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https://john-muresianu.medium.com/thinking-citizen-blog-did-ukraine-turn-the-tide-of-war-if-so-how-the-heck-did-this-happen-5d55b7243eb7	medium.com	Thinking Citizen Blog — Did Ukraine Turn the Tide of War? If So, How the Heck Did This Happen?	Thinking Citizen Blog — Monday is Foreign Policy Day	John Muresianu	https://medium.com/@john-muresianu	5d55b7243eb7	https://miro.medium.com/…Gxq8tgb5fGEC.jpg	3 min	2022-09-20T02:56:58.992000	2022-09-20T03:00:07.573000	2022-09-20T03:00:10.204000	1	50	en	Thinking Citizen Blog,Ukraine,War	<section> <p>Thinking Citizen Blog — Monday is Foreign Policy Day</p> <p>Today’s Topic: Did Ukraine Turn the Tide of War? If So, How the Heck Did This Happen?</p> <p>The headlines make it seem that the tide of war has turned. Is this true? If so, what happened? Today excerpts from an article in Time magazine on the topic by James Stavridis, former NATO Supreme Commander. Will the Russians use tactical nuclear weapons? Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.</p> <p>THE HIGH MOBILITY ARTILLERY ROCKET SYSTEM (HIMARS) IS “CONFOUNDING RUSSIAN DEFENSES”</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/300/0e0AMGxq8tgb5fGEC.jpg" width="300" height="225" loading="lazy" /> <p>1. HIMARS is a “five ton truck that can fire long-range guided rockets.”</p> <p>2. Range is 50 miles.</p> <p>3. Payload is 200 pounds of explosives.</p> <p>NB: 16 new models from the US, 10 older models from Germany and Britain.</p> <p>SUPERIOR AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS AND THE SWITCHBLADE DRONE</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/220/0OLb_WtuSSFwPg8b7.jpg" width="220" height="243" loading="lazy" /> <p>1. “But beyond HIMARS, there are a plethora of modern NATO military systems which the Ukrainians have quickly mastered, ranging from air defense systems protecting Ukrainian forces on the ground to high tech missiles that can destroy Russian aircraft and radars.”</p> <p>2. “While NATO has thus far declined to transfer high speed jets to the Ukrainians (discussions continue concerning both MIG-29s and F-16s), the airspace over much of Ukraine remains contested, taking away another critical advantage Russia assumed it would have.”</p> <p>3. “The ground campaign has been significantly aided by the transfer to the Ukrainians of highly capable small unmanned offensive aircraft, including for Switchblade “suicide drone” and other variants that have led to the destruction of numerous Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers.”</p> <p>NB: “Conventional howitzers and massive transfers of ammunition for them, alongside body armor, communications gear, and combat vehicles are helping inflict tens of thousands of casualties (as high as 80,000) on Russian forces. This has also cratered Russian morale, leading to reports of Russian forces simply abandoning their positions and fleeing the battlefield.”</p> <p>THE BLACK SEA SITUATION, INTELLIGENCE, THE MORALE DIFFERENTIAL</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1200/0*qb3IxeOT7swyg2S7.jpg" width="1200" height="675" loading="lazy" /> <p>1. “At sea, western assistance has made the Russian Black Sea Fleet extremely wary, particularly after the sinking of their flagship, the Moskva several months ago.”</p> <p>2. “A combination of maritime drones and medium range cruise missiles prevent the Russians from attempting any amphibious assault behind Ukrainian lines.”</p> <p>3. “Perhaps the most important element of Western support has been intelligence.” That is “long-dwell assessments of Russian positions, vulnerable logistic nodes, troop and armor movements, maritime dispositions of the Black Sea Fleet, and a sense of general Russian intentions.”</p> <p>NB: The morale differential: On the one side soldiers fighting for their families on the other side troops not sure what they are fighting for.</p> <p><a href="https://time.com/6213007/ukraine-offensive-against-russia/">https://time.com/6213007/ukraine-offensive-against-russia/</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/09/us/ukraine-weapons-rockets.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/09/us/ukraine-weapons-rockets.html</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/switchblade-drone-how-the-kamikaze-anti-tank-weapon-works/">Switchblade drone: How the “kamikaze” anti-tank weapon works</a></p> <p>ATTACHMENTS BELOW:</p> <p><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YoOekTQtv5ny34KddMXur1vvPq0nRCSY/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117803846392357255410&rtpof=true&sd=true">#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).</a></p> <p><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UHeexJNhZhaL4yAiA7LD2bxKYfH8SNbs/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117803846392357255410&rtpof=true&sd=true">#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People”</a> — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, 11/17/20</p> <p>Here is a link to the last four years of posts organized by theme: (including the book on foreign policy)</p> <p><a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wtwclP5iPcc-0MnL0NhKBMaWAUMrHkwN">PDF with headlines — Google Drive</a></p> <p>YOUR TURN</p> <p>Please share the coolest or most important thing you learned in the last week, month, or year related to foreign policy. Or, even better, the coolest or most important thing you learned in our life related to foreign policy.</p> <p>This is your chance to make someone else’s day. And to consolidate in your memory something important you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something dear to your heart. Continuity is the key to depth of thought. The prospect of imminent publication, like hanging and final exams, concentrates the mind. A useful life long habit.</p> </section>	Thinking Citizen Blog — Did Ukraine Turn the Tide of War? If So, How the Heck Did This Happen? Thinking Citizen Blog — Monday is Foreign Policy Day Today’s Topic: Did Ukraine Turn the Tide of War? If So, How the Heck Did This Happen? The headlines make it seem that the tide of war has turned. Is this true? If so, what happened? Today excerpts from an article in Time magazine on the topic by James Stavridis, former NATO Supreme Commander. Will the Russians use tactical nuclear weapons? Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate. THE HIGH MOBILITY ARTILLERY ROCKET SYSTEM (HIMARS) IS “CONFOUNDING RUSSIAN DEFENSES” 1. HIMARS is a “five ton truck that can fire long-range guided rockets.” 2. Range is 50 miles. 3. Payload is 200 pounds of explosives. NB: 16 new models from the US, 10 older models from Germany and Britain. SUPERIOR AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS AND THE SWITCHBLADE DRONE 1. “But beyond HIMARS, there are a plethora of modern NATO military systems which the Ukrainians have quickly mastered, ranging from air defense systems protecting Ukrainian forces on the ground to high tech missiles that can destroy Russian aircraft and radars.” 2. “While NATO has thus far declined to transfer high speed jets to the Ukrainians (discussions continue concerning both MIG-29s and F-16s), the airspace over much of Ukraine remains contested, taking away another critical advantage Russia assumed it would have.” 3. “The ground campaign has been significantly aided by the transfer to the Ukrainians of highly capable small unmanned offensive aircraft, including for Switchblade “suicide drone” and other variants that have led to the destruction of numerous Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers.” NB: “Conventional howitzers and massive transfers of ammunition for them, alongside body armor, communications gear, and combat vehicles are helping inflict tens of thousands of casualties (as high as 80,000) on Russian forces. This has also cratered Russian morale, leading to reports of Russian forces simply abandoning their positions and fleeing the battlefield.” THE BLACK SEA SITUATION, INTELLIGENCE, THE MORALE DIFFERENTIAL 1. “At sea, western assistance has made the Russian Black Sea Fleet extremely wary, particularly after the sinking of their flagship, the Moskva several months ago.” 2. “A combination of maritime drones and medium range cruise missiles prevent the Russians from attempting any amphibious assault behind Ukrainian lines.” 3. “Perhaps the most important element of Western support has been intelligence.” That is “long-dwell assessments of Russian positions, vulnerable logistic nodes, troop and armor movements, maritime dispositions of the Black Sea Fleet, and a sense of general Russian intentions.” NB: The morale differential: On the one side soldiers fighting for their families on the other side troops not sure what they are fighting for. https://time.com/6213007/ukraine-offensive-against-russia/ https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/09/us/ukraine-weapons-rockets.html Switchblade drone: How the “kamikaze” anti-tank weapon works ATTACHMENTS BELOW: #1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page). #2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, 11/17/20 Here is a link to the last four years of posts organized by theme: (including the book on foreign policy) PDF with headlines — Google Drive YOUR TURN Please share the coolest or most important thing you learned in the last week, month, or year related to foreign policy. Or, even better, the coolest or most important thing you learned in our life related to foreign policy. This is your chance to make someone else’s day. And to consolidate in your memory something important you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something dear to your heart. Continuity is the key to depth of thought. The prospect of imminent publication, like hanging and final exams, concentrates the mind. A useful life long habit.	164abb92-437c-5183-8247-5ab8c072f732	25/08/2025 15:59:22
https://medium.com/@christinajoywhittaker/what-happens-the-monday-after-a-racist-event-192696991dda	medium.com	What happens the Monday after a racist event…	I remember going back to work after the murder of Philando Castile. I was met with two responses avoidance and apathy. By Monday, I broke.	Christina Joy Whittaker	https://medium.com/@christinajoywhittaker	192696991dda	https://miro.medium.com/max/2000/0*ecVnlthAn5pyIF1x	2 min	2020-06-01T19:23:21.637000	2020-06-01T19:48:05.323000	2021-12-14T18:17:16.532000	0	0	en	Business,Work,Mental Health,Diversity,BlackLivesMatter	<section> <h1>What happens the Monday after a racist event…</h1> <p>I remember going back to work after the murder of Philando Castile.</p> <p>As the only person of color on my team, I was met with two responses: complete avoidance and complete apathy.</p> <p>There was no in-between.</p> <p>Even though the death of Philando Castile happened right on the heels of the killing of Alton Sterling, I’d been able to hold it together emotionally.</p> <p><strong>Was I angry? No doubt. But I didn’t let it show.</strong></p> <p>But that Monday after, I broke. After leaving yet another meeting that should have been an email, being pressed to meet deadlines, and observing everyone around me go on with life as if nothing happened the tears started to fall.</p> <p><strong>They were silent, so no one knew, but they were there.</strong></p> <p>I was sad. I was tired. I was done.</p> <p>For professionals of color, returning to work the Monday after racist events can be the hardest day.</p> <ul> <li>It’s typically the day when others around you have ceased their tiptoeing and fully returned to the normal routine of micro-aggressions,</li> <li>It’s the day when others have deemed your period of grief to be over because…” you didn’t know the guy personally”</li> <li>It’s the day when the initial placated empathetic looks fade in place of energetic quarterly projections and team-building activities.</li> </ul> <p>It’s also the day when the images of bloodied bodies and the cries of desperation and hurt that seized every single screen you own become cemented in your psyche,</p> <p>It’s also the day when you realize you’re just waiting with bated breath until another incident happens again. You just silently pray that it’s not your brother, your father, your sister, or your mother.</p> <p><strong>The Monday after a racist event is hard.</strong></p> <ul> <li>For those of you back in the office walking around in a daze.</li> <li>For those of you who are bathroom break #5 to let out your silent screams and tears,</li> <li>For those of you brave enough to show your face on Zoom calls, trying to steady your voice and hold back tears,</li> <li>For those of you who needed to sit behind a smiling profile picture while you gathered your emotions,</li> <li>And for those of you who just couldn’t today..and so you didn’t…</li> </ul> <p>We see you, we feel you, and you are not alone.</p> <p><strong>Know that there is hope.</strong></p> <p>Christina Joy Whittaker is a professional speaker, personal brand & career strategist and leadership development coach. As the founder of Pivot Brand Group, she partners with individuals to grow their personal brands and with organizations to engage and retain diverse talent.</p> </section>	Photo by munshots on Unsplash What happens the Monday after a racist event… I remember going back to work after the murder of Philando Castile. As the only person of color on my team, I was met with two responses: complete avoidance and complete apathy. There was no in-between. Even though the death of Philando Castile happened right on the heels of the killing of Alton Sterling, I’d been able to hold it together emotionally. Was I angry? No doubt. But I didn’t let it show. But that Monday after, I broke. After leaving yet another meeting that should have been an email, being pressed to meet deadlines, and observing everyone around me go on with life as if nothing happened the tears started to fall. They were silent, so no one knew, but they were there. I was sad. I was tired. I was done. For professionals of color, returning to work the Monday after racist events can be the hardest day. It’s typically the day when others around you have ceased their tiptoeing and fully returned to the normal routine of micro-aggressions, It’s the day when others have deemed your period of grief to be over because…” you didn’t know the guy personally” It’s the day when the initial placated empathetic looks fade in place of energetic quarterly projections and team-building activities. It’s also the day when the images of bloodied bodies and the cries of desperation and hurt that seized every single screen you own become cemented in your psyche, It’s also the day when you realize you’re just waiting with bated breath until another incident happens again. You just silently pray that it’s not your brother, your father, your sister, or your mother. The Monday after a racist event is hard. For those of you back in the office walking around in a daze. For those of you who are bathroom break #5 to let out your silent screams and tears, For those of you brave enough to show your face on Zoom calls, trying to steady your voice and hold back tears, For those of you who needed to sit behind a smiling profile picture while you gathered your emotions, And for those of you who just couldn’t today..and so you didn’t… We see you, we feel you, and you are not alone. Know that there is hope. Christina Joy Whittaker is a professional speaker, personal brand & career strategist and leadership development coach. As the founder of Pivot Brand Group, she partners with individuals to grow their personal brands and with organizations to engage and retain diverse talent.	f5c5db1c-ce37-5f1e-9a91-962709984e0a	25/08/2025 15:59:23
https://medium.com/best-office-furniture/review-48-x-30-modular-desk-by-mayline-office-furniture-14c3d2227d35	medium.com	Review 48" x 30" Modular Desk by Mayline Office Furniture	null	Michelle Wisdom	https://medium.com/@michellewisdom	14c3d2227d35	null	2 min	2018-09-07T14:25:47.925000	2018-03-17T13:04:55	2018-09-07T14:35:47.825000	0	0	en	Furniture,Mayline Office Furniture,Office Furniture	<section> <p><strong>Review 48" x 30" Modular Desk by Mayline Office Furniture</strong> Buy Link: <a href="http://03.edhoyz.co/go/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5qZG9xb2N5LmNvbS9jbGljay03MTg4MTkzLTEyNDUxMjQyP3VybD1odHRwJTNBJTJGJTJGd3d3Lm9mZmljZWZ1cm5pdHVyZTJnby5jb20lMkZwcm9kdWN0JTJGTUtBMjY3JTJGNDgtaW4teC0zMC1pbi1Nb2R1bGFyLURlc2stYnktTWF5bGluZS1PZmZpY2UtRnVybml0dXJlLmFzcHglM0ZjYXQlM0QxMDFBMjdBMDYtTUtBMjY3">CLICK HERE</a></p> <h3>48" x 30" Modular Desk by Mayline Office Furniture Product Description:</h3> <p><strong>48" x 30" Modular Desk by Mayline Office Furniture</strong>. Mayline's e5 desking line was designed to be easy to specify. Components, when rearranged, work in a variety of office setting offering a uniform and coordinated look throughout the line. Surface thickness is 1–1/8" pressed wood particle boardwith thermally fused laminate on both sides, then finished with a 2mm thick, color-matched PVC edge. e5 desking pieces are available in 18 different color combinations. All storage units are constructed using thermally-fused laminate and are supported by painted steel kegs 1–7/8" high with adjustable levelers. This U Shaped desk configuration includes: ?72" x 30" top with BBF pedestal (Left) and acrylic modesty panel ?42" bridge with acrylic modesty panel ?72" x 24" top with BBF pedestal (Left) ?Horizontal and vertical hutch support modules ?72" overhead cabinet with frosted glass doors Finger pull bottoms on hutch doors. Ships ready for assembly – pedestals ship assembled. Mayline's e5 desking line was designed to be easy to specify. Components, when rearranged, work in a variety of office setting offering a uniform and coordinated look throughout the line. Surface thickness is 1–1/8" pressed wood particle boardwith thermally fused laminate on both sides, then finished with a 2mm thick, color-matched PVC edge. e5 desking pieces are available in 18 different color combinations. All storage units are constructed using thermally-fused laminate and are supported by painted steel kegs 1–7/8" high with adjustable levelers. This U Shaped desk configuration includes: ?72" x 30" top with BBF pedestal (Left) and acrylic modesty panel ?42" bridge with acrylic modesty panel ?72" x 24" top with BBF pedestal (Left) ?Horizontal and vertical hutch support modules ?72" overhead cabinet with frosted glass doors Finger pull bottoms on hutch doors. Ships ready for assembly – pedestals ship assembled. Mayline's e5 desking line was designed to be easy to specify. Components, when rearranged, work in a variety of office setting offering a uniform and coordinated look throughout the line. Surface thickness is 1–1/8" pressed wood particle boardwith thermally fused laminate on both sides, then finished with a 2mm thick, color-matched PVC edge. e5 desking pieces are available in 18 different color combinations. All storage units are constructed using thermally-fused laminate and are supported by painted steel kegs 1–7/8" high with adjustable levelers. This U Shaped desk configuration includes: ?72" x 30" top with BBF pedestal (Left) and acrylic modesty panel ?42" bridge with acrylic modesty panel ?72" x 24" top with BBF pedestal (Left) ?Horizontal and vertical hutch support modules ?72" overhead cabinet with frosted glass doors Finger pull bottoms on hutch doors. Ships ready for assembly – pedestals ship assembled. Mayline's e5 desking pieces are constructed with 1–1/8" Thermally Fused Laminate work surfaces. Includes hardware and installation instructions. Modular desk pieces provide a variety of layouts and assemblies. Ships ready for an easy assembly. Price: 439.00 USD. The <em>48" x 30" Modular Desk by Mayline Office Furniture</em> is certainly that and will be a great buy. For this price, the 48" x 30" Modular Desk by Mayline Office Furniture is highly recommended and is a popular choice with lots of people. <a href="http://03.edhoyz.co/go/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5qZG9xb2N5LmNvbS9jbGljay03MTg4MTkzLTEyNDUxMjQyP3VybD1odHRwJTNBJTJGJTJGd3d3Lm9mZmljZWZ1cm5pdHVyZTJnby5jb20lMkZwcm9kdWN0JTJGTUtBMjY3JTJGNDgtaW4teC0zMC1pbi1Nb2R1bGFyLURlc2stYnktTWF5bGluZS1PZmZpY2UtRnVybml0dXJlLmFzcHglM0ZjYXQlM0QxMDFBMjdBMDYtTUtBMjY3">Buy it Now</a></p> <p><a href="http://03.edhoyz.co/cheap-48-x-30-modular-desk-by-mayline-office-furniture">Cheap 48" x 30" Modular Desk by Mayline Office Furniture</a> is a post from: <a href="http://03.edhoyz.co">Office Experts</a></p> </section>	Review 48" x 30" Modular Desk by Mayline Office Furniture Review 48" x 30" Modular Desk by Mayline Office Furniture Buy Link: CLICK HERE 48" x 30" Modular Desk by Mayline Office Furniture Product Description: 48" x 30" Modular Desk by Mayline Office Furniture. Mayline's e5 desking line was designed to be easy to specify. Components, when rearranged, work in a variety of office setting offering a uniform and coordinated look throughout the line. Surface thickness is 1–1/8" pressed wood particle boardwith thermally fused laminate on both sides, then finished with a 2mm thick, color-matched PVC edge. e5 desking pieces are available in 18 different color combinations. All storage units are constructed using thermally-fused laminate and are supported by painted steel kegs 1–7/8" high with adjustable levelers. This U Shaped desk configuration includes: ?72" x 30" top with BBF pedestal (Left) and acrylic modesty panel ?42" bridge with acrylic modesty panel ?72" x 24" top with BBF pedestal (Left) ?Horizontal and vertical hutch support modules ?72" overhead cabinet with frosted glass doors Finger pull bottoms on hutch doors. Ships ready for assembly – pedestals ship assembled. Mayline's e5 desking line was designed to be easy to specify. Components, when rearranged, work in a variety of office setting offering a uniform and coordinated look throughout the line. Surface thickness is 1–1/8" pressed wood particle boardwith thermally fused laminate on both sides, then finished with a 2mm thick, color-matched PVC edge. e5 desking pieces are available in 18 different color combinations. All storage units are constructed using thermally-fused laminate and are supported by painted steel kegs 1–7/8" high with adjustable levelers. This U Shaped desk configuration includes: ?72" x 30" top with BBF pedestal (Left) and acrylic modesty panel ?42" bridge with acrylic modesty panel ?72" x 24" top with BBF pedestal (Left) ?Horizontal and vertical hutch support modules ?72" overhead cabinet with frosted glass doors Finger pull bottoms on hutch doors. Ships ready for assembly – pedestals ship assembled. Mayline's e5 desking line was designed to be easy to specify. Components, when rearranged, work in a variety of office setting offering a uniform and coordinated look throughout the line. Surface thickness is 1–1/8" pressed wood particle boardwith thermally fused laminate on both sides, then finished with a 2mm thick, color-matched PVC edge. e5 desking pieces are available in 18 different color combinations. All storage units are constructed using thermally-fused laminate and are supported by painted steel kegs 1–7/8" high with adjustable levelers. This U Shaped desk configuration includes: ?72" x 30" top with BBF pedestal (Left) and acrylic modesty panel ?42" bridge with acrylic modesty panel ?72" x 24" top with BBF pedestal (Left) ?Horizontal and vertical hutch support modules ?72" overhead cabinet with frosted glass doors Finger pull bottoms on hutch doors. Ships ready for assembly – pedestals ship assembled. Mayline's e5 desking pieces are constructed with 1–1/8" Thermally Fused Laminate work surfaces. Includes hardware and installation instructions. Modular desk pieces provide a variety of layouts and assemblies. Ships ready for an easy assembly. Price: 439.00 USD. The 48" x 30" Modular Desk by Mayline Office Furniture is certainly that and will be a great buy. For this price, the 48" x 30" Modular Desk by Mayline Office Furniture is highly recommended and is a popular choice with lots of people. Buy it Now Cheap 48" x 30" Modular Desk by Mayline Office Furniture is a post from: Office Experts	db1ca129-1ed0-5c11-add6-e145e0b1e654	25/08/2025 15:59:23
https://lazarussiafa.medium.com/to-save-a-martyr-africas-young-revolutionary-bobi-wine-the-fight-for-freedom-on-the-bcdd9e65d72a	medium.com	TO SAVE A MARTYR: AFRICA’S YOUNG REVOLUTIONARY BOBI WINE & THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM ON THE…	Because it’s easy to see who deserves flowers but all too often we give them to those who are no longer around to smell them.	Lazarus Siafa	https://medium.com/@lazarussiafa	bcdd9e65d72a	https://miro.medium.com/…ud-gRq6BvUg.jpeg	11 min	2021-01-31T08:36:26.981000	2021-01-31T14:32:14.198000	2022-03-30T20:32:38.779000	0	61	en	Africa,Black,Bobi Wine,Elections,Revolution	<section> <p>Because it’s easy to see who deserves flowers but all too often we give them to those who are no longer around to smell them.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/587/1PIy5Y_z2hFfud-gRq6BvUg.jpeg" width="587" height="440" loading="lazy" /> <p>When you think of politics in Africa what comes to mind? Is it dictatorship, ridiculous amounts of political parties, coups, social injustices and warlords whose unspeakable atrocities against their own people are so evil that they’re often believed to be urban myths? Perhaps it’s more enamored visions and thoughts of resiliency, revolution and reverence. I believe that if any of the following come to mind when you think of African politics you wouldn’t be wrong but I also believe that if you grew up or studied in the West, that your correlation with African politics would much closer align with the former.</p> <p>How often do we place our unconscious biases, opinions, skewed perspectives that were painted and force-fed through subpar means of education and conditioned ways of thinking aside? Are we willing to trade them in for tools of enlightenment, knowledge and facts when thinking about the political climate and systems of Africa, the most diverse place on earth? Africa all too often is seen and spoken about as if it were a monolith instead of a large body of 54 individually sovereign nation states, with so much depth, culture, diversity and complexities when it comes to their history and series of events that make up their governmental systems.</p> <p><a href="https://m.veryshortintroductions.com/mobile/view/10.1093/actrade/9780198806578.001.0001/actrade-9780198806578-chapter-1">Africa is a continent of over a billion people, yet questions of underdevelopment, malgovernance and a form of political life based on patronage are characteristics of many African states.</a> One can’t even begin to comprehend the immense complexities when it comes to politics in Africa without first examining the past. History tells us the answers to a lot of question we have today by laying out events, factors and byproducts that both directly and indirectly contribute to the current state of things as we know it. You can see the true value in understanding history by <a href="https://m.veryshortintroductions.com/mobile/view/10.1093/actrade/9780198806578.001.0001/actrade-9780198806578-chapter-1">appraising and examining post-colonial political structures, the impact of colonialism, the form and nature of post-colonial states, as well as the affects of neocolonialism today.</a> There are many contrasts when it comes to the level of political strife or struggle each country is subjected to or has had to endure from country to country and region to region. <a href="https://m.veryshortintroductions.com/mobile/view/10.1093/actrade/9780198806578.001.0001/actrade-9780198806578">Only when exploring the historical and contemporary factors that account for Africa’s underdevelopment will you then also discover why some African countries suffer from high levels of political violence, while others are seemingly sparred.</a> No matter how you look at it, many parts of Africa currently still practice ideologies and political systems that yield extreme amounts of hostility, counter-productivity and are unconducive to nation building and sustainable development.</p> <p>However, amongst the burning rubble and charred ashes of the hardships of reality when it comes to the current state of some African nations, there often rises a voice from the crowd. A voice that trembles but is loud with hope and a powerful agenda for change. A revolutionary. Every country at some point has had a figure, a shining beacon of light that was admired for their courage in the face of unfathomable adversity. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, Samora Machel of Mozambique, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia and Robert Ssentamu, otherwise known as Bobi Wine of Uganda amongst countless others. <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decolonisation_of_Africa#Sudan">The fight for liberation on the African continent is a longstanding one and did not begin with Sudan gaining its independence in 1956 from their European masters, nor did it end with South Sudan gaining its independence from Sudan in 2011.</a> This interesting juxtaposition is what still plagues Africa today. Colonization introduced and infused certain perverted concepts and ideologies that have never been erased. Due to decades of conditioning, even after decolonization these supremacist ways of thinking were only passed on and passed down through blood and transfers of power.</p> <p><strong>“O GOD, WHERE ART THOU?’</strong></p> <p>I’d like to take a moment to shed some light on the Central-East African nation of Uganda, a young man by the name of Bobi Wine and the long but interesting history of events that have led up to what’s currently going on in this country today.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2150/1boUM_-wSJblJnhx2NMg8eg.jpeg" width="2150" height="1394" loading="lazy" /> <p>Uganda is a country completely landlocked by 5 other African nations. It has a population of just over 44 million people and is diverse in ethnic tribes, language and religion. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Uganda">Beginning in 1894, the area was ruled as a protectorate by the UK, which established administrative law across the territory. Uganda gained independence from the UK on October 9th 1962. The period since then has been marked by violent conflicts and crimes against humanity, including an eight-year-long reign of terror and military dictatorship led by one of the most infamous leaders the world has ever seen in Idi Amin.</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/idi-amin-takes-power-in-uganda">General Idi Amin ruled Uganda from 1971 to 1979, after seizing power by way of a military coup on January 25, 1971.</a> He was nicknamed Kijambiya, which means “the machete” for his short temper and swift but calculated decision-making. He was a complex and interesting man from his indoctrination and rise through the ranks of the British Colonial Army in Uganda to his shift from being pro-Western to aligning and pushing the idealisms of Pan-Africanism. However, he will always most be remembered as a man of grave evil as <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/uganda-the-horror-85439313/">his rule was characterized by rampant human rights abuses, including political repression, ethnic persecution and extrajudicial killings. An estimated 80,00–500,000 Ugandans lost their lives during his regime.</a> The Ugandan-Tanzania War of 1979 also known as the 1979 Liberation War by Ugandans, was the catalyst that later led to the overthrow and exile of Idi Amin. <a href="https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/jcs/article/view/4386/5071">The war was fought over territorial land that lied between Uganda and Tanzania known as Kagera Salient.</a> Like many conflicts in Africa that eventually lead to wars, the enemy comes in many different forms. Sometimes they are seen as opposing ethnic groups, the citizens of a nation in totality or foreign government/military and other times they are unseen like ideologies, religion, greed and fear.</p> <p><a href="https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Ugandan_Bush_War">There was more civil unrest and turmoil that followed even after the exile of Idi Amin. Yet another war began from 1980 until 1986 (See Ugandan Bush War).</a> Yoweri Museveni, Uganda’s current president followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Idi Amin and overthrew then President Milton Obote and the Ugandan government in 1986 to become the self-proclaimed leader of the African nation. He would rule with the iron fist of a dictator well into the next 3 decades. Museveni would also disregard the country’s governmental structure which although was a presidential republic was supposed to function based on a democratic multi-party parliamentary system. <a href="https://www.voice-online.co.uk/entertainment/books/2020/05/30/musevenis-ascent-to-power-on-a-tide-of-covert-western-influence/">Museveni was heavily celebrated by Western countries in the late 80’s and early 90’s and was seen as being a part of a new generation of African leaders. He was even invited to the White House to speak with President Ronald Reagan in 1987.</a></p> <p>Nevertheless, amidst all of the high hopes, expectations and his good intentions like Amin his vision was eventually clouded by corruption and the inclination to cling to power. Numerous events marred Museveni’s presidency but none greater than his invasion of the Democratic Republic of Congo during the Second Congo War, which resulted in and estimated 5.4 million deaths since 1998. <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1649963/ugandas-museveni-has-twisted-the-constitution-to-cling-to-power/">Museveni has either initiated or supported several amendments to the relatively progressive Ugandan constitution (adopted in 1995), which has been the sole reason for the longevity of his rule of power. He started his assault on the constitution by removing presidential term limits in 2005. He had coerced the parliament into voting to return to a multiparty system. This was simply a bargaining chip to remove term limits all together. Furthermore, Museveni went on to later scrap the presidential age limit in 2017.</a> The culmination of these actions and his oppressive reign has set a fire for change in the hearts of the youth of Uganda.</p> <p><strong>THE BIRTH AND RISE OF A LIVING LEGEND</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55572903">Robert Ssentamu, better known by his stage name Bobi Wine was born on February 12, 1982 in Nkozi, Uganda. He grew up in the Kamwookya slum in the northeastern part of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda.</a> His upbringing and experiences as a second-class citizen in his own country would later set ablaze his soul to want to be the change that his people so desperately needed. Bobi Wine has a very diverse background and has always been an ambitious young man with vision. He studied music in college and later went back to university to study law at the International University of East Africa. Bobi had a natural affinity for music and his love for music gave birth to a career in the early 2000’s. <a href="https://amp.dw.com/en/from-ghetto-to-parliament-the-incredible-story-of-bobi-wine/av-55902731">His music has made him a household name in his home country and a superstar across Africa. It has been characterized as reggae, dancehall, and afrobeat with a heavy social conscious message. He’s often been called the Jay-Z of Uganda for his pioneer, influence and longevity in music.</a></p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1920/1q2_Pr_-FOdMHPd7x9D4wdg.jpeg" width="1920" height="1080" loading="lazy" /> <p>Despite his massively successful music career, in 2017 at the age of 35 Bobi Wine decided that he was tired of simply watching others who were highly disconnected from the struggles and reality of his people to dictate the future of his country. <a href="https://amp.dw.com/en/from-ghetto-to-parliament-the-incredible-story-of-bobi-wine/av-55902731">He announced his candidacy for parliament in a by-election for Kyadondo County East constituency. Bobi won by a huge margin, undeniably due to the large amount of youth who showed up by the masses to vote.</a> <a href="https://amp.dw.com/en/from-ghetto-to-parliament-the-incredible-story-of-bobi-wine/av-55902731">The irony in all of this is that Uganda boasts the title of the youngest population in the world; with over 80% of Ugandans below the age of 35, this was also the length of President Museveni’s tenure and the age of Bobi Wine at the time of his political campaign and induction into Parliament in 2017.</a></p> <p><strong>COST OF DOING BUSINESS</strong></p> <p>Bobi fully committed to his political career and aware of his newfound purpose gained even more traction and fame in 2018 as he helped to champion the victories of other by-elections (parliament) and candidates he campaigned for. His political career thus far has been a tumultuous one filled with adversity in forms of speech/media censorship, intrusion, false accusations, illegal imprisonment and violence against him and his associates ordered by Museveni’s government and military.</p> <p><a href="https://www.voanews.com/africa/uganda-presidents-car-attacked-damaged-campaign">In August of 2018 Museveni’s motorcade was allegedly obstructed and pelted with stones by supporters of then candidate for parliament Kassiano Wadri. This altercation eventually led to more violence between protestors and the local security forces/police.</a> Wine would later take to social media to further explain the incident where the police had intentionally shot at his vehicle, killing his driver in the process. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-49247860">The following day he would be arrested and charged for inciting violence and unlawful possession of firearms. Bobi who was later brought before a military court was reported by numerous media outlets to have appeared beaten and in need of urgent medical attention.</a> The government denied all allegations of torture. However, due to intense scrutiny by the media and heated discussions within the Ugandan Parliament, the Ugandan State prosecution withdrew the charges. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-45282125">He would later be arrested and charged yet again but this time for treason by a civilian court. Bobi was released on bail in September of 2018 and traveled to the United States for medical treatment due to his injuries sustained during police custody.</a></p> <p>Wine would be charged, arrested and detained by authorities multiple times in 2019 for reasons ranging from intent to alarm, annoy or ridicule President Museveni to leading protests without prior authorization. <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/04/uganda-detention-of-bobi-wine-is-a-shameless-attempt-to-silence-dissent/">It wasn’t until the intervention of Amnesty International via a statement released on May 3, 2019, which demanded the immediate release of Bobi Wine and urged the Ugandan government “to stop misusing the law in a shameless attempt to silence him for criticizing the government.”</a></p> <p><strong>HEAVY IS THE HEAD THAT WEARS THE CROWN</strong></p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/926/1YHC2fu5oMHYGovHzu_MoOA.jpeg" width="926" height="618" loading="lazy" /> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/bobi-wine-has-shaken-up-ugandan-politics-four-things-worth-knowing-about-him-153205">On July 22, 2019 Wine announced that he had joined the National Unity Platform party, which showcased a motto stating, “People power, our power” that can be seen on the red beret that often adorns the head of Wine.</a> He was elected the party’s president and presidential flag-bearer for the upcoming election. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/395e6a7644ab423d9dc1207c57eeee10">Shortly after on July 24, 2019 Bobi Wine formally announced his bid to run for president in the 2021 general election.</a> It was at this moment that all eyes of the incumbent government really started to take Bobi extremely serious as the man that could possibly bring an end to Museveni’s reign. <a href="https://www.pmldaily.com/news/2020/11/full-address-bobi-wine-lunches-campaign-manifesto.html">On November 6, 2020 Wine gave his campaign manifesto in western Uganda, instead of his party headquarters location due to state operatives cordoning off the area.</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/world/africa/uganda-bobi-wine-arrest.html">Wine was arrested in eastern Uganda amidst his 200 supporters on November 18, 2020 and accused of defying Electoral Commissions guidelines against large gatherings set in place to contain the spread of Covid.</a> His arrest was met by wide spread civil unrest and subsequent protests. Over 2000 people were incarcerated and 50–100 people were murdered in the streets, along with hundreds more injured. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/22/africa/bobi-wine-baby-house-arrest-intl/index.html">After casting his vote for the presidential election, Bobi Wine was placed under house arrest. The next day on January 16, 2021 the Electoral Commission announced that General Museveni had won the election and secured his sixth term with 58.6% of the vote.</a> Wine made it known that it was arguably the most fraudulent election in Uganda’s history. <a href="https://twitter.com/HEBobiwine/status/1355438151603527680?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet">Bobi even took to Twitter on January 30, 2020 to showcase receipts of election result tally sheets that allude to the fact that Museveni did not win the recent election with fairness or transparency.</a> Bobi reiterated that Museveni’s entire tenure has been a dictatorship parading under the guise of democracy.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/780/1*UZ09MIoEVw3FEZM3jkCo4Q.jpeg" width="780" height="438" loading="lazy" /> <p><a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/437319-falana-petitions-un-working-group-over-bobi-wines-house-arrest.html">Bobi Wine has representation from Nigerian human rights lawyer Femi Falana, who filed a complaint on his behalf to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Arrest, regarding his continued house arrest.</a> This filing eventually led to the Ugandan High Court ruling on January 26, 2020, declaring that his confinement was illegal and unconstitutional. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/22/africa/bobi-wine-baby-house-arrest-intl/index.html">Currently Bobi Wine is still under house arrest with his wife and her18-month-old niece. They have stated that they have ran out of food and water, yet no one is allowed to leave or enter his residency, as police and military have surrounded the premises to ensure this.</a> Even the U.S. Ambassador to Uganda, Natalie E. Brown was turned away and prevented from visiting Bobi on January 18, 2021.</p> <p><strong>“More than flowers he deserves our unconditional support and uncompromised attention. If there is one thing I hope to accomplish, I hope to save yet another martyr.”</strong></p> <p>Social media is the only bridge of communication that Bobi Wine has with the outside world and with all of his supporters internationally. For he knows and has always known what’s at stake for Uganda, all of Africa and for history. Within Bobi flows the spirit of all the Revolutionaries who preceded him. He is just another curator of the dream of the “African Renaissance” that Cheikh Anta Diop of Senegal once wrote about. The world must know his story and through these lines I seek to enlighten and to bring awareness to the ongoing and developing situation in Uganda. More than flowers Bobi Wine deserves our unconditional support and uncompromised attention. If there is one thing I hope to accomplish, I hope to save yet another martyr.</p> </section>	TO SAVE A MARTYR — AFRICA’S YOUNG REVOLUTIONARY BOBI WINE & THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM ON THE BLACK CONTINENT Because it’s easy to see who deserves flowers but all too often we give them to those who are no longer around to smell them. Photo by AT on Africa Times When you think of politics in Africa what comes to mind? Is it dictatorship, ridiculous amounts of political parties, coups, social injustices and warlords whose unspeakable atrocities against their own people are so evil that they’re often believed to be urban myths? Perhaps it’s more enamored visions and thoughts of resiliency, revolution and reverence. I believe that if any of the following come to mind when you think of African politics you wouldn’t be wrong but I also believe that if you grew up or studied in the West, that your correlation with African politics would much closer align with the former. How often do we place our unconscious biases, opinions, skewed perspectives that were painted and force-fed through subpar means of education and conditioned ways of thinking aside? Are we willing to trade them in for tools of enlightenment, knowledge and facts when thinking about the political climate and systems of Africa, the most diverse place on earth? Africa all too often is seen and spoken about as if it were a monolith instead of a large body of 54 individually sovereign nation states, with so much depth, culture, diversity and complexities when it comes to their history and series of events that make up their governmental systems. Africa is a continent of over a billion people, yet questions of underdevelopment, malgovernance and a form of political life based on patronage are characteristics of many African states. One can’t even begin to comprehend the immense complexities when it comes to politics in Africa without first examining the past. History tells us the answers to a lot of question we have today by laying out events, factors and byproducts that both directly and indirectly contribute to the current state of things as we know it. You can see the true value in understanding history by appraising and examining post-colonial political structures, the impact of colonialism, the form and nature of post-colonial states, as well as the affects of neocolonialism today. There are many contrasts when it comes to the level of political strife or struggle each country is subjected to or has had to endure from country to country and region to region. Only when exploring the historical and contemporary factors that account for Africa’s underdevelopment will you then also discover why some African countries suffer from high levels of political violence, while others are seemingly sparred. No matter how you look at it, many parts of Africa currently still practice ideologies and political systems that yield extreme amounts of hostility, counter-productivity and are unconducive to nation building and sustainable development. However, amongst the burning rubble and charred ashes of the hardships of reality when it comes to the current state of some African nations, there often rises a voice from the crowd. A voice that trembles but is loud with hope and a powerful agenda for change. A revolutionary. Every country at some point has had a figure, a shining beacon of light that was admired for their courage in the face of unfathomable adversity. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, Samora Machel of Mozambique, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia and Robert Ssentamu, otherwise known as Bobi Wine of Uganda amongst countless others. The fight for liberation on the African continent is a longstanding one and did not begin with Sudan gaining its independence in 1956 from their European masters, nor did it end with South Sudan gaining its independence from Sudan in 2011. This interesting juxtaposition is what still plagues Africa today. Colonization introduced and infused certain perverted concepts and ideologies that have never been erased. Due to decades of conditioning, even after decolonization these supremacist ways of thinking were only passed on and passed down through blood and transfers of power. “O GOD, WHERE ART THOU?’ I’d like to take a moment to shed some light on the Central-East African nation of Uganda, a young man by the name of Bobi Wine and the long but interesting history of events that have led up to what’s currently going on in this country today. Photo by Getty Images on Harper’s Bazaar Uganda is a country completely landlocked by 5 other African nations. It has a population of just over 44 million people and is diverse in ethnic tribes, language and religion. Beginning in 1894, the area was ruled as a protectorate by the UK, which established administrative law across the territory. Uganda gained independence from the UK on October 9th 1962. The period since then has been marked by violent conflicts and crimes against humanity, including an eight-year-long reign of terror and military dictatorship led by one of the most infamous leaders the world has ever seen in Idi Amin. General Idi Amin ruled Uganda from 1971 to 1979, after seizing power by way of a military coup on January 25, 1971. He was nicknamed Kijambiya, which means “the machete” for his short temper and swift but calculated decision-making. He was a complex and interesting man from his indoctrination and rise through the ranks of the British Colonial Army in Uganda to his shift from being pro-Western to aligning and pushing the idealisms of Pan-Africanism. However, he will always most be remembered as a man of grave evil as his rule was characterized by rampant human rights abuses, including political repression, ethnic persecution and extrajudicial killings. An estimated 80,00–500,000 Ugandans lost their lives during his regime. The Ugandan-Tanzania War of 1979 also known as the 1979 Liberation War by Ugandans, was the catalyst that later led to the overthrow and exile of Idi Amin. The war was fought over territorial land that lied between Uganda and Tanzania known as Kagera Salient. Like many conflicts in Africa that eventually lead to wars, the enemy comes in many different forms. Sometimes they are seen as opposing ethnic groups, the citizens of a nation in totality or foreign government/military and other times they are unseen like ideologies, religion, greed and fear. There was more civil unrest and turmoil that followed even after the exile of Idi Amin. Yet another war began from 1980 until 1986 (See Ugandan Bush War). Yoweri Museveni, Uganda’s current president followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Idi Amin and overthrew then President Milton Obote and the Ugandan government in 1986 to become the self-proclaimed leader of the African nation. He would rule with the iron fist of a dictator well into the next 3 decades. Museveni would also disregard the country’s governmental structure which although was a presidential republic was supposed to function based on a democratic multi-party parliamentary system. Museveni was heavily celebrated by Western countries in the late 80’s and early 90’s and was seen as being a part of a new generation of African leaders. He was even invited to the White House to speak with President Ronald Reagan in 1987. Nevertheless, amidst all of the high hopes, expectations and his good intentions like Amin his vision was eventually clouded by corruption and the inclination to cling to power. Numerous events marred Museveni’s presidency but none greater than his invasion of the Democratic Republic of Congo during the Second Congo War, which resulted in and estimated 5.4 million deaths since 1998. Museveni has either initiated or supported several amendments to the relatively progressive Ugandan constitution (adopted in 1995), which has been the sole reason for the longevity of his rule of power. He started his assault on the constitution by removing presidential term limits in 2005. He had coerced the parliament into voting to return to a multiparty system. This was simply a bargaining chip to remove term limits all together. Furthermore, Museveni went on to later scrap the presidential age limit in 2017. The culmination of these actions and his oppressive reign has set a fire for change in the hearts of the youth of Uganda. THE BIRTH AND RISE OF A LIVING LEGEND Robert Ssentamu, better known by his stage name Bobi Wine was born on February 12, 1982 in Nkozi, Uganda. He grew up in the Kamwookya slum in the northeastern part of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. His upbringing and experiences as a second-class citizen in his own country would later set ablaze his soul to want to be the change that his people so desperately needed. Bobi Wine has a very diverse background and has always been an ambitious young man with vision. He studied music in college and later went back to university to study law at the International University of East Africa. Bobi had a natural affinity for music and his love for music gave birth to a career in the early 2000’s. His music has made him a household name in his home country and a superstar across Africa. It has been characterized as reggae, dancehall, and afrobeat with a heavy social conscious message. He’s often been called the Jay-Z of Uganda for his pioneer, influence and longevity in music. Photo by Maisie Smith-Walters on BBC News Despite his massively successful music career, in 2017 at the age of 35 Bobi Wine decided that he was tired of simply watching others who were highly disconnected from the struggles and reality of his people to dictate the future of his country. He announced his candidacy for parliament in a by-election for Kyadondo County East constituency. Bobi won by a huge margin, undeniably due to the large amount of youth who showed up by the masses to vote. The irony in all of this is that Uganda boasts the title of the youngest population in the world; with over 80% of Ugandans below the age of 35, this was also the length of President Museveni’s tenure and the age of Bobi Wine at the time of his political campaign and induction into Parliament in 2017. COST OF DOING BUSINESS Bobi fully committed to his political career and aware of his newfound purpose gained even more traction and fame in 2018 as he helped to champion the victories of other by-elections (parliament) and candidates he campaigned for. His political career thus far has been a tumultuous one filled with adversity in forms of speech/media censorship, intrusion, false accusations, illegal imprisonment and violence against him and his associates ordered by Museveni’s government and military. In August of 2018 Museveni’s motorcade was allegedly obstructed and pelted with stones by supporters of then candidate for parliament Kassiano Wadri. This altercation eventually led to more violence between protestors and the local security forces/police. Wine would later take to social media to further explain the incident where the police had intentionally shot at his vehicle, killing his driver in the process. The following day he would be arrested and charged for inciting violence and unlawful possession of firearms. Bobi who was later brought before a military court was reported by numerous media outlets to have appeared beaten and in need of urgent medical attention. The government denied all allegations of torture. However, due to intense scrutiny by the media and heated discussions within the Ugandan Parliament, the Ugandan State prosecution withdrew the charges. He would later be arrested and charged yet again but this time for treason by a civilian court. Bobi was released on bail in September of 2018 and traveled to the United States for medical treatment due to his injuries sustained during police custody. Wine would be charged, arrested and detained by authorities multiple times in 2019 for reasons ranging from intent to alarm, annoy or ridicule President Museveni to leading protests without prior authorization. It wasn’t until the intervention of Amnesty International via a statement released on May 3, 2019, which demanded the immediate release of Bobi Wine and urged the Ugandan government “to stop misusing the law in a shameless attempt to silence him for criticizing the government.” HEAVY IS THE HEAD THAT WEARS THE CROWN Photo by Luke Dray on The Conversation On July 22, 2019 Wine announced that he had joined the National Unity Platform party, which showcased a motto stating, “People power, our power” that can be seen on the red beret that often adorns the head of Wine. He was elected the party’s president and presidential flag-bearer for the upcoming election. Shortly after on July 24, 2019 Bobi Wine formally announced his bid to run for president in the 2021 general election. It was at this moment that all eyes of the incumbent government really started to take Bobi extremely serious as the man that could possibly bring an end to Museveni’s reign. On November 6, 2020 Wine gave his campaign manifesto in western Uganda, instead of his party headquarters location due to state operatives cordoning off the area. Wine was arrested in eastern Uganda amidst his 200 supporters on November 18, 2020 and accused of defying Electoral Commissions guidelines against large gatherings set in place to contain the spread of Covid. His arrest was met by wide spread civil unrest and subsequent protests. Over 2000 people were incarcerated and 50–100 people were murdered in the streets, along with hundreds more injured. After casting his vote for the presidential election, Bobi Wine was placed under house arrest. The next day on January 16, 2021 the Electoral Commission announced that General Museveni had won the election and secured his sixth term with 58.6% of the vote. Wine made it known that it was arguably the most fraudulent election in Uganda’s history. Bobi even took to Twitter on January 30, 2020 to showcase receipts of election result tally sheets that allude to the fact that Museveni did not win the recent election with fairness or transparency. Bobi reiterated that Museveni’s entire tenure has been a dictatorship parading under the guise of democracy. photo by Bobi Wine on Twitter Bobi Wine has representation from Nigerian human rights lawyer Femi Falana, who filed a complaint on his behalf to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Arrest, regarding his continued house arrest. This filing eventually led to the Ugandan High Court ruling on January 26, 2020, declaring that his confinement was illegal and unconstitutional. Currently Bobi Wine is still under house arrest with his wife and her18-month-old niece. They have stated that they have ran out of food and water, yet no one is allowed to leave or enter his residency, as police and military have surrounded the premises to ensure this. Even the U.S. Ambassador to Uganda, Natalie E. Brown was turned away and prevented from visiting Bobi on January 18, 2021. “More than flowers he deserves our unconditional support and uncompromised attention. If there is one thing I hope to accomplish, I hope to save yet another martyr.” Social media is the only bridge of communication that Bobi Wine has with the outside world and with all of his supporters internationally. For he knows and has always known what’s at stake for Uganda, all of Africa and for history. Within Bobi flows the spirit of all the Revolutionaries who preceded him. He is just another curator of the dream of the “African Renaissance” that Cheikh Anta Diop of Senegal once wrote about. The world must know his story and through these lines I seek to enlighten and to bring awareness to the ongoing and developing situation in Uganda. More than flowers Bobi Wine deserves our unconditional support and uncompromised attention. If there is one thing I hope to accomplish, I hope to save yet another martyr.	2881163e-94cd-5ac1-86f1-8d623112a2fc	25/08/2025 15:59:24
https://medium.com/@mytechonit/blockchain-the-building-blocks-bfcbbf060176	medium.com	Blockchain — The Building Blocks	Blockchain today is one of the trending technologies that could become the game changer for a wide variety of industries. Made popular by…	MyTechOnIT	https://medium.com/@mytechonit	bfcbbf060176	https://miro.medium.com/…KMd7czGFE3Q.jpeg	9 min	2022-12-29T06:24:38.701000	2023-01-02T06:11:11.535000	2023-01-25T09:12:42.550000	2	15	en	Blockchain Technology,Cryptographic Hash,Proof Of Work,P2p Network	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/3861/1rsRG5WwnTxNKMd7czGFE3Q.jpeg" width="3861" height="1314" loading="lazy" /> <p>Blockchain today is one of the trending technologies that could become the game changer for a wide variety of industries. Made popular by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, it is now no longer limited to the realm of cryptocurrency. Blockchain is touted as the technology that can transform supply chain management, asset management, healthcare, identity management to name just a few sectors; and is the technology that is powering the next generation of the internet —<strong>Web 3</strong> — the decentralized web.</p> <p>This article which is a first in a series of articles on blockchain basics, is an attempt to explain how this marvelous technology works by looking at all the building blocks of the blockchain.</p> <p>Note that what in common parlance is known as blockchain technology is also referred to as <strong>Distributed Ledger technology (DLT)</strong>. The dictionary meaning of the two terms “Distributed” and “Ledger” is as follows: <em>Ledger — a book or collection of financial accounts Distributed — shared or spread out</em></p> <p>Thus, the core of a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) is that the ledger or the record of transactions is not held in one central database but is held in multiple databases simultaneously. One obvious reason the data is held in multiple databases simultaneously, is to build redundancy; meaning if one database is unavailable, there is always a backup. In this case, all the multiple copies could be owned and controlled by the same authority aka the same server. In DLT however, the distributed databases are not owned, controlled, or administered by one central authority. DLT is thus a <strong>decentralized</strong> way of managing a ledger. You can visualize a Distributed Ledger as a ledger that has multiple copies each residing on a different computer in a network of computers also called nodes wherein each computer is an equal player and does not know nor trusts the other.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/3250/1FOp5yKca94bnYvpD_w6Ktw.jpeg" width="3250" height="1410" loading="lazy" /> <p>The reason why <strong>decentralization</strong> is so attractive today is that it prevents concentration of power in the hands of a few. Decentralization gained prominence after the world witnessed how some tech giants grew so big and powerful that they started abusing the trust place in them by the users.</p> <p>However, being ‘distributed’ and ‘decentralized’ throws up a host of challenges. The first being that of how to <strong>synchronize</strong> changes to the ledger across all the copies in a distributed environment. The second is how to maintain <strong>Data Integrity</strong> across all the copies when there is no single “true copy” of the data. That is, how to ensure that only valid transactions are recorded on the ledger. And once something is recorded, how to ensure that it is not <strong>tampered</strong> with by a malicious peer. For each of the challenges, there is a technology that provides the solution. Here is a look at the Challenge and the enabling technology that provides the solution.</p> <p><strong>Challenge</strong>: Tamper proofing, Immutability <strong>Enabling Technology</strong>: Blockchain, Cryptographic Hashing</p> <p><strong>Challenge</strong>: Synchronizing changes <strong>Enabling Technology</strong>: Peer to peer network</p> <p><strong>Challenge</strong>: Data Integrity <strong>Enabling technology</strong>: Consensus algorithms</p> <p>Let us now look at each of these enabling technologies that provide solutions to the challenges and are the building blocks of DLT.</p> <h1>Blockchain</h1> <p>Although the technology is popularly known as Blockchain technology, the blockchain is one component of this technology. The blockchain is the data structure that is used to store the ledger. A blockchain, simply put, is a chain of blocks, each block containing a set of transactions. Each block in the chain is <strong>cryptographically</strong> linked to the previous block thus making the blockchain tamper proof. Something once recorded on the block chain cannot be modified or deleted. New blocks can only be appended to the end of the chain.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2640/1CC5SIP0t2eFDYtsIEcSKAA.jpeg" width="2640" height="1422" loading="lazy" /> <p>The image above depicts the header of each block. Besides header, the block contains a record of transactions. As you can see from the image above, each block header in the blockchain contains a Block number, a <strong>hash</strong> of the previous block, a <strong>hash</strong> of all the transactions in the current block, a value called nonce and a timestamp of when the block was created.</p> <p>Time-stamping each block enforces a chronological ordering of blocks.</p> <p>Recording a hash of the previous blocks results in cryptographic linking of the blocks, hashing being a cryptographic technique. This cryptographic linking makes the block chain immutable, meaning something once recorded on the blockchain cannot be modified or deleted. The immutability and chronological ordering of the blockchain also makes it hold the history and audit trail of all the transactions right from the first block known as the Genesis block.</p> <p>If you are wondering what a hash is and how it makes the blockchain immutable, hop on to the next section.</p> <h2>Cryptographic Hashing</h2> <p>Hashing is a technique by which any arbitrary sized data can be mathematically reduced to a fixed size data in such a way that the fixed size data uniquely represents the arbitrary sized data. This fixed size data is known as the hash value.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1610/1r3-UlVtg-isZHVtC-hVQiw.jpeg" width="1610" height="948" loading="lazy" /> <p>In the figure above, the arbitrary data is reduced to a 256-bit fixed size data using a hashing algorithm called SHA-256.</p> <p>A hash is one way, meaning that it is impossible to derive the original text, given the hash value. The same input data will always result in the same hash value. A third important property of a hash is that a small change in the original text will result in a large change in the hash value. A good hash algorithm should also be collision-free, meaning two different input values should not produce the same hash value.</p> <p>With this brief background, let us look at how hashing is used in the blockchain to attain immutability.</p> <p>We have seen that each block contains a set of transactions, a nonce and a hash of the previous block. We will ignore the nonce for now. Every time a block is added to the chain, a block hash is calculated. The block hash is calculated by hashing together the hash of the previous block, the nonce and the hash of the transactions in the current block.</p> <p><em>Block Hash = Hash (‘previous block hash’ + Nonce + ‘transaction hash’)</em></p> <p>Every new block thus has a record of the previous block hash.</p> <p>Now let us assume someone tampered with the data in a block, say block 10. This would cause the block 10 hash to become invalid. So, block 10 hash would need to be changed. As block 10 hash was used to hash block 11, block 11 hash would become invalid and so on till the most recent block in the chain. This means any tampering cannot be local and would require the whole chain to be updated, making tampering not only hard but also easy to detect.</p> <p>Now that we understand how Blockchain and cryptography solve the tampering problem, let us look at how changes to the blockchain i.e., additions to the blockchain aka ledger are propagated to all the nodes in the network. This is made possible by peer-to-peer network technology.</p> <h2>Peer to peer network</h2> <p>Peer to peer(P2P) network is an architecture where in a group of computers called nodes are linked together. Each node in the network has equal permissions and responsibilities for processing data. In a peer-to-peer network there is no central server that clients connect to, rather every node in the network is both a client and a server and can connect with every other node in the network. The file sharing software called BitTorrent is a good example of a peer-to-peer network. Peer to peer networks implement protocols for broadcasting changes to all the nodes in the network ensuring that all copies remain in sync. When a node sees a transaction, it broadcasts to all its peers, who in turn broadcast to all their peers and so on until the entire P2P network receives the transaction. This broadcasting protocol is aptly named the <strong>gossip protocol</strong>.</p> <p>Peer to peer networks thus solve the problem of data synchronization in a distributed ledger.</p> <h3>Node</h3> <p>A node is a computer in the peer-to-peer network that runs the DLT application code. In a Bitcoin network, for example, every node runs the Bitcoin software. Each node holds a copy of the distributed ledger and is responsible for updating the copy. Every node also participates in validating new transactions and ensuring only valid blocks are added to the blockchain. New blocks are added to the chain only if majority of the nodes agree on the validity of the block. This collaboratively determining what gets added to the blockchain, is called Consensus mechanism and is the way Data Integrity is maintained in a decentralized network.</p> <h2>Consensus mechanisms</h2> <p>In a decentralized and trust less environment, where all are equal, how does one ensure that only valid blocks are appended to the chain? Surely the nodes need to collaborate and arrive at a consensus as to which block gets added to the chain. The consensus mechanisms form the crux of the decentralized networks, ensuring that data integrity is maintained even in the absence of a central authority.</p> <p>Several consensus mechanisms exist. Some of the popular ones are Proof of Work, Proof of Stake and Proof of Elapsed Time. This section explains how the Proof of Work consensus mechanism works. The Proof of Work consensus (PoW) is used by Bitcoin.</p> <h3>Proof of Work Consensus (PoW)</h3> <p>The Proof of Work flow is listed below:</p> <p>A new set of transactions are broadcast on the P2P network.</p> <p>Each node independently assembles these into a block.</p> <p>Nodes independently validate the block.</p> <p>Nodes then move on to solving a <strong>mathematical puzzle</strong>. The puzzle is such that it takes a lot of computing power to solve it, but the solution can be easily verified by anyone on the network.</p> <p>The node that solves it first, broadcasts the block along with the solution to the P2P network.</p> <p>Other nodes validate the transactions in the block as well as verify the solution to the puzzle. Two cases are possible: a) Transactions as well as solution is valid — the nodes accept the block and add it to their copy of the blockchain. The node that solved the puzzle is rewarded for the work done b) Either transactions or solution is invalid — Nodes reject the block. The work done by the node in solving the puzzle is wasted</p> <p>Note that each of the steps in the process is carried out by software.</p> <p>This high-level process flow, makes two things obvious: The PoW consensus, introduces randomness in who gets to add the block thereby preventing a malicious node from continuously affecting the system. Second, it incentivizes honesty. The system rewards honesty and penalty for dishonesty is a lot of wasted effort.</p> <p>On the flip side though, the PoW consensus requires lots of computing power and hence energy consumption is unsustainably high. For Bitcoin alone the amount of electricity consumed exceeds the annual consumption of some countries like Norway.</p> <p>Now that we understand the flow, let us dig our heads into understanding the mathematical puzzle itself. Who sets the puzzle and how is it solved and verified.</p> <h3>Mathematical Puzzle</h3> <p><em><strong>What is the puzzle and how is it</em> solved?</strong></p> <p>When we looked at how blocks are hashed using cryptographic hashes, we saw that a block’s hash is generated using hash of the previous block, hash of the transactions in the current block and a value called the ‘nonce.’</p> <p><em>Block Hash = Hash(‘previous hash’ + ‘transaction hash’ + ‘nonce’)</em></p> <p>The puzzle simply asks the node to generate a ‘nonce’ such that the resultant block hash will start with a certain number of 0’s.</p> <p>Now let us say the block hash should start with 4 zeroes. Note that the only way to solve this puzzle is ‘brute force.’ Meaning, you need to try every nonce value starting with 0, generate the block hash and check if it satisfies the condition. If not, increment the nonce and repeat the process until you ‘hit’ upon the nonce value that satisfies the condition. While anyone can solve this puzzle given sufficient time, to be the first to solve the puzzle, you need a lot of computing power to speed up this trial-and-error process.</p> <p>The puzzle solving inherently involves a lot of ‘work’ and the nonce serves as ‘Proof of Work.’ Note that as the number of leading 0’s increases the difficulty level of the puzzle and hence the ‘work’ required to solve it increases exponentially.</p> <p><em><strong>How is the solution v</em>erified?</strong></p> <p>The solution can be easily verified by hashing together the previous block hash, transaction hash and nonce. If it satisfies the condition of the number of leading 0’s, then the nonce is correct.</p> <p><em><strong>Who sets the</em> puzzle?</strong></p> <p>In a decentralized environment, who sets this puzzle? The puzzle is coded into the DLT application itself. Since every node on the network runs the same software, they all get the same puzzle. The difficulty level of the puzzle is varied using an algorithm based on the speed with which blocks are being added to the chain. If the average number of blocks per hour exceeds a certain threshold, then the difficulty level of the puzzle is increased. Note that difficulty level is increased by increasing the number of 0’s in the resultant hash.</p> <p>This article focused on the technologies that make the blockchain distributed, decentralized and immutable. The <a href="https://medium.com/@mytechonit/blockchain-transactions-53761c6f6b77">next article</a> will look at the transactions in the block, what they contain, how they are authorized and how they verified.</p> </section>	Blockchain — The Building Blocks Blockchain today is one of the trending technologies that could become the game changer for a wide variety of industries. Made popular by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, it is now no longer limited to the realm of cryptocurrency. Blockchain is touted as the technology that can transform supply chain management, asset management, healthcare, identity management to name just a few sectors; and is the technology that is powering the next generation of the internet —Web 3 — the decentralized web. This article which is a first in a series of articles on blockchain basics, is an attempt to explain how this marvelous technology works by looking at all the building blocks of the blockchain. Note that what in common parlance is known as blockchain technology is also referred to as Distributed Ledger technology (DLT). The dictionary meaning of the two terms “Distributed” and “Ledger” is as follows: Ledger — a book or collection of financial accounts Distributed — shared or spread out Thus, the core of a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) is that the ledger or the record of transactions is not held in one central database but is held in multiple databases simultaneously. One obvious reason the data is held in multiple databases simultaneously, is to build redundancy; meaning if one database is unavailable, there is always a backup. In this case, all the multiple copies could be owned and controlled by the same authority aka the same server. In DLT however, the distributed databases are not owned, controlled, or administered by one central authority. DLT is thus a decentralized way of managing a ledger. You can visualize a Distributed Ledger as a ledger that has multiple copies each residing on a different computer in a network of computers also called nodes wherein each computer is an equal player and does not know nor trusts the other. The reason why decentralization is so attractive today is that it prevents concentration of power in the hands of a few. Decentralization gained prominence after the world witnessed how some tech giants grew so big and powerful that they started abusing the trust place in them by the users. However, being ‘distributed’ and ‘decentralized’ throws up a host of challenges. The first being that of how to synchronize changes to the ledger across all the copies in a distributed environment. The second is how to maintain Data Integrity across all the copies when there is no single “true copy” of the data. That is, how to ensure that only valid transactions are recorded on the ledger. And once something is recorded, how to ensure that it is not tampered with by a malicious peer. For each of the challenges, there is a technology that provides the solution. Here is a look at the Challenge and the enabling technology that provides the solution. Challenge: Tamper proofing, Immutability Enabling Technology: Blockchain, Cryptographic Hashing Challenge: Synchronizing changes Enabling Technology: Peer to peer network Challenge: Data Integrity Enabling technology: Consensus algorithms Let us now look at each of these enabling technologies that provide solutions to the challenges and are the building blocks of DLT. Blockchain Although the technology is popularly known as Blockchain technology, the blockchain is one component of this technology. The blockchain is the data structure that is used to store the ledger. A blockchain, simply put, is a chain of blocks, each block containing a set of transactions. Each block in the chain is cryptographically linked to the previous block thus making the blockchain tamper proof. Something once recorded on the block chain cannot be modified or deleted. New blocks can only be appended to the end of the chain. Blockchain showing only Block Headers The image above depicts the header of each block. Besides header, the block contains a record of transactions. As you can see from the image above, each block header in the blockchain contains a Block number, a hash of the previous block, a hash of all the transactions in the current block, a value called nonce and a timestamp of when the block was created. Time-stamping each block enforces a chronological ordering of blocks. Recording a hash of the previous blocks results in cryptographic linking of the blocks, hashing being a cryptographic technique. This cryptographic linking makes the block chain immutable, meaning something once recorded on the blockchain cannot be modified or deleted. The immutability and chronological ordering of the blockchain also makes it hold the history and audit trail of all the transactions right from the first block known as the Genesis block. If you are wondering what a hash is and how it makes the blockchain immutable, hop on to the next section. Cryptographic Hashing Hashing is a technique by which any arbitrary sized data can be mathematically reduced to a fixed size data in such a way that the fixed size data uniquely represents the arbitrary sized data. This fixed size data is known as the hash value. In the figure above, the arbitrary data is reduced to a 256-bit fixed size data using a hashing algorithm called SHA-256. A hash is one way, meaning that it is impossible to derive the original text, given the hash value. The same input data will always result in the same hash value. A third important property of a hash is that a small change in the original text will result in a large change in the hash value. A good hash algorithm should also be collision-free, meaning two different input values should not produce the same hash value. With this brief background, let us look at how hashing is used in the blockchain to attain immutability. We have seen that each block contains a set of transactions, a nonce and a hash of the previous block. We will ignore the nonce for now. Every time a block is added to the chain, a block hash is calculated. The block hash is calculated by hashing together the hash of the previous block, the nonce and the hash of the transactions in the current block. Block Hash = Hash (‘previous block hash’ + Nonce + ‘transaction hash’) Every new block thus has a record of the previous block hash. Now let us assume someone tampered with the data in a block, say block 10. This would cause the block 10 hash to become invalid. So, block 10 hash would need to be changed. As block 10 hash was used to hash block 11, block 11 hash would become invalid and so on till the most recent block in the chain. This means any tampering cannot be local and would require the whole chain to be updated, making tampering not only hard but also easy to detect. Now that we understand how Blockchain and cryptography solve the tampering problem, let us look at how changes to the blockchain i.e., additions to the blockchain aka ledger are propagated to all the nodes in the network. This is made possible by peer-to-peer network technology. Peer to peer network Peer to peer(P2P) network is an architecture where in a group of computers called nodes are linked together. Each node in the network has equal permissions and responsibilities for processing data. In a peer-to-peer network there is no central server that clients connect to, rather every node in the network is both a client and a server and can connect with every other node in the network. The file sharing software called BitTorrent is a good example of a peer-to-peer network. Peer to peer networks implement protocols for broadcasting changes to all the nodes in the network ensuring that all copies remain in sync. When a node sees a transaction, it broadcasts to all its peers, who in turn broadcast to all their peers and so on until the entire P2P network receives the transaction. This broadcasting protocol is aptly named the gossip protocol. Peer to peer networks thus solve the problem of data synchronization in a distributed ledger. Node A node is a computer in the peer-to-peer network that runs the DLT application code. In a Bitcoin network, for example, every node runs the Bitcoin software. Each node holds a copy of the distributed ledger and is responsible for updating the copy. Every node also participates in validating new transactions and ensuring only valid blocks are added to the blockchain. New blocks are added to the chain only if majority of the nodes agree on the validity of the block. This collaboratively determining what gets added to the blockchain, is called Consensus mechanism and is the way Data Integrity is maintained in a decentralized network. Consensus mechanisms In a decentralized and trust less environment, where all are equal, how does one ensure that only valid blocks are appended to the chain? Surely the nodes need to collaborate and arrive at a consensus as to which block gets added to the chain. The consensus mechanisms form the crux of the decentralized networks, ensuring that data integrity is maintained even in the absence of a central authority. Several consensus mechanisms exist. Some of the popular ones are Proof of Work, Proof of Stake and Proof of Elapsed Time. This section explains how the Proof of Work consensus mechanism works. The Proof of Work consensus (PoW) is used by Bitcoin. Proof of Work Consensus (PoW) The Proof of Work flow is listed below: A new set of transactions are broadcast on the P2P network. Each node independently assembles these into a block. Nodes independently validate the block. Nodes then move on to solving a mathematical puzzle. The puzzle is such that it takes a lot of computing power to solve it, but the solution can be easily verified by anyone on the network. The node that solves it first, broadcasts the block along with the solution to the P2P network. Other nodes validate the transactions in the block as well as verify the solution to the puzzle. Two cases are possible: a) Transactions as well as solution is valid — the nodes accept the block and add it to their copy of the blockchain. The node that solved the puzzle is rewarded for the work done b) Either transactions or solution is invalid — Nodes reject the block. The work done by the node in solving the puzzle is wasted Note that each of the steps in the process is carried out by software. This high-level process flow, makes two things obvious: The PoW consensus, introduces randomness in who gets to add the block thereby preventing a malicious node from continuously affecting the system. Second, it incentivizes honesty. The system rewards honesty and penalty for dishonesty is a lot of wasted effort. On the flip side though, the PoW consensus requires lots of computing power and hence energy consumption is unsustainably high. For Bitcoin alone the amount of electricity consumed exceeds the annual consumption of some countries like Norway. Now that we understand the flow, let us dig our heads into understanding the mathematical puzzle itself. Who sets the puzzle and how is it solved and verified. Mathematical Puzzle What is the puzzle and how is it solved? When we looked at how blocks are hashed using cryptographic hashes, we saw that a block’s hash is generated using hash of the previous block, hash of the transactions in the current block and a value called the ‘nonce.’ Block Hash = Hash(‘previous hash’ + ‘transaction hash’ + ‘nonce’) The puzzle simply asks the node to generate a ‘nonce’ such that the resultant block hash will start with a certain number of 0’s. Now let us say the block hash should start with 4 zeroes. Note that the only way to solve this puzzle is ‘brute force.’ Meaning, you need to try every nonce value starting with 0, generate the block hash and check if it satisfies the condition. If not, increment the nonce and repeat the process until you ‘hit’ upon the nonce value that satisfies the condition. While anyone can solve this puzzle given sufficient time, to be the first to solve the puzzle, you need a lot of computing power to speed up this trial-and-error process. The puzzle solving inherently involves a lot of ‘work’ and the nonce serves as ‘Proof of Work.’ Note that as the number of leading 0’s increases the difficulty level of the puzzle and hence the ‘work’ required to solve it increases exponentially. How is the solution verified? The solution can be easily verified by hashing together the previous block hash, transaction hash and nonce. If it satisfies the condition of the number of leading 0’s, then the nonce is correct. Who sets the puzzle? In a decentralized environment, who sets this puzzle? The puzzle is coded into the DLT application itself. Since every node on the network runs the same software, they all get the same puzzle. The difficulty level of the puzzle is varied using an algorithm based on the speed with which blocks are being added to the chain. If the average number of blocks per hour exceeds a certain threshold, then the difficulty level of the puzzle is increased. Note that difficulty level is increased by increasing the number of 0’s in the resultant hash. This article focused on the technologies that make the blockchain distributed, decentralized and immutable. The next article will look at the transactions in the block, what they contain, how they are authorized and how they verified.	51b9e49d-cddd-5db5-8733-2dac0554880a	25/08/2025 15:59:24
https://medium.com/@cdailly1106/how-i-rebuilt-my-masculinity-without-ego-or-aggression-96552663b6b1	medium.com	How I Rebuilt My Masculinity Without Ego or Aggression	For years, I had no idea what it meant to be a man.	Callum Dailly	https://medium.com/@cdailly1106	96552663b6b1	https://miro.medium.com/…c8xwtJbY1UXA.png	3 min	2025-06-27T20:40:13.572000	2025-06-27T20:50:14.374000	2025-06-27T21:27:57.858000	0	0	en	Grounding,Masculinity,Reflections,Control,Transformation	<section> <h1>How I Rebuilt My Masculinity Without Ego or Aggression</h1> <p>For years, I had no idea what it meant to be a man.</p> <p>I didn’t grow up with a father in the house. There was no masculine role model guiding me. Just noise — from social media, music, culture — telling me that being a man meant being tough, dominant, or emotionally detached.</p> <p>So I followed that script.</p> <p>And for a while, I thought it was working. But beneath the surface, I was insecure, reactive, and lost.</p> <p>This is the story of how I broke that model… …and rebuilt my masculinity on strength that doesn’t shout.</p> <h2>Growing Up Without a Blueprint</h2> <p>Not having a father figure doesn’t just leave a gap — it leaves confusion.</p> <p>I didn’t have a man to show me what controlled strength looks like. What restraint feels like. How to lead without dominating. How to protect without destroying.</p> <p>So I looked elsewhere. And I found all the wrong examples.</p> <h2>What Social Media Told Me a Man Should Be</h2> <p>Everywhere I looked, I was bombarded by the same message:</p> <ul> <li>A man should be rich, shredded, and cold.</li> <li>He should never cry. Never open up.</li> <li>He should “dominate the room.” Win at all costs.</li> </ul> <p>There was no room for nuance. No room for quiet leadership or kindness. No room for men who reflect more than they react.</p> <p>If I wasn’t aggressive, I was weak. If I wasn’t chasing power, I was soft.</p> <p>This mindset got me nothing but surface-level confidence and deeper self-doubt.</p> <h2>My Breaking Point</h2> <p>It wasn’t one moment — it was a slow cracking.</p> <p>A relationship that failed because I couldn’t express anything real. An argument I escalated just to avoid seeming “weak.” A body I was building in the gym — while my character stayed hollow.</p> <p>Eventually, I realized I didn’t feel strong. I just looked like I was pretending to be.</p> <p>That’s when I discovered <strong>Stoicism</strong> — and everything changed.</p> <h2>The Masculine Wisdom I Found in Stoicism</h2> <p>The Stoics didn’t shout. They didn’t chase external status. They didn’t care about flexing strength — they focused on <em>mastering themselves</em>.</p> <p><em>“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” — </em>Marcus Aurelius<em>, </em><a href="https://amzn.to/44pkXuy">Meditations</a></p> <p>Reading that hit different.</p> <p>Because for the first time, I saw a version of masculinity that wasn’t about controlling others — it was about <em>controlling yourself</em>.</p> <h2>Rebuilding Masculinity from the Inside Out</h2> <p>When I let go of ego, everything started to shift. Here’s how I rebuilt who I was — quietly, deliberately.</p> <h2>1. I Focused on Character, Not Image</h2> <p>I stopped trying to look impressive and started working on my integrity. Am I reliable? Do I follow through? Do I act with courage when it’s inconvenient?</p> <p>These questions became my new gym.</p> <p><em><a href="https://amzn.to/46</em>irkCl">The Way of the Superior Man</a> helped me understand that masculinity isn’t about bravado — it’s about presence, direction, and purpose.</p> <h2>2. I Learned to Respond, Not React</h2> <p>Before, I’d get triggered easily — defensiveness, anger, shutdowns. Now? I pause. I breathe. I choose.</p> <p>That’s not weakness. That’s real control.</p> <p>Stoicism taught me this, and <em><a href="https:</em>//amzn.to/4kh4VZw">The Daily Stoic</a> gave me daily reminders of what true strength looks like — calm under fire.</p> <h2>3. I Stopped Seeking Validation</h2> <p>Masculinity today is marketed — likes, followers, watches, six-packs.</p> <p>I stepped away from it. No more performing. Just showing up every day, doing what matters, and not explaining myself.</p> <p><em><a href="</em>https://amzn.to/4nog2CN">Iron John</a> helped me reconnect with masculinity that’s ancestral — forged through rites of passage, not filters.</p> <h2>4. I Made Peace With Emotion</h2> <p>I used to bury emotion. Thought it made me “soft.”</p> <p>Now? I feel deeply — but I don’t let it drive me off course.</p> <p>Masculine strength is having emotions without being ruled by them. It’s facing pain — not running from it. It’s admitting when you’re hurt — and still showing up.</p> <h2>What Masculinity Means to Me Now</h2> <p>Masculinity is quiet. It’s not loud or boastful. It’s not about suppressing others — it’s about <em>rising above yourself</em>.</p> <p>It’s responsibility. Direction. Protection. Stillness under pressure. Compassion with boundaries.</p> <p>It’s being a man not because someone gave you the title — but because you <em>earned it</em>.</p> <p>And that’s a journey I’m still on.</p> <h2>Final Words</h2> <p>If you didn’t have a father — I see you.</p> <p>If you’re unsure what it means to be a man — you’re not alone.</p> <p>But don’t let the world define masculinity for you.</p> <p>Build it. Refine it. Earn it.</p> <p>Not through ego. Not through anger. But through self-mastery.</p> <p><em><strong>Note:</strong> This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend books I’ve personally read a</em>nd found helpful.</p> </section>	How I Rebuilt My Masculinity Without Ego or Aggression For years, I had no idea what it meant to be a man. I didn’t grow up with a father in the house. There was no masculine role model guiding me. Just noise — from social media, music, culture — telling me that being a man meant being tough, dominant, or emotionally detached. So I followed that script. And for a while, I thought it was working. But beneath the surface, I was insecure, reactive, and lost. This is the story of how I broke that model… …and rebuilt my masculinity on strength that doesn’t shout. Growing Up Without a Blueprint Not having a father figure doesn’t just leave a gap — it leaves confusion. I didn’t have a man to show me what controlled strength looks like. What restraint feels like. How to lead without dominating. How to protect without destroying. So I looked elsewhere. And I found all the wrong examples. What Social Media Told Me a Man Should Be Everywhere I looked, I was bombarded by the same message: A man should be rich, shredded, and cold. He should never cry. Never open up. He should “dominate the room.” Win at all costs. There was no room for nuance. No room for quiet leadership or kindness. No room for men who reflect more than they react. If I wasn’t aggressive, I was weak. If I wasn’t chasing power, I was soft. This mindset got me nothing but surface-level confidence and deeper self-doubt. My Breaking Point It wasn’t one moment — it was a slow cracking. A relationship that failed because I couldn’t express anything real. An argument I escalated just to avoid seeming “weak.” A body I was building in the gym — while my character stayed hollow. Eventually, I realized I didn’t feel strong. I just looked like I was pretending to be. That’s when I discovered Stoicism — and everything changed. The Masculine Wisdom I Found in Stoicism The Stoics didn’t shout. They didn’t chase external status. They didn’t care about flexing strength — they focused on mastering themselves. “You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Reading that hit different. Because for the first time, I saw a version of masculinity that wasn’t about controlling others — it was about controlling yourself. Rebuilding Masculinity from the Inside Out When I let go of ego, everything started to shift. Here’s how I rebuilt who I was — quietly, deliberately. 1. I Focused on Character, Not Image I stopped trying to look impressive and started working on my integrity. Am I reliable? Do I follow through? Do I act with courage when it’s inconvenient? These questions became my new gym. The Way of the Superior Man helped me understand that masculinity isn’t about bravado — it’s about presence, direction, and purpose. 2. I Learned to Respond, Not React Before, I’d get triggered easily — defensiveness, anger, shutdowns. Now? I pause. I breathe. I choose. That’s not weakness. That’s real control. Stoicism taught me this, and The Daily Stoic gave me daily reminders of what true strength looks like — calm under fire. 3. I Stopped Seeking Validation Masculinity today is marketed — likes, followers, watches, six-packs. I stepped away from it. No more performing. Just showing up every day, doing what matters, and not explaining myself. Iron John helped me reconnect with masculinity that’s ancestral — forged through rites of passage, not filters. 4. I Made Peace With Emotion I used to bury emotion. Thought it made me “soft.” Now? I feel deeply — but I don’t let it drive me off course. Masculine strength is having emotions without being ruled by them. It’s facing pain — not running from it. It’s admitting when you’re hurt — and still showing up. What Masculinity Means to Me Now Masculinity is quiet. It’s not loud or boastful. It’s not about suppressing others — it’s about rising above yourself. It’s responsibility. Direction. Protection. Stillness under pressure. Compassion with boundaries. It’s being a man not because someone gave you the title — but because you earned it. And that’s a journey I’m still on. Final Words If you didn’t have a father — I see you. If you’re unsure what it means to be a man — you’re not alone. But don’t let the world define masculinity for you. Build it. Refine it. Earn it. Not through ego. Not through anger. But through self-mastery. Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend books I’ve personally read and found helpful.	d7a9b880-a06b-526c-ad45-e509988247e6	25/08/2025 15:59:25
https://medium.com/@nasratnmn/from-data-to-dollars-how-ai-powered-analytics-turbocharges-business-growth-8b1a2673af57	medium.com	From Data to Dollars: How AI-Powered Analytics Turbocharges Business Growth	_____________________________________________	Nasratnmn	https://medium.com/@nasratnmn	8b1a2673af57	https://miro.medium.com/max/2000/0*kiowApOq2ojMGARP	3 min	2024-05-04T08:05:52.630000	2024-05-04T08:16:41.277000	2024-11-27T10:25:46.836000	0	108	en	Business,Business Growth,AI,Business Development,Ai Business	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/768/0kiowApOq2ojMGARP" width="768" height="768" loading="lazy" /> <h1>_____________________________________________</h1> <p>Is it true or not that you are suffocating in that frame of mind of information, uncertain of how to transform that multitude of numbers and consider unmistakable outcomes for your business? Consider the possibility that I let you know that there’s a method for changing that information into dollars, filling your business development more than ever. Indeed, you read that right! With the force of AI-powered analytics, you can turbocharge your business development and open a universe of chances. Fascinated?<a href="https://explodingtopics.com/?via=nasrat"> How about we make a plunge and find out how?</a></p> <h2>Hook & Intro:</h2> <p>Picture this: You’ve put time and assets into gathering tremendous amounts of information about your clients, tasks, and market patterns. Yet, in the midst of all that information, you’re battling to separate significant experiences that can drive your business forward. Sound recognizable? You’re in good company. Numerous organizations face the test of outfitting the capability of their information to fuel development and remain in front of the opposition.</p> <h2>The Problem:</h2> <p>In the present information-driven world, organizations are immersed in data from different sources—client collaborations, deal exchanges, site traffic, virtual entertainment measurements—and that’s just the beginning. While this overflow of information holds tremendous potential, it likewise represents a huge test: how to filter through the commotion and concentrate on noteworthy experiences that drive business development. Without the right apparatus and techniques set up, organizations risk falling behind and passing up significant open doors.</p> <h2>Objection Handling:</h2> <p>Presently, you may think, “But isn’t AI-powered analytics too complex and expensive for my business?” or “I’m not sure if I have the expertise to implement AI technology effectively.” These are substantial worries, yet let me guarantee you: AI-powered analytics are more open and reasonable than at any other time. There are plenty of devices and stages accessible that take special care of organizations of all sizes and ventures, making it simpler than at any other time to use the force of <a href="https://explodingtopics.com/?via=nasrat">AI for business growth</a>.</p> <h2>Open Loops:</h2> <p>All in all, how precisely can AI-powered analytics assist you with transforming information into dollars and turbocharging your business development? What are the particular advantages and open doors that AI technology innovation offers in terms of real value? All things considered, Old Buddy, you’re going to find out!</p> <h2>How to Solve the Problem:</h2> <p>As a matter of some importance, AI-powered analytics offers the capacity to break down huge amounts of information at lightning speed, uncovering stowed away examples, patterns, and connections that human examiners could disregard. This empowers organizations to pursue information-driven choices with certainty, whether it’s recognizing new markets with amazing open doors, improving valuation systems, or customizing client encounters.</p> <p>Besides, AI-powered analytics can mechanize tedious errands and cycles, saving significant time and assets for additional essential drives. From prescient investigation to normal language handling, AI technologies offer a large number of capacities that can smooth out tasks, upgrade efficiency, and drive development.</p> <p>To maximize the capacity of AI-powered analytics for business development, it’s fundamental to start with an unmistakable comprehension of your business objectives and goals. Distinguish the key inquiries you need to respond to and the results you need to accomplish, and then influence AI technology innovation to accumulate, investigate, and decipher the information expected to illuminate your choices.</p> <h2>Closing:</h2> <p>Thus, that’s basically it: how AI technology controlled examination can turbocharge your business development and transform information into dollars. By utilizing the force of AI technology innovation to break down information, mechanize cycles, and go with information driven choices, organizations can open new doors, drive development, and remain in front of the opposition.</p> <p>Keep in mind, protests are intended to survive, open loops to investigation, and your information holds the way to opening your business’ maximum capacity. Are you prepared to transform your information into dollars and turbocharge your business development? What’s to come? Stand by!</p> <p>— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —</p> <p><a href="https://explodingtopics.com/?via=nasrat">This article plans to draw in peruses with a conversational tone, giving noteworthy counsel and tending to normal protests while directing them towards an answer. By utilizing open loops and a well disposed disposition, it urges peruses to make a move and investigate the valuable open doors accessible to them in utilizing AI-powered analytics examination for business development.</a></p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1200/086861h2irPJ35pT4" width="1200" height="751" loading="lazy" /> <p><a href="https://explodingtopics.com/?via=nasrat">We help companies find exploding trends before they take off</a></p> </section>	From Data to Dollars: How AI-Powered Analytics Turbocharges Business Growth _____________________________________________ Is it true or not that you are suffocating in that frame of mind of information, uncertain of how to transform that multitude of numbers and consider unmistakable outcomes for your business? Consider the possibility that I let you know that there’s a method for changing that information into dollars, filling your business development more than ever. Indeed, you read that right! With the force of AI-powered analytics, you can turbocharge your business development and open a universe of chances. Fascinated? How about we make a plunge and find out how? Hook & Intro: Picture this: You’ve put time and assets into gathering tremendous amounts of information about your clients, tasks, and market patterns. Yet, in the midst of all that information, you’re battling to separate significant experiences that can drive your business forward. Sound recognizable? You’re in good company. Numerous organizations face the test of outfitting the capability of their information to fuel development and remain in front of the opposition. The Problem: In the present information-driven world, organizations are immersed in data from different sources—client collaborations, deal exchanges, site traffic, virtual entertainment measurements—and that’s just the beginning. While this overflow of information holds tremendous potential, it likewise represents a huge test: how to filter through the commotion and concentrate on noteworthy experiences that drive business development. Without the right apparatus and techniques set up, organizations risk falling behind and passing up significant open doors. Objection Handling: Presently, you may think, “But isn’t AI-powered analytics too complex and expensive for my business?” or “I’m not sure if I have the expertise to implement AI technology effectively.” These are substantial worries, yet let me guarantee you: AI-powered analytics are more open and reasonable than at any other time. There are plenty of devices and stages accessible that take special care of organizations of all sizes and ventures, making it simpler than at any other time to use the force of AI for business growth. Open Loops: All in all, how precisely can AI-powered analytics assist you with transforming information into dollars and turbocharging your business development? What are the particular advantages and open doors that AI technology innovation offers in terms of real value? All things considered, Old Buddy, you’re going to find out! How to Solve the Problem: As a matter of some importance, AI-powered analytics offers the capacity to break down huge amounts of information at lightning speed, uncovering stowed away examples, patterns, and connections that human examiners could disregard. This empowers organizations to pursue information-driven choices with certainty, whether it’s recognizing new markets with amazing open doors, improving valuation systems, or customizing client encounters. Besides, AI-powered analytics can mechanize tedious errands and cycles, saving significant time and assets for additional essential drives. From prescient investigation to normal language handling, AI technologies offer a large number of capacities that can smooth out tasks, upgrade efficiency, and drive development. To maximize the capacity of AI-powered analytics for business development, it’s fundamental to start with an unmistakable comprehension of your business objectives and goals. Distinguish the key inquiries you need to respond to and the results you need to accomplish, and then influence AI technology innovation to accumulate, investigate, and decipher the information expected to illuminate your choices. Closing: Thus, that’s basically it: how AI technology controlled examination can turbocharge your business development and transform information into dollars. By utilizing the force of AI technology innovation to break down information, mechanize cycles, and go with information driven choices, organizations can open new doors, drive development, and remain in front of the opposition. Keep in mind, protests are intended to survive, open loops to investigation, and your information holds the way to opening your business’ maximum capacity. Are you prepared to transform your information into dollars and turbocharge your business development? What’s to come? Stand by! — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — This article plans to draw in peruses with a conversational tone, giving noteworthy counsel and tending to normal protests while directing them towards an answer. By utilizing open loops and a well disposed disposition, it urges peruses to make a move and investigate the valuable open doors accessible to them in utilizing AI-powered analytics examination for business development. We help companies find exploding trends before they take off	ab247331-2a57-571e-830d-da731a163b5e	25/08/2025 15:59:25
https://medium.com/@betsy.danger/our-choices-matter-full-stop-37b365e2ff49	medium.com	Our choices matter. Full stop.	In the last few months there’s been a conversation in the climbing community (and I use that word “community” with a touch of irony because…	betsysaur	https://medium.com/@betsy.danger	37b365e2ff49	https://miro.medium.com/…a_CFlVooReQ.jpeg	6 min	2017-07-20T15:15:04.186000	2017-07-20T20:04:18.635000	2019-06-25T23:53:18.109000	1	5	en	BlackLivesMatter,Climbing	<section> <p>In the last few months there’s been a conversation in the climbing community (and I use that word “community” with a touch of irony because as with any “community,” climbers are wildly diverse in their backgrounds, experiences, beliefs, and values) about whether or not it is ok to climb Devil’s Tower (also known as Bear Lodge) in Wyoming during the month of June. I hope you will read more about why their is voluntary ban on climbing out of respect for Native American ceremonies and how it came about.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/640/1*eZ-nCw5y4esa_CFlVooReQ.jpeg" width="640" height="427" loading="lazy" /> <p>What I want to talk about is this blog post: <a href="https://jennyabegg.com/2017/06/24/devils-tower-why-i-cant-write-about-the-voluntary-closure-2/">Devils Tower: Why I Can’t Write About the Voluntary Closure</a>.</p> <p>In this piece, the blogger asks us to pick an object across the room, develop an opinion about it and then approach the object and see “if that opinion holds.” The metaphor is meant to draw out the idea that things are more complicated up close than they appear from far way. The implication is that unless you are there, at Devil’s Tower/Bear Lodge (or, presumably the epicenter of any hot button issue), you can’t really judge. Because, it’s complicated. It’s nuanced. It has many sides.</p> <p>Furthermore, the author argues, it is our tendency to form opinions and take sides without taking into account all the competing perspectives that causes divisiveness. She says, “It concerns me that it’s become all too easy to, without barely stopping to think, take a stand for issues very distant and impersonal.” And goes on to list such issues: Indigenous issues. Black lives matter. Philando Castile. Keystone Pipeline. Bears Ears. The repeal of the Affordable Care Act. “Look,” she says, where our opinions are getting us (and to be clear, she’s speaking to white liberals): “our nation has never, at least in our lifetime, been so divided.”</p> <p>Wow.</p> <p>I have to take a deep breath here. Because, just, wow.</p> <p>Let’s start with the obvious: People are not objects across the room. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the point of the metaphor. I just think the metaphor is a bad one. That object she walked across the room to take a closer look at, its details and nuances have literally nothing in common with the struggles of people. It doesn’t have emotions. It doesn’t have a family. It doesn’t have a history or an ancestry. It doesn’t experience oppression. It doesn’t experience racism or sexism or homophobia or ableism. And it doesn’t, intentionally or implicitly, act in oppressive, racist, sexist, homophobic or ableist ways. It, is an it.</p> <p>I know the author knows this. I know she was being intentionally simplistic in order to make a point. But there’s no parallel here to make and comparing people to things in this way has never been, and will never be, a good idea.</p> <p>Second, the argument that people can’t or shouldn’t form opinions from a distance is troubling. The idea that a white person in California cannot empathize with the family of Philando Castile or, for that matter, with the impact his murder has on Black people across the country, is alarming. The idea that we need to know and understand every perspective before forming an opinion is a suggestion that has been used time and time again to derail important conversations, alliviate guilt, and escape responsibility and accountability for the impact of our actions. But some things are, and should be, full stop issues.</p> <blockquote>The idea that we need to know and understand every perspective before forming an opinion is a suggestion that has been used time and time again to derail important conversations, alliviate guilt, and escape responsibility and accountability for the impact of our actions.</blockquote> <p>Black Lives Matter. Full stop. That is true. And no amount of listening to the nuances and varying experiences and different perspectives will ever change that. And, while I don’t think the author truly intended to argue this isn’t the case, I bring it up because it’s important to think about the implications and the impact of our words beyond our own intention.</p> <blockquote>Black Lives Matter. Full stop.</blockquote> <p>As an author I admire, Ijeoma Oluo, recently wrote:</p> <p>As writers we need to respect the power of our words and respect the communities we write about. It is the only ethical and responsible way to engage the immense power and privilege of our platforms. Own your words, own your work, and do better. <a href="https://theestablishment.co/when-your-words-are-weapons-feeb806298fb">SOURCE</a></p> <h3>Now, let’s talk about what this blog post is <em>really</em> saying.</h3> <p>The author is saying that it was easy for her to be an activist, to take sides, to be the good white liberal, until the issue impacted her choices and life personally. Until taking the “progressive side” meant giving up something. That is real and it’s something I can empathize with because it’s something we all struggle with. Or, to be more honest, it’s something we don’t struggle with enough.</p> <p>When being on the side of a marginalized community means that a white person has to give up something important to them or change their behavior and choices, 9 time out of 10 the nuances of the situation suddenly become unignorable and the question of solidarity is no longer a Full Stop issue.</p> <p>The particularly problematic nuances the author of this post brought up were the many facts about the social conditions of indigenous people living in the Pine Ridge Reservation near Bear Lodge/Devil’s Tower. Her conclusion: “It makes me question whether all of these people [Indigenous people living on the Reservation] even have time to think about the renaming of Devils Tower or the June voluntary closure when they’re worried about their health and safety.”</p> <p>But, the thing is, the people of Pine Ridge Reservation <strong>are</strong> saying that this is something they care about.</p> <p>A lot of the campers are Native Americans who are here for their annual visit. One group are Lakota youth who live on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.</p> <p>Waylon Black Crow Senior is among the chaperones to the kids. He said they didn’t drive to get here. They ran. … He said it’s a sacred site, so it’s painful when climbers ignore the closure. “We see them climbing up there,” said Black Crow. “And all we can do is watch.” <a href="http://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/climbers-ignore-native-americans-request-devils-tower">SOURCE</a></p> <p>Let’s think about one issue impacting the people of Pine Ridge Reservation: teen suicide. According to Wikipedia, suicide among adolescents at Pine Ridge Reservation is four times the national average.</p> <p>Another population that is heavily impacted by youth and teen suicide is the LGBTQ population, among whom adolescent suicide is estimated to be four times greater than among their straight peers (<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/ss/ss6509a1.htm">SOURCE</a>). One of the liberal responses to this troubling statistic has been an emphasis on creating spaces and influencing cultural change so that LGBTQ youth feel supported, celebrated, and safe to be out and proud. I doubt the author of “Why I Can’t Write About the Voluntary Closure” thinks that conservative perspectives counter to this are legitimate concerns in the face of an epidemic of queer youth suicides. However, she has chosen to put forth the argument that there are nuances to be considered in opposition to supporting and creating respectful spaces for indigenous youth to take part in their cultural heritage.</p> <p>My point is not to say that respecting the voluntary climbing ban alone will have a direct impact on the reduction teen suicide on the reservation. My point is that, respecting the voluntary climbing ban is one part of working toward a culture where Indigenous youth feel supported and celebrated by the greater society because of who they are.</p> <p>I recently read a piece by Hari Ziyad that was refreshingly honest and cuttingly pointed and, while the author was talking about Black lives and people, his words resonate broadly:</p> <p>If you are a white person who is so attached to the things that harm Black people that my anger at those things implicates you, then, yes, it does mean I hate you. <strong>I hate your fake concern for my well-being that reaches its limits as soon as it asks you to make a change or be uncomfortable.</strong> I hate that you think I owe you my time and energy dissecting my emotions to the point that they make you, again, comfortable enough for complacency. I hate that no one has asked you whom you hate yet. I hate the way you continue to go about your day while we die. I hate the way we die. And I am no longer afraid to say it.</p> <p>What if instead of climbing, folks spent their time in June raising awareness about issues facing indigenous populations in order to impact positive change rather than invoking those issues as a way to excuse their own personal choice to climb? What if instead of insisting that people listen to competing perspectives before coming to judgement, we change a behavior that a marginalized community has explicitly said causes them harm or pain? What if instead of making excuses, we understood that, as white people who stand in solidarity with marginalized communities, we are going to have to make sacrifices and act not just selflessly, but in a way that directly undermines our own privilege?</p> <p>Our choices and our actions matter. They send a message and have an impact that extends far beyond that fun day of climbing Devil’s Tower in min-June. And when climbing causes other people pain, that’s a Full Stop issue.</p> </section>	Our choices matter. Full stop. In the last few months there’s been a conversation in the climbing community (and I use that word “community” with a touch of irony because as with any “community,” climbers are wildly diverse in their backgrounds, experiences, beliefs, and values) about whether or not it is ok to climb Devil’s Tower (also known as Bear Lodge) in Wyoming during the month of June. I hope you will read more about why their is voluntary ban on climbing out of respect for Native American ceremonies and how it came about. Photo: Chris Cavoretto What I want to talk about is this blog post: Devils Tower: Why I Can’t Write About the Voluntary Closure. In this piece, the blogger asks us to pick an object across the room, develop an opinion about it and then approach the object and see “if that opinion holds.” The metaphor is meant to draw out the idea that things are more complicated up close than they appear from far way. The implication is that unless you are there, at Devil’s Tower/Bear Lodge (or, presumably the epicenter of any hot button issue), you can’t really judge. Because, it’s complicated. It’s nuanced. It has many sides. Furthermore, the author argues, it is our tendency to form opinions and take sides without taking into account all the competing perspectives that causes divisiveness. She says, “It concerns me that it’s become all too easy to, without barely stopping to think, take a stand for issues very distant and impersonal.” And goes on to list such issues: Indigenous issues. Black lives matter. Philando Castile. Keystone Pipeline. Bears Ears. The repeal of the Affordable Care Act. “Look,” she says, where our opinions are getting us (and to be clear, she’s speaking to white liberals): “our nation has never, at least in our lifetime, been so divided.” Wow. I have to take a deep breath here. Because, just, wow. Let’s start with the obvious: People are not objects across the room. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the point of the metaphor. I just think the metaphor is a bad one. That object she walked across the room to take a closer look at, its details and nuances have literally nothing in common with the struggles of people. It doesn’t have emotions. It doesn’t have a family. It doesn’t have a history or an ancestry. It doesn’t experience oppression. It doesn’t experience racism or sexism or homophobia or ableism. And it doesn’t, intentionally or implicitly, act in oppressive, racist, sexist, homophobic or ableist ways. It, is an it. I know the author knows this. I know she was being intentionally simplistic in order to make a point. But there’s no parallel here to make and comparing people to things in this way has never been, and will never be, a good idea. Second, the argument that people can’t or shouldn’t form opinions from a distance is troubling. The idea that a white person in California cannot empathize with the family of Philando Castile or, for that matter, with the impact his murder has on Black people across the country, is alarming. The idea that we need to know and understand every perspective before forming an opinion is a suggestion that has been used time and time again to derail important conversations, alliviate guilt, and escape responsibility and accountability for the impact of our actions. But some things are, and should be, full stop issues. The idea that we need to know and understand every perspective before forming an opinion is a suggestion that has been used time and time again to derail important conversations, alliviate guilt, and escape responsibility and accountability for the impact of our actions. Black Lives Matter. Full stop. That is true. And no amount of listening to the nuances and varying experiences and different perspectives will ever change that. And, while I don’t think the author truly intended to argue this isn’t the case, I bring it up because it’s important to think about the implications and the impact of our words beyond our own intention. Black Lives Matter. Full stop. As an author I admire, Ijeoma Oluo, recently wrote: As writers we need to respect the power of our words and respect the communities we write about. It is the only ethical and responsible way to engage the immense power and privilege of our platforms. Own your words, own your work, and do better. SOURCE Now, let’s talk about what this blog post is really saying. The author is saying that it was easy for her to be an activist, to take sides, to be the good white liberal, until the issue impacted her choices and life personally. Until taking the “progressive side” meant giving up something. That is real and it’s something I can empathize with because it’s something we all struggle with. Or, to be more honest, it’s something we don’t struggle with enough. When being on the side of a marginalized community means that a white person has to give up something important to them or change their behavior and choices, 9 time out of 10 the nuances of the situation suddenly become unignorable and the question of solidarity is no longer a Full Stop issue. The particularly problematic nuances the author of this post brought up were the many facts about the social conditions of indigenous people living in the Pine Ridge Reservation near Bear Lodge/Devil’s Tower. Her conclusion: “It makes me question whether all of these people [Indigenous people living on the Reservation] even have time to think about the renaming of Devils Tower or the June voluntary closure when they’re worried about their health and safety.” But, the thing is, the people of Pine Ridge Reservation are saying that this is something they care about. A lot of the campers are Native Americans who are here for their annual visit. One group are Lakota youth who live on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Waylon Black Crow Senior is among the chaperones to the kids. He said they didn’t drive to get here. They ran. … He said it’s a sacred site, so it’s painful when climbers ignore the closure. “We see them climbing up there,” said Black Crow. “And all we can do is watch.” SOURCE Let’s think about one issue impacting the people of Pine Ridge Reservation: teen suicide. According to Wikipedia, suicide among adolescents at Pine Ridge Reservation is four times the national average. Another population that is heavily impacted by youth and teen suicide is the LGBTQ population, among whom adolescent suicide is estimated to be four times greater than among their straight peers (SOURCE). One of the liberal responses to this troubling statistic has been an emphasis on creating spaces and influencing cultural change so that LGBTQ youth feel supported, celebrated, and safe to be out and proud. I doubt the author of “Why I Can’t Write About the Voluntary Closure” thinks that conservative perspectives counter to this are legitimate concerns in the face of an epidemic of queer youth suicides. However, she has chosen to put forth the argument that there are nuances to be considered in opposition to supporting and creating respectful spaces for indigenous youth to take part in their cultural heritage. My point is not to say that respecting the voluntary climbing ban alone will have a direct impact on the reduction teen suicide on the reservation. My point is that, respecting the voluntary climbing ban is one part of working toward a culture where Indigenous youth feel supported and celebrated by the greater society because of who they are. I recently read a piece by Hari Ziyad that was refreshingly honest and cuttingly pointed and, while the author was talking about Black lives and people, his words resonate broadly: If you are a white person who is so attached to the things that harm Black people that my anger at those things implicates you, then, yes, it does mean I hate you. I hate your fake concern for my well-being that reaches its limits as soon as it asks you to make a change or be uncomfortable. I hate that you think I owe you my time and energy dissecting my emotions to the point that they make you, again, comfortable enough for complacency. I hate that no one has asked you whom you hate yet. I hate the way you continue to go about your day while we die. I hate the way we die. And I am no longer afraid to say it. What if instead of climbing, folks spent their time in June raising awareness about issues facing indigenous populations in order to impact positive change rather than invoking those issues as a way to excuse their own personal choice to climb? What if instead of insisting that people listen to competing perspectives before coming to judgement, we change a behavior that a marginalized community has explicitly said causes them harm or pain? What if instead of making excuses, we understood that, as white people who stand in solidarity with marginalized communities, we are going to have to make sacrifices and act not just selflessly, but in a way that directly undermines our own privilege? Our choices and our actions matter. They send a message and have an impact that extends far beyond that fun day of climbing Devil’s Tower in min-June. And when climbing causes other people pain, that’s a Full Stop issue.	9aac9efe-8d6d-5ec3-a99a-16b14a072fd4	25/08/2025 15:59:25
https://netflixtechblog.com/netflix-now-supports-hdr-on-windows-10-1928b40ac7d	medium.com	Netflix Now Supports HDR on Windows 10	by Maria Kazandjieva, Greg Freedman, Matt Trunnell	Netflix Technology Blog	https://medium.com/@netflixtechblog	1928b40ac7d	null	1 min	2017-12-20T16:03:54.583000	2017-12-20T16:26:01.425000	2018-05-03T03:09:26.656000	9	501	en	Windows 10,Html5,Hdr,Microsoft Edge,Video Streaming	<section> <h3>by <em>Maria Kazandjieva, Greg Freedman, Matt Trunnell</em></h3> <p>We are thrilled to announce the addition of High Dynamic Range (HDR) support on Windows 10 for both the Edge browser and the Netflix app. With this update, Netflix members who have a supported device and a premium plan can enjoy amazing Netflix movies and shows in HDR. With HDR enabled, fans can immerse themselves in the delicious colors of <em>Chef’s Table</em>, the terrifying depths of the Upside Down in <em>Stranger Things 2</em>, and enjoy the upcoming Netflix film <em>Bright</em> starring Will Smith. And this is just the beginning! Today, we have over 200 hours of HDR entertainment, and in 2018 even more HDR PCs will enter the market and support the growing number of Netflix originals.</p> <p>This feature is the culmination of a multi-year collaboration between Netflix and a number of industry partners. Intel’s 7th generation and higher CPUs provide that capability needed to play the Netflix HDR10 encodes. In addition, both Intel and Nvidia developed GPUs that use 10 bits-per-channel for each of the RGB colors, increasing the color space that can be represented. With this new hardware available in consumer PCs, Netflix and Microsoft partnered together to put the software pieces in place. Microsoft added the necessary OS and browser changes in their Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and our engineers integrated against those APIs to complete the video player work.</p> <p>Visit our <a href="https://help.netflix.com/en/node/55763">Help Center</a> to learn what you need to start streaming Netflix in HDR today.</p> <p>In the PC world, it is still early days for premium video features like <a href="https://medium.com/netflix-techblog/netflix-now-supports-ultra-hd-4k-on-windows-10-with-new-intel-core-processors-ba3b033da972">4K</a> and HDR. As engineers, we look forward to bringing these features and more to additional browser platforms. <a href="https://jobs.netflix.com/jobs/864853">You can help us</a>!</p> </section>	Netflix Now Supports HDR on Windows 10 by Maria Kazandjieva, Greg Freedman, Matt Trunnell We are thrilled to announce the addition of High Dynamic Range (HDR) support on Windows 10 for both the Edge browser and the Netflix app. With this update, Netflix members who have a supported device and a premium plan can enjoy amazing Netflix movies and shows in HDR. With HDR enabled, fans can immerse themselves in the delicious colors of Chef’s Table, the terrifying depths of the Upside Down in Stranger Things 2, and enjoy the upcoming Netflix film Bright starring Will Smith. And this is just the beginning! Today, we have over 200 hours of HDR entertainment, and in 2018 even more HDR PCs will enter the market and support the growing number of Netflix originals. This feature is the culmination of a multi-year collaboration between Netflix and a number of industry partners. Intel’s 7th generation and higher CPUs provide that capability needed to play the Netflix HDR10 encodes. In addition, both Intel and Nvidia developed GPUs that use 10 bits-per-channel for each of the RGB colors, increasing the color space that can be represented. With this new hardware available in consumer PCs, Netflix and Microsoft partnered together to put the software pieces in place. Microsoft added the necessary OS and browser changes in their Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and our engineers integrated against those APIs to complete the video player work. Visit our Help Center to learn what you need to start streaming Netflix in HDR today. In the PC world, it is still early days for premium video features like 4K and HDR. As engineers, we look forward to bringing these features and more to additional browser platforms. You can help us!	14f90164-ab41-582f-b96b-7b78a0f4a62d	25/08/2025 15:59:26
