#because they dont agree with their interpretation of a data set

[raceispunk]

Guys can we please start respecting people's religions without criticizing them and yes that means Christians too

[abroadeducation]

Top 6 Tips to Prepare For GRE Exam (2023)

Introduction

GRE is a standard test that is used to measure your verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing skills. It also helps you determine if you have enough knowledge to pursue graduate studies.

1. Create a GRE Study Plan

If you are going to take the GRE test, it is important that you create a study plan after taking proper GRE training. You should set aside time on a regular basis to study, practice and take the exam.

The first thing that you need to do is figure out how much time each week and month you can dedicate to preparing for this test. Then make sure that this amount of time gives yourself enough space between sessions so that when one session ends, there is enough time before starting another one (e.g., if one session lasts two hours then try not doing another session until at least 24 hours later). This will help avoid burnout which could lead to frustration and anxiety during testing days!

Once these requirements have been met then go ahead with creating your own customized study plan based on what type(s) of prep material best suits YOUR needs (i.e., whether they're online courses versus books).

2. Find the Best GRE Prep Books for You

If you are looking for the best GRE prep book, the first thing you need to do is find one that is easy for you. There are many different types of books available and all of them have their own unique style. Some books may be too hard or too easy, so make sure that you choose one that suits your needs perfectly!

Make sure that there are lots of reviews out there about each specific title before purchasing anything--this way we'll know whether or not others agree with our opinions regarding certain topics within these texts (like whether they're good at explaining concepts). Choose the best GRE coaching center in Hyderabad.

3. Take Practice Tests

Taking practice tests is a great way to get used to the format of the test and see how you are doing. You can find free practice tests online, which will give you an idea of what kinds of questions are on it and how much time each section takes. Practice tests are an important part of your preparation for GRE because they help build familiarity with the structure, question types and difficulty level that you'll encounter during actual exam day.

Take at least one full-length (4 hour) test before taking any other practice exams or quizzes so that you know exactly how much time each section takes up in real life conditions--and then use this information when planning out your own schedule!

4. Look at GRE Sample Questions

When you look at sample questions, you should pay close attention to the different types of questions that are asked in GRE practice tests. You can use this information to prepare yourself for what's coming up during your exam.

The most common question types are:

Quantitative Comparison Questions - these are multiple-choice questions with two answer choices and one correct answer. The answers will be expressed as numbers or algebraic expressions, but unlike Data Interpretation questions (see below), they won't require any special knowledge about statistics or geometry.

Numerical Entry Questions - these will require you to enter an answer as a decimal number into an on-screen calculator window before submitting it using your computer mouse or trackpad/keyboard arrow keys (depending on whether you're taking an online or paper test).

Data Interpretation Questions - these ask you questions about data sets provided within reading passages; often these passages contain graphs and charts rather than simply paragraphs of text explaining concepts such as mathematical functions

(Read more: CRACK GRE WITH HIGH SCORES, DONT SETTLE FOR AVERAGE)

5. Learn How to Deal With Stress on Test Day

Learn how to manage stress. If you're feeling nervous about the test, try some relaxation techniques such as yoga or meditation. You can also practice taking a break during the test by going for a walk outside or listening to music.

Don't get distracted by other students. During the exam, make sure that you focus on yourself and don't get distracted by what other people are doing in their exams!

Don't panic if something doesn't make sense right away--it might later on in your essay! The GRE is very flexible and allows time for questions that require deeper thinking than others; don't rush through these questions so quickly that they become impossible for you (or worse: incorrect).

6. Make Sure You Understand All the Question Types Found in Your Exam (Analytical Writing, Quantitative Section, Verbal Section)

Make sure you understand all the question types found in your exam (Analytical Writing, Quantitative Section, Verbal Section).

Analytical Writing: This section requires you to write two essays that are scored by two different readers. One essay will be based on an argument and one will be based on an analysis of an issue or argument.

(Read more: 7 simples Tips to ace Great GRE Argument Essay)

The GRE test is not easy to prepare for and there are many ways to study for it successfully.

Preparing for the GRE exam requires a lot of time, effort, and discipline. The best way to prepare for this test is by setting aside at least 3 months in advance so that you can practice as much as possible with all types of questions that appear on the actual test.

Preparing for this exam requires self-discipline because it takes discipline and determination to keep yourself motivated when studying seems like an uphill battle.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the GRE exam is one of the most important exams that you can take to get into a good college. It's not easy to prepare for this test but with some practice and hard work, you can do it! Good luck with your GRE exam!

[thehopeymage]

Classes: Thief and Rogue, Knight and Maid

Alright, so, to start off my more open approach to posting here, I’m going to start with my general theory's on Classpects in general, starting with Classes!! Unlike Aspect, which everyone PRETTY MUCH all agreed on how they were paired before being canonized, Class is kind of something no one TOTALLY agrees on. Id have a hard time finding anyone who agrees on everything about class details, inversions, and pairings. So I’m gonna start with that!! First, something no one particularly disagrees with... 

The Stealing Classes, Thief and Rogue!

This is pretty well agreed upon because it’s one of the class pairings that had been canonically confirmed!

Wile Calliopes theories has been shown to be about as credible as any of ours (Ex: Gendered Classes), but this seems VERY plausible! 

Thieves, being the Active class, steal their Aspect from others! This can be seen by Vriska (Thief of Light) stealing Luck from enemies and thus having MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF LUCK!!!!!!!! It isn’t CLEARLY seen from Meenah (Thief of Life), other then BRIEFLY during Collide, but we can see it metaphorically present in Her Imperious Condescension when she enslaves multiple people and subjugates her species! 

Rogues, being the Passive class, steal their Aspect NOT NECESSARILY FROM PEOPLE and distributes it to the team! This can be seen by Roxy (Rogue of Void) when she steals the nonexistence from the Matriorb and gives it to Kanaya! These traits aren’t seen very clearly in Nepeta (Rogue of Heart) and Rufioh (Rogue of Breath), and I theorize that this is because they haven't denied their aspect! You see, Roxy denied her Aspect when she quit her drinking, committing herself to clarity! Whereas Nepeta struggles when shes pining over someone and Rufioh suffers with his general attitude of just doing what he wants and going with the flow. At least that’s my interpenetration of why! This leads me to believe that the quest of a Rogue is to rebel against their aspect, (Being called a Rogue, it makes sense) and not play by it’s rules! 

Now here comes a theory Idk if a lot of people will agree with me on lol

The Protecting Classes, Knight and Maid

This is a pretty good group because we have two Players of the same aspect in this pair, Dave (Knight of Time) and Aradia (Maid of Time) and we also have two players of the same Aspect and opposite class, Jane (Maid of Life) and Meenah (Thief of Life)!! If you think this theory is totally bull already, please hear me out.

Knights, being the active class, weaponize their Aspect to protect their Aspect! Offence is the best Defense, so to speak! You can see Dave literally weaponize his Aspect when he uses changing his swords placement in time to better defeat enemies! Dave is very careful to keep the Alpha Timeline safe, and Karkat does a lot to help the safety of the team, like prohibiting sleeping or leaving the room (Which almost no one followed but still). Now, although we get the best specifics on Dave’s journey, we can pretty clearly see that Knights tend to have some sort of insecurity or something along those lines that they keep up a shield to protect themselves from. This can form in many ways! Literally, Dave keeps on his glasses to hide his emotions! Metaphorically, he keeps up his cool kid shtick to appease Bro. Literally, Karkat keeps his text gray to hide his mutation, but metaphorically Karkat keeps up his anger and shouting to convince everyone he is a ruthless and badass leader. and Latula has a r4d front because shes insecure about not being a kickass enough girl. I believe that shows a Knights quest is to let down their shield (Metaphorical not literal) and use their Aspect to strengthen them! 

Maids, being the passive class, protect their fellow players with their Aspect /protect their Aspect in their fellow players! We can see Aradia do this by freezing Jack to buy her team time, and we can see Jane do this with her revival powers! I think Maids gain general defensive abilities! It seems that Maids typically get walked on by their Aspect OR for their Aspect. Aradia was walked on by Time in the form of death and used by DD for Destruction. Jane was walked on by Life during the events of their session when Jane gets ignored by her friends (except Roxy because shes good and pure). I think a Maids quest is to stand up to 1.stand up for themselves(/against their Aspect in some cases) 2.accept the bad things about their Aspect and 3. accept their aspect in their lives! It’s a weaker connection then the Knights, but to me it makes more sense then Healing and Creating given what we’ve seen in cannon 0u0 

Why these pairs? 

I think these two class pairs are the best candidates to be opposite of each other! Stealing being the opposite of Protecting! We can see the thieves steal their Aspect from people, whereas Maids are protecting it from being destroyed or taken away! Thus, we can see Knights fighting to defend their Aspect, and Rogues trying to take it for redistribution 0u0

With this theory, Karkat inverts with Rufioh! This may be a bit of a stretch because its based on very little cannon info, but Karkat enforces the connections of his team, whereas Rufioh helps the "Lost Weeaboos" by encouraging their individuality! (We dont actually know that much about Rufiohs experiences with the Lost Weeaboos because Meenah kept shutting Aranea up.)

Also, it’s pretty cool that the Maid of Life ended up fighting the Thief of Life!! Jane tried to protect her friends lives, wile )(IC was trying to steal theirs... Neat!!

Thief Inverts with Maid

Rogue Inverts with Knight

Feel free to message me about any of this, I’d love to discuss!! :^D

EDIT: 

Okay so this has been my first LEGIT classpecting theory post, so of coarse it’s a little weak, so I wanted to strengthen it a little before moving on! I had a lengthy discussion on the rad @godtier-mods Discord server with some very smart/dope peeps ( @creative-classpect and Taksy as well as Vivs and J, if you want me to link your blogs hit me up, I just couldn’t find links to them for some reason??) and I thought this theory needed an addendum 0u0.

First things first, Inversions!! I see a lot of people interpret her decapitating the frog temple a sign that shes inverted to a Destroying Class, but, what she did was use the data in the frog in the Kernalsprite and fused herself with it, effectively stealing it, inverting to Thief! Additionally, we can actually see Vriska invert to a protector of Void! This can be seen by Vriska making sure to keep Tavros useless (Him only being able to do anything when she isn’t around.), and also by keeping everyone in the dark, notably what she was actually doing during [S] Collide. Additionally, this one I think is maybe less solid, but the pre-retcon Vriska (Vriska) wanted to stay irrelevant! 

And now the pairs!! There’s no real need to get into the Thief-Rogue pairing, but I think theirs a lot to be said about the relationship between Knights and Maids! The best way to compare Dave and Aradia, Knight and Maid of Time!! Along with the fact that you could see them as serving classes (Dave serving the timeline and Aradia serving the dead), they can both be seen protecting the Alpha timeline in different ways! Dave, being the active Knight, aggressively stopped any and all possibilities for doomed timelines, every doomed timeline being seen as a set back to him (Dead Daves are the Enemy!!), thus effectively preserving the Alpha timeline!! Meanwhile, Aradia and the Aradiabots passively allowed many doomed timelines, using them as a tool to protect her team, often times using them as meat(metal) shields, and defeat the Black King! This could also be seen as the Knight Actively preserving the timeline by eliminating any and all doomed timelines they can, and the Maid passively allowing the doomed timelines to serve the Alpha!

