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Autoencoders for Dimensionality Reduction | Autoencoders for Dimensionality Reduction
A practical example of how you can reduce the dimensions with Auto-Encoders
In the previous post, we explained how we can reduce the dimensions by applying PCA and t-SNE and how we can apply Non-Negative Matrix Factorization for the same scope. In this post, we will provide a concrete example of how we can apply Autoeconders for Dimensionality Reduction. We will work with Python and TensorFlow 2.x.
Autoencoders on MNIST Dataset
We will use the MNIST dataset of TensorFlow, where the images are 28 x 28 dimensions, in other words, if we flatten the dimensions, we are dealing with 784 dimensions. Our goal is to reduce the dimensions, from 784 to 2, by including as much information as possible.
Let’s get our hands dirty!
from tensorflow.keras.models import Sequential
from tensorflow.keras.layers import Dense,Flatten,Reshape
from tensorflow.keras.optimizers import SGD
from tensorflow.keras.datasets import mnist
(X_train, y_train), (X_test, y_test) = mnist.load_data()
X_train = X_train/255.0 X_test = X_test/255.0 ### Encoder
encoder = Sequential()
encoder.add(Flatten(input_shape=[28,28])) encoder.add(Dense(400,activation="relu")) encoder.add(Dense(200,activation="relu")) encoder.add(Dense(100,activation="relu")) encoder.add(Dense(50,activation="relu")) encoder.add(Dense(2,activation="relu")) ### Decoder
decoder = Sequential()
decoder.add(Dense(50,input_shape=[2],activation='relu')) decoder.add(Dense(100,activation='relu')) decoder.add(Dense(200,activation='relu')) decoder.add(Dense(400,activation='relu'))
decoder.add(Dense(28 * 28, activation="relu")) decoder.add(Reshape([28, 28])) ### Autoencoder
autoencoder = Sequential([encoder,decoder]) autoencoder.compile(loss="mse") autoencoder.fit(X_train,X_train,epochs=50)
encoded_2dim = encoder.predict(X_train) # The 2D
AE = pd.DataFrame(encoded_2dim, columns = ['X1', 'X2'])
AE['target'] = y_train sns.lmplot(x='X1', y='X2', data=AE, hue='target', fit_reg=False, size=10)
Example of MNSIT Dataset
Every image in the MNSIT Dataset is a “gray scale” image of 28 x 28 dimensions. Let’s have a look at the first image.
plt.imshow(X_train[0], cmap='gray')
This is one example of the number 5 and the corresponding 28 x 28 array is the:
X_train[0].shape
And we get (28, 28) . Our goal is to reduce the dimensions of MNIST images from 784 to 2 and to represent them in a scatter plot!
Results of Autoencoders
We ended up with two dimensions and we can see the corresponding scatterplot below, using as labels the digits.
import numpy as np
import pandas as pd
import seaborn as sns
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
plt.figure(figsize=(10,8))
sns.lmplot(x='X1', y='X2', data=AE, hue='target', fit_reg=False, size=10)
As we can see from the plot above, only by taking into account 2 dimensions out of 784, we were able somehow to distinguish between the different images (digits). Hence, keep in mind, that apart from PCA and t-SNE, we can also apply AutoEncoders for Dimensionality Reduction | https://medium.com/towards-artificial-intelligence/autoencoders-for-dimensionality-reduction-6fb6553f392f | ['George Pipis'] | 2020-10-14 19:58:12.490000+00:00 | ['Autoencoder', 'Dimensionality Reduction', 'Data Visualization', 'Data Science', 'TensorFlow'] |
The Beating Heart of PLG | So, is there more to this story than a fuzzy father-son bonding tale? Yes, there is. You see, great software makes us emotional too. In fact, this phenomenon is at the heart of product-led growth.
Software started its journey as a utility. It was a means to an end, a way to get things done. And so, it felt like a utility too. You and I today would barf at these dull, bland, grey why-does-it-look-like-I’m-using-Windows99 screens that characterize SAP, Oracle, or IBM products, but the truth is (as with any utility), software’s function exceeded its fashion for many decades. And even today, outside of the top 1000 tech companies rallying for our attention (believe it or not ), the world still runs on this kind of software. Just ask TVS Tyres, Dalmia Cements, TATA Steel, or Saint Gobain.
Kill me now, please
Mobile-first social networks and consumer internet companies of the late 2000s stepped in and changed the game. When we experienced what it was to use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snap, Airbnb, Uber and actually like it, it kind of blew our minds, since that wasn’t supposed to happen. “Wait, so I’m able to chat with my friends, post nice pics of myself, order a cab, book a holiday rental, and enjoy the process? Lol, that’s new. This actually feels quite smooth, and by the way, this app looks incredible!” These companies were smart, they knew they needed to go from nothing to many million MAUs in a few months to even matter in the larger scheme of things, and so they did whatever they could for that competitive advantage. Incredible user experience, sure why not. But what they forced us to do was ask the obvious next question of the software we were so used to: “if these products are so awesome, why does the SAP Hana or the Oracle or the Salesforce I use at work suck so much in comparison? 😂
New SaaS companies born on the right side of 2010 (a number of which were in fact often born from business, engineering, and product teams at these consumer giants) quickly realized that the end-user matters in their world too. It was clear to them that their end-user is now used to the experience of an Uber or Airbnb (and is using it on a jazzy Apple or Android phone, to beat), now there’s a corporate credit card in their hand, and now this person can ignore their boss if he/she tells them to use a software they don’t like. They realized they need to win over the end-user to keep existing enterprise accounts and win new ones, and the way to win over the end-user was a great user experience. In my mind, that’s the short of that’s how the world changed, how UX became a strategic battleground, why companies like SAP, Oracle, IBM, and Salesforce fell behind, and why we have Stripe, Zoom, Shopify, Slack, Notion, Figma, Hashi, and Datadog ruling our hearts while scorching quarterly earnings sheets. You can change anything and everything except company DNA, and if your DNA isn’t architected to care about UX, you can shell out $27.7 billion big ones for Slack but that still may not be the way to your user’s heart.
So, what is ‘user experience’? What do users care about? What is the way to a user’s heart? As a user of many SaaS products (and given it’s my job to speak to many more such users across application SaaS and developer tools to get their feedback 🙈), I can tell you one thing with confidence. Users don’t know what ‘user experience’ is. They feel it. They don’t rationalize or cerebrally analyze how or why they like a product (that’s the job of product teams), they just use it and (almost subconsciously) realize if they care. In this subconscious exploration, rare pieces of great software surprise you, delight you, engage you, and enthrall you when you least expect it. Like that incredible girl on a perfect date, it just gets you. Great software solves problems you sometimes never knew you had, and after using it for a while you find it impossible to go back to the old way of doing things. The ‘aha’ moments stir deeper emotions and forge a powerful subconscious connection, laying the foundation for eventually creating committed, dedicated, and evangelistic power users.
I’ll take Notion and my own example. What blew my mind in the first minute of using it was that I could create an incredibly diverse and good-looking document with photos, videos, poems & prose, quotes, headings & subtitles, bookmarks, weblinks, spreadsheets (you name it), invoking each element with just a single ‘/’ keypress. Coming from a world of Google Docs, Google Sheets, MS Office, and email where you had to slowly & painstakingly format everything to give it a distant semblance of pleasantness, this was a paradigm shift. It didn’t just save me time, it made me want to share these beautiful and easy-to-make custom webpages (with their own custom tab icons ❤️) with my colleagues. I subconsciously wanted something like this all along without consciously knowing I wanted it. Along came a product that does just that, and won me over. My colleagues found their own perfect match, be it with Notion or Clickup or Coda or Roam Research, and that gave rise to heated debates on which is the better productivity tool. I found myself inadvertently defending Notion’s terrible CDN and horrible image/video loads, its shitty reliability (more than once has the world come to a halt threatened when Notion is ‘down’) by championing what it does well. Here are the two things I learnt from these experiences. (1) It’s pretty incredible how a mere piece of software won over a relatively unemotional being like me enough that I would vehemently defend its flaws in public and (2) There is no right answer, there is no better productivity tool, use whatever floats your boat. But the fact that my colleagues & I spent so many hours discussing these tools so passionately proves they touched us in some way. Great art, great music, and great performances used to touch our hearts in the olden days, we’re fortunate to live in an era where great software does this too.
Notion and me — Love at first sight
I’ve seen this strain of thought repeat itself many times across users and across many other SaaS tools. Phrases like “I love it”, “Can’t do without it”, “Blows my mind every time”, “Changed the way I think”, “Changed the way I work”, “They somehow figured out just what I needed 😱”, “❤️❤️❤️”, “🤩🥳🚀”, “makes me feel like 😎” are the norm when UI designers speak of Figma, when SMB merchants talk of Shopify, when infrastructure architects discuss Terraform, when product teams talk about Amplitude, when developers speak of Slack or Stripe or Auth0. Now I rely almost exclusively on this signal above all others when evaluating new products for investment: What’s hidden between the lines in user feedback? Are they using phrases like the ones above to describe the product? Are there early signs of an enduring emotional connection, or is it still just ‘useful’, a utility? I’ve learned that high NPS and positive user feedback may create good companies; but exceptional user love and a perceptible emotional connection with the product, in the right markets, might just create great companies.
It’s also interesting to me that Marc Andreessen says product-market fit (PMF) cannot be quantified or predicted, but when it happens it is extremely clear to one and all that it exists. My understanding of this statement is that PMF can be ‘felt’ even before all the wonderful stuff he talks about, which is pretty natural given true product love is primarily ‘felt’. Revenue, usage, even retention are but lagging indicators, necessary in due course but perhaps irrelevant early on. Exceptional user feedback & engagement with early signs of a developing emotional connection are the only leading indicators of PMF there will ever be.
You can always feel when product/market fit isn’t happening. The customers aren’t quite getting value out of the product, word of mouth isn’t spreading, usage isn’t growing that fast, press reviews are kind of “blah”, the sales cycle takes too long, and lots of deals never close. And you can always feel product/market fit when it’s happening. The customers are buying the product just as fast as you can make it — or usage is growing just as fast as you can add more servers. Money from customers is piling up in your company checking account. You’re hiring sales and customer support staff as fast as you can. Reporters are calling because they’ve heard about your hot new thing and they want to talk to you about it. You start getting entrepreneur of the year awards from Harvard Business School. Investment bankers are staking out your house. You could eat free for a year at Buck’s.
- pmarca
What is the implication for PLG founders? To me, it is that an emerging emotional connection between the user and the product is the beating heart of PLG. Organic viral growth loops, activation & conversion hacks, account expansion drivers are all wonderful and necessary but imagine their impact in the world when you have touched your users so deeply that they go out of the way to champion your creation to the world. Such growth would be truly product-led, it would be unstoppable, enduring, beautiful, a rare pleasure to witness. You can just sit back and spend some more time building to delight your users to give them everything they don’t know they wanted and let your product and your users do the talking. | https://medium.com/@sidmbbs/the-beating-heart-of-plg-9edb90f1d31b | ['Sidhant Goyal'] | 2021-07-23 11:37:56.852000+00:00 | ['Product Market Fit', 'Product', 'SaaS', 'Developer Tools', 'Product Led Growth'] |
Why Cryptocurrency will be the Next Operating System for Capitalism | Money won’t last forever — that is guaranteed
It didn’t exist when exchange evolved to become a feature of humanities first economic system, nor will it persist when there is no advantage to using it. That time is approaching far quicker than traditionalists care to admit.
The reality is that our evolution to a largely cashless society is almost complete. I rarely have money on me physically, I can count on one hand the number of times I have had cash in my wallet in the last 3 years. Paper cash and metallic coins are prehistoric.
That is what those who carelessly brandish Crytocurrency a bubble fail to comprehend. Money doesn’t care what you think. It is simply a means of exchange. When it’s utility is replaced by something more efficient it will become extinct. Right now it is a protected species with a few purists trying to revive it. Unfortunately, the poachers are pulling down each pillar which underpinned the system one by one.
Soon it will fall.
With Fiat valuations no longer tied to any commodity — with it’s price being entirely independent and it’s valuation contingent on what we collectively believe it to be — give me one sincere and serious argument which convinces me fiat isn’t also a bubble. Give me a coherent reason why that if we stopped believing in the value of paper money today it would be worth anything tomorrow. Without resorting to the argument of historical precedent, the size and scale of central banks or the promise these institutions have made to maintain a certain valuation what do you have to argue against it?Fundamentally it is still a question of trust and belief. This forces you to consider that there might be a technological solution which forces a level or trust and believe that is inconceivable in a human led system.
You argument might still be that cryptocurrency is a bubble, but I raise you the perspective that all money is. It is a product of our beliefs married to our hope that it’s value will remain. Ditto stocks, shares and bonds.
Money is, and has been for the last 30 years, an intellectual construct centred on humanities trust in Governance — but trust in these institutions is at a historical low. We don’t trust the reasons they give for the decisions they make, they’re incentives to act in our best interests or their ability to deliver a better future.
Cryptocurrency isn’t just the future because that is what a committed band of dreamers would have you believe. It is the future because it is a new operating system for a decentralised world. It is the future because it takes back control of the things we are most dependent on for us to subsist. It is the future because it is already here making a difference to how we act. Bitcoin has enabled a whole generation of Venezuelans to have an alternative to crippling inflation left unchecked by corruption.
No longer do we have to trust a government to reign over us and carelessly prescribe dangerous monetary policy which we must accept.
No longer must we accept situations of austerity forced upon us due to government intervention in a financial collapse where there was no punishment for any of the individuals who caused it.
No longer is our future dependent on the whims of governments.
You can make any argument you like about Cryptocurrency being over valued, about it being manipulated, about it not being a viable medium for high frequency transactions to occur.
That’s fine but what price do you place on control?
What price would you put on trust programmed in to an immutable ledger where those participating hold the keys to how the platform develops. Unilateral arbitrary decision making is replaced by consensus.
If you don’t understand the implications of that you’re not paying attention.
If you don’t understand how fiat money works, you’re not qualified to judge whether cryptocurrency will be successful or not, period. Equally, if you don’t understand the mechanisms for mining, the underlying technology that powers cryptocurrency or the economics of scarcity you aren’t qualified to tell anyone why it is a revolution.
So educate yourself and understand why things are changing, appreciate the technology underpinning the revolution. They you can positively impact the progress this new system can make. Otherwise you’re just another uneducated quack speculating to make a buck doing more damage than good.
With all that being true, if you believe in Crypto let the market come to you.Understand that the success of the system is contingent on an unwavering belief that throughout history innovation has always disrupted what currently exists. If a system is better, exponentially so, then nothing will ever be able to stand in the way of progress. For the same reason Google destroyed Yahoo, and Facebook vanquished MySpace, Bitcoin and Ethereum will destroy money.
In the same way Amazon has brutalised physical retail, Cryptocurrency will eradicate banks. If you don’t see this coming you aren’t paying attention.
Let the non-believers have their day, but the moment central banks pushed the button on quantitative easing they signed the death warrant of capitalism operating system that monopolised the world.
Capitlism isn’t going anywhere though. Cryptocurrency is simply a more efficient vessel which allows for its manifest destiny to be realised.
Progress is relentless.
Cryptocurrency is simply an upgrade | https://chrisherd.medium.com/why-cryptocurrency-will-be-the-next-operating-system-for-capitalism-ae5e1f823590 | ['Chris Herd'] | 2018-11-29 09:26:52.685000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Blockchain', 'Life', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Bitcoin'] |
[FREE] Read Online Wiley CIA Exam Review 2013: Part 2, Internal Audit Practice Full Pages | [FREE] Read Online Wiley CIA Exam Review 2013: Part 2, Internal Audit Practice Full Pages Zweiteiliges Sep 14, 2019·1 min read
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The most comprehensive Certified Internal Auditor Exam preparation guide available One exam, three volumes of preparation. Here is the best source to help you prepare for the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) exam covering the new syllabus, effective 2013. Wiley CIA Exam Review, Volume 2: Conducting the Internal Audit Engagement addresses topics such as internal audit function, individual audit engagements, and fraud risks and controls.Includes fully developed theories and concepts, as opposed to superficial outlines found in other study guides Offers indicators that help candidates allot study time based on the weight given to each topic on the exam Indicates the level of difficulty expected for each topic on the exam as either “Awareness” or “Proficiency” so more time and effort can be assigned for the proficiency topics than for the awareness topics Presents highly comprehensive coverage of theory with glossary of technical terms Every volume in the Wiley CIA Exam Review series
Download Here -> https://7library.com/book/1118120620 | https://medium.com/@zweiteiliges/free-read-online-wiley-cia-exam-review-2013-part-2-internal-audit-practice-full-pages-e973d42d65ec | [] | 2019-09-14 11:10:15.245000+00:00 | ['Certification'] |
A 101 on DPN. Users who have purchased a Deeper… | Users who have purchased a Deeper Connect with a DPN function may have the following questions when using it.
1. Why does my IP address still appear as my original IP address when I go to an IP testing site such as whatismyipaddress.com?
2. Why does some performance testing software report show that my Bandwidth speed has dropped significantly?
Given the fact that DPN and VPN technologies are very different, many users still try to understand our device functionality in terms of their VPN thinking, this leads to many misconceptions about the performance of a DPN.
Before explaining how a DPN works, it would be good to clarify the following statement: A DPN can perform better than a VPN in most scenarios, but the opposite is not necessarily true, as many of the DPN functions are not achievable by a VPN. Yet in some special application scenarios, a VPN could be a better choice.
Therefore, we highly encourage every user interested in buying our DPN products to carefully read the following instructions to have an informed opinion and decide accordingly about whether or not to purchase a DPN device. In the following article, we will first introduce the working principle of both VPN and DPN in order to compare their advantages and disadvantages, and show you the reasonable way to use our DPN.
How does a VPN work?
As shown in Figure 1, a VPN connects your device (also known as the client) with a remote VPN server. This connection is often called a tunnel. All traffic on the device passes through this tunnel to the VPN server, then uses the server’s IP to access the Internet. In this brief description, we have already introduced three terms: client, server, and tunnel.
In the world of VPN, it is possible to summarize the attributes of these three terms to understand how a VPN actually works:
The client and the server are independent.
The client is owned by the user and the server is owned by the service provider.
2. The server has a completely centralized deployment.
Any VPN service provider usually has dozens or hundreds of servers, but the access to these servers is firmly controlled by the vendor. VPN service providers can easily collect and sell users’ data. (“No recording of user logs” is the most persuasive marketing claim of many VPN providers, but for most VPN services there is a huge gap between what they claim and what they really offer. Recently, the cybersecurity firm Comparitech reported that the user information database of UFO VPN, which used to boast about its no user log data recording policy, was actually recording, and leaking user data, including sensitive information such as usernames and passwords, on a daily basis)
3. Each client will use only one tunnel to connect to the server.
Each client can only establish one tunnel with one server, and all traffic will go through this tunnel. If you have an application, let's call it App A, that requires to be connected to Country A’s VPN server to work properly, and, at the same time, you have another App B that requires connection to Country B’s server in order to function properly, then these two apps will not work simultaneously, and you will have to give up using App B while using App A. Also, the use of App A will restrict the traffic of App C, D, E, etc., to pass through Country A in order to access the Internet, which as a consequence will impact the QoS (bandwidth, delay) of App C, D, E, etc.
How does DPN work?
Perhaps some people still remember what the Internet was like more than 20 years ago. Before 2001, due to the extremely poor network infrastructure, Internet downloading was usually very slow. HTTP/FTP-based downloading mode was limited by server bandwidth and could not meet the demand of many users downloading at the same time, people often had to wait for hours or even days to get the files they needed to download.
However, in 2001, Bram Cohen introduced the BT protocol, which redefined the downloading process. In the decentralized BT network, each download node is both a client and a server, and the speed of downloading is increased hundreds of times by exchanging downloaded file fragments among users, which greatly reduces the pressure on resource publishers.
As we mentioned in the previous section “How does a VPN Work”, all servers of a VPN are centrally deployed and centrally managed, which is similar to centralized downloading and as a consequence suffers from peak traffic overload. At the same time, VPN technology also suffers from user data leakage, poor flexibility, and other defects. Is in response to these problems that we created and implemented our DPN technology. The three letters of DPN are both the abbreviation of Deeper Network and Decentralized Privacy Network, which makes full use of the idle bandwidth resources of Internet users around the world to create a decentralized private and protected network. Each node is both a client and a server, and all the user’s data is transmitted with p2p encryption.
In this decentralized network, there are enough nodes to provide DPN services so that each node can establish tunnel links with multiple nodes at the same time, and select a tunnel for Internet access based on domain name or IP address. In the example in Figure 2, a node establishes a tunnel connection with nodes located in China, Germany, Singapore, and other countries. while retaining local access capability. Please note that preserving local access is also necessary for a DPN to greatly improve the user experience. For example, a US user accessing YouTube’s 4K streaming service will often have much better results with direct access than with transit through Singapore or Germany.
In the world of DPN, the relations among the client, the server and the tunnel are as follows:
1. Each node is both a client and a server.
2. Nodes are fully decentralized, deployed and owned by the user.
3. Each node can establish multiple tunnels with multiple nodes in different regions.
Different APPs can use different tunnels to work simultaneously without conflicting with each other. At the same time, local direct access capability is retained to improve user experience.
VPN vs DPN
With the above description of the technology, let’s compare the advantages and disadvantages of these two technologies.
The advantages of VPN
Professional VPN service providers often rent expensive data centres or cloud servers to provide high-speed access, with access speeds reaching several hundred mbps during off-peak hours.
The disadvantages of VPN
1. Access speed can be severely degraded during peak hours, and the service may be even unavailable.
2. VPN service providers have full access to user data and are not regulated. In this case, the safety of the user’s data depends on the ethical level of the VPN service provider. However, even big Internet companies like Facebook collect, analyze, and sell user data at will. Many low-cost or even free VPN service providers themselves are profitable by data trafficking and phishing.
3. VPN servers are deployed centrally, mostly in a few major cities in a few countries around the world. This implies that they provide users with an extremely limited choice of geographic locations.
4. VPN server IP addresses are usually in the order of a few hundred or a few thousand, which makes them easy to be identified and restricted by various websites.
5. VPN services offer only one tunnel for users to choose, this means that users need to manually switch tunnels to use applications that require a different geographical location.
6. Because VPN service providers need to rent expensive data centres or cloud servers to provide services, this significantly increases the monthly payment making VPN services relatively expensive for users.
The advantages of DPN
1. The more users there are, the more idle bandwidth resources available which means no performance degradation during peak hours.
2. DPN is a completely decentralized network, so there is no way for user data to be collected, analyzed, and sold.
3. DPN nodes are located all over the world, and as the number of users gradually increases, new nodes may appear in every corner of the world to provide DPN services.
4. DPN has billions of potentially available IP addresses, and most of them are the IPs of individual users, which cannot be identified and restricted by various websites.
5. DPN can establish dozens of tunnels at the same time and can choose suitable tunnels according to different domain names as well as IP addresses.
6. Users will earn DPR tokens when they contribute their own bandwidth, and spend DPR tokens when they use other users’ bandwidth, generally users do not need to pay for DPN service.
The disadvantages of DPN
The maximum downstream bandwidth of a DPN tunnel is limited by the upstream bandwidth of the shared node. We know that the upstream and downstream bandwidth of the average home user’s broadband are asymmetrical, with the average user’s home upstream bandwidth ranging from 10mbps to 40mbps, and only a few fiber users (such as AT&T and Google Fiber users) can have 1gbps of upstream bandwidth. DPN is not an ideal choice for users with extremely high bandwidth requirements for a single tunnel.
For this problem, DPN currently has several potential solutions.
1. Deploy a part of high-speed cloud nodes to provide the same high-speed connection as a VPN does.
2. For downloading applications, multiple tunnels can be used to download at the same time, for example, 50 tunnels of 10mbps can simultaneously download to reach a speed of 500mbps.
In addition, fiber solutions are becoming more and more popular in home broadband. It is estimated that within the next three years 1 billion users in the US, China, and Europe will have access to 1gbps fiber networks. By that time, even the speed of a single DPN tunnel will be comparable to that of a VPN.
To answer the initial questions
1. Why is it that when I go to IP-searching websites to check my IP address, the site is still showing my original IP address?
Because Deeper Connect uses smart routing by default and only necessary or user-specified sites are accessed through a tunnel, Deeper Connect maintains a smart routing database internally and also allows users to add new routing options by themselves.
We are now located in San Jose, California, and have direct access to https://whatismyipaddress.com/. We can still see our IP address.
If you want to see the effect of DPN through IP changes, you can manually specify whatismyipaddress.com to be accessed through Canada’s tunnel:
Or use the full routing mode, which assigns all Internet access through a tunnel in Canada.
Then we close the browser (in order to clear the browser’s DNS cache) and after reopening it and accessing whatismyipaddress.com again, we can see that the IP address has changed.
2. Why does the network testing software show a big drop in the speed of my Internet connection?
When the speed testing software does the performance test, it may be that all the traffic goes through a certain tunnel, so only the performance of a specific tunnel is measured. This performance does not represent the overall performance of Deeper Connect. If you really want to test the overall forwarding performance of Deeper Connect, you need to use the DPN disable mode in order to have an accurate performance test.
The Future of DPN
DPN is more than just a better VPN, its true merit lies in connecting Internet users from all over the world to a decentralized network. Collectively, all Deeper Connect devices build a next-generation Internet infrastructure that is completely in the hands of users. Users can not only share bandwidth through the DPN network, but also store user-created text, images, audio, and video content through Deeper Connect, and distribute and share them through the DPN network. In this new DPN network, all the functions of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube can be re-implemented in a decentralized form, but unlike Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, the users of the DPN network will enjoy full sovereignty over all their data, becoming the real owners of the next generation Internet. | https://medium.com/@deeper-network/a-101-on-dpns-bd5e2b7c9e25 | ['Deeper Network'] | 2021-08-12 12:29:58.901000+00:00 | ['Cybersecurity', 'Blockchain', 'Deepernetwork', 'Decentralization', 'VPN'] |
The best smart lock for a keyless home | While traditional lock-and-key systems have improved over time, the basic mechanism hasn’t really changed since the first lock was invented more than a thousand years ago: A piece of metal that is just the right shape pushes pins inside a lock into the proper position, allowing the lock mechanism to turn. As a society, it’s been tough to replace a system that has worked reasonably reliably for literally a millennium.
Updated December 29, 2020 to add our BrillLock Fingerprint Door Lock review. Unlike most of the products in this roundup, the BrillLock is an entry handle lockset, not a deadbolt. It doesn’t come with an app, can’t connect to your smartphone, and Wi-Fi and it can’t be integrated into a broader smart home system, but its relatively inexpensive at $75.
Are smart locks really better?You can thank the hospitality industry for finally pushing locks into the digital age. Hotels learned long ago that keys are easily lost, expensive to replace, and simple to bypass, as thieves can pick locks or simply make copies of a key to allow for unfettered future access. On the flipside, hotel guests have readily accepted key cards (and in some cases, smartphone-based solutions) as the primary means of getting into their room. The electronic solution is just so much simpler. Lost hotel key card? Replacing it is no big deal.
But the biggest benefit of electronic entry systems is that they are highly configurable. Digital locks can be changed at a moment’s notice (which is why that old hotel key card in your wallet isn’t good for anything), and the property owner can generate a record of when each door was opened. In a more advanced setting, different keys can be generated for the same lock, so a homeowner can tell when each member of the family came in, or when the housekeeper arrived.
Whether you have a teenager who tends to break curfew or merely want to give temporary access to houseguests, service providers, or Airbnbers, smart locks are an incredible upgrade over the old way of doing things. Ready to make the jump to smart lock technology? Here are our top picks of the market at the moment.
[ Further reading: A smart home guide for beginners ]Best smart lock overall Kwikset Halo Touch Read TechHive's reviewSee itOut with the keypad, in with the fingerprint scanner—and a few other welcome changes to make this lock a winner.
Some will argue that we should have named the Level Touch our top pick in this category—it earned a higher score, after all—but Level treats iOS users better than it does Android users. Kwikset also ditches the old familiar keypad in favor of a fingerprint reader on its latest smart losck. This enabled the company to dramatically shrink the footprint the lock presents on the exterior side of your door. Kwikset also gives you the option of opening the lock with a conventional key, in the event the reader won’t recognize an authorized fingerprint (should your skin prune up after a dip in the pool, for instance).
Runner-up Level Touch Read TechHive's review$329.00MSRP $329.00See iton Level HomeLevel gets external hardware, touch-sensitive opening, and more features in a compelling—but expensive—smart lock system.
The minimalist Level Touch looks as good as it operates and is our highest-rated smart lock. The reason we’ve named it runner-up, versus best-of-the-best in this category, is that it can be remotely controlled only with an iOS device. The Android version of the Level app includes every feature the iOS app does, with that one important exception.
Best retrofit smart lock Level Bolt Read TechHive's review$229.00MSRP $229.00See iton Level HomeLevel’s “invisible” lock lives up to its promise, giving any deadbolt smart features with no change to your exterior hardware.
The August Smart Lock Pro has been deposed. Level Home’s Level Bolt is our new favorite retrofit smart lock, thanks in large measure to its ability to disappear. The smart components of the Bolt hide inside your door, where they replace the interior mechanical elements of your existing deadbolt. You re-attach your existing interior and exterior components, so that your door’s overall aesthetic doesn’t change in the least.
Runner-up August Wi-Fi Smart Lock Read TechHive's reviewSee itAugust adds Wi-Fi while shrinking the overall size of its hardware considerably, making this a better retrofit option than ever.
Weighing the convenience of Wi-Fi versus the visual appeal of the zero footprint that the Bluetooth-only Level Lock offers was tough, but Level Lock won out in the end. Hey, achieving runner-up status in TechHive’s coverage is no easy accomplishment, and if the convenience of Wi-Fi outweighs aesthetics in your mind, then this is the retrofit smart lock to buy.
Best budget smart lock Wyze Lock Read TechHive's review$99.99MSRP $99.99See iton Wyze LabsWyze continues to rule the budget smart home world with this good-enough lock that’s half the price of some competitors.
Wyze Labs has a well-earned reputation for produce bang-for-the-buck smart home products, and its new Wyze Lock deadbolt converter is certainly no exception. Fit this device to your existing deadbolt, plug in the included Wi-Fi bridge, and you’ll convert your dumb deadbolt into a modern smart home device that can be opened with your existing key, and you can’t argue with its less-than-$100 asking price.
Most innovative smart lock Lockly Vision Read TechHive's review$399.99MSRP $399.99See iton Home DepotLockly Vision successfully integrates two complex smart home devices—a deadbolt lock and a video doorbell—into a single, compelling security device.
The Lockly Vision reduces the number of security devices you’ll need to deploy on your porch by combining a powerful smart lock with a great video doorbell. It’s not perfect—its big, bulky, and not very very attractive—but there’s nothing else like it on the market.
What to consider when shoppingHow do you pick a smart lock? (No pun intended.) This is a young and wildly immature space, and many products on the market are still extremely rough around the edges. Even top products can balk when dealing with old or stiff deadbolts, doors that don’t shut well, or environments where non-standard fixtures are in use. The bottom line is that it’s tough to declare that any product is universally perfect for every home. That said, here are some key considerations to take into account to help you narrow down your shopping list.
Bluetooth Special Interest GroupHow smart is it? An important caveat to consider first: Some “smart locks” don’t work with a smartphone app or any smart home networking hubs at all; they’re really just electronic locks that use a code instead of a key to open up. One step up from that, you’ll find Bluetooth-only locks. These work with a smartphone app, but can’t be monitored remotely or via a smart home system. That’s fine if you’re looking to get rid of the keys in your pocket, but less impressive if you want to make your entrance portals a true part of your home network.
Replace or retrofit? You’re forgiven if you don’t want to replace your antique doorknob on your vintage Victorian with a metallic device that looks like it would be more at home keeping people out of a strip mall bank branch. A sizeable number of smart lock products don’t require you to replace all your existing hardware. Instead, they are installed on the inside of the door only, replacing only the interior part of the deadbolt. You can continue to use a standard key from the outside or open the lock via a smartphone app.
SamsungSmart home hub integration If you have an existing hub like the Wink Hub 2, Samsung SmartThings, or an Apple TV, you’ll want to ensure your chosen smart lock is compatible from the start. Many smart locks support Bluetooth, so they work with your phone, but lack the technology needed to connect with your home network. Some Bluetooth locks, like the Yale Assure system and the August Smart Lock, offer a radio module as an add-on to connect to your home network. If you’re using a smart home hub like the Samsung SmartThings or Wink Hub, look for a lock that supports Z-Wave or ZigBee, instead.
Alternate entry means Forgot your phone at the office? How will you get in the house? Physical key? Numeric keypad? Wait for your spouse to arrive? Myriad different approaches are available.
Power backup What do you do if the batteries inside the lock die—and you’re stuck outside? Some locks allow for emergency power to be applied should this happen. Yale’s Real Living locks feature external posts to which you can connect a 9-volt battery, giving you enough juice to get the door open. Other models retain the traditional key cylinder for backup.
Geofencing Bad about manually locking the door when you leave? A geofencing system automatically locks the door when it detects your phone has left the vicinity, and can be set to automatically open up when it finds you’ve come home.
Guest access features Most smart locks let you set up temporary keys for houseguests, which you can delete when they’ve returned home. Smarter systems even let you set time restrictions around when each access code can be used.
Our smart lock reviews 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/@sofia27996322/the-best-smart-lock-for-a-keyless-home-57785acbe1d6 | [] | 2021-01-16 04:14:40.602000+00:00 | ['Cutting', 'Gear', 'Music', 'Streaming'] |
Questions about Justice | Questions about Justice
This is once more my ‘common sense’ science; asking questions driven by some personal thinking about a subject. I’ve been asking these questions for years. I see some headway being made in answering some. But as a whole, justice deeply needs some innovative clear minded thinking. I hope this helps.
Questions
Is having a ‘attacker’ and a ‘defender’ in front of a judge and or jury the best way to unfold the truth?
This method seems very natural. That’s how it started deep in history. A farmer comes to the chief to complain about his neighbour and both get heard. And then the chief decides. Yet in modern times we have so many added complexities and circumstances, while Justice looks so very much like Roman times. Class justice is back. The one that can put the most money, time and effort into the case wins way too often. What other ways can we imagine to unfold the truth? I understand the police often has a tunnel vision, at times may even tamper with the evidence to make sure the ‘right’ one gets caught. Apparently 10–25% of prisoners is innocent (varying per country and justice systems). Deep research and testing of other ways, should have way more importance in law schools.
One of the development out of this question is mediation in light cases. Because you don’t want to just announce and ‘winner’ and a ‘loser’ in tricky cases between neighbours. Their relationship after the case matters as well.
Since people are all different, should the law also not be different for all?
Those who can afford lawyers, accountants and such will minimize their taxes and those who are bad at paperwork often end up paying too much, read often the people who are already poor, or artists. In Finland people with more income, pay higher fines when they break traffic rules. That makes more sense to me. The higher your position, the harsher the law should be, as a: you probably know the law better and b: you should be an example to others.
Yet how to rank, categorize people then? In a just way? If you can’t answer this question clearly, then you know that true justice is much harder than comparing actions to rules and then judging according to the rules about rule breaking. It needs to understand people on a personal level, to do true justice, beyond just blindly applying rules.
How can we grow beyond ritual revenge and serve society too?
Let’s go back to the village and the case of the two conflicted neighbours. The chief would even go beyond mediation. He would also consider long term effects of his decision for the whole village, and seek to improve relationships all around. In certain villages in Africa when someone commits a crime, the judge will even ask the village, why this person thought he needed to commit this crime and what the village could have done to prevent it. In modern society we’ve too often grown little beyond ritual revenge. So one addition to the question above would be, how to include the impact on society as a whole in the case? We have to wonder about this, because prison is a western invention. Many societies did without them. What were their best ways to deal with crime without the prison ‘solution’? What can we learn from them?
We see that in countries like Norway and the Netherlands where much thought and regulation is put into return to society after sentencing crime dwindles and prisons get closed. We see that in countries where people call out for harsh justice against crime, life gets harsher and prison populations grow. And that’s not even mentioning the corporate prison system of the USA, which has become a modern slavery system, pretending to be justice. Which leads to the next question..
Children ripped from parents to drive political interests makes for gruesome justice. Our souls feel that. But hey, it’s the law. Or is it?
Can we trust Justice to be represented by the law?
Our souls can feel crimes done to others. We can cry out about it, but, hey, we see officers uphold the law as written. Think here about chasing people of property they’ve lived on for ages, but no someone else has acquired property rights. Think children ripped from their parents across the US borders. Think the aforementioned corporate prison system in the USA, where there’s even pressure on judges and police to fill up the prisons. Wtf? Etc.
Those that determine the law, thus not always have the best intentions, let alone get things right. Political pressure, financial interests, bias among ruling classes all determine how the law is formulated. Mostly laws make sense. Yet we see more and more people seeking to influence the written laws to advance their interests and or ideas of society. And we also see that some perhaps aren’t even interested in solving crime for real. Some will even in the face of evidence of other ways diminish crime better, keep shouting for harsher laws, because it gets votes. Thus fear rules over sanity.
Then we expect always hard evidence, so taking precautions against slow pollutions like Roundup, that may cause cancer, may impact dwindling of bees and insects around the world, is very very hard. Financial interests rule over societal worries. What can we do about this?
We see that taking decisions in court according to the spirit of the law, like in the Netherlands, has some benefits over justice according the letter of the law, like in the USA. Justice according the letter of the law makes great income for lawyers. It has paranoia around precisely formulated contracts grow a whole industry. And it grows distrust in society as a whole.
So how can we do justice to what our souls, not our biases, feel about injustice? How can we protect the weak better from those that have the power to even change laws to their interests? If these questions aren’t at the forefront of politicians, judges and law makers, then trust in the law and government will dwindle. Because then the law doesn’t represent the people. The recent change in the USA for the essential mission of the police says it all. It went from “to protect and serve” to “enforce the law”. Yes, and read ‘with all force necessary’ after that.
If the laws don’t protect our collective future, then what do they defend?
Where are the laws and justice systems protecting our collective future?
Given the pressure by big corporate interests to ‘protect the economy’ we see our laws have a huge painful lack. We need ecological laws, protecting nature from ravaging industries. If people get away with destroying nature for profit and thus endangering our collective future, then you should know, the law isn’t working well enough, yet. How can we get faster more laws in place that make the slow poisoning of millions, as many industries are actually guilty of, a bigger crime than one single murder. How is it possible the worst that can happen now is some fines they often calculated in as a write off? How is it possible that we the general public must worry about our individual behavior (‘Don’t litter’) yet the industries as a whole keep on producing junk goods that destroy the planet large scale? Where is the pressure on them?
Note for law students and law makers: Innovate faster!
New tech always leads to new crimes. And often it takes too long for the law to get undated.
I’ve asked these questions to many people within the law and law students. Most sadly say they’re too busy studying the exact laws and regulations. They don’t have the time to wonder about the system around it all. Thus innovation of justice is slow. And in an increasingly complex world, where new systems are build daily, about which no laws have yet been made, we see people smartly misuse these gaps. I understand creation of laws should be slow and considerate. We don’t want wild emotions to become the basis for new laws. But we also want a safe society in a world where change increases almost daily. What can you do to improve it? | https://medium.com/fools-questions/questions-about-justice-637db84a4a4c | ['Floris Koot'] | 2019-11-05 13:18:50.374000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Law', 'Injustice', 'Prison Reform', 'Justice'] |
Don’t idolise | When Respect turns into Worship, things get messed up. This is, and always will be the rule of relationships. Not just romantic relationships, or blood relationships, but the ones where we actually thought we could learn from our idols.
You see someone, and you go through various stages. Recognition, Admiration, Love and then Respect. Recognition is when you observe a new entity amongst yourselves and realise that there is something about the person that makes you stand on your feet and strive to be higher than your normal selves. It is a selfless, motivated and ambitious step towards growth. Selfless because you have been inspired by the person’s aura, not your own greed. Then you start admiring them. Their work, their behaviour, their actions, empathy, persona and what not. You’re mesmerised, borderline obsessed. It’s when you look at a mentor/guru and wish to be like them. Act like them, talk like them, want to create an impact them. You look forward to seeing them and just be in their presence. Suddenly, you’re in love. In love with their work and ethics. This is the purest, the most ethereal form of love. You wish to instil in yourself the values that your Mentor/Guru preaches. You want to be their most obedient disciple. You want to be so perfect in your work just so that you can hear words of praise from them. Respect is something you always had for such a person. Because what is love without respect? And this respect is unhampered by outside circumstances. You deafen yourself against what other people say about the person. You start defending them, presenting their side of the story. And you’re actually not wrong in doing that either. After all, you’re in love. Also, the Mentor/Guru might themself may not even care about such opinions, which in turn makes you respect them even more.
But if you take one more step, and reach the idolisation stage, you’re doomed. Not because of something your Mentor/Guru did. But because you became Icarus and flew too close to the Sun. You begin observing things that would humanise them after a while. This would make you feel disappointed.
‘But you were not supposed to be like this Sir, I thought you were different.’
Did he promise such a thing? I believe he didn’t. At the end, he was just a human. Like you and I, made up of mistakes and characteristic intricacies.
The different thing about being Icarus in this scenario is that you get to learn from you mistake properly. Make new wings again for yourself and attempt another flight.
What do we do then? We learn. To never idolise. Recognise, Admire, Love and Respect. But never idolise. Remember what Harvey Dent said, ‘You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.’
So, we learn to not make someone our hero, because they eventually will not turn out to be what we thought they weren’t. And that’s fine. Heroes don’t exist on Earth, only Humans. | https://medium.com/@whomanshu/dont-idolise-9157ebc4bfad | ['Himanshu Yadav'] | 2020-11-21 17:12:38.313000+00:00 | ['Obsessions', 'Corporate Culture', 'Heroes', 'Guru', 'Solidarity'] |
10 YouTube Tips For Personal Brands | 9. SEO Your Videos
SEO is easy.
No, really.
If you want Google or YouTube to recommend your videos, you need to know what questions your audience is asking about your area of expertise. You can do this by doing your own keyword search into YouTube with FAQs your customers come to you about.
However, I like to use Ubersuggest. You can use the free version, or you can pay $29 and gather a years’ worth of keywords for you to pull from at any time. In Ubersuggest, all you have to do is type in something people might ask about your industry (for example: “YouTube tips for beginners” ), and they will give you endless amounts of suggestions — with data to help you choose the best ones!
Once you have some keyword options, go back to your Upload Defaults in your Studio and add 5–10 of these keywords as tags. You can erase the ones that aren’t relevant to your videos as you upload them.
Then all you have to do is add the keyword in the first sentence in your description, save the keyword as the name of your Thumbnail picture, and say the keyword in your video.
That’s all it takes to SEO your YouTube videos to show up in search results more frequently.
8. Offer a Freebie in Your YouTube Video
Audience retention is important to how your video performs on YouTube. If you want to walk away with just one tangible YouTube tip under your belt, let this be it.
The longer people watch your video, the more likely YouTube will recommend it to people who aren’t subscribers. How can you get people to watch your video until the end?
Besides having a branded opening line (which I talk about below), if you tell your audience in the very beginning that you have a surprise, giveaway, or freebie at the very end, chances are they’ll stick around.
There’s a chance that they might skip to the end to see what the big prize is, but they clicked on your video to learn something so that on top of the promise of a freebie might entice them to sit and listen to the whole thing.
You’ll up your chances of retaining their attention even more if you keep your video short and sweet. I recommend 5–10 minutes. I know that I personally might click away from a video when I see that it’s 15 minutes or more. People these days are looking for their answers quickly — so give that to them. And up the ante by telling them about your free webinar, eBook, or checklist that they can get in your description.
Having these freebies gives you the option to capture your audience’s email so that you don’t have to fight YouTube algorithms to make a sale to your ideal audience. You can use an email workflow system to stay in content contact with them. This much more intimate than social media because you contact them directly.
Even a small email list can turn into a $1k ROI!
RELATED: HOW TO MAKE YOUR BRAND GO VIRAL
7. Have a Killer Thumbnail
We’ve all heard about how essential thumbnails are, but what kind of thumbnails perform the best?
I think it depends on your industry. I recently did some research to see how my peers strutted their YouTube video thumbnails. I compared five different channels, and I looked at their Most Recent video uploads and their Most Popular YouTube videos.
While some of their recent video thumbnails where different from their most popular uploads, here’s what I realized all the thumbnails all had in common:
Use large text and graphics
Have 3–4 bright and bold colors
How-To titles performed the best
Screenshot photos (not curated/professional) as the thumbnail image
No two thumbnails look the same; a mix between 2–5 fonts
6. Be Consistent
Why is consistency so important when it comes to YouTube videos?
Think about your favorite TV show. You know that a new episode airs every week on Thursday at 7 PM. Without even consciously thinking about it, you become excited for Thursdays because you get to watch your favorite show.
It’s a part of your ritual.
When you don’t have a consistent YouTube schedule for your videos, you won’t be able to garner a reliable or committed audience, much less grow your subscriber count. When people don’t know when to show up, they won’t.
Make a point to upload at the same time and the same day every week if you want your channel to grow.
5. Brand Your Opening and Ending Lines
Again, let’s think about your favorite TV shows. What do they all have in common?
Opening credits.
That’s why when I say The Office, Friends, or How I Met Your Mother, you can instantly start humming the tune in your head. And while shows like Friends changed the clips from year to year that appears in their opening credit, the song remained the same.
You can take this approach with your own videos, but that would involve finding unique music that isn’t copyrighted. And you need it to be unique so that the music is associated with your videos.
Instead, what you can do is open up with the same line every week to welcome back your subscribers. And once you get people to binge-watch your videos, the familiarity will make them feel at home, making them more inclined to hit the ‘Subscribe’ button.
You can also use the same ending lines as a call-to-action for your videos. Remind them to subscribe, turn on notifications, follow you on social media, and/or tell them where they can find your latest product, service, or free offer.
4. Create a Series
If you want people to binge-watch your content, you need to create a series.
This is my favorite YouTube tip to give. People tend to overlook it even though it makes coming up with video ideas a lot easier.
For example, I might want to turn this blog into a YouTube video. This will help people get started with their YouTube channel, but there’s still a lot I can expand on to help personal brands get noticed.
This is when a series would come in handy for me — and my subscribers.
At the end of each video, I would tell my audience to come back next week (remember, same day and time!) for part 2 of this series. I could even start this video by letting my audience know that this is Part 1 of a series on Youtube Tips for Personal Brands. As I upload each part of the series, I would go back to the older videos and include links to the series in the description to make it easier for people to binge-watch my videos. I would also create a playlist specifically for this series.
If viewers click on one of your playlists, YouTube will automatically take them through your videos one-by-one without suggesting your competition’s videos.
RELATED: THE GUIDE ON HOW TO BECOME FAMOUS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
3. Promote it on Social Media
Like most things business, your YouTube subscriber count won’t grow if you upload and wait for the algorithms to turn in your favor.
You have to share your content.
There’s plenty of ways you can do this, but let me tell you my ritual:
Step 1: Share a link to your new video immediately on YouTube, Twitter, and Linkedin
Step 2: Embed your video in your blog or on Pinterest.
Step 3: Upload a clip of your video to Instagram or mention it in an Instagram caption.
Once you take the initial steps, remember to mention your video at least three times before your next upload (it takes 5–7 interactions before a customer recognizes a brand). You can also repurpose your YouTube video to create bite-size videos on IGTV, Tik Tok, or Reels for ready-made content.
2. Turn Your Video Into a Blog
YouTube videos and blogs both utilize search engine optimization. If you create a second piece of content (maybe with even more tips on the subject), you double your chances of people finding your content.
As I mentioned, this blog will probably be a YouTube video. Is there a link to it above? Watch the video and note the differences. There’s definitely more information in this blog, right?
So why would I create the same content twice?
For a few reasons:
Writing the blog beforehand made writing the video script easy. It boosts your SEO Having written content for your YouTube videos is helpful for the hearing impaired. The blog leads them to my leading platform — my website. This is where they will buy.
It doesn’t matter if you create the video first or the blog first. Just make sure you don’t let your video script (or your blog) go to waste.
1. Engage
Even though you can use SEO on YouTube, it’s still a social media channel. Which means you have to be social.
The best way to lead new subscribers to your channel is to comment on other videos. Show up on videos that your ideal client might watch and even comment on your competitor’s videos.
If you comment on the same ones consistently, they might start to notice and reply to you. This opens up the doorway for things such as collaborations, which can work wonders to double your subscriber count.
RELATED: WHAT IS A PERSONAL BRAND CONSULTANT?
Conclusion
These YouTube tips are worth visiting whether you’re brand new or a seasoned video content creator. The only real way to double your subscribers is to consistently keep an eye on these 10 aspects of your channel and to work on being more proactive about your personal brand!
Looking for more YouTube tips? Subscribe to my YouTube channel and grab a free personal branding consultation with me! | https://medium.com/@clairebahn/10-youtube-tips-for-personal-brands-2fc1025e9795 | ['Claire Bahn'] | 2021-03-16 16:59:07.430000+00:00 | ['YouTube', 'Reputation Management', 'Branding', 'Personal Development', 'Brand Strategy'] |
10 Morning Habits That Are Ruining Your Entire Day | 10 Morning Habits That Are Ruining Your Entire Day
We are creatures of habit. As much as we love to perceive ourselves as free-willed beings, we are mere puppets to every little habit that we pick up.
Bad habits loosen or break the strings that bond us to the puppet master, while the good ones make these bonds stronger. Loose or broken strings make us wayward ragdolls. Whereas, the strongly bound strings cause seamless movements, giving us a sense of control over our lives.
The puppet analogy above might seem like a bit of an exaggeration. But it’s true. Our habits make us who we are — they have the potential to change our lives.
That’s why starting your day with toxic habits can completely ruin your day. And in the long-run, they can snowball into disastrous consequences. On the flip side, good habits can drastically improve your day — and life — in ways you had never imagined.
1. Hitting snooze
“It’s time to go to war with yourself.” — David Goggins
Hitting snooze sets you up for failure, first thing in the day. While the world calls out to you, you choose to procrastinate your goals just to get in a few more minutes of sleep.
How it ruins your day
When you hit snooze, you unknowingly convince your mind that your goals for the day are insignificant. You set yourself up for failure by prioritizing laziness.
How to change it
Sleep on time : Sleeping on time is the best way to wake up on time. When you sleep early, you allow your body to get adequate sleep. And in turn, you don’t feel the need to hit snooze.
: Sleeping on time is the best way to wake up on time. When you sleep early, you allow your body to get adequate sleep. And in turn, you don’t feel the need to hit snooze. Don’t hit snooze before you leave your bed: Instead of setting up your alarm clock beside your bed, keep it far away from you. So when your alarm starts ringing in the morning, you have to get out of the comfort of your bed to turn it off. And well, once you’re out of bed, you’ve already overcome your urge to be lazy.
2. Checking your phone
The “infodemic” on your phone is enough to make you feel exhausted right after you wake up.
How it ruins your day
When you wake up from a peaceful slumber, your mind needs time to slowly build momentum for the day ahead.
But when you bombard yourself with unread emails, messages, and to-do lists, you get overwhelmed even before your day begins. Not to mention, you hijack your precious time and prime your brain for distraction.
How to change it
Flight mode it the night before: Put your phone on flight mode before you go to sleep and avoid getting distracted by early morning notification overloads.