https://medium.com/@solstice.us/how-community-solar-helps-the-environment-d88bbcea7af4	medium.com	How Community Solar Helps the Environment	It can be difficult to distinguish fact from fiction when it comes to ‘going green,’ and misinformation about solar energy may have you…	Solstice	https://medium.com/@solstice.us	d88bbcea7af4	null	2 min	2017-08-08T19:09:12.027000	2017-08-08T19:10:57.452000	2018-01-22T04:33:31.153000	0	0	en	Climate Change,Solar Energy,Cleantech,Community,Environment	<section> <p>It can be difficult to distinguish fact from fiction when it comes to ‘going green,’ and misinformation about solar energy may have you scratching your head about what’s <em>really</em> best for the environment. Since community solar (and renewable energy in general) is such an important facet of a healthy environment, we wanted to answer one of the most pressing questions our customers have: <strong>How does community solar benefit the environment?</strong></p> <p>Recent technological innovations have allowed humans to more efficiently harness the sun’s power. The rapid adoption of new solar energy technologies is in part a reaction to the consequences of two centuries of fossil fuel burning, which has polluted the air, <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/coal-and-other-fossil-fuels/hidden-cost-of-fossils#.WWzH2tPyv_Q">contaminated the planet’s water</a> and causes <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/air-pollution/en/">millions of premature deaths each year</a>. Producing and consuming fossil fuels also releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses, disrupting our planet’s normal climate cycle. We’re already seeing the consequences of climate change, and <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/climate-change-earth-too-hot-for-humans.html">it’s not just about rising sea levels</a>.</p> <h1>SOLAR BENEFITS</h1> <p>Solar energy is both <strong>clean</strong>, as it doesn’t cause pollution nor emit carbon, and <strong><a href="</strong>http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/energy/solar-energy">renewable</a>, as the energy supply from the sun is unlimited. Fossil fuels <em>are</em> used in the manufacturing of solar panels, but these <a href="https://phys.org/news/2016-12-solar-panels-repay-energy-debt.html">emissions are dropping dramatically</a> as solar capacity increases, and the carbon offset of solar panels far outweighs the emissions generated from their manufacturing.</p> <p><strong>When the average American household switches to solar energy, approximately 5 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions are offset each year</strong> — the equivalent of 5,335 pounds of coal not burned. But not everyone has equal access: it is estimated that 80% of Americans cannot install rooftop panels. At Solstice, we want to make it easy for families, regardless of their income or homeowner status, to make the switch to solar, and that’s where community solar comes in.</p> <h2>THE COMMUNITY SOLAR REVOLUTION</h2> <p>Community solar is a mechanism that allows households to access clean, inexpensive energy via a local <a href="https://solstice.us/solstice-blog/2017/7/13/solar-gardens-a-community-garden-for-clean-energy">solar garden</a>, thus bringing solar energy to the mainstream. By creating conditions that allow all Americans to utilize solar, our dependence on and use of fossil fuels will decrease accordingly. That means less pollution and fewer greenhouse gas emissions.</p> <p>Community solar is still relatively young in its conception and implementation, and there are still real obstacles in bringing community solar to the mainstream. This is at the heart of Solstice’s mission: not only to promote community solar projects, but to make sure that <a href="https://solstice.us/solstice-blog/2017/5/28/solar-for-all-sparking-community-solar-inclusion">all Americans can access them</a>. <strong>Renewable energy must go mainstream in order for humanity to live within the Earth’s limits, and for that to happen, it must be affordable for all Americans.</strong></p> <p>Our goal is to enroll 50,000 customers over the next five years, and in doing so, we’ll help the US reduce our carbon emissions through the addition of 250 solar farms, avoiding roughly 285,000 tons of CO2 a year (the equivalent of 274 million pounds of coal). On top of that, Solstice customers will save $12 million annually. We love that we’re working towards a solution that is great for the Earth and your bank account.</p> <p>Want to read about the other benefits of community solar? <a href="https://solstice.us/solstice-blog/2017/7/10/what-are-the-benefits-of-community-solar">Check out our blog post.</a></p> </section>	How Community Solar Helps the Environment It can be difficult to distinguish fact from fiction when it comes to ‘going green,’ and misinformation about solar energy may have you scratching your head about what’s really best for the environment. Since community solar (and renewable energy in general) is such an important facet of a healthy environment, we wanted to answer one of the most pressing questions our customers have: How does community solar benefit the environment? Recent technological innovations have allowed humans to more efficiently harness the sun’s power. The rapid adoption of new solar energy technologies is in part a reaction to the consequences of two centuries of fossil fuel burning, which has polluted the air, contaminated the planet’s water and causes millions of premature deaths each year. Producing and consuming fossil fuels also releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses, disrupting our planet’s normal climate cycle. We’re already seeing the consequences of climate change, and it’s not just about rising sea levels. SOLAR BENEFITS Solar energy is both clean, as it doesn’t cause pollution nor emit carbon, and renewable, as the energy supply from the sun is unlimited. Fossil fuels are used in the manufacturing of solar panels, but these emissions are dropping dramatically as solar capacity increases, and the carbon offset of solar panels far outweighs the emissions generated from their manufacturing. When the average American household switches to solar energy, approximately 5 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions are offset each year — the equivalent of 5,335 pounds of coal not burned. But not everyone has equal access: it is estimated that 80% of Americans cannot install rooftop panels. At Solstice, we want to make it easy for families, regardless of their income or homeowner status, to make the switch to solar, and that’s where community solar comes in. THE COMMUNITY SOLAR REVOLUTION Community solar is a mechanism that allows households to access clean, inexpensive energy via a local solar garden, thus bringing solar energy to the mainstream. By creating conditions that allow all Americans to utilize solar, our dependence on and use of fossil fuels will decrease accordingly. That means less pollution and fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Community solar is still relatively young in its conception and implementation, and there are still real obstacles in bringing community solar to the mainstream. This is at the heart of Solstice’s mission: not only to promote community solar projects, but to make sure that all Americans can access them. Renewable energy must go mainstream in order for humanity to live within the Earth’s limits, and for that to happen, it must be affordable for all Americans. Our goal is to enroll 50,000 customers over the next five years, and in doing so, we’ll help the US reduce our carbon emissions through the addition of 250 solar farms, avoiding roughly 285,000 tons of CO2 a year (the equivalent of 274 million pounds of coal). On top of that, Solstice customers will save $12 million annually. We love that we’re working towards a solution that is great for the Earth and your bank account. Want to read about the other benefits of community solar? Check out our blog post.	d9eadc6f-fade-512e-9b00-02af975f8497	25/08/2025 15:59:27
https://medium.com/@ar_ratih/tentang-ratih-8e42e0fb0077	medium.com	Tentang Ratih	This article about me -ratih	Surati Ningsih	https://medium.com/@ar_ratih	8e42e0fb0077	https://miro.medium.com/…k98oYQx0Y-Q.jpeg	2 min	2020-10-08T10:59:53.122000	2020-10-08T11:05:44.436000	2021-12-16T03:58:20.063000	0	0	en	About Me,Ratih,Penulis,Content Writer,Human	<section> <p><em>This article about me -ratih</em></p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/4000/1f9Qpz4WJG5dk98oYQx0Y-Q.jpeg" width="4000" height="6000" loading="lazy" /> <blockquote>“Ketika bibir tak mampu menjelaskan isi hati, kata-kata goresan pena mampu mewakilinya.</blockquote> <blockquote>‘Kata’ itu membuat semua yang awalnya samar menjadi jelas. Itulah mengapa aku suka menulis” -Ratih</blockquote> <p>— — — — — — — — — — —</p> <p>Hi! Panggil aku Ratih kelahiran 1998. Aku tahu, 1998 mengingatkan kalian tentang kejadian ketika aku lahir Indonesia mengalami krisis moneter, saat SMP 2013 percobaan baru ujian nasional ada 20 paket, saat SMK/SMA percobaan kurikulum baru, pandemi corona diawal skripsi, dan demo menolak Omnibus Law RUU Cipta Kerja pas lagi cari kerja. haha. Memang melaluinya terasa berat, tapi anggap semua itu topping gurih yang Tuhan berikan dalam hidup. Haha, iya pura-pura tegar biasanya kalau sudah benar-benar lelah baru nangis.</p> <p><em>Call me, Senorita</em>! hehe… canda ya kak. Kalau ditanya hobinya apa pasti ku jawab baca buku & komik, karena suka baca buku jadi suka iseng nulis cerita pendek, karena cewek aku suka genre romantis yang <em>happy ending</em>. Selain candu dengan baca-tulis aku juga pecandu nonton, nonton film bareng kesayangan yang lagi tayang di bioskop, nonton anime di rumah sambil makan Mie kuah ala-ala Ramen, nonton drama Korea atau Thailand yang bikin baper. Hal yang membuat aku tertarik untuk nonton adalah judul atau temanya apa, lihat trailernya dulu. Terus siapa pemeran atau filmnya siapa? kalau ada Reza Rahardian, Raditya Dika, Ernest Prakasa, Indro DKI, Lee min ho, Cha Eun Wo, Ji Chang Wook, Park Seo Joon, Song Jong Ki dll yang sudah melegenda pasti tertarik apalagi kalau ada yang ganteng atau cantik, n<em>o debate</em> hehe.</p> <p>Di tahun 2020 ini kuliah ku selesai, <em>tolong tepuk tangannya ya kak. </em>Dan ku memutuskan untuk menulis lagi setelah sekian lama, aku hanya menulis tentang perasaan di instagram story, huhu. Aku itu suka nulis tentang lifestyle, perasaan, percintaan, persahabatan, kehidupan wanita, fashion, psikologi, produk, perjalanan, pendidikan, dan masih banyak hal apapun yang menarik.</p> <p>Eh tapi, aku bukan tipe <em>introvert </em>ya. Aku juga suka jalan-jalan sendiri, berdua atau rame-rame sikee aja. Pantai yang panas, gunung yang dingin, wisata kota yang ramai, wisata desa yang kadang kurang terawat, makanan khas daerah, dan nggak ketinggal air bening merk apapun selalu menemani, hehe.</p> <p>Jadi, setelah post ini akan ada artikel-artikel by Ratih tentang semua hal yang menarik. Sebenarnya aku membuat ini untuk portofolio ku, karena manusia ini nggak bisa bilang “Saya bisa menulis pak/bu/kak” tanpa adanya jejak tulisan. hehe</p> <p>Okay, Sekian.</p> </section>	Tentang Ratih This article about me -ratih Hello, i’m human. You can call me with ‘R a t i h’ “Ketika bibir tak mampu menjelaskan isi hati, kata-kata goresan pena mampu mewakilinya. ‘Kata’ itu membuat semua yang awalnya samar menjadi jelas. Itulah mengapa aku suka menulis” -Ratih — — — — — — — — — — — Hi! Panggil aku Ratih kelahiran 1998. Aku tahu, 1998 mengingatkan kalian tentang kejadian ketika aku lahir Indonesia mengalami krisis moneter, saat SMP 2013 percobaan baru ujian nasional ada 20 paket, saat SMK/SMA percobaan kurikulum baru, pandemi corona diawal skripsi, dan demo menolak Omnibus Law RUU Cipta Kerja pas lagi cari kerja. haha. Memang melaluinya terasa berat, tapi anggap semua itu topping gurih yang Tuhan berikan dalam hidup. Haha, iya pura-pura tegar biasanya kalau sudah benar-benar lelah baru nangis. Call me, Senorita! hehe… canda ya kak. Kalau ditanya hobinya apa pasti ku jawab baca buku & komik, karena suka baca buku jadi suka iseng nulis cerita pendek, karena cewek aku suka genre romantis yang happy ending. Selain candu dengan baca-tulis aku juga pecandu nonton, nonton film bareng kesayangan yang lagi tayang di bioskop, nonton anime di rumah sambil makan Mie kuah ala-ala Ramen, nonton drama Korea atau Thailand yang bikin baper. Hal yang membuat aku tertarik untuk nonton adalah judul atau temanya apa, lihat trailernya dulu. Terus siapa pemeran atau filmnya siapa? kalau ada Reza Rahardian, Raditya Dika, Ernest Prakasa, Indro DKI, Lee min ho, Cha Eun Wo, Ji Chang Wook, Park Seo Joon, Song Jong Ki dll yang sudah melegenda pasti tertarik apalagi kalau ada yang ganteng atau cantik, no debate hehe. Di tahun 2020 ini kuliah ku selesai, tolong tepuk tangannya ya kak. Dan ku memutuskan untuk menulis lagi setelah sekian lama, aku hanya menulis tentang perasaan di instagram story, huhu. Aku itu suka nulis tentang lifestyle, perasaan, percintaan, persahabatan, kehidupan wanita, fashion, psikologi, produk, perjalanan, pendidikan, dan masih banyak hal apapun yang menarik. Eh tapi, aku bukan tipe introvert ya. Aku juga suka jalan-jalan sendiri, berdua atau rame-rame sikee aja. Pantai yang panas, gunung yang dingin, wisata kota yang ramai, wisata desa yang kadang kurang terawat, makanan khas daerah, dan nggak ketinggal air bening merk apapun selalu menemani, hehe. Jadi, setelah post ini akan ada artikel-artikel by Ratih tentang semua hal yang menarik. Sebenarnya aku membuat ini untuk portofolio ku, karena manusia ini nggak bisa bilang “Saya bisa menulis pak/bu/kak” tanpa adanya jejak tulisan. *hehe Okay, Sekian.	9d724631-7514-5244-a79b-c9231b651b3b	25/08/2025 15:59:27
https://medium.com/@erinmckay/we-the-people-wage-war-with-the-question-why-4ec80b818780	medium.com	We The People Wage War with the Question Why	In Howard Zinn on Democratic Education, Zinn calls people to abandon the idea that they “are passive” (84). He explains that the “great…	Erin McKay	https://medium.com/@erinmckay	4ec80b818780	null	3 min	2015-09-24T06:43:52.999000	2015-09-24T07:17:28.023000	2017-08-11T16:24:40.860000	0	0	en	BlackLivesMatter,Racism	<section> <p>In <em>Howard Zinn on Democratic Education</em>, Zinn calls people to abandon the idea that they “are passive” (84). He explains that the “great injustices that have existed in the United States were never ameliorated from the top… People have to struggle for that” (83). Zinn insists that people must mobilize and even uproar to create political change. Democracy is for the people, of the people and by the people. Thus, as Zinn stresses we must not assume that democracy is “a formula” that can be changed systematically by “what the president is doing, and what Congress is doing” (83–84). No, the people in a democracy change and it is those people that can change the democracy. It is the ordinary citizens who must take hold of their wounds to mend a wounded government.</p> <p>Similar to Zinn’s call to the people to resist passivity, Michelle Alexander also sounds a call to common Americans to question their awareness in “The New Jim Crow”. With the statement,“[d]enial is facilitated by persistent racial segregation in housing and schools, by political demagoguery, by racialized media imagery, and by the ease of changing one’s perception of reality simply by changing television channels[,]” Alexander points to the areas and instances that may seem insignificant, yet intensify our blindness to black inequity (742). Even though the “War on Drugs is the vehicle through which extraordinary numbers of black men are forced into the cage[,]” Alexander indicates that in order to change the system as a whole, we must first spark individual consciousness. Her target audience in this piece is not the politician, it is the average citizen and student; it is you and me. Her primary call is for people to realize and admit their ingrained denial that black men are victims of incarceration discrimination.</p> <p>In “The Hunt for Democracy: The Lion’s Perspective,” Meredith Rode comments: “New awarenesses create new possibilities, both for individual learning and for societal change. What we have been doing no longer meets the conditions of our time, and what we must create will require a relinquishing of ideas in structure so familiar that they seem inviolable truths”(31). Her observation that our current actions do not correlate to “the conditions of our time” reigns true to Alexander’s observations. He explains that “[t]oday, the political fanfare and the vehement, racialized rhetoric regarding crime and drugs are no longer necessary” because “crack is out; terrorism is in” (740). The War on Drugs was launched at a time of necessity in our nation. Yet with threats such as terrorism striking more urgently now, The War on Drugs “no longer meets the conditions of our time.” Thus, as Alexander concludes, the battle is being abused and used to strip black men from their families and pack prisons to the brim with people of brown skin. While the stigmas that “black people, especially black men, are criminals” (Alexander 746) appear “so familiar that they seem inviolable truths,” Rode and Alexander would call the American public to throw out these deep-set ideas and equip their hearts and minds to initiate national action.</p> <p>If we as a society do not acknowledge our denial, then black men will perpetually face “the evils of mass incarceration” (742). Zinn points out “the great injustices that have existed in the United States were never ameliorated from the top” but instead addressed by the people (83). Thus, if people continue to deny and mumble to themselves, “There’s no racial profiling. There’s no rules and laws that discriminate. We are far past the days of discrimination. Look at our president,” we can bet our bottom dollar that the government won’t lift a finger. Washington is supposed to serve the majority. Yet, if the majority of white, middle class citizens do not move from passivity to uproar and from denial to critical consciousness, no one at the top will be forced to rework the “system [that] serves to redefine the terms of the relationship of poor people of color and their communities to mainstream, white society” (Alexander 744).</p> <p>And this critical consciousness can start with students like me. Previously, I dismissed the issue of racial profiling with the passive thought that <em>well, there are more black men incarcerated for drug crimes because there are simply <strong>more</strong> black men that ab</em>use and use drugs. But what if after reading these works I asked myself the critical and uncomfortable questions instead. What if I wondered: <em>Don’t I know just as many white young adults that abuse and use drugs? Why are they not incarcerated? Why do they get the privilege of playing with drugs and then leaving the illegal hobby behind to have a family and pursue a career?</em></p> <p>If I asked these questions instead, I could take the first steps to understanding; I could take the first steps to social justice.</p> </section>	We The People Wage War with the Question Why In Howard Zinn on Democratic Education, Zinn calls people to abandon the idea that they “are passive” (84). He explains that the “great injustices that have existed in the United States were never ameliorated from the top… People have to struggle for that” (83). Zinn insists that people must mobilize and even uproar to create political change. Democracy is for the people, of the people and by the people. Thus, as Zinn stresses we must not assume that democracy is “a formula” that can be changed systematically by “what the president is doing, and what Congress is doing” (83–84). No, the people in a democracy change and it is those people that can change the democracy. It is the ordinary citizens who must take hold of their wounds to mend a wounded government. Similar to Zinn’s call to the people to resist passivity, Michelle Alexander also sounds a call to common Americans to question their awareness in “The New Jim Crow”. With the statement,“[d]enial is facilitated by persistent racial segregation in housing and schools, by political demagoguery, by racialized media imagery, and by the ease of changing one’s perception of reality simply by changing television channels[,]” Alexander points to the areas and instances that may seem insignificant, yet intensify our blindness to black inequity (742). Even though the “War on Drugs is the vehicle through which extraordinary numbers of black men are forced into the cage[,]” Alexander indicates that in order to change the system as a whole, we must first spark individual consciousness. Her target audience in this piece is not the politician, it is the average citizen and student; it is you and me. Her primary call is for people to realize and admit their ingrained denial that black men are victims of incarceration discrimination. In “The Hunt for Democracy: The Lion’s Perspective,” Meredith Rode comments: “New awarenesses create new possibilities, both for individual learning and for societal change. What we have been doing no longer meets the conditions of our time, and what we must create will require a relinquishing of ideas in structure so familiar that they seem inviolable truths”(31). Her observation that our current actions do not correlate to “the conditions of our time” reigns true to Alexander’s observations. He explains that “[t]oday, the political fanfare and the vehement, racialized rhetoric regarding crime and drugs are no longer necessary” because “crack is out; terrorism is in” (740). The War on Drugs was launched at a time of necessity in our nation. Yet with threats such as terrorism striking more urgently now, The War on Drugs “no longer meets the conditions of our time.” Thus, as Alexander concludes, the battle is being abused and used to strip black men from their families and pack prisons to the brim with people of brown skin. While the stigmas that “black people, especially black men, are criminals” (Alexander 746) appear “so familiar that they seem inviolable truths,” Rode and Alexander would call the American public to throw out these deep-set ideas and equip their hearts and minds to initiate national action. If we as a society do not acknowledge our denial, then black men will perpetually face “the evils of mass incarceration” (742). Zinn points out “the great injustices that have existed in the United States were never ameliorated from the top” but instead addressed by the people (83). Thus, if people continue to deny and mumble to themselves, “There’s no racial profiling. There’s no rules and laws that discriminate. We are far past the days of discrimination. Look at our president,” we can bet our bottom dollar that the government won’t lift a finger. Washington is supposed to serve the majority. Yet, if the majority of white, middle class citizens do not move from passivity to uproar and from denial to critical consciousness, no one at the top will be forced to rework the “system [that] serves to redefine the terms of the relationship of poor people of color and their communities to mainstream, white society” (Alexander 744). And this critical consciousness can start with students like me. Previously, I dismissed the issue of racial profiling with the passive thought that well, there are more black men incarcerated for drug crimes because there are simply more black men that abuse and use drugs. But what if after reading these works I asked myself the critical and uncomfortable questions instead. What if I wondered: Don’t I know just as many white young adults that abuse and use drugs? Why are they not incarcerated? Why do they get the privilege of playing with drugs and then leaving the illegal hobby behind to have a family and pursue a career? If I asked these questions instead, I could take the first steps to understanding; I could take the first steps to social justice.	62f48e7e-89b6-5ab6-8330-eefed8c8a73c	25/08/2025 15:59:27
https://todd-bowen.medium.com/what-causes-bad-sitting-posture-sittingposture-com-bce4d7aa79c2	medium.com	What Causes Bad Sitting Posture — SittingPosture.com	A common phrase among office workers is, “Sitting is the new smoking.” We all know it’s unhealthy. But what are the actual causes of poor…	Todd Bowen	https://medium.com/@todd-bowen	bce4d7aa79c2	https://miro.medium.com/max/2000/0*FFPv_1uBpKxX20ms	7 min	2025-01-05T01:37:09.839000	2024-12-06T11:00:58.628000	2025-01-22T12:35:03.501000	0	0	en	Posture,Ergonomics,Self Improvement,Wellness,Technology	<section> <h1>A common phrase among office workers is, “Sitting is the new smoking.” We all know it’s unhealthy. But what are the actual causes of poor sitting posture? We need to learn what computer posture mistakes to avoid first, before we can implement healthy habits of a sedentary lifestyle.</h1> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/660/0FFPv_1uBpKxX20ms" width="660" height="338" loading="lazy" /> <p>You would think our bodies are at rest when we sit. That’s true for a lot of our muscles. They are deactivated and underused when sitting at a computer. The rest of our muscles are constantly activated. This causes repetitive strain and overuse injuries to those muscles and their tendons.</p> <p>This article is not professional medical advice. It’s based off my personal experience and opinions. For years, my poor computer posture caused muscle tension, inflammation, and chronic pain. Bad posture also decreased my mental clarity, energy level, and work productivity.</p> <p>All the desk worker health tips I write about are directly related to improving posture at a computer. We are our own primary caretakers. Do your research. Make good decisions. And be the best advocate possible for your own healthcare.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/954/1gElWe-MMXEY47h4WRIjThA.jpeg" width="954" height="300" loading="lazy" /> <h2>What causes bad sitting posture?</h2> <p>This article will talk about the causes of poor sitting posture. It’ll also talk about common sitting posture mistakes, plus the health risks that come along with them.</p> <h2>Why is my posture so bad?</h2> <p>Our muscles and tendons are not designed to be constantly activated for long periods of time. As office workers, this means 8 hours a day. Over time, this repetitive strain and overuse causes health risks. Sitting with good computer posture can alleviate some of these risks, but not all of them. More importantly, poor sitting posture makes our computer-related pain much worse.</p> <h2>Health risks of poor sitting posture</h2> <p>Muscle tension</p> <p>Our muscles are designed to be strong and durable. We can lift heavy things multiple times. But there’s always a limit to that durability. An old friend I’d lift weights with used to tell me, “The weight always wins in the end.” Meaning, you can try to lift as heavy as you want. And you may lift it successfully. But eventually, as you keep increasing the weight, the weight is eventually going to win.</p> <p>The same goes for holding our posture in the same position at a computer desk. Even though these muscle holds are low impact and long duration, there is eventually a breaking point. The problem is, we often don’t notice it first when we’re sitting at a computer. Our muscles get tight at our office desk, which is often not painful. Then, we try to complete daily activities like sports, weightlifting, or running. That’s when we’re more susceptible to injury, because our muscles are tighter from sitting at a computer desk. After sitting at a computer for a couple years, our muscles can no longer compete (in exercise or sports) at the level we’re used to. But we still try to, which leads to chronic pain caused by computer-related muscle tension.</p> <p>Chronic pain</p> <p>As stated in the previous paragraph, we often don’t notice muscle tension when we’re working at a computer. And the muscle tension was rarely the spot of my chronic pain.</p> <p>Muscles are connected to tendons. And tendons attach muscles to bones, usually at a major joint. This is where I’d always feel most of my computer-related pain. Muscles get tighter and shorter due to repetitive strain from poor computer posture. These shorter muscles pull harder on their tendons as time goes on. This causes overuse and inflammation of the tendons.</p> <p>Tendons are meant to be durable. But they have much less blood flow than muscles. So tendons typically experience pain before muscles. Especially when it’s a low intensity, long duration muscle hold causing the computer-related injury.</p> <p>To learn more, check out my article titled, <a href="https://www.sittingposture.com/poor-computer-posture/">Poor Computer Posture: The Cause and Effect Relationship Between Muscle Tension and Chronic Pain</a>.</p> <p>Decreased blood flow</p> <p>Decreased blood flow is a dangerous effect of bad sitting posture. We basically have 2 categories of muscles when sitting at a computer. Muscles that are underused, and muscles that are overused. Both underuse and overuse (for long periods of time) can cause decreased blood flow. This means our muscles, tendons, ligaments, even our brains, share the same decreased blood flow. This affects us both physically and mentally.</p> <p>Decreased range of motion</p> <p>As if our tight muscles, chronic pain, and decreased blood flow weren’t enough negative effects of bad sitting posture, one of the first signs we notice is decreased range of motion. This is because our overused muscles can get tighter, shorter, and compressed. Sometimes, they get overextended and lengthened. It depends on the muscle and the angle its closest joint is held in for long periods of time. I like to refer to this as muscle confusion. Muscle confusion causes joint dysfunction, which leads to decreased range of motion.</p> <p>Mental fatigue</p> <p>We’re only allotted a certain amount of energy each day. This energy is divided up between our mental and physical energy. The more physical energy I would use, the less mental energy I had available to give.</p> <p>It also applied to the opposite scenario. If I had a lot of mental stress on my plate, my physical energy would suffer. When that would happen, my muscles would tighten up quicker. This would cause my computer posture to suffer earlier in the day, compared to if it was a lower stress workday.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/954/1AB9kzHeHo_u-KEpRFaBNqA.jpeg" width="954" height="300" loading="lazy" /> <h2>Common sitting posture mistakes</h2> <p>Monitor is too low</p> <p>I used to have my eye level much higher than the top of my monitor screen. This caused me to tilt my head downward to look at my monitor screen. It put my neck in an overextended, compromised position. Our necks are made to get in this position. But they aren’t meant to hold this position for long periods of time. This caused spinal disc degeneration in my neck. I learned this from x-rays my <a href="https://www.sittingposture.com/can-chiropractic-care-improve-your-computer-posture/">chiropractor</a> took.</p> <p>What is the correct monitor height for sitting at a computer?</p> <p>I couldn’t reverse my spinal disc degeneration, but I could stop the future damage by raising my monitor height. I like to keep the top of my monitor screen even with my eye level. Also, I make sure I’m sitting with good computer posture, not slouching forward, when I raise my monitor to the correct eye level.</p> <p>Elbow level is too low</p> <p>I used to sit with my chair too low and my elbows below my desk level. This caused constant activation and overuse of my bicep muscles (to lift my hands up onto the keyboard and mouse). This caused short, tight biceps. The shorter my biceps got, the more they pulled on the bicep tendons that attach to bone in my elbows and shoulders. This caused chronic shoulder pain. For more info, read my article titled, <a href="https://www.sittingposture.com/why-does-sitting-at-a-computer-cause-shoulder-pain/">Why Does Sitting at a Computer Cause Shoulder Pain?</a></p> <p>What is the correct elbow level for sitting at a computer desk?</p> <p>I fixed this computer posture mistake by raising my office chair. The correct elbow height for me is when my elbows are slightly higher than my office desk. This allows my biceps to relax, not being constantly activated for long periods of time. My forearms are at a slight downward angle, while my hands are resting on my keyboard and mouse.</p> <p>Feet are not flat on the floor</p> <p>Believe it or not, <a href="https://www.sittingposture.com/how-to-position-feet-when-sitting-at-a-computer/">foot positioning at a computer</a> definitely matters. I used to sit with my hamstrings constantly activated. This would pull my feet underneath my office chair, and under my body. My feet rested on my toes and my heels were up in the air. This caused a lot of <a href="https://www.sittingposture.com/correct-knee-position-while-sitting-at-a-computer/">knee dysfunction</a>. It also led to 3 ankle surgeries for me. I sprained my ankle playing basketball. But I sprained it because of the ankle dysfunction caused by not having my feet flat on the floor (while sitting at a computer for long periods of time).</p> <p>What is the correct foot position for sitting at a computer?</p> <p>The correct foot position for sitting at a computer is simply having your feet flat on the floor (or a footrest). If you have to raise your chair to get the correct elbow level compared to desk level, it sometimes will raise office workers’ feet off the floor. If this happens, then a footrest would be necessary. In that case, the correct foot positioning would be flat on the footrest.</p> <p>Keeping feet flat on the floor (or footrest) when sitting at a computer for long periods of time keeps the ankle in a neutral position. It also avoids repetitive strain in the muscles around the ankle.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/660/0oeQld_6EcMmic6w1" width="660" height="440" loading="lazy" /> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/660/0nCBNjcm1HohVBwBV" width="660" height="440" loading="lazy" /> <h3>THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN COMPUTER POSTURE.</h3> <p>If you’ve read this far, congratulations! You’re taking valuable steps to reduce computer-related injuries by improving your posture. That’s something to be very proud of!</p> <p>If you liked this article on what causes bad sitting posture, check out my book titled <a href="https://www.sittingposture.com/book">45 Ways to Improve Computer Posture</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.sittingposture.com/book">>>> Click here to learn more</a></p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/660/0Wk164PKHp0xT27ON" width="660" height="440" loading="lazy" /> <p>This <a href="https://www.sittingposture.com/book">book</a> is a great supplement to the article you just read. It covers healthy ergonomic habits like posture, sleep, hydration, and breathing.</p> <p>I wrote this book to be the resource I wish I had back in 2002, when I first started sitting at a computer for long periods of time.</p> <p>Go to <a href="https://www.sittingposture.com/book">SittingPosture.com/book</a> to learn more.</p> <p>Take care,</p> <p>Todd Bowen</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/954/1*AB9kzHeHo_u-KEpRFaBNqA.jpeg" width="954" height="300" loading="lazy" /> <p><em>Originally published at <a href="https://www.sittingposture.com/what-causes</em>-bad-sitting-posture/">https://www.sittingposture.com</a> on December 6, 2024.</p> </section>	What Causes Bad Sitting Posture? — SittingPosture.com A common phrase among office workers is, “Sitting is the new smoking.” We all know it’s unhealthy. But what are the actual causes of poor sitting posture? We need to learn what computer posture mistakes to avoid first, before we can implement healthy habits of a sedentary lifestyle. What causes bad sitting posture? Photo by Kuprevich via Megapixl You would think our bodies are at rest when we sit. That’s true for a lot of our muscles. They are deactivated and underused when sitting at a computer. The rest of our muscles are constantly activated. This causes repetitive strain and overuse injuries to those muscles and their tendons. This article is not professional medical advice. It’s based off my personal experience and opinions. For years, my poor computer posture caused muscle tension, inflammation, and chronic pain. Bad posture also decreased my mental clarity, energy level, and work productivity. All the desk worker health tips I write about are directly related to improving posture at a computer. We are our own primary caretakers. Do your research. Make good decisions. And be the best advocate possible for your own healthcare. My ebook “3 Ways” is always free. It talks about the 3 most painful, poor posture mistakes I used to make while sitting at a computer for long periods of time. Then, it tells you how to fix those posture mistakes, immediately! You can download my ebook here. What causes bad sitting posture? This article will talk about the causes of poor sitting posture. It’ll also talk about common sitting posture mistakes, plus the health risks that come along with them. Why is my posture so bad? Our muscles and tendons are not designed to be constantly activated for long periods of time. As office workers, this means 8 hours a day. Over time, this repetitive strain and overuse causes health risks. Sitting with good computer posture can alleviate some of these risks, but not all of them. More importantly, poor sitting posture makes our computer-related pain much worse. Health risks of poor sitting posture Muscle tension Our muscles are designed to be strong and durable. We can lift heavy things multiple times. But there’s always a limit to that durability. An old friend I’d lift weights with used to tell me, “The weight always wins in the end.” Meaning, you can try to lift as heavy as you want. And you may lift it successfully. But eventually, as you keep increasing the weight, the weight is eventually going to win. The same goes for holding our posture in the same position at a computer desk. Even though these muscle holds are low impact and long duration, there is eventually a breaking point. The problem is, we often don’t notice it first when we’re sitting at a computer. Our muscles get tight at our office desk, which is often not painful. Then, we try to complete daily activities like sports, weightlifting, or running. That’s when we’re more susceptible to injury, because our muscles are tighter from sitting at a computer desk. After sitting at a computer for a couple years, our muscles can no longer compete (in exercise or sports) at the level we’re used to. But we still try to, which leads to chronic pain caused by computer-related muscle tension. Chronic pain As stated in the previous paragraph, we often don’t notice muscle tension when we’re working at a computer. And the muscle tension was rarely the spot of my chronic pain. Muscles are connected to tendons. And tendons attach muscles to bones, usually at a major joint. This is where I’d always feel most of my computer-related pain. Muscles get tighter and shorter due to repetitive strain from poor computer posture. These shorter muscles pull harder on their tendons as time goes on. This causes overuse and inflammation of the tendons. Tendons are meant to be durable. But they have much less blood flow than muscles. So tendons typically experience pain before muscles. Especially when it’s a low intensity, long duration muscle hold causing the computer-related injury. To learn more, check out my article titled, Poor Computer Posture: The Cause and Effect Relationship Between Muscle Tension and Chronic Pain. Decreased blood flow Decreased blood flow is a dangerous effect of bad sitting posture. We basically have 2 categories of muscles when sitting at a computer. Muscles that are underused, and muscles that are overused. Both underuse and overuse (for long periods of time) can cause decreased blood flow. This means our muscles, tendons, ligaments, even our brains, share the same decreased blood flow. This affects us both physically and mentally. Decreased range of motion As if our tight muscles, chronic pain, and decreased blood flow weren’t enough negative effects of bad sitting posture, one of the first signs we notice is decreased range of motion. This is because our overused muscles can get tighter, shorter, and compressed. Sometimes, they get overextended and lengthened. It depends on the muscle and the angle its closest joint is held in for long periods of time. I like to refer to this as muscle confusion. Muscle confusion causes joint dysfunction, which leads to decreased range of motion. Mental fatigue We’re only allotted a certain amount of energy each day. This energy is divided up between our mental and physical energy. The more physical energy I would use, the less mental energy I had available to give. It also applied to the opposite scenario. If I had a lot of mental stress on my plate, my physical energy would suffer. When that would happen, my muscles would tighten up quicker. This would cause my computer posture to suffer earlier in the day, compared to if it was a lower stress workday. My Computer Posture Newsletter is always free. I write about easy, actionable ways to improve computer posture. Click here to sign up. Common sitting posture mistakes Monitor is too low I used to have my eye level much higher than the top of my monitor screen. This caused me to tilt my head downward to look at my monitor screen. It put my neck in an overextended, compromised position. Our necks are made to get in this position. But they aren’t meant to hold this position for long periods of time. This caused spinal disc degeneration in my neck. I learned this from x-rays my chiropractor took. What is the correct monitor height for sitting at a computer? I couldn’t reverse my spinal disc degeneration, but I could stop the future damage by raising my monitor height. I like to keep the top of my monitor screen even with my eye level. Also, I make sure I’m sitting with good computer posture, not slouching forward, when I raise my monitor to the correct eye level. Elbow level is too low I used to sit with my chair too low and my elbows below my desk level. This caused constant activation and overuse of my bicep muscles (to lift my hands up onto the keyboard and mouse). This caused short, tight biceps. The shorter my biceps got, the more they pulled on the bicep tendons that attach to bone in my elbows and shoulders. This caused chronic shoulder pain. For more info, read my article titled, Why Does Sitting at a Computer Cause Shoulder Pain? What is the correct elbow level for sitting at a computer desk? I fixed this computer posture mistake by raising my office chair. The correct elbow height for me is when my elbows are slightly higher than my office desk. This allows my biceps to relax, not being constantly activated for long periods of time. My forearms are at a slight downward angle, while my hands are resting on my keyboard and mouse. Feet are not flat on the floor Believe it or not, foot positioning at a computer definitely matters. I used to sit with my hamstrings constantly activated. This would pull my feet underneath my office chair, and under my body. My feet rested on my toes and my heels were up in the air. This caused a lot of knee dysfunction. It also led to 3 ankle surgeries for me. I sprained my ankle playing basketball. But I sprained it because of the ankle dysfunction caused by not having my feet flat on the floor (while sitting at a computer for long periods of time). What is the correct foot position for sitting at a computer? The correct foot position for sitting at a computer is simply having your feet flat on the floor (or a footrest). If you have to raise your chair to get the correct elbow level compared to desk level, it sometimes will raise office workers’ feet off the floor. If this happens, then a footrest would be necessary. In that case, the correct foot positioning would be flat on the footrest. Keeping feet flat on the floor (or footrest) when sitting at a computer for long periods of time keeps the ankle in a neutral position. It also avoids repetitive strain in the muscles around the ankle. Notice the signs of bad sitting posture in this image. The user’s elbow level is below desk level. This used to cause me chronic shoulder pain. Also, his hamstrings are constantly contracted so this pulls his feet underneath his chair. This caused me knee and ankle dysfunction. Image by Inegvin via Megapixl. Notice the desk setup for good posture in this image. The user’s elbow level is slightly higher than desk level. His feet are flat on the floor. We want our computer desk setup to be an asset that promotes good sitting posture as soon as we sit down. This image is an example of that. Image by Inegvin via Megapixl. THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN COMPUTER POSTURE. If you’ve read this far, congratulations! You’re taking valuable steps to reduce computer-related injuries by improving your posture. That’s something to be very proud of! If you liked this article on what causes bad sitting posture, check out my book titled 45 Ways to Improve Computer Posture. >>> Click here to learn more 45 Ways to Improve Computer Posture, by Todd Bowen This book is a great supplement to the article you just read. It covers healthy ergonomic habits like posture, sleep, hydration, and breathing. I wrote this book to be the resource I wish I had back in 2002, when I first started sitting at a computer for long periods of time. Go to SittingPosture.com/book to learn more. Take care, Todd Bowen My Computer Posture Newsletter is always free. I write about easy, actionable ways to improve computer posture. Click here to sign up. Originally published at https://www.sittingposture.com on December 6, 2024.	b92a23af-2928-54a7-8fca-7190bc236e3f	25/08/2025 15:59:28
https://hannaerportfolio.medium.com/internship-project-watching-psychological-dramas-as-a-healing-hobby-336055938d14	medium.com	Pop Culture: Watching Psychological Dramas As A ‘Healing’ Hobby	Hanna wrote the article during her internship in Noura Publishing (PT Mizan Publika) in 2021.	Hanna's Writing Portfolio	https://medium.com/@hannaerportfolio	336055938d14	https://miro.medium.com/…MTWp2J__uCw.jpeg	4 min	2023-08-11T04:10:30.053000	2023-08-11T04:24:59.053000	2023-08-11T06:54:31.611000	0	0	en	Korean Drama Review,Mental Health Awareness	<section> <h3>Hanna wrote the article during her internship in Noura Publishing (PT Mizan Publika) in 2021.</h3> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/5200/1e_S9ZRVzwjcvAJmfoRMA7A.jpeg" width="5200" height="4160" loading="lazy" /> <p>The release of <em>It’s Okay To Not Be Okay</em> back in June 2020 added more hype to Korean dramas with psychological-related themes. Starring Kim Soo Hyun, the ‘Hallyu’ star who had recently come back from his military service, and Seo Yea Ji who is popular for Lawless Lawyer, this drama combined dark romantic comedy and psychological matters in it.</p> <p>The story revolves around an unusual encounter between a nurse — who is also the single caretaker of a brother diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder — with a ‘cold-hearted’ children’s book author with a wounded inner child. As their mutual romantic feelings develop, they show vulnerabilities and painful pasts to each other and start their journey of mental healing.</p> <p>The drama has reached a final global IMDb rating of 8.7/10 and 4.9 from Google’s Audience rating summary. With great hype from its audiences, each episode had always been on Twitter’s trending topic every Saturday and Sunday until its last airing in August 2020. As one of the audiences, I was always checking the #ItsOkayToNotBeOkay on Twitter right after streaming the weekly aired drama only to find it is on top of the trending hashtag for the next couple of hours or more. There were also new accounts made by fans to share edits and quotes taken from the drama. My favorite popular lines from it are “When you’re tired, get some rest. When you’re sad, go ahead and cry. It’s okay to take a break. Then one day, there will surely come a day when you’ll be able to run again.”</p> <p>It’s Okay To Not Be Okay is not the first popular Korean drama that received such huge appreciation. Other titles bringing up mental health issues with similar success are It’s Okay That’s Love (2014) which includes a character with a personality disorder, Healer (2014) whose characters suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and Kill Me, Heal Me (2015) with a character diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder. The average IMDb rating of these dramas is 8 and above with a 4.9 Audience rating summary (Google rating and review).</p> <p>A study conducted by Park (2020) shows that watching Korean dramas is influential in rising knowledge, behavior, and attitude changes for audiences with symptoms of anxiety or depression. Moreover, dramas with a theme of mental health and bullying (School 2013, ) could have a therapeutic effect on students, even for a mere short period, as it improves their knowledge of the mental consequences of bullying.</p> <p>Park (2020) adds that watching psychological Korean dramas could also grow sympathetic feelings toward the struggling characters. Thus, not only are the viewers provided with new knowledge about psychological terms, a broader perspective of mental health, and breaking the stigma surrounding those with mental problems but also being showed how they deal with their problems and grow out of them despite suffering from serious mental illnesses.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1152/1AGMrG5lf-ICMTWp2J__uCw.jpeg" width="1152" height="2048" loading="lazy" /> <p>We, as viewers, sometimes get to see our vulnerability being reflected in those characters — through their acts and choices. For instance, in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the main character named Moon Gang Tae ‘chooses’ to sacrifice his freedom and dedicate his life to taking care of his family — that being his autistic brother — despite having a constant battle with himself. It shows that mental health problems are not only affecting those with specific mental illnesses but could also greatly impact their closest ones. Then, in daily life, certain viewers may relate to what Gang Tae feels toward his problem which could inspire them to reflect on themselves — on their pain if you will. Besides, the setting that takes place in a mental hospital is also significant to break the stigma toward its patients, as it encourages the audiences to reach out to professionals for help in facing mental health problems.</p> <p>Some participants in Park’s research paper (2020) state that they are looking forward to seeing more psychological Korean dramas in the future which include a hotline or a website to contact those who could help people suffering from mental health issues, or show how ‘real’ conversation in counseling look like to promote a positive image toward the first step of reaching out to experts.</p> <p>As a Korean drama fan who grows to love psychological themes more, I suppose that those fresh ideas sound great and have the potential to appear in upcoming dramas, as more helpful techniques related to mental health were shown. One of many scenes that is memorable and has a major impact on me is the Butterfly Hug Method popularized by Moon Gang Tae in <em>It’s Okay to Not Be Okay.</em></p> <p>The method is initiated by Lucy Artigas in 1997 while working with the survivors of Hurricane Paulina (Jarera, 2021). Even though it was originally invented for PTSD patients, it is now commonly practiced to relieve stress. Since discovering it in an episode, I often practice it as my self-grounding/self-soothing method to deal with anxiety, the overwhelming feeling before facing a challenging task, or just negative emotions in general. I found it helpful to soothe myself down and calm my tension. It is as simple as wrapping your arms around yourselves until each hand touches your shoulders or opposite upper arms. Then, close your eyes and move your hands like butterfly wings by tapping your shoulders/arms in a rhythm. I always add some affirmation words while doing it to encourage myself against negative thoughts. Believe it or not, it usually takes around 3–5 minutes in that position to relieve my anxiety.</p> <p>For those reasons above, you could tell those psychological Korean dramas not only give us a broader and more complex perspective on mental health problems but also new insights on how to take care of our mental well-being. Watching it as a hobby might help us to feel seen and to be more thoughtful in treating others.</p> <h1>References</h1> <p>Jarero, I. N. & Lucina, A. (2021). The EMDR Therapy Butterfly Hug Method for Self-Administer Bilateral Stimulation.</p> </section>	Pop Culture: Watching Psychological Dramas As A ‘Healing’ Hobby Hanna wrote the article during her internship in Noura Publishing (PT Mizan Publika) in 2021. Pexels (Jovan Vasiljević) The release of It’s Okay To Not Be Okay back in June 2020 added more hype to Korean dramas with psychological-related themes. Starring Kim Soo Hyun, the ‘Hallyu’ star who had recently come back from his military service, and Seo Yea Ji who is popular for Lawless Lawyer, this drama combined dark romantic comedy and psychological matters in it. The story revolves around an unusual encounter between a nurse — who is also the single caretaker of a brother diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder — with a ‘cold-hearted’ children’s book author with a wounded inner child. As their mutual romantic feelings develop, they show vulnerabilities and painful pasts to each other and start their journey of mental healing. The drama has reached a final global IMDb rating of 8.7/10 and 4.9 from Google’s Audience rating summary. With great hype from its audiences, each episode had always been on Twitter’s trending topic every Saturday and Sunday until its last airing in August 2020. As one of the audiences, I was always checking the #ItsOkayToNotBeOkay on Twitter right after streaming the weekly aired drama only to find it is on top of the trending hashtag for the next couple of hours or more. There were also new accounts made by fans to share edits and quotes taken from the drama. My favorite popular lines from it are “When you’re tired, get some rest. When you’re sad, go ahead and cry. It’s okay to take a break. Then one day, there will surely come a day when you’ll be able to run again.” It’s Okay To Not Be Okay is not the first popular Korean drama that received such huge appreciation. Other titles bringing up mental health issues with similar success are It’s Okay That’s Love (2014) which includes a character with a personality disorder, Healer (2014) whose characters suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and Kill Me, Heal Me (2015) with a character diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder. The average IMDb rating of these dramas is 8 and above with a 4.9 Audience rating summary (Google rating and review). A study conducted by Park (2020) shows that watching Korean dramas is influential in rising knowledge, behavior, and attitude changes for audiences with symptoms of anxiety or depression. Moreover, dramas with a theme of mental health and bullying (School 2013, ) could have a therapeutic effect on students, even for a mere short period, as it improves their knowledge of the mental consequences of bullying. Park (2020) adds that watching psychological Korean dramas could also grow sympathetic feelings toward the struggling characters. Thus, not only are the viewers provided with new knowledge about psychological terms, a broader perspective of mental health, and breaking the stigma surrounding those with mental problems but also being showed how they deal with their problems and grow out of them despite suffering from serious mental illnesses. Source: A clip from “It’s Okay to Not be Okay” (2020) [Fabi Vázquez] We, as viewers, sometimes get to see our vulnerability being reflected in those characters — through their acts and choices. For instance, in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the main character named Moon Gang Tae ‘chooses’ to sacrifice his freedom and dedicate his life to taking care of his family — that being his autistic brother — despite having a constant battle with himself. It shows that mental health problems are not only affecting those with specific mental illnesses but could also greatly impact their closest ones. Then, in daily life, certain viewers may relate to what Gang Tae feels toward his problem which could inspire them to reflect on themselves — on their pain if you will. Besides, the setting that takes place in a mental hospital is also significant to break the stigma toward its patients, as it encourages the audiences to reach out to professionals for help in facing mental health problems. Some participants in Park’s research paper (2020) state that they are looking forward to seeing more psychological Korean dramas in the future which include a hotline or a website to contact those who could help people suffering from mental health issues, or show how ‘real’ conversation in counseling look like to promote a positive image toward the first step of reaching out to experts. As a Korean drama fan who grows to love psychological themes more, I suppose that those fresh ideas sound great and have the potential to appear in upcoming dramas, as more helpful techniques related to mental health were shown. One of many scenes that is memorable and has a major impact on me is the Butterfly Hug Method popularized by Moon Gang Tae in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. The method is initiated by Lucy Artigas in 1997 while working with the survivors of Hurricane Paulina (Jarera, 2021). Even though it was originally invented for PTSD patients, it is now commonly practiced to relieve stress. Since discovering it in an episode, I often practice it as my self-grounding/self-soothing method to deal with anxiety, the overwhelming feeling before facing a challenging task, or just negative emotions in general. I found it helpful to soothe myself down and calm my tension. It is as simple as wrapping your arms around yourselves until each hand touches your shoulders or opposite upper arms. Then, close your eyes and move your hands like butterfly wings by tapping your shoulders/arms in a rhythm. I always add some affirmation words while doing it to encourage myself against negative thoughts. Believe it or not, it usually takes around 3–5 minutes in that position to relieve my anxiety. For those reasons above, you could tell those psychological Korean dramas not only give us a broader and more complex perspective on mental health problems but also new insights on how to take care of our mental well-being. Watching it as a hobby might help us to feel seen and to be more thoughtful in treating others. References Jarero, I. N. & Lucina, A. (2021). The EMDR Therapy Butterfly Hug Method for Self-Administer Bilateral Stimulation.	6f1e78b6-4c47-5f8d-9831-52410f8c9d76	25/08/2025 15:59:28
https://medium.com/upraise-for-employee-success/3-key-differences-between-upraise-and-traditional-tools-21158a53784	medium.com	3 key differences between UpRaise and Traditional tools	There are number of tools in the market that help companies in Employee recognition and Engagement. What is so different about UpRaise…	Anand Inamdar	https://medium.com/@justanand	21158a53784	https://miro.medium.com/…HlrnoT9IAcQ.jpeg	3 min	2016-05-11T07:39:14.043000	2016-05-11T07:41:27.996000	2016-05-11T07:45:44.808000	0	0	en	Agile,Performance Reviews,Jira	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1688/1NJO9MY1SbBRHlrnoT9IAcQ.jpeg" width="1688" height="1125" loading="lazy" /> <p>There are number of tools in the market that help companies in Employee recognition and Engagement. What is so different about UpRaise? What is the underlying philosophy behind UpRaise?</p> <p>Here are a few important factors that differentiate UpRaise For Employee Success, a JIRA add-on from rest of the tools.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/700/1yPZe_BApviRRuHWKT4p_mQ.png" width="700" height="1868" loading="lazy" /> <h1>Adoption</h1> <p>Employee engagement softwares are notoriously famous for lack of their ability to generate Adoption of the magnitude that will make their use justifiable. One of the vital contributing reasons towards the less adoption is that these traditional tools work in <em>silos. </em>Employees are expected to maintain separate credentials and work with a different application altogether that has nothing to do with the tools of their daily usage. Even if that application is sophisticated enough to offer an SSO integration, the application is still a different one.</p> <p><em>Imagine that you are allowed to use sticky notes only in one specific room of your house. Does that sound like defeating the purpose of sticky notes? which is to ensure that you don’t forget stuff.</em></p> <p><em>Same is the case with Employee recognition & engagement tools. They are supposed to interact with you as frequently as possible.</em></p> <p>UpRaise For Employee Success is developed as a native add-on for JIRA. You won’t even realise that it is an ‘add-on’! If your teams are already extracting a lot of value from JIRA, UpRaise is certainly going to get quicker and higher adoption as compared to its peers in the industry.</p> <h2>Effectiveness</h2> <p>Have you seen companies setting up their Annual Goals with loads of enthusiasm but as the time passed that spirit gave way to reality — and the Goals were looked at only when the time came for assessment. You guessed it right, this is the case with many teams who fail to leverage tools that can sustain their processes.</p> <p>With UpRaise, employees end up looking at the Goals and Continuous Feedback as frequently as they use JIRA — without an otherwise choice. The process is sustain-ably propagated throughout the organisation. Set, Track, Achieve — it is this simple with UpRaise. Why go the <em>Agile way</em> only for Software Development? Your organisation’s human capital should <a href="http://upraise.io/resources/3-ways-to-make-your-organization-hyper-productive/">increase productivity</a> through <em>Agile Appraisals in UpRaise.</em></p> <h2>Meaningfulness</h2> <p>Let us take a step back and think about what exactly do we use JIRA for? If your teams love the way JIRA lets you manage projects, chances are that majority of the tasks and discussions happen within JIRA. Which basically means JIRA is a treasure trove of information. And if we think about the Employee recognition and engagement tools there is no place better than JIRA to make it more meaningful given the richness of context it can provide — what tasks you have worked on, what discussions have taken place, what is the nature of tasks that you are working on and so on.</p> <p>UpRaise plugin for JIRA leverages this <em>strategic</em> as well as <em>tactical</em> information from JIRA and gives companies a holistic view of their employee performance. Team members find it useful because then the discussion over quality of delivery can happen right in real time without needing to wait for annual reviews.</p> <p>With Goals Management, Continuous Feedback and Performance Reviews — UpRaise For Employee Success is a complete platform built for teams using JIRA.</p> <p>Any ideas what more features we can add to boost productivity of teams using JIRA? Write to us in the comments section.</p> <p><em>Article originally published on <a href="htt</em>p://upraise.io/blog">UpRaise Blog</a></p> </section>	3 key differences between UpRaise and Traditional tools There are number of tools in the market that help companies in Employee recognition and Engagement. What is so different about UpRaise? What is the underlying philosophy behind UpRaise? Here are a few important factors that differentiate UpRaise For Employee Success, a JIRA add-on from rest of the tools. Adoption Employee engagement softwares are notoriously famous for lack of their ability to generate Adoption of the magnitude that will make their use justifiable. One of the vital contributing reasons towards the less adoption is that these traditional tools work in silos. Employees are expected to maintain separate credentials and work with a different application altogether that has nothing to do with the tools of their daily usage. Even if that application is sophisticated enough to offer an SSO integration, the application is still a different one. Imagine that you are allowed to use sticky notes only in one specific room of your house. Does that sound like defeating the purpose of sticky notes? which is to ensure that you don’t forget stuff. Same is the case with Employee recognition & engagement tools. They are supposed to interact with you as frequently as possible. UpRaise For Employee Success is developed as a native add-on for JIRA. You won’t even realise that it is an ‘add-on’! If your teams are already extracting a lot of value from JIRA, UpRaise is certainly going to get quicker and higher adoption as compared to its peers in the industry. Effectiveness Have you seen companies setting up their Annual Goals with loads of enthusiasm but as the time passed that spirit gave way to reality — and the Goals were looked at only when the time came for assessment. You guessed it right, this is the case with many teams who fail to leverage tools that can sustain their processes. With UpRaise, employees end up looking at the Goals and Continuous Feedback as frequently as they use JIRA — without an otherwise choice. The process is sustain-ably propagated throughout the organisation. Set, Track, Achieve — it is this simple with UpRaise. Why go the Agile way only for Software Development? Your organisation’s human capital should increase productivity through Agile Appraisals in UpRaise. Meaningfulness Let us take a step back and think about what exactly do we use JIRA for? If your teams love the way JIRA lets you manage projects, chances are that majority of the tasks and discussions happen within JIRA. Which basically means JIRA is a treasure trove of information. And if we think about the Employee recognition and engagement tools there is no place better than JIRA to make it more meaningful given the richness of context it can provide — what tasks you have worked on, what discussions have taken place, what is the nature of tasks that you are working on and so on. UpRaise plugin for JIRA leverages this strategic as well as tactical information from JIRA and gives companies a holistic view of their employee performance. Team members find it useful because then the discussion over quality of delivery can happen right in real time without needing to wait for annual reviews. With Goals Management, Continuous Feedback and Performance Reviews — UpRaise For Employee Success is a complete platform built for teams using JIRA. Any ideas what more features we can add to boost productivity of teams using JIRA? Write to us in the comments section. Article originally published on UpRaise Blog	19565b46-1ff5-5679-aad6-b00564e423cb	25/08/2025 15:59:29
https://medium.com/@albert.vilarino/artificial-intelligence-and-corporate-social-responsibility-38e2f8b014ab	medium.com	Artificial intelligence and corporate social responsibility.	NOTE: This article was first published in Spanish and can be found here.	Albert Vilariño Alonso	https://medium.com/@albert.vilarino	38e2f8b014ab	https://miro.medium.com/…hBQYOZbT_ug.jpeg	5 min	2018-02-12T11:43:44.298000	2018-02-12T11:49:57.840000	2018-05-18T05:36:37.727000	0	16	en	Artificial Intelligence,Ia,Corporate Responsibility,Sustainability,Csr	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/4896/1*m3vlxneAo50hBQYOZbT_ug.jpeg" width="4896" height="3264" loading="lazy" /> <p><strong>NOTE</strong>: This article was first published in Spanish and can be found <strong><a h</strong>ref="https://www.compromisoempresarial.com/rsc/2017/08/inteligencia-artificial-y-responsabilidad-social-corporativa/">here</a>.</p> <p>Very often we hear about news of new technologies that will do (or even do already) in a more efficient way tasks carried out before by humans, but that will bring about diverse debates and associated risks at the same time.</p> <p>Most of the jobs that exist today could disappear in decades. As artificial intelligence surpasses humans in more and more tasks, it will replace them in more and more jobs.</p> <p>If we rely on trends and new technological, computer and knowledge inventions, the horizon does not seem very promising for the maintenance of employment, but the majority of the active population in Spain <strong>does not seem to feel threatened</strong> in this regard.</p> <p>According to the Infojobs report published this May and entitled “<em><a href="http://tueligesinfojobs.n</em>et/informe-anual-infojobs-2016.pdf">State of the labor market in Spain</a>”, 76% of the active population does not believe that automation and new technologies are going to endanger their jobs.</p> <p>However, the result is different if the respondent is working or not. The 40% of unemployed who answered the survey <strong>believe that their future work is at risk because of automation</strong>, while in the case of employed is reduced to 20%.</p> <p>Whether the changes are very deep or of less draft or if they are made in a shorter or longer period of time, they will end up happening, and this will have a very important impact not only on job losses but also on how companies manage that matter and other problems that may be associated with the use of new technologies, and that will affect their <strong>transparency and the trust and credibility</strong> that they transmit to their stakeholders and therefore their sustainability.</p> <p>The so-called <strong>industry 4.0</strong> has already arrived and it seems that the companies are not very concerned about how they should modify their corporate social responsibility to face the challenges and debates that should be put on the table.</p> <p>Without going any further, a Google search in Spanish for keywords “artificial intelligence and corporate social responsibility” or adding “industry 4.0” does not give results that deepen minimally on the subject, which I think is quite worrisome.</p> <h1>Artificial intelligence, can you account for something that nobody understands how it works?</h1> <p>For those little versed in these topics, the title of this section may sound <strong>absurd</strong>, how can it be that nobody understands how artificial intelligence works? Well, I regret to say to those who do not know that it is not absurd or I have invented it myself.</p> <p>The development of systems based on artificial intelligence and in the so-called <strong>deep learning</strong> creates “<strong>black boxes</strong>” (due to its opacity, not to be confused with data recording of aircraft and the like) that generate good results, but that humans do not know very well how have been calculated, as we can read in this article by Business Insider.</p> <p>There are already, for example, algorithms based on this technology to decide whether to grant a mortgage or a loan, who is the right person in a recruiting process or in what stocks and in what amount should be invested in the stock market to get a good performance.</p> <p>These algorithms are not at all simple, and they start from the basis that after initial programming, cases are provided that the algorithm must solve. These results are valued and validated by humans and the information on whether it has been done right or wrong is reintroduced into the algorithm, so that <strong>it learns and reprograms itself </strong>to find solutions that at the end of the learning are even more accurate than human ones, but that have turned the algorithm into something that cannot be scrutinized and we can not know the exact reasons that have led to that solution or result.</p> <p>In summary, instead of writing code, it is fed with data to the generic algorithm and it constructs its own logic based on the received data.</p> <p>It is more or less like teaching a person, that will give us correct results at the end of learning but to which we can not scrutinize his/her brain to know how he/she has reached a concrete result.</p> <p>We can ask the person why and how he/she has arrived at a decision or result and he/she can tell us, but the machine will not be simply a black box that spits out results.</p> <p>Among the problems that can arise from depending on decisions taken by black boxes are those that Enrique Dans comments on his <a href="https://www.enriquedans.com/2017/05/justicia-robotica.html">blog</a>.</p> <p>One of them is the <strong>lack of transparency</strong>. It is necessary that the tasks that were previously human and for which artificial intelligence algorithms are being created are transparent. We need to know why we are not granted a loan to improve our options to be granted, or why a car autopilot has decided to crash into a tree or any other decision that is important to us and has been taken by an artificial intelligence.</p> <p>Another problem is the possible <strong>introduction of biases</strong>. We could think that algorithms will be more objective than people when deciding things, but they will only if they have been fed objectively, both at the beginning and as the algorithm learns.</p> <p>As we see is a very complex issue. As of next summer, the European Union could require that companies are able to give users an explanation of the decisions taken by automated systems.</p> <p>This could be impossible, even for systems that seem relatively simple on the surface, such as applications and websites that use deep learning to post ads or recommend songs.</p> <p>The computers that run those services have been programmed and have learned in ways we can not understand. Even the engineers who build these applications cannot fully explain their behavior.</p> <h2>Are the organizations prepared to act in a socially responsible way in the face of this new technological horizon?</h2> <p>Artificial intelligence raises a series of questions on social, economic, political, technological, legal, ethical and philosophical issues.</p> <p>Although the aforementioned algorithms can be used by companies such as banks, car manufacturers, etc., this is not an issue that has to do only with the private sector but also affects the public sector, the State, administrations , the armies, or other entities in which they can be used (virtually anyone).</p> <p>Beyond that public sector and its own idiosyncrasy, will companies be able to account for these new technologies? How will they redefine their corporate social responsibility to deal with new paradigms like the one that is shaping up with the massive entrance of artificial intelligence in our life? <strong>How will they manage the introduction of robots and the consequent expulsion of their staff of human workers?</strong></p> <p>Many questions for which apparently there are few answers, at least made <strong>publicly</strong>, and that go beyond the debate of whether companies should pay taxes for their robots or if all people who do not work would have to receive a guaranteed basic income.</p> <p>We expect a near future that is very exciting and at the same time disturbing, and the fact that it is not far away should give a touch of attention to the official bodies and organizations to regulate in the best possible way the transition to this new model of economy.</p> <p>And also the companies should get down to work to make changes in their CSR policies and in the way they relate to their stakeholders because the areas to be dealt with can introduce specific issues that until now nobody was considering.</p> <p>Seeing the opaque operations of the artificial intelligence and the large number of people who will lose their jobs because of it, it seems to me that companies are going to have an <strong>arduous task</strong> ahead if they want to be truly socially responsible.</p> <p>Finally, I recommend the reader to take a look at the <strong><a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/10/top-10-ethic</strong>al-issues-in-artificial-intelligence/">nine main ethical questions posed by artificial intelligence</a> and to perform a mental exercise of how organizations should tackle those issues that affect them.</p> </section>	Artificial intelligence and corporate social responsibility. Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash NOTE: This article was first published in Spanish and can be found here. Very often we hear about news of new technologies that will do (or even do already) in a more efficient way tasks carried out before by humans, but that will bring about diverse debates and associated risks at the same time. Most of the jobs that exist today could disappear in decades. As artificial intelligence surpasses humans in more and more tasks, it will replace them in more and more jobs. If we rely on trends and new technological, computer and knowledge inventions, the horizon does not seem very promising for the maintenance of employment, but the majority of the active population in Spain does not seem to feel threatened in this regard. According to the Infojobs report published this May and entitled “State of the labor market in Spain”, 76% of the active population does not believe that automation and new technologies are going to endanger their jobs. However, the result is different if the respondent is working or not. The 40% of unemployed who answered the survey believe that their future work is at risk because of automation, while in the case of employed is reduced to 20%. Whether the changes are very deep or of less draft or if they are made in a shorter or longer period of time, they will end up happening, and this will have a very important impact not only on job losses but also on how companies manage that matter and other problems that may be associated with the use of new technologies, and that will affect their transparency and the trust and credibility that they transmit to their stakeholders and therefore their sustainability. The so-called industry 4.0 has already arrived and it seems that the companies are not very concerned about how they should modify their corporate social responsibility to face the challenges and debates that should be put on the table. Without going any further, a Google search in Spanish for keywords “artificial intelligence and corporate social responsibility” or adding “industry 4.0” does not give results that deepen minimally on the subject, which I think is quite worrisome. Artificial intelligence, can you account for something that nobody understands how it works? For those little versed in these topics, the title of this section may sound absurd, how can it be that nobody understands how artificial intelligence works? Well, I regret to say to those who do not know that it is not absurd or I have invented it myself. The development of systems based on artificial intelligence and in the so-called deep learning creates “black boxes” (due to its opacity, not to be confused with data recording of aircraft and the like) that generate good results, but that humans do not know very well how have been calculated, as we can read in this article by Business Insider. There are already, for example, algorithms based on this technology to decide whether to grant a mortgage or a loan, who is the right person in a recruiting process or in what stocks and in what amount should be invested in the stock market to get a good performance. These algorithms are not at all simple, and they start from the basis that after initial programming, cases are provided that the algorithm must solve. These results are valued and validated by humans and the information on whether it has been done right or wrong is reintroduced into the algorithm, so that it learns and reprograms itself to find solutions that at the end of the learning are even more accurate than human ones, but that have turned the algorithm into something that cannot be scrutinized and we can not know the exact reasons that have led to that solution or result. In summary, instead of writing code, it is fed with data to the generic algorithm and it constructs its own logic based on the received data. It is more or less like teaching a person, that will give us correct results at the end of learning but to which we can not scrutinize his/her brain to know how he/she has reached a concrete result. We can ask the person why and how he/she has arrived at a decision or result and he/she can tell us, but the machine will not be simply a black box that spits out results. Among the problems that can arise from depending on decisions taken by black boxes are those that Enrique Dans comments on his blog. One of them is the lack of transparency. It is necessary that the tasks that were previously human and for which artificial intelligence algorithms are being created are transparent. We need to know why we are not granted a loan to improve our options to be granted, or why a car autopilot has decided to crash into a tree or any other decision that is important to us and has been taken by an artificial intelligence. Another problem is the possible introduction of biases. We could think that algorithms will be more objective than people when deciding things, but they will only if they have been fed objectively, both at the beginning and as the algorithm learns. As we see is a very complex issue. As of next summer, the European Union could require that companies are able to give users an explanation of the decisions taken by automated systems. This could be impossible, even for systems that seem relatively simple on the surface, such as applications and websites that use deep learning to post ads or recommend songs. The computers that run those services have been programmed and have learned in ways we can not understand. Even the engineers who build these applications cannot fully explain their behavior. Are the organizations prepared to act in a socially responsible way in the face of this new technological horizon? Artificial intelligence raises a series of questions on social, economic, political, technological, legal, ethical and philosophical issues. Although the aforementioned algorithms can be used by companies such as banks, car manufacturers, etc., this is not an issue that has to do only with the private sector but also affects the public sector, the State, administrations , the armies, or other entities in which they can be used (virtually anyone). Beyond that public sector and its own idiosyncrasy, will companies be able to account for these new technologies? How will they redefine their corporate social responsibility to deal with new paradigms like the one that is shaping up with the massive entrance of artificial intelligence in our life? How will they manage the introduction of robots and the consequent expulsion of their staff of human workers? Many questions for which apparently there are few answers, at least made publicly, and that go beyond the debate of whether companies should pay taxes for their robots or if all people who do not work would have to receive a guaranteed basic income. We expect a near future that is very exciting and at the same time disturbing, and the fact that it is not far away should give a touch of attention to the official bodies and organizations to regulate in the best possible way the transition to this new model of economy. And also the companies should get down to work to make changes in their CSR policies and in the way they relate to their stakeholders because the areas to be dealt with can introduce specific issues that until now nobody was considering. Seeing the opaque operations of the artificial intelligence and the large number of people who will lose their jobs because of it, it seems to me that companies are going to have an arduous task ahead if they want to be truly socially responsible. Finally, I recommend the reader to take a look at the nine main ethical questions posed by artificial intelligence and to perform a mental exercise of how organizations should tackle those issues that affect them.	2a7acb0b-a4ad-5c5b-8d27-44c3f398fa0c	25/08/2025 15:59:29
https://medium.com/@virtser/ivote-b2d28461ac34	medium.com	iVote	A story about group of people who were passionate enough to try and make a change in Israeli elections process.	David Virtser	https://medium.com/@virtser	b2d28461ac34	https://miro.medium.com/…z72T23pt3TA.jpeg	4 min	2015-03-19T17:06:29.388000	2015-03-24T09:47:25.745000	2017-11-24T09:37:43.537000	0	7	en	Israel,Elections,Politics	<section> <h1>iVote</h1> <p>A story about group of people who were passionate enough to try and make a change in Israeli elections process.</p> <p><strong>TL;DR</strong> We successfully built a social voting application in few days of work in our spare time. Released it two weeks before recent elections in Israel and got 12,000 people registered and voted in that period. All by using viral Facebook marketing.</p> <p>It was a crazy idea of Tal Ben-Simon (VP Product of <a href="http://www.etoro.com/">eToro</a>), which he speeches me in the park. An idea to build a simple mobile application which is going to let people connect with their Facebook account, make their vote and see whom their friends has voted. All privately and anonymously of course.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/398/1CLUZkAUg3PpUAuW7BfpVBg.png" width="398" height="686" loading="lazy" /> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/399/1OmKlQAAC1wVOAO3b0kEz8g.png" width="399" height="687" loading="lazy" /> <p>In addition there is a campaigns section where you can write to your friends and try to influence them.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/400/1XOTaISB68G6e9AYD1buGvw.png" width="400" height="688" loading="lazy" /> <p>It doesn't matter which political views you have. We built an application which is completely anonymous and it is not biased by any political movement. The goal of the application is to help you decide which party to give your vote for.</p> <h2>The team</h2> <p>We were few ex eTorians (Tal Ben-Simon, Orel Assia, Avner Sorek, Eyal Weiss, Lior Hakim and myself), who wanted to contribute, but not all of us had the time to do it. In addition Israel Roth (Co-Founder & CTO at Labgoo) and Yosi Konigsberg joined this development effort. Guy Spigelman (CEO Israel at PresenTense) helped with marketing efforts.</p> <p><strong>Tal </strong>was the product manager. <strong>Orel</strong> was our UX/UI expert and designer. <strong>Israel</strong> was responsible of native mobile integration and applications. <strong>Yosi</strong>, <strong>Lior</strong> and <strong>Eyal</strong> covered the client side. <strong>Avner</strong> helped developing sharing of results page using <a href="http://phantomjs.org/">PhantomJS</a>. I was responsible of back-end, API, Database and Infrastructure.</p> <p><strong>Guy</strong> who helped with marketing after release.</p> <h2>The plan</h2> <p>We started talking about this project three months before the elections, but couldn't start building it as there was no clear development plan and the team wasn't finalized yet. It was the same situation a month before the elections too, when Tal, Israel and myself just agreed and decided that if we don't start now we won't make it happen.</p> <p>And that exactly what we did. Tal and Orel started to work on UI to make sure all materials are available upfront, before development start. I created technical design document, development plan and assigned tasks to team members by the level of their expertise.</p> <p>We decided to build a hybrid web application and wrap it with mobile native wrapper. The app should work from modern desktop browsers (IE 9+), Android native and iPhone native apps.</p> <h2>Tech stack & Infrastructure</h2> <p>As we were very short on time, the goal was to build application with minimum efforts, iteratively. Try to use SaaS as much as possible and base tech stack on our own skillset.</p> <p>What was eventually chosen:</p> <p><strong>Source control</strong> — <a href="https://bitbucket.org/">Bitbucket</a> <strong>Cloud hosting</strong> — <a href="https://dashboard.heroku.com/apps/ivoteorgil/resources">Heroku</a> <strong>Database</strong> — PostgreSQL <strong>Back-end</strong> — <a href="http://rubyonrails.org/">Ruby on Rails</a> <strong>Front-end</strong> — <a href="https://angularjs.org/">AngularJS</a> + <a href="http://ionicframework.com/">ionic</a> framework. <strong>Social feed</strong> — <a href="http://getstream.io/">Stream</a> <strong>Mobile wrapper</strong> — <a href="http://cordova.apache.org/">Cordova</a> <strong>Mobile Push</strong> <strong>notifications</strong> — <a href="https://www.pushwoosh.com/">Pushwoosh</a> <strong>Email notifications</strong> — <a href="https://mandrill.com/">Mandrill</a> <strong>Tracking</strong> — <a href="http://www.google.com/analytics/">Google Analytics</a>, <a href="https://mixpanel.com/">Mixpanel</a> <strong>Tasks management</strong> — <a href="https://trello.com/">Trello</a></p> <h2>Architecture diagram</h2> <p>The architecture was very simple:</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/960/1b4lNHyGYy5-CpbV-tZLdFw.png" width="960" height="720" loading="lazy" /> <h2>How we did it</h2> <p>It is important to state, that all of us did this project as side, non profit project, while working full time in other jobs.</p> <p>So we did few hackathons during weekends and few sleepless nights to make a progress. And two weeks before the elections, when we almost lost our hope to release something, we finally were ready to release our first desktop web application. Followed by Android mobile version few days later. We dropped iOS version as we had no more time to do it and considering the long approval process.</p> <p>Then Tal <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tal.bensimon/posts/10152703546392011?pnref=story">wrote his first iVote post</a> in Facebook which got shared <strong>82 times</strong>! This is how it became viral. Most of our traffic came from Facebook without spending a dime. We saw and felt that people like it. We got a lot of traffic coming in our first days and got about 5,000 users registered a week after launch.</p> <p>Now we started to monitor closely our traffic and performance. We had to do some refactoring to be more scalable.</p> <h2>Statistics</h2> <p>And after two weeks, just on elections day we had the following numbers:</p> <p>-<strong> 30,000 </strong>unique users visited the website.<strong> - 12,000 </strong>registered users. - <strong>11,500</strong> votes. - <strong>200</strong> likes in our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ivote2015">Facebook page</a>. - <strong>5</strong> articles published in online media.</p> <p>Google Analytics stats:</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1191/1mCwmt0Wmm2DH_Qo2HqLDRA.png" width="1191" height="451" loading="lazy" /> <h2>Articles published in online media</h2> <p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/wallanews/photos/a.135402296495977.11530.135130956523111/845191165517083/?type=1&fref=nf">Walla News</a> and <a href="http://tech.walla.co.il/item/2835923">Walla Tech</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001016577#fromelement=hp_morearticles">Globes</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/elections/ratz/.premium-1.2584949?&ts=_1425986710325">Haaretz</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.mako.co.il/nexter-cellular/apps/Article-44c06fc793e0c41006.htm?sCh=3d385dd2dd5d4110&pId=757332771">Mako</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/192422#.VRB785OUem1">Arutz Sheva</a></p> <h2>Wrapping up</h2> <p>It was a crazy, both challenging and enjoyable journey. I had the opportunity to work again with people I love and meet new people I never had the chance to work with. Get more information and experience on mobile web and native development.</p> <p>If you want to see the web app in action, the main website is located here: <a href="https://ivote.org.il/">https://ivote.org.il</a></p> <p>And remember that “I have no time” is a lame excuse. If you really want it, you will make a time. Sleep less, do more. ☺</p> <p>P.S. <em> The source code can be found <a href="https://github.com/virtser/ivote">here</a>. If you want to make the same experiment in your c</em>ountry, please contact me. We will try to help.</p> </section>	iVote A story about group of people who were passionate enough to try and make a change in Israeli elections process. TL;DR We successfully built a social voting application in few days of work in our spare time. Released it two weeks before recent elections in Israel and got 12,000 people registered and voted in that period. All by using viral Facebook marketing. It was a crazy idea of Tal Ben-Simon (VP Product of eToro), which he speeches me in the park. An idea to build a simple mobile application which is going to let people connect with their Facebook account, make their vote and see whom their friends has voted. All privately and anonymously of course. In addition there is a campaigns section where you can write to your friends and try to influence them. It doesn't matter which political views you have. We built an application which is completely anonymous and it is not biased by any political movement. The goal of the application is to help you decide which party to give your vote for. The team We were few ex eTorians (Tal Ben-Simon, Orel Assia, Avner Sorek, Eyal Weiss, Lior Hakim and myself), who wanted to contribute, but not all of us had the time to do it. In addition Israel Roth (Co-Founder & CTO at Labgoo) and Yosi Konigsberg joined this development effort. Guy Spigelman (CEO Israel at PresenTense) helped with marketing efforts. Tal was the product manager. Orel was our UX/UI expert and designer. Israel was responsible of native mobile integration and applications. Yosi, Lior and Eyal covered the client side. Avner helped developing sharing of results page using PhantomJS. I was responsible of back-end, API, Database and Infrastructure. Guy who helped with marketing after release. The plan We started talking about this project three months before the elections, but couldn't start building it as there was no clear development plan and the team wasn't finalized yet. It was the same situation a month before the elections too, when Tal, Israel and myself just agreed and decided that if we don't start now we won't make it happen. And that exactly what we did. Tal and Orel started to work on UI to make sure all materials are available upfront, before development start. I created technical design document, development plan and assigned tasks to team members by the level of their expertise. We decided to build a hybrid web application and wrap it with mobile native wrapper. The app should work from modern desktop browsers (IE 9+), Android native and iPhone native apps. Tech stack & Infrastructure As we were very short on time, the goal was to build application with minimum efforts, iteratively. Try to use SaaS as much as possible and base tech stack on our own skillset. What was eventually chosen: Source control — Bitbucket Cloud hosting — Heroku Database — PostgreSQL Back-end — Ruby on Rails Front-end — AngularJS + ionic framework. Social feed — Stream Mobile wrapper — Cordova Mobile Push notifications — Pushwoosh Email notifications — Mandrill Tracking — Google Analytics, Mixpanel Tasks management — Trello Architecture diagram The architecture was very simple: How we did it It is important to state, that all of us did this project as side, non profit project, while working full time in other jobs. So we did few hackathons during weekends and few sleepless nights to make a progress. And two weeks before the elections, when we almost lost our hope to release something, we finally were ready to release our first desktop web application. Followed by Android mobile version few days later. We dropped iOS version as we had no more time to do it and considering the long approval process. Then Tal wrote his first iVote post in Facebook which got shared 82 times! This is how it became viral. Most of our traffic came from Facebook without spending a dime. We saw and felt that people like it. We got a lot of traffic coming in our first days and got about 5,000 users registered a week after launch. Now we started to monitor closely our traffic and performance. We had to do some refactoring to be more scalable. Statistics And after two weeks, just on elections day we had the following numbers: - 30,000 unique users visited the website. - 12,000 registered users. - 11,500 votes. - 200 likes in our Facebook page. - 5 articles published in online media. Google Analytics stats: Articles published in online media Walla News and Walla Tech Globes Haaretz Mako Arutz Sheva Wrapping up It was a crazy, both challenging and enjoyable journey. I had the opportunity to work again with people I love and meet new people I never had the chance to work with. Get more information and experience on mobile web and native development. If you want to see the web app in action, the main website is located here: https://ivote.org.il And remember that “I have no time” is a lame excuse. If you really want it, you will make a time. Sleep less, do more. ☺ P.S. * The source code can be found here. If you want to make the same experiment in your country, please contact me. We will try to help.	933c18ff-fa1b-5839-affa-18f6e3f268d6	25/08/2025 15:59:30
https://stories.yourquote.in/4-poets-talk-about-taming-their-muse-6e87c4193399	medium.com	4 Poets Talk About Taming Their Muse	The concept of ‘muse’ is derived from Greek mythology, where Muses were nine goddesses symbolizing arts and sciences. They were daughters…	Mariyam Saigal	https://medium.com/@mariyamsaigal	6e87c4193399	https://miro.medium.com/…zmFl-GCjBVw.jpeg	5 min	2017-11-16T12:35:28.794000	2017-11-17T14:02:45.822000	2018-05-20T17:35:19.422000	0	45	en	Writing,Poetry,Greek Mythology,Series,Gist In A List	<section> <p>The concept of ‘muse’ is derived from Greek mythology, where Muses were nine goddesses symbolizing arts and sciences. They were daughters of Zeus, the ruler of the Olympian Gods and Mnemosyne, the Titan goddess of memory.</p> <p>For nine nights Zeus did lay</p> <p>With Mnemosyne in secrecy</p> <p>From this union nine they say</p> <p>Beautiful, lovely the Muses be</p> <p>— <a href="https://owlcation.com/humanities/Muses-Nine-Goddesses-of-Greek-Mythology">Phyllis Doyle Burns</a></p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1024/1Jl7WqjjAcFMzmFl-GCjBVw.jpeg" width="1024" height="437" loading="lazy" /> <p>Today, Muse is what inspires an artist to create. It can be a person or a thing or a fictional character, etc. Friedrich Schiller, for example could only write when he had drawer full of rotten apples, which is quite strange but amusing.</p> <p>We have 4 writers from YourQuote who talk about their relationship with their muse.</p> <h3>1. Rya Ray when asked about her muse said this…</h3> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1080/0EIJ9RiUNshSnHNDm.jpg" width="1080" height="1080" loading="lazy" /> <p>My muse is a man called Girish. There is something very haunting about this name. So Girish is, to me a potpourri of all the men at whose hands I have had my heartbroken in one way or the other. There have been several of them. After a point of time, it just becomes very difficult to hold on to all that sentiment towards each man. I have addressed several ‘Letters to Girish’ in which I have written at once to several people, because that way it is easier.</p> <p>You do not associate the pain to different people. You associate to the idea of the man who you have loved and lost. I don’t know if this makes sense, but letting go of heartbreaks and goodbyes is easier if you don’t have to do it for every other person, every other time. Once is enough. Once is better. So if you are someone like me that when a sad song comes on, you begin crying for one man and by the end you realize you’ve been crying for another, then this might actually work for you.</p> <p>Follow her work here: <a href="https://www.yourquote.in/rya-ray-b8m/quotes/">https://www.yourquote.in/rya-ray-b8m/quotes/</a></p> <h3>2. Now, it’s just not Rya who has Girish, we have Mrinal Kalita who has Maitrey as his muse. Here’s what he had to say…</h3> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1080/0x7knMGgfY7fF8_52.jpg" width="1080" height="1080" loading="lazy" /> <p>My inspirations can probably be traced to the most mundane of things that I may happen to notice or think of. Like a leaf twirling around on a cemented floor in the breeze. Or a family bowing down in prayer in a church. Or even the way a smile fits on a person’s face. I have taken a liking to forming broad imageries of people and things in their most vulnerable and unfashioned forms, in attempts of creating an entirely fictional world around them to understand each circumstance better. This often leads to cultivating descriptive characters with all their traits and nuances.</p> <p>My first ever muse was Maitrey, a sombre girl with broad shoulders and a nose-ring, who helped me strip to the bones of my being, and really find the world in all its romanticism and fervour. And maybe it was faulted and naive in many ways, but a muse isn’t responsible for that. Over time, I have developed a handful of characters that have served as faithful muses for my poetry, and each time, they envelop the very spine of my verses. The more detailed a muse, the more emotions they evoke of responsibility and curiosity. And through it all, they remain almost as if unperturbed by worldly progressions. My muses occupy a huge space in my creative realm and even though I may have abandoned a few in my verses, I continue to develop them further to a better voice, and perhaps for a better poem someday soon.</p> <p>Follow his work here: <a href="https://www.yourquote.in/mrinal-kalita-e2b5/quotes/">https://www.yourquote.in/mrinal-kalita-e2b5/quotes/</a></p> <h3>3. Shikha has a different perspective about the same…</h3> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1080/0G3iDcsEvmXcdJ0Fl.jpg" width="1080" height="1080" loading="lazy" /> <p>I wouldn’t go for the word tame. For me, muses have been, and are, more like floating versions of mingled thoughts. They are like intermittent clouds for me. They come and go, showering raindrops, which I then try to mould into proper patterns. I love poetry over prose. Mine don’t always come out rhyming, but mostly come out in metaphors. There’s a reason for that. I like to see how a single put forth piece is interpreted differently. It’s exciting at times.</p> <p>About inspiration, I would say, at times they merely come out of reminiscences. That one is something which gives bittersweet flavours to my verses. I never have written something I’ve not felt. That’s my strength and weakness both. Strength, because that way, whatever I pen down, comes effortlessly. Weakness, because if I deliberately try taking up something to write, I hardly am able to do so.</p> <p>That’s why I don’t consider myself a writer. I think a good writer is someone, who impartially pens down something, anything- and is attached and detached both, with an equilibrium in his/her perceptions. I have not been able to do that, and being too sensitive a person, won’t ever be able to do so. At other times, muses come to me out of reading. Not reading only literature, but circumstances, surroundings, and indulgences. These invoke thought processes, and build foundations for write ups. Many a time, when the subconscious takes lead, different version of my pen makes its presence. That’s all I can say about my relationship with my muse.</p> <p>Follow her work here: <a href="https://www.yourquote.in/shikha-cfs/quotes/">https://www.yourquote.in/shikha-cfs/quotes/</a></p> <h3>4. Vishakha explains how her muse is derived out of her empathetic nature</h3> <p></p> <p>It is conflict which describes poetry. It can be a personal conflict or an empathized conflict. Your personal conflict could bring out something that you and only you connect to on an exclusive level. The effect of poetry is nuanced by the social or personal situation of its muse. Thus, there are only two possibilities; either my personal reality, or my possible reality (imagination). My personal reality may provoke privy responsiveness. It may oblige my secluded understanding of something that belongs within me. However, talking about exclusiveness; about something that I try to bring out in MY poetry; I believe in empathizing more than personal fulfillment. I’d say that someone’s reality could be my possible reality. Thus, writing gives me a chance to suffer, to empathize; one thing that I believe is the most important for creating art. It is accompanied by a very popular issue. Whereas, poetry may choose itself a muse that lies outside of the poet, its objective must be solely personal for it to be completely effective. What’s fashionable? What’s mainstream? What’s favored? Some questions that should not cross a poet’s mind when he/she starts to write poetry. The objective must be owned. The muse, never. It shouldn’t mean you write for the gratification of others keeping a larger audience in mind. A poem must become effective on its own.</p> <p>Follow her work here: <a href="https://www.yourquote.in/vishakha-kamra-vrh/quotes/?page=4&sort=latest">https://www.yourquote.in/vishakha-kamra-vrh/quotes/?page=4&sort=latest</a></p> <p>Sit down today and find who/what is your muse? Where does your inspiration comes from? How does it help you create art? The best way is to give form to formless and have a conversation with it or even better a fight?</p> <p>Go ahead, tell us in the comments, what is your relationship with your muse?</p> <p>We have more such posts coming up with writers, poets, basically creators on YourQuote.</p> </section>	4 Poets Talk About Taming Their Muse The concept of ‘muse’ is derived from Greek mythology, where Muses were nine goddesses symbolizing arts and sciences. They were daughters of Zeus, the ruler of the Olympian Gods and Mnemosyne, the Titan goddess of memory. For nine nights Zeus did lay With Mnemosyne in secrecy From this union nine they say Beautiful, lovely the Muses be — Phyllis Doyle Burns Sarcophagus known as the “Muses Sarcophagus”, representing the nine Muses and their attributes. Marble, first half of the 2nd century AD, found by the Via Ostiense - Louvre, Paris. \| Source Today, Muse is what inspires an artist to create. It can be a person or a thing or a fictional character, etc. Friedrich Schiller, for example could only write when he had drawer full of rotten apples, which is quite strange but amusing. We have 4 writers from YourQuote who talk about their relationship with their muse. 1. Rya Ray when asked about her muse said this… My muse is a man called Girish. There is something very haunting about this name. So Girish is, to me a potpourri of all the men at whose hands I have had my heartbroken in one way or the other. There have been several of them. After a point of time, it just becomes very difficult to hold on to all that sentiment towards each man. I have addressed several ‘Letters to Girish’ in which I have written at once to several people, because that way it is easier. You do not associate the pain to different people. You associate to the idea of the man who you have loved and lost. I don’t know if this makes sense, but letting go of heartbreaks and goodbyes is easier if you don’t have to do it for every other person, every other time. Once is enough. Once is better. So if you are someone like me that when a sad song comes on, you begin crying for one man and by the end you realize you’ve been crying for another, then this might actually work for you. Follow her work here: https://www.yourquote.in/rya-ray-b8m/quotes/ 2. Now, it’s just not Rya who has Girish, we have Mrinal Kalita who has Maitrey as his muse. Here’s what he had to say… My inspirations can probably be traced to the most mundane of things that I may happen to notice or think of. Like a leaf twirling around on a cemented floor in the breeze. Or a family bowing down in prayer in a church. Or even the way a smile fits on a person’s face. I have taken a liking to forming broad imageries of people and things in their most vulnerable and unfashioned forms, in attempts of creating an entirely fictional world around them to understand each circumstance better. This often leads to cultivating descriptive characters with all their traits and nuances. My first ever muse was Maitrey, a sombre girl with broad shoulders and a nose-ring, who helped me strip to the bones of my being, and really find the world in all its romanticism and fervour. And maybe it was faulted and naive in many ways, but a muse isn’t responsible for that. Over time, I have developed a handful of characters that have served as faithful muses for my poetry, and each time, they envelop the very spine of my verses. The more detailed a muse, the more emotions they evoke of responsibility and curiosity. And through it all, they remain almost as if unperturbed by worldly progressions. My muses occupy a huge space in my creative realm and even though I may have abandoned a few in my verses, I continue to develop them further to a better voice, and perhaps for a better poem someday soon. Follow his work here: https://www.yourquote.in/mrinal-kalita-e2b5/quotes/ 3. Shikha has a different perspective about the same… I wouldn’t go for the word tame. For me, muses have been, and are, more like floating versions of mingled thoughts. They are like intermittent clouds for me. They come and go, showering raindrops, which I then try to mould into proper patterns. I love poetry over prose. Mine don’t always come out rhyming, but mostly come out in metaphors. There’s a reason for that. I like to see how a single put forth piece is interpreted differently. It’s exciting at times. About inspiration, I would say, at times they merely come out of reminiscences. That one is something which gives bittersweet flavours to my verses. I never have written something I’ve not felt. That’s my strength and weakness both. Strength, because that way, whatever I pen down, comes effortlessly. Weakness, because if I deliberately try taking up something to write, I hardly am able to do so. That’s why I don’t consider myself a writer. I think a good writer is someone, who impartially pens down something, anything- and is attached and detached both, with an equilibrium in his/her perceptions. I have not been able to do that, and being too sensitive a person, won’t ever be able to do so. At other times, muses come to me out of reading. Not reading only literature, but circumstances, surroundings, and indulgences. These invoke thought processes, and build foundations for write ups. Many a time, when the subconscious takes lead, different version of my pen makes its presence. That’s all I can say about my relationship with my muse. Follow her work here: https://www.yourquote.in/shikha-cfs/quotes/ 4. Vishakha explains how her muse is derived out of her empathetic nature It is conflict which describes poetry. It can be a personal conflict or an empathized conflict. Your personal conflict could bring out something that you and only you connect to on an exclusive level. The effect of poetry is nuanced by the social or personal situation of its muse. Thus, there are only two possibilities; either my personal reality, or my possible reality (imagination). My personal reality may provoke privy responsiveness. It may oblige my secluded understanding of something that belongs within me. However, talking about exclusiveness; about something that I try to bring out in MY poetry; I believe in empathizing more than personal fulfillment. I’d say that someone’s reality could be my possible reality. Thus, writing gives me a chance to suffer, to empathize; one thing that I believe is the most important for creating art. It is accompanied by a very popular issue. Whereas, poetry may choose itself a muse that lies outside of the poet, its objective must be solely personal for it to be completely effective. What’s fashionable? What’s mainstream? What’s favored? Some questions that should not cross a poet’s mind when he/she starts to write poetry. The objective must be owned. The muse, never. It shouldn’t mean you write for the gratification of others keeping a larger audience in mind. A poem must become effective on its own. Follow her work here: https://www.yourquote.in/vishakha-kamra-vrh/quotes/?page=4&sort=latest Sit down today and find who/what is your muse? Where does your inspiration comes from? How does it help you create art? The best way is to give form to formless and have a conversation with it or even better a fight? Go ahead, tell us in the comments, what is your relationship with your muse? We have more such posts coming up with writers, poets, basically creators on YourQuote.	d3967f8d-9b6d-5986-9121-61016f9c9f6d	25/08/2025 15:59:30
https://chrisknightcms.medium.com/do-chatbots-and-politics-mix-c7c0f171eadd	medium.com	Do chatbots and politics mix?	In previous electoral cycles, chatbots were simple question-answering machines to help clarify where candidates stood on issues, to help…	Chris Knight	https://medium.com/@chrisknightcms	c7c0f171eadd	https://miro.medium.com/…rAYJbk9GVWw.jpeg	3 min	2019-11-15T10:32:02.467000	2019-11-15T10:34:10.857000	2021-12-12T16:00:33.946000	0	50	en	Bots,Politics,Elections,Chatbots,AI	<section> <p>In previous electoral cycles, chatbots were simple question-answering machines to help clarify where candidates stood on issues, to help pollsters get the mood of the people and so on. Those days have gone, wiped out by digital extremism, political greed/hubris and a desire to do anything to lie, cheat or steal to win any election, so where do the good bots go now?</p> <p>Across Britain and the U.S. and into almost any other country, electoral rhetoric has gone down the sewer faster than Donald Trump’s agenda to “drain the swamp.” All of a sudden, with deep fakes, foreign interference and efforts to scream the biggest lies so loud people believe them, social media has become a no-go zone for most people looking for some political clarity.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1067/1*xnDCBncWW6CrAYJbk9GVWw.jpeg" width="1067" height="600" loading="lazy" /> <p>Even what you might consider a reputable bot can be fair game, with<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-election-facebook/facebook-blocks-netanyahu-chatbot-on-election-day-idUSKBN1W21PI"> Facebook taking down Benjamin Netanyahu’s chatbot</a> during the recent Israeli election for a minor infringement. Social media sites are under massive pressure to take down misleading posts from politicians and the huge quantity of fake posts trying to mislead the electorate.</p> <p>But what is misleading? Facebook has said it <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/07/facebook-we-would-let-tories-run-doctored-starmer-video-as-ad">would run a video</a> by British Conservatives that was doctored to show a rival hesitating to answer a question, even though he actually answered the question perfectly well live on national TV. You can almost feel the smiles radiating in Donald Trump’s camp as they think of ways to edit Democrat rivals to look bad for the U.S. 2020 elections.</p> <p>As foreign money drives these elections, how long until a government shuts down an advertising network, or even Facebook access in their nation based on <a href="https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2019/10/24/netanyahus-weaponization-of-facebook-in-israeli-election-offers-roadmap-for-trump-2020/">Mark Zuckerberg’s hapless reactions</a> to demands for action? At least most ads now <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50375293">have to show</a> why they are targeting you the reader.</p> <p>If that leaves you with a sense of despair, just think about India’s 2017 election and the massive success of <a href="https://thelogicalindian.com/story-feed/exclusive/operation-black-dot/">Operation Black Dot</a> that used various means including a Facebook Messenger chatbot to encourage huge levels of voter registration. There’s nothing to stop a western independent creating some bot that can drive the debate and make unheard voices audible.</p> <h1>Chatbots Still Doing Good for Political Access</h1> <p>Back to chatbots and they are still being used for positive means. Take the U.K. chatbot that was taking people’s Tinder profiles and encouraging users to <a href="https://mashable.com/2017/06/09/tinder-chatbot-uk-election/">register to vote and engage on issues</a>.</p> <p>Over in Canada <a href="https://www.facebook.com/canadianmv/?__tn__=%2Cd%2CP-R&eid=ARCtnFV-VY77wFQ8dse92KutirifC5s1TBL980j5WbDX1mX45ZyD0vcAMgDc_qR6cxMLzzJs2yKIvpXw">#AskAlyia provided information for Canadian Muslims</a> looking for more information on issues relevant to them during the recent election and there are plenty more people can find to help them access the election or understand the underlying issues.</p> <p>Beyond these examples, any organisation or political party looking to launch a political chatbot needs to consider the audience, the questions people will ask and what message they want to get over. Yes, it is easy for any political hack to craft a quick bot that can spout the messages by their lords and masters, however far from the truth they dare to stray.</p> <p>But as people search for the answers to questions NOT ANSWERED by the politicians, activists and other parties can launch chatbots to engage. These can show a different point of view or some hard facts to rebut what is said in the latest face-to-face debate, cozy fireside press chat or slanging match.</p> <p>Your team doesn’t need a dedicated AI chatbot coder to join in the effort, they can be built using the likes of SnatchBot’s design-based tools and natural language processing to build smart bots without the need for in-depth coding.</p> <p>The trick to success is to build a bot that is based on valid information, anything caught spouting lies or mistruths will likely generate press for the wrong reasons and be swamped by abuse, making it unusable.</p> <p>Good bots that provide genuine value, access to unique information or ideas, could easily go viral and generate press attention, so a cloud chatbot that can handle high loads of interest will be essential.</p> <p>With pieces like this, suggesting <a href="https://fpif.org/will-ai-swing-the-2020-election/">AI may swing the 2020 US election</a>, chatbots and AI-based marketing and advertising will be at the center of attention, whatever the results. Whatever your political leaning, do your best to highlight the good that comes from bots and AI, we’re sure the tabloids will be doing their best to highlight any misdeeds.</p> </section>	Do chatbots and politics mix? In previous electoral cycles, chatbots were simple question-answering machines to help clarify where candidates stood on issues, to help pollsters get the mood of the people and so on. Those days have gone, wiped out by digital extremism, political greed/hubris and a desire to do anything to lie, cheat or steal to win any election, so where do the good bots go now? Across Britain and the U.S. and into almost any other country, electoral rhetoric has gone down the sewer faster than Donald Trump’s agenda to “drain the swamp.” All of a sudden, with deep fakes, foreign interference and efforts to scream the biggest lies so loud people believe them, social media has become a no-go zone for most people looking for some political clarity. Even what you might consider a reputable bot can be fair game, with Facebook taking down Benjamin Netanyahu’s chatbot during the recent Israeli election for a minor infringement. Social media sites are under massive pressure to take down misleading posts from politicians and the huge quantity of fake posts trying to mislead the electorate. But what is misleading? Facebook has said it would run a video by British Conservatives that was doctored to show a rival hesitating to answer a question, even though he actually answered the question perfectly well live on national TV. You can almost feel the smiles radiating in Donald Trump’s camp as they think of ways to edit Democrat rivals to look bad for the U.S. 2020 elections. As foreign money drives these elections, how long until a government shuts down an advertising network, or even Facebook access in their nation based on Mark Zuckerberg’s hapless reactions to demands for action? At least most ads now have to show why they are targeting you the reader. If that leaves you with a sense of despair, just think about India’s 2017 election and the massive success of Operation Black Dot that used various means including a Facebook Messenger chatbot to encourage huge levels of voter registration. There’s nothing to stop a western independent creating some bot that can drive the debate and make unheard voices audible. Chatbots Still Doing Good for Political Access Back to chatbots and they are still being used for positive means. Take the U.K. chatbot that was taking people’s Tinder profiles and encouraging users to register to vote and engage on issues. Over in Canada #AskAlyia provided information for Canadian Muslims looking for more information on issues relevant to them during the recent election and there are plenty more people can find to help them access the election or understand the underlying issues. Beyond these examples, any organisation or political party looking to launch a political chatbot needs to consider the audience, the questions people will ask and what message they want to get over. Yes, it is easy for any political hack to craft a quick bot that can spout the messages by their lords and masters, however far from the truth they dare to stray. But as people search for the answers to questions NOT ANSWERED by the politicians, activists and other parties can launch chatbots to engage. These can show a different point of view or some hard facts to rebut what is said in the latest face-to-face debate, cozy fireside press chat or slanging match. Your team doesn’t need a dedicated AI chatbot coder to join in the effort, they can be built using the likes of SnatchBot’s design-based tools and natural language processing to build smart bots without the need for in-depth coding. The trick to success is to build a bot that is based on valid information, anything caught spouting lies or mistruths will likely generate press for the wrong reasons and be swamped by abuse, making it unusable. Good bots that provide genuine value, access to unique information or ideas, could easily go viral and generate press attention, so a cloud chatbot that can handle high loads of interest will be essential. With pieces like this, suggesting AI may swing the 2020 US election, chatbots and AI-based marketing and advertising will be at the center of attention, whatever the results. Whatever your political leaning, do your best to highlight the good that comes from bots and AI, we’re sure the tabloids will be doing their best to highlight any misdeeds.	0c26dd21-41bb-5393-b953-63d5560889b4	25/08/2025 15:59:31
https://medium.com/@lyndaling/office-for-the-day-7748398abcd6	medium.com	Office for the day	null	Lynda Ling	https://medium.com/@lyndaling	7748398abcd6	https://miro.medium.com/…xRtn6axub1Gb.jpg	0 min	2017-02-17T05:32:31.238000	2017-02-17T05:32:31.940000	2017-02-17T05:32:31.940000	0	0	en	Corporate Team Building	<section> <p>via #corporateteambuilding on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BQkIGX0ALWn">https://www.instagram.com/p/BQkIGX0ALWn</a></p> </section>	via #corporateteambuilding on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/BQkIGX0ALWn	ae25938b-3c98-5855-9d14-c25ff6a87441	25/08/2025 15:59:31
https://stoweboyd.medium.com/i-think-we-should-agree-to-do-this-next-year-starting-around-new-years-a243ebb09360	medium.com	I think we should agree to do this next year, starting around New Year’s.	We can cook up a concocted saint, maybe a Taoist sage that lived thousands of years ago, Generou (from the ancient Chinese Tzen Er Rou, or…	Stowe Boyd	https://medium.com/@stoweboyd	a243ebb09360	null	1 min	2016-05-11T19:35:00.052000	2013-02-14T15:19:00	2016-05-11T19:39:46.018000	0	0	en	Fictional History,Imaginary Appliances	<section> <p>Sasha Dichter, <a href="http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681370/rebranding-valentines-day-into-a-day-of-generosity">Rebranding Valentine’s Day Into A Day Of Generosity</a></p> <p>I’d always felt that other people might also want and need to reconnect with generosity, but I didn’t know what to do about it. Then, two years later, just three days before Valentine’s Day, Katya Andreesen, <em><a href="htt</em>p://www.fastcompany.com/1727145/re-booting-valentine%E2%80%99s-day-good">Fast Company’s Ellen McGirt</a> and Scott Case and I hatched a plan to create “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/generosityday">Generosity Day</a>:” one day for everyone around the world to replicate my generosity experiment, to practice radical generosity.</p> <p>We decided that Valentine’s Day, just three days away, might be the perfect hook. Valentine’s was a day about love, but that had lost its way. So with just 72 hours and zero budget, we set out to “reboot” Valentine’s Day as Generosity Day: one day for millions of people globally to say “yes,” to engage in small or radical acts of generosity.</p> <p>I think we should agree to do this next year, starting around New Year’s. We would drop the cheesy romance and consumerism of Saint Valentine’s Day, and repurpose it as Saint Generou’s Day.</p> <p>We can cook up a concocted saint, maybe a Taoist sage that lived thousands of years ago, Generou (from the ancient Chinese Tzen Er Rou, or Snapping Turtle). He was so generous he famously gave away his robe and hat to a poor man while going to the market, and lectured a king-in-hiding about generousity while standing naked in the marketplace. When the king was restored to his throne he sought out Generou and made him chief counselor. We all remember him, right?</p> <p>A little fictitious history — like the tooth fairy — to help steer things in the right direction.</p> <p>Oh, and Generou outlived the young king, and lived in the mountains later, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xian_(Taoism)">xian</a>: an immortal.</p> <p>(via <a href="http://blog.fastcompany.com/post/43078022449/heres-how-one-group-is-trying-to-steer">fastcompany</a>)</p> </section>	Sasha Dichter, Rebranding Valentine’s Day Into A Day Of Generosity I’d always felt that other people might also want and need to reconnect with generosity, but I didn’t know what to do about it. Then, two years later, just three days before Valentine’s Day, Katya Andreesen, Fast Company’s Ellen McGirt and Scott Case and I hatched a plan to create “Generosity Day:” one day for everyone around the world to replicate my generosity experiment, to practice radical generosity. We decided that Valentine’s Day, just three days away, might be the perfect hook. Valentine’s was a day about love, but that had lost its way. So with just 72 hours and zero budget, we set out to “reboot” Valentine’s Day as Generosity Day: one day for millions of people globally to say “yes,” to engage in small or radical acts of generosity. I think we should agree to do this next year, starting around New Year’s. We would drop the cheesy romance and consumerism of Saint Valentine’s Day, and repurpose it as Saint Generou’s Day. We can cook up a concocted saint, maybe a Taoist sage that lived thousands of years ago, Generou (from the ancient Chinese Tzen Er Rou, or Snapping Turtle). He was so generous he famously gave away his robe and hat to a poor man while going to the market, and lectured a king-in-hiding about generousity while standing naked in the marketplace. When the king was restored to his throne he sought out Generou and made him chief counselor. We all remember him, right? A little fictitious history — like the tooth fairy — to help steer things in the right direction. Oh, and Generou outlived the young king, and lived in the mountains later, a xian: an immortal. (via fastcompany)	e653ca9a-a981-5fbb-9dbb-bc682c89e2e1	25/08/2025 15:59:32
https://medium.com/@hotcoffeeandketchup/marshmallow-crypto-a-sweet-deal-for-crypto-miners-b7772cd7c199	medium.com	Marshmallow Crypto: A Sweet Deal for Crypto Miners	Cryptocurrency mining, particularly Bitcoin mining, has long been the domain of dedicated miners investing in expensive hardware and…	Garry Strongbow	https://medium.com/@hotcoffeeandketchup	b7772cd7c199	https://miro.medium.com/…29R5Bgxj_Jy2.png	3 min	2024-02-28T18:35:17.124000	2024-02-29T16:08:43.435000	2024-02-29T16:26:43.253000	0	2	en	Crypto,Cryptocurrency,Bitcoin,Bitcoin Mining,Investment	<section> <p>Cryptocurrency mining, particularly Bitcoin mining, has long been the domain of dedicated miners investing in expensive hardware and consuming substantial energy. However, a sweet alternative has emerged in the form of Marshmallow Crypto ($MRSH), offering a compelling proposition for miners seeking to maximize their returns while minimizing costs and hassle. In this article, we’ll explore how Marshmallow Crypto compares to traditional Bitcoin mining, focusing on profitability, ease of participation, and environmental impact.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/622/026Od29R5Bgxj_Jy2.png" width="622" height="457" loading="lazy" /> <p>Let’s start by comparing the costs and returns of traditional Bitcoin mining with the investment in Marshmallow Crypto. Please remember none of this is financial advice, and always do your own research before investing. Also note all numbers provided were taken at the time of writing,</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1167/1du5eSVSVkQNC-PXTI0f5NQ.png" width="1167" height="693" loading="lazy" /> <p><strong>Traditional Bitcoin Mining:</strong> For instance, a popular mining device like the Antminer S19 Pro requires a significant initial investment, ranging from $1300 to $1700, along with ongoing operational costs such as electricity. At an average electricity cost of $0.12 per kWh, the Antminer S19 Pro can generate a profit of around $545 in a year, considering the current Bitcoin prices. All numbers are estimates provided based on prices at the time of writing.</p> <p><strong>Marshmallow Crypto Investment:</strong> On the other hand, with the same investment amount, approximately $1624 worth of Marshmallow Crypto ($MRSH) can be acquired, equating to approximately 464,515,910 tokens. With a total token supply of 21 billion MRSH tokens, this investment would represent a 2.2% ownership stake in the Marshmallow blockchain. It’s important to note that this calculation is based on 100% of the circulating supply. Additionally, it’s worth remembering that Marshmallow utilizes revenues from its revenue streams to conduct buyback and burn events for $MRSH. As the token supply decreases over time due to these events, the percentage of the blockchain you own gradually increases, leading to higher dividends over time.</p> <p><strong>Calculating Rewards</strong>: Marshmallow Crypto rewards its holders with Bitcoin (BTCB) dividends, redistributing 2% of all transactions to token holders based on their percentage of ownership of the MRSH blockchain. It’s important to note that these numbers do not take into account potential price changes in BTC or MRSH, which could also impact the value of your investment in Marshmallow Crypto.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/908/1*Q0PKFtkUW_pKv0C8_IqH5A.png" width="908" height="331" loading="lazy" /> <p>To illustrate the significance of early involvement and the scalability of Marshmallow Crypto, we’ve curated four scenarios:</p> <p><strong>Scenario 1</strong> — <strong>Seed Stage:</strong> Daily Transaction Volume: $1,000. In this initial phase, with a modest daily transaction volume of $1,000, early adopters can begin to reap rewards. Calculating the time to recoup the initial investment sheds light on the potential long-term benefits of getting in early.</p> <p><strong>Scenario 2</strong> — <strong>Growth Phase:</strong> Daily Transaction Volume: $10,000. As Marshmallow gains momentum and the daily transaction volume grows to $10,000, the potential for returns accelerates. This stage demonstrates the increasing value of early investment as the project expands.</p> <p><strong>Scenario 3</strong> —<strong> Expansion Stage:</strong> Daily Transaction Volume: $100,000. With further expansion and a daily transaction volume reaching $100,000, the rewards for early supporters become more significant. This scenario highlights the exponential growth potential of Marshmallow Crypto.</p> <p><strong>Scenario 4</strong> — <strong>Established Project:</strong> Daily Transaction Volume: $1,000,000. In the fully established phase, with a substantial daily transaction volume of $1,000,000, the rewards for early backers are substantial. This final scenario underscores the unparalleled opportunities available to those who recognize the potential of Marshmallow Crypto early on.</p> <p>Beyond the financial aspect, investing in Marshmallow Crypto offers several advantages over traditional mining:</p> <p><strong>Minimal Power Consumption: </strong>Unlike mining rigs, which consume substantial amounts of electricity, Marshmallow Crypto requires minimal energy expenditure, resulting in significant cost savings and reduced environmental impact.</p> <p><strong>Minimal Hassle:</strong> With no need for hardware setup, maintenance, or dealing with noise and heat generated by mining rigs, participating in Marshmallow Crypto is hassle-free and accessible to anyone with an internet connection.</p> <p><strong>Passive Income:</strong> By simply holding MRSH tokens, investors can earn passive income in the form of Bitcoin dividends, allowing them to benefit from the growth of the Marshmallow network without actively participating in mining operations.</p> <p>In conclusion, Marshmallow Crypto presents an enticing opportunity for crypto miners looking to diversify their investment portfolios and maximize their returns in BTCB rewards. With its unique tokenomics, passive income potential, and minimal environmental footprint, Marshmallow Crypto offers a sweet alternative to traditional mining, making it a compelling choice for savvy investors in the ever-evolving cryptocurrency landscape. Moreover, for Bitcoin maximalists or enthusiasts, Marshmallow Crypto provides an additional avenue to leverage their belief in the power of Bitcoin while exploring innovative opportunities within the broader crypto ecosystem.</p> <p>Useful Links:</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://marshmallowcoin.io/">Marshmallow Token Website</a></li> <li><a href="https://marshmallow.exchange/">Marshmallow Token Exchange</a></li> <li><a href="https://t.me/marshmallowcoin">Telegram Channel</a></li> <li><a href="https://discord.com/invite/sFrCxuvs">Discord Community</a></li> <li><a href="https://blocksafu.com/audit/0xB15A34DB9c3Ae3f88B3C7d4C16366cD12550318c">BlockSafu Audit</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.dextools.io/app/en/bnb/pair-explorer/0x3e04056d22b3f01b01a7b2cc1760c2c9f256f402?t=1708968036471">Dextools Profile</a></li> <li><a href="https://x.com/MarshmallowMRSH?s=20">Marshmallow Token X</a></li> <li><a href="https://youtu.be/ujH3ETw-EKU?si=bwn67S94_Bd7vYLA">YouTube Update</a></li> </ul> </section>	Marshmallow Crypto: A Sweet Deal for Crypto Miners Cryptocurrency mining, particularly Bitcoin mining, has long been the domain of dedicated miners investing in expensive hardware and consuming substantial energy. However, a sweet alternative has emerged in the form of Marshmallow Crypto ($MRSH), offering a compelling proposition for miners seeking to maximize their returns while minimizing costs and hassle. In this article, we’ll explore how Marshmallow Crypto compares to traditional Bitcoin mining, focusing on profitability, ease of participation, and environmental impact. Let’s start by comparing the costs and returns of traditional Bitcoin mining with the investment in Marshmallow Crypto. Please remember none of this is financial advice, and always do your own research before investing. Also note all numbers provided were taken at the time of writing, Traditional Bitcoin Mining: For instance, a popular mining device like the Antminer S19 Pro requires a significant initial investment, ranging from $1300 to $1700, along with ongoing operational costs such as electricity. At an average electricity cost of $0.12 per kWh, the Antminer S19 Pro can generate a profit of around $545 in a year, considering the current Bitcoin prices. All numbers are estimates provided based on prices at the time of writing. Marshmallow Crypto Investment: On the other hand, with the same investment amount, approximately $1624 worth of Marshmallow Crypto ($MRSH) can be acquired, equating to approximately 464,515,910 tokens. With a total token supply of 21 billion MRSH tokens, this investment would represent a 2.2% ownership stake in the Marshmallow blockchain. It’s important to note that this calculation is based on 100% of the circulating supply. Additionally, it’s worth remembering that Marshmallow utilizes revenues from its revenue streams to conduct buyback and burn events for $MRSH. As the token supply decreases over time due to these events, the percentage of the blockchain you own gradually increases, leading to higher dividends over time. Calculating Rewards: Marshmallow Crypto rewards its holders with Bitcoin (BTCB) dividends, redistributing 2% of all transactions to token holders based on their percentage of ownership of the MRSH blockchain. It’s important to note that these numbers do not take into account potential price changes in BTC or MRSH, which could also impact the value of your investment in Marshmallow Crypto. Comparison Table: To provide a clear comparison of hypothetical scenarios To illustrate the significance of early involvement and the scalability of Marshmallow Crypto, we’ve curated four scenarios: Scenario 1 — Seed Stage: Daily Transaction Volume: $1,000. In this initial phase, with a modest daily transaction volume of $1,000, early adopters can begin to reap rewards. Calculating the time to recoup the initial investment sheds light on the potential long-term benefits of getting in early. Scenario 2 — Growth Phase: Daily Transaction Volume: $10,000. As Marshmallow gains momentum and the daily transaction volume grows to $10,000, the potential for returns accelerates. This stage demonstrates the increasing value of early investment as the project expands. Scenario 3 — Expansion Stage: Daily Transaction Volume: $100,000. With further expansion and a daily transaction volume reaching $100,000, the rewards for early supporters become more significant. This scenario highlights the exponential growth potential of Marshmallow Crypto. Scenario 4 — Established Project: Daily Transaction Volume: $1,000,000. In the fully established phase, with a substantial daily transaction volume of $1,000,000, the rewards for early backers are substantial. This final scenario underscores the unparalleled opportunities available to those who recognize the potential of Marshmallow Crypto early on. Beyond the financial aspect, investing in Marshmallow Crypto offers several advantages over traditional mining: Minimal Power Consumption: Unlike mining rigs, which consume substantial amounts of electricity, Marshmallow Crypto requires minimal energy expenditure, resulting in significant cost savings and reduced environmental impact. Minimal Hassle: With no need for hardware setup, maintenance, or dealing with noise and heat generated by mining rigs, participating in Marshmallow Crypto is hassle-free and accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Passive Income: By simply holding MRSH tokens, investors can earn passive income in the form of Bitcoin dividends, allowing them to benefit from the growth of the Marshmallow network without actively participating in mining operations. In conclusion, Marshmallow Crypto presents an enticing opportunity for crypto miners looking to diversify their investment portfolios and maximize their returns in BTCB rewards. With its unique tokenomics, passive income potential, and minimal environmental footprint, Marshmallow Crypto offers a sweet alternative to traditional mining, making it a compelling choice for savvy investors in the ever-evolving cryptocurrency landscape. Moreover, for Bitcoin maximalists or enthusiasts, Marshmallow Crypto provides an additional avenue to leverage their belief in the power of Bitcoin while exploring innovative opportunities within the broader crypto ecosystem. Useful Links: Marshmallow Token Website Marshmallow Token Exchange Telegram Channel Discord Community BlockSafu Audit Dextools Profile Marshmallow Token X YouTube Update	724b8fb7-837e-5fef-a2a0-a0338066ad4d	25/08/2025 15:59:32
