the KPIs that drive the platform’s growth are the very ones so beautifully presented on their dashboards.
In my experience there are three types of proxy goals we use to “measure” performance: cost minimization (e.g. lower CPM, lower CPI, lower CAC), volume delivery (maximizing reach, installs, engagement, etc.) and short-term goals that can verge on random (a certain amount of revenue in a certain number of days, a benchmark conversion rate, or driving a specific engagement).
The False Metrics of Marketing “Success”
Commonly used marketing “success” metrics
Cost Minimization: Cheaper ≠ Better
In the era of lean, it’s no surprise marketing departments are swayed by the opportunity to deliver cost savings. The thinking goes: if it costs less, we must be getting better value. Unfortunately, costs to acquire new users are rising and the margins from those customers are shrinking. Even if cost minimization were the true business goal (it’s not; the true business goal is profit) — it’s a hard target to sustain.
Volume Delivery: More ≠ Better
A volume delivery metric comes directly from the sales floor — if we’re reaching more people who are installing, that’s good for business, right? However, the equation remains incomplete. If companies reach the wrong people (low to no LTV customers), they’re paying for people they don’t want. In actuality, this metric aligns perfectly with the sales goals of the marketing platforms. To maximize reach, increase installs, or encourage engagement you simply need to buy more ads. Since platforms love more spend (by the way, more spend means a healthier, more competitive auction, which also means rising costs) and many vendors charge companies a percentage of ad spend, any spend — regardless of its effectiveness — this is good business for platforms and vendors…but maybe not the companies relying on them.
Short-Term Goals: Immediate ≠ Better
Finally, in the quest for some kind of analytic goal setting, many companies and marketing teams create short-term goals that sound and look like real goals, but quickly dissolve under further investigation. These short-term goals are meant to act as an immediate proxy for longer-term success — getting a customer to buy today may increase the odds someone spends more long-term, but it certainly does not guarantee that outcome. These types of campaigns may hit their short-term goals (why not focus on the long-term goal from the outset?), but overall they miss the point.
To be blunt, the real danger is that your company may be running an elaborate way to spend money. Short-term metrics may be applauding the business all the way to its downfall. At best, these proxy KPIs are incomplete and the marketing is effective. At worst, the marketing appears successful and is not. The misalignment of marketing success metrics and company success metrics can mean that ad spend is optimized for short-term “success” not long-term success.
Marketing Is an Investment
As obvious as it might seem, it’s a business imperative to flip the view of the marketing department from cost center to investment hub. The business must look at returns, not just costs, and marketing should not get a free pass simply because it’s historically been viewed as a soft science. This may have been true 5+ years ago when marketing and customer acquisition costs were more easily arbitraged — digital was new, platforms were new, so the earliest and smartest marketing teams were able to extract incredible value. Those days are gone. Acquisition costs have been on the rise, margins have become tighter, and extracting incremental value has become increasingly more difficult. A business’ only defense to combat these trends, if they intend to survive for the long-term, is to be smarter about their marketing investment.
It’s time for marketing to embrace its role as the investment engine of the company. We’re in the midst of an analytical revolution where marketing can arm itself and their companies with the data and analytics that are now available, and use that as the catalyst to drive real business value.
This is why we built AlgoLift. | https://medium.com/@algolift/marketing-has-evolved-has-your-business-evolved-with-it-25723234e100 | [] | 2019-06-19 17:24:58.805000+00:00 | ['Mobile Apps', 'Marketing Analytics', 'Ltv', 'Roi', 'Predictive Analytics'] |
Breaking down the quixotic attempt to challenge the Jan 6 Electoral College vote | If you follow politics on social media, you’ve likely seen something like the above Tweet recently. It suggests that the December 14 electoral college vote didn’t mean much since congress must count the votes and vote to certify them on January 6. It further implies that on January 6, some sort of reversal will take place, resulting in Joe Biden not taking office.
While it is true that those who would challenge the results still have some tools left in their toolkit, that doesn’t mean these efforts will be effective. Let’s use the Constitution, existing federal law, and the Congressional Research Service’s Overview of Procedures for Counting Electoral Votes to decouple the fanfare from the realistic options available to members of congress.