Put your phone on flight mode before you go to sleep and avoid getting distracted by early morning notification overloads. Limit your phone usage during the day: Our toxic morning relationship with our phones is only a consequence of a bigger underlying issue — gratification addiction. This addiction is developed over the course of several days. So to limit your phone usage in the morning, limit your phone usage all day, every day.
3. Not hydrating enough
Eight hours of recommended nightly sleep may or may not dehydrate your body. But when you reach out for a cup of coffee instead of a glass of water, you choose to deny yourself of fuel that is vital for your body’s functioning.
How it ruins your day
Setting aside the benefits of hydrating in the morning, a glass of water even trains your brain to make better choices. When you start your day by choosing water over caffeine, you subconsciously prioritize your health.
As trivial as it may seem, this tiny morning decision can later impact all the other decisions you make throughout your day.
How to change it
Make water accessible: Set up a jar or bottle of water on your bedside table right before you sleep. This way you don’t have to remind yourself to hydrate after waking up.
Set up a jar or bottle of water on your bedside table right before you sleep. This way you don’t have to remind yourself to hydrate after waking up. Hydrate before breakfast: You’re likely to eat less if you drink water before breakfast. Conversely, you’re likely to drink less water after breakfast.
4. Not moving your body
“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’” — Muhammad Ali
As long as you’re working out consistently, where it fits your schedule barely matters. However, working out in the morning can be far more beneficial than working out anytime else.
How it ruins your day
A lot happens to your body when you don’t work out. For starters, your blood pressure rises and your oxygen intake dwindles. Not to mention, a lack of feel-good endorphins makes you grumpy.
How to change it
Take one step at a time: Anything simple that gets your blood flowing is good enough. You can go for a walk. Bang out a few push-ups. Do a little dance routine. Or pretty much anything else you're comfortable with.
Anything simple that gets your blood flowing is good enough. You can go for a walk. Bang out a few push-ups. Do a little dance routine. Or pretty much anything else you're comfortable with. Don’t set long-term goals: Fitness is a journey, not a destination. It is nothing but a consequence of all the morning workouts you decided not to skip. So just think about how you can improve today or tomorrow’s morning workout.
Fitness is a journey, not a destination. It is nothing but a consequence of all the morning workouts you decided not to skip. So just think about how you can improve today or tomorrow’s morning workout. Journal your progress: Do not rely on daily weigh-ins. Instead, track and journal all the physical feats you achieved throughout your day. This way, you stay motivated and stick to the habit of working out.
5. Not making your bed
“If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.” — William H. McRaven
Albert Einstien pointed out that “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” Well, a cluttered desk may be a sign of a genius mind, but an untidy bed isn’t.
How it ruins your day
An unkempt bed not only disrupts your sleep at night but also causes anxiety when you return home after a long day of work.
Making your bed in the morning gives you an early sense of achievement. Along with that, it brings more tranquility to the second half of your day.
How to change it
At most, it takes 10 minutes: Just remind yourself that it’ll take you no more than 10 minutes to clean your bed. But if you delay it for later, you’ll either lose some precious sleeping time or you’ll end up sleeping on an uncomfortable bed.
6. Not having a concrete plan for your day
Having a plan for the day does not pry away your freedom. Instead, it gives you more freedom to fit in mundane activities while taming your workload.
How it ruins your day
Without a plan, you’re mentally unprepared for the day. As you proceed with your day without a plan, you unknowingly end up wasting your energy on things that are not a priority. Consequently, the higher priority tasks of your day are left undone.
How to change it
Avoid having stringent time slots: Almost every new day brings in unforeseeable commitments and plans. So you’re bound to fail if you keep fixed time slots for every petty thing you do. Embrace some daily rituals, but for other tasks, give yourself deadlines — not time slots.
Almost every new day brings in unforeseeable commitments and plans. So you’re bound to fail if you keep fixed time slots for every petty thing you do. Embrace some daily rituals, but for other tasks, give yourself deadlines — not time slots. Prioritize: Based on their relative priority, rank each goal for the day. Then starting from the one that is of the highest priority, complete one goal at a time. This way, even if you’re not able to achieve every goal you desired, you’ll at least have the high priority tasks out of the way.
7. Having a heavy carb-loaded breakfast
Working out early in the morning is the key to having more energy throughout the day. And complementing it with a healthy breakfast is even more so.
A dysfunctional approach towards your diet in the morning can not only contribute to weight gain but can also make you feel lethargic all day long.
How it ruins your day
Most carbs (the ones with a high glycemic index) tend to boost the release of tryptophan and serotonin. Both of which are sleep-inducing chemicals in the brain. Due to this, a heavy carb intake can make you extremely sleepy, and in turn, hamper your productivity.
How to change it
Don’t abstain, only delay: Instead of having a carbohydrate-rich meal during the day, have one at night. It’ll help you fall asleep faster.
Instead of having a carbohydrate-rich meal during the day, have one at night. It’ll help you fall asleep faster. Don’t starve: You don’t have to completely cut out carbs from your diet. Just make sure that your first meal has more protein and healthy fats.
8. Putting off tough tasks for later
“If you eat a frog first thing in the morning, that will probably be the worst thing you do all day.” — Mark Twain
Mark Twain sums it up pretty well. Once you address the elephant in the room, everything else seems relatively easier.
How it ruins your day
A difficult task is like an itch you can’t scratch. The more you put it off, the more you dread it.
By not holding it off, you spare yourself from some unnecessary stress and save yourself a lot more time.
How to change it
Don’t think, just act: The more you waste your time thinking about how difficult a task is, the more you give yourself excuses to procrastinate. Stop waiting for a Eureka moment and just do it. Even if you initially mess up, you’ll at least build some much-needed momentum.
The more you waste your time thinking about how difficult a task is, the more you give yourself excuses to procrastinate. Stop waiting for a Eureka moment and just do it. Even if you initially mess up, you’ll at least build some much-needed momentum. Create a framework: A framework — rigid or concrete — allows you to go from point A to B seamlessly. It also helps you enter a state of flow where a once difficult task becomes extremely easy.
9. Multi-tasking
Multi-tasking is a recipe for disaster. Forget achieving anything, you end up wasting crucial time and screw up multiple things. ALL AT ONCE.
How it ruins your day
Multi-tasking is like a mirage. You hopefully look at it at the beginning of your day, believing that it’ll help you do more. But the more you do it, the more you realize that you’re getting nothing done. Starting your day with multiple simultaneous tasks only leads to more confusion later on.
How to change it
Turn off distractions: I’ll keep this simple — turn off distractions and focus on one thing at a time.
10. Keeping your showers too hot
I would be lying if I told you I take cold showers every morning. But that does not mean my showers are steaming hot. As much as I love relaxing hot showers, I hate the after-effects they come with.
How it ruins your day
A hot morning shower can inspire you…to go back to sleep.
There’s some science behind this. According to Dr. Dianne Augelli, “Cooling down is a signal that tells us we’re supposed to go to sleep.” Because of this, hot morning showers prompt your body to slowly cool off and ultimately trigger sleep.
How to change it | https://medium.com/@dhruvs48/10-morning-habits-that-are-ruining-your-entire-day-633f3b000c9 | ['Dhruv Sharma'] | 2020-12-26 20:02:20.416000+00:00 | ['Morning Routines', 'Advice', 'Habits', 'Productivity'] |
A Mother’s Battle Against a Narcissistic Father | I was just a newborn when my mum had a recurrent nightmare. She was swimming in the ocean, holding me in her arms. Suddenly, I started slipping and she couldn’t catch me back. I sank to the bottom of the water as if I had been dragged from the surface by mysterious forces.
When she was pregnant with me, she almost miscarried. The midwife urged her to consult a therapist.
“Madam, I don’t know what the source of stress in your life is, but if it goes on you will lose your child.”
At 40, driven by a strong desire to have a second and last child, she decided to consult a psychiatrist to pull herself together. After only a few sessions, the psychiatrist, a specialist of the infamous “cluster b”, which includes narcissistic, histrionic, sociopathic, and borderline personality disorders, asked her the following question:
“Isn’t your companion a bit of a mythomaniac?”
My mother laughed at him. She couldn’t have been lied to for so many years.
The following week, worried for the father of her future child, who had to be hospitalized for a week due to his cancer, she decided to call his parents. Maybe they had heard from him.
I can only imagine her reaction when they told her that he was actually on vacation in their country house. They had never heard about a cancer.
Her world fell apart. She knew my father’s unpredictable temper was abnormal, and she had suffered during pretty much all of their relationship. But he had convinced her he would become a better man because learning he had cancer had been a profound shake.
Here is what he said to her when she left him:
“If it’s a girl I’ll steal her from you, if it’s a boy I’ll never give him anything.”
I was a baby girl. A 14 years-long legal battle ensued, at the end of which a judge finally changed the shared custody order so I wouldn’t have to visit my father anymore. Thanks to therapy, my Mum and I were able to understand that my father had a narcissistic personality disorder.
A person with a narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is more than narcissistic
Like all personality disorders, narcissism exists on a spectrum. We can all be comforted by our egos when our peers give us negative feedback. We all have trouble in judging our worth and the legitimacy of our actions objectively.
However, people who bear an excessive narcissistic tendency have built a personality around an infallible “I” who cannot tolerate being challenged. A sense of self to which unlimited freedom would be granted to protect their fragile ego. A self that can destroy if it feels attacked. At the edge of paranoia and delirium, an irrational ego that goes into fits of rage because it cannot manage its emotions (this is a common characteristic of patients in the cluster B).
The mental health damages of having a parent with NDP are forever engraved in a child’s mind. | https://medium.com/@anahidet/a-mothers-battle-against-a-narcissistic-father-c1b87c99d3a5 | ['Anahide Tinghir'] | 2020-11-26 12:35:02.694000+00:00 | ['Abuse', 'Parenting', 'Children', 'Trauma', 'Narcissism'] |
Word Paint. Paintings are just thoughts created in… | Word Paint
© victoria forest
Paintings are just thoughts created in a variety of dialects.
Sculptures are just imprisoned ideas taking on physical form.
Words are random graphics meant to move your soul.
Photography stops time.
Is this piece too heavy? Weighted for you?
No- keep going, stay with me here. I got you.
With all of the hiding from the virus, the world, we go into our own closets of self expression and self doubt/fear. Are we creating more?
Is this The New Renaissance?
© victoria forest
Think of the power of the physical raging storm that brings us indoors for safety. Now envision the invisible hurricane of lies, oppression and hate spread like blood rain, never ceasing, over all of your mental health.
Does this madness bring us inside ourselves?
Art endures. Expression is the culture and heartbeat of America.
Words survive like the Phoenix rising. Words are art forms creativity placed to illuminate those who take time to read.
The gravity of this transends time. Can you hear me? These words I type have a voice. Loud to some, inexplicable to many.
We are living history.
© victoria forest
Are we during these incredible times being moved to spiritually awaken our inner madness, weirdness and creativity to give a new voice to the universe?
The New Renaissance.
Word Paint.
No…I am not high. Just Raw at 2 am.
victoria — (lower case this morning) | https://medium.com/raw-at-2-am/the-new-renaissance-word-paint-d08b63e019a0 | ['Victoria Forest'] | 2020-12-11 07:15:40.493000+00:00 | ['Mindfulness', 'Words', 'Art', 'Inspiration', 'Photography'] |
Blockchain — Demystified: Why is it the buzzword? | ARCHITECTURE BASICS
This is where the fun begins. A blockchain can be used in a lot of ways. Let us explore the very first-way blockchain was used in.
Let us assume we have our own electronic currency and want to transact with a set of people in a network. Let us call our currency MahiCoin. (This article was published a day after MSD’s birthday :D) Assume that MahiCoins can be exchanged with real currency. This makes preventing false transactions in the chain extremely important. The Blockchain protocol comes with a set of rules on how this can be prevented and who keeps the chain going.
This chain can also be called as a ‘ledger’ since it holds transaction data only. Assume there are three people — Alice, Bob and Charles each of whom has 100 MahiCoins. Since the ledger is a singly linked list, the first-ever block does not have a predecessor and usually contains information on the starting amount of each person. This block, the first block in the chain, is called a genesis block.
Since all the members are in the same system, they are connected with each other and they form a peer-to-peer network. This is a necessary property in a blockchain. In a peer-to-peer network, every node (the computer that the person uses) is connected with every other node and therefore can transact without the need of any middleman. Every node will have the public key of every other node so that transactions can be sent or verified. Further, every node has a copy of the ledger in its local system.
Peer-to-peer networks. Every node has a copy of the entire chain. Source: gyfcat
Blockchain networks are peer to peer networks.
Coming back to our example, if Alice wants to send 10 MahiCoins to Bob, Alice will digitally sign the transaction and send the transaction to Bob and Charles as well (basically every other node) on the network. Other nodes will add the block to its local copy of the chain after verifying the digital signature. This gives every node the power to accept(or reject) a transaction, making the entire network decentralized.
Blockchain networks are decentralized. There is no single authority of power.
Assuming there are no errors and no malicious intentions from Alice, Bob and Charles will add a block to their chain with the transaction details (The transaction that removes 10 MahiCoins from Alice and deposits them to Bob).
WHAT DOES THE BLOCK ACTUALLY CONTAIN?
The block should necessarily contain the hash of the previous block, the data (sender, receiver and the amount to transfer) and the hash of all the contents. The data should be digitally signed.
THE SYSTEM LOOKS INHERENTLY FLAWED!!!
At the surface level, one can easily find out a hundred reasons on how to fool the system. For example, since no one is really interested in knowing from where the digitally signed transaction is coming from, Charles can add a block to his own copy of the chain stating Bob has transferred 50 MahiCoins to Alice and transmit the data. (This is impossible since Charles cannot sign the transaction, but for the sake of argument assume he can). Further, what if Charles sends a transaction stating he transferred 500 MahiCoins to Bob but has only 100 MahiCoins in his account? Since the transaction is digitally signed, every node will assume it is valid and all the nodes will think that Bob has 600 MahiCoins!!! This is where mutual agreement protocols come in.
MUTUAL AGREEMENT — JUST BECAUSE YOU ALONE THINK ITS RIGHT, IT ISN'T
Mutual agreement protocols are an essential part of a blockchain since they determine whether the block actually gets added to the chain. (By protocol, I just mean a set of rules and regulations). At every node, after receiving a transaction and before adding it to the local copy of the chain, the transaction is validated. In a validation process, after verifying the digital signature, every node will go through its local copy of the chain and verify whether the transaction is actually valid. That is, whether the sender has enough balance (according to it). After verifying, it transmits a “yes/no” value to all other nodes, with “yes” being the transaction is valid. If majority of the nodes agree, only then the block is added to the chain. As you can see, the entire structure is based on democracy. This is the fundamental criteria for block addition.
Validation in a peer-to-peer network. Source: gyfcat
In some cases, this process can get computationally expensive as hash computations are involved for block addition and is outsourced to a set of nodes called miners. This solves a lot of interesting problems, but more on that, we shall discuss in the upcoming article.
Every transaction is validated before adding to the chain
THE LONGEST CHAIN PROPERTY
There is another problem. If Alice adds a block on her own and Bob does the same for his chain, which chain is considered final?
Their local chains will start having different lengths. Since they transmit their transaction to every other node, some nodes can accept or reject the transaction. Thereby, the other nodes will start having varying lengths or branch out into a separate chain based on timestamp information. To solve this problem, The node that has the longest chain is assumed to be correct. Every other node synchronizes that chain with its local chain. This longest chain notion is based on the fact that false transactions are rejected by more than half of the nodes. | https://medium.com/spidernitt/blockchain-demystified-why-is-it-the-buzzword-29e2fcebc7da | ['N Praveen Chandhar'] | 2020-07-15 18:51:20.407000+00:00 | ['Tutorial', 'Getting Started', 'Blockchain', 'Spider', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
Why, How and When to Scale your Features | Feature scaling can vary your results a lot while using certain algorithms and have a minimal or no effect in others. To understand this, let’s look why features need to be scaled, varieties of scaling methods and when we should scale our features.
Why Scaling
Most of the times, your dataset will contain features highly varying in magnitudes, units and range. But since, most of the machine learning algorithms use Eucledian distance between two data points in their computations, this is a problem.
If left alone, these algorithms only take in the magnitude of features neglecting the units. The results would vary greatly between different units, 5kg and 5000gms. The features with high magnitudes will weigh in a lot more in the distance calculations than features with low magnitudes.
Tiny Features vs Mega Features
To supress this effect, we need to bring all features to the same level of magnitudes. This can be acheived by scaling.
How to Scale Features
There are four common methods to perform Feature Scaling.
Standardisation:
Standardisation replaces the values by their Z scores.
This redistributes the features with their mean μ = 0 and standard deviation σ =1 . sklearn.preprocessing.scale helps us implementing standardisation in python.
2. Mean Normalisation: | https://medium.com/greyatom/why-how-and-when-to-scale-your-features-4b30ab09db5e | ['Sudharsan Asaithambi'] | 2017-12-22 08:22:31.437000+00:00 | ['Artificial Intelligence', 'Machine Learning', 'Data Science', 'Data Analysis', 'Business Intelligence'] |
My Six Month Medium Review | My Six Month Medium Review
author’s own photo
I joined Medium in June 2020. I was feeling a little tired by the repetitiveness of the days and saddened by the inability to meet up and continue my creative writing group. There had been various Medium posts on my news feeds for some time, but I hadn’t really grasped what Medium was until then.
I had been finding it hard to write. As many others have also discovered, the constant anxiety that the pandemic had brought into our lives made it difficult to take that leap from reality into the comforts of letting loose all those accumulated thoughts and hoped for pearls of wisdom.
What had I got to lose? Nothing. And so I signed up for the start of a journey into an unknown region.
At first, I simply read lots. I explored the vast numbers of pages and topics. I looked for a place that would be comfortable for me. I found Illumination and realised that the ethos of this publication met so many of my ideals that it would be a perfect home. And so it proved to be. One of the few publications that embraced every aspect of writing, particularly encouraged poetry, shouted out to writers from every possible background to share their words and experiences, and was a growing concern.
I began to make friends. I had found somewhere to spend time which felt good and, provided I didn’t read all the posts about Covid, gave me a haven away from the worries of the world.
I have never been one for blowing my own trumpet. I am happier trundling along in the background. I am not comfortable with having friends who are not really friends, having thousands of supposed followers, the artificial hype of social media. It seems to be an essential part of living these days. Not only must you be yourself, but you must also have an on-line persona. What I have discovered with Medium is that there is a genuine appreciation of each others writing which adds a personal value to the concept of followers.
By October I had posted many stories and was approached by Liam Ireland to consider joining the editorial team of Illumination. This has become a lifeline through the long, wet, autumn and winter so far. I love helping new writers make their mark. I get a perverse pleasure in identifying plagiarists and outing them. There is huge joy in discovering exciting, stimulating stories and I have found the other editors and Dr Mehmet Yildiz to be a delight to work with.
You may ask if I have made my fortune on Medium? Definitely not. The story that has earned the most is
How to Fill Your Store-Cupboard of Ideas | by Thewriteyard | ILLUMINATION-Curated | Oct, 2020 | Medium
and that earned the princely sum of $1.44.
The story that got the most views was ,
You Don’t Always Have to Be in Front | by Thewriteyard | ILLUMINATION-Curated | Medium
with 214 views.
Only one of my stories so far has been curated, and that was one I wrote for the publication Being Well .
How My Experiences in Medicine Induced an Underachievement Mindset | by Thewriteyard | BeingWell | Medium
Did that bring me fame? No, it did not. But it did help to boost my morale. 99 views, so hardly a success on the popularity front. | https://medium.com/illumination/my-six-month-medium-review-fae66f12356b | [] | 2020-12-26 11:10:34.785000+00:00 | ['Review', 'Creative Writing', 'Illumination', 'Progress'] |
Five Steps to Nail Your Pitch Deck — Part II | Five Steps to Nail Your Pitch Deck — Part II
What you need to know to score a second meeting
DevOps Storytelling
3 minutes and 44 seconds. That’s the average amount of time a VC spends reading a 20-page early-stage pitch deck. 12 seconds a page — if the investors read it at all.
Having worked as a VC for many years and reviewed thousands of pitch decks, I can tell you there’s only one way to get investors’ attention: Namely, your pitch deck has got to tell a compelling story.
As discussed in Part I of this article — ”Find your story” — it’s a common misconception that you need to cram all the details about what makes your idea unique into your pitch deck.
Instead, you’ve got to build your pitch deck with one goal in mind: Tell a great story, fast. VCs meet roughly 50% of the companies they see, and if you’ve targeted the right investor, your chances at a first meeting are as good as 90%. Scoring a second meeting is the real challenge: VCs invite fewer than 20% of the companies they see for a first meeting to the second meeting (where, by the way, investors really start engaging with the nitty gritty of your business proposal).
In Part I of this article, we looked at how to find your story. Now that you’ve got it, let’s get into the weeds of how to communicate that story effectively.
Drawing on my extensive experience on both sides of the table, I’ve developed a process that will help you turn your company’s story into a winning pitch deck. I call it “ConDes” and in this article I’ll explain how it works.
From DevOps to ConDes
Remember the days when software developers wrote and deployed code and then forgot about it, while operations had to tackle all the issues? As we all know, that process didn’t work well.
So about a decade ago, software experts came up with a new system. They understood how much better it is to integrate “Development,” the department creating the code, and “Operations,” the department using that code, and “DevOps” was born.¹ The idea was to make the two teams sync up in order to work more holistically. The result? Better, faster, more efficient work products. DevOps is more than a process or a set of tools — it’s a culture and a philosophy.
My clients would never question the superiority of DevOps when it comes to software development. But when it comes to their pitch decks, many of them — especially engineers — act as if the Dev and the Ops are still separated. Meaning, they first prepare the content of the pitch deck and then add some random design to make it look “good”. The result? Pretty “meh.”
Based on a decade of experience, I’ve seen how much pitch deck storytelling can benefit from a DevOps approach. Meaning, merging the two elements of pitch deck crafting — storytelling (“Content”) and visual (“Design”) — from the very beginning.
That’s why I developed “ConDes”, a process that makes it easy to achieve such a merge. In this article I’ll explain the basic principles I use to get an optimal pitch deck.
How does ConDes work?
Remember, our goal is to generate emotions and keep the investor attentive across all of our slides. Therefore, when you think about WHAT you want to say, you have to think also about HOW you want to say it. As a rule of thumb:
a beautifully designed slide with part of the data is much more effective than an ugly slide with all of the data.
ConDes has 5 steps and is similar to the production of a Hollywood movie. There is pre-production, production, and post-production. Some steps focus more on content, the others more on design, but they go hand-in-hand all along.
ConDes — five steps to get a winning pitch deck
Step I — Find Your Story
In Part I of this article we explained how to find your story. Next, you create your storyboard.
A storyboard is a sequence of drawings that represent the slide deck you plan to create. The purpose of the storyboard is not to go into all the details of each slide, but rather set the flow of the story. That means you should keep each slide simple. (You can add more detailed notes along the side, if it makes it easier for you to keep the slide minimal). Here’s an example:
The storyboard
Step II — give your story colors
Every company needs a corporate design. The corporate design takes your company story (also known as corporate identity) and reflects it visually in a logo, color palette, typography, webpage, business card, swag and more. Corporate design is a major building block in building your brand. And as barriers to entry continue to fall driven by cloud technologies, competition among startups will increase and your brand may be the only differentiator between you and your competitors.²
Should your company already have a corporate design, then you should verify it fits to the story you decided to tell in Step I. I’ve run into cases where the design was created early on in the life of the company and no longer matches the story you want to tell (for example, you want to tell a bold story but you’re using only cool colors).
If you don’t have a corporate design, now is the time to create one. You can use internal (e.g. your UI/UX designer) or external resources (e.g. agencies) to help you find your design. Usually, the process involves a brand workshop that will help the designer understand your story and how you imagine it to look and feel in reality.
The outcome of this step should be a slide template together with a color palette and font guidelines.
Extract from the Brand Identity book of Daedalean AG
Step III — production
Now it’s time to create slides. But before you use the shiny new design, first translate the storyboard into real slides. The slides should have a white background and be populated with text (and maybe some rudimentary graphs). First put ALL your thoughts on the slide. Later, you’ll boil it down to the key messages, so don’t worry if there’s a lot of text. The goal is to make sure you describe in detail what the goal of each slide is (i.e. why do you believe that if investors see this information they are more likely to invest). See the slide below to track development.
Once the slides are ready and you feel the story flows well, then it is time to match content with design. When I think about a slide and the content I want to deliver, I don’t think about it in a textual form. I imagine the slide and think about how the content is visually represented. For example, should the market data be represented by text, or by a picture, table, line chart, bar chart or creative infographic? You have to choose the way your content will best be remembered. Use images (proprietary images are much better than free stock pictures — it’s time for your kids and pets to become stars).
The outcome of this step is a deck with all your content presented in a basic design format.
Step IV — make your slides unique
At this stage, a designer takes your slides and makes them one of a kind. Investors see hundreds of presentations every year. They know by heart all the built-in shapes and SmartArt powerpoint and the like have to offer. My advice —
If you want to impress an investor, use original graphic design. New fonts, illustrations or design elements.
This is the magic that makes design beautiful and appealing to our Limbic brain.
When your designer is ready with the results, your work will be transformed. Get ready for a “Wow” moment and a case of goosebumps. If you don’t experience that, then the design isn’t ready yet!
Step V — Finalize and dry-run
Once the design work is done, it’s time to check that the story still works and flows. Sometimes we over-design a slide and omit too much data. It is a fine balance between too much and too little data and you need to make sure you nail it. Now’s the time!
It’s also a good time to start working on your delivery by doing a dry-run with other members of the company, family, or friendly investors you have a close relationship with. Once you start using the deck, you’ll notice there are still a few hiccups. You’ll see where things should be shorter or longer.
A big warning — at this stage, when you do final content touches, there is a temptation to skip involving the designer (because you want to save time or money). This is a big mistake. The design was built with the content in mind. If you add or omit even a single sentence, this can destroy the design of the slide and harm your ability to deliver a crisp message. Therefore, you should engage the designer in any change you are making to the deck. After a few runs, the number of changes will be minimal.
The outcome of this step is an amazing pitch deck that will wow investors and help get you more meaningful meetings! And there’s a bonus — you can use the same deck as the basis for any other communications need you have, from general company presentations to sales pitches. Over 50% of the slides will be the same.
How much time does the process take?
A well thought-out pitch deck will take a couple of months to prepare. Think of all the workshops (strategy, brand), work and new iterations that are needed. This isn’t a process that can be done overnight. Of course, you can take shortcuts if there’s no time, but then you have to give up some of the parts of the process (e.g. you can buy a presentation template for $20 instead of coming up with an original design).
So, when is a good time to start? NOW!
And at the latest a year before you want to raise money. Why a year? Because raising money is a 6 month-long process and you want to have another 4–6 months for the ConDes process.
Real pitch deck example
I’ve recently gone through the ConDes process with Daeadlean, a swiss startup developing autonomous piloting systems for aircraft. Daedalean was preparing its next financing round and needed a new pitch deck.
The following is real examples of a couple of the slides as we made progress in the process.
The Problem slide
The Product slide
Summary — content and design go hand-in-hand
If you want to grab investors’ attention, your fundraising pitch deck has to tell a compelling story.
Good stories are where the content, design, and delivery (the way you pitch) are all in sync. While you can wait until your deck is ready to work on your delivery, the content and design elements of the deck MUST be developed simultaneously.
The “ConDes” process can help you turn your story into a winning pitch deck. By following the five steps, you will make sure that the next time you think about giving a presentation, you won’t just think about the messages you want to deliver, but also about how it should be visually represented so you can tell a truly compelling story.
One note: I find it very helpful to have an experienced sparring partner to guide you through the process. It is usually easier for outsiders to come up with a short and crisp story, as well as to provide honest feedback on whether the slides are strong enough.
Now you’ve got all the tools to build the perfect pitch deck. I am curious to hear about your experience using the ConDes process and looking forward to seeing your beautiful pitch decks. If you have any questions, feedback or need any help, feel free to ping me on Linkedin.
In future articles I will elaborate on specific slides in the pitch deck and share more practical tips like the ones here. Follow me for more!
Big thanks go out to Sally and to Nicolai for providing feedback on earlier versions of this article. Many thanks to Alessandro for the colorful illustrations. | https://medium.com/swlh/five-steps-to-nail-your-pitch-deck-part-ii-5484d005b870 | ['Yair Reem'] | 2020-07-15 16:00:16.336000+00:00 | ['Storytelling', 'Fundraising', 'Startup', 'Pitch Deck', 'Venture Capital'] |
Women Of The C-Suite: Jasmine Maietta of round21 On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior Executive | Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
My entire career has been spent in marketing for brands centered in locker rooms, gaming and points of sweat simply because this community and culture gives me so much joy. It was while working in sports and fitness I constantly saw people expressing who they are through hoodies or sneakers, but what lights them up is what they play with. It was this pattern and passion around sports & self-expression that led me to launch round21.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you founded your round21?
Building a brand during COVID has undoubtedly shaped so many stories, but one that sticks out to me most involves round21, three artists and the NBA. As the NBA shaped their season around a “bubble” while also driving the message of Black Lives Matter through every touchpoint, they looked to find ways to do two things (1) bring players together safely while off-court, and (2) reinforce the larger message around social justice. round21 was called upon to help support these goals through one of the leagues other favorite sports — ping pong. Because NBA players loved to challenge each other in ping pong games during down time, the NBA commissioned round21 to help reinforce the messages of social justice through ping pong paddles in partnership with three artists who came from Brooklyn, Miami, and Philadelphia. Within 36 hours the artists, round21 and the NBA had agreed upon the artwork, the message, and the meaning behind the stories. The speed of execution was completely based on all of us sharing the same values and belief in the larger mission and experience it would mean for the players and fans. I’ve never seen a project like this happen so quickly and so deeply rooted in a common set of goals.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Oh, where do I begin! Launching a startup after having 20 years of marketing experience in the comforts of corporate America, I’ve spent just as much time unlearning things I knew as I am learning new things. One learning experience has been around the position round21 can take in partnerships compared to the position of my prior brands — Peloton, Under Armour, and Reebok). Ultimately, round21 is at ground level and the value exchange with people we interact with needs to come from a place of growth versus scale. In conversations I had earlier this year, I think I underestimated how small and unproven the brand is and quickly adapted to helping my artists partners, other brands, and even my suppliers understand the potential versus our current position. Lucky to say that, so far, there’s belief in where we’re headed.
What do you think makes round21 different from other sports lifestyle brands? Can you share a story?
round21 is for people who are rich in “creative currency” and one way these people spend their time is by playing sports. The problem is no brand offers deep, rich creativity and artistry in products people play with in sports — until now. That’s what makes round21 different.
Sports brands (and derivatives that are aligned to sports lifestyle) that came before round21 were born from the values of being “better.” These brands tell stories of those who are at the top of their game and how they spend time on- and off-the-court/field/pitch.
round21 believes that being better is good, but being different is better. And, we believe that inside all of us there’s originality and creativity and that’s the currency round21 value’s (not performance). We build products for and with those people who live creatively in sport and in life.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
round21 has a great lineup of new products and art for 2021. The goal is to stay centered around our community wanting to connect through play, while still stuck at home, and also express who they are through a relevant collection of artwork that speaks to them. So, we’ve got an incredible roster of multicultural artists lined up — some established and some emerging artists — as well as new additional sports coming to the round21 product line including ping pong, basketball and more. We think the power of play and self-expression will lift people up, bring communities together and create a more inclusive society. That’s the mission behind round21 and we’re focused on bringing it to life. In addition, we just wrapped a successful Kickstarter campaign and our 100+ Founding Members will be showcased through social and other content as they are a reflection of our community and the diaspora of voices, backgrounds and stories that make up round21.
What advice would you give to other female thought-leaders or experts to help their team to thrive?
Today, more than ever, the idea of co-creation is at the heart of modern brands. Having an openness to explore how others would help your brand stay relevant, be reimagined, and ultimately bring joy to your community is required. This includes co-creating with your teams and employees and letting them be the face of the brand. I am increasingly convinced that employees are influencers for a brand because of their authentic position as a shareholder / developer of the company. Allowing them to present themselves openly about where the brand is going, their beliefs in what’s being built is a strategic and important way for brands to grow in today’s society. round21 has an evergreen student-athlete internship program and allow our interns to be co-creators internally and externally which helps us reflect our values and theirs to our community.
What advice would you give to other female entrepreneurs about the best way to manage their business, no matter what the size?
Advice is tricky because every situation is different. But, I’ve found incredible power in building a network of other female founders who are sounding boards, peer resource support, emotional strength and more because they’re experiencing similar, but different challenges and successes which helps me in my journey. I share the same learnings back. Lynn Le, Founder of Society Nine and Gaia Giladi, Founder of Hilos Shoes both play this role for me and I also know I’m helping them in a similar way. There’s plenty of room for all of us to succeed and we share in each other’s journey to provide what help we can.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I’m fortunate to have worked for brands my entire life — including round21 — that are helping people connect and grow through sports, fitness or gaming. Utilizing the power of play and creativity, round21 does a powerful job lifting people up. That’s goodness we’re proud of and know is needed.
What are your “5 Leadership Lessons I Learned From My Experience” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
5 Leadership Lessons are rooted in stories of Faith, Connection, Belief, Curiosity, and Humility.
1) Faith: The experience of starting something from scratch requires unwavering faith. In the early days of round21 — which I still think we’re in — there are days that the Shopify site analytics suggest very few people care or the Instagram data suggests that very few people like what I’m building. The reality is, it takes 10 years to become an overnight success so if I don’t believe in what I’m building, who will? Regardless of what the data says, my Faith will always suggest I believe in what we’re building and that’s the data point that will hold the majority of my belief.
2) Connection: “It takes a village” is a statement that has always made sense to me, but even more so as a Founder. In my experience, the network you build in your life (career included, but not limited to) is your “net worth,” that is available when you start something new. When COVID hit, everyone was curious about what everyone else was doing because it’s in shared moments that we understand mutual value. I can’t tell you the number of people that have extended a hand to support round21, but Kevin Carroll of Katalyst comes to mind. He was referred to me by a former colleague, Pam Catlett and her generosity of introduction has resulted in him informing and inspiring so much of what round21 is building. Those connections come from an open mind and heart around who you surround yourself with and ultimately results in so much more than one may realize.
3) Belief: Some may say “faith” and “belief” are synonymous, which may be true, but in business, I find belief comes first. Belief is rooted on a set of experiences, data points, and proof that establishes the foundation for faith. When I decided round21 was an idea worth pursuing and that it would somehow merge art + sport for today’s outspoken generation, I had to make some tough decisions on product and experience strategy and took in a lot of other people’s opinion which created a bit of swirl. From that experience, I learned that Founders/Entrepreneurs have to have belief in what to build from within.
4) Curiosity: Curiosity is the single most important characteristic of a successful entrepreneur. In learning how to build a modern brand, constantly asking questions and pushing the norm reveals opportunities to build strong, differentiated positioning for new brands. I’ve had to consciously “unlearn” some of the things from my 20 years in marketing to stay curious and current with how round21 should be brought to life. We want the brand to stand for something that doesn’t exist yet, so coming at that with humble curiosity keeps us both fresh and relevant as we chart our own unique path.
5) Humility: I don’t believe that you can have drive without humility. Entrepreneurs are intrinsically driven, and when we succeed or feel a moment of failure, it’s important to EQUALLY have humility in both situations, failure and success. When success hits, humility keeps us pushing more into the unknown to create a future that doesn’t exist yet. When failure hits — and it will — it’s reminding ourselves we don’t have all the answers, but what we do have is the will to keep going. I recall in 2020 when I got feedback from an advisor about looking at the business in a way that was different from how I saw it. I trusted this advisor a lot and his direct feedback was important to me. Instead of dwelling on the feedback, I listened to his perspective and went back to the drawing board and had two major brand breakthroughs around storytelling and partnerships. Staying open to learning and humble in the process is critical to building anything in life — especially new brands.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I would inspire a movement around inclusivity. I believe that the more we see each other’s differences and celebrate them, the better society will be. We’ve grown up in a culture that’s extremely competitive and in some ways cut throat. Social media has created “personas” where many people often look past the “person,” We all have gifts, stories, and history to make and I believe that each of us deserves an equal voice and support to live our authentic lives fully without judgement. I would love to lead that movement and believe round21 has an opportunity to do just that.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Being better is good, but being different is better.
Not only is this quote core to round21’s reason for being, but it’s critical to how I’ve lived my life. The first moment I realized this would be my path was when I decided what job to pursue out of college. I grew up as a daughter of two immigrant parents from India and my first job out of college was to play professional basketball overseas. That story was one-in-a-million compared with peers growing up. Convention suggested that the first job out of college was to be in education or business or pursue medical school, law school, business school, etc. I chose to be different. And, for me, that was a better choice.
How can our readers connect with you on social media?
Our website: https://www.round21.com/
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weareround21/ | https://medium.com/authority-magazine/jasmine-maietta-of-round21-staying-open-to-learning-and-humble-in-the-process-is-critical-to-5693ce934d88 | ['Alexandra Spirer'] | 2020-12-11 00:40:42.646000+00:00 | ['Athletes', 'Sports', 'Entrepreneur', 'Women In Business'] |
3 Proven Ways to Fail With Your SaaS Product | 1. Building the wrong product
Scratch your own itch — probably one of the most common tips for finding out what to build. And while I think this is perfectly good advice, you need to validate your idea before pursuing it.
What if the problem is rare? Or, even worse, you’re the only one thinking this is a problem? Sure, there might be a long tail market for your concept, but is it worth your development efforts?
Some years back, when I had just released an invoicing and time-tracking application, a potential customer replied to my pitch with this line:
“This is not a problem I am having.”
That hurt. And it hurt even more the second time, not to mention the third.
Make sure that there is a market for what you are building. Ask around and survey the market. Try to find a way of just dipping your toes into the water before committing.
One way to circumvent this problem is to break into an existing market.
“If others have succeeded in selling to this market niche, it should be possible for me as well.”
These are my words, and while I still stand by them, there is (at least) one big caveat: what if that market is on the verge of disruption?
My first product offering was a CMS, and while it wasn’t spectacular in any way, it did what it was supposed to do. And it exceeded the competition well enough to carve out a tiny market share.
Then came WordPress and a host of other free CMS systems. And during the following year, the demand plummeted.
Don’t invest all your savings in building the equivalent of American Quarter Horse 2.0 when a Henry Ford is lurking around behind the scenes. | https://medium.com/swlh/3-proven-ways-to-fail-with-your-saas-product-cb99feb0214a | ['Fredrik Holm'] | 2020-12-17 18:01:12.347000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Startup Lessons', 'Founders', 'SaaS', 'Software Development'] |
Caffeinated Content: 10 Ways to Become a Better Writer | Espresso-self (sorry guys, I had to) and add an extra shot of awesome to your content with these 10 tips to become a better writer.
Photo by Fahmi Fakhrudin on Unsplash
Struggling to get the crystal clear thoughts in your head onto the page, only for it to come out a jumbled mess? Hey, don’t sweat it; you’re not the only one. In fact, about 44% of marketers say content production, including writing, is their biggest struggle.
For marketers, writing is an essential skill. Strong copywriting can engage potential customers and spark excitement for your product or service. As a result, it can also improve sales.
Not to mention it’s kind of an important part of SEO.
Without it, your website will become stagnant. You’ll end up posting boring photos and boomerangs on Instagram just to push out content. Customers could stop caring, leading your sales to take a hit.
With these 10 tips to become a better writer, you can boost your website ranking, social media engagement, and more!
So let’s get typing about it.
1. Read Everything, Always
Even Stephen King and JK Rowling will tell you this one. To become a better writer, you need to become a better reader, too.
Don’t restrict yourself to a certain genre. Read non-fiction and fantasy novels or the Daily Skimm’s quick-wit news.
Make sure to check blog posts and marketing materials from competitors in your industry, too. Then, keep an eye on how customers respond.
That way, you can learn a little from every writer around you to step up your game.
2. Develop Daily Habits
Once you start reading everything, you can get into writing a little of everything, too.
Set time in your daily schedule to write. Change it up each day with a different type of content. This can include:
Blog posts
Email blasts
Social media posts
Website content
PPC ads
Print material (flyers, brochures, billboards)
Stretch those writing muscles a little each day!
3. Know Your Audience
Remember who you’re writing for. Learning how to connect with your audience is a big step for you to become a better writer.
With each piece of content, focus on the writing’s purpose. Are you trying to engage readers on social media? For landing pages, maybe you’re trying to get them to complete a form.
Once you know your goal, you can focus your content around a single concept.
Make sure you don’t go heavy on the jargon, but don’t underestimate your readers, either.
Once you know who your target audience is, writing for them becomes a lot easier.
4. Triple Check
Just as you shouldn’t make assumptions about your audience, you shouldn’t with your content, either.
Triple check everything. This includes:
Facts
Names (no misspellings!)
Contact information (phone numbers, addresses, emails)
Job titles
Gender identification pronouns
As you’re fact-checking, you may even come across additional (or stronger) information to use within your content.
5. Short and Sweet
Don’t exhaust your readers before they’re even through the first sentence.
Instead, keep your sentences and paragraphs short. This will improve your readability.
Plus, it plays a part in improving your SEO.
Aim for paragraphs with one to three sentences. Make sure to mix up the combination with each paragraph.
To check your readability, check out the Hemingway App.
6. Cut Improper Punctuation
Please. Don’t. Do. THIS!!!!!
Improper punctuation can change the entire meaning of a sentence. For example, “Let’s eat, Grandma,” and “Let’s eat Grandma!” can be the difference between a family dinner and family for dinner.
Yuck.
Check for missing (or overused) commas throughout your sentences. Ellipses should only be three dots long (…). Finally, cut back the exclamation points.
If your content is exciting, it will speak for itself.
7. Tap into Tools
I mentioned the Hemingway App earlier, but there are tons of tools online to help you become a better writer.
Here are a few to get you started:
However, these tools shouldn’t replace your very own brain! Self-proofread to make sure the content is exactly how you want it.
8. Drop Kick Unnecessary Words
Read through your content and check how many times you used the word “that.”
Then remove it from each sentence. Does the content still make sense?
“That” is pretty much the “um” of writing. Cut it out when you can to clean up your sentences.
“Very” and “so” are two other words you can drop kick out of here.
9. Read It Back
Once your brand new content is written and reviewed, read it again.
Mix it up. After writing the piece and reading it once, your brain might complete the sentences for you. To avoid that, read aloud, word by word.
You can also flip your content. Start from the last paragraph and work your way up so your memory doesn’t fill in the blanks.
That way, you can ensure there aren’t any mistakes before it heads out to readers.
10. Ask About It
To become a better writer, you need to keep improving a little every day.
The previous nine tips are a great start, but that’s not the only way to learn. Speak with other bloggers, marketers, and copywriters. Learn from the best to become the best.
Show them your writing and ask what they would do to improve it. A little advice can go a long way.
You can even ask your audience what they want from your content. That way, you’re providing unique material that’s relevant to what your readers need.
Love it a Latte: 10 Ways to Become a Better Writer
With these 10 tips to become a better writer, you can espresso-self (sorry guys, I had to) and add an extra shot of awesome to your content.
Reach new customers, engage your current audience, and boost sales with these copywriting tips.
Ready to get typing about it? Comment below about how you plan on giving your marketing that espresso-charged copywriting! | https://medium.com/@jazhandoush/caffeinated-content-10-ways-to-become-a-better-writer-a2016df38950 | ['Jazelle Handoush'] | 2020-12-13 15:29:04.558000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Marketing Tips', 'Content Writing', 'Marketing', 'Writing Tips'] |
The 10 Browser Extensions I Can’t Live Without | A suspended tab
How many tabs do you have open on your browser right now? It’s OK, I won’t judge. We all succumb to Infinite Tab Syndrome every now and then.
The only problem is that as the number of open tabs mounts, so too does the amount of memory the browser hogs, leading to a potentially slower experience. Enter The Great Suspender. This extension will periodically — you guessed it — suspend inactive tabs so they no longer consume memory.
It also notices which tabs are playing media and excludes them from being suspended — an essential feature if you’re listening to music in one tab while working in another. What’s more, you can also manually exclude tabs.
Now you can open as many tabs as you like without feeling guilty!
Cost: Free
Supported browsers: Chrome
*UPDATE: Recent unknown changes to the extension have raised concerns of potentially malicious behavior. Until it’s known what exactly these changes do, it’s advisable to disable or uninstall it. | https://medium.com/better-programming/the-10-browser-extensions-i-cant-live-without-df651612d602 | ['Omar Sharaki'] | 2020-11-10 11:08:24.950000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'Google Chrome', 'Browsers', 'JavaScript', 'Productivity'] |
6 Ways to Deal with Toxicity | 1. Worry About Yourself First
Particularly as a woman I have been trained to put others’ needs before my own. And through experience I know that I can go for days without food or sleep before my body gives out. But this is ridiculous. No one has any right to ask that of you and you should not feel the need to offer it. I have gone that far. I regret it. It will give people who hate you reason to delight and it ultimately serves no one. People may accuse you of being selfish, but take care of yourself first and then once that’s sorted you can reach out and be generous. Do not let anyone tell you that you earning a salary or getting your due or having a moment of rest is selfish or presumptuous. Remember that they said it because that is a person who does not deserve your generosity, but don’t take their words to heart.
2. Take a Step Back
This one was probably the hardest for me to learn because taking a step back often means removing yourself from other people or activities you love. I loved doing martial arts. Loved it. But I had to tolerate such constant derision, taunts, and threats from some of its practitioners that it didn’t matter how dedicated I was to my teachers or the dojo. There was no way for me to participate in that environment. So yeah, misogynists won the day I decided to stop fighting, but I got to keep my life and my mind.
Sometimes there’s no good decision and you just have to go with the best one. With luck things will change and you might be able to return. But probably not. However, you cannot force bad people to stop being awful. If you’re in an abusive relationship sometimes the only thing there is to do is leave.
3. Do Not Yield Your Reality
Toxic people will try to force their version of events on you. It’s often called gaslighting, but there’s quite a number of varied approaches that manipulative people will take. Once for me it got so bad that before taking a shower or going to bed I’d have to go out into the living room of my parents’ house and run my hands along the furniture to make sure I was really there and not hallucinating being at home. Another time someone nearly had me convinced I’d said things I knew I hadn’t said and that their torment of me was therefore justified.
The reason it got that far is that I’m just an absurdly empathetic person. I naturally see things from other people’s perspectives or what I imagine would be their perspective, and I go out of my way to understand other people’s points of view. Part of this is because I do genuinely want to be kind, but another reason is it does help in negotiation and diplomacy to understand other people. The problem is, I let it get so far that I nearly dissociated. I let people dictate their own version of events to me and rather than balancing it with my own. I let it subsume me.
Barring a serious neurological disorder, you know your own reality. It’s one thing to practice empathy; but refer to number 1 in this list. You must always remember reality. Most people won’t try to compromise it, but toxic people absolutely will.
4. Cultivate Your Social Networks
In all of my worst experiences the reason they got seriously bad is that I allowed myself to be cut off from people who cared about me. The clearest sign that you are dealing with a toxic or manipulative person — at least to my mind — is that they will tell you to stop associating with a person or several people. You don’t have to like everyone your significant other likes and you can even express it, but if you are telling friends or family not to speak to someone then something has gone terribly wrong.
Toxic people will try to isolate you. If you let them, they will remove people who might support you or advocate for you or even just calm you down and talk you off your proverbial ledge. Don’t let a toxic person dictate who you can talk to and don’t believe them when they suggest there might be something wrong in any of your other relationships. If you’re truly worried, go talk to your friend and reinforce that relationship against the manipulations of Lord or Lady Toxicity.
Pro Tip: Cultivating your social relationships with friends and family helps with number 1 and number 3 on this list because your social network cares about you as an emotional being and will remind you that no, actually, you’re not crazy.
5. Set Boundaries
A toxic person or a manipulator is in a constant state of absolute crisis and it is always unquestionably entirely your fault. This is exhausting, and it’s meant to be exhausting. They are trying to wear you down so that you will do whatever it is they want. And don’t be deceived. You can’t just give them what they want and expect to walk away. If you do you’ll find suddenly they are yet again in another crisis and it is once again unquestionably entirely your fault and how dare you not drop everything in your life and solve their horrible awful problem?
Set boundaries. If this is a person you want to remain in a relationship then you need to deal with them on your terms. And you need to reinforce those terms. You are not a punching bag. You are a person.
Empathy is a remarkable quality and if you wish to have empathy for a toxic person I absolutely encourage you to do so. This is something I myself consciously try to do in part to honour my mother’s memory and in part because you cannot piss off a toxic person more than by showing them grace. But make sure you practice empathy with firm boundaries in place.
This may mean — depending on the scenario — that some subjects are off limits, that they may only call or visit during given hours, or that they have to pay you ahead of time for work they want done. (Not really my story but I know of several dance festival organizers who mysteriously failed to pay dance teachers they’d brought out for the event. Toxicity is not reserved to personal relationships.) Terms and conditions may vary.
6. Find an Outlet
The worst part of dealing with toxic or manipulative people is that they are exhausting. They make you feel bad. They make you question other relationships and even reality. And you may even find yourself obsessing over their latest threat or guilt trip or “this disaster you had nothing to do with is totally your doing,” cause celebre. Even if this is a relationship you want to keep they are not worth and do not deserve your mental and emotional energy. The only people in your life who deserve that level of mental and emotional dedication from you are your children. And hopefully a.) said dedication will be overwhelmingly positive and affirming, and b.)you’ll raise them better than to behave like this towards others.
I opened talking about comedy and sometimes that is a good outlet. It did me a great deal of good when I realized — about a decade ago — that regardless of what a manipulator wants, you can share their various demands with a trusted confidante. And when you start doing that their demands stop being threatening and scary and something you must deal with immediately and start being … well, exactly what they are: ridiculous. Once you can laugh at the devil he no longer has any power. For me this is usually the best solution. Toxic people are inherently absurd. I would suggest you not out them if at all possible, but any power they have over you is based on their insistence that you keep their secrets for them and help them hide their ridiculousness. The minute you tell a friend about them — and you can do this without sharing their name or relationship to you so as to protect their privacy — they lose their power and you stop obsessing.
You can also write as I am doing now and as countless others have done in the past. You can put it into art as I sometimes do and countless others have done in the past.* You can clean up your house or take a bubble bath. And — I don’t recommend this because it’s a bit time consuming and I find it frustrating, but it works for some — you can write them a letter where you pour in all your annoyances and hurt and just not send it.
*If you choose to use an outlet such as writing or art be forewarned that toxic people and manipulators absolutely will find out about it and assume whether correctly or not that it is about them. It will become part of their litany of abuse towards you and they will remind you constantly that they’re reading it and insist you take it down “or else.” This has happened to me with multiple toxic people some of whom I genuinely wasn’t writing about and it’s happened to a number of celebrities and even great artists and authors. As long as you’re not doxing them just carry on. They’ll whine and complain but Michael Crichton famously wrote a critic as the worst type of rapist imaginable in one of his books for the dastardly insult of criticizing his work. You, in contrast, will be giving an outlet to your pain. If your manipulator has a problem with that, then they are really just telling on themselves.