https://medium.com/@ShineXu1/provenance-for-interactive-visualizations-8c3e75ebb646	medium.com	Provenance for Interactive Visualizations	Provenance for Interactive Visualizations Fotis Psallidas, Eugene Wu, Proceedings of the Workshop on Human-In-the-Loop Data Analytics. ACM…	Shine Xu	https://medium.com/@ShineXu1	8c3e75ebb646	https://miro.medium.com/…9igklsZt_u_Q.png	1 min	2018-07-13T08:28:31.424000	2018-07-13T09:50:32.798000	2018-07-13T09:50:33.136000	0	0	en	Data Visualization	<section> <p><a href="https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3209904">Provenance for Interactive Visualizations</a> Fotis Psallidas, Eugene Wu, <em>Proceedings of the Workshop on Human-In-the-Loop Data Analytics</em>. ACM, 2018.</p> <p>This paper explore the connection between the interactive visualizations and data provenance.</p> <h3>Interaction as provenance</h3> <p>It starts from core interaction logic with provenance: selections, logic over selections and multi-view linking. Interactive selections is to get subset of inputs that corespond to selected visual outputs, for example, finde the airports that operate at the selected states. Logic over selections is to express application logic over the selected inputs, for example, find the #airports that operate at the selected states. Multiple-view linking is to look at the relationships between different views, for example, show the distribution of #flights per carrier only for selected states shown as below.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/830/1RpoDbjZahb9igklsZt_u_Q.png" width="830" height="468" loading="lazy" /> <p>Interactive selections such as item selection, group selection, range selection and generalized selections can use a common provenance operation known as</p> <blockquote><em>backward_trace()</em></blockquote> <p>Logic over selection such as tooltips, details-on-demand and semantic zooming can be expressed as queries that take the backward_trace() of the user’s selection as input:</p> <blockquote>SQL(backward_trace(…))</blockquote> <p>Multiple-link such as linked brushing and crossfilter can be expressed by the backward_trace() followed by refreshing the other views by executing the queries shown as below. Selective refresh is to update procedure corresponds to a common provenance operation.</p> <blockquote>selective_refresh(backward_trace(…))</blockquote> <h3>Multi-application linking</h3> <p>Many applications are built over the same database or dataset. Extend multi-view linking to multi-application linking is possible, and it can connect data across applications and reuse the applications logic. The figure below shows linking between the running visualization with external applications.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/824/1b87YOYcm8m02UN8jtNAJLA.png" width="824" height="430" loading="lazy" /> </section>	Provenance for Interactive Visualizations Provenance for Interactive Visualizations Fotis Psallidas, Eugene Wu, Proceedings of the Workshop on Human-In-the-Loop Data Analytics. ACM, 2018. This paper explore the connection between the interactive visualizations and data provenance. Interaction as provenance It starts from core interaction logic with provenance: selections, logic over selections and multi-view linking. Interactive selections is to get subset of inputs that corespond to selected visual outputs, for example, finde the airports that operate at the selected states. Logic over selections is to express application logic over the selected inputs, for example, find the #airports that operate at the selected states. Multiple-view linking is to look at the relationships between different views, for example, show the distribution of #flights per carrier only for selected states shown as below. Interactive selections such as item selection, group selection, range selection and generalized selections can use a common provenance operation known as backward_trace() Logic over selection such as tooltips, details-on-demand and semantic zooming can be expressed as queries that take the backward_trace() of the user’s selection as input: SQL(backward_trace(…)) Multiple-link such as linked brushing and crossfilter can be expressed by the backward_trace() followed by refreshing the other views by executing the queries shown as below. Selective refresh is to update procedure corresponds to a common provenance operation. selective_refresh(backward_trace(…)) Multi-application linking Many applications are built over the same database or dataset. Extend multi-view linking to multi-application linking is possible, and it can connect data across applications and reuse the applications logic. The figure below shows linking between the running visualization with external applications.	4213dc3a-830b-5e65-a7f5-f0e20b727b65	25/08/2025 15:59:32
https://medium.com/@naguehabdou/from-my-non-fiction-2b2e457b8005	medium.com	FROM MY NON- FICTION	AMERICA:WALLETS, BULLETS AND ROSES	Nagueh Abdou	https://medium.com/@naguehabdou	2b2e457b8005	null	4 min	2016-05-10T12:33:13.256000	2016-05-10T12:44:36.006000	2016-05-10T12:44:36.006000	0	0	en	Science,Humanity,Mortality	<section> <p>AMERICA:WALLETS, BULLETS AND ROSES</p> <p>WWW.AMAZON.COM</p> <p><strong>INCREASING PASSION FOR FRIVOLITIES</strong></p> <p>4/ 4, 2004</p> <p><strong>The</strong> every day’s events demonstrate the world’s increasing passion for frivolities. Apparently the culture of frivolousness is going to be man’s fatal illness in the 21st Century. I am particularly thinking of the pill that claims to have the power of erasing the unhappy memories responsible for causing us the post-traumatic stress disorder. Well, let’s briefly challenge the merits of this new discovery of our unstressed great minds: Doctors of psychosis, I don’t want to forget the repeated attacks of the family rooster, even at the award of eliminating my past traumas caused by the aggressor. During my early childhood, that aggressor attacked me on a daily basis; often leaving me with a bloody nose. I was not passive. I, too, plucked one or two of its feathers every fight we had engaged in.</p> <p>Well, pardon me for having trivialized your most miraculous pill. Certainly it has far reaching benefits than erasing the traumatic conflict between a country boy and his family- rooster. I know you were thinking of the victims of incest, rapes, unintended killings, machine accidents and other unfortunate forms of aggression. Still, little gods, please allow me to ask: Can a man be any happier without the so- called negative memories you are trying to erase? Are they not the microscope through which he sees the good ones? In other words, if you eliminate his bad memories, are you not denying him the nostalgia of a lost paradise, somewhere and somehow?! In a concrete language: If you erase my sad memories with the family rooster, meantime aren’t you denying me those sweet memories of mother comforting me as well those memories of the family home that absorbed avidly the sun and the joyful cooing of its roosters. So, creators of the curative pill, please allow me to enjoy the memories of the aggressive rooster. As for the most dramatic memories caused by evil humans and brute nature, they, too, have their humane face. To remain challenged, humanity needs all the emotions it can get from whatever sources they may flow; otherwise it will die by stagnation. Yes, I even see beauty in the night sweat of the raped as well as in the remorse of the rapist. The suffering of the raped will eventually refine the violent emotion of the rapist. After all, if the grass is ever-green, how could it communicate passionately with the rain? If all man’s memories are good ones, how could he nourish his dream of becoming greater than his actual self? Yes, roses need thorns to remain roses, and man needs the negative emotions to remain humane. So, annihilators of the negative human emotions, could it be that you have a serious problem with life itself? How could you attempt to eliminate what you are dreaming to elevate? Is it not your ultimate desire to fold up the life’s sheet that had been unfolding and continue to do so throughout billions of years to come? I see that your hearts and minds are getting tired watching this vehement unfolding. You want a new start, in the hope to have less challenging paths. Lazy and spoiled children, start riding the wild horse made of bones and flesh, and do not dwell on the memories of the infantile delights found in the merry go round that accommodated your fragile childhood when your parents took you to amusement parks.</p> <p>And how dare you to pretend that you can decide the innocence and guilt of a man by hooking wires into his brain? Have you forgotten that the emotions of innocence are entangled with those of guilt? Yes, all around us is in a constant entanglement and that binds all what exist in the universe. The attempt to erase any portion of man’s struggle is like trying to knock down the stars of heavens just to have a close look at them with the naked eyes. But if the stars were to be taking off the heavens what light would guide us as we travel through the night?!</p> <p>I even deny to the mind the compliment for having invented the un-manned- guided plane. It is too inhumane of a method to kill. Even in war, to remain human, the killed needs the killer’s presence, unpleasant and cruel as it may be. A final word to or a look at the victim might invite the victimizing to see how God’s justice and mercy is tightly connected. Conclusion, the absence of adversities in our lives will create the enslavement of the human brain you are dreaming to liberate. We must not abdicate our humanity, turbulent as it may be, to become grasshoppers that devastate the fields without any concern for the dreams of those who had sown the seeds.</p> <p>I must confess I am too naive in the matters of physiology. My knowledge in this field is so limited that I am certain only about the five fingers in each of the two hands of man and the five toes in each of his feet. How they function? This remains a delightful mystery to me. Although I sincerely credit you for privileged knowledge, I remain convinced that only God can truly pierce the heart of the matter as well as that of the spirit. Don’t despair, all human curiosities are legitimate journeys toward Him, and any journey is vulnerable to estrangement. Just keep in mind: It’s through living that we witness the temporal expanding to touch the eternal.</p> </section>	FROM MY NON- FICTION AMERICA:WALLETS, BULLETS AND ROSES WWW.AMAZON.COM INCREASING PASSION FOR FRIVOLITIES 4/ 4, 2004 The every day’s events demonstrate the world’s increasing passion for frivolities. Apparently the culture of frivolousness is going to be man’s fatal illness in the 21st Century. I am particularly thinking of the pill that claims to have the power of erasing the unhappy memories responsible for causing us the post-traumatic stress disorder. Well, let’s briefly challenge the merits of this new discovery of our unstressed great minds: Doctors of psychosis, I don’t want to forget the repeated attacks of the family rooster, even at the award of eliminating my past traumas caused by the aggressor. During my early childhood, that aggressor attacked me on a daily basis; often leaving me with a bloody nose. I was not passive. I, too, plucked one or two of its feathers every fight we had engaged in. Well, pardon me for having trivialized your most miraculous pill. Certainly it has far reaching benefits than erasing the traumatic conflict between a country boy and his family- rooster. I know you were thinking of the victims of incest, rapes, unintended killings, machine accidents and other unfortunate forms of aggression. Still, little gods, please allow me to ask: Can a man be any happier without the so- called negative memories you are trying to erase? Are they not the microscope through which he sees the good ones? In other words, if you eliminate his bad memories, are you not denying him the nostalgia of a lost paradise, somewhere and somehow?! In a concrete language: If you erase my sad memories with the family rooster, meantime aren’t you denying me those sweet memories of mother comforting me as well those memories of the family home that absorbed avidly the sun and the joyful cooing of its roosters. So, creators of the curative pill, please allow me to enjoy the memories of the aggressive rooster. As for the most dramatic memories caused by evil humans and brute nature, they, too, have their humane face. To remain challenged, humanity needs all the emotions it can get from whatever sources they may flow; otherwise it will die by stagnation. Yes, I even see beauty in the night sweat of the raped as well as in the remorse of the rapist. The suffering of the raped will eventually refine the violent emotion of the rapist. After all, if the grass is ever-green, how could it communicate passionately with the rain? If all man’s memories are good ones, how could he nourish his dream of becoming greater than his actual self? Yes, roses need thorns to remain roses, and man needs the negative emotions to remain humane. So, annihilators of the negative human emotions, could it be that you have a serious problem with life itself? How could you attempt to eliminate what you are dreaming to elevate? Is it not your ultimate desire to fold up the life’s sheet that had been unfolding and continue to do so throughout billions of years to come? I see that your hearts and minds are getting tired watching this vehement unfolding. You want a new start, in the hope to have less challenging paths. Lazy and spoiled children, start riding the wild horse made of bones and flesh, and do not dwell on the memories of the infantile delights found in the merry go round that accommodated your fragile childhood when your parents took you to amusement parks. And how dare you to pretend that you can decide the innocence and guilt of a man by hooking wires into his brain? Have you forgotten that the emotions of innocence are entangled with those of guilt? Yes, all around us is in a constant entanglement and that binds all what exist in the universe. The attempt to erase any portion of man’s struggle is like trying to knock down the stars of heavens just to have a close look at them with the naked eyes. But if the stars were to be taking off the heavens what light would guide us as we travel through the night?! I even deny to the mind the compliment for having invented the un-manned- guided plane. It is too inhumane of a method to kill. Even in war, to remain human, the killed needs the killer’s presence, unpleasant and cruel as it may be. A final word to or a look at the victim might invite the victimizing to see how God’s justice and mercy is tightly connected. Conclusion, the absence of adversities in our lives will create the enslavement of the human brain you are dreaming to liberate. We must not abdicate our humanity, turbulent as it may be, to become grasshoppers that devastate the fields without any concern for the dreams of those who had sown the seeds. I must confess I am too naive in the matters of physiology. My knowledge in this field is so limited that I am certain only about the five fingers in each of the two hands of man and the five toes in each of his feet. How they function? This remains a delightful mystery to me. Although I sincerely credit you for privileged knowledge, I remain convinced that only God can truly pierce the heart of the matter as well as that of the spirit. Don’t despair, all human curiosities are legitimate journeys toward Him, and any journey is vulnerable to estrangement. Just keep in mind: It’s through living that we witness the temporal expanding to touch the eternal.	efeb1739-e157-52b0-8740-956c48cc2c02	25/08/2025 15:59:33
https://medium.com/@ahmadrizch/should-you-sell-your-grass-airdrop-tokens-exploring-the-pros-and-cons-c05b0ff5d996	medium.com	Should You Sell Your Grass Airdrop Tokens? Exploring the Pros and Cons	A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding the Value and Potential of Grass Airdrop Tokens	Ahmad Rizwan	https://medium.com/@ahmadrizch	c05b0ff5d996	https://miro.medium.com/max/2000/0*aI8BlmUjnJuaUP3A	3 min	2024-05-07T08:47:28.344000	2024-05-07T08:49:48.273000	2024-11-27T04:58:15.492000	0	1	en	Cryptocurrency,Crypto,Cryptocurrency Investment,Bitcoin,Bitcoin Mining	<section> <p>A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding the Value and Potential of Grass Airdrop Tokens</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/4896/0aI8BlmUjnJuaUP3A" width="4896" height="3264" loading="lazy" /> <p>In the ever-evolving landscape of cryptocurrency, airdrops have become a popular method for distributing tokens to users. These airdrops, often used as a marketing strategy by blockchain projects, distribute tokens for free to existing cryptocurrency holders or users who meet certain criteria. One such recent airdrop that has garnered attention is the Grass token airdrop. As holders contemplate what to do with their newly acquired tokens, the question arises: Should you sell your Grass airdrop tokens? In this comprehensive guide, we’ll delve into the pros and cons to help you make an informed decision.</p> <p>The Grass token airdrop emerged as part of an initiative by the Grass project to distribute tokens to existing cryptocurrency users. Participants received Grass tokens in their wallets based on certain criteria, such as holding a minimum balance of a specific cryptocurrency or engaging with the project’s community. The airdrop aimed to increase awareness of the Grass project and incentivize participation in its ecosystem.</p> <p>2. Understanding the Airdrop Phenomenon</p> <p>Airdrops have become a prevalent marketing tactic in the cryptocurrency space. They offer projects a means to distribute tokens widely, potentially increasing their user base and fostering community engagement. For recipients, airdrops represent an opportunity to acquire tokens at no cost, albeit with varying degrees of value and utility.</p> <p>3. Factors Influencing Token Value</p> <p>The value of airdrop tokens, including Grass tokens, is subject to various factors. These include the project’s fundamentals, market demand, tokenomics, team expertise, and broader market sentiment. Evaluating these factors can provide insight into the potential long-term value of the tokens.</p> <p>4. Pros of Selling Grass Airdrop Tokens</p> <p>Immediate Profit:* Selling Grass airdrop tokens upon receipt allows holders to realize immediate profit, especially if the tokens have appreciated in value since distribution.</p> <p>Mitigating Risk: Selling airdrop tokens eliminates exposure to the potential downside risk associated with holding speculative assets. It frees up capital for alternative investments or risk management strategies.</p> <p>Liquidity: Converting airdrop tokens into fiat currency or other cryptocurrencies provides liquidity, enabling holders to access funds for various purposes, such as expenses or additional investments.</p> <p>5. Cons of Selling Grass Airdrop Tokens</p> <p>Potential Future Value: Airdrop tokens, including Grass tokens, may appreciate significantly in the future if the underlying project achieves success. Selling prematurely could result in missed opportunities for substantial returns.</p> <p>Project Potential: Holding onto Grass tokens allows holders to participate in the potential success of the Grass project. If the project delivers on its promises and gains traction in the market, the value of the tokens could increase substantially.</p> <p>Community Engagement: Selling airdrop tokens immediately may signal a lack of interest or commitment to the project, potentially impacting future opportunities for engagement or rewards within the ecosystem.</p> <p>6. Strategies for Maximizing Value</p> <p>Holding vs. Selling: Deciding whether to hold or sell Grass airdrop tokens requires careful consideration of personal financial goals, risk tolerance, and confidence in the project’s long-term viability.</p> <p>Dollar-Cost Averaging: Dollar-cost averaging involves systematically buying or selling assets at regular intervals, regardless of price fluctuations. This strategy can help mitigate the impact of market volatility and reduce the risk of mistiming trades.</p> <p>Risk Management: Implementing risk management strategies, such as setting stop-loss orders or diversifying investments, can help protect against potential losses while maximizing opportunities for gains.</p> <p>7. Case Studies: Airdrop Success and Failure</p> <p>Examining past airdrop projects can provide valuable insights into the potential outcomes of holding or selling Grass tokens. Case studies highlight both successful airdrops that have generated substantial returns for holders and failed projects that resulted in minimal or negative value for participants.</p> <p>8. Regulatory Considerations</p> <p>Regulatory considerations play a significant role in the decision-making process regarding airdrop tokens. Depending on jurisdiction, selling airdrop tokens may have tax implications or require compliance with securities regulations. Understanding and adhering to relevant regulations is essential to avoid legal issues or financial penalties.</p> <p>9. Conclusion: Making an Informed Decision</p> <p>In conclusion, whether to sell Grass airdrop tokens is a decision that requires careful evaluation of the pros and cons, as well as an understanding of personal financial circumstances and risk tolerance. While selling may provide immediate profit and liquidity, holding onto the tokens could yield significant returns if the Grass project succeeds. Ultimately, each holder must weigh these factors and make an informed decision that aligns with their investment objectives and beliefs about the project’s potential. By considering the factors outlined in this guide and implementing appropriate strategies, holders can maximize the value of their Grass airdrop tokens while managing risk effectively.</p> </section>	Should You Sell Your Grass Airdrop Tokens? Exploring the Pros and Cons A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding the Value and Potential of Grass Airdrop Tokens Photo by Viktor Forgacs™️ on Unsplash In the ever-evolving landscape of cryptocurrency, airdrops have become a popular method for distributing tokens to users. These airdrops, often used as a marketing strategy by blockchain projects, distribute tokens for free to existing cryptocurrency holders or users who meet certain criteria. One such recent airdrop that has garnered attention is the Grass token airdrop. As holders contemplate what to do with their newly acquired tokens, the question arises: Should you sell your Grass airdrop tokens? In this comprehensive guide, we’ll delve into the pros and cons to help you make an informed decision. The Grass token airdrop emerged as part of an initiative by the Grass project to distribute tokens to existing cryptocurrency users. Participants received Grass tokens in their wallets based on certain criteria, such as holding a minimum balance of a specific cryptocurrency or engaging with the project’s community. The airdrop aimed to increase awareness of the Grass project and incentivize participation in its ecosystem. 2. Understanding the Airdrop Phenomenon Airdrops have become a prevalent marketing tactic in the cryptocurrency space. They offer projects a means to distribute tokens widely, potentially increasing their user base and fostering community engagement. For recipients, airdrops represent an opportunity to acquire tokens at no cost, albeit with varying degrees of value and utility. 3. Factors Influencing Token Value The value of airdrop tokens, including Grass tokens, is subject to various factors. These include the project’s fundamentals, market demand, tokenomics, team expertise, and broader market sentiment. Evaluating these factors can provide insight into the potential long-term value of the tokens. 4. Pros of Selling Grass Airdrop Tokens Immediate Profit: Selling Grass airdrop tokens upon receipt allows holders to realize immediate profit, especially if the tokens have appreciated in value since distribution. Mitigating Risk: Selling airdrop tokens eliminates exposure to the potential downside risk associated with holding speculative assets. It frees up capital for alternative investments or risk management strategies. Liquidity: Converting airdrop tokens into fiat currency or other cryptocurrencies provides liquidity, enabling holders to access funds for various purposes, such as expenses or additional investments. 5. Cons of Selling Grass Airdrop Tokens Potential Future Value: Airdrop tokens, including Grass tokens, may appreciate significantly in the future if the underlying project achieves success. Selling prematurely could result in missed opportunities for substantial returns. Project Potential: Holding onto Grass tokens allows holders to participate in the potential success of the Grass project. If the project delivers on its promises and gains traction in the market, the value of the tokens could increase substantially. Community Engagement: Selling airdrop tokens immediately may signal a lack of interest or commitment to the project, potentially impacting future opportunities for engagement or rewards within the ecosystem. 6. Strategies for Maximizing Value Holding vs. Selling: Deciding whether to hold or sell Grass airdrop tokens requires careful consideration of personal financial goals, risk tolerance, and confidence in the project’s long-term viability. Dollar-Cost Averaging: Dollar-cost averaging involves systematically buying or selling assets at regular intervals, regardless of price fluctuations. This strategy can help mitigate the impact of market volatility and reduce the risk of mistiming trades. Risk Management: Implementing risk management strategies, such as setting stop-loss orders or diversifying investments, can help protect against potential losses while maximizing opportunities for gains. 7. Case Studies: Airdrop Success and Failure Examining past airdrop projects can provide valuable insights into the potential outcomes of holding or selling Grass tokens. Case studies highlight both successful airdrops that have generated substantial returns for holders and failed projects that resulted in minimal or negative value for participants. 8. Regulatory Considerations Regulatory considerations play a significant role in the decision-making process regarding airdrop tokens. Depending on jurisdiction, selling airdrop tokens may have tax implications or require compliance with securities regulations. Understanding and adhering to relevant regulations is essential to avoid legal issues or financial penalties. 9. Conclusion: Making an Informed Decision In conclusion, whether to sell Grass airdrop tokens is a decision that requires careful evaluation of the pros and cons, as well as an understanding of personal financial circumstances and risk tolerance. While selling may provide immediate profit and liquidity, holding onto the tokens could yield significant returns if the Grass project succeeds. Ultimately, each holder must weigh these factors and make an informed decision that aligns with their investment objectives and beliefs about the project’s potential. By considering the factors outlined in this guide and implementing appropriate strategies, holders can maximize the value of their Grass airdrop tokens while managing risk effectively.	7e6bf810-98ce-5673-a21c-faf8d3d7358c	25/08/2025 15:59:33
https://medium.com/@kritilerachekosansaar/11-nov-2021-f5ed407fda77	medium.com	11 Nov, 2021	Don’t ask me where’s 10th Nov! My deadline ate it. That’s me, doing useless things all week, not completing the assigned task and getting…	that's kriti	https://medium.com/@kritilerachekosansaar	f5ed407fda77	null	2 min	2021-11-11T12:25:18.547000	2021-11-11T12:34:08.317000	2022-01-04T13:09:04.002000	0	0	en	Dreams,Thursday	<section> <p>Don’t ask me where’s 10th Nov! My deadline ate it. That’s me, doing useless things all week, not completing the assigned task and getting sick at the end of deadline. Of course, I had to sit and work the whole day. Not even time for 5 minute reflection? NO !</p> <p>Back to today Today was the submission day. Giving vague update to the publisher and submitting the latest parts of the book. "Bring more bangs" "Drop some bombs" "Make it extreme highs and lows". "Break character emotionally and physically and mentally and every-ly". What the - It’s my book. It’s my characters. They need a development. An introduction to their world. They have their resistance. Their boundaries. It’s not a romantic movie where if anything doesn’t make sense, you just declare it a 'happy movie' where anything can happen anytime. But my book, it’s a reality. A reality that I experience frequently.</p> <p>Well, not many people know that. For most(even my publisher), it’s a fiction. But let me tell you, it’s a reality. Not exactly a reality but it’s something real which I see and have vision. A vision of events of someone’s life in my dreams. Not the recurring dream. It’s like a movie playing inside my dream. Or a series. Most of the times, new stories. New chapters. My Kavya, I can see her. I can feel her. Sometimes it’s like a curse. I feel the pain, the trouble, the anxiety and the rush and flow of weird emotions. Somedays I can’t have a good sleep. Somedays I wish to go close to her and hug her tight. Somedays I wake up with the embarrassment she carries. It feels as if I’m living another life along with mine.</p> <p>I’ve shared about my dreams with Sparsha, Trisha and …. that would be all. It’s a weird thing to say. What am I supposed to say? “I see a girl in my dreams and she’s living her usual life there. I feel her through my dreams. Maybe you can help me find her?” So, I don’t talk about Kavya at all. But the dreams don’t stop when I stop sharing. To cope with it, I decided to write a book. About her. Her life. Somedays I feel I’m exposing her. Her personal life. Her boundaries. Her thoughts. Her inner thoughts. Yes! I hear that as well. But most are blurry when I wake up. Somedays I feel as if I’ve betrayed her. She’s sharing stuffs with me(even if she doesn’t know that) and I’m acting like that bitchy girlfriend who goes around and tells everyone everything.</p> <p>That’s the reason why I get irritated when the publisher points this and that to the story. Because it’s not a story. It’s a real chain of events. For me. But bla bla bla, who cares. I shall make slight changes. Throw the pages on his face. Take your bomb stuffs. And then? After that, I don’t know. I wish I knew a way to either find Kavya or a way to stop seeing her in my dreams.</p> <p>Now I’m ranting here again. Not trying to bore you. But these thoughts keep messing with me all the time. I would love to live a simple life with simple people around me and enjoy simple things. No dreams and people inside my dreams please.</p> </section>	11 Nov, 2021 Don’t ask me where’s 10th Nov! My deadline ate it. That’s me, doing useless things all week, not completing the assigned task and getting sick at the end of deadline. Of course, I had to sit and work the whole day. Not even time for 5 minute reflection? NO ! Back to today Today was the submission day. Giving vague update to the publisher and submitting the latest parts of the book. "Bring more bangs" "Drop some bombs" "Make it extreme highs and lows". "Break character emotionally and physically and mentally and every-ly". What the - It’s my book. It’s my characters. They need a development. An introduction to their world. They have their resistance. Their boundaries. It’s not a romantic movie where if anything doesn’t make sense, you just declare it a 'happy movie' where anything can happen anytime. But my book, it’s a reality. A reality that I experience frequently. Well, not many people know that. For most(even my publisher), it’s a fiction. But let me tell you, it’s a reality. Not exactly a reality but it’s something real which I see and have vision. A vision of events of someone’s life in my dreams. Not the recurring dream. It’s like a movie playing inside my dream. Or a series. Most of the times, new stories. New chapters. My Kavya, I can see her. I can feel her. Sometimes it’s like a curse. I feel the pain, the trouble, the anxiety and the rush and flow of weird emotions. Somedays I can’t have a good sleep. Somedays I wish to go close to her and hug her tight. Somedays I wake up with the embarrassment she carries. It feels as if I’m living another life along with mine. I’ve shared about my dreams with Sparsha, Trisha and …. that would be all. It’s a weird thing to say. What am I supposed to say? “I see a girl in my dreams and she’s living her usual life there. I feel her through my dreams. Maybe you can help me find her?” So, I don’t talk about Kavya at all. But the dreams don’t stop when I stop sharing. To cope with it, I decided to write a book. About her. Her life. Somedays I feel I’m exposing her. Her personal life. Her boundaries. Her thoughts. Her inner thoughts. Yes! I hear that as well. But most are blurry when I wake up. Somedays I feel as if I’ve betrayed her. She’s sharing stuffs with me(even if she doesn’t know that) and I’m acting like that bitchy girlfriend who goes around and tells everyone everything. That’s the reason why I get irritated when the publisher points this and that to the story. Because it’s not a story. It’s a real chain of events. For me. But bla bla bla, who cares. I shall make slight changes. Throw the pages on his face. Take your bomb stuffs. And then? After that, I don’t know. I wish I knew a way to either find Kavya or a way to stop seeing her in my dreams. Now I’m ranting here again. Not trying to bore you. But these thoughts keep messing with me all the time. I would love to live a simple life with simple people around me and enjoy simple things. No dreams and people inside my dreams please.	1f319a62-a7e0-5d19-97a4-10b5efa1bba2	25/08/2025 15:59:34
https://medium.com/@zevauto/why-should-your-dealership-partner-with-zev-54a6bd66991a	medium.com	Why Should Your Dealership Partner with ZEV?	ZEV helps dealerships and automakers sell more electric vehicles by providing their customers specific information and technical advice to…	ZEV	https://medium.com/@zevauto	54a6bd66991a	https://miro.medium.com/…XQ4vI2ZJe1-A.png	3 min	2018-02-12T18:27:35.234000	2018-02-12T20:12:47.082000	2018-02-12T20:35:20.771000	0	0	en	Automotive,Electric Car,Cleantech,SaaS,Consumer Behavior	<section> <p><strong><a href="http://www.go-zev.com">ZEV</a> helps dealerships and automakers sell more electric vehicles by providing their customers specific information and technical advice to understand EV range, charging</strong>, cost of ownership, and tax breaks.</p> <p><strong>Our software solution answers the most common questions and concerns for EV buyers — reducing the time spent on training and education of dealership sales staff and educating consumers on how they can save money by driving an electric car.</strong></p> <p><strong>Our mission is to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles while delivering value to our dealer partners and to drivers.</strong></p> <p>State-level electric vehicle sales mandates are skyrocketing in 2018, forcing automakers and dealerships to sell greater volumes of electric cars than ever. As these requirements ramp up, consumers still have many questions about this brand new EV technology.</p> <p><a href="http://app.go-zev.com">ZEV</a> helps automakers and dealers providing the resources that consumers need to purchase an electric vehicle for the first time. Consumers are delaying purchases because of lingering questions about new EV technology. ZEV solves the problem through targeted consumer education and advice.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1632/1EpTe_CZ-YOqoM-KqLUqzLw.png" width="1632" height="1036" loading="lazy" /> <p>Our goal is to help dealers help their customers purchase the right vehicle for their lifestyle.</p> <p><strong>Why now?</strong></p> <p>Zero Emission Vehicle sales mandates are changing. In 2018, dealers in some states will have to double or even triple electric vehicles sales to meet EV sales requirements, according to data from Global Automakers, the automobile industry trade association.</p> <p>We help dealers meet these new regulations by improving the electric vehicle sales process. These regulations will continue to grow through 2025, requiring dealers to sell approximately 4 million electric vehicles. ZEV wants to help dealers meet these requirements and increase overall consumer EV adoption.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2106/1eG1-QCEvjYXQ4vI2ZJe1-A.png" width="2106" height="652" loading="lazy" /> <p>Even if your dealer is in a state without an EV sales mandate, we can help you provide your customers great information and resources if they are considering an electric vehicle purchase.</p> <p>The electric vehicle market is growing around the world. EVs will rise from 4% of vehicle sales in the United States in 2020 to 40% by 2030, according to Bloomberg. We believe electric vehicles are the future — and want to work with you to inform and motivate EV customers.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1260/1*bHv0kaJhIdj-tiAJmnFIzA.png" width="1260" height="467" loading="lazy" /> <p><strong>How ZEV Reduces Consumer Friction</strong></p> <p>ZEV makes it easy for consumers interested in electric vehicles to learn about the new technology. We provide the latest resources and information on EVs on our software platform. We then help customers understand the value of switching to an electric vehicle by showing how much money they can save with tax breaks, lower cost of daily driving, and less maintenance. Finally, we answer the most frequently asked questions about purchasing an electric car for the first time (range, charging, cost of ownership, etc.)</p> <p>Right now, potential EV customers spend hours and hours researching EVs. ZEV simplifies that process by providing the resource on your website and on-the-lot with your salespeople, who can pull up the app on a smartphone or tablet.</p> <p>Our software helps customers compare their ideal electric vehicle to comparable gas cars, see charging stations nearby, and understand the total cost of ownership. We also provide our consolidated resource and information database to customers, so they don’t have to spend precious time searching for answers.</p> <p>By showing the consumer information on cost of driving, maintenance, tax breaks, and more, we drive additional demand to our dealer partners.</p> <p>As the founder and CEO, I am passionate about cars. I grew up in the heart of Los Angeles. Each year, my grandparents would drive across town to the Los Angeles Auto Show, where I would spend all day climbing into the latest models. The car purchasing decision is a big one for any family or customer, especially when purchasing a new technology for the first time.</p> <p>Our goal is to help consumers adopt this amazing new technology at your dealership.</p> <p><strong>Building a Lasting Partnership</strong></p> <p>Most importantly, we want to build strong, long-lasting relationships with our dealer-partners. More and more consumers will have questions about switching to electric in 2018 and beyond. By partnering with us, we help your dealership and salespeople be more effective, thereby helping you build a great relationship with customers.</p> <p><strong>We think that’s win-win. Your dealership helps more, happy customers drive off the lot and ZEV completes its mission to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles.</strong></p> </section>	Why Should Your Dealership Partner with ZEV? ZEV helps dealerships and automakers sell more electric vehicles by providing their customers specific information and technical advice to understand EV range, charging, cost of ownership, and tax breaks. Our software solution answers the most common questions and concerns for EV buyers — reducing the time spent on training and education of dealership sales staff and educating consumers on how they can save money by driving an electric car. Our mission is to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles while delivering value to our dealer partners and to drivers. State-level electric vehicle sales mandates are skyrocketing in 2018, forcing automakers and dealerships to sell greater volumes of electric cars than ever. As these requirements ramp up, consumers still have many questions about this brand new EV technology. ZEV helps automakers and dealers providing the resources that consumers need to purchase an electric vehicle for the first time. Consumers are delaying purchases because of lingering questions about new EV technology. ZEV solves the problem through targeted consumer education and advice. ZEV’s Software Application for potential EV consumers Our goal is to help dealers help their customers purchase the right vehicle for their lifestyle. Why now? Zero Emission Vehicle sales mandates are changing. In 2018, dealers in some states will have to double or even triple electric vehicles sales to meet EV sales requirements, according to data from Global Automakers, the automobile industry trade association. We help dealers meet these new regulations by improving the electric vehicle sales process. These regulations will continue to grow through 2025, requiring dealers to sell approximately 4 million electric vehicles. ZEV wants to help dealers meet these requirements and increase overall consumer EV adoption. EV Sales Mandates in 10 States Even if your dealer is in a state without an EV sales mandate, we can help you provide your customers great information and resources if they are considering an electric vehicle purchase. The electric vehicle market is growing around the world. EVs will rise from 4% of vehicle sales in the United States in 2020 to 40% by 2030, according to Bloomberg. We believe electric vehicles are the future — and want to work with you to inform and motivate EV customers. How ZEV Reduces Consumer Friction ZEV makes it easy for consumers interested in electric vehicles to learn about the new technology. We provide the latest resources and information on EVs on our software platform. We then help customers understand the value of switching to an electric vehicle by showing how much money they can save with tax breaks, lower cost of daily driving, and less maintenance. Finally, we answer the most frequently asked questions about purchasing an electric car for the first time (range, charging, cost of ownership, etc.) Right now, potential EV customers spend hours and hours researching EVs. ZEV simplifies that process by providing the resource on your website and on-the-lot with your salespeople, who can pull up the app on a smartphone or tablet. Our software helps customers compare their ideal electric vehicle to comparable gas cars, see charging stations nearby, and understand the total cost of ownership. We also provide our consolidated resource and information database to customers, so they don’t have to spend precious time searching for answers. By showing the consumer information on cost of driving, maintenance, tax breaks, and more, we drive additional demand to our dealer partners. As the founder and CEO, I am passionate about cars. I grew up in the heart of Los Angeles. Each year, my grandparents would drive across town to the Los Angeles Auto Show, where I would spend all day climbing into the latest models. The car purchasing decision is a big one for any family or customer, especially when purchasing a new technology for the first time. Our goal is to help consumers adopt this amazing new technology at your dealership. Building a Lasting Partnership Most importantly, we want to build strong, long-lasting relationships with our dealer-partners. More and more consumers will have questions about switching to electric in 2018 and beyond. By partnering with us, we help your dealership and salespeople be more effective, thereby helping you build a great relationship with customers. We think that’s win-win. Your dealership helps more, happy customers drive off the lot and ZEV completes its mission to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles.	110dadc7-9c33-5f94-bede-7ffef37e40c6	25/08/2025 15:59:34
https://medium.com/@Matthew_Sweet/how-to-vote-when-you-know-nothing-about-politics-c9bbe7b6660c	medium.com	How to vote when you know nothing about politics	When it comes to politics, most of us don’t have a clue.	Matthew Sweet	https://medium.com/@Matthew_Sweet	c9bbe7b6660c	https://miro.medium.com/…WzTQGxqSBow.jpeg	3 min	2016-06-16T06:57:22.178000	2016-06-16T08:21:25.889000	2018-01-31T02:08:12.207000	0	0	en	Politics,Democracy,Brexit,Voting,Elections	<section> <h1>How to vote when you know nothing about politics</h1> <p>When it comes to politics, most of us don’t have a clue.</p> <p>To understand why voting for <em>X</em> or against <em>Y</em> is bad, we need to have an informed opinion. But here’s the thing. <a href="https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/04/the-work-required-to-have-an-opinion/">It’s hard work</a>.</p> <p>Take a look at what you must do to have an informed opinion on something as complex and obscure as politics:</p> <ul> <li>Understand the historical, geopolitical and economic underpinnings of the issues at play.</li> <li>Explore <em>all sides</em> of the issue in great depth. Especially the side opposite to the one you favour.</li> <li>Understand why you maintain your position, and why people argue against the position you hold.</li> <li>Uncover how fear and ignorance are tainting people’s views.</li> <li>See how the media is framing the debate and how that framing is influencing your own and other’s perspectives.</li> <li>Trace out the higher order effects of both side’s arguments. Which means looking ten, twenty, fifty years into the future to see how each scenario could play out.</li> </ul> <p>I could go on. But you get the point. Having an informed opinion requires a significant investment of time and energy. Which is why no one does it.</p> <p>So if we’re all uninformed and not willing to put in the effort to become informed, what can we do?</p> <p>Here’s six strategies to help you vote <em>without</em> the aid of an informed opinion.</p> <h3><strong>A) BY MAJORITY</strong></h3> <p>If you think that people are sensible, intelligent and wise, find out what everyone else is doing and do the same.</p> <p>If you think the masses are ignorant and foolish, you can do the opposite of what they propose. Do as Mark Twain said: “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”</p> <h3><strong>B) ASK A SMART FRIEND</strong></h3> <p>This is self explanatory.</p> <h3><strong>C) ASK A ROLE MODEL/SMART PERSON</strong></h3> <p>If you don’t have a smart friend, you can ask someone you look up to. Perhaps a teacher or an authority figure in your life. And if you can’t ask because you don’t have an open line of communication? Try to imagine what they would do. Or look for evidence of their position in the media.</p> <p>Can’t ask and not willing to use your imagination? Then you can just take the same position as someone who is way smarter than you.</p> <p>But there’s a caveat:</p> <p>It’s hard to figure out who is smart, and who just <em>appears</em> to be smart.</p> <h3><strong>D) BY PEER GROUP</strong></h3> <p>Do what your everyone else in your social circle is doing. Or what everyone at your work is doing. Or what everyone in your class is doing.</p> <h3><strong>E) LEAST WORST > BEST</strong></h3> <p>Most debates centre around the upside. The benefit to be had from this or that position. But most of the time, it’s just speculation. Nobody can predict the future.</p> <p>In politics, you’re betting on the future. And to do that well, you have to focus on mitigating risk rather than maximising the reward.</p> <p>The logic behind this is that it’s easier to sense risk than it is to determine gain. There are a million ways to benefit. But typically, there are many fewer ways to screw a country or an economy up.</p> <p>So rather than picking the best option, pick what appears to be the least worst.</p> <h3><strong>F) THE OPPOSITE OF IDIOT</strong></h3> <p>Find an idiot. Ask them what they think and how they’re going to vote. Then do the opposite.</p> <p>-</p> <p>Ever heard of illusory superiority? It’s “a cognitive bias whereby individuals overestimate their own qualities and abilities, relative to others.”</p> <p>Everyone thinks they are better drivers than they really are. More attractive than they really are. And in the political arena, we all think our opinion is more accurate than it really is.</p> <p>But the reality is different.</p> <p>We’re uninformed because we’re unwilling to do <a href="https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/04/the-work-required-to-have-an-opinion/">the work required to have an opinion</a>. We’re misinformed by all the propaganda, spin and biased information that we consume. And any sound knowledge we do have is skewed by the biases and prejudices we carry round in our skull.</p> <p>I read somewhere that scientific integrity is not the elimination of bias, but the frank admission of it. When it comes to politics, most of us don’t know what the hell is going on.</p> <p>We should remember that as we play our part in the democratic process.</p> <p>-</p> <p><em>This was originally posted on <a href="http://www.phronetic.co.uk/">PHRONETIC</a>, a daily blog about</em> mastery, strategy & practical philosophy.</p> </section>	Credit: Unsplash/Cosmic Timetraveller How to vote when you know nothing about politics When it comes to politics, most of us don’t have a clue. To understand why voting for X or against Y is bad, we need to have an informed opinion. But here’s the thing. It’s hard work. Take a look at what you must do to have an informed opinion on something as complex and obscure as politics: Understand the historical, geopolitical and economic underpinnings of the issues at play. Explore all sides of the issue in great depth. Especially the side opposite to the one you favour. Understand why you maintain your position, and why people argue against the position you hold. Uncover how fear and ignorance are tainting people’s views. See how the media is framing the debate and how that framing is influencing your own and other’s perspectives. Trace out the higher order effects of both side’s arguments. Which means looking ten, twenty, fifty years into the future to see how each scenario could play out. I could go on. But you get the point. Having an informed opinion requires a significant investment of time and energy. Which is why no one does it. So if we’re all uninformed and not willing to put in the effort to become informed, what can we do? Here’s six strategies to help you vote without the aid of an informed opinion. A) BY MAJORITY If you think that people are sensible, intelligent and wise, find out what everyone else is doing and do the same. If you think the masses are ignorant and foolish, you can do the opposite of what they propose. Do as Mark Twain said: “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” B) ASK A SMART FRIEND This is self explanatory. C) ASK A ROLE MODEL/SMART PERSON If you don’t have a smart friend, you can ask someone you look up to. Perhaps a teacher or an authority figure in your life. And if you can’t ask because you don’t have an open line of communication? Try to imagine what they would do. Or look for evidence of their position in the media. Can’t ask and not willing to use your imagination? Then you can just take the same position as someone who is way smarter than you. But there’s a caveat: It’s hard to figure out who is smart, and who just appears to be smart. D) BY PEER GROUP Do what your everyone else in your social circle is doing. Or what everyone at your work is doing. Or what everyone in your class is doing. E) LEAST WORST > BEST Most debates centre around the upside. The benefit to be had from this or that position. But most of the time, it’s just speculation. Nobody can predict the future. In politics, you’re betting on the future. And to do that well, you have to focus on mitigating risk rather than maximising the reward. The logic behind this is that it’s easier to sense risk than it is to determine gain. There are a million ways to benefit. But typically, there are many fewer ways to screw a country or an economy up. So rather than picking the best option, pick what appears to be the least worst. F) THE OPPOSITE OF IDIOT Find an idiot. Ask them what they think and how they’re going to vote. Then do the opposite. - Ever heard of illusory superiority? It’s “a cognitive bias whereby individuals overestimate their own qualities and abilities, relative to others.” Everyone thinks they are better drivers than they really are. More attractive than they really are. And in the political arena, we all think our opinion is more accurate than it really is. But the reality is different. We’re uninformed because we’re unwilling to do the work required to have an opinion. We’re misinformed by all the propaganda, spin and biased information that we consume. And any sound knowledge we do have is skewed by the biases and prejudices we carry round in our skull. I read somewhere that scientific integrity is not the elimination of bias, but the frank admission of it. When it comes to politics, most of us don’t know what the hell is going on. We should remember that as we play our part in the democratic process. - This was originally posted on PHRONETIC, a daily blog about mastery, strategy & practical philosophy.	e1073a64-c921-5cdc-9971-8eb6a5399fd8	25/08/2025 15:59:34
https://medium.com/@seaslug999/hyperconcise-math-c4-area-290313afde94	medium.com	Hyperconcise Math C4: Area	The dimension of an object is the number of coordinates needed to specify the exact location of any point on that object. Area is a measure…	Coleopteran	https://medium.com/@seaslug999	290313afde94	https://miro.medium.com/…Xz9PZMQp0k-A.png	1 min	2022-12-18T19:39:45.221000	2022-12-18T23:20:07.462000	2022-12-19T13:37:26.220000	0	55	en	Mathematics,Math,Mathematics Education	<section> <p>The dimension of an object is the number of coordinates needed to specify the exact location of any point on that object. Area is a measure of space with two dimensions (two dimensional), while volume is a measure of three dimensional space.</p> <p>If x and y are lengths of line segments,</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/965/1R40-PC5gHvXz9PZMQp0k-A.png" width="965" height="548" loading="lazy" /> <p>The perimeter of a two dimensional object is the total length that encloses it (completely surrounds it and nothing else). The outer surface area of a three dimensional object is the total area that encloses it.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/965/1_f_ouPXMdqOhZwkpgChmIg.png" width="965" height="544" loading="lazy" /> <p>Calculus is required (at some step) to find the area or volume of any object that is not made of line segments, such as:</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/963/1vAYTiTTBkOwmxiBeGhSQHg.png" width="963" height="549" loading="lazy" /> <p>The area/volume/etcetera of several objects is the sum of the areas/volumes/etcetera of the individual segments:</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/964/1AExI1MjrCi5_hCewcH1k-g.png" width="964" height="546" loading="lazy" /> <p>When an object is scaled by a factor of w, any n dimensional space in the new object is wⁿ times the corresponding space in the original. Any valid equation for the length, area, or volume of an object should have this property.</p> </section>	Hyperconcise Math C4: Area The dimension of an object is the number of coordinates needed to specify the exact location of any point on that object. Area is a measure of space with two dimensions (two dimensional), while volume is a measure of three dimensional space. If x and y are lengths of line segments, All diagrams here were made using Geogebra (slightly modified), under CC BY-SA 3.0 The perimeter of a two dimensional object is the total length that encloses it (completely surrounds it and nothing else). The outer surface area of a three dimensional object is the total area that encloses it. Outer surface area = 2⦁A + z⦁(perimeter of shaded region) Calculus is required (at some step) to find the area or volume of any object that is not made of line segments, such as: This is typically used to define tau The area/volume/etcetera of several objects is the sum of the areas/volumes/etcetera of the individual segments: When an object is scaled by a factor of w, any n dimensional space in the new object is wⁿ times the corresponding space in the original. Any valid equation for the length, area, or volume of an object should have this property.	303d3b43-207f-5b65-864c-3d0aa6fec1bb	25/08/2025 15:59:35
https://medium.com/@dpbcdjyvg/the-year-i-stopped-seeing-dragons-5cc20430738a	medium.com	The year i stopped seeing dragons	And how it almost killed me	Caine locke	https://medium.com/@dpbcdjyvg	5cc20430738a	https://miro.medium.com/…[email protected]	4 min	2025-02-05T08:30:26.986000	2025-02-05T08:37:50.632000	2025-05-26T11:36:25.369000	1	52	en	Creativity,Mental Health,Adulthood,Art,Dreams	<section> <p>The Year I Stopped Seeing Dragons (And Why It Almost Killed Me)</p> <p>I used to live in a world where titanic apes roamed mist-covered mountaintops, their massive silhouettes casting long shadows over valleys drenched in golden light. Dragons carved their fiery paths through the sky, their scales reflecting the glow of a setting sun that seemed made just for them. Beneath it all, in the darkest depths of the sea, leviathans stirred — vast, unknowable creatures whose slow, deliberate movements felt like the heartbeat of the ocean itself.</p> <p>They weren’t just stories. They weren’t even fantasies. They were part of me, part of how I saw the world. Every ripple in a lake could be the wake of something slumbering just below. Every wind that rustled the trees carried whispers from another realm. My imagination wasn’t just a place I escaped to — it was the lens through which I understood everything.</p> <p>Then I turned 18, and it all went quiet.</p> <p><em>When the Magic Started to Die</em></p> <p>It didn’t happen all at once. There wasn’t a single day where I realized the dragons were gone.</p> <p>Instead, it was gradual, like a slow dimming of light. The great apes who once beat their chests in triumph on mountaintops seemed to wander away first, their enormous forms fading into the mist until I could no longer tell if they had ever been there at all. The dragons followed soon after, their glowing trails in the sky growing fainter and fainter until the clouds looked empty without them. And the leviathans? They sank. They slipped beneath the waves and never rose again.</p> <p><em>And with them, something in me disappeared too.</em></p> <p>One day, I looked at the sky and didn’t wonder what was beyond it. I saw trees, buildings, streets — but not doorways to another world. The details of life that used to feel like hints of something greater now felt like just things — static, lifeless, ordinary.</p> <p>I told myself I was just “growing up.” That childhood wonder wasn’t meant to last. But the truth was, I didn’t feel grown up.</p> <p><em>I felt empty.</em></p> <p><strong>When the World Went Gray</strong></p> <p>Losing imagination wasn’t just a shift in how I thought — it was a loss of feeling.</p> <p>Conversations started to sound the same. People seemed smaller, like their minds only stretched as far as their routines. Nothing surprised me. Nothing made me pause and think, what if?</p> <p>And then the depression hit.</p> <p>Not the dramatic kind. It wasn’t crying in the rain or some cinematic breakdown. It was the slow, numbing kind. The kind that makes days blur together, where you feel like you’re watching your life from behind glass. I wasn’t in pain — I just wasn’t anything.</p> <p>I moved through life like I was following an invisible script, checking off the right boxes but never really feeling present.</p> <p>It took me a long time to realize that I wasn’t just sad.</p> <p><em>I was grieving.</em></p> <p>I had lost something essential, something that had once made life feel vast and boundless. Without it, the world had closed in around me.</p> <p>Finding Someone Who Still Sees Them</p> <p>I don’t remember the exact moment things started to change, but I remember the person who changed them.</p> <p>My girlfriend still sees dragons.</p> <p>She doesn’t just look at the world — she sees through it. She lets her mind wander to places most people abandoned long ago. She doesn’t just see the moon — she sees a sentinel watching over the quiet dreamers. She doesn’t just feel the wind — she listens to it, like it’s carrying the echoes of stories long forgotten.</p> <p>Being around her was like standing at the edge of a long-forgotten doorway.</p> <p>She didn’t have to teach me how to see again. She just reminded me that I could.</p> <p>And slowly, the dragons returned.</p> <p>At first, it was small things. I’d notice the way the sun hit the pavement and think, that looks like the golden light of an ancient city. I’d hear the distant sound of thunder and imagine, just for a second, that maybe — just maybe — something enormous had stirred in the distance.</p> <p>Little by little, I let myself wonder again.</p> <p>And with that wonder came something else: hope.</p> <p>The Truth About Growing Up</p> <p>For years, I thought losing my imagination was part of becoming an adult. I thought the trade-off for stability was creativity. That seriousness was a requirement for responsibility, and that whimsy had no place in the real world.</p> <p>I was wrong.</p> <p>Growing up doesn’t mean closing yourself off to wonder. It doesn’t mean you have to shrink your world down to bills and obligations and “realistic” expectations. You don’t have to kill the part of you that dreams just because you’re supposed to be responsible.</p> <p><em>I see that now.</em></p> <p>I see it in the people I choose to surround myself with. The ones who don’t just exist in the world, but interact with it. The ones who don’t just see a tree, but a home for spirits. The ones who don’t just hear a song, but a story waiting to unfold.</p> <p>Those are the people worth knowing.</p> <p>Those are the people worth being.</p> <p>The World Will Never Be Fully Dark</p> <p>There are days when the dragons are harder to see. Days when the weight of the world feels too heavy, when the edges of my imagination blur, when I forget that the ocean has depths beyond what the eye can see.</p> <p>But now, I know better.</p> <p>Now, I know that no matter how gray things get, color still exists — I just have to remember how to look for it.</p> <p>The world will never be fully dark.</p> <p>Not when there are still people who see beyond what’s in front of them.</p> <p>Not when there are still minds that refuse to be confined.</p> <p>Not when imagination, whimsy, and love still exist.</p> <p>And not when there are still dragons waiting at the edges of the sky, just hoping you’ll look up.</p> </section>	The Year I Stopped Seeing Dragons (And Why It Almost Killed Me) I used to live in a world where titanic apes roamed mist-covered mountaintops, their massive silhouettes casting long shadows over valleys drenched in golden light. Dragons carved their fiery paths through the sky, their scales reflecting the glow of a setting sun that seemed made just for them. Beneath it all, in the darkest depths of the sea, leviathans stirred — vast, unknowable creatures whose slow, deliberate movements felt like the heartbeat of the ocean itself. They weren’t just stories. They weren’t even fantasies. They were part of me, part of how I saw the world. Every ripple in a lake could be the wake of something slumbering just below. Every wind that rustled the trees carried whispers from another realm. My imagination wasn’t just a place I escaped to — it was the lens through which I understood everything. Then I turned 18, and it all went quiet. When the Magic Started to Die It didn’t happen all at once. There wasn’t a single day where I realized the dragons were gone. Instead, it was gradual, like a slow dimming of light. The great apes who once beat their chests in triumph on mountaintops seemed to wander away first, their enormous forms fading into the mist until I could no longer tell if they had ever been there at all. The dragons followed soon after, their glowing trails in the sky growing fainter and fainter until the clouds looked empty without them. And the leviathans? They sank. They slipped beneath the waves and never rose again. And with them, something in me disappeared too. One day, I looked at the sky and didn’t wonder what was beyond it. I saw trees, buildings, streets — but not doorways to another world. The details of life that used to feel like hints of something greater now felt like just things — static, lifeless, ordinary. I told myself I was just “growing up.” That childhood wonder wasn’t meant to last. But the truth was, I didn’t feel grown up. I felt empty. When the World Went Gray Losing imagination wasn’t just a shift in how I thought — it was a loss of feeling. Conversations started to sound the same. People seemed smaller, like their minds only stretched as far as their routines. Nothing surprised me. Nothing made me pause and think, what if? And then the depression hit. Not the dramatic kind. It wasn’t crying in the rain or some cinematic breakdown. It was the slow, numbing kind. The kind that makes days blur together, where you feel like you’re watching your life from behind glass. I wasn’t in pain — I just wasn’t anything. I moved through life like I was following an invisible script, checking off the right boxes but never really feeling present. It took me a long time to realize that I wasn’t just sad. I was grieving. I had lost something essential, something that had once made life feel vast and boundless. Without it, the world had closed in around me. Finding Someone Who Still Sees Them I don’t remember the exact moment things started to change, but I remember the person who changed them. My girlfriend still sees dragons. She doesn’t just look at the world — she sees through it. She lets her mind wander to places most people abandoned long ago. She doesn’t just see the moon — she sees a sentinel watching over the quiet dreamers. She doesn’t just feel the wind — she listens to it, like it’s carrying the echoes of stories long forgotten. Being around her was like standing at the edge of a long-forgotten doorway. She didn’t have to teach me how to see again. She just reminded me that I could. And slowly, the dragons returned. At first, it was small things. I’d notice the way the sun hit the pavement and think, that looks like the golden light of an ancient city. I’d hear the distant sound of thunder and imagine, just for a second, that maybe — just maybe — something enormous had stirred in the distance. Little by little, I let myself wonder again. And with that wonder came something else: hope. The Truth About Growing Up For years, I thought losing my imagination was part of becoming an adult. I thought the trade-off for stability was creativity. That seriousness was a requirement for responsibility, and that whimsy had no place in the real world. I was wrong. Growing up doesn’t mean closing yourself off to wonder. It doesn’t mean you have to shrink your world down to bills and obligations and “realistic” expectations. You don’t have to kill the part of you that dreams just because you’re supposed to be responsible. I see that now. I see it in the people I choose to surround myself with. The ones who don’t just exist in the world, but interact with it. The ones who don’t just see a tree, but a home for spirits. The ones who don’t just hear a song, but a story waiting to unfold. Those are the people worth knowing. Those are the people worth being. The World Will Never Be Fully Dark There are days when the dragons are harder to see. Days when the weight of the world feels too heavy, when the edges of my imagination blur, when I forget that the ocean has depths beyond what the eye can see. But now, I know better. Now, I know that no matter how gray things get, color still exists — I just have to remember how to look for it. The world will never be fully dark. Not when there are still people who see beyond what’s in front of them. Not when there are still minds that refuse to be confined. Not when imagination, whimsy, and love still exist. And not when there are still dragons waiting at the edges of the sky, just hoping you’ll look up.	387cd58d-f444-5ebe-b4b5-cc3d7c13e699	25/08/2025 15:59:35
https://rygarden75.medium.com/afc-vs-nfc-championship-game-406c916d0179	medium.com	AFC VS NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME	America’s unofficial national holiday, February 7th from Tampa, Florida; Super Bowl 55 looks to be one for the ages. There are a ton of…	Ryder Schenck	https://medium.com/@rygarden75	406c916d0179	https://miro.medium.com/…DWy6fWKg3-A.jpeg	7 min	2021-02-06T18:58:48.920000	2021-02-06T19:06:31.032000	2021-12-29T19:23:17.209000	0	0	en	Super Bowl 55,2021 Super Bowl,NFL Playoffs,Nfl Predictions,Football Betting	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1200/1*xgOiCEjDdtADWy6fWKg3-A.jpeg" width="1200" height="1200" loading="lazy" /> <p>America’s unofficial national holiday, February 7th from Tampa, Florida; Super Bowl 55 looks to be one for the ages. There are a ton of storylines going into the big game where we will see “old man” Tom Brady and the NFC Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers face “young gun” Patrick Mahomes and the AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs.</p> <p>Who is going to win Super Bowl 55? What adjustments does each team need to make? How will the Halftime performance go? Will Brady retire if he wins? All these questions and more will be answered throughout this breakdown of the 2021 Super Bowl, giddy-up.</p> <p><strong>Buccaneer’s</strong></p> <p>First and foremost the Buccaneers are once again tasked with dealing with one of the NFL’s best offenses. Most of the glory goes to Patrick Mahomes and his gang of “cheetah’s” (Hill, Hardman, Pringle, Robinson) all amazing athletes that can take the top off any defense.</p> <p>But the most important individual the Buccaneers must pay attention to is Travis Kelce or “Zeus” as he’s known by his teammates.</p> <p>Kelce a first down machine especially in the Chiefs — Bucs week 12 matchup where he picked up 5 critical first downs and led the league this season with 79 first down receptions.</p> <p>The Bucs would be wise to throw a double team at Kelce as much as possible, they have a group of amazing linebackers starting with hyper-athletic Devin white who will lead the charge of chasing Kelce all over the field. Another man coming down from the secondary to help the back end is where I believe the Buccaneers have to start.</p> <p>Now that we’ve talked about how the Bucs can slow down the Chiefs, let’s talk a little about what Brady and the Bucs offense can do to steal back their bounty, the Lombardi trophy.</p> <p>The Buccaneers offense is no slouch and many would say even more talented than the Chiefs. With Evans, Godwin, Brown, Fournette, Jones, Gronk shall I go on because I can.</p> <p>I feel the Bucs need to open up the flood-gates early and try to score as many points as possible.</p> <p>It means doing what they do best, throwing the ball down the field to all of those amazing weapons. Brady finished 3rd in pass completed 20+ yards down the field this season with 63 and was a league leader in pass completed 40+ yards down the field.</p> <p>Arians always one to let it fly will need to do just that and come firing out of the gate, Brady throwing the ball all over the yard will give them the best shot of getting up early.</p> <p><strong>Chiefs</strong></p> <p>I could make this so easy because that’s exactly what the Chiefs do, make things look easy. The only team to beat (besides a Week 17 loss to the Chargers, where most starters didn’t play) and really test the Chiefs seriously was the Las Vegas Raiders.</p> <p>The Raiders were able to execute a second-half defensive masterpiece, regularly complete passes 20+ yards down the field, and used the Chief’s unique defensive blitz packages against them.</p> <p>If the Chiefs plan on “running-it-back” Sunday, these are the key factors they need to focus on.</p> <p>The Chiefs defense has been spectacular going back to the 2020 Super Bowl run. And again they will have a huge task in stopping the Buccaneers.</p> <p>The weakest unit of the Bucs would have to be their offensive line. Consistently we have seen them get confused with blitz packages, miss assignments, and force Brady into tough throwing situations which has led him to have one of his highest interception seasons.</p> <p>Throwing complex blitz packages early at the Buc’s relatively young offensive line could spell quick trouble. If the Chiefs defense is able to get pressure it may force Brady into throwing an errant pass for a BIG interception.</p> <p>Another huge factor the Chiefs defense must implement into their gameplan is stopping the big passes of 25+ plus yards.</p> <p>In the Chief’s week 4 loss to the Raiders they were routinely burned over the top and essentially beaten at their own game.</p> <p>With all of the Buccaneer’s weapons, you would think they could replicate the same gameplan. But we will not downplay how versatile the Chiefs defense is. Tyron Mathieu flying around in the secondary, Frank Clark and Chris Jones manning the D-line, and all the complementary pieces that make up a really, really good defense.</p> <p>Now we get into the good stuff, the Chief’s offense.</p> <p>Statistically, the offense was historic again. Travis Kelce almost led the league in receiving yards with 1,416 surpassing George Kittle’s 2018 performance of 1,377 for most receiving yards in a single season by a TE, Mahomes was a solid top-3 contender for the MVP all season, and ohh yeah Tyreek Hill had 203 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns in the first quarter against this same Buccaneers defense, need I say more.</p> <p>The Offense is elite, that’s something we all know. But one thing the Chiefs offense needs to do Super Bowl Sunday is run the ball.</p> <p>The Chiefs will have a completely healthy backfield with Edwards-Helaire, Bell, and Williams and should be able to run against a defense and personnel that is undoubtedly expecting a pass.</p> <p><strong>Halftime for the Ages!</strong></p> <p>I won’t spend much time here, but let me express my excitement for the Super Bowl Halftime show that I have no doubt will be “one for the ages”.</p> <p>The Pepsi halftime show will be put on by the multi-time platinum album selling artist, grammy, and many other award-winning artist Abel Tesfaye aka The Weeknd.</p> <p>Being a huge Weeknd fan myself sparked my excitement but when I heard that Abel put forth $7 million dollars worth of his own money so that everything would be exactly to The Weeknd’s vibes. I can feel that we are in for something uniquely spectacular.</p> <p><strong>Second Half Adjustments</strong></p> <p>After the fun with the halftime show is over, it’s time to get back to the game and that means second-half adjustments.</p> <p>Do you know the name, Steve Spagnuolo? If you don’t he is the current defensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs and more famously known as the mastermind behind the NY Giants defense that stopped Brady and at the time undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl 42.</p> <p>So, is there something to this Spagnuolo effect? Well, Spagnuolo has faced Brady 5 times and has a 3–2 record which is better than most. His versatile defenses have seen a significant upgrade in performance in their past 2 playoff runs.</p> <p>Could Spagnuolo be the cannonball that sinks the buccaneers?</p> <p>The Bucs have the biggest x-factor going into the Super Bowl, that being Brady and his experience. This is Tom’s 10th Super Bowl appearance and though he is surrounded by many experienced players that have played in the big game, his play will be the biggest deciding factor.</p> <p>As I’ve said before, jumping out to an early lead is vital to the Buccaneer’s path to winning.</p> <p>But being able to withstand what I think will be a Chiefs 3rd quarter onslaught could be the defining factor in the game. This season in the 3rd quarter has seen the Chiefs thoroughly outscoring their opponent by the tune of more than 60 points.</p> <p>We could see the Chiefs in their patented position of being down and having to rally back. Their in-game adjustments are becoming something of a legend and the come-backs are such huge momentum shifts that opposing teams can never recover.</p> <p><strong>4th Quarter</strong></p> <p>It’s finally here the deciding quarter.</p> <p>In thinking through all the possibilities of what could happen during Super Bowl 55 only one thing felt right and made sense.</p> <p>This game was going to be a nail-biter.</p> <p>Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes locked in an all-out battle testing the limits of each team’s defense and the coordinators that coach them.</p> <p>After a 3rd quarter on-slaught from the Chiefs that brings the teams close. It’s the 4th quarter and that means GOAT time.</p> <p>Will it be the future or the past that prevails in the present?</p> <p>With 3:30 left down 33–28, Tom Brady and Bucs have the ball on his 25.</p> <p>Patrick Mahomes has just led what seems to be a game-winning drive. All of the momentum is with the Chiefs after a great 3rd quarter and riding the momentum the Chiefs are well on their way to back-to-back championships.</p> <p>But you never count out the GOAT.</p> <p>Brady slices and dices the defense, with masterful precision and perfect time management. Tom terrific marches his team down the field and positions himself perfectly on the 7 inside the red zone, it’s the place where the big-time players make the big-time plays.</p> <p>1st down screen pass to AB, nothing the Chiefs saw that coming from a mile away.</p> <p>2nd down Brady is under pressure and has to get rid of the ball to avoid the sack</p> <p>3rd down Gronk gets a great break off the line, his route is a short out, his huge frame is hard to miss and Brady drills him right in the numbers but is immediately tackled 2 yards short of the goal line.</p> <p>Timeout.</p> <p>4th down it all comes down to this your best play for all the marbles. In this situation, everyone with a sensible mind is going to give Tom the ball and let him decide the game but this staff and team are known for turning things on their head.</p> <p>Brady under center looks over the line, studies the defense, makes his calls to the offense, and finally is ready to yell hike. HIKE, Leonard Fournette breaks out of his stance and immediately you think play-action pass because no way Brady is giving up the ball. To everyone’s surprise and most importantly the Chiefs, Fournette gets the handoff and blows his way through the line into the end-zone. Victory.</p> <p>After the celebration subsides and the extra point is made we have a score of 35–33 Buccaneers.</p> <p>With only 20 seconds remaining Patrick Mahomes and his high-powered offense just don’t have enough time and get their second Lombardi trophy taken right from under them.</p> <p><strong>Aftermath</strong></p> <p>Final Score, Buccaneers 35–33 Chiefs.</p> <p>Brady wins his 7th ring and the MVP as we are given a Super Bowl “for the ages”.</p> <p>Tom Brady who signed a two-year contract with the Buccaneers earlier this season, and always being highly competitive, will come back to play the 2021–2022 season.</p> </section>	AFC VS NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME America’s unofficial national holiday, February 7th from Tampa, Florida; Super Bowl 55 looks to be one for the ages. There are a ton of storylines going into the big game where we will see “old man” Tom Brady and the NFC Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers face “young gun” Patrick Mahomes and the AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs. Who is going to win Super Bowl 55? What adjustments does each team need to make? How will the Halftime performance go? Will Brady retire if he wins? All these questions and more will be answered throughout this breakdown of the 2021 Super Bowl, giddy-up. Buccaneer’s First and foremost the Buccaneers are once again tasked with dealing with one of the NFL’s best offenses. Most of the glory goes to Patrick Mahomes and his gang of “cheetah’s” (Hill, Hardman, Pringle, Robinson) all amazing athletes that can take the top off any defense. But the most important individual the Buccaneers must pay attention to is Travis Kelce or “Zeus” as he’s known by his teammates. Kelce a first down machine especially in the Chiefs — Bucs week 12 matchup where he picked up 5 critical first downs and led the league this season with 79 first down receptions. The Bucs would be wise to throw a double team at Kelce as much as possible, they have a group of amazing linebackers starting with hyper-athletic Devin white who will lead the charge of chasing Kelce all over the field. Another man coming down from the secondary to help the back end is where I believe the Buccaneers have to start. Now that we’ve talked about how the Bucs can slow down the Chiefs, let’s talk a little about what Brady and the Bucs offense can do to steal back their bounty, the Lombardi trophy. The Buccaneers offense is no slouch and many would say even more talented than the Chiefs. With Evans, Godwin, Brown, Fournette, Jones, Gronk shall I go on because I can. I feel the Bucs need to open up the flood-gates early and try to score as many points as possible. It means doing what they do best, throwing the ball down the field to all of those amazing weapons. Brady finished 3rd in pass completed 20+ yards down the field this season with 63 and was a league leader in pass completed 40+ yards down the field. Arians always one to let it fly will need to do just that and come firing out of the gate, Brady throwing the ball all over the yard will give them the best shot of getting up early. Chiefs I could make this so easy because that’s exactly what the Chiefs do, make things look easy. The only team to beat (besides a Week 17 loss to the Chargers, where most starters didn’t play) and really test the Chiefs seriously was the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders were able to execute a second-half defensive masterpiece, regularly complete passes 20+ yards down the field, and used the Chief’s unique defensive blitz packages against them. If the Chiefs plan on “running-it-back” Sunday, these are the key factors they need to focus on. The Chiefs defense has been spectacular going back to the 2020 Super Bowl run. And again they will have a huge task in stopping the Buccaneers. The weakest unit of the Bucs would have to be their offensive line. Consistently we have seen them get confused with blitz packages, miss assignments, and force Brady into tough throwing situations which has led him to have one of his highest interception seasons. Throwing complex blitz packages early at the Buc’s relatively young offensive line could spell quick trouble. If the Chiefs defense is able to get pressure it may force Brady into throwing an errant pass for a BIG interception. Another huge factor the Chiefs defense must implement into their gameplan is stopping the big passes of 25+ plus yards. In the Chief’s week 4 loss to the Raiders they were routinely burned over the top and essentially beaten at their own game. With all of the Buccaneer’s weapons, you would think they could replicate the same gameplan. But we will not downplay how versatile the Chiefs defense is. Tyron Mathieu flying around in the secondary, Frank Clark and Chris Jones manning the D-line, and all the complementary pieces that make up a really, really good defense. Now we get into the good stuff, the Chief’s offense. Statistically, the offense was historic again. Travis Kelce almost led the league in receiving yards with 1,416 surpassing George Kittle’s 2018 performance of 1,377 for most receiving yards in a single season by a TE, Mahomes was a solid top-3 contender for the MVP all season, and ohh yeah Tyreek Hill had 203 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns in the first quarter against this same Buccaneers defense, need I say more. The Offense is elite, that’s something we all know. But one thing the Chiefs offense needs to do Super Bowl Sunday is run the ball. The Chiefs will have a completely healthy backfield with Edwards-Helaire, Bell, and Williams and should be able to run against a defense and personnel that is undoubtedly expecting a pass. Halftime for the Ages! I won’t spend much time here, but let me express my excitement for the Super Bowl Halftime show that I have no doubt will be “one for the ages”. The Pepsi halftime show will be put on by the multi-time platinum album selling artist, grammy, and many other award-winning artist Abel Tesfaye aka The Weeknd. Being a huge Weeknd fan myself sparked my excitement but when I heard that Abel put forth $7 million dollars worth of his own money so that everything would be exactly to The Weeknd’s vibes. I can feel that we are in for something uniquely spectacular. Second Half Adjustments After the fun with the halftime show is over, it’s time to get back to the game and that means second-half adjustments. Do you know the name, Steve Spagnuolo? If you don’t he is the current defensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs and more famously known as the mastermind behind the NY Giants defense that stopped Brady and at the time undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl 42. So, is there something to this Spagnuolo effect? Well, Spagnuolo has faced Brady 5 times and has a 3–2 record which is better than most. His versatile defenses have seen a significant upgrade in performance in their past 2 playoff runs. Could Spagnuolo be the cannonball that sinks the buccaneers? The Bucs have the biggest x-factor going into the Super Bowl, that being Brady and his experience. This is Tom’s 10th Super Bowl appearance and though he is surrounded by many experienced players that have played in the big game, his play will be the biggest deciding factor. As I’ve said before, jumping out to an early lead is vital to the Buccaneer’s path to winning. But being able to withstand what I think will be a Chiefs 3rd quarter onslaught could be the defining factor in the game. This season in the 3rd quarter has seen the Chiefs thoroughly outscoring their opponent by the tune of more than 60 points. We could see the Chiefs in their patented position of being down and having to rally back. Their in-game adjustments are becoming something of a legend and the come-backs are such huge momentum shifts that opposing teams can never recover. 4th Quarter It’s finally here the deciding quarter. In thinking through all the possibilities of what could happen during Super Bowl 55 only one thing felt right and made sense. This game was going to be a nail-biter. Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes locked in an all-out battle testing the limits of each team’s defense and the coordinators that coach them. After a 3rd quarter on-slaught from the Chiefs that brings the teams close. It’s the 4th quarter and that means GOAT time. Will it be the future or the past that prevails in the present? With 3:30 left down 33–28, Tom Brady and Bucs have the ball on his 25. Patrick Mahomes has just led what seems to be a game-winning drive. All of the momentum is with the Chiefs after a great 3rd quarter and riding the momentum the Chiefs are well on their way to back-to-back championships. But you never count out the GOAT. Brady slices and dices the defense, with masterful precision and perfect time management. Tom terrific marches his team down the field and positions himself perfectly on the 7 inside the red zone, it’s the place where the big-time players make the big-time plays. 1st down screen pass to AB, nothing the Chiefs saw that coming from a mile away. 2nd down Brady is under pressure and has to get rid of the ball to avoid the sack 3rd down Gronk gets a great break off the line, his route is a short out, his huge frame is hard to miss and Brady drills him right in the numbers but is immediately tackled 2 yards short of the goal line. Timeout. 4th down it all comes down to this your best play for all the marbles. In this situation, everyone with a sensible mind is going to give Tom the ball and let him decide the game but this staff and team are known for turning things on their head. Brady under center looks over the line, studies the defense, makes his calls to the offense, and finally is ready to yell hike. HIKE, Leonard Fournette breaks out of his stance and immediately you think play-action pass because no way Brady is giving up the ball. To everyone’s surprise and most importantly the Chiefs, Fournette gets the handoff and blows his way through the line into the end-zone. Victory. After the celebration subsides and the extra point is made we have a score of 35–33 Buccaneers. With only 20 seconds remaining Patrick Mahomes and his high-powered offense just don’t have enough time and get their second Lombardi trophy taken right from under them. Aftermath Final Score, Buccaneers 35–33 Chiefs. Brady wins his 7th ring and the MVP as we are given a Super Bowl “for the ages”. Tom Brady who signed a two-year contract with the Buccaneers earlier this season, and always being highly competitive, will come back to play the 2021–2022 season.	3a716fed-bb5a-5036-a777-c7f30d400053	25/08/2025 15:59:36
https://medium.com/@raleighnclawfirm1/ledbetter-titsworth-p-a-cary-nc-ed76b6360e13	medium.com	Ledbetter & Titsworth, P.A. — Cary, NC	Ledbetter & Titsworth offers car accident, personal injury and workers’ compensation services to individuals and families across Cary…	Mynclawyer	https://medium.com/@raleighnclawfirm1	ed76b6360e13	null	0 min	2018-03-08T09:02:14.313000	2018-03-08T09:03:12.243000	2018-03-08T09:03:13.027000	0	0	en	North Carolina,Car Accident Lawyer,Workers Compensation,Car Accident Attorney,Car Accident	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/200/1*YF7FJYQyFkb5QMx0hsjjJA.png" width="200" height="200" loading="lazy" /> <p>Ledbetter & Titsworth offers car accident, personal injury and workers’ compensation services to individuals and families across Cary, Apex, Raleigh NC. We understand that a person, family and livelihood has been affected by someone else’s mistake and we are trusted to make it right. Our Cary lawyers ensure this by developing a relationship with each client in pursuit of that goal. contact us +1 919–460–9798 today for a free consultation. <a href="https://mynclawyer.com">https://mynclawyer.com</a></p> </section>	Ledbetter & Titsworth, P.A. — Cary, NC Ledbetter & Titsworth offers car accident, personal injury and workers’ compensation services to individuals and families across Cary, Apex, Raleigh NC. We understand that a person, family and livelihood has been affected by someone else’s mistake and we are trusted to make it right. Our Cary lawyers ensure this by developing a relationship with each client in pursuit of that goal. contact us +1 919–460–9798 today for a free consultation. https://mynclawyer.com	09d90b88-aad3-5e0a-8fb7-fcb56315cffe	25/08/2025 15:59:37
https://melissa-llarena.medium.com/5-facebook-lives-you-wont-want-to-miss-salary-negotiations-and-more-bring-questions-67e9c5fc7d80	medium.com	5 Facebook LIVES you won’t want to miss…salary negotiations and more. Bring questions.	Join live via https://www.facebook.com/CareerOutcomesMatter/	Melissa Llarena	https://medium.com/@melissa-llarena	67e9c5fc7d80	https://miro.medium.com/…DineWJfM0weo.jpg	2 min	2017-10-05T14:08:34.882000	2017-10-05T00:00:00	2017-10-05T14:14:47.932000	0	0	en	Salary Negotiations,Jobs,Interview,Careers,Banker Bonuses	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/462/0iZhNDineWJfM0weo.jpg" width="462" height="248" loading="lazy" /> <p>Join live via <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CareerOutcomesMatter/">https://www.facebook.com/CareerOutcomesMatter/</a></p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/200/0fu8p9I7i-9Ys1RAP.jpg" width="200" height="200" loading="lazy" /> <h1>Dear Medium reader who wants to be that guy or girl who gets multiple job offers</h1> <p>The next few weeks, I will be hosting <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CareerOutcomesMatter/">Facebook</a> lives more frequently for two reasons.</p> <p><strong>My insider knowledge needs to be put to great use by you sooner than later.</strong></p> <p>I’ve coached folks into P&G, Google, GE, WPP, Dropbox, Bloomberg, JPMorgan Chase, Medtronics, CBRE, American Express, Rexel, National Geographic, IBM, and others.</p> <p>2) <strong>Your chance to apply and secure your spot for my Master Class on Getting High Paying Job Offers from the Hidden Job Market with a BONUS Salary Negotiation and Sign-On Bonus Class Offer will expire faster than you know it.</strong></p> <p>I do not want you to miss out on this high-value group coaching experience because I did not do my part in explaining its value to you. This program unlike others will guide you in doing what it takes to get into top companies. In the videos, I’ll give you a sneak peak of the class insights.</p> <p>Stay tuned, attend, and bring your questions to any of these <a href="http://bit.ly/2hN3bxB">Facebook LIVES</a>.</p> <ul> <li>Thursday, October 5 at 1pm EST — Case Study: How to Salary Negotiate</li> <li>Friday, October 6 at 2pm EST — Q&A — Bring Your Salary Negotiation Concerns/I’ll Help</li> <li>Saturday, October 7 at 8 am EST — What Works Better than Career Websites</li> <li>Monday, October 9 at at 1pm EST — What Else You Need Beyond a Certification</li> <li>Tuesday, October 10 at 1pm EST — How to Attract Recruiters</li> </ul> <p>Will you be joining any of these <a href="http://bit.ly/2hN3bxB">Facebook LIVES</a>? While we are chatting, will be you applying to the Master Class by October 16th? You can learn more <a href="http://melissallarena.ontraport.com/c/s/Zo2/lih/z/6B/6GI/6ZuK2W/nszlIUNrk/P">right here</a>.</p> <p>Your <a href="http://bit.ly/2hN3bxB">Facebook LIVE</a> hostess,</p> <p>-Melissa</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/200/0*KyuHLJF7I6pEHX3F.jpg" width="200" height="200" loading="lazy" /> <p>Founder & CEO Career Outcomes Matter \| International Job Interview Coach \| Author \| Vlogger \| Forbes \| Huff Post \| WSJ</p> <p><em>Originally published at <a href="http://www.mel</em>issallarena.com">www.melissallarena.com</a>.</p> </section>	5 Facebook LIVES you won’t want to miss…salary negotiations and more. Bring questions. Join live via https://www.facebook.com/CareerOutcomesMatter/ Dear Medium reader who wants to be that guy or girl who gets multiple job offers The next few weeks, I will be hosting Facebook lives more frequently for two reasons. My insider knowledge needs to be put to great use by you sooner than later. I’ve coached folks into P&G, Google, GE, WPP, Dropbox, Bloomberg, JPMorgan Chase, Medtronics, CBRE, American Express, Rexel, National Geographic, IBM, and others. 2) Your chance to apply and secure your spot for my Master Class on Getting High Paying Job Offers from the Hidden Job Market with a BONUS Salary Negotiation and Sign-On Bonus Class Offer will expire faster than you know it. I do not want you to miss out on this high-value group coaching experience because I did not do my part in explaining its value to you. This program unlike others will guide you in doing what it takes to get into top companies. In the videos, I’ll give you a sneak peak of the class insights. Stay tuned, attend, and bring your questions to any of these Facebook LIVES. Thursday, October 5 at 1pm EST — Case Study: How to Salary Negotiate Friday, October 6 at 2pm EST — Q&A — Bring Your Salary Negotiation Concerns/I’ll Help Saturday, October 7 at 8 am EST — What Works Better than Career Websites Monday, October 9 at at 1pm EST — What Else You Need Beyond a Certification Tuesday, October 10 at 1pm EST — How to Attract Recruiters Will you be joining any of these Facebook LIVES? While we are chatting, will be you applying to the Master Class by October 16th? You can learn more right here. Your Facebook LIVE hostess, -Melissa Founder & CEO Career Outcomes Matter \| International Job Interview Coach \| Author \| Vlogger \| Forbes \| Huff Post \| WSJ Originally published at www.melissallarena.com.	2c1ff9ff-c6cf-55b6-8c2b-0586562e0305	25/08/2025 15:59:38
https://medium.com/@jamesrhodes_20594/behind-the-label-release-strategies-in-a-streaming-world-df46c00a4fbb	medium.com	BEHIND THE LABEL: Release Strategies in a Streaming World	Kicking off 2019, here’s a brand new Behind The Label feature, focusing on the FiXT record label’s release strategies.	James Rhodes	https://medium.com/@jamesrhodes_20594	df46c00a4fbb	https://miro.medium.com/…bo4bf9-WOEWQ.png	2 min	2019-01-04T14:55:39.471000	2019-01-04T15:04:29.751000	2021-12-07T04:15:39.938000	0	1	en	Music,Music Business,Streaming Music,Record Labels	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1140/1GJxcAIehvebo4bf9-WOEWQ.png" width="1140" height="641" loading="lazy" /> <p>Kicking off 2019, here’s a brand new Behind The Label feature, focusing on the FiXT record label’s release strategies.</p> <p>Our release strategies have transitioned in a number of ways the past few years, although we’ve always been experimental in trying new ideas to find what works best.</p> <p>Before the advent of streaming drastically shifted the digital landscape, FiXT had a big focus on digital sales, with a main focus on longer form album releases but with a unique angle on releasing albums episodically in chapters. Instead of making fans wait years for an album to be finished, we often released material in bite-size installments. That paved the way forward to the digital single strategy we build around today.</p> <p>Quality always being a given, the backbone of our release strategy is built around frequency of content to engage with fans. To stay relevant and top of mind we need to consistently show up in fan’s music feeds (be it Spotify’s Release Radar, an editorial playlist or shares across social media and other music platforms). Most of our roster does not tour, so that gives them more time & ability to output more new material in an ongoing basis vs artists who stop and tour frequently.</p> <p>Any die-hard FiXT fans will have surely noticed we are very active on Spotify as they have created a robust distribution platform for artists to connect with their “followers.” We can reach more people “organically” with followers there than any organic posts on social media. And with built in organic reach to listeners we leverage frequency to engage with them often.</p> <p><strong>Case Study:</strong></p> <p>During 2018, Celldwellert did not have new original solo material coming out, but instead of letting his 100k+ followers go a year without seeing Celldweller show up in their feeds, we assembled a release strategy around creating fan-focused content of remixes of existing tracks fans already knew and loved and kept the brand engaged every few weeks. This led to Celldweller’s highest number of monthly Spotify listeners in the artist’s history. We also leverage additional frequency of engagement with the release of instrumental versions of tracks too. (<a href="http://www.fixtonline.com/behind-the-label-instrumentals/">Read more about that here</a>)</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1024/1[email protected]" width="1024" height="374" loading="lazy" /> <p>In addition to frequency of engagement/release, of course we focus on leveraging distribution relationships and editorial coverage, press premieres, playlist pitching, direct to consumer marketing and advertising, etc, but all of that is driven around the content itself, and the frequency simply gives us more “at-bats” (baseball reference).</p> <p>As we head into 2019, watch closely as we’re always trying new tweaks to our strategy!</p> <p>— — — -</p> <p>James Rhodes, FiXT Vice President & Co-Founder</p> <p><a href="http://linkedin.com/in/jimmyrhodes">LinkedIn</a> \| <a href="http://twitter.com/jimmy_rhodes">Twitter</a> \| <a href="http://facebook.com/jimmyrhodes">Facebook</a> <a href="http://www.fixtonline.com">www.fixtonline.com</a></p> </section>	BEHIND THE LABEL: Release Strategies in a Streaming World Kicking off 2019, here’s a brand new Behind The Label feature, focusing on the FiXT record label’s release strategies. Our release strategies have transitioned in a number of ways the past few years, although we’ve always been experimental in trying new ideas to find what works best. Before the advent of streaming drastically shifted the digital landscape, FiXT had a big focus on digital sales, with a main focus on longer form album releases but with a unique angle on releasing albums episodically in chapters. Instead of making fans wait years for an album to be finished, we often released material in bite-size installments. That paved the way forward to the digital single strategy we build around today. Quality always being a given, the backbone of our release strategy is built around frequency of content to engage with fans. To stay relevant and top of mind we need to consistently show up in fan’s music feeds (be it Spotify’s Release Radar, an editorial playlist or shares across social media and other music platforms). Most of our roster does not tour, so that gives them more time & ability to output more new material in an ongoing basis vs artists who stop and tour frequently. Any die-hard FiXT fans will have surely noticed we are very active on Spotify as they have created a robust distribution platform for artists to connect with their “followers.” We can reach more people “organically” with followers there than any organic posts on social media. And with built in organic reach to listeners we leverage frequency to engage with them often. Case Study: During 2018, Celldwellert did not have new original solo material coming out, but instead of letting his 100k+ followers go a year without seeing Celldweller show up in their feeds, we assembled a release strategy around creating fan-focused content of remixes of existing tracks fans already knew and loved and kept the brand engaged every few weeks. This led to Celldweller’s highest number of monthly Spotify listeners in the artist’s history. We also leverage additional frequency of engagement with the release of instrumental versions of tracks too. (Read more about that here) Build Your Audience on a Platform That Let’s You Natively/Organically Reach Them! In addition to frequency of engagement/release, of course we focus on leveraging distribution relationships and editorial coverage, press premieres, playlist pitching, direct to consumer marketing and advertising, etc, but all of that is driven around the content itself, and the frequency simply gives us more “at-bats” (baseball reference). As we head into 2019, watch closely as we’re always trying new tweaks to our strategy! — — — - James Rhodes, FiXT Vice President & Co-Founder LinkedIn \| Twitter \| Facebook www.fixtonline.com	084acae5-7006-5a84-a156-b98bd305addf	25/08/2025 15:59:38
https://medium.com/@KaraBTweets/we-need-to-talk-a33adf6e17b9	medium.com	We Need to Talk	We need to start having a very serious conversation about what's going on in this country, but in order to do that we need to start being…	Kara	https://medium.com/@KaraBTweets	a33adf6e17b9	null	2 min	2016-07-08T14:57:36.300000	2016-07-08T14:58:24.506000	2017-04-25T15:24:42.357000	0	2	en	BlackLivesMatter,Racism,Equality	<section> <p>We need to start having a very serious conversation about what's going on in this country, but in order to do that we need to start being honest. So I'm going to start:</p> <p>If you felt sadness for the Orlando tragedy and felt anything less than that for the lives of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, you are contributing to the problem.</p> <p>If you wanted to talk about gun control post-Orlando (whichever side you're on), but don't want to support those that followed the law by having conceal carry permits and were murdered anyway, you're contributing to the problem.</p> <p>If you only got angry this week until the events in Dallas happened last night, you are contributing to the problem.</p> <p>If you're not willing to admit that black men in this country are demonized more than basically any other demographic, you're contributing to the problem.</p> <p>That problem is systemic racism.</p> <p>We as Americans have a very hard time admitting we are wrong. We think that because we are not outwardly, blatantly racist that we aren't racist at all and that's a fatal mistake. You cannot say you have a vested interest in making this country better when you do not see everyone as equal. You dehumanize these men without even realizing it. It comes in the form of questioning what these men have done instead of why a cop is not properly able to de-escalate a situation and instead shoot a man on the ground 5 times in his chest. Why these cops made NO ATTEMPT to save the fathers they stole from their children. If you do not find flaw in that, find flaw in the fact that minorities do not feel safe in the country they invest in, in the systems that are built to protect but seem to be very selective in doing so.</p> <p>If (and this goes for EVERYONE) you have ever told a minority they were "acting white", you are giving into the notion that whiteness is the standard for what is acceptable behavior in this country and that you're reaching for something that is unattainable by those that are not white. That's not a joke. That is racist.</p> <p>If you don't find it beyond disgusting that a 4 year old girl had to sit in the back of a squad car and console her handcuffed mother while her boyfriend bled out in a car, then was held in a precinct separated from her mother until 5AM...you see where I'm going with this?</p> <p>We need to start being honest that a lot of people see minorities, especially black men, as inhuman and threats to our society. And how easy is it to brush away a life when you don't see it as being as precious as your own?</p> <p>If you have taken offense to what I've said, just know that I'm standing firm in the fact that you are choosing not to see or care about the injustices that happen in America and this country will not get any better, and you have yourself to blame. I am telling you this so we can all work toward making this country great. For the first time.</p> </section>	We Need to Talk We need to start having a very serious conversation about what's going on in this country, but in order to do that we need to start being honest. So I'm going to start: If you felt sadness for the Orlando tragedy and felt anything less than that for the lives of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, you are contributing to the problem. If you wanted to talk about gun control post-Orlando (whichever side you're on), but don't want to support those that followed the law by having conceal carry permits and were murdered anyway, you're contributing to the problem. If you only got angry this week until the events in Dallas happened last night, you are contributing to the problem. If you're not willing to admit that black men in this country are demonized more than basically any other demographic, you're contributing to the problem. That problem is systemic racism. We as Americans have a very hard time admitting we are wrong. We think that because we are not outwardly, blatantly racist that we aren't racist at all and that's a fatal mistake. You cannot say you have a vested interest in making this country better when you do not see everyone as equal. You dehumanize these men without even realizing it. It comes in the form of questioning what these men have done instead of why a cop is not properly able to de-escalate a situation and instead shoot a man on the ground 5 times in his chest. Why these cops made NO ATTEMPT to save the fathers they stole from their children. If you do not find flaw in that, find flaw in the fact that minorities do not feel safe in the country they invest in, in the systems that are built to protect but seem to be very selective in doing so. If (and this goes for EVERYONE) you have ever told a minority they were "acting white", you are giving into the notion that whiteness is the standard for what is acceptable behavior in this country and that you're reaching for something that is unattainable by those that are not white. That's not a joke. That is racist. If you don't find it beyond disgusting that a 4 year old girl had to sit in the back of a squad car and console her handcuffed mother while her boyfriend bled out in a car, then was held in a precinct separated from her mother until 5AM...you see where I'm going with this? We need to start being honest that a lot of people see minorities, especially black men, as inhuman and threats to our society. And how easy is it to brush away a life when you don't see it as being as precious as your own? If you have taken offense to what I've said, just know that I'm standing firm in the fact that you are choosing not to see or care about the injustices that happen in America and this country will not get any better, and you have yourself to blame. I am telling you this so we can all work toward making this country great. For the first time.	2bcae212-f36c-5b10-93af-ac79fd8eb7bb	25/08/2025 15:59:39
https://medium.com/@stuffednature/ep-10-death-part-1-86cc46438a9	medium.com	Ep.10 — Death Part 1	Catch up on past comics here -> http://StuffedNature.com	Cary Enicks	https://medium.com/@stuffednature	86cc46438a9	https://miro.medium.com/…89aykH7_nfQ.jpeg	0 min	2017-06-04T19:55:45.138000	2017-06-05T16:47:15.277000	2017-06-05T16:47:16.973000	0	0	en	Ferret,Death,Webcomics,Funny,Dramatic	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/940/1*lHxAqWRoTY789aykH7_nfQ.jpeg" width="940" height="1137" loading="lazy" /> <p>Catch up on past comics here -> <a href="http://StuffedNature.com">http://StuffedNature.com</a></p> <p>Please help support my comic at Patreon -> <a href="https://www.patreon.com/StuffedNature">https://www.patreon.com/StuffedNature</a></p> </section>	Ep.10 — Death Part 1 Death Part 1 Catch up on past comics here -> http://StuffedNature.com Please help support my comic at Patreon -> https://www.patreon.com/StuffedNature	88ee27f4-fda7-5fcd-a8d9-05c4f6fea63e	25/08/2025 15:59:40
https://medium.com/@fulcrumcoffee.com/we-are-fulcrum-coffee-ce28c3e69c79	medium.com	We Are Fulcrum coffee	In 2012, we brought together two independent roasters — Urban City and Silver Cup — to create Fulcrum, a specialty coffee roaster. We’re…	Fulcrum Coffee	https://medium.com/@fulcrumcoffee.com	ce28c3e69c79	null	1 min	2018-04-10T09:32:58.307000	2018-04-10T09:34:36.931000	2018-04-10T09:34:37.566000	0	0	en	Coffee	<section> <p>In 2012, we brought together two independent roasters — Urban City and Silver Cup — to create Fulcrum, a specialty <strong><a href="https</strong>://fulcrumcoffee.com/">coffee roaster</a>. We’re proud to support the community through storytelling, education, art, and coffee.</p> <p>We are the best coffee roasters who have an extensive portfolio of coffees from single origins to blends & also offer training on barista fundamentals and equipment maintenance.</p> <h1>Roasting Process</h1> <p>We appreciate the power of a good story. When we roast coffee, we’re not only developing and extracting flavors — we’re bringing the stories of farms and families to life. To ensure quality, all roasting is personally overseen by Blas Alfaro.</p> <h2>Cupping</h2> <p>We regularly host cuppings for our staff, Seattle-area roasters, and various coffee institutions. Cuppings let us fully experience aromas and flavors, maintain the profiles of our blends, and select new single origin offerings. More importantly, they allow us to give feedback to help farmers develop and improve their coffees.</p> <p><strong><a href="https</strong>://fulcrumcoffee.com/">Fulcrum Coffee</a> is a specialty coffee roaster in Seattle, delivering fresh, high quality coffee beans to your doorstep. We also offer single origin and blend coffee subscriptions, wholesale solutions, original art and stories. Check out our brewing guide. Free delivery on orders $50 or more.</p> </section>	We Are Fulcrum coffee In 2012, we brought together two independent roasters — Urban City and Silver Cup — to create Fulcrum, a specialty coffee roaster. We’re proud to support the community through storytelling, education, art, and coffee. We are the best coffee roasters who have an extensive portfolio of coffees from single origins to blends & also offer training on barista fundamentals and equipment maintenance. Roasting Process We appreciate the power of a good story. When we roast coffee, we’re not only developing and extracting flavors — we’re bringing the stories of farms and families to life. To ensure quality, all roasting is personally overseen by Blas Alfaro. Cupping We regularly host cuppings for our staff, Seattle-area roasters, and various coffee institutions. Cuppings let us fully experience aromas and flavors, maintain the profiles of our blends, and select new single origin offerings. More importantly, they allow us to give feedback to help farmers develop and improve their coffees. Fulcrum Coffee is a specialty coffee roaster in Seattle, delivering fresh, high quality coffee beans to your doorstep. We also offer single origin and blend coffee subscriptions, wholesale solutions, original art and stories. Check out our brewing guide. Free delivery on orders $50 or more.	828934da-5a3c-5601-baeb-d0946a21bbf1	25/08/2025 15:59:40
https://medium.com/@tom99alex/more-and-less-6a744d817b49	medium.com	More And Less	We sometimes trick ourselves into believing we can have the best of both worlds. A foot in both camps. Full belly and cake on the plate…	Traffic Solder	https://medium.com/@tom99alex	6a744d817b49	null	1 min	2018-01-15T10:47:49.970000	2018-01-15T10:49:31.726000	2018-01-15T10:49:32.712000	0	0	en	Coffee,Short Story,Storybazaar,Traficsoldercom,More And Less	<section> <p>We sometimes trick ourselves into believing we can have the best of both worlds. A foot in both camps. Full belly and cake on the plate. Working towards a goal means abandoning an alternative worldview. Brands like Mecca Cosmetica, Lululemon and Blue Bottle Coffee thrive because they are crystal clear about their identity. Like them, we have to choose what we will be more of and less of to create a successful business.</p> <p>More about service, less about volume. Less about scale, more about significance. More about affinity, less about awareness. Less about tomorrow’s results, more about lasting impact. More about the right customers, less about the most customers. Less about reach, more about resonance. More about the long game, less about near-term gains. Less about competing, more about mattering.</p> <p>Being all things to everyone is never a sustainable option. The good news is you decide what stance to take.</p> <p>For more read here, written by me <a href="https://storybazaar.in/category/short-stories/">https://storybazaar.in/category/short-stories/</a></p> </section>	More And Less We sometimes trick ourselves into believing we can have the best of both worlds. A foot in both camps. Full belly and cake on the plate. Working towards a goal means abandoning an alternative worldview. Brands like Mecca Cosmetica, Lululemon and Blue Bottle Coffee thrive because they are crystal clear about their identity. Like them, we have to choose what we will be more of and less of to create a successful business. More about service, less about volume. Less about scale, more about significance. More about affinity, less about awareness. Less about tomorrow’s results, more about lasting impact. More about the right customers, less about the most customers. Less about reach, more about resonance. More about the long game, less about near-term gains. Less about competing, more about mattering. Being all things to everyone is never a sustainable option. The good news is you decide what stance to take. For more read here, written by me https://storybazaar.in/category/short-stories/	8f1225a9-6038-5f35-95b0-18cef14514c2	25/08/2025 15:59:40
https://medium.com/@Heliosfinance/standard-chartered-shares-climb-after-bank-nearly-doubles-profits-http-on-ft-com-2okr7vo-b004151c0f89	medium.com	Standard Chartered shares climb after bank nearly doubles profits http://on.ft.com/2oKR7vo	null	Helios Finance	https://medium.com/@Heliosfinance	b004151c0f89	null	0 min	2017-04-26T09:47:08.081000	2017-04-26T09:47:08.764000	2017-04-26T09:47:08.764000	0	0	en	Helies Finanace	<section> <p><a href="https://twitter.com/ftfinancenews/status/857156054970511360">Standard Chartered shares climb after bank nearly doubles profits http://on.ft.com/2oKR7vo </a>published first on <a href="http://ift.tt/2ljLF4B">http://ift.tt/2ljLF4B</a></p> </section>	Standard Chartered shares climb after bank nearly doubles profits http://on.ft.com/2oKR7vo Standard Chartered shares climb after bank nearly doubles profits http://on.ft.com/2oKR7vo published first on http://ift.tt/2ljLF4B	d6f523fe-5b74-54f7-8438-ad61b8179b15	25/08/2025 15:59:40
https://terryschwadron.medium.com/and-then-mike-bloomberg-393d9c3059ef	medium.com	And Then, Mike Bloomberg	Terry H. Schwadron	Terry Schwadron	https://medium.com/@terryschwadron	393d9c3059ef	null	4 min	2020-02-20T11:57:46.219000	2020-02-20T11:59:35.427000	2021-12-13T13:30:40.116000	0	0	en	Democrats,Bloomberg,Debate,Elections,Fight	<section> <h1>And Then, Mike Bloomberg</h1> <p>Terry H. Schwadron</p> <p>Feb. 20, 2020</p> <p>It is said that one needs a pretty big ego to run for president, what with all the pomp on the one hand and all the politicking needed on the other.</p> <p>Still, it has been bracing even to other politicians, even to all the Democratic presidential candidates, even to Donald Trump to see the chutzpah of Mayor Mike Bloomberg to spend a reported $420 million to date for his late entry into the presidential sweepstakes to present a buffered and polished version of his own self to the field — to say nothing of earning himself seemingly substantial polling success.</p> <p>So, when it turned out that billions of bucks indeed could change the debate rules enough to allow Bloomberg onto the debate stage, the pundits fell over themselves to hype the attack-from-all-others scenario for last night’s joint appearance before the Nevada caucuses this weekend.</p> <p>That, of course, is what television journalism and the debates seem to be about — being the first to identify winners and endlessly setting up for drama over the prospects of electoral success or loss. We were said to be breathlessly awaiting attacks that acknowledged Bloomberg’s history bad-mouthing women, and stopping and frisking young black and brown New Yorkers with abandon, and buying his way with his billions to take on the (maybe) fake billionaire Donald Trump — attacks that pit “socialist” Bernie Sanders and regulation queen Elizabeth Warren against Bloomberg as defender of Big Money.</p> <p>So, how’d it go, and what was there for any of us perhaps to learn?</p> <p></p> <p>It took about a minute for the first blows about the possibilities of trading one arrogant billionaire for another, for the other candidates to use Bloomberg’s record against him, and to remind him that they already are candidates not ready to step aside just because he showed up. For the record, Bloomberg came across as overly, if necessarily defensive, and basically struggling to project anything close to dominance.</p> <p>The sharpest knives that Bloomberg faced were from Elizabeth Warren on issues related to women, from Bernie Sanders on Bloomberg’s wealth and Republican past, from Joe Biden on stop-and-frisk (with some errors along the way), and Amy Klobuchar on his Johnnie-come-lately status. Mayor Pete did the best job of keeping a debate eye on Trump rather than Bloomberg.</p> <p>Bloomberg’s presence was not the only source of dynamite in the room. Increasingly pressured candidates turned on one another to remind voters of the primacy of the other campaigns on stage. To promote themselves, it seemed necessary for each candidate to have to call out another on the stage.</p> <p>Beneath it all, what presented itself as conflict of personality and policy masked a deeper discussion over income inequality, philanthropy and the future of capitalism, for example. “Socialism” was on trial with “regulated capitalism,” with a strong dose of populism being added to a prescription for change that is more evolutionary. That’s how to put the best face on the positioning over health care, banks, union benefits and other financial topics that arose. The oft-repeated refrains of Medicare for All was a stand in for a broader restructuring of regulation and profiteering under capitalism; at the other end was Bloomberg, a self-recruit just this week to regulating banks and taxing Wall Street, having to defend his newly hatched ideas to fight millionaires and billionaires.</p> <p>Bloomberg managed to draw groans at one point by answering Bernie with sarcasm about how a Sanders nomination would guarantee a Trump reelection by promoting “communism.” That, in turn, prompted Bernie to denounce “socialism for the rich.”</p> <p>Some topics, including Climate Change, won universal applause on stage, making it unclear exactly why it was a debate topic. There were differences only in how far, how quick and how to help workers who will be displaced.</p> <p>Move aside all the hand-waving, and what you had was a nicely feisty stew of disagreement about how to structure change in this country. But once again, the candidates as a group forgot to underscore sufficiently that Donald Trump is against everything that they were arguing about.</p> <p></p> <p>In the end — all spin aside — the night’s biggest winner probably was Donald Trump, who could take glee in seeing disagreement among the Democratic field while his array of opponents turned on one another.</p> <p>The Democrats disagreed among themselves not only about who would present the best case to unseat Trump, but also about how to determine who can boost turnout and about what case to present.</p> <p>Anyone hoping that Bloomberg’s arrival on the scene would allow for a new view for Democratic leadership was probably sadly mistaken. Bloomberg was not the most knowledgeable candidate on stage, nor the most exciting, nor even the most believable. If anything, Bloomberg left an impression that he is aloof, just putting up with a necessary debate with lesser beings, and is thin-skinned about criticism from other candidates.</p> <p>There was nothing wrong, really, about Bloomberg’s policy prescriptions, but the reason for his candidacy seems mostly to be because he lacks confidence in the others on stage.</p> <p>As Mayor Pete said, it is great that Bloomberg is supporting Democrats as well as gun control and climate change efforts with his deep pockets, but there is no reason that his money should necessitate that he become President.</p> <p>Debates are useful for helping to highlight difference, of course, but they don’t substitute for providing a rationale for why we want one candidate over another.</p> <p>##</p> <p>www.terryschwadron.wordpress.com</p> </section>	-CNN image And Then, Mike Bloomberg Terry H. Schwadron Feb. 20, 2020 It is said that one needs a pretty big ego to run for president, what with all the pomp on the one hand and all the politicking needed on the other. Still, it has been bracing even to other politicians, even to all the Democratic presidential candidates, even to Donald Trump to see the chutzpah of Mayor Mike Bloomberg to spend a reported $420 million to date for his late entry into the presidential sweepstakes to present a buffered and polished version of his own self to the field — to say nothing of earning himself seemingly substantial polling success. So, when it turned out that billions of bucks indeed could change the debate rules enough to allow Bloomberg onto the debate stage, the pundits fell over themselves to hype the attack-from-all-others scenario for last night’s joint appearance before the Nevada caucuses this weekend. That, of course, is what television journalism and the debates seem to be about — being the first to identify winners and endlessly setting up for drama over the prospects of electoral success or loss. We were said to be breathlessly awaiting attacks that acknowledged Bloomberg’s history bad-mouthing women, and stopping and frisking young black and brown New Yorkers with abandon, and buying his way with his billions to take on the (maybe) fake billionaire Donald Trump — attacks that pit “socialist” Bernie Sanders and regulation queen Elizabeth Warren against Bloomberg as defender of Big Money. So, how’d it go, and what was there for any of us perhaps to learn? * It took about a minute for the first blows about the possibilities of trading one arrogant billionaire for another, for the other candidates to use Bloomberg’s record against him, and to remind him that they already are candidates not ready to step aside just because he showed up. For the record, Bloomberg came across as overly, if necessarily defensive, and basically struggling to project anything close to dominance. The sharpest knives that Bloomberg faced were from Elizabeth Warren on issues related to women, from Bernie Sanders on Bloomberg’s wealth and Republican past, from Joe Biden on stop-and-frisk (with some errors along the way), and Amy Klobuchar on his Johnnie-come-lately status. Mayor Pete did the best job of keeping a debate eye on Trump rather than Bloomberg. Bloomberg’s presence was not the only source of dynamite in the room. Increasingly pressured candidates turned on one another to remind voters of the primacy of the other campaigns on stage. To promote themselves, it seemed necessary for each candidate to have to call out another on the stage. Beneath it all, what presented itself as conflict of personality and policy masked a deeper discussion over income inequality, philanthropy and the future of capitalism, for example. “Socialism” was on trial with “regulated capitalism,” with a strong dose of populism being added to a prescription for change that is more evolutionary. That’s how to put the best face on the positioning over health care, banks, union benefits and other financial topics that arose. The oft-repeated refrains of Medicare for All was a stand in for a broader restructuring of regulation and profiteering under capitalism; at the other end was Bloomberg, a self-recruit just this week to regulating banks and taxing Wall Street, having to defend his newly hatched ideas to fight millionaires and billionaires. Bloomberg managed to draw groans at one point by answering Bernie with sarcasm about how a Sanders nomination would guarantee a Trump reelection by promoting “communism.” That, in turn, prompted Bernie to denounce “socialism for the rich.” Some topics, including Climate Change, won universal applause on stage, making it unclear exactly why it was a debate topic. There were differences only in how far, how quick and how to help workers who will be displaced. Move aside all the hand-waving, and what you had was a nicely feisty stew of disagreement about how to structure change in this country. But once again, the candidates as a group forgot to underscore sufficiently that Donald Trump is against everything that they were arguing about. * In the end — all spin aside — the night’s biggest winner probably was Donald Trump, who could take glee in seeing disagreement among the Democratic field while his array of opponents turned on one another. The Democrats disagreed among themselves not only about who would present the best case to unseat Trump, but also about how to determine who can boost turnout and about what case to present. Anyone hoping that Bloomberg’s arrival on the scene would allow for a new view for Democratic leadership was probably sadly mistaken. Bloomberg was not the most knowledgeable candidate on stage, nor the most exciting, nor even the most believable. If anything, Bloomberg left an impression that he is aloof, just putting up with a necessary debate with lesser beings, and is thin-skinned about criticism from other candidates. There was nothing wrong, really, about Bloomberg’s policy prescriptions, but the reason for his candidacy seems mostly to be because he lacks confidence in the others on stage. As Mayor Pete said, it is great that Bloomberg is supporting Democrats as well as gun control and climate change efforts with his deep pockets, but there is no reason that his money should necessitate that he become President. Debates are useful for helping to highlight difference, of course, but they don’t substitute for providing a rationale for why we want one candidate over another. ## www.terryschwadron.wordpress.com	5c441329-ace7-5cc0-a1a4-0284d196f170	25/08/2025 15:59:40