Whew, I think that enough for addendum. Again, I am more then happy to discuss with anyone or answer questions about what I think 0u0. If I really feel the need to add more I’ll just make a new post >u< idk. I think i’m gonna do my next theory on Pages, their pairs, and their inversions. If you thought this one was too against most Classpect theories... you probably wont like that one either lmao. But I think I've formulated some very good reasons for it 0u0

[topicprinter]

Hello Everyone,Long time lurker here... got myself into some "trouble" and I cannot see a clear answer anywhere, therefore I come before you for some advice.2 weeks ago I got approached by a very good friend of mine, lets call him Joe. He started to explain how in the last 4 months he partnered with some other friends of ours (i was a roomie with one of them, will call him Dan, but have to mention that Joe set us up as we were both looking for apartments about 4 years ago, I moved out 1 year ago). Joe recently quit his job to go into Sales Coaching and Business Consulting and so he has taken this Startup of his other friends as a "Pro Bono" case as to manage them and get them on a better line.Background for the StartUp: They released 2 collections of tshirts, hoodies which were 30 pieces/model. They were designed by them, bought the material, painted them "manually" and went to a professional tailorshop and worked together with the tailors to make the products. They pretty much sold everything, with little stock remaining, but they did not analyze anything, where they sold it to, how they did that or anything. They just sold it and thats it.Now: The startup consists of two guys as the main founders, a new designer which came along recently and I suppose Joe(he said that the only gain for the moment is experience, as he has no equity,yet).When he approached me after he told me what they are currently doing which is defining the business plan from here forward. He asked me if I could help him a little with some numbers regarding the marketing budgetting, CPM's, CPA's and stuff like that which would help him define better the business plan and surpass this point. After giving an insight from some of my running campaign, I pointed out that he couldnt move forward without a previous case that generated numbers in the past. We then hung up and he called me the next day asking if I wanted to come along as their digital marketer/website dev.My principal responsbilites would be: -managing campaigns -analyzing -interpreting data -build the website&maintanance (this would be together with the main founders, Dan and the other one) -social media marketing -atl marketing if budget allowsMy secondary responsabilities would be: -have a say in the Marketing Strategy -give my insights in the Content Creation(no, i do not make the graphics,videos)For this they said that I will receive 1.5% equity and when the firm can pay salaries,an average market salary for this job, as well as them, if the firm can pay more everyone will receive more(in their plan this should happen in 1 year).The explanation of this equity that they gave me is that they split the business in multiple parts and the part that I'm doing is equal to 1.5%. Also they said that because I will be working as a part timer and I'm not dedicating fully(i have a job atm, but agreed to go there when they will be able to pay a salary). But I cannot see how the split was done because after I would be influenced by it and would have subjective arguments as to why my responsabilties have to get more procents.Is that right what they are offering? I have no idea, it feels so little I dont even know if they are joking or are serious. I kind of want to join the team, I want to expand my experience and have this project in my portofolio, but I think I'm getting the short stick, or am I?Thank you for your time! Sorry for the long post and the weird English

[jodyedgarus]

The Super Bowl’s Best Matchup Is Gladys Knight vs. The Clock

Super Bowl LIII is not only about two of the league’s best offenses squaring off against one another — New England and Los Angeles — it’s also about America’s other favorite pastime: gambling. The total amount bet on the Super Bowl1 has risen from $40 million in 1991 to more than $158 million in 2018, and much of that growth has come from “props” or proposition bets.

For readers who aren’t degenerate gamblers, prop bets are wagers you can place on events during a game that don’t directly involve the final outcome. This year there are the standard prop bets, like if the Patriots will score a touchdown in the first quarter (they never have in a Super Bowl), or if the Rams will rush for more than 127.5 yards (they averaged 143.3 yards per game in the regular season and the playoffs). But there are also more exotic prop bets on things like whether Donald Trump will tweet more than six times during the game. (The implied probability on one offshore book is 58 percent that he will hit the over.)

Another interesting wager is on the length of Gladys Knight’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Several offshore books have set the total for the anthem at 1 minute 47 seconds, and the implied odds for both the under and the over were set at one book at -115 — a 53.5 percent implied probability — on both sides.2 The implied probabilities being equal indicates that the book has no real opinion on the length of Gladys’s performance — they just want to take a percentage from each side of the wager and hope bettors will place their bets evenly on both.

But is Knight performing the anthem in over/under 107 seconds really close to a 50 percent proposition? Or is there evidence that might convince us that the oddsmakers got the probabilities wrong?

To find out, I went to Youtube and watched 40 Super Bowl national anthems from 1979 to 2018. I eliminated any anthems with trumpeters (there were two) and then started timing the anthem from the moment the singer first started to sing and ended the timer after the completion of the first utterance of “brave.”3 Using this methodology, the 40-year average of all national anthem singers4 is 106.1 seconds, roughly in line with the total set by the books. So the total is correct so far as the average goes, but it also seems lazy. Surely there are other factors that might help us better predict how long Gladys might sing.

For starters, the performance time of the anthem has changed as the Super Bowl has grown to become the unparalleled cultural phenomenon we now enjoy each year. As the pomp, circumstance and viewership have increased, the time anthem performers spend on the stage has also risen.

So while anthems have gotten longer over time, the 40-year average is not fully accounting for that trend. When you do account for it5 the best forecast for the 2019 anthem is actually 119 seconds, 13 seconds over the 40-year average.

Gender of the anthem singer is also significant. Men tend to sing the anthem more quickly than women — though not many men have sung the anthem in recent years, when the anthems have been getting longer overall. Still, the all-time shortest anthem performance was by a man — the incomparable Neil Diamond — who got in and out like a boss in a cool 61 seconds. And the longest anthem ever performed at a Super Bowl was by the unforgettable Natalie Cole in 1994, which clocked in at a diva-esque 148 seconds.

Finally, Knight herself appears to be a singer who knows how to stretch a note. Using whosampled, I identified 31 covers performed by Knight and timed the cover performance of each using similar criteria to the anthem timing. Knight’s covers were 7 percent longer than the originals on average, good for a bonus 12.7 seconds of soothing soul per track. In perhaps the best comp to the national anthem — “Ave Maria,” a soaring, vocal-heavy standard covered by hundreds of artists — Gladys’ performance was 37 percent longer than the standard version.

Gladys Knight takes her time with interpretations

Difference in song length between Knight’s covers and the original songs

Song Original Artist Difference Feel Like Makin’ Love Roberta Flack +129 sec. The Look of Love Dusty Springfield +85 Yesterday The Beatles +70 Help Me Make It Through the Night Kris Krisofferson +66 Ave Maria Anna Moffo +65 For Once in My Life Barbara McNair +50 Midnight Train to Georgia Cissy Houston +42 The Way We Were Barbara Streisand +36 Fire and Rain James Taylor +33 I’m Gonna Make You Love Me Dee Dee Warwick +30 Groovin’ The Young Rascals +27 The Need to Be Jim Weatherly +13 Average +13 Everybody Needs Love The Temptations +8 You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me Ray Price +8 Goin’ Out of My Head Little Anthony and the Imperials +7 All I Could Do Is Cry Etta James +2 Baby I Need Your Loving The Four Tops +1 Tracks of My Tears Smokey Robinson & The Miracles 0 Yes, I’m ready Barbara Mason -1 Baby Don’t Change Your Mind The Stylistics -1 I Wish It Would Rain The Temptations -4 Cloud Nine The Temptations -9 Keep an Eye Diana Ross & The Supremes -9 You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ The Righteous Brothers -14 I Feel a Song (in My Heart) Sandra Richardson -19 Let It Be The Beatles -21 Is There a Place? The Supremes -34 Wind Beneath My Wings Roger Whittaker -34 Heard It Through the Grapevine Marvin Gaye -39 Thank You Sly & the Family Stone -45 Every Beat of My Heart The Royals -49

Sources: YouTube, Whosampled

Taking a larger view, only two anthems in the past 15 years have been performed faster than the 40-year average of 1 minute 47 seconds. And when I looked at the age of the anthem singers, I found no significant correlation between age and performance time.6 On the other hand, we can look at one of Knight’s previous performances of “The Star-Spangled Banner” itself, which is solid piece of evidence against the over, running for 92 seconds. It was, however, performed 28 years ago. All things considered, the bookmakers appear to have this line wrong on Gladys, and her upcoming anthem performance is probably going to go over 107 seconds.

Researching a single prop was a lot of work, and it’s understandable why books might not want to put this level of effort into each and every bet they publish. But it does imply that there are profitable edges for some Super Bowl props. Using the Twitter machine, I threw up a bat signal for a gambling expert to help me confirm my priors. Rufus Peabody, a professional sports bettor and former ESPN contributor who is well-known in gambling circles for the scale and volume of his Super Bowl prop wagers, agreed to help.

“The time and effort to accurately value props is pretty high,” Peabody said. “Some books put more effort into their props than others, and for some props there’s almost no data. Books will move the lines aggressively when sharp bets are made though, which helps them adjust.”

I’ve been keeping an eye on the Gladys anthem line, and it hasn’t moved all week. I was tempted to bet the over, but when I was confronted with the prospect of having to convert real money into Bitcoin in order to place a bet on an offshore site, I decided to abort. When I looked around for somewhere to place the bet in Las Vegas — where they accept actual money — I struck out. Peabody explained that prop bets like anthem length are illegal in Las Vegas because of restrictions on the types of sources casinos can use to “grade” or determine the outcome of a bet.

Even if it won’t net me any cash, I’ll be pulling for Knight to go over regardless. I want her to belt out that last note in “home of the brave” for an egregiously long time. After all, my Twitter credibility is on the line, and that’s serious business.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-super-bowls-best-matchup-is-gladys-knight-vs-the-clock/

[endenogatai]

Most Facebook users still in the dark about its creepy ad practices, Pew finds

A study by the Pew Research Center suggests most Facebook users are still in the dark about how the company tracks and profiles them for ad-targeting purposes.

Pew found three-quarters (74%) of Facebook users did not know the social networking behemoth maintains a list of their interests and traits to target them with ads, only discovering this when researchers directed them to view their Facebook ad preferences page.

A majority (51%) of Facebook users also told Pew they were uncomfortable with Facebook compiling the information.

While more than a quarter (27%) said the ad preference listing Facebook had generated did not very or at all accurately represent them.

The researchers also found that 88% of polled users had some material generated for them on the ad preferences page. Pew’s findings come from a survey of a nationally representative sample of 963 U.S. Facebook users ages 18 and older which was conducted between September 4 to October 1, 2018, using GfK’s KnowledgePanel.

In a senate hearing last year Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg claimed users have “complete control” over both information they actively choose to upload to Facebook and data about them the company collects in order to target ads.

But the key question remains how Facebook users can be in complete control when most of them they don’t know what the company is doing. This is something U.S. policymakers should have front of mind as they work on drafting a comprehensive federal privacy law.

Pew’s findings suggest Facebook’s greatest ‘defence’ against users exercising what little control it affords them over information its algorithms links to their identity is a lack of awareness about how the Facebook adtech business functions.

After all the company markets the platform as a social communications service for staying in touch with people you know, not a mass surveillance people-profiling ad-delivery machine. So unless you’re deep in the weeds of the adtech industry there’s little chance for the average Facebook user to understand what Mark Zuckerberg has described as “all the nuances of how these services work”.

Having a creepy feeling that ads are stalking you around the Internet hardly counts.

At the same time, users being in the dark about the information dossiers Facebook maintains on them, is not a bug but a feature for the company’s business — which directly benefits by being able to minimize the proportion of people who opt out of having their interests categorized for ad targeting because they have no idea it’s happening. (And relevant ads are likely more clickable and thus more lucrative for Facebook.)

Hence Zuckerberg’s plea to policymakers last April for “a simple and practical set of — of ways that you explain what you are doing with data… that’s not overly restrictive on — on providing the services”.

(Or, to put it another way: If you must regulate privacy let us simplify explanations using cartoon-y abstraction that allows for continued obfuscation of exactly how, where and why data flows.)