And In Conclusion …
This will sound canned, but the only person whose reactions you can control is you. Toxic people are playing and depending on your generosity of spirit. They may even occasionally call you “generous” or give you some other compliment, but they’re just trying to draw you in. Nothing angers a toxic person like someone they can’t manipulate. So yeah, by asserting yourself and caring for yourself and caring for your friends and family before Lord or Lady Toxicity you will automatically anger them. And, because you’re a good person — and yeah, you are — that’s going to upset you. I’m sorry. I wish this were easier and everyone was kind. But it’s just not the case.
Also, you may feel that you attract toxic people and that that’s somehow your fault. It is not. Toxic people do sort of gravitate to generous people because their parasitic leeching is generally more effective there. Or at least they think it will be if they can just take all the resources you have for themselves. But that’s neither your fault nor your problem. If you’re a generous and strong person then that’s wonderful. You have all that to give to friends who genuinely love you. Toxic people will try to get their little lamprey jaws on you from time to time and if they do get a good bite for whatever reason it will hurt to pry them off, but it is their own issues and shortcomings which cause them to behave in this manner. You do not exist to fix them.
If you find yourself the victim of a toxic person you need to either get rid of them or put them in a position where they get from you only what you genuinely want them to have. You don’t have to be unkind to them or completely cut them off, but you do have to remember that they are taking from you all your strengths and talents and forcing you to waste it on someone who will never appreciate it. You are better off giving of yourself to the people who genuinely love you for you. And you will know those people because they will remind you to care for yourself and will care for you without question or demand. | https://medium.com/@ariadneschulz/6-ways-to-deal-with-toxicity-3baa69f28c54 | ['Ariadne Schulz'] | 2020-12-27 23:57:13.557000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Toxic Relationships', 'Kindness', 'Self Help', 'Manipulation'] |
Wolves’ Tattered Clothing | Wolves’ Tattered Clothing
A Poem
Picture by Factory 43
Dozens of lies all dressed up in suits
Some will distract while others will shoot
And thousands of husks abandoned by life
Are planning the union of body and knife
Dozens of lies all dressed up in suits
Saying, ‘Look at my fabric, I’m made of the truth’,
But the wolf’s tattered clothing is worn by the sheep
So keep one eye open, they’ll come in your sleep
Pulling the wool down over my eyes
Doesn’t pull from the fact I see through your disguise
And drawing your gun will cause no alarm
As I’m drawing a picture of stillness and calm
The Lost demand justice, they want their revenge
And the shepherd that lead them is digging a trench
Is digging a hole in which he can climb
To out-sleep the guilt and the shame of his crimes
And if he wakes up, he may long have been dead
And wonder why bullets are lodged in his head
Will wonder how time does the body decay
Will question the reasons for running away
For no one is left to hear his retort
No one left here to bribe and no one to extort
Only the roaches out here have survived
In wolves’ tattered clothing, on high, they preside | https://medium.com/literally-literary/wolves-tattered-clothing-bf8fdd640050 | [] | 2020-03-01 01:38:16.391000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Creative Writing', 'Poem', 'Lyrics'] |
A Story of a Blessing and a Curse | I have the rather dubious distinction of having been both thrown out of the Vatican, and blessed by the Pope. Though not on the same day.
The Vatican Incident (a good Robert Ludlum title) happened while I was on a semester abroad with Eastern Michigan University’s European Cultural History Tour — 14 countries in 4 months. We’d just arrived in Rome, and were doing a Vatican day.
Now, I’m a huge fan of Roman history, especially the latter days of the Republic. Recently, when naming all the Romans who interested me, a friend said, “You like all the butchers!” That’s not strictly true, but I am certainly fascinated by several of the more, shall we say, colorful of the Romans. One of them I have a special interest in is Lucius Cornelius Sulla. He carved the path that Caesar would later follow, using his army to take the city of Rome itself and give victory to his political faction. He was later made Dictator, and rewrote Rome’s constitution — which worked out so well that Caesar had to do it again 25 years later.
Anyway, I’ve always wanted to get a glimpse of Sulla. There are two busts in existence. One I’d seen in Germany. It portrayed him old, toothless, and decrepit, with a clever (if insulting) detail from the sculptor of showing Sulla’s real hair sticking out of the curly wig he wore.
Old Sulla
But I’d heard there was another bust. One of him as a young man, of him so impossibly handsome that the wives of important senators were throwing themselves at him, and thus earning him the enmity of many great men. That bust was in the Vatican. That was the bust I wanted to see.
But it was my first time there, and there was so much else to see. The Loacoon, the Prima Porta Augustus, and more — and more. I was amused to see how many of the statues had had their wangs whacked off, and wondered if there was a room somewhere in the Vatican filled floor to ceiling with tiny stone penises. I imagined the job of trying to match them up again. I was in my early 20s.
Yet despite so much to appreciate, my goal was to see Sulla. So I slipped away from the bulk of the group and went hunting for the busts. A frustrating search. Not that there weren’t busts, there were plenty. But not from the right period. Not of him.
The hourglass was draining, it would soon be closing time, and yet, no Sulla. Then I saw a sign with the right dates! But it led to a closed room, with a red velvet rope across the door. Apparently the Vatican closes off some of their collections at different times of day so as to not have to staff them all. Damn! So close!
I looked around. No one. Well then… I stepped over the velvet rope and tried the door. It was unlocked.
(Aside — when my wife tells this story, she adds guns and dogs and barbed wire. She says she tells it so much better than I do. And she’s right. But I’m telling it like it happened.)
So I slipped in, and was confounded — I was on a second floor looking down at the busts! This was a balcony level with a few busts on it. But Sulla wasn’t here — he had to be down on the main floor. And there was no way down! Who doesn’t build a stairway?
I walked around the balcony, staring down at the busts, trying to discern which was which by the hairstyles. Then I spotted one that could — could– be him. But I was too far away to tell.
Then I realized that my cheap camera had a zoom function. Not a very good one, but a zoom nonetheless. I whipped it out and pointed it at the bust in question. Not good enough. I needed to get closer. I leaned over the balcony rail. Still not close enough! So I put one leg over…
When the guards found me, I was hanging upside-down off the balcony, my knees wrapped around the rail. I was hauled up and escorted out of the building.
But I got the photo.
(Except that’s not him!)
Except it wasn’t him.
That’s him!
Flash forward six years. Jan and I are on our honeymoon, a three-month tour of Europe (we didn’t have a wedding. We dress up in front of people for a living, so we didn’t feel the need. Instead we spent all the money we would have put into a wedding into our honeymoon). We’re in Rome, and I’m taking her to St. Peter’s. She’s never been, and we’re excited. Only it’s more crowded than I’ve ever seen it. It’s a Wednesday, so I can’t figure out what’s going on. Suddenly we’re being funneled through metal detectors and we can hear a voice droning in Latin over a PA system. A very familiar voice…
We see his face on the giant Popeatron they’ve set up before we actually see him. Pope John Paul II is holding a Wednesday Mass in St. Peter’s Square. How utterly cool.
We make to sit down, but someone asks if we are newlyweds. We admit we are, and we’re led to the front with a bunch of other couples. And during his mass, the Pope blesses our union.
Kicked out of the Vatican. Blessed by the Pope. I figure it’s a wash. | https://davidblixtauthor.medium.com/a-story-of-a-blessing-and-a-curse-eb81897af5fb | ['David Blixt'] | 2019-01-18 14:24:43.531000+00:00 | ['Ancient History', 'Adventure', 'Pope Francis', 'Pope John Paul Ii', 'Rome'] |
Behold the “Boho Bones” NFT series combining original audio and artwork | Behold the “Boho Bones” NFT series combining original audio and artwork
Swim, The Social Equity Ecosystem that incentivizes carbon negative initiatives across the blockchain, is announcing launching the Boho Bones NFT series. Boho Bones comes complete with 150 unique instrumental songs for token holders to remix, sample, or reproduce as they see fit. 12,345 Boho Bones tokens will be issued, and token holders will have complete commercial rights to a library of 150 original songs. Minting cost will be .08 ETH each.
Boho Bones is the first phase of NFT and metaverse experiential protocols launched by Swim alongside their Greenchain network. Further development will include launches of Swimchain decentralized marketplaces, green-grid architecture, and Swimcoin on major exchanges. Swimchain’s mission is to exceed carbon neutrality in cryptocurrency mining and transacting and instead deploy carbon-negative protocols through reward pools connected to green-grid infrastructure.
“Boho Bones is our NFT foray into the crypto metaverse and goes beyond so much of the hype you see in this space today,” said Andy Crosby, Founder of Swimchain.io. “By embracing original artistry, ingenuity and making a difference through encouraging environmentally sustainable processes to all involved in the blockchain.”
Prior to founding Swim, Crosby served as an award-winning writer and music producer for projects at Sony and Disney.
“We’re a team of artists and creatives with ambitious goals to shape the world,” said Jackson Gilmore, Director of User Experience at Swim. “That means supporting creators by providing them with platforms, grants, and anything else we can do to help them break through the industry.”
To ensure a fair and equitable release and reward early supporters, Swim has not disclosed a specific drop date yet but will make the official announcement on their Discord channel soon. | https://medium.com/@blake.barrett/behold-the-boho-bones-nft-series-combining-original-audio-and-artwork-6ba35e0d582e | ['Blake Kuhre'] | 2021-08-31 20:57:05.506000+00:00 | ['Crypto', 'Music', 'Nft', 'Art', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
Say “Hello!” to the World of Plots | “A picture is worth a thousand words.” This is often true in the world of Data Science. Data visualization plays a key role as it allows you to reveal the patterns behind the data. There are three primary uses for data visualization:
To explore data
data To validate a model
a model To communicate data
Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA), which uses visualization techniques, allows you to understand different characteristics of data, its variables and the potential relationships between them. We also use statistical visualization techniques to validate a model and its assumptions. Finally, we create eye-pleasing and publication-quality visualizations to communicate the results to our audience.
There are many data visualization libraries in Python. matplotlib and seaborn are mostly used. matplotlib is a basic data visualization library and provides techniques to create and customize plots. seaborn is a high-level data visualization library which provides more advanced techniques to create eye-pleasing and sophisticated plots with less code! Since seaborn was built on top of matplotlib, we often use matplotlib to customize seaborn plots. matplotlib provides fundamentals concepts for both libraries. So, learning both libraries is very important to visualize data effectively.
In the very first tutorial of the data visualization topic, I’ll give more emphasis to matplotlib basics, plot anatomy and workflow of creating plots. I’ll discuss the following topics in detail. You are all welcome to say “Hello” to the world of plots!
Topics discussing
matplotlib APIs: pyplot interface, object-oriented interface
pyplot interface, object-oriented interface pyplot submodule in matplotlib
%matplotlib command: %matplotlib notebook, %matplotlib inline
%matplotlib notebook, %matplotlib inline Controlling the style
Figure, Axes and Axis
Anatomy of a figure
Basic steps for creating a plot
Creating a single plot on the figure
Creating a plot using the pyplot interface
Creating multiple plots on the same figure
Creating a plot using seaborn
Plotting multiple lines in the same plot
Creating box plots
Automating the figure creation process
Reasons for automating
Good practices for using matplotlib and seaborn
Dependencies
Dataset used
A note on the matplotlib APIs
The matplotlib library has two different application programming interfaces (APIs):
The pyplot interface
The object-oriented interface
The pyplot interface is based on MATLAB and contains MATLAB-style tools. It is mainly intended for creating simple plots.
If you need more control and customization of your plots, it is better to use the object-oriented interface of matplotlib. This interface allows you for working directly with objects. The main concept behind using this interface is to create Figure and Axes objects and then just call the methods and attributes of those objects.
Now, there is a question. Which interface (pyplot or object-oriented) should I use? The answer is:
For more simple plots, the choice between the two interfaces is a matter of your preference, but the object-oriented interface should be used when plots become more complicated where you need more control and customization over them.
The pyplot submodule in matplotlib
The matplotlib library includes many submodules. Some of them are:
matplotlib. artist
matplotlib. colors
matplotlib. pyplot
matplotlib.style
We mostly deal with the pyplot submodule which creates plots of data in an object-oriented manner and provides the plotting interface. You should be careful not to confuse the pyplot submodule with the pyplot interface. Those are two different things.
By convention, pyplot in matplotlib is imported under the alias plt as:
Earlier, I discussed two interfaces of matplotlib. In the object-oriented interface, the pyplot submodule is used only for a few tasks such as creating a figure, showing a figure and the rest is done by calling the appropriate methods and attributes of Figure and Axes objects.
The %matplotlib command
Plotting within an IPython notebook (eg. Jupyter notebook) can be done with the %matplotlib command. %matplotlib is a magic function in IPython. There are two ways to use the %matplotlib command within a Jupyter notebook:
%matplotlib notebook : will lead to interactive (zoomable & resizeable) plots embedded within the notebook.
: will lead to interactive (zoomable & resizeable) plots embedded within the notebook. %matplotlib inline: will lead to static images of your plot embedded within the notebook. %matplotlib inline sets the backend of matplotlib to the ‘inline’ backend. With this backend, the output of plotting commands is displayed inline within the Jupyter notebook, directly below the code cell.
Tips for using the %matplotlib command
To embed your figure within the Jupyter notebook, you should run either %matplotlib notebook or %matplotlib inline.
or It is recommended to run the command before importing the matplotlib library to avoid any potential error.
You should not run both commands at once per Python session.
If you are using matplotlib within a Python script (.py file), you don’t need to use any of these commands.
If you want to work interactively with your plots, use the %matplotlib notebook command.
command. If you want static plots directly embedded below the code cell, use the %matplotlib inline command. If you want to change the figure size of a static plot, you have various options to do that.
Controlling the style
In matplotlib
matplotlib includes a number of new stylesheets. You can set a style by running the following command before creating a graph.
Replace style with one of the available styles in matplotlib. You can get a list of available styles by running the following command.
Once you’ve activated a style, it will be used throughout the current session. To go back to the matplotlib default style, run the following command.
In seaborn
seaborn has five built-in themes to style plots: darkgrid, whitegrid, dark, white and ticks. The default theme is darkgrid. To change the theme, pass the name of it to sns.set_style().
Figure, Axes and Axis
The following image shows the main elements of a graph.
Figure: The Figure object is the final image and can be seen as the canvas on which all other elements are plotted. The Figure can contain one or more Axes.
The Figure object is the final image and can be seen as the canvas on which all other elements are plotted. The Figure can contain one or more Axes. Axes: The Axes object represents an individual plot (subplot ). Axes create subdivisions on the Figure. Other objects such as the title, the x-label and the y-label belong to the Axes object.
The Axes object represents an individual plot (subplot ). Axes create subdivisions on the Figure. Other objects such as the title, the x-label and the y-label belong to the Axes object. Axis: Each of the Axes (subplots) consists of one or more Axis; (horizontal) x-axis, (vertical) y-axis and (depth) z-axis. Axis objects represent numerical values for each subplot. They also define the limits and manage the ticks (the mark on the axes) and tick labels (the label text represented on each tick).
The following image shows the anatomy of a figure.
Image copyright: matplotlib.org
Basic steps for creating a plot
The following steps describe the standard workflow that you should follow to create a plot. It is necessary to follow the steps in the given order. But you may skip some steps depending on your needs.
Step 1: Run the %matplotlib inline magic command.
Step 2: Import the matplotlib library and other libraries you want.
Step 3: Set the style to use when creating the plot. Otherwise, matplotlib or seaborn uses its default style.
Step 4: Prepare or get data
Step 5: Create the Figure and the Axes objects
Step 6: Create the plot (bar chart, box plot, histogram, etc.)
Step 7: Customize the plot
Step 8: Save the plot as a file (.png, .jpg, etc.)
Step 9: Show (display) the plot
Now, let me create some plots for you by following the above workflow.
Creating a single plot on the figure
Now, I create a histogram for the carat variable in the diamonds.csv dataset. Here I use the matplotlib.pyplot hist() function to create the histogram. Since I use the object-oriented interface of matplotlib, first I create Figure (fig) and Axes (ax) objects and then just call the methods such as hist(), set_title() of those objects. Note that the subplots() function in matplotlib.pyplot creates the Figure and the Axes objects at the same time.
The output is:
Note 1: Since I specified the dpi to 300 when saving the figure, I can get a high-quality image with the resolution of 1800 x 1200.
Note 2: You need to run the plt.show() command to display the figure. If you’re running Python commands in a Jupyter notebook, you can run this command several times in a single Python session in order to create multiple plots in different code cells. If you’re using Python script (.py file), the plt.show() command should be used only once per Python session and is most often seen at the very end of the script.
Note 3: If you want to both view the image on the screen and save it in a file, remember to run the plt.savefig() command before the plt.show() command to make sure you don’t save a blank canvas!
Creating the above plot using the pyplot interface
Now, I want to show you how to create the above plot using the pyplot interface of matplotlib. This is the only graph that I create using this interface, in this tutorial. I generally prefer to use the object-oriented interface because it gives me more control and customization of the plots.
Note the following changes:
Object-oriented interface → Pyplot interface
hist() method of ax object → hist() function of pyplot submodule
method of object → function of pyplot submodule set_title() method of ax object → title() function of pyplot submodule
method of object → function of pyplot submodule set_xlabel() method of ax object → xlabel() function of pyplot submodule
method of object → function of pyplot submodule set_ylabel() method of ax object → ylabel() function of pyplot submodule
And also:
You don’t need to create the Figure and Axes objects.
Creating multiple plots on the same figure
Earlier, I used the subplots() function without specifying any parameters. When used in this way, it creates one Figure object and one Axes object (subplot). Now, I want to create 4 subplots (4 Axes objects) on the same figure. This time, I use the same subplots() function with nrows and ncols parameters. For example, If I use subplots(nrows=2, ncols=2), this creates one Figure object and 4 Axis (subplots) in a grid of 2 rows and 2 columns. The variable name ax, is no longer only one Axis object. Instead, ax is an array of Axis objects with a shape of 2 x 2. You can check its shape by running the ax.shape command.
Now, I want to create a figure which contains 4 histograms of carat, depth, table, price in the diamonds.csv dataset. To add data:
You first index into ax . You should use two indexes since ax is a two-dimensional array.
. You should use two indexes since is a two-dimensional array. Then you call the hist() method on each element (subplot/axes) in the array.
method on each element (subplot/axes) in the array. If you want to customize each plot, you can call appropriate methods such as set_title(), set_xlabel() on each element (subplot/axes) in the array.
The output is: | https://medium.com/data-science-365/say-hello-to-the-world-of-plots-part-1-ce353a00076 | ['Rukshan Pramoditha'] | 2020-05-27 07:02:20.396000+00:00 | ['Seaborn', 'Python', 'Matplotlib', 'Data Science', 'Data Visualization'] |
An Author’s Voice and How to Find It | Source: Unsplash
Every writer has a “voice.” It’s a unique signature that combines the use of diction, punctuation, and syntax. In fiction, it also includes having a specific dialogue style and character development. In non-fiction, “voice” generally refers to a distinctive viewpoint, framework, and paradigm.
What is an author’s “voice” anyway?
Is this “voice” identical with writing style? How can a new writer cultivate his or her own unique voice? If you already have an author’s voice, what can you do to polish it and take it to the next level?
You probably know that Robert Galbraith is J.K. Rowling. This super-talented author has proven that she was able to fool even the most experienced editors to think that Robert Galbraith was a man by using a different voice.
If you write non-fiction works, the foundation of a good author’s voice is sounding honest, believable, and authoritative. Your perspective could be something that the readers are already familiar with or not.
As an author, when you’ve just started out, you probably only have one voice: your own internal speech patterns. You can observe non-writers when they write and you’ll be surprised to see theirs.
For example, those who’ve just finished college are likely to write in a more educated tone as they’re used to writing university essays and papers for at least three years. And it’s distinguished from others who didn’t graduate from college or grad school, as they tend to write in everyday tone.
Fiction writers have the option to write in a variety of tones, depending on the characters’ backgrounds. For instance, if the character is a teenager, you can use slang words and phrases that youngsters communicate with. If the character is an introvert, you can use a well-structured narration steadily and consistently.
Depending on the mastery of the skills in manipulating an author’s voice, it’s possible for a writer to have several voices. However, like fingerprints, under a forensic linguistic investigator, someone’s voice is incredibly unique, and there are subconscious elements that are projected outward. These can’t be erased or cloaked with superficial stylistic variables.
An author’s voice isn’t writing style
A “voice” is like your fingerprints. It’s your personality in writing that sets you apart from other writers’ works. However, style is much broader than voice.
For instance, when you write for a specific magazine, you’d be required to study the writing style before you start writing for them. The editor demands all writers follow the house style. This means that specific word choices such as whether to use “autumn” or “fall”, hyphenating certain words and aiming at a certain reading level may be chosen for you to ensure consistency across the publication. However, each writer has the liberty to use their unique voice within this style.
Thus, style is more about who you’re writing for, while your voice is about who you are. You can change styles depending on the publications and audiences you write for. However, your voice is yours forever.
As a new writer, can you cultivate your own unique voice? Certainly! Here’s how to do it:
1. Know your voice
How does your voice sound? Or, read? Do you have a straightforward, courageous, and inspiring voice? Read your works aloud and listen carefully. Also, ask objective critics to read them and describe their impressions.
Whatever your voice is, acknowledge it. You can work to change it for the better consciously or organically as you mature as a writer. Remember, the key to progress is realizing your potential both as a writer and an individual.
2. Free your voice
Yes, liberate your inner voice, which means free your thoughts and ideas. Don’t let any stylistic guidelines hinder you from expressing your inner voice.
Many writers, including me, have the so-called “mental block.” Whenever we must write about something unfamiliar, we’re scared and have some reservations. After all, we don’t want to be called an “impostor.” Impostor syndrome is something that most writers must learn to rid themselves of gradually.
3. Read other authors’ works
Read the authors of various genres. How does Ernest Hemingway’s voice differ from Stephen King’s? Why are they different regardless of their massive success? Do you think your own voice will eventually mature like theirs? Reflect on what you can do to make it happen.
4. Compare other authors’ voices with yours
Is your voice similar to authors of the same genre? Why? Why not? Did you find any voice that you’d love to emulate? What is so impressive about it? Be open to analyzing your own voice and where it stands in the constellation of others.
Also, be aware of your own voice and stay true to it. You can change styles and even tone, but your voice is yours and yours alone. It makes your work unique.
How can you polish your voice?
To a certain extent, there is always room to grow. However, to remain authentic, keep your voice unique and be ready to be you. Only better.
If you admire a famous author, imagine him or her as your “virtual” mentor. What did they do to make their works so exemplary? Analyze their writing and implement their tricks in your future works.
But remember one thing: As much as you want to emulate them, you will have your own distinctive “fingerprint” voice that has been imprinted deep in your works. Because, after all, every written word is the result of an active mind. And each mind is 100 percent unique and independent.
In conclusion
Every one of us has our own distinctive voice. It makes us who we are. And as writers, our voices grow. We can use other authors’ voices as our benchmark, but we’ll remain within our boundaries as we’re shaped by our backgrounds and genetics.
Continue to observe your own voice and cultivate ideas by reading other authors’ works and experimenting. For sure, you’ll see improvements in your voice and the quality of your work. | https://writingcooperative.com/an-authors-voice-and-how-to-find-it-f8c9730d9660 | [] | 2019-01-10 21:01:20.456000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Writing Tips', 'Writers On Writing', 'Writers Life'] |
Human Rights Day 2020: Human Rights and Wrongs | NOTE: Today is Human Rights Day. I’m republishing this blog from Human Rights Day 2019 because its message bears repeating. Incidents of racialized violence in the US are as numerous as grains of sand, and in one of the specific categories I mentioned, anti-semitic incidents in the US, 2019 saw a record-breaking total of 2,107, an increase of 12 percent over last year and more than double 2016. The rapid spread of QAnon and other racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories is to blame as is the bigot on his way out of the White House. I hope all of us have time to take a moment and consider what this means and what we can do about it.
What do the Hallmark Channel, the Present Occupant of the White House, and some of my left-wing friends have in common? Hint: it’s not a thorough understanding of human rights.
December 10 is Human Rights Day, celebrating the anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This noble document, written by survivors of World War II, marks a milestone in human history, the emergence of human rights as universal, not to be transgressed in the name of any cause or regime.
There is always a gap between any declaration — aspiration — and lived reality, to be sure. But my topic today is how fully and fulsomely the gap has been stuffed with indifference and hate by politicians, by commercial culture, by the embodiments of unquestioned entitlement. And my examples run that gamut.
First, a tribute. Eleanor Roosevelt is often mentioned as a key figure in drafting the Declaration, and deserves honor for her role. But my favorite character in the Declaration’s story is Rene Cassin, a hero and sage of human rights. You can read more about him and link to the Jewish human rights organization bearing his name in an essay I wrote honoring him in 2007.
I am in no way an essentialist. I see no evidence that any religion, skin color, gender, orientation, or condition renders any group of human beings superior to the rest. I am repelled by the corrupt habit of mind that ranks us by complexion, historical suffering, association, as if oppression were a contest. When I say that human rights are indivisible, I mean both the world and our minds can hold knowledge of and empathy for many experiences simultaneously. Compassion can stretch to infinity. There is no need to conserve or withhold it for fear of running out.
I am sad at how many experiences I’ve had — how many others I’ve heard about — that treat the way Jews are made use of by bigots and the entitled as something negligible. How often it is seen as not worthy of the attention, compassion, action that flow toward other invidious prejudices. And I am angry at the way some Jews collaborate with this bigotry.
I’ll start with them.
The Present Occupant of the White House made a speech last week to a conservative Jewish group that was a long string of bigoted insults packaged as confiding insider jokes, for example:
“A lot of you are in the real estate business, because I know you very well. You’re brutal killers, not nice people at all,” he said. “But you have to vote for me — you have no choice. You’re not gonna vote for Pocahontas, I can tell you that. You’re not gonna vote for the wealth tax.”
He got laughs. And cheers. You can read a detailed account of his speech here. And an account of the objections it raised here.
The wealthy and right-leaning Jews gathered for the speech in no way represent American Jews as a class. As the second Washington Post article cites, a Gallup poll puts Trump’s approval rating among Jews at 29 percent (as opposed to 31 percent of Latinos); and as a Paul Krugman column on the same topic cites, only 17 percent of Jews voted Republican in the last election. What the Jews who showed up for Trump in Florida represent is the sizeable proportion of Republicans, regardless of ethnicity or religion, who vote for their personal profit over all other considerations. They should be ashamed.
(Responding to an avalanche of criticism for his speech, the president will today sign an executive order declaring Judaism a nationality. Ostensibly undertaken to protect free speech on campus, the order separates Jews from other Americans. Think back to other times and places in which Jews were assigned a status apart from other citizens. What could possibly go wrong?)
But what about this moment in U.S. history? Now is the time in which a president of the United States feels utterly free to make such statements, just as he felt free to say some of the Nazis who marched on Charlottesville were “very fine people.”
Trump is the excrescence, of course, the malignant growth thrusting out of the darkness. So is the vandalization of the 6th and I Synagogue in Washington, DC, last week. So are the murders in Pittsburgh, Poway, Kansas City, and elsewhere in the last few years. So is the sharp upturn in incidents of antisemitic violence: “ADL’s most recent Audit of Anti-Semitic incidents in the United States recorded 1,879 acts in 2018, with a dramatic increase in physical assaults, including the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history.” And I’m only talking about things that happened in the U.S.
But what is the humus, the soil from which these virulent growths spring?
It’s a culture that has turned its back on the indivisibility of human rights, instead parsing prejudices and oppressions, making excuses, choosing not to notice.
I always feel it at this time of year, when the ubiquity of Christmas and all the cultural exclusion it symbolizes start to impinge on my goodwill. A friend recently asked me why this season gets me down, and I sent her a couple of links to earlier essays answering that question. Read “Christmas in America,” which I described when it was published in 2005 as “a cathartic essay.” Then I invite you to read “My Xmas Kvetch” from 2012 for a exploration of cultural hegemony, symbolized by the far-right’s campaign again a so-called “war on Christmas.”
Long ago and far away? Read Britni de la Cretaz’ opinion piece in the Washington Post about her optimism on hearing there were two new Hallmark Hanukkah movies being released, and her pained disappointment at realizing…
There’s just one problem: Neither movie is a Hanukkah movie. They are Christmas movies with Jewish characters. And they rely on some of the oldest anti-Semitic tropes in the book.
The thing that made me saddest lately was encountering a fellow progressive, a fellow Jew, who insists that there is no meaningful antisemitism in the U.S. (and yes, he has not been living on Mars; he knows about the Nazis marching to “Jews will not replace us” and the dead bodies at the Tree of Life Synagogue). His argument? That “Jews have become white; and that so many Jews are in powerful positions–politics, money, media, the arts,” and that this somehow cancels the seriousness of impact of antisemitic acts, even the most violent ones.
This is an absurd argument, in that there are powerful people in every racial, ethnic, and religious category this society uses to cull its members — a black president (though so far never a Jewish one), Jay-Z and Beyonce as billionaires, the median income for Asian Americans 40 percent higher than for all Americans…and so on. The fact that some members of a group hold political and economic power in no way cancels acts of hatred and violence against them. How could it? I could never imagine the man who laughed off antisemitism telling an African American friend to laugh off a police murder or church fire because after all, we had a black president and a ton of black celebrities are rich. Or a Muslim friend to laugh off that mosque fire because Hasan Minaj has his own show on Netflix, Ilhan Omar is in Congress, and Sahid Khan owns an NFL team.
As for the “Jews have become white” part of the argument, it contains a truth and a falsehood. The truth is that whiteness as a privileged status has been granted to various immigrant groups in this country, including pale-skinned Jews. But a second truth is omitted: this status is always provisional. It can be revoked at any time, and that fact is indeed relevant, as I explored in this 2017 essay. In it you’ll see links to several important analyses, including Eric Ward’s brilliant “Skin in The Game.”
The falsehood is that by no stretch of the imagination are all Jews white. Did you read about Tiffany Haddish’s “Black Mitzvah?” Have you heard of Be’chol Lashon? The Jewish Multiracial Network? The Jews of Color Field Building Initiative?
I could go on listing, but here’s the point: when even progressive Jews who espouse values of justice and equity find a way to dismiss hatred of and violence against Jews, something is very wrong with our understanding of human rights. I’ll say it again: human rights are indivisible. If you make an exception for any group — if you paint a picture of the world in which attacks against certain groups are more forgivable, amusing, and benign than against others — the consequences will crash down on all heads. The death of universal human rights is an equal-opportunity plague. Let’s not let it loose.
Here’s the song I offered with “My Xmas Kvetch” seven years ago: “Far Away Christmas Blues” featuring Esther Phillips, Mel Walker, and Johnny Otis. Worth another listen. | https://medium.com/@arlenegoldbard-1818/human-rights-day-2020-human-rights-and-wrongs-2f8ef41844de | ['Arlene Goldbard'] | 2020-12-10 16:32:45.866000+00:00 | ['Equity', 'Anti Semitism', 'Qanon', 'Human Rights', 'Racism'] |
Los 7 Errores Más Comunes al Querer Ganar Masa Muscular. | Seeker of new life experiences, Jedi master of turning bold ideas into reality. I believe in entrepreneurship to build a better world, life and future. | https://medium.com/@fernandokalid/los-5-errores-m%C3%A1s-comunes-al-querer-ganar-masa-muscular-2308bca7ebf7 | ['Fernando Kalid - The Futurist'] | 2020-10-11 16:32:12.598000+00:00 | ['Ejercicio', 'Fitness', 'Español', 'Hipertrofia'] |
X-AI, Black Boxes and Crystal Balls | Inside AI
X-AI, Black Boxes and Crystal Balls
On our road to trusted AI, I discussed in my previous blog the question of bias, how it travels from humans to machines, how it is amplified by AI applications, the impacts in the real world, for individuals and for businesses, and the importance to proactively tackle this problem. Today, I’ll address the issue of explainability and transparency of the so-called “black box” models.
Choosing between Explainability and Accuracy?
To trust, one must understand. This is true of relationships between human beings. It is also true when it comes to adopting systems that augment human capabilities to generate insight and make decisions. It’s a partnership between humans and machines. Like in all partnerships, trust is the key.
It is perhaps no surprise that explainability of AI and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms has become one of the most discussed and researched topics in the field.
What does it meant for an algorithm to be explainable? It means that the system can convey useful information about its inner workings, the patterns that it learns and the results it provides. Interpretability is a softer, lighter version of explainability. A system is interpretable if we can see what’s going on and if we can reasonably predict the outcome based on input variables, even if we do not necessarily know how the system reached its decision.
Some model types, like decision trees and linear regressions, are quite simple, transparent and easy to understand. We know how changing the inputs will affect the predicted outcome and we can justify each prediction.
Unfortunately, the same complexity that gives extraordinary predictive abilities to “black box” models such as deep neural networks, random forests, or gradient boosting machines, also makes them very difficult to understand (and trust). The workings of any ML technology are inherently opaque, even to computer scientists. By its nature, deep learning is a particularly dark black box.
The problem is made worse by the large volumes of data used to train those models, making it difficult to figure out which data points have more influence on the outcome than others. The fact that ML algorithms evolve over time also makes things hard, because the algorithms keep learning from new data.
At the end of the day, it is a trade-off between accuracy and explainability. The question is how much we are prepared to compromise on either. Unfortunately, we have not reached the point where we can have models that are both highly accurate and fully transparent, although we are moving in that direction. | https://towardsdatascience.com/x-ai-black-boxes-and-crystal-balls-fd27a00752ec | ['Olivier Penel'] | 2019-04-29 07:52:18.799000+00:00 | ['Inside Ai', 'Explainability', 'Transparency', 'Machine Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence'] |
From Surgeon to Startup | By Angie Gallagher
In this series, we feature the stories of the companies who are using the BurstIQ platform to further their mission of providing new and innovative health-tech solutions to patients around the world. Today we had the pleasure of talking with one of our favorite Australian startups, a company called Secure Health Chain, founded by the energetic, relentless, Dr. Robert Laidlaw.
Blockchain Bob’s Story with Data
Dr. Robert Laidlaw, Secure Health Chain’s Founder and Executive Director
Dr. Rob has been a doctor for ten years and lives in Sydney. In the last five years, he specialized in neurosurgery before pivoting into the healthcare startup world.
While being a practicing doctor, he realized the critical role of data. The waste and underutilization cause impactful inefficiencies for patients needing care, making inefficiencies staggering. With the doctor count going down, the admin count is going up; he feels an answer to better care are more doctors in face to face interactions with patients versus people designing processes and policies.
Regarding the health data economy, Dr. Rob is appalled by how it works. It is seldom documented well with opaque markets, and a small number of players are deceptive about how they use data. And in terms of data market players, he asks the bigger question of, “Who owns the data and who has the right to it?”
Patients should be informed about the decisions being made based on their data. For example, in his Secure Health Passport app, if someone has tests completed, they can select who can get that data, and when and to whom it gets sold then, the money goes into their bank account.
The jury is out in terms of who owns the data; meanwhile, virtually every clinic asks that you to sign a waiver allowing them to anonymize and on sell your data. Dr. Rob believes all stakeholders should possess and share that value. The value of data sets varies greatly, for example, a molecular profile on a rare tumor is more valuable than your typical annual blood work results. Regardless on the type of health data, Dr Rob believes there is always going to be someone out there that can put the data to good use in medical research.
Secure Health Chain Can Help Your Future Health
Dr. Rob operates as an assistant brain surgeon at a local hospital
One day a week, Dr. Rob continues to operate as an assistant brain surgeon at a local hospital. The Secure Health passport is available now for a limited time for free on the Google Play and Apple App stores. The passport acts as a single place to store your precious health data. Sharing your records with your local Doctor is simple, scan your Doctor’s QR code, and they can get access. Being dynamic, it this consent can be revoked by you at any stage.
Dr Rob also works as the club Doctor for the North Sydney Bears Rugby League club. He has included a module for sports medicine with a head injury assessment tool using the SCAT-5 test.. These critical assessments encompass the power of comparison — the actual incident and after the event supplying important head injury information.
Coming to the United States
Dr. Rob has been in blockchain for two years. While it struggles to leapfrog into distributed technologies, BurstIQ’s consent layer is effortless and useful. The platform specializing in big data and can help him scale, while it is HIPPA and GDPR compliant.
He likes that we are involved in global healthcare and have an Australian presence. Our company’s track record with the Intermountain project provides much credibility too.
The trust that blockchain guarantees are essential with visibility without the crypto association. Consent contracts have the integrity that Dr. Laidlaw needs for patients to have confidence in his application.
Dr. Mark Robinson talks weekly to another neurosurgeon in Denver who works at a national healthcare system. Secure Health Chain is soon to launch a pre and post-surgical procedure data collection for outcomes such as pain and return to work. Currently, this process is slow and cumbersome being largely done on paper-based forms. Dr Robinson hopes to pilot his health passport here in Denver later this year.
Combined with his communication with an American company, BurstIQ, and the International Trade Administration, we hope to see Secure Health Chain in the United States soon. | https://medium.com/@burstiq/from-surgeon-to-startup-e3cf4a79dd | [] | 2020-10-27 15:45:58.016000+00:00 | ['Health Data', 'Blockchain', 'Australia', 'Blockchain Startup', 'Data Ownership'] |
Saying Goodbye | It helps to write down how we feel and to share our feelings with others. It’s therapeutic for us and helpful to others.
Sharing our thoughts and feelings makes everyone see things from others’ various perspectives and it helps people realize they’re not alone in battling and overcoming the challenges life throws at them.
As the year is coming to an end, I’m reflecting on what I’ve been through in 2020 and on what this year has taught me.
So… I’m writing a letter to 2020.
A few months ago, I contributed to an anthology about gratitude, and, in addition to getting published, my participation opened my eyes and taught me so much. I benefited a great deal from it.
I just learned an anthology of “letters to 2020” is being created. I’ve decided to submit a piece.
If you would like to contribute to this anthology and share your letters to 2020, please submit your letters by January 10th to Chris Palmore:
https://www.gratitudespace.com/lettersto2020/
Thanks for reading. | https://medium.com/@authornikaparadis/saying-goodbye-6055da890197 | ['Nika Paradis'] | 2020-12-24 15:40:58.100000+00:00 | ['2020', 'Letters', 'Life', 'Therapy', 'Self'] |
Jews of the world, disunite…in Israel! | If you are Jewish and living outside of Israel, what are you waiting for? Israel awaits you. What’s taking you so long? Uncle Bibi wants YOU!
As a Palestinian living in Palestine, I anxiously await your arrival. I have spoken directly to thousands of you over decades about Israel and its actions. Most recently, I had a conversation with over 100 of you on Zoom. The conversation and audience questions were all too familiar, like the hundreds of past encounters — cordial, frank, and informative to us both. However, this last one ended on a note that stuck with me for days. The interviewer, a well-established and respected Jewish thought leader in the U.S. closed the session with a message of hope that Israeli scientists would clone me. Although flattered, I got off the call and thought: Why clone me? I’m just communicating what my community has been saying for decades. There are already plenty of Palestinians saying the exact same thing.
Upon reflection, I thought maybe I came across as too liberal, too Ohioan, and too accommodating. That is, not as angry as I really am. Thus, I ask you to indulge me in a rare rant. As Jewish friends, cousins even, I need you to read this, from me directly. I will not be long and promise to come back to my normal self before it ends. So, here we go.
START OF RANT
Your “light unto the nations” shpiel uprooted an entire indigenous people. You then claimed Israel is reserved for Jews forever. However, your subsequent actions contradict that. Every day that you delay your arrival here, a benighted Palestinian refugee thinks he might return. You simply cannot let that happen; God forbid. Israel did not win successive wars and undertake major military onslaughts to remain at risk forever. No, you must join in protecting the only (well, maybe second) place in the world that is yours. Israel must hold back Palestinian refugees at all costs. So, make sure your place in the sun is protected. You can only do that by filling the Levant with fellow Jews. Yet you remain absent. Why? C’mon. Get with the program. Israel needs you now more than ever!
Join fellow Jews in Israel. It’s easy. After displacing two-thirds of the original population, Israel passed the Law of Return. Its gist is simple: any Jew in the world…regardless of where born, what language is spoken, what citizenship currently held, or how religious…has a place here. ALL Jews have a fast-track, and carte blanche right, to Israeli citizenship: no barriers whatsoever. The Law applies to children and grandchildren, too. Plus spouses. And the spouses of their children and grandchildren. Such a deal!
Every lawmaker and parliamentarian who seek reelection knows there’s no place like Israel, a Jewish home for ever-homeless Jews.
Imagine the chutzpah, then, of Palestinian “terrorists” — who surely must have left of their own “free will” in 1948 and 1967 — claiming the same rights for their children and grandchildren in 2020!
Monsters!
So, fellow Semites, what’s stopping you from living here? You visit like Israel is your home. You also support it like you own it. And, in fact, you do. So why not reside here 24–7–365?
Now, some of you might say you can’t afford a home here. Fear not. The state, abetted by Uncle Sucker’s endless automatic aid, has solved that problem. When you arrive, you will be given the enticing option of living in a gated hilltop community in Samaria. All costs of living are subsidized. And the scenery: out of this world!
NB: Please don’t visit websites before moving into your beautiful new home.
You might get shpilkes noticing odd movements here and there in the valley below. Ignore them. They are the ungrateful owners of the land upon which you are now redeeming — dreaded Palestinians. However, you’ll get acclimated in no time. Soon you will gaze out your massive picture windows and see nothing but beautiful mountains and gorgeous blue skies.
Trust me on this.
So again: stop dawdling. Come quick. For starters, you could start a new start-up in the “Start-up Nation!” Now’s the time. Make your mark in Israel’s fastest-growing sector: the security and arms trade. There are ever-more customers for the Jewish State’s life-ending products all across the Arab world. Customers are fabulously wealthy and drool just thinking about holding Israel’s death-harvesting produce in their gory hands.
And just think: all such toys of death and destruction are made by dark side techies from what was formerly called The People of the Book.
Don’t worry about the stigma of participating in the new Middle East arms race. The prime minister, literally glued to his chair, provides cover. In his pitch-perfect English, your new leader tells the world how much it owes your tiny new home. Everything useful and modern…from cherry tomatoes to the microchips in phones to the latest/most-lethal drones.
It’s a truly beautiful fairy tale, one concocted to make you feel proud. It ensconces you in a cocoon of ahistorical fables, replete with evil, child-hating parents and good unicorn-riding Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers. The unbearable reality — which you will soon learn not to see-hear-speak — will be consigned to your nightmares.
Again, come walk-the-walk per all the talk you were taught over the years. Like Jews being threatened everywhere and all the time. And history constantly failing you. And no other groups suffering as you have. Ever.
Israel is now the only safe haven for you. Don’t allow anyone to tell you otherwise.
Once in LOMAH (the Land of Milk and Honey), your children might initially get distracted by Israel’s hip nightclubs and start-up scenes. Not to worry. New TV shows like “Valley of Tears” will remind them of the horrors of yore. Such indoctrination will go bone-deep. Soon they will robotically recite all that was overcome to create their new home. They will then never relax. Or feel compassion. They will get that Tikkun Olam, “healing the world,” is for heels.
Sure, such HBO fear-mongering fare is aired to the world-at-large, but watching it in Israel amongst brethren has far greater meaning. Nothing will keep your children in line like seeing CGI versions of the Hebron massacre of 1929 or colorful scenes of suicide bombings from a few decades ago. Searing episodes of some form of “The Infernal Arab” will teach your children to fear natives as the Other.
Once here, take the family to meet the compassionate new nominee to head Yad Vashem (the World Holocaust Remembrance Center). Your children will go there anyway on school trips. Yad Vashem will banish any lingering doubts you might have about Israel’s purported “liberal values.” Holocaustomania justifies each and every abuse of Palestinians, despite Nazis having operated on a different continent entirely.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeting Jonathan Pollard upon his arrival at Ben-Gurion International Airport, December 30, 2020 (Photo credit: Haaretz)
Come then: join fellow Jews in Israel! Convicted Jewish American spy Jonathan Pollard just arrived with his wife after serving 30 years in prison. He flew into Ben-Gurion International Airport in a private plane, belonging to the owner of the Israeli daily Israel Hayom Sheldon Adelson, from Newark International Airport in New Jersey and was greeted by Prime Minister Netanyahu who handed him his Israeli ID card. The excitement is unbearable.
You, your children, and grandchildren must no longer love Israel from afar. Besides, the reborn Hebrew language awaits you. Forget the few words you memorized or songs you sang. It’s time to learn real Hebrew, a cocktail of accents from Sephardi, Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, African, and even American Jews. You’ll fit right in, mistakes and all. After all, it’s not the language that unites Jews, it’s the Promised Land. Don’t fret about the clause “even to the ends of the world,” either. Zionism made sure to drop that, praise Jesus, and Amen!
By the way, leave Evangelicals behind when you come. Sure, they want you to be here, but for a different reason. They believe Jesus (unlike Palestinian refugees) will return. And when He does, if you don’t convert to Christianity, Evangelicals believe they will become evangels rising in a Rapture while you roast in endless nuclear hellfire meltdowns.
The time is now to uphold your responsibilities. If too old, make your kids move post-high school. They can then don with pride the uniform of “the most moral army in the world”. Your kids can play “Pin the Responsibility on Arabs.” And snatch Palestinian children from beds in the middle of the night. Or torture prisoners held without charge in Israeli prisons. Or practice sharpshooting by blowing out the kneecaps of unarmed, peaceful protesters.
Do you say you and your families would never do such things? Could never even countenance said actions? Okay. Fine. Join Unit 8200, instead. It’s the Israeli Intelligence Corps of the IDF. It eavesdrops on ordinary conversations of PWRTV (Palestinians who refuse to vanish). Heck, if your kids learn some Arabic in high school, the army might teach them how to spy on natives via laptops and cellphones, too.
Even if you don’t learn Arabic, no problem. The Knesset proudly demoted its standing as an official language. Still, you can pick up a few “colorful” words from your gardener, house painter, or plasterer.
In sum, your children will love the services they render their new country (or, again, maybe second). After you or your offspring finish mandatory military service, you will have many perks: proud pictures in uniform; substantial social-welfare benefits (from housing to education); a great addition to your CV; and job offers galore. Startups here are always looking for novel ways to help foreign governments spy on their own citizens; Why wouldn’t they, they have a free testing laboratory right next door? Having served in the IDF assures that you’ll be a big hit with potential employers/investors.
Look, you earned the right to live here on colonized land. You took it fair and square by terror. You also blindly supported Israel through donations, committee/community work, and even deafening silence during the decades-long subjugation of another people. The world calls it a military occupation but never mind the world, they are all wrong and also anti-Semitic. So, it’s time to come. You will have great neighbors in nearby illegal settlements. Plus, if coming from the U.S., you’ll see Trump, Ivanka, Jared, Friedman, Adelson, and others visiting regularly…even if arriving from Moscow. Sure, Don was voted out of office, but before that, you loved, passively or otherwise, his unwavering support of Israel.
NB: If you happen to run across Jared on your way here, ask him if he liked the couscous.
Caveat
When you arrive, be forewarned: not all Jews in Israel will be people you want to associate with. Some have lost their way. More and more speak out, sometimes loudly, against the path Israel is on. They dare to oppose the policies of the only state you can call your own (or, maybe, the second). Such ingrate citizens! Israel took care of them, educated them, trained them, and sent them to maintain the peace with the barbaric people next door. Now they have the audacity to bite the hand that feeds them. Some malcontents even give talks to teenagers, telling them not to serve in Israel’s vaunted army. Imagine such self-hating Jews! And in Israel no less!
Those recalcitrants also run from the UN to the EU and back again, complaining that this great nation of yours is violating pesky international laws created after World War II. That is, post-Nuremberg laws passed too late to save European Jewry. And much too late to save the victims of Zionism, folks who insist on calling themselves “Palestinians.”
Still, rest assured: Israel’s mighty government machine knows how to deal with traitors, how to persuade misguided youths to wise up. Those who refuse to join the righteous IDF get imprisoned as draft-dodgers (nearly no conscientious objectors are permitted). Troublemakers who think the right-to-assemble will protect them are banned from addressing high school assemblies. Successive Israeli governments worked too hard propagandizing students to illegally support “the only Jewish state in the world” to allow that to happen. As for the sick bastards who expose what Israel is doing in Gaza, they will surely burn in hell.
But never mind all that. Just hurry up and get here. Claim your rightful place in the country that commits war crimes every day in your name to hold your place. If you embark now, you can even vote in the next election.
Whatever you do, though, please don’t stay away because of the deluded dreams of untermenschen calling themselves “Palestinians!”
END OF RANT
Thanks for allowing me to express myself in a way that I know will be hard for some to swallow and was even harder for me to write, yet one that I truly hope provides a long-overdue wake-up call. Don’t get me wrong. I will still talk with you at every opportunity and continue to gladly answer all questions, no matter how many times asked.
We Palestinians, more than anyone else, want you to come here. We need you too. And hope you will arrive by the thousands and tens of thousands. Only then will your love affair with The Idea of Israel meet the reality of Israel.
Finally, despite all you have done to us or has been done in your name, we cling to our faith that the great religion of Judaism — with its foundational pillar of social justice — will guide you to equality. That is, Jews being no better nor worse than others. For that vision, I will fight alongside you when you arrive and comfort you as you wake up. Which you will do after facts counter the falsehoods you’ve been fed. Then the dirty jackboots of occupation will be taken off our necks. Consigned to the dustbin of history, those boots will be refashioned into sandals…which we will wear hiking mountains together. And after the oppressive sands of Zionism wash away, we will also walk together on beaches…barefoot.
Sam Bahour (@SamBahour) is a Youngstown, Ohio-born and raised Palestinian-American business consultant and a frequent commentator on Palestinian affairs, writing from Ramallah/Al-Bireh in Occupied Palestine. He blogs at ePalestine.ps. | https://medium.com/@sbahour/jews-of-the-world-disunite-in-israel-aa1f741e5b16 | ['Sam Bahour'] | 2020-12-30 14:38:19.577000+00:00 | ['Diaspora', 'World', 'Jewish', 'Palestine', 'Israel'] |
Reflections From a Token Black Friend | In the wake of the past week’s events, I’ve reflected on my interactions with the police. These interactions lifted the veil of black privilege I thought existed, though it was likely only afforded to me because of my military affiliation.
I was once pulled over in a cemetery, less than one minute after getting back into my car after visiting a friend’s grave, only to be asked, “What are you doing here?” The cop had been parked right by me the entire time, so he obviously just seen me out at a gravestone alone.
“Visiting my friend’s grave before heading back to school tomorrow, sir,” I said.
The officer’s aggressive demeanor changed only after I told him I went to the Naval Academy, at which point we entered a friendly conversation about his days at Norwich. What stuck with me is what he could’ve done in those cemetery back roads without another living person in sight — no witnesses, no cameras.
Another time, when I’d walked back to my best friend’s empty house after a party, I accidentally set off the alarm, bringing the cops buzzing to his door. I wonder if the only reason it went so smoothly is because I quickly identified myself as a member of the military, opening their ears to hear the full story of what was happening. I think of what might’ve happened if they’d mistaken me, holding my military ID in my hand as I walked out the door, for something else.
It’s tough to realize how rarely these possibilities occurred to me when I was younger. When I was pulled over numerous times, often without cause, driving to a hockey game in Weston or parked talking to my white girlfriend, I didn’t consider that the cops might have had it against me. When I did witness these biases, I quickly brushed them off as insignificant.