https://medium.com/@made_by_mark/applying-hicks-law-to-ux-ui-design-e85ddec832db	medium.com	Applying Hick’s Law To UX & UI Design	“19th century culture was defined by the novel, 20th century culture by cinema, the culture of the 21st century will be defined by the…	Mark Butt	https://medium.com/@made_by_mark	e85ddec832db	https://miro.medium.com/…rAwjt89avQA.jpeg	3 min	2017-03-26T02:25:30.338000	2017-03-26T02:27:08.370000	2018-05-21T07:42:28.540000	0	5	en	UX,Design,Psychology,Information Architecture,Interaction Design	<section> <h1>Applying Hick’s Law To UX & UI Design</h1> <h3>“19th century culture was defined by the novel, 20th century culture by cinema, the culture of the 21st century will be defined by the interface.”</h3> <p>Aaron Koblin, ted talk 2011</p> <p>TLDR (too long, didn’t read) is not really a joke. It is a serious problem for user experience and interaction designers trying to convey a great deal of information before the site visitor tunes out and clicks away.</p> <p>Users will bounce if they have to wade through irrelevant and copious amounts of information. Experience and UI designers need to build in choice pathways focused around core user needs that allow site visitors to navigate quickly and find the information they desire. However, providing choices, designers soon run up against Hick’s Law.</p> <p>Hick’s Law describes a psychological effect in Information Theory where the number of choices people have correlates to a logarithmic, rather than a linear, increase in the amount of time they need to make a decision. People also tend to be less satisfied with their choice the more choices they have. As with automated phone trees, the proliferation of choices can rapidly drive a website visitor from curious to frustrated to enraged.</p> <h3>Background of Hicks Law (Wikipedia)</h3> <p>In 1868, the relationship between having multiple stimuli and the choice reaction time was reported by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franciscus_Donders">Franciscus Donders</a>. In 1885, J. Merkel discovered the response time is longer when a stimulus belongs to a larger set of stimuli. Psychologists began to see similarities between this phenomenon and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_theory">Information Theory</a>.</p> <p>Hick first began experimenting with this theory in 1951. His first experiment involved 10 lamps with corresponding Morse Code keys. The lamps would light at random every five seconds. The choice reaction time was recorded with the number of choices ranging from 2–10 lamps.</p> <p>Hick performed a second experiment using the same task, while keeping the number of alternatives at 10. The participant performed the task the first two times with the instruction to perform the task as accurately as possible. For the last task, the participant was asked to perform the task as quickly as possible.</p> <p>While Hick was stating that the relationship between reaction time and the number of choices was logarithmic, Hyman wanted to better understand the relationship between the reaction time and the mean number of choices. In Hyman’s experiment, he had eight different lights arranged in a 6x6 matrix. Each of these different lights was given a name, so the participant was timed in the time it took to say the name of the light after it was lit. Further experiments changed the number of each different type of light. Hyman was responsible for determining a linear relation between reaction time and the information transmitted.</p> <h3>In practice, designers often site Hick’s Law in limiting the number of links or the sprawl of menu choices, but it actually goes much deeper than that.</h3> <p>Internalizing the lessons of Hick’s Law means integrating a minimalist design philosophy across the user interface. The goal is to reduce a user’s cognitive load as they search for the content they want. Minimalistic design doesn’t mean having less content, it’s about appropriately aligning the business and user goals, prioritizing and focusing on the core content that user’s are looking for.</p> <p>This includes the information architecture, the site and content structure, use of screen resolution & visual design elements. Striking the proper balance will create a positive user experience, brand loyalty and ultimately increase site performance. Users will remain loyal ambassadors and continue to use your product if they enjoy their experience.</p> <p>A series of experiments on <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/~ss957/articles/Choice_is_Demotivating.pdf">practical applications of Hick’s Law</a> by researchers at Columbia and Stanford University, found that people are initially attracted to having more options, but those with less options are more motivated to purchase.</p> <p>In their first experiment, researchers compared two tasting tables in a supermarket, one with 6 exotic jams and another with 24.</p> <p>The results are compelling: Slightly more people stopped at the table with (24) the greater number of choices (60 percent vs. 40 percent), but at both tables, people tasted the same amount of jams (1–2 per person). Strikingly, a much larger percentage actually purchased the jam after stopping at the smaller (6) jam table (30 percent vs. 3 percent).</p> <p>Although shoppers were slightly more attracted to having more options, they were actually motivated to purchase when they had less.</p> <h3>So, when the user must make a critical decision like a purchase, less is always more!</h3> </section>	Applying Hick’s Law To UX & UI Design “19th century culture was defined by the novel, 20th century culture by cinema, the culture of the 21st century will be defined by the interface.” Aaron Koblin, ted talk 2011 TLDR (too long, didn’t read) is not really a joke. It is a serious problem for user experience and interaction designers trying to convey a great deal of information before the site visitor tunes out and clicks away. Users will bounce if they have to wade through irrelevant and copious amounts of information. Experience and UI designers need to build in choice pathways focused around core user needs that allow site visitors to navigate quickly and find the information they desire. However, providing choices, designers soon run up against Hick’s Law. Hick’s Law describes a psychological effect in Information Theory where the number of choices people have correlates to a logarithmic, rather than a linear, increase in the amount of time they need to make a decision. People also tend to be less satisfied with their choice the more choices they have. As with automated phone trees, the proliferation of choices can rapidly drive a website visitor from curious to frustrated to enraged. Background of Hicks Law (Wikipedia) In 1868, the relationship between having multiple stimuli and the choice reaction time was reported by Franciscus Donders. In 1885, J. Merkel discovered the response time is longer when a stimulus belongs to a larger set of stimuli. Psychologists began to see similarities between this phenomenon and the Information Theory. Hick first began experimenting with this theory in 1951. His first experiment involved 10 lamps with corresponding Morse Code keys. The lamps would light at random every five seconds. The choice reaction time was recorded with the number of choices ranging from 2–10 lamps. Hick performed a second experiment using the same task, while keeping the number of alternatives at 10. The participant performed the task the first two times with the instruction to perform the task as accurately as possible. For the last task, the participant was asked to perform the task as quickly as possible. While Hick was stating that the relationship between reaction time and the number of choices was logarithmic, Hyman wanted to better understand the relationship between the reaction time and the mean number of choices. In Hyman’s experiment, he had eight different lights arranged in a 6x6 matrix. Each of these different lights was given a name, so the participant was timed in the time it took to say the name of the light after it was lit. Further experiments changed the number of each different type of light. Hyman was responsible for determining a linear relation between reaction time and the information transmitted. In practice, designers often site Hick’s Law in limiting the number of links or the sprawl of menu choices, but it actually goes much deeper than that. Internalizing the lessons of Hick’s Law means integrating a minimalist design philosophy across the user interface. The goal is to reduce a user’s cognitive load as they search for the content they want. Minimalistic design doesn’t mean having less content, it’s about appropriately aligning the business and user goals, prioritizing and focusing on the core content that user’s are looking for. This includes the information architecture, the site and content structure, use of screen resolution & visual design elements. Striking the proper balance will create a positive user experience, brand loyalty and ultimately increase site performance. Users will remain loyal ambassadors and continue to use your product if they enjoy their experience. A series of experiments on practical applications of Hick’s Law by researchers at Columbia and Stanford University, found that people are initially attracted to having more options, but those with less options are more motivated to purchase. In their first experiment, researchers compared two tasting tables in a supermarket, one with 6 exotic jams and another with 24. The results are compelling: Slightly more people stopped at the table with (24) the greater number of choices (60 percent vs. 40 percent), but at both tables, people tasted the same amount of jams (1–2 per person). Strikingly, a much larger percentage actually purchased the jam after stopping at the smaller (6) jam table (30 percent vs. 3 percent). Although shoppers were slightly more attracted to having more options, they were actually motivated to purchase when they had less. So, when the user must make a critical decision like a purchase, less is always more!	2ddd0214-0025-5cc0-8f94-a1b47bfb94e2	25/08/2025 15:59:40
https://medium.com/@elitemedbiz/benefits-of-a-medical-billing-service-2c74028a44ff	medium.com	Benefits of a Medical Billing Service	In these unverifiable circumstances, with all the changing directions of how asserts are submitted, gotten and handled by Insurance…	Elite Medical Business Solutions	https://medium.com/@elitemedbiz	2c74028a44ff	null	6 min	2018-06-02T19:44:06.529000	2018-06-02T19:46:37.400000	2018-06-02T19:46:38.258000	0	0	en	Healthcare,Medical Billing Services,Medical Coding Services,Patient Payment Plans,Patient Payment Portal	<section> <p>In these unverifiable circumstances, with all the changing directions of how asserts are submitted, gotten and handled by Insurance Carriers, it can be very overpowering fiscally. The most widely recognized inquiries asked are… Am I gathering the greatest sum conceivable? How would I know I am gathering however much as could reasonably be expected? How might I build my income? Maybe a <strong><a href="http://elitemed</strong>biz.com/medical-billing-services/">Medical Billing Services </a>could answer these inquiries and quiet the apprehension that is related with them. There are numerous advantages to a Medical Billing Service. The following are six advantages that are investigated in more detail.</p> <p><strong>Increase Collection Rates with a Medical Billing Service</strong></p> <p>Numerous individuals are under the feeling that Medical Billing is only information section; in any case, it is substantially more than that. So as to get the greatest measure of cash on the cases being submitted there should be follow-up on the cases. This in many cases is the place in-house charging misses the mark, contingent upon the measure of staff that is a piece of the office, guarantee accommodation and installment posting turn into the needs. For example in the event that you have one biller in a two doctor hone that sees a tolerable measure of patients every day, the biller’s opportunity is for the most part going to be spent on making, submitting and posting installments for claims. Entering in the cases, and inspecting each claim before it gets sent to the protection bearer is tedious. This is additionally valid with installment posting; it is tedious to present the cash got on each CPT code, yet critical. With simply those two obligations, there is brief period left for the cases that require more activity. Regularly the cases that are denied require little activity keeping in mind the end goal to wind up paid cases. Be that as it may, it takes time to catch up with the insurance agency to perceive what is required to get the claim paid. Follow-up alone is a full time position. With a Medical Billing Service there are various faculty working for your training. As a rule there is one full time committed individual following up on all claims that require additionally activity. Rather than paying for two full time workers most Medical Billing Services have follow-up on claims as a standard administration of Claim Processing.</p> <p><strong>Increase Profitability with a Medical Billing Service</strong></p> <p>There are numerous ways that a <strong>Medical Billing Service</strong> & <strong><a href="http://eliteme</strong>dbiz.com/certified-medical-coding/">Medical Coding Services</a> can expand the gainfulness of a Medical Practice, including, yet not restricted to staff accessibility, qualification administrations, and CPT inclining. When you procure a Medical Billing Service you are getting numerous billers chipping away at your record. There is consistent movement with claims entries, installment posting, development, understanding charging and record request. In the event that one of those billers happens to be out, there are different billers there to fill in, guaranteeing that no work is left until that biller is back in the workplace. This implies there is no disturbance in the Billing Process and no hiccup in the income got. Persistent Eligibility is one of the simplest approaches to guarantee legitimate installment of cases. Prior to the patient even strolls through the entryway, the patient has had their qualification confirmed. This thus guarantees the training that the patient is as of now secured under the protection bearer on their record, and any referral that is required has been gotten. It likewise takes into consideration any Insurance Carrier inconsistencies, (for example, a difference in protection, mistyped ID number, and so on) to be settled preceding the visit, prompting an expansion in “clean” cases, which thusly prompts an increment in benefit for the training. Another approach to build gainfulness with a Medical Billing Service is through CPT slanting. At the point when installments are getting presented on CPT codes, the billers regularly observe a pattern to what codes are being paid and what amount is being gotten per code. This can regularly prompt two distinct situations. One being that sure codes are not being paid on, which thusly enables the training to choose whether or not to keep on offering that support of their patients, or locate an option or similar administration that they can give and which will be paid. The second situation is that the training is playing out a method regularly, accordingly permitting a renegotiation with the Insurance Carrier of the amount to be adjusted. The above are just three out of numerous ways a Medical Billing Service can help Increase Profitability for a Practice.</p> <p><strong>Increase Physician Productivity with a Medical Billing Service</strong></p> <p>At the point when a doctor is sure that the monetary part of their business is in great hands, and isn’t stressed over regardless of whether claims are being submitted and cash is being gathered, they can center around what is the most vital parts of a doctor’s activity — quiet care. With a Medical Billing Service if there is a CPT code being referred to or a conclusion code that can’t be discovered, the Medical Billing Service will have the capacity to help with finding that code. This thusly enables the doctor to continue seeing patients and graphing without skirting a beat, rather than sitting and attempting to make sense of what the code is. Like CPT inclining, which helps increment benefit, a comparative pattern happens when the billers are checking on claims preceding them being submitted to the protection bearer. The billers will help the doctors when there is a contention in the codes being charged or on the off chance that they see something that is being rehashed that will encourage the doctor and spare them time while doing their diagram notes. Numerous Medical Billing Services offer the administrations of a Business Analyst who will work with the doctor and their office staff and give proposals on the best way to boost the utilization of apparatuses close by (i.e. EMR, MAs, office stream, and so forth). This will build proficiency and efficiency.</p> <p><strong>Increase Staff Productivity with a <a href="http://eliteme</strong>dbiz.com/medical-billing-services/">Medical Billing Service</a></p> <p>And additionally offering the administrations of a Business Analyst, some Medical Billing Services will likewise offer preparing on the most proficient method to legitimately enlist a patient, gather co-installments, and make an ideal office stream that will build efficiency all through the workplace. Numerous office staff individuals don’t understand the significance of their activity; not understanding that they are anticipating the early introduction on patients that stroll through the entryway. Legitimately prepared office staff will give a greater amount of their regard for the patients, which thus will be valued by those patients who are likewise more inclined to prescribe the doctor to their companions and relatives. Alongside expanding the productivity of the workplace a Medical Billing Service likewise kills numerous patient calls with respect to their records. At the point when a patient has an inquiry with respect to an announcement, or a bill that they have gotten either from the workplace or a protection bearer, the call is taken care of by the Medical Billing Service. They can help your patient in an expert way, without the weight of checking in patients, pick up the telephone, and so on. The consideration and expert way in which the Medical Billing Service staff lead their business will guarantee the patients that their inquiries and concerns are being managed appropriately.</p> <p><strong>Decrease Claim Denials with a Medical Billing Service</strong></p> <p>With a Medical Billing Service, the staff that is devoted to your training experiences each claim before it is submitted to ensure that it is a “spotless” claim. A “perfect” claim is the thing that it sounds like; a claim that has the right CPT codes related with the analysis codes, finish tolerant data, and finish protection data. This declines the possibility of dissent by the insurance agency. Therapeutic Billing Services guarantee that the most astounding level of “clean” cases conceivable are being submitted to the protection transporter. This expands the income returning to the training and also diminishes the measure of work expected to catch up on claims. Medicinal Billing Services realize that the time spent surveying cases to ensure they meet the protection bearer measures is certainly justified regardless of the time.</p> <p><strong>Gain insight into your practice financials with a Medical Billing Service</strong></p> <p>A Medical Billing Service knows which reports to rushed to give doctors finish knowledge to the budgetary side of their training. Restorative Billing Services realize what cash is being charged out to the protection bearers, and what is being gotten from protection transporters and patient installments. This is turn permits the Medical Billing Service to run the proper reports that demonstrate the doctors what they need to know, rather than giving reports that show incidental information that does not relate to the primary monetary knowledge of the training. Numerous Billing Services are additionally ready to give doctor asked for budgetary reports effectively. For example, if a doctor has to know what number of particular systems were done in a date traverse for Credentialing, the Medical Billing Service can without much of a stretch acquire this data. Another approach to pick up knowledge into the monetary side of the training is to drift how the protection transporters are paying. In the event that an Insurance transporter increments or abatements the sum got, it will be seen immediately by the Medical Billing Service, subsequently permitting the redress or renegotiation of any disparity in installments.</p> <p>To know more about <strong><a href="http://elitemedbiz.com/c</strong>ertified-medical-coding/">Certified Medical Coding Service</a> and <strong><a href="http://elitemedbiz.com</strong>/medical-profit-recovery/">Medical Profit Recovery Service</a>, please visit at <strong><a href="http://www</strong>.elitemedbiz.com.">www.elitemedbiz.com.</a></p> </section>	Benefits of a Medical Billing Service In these unverifiable circumstances, with all the changing directions of how asserts are submitted, gotten and handled by Insurance Carriers, it can be very overpowering fiscally. The most widely recognized inquiries asked are… Am I gathering the greatest sum conceivable? How would I know I am gathering however much as could reasonably be expected? How might I build my income? Maybe a Medical Billing Services could answer these inquiries and quiet the apprehension that is related with them. There are numerous advantages to a Medical Billing Service. The following are six advantages that are investigated in more detail. Increase Collection Rates with a Medical Billing Service Numerous individuals are under the feeling that Medical Billing is only information section; in any case, it is substantially more than that. So as to get the greatest measure of cash on the cases being submitted there should be follow-up on the cases. This in many cases is the place in-house charging misses the mark, contingent upon the measure of staff that is a piece of the office, guarantee accommodation and installment posting turn into the needs. For example in the event that you have one biller in a two doctor hone that sees a tolerable measure of patients every day, the biller’s opportunity is for the most part going to be spent on making, submitting and posting installments for claims. Entering in the cases, and inspecting each claim before it gets sent to the protection bearer is tedious. This is additionally valid with installment posting; it is tedious to present the cash got on each CPT code, yet critical. With simply those two obligations, there is brief period left for the cases that require more activity. Regularly the cases that are denied require little activity keeping in mind the end goal to wind up paid cases. Be that as it may, it takes time to catch up with the insurance agency to perceive what is required to get the claim paid. Follow-up alone is a full time position. With a Medical Billing Service there are various faculty working for your training. As a rule there is one full time committed individual following up on all claims that require additionally activity. Rather than paying for two full time workers most Medical Billing Services have follow-up on claims as a standard administration of Claim Processing. Increase Profitability with a Medical Billing Service There are numerous ways that a Medical Billing Service & Medical Coding Services can expand the gainfulness of a Medical Practice, including, yet not restricted to staff accessibility, qualification administrations, and CPT inclining. When you procure a Medical Billing Service you are getting numerous billers chipping away at your record. There is consistent movement with claims entries, installment posting, development, understanding charging and record request. In the event that one of those billers happens to be out, there are different billers there to fill in, guaranteeing that no work is left until that biller is back in the workplace. This implies there is no disturbance in the Billing Process and no hiccup in the income got. Persistent Eligibility is one of the simplest approaches to guarantee legitimate installment of cases. Prior to the patient even strolls through the entryway, the patient has had their qualification confirmed. This thus guarantees the training that the patient is as of now secured under the protection bearer on their record, and any referral that is required has been gotten. It likewise takes into consideration any Insurance Carrier inconsistencies, (for example, a difference in protection, mistyped ID number, and so on) to be settled preceding the visit, prompting an expansion in “clean” cases, which thusly prompts an increment in benefit for the training. Another approach to build gainfulness with a Medical Billing Service is through CPT slanting. At the point when installments are getting presented on CPT codes, the billers regularly observe a pattern to what codes are being paid and what amount is being gotten per code. This can regularly prompt two distinct situations. One being that sure codes are not being paid on, which thusly enables the training to choose whether or not to keep on offering that support of their patients, or locate an option or similar administration that they can give and which will be paid. The second situation is that the training is playing out a method regularly, accordingly permitting a renegotiation with the Insurance Carrier of the amount to be adjusted. The above are just three out of numerous ways a Medical Billing Service can help Increase Profitability for a Practice. Increase Physician Productivity with a Medical Billing Service At the point when a doctor is sure that the monetary part of their business is in great hands, and isn’t stressed over regardless of whether claims are being submitted and cash is being gathered, they can center around what is the most vital parts of a doctor’s activity — quiet care. With a Medical Billing Service if there is a CPT code being referred to or a conclusion code that can’t be discovered, the Medical Billing Service will have the capacity to help with finding that code. This thusly enables the doctor to continue seeing patients and graphing without skirting a beat, rather than sitting and attempting to make sense of what the code is. Like CPT inclining, which helps increment benefit, a comparative pattern happens when the billers are checking on claims preceding them being submitted to the protection bearer. The billers will help the doctors when there is a contention in the codes being charged or on the off chance that they see something that is being rehashed that will encourage the doctor and spare them time while doing their diagram notes. Numerous Medical Billing Services offer the administrations of a Business Analyst who will work with the doctor and their office staff and give proposals on the best way to boost the utilization of apparatuses close by (i.e. EMR, MAs, office stream, and so forth). This will build proficiency and efficiency. Increase Staff Productivity with a Medical Billing Service And additionally offering the administrations of a Business Analyst, some Medical Billing Services will likewise offer preparing on the most proficient method to legitimately enlist a patient, gather co-installments, and make an ideal office stream that will build efficiency all through the workplace. Numerous office staff individuals don’t understand the significance of their activity; not understanding that they are anticipating the early introduction on patients that stroll through the entryway. Legitimately prepared office staff will give a greater amount of their regard for the patients, which thus will be valued by those patients who are likewise more inclined to prescribe the doctor to their companions and relatives. Alongside expanding the productivity of the workplace a Medical Billing Service likewise kills numerous patient calls with respect to their records. At the point when a patient has an inquiry with respect to an announcement, or a bill that they have gotten either from the workplace or a protection bearer, the call is taken care of by the Medical Billing Service. They can help your patient in an expert way, without the weight of checking in patients, pick up the telephone, and so on. The consideration and expert way in which the Medical Billing Service staff lead their business will guarantee the patients that their inquiries and concerns are being managed appropriately. Decrease Claim Denials with a Medical Billing Service With a Medical Billing Service, the staff that is devoted to your training experiences each claim before it is submitted to ensure that it is a “spotless” claim. A “perfect” claim is the thing that it sounds like; a claim that has the right CPT codes related with the analysis codes, finish tolerant data, and finish protection data. This declines the possibility of dissent by the insurance agency. Therapeutic Billing Services guarantee that the most astounding level of “clean” cases conceivable are being submitted to the protection transporter. This expands the income returning to the training and also diminishes the measure of work expected to catch up on claims. Medicinal Billing Services realize that the time spent surveying cases to ensure they meet the protection bearer measures is certainly justified regardless of the time. Gain insight into your practice financials with a Medical Billing Service A Medical Billing Service knows which reports to rushed to give doctors finish knowledge to the budgetary side of their training. Restorative Billing Services realize what cash is being charged out to the protection bearers, and what is being gotten from protection transporters and patient installments. This is turn permits the Medical Billing Service to run the proper reports that demonstrate the doctors what they need to know, rather than giving reports that show incidental information that does not relate to the primary monetary knowledge of the training. Numerous Billing Services are additionally ready to give doctor asked for budgetary reports effectively. For example, if a doctor has to know what number of particular systems were done in a date traverse for Credentialing, the Medical Billing Service can without much of a stretch acquire this data. Another approach to pick up knowledge into the monetary side of the training is to drift how the protection transporters are paying. In the event that an Insurance transporter increments or abatements the sum got, it will be seen immediately by the Medical Billing Service, subsequently permitting the redress or renegotiation of any disparity in installments. To know more about Certified Medical Coding Service and Medical Profit Recovery Service, please visit at www.elitemedbiz.com.	95a3331a-a513-5955-a2be-ef08d0218f3b	25/08/2025 15:59:42
https://markjphl.medium.com/mind-body-syndrome-resource-list-7a4b58632ede	medium.com	Mind Body Syndrome Resource List	A resource list for understanding what is variously referred to as Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS), Mind-Body Syndrome (MBS), and / or…	Mark Phillips	https://medium.com/@markjphl	7a4b58632ede	https://miro.medium.com/…wb8DQyLxLgzg.png	3 min	2020-01-01T17:39:24.737000	2020-01-15T19:23:29.227000	2021-12-13T06:01:54.552000	1	41	en	Health,Mind,Pain Management,Wellness,Heathcare	<section> <p>A resource list for understanding what is variously referred to as <em><a href="https://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/An_Introduction_to_Tension_Myositis_Syndrome_(TMS)">Tension Myositis Syndrome</a> (TMS), <a href="http://www.yourpainisreal.com/Introduction%20Page">Mind-Body Syndrome</a> (MBS), and / or <a href="https://ppdassociation.org/about">Psychophysiologic </em>Disorder</a> (PPD). Highlighted here are the practitioners, books, websites, and podcasts I found most helpful in my journey with Mind Body Syndrome. Please feel free to comment with additional resources!</p> <p>This is a companion piece to my own personal story published via Medium: <em><a href="https://medium.com/p/ca1697dbae60/edit">How I Elimin</em>ated my Chronic Pain through a Mind-Body Approach</a></p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/929/1*cU8NZCgKQqwb8DQyLxLgzg.png" width="929" height="622" loading="lazy" /> <p><strong>Helpful Websites and Organizations</strong></p> <ul> <li>The <a href="https://www.tmswiki.org/">TMSWiki.org</a> is a resource hub for all things TMS, including useful explainers, success stories, and links to practitioners around the world</li> <li><a href="https://ppdassociation.org/about">The Psychophysiologic Disorders Association (PPDA)</a>, “is a 501(c)(3) health education non-profit dedicated to advancing the diagnosis and treatment of stress-induced medical conditions.”</li> <li>The LA-based <a href="https://www.painpsychologycenter.com/">Pain Psychology Center</a> is a group of mental health professionals providing in-person and remote counseling sessions for Mind Body Syndrome</li> <li><a href="https://www.curablehealth.com/">Curable Health</a> is both a smartphone app for Mind Body Syndrome and a podcast that interviews many of the practioners featured below</li> </ul> <p><strong>Practitioners and Medical Professionals</strong></p> <ul> <li>Dr. Alicia Bond Bateson manages the <a href="https://aliciabatsonmd.com/">Center for the Treatment of Psychophysiologic Disorders</a>; the writing on her website provides a clear, concise overview of Mind Body Syndrome</li> <li><a href="http://drtovah.com/">Dr. Tovah Goldfine</a> is a chronic pain specialist and chiropractor with expertise in Mind-Body Syndrome</li> <li>Dr. Howard Schubiner, whose website <a href="https://www.unlearnyourpain.com/">Unlearnyourpain.org</a> includes articles, videos, and links to books on Mind Body Syndrome</li> <li><a href="https://www.schechtermd.com/mind-body-medicine/">Dr. David Schecter</a> is a sports medicine physician who specializes in mind-body medicine. He authored the book, <em>Think Away Your Pain, </em>and his practice is informed by mentorship from Dr. John Sarno</li> <li><a href="http://www.arlenefeinblatt.com/">Arlene Feinblatt, PHD</a>, is a psychologist specializing in Mind Body Syndrome and the psychology of pain. She was Dr. Sarno’s original collaborator in developing TMS and its treatment protocols.</li> <li>Evelyn Hecht, PT, ATC, is a physical therapist and chronic pain specialist that owns <a href="http://emhphysicaltherapy.com/evelyn-hecht-pt-atc-ceo/">UMH Physical Therapy in New York City</a></li> </ul> <p><strong>Books</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Psychophysiologic-Disorders-Interprofessional-Diagnosis-Treatment/dp/1696486866/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1XOHDW8N6ROOZ&keywords=psychophysiologic+disorders&qid=1579116585&sprefix=psychophys%2Caps%2C194&sr=8-1">Psychophysiologic Disorders: Trauma Informed, Interprofessional Diagnosis and Treatment</a>, published in 2019 by the Psychophysiologic Disorders Association, is the most up to date and comprehensive book on Mind-Body Syndrome</li> <li>Dr. John Sarno, the originator of Tension Myositis Syndrome, or TMS, wrote three books that are generally offered as a point of departure for Mind Body Syndrome: <em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Back-Pain-Mind-Body-Connec</em>tion/dp/0446392308/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546658821&sr=8-1&keywords=john+sarno">Healing Back Pain</a>; the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mindbody-Prescription-Healing-Body-Pain/dp/0446675156/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1546658821&sr=8-3&keywords=john+sarno">MindBody Prescription</a>; and the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Divided-Mind-Epidemic-Mindbody-Disorders/dp/0061174300/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1546658821&sr=8-4&keywords=john+sarno">Divided Mind</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.unlearnyourpain.com/Unlearn%20Your%20Pain%20Book">Unlearn Your Pain: a 28 Day Process to Reprogram Your Brain</a> by Dr. Howard Schubiner is a more modern complement to Sarno’s books, and the primary book that cured my own chronic pain in my hands and wrists</li> <li><a href="http://emhphysicaltherapy.com/product/re-lieve-solutions/">re.lieve Solutions for Chronic Pain</a>, an e-book by Evelyn Hecht</li> <li>Dr. David Schecter has produced several books on Mind Body Syndrome, including one for teens, <a href="https://www.mindbodymedicine.com/">available on his website</a>.</li> <li><a href="https://backincontrol.com/book/back-in-control-a-spine-surgeons-roadmap-out-of-chronic-pain/">Back in Control: a Surgeon’s Roadmap Out of Chronic Pain</a> by Dr. David Hanscom is a useful complement to the above texts</li> <li><a href="http://www.stressillness.com/index.php">They Can’t Find Anything Wrong!</a> by Dr. David Claire, president of the Psychophysiologic Disorders Association</li> </ul> <p><strong>Articles and PDFs</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/10/2/16338094/dr-john-sarno-healing-back-pain">America’s most famous back pain doctor said pain is in your head. Thousands think he’s right</a>, from Vox.com</li> <li><a href="https://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/magazine/article/2313/chronic-pain-reconsidered/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000">Chronic Pain Reconsidered: a New Role for Therapists</a>, by Dr. Howard Schubiner (this article was THE critical turning point for me in my own journey with Mind Body Syndrome)</li> <li><a href="https://www.painpsychologycenter.com/miraclesofmindbody.pdf">Miracles of Mind Body Medicine</a>, a useful explainer of Mind Body Syndrome and TMS by Alan Gordon, LCSW</li> <li><a href="https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/resources/diagnostic-tests/neural-pathway-pain-call-more-accurate-diagnoses">Neural Pathway Pain</a> — A Call for More Accurate Diagnoses, by Drs. Howard Schubiner, Mark Lumley, and Alan Gordon, LCSW</li> <li><a href="https://www.unlearnyourpain.com/images/upload/chapter_1.pdf">The First Chapter from Dr. Howard Schubiner’s book</a>, Unlearn Your Pain</li> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/23/science/john-sarno-dead-healing-back-pain-doctor.html">Article on the passing</a> of Dr. John Sarno by NY Times</li> </ul> <p><em>This is a simple resource list intended to provide a point of departure for those seeking more information on what is variously referred to as Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS), Mind-Body Syndrome (MBS) and/or Psychophysiologic Disorders (PPD).</em></p> <p><em>For more context, please read my companion piece to this resource list, <strong><a href="https://medium.com/@MarkjPHL/how-i-eliminated</em>-my-chro</strong>nic-pain-through-a-mind-body-approach-ca1697dbae60">How I Eliminated my Chronic Pain through a Mind Body Approach</a>.</p> <p><em>And please feel free to comment with any additional resources!</em></p> </section>	Mind Body Syndrome Resource List A resource list for understanding what is variously referred to as Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS), Mind-Body Syndrome (MBS), and / or Psychophysiologic Disorder (PPD). Highlighted here are the practitioners, books, websites, and podcasts I found most helpful in my journey with Mind Body Syndrome. Please feel free to comment with additional resources! This is a companion piece to my own personal story published via Medium: How I Eliminated my Chronic Pain through a Mind-Body Approach Dr. John Sarno, as featured in the article by Vox.com below. Helpful Websites and Organizations The TMSWiki.org is a resource hub for all things TMS, including useful explainers, success stories, and links to practitioners around the world The Psychophysiologic Disorders Association (PPDA), “is a 501(c)(3) health education non-profit dedicated to advancing the diagnosis and treatment of stress-induced medical conditions.” The LA-based Pain Psychology Center is a group of mental health professionals providing in-person and remote counseling sessions for Mind Body Syndrome Curable Health is both a smartphone app for Mind Body Syndrome and a podcast that interviews many of the practioners featured below Practitioners and Medical Professionals Dr. Alicia Bond Bateson manages the Center for the Treatment of Psychophysiologic Disorders; the writing on her website provides a clear, concise overview of Mind Body Syndrome Dr. Tovah Goldfine is a chronic pain specialist and chiropractor with expertise in Mind-Body Syndrome Dr. Howard Schubiner, whose website Unlearnyourpain.org includes articles, videos, and links to books on Mind Body Syndrome Dr. David Schecter is a sports medicine physician who specializes in mind-body medicine. He authored the book, Think Away Your Pain, and his practice is informed by mentorship from Dr. John Sarno Arlene Feinblatt, PHD, is a psychologist specializing in Mind Body Syndrome and the psychology of pain. She was Dr. Sarno’s original collaborator in developing TMS and its treatment protocols. Evelyn Hecht, PT, ATC, is a physical therapist and chronic pain specialist that owns UMH Physical Therapy in New York City Books Psychophysiologic Disorders: Trauma Informed, Interprofessional Diagnosis and Treatment, published in 2019 by the Psychophysiologic Disorders Association, is the most up to date and comprehensive book on Mind-Body Syndrome Dr. John Sarno, the originator of Tension Myositis Syndrome, or TMS, wrote three books that are generally offered as a point of departure for Mind Body Syndrome: Healing Back Pain; the MindBody Prescription; and the Divided Mind Unlearn Your Pain: a 28 Day Process to Reprogram Your Brain by Dr. Howard Schubiner is a more modern complement to Sarno’s books, and the primary book that cured my own chronic pain in my hands and wrists re.lieve Solutions for Chronic Pain, an e-book by Evelyn Hecht Dr. David Schecter has produced several books on Mind Body Syndrome, including one for teens, available on his website. Back in Control: a Surgeon’s Roadmap Out of Chronic Pain by Dr. David Hanscom is a useful complement to the above texts They Can’t Find Anything Wrong! by Dr. David Claire, president of the Psychophysiologic Disorders Association Articles and PDFs America’s most famous back pain doctor said pain is in your head. Thousands think he’s right, from Vox.com Chronic Pain Reconsidered: a New Role for Therapists, by Dr. Howard Schubiner (this article was THE critical turning point for me in my own journey with Mind Body Syndrome) Miracles of Mind Body Medicine, a useful explainer of Mind Body Syndrome and TMS by Alan Gordon, LCSW Neural Pathway Pain — A Call for More Accurate Diagnoses, by Drs. Howard Schubiner, Mark Lumley, and Alan Gordon, LCSW The First Chapter from Dr. Howard Schubiner’s book, Unlearn Your Pain Article on the passing of Dr. John Sarno by NY Times This is a simple resource list intended to provide a point of departure for those seeking more information on what is variously referred to as Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS), Mind-Body Syndrome (MBS) and/or Psychophysiologic Disorders (PPD). For more context, please read my companion piece to this resource list, How I Eliminated my Chronic Pain through a Mind Body Approach. And please feel free to comment with any additional resources!	4ed279fd-58a7-5218-a437-cc2dabb9c324	25/08/2025 15:59:42
https://medium.com/@thenicmcelveen/sunday-morning-c3cf23116e6	medium.com	Sunday Morning	The following two days went quickly by as the unexpected fateful Sunday approached. However, when Sunday morning came around, I did my job…	Nic McElveen	https://medium.com/@thenicmcelveen	c3cf23116e6	null	4 min	2022-07-13T18:13:46.805000	2022-07-13T18:21:14.074000	2022-07-13T18:21:15.206000	0	0	en	Deconstruction,Church Leadership,Spiritual Abuse,Hurt,Storytelling	<section> <p>The following two days went quickly by as the unexpected fateful Sunday approached. However, when Sunday morning came around, I did my job as usual — my wife and I arrived early, prepared the worship center, and practiced the worship set. From the stage in the worship center, I can see everyone who enters the front doors. Typically, the pastor enters about 30 minutes before our worship service starts with somewhat of a smile on his face as he makes eye contact with me.</p> <p><em>This time was different.</em></p> <p>The pastor entered the worship center with a silent and solemn stare <em>towards</em> me but not <em>at</em> me. It seemed as if the words I spoke to him were still as fresh as they were when I said them at that Thursday lunch. He approached me and whispered he wanted to talk after the service. I unknowingly agreed.</p> <p>I have to admit, the thought of him firing me did not cross my mind. If I’m being candid, I thought there was no way in hell they would let me go. I pridefully felt indispensable. It would be organizational suicide to let your most senior staff member go with no plan of replacing him.</p> <p>The whole morning grew more awkward as it went on.</p> <p>Before the service started, many of the leaders approached us with heavy grief in their eyes. Some of them with genuine intentions said they were praying for us<em>,</em> and one person went as far to judgmentally say — ‘<em>this is what happens when you let sin creep in.’</em></p> <p><em>Wait! What had the leadership been told?</em></p> <p>By their demeanor towards us and troubling comments, they knew something my wife & I didn’t. We quickly walked to the backroom down the hall off the worship center. During the short time before we were supposed to be on stage singing, we tried to confusingly put together what was happening. All we could do was ask each other questions, and both answered — <em>‘I don’t know.’</em></p> <p>As I sang that morning, the life that usually filled the room was entirely gone. The only way to describe the feeling would be to liken it to that uncertain time when you know you’re about to experience a relationship breakup. You know what I’m talking about.</p> <ul> <li><strong>The uncomfortable silence.</strong></li> <li><strong>Avoiding eye contact.</strong></li> <li><strong>Your stomach is in knots.</strong></li> </ul> <p>I couldn’t focus on anything except for the future conversation with the pastor. I would normally speak and pray to improve the worship time; I was reserved, quickly transitioning from one song to the next.</p> <p>When my wife and I finished singing, we went back to that same room off the worship center and sat down on the black leather couch where we would in the past take short naps, talk about lunch plans, or make fun of our goof-ups during the worship set. This time we sat there silently until we had to go back on stage to close the service with a song.</p> <p>After what felt like an eternity, the service concluded. From the front of the room, the pastor gestured for us to go towards the hallway. We reluctantly walked down the hallway into a dark room with popcorn ceiling and no overhead lighting. Only a small single paint-chipped window provided some faint light into the room. Although, there was enough light to see the disappointing look on the pastor’s face.</p> <p>After he closed the door behind us, he sat on the top of a cherry wood desk in the middle of the room while my wife and I took our seats in triangle patterned olive green repurposed hotel chairs directly across from him.</p> <p>As he uncrossed his arms, placed one hand on his knee, and with the other, he slowly rubbed his stubbly bald head from front to back, staring at the floor. In the past, this was usually a sign he was about to say something difficult. At this point, my prideful doubt of being fired turned into anxiety. He then proceeded to speak those shocking words we started this journey with -</p> <blockquote><em>“Today was your last day leading worship.”</em></blockquote> <p>Between my wife’s pitifully controlled sobbing and his hurtful words, I didn’t want to listen or talk to him. Maybe it was a way of self-preservation or an inability to care. Regardless, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing because what was about to happen next was a twist of the dagger that was already so deep.</p> <p>The pastor reminded us that the following week was the annual Thanksgiving service, where the church takes time to honor a staff member or volunteer for their service. Conveniently, he began telling us of the plan hatched by him and the leaders were to announce our departure to everyone next week by telling everyone a half-truth:</p> <p><em>My family & I were leaving to find a church & community in the town we lived in.</em></p> <p>The pastor leadingly asked if this was ok since it was technically accurate. I didn’t care at this point. I was too hurt to argue. I agreed.</p> <p>With this sudden firing, it was glaringly evident the pastor and leadership didn’t trust me enough to leave without causing a scene or disrupting their power.</p> <p>If they had spoken to me, they would have known I wanted to exit quietly and be as helpful as possible during the transition. My wife and I cared for those people and would not have hurt them or their view of their church.</p> <p>Yet, instead of speaking with me to uncover clarity and understanding, it seemed the leadership conspired to control the story and decided the best thing to do was let me go to prevent some ill-perceived fallout.</p> <p>After the conversation, my wife and I left out the back door, so no one would see us and avoid speaking to anyone. When we got into our car, we left as quickly as possible. We both were in shock as to what we just experienced and were now filled with anxiety, knowing we would have to come back in seven days to re-live this experience again.</p> </section>	Sunday Morning The following two days went quickly by as the unexpected fateful Sunday approached. However, when Sunday morning came around, I did my job as usual — my wife and I arrived early, prepared the worship center, and practiced the worship set. From the stage in the worship center, I can see everyone who enters the front doors. Typically, the pastor enters about 30 minutes before our worship service starts with somewhat of a smile on his face as he makes eye contact with me. This time was different. The pastor entered the worship center with a silent and solemn stare towards me but not at me. It seemed as if the words I spoke to him were still as fresh as they were when I said them at that Thursday lunch. He approached me and whispered he wanted to talk after the service. I unknowingly agreed. I have to admit, the thought of him firing me did not cross my mind. If I’m being candid, I thought there was no way in hell they would let me go. I pridefully felt indispensable. It would be organizational suicide to let your most senior staff member go with no plan of replacing him. The whole morning grew more awkward as it went on. Before the service started, many of the leaders approached us with heavy grief in their eyes. Some of them with genuine intentions said they were praying for us, and one person went as far to judgmentally say — ‘this is what happens when you let sin creep in.’ Wait! What had the leadership been told? By their demeanor towards us and troubling comments, they knew something my wife & I didn’t. We quickly walked to the backroom down the hall off the worship center. During the short time before we were supposed to be on stage singing, we tried to confusingly put together what was happening. All we could do was ask each other questions, and both answered — ‘I don’t know.’ As I sang that morning, the life that usually filled the room was entirely gone. The only way to describe the feeling would be to liken it to that uncertain time when you know you’re about to experience a relationship breakup. You know what I’m talking about. The uncomfortable silence. Avoiding eye contact. Your stomach is in knots. I couldn’t focus on anything except for the future conversation with the pastor. I would normally speak and pray to improve the worship time; I was reserved, quickly transitioning from one song to the next. When my wife and I finished singing, we went back to that same room off the worship center and sat down on the black leather couch where we would in the past take short naps, talk about lunch plans, or make fun of our goof-ups during the worship set. This time we sat there silently until we had to go back on stage to close the service with a song. After what felt like an eternity, the service concluded. From the front of the room, the pastor gestured for us to go towards the hallway. We reluctantly walked down the hallway into a dark room with popcorn ceiling and no overhead lighting. Only a small single paint-chipped window provided some faint light into the room. Although, there was enough light to see the disappointing look on the pastor’s face. After he closed the door behind us, he sat on the top of a cherry wood desk in the middle of the room while my wife and I took our seats in triangle patterned olive green repurposed hotel chairs directly across from him. As he uncrossed his arms, placed one hand on his knee, and with the other, he slowly rubbed his stubbly bald head from front to back, staring at the floor. In the past, this was usually a sign he was about to say something difficult. At this point, my prideful doubt of being fired turned into anxiety. He then proceeded to speak those shocking words we started this journey with - “Today was your last day leading worship.” Between my wife’s pitifully controlled sobbing and his hurtful words, I didn’t want to listen or talk to him. Maybe it was a way of self-preservation or an inability to care. Regardless, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing because what was about to happen next was a twist of the dagger that was already so deep. The pastor reminded us that the following week was the annual Thanksgiving service, where the church takes time to honor a staff member or volunteer for their service. Conveniently, he began telling us of the plan hatched by him and the leaders were to announce our departure to everyone next week by telling everyone a half-truth: My family & I were leaving to find a church & community in the town we lived in. The pastor leadingly asked if this was ok since it was technically accurate. I didn’t care at this point. I was too hurt to argue. I agreed. With this sudden firing, it was glaringly evident the pastor and leadership didn’t trust me enough to leave without causing a scene or disrupting their power. If they had spoken to me, they would have known I wanted to exit quietly and be as helpful as possible during the transition. My wife and I cared for those people and would not have hurt them or their view of their church. Yet, instead of speaking with me to uncover clarity and understanding, it seemed the leadership conspired to control the story and decided the best thing to do was let me go to prevent some ill-perceived fallout. After the conversation, my wife and I left out the back door, so no one would see us and avoid speaking to anyone. When we got into our car, we left as quickly as possible. We both were in shock as to what we just experienced and were now filled with anxiety, knowing we would have to come back in seven days to re-live this experience again.	eacd1424-98ee-50e1-be70-e9e8e916c7cd	25/08/2025 15:59:42
https://darnahsan.medium.com/working-with-elixir-releases-and-performing-ci-cd-in-containers-383ba03b6768	medium.com	Working with Elixir Releases and performing CI/CD in containers	Elixir has seen fast adoption in Wego with multiple services already in production after the weekend project UltronEx became a daily…	DAR	https://medium.com/@darnahsan	383ba03b6768	https://miro.medium.com/…MQjt04fha29Q.png	8 min	2020-12-24T05:39:03.169000	2020-12-24T05:26:09	2024-03-06T09:35:11.576000	0	75	en	Elixir,Phoenix,Docker,Ci Cd Pipeline	<section> <h1>Working with Elixir Releases and performing CI/CD in containers</h1> <p>Elixir has seen fast adoption in <a href="https://www.wego.com">Wego</a> with multiple services already in production after the weekend project <a href="https://darnahsan.medium.com/ruby-vs-elixir-performance-ultron-is-dead-long-live-ultronx-f24e40a4c4d4">UltronEx</a> became a daily driver for <a href="https://darnahsan.medium.com/real-time-dashboard-with-websocket-in-elixir-f4bad1a71ba7">monitoring real time data</a> it has spurred a movement to explore new options and build robust resilient systems.</p> <p>As We run almost all our work loads in containers we take advantage of the same build pipelines for building container images to run CI/CD as well. Elixir runs on <a href="https://blog.erlang.org/a-brief-BEAM-primer/">BEAM</a> and has some nice features such as hot redeploys that is something anti to the concept of containers where they are immutable images none the less it does not mean Elixir is not container friendly. Mix, the elixir build tool similar to what Rake is for Ruby and has great support to generate a bundle with <a href="https://erlang.org/doc/apps/erts/index.html">ERTS</a> called a <a href="https://elixir-lang.org/getting-started/mix-otp/config-and-releases.html">Release</a> that you can take and run anywhere as long as it is the same platform it was built on. This is what works really well with containers keeping the image size significantly small without any external dependencies. Even though this makes the Elixir Release easy to work with it also strips it of its tool chain that you require to perform actions such as running migration or executing tasks as there is no Mix available in a Release. The below chart shows the different approaches and their features</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/652/1obH6IHAdpZ7f2gIwyPxgjw.png" width="652" height="276" loading="lazy" /> <p>One might ask why use a Release then for that there is a great thread on Elixir forum on why to <a href="https://elixirforum.com/t/always-use-releases/4573/21">Always use Releases</a>. Let’s say If you were to package your app with Mix and run it using mix run --no-halt to overcome issues with missing Mix what difference does it make on the container size ? The elixir image for 1.11.2-erlang-23.1.3 is about 214MB which is used as the base to either build a release in a multi stage Dockerfile or use it to run the app using Mix. Compared to that Debian image is only 69.2MB. When we use an Elixir Release for a Phoenix app and copy that to a stage based on Debian the final image size comes to 101MB whereas if we were to use Mix and not generate a release the final image size is 627MB a whopping 6X the release image size.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1200/0bhEOsbFr_KDeTtwe.png" width="1200" height="25" loading="lazy" /> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1200/0QLZhL17fymeoYMaw.png" width="1200" height="29" loading="lazy" /> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1200/0dQEXLDfZSieJEx7h.png" width="1200" height="21" loading="lazy" /> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1200/0EjYkDkwOMRVJCW7N.png" width="1200" height="23" loading="lazy" /> <p>That is some significant advantage releases have over other approaches and also goes on to show the impact multi stage build files can have over image sizes.</p> <p>So that sorts that we should always use Releases but how to then get the lost functionality of Mix ? For this Elixir and Docker both do their part to seamlessly make things similar to what you could do with a Ruby CI/CD containerised process with rake. For running <a href="https://hexdocs.pm/phoenix/releases.html#ecto-migrations-and-custom-commands">database migration with releases </a>Elixir has a work around with <a href="https://hexdocs.pm/ecto_sql/Ecto.Migrator.html">Ecto Migrator</a> where in you create a separate file that executes the migrations, it is a standardised code and should actually IMO be part of Ecto</p> <pre><code class="language-">defmodule MyApp.Release do <a href="http://twitter.com/app">@app</a> :my_app</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">def migrate do load_app()</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">for repo <- repos() do {:ok, _, _} = Ecto.Migrator.with_repo(repo, &Ecto.Migrator.run(&1, :up, all: true)) end end</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">def rollback(repo, version) do load_app() {:ok, _, _} = Ecto.Migrator.with_repo(repo, &Ecto.Migrator.run(&1, :down, to: version)) end</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">defp repos do Application.fetch_env!(<a href="http://twitter.com/app">@app</a>, :ecto_repos) end</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">defp load_app do Application.load(<a href="http://twitter.com/app">@app</a>) end end</code></pre> <p>After creating your release you can run you migrations in production with eval for e.g</p> <pre><code class="language-">$ _build/prod/rel/my_app/bin/my_app eval "MyApp.Release.migrate"</code></pre> <p>Migration is a special case and Ecto has some nice features to access the Database to make this all possible but for running some tasks in production environment requires a separate approach and some understanding of an Elixir application or for a web application built in Phoenix. Every Elixir application is built of multiple applications where a Phoenix app is a list of applications where Web and Database are separate applications which also gives Elixir applications its robustness where any single application can not bring down your entire Service. For this you can take lead from the <a href="https://hexdocs.pm/phoenix/releases.html">elixir release docs</a> and base understanding of elixir application to formulate your application container image to be used to execute tasks and run the application service as well. Let us take a Phoenix app GhostRider as an example. Here we split the application children into two separate lists base and web . Based on what is required we can handle what children load from an environment variable which can conveniently be passed to a container at runtime.</p> <pre><code class="language-">defmodule GhostRider.Application do # See <a href="https://hexdocs.pm/elixir/Application.html">https://hexdocs.pm/elixir/Application.html</a> # for more information on OTP Applications <a href="http://twitter.com/moduledoc">@moduledoc</a> false</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">use Application</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">def start(_type, _args) do base = [ # Start the Ecto repository GhostRider.Repo, {Finch, name: GhostRiderFinch} ]</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">web = [ # Start the Telemetry supervisor GhostRiderWeb.Telemetry, # Start the PubSub system {Phoenix.PubSub, name: GhostRider.PubSub}, # Start the Endpoint (http/https) GhostRiderWeb.Endpoint # Start a worker by calling: GhostRider.Worker.start_link(arg) # {GhostRider.Worker, arg}, ]</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">children = case System.get_env("APP_LEVEL") do "TASK" -> base _ -> base ++ web end</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-"># See <a href="https://hexdocs.pm/elixir/Supervisor.html">https://hexdocs.pm/elixir/Supervisor.html</a> # for other strategies and supported options opts = [strategy: :one_for_one, name: GhostRider.Supervisor] Supervisor.start_link(children, opts) end</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-"># Tell Phoenix to update the endpoint configuration # whenever the application is updated. def config_change(changed, _new, removed) do GhostRiderWeb.Endpoint.config_change(changed, removed) :ok end end</code></pre> <p>Though this approach would work but applications only start when a release is started. To overcome this we need to use the eval to execute a wrapper function bound to perform operation but in order to execute that operation we need to start our application using Application.ensure_all_started(@app) along with the environment variable controlling which children should be loaded.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/842/1W7c6WpwnyFVqAts9X-xz2A.png" width="842" height="222" loading="lazy" /> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/662/1wMnK2kMqznTlTtRfJQqYmA.png" width="662" height="108" loading="lazy" /> <p>With Migrations and Task sorted and capable of working with containers the last piece of the CI/CD puzzle is how do you run your test when there is no Mix in your release and the release is byte code and no test folder is available ? This is where docker shines with its multi stage builds and we leverage docker-compose to target a stage to be able to execute tests in the build to ensure they are consistent across different technology stacks we have.</p> <p>Now some docker and docker-compose recipes to bring this all together to work in a CI/CD pipeline. One thing I have to admit is lack of resources around containerising Elixir/Phoenix applications, something the community should work towards improving. Below is a file for building a Phoenix application and you can see there is a stage called tester this is what we will target using docker-compose</p> <pre><code class="language-"># <a href="https://elixirforum.com/t/could-use-some-feedback-on-this-multistage-dockerfile-1st-elixir-phoenix-deployment/30862/10">https://elixirforum.com/t/could-use-some-feedback-on-this-multistage-dockerfile-1st-elixir-phoenix-deployment/30862/10</a>?</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">######################## ### Dependency stage ### ######################## FROM hexpm/elixir:1.11.2-erlang-23.1.3-debian-buster-20201012 AS base</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-"># install build dependencies RUN apt-get -qq update && \ apt-get -qq -y install build-essential npm git python --fix-missing --no-install-recommends</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-"># prepare build dir WORKDIR /app</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">ARG MIX_ENV ARG RELEASE_ENV</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">ENV LANG=C.UTF-8 LC_ALL=C.UTF-8</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-"># Update timezone ENV TZ=Asia/Singapore</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-"># install hex + rebar RUN mix local.hex --force && \ mix local.rebar --force</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-"># set build ENV ENV MIX_ENV=${MIX_ENV} ENV RELEASE_ENV=${RELEASE_ENV}</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">COPY mix.exs mix.lock ./ COPY config config</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-"># install mix dependencies RUN mix deps.get --only ${MIX_ENV} RUN mix deps.compile</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">COPY lib ./lib COPY priv ./priv ######################### ####### Test Stage ###### #########################</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">FROM base as tester WORKDIR /app COPY test test</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">######################## # Build Phoenix assets # ######################## # Using stretch for now because it includes Python # Otherwise you get errors, could use a smaller image though FROM node:14.15.3-stretch AS assets WORKDIR /app</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">COPY --from=base /app/deps /app/deps/ COPY assets/package.json assets/package-lock.json ./assets/ RUN npm --prefix ./assets ci --progress=false --no-audit --loglevel=error</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">COPY lib ./lib COPY priv ./priv COPY assets/ ./assets/</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">RUN npm run --prefix ./assets deploy</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">######################### # Create Phoenix digest # ######################### FROM base AS digest WORKDIR /app</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-"># set build ENV ENV MIX_ENV=${MIX_ENV} ENV RELEASE_ENV=${RELEASE_ENV}</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">COPY --from=assets /app/priv ./priv RUN mix phx.digest</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">####################### #### Create release ### ####################### FROM digest AS release WORKDIR /app</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">ARG MIX_ENV ARG RELEASE_ENV ENV MIX_ENV=${MIX_ENV} ENV RELEASE_ENV=${RELEASE_ENV}</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">COPY --from=digest /app/priv/static ./priv/static</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">RUN mix do compile, release</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">################################################# # Create the actual image that will be deployed # ################################################# FROM debian:buster-slim AS deploy</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-"># Install stable dependencies that don't change often RUN apt-get update && \ apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \ apt-utils \ openssl \ curl \ wget && \ rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-"># Set WORKDIR after setting user to nobody so it automatically gets the right permissions # When the app starts it will need to be able to create a tmp directory in /app WORKDIR /app</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">ARG MIX_ENV ARG RELEASE_ENV</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">ENV MIX_ENV=${MIX_ENV} ENV RELEASE_ENV=${RELEASE_ENV}</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">ENV LANG=C.UTF-8 LC_ALL=C.UTF-8</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-"># Update timezone ENV TZ=Asia/Singapore</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">HEALTHCHECK --start-period=10s \ --interval=15s \ --timeout=5s \ --retries=3 \ CMD curl -sSf <a href="http://localhost:8080/heartbeat">http://localhost:8080/heartbeat</a> \|\| exit 1</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">COPY --from=release /app/_build/${MIX_ENV}/rel/ghost_rider ./</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">ENV HOME=/app # Exposes port to the host machine EXPOSE 8080</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">CMD ["bin/ghost_rider", "start"]</code></pre> <p>A standard docker-compose file to run the application would be similar to this which would spin up a Postgres database and start the application for you.</p> <pre><code class="language-">version: "3.7" services: ghost-rider: build: context: . args: MIX_ENV: "${MIX_ENV}" RELEASE_ENV: "${RELEASE_ENV}" image: wego/ghost-rider depends_on: - ghost-rider-db restart: on-failure ports: - "8080:8080" environment: MIX_ENV: "${MIX_ENV}" RELEASE_ENV: "${RELEASE_ENV}" PORT: "8080" SECRET_KEY_BASE: "${SECRET_KEY_BASE}" DB_NAME: ghost-rider DB_PASSWORD: ghost-rider DB_HOST: ghost-rider-db APP_LEVEL: WEB</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">ghost-rider-db: image: postgres restart: always ports: - 5432:5432 environment: POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ghost-rider POSTGRES_DB: "${POSTGRES_DB}" PGDATA: /var/lib/postgresql/data/pgdata volumes: - "postgresql-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data"</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">volumes: postgresql-data:</code></pre> <p>To build and run your container image you would execute</p> <pre><code class="language-">$ docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d</code></pre> <p>To run your migration</p> <pre><code class="language-">$ docker-compose run --rm ghost-rider bin/ghost_rider eval "Release.migrate"</code></pre> <p>To run the test you would need to create another docker-compose file to override the default values and define the target it should execute up to. If you want you could create a completely new file as well</p> <pre><code class="language-">version: "3.7" services: ghost-rider: build: target: tester args: - MIX_ENV=test - RELEASE_ENV=test image: wego/ghost-rider-test ports: - "8080:8080" environment: - MIX_ENV=test - RELEASE_ENV=test - DB_NAME=ghost-rider-test - DB_PASSWORD=ghost-rider - DB_HOST=ghost-rider-db</code></pre> <p>With this you can setup your test database and run test simply by doing</p> <pre><code class="language-">$ docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.test.yml run --rm ghost-rider mix ecto.setup</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-">$ docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.test.yml run --rm ghost-rider mix test</code></pre> <p>All it takes is some understanding of Elixir and it can be used with Docker tools as any other language to build images and perform CI/CD without any friction.</p> <p>I hope this helps with containerising Elixir and Phoenix applications as they are amazing technologies along with Docker and containers that make things really simple build pipelines for CI/CD.</p> <p><em>Originally published at <a href="https://geeks.wego.com/elixir-relea</em>ses-ci-cd-in-containers/">https://geeks.wego.com</a> on December 24, 2020.</p> </section>	Working with Elixir Releases and performing CI/CD in containers Elixir has seen fast adoption in Wego with multiple services already in production after the weekend project UltronEx became a daily driver for monitoring real time data it has spurred a movement to explore new options and build robust resilient systems. As We run almost all our work loads in containers we take advantage of the same build pipelines for building container images to run CI/CD as well. Elixir runs on BEAM and has some nice features such as hot redeploys that is something anti to the concept of containers where they are immutable images none the less it does not mean Elixir is not container friendly. Mix, the elixir build tool similar to what Rake is for Ruby and has great support to generate a bundle with ERTS called a Release that you can take and run anywhere as long as it is the same platform it was built on. This is what works really well with containers keeping the image size significantly small without any external dependencies. Even though this makes the Elixir Release easy to work with it also strips it of its tool chain that you require to perform actions such as running migration or executing tasks as there is no Mix available in a Release. The below chart shows the different approaches and their features One might ask why use a Release then for that there is a great thread on Elixir forum on why to Always use Releases. Let’s say If you were to package your app with Mix and run it using mix run --no-halt to overcome issues with missing Mix what difference does it make on the container size ? The elixir image for 1.11.2-erlang-23.1.3 is about 214MB which is used as the base to either build a release in a multi stage Dockerfile or use it to run the app using Mix. Compared to that Debian image is only 69.2MB. When we use an Elixir Release for a Phoenix app and copy that to a stage based on Debian the final image size comes to 101MB whereas if we were to use Mix and not generate a release the final image size is 627MB a whopping 6X the release image size. That is some significant advantage releases have over other approaches and also goes on to show the impact multi stage build files can have over image sizes. So that sorts that we should always use Releases but how to then get the lost functionality of Mix ? For this Elixir and Docker both do their part to seamlessly make things similar to what you could do with a Ruby CI/CD containerised process with rake. For running database migration with releases Elixir has a work around with Ecto Migrator where in you create a separate file that executes the migrations, it is a standardised code and should actually IMO be part of Ecto defmodule MyApp.Release do @app :my_app def migrate do load_app() for repo <- repos() do {:ok, _, _} = Ecto.Migrator.with_repo(repo, &Ecto.Migrator.run(&1, :up, all: true)) end end def rollback(repo, version) do load_app() {:ok, _, _} = Ecto.Migrator.with_repo(repo, &Ecto.Migrator.run(&1, :down, to: version)) end defp repos do Application.fetch_env!(@app, :ecto_repos) end defp load_app do Application.load(@app) end end After creating your release you can run you migrations in production with eval for e.g $ _build/prod/rel/my_app/bin/my_app eval "MyApp.Release.migrate" Migration is a special case and Ecto has some nice features to access the Database to make this all possible but for running some tasks in production environment requires a separate approach and some understanding of an Elixir application or for a web application built in Phoenix. Every Elixir application is built of multiple applications where a Phoenix app is a list of applications where Web and Database are separate applications which also gives Elixir applications its robustness where any single application can not bring down your entire Service. For this you can take lead from the elixir release docs and base understanding of elixir application to formulate your application container image to be used to execute tasks and run the application service as well. Let us take a Phoenix app GhostRider as an example. Here we split the application children into two separate lists base and web . Based on what is required we can handle what children load from an environment variable which can conveniently be passed to a container at runtime. defmodule GhostRider.Application do # See https://hexdocs.pm/elixir/Application.html # for more information on OTP Applications @moduledoc false use Application def start(_type, _args) do base = [ # Start the Ecto repository GhostRider.Repo, {Finch, name: GhostRiderFinch} ] web = [ # Start the Telemetry supervisor GhostRiderWeb.Telemetry, # Start the PubSub system {Phoenix.PubSub, name: GhostRider.PubSub}, # Start the Endpoint (http/https) GhostRiderWeb.Endpoint # Start a worker by calling: GhostRider.Worker.start_link(arg) # {GhostRider.Worker, arg}, ] children = case System.get_env("APP_LEVEL") do "TASK" -> base _ -> base ++ web end # See https://hexdocs.pm/elixir/Supervisor.html # for other strategies and supported options opts = [strategy: :one_for_one, name: GhostRider.Supervisor] Supervisor.start_link(children, opts) end # Tell Phoenix to update the endpoint configuration # whenever the application is updated. def config_change(changed, _new, removed) do GhostRiderWeb.Endpoint.config_change(changed, removed) :ok end end Though this approach would work but applications only start when a release is started. To overcome this we need to use the eval to execute a wrapper function bound to perform operation but in order to execute that operation we need to start our application using Application.ensure_all_started(@app) along with the environment variable controlling which children should be loaded. With all children loaded for the application With limited children loaded for the application With Migrations and Task sorted and capable of working with containers the last piece of the CI/CD puzzle is how do you run your test when there is no Mix in your release and the release is byte code and no test folder is available ? This is where docker shines with its multi stage builds and we leverage docker-compose to target a stage to be able to execute tests in the build to ensure they are consistent across different technology stacks we have. Now some docker and docker-compose recipes to bring this all together to work in a CI/CD pipeline. One thing I have to admit is lack of resources around containerising Elixir/Phoenix applications, something the community should work towards improving. Below is a file for building a Phoenix application and you can see there is a stage called tester this is what we will target using docker-compose # https://elixirforum.com/t/could-use-some-feedback-on-this-multistage-dockerfile-1st-elixir-phoenix-deployment/30862/10? ######################## ### Dependency stage ### ######################## FROM hexpm/elixir:1.11.2-erlang-23.1.3-debian-buster-20201012 AS base # install build dependencies RUN apt-get -qq update && \ apt-get -qq -y install build-essential npm git python --fix-missing --no-install-recommends # prepare build dir WORKDIR /app ARG MIX_ENV ARG RELEASE_ENV ENV LANG=C.UTF-8 LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 # Update timezone ENV TZ=Asia/Singapore # install hex + rebar RUN mix local.hex --force && \ mix local.rebar --force # set build ENV ENV MIX_ENV=${MIX_ENV} ENV RELEASE_ENV=${RELEASE_ENV} COPY mix.exs mix.lock ./ COPY config config # install mix dependencies RUN mix deps.get --only ${MIX_ENV} RUN mix deps.compile COPY lib ./lib COPY priv ./priv ######################### ####### Test Stage ###### ######################### FROM base as tester WORKDIR /app COPY test test ######################## # Build Phoenix assets # ######################## # Using stretch for now because it includes Python # Otherwise you get errors, could use a smaller image though FROM node:14.15.3-stretch AS assets WORKDIR /app COPY --from=base /app/deps /app/deps/ COPY assets/package.json assets/package-lock.json ./assets/ RUN npm --prefix ./assets ci --progress=false --no-audit --loglevel=error COPY lib ./lib COPY priv ./priv COPY assets/ ./assets/ RUN npm run --prefix ./assets deploy ######################### # Create Phoenix digest # ######################### FROM base AS digest WORKDIR /app # set build ENV ENV MIX_ENV=${MIX_ENV} ENV RELEASE_ENV=${RELEASE_ENV} COPY --from=assets /app/priv ./priv RUN mix phx.digest ####################### #### Create release ### ####################### FROM digest AS release WORKDIR /app ARG MIX_ENV ARG RELEASE_ENV ENV MIX_ENV=${MIX_ENV} ENV RELEASE_ENV=${RELEASE_ENV} COPY --from=digest /app/priv/static ./priv/static RUN mix do compile, release ################################################# # Create the actual image that will be deployed # ################################################# FROM debian:buster-slim AS deploy # Install stable dependencies that don't change often RUN apt-get update && \ apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \ apt-utils \ openssl \ curl \ wget && \ rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* # Set WORKDIR after setting user to nobody so it automatically gets the right permissions # When the app starts it will need to be able to create a tmp directory in /app WORKDIR /app ARG MIX_ENV ARG RELEASE_ENV ENV MIX_ENV=${MIX_ENV} ENV RELEASE_ENV=${RELEASE_ENV} ENV LANG=C.UTF-8 LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 # Update timezone ENV TZ=Asia/Singapore HEALTHCHECK --start-period=10s \ --interval=15s \ --timeout=5s \ --retries=3 \ CMD curl -sSf http://localhost:8080/heartbeat \|\| exit 1 COPY --from=release /app/_build/${MIX_ENV}/rel/ghost_rider ./ ENV HOME=/app # Exposes port to the host machine EXPOSE 8080 CMD ["bin/ghost_rider", "start"] A standard docker-compose file to run the application would be similar to this which would spin up a Postgres database and start the application for you. version: "3.7" services: ghost-rider: build: context: . args: MIX_ENV: "${MIX_ENV}" RELEASE_ENV: "${RELEASE_ENV}" image: wego/ghost-rider depends_on: - ghost-rider-db restart: on-failure ports: - "8080:8080" environment: MIX_ENV: "${MIX_ENV}" RELEASE_ENV: "${RELEASE_ENV}" PORT: "8080" SECRET_KEY_BASE: "${SECRET_KEY_BASE}" DB_NAME: ghost-rider DB_PASSWORD: ghost-rider DB_HOST: ghost-rider-db APP_LEVEL: WEB ghost-rider-db: image: postgres restart: always ports: - 5432:5432 environment: POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ghost-rider POSTGRES_DB: "${POSTGRES_DB}" PGDATA: /var/lib/postgresql/data/pgdata volumes: - "postgresql-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data" volumes: postgresql-data: To build and run your container image you would execute $ docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d To run your migration $ docker-compose run --rm ghost-rider bin/ghost_rider eval "Release.migrate" To run the test you would need to create another docker-compose file to override the default values and define the target it should execute up to. If you want you could create a completely new file as well version: "3.7" services: ghost-rider: build: target: tester args: - MIX_ENV=test - RELEASE_ENV=test image: wego/ghost-rider-test ports: - "8080:8080" environment: - MIX_ENV=test - RELEASE_ENV=test - DB_NAME=ghost-rider-test - DB_PASSWORD=ghost-rider - DB_HOST=ghost-rider-db With this you can setup your test database and run test simply by doing $ docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.test.yml run --rm ghost-rider mix ecto.setup $ docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.test.yml run --rm ghost-rider mix test All it takes is some understanding of Elixir and it can be used with Docker tools as any other language to build images and perform CI/CD without any friction. I hope this helps with containerising Elixir and Phoenix applications as they are amazing technologies along with Docker and containers that make things really simple build pipelines for CI/CD. Originally published at https://geeks.wego.com on December 24, 2020.	677ff4ee-1fa1-5ff0-acac-fe534b78451f	25/08/2025 15:59:42
https://medium.com/@sanjuthamke9699/day-41-setting-up-an-application-load-balancer-with-aws-ec2-6b81ccdc7552	medium.com	Day 41: Setting up an Application Load Balancer with AWS EC2 🚀 ☁	Today, we are going to dive into one of the most important concepts in EC2: Load Balancing.	Sanjana thamke	https://medium.com/@sanjuthamke9699	6b81ccdc7552	https://miro.medium.com/…5Yqw3Y_IEx6c.png	5 min	2023-03-24T13:48:50.703000	2023-03-24T17:11:07.184000	2023-03-25T07:14:50.238000	0	18	en	Load Balancing,AWS,Ec2,Apache,DevOps	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/555/0qKEC5Yqw3Y_IEx6c.png" width="555" height="243" loading="lazy" /> <h3>Today, we are going to dive into one of the most important concepts in EC2: Load Balancing.</h3> <h1>What is Load Balancing?</h1> <p>Load balancing is the distribution of workloads across multiple servers to ensure consistent and optimal resource utilization. It is an essential aspect of any large-scale and scalable computing system, as it helps you to improve the reliability and performance of your applications.</p> <h2>Elastic Load Balancing:</h2> <p>Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) is a service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that automatically distributes incoming traffic across multiple EC2 instances. ELB provides three types of load balancers:</p> <p>Read more from <a href="https://docs.aws.amazon.com/elasticloadbalancing/latest/userguide/what-is-load-balancing.html">here</a></p> <p>Application Load Balancer (ALB) — <em>operates at layer 7 of the OSI model and is ideal for applications that require advanced routing and microservices.</em></p> <p>Network Load Balancer (NLB) — <em>operates at layer 4 of the OSI model and is ideal for applications that require high throughput and low latency.</em></p> <p>Classic Load Balancer (CLB) — <em>operates at layer 4 of the OSI model and is ideal for applications that require basic load balancing features.</em></p> <h2>🎯 Today’s Tasks:</h2> <h2>Task 1:</h2> <ul> <li>launch 2 EC2 instances with an Ubuntu AMI and use User Data to install the Apache Web Server.</li> <li>Modify the index.html file to include your name so that when your Apache server is hosted, it will display your name also do it for 2nd instance which include “ TrainWithShubham Community is Super Aweasome :) “.</li> <li>Copy the public IP address of your EC2 instances.</li> <li>Open a web browser and paste the public IP address into the address bar.</li> <li>You should see a webpage displaying information</li> </ul> <p><strong>Note : Below commands used for installation of apache server</strong></p> <p>SSH to your Ubuntu server as a non-root user, then update the package information index and upgrade your packages.</p> <pre><code class="language-ruby">$ sudo apt update && sudo apt -y upgrade</code></pre> <p>Next, run the command below to install the Apache Web server.</p> <pre><code class="language-ruby">$ sudo apt install -y apache2</code></pre> <p>Now your apache2 is install but not started. We have to start apache2 by typing the command</p> <pre><code class="language-ruby">$ sudo service apache2 start</code></pre> <p>Create 2 EC2 instance (Port 80 should be allowed)</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2482/1k20NIBvwL2VbKRq-KuPv5A.png" width="2482" height="1678" loading="lazy" /> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2476/1XJbpWFDFwlB4ZH54NOe6pQ.png" width="2476" height="1678" loading="lazy" /> <p>Enter script on user data field of Advance details and click on launch instance ( make 2 instances)</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2488/1FDOrslzUaVn47stxdNrKOw.png" width="2488" height="1758" loading="lazy" /> <pre><code class="language-bash">#! /bin/bash sudo apt update && sudo apt -y upgrade sudo apt install -y apache2 sudo service apache2 start</code></pre> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2606/1npTUpYpE87XwqMAmKdrePA.png" width="2606" height="534" loading="lazy" /> <p>2 .To check successful installation ,Open apache server on browser using publicIp:80</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2488/1vPKhhxp1iSKtl1eoG8KNmw.png" width="2488" height="1948" loading="lazy" /> <p>3. Now connect to instances</p> <p>a.Enter into folder /var/www/html</p> <p>b.Rename index.html to index_replica.html file</p> <p>c.create new file index.html and paste code in it</p> <pre><code class="language-shell">$ cd /var/www/html $ sudo mv index.html index_replica.html $ sudo vi index.html</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-xml"># enter this code in index.html file <!DOCTYPE html> <html> <body style="background-color:powderblue;"> <h1>Hello its server no 1 </h1> </body> </html></code></pre> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1324/1hASUHrEfCWvEYcO5nBxkVw.png" width="1324" height="382" loading="lazy" /> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/888/1PaGK1YrA_lTMre-Vmo7U5w.png" width="888" height="268" loading="lazy" /> <p><strong>Note : Perform same steps on both server and only keep different html code so we can check which server shows what output</strong></p> <p>Instance 1:</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2648/1s7GchtMj1Hn690yBY6KEDA.png" width="2648" height="306" loading="lazy" /> <p>Instance 2:</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2654/1UrnqEIZ6CQzo6HNTROUGAw.png" width="2654" height="528" loading="lazy" /> <h2>Task 2:</h2> <ul> <li>Create an Application Load Balancer (ALB) in EC2 using the AWS Management Console.</li> <li>Add EC2 instances which you launch in task-1 to the ALB as target groups.</li> <li>Verify that the ALB is working properly by checking the health status of the target instances and testing the load balancing capabilities.</li> </ul> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/381/0WplHMHrrooxdnE4m.png" width="381" height="321" loading="lazy" /> <p>Steps :</p> <p>Go down in left tab to Load balancing And Click on Load Balancers</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2844/137Hz5gw9Mxwc4kPuhEodfA.png" width="2844" height="1754" loading="lazy" /> <p>2.After that Click on Create Load Balancer.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2834/1kfjSy6iO5rGCVdzDn7XvlA.png" width="2834" height="1748" loading="lazy" /> <p>3.Enter your load balancer name and at least two subnets then click the next button.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2836/1-gXsFoZizIuRwGmZmPixeQ.png" width="2836" height="1676" loading="lazy" /> <p>4.Now You have to create security Group for load balancer. Bydefault AWS provides you a group But it Good practice to create new one so click on Create New Security Group in Security Group Section. so I am selecting below security group</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2842/1hGHZT6GTGrq4ZOq2KNvjNg.png" width="2842" height="1754" loading="lazy" /> <p>5.Select security group while creating load balancer</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2828/1-wsJfhCNTHx_2dB2qWxX9g.png" width="2828" height="1674" loading="lazy" /> <p>6. Create Target group and then click on next button</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2836/1CTxZvulUsDb7iDAX5Qb4Hw.png" width="2836" height="1674" loading="lazy" /> <p>7.Select below instances and then click on Add to Register button</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2834/1n8MrVzSxCS1xsPjDpEgf7w.png" width="2834" height="1668" loading="lazy" /> <p>8. After clicking on Add to Register button ,you can see instances in registered targets table</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2836/1PcZXdWDxHo0KEI9CpCeVqA.png" width="2836" height="1742" loading="lazy" /> <p>9. click on review and then create it</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2842/1qhOEGISTB1zRw1RufCa-6A.png" width="2842" height="1744" loading="lazy" /> <p>10 .Verify that the instances are registered with the load balancer by checking the target group’s health status. You should see a healthy status for all instances in the group.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2860/1BnYTnT-psE5go9N3IXRhaA.png" width="2860" height="1750" loading="lazy" /> <p>11. Now Its Time to test your Load Balancer. Copy the DNS name from Load balancer Description and paste in new browser tab.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2996/1lHjPZAnAxBT4afGyFN3Fxg.png" width="2996" height="1838" loading="lazy" /> <p>12.And refresh it again and again you will see your two difference sentence in your servers file. If you didn’t see that please wait for 2 min load balancer take time to active</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2834/16i0iQ3UTYV6liG42Tmyikg.png" width="2834" height="1940" loading="lazy" /> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2832/1ShAqEoZYP7Yukt9us-PTWw.png" width="2832" height="2014" loading="lazy" /> <p>_Thank you for reading</p> <p>_Click 👏 button below and follow for such a more blogs!!!</p> <p>_Sanjana 🌸</p> </section>	Day 41: Setting up an Application Load Balancer with AWS EC2 🚀 ☁ Today, we are going to dive into one of the most important concepts in EC2: Load Balancing. What is Load Balancing? Load balancing is the distribution of workloads across multiple servers to ensure consistent and optimal resource utilization. It is an essential aspect of any large-scale and scalable computing system, as it helps you to improve the reliability and performance of your applications. Elastic Load Balancing: Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) is a service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that automatically distributes incoming traffic across multiple EC2 instances. ELB provides three types of load balancers: Read more from here Application Load Balancer (ALB) — operates at layer 7 of the OSI model and is ideal for applications that require advanced routing and microservices. Network Load Balancer (NLB) — operates at layer 4 of the OSI model and is ideal for applications that require high throughput and low latency. Classic Load Balancer (CLB) — operates at layer 4 of the OSI model and is ideal for applications that require basic load balancing features. 🎯 Today’s Tasks: Task 1: launch 2 EC2 instances with an Ubuntu AMI and use User Data to install the Apache Web Server. Modify the index.html file to include your name so that when your Apache server is hosted, it will display your name also do it for 2nd instance which include “ TrainWithShubham Community is Super Aweasome :) “. Copy the public IP address of your EC2 instances. Open a web browser and paste the public IP address into the address bar. You should see a webpage displaying information Note : Below commands used for installation of apache server SSH to your Ubuntu server as a non-root user, then update the package information index and upgrade your packages. $ sudo apt update && sudo apt -y upgrade Next, run the command below to install the Apache Web server. $ sudo apt install -y apache2 Now your apache2 is install but not started. We have to start apache2 by typing the command $ sudo service apache2 start Create 2 EC2 instance (Port 80 should be allowed) Enter script on user data field of Advance details and click on launch instance ( make 2 instances) #! /bin/bash sudo apt update && sudo apt -y upgrade sudo apt install -y apache2 sudo service apache2 start 2 .To check successful installation ,Open apache server on browser using publicIp:80 3. Now connect to instances a.Enter into folder /var/www/html b.Rename index.html to index_replica.html file c.create new file index.html and paste code in it $ cd /var/www/html $ sudo mv index.html index_replica.html $ sudo vi index.html # enter this code in index.html file <!DOCTYPE html> <html> <body style="background-color:powderblue;"> <h1>Hello its server no 1 </h1> </body> </html> Note : Perform same steps on both server and only keep different html code so we can check which server shows what output Instance 1: Instance 2: Task 2: Create an Application Load Balancer (ALB) in EC2 using the AWS Management Console. Add EC2 instances which you launch in task-1 to the ALB as target groups. Verify that the ALB is working properly by checking the health status of the target instances and testing the load balancing capabilities. Steps : Go down in left tab to Load balancing And Click on Load Balancers 2.After that Click on Create Load Balancer. 3.Enter your load balancer name and at least two subnets then click the next button. 4.Now You have to create security Group for load balancer. Bydefault AWS provides you a group But it Good practice to create new one so click on Create New Security Group in Security Group Section. so I am selecting below security group 5.Select security group while creating load balancer 6. Create Target group and then click on next button 7.Select below instances and then click on Add to Register button 8. After clicking on Add to Register button ,you can see instances in registered targets table 9. click on review and then create it 10 .Verify that the instances are registered with the load balancer by checking the target group’s health status. You should see a healthy status for all instances in the group. 11. Now Its Time to test your Load Balancer. Copy the DNS name from Load balancer Description and paste in new browser tab. 12.And refresh it again and again you will see your two difference sentence in your servers file. If you didn’t see that please wait for 2 min load balancer take time to active _Thank you for reading _Click 👏 button below and follow for such a more blogs!!! _Sanjana 🌸	33854740-7490-5dcf-a714-b5958d7091a8	25/08/2025 15:59:42
https://medium.com/vc-cafe/older-richer-more-customers-accelerators-go-corporate-20c20b1b45a	medium.com	Older, Richer, More Customers: Accelerators Go Corporate	null	Eze Vidra	https://medium.com/@ezevidra	20c20b1b45a	https://miro.medium.com/…gLVm8iiMSPBv.jpg	3 min	2016-11-09T17:49:16.254000	2013-11-23T11:58:31	2018-04-09T11:40:40.336000	0	0	en	Ycombinator,Microsoft,Microsoft Israel,Analysis,Appixia	<section> <p>[caption id=”” align=”alignright” width=”249"]</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/763/07JBFgLVm8iiMSPBv.jpg" width="763" height="1024" loading="lazy" /> <p>Zack Weisfeld Microsoft Accelerator[/caption]</p> <p>The success of start-up accelerators like Y Combinator, Tech Stars and 500Startups has spawned hundreds of clones, including more than 15 in Israel. Now the Israeli R&D Centers of Fortune 50 giants like IBM, Citibank, Cisco, <a href="http://www.orange.com/en/innovation ">Orange</a> and Microsoft are crashing the Accelerator party, nurturing startups in search of an illusory dream: street cred. Demo Day last week at Microsoft Israel reflected some of the unique dynamics of corporate Accelerators- experienced founders, more funding, finished products and existing customers.</p> <p>Corporate accelerators are a recent phenomenon, both in Israel and globally. Microsoft selected Israel last year to launch its very first accelerator program. The company takes no equity, with the emphasis on business and technical mentoring. This helps attract experienced entrepreneurs with products already in development. In fact, while the average age of founding teams in Y Combinator’s latest group is 28 (up from 26 two years ago) the average at Microsoft is 35.</p> <p>Although not nearly as successful as Y Combinator (Ryan Lawler of TechCrunch estimates the value of <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/25/y-combinator-13-7b-valuation/">Y Combinator’s portfolio at more than $13.7 billion</a>), Microsoft is pleased with the outcome and has now launched accelerators in Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin and London, with programs planned for Seattle, Moscow, Paris and Rio de Janeiro. Rahul Sood, General Manager of Microsoft Ventures, identifies Microsoft’s potential contribution. “The number one thing we can do is help them build and acquire a customer base. Show me satisfied customers and I promise they will find funding”. In fact, half of the companies in this batch at Microsoft Israel raised $1 million or more by Demo Day.</p> <p>Taking a page from Microsoft, other prominent corporates are choosing Israel to launch their world-first accelerator programs, albeit with a differentiation strategy. Citibank has just added an Accelerator, called Basecamp TLV, to its Israel Innovation Center. It covers all areas within financial technology, such as payments, markets, trading and analysis. Cisco has announced a Cloud-focused Accelerator, with the added benefit of $50,000 in seed funding. IBM will operate an Accelerator in Haifa, drawing on the technical talent pool associated with Technion and University of Haifa.</p> <p>One strategy these Accelerators should consider is integrating the support of other multinational corporations. For example, Microsoft collaborates with eBay, Comcast, Sears, Saatchi & Saatchi, Y&R and Deutsche Telekom.</p> <p>“The rising number of major multinationals participating in the program and the significant amounts of funding already achieved all point to the increasing success of our program,” says Director of Microsoft Ventures Accelerator, Hanan Lavy.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1500/0hKVZKySDfbebHKjO.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" /> <p>Meet the recent graduates of Microsoft Ventures Tel Aviv Accelerator:</p> <p><strong><a href=</strong>"http://www.appixia.com">Appixia</a> Allows small and medium sized retailers to build and promote their mobile presence.</p> <p><strong><a href="ht</strong>tp://www.cellmining.com/">CellMining</a> Disrupts the way mobile operators monitor and fix network failures by providing a crowd-sourced optimization platform.</p> <p><strong><a href="htt</strong>p://www.conferplace.com/client/app/#/chooseArena">ConferPlace</a> Delivers a full conference experience online, enabling users to take part in any event anywhere in the world without leaving their desk.</p> <p><strong><a href="h</strong>ttp://www.kitlocate.com">KitLocate</a> Location-detection tool using almost no battery power, enabling efficient location-based notifications and recommendations.</p> <p><strong><a href</strong>="http://www.kyteratech.com/">Kytera</a> Uses sensors to track seniors’ activity patterns at home, with cloud-based big-data analytics to dynamically learn their routine and detect distress situations.</p> <p><strong><a href="http</strong>://metalcompass.com">MetalCompass</a> Augmented-reality gaming system for app-enabled devices that enable real-world game-play.</p> <p><strong><a hre</strong>f="http://www.gonavin.com">Navin</a> Software-based, crowd-sourced platform/app for indoor navigation.</p> <p><strong><a href=</strong>"http://www.roojoom.com/lp">Roojoom</a> Content management system that enables roughly 5x more online content consumption.</p> <p><strong><a href="</strong>http://cloudify-it.com/">Semperis</a> Enterprise security tool to manage Identity Platforms (Active Directory).</p> <p><strong><a href</strong>="http://www.vuboo.com">Vubooo</a> Interactive engagement platform for sports fans to communicate during live sporting events using emoticons.</p> <p>Future will tell if these corporate accelerator can compete with the Ycombinators of the world, but for now the trend is gaining strong momentum.</p> </section>	Older, Richer, More Customers: Accelerators Go Corporate [caption id=”” align=”alignright” width=”249"] Zack Weisfeld Microsoft Accelerator[/caption] The success of start-up accelerators like Y Combinator, Tech Stars and 500Startups has spawned hundreds of clones, including more than 15 in Israel. Now the Israeli R&D Centers of Fortune 50 giants like IBM, Citibank, Cisco, Orange and Microsoft are crashing the Accelerator party, nurturing startups in search of an illusory dream: street cred. Demo Day last week at Microsoft Israel reflected some of the unique dynamics of corporate Accelerators- experienced founders, more funding, finished products and existing customers. Corporate accelerators are a recent phenomenon, both in Israel and globally. Microsoft selected Israel last year to launch its very first accelerator program. The company takes no equity, with the emphasis on business and technical mentoring. This helps attract experienced entrepreneurs with products already in development. In fact, while the average age of founding teams in Y Combinator’s latest group is 28 (up from 26 two years ago) the average at Microsoft is 35. Although not nearly as successful as Y Combinator (Ryan Lawler of TechCrunch estimates the value of Y Combinator’s portfolio at more than $13.7 billion), Microsoft is pleased with the outcome and has now launched accelerators in Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin and London, with programs planned for Seattle, Moscow, Paris and Rio de Janeiro. Rahul Sood, General Manager of Microsoft Ventures, identifies Microsoft’s potential contribution. “The number one thing we can do is help them build and acquire a customer base. Show me satisfied customers and I promise they will find funding”. In fact, half of the companies in this batch at Microsoft Israel raised $1 million or more by Demo Day. Taking a page from Microsoft, other prominent corporates are choosing Israel to launch their world-first accelerator programs, albeit with a differentiation strategy. Citibank has just added an Accelerator, called Basecamp TLV, to its Israel Innovation Center. It covers all areas within financial technology, such as payments, markets, trading and analysis. Cisco has announced a Cloud-focused Accelerator, with the added benefit of $50,000 in seed funding. IBM will operate an Accelerator in Haifa, drawing on the technical talent pool associated with Technion and University of Haifa. One strategy these Accelerators should consider is integrating the support of other multinational corporations. For example, Microsoft collaborates with eBay, Comcast, Sears, Saatchi & Saatchi, Y&R and Deutsche Telekom. “The rising number of major multinationals participating in the program and the significant amounts of funding already achieved all point to the increasing success of our program,” says Director of Microsoft Ventures Accelerator, Hanan Lavy. Meet the recent graduates of Microsoft Ventures Tel Aviv Accelerator: Appixia Allows small and medium sized retailers to build and promote their mobile presence. CellMining Disrupts the way mobile operators monitor and fix network failures by providing a crowd-sourced optimization platform. ConferPlace Delivers a full conference experience online, enabling users to take part in any event anywhere in the world without leaving their desk. KitLocate Location-detection tool using almost no battery power, enabling efficient location-based notifications and recommendations. Kytera Uses sensors to track seniors’ activity patterns at home, with cloud-based big-data analytics to dynamically learn their routine and detect distress situations. MetalCompass Augmented-reality gaming system for app-enabled devices that enable real-world game-play. Navin Software-based, crowd-sourced platform/app for indoor navigation. Roojoom Content management system that enables roughly 5x more online content consumption. Semperis Enterprise security tool to manage Identity Platforms (Active Directory). Vubooo Interactive engagement platform for sports fans to communicate during live sporting events using emoticons. Future will tell if these corporate accelerator can compete with the Ycombinators of the world, but for now the trend is gaining strong momentum.	c93ddd84-e225-5488-8e08-db050bbc73ed	25/08/2025 15:59:42
https://medium.com/mib-coin/mib-web-wallet-website-user-guide-1b33c8ce79f	medium.com	MIB Web Wallet Website User Guide	1. Wallet Creation	MIB COIN	https://medium.com/@MIB_COIN	1b33c8ce79f	https://miro.medium.com/…dYB-hR2ihiQ.jpeg	3 min	2018-11-13T01:47:09.857000	2018-11-13T02:20:56.534000	2018-11-13T09:25:01.605000	0	8	en	Mib,Mibmining,Mining,Smartphonemining	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/644/1gEMcLDlxsRRdYB-hR2ihiQ.jpeg" width="644" height="480" loading="lazy" /> <h1><strong>1. Wallet Creation</strong></h1> <p>A. Connect to MIB Web Wallet Website. (www.mibwallet.com)</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1275/1C425mwmKcRFMTWETStNarg.png" width="1275" height="1050" loading="lazy" /> <p>B. Enter Password</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/821/12t2X51vQtJeEXakCXxuTAQ.png" width="821" height="380" loading="lazy" /> <p>C. Click ‘Create a new wallet’ button</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/808/1z_jp-Ky6rHVA13R1mEiSKQ.png" width="808" height="361" loading="lazy" /> <p>D. Click ‘Save’ button. Store the saved Keystore file somewhere safe</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1228/11ySy5hYuTkpNLdKHrLasCA.png" width="1228" height="1056" loading="lazy" /> <p>E. Click ‘Move to next step’ button</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/322/1U2xf2NDG6LakXrlUDqbCWQ.png" width="322" height="79" loading="lazy" /> <p>F. Copy the Key and save it</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1300/19qrytjYX57hQwIo6r-psnw.png" width="1300" height="1125" loading="lazy" /> <h2><strong>2. Check the Wallet information</strong></h2> <p>A. Connect to MIB Web Wallet Website and click ‘View Wallet Info’ button. (www.mibwallet.com)</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1544/1jKSfNGQrZGTfsSPjP7kztQ.png" width="1544" height="1125" loading="lazy" /> <p>B. There are three types of accessing the Wallet, ‘My Wallet Address’, ‘Key Storage/JSON File’, ‘Private Key’.</p> <p>1) Using ‘My Wallet Address’</p> <p>Click “Wallet Address’ Tab, then type your wallet address and click ‘Balance status’ Button.‘</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1734/1Wzkrr0jPKgT7cVR0bOW6aQ.png" width="1734" height="701" loading="lazy" /> <p>2) Using ‘Key Storage/JSON File’</p> <p>Select ‘Key storage/JSON File’ Tab and click ‘key storage/JSON File’ button.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1219/1grDyUJhV77WLXTdqN10bkg.png" width="1219" height="937" loading="lazy" /> <p>3) You will see the below screenshot after selecting ‘key storage/JSON file’. Type your password and click ‘Unlock’ button to see the Wallet information.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1268/1fn_IR-ltis0eR8iZ2D5JGQ.png" width="1268" height="1125" loading="lazy" /> <p>4) Using ‘Private Key’</p> <p>Select ‘Private Key’ Tab and type the private key in the section.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1324/1KcAXj8sab29z3kKBqnwWNA.png" width="1324" height="1125" loading="lazy" /> <h2><strong>3. Send</strong></h2> <p>A. Connect to MIB Web Wallet Website and click ‘Send’ button. (www.mibwallet.com)</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1228/1tDbuAWsobocXEOgq5q4Wcw.png" width="1228" height="944" loading="lazy" /> <p>B. You can choose one of ‘Key storage/JSON File’ and ‘Private Key’ to Send.</p> <p>1) ‘key storage/JSON File’ access method</p> <p>• Click ‘Select key storage/JSON File’ button and select the file.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/987/1chpzVPI_AefXi07b7LgBLA.png" width="987" height="389" loading="lazy" /> <p>•Click ‘Select key storage/JSON File’ button and select the file.</p> <p>• Type ‘Recipient Address’, ‘Amount to Send’, ‘Gas fee’ and click ‘Create a transaction’ button.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/999/1Q5GGURjyiZxIXVdLicyTmg.png" width="999" height="348" loading="lazy" /> <ul> <li>Copy the ‘TxHash’.</li> </ul> <h2><strong>4. Checking TxHash Status</strong></h2> <p>A. Connect to MIB Web Wallet Website and click ‘Check TX status’ button. (www.mibwallet.com)</p> <p>B. Type TxHash Value and click ‘Check TX status’ button.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1244/1M1YLTp8K4hWOVzzc3Invdg.png" width="1244" height="785" loading="lazy" /> </section>	MIB Web Wallet Website User Guide 1. Wallet Creation A. Connect to MIB Web Wallet Website. (www.mibwallet.com) B. Enter Password C. Click ‘Create a new wallet’ button D. Click ‘Save’ button. Store the saved Keystore file somewhere safe E. Click ‘Move to next step’ button F. Copy the Key and save it 2. Check the Wallet information A. Connect to MIB Web Wallet Website and click ‘View Wallet Info’ button. (www.mibwallet.com) B. There are three types of accessing the Wallet, ‘My Wallet Address’, ‘Key Storage/JSON File’, ‘Private Key’. 1) Using ‘My Wallet Address’ Click “Wallet Address’ Tab, then type your wallet address and click ‘Balance status’ Button.‘ 2) Using ‘Key Storage/JSON File’ Select ‘Key storage/JSON File’ Tab and click ‘key storage/JSON File’ button. 3) You will see the below screenshot after selecting ‘key storage/JSON file’. Type your password and click ‘Unlock’ button to see the Wallet information. 4) Using ‘Private Key’ Select ‘Private Key’ Tab and type the private key in the section. 3. Send A. Connect to MIB Web Wallet Website and click ‘Send’ button. (www.mibwallet.com) B. You can choose one of ‘Key storage/JSON File’ and ‘Private Key’ to Send. 1) ‘key storage/JSON File’ access method • Click ‘Select key storage/JSON File’ button and select the file. •Click ‘Select key storage/JSON File’ button and select the file. • Type ‘Recipient Address’, ‘Amount to Send’, ‘Gas fee’ and click ‘Create a transaction’ button. Copy the ‘TxHash’. 4. Checking TxHash Status A. Connect to MIB Web Wallet Website and click ‘Check TX status’ button. (www.mibwallet.com) B. Type TxHash Value and click ‘Check TX status’ button.	30df15d2-f19c-54f6-b32e-23e3d9c355ac	25/08/2025 15:59:43
https://medium.com/@shaundaashbrook/fall-condiment-recipes-for-holidays-whole-cranberry-sauce-and-mostarda-12d650856c52	medium.com	Fall Condiment Recipes for Holidays: Whole Cranberry Sauce and Mostarda	null	Brenden	https://medium.com/@shaundaashbrook	12d650856c52	https://miro.medium.com/max/2000/0*DHhyM_FfSm9Pf7f3.	0 min	2016-11-12T03:30:49.823000	2016-11-12T03:30:50.627000	2016-11-12T03:30:50.627000	0	0	en	Fat Burning Foods,Fat Burning Recipe,Health Foods,Health Recipe,Weightloss Foods	<section> <p>Pick a quiet fall day to make your own special whole cranberry sauce and delicious Italian mostarda condiment. It’s quite easy and very economical to make condiments you’ll be proud to put on your Holiday table. from food3 <a href="http://ift.tt/2g40Dt0">http://ift.tt/2g40Dt0</a> via <a href="http://ift.tt/291VdXs">alanafalk.jimdo.com</a></p> <p>from Tumblr <a href="http://ift.tt/2fJsgqG">http://ift.tt/2fJsgqG</a> via <a href="http://ift.tt/291VdXs">alanafalk.jimdo.com</a> from Blogger <a href="http://ift.tt/2fl1t38">http://ift.tt/2fl1t38</a> November 12, 2016 at 09:30AM</p> <p><em>Originally published on <a hre</em>f="http://ift.tt/2eQU2Qw">Tumblr</a></p> <p>Read More <a href="http://fezbuk.beep.com">[email protected]</a></p> </section>	Pick a quiet fall day to make your own special whole cranberry sauce and delicious Italian mostarda condiment. It’s quite easy and very economical to make condiments you’ll be proud to put on your Holiday table. from food3 http://ift.tt/2g40Dt0 via alanafalk.jimdo.com from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2fJsgqG via alanafalk.jimdo.com from Blogger http://ift.tt/2fl1t38 November 12, 2016 at 09:30AM Originally published on Tumblr Read More [email protected]	f3ac7cca-8bfa-5f76-9f9b-64ec01059cbe	25/08/2025 15:59:43
https://medium.com/@boydcc18/when-a-military-escort-with-guns-says-youre-going-to-the-border-you-don-t-have-a-choice-3e84cec4f2ac	medium.com	When a military escort with guns says you’re going to the border, you don’t have a choice	As crossing into Nigeria is deemed unsafe by their military escort with guns, Matt from Indefinite Detour finds himself in border limbo…	Christopher Boyd	https://medium.com/@boydcc18	3e84cec4f2ac	https://miro.medium.com/…KK8FuK3b1Tg.jpeg	5 min	2019-06-11T05:32:12.598000	2019-06-11T05:18:32	2021-12-10T10:46:14.437000	0	0	en	Travel,Armed Conflict,Visa Problem,Backpacking,Travel Blogger	<section> <p>As crossing into Nigeria is deemed unsafe by their military escort with guns, <a href="https://indefinitedetour.com/about/">Matt from Indefinite Detour</a> finds himself in border limbo. Lacking the necessary visas to turn back, his group is forced to camp in an area with a recent history of conflict and gunfire.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/500/1*b-OnfQWm3GLKK8FuK3b1Tg.jpeg" width="500" height="333" loading="lazy" /> <h1>Matt: We got our visas for Cameroon in Calabar, Nigeria.</h1> <p>About that time, they let us know the border crossing at Ekok was completely closed. It used to be the main border, but because of the problems in Cameroon over the last couple years, it’s officially closed. You can still sometimes can get through, apparently. When we got the visas, everyone advised us, “Don’t try to cross there, go to a border point much further north, or take the ferry and go around.”</p> <p>Being on the truck, we didn’t have any real say in where it went, but we passed that information to the bosses in the UK. They decided we would try and cross anyway. Which, not the greatest idea. We actually got across, which surprised us. We made it out of Nigeria and into Cameroon. At that point, we thought everything was sorted. One of the conditions of going across was that we had to have a military escort because it was in a high conflict area at the time.</p> <p>Me: Was it a civil war? Matt: It wasn’t quite. It was looking like it was building up to one. It was the English and French speaking parts of Cameroon that had basically been… escalating conflict. Because the escort wasn’t there when we crossed, we camped in the police compound on the border. We were setting up the tents and they advised us to move them because a couple of weeks ago there were bullets flying out of the trees, coming up the ridge line. It was that kind of situation.</p> <h2>We were advised to move our tents because of a couple weeks ago there were bullets flying out of the trees</h2> <p>The following morning, the escort turned up and started taking us where we thought we were going. We got not far at all from the border, basically the next town. They stuck us in a hotel and said, “Wait here, we’ll come back.” We didn’t see them again for the rest of the day. The following morning, they turned up and said, “We aren’t going any further. You’re going back to the border.”</p> <p>Me: Why? Matt: They quoted ‘safety’ as the main reason. Our response was, “We know, that’s why you’re our escort, because it’s not safe without it.” At the end of the day, when you have a military escort with the guns saying you’re going to the border, you don’t have a choice.</p> <h2>When a military escort with guns says you’re going to the border, you don’t have a choice</h2> <p>That’s where we got stuck. they wouldn’t let us go further.</p> <p>Me: What were you thinking at the point when they told you to turn around? Was it a temporary setback in your mind, or was this a big trip-altering change?</p> <p>Matt: We weren’t sure. We were thinking it would be temporary, and most of us had the same view. Solely because, when we got back to the border, they couldn’t send us out because we didn’t have a Nigerian visa to get back into Nigeria. That was what we expected to happen. We’d get back to the border post and basically sit there until they decided, “Actually, you’re here. We have to do something, we can’t just keep you at this border forever.” It was basically a case of the Cameroonian and Nigerian authorities arguing between them as what was going to happen.</p> <h2>Actually, you’re here. We have to do something, we can’t just keep you at this border forever</h2> <p>The driver of the truck was going back and forth, trying to sort something out. We were all hoping it would get resolved, that Cameroon would get fed up and just let us carry on anyway. As it turns out, it got resolved quite quickly when Nigeria decided we could have a transit visa. They would issue us one at the border, free of charge, to let us back in so we could get around to the different border post where we should have crossed in the first place.</p> <p>Me: They advised you to not cross at a particular border crossing, then you successfully crossed but then almost immediately you had to turn around?</p> <p>Matt: Basically we were stuck while both sides were arguing. It wasn’t a bad place to be stuck, depending on who you ask. It was quite nice for a border town. Obviously tiny being on a border, there were still a couple places to get food and drinks. There was a well around back where we could get water to bathe. But it was a red zone for the FCO (Foreign & Commonwealth Office); a conflict zone. Everyone was a bit on edge the whole time. We saw no sign of anything near us that was a concern, but on the drive from the town and back, we saw shot up cars and vehicles. A lot of signs there had been conflict. It hadn’t been the most relaxing couple of days.</p> <h2>It wasn’t a bad place to be stuck, depending on who you ask</h2> <p>Me: I imagine you guys were a bit tense. Matt: A little bit, yeah. There was a relief when we came out, but then there was a whole other issue due to the visas problems we caused.</p> <p>Me: At any point were you seriously concerned? Matt: My main concern was about my visa, because it was single entry. When we got kicked out of Cameroon, it meant my visa was no longer valid. That was my main concern. In terms of safety, I didn’t see anything bad that was a major concern. A lot of the military was … basically kids with guns. That wasn’t the most reassuring thing to see.</p> <p>Me: Like 16 year olds with Kalashnikovs kinda thing? Matt: Pretty much. We had one of the escorts in the back of our truck trying to reload. He was trying to put the the magazine in backwards. It took him a long time to realize he was doing it backwards.</p> <h2>It took him a long time to realize he was doing it backwards</h2> <p>Me: You noticed it was backwards before he did? Matt: Yeah. It was pretty much a Kalashnikov, so it’s pretty obvious which way around it was supposed to be.</p> <p>Me: At this point, I wouldn’t put too much trust into the security detail. Matt: No, that was kinda how we felt as well. There wasn’t much trust they would actually do something if anything happened.</p> <p>Me: Sounds like in the end it was fine? Matt: Basically, it was Nigeria saved our asses, in terms of giving us that transit visa to let us through and sort it out. Everyone else on the truck was able to go north and take the border crossing as they planned.</p> <p>Me: Every story I’ve gotten, it always works out in the end. There’s never been a true disaster where people get stuck or fucked. Matt: Personally we would have preferred to be stuck at the border until Cameroon gave up and we could have continued on the way we were planning to go. It’s one of those things, it comes with part of travel. It is what it is, and you have to adapt to it.</p> <h2>When Matt isn’t in a military escort with guns, he is elsewhere in Africa on his open-ended backpacking tour. Read more about his adventures <a href="https://indefinitedetour.com">here</a> or follow him on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/IndefiniteDetour">Facebook</a>.</h2> <p><strong>Looking for more stories like this? Read about one man’s escape from <a href="http:/</strong>/whynottotravel.com/trouble-with-the-law/war-in-ukraine/">war with Russia</a></p> <p><em>Originally published at <a href="http://whynottotravel.com/trouble-</em>with-the-law/military-escort-with-guns/">http://whynottotravel.com</a> on June 11, 2019.</p> </section>	When a military escort with guns says you’re going to the border, you don’t have a choice As crossing into Nigeria is deemed unsafe by their military escort with guns, Matt from Indefinite Detour finds himself in border limbo. Lacking the necessary visas to turn back, his group is forced to camp in an area with a recent history of conflict and gunfire. I fought the law, and the law won. Matt: We got our visas for Cameroon in Calabar, Nigeria. About that time, they let us know the border crossing at Ekok was completely closed. It used to be the main border, but because of the problems in Cameroon over the last couple years, it’s officially closed. You can still sometimes can get through, apparently. When we got the visas, everyone advised us, “Don’t try to cross there, go to a border point much further north, or take the ferry and go around.” Being on the truck, we didn’t have any real say in where it went, but we passed that information to the bosses in the UK. They decided we would try and cross anyway. Which, not the greatest idea. We actually got across, which surprised us. We made it out of Nigeria and into Cameroon. At that point, we thought everything was sorted. One of the conditions of going across was that we had to have a military escort because it was in a high conflict area at the time. Me: Was it a civil war? Matt: It wasn’t quite. It was looking like it was building up to one. It was the English and French speaking parts of Cameroon that had basically been… escalating conflict. Because the escort wasn’t there when we crossed, we camped in the police compound on the border. We were setting up the tents and they advised us to move them because a couple of weeks ago there were bullets flying out of the trees, coming up the ridge line. It was that kind of situation. We were advised to move our tents because of a couple weeks ago there were bullets flying out of the trees The following morning, the escort turned up and started taking us where we thought we were going. We got not far at all from the border, basically the next town. They stuck us in a hotel and said, “Wait here, we’ll come back.” We didn’t see them again for the rest of the day. The following morning, they turned up and said, “We aren’t going any further. You’re going back to the border.” Me: Why? Matt: They quoted ‘safety’ as the main reason. Our response was, “We know, that’s why you’re our escort, because it’s not safe without it.” At the end of the day, when you have a military escort with the guns saying you’re going to the border, you don’t have a choice. When a military escort with guns says you’re going to the border, you don’t have a choice That’s where we got stuck. they wouldn’t let us go further. Me: What were you thinking at the point when they told you to turn around? Was it a temporary setback in your mind, or was this a big trip-altering change? Matt: We weren’t sure. We were thinking it would be temporary, and most of us had the same view. Solely because, when we got back to the border, they couldn’t send us out because we didn’t have a Nigerian visa to get back into Nigeria. That was what we expected to happen. We’d get back to the border post and basically sit there until they decided, “Actually, you’re here. We have to do something, we can’t just keep you at this border forever.” It was basically a case of the Cameroonian and Nigerian authorities arguing between them as what was going to happen. Actually, you’re here. We have to do something, we can’t just keep you at this border forever The driver of the truck was going back and forth, trying to sort something out. We were all hoping it would get resolved, that Cameroon would get fed up and just let us carry on anyway. As it turns out, it got resolved quite quickly when Nigeria decided we could have a transit visa. They would issue us one at the border, free of charge, to let us back in so we could get around to the different border post where we should have crossed in the first place. Me: They advised you to not cross at a particular border crossing, then you successfully crossed but then almost immediately you had to turn around? Matt: Basically we were stuck while both sides were arguing. It wasn’t a bad place to be stuck, depending on who you ask. It was quite nice for a border town. Obviously tiny being on a border, there were still a couple places to get food and drinks. There was a well around back where we could get water to bathe. But it was a red zone for the FCO (Foreign & Commonwealth Office); a conflict zone. Everyone was a bit on edge the whole time. We saw no sign of anything near us that was a concern, but on the drive from the town and back, we saw shot up cars and vehicles. A lot of signs there had been conflict. It hadn’t been the most relaxing couple of days. It wasn’t a bad place to be stuck, depending on who you ask Me: I imagine you guys were a bit tense. Matt: A little bit, yeah. There was a relief when we came out, but then there was a whole other issue due to the visas problems we caused. Me: At any point were you seriously concerned? Matt: My main concern was about my visa, because it was single entry. When we got kicked out of Cameroon, it meant my visa was no longer valid. That was my main concern. In terms of safety, I didn’t see anything bad that was a major concern. A lot of the military was … basically kids with guns. That wasn’t the most reassuring thing to see. Me: Like 16 year olds with Kalashnikovs kinda thing? Matt: Pretty much. We had one of the escorts in the back of our truck trying to reload. He was trying to put the the magazine in backwards. It took him a long time to realize he was doing it backwards. It took him a long time to realize he was doing it backwards Me: You noticed it was backwards before he did? Matt: Yeah. It was pretty much a Kalashnikov, so it’s pretty obvious which way around it was supposed to be. Me: At this point, I wouldn’t put too much trust into the security detail. Matt: No, that was kinda how we felt as well. There wasn’t much trust they would actually do something if anything happened. Me: Sounds like in the end it was fine? Matt: Basically, it was Nigeria saved our asses, in terms of giving us that transit visa to let us through and sort it out. Everyone else on the truck was able to go north and take the border crossing as they planned. Me: Every story I’ve gotten, it always works out in the end. There’s never been a true disaster where people get stuck or fucked. Matt: Personally we would have preferred to be stuck at the border until Cameroon gave up and we could have continued on the way we were planning to go. It’s one of those things, it comes with part of travel. It is what it is, and you have to adapt to it. When Matt isn’t in a military escort with guns, he is elsewhere in Africa on his open-ended backpacking tour. Read more about his adventures here or follow him on Facebook. Looking for more stories like this? Read about one man’s escape from war with Russia Originally published at http://whynottotravel.com on June 11, 2019.	4c517318-a732-5e8b-ac92-a71075fcbdaf	25/08/2025 15:59:43