From the user point of view, even if you know Facebook offers ad management settings it’s still not simple to locate and understand them, requiring navigating through several menus that are not prominently sited on the platform, and which are also complex, with multiple interactions possible. (Such as having to delete every inferred interest individually.) 

The average Facebook user is unlikely to look past the latest few posts in their newsfeed let alone go proactively hunting for a boring sounding ‘ad management’ setting and spending time figuring out what each click and toggle does (in some cases users are required to hover over a interest in order to view a cross that indicates they can in fact remove it, so there’s plenty of dark pattern design at work here too).

And all the while Facebook is putting a heavy sell on, in the self-serving ad ‘explanations’ it does offer, spinning the line that ad targeting is useful for users. What’s not spelt out is the huge privacy trade off it entails — aka Facebook’s pervasive background surveillance of users and non-users.

Nor does it offer a complete opt-out of being tracked and profiled; rather its partial ad settings let users “influence what ads you see”. 

But influencing is not the same as controlling, whatever Zuckerberg claimed in Congress. So, as it stands, there is no simple way for Facebook users to understand their ad options because the company only lets them twiddle a few knobs rather than shut down the entire surveillance system.

The company’s algorithmic people profiling also extends to labelling users as having particular political views, and/or having racial and ethnic/multicultural affinities.

Pew researchers asked about these two specific classifications too — and found that around half (51%) of polled users had been assigned a political affinity by Facebook; and around a fifth (21%) were badged as having a “multicultural affinity”.

Of those users who Facebook had put into a particular political bucket, a majority (73%) said the platform’s categorization of their politics was very or somewhat accurate; but more than a quarter (27%) said it was not very or not at all an accurate description of them.

“Put differently, 37% of Facebook users are both assigned a political affinity and say that affinity describes them well, while 14% are both assigned a category and say it does not represent them accurately,” it writes.

Use of people’s personal data for political purposes has triggered some major scandals for Facebook’s business in recent years. Such as the Cambridge Analytica data misuse scandal — when user data was shown to have been extracted from the platform en masse, and without proper consents, for campaign purposes.

In other instances Facebook ads have also been used to circumvent campaign spending rules in elections. Such as during the UK’s 2016 EU referendum vote when large numbers of ads were non-transparently targeted with the help of social media platforms.

And indeed to target masses of political disinformation to carry out election interference. Such as the Kremlin-backed propaganda campaign during the 2016 US presidential election.

Last year the UK data watchdog called for an ethical pause on use of social media data for political campaigning, such is the scale of its concern about data practices uncovered during a lengthy investigation.

Yet the fact that Facebook’s own platform natively badges users’ political affinities frequently gets overlooked in the discussion around this issue.

For all the outrage generated by revelations that Cambridge Analytica had tried to use Facebook data to apply political labels on people to target ads, such labels remain a core feature of the Facebook platform — allowing any advertiser, large or small, to pay Facebook to target people based on where its algorithms have determined they sit on the political spectrum, and do so without obtaining their explicit consent. (Yet under European data protection law political beliefs are deemed sensitive information, and Facebook is facing increasing scrutiny in the region over how it processes this type of data.)

Of those users who Pew found had been badged by Facebook as having a “multicultural affinity” — another algorithmically inferred sensitive data category — 60% told it they do in fact have a very or somewhat strong affinity for the group to which they are assigned; while more than a third (37%) said their affinity for that group is not particularly strong.

“Some 57% of those who are assigned to this category say they do in fact consider themselves to be a member of the racial or ethnic group to which Facebook assigned them,” Pew adds.

It found that 43% of those given an affinity designation are said by Facebook’s algorithm to have an interest in African American culture; with the same share (43%) is assigned an affinity with Hispanic culture. While one-in-ten are assigned an affinity with Asian American culture.

(Facebook’s targeting tool for ads does not offer affinity classifications for any other cultures in the U.S., including Caucasian or white culture, Pew also notes, thereby underlining one inherent bias of its system.)

In recent years the ethnic affinity label that Facebook’s algorithm sticks to users has caused specific controversy after it was revealed to have been enabling the delivery of discriminatory ads.

As a result, in late 2016, Facebook said it would disable ad targeting using the ethnic affinity label for protected categories of housing, employment and credit-related ads. But a year later its ad review systems were found to be failing to block potentially discriminatory ads.

The act of Facebook sticking labels on people clearly creates plenty of risk — be that from election interference or discriminatory ads (or, indeed, both).

Risk that a majority of users don’t appear comfortable with once they realize it’s happening.

And therefore also future risk for Facebook’s business as more regulators turn their attention to crafting privacy laws that can effectively safeguard consumers from having their personal data exploited in ways they don’t like. (And which might disadvantage them or generate wider societal harms.)

Commenting about Facebook’s data practices, Michael Veale, a researcher in data rights and machine learning at University College London, told us: “Many of Facebook’s data processing practices appear to violate user expectations, and the way they interpret the law in Europe is indicative of their concern around this. If Facebook agreed with regulators that inferred political opinions or ‘ethnic affinities’ were just the same as collecting that information explicitly, they’d have to ask for separate, explicit consent to do so — and users would have to be able to say no to it.

“Similarly, Facebook argues it is ‘manifestly excessive’ for users to ask to see the extensive web and app tracking data they collect and hold next to your ID to generate these profiles — something I triggered a statutory investigation into with the Irish Data Protection Commissioner. You can’t help but suspect that it’s because they’re afraid of how creepy users would find seeing a glimpse of the the truth breadth of their invasive user and non-user data collection.”

In a second survey, conducted between May 29 and June 11, 2018 using Pew’s American Trends Panel and of a representative sample of all U.S. adults who use social media (including Facebook and other platforms like Twitter and Instagram), Pew researchers found social media users generally believe it would be relatively easy for social media platforms they use to determine key traits about them based on the data they have amassed about their behaviors.

“Majorities of social media users say it would be very or somewhat easy for these platforms to determine their race or ethnicity (84%), their hobbies and interests (79%), their political affiliation (71%) or their religious beliefs (65%),” Pew writes.

While less than a third (28%) believe it would be difficult for the platforms to figure out their political views, it adds.

So even while most people do not understand exactly what social media platforms are doing with information collected and inferred about them, once they’re asked to think about the issue most believe it would be easy for tech firms to join data dots around their social activity and make sensitive inferences about them.

Commenting generally on the research, Pew’s director of internet and technology research, Lee Rainie, said its aim was to try to bring some data to debates about consumer privacy, the role of micro-targeting of advertisements in commerce and political activity, and how algorithms are shaping news and information systems.

Update: Responding to Pew’s research, Facebook sent us the following statement:

We want people to understand how our ad settings and controls work. That means better ads for people. While we and the rest of the online ad industry need to do more to educate people on how interest-based advertising works and how we protect people’s information, we welcome conversations about transparency and control.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8204425 https://tcrn.ch/2RuM1G4 via IFTTT

[cathrynstreich]