Early in middle school, I arrived to our high school’s football game with a group of friends, all white, to find three or four policemen standing by the entrance. I greeted them with a “Good evening, officers,” and then quietly said to my friends, “You gotta befriend them so they are on your side later.” My buddies thought it was hilarious, and I had succeeded in making the boys laugh. Looking back, I realize they didn’t understand that I was speaking to something legitimate. I was no older than 12 or 13, and I already understood that the police would not be inclined to help me. It was only funny to my friends because they’d never had those sorts of conversations.
I think back to when my friends never understood why I wasn’t allowed to play with water guns — or any toy guns, for that matter — when I was a boy. I’d be so excited to visit a friend’s house and use their airsoft gun in the backyard. I used to get so frustrated when my mom told us it was “too dangerous” for black boys to do that and that someone would mistake it for a real gun. When I was 16, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot and killed while playing with a replica toy airsoft gun. I realized my mom was right.
I think of the way the black girls were treated as second rate in high school. Guys rarely tried to talk to them romantically, and if they did, others discussed it with an undertone of comedy. I never felt this way, personally, but didn’t realize until college that my silence was compliance. I was participating in denying dignity to the black women around me.
This attitude from my white friends didn’t end in high school, either. This past year, I was at a bar in Narragansett, Rhode Island, where I’d quickly befriended one of the guys my friend had brought with him. At one point, I expressed my interest in a girl who had just entered the bar. He asked me to point her out, so I did, also noting that she was black. He responded, “Yeah bro, she’s cute, but you could have one of the white girls here!” I questioned his statement, and he realized it didn’t fly with me. We eventually moved on and continued the night, but I couldn’t get it out of my head. He truly didn’t think anything of it when he said it. And he assumed that I would agree with him. To him, the preference for white women was undisputed, so he suggested it unapologetically. It was especially hard for me because, outside of that statement, there was nothing to suggest he was racist. He had treated me with nothing but love and admiration and accepted me into his crew. It was simply ignorance, which had probably been reinforced countless times. That was difficult to wrestle with. | https://humanparts.medium.com/reflections-from-a-token-black-friend-2f1ea522d42d | ['Ramesh A Nagarajah'] | 2020-06-12 02:05:39.663000+00:00 | ['Privilege', 'BlackLivesMatter', 'White Privilege', 'Racism', 'Relationships'] |
React 2020 — P5: Class Components | In the two previous articles we looked at functional components.
Although the React team seems like they want to move away from class-based components, they’re still here. As a side note, I like and prefer class components. We’ve touched on class components in the Deeper Intro article.
A class based component is a class that extends React.Component and contains a render() method that returns a JSX element. We can convert functional components into class components pretty easily.
Let’s create a class component that lists a movie where Jim Carrey was awesome. We’ll start by creating a Sonic.js file inside of our src/components directory. If you haven’t seen Sonic yet, I highly recommend it (especially if you have kids).
Just like with functional components, we need to import React.
import React from 'react';
The class will extend React.Component and will contain a render() method that returns an element. The render() method is a life-cycle method (we’ll look at life-cycle methods in later articles). The render() life-cycle method is a required method meaning that each time that you create a class component, that component will need to have the render() method.
Just like functional components, class components will need to be exported so that they can be rendered later on. The importing process is the same as with functional components. We’ll import the class component inside of the App component and render it.
Make sure you have your development server running: npm start.
Since we don’t know how to pass arguments yet to class components, to display an additional movie by Jim Carrey, you’ll have to create a new component. So, create the component Mask.js in src/components, import it into App and render it below <Sonic />.
You might have noticed that we’re importing a class component into the App functional component. Yes, you can do that. You can also import functional components into class components. We’re going to be looking at passing arguments to components in the next article since we don’t want to keep creating individual components for each movie that Jim Carrey has appeared in. | https://medium.com/dev-genius/react-2020-p5-class-components-2c36c0eb4c28 | ['Dino Cajic'] | 2020-09-02 19:45:55.296000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'React', 'Programming', 'Reactjs', 'Web Development'] |
Proxy staking via Anchor wallet: 2% — 4% per annum on EOS | EOS holders can create a blockchain account and stake cryptocurrency through a proxy to earn 2% — 4% per year. Proxies are specifically designed EOS accounts that participate in blockchain management using votes of other participants. If you just want to stake EOS, you don’t need to create such an account. You can simply delegate cryptocurrency through a proxy. In this article, we’ll show you how to proxy-stake EOS using the Anchor wallet.
How to create an EOS wallet
Before staking EOS through a proxy, you will need an account (an account can be created in any supported wallet). Anchor is one of them. It is a simple EOS wallet available on mobile and PC (Web version). Choose which version you will use to create your wallet and download it from the Anchor website or using the links below.
Desktop version
Mobile version
For iOS ;
; The Android version of the Anchor wallet is still in development. Check back for updates or use the desktop client for now.
So, after you’ve downloaded the wallet, launch the app on your device. In this guide, we’ll take a look at how to create a wallet using the desktop version of Anchor. The process is almost identical for mobile platforms and PCs. Run the installer file, select the directory and install the program on your local drive. The client will be installed automatically. Then launch the program and click “Setup Wallet”.
Create and enter a strong password to encrypt the wallet file so that no one else can access it. In case you forget and lose your password, it will be possible to restore access only with the help of a seed phrase. Click “Set Password”. Then re-enter the new password and again click “Set Password”.
Expand the list and select the blockchain that you intend to use, in our case EOS. In the future, it will be possible to add other blockchains to the wallet if required.
Now import the wallet. This can be achieved in three ways:
Using a private key;
Specifying a seed-phrase (mnemonic password) that consists of a sequence of pseudo-random words;
Connecting a hardware wallet.
For example, we chose to import a private key. Enter the private key for your EOS account and click “Import Account (s)”.
The home screen will open which displays the available balance and the number of coins staked. Staking is available in the “Governance” section. Open this section and go to the “Proxies” tab.
Now you need to select the EOS proxy to which you delegate your tokens. Use the search bar to find proxies by name, such as Everstake. Our team has launched our EOS proxy which crypto holders can vote for and receive 2% — 4% per year.
Click on the button as shown in the screenshot below to continue.
Confirm that you are delegating tokens to the selected proxy to stake EOS by clicking the “Confirm” button.
If the transaction is successful, Anchor will issue a corresponding message. Congratulations! You have staked EOS and now you will receive a reward. Tokens can be unstaked 72 hours after the delegation of EOS to block producers.
Sign up for Everstake updates and stay informed about the latest staking events. You will also find useful guides on staking EOS and other cryptocurrencies in our social networks.
We wish you profitable staking!
***
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Reddit | https://medium.com/everstake/proxy-staking-via-anchor-wallet-2-4-per-annum-on-eos-c492c8a45952 | [] | 2020-12-22 15:03:12.470000+00:00 | ['Eos', 'Staking Guide', 'Staking', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Anchor'] |
Best tips for saving for retirement — Robert & Gabby Amazing Deals | Best tips for saving for retirement.
Many economic advisors say a great area to start is to set up an emergency fund. Saving enough so that if you have an unexpected price or activity loss. You don’t grow to be using a credit score card or another excessive-interest mortgage.
Track your spending
You may also periodically review your, which could push you to think about where you are going, like your everyday coffee repair, that can add to masses of bucks a yr. Creating a financial plan will help you gauge progress closer to your and prompt you to course-correct as necessary-best tips for saving for retirement.
Try and begin early
If your agency offers a () fit, monetary advisors advocate contributing enough to jump on that unfastened. Past the suit, pay attention to determine whether to store for retirement using a (), or each. A terrific rule of thumb is to bump up contributions as you earn greater. The closing purpose is to maximize your contribution every yr, ideally to both your and (), if you can have enough money to accomplish that.
With compounding does your work for you because any are reinvested to earn extra returns. Even modest quantities could make a massive difference over time with your retirement investments, specifically when achieved frequently.
For your 40s and 50s: make sure you’re on the right track.
In case you aren’t already, recall gaining knowledge of extra about saving into because they provide compelling tax blessings for retirement financial savings. Blending and conventional IRAs offer to get right of entry to buckets of cash with various tax remedies to pull from all through retirement, relying on what makes feel for you at the time.
If you have a (), keep bumping contributions if you haven’t yet maxed out. The IRS knows that many are at the back of retirement savings, so it allows those aged 50-plus to take advantage of seize-up contributions in retirement money owed. Best tips for saving for retirement.
For 2020 and 2021, the seize-up contribution permits an additional $6,500 of financial savings on top of the $19,500 maximum contribution for ()s and a further $1,000 on the pinnacle of the $6,000 maximum contribution restrict for.
Lessen fees
Jill fopiano, president and CEO at O’Brien wealth partners in Boston, shows that people in this age group think of approaches to restriction charges and keep and make investments as plenty as feasible.
“In case your kids are out of the residence, maybe it’s time to consider downsizing,” fopiano says. “No longer most effective may you take a few fairness out of your house to make investments for your future. However, you furthermore might additionally reduce the charges related to a bigger domestic.”
Keep in mind health care prices.
Unexpected health care prices can, without difficulty, throw off your retirement plan. Medicare typically doesn’t cowl long-time period care needs except you require skilled nursing care. This is wherein lengthy-time period care insurance can be on hand. Advisors say the candy spot for purchasing a protracted-term care policy is for your 50s while you’re nevertheless young and healthful sufficient to qualify for the satisfactory prices.
Another way to cover clinical expenses is via the usage of a health savings account. High-deductible health plans allow you to store and in hsas, which are used to fund eligible medical costs each now and within the destiny. Hsas had triple tax benefits — contributions are made pretax, investments develop tax-deferred, and don’t pay tax with withdrawals. Balances also roll over from year to 12 months.
On your 60s and 70s: put together for retirement.
Make specified financial plans.
Making social safety plans is also vital because your month-to-month benefit quantity relies upon when you decide to gather. Drawing early at age sixty-two effects in a permanently reduced monthly advantage. Taking blessings at full retirement age yields your primary coverage amount or the amount earned from your working years. Ready until age 70 maximizes your month-to-month advantage.
Remember all of your profit options together with different elements of existence expectancy. Whether you’re nevertheless operating full or component-time, taxes, and many others. To make a knowledgeable selection approximately whilst to begin amassing social protection.
One of the satisfactory methods to succeed at something is setting potential dreams alongside the manner. It can be not easy to recognize what dreams of setting or even if you’re on track with retirement. Whether or not you’re ahead of or at the back of your desires. Being functional approximately making plans lets you get wherein you need to move. | https://medium.com/@robgabco2/best-tips-for-saving-for-retirement-robert-gabby-amazing-deals-e0f4221679f9 | ['Robert', 'Gabamazing Deals'] | 2020-12-07 21:57:55.297000+00:00 | ['Social Security', 'Retirement Planning', 'Money Mindset', 'Money Management', 'Retirement'] |
Make your video meetings inclusive and engaging! | Make your video meetings inclusive and engaging!
Running meetings over video can be hard, but with some simple tricks it doesn’t have to be. Take the anxiety out of both organizing and participating in video meetings by trying some of these tips.
Have a good technical set up
Being the single remote participant in a meeting where discussion happens across the table in a big meeting room, is a horrible experience. Especially because you need a very good camera and microphone setup to relay audio and body language from everyone in the room. If you don’t have a good cam/mic setup in your meeting room, it may be better that everyone joins remotely to make all participants feel equal. If your network can handle it, consider having everyone sitting at their desk or in separate locations if you need to have an important discussion when someone is remote. Use an ethernet cable if available, to eliminate any network issues (usually poor WiFi causes the majority of quality problems).
Set aside time for small talk
Welcome everyone on a personal basis when they join the meeting. Being met with a “Nice to see you John!” or “Good morning Ashley!” makes people happy and sets a good mood for the meeting. If your team is permanently remote, set aside some slack in the beginning of the meeting for small talk, it’s important to keep the personal relationships alive.
Have an agenda and keep time
To ensure that you achieve the purpose of the meeting, set an agenda and share with invited participants in advance, so they get a chance to prepare and bring good thoughts into the discussion. Start the meeting by recapping the agenda and how much time you want to spend, and revisit this throughout the meeting to stick to the time allotted. People often have back-to-back video meetings, so clarify if anyone has a hard stop at the scheduled end time and if so, wrap up the discussion a few minutes in advance of that.
Engage people and manage speakers
As the meeting leader, it’s your job to actively engage everyone. Not everyone will jump out of their chair to participate, but it’s not always the people who talk the loudest who have the right answers. Think through what you want different people to contribute with, and make sure to pull them into the discussion. Manage speakers by having people raise their hands and note the order. At the start of the meeting, encourage people to ask questions or give feedback. In Whereby, we have reaction emojis that let people react to what’s being said without interrupting the speaker.
Be present
Don’t multitask while being in meetings, it makes other people less engaged too. When talking, look directly into the camera to make people feel like you’re talking to them. If you’re talking notes, it may be polite to say so, so people know what you are doing.
Use screen sharing or collaborative tools
Sometimes you may want to do work together in meetings, and there are now great possibilities for doing this. Several tools allow real-time collaborative editing, such as:
Miro or Mural for whiteboarding
Figma for sketching and collaboration/commenting on design files
Notion, Dropbox Paper, Confluence or Google Docs for note taking
In Whereby you can open Google Docs and Trello boards embedded, so everyone in the video meeting can work on them at the same time.
Assign tasks and make it easy for people to follow up
End the meeting with making sure everyone knows what you agreed on, document any decisions made (e.g. in shared meetings notes or a summary email) and assign tasks if further action is decided. To make it easy to follow up, use a task management tool like Trello. They allow the whole team to see what is being worked on and track progress.
If you want to get started with easy video meetings, you can set up your own video room on whereby.com.
-Ingrid Odegaard, Co-founder / Chief Product & Technology Ofice | https://medium.com/the-making-of-whereby/make-your-video-meetings-inclusive-and-engaging-5ede61c7fe46 | ['Ingrid Ødegaard'] | 2020-03-11 07:28:34.297000+00:00 | ['Collaboration', 'Meetings', 'Video Conferencing', 'Inclusion', 'Remote Working'] |
It´s a state of mind, not what you achieve in life. | “You´ll find happiness when you stop trying to prove yourself”.
No sentence ever resonated as much with me as this one did at this point in my life. As the year ends, I look back on the person I´ve been. All my actions, my habits, and my decisions from the moment I wake up, going to work, social gatherings, time spent alone, and going back to bed. I constantly challenge myself to grow however this current challenge is one hard to swallow and face. Like many teenagers, I struggled with unconsciously building up insecure thoughts, emotions, and patterns that determined the way I looked at myself and others. It crippled me for many years without even knowing it and prevented me from truly searching for a path in life that would bring me joy, peace, and happiness. I´ve always had a deep curiosity for practices like meditation, visualization, and self-reflection so I slowly started incorporating them into my alone time. Being far from an expert, I started to look even closer at the things I posted on social media, the way I acted, and even the things I said throughout the day and noticed I was deeply unsatisfied with the person I was growing up to be. I didn´t even recognize myself. I started to ask myself questions I had been avoiding my whole life. ¿What are you passionate about? ¿What does your life goal look like? ¿Do you even have one? ¿Are you aware you have been coasting through life all this time? Like a feather being blown by the wind in all directions, powerless. As I contemplated these questions my mind and body started to feel tense, I began to worry. So what did I do?
Ignore these sensations.
“Failure isn’t fatal, but failure to change might be.”
I was afraid to accept my true path and afraid to dream. I was comfortable with the way life was going even though I could not experience true joy and happiness because my body and my sensations told me otherwise. I was anxious all the time, worrying about what other people thought about me, depressed and victimized every time life didn´t turn out the way it was supposed to. Of course, it wasn´t! A ship with no captain will only travel where the tides of the ocean and the wind takes it, it needs someone to steer and command. And so the years went on and my presence on social media kept growing as a lie, projections of my insecurities to prove to the world I was someone with a happy life, who was going somewhere. When in reality I had very little purpose, very little success when it came to financial security, and a feeling of truly loving what I did. Luckily I realized I could heal myself. After years of struggling with hate, resentment, and anger towards many people of the past, family traumas, and rejection of love towards myself and others I sought to look for help and guidance. I went to therapy to hear myself express all these emotions and thoughts that I wanted to eradicate from my life, not have them haunt me every day, and determine what the course of my life was going to look like. I wanted to find out who I truly was, what I liked about myself, and what other talents I had hidden inside of my being that would be exploited to create a life of true purpose and joy. I realized I had been living life through a projection of my ego, believing I was the center of attention and that everyone was constantly on the lookout about what I said and did. This cloud of egocentrism kept me in a state of constant judgment towards myself and acting in accordance to fill that void of judgment, it was exhausting.
“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.”
The more I meditated and spent time by myself, the more I was honest with my emotions. I was physically and mentally exhausted, so I promised myself I would start a new book with new chapters in my life. I yanked myself out of the miserable little bubble of the society I grew up in, threw away all expectations of myself and others, and looked for a new tribe. I took a different perspective towards the relationship I was in and realized I was not with the correct person, so I mustered all my courage and even though I deeply cared for this person, I parted ways. I wanted to be around people who enjoyed every day, who made living in the now simple, beautiful, and possible. I started journaling every day and writing all my negative and positive thoughts on paper to cast them away from my psyche and into the material world. I learned to practice gratitude and acceptance. Compassion and the gift of giving. I looked inside myself and saw the enormous potential that was hidden all this time, the light that was waiting to be shared with others. But how? I just needed to bring it into consciousness and accept that music was going to be my gift to the world. I became an athlete from the moment I was 10 years old, practiced multiple disciplines like karate, gymnastics, football, swimming, running, tennis, you name it. Ultimately the athlete I was became just a shell of insecurities that was trying to prove to the world all my physical achievements. Like many young men, I started going to the gym to “fix” all my flaws, I began to see how people´s perception of me changed as my body did too. All of this terribly fed my ego without me even realizing it. I convinced myself that my journey in this life was to just keep training and show the world how my “hard work” and “discipline” was going to help them become better. In reality, all my time spent exercising was just an escape. I wasn´t going to create a career out of it because I never felt a true passion inside me. Don´t get me wrong, I still care about my health, my body, and my personal training time, however, once it is done, I switch into another version of who I want to be. I now focus on my mind and mental health more than my physical appearance. I have learned that my mind and beliefs had me, not the other way around. It brings me tremendous joy and peace to be able to write this down and finally see a clear path regarding what actions and goals I have to take in order for the future to manifest into the life I want to be actually living. I have made peace and accepted who I was in the past, in order to bring every new day a version I want to embody, so tomorrow will receive the best version of me. This could not be possible without the help of many souls that have miraculously crossed paths with me, although I slowly realize that more than a miracle, the energy one starts to put out into the world is the energy he shall receive back manifested as people and events. I´m grateful for the opportunity to see myself as an artist, a creator, and the captain of my own life. I´m grateful I have the opportunity to start from literally 0, that I have no anchors holding me down to any circumstance and can freely decide who I want to manifest into this world as. I am grateful I am young, full of energy and vitality, healthy, and determined to pursue the things that make me feel good.
And so, let´s begin a new chapter in our lives, starting today! | https://medium.com/@pacochavez0/it-s-a-state-of-mind-not-what-you-achieve-in-life-842a55da7ccc | ['Paco Chávez'] | 2020-12-23 14:42:54.704000+00:00 | ['Happiness', 'Self Improvement', 'Habits', 'Self-awareness', 'Consciousness'] |
Creative Websites Roundup — Ep. 1 | Episode 1: Creative Portfolios
Creative Websites Roundup is a blog series that showcases different styles of creative web projects, shedding some light on various (non-conventional) approaches in web design and development. We’ll dive into select works of digital designers and creative developers, analyze their key elements and see what’s so unique about their features that makes our heads turn. This first roundup explores digital portfolios — websites that exhibit work of modern-day creatives. So, let’s dive right in.
The portfolio of Vladimir Gruev, a UI/UX designer, welcomes the user with a minimal fullscreen layout. But in comes a twist — or better yet, an outside-the-box element (🙈).
When loading the website, a box-like object — a cube shape — rolls into view while scaling up toward the middle of the screen, positioning itself as the hero component on the homepage, suggesting interactivity while the headline animates in.
Cube loading animation
Relying on a technique that builds upon the basic 3D CSS cube, which all of the dev people can have a look at here, this cube, besides being an eye-catching component, has an interesting purpose. It responds to mousemove events and complements the site navigation. While hovering over the middle of the screen, the cube shows brief info about the designer. Moving the mouse toward either of the edges of the screen causes the cube to roll itself into the position which corresponds to the link the user is hovering over, showing a bit more information about what the one can expect when clicking on that link. It’s an unusual and interesting way of adding to the minimal composition of the homepage.
Cube navigation animation
When clicking a link, the cube switches its purpose and becomes a page transition element, which shows fullscreen animations while the content loads, preserving an app-like feel for the whole website.
Note: Easter egg: open the console. 👀
And to provide some more context on the tech specs:
Vue.js framework
Modernizr feature detection library for detecting touch events
Hammer.js for extensive touch gestures support, mainly used for cube rotation on mobile screens
Cloudflare CDN
Google Tag Manager/Analytics for data gathering
View live here: https://gruev.space/ | https://medium.com/14islands/creative-websites-roundup-ep-1-1eb790b81d62 | ['Stefan Vitasovic'] | 2020-09-17 13:22:54.345000+00:00 | ['Portfolio', 'Digital', 'Design', 'Development', 'Roundup'] |
ABN AMRO and Techstars set the stage for the Future of Finance! | ABN AMRO and Techstars set the stage for the Future of Finance!
Innovation
Techstars and ABN AMRO are excited to open applications for their inaugural year of the ABN AMRO & Techstars Future of Finance Accelerator that will kick off in the spring of 2021. As the world of finance is ever-changing, there couldn’t be a better place to be based than Amsterdam, the birthplace of many financial innovations over the past centuries, to further redesign the financial sector and build a better future for consumers and businesses.
The Netherlands — The Home of Financial Innovation
Financial innovation is in the DNA of the Netherlands. We’ve seen this most recently with the world’s fastest-growing payments infrastructure company built from the ground up behind the dikes of Holland, which had one of the most successful fintech IPOs. But this and other recent success stories are just the continuation of a culture of innovation that began a long time ago, traced back as far as medieval times.
The first company ever to IPO and issue stocks and bonds through a stock exchange was Dutch. Our modern-day stock market’s roots come from the Dutch Republic, where the first fully-fledged stock market was established and developed. The term ‘Dutch auction’ derives directly from the auction’s invention in the Netherlands. Local merchant bankers in the Netherlands were the first to develop securitization and sophisticated methods for structuring loans based on overseas property as collateral. In fact, in the 18th century, the purchase and development of property in the newly-designated capital city of Washington D.C. was financed by mortgage-backed bonds underwritten by Dutch merchants. The first mutual funds in the world were established in 1774 by an Amsterdam-based businessman forming a trust under a name that translates to “unity creates strength”.
The history of financial innovation in the Netherlands serves as our inspiration as we combine the two powerful networks of Techstars and ABN AMRO to offer ambitious entrepreneurs a strong and global platform to help achieve their dreams and make an impact in the world.
So, if you’re wondering if the ABN AMRO & Techstars Future of Finance Accelerator is right for your fintech startup, the resounding answer is: “Ja natuurlijk!”. Amsterdam is one of the most digitally savvy cities in the world, full of youthful and vibrant energy. Its pro-business culture and world-class infrastructure with incredible global connectivity are a great complement to the value and connections ABN AMRO and Techstars will bring to founders participating in the program.
What are the Accelerator’s areas of interest?
Today, fintech means so much more than transferring money or investing savings — it is a technology stack that operates as a fundamental backbone of our economies, touching all areas of our lives. There is a new economy being unleashed by an information technology revolution, along with the obvious challenges of climate change, cybercrime, and financial inclusion, that needs new and enduring financial solutions to power this era. We want to partner with entrepreneurs who share and believe in our ambition that financial services have a critical role to play in creating the world’s desired future.
Specifically, we are interested in entrepreneurs addressing innovations and solutions in digital assets, data privacy, cybercrime, and digital safety, financial health and inclusion, reinventing the customer experience for convenience and supporting the client journey in life and business, and financial products and services that facilitate progress towards a circular economy and energy transition away from a carbon-based economy.
Above all, we want to engage with exceptional entrepreneurs across all areas of fintech. We welcome applications from founders around the world, of all races, ethnicities, genders, and cultures. At Techstars, our vision is to create equitable access to innovation and entrepreneurship through a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Why ABN AMRO? Why Techstars?
ABN AMRO is extremely committed to disruptive innovation and fintech and is already running a €100m venture fund to invest in the sector. The accelerator’s proximity to ABN AMRO’s headquarters in Amsterdam will provide founders access to industry experts, technologists, data scientists, and business sponsors across the bank that can offer startups highly personalized feedback and business development opportunities internally and across its vast client network. Time is money for a startup, and the Group Innovation Team at ABN AMRO has the capability to work with startups in a productive environment dedicated to innovation where startups’ products or services can be deployed internally for proofs-of-concept and live pilots within 24 hours.
At Techstars, our programs are designed to help founders gain traction through deep mentor engagement, rapid iteration cycles, and fundraising preparation. We accept 10 startups per program, enabling us to offer each startup a customized, high-touch experience based on the unique needs and skills of each founding team. Our portfolio of over 2,200 startups has raised more than $10 billion in funding. 84% of these startups are still active or have been acquired. Techstars can materially improve the odds of your startup’s success. You can learn more about the benefits of our accelerators here.
Tell me about the format of the program? What are the terms?
Our accelerator is a three-month program that will operate out of Amsterdam and start in the spring of 2021. For its first year, the program is likely to operate in a remote (virtual) format, depending upon COVID-19 conditions. But, local health, safety, and travel guidelines permitting, we will welcome the option to switch all or part of the program to an in-person format.
Like all Techstars’ accelerators, the anchor of our program is “mentor madness”. Selected startups will have the opportunity to engage with dozens of Europe’s top fintech mentors who will advise on business models, go-to-market strategies, technology, pricing, scaling up, IP, and fundraising. Many of our mentors go on to become angel investors and advisory board members of the startups they advise.
During the program, we will host masterclasses led by experts on practical subjects including term sheets, marketing, sales, branding, legal, and tech, and also run curated sessions for founders’ stories. You will meet founders from some of the fastest-growing fintech companies and the leading VCs in the sector.
Our program culminates with a Demo Day showcase where participating companies will perfect their company pitch and engage with investors, clients, media, and other members of the ecosystem.
Every startup that joins our program is offered the same terms: we invest $20,000 in each company and offer an optional $100,000 convertible note. In return for joining the program and access to the Techstars Network for life, we take 6% ordinary stock in each company. Techstars is the only accelerator program that offers an equity back guarantee in case you are not satisfied with our program.
Come meet us
If you are excited by our fintech program, we look forward to interacting with you. Starting early October we will be hosting virtual activities in different cities across the world. Please check this page periodically for our updated Meet & Greet schedule, and keep an eye out for our 1:1 virtual Office Hours booking schedule here.
Or, if you’re ready, apply now! | https://medium.com/abn-amro-developer/abn-amro-and-techstars-set-the-stage-for-the-future-of-finance-aa05ef4f9515 | ['Abn Amro'] | 2020-09-21 10:47:39.475000+00:00 | ['Techstars', 'Accelerator', 'Future Of Finance', 'Innovation', 'Abn Amro'] |
With Nosedive, Black Mirror makes you think about sharing economy and reputation as currency | Science fiction itself is an extrapolation of things that currently exist or trends that are coming next. And cyberpunk made a point after looking to a closer, darker future designed by its contemporary subjects such as the information society, but that was the so-called Third Industrial Revolution. Today, as researchers point, we are heading towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is based on robotics and on a new relation with things and consumption.
The biggest trend now is the idea of a sharing economy in which consumption is made in a conscious (Lowsumerism) and collaborative way. After a history of crescent consumption and production since the First Industrial Revolution, we changed from the “American Dream” in the 1960s to the “Individual Consumption” in the 80s, finally reaching “Consumerism” in the 90s and now waiting for a new look on how we buy things and exploit natural resources. For that, we already have some examples of companies that are climbing the first steps towards the Collaborative Economy system, being AirBnB and Uber some of the names to be pointed to begin with.
In other words, this new format of economy enforces the idea of buying an experience rather than possessing something (in Uber’s case, a car) when you just need the ends (getting to somewhere) and not the means. As posited by Rachel Botsman, collaborative economy guru, “I don’t want a CD; I want the music it plays” or, in the words of Theodore Levitt, American economist and professor at Harvard Business School, “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole.”
But in this same scenario, more than money (which will likely be administered via Blockchain systems), trust is a valuable currency. And that’s where we finally get to talk about Black Mirror’s first episode for its third season, now on Netflix — a platform that gives you the movie, not the DVD. “Nosedive” not only presents us a clean, bright and colored in pastel tones world (from Wes Anderson to North Korea) where people act just as perfectly as an update of the simulated universe of The Stepford Wives (2004). It talks about inequality not just in terms of wealth, but of also in terms of what Pierre Bourdieu called “symbolic capital.” But in Nosedive, this symbolic capital can be quantified in a ranking system compared to existing apps such as Yelp or even Uber itself — many discovered that even passengers have a score on Uber only after this episode.
Nosedive presents us the life of Lacie Pound (Bryce Dallas Howard) as an ever-smiling woman who seems to have an average routine of jogging in the morning, preparing herself to go to work and having some coffee before getting to the office. But all these actions are also guided by social conventions, being it by greeting and saying “good morning” to the people you meet or even practicing how credible is your automatic laugh in front of the mirror. In a world where all actions, from consumption to small talks in the elevator, are rated, politeness gets an upgrade to become a PR case. It is an exaggeration of the idea that no kindness comes without interest, therefore shattering Kant’s view on the good will to pieces.
When in the coffee shop, Lacie rates both the attendant and forges her perfect breakfast moment to be shared on social media by biting and spitting a cookie before taking the perfect picture. This scene is not only a clear comparison to Instagram’s mechanics and aesthetics, but in a very discrete and minor way it addresses eating disorders that are also enforced there. More than the selfies at the gym and the fitness hashtags, Instagram hides a whole discourse in defense of anorexia and bulimia not just in the “thinspiration” profiles (which can be reported and deleted), but also in how popular people share their success in losing weight, no matter if that was caused by mental health issues, drug abuse or even for the sake of likes (just as exposed by Essena O’Neill during her Instagram “rampage”). In this particular sense, there are even AnaMia “games” on Instagram in which a user posts their picture or a “thinspiration” photo and suggest that each like and/or comment will mean an extra hour they will be fasting.
Nosedive also addresses personalized marketing. From Big Data to a total customization of ads after your very own profile, extrapolated here with the combination of Lacie’s unconscious desires combined to a product to be consumed (renting a house)
Bloggers and vloggers have become a thing and a business. Likes, views and clicks are a currency for a while now, and it’s all exchangeable to travels, products, experiences to be repaid with posts on social media. And it is this very social media that has made fame something easier to be achieved now, in comparison to the time that fame followed something like being featured in a movie or releasing an album. In Brazil, there are several examples of internet celebrities who got their own show on cable TV or even starred a movie supported by the government with a budget of R$3 million (around US$936k). Now, with collaborative economy and the importance of trust and reputation, would the internet celebrity mechanics then apply to average citizens doing average things, such as trying to rent a house (just like what China wants to propose)?
In a scenario where you supposedly wouldn’t need to own things, only rent them when needed, renting a house would become something even more often. That doesn’t mean it would be affordable to everyone, as it wasn’t for Lacie when she visited her dream house in Pelican Cove, but she could get a really good discount if only she had a higher rating. In other words, her popularity is an exchange currency to the real state company: it is the same mechanics used by real, current companies when advertising their products and services by the means of a celebrity or a blogger. Thus companies “borrow” celebrities’ symbolic capital and fame, linking their status to the image they want other customers to have about them. In a world of no intermediaries such as big companies, but peer to peer (p2p) services, everyone would become an entrepreneur (and the rise of entrepreneurship shows us that) at the same time we become a brand to be endorsed too.
In Nosedive, Lacie gets the help of consultants that give her tips to increase her score via social interaction and also techniques of sharing in social media. In real life, you can already find agencies offering these services, especially for brands and bloggers.
And this is the reason why Lacie starts to act in an off-putting way to get a better rank. Almost in a hysterical way, the protagonist serves as an exaggerated picture of daily dynamics, from the moment you feel forced to start a talk with a higher executive you meet by chance at the elevator, or when you just feel you need to be nice with the cleaning personnel, because “you never know when you will need them.” Back to Kant, there is no good will on that, but a system of interests and exchanges — what some may know as “to score some brownie points.” In Nosedive though, you own star points and you may lose them if you push boundaries. Because when other people notice that Lacie is begging for good ratings, she ironically becomes cheap, though everyone else is always playing roles in order to get well rated.
But Lacie succeeds, in a way, to the point that Naomi (Alice Eve), an old friend from childhood, notices her rank and invites her to be her bridesmaid. That was the signal that she was doing all right, in spite of her brother (James Norton) have told her that she was acting strange and in an exaggerated way. Just like in Mean Girls (2004) or in any high school teenage comedy-drama, there are social conventions (or even rules) to be followed and anyone who is not taking part of that ritual may find it ridiculous, just like as the cab driver thought while listening to Lacie’s call with “Nay-Nay.”
And that is just the start of Lacie’s descent to “hell,” because the driver decides to rate her with a lower score and this affects her average. And due to a problem with her flight reservation, the protagonist wouldn’t be able to be in time to the wedding first festivities, though they could “arrange” a seat for her if only she had a 4.5 score. She didn’t. Because of that driver’s view on her, her ranking was lower and she wouldn’t be able to join her childhood’s best friend wedding. As pointed by her brother, Naomi wasn’t worth of anything, since she was more of a bully to Lacie than a true friend. But wanting a better rating also meant to get her dream house, where she could finally start her own life, and more than that, a higher rating and an invitation to be Naomi’s bridesmaid was a symbol of approval — and that brings us back to Essena’s case and the idea that happiness can’t be measured with likes and followers.
As any other previous Black Mirror episodes, Nosedive has again one more “wake up call” for what society we are heading to with the help of technology. But, in this case, considering that such technologies are so close and real, the episode is, again, just an extrapolation of our reality, a caricature that uses exaggeration as an easier way for us to see things, but not to exactly demonize them. And this is another issue (maybe) not to be addressed here, though Black Mirror faces the possibility to be seen less as a dystopia to make you think and more as an in-depth entertainment to make you frightful about the future and technology, therefore conquering the position that Terminator and Skynet has kept in pop culture imaginary for decades now. The closer to our reality and the more believable a fiction gets, the easier it is to see it as a prediction, when most of the times science fiction is actually about the present and what we should do now to shape the uncertain and open possibilities of the future. | https://medium.com/wirehead/with-nosedive-black-mirror-makes-you-think-about-sharing-economy-and-reputation-as-currency-fd8abaabb69 | ['Lidia Zuin'] | 2016-10-29 17:22:23.606000+00:00 | ['Sharing Economy', 'Dystopia', 'Cyberpunk', 'Black Mirror', 'Science Fiction'] |
Why Dungeons & Dragons is Perfect for Quarantine | Playing a board game during a global pandemic might seem strange, but it’s addictingly fun. It definitely gives me something to look forward to during quarantine. And with modern day technology, it might actually be easier online than in person.
Playing Dungeons and Dragons gave me a chance to stretch my imagination and thinking muscles during repetitive pandemic fearing days. It gave me a semblance of in person connection, and a good community. It’s no wonder that this game has been popular for decades.
What Is Dungeons & Dragons?
As the rule book describes it, “Driven by imagination, the Dungeons & Dragons role playing game is about storytelling in worlds of swords and spells.” It’s a game where you roll 20 sided dice and create unique characters. You might’ve heard of it from Stranger Things.
It’s a game where you can be a wizard fighting an evil horde of bugbears. Or you could be a 3 foot tall frog that steals cheese. Same with the setting. You can choose to have it be a fantastical medieval setting with kings and duchesses. But you can also have it be in a world with bubblegum lakes and candy cane forests. Your game, your choice.
Unleash Your Inner Nerd
I’ve wanted to play Dungeons and Dragons. But I was scared that it was too childish, or nerdy, or hard. Looking back, I should’ve told myself to relax. People playing Dungeons and Dragons with you will definitely not judge. After all, they’ll be doing the same thing. You can fake a British accent and call everyone swash bucket snuggling shoehorn slugs, and it’d all just be part of the game.
It’s nice to goof around like a kid every so often. Immersing yourself as a fantasy hero can be a breath of fresh air.
Nerdy things are lots of fun too. Doing a bit of math, and drawing on graphing paper wasn’t something that I thought I’d like. But it’s part of the game, and I learned to enjoy it. It was nice to feel smart.
It’s Inexpensive
If money is tight, all you really need to play online is a computer and WiFi. Everything else you can get for free. There are lots of good online programs you can use to play, like roll20, DnDBeyond, and Discord. You can get the simple rules from online, or borrow the rule book from a library. Although you can play for free, I would highly recommend getting real dice, they’re a lot cooler than the online dice. There are lots of different patterned and colored dice, and I absolutely love how they feel like precious jewels.
YouTube and other tutorials were the easiest way for me to learn how to play. If scrolling through mountains of words is not for you, that may be a good option.
You can also get the DnD Essentials Kit for around $15, which includes basically all you need to play, and also a pre-made adventure if you don’t want to have to think of your own story.
Meeting new people
If you already know a few friends who want to play some DnD, then you’re all set! But if you don’t know anyone who wants to play, or, like me, only knew one, then this is a good time to go online and find some people who want to play.
I recommend using the r/lfg Subreddit. Once you find a group, you can schedule a discord call and see if you get along well. If not, that’s okay, just find a different group.
New Friends
Usually, when making friends you might be limited to people who you interact with daily, and so it might be hard to branch out. Or, if you don’t have many friends and feel lonely, quarantine can make it even harder to make friends. But it’s okay, all hope is not lost. You can easily find some people to play DnD with, and believe me, within a few sessions you guys will have inside jokes, great memories, and lots of fun. When it’s safe to do so, hanging out in person will be great too.
This is not the only way to hang out with new or old friends, but I think it’s one of the best ways virtually. You of course still have the option to do Zoom calls with friends, or text, but having a common activity to do together can give you something to talk about, as well as being able to explore a fantasy world.
Community
The communities of every game has it’s toxic members, but overall I think the Dungeons & Dragons community is welcoming. It has people ranging from 8 year olds making their first game to 60 year olds who have been using the same dice for 50 years. A lot of people draw beautiful art for their characters, some cosplay, other people build their own gaming tables, and there’s lots of wonderful and unique things you can learn how to do.
There’s also content for when you’re not playing, and from animated YouTube channels to podcasts, there’s plenty of entertainment and things to get inspiration from.
Of course, there are some toxic people. Some parties might not let women join, or fetishize every woman character they come across. Dungeon Masters can be power tripping tyrants, and some players can be whiny brats and fudge dice rolls. If you meet any of these people, just run for the hills. They’re not worth your time.
The Bad
Sometimes websites crash, are confusing, or lag. This happens, but can be even more frustrating if you aren’t tech savvy. Or, if the audio echoes, and video glitches, the whole session could be ruined.
In addition, players might not show up, or constantly ghost you. People can be busy too, and it can mean waiting weeks between sessions.
Confusing rules. If you aren’t an expert, knowing all the rules of Dungeons and Dragons is impossible. It can make games less fun when you’re always confused and you can feel like you’re annoying everyone else. To combat this, you can search up rules you were confused about after sessions so that when you play next time, you’ll be prepared.
Final Take
All in all, Dungeons and Dragons is a great hobby to pick up that will be entertaining during and after the pandemic. You can make new friends, use your imagination, and pick up a few skills. Unleash your inner nerd, and don’t be afraid. It’s definitely better than doing nothing. Why not give it a shot if this sounds interesting to you? | https://aiden-ray.medium.com/why-dungeons-dragons-is-perfect-for-quarantine-2c55afb24e80 | ['Aiden Ray'] | 2020-08-03 17:43:42.472000+00:00 | ['Board Games', 'Dnd', 'Dungeons And Dragons', 'Hobbies And Interests', 'Quarantine'] |
The Girl who laughs at funerals.. | I Suck at telling a story!
I also laugh and smile at Funerals which unfortunately I can't help because I'm anxious among other things and for whatever reason, that's how I act! I also don't make sense, have a problem with staying relevant and having a flow with narration. I understand yet I cant conclude. Not a very problem-solving kinda mindset. I'm curious, Prefer asking questions than making a point.
Dyslexic but will learn languages as a hobby. Which is plenty of effort yet fun as they say nothing comes easy. Some say I'm obsessive when I'm intrigued with something or someone. Also, I'm a mad confident person, although to what end though! I’m all about me yet not really, Love being kind and don’t get why kindness is so underrated in this World that I’m experiencing.
Connecting is not a problem, can never possibly be lonely Yet some people's company couldn't possibly make me feel anymore alone! It’s definitely them for sure not me. So polite but so informal at the same time, yet so widely accepted by whatever reach my life has! Being self-aware can be empowering or reassuring.
Promiscuous over Dark! Could be a coping mechanism or a trait or a Lifestyle choice even. Ethics & Values are tangent things. I mean, Everything is so damn relative anyways.
It’s all random, messed, and scrambled. I Struggle up in my mind yet I have a comfortable life.
Being privileged is confusing when tragedy is the core theme of my endgame.
But yeah! whats up with 2020 though¿
Do I Have a point? — NO However, Do I have a personality — you betcha I do!
Is this me? or a made-up persona? — Sorry! I Like to keep them guessing :*
Does this make sense¿ — you tell me yo! ;) | Do I think I'm funny — yes
Do I think this is funny — Later someday when I read this on a very sober and refreshing morning, It could be!
Why — This may be my “I think therefore I am” moment but when I stumbled upon the medium it asked me to
I was like challenge accepted, that's how this came pouring out of my mind on to the keyboard at 3 am which might be a contributing factor. But yeah even I wonder! ‘Why though¿’
Did you guys know anything a person agrees to under influence is not valid under law, just saying, lol On that note allow me to end my most random first and could possibly be my only medium Blog post. | https://medium.com/@lavanyaveluru/i-dont-recommend-this-post-9c72ebb6f62d | ['L V'] | 2020-12-26 13:13:03.715000+00:00 | ['Rant', '3am Ramblings', 'Random Thoughts', 'About Me'] |
Be a successful IT professional with the best software testing training institute in Chennai | Software testing is one of the most lucrative career options in the IT industry and there are good enough reasons for it. One of the toughest things within the IT industry is to deliver fully functional software within the stipulated deadline. So we at cyber Success came up with one among the software testing courses in Chennai to satisfy the industry needs. Clients expect accurate software at the primary delivery itself and delivery extensions are hard to brag. Under the given circumstances there’s a surging demand for capable software testing professionals who are proficient in testing the software working at , the modular and system level. As one of the simplest software testing training institutes in Chennai, Cyber Success has the ambition of helping the IT industry by providing industry oriented training on software testing. The curriculum designed may be a seamless blend of theory, practical sessions. Our students under the supervision of experienced mentors delve deep into the working principles of common Software testing techniques that are extensively utilized in the contemporary IT industry. One of the simplest ways to find out is to grab practical knowledge and that we provide this chance which ensures that our students have the firsthand tryst with every niche of software testing process and its protocols.
Benefits of our Software Testing Course in Chennai
We are a trustworthy software testing course in Chennai. Our courses are designed with the active involvement of industry experts who have made sure that aside from the great coverage of Software Testing Concepts learners can make the right decision while implementing these concepts in real-time projects. It is equally important to know that proficiency as a software tester comes with many practice and developing familiarity with common testing tools. To become a successful software tester you want to realize popular testing tools like Selenium, QTP, etc with their advantages and limitations. This is what our software testing course emphasizes.
Reasons to enroll in our course
So what makes our software testing course different? Well, our curriculum emphasizes on Core Concepts and therefore the principles of software testing. It is important that you simply understand that they form the founding pillars of testing any software application. Our certification is recognized throughout the industry which is not any doubt another advantage. If you’re assuming that our cost of coaching is exorbitant then you’ll relax. Take a few deep breaths. You will be glad to know that our software testing course fees in Chennai are economical. Enrolling in our course will not leave you broke.
How we can help you
Are you still wondering how software testing course of cyber success will help you to get the right knowledge & Job Assistance? The answer is absolute Yes. Our Course curriculum is designed in such a manner that it helps students to get the best software testing training in Chennai along with 100% Placement assistance in Top-notch companies. You may have a sound knowledge and every one the qualities that one must be a successful IT professional. However, the IT industry is very competitive.& constantly evolving. There are plenty of fellows out there who have the capability to handle a full project at a nominal wage. We provide the best software testing course in Chennai with Placement Support, thus giving you an opportunity to become a part of reputed IT companies. Software Training Institute Chennai will assist you with sublime tracks which will enhance job prospects. So, approach the interview confidently and convince the interviewers together with your abilities and technological knowledge. Enroll in our greatest software testing Course today and take the firm and assured step of bragging your dream job. | https://medium.com/@amitysoftworld/be-a-successful-it-professional-with-the-best-software-testing-training-institute-in-chennai-428ac47b3f73 | [] | 2020-12-22 11:04:39.714000+00:00 | ['Software Testing', 'Automation Testing Tool', 'Automation Testing', 'Software Testing Company', 'Softwaretraininginstitute'] |
React Native: How to Load and Play Audio | React Native: How to Load and Play Audio
Working with audio clips in React Native and Expo AV
Expo AV: Reliable Native Audio Support
This article introduces the expo-av package, a universal audio (playing and recording) and video module for React Native projects. The package is maintained by Expo, the go-to library for bootstrapping React Native projects targeting a range of platforms.
Audio packages have come and gone in the React Native ecosystem, most of which either do not work or have not been updated for a significant amount of time. When looking at packages to adopt — especially for critical tasks like audio playback — a reliable and well maintained package is needed. Major iOS updates are launched on a yearly basis and Android updates considerably more regularly. These updates sometimes come with breaking changes, so choosing reliable source code on the React Native side will be in every developers interest.
Note that react-native-audio has not been updated in over 2 years, and react-native-sound has been stagnant for over 1 year (since the time of writing this article); these packages should be avoided as they will not support the latest native APIs, and will lead to dead-end troubleshooting when they do not work in your project.
With all this being said, expo-av ticks all the boxes in terms of maintenance and platform support. With weekly downloads at >25,000, and the last update published a month ago (at the time of writing), it is a fairly strongly adopted package that the developer should have confidence using. Not all apps require audio, so it can be hard to gauge the popularity relative to the whole React Native ecosystem.
expo-av also has strong documentation that is kept up to date. The reader can visit the package on GitHub as the true source, but the majority of documentation is hosted on the Expo website, where there is a dedicated audio page along with an API reference page for the Expo AV module. It is this documentation that we’ll be referencing throughout this article as we build some audio tools.
What this article will cover
Now that I have hopefully persuaded you that Expo AV is the way to go with React Native audio, it is time to delve into some development. Instead of writing a standard tutorial of loading and playing an audio clip, we will make things more interesting to more closely reflect real-world use cases. After installation, this piece will:
Explain the audio loading and playing workflow and the key APIs needed to get audio working.
Walk through an audio controller class that loads, plays, resets and stops audio clips. This class will be separate from React components as to separate the audio logic from component logic.
Demonstrate how to load and manage multiple audio clips simultaneously. For this piece we will assume that a male and female audio clip need to be loaded, whereby the end-user can choose which gender to listen to. Of course, switching the gender can be achieved simply by toggling that gender via state management, but the corresponding audio itself must be loaded and available, ready to be played.
and audio clip need to be loaded, whereby the end-user can choose which gender to listen to. Of course, switching the gender can be achieved simply by toggling that gender via state management, but the corresponding audio itself must be loaded and available, ready to be played. Walk through a <PlayButton /> component, that will initialise the audio (request to load the audio files from a remote server), and manage the audio state. More specifically, we will visit concepts such as auto play, tap to play, tap to stop, and reflect this in component state. Another thing we need to manage with audio is the component state while the audio is being retrieved. This means asynchronously requesting the audio and waiting for it to be fully loaded before it can be played. This adds further (but needed) complexity into the component as to not attempt to play an unloaded audio file that would result in a runtime error. | https://rossbulat.medium.com/react-native-how-to-load-and-play-audio-241808f97f61 | ['Ross Bulat'] | 2020-12-25 07:28:49.655000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'App Development', 'React Native', 'Software Engineering', 'Programming'] |
Where’s Santa? | Where’s Santa?
Pic by Vector Cliparts (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) on Pixy
Where’s Santa? I hear all the time
When is he coming to my town?
I’ve been a good kid all this year
In the midst of a pandemic
There’s a Santa in every Mall
Fake Santa and news all befall
No wonder love went underground
What about God? Where’s God hiding?
No one’s worried when God’s missing
God’s everywhere invisible
So God’s like Santa with no gifts
God gave us so much more than that
I wonder if anyone saw
God giving anything to us
There’s always war and lack of love
God’s creatures falling to the ground
Where’s God? Methinks God doesn’t care
Mysterious ways are no more fair
Free will? Shakespeare’s dead and buried
Only words survive till their time
Had run all the course to the Sun
Where everything burns even words
God and Santa in hellish flames
A man on Earth squints at the sky
Looking at God painting the Moon
With hues of yellow red and blue
Patrick M. Ohana | https://medium.com/illumination-curated/wheres-santa-ba51ea36e059 | ['Patrick M. Ohana'] | 2020-12-21 02:23:54.769000+00:00 | ['God', 'Poetry', 'Santa', 'Questions', 'Love'] |
Design for trust-building products | Human values and emotions have been always amplified by technology in the past and will continue to do so in the future with an exponential rate of disruptive innovation. The increasingly accelerated advancement of technology is putting our values and vulnerabilities as a society into sharp relief. For this reason, thinking about trust across all forms of digital access and activity levels has become quite imperative and the need of the hour. It is essential to optimize the human-machine trust so that it aligns with our humanity, ethics and fair social contracts.
With the increasing number of digital and physical products in our day to day world claiming to solve all sort of problems and even the ones you never realized you ever had, the world around you is becoming more complex than ever. Out of all these products, only a few really stand out impacting your lives and rest all other fail to get their desired results. The success of a product is a function of many parameters like target users, market positioning, timing, user delight, customer satisfaction, business models, easy to use design among several others. But even after nailing such core KPIs we have seen that not all products succeed. The invisible force at work here is that of the ‘Trust’. Products should be designed in a way that they can gain the trust of the users using it. It becomes more important where the products are trying to help the users make a personal or business decision. Trust becomes a major factor behind the decision making process.
So what are the factors that help a product to gain user trust where people are trained to not trust easily?
That’s rule no. 1
This is where design comes to help. Need not to iterate the fact that:
‘Design is not how it looks, Design is how it works’
Good design can help a product gain user’s trust which also gives the designer a moral and ethical responsibility to use design responsibly as design if used in its right might have the power to impact human decision-making process which can be boon or a curse depending on how it is being used.
Trust is the secret ingredient to any successful product thus designing for it cannot be an afterthought. It’s not an easy task, but it will absolutely make your product stand out and could mean the difference between a visitor engaging with your product or leaving it after a few seconds.