https://dailyoutsider.medium.com/notations-from-the-grid-weekly-edition-on-potus-watch-c7dacbb06797	medium.com	Notations From the Grid (Weekly Edition): On @POTUS Watch	We view today as a challenging day in the aftermath of the deliberations in the aftermath of President Trump’s tweets and the vote in the…	The Daily Outsider	https://medium.com/@dailyoutsider	c7dacbb06797	https://miro.medium.com/…wzpinjIy6ET2.JPG	5 min	2019-07-17T00:26:38.607000	2019-07-17T13:31:01.065000	2022-03-30T21:16:56.163000	0	0	en	2016 Election,Donald Trump,Apollo 11,GOP	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/640/09GdzwzpinjIy6ET2.JPG" width="640" height="537" loading="lazy" /> <p>We view today as a challenging day in the aftermath of the deliberations in the aftermath of President Trump’s tweets and the vote in the House of Representatives. As our team decided to headline this declaration from the crew of Apollo 11 as we also feature the latest from the Editor of The Bulwark that captures the challenges faced by the GOP in the aftermath of the challenges of the last few days exemplified by what we captured on our daily assessment over Twitter:</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/281/0XA26T8vmKHtQyeFw.PNG" width="281" height="320" loading="lazy" /> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/320/0uTnme9POexoASjOS.PNG" width="320" height="181" loading="lazy" /> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/293/0tZAWIIRQJ1JDkChZ.PNG" width="293" height="320" loading="lazy" /> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/250/0qZQhO1YZBNvWjRRj.PNG" width="250" height="320" loading="lazy" /> <p>We close out with this from the Editor of the Bulwark, JV Last that captures the challenge represented by the GOP in the aftermath of the Vote today and the stance taken by GOP Leaders:</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/650/0M46UZlDiWNQD7EGh.png" width="650" height="146" loading="lazy" /> <h1>1. Trump and the GOP</h1> <p><em><strong>This is the passage that struck me most in the George Conway <a href="https://thebulw</em>ark.us18</strong>.list-manage.com/track/click?u=41df14e6667a85d0f6e4a4f5e&id=bac2984774&e=18bfa3b14b">piece</a> everyone is talking about:</p> <p><strong>What’s just as bad, though, is the virtual silence from Republican leaders and officeholders. They’re silent not because they agree with Trump. Surely they know better. They’re silent because, knowing that he’s incorrigible, they have inured themselves to his wild statements; because, knowing that he’s a fool, they don’t really take his words seriously and pretend that others shouldn’t, either; because, knowing how damaging Trump’s words are, the Republicans don’t want to give succor to their political enemies; because, knowing how vindictive, stubborn and obtusely self-destructive Trump is, they fear his wrath.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>What is it, exactly, that we want from elected Repu</em>blicans?</strong></p> <p><em><strong>In a perfect world, what we’d want is some combination of the fo</em>llowing:</strong></p> <ul> <li><em><strong>Universal condemnation of Trump’s </em>remarks.</strong></li> <li><em><strong>Reaching out to Democrats in order to establish a bipartisan response showing unity of </em>purpose.</strong></li> <li><em><strong>Backing of a formal censure or similar statement of legislative conde</em>mnation.</strong></li> </ul> <p><em><strong>The problem is that we do not now, nor have we ever lived in a perfec</em>t world.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>So I would suggest that while this is a reasonable hope, it would be an unreasonable expe</em>ctation.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>In the real world, there is some percentage of elected Republicans who simply will not criticize Presiden</em>t Trump.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>Their reasons may differ. Some of them genuinely believe that it is not their place. Some genuinely believe that their party is bigger than any one man and must be supported at all costs. Some genuinely believe that criticizing Trump will produce worse outcomes than not criticiz</em>ing him.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>And some genuinely believe that Trump is right on the merits. Which is to say, they also wish that brown people would just “go back to their own cou</em>ntries.”</strong></p> <p><em><strong>Which leaves us with a Republican party in which only some percentage would even want to criticize or censure Trump, even if they got a free pass for d</em>oing so.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>Would that percentage by 80 percent? Or 50 percent? Or 40 </em>percent?</strong></p> <p><em><strong>I don’t know. But it doesn’t really matter because the reality is that it means that the Republican party can’t/won’t criticize Trump. Only some portion of it coul</em>d/would.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>So when we say that we want Republicans to condemn Trump here, we’re saying that we want them to break th</em>e party.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>That’s a </em>big ask.</strong></p> <h2>2. The Case For Blowing It All Up</h2> <p><em><strong>First, let’s make the case for not blowing up </em>the GOP.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>Let’s say you’re a Republican office holder who despises Trump. Some nice, handsome fellow named Sen Basse. Or Gike Ma</em>llagher.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>If you keep your head down and let this pass, you stay in the game and will have some say in future events. But that’s not the real point. You can’t predict the future and maybe you’re never in a position to add rea</em>l value.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>No, the real point is that if you blow it all up there’s an excellent chance you’ll be replaced by, well, someone like Greg Gianforte. Or Ste</em>ve King.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>Which is to say, instead of having some Republicans in Congress who quietly disagree with Trump’s racism, you’ll have more people who eagerly and vociferously agree </em>with it.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>That would give me pau</em>se, too.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>And further, what would your condemnations really accomplish right now? The 2020 election is close enough that it’s the only thing that really matters, but far enough away that there’s plenty of time for people to forget all about this i</em>ncident.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>If the Trump Experience has taught us anything, it’s that there’s alwa</em>ys more.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>So maybe you decide that institutions matter and that you’d rather <a href="https:</em>//thebul</strong>wark.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=41df14e6667a85d0f6e4a4f5e&id=16212e6fb2&e=18bfa3b14b">work within the system</a>.</p> <h2>3. OTOH</h2> <p><em><strong>On the other hand, Republicans have been telling themselves that same story since 2015 and how’s that been working out f</em>or them?</strong></p> <p><em><strong>At just about every step in Trump’s ascension, Republicans who had the power to stop him chose not to, for more or less the reasons outline</em>d above.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>The biggest of these missed opportunities was Paul Ryan’s decision not to mount an active campaign against Trump following the Access Hollywo</em>od tape.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>Had Ryan actively turned on Trump and called on other Republicans to do the same, he would have broken the party. That’s a 100 percent ce</em>rtainty.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>But Trump would not be president today. That’s also a 100 percent ce</em>rtainty.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>Which means that all of the damage Trump has inflicted on the GOP since 2016 wouldn’t have happened. Without the power of the White House, his institutional hold on the party would have been</em> broken.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>Paul Ryan’s political career would have been over, too. But then, that was inevitable at the time anyway. Ryan just didn’t rea</em>lize it.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>So there’s the case for Republicans actually speaking the</em>ir mind:</strong></p> <p><em><strong>You might break th</em>e party.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>You might sacrifice your political</em> career.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>But those things are happening already. Ri</em>ght now.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>With every passing corruption, the institutional value of the party diminishes. (Remember, institutions are only forces for good when they are in the right hands. When bad people control them, institutions can be deeply destr</em>uctive.)</strong></p> <p><em><strong>And if you disagree with President Trump on whether or not your political opponents should “go back to their own country” then you are out of step with your party. And that bill will come due eve</em>ntually.</strong></p> <p><em><strong>Just ask Pa</em>ul Ryan.</strong></p> <p>Originally published at: <a href="https://www.thedailyoutsider.com/2019/07/notations-from-grid-weekly-edition-on.html">https://www.thedailyoutsider.com/2019/07/notations-from-grid-weekly-edition-on.html</a>, 7/16/2019</p> </section>	Notations From the Grid (Weekly Edition): On @POTUS Watch We view today as a challenging day in the aftermath of the deliberations in the aftermath of President Trump’s tweets and the vote in the House of Representatives. As our team decided to headline this declaration from the crew of Apollo 11 as we also feature the latest from the Editor of The Bulwark that captures the challenges faced by the GOP in the aftermath of the challenges of the last few days exemplified by what we captured on our daily assessment over Twitter: We close out with this from the Editor of the Bulwark, JV Last that captures the challenge represented by the GOP in the aftermath of the Vote today and the stance taken by GOP Leaders: 1. Trump and the GOP This is the passage that struck me most in the George Conway piece everyone is talking about: What’s just as bad, though, is the virtual silence from Republican leaders and officeholders. They’re silent not because they agree with Trump. Surely they know better. They’re silent because, knowing that he’s incorrigible, they have inured themselves to his wild statements; because, knowing that he’s a fool, they don’t really take his words seriously and pretend that others shouldn’t, either; because, knowing how damaging Trump’s words are, the Republicans don’t want to give succor to their political enemies; because, knowing how vindictive, stubborn and obtusely self-destructive Trump is, they fear his wrath. What is it, exactly, that we want from elected Republicans? In a perfect world, what we’d want is some combination of the following: Universal condemnation of Trump’s remarks. Reaching out to Democrats in order to establish a bipartisan response showing unity of purpose. Backing of a formal censure or similar statement of legislative condemnation. The problem is that we do not now, nor have we ever lived in a perfect world. So I would suggest that while this is a reasonable hope, it would be an unreasonable expectation. In the real world, there is some percentage of elected Republicans who simply will not criticize President Trump. Their reasons may differ. Some of them genuinely believe that it is not their place. Some genuinely believe that their party is bigger than any one man and must be supported at all costs. Some genuinely believe that criticizing Trump will produce worse outcomes than not criticizing him. And some genuinely believe that Trump is right on the merits. Which is to say, they also wish that brown people would just “go back to their own countries.” Which leaves us with a Republican party in which only some percentage would even want to criticize or censure Trump, even if they got a free pass for doing so. Would that percentage by 80 percent? Or 50 percent? Or 40 percent? I don’t know. But it doesn’t really matter because the reality is that it means that the Republican party can’t/won’t criticize Trump. Only some portion of it could/would. So when we say that we want Republicans to condemn Trump here, we’re saying that we want them to break the party. That’s a big ask. 2. The Case For Blowing It All Up First, let’s make the case for not blowing up the GOP. Let’s say you’re a Republican office holder who despises Trump. Some nice, handsome fellow named Sen Basse. Or Gike Mallagher. If you keep your head down and let this pass, you stay in the game and will have some say in future events. But that’s not the real point. You can’t predict the future and maybe you’re never in a position to add real value. No, the real point is that if you blow it all up there’s an excellent chance you’ll be replaced by, well, someone like Greg Gianforte. Or Steve King. Which is to say, instead of having some Republicans in Congress who quietly disagree with Trump’s racism, you’ll have more people who eagerly and vociferously agree with it. That would give me pause, too. And further, what would your condemnations really accomplish right now? The 2020 election is close enough that it’s the only thing that really matters, but far enough away that there’s plenty of time for people to forget all about this incident. If the Trump Experience has taught us anything, it’s that there’s always more. So maybe you decide that institutions matter and that you’d rather work within the system. 3. OTOH On the other hand, Republicans have been telling themselves that same story since 2015 and how’s that been working out for them? At just about every step in Trump’s ascension, Republicans who had the power to stop him chose not to, for more or less the reasons outlined above. The biggest of these missed opportunities was Paul Ryan’s decision not to mount an active campaign against Trump following the Access Hollywood tape. Had Ryan actively turned on Trump and called on other Republicans to do the same, he would have broken the party. That’s a 100 percent certainty. But Trump would not be president today. That’s also a 100 percent certainty. Which means that all of the damage Trump has inflicted on the GOP since 2016 wouldn’t have happened. Without the power of the White House, his institutional hold on the party would have been broken. Paul Ryan’s political career would have been over, too. But then, that was inevitable at the time anyway. Ryan just didn’t realize it. So there’s the case for Republicans actually speaking their mind: You might break the party. You might sacrifice your political career. But those things are happening already. Right now. With every passing corruption, the institutional value of the party diminishes. (Remember, institutions are only forces for good when they are in the right hands. When bad people control them, institutions can be deeply destructive.) And if you disagree with President Trump on whether or not your political opponents should “go back to their own country” then you are out of step with your party. And that bill will come due eventually. Just ask Paul Ryan. Originally published at: https://www.thedailyoutsider.com/2019/07/notations-from-grid-weekly-edition-on.html, 7/16/2019	aadb5383-2030-5081-a5aa-4555885f7f9b	25/08/2025 15:59:44
https://medium.com/graduatesofdemocracy/a-country-turned-upside-down-7283a4232856	medium.com	A country turned upside down	null	Graduates Democracy	https://medium.com/@democracygrads	7283a4232856	https://miro.medium.com/max/2000/0*NxSVeFO3Js3LiXSa.	4 min	2017-10-16T07:51:49.792000	2015-10-25T13:38:40	2017-10-16T08:50:53.720000	0	0	en	Elections,Legislativas2015,Portugal	<section> <p>[caption id=”attachment_504" align=”alignright” width=”300"]</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/300/0NxSVeFO3Js3LiXSa." width="300" height="225" loading="lazy" /> <p>An upside down flag? It sure is the sign of times, 2012[/caption]</p> <p>Since the “Carnation Revolution” of 1974, which overthrew a 48-year long dictatorship, there have not been many moments in the political history of Portugal as exciting and filled with possibilities as the present one. After 4 years of intense austerity measures that followed an IMF bailout, leaving large segments of the population unsatisfied and many on the verge of poverty, this year’s legislative elections were much awaited. On the one hand, the conservative coalition headed by current Prime-Minister Pedro Passos Coelho (PAF, meaning “Portugal Ahead”) reaffirmed its commitment to international responsibilities and praised the achievements of austerity, criticising what was described as irresponsible political experimentation on the part of the left-wing opposition. On the other hand, the Socialist Party (PS) stood firmly against austerity and promised to fight soaring unemployment (12%) and mass emigration. From the beginning of the campaign, PS’s leader António Costa, former Mayor of Lisbon, refused any kind of cooperation with the conservatives.</p> <p>After a widely scrutinized debate, broadcasted on all major channels, but which turned out to be more about technocracy and old political ghosts than concrete alternatives for concrete national problems, voters were still torn. Although polls had for a while indicated a victory from the right, it actually came as a surprise — at least if one considers the political directions taken by other countries that underwent economic adjustment programs — that PAF managed to get the majority of seats in parliament on the general election of October 4th (general might be an overstatement here, if we consider the 40% rate of abstention). “A country with Stockholm syndrome” or “The Portuguese have the government they deserve”, were common expressions of discontent from the left. Yet, the fact that despite all social dissatisfaction and disregard towards the current government, PS still lost the elections, made one thing very clear: Portuguese voters do not see current day PS as the “True Alternative” it claims to be.</p> <p>However, very few would have predicted what happened next. With 12 seats short of a majority in parliament, PAF’s performance in the ballot was not exactly stellar. PS rose to 32%, while the radical Left Bloc doubled its votes, passing the Communist Party. Indeed, more people voted for left wing alternatives than the ones who did not. The Portuguese tradition that the President invites the leader of the most voted party to constitute a Government has become set in stone in the minds of politicians and voters alike, even if not enshrined in law and despite the common practice of post-election coalitions. Moreover, for historical, programmatic and leadership reasons, an understanding between the different left wing parties was never on the horizon after 1975. It might have remained a dream for some, but it has rarely been more than a joke in the eyes of the majority of the left identified Portuguese population. Now, the natural assumption that PAF would continue in power had been challenged in light of the unprecedented negotiations between PS, the Left Bloc and the Communist Party.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/300/0K3YZVimlogQGpCJ4." width="300" height="151" loading="lazy" /> <p>Deputies elected in this last Election</p> <p>In a national speech held on October 22nd, President Cavaco Silva chose to continue the tradition of appointing the most voted party leader as PM, despite PAF having no parliament majority. Although the President did act according to his powers and constitutional procedures, the remarks that followed the naming of Passos Coelho were probably the most unfortunate and shameful our democracy has seen. In a last resort to appeal to an agreement between the two most voted Parties/Coalitions, PAF and PS, the President declared he would not appoint someone supported by Eurosceptic and anti-NATO parties which threaten democratic valued and whose victory would displease “the markets”. In other words: “I know 1 million Portuguese voted for left-wing parties in a democratic way, but sometimes democracy has to take a back seat for the sake of the markets. These parties cannot be considered a viable option and thus PS should reconsider its decision”.</p> <p>In what many are now calling a boomerang effect, any last hope for an agreement between the two major political groups seems to be gone. The Left came out of this speech more united than ever and the government’s program is now almost 100% certain to be rejected. The following weeks will be of the utmost importance to our country’s political situation and will be remembered by the next generations. For the time being, two questions remain: “Can the dream of a united left finally be realized?” and more importantly, “Could this have happen as a result of a common effort to guarantee that the brutal effects of austerity no longer take their toll on the weak?”</p> <p>Filipa Pestana, 2015 Graduate of Democracy and has studied International Relations/Middle Eastern Studies.</p> <p>Luis Carvalho, 2015 Graduate of Democracy and an Economics Student</p> </section>	A country turned upside down [caption id=”attachment_504" align=”alignright” width=”300"] An upside down flag? It sure is the sign of times, 2012[/caption] Since the “Carnation Revolution” of 1974, which overthrew a 48-year long dictatorship, there have not been many moments in the political history of Portugal as exciting and filled with possibilities as the present one. After 4 years of intense austerity measures that followed an IMF bailout, leaving large segments of the population unsatisfied and many on the verge of poverty, this year’s legislative elections were much awaited. On the one hand, the conservative coalition headed by current Prime-Minister Pedro Passos Coelho (PAF, meaning “Portugal Ahead”) reaffirmed its commitment to international responsibilities and praised the achievements of austerity, criticising what was described as irresponsible political experimentation on the part of the left-wing opposition. On the other hand, the Socialist Party (PS) stood firmly against austerity and promised to fight soaring unemployment (12%) and mass emigration. From the beginning of the campaign, PS’s leader António Costa, former Mayor of Lisbon, refused any kind of cooperation with the conservatives. After a widely scrutinized debate, broadcasted on all major channels, but which turned out to be more about technocracy and old political ghosts than concrete alternatives for concrete national problems, voters were still torn. Although polls had for a while indicated a victory from the right, it actually came as a surprise — at least if one considers the political directions taken by other countries that underwent economic adjustment programs — that PAF managed to get the majority of seats in parliament on the general election of October 4th (general might be an overstatement here, if we consider the 40% rate of abstention). “A country with Stockholm syndrome” or “The Portuguese have the government they deserve”, were common expressions of discontent from the left. Yet, the fact that despite all social dissatisfaction and disregard towards the current government, PS still lost the elections, made one thing very clear: Portuguese voters do not see current day PS as the “True Alternative” it claims to be. However, very few would have predicted what happened next. With 12 seats short of a majority in parliament, PAF’s performance in the ballot was not exactly stellar. PS rose to 32%, while the radical Left Bloc doubled its votes, passing the Communist Party. Indeed, more people voted for left wing alternatives than the ones who did not. The Portuguese tradition that the President invites the leader of the most voted party to constitute a Government has become set in stone in the minds of politicians and voters alike, even if not enshrined in law and despite the common practice of post-election coalitions. Moreover, for historical, programmatic and leadership reasons, an understanding between the different left wing parties was never on the horizon after 1975. It might have remained a dream for some, but it has rarely been more than a joke in the eyes of the majority of the left identified Portuguese population. Now, the natural assumption that PAF would continue in power had been challenged in light of the unprecedented negotiations between PS, the Left Bloc and the Communist Party. Deputies elected in this last Election In a national speech held on October 22nd, President Cavaco Silva chose to continue the tradition of appointing the most voted party leader as PM, despite PAF having no parliament majority. Although the President did act according to his powers and constitutional procedures, the remarks that followed the naming of Passos Coelho were probably the most unfortunate and shameful our democracy has seen. In a last resort to appeal to an agreement between the two most voted Parties/Coalitions, PAF and PS, the President declared he would not appoint someone supported by Eurosceptic and anti-NATO parties which threaten democratic valued and whose victory would displease “the markets”. In other words: “I know 1 million Portuguese voted for left-wing parties in a democratic way, but sometimes democracy has to take a back seat for the sake of the markets. These parties cannot be considered a viable option and thus PS should reconsider its decision”. In what many are now calling a boomerang effect, any last hope for an agreement between the two major political groups seems to be gone. The Left came out of this speech more united than ever and the government’s program is now almost 100% certain to be rejected. The following weeks will be of the utmost importance to our country’s political situation and will be remembered by the next generations. For the time being, two questions remain: “Can the dream of a united left finally be realized?” and more importantly, “Could this have happen as a result of a common effort to guarantee that the brutal effects of austerity no longer take their toll on the weak?” Filipa Pestana, 2015 Graduate of Democracy and has studied International Relations/Middle Eastern Studies. Luis Carvalho, 2015 Graduate of Democracy and an Economics Student	ff97d614-2ee1-5ee3-ad7d-28d58325e7c7	25/08/2025 15:59:44
https://medium.com/cinematicvr/the-incredible-magical-hololens-a0fa593f844d	medium.com	The Incredible, Magical Hololens	A major disruption in computing is upon us. I’m not making an overstatement: the Hololens is going to change the world.	Charlie Fink	https://medium.com/@charliefink	a0fa593f844d	https://miro.medium.com/…7DK1tawpH3A.jpeg	4 min	2017-01-08T17:46:46.570000	2017-01-08T19:06:43.417000	2018-06-10T18:31:48.435000	5	52	en	Virtual Reality,Augmented Reality,Technology,Ces 2017,Microsoft	<section> <h3>A major disruption in computing is upon us.</h3> <p>I am a believer. The Hololens is a game changing device that will alter the technology landscape in ways we can’t even imagine. It represents one of biggest disruptions in computing since the smart phone. It may replace the computer monitor.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1300/1Jqti2LX6ACH7DK1tawpH3A.jpeg" width="1300" height="731" loading="lazy" /> <p>I found out about the Hololens CES demo almost by accident. In the corner of the big ballroom where vendors gave the press a preview Tuesday night, I met Bob Sopko, the partnership manager for Case Western University’s Innovation Lab. There was nothing in his small, out-of-the-way booth in the corner of the big room except for a banner and a couple of students. “You should see our anatomy demo on the Hololens,” he said, “and also we’re going to have the Cavaliers Basketball Trophy Friday afternoon.” He spoke about the trophy with such reverence that I decided I’d visit Case Western’s booth after its holy appearance. I should not have waited. I should not have prioritized Vive and PlaystationVR. In fact, the Case Western demo erased every other memory of CES.</p> <blockquote>The Hololens has changed the way I look at everything in the VR/VR ecosystem. I’m not making an overstatement: the Hololens is going to change the world.</blockquote> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1920/1BR72CbEDLyihwU5er6QM2w.jpeg" width="1920" height="1090" loading="lazy" /> <h3><strong>The Hololens</strong></h3> <p>The Microsoft HoloLens is the world’s first fully untethered holographic computer. It weighs just 579 grams (1.3 lbs) and fits comfortably on the head, leaving plenty of room for eyewear. The screen, a tiny, semi-transparent window, floats in front of you. The Hololens is completely wireless and can be networked with other headsets around you, or even users elsewhere. And you could easily wear it all day every day.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/969/1U4y--wXW16Ci_ZhKiPlAMA.jpeg" width="969" height="449" loading="lazy" /> <h3><strong>The Demo</strong></h3> <p>When the demo starts, the box floating in front of me is transformed into a window through which I saw a fully three dimensional, semi-transparent hologram, floating in space. I walked around it, crawled under it, and watched Robert Gotschall, one of the Case engineers who developed the applications, move and scale it with his fingers, no glove or controller needed.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/660/1V-uyKMKc4q54-L7OQ1ko7g.jpeg" width="660" height="440" loading="lazy" /> <h3><strong>The Medical and Astronomy Apps</strong></h3> <p>Gotschall looked rather absurd as I waited my turn, pinching and pointing into the air to manipulate the hologram, shared by all the participants. When it was my turn, it made perfect sense. A life-size body appeared in front of me. Gotschall expertly expanded the body into its component parts, the organs, the cirulatory system, the nervous system. A medical student would theoretically no longer need a cadaver to see how the organs are layered together. Stick your head into the heart or the brain, and the hologram expands to show you the view inside. It’s also possible to network remote Hololens users into the demo, too.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/568/1y0PB-IKpLZK7fuiL5_ZO9Q.png" width="568" height="256" loading="lazy" /> <p>The Astronomy application was equally impressive. The detail of it is breathtaking. The pyhsics are stunningly accurate. You see the sun and the the planets and the stars spin accurately as they and their moons rotate the sun. The planetarium is obsolete. The Hololens will transform education.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/688/1OQX8OxlL9_0ERk6dWqr9TA.jpeg" width="688" height="387" loading="lazy" /> <h3><strong>Other AR devices are Mere toys</strong></h3> <p>I have praised other demonstrations of VR and AR technology at the show, and many show great promise for architecture and design. I also experienced the human body using the Vive. It was an excellent though solitary experience, with similar features to the Case Western demo, exploring the circulatory system, etc., but I had to use my controller to move around, and the image was less than crystal clear, as I saw it through the visible pixels of the headset’s optical system. The truth is you really can’t compare them.</p> <h3><strong>But… the game may change again, and very soon</strong></h3> <p>The Hololens uses patents from ODG (Osterhout Design Group), which raised $58M to produce its own headset, the R8. Built on the new Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the R8 will produce super high definition 4K 3D quality images, and will be able to run apps already developed for android smartphones.</p> <p>The super high definition ODG AR/MR headset may be 1/3 of the cost of the Hololens.</p> <p>The ODG R8 doesn’t have some of the coolest features of the Hololens, but at one third the price, it doesn’t need to.</p> <p><em>Like<strong> </strong>this story? Get more in the <a href="http://go</em>o.gl/BGuclj">weekly newsletter</a> from CinematicVR.</p> </section>	The Incredible, Magical Hololens A major disruption in computing is upon us. I am a believer. The Hololens is a game changing device that will alter the technology landscape in ways we can’t even imagine. It represents one of biggest disruptions in computing since the smart phone. It may replace the computer monitor. It’s not science fiction anymore. Apparently anyone can walk into a Microsoft Store and experience this. I found out about the Hololens CES demo almost by accident. In the corner of the big ballroom where vendors gave the press a preview Tuesday night, I met Bob Sopko, the partnership manager for Case Western University’s Innovation Lab. There was nothing in his small, out-of-the-way booth in the corner of the big room except for a banner and a couple of students. “You should see our anatomy demo on the Hololens,” he said, “and also we’re going to have the Cavaliers Basketball Trophy Friday afternoon.” He spoke about the trophy with such reverence that I decided I’d visit Case Western’s booth after its holy appearance. I should not have waited. I should not have prioritized Vive and PlaystationVR. In fact, the Case Western demo erased every other memory of CES. The Hololens has changed the way I look at everything in the VR/VR ecosystem. I’m not making an overstatement: the Hololens is going to change the world. Use of the Hololens in business and education will evangelize it’s value at home. The Hololens The Microsoft HoloLens is the world’s first fully untethered holographic computer. It weighs just 579 grams (1.3 lbs) and fits comfortably on the head, leaving plenty of room for eyewear. The screen, a tiny, semi-transparent window, floats in front of you. The Hololens is completely wireless and can be networked with other headsets around you, or even users elsewhere. And you could easily wear it all day every day. The Microsoft Hololens retails for $3,000. About the same price as a good personal computer in 1992. The Demo When the demo starts, the box floating in front of me is transformed into a window through which I saw a fully three dimensional, semi-transparent hologram, floating in space. I walked around it, crawled under it, and watched Robert Gotschall, one of the Case engineers who developed the applications, move and scale it with his fingers, no glove or controller needed. Outside of the demo it looks like they are pinching and pointing at thin air. The Medical and Astronomy Apps Gotschall looked rather absurd as I waited my turn, pinching and pointing into the air to manipulate the hologram, shared by all the participants. When it was my turn, it made perfect sense. A life-size body appeared in front of me. Gotschall expertly expanded the body into its component parts, the organs, the cirulatory system, the nervous system. A medical student would theoretically no longer need a cadaver to see how the organs are layered together. Stick your head into the heart or the brain, and the hologram expands to show you the view inside. It’s also possible to network remote Hololens users into the demo, too. This is exactly what I saw. The Astronomy application was equally impressive. The detail of it is breathtaking. The pyhsics are stunningly accurate. You see the sun and the the planets and the stars spin accurately as they and their moons rotate the sun. The planetarium is obsolete. The Hololens will transform education. Can the Vive survive the Hololens? Other AR devices are Mere toys I have praised other demonstrations of VR and AR technology at the show, and many show great promise for architecture and design. I also experienced the human body using the Vive. It was an excellent though solitary experience, with similar features to the Case Western demo, exploring the circulatory system, etc., but I had to use my controller to move around, and the image was less than crystal clear, as I saw it through the visible pixels of the headset’s optical system. The truth is you really can’t compare them. But… the game may change again, and very soon The Hololens uses patents from ODG (Osterhout Design Group), which raised $58M to produce its own headset, the R8. Built on the new Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the R8 will produce super high definition 4K 3D quality images, and will be able to run apps already developed for android smartphones. The super high definition ODG AR/MR headset may be 1/3 of the cost of the Hololens. The ODG R8 doesn’t have some of the coolest features of the Hololens, but at one third the price, it doesn’t need to. Like this story? Get more in the weekly newsletter from CinematicVR.	18eb2c2b-909f-509c-8984-27f59238c51e	25/08/2025 15:59:44
https://medium.com/@goflybdltd/top-5-romantic-destinations-in-europe-83160359fef7	medium.com	Top 5 Romantic Destinations in Europe	In Europe, a romantic vacation or honeymoon is all about Switzerland and Paris. But nowadays, going beyond it and finding fun in something…	goFly BD	https://medium.com/@goflybdltd	83160359fef7	https://miro.medium.com/…U9H9ChGMHfw.jpeg	4 min	2021-10-04T10:56:14.622000	2021-10-04T11:11:28.862000	2022-01-05T02:53:54.448000	0	0	en	Romantic Destinations,Destinations To Visit,Romantic Travel,Romantic Tour,Traveling	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1280/1EMJmjmjoVpMU9H9ChGMHfw.jpeg" width="1280" height="835" loading="lazy" /> <p>In Europe, a romantic vacation or honeymoon is all about Switzerland and Paris. But nowadays, going beyond it and finding fun in something new seems to have become modernity. People’s interest in conventional matters is declining. Travel Pipasura is much more adventurous now. Today’s post is to find a unique and memorable romantic destination for such adventure lovers.</p> <h1>Top 5 Romantic Destinations in Europe</h1> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1920/1sn5Xb6mTnH-znD-T4gmq1w.jpeg" width="1920" height="1080" loading="lazy" /> <h3>Spain</h3> <p>Full of medieval and modern architecture, Spain is one of the most festive countries in Europe. You have to visit both Madrid and Barcelona to experience the festivity of Spain. Couples should visit the Grand Via District before visiting Madrid’s Art Museum. Where you can find all the famous brand shops like Chanel and Dior. The area is also famous for its food stalls from all over the world.</p> <p>Plaza de Torres de las Ventas, built in the Maurice Revival architectural style, is the third-largest bullfighting arena in the world. If you travel here you will realize why bullfighting is so important in Spanish culture. You can also go to El Retiro Park. There are more than 15,000 trees of various species and all the world-famous historical statues like the Galapagos Fountain, Fallen Angel.</p> <h3>Greece</h3> <p>A few more surprises await you and the people you love in the historic city of Barcelona. One of them is the majesty of Baroque architecture of the seventeenth-century Basilica del Pillar. From the pinnacle of the Montserrat Monastery, built in a combination of Gothic and Catalan architectural styles, you can enjoy an excellent aerial view of the western civilization of the entire city of Barcelona. The popular painting called Black Madonna is also kept here.</p> <p><strong>Book Your Qatar Airways Flight at <a href="https://airlinesb</strong>d.com/qatar-airways-dhaka-office/">Qatar Airways Dhaka Office</a></p> <p>There are some great places for romantic tours on the Greek islands. The legendary Delos Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a beautiful sight to behold. You can go to Santorini Island to see the beautiful romantic sunset.</p> <h3>Croatia</h3> <p>Croatia is a sunny country in Europe. Dubrovnik is the most beautiful city in Croatia, combining the beauty of the old world and the beautiful beaches of the Adriatic Sea. The entire city of Dubrovnik is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as Baroque architecture is scattered throughout the city. You will need to visit Luza Square to see the 500-year-old St. Blaise Church with its magnificent marble altar. The two can go together to see the Gothic and Renaissance architectural style of Sponge Church.</p> <p>One of the must-see dishes from Dubrovnik is Black Risotto. Fresh oysters from the Adriatic Sea, along with white wine made from grapes specially produced on the island of Carchula, are a traditional dish.</p> <p>If you both like the thrill, you can definitely go to Banji Beach to enjoy paragliding and banana rides.</p> <h3>Eastern Europe</h3> <p>There are several wonderful places in Eastern Europe for a romantic trip for any loving couple. You can take your loved one to Bratislava, Slovakia. Here you can enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the Carpathian Mountains and the Danube River. Bratislava Castle, built in the ninth century, is one of the city’s most important attractions. The Little Carpathian Wine region is a sight to behold with its eye-catching vineyards.</p> <p>Another nice city very close to Bratislava is Budapest, Hungary. The amazing natural beauty and setting of Budapest will undoubtedly fascinate you. To soothe the mind, you can take a boat ride on the Danube River near the city. Organizing the city of Budapest at night is world-renowned. Popular nightclubs in Budapest will give you the opportunity to spend the night with your loved one and dance and sing till morning.</p> <h3>Scandinavia</h3> <p>Scandinavia is made up of Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway. These Scandinavian countries are probably the most enjoyable choice for a romantic Europe trip. Copenhagen’s two-century-old Tivoli Amusement Park will captivate anyone who is young in mind. There is more to see in Naihaben, the capital of Denmark. Here you can float together in the European canals of clear water, enjoy jazz music and taste the food of European restaurants.</p> <p>The ferry trip from Herschels in Denmark to Kristiansand in Norway will be a lifelong experience for you. In this three-hour ferry ride, you will be able to enjoy the impossibly beautiful view of the North Sea.</p> <p><strong>Book Your Singapore Airlines Flight at <a href="https://airlinesbd.com</strong>/singapore-airlines-dhaka-office/">Singapore Airlines Dhaka Office</a></p> <p>Another city that is suitable for romantic travel is Bergen, Norway. You will have the opportunity to enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the European mountains on a trip to Mount Flynn. Fjords are water bodies surrounded by sea on one side and land on three sides. All the wonderful fjords in Norway. One of the most beautiful of these is Sognefjord. Memories of hiking, mountain biking, and skiing at Sagnefjord can be a story-telling experience for your grandchildren.</p> <p>Traveling to any of these places in Europe can be the most beautiful time spent with the people you love. From the Scandinavian lakes or glaciers to the Carpathian Mountains or the Daliub River in Eastern Europe — either is enough to complete your romantic journey.</p> <p><strong>Also Read: <a href="https://medium.com/@goflybdltd/10-beautifu</strong>l-fountains-and-waterfalls-in-bangladesh-5290111fde29">10 Beautiful Fountains and Waterfalls in Bangladesh</a></p> </section>	Top 5 Romantic Destinations in Europe Top 5 Romantic Destinations in Europe In Europe, a romantic vacation or honeymoon is all about Switzerland and Paris. But nowadays, going beyond it and finding fun in something new seems to have become modernity. People’s interest in conventional matters is declining. Travel Pipasura is much more adventurous now. Today’s post is to find a unique and memorable romantic destination for such adventure lovers. Top 5 Romantic Destinations in Europe 5 Romantic Destinations in Europe Spain Full of medieval and modern architecture, Spain is one of the most festive countries in Europe. You have to visit both Madrid and Barcelona to experience the festivity of Spain. Couples should visit the Grand Via District before visiting Madrid’s Art Museum. Where you can find all the famous brand shops like Chanel and Dior. The area is also famous for its food stalls from all over the world. Plaza de Torres de las Ventas, built in the Maurice Revival architectural style, is the third-largest bullfighting arena in the world. If you travel here you will realize why bullfighting is so important in Spanish culture. You can also go to El Retiro Park. There are more than 15,000 trees of various species and all the world-famous historical statues like the Galapagos Fountain, Fallen Angel. Greece A few more surprises await you and the people you love in the historic city of Barcelona. One of them is the majesty of Baroque architecture of the seventeenth-century Basilica del Pillar. From the pinnacle of the Montserrat Monastery, built in a combination of Gothic and Catalan architectural styles, you can enjoy an excellent aerial view of the western civilization of the entire city of Barcelona. The popular painting called Black Madonna is also kept here. Book Your Qatar Airways Flight at Qatar Airways Dhaka Office There are some great places for romantic tours on the Greek islands. The legendary Delos Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a beautiful sight to behold. You can go to Santorini Island to see the beautiful romantic sunset. Croatia Croatia is a sunny country in Europe. Dubrovnik is the most beautiful city in Croatia, combining the beauty of the old world and the beautiful beaches of the Adriatic Sea. The entire city of Dubrovnik is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as Baroque architecture is scattered throughout the city. You will need to visit Luza Square to see the 500-year-old St. Blaise Church with its magnificent marble altar. The two can go together to see the Gothic and Renaissance architectural style of Sponge Church. One of the must-see dishes from Dubrovnik is Black Risotto. Fresh oysters from the Adriatic Sea, along with white wine made from grapes specially produced on the island of Carchula, are a traditional dish. If you both like the thrill, you can definitely go to Banji Beach to enjoy paragliding and banana rides. Eastern Europe There are several wonderful places in Eastern Europe for a romantic trip for any loving couple. You can take your loved one to Bratislava, Slovakia. Here you can enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the Carpathian Mountains and the Danube River. Bratislava Castle, built in the ninth century, is one of the city’s most important attractions. The Little Carpathian Wine region is a sight to behold with its eye-catching vineyards. Another nice city very close to Bratislava is Budapest, Hungary. The amazing natural beauty and setting of Budapest will undoubtedly fascinate you. To soothe the mind, you can take a boat ride on the Danube River near the city. Organizing the city of Budapest at night is world-renowned. Popular nightclubs in Budapest will give you the opportunity to spend the night with your loved one and dance and sing till morning. Scandinavia Scandinavia is made up of Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway. These Scandinavian countries are probably the most enjoyable choice for a romantic Europe trip. Copenhagen’s two-century-old Tivoli Amusement Park will captivate anyone who is young in mind. There is more to see in Naihaben, the capital of Denmark. Here you can float together in the European canals of clear water, enjoy jazz music and taste the food of European restaurants. The ferry trip from Herschels in Denmark to Kristiansand in Norway will be a lifelong experience for you. In this three-hour ferry ride, you will be able to enjoy the impossibly beautiful view of the North Sea. Book Your Singapore Airlines Flight at Singapore Airlines Dhaka Office Another city that is suitable for romantic travel is Bergen, Norway. You will have the opportunity to enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the European mountains on a trip to Mount Flynn. Fjords are water bodies surrounded by sea on one side and land on three sides. All the wonderful fjords in Norway. One of the most beautiful of these is Sognefjord. Memories of hiking, mountain biking, and skiing at Sagnefjord can be a story-telling experience for your grandchildren. Traveling to any of these places in Europe can be the most beautiful time spent with the people you love. From the Scandinavian lakes or glaciers to the Carpathian Mountains or the Daliub River in Eastern Europe — either is enough to complete your romantic journey. Also Read: 10 Beautiful Fountains and Waterfalls in Bangladesh	827622c5-c786-5a09-a633-afc1053fb0f1	25/08/2025 15:59:45
https://medium.com/@kenweingart/interview-with-mexican-fine-art-photographer-alejandro-cartagena-ddd41dddbe6c	medium.com	Interview with Mexican Fine Art Photographer Alejandro Cartagena	Alejandro Cartagena is a fine art photographer based in Monterrey, Mexico. His new series, Carpoolers, has generated exciting feedback and…	Ken Weingart Art and Photography	https://medium.com/@kenweingart	ddd41dddbe6c	https://miro.medium.com/…ESIXRHLL_h4i.jpg	8 min	2017-04-18T00:52:37.189000	2014-01-23T03:35:14	2018-03-07T13:57:38.666000	0	1	en	Photography,Interview,Fine Art Photography,Alejandrocartagena,Photographer	<section> <p>Alejandro Cartagena is a fine art photographer based in Monterrey, Mexico. His new series, C<em>arpoolers</em>, has generated exciting feedback and reviews in the fine art world, including a recent article on the <a href="http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/">New York Times </a>website. Alejandro is represented by the <a href="http://www.kopeikingallery.com/">Kopeikin Gallery</a> in Los Angeles and <a href="http://www.patriciacondegaleria.com/PCG/Gallery.html">Patricia Conde</a> in Mexico City.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/492/0G-9toPGDPYPLIcRr.jpg" width="492" height="800" loading="lazy" /> <p><strong>You have a series called <em>Americans</em>, and a reference to the American Dream. What are you trying to convey with thi</strong>s series?</p> <p>Living in border culture makes you aware of certain ideals and preconceptions on both sides. I want to tell stories that convey some of those ideas, which break the mold of what is expected of the Mexican side, and so what I found is a group of people that have been practicing biculturalization. Their parents want them to have the benefits of being a U.S. citizen, but at the same time have the family and cultural ties of a Mexican citizen.</p> <p>So what happens is that they have their babies legally in the U.S., but they never live in the U.S. — neither the parents nor the children. Some end up studying or working in the U.S., but cross the border everyday back into Mexico to live. That is the exception to what is expected from the eager Latin-American trying to cross. You have people who live in the U.S. legally, but after interviewing them, you find most dislike the lifestyle there. Still, they embrace the opportunities it gives them. Others, by contrast, don´t even consider these benefits, and have not studied or lived in the U.S.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/873/0MKjnanZHUwpuzdpM.jpg" width="873" height="700" loading="lazy" /> <p><strong>For this series you used all color. How do you decide between shooting color or black and white?</strong></p> <p>It´s an aesthetic thing. I make the decision of which to use depending on if I think one or the other would help the subject matter.</p> <p><strong>What cameras and lenses are you currently using for your fine art work?</strong></p> <p>A Sinar 4×5 with Fujinon and Schneider lenses, a Mamiya RB67 with the 90mm and the Canon Mark II with L lenses.</p> <p><strong>Are all of your series exhibited with galleries or do some just reside online?</strong></p> <p>Some are just online. I do a lot of personal work and I try to at least find closure by posting it online. It´s difficult sometimes to have the work in the “market,” and I don´t really want to produce for that, and so the website makes me feel it has become something, even if it is just virtual. I need closure, because that’s what has allowed me to advance in my thinking and production.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/848/0aBBbXngIU7aY6wsB.jpg" width="848" height="700" loading="lazy" /> <p><strong>How did you come up with the idea for <em>Car Pool</strong>ers</em>?</p> <p>It wasn´t so much about coming up with it. It was more a realization of how the images would or would not be a part of a larger story I´ve been pursuing for the past seven years. Specifically, I’ve been looking at the idea of the city — urban growth and how it affects people in everyday life. When I saw the images, I really liked them visually, but it was how they connected to my previous project <em>Suburbia Mexicana</em> that made me pursue it.</p> <p>Since 2006 I had been photographing the houses where many of these workers live. Mainly new suburbs in the outskirts of Monterrey. The houses are really tiny and badly built, yet people sometimes carry a mortgage of up to thirty years. When I shot those images I never asked to be let inside. I felt it would be intrusive and make them feel uncomfortable if they realized I was singling them out because of what they had bought. So when I saw them traveling this way it was a perfect representation of their lifestyles but in a public space doing their jobs in order to maintain that dream of homeownership.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/578/0rJ17FMZl1JCq7Pd0.jpg" width="578" height="700" loading="lazy" /> <p><strong>What did you discover about this series?</strong></p> <p>That it’s difficult to do a series of images that are so simple in composition and framing. Also, I do not know if they are portraits or street photographs. Images of people are easier to digest and to have a connection with. I am very lucky!</p> <p><strong>What have been the highlights of the journey in creating and showing <em>Car Poolers</em>, and have you been surprised by the attention and success it </strong>achieved?</p> <p>I never ever expected the work to have “something”. I felt the series would be liked, but not as much as how it has been received, reviewed, shown and posted. I guess the highlight is having it become part of permanent collections like MFAH, SFMOMA, The Harry Ransom Center in UT. I also love that they inspire awe and hate at the same time!</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/448/0tsJyESIXRHLL_h4i.jpg" width="448" height="700" loading="lazy" /> <p><strong>Your current, in progress, series is called <em>Urban Transportation</em>. What is different about this than the “<em></strong>Car Poolers</em>”?</p> <p><em>Urban Transportation</em> is almost a baby of <em>Car Poolers</em>. I shot it while shooting the series. I wanted to get a sense of how we can represent a city by its transportation methods, especially automobiles. So basically it is a very large collection of different types of cars, trucks, and some motorbikes in Monterrey.</p> <p><strong>Your series <em>Landscape as Bureaucracy</em> is about the problems of getting a mortgage in Mexico and the moving process. What inspired you to create t</strong>his work?</p> <p>Like in <em>Car Poolers</em>, it’s part of the big story of Mexican cities and homeownership in 21st century Latin America, and how people dream of it, deal with it and eventually give up on it. Hopefully, by 2015, I will bring out a book which contains all these works.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/448/0KMiEki8YEIhfx7XY.jpg" width="448" height="700" loading="lazy" /> <p><strong>What was the idea and inspiration for your series <em>Suburbia — Mexicana — Fragmented Cit</strong>ies</em>?</p> <p><em>Fragmented Cities</em> was the start of the Suburbia Mexicana project and the initial shift in my work towards doing long-term projects. Right before I started doing these pictures, I was scanning the whole archive of a Mexican photographer named Eugenio Espino Barros, for the photography center. We were going to produce a book and an exhibition. I got to scan around 1000 negatives and print over 200 of his images.</p> <p>He was a great large format photographer, a camera inventor and a documenter of Monterrey. Looking at those images really moved me to look back at those spaces and the cityscapes he photographed. I wasn´t looking to re-photograph the exact same spaces. For me it had more to do with how Monterrey looked today. So after a couple of months, I had some good landscapes filled with little houses, and started sharing them with friends and peers.</p> <p>One person who saw the work was Wendy Watriss. She pushed me to explore the idea of new topographics, and how I would contextualize that in Monterrey. So then I really got into American photography and the ideas surrounding the visual documentation of suburban sprawl. The idea at the start was to document as many of these new developments I could find. Eventually it seemed I was just repeating the idea of growth and so I stopped, and went into a “crisis.” Yet I emerged with seven years of work that looks at the causes and effects of Mexican suburbia, — including the <em>Car Poolers</em> project.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/866/0iB88Yn3yu_2O52Bh.jpg" width="866" height="700" loading="lazy" /> <p><strong>You have spoken about the violence in your hometown, Monterrey, which has become worse lately. When did this become apparent?</strong></p> <p>It became apparent in 2008 or 2009, when there were more and more killings and public displays of them. For me it got really close when a student was murdered going home after my class by an unknown gunman who was shooting at someone in the street. Then last year my parents suffered extortions from one of the cartels and had to shut down our family business. So it built up slowly at first in 2010, and has continued until now.</p> <p><strong>What are you teaching, and do you enjoy it?</strong></p> <p>I mostly teach an editing workshop in several photo schools in Mexico and Guatemala. I really enjoy teaching how good editing improves your work, and how photography has expanded the notion of storytelling.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/492/0QKrleQnkqoXiSRl9.jpg" width="492" height="800" loading="lazy" /> <p><strong>Would you describe your style of fine art photography as photojournalistic fine art?</strong></p> <p>I am pushing myself more and more towards just being an artist that uses photography. Many of my new projects made me rethink what I am doing and have done. I embrace the limitations of photography, and want to work around them and create beautiful, engaging work that makes me happy.</p> <p><strong>How did the your current relationships come about with your galleries in Los Angeles, Mexico, and Toronto?</strong></p> <p>All of them happened by chance. I stopped looking for a gallery after two to three years of actively trying to get one. Then I just cooled off and realized that the work comes first, and that if I can´t sell it, I need to find another way to earn money to survive and create more work. So I started participating in contests and applying for grants and got lucky. I did all this while having a full time job at a photography center. This really helped me become aware of what is expected from artists as far as production quality and proposal writing goes, and how you can still survive while being an emerging artist.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/856/0QAt1tY-ouGB_YAuR.jpg" width="856" height="700" loading="lazy" /> <p><strong>Did the museums who collect your work find you through the galleries or discover you directly?</strong></p> <p>Both. Some through portfolio reviews.</p> <p><strong>Some of you photo books you have published yourself, and some with the help of traditional publishers, correct? How do you decide which direction you will go regarding that?</strong></p> <p>Money! It has become a very expensive thing to work with traditional publishers that are doing a POD (pay on demand), and so sometimes a small run is the best way to go. The <em>Car Poolers</em> book will come out next year. I am funding the design out of my pocket with a design studio from Monterrey, and I just received a small grant to cover part of the production.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/448/0jXIBmP6zznI5UJUT.jpg" width="448" height="700" loading="lazy" /> <p>I will self-publish it and do some sort of donkey distribution where I can slowly get the book out there through presentations and my website. It´s a risk, but I am at a point where I want to try it and see what being your own publisher and distributor is like. It’s going to be a beautiful book with lots of goodies. I will start a pre-sale soon through my website, so stay tuned!</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/864/0r3mINFG5asWqu5QT.jpg" width="864" height="700" loading="lazy" /> <p><strong>You were once a hospitality manager? How did photography come about?</strong></p> <p>I worked in hotels, restaurants and as a manager in McDonalds! But I was always interested in the arts. I studied leisure management and I worked on a bachelor degree in music, which I did not finish. I wanted a change, and luckily photography came into play. I took several workshops which just blew my mind about what I could do with a photograph. I quit everything and started taking pictures.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/448/0gdTkV9i76U33yvnR.jpg" width="448" height="700" loading="lazy" /> <p><strong>Do you miss your hospitality years at all?</strong></p> <p>Nope. It really is a stressful business. I did my first “project” at my last restaurant job. Maybe someday I´ll show those pictures.</p> <p><a href="http://alejandrocartagena.com/">Alejandro Catagena MAIN WEBSITE</a></p> <p><em>Originally published at <a href="http://www</em>.kenweingart.com/blog/interview-mexican-fine-art-photographer-alejandro-cartagena/">www.kenweingart.com</a></p> </section>	Interview with Mexican Fine Art Photographer Alejandro Cartagena Alejandro Cartagena is a fine art photographer based in Monterrey, Mexico. His new series, Carpoolers, has generated exciting feedback and reviews in the fine art world, including a recent article on the New York Times website. Alejandro is represented by the Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles and Patricia Conde in Mexico City. You have a series called Americans, and a reference to the American Dream. What are you trying to convey with this series? Living in border culture makes you aware of certain ideals and preconceptions on both sides. I want to tell stories that convey some of those ideas, which break the mold of what is expected of the Mexican side, and so what I found is a group of people that have been practicing biculturalization. Their parents want them to have the benefits of being a U.S. citizen, but at the same time have the family and cultural ties of a Mexican citizen. So what happens is that they have their babies legally in the U.S., but they never live in the U.S. — neither the parents nor the children. Some end up studying or working in the U.S., but cross the border everyday back into Mexico to live. That is the exception to what is expected from the eager Latin-American trying to cross. You have people who live in the U.S. legally, but after interviewing them, you find most dislike the lifestyle there. Still, they embrace the opportunities it gives them. Others, by contrast, don´t even consider these benefits, and have not studied or lived in the U.S. For this series you used all color. How do you decide between shooting color or black and white? It´s an aesthetic thing. I make the decision of which to use depending on if I think one or the other would help the subject matter. What cameras and lenses are you currently using for your fine art work? A Sinar 4×5 with Fujinon and Schneider lenses, a Mamiya RB67 with the 90mm and the Canon Mark II with L lenses. Are all of your series exhibited with galleries or do some just reside online? Some are just online. I do a lot of personal work and I try to at least find closure by posting it online. It´s difficult sometimes to have the work in the “market,” and I don´t really want to produce for that, and so the website makes me feel it has become something, even if it is just virtual. I need closure, because that’s what has allowed me to advance in my thinking and production. How did you come up with the idea for Car Poolers? It wasn´t so much about coming up with it. It was more a realization of how the images would or would not be a part of a larger story I´ve been pursuing for the past seven years. Specifically, I’ve been looking at the idea of the city — urban growth and how it affects people in everyday life. When I saw the images, I really liked them visually, but it was how they connected to my previous project Suburbia Mexicana that made me pursue it. Since 2006 I had been photographing the houses where many of these workers live. Mainly new suburbs in the outskirts of Monterrey. The houses are really tiny and badly built, yet people sometimes carry a mortgage of up to thirty years. When I shot those images I never asked to be let inside. I felt it would be intrusive and make them feel uncomfortable if they realized I was singling them out because of what they had bought. So when I saw them traveling this way it was a perfect representation of their lifestyles but in a public space doing their jobs in order to maintain that dream of homeownership. What did you discover about this series? That it’s difficult to do a series of images that are so simple in composition and framing. Also, I do not know if they are portraits or street photographs. Images of people are easier to digest and to have a connection with. I am very lucky! What have been the highlights of the journey in creating and showing Car Poolers, and have you been surprised by the attention and success it achieved? I never ever expected the work to have “something”. I felt the series would be liked, but not as much as how it has been received, reviewed, shown and posted. I guess the highlight is having it become part of permanent collections like MFAH, SFMOMA, The Harry Ransom Center in UT. I also love that they inspire awe and hate at the same time! Your current, in progress, series is called Urban Transportation. What is different about this than the “Car Poolers”? Urban Transportation is almost a baby of Car Poolers. I shot it while shooting the series. I wanted to get a sense of how we can represent a city by its transportation methods, especially automobiles. So basically it is a very large collection of different types of cars, trucks, and some motorbikes in Monterrey. Your series Landscape as Bureaucracy is about the problems of getting a mortgage in Mexico and the moving process. What inspired you to create this work? Like in Car Poolers, it’s part of the big story of Mexican cities and homeownership in 21st century Latin America, and how people dream of it, deal with it and eventually give up on it. Hopefully, by 2015, I will bring out a book which contains all these works. What was the idea and inspiration for your series Suburbia — Mexicana — Fragmented Cities? Fragmented Cities was the start of the Suburbia Mexicana project and the initial shift in my work towards doing long-term projects. Right before I started doing these pictures, I was scanning the whole archive of a Mexican photographer named Eugenio Espino Barros, for the photography center. We were going to produce a book and an exhibition. I got to scan around 1000 negatives and print over 200 of his images. He was a great large format photographer, a camera inventor and a documenter of Monterrey. Looking at those images really moved me to look back at those spaces and the cityscapes he photographed. I wasn´t looking to re-photograph the exact same spaces. For me it had more to do with how Monterrey looked today. So after a couple of months, I had some good landscapes filled with little houses, and started sharing them with friends and peers. One person who saw the work was Wendy Watriss. She pushed me to explore the idea of new topographics, and how I would contextualize that in Monterrey. So then I really got into American photography and the ideas surrounding the visual documentation of suburban sprawl. The idea at the start was to document as many of these new developments I could find. Eventually it seemed I was just repeating the idea of growth and so I stopped, and went into a “crisis.” Yet I emerged with seven years of work that looks at the causes and effects of Mexican suburbia, — including the Car Poolers project. You have spoken about the violence in your hometown, Monterrey, which has become worse lately. When did this become apparent? It became apparent in 2008 or 2009, when there were more and more killings and public displays of them. For me it got really close when a student was murdered going home after my class by an unknown gunman who was shooting at someone in the street. Then last year my parents suffered extortions from one of the cartels and had to shut down our family business. So it built up slowly at first in 2010, and has continued until now. What are you teaching, and do you enjoy it? I mostly teach an editing workshop in several photo schools in Mexico and Guatemala. I really enjoy teaching how good editing improves your work, and how photography has expanded the notion of storytelling. Would you describe your style of fine art photography as photojournalistic fine art? I am pushing myself more and more towards just being an artist that uses photography. Many of my new projects made me rethink what I am doing and have done. I embrace the limitations of photography, and want to work around them and create beautiful, engaging work that makes me happy. How did the your current relationships come about with your galleries in Los Angeles, Mexico, and Toronto? All of them happened by chance. I stopped looking for a gallery after two to three years of actively trying to get one. Then I just cooled off and realized that the work comes first, and that if I can´t sell it, I need to find another way to earn money to survive and create more work. So I started participating in contests and applying for grants and got lucky. I did all this while having a full time job at a photography center. This really helped me become aware of what is expected from artists as far as production quality and proposal writing goes, and how you can still survive while being an emerging artist. Did the museums who collect your work find you through the galleries or discover you directly? Both. Some through portfolio reviews. Some of you photo books you have published yourself, and some with the help of traditional publishers, correct? How do you decide which direction you will go regarding that? Money! It has become a very expensive thing to work with traditional publishers that are doing a POD (pay on demand), and so sometimes a small run is the best way to go. The Car Poolers book will come out next year. I am funding the design out of my pocket with a design studio from Monterrey, and I just received a small grant to cover part of the production. I will self-publish it and do some sort of donkey distribution where I can slowly get the book out there through presentations and my website. It´s a risk, but I am at a point where I want to try it and see what being your own publisher and distributor is like. It’s going to be a beautiful book with lots of goodies. I will start a pre-sale soon through my website, so stay tuned! You were once a hospitality manager? How did photography come about? I worked in hotels, restaurants and as a manager in McDonalds! But I was always interested in the arts. I studied leisure management and I worked on a bachelor degree in music, which I did not finish. I wanted a change, and luckily photography came into play. I took several workshops which just blew my mind about what I could do with a photograph. I quit everything and started taking pictures. Do you miss your hospitality years at all? Nope. It really is a stressful business. I did my first “project” at my last restaurant job. Maybe someday I´ll show those pictures. Alejandro Catagena MAIN WEBSITE Originally published at www.kenweingart.com	c8ed3c6f-7188-5b22-a5ff-ef2b54d191de	25/08/2025 15:59:45
https://medium.com/bizcatalyst-360/how-to-develop-strong-team-spirit-in-business-14c2806525da	medium.com	How to Develop Strong Team Spirit in Business	null	BIZCATALYST360°	https://medium.com/@dennisjpitocco	14c2806525da	null	2 min	2016-08-18T11:01:52.847000	2016-06-13T16:36:22	2017-06-29T02:00:15.909000	0	0	en	Hr Talent Management,Instant Messaging,iOS,Best Way,Microsoft	<section> <p><strong>You’ve probably heard it time and time again.</strong> <a href="http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-good-communication-business-1403.html">Communication</a> and good teamwork are the cornerstones of a strong business. Co-operation between employees at work helps you in so many ways. In and of itself, it helps the work get done faster. It reduces the amount of crossed wires and ensures that people find it easy to talk to each other.</p> <p>But it also helps in another way. Good team spirit lifts the mood of your employees. And better moods means stronger productivity! Here’s what you should consider when developing team spirit.</p> <p><strong>Better and faster communication</strong></p> <p>One of the best ways to foster team spirit is to use instant messaging in the office. There’s an obvious reason why this helps out with team functionality so much. It allows people to communicate from opposite ends of the office without having to get up for face-to-face conversations. But it helps in a more subtle way, too.</p> <p><a href="https://www.imageabay.com/hd/245913/Computer-Communication/mac-apple-laptop-office-computer/b4ebf0c521fef76ab39ba4ec1cd4cb07">Imageabay</a></p> <p>You may be wondering why people can’t just use emails to communicate from afar. They could do, of course. But <a href="http://www.skype.com/">instant messaging</a> comes with a certain informality. It helps foster friendlier conversations and is better at revealing people’s personalities. Some may feel that giving their employees more room to just chat is a bad thing. But if you want to develop team spirit, there are few ways better.</p> <p><strong>Considering the team in your branding</strong></p> <p>The way in which you present your company to the public will have a big impact on how your employees operate. Let’s say you have an About Us page on your website that features photos and stories of people in the office. Perhaps there’s a section about the importance of teamwork and friendship in your website copy.</p> <p><a href="https://pixabay.com/en/rescuers-job-people-uniform-sea-863745/">Pixabay</a></p> <p>This kind of stuff helps your employees feel like they’re <em>part</em> of something. When you communicate to the world that you take pride in such teamwork, it helps them take pride in it too. If you work in a trade that deals face-to-face with the public, then you can do this in others ways. For example, you can design a uniform for all your employees to wear using professional <a href="http://www.prudentialuniforms.com/">uniform services</a>.</p> <p><strong>Keeping an eye on who you hire</strong></p> <p>This one can be a little tricky, but it’s very important. The first part of this suggestion relates to the process of recruiting new employees. For many <a href="http://bizcatalyst360.com/how-to-shine-as-a-leader/">business owners</a>, it’s difficult to tell who exactly is going to be a good team player based simply on resumes and interviews. That’s why it’s important that you check the applicant’s references for such information. You should also consider having “team recruitments”. Multiple applicants take part in the same activities to test teamwork skills.</p> <p><a href="https://pixabay.com/en/job-interview-colleagues-business-437026/">Pixabay</a></p> <p>The second part involves monitoring people once you’ve hired them. To develop a strong team spirit, you’ve got to make sure that everyone is willing to work together. Sure, most offices will have some people who do prefer to do things alone, or perhaps aren’t very talkative. But there’s a difference between “the quiet ones” and people who <em>really</em> don’t work well with others. If you have employees who create <a href="http://humanresources.about.com/od/negativityculture/fl/How-to-Manage-a-Negative-Employee.htm">negative vibes</a> around the office, you may want to consider speaking to them or letting them go.</p> <p>[su_button url=”http://bizcatalyst360.com/free-execubriefs/" target=”blank” style=”3d” background=”#ff4e07" color=”#ffffff” size=”1" wide=”yes” center=”yes” radius=”5" icon_color=”#2d3fff”]CLICK HERE FOR FRESH INSIGHTS DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX [/su_button]</p> </section>	How to Develop Strong Team Spirit in Business You’ve probably heard it time and time again. Communication and good teamwork are the cornerstones of a strong business. Co-operation between employees at work helps you in so many ways. In and of itself, it helps the work get done faster. It reduces the amount of crossed wires and ensures that people find it easy to talk to each other. But it also helps in another way. Good team spirit lifts the mood of your employees. And better moods means stronger productivity! Here’s what you should consider when developing team spirit. Better and faster communication One of the best ways to foster team spirit is to use instant messaging in the office. There’s an obvious reason why this helps out with team functionality so much. It allows people to communicate from opposite ends of the office without having to get up for face-to-face conversations. But it helps in a more subtle way, too. Imageabay You may be wondering why people can’t just use emails to communicate from afar. They could do, of course. But instant messaging comes with a certain informality. It helps foster friendlier conversations and is better at revealing people’s personalities. Some may feel that giving their employees more room to just chat is a bad thing. But if you want to develop team spirit, there are few ways better. Considering the team in your branding The way in which you present your company to the public will have a big impact on how your employees operate. Let’s say you have an About Us page on your website that features photos and stories of people in the office. Perhaps there’s a section about the importance of teamwork and friendship in your website copy. Pixabay This kind of stuff helps your employees feel like they’re part of something. When you communicate to the world that you take pride in such teamwork, it helps them take pride in it too. If you work in a trade that deals face-to-face with the public, then you can do this in others ways. For example, you can design a uniform for all your employees to wear using professional uniform services. Keeping an eye on who you hire This one can be a little tricky, but it’s very important. The first part of this suggestion relates to the process of recruiting new employees. For many business owners, it’s difficult to tell who exactly is going to be a good team player based simply on resumes and interviews. That’s why it’s important that you check the applicant’s references for such information. You should also consider having “team recruitments”. Multiple applicants take part in the same activities to test teamwork skills. Pixabay The second part involves monitoring people once you’ve hired them. To develop a strong team spirit, you’ve got to make sure that everyone is willing to work together. Sure, most offices will have some people who do prefer to do things alone, or perhaps aren’t very talkative. But there’s a difference between “the quiet ones” and people who really don’t work well with others. If you have employees who create negative vibes around the office, you may want to consider speaking to them or letting them go. [su_button url=”http://bizcatalyst360.com/free-execubriefs/" target=”blank” style=”3d” background=”#ff4e07" color=”#ffffff” size=”1" wide=”yes” center=”yes” radius=”5" icon_color=”#2d3fff”]CLICK HERE FOR FRESH INSIGHTS DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX [/su_button]	5343f122-468c-5615-80a8-e2ee494d173a	25/08/2025 15:59:46
https://medium.com/microsoft-design/big-data-have-you-afraid-youre-not-alone-1a26b65742fe	medium.com	Big Data Have You Afraid? You’re Not Alone	3 tips for surviving the coming data tsunami	Bill Pardi	https://medium.com/@billp365	1a26b65742fe	https://miro.medium.com/…Kmcax0Or18wA.png	12 min	2017-11-29T16:59:14.614000	2017-12-01T19:41:08.081000	2019-08-27T16:11:28.798000	8	856	en	Data Science,Big Data,IoT,Microsoft,Machine Learning	<section> <h3>3 tips for surviving the coming data tsunami</h3> <blockquote>We are moving slowly into an era where Big Data is the starting point, not the end. – Pearl Zhu, Digital Master</blockquote> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2100/1AvvQTp_RVLKmcax0Or18wA.png" width="2100" height="1078" loading="lazy" /> <p>The year was 1984. Thankfully for the western world the social tremors of the 1950’s never materialized into George Orwell’s Big Brother state, but a different sort of technical tremor was just beginning. It was buried deep underground, and at the time we couldn’t even feel it coming. But it was a tremor that has rapidly developed to the point where we now worry it might overtake us. We call it Big Data. The market intelligence firm IDC calls the sum of all data created the <em>global datasphere</em>. Back in 1984 the planet had roughly <a href="http://www.martinhilbert.net/WorldInfoCapacity.html/">20 million gigabytes (GB)</a>of data stored digitally. Things have changed a lot since then.</p> <p>In 2010 the global datasphere was roughly 4 zettabytes (ZB). A zettabyte is 1 trillion gigabytes, or equal to the storage capacity of almost 4 billion iPhones (256GB model). If you look at the chart below, you’ll see that it’s going to take just a few more years for the datasphere to reach more than 50ZB. You’d need more than 207 billion iPhones to store all that data.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1000/1NDCF8Ci_fUbcl5rWDh2zPA.png" width="1000" height="500" loading="lazy" /> <p>We call this “big” data because it’s impossible for humans to work directly with the volume and scale of it all, and we require machines to do much of the processing and analysis.</p> <p>Creative professions — and by that I mean any profession that creates something, be it design, software engineering, media, finance, construction, the list goes on — already are, or soon will be, inundated with data.</p> <p>If you’re a creative professional and struggled just trying to get your head around the scale of the numbers I described above I have some bad news for you: we’re just getting started.</p> <p>Projections are that by 2025 the datasphere will triple in size to almost 160ZB. That means not only is the amount of data we’re creating growing, but the rate of growth in both data creation and network traffic are accelerating. There’s no avoiding it either. Data is permeating every industry as we move beyond just PCs and mobile devices to ubiquitous sensors everywhere, persistently generating and transmitting data. This is the ubiquitous “edge” <a href="https://medium.com/tag/edge-computing">being discussed</a> by the tech cognoscenti. Already, the Internet of Things (IoT) is putting data generating sensors on what were traditionally “dumb” objects. Here are just a few:</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1000/18QFLsB8ozEE3ei1YwgsojA.png" width="1000" height="500" loading="lazy" /> <p>This list is just a small sample, but even if we take everything that is happening in the IoT today, it will be dwarfed by what we’ll see in the next decade and beyond.</p> <h3>Intelligent Everything</h3> <p>I was having coffee with some friends recently. The coffee shop had a device that supports NFC payments — I could tap my phone on the device, and it would charge my credit card. If you’ve used Apple Pay or Android Pay, you’ve done the same thing, and that’s an example of IoT in action.</p> <p>What was even more interesting though is that this coffee shop also had “smart tables.” I was able to make my purchase at a kiosk (an early form of <em>smart menu</em>, if you will), and one of the last steps is to take a “table tracker,” a device that looked rather like a thick plastic drink coaster with a number on it and clearly some electronics built in (it had a small LED glowing green). I brought the tracker over to the table, which also had a number on it. The table, which also has some electronics built in, “knows” what trackers are on it and communicates both the table and tracker numbers to the staff.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/348/1cThUEe12KC-FqCX1SF0faw.jpeg" width="348" height="348" loading="lazy" /> <p>When my drink was ready, someone brought it right over to where I was sitting, even though up to this point I had never spoken to any of the staff. As we drank our coffee and pondered the future of this technology, it was rather easy to see that this is just the beginning.</p> <p>Eventually the table will talk to the glasses and plates as well, knowing, for example, when my glass is empty and prompting an offer for a refill.</p> <p>When we’re done, we’ll be able to pay, securely, right at the table. And all this doesn’t consider how IoT might be involved in making reservations, coordinating with friends, and transporting everyone there. At the coffee shop, maybe humans will be involved in preparing and serving food and drinks, or maybe much of it will be automated, but there is little question in my mind that the industry will get there, and probably in the not too distant future.</p> <p>The data that will need to be collected, transmitted and processed to make all that happen is orders of magnitude more than is required by the restaurant business today, and it all must be done in a way that’s profitable to the restaurant, while maximizing customer enjoyment, privacy, and security. It’s a tall order (perhaps even a disruptive one,) but those businesses that don’t keep up will be left behind as the modern restaurant experience becomes more enjoyable for customers and more profitable for those that innovate.</p> <h3>How Can You Keep Up?</h3> <p>Maybe you’re a designer or a factory manager or a lawyer. You create physical objects or work with intellectual property or provide services to other humans. One thing you are not, though, is an expert in data, let alone big data. But the fact is that the average (or even above average) professional even in fields that are not related to data engineering or data science will still need to participate in this immensely data rich world. It will be expected that your decisions will be “data driven” (see my thoughts on that <a href="https://medium.com/microsoft-design/if-you-want-to-be-creative-dont-be-data-driven-55db74078eda">here</a>), and that you’ll use data to help you and those you work with understand your business and your customers.</p> <p>But how does the non-data scientist deal with the massive amount of data available and the increasing complexity of effectively making sense of it? I want to be clear here that there is a lot of technical complexity to dealing with big data. It must be captured and stored. And there is the querying and modelling that must be done to get any use out of it. That’s why we have data scientists and engineers.</p> <p>Here are three tips for learning to survive in—and succeed in—the coming world of big data. I hope they will help you adapt what to expect from data professionals and to get better at asking the right questions.</p> <h3>1. Make the Big Smaller</h3> <p>Big data, as the term implies, is too high in both volume and complexity for most human minds to manage effectively. Humans are <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_evolution/2012/10/evolution_of_anxiety_humans_were_prey_for_predators_such_as_hyenas_snakes.html">predisposed to fear outsized challenges</a>, seeing them more as threats than opportunities. Like the Big Bad Wolf, Big Foot, or Big Brother, big data for many fits squarely in the realm of a large, misunderstood entity they must either conquer or be consumed by. One way to deal with obstacles that are too big is by reducing their size. More specifically, we can reduce the size we have to deal with directly. With big data I don’t mean that you’d look to reduce the overall volume or complexity. Rather you would reduce the set of that data you need to process. There are a couple effective ways to do this. One is to ask questions, and the other is to focus the data. They are related, so let’s look at both of them.</p> <p><strong>Ask Questions </strong>The idea here is that you want to get really clear about what questions you want the data to try and answer. Put another way, ask what problem are you trying to solve. The grid below shows a series of number. This is just data and without any questions to answers it doesn’t really tell us much of anything.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/436/12i-wGDhJ3bI7RX1ykgk4ow.png" width="436" height="351" loading="lazy" /> <p>To help make the data in this grid smaller, we can start asking questions such as:</p> <ul> <li><em>What is the highest number in the grid?</em></li> <li><em>How many rows are there?</em></li> <li><em>How many columns?</em></li> <li><em>What is the sum of the first horizontal row?</em></li> <li><em>What is the most common number that appears in the four center squares?</em></li> </ul> <p>You get the idea. The questions drastically reduce the need to be concerned with all the data and help us start to think about what we’re really after. That helps reduce the size of the data considerably, but we can make the data even smaller by focusing even further.</p> <p><strong>Focus the Data </strong>One way we can focus even further is to be very specific about what we expect the data to predict. What I mean by that is that you can develop a hypothesis and use the data to test that hypothesis. For example, say you develop a product you expect will be used primarily by 25–35 year old females without children. By “primarily” you mean over 60%. Of all the data you might have about your product — how much it sells for, where it’s selling, how often it’s used, etc., the one piece of data you need to test your hypothesis is age and gender of customers. If you find that your customers are more that 60% 45–55 year old males, that gives you valuable information either about your product or about your assumptions about your customers, or both, but doesn’t require you to look at all the data you have about your product.</p> <p>Looking back at our number grid, let’s say our hypothesis is that the grid represents a sequential list of numbers from 1 to 100. Now use the data to test that hypothesis.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/436/12i-wGDhJ3bI7RX1ykgk4ow.png" width="436" height="351" loading="lazy" /> <p>You’ll notice that the question you’re trying to answer allows you to be very focused on how you’re looking at the data. Because of that focus, you likely were able to spot the part of the grid that invalidates the hypothesis pretty quickly.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2046/1ZvwyEM6P6YHBDaKPmeeaEA.jpeg" width="2046" height="166" loading="lazy" /> <p>While deep focus helps in many situations, broad focus can also be an effective way to deal with big data. We do this by looking for trends or patterns.</p> <h3>2. Look for Patterns</h3> <p>Another approach is to take a big step back from all the detail and instead look for patterns at a broader level. In truth, all the detail is still needed, but with big data tools are involved in helping spot the patterns. Sometimes that tool is something relatively simple like Excel. Other times (and increasingly more often) it requires something more, like sophisticated data models and machine learning (ML) algorithms. The data to feed those algorithms can come from anywhere. Like cows, for example.</p> <p>I recently heard of a farm that began using IoT devices on their cattle. The problem they were trying to solve was about knowing when a cow was ready to give birth.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/349/1F8EMGPDz07xZenSPmgvoIQ.png" width="349" height="262" loading="lazy" /> <p>The typical farm cow requires help from the farmer to ensure successful delivery and care of the calf. The “low tech” way to do this is that when a farmer believes the cow is ready to give birth, he or she must physically monitor the cow, waiting for signs that the cow is about to deliver. Researchers noticed however, that in the minutes before delivery a cow will swing her tail in a unique way. This gave them the clue they needed. The solution was to attach a sensor to the cow’s tail, sending data back to a service that could process the data, watching for the telltale swinging. Once the pattern is detected, the farmer can be alerted, and be there just when the calf is delivered. The data solution here involves big data — there’s a lot of information being sent by the sensor on the cow’s tail that would be a real challenge for a human to process and make sense of. But none of it is relevant until a specific pattern occurs, only then does the data become critically important and the software can do the right thing. Knowing what pattern to look for is key to making this work.</p> <h3>3. Play</h3> <p>Play might sound a bit trite when we’re talking about massive amounts of important data, but it’s not as strange as it might seem. When we play as children we take our imagination and let it run wild. We create characters, stories, and entire worlds, and there are no boundaries beyond what we can imagine. As adults, play can be just as powerful, if perhaps more directed. Thinking through possibilities beyond the obvious is a critical part of innovation and learning. Another word for play might be experimentation, but I use play here because the word “experiment” can sound overly formal and scientific, and that is not always what’s required. Play is an important tool the big data toolbox. This is especially valuable when the problem is ambiguous, or the possible solutions are complex. The process is relatively straightforward. If you have a problem with many possible solutions you would:</p> <p><em>Develop ideas of what some of the results may be</em></p> <p><em>Design contests to test each one in isolation</em></p> <p><em>Gather scores on each contest</em></p> <p><em>Look at the results and pick the winner(s)</em></p> <p>Kind of sounds like a game, doesn’t it? While it can (and should be) fun, it’s also serious business. That becomes clear if you substitute a few words above:</p> <p><em>ideas = theories contests = experiments results = solutions scores = data</em></p> <p>It’s important to recognize here that there is a real science to designing good experiments and correctly evaluating the results, often requiring expertise in mathematics and statistics. But there is real value for decision makers to play with the ideas first, reducing the problem down to smaller bits rather than trying to process everything at once. Let’s look at the process above with an example.</p> <p>Suppose you work in operations at a trucking company. You are tasked with finding ways to improve fuel economy across the fleet. Since the company has already tackled the “low hanging fruit” by purchasing the most fuel-efficient trucks, your job is to find other ways to optimize. There are many things you could look at:</p> <ul> <li><em>Driving habits, including starts and stops, average speed, etc.</em></li> <li><em>Routes taken to common destinations</em></li> <li><em>Times of day trucks are on the road</em></li> <li><em>Type of fuel used</em></li> <li><em>Types of tires used</em></li> <li><em>Average weight of each truck</em></li> </ul> <p>The most likely outcome is that improving fuel economy would require adjustments to most or all of these, but the data needed to evaluate the whole solution would be very big indeed. The way to tackle the problem is to experiment, or “play” with the variables. The variables are kind of like Lego bricks. You mix and match until you find what works. From the list above, let’s use the hypothesis that tires might contribute to fuel efficiency. To test that you’d want to single out tires as a variable, and you might do that using the following process:</p> <ul> <li><em>Trucks using current tires would be the control group</em></li> <li><em>You’d take a small set of trucks and try a different set of tires</em></li> <li><em>You’d compare gas mileage over a period of time between the two sets and see which performs better against your stated goal of better fuel economy</em></li> </ul> <p><em>Repeat this until you’ve tested all desired tire options</em></p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/720/1*B69Iy5IYPh_PqSsWQhPc-Q.png" width="720" height="487" loading="lazy" /> <p>This simple example hides some of the complexity in correctly executing the experiment — you must account for variability in things like drivers, weather, routes, etc. — but the point in focusing on a single variable is that you’d end up with data related to only that variable, tires, and you’d have a good idea how much tire options contribute to the fuel economy problem. If you did the same with your other hypotheses, you would end up with an assessment of each hypothesis, and its relative contribution to your overall solution. So our list above might now look like the following:</p> <p><em><strong>Total Fuel Savi</em>ngs: 25%</strong></p> <ul> <li><em>Driving habits improvements: 3%</em></li> <li><em>Route optimization: 6%</em></li> <li><em>Time optimization: 2%</em></li> <li><em>Type of fuel used: 4%</em></li> <li><em>Types of tires used: 3%</em></li> <li><em>Average weight of each truck: 7%</em></li> </ul> <p>This result allows the company to make better decisions about where to start, and what to expect from each change. The big data problem got a lot more manageable.</p> <h3>Be Prepared, Big Data Will Get a Lot Bigger</h3> <p>Big data is, or soon will be, a reality in professional life for the vast majority of people in the modern economy. Here I’ve explored just three strategies you can use to help yourself be successful in that world. There are many more, and I’ll share more of them soon here on Medium. 1984 wasn’t just the year of Big Brother, it was the underwater tremor of what would—by 2017 —become an earthquake of data. The tsunami is on its way.</p> <p>To survive and even thrive, we must <em><strong>un</em>derstand</strong> what we need from the data, <em><strong>develop te</em>chniques</strong> to focus our questions, and <em><strong>ex</em>periment </strong>with the variables. With the right approach, we can harness the power of the data tsunami and make it a powerful force for ourselves and our work.</p> <p><em>I’d love to hear your comments! I’ve been involved in creating software most of my career, and currently manage a multi-disciplinary engineering, media, and data science team at Microsoft. Follow me on <a href="https://twit</em>ter.com/billp365">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/billpardi">LinkedIn</a>.</p> <p><em><a href="https://medium.com/microsoft-design/if</em>-you-want-to-be-creative-dont-be-data-driven-55db74078eda">Check out my other story on data for creatives.</a></p> <p><em>To stay in-the-know with <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/design?source=post_page---------------------------">Microsoft Design</a>, follow us on <a href="https://dribbble.com/microsoft?source=post_page----</em>-----------------------">Dribbble</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/microsoftdesign?source=post_page---------------------------">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/microsoftdesign?source=post_page---------------------------">Facebook</a>, or join our <a href="https://insider.windows.com/?source=post_page---------------------------">Windows Insider program</a>. And if you are interested in joining our team, head over to <a href="http://aka.ms/designcareers">aka.ms/DesignCareers</a>.</p> </section>	Big Data Have You Afraid? You’re Not Alone 3 tips for surviving the coming data tsunami We are moving slowly into an era where Big Data is the starting point, not the end. – Pearl Zhu, Digital Master The year was 1984. Thankfully for the western world the social tremors of the 1950’s never materialized into George Orwell’s Big Brother state, but a different sort of technical tremor was just beginning. It was buried deep underground, and at the time we couldn’t even feel it coming. But it was a tremor that has rapidly developed to the point where we now worry it might overtake us. We call it Big Data. The market intelligence firm IDC calls the sum of all data created the global datasphere. Back in 1984 the planet had roughly 20 million gigabytes (GB)of data stored digitally. Things have changed a lot since then. In 2010 the global datasphere was roughly 4 zettabytes (ZB). A zettabyte is 1 trillion gigabytes, or equal to the storage capacity of almost 4 billion iPhones (256GB model). If you look at the chart below, you’ll see that it’s going to take just a few more years for the datasphere to reach more than 50ZB. You’d need more than 207 billion iPhones to store all that data. We call this “big” data because it’s impossible for humans to work directly with the volume and scale of it all, and we require machines to do much of the processing and analysis. Creative professions — and by that I mean any profession that creates something, be it design, software engineering, media, finance, construction, the list goes on — already are, or soon will be, inundated with data. If you’re a creative professional and struggled just trying to get your head around the scale of the numbers I described above I have some bad news for you: we’re just getting started. Projections are that by 2025 the datasphere will triple in size to almost 160ZB. That means not only is the amount of data we’re creating growing, but the rate of growth in both data creation and network traffic are accelerating. There’s no avoiding it either. Data is permeating every industry as we move beyond just PCs and mobile devices to ubiquitous sensors everywhere, persistently generating and transmitting data. This is the ubiquitous “edge” being discussed by the tech cognoscenti. Already, the Internet of Things (IoT) is putting data generating sensors on what were traditionally “dumb” objects. Here are just a few: This list is just a small sample, but even if we take everything that is happening in the IoT today, it will be dwarfed by what we’ll see in the next decade and beyond. Intelligent Everything I was having coffee with some friends recently. The coffee shop had a device that supports NFC payments — I could tap my phone on the device, and it would charge my credit card. If you’ve used Apple Pay or Android Pay, you’ve done the same thing, and that’s an example of IoT in action. What was even more interesting though is that this coffee shop also had “smart tables.” I was able to make my purchase at a kiosk (an early form of smart menu, if you will), and one of the last steps is to take a “table tracker,” a device that looked rather like a thick plastic drink coaster with a number on it and clearly some electronics built in (it had a small LED glowing green). I brought the tracker over to the table, which also had a number on it. The table, which also has some electronics built in, “knows” what trackers are on it and communicates both the table and tracker numbers to the staff. Table Tracker When my drink was ready, someone brought it right over to where I was sitting, even though up to this point I had never spoken to any of the staff. As we drank our coffee and pondered the future of this technology, it was rather easy to see that this is just the beginning. Eventually the table will talk to the glasses and plates as well, knowing, for example, when my glass is empty and prompting an offer for a refill. When we’re done, we’ll be able to pay, securely, right at the table. And all this doesn’t consider how IoT might be involved in making reservations, coordinating with friends, and transporting everyone there. At the coffee shop, maybe humans will be involved in preparing and serving food and drinks, or maybe much of it will be automated, but there is little question in my mind that the industry will get there, and probably in the not too distant future. The data that will need to be collected, transmitted and processed to make all that happen is orders of magnitude more than is required by the restaurant business today, and it all must be done in a way that’s profitable to the restaurant, while maximizing customer enjoyment, privacy, and security. It’s a tall order (perhaps even a disruptive one,) but those businesses that don’t keep up will be left behind as the modern restaurant experience becomes more enjoyable for customers and more profitable for those that innovate. How Can You Keep Up? Maybe you’re a designer or a factory manager or a lawyer. You create physical objects or work with intellectual property or provide services to other humans. One thing you are not, though, is an expert in data, let alone big data. But the fact is that the average (or even above average) professional even in fields that are not related to data engineering or data science will still need to participate in this immensely data rich world. It will be expected that your decisions will be “data driven” (see my thoughts on that here), and that you’ll use data to help you and those you work with understand your business and your customers. But how does the non-data scientist deal with the massive amount of data available and the increasing complexity of effectively making sense of it? I want to be clear here that there is a lot of technical complexity to dealing with big data. It must be captured and stored. And there is the querying and modelling that must be done to get any use out of it. That’s why we have data scientists and engineers. Here are three tips for learning to survive in—and succeed in—the coming world of big data. I hope they will help you adapt what to expect from data professionals and to get better at asking the right questions. 1. Make the Big Smaller Big data, as the term implies, is too high in both volume and complexity for most human minds to manage effectively. Humans are predisposed to fear outsized challenges, seeing them more as threats than opportunities. Like the Big Bad Wolf, Big Foot, or Big Brother, big data for many fits squarely in the realm of a large, misunderstood entity they must either conquer or be consumed by. One way to deal with obstacles that are too big is by reducing their size. More specifically, we can reduce the size we have to deal with directly. With big data I don’t mean that you’d look to reduce the overall volume or complexity. Rather you would reduce the set of that data you need to process. There are a couple effective ways to do this. One is to ask questions, and the other is to focus the data. They are related, so let’s look at both of them. Ask Questions The idea here is that you want to get really clear about what questions you want the data to try and answer. Put another way, ask what problem are you trying to solve. The grid below shows a series of number. This is just data and without any questions to answers it doesn’t really tell us much of anything. To help make the data in this grid smaller, we can start asking questions such as: What is the highest number in the grid? How many rows are there? How many columns? What is the sum of the first horizontal row? What is the most common number that appears in the four center squares? You get the idea. The questions drastically reduce the need to be concerned with all the data and help us start to think about what we’re really after. That helps reduce the size of the data considerably, but we can make the data even smaller by focusing even further. Focus the Data One way we can focus even further is to be very specific about what we expect the data to predict. What I mean by that is that you can develop a hypothesis and use the data to test that hypothesis. For example, say you develop a product you expect will be used primarily by 25–35 year old females without children. By “primarily” you mean over 60%. Of all the data you might have about your product — how much it sells for, where it’s selling, how often it’s used, etc., the one piece of data you need to test your hypothesis is age and gender of customers. If you find that your customers are more that 60% 45–55 year old males, that gives you valuable information either about your product or about your assumptions about your customers, or both, but doesn’t require you to look at all the data you have about your product. Looking back at our number grid, let’s say our hypothesis is that the grid represents a sequential list of numbers from 1 to 100. Now use the data to test that hypothesis. You’ll notice that the question you’re trying to answer allows you to be very focused on how you’re looking at the data. Because of that focus, you likely were able to spot the part of the grid that invalidates the hypothesis pretty quickly. While deep focus helps in many situations, broad focus can also be an effective way to deal with big data. We do this by looking for trends or patterns. 2. Look for Patterns Another approach is to take a big step back from all the detail and instead look for patterns at a broader level. In truth, all the detail is still needed, but with big data tools are involved in helping spot the patterns. Sometimes that tool is something relatively simple like Excel. Other times (and increasingly more often) it requires something more, like sophisticated data models and machine learning (ML) algorithms. The data to feed those algorithms can come from anywhere. Like cows, for example. I recently heard of a farm that began using IoT devices on their cattle. The problem they were trying to solve was about knowing when a cow was ready to give birth. The typical farm cow requires help from the farmer to ensure successful delivery and care of the calf. The “low tech” way to do this is that when a farmer believes the cow is ready to give birth, he or she must physically monitor the cow, waiting for signs that the cow is about to deliver. Researchers noticed however, that in the minutes before delivery a cow will swing her tail in a unique way. This gave them the clue they needed. The solution was to attach a sensor to the cow’s tail, sending data back to a service that could process the data, watching for the telltale swinging. Once the pattern is detected, the farmer can be alerted, and be there just when the calf is delivered. The data solution here involves big data — there’s a lot of information being sent by the sensor on the cow’s tail that would be a real challenge for a human to process and make sense of. But none of it is relevant until a specific pattern occurs, only then does the data become critically important and the software can do the right thing. Knowing what pattern to look for is key to making this work. 3. Play Play might sound a bit trite when we’re talking about massive amounts of important data, but it’s not as strange as it might seem. When we play as children we take our imagination and let it run wild. We create characters, stories, and entire worlds, and there are no boundaries beyond what we can imagine. As adults, play can be just as powerful, if perhaps more directed. Thinking through possibilities beyond the obvious is a critical part of innovation and learning. Another word for play might be experimentation, but I use play here because the word “experiment” can sound overly formal and scientific, and that is not always what’s required. Play is an important tool the big data toolbox. This is especially valuable when the problem is ambiguous, or the possible solutions are complex. The process is relatively straightforward. If you have a problem with many possible solutions you would: Develop ideas of what some of the results may be Design contests to test each one in isolation Gather scores on each contest Look at the results and pick the winner(s) Kind of sounds like a game, doesn’t it? While it can (and should be) fun, it’s also serious business. That becomes clear if you substitute a few words above: ideas = theories contests = experiments results = solutions scores = data It’s important to recognize here that there is a real science to designing good experiments and correctly evaluating the results, often requiring expertise in mathematics and statistics. But there is real value for decision makers to play with the ideas first, reducing the problem down to smaller bits rather than trying to process everything at once. Let’s look at the process above with an example. Suppose you work in operations at a trucking company. You are tasked with finding ways to improve fuel economy across the fleet. Since the company has already tackled the “low hanging fruit” by purchasing the most fuel-efficient trucks, your job is to find other ways to optimize. There are many things you could look at: Driving habits, including starts and stops, average speed, etc. Routes taken to common destinations Times of day trucks are on the road Type of fuel used Types of tires used Average weight of each truck The most likely outcome is that improving fuel economy would require adjustments to most or all of these, but the data needed to evaluate the whole solution would be very big indeed. The way to tackle the problem is to experiment, or “play” with the variables. The variables are kind of like Lego bricks. You mix and match until you find what works. From the list above, let’s use the hypothesis that tires might contribute to fuel efficiency. To test that you’d want to single out tires as a variable, and you might do that using the following process: Trucks using current tires would be the control group You’d take a small set of trucks and try a different set of tires You’d compare gas mileage over a period of time between the two sets and see which performs better against your stated goal of better fuel economy Repeat this until you’ve tested all desired tire options Play can be a powerful tool for adults, too This simple example hides some of the complexity in correctly executing the experiment — you must account for variability in things like drivers, weather, routes, etc. — but the point in focusing on a single variable is that you’d end up with data related to only that variable, tires, and you’d have a good idea how much tire options contribute to the fuel economy problem. If you did the same with your other hypotheses, you would end up with an assessment of each hypothesis, and its relative contribution to your overall solution. So our list above might now look like the following: Total Fuel Savings: 25% Driving habits improvements: 3% Route optimization: 6% Time optimization: 2% Type of fuel used: 4% Types of tires used: 3% Average weight of each truck: 7% This result allows the company to make better decisions about where to start, and what to expect from each change. The big data problem got a lot more manageable. Be Prepared, Big Data Will Get a Lot Bigger Big data is, or soon will be, a reality in professional life for the vast majority of people in the modern economy. Here I’ve explored just three strategies you can use to help yourself be successful in that world. There are many more, and I’ll share more of them soon here on Medium. 1984 wasn’t just the year of Big Brother, it was the underwater tremor of what would—by 2017 —become an earthquake of data. The tsunami is on its way. To survive and even thrive, we must understand what we need from the data, develop techniques to focus our questions, and experiment with the variables. With the right approach, we can harness the power of the data tsunami and make it a powerful force for ourselves and our work. I’d love to hear your comments! I’ve been involved in creating software most of my career, and currently manage a multi-disciplinary engineering, media, and data science team at Microsoft. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn. Check out my other story on data for creatives. To stay in-the-know with Microsoft Design, follow us on Dribbble, Twitter and Facebook, or join our Windows Insider program. And if you are interested in joining our team, head over to aka.ms/DesignCareers.	f635e31d-cb22-594a-998d-05ebfd22edce	25/08/2025 15:59:46
https://alokkumar-17171.medium.com/es6-javascript-interview-question-851c9e7207b1	medium.com	ES6 — JavaScript Interview Question	Spread(…) vs Rest Parameter	Alok Kumar - Software Engineer - OPEN FOR WORK -	https://medium.com/@alokkumar-17171	851c9e7207b1	https://miro.medium.com/max/2000/0*S9nBfWFsj-2JitPH	1 min	2023-07-25T18:21:24.260000	2023-07-25T18:31:35.491000	2023-07-26T04:17:00.228000	0	0	en	ES6,Js,JavaScript,Web Development,Frontend	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/9504/0*S9nBfWFsj-2JitPH" width="9504" height="6336" loading="lazy" /> <h1>Spread(…) vs Rest Parameter</h1> <p>Though spread look alike Rest parameter.</p> <p>But they are just opposite of each other.</p> <p>Spread syntax “expands” an array into its elements, while rest syntax “collects” multiple elements and condenses them into a single element.</p> <p><strong>See Example below for more clarification</strong></p> <pre><code class="language-javascript">// example of spread syntax function sum(x,y,z){ return x+y+z; } const arr = [1,2,3] sum(...arr)// we have expanded arr into x,y,z</code></pre> <pre><code class="language-javascript">//example of rest Parameter function sum(...args){ // collects 1,2,3 into args let total = 0; for (const arg of args) { total += arg; } return total; } sum(1,2,3)</code></pre> </section>	ES6 — JavaScript Interview Question Photo by Joan Gamell on Unsplash Spread(…) vs Rest Parameter Though spread look alike Rest parameter. But they are just opposite of each other. Spread syntax “expands” an array into its elements, while rest syntax “collects” multiple elements and condenses them into a single element. See Example below for more clarification // example of spread syntax function sum(x,y,z){ return x+y+z; } const arr = [1,2,3] sum(...arr)// we have expanded arr into x,y,z //example of rest Parameter function sum(...args){ // collects 1,2,3 into args let total = 0; for (const arg of args) { total += arg; } return total; } sum(1,2,3)	e4d0ac6f-1666-5a27-972e-bc70e215786f	25/08/2025 15:59:47
https://medium.com/@chirag.dave/cloud-application-development-the-ultimate-guide-add0ac0b06c3	medium.com	Cloud Application Development: The Ultimate Guide	In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, cloud application development has become a cornerstone of business innovation. Companies of…	Chirag Dave	https://medium.com/@chirag.dave	add0ac0b06c3	https://miro.medium.com/…7rQQkbBJJ37y.jpg	4 min	2024-10-10T06:05:14.027000	2024-10-10T06:05:50.818000	2024-11-15T09:04:51.402000	1	0	en	Cloud Computing,Cloud Services,Cloud App Development,Cloud App Services,Web App Development	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/945/0*d9677rQQkbBJJ37y.jpg" width="945" height="532" loading="lazy" /> <p>In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, cloud application development has become a cornerstone of business innovation. Companies of all sizes are leveraging cloud technology to build scalable, flexible, and cost-effective applications. Whether you’re launching a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform or building custom applications, understanding the intricacies of cloud development is essential for success.</p> <p>In this comprehensive guide, we will dive into the world of cloud application development, covering everything from basic concepts to advanced strategies.</p> <h1>What Is Cloud Application Development?</h1> <p>Cloud application development involves designing, building, and maintaining applications that run in the cloud environment, rather than on traditional on-premise systems. These applications are hosted on third-party servers, typically provided by cloud service providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure.</p> <p>One of the biggest advantages of cloud application development is the ability to scale on demand. This means businesses can increase or decrease their computing resources as needed, without the overhead costs associated with maintaining physical infrastructure.</p> <p>Cloud applications can fall into several categories, including:</p> <ul> <li><strong>SaaS (Software as a Service):</strong> Applications accessed via the internet (e.g., Google Workspace, Salesforce).</li> <li><strong>PaaS (Platform as a Service):</strong> A cloud platform for developers to build and deploy applications (e.g., AWS Elastic Beanstalk).</li> <li><strong>IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service):</strong> Virtualized computing resources (e.g., AWS EC2).</li> </ul> <p>Cloud-based apps often benefit from enhanced security, reduced latency, and improved collaboration across teams, making them ideal for businesses looking to streamline their operations.</p> <h2>Understanding Web Application Development</h2> <p>Before diving deep into cloud applications, it’s important to understand the basics of web application development. Web applications are software programs that run on a web server and are accessed by users through a web browser. They can range from simple single-page applications to complex, multi-tiered systems that involve databases, APIs, and front-end user interfaces.</p> <p><strong>Key technologies in web application development include:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>HTML/CSS/JavaScript:</strong> The building blocks of the web interface.</li> <li><strong>Front-End Frameworks:</strong> React, Angular, or Vue.js for developing dynamic user interfaces.</li> <li><strong>Back-End Frameworks:</strong> Node.js, Django, or Ruby on Rails to handle server-side logic.</li> <li><strong>Databases:</strong> SQL or NoSQL databases like MySQL or MongoDB for data storage.</li> </ul> <p>Cloud applications and web applications share many foundational elements, but the key difference lies in how they are hosted and managed. In cloud development, the focus is on leveraging cloud infrastructure for scalability, security, and performance optimization.</p> <h2>Essentials of Cloud Apps</h2> <p>Cloud applications have unique characteristics that set them apart from traditional on-premise applications. Here are some of the essentials you need to consider when developing cloud-based apps:</p> <h2>1. Scalability</h2> <p>Cloud apps must be designed to scale up or down based on user demand. Whether you expect a few hundred users or millions of users, the app’s architecture must support dynamic scaling to accommodate traffic spikes without crashing.</p> <h2>2. Security</h2> <p>Cloud environments offer robust security protocols, but it’s important to incorporate your own security measures as well. Data encryption, multi-factor authentication, and compliance with industry regulations (like GDPR) are all crucial for protecting sensitive user data.</p> <h2>3. Microservices Architecture</h2> <p>Cloud applications often leverage microservices, which break down an app into smaller, independently deployable services. This modular approach enables easier updates, improved fault isolation, and faster development cycles.</p> <h2>4. API Integration</h2> <p>APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are integral to cloud applications as they allow seamless integration with third-party services, enabling your app to access external data and functionalities, such as payment processing or social media logins.</p> <h2>5. Elasticity</h2> <p>Cloud applications use elasticity to automatically provision and de-provision computing resources based on real-time demand, ensuring cost efficiency and performance optimization.</p> <h2>6. DevOps and Automation</h2> <p>Cloud development embraces DevOps practices that emphasize continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), ensuring that updates and new features are released quickly without disrupting service. Automation tools, such as Kubernetes for container orchestration, make it easier to manage large-scale cloud apps.</p> <h2>SAAS App Development & Cloud-based Development: Strategies and Considerations</h2> <p>Building SaaS (Software as a Service) applications in the cloud presents unique challenges and opportunities. SaaS products provide users with a subscription-based service accessed via the web, such as Slack or Dropbox. Developing such apps requires careful consideration of the following strategies:</p> <h2>1. Multi-Tenancy</h2> <p>Multi-tenancy is a core component of SaaS development, where a single instance of the application serves multiple customers (tenants). Each tenant’s data is isolated for privacy, but the infrastructure is shared to optimize resources.</p> <h2>2. User Authentication and Authorization</h2> <p>Security is paramount in SaaS applications. Implementing strong authentication mechanisms, such as OAuth, and granular user role permissions ensures data safety.</p> <h2>3. Subscription Management</h2> <p>Since SaaS apps are based on a recurring subscription model, you need to develop systems for handling customer billing, subscription tiers, and automated renewals or cancellations.</p> <h2>4. Data Backup and Redundancy</h2> <p>Data integrity is critical for SaaS apps. Ensure that your cloud app employs regular data backups and redundancy to avoid data loss or downtime.</p> <h2>5. API-First Design</h2> <p>In SaaS and cloud development, an API-first approach ensures your app is flexible and able to integrate with other platforms. This also allows for future scalability, where other applications can interact with your SaaS platform easily.</p> <h2>Conclusion</h2> <p>Cloud application development is revolutionizing the way businesses approach software, providing scalable, secure, and cost-effective solutions for companies of all sizes. With the rise of SaaS, PaaS, and other cloud models, the opportunities to innovate and expand your digital presence are endless. Whether you’re building a simple cloud app or a complex SaaS platform, understanding the essentials of cloud development will give you a significant competitive edge.</p> <h2>Why Vibidsoft Pvt Ltd Is Your Ideal Cloud Development Partner</h2> <p>At <a href="https://www.vibidsoft.com/">Vibidsoft Pvt Ltd</a>, we specialize in delivering custom cloud solutions tailored to your unique business needs. Whether you’re looking to develop a cloud-based app from scratch or migrate your existing system to the cloud, our experienced team is here to help.</p> <p>With expertise in cloud platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, we ensure your applications are built with scalability, security, and performance in mind. Our full-stack development team will guide you through the entire cloud journey, from initial strategy to deployment and ongoing support.</p> <p>Don’t just keep up with the cloud revolution — lead it! <a href="https://www.vibidsoft.com/contact">Contact us today</a> to learn how Vibidsoft Pvt Ltd can help transform your business with cutting-edge cloud applications.</p> </section>	Cloud Application Development: The Ultimate Guide Cloud Application Development: The Ultimate Guide In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, cloud application development has become a cornerstone of business innovation. Companies of all sizes are leveraging cloud technology to build scalable, flexible, and cost-effective applications. Whether you’re launching a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform or building custom applications, understanding the intricacies of cloud development is essential for success. In this comprehensive guide, we will dive into the world of cloud application development, covering everything from basic concepts to advanced strategies. What Is Cloud Application Development? Cloud application development involves designing, building, and maintaining applications that run in the cloud environment, rather than on traditional on-premise systems. These applications are hosted on third-party servers, typically provided by cloud service providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure. One of the biggest advantages of cloud application development is the ability to scale on demand. This means businesses can increase or decrease their computing resources as needed, without the overhead costs associated with maintaining physical infrastructure. Cloud applications can fall into several categories, including: SaaS (Software as a Service): Applications accessed via the internet (e.g., Google Workspace, Salesforce). PaaS (Platform as a Service): A cloud platform for developers to build and deploy applications (e.g., AWS Elastic Beanstalk). IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): Virtualized computing resources (e.g., AWS EC2). Cloud-based apps often benefit from enhanced security, reduced latency, and improved collaboration across teams, making them ideal for businesses looking to streamline their operations. Understanding Web Application Development Before diving deep into cloud applications, it’s important to understand the basics of web application development. Web applications are software programs that run on a web server and are accessed by users through a web browser. They can range from simple single-page applications to complex, multi-tiered systems that involve databases, APIs, and front-end user interfaces. Key technologies in web application development include: HTML/CSS/JavaScript: The building blocks of the web interface. Front-End Frameworks: React, Angular, or Vue.js for developing dynamic user interfaces. Back-End Frameworks: Node.js, Django, or Ruby on Rails to handle server-side logic. Databases: SQL or NoSQL databases like MySQL or MongoDB for data storage. Cloud applications and web applications share many foundational elements, but the key difference lies in how they are hosted and managed. In cloud development, the focus is on leveraging cloud infrastructure for scalability, security, and performance optimization. Essentials of Cloud Apps Cloud applications have unique characteristics that set them apart from traditional on-premise applications. Here are some of the essentials you need to consider when developing cloud-based apps: 1. Scalability Cloud apps must be designed to scale up or down based on user demand. Whether you expect a few hundred users or millions of users, the app’s architecture must support dynamic scaling to accommodate traffic spikes without crashing. 2. Security Cloud environments offer robust security protocols, but it’s important to incorporate your own security measures as well. Data encryption, multi-factor authentication, and compliance with industry regulations (like GDPR) are all crucial for protecting sensitive user data. 3. Microservices Architecture Cloud applications often leverage microservices, which break down an app into smaller, independently deployable services. This modular approach enables easier updates, improved fault isolation, and faster development cycles. 4. API Integration APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are integral to cloud applications as they allow seamless integration with third-party services, enabling your app to access external data and functionalities, such as payment processing or social media logins. 5. Elasticity Cloud applications use elasticity to automatically provision and de-provision computing resources based on real-time demand, ensuring cost efficiency and performance optimization. 6. DevOps and Automation Cloud development embraces DevOps practices that emphasize continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), ensuring that updates and new features are released quickly without disrupting service. Automation tools, such as Kubernetes for container orchestration, make it easier to manage large-scale cloud apps. SAAS App Development & Cloud-based Development: Strategies and Considerations Building SaaS (Software as a Service) applications in the cloud presents unique challenges and opportunities. SaaS products provide users with a subscription-based service accessed via the web, such as Slack or Dropbox. Developing such apps requires careful consideration of the following strategies: 1. Multi-Tenancy Multi-tenancy is a core component of SaaS development, where a single instance of the application serves multiple customers (tenants). Each tenant’s data is isolated for privacy, but the infrastructure is shared to optimize resources. 2. User Authentication and Authorization Security is paramount in SaaS applications. Implementing strong authentication mechanisms, such as OAuth, and granular user role permissions ensures data safety. 3. Subscription Management Since SaaS apps are based on a recurring subscription model, you need to develop systems for handling customer billing, subscription tiers, and automated renewals or cancellations. 4. Data Backup and Redundancy Data integrity is critical for SaaS apps. Ensure that your cloud app employs regular data backups and redundancy to avoid data loss or downtime. 5. API-First Design In SaaS and cloud development, an API-first approach ensures your app is flexible and able to integrate with other platforms. This also allows for future scalability, where other applications can interact with your SaaS platform easily. Conclusion Cloud application development is revolutionizing the way businesses approach software, providing scalable, secure, and cost-effective solutions for companies of all sizes. With the rise of SaaS, PaaS, and other cloud models, the opportunities to innovate and expand your digital presence are endless. Whether you’re building a simple cloud app or a complex SaaS platform, understanding the essentials of cloud development will give you a significant competitive edge. Why Vibidsoft Pvt Ltd Is Your Ideal Cloud Development Partner At Vibidsoft Pvt Ltd, we specialize in delivering custom cloud solutions tailored to your unique business needs. Whether you’re looking to develop a cloud-based app from scratch or migrate your existing system to the cloud, our experienced team is here to help. With expertise in cloud platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, we ensure your applications are built with scalability, security, and performance in mind. Our full-stack development team will guide you through the entire cloud journey, from initial strategy to deployment and ongoing support. Don’t just keep up with the cloud revolution — lead it! Contact us today to learn how Vibidsoft Pvt Ltd can help transform your business with cutting-edge cloud applications.	e818a279-77d7-52de-825c-5cb055f5b7c2	25/08/2025 15:59:47
https://medium.com/@citruscheckinnscompany/citrus-check-inns-goa-holidays-14753d54f9c9	medium.com	Citrus Check Inns	Goa Holidays	Citrus Check Inns	https://medium.com/@citruscheckinnscompany	14753d54f9c9	https://miro.medium.com/…-m9CGaMhzkw.jpeg	1 min	2015-09-01T11:21:56.651000	2015-09-01T11:27:37.930000	2015-09-01T11:28:41.188000	0	0	en	Citrus Check Inns,Citrus Investment Plans,Citrus Check Inns Ltd	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2560/1*4vRLWPVILdn-m9CGaMhzkw.jpeg" width="2560" height="1600" loading="lazy" /> <p>Goa is certainly a very well known tourist destinations in India. A huge number of travelers travel from far off lands just to witness the glory and glamour of this tiny state of Goa. Though it is a small state yet it has a lot to offer to the tourists. From serene beaches to funky parties to calm nature, one can dive into a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CitrusCheckInnsLtd">variety of experience</a>s as per ones choice.</p> <p>The state of Goa is extremely rich in terms of cultural heritage and even today one can catch a glimpse of the ancient culture in various parts of Goa. Tour and travel experts, from <strong><a href="http://www.c</strong>itrusholidays.co.in/plans.html">Citrus Check Inns Ltd</a>, suggest that one of the most superb ways to witness the beauty of Goa is by renting a bike or scooter and drive on random streets of this exotic place.</p> <p>Another best part of a trip to Goa is that you get to see the spice plantations amidst the dense forests around Ponda. This turns out to be a really good experience for curious travelers who crave to explore new and different things. Goa’s lush tropical climate makes it an ideal place to grow spices. The spice farms are open to visitors. You can either hire a guided or you can <a href="http://www.myfreeholidays.in/about-me.html">explore the place</a> on your own, it is totally up to you. Being the Portuguese capital of India, Goa is a place you must visit.</p> <p></p> </section>	Citrus Check Inns: Goa Holidays Goa is certainly a very well known tourist destinations in India. A huge number of travelers travel from far off lands just to witness the glory and glamour of this tiny state of Goa. Though it is a small state yet it has a lot to offer to the tourists. From serene beaches to funky parties to calm nature, one can dive into a variety of experiences as per ones choice. The state of Goa is extremely rich in terms of cultural heritage and even today one can catch a glimpse of the ancient culture in various parts of Goa. Tour and travel experts, from Citrus Check Inns Ltd, suggest that one of the most superb ways to witness the beauty of Goa is by renting a bike or scooter and drive on random streets of this exotic place. Another best part of a trip to Goa is that you get to see the spice plantations amidst the dense forests around Ponda. This turns out to be a really good experience for curious travelers who crave to explore new and different things. Goa’s lush tropical climate makes it an ideal place to grow spices. The spice farms are open to visitors. You can either hire a guided or you can explore the place on your own, it is totally up to you. Being the Portuguese capital of India, Goa is a place you must visit.	5dcd60e0-8ffd-5ade-bd42-7d1451e45d16	25/08/2025 15:59:48