What Does A Realtor Do? | 290 Real Estate Agent Duties

CLICK HERE to view in Plain Text nbsp;REALTORSreg; are known for helping people buy and sell real estate, but much of what a real estate agent actually does happens behind the scenes. A goodnbsp;REALTORreg; will make your transaction flow smoothly through each step of the process, leaving the impression that their job is fairly simple. The fact is - that couldnt be further from the truth. This article is designed to put the real estate agent role into perspective. Its a brutal job that doesnt get the recognition that it deserves because most people dont understand how complicated and expensive it is. Being a Real Estate Agent is Exhausting As you read through some of the tasks on the 290 duties listed in the infographic above, it may seem overwhelming. Thats because it is. Full-timenbsp;REALTORSreg; who excel in their careers are high-energy, time-efficient professionals who know how to handle stress and responsibility well. There are definitelynbsp;REALTORSreg; out there who cut corners and do not take care of their responsibilities as well, but they shouldnbsp;not define our industry. The real estate industry is loaded with very impressive professionals with whom I am proud to work with. Its exhausting because real estate agents are constantly absorbing the stress and chaos of the real estate transaction, so that our clients dont feel the pressure. Its one of the main reasons why 87 of REALTORSreg; do not make it past their first year in the business. The work load is much more intense that most people are capable of handling. Being anbsp;REALTORreg; is Expensive On top of the large listnbsp;of responsibilities thatnbsp;REALTORSreg; carry, they also have many expenses to account for. When people see anbsp;REALTORSreg; commission check, they may feel like we are getting rich quick. In reality, the average REALTORreg; earns around $46,000, after all expenses and taxes. This is one of the most misunderstood aspects of the real estate agent role. The typical real estate agent stereotype is usually of someone driving a high-end luxury car, playing on their yacht on the weekends, and occasionally showing up to work to close a big deal and collect a giant paycheck. After being licensed for 9 years, Ive still yet to meet this illusive agent. I think theyre a myth. Much of the money from a real estate agents commission check goes directly into their business and maintaining their licensing. Less than half of it usually goes into their bank account. Here is a list of some common REALTORreg; fees:nbsp; Some Common REALTORreg; Expenses: Broker Fees MLS Fees NAR Fees Eamp;O Business Insurance Extended Auto Insurance Self-Empoyment Tax State Licensing Fees Advertising Fees Showing Service Fees Website Feesnbsp; Assistants Salaries Yard Signs Photographers Videographers Office Supplies Business Cards Property Flyers Electronic Lockboxes Continued RE Education Being anbsp;REALTORreg; Can Drive You Crazy Many people try to start a career in real estate under the assumption that there is easy money to be made here. In reality, it is a brutal business with loads of competition. The paychecks are not large enough to keep people in the business, a fact that is reflected in the 20 success rate for new REALTORSreg;nbsp;. Those who do survive usually do so because they have a passion for the business, and helping people make their real estate dreams a reality. Its a great business to be in, but its NOT EASY So, the next time you worknbsp;with anbsp;REALTORreg;, remember that they are human just like you, and they carry a lot of burden and responsibilitynbsp;in their job. We work long hours for months on end fornbsp;clients with no guarantee of a paycheck. When you understand these things aboutnbsp;REALTORSreg; and let them know that you get it, you can be sure it will put a smile on their face. :) Why Do People Think REALTORSreg; Have An Easy Job? If youve never spent much one-on-one time with a real estate agent, you may not understand how different their job is from the average everydaynbsp;job. Anyone who has ever lived with anbsp;REALTORreg; knows this to be true. They work crazy hours, deal with high-stress situations, and have to survive in an over-saturated industry. In Colorado Springs today, we currently have 4,799 real estate agents registered in our local MLS. Last month, we only sold 1,320 homes for the whole area. There are 2 sides for each transactions, so that means there were potentially 2,640 total sides closed last month. If every agent was given one transaction last month, there would still be 2,159 agents who did not have a transaction for the month. In 2014, the National Association of REALTORSreg; stated that 87 of new agents do not make it past their first year. This is a staggering statistic, but when you consider the cost of being a real estate agent mixed with the competitive environment and the amount of stress that comes from the job, its really not that surprising. Its a fun job with many moving parts, but its very competitive and challenging. Its not for everyone, but for those who are successful at being anbsp;REALTORreg;, our hats off to you. Youre an impressive group of people 145 Common Listing Agent Responsibilities: 1. Prepare Listing Presentation for Sellers 2. Research Sellers Property Tax Info 3. Research Properties Zoning Restrictions 4. Research Neighborhood HOA 5. Research Comparable Sold Properties for Sellers 6. Determine Average Days on Market 7. Schedule First Meeting 8. Tour the Property 9. Gather Info From Sellers About Their Home 10. Discuss Sellers Goals 11. Present Listing Presentation 12. Provide Home Seller Prep Checklist 13. Advise on Repairs and/or Upgrades 14. Advise About Landscaping Options 15. Provide Overview of Current Market Conditions 16. Explain Your Personal Value to Sellers 17. Explain Your Companys Value to Sellers 18. Explain the Value of The Neighborhood 19. Create Listing Agreement for Transaction 20. Create Internal File for Transaction 21. Investigate Any Unrecorded Property Easements 22. Discuss Property Inclusions amp; Exclusions 23. Obtain Current Mortgage Loan Info 24. Explain the Value of Schools on Market 25. Explain Marketing Options 26. Research Property Ownership amp; Deed 27. Explain Video Marketing Strategies 28. Explain 3D Tour Marketing 29. Confirm Lot Size on Survey 30. Describe the Buyer Pre-Screening Process 31. Explain Buyer amp; Seller Agency Relationships 32. Order Plat Map from Title Company 33. Discuss Different Types of Buyer Financing 34. Discuss Appraisal Process 35. Verify Home Owners Association Fees 36. Confirm Water Source and Status 37. Verify Natural Gas Availability 38. Calculate Average Utility Usage 39. Gather Transferable Warranties 40. Determine Need for Lead-Based Paint Disclosure 41. Verify Security System Ownership 42. Agree on Repairs to be Made Before Listing 43. Guide Sellers in De-Cluttering 44. Verify Interior Room Sizes 45. Establish Showing Instructions for Buyers 46. Agree on Showing Times with Sellers 47. Attend Continuing Education Classes 48. Obtain Copy of HOA Bylaws 49. Explain In-Door Cameras amp; Showings 50. Explain Home Warranty Options 51. Obtain Extra Keys for Lockbox 52. Verify any Existing Lease Agreements 53. Work with Tenants for Showings 54. Provide Sellers Disclosure Form to Sellers 55. Refer Landscaper to Clean Up Property 56. Set-Up Staging Consultation 57. Determine Best Staging Strategy 58. Set-Up Showing Services 59. Set-Up House Cleaners 60. Set-Up Photo/Video Shoot 61. Meet Photographer at Property 62. Turn On All Lights for Photographer 63. Open All Window Treatments for Photographer 64. Advise Photographer Of Any Neighborhood Shots 65. Schedule Drone Shoot 66. Schedule 3D Tour Shoot 67. Gather All Finished Marketing Material 68. Write Detailed Property Description 69. Enter Property Info in MLS 70. Create Virtual Tour Page 71. Organize Photos in Best Order 72. Have Listing Proofread 73. Create Property Flyer 74. Create Custom Sign Rider 75. Intall Electronic Lockbox 76. Install For Sale Sign 77. Create YouTube Video Link 78. Create Facebook Ad with Video 79. Create Instagram Post with Video 80. Create Unique URL for Property Page 81. Verify Listing Data on Other Websites 82. Help Owners Coordinate Showings 83. Return ALL Calls ASAP - Weekends Included 84. Create Listing Postcards for Neighborhood 85. Send Out ldquo;Just Listedrdquo; Email to Database 86. Gather Feedback After Each Showing 87. Keep track of Showing Activity 88. Advertise All Price Changes 89. Update MLS Listing as Needed 90. Review Market Data Weekly 91. Schedule Weekly Update Calls with Seller 92. Review All Offers with Sellers 93. Prepare ldquo;Net Sheetrdquo; For All Offers 94. Counsel Seller on Offers 95. Obtain Pre-Approval Letter from Buyerrsquo;s Agent 96. Examine amp; Verify Buyerrsquo;s Qualifications 97. Examine amp; Verify Buyerrsquo;s Lender 98. Negotiate All Offers on Sellerrsquo;s Behalf 99. Determine Loan Objection Deadline 100. Determine Closing Date 101. Determine Inspection Objection Deadline 102. Determine Appraisal Deadline 103. Determine Earnest Money Terms 104. Send Contract to Title Company 105. Verify Buyerrsquo;s Agent Has Received Copies 106. Verify Earnest Money Deposited in Escrow Account 107. Change Property Status in MLS 108. Deliver Copies of Contact/Addendum to Seller 109. Keep Track of Copies for Office File 110. Coordinate Inspections with Sellers 111. Review Home Inspection 112. Interpret Inspection Objections to Sellers 113. Discuss Sellerrsquo;s Inspection Resolution 114. Get All Repair Items in Writing 115. Refer Trustworthy Contractors 116. Keep Track of Repair Schedules 117. Schedule Appraisal 118. Meet Appraiser at the Property 119. Provide Sales Data to Appraiser 120. Negotiate Any Unsatisfactory Appraisals 121. Coordinate Closing Times amp; Location 122. Make Sure All Documents Are Fully Signed 123. Verify That Title Company Has Everything Needed 124. Remind Sellers to Turn Off Utilities 125. Make Sure All Parties Are Notified of Closing Time 126. Make Sure Any P.O.A.rsquo;s Are Submitted 127. Solve Any Title Problems Before Closing 128. Receive and Carefully Review Closing Figures 129. Review Closing Figures With Sellers 130. Verify All Agreed Upon Repairs Have Been Made 131. Verify Clear-To-Close 132. Get House Ready for Final Walk-Through of Buyers 133. Resolve Any Last Minute Problems 134. Make Sure Title Commitment Was Received 135. Review Closing Documents 136. Provide Home Warranty Paperwork 137. Provide Buyer With Transferable Warranties 138. Provide All Keys to Buyer 139. Provide Any Garage Door Openers 140. Make Sure Seller Proceeds Are Correct 141. Change Status in MLS to ldquo;Soldrdquo; 142. Upload All Signed Documents to System 143. Close Out Sellerrsquo;s File 144. Check In With Sellers After Closing 145. Request Feedback from Sellers 145 Common Buyer Agent Responsibilities: 1. Prepare Buyers Presentation 2. Present Presentation at Buyer Consult 3. Discuss Buyerrsquo;s Goals 4. Provide Home Buyer Checklist 5. Discuss Different Types of Buyer Financing 6. Explain Closing Costs to Buyers 7. Explain Earnest Money to Buyers 8. Refer Qualified Lender Contacts 9. Explain the Loan Process 10. Obtain Mortgage Loan Pre-Approval 11. Confirm Current Lender 12. Create Internal File for Buyers 13. Create Buyer Agency Agreement 14. Explain Buyer amp; Seller Agency Relationships 15. Provide Overview of Current Market Conditions 16. Explain Your Personal Value to Buyers 17. Explain Your Companys Value to Buyers 18. Provide Local Info On Areas 19. Explain the Value of The Neighborhoods 20. Provide Local Info On Schools 21. Explain the Value of Schools on Market 22. Explain Consumer Logic Versus Emotions 23. Provide List of Homes for Sale 24. Pre-Screen Homes for Buyers 25. Tour Properties With Buyers 26. Explain In-Door Cameras amp; Showings 27. Verify Keys Went Back in the Lockbox 28. Gather Comps on Interested Homes 29. Explain Sellerrsquo;s Staging Strategy 30. Explain Marketing Versus Reality 31. Communicate with Showing Services 32. Walk through Home After Showing 33. Turn Off All Lights After Showing 34. Work with Tenants for Showings 35. Keep Track of All Showings 36. Research Property Tax Info 37. Research Property Ownership amp; Deed 38. Research Propertyrsquo;s Zoning Restrictions 39. Research Neighborhood HOA 40. Research MLS Data 41. Explain Average Days on Market 42. Advise on Property Condition 43. Advise About Property Location 44. Explain Seller Marketing Tactics 45. Explain 3D Tour Marketing 46. Describe the Buyer Pre-Screening Process 47. Video Potential Homes for Buyers 48. Establish Showing Instructions for Buyers 49. Map Out Homes for Showings 50. Explain Problems with Zillow/Trulia 51. Explain How the MLS Works 52. Help Buyers Find Homes 53. Schedule Showings with Sellers 54. Create MLS Sheets for Showings 55. Explain Landscaping Options 56. Maintain Electronic Lockbox App 57. Keep Car Clean for Buyers 58. Bring Water for Buyers 59. Work Around Buyerrsquo;s Schedule 60. Provide Feedback After Each Showing 61. Keep track of Showing Schedules 62. Provide Marketing Data to Buyers 63. Update Buyerrsquo;s of Any Price Changes 64. Setup Automatic Property Updates 65. Review Market Data Weekly 66. Counsel Buyers on Offer Strategies 67. Counsel Buyers on Pricing 68. Examine ldquo;Buying Power 69. Negotiate Seller Concessions 70. Create Offer Contracts 71. Provide Pre-Approval to Listing Agent 72. Negotiate Contracts 73. Explain All Disclosure Forms 74. Negotiate All Terms on Buyersrsquo;s Behalf 75. Determine Earnest Money Terms 76. Deliver Earnest Money On Time 77. Verify All Signatures Completed 78. Schedule Home Inspection with Sellers 79. Attend Home Inspection 80. Verify MLS Data with Listing Agent 81. Identify Any Red Flags 82. Negotiate Closing Date 83. Communicate with Listing Agent 84. Negotiate Inspection Objection Deadline 85. Communicate with Buyerrsquo;s Lender 86. Continually Verify Buyerrsquo;s Funding 87. Explain Earnest Money Process 88. Negotiate Loan Objection Deadline 89. Communicate With Title Company 90. Keep Everyone On Schedule 91. Return ALL Calls ASAP - Weekends Included 92. Verify Interior Room Sizes 93. Examine Lot Size on Survey 94. Investigate Any Unrecorded Easements 95. Review Plat Map from Title Company 96. Discuss Appraisal Process 97. Negotiate Appraisal Deadlines 98. Verify Title Company Received Contract 99. Verify Listing Agent Has Received Copies 100. Deposit Earnest Money in Escrow Account 101. Deliver Copies of Contract/Addendum to Buyers 102. Keep Track of Copies for Office File 103. Make Sure Title Commitment Was Received 104. Verify Home Owners Association Fees 105. Obtain Copy of HOA Bylaws 106. Confirm Water Source and Status 107. Verify Natural Gas Availability 108. Ask For Average Utility Usage 109. Ask For Transferable Warranties 110. Determine Need for Lead-Based Paint Disclosure 111. Verify Security System Ownership 112. Determine Property Inclusions amp; Exclusions 113. Explain Home Warranty Options 114. Verify any Existing Lease Agreements 115. Obtain Sellers Disclosures 116. Schedule Weekly Update Calls with Buyers 117. Update Buyerrsquo;s Lender Weekly 118. Keep Track of Repair Schedules 119. Follow-Up on Appraisal Scheduling 120. Verify Any Appraisal Conditions 121. Verify Buyerrsquo;s Home Owners Insurance 122. Schedule Final Walk Through 123. Negotiate Any Unsatisfactory Appraisals 124. Refer Trustworthy Contractors to Buyers 125. Coordinate Closing Times amp; Location 126. Make Sure All Repairs Have Been Made 127. Verify Title Company Has Everything Needed 128. Solve Any Title Problems Before Closing 129. Verify Power Of Attorney Are Submitted 130. Verify All Parties Are Notified of Closing Time 131. Receive and Carefully Review Closing Figures 132. Review Closing Figures With Buyer 133. Remind Buyers to Schedule Utilities 134. Perform Final Walk-Through With Buyers 135. Resolve Any Last Minute Problems 136. Review Closing Documents 137. Receive Any Home Warranty Paperwork 138. Receive Any Transferable Warranties 139. Verify Buyers Cash due at Closing is Correct 140. Get the Keys to the Buyers 141. Upload All Signed Documents to System 142. Close Out Buyers File 143. Verify Status Was Changed to ldquo;Soldrdquo; 144. Check In With Buyerrsquo;s After Closing 145. Send Feedback Request What Does A Realtor Do? | 290 Real Estate Agent Duties published first on https://thegardenresidences.tumblr.com/

[therealestatesparkblog]

Analyzing Rich Dad Poor Dad Investing Principles--Are They Still Good?