At the beginning of the January 6 vote counting session, each state’s election certificate is read out loud. After each state, “the (Vice President) shall call for objections, if any.” Any such objection must be presented in writing and must be signed by at least one Senator and one Representative. The congressional procedures note that the vice president sometimes has to shut down members of congress who try to use unsupported objections to make a speech.
Democrats actually attempted this when congress counted the Electoral College votes January 6, 2017.
This year, GOP Rep. Mo Brooks has said that he will object to certificates from swing states where fraud has been alleged.
Assuming a Senator signs on to his objections in writing — a few GOP senators seem to be toying with the idea — the next step is for the House and Senate to split off into their individual chambers and vote.
Again, this has happened more recently than you might realize. In 2005, a D-Ohio Representative and D-California Senator submitted a written objection to Ohio’s electoral votes for George W Bush, citing voting irregularities. Both houses ended up tossing the objections out after debating for a couple hours.
You can still watch the entire 2005 debate in the CSPAN archives.
After each chamber votes, they go back into a joint session and report back. The electoral votes in question are only tossed if BOTH chambers (House AND Senate) vote to agree to the objection.
Any Democrat voting to block Biden would immediately be voted out of office in their next primary, so I don’t see that as a realistic possibility. If we assume a straight party-line vote in both chambers (which is unlikely and I’ll explain why later), Nancy Pelosi and her majority in the House would dispose of each objection.
If they really wanted to, Brooks and one GOP senator could do this for all 50 states and force both chambers and the joint session to formally adjourn and reconvene dozens of times (50 of those CSPAN debates), though I don’t believe there’s precedent for that. But even after all that they would not have the votes in the House to toss a single state’s electoral votes and Biden would still win.
In recent days, Mitch McConnell, the leader of the GOP’s Senate majority has called Joe Biden “President-Elect” and has been privately encouraging GOP Senators not to sign on to any written objections presented on January 6. It’s definitely not unlike McConnell to make the smart move politically, and his actions in this case are likely aimed at preventing GOP senators from being forced to put their votes for/against objections on the record. He knows the rules and therefore realizes it’s a losing effort at this point. By drawing out the Electoral College fight, the GOP risks a big internal feud between institutionalists like McConnell and Trump loyalists. A feud like this could potentially damage the party as badly as the Bernie/Hillary infighting Democrats suffered in 2016.
I guess we’ll see if any GOP senator is willing to charge that machine gun nest anyway. | https://medium.com/@paulmoliva/breaking-down-to-quixotic-attempt-to-challenge-the-electoral-college-vote-2cf41f30c5c | ['Paul Oliva'] | 2020-12-21 20:19:42.823000+00:00 | ['Biden', 'Politics', 'Election Fraud', 'Trump', 'Electoral College'] |
Detrimental Effects of Prison overcrowding | Introduction
It seems that the United States is incarcerating more inmates than we can physically detain in our detention facilities. According to collected data the “incarceration system in this country “hold[s] more than 2.4 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 2,259 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,283 local jails, and 79 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, immigration detention facilities, civil commitment centers, and prisons in the U.S. territories.” (Wagner and Sakala, 2014). In the criminal justice system, there is greater support for harsh and lengthy sentencing, which may force judicial decision-makers to give longer sentences to offenders as well as incarcerate more individuals. Prison overcrowding poses a serious issue, particularly in regards to the inmate’s safety. When prions are at or beyond maximum capacity prison officials are forced to house multiple inmates into one cell which can create conflict among inmates. Some inmates can dislike a particular inmate based on the crime they committed, upbringing, social affiliations prior to being incarcerated, or simply because they feel they are physically stronger and can intimate and frighten the other inmates in the cell. In most detention facilities inmates are required to spend on average 22 to 23 hours a day in their cell which makes eradicating themselves from a bad environment nearly impossible which also may increase the chances of murder or serious physical injury between inmates. The safety of inmates, as well as prison staff safety, may be greatly impacted “when inmates have to withstand 110-degree heat-without ice or air conditioning-some go berserk and start arguing, fighting and cutting” (Cobb, 1985). The overcrowding of prisons is perpetuated by the tough on crime initiative and added pressures from society to enact justice and retribution on offenders and as a result, inmates are forced to be constrained in small and inhumane regions which could detrimentally affect the inmates' overall health.