https://arielmu.medium.com/xbox-one-installation-stopped-error-top-9-ways-to-fix-it-fd78805607fa	medium.com	Xbox One Installation Stopped Error — Top 9 Ways to Fix It	Common Causes for the Xbox One Installation Stopped Error	Ariel Mu	https://medium.com/@arielmu	fd78805607fa	https://miro.medium.com/…f0hVm_RNk30m.jpg	6 min	2019-09-26T02:31:46.069000	2019-09-23T14:11:05	2021-12-11T23:43:02.125000	0	0	en	Microsoft,Xbox One	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/600/0*_TWhf0hVm_RNk30m.jpg" width="600" height="400" loading="lazy" /> <h1>Common Causes for the Xbox One Installation Stopped Error</h1> <p>Xbox One enables you to install applications and games on the console. However, it is also annoying that Xbox One installation stopped error occurs. A great many users are looking for the solution on google to fix this problem.</p> <p>In order to solve the installation stopped Xbox One problem, it is necessary to figure out the reasons for this occurrence. Here are several common causes of this problem we summarized.</p> <ul> <li>The most common cause for installation stopped Xbox One is that your console is trying to download an update for the game while the game is installing.</li> <li>Another common cause is that the game files you saved locally get corrupted.</li> <li>Sometimes, Xbox One installation stopped error also occurs when Xbox One suffers some errors or this service is not running.</li> <li>An incorrect Xbox account you sign in is another cause that is often ignored, since, as you know, all Xbox games are tied to your Xbox account.</li> <li>Due to this game needs large space to install, Xbox One game installation stopped also occurs if your hard drive does not have enough space to install Xbox game.</li> <li>Sometimes the out-of-date console also might cause the problems with Xbox One installation.</li> <li>It is reported that some users encounter the installation problem while trying to install Xbox One game on an external hard drive.</li> </ul> <p>Now, I believe you already have an overall understanding of the Xbox One installation stopped issue. Let’s see the following top 8 methods to fix this problem.</p> <h2>Solution 1. Clear Your Local Saved Games and Try to Reinstall the Game</h2> <p>To fix the Xbox One installation stopped error smoothly, just follow the steps below to remove the corrupted game files you saved locally.</p> <p><strong>Step 1. </strong>Make sure there is no disc in your Console.</p> <p><strong>Step 3. </strong>Navigate to <strong>Settings</strong>,<strong> All Settings</strong>,<strong> System</strong>, and <strong>Storage </strong>in order.</p> <p><strong>Step 4. </strong>Now, select <strong>Clear local saved games</strong>. (Note: This option only deletes the data you have saved locally, the game files and progress you have saved in Xbox Live cloud will not be cleared.)</p> <p><strong>Step 5. </strong>Click on Yes to confirm this process. Then you can restart your console and see if this problem is resolved.</p> <h2>Solution 2. Take Your Console Offline and Try to Install the Game</h2> <p>As mentioned above, Xbox One installation stopped error can occur when Xbox One is updating itself while installing it. So, it is recommended that you take your console offline at first. For that:</p> <p><strong>Step 1. </strong>Click the Home page and press <strong>Xbox </strong>button to open the guide.</p> <p><strong>Step 2. </strong>Click System, All Settings, Network Settings, and Go offline in order.</p> <p><strong>Step 3. </strong>After that, you’re offline. Then you need to follow the steps below to <strong>cancel the download</strong>.</p> <ul> <li>Select <strong>My games & apps </strong>by scrolling right on the Home Screen.</li> <li>Select <strong>Queue</strong>.</li> <li>Highlight the game you are trying to install and press the <strong>Menu </strong>button on the controller.</li> <li>Select <strong>Cancel</strong>.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Step 4. </strong>Then you need to remove the game disc from the console and restart it. Follow the steps to do:</p> <ul> <li>Open the <strong>Guide </strong>again by the above step and click on <strong>Settings</strong>.</li> <li>Select the <strong>Restart console </strong>option and select the <strong>Yes </strong>to confirm.</li> </ul> <h2>Solution 3. Make Sure That You Have Enough Storage Space to Install Xbox Game</h2> <p>As is well known, Xbox One needs a quite large storage space to install and run. So, the error “Xbox One game installation stopped “also occurs if there is not enough storage space on your hard drive.</p> <p>Usually, you should get a notification when your <a href="https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmagic/low-disk-space-warning.html">hard drive storage is low</a>. But sometimes it is possible that you missed the notification. You can enlarge the hard drive space by the following steps:</p> <p><strong>Step 2. </strong>Check if there are any notifications with regard to the low hard drive space.</p> <p><strong>Step 3. </strong>If that is really the case, it is recommended you <a href="https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmanager/upgrade-to-larger-disk.html">upgrade your hard disk</a> to get more disk space so as to install a new program.</p> <p>Here, we recommend you use MiniTool Partition Wizard. This powerful software offers you a perfect solution with regard to data recovery, disk clone, and partition management. Note that you need to do this on a Windows-running computer.</p> <p>You can also delete the specific items from your hard drive with these steps:</p> <p><strong>Step 2. </strong>Navigate to the game or app that you want to delete. Press the <strong>Menu </strong>on the console and choose <strong>Message game </strong>or <strong>manage app </strong>option.</p> <h2>Solution 4. Check the Current Status of Xbox Live Services</h2> <p>Xbox Live Cloud enables you to save games and keep your important data in sync. However, if there are some issues in Xbox Live or Xbox Live are not running, you might encounter the problem “installation stopped Xbox One”.</p> <p>For this server-side issue, you need to wait for the patches Microsoft releases to fix this issue. However, it is feasible to check the current status of the <strong>Xbox Live </strong>services simply by visiting <a href="https://www.xbox.com/en-US/">Xbox’s official website</a>. If your Xbox Live services are suffering slow performance, you can follow <a href="https://windowsreport.com/xbox-live-slow-performance-solution/">this guide</a> that will help you optimize its performance.</p> <h2>Solution 5. Format the Xbox One External Hard Drive</h2> <p>In addition, the external hard drive is also used by many users to store games and applications so that more internal hard drive space can be saved.</p> <p>But you need to <a href="https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmagic/xbox-one-external-hard-drive-format.html">format the external hard drive properly</a> before you use it for games and apps. Bear in mind that formatting your hard drive will delete all data from it, so it is highly recommended that you back up the important data in advance.</p> <p>More importantly, keep in mind that not all external hard drives are suitable for storing games and apps. In order to store apps and games on an external hard drive, the drive needs to hold a capacity of 256GB or more and use a USB 3.0 connection.</p> <p>If your console is out of date, you might encounter Xbox One game installation stopped. To fix this problem, you can check if there are any updates available for your console by the following steps.</p> <p><strong>Step 2. </strong>Navigate to the <strong>Settings </strong>and <strong>All Settings</strong>. Then click on the <strong>System </strong>on the left pane and <strong>console info & update</strong>.</p> <p>If there are updates available that will appear at the bottom of the first column. After installing the latest update, you can try to install the game again.</p> <h2>Solution 7. Restore Your Xbox to the Factory Status</h2> <p>Sometimes the problems with the installation process also appear due to corrupted files. To fix this problem, the simplest and fastest way is to perform a factory reset. Here is how to do that:</p> <p>Note: Factory reset may delete all files from your console. So, make sure you have backed all up before the factory reset.</p> <p><strong>Step 1. </strong>Press Xbox button on the Home Screen to open the<strong> Guide</strong>.</p> <p><strong>Step 4. </strong>Now click <strong>Reset console</strong>.</p> <p>Here, you will see two options available “ <strong>Reset and remove everything </strong>and <strong>Reset and keep my games and apps</strong> “. We recommend you choose the latter so as to perform the reset and delete the corrupted files without removing your games or installed apps.</p> <p>If the latter option fails to resolve the installation stopped Xbox One issue, you will have to choose <strong>Reset and remove everything</strong>. But bear in mind that you need to back up all important files to another hard drive so that you don’t have to download them again.</p> <h2>Solution 8. Install Xbox to Internal Hard Drive</h2> <p>It is reported that many users encounter the issue “Xbox One installation stopped” when trying to install the game on an external hard drive. Although an external hard drive is a good choice to preserve your storage space when installing a game, comes certain errors may appear while you do that.</p> <p>It is very simple to solve this problem if you are in the same situation, just install the game to the internal hard drive and set the download location for all new downloads to the internal hard drive. After that, the installation progress should perform smoothly.</p> <h2>Solution 9. Use the Correct Xbox Account</h2> <p>Xbox account might be ignored. In order to install the game smoothly, you should sign in the correct account. If you have multiple accounts on the console, make sure that you are signed in with the account you used to purchase this game. This solution only applies to digital downloads.</p> <p>I failed to install a game from my console with an error showing Xbox One installation stopped at 0% or near. The solution 5 is helpful. If you are struggling to resolve this vexing problem, have a try. Click to tweet</p> <h2>Bottom Line</h2> <p>In today’s article, we explored the top 9 troubleshooting methods to fix the problem “Xbox One installation stopped”. I believe you have an overall understanding of these solutions, have a try now!</p> <p>Well, welcome to leave your ideas in the comment area or you can send us an email to <a href="https://www.partitionwizard.com/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5724222727382523173a3e393e2338383b7934383a">[email protected] </a>if you have any questions.</p> <p><em>Originally published at <a href="https://www.partitionwizard.com/clone-disk/xb</em>ox-one-installation-stopped.html">https://www.partitionwizard.com</a> on September 23, 2019.</p> </section>	Xbox One Installation Stopped Error — Top 9 Ways to Fix It Common Causes for the Xbox One Installation Stopped Error Xbox One enables you to install applications and games on the console. However, it is also annoying that Xbox One installation stopped error occurs. A great many users are looking for the solution on google to fix this problem. In order to solve the installation stopped Xbox One problem, it is necessary to figure out the reasons for this occurrence. Here are several common causes of this problem we summarized. The most common cause for installation stopped Xbox One is that your console is trying to download an update for the game while the game is installing. Another common cause is that the game files you saved locally get corrupted. Sometimes, Xbox One installation stopped error also occurs when Xbox One suffers some errors or this service is not running. An incorrect Xbox account you sign in is another cause that is often ignored, since, as you know, all Xbox games are tied to your Xbox account. Due to this game needs large space to install, Xbox One game installation stopped also occurs if your hard drive does not have enough space to install Xbox game. Sometimes the out-of-date console also might cause the problems with Xbox One installation. It is reported that some users encounter the installation problem while trying to install Xbox One game on an external hard drive. Now, I believe you already have an overall understanding of the Xbox One installation stopped issue. Let’s see the following top 8 methods to fix this problem. Solution 1. Clear Your Local Saved Games and Try to Reinstall the Game To fix the Xbox One installation stopped error smoothly, just follow the steps below to remove the corrupted game files you saved locally. Step 1. Make sure there is no disc in your Console. Step 3. Navigate to Settings, All Settings, System, and Storage in order. Step 4. Now, select Clear local saved games. (Note: This option only deletes the data you have saved locally, the game files and progress you have saved in Xbox Live cloud will not be cleared.) Step 5. Click on Yes to confirm this process. Then you can restart your console and see if this problem is resolved. Solution 2. Take Your Console Offline and Try to Install the Game As mentioned above, Xbox One installation stopped error can occur when Xbox One is updating itself while installing it. So, it is recommended that you take your console offline at first. For that: Step 1. Click the Home page and press Xbox button to open the guide. Step 2. Click System, All Settings, Network Settings, and Go offline in order. Step 3. After that, you’re offline. Then you need to follow the steps below to cancel the download. Select My games & apps by scrolling right on the Home Screen. Select Queue. Highlight the game you are trying to install and press the Menu button on the controller. Select Cancel. Step 4. Then you need to remove the game disc from the console and restart it. Follow the steps to do: Open the Guide again by the above step and click on Settings. Select the Restart console option and select the Yes to confirm. Solution 3. Make Sure That You Have Enough Storage Space to Install Xbox Game As is well known, Xbox One needs a quite large storage space to install and run. So, the error “Xbox One game installation stopped “also occurs if there is not enough storage space on your hard drive. Usually, you should get a notification when your hard drive storage is low. But sometimes it is possible that you missed the notification. You can enlarge the hard drive space by the following steps: Step 2. Check if there are any notifications with regard to the low hard drive space. Step 3. If that is really the case, it is recommended you upgrade your hard disk to get more disk space so as to install a new program. Here, we recommend you use MiniTool Partition Wizard. This powerful software offers you a perfect solution with regard to data recovery, disk clone, and partition management. Note that you need to do this on a Windows-running computer. You can also delete the specific items from your hard drive with these steps: Step 2. Navigate to the game or app that you want to delete. Press the Menu on the console and choose Message game or manage app option. Solution 4. Check the Current Status of Xbox Live Services Xbox Live Cloud enables you to save games and keep your important data in sync. However, if there are some issues in Xbox Live or Xbox Live are not running, you might encounter the problem “installation stopped Xbox One”. For this server-side issue, you need to wait for the patches Microsoft releases to fix this issue. However, it is feasible to check the current status of the Xbox Live services simply by visiting Xbox’s official website. If your Xbox Live services are suffering slow performance, you can follow this guide that will help you optimize its performance. Solution 5. Format the Xbox One External Hard Drive In addition, the external hard drive is also used by many users to store games and applications so that more internal hard drive space can be saved. But you need to format the external hard drive properly before you use it for games and apps. Bear in mind that formatting your hard drive will delete all data from it, so it is highly recommended that you back up the important data in advance. More importantly, keep in mind that not all external hard drives are suitable for storing games and apps. In order to store apps and games on an external hard drive, the drive needs to hold a capacity of 256GB or more and use a USB 3.0 connection. If your console is out of date, you might encounter Xbox One game installation stopped. To fix this problem, you can check if there are any updates available for your console by the following steps. Step 2. Navigate to the Settings and All Settings. Then click on the System on the left pane and console info & update. If there are updates available that will appear at the bottom of the first column. After installing the latest update, you can try to install the game again. Solution 7. Restore Your Xbox to the Factory Status Sometimes the problems with the installation process also appear due to corrupted files. To fix this problem, the simplest and fastest way is to perform a factory reset. Here is how to do that: Note: Factory reset may delete all files from your console. So, make sure you have backed all up before the factory reset. Step 1. Press Xbox button on the Home Screen to open the Guide. Step 4. Now click Reset console. Here, you will see two options available “ Reset and remove everything and Reset and keep my games and apps “. We recommend you choose the latter so as to perform the reset and delete the corrupted files without removing your games or installed apps. If the latter option fails to resolve the installation stopped Xbox One issue, you will have to choose Reset and remove everything. But bear in mind that you need to back up all important files to another hard drive so that you don’t have to download them again. Solution 8. Install Xbox to Internal Hard Drive It is reported that many users encounter the issue “Xbox One installation stopped” when trying to install the game on an external hard drive. Although an external hard drive is a good choice to preserve your storage space when installing a game, comes certain errors may appear while you do that. It is very simple to solve this problem if you are in the same situation, just install the game to the internal hard drive and set the download location for all new downloads to the internal hard drive. After that, the installation progress should perform smoothly. Solution 9. Use the Correct Xbox Account Xbox account might be ignored. In order to install the game smoothly, you should sign in the correct account. If you have multiple accounts on the console, make sure that you are signed in with the account you used to purchase this game. This solution only applies to digital downloads. I failed to install a game from my console with an error showing Xbox One installation stopped at 0% or near. The solution 5 is helpful. If you are struggling to resolve this vexing problem, have a try. Click to tweet Bottom Line In today’s article, we explored the top 9 troubleshooting methods to fix the problem “Xbox One installation stopped”. I believe you have an overall understanding of these solutions, have a try now! Well, welcome to leave your ideas in the comment area or you can send us an email to [email protected] if you have any questions. Originally published at https://www.partitionwizard.com on September 23, 2019.	de23c863-9a7c-51e4-8423-a3aac8a913e5	25/08/2025 15:59:50
https://pub.towardsai.net/why-chatgpt-will-be-your-next-coworker-ec48e59c1b0b	medium.com	The Future of Enterprise AI is Here: Why ChatGPT Will be Your Next Coworker	OpenAI’s new B2B Tools leave business leaders no excuse	Jorge Alcántara	https://medium.com/@jakairos	ec48e59c1b0b	https://miro.medium.com/max/2000/0*_h5aZJRdqzEQEsJF	9 min	2023-08-29T23:56:43.279000	2023-08-31T17:33:08.296000	2023-09-01T13:37:17.210000	0	14	en	Artificial Intelligence,Enterprise Software,Data Privacy,Chatgpt For Business,OpenAI	<section> <h3>Why ChatGPT Will Soon Be Your Best-Paid Coworker</h3> <p>Welcome to the future of enterprise solutions: a space being taken over by Artificial Intelligence (AI), and, more specifically, OpenAI’s new B2B focus.</p> <p>With the explosion of tools and technologies, enterprises are riding a wave of innovation like never before. But as offerings proliferate and updates roll out at breakneck speed, it can be a dizzying challenge to navigate this landscape and decide what is right for your company.</p> <p>That’s where this introduction comes in. To be your compass in the AI jungle, walking you through the two most important changes that have taken place this Summer and are forcing the industry to reinvent how we think about AI SaaS in the workplace.</p> <p><strong>Fine-Tuning for ChatGPT </strong>— Create a model you can chat with that knows about whatever you want to train it on.</p> <p><strong>Enterprise ChatGPT </strong>— Private company deployments of ChatGPT with all the power offered to Plus users and more!</p> <p>Read on to understand these seismic updates for what they are and what they’re not.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1024/0_h5aZJRdqzEQEsJF" width="1024" height="1024" loading="lazy" /> <p>This isn’t just about staying updated with the latest trends; it’s about leveraging the <em>pinnacle</em> of what AI has to offer right now. And trust us, you don’t want to miss out on this ride. The latest updates leave no excuse for any company that was waiting to get onto this train. Even the most skeptical will be able to see why the combination of Enterprise-grade privacy and flexible customization is poised to finally take OpenAI on its path to positive revenue with an excellent product-market fit.</p> <h1>The Rise of Customizable AI Enterprise Tools</h1> <p>The game changed when OpenAI released <strong>Fine-Tuning for GPT-3.5 Turbo</strong>. If you thought AI was already making waves in the enterprise space, think again. This new capability brought something to the table that was only possible with smaller and open-source models — <em>customization</em>. But what does that mean for your enterprise, and why should you care? Well, because customization has proven to be the defining factor in terms of performance & scalability when aiming for a specific use case.</p> <h3>GPT-3.5 Turbo and Fine-Tuning</h3> <p>GPT-3.5 Turbo isn’t just another pre-trained language model; it’s already prepared to follow instructions (work well as a chat agent). But now it comes with the capability to be fine-tuned to a degree of specificity that previous iterations couldn’t touch. This essentially allows you to <strong>make the model “your own”</strong> teaching it the nuances of your domain, the intricacies of your brand’s voice, or even the specific problem-solving strategies you require.</p> <p>Recent publications from OpenAI show that a fine-tuning GPT-3.5 can render better results than GPT-4 for the designed use case. Furthermore, the cost per token of interacting with fine-tuned 3.5 is 60–80% cheaper than GPT-4 (8k context window) calls.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1274/1tRMMIA9w-RdhJ0kKkmdQcg.png" width="1274" height="276" loading="lazy" /> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1260/1jMkyfGNTamdBzI6J5eX5Sg.png" width="1260" height="214" loading="lazy" /> <p>Interestingly, the input/output cost is different in rate, which makes it even <strong>more interesting to use fine-tuned GPT-3.5</strong> for use cases where low-input large-output is expected.</p> <h2>What is Fine-Tuning Anyway?</h2> <p>Alright, you’re pumped about the customizable superpowers that fine-tuning brings to GPT-3.5 Turbo. But <strong>let’s take a step back and dig into what fine-tuning actually is</strong>. Because, let’s be honest, “fine-tuning” sounds cool but might seem a tad technical for some.</p> <h3>The Essence of Fine-Tuning</h3> <p>Imagine you’ve got a sports car. It’s already blazing fast right off the production line. But now you’ve decided you want it to be the best on a specific track. You won’t just replace the whole engine; instead, you tweak the existing machinery — perhaps you modify the gear ratios, or maybe you invest in better aerodynamics. You’re fine-tuning it.</p> <p>In a similar vein, fine-tuning takes an already-trained AI model and customizes it for specific tasks or domains. You’re not building a new model from scratch; you’re just giving the existing one a “minor” makeover to improve its performance in your desired niche.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/872/1Jq56TKiWDKFZa4IxLN_75A.png" width="872" height="794" loading="lazy" /> <h3>Steps in Fine-Tuning</h3> <p><strong>Data Preparation</strong>: Gather domain-specific data.</p> <p><strong>Preprocessing</strong>: Clean and format this data to make it compatible.</p> <p><strong>Training</strong>: The fine-tuning itself — train the model on your tailored data.</p> <p><strong>Evaluation</strong>: Assess the model’s performance in the specific domain.</p> <p><strong>Deployment</strong>: Integrate the model into your application.</p> <h3>So, Why Does It Matter?</h3> <p>Okay, that sounds interesting, but should you care? <strong>Yes!</strong>, Here’s why:</p> <p><strong>Reduced API Costs</strong></p> <p>When you fine-tune a model, it becomes more efficient at generating relevant outputs. This means fewer API calls and, by extension, lower costs. Companies have reported a decrease in API costs by up to 40% after fine-tuning their models. This can even be larger if you break up your use case to use the least smart (cheapest) model for each step that still accomplishes your goals.</p> <p><strong>Performance Uplift</strong></p> <p>A generic model tries to be a jack-of-all-trades. But a fine-tuned model becomes a master of one — your specific domain. The result? Improved accuracy and less need for human intervention.</p> <p><strong>Differentiated Solutions</strong></p> <p>A model fine-tuned with your selection of data will perform differently from any other version out there. This enables companies to truly create unique outputs, opening a door for those startups building LLM wrappers to step up and make their solution less easily replicable.</p> <h2>The Precedence of Prompt Engineering</h2> <p>While fine-tuning is akin to turning your sports car into a track champion, there are performance boosts you can achieve without heading into the garage for a full overhaul. This is, of course, our well-known discipline of <strong>Prompt Engineering</strong> — your low-hanging fruit in the AI optimization garden.</p> <h3>Fine-Tuning Isn’t Always Step One</h3> <p>Don’t get me wrong; fine-tuning is a powerful tool. However, it’s resource-intensive, requiring both computational power and domain-specific data. So before you dive deep into customization, ask yourself, <em>“Can I get good enough results without changing the underlying model?”</em></p> <h3>Prompt Engineering: Your Quick Win</h3> <p>If you’re new to the term, prompt engineering is basically the art of crafting queries or instructions in a way that guides the AI model to generate desired outputs. No model adjustments, no added costs. Simple text tweaks can result in dramatically different and highly targeted outputs.</p> <p>Here’s a basic example:</p> <ul> <li><strong>General Query:</strong><em> “Tell me about coffee.”</em></li> <li><strong>Engineered Prompt:</strong> <em>“Summarize the history, health benefits, and brewing methods of coffee.”</em></li> </ul> <p>The second prompt is designed to elicit a more structured and comprehensive answer, allowing you to maximize the utility of the base model.</p> <h3>Advanced Techniques: Prompt Chaining & Function Calling</h3> <p>Let’s level up. Prompt chaining involves breaking down a complex task into smaller, digestible queries and feeding the output of one as the input to another. For instance, asking the model to first summarize a document and then translate that summary into another language.</p> <p>Function calling is a more recent innovation that enables the use of pre-built functions within a chat session to accomplish specific tasks. This is like giving your model a set of utilities to pull from, streamlining processes like data extraction or text summarization even further.</p> <h3>Why Prioritize Prompt Engineering?</h3> <p>Three reasons:</p> <p><strong>Speed:</strong> Real-time results, no waiting for model training.</p> <p><strong>Cost-Efficiency:</strong> Zero extra costs, especially useful if you’re still experimenting with AI capabilities.</p> <p><strong>Flexibility:</strong> Easy to adjust and refine, enabling agile iterations to match your evolving needs.</p> <p>Before you invest in a fine-tuned model, test the waters with prompt engineering. Sometimes, the difference between a good solution and the best solution is just a well-engineered question.</p> <h2>Control & Compliance: The Enterprise Edition</h2> <p>The cornerstone of an enterprise AI deployment: Security and Compliance. Let’s get real; all the bells and whistles of a technology solution mean nothing if it can’t stand up to the rigorous security standards your organization requires. This is where OpenAI’s Enterprise Offering, announced on Aug 28th, comes into play.</p> <p>Although the announcement was just made this week, OpenAI shows that a long list of very respectable clients have already been using their Enterprise offering without it being yet public.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1738/1QEXfytbHLFwurlsYls6sCg.png" width="1738" height="1070" loading="lazy" /> <p>Details are still scarce, and implementation today requires dedicated interaction with OpenAI’s sales teams. Still, the solution promises to fulfill the four C’s that the industry has been looking for — <em><strong>Control, Compliance, Customization & Collab</em>oration.</strong></p> <h3>Control: Admin Console</h3> <p>The Enterprise version will ship with an intuitive Admin Console. This is your control center, providing a dashboard to manage API keys, monitor usage, and set permissions at a granular level. It’s where governance meets agility — right from setting quotas to delegating roles, the console puts you in the driver’s seat.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1440/1dzEs0Fj9x1rM3CAgoqvSDw.png" width="1440" height="716" loading="lazy" /> <h3>Compliance: Enterprise-Grade Security</h3> <p>This is the bedrock on which the enterprise edition is built. Expect state-of-the-art encryption both at rest and in transit. Compliance standards such as GDPR and SOC 2 are met (no word on HIPAA, which Anthropic provides), ensuring you’re never on the wrong side of legal obligations.</p> <h3>Customization: Tailored Retention & Fine-Tune</h3> <p>In addition to the fine-tuning capabilities we have discussed, OpenAI ensures that you will have control over how data is handled. The enterprise version comes with options to set custom data retention policies, ensuring you can comply with any regulations or internal guidelines about how long to hold onto your data.</p> <p>Furthermore, and although I haven’t been able to validate this, the company communication states that the addition of company knowledge will have an easy-to-use interface to add data sources for the model that can take effect company-wide.</p> <h3>Collaboration: Shareable Chat Templates</h3> <p>Working in a silo has been an issue since the start of ChatGPT. First with shareable conversations and now with templates, OpenAI is acknowledging that the modern workspace is all about collaboration. With chat templates, teams will be able to distribute, test, and improve conversational designs without risking unauthorized access or modification. And yes, these are secure links that adhere to best practices in privacy & protection.</p> <h2>Specific Use-Cases Reaping the Rewards</h2> <p>Fine-tuning shines across diverse sectors, and its potential is immense:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Customer Service: </strong>Forget canned responses. Businesses are now fine-tuning GPT-3.5 Turbo to understand their products inside out, providing customer support that’s both automated and astonishingly adept.</li> <li><strong>Content Writing: </strong>Something our clients have often asked about is how to ensure that content written by AI will follow their brand style and guidelines. This is usually achieved through red-teaming, but still is not very accurate. With these changes, your brand can have a clear message that will be honored across your generated content.</li> <li><strong>Formatted Outputs: </strong>Current Apps built on LLMs commonly try to extract JSON, Markdown, or other specific formatting out of the responses. This usually comes with risks, as the model may not always reply in perfect format. So, Devs have had to build test & retry flows. Now, you can educate your model to better follow your format needs.</li> <li><strong>Legal Sector: </strong>Models tuned to the documents that your company has already processed can sift through legal jargon to produce summaries or even draft initial versions of legal documents that match the legal arguments made and use the latest jurisprudence. If you don’t want to be in the news for citing imagined cases, this is the way to go.</li> <li><strong>Healthcare & Research: </strong>Custom-tailored models assist with medical diagnoses, offering preliminary suggestions based on years of journals and studies.</li> </ul> <h3>Early Adopters and Their Triumphs</h3> <p>From global giants to sprightly startups, many have jumped on the fine-tuning bandwagon and are reaping tangible benefits. A notable case is Salesforce, which has integrated fine-tuned GPT-3.5 Turbo into its customer relationship management (CRM) software. The result? A 35% reduction in average handle time for customer support queries.</p> <h2>A Note on the Horizon</h2> <p>While we’ve covered the plethora of capabilities OpenAI’s newly minted Enterprise edition promises, it’s worth mentioning that full details are still behind the veil of OpenAI’s sales engagement. As a result, keep an eye on this space — this article may undergo updates to reflect new insights as they come to light.</p> <p>Moreover, as the enterprise landscape begins to dabble more intensely with fine-tuning options, expect additional articles to delve deeper into emerging use cases, performance metrics, and best practices. In a rapidly evolving domain, staying in the know is not just advantageous — it’s essential for a competitive edge.</p> <p></p> <h2>Sources</h2> <p><a href="https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/fine-tuning">OpenAI Developer Guide: Fine-Tuning</a></p> <p><a href="https://openai.com/enterprise">OpenAI Blog: ChatGPT Enterprise</a></p> <p><a href="https://openai.com/blog/function-calling-and-other-api-updates">OpenAI Blog: Function Calling and Other API Updates</a></p> <p><a href="https://openai.com/pricing">OpenAI Pricing: API Cost by 1k Tokens</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.deeplearning.ai/short-courses/finetuning-large-language-models/">Deeplearning.ai — Fine-Tuning Large Language Models</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/generative-ai-protein-research/?_ga=2.263828172.113380792.1693360085-1043458495.1693360085&_gl=11tq6nsz_gaMTA0MzQ1ODQ5NS4xNjkzMzYwMDg1_ga_H6M98GGB18*MTY5MzM2MDA4NS4xLjAuMTY5MzM2MDA5MS4wLjAuMA..">How Salesforce Research Uses Generative AI as a Force for Good</a></p> </section>	OpenAI Blows Open the Gates to Enterprise AI Why ChatGPT Will Soon Be Your Best-Paid Coworker Welcome to the future of enterprise solutions: a space being taken over by Artificial Intelligence (AI), and, more specifically, OpenAI’s new B2B focus. With the explosion of tools and technologies, enterprises are riding a wave of innovation like never before. But as offerings proliferate and updates roll out at breakneck speed, it can be a dizzying challenge to navigate this landscape and decide what is right for your company. That’s where this introduction comes in. To be your compass in the AI jungle, walking you through the two most important changes that have taken place this Summer and are forcing the industry to reinvent how we think about AI SaaS in the workplace. Fine-Tuning for ChatGPT — Create a model you can chat with that knows about whatever you want to train it on. Enterprise ChatGPT — Private company deployments of ChatGPT with all the power offered to Plus users and more! Read on to understand these seismic updates for what they are and what they’re not. Dall-e: A realistic painting of a robot with a graduation hat studying in a library This isn’t just about staying updated with the latest trends; it’s about leveraging the pinnacle of what AI has to offer right now. And trust us, you don’t want to miss out on this ride. The latest updates leave no excuse for any company that was waiting to get onto this train. Even the most skeptical will be able to see why the combination of Enterprise-grade privacy and flexible customization is poised to finally take OpenAI on its path to positive revenue with an excellent product-market fit. The Rise of Customizable AI Enterprise Tools The game changed when OpenAI released Fine-Tuning for GPT-3.5 Turbo. If you thought AI was already making waves in the enterprise space, think again. This new capability brought something to the table that was only possible with smaller and open-source models — customization. But what does that mean for your enterprise, and why should you care? Well, because customization has proven to be the defining factor in terms of performance & scalability when aiming for a specific use case. GPT-3.5 Turbo and Fine-Tuning GPT-3.5 Turbo isn’t just another pre-trained language model; it’s already prepared to follow instructions (work well as a chat agent). But now it comes with the capability to be fine-tuned to a degree of specificity that previous iterations couldn’t touch. This essentially allows you to make the model “your own” teaching it the nuances of your domain, the intricacies of your brand’s voice, or even the specific problem-solving strategies you require. Recent publications from OpenAI show that a fine-tuning GPT-3.5 can render better results than GPT-4 for the designed use case. Furthermore, the cost per token of interacting with fine-tuned 3.5 is 60–80% cheaper than GPT-4 (8k context window) calls. OpenAI Pricing for Fine-tuning GPT models OpenAI Pricing for GPT-4 interactions Interestingly, the input/output cost is different in rate, which makes it even more interesting to use fine-tuned GPT-3.5 for use cases where low-input large-output is expected. What is Fine-Tuning Anyway? Alright, you’re pumped about the customizable superpowers that fine-tuning brings to GPT-3.5 Turbo. But let’s take a step back and dig into what fine-tuning actually is. Because, let’s be honest, “fine-tuning” sounds cool but might seem a tad technical for some. The Essence of Fine-Tuning Imagine you’ve got a sports car. It’s already blazing fast right off the production line. But now you’ve decided you want it to be the best on a specific track. You won’t just replace the whole engine; instead, you tweak the existing machinery — perhaps you modify the gear ratios, or maybe you invest in better aerodynamics. You’re fine-tuning it. In a similar vein, fine-tuning takes an already-trained AI model and customizes it for specific tasks or domains. You’re not building a new model from scratch; you’re just giving the existing one a “minor” makeover to improve its performance in your desired niche. Venn diagram of Fine-Tuning Steps in Fine-Tuning Data Preparation: Gather domain-specific data. Preprocessing: Clean and format this data to make it compatible. Training: The fine-tuning itself — train the model on your tailored data. Evaluation: Assess the model’s performance in the specific domain. Deployment: Integrate the model into your application. So, Why Does It Matter? Okay, that sounds interesting, but should you care? Yes!, Here’s why: Reduced API Costs When you fine-tune a model, it becomes more efficient at generating relevant outputs. This means fewer API calls and, by extension, lower costs. Companies have reported a decrease in API costs by up to 40% after fine-tuning their models. This can even be larger if you break up your use case to use the least smart (cheapest) model for each step that still accomplishes your goals. Performance Uplift A generic model tries to be a jack-of-all-trades. But a fine-tuned model becomes a master of one — your specific domain. The result? Improved accuracy and less need for human intervention. Differentiated Solutions A model fine-tuned with your selection of data will perform differently from any other version out there. This enables companies to truly create unique outputs, opening a door for those startups building LLM wrappers to step up and make their solution less easily replicable. The Precedence of Prompt Engineering While fine-tuning is akin to turning your sports car into a track champion, there are performance boosts you can achieve without heading into the garage for a full overhaul. This is, of course, our well-known discipline of Prompt Engineering — your low-hanging fruit in the AI optimization garden. Fine-Tuning Isn’t Always Step One Don’t get me wrong; fine-tuning is a powerful tool. However, it’s resource-intensive, requiring both computational power and domain-specific data. So before you dive deep into customization, ask yourself, “Can I get good enough results without changing the underlying model?” Prompt Engineering: Your Quick Win If you’re new to the term, prompt engineering is basically the art of crafting queries or instructions in a way that guides the AI model to generate desired outputs. No model adjustments, no added costs. Simple text tweaks can result in dramatically different and highly targeted outputs. Here’s a basic example: General Query: “Tell me about coffee.” Engineered Prompt: “Summarize the history, health benefits, and brewing methods of coffee.” The second prompt is designed to elicit a more structured and comprehensive answer, allowing you to maximize the utility of the base model. Advanced Techniques: Prompt Chaining & Function Calling Let’s level up. Prompt chaining involves breaking down a complex task into smaller, digestible queries and feeding the output of one as the input to another. For instance, asking the model to first summarize a document and then translate that summary into another language. Function calling is a more recent innovation that enables the use of pre-built functions within a chat session to accomplish specific tasks. This is like giving your model a set of utilities to pull from, streamlining processes like data extraction or text summarization even further. Why Prioritize Prompt Engineering? Three reasons: Speed: Real-time results, no waiting for model training. Cost-Efficiency: Zero extra costs, especially useful if you’re still experimenting with AI capabilities. Flexibility: Easy to adjust and refine, enabling agile iterations to match your evolving needs. Before you invest in a fine-tuned model, test the waters with prompt engineering. Sometimes, the difference between a good solution and the best solution is just a well-engineered question. Control & Compliance: The Enterprise Edition The cornerstone of an enterprise AI deployment: Security and Compliance. Let’s get real; all the bells and whistles of a technology solution mean nothing if it can’t stand up to the rigorous security standards your organization requires. This is where OpenAI’s Enterprise Offering, announced on Aug 28th, comes into play. Although the announcement was just made this week, OpenAI shows that a long list of very respectable clients have already been using their Enterprise offering without it being yet public. List of Enterprise clients pre-launch as per OpenAI’s Website Details are still scarce, and implementation today requires dedicated interaction with OpenAI’s sales teams. Still, the solution promises to fulfill the four C’s that the industry has been looking for — Control, Compliance, Customization & Collaboration. Control: Admin Console The Enterprise version will ship with an intuitive Admin Console. This is your control center, providing a dashboard to manage API keys, monitor usage, and set permissions at a granular level. It’s where governance meets agility — right from setting quotas to delegating roles, the console puts you in the driver’s seat. Analytics Screen for ChatGPT Enterprise Compliance: Enterprise-Grade Security This is the bedrock on which the enterprise edition is built. Expect state-of-the-art encryption both at rest and in transit. Compliance standards such as GDPR and SOC 2 are met (no word on HIPAA, which Anthropic provides), ensuring you’re never on the wrong side of legal obligations. Customization: Tailored Retention & Fine-Tune In addition to the fine-tuning capabilities we have discussed, OpenAI ensures that you will have control over how data is handled. The enterprise version comes with options to set custom data retention policies, ensuring you can comply with any regulations or internal guidelines about how long to hold onto your data. Furthermore, and although I haven’t been able to validate this, the company communication states that the addition of company knowledge will have an easy-to-use interface to add data sources for the model that can take effect company-wide. Collaboration: Shareable Chat Templates Working in a silo has been an issue since the start of ChatGPT. First with shareable conversations and now with templates, OpenAI is acknowledging that the modern workspace is all about collaboration. With chat templates, teams will be able to distribute, test, and improve conversational designs without risking unauthorized access or modification. And yes, these are secure links that adhere to best practices in privacy & protection. Specific Use-Cases Reaping the Rewards Fine-tuning shines across diverse sectors, and its potential is immense: Customer Service: Forget canned responses. Businesses are now fine-tuning GPT-3.5 Turbo to understand their products inside out, providing customer support that’s both automated and astonishingly adept. Content Writing: Something our clients have often asked about is how to ensure that content written by AI will follow their brand style and guidelines. This is usually achieved through red-teaming, but still is not very accurate. With these changes, your brand can have a clear message that will be honored across your generated content. Formatted Outputs: Current Apps built on LLMs commonly try to extract JSON, Markdown, or other specific formatting out of the responses. This usually comes with risks, as the model may not always reply in perfect format. So, Devs have had to build test & retry flows. Now, you can educate your model to better follow your format needs. Legal Sector: Models tuned to the documents that your company has already processed can sift through legal jargon to produce summaries or even draft initial versions of legal documents that match the legal arguments made and use the latest jurisprudence. If you don’t want to be in the news for citing imagined cases, this is the way to go. Healthcare & Research: Custom-tailored models assist with medical diagnoses, offering preliminary suggestions based on years of journals and studies. Early Adopters and Their Triumphs From global giants to sprightly startups, many have jumped on the fine-tuning bandwagon and are reaping tangible benefits. A notable case is Salesforce, which has integrated fine-tuned GPT-3.5 Turbo into its customer relationship management (CRM) software. The result? A 35% reduction in average handle time for customer support queries. A Note on the Horizon While we’ve covered the plethora of capabilities OpenAI’s newly minted Enterprise edition promises, it’s worth mentioning that full details are still behind the veil of OpenAI’s sales engagement. As a result, keep an eye on this space — this article may undergo updates to reflect new insights as they come to light. Moreover, as the enterprise landscape begins to dabble more intensely with fine-tuning options, expect additional articles to delve deeper into emerging use cases, performance metrics, and best practices. In a rapidly evolving domain, staying in the know is not just advantageous — it’s essential for a competitive edge. Sources OpenAI Developer Guide: Fine-Tuning OpenAI Blog: ChatGPT Enterprise OpenAI Blog: Function Calling and Other API Updates OpenAI Pricing: API Cost by 1k Tokens Deeplearning.ai — Fine-Tuning Large Language Models How Salesforce Research Uses Generative AI as a Force for Good	816dad41-f57b-57dc-9cd4-8bc760688fbc	25/08/2025 15:59:50
https://medium.com/a3logics-i-pvt-ltd/microsoft-azure-pacing-ahead-with-added-features-enhancements-8d1e3bf83dc9	medium.com	Azure is becoming the fastest growing cloud platform with a number of add-on services and features…	Azure File Storage:	Gajendra Singh	https://medium.com/@Gajendra	8d1e3bf83dc9	https://miro.medium.com/…xyCTpSwf6Ng.jpeg	2 min	2015-10-29T11:36:09.394000	2015-10-29T11:50:30.175000	2018-01-06T04:44:17.870000	0	1	en	Cloud Computing,Microsoft Azure,Microsoft	<section> <p>Azure is becoming the fastest growing cloud platform with a number of add-on services and features having storage, security, DR, orchestration and management capabilities. In the <strong><a href="https:/</strong>/medium.com/a3logics-i-pvt-ltd/ms-azure-add-on-features-that-can-help-you-drive-your-it-business-60f4fccb2c94#.8x7yllkn5">previous article</a>, we discussed about the features that are beneficial for carrying out IT processes, here are a few more enhancements that make Azure more convincing for enterprises.</p> <h3>Azure File Storage:</h3> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1024/1EK5Z50NBRvuFoCeKG0PuRA.png" width="1024" height="619" loading="lazy" /> <p>Microsoft provides you the file-sharing service in public cloud. You can easily port applications using SMB file shares to Azure. Latest SMB 3.0 protocol allows applications to maintain continuous and secure connection. Content stored over File Storage can be accessed from Applications hosted in PaaS (Platform as a Service) and VMs deployed in IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service). Therefore, this feature aims at legacy apps architected around traditional file sharing mechanisms.</p> <h3><em><strong>Azure Container </em>Service:</strong></h3> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1229/1TUIS1H3Ejthl5vweeVYkXA.png" width="1229" height="543" loading="lazy" /> <p>It helps build work with Mesosphere and Docker for creating and configuring clusters of host machines. Through this, containerized applications can be orchestrated, deployed and managed.</p> <h3>Azure Mobile Engagement:</h3> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/736/138Ad41WBtKx1Pcjlfode_Q.png" width="736" height="389" loading="lazy" /> <p>This feature will help mobile developers in real time analysis of push notifications, analytics and user segmentation. Such analysis on key performance indicators can help developers get more knowledge on application usage patterns, monetization and retention. This means that now Azure Mobile services are augmented with additional analytics.</p> <h3><em><strong>Azure IoT Hub </em>& Suite:</strong></h3> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1966/18icl7tjxJbb9kYoRdG6ocg.png" width="1966" height="889" loading="lazy" /> <p>Azure is one of the first public cloud platforms to integrate IoT capabilities.</p> <p><em><strong></em>IoT Hub: </strong>It establishes proper provisioning, connectivity, updation and communication between the devices and cloud, controlling multiple devices deployed over multiple sites. It simplifies consumption of Azure services aligned with IoT use cases and scenarios. The service supports device to cloud connectivity and vice versa for real-time communications. Standard or custom protocols entailing AMQP (Advanced Message Queuing Protocol), MQTT (MQ Telemetry Transport) and HTTP can be used by the customers.</p> <p><em><strong>Io</em>T Suite: </strong>It consolidates multiple services provided by Azure in order to deliver unified solution. To facilitate seamless integration, IoT suite leverages Event Hubs, DocumentDB, Stream Analytics etc. Remote asset management and monitoring scenarios are currently supported by the service.</p> <h3><em><strong>What these enhancements have in for cu</em>stomers?</strong></h3> <p>With the public cloud gaining more popularity and platform companies striving hard to beat the competition, all are heavily investing in it to deliver more value added services to clients. Competition is getting dense with companies competing at every aspect right from pricing to extended features and functionalities. Therefore with more features being added to <strong><a href="http:</strong>//a3logics.com/corporate/contact-us">Azure Platform</a> and its services, it is the customers who will be benefitted in multifold ways!</p> </section>	Azure is becoming the fastest growing cloud platform with a number of add-on services and features having storage, security, DR, orchestration and management capabilities. In the previous article, we discussed about the features that are beneficial for carrying out IT processes, here are a few more enhancements that make Azure more convincing for enterprises. Azure File Storage: Microsoft provides you the file-sharing service in public cloud. You can easily port applications using SMB file shares to Azure. Latest SMB 3.0 protocol allows applications to maintain continuous and secure connection. Content stored over File Storage can be accessed from Applications hosted in PaaS (Platform as a Service) and VMs deployed in IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service). Therefore, this feature aims at legacy apps architected around traditional file sharing mechanisms. Azure Container Service: It helps build work with Mesosphere and Docker for creating and configuring clusters of host machines. Through this, containerized applications can be orchestrated, deployed and managed. Azure Mobile Engagement: This feature will help mobile developers in real time analysis of push notifications, analytics and user segmentation. Such analysis on key performance indicators can help developers get more knowledge on application usage patterns, monetization and retention. This means that now Azure Mobile services are augmented with additional analytics. Azure IoT Hub & Suite: Azure is one of the first public cloud platforms to integrate IoT capabilities. IoT Hub: It establishes proper provisioning, connectivity, updation and communication between the devices and cloud, controlling multiple devices deployed over multiple sites. It simplifies consumption of Azure services aligned with IoT use cases and scenarios. The service supports device to cloud connectivity and vice versa for real-time communications. Standard or custom protocols entailing AMQP (Advanced Message Queuing Protocol), MQTT (MQ Telemetry Transport) and HTTP can be used by the customers. IoT Suite: It consolidates multiple services provided by Azure in order to deliver unified solution. To facilitate seamless integration, IoT suite leverages Event Hubs, DocumentDB, Stream Analytics etc. Remote asset management and monitoring scenarios are currently supported by the service. What these enhancements have in for customers? With the public cloud gaining more popularity and platform companies striving hard to beat the competition, all are heavily investing in it to deliver more value added services to clients. Competition is getting dense with companies competing at every aspect right from pricing to extended features and functionalities. Therefore with more features being added to Azure Platform and its services, it is the customers who will be benefitted in multifold ways!	34d71b43-cd14-5db8-896c-c83b2f51df59	25/08/2025 15:59:50
https://medium.com/@dustinbradley892/senate-may-question-ex-british-spy-who-compiled-trump-dossier-3b7731a38876	medium.com	Senate May Question Ex-British Spy Who Compiled Trump Dossier	null	Dustin Bradley	https://medium.com/@dustinbradley892	3b7731a38876	null	1 min	2017-03-04T00:36:37.301000	2017-03-04T00:36:38.010000	2017-03-04T00:36:38.010000	0	0	en	Nbc News World News	<section> <p>Two sources say the Senate Intelligence Committee is considering asking Christopher Steele to testify, but may not require him to come to Washington.</p> <p>from NBC News World News <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/senate-may-question-ex-british-spy-who-compiled-trump-dossier-n728371?cid=public-rss_20170304">http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/senate-may-question-ex-british-spy-who-compiled-trump-dossier-n728371?cid=public-rss_20170304</a> via <a href="https://ifttt.com/?ref=da&site=wordpress">IFTTT</a></p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/112/02CCJf5-sLVvqBtS9." width="112" height="16" loading="lazy" /> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1/0SWJLprdrCckyuD3p." width="1" height="1" loading="lazy" /> <p><em>Originally published on <a href="</em>https://dunnccbyjqowal.wordpress.com/2017/03/04/senate-may-question-ex-british-spy-who-compiled-trump-dossier-3/">Wordpress</a></p> </section>	Two sources say the Senate Intelligence Committee is considering asking Christopher Steele to testify, but may not require him to come to Washington. from NBC News World News http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/senate-may-question-ex-british-spy-who-compiled-trump-dossier-n728371?cid=public-rss_20170304 via IFTTT Originally published on Wordpress	b20cd3d0-2fde-51a1-affc-be35995a954a	25/08/2025 15:59:50
https://blog.codebarrel.io/automation-of-the-week-water-your-plants-on-time-with-automation-for-jira-3aabdac43540	medium.com	Automation of the week: Water your plants on time with Automation for JIRA!	…said no-one ever — or so we thought! As it turns, out one of our customers, Damien Lauberton from French expert http://darwyn.fr/ is doing…	Andreas Knecht	https://medium.com/@kandreas	3aabdac43540	https://miro.medium.com/…pDaW4MExFe2w.png	1 min	2016-11-08T04:14:48.861000	2016-11-15T06:01:03.927000	2018-02-23T06:15:47.127000	0	1	en	Agile,Jira,Automation	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1908/1*EBVaVwsBnTpDaW4MExFe2w.png" width="1908" height="627" loading="lazy" /> <p>…said no-one ever — or so we thought! As it turns, out one of our customers, Damien Lauberton from French expert <a href="http://darwyn.fr/">http://darwyn.fr/</a> is doing exactly that!</p> <p>Some of the (slightly crazy) things our customers use <a href="https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/com.codebarrel.addons.automation/">Automation for JIRA</a> for, go far beyond our wildest imagination.</p> <p>Read Damien’s full blog below to find out how he used a <a href="http://codebarrel.io/available-rule-components#scheduled-jql-trigger">scheduled JQL trigger</a>, and the <a href="http://codebarrel.io/available-rule-components#transition-action">transition issue action</a> in Automation for JIRA, to ensure all plants in his parent’s garden are being watered on time.</p> <p><strong><a href="http://darwyn.fr/fun-stuff-running-on-jir</strong>a-3/">a GARDEN inventory system running on JIRA Software <em>I spent a part of the summer with my parents in a beautiful place in France where my parents are now retired, enjoying…</em></a>darwyn.fr</p> <p>We’d love to hear more use cases of Automation like this — please share your (slightly quirky) usage of Automation for JIRA in the comments below!</p> </section>	Automation of the week: Water your plants on time with Automation for JIRA! …said no-one ever — or so we thought! As it turns, out one of our customers, Damien Lauberton from French expert http://darwyn.fr/ is doing exactly that! Some of the (slightly crazy) things our customers use Automation for JIRA for, go far beyond our wildest imagination. Read Damien’s full blog below to find out how he used a scheduled JQL trigger, and the transition issue action in Automation for JIRA, to ensure all plants in his parent’s garden are being watered on time. a GARDEN inventory system running on JIRA Software I spent a part of the summer with my parents in a beautiful place in France where my parents are now retired, enjoying…darwyn.fr We’d love to hear more use cases of Automation like this — please share your (slightly quirky) usage of Automation for JIRA in the comments below!	0e9f4ca1-8c1d-5769-8b78-ffb90e0fc6b8	25/08/2025 15:59:52
https://medium.com/@thcarter123/notes-and-links-on-the-campaign-to-canonize-leonard-leos-daughter-6aaa1f0dfca1	medium.com	Notes and Links on the Campaign to Canonize Leonard Leo’s Daughter	Is Leonard Leo, the right wing Supreme Court whisperer, running a campaign to get his daughter, Margaret, who died in 2007 of spina bifida…	Thomas Carter	https://medium.com/@thcarter123	6aaa1f0dfca1	https://miro.medium.com/…ksAmEEij30Q.jpeg	3 min	2024-04-27T12:04:18.386000	2024-05-19T08:50:55.664000	2024-11-26T00:14:53.015000	0	8	en	Leonard Leo,US Politics,Catholic,Pope Francis	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/3024/1ZWFIr9SGw_k5SssP6Tlxmg.jpeg" width="3024" height="4032" loading="lazy" /> <h3>Notes and Links on the Campaign to Canonize Leonard Leo’s Daughter</h3> <p>Is Leonard Leo, the right wing Supreme Court whisperer, running a campaign to get his daughter, Margaret, who died in 2007 of spina bifida, beatified or canonized?</p> <p>Owning the US Supreme Court is a major accomplishment. Father of a saint? Getting Jesus on the mainline is next level influencing.</p> <p>The Opus Dei K St center (Catholic Information Center) is handing out prayer cards so worshippers can ask for her intercession.</p> <p>Leo and his wife Sally were named Stewards of Peter, according to Politico, by the Vatican, for giving $1 million to Catholic causes. The Opus Dei center has a plaque on the wall that lists Leo and his wife as top contributors to the center’s renovation. (The Napa Institute and CRC’s Greg Mueller, are also listed.) Leo recently bought, literally purchased, his own Catholic Church in Maine. And, he has his own personal priest.</p> <p>But to get his daughter canonized, Leo needs a pope, most likely a conservative pope, in the style of Benedict. And Team Leo is working on that.</p> <p>Opus Dei in Spain called out US “right wing billionaires” in particular Tim Busch, of the Napa Institute and Catholic University’s Busch School of Business, for creating an opposition research group meant to undermine any Francis cardinal who might be a candidate for next pope.</p> <p>Francis getting older, not in the best of health. He is not immortal, but he has named more than 70% of the current college of Cardinals — the only people who get to vote on the next pope.</p> <p>Busch is a very close working partner w Leo, Catholic university and US Catholic Bishops, all opposed to Francis. This so called “Red Hat” group employs campaign tactics similar to the tactics Leo and his Judicial Crisis Network used, creating opposition research to stack the US Supreme Court with far right Catholics.</p> <p>Some say this Red Hat org disappeared after media scrutiny in Spain and internal disagreements. Others reports say it just morphed into something less visible.</p> <p>Leo is extremely proud of being a Knight of Malta and is close supporter of Opus Dei (he says he’s not a card carrying member), two militantly conservative Catholic orgs that Francis has decapitated, or at the very least hobbled.</p> <p>Amazon sells a small book, written by Austin Ruse, about Leo’s daughter. The reviews are filled with her intercessions. At least three intercessions/miracles attributed to her must be approved by the pope, if she is to be named a saint.</p> <p><a href="https://cruxnow.com/pope-in-fatima/2017/05/child-saints-much-teach-church-suffering-sacrifice">https://cruxnow.com/pope-in-fatima/2017/05/child-saints-much-teach-church-suffering-sacrifice</a></p> <p><strong>Better Church Governance website recently scrubbed</strong></p> <p><a href="https://betterchurchgovernance.org/">https://betterchurchgovernance.org</a> — recently scrubbed last screen grab was April 6, 2023</p> <p><strong>Way Back archive — last screen grab of Better Church Governance — April 6, 2023</strong></p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230406051823/https://betterchurchgovernance.org/">https://web.archive.org/web/20230406051823/https://betterchurchgovernance.org/</a></p> <p><strong><a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2018/10/wealthy-catholics-to-target-cardinals-with-red-h</strong>at-report">https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2018/10/wealthy-catholics-to-target-cardinals-with-red-hat-report</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/10804/us-group-plans-dossiers-on-cardinals-to-prevent-repeat-of-conclave-that-elected-francis-">https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/10804/us-group-plans-dossiers-on-cardinals-to-prevent-repeat-of-conclave-that-elected-francis-</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.eldebate.com/religion/vaticano/20230605/julian-herranz-denuncia-intentos-fbi-manipular-proximo-conclave_119476.html">https://www.eldebate.com/religion/vaticano/20230605/julian-herranz-denuncia-intentos-fbi-manipular-proximo-conclave_119476.html</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Littlest-Suffering-Souls-Children-Christ/dp/150510839X/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?crid=1V9YXYMKOYCH&keywords=little+suffering+souls+ruse&qid=1686833212&sprefix=little+suffering+souls+ruse%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-1-fkmr0">https://www.amazon.com/Littlest-Suffering-Souls-Children-Christ/dp/150510839X/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?crid=1V9YXYMKOYCH&keywords=little+suffering+souls+ruse&qid=1686833212&sprefix=little+suffering+souls+ruse%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-1-fkmr0</a></p> <p>Austin Ruse — Leo daughter autobiography and Malofeev 2019</p> <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/may/16/cfam-rightwing-white-house-anti-abortion-un">https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/may/16/cfam-rightwing-white-house-anti-abortion-un</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/how-pope-francis-became-hate-figure-far-right/">https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/how-pope-francis-became-hate-figure-far-right/</a></p> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Ruse">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Ruse</a></p> <p>Ruse — personal Leo friend</p> <p><a href="https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/appealing-but-deadly">https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/appealing-but-deadly</a></p> <p>Leo buys a church</p> <p><a href="https://jacobin.com/2023/07/leonard-leo-dark-money-abortion-lgbtq-maine-church">https://jacobin.com/2023/07/leonard-leo-dark-money-abortion-lgbtq-maine-church</a></p> <p>Opus Dei honors Leonard Leo — Catholics are being persecuted</p> <p><a href="https://youtu.be/DtsXLstn77M?si=cQi5FJamoBU1uI13">https://youtu.be/DtsXLstn77M?si=cQi5FJamoBU1uI13</a></p> <p>Napa has opened brick and mortar offices at EPPC, where Mary Hasson, Napa board member, is a fellow. Mary is wife of Seamus Hasson, founder of Becket Fund, where Leo is on board. As Napa’s better governance oppo research on Francis cardinals has closed. EPPC is headed by Ed Whelan, who ran the Leo-Mueller smear campaign vs Christine Blasey Ford. Also, there are reports the Napa opened offices at EWTN, by Union Station. EWTN is the far right Catholic television station.</p> <p><a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/catholic-conservative-napa-institutes-profile-grows-washington-dc">https://www.ncronline.org/news/catholic-conservative-napa-institutes-profile-grows-washington-dc</a></p> <p><a href="https://catholicvote.org/leading-catholic-organization-appoints-new-speakers-committee-chair-announces-dc-location/">https://catholicvote.org/leading-catholic-organization-appoints-new-speakers-committee-chair-announces-dc-location/</a></p> <p>National Catholic Reporter on Leo web</p> <p><a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/leonard-leo-architect-conservative-supreme-court-takes-wider-culture">https://www.ncronline.org/news/leonard-leo-architect-conservative-supreme-court-takes-wider-culture</a></p> <p>LA Times on Tim Busch Napa</p> <p><a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-12-18/this-o-c-lawyer-is-the-most-important-catholic-youve-never-heard-of">https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-12-18/this-o-c-lawyer-is-the-most-important-catholic-youve-never-heard-of</a></p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1284/18-57f2dj4jgevWHPhcbpLw.jpeg" width="1284" height="689" loading="lazy" /> </section>	Notes and Links on the Campaign to Canonize Leonard Leo’s Daughter Is Leonard Leo, the right wing Supreme Court whisperer, running a campaign to get his daughter, Margaret, who died in 2007 of spina bifida, beatified or canonized? Owning the US Supreme Court is a major accomplishment. Father of a saint? Getting Jesus on the mainline is next level influencing. The Opus Dei K St center (Catholic Information Center) is handing out prayer cards so worshippers can ask for her intercession. Leo and his wife Sally were named Stewards of Peter, according to Politico, by the Vatican, for giving $1 million to Catholic causes. The Opus Dei center has a plaque on the wall that lists Leo and his wife as top contributors to the center’s renovation. (The Napa Institute and CRC’s Greg Mueller, are also listed.) Leo recently bought, literally purchased, his own Catholic Church in Maine. And, he has his own personal priest. But to get his daughter canonized, Leo needs a pope, most likely a conservative pope, in the style of Benedict. And Team Leo is working on that. Opus Dei in Spain called out US “right wing billionaires” in particular Tim Busch, of the Napa Institute and Catholic University’s Busch School of Business, for creating an opposition research group meant to undermine any Francis cardinal who might be a candidate for next pope. Francis getting older, not in the best of health. He is not immortal, but he has named more than 70% of the current college of Cardinals — the only people who get to vote on the next pope. Busch is a very close working partner w Leo, Catholic university and US Catholic Bishops, all opposed to Francis. This so called “Red Hat” group employs campaign tactics similar to the tactics Leo and his Judicial Crisis Network used, creating opposition research to stack the US Supreme Court with far right Catholics. Some say this Red Hat org disappeared after media scrutiny in Spain and internal disagreements. Others reports say it just morphed into something less visible. Leo is extremely proud of being a Knight of Malta and is close supporter of Opus Dei (he says he’s not a card carrying member), two militantly conservative Catholic orgs that Francis has decapitated, or at the very least hobbled. Amazon sells a small book, written by Austin Ruse, about Leo’s daughter. The reviews are filled with her intercessions. At least three intercessions/miracles attributed to her must be approved by the pope, if she is to be named a saint. https://cruxnow.com/pope-in-fatima/2017/05/child-saints-much-teach-church-suffering-sacrifice Better Church Governance website recently scrubbed https://betterchurchgovernance.org — recently scrubbed last screen grab was April 6, 2023 Way Back archive — last screen grab of Better Church Governance — April 6, 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230406051823/https://betterchurchgovernance.org/ https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2018/10/wealthy-catholics-to-target-cardinals-with-red-hat-report https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/10804/us-group-plans-dossiers-on-cardinals-to-prevent-repeat-of-conclave-that-elected-francis- https://www.eldebate.com/religion/vaticano/20230605/julian-herranz-denuncia-intentos-fbi-manipular-proximo-conclave_119476.html https://www.amazon.com/Littlest-Suffering-Souls-Children-Christ/dp/150510839X/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?crid=1V9YXYMKOYCH&keywords=little+suffering+souls+ruse&qid=1686833212&sprefix=little+suffering+souls+ruse%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-1-fkmr0 Austin Ruse — Leo daughter autobiography and Malofeev 2019 https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/may/16/cfam-rightwing-white-house-anti-abortion-un https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/how-pope-francis-became-hate-figure-far-right/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Ruse Ruse — personal Leo friend https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/appealing-but-deadly Leo buys a church https://jacobin.com/2023/07/leonard-leo-dark-money-abortion-lgbtq-maine-church Opus Dei honors Leonard Leo — Catholics are being persecuted https://youtu.be/DtsXLstn77M?si=cQi5FJamoBU1uI13 Napa has opened brick and mortar offices at EPPC, where Mary Hasson, Napa board member, is a fellow. Mary is wife of Seamus Hasson, founder of Becket Fund, where Leo is on board. As Napa’s better governance oppo research on Francis cardinals has closed. EPPC is headed by Ed Whelan, who ran the Leo-Mueller smear campaign vs Christine Blasey Ford. Also, there are reports the Napa opened offices at EWTN, by Union Station. EWTN is the far right Catholic television station. https://www.ncronline.org/news/catholic-conservative-napa-institutes-profile-grows-washington-dc https://catholicvote.org/leading-catholic-organization-appoints-new-speakers-committee-chair-announces-dc-location/ National Catholic Reporter on Leo web https://www.ncronline.org/news/leonard-leo-architect-conservative-supreme-court-takes-wider-culture LA Times on Tim Busch Napa https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-12-18/this-o-c-lawyer-is-the-most-important-catholic-youve-never-heard-of	c051b285-da18-537a-8ed2-5265ebb6d4a2	25/08/2025 15:59:53
https://medium.com/@bask/is-windows-10-now-a-mandatory-upgrade-55a50e8e43be	medium.com	Is Windows 10 Now a Mandatory Upgrade?	News has been percolating for months that Microsoft might make Windows 10 a mandatory update. Now it has come to a head, as many Windows 7…	Bask Technology	https://medium.com/@bask	55a50e8e43be	https://miro.medium.com/…3D0zeug21PA.jpeg	3 min	2016-02-25T17:27:44.635000	2016-02-24T09:00:12	2016-03-26T04:18:54.362000	0	1	en	Microsoft,Windows 10,Technology	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/800/1*Zx942Y9ephE3D0zeug21PA.jpeg" width="800" height="320" loading="lazy" /> <p>News has been percolating for months that Microsoft might make <strong>Windows 10 a mandatory update</strong>. Now it has come to a head, as many Windows 7 and 8 users report that their computers have already downloaded Windows 10. Some have even upgraded automatically! Are you prepared for this transition? Here’s what you need to know.</p> <h1>Optional vs. Recommended</h1> <p>When <a href="https://www.bask.com/support/software/operating-systems/windows/windows-10/">Windows 10</a> was released as a free upgrade last year, it was categorized as “optional.” That means users had to <strong>manually select</strong> the update in order to install Windows 10. It gave users the choice to keep their old, familiar operating system or try out something shiny & new for free. However, Microsoft’s strategy has changed.</p> <p>Now, Windows 10 is categorized as “recommended.” What does this mean? First, your computer will <strong>automatically download</strong> Windows 10 to your hard drive, which takes up more than 6 GB of space. Then, it will <strong>nag you to upgrade</strong> with pop-up messages. If you agree, it will proceed to upgrade your operating system — which could cause compatibility problems and data loss.</p> <p>To add to the confusion, Microsoft has only promised to offer Windows 10 for free until <strong>July 29th</strong> (one year after its launch date). Also, it is only available to users who “reserve” a free copy of Windows 10. So what happens if you miss the timeframe? Will you be charged to upgrade? Waiting too long could cost you — literally, to the tune of $120.</p> <p>The best thing you can do is get ahead of Windows 10 with a plan.</p> <h2>To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade?</h2> <p>All in all, Windows 10 is actually a great operating system. It’s stable, it’s user-friendly, and it comes with <a href="https://www.bask.com/the-5-ways-the-windows-10-upgrade-will-make-your-life-easier/">useful new features</a>. Many describe it as the perfect combination of Windows 7 and 8 — the best of both worlds. If you’ve held onto Windows 7 or felt unsatisfied with Windows 8, this could be the perfect upgrade for you.</p> <p>The problem is, Microsoft is pushing the upgrade so aggressively that many users don’t have a chance to react. Rather than making an informed choice, you might boot up your computer to find that everything has changed overnight. Important programs and files could be deleted. You might even lose your antivirus — we’ve heard reports that this upgrade turns off certain versions of <strong>Trend Micro</strong>, which our members depend on for virus protection. That’s a no-win situation for everyone involved!</p> <p>Luckily, Bask can help.</p> <h2>Consult with a Tech Advisor</h2> <p>If you’re using Windows 7 or 8, we highly encourage you to call in for a consultation with your Tech Advisor. We can go over your options with you, and make sure that your computer doesn’t pull any surprise moves.</p> <p>Here’s what we can do for you.</p> <p>If you’re ready to upgrade:</p> <ul> <li>We can back up your files to prevent data loss.</li> <li>We can check your programs for compatibility.</li> <li>We can reinstall anything lost in the shuffle.</li> <li>We can set up Windows 10 with your preferred settings.</li> </ul> <p>If you’re not sure whether to upgrade:</p> <ul> <li>We can explain what’s new in Windows 10.</li> <li>We can take a look at your current setup and discuss whether it’s working for you.</li> <li>We can show you how to delay or postpone the upgrade until you’re ready.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Please note</strong> that any services performed will have an associated cost, determined by your membership level.</p> <p>Microsoft’s march toward Windows 10 makes change seem inevitable. Earlier this year, they turned off support for earlier versions of <a href="https://www.bask.com/microsoft-ends-support-for-internet-explorer-8-9-10/">Internet Explorer</a>. But don’t worry! We can make sure the transition is easy and happens at the right time for you. If you’re a Windows 7 or 8 user, <strong>give us a call today at 1 (866) 515–4865</strong> to discuss your Windows 10 upgrade options. We’re always ready and willing to help.</p> <h2>Additional Info</h2> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/2/2/10893620/microsoft-windows-10-upgrade-recommended-update">Microsoft is now aggressively pushing Windows 10 upgrades</a> (The Verge)</li> <li><a href="http://betanews.com/2016/02/01/microsoft-makes-windows-10-a-recommended-update-for-windows-7-and-8-1-users/">Microsoft makes Windows 10 a ‘recommended update’ for Windows 7 and 8.1 users</a> (BetaNews)</li> <li><a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/3024278/windows/you-will-upgrade-to-windows-10-inside-microsofts-strong-arm-upgrade-tactics.html">You will upgrade to Windows 10: Inside Microsoft’s strong-arm upgrade tactics</a> (PCWorld)</li> <li><a href="http://consumerist.com/2016/02/02/microsoft-makes-good-on-plan-to-push-windows-10-upgrades-more-aggressively/">Microsoft Makes Good On Plan To Push Windows 10 Upgrades More Aggressively</a> (Consumerist)</li> </ul> <p><em>Originally published at <a href="https://www.bask.com/all-</em>right-microsoft-no-need-to-be-pushy/">www.bask.com</a> on February 24, 2016.</p> </section>	Is Windows 10 Now a Mandatory Upgrade? You don’t want to be surprised by this screen. News has been percolating for months that Microsoft might make Windows 10 a mandatory update. Now it has come to a head, as many Windows 7 and 8 users report that their computers have already downloaded Windows 10. Some have even upgraded automatically! Are you prepared for this transition? Here’s what you need to know. Optional vs. Recommended When Windows 10 was released as a free upgrade last year, it was categorized as “optional.” That means users had to manually select the update in order to install Windows 10. It gave users the choice to keep their old, familiar operating system or try out something shiny & new for free. However, Microsoft’s strategy has changed. Now, Windows 10 is categorized as “recommended.” What does this mean? First, your computer will automatically download Windows 10 to your hard drive, which takes up more than 6 GB of space. Then, it will nag you to upgrade with pop-up messages. If you agree, it will proceed to upgrade your operating system — which could cause compatibility problems and data loss. To add to the confusion, Microsoft has only promised to offer Windows 10 for free until July 29th (one year after its launch date). Also, it is only available to users who “reserve” a free copy of Windows 10. So what happens if you miss the timeframe? Will you be charged to upgrade? Waiting too long could cost you — literally, to the tune of $120. The best thing you can do is get ahead of Windows 10 with a plan. To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade? All in all, Windows 10 is actually a great operating system. It’s stable, it’s user-friendly, and it comes with useful new features. Many describe it as the perfect combination of Windows 7 and 8 — the best of both worlds. If you’ve held onto Windows 7 or felt unsatisfied with Windows 8, this could be the perfect upgrade for you. The problem is, Microsoft is pushing the upgrade so aggressively that many users don’t have a chance to react. Rather than making an informed choice, you might boot up your computer to find that everything has changed overnight. Important programs and files could be deleted. You might even lose your antivirus — we’ve heard reports that this upgrade turns off certain versions of Trend Micro, which our members depend on for virus protection. That’s a no-win situation for everyone involved! Luckily, Bask can help. Consult with a Tech Advisor If you’re using Windows 7 or 8, we highly encourage you to call in for a consultation with your Tech Advisor. We can go over your options with you, and make sure that your computer doesn’t pull any surprise moves. Here’s what we can do for you. If you’re ready to upgrade: We can back up your files to prevent data loss. We can check your programs for compatibility. We can reinstall anything lost in the shuffle. We can set up Windows 10 with your preferred settings. If you’re not sure whether to upgrade: We can explain what’s new in Windows 10. We can take a look at your current setup and discuss whether it’s working for you. We can show you how to delay or postpone the upgrade until you’re ready. Please note that any services performed will have an associated cost, determined by your membership level. Microsoft’s march toward Windows 10 makes change seem inevitable. Earlier this year, they turned off support for earlier versions of Internet Explorer. But don’t worry! We can make sure the transition is easy and happens at the right time for you. If you’re a Windows 7 or 8 user, give us a call today at 1 (866) 515–4865 to discuss your Windows 10 upgrade options. We’re always ready and willing to help. Additional Info Microsoft is now aggressively pushing Windows 10 upgrades (The Verge) Microsoft makes Windows 10 a ‘recommended update’ for Windows 7 and 8.1 users (BetaNews) You will upgrade to Windows 10: Inside Microsoft’s strong-arm upgrade tactics (PCWorld) Microsoft Makes Good On Plan To Push Windows 10 Upgrades More Aggressively (Consumerist) Originally published at www.bask.com on February 24, 2016.	3e4dbf7e-0367-567c-8184-07654059bdc2	25/08/2025 16:00:10
https://medium.com/@girlonthescreen07/feel-grateful-74a40594dfa6	medium.com	Feel Grateful	Lately I feel more joy in my life.	Girl On The Screen	https://medium.com/@girlonthescreen07	74a40594dfa6	null	2 min	2023-11-13T03:30:53.881000	2023-11-14T14:41:50.352000	2023-11-28T03:56:05.032000	0	0	en	Grateful,Gratitude,Grateful Heart,Blessedlife	<section> <p>Lately I feel more joy in my life.</p> <p>I feel more grateful for things that happen in my life. This year was my year, because a lot of big things happened, and it pass smoothly, even though there were still small problems, but it went well.</p> <p>Sometimes, we easily to get angry, and complained about just small problems that we can actually handle without talking too much, and just do it. But, it’s hard to get through a day without complaining.</p> <p>If we think about it, the more we are grateful, the more happiness we get in our lives, and God’s gift that we will never know.</p> <p>In this era, it’s hard for people to feel grateful, because what’s on people’s minds is like :</p> <blockquote>Why my life always stuck ?</blockquote> <blockquote>I’ll be grateful if I can afford this job</blockquote> <blockquote>I always have a bad days</blockquote> <blockquote>Why I can’t have that car ? that house ?</blockquote> <p>And any negative thought that you repeat everyday, it’s like a magnet. The more you complained about your life, the worse your life will get. So, less complain, grateful more, and slowly your life will get better.</p> <p>For instance, you’re going on vacation, and you want to give gifts to 2 of your friends.</p> <ul> <li>The first friend give responds <em>“I love it, I‘ll use this for whole my life, thank you so much, so kind of you”</em></li> <li>and the second one give you responds <em>“Ugh I know this thing, it’s useless, I think I will give it to someone else”</em></li> </ul> <p>What’s you’re reaction ?</p> <ul> <li>The first thought that comes to your mind is “ <em>I will never ever give something for my second friend”</em></li> </ul> <p>It’s same like God, when you always feel grateful, God wil give you more more and more than you can imagine.</p> <p>I wouldn’t say if I’m a religious person, but what I’m trying to consistently do right now is feel more grateful for what happens in my days. Because, every time I try to be grateful, in that moment I feel more joy, my work really goes smoothly, and everyday feels like a great day, and time flies by.</p> <p>Everything will be easy if you have a sincere intention, try this for a week, before you’re going to bed, you have to talk to yourself like you are have an amazing day :</p> <blockquote>I’m so happy because my boss love my work</blockquote> <blockquote>I’m so happy because I can cook for my meal, and I could save my money</blockquote> <blockquote>I’m so happy because I was able to get to office early, and avoid traffic</blockquote> <p>Show your happiness, smile like it’s the best things that ever happened, because it’s same as like being grateful. God know your happiness equals your gratitude.</p> <p><em>Life will be more beautiful if you can feel more grateful.</em></p> </section>	Feel Grateful Lately I feel more joy in my life. I feel more grateful for things that happen in my life. This year was my year, because a lot of big things happened, and it pass smoothly, even though there were still small problems, but it went well. Sometimes, we easily to get angry, and complained about just small problems that we can actually handle without talking too much, and just do it. But, it’s hard to get through a day without complaining. If we think about it, the more we are grateful, the more happiness we get in our lives, and God’s gift that we will never know. In this era, it’s hard for people to feel grateful, because what’s on people’s minds is like : Why my life always stuck ? I’ll be grateful if I can afford this job I always have a bad days Why I can’t have that car ? that house ? And any negative thought that you repeat everyday, it’s like a magnet. The more you complained about your life, the worse your life will get. So, less complain, grateful more, and slowly your life will get better. For instance, you’re going on vacation, and you want to give gifts to 2 of your friends. The first friend give responds “I love it, I‘ll use this for whole my life, thank you so much, so kind of you” and the second one give you responds “Ugh I know this thing, it’s useless, I think I will give it to someone else” What’s you’re reaction ? The first thought that comes to your mind is “ I will never ever give something for my second friend” It’s same like God, when you always feel grateful, God wil give you more more and more than you can imagine. I wouldn’t say if I’m a religious person, but what I’m trying to consistently do right now is feel more grateful for what happens in my days. Because, every time I try to be grateful, in that moment I feel more joy, my work really goes smoothly, and everyday feels like a great day, and time flies by. Everything will be easy if you have a sincere intention, try this for a week, before you’re going to bed, you have to talk to yourself like you are have an amazing day : I’m so happy because my boss love my work I’m so happy because I can cook for my meal, and I could save my money I’m so happy because I was able to get to office early, and avoid traffic Show your happiness, smile like it’s the best things that ever happened, because it’s same as like being grateful. God know your happiness equals your gratitude. Life will be more beautiful if you can feel more grateful.	65110915-e912-59a7-8358-396aae5816d0	25/08/2025 16:00:10
https://medium.com/@FunDuhMentalist/funduhmentalist-30e3044f726e	medium.com	That’s how I troll	If there were a trophy for the “Most Pissed-off Troll”, and the “Most Pissing-off Troll” around, I would definitely be nominated for it. In…	Shubhra	https://medium.com/@FunDuhMentalist	30e3044f726e	null	2 min	2016-05-24T03:50:40.990000	2016-05-24T03:53:37.381000	2017-09-14T23:17:36.716000	0	3	en	Trolling,Social Media,Twitter	<section> <p>If there were a trophy for the “Most Pissed-off Troll”, and the “Most Pissing-off Troll” around, I would definitely be nominated for it. In a short period of trolling, I have managed to get under the skin of quite a few people on Twitter. It’s taught me a few things about my tweeps, and here is a summary of it all:</p> <p><strong>1. A female troll is always more pleasant than a male.</strong></p> <p>A pretty display picture. An interesting name that evokes hormonal emotions. A little tease in her tweets. A little troll at times. Yes, guys like being teased, even if it’s a woman who they stand no chance with. Oh, then there are those who will take shit from a female tweeter for exactly 3.5 seconds longer than they would from a male. We owe the balance in Nature to such guys.</p> <p><strong>2. If I troll the same person too many times, they believe I am in love with them.</strong></p> <p>This one is tricky. Guys, I am going to say this just once. So, listen carefully. The troll takes your case repeatedly because your tweets are full of loopholes and can be trolled upon with ease. Yet, you believe that being the object of a troll’s attention proves they are attracted to you. This may have something to do with the Delhi Belly song, “I hate you, like I love you.” But believe me, most often if she hates you, she really does hate you.</p> <p><strong>3. Trolls are attention-seekers.</strong></p> <p>Yes, but only as much as you. Or anyone else on social media. The difference is that trolls feed off your mistakes. If you didn’t give chances for them to trip on you, they wouldn’t even be a troll in the first place. If anybody is to be blamed it’s you.</p> <p><strong>4. You forgot the punchline, darling.</strong></p> <p>Not every manual retweet is a smartass comment. Some are just smart, no ass. How would you feel if somebody just said the first line of a joke and left it there? How do you think the joke feels, hanging there, with unfinished business, wanting to get the funny load off itself? This is when trolls step in, to rescue the half-alive joke, and insert the punchline so that the equilibrium in the universe is restored.</p> <p><strong>5. Trolling is not abusing. Not flaming. Not name-calling.</strong></p> <p>If you think Wikipedia should be sued to define trolls as those who post “<em>inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community”, </em>come let’s be friends, beer is on you though. Trolling is an art, and trolling without getting abusive is almost sacred. You don’t have to get into name-calling, or bringing political or religious beliefs into the picture to troll someone. A wise-crack should do just fine.</p> <p><strong>6. If they reply to you, mission accomplished.</strong></p> <p>They replied with something witty? Success. They replied with hateful comments? Super success. Others replied with something witty. Super duper success. Others replied with hateful comments? Block buster success. There is just one way you fail. When your trolling goes unnoticed, unacknowledged.</p> <p><strong>7. Correcting there grammar works wonders.</strong></p> <p>their</p> <p>The one troll pattern that never goes out of style is Your you’re. It pisses people off like nobody’s business and an ideal “feed the troll” situation unfolds. History has witnessed numerous gang-wars between cults that stand up for good grammar, and camps that believe in ‘typin lyk dis’. Beware, though, since this method has claimed several lives.</p> <p>Share your troll learnings with me. Until then, rock and (t)roll guys.</p> <p><em>Originally published at <a href="http://funduhmentalis</em>t.wordpress.com/">funduhmentalist.wordpress.com</a>.</p> </section>	That’s how I troll If there were a trophy for the “Most Pissed-off Troll”, and the “Most Pissing-off Troll” around, I would definitely be nominated for it. In a short period of trolling, I have managed to get under the skin of quite a few people on Twitter. It’s taught me a few things about my tweeps, and here is a summary of it all: 1. A female troll is always more pleasant than a male. A pretty display picture. An interesting name that evokes hormonal emotions. A little tease in her tweets. A little troll at times. Yes, guys like being teased, even if it’s a woman who they stand no chance with. Oh, then there are those who will take shit from a female tweeter for exactly 3.5 seconds longer than they would from a male. We owe the balance in Nature to such guys. 2. If I troll the same person too many times, they believe I am in love with them. This one is tricky. Guys, I am going to say this just once. So, listen carefully. The troll takes your case repeatedly because your tweets are full of loopholes and can be trolled upon with ease. Yet, you believe that being the object of a troll’s attention proves they are attracted to you. This may have something to do with the Delhi Belly song, “I hate you, like I love you.” But believe me, most often if she hates you, she really does hate you. 3. Trolls are attention-seekers. Yes, but only as much as you. Or anyone else on social media. The difference is that trolls feed off your mistakes. If you didn’t give chances for them to trip on you, they wouldn’t even be a troll in the first place. If anybody is to be blamed it’s you. 4. You forgot the punchline, darling. Not every manual retweet is a smartass comment. Some are just smart, no ass. How would you feel if somebody just said the first line of a joke and left it there? How do you think the joke feels, hanging there, with unfinished business, wanting to get the funny load off itself? This is when trolls step in, to rescue the half-alive joke, and insert the punchline so that the equilibrium in the universe is restored. 5. Trolling is not abusing. Not flaming. Not name-calling. If you think Wikipedia should be sued to define trolls as those who post “inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community”, come let’s be friends, beer is on you though. Trolling is an art, and trolling without getting abusive is almost sacred. You don’t have to get into name-calling, or bringing political or religious beliefs into the picture to troll someone. A wise-crack should do just fine. 6. If they reply to you, mission accomplished. They replied with something witty? Success. They replied with hateful comments? Super success. Others replied with something witty. Super duper success. Others replied with hateful comments? Block buster success. There is just one way you fail. When your trolling goes unnoticed, unacknowledged. 7. Correcting there grammar works wonders. their The one troll pattern that never goes out of style is Your you’re. It pisses people off like nobody’s business and an ideal “feed the troll” situation unfolds. History has witnessed numerous gang-wars between cults that stand up for good grammar, and camps that believe in ‘typin lyk dis’. Beware, though, since this method has claimed several lives. Share your troll learnings with me. Until then, rock and (t)roll guys. Originally published at funduhmentalist.wordpress.com.	811b21d8-a1aa-5cc3-b1cf-0e206fbf9cb4	25/08/2025 16:00:10
https://medium.com/@chinedukalu66/introduction-to-biokript-a-hybrid-shariah-compliant-crypto-trading-platform-cf2ff92227e3	medium.com	Introduction to Biokript - A Hybrid Shariah-Compliant Crypto Trading Platform	Biokript is a crypto trading platform that is designed to be both Shariah-compliant and hybrid in nature. This means that it combines the…	Chinedukalu	https://medium.com/@chinedukalu66	cf2ff92227e3	https://miro.medium.com/…ooo5Etrgllw.jpeg	5 min	2023-07-17T17:19:48.612000	2023-07-18T08:54:19.051000	2023-07-19T04:16:21.187000	0	100	en	Crytocurrency,Exchange	<section> <h1>Introduction to Biokript - A Hybrid Shariah-Compliant Crypto Trading Platform</h1> <p>Biokript is a crypto trading platform that is designed to be both Shariah-compliant and hybrid in nature. This means that it combines the best features of both centralized and decentralized exchanges to create a simple and efficient trading platform.</p> <p>The platform is unique in that it offers an inclusive profit-sharing model, which allows users to earn a share of the profits generated by the platform. This is in contrast to traditional exchanges, where profits are typically retained by the exchange itself.</p> <p>Biokript's compliance with Shariah principles means that it operates in accordance with Islamic finance laws. For example, the platform does not charge interest on margin trading and does not allow users to trade in cryptocurrencies that are considered haram (forbidden) under Islamic law.</p> <p>The hybrid nature of Biokript means that it offers the security and reliability of a centralized exchange, while also providing the privacy and autonomy of a decentralized exchange. This is achieved through the use of a unique architecture that combines elements of both types of exchanges.</p> <p>Overall, Biokript is an innovative platform that aims to provide a simple, efficient, and inclusive trading experience for users who value both compliance with Islamic finance laws and the benefits of a hybrid trading platform.</p> <h2>Features of Biokript</h2> <p>1. Cutting-edge state technology: Biokript uses cutting-edge technology to offer ultra-high-speed trade settlements, low fees, and sufficient liquidity at the lowest prices.</p> <p>2. Web3 solution with near-instant off-chain transactions: Biokript is a Web3 solution that offers near-instant off-chain transactions, making it a fast and efficient platform for trading cryptocurrencies.</p> <p>3. Non-custodial exchange: Biokript is a non-custodial exchange, which means that investors have full control over their funds. This makes Biokript much more secure than centralized exchanges.</p> <p>4. Lowest latency: Biokript has the lowest latency of any cryptocurrency exchange, with latency of 10-50 ms compared to 50-450 ms for centralized exchanges and 30-120 ms for decentralized exchanges.</p> <p>5. Aggregated liquidity: Biokript's liquidity is aggregated without locking requirements, which means that users can access liquidity without having to lock up their funds.</p> <p>6. Layer-3 virtualization: Biokript uses layer-3 virtualization to enable off-chain assets to remain in cold wallets but be traded at very low cost.</p> <p>7. True decentralization: Biokript has a true decentralization of business, data centers, and chains, which means that it is not centralized in any one location or on any one chain.</p> <p>8. Transparency and accountability: All of Biokript’s transactions are done on the blockchain, which means that everything is transparent and open for review. This is in contrast to centralized exchanges, where everything is stored inside a single server without any accountability or transparency.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/826/1XZF_AX1BFuiVX55OeR5BZg.jpeg" width="826" height="766" loading="lazy" /> <h2>Biokript’s Future Plans and Initiatives</h2> <p>Biokript is a forward-thinking cryptocurrency exchange with ambitious plans for the future. Here are some of the key initiatives that Biokript has outlined as part of its roadmap:</p> <p>1. Attaining CEX Listings: Biokript is actively working towards securing listings on centralized exchanges (CEX) to increase accessibility and liquidity for its community. By being listed on CEXs, Biokript will be able to reach a wider audience of users and provide them with access to its innovative trading platform.</p> <p>2. Partnerships and VC Funding: Biokript is seeking strategic partnerships and exploring opportunities for venture capital funding to fuel its growth and propel it to new heights. Through these partnerships and funding opportunities, Biokript aims to expand its reach and continue to innovate in the cryptocurrency exchange space.</p> <p>3. Continued Platform Enhancements: Biokript is committed to excellence and is continuously improving its platform. Users can expect the introduction of new features, enhancements to existing functionalities, and an unwavering focus on delivering the highest quality experience. With a focus on user experience, Biokript aims to make its platform more intuitive and user-friendly, making it easier for users to trade cryptocurrencies.</p> <h2>Biokript’s Implementation of State Channels to Address Blockchain Challenges</h2> <p>Blockchain technology has revolutionized the way we transact, but it comes with challenges like high costs and limited scalability. At Biokript, the team has implemented state channels to address these issues, significantly reducing the cost of using the blockchain network while improving throughput and efficiency.</p> <p>State channels are a protocol that allows for nearly instantaneous, high-speed communication off-chain, while simultaneously enabling the opening of thousands of positions to buy and sell any digital asset. This significantly reduces the cost of using the blockchain network while improving throughput and efficiency.</p> <p>Biokript has implemented state channels to create an index of assets on any blockchain without involving the blockchain itself in trade operations. This allows transactions to become more affordable, faster, and more private.</p> <p>With state channels, participants have clear visibility of their liabilities, the specific assets involved, and the counterparties with whom they need to settle those liabilities. When the state channel is closed, a settlement between participants occurs in an atomic, multi-chain, and multi-asset process. This settlement is facilitated using the hash time locked contract (HTLC), which enables two parties to perform an atomic swap without intermediaries before a predetermined expiration time.</p> <p>Biokript currently supports prominent blockchains like Ethereum, Polygon, and Binance Smart Chain. In the near future, the platform plans to expand its support to include Solana and Polkadot. This expansion will allow even more users to benefit from the state channel technology and take advantage of the improved efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and scalability it offers.</p> <p>By leveraging state channels, Biokript aims to overcome the limitations of traditional blockchain transactions, making them more accessible, affordable, and efficient for users. This implementation of state channels is a significant step towards creating a more seamless and efficient blockchain ecosystem.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1365/1TA-636UCH8GuxKoDKceYbg.jpeg" width="1365" height="687" loading="lazy" /> <h2>Conclusion</h2> <p>Biokript is a next-generation cryptocurrency exchange that offers a hybrid trading platform combining the best features of centralized and decentralized exchanges. It is the world’s first Shariah-compliant crypto trading platform with an inclusive profit-sharing model. Biokript is non-custodial, secure, and uses cutting-edge state technology that offers ultra-high-speed trade settlements, low fees, and sufficient liquidity at the lowest prices. Additionally, it has implemented state channels to overcome the limitations of traditional blockchain transactions, making them more accessible, affordable, and efficient for users. Biokript is committed to continuous platform enhancements and expansion to provide the highest quality experience for its users.</p> <h3>#BIOKRIPT #PARTNERSHIP #PRESALE #EXCHANGE #HYBRID #SHARIAH</h3> <h2>Useful links</h2> <p><a href="https://bit.ly/44a5lcF">Website</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/biokript">Twitter</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/biokript">Facebook</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.instagram.com/biokript">Instagram</a></p> <p><a href="https://t.me/biokript">Telegram</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/_Biokript">Reddit</a></p> <p><a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5419088">ANN</a></p> <p><a href="https://whitepaper.biokript.com/">Whitepaper</a></p> <h2>Writer’s details</h2> <p>Name: Chinedu Kalu</p> <p>Forum username: Chinedu Kalu</p> <p>Telegram: @Kaluchinedu</p> <p><a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile%3Bu%3D3432036%3B">Forum profile link</a></p> <p><a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5456807.msg62447382#msg62447382">Proof of authentication</a></p> <p>Wallet: 0x8C9C3daae6Fba4a4D78303C1Fb6338C723A2277D</p> </section>	Introduction to Biokript - A Hybrid Shariah-Compliant Crypto Trading Platform Biokript is a crypto trading platform that is designed to be both Shariah-compliant and hybrid in nature. This means that it combines the best features of both centralized and decentralized exchanges to create a simple and efficient trading platform. The platform is unique in that it offers an inclusive profit-sharing model, which allows users to earn a share of the profits generated by the platform. This is in contrast to traditional exchanges, where profits are typically retained by the exchange itself. Biokript's compliance with Shariah principles means that it operates in accordance with Islamic finance laws. For example, the platform does not charge interest on margin trading and does not allow users to trade in cryptocurrencies that are considered haram (forbidden) under Islamic law. The hybrid nature of Biokript means that it offers the security and reliability of a centralized exchange, while also providing the privacy and autonomy of a decentralized exchange. This is achieved through the use of a unique architecture that combines elements of both types of exchanges. Overall, Biokript is an innovative platform that aims to provide a simple, efficient, and inclusive trading experience for users who value both compliance with Islamic finance laws and the benefits of a hybrid trading platform. Features of Biokript 1. Cutting-edge state technology: Biokript uses cutting-edge technology to offer ultra-high-speed trade settlements, low fees, and sufficient liquidity at the lowest prices. 2. Web3 solution with near-instant off-chain transactions: Biokript is a Web3 solution that offers near-instant off-chain transactions, making it a fast and efficient platform for trading cryptocurrencies. 3. Non-custodial exchange: Biokript is a non-custodial exchange, which means that investors have full control over their funds. This makes Biokript much more secure than centralized exchanges. 4. Lowest latency: Biokript has the lowest latency of any cryptocurrency exchange, with latency of 10-50 ms compared to 50-450 ms for centralized exchanges and 30-120 ms for decentralized exchanges. 5. Aggregated liquidity: Biokript's liquidity is aggregated without locking requirements, which means that users can access liquidity without having to lock up their funds. 6. Layer-3 virtualization: Biokript uses layer-3 virtualization to enable off-chain assets to remain in cold wallets but be traded at very low cost. 7. True decentralization: Biokript has a true decentralization of business, data centers, and chains, which means that it is not centralized in any one location or on any one chain. 8. Transparency and accountability: All of Biokript’s transactions are done on the blockchain, which means that everything is transparent and open for review. This is in contrast to centralized exchanges, where everything is stored inside a single server without any accountability or transparency. Biokript’s Future Plans and Initiatives Biokript is a forward-thinking cryptocurrency exchange with ambitious plans for the future. Here are some of the key initiatives that Biokript has outlined as part of its roadmap: 1. Attaining CEX Listings: Biokript is actively working towards securing listings on centralized exchanges (CEX) to increase accessibility and liquidity for its community. By being listed on CEXs, Biokript will be able to reach a wider audience of users and provide them with access to its innovative trading platform. 2. Partnerships and VC Funding: Biokript is seeking strategic partnerships and exploring opportunities for venture capital funding to fuel its growth and propel it to new heights. Through these partnerships and funding opportunities, Biokript aims to expand its reach and continue to innovate in the cryptocurrency exchange space. 3. Continued Platform Enhancements: Biokript is committed to excellence and is continuously improving its platform. Users can expect the introduction of new features, enhancements to existing functionalities, and an unwavering focus on delivering the highest quality experience. With a focus on user experience, Biokript aims to make its platform more intuitive and user-friendly, making it easier for users to trade cryptocurrencies. Biokript’s Implementation of State Channels to Address Blockchain Challenges Blockchain technology has revolutionized the way we transact, but it comes with challenges like high costs and limited scalability. At Biokript, the team has implemented state channels to address these issues, significantly reducing the cost of using the blockchain network while improving throughput and efficiency. State channels are a protocol that allows for nearly instantaneous, high-speed communication off-chain, while simultaneously enabling the opening of thousands of positions to buy and sell any digital asset. This significantly reduces the cost of using the blockchain network while improving throughput and efficiency. Biokript has implemented state channels to create an index of assets on any blockchain without involving the blockchain itself in trade operations. This allows transactions to become more affordable, faster, and more private. With state channels, participants have clear visibility of their liabilities, the specific assets involved, and the counterparties with whom they need to settle those liabilities. When the state channel is closed, a settlement between participants occurs in an atomic, multi-chain, and multi-asset process. This settlement is facilitated using the hash time locked contract (HTLC), which enables two parties to perform an atomic swap without intermediaries before a predetermined expiration time. Biokript currently supports prominent blockchains like Ethereum, Polygon, and Binance Smart Chain. In the near future, the platform plans to expand its support to include Solana and Polkadot. This expansion will allow even more users to benefit from the state channel technology and take advantage of the improved efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and scalability it offers. By leveraging state channels, Biokript aims to overcome the limitations of traditional blockchain transactions, making them more accessible, affordable, and efficient for users. This implementation of state channels is a significant step towards creating a more seamless and efficient blockchain ecosystem. Conclusion Biokript is a next-generation cryptocurrency exchange that offers a hybrid trading platform combining the best features of centralized and decentralized exchanges. It is the world’s first Shariah-compliant crypto trading platform with an inclusive profit-sharing model. Biokript is non-custodial, secure, and uses cutting-edge state technology that offers ultra-high-speed trade settlements, low fees, and sufficient liquidity at the lowest prices. Additionally, it has implemented state channels to overcome the limitations of traditional blockchain transactions, making them more accessible, affordable, and efficient for users. Biokript is committed to continuous platform enhancements and expansion to provide the highest quality experience for its users. #BIOKRIPT #PARTNERSHIP #PRESALE #EXCHANGE #HYBRID #SHARIAH Useful links Website Twitter Facebook Instagram Telegram Reddit ANN Whitepaper Writer’s details Name: Chinedu Kalu Forum username: Chinedu Kalu Telegram: @Kaluchinedu Forum profile link Proof of authentication Wallet: 0x8C9C3daae6Fba4a4D78303C1Fb6338C723A2277D	b086779d-b0ee-525f-b9d5-b0800e9c5d04	25/08/2025 16:00:10
https://medium.com/@roy_89769/recent-changes-in-customer-support-function-15fa7aa73883	medium.com	Recent Changes in Customer Support Function	Today afternoon, I was browsing through my Facebook timeline and came across a video ad of gentleman promoting course on stock markets…	DeepSupportDesk	https://medium.com/@roy_89769	15fa7aa73883	https://miro.medium.com/…nQT9hqCBnjg.jpeg	3 min	2020-06-30T12:43:51.309000	2020-06-30T12:50:37.082000	2021-12-15T01:54:21.421000	0	70	en	Customer Service,Customer Experience,Customer Engagement,Customer Success,Newnorm	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1920/1*duTQ2zy_5hJnQT9hqCBnjg.jpeg" width="1920" height="1276" loading="lazy" /> <p>Today afternoon, I was browsing through my Facebook timeline and came across a video ad of gentleman promoting course on stock markets. His opening lines were, you are viewing this ad as part of a re-marketing campaign. You clicked on my first video and have not yet decided to enroll, hence I am reaching out to follow up and provide additional info to help you decide and enroll for the course. What immediately struck me was simplicity and conversation-based experience to gain the trust of customer like sellers do in a face to face discussion to clarify any doubts and objections of potential buyers.</p> <p>The above instance was one of the many initiatives adopted by organizations in recent times to stay relevant in the game. In continuation with our previous blog, we would like to share with you a few changes adapted across the people, process and technology tried by various organizations and learn from your experience.</p> <p><strong>People aspects:</strong> All customer support agents have gone through steep learning curves on softer, product and security-based training and many more to cater to large volume of customer queries, and complaints. In addition to learning, they have adapted to new ways of working remotely with zero and minimal downtime while being more empathetic than usual to gain customer’s trust and confidence. They have been at the forefront, communicating assertively, both the good and not so good messages transparently across different channels in pursuit to serve, retain, delight, and possibly grow the customer base.</p> <p><strong>Process aspects:</strong> Process experts have reviewed, created and modified Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) by considering multiple dimensions of operational, governance, risk, compliance, security and customer specific requirements. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies have been reviewed critically and put to maximum use. Reviews have become more objective and organizations are moving to metrics driven delivery models. Remote working has become a reality and location independent delivery model is a new lever for finance function to increase profitability.</p> <p><strong>Technology aspects:</strong> Technology advancements in the area of automation and analytics have enabled organizations to move towards self-service, predictive and responsive customer support functions. Virtual assistants have become effective aids for the agents. They are used as the first level of respondent, potential solution provider based on historical ticket data and knowledge articles. Data visualization tools have enabled management to monitor both the lead and lag indicators like Initial Response Time (IRT), Average Response Time (ART), Net Promoter Score (NPS) and many more.</p> <p>One of the positive effects of the pandemic will be higher acceptance of remote working and a boost to the economy. Process and Technology interventions will enable People to work seamlessly across globe with a shared vision to achieve common objectives with all right controls in place. Organizations will be able to accelerate delivery at an optimized cost with assured quality. Being positive is a bonus, however as consultants and true partners, it is also our responsibility to address potential risk before it becomes an issue. In pursuit of cash flow, we are observing, many organizations are in an overdrive to on-board multiple customers without planning for the customer service and support function.</p> <p>Imagine yourself as an end user in the current time and what will you choose if you were given a choice:</p> <p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Deal with an Insurance organization having effective quote generation & policy issue system with poor claims management system</p> <p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Deal with an automobile company with strong emphasis on how you can keep the car working without incurring cost through use of multiple channels like SMS/Video message covering best practices and standard DIY (Do It Yourself) videos.</p> <p>Ignoring effectiveness, efficiency and scalability of customer support function may prove futile for organizations. It’s a proven fact that leading and successful organizations have built business with 90%+ repeat customers.</p> <p>To conclude, without any further suspense on whether I have enrolled for the stock market course, the curious marketing geek in myself has taken over novice stock market enthusiasts. I will continue to explore all options adopted by the gentleman to learn best practices adopted by the organization to engage and serve customers in the new beginning before enrolling for the course. We would like to hear from you on:</p> <p>What are your recommended best practices for customer support functions?</p> <p>Which metrics do you track for smooth delivery of customer support functions?</p> </section>	Recent Changes in Customer Support Function Today afternoon, I was browsing through my Facebook timeline and came across a video ad of gentleman promoting course on stock markets. His opening lines were, you are viewing this ad as part of a re-marketing campaign. You clicked on my first video and have not yet decided to enroll, hence I am reaching out to follow up and provide additional info to help you decide and enroll for the course. What immediately struck me was simplicity and conversation-based experience to gain the trust of customer like sellers do in a face to face discussion to clarify any doubts and objections of potential buyers. The above instance was one of the many initiatives adopted by organizations in recent times to stay relevant in the game. In continuation with our previous blog, we would like to share with you a few changes adapted across the people, process and technology tried by various organizations and learn from your experience. People aspects: All customer support agents have gone through steep learning curves on softer, product and security-based training and many more to cater to large volume of customer queries, and complaints. In addition to learning, they have adapted to new ways of working remotely with zero and minimal downtime while being more empathetic than usual to gain customer’s trust and confidence. They have been at the forefront, communicating assertively, both the good and not so good messages transparently across different channels in pursuit to serve, retain, delight, and possibly grow the customer base. Process aspects: Process experts have reviewed, created and modified Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) by considering multiple dimensions of operational, governance, risk, compliance, security and customer specific requirements. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies have been reviewed critically and put to maximum use. Reviews have become more objective and organizations are moving to metrics driven delivery models. Remote working has become a reality and location independent delivery model is a new lever for finance function to increase profitability. Technology aspects: Technology advancements in the area of automation and analytics have enabled organizations to move towards self-service, predictive and responsive customer support functions. Virtual assistants have become effective aids for the agents. They are used as the first level of respondent, potential solution provider based on historical ticket data and knowledge articles. Data visualization tools have enabled management to monitor both the lead and lag indicators like Initial Response Time (IRT), Average Response Time (ART), Net Promoter Score (NPS) and many more. One of the positive effects of the pandemic will be higher acceptance of remote working and a boost to the economy. Process and Technology interventions will enable People to work seamlessly across globe with a shared vision to achieve common objectives with all right controls in place. Organizations will be able to accelerate delivery at an optimized cost with assured quality. Being positive is a bonus, however as consultants and true partners, it is also our responsibility to address potential risk before it becomes an issue. In pursuit of cash flow, we are observing, many organizations are in an overdrive to on-board multiple customers without planning for the customer service and support function. Imagine yourself as an end user in the current time and what will you choose if you were given a choice: Option 1: Deal with an Insurance organization having effective quote generation & policy issue system with poor claims management system Option 2: Deal with an automobile company with strong emphasis on how you can keep the car working without incurring cost through use of multiple channels like SMS/Video message covering best practices and standard DIY (Do It Yourself) videos. Ignoring effectiveness, efficiency and scalability of customer support function may prove futile for organizations. It’s a proven fact that leading and successful organizations have built business with 90%+ repeat customers. To conclude, without any further suspense on whether I have enrolled for the stock market course, the curious marketing geek in myself has taken over novice stock market enthusiasts. I will continue to explore all options adopted by the gentleman to learn best practices adopted by the organization to engage and serve customers in the new beginning before enrolling for the course. We would like to hear from you on: What are your recommended best practices for customer support functions? Which metrics do you track for smooth delivery of customer support functions?	1c1697d5-3a8c-5573-9bb2-495aa7d9af80	25/08/2025 16:00:11
https://medium.com/@digitalsparkm/classroom-environment-heard-this-unique-story-on-learning-a505bd976473	medium.com	Classroom Environment: Heard This Unique Story on Learning?	We like to network with school teachers. They often have great stories to tell about incidents in the classroom and classroom learning. It…	Mike schoultz	https://medium.com/@digitalsparkm	a505bd976473	https://miro.medium.com/…g8hjAJn2IRM9.png	4 min	2023-03-01T15:14:02.650000	2023-03-01T15:17:59.709000	2023-03-01T15:18:08.342000	0	0	en	Storytelling,Classroom,Learning	<section> <p>We like to network with school teachers. They often have great stories to tell about incidents in the classroom and classroom learning. It is all about short stories and their use in a classroom environment.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/300/0oxmDg8hjAJn2IRM9.png" width="300" height="244" loading="lazy" /> <p>Check out our thoughts on <a href="https://digitalsparkmarketing.com/team-leverage/">team leverage</a>. A great story to tell: <a href="https://digitalsparkmarketing.com/inspirational-storiesstory-about-living/">A Story About Living as Told by a Six-Year-Old Boy</a>Famously, Dr. Seuss wrote <em>Green Eggs & Ham</em> after betting that he couldn’t produce a story using less than 50 words. The <a href="http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ494059&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ494059%20\t%20_blank">research</a> shows Seuss was on to something. Most people naturally take the path of “least resistance” and build off of older or existing concepts when brainstorming, which can lead to less creative ideas.</p> <p>Have you ever wondered why movie stories like Toy Story are so compelling and fruitful? The best writers in the world speak to <a href="http://go.sdsu.edu/education/projectcore/files/03252-6_Universal_Themes.pdf">universal human themes</a> — the things that drive every one of us no matter what our worldview is.</p> <p>Compelling storylines work because we see ourselves reflected in the characters. Their story is our story. A great script looks us right in the eye and says, “I see you.” Contrast that feeling with the one you get when you’re speaking to someone at a party, who is looking over his shoulder for the next most interesting person to enter the room. That’s exactly how you <em>don’t</em> want your customers and clients to feel.</p> <h1>Classroom learning</h1> <p>The following classroom story is one of my favorites. It came from one of those many school teachers. We believe it will be one you remember.</p> <p>This is a true story. It is an invaluable example of instilling the meaning of values … up-close and personal. We hope you agree that it is an excellent way to learn. We believe these students will remember it for a long time.</p> <h2>Classroom learning environment</h2> <p>In September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a History teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock, did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal, and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks in her classroom.</p> <p>When the first-period kids entered the room, they discovered that there were no desks. ‘Ms. Cothren, where are our desks?’</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/300/0ricHlxXUnNAnIdBV.png" width="300" height="195" loading="lazy" /> <p>She replied, ‘You can’t have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.’ They thought, ‘Well, maybe it’s our grades.’ ‘No,’ she said.‘Maybe it’s our behavior.’</p> <p>She told them, ‘No, it’s not even your behavior.’And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom. Kids called their parents to tell them what was happening and by early afternoon television news crews had started gathering at the school to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.</p> <p>The final period of the day came and the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk-less classroom. Martha Cothren said, ‘Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he or she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.’</p> <h2>Classroom environment … always remember</h2> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/300/0*VrC45uKAffLBu6V9.png" width="300" height="257" loading="lazy" /> <p>At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.</p> <p>Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniform, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place, those kids had started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.</p> <p>Martha said, ‘You didn’t win the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. They went halfway around the world, giving up their education and interrupting their careers and families so they could have the freedom they have.</p> <p>Now, it’s up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, and to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don’t ever forget it.’</p> <h2>Effective classroom environment … true story</h2> <p>By the way, this teacher was awarded Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year for the State of Arkansas in 2006. She is the daughter of a WWII POW.Do you think this is worth passing along, so others won’t forget either, that the freedoms we have in this great country were earned by our U.S. Veterans? We do, and this is why we are sharing the story. We hope you will also pass it on.</p> <p>Let us always remember the men and women of our military and the rights and freedoms they have maintained for us.</p> </section>	Classroom Environment: Heard This Unique Story on Learning? We like to network with school teachers. They often have great stories to tell about incidents in the classroom and classroom learning. It is all about short stories and their use in a classroom environment. Check out our thoughts on team leverage. A great story to tell: A Story About Living as Told by a Six-Year-Old BoyFamously, Dr. Seuss wrote Green Eggs & Ham after betting that he couldn’t produce a story using less than 50 words. The research shows Seuss was on to something. Most people naturally take the path of “least resistance” and build off of older or existing concepts when brainstorming, which can lead to less creative ideas. Have you ever wondered why movie stories like Toy Story are so compelling and fruitful? The best writers in the world speak to universal human themes — the things that drive every one of us no matter what our worldview is. Compelling storylines work because we see ourselves reflected in the characters. Their story is our story. A great script looks us right in the eye and says, “I see you.” Contrast that feeling with the one you get when you’re speaking to someone at a party, who is looking over his shoulder for the next most interesting person to enter the room. That’s exactly how you don’t want your customers and clients to feel. Classroom learning The following classroom story is one of my favorites. It came from one of those many school teachers. We believe it will be one you remember. This is a true story. It is an invaluable example of instilling the meaning of values … up-close and personal. We hope you agree that it is an excellent way to learn. We believe these students will remember it for a long time. Classroom learning environment In September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a History teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock, did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal, and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks in her classroom. When the first-period kids entered the room, they discovered that there were no desks. ‘Ms. Cothren, where are our desks?’ She replied, ‘You can’t have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.’ They thought, ‘Well, maybe it’s our grades.’ ‘No,’ she said.‘Maybe it’s our behavior.’ She told them, ‘No, it’s not even your behavior.’And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom. Kids called their parents to tell them what was happening and by early afternoon television news crews had started gathering at the school to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room. The final period of the day came and the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk-less classroom. Martha Cothren said, ‘Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he or she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.’ Classroom environment … always remember At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniform, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place, those kids had started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned. Martha said, ‘You didn’t win the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. They went halfway around the world, giving up their education and interrupting their careers and families so they could have the freedom they have. Now, it’s up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, and to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don’t ever forget it.’ Effective classroom environment … true story By the way, this teacher was awarded Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year for the State of Arkansas in 2006. She is the daughter of a WWII POW.Do you think this is worth passing along, so others won’t forget either, that the freedoms we have in this great country were earned by our U.S. Veterans? We do, and this is why we are sharing the story. We hope you will also pass it on. Let us always remember the men and women of our military and the rights and freedoms they have maintained for us.	d715a7b3-0c65-500f-ae37-e4d4cba9da8a	25/08/2025 16:00:11