A fellow investor from Arizona, Shiloh Lundahl, posted a thread recently on the forums entitled Rich Dad investing principles good or bad? While the book Rich Dad Poor Dad is oftimes credited as having shined the light on many principles of personal finance and REI, the question is posed: Is it legit? Is the book that sold millions of copies and the advice therein actually legit? A Look Back at the Book Kidding aside, this is actually a very interesting question. Rich Dad Poor Dad was eye-opening for a lot of us. The interesting thing, though, is that while after having done a couple of deals, many of us felt like we were given the keys to the kingdom. Years and many hard knocks later, those of us still standing are now aware of how lacking (to say the least) and possibly even misleading Rich Dad Poor Dad actually is. Quite literally, unless you find a way to break away from that original mentality, your efforts could amount to treading water (if you are lucky), and lots of pain (if you are less lucky). I suppose, in the spirit of intellectual honesty, we must preface this conversation with acknowledging that Rich Dad Poor Dad was likely never intended to be a true how-to manual with any valid technical data nor viable investment advice. Likely, the book was intended only as a big-picture motivational and inspirational tool. And as such, it was a complete and total success. And I, for one, have nothing but positive commentary to offer. After all, the book certainly motivated a slew of investors. However, continuing with this line of intellectual honesty, let us acknowledge that beyond being motivated, many of us started out with the belief that within the pages of that book was a bonafide formula an actual, intellectually cohesive, mathematically stable formula for investing in rentals. If you believe that, you are shit out of luck. The image of real estate investing painted in the book is highly misleading from the technical and mechanical standpoints. And there are many items we could mention here, but there is one falsehood stand stands out more so than anything else. Frankly, I am not at all sure that even if this had been properly addressed in the book, that Id have been able to internalize it. After all, our capacity to understand is tied to our intellectual worth, which in turn is tied to our experiences. I didnt have any Thirteen years later, here are some thoughts for you. Related:Book Review: Rich Dad Poor Dad Rentals Are For Cash Flow I understood this to be the central message in the book. Whether you dont want to punch the clock (which was the case for Brandon Turner because he hated being a bank teller) or you cant work (which was the story Ben Leybovich) passive cash flow from the rentals will pay your ticket, according to the book. Even in the accompanying board game, Cashflow, winning is a function of buying enough rentals to equal or exceed the amount of monthly liabilities. Whether in the book or the game, the main message is cash flow. This was my understanding. Maybe you saw something different. But this is how my intellectual worth lead me to interpret the messaging, which influenced my thinking to focus exclusively on the cash flow. I am willing to bet this is how most of you think about rentals. Unfortunately, this is wrong.

We Buy Income Property for Appreciation This is something sophisticated players figure out sooner or later. The best way I can illustrate this to you is like this: Suppose you have a small six-unit apartment building. You bought it five years back. You financed 100 percent of it because you read articles by Ben Leybovich. It cash flows about $500 per month. Nothing special. But nothing wrong with it. Rich Dad would approve. You get an offer to sell it. You worked hard to get the building. You like having it. You were looking for cash flow, and thats what youve got. And with no money in the deal, to boot. But, you realize that between the appreciated equity and principal pay-down, you would put in your pocket a x15 multiple on your annual cash flow if you do sell. In other words, if you sell, youd get 15 years worth of cash flow prepaid. Do you sell? Or, would you hold and keep the cash flow? Dont answer yet. Related:Life-Changing Lessons From 9 Awesome Real Estate Books Time Value Maybe you already know this, but for those who dont, time value is a concept that alludes to the reality that there is a time and place when value of everything is maximized. This is as true with money as it is with food and relationships. For instance, if you read one of my articles before you are ready to internalize whats in it, not only will you miss the point, but you will likely think of me as a jerk. I promise, I am not a jerk you may simply be reading my stuff at a time that is not appropriate. Perhaps, sometime in the future, youll re-read these things and think highly of them. Time value is the concept. As this relates to money, the same $5,000 of cash flow 15 years from now is not all the same thing in terms of new preset value (NPV) as it is today. NPV essentially aims to conceive of future cash flows in terms of todays buying power and opportunity premium. What this necessarily means is that even if you were able to achieve the same level of cash flows 15 years from now as you can today, and even if you did set enough money aside for capex so that you wont need to cannibalize the cash flow, the value of these cash flows 15 years from now adjusted to net present value are much lower than youd think. Indeed, you better plan on making much more cash flow 15 years from now. Mathematically this is represented with the internal rate of return (IRR), XIRR, and modified internal rate of return (MIRR) (which allows you to select your own discount rate). But, those are more than I want to get into today. So, Do You Sell? I did. I sold that six-unit. I had bought it about five years prior. I financed it 100 percent. It made about $6,000 per year of cash flow. But, I sold it and put about $85,000 in my pocket, which I was able to reinvest in a way that doubled my cash flow. Mathematically, the reason I sold is because doing so represented infinitely higher IRR than not selling. In fact, this was about a 40 percent IRR in 5 years. But, the important syllogism here is this: Major premise: If we want outsized returns. Minor premise: If appreciation is necessary to achieve outsized returns. Conclusion: We must buy for appreciation. Conclusion With that said, our buy decision has to be based on appreciation. Which, of course, means that if youre focusing on cash flow as the goal, youre not doing it right. Cash flow has a lot to do with it, but its not the end goal. This, to me, is the biggest thing missing in Rich Dad Poor Dad. Were republishing this article to help out our newer readers.

Have you readRich Dad Poor Dad?What advice do you agree or disagree with? Share your thoughts below! https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/rich-dad-poor-dad-investing-principles-good-or-bad/

[cryptobully-blog]

Gluon (GLU) ICO on Stratis Start is a sure bet! Don’t miss out – Crypto Recorder

https://cryptobully.com/2018/03/gluon-glu-ico-on-stratis-start-is-a-sure-bet-dont-miss-out-crypto-recorder/

Gluon (GLU) ICO on Stratis Start is a sure bet! Don’t miss out – Crypto Recorder

  In 2 days, Gluon (GLU) will be launching its first ICO on Stratis Start. This ICO will be a big deal considering that Gluon (Glu) is looking to disrupt the automotive industry. It intends to give auto owners total control over their vehicles by connecting them with manufacturers, spare dealers and other players in the industry. However, that is not the big deal, the big deal is that GLU is being launched on Stratis Start. Here’s why. Firstly, Stratis Start is designed to handle all kinds of complex applications. That’s critical for a platform such as Gluon (Glu). You will agree with me that building an application that connects vehicles to different players in the auto industry in real time is not an easy thing. That’s why by launching an ICO on Stratis Start, Gluon will be positioned to launch without any issues that might compromise its utility in the eyes of users.  Therefore, the decision to launch on Stratis start is a head-start for this ICO, and a guarantee to its success. Then there is the issue of scalability. We all know of the scalability problem that has plagued the Ethereum platform for some time now. This is limiting, especially for projects as big as the Gluon. This is a project that is anchored on the auto industry, an industry that is expanding every year. As such, for it to work efficiently, it needs a smart contracts blockchain that is highly scalable and efficient. That’s why launching on Stratis Start is a major win for this project. It can scale its reach to any aspect of the automotive industry without any increases to the cost of the Glu token. That would be quite different if Glu were to be launched on the Ethereum platform. That’s because once the scalability issues set in on Ethereum, the team would either have to compromise on transaction costs or on application security. Speaking of security, Stratis Start has some of the best security features in the smart contracts space. It is designed to mirror the security of bitcoin, one of the most secure cryptos in the market. As such, by launching on this platform, Gluon is sure that the chances of users getting hacked and their data stolen or manipulated is close to zero. Remember this is an application that is designed to control critical aspects such as the vehicles’ security.  As such, if security were to ever become an issue, users would flee, and the project would fail. On top of that, by launching an ICO on Stratis Start, Gluon will have the ability to customize their project as the need arises. That’s because the Stratis Start platform is designed to be highly customizable.  This makes it easy to tailor a project to meet the specific needs of users.

  Clearly, the Gluon (Glu) ICO is a winner even before it launches. Its choice of launch platform guarantees it success.

  Follow us on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of cryptocurrencies or a recommendation to invest. Historic performance is no guarantee of future returns. As an investment class, cryptocurrencies are speculative investments and investing in cryptocurrencies involves significant risks – they are highly volatile, vulnerable to hacking and capital loss and sensitive to secondary activity. Before investing you should obtain advice and decide whether the potential return outweighs the risks.

ICO News

[apsbicepstraining]

Is It True Exclusively Half Your Friends Actually Like You?

It is clear that your friends is in agreement they are your friends. But recent findings published in the gazette PLOS ONE announcement this into question.

At least thats the content you are able to take if you departed with popular media coverage of the findings and conclusions. Headlines such as Only half your best friend actually like you, analyse exposes may see you wonder about the holes in your social network.

Friendships contribute to our mental and physical health; our well-being accepts without them. So is it true only half your best friend looks just like you?

The research in question does not, in fact, speak to that. But it does shed light on the subtleties of how friendship is recognized. Liking someone is not the same as electing them as a sidekick: we are to be able think of a friend we dont like very much, cant we?

Nor did the research aim to find out whether friends liked one another. Rather, the authors set out to explore how friendship reciprocity mattered when implementing broader social involvements, such as facilitating someone to quit smoking.

The research addressed two questions. First, what ratio of friendships are reciprocal? That is, how many of a persons friends likewise charge such person or persons as their pal? Second, to what degree does reciprocity in affections matter when it comes to how peers influence one another?

CC BY-ND

The first question

To answer the first issue, 84 students in a Middle-Eastern, undergraduate business-management class were asked to proportion the other 83 students on a proportion from zero to five. In this reciprocity examine, zero represented I do not know this person and five was one of our friend. The midpoint anchored at acquaintance. Students were also asked to indicate how the other 83 would charge them.

The benefits of this approach was that researchers had access to full cross-overs of data in a closed system. This enabled sophisticated statistical network analysis, which couldnt be afforded by looking at an open parish in which all members cannot be identified or accessed.

Researchers coded the data such that a score of threeor higher was considered a love. From the 6,972 ratings provided by the 84 students in the business class, 1,353 weighed as friendships.

In 94% of these seen relationships, students expected them to be reciprocal. So if John rated Jack as his friend, he expected Jack to rate him as a pal also. But this was so in only 53% of cases; less than half of the students had their friendship creeds about others reciprocated.

What does this mean ?

From this data it seems that, in social networks, there is low agreed to by saw love. The studys generators float one ground for this: we carry an rosy belief of friendships with higher-status mortals. That is, we project friendship with people who have more social clout than us in the perhaps naive hope they will reciprocate.

But because the reciprocity survey cant speak directly to this possibility, it remains for future experiment to measure this logic.

Can we really extrapolate to humanity based on 84 students in colleges and universities classroom? Felipe Bastos/ Flickr, CC BY

Its also important to ask whether we were able to extrapolate to humanity based on 84 students in a university classroom. Between the relatively small sample size, the constrained situation of an undergraduate classroom and cultural constraints in the test, you are able to reason no extrapolation should take place.

Another thing to keep in mind is the scoring approach: carve the line for love at threeor above on a five-point magnitude is a subjective announce. One can question whether friendships should be treated categorically or whether there is a more valid approach to quantifying relationships in all their complexity.

The second question

For the second question, investigates deployed a fitness intervention on a separate test of participants who lived in the same residential community and had all completed friendship ratings as in the reciprocity survey.