The Emergence of Prison Overpopulation
Decision-makers in the criminal justice system are motivated by the pressures and the sense of fulfilling their responsibility to ensure that justice is served, as well as the financial gain that they may receive due to giving offenders longer sentences. “The pressure for harsher sentences at the local level is largely in one direction. Lengthier incarcerations (be they motivated by retribution, the desire to get the criminals off the streets or the hope of deterring prospective criminal activity) are frequently viewed as benefiting a community” (Giertz and Nardulli, 1985). The criminal justice officials feel that it is their duty and priority to listen and adhere to the pressures of society in order to create a sense of justice and equality within the community in regards to the criminal justice system. In addition, judges and prosecutors may also feel persuaded to give lengthier sentences because it would increase their popularity and likeability in society which would help better their career by the possibility of new career advancements. Additionally, “the prison system in most states is operated and financed at the state level. While local jails exist in most areas, states usually require that sentences over a certain length (often one year) be served in state facilities at the state’s expense” (Giertz and Nardulli, 1985). This contributes to the overcrowding of detention facilities because criminal justice officials can often times view this as a proper or a free alternative to handling crime issues. Oftentimes individuals are given lengthy sentences so they are forced to serve out their time at state facilities, which negatively impact state budgets that could be used on resolving or fixing the current disarray of inmate treatment and conditions but instead the funds are being allocated on paying to house the inmates. Furthermore, there is no desire or pressure from society to build institutions, large enough to house inmates because society’s main priority is the encouragement of inflicting longer sentences for inmates.
Prison Overcrowding is a Social Issue
Prisons were constructed for a purpose of keeping hardcore criminals off of the streets and behind bars where society can remain free and safe from any possible dangers or potential risks. It seems that society has strayed away from that concept and use prisons as a means of getting rid of unwanted people or attempt to mask social issues such as the increase in mental illness within society. Society’s main arsenal in their tool belt is the threat of incarceration because we think that locking someone up for an extended amount of time will better for them and society. With the current state of the prison systems that theory and idea is anything but accurate and truthful. “Much of the increase in the size of the prisoner population is a result of the “War on Drugs” and associated federal reforms such as mandatory minimum sentencing laws” (Macmadu, 2015). With the emergence of the war on drugs, criminal offenses were being heavily prosecuted and sentenced in order to deter others from using any illegal substances. Over a few years, the prison population began to exponentially increase and become overcrowded. Prison overcrowding can be viewed as a social issue because eventually the inmates that are incarcerated are going to be released back into society and their behavior and conformity to societal norms and rules will be affected by the treatment and conditions they faced during their incarceration. Indicating that if inmates are forced to live in tight and hostile environments over time they develop and adapt to their surroundings and environment just as any human in order to survive or not be targeted. Typically inmates may develop a more hard and tough personality. The development of their tough personality may come across as hostile or difficult to approach or get along with for people within society which may make the individual feel like an outcast or constantly judged and may give up trying to transition back into a normal citizen role. This could negatively impact the individual causing them more anger which may lead an individual to commit more crimes. If inmates are subjected to environments where they are treated inhumanely and stripped of their human rights they may begin to internalize that thought and feeling and figure that they have nothing to lose. Eventually, there would be the constant repeating of negative cyclical events which would either make things worse than the current state or things would remain the same.