https://vrutasitara.medium.com/coffee-the-bittersweet-taste-of-coffee-chores-for-education-9e354c4a95c9	medium.com	Coffee: The bittersweet taste of coffee chores for education	In 1997, just as I had finished my O Levels, I travelled to Kagera, my hometown in the Northern part of Tanzania. Sadly, I had gone for my…	Ruganzi	https://medium.com/@vrutasitara	9e354c4a95c9	https://miro.medium.com/…WDeJC7RAJPw.jpeg	10 min	2021-04-22T12:50:34.594000	2021-04-22T13:06:54.988000	2022-01-07T00:37:38.508000	0	1	en	Education,Coffee,Entrepreneurship,Tanzania,Agriculture	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/810/1*5dduEVc50JnWDeJC7RAJPw.jpeg" width="810" height="1080" loading="lazy" /> <p>In 1997, just as I had finished my O Levels, I travelled to Kagera, my hometown in the Northern part of Tanzania. Sadly, I had gone for my paternal Great Grandmother’s funeral in Bwera, a village where she hails from. I am grateful to have met my Great Grandparent and may her wonderful soul be well rested.</p> <p>After about a month in Bwera, I was getting nervous about my future plans for going to High School. As I waited for my O Level results, this was the time I had to explore schools and do interviews. Somehow I knew what needed to be done but I opted for a lazy choice and left it to my parents to work out things for me. I didn’t bother to even ask.</p> <p>I had now left Bwera village and I was in Bwoki, our home village and ancestral home, where my Father, Omtware Justinian Rutasitara has a big lush farm. Just like many farms in the area, they are mainly banana plantations. Ebitoke “a banana dish” as we call it in our Haya tribe, is our staple food. The farm also has Coffee Trees in some designated areas within the plantation, ebiribwa “cassava trees”, ebikwara “arrow roots”, some orange trees and papaya trees. Seasonal crops such as maize and beans would also be planted. Talk about sustainable ecosystems, my Dad also had cows for milk and manure.</p> <p>While in the village, it was time to get my hands dirty as I waited for high school plans to play out. I think my Dad saw me as a spoilt lazy city boy. He wasn’t far from the truth, it was the first time I had to spend so much time in the village. Usually, together with my siblings, we would visit during school holidays and it was time for us to play, visit relatives and neighbors, work a little bit and before we knew it was time to go back to Arusha, where I grew up. But this time it wasn’t a holiday and had nothing really to go back to in Arusha. My Dad, a retired Civil Servant and now a full time farmer, loved his farm and this man worked tirelessly. He had served the Government of Tanzania as an Auditor for years during late Mwalimu Nyerere’s era. His work ethics and integrity were impeccable. In the farm, he was always up-to something, one minute he is with a panga, the next he has a kyabyo, a stick…then a spade, gum boots on etc., He did this from as early as 6am to 7pm. If the sun could stay on and if he had enough battery powered torches to light the whole farm, I bet you he would continue working.</p> <p>Fast forward, around June 1998, it was the coffee harvesting season. Coffee beans were starting to change color from dark green transitioning to ripe red. My Dad would inspect the coffee trees and advise us on which ones to start harvesting from. My Dad never entertained us being in bed beyond 6:30am something that I now dearly enjoy on weekends to make up for those days. Only one of our Sister wasn’t forced out of bed in the morning apparently because she used her free time to read books unlike the rest of us who didn’t seem to have a mission. As soon as we woke up, brushed our teeth and washed our faces with cold water, it was time to go to the farm as you stretch out the sleep from your system. I hated the cold feeling of wet leaves and humidity from the grass on my feet as we walked the farm in the morning.</p> <p>We would lay magunia “a big wooven mat made out of sisal” under the tree we are to harvest the coffee from. The mat is to help reduce the number of coffee beans falling directly to the farm ground. Using hooks made from tree branches, Pantaleo “my Dad’s right hand man” would pull down big coffee tree branches to bring them closer to the ground. We would then use our hands, wrapped around a coffee tree branches and pull down the coffee beans until all the off shoots of the branch have been harvested of the coffee beans. Careful enough not to ruin the shoots but fast enough not to spend the whole day on the same tree. Sometimes Pantaleo would hang on the branch to keep it down as we do the harvest. He made it look fun. My younger brother Mwesiga would more than often take breaks by cracking jokes and telling us all sorts of stories. My Dad would send him to the house to check if breakfast was ready when he noticed he was getting out of it. It would take about 30 to 45 minutes to finish harvesting all the coffee beans from one tree and sometimes we would leave unripe coffee beans for the next round.</p> <p>Breakfast was usually served around 9:30am. We used to long for this moment. How do you wake up at 6 am, work and have breakfast at 9am? Breakfast at home is called “Ekyai” literally meaning Tea. To expedite the tea boiling, using dry coffee tree sticks to fire up the tea pot was equivalent to using pressured cooking gas.</p> <p>Coffee was never served for breakfast. Only when there was no tea leaves would we opt for coffee and this was very rare. I however must say, during my last year of O levels, to keep me awake at night as I studied to prepare for final exams, I drank coffee, a brand called Africafe, an Instant Coffee from Tanzania. I still think it is the best. I am not sure if it was the coffee or the struggle to understand what I was reading that kept me awake.</p> <p>Our breakfast was several cups of milk tea accompanied by either ebichoori “boiled maize” (if in season), ebikwaara, left over bananas or bread if my Dad went to town that weekend. My breakfast plate now looks very different, black tea, eggs, a toast, bacon and Uplands sausages. Who am I?</p> <p>Before going for breakfast, we would load the harvested coffee beans in big buckets and take them to the front yard of our house where we will spread them on the ground for the beans to be gradually dried by the sun. Our homes in the village do not have gates but they usually have ekibuga long “front yards”. Other than prestige depending on the size of your front yard, it is also used for drying grains.</p> <p>After breakfast, we will again be in the farm harvesting from one coffee tree to the other and shipping out buckets of harvested coffee beans to the front yard. Lunch was usually around 1:30pm I recall my Dad asking sarcastically “inywe nimchumba amabaare?” (are you cooking stones?), if lunch was delayed. Sometimes a raw cassava root would be pulled out and serve as a good snack. Depending on how much harvesting was planned for that day, one would be lucky to get a power nap after lunch before going back to the farm.</p> <p>By around 4:30pm before the ground cools off and the coffee beans are still warm, it was time to collect the coffee beans from the front yard again using buckets and pouring them in massive wooden boxes that my Dad had in one of the stores. The coffee beans will then be nicely covered with the woven sisal mats overnight to minimize the loss of heat which is supposed to help the coffee beans to dry. After this, we had some free time including going for a bath, usually in the river nearby as it was much more easier than fetching water back to the house. Some days I will pass on the showers if it felt too cold to go shower.</p> <p>The next morning, the first activity would be to take out all the coffee beans from the wooden boxes again using buckets back to the front yard for their daily sun bathing treat. This cycle of harvesting, drying the coffee beans in the sun, storing them overnight in the store and back to the front yard in the morning would continue for several weeks until all the coffee beans had been harvested and the coffee beans are completely dry. This is when we would then pack them in sacks of about 50 kilograms each. I remember from my Dad’s farm alone, we would have up-to 15 sacks of dried coffee beans from one harvest.</p> <p>It would mark the end of the season, when we put the sacks of dried coffee beans on a wheel barrow enroute to Omusosaiti “the Coffee Union” collection point, where they will be weighed and checked in. My Dad would monitor the news on the price of coffee and payments.</p> <p>In our culture a visitor to the house is usually offered emwaani “cooked and dried coffee beans” to chew on as snacks. I need to find out why, maybe it keeps them on a high.</p> <p>Payments for coffee sold were never on time. It was this season’s harvest whose payment we were now waiting for so as I could go to High School. My other siblings had already gone back to school using funds from other sources.</p> <p>My Dad had identified a newly established High School in Bukoba, called Kashozi Secondary School, which was owned and run by the Kagera Coffee Union. I didn’t know of this school, but being a school owned by a Coffee Union, it goes without say that it must be well resourced. I enrolled for Physics, Chemistry and Biology. I guess it would have been very interesting to also find subjects on coffee but there were none.</p> <p>Unlike my siblings, it was my first time going to a boarding school but I was ready, I was mentally prepared for the new experience. My Dad dropped me off at the school with my silver grey metal trunk for storing stuff, a mattress and other necessities. I was ready.</p> <p>Even though the school was resourced from coffee, in my head I knew school is for academics and not for coffee chores. Yes, and as luck would have it, I was right, there were no coffee farms or a single coffee tree in our school. But wait, we had a tea plantation. What? However, tea harvesting was only a once in a while Saturday chore. Now that I think of it, what was the rationale for having a tea plantation in a Coffee Union run school? Interestingly, tea wasn’t on the breakfast menu, this time it was porridge made of maize flour.</p> <p>Anyway, not much of my lifestyle changed while in school. We still had to wake up for mchaka mchaka (morning runs) at around 5:30am, we would then go shower in the river after the run and in the evening after classes, as there was no running tap water at School. We would have breakfast at around 9:30 am after some classes. We used kerosene lamps to study at night as we did not have electricity. Yes, its a true story. It was scenic seeing hundreds of lit lamps after dinner heading to classrooms for self study.</p> <p>Just like how my Dad had to wait for long before payments from coffee sales came through, we also had to wait for long periods and lost some semesters before we could have teachers for all subjects, books and laboratory equipment. As a student it was difficult to relate the pride of coffee as a major export and what we experienced in a school owned by a coffee union. I am not a type of person who gives up or not finish what I set out to do. Coffee from my Dad’s farm paid the school fees, I worked for it too, at least my Dad can prove it. I finished High School in the same school after a single failed attempt to be moved to another school.</p> <p>Now that I am working in an International organization, mornings are dominated by cups of coffee, get me a cappuccino, I didn’t have my coffee this morning, I need an espresso to wake up etc. What is with coffee? I am still a tea person. I was done with coffee, coffee was for studying. I once brought my famous africafe instant coffee as a gift to my boss and he diplomatically said who drinks instant coffee? I then got to learn of brewed coffee and other types of coffees — why didn’t I learn this when farming coffee? In my travels to Italy, in the morning I would see long queues of people at coffee shops waiting to get their shot of single/double espresso with a bottle of cold water.</p> <p>Agriculture has been the backbone of Tanzania’s economy and coffee was a major export commodity — at least that is what we were told growing up.</p> <p>When I look back, I am conflicted about the whole coffee ordeal. While in high school, I remember having to dissect a cockroach as part of my practicals and final exam but I never received a single lesson on managing at least a coffee plant. The knowledge I gained from my Dad remained in Bukoba and after school I had no new knowledge to give him about coffee and he had no savings as he used the money from coffee sales for our school fees and upkeep. None of my siblings are farmers. We are all now based in the cities. I own La Fiesta Lounge, a restaurant/pub which also serves coffee but not coffee from our farm — I simply never got to learn the ABCs of processing drinking coffee, it wasn’t part of the curriculum at home or in school. None of my colleagues left school with new knowledge about coffee or the economics of coffee.</p> <p>If I was to do it all over again, I would request to be educated and document coffee farming best practices. This is a document each homestead with a farm should have and passed on to generations to come. I would recommend for Schools in the regions that grow coffee to have special classes on the ABCs of coffee and the economics of coffee from elementary level. Coffee farmers like my Dad should be equipped with technology to improve efficiency while encouraging local processing of coffee. Imagine if my Dad processed and branded his coffee in the 1990s, we would now be celebrating over 20 years of producing organic coffee. I now have softwares such as Info Nauza for managing businesses including production that would significantly improve decision-making for my Dad to run his farm as a business.</p> <p>By virtue of us growing up working the coffee plantations and farms, many of us are already a skilled labour force to reckon with. What we did were not merely chores but actual valuable economic activities beyond self sustenance. How we use these farm skills, knowledge and experience we gain in school and at work to improve our ancestral homes with lush farms in our backyards is paramount. These homes are generations of knowledge and wealth that are mostly under valued if not neglected.</p> <p>I have seen the two sides of coffee. We farm coffee but I don’t consume it for leisure. Coffee paid my school fees and I studied in a school run by a Coffee Union that had neither a coffee farm nor a class on coffee. Coffee, I laboured for you and you schooled me but when I drink you, you leave me with a bitter sweet taste.</p> </section>	Coffee: The bittersweet taste of coffee chores for education In 1997, just as I had finished my O Levels, I travelled to Kagera, my hometown in the Northern part of Tanzania. Sadly, I had gone for my paternal Great Grandmother’s funeral in Bwera, a village where she hails from. I am grateful to have met my Great Grandparent and may her wonderful soul be well rested. After about a month in Bwera, I was getting nervous about my future plans for going to High School. As I waited for my O Level results, this was the time I had to explore schools and do interviews. Somehow I knew what needed to be done but I opted for a lazy choice and left it to my parents to work out things for me. I didn’t bother to even ask. I had now left Bwera village and I was in Bwoki, our home village and ancestral home, where my Father, Omtware Justinian Rutasitara has a big lush farm. Just like many farms in the area, they are mainly banana plantations. Ebitoke “a banana dish” as we call it in our Haya tribe, is our staple food. The farm also has Coffee Trees in some designated areas within the plantation, ebiribwa “cassava trees”, ebikwara “arrow roots”, some orange trees and papaya trees. Seasonal crops such as maize and beans would also be planted. Talk about sustainable ecosystems, my Dad also had cows for milk and manure. While in the village, it was time to get my hands dirty as I waited for high school plans to play out. I think my Dad saw me as a spoilt lazy city boy. He wasn’t far from the truth, it was the first time I had to spend so much time in the village. Usually, together with my siblings, we would visit during school holidays and it was time for us to play, visit relatives and neighbors, work a little bit and before we knew it was time to go back to Arusha, where I grew up. But this time it wasn’t a holiday and had nothing really to go back to in Arusha. My Dad, a retired Civil Servant and now a full time farmer, loved his farm and this man worked tirelessly. He had served the Government of Tanzania as an Auditor for years during late Mwalimu Nyerere’s era. His work ethics and integrity were impeccable. In the farm, he was always up-to something, one minute he is with a panga, the next he has a kyabyo, a stick…then a spade, gum boots on etc., He did this from as early as 6am to 7pm. If the sun could stay on and if he had enough battery powered torches to light the whole farm, I bet you he would continue working. Fast forward, around June 1998, it was the coffee harvesting season. Coffee beans were starting to change color from dark green transitioning to ripe red. My Dad would inspect the coffee trees and advise us on which ones to start harvesting from. My Dad never entertained us being in bed beyond 6:30am something that I now dearly enjoy on weekends to make up for those days. Only one of our Sister wasn’t forced out of bed in the morning apparently because she used her free time to read books unlike the rest of us who didn’t seem to have a mission. As soon as we woke up, brushed our teeth and washed our faces with cold water, it was time to go to the farm as you stretch out the sleep from your system. I hated the cold feeling of wet leaves and humidity from the grass on my feet as we walked the farm in the morning. We would lay magunia “a big wooven mat made out of sisal” under the tree we are to harvest the coffee from. The mat is to help reduce the number of coffee beans falling directly to the farm ground. Using hooks made from tree branches, Pantaleo “my Dad’s right hand man” would pull down big coffee tree branches to bring them closer to the ground. We would then use our hands, wrapped around a coffee tree branches and pull down the coffee beans until all the off shoots of the branch have been harvested of the coffee beans. Careful enough not to ruin the shoots but fast enough not to spend the whole day on the same tree. Sometimes Pantaleo would hang on the branch to keep it down as we do the harvest. He made it look fun. My younger brother Mwesiga would more than often take breaks by cracking jokes and telling us all sorts of stories. My Dad would send him to the house to check if breakfast was ready when he noticed he was getting out of it. It would take about 30 to 45 minutes to finish harvesting all the coffee beans from one tree and sometimes we would leave unripe coffee beans for the next round. Breakfast was usually served around 9:30am. We used to long for this moment. How do you wake up at 6 am, work and have breakfast at 9am? Breakfast at home is called “Ekyai” literally meaning Tea. To expedite the tea boiling, using dry coffee tree sticks to fire up the tea pot was equivalent to using pressured cooking gas. Coffee was never served for breakfast. Only when there was no tea leaves would we opt for coffee and this was very rare. I however must say, during my last year of O levels, to keep me awake at night as I studied to prepare for final exams, I drank coffee, a brand called Africafe, an Instant Coffee from Tanzania. I still think it is the best. I am not sure if it was the coffee or the struggle to understand what I was reading that kept me awake. Our breakfast was several cups of milk tea accompanied by either ebichoori “boiled maize” (if in season), ebikwaara, left over bananas or bread if my Dad went to town that weekend. My breakfast plate now looks very different, black tea, eggs, a toast, bacon and Uplands sausages. Who am I? Before going for breakfast, we would load the harvested coffee beans in big buckets and take them to the front yard of our house where we will spread them on the ground for the beans to be gradually dried by the sun. Our homes in the village do not have gates but they usually have ekibuga long “front yards”. Other than prestige depending on the size of your front yard, it is also used for drying grains. After breakfast, we will again be in the farm harvesting from one coffee tree to the other and shipping out buckets of harvested coffee beans to the front yard. Lunch was usually around 1:30pm I recall my Dad asking sarcastically “inywe nimchumba amabaare?” (are you cooking stones?), if lunch was delayed. Sometimes a raw cassava root would be pulled out and serve as a good snack. Depending on how much harvesting was planned for that day, one would be lucky to get a power nap after lunch before going back to the farm. By around 4:30pm before the ground cools off and the coffee beans are still warm, it was time to collect the coffee beans from the front yard again using buckets and pouring them in massive wooden boxes that my Dad had in one of the stores. The coffee beans will then be nicely covered with the woven sisal mats overnight to minimize the loss of heat which is supposed to help the coffee beans to dry. After this, we had some free time including going for a bath, usually in the river nearby as it was much more easier than fetching water back to the house. Some days I will pass on the showers if it felt too cold to go shower. The next morning, the first activity would be to take out all the coffee beans from the wooden boxes again using buckets back to the front yard for their daily sun bathing treat. This cycle of harvesting, drying the coffee beans in the sun, storing them overnight in the store and back to the front yard in the morning would continue for several weeks until all the coffee beans had been harvested and the coffee beans are completely dry. This is when we would then pack them in sacks of about 50 kilograms each. I remember from my Dad’s farm alone, we would have up-to 15 sacks of dried coffee beans from one harvest. It would mark the end of the season, when we put the sacks of dried coffee beans on a wheel barrow enroute to Omusosaiti “the Coffee Union” collection point, where they will be weighed and checked in. My Dad would monitor the news on the price of coffee and payments. In our culture a visitor to the house is usually offered emwaani “cooked and dried coffee beans” to chew on as snacks. I need to find out why, maybe it keeps them on a high. Payments for coffee sold were never on time. It was this season’s harvest whose payment we were now waiting for so as I could go to High School. My other siblings had already gone back to school using funds from other sources. My Dad had identified a newly established High School in Bukoba, called Kashozi Secondary School, which was owned and run by the Kagera Coffee Union. I didn’t know of this school, but being a school owned by a Coffee Union, it goes without say that it must be well resourced. I enrolled for Physics, Chemistry and Biology. I guess it would have been very interesting to also find subjects on coffee but there were none. Unlike my siblings, it was my first time going to a boarding school but I was ready, I was mentally prepared for the new experience. My Dad dropped me off at the school with my silver grey metal trunk for storing stuff, a mattress and other necessities. I was ready. Even though the school was resourced from coffee, in my head I knew school is for academics and not for coffee chores. Yes, and as luck would have it, I was right, there were no coffee farms or a single coffee tree in our school. But wait, we had a tea plantation. What? However, tea harvesting was only a once in a while Saturday chore. Now that I think of it, what was the rationale for having a tea plantation in a Coffee Union run school? Interestingly, tea wasn’t on the breakfast menu, this time it was porridge made of maize flour. Anyway, not much of my lifestyle changed while in school. We still had to wake up for mchaka mchaka (morning runs) at around 5:30am, we would then go shower in the river after the run and in the evening after classes, as there was no running tap water at School. We would have breakfast at around 9:30 am after some classes. We used kerosene lamps to study at night as we did not have electricity. Yes, its a true story. It was scenic seeing hundreds of lit lamps after dinner heading to classrooms for self study. Just like how my Dad had to wait for long before payments from coffee sales came through, we also had to wait for long periods and lost some semesters before we could have teachers for all subjects, books and laboratory equipment. As a student it was difficult to relate the pride of coffee as a major export and what we experienced in a school owned by a coffee union. I am not a type of person who gives up or not finish what I set out to do. Coffee from my Dad’s farm paid the school fees, I worked for it too, at least my Dad can prove it. I finished High School in the same school after a single failed attempt to be moved to another school. Now that I am working in an International organization, mornings are dominated by cups of coffee, get me a cappuccino, I didn’t have my coffee this morning, I need an espresso to wake up etc. What is with coffee? I am still a tea person. I was done with coffee, coffee was for studying. I once brought my famous africafe instant coffee as a gift to my boss and he diplomatically said who drinks instant coffee? I then got to learn of brewed coffee and other types of coffees — why didn’t I learn this when farming coffee? In my travels to Italy, in the morning I would see long queues of people at coffee shops waiting to get their shot of single/double espresso with a bottle of cold water. Agriculture has been the backbone of Tanzania’s economy and coffee was a major export commodity — at least that is what we were told growing up. When I look back, I am conflicted about the whole coffee ordeal. While in high school, I remember having to dissect a cockroach as part of my practicals and final exam but I never received a single lesson on managing at least a coffee plant. The knowledge I gained from my Dad remained in Bukoba and after school I had no new knowledge to give him about coffee and he had no savings as he used the money from coffee sales for our school fees and upkeep. None of my siblings are farmers. We are all now based in the cities. I own La Fiesta Lounge, a restaurant/pub which also serves coffee but not coffee from our farm — I simply never got to learn the ABCs of processing drinking coffee, it wasn’t part of the curriculum at home or in school. None of my colleagues left school with new knowledge about coffee or the economics of coffee. If I was to do it all over again, I would request to be educated and document coffee farming best practices. This is a document each homestead with a farm should have and passed on to generations to come. I would recommend for Schools in the regions that grow coffee to have special classes on the ABCs of coffee and the economics of coffee from elementary level. Coffee farmers like my Dad should be equipped with technology to improve efficiency while encouraging local processing of coffee. Imagine if my Dad processed and branded his coffee in the 1990s, we would now be celebrating over 20 years of producing organic coffee. I now have softwares such as Info Nauza for managing businesses including production that would significantly improve decision-making for my Dad to run his farm as a business. By virtue of us growing up working the coffee plantations and farms, many of us are already a skilled labour force to reckon with. What we did were not merely chores but actual valuable economic activities beyond self sustenance. How we use these farm skills, knowledge and experience we gain in school and at work to improve our ancestral homes with lush farms in our backyards is paramount. These homes are generations of knowledge and wealth that are mostly under valued if not neglected. I have seen the two sides of coffee. We farm coffee but I don’t consume it for leisure. Coffee paid my school fees and I studied in a school run by a Coffee Union that had neither a coffee farm nor a class on coffee. Coffee, I laboured for you and you schooled me but when I drink you, you leave me with a bitter sweet taste.	c1c8e2a2-7faf-5c3a-8dd4-2e2f3905ae51	25/08/2025 16:00:11
https://ccoleiii.medium.com/a-black-mans-death-manifesto-my-10-rules-d32322234c8	medium.com	a black man’s death manifesto: my 10 rules	Let’s get real honest for a second. A few notes about me just to clear anything up. If something were to happen to me in a manner similar…	Charles Cole, III	https://medium.com/@ccoleiii	d32322234c8	https://miro.medium.com/…JbrBMfsjSiPA.png	2 min	2020-06-03T03:07:51.220000	2020-06-03T03:13:00.167000	2021-12-14T18:18:10.401000	0	1	en	BlackLivesMatter,Manifesto,Charles Cole,Equity	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1080/1cMbuwwbK2iJbrBMfsjSiPA.png" width="1080" height="1080" loading="lazy" /> <p>Let’s get real honest for a second. A few notes about me just to clear anything up. If something were to happen to me in a manner similar to what we are witnessing, please remember these 10 things:</p> <p>1. I don’t need you to beg white people to not be racist on my behalf. That’s dumb and beneath us. Don’t beg anyone to love me or us that don’t already.</p> <p>2. Don’t say I would’ve wanted peace, nah, AVENGE me. Especially my friends that I KNOW have put in work before.</p> <p>3. If someone taped me getting killed and they start doing rounds about said taping, snuff them.</p> <p>4. I don’t need you to interview my parents or family members, they can’t really speak on my behalf (maybe my aunt Tammy, cousin Alec, or uncle Skipper). If you interview any other family members, they’re just making up stuff. I promise. Never been a family dude like that.</p> <p>5. Don’t do a “Say his name” campaign or anything that may get likes for folks on social media. No new stars should come from my death.</p> <p>6. Don’t do that thing where folks change it to something regarding “people of color”, nah, I’m BLACK fam.</p> <p>7. For the love of the GOD, don’t let Shaun King do any fundraisers in my name. If you do, I’m haunting you until you die. I’m serious, don’t give Blood a red cent on my behalf.</p> <p>8. Don’t let folks over-intellectualize what happened. Keep it simple like, “He was murdered. Keep the guy free. We got it.” and then move accordingly. Taking it to court means nothing.</p> <p>9. Don’t let Diddy (whom I respect and am happy that the Revolt platform is here) hold a “Family Meeting” and then have the likes of Amy Schumer and Shaun King speak on said platform.</p> <p>10. Something better happen to the folks that took me out. Something. This is for all the folks today that say things like, “I’m not my ancestors, you’ll catch these hands.”-type folks. Well dammit, hands, feet, and everything else better be caught by the culprits. Not the way y’all “caught” George Zimmerman who is still out here living and just walking around whistling dixie.</p> <p>Thank you for coming to my TedTalk. God Bless.</p> <p>Legal Obligatory text plus all the fancy words I learned from my expensive college education that didn’t prevent me from being a target in the first place.</p> <p><em>I am not an advocate for violence. I am just recognizing the laws of physics that dictate that every action has an equal and opposite reaction except for when you kill Black folks where the only reactions tend to be putting dead Black folks on trial posthumously. I just want this law to be as consistent as the law of gravity. Y’all be safe.</em></p> </section>	a black man’s death manifesto: my 10 rules Let’s get real honest for a second. A few notes about me just to clear anything up. If something were to happen to me in a manner similar to what we are witnessing, please remember these 10 things: 1. I don’t need you to beg white people to not be racist on my behalf. That’s dumb and beneath us. Don’t beg anyone to love me or us that don’t already. 2. Don’t say I would’ve wanted peace, nah, AVENGE me. Especially my friends that I KNOW have put in work before. 3. If someone taped me getting killed and they start doing rounds about said taping, snuff them. 4. I don’t need you to interview my parents or family members, they can’t really speak on my behalf (maybe my aunt Tammy, cousin Alec, or uncle Skipper). If you interview any other family members, they’re just making up stuff. I promise. Never been a family dude like that. 5. Don’t do a “Say his name” campaign or anything that may get likes for folks on social media. No new stars should come from my death. 6. Don’t do that thing where folks change it to something regarding “people of color”, nah, I’m BLACK fam. 7. For the love of the GOD, don’t let Shaun King do any fundraisers in my name. If you do, I’m haunting you until you die. I’m serious, don’t give Blood a red cent on my behalf. 8. Don’t let folks over-intellectualize what happened. Keep it simple like, “He was murdered. Keep the guy free. We got it.” and then move accordingly. Taking it to court means nothing. 9. Don’t let Diddy (whom I respect and am happy that the Revolt platform is here) hold a “Family Meeting” and then have the likes of Amy Schumer and Shaun King speak on said platform. 10. Something better happen to the folks that took me out. Something. This is for all the folks today that say things like, “I’m not my ancestors, you’ll catch these hands.”-type folks. Well dammit, hands, feet, and everything else better be caught by the culprits. Not the way y’all “caught” George Zimmerman who is still out here living and just walking around whistling dixie. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk. God Bless. Legal Obligatory text plus all the fancy words I learned from my expensive college education that didn’t prevent me from being a target in the first place. *I am not an advocate for violence. I am just recognizing the laws of physics that dictate that every action has an equal and opposite reaction except for when you kill Black folks where the only reactions tend to be putting dead Black folks on trial posthumously. I just want this law to be as consistent as the law of gravity. Y’all be safe.	7515c7e3-1007-535d-9fd7-3ade6a1bcef0	25/08/2025 16:00:11
https://isha-singla.medium.com/breaking-free-from-reasonable-choices-a-guide-to-life-and-career-transitions-3edda4859e5d	medium.com	Breaking Free from ‘Reasonable’ Choices: A Guide to Life and Career Transitions	Learn how to move beyond “reasonable” choices, face the true cost of change, and make bold transitions with clarity and confidence.	Isha Singla	https://medium.com/@isha-singla	3edda4859e5d	https://miro.medium.com/…Hd_74cbGxoQ.jpeg	3 min	2025-07-15T10:00:33.108000	2025-08-20T11:07:12.163000	2025-08-20T12:30:15.159000	0	0	en	Transitions,Intentions,Decision Making,Clarity,Control	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/3681/1*XYqfBOuQ5T8Hd_74cbGxoQ.jpeg" width="3681" height="2222" loading="lazy" /> <p>In the last six months, I’ve had several coaching conversations with people in the midst of transitions — considering career shifts or taking a leap of faith toward something they’ve always longed to do.</p> <p>There’s a striking energy shift I notice every time:</p> <ul> <li><strong>They feel expansive, alive, a twinkle lighting up their eyes</strong> when they talk about what they <em>want</em> to do. Sometimes, they don’t even have a clear picture — just a hazy idea or visual — and yet, even that sparks their excitement.</li> <li><strong>They feel restricted and contracted</strong> when they speak about their present. They’ll talk about how many factors are at play, how they <em>can’t just make a move</em>, even though they aren’t fully happy with what they’re doing (or <em>know</em> they could be happier).</li> </ul> <p>This line of conversation almost always takes me back to a two-day workshop I once attended. Within a week of it, I decided to try coaching full-time…even though the facilitator <em>explicitly warned us not to make any life-changing decisions for at least 15 days after the course!</em></p> <p>What helped me make that shift? <strong>Understanding the difference between being reasonable and being alive.</strong></p> <h1>Reasonable vs. Alive</h1> <p>Being <em>reasonable</em> is what we’re taught to aim for as sincere, responsible adults. It keeps us safe, but it also limits the choices we allow ourselves.</p> <p>Being <em>alive</em> often means taking risks. And yes, risks come with consequences. But if you’re ready to own your choices <em>and</em> the consequences that come with them, you free yourself from the need to always be “reasonable.”</p> <p>When we make decisions, we usually weigh pros and cons. We decide what makes sense, what’s safe, what’s reasonable. But to feel <em>alive</em>, it’s not just your head that must agree — it’s your heart too.</p> <h2>An Ice Cream Metaphor</h2> <p><em>Imagine you’re out for ice cream. Your usual go-to is black currant. But today, you see a new flavor you’ve never tried. You can only pick one.</em></p> <p>Now, your mind says: “You came here for black currant. You already know you’ll enjoy it. Remember last time you tried something new and didn’t like it? What if you regret it? You’ll be robbed of the joy you could’ve had.”</p> <p>So, what would you do if you were being <em>reasonable</em>?</p> <p>If you were ready to <em>own your choice</em>, you might still go for the new flavor — fully aware it <em>might</em> spoil your mood, but also knowing you can live with that.</p> <p>Being in <em>choice</em> means you’ve considered the reasons… but then you freely choose whatever you want and accept the consequences.</p> <p><strong>What if you applied this thinking to the bigger choices in your life?</strong></p> <p>What if you looked at the options available to you, just as they are. And then asked yourself:</p> <p><strong>What could be the consequences of choosing this option? What price would I need to pay?</strong></p> <p><strong>Am I willing to pay that price?</strong></p> <p>If the answer is yes, you’re free to choose <em>any</em> option you want — even the “unreasonable” one.</p> <p>These two questions help in two ways:</p> <ul> <li>They can burst certain fantasies you’ve been holding onto because you realize you’re <em>not</em> okay with the consequences.</li> <li>Or they can show you the opposite, that the consequences are actually exaggerated in your mind and not as severe as you imagined.</li> </ul> <p>It also helps you be honest with yourself. Take the things you feel stuck with, for example: <em>“I CAN’T leave this job right now because of the market… because I don’t know what else I could do… because [insert reason].”</em></p> <p>This reframing helps you see that you are <em>choosing</em> not to quit, because you don’t want to face those consequences.</p> <p>The situation remains the same, but your perspective changes. Suddenly, <strong>you’re back in control.</strong> You’re choosing as an empowered being, free to do whatever you want.</p> <p>Often, it’s difficult for us to exercise our freedom, so we externalize the consequences. That way, we’re spared the burden of making bold choices. It feels easier to live in the fantasy that <em>“I could have done XYZ, if only the circumstances were better.”</em></p> <p>So, next time you think about something you’ve wanted to do for a long time but haven’t — ask yourself:</p> <p><strong>What’s the price I’m willing (or not willing) to pay? And what am <em>I</em> </strong>choosing?</p> <p><em>If this reflection resonated with you, you might also enjoy these:</em></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://medium.com/@isha-singla/what-to-do-when-you-are-out-of-choices-95724b1b662b">What to do when you’re out of choices</a></li> <li><a href="https://isha-singla.medium.com/what-are-you-unconsciously-committed-to-2a478a71d43e">What are you unconsciously committed to?</a></li> </ul> <p>And if reading this made you feel even a little more <em>expanded</em>, and you want to continue this journey — I’d love to support you as you navigate your way forward.</p> <p><strong>Click <a href="https://www.ishasingla.com/coach</strong>ing">here</a> to explore how we can work together.</p> </section>	Breaking Free from ‘Reasonable’ Choices: A Guide to Life and Career Transitions Photo by Leo_Visions on Unsplash In the last six months, I’ve had several coaching conversations with people in the midst of transitions — considering career shifts or taking a leap of faith toward something they’ve always longed to do. There’s a striking energy shift I notice every time: They feel expansive, alive, a twinkle lighting up their eyes when they talk about what they want to do. Sometimes, they don’t even have a clear picture — just a hazy idea or visual — and yet, even that sparks their excitement. They feel restricted and contracted when they speak about their present. They’ll talk about how many factors are at play, how they can’t just make a move, even though they aren’t fully happy with what they’re doing (or know they could be happier). This line of conversation almost always takes me back to a two-day workshop I once attended. Within a week of it, I decided to try coaching full-time…even though the facilitator explicitly warned us not to make any life-changing decisions for at least 15 days after the course! What helped me make that shift? Understanding the difference between being reasonable and being alive. Reasonable vs. Alive Being reasonable is what we’re taught to aim for as sincere, responsible adults. It keeps us safe, but it also limits the choices we allow ourselves. Being alive often means taking risks. And yes, risks come with consequences. But if you’re ready to own your choices and the consequences that come with them, you free yourself from the need to always be “reasonable.” When we make decisions, we usually weigh pros and cons. We decide what makes sense, what’s safe, what’s reasonable. But to feel alive, it’s not just your head that must agree — it’s your heart too. An Ice Cream Metaphor Imagine you’re out for ice cream. Your usual go-to is black currant. But today, you see a new flavor you’ve never tried. You can only pick one. Now, your mind says: “You came here for black currant. You already know you’ll enjoy it. Remember last time you tried something new and didn’t like it? What if you regret it? You’ll be robbed of the joy you could’ve had.” So, what would you do if you were being reasonable? If you were ready to own your choice, you might still go for the new flavor — fully aware it might spoil your mood, but also knowing you can live with that. Being in choice means you’ve considered the reasons… but then you freely choose whatever you want and accept the consequences. What if you applied this thinking to the bigger choices in your life? What if you looked at the options available to you, just as they are. And then asked yourself: What could be the consequences of choosing this option? What price would I need to pay? Am I willing to pay that price? If the answer is yes, you’re free to choose any option you want — even the “unreasonable” one. These two questions help in two ways: They can burst certain fantasies you’ve been holding onto because you realize you’re not okay with the consequences. Or they can show you the opposite, that the consequences are actually exaggerated in your mind and not as severe as you imagined. It also helps you be honest with yourself. Take the things you feel stuck with, for example: “I CAN’T leave this job right now because of the market… because I don’t know what else I could do… because [insert reason].” This reframing helps you see that you are choosing not to quit, because you don’t want to face those consequences. The situation remains the same, but your perspective changes. Suddenly, you’re back in control. You’re choosing as an empowered being, free to do whatever you want. Often, it’s difficult for us to exercise our freedom, so we externalize the consequences. That way, we’re spared the burden of making bold choices. It feels easier to live in the fantasy that “I could have done XYZ, if only the circumstances were better.” So, next time you think about something you’ve wanted to do for a long time but haven’t — ask yourself: What’s the price I’m willing (or not willing) to pay? And what am I choosing? If this reflection resonated with you, you might also enjoy these: What to do when you’re out of choices What are you unconsciously committed to? And if reading this made you feel even a little more expanded, and you want to continue this journey — I’d love to support you as you navigate your way forward. Click here to explore how we can work together.	8a08b831-f260-59fb-b077-ddb4d81a3ea7	25/08/2025 16:00:11
https://karsljackson.medium.com/experience-the-alabama-attractions-386eb09a1cdc	medium.com	Experience the Alabama Attractions	Alabama is placed in the southern state of the United States. This state also has a rich history and a mix of cultural traditions. In this…	karsljackson	https://medium.com/@karsljackson	386eb09a1cdc	https://miro.medium.com/…DUNGaxL_iVQ.jpeg	2 min	2018-11-05T10:15:12.246000	2018-11-05T10:17:15.934000	2018-11-05T10:17:15.934000	0	0	en	Alabama Attractions,Alabama Civil Rights,Attractions In Alabama,Events In Alabama,Sports Facility	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/810/1*d7xV8XQVtb2DUNGaxL_iVQ.jpeg" width="810" height="540" loading="lazy" /> <p>Alabama is placed in the southern state of the United States. This state also has a rich history and a mix of cultural traditions. In this city has many places to visit and also their attractions, thousands of the visitor have come here to enjoy their attractions. With such a rich history, Alabama is truly beautiful with several natural and man-made attractions distributed all over the state. If you are planning to visit the state, do take the time to visit all their attractions.</p> <p>There are more beautiful and Attractive <strong><a href="http://visiti</strong>ngmontgomery.com/play/see-and-do/">Attractions In Alabama</a>, where the tourists also visiting this wonderful city that are explained below:</p> <p><strong>Bellingrath Gardens and Home: where in this garden e</strong>ach season, something is in bloom at the Bellingrath Gardens. In the wintertime there features more than 400 varieties of camellias; during the spring, azaleas are everywhere; and the summer brings hydrangeas, roses, and tropical plants and in the fall, where the visitors will find an amazing display of cascading chrysanthemums.</p> <p><strong>Fort Morgan: </strong>This Fort is built in the 1834, Fort Morgan was the site of the Civil War’s most decisive naval battle. Where the Battle of the Mobile Bay, but it was also important during the Spanish-American War, WWI, and WWII. Also, touring the grounds of the fort, there is an excellent museum on site showcasing relics from the period, such as uniforms, weapons, personal items of soldiers, and photographs.</p> <p><strong>Orange Beach: </strong>Where in the orange beach miles of white sand awaits visitors at Alabama’s top beach along the Gulf Coast. Orange beach is the best place to arrange deep-sea fishing excursions, boat cruises, and other water recreation. Where from the history of the Fort Morgan and Dauphin Island into the youthful fun of Adventure Island, several of the state’s top attractions are all in the one place. Also, explore the beauty of Perdido Pass, indulge yourself at the Wharf Resort or just stroll along the perfect shoreline.</p> <p><strong>Alabama Music Hall of Fame: </strong>There’s a rich estate of musical talent in Alabama, and the Music Hall of Fame puts it all on display. In this place to learn about fiction like Nat King Cole, Hank Williams, and Wilson Pickett, between the cool old photographs and memorabilia, there’s a lot to ogle at. If you can’t get adequate of the songstress heritage, head to Georgiana and tour, Hank Williams Boyhood Home and Museum.</p> <p>You have to visit all these attractions in Alabama then you want to visit more place in there but you don’t have any information about all that attractive place. You will Visit Montgomery website all types of information regarding all the attractive places in Alabama that all are described on the website. Also, they will provide the best guideline for all the places and their attractive places where you want to go. With the help of the visit Montgomery site you will find the best and top rated<strong> <a href="https://www</strong>.change.org/p/karsljackson-experience-the-best-attraction-in-alabama">Alabama Attractions</a>.</p> </section>	Experience the Alabama Attractions Alabama is placed in the southern state of the United States. This state also has a rich history and a mix of cultural traditions. In this city has many places to visit and also their attractions, thousands of the visitor have come here to enjoy their attractions. With such a rich history, Alabama is truly beautiful with several natural and man-made attractions distributed all over the state. If you are planning to visit the state, do take the time to visit all their attractions. There are more beautiful and Attractive Attractions In Alabama, where the tourists also visiting this wonderful city that are explained below: Bellingrath Gardens and Home: where in this garden each season, something is in bloom at the Bellingrath Gardens. In the wintertime there features more than 400 varieties of camellias; during the spring, azaleas are everywhere; and the summer brings hydrangeas, roses, and tropical plants and in the fall, where the visitors will find an amazing display of cascading chrysanthemums. Fort Morgan: This Fort is built in the 1834, Fort Morgan was the site of the Civil War’s most decisive naval battle. Where the Battle of the Mobile Bay, but it was also important during the Spanish-American War, WWI, and WWII. Also, touring the grounds of the fort, there is an excellent museum on site showcasing relics from the period, such as uniforms, weapons, personal items of soldiers, and photographs. Orange Beach: Where in the orange beach miles of white sand awaits visitors at Alabama’s top beach along the Gulf Coast. Orange beach is the best place to arrange deep-sea fishing excursions, boat cruises, and other water recreation. Where from the history of the Fort Morgan and Dauphin Island into the youthful fun of Adventure Island, several of the state’s top attractions are all in the one place. Also, explore the beauty of Perdido Pass, indulge yourself at the Wharf Resort or just stroll along the perfect shoreline. Alabama Music Hall of Fame: There’s a rich estate of musical talent in Alabama, and the Music Hall of Fame puts it all on display. In this place to learn about fiction like Nat King Cole, Hank Williams, and Wilson Pickett, between the cool old photographs and memorabilia, there’s a lot to ogle at. If you can’t get adequate of the songstress heritage, head to Georgiana and tour, Hank Williams Boyhood Home and Museum. You have to visit all these attractions in Alabama then you want to visit more place in there but you don’t have any information about all that attractive place. You will Visit Montgomery website all types of information regarding all the attractive places in Alabama that all are described on the website. Also, they will provide the best guideline for all the places and their attractive places where you want to go. With the help of the visit Montgomery site you will find the best and top rated Alabama Attractions.	9c60f470-b993-5b77-9c03-950d35dec01c	25/08/2025 16:00:12
https://medium.com/@jlynch2314/https-t-co-hqnpdfb17w-https-t-co-5pzuavitfl-ed302560887d	medium.com	https://t.co/hQNPDFB17W https://t.co/5PZUaVitFL	null	jlynch2314	https://medium.com/@jlynch2314	ed302560887d	null	0 min	2016-02-21T23:48:19.007000	2016-02-21T23:48:19.883000	2016-02-21T23:48:19.883000	0	0	en	Hammocks,Hammock Camping,Hammocking	<section> <p>— Jeff Lynch (@jefflynch2314) <a href="https://twitter.com/jefflynch2314/status/701550614535344133">February 21, 2016</a></p> <p></p> </section>	https://t.co/hQNPDFB17W http://pic.twitter.com/5PZUaVitFL — Jeff Lynch (@jefflynch2314) February 21, 2016	f7b55eb8-7ae7-5d36-a40a-63b9a16177bd	25/08/2025 16:00:12
https://medium.com/@robertgreville/fpl-gameweek-7-in-review-4334bea78cbe	medium.com	FPL — Gameweek 7 in Review	Another game week in Fantasy Football has flown by. Firstly apologies for missing my picks and differentials this pas week, I was too busy…	Robert Greville	https://medium.com/@robertgreville	4334bea78cbe	https://miro.medium.com/…EWHMfVqZlrA.jpeg	3 min	2017-10-03T19:45:26.089000	2017-10-04T19:50:26.201000	2018-06-07T03:10:50.527000	1	1	en	Football,Fantasy Football,Premier League,FPL	<section> <p>Another game week in Fantasy Football has flown by. Firstly apologies for missing my picks and differentials this pas week, I was too busy sunning myself (and running after my son) in Mallorca. However my team picked up a respectable 66 points and I am sitting pretty in the top 100k, continuing my aim for a top 1% finish.</p> <h3>Spurs Dominate</h3> <p>An away trip to Huddersfield was no issue for Tottenham in the early kickoff this past Saturday. Kane once again proved why he costs 12.6m by bagging a brace and having looked like he should have had more. This campaign is already hotting up after a baron August having now bagged 11 goals in all competitions, 6 of them coming in the league. He has amassed 44 shots, 5 of which have hit the woodwork — but now faces a run of fixtures which should be more testing.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/3299/1QfbFoe6hVusEWHMfVqZlrA.jpeg" width="3299" height="2071" loading="lazy" /> <p>Elsewhere on the pitch the midfield giants of Alli and Eriksen both blanked, leaving the door open for other premium options. Although highly owned Alli has only had returns in 3 starts and is seemingly unable to remove some of his weaker aspects of his game after picking up a yellow for a blatant dive. Eriksen is fairing better, but after the break Spurs will face United, Liverpool and Real Madrid in the space of 11 days — they’re fiery start may be extinguished by the end of October.</p> <h3>United 4 Glory</h3> <p>No matter how late in the game, how good the opposition, like the day is long, United are scoring 4. For the 4th time this season they not only kept a clean sheet, but also scored 4 with Lukaku bagging returns in each one of them. It seems the template of Kane and Lukaku is emerging and will be burning players left, right and centre if they choose to avoid.</p> <p>However it was not this Belgian that made the headlines, but another. Fellow countryman Fellaini bagged a brace and is flourishing under the guidance of Mourinho (and the fact Pogba is injured). Owned by only a minuscule 2%, he could prove to be a great difference maker whilst the Frenchman is sidelined — but be warned the next 4 weeks feature Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs, 2 of which are strong at the back.</p> <h3>De Bruyne Haunts At The Bridge</h3> <p>Sometimes it looks as though these returns are written in the stars…Van Persie, Bale, Adebayor…all of whom return to their old club and score. We can now add De Bruyne to this list after he bagged an absolute peach of a goal away from home at The Bridge. The Belgian now has 3 returns in 4 and is on the eve of 2 home fixtures against Burnley and Stoke — his stock is rising but so is his price. It’s worth investing in other options if budget is restrained. Sterling was impressive against Chelsea and was unlucky not to get any points on the board, whilst Silva looked sluggish, it’s hard to look past 2 double digit returns in 3 game weeks.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1920/1smzTX_CpBFKKLQwo7_toXA.jpeg" width="1920" height="1080" loading="lazy" /> <p>On the Chelsea side, bad news on the forward front as popular transfer in Morata looks to be sidelined for 4–6 weeks (yet to confirmed). He has quietly been making a name for himself against stiff premium priced opposition and his injury comes at a very bad time. However it could make way for Twitter mainstay Michy Batshuayi — who is reasonably priced at 8.1m and is owned by less than 1%. One to add to the watchlist after the international break.</p> <h3>Wingbacks, Wingbacks, Wingbacks</h3> <p>Looking at the top scoring defenders for not only this week but going back further weeks and you’ll see a pattern emerging. The rise of of the wingback has now overtaken the likes of Capoue from last season. Davies, Bellerin, Valencia, Azpilicueta, Kolasinac to name a few are now taken centre stage each and every week.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1200/1*6Ic6Tsz9BeOv5H8iowBzrw.jpeg" width="1200" height="776" loading="lazy" /> <p>Take Davies for example, who has now scored 2 and assisted 3 in 6 games. If this trend continues, he will be looking at double digits for both after 38 games. At 5.8m, the potential is too great to ignore. Comparing this to budget midfield options, it becomes even more enticing. Would Ritchie at 6m return the same? Gross? Carroll? Choupo-Moting? The answer would be a resounding no. It’s time to starve those midfield options and opt for premium defenders — the death of 3–4–3, the rise of 4–3–3.</p> </section>	FPL — Gameweek 7 in Review Another game week in Fantasy Football has flown by. Firstly apologies for missing my picks and differentials this pas week, I was too busy sunning myself (and running after my son) in Mallorca. However my team picked up a respectable 66 points and I am sitting pretty in the top 100k, continuing my aim for a top 1% finish. Spurs Dominate An away trip to Huddersfield was no issue for Tottenham in the early kickoff this past Saturday. Kane once again proved why he costs 12.6m by bagging a brace and having looked like he should have had more. This campaign is already hotting up after a baron August having now bagged 11 goals in all competitions, 6 of them coming in the league. He has amassed 44 shots, 5 of which have hit the woodwork — but now faces a run of fixtures which should be more testing. Elsewhere on the pitch the midfield giants of Alli and Eriksen both blanked, leaving the door open for other premium options. Although highly owned Alli has only had returns in 3 starts and is seemingly unable to remove some of his weaker aspects of his game after picking up a yellow for a blatant dive. Eriksen is fairing better, but after the break Spurs will face United, Liverpool and Real Madrid in the space of 11 days — they’re fiery start may be extinguished by the end of October. United 4 Glory No matter how late in the game, how good the opposition, like the day is long, United are scoring 4. For the 4th time this season they not only kept a clean sheet, but also scored 4 with Lukaku bagging returns in each one of them. It seems the template of Kane and Lukaku is emerging and will be burning players left, right and centre if they choose to avoid. However it was not this Belgian that made the headlines, but another. Fellow countryman Fellaini bagged a brace and is flourishing under the guidance of Mourinho (and the fact Pogba is injured). Owned by only a minuscule 2%, he could prove to be a great difference maker whilst the Frenchman is sidelined — but be warned the next 4 weeks feature Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs, 2 of which are strong at the back. De Bruyne Haunts At The Bridge Sometimes it looks as though these returns are written in the stars…Van Persie, Bale, Adebayor…all of whom return to their old club and score. We can now add De Bruyne to this list after he bagged an absolute peach of a goal away from home at The Bridge. The Belgian now has 3 returns in 4 and is on the eve of 2 home fixtures against Burnley and Stoke — his stock is rising but so is his price. It’s worth investing in other options if budget is restrained. Sterling was impressive against Chelsea and was unlucky not to get any points on the board, whilst Silva looked sluggish, it’s hard to look past 2 double digit returns in 3 game weeks. On the Chelsea side, bad news on the forward front as popular transfer in Morata looks to be sidelined for 4–6 weeks (yet to confirmed). He has quietly been making a name for himself against stiff premium priced opposition and his injury comes at a very bad time. However it could make way for Twitter mainstay Michy Batshuayi — who is reasonably priced at 8.1m and is owned by less than 1%. One to add to the watchlist after the international break. Wingbacks, Wingbacks, Wingbacks Looking at the top scoring defenders for not only this week but going back further weeks and you’ll see a pattern emerging. The rise of of the wingback has now overtaken the likes of Capoue from last season. Davies, Bellerin, Valencia, Azpilicueta, Kolasinac to name a few are now taken centre stage each and every week. Take Davies for example, who has now scored 2 and assisted 3 in 6 games. If this trend continues, he will be looking at double digits for both after 38 games. At 5.8m, the potential is too great to ignore. Comparing this to budget midfield options, it becomes even more enticing. Would Ritchie at 6m return the same? Gross? Carroll? Choupo-Moting? The answer would be a resounding no. It’s time to starve those midfield options and opt for premium defenders — the death of 3–4–3, the rise of 4–3–3.	31178762-bb26-57f3-8919-e493e74ff6e0	25/08/2025 16:00:12
https://opvizor.medium.com/what-about-monitoring-vmware-netapp-veeam-and-microsoft-metrics-in-once-place-4efb7d24bbaa	medium.com	What about monitoring VMware, NetApp, Veeam and Microsoft metrics in once place?	Veeam® Software, the Availability for the Always-On Enterprise™ innovator, announced that NetApp will be adding Veeam Availability…	Dennis Zimmer	https://medium.com/@opvizor	4efb7d24bbaa	https://miro.medium.com/…ZznIAVEnFkpH.png	3 min	2017-10-30T20:13:24.427000	2017-10-30T20:15:11.179000	2017-10-30T20:15:11.982000	0	0	en	Vmware,Netapp,Veeam,Microsoft,Monitoring	<section> <p><a href="https://www.veeam.com/">Veeam® Software</a>, the Availability for the Always-On Enterprise™ innovator, announced that <a href="http://www.netapp.com/us/index.aspx">NetApp</a> will be adding Veeam Availability Solutions to the NetApp global price list. NetApp customers can purchase complete Veeam and NetApp solutions directly from NetApp and its resellers in a single transaction, enabling enterprises to leverage both 24.7.365 availability and IT simplicity.</p> <p>The combination of <a href="http://www.veeam.com/">Veeam’s</a> Availability solutions with <a href="http://www.netapp.com/">NetApp</a> E-series, AltaVault, ONTAP, All-Flash FAS, and hybrid cloud solution offerings, help organizations simplify IT operational management, lower costs, and attain recovery point and recovery time objectives (RTPO™) of seconds — not hours and days, per legacy solutions — for all applications and data. This agreement will equip 4,000 NetApp resellers globally to deliver NetApp/Veeam integrated Availability solutions.</p> <p>That’s great news for customers as it simplifies their procurement process. But what about the operations team — any simplification for them? Yes, Performance Analyzer now supports <a href="http://www.vmware.com/">VMware</a> vSphere, NetApp ONTAP, Veeam and integrations into your guest OS (Linux or <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/">Windows</a>).</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/373/0h1y27BPvZG-Y9ie7.png" width="373" height="42" loading="lazy" /> <p>The advantages for the procurement team:</p> <ul> <li><em>NetApp customers can now purchase complete NetApp and Veeam solutions directly from NetApp and its resellers, enabling them to benefit from Veeam’s industry-leading Availability solutions</em></li> <li><em>Simplifies the purchase and delivery process for partners to provide highly differentiated solutions to joint customers</em></li> <li><em>Veeam Availability Suite and Veeam Backup & Replication will be available with NetApp E-series, AltaVault, ONTAP, All-Flash FAS, and hybrid cloud solution offerings</em></li> <li><em>Veeam continues to deliver innovation via direct integration with ONTAP environments to provide enterprise class scalability, performance, agility and ease of management</em></li> </ul> <p>The advantages using a combined monitoring product:</p> <ul> <li>one product combines all metrics and statistics at the same time for the whole environment</li> <li>an easy way to find and solve performance issues, like IO load during backup times, database queries in the guest aso.</li> <li>reports based on dashboards to get point in time information by email</li> <li>merge information in one dashboard for the support teams or create rotating dashboards for the big screen</li> </ul> <p>That means faster response times, less downtime, faster bottleneck and anomaly detection — best operations possible!</p> <p>Let’s get into some dashboards.</p> <p>VMware vSphere — virtual machine highlights: your #1 dashboard to get an instant idea how your environment is doing</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/800/0a5LRZznIAVEnFkpH.png" width="800" height="294" loading="lazy" /> <p>NetApp Volumes View: check the load and utilization of your volumes</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/800/0lSZvJEC5N68YwoGH.png" width="800" height="321" loading="lazy" /> <p>Veeam B&R: Get all backup details at the same time you watch your VMs and Filer utilization</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/800/0mF9aHKgojN_KteNU.png" width="800" height="349" loading="lazy" /> <p>Microsoft Windows: Check the guest OS utilization while the backup is running</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/800/01qp5-geFDZhVD7hx.png" width="800" height="411" loading="lazy" /> <p>There is just no simpler way of combining the most important information that makes you decide to trigger actions. Forget about complex monitoring tools, forget about complex operations management. If you need to read through hundreds of pages of a manual to configure a view for your VM vCPU co-stopping metrics or mix backup details with ESXi host or virtual machine load … a software needs to do a better job supporting any system administrator.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/373/0p_wmd2IPDiqaf6yM.png" width="373" height="42" loading="lazy" /> <p>Trial Performance Analyzer and check yourself — please ping us for the NetApp and Veeam extensions.</p> <h1>Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!</h1> <p>[simple-social-share]</p> <p><em>Originally published at <a href="http://</em>www.opvizor.com/veeam-and-netapp-take-relationship-to-new-level-with-resell-agreement/">www.opvizor.com</a>.</p> </section>	What about monitoring VMware, NetApp, Veeam and Microsoft metrics in once place? Veeam® Software, the Availability for the Always-On Enterprise™ innovator, announced that NetApp will be adding Veeam Availability Solutions to the NetApp global price list. NetApp customers can purchase complete Veeam and NetApp solutions directly from NetApp and its resellers in a single transaction, enabling enterprises to leverage both 24.7.365 availability and IT simplicity. The combination of Veeam’s Availability solutions with NetApp E-series, AltaVault, ONTAP, All-Flash FAS, and hybrid cloud solution offerings, help organizations simplify IT operational management, lower costs, and attain recovery point and recovery time objectives (RTPO™) of seconds — not hours and days, per legacy solutions — for all applications and data. This agreement will equip 4,000 NetApp resellers globally to deliver NetApp/Veeam integrated Availability solutions. That’s great news for customers as it simplifies their procurement process. But what about the operations team — any simplification for them? Yes, Performance Analyzer now supports VMware vSphere, NetApp ONTAP, Veeam and integrations into your guest OS (Linux or Windows). The advantages for the procurement team: NetApp customers can now purchase complete NetApp and Veeam solutions directly from NetApp and its resellers, enabling them to benefit from Veeam’s industry-leading Availability solutions Simplifies the purchase and delivery process for partners to provide highly differentiated solutions to joint customers Veeam Availability Suite and Veeam Backup & Replication will be available with NetApp E-series, AltaVault, ONTAP, All-Flash FAS, and hybrid cloud solution offerings Veeam continues to deliver innovation via direct integration with ONTAP environments to provide enterprise class scalability, performance, agility and ease of management The advantages using a combined monitoring product: one product combines all metrics and statistics at the same time for the whole environment an easy way to find and solve performance issues, like IO load during backup times, database queries in the guest aso. reports based on dashboards to get point in time information by email merge information in one dashboard for the support teams or create rotating dashboards for the big screen That means faster response times, less downtime, faster bottleneck and anomaly detection — best operations possible! Let’s get into some dashboards. VMware vSphere — virtual machine highlights: your #1 dashboard to get an instant idea how your environment is doing NetApp Volumes View: check the load and utilization of your volumes Veeam B&R: Get all backup details at the same time you watch your VMs and Filer utilization Microsoft Windows: Check the guest OS utilization while the backup is running There is just no simpler way of combining the most important information that makes you decide to trigger actions. Forget about complex monitoring tools, forget about complex operations management. If you need to read through hundreds of pages of a manual to configure a view for your VM vCPU co-stopping metrics or mix backup details with ESXi host or virtual machine load … a software needs to do a better job supporting any system administrator. Trial Performance Analyzer and check yourself — please ping us for the NetApp and Veeam extensions. Share This Story, Choose Your Platform! [simple-social-share] Originally published at www.opvizor.com.	61ad4355-469e-5d3d-8ac7-4cf60473e614	25/08/2025 16:00:12
https://medium.com/@zenabkeita/a-town-called-new-haven-1001b4e28a5a	medium.com	A Town Called New Haven.	This Sunday, my pastor recounted the story of a town called Nain in Luke 7:11–17. He explained to us that the biblical word “Nain” meant…	Zenab Keita	https://medium.com/@zenabkeita	1001b4e28a5a	https://miro.medium.com/…kcpXRsf2Vew.jpeg	5 min	2015-11-10T06:54:08.195000	2015-11-10T08:02:28.717000	2018-05-23T02:09:05.163000	2	12	en	BlackLivesMatter,Yale,Racism	<section> <p>This Sunday, my pastor recounted the story of a town called Nain in Luke 7:11–17. He explained to us that the biblical word “Nain” meant ‘green pastures,’ but it also has two contrasting words tied to it — beauty and affliction. For those of you that aren’t Christian or maybe are, but don’t know the details of the story, here’s the short version of what happened.</p> <p><em>As Jesus and his disciples were leaving a great sermon in the town of Capernaum, they collided with a funeral procession for the son of a widow at the entrance of a town called Nain. Jesus saw the pain of this widow, felt compassion for her, and told her not to cry. He touched the casket of her deceased son and told him to get up. In moments, the young man rose up and began talking. The town filled with awe and began to praise Jesus. Soon, they spread word throughout Judea and sung praises of His miracle.</em></p> <p>This is not me praising the gospel and I one hundred percent believe that you don’t have to be a believer to find something relevant and applicable in this story. I would like to apply my interpretation of what happened in Nain to what is going on in New Haven.</p> <p>For four years I called Yale home, and even after graduating, I still find it to be my biggest place of comfort. I did the most uncomfortable growing, reflecting, and learning there, and it made me the woman I am today. Most importantly, it equipped me with the experiences and interactions that are currently helping me determine the woman I want to be <em>one day</em>. To say I am grateful for my college experience is a severe understatement. It is for this reason that when I heard the initial cries over the Yale SAE party encounter and the Christakis Halloween email, I immediately mentally fought to defend my beloved space. <em>“Why would those girls even want to go to SAE? Just go to Zeta. They love everyone AND hip-hop there!” “Yale is full of scholars; of course, they’re going to have some professor come up with a damn thesis defending offensive costumes. Typical.” “Yale is amazing; where is all this animosity coming from?”</em></p> <p>As the days went on, I read more and more articles and pored over even more Facebook commentary from alums and current students. I tried to make sense of this rage and pain that was streaming on my timeline and staring back at me as I read countless articles after work each night. I didn’t know what to feel or say. I couldn’t deny that I had sometimes felt marginalized as a woman of color on campus. I definitely identified with the issues being raised. At the same time, I have such loving memories of my college experience, so it was hard for me to take arms against it in support of these accusations. So, I started talking to people. Firstly, my sister. Then a friend from business school. Then an old teammate from Yale. It was through those conversations that I realized: I didn’t experience Yale fully. I unknowingly survived it.</p> <p>People of color, for years, have made survival guides to get by. There have been places to avoid, people to leave alone, and questions to not raise — not only for mere peace of mind, but also safety. I realize that I gave myself similar rules to keep myself mentally and emotionally safe at Yale. Some examples:</p> <p>1. Don’t complain about white ignorance <em>too</em> loudly or directly on social media. Add some SMHs and LOLs to make people not feel like you’re not a separatist or something.</p> <p>2. Don’t go to those eurocentric frats (SAE, Sig Ep, etc.) even if you want to switch up your social scene — you’re not those guys’ type and you’ll most likely get ignored all night while listening to non-stop EDM music. No fun.</p> <p>3. Make it work with your boyfriend even though you’re not 100% happy — it’s not really fair to him or you, but it’s also doubtful any guy here would choose to date you and you know you don’t want to be alone.</p> <p>4. Don’t debate with your Anthropology professor on your B+ grade on Black English Vernacular even though he’s a 60 year old white male that has mostly studied Indonesian dialects and you’ve lived in the American South with black people all your life and had to learn and internalize BEV just to fit in and survive. Just write better next time (like that run-on you just had) and maybe choose some foreign dialect to focus on instead.</p> <p>5. Don’t become the mad black woman when a white boy drunkenly hits your butt at a party and says he can’t help it because “it’s so big.” Hit his hand away, tell him to not do it anymore, and walk away calmly. You know he would’t have done that to your white friend beside you, but for some reason, he felt free to do so with you. Calm down, it is not your job to educate him and you came here to dance, not teach.</p> <p>No, there wasn’t an official doctrine posted anywhere, but for four years, I subliminally honored these rules and many others, and I’ve ignored that fact until now. Until now, the place I call home was beautiful to me — majestic in its grandeur and fully worthy of the praise I’ve always given it. I don’t think that has changed completely, but at least now I am unforgivingly seeing Yale’s affliction. I am finally fully acknowledging its shortcomings when it comes to racial understanding and inclusion. I am recognizing where it intellectually and socially failed me as a black woman. I am now seeing it like the town called Nain — a place that is beautifully afflicted.</p> <p>For me, I see the recent days at Yale as the funeral procession of that widow in Luke 7:17 — burdening, full of despair and depicting a loss of hope. That widow who lost her husband and now her only son felt that there was nothing to do, but grieve. She felt that she should accept her circumstances and make the best of the situation. But then she had a collision. She collided with Jesus who performed a miracle and saved her pride and joy. While her husband is still gone and that painful part of her family’s history can’t be erased, she got a second chance with her son. She was blessed with a second chance at her future.</p> <p>Maybe this exposure of systemic racism on our campus was exactly the collision that Yale needed. My pastor mentioned that had Jesus come 15 minutes earlier or 15 minutes later, he would have missed the funeral procession. Yet, he was right on time. He came at just the right moment to collide with that widow and save her from more heartache, just like this week’s issues came at just the right time to save us. This problem may have been years in the making, and we can’t erase the fact that it is part of our history now. But I saw the pictures of the March of Resilience today. I saw our collision happen at just the right time. In those pictures, <strong>Yale rose from the dead</strong>. I saw Yale’s new generation fighting for change alongside its older counterparts: tired alums, tenured faculty and the larger New Haven community who are all ready for change. Yale came alive in a way it has never before and I’m deeply proud of each and every person courageously fighting for a second chance at a brighter, more inclusive future. Fighting for a place where everyone<strong> </strong>thrives, not survives. I pray that Yale’s administration will get on board, too.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2400/1*xyESKcvuE3gkcpXRsf2Vew.jpeg" width="2400" height="1600" loading="lazy" /> <p>Yale, we will come out of this stronger, and when we do, the world will be in awe of what happened in this beautifully afflicted place. They will sing our praises and what a praise it will be.</p> </section>	A Town Called New Haven. This Sunday, my pastor recounted the story of a town called Nain in Luke 7:11–17. He explained to us that the biblical word “Nain” meant ‘green pastures,’ but it also has two contrasting words tied to it — beauty and affliction. For those of you that aren’t Christian or maybe are, but don’t know the details of the story, here’s the short version of what happened. As Jesus and his disciples were leaving a great sermon in the town of Capernaum, they collided with a funeral procession for the son of a widow at the entrance of a town called Nain. Jesus saw the pain of this widow, felt compassion for her, and told her not to cry. He touched the casket of her deceased son and told him to get up. In moments, the young man rose up and began talking. The town filled with awe and began to praise Jesus. Soon, they spread word throughout Judea and sung praises of His miracle. This is not me praising the gospel and I one hundred percent believe that you don’t have to be a believer to find something relevant and applicable in this story. I would like to apply my interpretation of what happened in Nain to what is going on in New Haven. For four years I called Yale home, and even after graduating, I still find it to be my biggest place of comfort. I did the most uncomfortable growing, reflecting, and learning there, and it made me the woman I am today. Most importantly, it equipped me with the experiences and interactions that are currently helping me determine the woman I want to be one day. To say I am grateful for my college experience is a severe understatement. It is for this reason that when I heard the initial cries over the Yale SAE party encounter and the Christakis Halloween email, I immediately mentally fought to defend my beloved space. “Why would those girls even want to go to SAE? Just go to Zeta. They love everyone AND hip-hop there!” “Yale is full of scholars; of course, they’re going to have some professor come up with a damn thesis defending offensive costumes. Typical.” “Yale is amazing; where is all this animosity coming from?” As the days went on, I read more and more articles and pored over even more Facebook commentary from alums and current students. I tried to make sense of this rage and pain that was streaming on my timeline and staring back at me as I read countless articles after work each night. I didn’t know what to feel or say. I couldn’t deny that I had sometimes felt marginalized as a woman of color on campus. I definitely identified with the issues being raised. At the same time, I have such loving memories of my college experience, so it was hard for me to take arms against it in support of these accusations. So, I started talking to people. Firstly, my sister. Then a friend from business school. Then an old teammate from Yale. It was through those conversations that I realized: I didn’t experience Yale fully. I unknowingly survived it. People of color, for years, have made survival guides to get by. There have been places to avoid, people to leave alone, and questions to not raise — not only for mere peace of mind, but also safety. I realize that I gave myself similar rules to keep myself mentally and emotionally safe at Yale. Some examples: 1. Don’t complain about white ignorance too loudly or directly on social media. Add some SMHs and LOLs to make people not feel like you’re not a separatist or something. 2. Don’t go to those eurocentric frats (SAE, Sig Ep, etc.) even if you want to switch up your social scene — you’re not those guys’ type and you’ll most likely get ignored all night while listening to non-stop EDM music. No fun. 3. Make it work with your boyfriend even though you’re not 100% happy — it’s not really fair to him or you, but it’s also doubtful any guy here would choose to date you and you know you don’t want to be alone. 4. Don’t debate with your Anthropology professor on your B+ grade on Black English Vernacular even though he’s a 60 year old white male that has mostly studied Indonesian dialects and you’ve lived in the American South with black people all your life and had to learn and internalize BEV just to fit in and survive. Just write better next time (like that run-on you just had) and maybe choose some foreign dialect to focus on instead. 5. Don’t become the mad black woman when a white boy drunkenly hits your butt at a party and says he can’t help it because “it’s so big.” Hit his hand away, tell him to not do it anymore, and walk away calmly. You know he would’t have done that to your white friend beside you, but for some reason, he felt free to do so with you. Calm down, it is not your job to educate him and you came here to dance, not teach. No, there wasn’t an official doctrine posted anywhere, but for four years, I subliminally honored these rules and many others, and I’ve ignored that fact until now. Until now, the place I call home was beautiful to me — majestic in its grandeur and fully worthy of the praise I’ve always given it. I don’t think that has changed completely, but at least now I am unforgivingly seeing Yale’s affliction. I am finally fully acknowledging its shortcomings when it comes to racial understanding and inclusion. I am recognizing where it intellectually and socially failed me as a black woman. I am now seeing it like the town called Nain — a place that is beautifully afflicted. For me, I see the recent days at Yale as the funeral procession of that widow in Luke 7:17 — burdening, full of despair and depicting a loss of hope. That widow who lost her husband and now her only son felt that there was nothing to do, but grieve. She felt that she should accept her circumstances and make the best of the situation. But then she had a collision. She collided with Jesus who performed a miracle and saved her pride and joy. While her husband is still gone and that painful part of her family’s history can’t be erased, she got a second chance with her son. She was blessed with a second chance at her future. Maybe this exposure of systemic racism on our campus was exactly the collision that Yale needed. My pastor mentioned that had Jesus come 15 minutes earlier or 15 minutes later, he would have missed the funeral procession. Yet, he was right on time. He came at just the right moment to collide with that widow and save her from more heartache, just like this week’s issues came at just the right time to save us. This problem may have been years in the making, and we can’t erase the fact that it is part of our history now. But I saw the pictures of the March of Resilience today. I saw our collision happen at just the right time. In those pictures, Yale rose from the dead. I saw Yale’s new generation fighting for change alongside its older counterparts: tired alums, tenured faculty and the larger New Haven community who are all ready for change. Yale came alive in a way it has never before and I’m deeply proud of each and every person courageously fighting for a second chance at a brighter, more inclusive future. Fighting for a place where everyone thrives, not survives. I pray that Yale’s administration will get on board, too. Yale, we will come out of this stronger, and when we do, the world will be in awe of what happened in this beautifully afflicted place. They will sing our praises and what a praise it will be.	58886afa-0515-53fc-ace3-d4400ae0b957	25/08/2025 16:00:12
https://medium.com/howilearntpiano/well-635eccb321a3	medium.com	Well…	It was a long weekend. I could have	Vaibhav Sinha	https://medium.com/@vaibhav_sinha	635eccb321a3	https://miro.medium.com/…ewZ5_-WqmYCw.png	1 min	2017-04-16T14:24:48.918000	2017-04-16T14:53:00.936000	2018-04-10T17:27:14.430000	0	1	en	YouTube,Music,Learning,52 Week Writing Challenge,Procrastination	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1012/1*OBHLx-fJNeewZ5_-WqmYCw.png" width="1012" height="690" loading="lazy" /> <p>It was a long weekend. I could have</p> <p>Completed the Michael Aaron book.</p> <p>Made significant progress with the Alfred’s book.</p> <p>Hung out with friends and barely practice at all.</p> <p>Needless to say, I chose to hang out with friends. I would feel guilty about it but since I have been making steady progress, I think I deserved a break. So all I really did on Saturday was to go to my Piano class and play some of the pieces which are remaining in the book. I could quickly pick up a couple of them but others were as hard as the first time. Then today I only practiced a few simple pieces from Alfred’s book. I stopped at the first piece that gave any real trouble.</p> <p>With these new pieces of Alfred’s done, I have completed first 29 pieces. Next logical step? Upload them all to YouTube. I did that and then realised that I created all the videos without any image hence they showed up on YouTube with black screen. So then I deleted them all, and started re-creating and uploading them. Apparently, YouTube restricts users to uploading only 50 videos a day. Hence I could not upload all the recordings I have. Nevertheless, 23 of them are up.</p> <p></p> <p>I was surprised to discover that this book got me started on using pedal within the first 30 exercises. I have looked ahead at the pieces in the book, and the ones towards the end of the book look very demanding. The approach of this book is significantly different than Michael Aaron or John Thompson. Hopefully I will be able to make this book part of my everyday practice.</p> <p>So that’s it for today. I should be back on track from tomorrow.</p> </section>	Well… It was a long weekend. I could have Completed the Michael Aaron book. Made significant progress with the Alfred’s book. Hung out with friends and barely practice at all. Needless to say, I chose to hang out with friends. I would feel guilty about it but since I have been making steady progress, I think I deserved a break. So all I really did on Saturday was to go to my Piano class and play some of the pieces which are remaining in the book. I could quickly pick up a couple of them but others were as hard as the first time. Then today I only practiced a few simple pieces from Alfred’s book. I stopped at the first piece that gave any real trouble. With these new pieces of Alfred’s done, I have completed first 29 pieces. Next logical step? Upload them all to YouTube. I did that and then realised that I created all the videos without any image hence they showed up on YouTube with black screen. So then I deleted them all, and started re-creating and uploading them. Apparently, YouTube restricts users to uploading only 50 videos a day. Hence I could not upload all the recordings I have. Nevertheless, 23 of them are up. I was surprised to discover that this book got me started on using pedal within the first 30 exercises. I have looked ahead at the pieces in the book, and the ones towards the end of the book look very demanding. The approach of this book is significantly different than Michael Aaron or John Thompson. Hopefully I will be able to make this book part of my everyday practice. So that’s it for today. I should be back on track from tomorrow.	c6386442-8190-5f3c-a3aa-89b4b2fd40c5	25/08/2025 16:00:12
https://medium.com/@info_19213/reentering-with-a-mission-50ac0dad4538	medium.com	Reentering With A Mission	The President announced that houses of worship are essential. Who can argue with that — they are. Jesus said on this rock, I will build my…	Myron Pierce	https://medium.com/@info_19213	50ac0dad4538	https://miro.medium.com/…HZyl-JOsGcQ.jpeg	2 min	2020-05-24T18:56:52.662000	2020-05-24T18:58:21.129000	2022-03-03T20:49:55.709000	0	1	en	Covid-19,Church,Church Leadership,Strategy,Mission	<section> <p>The President announced that houses of worship are essential. Who can argue with that — they are. Jesus said on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail. Yes, the church is essential.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/980/1*HWvTT82bvfcHZyl-JOsGcQ.jpeg" width="980" height="653" loading="lazy" /> <p>Now that we’ve got that out the way. Let’s talk about the business of reopening, reentering, or whatever language you’re using to imply Sunday gatherings. I was recently interviewed by Carey Nieuwhof & David Kinnaman on Church Pulse Weekly. It was great.</p> <p>I shared my heart with them on why COVID is a disruption to the fabric of the church, in a good way. I’m not saying that I wanted a worldwide pandemic to occur. But, we as the church experienced a reawakening. At least, at the beginning of COVID.</p> <p>The dust has semi-cleared, and now the conversation is around how do church safely “do church again.” I may get crucified here, but I’m not sure reopening or even reentry are the right words. I think there’s a better way to think about reentering. I’m not against worship gatherings opening up; indeed, we must be wise with how we approach this whole thing.</p> <p>There is a missing ingredient to this conversation. I’m taking my cue from Mark 5. You know the story Jesus delivers a demon-possessed man who was practicing extreme social distancing and quarantined on a level many of us will never understand. After Jesus healed the man, the dude wanted to follow Jesus. He wanted to continue in his new life with Jesus.</p> <p>Jesus does something most pastors would not have done, at least not me. I would have invited the guy to join Mission Church in North Omaha. I would have asked him to serve as a greeter as we reopen (at some point, I’m not sure when we will, by the way).</p> <p>Here’s what Jesus tells the guy, “Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” Mark‬ ‭5:19‬ ‭NIV‬‬</p> <p>Can you say, “mike drop?” Jesus told the man to reenter his neighborhood, and not just reenter, but reenter on a mission. See, I’m not a fan of reentering. But I am a raving fan of reentering with a mission. RWAM. Put that on a bracelet.</p> <p>If and when your church reenters, don’t forget to reenter with a mission. 90% of the church’s conversation lately has been about reentering and reopening. But, Jesus wanted the man to get one thing — the best possible future for those that you know and love revolves around how you’ll reenter.</p> <p>Our communities are hungry for what we have experienced in this COVID season. Many of us have glory stories for days about what Jesus has done while being quarantined. Join me in refusing our God stories to be overshadowed by organizational steps you need to take to get back to business as usual. Many of our communities are experiencing loneliness, trauma, uncertainty, and poverty. Let’s figure out how to reenter into their pain. Let’s reenter into finding ways to serve our way to influence so that the kingdoms of this world can become the kingdoms of our God.</p> <p>News flash. Normal is never returning. Our churches will never be the same. What your church needs, and what my church needs is a pastor that is reentering with a mission.</p> </section>	Reentering With A Mission The President announced that houses of worship are essential. Who can argue with that — they are. Jesus said on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail. Yes, the church is essential. Now that we’ve got that out the way. Let’s talk about the business of reopening, reentering, or whatever language you’re using to imply Sunday gatherings. I was recently interviewed by Carey Nieuwhof & David Kinnaman on Church Pulse Weekly. It was great. I shared my heart with them on why COVID is a disruption to the fabric of the church, in a good way. I’m not saying that I wanted a worldwide pandemic to occur. But, we as the church experienced a reawakening. At least, at the beginning of COVID. The dust has semi-cleared, and now the conversation is around how do church safely “do church again.” I may get crucified here, but I’m not sure reopening or even reentry are the right words. I think there’s a better way to think about reentering. I’m not against worship gatherings opening up; indeed, we must be wise with how we approach this whole thing. There is a missing ingredient to this conversation. I’m taking my cue from Mark 5. You know the story Jesus delivers a demon-possessed man who was practicing extreme social distancing and quarantined on a level many of us will never understand. After Jesus healed the man, the dude wanted to follow Jesus. He wanted to continue in his new life with Jesus. Jesus does something most pastors would not have done, at least not me. I would have invited the guy to join Mission Church in North Omaha. I would have asked him to serve as a greeter as we reopen (at some point, I’m not sure when we will, by the way). Here’s what Jesus tells the guy, “Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” Mark‬ ‭5:19‬ ‭NIV‬‬ Can you say, “mike drop?” Jesus told the man to reenter his neighborhood, and not just reenter, but reenter on a mission. See, I’m not a fan of reentering. But I am a raving fan of reentering with a mission. RWAM. Put that on a bracelet. If and when your church reenters, don’t forget to reenter with a mission. 90% of the church’s conversation lately has been about reentering and reopening. But, Jesus wanted the man to get one thing — the best possible future for those that you know and love revolves around how you’ll reenter. Our communities are hungry for what we have experienced in this COVID season. Many of us have glory stories for days about what Jesus has done while being quarantined. Join me in refusing our God stories to be overshadowed by organizational steps you need to take to get back to business as usual. Many of our communities are experiencing loneliness, trauma, uncertainty, and poverty. Let’s figure out how to reenter into their pain. Let’s reenter into finding ways to serve our way to influence so that the kingdoms of this world can become the kingdoms of our God. News flash. Normal is never returning. Our churches will never be the same. What your church needs, and what my church needs is a pastor that is reentering with a mission.	b87dd942-14e9-5b76-9d30-d7597c7e400d	25/08/2025 16:00:14
https://medium.com/@loyltwo3ks/why-should-you-still-have-a-rewards-program-during-pandemics-lockdowns-c4891c3afa65	medium.com	Why should you still have a Rewards Program during pandemics/lockdowns?	A Crisis all over!	loyltwo3ks	https://medium.com/@loyltwo3ks	c4891c3afa65	https://miro.medium.com/…YtskoBuBdzK_.jpg	2 min	2022-09-23T11:38:21.851000	2022-09-23T11:42:00.788000	2022-09-23T11:42:09.095000	0	200	en	Rewards During Crisis,Rewards Programs,Pandemic,Lockdown,Customer Engagement	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1024/0*wttXYtskoBuBdzK_.jpg" width="1024" height="576" loading="lazy" /> <h1>A Crisis all over!</h1> <p>The economic damage due to the ongoing pandemic is colossal, so much so that experts are already discussing global recession and the ways out!</p> <p>For Corporates and Business owners, the topmost priority is to protect real assets — their employees, partners, and customers! Their health, safety, and protection are above all. Safeguarding them is the first step in damage control of the situation. As part of that, absolute compliance with statutory guidelines is binding on everybody.</p> <p>The next concern that hits business leadership is to optimize the immediate budget. What needs to be continued/discontinued? Should we cut the marketing expenses? Should we continue the existing rewards program or implement the proposed one? Should we take a re-look at its necessity? etc.</p> <h2>Reasons to continue/implement your rewards initiatives:</h2> <h2>Confidence, Care & Conviction:</h2> <p>Firstly, both customers and your company need one another. Existing customers depend on their favorite brands, more than ever, to help them re-balance their disrupted lives. They repose their faith in your brand owing to its ability to repeatedly meet their demands — just as in the past. They also expect companies who are self-assured, volunteer social responsibilities, and thrust confidence in both public and customers during hard times.</p> <h2>Protect Market Share & Brand Recall:</h2> <p>Markets might have fallen. But market share is still intact for progressive companies, albeit proportionally. Firms that run rewards are usually on top of customers’ minds, and any discontinuance during these times is a gateway for customers to switch brands and slip away. Brand recall is another primary goal that can be achieved in such chaotic conditions.</p> <h2>Communication:</h2> <p>Clear, crisp, and accurate communication through rewards does a great job of taking your customers and business partners into confidence. The fact that the company communicates what it exactly does can be achieved and attained through this exercise. This is yet another reason to prevent them from being misled by consuming fake news/rumors. Losing customers is due to no communication is a blunder!</p> <p>Just an example of how Starbucks survived the 2008 recession by creating apps for communication: <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/lbs-case-study/how-starbucks-survived-the-financial-meltdown-of-2008/story/210059.html">https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/lbs-case-study/how-starbucks-survived-the-financial-meltdown-of-2008/story/210059.html</a></p> <h3>Some tips and cues:</h3> <p>Clear, crisp, and accurate communication through rewards does a great job of taking your customers and business partners into confidence. The fact that the company communicates what it exactly does can be achieved and attained through this exercise. This is yet another reason to prevent them from being misled by consuming fake news/rumors. Losing customers due to no communication is a blunder! <strong>Home deliveries</strong> (with un-compromised care and protection)</p> <p>Let your customers experience the joy of getting your products home-delivered without the hassles of stepping out during restrictions and endangering themselves</p> <p><strong>Bonus points for e-Orders</strong></p> <p>Till the situation eases and life gets back to normal, award them with bonus/surprise points to enthrall them for using online modes</p> <p><strong>ePayments:</strong></p> <p>Include wallet-linked/direct transfer of points-value to their bank accounts</p> <p><strong>eVouchers / Recharges:</strong></p> <p>These are alternative reward channels that subtly enhance their instant gratification</p> <p><strong>Last but not the least</strong> The program is sure to win if construed as a strategic, long-term initiative and investment — not as an expense. Times are challenging, always. But fortunately, there are solutions to overcome and take control over such situations to benefit all. The cost of deploying and running an innovative rewards program is a fraction of the potential loss due to switching. Rewards anchor your patrons, and make absolute sense!</p> <p><strong>Need any help with rewards?</strong> <strong><a href="https://loylt</strong>.works/contactus.html">Talk to experts today.</a></p> </section>	Why should you still have a Rewards Program during pandemics/lockdowns? A Crisis all over! The economic damage due to the ongoing pandemic is colossal, so much so that experts are already discussing global recession and the ways out! For Corporates and Business owners, the topmost priority is to protect real assets — their employees, partners, and customers! Their health, safety, and protection are above all. Safeguarding them is the first step in damage control of the situation. As part of that, absolute compliance with statutory guidelines is binding on everybody. The next concern that hits business leadership is to optimize the immediate budget. What needs to be continued/discontinued? Should we cut the marketing expenses? Should we continue the existing rewards program or implement the proposed one? Should we take a re-look at its necessity? etc. Reasons to continue/implement your rewards initiatives: Confidence, Care & Conviction: Firstly, both customers and your company need one another. Existing customers depend on their favorite brands, more than ever, to help them re-balance their disrupted lives. They repose their faith in your brand owing to its ability to repeatedly meet their demands — just as in the past. They also expect companies who are self-assured, volunteer social responsibilities, and thrust confidence in both public and customers during hard times. Protect Market Share & Brand Recall: Markets might have fallen. But market share is still intact for progressive companies, albeit proportionally. Firms that run rewards are usually on top of customers’ minds, and any discontinuance during these times is a gateway for customers to switch brands and slip away. Brand recall is another primary goal that can be achieved in such chaotic conditions. Communication: Clear, crisp, and accurate communication through rewards does a great job of taking your customers and business partners into confidence. The fact that the company communicates what it exactly does can be achieved and attained through this exercise. This is yet another reason to prevent them from being misled by consuming fake news/rumors. Losing customers is due to no communication is a blunder! Just an example of how Starbucks survived the 2008 recession by creating apps for communication: https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/lbs-case-study/how-starbucks-survived-the-financial-meltdown-of-2008/story/210059.html Some tips and cues: Clear, crisp, and accurate communication through rewards does a great job of taking your customers and business partners into confidence. The fact that the company communicates what it exactly does can be achieved and attained through this exercise. This is yet another reason to prevent them from being misled by consuming fake news/rumors. Losing customers due to no communication is a blunder! Home deliveries (with un-compromised care and protection) Let your customers experience the joy of getting your products home-delivered without the hassles of stepping out during restrictions and endangering themselves Bonus points for e-Orders Till the situation eases and life gets back to normal, award them with bonus/surprise points to enthrall them for using online modes ePayments: Include wallet-linked/direct transfer of points-value to their bank accounts eVouchers / Recharges: These are alternative reward channels that subtly enhance their instant gratification Last but not the least The program is sure to win if construed as a strategic, long-term initiative and investment — not as an expense. Times are challenging, always. But fortunately, there are solutions to overcome and take control over such situations to benefit all. The cost of deploying and running an innovative rewards program is a fraction of the potential loss due to switching. Rewards anchor your patrons, and make absolute sense! Need any help with rewards? Talk to experts today.	f133e8fe-56c6-5059-8e9d-a0a4252a69d3	25/08/2025 16:00:14
https://medium.com/thoughts-and-things/youve-probably-read-this-post-election-thinkpiece-but-just-in-case-a2104d28df9	medium.com	You’ve probably read this “post-election thinkpiece.” But, just in case.	tl;dr: if you believe that love (still) trumps hate, make a move. The easiest, for those financially stable, is to donate. Here’s a list of…	Lilian	https://medium.com/@liliancaylee	a2104d28df9	null	3 min	2017-03-12T20:55:48.268000	2017-03-12T20:56:45.274000	2017-07-02T05:24:39.553000	0	1	en	Politics,Elections,Election 2016,Action,Activism	<section> <p><em>tl;dr: if you believe that love (still) trumps hate, make a move. The easiest, for those financially stable, is to donate. <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=ht</em>tp%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2016%2F11%2F9%2F13573936%2Fdonate&h=gAQFubeL7">Here</a>’s a list of fantastic organizations.</p> <p>These first days after the election, I’ve been oscillating back and forth between whether our country and our world will keep on keepin’ on, spinning us toward more of the same; whether we’ll be greeted with only the familiar, friendly status quo as we turn the corner come January. Whether the outpouring of private hate made public is a momentary misfire in the American psych. Or, whether, we’re about to enter a truly horrific time, a backwards-looking devolution, in which the rights — the lives, the liberties, never mind the pursuance of happiness — of America’s vulnerable populations are seriously, seriously threatened.</p> <p>The idealist in me, nourished by Disney movies and Norah Ephron romances, closes my eyes and believes, wishes upon a star, that the former — tattered but comforting, the Linus blanket of best case scenarios — will come true. The cynic — evolved and evolving through playing bystander and lead role in struggles and shitstorms — suspects that it might very well be the latter.</p> <p><strong>Those of us who are less vulnerable, more privileged have a responsibility to take action. </strong>As a good friend once stated, “To know something, yet do nothing, is fucking stupid — oops! Don’t swear, kids. Well, it’s stupid.”</p> <p>You might have followed all the right (read: wrong) people on Twitter and found reassurance in the reverberant opinions of even your smartest Facebook friends. You might have eagerly listened to the Silver tongue of FiveThirtyEight and obsessively monitored polls and predictions. You might have voted come the day of reckoning. But that might have been the extent of it. One of my best friends and I “got into it” because she wanted me to talk and keep talking to my Trump-supporter relatives. I argued the sacredness of family, of tolerance, of democracy. In hindsight, it was the least I could have done.</p> <p>In hindsight, the least also included writing to and phoning strangers; volunteering for and donating to the Hillary campaign; working the polls; the list goes on. But I didn’t. And, I’m guessing, neither did most of you.</p> <p>No one can be blamed, because no one saw it coming (well, except for <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2Fworld%2Fasia%2Fla-fg-china-pollster-20161114-story.html&h=gAQFubeL7">this guy</a>). Even on the day of the election, my colleagues and I laughed in disbelief at an-odd-one-out’s assertion, “I think Trump will win.”</p> <p><strong>But now. What now?</strong></p> <p>You can learn about civic and societal issues through events hosted by <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spur.org%2F&h=gAQFubeL7">SPUR</a> and <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.commonwealthclub.org%2F&h=gAQFubeL7">The Commonwealth Club of San Francisco</a>. You can vote, from now and forevermore, in every election, at every level of government. You can call your <a href="https://www.facebook.com/vgulati/posts/3301177328101">Senators and Representatives</a> and sign petitions. You can peacefully <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dprotests%26src%3Dtypd&h=gAQFubeL7">protest</a>, to demonstrate your refusal to accept, to normalize, the behavior and beliefs of our president-elect. You can volunteer — to protect our reproductive rights: at <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.plannedparenthood.org%2Fabout-us%2Fjobs-volunteering&h=gAQFubeL7">Planned Parenthood</a>, at abortion clinics; to protect our vulnerable populations: with communities like <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Flarkinstreetyouth.org%2F&h=gAQFubeL7">Larkin Street Youth Services</a>, which works with homeless, LGBTQ youth; to protect our earth: with <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fglobalpowershift.org%2F&h=gAQFubeL7">Global Power Shift</a> (admittedly, I have less experience with this one; suggestions welcome). You can get to know, try to understand the other more-than-half.</p> <p>And, arguably the most effective, definitively the most convenient: you can always always <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.racked.com%2F2016%2F11%2F9%2F13573936%2Fdonate&h=gAQFubeL7">donate</a>, from the comfort of your own pizza cave. And make it a recurring one, because these organizations’ need for funding will never go away; it’s only going to become greater.</p> <p>You may feel like any or all of these efforts are but a drop in an ocean of hate. But this is often how social progress moves — slowly, silently, at first; gathering speed and power over time. And then, drops make waves. I can go a lot further with this metaphor, but I’m going to end this here.</p> <p>#lovestilltrumpshate #letsmakewaves</p> </section>	You’ve probably read this “post-election thinkpiece.” But, just in case. tl;dr: if you believe that love (still) trumps hate, make a move. The easiest, for those financially stable, is to donate. Here’s a list of fantastic organizations. These first days after the election, I’ve been oscillating back and forth between whether our country and our world will keep on keepin’ on, spinning us toward more of the same; whether we’ll be greeted with only the familiar, friendly status quo as we turn the corner come January. Whether the outpouring of private hate made public is a momentary misfire in the American psych. Or, whether, we’re about to enter a truly horrific time, a backwards-looking devolution, in which the rights — the lives, the liberties, never mind the pursuance of happiness — of America’s vulnerable populations are seriously, seriously threatened. The idealist in me, nourished by Disney movies and Norah Ephron romances, closes my eyes and believes, wishes upon a star, that the former — tattered but comforting, the Linus blanket of best case scenarios — will come true. The cynic — evolved and evolving through playing bystander and lead role in struggles and shitstorms — suspects that it might very well be the latter. Those of us who are less vulnerable, more privileged have a responsibility to take action. As a good friend once stated, “To know something, yet do nothing, is fucking stupid — oops! Don’t swear, kids. Well, it’s stupid.” You might have followed all the right (read: wrong) people on Twitter and found reassurance in the reverberant opinions of even your smartest Facebook friends. You might have eagerly listened to the Silver tongue of FiveThirtyEight and obsessively monitored polls and predictions. You might have voted come the day of reckoning. But that might have been the extent of it. One of my best friends and I “got into it” because she wanted me to talk and keep talking to my Trump-supporter relatives. I argued the sacredness of family, of tolerance, of democracy. In hindsight, it was the least I could have done. In hindsight, the least also included writing to and phoning strangers; volunteering for and donating to the Hillary campaign; working the polls; the list goes on. But I didn’t. And, I’m guessing, neither did most of you. No one can be blamed, because no one saw it coming (well, except for this guy). Even on the day of the election, my colleagues and I laughed in disbelief at an-odd-one-out’s assertion, “I think Trump will win.” But now. What now? You can learn about civic and societal issues through events hosted by SPUR and The Commonwealth Club of San Francisco. You can vote, from now and forevermore, in every election, at every level of government. You can call your Senators and Representatives and sign petitions. You can peacefully protest, to demonstrate your refusal to accept, to normalize, the behavior and beliefs of our president-elect. You can volunteer — to protect our reproductive rights: at Planned Parenthood, at abortion clinics; to protect our vulnerable populations: with communities like Larkin Street Youth Services, which works with homeless, LGBTQ youth; to protect our earth: with Global Power Shift (admittedly, I have less experience with this one; suggestions welcome). You can get to know, try to understand the other more-than-half. And, arguably the most effective, definitively the most convenient: you can always always donate, from the comfort of your own pizza cave. And make it a recurring one, because these organizations’ need for funding will never go away; it’s only going to become greater. You may feel like any or all of these efforts are but a drop in an ocean of hate. But this is often how social progress moves — slowly, silently, at first; gathering speed and power over time. And then, drops make waves. I can go a lot further with this metaphor, but I’m going to end this here. #lovestilltrumpshate #letsmakewaves	03c6079e-d65e-5888-b96b-708ab21d775b	25/08/2025 16:00:14
https://macsources.medium.com/cad-audio-gxl2600-usb-microphone-review-8240c5971e1a	medium.com	CAD Audio GXL2600 USB Microphone Review	On first glance, I knew this was going to be a fun review. From the careful packaging to the actual connection and setup of the microphone…	MacSources	https://medium.com/@macsources	8240c5971e1a	https://miro.medium.com/…JHh0bjG1DmD5.jpg	3 min	2015-08-17T17:46:36.099000	2015-08-17T17:46:45.542000	2015-08-17T17:46:45.542000	0	0	en	Windows 10,Microsoft	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/300/0_dX0JHh0bjG1DmD5.jpg" width="300" height="246" loading="lazy" /> <p>On first glance, I knew this was going to be a fun review. From the careful packaging to the actual connection and setup of the microphone, which was very easy due to a generously long USB cable, my first impression of the unit was that this microphone felt like a step up from the bargain-basement gooseneck models. Once I began testing the unit, I found that my first impression held true. CAD Audio, this could be the start of something special.</p> <p>The unit goes for a simple matte black coloring and doesn’t appear aesthetically different from many other microphones. The body of the mic is a little shorter than I expected, and the base of the unit is threaded for attaching a tripod or stand, but the mic is otherwise straightforward in design. The mic is mostly metal and carries enough of a pleasant amount of weight to make things feel “professional”. The microphone is small enough to work as a handheld, but the dangling USB cable and the weight of the unit over time may send users looking for a mount or stand.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/200/0v_6V5nn3Gow9pvWl.jpg" width="200" height="300" loading="lazy" /> <p>Luckily for the customer, this unit came with a separate shock mount and miniature tripod designed to hold the mic for desktop work and these were easy to install. I found that adding the microphone to my existing desktop setup was so easy that I am now reluctant to disconnect the microphone from my PC. Cortana and Google voice commands are pretty fun to play with, after all…</p> <p>This microphone’s simple and attractive physical design does a lot to warrant the price, but the real clincher is the microphones audio reproduction ability. All the shiny metal in the world could not save this review if the performance testing ended poorly, but I never had a reason to worry. This unit was great fun to put through its paces.</p> <p>I used several programs to test the microphone’s recording ability and also to gauge performance with speech recognition software. For the recording tests, I used Audacity for custom audio recording and playing with various tracks and levels, Steam for voice chat testing, and even attempted use of the ancient bits and bytes that make up Windows Speech Recognition (steps that seem to be nearly identical to the baked-in copy included with older versions of Windows). In Audacity, I decided to record normal speech and then record a separate copy of normal speech over several tracks of audio playback. Audacity recorded audio very well and the mic even worked to cancel out background noise of other audio tracks that were playing during recording. The Steam test was as easy as jumping into my friends list and setting up some voice chat and this was handled smoothly with no mic troubles. Windows Speech Recognition is a pretty old control program, but the mic handled things fairly well here. During this test, there were several failed commands that I firmly blame on Windows lack of accurate recognition and not any fault of the mic itself.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/243/0*6fthsS3blYaU2C78.jpg" width="243" height="300" loading="lazy" /> <p>Speech Recognition was pretty good. I did not realize that Windows 10’s voice assistant, Cortana, used the exact same setup prompts as the previously derided Windows Speech Recognition. Because of this (and because Windows 8 and 10 do not allow for this mic to have a ‘mic boost’ enabled), I had to speak loudly into the mic if I wanted any hope at accurate recognition. Strangely (but impressively), Google Chrome and its “OK Google” helper feature handled speech recognition perfectly without any need to hunt for a volume or mic boost setting. I only had to speak a normal level of volume and Chrome was off in a flash.</p> <p>In closing, using this microphone in my admittedly low-demand computer room works very well, but my other tests worked well enough to sway me toward recommending this microphone to serious musicians, podcast personalities, or even someone that is interested in broadcasting a game streamed over Twitch or Youtube. This is a great microphone and I look forward to seeing more of what this manufacturer is capable of.</p> <p>For more information, visit <a href="http://cadaudio.com/GLX2600.php">CADAudio</a> Find CADAudio on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CADAudio">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/cadaudio">Twitter</a>.</p> <p><em>Originally published at <a href="https://www.macsources.com/ca</em>d-audio-gxl2600-usb-microphone-review/">www.macsources.com</a> on August 17, 2015.</p> </section>	CAD Audio GXL2600 USB Microphone Review On first glance, I knew this was going to be a fun review. From the careful packaging to the actual connection and setup of the microphone, which was very easy due to a generously long USB cable, my first impression of the unit was that this microphone felt like a step up from the bargain-basement gooseneck models. Once I began testing the unit, I found that my first impression held true. CAD Audio, this could be the start of something special. The unit goes for a simple matte black coloring and doesn’t appear aesthetically different from many other microphones. The body of the mic is a little shorter than I expected, and the base of the unit is threaded for attaching a tripod or stand, but the mic is otherwise straightforward in design. The mic is mostly metal and carries enough of a pleasant amount of weight to make things feel “professional”. The microphone is small enough to work as a handheld, but the dangling USB cable and the weight of the unit over time may send users looking for a mount or stand. Luckily for the customer, this unit came with a separate shock mount and miniature tripod designed to hold the mic for desktop work and these were easy to install. I found that adding the microphone to my existing desktop setup was so easy that I am now reluctant to disconnect the microphone from my PC. Cortana and Google voice commands are pretty fun to play with, after all… This microphone’s simple and attractive physical design does a lot to warrant the price, but the real clincher is the microphones audio reproduction ability. All the shiny metal in the world could not save this review if the performance testing ended poorly, but I never had a reason to worry. This unit was great fun to put through its paces. I used several programs to test the microphone’s recording ability and also to gauge performance with speech recognition software. For the recording tests, I used Audacity for custom audio recording and playing with various tracks and levels, Steam for voice chat testing, and even attempted use of the ancient bits and bytes that make up Windows Speech Recognition (steps that seem to be nearly identical to the baked-in copy included with older versions of Windows). In Audacity, I decided to record normal speech and then record a separate copy of normal speech over several tracks of audio playback. Audacity recorded audio very well and the mic even worked to cancel out background noise of other audio tracks that were playing during recording. The Steam test was as easy as jumping into my friends list and setting up some voice chat and this was handled smoothly with no mic troubles. Windows Speech Recognition is a pretty old control program, but the mic handled things fairly well here. During this test, there were several failed commands that I firmly blame on Windows lack of accurate recognition and not any fault of the mic itself. Speech Recognition was pretty good. I did not realize that Windows 10’s voice assistant, Cortana, used the exact same setup prompts as the previously derided Windows Speech Recognition. Because of this (and because Windows 8 and 10 do not allow for this mic to have a ‘mic boost’ enabled), I had to speak loudly into the mic if I wanted any hope at accurate recognition. Strangely (but impressively), Google Chrome and its “OK Google” helper feature handled speech recognition perfectly without any need to hunt for a volume or mic boost setting. I only had to speak a normal level of volume and Chrome was off in a flash. In closing, using this microphone in my admittedly low-demand computer room works very well, but my other tests worked well enough to sway me toward recommending this microphone to serious musicians, podcast personalities, or even someone that is interested in broadcasting a game streamed over Twitch or Youtube. This is a great microphone and I look forward to seeing more of what this manufacturer is capable of. For more information, visit CADAudio Find CADAudio on Facebook and Twitter. Originally published at www.macsources.com on August 17, 2015.	6acb805f-1d42-5b7d-8253-7584ac054f4f	25/08/2025 16:00:14
https://medium.com/@nick_7735/how-to-ensure-business-continuity-during-employee-departure-2297128c8bd9	medium.com	How to Ensure Business Continuity During Employee Departure	null	Nick Zemanek	https://medium.com/@nick_7735	2297128c8bd9	https://miro.medium.com/…fnlY67oaGjUw.jpg	7 min	2021-04-24T17:58:22.568000	2021-03-12T18:31:08	2022-01-07T18:33:54.865000	0	0	en	Business Continuity	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1280/093xCfnlY67oaGjUw.jpg" width="1280" height="676" loading="lazy" /> <p>Maintaining “business as usual” after a major disruption in your organization is a challenge.</p> <p>These disruptions aren’t in your project or yearly portfolio plan. Nor have you aligned resources to overcome.</p> <p>Disruptions may result from a variety of events. Natural disasters, enterprise technology failures, cyberattacks are a few common ones that come to mind.</p> <p>But, losing a key resource in your organization — along with their depth of critical system knowledge — is also a significant disruption to the way business is conducted. And this scenario may be more common and struggled with than any of the other potential disturbances to the balance of your organization.</p> <p>A business continuity plan will help you overcome disruptions that your organizations will face. But, does your business continuity plan include employee departure?</p> <h3>What is business continuity?</h3> <p>The term <em>business continuity </em>refers to how your organization maintains business functions in the event of a disruption. Power outages, natural disasters, cyberattacks and other events that affect your enterprise are common culprits.</p> <p>But, business continuity also refers to maintaining business functions during smaller scale disruptions. Employee departures may not seem as scary as a cyberattack, but their impact on business functions can be monumental.</p> <h3>Why business continuity is important</h3> <p>Unless you’re a soothsayer, there are going to be disruptions to your organization that you simply won’t see coming. Disruptions that you can’t prepare for.</p> <p>Or, can you prepare for them?</p> <p>Well, the answer is <em>yes</em>. In fact, being unprepared is the last thing that you should let happen. Resulting in downtime for the business functions you support.</p> <p>Picture this… One of your most experienced Business Analysts comes in tomorrow with their 2-week departure notice in hand. This BA has owned your organization’s system of record since it was implemented over 7 years ago.</p> <p>Will you maintain business as usual when that employee leaves in 10 business days? If the answer is <em>no,</em> then you need to create a business continuity plan. Keep reading to find out how to create a business continuity plan for employee departure.</p> <h3>How to Maintain Business Continuity During Employee Departure</h3> <p>You aren’t just losing a resource when an employee is exiting. You’re also losing their existing knowledge, experience, and informed ideas.</p> <p>But, with swift and calculated actions, you can create a smooth transition. Business continuity is the goal in any employee exit. And you should treat this employee departure as any other project your organization is executing at a given time.</p> <p>Here are the steps you need to take to reach that goal and maintain business as usual.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1025/0Kul-oDmYktHQuUBA.png" width="1025" height="855" loading="lazy" /> <h3>Step 1: Replacement Identification and Onboarding</h3> <p>The type of resource you choose to replace your departing employee will differ based on your situation.</p> <p>Internally distributing responsibilities will be the quickest way to transition and distribute knowledge. But, there are obvious cons such as overloading current employees.</p> <p>The hiring process can be lengthy for an external employee. Likely, your newly hired employee won’t have much, if any, overlap with your departing resource.</p> <p><strong>If this is your situation, we suggest identifying an existing resource in your organization who can lead the steps in this transition plan.</strong> Once your new employee is onboarded, you should have a base of knowledge and documentation to hand off to them.</p> <p>This isn’t going to be a guide on hiring the right employee. If you’re looking for some details on how to hire the best, <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/co/run/human-resources/hiring-the-best-employees">here are some tips</a>.</p> <p>But, you do need to identify a replacement resource. The quicker you can do this the better.</p> <h3>Step 2: Knowledge Transfer</h3> <p>Knowledge transfer is the method of capturing responsibilities, ideas, skills and personal knowledge from one or more individuals and sharing between one or more other individuals within an organization.</p> <p>“Knowledge” isn’t just what is in a person’s head. It’s also what they do. Including, the activities and responsibilities they perform in order to meet operational objectives.</p> <p>This step is so vital to maintain business continuity during an employee departure that we wrote an entire article on it: <a href="https://karmaadvisory.com/knowledge-transfer-approach/">Knowledge Transfer: An Approach for Executing it Effectively</a>.</p> <p>The knowledge transfer process is as follows:</p> <p>Develop a knowledge transfer topic plan</p> <p>Hold knowledge transfer sessions</p> <p>Document and distribute knowledge</p> <p>The goal of this knowledge transfer step is to transform individual knowledge into shared organizational knowledge. So, even though you’re losing a resource, you’re not losing the individual knowledge stored in their head.</p> <p>Move on to the next step to learn how to deliver and distribute shared knowledge.</p> <h3>Step 3: Shared Knowledge Deliverable Creation</h3> <p>As you work through knowledge transfer and executing your business continuity plan, you need to keep in mind the deliverables that are needed for your organization to continue business as usual. A shared knowledge base — filled with the information gained throughout the knowledge transfer process — should be the primary deliverable on your list.</p> <p>Think of this knowledge base as a one-stop shop for everything related to systems and/or processes owned by your departing employee. Anyone in your organization should be able to access the knowledge base after your departing employee’s final day and carry out one of the tasks they used to perform.</p> <p>If you would like to learn more about deliverable creation, we talk more about it in the <a href="https://karmaadvisory.com/knowledge-transfer-approach/">Knowledge Transfer: An Approach for Executing it Effectively</a> article.</p> <p>Last, but not least, it’s important that you engage the rest of the organization.</p> <h3>Step 4: Operational Team Engagement</h3> <p>Your experienced, knowledgeable departing employee really knew how to give business users that fuzzy feeling of comfort when working through system issues. They knew if an issue arose, it would be resolved quickly.</p> <p>Now that their favorite technical support is departing, you’ll need to spend some time and effort getting your business organization comfortable with the transition.</p> <p>Depending on your organization and the phase at which your employee is departing, one approach that we have found works well is the <strong>re-kickoff method</strong>.</p> <h3>Re-kickoff Method</h3> <p>The situation has changed. And it’s time to level set with your business organization.</p> <p>The re-kickoff method allows you to re-initiate a project and/or application support. You can treat your employee departure as an opportunity to review the project/system charter, current status, project stakeholders, and communication with your business team.</p> <p>In addition, use this opportunity to communicate the transition plan and upcoming objectives for the project as a whole. If feasible, show off your newly created knowledge base. This will show that knowledge has not been lost with your departing employee. And it will increase trust in the transition.</p> <p>You can execute this method through a simple re-kick off meeting with your business organization to review project / system:</p> <ul> <li>Current status</li> <li>Stakeholders and roles/responsibilities</li> <li>Communication plan</li> <li>Knowledge Base</li> <li>Upcoming objectives and the transition plan</li> </ul> <h3>Replacement Employee Engagement</h3> <p>In addition to re-kickoff the project as a whole, it’s important for your replacement employee to increase communication with your operational business team.</p> <p>Whether it’s 1-on-1 meetings with the business leads or small team discussions, your replacement employee needs to initiate an open line of communication. Understanding how your business users interact with the technology, what concerns/questions they have about the transition, and how they can report issues will go a long way in building trust.</p> <h3>Case Study: Maintaining Business Continuity During Business Analyst Departure</h3> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1025/0*xMjaL4fDsC-hUM6n.png" width="1025" height="855" loading="lazy" /> <h3>Situation</h3> <p>A business analyst / project manager for a public sector organization’s system of record is departing in two weeks. They have served as the system owner since it was implemented over 7 years ago. They have a breadth of technical and programmatic knowledge.</p> <h3>Complicating Factors</h3> <p>Although they are not fully rolling off of the project for two weeks, their time is limited since they have rolled onto another project. The organization has been allotted 1 hour each day over the next two weeks for knowledge transfer.</p> <p>In addition, the system that they owned is developed by a vendor, so internal technical knowledge is limited.</p> <h3>Step 1: Replacement Identification and Onboarding</h3> <p>The organization was able to leverage their close relationship with Karma Advisory to quickly onboard a replacement who was already part of their firm.</p> <p>This individual had experience working on similar systems in a public sector environment. They were able to utilize this experience to quickly onboard, build and execute the employee transition plan, and manage the knowledge transfer process.</p> <h3>Step 2 and 3: Knowledge Transfer and Deliverable Creation</h3> <p>Knowledge transfer sessions were used to capture the responsibilities, system knowledge, and processes of the departing employee.</p> <p>First, a <strong>topic coverage tracker</strong> was created and managed all the topics that were to be covered during the knowledge transfer sessions. The topics in the tracker were prioritized and updated as each were covered. In addition, the location of any notes and/or screen recordings were documented in the tracker.</p> <p>As part of the knowledge transfer sessions — 1-hour sessions for 2 weeks — <strong>meeting notes</strong> and <strong>screen recordings</strong> were used to document the details about each of the covered topics. These were stored in an accessible shared folder location.</p> <p>The meeting notes, recordings and topic tracker were then used to build out a <strong>system knowledge base</strong>. Microsoft OneNote was utilized to detail recurring operational processes with screenshots, the steps to complete key system tasks, technical architecture, and other general information about the system that the employee owned. The knowledge base was saved to a SharePoint location and made accessible to the rest of the organization.</p> <h3>Step 4: Operational Team Engagement</h3> <p>The organization utilized a re-kickoff approach to engage the business teams that depended on the system. A separate kickoff meeting was held for each of the main business teams to review current project status, key stakeholders, roles and responsibilities, and next steps in the project plan.</p> <p>To further gain trust with the business teams, the replacement employee held individual meetings with the business leads to capture how they use the system, what questions or concerns they have about the transition, and what they can expect in terms of communication moving forward.</p> <h3>Do You Have a Key Employee Departing?</h3> <p>Losing an employee is never easy. On top of that, maintaining business continuity during their departure is even more challenging.</p> <p>But, now you have the process to overcome this disruption to your organization. It’s now a matter of executing it to support your business functions. Remember, business as usual means, well, business as usual. No frantic emails, unmet deadlines, or heightened stress levels.</p> <p>Do you need help maintaining business continuity? Don’t worry, we’ve been there before. And we’d love to help. Reach out to Karma Advisory by emailing [email protected].</p> <h3>For a Conversation on Business Continuity, Check Out the Karma Insights Podcast</h3> <p></p> <p><strong><a href="https</strong>://karmaadvisory.substack.com/embed">Karma Insights <em>Tech insights from the field</em>karmaadvisory.sub</a>stack.com</p> <p><em>Originally published at <a href="https://</em>karmaadvisory.com/how-to-ensure-business-continuity/">Karma Advisory</a>.</p> </section>	How to Ensure Business Continuity During Employee Departure Maintaining “business as usual” after a major disruption in your organization is a challenge. These disruptions aren’t in your project or yearly portfolio plan. Nor have you aligned resources to overcome. Disruptions may result from a variety of events. Natural disasters, enterprise technology failures, cyberattacks are a few common ones that come to mind. But, losing a key resource in your organization — along with their depth of critical system knowledge — is also a significant disruption to the way business is conducted. And this scenario may be more common and struggled with than any of the other potential disturbances to the balance of your organization. A business continuity plan will help you overcome disruptions that your organizations will face. But, does your business continuity plan include employee departure? What is business continuity? The term business continuity refers to how your organization maintains business functions in the event of a disruption. Power outages, natural disasters, cyberattacks and other events that affect your enterprise are common culprits. But, business continuity also refers to maintaining business functions during smaller scale disruptions. Employee departures may not seem as scary as a cyberattack, but their impact on business functions can be monumental. Why business continuity is important Unless you’re a soothsayer, there are going to be disruptions to your organization that you simply won’t see coming. Disruptions that you can’t prepare for. Or, can you prepare for them? Well, the answer is yes. In fact, being unprepared is the last thing that you should let happen. Resulting in downtime for the business functions you support. Picture this… One of your most experienced Business Analysts comes in tomorrow with their 2-week departure notice in hand. This BA has owned your organization’s system of record since it was implemented over 7 years ago. Will you maintain business as usual when that employee leaves in 10 business days? If the answer is no, then you need to create a business continuity plan. Keep reading to find out how to create a business continuity plan for employee departure. How to Maintain Business Continuity During Employee Departure You aren’t just losing a resource when an employee is exiting. You’re also losing their existing knowledge, experience, and informed ideas. But, with swift and calculated actions, you can create a smooth transition. Business continuity is the goal in any employee exit. And you should treat this employee departure as any other project your organization is executing at a given time. Here are the steps you need to take to reach that goal and maintain business as usual. Step 1: Replacement Identification and Onboarding The type of resource you choose to replace your departing employee will differ based on your situation. Internally distributing responsibilities will be the quickest way to transition and distribute knowledge. But, there are obvious cons such as overloading current employees. The hiring process can be lengthy for an external employee. Likely, your newly hired employee won’t have much, if any, overlap with your departing resource. If this is your situation, we suggest identifying an existing resource in your organization who can lead the steps in this transition plan. Once your new employee is onboarded, you should have a base of knowledge and documentation to hand off to them. This isn’t going to be a guide on hiring the right employee. If you’re looking for some details on how to hire the best, here are some tips. But, you do need to identify a replacement resource. The quicker you can do this the better. Step 2: Knowledge Transfer Knowledge transfer is the method of capturing responsibilities, ideas, skills and personal knowledge from one or more individuals and sharing between one or more other individuals within an organization. “Knowledge” isn’t just what is in a person’s head. It’s also what they do. Including, the activities and responsibilities they perform in order to meet operational objectives. This step is so vital to maintain business continuity during an employee departure that we wrote an entire article on it: Knowledge Transfer: An Approach for Executing it Effectively. The knowledge transfer process is as follows: Develop a knowledge transfer topic plan Hold knowledge transfer sessions Document and distribute knowledge The goal of this knowledge transfer step is to transform individual knowledge into shared organizational knowledge. So, even though you’re losing a resource, you’re not losing the individual knowledge stored in their head. Move on to the next step to learn how to deliver and distribute shared knowledge. Step 3: Shared Knowledge Deliverable Creation As you work through knowledge transfer and executing your business continuity plan, you need to keep in mind the deliverables that are needed for your organization to continue business as usual. A shared knowledge base — filled with the information gained throughout the knowledge transfer process — should be the primary deliverable on your list. Think of this knowledge base as a one-stop shop for everything related to systems and/or processes owned by your departing employee. Anyone in your organization should be able to access the knowledge base after your departing employee’s final day and carry out one of the tasks they used to perform. If you would like to learn more about deliverable creation, we talk more about it in the Knowledge Transfer: An Approach for Executing it Effectively article. Last, but not least, it’s important that you engage the rest of the organization. Step 4: Operational Team Engagement Your experienced, knowledgeable departing employee really knew how to give business users that fuzzy feeling of comfort when working through system issues. They knew if an issue arose, it would be resolved quickly. Now that their favorite technical support is departing, you’ll need to spend some time and effort getting your business organization comfortable with the transition. Depending on your organization and the phase at which your employee is departing, one approach that we have found works well is the re-kickoff method. Re-kickoff Method The situation has changed. And it’s time to level set with your business organization. The re-kickoff method allows you to re-initiate a project and/or application support. You can treat your employee departure as an opportunity to review the project/system charter, current status, project stakeholders, and communication with your business team. In addition, use this opportunity to communicate the transition plan and upcoming objectives for the project as a whole. If feasible, show off your newly created knowledge base. This will show that knowledge has not been lost with your departing employee. And it will increase trust in the transition. You can execute this method through a simple re-kick off meeting with your business organization to review project / system: Current status Stakeholders and roles/responsibilities Communication plan Knowledge Base Upcoming objectives and the transition plan Replacement Employee Engagement In addition to re-kickoff the project as a whole, it’s important for your replacement employee to increase communication with your operational business team. Whether it’s 1-on-1 meetings with the business leads or small team discussions, your replacement employee needs to initiate an open line of communication. Understanding how your business users interact with the technology, what concerns/questions they have about the transition, and how they can report issues will go a long way in building trust. Case Study: Maintaining Business Continuity During Business Analyst Departure Situation A business analyst / project manager for a public sector organization’s system of record is departing in two weeks. They have served as the system owner since it was implemented over 7 years ago. They have a breadth of technical and programmatic knowledge. Complicating Factors Although they are not fully rolling off of the project for two weeks, their time is limited since they have rolled onto another project. The organization has been allotted 1 hour each day over the next two weeks for knowledge transfer. In addition, the system that they owned is developed by a vendor, so internal technical knowledge is limited. Step 1: Replacement Identification and Onboarding The organization was able to leverage their close relationship with Karma Advisory to quickly onboard a replacement who was already part of their firm. This individual had experience working on similar systems in a public sector environment. They were able to utilize this experience to quickly onboard, build and execute the employee transition plan, and manage the knowledge transfer process. Step 2 and 3: Knowledge Transfer and Deliverable Creation Knowledge transfer sessions were used to capture the responsibilities, system knowledge, and processes of the departing employee. First, a topic coverage tracker was created and managed all the topics that were to be covered during the knowledge transfer sessions. The topics in the tracker were prioritized and updated as each were covered. In addition, the location of any notes and/or screen recordings were documented in the tracker. As part of the knowledge transfer sessions — 1-hour sessions for 2 weeks — meeting notes and screen recordings were used to document the details about each of the covered topics. These were stored in an accessible shared folder location. The meeting notes, recordings and topic tracker were then used to build out a system knowledge base. Microsoft OneNote was utilized to detail recurring operational processes with screenshots, the steps to complete key system tasks, technical architecture, and other general information about the system that the employee owned. The knowledge base was saved to a SharePoint location and made accessible to the rest of the organization. Step 4: Operational Team Engagement The organization utilized a re-kickoff approach to engage the business teams that depended on the system. A separate kickoff meeting was held for each of the main business teams to review current project status, key stakeholders, roles and responsibilities, and next steps in the project plan. To further gain trust with the business teams, the replacement employee held individual meetings with the business leads to capture how they use the system, what questions or concerns they have about the transition, and what they can expect in terms of communication moving forward. Do You Have a Key Employee Departing? Losing an employee is never easy. On top of that, maintaining business continuity during their departure is even more challenging. But, now you have the process to overcome this disruption to your organization. It’s now a matter of executing it to support your business functions. Remember, business as usual means, well, business as usual. No frantic emails, unmet deadlines, or heightened stress levels. Do you need help maintaining business continuity? Don’t worry, we’ve been there before. And we’d love to help. Reach out to Karma Advisory by emailing [email protected]. For a Conversation on Business Continuity, Check Out the Karma Insights Podcast Karma Insights Tech insights from the fieldkarmaadvisory.substack.com Originally published at Karma Advisory.	45b7efd9-6681-583c-b6c8-a87cf7b5d36a	25/08/2025 16:00:14