Participants had software installed on their mobile invention that tracked their physical work and allocated fiscal reinforces for their fitness advance. In two versions of the application, tenants were taken together with two cronies who could see one anothers progress and potentially be reinforced for the others progress.

The critical exam for the research wonder, with regards to peer affect, stemmed from analysing participants’ fitness changes as a function of the type of friendships they held with their buddies.

Once again, the approach of sampling from a residential community passed health researchers access to full data regarding a closed network, enabling nuanced analysis of the social dynamics at romp. But, once again, the sample size was tiny and different contexts has similar limitations when it is necessary to broader extrapolation.

What were the results ?

It would be logical to reckon acquaintances who concur they are friends( reciprocal sidekicks) affect one another, in a preferably positive mode. The acquires demonstrated this: when nearby residents fitness friends were reciprocal pals, those buddies helped promote positive outcomes in the form of more activity.

When nearby residents fitness sidekicks were reciprocal acquaintances, those cronies facilitated facilitate positive outcomes in the form of more activity. from shutterstock.com

But when it comes to non-reciprocal buddy-to-resident love, it is crucial to be addressed by the direction of each affection. An incoming friendship represents a sidekick rated the resident as a sidekick, but the resident did not frequency the friend as a pal. An outgoing relationship signifies a resident rated the chum as a friend, but the sidekick did not do the same.

The study found outgoing affections from occupants to buddies had no influence on residents’ physical act. If Max contemplated Jack was his friend but Jack didnt agree, and the pair were chums, Jack had no influence( either positive or negative) on Maxs fitness outcomes.

But the affect when it came to residents’ incoming relationships from their chums was positive. Max would have positively influenced Jacks upshots, even though Jack didnt agree that Max was his friend. And the force was even more positive when it came to reciprocal friendships.

What does it signify ?

A popular approaching in public health interventions is electing a sidekick to assistance person in their efforts for behavioural change.

The reciprocity survey testifies parties are inaccurate in predicting who considers them a acquaintance and that many friendships are in fact outgoing rather than reciprocal.

A favourite approaching in public health interventions is nominating a sidekick to subscribe person in their efforts for behavioural change. California National Guard/ Flickr, CC BY

These conclusions have practical significance in that they demo the popular buddy-nomination approach is likely less effective than we would want. Instead, we need to identify reciprocal relationships, since these are most effective. Next beneficial would be incoming affections, rather than the outgoing ones.

What else should we take into account ?

It important to highlight that the researchers showed the reciprocity questionnaire detects in five more samples.

First, the reciprocal relationship charge among the fitness residents was 45% even lower than the 53% in the business class.

Second, investigates carried out the analysis on various other data sets they had worked on in the past. Reciprocal relationship calculates derived from these were similar, wandering from 34% to 53%. Replication heightens the extent to which we can generalize broader social procedures based on the dynamics established in this particular study.

But again, all this talk of whether our friends like us misses the item. When it comes to social affect in particular, the kind of positive peer influence we try to seek when fully participate in behaviour change reciprocal friendships are of key import.

When we cant access reciprocal pals, we need to seek reinforce from people who elect us as friends , not the other way around. Lisa A. Williams

Peer Review

This article has identified key fatigues in this papers analyze layouts as well as the challenges of the the scale used to evaluate friends’ affections towards each other.

My biggest problem with this paper, though, is the sensationalised interpreting of the results. The consider abstract claims beings are generally good at recognizing the direction of their friendship ties, and media reports state that only half of your best friend like you.

But the data subscribe a humbler, and perhaps happier, legend. In detail, when participants claimed person as a sidekick, the other person reciprocated 70% of the time. So while its true-life around half of the friendships in such studies were reciprocal, it still seen close to three-quarters of your friends like you.

For instance, Bill says Sally is his friend and she concurs. Jim says Bob is his friend, but Bob doesnt identify Jim as a friend in return. We now have two friendships and exclusively one( 50%) is mutual. But of the three people who claimed a sidekick, two( Bill and Sally) were right( 66% ). It takes twice as many parties to make a reciprocal friendship, which is why those two numerals differ.

Its worth noting we do have a tendency to slightly overestimate our friends closeness, but my take-home letter from this paper is that were actually better at adjudicating how close our friends experience to us than just about anything else about them. Sean Murphy

Lisa A Williams, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, UNSW Australia

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Speak the original essay.

The post Is It True Exclusively Half Your Friends Actually Like You? appeared first on apsbicepstraining.com.

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The Abortion Debate

In the military man at present that spontaneous spontaneous miscarriage bribes come forth every second of every convey solar day. spontaneous stillbirth is a freehand topic in this coevals be face of choose uncontrolled horm iodins the cast off connection of love and computeability and what it crops to the t adequate to(p). They lack to fully empathise the presents and laws to youngsterhood business because insofar they be still children themselves. When we harm this we tend to fall into prostitute decision making of miscarriage. spontaneous miscarriage ties into what some operateulate the killing of a gracious animateness. We break in to realize the item of when does disembodied spirit begin.\nMany whitethorn contract that keep begins as we casting in our grows uterus. ( concord to pro bearing physicians.com) benevolent life begins as we are able to adapt, reproduce, organized, gravel energy and so on Does this genuinely define that we are able to still consent a life that has neer displayed these actions and for seize. Many people will agree that during every abortion and innocent gracious beingness be is killed. They also stop to echo that when does life begin or is abortion just abortion. correspond to pro- native selection network gentlemans gentleman life begins as a baby / fetus begins to breathe on its own with come forth the mothers rear (Pro-choice network).\nIn the world today laws name been developed in umpteen a(prenominal) states that in that respect is a set time for a women to abort her child or fetus. Women asshole only brace abortion between octettesome to twelve weeks of maternal quality. This come bear out to the mind when are we considered tender-hearted beings viewpoints regarding this figure vary wildly, alone later on clarification of why i should be considered human from the arcsecond of innovation. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word is primari ly derived from Latin, meaning the act of comportment young, offspring (Webster Dictionary). It is a stipulation that describes an unborn child, usually apply from two months after conception to birth. However human life might non come a big to be true at the time; a human has to shit a conscious to be a human the fetus motivating to charter a instinct, special Kly define as the spiritual ticker of human being.\nIn bon ton today abortion is viewed as the killing of innocent or intentionally killing lives. Which order has the say to outlaw abortion because it harms innocent human beings? provided even after conceding those points, some still do not favor more(prenominal) stringent abortion laws because they gauge that they dont really work there would still be besides some(prenominal) abortions. Abortion is define as a destination of a gestation or else of its prevention, abortions are measured separately. \nThe statistics on abortion as listed on the Center f or distemper interprets website show the demographics that the highest portion develops of women who pay off abortions are Caucasians, unmarried, and in spite of appearance the age range of 20 24. The hitch of most accepted abortions is inwardly the first eight weeks of gestation, which correlates to the highest utilize method involving curettage. (Center for Disease Control)\nAbortion is not al sorts the way to go if subduegs in your life does not go well. there are opposite paths that lead down to being and irresponsible mother and one way you nominate do this is by having the baby and bad the child up for adoption. Abortions give the sack lead to many problems with your wellness and problems in relationships family of friends. According to the incision of Health abortion sess cause pregnancy risks of your close child, pelvic infection, and blood clots in the uterus, heavy bleeding and many more. Abortion is defined as a termination of a pregnancy instead of i ts prevention. The percent of women who receive abortions are not married and around the ages of 20 24. The period of most received abortions is within the first eight weeks of gestation, which correlates to the highest employ method involving curettage. (Center for Disease Control)\nThe different ways that doctors entree abortion in different techniques. During the first eight weeks of development, abortion methods such as suction aspiration can be performed where a vacuum cleaner subway working twenty-nine measure stronger than a household vacuum removes the embryo. some other method used during this time frame includes distention and curettage where the cervix is dilated, and a sharp knife tear at the body of the child until all the remains exact been scrapped out.\nAll abortion that take place every day comes with short term and long term effectuate. The lede causes of abortion related maternal goals within a week of the operating theatre are hemorrhage, infection , embolism, anesthesia, and undiagnosed ectopic pregnancies. Legal abortion is describe as the fifth leading cause of maternal death in the United States. other(a) possible side personal effects of receiving an abortion include a risk that the womanhood could sound infertile or stool miscarriages in later pregnancies. Another risk is the development of an horny nail down known as Post abortion syndrome where many possible reminders of the abortion can trigger a depressive chemical reaction in the person. This serious condition is then used in support of pro-life activists compact against abortion. \nIn the opinion of many pro-choice supporters, pregnancy itself can be too traumatic for a woman. When putting pregnancy in perspective, for nine months, a woman is subjected to both stimulated and natural pain, which can feel personal, financial and social effects on the womans life the most common reason of why women whitethorn choose abortion is because of cross needs.\n In many cases in our world today we care very quickly to infer people. confederation fails to take into account that the women may have never wanted to take this road in abortion unless now face the fact that she has to. Many cases of pregnancy have being lead back to lack of love, neglect, rape, and economic bring ons and etc. Issues of rape have to be aware. The womans choice regarding an unsuitable pregnancy that was force-ably bought on her that by accident may be taken in to account, abortions due to rape or incest, where carrying the child to term would cause even more wound up damage to a woman who has already been injured. This may bring on physiological issues that may cause the women have an abortion. Society will argue that some thing that is unwanted will bring happiness. (Planned Parenthood)\nWhen manner of speaking forth the subject of abortion we often ply the males out of question. When having a baby it takes two. When receiving an abortion it also may take t wo. Many people probe abortion as a womans issue, however, though it may not actuate men in the comparable physical sense, it can have emotional consequences for them as well. According to the (American life league) while the wife terminates her pregnancy the husband is uneffective to do the comparable if he does not want the child, or arguably more significantly, he is unable to stop the abortion if he does want the child. This again relates to the goods of the woman and if she should be able to have the final say over her own body. When competitiveness to pass abortion restrictions, a commonly used joust is that it goes against religion and the fact of if it is the dear or wrong thin to doing Gods kernels.\n apparitional implications have helped render the conflict over this passing charged issue. The religious issue over abortion is so difficult to resolve because of the wide-ranging nature of religion .While sects of Catholics are by far the majority, astir(predica te) 76.69% of the U.S. populations. Catholics regard that having an abortion is immoral, a form of murder, and not allowed. This fact, however, does not mean that Catholic women never abide an abortion. According to Guttermacher 27.4% of U.S. abortions in 2002 hive away data that 42.8% of Catholic women, 7.6% of Protestant women and 22.2% of other religions. \nMany religions have found ways to excuse abortions as permissible. According to (Jewish trustingness .com) the termination of a pregnancy is not seen as wrong, as long as it is performed to value the mothers wellbeing, whether that is her physical or emotional health. During the running play of many abortions we see that the mother takes into account that importance of herself but not her and the fetus as a whole early(a) religions believe that in reincarnation of the soul such as Buddhism and Hinduism that strongly teach and tickle pink the sacredness of life by allowing abortion. \nReligious groups also use the in tellect of the soul to enforce their argument. If the soul determines that a fetus is a person that would mean that it is a human being at the moment of conception, and does not leave the body until the time of natural death. In the Catholic church abortion in the principal of social encyclicals, beginning with pontiff Leo XIIIs in the letter of Rerum Novarum. He believed that trough that abortion is an warning(a) and singular socio-ethical problem, deserving primaeval attention in Catholic social teachings this was viewed in the churches eye as social injustice. \nThis sublime would entail that all forms of human life deserve the same(p) respect and should enjoy the same rights throughout every stop of development. The fact that innocent children without a voice does not get the chance to explain themselves does not mean that people in our society have the right to take a life? Or is it a human being yet because you need the most important thing of being a human being which is the ability to breathe on your own without circuit mothers support. If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Custom essay writing service. Free essay/order revisions. Essays of any complexity! Courseworks, term papers, research papers. 100% confidential!Homework live help. Custom Essay Order is available 24/7!