Here are some of the parameters which can help you design good trust-building products:
1. Mental models: User’s, Designer’s and System’s
For those of you who can’t relate to this, users have their own way of solving a problem and they have a mental image of how a solution to a certain problem would look like which is called as the user’s mental model. Similarly, there is a designer’s model (also known as a conceptual model) which is how a designer would solve a problem. Ideally, a system model or more commonly called as a System’s image is a combination of both the user’s mental model and the designer’s model which creates an optimum system image which is both innovative and intuitive at the same time.
It’s important to remember that every user’s mental model is constantly evolving and subject to change. It’s influenced by new experiences with your product, other technologies, and day to day life. While mental models are unique to each individual, you’ll be able to uncover common patterns in your customers. Identifying these at the start of your project will increase your chances of designing an easy to use and successful trust-building product.
2. The product does what it claims to do
This is what is called as holding on to your end of the rope. It’s a bare minimum requirement that the product solves the problem it claims to solve in the best possible way. You immediately lose a potential customer once he realizes that the claims made in your product’s marketing campaign were fake.
So, make sure you focus on the core functionalities of the product with the objective of solving the core problem of the user for which he is using your product or services.
3. Avoid clutter by giving clear actionable(s)
Cluttered interfaces and hindrances are the major blockers that stop the user in trusting the product. Designers should here also consider the cognitive load for the users and should display only the limited amount of information which can be easily consumed by the users. All call to actions and next steps should stand out and should be clearly visible to the users.
4. Choose your color palette wisely
Colour wields an enormous impact on our attitudes and emotions. When our eyes take in a color, they communicate with a region of the brain known as the hypothalamus, which in turn sends a cascade of signals to the pituitary gland, on to the endocrine system, and then to the thyroid glands. The thyroid glands signal the release of hormones, which cause fluctuation in mood, emotion, and resulting behavior.
A recent study has shown that adjusting color, among other elements, can increase conversion by as much as 24%.
Bootstrap alerts
So, the bottom line is:
Use the right colors, and you can win the trust of the users and making the user interface much intuitive to use at the same time.
5. Holding the product accountable
Your product or service should aim at becoming more accountable towards its offering. There is nothing wrong in accepting the fact that you messed up and give the users clear ways to restore their tasks. It is these human traits of honesty and accountability that would get you the trust of the users. A product should hold the back of the users if they fail and, it will protect its users and make them successful in whatever the users are trying to achieve. People want to feel confident in their choices and we all want to feel confident that our digital devices are quality products that will safely hold important data.
6. Empathy with personalization
Empathy is nothing but the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. In the world of designers, it is called ‘stepping in the shoes of the users’ to understand user’s perspectives and pain points. Empathy, when combined with personalized user experience, becomes a powerful tool to gain the trust of the users using your products and services. For eg, a simple ‘Good morning’ can turn into ‘Good Morning Rebecca’. The more humanly your products or services are the more trustworthy they would be.
7. Test and iterate before you launch
I always say this ‘Design is nothing but an opinion of the designer of how it should be’. Design is something where everyone has an opinion, and everyone can give you suggestions and pieces of advice in terms of design, but no one knows what is right. In fact, there is nothing called as right design or wrong design. There is only one design which works for its users and it is the best design.
To understand what design works and what does not, it’s important for the designer to get in touch with different stakeholders and users of the product or services to understand their perception of how they look at the offering. Designers need to go more and more agile in terms of user testing and doing design iterations that all the designs are tested with the users even before a single line of development has taken place. This way the chances of you shipping a bad product reduces by a multitude times.
Conclusion:
Broadly speaking there are two main steps of winning the trust of the users, first is the users believing in the competence of the product. This means that the product if the users are able to achieve their goals they are looking for, the initial level of trust is achieved. The second level of trust is established when the product provides the best solution than any of its alternatives. If users believe that your product or services are honest, committed, transparent and has the best intentions at the heart of the creator, they are more likely to trust you with sensitive information. A good user experience via a delightful user interface and interactions will help the user to continue and extend this connection of trust and make them net promoters of your product or services. | https://uxdesign.cc/design-for-trust-building-products-47113c90e8d2 | ['Kirit Lakhani'] | 2019-07-24 01:03:47.772000+00:00 | ['Product Design', 'UX', 'Product Management', 'Privacy', 'User Research'] |
深夜小報 初號刊 | We are four passionate UXers from Taiwan, working across Asia and the U.S. We share our insights and work experiences to the community. UX四神湯是四位臺灣清華畢業的UX海外工作者所建立的內容平台，每週定期發布文章。內容涵蓋中美的工作環境與生活體驗、互聯網巨頭與新創公司的工作內容、設計趨勢、UX實務技能分享等
Follow | https://medium.com/uxeastmeetswest/shokudo-monthly-01-7d540ef7cb31 | ['Should Wang'] | 2020-10-06 00:41:11.956000+00:00 | ['Product Design', 'User Experience', 'Mentorship', 'UX', 'UX Design'] |
Three Classic Cocktails, Revisited | The Monkey Gland is a classic from the 1920s, but its very particular name is possibly why it hasn’t enjoyed the same resurgence as other cocktails of its era. I mean, I’m not easily grossed out yet I have no desire whatsoever to ask for it out loud, though its ingredients are intriguing: gin, orange juice, grenadine and a lick of absinthe.
Unfortunately, there’s no subtext with this, as it was named quite literally for the doctor Serge Voronoff and his misguided beliefs in the health-boosting power of monkey testicles. Thankfully, his practices quickly fell out of favour, but the name of the drink lives on.
I’ve tweaked both the ingredients and the title, swapping the orange juice for Cointreau and lime juice — the liqueur gives added richness and body and the lime juice gives a more intense citrus freshness. The hint of absinthe lends complexity and a subtle herbal backdrop in contrast with the sweetness of the bright-coloured grenadine. Altogether a beguiling and very pretty drink. Grenadine is a common bartending ingredient, essentially a sweet pomegranate syrup, but if you can’t find it, you could substitute raspberry syrup or dissolve sugar into pomegranate juice at a 1:1 rate. I call this the Dr. No, which was a 1962 James Bond film, but for me, also a direct response to the man who inspired the original cocktail.
Dr. No
Dr. No
1oz gin (I used Beefeater)
½ oz Cointreau
¾ oz grenadine
1 oz lime juice
A dash of absinthe (I used Hapsburg, but Pernod or Ricard can be used as a substitute here.)
Place everything except the absinthe into one half of a cocktail shaker tin, fill with ice, close the second tin on top, and shake it hard. Drop the absinthe into your serving glass — I used a coupe here — and roll the glass around so the absinthe coats the inside. Open the shaker tin and strain the liquid through a small sieve into the serving glass. I garnished it with a dehydrated lemon slice, but the drink is perfect on its own.
All photos taken at Laundry Bar in Wellington, New Zealand. | https://medium.com/tenderlymag/bartenderly-three-classic-cocktails-revisited-b8db63862893 | ['Laura Vincent'] | 2020-10-08 06:29:10.430000+00:00 | ['Alcohol', 'Bartenderly', 'Drinking', 'Cocktails', 'Food'] |
Top 5 books to read in 2021 for data analysts and data engineers | There is a need to upgrade with the growing technology right? If not the skillset one possesses would be siloed to the world’s tech trends and as years go by, there would be a lot of ground to cover.
Books are the major source of knowledge, right from primary education to the greatest of entrepreneurships. Any successful personalities have always found a way to compliment how important a role books played in their lives. It happens to be more of a lifestyle than a practice.
However, from this list of books, data analysts and engineers could benefit either on the data cleansing, preparation and transformations or most importantly on the implementation strategies on such operations too.
Few books from this list might focus on the “what not to do” when it comes to data analytics. Few books might serve as a compilation of examples and exercises for analysts and engineers.
This list also consists of statistical learning and how such practical statistics can benefit the readers and also with R applications. To find out the list of books and to understand about the books in detail, access the following link
Top 5 Books to read in 2021 for data analysts and data engineers. | https://medium.com/@christie-wilson/top-5-books-to-read-in-2021-for-data-analysts-and-data-engineers-4a328202dda2 | ['Christie Wilson'] | 2020-12-16 17:49:14.226000+00:00 | ['Books', 'Data Engineering', 'Book Review', 'Book Recommendations', 'Data Analytics'] |
Christmas Lights | Right now, I’m sitting near a window overlooking a shallow pond-void. Every Friday-ish for the past year I’ve sat near this window and seen this view. I’ve seen it in the hot Texas summer, with full sunshine, in the changing-of-the-world around sunsets, and deep in winter when you can’t even remember what sunlight is.
Deep in winter is when we are most missing the sun and what it does for us. But deep in winter is when the Christmas lights are up, draping every tree that had the audacity to grow The small copse of trees dressed for the party are situated perfectly over the pond-void. A gentle breeze runs along the top of the pond-void, and suddenly the lights are dancing.a complicated reel. On the trees each light is individually placed and seen. But on the water, the lights slide up and apart, up and apart. They switch partners and spin around.
This season, the houses in my neighborhood hang lights. From plain lights, to reindeer displays, to blinking, colorful atrocities. The spirit of it all is hard to miss. There’s even a lighted cross display, never mind that we have a few months until that particular spiritual feast is upon us.
I’m not the sort of person who looks for the most lit house to appreciate the spirit of it all. I really do prefer a simple display of cheer. Something with the plain white lights, maybe a single color accent based on Santa. Or Jesus. Or Hanukkah. I feel like my soul responds to the more minimal displays.
Speaking of minimal Christmas displays, this week I read a story about a woman from my hometown who put up a light display as a joke: a six foot tall, er long, dick. Her neighbors lost their sense of humor wondering what the children would think of the giant Christmas dick. Oh and the balls. For the sake of the children, the balls had to be blurred for the news. Not the dick. Or penis. Or phallus. Yall, for the sake of the children, the homeowner had to take down her joke. The children. In my soul, I worry for our children, being raised by people who wouldn’t be able to talk to their children about Christmas dick. Or penis. Or phallus. Or, for the children, the Christmas pee-pee.
I think the ostentatiousness of some displays, compared with the minimalism of the Christmas dick (penis, phallus, pee-pee) illustrates the problem my soul has with American Christmas. We all already have so much stuff (things, belongings, shit) in our homes that we are buying books and other products to help us figure out what we should keep and give away. We needed a celebrity to tell us to throw away crap we don’t like just because someone gave it to us. The pressure we feel to participate in American Christmas and find the best, most expensive piece of crap to give someone in order to win at competitive gift giving is upsetting (especially since most of us are trying to figure out how to throw it all away). Not just to me, but to the retail workers making minimum wage being commanded to find the right size immediately so late in the Christmas dick. I mean season..
But, when I think about Christmas dick (penis, phallus, pee-pee), I’m grateful for experiences instead of things. First of all, my date of birth means that a certain amount of Christmas dick (penis, phallus, pee-pee) is responsible for my life here on earth. So, thanks, um, Santa. Really, though, the things I think I treasure most are memories. Memories of trips, or dinners, or shows, or whatever activity I did with a person. So I guess, my most treasured things aren’t really things at all. Kind of like Christmas dick (Or penis. Or phallus. Or pee-pee). | https://medium.com/@ashleethequeen/christmas-lights-f1a920e4a14a | [] | 2019-12-14 01:11:12.877000+00:00 | ['Consumerism', 'Christmas'] |
How to Narrow Down Your Client Search When You Can’t Find Your Niche | Photo by Annie Theby on Unsplash
How to Narrow Down Your Client Search When You Can’t Find Your Niche
You don’t have to be a specialist in any one category to make good money.
One of the most common misconceptions about freelance writing is that you need to be a specialist in one subject or industry to make any money. So many writers wait to start pitching and looking for clients because they believe they need to have in-depth knowledge on one subject, like SEO, digital marketing, healthcare, tech, or cryptocurrency.
If you do have in-depth knowledge on a subject, it is a good idea to write in that subject first because you’ll be able to develop your writing skills without getting bogged down researching the subject you’re writing about.
There’s No Reason to Pick a Niche Right Away, or Ever
If you don’t have in-depth knowledge in any one subject, there’s no reason to give up on your dream of becoming a freelance writer or digital marketer. You can look for work and learn new subjects at the same time. One of the best ways to gain lots of writing experience, in many different subjects, is by finding work through content or digital marketing agencies.
Working for content agencies, you can typically be classified as a specialist in certain fields like finance or tech, or you can be classified as a generalist and will typically take on various subjects that don’t require knowledge or specific details about the industry. Working as a generalist, your writing will likely be centered around overviews and broad subjects within an industry.
The pros of working as a generalist:
Expand into various areas of writing
Learn about certain industries and find out which you prefer writing in
Offer more services to your clients
The cons of working as a generalist:
Prices and payments will reflect generalist knowledge (versus specialist)
Clients may prefer specialized knowledge in certain fields
Narrowing down client criteria helps narrow down work searches
If you write as a specialist, you’ll be able to flesh out detailed material, know the best resources, and likely have first-hand knowledge or experience in the industry which will help you create pieces of content that come with a premium price tag. The writing will take longer, the client’s expectations will be higher, and you will need confidence in your perspective and resources. But you’ll write less while spending more time on each piece.
With generalist writing, you’ll write more content but each assignment will take less time to complete. You’ll also be exposed to a range of topics you can learn about which can help you lead to niching down.
It’s Hard to Find Clients When You Can’t Find Your Niche
If you’re brand new to freelance writing, finding work can be one of the most overwhelming hurdles to clear. Aside from learning how to write a pitch, and create samples, you need to know where to find viable clients.
Viable clients are clients that will actually respond to your pitch and hire you for writing services. Not every company you approach will be structured toward working with freelancers. Some will be so big they have their own content writing department, and some will be so small they don’t typically pay for content, and when they do it’s through a content mill like Upwork or Fiverr. In order to become a successful freelance writer, with a sustainable income, you need to find clients who are willing to work with freelancers who pitch (you) and have the budget to pay for good content.
It can be difficult to know where to find these perfect clients when you can’t find your niche. Too many options can paralyze you. If you don’t know what to look for, or where, you’ll end up doing nothing at all. To move forward with pitching you need to have a focus, you need to be able to qualify businesses in some way.
You can narrow your focus and qualify businesses in a few different ways. You don’t necessarily have to choose an industry to work in, you can use other criteria.
Instead of picking a niche:
Narrow down by revenue
Narrow down by agency (SEO, Marketing, Design, or Branding)
Specialize in a content offering
How to Find Clients with Different Search Criteria
When you start looking for work, you want to have some kind of criteria so you’re not pitching companies like Amazon or Starbucks. While many successful copywriters sell you the dream of working with big names, it’s not likely you’ll land these accounts, especially in your first three years of writing.
Narrow Down by Revenue:
When you narrow down by revenue, you can find companies that operate within a certain revenue range. To find out a company’s revenue, you can search for their information on Owler. You do not have to pay for this service, but you will need to sign up for an account. When you select “see all plans” you will see a free/basic option that allows you to research companies, find out their revenue, location, and top competitors.
Narrowing your clients by revenue allows you to set the price points you’re comfortable with, to ensure you’re hitting your income goals, as well as to pre-qualify clients before beginning a working relationship.
When narrowing down by revenue:
Determine the revenue range you want to work in (higher revenue typically means a higher marketing budget)
Establish content offerings and competitive pricing
Find a company’s revenue through a service like Owler
Narrow Down by Agency Type:
Digital marketing agencies are great for gaining experience because you typically get to interact with all the various departments—graphic design, account managers, other writers, editors, and so on. Marketing agencies usually have retainer/renewal clients and are responsible for performing all of the marketing functions for that client—branding, design, and content creation.
There are other agencies with more specific focuses, for example, branding agencies that help develop a company’s brand and branding strategies, and content agencies, that focus on creating (mostly long-form) content for their clients. Choosing to work with specific agencies means you can also focus on one type of content offering—white papers, blog posts, email campaigns, or whatever it is you enjoy doing. You can also choose a variety of content offerings by working with a few different kinds of agencies.
When narrowing down by agency type:
Determine the type of agency you want to work with
Establish content offering and competitive pricing
Find agencies that already utilize that content type
Narrow Down by Content Offering
While this can go hand-in-hand with narrowing down by agency, you may not want to work with agencies, some people believe there’s no money there. But you can still hone in on one type of content offering. Whether it be writing blog posts or offering keyword research and content planning, or maybe you only want to offer content for certain social media platforms, narrowing down by content means you become a specialist in one type of content or on one kind of platform.
If you understand how to make a Facebook post go viral or get clicks on a LinkedIn ad, you can offer highly-specialized services to businesses who are 1) not seeing results with their current marketing agency (who may not have platform-specific specialist), or 2) wanting to focus their marketing funds specifically on one social platform based on marketing data recommendations for their industry.
When narrowing down by content offering, you must:
Determine the content offering you can specialize in
Establish competitive pricing
Find companies that already utilize that content type
If You Can’t Find Your Niche, Stop Looking
It’s ok if you can’t find your niche. It takes some people years to find it, some people never do, and some lucky ones have a niche that finds them. You don’t need to have in-depth knowledge in one industry to be a successful writer, you just need to know where and how to find the right clients. | https://medium.com/swlh/how-to-narrow-down-your-client-search-when-you-cant-find-your-niche-fbfca1b59684 | ['Joscelyn Kate'] | 2020-10-17 04:12:32.572000+00:00 | ['Freelance Writing', 'Writing Tips', 'Content Marketing'] |
Chipped, cracked | Chipped, Cracked: Trisha Traughber 2019
Young you learn
sometimes and without trace,
explanation or final
whisper, the grown
disappear, leaving you with the smallest
crumbs — a Christmas gift from a time
someone you looked up to
traveled the world to bring you back
the small trinkets
of her exploits, and you the child
held that tea set from the Sonoran
desert heavy in your hands, tracing
the clay and the painted flowers.
Time spins her wheel, spattering
the clay, these artifacts chipped,
scattered, and you still hold them, tracing
the rough edges where a piece of the perfect
exterior had fallen, knowing that she
was out there
somewhere — that piece had splintered
from your heart
and gone.
And yet you are now
grown and so, as you trace
fingers over the earthen
expression of love left
from your simple and single-minded
childhood where love is love,
it should come as no
surprise that sometimes the grown take
flight, lift off, depart, never
to return, without a whisper even,
terminal, too short for now.
That the times of always being
somewhere, possible,
at the reach
of a child’s fingertips
would end in a phone call from one,
to another, until
the news finds you dragging your childlike
digits over the smooth earthen relic
to linger on the rough
place where something
is missing and you realize the day
you thought you would
see her again is
never, and grown or no,
you are not prepared
for the feeling of this piece
lost.
© Trisha Traughber 2019 words and image. | https://medium.com/the-partnered-pen/chipped-cracked-56c54796b35b | ['Trisha Traughber'] | 2019-08-21 20:24:13.711000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Family', 'Poetry', 'Loss', 'Love'] |
Smokeless Fire | Author’s Note- This poem was inspired by the Chhapaak Title Track. A few weeks ago I went watched Deepika Padukone’s Movie ‘Chhapaak’ in the theatre and it felt like I was punched in the gut. The Hindi Movie depicted the real-life story of Laxmi Aggarwal, an acid attack victim. Acid was thrown onto her face when she was 15 years old and she refused a man her hand in marriage. Sure, the movie did little justice to the true pains faced by most acid attack victims in India, but it was a start. ‘Chhapaak’ in Hindi quite literally refers to the sound of the splash of the acid.
Being a South Indian, Hindi is a language I can only understand and am not fluent in. When I had first heard Arjit Singh’s voice in the theatre it hit me harder than I had anticipated but I felt a mixture of fear and anger. What has happened to my country? Laxmi Aggarwal was my age when a man threw acid on her face and I cannot begin to imagine the absolute pain she would have gone through. India has seen over 1500 acid attack cases between 2014–18.
This poem I have written aims to highlight the need for people to understand that they have absolutely no right to touch a woman (or another man) without her/his consent. They fail to understand the humungous consequences that might be the result of one thoughtless action triggered by their fragile ego.
Here is the English translation of the song- | https://medium.com/a-cornered-gurl/smokeless-fire-a1d1e2bd1c7c | [] | 2020-02-14 22:49:45.170000+00:00 | ['Music', 'Poetry On Medium', 'Women', 'Feminism', 'Growth'] |
Week 13 Monday Night Football Picks | Picks for the MNF double header. All lines are from Mybookie.ag. (Promo Code HAM1)
Washington Football Team @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Moneyline: WSH (+240) | PIT (-300)
Spread: WSH +7 (-110) | PIT -7 (-110)
Total: 43.5 Over: (-110) | Under: 43.5 (-110)
Location: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game Info: Monday December 7, 2020 5:00pm ET / 2:00pm PT | FOX
With the Steelers coming off a short week after playing Wednesday as well as having lost star LB Bud Dupree to injury, I like Washington at +7. The Football Team has been playing hard and fast under Head Coach Ron Rivera. They will have added motivation keep up with the now 5–7 Giants after New York upset Seattle at Lumen Field. Pittsburgh and Washington also come into the matchup ranked the third and fourth best defenses in the league, respectively, meaning Washington’s defense can keep them in the game late. Pittsburgh handles The Football Team 23–17. — My pick — WSH +7 (-110).
Buffalo Bills @ San Francisco 49ers.
Spread: BUF PK(-110) | SF PK(-110)
Total: 47.5 Over: (-110) | Under: 47.5 (-110)
Location: State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
Game Info: Monday December 7, 2020 8:15 pm ET / 5:15pm PT | ESPN
In another unexpected twist in a crazy 2020 NFL season, the San Francisco 49ers will play their Week 13 home game in Arizona. Mybookie has this game as a pick em. However I have seen lines for BUF +1.5, SF -1.5. The game opened with Buffalo has the favorites but took a swing midweek. The Niners are getting rookie WR Brandon Ayuk back, giving Kyle Shanahan more options on offense. With the current buzz surrounding DC Robert Salah and head coach vacancies, I’m expecting a motivated and forceful showing from the Niner defense. The Bills defense has been susceptible to the run and the Niners love to pound the rock, especially with a healthy Raheem Mostert. With Nick Mullens still starting at QB and a hectic week for the Niners, I am not overly confident but I am taking the Niners (-110). After seeing Seattle and Arizona both lose, the Niners come out with intent and edge out the Bills, 24–21. — My pick SF PK (-110) — | https://medium.com/@mgardnert/week-13-monday-night-football-picks-d9559b4beb6b | [] | 2020-12-07 20:41:42.905000+00:00 | ['NFL', 'Football', 'San Francisco', 'Betting', 'New York'] |
An American Slave Rebellion | Nearby the memorial, the ghosts of former slaves inhabit the rooms built from rough wooden planks where slaves lived under the watchful eye of the overseer. Giant metal bowls sit abandoned at their doorways, empty now of the hot, wet sugar that built an empire.
Photo by Nancy Peckenham
In a church moved to the site, statues of young children stand still near the altar. They represent the youngest slaves at the time just before emancipation, children who 60 years later would tell the story of slavery. Their words, taken down by writers for the federal government, described the world of cruelty and family upheaval endured by slaves who were bought and sold at will.
Photo by Nancy Peckenham
Inside the plantation houses, the owners’ lives were made easier by the labor of domestic, so-called house slaves, who cooked, cleaned and did the laundry. Some even suckled the infants of the slave-owner’s family. Others were seized to satisfy the owner’s uncontrolled sexual desires. Field hands planted sugar cane, then cut and processed the stalks to extract the sweet liquid that was turned into granulated sugar and molasses to be sold throughout the world.
When plantation owners could no longer count on the free labor of slaves after emancipation, they turned to other sources. Former slaves could be held to the land by an onerous system of shareholding that benefited the landowner. Other slaves could be locked up in jail for the slimmest of reasons and convict labor could be contracted for a pittance.
Several prisoners lived inside each of the cells that were maintained at the plantation. Photo by Nancy Peckenham
A visit to Whitney Plantation is an opportunity to try to understand the complexity of our nation, the roots of suffering, the inequalities, and to feel for even a moment, the weight of injustice. | https://nancypeckenham.medium.com/an-american-slave-rebellion-ba43560ed90b | ['Nancy Peckenham'] | 2018-12-28 15:41:02.007000+00:00 | ['Slavery', 'History', 'American History'] |
8 Easiest hacks to make money on Instagram for 2022! | While Instagram started its journey as a photo-sharing app, it then has evolved into a commercial platform. From service providers to nonprofits to wholesale e-commerce business owners, millions of entrepreneurs use its selling power.
You might be wondering, “How can people make money on Instagram?” Is it possible for me to pull it off on my own?
How can I make money on Instagram in 2022, too?
What sets selling on Instagram apart from other forms of e-commerce?
This article will briefly examine a few strategies you may use right now to join the people you admire.
Can you make money on Instagram, for real?
Definitely, you may attract the attention of Instagram’s millions of users and start making money on Instagram if you have some stunning and unique photographs to use, a story to tell, and energy and time to devote to your Instagram profile.
You might be thinking to yourself, “OK, I know that it’s doable, but where do I begin?”
OK, then, please continue reading.
Then, how to make money on Instagram?
Let’s name some ideas to make money on Instagram right away:
Become an affiliate and earn money by promoting products from other companies.
Grow your followers with effort and time and start with the objective of becoming a micro-influencer.
Offer to help an Instagram influencer as a virtual assistant. Many of them are looking for assistance to relieve themselves of their responsibilities, such as checking comments, replying to inquiry DMs and emails.
Become a social media content writer for companies that don’t have in-house content creators.
Instagram is a great place to sell. You can sell a physical or digital item, as well as a service.
Now, let’s get into the details. Even though these tips look good as ideas, there are many things to consider when making money on Instagram.
#1: Everybody’s dream: Becoming an influencer
If you can achieve a certain level of influencer status, you can utilize your Instagram account to promote different products from a wide range of firms.
Influencers and brands frequently collaborate to create sponsored posts that help spread the word about their products. To get to this point, you will need to increase your Instagram following and consistently create posts that engage your followers.
Anyways, don’t forget that it may take a long time and a lot of effort to achieve your goals. Many firms, such as Sephora, Lululemon, and Savage X Fenty, actively recruit rising influencers for ambassador programs. Do your homework.
If you have established a great internet presence, big businesses are likely to reach out to you. However, as you grow, you will discover companies that you believe best reflect your personality and values.
You can attempt to settle a deal, reach out to them personally (through Instagram or their websites). You can also create an account on an influencer marketplace to improve your chances of being discovered by a major company.
#2: Join Affiliate Marketing Platforms
An affiliate differs from an influencer in that an affiliate works to increase sales for the associated brand in exchange for a commission. The influencers are primarily concerned with raising awareness.
Affiliates make money on Instagram by using trackable links or specific promotional codes that allow the affiliate and the brand to see exactly which sales are made through your posts.
Affiliate links can be URLS or unique promo codes.
Without a doubt, the Amazon Associates Program is the godfather of affiliate marketing. It’s typically easy to join, and they have everything you need for marketing campaigns, but as an affiliate, you must follow their link-sharing policies.
Share A Sale- Their network connects online retailers to over 225,000+ affiliate partners globally, making it a great location for content creators, influencers, and website owners.
Clickbank — Another affiliate marketing hub for vendors who wish to sell their products, affiliates who have a target market, and numerous campaign tools such as landing page builders, ad optimization, and so on.
#3: Investing in personal branding and paid advertisements is not a burden or luxury
Affiliate marketers, on the other hand, use the same ad that the brand or organization does. Perhaps the content of other affiliates. If you want to do high-ticket affiliate marketing, on the other hand, you will need to spend on your reputation.
Here are some excellent affiliate marketing advertising tips.
You can market your content, website, or social media profile.
Alternatively, you can set aside tiny sums of money to advertise your affiliate content marketing.
Why not boost your content if the projected return from the affiliate link is significantly larger than your cost?
#4: Working for brands and influencers as a Social Media Manager/Content Creator or Virtual Assistant
Many influencers require assistance with various tasks, including reviewing sponsorship requests, running advertisements, identifying fraudulent followers, and more. You might offer to be their virtual assistant and charge by the hour.
The same goes for Instagram shop accounts or any business accounts. They need people for content creating, scheduling Instagram posts, and managing comments and DMs every day.
You can work per hour or piecework with several brands and make money on Instagram by managing their Instagram accounts.
Sounds cool, right?
Also, with Instagram Schedulers like Circleboom, you can manage multiple brand accounts at the same time.
In this way, you can literally boost your income or even double and triple it.
Circleboom Publish also helps you in finding content and creating Instagram post designs.
So, you can set a comprehensive Instagram account management deal, including content creation, scheduling and managing inquires with influencers and brands, and handling most of the work in the Instagram scheduler app.
#5: Start your Instagram shop or consider drop-shipping
You can sell any physical goods you manufacture or purchase from suppliers.
You may also need a storage area, such as a spare room at home or a rented storage facility.
This is especially necessary when you plan to save money by purchasing in bulk. You will need a place to store anything before it’s ordered by customers and delivered to them.
Dropshipping is another possibility. It’s a business concept that allows you to operate your store without ever having to carry inventory.
Once you have completed a sale, your vendor will ship your products directly to your consumer from their warehouse. You won’t deal with issues such as your products being stored, packaged, or shipped.
Instagram works as a showcase hub in this case. When you start to build a follower base, you can increase your sales too. Organizing giveaways and contests for more engagement and using influencers to promote your products yield good results.
How to make money on Instagram in 2022?
Instagram also has some plans for creators. And these plans will boost opportunities to make money on Instagram in 2022.
Leverage IGTV Ads launch
Following an early test of IGTV advertisements with US artists in May of last year, Instagram has announced that the program has been expanded, with chosen creators in the UK, USA, and Australia now able to enable ads on their IGTV uploads.
If you live in specified areas, you can begin monetizing your IGTV videos (it is estimated that 55 percent of purchases will go to the artist).
You can enable monetization and begin monetizing your IGTV videos with only a few taps.
Go to your Account Settings in the first step. Select “Creator” and “IGTV Ads” from the drop-down options.
Start by reading and accepting the terms, then enabling “Allow Monetization” for your current IGTV videos and tapping Continue to complete the process.
Earn money from Instagram Live Session Badges
Viewers can give “tips” in the form of heart badges to creators who broadcast Instagram Live videos. A heart icon appears next to a user’s name in the live chat when purchasing a badge.
Badges range in price from $0.99 to $4.99, with a maximum of $250 per viewer per session.
Consider using remarketing for your website
Unfortunately, a quite small percentage of website visitors to your site are ready to make a purchase. Retargeting is when you show your adverts to folks who have already visited your site but have not made a purchase.
Because this includes up to 98 of every 100 visits, it is a huge potential to boost sales by focusing on people you’ve already interacted with.
Retargeting reaches people who have already visited your website at least once. They are more inclined to trust you and thus buy from you because they are already familiar with your brand.
You can show remarketing ads on Instagram and Facebook too. Previous visitors of the e-commerce site will be reminded of your service or product in this way.
Wrap Up
Successful Instagrammers can teach you a thing or two.
Combine your knowledge in marketing, photography, storytelling, and photo style with what you’ve learned from them.
Increase your following as much as possible, hold contests, and keep your account alive by posting fresh photos once or twice a day.
While you’re doing all of this, don’t be afraid to use tools like an Instagram scheduler, Canva designer, stock images, graphic editor, and content curator tools to assist you.
If you wanna optimize your efforts, keep an eye on your analytics.
Also, don’t quit quickly. Persistence, as you know, is key! | https://medium.com/@circleboom/8-easiest-hacks-to-make-money-on-instagram-for-2022-81e6f5846755 | [] | 2021-12-20 06:42:36.185000+00:00 | ['Instagram', 'Instagram Followers', 'Instagram Marketing'] |
CAKES NOT FOR SALE. | I love to bake.
No, not marijuana. Like cupcakes or cookies, but mostly cakes. Like I love it. There’s a weird formula around baking. The second I know I’m going to be baking a new creation, I get in an ecstatic mood that I can’t really describe with my words. The chemical hormones jet through my body and I’m a jolly piece of human (so I guess kinda like marijuana? jkjk). The sudden urge to bake comes from weird triggers. Sometimes it’s from scrolling through instagram and seeing something that makes my tongue swell, if not it’s usually because there’s a meaningful person in my life that I want to show my gratitude to. Looking at the process in entirety, I love it all. I remember reading a New York Times article a couple years ago titled, “Why Work When You Can Procrastibake?” I was nodding frantically throughout the whole article because I could relate to every aspect of procrastibaking. There are times where the most responsible thing to do is to put work, chores, finishing taxes aside to bake. Although there are many reasons I bake, the creative process is very consistent, and I would love to take you on a little ride to show how my baked creations are made.
The Recipient
Most of the time, the recipients of the finished product are set before I start. The creation changes depending on the taste palettes i’m trying to impress. If it’s for my mom or other Korean family friends, I go for desserts (TANGENT: I learned in elementary school that dessert is spelled with two S’s instead of one because you want more dessert lol) where the fruit is the highlight. The lighter and less sweet options. My dad, on the other hand, is a feen for anything with nuts and chocolate. The mission isn’t always easy and it takes multiple text messages to their significant other in order to discover what their preferences are, or scrolling through their instagram feed to find only selfies and nothing about their dessert preference. Often times, the enigma is much more challenging. Sometimes the sweets are being delivered to people who are going through bitter seasons of fighting through cancer, grieving over loved ones, or leaving for far destinations. In those cases, my mission is to help them to escape from their realities for a hot second. Once I have the frameworks of the situation I am trying to solve, I frantically search for inspiration. What fruits are in season? What would I enjoy baking? What can I make with the 3 eggs I have in the fridge? After various Pinterest searches, looking over different recipes I’ve saved, and much digging, I come to a final product that I want. Sometimes it’s a combination of recipes. Sometimes it’s recipes that I’ve already made. Sometimes I want to get specific by drawing the anatomy and exteriors of the cake. Oftentimes I don’t have time, and I just start taking out the ingredients.
Whipping It Together.
I started baking in elementary school. It began with baking Betty Crocker cake mixes, then slowly baking easy recipes. Failing. Failing. Repeatedly failing 10 more times. Going into Michael’s hundreds of times with the “40% off one item” coupon (my lifesaver) to slowly accumulate my collection of offset spatulas, piping tips, kitchen scales, etc. Nowadays when I start cooking, I usually look over the recipe multiple times to make sure there aren’t any surprises or special instructions (there are time where you don’t have the time to give your butter a deep tissue massage and you need to find a new recipe). I set out the majority of my recipes and I try to work in a clean kitchen. I wash all the preexisting dishes prior to starting so no kimchi juice accidentally spills into my genoise cake batter. Often I put on an apron so I look cooler, but I usually get so messy throughout that I need to change clothes and be bathed by a Russian babushka afterwards.
When the checklist of to-dos are finished, the best part begins. The whipping of the butter that I abruptly softened in the pockets of my sweats (it’s not gross! I swear it works), separating the eggs, making an infused milk concoction. After numerous folds, sifts, and incorporations, you finally pop the batter in the oven, say a quick prayer to Jesus, and hope for the best. While I anxiously wait, I finish the dishes, put away the flour, and sneak in a quick Kpop music video on my parent’s absurdly big TV. When the timer beeps done, I open the oven door gently, yet frantically. The grand reveal is usually paired with a sigh of relief or confusion. Sometimes you need to work with what you get, or start softening more butter to start over. Assuming that the creation is okay, I’ll lead you to the rest of the process. While the cake is resting, I usually watch an episode of a Korean drama, trying to completely forget about the cake. After wiping off some tears and remembering that the cake is resting on my counter, I go over and whip up some whipped cream or frosting to finish my creation.
I think this is when my favorite part begins. I get to throw my offset spatula left and right to cover imperfections with frosting. After putting on large heapings of frosting, I am somewhat satisfied with the cake. I start to garnish with dried raspberry powder, fresh fruit, feuilletine crumbs, typographic “happy birthday signs,” or whatever creative ideas flow through my head. I wrap up the process by putting it all in a box, tying a nice little tiffany bow, and sitting in awe of my masterpiece. This is also when I usually instagram a photo of my creation (follow me on @immaeat for all my photos).
Hand Delivery.
I take the cake out and rearrange the fridge so the Korean side dishes can relocate back to their spot in the fridge (cakes take up a lot of room). Then I put the cake in my trunk alongside the card I wrote (usually the cake is accompanied with a card). I find the home, business, coffee shop that I will be delivering the cake to on my phone’s navigation system, and begin my trip. I’m usually humming along to the song that’s playing and thinking about whether the recipient will like my cake or not. The excitement makes my heart skip a beat. (With my eyes open) I say a quick prayer that the cake would magically be the remedy to relieve stress, kill the cancer, and put a smile on some faces. When I get to the location, I carefully take the cake and skip over to the destination in excitement. When I finally get to hand over the cake, the reactions are priceless. It’s overwhelming taking it all in. Sometimes there are smiles, sometimes there are teary eyes. This part is usually what puts me back in the kitchen to bake more cakes for others.
The Icing on the Cake.
People see my cakes and ask why I won’t sell them. For the time being, I have no desire to start a business because I still have way too many people that I need to thank. I want my cakes to be special. Something you can’t buy with money. No, I’m not being cocky. I want my cakes to be way more than just desserts. I want it to be a gem that captures hearts. I want it to be my sincerity and authenticity. My hobby exceeds being a favorite pastime, to being a passion and a love language. I hope sweet gifts can be a remedy that ripples on to other people. This world is way too beautiful and sacred for us to be in vain. I want to thank the people in my life and show my gratitude for how much I appreciate them. There are way too many people who have made huge impacts in my life. I’m hoping to show my appreciation one slice at a time. | https://medium.com/@immachoe/cakes-not-for-sale-3c37b7293a1f | ['David Choe'] | 2020-02-05 07:45:38.207000+00:00 | ['Cake', 'Thankful', 'Thank You', 'Baker', 'Baking'] |
Crown Closures Market — Potential Growth Opportunities in Developing Economies | Aluminum crown closures account for more than 70% of the total consumption of crown closures, according to the report. A majority of sales is registered by small-diameter (26mm) crown closures, compared to the crown closures that have large diameter (29mm).
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FMI’s report covers deep-dive strategic profiles of some of the key competitors operating in the global crown closures market landscape, including Astir Vitogiannis, Avon Crowncaps & Containers Nigeria Limited, Avon Crowncaps & Containers Nigeria Limited, Continental Crowns and Closures, Crown Holdings, Inc., Finn-Korkki Oy, Manaksia Industry Ltd., Nippon Closures Co. Ltd, Oricon Enterprises Limited, Pelliconi & C. SPA, Samhwa Crown & Closure Co., Ltd, Supertech-Crown Caps, TOKK Company, and Viscose Closures Ltd.
Beer Accounts for More than 70% of Demand for Crown Closures
The growth of food and beverages market has been closely influencing the performance of crown closures market. According to FMI’s analysis, alcoholic beverages, particularly beer and wine, will remain the most prominent end use categories in crown closures market. Beer currently holds just-over 70% share in the global demand for crown closures, followed by carbonated soft drinks.
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While consumption of crown closures is likely to be sustained by increasing beer production as well as consumption, it has been observed that emergence of superior packaging alternatives in the beverages sector is particularly translating into the falling demand for crown closures in the carbonated soft drinks category.
The global crown closures market is segmented in detail to cover every aspect of the market and present complete market intelligence to the reader.
By Diameter
26 mm
29 mm
By Material Type
Aluminum
Steel
By End Use
Beer
Carbonated Soft Drinks
Food
Emerging Regional Markets to be on Forefront Owing to Increasing Uptake of Beer, Wine, & Other Alcoholic Drinks
Led by China, Asia Pacific is projected to remain the preeminent market for crown closures manufacturers. Within APAC that currently accounts for an approximate volume share of a third of the total consumption of crown closures, the ASEAN countries, followed by India, will also be among the prominent markets for crown closures over the coming years.
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Shifting dietary preferences of urban consumers, considerably increasing consumption of alcoholic beverages by younger demographics, and increasing spending power strongly backed by changing priorities will continue to collectively uplift the overall consumption of spirits, particularly beer and wine, in developing Asian countries. This according to the report will sustain the sales of crown closures in the near future.
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Future Market Insights (FMI), is an ESOMAR-certified market research and consulting market research company. FMI is a leading provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries; its market research reports and industry analysis help businesses navigate challenges and make critical decisions with confidence and clarity amidst breakneck competition. | https://medium.com/@shilpa_7061/crown-closures-market-potential-growth-opportunities-in-developing-economies-de97bc636c2c | [] | 2021-12-30 09:33:00.532000+00:00 | ['Market Research Reports', 'Caps And Closures Market', 'Crown Market', 'Crown Closures', 'Research Reports'] |
The Easiest Way to Budget | Budgeting is one of the most fundamental things to learn to get your finances under control. Budgeting takes a look at how much money you have coming in and how much money you have going out. Once you have a good idea of your cash flow (money in and money out) you can figure out if it’s worth it.
With shopping online, shopping through apps, and a majority of people only using credit cards, it’s never been easier than now to spend money. So it’s more important than ever to have a good understanding of our budget. Once you look into it, I’d bet you be shocked as to where your money actually goes.
How we should view budgeting
The word budget, I think, creates a lot of anxiety for people. I say this a lot, but it’s one of those things I think we could all benefit from, but we don’t all have. A lot of people think it’s similar to trying to count calories. But, by focusing so much on the numbers, it actually takes the fun or enjoyment out of eating or hanging out with friends. But that’s not what budgeting means to me. Budgeting helps ensure you’re able to enjoy the things you love to do.
To me, not knowing is often the worst thing we can do. The statistics show that a lot of people live paycheque to paycheque, and even missing one payday would cause a lot of financial strain on people. The mindset of many people in tough financial situations is that they need to make more money. Usually, considering spending less money doesn’t ever come to mind, even though it’s a lot tougher to make more money than it is to spend less money.
In the book ‘I Will Teach You To Be Rich’ by Ramit Sethi, one of the points Ramit writes about is we all have different priorities for our money. We all budget our money differently, allowing what we enjoy to fit in there. And that’s perfectly okay. For most people, it’s not a reality to be able to spend a lot of money on every aspect of their lives — even if financially that’s an option, it doesn’t mean it’s practical.
We all have non-discretionary expenses — rent, mortgage, bills, groceries, etc., and we all have discretionary expenses — fun stuff, things we enjoy, lifestyle spending. Making our non-discretionary spending allows us to be healthy and comfortable, and our discretionary spending allows us to build a lifestyle we dream of having.
Budgeting should be a balance of paying our bills, living a lifestyle we enjoy while saving for our future. Instead of crunching numbers and living in unenjoyable conditions to save every penny, it has to be a healthy balance.
Again, budgeting should be all about balance.
The easiest way to budget
When you earn money, a good chunk goes towards bills. On top of that, it’s a great habit to start saving a small portion (5% to 10%) of your income for future you. Don’t worry; you’ll thank yourself. After those are taken care of, we are left with our spending money. The money we are free to do with what we like, knowing the important stuff is already taken care of.
One of the issues with this money is blowing it quickly or getting in a position where we are shopping on credit. That’s why I like this method of budgeting:
How many hours do you have to work to be able to pay for something?
No matter how much money you make or how much spending money you have each month, this works. We all know how time-consuming working is, and we all know how much work, effort, and stress we go through to make each dollar we do. So before you buy something, think about it.
When you do this, I think it causes two main things to happen:
It puts you in a position to evaluate if the work required to purchase a specific thing is worth it. You work for every dollar you make, so it’s important for it to count. And it allows you to second think the purchase. Far too often, we make impulse purchases when we would be just as well off without it. I’ve started never buying something on impulse, but rather think about it, and if it is still available the next time I go to the store, I revisit the thought. I’ve literally saved hundreds of dollars by doing this. I almost always don’t need what I almost impulsively bought.
The next time you’re in a store or looking online, and you see something you think you need. Take a minute, think about it, and revisit it later on. It’s a simple, quick, and free way to potentially save you a lot of money. All while keeping your budget on track. | https://themakingofamillionaire.com/the-easiest-way-to-budget-931549f3a77b | ['Derek Condon'] | 2020-11-26 17:27:10.085000+00:00 | ['Financial Planning', 'Money', 'Budget', 'Saving Money', 'Finance'] |
The Situation In Hong Kong Explained | The Situation In Hong Kong Explained
What’s going on in Hong Kong goes back nearly two centuries
Hong Kong has been in the headlines a lot in the past couple of years. This week, Beijing passed a new national security law regarding Hong Kong, which has worried many around the world. The situation in Hong Kong is complicated and steeped in history, going back to the days of the British Empire. What is happening today in the island city has direct lines of causation to events that occurred long ago. Many people do not understand the complicated and unique situation Hong Kong is in regarding mainland China.
Is Hong Kong a part of China? Do the rules passed in Beijing apply to the city? These are just a few questions people may have about the ongoing political situation unfolding in the special administrative region.
The Opium Wars
In the mid 19th century, the British Empire fought two wars in China to secure trading rights in the far eastern empire. The First Opium War was disturbingly a fight to maintain massive exports of opium to an addicted Chinese population. British merchants were smuggling illegal drugs into China from India in lucrative trading routes. Fed up with the illicit trade, the Qing attempted to seize and destroy the illegal goods from the British traders. This ultimately led to a breakdown in relations between the two nations, and a conflict ensued.
The British forces were far superior to the Qing forces. After a couple of years of fighting, the British occupied multiple important Chinese cities and forced a negotiation. The resulting Treaty of Nanjing in August of 1842 initially ceded the island of Hong Kong to the British Empire as a territory to be held “in perpetuity.”
The Second Opium War was more of the same. Fifteen years after the Treaty of Nanjing opened up China to more British influence, the British Empire once again found an excuse to interfere in the far eastern country. It forced another conflict with the hope of gaining more concessions from the rapidly weakening Qing Dynasty. They got their wish.
The end of the Second Opium War saw more Chinese territory around Hong Kong ceded to the British. As a result, it led to creating a 99-year lease of large portions of the area surrounding the island of Hong Kong. That lease was to begin in 1898 and last until 1997.
The British Empire Fades
Following the devastating results of World War II, the influence of the British Empire began to fade. Financial strains from two world wars, a growing overseas nationalist movement, and a diminished British military led to the beginning of the end of British overseas territories in the world. From the 1950s onward, Britain began ceding control of many of its most prominent overseas colonies and territories. As this process continued throughout the middle portion of the 20th century, China began to get hopeful that Hong Kong would eventually appear on the territory shedding docket. In the 1980s, it finally did.
Late 20th Century Negotiations
In the 1980s, China and the United Kingdom sat down to negotiate the future of Hong Kong and the leases of Chinese territory set to expire in 1997. Margaret Thatcher negotiated the original “one country, two systems” policy regarding Hong Kong. The policy states that Hong Kong was to hold a high degree of autonomy. Also, the brand of socialism practiced in mainland China could not be exercised in Hong Kong for 50 years following the transfer of the territory back to Chinese control.
The Chinese agreed to the terms of the agreement, which were to go into place in 1997, following the official hand over from the British back to the Chinese.
The negotiations were concluded, and in 1997, as scheduled, the territory officially was returned to Chinese control as a Special Administrative Region, which was to adhere to the one country, two systems policy negotiated in the 1980s.
That should give Hong Kong a degree of autonomy and economic freedom that should last until 2047. But Hong Kong is not entirely free. They are still a part of China with special privileges. They are not their autonomous entity like some people believe.
21st Century Incursion and Unrest
Regarding Hong Kong, as well as Macau and Taiwan, the Chinese policy is explicitly clear. These are sovereign and rightful parts of China, and they will be integrated, eventually, one way or another. There is no political mysticism regarding this position. It is explicitly clear what they believe when it comes to their sovereignty.
Hong Kong is already under the Chinese umbrella, but the Chinese are hampered in their ultimate goals of reintegrating Hong Kong fully by the negotiations made in the 20th century policing the treatment of Hong Kong. The truth of the matter is, these freedoms had a hard time limit to them, but they are not due to expire until 2047.
However, in recent years China has been looking to accelerate the timeline by beginning reintegrating earlier than expected. This has not gone over well with the population, especially the young people who believed they had another three decades of freedom to enjoy. This has led to widespread unrest in the city, which has intensified in the past couple of years, resulting in the legislation that is in the headlines today.
Extradition and Security Laws
This latest round of unrest was kicked off by the proposal of a controversial extradition law which tried to make it legal for Hong Kong citizens to be extradited to mainland China for trial for certain crimes. The population saw this as an attempt to legalize the brand of political terrorism and totalitarianism frequently seen in mainland China in Hong Kong.
Protests kicked off in 2019 and have been, at times, violent and widespread and are still going on today. The law was shelved, but the protestors continue to see Beijing as a continual threat to their freedoms. As a result of the protests and violent Beijing drafted and passed, a new security law targeting Hong Kong.
The new law imposes, even more, policing and enforcement from Beijing in Hong Kong. It has raised fears that it will be used to crush pro-democracy movements in the territory. China is notorious for using obscure and minor offenses to punish those it sees as dissidents or threats unevenly.
From the BBC’s reporting on the law:
“A new office in Hong Kong would deal with national security cases, but would also have other powers, such as overseeing national security education in Hong Kong schools.
In addition, the city will have to establish its national security commission to enforce the laws with a Beijing-appointed adviser. Hong Kong’s chief executive will have the power to appoint judges to hear national security cases, which has raised fears about judicial independence. Importantly, Beijing will have power over how the law should be interpreted. If the law conflicts with any Hong Kong law, the Beijing law takes priority.” (Bolded by me for effect)
Basically, it gives Beijing a new and powerful foothold in Hong Kong, which will allow mainland Chinese officials and officers to silence and prosecute further protests and dissent as they arise.
A Complicated Situation
Britain and the United States have not been shy about condemning China’s stance towards Hong Kong. Both nations have denounced their actions in the territory but have very little legal ground to stand on. In recent years, the Hong Kong assembly and the assembly in Beijing have been more intertwined with stronger cross ties between the mainland and Hong Kong. The new security law was added to Hong Kong’s official Basic Law, the 50-year agreement set to expire in 2047. That makes it official in Hong Kong.
However, the domestic and international arguments stem from one of the first clauses of Hong Kong Basic Law, which reads:
The socialist system and policies shall not be practiced [sic] in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the previous capitalist system and way of life shall remain unchanged for 50 years. — Article Five
It is not just the socialist system that should stay out of Hong Kong but also the socialist policies. It also adds protection to the “way of life,” saying it shall remain unchanged. Critics of what is happening in Hong Kong claim that these new laws and policies infringe on this clause because they are enforcing Beijing policies in Hong Kong, which threaten the democratic and capitalist way of life in the territory.
You can read the entire text of Chapter One of the Hong Kong Basic Law here.
Both sides know they are treading in a gray area. The United States and Britain have little recourse regarding the situation on the ground unless they want to support the protestors, which will only serve to anger Beijing. China knows that they are accelerating the timeline of reintegration. Still, in their eyes, Hong Kong is theirs and will be entirely theirs soon anyway, so why not press it.
Neither side will force a military conflict regarding Hong Kong. Therefore, what we are seeing is a slow creep of Beijing’s influence in Hong Kong being met with rabid domestic pushback.
At the same time, international powers look on and make grand statements with no teeth. I believe this will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future.