https://medium.com/@aleb/share-your-data-api-on-this-marketplace-easily-a1cb8d1301c1	medium.com	Share Your Data API On This Marketplace Easily!	null	TheStartupFounder.com	https://medium.com/@aleb	a1cb8d1301c1	https://miro.medium.com/…6H803_gfop9y.jpg	3 min	2022-08-31T05:16:42.321000	2022-08-31T05:17:18.812000	2022-08-31T05:16:47.966000	0	0	en	Api Marketplace,Api Marketplace Business,Api Marketplace Examples,Api Marketplace Guide,Api Monetization	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1200/0jUoy6H803_gfop9y.jpg" width="1200" height="628" loading="lazy" /> <p>Are you looking for the opportunity to share your Data API? Well, the opportunity is today! To take advantage of this incredible opportunity, you will need to use this marketplace API. This system will guide your API to success and will make you fill your pocket with a lot of money.</p> <p>Application Programming Interface, or API, is a software bridge that enables the communication between two applications. You utilize an API every time you use a mobile app, such as Facebook, to send an instant message, or check the weather. A mobile application connects to the Internet and sends data to a server when you use it. The server then retrieves, analyzes, utilizes, and sends the data back to your phone. After doing an analysis of the data, the application shows the information you requested in an understandable format. It is an API that allows all of this to happen.</p> <p>APIs are now so useful that many firms rely heavily on them for revenue. Several well-known companies, including Google, eBay, Salesforce.com, Amazon, and Expedia, profit from their APIs. This API market is referred to as the “API economy.” An “API” has frequently been defined over the years as any type of general connectivity interface to a program. But more lately, the contemporary API has developed some qualities that make them incredibly helpful and practical. Modern APIs, for instance, follow standards that are user-friendly for developers, simple to access, and widely accepted (usually HTTP and REST). A lot of APIs are also intended for use by particular demographics.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1000/0V9Wl22K-DADH9VXV.jpg" width="1000" height="667" loading="lazy" /> <p>However, the examples of companies that we name have very well-known APIs. To make your Data API known, the best thing you can do is publish it on the <strong><a href="htt</strong>ps://www.zylalabs.com?utm_source=TSF&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=ZylaHub&utm_term=25&utm_content=31082022">Zyla API Hub</a> marketplace. We promise you one thing, if you publish your API there, you will be able to monetize your creation!</p> <p><strong>Use <a href="https://www.zylalabs.com?utm_</strong>source=TSF&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=ZylaHub&utm_term=25&utm_content=31082022">Zyla API Hub</a> to promote your data API!</p> <p>The <strong><a href="htt</strong>ps://www.zylalabs.com?utm_source=TSF&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=ZylaHub&utm_term=25&utm_content=31082022">Zyla API Hub</a> marketplace is designed for API developers to easily monetize their products. And in order to do this, you have to resort to digital advertising, the key for internet businesses to develop and compete in the market.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/967/0*NsaQKUs2LjkoeIYQ.png" width="967" height="776" loading="lazy" /> <p>Digital tools have greatly improved the way marketing operates and interacts with people. It is no longer a question of publishing an article and crossing your fingers that it works, but rather it is possible to give an article a timely follow-up, check how many clicks it has received and if any of them have met the objectives that were set. All of that can be annoying for you, so it’s best to delegate this work to <strong><a href="http</strong>s://www.zylalabs.com?utm_source=TSF&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=ZylaHub&utm_term=25&utm_content=31082022">Zyla API Hub!</a></p> <p>Trust us, your data API will be in good hands if you allow <strong><a href="htt</strong>ps://www.zylalabs.com?utm_source=TSF&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=ZylaHub&utm_term=25&utm_content=31082022">Zyla API Hub</a> to monetize and share it. In addition, we know that you put a lot of effort into your API, so you will surely want to see it grow and help many people. Before closing this article, we recommend you enter the website and consult any questions you have with the assistants of this company. They will guide you through any difficulties you may have when you decide to purchase these services.</p> <p>So, what are you waiting for? You visit the <strong><a href="htt</strong>ps://www.zylalabs.com?utm_source=TSF&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=ZylaHub&utm_term=25&utm_content=31082022">Zyla API Hub</a> website!</p> <p><em>Originally published at <a href="https://www.the</em>startupfounder.com/share-your-data-api-on-this-marketplace-easily/">TheStartupFounder.com</a>.</p> </section>	Share Your Data API On This Marketplace Easily! Are you looking for the opportunity to share your Data API? Well, the opportunity is today! To take advantage of this incredible opportunity, you will need to use this marketplace API. This system will guide your API to success and will make you fill your pocket with a lot of money. Application Programming Interface, or API, is a software bridge that enables the communication between two applications. You utilize an API every time you use a mobile app, such as Facebook, to send an instant message, or check the weather. A mobile application connects to the Internet and sends data to a server when you use it. The server then retrieves, analyzes, utilizes, and sends the data back to your phone. After doing an analysis of the data, the application shows the information you requested in an understandable format. It is an API that allows all of this to happen. APIs are now so useful that many firms rely heavily on them for revenue. Several well-known companies, including Google, eBay, Salesforce.com, Amazon, and Expedia, profit from their APIs. This API market is referred to as the “API economy.” An “API” has frequently been defined over the years as any type of general connectivity interface to a program. But more lately, the contemporary API has developed some qualities that make them incredibly helpful and practical. Modern APIs, for instance, follow standards that are user-friendly for developers, simple to access, and widely accepted (usually HTTP and REST). A lot of APIs are also intended for use by particular demographics. However, the examples of companies that we name have very well-known APIs. To make your Data API known, the best thing you can do is publish it on the Zyla API Hub marketplace. We promise you one thing, if you publish your API there, you will be able to monetize your creation! Use Zyla API Hub to promote your data API! The Zyla API Hub marketplace is designed for API developers to easily monetize their products. And in order to do this, you have to resort to digital advertising, the key for internet businesses to develop and compete in the market. Digital tools have greatly improved the way marketing operates and interacts with people. It is no longer a question of publishing an article and crossing your fingers that it works, but rather it is possible to give an article a timely follow-up, check how many clicks it has received and if any of them have met the objectives that were set. All of that can be annoying for you, so it’s best to delegate this work to Zyla API Hub! Trust us, your data API will be in good hands if you allow Zyla API Hub to monetize and share it. In addition, we know that you put a lot of effort into your API, so you will surely want to see it grow and help many people. Before closing this article, we recommend you enter the website and consult any questions you have with the assistants of this company. They will guide you through any difficulties you may have when you decide to purchase these services. So, what are you waiting for? You visit the Zyla API Hub website! Originally published at TheStartupFounder.com.	d316a46b-901a-53cc-89d0-97bcf48ad147	25/08/2025 16:00:15
https://medium.com/@alex.molina5829/redux-fc2b21887523	medium.com	Redux	This week’s lessons focused mostly on Redux. There’s nothing new to show to the user but this tool helps clean up the code for the…	Alex Molina	https://medium.com/@alex.molina5829	fc2b21887523	https://miro.medium.com/…fGqeIZyLWfnA.png	1 min	2023-08-28T04:28:38.987000	2023-08-28T04:59:00.205000	2023-08-28T04:59:09.451000	0	4	en	JavaScript,Programming,Redux,Reactjs	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1200/1*Uov-TfA20xfGqeIZyLWfnA.png" width="1200" height="600" loading="lazy" /> <p>This week’s lessons focused mostly on Redux. There’s nothing new to show to the user but this tool helps clean up the code for the developers. The main focus of Redux is to allow global variables to be saved in a store that can be accessed by multiple components and files so that the app can be more cohesive. There won’t be a need to constantly pass props to other components, especially if it is a value that should be read throughout the app.</p> <p>Redux is a free state management library that works on the front-end of JavaScript applications, managing the state of each component within a UI. In essence, Redux is simply a store to store the state of the variables in your app. Redux creates a process and procedures to interact with the store so that components will not just update or read the store randomly.</p> <p>The Redux store is the main, central bucket which stores all the states of an application. It should be considered and maintained as a single source of truth for the state of the application.</p> <p>For updating the state Redux is use dispatch(action). This is the one function used for making updates in the application.</p> <p>Presentational components can be pure functions which are responsible for the UI, whereas container components are responsible for the state and data of the application.</p> <p>The second argument that can optionally be passed to setState is a callback function which gets called immediately after the setState is completed and the components get re-rendered.</p> <p>While I’m still wrapping my head around it, I do like React and Material UI for front-end Javascript. I’m not very creative so some of the preset components from Material UI takes a lot of the headache of trying to figure out the minute details for my app’s design.</p> </section>	Redux This week’s lessons focused mostly on Redux. There’s nothing new to show to the user but this tool helps clean up the code for the developers. The main focus of Redux is to allow global variables to be saved in a store that can be accessed by multiple components and files so that the app can be more cohesive. There won’t be a need to constantly pass props to other components, especially if it is a value that should be read throughout the app. Redux is a free state management library that works on the front-end of JavaScript applications, managing the state of each component within a UI. In essence, Redux is simply a store to store the state of the variables in your app. Redux creates a process and procedures to interact with the store so that components will not just update or read the store randomly. The Redux store is the main, central bucket which stores all the states of an application. It should be considered and maintained as a single source of truth for the state of the application. For updating the state Redux is use dispatch(action). This is the one function used for making updates in the application. Presentational components can be pure functions which are responsible for the UI, whereas container components are responsible for the state and data of the application. The second argument that can optionally be passed to setState is a callback function which gets called immediately after the setState is completed and the components get re-rendered. While I’m still wrapping my head around it, I do like React and Material UI for front-end Javascript. I’m not very creative so some of the preset components from Material UI takes a lot of the headache of trying to figure out the minute details for my app’s design.	6eba99ae-c5da-508b-be69-e5187538e2f7	25/08/2025 16:00:15
https://skepticalagile.com/8-tips-to-motivate-others-db05b825bf25	medium.com	8 Tips to Motivate Others	If you are even thinking about how to motivate others, you are actively demotivating them!	Tomas Kejzlar	https://medium.com/@tomaskejzlar	db05b825bf25	https://miro.medium.com/…fEIAqU6RaUAg.png	3 min	2017-02-07T17:52:10.701000	2017-02-07T17:54:28.758000	2018-03-12T19:59:55.447000	0	1	en	Leadership,Motivation,Management,Agile,Organizational Culture	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1490/1*swkF37rKsbfEIAqU6RaUAg.png" width="1490" height="993" loading="lazy" /> <h3>If you are even thinking about how to motivate others, you are actively demotivating them!</h3> <h1>Motivation Tips</h1> <p>These are proven tips how to motivate people as presented by Rupert McGreedhead, MBA, CEO of MotivatedPeople:</p> <ul> <li>First of all, think about who you are hiring. Expensive senior professionals, right? So why should you motivate them? Their huge salaries are their motivation!</li> <li>If the salary is not enough, motivate people by incentives — promise bonuses for accomplishing particularly difficult tasks.</li> <li>Set KPIs or objectives (<em>Management by Objectives, </em>here it comes) that are nearly impossible to achieve. This will motivate people to put everything into work, doing the right thing and abandoning their families and friends if that’s what it takes to make the numbers.</li> <li>Most people work only when being controlled and closely monitored. Keeping a tight noose around their necks motivates them to get the job done, otherwise they’ll just slack off.</li> <li>If you uncover a mistake, fire the responsible person right away. By that you are motivating others and creating a culture of success.</li> <li>Reward people who enthusiastically agree to everything you say, every brilliant idea you lay on the table. These folks are already motivated, because they clearly have the same goals as you and by rewarding them you strengthen your position.</li> <li>Change people’s roles frequently. Who likes doing the same job over and over again anyway? Keep people on their toes and make them stretch.</li> <li>And, above all, remember: work is not something people should enjoy, so there is no point in trying to make them happy doing it.</li> </ul> <h2>Or do you?</h2> <p>How many of the above statements do you believe? If it is even one, I am sad for any poor people you are trying to <em>motivate</em>.</p> <p>All of the above are guaranteed ways to demotivate anyone. They are stupid beyond measure. Yet many of these boneheaded notions are standard management practice! And although you cannot in fact motivate others, you can demotivate them pretty quickly — for example by using idiotic motivational tips.</p> <blockquote><em>The answer to the question managers so often ask of behavioral scientists “How do you motivate people?” is, “You don’t.“ — Douglas McGregor</em></blockquote> <p>You don’t want to end up with a bunch of demotivated, complacent losers. Not doing anything, just wanting to get rewarded, earn bonuses, agree to everything you say and not doing much unless you stand behind their backs. Or do you?</p> <h2>Try This Instead</h2> <p>Instead <em>inspire</em> others and create an <em>environment</em> in which others will feel motivated by themselves. A lot has been said about intrinsic motivation — a simple truth that people’s motivation comes from within, not from outside. Start with what motivates <em>me</em>?</p> <p>Is it (taken from Jurgen Appelo’s <a href="http://noop.nl/2013/02/champfrogs.html">CHAMPFROGS</a>):</p> <ul> <li>Curiosity — the ability to work on new things and experiment.</li> <li>Honor — the way how your personal values and beliefs are present in whatever you are doing.</li> <li>Acceptance — the approval and recognition of your teammates.</li> <li>Mastery — the learning and expertise your work demands.</li> <li>Power — the possibility to influence and change things around you.</li> <li>Freedom — the independency from others.</li> <li>Relatedness — the atmosphere and social interactions at work.</li> <li>Order — the rules and policies that set the playing field for everyone.</li> <li>Goal — the outcome of the work is related to something of personal importance to you.</li> <li>Status — the recognition of your knowledge by your colleagues.</li> </ul> <p>You are not motivated by something that can be externally imposed upon you — in both positive and negative ways. Why should others be different?</p> <h2>Motivate or Inspire? Make your choice…</h2> <blockquote><em>We can’t make others motivated. We can only create environment that sparks their existing inner motivation.</em></blockquote> <p>And how can we find what is that inner motivation? Use tools like <a href="https://management30.com/practice/moving-motivators/">moving motivators</a> that will inspire you to have valuable conversations within your teams.</p> </section>	8 Tips to Motivate Others Image © Nichole Burrows, https://www.flickr.com/photos/130132803@N07/ If you are even thinking about how to motivate others, you are actively demotivating them! Motivation Tips These are proven tips how to motivate people as presented by Rupert McGreedhead, MBA, CEO of MotivatedPeople: First of all, think about who you are hiring. Expensive senior professionals, right? So why should you motivate them? Their huge salaries are their motivation! If the salary is not enough, motivate people by incentives — promise bonuses for accomplishing particularly difficult tasks. Set KPIs or objectives (Management by Objectives, here it comes) that are nearly impossible to achieve. This will motivate people to put everything into work, doing the right thing and abandoning their families and friends if that’s what it takes to make the numbers. Most people work only when being controlled and closely monitored. Keeping a tight noose around their necks motivates them to get the job done, otherwise they’ll just slack off. If you uncover a mistake, fire the responsible person right away. By that you are motivating others and creating a culture of success. Reward people who enthusiastically agree to everything you say, every brilliant idea you lay on the table. These folks are already motivated, because they clearly have the same goals as you and by rewarding them you strengthen your position. Change people’s roles frequently. Who likes doing the same job over and over again anyway? Keep people on their toes and make them stretch. And, above all, remember: work is not something people should enjoy, so there is no point in trying to make them happy doing it. Or do you? How many of the above statements do you believe? If it is even one, I am sad for any poor people you are trying to motivate. All of the above are guaranteed ways to demotivate anyone. They are stupid beyond measure. Yet many of these boneheaded notions are standard management practice! And although you cannot in fact motivate others, you can demotivate them pretty quickly — for example by using idiotic motivational tips. The answer to the question managers so often ask of behavioral scientists “How do you motivate people?” is, “You don’t.“ — Douglas McGregor You don’t want to end up with a bunch of demotivated, complacent losers. Not doing anything, just wanting to get rewarded, earn bonuses, agree to everything you say and not doing much unless you stand behind their backs. Or do you? Try This Instead Instead inspire others and create an environment in which others will feel motivated by themselves. A lot has been said about intrinsic motivation — a simple truth that people’s motivation comes from within, not from outside. Start with what motivates me? Is it (taken from Jurgen Appelo’s CHAMPFROGS): Curiosity — the ability to work on new things and experiment. Honor — the way how your personal values and beliefs are present in whatever you are doing. Acceptance — the approval and recognition of your teammates. Mastery — the learning and expertise your work demands. Power — the possibility to influence and change things around you. Freedom — the independency from others. Relatedness — the atmosphere and social interactions at work. Order — the rules and policies that set the playing field for everyone. Goal — the outcome of the work is related to something of personal importance to you. Status — the recognition of your knowledge by your colleagues. You are not motivated by something that can be externally imposed upon you — in both positive and negative ways. Why should others be different? Motivate or Inspire? Make your choice… We can’t make others motivated. We can only create environment that sparks their existing inner motivation. And how can we find what is that inner motivation? Use tools like moving motivators that will inspire you to have valuable conversations within your teams.	ac579083-1179-58bd-acaa-16d6e55000d8	25/08/2025 16:00:15
https://adekunlebaj.medium.com/elections-are-not-nairabet-you-vote-for-who-you-want-to-win-not-who-is-likely-to-win-stupid-9b9da167b60c	medium.com	Elections are not Nairabet: You vote for who you want to win, not who is likely to win, stupid.	“I like Chidiebere, candidate of the New Ideas Party. He is a great economist. He understands the dynamics of our problems and knows…	'Kúnlé Adébàjò	https://medium.com/@adekunlebaj	9b9da167b60c	https://miro.medium.com/…XkBWaMOz5-w.jpeg	5 min	2019-01-13T12:48:38.065000	2019-01-13T13:01:04.468000	2021-12-07T06:57:16.718000	1	179	en	Politics,Election,Nigeria,Voting,Betting	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/795/1*XHb2RLE1rb6XkBWaMOz5-w.jpeg" width="795" height="510" loading="lazy" /> <p><em>“I like Chidiebere, candidate of the New Ideas Party. He is a great economist. He understands the dynamics of our problems and knows exactly how we can get out of them. What’s more, his track record from his days at the Ministry of Education is remarkable. Ologuneru, with his enthusiasm and revolutionary spirit, can finally turn things around for this country too. But let me not waste my vote on any of them, since they probably won’t win anyway. I know who to vote for. Honourable Ganduje. He is not a saint, but let’s just give him a shot and see what he will achieve too.”</em></p> <p>This is roughly how the average Nigerian voter thinks, and it is not only sad but dangerous. Perhaps because we have become accustomed to soccer betting, the line between the functions of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Nairabet — or its many clones — has become blurry, almost invincible. We are not sure how to distinguish between the strategies appropriate for placing bets on football matches and those needed in the struggle for national development. So let us draw the line once and for all before things get out of hand.</p> <p>While in betting you place a stake and are unable to cash out if the odds do not eventually favour you, in politics there is no demand for cash. In other words, you have nothing to lose — immediately — if you choose a line of action. Also, unlike in sport betting, there are consequences when you do not participate in political elections. But most importantly — and we cannot stress this enough — when it comes to elections, you are supposed to vote for who you want to win, <em>not</em> who is calculated to defeat the other candidates.</p> <p>A vote is an expression of your choice for or against an aspirant (and their running mate) or a political party. It is your answer, as an intelligent adult, to the question of who you want as your leader for the next couple of years, not who you think has the capacity to win. And the secret ballot system has been put in place to ensure that everyone is able to safely make their choice and express their conviction on the ballot papers regardless of how unpopular that conviction is.</p> <p>With the general and state elections upon us, we must hold dearly to this truth and have it not just at the back of our minds but on the tip of our fingers as we march into the booths to vote. We have unique Voter Identification Numbers on our voter’s cards not for cosmetic reasons but because we think differently. But what is the use of the PVC if it does not give expression to your truest thoughts and only keys into an agenda because it is popular?</p> <p>Career politicians would rather have us think we have no choice. That what we share with them is a catholic marriage from which we mustn’t divorce. They want us to think we are stuck with the status quo, <em>for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from the inauguration day forward until death do us part</em>. But we are not. What we rather have is a landlord-tenant arrangement — and no, the landlords are not the politicians. If we cannot as individuals kick them out, at least we can disown them where it matters most: at the polls.</p> <p>There is an expression commonly thrown around to reprimand people who, for no reason, are biased in favour of the white man’s culture. We call it ‘colonial mentality’. People who have this attitude think their own names, delicacies, wears and so on are inferior to those of the British, though they are not physically bound to subscribe to this belief.</p> <p>Poverty mentality. Here is another favourite of Nigerians, used to chastise those who make choices as people without money though they are blessed with lots of it. They are not compelled, by the lack of enough cash, to for example trek five kilometres every day to their workplace, but they do so anyway — just as one without money would.</p> <p>I am tempted to propose that we add one more: Military junta mentality. For 15 years, Nigerians cowed into political submission under the khaki, armed men whose job description says nothing about executive orders or presidential privileges. All those years, the people had no say in who ruled them. All they were were spectators to the unfolding political drama, onlookers who gazed speechlessly as coup plotters plotted and uninvited heads of state headed the state.</p> <p>But as it stands, there is only little difference between, say, Olusegun Obasanjo’s emergence as a military head of state in February 1976 and his second coming as a democratic leader in 1999 and 2003. In the 70’s, the people truly had no choice, no say on the subject of who governed them. Today, we do have a choice, afforded us by the supreme law of the land, but we still like to think we do not.</p> <p>“His administration has been a disappointment, but let him just finish his eight years,” the Nigerian voter says. “He is too strong to be defeated anyway.”</p> <p>The question is who gives him this strength? The Federal Executive Council? The Buhari Media Campaign? God? Certainly not! It is the same voter. It is Nigerians who vote based on impulse, Nigerians who think elections are a contest of popularity and not a contest of capability who strengthen the reign of mediocrities. We are like the fool who flings the door to his apartment open every night and who, when asked why he does this, says the armed robber would find his way in in any case, locked or not.</p> <p>It is easy to say even if I vote for the underdog, others will not and so it is pointless. But this only leads to a vicious cycle of stagnation — similar to what we have in that popular parable where Nobody did what Anybody could have done because Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. So, we shouldn’t give ourselves worry about everybody else or what they will or won’t do.</p> <p>Do not say ‘if I do not litter the street, others will do it anyway so what is the point?’ or ‘if I do not take this bribe, others will do it anyway so what is the point?’ or ‘if I do not vote for this looter, others will anyway so what is the point?’</p> <p>It is what others are thinking too, and it is why we will always find ourselves in the same brand of mess, every four years. So is it not wiser that we play our own parts with sincerity and then hope for the best? Even if, in the end, our preferred candidates do not win, at best we would have moved them closer to the goalpost of political power, and at worst we would have been true to our hearts and deducted at least one point from the account balance of bad leadership.</p> </section>	Elections are not Nairabet: You vote for who you want to win, not who is likely to win, stupid. File photo: Used for illustration “I like Chidiebere, candidate of the New Ideas Party. He is a great economist. He understands the dynamics of our problems and knows exactly how we can get out of them. What’s more, his track record from his days at the Ministry of Education is remarkable. Ologuneru, with his enthusiasm and revolutionary spirit, can finally turn things around for this country too. But let me not waste my vote on any of them, since they probably won’t win anyway. I know who to vote for. Honourable Ganduje. He is not a saint, but let’s just give him a shot and see what he will achieve too.” This is roughly how the average Nigerian voter thinks, and it is not only sad but dangerous. Perhaps because we have become accustomed to soccer betting, the line between the functions of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Nairabet — or its many clones — has become blurry, almost invincible. We are not sure how to distinguish between the strategies appropriate for placing bets on football matches and those needed in the struggle for national development. So let us draw the line once and for all before things get out of hand. While in betting you place a stake and are unable to cash out if the odds do not eventually favour you, in politics there is no demand for cash. In other words, you have nothing to lose — immediately — if you choose a line of action. Also, unlike in sport betting, there are consequences when you do not participate in political elections. But most importantly — and we cannot stress this enough — when it comes to elections, you are supposed to vote for who you want to win, not who is calculated to defeat the other candidates. A vote is an expression of your choice for or against an aspirant (and their running mate) or a political party. It is your answer, as an intelligent adult, to the question of who you want as your leader for the next couple of years, not who you think has the capacity to win. And the secret ballot system has been put in place to ensure that everyone is able to safely make their choice and express their conviction on the ballot papers regardless of how unpopular that conviction is. With the general and state elections upon us, we must hold dearly to this truth and have it not just at the back of our minds but on the tip of our fingers as we march into the booths to vote. We have unique Voter Identification Numbers on our voter’s cards not for cosmetic reasons but because we think differently. But what is the use of the PVC if it does not give expression to your truest thoughts and only keys into an agenda because it is popular? Career politicians would rather have us think we have no choice. That what we share with them is a catholic marriage from which we mustn’t divorce. They want us to think we are stuck with the status quo, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from the inauguration day forward until death do us part. But we are not. What we rather have is a landlord-tenant arrangement — and no, the landlords are not the politicians. If we cannot as individuals kick them out, at least we can disown them where it matters most: at the polls. There is an expression commonly thrown around to reprimand people who, for no reason, are biased in favour of the white man’s culture. We call it ‘colonial mentality’. People who have this attitude think their own names, delicacies, wears and so on are inferior to those of the British, though they are not physically bound to subscribe to this belief. Poverty mentality. Here is another favourite of Nigerians, used to chastise those who make choices as people without money though they are blessed with lots of it. They are not compelled, by the lack of enough cash, to for example trek five kilometres every day to their workplace, but they do so anyway — just as one without money would. I am tempted to propose that we add one more: Military junta mentality. For 15 years, Nigerians cowed into political submission under the khaki, armed men whose job description says nothing about executive orders or presidential privileges. All those years, the people had no say in who ruled them. All they were were spectators to the unfolding political drama, onlookers who gazed speechlessly as coup plotters plotted and uninvited heads of state headed the state. But as it stands, there is only little difference between, say, Olusegun Obasanjo’s emergence as a military head of state in February 1976 and his second coming as a democratic leader in 1999 and 2003. In the 70’s, the people truly had no choice, no say on the subject of who governed them. Today, we do have a choice, afforded us by the supreme law of the land, but we still like to think we do not. “His administration has been a disappointment, but let him just finish his eight years,” the Nigerian voter says. “He is too strong to be defeated anyway.” The question is who gives him this strength? The Federal Executive Council? The Buhari Media Campaign? God? Certainly not! It is the same voter. It is Nigerians who vote based on impulse, Nigerians who think elections are a contest of popularity and not a contest of capability who strengthen the reign of mediocrities. We are like the fool who flings the door to his apartment open every night and who, when asked why he does this, says the armed robber would find his way in in any case, locked or not. It is easy to say even if I vote for the underdog, others will not and so it is pointless. But this only leads to a vicious cycle of stagnation — similar to what we have in that popular parable where Nobody did what Anybody could have done because Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. So, we shouldn’t give ourselves worry about everybody else or what they will or won’t do. Do not say ‘if I do not litter the street, others will do it anyway so what is the point?’ or ‘if I do not take this bribe, others will do it anyway so what is the point?’ or ‘if I do not vote for this looter, others will anyway so what is the point?’ It is what others are thinking too, and it is why we will always find ourselves in the same brand of mess, every four years. So is it not wiser that we play our own parts with sincerity and then hope for the best? Even if, in the end, our preferred candidates do not win, at best we would have moved them closer to the goalpost of political power, and at worst we would have been true to our hearts and deducted at least one point from the account balance of bad leadership.	48a864e1-f895-543c-86b7-b98766089e7f	25/08/2025 16:00:16
https://medium.com/@lambert.kamaro/3-steps-to-sending-a-compelling-weekly-report-without-feeling-like-pulling-your-hair-out-689c62359db0	medium.com	3-Steps to Sending a Compelling Weekly Report Without Feeling Like Pulling Your Hair Out	It’s Friday — a moment to reflect on your weekly achievements or those of your team.	Kamaro Lambert	https://medium.com/@lambert.kamaro	689c62359db0	https://miro.medium.com/max/2000/0*fbkmOTV35gRJNym6	1 min	2023-12-15T15:17:52.721000	2023-12-15T15:19:25.790000	2023-12-15T15:19:27.388000	0	1	en	Weekly Report,Team Building,Leadership,Manager	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/5410/0*fbkmOTV35gRJNym6" width="5410" height="3607" loading="lazy" /> <p>It’s Friday — a moment to reflect on your weekly achievements or those of your team.</p> <p>Reporting not only increases your visibility but also showcases your accomplishments, instilling confidence in your leaders that you’re on top of your responsibilities.</p> <p>However, the task can be intimidating and stressful, particularly the new leaders and managers.</p> <p>Having sent weekly reports without fail for over 77 weeks, today I’m sharing simple and easy-to-follow steps to make your weekly report irresistible and a must-open email, even late on Friday.</p> <p>While there are various formats depending on your team and project initiatives, this has worked 98% of the time: 1. Challenges, 2. Achievements. 3. Next Priorities</p> <h1>1. Challenges</h1> <p>This is a numbered bullet-point list of a max of top 5 challenges your team is currently facing. The use of numbers facilitates easy reference in replies.</p> <p>Identify obstacles that are impeding or slowing down your team’s progress. For instance: Risks and their mitigations. Dependencies beyond your control. Questions without answers.</p> <p>In this section, don’t hesitate to seek assistance. You might be surprised at how seemingly insurmountable issues can be resolved with just an email.</p> <h2>2. Achievements / Progress.</h2> <p>While many people prefer to begin with sections, I find it valuable to start with challenges so that you resolve what is hindering you.</p> <p>In this section, emphasize significant progress made during the week. It’s acceptable to indicate that a work item is only partially completed, such as 40%, 60%, or 80%.</p> <p>The reader wants assurance that you’re not stagnant and have moved forward from the previous week.</p> <h2>3. Next Period Priorities</h2> <p>Let them know what you are focusing on next.</p> <p>In this section, provide your reader with the opportunity to engage and help you adjust priorities if they differ from theirs. This collaborative approach ensures that decisions aren’t made in isolation, fostering a more dynamic and responsive working environment.</p> </section>	3-Steps to Sending a Compelling Weekly Report Without Feeling Like Pulling Your Hair Out Photo by Stephen Phillips - Hostreviews.co.uk on Unsplash It’s Friday — a moment to reflect on your weekly achievements or those of your team. Reporting not only increases your visibility but also showcases your accomplishments, instilling confidence in your leaders that you’re on top of your responsibilities. However, the task can be intimidating and stressful, particularly the new leaders and managers. Having sent weekly reports without fail for over 77 weeks, today I’m sharing simple and easy-to-follow steps to make your weekly report irresistible and a must-open email, even late on Friday. While there are various formats depending on your team and project initiatives, this has worked 98% of the time: 1. Challenges, 2. Achievements. 3. Next Priorities 1. Challenges This is a numbered bullet-point list of a max of top 5 challenges your team is currently facing. The use of numbers facilitates easy reference in replies. Identify obstacles that are impeding or slowing down your team’s progress. For instance: Risks and their mitigations. Dependencies beyond your control. Questions without answers. In this section, don’t hesitate to seek assistance. You might be surprised at how seemingly insurmountable issues can be resolved with just an email. 2. Achievements / Progress. While many people prefer to begin with sections, I find it valuable to start with challenges so that you resolve what is hindering you. In this section, emphasize significant progress made during the week. It’s acceptable to indicate that a work item is only partially completed, such as 40%, 60%, or 80%. The reader wants assurance that you’re not stagnant and have moved forward from the previous week. 3. Next Period Priorities Let them know what you are focusing on next. In this section, provide your reader with the opportunity to engage and help you adjust priorities if they differ from theirs. This collaborative approach ensures that decisions aren’t made in isolation, fostering a more dynamic and responsive working environment.	76d2331a-5359-5f43-8b6a-dbcd3d6cb17a	25/08/2025 16:00:16
https://medium.com/@deannadarbybarton/the-importance-of-blackgirlmagic-1fae3444d4b8	medium.com	The Importance of #BlackGirlMagic	This was originally a Facebook note and is simply being republished here.	Deanna Darby Barton	https://medium.com/@deannadarbybarton	1fae3444d4b8	https://miro.medium.com/…wXTxavLSXZw.jpeg	4 min	2016-04-13T14:03:45.129000	2016-04-13T14:17:00.819000	2017-04-25T11:24:58.871000	0	2	en	BlackLivesMatter,Natural Hair,Black Women	<section> <h1>The Importance of #BlackGirlMagic</h1> <h3>This was originally a Facebook note and is simply being republished here.</h3> <p>Lately I’ve been seeing <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/blackgirlmagic?source=note">#BlackGirlMagic</a> trending, and I’ve been sharing more and more photos of beautiful black women. I do in fact follow a lot of accounts dedicated to the beauty of black women, both on Facebook and Instagram, so I’m fairly used to this. However, many people might not know why this is so important.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2058/1mEzRWyksr4-CcmzRXQrb9w.jpeg" width="2058" height="1123" loading="lazy" /> <p>The thing is, black women throughout history were perceived as ugly. Go to Google images and search “pretty”, and you will see so many white women before a black woman, and even then we still don’t see many other women of colour. Now if you search “ugly”, you’ll see black people immediately. This isn’t a criticism of Google, but society. In many countries around the world, there’s an explicit emphasis on lighter skin, as there are literally ads for skin lightening creams. As a child I remember colouring pictures of little girls using a specific brown crayon that wasn’t “too dark”. I had Bratz dolls and chose Yasmin over Sasha because I thought Sasha was “too dark”.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/800/1JoVOufKAPhBbPqHW7BK1wA.jpeg" width="800" height="800" loading="lazy" /> <p>The thing is, being a black girl wasn’t just an issue of worrying that I was “too dark” for some people’s liking. As a teenager I spent hours reading articles and watching videos about how black women are unattractive and ultimately undateable. That we were the demographic group that the least amount of people were attracted to. These articles and videos weren’t just made by white people, but people of all races. I remember reading about how Asians have more “feminine” features, and now Africans had naturally more “masculine features”. What were these features you may ask? Dark skin, a broad nose, and pretty much everything that differentiates black people from non-black people. Which of course, is ridiculous. An entire race of people should not be associated with a gender especially since there’s more than one gender in that race. Of course, I didn’t get angry about this stuff when I had read it at 13 or 14 years old. Instead, I just accepted that people would see me as ugly because my skin is too dark, my hair is too curly, and my nose is too broad.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/961/1HKNG9oCbHOlTAll0rR8fhA.jpeg" width="961" height="961" loading="lazy" /> <p>When I started wearing makeup and looking at makeup tutorial videos, I saw a lot of anti-blackness there too. I noticed this when I learned that I was supposed to make my nose look more narrow, and make my skin look lighter. This was the message I was getting from both the black and white YouTubers. When actually doing makeup, it took me forever to actually look for a foundation because I knew it would be a struggle finding a colour that actually matched my skintone, despite the fact that the makeup aisle of any store is guaranteed to have fifty shades of beige. Even when watching Buzzfeed videos of women getting their makeup done, there was almost always an issue of not making the black woman (and in some instances, other women of colour) look as good as she could have been. I’ve heard of black models complain that makeup artists in fashion shows don’t know how to do makeup on them, and so they have to bring their own makeup which must be annoying as hell. Buzzfeed recently brought out a few <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL28Isp_Dmuv0RFb0G96_cA0nQ-izRGh9I">videos</a> about black women trying nude fashion, which emphasized that the beauty industry pretty much doesn’t cater to us.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1920/15GHGw_9UXVyrE60gMcK3MQ.jpeg" width="1920" height="1080" loading="lazy" /> <p>The beauty of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/blackgirlmagic?source=note">#BlackGirlMagic</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/blackisbeautiful?source=note">#BlackIsBeautiful</a> is that it undoes the harmful messages I received and have taken in from my childhood and adolescence about a part of me that not only can I not control, but I can’t even hide. And I shouldn’t be hiding my blackness when I can embrace it. By showing that black is beautiful, this helps black girls and black women to love themselves, even though things in the media and online are telling them that they shouldn’t. Just like how we need to show that big, curvy women are beautiful, when society tells us that in order to model and be beautiful and be loved that you have to be thin. It took me quite some time to realize that black women are beautiful because I didn’t feel that I myself was beautiful, but I’m glad I reached that point and every new <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/blackgirlmagic?source=note">#BlackGirlMagic</a> photo that I see on social media just reaffirms that.</p> <p>Stating that black women are beautiful doesn’t harm anyone, but it sure helps a whole lot.</p> </section>	Actress Amandla Stenberg The Importance of #BlackGirlMagic This was originally a Facebook note and is simply being republished here. Lately I’ve been seeing #BlackGirlMagic trending, and I’ve been sharing more and more photos of beautiful black women. I do in fact follow a lot of accounts dedicated to the beauty of black women, both on Facebook and Instagram, so I’m fairly used to this. However, many people might not know why this is so important. Actress Laverne Cox The thing is, black women throughout history were perceived as ugly. Go to Google images and search “pretty”, and you will see so many white women before a black woman, and even then we still don’t see many other women of colour. Now if you search “ugly”, you’ll see black people immediately. This isn’t a criticism of Google, but society. In many countries around the world, there’s an explicit emphasis on lighter skin, as there are literally ads for skin lightening creams. As a child I remember colouring pictures of little girls using a specific brown crayon that wasn’t “too dark”. I had Bratz dolls and chose Yasmin over Sasha because I thought Sasha was “too dark”. Actress Lupita Nyong’o The thing is, being a black girl wasn’t just an issue of worrying that I was “too dark” for some people’s liking. As a teenager I spent hours reading articles and watching videos about how black women are unattractive and ultimately undateable. That we were the demographic group that the least amount of people were attracted to. These articles and videos weren’t just made by white people, but people of all races. I remember reading about how Asians have more “feminine” features, and now Africans had naturally more “masculine features”. What were these features you may ask? Dark skin, a broad nose, and pretty much everything that differentiates black people from non-black people. Which of course, is ridiculous. An entire race of people should not be associated with a gender especially since there’s more than one gender in that race. Of course, I didn’t get angry about this stuff when I had read it at 13 or 14 years old. Instead, I just accepted that people would see me as ugly because my skin is too dark, my hair is too curly, and my nose is too broad. YouTuber Kat Blaque When I started wearing makeup and looking at makeup tutorial videos, I saw a lot of anti-blackness there too. I noticed this when I learned that I was supposed to make my nose look more narrow, and make my skin look lighter. This was the message I was getting from both the black and white YouTubers. When actually doing makeup, it took me forever to actually look for a foundation because I knew it would be a struggle finding a colour that actually matched my skintone, despite the fact that the makeup aisle of any store is guaranteed to have fifty shades of beige. Even when watching Buzzfeed videos of women getting their makeup done, there was almost always an issue of not making the black woman (and in some instances, other women of colour) look as good as she could have been. I’ve heard of black models complain that makeup artists in fashion shows don’t know how to do makeup on them, and so they have to bring their own makeup which must be annoying as hell. Buzzfeed recently brought out a few videos about black women trying nude fashion, which emphasized that the beauty industry pretty much doesn’t cater to us. Daysha and Freddie from Buzzfeed The beauty of #BlackGirlMagic and #BlackIsBeautiful is that it undoes the harmful messages I received and have taken in from my childhood and adolescence about a part of me that not only can I not control, but I can’t even hide. And I shouldn’t be hiding my blackness when I can embrace it. By showing that black is beautiful, this helps black girls and black women to love themselves, even though things in the media and online are telling them that they shouldn’t. Just like how we need to show that big, curvy women are beautiful, when society tells us that in order to model and be beautiful and be loved that you have to be thin. It took me quite some time to realize that black women are beautiful because I didn’t feel that I myself was beautiful, but I’m glad I reached that point and every new #BlackGirlMagic photo that I see on social media just reaffirms that. Stating that black women are beautiful doesn’t harm anyone, but it sure helps a whole lot.	529af6cc-e59b-52ef-8b27-89ad822477bf	25/08/2025 16:00:16
https://medium.com/@cryptoresq/openswaps-one-click-bridge-simplicity-at-its-finest-faeca33292ec	medium.com	OpenSwap’s $One Click Bridge: simplicity at its finest	The simplified and smoother way to bridge assets to / from Harmony on the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain networks.	CryptoResQ	https://medium.com/@cryptoresq	faeca33292ec	https://miro.medium.com/…xRVGUZw92x_Q.png	4 min	2021-09-24T13:37:25.209000	2021-10-05T14:53:16.173000	2022-01-05T02:54:21.463000	0	1	en	Openswap,Openswapone,Harmony One,Bridge,Crypto	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1172/1J0Ahv7eJW3xRVGUZw92x_Q.png" width="1172" height="675" loading="lazy" /> <p>In the ever complex world of crypto, OpenSwap strives to deliver products to simplify your life. We are happy to present the OpenSwap $One Click Bridge.</p> <p>This is a simplified and smoother way to use the Horizon bridge supported by Harmony One. The bridge will allow you to transfer tokens / coins across networks. Currently you can bridge assets to / from Harmony on the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain networks. Terra and Polygon are planned to be supported in the near future.</p> <p>Here is a quick tutorial on using the bridge:</p> <p>1. Go to OpenSwap (app.openswap.one). Click on ‘Bridge’ in the top menu to view the main bridge page.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1499/1q6rtYuN8nx9BD9ojVX71Tg.png" width="1499" height="895" loading="lazy" /> <p>2. Click on ‘Select Token’ to choose the token you will be bridging over. A popup will appear letting you choose from any token available. Click on the token icon to populate it into the bridge.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1499/1zqUM90sYhuRLIJOWOUMI0w.png" width="1499" height="895" loading="lazy" /> <p>3. Based on the token you select, you will receive a message to change to the correct network in your wallet. At this time you can access your wallet and change to the appropriate network.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1000/1TzYGfTwKo4iGQpxdcZt7yg.png" width="1000" height="638" loading="lazy" /> <p>4. For MetaMask wallets, click on your wallet and go to the top of the wallet area; in the center is a drop down list of the networks. Click on the appropriate network for the transaction. When you select the correct network, the red highlight message regarding the wrong network will disappear.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1499/1VJ3-5G1MOQUpWKVKPRQRpg.png" width="1499" height="895" loading="lazy" /> <p>5. Enter in the amount you would like to bridge over and click ‘Bridge’.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1499/1fCCddVs-9qmlHbsovyf_9w.png" width="1499" height="895" loading="lazy" /> <p>6. Once you click ‘Bridge’, you will need to confirm that transaction in your wallet. Once confirmed, the ‘Bridge’ icon will show a rotating circle to signify progress on the bridge. The motion of the icon will stop when the bridge is complete.</p> <p><strong>The tokens are successfully bridged over to Harmony and available in your wallet. At this time you can use the tokens to swap , farm, or hold. Enjoy!</strong></p> <p>A few quick notes regarding using any bridges not just OpenSwap’s $One Click Bridge:</p> <ul> <li>It is important to confirm that you have the appropriate tokens available in your wallet for any network fees. On Binance Smart Chain Network, BNB is needed to pay for fees. On Ethereum, ETH is needed to pay for fees.</li> <li>If the newly bridged tokens are not showing up in your wallet, you may need to approve adding the tokens in your actual wallet. Additional information may be found in your OpenSwap guide on the ‘<a href="https://docs.openswap.one/adding-tokens-to-a-wallet">Adding Tokens to your Wallet</a>’ section.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Sending tokens from Harmony to other networks</strong></p> <p>The process of sending tokens from harmony back to the perspective network is just as simple as bring them over. All of the steps are the same with a little twist. After selecting the token to bridge, click the ‘Swap’ button located between the two networks. This will reverse the networks and have you sending the token from Harmony to the original network. At this time, you will follow all the same steps to complete the bridge.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1499/1ylui5-vHjJodBwVGCcewhg.png" width="1499" height="895" loading="lazy" /> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1172/1CU685ZrauBm9lvWSPPhlIA.png" width="1172" height="10" loading="lazy" /> <p><em>OpenSwap (app.openswap.one) </em>is a fast and secure non-custodial decentralized exchange that serves as a one-stop-shop to buy, trade, and earn crypto whether you’re from the Harmony, Ethereum, or Binance Smart Chain networks. OpenSwap allows Harmony users to seamlessly trade peer to peer without the tokens ever leaving the original wallet and through liquidity supplied by other users of the platform. With OpenSwap, users can: - Exchange Tokens/Coins - Provide Liquidity to Pools - Earn Rewards by Staking in Lucrative Incentivized Liquidity Pools - View ‘Personal Farming Profile’ detailing your rewards including Total Stake Value, Average APR %, Total Current Rewards, and Total Current Rewards in USD - Simplified Bridge for Tokens/Coins to and from the Harmony, Ethereum, and Binance Smart Chain Network - Collect Fees on Provided Liquidity Without Staking - Vote on Governance Decisions, Including Adding New Tokens</p> <p>Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/OpenSwap_one">https://twitter.com/OpenSwap_one</a> Telegram: <a href="https://t.me/OpenSwap_Harmony">https://t.me/OpenSwap_Harmony</a> Discord: <a href="https://discord.gg/Hau5FFPxzS">https://discord.gg/Hau5FFPxzS</a> Reddit: <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenSwap_Harmony/">https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenSwap_Harmony/</a></p> </section>	OpenSwap’s $One Click Bridge: simplicity at its finest In the ever complex world of crypto, OpenSwap strives to deliver products to simplify your life. We are happy to present the OpenSwap $One Click Bridge. This is a simplified and smoother way to use the Horizon bridge supported by Harmony One. The bridge will allow you to transfer tokens / coins across networks. Currently you can bridge assets to / from Harmony on the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain networks. Terra and Polygon are planned to be supported in the near future. Here is a quick tutorial on using the bridge: 1. Go to OpenSwap (app.openswap.one). Click on ‘Bridge’ in the top menu to view the main bridge page. 2. Click on ‘Select Token’ to choose the token you will be bridging over. A popup will appear letting you choose from any token available. Click on the token icon to populate it into the bridge. 3. Based on the token you select, you will receive a message to change to the correct network in your wallet. At this time you can access your wallet and change to the appropriate network. 4. For MetaMask wallets, click on your wallet and go to the top of the wallet area; in the center is a drop down list of the networks. Click on the appropriate network for the transaction. When you select the correct network, the red highlight message regarding the wrong network will disappear. 5. Enter in the amount you would like to bridge over and click ‘Bridge’. 6. Once you click ‘Bridge’, you will need to confirm that transaction in your wallet. Once confirmed, the ‘Bridge’ icon will show a rotating circle to signify progress on the bridge. The motion of the icon will stop when the bridge is complete. The tokens are successfully bridged over to Harmony and available in your wallet. At this time you can use the tokens to swap , farm, or hold. Enjoy! A few quick notes regarding using any bridges not just OpenSwap’s $One Click Bridge: It is important to confirm that you have the appropriate tokens available in your wallet for any network fees. On Binance Smart Chain Network, BNB is needed to pay for fees. On Ethereum, ETH is needed to pay for fees. If the newly bridged tokens are not showing up in your wallet, you may need to approve adding the tokens in your actual wallet. Additional information may be found in your OpenSwap guide on the ‘Adding Tokens to your Wallet’ section. Sending tokens from Harmony to other networks The process of sending tokens from harmony back to the perspective network is just as simple as bring them over. All of the steps are the same with a little twist. After selecting the token to bridge, click the ‘Swap’ button located between the two networks. This will reverse the networks and have you sending the token from Harmony to the original network. At this time, you will follow all the same steps to complete the bridge. OpenSwap (app.openswap.one) is a fast and secure non-custodial decentralized exchange that serves as a one-stop-shop to buy, trade, and earn crypto whether you’re from the Harmony, Ethereum, or Binance Smart Chain networks. OpenSwap allows Harmony users to seamlessly trade peer to peer without the tokens ever leaving the original wallet and through liquidity supplied by other users of the platform. With OpenSwap, users can: - Exchange Tokens/Coins - Provide Liquidity to Pools - Earn Rewards by Staking in Lucrative Incentivized Liquidity Pools - View ‘Personal Farming Profile’ detailing your rewards including Total Stake Value, Average APR %, Total Current Rewards, and Total Current Rewards in USD - Simplified Bridge for Tokens/Coins to and from the Harmony, Ethereum, and Binance Smart Chain Network - Collect Fees on Provided Liquidity Without Staking - Vote on Governance Decisions, Including Adding New Tokens Twitter: https://twitter.com/OpenSwap_one Telegram: https://t.me/OpenSwap_Harmony Discord: https://discord.gg/Hau5FFPxzS Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenSwap_Harmony/	736b0b62-6328-5f42-bfdc-82feea6395a8	25/08/2025 16:00:16
https://maureennkamau.medium.com/the-day-time-moon-6a0e020c118c	medium.com	The Day-Time Moon	Rainbows In a Desert & MJ’s Mum	Maureen Kamau	https://medium.com/@maureennkamau	6a0e020c118c	https://miro.medium.com/max/2000/0*0SrJXkfSWSqJU-Vq	2 min	2021-05-07T14:19:08.461000	2021-05-07T14:52:07.520000	2022-01-06T21:39:50.813000	2	6	en	Mothers Day,Medium Stories	<section> <p>Rainbows In a Desert & MJ’s Mum</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/4608/0*0SrJXkfSWSqJU-Vq" width="4608" height="3456" loading="lazy" /> <p>I was busy creating something for my mother,a wordy message as usual for Mother’s Day with extra fillings of love and praise when my phone lit up.</p> <p>A friend had sent me the saddest text,it said, “My Mum passed on yesterday,pray.”</p> <p>And it hit me,hard. Somewhere in the chest. Like a rain of sharp heavy rocks. After losing his Dad a few months ago,he treasured his only living parent more than ever. His mother was everything a great mum could be; and she always called him his favorite son. Well, he is the only son.</p> <p>She was funny. I love funny mothers,the sort that crack you up by saying the most ordinary things like, “Shave your beard if you want to get a girlfriend anytime soon.” She also used to tell him to get married,that she needs grand kids to spoil. She was a good cook too,I think foodies are made by mothers who cook really well.</p> <p>For the first time in all our conversations, I didn’t know what to say. But I cried, a good one. My heart broke. I imagined what it will be like to visit his mother’s house and find it empty except for stuff that smell like her.Maybe he’ll hear her voice or see a stranger who look exactly like her.</p> <p>After a while, I wrote back a short message expressing my empathy. There will be no more new stories of Mama MJ,just memories. Her life on earth stopped when she breathed her last,but she will always be remembered by everyone who knew her or heard about her.</p> <p>How do you console a friend whose world seems to have stopped? How can sorry feel so small,like digging a mountain with a pin? How does “my condolences” make things better? Maybe now; Some days are colder than others,some with endless darkness. And others like this one, are too quiet, too solemn.</p> <p>How will sorry help when; It’s another day where reality is too painful, too scary,too final.</p> <p>No one gets over a Mum,her love lives on. Her phone number remains memorized,her laughter recorded in the long-term memory.</p> <p>Tell me, how do you console someone who has lost the one who gave them life?</p> <p>For those whose Mother’s Day is a painful reminder of an irreplaceable loss,we don’t fully understand your pain. But we are here and we remember them when we see and hear you. We are here,we make your audience,tell us about them.</p> <p>May you find a reason to smile even when you’d rather curl and sob. May you find the strength to remember laughter and more reasons to celebrate the departed queens.</p> <p>Mothers live forever;especially the best ones who are in our every story,in our formative habits,and our favorite memories.</p> </section>	The Day-Time Moon Rainbows In a Desert & MJ’s Mum Photo by Manu Luna on Unsplash I was busy creating something for my mother,a wordy message as usual for Mother’s Day with extra fillings of love and praise when my phone lit up. A friend had sent me the saddest text,it said, “My Mum passed on yesterday,pray.” And it hit me,hard. Somewhere in the chest. Like a rain of sharp heavy rocks. After losing his Dad a few months ago,he treasured his only living parent more than ever. His mother was everything a great mum could be; and she always called him his favorite son. Well, he is the only son. She was funny. I love funny mothers,the sort that crack you up by saying the most ordinary things like, “Shave your beard if you want to get a girlfriend anytime soon.” She also used to tell him to get married,that she needs grand kids to spoil. She was a good cook too,I think foodies are made by mothers who cook really well. For the first time in all our conversations, I didn’t know what to say. But I cried, a good one. My heart broke. I imagined what it will be like to visit his mother’s house and find it empty except for stuff that smell like her.Maybe he’ll hear her voice or see a stranger who look exactly like her. After a while, I wrote back a short message expressing my empathy. There will be no more new stories of Mama MJ,just memories. Her life on earth stopped when she breathed her last,but she will always be remembered by everyone who knew her or heard about her. How do you console a friend whose world seems to have stopped? How can sorry feel so small,like digging a mountain with a pin? How does “my condolences” make things better? Maybe now; Some days are colder than others,some with endless darkness. And others like this one, are too quiet, too solemn. How will sorry help when; It’s another day where reality is too painful, too scary,too final. No one gets over a Mum,her love lives on. Her phone number remains memorized,her laughter recorded in the long-term memory. Tell me, how do you console someone who has lost the one who gave them life? For those whose Mother’s Day is a painful reminder of an irreplaceable loss,we don’t fully understand your pain. But we are here and we remember them when we see and hear you. We are here,we make your audience,tell us about them. May you find a reason to smile even when you’d rather curl and sob. May you find the strength to remember laughter and more reasons to celebrate the departed queens. Mothers live forever;especially the best ones who are in our every story,in our formative habits,and our favorite memories.	77ffaa75-7646-54f3-8fd3-d4806cbe527e	25/08/2025 16:00:16
https://medium.com/hallhang/no-housemates-for-next-year-no-problem-%EF%B8%8F-3607850b0121	medium.com	No Housemates For Next Year? No Problem. ☝️	It is more common than you think, and there’s no shame in it. Whatever your reason for going it alone, be it your choice or sheer…	Housemates	https://medium.com/@housemates	3607850b0121	https://miro.medium.com/max/2000/0*EyarniD94NkFwLk0	2 min	2019-02-27T18:01:27.758000	2019-02-27T18:09:16	2021-12-08T17:20:34.843000	0	0	en	University,College,Students,Housemates	<section> <p>It is more common than you think, and there’s no shame in it. Whatever your reason for going it alone, be it your choice or sheer necessity, here are some options.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/3000/0*EyarniD94NkFwLk0" width="3000" height="2000" loading="lazy" /> <h3>Try Using Housemates</h3> <p>Our neighbourhood functionality can help you find new and exciting people to live with. On the flip side if you’re wanting to be more independent you can book studios in cities are the UK with us. You can download us for free on the Apple App Store: <a href="http://bit.ly/download-housemates">http://bit.ly/download-housemates</a></p> <h3>Look For Vaccanices</h3> <p>If you still want to live with others, look on your uni’s various Facebook groups for people looking to fill spaces in houses. People drop out of housing agreements all the moment, so the chances of you finding a spare space in a house or flat is very high. It’s just a matter of finding the right people for you to live with — try and get to know them a bit before moving in if possible, or if you’re feeling lucky, take the plunge and hope for the best!</p> <h3>Move Back Into Halls</h3> <p>A safe option, you’re guaranteed a decent (ish) standard of living and fellow student company. If you’re not in the first year then you’re also likely to be a bit more clued in as to which has are the best value, so you’ll have an advantage there. You’ll want to be aware that if you end up living with freshers, however, that your flat may not be as quiet and studious as you’d like, so bear that in mind.</p> <h3>Get A One Bedroom Flat</h3> <p>Why not go it alone? Loads of private halls offer one bedroom flats designed for students, and this can be a great way of adjusting to life after uni too where living alone is more likely. Plus, you’ll never have to have a go at anyone for leaving their pans in the sink ever again. Win-win!</p> <h3>Ask Around</h3> <p>Don’t want to live with total strangers or alone? Ask around within your friendship groups, and you’ll surely find that some of your acquaintances are looking for living arrangements too. Sure, you may not be living with your best mates, but living with a couple of others who have several mutual friends with you surely can’t be that bad. You’ll bee more likely to get on. Maybe you’ll become even closer once you’re thrown together in a house!</p> <p>Team Housemates</p> <p></p> </section>	No Housemates For Next Year? No Problem. ☝️ It is more common than you think, and there’s no shame in it. Whatever your reason for going it alone, be it your choice or sheer necessity, here are some options. Photo by Ben Duchac on Unsplash Try Using Housemates Our neighbourhood functionality can help you find new and exciting people to live with. On the flip side if you’re wanting to be more independent you can book studios in cities are the UK with us. You can download us for free on the Apple App Store: http://bit.ly/download-housemates Look For Vaccanices If you still want to live with others, look on your uni’s various Facebook groups for people looking to fill spaces in houses. People drop out of housing agreements all the moment, so the chances of you finding a spare space in a house or flat is very high. It’s just a matter of finding the right people for you to live with — try and get to know them a bit before moving in if possible, or if you’re feeling lucky, take the plunge and hope for the best! Move Back Into Halls A safe option, you’re guaranteed a decent (ish) standard of living and fellow student company. If you’re not in the first year then you’re also likely to be a bit more clued in as to which has are the best value, so you’ll have an advantage there. You’ll want to be aware that if you end up living with freshers, however, that your flat may not be as quiet and studious as you’d like, so bear that in mind. Get A One Bedroom Flat Why not go it alone? Loads of private halls offer one bedroom flats designed for students, and this can be a great way of adjusting to life after uni too where living alone is more likely. Plus, you’ll never have to have a go at anyone for leaving their pans in the sink ever again. Win-win! Ask Around Don’t want to live with total strangers or alone? Ask around within your friendship groups, and you’ll surely find that some of your acquaintances are looking for living arrangements too. Sure, you may not be living with your best mates, but living with a couple of others who have several mutual friends with you surely can’t be that bad. You’ll bee more likely to get on. Maybe you’ll become even closer once you’re thrown together in a house! Team Housemates	b3832248-8ef3-5bdc-90a3-80c95c00f673	25/08/2025 16:00:17
https://donewthreligion.medium.com/should-we-judge-a-person-by-their-character-or-beliefs-in-god-cc9d76cccc56	medium.com	Should We Judge A Person By Their Character Or Beliefs In God?	by Mike Edwards	Done with Religion	https://medium.com/@donewthreligion	cc9d76cccc56	null	2 min	2021-06-08T00:21:06.816000	2021-06-08T00:22:27.199000	2022-01-06T14:19:16.189000	0	50	en	Christian Living,Christian,Judgement,Bible,Religion	<section> <p>by Mike Edwards</p> <p>I am not suggesting God-folks become “judge” freaks. I am reacting to the claims of many that the Bible was written so that people must have certain beliefs to avoid Hell and God’s wrath. Many scholars now recognize that the Bible’s main message is expressing God’s desire to have a relationship with each and every individual in this world to face inevitable challenges. <a href="http://what-god-may-really-be-like.com/2020/04/27/god-what-are-you-saving-us-from-since-hell-doesnt-exist/">See here.</a></p> <p>If judgment is necessary, shouldn’t we judge one by their character rather than their color, gender, religion, or beliefs in God? It’s hard to know why some believe in a God and not others. Neither is hardly a personality flaw. I doubt a loving God plays favorites, giving some the feeling to believe and not others. If God is real, they are big enough to make their case with each individual. But it is a universal principle, except for the selfish, that we ought to treat others like we want to be treated.</p> <p><strong>It is a myth that those who don’t believe in God are rebellious or in denial</strong></p> <p>It just isn’t true that those who aren’t into God deny reality to justify their immorality. Not my friends! Some Christians’ morality is suspect! Let’s not accuse those who put their faith in God as needing a crutch or accuse those who question the reality of an invisible God as desiring to excuse their actions. If wrong to doubt God exists, Christians sin if they doubt God in tough times.</p> <p><strong>A good God surely doesn’t judge one according to their religion</strong></p> <p>God isn’t a God of chance! John Hick wrote: <em>“…in the vast majority of cases, probably 98 or 99 per cent, the religion to which anyone adheres (or against which they rebel) depends upon where they are born. When someone is born into a Christian family, they are very likely to become a Christian, whether practicing or nominal; when into a Muslim family, very likely to become a Muslim; if into a Buddhist family, to become a Buddhist — and so on round the world” </em>(Who Or What Is God, p. 73). Some misunderstand God due to certain claims made by Christians. <strong><a href="</strong>http://what-god-may-really-be-like.com/2021/05/30/could-our-claims-about-god-turn-people-off/">See here.</a></p> <p><strong>God-folks and Christians please…….</strong></p> <p>Let’s stop judging others who don’t share our same beliefs in God. I was taught as a child there was a Creator. I was also taught many views of God that I now hate. I have no idea why I didn’t rebel against the whole idea of a God. Let’s encourage others to consider what kind of person they want to be deep down or wish their parents or friends were. One’s belief and desire for help is between God and each person. My story is I am a better husband, father, and friend than I normally would be because of the insights, encouragement, and forgiveness that I sense from my Creator.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/125/0*nb6lZNpx9mvVbNM8" width="125" height="125" loading="lazy" /> <p>Mike Edwards has been writing for Done with Religion for some time and has been a great addition to the site. Mike also has his own site where he writes that can be found at <a href="https://what-god-may-really-be-like.com/">What God May Really Be Like</a> He can be contacted by email at: <a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&[email protected]">[email protected]</a></p> </section>	Should We Judge A Person By Their Character Or Beliefs In God? by Mike Edwards I am not suggesting God-folks become “judge” freaks. I am reacting to the claims of many that the Bible was written so that people must have certain beliefs to avoid Hell and God’s wrath. Many scholars now recognize that the Bible’s main message is expressing God’s desire to have a relationship with each and every individual in this world to face inevitable challenges. See here. If judgment is necessary, shouldn’t we judge one by their character rather than their color, gender, religion, or beliefs in God? It’s hard to know why some believe in a God and not others. Neither is hardly a personality flaw. I doubt a loving God plays favorites, giving some the feeling to believe and not others. If God is real, they are big enough to make their case with each individual. But it is a universal principle, except for the selfish, that we ought to treat others like we want to be treated. It is a myth that those who don’t believe in God are rebellious or in denial It just isn’t true that those who aren’t into God deny reality to justify their immorality. Not my friends! Some Christians’ morality is suspect! Let’s not accuse those who put their faith in God as needing a crutch or accuse those who question the reality of an invisible God as desiring to excuse their actions. If wrong to doubt God exists, Christians sin if they doubt God in tough times. A good God surely doesn’t judge one according to their religion God isn’t a God of chance! John Hick wrote: “…in the vast majority of cases, probably 98 or 99 per cent, the religion to which anyone adheres (or against which they rebel) depends upon where they are born. When someone is born into a Christian family, they are very likely to become a Christian, whether practicing or nominal; when into a Muslim family, very likely to become a Muslim; if into a Buddhist family, to become a Buddhist — and so on round the world” (Who Or What Is God, p. 73). Some misunderstand God due to certain claims made by Christians. See here. God-folks and Christians please……. Let’s stop judging others who don’t share our same beliefs in God. I was taught as a child there was a Creator. I was also taught many views of God that I now hate. I have no idea why I didn’t rebel against the whole idea of a God. Let’s encourage others to consider what kind of person they want to be deep down or wish their parents or friends were. One’s belief and desire for help is between God and each person. My story is I am a better husband, father, and friend than I normally would be because of the insights, encouragement, and forgiveness that I sense from my Creator. Mike Edwards has been writing for Done with Religion for some time and has been a great addition to the site. Mike also has his own site where he writes that can be found at What God May Really Be Like He can be contacted by email at: [email protected]	c35b4719-5da5-59a2-af54-581ab356903d	25/08/2025 16:00:17
https://medium.com/kineticslive-com/who-has-the-right-to-be-violent-25809b988029	medium.com	Who Has The Right to Be Violent?	In July I was invited to speak about the #BaltimoreUprising at the Duke Summer Institute for Reconciliation. My presentation focused on…	Jamye Wooten	https://medium.com/@KineticsLive	25809b988029	https://miro.medium.com/…gLbdVv-1FNw.jpeg	6 min	2016-05-04T22:12:59.513000	2015-12-17T21:42:39	2018-01-31T19:44:24.398000	0	2	en	BlackLivesMatter,Politics,Baltimore,Jamye Wooten,Christianity	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1200/1*zm_jZYi-LZsgLbdVv-1FNw.jpeg" width="1200" height="717" loading="lazy" /> <p>In July I was invited to speak about the <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23BaltimoreUprising&src=typd">#BaltimoreUprising</a> at the <a href="https://divinity.duke.edu/summer-institute">Duke Summer Institute for Reconciliation</a>. My presentation focused on “<a href="http://kineticscom.com/jamye-wooten-speaks-on-lament-in-response-to-state-violence-duke-divinity-freddiegray/">Why We Cry, How We Cry and Who Can Cry?</a>” in response to state violence.</p> <p>“Why We Cry” dealt with the systemic and structural violence in Baltimore City — the years of neglect, disinvestment and underdevelopment. “How We Cry (The Uprising)” addressed the community’s response to state violence and systemic and structural violence. And finally, “Who Can Cry?” raised the question of whether certain groups are allowed to express their pain publicly. Do blacks or the most marginalized in our society have the right to express frustration, anger, and outrage? Do they have the right, even, to be violent?”</p> <p>These complex questions arise from a seemingly unending stream of difficult facts in America. From Trayvon Martin to Freddie Gray, the world has watched interactions between unarmed African Americans and law enforcement end in the death of black bodies. In a study entitled “<a href="http://www.operationghettostorm.org/">Operation Ghetto Storm</a>,” the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement found that at least 313 African Americans were killed by police, security guards, and self-appointed vigilantes in 2012. The group’s research found that one black person was killed in an extrajudicial shooting every 28 hours.</p> <p><em>Do blacks or the most marginalized in our society have the right to express frustration, anger, and outrage? Do they have the right, even, to be violent?</em></p> <p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counted-police-killings-us-database">The Counted</a>, a project by the <em>Guardian</em> newspaper documenting the number of people killed by police and other law enforcement agencies in the United States, has shown that as of November 1, 2015, some 957 people have been killed by the police in the United States. This past June, the <em>Guardian</em> published an article entitled “<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/01/black-americans-killed-by-police-analysis">Black Americans killed by police are twice as likely to be unarmed as white people</a>.” According to the piece, “32% of black people killed by police in 2015 were unarmed, as were 25% of Hispanic and Latino people, compared with 15% of white people killed.”</p> <p>In response to these brutal facts, the national media in the United States have concentrated on <em>How We Cry</em> — on the anguish of African American family members, friends, and communities in the aftermath of wave upon wave of violence. But the Rev. Heber Brown, III, co-founder of <a href="http://bmoreunited.org/">Baltimore United for Change</a>, has reminded us to “Be wary of those who are more concerned with the expression of your pain than the condition of your suffering.” To wit, one recent video by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGJMgCn0fQs">Brave New Films</a> points to media bias between white rioters and black protesters, illustrating the ways in which blacks are often portrayed as violent.</p> <p>After the death of Freddie Gray at the hands of Baltimore City Police, I joined with other grassroots activists in Baltimore to form <a href="http://bmoreunited.org/">Baltimore United for Change</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/Bmore_United">#BmoreUnited</a>), a coalition made up of social action groups, faith-based organizations, and concerned citizens working for justice in Baltimore City. We organized peaceful protests and held numerous <a href="http://bmoreunited.org/2015/05/non-violent-civil-disobedience-training-w-rev-osagyefo-sekou/">nonviolent civil disobedience trainings</a> for the community.</p> <p>But even peaceful protests by African Americans can be viewed negatively by whites.</p> <p>“Most white Americans generally believe that protests are good for the country, but they hold significant reservations about protests led by African Americans,” explained Dr. Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). In a <a href="http://publicreligion.org/research/2015/06/survey-americans-believe-protests-make-country-better-support-decreases-dramatically-protesters-identified-black/#.VjwGyrerTIX">recent survey</a>, PRRI found that “two-thirds (67%) of white Americans agree that Americans protesting government mistreatment always leave the country better off. But fewer than half (48%) of whites say the same when asked about black Americans speaking out against and protesting unfair treatment by the government.”</p> <p>And whites aren’t alone in this perspective. In a press conference about the Baltimore Uprisings, President Obama referred to “looters” as “thugs and criminals.” Though he addressed some of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0P3dzC_gpg">the systemic and structural issues that plague Baltimore</a>, he also said that there was no excuse for the violence. Afterward, local leaders — particularly clergy — were bombarded with questions and asked to condemn the broken windows and looting.</p> <p>I find it particularly curious that whenever the state is violent toward the Black community, and the community mobilizes in response to that violence, the media begin to focus upon individuals I call “Preacher Pacifiers.” So often, members of the clergy who have been the most silent concerning state violence are tasked with bringing calm and peace to their communities–with restoring things back to “normal.”</p> <p>Unfortunately, in some instances, these Preacher Pacifiers “treat the wound of my people carelessly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace” (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+6%3A14&version=NRSV">Jeremiah 6:14</a>). They ask for peace without addressing the root causes of its disruption. For that reason, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. took on Preacher Pacifiers in a 1968 speech (“<a href="http://www.gphistorical.org/mlk/mlkspeech/">The Other America</a>”), when he insisted, “It is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society.”</p> <p>It’s interesting. Less than a week before President Obama contended that “there was no excuse for the violence in Baltimore,” an April <em>New York Times</em> article quoted him as saying, in defense of his military drone strikes, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/world/asia/drone-strikes-reveal-uncomfortable-truth-us-is-often-unsure-about-who-will-die.html">“Let’s kill the people who are trying to kill us.”</a> Similarly, when Israel led a 51-day military offensive in the summer of 2014 that resulted in the deaths of over 2,300 Palestinians, Obama claimed that Israel had “a right to defend itself.” In response, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges <a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=12197">argued that</a> “We are deeply complicit in the slaughter that is being unleashed by the Israeli military against a defenseless population, a population that has no air force, no navy, no command-and-control, no mechanized units, no heavy artillery, and certainly no air force.”</p> <p><em>Black preachers are expected to serve as a buffer between the violent state and the increasingly frustrated Black community.</em></p> <p>Given the situation in Israel, we can see that extrajudicial killings in which the state serves as judge, jury and executioner of black and brown people are not simply a domestic issue. <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/category/projects/drones/drones-graphs/">Since 2004</a> the US has conducted over 400 drone strikes, killing more than 2,400 civilians in Pakistan. Three hundred seventy of the strikes have been conducted under the Obama administration, and it is estimated those particular attacks have injured up to 1,700 citizens and killed as many as 1,000 more — including 200 children. Despite such high casualty rates and uncertainty regarding targets, two-thirds of <a href="http://www.people-press.org/2015/05/28/public-continues-to-back-u-s-drone-attacks/">Americans support</a> the use of targeted killing.</p> <p>Even though Black Christian leaders are often called upon to condemn local grassroots uprisings that arise in response to state violence, they are rarely asked to condemn violence perpetrated by the state itself, domestically or abroad. Apparently, America isn’t all that interested in what Black preachers think about foreign policy; their role is not to mettle in foreign affairs. That said, keeping peace is a pressing domestic issue — and that’s why Black preachers are expected to serve as a buffer between the violent state and the increasingly frustrated Black community.</p> <p>At the end of the day, it seems as though only some lives are worth defending — and as though only select groups of individuals are allowed to be violent in taking up that defense.</p> <p>But whom, exactly, should be granted the right to exercise violence while defending lives, families, and communities? That is not a legal question; it has more to do with moral consistency. And, to be clear: my purpose in raising this question is not to advocate for violence among those in social movements, but rather to demand a more critical appraisal of who has the right to be violent, and how we view violence. According to the Pew Research Center, the <a href="http://www.pewforum.org/2015/01/05/faith-on-the-hill/">114th Congress</a> is overwhelmingly white, male, and Christian; 92% of Congress members identify with that particular faith tradition. This very white, male and Christian Congress has supported preemptive war, drones, torture, the aggression of Israel, and policies that bolster the sort of structural violence in urban communities that disproportionately affects Blacks. Despite the media representations of out-of-control Black looters and protestors, the verifiable facts tell a very different story about the sources, practices, and privileges of violence in America.</p> <p>America was founded on violence, and I suppose it will continue to be violent. As we continue to tweet Black death — as Black bodies are gunned down by the hands of the state with what should be (but alas is not) a wrenching regularity — is there a moral response to state-sponsored terror beyond nonviolent civil disobedience? Is violence only an option for the powerful, white, and Christian?</p> <p>Who gets to decide when violence is acceptable, moral, and even Christian? Who gets to decide that a brick in Baltimore is more violent than — <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/09/us/louisiana-child-shooting/">just this week</a> — a police officer’s gun in Louisiana, or, for that matter, a drone in Pakistan?</p> <p>Before we get down to sorting out how to reduce violence, I am suggesting that we must tackle a far more difficult question: Who, exactly, has the right to be violent?</p> <p><strong><a href="http://www.thebtscenter</strong>.org/who-has-the-right-to-be-violent/">Who Has The Right to Be Violent? <em>By Jamye Wooten. Posted by Bearings on , in 21stCenturyCulture, Bearings Review 2016 In July I was invited to speak…</em>www.thebtsc</a>enter.org</p> <p><em>Originally published at <a href="http://kineticslive.com/who-h</em>as-the-right-to-be-violent/">kineticslive.com</a> on December 17, 2015.</p> </section>	Who Has The Right to Be Violent? In July I was invited to speak about the #BaltimoreUprising at the Duke Summer Institute for Reconciliation. My presentation focused on “Why We Cry, How We Cry and Who Can Cry?” in response to state violence. “Why We Cry” dealt with the systemic and structural violence in Baltimore City — the years of neglect, disinvestment and underdevelopment. “How We Cry (The Uprising)” addressed the community’s response to state violence and systemic and structural violence. And finally, “Who Can Cry?” raised the question of whether certain groups are allowed to express their pain publicly. Do blacks or the most marginalized in our society have the right to express frustration, anger, and outrage? Do they have the right, even, to be violent?” These complex questions arise from a seemingly unending stream of difficult facts in America. From Trayvon Martin to Freddie Gray, the world has watched interactions between unarmed African Americans and law enforcement end in the death of black bodies. In a study entitled “Operation Ghetto Storm,” the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement found that at least 313 African Americans were killed by police, security guards, and self-appointed vigilantes in 2012. The group’s research found that one black person was killed in an extrajudicial shooting every 28 hours. Do blacks or the most marginalized in our society have the right to express frustration, anger, and outrage? Do they have the right, even, to be violent? The Counted, a project by the Guardian newspaper documenting the number of people killed by police and other law enforcement agencies in the United States, has shown that as of November 1, 2015, some 957 people have been killed by the police in the United States. This past June, the Guardian published an article entitled “Black Americans killed by police are twice as likely to be unarmed as white people.” According to the piece, “32% of black people killed by police in 2015 were unarmed, as were 25% of Hispanic and Latino people, compared with 15% of white people killed.” In response to these brutal facts, the national media in the United States have concentrated on How We Cry — on the anguish of African American family members, friends, and communities in the aftermath of wave upon wave of violence. But the Rev. Heber Brown, III, co-founder of Baltimore United for Change, has reminded us to “Be wary of those who are more concerned with the expression of your pain than the condition of your suffering.” To wit, one recent video by Brave New Films points to media bias between white rioters and black protesters, illustrating the ways in which blacks are often portrayed as violent. After the death of Freddie Gray at the hands of Baltimore City Police, I joined with other grassroots activists in Baltimore to form Baltimore United for Change (#BmoreUnited), a coalition made up of social action groups, faith-based organizations, and concerned citizens working for justice in Baltimore City. We organized peaceful protests and held numerous nonviolent civil disobedience trainings for the community. But even peaceful protests by African Americans can be viewed negatively by whites. “Most white Americans generally believe that protests are good for the country, but they hold significant reservations about protests led by African Americans,” explained Dr. Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). In a recent survey, PRRI found that “two-thirds (67%) of white Americans agree that Americans protesting government mistreatment always leave the country better off. But fewer than half (48%) of whites say the same when asked about black Americans speaking out against and protesting unfair treatment by the government.” And whites aren’t alone in this perspective. In a press conference about the Baltimore Uprisings, President Obama referred to “looters” as “thugs and criminals.” Though he addressed some of the systemic and structural issues that plague Baltimore, he also said that there was no excuse for the violence. Afterward, local leaders — particularly clergy — were bombarded with questions and asked to condemn the broken windows and looting. I find it particularly curious that whenever the state is violent toward the Black community, and the community mobilizes in response to that violence, the media begin to focus upon individuals I call “Preacher Pacifiers.” So often, members of the clergy who have been the most silent concerning state violence are tasked with bringing calm and peace to their communities–with restoring things back to “normal.” Unfortunately, in some instances, these Preacher Pacifiers “treat the wound of my people carelessly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14). They ask for peace without addressing the root causes of its disruption. For that reason, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. took on Preacher Pacifiers in a 1968 speech (“The Other America”), when he insisted, “It is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society.” It’s interesting. Less than a week before President Obama contended that “there was no excuse for the violence in Baltimore,” an April New York Times article quoted him as saying, in defense of his military drone strikes, “Let’s kill the people who are trying to kill us.” Similarly, when Israel led a 51-day military offensive in the summer of 2014 that resulted in the deaths of over 2,300 Palestinians, Obama claimed that Israel had “a right to defend itself.” In response, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges argued that “We are deeply complicit in the slaughter that is being unleashed by the Israeli military against a defenseless population, a population that has no air force, no navy, no command-and-control, no mechanized units, no heavy artillery, and certainly no air force.” Black preachers are expected to serve as a buffer between the violent state and the increasingly frustrated Black community. Given the situation in Israel, we can see that extrajudicial killings in which the state serves as judge, jury and executioner of black and brown people are not simply a domestic issue. Since 2004 the US has conducted over 400 drone strikes, killing more than 2,400 civilians in Pakistan. Three hundred seventy of the strikes have been conducted under the Obama administration, and it is estimated those particular attacks have injured up to 1,700 citizens and killed as many as 1,000 more — including 200 children. Despite such high casualty rates and uncertainty regarding targets, two-thirds of Americans support the use of targeted killing. Even though Black Christian leaders are often called upon to condemn local grassroots uprisings that arise in response to state violence, they are rarely asked to condemn violence perpetrated by the state itself, domestically or abroad. Apparently, America isn’t all that interested in what Black preachers think about foreign policy; their role is not to mettle in foreign affairs. That said, keeping peace is a pressing domestic issue — and that’s why Black preachers are expected to serve as a buffer between the violent state and the increasingly frustrated Black community. At the end of the day, it seems as though only some lives are worth defending — and as though only select groups of individuals are allowed to be violent in taking up that defense. But whom, exactly, should be granted the right to exercise violence while defending lives, families, and communities? That is not a legal question; it has more to do with moral consistency. And, to be clear: my purpose in raising this question is not to advocate for violence among those in social movements, but rather to demand a more critical appraisal of who has the right to be violent, and how we view violence. According to the Pew Research Center, the 114th Congress is overwhelmingly white, male, and Christian; 92% of Congress members identify with that particular faith tradition. This very white, male and Christian Congress has supported preemptive war, drones, torture, the aggression of Israel, and policies that bolster the sort of structural violence in urban communities that disproportionately affects Blacks. Despite the media representations of out-of-control Black looters and protestors, the verifiable facts tell a very different story about the sources, practices, and privileges of violence in America. America was founded on violence, and I suppose it will continue to be violent. As we continue to tweet Black death — as Black bodies are gunned down by the hands of the state with what should be (but alas is not) a wrenching regularity — is there a moral response to state-sponsored terror beyond nonviolent civil disobedience? Is violence only an option for the powerful, white, and Christian? Who gets to decide when violence is acceptable, moral, and even Christian? Who gets to decide that a brick in Baltimore is more violent than — just this week — a police officer’s gun in Louisiana, or, for that matter, a drone in Pakistan? Before we get down to sorting out how to reduce violence, I am suggesting that we must tackle a far more difficult question: Who, exactly, has the right to be violent? Who Has The Right to Be Violent? By Jamye Wooten. Posted by Bearings on , in 21stCenturyCulture, Bearings Review 2016 In July I was invited to speak…www.thebtscenter.org Originally published at kineticslive.com on December 17, 2015.	900d46f1-c227-5214-b8e4-59e3d8da1d91	25/08/2025 16:00:17
https://ciprian-a.medium.com/exist-in-this-moment-6888ca174a34	medium.com	Exist in this moment	Do you understand how extraordinary it is that you exist in this moment? You have overcome many obstacles to get here, the best you can do…	Ciprian Andronic	https://medium.com/@ciprian-a	6888ca174a34	https://miro.medium.com/max/2000/0*zOUBR9SQFxt5LtuQ	2 min	2024-03-03T20:41:56.724000	2024-03-04T02:01:39.063000	2024-11-30T21:29:18.156000	0	0	en	Exist,Exist In This Moment,Failure,Focus On The Good,This Moment	<section> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/5184/0*zOUBR9SQFxt5LtuQ" width="5184" height="3456" loading="lazy" /> <p>Do you understand how extraordinary it is that you exist in this moment? You have overcome many obstacles to get here, the best you can do is enjoy it. Why do you disregard most of what happened in your life, and choose to focus on a few events from your past where things went wrong?</p> <p>It is not fair to not see the things you did good in life, and keep believing that your regrets are who you are. You did your best every day. You used what you had available, in ways that you knew, and sometimes you failed. There is no shame in that, but your mistake is to believe that if you fail once you should stay there forever.</p> <p>Failure, as you know by now, is not a singular event. It will happen many times in life, and the only choice you have is to accept it, when it can’t be avoided, and learn as much as you can from it. This is not easy to do every time, especially if you keep focusing on what went wrong.</p> <p>This moment should be appreciated for what it is, the result of all the life you have lived. It is not meant to go on forever, no moment is. If you want your future moments to be better, you need to stop avoiding seeing the lessons in failure and start seeing the things you did right in life.</p> <p>Only you have the power to reframe what happened in your life into something that can do you good. Don’t let anyone tell you differently, not even yourself.</p> <p>Why are we afraid to give up the things that hurt us? Why do we hold on to them, even when the pain keeps growing?</p> <p>Maybe we feel like this because we’re trying to move away from what was a part of our lives for such a long time that we made it our own. Or, maybe we don’t even see these things that hurt us as something that we need to move away from.</p> <p>Either way, I know you are feeling the pain, but until you identify what is causing it, and start moving away from that, things will not get better on their own. At a certain point, you will have to decide if the fear of change is more frightening than to keep feeling the pain every day.</p> <p>I can guarantee that if you wait for too long, the pain will become unbearable, and you will want to run, just to escape it. If you wait for that moment, you will have no options. Even if there are some options left, you will not have the clarity to choose right.</p> <p>That is why you need to prepare your escape in advance. When you identify what is causing you pain, it is time to decide on a plan of action. Then, you need to stick to it but still make adjustments along the way.</p> <p>When you reach the moment to give up what is hurting you, you will need to leave the pain behind, step over fear, and enter the world awaiting on the other side. This is a world where you have the power to give up on the bad and focus on the good.</p> <p><em>Content originally posted on <strong><a href="htt</em>ps://wor</strong>dssetfree.com/ramblings/exist-in-this-moment/">www.wordssetfree.com</a></p> </section>	Exist in this moment Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash Do you understand how extraordinary it is that you exist in this moment? You have overcome many obstacles to get here, the best you can do is enjoy it. Why do you disregard most of what happened in your life, and choose to focus on a few events from your past where things went wrong? It is not fair to not see the things you did good in life, and keep believing that your regrets are who you are. You did your best every day. You used what you had available, in ways that you knew, and sometimes you failed. There is no shame in that, but your mistake is to believe that if you fail once you should stay there forever. Failure, as you know by now, is not a singular event. It will happen many times in life, and the only choice you have is to accept it, when it can’t be avoided, and learn as much as you can from it. This is not easy to do every time, especially if you keep focusing on what went wrong. This moment should be appreciated for what it is, the result of all the life you have lived. It is not meant to go on forever, no moment is. If you want your future moments to be better, you need to stop avoiding seeing the lessons in failure and start seeing the things you did right in life. Only you have the power to reframe what happened in your life into something that can do you good. Don’t let anyone tell you differently, not even yourself. Why are we afraid to give up the things that hurt us? Why do we hold on to them, even when the pain keeps growing? Maybe we feel like this because we’re trying to move away from what was a part of our lives for such a long time that we made it our own. Or, maybe we don’t even see these things that hurt us as something that we need to move away from. Either way, I know you are feeling the pain, but until you identify what is causing it, and start moving away from that, things will not get better on their own. At a certain point, you will have to decide if the fear of change is more frightening than to keep feeling the pain every day. I can guarantee that if you wait for too long, the pain will become unbearable, and you will want to run, just to escape it. If you wait for that moment, you will have no options. Even if there are some options left, you will not have the clarity to choose right. That is why you need to prepare your escape in advance. When you identify what is causing you pain, it is time to decide on a plan of action. Then, you need to stick to it but still make adjustments along the way. When you reach the moment to give up what is hurting you, you will need to leave the pain behind, step over fear, and enter the world awaiting on the other side. This is a world where you have the power to give up on the bad and focus on the good. Content originally posted on www.wordssetfree.com	06fd2a5e-0351-5a04-8eb3-378b60e0dcfd	25/08/2025 16:00:18
https://medium.com/@salesforce/this-was-the-coolest-idea-at-the-first-gop-debate-15f25de838d1	medium.com	This Was the Coolest Idea at the First GOP Debate	The Washington Post quietly tries out some innovative content	Salesforce	https://medium.com/@salesforce	15f25de838d1	https://miro.medium.com/…e54C8tdBWIw.jpeg	4 min	2015-08-12T17:08:50.636000	2015-08-13T13:15:23.364000	2018-04-22T12:35:26.321000	0	8	en	Content Marketing,Marketing,Elections	<section> <p>This Was the Coolest Idea at the First GOP Debate</p> <h3>The Washington Post quietly tries out some innovative content</h3> <h3><em>By Matt Wesson, Content Marketing Manager, Salesforce</em></h3> <p>Despite drawing a record crowd of 24 million viewers, last week’s first Republican Presidential Debate was surprisingly lacking in the innovation department. Sure, Facebook paid a fortune to have their logo splashed everywhere, but the debate held to more or less the same format debates have always had: moderators ask questions, candidates answer them, the audiences makes a judgment based on those answers.</p> <p>However, this traditional and simplistic approach to the debate format seems at odds with modern audiences.</p> <p>Viewers are more sophisticated than ever. They don’t want soundbites and predictable questions. They want honest, thoughtful answers — and a way to check the answers’ accuracy. They want to be a part of the conversation, not just passive listeners. I think failing to elevate the conversation for this new kind of audience was a missed opportunity.</p> <h1>A New Take on Debate</h1> <p>While the debate itself failed to deliver on the expectations of this audience, the <em>Washington Post</em> made an effort to bridge the gap and, in doing so, managed to produce an incredible and innovative piece of content.</p> <p>When the<em> Post</em> covered the debate last Thursday, they partnered with annotation service <a href="http://genius.com/">Genius</a> to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/08/06/annotated-transcript-the-aug-6-gop-debate/">mark up the transcript in real-time</a> — adding color commentary and context from their own journalist, while also allowing readers to chime it with their own opinions.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/2218/1X22XU_lzo37fIQePm8Xxxw.png" width="2218" height="1214" loading="lazy" /> <p>The result was a terrific amount of engagement for <em>the Post</em>, and at a higher level, an exciting new approach to political debate news coverage.</p> <p>People were able to chime in and give background to comments that may not have been clear to all viewers. Analysts were able to fact-check specific claims in real time. The<em> Washington Post</em> was able to speculate on the bigger picture behind certain remarks and, yes, people were able to chime in with their opinions.</p> <blockquote>This collaborative effort added a new layer to the debate that was completely absent before.</blockquote> <p>I spent far more time than I’d care to admit exploring the intricacies of the debate and was fascinated by the wealth of knowledge shared in this one centralized location.</p> <p>The<em> Washington Post</em> created a huge content marketing win by displaying a keen understanding of today’s audience. When considering your own content, it’s important to consider the three aspects of today’s audience that led the<em> Post</em> to such a significant content win: <strong>audiences are sophisticated</strong>, <strong>content is collaborative</strong>, and <strong>value creates engagement</strong>.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/590/1JZEmQoqa2SbD-o-S9dz5cQ.jpeg" width="590" height="156" loading="lazy" /> <h2>Audiences are Sophisticated</h2> <p>Whether it’s listening to a candidate field tough questions or listening to a sales rep make their pitch, today’s consumers are more educated, and therefore more skeptical, than ever before. The internet has put information, options, and experts at the tip of our fingers, 24 hours a day. We are better informed than we would have been just 4 years ago, and if we don’t know a bit of information, we certainly know how to find it.</p> <p>The worst content ignores this change completely, making false claims or relying on false information to pitch a solution or service. Mediocre content sidesteps the issue completely, instead using list posts or fun images to avoid presenting real value. The best content addresses this sophistication head-on by providing the real information, answers, and value customers are looking for.</p> <h2>Content is Collaborative</h2> <p>Marketing is no longer a one-way conversation. In fact, it hasn’t been one-sided in years. Advertisements that speak at consumers instead of with them aren’t as effective as they once were. Marketing that doesn’t provide value falls by the wayside all too quickly. It’s these changes that gave rise to content marketing in the first place.</p> <p>The best content seeks to start a conversation with the audience. Usually this means addressing a pain-point or starting a conversation that a sales rep can pick up later in the sales cycle. The<em> Post</em> was able to achieve this engagement in a much more direct way, bringing their audience into the conversation and creation process directly. This meant more engagement and more value for everyone that landed on the annotated debate page.</p> <h2>Value Creates Engagement</h2> <p>The most important thing a content marketer can do is to provide value. Your audience needs to benefit from your content in some way — or you’re toast. With millions of pieces of content produced each day and an unreasonable amount of it bombarding your audience, could you even blame them for not reading your content if there’s nothing in it for them?</p> <p>In the case of the <em>Post</em>, they understood that their audience is sophisticated and collaborative, and developed a piece of content that could deliver value based on those insights. People wanted to be part of the conversation around the debate. Done. People wanted to fact-check candidates’ claims in real time. No problem. People wanted the story behind certain comments or a little bit of background on a certain candidate’s position. Absolutely. By creating this value they were able to get somebody like me, only peripherally interested in the debate, to engage for hours.</p> <img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/463/1*nPevd_G5RXnmwRaxcbeF_w.jpeg" width="463" height="320" loading="lazy" /> <p><em>In this e-book, we take lessons from Salesforce’s Content Marketing Team to help you measure your content marketing strategy. <a href="https://www.sale</em>sforce.com/form/pdf/how-to-measure-content-marketing.jsp?d=70130000000iJNr&nc=70130000000iJNr">Download your copy today!</a></p> </section>	This Was the Coolest Idea at the First GOP Debate The Washington Post quietly tries out some innovative content By Matt Wesson, Content Marketing Manager, Salesforce Despite drawing a record crowd of 24 million viewers, last week’s first Republican Presidential Debate was surprisingly lacking in the innovation department. Sure, Facebook paid a fortune to have their logo splashed everywhere, but the debate held to more or less the same format debates have always had: moderators ask questions, candidates answer them, the audiences makes a judgment based on those answers. However, this traditional and simplistic approach to the debate format seems at odds with modern audiences. Viewers are more sophisticated than ever. They don’t want soundbites and predictable questions. They want honest, thoughtful answers — and a way to check the answers’ accuracy. They want to be a part of the conversation, not just passive listeners. I think failing to elevate the conversation for this new kind of audience was a missed opportunity. A New Take on Debate While the debate itself failed to deliver on the expectations of this audience, the Washington Post made an effort to bridge the gap and, in doing so, managed to produce an incredible and innovative piece of content. When the Post covered the debate last Thursday, they partnered with annotation service Genius to mark up the transcript in real-time — adding color commentary and context from their own journalist, while also allowing readers to chime it with their own opinions. A screenshot of the Washington Post’s annotated transcript. The result was a terrific amount of engagement for the Post, and at a higher level, an exciting new approach to political debate news coverage. People were able to chime in and give background to comments that may not have been clear to all viewers. Analysts were able to fact-check specific claims in real time. The Washington Post was able to speculate on the bigger picture behind certain remarks and, yes, people were able to chime in with their opinions. This collaborative effort added a new layer to the debate that was completely absent before. I spent far more time than I’d care to admit exploring the intricacies of the debate and was fascinated by the wealth of knowledge shared in this one centralized location. The Washington Post created a huge content marketing win by displaying a keen understanding of today’s audience. When considering your own content, it’s important to consider the three aspects of today’s audience that led the Post to such a significant content win: audiences are sophisticated, content is collaborative, and value creates engagement. Audiences are Sophisticated Whether it’s listening to a candidate field tough questions or listening to a sales rep make their pitch, today’s consumers are more educated, and therefore more skeptical, than ever before. The internet has put information, options, and experts at the tip of our fingers, 24 hours a day. We are better informed than we would have been just 4 years ago, and if we don’t know a bit of information, we certainly know how to find it. The worst content ignores this change completely, making false claims or relying on false information to pitch a solution or service. Mediocre content sidesteps the issue completely, instead using list posts or fun images to avoid presenting real value. The best content addresses this sophistication head-on by providing the real information, answers, and value customers are looking for. Content is Collaborative Marketing is no longer a one-way conversation. In fact, it hasn’t been one-sided in years. Advertisements that speak at consumers instead of with them aren’t as effective as they once were. Marketing that doesn’t provide value falls by the wayside all too quickly. It’s these changes that gave rise to content marketing in the first place. The best content seeks to start a conversation with the audience. Usually this means addressing a pain-point or starting a conversation that a sales rep can pick up later in the sales cycle. The Post was able to achieve this engagement in a much more direct way, bringing their audience into the conversation and creation process directly. This meant more engagement and more value for everyone that landed on the annotated debate page. Value Creates Engagement The most important thing a content marketer can do is to provide value. Your audience needs to benefit from your content in some way — or you’re toast. With millions of pieces of content produced each day and an unreasonable amount of it bombarding your audience, could you even blame them for not reading your content if there’s nothing in it for them? In the case of the Post, they understood that their audience is sophisticated and collaborative, and developed a piece of content that could deliver value based on those insights. People wanted to be part of the conversation around the debate. Done. People wanted to fact-check candidates’ claims in real time. No problem. People wanted the story behind certain comments or a little bit of background on a certain candidate’s position. Absolutely. By creating this value they were able to get somebody like me, only peripherally interested in the debate, to engage for hours. In this e-book, we take lessons from Salesforce’s Content Marketing Team to help you measure your content marketing strategy. Download your copy today!	57a2f187-be0d-53fe-bf69-0d128a2eb03d	25/08/2025 16:00:18
https://medium.com/@paultellsworth/dont-burn-your-pc-save-it-with-these-5-tips-82014990df39	medium.com	Don’t burn your PC! Save it with these 5 tips.	If you are an Apple person, I already know what you are going to say: “Here are my tips for cleaning up your PC — 1. Cover in gas 2. Light…	Paul Ellsworth	https://medium.com/@paultellsworth	82014990df39	null	2 min	2016-08-03T09:33:11.258000	2017-01-16T14:22:00.512000	2018-04-03T11:00:24.786000	0	3	en	Windows 10,Microsoft,Education,Teachers	<section> <p></p> <p>If you are an Apple person, I already know what you are going to say: “Here are my tips for cleaning up your PC — 1. Cover in gas 2. Light a match 3. Watch it burn 4. Buy a Mac.”</p> <p>Although I can see the benefits of burning a PC (if not for anything, to simply let out some frustration), it’s not always practical to jump ship and go to a Mac. Sure, Apple products are great, but in reality many places still require PC use.</p> <p>As for me personally, I have a PC and a Mac and I like them both for different reasons.</p> <p>If you do have a PC that is running slow and you are not ready to buy a new computer, there is hope! Here are 5 essential tips to help your PC run at its best.</p> <h3>1. Make sure you are up to date.</h3> <p>If you haven’t upgraded to Windows 10 yet, DO IT! Windows 10 is worlds better than Windows 8 and is actually my favorite version of Windows that has been released. It is fast and is full of useful features like multiple virtual desktops and Cortana. If you already have Windows 10, <a href="https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-check-for-install-windows-updates-2624596">make sure you have the latest updates.</a></p> <h3>2. Run defender.</h3> <p>Windows 10 already has a decent virus protection built into its system called “Defender.” Go to Cortana (the personal assistant / toolbar) type in “defender” and make sure it is running automatically. If a scan hasn’t been done in a while, go ahead and press scan.</p> <h3>3. Defrag</h3> <p>To make sure your computer is running at its best, it is a good idea to defragment often. Go to Cortana. Type in “defrag” and choose the defrag optimization tool. Once you are there, choose the drive you want to optimize and go for it. If you want to know more about defragmenting, this article is useful: <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5976424/what-is-defragging-and-do-i-need-to-do-it-to-my-computer">Life Hacker — “What is defragging…”</a></p> <h3>4. Run CCleaner</h3> <p>I love CCleaner! Download this program and watch it fix problems you would have never been able to fix on your own. CCleaner cleans out files that are hidden on your computer and repairs registry files. Windows has its own built in version of this, but CCleaner has a user interface that is easy to use. <a href="https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download">You can download a free version here.</a></p> <h3>5. Use the cloud.</h3> <p>If you are not using cloud storage or at least a separate hard drive, I highly suggest it. There have been times where my PC (and Mac for that matter) have been so bogged down with junk, that I have had to <a href="http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/reset-windows-10-pc">reset to factory settings.</a> If you do this, you will want to have a back up of your files. The easy way for me to do this is to save all my files to the cloud (I use <a href="http://drive.google.com">Google Drive</a>). Then you can reset your PC knowing your files are safe.</p> <p>Computers, just like anything else, require maintenance. If you do these things regularly, (and are not clicking on every banner you see online) your PC should run just fine.</p> <h3>Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this article, be sure to click the clap icon👏 to applaud and so others will see it.</h3> <h1>If you are breathing, you are an educator.</h1> <p>If you want to increase your influence and expand your impact, download my FREE ebook: “<a href="https://app.convertkit.com/landing_pages/369013?v=7">Profe Pablo’s 25 Teaching Tips that will instantly make your life easier</a>” (PS — Be Careful with the one that tells you to stand on a desk. I’ve only fallen twice!)</p> </section>	Don’t burn your PC! Save it with these 5 tips. If you are an Apple person, I already know what you are going to say: “Here are my tips for cleaning up your PC — 1. Cover in gas 2. Light a match 3. Watch it burn 4. Buy a Mac.” Although I can see the benefits of burning a PC (if not for anything, to simply let out some frustration), it’s not always practical to jump ship and go to a Mac. Sure, Apple products are great, but in reality many places still require PC use. As for me personally, I have a PC and a Mac and I like them both for different reasons. If you do have a PC that is running slow and you are not ready to buy a new computer, there is hope! Here are 5 essential tips to help your PC run at its best. 1. Make sure you are up to date. If you haven’t upgraded to Windows 10 yet, DO IT! Windows 10 is worlds better than Windows 8 and is actually my favorite version of Windows that has been released. It is fast and is full of useful features like multiple virtual desktops and Cortana. If you already have Windows 10, make sure you have the latest updates. 2. Run defender. Windows 10 already has a decent virus protection built into its system called “Defender.” Go to Cortana (the personal assistant / toolbar) type in “defender” and make sure it is running automatically. If a scan hasn’t been done in a while, go ahead and press scan. 3. Defrag To make sure your computer is running at its best, it is a good idea to defragment often. Go to Cortana. Type in “defrag” and choose the defrag optimization tool. Once you are there, choose the drive you want to optimize and go for it. If you want to know more about defragmenting, this article is useful: Life Hacker — “What is defragging…” 4. Run CCleaner I love CCleaner! Download this program and watch it fix problems you would have never been able to fix on your own. CCleaner cleans out files that are hidden on your computer and repairs registry files. Windows has its own built in version of this, but CCleaner has a user interface that is easy to use. You can download a free version here. 5. Use the cloud. If you are not using cloud storage or at least a separate hard drive, I highly suggest it. There have been times where my PC (and Mac for that matter) have been so bogged down with junk, that I have had to reset to factory settings. If you do this, you will want to have a back up of your files. The easy way for me to do this is to save all my files to the cloud (I use Google Drive). Then you can reset your PC knowing your files are safe. Computers, just like anything else, require maintenance. If you do these things regularly, (and are not clicking on every banner you see online) your PC should run just fine. Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this article, be sure to click the clap icon👏 to applaud and so others will see it. If you are breathing, you are an educator. If you want to increase your influence and expand your impact, download my FREE ebook: “Profe Pablo’s 25 Teaching Tips that will instantly make your life easier” (PS — Be Careful with the one that tells you to stand on a desk. I’ve only fallen twice!)	e3298b60-5e3f-53e1-a2d5-0931f0a82319	25/08/2025 16:00:18

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