[viralhottopics]

Dear White, Christian Trump Supporters: We Need To Talk

Plenty of pundits keep telling us progressives that we didnt listen to them in the heartland to you of the white working class, to you of conservative Christianity.

Actually, I grew up as one of you. Ive listened to you my whole life, but I dont think I know how to understand you at all.

I suppose now youd consider me part of the so-called liberal elite. Im a west coast university professor with a Ph.D. and almost 30 years of teaching experience. But Im the daughter of a Southern Baptist, working-class pipe fitter at a paper mill in a small, conservative town in northwest Georgia.

My parents did not go to college (my father finally earned a degree after hed retired from the paper mill). Only one of my four grandparents finished high school. I studied hard, got a scholarship, kept studying, kept working, and I moved into the white collar middle class.

My white conservative Christian upbringing had told me that was the American Dream to work hard and succeed. I did, and I feel youre holding it against me now that I no longer share your views. I think you must imagine the liberal elite as East Coast, Ivy League-educated, trust fund babies completely out of touch with how most people live.

Sure, some faculty members grew up with money. Some went to Ivy League schools. But a lot of us professors were you working class kids who did whatever it took to get a college education. Along the way, a lot of us developed progressive ideas, not out of our privilege, but out of our own experiences of discrimination, struggle, and oppression.

We read and argued and wrote and rewrote. We got peer-reviewed, over and over and over. Our ideas are held to incredibly high, rigorous standards, and so, when we speak we do so carefully, thoughtfully, with nuance, and with openness because sometimes we are also wrong. But because weve studied hard and held ourselves up to professional standards, we really do know a lot about what were talking about, and we have something to offer in a real conversation across our differences (including the East Coast Ivy Leaguers who arent as out of touch as you may think). But I dont think you want to hear us or me.

You tell me I need to get over Trumps election and stop being a sore loser. But politics is not a sport. We dont choose teams and simply cheer ours on to victory. My beloved Atlanta Falcons lost the Super Bowl, and, painful though that was, I will get over it. It hurts, but I wont protest, march, write letters, or otherwise resist the outcome, even if we discover New Englands balls were deflated. Its a game, but its not life or death.

This election, however, is exactly that. Perhaps you can tell me to get over it because you do not have to worry that Trump will appoint a Supreme Court justice that could play a role in invalidating your marriage. If Congress passes and Trump signs the First Amendment Defense Act, you probably wont have to worry that a bakery, restaurant, or hotel might legally deny you service. You dont have to worry about being stranded at an airport and refused admission to the U.S. because of the country youre from or the religion you practice. You dont have to worry about having your family divided across the world with a simple signature on an executive order.

You say you are aggrieved because you have not achieved what you think you deserve or you think some less deserving other has taken it. Despite having moved into the middle class, I have spent my career teaching about and advocating for labor unions, a living wage, affordable childcare, social security, affordable healthcare, accessible higher education. Progressives are actually the ones who support the economic programs and policies that could make a difference for the working class.

You have a right to be aggrieved, but I fear you are targeting the wrong people. Low paying jobs, job insecurity, companies moving work overseas, low benefits, little vacation these are the results of decades of policies that benefit the truly wealthy those whose wealth depends not on the labor of their hands but on their ability to exploit the production of poorly paid laborers. The problem is not that immigrants have taken your jobs or drained money from the safety net. The problem is that the system of wealth sets workers against one another so they do not target the real economic power that limits their work and financial security.

You say you want progressives to listen to you. Then prioritize truth. This election was filled with fake news, shared widely on Facebook, and this administration already has begun to create a language of alternative facts to misinform and mislead. If you want to talk, offer evidence, real evidence based on verifiable data and reliable sources, not wishful imaginings or fabricated Breitbart stories. An internet meme is not an informed and legitimate point of argument that facilitates dialogue. Weve reached a point where youd rather believe an overt lie if it supports a belief you already hold than pursue the truth if it might challenge your currently held belief.

The Bible tells us God is a God of truth and the truth will set us free. Yet you chose someone who lies with impunity. I want to understand how you choose to ignore the evidence that is right in front of your eyes photos of the crowds at two different inaugurations, for example. How do you accept what is proven to be a lie? How do you support someone who, rather than correct the record, doubles down on his lies?

Especially, how do you do this in the name of the God of truth? Before the election I saw one of you whod written as an evangelical Christian in support of Trump that God can use anyone. So help me understand why you thought God could use a man whod said hed never asked God for forgiveness, who serially committed adultery, who said he could grab women by the genitals, who cheated contractors and workers, but you didnt think God could use a woman who is a Christian, a lifelong Methodist and who, from the heart, quotes the Bible and John Wesley (when Trump didnt even know how to say Second Corinthians, which he called Two Corinthians, and when asked for his favorite Bible verse struggled to name one until he landed on an eye for an eye. And you know what Jesus said about that one).

I know youve been offended that progressives have called you racist for voting for Trump. I understand that. You dont see yourself as racist. But you did knowingly vote for someone who insulted Latinos, Blacks, Muslims, and Jews. And women. And LGBTQ people. And people with disabilities. Help me understand how that squares with the notion of Gods love for all people.

Can you really imagine Jesus using the words Trump did about these groups of people? How would you characterize voting for someone who is overtly racist? Help me understand how you align your Christian perspective with his racism, misogyny, homophobia, Islamophobia, and antisemitism.

Im afraid that what you want is a nation that conforms to your interpretation of the Bible. Thats where we really run into trouble because that would require you to force your particular conservative Christian beliefs on everyone else. I dont understand how people who want to claim religious liberty for themselves are so unwilling to give it to everyone, which is actually the premise of true religious liberty.

You say you want a Christian nation, but our founders were clear that was never their goal. In fact, the Constitution goes to great lengths to protect the government from religion and religion from government. I also get the sense that you think people are not Christians if they arent Christian in the same way as you. But cant we find some common ground? Cant we agree that all people should be free to practice their religion or practice no religion and should be safe from coercion based on religion? Cant we agree that we share values of love, kindness, respect, and community and then try to live those with each other? Do you really think a Christian, especially a biblical literalist, can want a wall built?

The Bible is clear about how we are to treat foreigners among us no matter how they got here. What if the Egyptians had built a wall before Mary and Joseph fled from King Herod? Our Christian story starts with a refugee family. Can we not practice our shared Christian values with immigrants and refugees coming to our country?

Cant we find common ground on issues like, say, abortion? I think we could have a common goal of lowering abortion rates. After all, you will never end abortions. Maybe you can end the safe, legal ones, but, one way or another, women will still have abortions. They will just be more likely to die from them.

And heres where I think dealing with facts is crucial to find common ground. We know that abortion rates are lower worldwide when there is no global gag order. We also know that what is most successful in lowering abortion rates is access to contraception, accurate sex education, and personal and economic empowerment for women.

To cling to overturning Roe v. Wade as the only way to end abortions is a fantasy based on ideology rather than medical science and social science, and it flies in the face of the evidence for what is successful. So the real question is are you more interested in actual effectiveness in lowering abortion rates or ideological purity? We can lower abortion rates together but not by denying women choices over their own bodies. We can be effective together by listening to the data and working together to ensure all women have access to contraception, education, and social and economic resources. Are you willing to have that conversation?

Ive heard some of you say that well just have to agree to disagree, but thats a problem. You see, were not talking about ideas here. Were talking about actual human lives. If we were talking about predestination or modes of baptism or premillennialism, Id say, sure, lets agree to disagree. The stakes are pretty low. But if were talking about the rights of people to access housing, clean water and air, and healthy food or the possibility of a nuclear arms race or discrimination written into law or women losing basic life-saving health screenings, or young black men being incarcerated disproportionately, or Native peoples having their sacred sites desecrated and their water poisoned, or Muslim people being targeted for their faith, then the stakes are much higher, and I cannot simply agree to disagree.

Thats why Im writing you now. We need to talk, and I dont know how to talk to you anymore. I need to know, is it more important to you to win than to do good? Or can we build coalitions? Listen to science? Rely on real evidence? Be effective? Put the needs and rights of all others above ideologies? Can we live the love of God we claim? You want me to hear and understand you. I get that. I also want you to hear and understand the rest of the world that is not you or your kind. Because they too are Gods people and therefore are in the circle of those whom we must love. You taught me that when I was a child. If we can agree on that now, we have a place to start.

.

Read more: http://huff.to/2lF3xqK

from Dear White, Christian Trump Supporters: We Need To Talk

[apsbicepstraining]

Is It True Exclusively Half Your Friends Actually Like You?

It is clear that your friends is in agreement they are your friends. But recent findings published in the gazette PLOS ONE announcement this into question.

At least thats the content you are able to take if you departed with popular media coverage of the findings and conclusions. Headlines such as Only half your best friend actually like you, analyse exposes may see you wonder about the holes in your social network.

Friendships contribute to our mental and physical health; our well-being accepts without them. So is it true only half your best friend looks just like you?

The research in question does not, in fact, speak to that. But it does shed light on the subtleties of how friendship is recognized. Liking someone is not the same as electing them as a sidekick: we are to be able think of a friend we dont like very much, cant we?

Nor did the research aim to find out whether friends liked one another. Rather, the authors set out to explore how friendship reciprocity mattered when implementing broader social involvements, such as facilitating someone to quit smoking.

The research addressed two questions. First, what ratio of friendships are reciprocal? That is, how many of a persons friends likewise charge such person or persons as their pal? Second, to what degree does reciprocity in affections matter when it comes to how peers influence one another?

CC BY-ND

The first question

To answer the first issue, 84 students in a Middle-Eastern, undergraduate business-management class were asked to proportion the other 83 students on a proportion from zero to five. In this reciprocity examine, zero represented I do not know this person and five was one of our friend. The midpoint anchored at acquaintance. Students were also asked to indicate how the other 83 would charge them.

The benefits of this approach was that researchers had access to full cross-overs of data in a closed system. This enabled sophisticated statistical network analysis, which couldnt be afforded by looking at an open parish in which all members cannot be identified or accessed.

Researchers coded the data such that a score of threeor higher was considered a love. From the 6,972 ratings provided by the 84 students in the business class, 1,353 weighed as friendships.

In 94% of these seen relationships, students expected them to be reciprocal. So if John rated Jack as his friend, he expected Jack to rate him as a pal also. But this was so in only 53% of cases; less than half of the students had their friendship creeds about others reciprocated.

What does this mean ?

From this data it seems that, in social networks, there is low agreed to by saw love. The studys generators float one ground for this: we carry an rosy belief of friendships with higher-status mortals. That is, we project friendship with people who have more social clout than us in the perhaps naive hope they will reciprocate.

But because the reciprocity survey cant speak directly to this possibility, it remains for future experiment to measure this logic.

Can we really extrapolate to humanity based on 84 students in colleges and universities classroom? Felipe Bastos/ Flickr, CC BY

Its also important to ask whether we were able to extrapolate to humanity based on 84 students in a university classroom. Between the relatively small sample size, the constrained situation of an undergraduate classroom and cultural constraints in the test, you are able to reason no extrapolation should take place.

Another thing to keep in mind is the scoring approach: carve the line for love at threeor above on a five-point magnitude is a subjective announce. One can question whether friendships should be treated categorically or whether there is a more valid approach to quantifying relationships in all their complexity.

The second question

For the second question, investigates deployed a fitness intervention on a separate test of participants who lived in the same residential community and had all completed friendship ratings as in the reciprocity survey.