In short, Hong Kong is technically a part of China but governed by a set of special rules and circumstances laid out at the tail end of the 20th century. The security laws being implemented on the island, while controversial and unfortunate for those who love freedom in the world, are technically part of the Hong Kong Basic Law and are legal. There is a growing portion of the Hong Kong population who wants full freedom from China in the long run. Still, this position, in my opinion, is untenable.
A Word on News Coverage
When you are reading the news regarding what is happening in Hong Kong, remember these essential things.
The Western media is ostensibly on the side of the protestors in Hong Kong and will color the news to make it seem like Beijing’s influence is less official than it is. The British want to see the agreements regarding Hong Kong upheld until their cessation in 2047.
The Chinese media is going to spin this as a completely legitimate action in their territory to quell political unrest and violence in their city to protect their citizens and interests.
Like most things in life, and most things in 2020, ultimately, it is complicated. | https://medium.com/discourse/the-situation-in-hong-kong-explained-357e9fa03c09 | ['Grant Piper'] | 2020-06-30 14:26:25.278000+00:00 | ['Hong Kong', 'Current Events', 'News', 'History', 'Foreign Policy'] |
XcelDefi — The Next Generation Decentralized Exchange | The digital product blockchain age has just begun. We are here to support the establishment of a decentralized digital product ecosystem through the use of XcelLabs and its native coin. Using the startup’s distribution tools, developers will be able to monetize their digital products by selling tokens. You’re about to learn the fundamentals of beginning your own digital goods reselling business. Get yourself ready!
DeFi ecosystem XcelDefi, which is based on blockchain technology, intends to become the world’s first comprehensive DeFi ecosystem. This system will be financed by $XLD worth of tokens. XcelDefi’s blockchain project has as its ultimate goal the decentralization of financial institutions and the removal of financial barriers. Investors of different races, ages, and cultural backgrounds can now engage in the financial markets thanks to the availability of XcelDefi.
Why XcelDefi
Thanks to XcelDefi, DeFi products will have new applications and standards defined in the future. To take advantage of the recent “DeFi explosion,” XcelDefi may be necessary. Since their ultimate goal is a decentralized economy, they started using $XLD to get there. The Xcel brand’s original goal included travel, bitcoin, and DeFi/Investment. On the Binance Smart Chain, XcelDefi is constructed, which is one of the world’s most secure and speedy chains.
XcelSwap
P2P trading is made possible via the decentralized exchange XcelSwap’s usage of the AMM idea. XcelSwap is a must-have feature in the XcelDeFi ecosystem. Ultimately, we want to be the first decentralized exchange that everyone can use. Most DeFi systems offer a terrible user experience for first-time DeFi users.
Decentralized exchanges like XcelSwap let you trade with other people’s money while maintaining your privacy. For the purposes of exchanging tokens, there is no requirement to grant XcelDefi custody of any tokens. New projects can now be linked to the intended market thanks to XcelDefi’s network of liquidity providers.
XcelPay Wallet
Open-source, decentralized Bitcoin wallet XcelPay Wallet is now available. The $XLD utility token can be used to make purchases by XcelPay wallet users. A PR campaign is the best way to get the word out about cryptocurrencies like $XLD.
XcelPay can also be used to buy gift cards and mobile phone recharges. On the Binance Smart Chain, XinFin Network and Ethereum Classic tokens can also be used. Open a wallet account with XcelPay and start trading cryptocurrencies right away. XcelPay wallets are available.
Tokenomics
A total of 111,000,000 XLDs are thought to be in existence. For a growing ecosystem, there is a limit to the amount of new tokens that may be made available. See how XcelDefi recommends allocating and distributing resources in the following table:
Regular token burns are required under XcelDefi’s tokenomics to keep deflation under control and inflation from taking hold. The entire supply would be reduced by over 41% over the length of the project. The following is how the burns have been apportioned and accounted for:
Conclusion
DeFi has taken a giant step ahead as a result of this. When it comes to cutting-edge technology, XcelDefi is the go-to choice for its clients. According to XcelDefi, blockchain technology has the potential to be used in the real world.. Even if this goal is achieved, there will remain billions of dollars worth of gold left to be mined. If you combine the best of diverse industries, you’ll get a wide selection of digital solutions. Traditional funding will also be replaced by XcelDefi. Blockchain technology has been used in numerous industries by XcelDefi, which shows that this goal has been taken seriously.
#xceldefi #xcelswap #BSC #XLD #DeFi #XcelLab #DEX #crypto #BinanceSmartChain #decentralizedfinance #defimarket #defiwallet #defilending #defistaking #pancakeswap #investinxld #buyxld
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BitcoinTalk Profile URL: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3397556
BSC address (from XcelPay Wallet): 0x3bcCDfe70ba92Ae5eE7fa7a02AE2195F97b7DFdD | https://medium.com/@zahwatul/xceldefi-the-next-generation-decentralized-exchange-ef33b6557867 | ['Zahwatul Ulya'] | 2021-12-29 16:48:52.736000+00:00 | ['Xceldefi', 'Xcelswap', 'Bsc', 'Xld', 'Xcellab'] |
Belize Readies For COVAX Facility’s Deployment of COVID-19 Vaccines | The deployment of COVID-19 vaccines in the Caribbean and across the Americas under COVAX is anticipated to begin at the end of March. COVAX, a coalition led by WHO and Gavi to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, has notified countries in the Americas of the estimated dose allocation for the first phase of vaccine delivery in a letter to health authorities, the Pan American Health Organization reported January 31. Thanks to initial funding from the IDB of about $400,000, Belize has paid the first portion of our commitment to the COVAX facility, covering about 30% of our population. Countries in the Americas participating in COVAX that received letters are:
— Antigua and Barbuda
— Argentina
— Commonwealth of The Bahamas
— Barbados
— Belize
— Bermuda
— Bolivia
— Brazil
— British Virgin Islands
— Canada
— Chile
— Colombia
— Costa Rica
— Dominica
— Dominican Republic
— Ecuador
— El Salvador
— Granada
— Guatemala
— Guyana
— Haiti
— Honduras
— Jamaica
— Mexico
— Montserrat
— Nicaragua
— Panama
— Paraguay
— Peru
— St. Kitts and Nevis
— Saint Lucía
— Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
— Suriname
— Trinidad and Tobago
— Uruguay
— Venezuela
As one of six nations that will receive support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for the rollout of a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination program, Belize aims to secure 120,000 vaccines in or before April 2021.
Belize | https://medium.com/@caribbeanlifestylebelize/belize-readies-for-covax-facilitys-deployment-of-covid-19-vaccines-7c95eea1f39 | ['Caribbean Culture', 'Lifestyle- Belize'] | 2021-02-02 21:31:10.021000+00:00 | ['Covid'] |
Bill Barr Makes A Discovery | Yesterday, Attorney General William Barr publicly announced that the Justice Department found no evidence of fraud that would swing the 2020 Presidential election. This follows a comment by Trump just days before that he believed the Justice Department and the FBI might have been involved in corrupting the election. Barr has repeatedly done Trump’s bidding and sided with him over and over again, if not lying on his behalf.
What a nightmare, but it’s almost over.
The above drawing is based on the actual door of the Justice Department. It’s huge. This breaking news was something I knew needed to be drawn about, and my mind went through various ideas before landing on this. Barr hiding behind the female symbol of justice, Trump chasing Barr, Barr stamping down Trump….but decided this might get the message across.
Below, you can watch me create the above drawing on my daily live draw on Happs TV. If you like what I do, consider becoming a sponsor and join my wonderful group of supporters on HappsTV. It’s a startup that suuports viewer support. Happs.tv/@liza | https://lizadonnelly.medium.com/bill-barr-makes-a-discovery-2fe44555511f | ['Liza Donnelly'] | 2020-12-02 17:47:22.863000+00:00 | ['Barr', 'Election 2020', 'Democracy', 'Politics', 'Trump'] |
NFT Games and the Future of Audience Interaction | Video games have come a long way from pixels and Pacman. What used to be frowned upon as a waste of time has now turned into big business and a legitimate art form. Video games, as an industry, actually topped both music and movies combined, having grown 27% to $56.9 billion in revenue in 2020.
Something the video game industry has over other industries in the entertainment sector is the ability to adopt new technology. While that may not be the sole reason for the art form’s success as a business, it certainly plays a major factor.
In 2006, Nintendo released the Wii. And while the Wii seems like an old hat fifteen years later, people were lining up around the block to get their hands on the console before that year’s holiday season. More recently, both the PS5 and Xbox Series X have enjoyed so much success, that it’s nearly impossible to get your hands on one or the other for the sticker price.
The success and ridiculously rabid rate at which new consoles are purchased speaks to the fanaticism of video game fans. They, just like theatre fans, are some of the most passionate in the world. But there’s something to be said about an industry succeeding because of a continued adoption of new technology. In that way, video games have somewhat of an unfair advantage.
The nature of the art form is linked inextricably to technology. Consoles are, after all, basically just computers. And in terms of capability, computers advance at a higher rate than, say, film cameras.
An argument could be made that, due to the close association that video game companies share with technology, they are more likely to adopt new technologies that aren’t as closely linked to the industry. NFTs and crypto are examples of tech that isn’t necessarily meant for the proliferation of video games as a form of art and entertainment, yet the video game industry has adopted it almost right away.
Cover art for the game Axie Infinity from Sky Mavis.
Developed by Vietnamese game studio Sky Mavis, Axie Infinity is a game that uses an Ethereum based cryptocurrency called SLP (Smooth Love Potion). The game allows players to trade and battle with creatures known as “axies.” In that way, Axie Infinity is sort of like Pokemon, but unlike Pokemon, players are actually able to earn big real-world bucks playing the game.
In fact, during the COVID-19 pandemic, some players in the Philippines were playing the game as a full-time job. More games like Axie Infinity are on the way. The recently announced MetalCore, for example, is a similar type of game that is powered by decentralized blockchain technology and allows players to grind out real world currency.
Marrying the ability to make real-world money with a video game isn’t just changing the video game industry, it’s bringing into question the product-audience relationship. And other industries can possibly take advantage of those now blurring lines.
The theatre industry is an example of a sector within the greater entertainment business that may be able to leverage NFTs and blockchain to evolve the fan product relationship and change the future of audience interaction. One of the more basic ways theatre can adopt NFTs is by creating digital merchandise.
While this may seem like a relatively simple aspect of the industry, involving NFTs will transform merchandising into something completely different. An NFT is, by its very nature, a limited-run collectible. And so adding a digital approach to merchandise makes sense, as it would add an additional stream of revenue to a production, one that would continue on far after the curtain falls. For instance, on marketplaces like Third Act, fans can auction their NFTs, and unlike selling that old shirt or mug on Ebay, productions get a slice of every NFT sale.
And while that changes the audience interaction somewhat, it doesn’t do it on the same scale that has occurred for other industries like video games. But there are other, more innovative ways that the theatre industry can use NFTs.
Lion King and Wicked putting on a live performance through TikTok.
Two very popular musicals, The Lion King and Wicked, have had their own moments premiering in popular digital spaces. To celebrate its return to performances, The Lion King offered fans a livestream of the opening number exclusively on Tik Tok. While the performance of the opening number was the main event, fans were also treated to a pre-show.
NFTs can factor into future live streamed events. Similar to how video games reward players with NFTs and crypto currency, musicals could offer similar rewards to fans who show up to these digital performances. They could also offer other incentives for audience interaction. Likes, comments, and shares could be rewarded with exclusive digital merchandise available only to the fans who viewed the live performance. And a similar tactic could be used to fill physical audiences, with fans receiving NFTs for showing up to theatres.
In games like Axie Infinity and MetalCore, players play the game in order to mine crypto. They are issued NFTs based on their performance in game, which can, in some cases, be traded for real-world cash. The same sort of ecosystem would apply here. With the “players” or audience, receiving real world cash for showing up and participating in either a digital, or physical, a show.
The theatre industry would be wise to take note of the popularity that Tik Tok has with theatre fans. It gives an indication on how theatre audiences, especially younger segments of the audience, react and act in the digital space. It also could be a harbinger of things to come.
NFT Collection from Third Acts, Herding Cats collection and NFT examples from Axie Infinity.
Admittedly, all that may seem a bit far off in the future. But there are ways, other than just merchandise, that the theatre industry can look to right now in order to reshape audience interaction. Since NFTs are digital, they can, unlike physical merchandise, update and change. Imagine audience members being issued NFTs of a script, or early sketches of musical numbers, and watching as those NFTs go from rough draft to complete piece. The same could be done when it comes to costumes or set building. Audiences could purchase NFTs that are living pieces of art, ones that evolve with their physical counterparts, until eventually the NFT is “finished” when the real-world piece is.
This would give the audience a backstage pass to how theatre is created, but it would also open up an entirely new revenue stream for theatre productions. Right now, theatre is capturing only a miniscule slice of what is possible in terms of market share. Owning an audience’s attention before the curtain goes up and after the lights go down, is going to be important in a digital future where audiences live online.
Some may think that giving audience’s an inside look into how things are made, or even a say in what’s being made, is a recipe for disaster, the nature of entertainment is becoming more democratized. With streaming and the ability for fans to interact with their favorite actors and writers, the internet and the digital are changing forever the face of audience interaction. And while it may be some time before the next Hamilton pays out NFTs to their audience, theatre, like video games, should think about the forever-changing nature of audience interaction. | https://medium.com/@_ThirdAct/nft-games-and-the-future-of-audience-interaction-2604bed57cb2 | ['Third Act'] | 2021-11-17 20:26:06.992000+00:00 | ['Nft', 'Nft Marketplace', 'Gaming', 'Theatre'] |
Why Tulsi Gabbard Is Sexist For Calling Hillary Clinton A “Warmonger” | Why Tulsi Gabbard Is Sexist For Calling Hillary Clinton A “Warmonger”
War Zero vs. War Hero. Source: New York Post
Tulsi Gabbard launched an unprovoked attack against Hillary Clinton last week for pointing out the #facts on Tulsi. Gabbard used a well-worn smear often lobbed at strong, independent women working in politics — “warmonger.”
When a male president annihilates everyone attending a wedding via drone, it is seen as “leadership,” or “making a tough call.” When a woman envisions a world that is free from Russian corruption at all levels, she is a “warmonger.” There is a clear double standard at play here, but the worst thing is that the double standard is being wielded by another woman. Instead of offering a counter argument to the claims of her conniving with Russians, Tulsi Gabbard slurs the one woman who has blazed the trail that Gabbard herself is currently trekking.
The fact is that “warmongering” that Gabbard despises so much liberates a lot of women. Her policies killed a lot of men in Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan — a fact that inherently creates a dynamic where women can get more power due to the reshaping of the gender balance. The military campaigns Hillary fought for ushered in new employment opportunities for women in Libya and Afghanistan. Tulsi Gabbard, with her call to end the “endless wars,” would gut job opportunities for women and therefore gut women’s empowerment.
Tulsi — did you know that women run the military-industrial complex? Usually, when one envisions a woman-run business, a craft shop or café comes to mind. Little do you know that the executive suites of Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and Boeing’s defense arm are all the exclusive domain of women. For these companies to grow and prosper under the leadership of women would validate everything we know about how superior women are as CEOs (shoutout to Marissa Mayer!) and captains of industry. Supporting women means supporting women everywhere, even if it takes us to the boardrooms of the companies that made the drones and missiles used to kill all those people at that wedding. If only Tulsi realized the great return for women on the cost of war.
The empress has nice clothes 💅🏻Source: Urantian Sojourn
Who supports Tulsi in this? None other than Donald Trump is supporting Tulsi! Trump’s backing begs the question of why Tulsi described Hillary as a “queen.” In the context of the Trump era, Tulsi using “queen” along with “warmonger” suggests an attack on Hillary’s sexuality, as if homosexuality is a bad thing, and to suggest that any woman with power is an unaccountable tyrant. This may seem contradictory since Tulsi Gabbard is running to be President of the United States. However, when taken in the context of the fact that she is an asset of Russia, which is a country ran by a man, then it becomes clear that Tulsi believes her place is to be subservient to a man and thus to the patriarchy. Needless to say, under a Russian puppet regime, we all can say goodbye to a military industrial complex that is ran by women, that employs many women, and frees so many women from the clutches of the patriarchy. Therefore, the ultimate goal of Tulsi Gabbard’s takedown of Hillary isn’t to become president, banish Hillary, or even destroy the Democratic Party — it is to uphold and strengthen the patriarchy itself.
Our reaction to Tulsi Gabbard’s crazy rantings.
Dear Tulsi Gabbard: When you come for the woman that has done the most for women’s rights since Susan B. Anthony, you’d better come correct, because we have six ways to Sunday to strike back! 👊🏻
Tulsi Gabbard is misogyny, and that’s that on that! 🖕
If you haven’t already, please read our older articles to awaken your mind to more ways to fight injustice. We come out with new articles regularly, so stay tuned, because the outrage never stops! | https://medium.com/@thewokerise/why-tulsi-gabbard-is-sexist-for-calling-hillary-clinton-a-warmonger-b2d302d6bd8e | ['W.O.K.E Collective'] | 2019-10-21 01:45:29.912000+00:00 | ['Womens Rights', 'Election 2020', 'Hillary Clinton', 'Social Justice', 'Tulsi Gabbard'] |
Insomnolence | Insomnolence
Experimental narrative
she groans exasperatedly at a body that refuses to relax into the grip of sleep even as the poisons of the day weaken joints, muddy the mind
she opens the curtains, welcomes the life outside in; anything to get rid of the emptiness of an apartment, which a few hours before, was bustling with life
she misses them already, wishes she didn’t have to work this weekend
she remembers their chubby hands waving goodbye as she stood by the window, her heart flying out of her chest and into the uncertain grasp of her three-year-old
a lone tear escapes the high security prison she’s installed in her eyes and makes a bid for freedom; its hopes dashed as a vigilant hand brushes it away
trying to distract herself from her thoughts, she looks down into the street below. the pavement almost empty, the streets thronging with cars carrying the midnight shift at the nearby call center in sullen getaways
the cars pass in a monotonous parade, sheep to sheep
the empty street yearns for company, its palpable loneliness making it creepier than a graveyard in a foggy night
time passes; the street and her commiserate each other
soft yellow rays start fighting with the noxiously xanthic streetlights, as the street’s wishes come true; a band of early morning workers, shoulders bowed with sleep, relegate movement to muscle memory, shuffle slowly into the maw of the corporate jungle
a man turns the corner into the street, carrying his world in his arms, in the space his eyes can rest on. the wave of pedestrians parts in a single fluid motion to let him through
none meet his eyes as he walks confidently over the broken bits of the footpath, faltering on the straight ones, declaiming to the world in a language only he understands
he passes the corner. the space behind him is quickly filled, his world snuffed in a few footsteps
she remembers the left-over food in the fridge and thinks about running down the street to the man — he’d looked famished.
her alarm rings; she wakes from her musings, puts on the raiment of workdays; numb; nothing left but work; she makes her way down to the street
despite their long conversation last night, neither greets the other | https://medium.com/lit-up/insomnolence-ff28ae927b33 | ['Indira Reddy'] | 2019-12-18 11:54:57.913000+00:00 | ['Poetic Prose', 'Musings', 'Insomnia', 'Fiction', 'Short Story'] |
JOY WILL POINT YOU NORTH. | photo courtesy of https://www.daisiesandglitter.com/ via Pinterest
if you want to make the most of each season — if you want to see each season be fruitful despite the circumstances, you must allow joy to be your compass.
joy will give you the eyes to see potential.
joy will give you the heart to be generous along the way.
joy will give you the strength to break past your limitations.
joy will give you the courage to carry on and reach new heights.
joy will give you the endurance to see your dream come into fruition.
joy will always point you north.
#peptothetalk, pass it on. tag a friend.
keep the magic inside of you alive — download the PEPTALKS™ by Lindsey Eryn app in the Apple App Store or Google Play. shop the merch at http://shop.thedaringromantics.com. follow @lindseyeryn, @thedaringromantics, and @peptothetalk for more daily inspo. | https://medium.com/@lindseyeryn/joy-will-point-you-north-29a7262ea724 | ['Lindsey Eryn Clark-Aguilar'] | 2020-12-24 21:09:33.828000+00:00 | ['Motivation', 'Joy', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Quotes', 'Affirmations'] |
What does the year 2022 hold for global real estate prices? | what will the 2022 housing market look like
Closure, remote work, and postponed holidays: We are used to the vocabulary of the epidemic and live according to its pace. COVID has changed the dynamics of the real estate sector, one of the main drivers of global economic growth.
The recovery from the epidemic is fueling recovery, but the increasing infections threaten to impose further restrictions on movement.
The recovery is uneven, but investments are at a record: more than $755 billion in the third quarter: a 50% increase from last year.
Investors’ assets are diversified: the residential sector remains the most active, ahead of offices. It accounts for 29% of transactions.
Besides numbers and statistics, the real estate market has always been heavily influenced by design and the way it is thought and felt.
Interior designer Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen is an interior designer. He thinks a lot has already changed: “People now think there are very warm ways to decorate and personal ways to design. Now people plan for themselves. They no longer do it for the estate agent who will come to evaluate their property, nor for the colleague who will come over for wine. In fact, it remains People are in their own homes, in very comfortable homes and environments, in very home environments.”
Covid is pushing people to stay at home and this trend may continue. Tastes change — what are the implications for transactions?
Therefore, sustainable development and technology are the engines of design and innovation!
Investors, designers, and salespeople all say the real estate market is fighting Covid.
But the pandemic, like climate change, is just beginning to reshape not only the industry but society as a whole.
For promoters, psychology and culture become just as important as financial analysis.
In 2022, real estate agencies in the UK will have to adapt to a completely different way of thinking about the spaces in which we live and work.
In recent weeks, consumer sentiment has been affected by energy prices and the return of restrictive measures.
An increase in pollution and the omicron variable could dampen spending over the Christmas holidays.
Turkey publishes its monthly data on its foreign exchange reserves.
Ankara sold $1 billion of its foreign currency to prop up the lira, which has lost 30% of its value against the dollar. Inflation reached record levels and the country plunged into an economic crisis.
Finally, Nike publishes its results for its second fiscal year and is revising its forecasts downward taking into account lead times and manpower shortages. | https://medium.com/@jhonbell-57895/what-does-the-year-2022-hold-for-global-real-estate-prices-2a36c63b61e5 | ['Jhon Bell'] | 2021-12-31 16:18:20.068000+00:00 | ['Real Estate Investments', '2022', 'Real Estate News', 'Property', 'Real Estate'] |
There’s No Bigger Betrayal Than Women Shaming Other Women About Their Assault | Few things “trigger” me. I was born of a generation where we were told to shut up and deal with it. Bury your pain as far down as it will go. Lock it in a box and swallow all the keys. Keep smiling through tears, through sadness. Never let anyone see you cry, my mother once said. Because tears were a weakness one could weaponize. Our Achilles was our collective vulnerability, and part of me wonders if this is why it took forty years to get diagnosed with severe clinical depression.
When my psychiatrist spent two sessions mapping out my life, depression was the omnipresent specter that refused to leave. Motherfucker pulled up a chair, lit a cigarette, and smoked it down to the filter. So, I’d found creative ways to dull the edges. Drinking, obsessive perfectionism, and eating disorders were my shovels burying trauma and sickness so far beneath the ground it couldn’t breathe. Schrödinger’s cat gasping for air and whatnot.
And then there were the doctors who hailed from a generation where mental illness was something you fought your way through. Also, women were hysterical creatures. It’s no secret I see doctors who are younger than me.
All of this to say — I know how to cope. How to deal with it. How to get rid of the body. But still. The one thing that sends me into a blind rage is how people talk about the traumatic experiences of others in a way that perpetuates and upholds stigma and shames us into oblivion.
And there’s nothing crueler than seeing women — often women of my generation or older — essentially blaming us for why we got assaulted and how we handled it. As if there’s a correct playbook for dealing with unimaginable violations. As if we asked for this.
For all of our warring, while she was alive, my mother was as strong as they come. She was the epitome of a survivor having raised herself after her mother had abandoned her. Defiant, calm, you could put a gun to her head and her pulse wouldn’t break seventy — she wouldn’t even set down the cigarette perched at the edge of her mouth.
When I was small, she lived with an enormous man, a man who stalked and towered. A man who smashed her head into walls and wood furniture. A man who painted her the color of a constant bruise. A man who did things to me. A man whom she finally, after two years, made a plan and summoned the strength to leave. Even if it meant we’d live on the street because it was better, she realized, than living with him.
There’s much I will never forgive my mother for, but I would never fault her for not leaving a man who beat her. Because I understood what it was like to feel like you deserved it, that this was as good as it was ever going to get. That maybe he’ll get better. He loves me.
A month or so ago, I read an article where a woman strutted her strength in 800 words. She couldn’t fathom the kind of woman who stayed with a man who abused her. Everyone’s playing the victim these days, she mused. The kind of woman. And I think of the street I grew up on in Brooklyn. The kind of woman who. A place where the trash was picked up faster than the bodies.
The kind of woman who stays.
Where I hid under the kitchen table as my mother’s face was being slammed into wooden tables and chairs. The kind of woman who stays with a man. Until blood stained her teeth and the carpet. All because he had been the first man who said he loved her. All because the women we came up with didn’t know any better. We heard the beatings, the thumping through the walls, but minded our own. How could we leave our world? Where would we go?
The kind of woman who stays with a man who abuses her.
Who can judge what you’ve never experienced first-hand? Who can judge even if you had? Who the fuck are you to rewind the tape and dictate how you would deal with the hand my mother had been dealt with? It’s easy to issue your bold decrees and faux Popeye strength from the confines of your computer screen and your considered gentility.
Had you ever considered the real strength lies in staying alive and maybe plotting and planning and hopefully one day getting out? Of course not. You’re too busy telling us we’re victims for staying. We’re weak.
Honestly, who the fuck are you?
But good on you for judging the complicated lives of strangers. Hold on while I grant you a doctorate in psychology.
In 2013, I resigned from a job that had been slowly killing me. That summer, I was lost and sick and confused and my cat was dying from a disease no one could diagnose. Her convulsions were violent and I finally did the humane thing and let her go peacefully in my bed, in my home.
I don’t handle loss well. I spent the next few weeks sobbing on subway platforms and day drinking. I couldn’t say the words aloud, but I blamed myself for not seeing how sick she was sooner because I was forever on a plane, in the office, attached to my laptop, stressed out by work.
I felt I deserved punishment. And in 2013 I experienced a form of it, in my home, in the bed where my cat’s final breath sputtered out.
The next day I woke, shaking. I showered. I called a friend and told her everything but what had happened. She only knew that I’d been mourning and drinking too much. We spent the day driving around Brooklyn in her car, and I wanted to tell her what happened but I couldn’t speak the words.
Because, for a minute, I felt like I had deserved it. If you read these words back to me in 2012 and all the years that had become before and all the years after, I would’ve laughed at you. I was the woman in college who stood up for a friend who had been date-raped. I shouted no means no. But assault isn’t about strength or knowledge — it’s about circumstance and power.
I remember saying no. I remember fighting back. But he was stronger. And I remember that summer in 2013, that brief moment in time when I believed I deserved it.
After, I did what I knew best — buried it in a box. Forgot it. Moved on. I didn’t want to deal with it, I wanted it to go away. I adopted a new cat and promised I’d be better this time. In the seven years I’ve owned him I’m much like those helicopter parents everyone jokes about.
I changed my life. I dated. I laughed. I strength-trained. Got bigger and better clients and, in a strange way, it did go away. It was as if the summer of 2013 had ceased to exist.
I read an article written by a woman who admonished women for not reporting their assaults, that they, in fact, were the reason other women were potential victims. It’s an interesting argument because for a moment this woman has empathy for future victims until they are victims and then they’re blamed for being victims. Sort of like an ouroboros where we’re choking on our own skin. And it’s an argument where she fails to understand that women don’t ask to be raped. We don’t wave our hands in the air and shout, PICK ME!
It’s funny, not haha funny, but funny how a man could attempt to murder me and I’m not shamed or second-guessed or vilified or cause for suspicion or called an attention whore for reporting the crime. Yet, somehow rape and battery grant us a backstage pass to become a complicit accomplice.
When we do report it, we’re given a jury trial before the rape kit is even complete. When we do report it, we’re ruining a man’s life. Especially if he’s white, monied, and well educated. When we do report it, people wonder what we did to cause it, deserve it. When we do report it, people treat us differently. Handle us like we’re strange, fragile objects — circus freaks. Will we break? Don’t get near them, they’ll break.
When we don’t report it, we’re the reason he raped someone else.
I wonder — why are we always implicitly the perpetrator? When will women stop being blamed for what men do? When will women stop vilifying other women for what men do?
When will women, who boldly stomp their little feet and say “I’ll never allow this to happen to me,” realize rape or abuse or battery is not something you prevent or allow when up until the 1970s it was legal for a man to rape his wife? In the early 1970s, the only way marital rape charges would stick would be if the husband and wife no longer lived under the same roof. Women couldn’t get jury trials and punitive damages for sexual harassment claims in the workplace until November, 1991. We’ve been carrying the weight of history that undermines the power of women in service of what men do.
And suddenly, fifty years later, the stigma and second-guessing and shaming have magically disappeared because a few laws have changed and we have a movement? What Disneyland are you living in? We have progress, certainly, but not betterment.
But let me pause and catch my breath. I don’t want to tell the story of laws, the patriarchy, and women’s perceived notions of equality and power. This is not that story. This is not a social justice rant.
This is my story, how I feel when I read articles and women bantering in the comments blaming me and my mother for what men did to us, for actions we didn’t invite, consent to, or deserve. Perhaps it’s naive to think women would understand, be on our side, and have empathy for our point-of-view, but ours is not a Pollyanna world. We are blamed and labeled weak by the very people to whom we seek refuge.
It’s no wonder we find it hard to speak out — we feel as if there are no safe spaces.
Inside us, there’s an equal measure of beauty and ugliness, and the two, like warring siblings, claw and connive their way to the surface. Sometimes, our ugliest side comes to bear and other times we are compassionate, calm, and kind. The one that abides is the one you feed most. While the other will often worm it’s way up and through, it’s what you feed that rises to the surface.
No matter how much we abide by the “correct” playbook, someone will make us the villain. Someone will remind us of our place, which puts me to thinking that maybe you’d prefer us to keep our mouths shut so you can feel good about blaming us when we do.
Maybe that’s how you exercise your power.
I don’t know. I don’t have a neat and tidy reply. All I do know is the greatest feeling of betrayal is women who eagerly and willingly blame other women for their assault.
That’s the thing that breaks my fucking heart. | https://medium.com/the-gathering-kind/theres-no-bigger-betrayal-than-women-shaming-other-women-about-their-assault-378f9c3c6172 | ['Felicia C. Sullivan'] | 2020-06-22 15:09:05.731000+00:00 | ['Rape', 'Mental Health', 'Culture', 'Women', 'Writing'] |
7 Things You Should Never Do in the Morning | 7 Things You Should Never Do in the Morning
Photo by Ekaterina Bolovtsova from Pexels
Do you ever sit down at 6 p.m. and think that you’ve had an incredibly busy day but didn’t really accomplish much?
If you ever feel like your days are just passing by, it’s likely because you’re spending the majority of your time on the wrong things.
And the most dangerous time of the day to waste is your morning.
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“Lose an hour in the morning, and you will spend all day looking for it.”
If you spend your morning doing the wrong things, you’ll likely lack energy, motivation, and willpower to do the right things throughout the rest of your day.
By eliminating the following habits, however, you’ll make space for the important decisions, tasks, and people in your life.
Planning Your Day
If you fail to plan, you’ll also fail to execute. But if you spend the first minutes of your day planning your schedule, you’ll waste enormous amounts of precious energy on that repetitive task.
“Write a to-do list to stay organized” is common productivity advice, but what most people overlook is that you’re too late if you set up your to-do list in the morning.
Yes, being organized is the key to a fulfilled life, but you shouldn’t get organized first thing in the morning.
Your plans should be ready when you get up.
Otherwise, you’ll spend mental energy on prioritizing your tasks and lack that mental power when it comes to doing all these things.
Waking up to a concrete plan for the day will help you be clearer about what you want to achieve and how to get it, but it will also allow you to focus more easily.
What to do instead:
If you want to make the most out of each day, set your priorities before going to bed.
When you wake up, your daily schedule and plan should be ready and waiting for you to tick off your to-dos.
Don’t allow yourself to feel overwhelmed in the early hours of your day. Instead, be well-prepared and set your priorities in the evening.
There’s no better feeling than going to bed knowing that you’re well prepared to tackle the next day.
And when planning your daily schedule and tasks, make sure to keep it to a minimum: Your schedule shouldn’t contain more than a few important tasks per day.
I organize my daily schedule with a simple tool called Todoist and make sure to have no more than 3–5 prioritized tasks per day.
Whenever I tried to get more big tasks done in a day, I ended up feeling overwhelmed and overstressed. This number obviously depends on the tasks you want to get done and can vary depending on your projects but on average, a maximum of 3–5 priorities is a good start.
Complaining
Quite often, we don’t even realize that negative conversations and thoughts can influence us for hours.
For most people, it even feels natural to complain about the weather, politics, or their job as part of their morning routine.
But if you start your day by complaining about your job, partner, family, or whatsoever, you’ll take that negative mood with you for at least a few hours, sometimes even for the entire day.
By complaining, you focus on obstacles and problems, which makes it harder to recognize opportunities. It’s nothing more than a surefire way to start your day on the wrong foot.
What to do instead:
Your words and thoughts don’t only affect your motivation but your entire state of mind.
If you start your day by complaining, you’ll find more and more things to complain about throughout the day. Not because there is so much to complain about, but because you focus on it.
If you, however, focus on the bright side of life, you’ll come across even more things that will cheer you up and boost your happiness.
That’s why you need to train your mind to focus on the good first thing in the morning.
Instead of looking for things to complain about, focus on the things you’re grateful for.
I’ve been keeping a gratitude journal for years and it’s by far the most effective tool I ever used to raise my energy and shift from tired, unmotivated, and lazy to being grateful and happy every single morning.
All you need to do is preparing a small notebook and writing down what you’re grateful for as part of your morning routine.
I usually come up with at least 15–20 items on that list, but you can start with three items and work your way up.
At first, a gratitude journal might feel uncommon, but you’ll get used to it quickly and reap the benefits within just a few days.
If you struggle to come up with items for your list, start with the more obvious but often overlooked things such as:
I’m grateful for being healthy. I’m grateful for my home. I’m grateful for my family. I’m grateful for having enough to eat and drink. I’m grateful for having access to education. I’m grateful for living in a safe country.
Getting Straight to Work
Mornings are the perfect time to take care of your health and to get inspired.
Most people find it hard to incorporate positive habits into their busy schedules if they don’t do it first thing in the morning.
But the majority get up just early enough so they make it to work on time because they’re too lazy to get up earlier.
However, the truth is that most of the time, sleeping for a few more minutes will only leave you even lazier, make you slow, and cut your productivity.
What to do instead:
Instead of getting up and rushing to work, take some time to do things that will benefit your physical and mental health.
It’s easier to take time and care about yourself in the morning before you face distractions.
Stop relying on caffeine to feel more awake. Instead, get up 30 minutes earlier and do something good for your body, soul, and mind.
Photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels
Making Too Many Decisions
The surest way to waste your energy in the morning is by making too many decisions right after getting up.
This includes:
deciding what to wear
what to eat for breakfast
when to leave to catch the bus or be on time for an appointment
which projects or tasks to work on
when to work out
and so much more
While these decisions might not sound particularly challenging, they add up and cost us an enormous amount of mental energy.
What to do instead:
Your #1 priority in the morning should be to reduce mental clutter and give your brain some room to breathe.
By making hard or too many decisions first thing in the morning, you’re wasting your mental energy. This leads to a lack of willpower during the rest of the day.
Instead, make all these small decisions before going to bed: Prepare your outfit for the next day, decide on your breakfast, create your schedule, and set your priorities.
There’s no better feeling than waking up and knowing that you’re ready to have a great, successful day.
Additionally, being well prepared will allow you to take care of your body and mind in the morning.
Hitting the Snooze Button
You expected this one to be on the list, right?
While hitting the snooze button might feel as if you’re doing yourself a favor, the truth is the contrary.
If you snooze, you agree to have less time for the important things. Additionally, you accept a defeat as your first action of the day.
Snoozing is a massive creator of stress and kills your motivation every single time.
Additionally, it also affects the quality of your sleep and most of the time, snoozing lets you feel even more tired instead of energized.
What to do instead:
Do yourself a favor and get up without snoozing.
I know that’s not always easy, but here’s how I defeated my snooze button:
I either place my phone in the living room so that I have to get up to stop the alarm.
Or I use a dawn simulator alarm clock and also place it across the bedroom so that I need to get up once the alarm goes on.
Either way, I need to get up and move. And once you made it out of bed, you mostly won’t sleep in anymore.
There are even apps that won’t stop ringing until you get to the bathroom and take a picture of the sink or scan a particular product at your home. Sometimes, the key to greatness lies in tricking yourself.
Distracting Yourself Through Social Media
If scrolling through social networks is part of your morning routine, you’re essentially killing your focus muscle.
However, this also applies to checking the news or your emails.
Wanting to be up to date with world news is okay, but you really don’t need to do it first thing in the morning.
If you’re being bombarded with news, updates, and negativity first thing in the morning, you’ll take that negative energy with you for the entire day.
Mindlessly surfing the internet can cost you more time and energy than you might realize.
What to do instead:
If you really need to check your phone, make sure to at least scroll through positive feeds.
You can, for instance, follow motivational pages on Instagram or Pinterest and tune your mind for positivity instead of misery when using your phone in the morning.
I use a separate Pinterest account as my vision board and scroll through the feed whenever I feel uninspired in the morning. This helps me to visually remind myself of why I’m doing what I’m doing and why I want to give my best every single day.
The better alternative, however, is feeding your mind with great ideas by reading books, listening to podcasts, or watching uplifting videos.
Loading Your Body with Sugar
In his book 12 Rules for Life, Jordan Peterson describes how his clients experienced a drop in anxiety when they switched from breakfasts with high amounts of carbohydrates and sugar to fat and protein-rich meals.
Simple carbohydrates and sugars are digested too quickly, lead to a sudden spike in blood sugar, followed by a quick dip.
And the problem is that most people are used to carb and sugar-loaded breakfasts such as cereals, pastry, or sandwiches.
The sad truth is that most typical breakfast meals negatively affect our mental and physical well-being.
In the long run, this might not only lead to a drop in productivity and a lack of energy but also to weight gain and severe health issues.
What to do instead:
The easiest way to control your breakfasts and make them work for you instead of against is preparing them in advance.
Meal prepping is one of the most rewarding habits I ever built: It saves you time, money, and an incredible amount of mental energy, not to talk about the health benefits of preparing meals that are good for your body.
Final Thoughts
What you do first thing in the morning should leave you feeling more energized and help you be more productive instead of lazy.
A good life is the result of good habits and your mornings have a particularly strong effect on the quality of your life.
As Daniel Handler once said:
“How you spend your morning can often tell you what kind of day you are going to have.”
If you’re serious about taking your life to the next level and becoming your best self, start by eliminating these seven sins from your mornings and watch your health, productivity, and happiness rise.
Grab your free Personal Growth Toolkit to become your best self. | https://medium.com/@xsuper_39904/7-things-you-should-never-do-in-the-morning-89675b4010b | [] | 2020-12-20 08:15:35.122000+00:00 | ['Babies', 'Health', 'Games', 'Life', 'Coronavirus'] |
Who is a Data Scientist? | Who is a Data Scientist?
The other day, I read an article on venturebeat.com that revealed how advanced data analytics helped Obama win the 2012 presidential elections! This and more stories like Bank of America benefiting from its data-intensive technologies or Wipro putting in $30 million in a US-based data science firm or Paypal hiring data scientists give a clear reflection that Data Scientist is the sexiest job of the 21stcentury as quoted by Harvard.
After hearing so much about Data Science, let’s get into some basics!
What is Data Science all about?
Some call it a Civil Engineering of data, and others call it a Discipline in itself; after all, what is Data Science all about?
Data Science is a term that came into popularity by EMC2. It is a process of extracting valuable insights from “data”.
Who is a Data Scientist? How to Become a Data Scientist? Edureka
As we are living in the Big Data Era, Data Science is becoming a very promising field to harness and process huge volumes of data generated from various sources. Data Science is a vast discipline in itself, consisting of specialized skill-sets such as statistics, mathematics, programming, computer science, and so on. Data science consists of several elements, techniques, and theories including math, statistics, predictive analysis, data modeling, data engineering, data mining, and visualization.
The discipline of data science hasn’t evolved overnight. In fact, it has been there for years in the form of business analytics or competitive intelligence, but it is now only that its true potential has been realized. The main purpose of Data Science is to extract and interpret data effectively and present it in a simple, non-technical language to the end-users.
Thus, Data Science is all about constructing useful information, thereby, converting it into data-driven products!
Is he/she someone struggling with data all day and night or experimenting in his/her laboratory with complex mathematics? After all, ‘Who is a Data Scientist’?
There are several definitions available on Data Scientists. In simple words, a Data Scientist is one who practices the art of Data Science. The highly popular term of ‘ Data Scientist’ was coined by DJ Patil and Jeff Hammerbacher. Data scientists are those who crack complex data problems with their strong expertise in certain scientific disciplines. They work with several elements related to mathematics, statistics, computer science, etc (though they may not be an expert in all these fields).
Data Scientists are Business Analysts or Data Analysts, with a difference!
Though the initial training or basic requirements are similar for all these disciplines, Data Scientists require:
Whether an agricultural scientist wants to know the percentage increase in the yield of wheat this year as compared to last year’s (and the reasons associated with it) or if a financial company wants to classify its customers based on their creditworthiness (before granting loans) or whether a retail organization wants to reward extra points to its loyal customers, all need data scientists to process a large volume of both structured and unstructured data in order to make crucial business decisions.
The main challenge that today’s Data Scientists face is not to find solutions to the existing business problems but to identify the problems that are most crucial to the organization and its success.
Why Data Scientists are called ‘Data Scientists’?
The term “Data Scientist” has been coined after considering the fact that a Data Scientist draws a lot of information from the scientific fields and applications whether it is statistics or mathematics. They make a lot of use of the latest technologies in finding solutions and reaching conclusions that are crucial for an organization’s growth and development. Data Scientists present the data in a much more useful form as compared to the raw data available to them from structured as well as unstructured forms.
Just like any other scientific discipline, data scientists always need to ask and find answers to the data available to them. They are required to make a clearly defined plan and work towards achieving the results within a limited time, effort, and money.
Three components of Data Science:
1. Organizing the data:
Organizing is where the planning and execution of the physical storage and structure of the data take place after applying the best practices in data handling.
2. Packaging the data:
The packaging is where the prototypes are created, the statistics is applied and the visualization is developed. It involves logically as well as aesthetically modifying and combining the data in a presentable form.
3. Delivering the data:
Delivering is where the story is narrated and the value is received. It makes sure that the final outcome has been delivered to the concerned people.
What skills does a Data Scientist possess?
Role of a Data Scientist is indeed a challenging one! Though the skill-sets and competencies that Data Scientists employ differ extensively, to be an efficient Data scientist, he should:
Be very innovative and distinctive in his approach in applying various techniques intelligently to extract data and get useful insights in solving business problems and challenges. Have the ability to locate and construe rich data sources. Have hands-on experience in Data mining techniques such as graph analysis, pattern detection, decision trees, clustering, or statistical analysis. Develop operational models, systems, and tools by applying experimental and iterative methods and techniques. Analyze data from a variety of sources and perspectives and find out hidden insights. Perform Data Conditioning — that is, converting data into a useful form by applying statistical, mathematical tools, and predictive analysis. Research, analyze, execute, and present statistical methods to gain practical insights. Manage large amounts of data even during hardware, software, and bandwidth limitations. Create visualizations that will help anyone understand the trends in data analysis with ease. Be a team leader and communicate effectively with other business analysts, Product Managers, and Engineers.
A Data Scientist is like a webmaster, who not only needs to be a jack of all trades but also a master of at least one of the above fields.
So, what does a Data Scientist do?
A data scientist has a dual role — that of an “ Analyst” as well as that of an “ Artist”! Data scientists are very curious, who love a large amount of data, and more than that, they love to play with such huge data to reach important inferences and spot trends! This is what distinguishes a Data Scientist from a traditional Data Analyst. A Data scientist not only refers to one particular source such as a social media site or a log file but various other sources with the aim to find out a hidden insight that can prove to be very significant for the organization. They perform “ what if “ analysis, ask questions and look at the data from different angles and transform the big data into the next big idea!
Conway Diagram:
This is the Conway Venn Diagram on Data Science illustrated by the famous Data Scientist Drew Conway. This diagram presents Data science as a combination of much-in-demand skills such as hacking skills, math skills, and knowledge of statistics including substantive expertise.
Data Science is also an Art!
Data science is not only a science or a technique, it is also an ‘Art’. Data Science is an art of listening to your intuitions while facing a huge amount of data, classifying it, evaluating it, and reaching conclusions. Not everyone is blessed with this art! Data scientists need to be really creative in visualizing the data in various graphical forms and present the highly complex data in a very simple and friendly way! If a data scientist is able to convert terrifying Petabytes of structured as well as unstructured data (images, videos, log files, etc) into a very easy and simple format, he is an — ‘Artist’!
After all, only a skillful Data Scientist can manage McDonald’s Database or videos uploaded on Youtube, or Tesco’s huge volume of data or GE’s Healthcare data or managing the data related to thousands of blood samples of patients at Apollo or unstructured data generated from X-rays!
“The US faces a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people “with deep analytical skills, as well as 1.5 million managers and analysts with the know-how to use the analysis of big data to make effective decisions.” — Mckinsey Global Institute
As Data Science is an emerging field, there are a plethora of opportunities available worldwide.
Just browse through any of the job portals; you will be taken aback by the number of job openings available for Data scientists in different industries, whether it is IT or healthcare, retail or Government offices or academics, life sciences, oceanography, etc. Venture Capitalists have never shown such excitement in investing money as in the case of data-driven start-ups.
Whether you call them Data scientists or Data Gurus or by some other fancy name, the fundamentals remain the same! The world is in acute need of smart and creative people who can dive deep inside the ocean of Big Data and save the world from ignorance and provide valuable insights into businesses and help the World Economy grow!
With this, we come to the end of this article. If you have any queries regarding this topic, please leave a comment below and we’ll get back to you. If you wish to check out more articles on the market’s most trending technologies like Python, DevOps, Ethical Hacking, then you can refer to Edureka’s official site.
Do look out for other articles in this series which will explain the various other aspects of Data Science. | https://medium.com/edureka/who-is-a-data-scientist-ff61dd8cf4ff | ['Sahiti Kappagantula'] | 2020-11-11 12:41:24.480000+00:00 | ['Data', 'Data Science', 'Skills', 'Data Scientist', 'Data Scientist Skills'] |
Jupiter and Saturn will be closest in 400 years in the Earth’s sky Monday night | Normally, Patrick Wiggins would be excited to have people come to the Stansbury Park Observatory in Tooele County to see a cosmic event.
However, coronavirus has ruined yet another opportunity.
“We haven’t done anything for the public at the observatory all year,” said Wiggins.
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No star parties. No comet viewings. Nothing.
“We’ve had star parties every year until this year,” said Wiggins, who is also NASA’s solar system ambassador to Utah. “It’s really unfortunate. But on the upside, you don’t need a telescope to see this,” he said, referring to a cosmic event that can be seen by the naked eye.
For the past few months, near the moon at night, Jupiter and Saturn have been getting closer.
This Monday they’ll appear closer than they have in nearly 400 years.
“It’s a rare event. I’ve been cautioning people don’t expect a really flashy event,” Wiggins said. “But it’s something that doesn’t happen that often. The last time was in 1623.”
Since the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, as Wiggins calls it, is happening so close to Christmas, many people are calling this event the “Christmas Star.”
That’s also why Wiggins is trying to caution expectations.
“It’s going to be fairly bright, but it’s not going to be like what people think of in biblical terms,” he said.
The conjunction will happen in the southwest part of the sky.
However, it could be tricky to see for those who are near western mountains because it’ll be low along the horizon.
“There’s already people I know I’ve heard from and they’re planning on going out to the Salt Flats because they get a nice flat horizon out there,” said Wiggins.
If you miss this one, the next conjunction of these two planets will be about 60 years from now, which means some people could see it twice in their lifetime.
“If you take your kid out to look at this event, have them draw a picture or something and keep it because they’re probably going to be around in 60 years,” said Wiggins. “They’ll be able to bring out this little paper that they drew when they were a little kid back in 2020 and say. ‘Hey, look what I did way back then and you’re getting to see it now.”
Wiggins loves talking about astronomy.
He also enjoys the feeling you get when looking at something in the sky that doesn’t happen very often.
“It’s a rare event. And how often can you go out and say, ‘Hey, I’m looking at something that no one alive today has ever seen before,” he said. | https://medium.com/@fikbragd/jupiter-and-saturn-will-be-closest-in-400-years-in-the-earths-sky-monday-night-666ebf17b56d | [] | 2020-12-22 16:19:20.441000+00:00 | ['Astrology', 'SEO', 'Jupiter', 'Saturn'] |
The Edited Story of Us | Cartoonist for the New Yorker among other places. I love my mom and white wine. My graphic memoir MURDER BOOK out in 2021. Follow on Insta @CartoonsbyHilary!
Follow | https://medium.com/spiralbound/the-edited-story-of-us-9ea8ce0e298a | ['Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell'] | 2018-04-10 19:01:52.937000+00:00 | ['Comics', 'Relationships', 'Hilary F Campbell', 'Love'] |
Greater Manchester Police failings: Andy Burnham ‘should resign’ | Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham should resign after the region’s police force was placed in special measures, an MP has said.
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Greater Manchester Police (GMP) was placed into an “advanced phase” of monitoring on Thursday after it failed to record 80,000 crimes in a year.
Conservative MP for Bolton West Chris Green said Mr Burnham, who oversees policing in the area, should step down.
The Labour mayor said he would not be stepping down.
On Friday, GMP Chief Constable Ian Hopkins announced his resignation with immediate effect.
He previously announced he would be going on sick leave after suffering from labyrinthitis — an inner-ear infection which affects your balance — since the end of October.
Asked why it was the chief constable who had stepped down and not him, Mr Burnham said: “Because I do not run Greater Manchester Police.
“The police service is operationally independent from politicians and rightly so. My job is different. I have to hold the police to account for the services they provide to the Greater Manchester public, and I am here today doing my job holding the police service to account.”
image copyrightPA Media
image captionInspectors said Greater Manchester Police’s service to victims of crime was a “serious cause of concern”
In a report last week, inspectors said GMP’s service to victims of crime was a “serious cause of concern”.
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services said about 220 crimes a day went unrecorded in the year up to June 2020.
Inspectors found officers prematurely closed some cases without a full investigation, while the force did not properly record evidence that victims supported the decisions, particularly in cases of domestic abuse.
A spokesman for the inspectorate confirmed GMP had been placed in the “engage” stage of its monitoring process.
This means the force, the second largest in England, must “develop an improvement plan to address the specific causes of concern”.
As part of his role, Mr Burnham has responsibilities around the governance and budgets relating to GMP, supported by Bev Hughes, the deputy mayor for policing and crime.
‘Cover-ups’
Earlier, Mr Green said Mr Burnham should “resign now” as he has “absolute responsibility for policing, its failures”.