Inmate’s Health Due to Overcrowding
When talking about health and medical treatment among inmates it is an issue that gets ignored and disregarded due to societal perspectives and opinions being driven by the desire for retribution of inmates. Just as in society there are factors that create disparities in health care and medical treatment such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, and current health state. Most noticeably detention facilities have seen a dramatic increase in people who suffer from mental disorders who are “undiagnosed, untreated, or inadequately treated mental health disorders experienced heightened risks of incarceration” (Macmadu, 2015). For many individuals suffering from mental disorders, prisons have become their primary care provider. Prison overcrowding can negatively impact inmates “in correctional facilities — including restricted liberty, material deprivations, limited movement, the absence of meaningful endeavors, lack of privacy, and risks of interpersonal danger — expose inmates to stressors that can incite (short- or long-term) or exacerbate symptoms of mental health disorders”(Macmadu, 2015). “Overcrowded conditions, are defined as facilities that are operating near or exceeding capacity, aids the spread of communicable diseases and places undue additional stress on inmates and facility staff. Overcrowding has also been associated with increased risk of suicide, as overcrowding reduces the availability of meaningful programming” (Macmadu, 2015). Overcrowding may make inmates feel that there is no purpose in being forced to reside in inhumane conditions which could cause inmates to develop psychological disorders due to the constant stress and worry of being a potential victim of a physical altercation as well as the close and claustrophobic conditions some inmates may feel. Furthermore, according to the documentary “Overcrowded: The Messy Politics of CA’s Prison Crisis overcrowding was a key component that contributes to the lack of medical and mental health care being offered at a constitutional level in many state prisons” (Weissmueller, 2014).
Forcing multiple people to live in tight living quarters for the majority of the day can pose health risks and diminish inmate’s psychical and psychological state. Most notably in the sweltering summer heat “when the [temperatures reach] 100 degrees or more, many inmates become violent, or extremely mean or evil” (Cobb, 1985). When people are subjected to hot temperatures, it causes them to become easily agitated and irritable, making them more prone to become violent and aggressive. The aggression stems from the decreased amount of self-control over urges and temptations to act on a certain thought or idea. Housing multiple inmates in the same cell can cause inmates to physically harm each other or even the possibility of creating a brawl, which in turn could result in a riot. In addition, when there is double the amount of inmates it can create stress on the guards because they are not always or able to effectively intervene in any problematic situations due to the limited staff as compared to the inmates.
Conclusion
Overcrowding of prisons is associated with the tough-on-crime initiative and added pressures from society to enact justice and retribution on offenders and as a result, inmates are forced to be constrained in small and inhumane regions which could detrimentally affect the inmates' overall health. As a result of overpopulation within detention facilities, inmates are not able to get the proper health care treatment that is required. Often times overpopulation causes an increase in dangerous and damaging health conditions due to the inmates being in close living quarters to each other. We know that this is a societal issue that needs rectifying because it affects everyone either directly or indirectly. Some solutions to help combat the overpopulation of prison systems is a more active part in “controlling ingress into the system, i.e., taking active measures to reduce criminality in a society” (Durnescu, 2003). Currently, our criminal justice seems to take action after the crimes have been committed as opposed to prior criminal offenses. An active role in crime would be instituting hot spot policing to help discourage any possible offenders from breaking the law or partaking in any felonious actions. Police departments typically know the crimes most prevalent in particular regions of the city due to utilizing the Uniform Crime Report published by the FBI annually. Additionally, “controlling punishment modalities, e.g., decreasing incarceration sentences” (Durnescu, 2003). Decreasing sentencing for some crimes, especially nonviolent crimes would decrease the prison population seeing that the majority of inmates incarcerated are nonviolent offenders, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons that state drug offenses account for 46.2% of the inmate population. Our society is in disarray and many of the solutions we may think are beneficial and successful have long-lasting negative impacts. We cannot hide the problems of society or our failures in public policies by incarcerating people for extended amounts of time instead of identifying the problem and coming up with solutions to fix it. Some people make mistakes and due to their mistakes, they are treated inhumanely and stripped of their rights. They are treated like animals locked in cages in heinous and hostile environments which are expected to somehow cure them of their issues. Then society acts shocked and surprised when individuals come out of prison oftentimes worse than they were before going to prison. | https://medium.com/@wongtyler3/detrimental-effects-of-prison-overcrowding-2b4f689e7c5b | ['Tyler Wong'] | 2020-12-20 02:08:02.958000+00:00 | ['Overcrowding', 'Mental Health', 'Prison', 'Politics', 'Sociological'] |
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