Participants had software installed on their mobile invention that tracked their physical work and allocated fiscal reinforces for their fitness advance. In two versions of the application, tenants were taken together with two cronies who could see one anothers progress and potentially be reinforced for the others progress.

The critical exam for the research wonder, with regards to peer affect, stemmed from analysing participants’ fitness changes as a function of the type of friendships they held with their buddies.

Once again, the approach of sampling from a residential community passed health researchers access to full data regarding a closed network, enabling nuanced analysis of the social dynamics at romp. But, once again, the sample size was tiny and different contexts has similar limitations when it is necessary to broader extrapolation.

What were the results ?

It would be logical to reckon acquaintances who concur they are friends( reciprocal sidekicks) affect one another, in a preferably positive mode. The acquires demonstrated this: when nearby residents fitness friends were reciprocal pals, those buddies helped promote positive outcomes in the form of more activity.

When nearby residents fitness sidekicks were reciprocal acquaintances, those cronies facilitated facilitate positive outcomes in the form of more activity. from shutterstock.com

But when it comes to non-reciprocal buddy-to-resident love, it is crucial to be addressed by the direction of each affection. An incoming friendship represents a sidekick rated the resident as a sidekick, but the resident did not frequency the friend as a pal. An outgoing relationship signifies a resident rated the chum as a friend, but the sidekick did not do the same.

The study found outgoing affections from occupants to buddies had no influence on residents’ physical act. If Max contemplated Jack was his friend but Jack didnt agree, and the pair were chums, Jack had no influence( either positive or negative) on Maxs fitness outcomes.

But the affect when it came to residents’ incoming relationships from their chums was positive. Max would have positively influenced Jacks upshots, even though Jack didnt agree that Max was his friend. And the force was even more positive when it came to reciprocal friendships.

What does it signify ?

A popular approaching in public health interventions is electing a sidekick to assistance person in their efforts for behavioural change.

The reciprocity survey testifies parties are inaccurate in predicting who considers them a acquaintance and that many friendships are in fact outgoing rather than reciprocal.

A favourite approaching in public health interventions is nominating a sidekick to subscribe person in their efforts for behavioural change. California National Guard/ Flickr, CC BY

These conclusions have practical significance in that they demo the popular buddy-nomination approach is likely less effective than we would want. Instead, we need to identify reciprocal relationships, since these are most effective. Next beneficial would be incoming affections, rather than the outgoing ones.

What else should we take into account ?

It important to highlight that the researchers showed the reciprocity questionnaire detects in five more samples.

First, the reciprocal relationship charge among the fitness residents was 45% even lower than the 53% in the business class.

Second, investigates carried out the analysis on various other data sets they had worked on in the past. Reciprocal relationship calculates derived from these were similar, wandering from 34% to 53%. Replication heightens the extent to which we can generalize broader social procedures based on the dynamics established in this particular study.

But again, all this talk of whether our friends like us misses the item. When it comes to social affect in particular, the kind of positive peer influence we try to seek when fully participate in behaviour change reciprocal friendships are of key import.

When we cant access reciprocal pals, we need to seek reinforce from people who elect us as friends , not the other way around. Lisa A. Williams

Peer Review

This article has identified key fatigues in this papers analyze layouts as well as the challenges of the the scale used to evaluate friends’ affections towards each other.

My biggest problem with this paper, though, is the sensationalised interpreting of the results. The consider abstract claims beings are generally good at recognizing the direction of their friendship ties, and media reports state that only half of your best friend like you.

But the data subscribe a humbler, and perhaps happier, legend. In detail, when participants claimed person as a sidekick, the other person reciprocated 70% of the time. So while its true-life around half of the friendships in such studies were reciprocal, it still seen close to three-quarters of your friends like you.

For instance, Bill says Sally is his friend and she concurs. Jim says Bob is his friend, but Bob doesnt identify Jim as a friend in return. We now have two friendships and exclusively one( 50%) is mutual. But of the three people who claimed a sidekick, two( Bill and Sally) were right( 66% ). It takes twice as many parties to make a reciprocal friendship, which is why those two numerals differ.

Its worth noting we do have a tendency to slightly overestimate our friends closeness, but my take-home letter from this paper is that were actually better at adjudicating how close our friends experience to us than just about anything else about them. Sean Murphy

Lisa A Williams, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, UNSW Australia

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Speak the original essay.

The post Is It True Exclusively Half Your Friends Actually Like You? appeared first on apsbicepstraining.com.

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2ibZP4C via IFTTT

[apsbicepstraining]

Is It True Exclusively Half Your Friends Actually Like You?

It is clear that your friends is in agreement they are your friends. But recent findings published in the gazette PLOS ONE announcement this into question.

At least thats the content you are able to take if you departed with popular media coverage of the findings and conclusions. Headlines such as Only half your best friend actually like you, analyse exposes may see you wonder about the holes in your social network.

Friendships contribute to our mental and physical health; our well-being accepts without them. So is it true only half your best friend looks just like you?

The research in question does not, in fact, speak to that. But it does shed light on the subtleties of how friendship is recognized. Liking someone is not the same as electing them as a sidekick: we are to be able think of a friend we dont like very much, cant we?

Nor did the research aim to find out whether friends liked one another. Rather, the authors set out to explore how friendship reciprocity mattered when implementing broader social involvements, such as facilitating someone to quit smoking.

The research addressed two questions. First, what ratio of friendships are reciprocal? That is, how many of a persons friends likewise charge such person or persons as their pal? Second, to what degree does reciprocity in affections matter when it comes to how peers influence one another?

CC BY-ND

The first question

To answer the first issue, 84 students in a Middle-Eastern, undergraduate business-management class were asked to proportion the other 83 students on a proportion from zero to five. In this reciprocity examine, zero represented I do not know this person and five was one of our friend. The midpoint anchored at acquaintance. Students were also asked to indicate how the other 83 would charge them.

The benefits of this approach was that researchers had access to full cross-overs of data in a closed system. This enabled sophisticated statistical network analysis, which couldnt be afforded by looking at an open parish in which all members cannot be identified or accessed.

Researchers coded the data such that a score of threeor higher was considered a love. From the 6,972 ratings provided by the 84 students in the business class, 1,353 weighed as friendships.

In 94% of these seen relationships, students expected them to be reciprocal. So if John rated Jack as his friend, he expected Jack to rate him as a pal also. But this was so in only 53% of cases; less than half of the students had their friendship creeds about others reciprocated.

What does this mean ?

From this data it seems that, in social networks, there is low agreed to by saw love. The studys generators float one ground for this: we carry an rosy belief of friendships with higher-status mortals. That is, we project friendship with people who have more social clout than us in the perhaps naive hope they will reciprocate.

But because the reciprocity survey cant speak directly to this possibility, it remains for future experiment to measure this logic.

Can we really extrapolate to humanity based on 84 students in colleges and universities classroom? Felipe Bastos/ Flickr, CC BY

Its also important to ask whether we were able to extrapolate to humanity based on 84 students in a university classroom. Between the relatively small sample size, the constrained situation of an undergraduate classroom and cultural constraints in the test, you are able to reason no extrapolation should take place.

Another thing to keep in mind is the scoring approach: carve the line for love at threeor above on a five-point magnitude is a subjective announce. One can question whether friendships should be treated categorically or whether there is a more valid approach to quantifying relationships in all their complexity.

The second question

For the second question, investigates deployed a fitness intervention on a separate test of participants who lived in the same residential community and had all completed friendship ratings as in the reciprocity survey.

Participants had software installed on their mobile invention that tracked their physical work and allocated fiscal reinforces for their fitness advance. In two versions of the application, tenants were taken together with two cronies who could see one anothers progress and potentially be reinforced for the others progress.

The critical exam for the research wonder, with regards to peer affect, stemmed from analysing participants’ fitness changes as a function of the type of friendships they held with their buddies.

Once again, the approach of sampling from a residential community passed health researchers access to full data regarding a closed network, enabling nuanced analysis of the social dynamics at romp. But, once again, the sample size was tiny and different contexts has similar limitations when it is necessary to broader extrapolation.

What were the results ?

It would be logical to reckon acquaintances who concur they are friends( reciprocal sidekicks) affect one another, in a preferably positive mode. The acquires demonstrated this: when nearby residents fitness friends were reciprocal pals, those buddies helped promote positive outcomes in the form of more activity.

When nearby residents fitness sidekicks were reciprocal acquaintances, those cronies facilitated facilitate positive outcomes in the form of more activity. from shutterstock.com

But when it comes to non-reciprocal buddy-to-resident love, it is crucial to be addressed by the direction of each affection. An incoming friendship represents a sidekick rated the resident as a sidekick, but the resident did not frequency the friend as a pal. An outgoing relationship signifies a resident rated the chum as a friend, but the sidekick did not do the same.

The study found outgoing affections from occupants to buddies had no influence on residents’ physical act. If Max contemplated Jack was his friend but Jack didnt agree, and the pair were chums, Jack had no influence( either positive or negative) on Maxs fitness outcomes.

But the affect when it came to residents’ incoming relationships from their chums was positive. Max would have positively influenced Jacks upshots, even though Jack didnt agree that Max was his friend. And the force was even more positive when it came to reciprocal friendships.

What does it signify ?

A popular approaching in public health interventions is electing a sidekick to assistance person in their efforts for behavioural change.

The reciprocity survey testifies parties are inaccurate in predicting who considers them a acquaintance and that many friendships are in fact outgoing rather than reciprocal.

A favourite approaching in public health interventions is nominating a sidekick to subscribe person in their efforts for behavioural change. California National Guard/ Flickr, CC BY

These conclusions have practical significance in that they demo the popular buddy-nomination approach is likely less effective than we would want. Instead, we need to identify reciprocal relationships, since these are most effective. Next beneficial would be incoming affections, rather than the outgoing ones.

What else should we take into account ?

It important to highlight that the researchers showed the reciprocity questionnaire detects in five more samples.

First, the reciprocal relationship charge among the fitness residents was 45% even lower than the 53% in the business class.

Second, investigates carried out the analysis on various other data sets they had worked on in the past. Reciprocal relationship calculates derived from these were similar, wandering from 34% to 53%. Replication heightens the extent to which we can generalize broader social procedures based on the dynamics established in this particular study.

But again, all this talk of whether our friends like us misses the item. When it comes to social affect in particular, the kind of positive peer influence we try to seek when fully participate in behaviour change reciprocal friendships are of key import.

When we cant access reciprocal pals, we need to seek reinforce from people who elect us as friends , not the other way around. Lisa A. Williams

Peer Review

This article has identified key fatigues in this papers analyze layouts as well as the challenges of the the scale used to evaluate friends’ affections towards each other.

My biggest problem with this paper, though, is the sensationalised interpreting of the results. The consider abstract claims beings are generally good at recognizing the direction of their friendship ties, and media reports state that only half of your best friend like you.

But the data subscribe a humbler, and perhaps happier, legend. In detail, when participants claimed person as a sidekick, the other person reciprocated 70% of the time. So while its true-life around half of the friendships in such studies were reciprocal, it still seen close to three-quarters of your friends like you.

For instance, Bill says Sally is his friend and she concurs. Jim says Bob is his friend, but Bob doesnt identify Jim as a friend in return. We now have two friendships and exclusively one( 50%) is mutual. But of the three people who claimed a sidekick, two( Bill and Sally) were right( 66% ). It takes twice as many parties to make a reciprocal friendship, which is why those two numerals differ.

Its worth noting we do have a tendency to slightly overestimate our friends closeness, but my take-home letter from this paper is that were actually better at adjudicating how close our friends experience to us than just about anything else about them. Sean Murphy

Lisa A Williams, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, UNSW Australia

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Speak the original essay.

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