“His role ultimately is to ensure that GMP is delivering. He is in a position if he doesn’t think GMP is performing and is delivering then he can challenge and if necessary he can sack the chief of police,” he said.
“That is Andy Burnham’s power over policing in Manchester. He has absolute authority.”
Following the publication of the report earlier in the week, Mr Burnham apologised on behalf of GMP.
“I would like to say sorry to all of the victims of crime who have found that the service has not been good enough. We owe it to them to improve and we will and we will do it fast,” he said.
image copyrightGMP
image captionFormer GMP detective Maggie Oliver said victims were being “fobbed off and failed”
Former GMP detective Maggie Oliver, who resigned over the way grooming cases in Rochdale were handled by the force, said she and two ex-colleagues had a meeting with Mr Burnham in 2018 to highlight “serious concerns” and were “treated with contempt”.
She said they gave him 26 examples of victims being failed by GMP, including “people dying as a result of gross neglect” and he “basically slammed the door in our face”.
There was a “culture of arrogance and cover-ups” at the force, she said, and a “radical overhaul” was needed.
Ms Oliver said victim’s “trust in the police had gone” and her charity, the Maggie Oliver Foundation, was “drowning in cries for help” from people who “have nowhere else to turn”.
image copyrightGMP
image captionGreater Manchester’s chief constable Ian Hopkins had been due to retire in Autumn 2021
Sir Richard Leese, Manchester City Council leader, said the watchdog’s findings indicate there are “major issues” that need to be addressed.
“I think it kind of says it all that GMP so far have not put up a spokesperson to explain what the situation is, what’s been going on,” he added.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the mayor and deputy mayor said they were “putting in place the necessary actions to improve standards of service to victims of crime in Greater Manchester”.
Mr Burnham announced that a dedicated hotline for victims who have any complaints was also being set up. | https://medium.com/@xasoca8551/greater-manchester-police-failings-andy-burnham-should-resign-3f050f9d35b4 | [] | 2020-12-18 17:19:49.787000+00:00 | ['New York', 'News', 'Networking', 'Newsletter'] |
Visualizing in Vancouver | At the end of October this year, visualization researchers from all around the world will gather at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, BC, Canada for the annual celebration of world-class visualization research known as IEEE VIS. The Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory at University of Maryland will be among them with a strong showing of six full papers at the three flagship events — IEEE SciVis (scientific visualization concerned with spatial and volumetric data from engineering or medical applications), IEEE InfoVis (information visualization involving abstract data with no given visual representation), and IEEE VAST (visual analytics that combines visual interfaces with automatic algorithms and machine learning methods) — as well as papers in co-located workshops and symposia. Read on for more details.
Papers at the Main VIS Events
Our paper on “Common Fate for Animated Transitions in Visualization” (to be presented on Wednesday, October 23 in Ballroom B) studies the so-called Gestalt Law of Common Fate, which states that people will perceive objects that behave in the same way as belonging to the same group (i.e., they have the same ultimate fate). Consider, for example, a flock of birds traveling in a formation with a shared goal. The traditional meaning of this has been for the objects to move at the same speed and direction, but in the paper we note that similar behavior could also mean that they grow or shrink — or change color — in a similar manner. We investigated this using a crowdsourced study where participants were shown four circles under the influence of two conflicting synchronized behaviors: position, size, and color. We found that motion indeed yielded the strongest grouping, but that changing size was more dominant than changing color and proximity to other circles, and that changing color was more dominant than static size.
Election map animation. The circular dots represent election data per state. The dots change in size and color to convey the change between 2012 and 2016.
To test these findings in a more realistic situation, we also had participants use an animated scatterplot and a thematic election data map (see above). While this study confirmed many of the earlier results, we also found that the relative grouping strength depended on the specific visualization used.
We wrote a separate HCIL Sparks post on this paper: On Groups in Graphs. | https://medium.com/hcil-at-umd/visualizing-in-vancouver-edbd7596a055 | ['Niklas Elmqvist'] | 2019-10-22 18:52:46.383000+00:00 | ['Conference', 'Data Visualization', 'Research'] |
Poem: Letter To My Protégé | Image Credit: QuickBase
Dear Protégé,
When we began this journey, and I held your hands and urged you on, I knew it felt hard, but you needed the push, so you can sojourn on your own when the time comes.
I urged you on, because I saw the future, I saw a vision of a better plain. It burned in my heart.
I tried to paint the picture, because words failed me to describe the beauty of the future we belong, so I decided to take you along.
Along to this place that burns in my heart with a heat so intense, hoping that you will catch the fire and fan the flames within you.
The flame consumes self and produces a zeal for service. It burns pride to ashes.
Yes! I see the frown on your face, and sometimes, the confusing silent questions in your heart. I know you wonder if I ever feel fear or if I ever get tired. Yes, I do.
I nurse my wounds in the silence of the dark and fight the demons of fear that want to throw me out of this path of destiny when the curtains are down and the lights fade, but a leader does not infect his followers with his fear.
I know that you get scared and weary sometimes, that is why I slow down to hold your hands and reassure you of the power that lies in you.
Always remember the picture of the beautiful future. Only the daring reach there.
This journey is not for me alone, though I can, but I will not, because I gain nothing If I go on my own. My joy and gain is complete when we win together.
We will stride through the odds, and though we might disagree sometimes, know that my desire is always to help you grow and bring out the best in you.
I will always look out for your good.
Best Regards,
Your Mentor. | https://medium.com/leadership-class/poem-letter-to-my-prot%C3%A9g%C3%A9-d541d8317d48 | ['Chika Ebuzor'] | 2018-01-24 22:07:51.592000+00:00 | ['Leadership Development', 'Self Development', 'Management And Leadership', 'Poetry', 'Mentoring'] |
Tesla and Bitcoin: The Unbeatable Way to Dominate the World | Photo by Viktor Forgacs on Unsplash
The beauty of the free market: Everyone gets what they want
Bitcoin is a thing that you don’t understand until you do, Michael Saylor assumed.
In 2013, Michael tweeted:
#Bitcoin days are numbered. It seems like just a matter of time before it suffers the same fate as online gambling.
Yet, in the present day, about Bitcoin, Michael Saylor probably has the best line of thought I ever heard of. In an analogy to Facebook, he says it was pretty obvious Facebook would eat the world. They basically created a software network to pull all the social energy on the planet.
Bitcoin, on the other hand, is the first software network in the history of the world that can pull monetary energy on the planet.
Bitcoiners found something incredible and hugely valuable. They are pulling pure monetary energy to its network. And the fact that 80 or 90% of people in the world don’t agree with this perspective, is perfect for believers on Bitcoin, cause it’s a ‘cheap’ asset, for now.
Like in 2010, believers of Apple, Facebook, Google, and Amazon, are now seated in a pile of money. The same can happen with bitcoiners.
People are desperate to flee the currency because the money supply is expanding. And they’re pushing people to different stores of value. The Federal Reserve crowded everybody out of treasuries and sovereign debt with effective zero yields.
So, where do major players go to? Where will they invest their money on? Big Tech? Gold?
Nasdaq is pilled in 10 trillion dollars. Gold is also pilled in 10 trillion dollars. Apple is a 2 trillion dollar company, so we may interpret it as a store of value. However, for the last 3 months, Apple has been more volatile than Bitcoin.
Of course, we know that major investors don’t guide themselves by a 3-month chart. And Bitcoin is a just born asset.
S&P Dow Jones Indices, a division of financial data provider S&P Global Inc, said last Thursday that it will launch cryptocurrency indices in 2021, making it the latest major finance company to enter the nascent asset class.
Anna Irrera, from Reuters, concludes by saying the emergence of more mainstream market infrastructure has made the asset class more accessible for institutional investors, with hedge fund managers such as Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller saying they include bitcoin in their broad investment strategies.
Normally, hedge funds, as the name implies, are funds that use advanced tools to manage the market. They hold long and short positions.
These positions were, therefore “hedged” to reduce risk, so the investors made money regardless of whether the market increased or decreased.
If you have big sharks like Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller in the Bitcoin game, it’s because you are witnessing a massive shift in the asset classes, by one of the most successful investors alive.
One of the things I think general crypto analysts don’t do, or at least didn’t do, was comparing volatility levels between Bitcoin and Gold, the Nasdaq, Silver, bonds, Russel 2000, and so on. Generally, Bitcoin volatility is compared to Ether, SRP, Litecoin, or many other cryptocurrencies. That doesn’t make sense right now.
In 2010, nobody understood why they should buy Apple, Google, Facebook, or Amazon. Now, they are probably the strongest stores of value the market has.
So, why can’t you think the same thing about Bitcoin as a store of value? | https://medium.com/swlh/tesla-and-bitcoin-the-unbeatable-way-of-dominate-planet-earth-e825e501361f | ['Nuno Fabiao'] | 2020-12-17 16:54:46.074000+00:00 | ['Bitcoin', 'Asset Management', 'Tesla', 'Stock Market', 'Technology'] |
Designing Spatial Experiences that people would naturally inhabit | Perception Design
Designing Spatial Experiences that people would naturally inhabit
Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash
Throughout media history, we have always interacted with information on some form of 2D surfaces as observers from the outside. Think books, billboards, TVs, phone screens, car dashboards. People’s ideas have always been presented as flat depictions in one way or another. The only exception (I can think of) applies to theatre and sculpture where we enjoy art in its 3D form, and experiential spaces like modern museums and secret cinemas where visitors are expected to engage with the surroundings to live the magic of the story from the inside.
The way we humans learn about and interact with the world around us is more developed than mere clicks and swipes on flat, rectangular squares. Our sensory and perceptual systems funnel in floods of external signals like light, sound, smell, motion, orientation, depth, language, culture, etc. The brain receives those stimuli, processes them at a lightning speed, and builds a perceptual model of the situation. This in return dictates specific chemical and neural reactions as a response in a physical, cognitive, psychological, or even emotional form.
Being on a rollercoaster is one example of such experience where many human senses are evoked by external cues. According to Professor Roy Kalawsky, director of The Centre for Virtual Engineering Center and the University of Loughborough, we feel the air rushing over our faces. We smell the fumes emitted from the carriage breaks. People scream around us from all directions. Vibrations and inertial forces squeeze all our body parts. It is an intense experience where our complete nervous system is switched on, guaranteeing to leave us with mixed emotions between fear and excitement.
There is a lot of activity happening in our brain, body, and heart during such sensory-rich experience. It is the asynchronous combination of influences on those biological systems that creates a psychological perception to understand the physical context and “[fit] new information into [our] own frame of reference” for future use, as Erik Bar and Stan Boshouwers describe in their book World of Wonders.
Could this exact natural human phenomenon of understanding the physical world through perception be used to perceive experiences in the virtual ones? If so, how can designers of these experiences leverage it?
1. Bring Sensorial Experiences to Virtual Worlds
Experiences in computer-generated 3D worlds try to target as many sensory aspects as those in the rollercoaster experience to deeply engage participants and encourage longer dwell time. Spatial websites like Valentino Insights tap onto our 3D spatial awareness instinct, which we once relied on as a species to hunt and avoid being hunted. It leverages familiar visual cues such as light contracts, depth, portals, animations, etc. to attract and retain our attention. Here, we are virtually invited into the mansion of the Italian designer to discover, connect with the brand, get inspired, and eventually shop collections magically levitating in the air.
Floating Valentino handbags in the virtual mansion — source
Multi-player 3D video games and their branded virtual worlds like GUCCI Garden Archetypes in Roblox, extend that instinctive spatial awareness by catering for other human needs like free self-expression and belonging to a herd, i.e. connect with others. Together we play, learn, shop, and even work better, triggering thus our social behaviors, cognitive capabilities, and sensational emotions to build an all-inclusive perception of the experience we go through as a group.
Gender-neutral avatars incrementally dressed up after visiting each room in GUCCI Garden — source
In augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR), where digital layers enter the real world, our brain is occupied analyzing presented digital illusions through inputs from the eyes and ears, and perceptually accepting them as extensions to the physical world. Virtual reality (VR) on the other hand, disconnects us from the real world to immerse our senses in a digital one. In both AR and VR, our vestibular system subconsciously coordinates with our perception to manage how we move safely and connect with the place based on what it already knows from real life.
Microsoft’s “Touching Holograms” immersive interaction concept for the Hololens (the cube is virtual) — source
All those spatial experiences lead to the eminent Metaverse, that futuristic 3D version of the Internet which we will inhabit — not just use. It will utilize many of our sensorial and physical capacities to survive digitally and fulfil our virtual psychological desires, like dressing up one’s avatar in Roblox with that limited virtual GUCCI dress. Suddenly, our perception of living life as we know is taking an interesting turn, at least for many. And it is this perception that plays a crucial part in determining the quality of the final experience we would virtually undergo there. I call these dimensional digital experiences where human perception is key to inhibit and participate in them Spatial Experience (SX).
Spatial Experience (SX) is a three dimensional experience that people inhabit through different digital forms, leveraging their human perception to effectively participate in and understand it.
2. Spatial Experiences and their Participants
A Spatial Experience exits flatland and extends beyond traditional rectangular frames, to enter 3D realms where many human senses are engaged simultaneously in processing the presented digital illusions. They engage the full biological and psychological spectrums, and thus require broader ways of thinking of the context-of-use and deeper empathy with people.
Designing spatial experiences is far more intricate than that of mobile, car dashboards, AI voice assistants, or other common computing platforms.
Look and feel have always been the coins of transaction in conventional User Experience (UX) design and Interaction Design (IxD) for software systems. In spatial however, people are not just passive observers or users of an application, entertained by intuitive interfaces that allow them to complete a task quickly or make their lives easier. They live the application and participate in co-authoring its story narrative, which is very often a non-linear one: can start from any point, and can move in any direction. Storytelling suddenly becomes storyliving.
In spatial experiences, people live the application and participate in co-authoring its narrative, making it a storyliving experience not just storytelling, and converting people to become participants instead of users.
People also apply natural interactions as those performed in the real world, less mediated through standard UI elements. They do so with others whilst physically moving in dimensional environments, be it real or synthetic.
This intimacy and control gained through SX call for more coins to be introduced to the existing design currency. Connect is one as explained in the previous section. It reflects how participants simultaneously transact and connect with a brand, one another, and even the world around them (physical or virtual) when inside an experience. Balancing the three could quickly become an overwhelming cognitive load to them and thus should be considered thoroughly during the spatial design process.
People also apply different levels of body movements to achieve intended outcomes. That however may be hindered by their physical abilities and the available space they are in (too small causes claustrophobia, too big can get them lost). Additionally, any misalignment between what the body perceives as motion and eyes see could lead to serious accidents. That said, move would become another coin to carefully design for in SX.
Spatial Experience (SX) = look + feel + connect + move
Many psychological and physical factors are in play here to define the look, feel, connect, and move of SX. The ultimate goal is to design something that immerses people’s full perception of the world and places them as active participants in an experience, not just users of it. Perception is as important in computer-generated spatial environments as it has been in the physical spatial world since cavemen.
The question that swiftly emerges here is: how can we approach this noble goal most effectively for spatial experiences? The answer: a different design mindset is needed.
3. A Lateral Design Mindset for SX is Needed — Enter Perception Design (PD)
I have been studying this concept of sensory-driven, participatory-oriented spatial experiences for some time as part of my responsibilities in delivering XR work to our clients at Accenture. It is a known fact that the field of UX in a software context is very broad, intersecting many art and science disciplines. According to Dan Saffer, a pioneer Interaction designer and author, it is “a stew of disciplines”.
Moreover, it is understandable that UX is a framework made of tools, practices, and techniques that can solve different problems.
When it comes to design challenges afforded by the different forms of spatial computing though, I feel that many of those tools and techniques are not a perfect fit. This is not a surprise given that they have been developed throughout the industry for 2D interactions. The spatial human perceptual angle is very often a second or third thought by practitioners.
How can we bring physical and human perception to center stage when designing SX?
How can we manipulate existing mental models to help suspend the disbelief of digital illusions?
What factors do designers need to consider when crafting an experience to avoid making participants sick or alienated?
How can we delight them to reach the utmost levels of believability possible in a virtual or augmented world within the technical constraints imposed by the systems they run on?
Shifting from focusing on the use in UX to focusing on inhabitancy is the first steppingstone to answer such questions in my opinion. Rather than studying how prospect users would be using a spatial application — be it 3D websites, 3D games, AR/VR, or the Metaverse, we should switch our design attention to how participants would be inhabiting them. I call this Participant Experience (PX).
The same natural human perception that helps understand the real world and define the quality of engagements would be used here to understand and define those in the virtual one too. Perception leads to a positive or negative conclusive impression of spatial experiences in any given situation by considering the following parameters:
Multi-sensory signals, e.g. “this virtual doorknob looks and behaves as I am expecting”
Innate emotions, e.g. “the meeting room is familiar and makes me feel comfortable”
Intuition and past cognitive memories, e.g. “from what I learnt, this screw should fit here”
Personal and social behaviors, e.g. “I have experienced this cyber bullying before. I know what to do”
Acquired motor skills, e.g. “my movement to virtually place the new food mixer in AR is not restricted physically or offensive to others around”
Designers of spatial experiences need to shift their design mindset from asking “how participants would use” an application to “how they would inhabit it” . It become Participant Experience (PX).
By adding inspiration as a wrapper around the above, a participant’s imagination is evoked to see new connections and relationships between people, places, objects, and ideas from the outside. From the inside, inspiration creates a personal understanding and consensus of the situation, and a new perception to rely on.
Perception Design Parameters: outside influences and inside drivers lead to a perception of the experience
When we carefully consider the parameters that cause our perception to plausibly understand and accept any situation with least confusion, hassle, or contradiction to intents, we arrive at the holy grail of human-centered design. This is more paramount for spatial than any other computing medium for the following reasons:
It is so personal — literally, it is on the participant or they are inside it
It adds an instinctive third dimension to interactions, and even a fourth if we consider time
It is much more amplified by the exhaustive streams of input coming from multiple senses at the same time.
Ultimately, designers cannot explicitly design an experience. They can however consider and manipulate factors to design for an experience. ““Designers create experience, but only indirectly.” states Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman in their book Rules of Play*. This said, perception and the above parameters become the precursor for any spatial experience.
Designers cannot design experiences. They design for experiences, by considering the adjacent factors and parameters.
Spatial designers, those who design inhabitable spatial experiences in virtual 3D spaces, should aim to design for perception to land on better user experience, or more eloquently said: to land on better participant experience. The former is the cause, the latter is the ultimate result.
I refer to this shift in design mindset for spatial experiences as Perception Design (PD). It is a set of design principles that target the physical, behavioral, emotional, and cognitive aspects of human perception to ultimately create an intuitive spatial experience for participants in virtual worlds. It focuses on moldings behaviors, emotions, senses, community, and movement together through the design process to form a more comprehensive mapping between psychological drivers and people’s intentions. Luckily, we do not have to start from a blank canvas. There are many examples and industry practices at our disposal to use as frame of reference to learn from and build on top as shall be explained in later articles.
Perception Design (PD) is a set of principles that target the physical, behavioral, emotional, and cognitive aspects of the human perception to create intuitive spatial experience for participants in synthetic worlds.
4. What’s next?
I have tried to explain how we humans understand the world around us through the diverse stimuli our sensory and perceptual systems receive. I have elaborated on it being influenced by our personal experiences from the physical world to drive certain actions in the virtual one, be it as an individual or part of a group. The thesis of my argument has been that emotions, inspirations, and physical motion all play a great deal in shaping our perception and acceptance of surreal notions in SX to elevate intuitiveness for participants. And designers should aim to target that perception in order to design better spatial experiences.
This is part of an in-depth series of articles I am working on to introduce the concepts behind Perception Design and to lay the foundation for a new design mindset aimed at Spatial Experience (SX). I have explained the fundamental logic behind it and its rationale in this first article. In the next one, I will cover how our human perception works and how it stretches to understand and interact with virtual worlds through preconceived mental models. After that, I will elaborate the different levels that could be achieved for spatial experiences with the SX Ladder concept i will present. In the ones that follow, I will detail the building blocks that make up a powerful SX. Following that, I will defend my abandonment of the User when talking about spatial experiences and why I call for the industry to adopt the term Participant instead.
Crucially, the concepts of Perception Design (PD) and Spatial Experience (SX) are still evolving. It’s the start of an interesting exploratory journey, which I hope you can join me in to shape more concretely.
*[edit 1] Thanks to Kathryn Yu for sharing this quote from Rules of Play through a tweet.
References
Bar, E. & Boshouwers, S. (2018). WOW: Worlds of Wonder (1st ed.). BIS Publishers.
Kalawsky, R. S. (2000). The Validity of Presence as a Reliable Human Performance Metric in Immersive Environments. 3rd Annual International Workshop on Presence, (pp. 1–16). Delft.
Papagiannis, H. (2017). Augmented Human (1st ed.). O’Reilly.
Saffer, D. (2010). Designing for Interaction: Creating Innovative Applications and Devices (2nd ed.). New Riders.
Feel free to reach out to Fadi on LinkedIn or Twitter @FadiChehimi
Copyright © 2021 Accenture. All rights reserved. | https://uxdesign.cc/moving-from-user-experience-ux-to-participant-experience-px-design-6648a5ebf190 | ['Fadi Chehimi'] | 2021-05-31 18:21:23.165000+00:00 | ['Design', '3d', 'Psychology', 'UX', 'Virtual Reality'] |
Let’s Talk: Ethereum Smart Contracts | Into the possibilities smart contracts offer the world and how software engineers can prepare to launch powerful, ground-breaking startups utilizing this technology
Let’s rewind to 2017: Bitcoin is running wild, Ethereum has broken above $1,000 dollars, and tokens deployed on Ethereum during the now infamous ICO offerings are making millionaires everywhere.
Just kidding. Let’s fast forward. This isn’t a price speculation article. We’re engineers — for the most part, we don’t care about internet tokens (unless they’ve made us rich or are making us rich).
The purpose of this article is to discuss the technology known as smart contracts. While Bitcoin is the pioneer DLT (distributed ledger technology) we all know, it does not offer us the capacity to execute complicated, real world smart contracts, and those that it can foster are costly. We’re here to talk about Ethereum based smart contracts. This article is geared towards software engineers without a background in the blockchain space.
What is a smart contract? First, let’s talk Bitcoin.
In the case of Bitcoin, the distributed ledger act as a great, big Excel spreadsheet (tremendously minimized explanation). I pay you, you pay me. Money in, money out. We distribute the task of maintaining this immutable spreadsheet record across nodes who are incentivized to maintain these records through “mining”. Eureka! We have solved the double-spend problem and centralized fiat currency inflation.
Smart contracts are a bit different. Instead of just maintaining records for a payment network using DLT, Ethereum lets us deploy tamper-proof, decentralized financial applications and computer code. Ethereum (the token) is simply what you pay miners to deploy and spend in fees to interact with these decentralized applications.
Okay, cool story, bro.
You probably don’t care, and I didn’t either, for a while. To really come to appreciate what this means, let’s use Uber as an example of a “what if” Ethereum based spin-off utilizing an oracle network, Chainlink.
In the above diagram, we examine Uber — a closed, centralized network for connecting passengers to drivers. To participate in the network, a driver must apply to Uber, at which point they are approved or denied. A passenger requests a ride, receives a quote from Uber, accepts the quote, pre-pays Uber for the ride, and is connected to a driver who will pick the passenger up. Upon successful trip, the Uber network will relinquish a portion of the money quoted by Uber to the driver, keeping the remainder for itself.
Awesome! We all use Uber, and we love it. But is there a better way?
Why can’t the driver set the price they’d like to accept? Better yet, why can’t drivers begin bidding on a ride request as they come in near by, and the end user have the option to weigh reviews of the driver + price in their decision?
Ride sharing commissions have been reported to range between 25% — 43% of total ride cost. This is a massive network participation fee. This fee touches the end user and the driver themselves.
Let’s flip this model on its head. We’ll get into the technicals of how later.
In this scenario, there are only two parties — the drivers and the passenger. The smart contract is just a piece of code deployed to the Ethereum blockchain which the two parties are interacting with, most likely, without even realizing it’s blockchain technology they’re using. The oracle network is a third party decentralized network our contract utilizes to get API data from off-chain into the blockchain. We pay an oracle network a service fee for the resilient, aggregated data provided. In this case, the data we are retrieving is user location data.
The driver gets the majority of the ride share fee. The only network fee collected is the tiny gas fee from the Ethereum Network itself, and the cost of running the smart contract (paying the oracle data services).
We’ve just given ownership back to the driver and passenger.
Okay, cool story again bro, but this isn’t realistic.
What about making sure the ride is fulfilled in a timely manner? What about passenger security? What about insurance? What about refunds? I don’t want my user to pay in Ethereum, or drivers to be paid in Ethereum
Answers:
Oracle networks can ensure this (see Chainlink) If the passenger has not reported a safe passage within “x” time limit, oracle networks can reach out to local authorities with all details of both passenger and driver Etherisc Kleros On the fly currency swapping using Uniswap
If you’ve started asking yourself these questions, you’re on the right track to understanding why this is the tech area where you need to be now. There’s a reason this model hasn’t overtaken ride sharing apps already.
We are currently in a place that these technologies are like the early internet.
No, not that internet. I’m talking about ARPANET early internet. Gas fees are too high, decentralized insurance protocols haven’t reached vehicles yet, off-chain retrieval and validation of credentials aren’t sophisticated enough yet.
These missing decentralized protocol utilities are being developed as you read this for use in smart contracts.
The big “if” you need to ask yourself is “if this infrastructure is built, will I be ready to jump in at the forefront of the dApp revolution?”.
I think the next generation of game-changing startups are going to come in the form of dApps. Infrastructure is a work in progress, but it’s growing daily.
Closing Thoughts
Does this article seem like a bait and tease?
Don’t be so sure about that. If you are ready and knowledgeable about the capabilities of this technology when it nears maturity, you will be in the same position the early innovators of the web were in nearly twenty years ago. You’ll already know about writing in Solidity and utilizing oracle networks. Minimizing gas costs for your end user. You’ll build the next game changing application.
An application built on Ethereum that has really solidified my belief that the space is becoming more mature is Aave. It’s production ready and you can use it today.
TLDR;
LEARN ABOUT ETHEREUM
LEARN AND PRACTICE WRITING SOLIDITY
USE TRUFFLE SUITE
LEARN HOW TO USE CHAINLINK
DEPLOY ON TEST NET FOR FREE!
This is your chance to be at the forefront of a revolution as an innovator of next generation applications. You could wait, say, ten more years before jumping in and just working at a company that is built on this tech stack, or you could prepare today and be the person who builds it. | https://medium.com/@heysameerdewan/lets-talk-ethereum-smart-contracts-d150192a31e4 | ['Sameer Dewan'] | 2021-02-22 22:27:53.464000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Solidity', 'Ethereum', 'JavaScript', 'Programming'] |
Android Perform Two Animations Using ObjectAnimator — kotlin | private fun animationSet(v: View) {
val animSetXY = AnimatorSet()
val x: ObjectAnimator = ObjectAnimator.ofFloat(
v,
"alpha", 1.0f, 0.0f
)
val y: ObjectAnimator = ObjectAnimator.ofFloat(
v,
"translationX",0f, 150f
)
animSetXY.playTogether(x,y)
animSetXY.duration = 2000
animSetXY.setupStartValues()
animSetXY.start()
}
Here,
X is a animation and Y is an animation….. | https://medium.com/@gattemakhil/android-perform-two-animations-using-objectanimator-kotlin-762f88325d7e | ['Akhil Gattemaneni'] | 2020-12-27 13:15:44.523000+00:00 | ['Android', 'Apps', 'Mobile App Development', 'Kotlin', 'Android App Development'] |
Go Structs (Part 3) — Nested Structs | Photo by Iza Gawrych on Unsplash
Structs are used for storing primitive data types such as strings and integers. However structs are just as good for storing composite data types, such as arrays, slices, or even other structs. This means that structs can create rich hierarchical data structures, like those represented in json and yaml files.
This article is part of the Structs in Go series.
In this article we’re going to look at how to nest one struct inside another struct.
Running the above gives:
Lines 9–12: We defined a custom (struct) data type, called “address”
Line 18: This is the employee (struct) data type definition we’ve seen earlier, but with an additional key of “homeAddress”. We’ve set this key’s data type to the custom data type of “address”.
Lines 29–35: We create an “employee” variable, that contains a “address” nested inside it (line 34)
Line 37: The output of this shows the inner brackets, which indicates that we have one struct variable nested inside another.
Line 38: The . operator let’s us traverse down the data structure to the value we’re interested in.
You can rewrite the above example so that it bypasses the need to create the “address1” variable:
Lines 26–32: Instead of passing a variable that contains the (“address” type) value, we’re now directly passing in the value itself. This is functionality the same as the previous example, but now code shows the nested nature more visually. | https://medium.com/@sher-chowdhury/go-structs-part-3-nested-structs-62eeab407706 | ['Sher Chowdhury'] | 2020-12-21 16:04:11.470000+00:00 | ['Nested Structs', 'Golang', 'Go', 'Golang Tutorial', 'Go Structs'] |
Project 1: Getting closer to your Mega project problem | Project 1: Getting closer to your Mega project problem
Goal; I want to work on the education of children who are not able to get education due to financial problems. It is feared that without education they can take criminal action
I have visited such an area of Faisalabad. I have interacted with people. Where people live whose monthly income is 20,000 to 25,000. In this they barely survive, 75% of this income goes to bills and other things like Rashan etc. They send their children to school or college somehow but after that they cannot find any good tuition center because they cannot afford high fees. They are forced to work to fulfill the expenses of their home.
This is the big issue in our country where there are very good educational institutes and children are getting education in these reputed institutes and on the other hand there are many children who are unable to get education because they do not have enough source of income to go to school. if they are able to go to school after that they have to do part time job. They are unable to concentrate on their studies.
The power of education is undeniable all across the world, both socially and personally, in both developing and developed countries. It has even been referred to by the U.N. as the universal “passport to human development.” With that in mind, here are some of the most thought-provoking and inspiring quotes on education, from several well-known and important figures across time,
“So let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy, poverty, and terrorism, and let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons.”
– Malala Yousafzai It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”
– Maya Angelou
We have to take steps to progress our country and community. States with higher levels of educational attainment also have crime rates lower than the national average.
So I Will build a tuition center and i will attach the educated People with me so that that can carry this work forward with me. I will convince those people who are financially strong to support those students who are good in studies but do not have the money. I am working on a smaller scale but I want to take it on a larger scale.
In Sha ALLAH 💝 | https://medium.com/@hafiz-awais172/project-1-getting-closer-to-your-mega-project-problem-d48bf2d875fb | ['Hafiz Awais Rasool'] | 2020-12-25 15:23:24.024000+00:00 | ['Amal Fellowship', 'Amal Academy'] |
Getting An MBA: Worth It? | There have always been questions around whether or not one should get an MBA. More recently, it has become fairly common for people to state that an MBA is just a product of wasted time, money and other important resources. Part of this attitude has to do with the embedded skepticism that some communities have towards formal education in general. In that regard, I believe it would be important for me to express my views on why I think an MBA makes sense (majority of the time) for aspiring business professionals.
My decision to pursue an MBA was by no means easy. There were numerous thoughts flowing through my head about time, money, job prospects, etc. Like many of you, there was a huge opportunity cost I was facing by taking the plunge in joining a business school. I was uncertain about what kind of experience a business school had to offer, but I had a vague intuition it might be a good one (Side note: it turned out to be a great decision). I can confidently say that I have gained more knowledge, built stronger relationships, and developed my personality throughout the course of my MBA program.
Like most things in life, there are many agnostic views on pursuing an MBA as well. I’d also like to emphasize that you do not definitively need an MBA to have a successful career in life, but here are my top 5 reasons on why doing an MBA is important:
1) Structured Learning Environment
There are numerous and endless ways you can gain access to business topics like finance, accounting, and marketing, on your own, through books, online courses, and distance learning programs. So why should you bother with an MBA? When it comes to business learning, the additional value does not originate from the PowerPoints, textbooks, and case studies from class but rather from the discussions they provoke from your fellow classmate’s diverse backgrounds and opinions. Most business schools now also incorporate internships and on-the-job training opportunities as part of the curriculum which act as a great learning platform to leverage the skills learnt through the course of your MBA program. Personally, I believe the classes provide foundations for core subjects and tools we can use in our future careers. They also serve as a perfect refresher to core subjects before starting a new role with an organization. The program provides exposure in working with a broad range of business cases. Ultimately though, like every other learning experience, you will only gain from the effort you put into it.
2) Source Of Credibility (a.k.a “The Letters”)
You may think I’m sounding superficial (or would completely disagree) when I say that you should get the MBA for “the letters” or brand it holds in itself. Why would I say this is important? Hiring managers and recruitment processes around the world are fraught with biases. Sometimes certain degrees do help you to differentiate yourself from others by helping communicate what you know intrinsically, therefore, solving the adverse selection problem for recruiters. Depending on the industry, “the letters” can help you in career transitions horizontally, vertically, or into an entirely new industry. Having an MBA shows your capability to take on new responsibilities and also accept accountability for it. An MBA or advanced degree is practically a requirement in areas of banking, consulting, and private equity. If you have a look at all the senior personnel in an industry or company, they most likely possess an MBA or an advanced degree. You would aspire to be part of that club as you progress through your career, so having an MBA degree is already like a foot-in-the-door.
3) Change In Perspective & Mindset
The MBA facilitates a more expansive business outlook and mindset. The program tasks you with opportunities to tackle business problems from a managerial standpoint, which could further assist in some self-discovery. It has diverse topics ranging from strategy to market analysis, generally in which you have minimal exposure early in your career. Just having access to the sheer wealth of knowledge shared among fellow classmates with diverse backgrounds, ways of thinking and geographies would shape your approach in handling business decisions and foster a positive outlook on life. Take the time to reflect, set goals, and work your socks off to achieve them. Most people graduate from business schools and embark upon something entirely different from the industry they came from or advance into a more senior role that may have been inaccessible to them earlier. This shows that the possibilities in terms of career growth with an MBA degree are endless and could radically be influenced by your experience from the program.
4) Build Your Network And Chance At Success
A great question to ask is, “Will attaining an MBA increase my chances of becoming a successful entrepreneur or move into senior management roles?”. Entrepreneurs in general, and incredibly successful ones, usually love saying, “Look at me, you don’t need an MBA to be successful. Just follow your passion and you will build great business ideas”. Let’s backtrack a bit, and take a look at actual data here. 90% of start-ups and 80% of entrepreneurs generally tend to fail. Not to be a pessimist of any kind, but this is unfortunately the ugly truth. Normally, people only notice the winners. For example, when you look at Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos, you do not notice the executive coaches, seasoned mentors that have helped or are helping them every step of the way. They also tend to show a pattern of hiring MBA grads as their second in command like Sandberg, Ballmer, etc. Not to take away the fact that starting and running a business is an enormous life lesson by itself, but it also makes you painfully aware of your personal shortcomings (if any). An MBA can equip you with tools and a network that can increase your chances at success. Building and maintaining connections with classmates and professors will build feelings of mutual trust and friendship that will help you down the road in ways you cannot imagine.
5) Well-Rounded Personality Development
The MBA program usually comprises of students from various educational, cultural and professional backgrounds. It invites you to be part of activities, tasks, and projects that require meaningful interactions with other students. This broadens horizons and boosts your communication skills. The program also inspires you to be more aware, analytical, promotes team-building, and fosters critical thinking. An MBA is a great resource to have in order to boost your confidence and self-esteem as well as it pushes you out of your comfort zone and helps prove your competency through challenging assignments and testing measures. It is obvious that acquiring a new skill, or set of skills for the business world generates high amount of self-esteem. The feeling that you would be able to make an effective contribution towards generating value for your stakeholders post-graduation is unparalleled. If you can put a bunch of MBA grads in a room asking them to solve a problem, there is no doubt in my mind that they will come up with something extraordinary. Overall, it plays a vital role in grooming your character and setting yourself up for success in the future. Personally, I aspire to be an informed leader who can help make a difference in people’s lives. But that’s just me.
So if these reasons resonate with who you are as a person, you should start applications (even though it’s a daunting task) for a journey that would change your life. The MBA journey. | https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/getting-an-mba-worth-it-bfcdbbea2c1f | ['Nitish Menon'] | 2020-09-17 03:27:48.785000+00:00 | ['Decision Making', 'Graduate School', 'Students', 'Mba', 'University'] |
Meet post-pandemic Gen Z, the most unemployed generation which is now in danger of repeating millennials’ struggles | The pandemic has put Gen Z on track to repeat millennials’ money problems.
“I’m a little worried about ending up like those who graduated around 2008,” Maya Tribitt, a junior at the University of Southern California, previously told Insider. “A lot of the fear people my age have about getting jobs right out of college have come from the horror stories of people 10 years older than us. It’s really scary to think that might be our new reality.”
Tribitt’s concerns are valid. A Bank of America Research report called “OK Zoomer” found that the pandemic will impact Gen Z’s financial and professional future the same way that the Great Recession did for millennials.
“Like the financial crisis in 2008 to 2009 for millennials, Covid will challenge and impede Gen Z’s career and earning potential,” the report reads, adding that a significant portion of Gen Z is entering adulthood in the midst of a recession, just as a cohort of millennials did. “Like a decade ago, the economic cost of this recession is likely to hit the youngest and least experienced generation the most.”
They’ve been impacted the most in the workforce, facing higher unemployment rates than other generations.
Unemployment rates for all generations peaked in April, according to data from the St. Louis Fed. Gen Z was hit hardest, with an unemployment rate of nearly 27% for those ages 20 to 24. By July, that unemployment rate had dropped to 18.5% but was still higher than other generations. By November, it hovered just over 10%.
Between February and May, when the pandemic first hit, one in four American workers between the ages of 16 and 24 had lost their job, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This is largely because Americans of those ages tend to work in industries such as retail and hospitality, both of which were hit hard by pandemic layoffs and store closures.
More than 2 million Gen Zers have moved back in with their family in the wake of the coronavirus.
By the beginning of August, 58% of Gen Zers were living with their parents as the coronavirus continued to sweep through the nation, according to a study by StuDocu, a crowd-sourced online learning and sharing platform for students.
StuDocu’s findings echo a June report by online real-estate marketplace Zillow, which found that nearly 3 million young adults have moved back in with their parents or guardians as a result of the pandemic. Gen Zers comprise the majority of that number, at roughly 2.2 million.
The pandemic has also pulled Gen Z off course to becoming the most educated generation.
Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Gen Z was set to unseat millennials as the most educated generation ever, but the pandemic has delayed — and set back — Gen Z’s educational progress, according to the “OK Zoomer” report. It’s intensified the troubling pre-pandemic trend of learning stagnating for American children at all levels.
At this point during the pandemic, the report said, half of lower secondary school graduates will now lack minimum levels of proficiency, compared to the typical 40%.
This shift to at-home learning will have a long-lasting impact on the educational landscape, Charles Thornburgh, a veteran education technology CEO, previously told Business Insider: “We’ll have reverberations with this generation that we won’t even begin to understand for a few years.”
It’s no surprise, then, that one-third of Gen Zers are financially stressed and one-quarter think they’ll be worse off when the pandemic is over.
That’s according to the Center for Generational Kinetics’ State of Gen Z report, which also found that Gen Z is more stressed about saving money and having money to support their basic needs than anything else. But the generation isn’t as financially stressed as millennials, per the report’s findings.
The report surveyed over 2,000 Gen Zers and millennials.
It also found that the pandemic has caused 43% of Gen Zers to fall behind on credit cards, rent, or other payments, and 46% to borrow money from a family member or friend.
Financial stress, combined with quarantine, is hurting Gen Zers’ mental health.
Gen Z is most likely to feel not “mentally well” during the pandemic.
And when the pandemic first hit, 62.4% of Gen Zers said isolating during COVID-19 had worsened their mental health, social-learning network StuDocu found in a poll of 1,600 students between March 24 and April 17. The top emotions for those polled were stress, frustration, anxiety, and loneliness.
Michael Pankowski, a sophomore at Harvard University, told Insider’s Dominic-Madori Davis that he has felt “overwhelmed” and “distraught” by how many lives have been lost to the coronavirus, even as his own world has been knocked off balance.
He said that in addition to the stress of the pandemic, his school closing also had an emotional impact on him, as it happened with such haste. “With one email, we learned we had just five days to say goodbye to all of our friends,” Pankowski said.
But the pandemic has made some Gen Zers more cost-conscious than ever, which has helped them make strides in financial preparedness.
More than half (54%) of Gen Zers have saved more money since the pandemic began than prior to it, according to the State of Gen Z report. And 38% have opened an online investment account, while 39% have opened an online bank account.
The pandemic has taught Gen Z how to be frugal, according to Jason Dorsey, president of Center for Generational Kinetics (CGK), the company behind the report. They’ve begun saving money earlier in their lives than previous generations, have started investing, and are seeking good job benefits, he said.
And even though the pandemic could ultimately cause Gen Z to potentially lose $10 trillion in earnings, they’re still set to take over the economy in a decade.
Gen Z students could lose $10 trillion of lifecycle earnings due to Covid lockdowns, the World Bank has estimated.
But Bank of America Research’s “OK Zoomer” report found that Gen Z will fare well in the long run. The generation currently earns $7 trillion across its 2.5 billion-person cohort, it stated. By 2025, that income will grow to $17 trillion, and by 2030, it will reach $33 trillion, representing 27% of the world’s income and surpassing that of millennials the following year.
While Gen Z has grappled with how the government has handled social injustice issues, it’s pushed the generation to the front lines of activism.
Photo: Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images
Gen Z has been at the forefront of numerous demonstrations, such as the March for Our Lives anti-gun protest and the climate change movement.
2020 put the generation front and center in the anti-police-brutality demonstrations sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a white police officer in Minneapolis violently restrained him.
Yubo, a social networking app, exclusively worked with Business Insider to poll 38,919 US-based Gen Zers between the age of 13 and 25 to see how Gen Zers are responding to the civil unrest sparked by the ensuing protests, reported Davis.
The survey found that 77% of respondents had attended a protest to support equality for Black Americans, and 62% said they were willing to get arrested during a peaceful protest to support this equality.
The generation played a pivotal role in the 2020 election, which may have finally captured the elusive youth turnout.
The youngest voters may have played a pivotal role in the 2020 election making voter turnout history, Insider’s Juliana Kaplan reported.
Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE) has been tracking and analyzing young voter turnout since 2001. According to its latest estimates, youth voter turnout for 2020 was up by at least 5% from 2016 — and could have been up by as much as 9%.
Milu Parrilla, an 18-year-old freshman studying biology at Georgia State University and an organizer with Student PIRGs New Voters Project, told Kaplan that many of the young voters she spoke with wanted to become more involved in politics.
“A lot of young people are scared. Once they get out of college, how will they be able to get work?” Parrilla said. She said that students wanted to become a part of the discussion — and many have sought out information on key dates or registration procedures.
Gen Z, known for creativity, remains as innovative and entrepreneurial as ever.
Part of the Students for Hospitals team. Photo: Jalen Xing
More than half (58%) of Gen Z respondents in a DoSomething Strategic survey said that, since the pandemic, they had picked up a new activity or were doing more of something they already enjoyed.
Similarly, 88% of Gen Zers polled in an April VSCO survey said that creatively expressing themselves has helped them feel less anxious during this time.
“Gen Z is innovative and powerful,” Emma Havighorst, a 22-year-old 2020 graduate, previously told Insider. “The way we see the world is very different from prior generations.”
For three years, Havighorst has hosted the podcast “Generation Slay,” which profiles Gen Z creators and entrepreneurs, from mental-health advocate Gabby Frost to nonprofit founder Ziad Ahmed. She said she thinks the pandemic will produce even more innovators.
“Necessity breeds invention,” she said. “We’ll be trying to figure out solutions to problems that plagued past generations.”
Consider high schoolers Daniel Lan and Jalen Xing, who created homemade face shields for hospitals during the pandemic, starting the initiative Students for Hospitals.
But despite the pandemic potentially slowing down Gen Z’s futures, one psychologist thinks they’ll “shrug it off” in the long run.
Jeffrey Arnett, a Tufts University psychologist who studies when and how people become adults in modern life, said he thinks the pandemic downturn will be more catastrophic for those in their 40s and 50s, who have established career and financial obligations. Gen Z, despite the setbacks, will eventually get by.
“Even in good times, young adults feel they’re falling behind and not making enough progress,” he said, adding that it’s typical for young adults to struggle in their 20s as they figure out their identity and future. It’s a positive, he said, that they have less at stake.
“I wouldn’t make light at all of the challenges Gen Z will face,” Arnett adds, “but they will be able to pick up the pieces and move on.”
If you have a story about the coronavirus pandemic you’d like to share, email us at [email protected].
For more great stories, visit Business Insider’s homepage. | https://medium.com/business-insider/meet-post-pandemic-gen-z-4b63030d3a35 | ['Business Insider'] | 2020-12-27 19:02:34.966000+00:00 | ['2020', 'Generation Z', 'Personal Finance', 'Pandemic', 'BlackLivesMatter'] |
Blockchain API service for Hyperledger Sawtooth | Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash
Primechain-API for Hyperledger Sawtooth is a RESTful JSON APIs that makes it very simple for developers to add Sawtooth’s power to their code — electronic signatures, encrypted data storage & more. It is developed and maintained by Primechain Technologies.
Using Primechain-API for Hyperledger Sawtooth can save months of development time, reduce the development cycle and vastly increase the security and scalability of your applications.
Currently, it supports the following use cases:
Bank Guarantees Charge Registry Contract authentication, verification & storage Digital signatures Employee background verification Encrypted communication Encrypted data storage Know Your Customer (KYC) Letters of Credit Vendor on-boarding & rating
Introduction to Hyperledger Sawtooth
Hyperledger Sawtooth is a blockchain framework that allows developers to create smart contracts in multiple languages including Python, Javascript, Rust, C++, Go, Ethereum Virtual Machine and Java.
Key features:
Sawtooth nodes communicate through messages (containing information about transactions, blocks and peers), serialized using Google’s Protocol Buffers, and sent over TCP. Sawtooth nodes use access control lists to control who can connect to the network and sync with the current ledger state, who can send consensus messages and participate in the consensus process and who can submit transactions to the network. Sawtooth also supports the RAFT consensus protocol. Designed for high throughput, low latency transactions, RAFT is a crash-fault tolerant ‘voting’-style consensus algorithm. Sawtooth supports the Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET) consensus algorithm. As per official Sawtooth documentation, “At a high-level, PoET stochastically elects individual peers to execute requests at a given target rate. Individual peers sample an exponentially distributed random variable and wait for an amount of time dictated by the sample. The peer with the smallest sample wins the election. Cheating is prevented through the use of a trusted execution environment, identity verification and blacklisting based on asymmetric key cryptography, and an additional set of election policies”. Sawtooth also supports PoET-Simulator, an implementation of PoET that forgoes Byzantine fault tolerance.
Primechain-API for Hyperledger Sawtooth
Primechain-API for Hyperledger Sawtooth sets up multiple nodes and the API service which supports the following endpoints:
1. Create key pair
2. Publish data to the blockchain
3. Retrieve data from the blockchain
4. Creating a digital signature
5. Verify a digital signature
6. Create, encrypt, sign and publish data to the blockchain
7. Decrypt, verify and retrieve data from the blockchain
1. Create key pair
To create a key pair, use get /api/v1/create_user_key_sawtooth The output will be the
Private_key Public key
{
"status": 200,
"primechain_sawtooth_private_key": "89b0d0a7ef410e9dc19907b8d9297ec2239222c2b38d56056964495b517fe6c1",
"primechain_sawtooth_public_key": "02b023ef5ce8f6ef4e3419ebc925060ceb3ed9f80c489e34fb93033956581b4941",
"response": "User keys generated"
}
2. Publish data to the blockchain
To publish data to the blockchain, use post /api/v1/upload_data_sawtooth and pass 2 parameters:
Private_key The data
{
"primechain_sawtooth_private_key": "89b0d0a7ef410e9dc19907b8d9297ec2239222c2b38d56056964495b517fe6c1",
"data": "Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them."
}
The output will be the Sawtooth transaction id for the transaction.
{
"status": 200,
"primechain_sawtooth_tx_id": "a31075ee02e17c73b520c3a379880e936a011a702fe412a5e4da0d02300b90623b442e627774671d542565c642d4aa246545faaedaecde16cfa5d979be231e62"
}
3. Retrieve data from the blockchain
To retrieve data from the blockchain, use post /api/v1/get_data_sawtooth and pass the Sawtooth transaction id of the transaction.
{
"primechain_sawtooth_tx_id": "a31075ee02e17c73b520c3a379880e936a011a702fe412a5e4da0d02300b90623b442e627774671d542565c642d4aa246545faaedaecde16cfa5d979be231e62"
}
The output will be the data.
{
"status": 200,
"response": "Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them."
}
4. Creating a digital signature
To create a digital signature, use post /api/v1/create_signature_sawtooth and pass 2 parameters:
Private key the data
{
"primechain_sawtooth_private_key": "89b0d0a7ef410e9dc19907b8d9297ec2239222c2b38d56056964495b517fe6c1",
"data": "Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them."
}
The output will be the digital signature:
{
"status": 200,
"signature": "235de04e222dfcfcc0a2cdec32c1a2aaa56b404dc6b0e4e721eef264ce891e1920ff05ee6345635bd017fca97fef2407b57364a287dd27eddc8a82dec61bb87b"
}
5. Verify a digital signature
To verify a digital signature, use post /api/v1/verify_signature_sawtooth and pass 3 parameters:
public key the data the digital signature
{
"primechain_sawtooth_public_key": "02b023ef5ce8f6ef4e3419ebc925060ceb3ed9f80c489e34fb93033956581b4941",
"data": "Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.",
"signature": "235de04e222dfcfcc0a2cdec32c1a2aaa56b404dc6b0e4e721eef264ce891e1920ff05ee6345635bd017fca97fef2407b57364a287dd27eddc8a82dec61bb87b"
}
The output will be:
{
"status": 200,
"response": true
}
or
{
"status": 200,
"response": false
}
6. Create, encrypt, sign and publish data to the blockchain
To create, encrypt, sign and publish data to the blockchain, use post /api/v1/encrypt_sign_store_data_sawtooth and pass 2 parameters:
the primechain sawtooth private key the data
Sample input
{
"primechain_sawtooth_private_key": "89b0d0a7ef410e9dc19907b8d9297ec2239222c2b38d56056964495b517fe6c1",
"data":
{
"guarantee_number": "ASDRE76464",
"guarantee_currency": "USD",
"guarantee_amount_words": "Twenty Two million",
"guarantee_amount_figures": "22,000,000.00",
"guarantee_date_of_issue": "17-December-2018",
"guarantee_date_of_maturity": "16-March-2019",
"guarantee_beneficiary": "Nicole Corporation",
"guarantee_details": "On behalf of our client, Nicole Corporation, for value received, we, Global Bank, hereby irrevocably and unconditionally and without protest or notification, promise to pay against this, our irrevocable bank guarantee, to the order of Nicole Corporation, as beneficiary, on the maturity date, the sum of Twenty Two million United States Dollars ($22,000,000.00 USD), upon their first written demand for payment hereunder. Such payment shall be made without set-off, free and clear of any deductions, charges, fees, levies, taxes or withholdings of any nature. This bank guarantee is transferable, without payment of any transfer fees. This bank guarantee is issued in accordance with the uniform customs and practices for bank guarantees, as set forth by the International Chamber of Commerce, Paris, France, latest revision of ICC 500 publication. This bank guarantee shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of India and is free and clear of any lien and encumbrances and is of non-criminal origin.",
"authorized_bank_officer_name": "Nicole Kidman",
"authorized_bank_officer_title": "Vice President",
"authorized_bank_officer_telephone": "230950934545",
"authorized_bank_officer_facsimile": "367645455624",
"authorized_bank_officer_email": "[email protected]"
}
}
This is what happens:
Step 1: Hash computation
The SHA-512 hash of the data is computed.
Step 2: Signing
The hash is signed using the private key of the signer, using the secp256k1 algorithm.
Step 3: Encrypting the data
The data is encrypted using the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) algorithm and the following are generated:
the encrypted version of the data the AES password the Initialization Vector (IV). Initialization Vector is a nonce that is associated with an invocation of authenticated encryption on a particular plaintext and Additional Authenticated Data (AAD). the Authentication Tag (tag), which is a cryptographic checksum on data that is designed to reveal both accidental errors and the intentional modification of the data.
Step 4: Storing the encrypted data
The encrypted data and the tag are published to the blockchain.
Step 5: Output
The following is the output:
the relevant Sawtooth transaction id the digital signature the AES password the Initialization Vector (IV)
Sample output
{
"status": 200,
"response": {
"primechain_sawtooth_tx_id": "82cde773d6b25b9a48dcb16f602fbcd5ed3649183d595e19ed545650bdfcc8fc2a9316121281910f43c52d3ba5c9e2d0c0eb6fce3ece54b6a257462bc6d395c1",
"signature": "cb36670bc1e53389473f1fcac881bf8c30e3a8b44ea34a8adb8608ab7dd7dec850073c9d2e6e868b1a4fe94603a2a3fa3187dfd506edf26fc7173a64e9c4e699",
"aes_password": "gkSQEaVPI9bHwGM37NmtjNBUad7mwoHm",
"aes_iv": "RaaizYEJvqxg"
}
}
7. Decrypt, verify and retrieve data from the blockchain
To retrieve data from the blockchain, use post /api/v1/decrypt_download_data_sawtooth and pass these values:
the relevant Sawtooth transaction id the sawtooth public key of the signer the AES password the Initialization Vector (IV) the digital signature
Sample input
{
"primechain_sawtooth_tx_id": "82cde773d6b25b9a48dcb16f602fbcd5ed3649183d595e19ed545650bdfcc8fc2a9316121281910f43c52d3ba5c9e2d0c0eb6fce3ece54b6a257462bc6d395c1", "primechain_sawtooth_public_key": "02b023ef5ce8f6ef4e3419ebc925060ceb3ed9f80c489e34fb93033956581b4941",
"signature": "cb36670bc1e53389473f1fcac881bf8c30e3a8b44ea34a8adb8608ab7dd7dec850073c9d2e6e868b1a4fe94603a2a3fa3187dfd506edf26fc7173a64e9c4e699",
"aes_password": "gkSQEaVPI9bHwGM37NmtjNBUad7mwoHm",
"aes_iv": "RaaizYEJvqxg"
}
This is what happens:
Step 1: Retrieval of encrypted data
The encrypted data and tag are retrieved from the blockchain.
Step 2: Decryption
The encrypted data is decrypted.
Step 3: Verification
The digital signature is verified.
Step 4: Output
The output will be the data if the signature is verified and valid.
Sample output
{
"status": 200,
"response": {
"guarantee_number": "ASDRE76464",
"guarantee_currency": "USD",
"guarantee_amount_words": "Twenty Two million",
"guarantee_amount_figures": "22,000,000.00",
"guarantee_date_of_issue": "17-December-2018",
"guarantee_date_of_maturity": "16-March-2019",
"guarantee_beneficiary": "Nicole Corporation",
"guarantee_details": "On behalf of our client, Nicole Corporation, for value received, we, Global Bank, hereby irrevocably and unconditionally and without protest or notification, promise to pay against this, our irrevocable bank guarantee, to the order of Nicole Corporation, as beneficiary, on the maturity date, the sum of Twenty Two million United States Dollars ($22,000,000.00 USD), upon their first written demand for payment hereunder. Such payment shall be made without set-off, free and clear of any deductions, charges, fees, levies, taxes or withholdings of any nature. This bank guarantee is transferable, without payment of any transfer fees. This bank guarantee is issued in accordance with the uniform customs and practices for bank guarantees, as set forth by the International Chamber of Commerce, Paris, France, latest revision of ICC 500 publication. This bank guarantee shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of India and is free and clear of any lien and encumbrances and is of non-criminal origin.",
"authorized_bank_officer_name": "Nicole Kidman",
"authorized_bank_officer_title": "Vice President",
"authorized_bank_officer_telephone": "230950934545",
"authorized_bank_officer_facsimile": "367645455624",
"authorized_bank_officer_email": "[email protected]"
}
}
Have a query? Email us on [email protected] | https://medium.com/blockchain-blog/blockchain-api-service-for-hyperledger-sawtooth-4be5539432b | ['Rohas Nagpal'] | 2018-12-24 13:33:52.549000+00:00 | ['Primechain', 'Blockchain', 'Blockchain Technology', 'Blockchain Application', 'Hyperledger'] |
RISE Newsletter — 2018 Highlights | Hello RISE Community,
In this newsletter, we will give a quick overview of the development achievements RISE has made in 2018. We thank the RISE community for supporting us throughout 2018 and wish you all a very Happy New Year for 2019!
Q1 — January, February, March 2018
RISE Core v1.0.0 entered the testing phase since its rewrite in TypeScript for more robust and readable code with 99% code coverage.
Q2 — April, May, June 2018
After a few months of the RISE Core in Testnet and the help of 38 community testers, we launched RISE Core v1.0.0 into Mainnet. We also welcomed a new, redesigned website. Forging rewards reduced from 15 to 12 RISE per block and we began rewriting the RISE web wallet and changing up the user experience.
Q3 — July, August, September 2018
RISE Core v1.1.0 entered the Testnet phase, which included improvements to transactions per seconds, security and data integrity. RISE Core v1.1.0 evolved into RISE Core v1.1.1 and launched into Mainnet with the capability of the core and future sidechains to have up to 1000tps when required in the future. We also released v1 of the RISE Lightpaper and the ‘The Future on RISE’ promo video. We worked on RISE v1.2.0 featuring Protocol Buffers, which improved peer-to-peer performance and efficiency. We were also thrilled to share that RISE became available for use with Ledger Nano S.
Q4 — October, November, December 2018
RISE Core 1.2.0 launched into mainnet and Andrea and Matteo proposed new consensus changes for DPOS in RISE v1.3.0. The proposal suggested fair vote weight for future sidechains, productivity as ranking factor, Delegate banning for poor performance and active delegates pool modification to allow more delegates to forge. The new RISE web wallet entered beta testing phase and the community gave valuable feedback which Mart and Tobias actioned for an improved wallet. We hired Julian who began focusing on developer documentation for RISE and we deployed RISE Core v1.3.2 on Mainnet inclusive of v2 DPOS consensus changes.
December Development Update
In December, on the RISE Node repository we have pushed 2 commits to development and 2 commits to all branches. On development, 7 files have changed and there have been 178 additions and 161 deletions. Matteo has fixed some minor bugs on the core (issues #188 and #189), and mostly aligning similar API endpoints to the same fields and removing some junk data. Andrea has continued working on a new branch, which he has been working on since July. Some of the new core work is in a private repository and will only be released when ready for public release. Andrea has also worked on the RISE Explorer:
fixed bugs that were displaying properly forging delegates as RED while they were GREEN
added forging probability to delegate monitor
added forging probability to single delegate page
upgrade mainnet explorer
Andrea has also worked on the newer version of the RISE app for Ledger for the upcoming firmware upgrade of Ledger Nano S.
Additionally in December, on the RISE React Wallet repository we have pushed 71 commits to master and 91 commits to all branches. On master, 60 files have changed and there have been 4,252 additions and 1,645 deletions. The new wallet is almost out of beta and a Node Switcher has been implemented (to select mainnet, testnet or custom node) + Installable Packages.
Mart released a new risesdk package on PyPi and worked on the API reference to include python code samples.
Julian worked on fixing bugs with peer networks and syncing and making sure delegate rounds are working, as well as scaling the docker network.
Community Development
Since the RISE 1.3.x new consensus change, among other improvements, has introduced delegates banning, which prevents ‘bad’ delegates from forging after missing 85 blocks in a row. A community member, Sebastiano, has created this awesome website, which provides a list of delegates that are consecutively missing >= 1 blocks and the estimated ban time based on:
The DPOS v2 consensus upgrade has resulted in a 25% increase of nodes running on the RISE network. This is a great achievement and one that increases the stability of the RISE network and furthers our goal of a decentralised network.
We are excited to continue building RISE blockchain technology for developers and we hope to achieve many more milestones in 2019. Thank you to our loyal community who take part in the growth and adoption of RISE. Join the RISE community:
Star and watch RISE in Github
Follow us on Twitter
Join our community Telegram channel and RISE Official Updates channel
channel and channel Speak to a developer in Slack
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
RISE (token symbol RISE) is an ecosystem for developers, offering a platform for the development of decentralised applications powered by a community driven Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) blockchain.
Disclaimer: RISE is not a security, and token holders are not investors. There is no guarantee you will make any money from holding RISE tokens, and you do not own any part of RISE or any entity as a result of owning RISE tokens. | https://medium.com/rise-vision/rise-newsletter-2018-highlights-95d82a509057 | ['Rise Team'] | 2019-01-02 21:52:11.906000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', '2018', 'JavaScript', 'Typescript', 'RISE Core 1.2.0 '] |
Global warming. Global warming | foto©robcullen2017
Global warming
-
The riding of skateboards on the platform
is prohibited under the Railways Act regulation 30.
The person may be prosecuted.
If you see anything suspicious spot it, bin it, sort it.
—
The tidal bore rose along the tracks
Between platforms four and five,
water seeped over the rails,
rafts of bladder rack,
moved in on the tide
-
The height of the tidal bore,
took everyone standing,
on platform five by surprise
some smiled.
-
The crowd of surfers grinned,
surfboards in hand waiting,
for the wave to crest,
and then dive in.
-
Dolphins dived in and out,
as the water deepened,
and the tidal bore grew.
-
The recorded voice of the station announcer,
said once again.
“If you see anything suspicious
Spot it, bin it, sort it.”
-
Meanwhile the 8.30 train,
rounded the bend,
in full sail and a following wind,
we’ll need to get used to
climate change and rising seas,
no one will be left standing.
-
“If you see anything suspicious
Spot it, bin it, sort it.”
-
©robcullen122020.
-
foto©robcullen122017
This poem was inspired by standing on the railway station in Cardiff — a city which will be lost by rising seas and is already showing signs of what will come by rising groundwater — and listening to the station announcements which are intended to raise alertness to terrorists bombs. But being of a creative and imaginative mind I thought the announcement could equally be used to raise awareness to global warming — and indeed deranged presidents assuming the guise of Hippopotami in Tutu’s…read on dear reader!
So now that the debacle of an election from hell is grinding to a close, by hook or by crook — “Yes we can”!
Once the ghost of the elephant has been ushered out of the room — “Yes we can”!
Once Brexit and the Ghost of Marley has been bidden to Christmases past — “Yes we can”!
And mass inoculation of the covid vaccine has been achieved — “Yes we can”!
We can now get on with the job of finding solutions to climate change and keeping our politicians and the capitalist hierarchy to the millstone of getting it done — “Yes we can”!
Too much time has been lost with the antics and drama of the hippopotami in tutu’s wasting our emotional energies and diverting our attention — Thinking of the late president as a Hippopotami in a tutu has been the only way I have been able to cope with the scariness of his derangement.
Its a well known technique used to help children deal with bullies!
It works!
So good people, time to roll our sleeves up, and solve the problem that really matters — SAVING EARTH!
This what resistance is about.
©robcullen122020 | https://medium.com/resistance-poetry/-532a644a1b58 | ['Rob Cullen'] | 2020-12-13 15:01:19.489000+00:00 | ['Save Mother Earth', 'Poetry On Medium', 'Resistance Poetry', 'Free Verse', 'Climate Change'] |
Prostitution is illegal only because people find it morally objectionable. | Prostitution is illegal only because people find it morally objectionable. That means even when women choose to sell sexual services, they are committing a crime, and that’s ridiculous.
And just like *I* wouldn’t want to change the diapers of an elderly person for pay, I still don’t look down on people who do. I offer that type of employee the respect and dignity that I want to receive for doing my job.
I think that women (and men and trans people) who choose to sell sex should be able to do so safely. The term trafficking needs to be redefined. The owner of an agency who books a client for an employee, who happens to live out of state, should not be prosecuted for arranging to send that employee over state lines to accept money from that client for sex.
True traffickers, who coerce women into doing prostitution, should be prosecuted as well as anyone dealing with minors. Those are crimes.
But the sole act of sharing one’s body with different men for money is not a crime. It’s hurtful to consensual sex workers when it’s seen as such.
The only reason I bristle at “legalization” is because I look at what’s happened in Nevada, where sex workers are marginalized into certain remote parts of the state and must work in a licensed house. I have found more freedom working independently. That is why I’m a proponent of decriminalization.
However, if legalizing and therefore regulating prostitution along the lines of what’s happened with marijuana in California, then I’m definitely in favor of that. Marijuana has gone from being viewed as a “gateway drug” to a medicine that I can openly speak about smoking in front of my children.
If we could evolve to view sex work in those terms, then I think it would greatly help and protect the women who choose to do this line of work. | https://medium.com/@mysteriouswitt/prostitution-is-illegal-only-because-people-find-it-morally-objectionable-56a7a46231b8 | ['Mysterious Witt'] | 2021-05-07 16:54:20.388000+00:00 | ['Prostitution', 'Law', 'Sex Work', 'Morality', 'Sexuality'] |
There’s no way to escape social media | The year 2020 has been, well, challenging to say the least. But not for social media! With all the working from home, the lockdowns and quarantines, social media is thriving in an all-time high demand.
As a venture hub and marketing agency, eCartic is keeping a close eye on the latest trends and novelties on social media. Without a doubt, social media plays a huge role in digital marketing activities and the brand’s reputation these days. Recent data shows that more than half of the world now uses social media with an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes per day switching between an average of 8 social networks and messaging apps.
Not only people have started to use social media more to keep in touch, to entertain themselves, but also to support their small businesses, because, let’s face it — if your business doesn’t exist on social media, how will people find you during a lockdown?
However, the situation has changed the content production too, now more than ever people are hungry for fresh fast-produced content, not to be confused with lesser quality, the visual look, as well as theme coherency, is still important.
With this intention, social media platforms have made it easy to generate engaging content fast, with little planning, and without involving a huge team of professionals, making it easy for individuals and small businesses. We’ve seen big and small companies live-stream events and conferences, roll out home-made advertising campaigns, use influencer generated content, and take the advantage of the ‘’here and now’’ that has never been as important as it is with our current situation.
It has been a great year for Tiktok; this generation-Z popular platform has doubled its downloads just over a year, becoming a close rival to Instagram, which fortunately hasn’t been sitting it out. Not only did Instagram quickly react to the popularity of Tiktok videos and rolled out its own version ‘’Reels”, but also launched ‘’Guides’’, re-shaped the home screen and shopping functionalities on the app. Not stopping there, they also broadened the promotion options and made it possible for brands to directly promote collaboration partner’s posts, which is great for increasing both brand awareness and sales.
It’s important to realize that also user behavior has changed during this oversaturated period of time — people aren’t as naive as they used to be and have learned to question the things seen and read online. Authenticity is key. People are looking to connect and to join online communities, they want to read about real experiences, real problems, and participate in problem solving to celebrate victories together — online. More and more influencers have started to talk about mental health issues, the pressure social media exerts on us (and especially young people), and even have started to share their real-life vs Instagram realities.
Notably, Influencer marketing as we knew it has changed too. Followers have started to pay attention to how many of the influencer posts are advertisements, forcing influencers to be more creative and to carefully consider the amount (and brands) they’re promoting on their feed.
In summary, the year 2020 has made it clear — social media is and will continue to be a powerful marketing tool that can’t be ignored. I’m excited to see what the next year will bring to us — social media marketers. | https://medium.com/ecartic/theres-no-way-to-escape-social-media-d2d9fd19a309 | ['Linda Gasa'] | 2020-12-17 12:44:24.385000+00:00 | ['Social Media Marketing', 'Influencer Marketing', 'Content Marketing', 'Social Media'] |
Jackie Lacey, Protect Your Black Female Employees | Jackie Lacey, Protect Your Black Female Employees
Dear Madam District Attorney Jackie Lacey,
When news of your $950,000 settlement with Senior D.A. Investigator Regina Crenshaw came out, I was disappointed that you refused to comment on the horrible treatment she received in the Office that you lead. If you are going to use precious tax-payer dollars to settle allegations of racial discrimination and sexual harassment, one expects it would at least be paired with acknowledging the pain suffered by the victims and punishing the perpetrators who inflicted that pain.
Sadly, I have witnessed firsthand too many incidents of racial discrimination and sexual harassment against Black women in this Office. It wasn’t until I worked here that I truly understood these words from Malcolm X: “The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.”
For example, I worked in a branch office where a white male supervisor called a Black female deputy district attorney a “sarcastic bitch” in front of another colleague. This man had been in the office for over 30 years and had an equally long and well-documented history of racist and sexist behavior. Amazingly, not only did this supervisor keep his job, he also continued supervising the Black female subordinate he had publicly maligned (everyone in the branch office knew about the incident). Although her allegations were reported, she was never informed of the investigation’s outcome — even though the allegations themselves were found to be true.
I was also working in the same branch office when the same white supervisor set his sights on another Black female deputy district attorney. She was a committed employee who was balancing work while caring for a sick parent, who was in the hospital. She transferred to this particular branch office so that she could easily visit her mother. Among other acts, the aforementioned supervisor constantly harassed this attorney about taking time off (even though those requests were previously approved) and her case preparation (even though her cases were diligently prepared). After threatening to fire her, he eventually demoted her, citing her situation with her mother.
Fortunately, the demotion was quickly reversed following a complaint. Nonetheless, the supervisor kept his job and his position as the leader of the branch office. He also continued the harassment. In fact, the harassment got so bad that the Black female attorney decided to transfer to another branch office, which was inconveniently farther away from her ailing parent.
I later discovered that such harassment was this supervisor’s ongoing attempt to reduce the number of Black deputy district attorneys in the branch office; he told his management team that there were “too many Blacks” and something had “to be done about it.”
A member of this supervisor’s management team told two Black deputy district attorneys about the statement and even wrote an email to himself documenting the supervisor’s statements. Based on what I observed, the supervisor’s strategy was to focus on the Black women first because he found them to be “easy” targets. I reported these incidents to you, Ms. Lacey, and your management team. Despite making my complaints, the supervisor — and his allies — still remained in the Office for some time.
While working in a special unit within the Office, I also observed the brutal treatment of another Black female deputy district attorney who had the courage to report the sexual harassment of a colleague who confided to her. The victim of the harassment never intended to make a formal complaint, which many victims are often afraid to do. Instead, she quietly endured the harassment for several years. Instead of being commended for reporting the harassment, the reporter received harsher punishment than the perpetrator, who is still on the payroll despite the overwhelming evidence of his guilt. She was demoted and forcibly transferred to another branch office. I knew about this case because I was there, in real time, when all this unfolded.
Sadly, these incidents are just the tip of the iceberg. So many stories from Black women — stories of sexism and racism and nothing being done to make it stop. Ironically, many of the perpetrators continue to work in this Office that you head as the first African American and the first woman. Under your leadership, you have fostered an environment where white men with authority have free reign to victimize and revictimize.
If you, Ms. Lacey, cannot dignify the humanity of Black women under your watch, who else is going to? If you, Ms. Lacey, cannot commit to making changes to protect Black women who work for you, then who else will?
Contrary to your statements in the article regarding Ms. Crenshaw’s settlement, it is not safe to report incidents of racial discrimination and sexual harassment. Most victims of these practices are outed, shamed, and left vulnerable to retaliation from the perpetrators and their allies. Ms. Crenshaw was absolutely correct when she said that this Office “has the entire management staff and their sympathizers at their disposal to keep the aggression going.” She was also correct when she said that “we need change in this office.”
In speaking out on this issue, I hope to inspire others to come forward to spark that much-needed change. As we speak, there are people here who are still suffering. While I am fearful of the aggression that will surely come, I can no longer remain silent and hide in the shadows.
Whoever wins this election must work hard to repair this broken culture so that everyone feels protected, particularly Black women. You cannot claim that Black Lives Matter when you do not value the lives of your own Black employees, particularly those made especially vulnerable by the combined forces of racism and sexism.
In her op-ed for the New York Times, Megan Thee Stallion said it best when she wrote, “[Black women] deserve to be protected as human beings.” Therefore, if you, Ms. Lacey, are unwilling to protect your own Black female employees as human beings, then I am requesting that you step aside and allow someone who is.
-Adewale Oduye, Deputy District Attorney III | https://medium.com/@spookybrownesq/jackie-lacey-protect-your-black-female-employees-69921034287 | ['Spooky Brown'] | 2020-11-15 13:11:37.318000+00:00 | ['BlackLivesMatter', 'Crime', 'Politics', 'Sexual Harassment', 'District Attorney'] |
Acche Papa: A Tribute | As the world continues its battle against the novel coronavirus, this post is a hybrid between a poignant reminder of the most tragic event of my life and recounting an inspirational life that we can take a leaf out of in today’s VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex & Ambiguous) world, regardless of the age or life stage to which we belong.
Tragedy: My father left us for his heavenly abode on 25th April due to complications caused by covid. I lived through a nightmare as I flew from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Pune, India to make a dash at saving his life amidst tremendous odds. My brother and I made all attempts to provide him with the medical attention, treatment and injections needed for him to sustain a tough battle with the virus that had gone berserk in the second wave in India.
However, his age, comorbidity (diabetes since last few years) and perhaps absence of optimal and timely medical care led to a severe infection of his lungs that he could not recover from. After a valiant battle for about 2 weeks, he breathed his last on 25th April, leaving all of us — my mother (who had just returned home a night before from covid treatment in another hospital), my brother (who fought a lonely battle tending to both my parents for several days till I reached Pune), my sister (who flew in from the US amidst few challenges of her own) and me — feeling forlorn and inconsolable. Undoubtedly, this was the toughest and most tragic phase of my life.
Inspiration: I have tried to make an honest attempt at documenting some of the priceless qualities that Papa embodied that should guide me (and others alike) in my life.
Service before self: I will always remember Papa as someone who was extremely passionate about his work. He worked throughout his life for LIC of India, India’s largest Life Insurance company. His working life revolved around helping people ensure their families were well protected and also taking care of timely settlement of Insurance claims of dependents, after the sad demise of the Insured. It’s indeed sad that I am writing this as part of a tribute to his own life after his death. Living in a world when private sector jobs with their aggressive work cultures had not yet pervaded working lives in Tier II cities (I was brought up in Patna, capital city of state of Bihar), I found this a distinct departure from the generally followed norms for Govt/ semi — Govt jobs. Family comes first: Though coming from a middle class background, my siblings and I were given perhaps the best education our city had to offer. Also, amidst the ups and downs of our academic lives & career pursuits, he always made us feel that financial aspects shall be taken care of; though in retrospect, I feel he had gone out of his way to support us. Wherever we siblings are in our lives now, a lion’s share of the credit goes to him for backing us all the way, all the time. Likewise, he did all that he could for his mother till the end (she died around age 85); the trials and tribulations he had to go through in her old age were for all of us to see and seek inspiration from. There are numerous anecdotes I remember where he either fought for his siblings or supported them whole — heartedly in times of their need. Project Manager par excellence (family events): In a world that had not yet woken up to Social Media and where mobile phones were absent, he miraculously maintained close bonds with an extended family. He took pride in becoming the ‘Man Friday’ on all social occasions and used to take charge not only to guide others on making arrangements/ following rituals, but also to ensure that all aspects of the event were addressed perfectly and well in time. Those were the times of the proverbial ‘Big Fat Indian weddings’ replete with rituals spread over multiple days (outsourcing of activities were not in vogue yet and there was tremendous effort needed in executing tasks, especially if one belonged to the bride’s family) and he thrived in the responsibilities associated with conceptualising as well as executing all tasks associated with a wedding. He conceptualised and executed a mental Project Plan for such events with clinical precision; a Project Manager in today’s world can only marvel at such perfection. Detail — orientation: He was extremely detail — oriented. He maintained ready lists at home that had (i) birthdays of all family members including his son — in — law, daughter — in — law and grand kids (among others) to ensure that he was always able to wish them timely, (ii) contact details of all key doctors, pharmacy stores, grocery stores, et al, (iii) numbers of all TV Channels as a ready reckoner and much much more. I started maintaining separate folders for Insurance policies as per his guidance. It was extremely saddening to find a section related to execution of last rites in Pune neatly mentioned in one of his lists — he had tried planning that as well (though sadly, the last rites could only be performed as defined by the Govt for covid deaths). Disciplined life: His life was an epitome of how to manage one’s daily life for maintaining health (though he could not prevent the onset of diabetes, which was hereditary). There are a plethora of Self — help/ Personal development books available covering morning routine, work routine, journaling, exercising, meditating, evening/ wind down routine, et al for a good life. He followed a strict diet all along, did Puja (worshipping God as per Hindu rituals) every morning, ensured that he had meals at the right time and slept for adequate hours every single day. Fighting for what’s right: Amidst being a role model in many other ways, he also taught us to fight us for what was right in an ethical manner. I remember he waged a battle with an Insurance company for Mediclaim after one hospitalisation, long after I had given up. The Insurance company had to budge and pay the required claim amount that was rightfully due to be paid (tragically, that reminds me that his own Mediclaim has still not been settled by the concerned company!). The never — say — die attitude was ingrained in his DNA.
(Aside:) I did not have the courage to put his picture on this tribute and chose to instead use a small token I had gifted to him on Father’s Day last year — a cushion with the words ‘Acche Papa’ (‘Good Papa’ in Hindi). This Father’s Day was very painful for me, as all the e-commerce companies I used to order small gifts for Papa kept on reminding me to send a gift this year. I wish there were a bridge connecting Earth & Heaven for me to let something reach him this year as well….to let him know that I will never be able to repay the debt I owe to him.
It would perhaps be apt to conclude this post with words from a famous Ghazal sung by my favourite singer, the legendary late Jagjit Singh (I had the privilege of taking my parents and brother to one of his live performances in Mumbai a decade or so back):
‘Chitthi na koi sandesh, Jaane woh kaun sa desh, Jahan tum chale gaye….’
(Loosely translated in English as: You have gone to an alien country without sending any letter/ intimation to us).
I am sure wherever he is resting in heaven, his blessings will continue for his family. He will forever be my North Star and I hope to imbibe some of his qualities in my life. This post shall serve as a reminder to me for that.
(Aside:) My heart goes out to families affected by the covid pandemic. I would like to pray to God to let the departed souls Rest in Peace and provide courage to their family members to withstand the irreparable loss. Amen. | https://medium.com/@sauravanand_2854/acche-papa-a-tribute-f35db8e1da19 | ['Saurav Anand'] | 2021-08-06 15:57:20.520000+00:00 | ['Tribute', 'Inspirational', 'Fathers', 'Obituary', 'Covid 19'] |
Forecasting Hard Coral Coverage with ARIMA | What’s the future of the world’s coral reefs?
In February of 2020, scientists at University of Hawaii Manoa released a study addressing this very question. The models they developed forecasted a 70–90% worldwide loss of coral by 2040. Even more alarming, they projected that “few to zero suitable coral habitats will remain” by the year 2100.
So, the future of coral doesn’t look great.
Interested in seeing these numbers firsthand, today we will develop our own forecasts of hard corals in the Caribbean. After restructuring the data, we’ll fit an extremely famous time series model: ARIMA. ARIMA has been popularized due to its simplicity and specific ability to fit time series data. Once we have a working model, we’ll develop a forecast.
Let’s jump right in.
Why do you need to aggregate?
We’ll start by taking a look at our raw data. In this case, we are going to be building a univariate model, so we’re only concerned with hard coral percent cover (i.e. the estimated percentage of hard coral on the sea floor).
Figure 1: Average daily % cover for hard coral on Caribbean reefs. Data source is Reef Check.
In the figure to the left, we have plotted the daily average of hard coral over time (blue). The y-axis shows the percent cover and the x-axis shows the date, ranging from 1997–2019. We also plotted a weighted linear regression line (red) to depict the overall trend.
Ok, seems straight-forward.
But if we try to interpret these data, we see a blue mess with a negative trend line; there appears to be little systematic movement. Moreover, according to the regression line, hard coral only decreased by around 4% over the past 22 years. That’s pretty hard to believe. So, as creative and skilled data scientists, let’s try some manipulations and see if we can develop a clearer picture.
First, it’s important to know how the data are organized. Unlike most time series datasets, these data were sampled at different locations around the Caribbean with few subsequent draws at the same site. Moreover, they are not equally sampled over time. So, to account for the above points, let’s aggregate the data by time. | https://medium.com/data-diving/forecasting-hard-coral-coverage-with-arima-48d8b3142257 | ['Michael Berk'] | 2021-06-11 22:29:40.879000+00:00 | ['Time Series Analysis', 'Statistics', 'Coral Reefs', 'Data Science', 'Time Series Forecasting'] |
CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION | CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION
The first time I really though of Global Warming as a concept, I was in a hall, competing for a seat in my state Children’s parliament. I was 11 or 12, at the time, and when someone was asked for the definition of Global Warming, one of the judges immediately requested that the question be changed, as it was too mature. Now, from an environmental angle, is Global warming a mature subject?
Like every other concept, education is a very important tool for combating climate change– maybe even the most important– as nothing can be done without it. Without Climate Education, there is no Climate Action.
However, in most parts of the world, Climate Change is still an underdiscussed subject among many people, and the only education comes from the occasional non-governmental organization. Even among elites, those who know the definition of Global Warming usually don’t have a thorough understanding of the term, as they don’t really understand how it relates to their everyday life.
How can we help?
Catching children young by adding climate-related topics to the curriculum, and include climate-related programs on children channels: When children learn about Climate, they’ll discuss with their parents, and peers, and spread the word. They’ll also take action on climate change within their limited capacities. As these children grow older, they’ll become strong advocates, as they have known about Climate Change and Global Warming since they were young. Creating eco-groups where Climate information, and latest trends in Climate Change are discussed and analyzed: When people come around to discuss about Climate change in groups, they’ll be challenged to surpass the other members of the group in taking measures to reduce the impact of climate change. Also, people would learn more about Climate change as they can learn from each other and share ideas. Creating, and joining non-profit groups that help to spread the word: Beyond knowing about Climate Change, the education is never complete until those who know begin to tell those who do not, thereby increasing the number of people who are well educated about Climate change.
Climate Change is a subject that affects all and sundry. So, there is no age restriction to Climate Change Education. All of us are part of the Earth, and we need to be well informed about Climate Change. Of course, the circle isn’t complete unless we teach someone else.
So learn, then tell somebody to tell somebody. | https://medium.com/@infogwsf/climate-change-education-c1b9ad86926a | ['Global Warming Shield Foundation', 'Gwsf'] | 2020-12-14 01:08:39.376000+00:00 | ['Climate Change', 'Global Warming'] |
A brief note on aliens | On the recent Proxima Centauri radio signal causing people to talk about aliens, a caveat is necessary.
First, it didn´te repeat itself. Second, just because they found a single solitary radio signal coming in from Proxima Centauri they think it´s aliens? Speculation is not science. Every time in the past when radio signals like those have been discovered, they turn out to be from other sources.
Parkes radio observatory in Parkes, Australia, which made the discovery
Parkes identified near Sydney in New South Wales
Unfortunately, the lack of science discoveries (other than high energy lasers and semiconductors in ultra cold temperatures and graphene applications and quantum computing and quantum tunnelling, etc, which are really more engineering feats), have led to sensationalistic speculation which is not scientific (like saying Oumamua was an alien spaceship). Even CERN hasn´t given much to talk about since the Higgs-Boson discovery in 2012 (about a particle predicted since 1964).
Oumamua interstellar object
And then there´s the nonsensical theoretical side, which as Sabine Hossenfelder writes, has led physics astray.
Enrico Fermi, the famous, Manhattan Project scientist, once said about aliens: “where are they?”, his questioning became known as Fermi´s paradox.
If the nearest aliens are in Proxima Centauri (the star nearest to us), a red dwarf star, 4.2 light years away (40 trillion kilometres), at what speed could they travel? How long would they have to live to get here? How could they avoid/protect themselves from cosmic rays/gamma rays/hydrogen atoms in ultra fast interstellar travel?
Proxima Centauri illustration
It seems far away, but not really in interstellar distances.
Could an Einstein-Rosen bridge (wormhole) be possible in such short interstellar distances? Anyway, it´s a mathematical theory.
As is Alcubierre´s warp drive (already researched by NASA), which necessitates negative energy, which is a physical impossibility.
The Drake equation is a probability equation giving a brief desription of the possibility of finding life and intelligent life in the galaxy and can be extrapolated to the universe, with no certain number.
“Widely quoted but at best vaguely known values for these factors are: R* = 10/yr, fp = 0.5, ne = 2, fl = 1, fi fc = 0.01, and thus N = L/10. Accordingly, if civilizations characteristically destroy themselves within a decade of achieving radio astronomy, which is taken as a marker of an advanced civilization, then N = l, and there are no other intelligent life forms in the Galaxy with whom terrestrial researchers can communicate. If, on the other hand, it is assumed that one percent of the civilizations learn to live with the technology of mass destruction and themselves, then N = 1,000,000, and the nearest advanced civilization would be on average a few hundred light-years away.”
The anthropic principle (widely abused by the STEM uninitiated) states that since we exist (Descartes ergo cogito sum, notwithstanding), and since we are observers in this universe, therefore, the universe exists to allow its observers to observe it, which is why it came into exstence (which reminds me of a radically powerful Eduard Von Hartmann axiom about that, but that´s for another occasion).
The famous Fermi paradox (by italian physicist and Nobel prize winner and Manhattan project manager, Enrico Fermi), is even more rational and succint: if aliens exist, and they have they techonology to visit us, where are they?
If aliens came to earth millions of years ago to create hybrids from them, why would they be so inclined? Proto humans at the time were basically apes, so not very attractive for such a superior interstellar race to copulate with (with all their viruses that could severely affect them).
Or why would, instead of copulating, would they conduct petri dish experiments to create us as a hybrid species? If they came and left no trace, that means they´re wise and respect the “prime directive” not to interfere. So they wouldn´t have.
Or if as Hawking said, a superior species (with human ambition), would be interested in conquering (with all the associated pillage and plunder), why didn´t they conquer us?
Why do aliens only appear to uneducated farmers in the middle of nowhere? Why don´t they appear in their mothership in the middle of Hyde/Central/Gorky parks so that educated people and even academics could attest to their presence?
Satellite picture of Area 51, Nevada
All that talk of Hangar 18 and Area 51 and Rosswell is more mythical than reality, because if the US army really had alien technology there since the late 40´s (1947), then their aeronautical weaponry and space technology would be far superior than the russians´ or the chinese´s, and clearly, it is not.
US F22 Raptor
Russian Su 57 Felon
Chinese J20 Chengdu
Therefore, Occam´s razor has to apply: “Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity. The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct. With all things being equal, the simplest explanation tends to be the right one. Plurality is not to be posited without necessity.” — William of Occam.
Which means that no more things should be presumed to exist than are absolutely necessary, i.e., the fewer assumptions an explanation of a phenomenon depends on, the better the explanation. In layman´s terms, it means that if you see a zebra, assume it´s a zebra, not a unicorn or a pegasus.
And Sir Arthur Conan Doyle´s famous quote would apply as well: “when you remove the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.
If there´s one thing we know about conspiracies, is that they´re not theories, they´re just crazy ideas. A theory by definition, has to be a sound thought construct, with a methodology and a correlation and causation principle which is typically not peer reviewed, therefore, not universally accepted. Whereas a conspiracy is most oftentimes, ignorant or malicious lunacy. | https://medium.com/@ivanloredovidal/a-brief-note-on-aliens-42093505ee53 | ['Ivan Loredo-Vidal'] | 2021-01-14 07:42:03.215000+00:00 | ['Aliens', 'Science', 'Science Fiction', 'Science Communication', 'Science Education'] |
How to Manage Up When You Have Two Managers | My work is split between two managers, and I worry that neither one has full visibility into what I do. How can I make sure this won’t hurt me, especially when it’s time for performance reviews?
Sometimes employees will get split between managers because their core job isn’t enough to fill a work day. One way of looking at this is the company is squeezing out as much work as possible from the human they have employed. (Welcome to capitalism! You are little more than a work unit!)
A more upbeat way to think of it is it can also be a chance for career growth for you, the employee. An additional manager, and a new project or challenge, is a chance to showcase your talents to a wider audience as well as learn from a different leader.
That said, there is a legit reason to worry when your boss comes along to sell you on the benefits of a split manager. How will you be evaluated fairly and holistically when there is no longer just one person tasked with evaluating your work?
To the degree this is in your control, I would strongly advocate for asking that one of your managers has a little more than half of your time. The 51% number is a bit arbitrary, but the point is that you still really want to have one primary manager who oversees the majority of your work and feels they can evaluate your performance on that basis. Otherwise, how will you disabuse them of their notion that you spend most of your time watching YouTube unboxing videos on the job?
You should also try to pin down your managers on the objective. Is this just about getting a specific piece of work done, reporting into an additional manager while you do this? If so, fine, but how long do they expect you will do it? Alternatively, is the assignment about teaching you a new skill and having you work with the person with the relevant expertise? In that case, what does success look like?
Err on the side being an officious bureaucrat and document what you are doing each week via short blurbs that can be emailed to both of your managers.
A common problem employees run into when their work is split across multiple managers is that those managers don’t think the employee is working hard enough or don’t understand why something they’ve asked for isn’t completed more rapidly. Meanwhile, the employee doesn’t know anything is going wrong — they’re plenty busy, between talking about Project A with Manager A and Project B with Manager B.
To head this off before it becomes a problem, I would err on the side of being a bit of an officious bureaucrat and try to document what you are doing each week via short blurbs or snippets that can be emailed to both of your managers simultaneously. This way, you’re providing full visibility into what you are doing, plus you have a nice record you can pull from when you need to write up your self-assessment or prioritize your projects with your managers.
Depending on your company’s performance process, make sure your second manager is inputting into that process and delivering some form of feedback. You might even suggest a three-way meeting right at the start to agree on the objectives — though know your work culture because in lots of fast-moving places, this might seem like overkill and unnecessary.
If all goes well, you will end up with two or more managers who are familiar with your work and will vouch for you during the performance evaluation cycle. Think of it as two upvotes rather than one (and double the networks you can tap into as your career progresses). | https://forge.medium.com/how-to-manage-up-when-you-have-two-managers-1e9f200daa2b | ['Jessica Powell'] | 2019-08-29 11:01:01.339000+00:00 | ['Work', 'Careers', 'Succeed', 'Management', 'Leadership'] |
Avoid exaggerating people… | Hello everyone,
Sometimes we all exaggerate an issue which is essential for us. However, some of us have this more common than usual. It is like how they live their life. In this story, I will strongly suggest that you should avoid them with facts, reasons and examples.
First, I need to explain what I mean; it would help you to understand all the facts I will mention later. I will give three types of behaviour that exaggerating people do.
1- Over-reactions on anything. A slightly different car passes, he/she says whoooo, wtf! Look at this! You add something to his/her plate, he/she shouts, become mad so sudden, talks about it so long. They experience something and response too different. Too happy, too angry, too sad for anything that ordinary people do not care.
2- Exaggerating something is not only being so surprised or over-emotional to react something but also would be speaking, telling about something so unnecessary, no one need to hear it, it is so rubbish, but this people talk about it. What it causes is nothing but low-level life conversation. One of my friends may talk so long about how she feels about a friend who speaks with another friend about something no one cares. They sometimes haunt for small details of events to make gossip or trouble; they can generate additional meanings on certain things to muddy the water.
3- Hidden exaggerating, keeping unnecessary ideas, feelings inside for a long time and never let them go. It affects their behaviour, you see, but it will not be meaning-full in your logic.
Why am I grouping this behaviour? Cause I have been dealing with them in my life intensely. It is still hard for me to get rid of, and it hurt me so much lately.I want to describe how I think about them to show someone like me to avoid them.
I am a direct person who intends to think positive and wish to be blind about unnecessary details that may make me sad. I force myself to be a good thinker about human to survive in this world. I speak fast, little, try to make jokes and understand. On the contrary, exaggerating people makes you sad, and does not care. They may behave you the unfair way, and you would be the one who is guilty cause you to initiate the over-reaction on them. All criticising, bad reactions sour your soul, and you may not realise. You feel stuck in their hell, but no one would understand.
Most importantly, you may loose realism, what is right or wrong? What is common opinion or behaviour about this small issue?
Best way to have good friend or partner, consider them in the beginning, decide what you want from a relation. And do not forget, the quality of your life highly depends on your social circle. Keep it normal; keep it good to be not one of them. | https://medium.com/@bookabstractor/avoid-exaggerating-people-261d10df665e | ['An Abstractor'] | 2020-12-17 19:39:27.054000+00:00 | ['Relations', 'Human Behavior', 'People'] |
Are you a snowmobile enthusiast? You should definitely know about this. | Who said winter wasn’t fun? After all, it is the perfect season for hot chocolate, warm socks, family gatherings… and for exploring the beautiful snow-filled trails out in the country!
But while going far from the city is the perfect plan to experience a feeling of freedom and peace, it also brings its share of challenges. For example, it might be hard to find gas stations and restaurants, especially with the lack of good data reception to search through your favorite mapping application.
Wouldn’t it be great to have a mobile assistant that includes all the snowmobile trails available in the state, as well as nearby services relative to your location? Well, we might have something for you…
Born from a partnership between Mapgears, Igloo Creations (Ondago) and snowmobile federations and associations, our new app available both on iOS and Android does just that. Working both online AND offline (without mobile data), it allows users to easily see their location on the trails, as well as all relevant nearby services, no matter where they are.
First released on December 16th of 2018 for the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC), the app, named Go Snowmobiling Ontario 2018–2019! for this specific federation, is currently being used by thousands of users and made it to 1st place on Google and Apple stores top 10 paid apps list.
Following shortly was the release of the app for the New Brunswick Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (NBFSC), which also made it in the top 10 paid apps for both mobile platforms.
Google Play Store (1st and 5th position) — Apple App Store (1st and 2nd position)
How does it work ?
Once it is installed, the application will download and store the trails data for the whole territory, allowing users to use its core functionalities, even while disconnected from their mobile network.
The app can locate users through the device’s GPS without a need for mobile data connection!
(Don’t worry, we made keeping it lightweight a priority so you can have as much space as possible to store all your photos and favorite apps!)
Using the device’s GPS, the app is able to quickly grab the user’s location and place it on the map for easy route planning. It is then possible to navigate manually to see nearby trails and services or to go through the search menu to list all available gas stations, for example.
Looking for a specific restaurant recommended by a friend? You can type its name in the search bar to find it quickly or browse through the restaurants category to see all the available options close to you. This section also allows you to filter which services are displayed on your map, giving you the option to customize it to your preference.
You can tap on each point to have more information about the service!
BONUS: You can also view a list of snow yours featuring the most scenic routes of a specific sector by tapping the “Snow yours” category!
Once you are set on a destination, the app also enables you to map out an itinerary, giving you the distances as well as the different steps you have to go through on the trails to get there. You can then save it, allowing you to get back to it quickly at any time, or share it with friends and family through your favorite medium (SMS, Facebook messenger, email).
Talking about friends and family, the application also integrates the ability to share your location in real time with specific users. This works by entering a contact through your device’s contacts list or using their email, which will prompt them to accept your invitation the next time they go through their profile.
Note: We take privacy very seriously and no one other than the users you personally add can see your location (not even us!).
Add users to your friends list and activate the sharing option for them to follow you on their own app!
Are you unsure about the conditions of the trails after a big storm? You can view trail statuses in real time by activating the option through the legend. While the real time feature only works through mobile data, you can also view the conditions offline as they were the last time you had access to a mobile network.
Ready to ride along ?
Visit us at https://www.evtrails.com to download the app from your association and to use the interactive trails map.
Your club, association or federation is not listed on the site? Contact us at [email protected] or call us at 1 888–696–5056 #301 to see how we could bring the app over! | https://medium.com/mapgears/are-you-a-snowmobile-enthusiast-you-should-definitely-know-about-this-984a98a32056 | ['Alexandre St-Cyr'] | 2019-06-25 20:25:17.858000+00:00 | ['Android', 'Snowmobiling', 'Mapgears', 'GIS', 'iOS Apps'] |
TOP 5 Tips and Items for Traveling with Kids | TOP 5 Tips and Items for Traveling with Kids HalalTravelscom Feb 2·5 min read
The thought of sitting on a long haul flight with a crying baby is probably every person’s worst nightmare (parent or not), but we are here to tell you that with the right approach and preparation, traveling with kids can be the most AMAZING experience you will ever have!
Even if your child is fussy, that should never be a reason to avoid traveling, because the memories you will make together at your destination far outweigh any downfalls you may have while traveling. We have traveled with both of our girls by plane, train, boat, tuk-tuk and everything in between, and it has been the biggest blessing in our life. We’ve been to about 50 countries with Lina, our 3-year-old, and about half of that with Layana, our 9-month-old (or more if you count the time she was in my belly!), so we’ve compiled a list of (hopefully) helpful tips for traveling with little ones!
Our TOP 5 favorite items while traveling with kids:
#1: Stroller that folds compactly to fit in the overhead bin.
Having a stroller that folds compactly to fit in the overhead bin while traveling is truly a lifesaver! We have found that a lot of times we don’t get our stroller back at the gate even though it is tagged that way and it becomes such a struggle if both our girls are asleep. Sometimes, the only downside is that the strollers are not very durable on rocky or uneven landscapes, but for use around the cities with paved roads these strollers are perfect.
#2: Carrier with soft material.
I would say more important, or just as important as a good stroller is a good carrier! We’ve tried a few brands, and I think we like carriers with soft material better than the more bulky ones — it is easier on our shoulders and just as secure.
#3: Diaper bag that has a lot of room.
Invest in a diaper bag that has a lot of room for a good amount of diapers and snacks, that is easy to carry (like a backpack type), and that has plenty of extras for your own things like portable chargers, etc.
#4: Healthy snacks to prevent a meltdown.
I can’t tell you how many times a good snack has prevented a meltdown (especially since our baby LOVES to eat!). While traveling, it is so easy to pick super unhealthy things to eat (we do it more often than I like), but getting good snacks for the kids at least is a great investment. My kids love yogurt bites and raisins!
#5: Entertainment to keep the little ones busy.
Kid-Sized Headphones: Investing in a good pair of kid-sized headphones for your toddler is seriously a life-saver on long haul flights. We just pop them on Lina’s head and she is content for the entire flight! We may be the exception, but even if it’s just an hour or so of keeping your child entertained, it’s worth it!
Investing in a good pair of kid-sized headphones for your toddler is seriously a life-saver on long haul flights. We just pop them on Lina’s head and she is content for the entire flight! We may be the exception, but even if it’s just an hour or so of keeping your child entertained, it’s worth it! Coloring Book And Colors: Self-explanatory, but the cool thing on a lot of airlines is that they actually provide stuff like this for kids sometimes!
…and for EMERGENCIES ONLY…SWEETS! We see nothing wrong with giving your kid a lollipop or chocolate to diffuse a tantrum in-flight. It’ll make you, your kids, and everyone around you more at peace. We have never had an issue with our girls demanding sweets outside of the flights for the same reason.
We personally have chosen not to travel with car seats. There are options in some locations to rent baby gear such as car seats or strollers, but most of the time we do not use cars to get around and prefer public transportation. In the places where there isn’t really public transport available, we will order a taxi that has car seats available.
Traveling with kids? You might also be interested in reading “ Ultimate Guide for Flight Travel with Kids” and “ Top 5 Benefits of Traveling with Muslim Children “.
Our TOP 5 tips for traveling with kids:
#1: BASINET SEAT: Request a bassinet seat if you have an infant! You get some hands-free time PLUS extra legroom for no extra cost ?
#2: INFLATABLE FOOTREST: Invest in inflatable footrest for your toddler to sleep comfortably if there is not an option for them to lay flat in the seats next to you.
#3: USE A PACIFIER: Whether you are breastfeeding or bottle-feeding, try to feed them or use a pacifier during take-off and touch down — it helps their little ears!
#4: DON’T STRESS! When you stress, your kids stress. Just go with the flow, and understand that your kids may have a meltdown and it’s OK! Everyone on the plane has been a baby at one point in their lives, and if they don’t understand that an airplane is a great new world of smells, sounds and physical feelings for your kids, then that’s on them! You should not have to apologize or feel bad for having children and wanting to show them the world!
#5: PACK LIGHT! You DO NOT need to take every single baby item you own with you!
You can buy diapers, wipes, and baby food anywhere in the world, so just pack enough for a couple of days.
Take only 1 or 2 small toys for your kids to play with because the rest of the time you’ll be out sightseeing anyways!
If you’re traveling for more than a week, still only take 1 week’s worth of clothes or less and just wash and re-use them.
Lina, our toddler, is a dream to travel with, but my younger daughter was a HORRIBLE flier at first. She has gotten better with each flight, so I can say first hand that if your kids don’t do well on their first flight, DO NOT GIVE UP! They will grow and you will learn from each other what works and what doesn’t.
HAPPY AND SAFE TRAVELS! | https://medium.com/@halaltravelscom/top-5-tips-and-items-for-traveling-with-kids-9c7a31cbf415 | [] | 2021-02-02 01:51:03.405000+00:00 | ['Muslim Children', 'Halal Travel', 'Travel Tips', 'Muslim', 'Life Lessons'] |
Avoid accessing class attributes through an instance in python | Let’s begin with the example
Let’s say we want all the shipping containers to start with serial number 1000. The __init__ method which is used to create an instance of this class tries to assign the instance attribute serial to the class attribute next_serial in line 7. This is ok but we have a problem in line 8 where I am trying to update the class attribute next_serial using the instance. Let’s see if this works in the terminal
That didn’t work. Both containers have the same serial number. But why? Let’s look at our class definition again
In line 8 we are trying to modify the class attribute next_serial using the instance but what ends up happening here instead is that we create a new instance attribute next_serial.
So instead lets work on our class definition and try to fix that
This time we are directly accessing the class attribute next_serial using the class name and not self. Let’s run the code again in terminal
There we have it. Works now!
Finally let’s clean up the code and make it more explicit where we meant to access the class attribute
Conclusion
While you can access the class attributes using the instance for read purposes, you cant modify them. To modify class attribute you need to access the attribute using class name. Also, accessing class attribute using the class name makes it more clear to the reader which attribute you meant to access so this helps in project maintenance. Not being careful of this pitfall could cause frustration when debugging failures. | https://levelup.gitconnected.com/avoid-accessing-class-attributes-through-instance-in-python-9f81304c0634 | ['Imran Ali'] | 2020-12-10 14:15:29.285000+00:00 | ['Object Oriented', 'Better Programming', 'Python'] |
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