#just based on the fact they're measured with apples

[dizzyditzyboy]

Anyone else think about this

Also Hello Kitty is 1/4 the height of Wally

Hello kitty is 3 apples tall and Wally is 12 apples tall :]

[psychewritesbs]

I was reading your post about the megumi character trope and this is related but not?

Anyways, as someone who likes both sasuke and megumi, and I've come to like sasuke recently as I've finally checked out naruto, but it's bizarre to me how superficial their similarities are and it's crazier how people reduce their characters to their aloofness or dar hair or things like that and use that as a way to judge a character overall when their character arcs are so different imo. I have issues with how sasuke's character was handled in the story, but I've become very fond of the things he did for the story overall, so no problem for me, but I'm not sure megumi's arc will end or proceed any similiar to sasuke's with revenge as the main motivation, or at least I don't think so, I'm a couple chaps behind, but yeah, the way both characters process their own trauma or how their motivations are different enough for me to ignore the superficial ways in which they are similiar

I say it's also tough liking both in fandom spaces because naruto is still really popular and jjk is in the spotlight currently, so fandoms can be tense with each other and it's exhausting to see the slander going every which way lol

They say this as a way to slander mgm, but the "Megumi will never be sasuke" is funny because I don't think he's trying to be???

HOLA!

WELCOME to THE ULTIMATE SHONEN BATTLE FOR THE BEST "QUIET AND ALOOF DEUTERAGONIST-KUN": MEGUMI VS SASUKE!

Who's better? Well... let's ask the internet...

ok nvm. NEVER ask the internet for an opinion. ESPECIALLY when the Naruto fans who think Kishimoto is the mother of all anime tropes get involved.

This isn't even a question of whether Gege took inspiration from Sasuke for Megumi because 1) Sasuke himself takes inspiration from a Togashi character and, 2) "quiet and aloof deuteragonist-kun" is one of the most prevalent tropes in animanga--the trope is not even unique to shonen, hell even the 3-man team isn't unique to Naruto.

Nothing against Kishi but... he's doing the same thing every mangaka or author EVER has done--copying tropes.

At least Gege subverts them.

Let's taco'bout it more under the cut because I have many words to vomit about the topic.

Also... man, this is a fantastic conversation to have because, based on the comments I've seen about why Sasuke is "objectively" better, I feel like it comes back to a lack of introspection, dare I say toxic masculinity (?), and perhaps just not understanding or relating to Megumi as a character.

I've written before about Megumi's character development and how relating to him has a lot to do with how deeply you can be introspective about yourself. I won't address character development much here, so if you want to, you can read that post here.

But when it comes to Megumi vs. Sasuke, it's almost like comparing apples to oranges. Yes, they're both fruit (quiet and aloof deuteragonist-kun), AND they also have a different flavor profile, different texture, different scent... the list goes on.

And the way I see it, if someone can't see how the differences between Sasuke and Megumi make them fundamentally different despite sharing the same trope, then they can't "objectively" claim one is better than the other.

So I'm going to go ahead and just say it.

I don't like Sasuke. I never did and I never understood why he was so popular.

The comments about Megumi having the depth of a kiddie pool?

I feel the exact same about Sasuke.

I literally can't think of much to say about him other than he was pissy and had a sour attitude the whole time... umm... he wanted revenge and power... ? I guess?

And you know what? It's perfectly ok that I don't like Sasuke because my subjective opinion does not mean that someone who loves Sasuke is wrong about loving him. After all, my opinion should not be a measuring stick for someone who loves Sasuke.

In fact, I have moots who think very highly of Sasuke AND Megumi, and like them for different reasons. So I actually try to refrain from speaking negatively of Sasuke because I respect my moot's opinions and know that perhaps I am not seeing something they can.

That said, when we compare Sasuke and Megumi, we're measuring the characters against standards that don't apply to either of them.

Since Sasuke is on a revenge character arc, you can't really talk about how he explores his sense of self in order to re-define it (which is one of the main reasons I love Megumi). Sasuke wants power, but that just means he has to train harder.

Megumi does go the training route, but in the end, perhaps it was a moment of clarity and introspection that helped him level up, not just the physical training.

Likewise, since Megumi is on an arc meant to re-define his sense of self, you can't really talk about how he went about seeking power to reach his goal because Megumi is not interested in power for the sake of power, and/or does not have grandiose aspirations.

As you say, their motivations couldn't be more different.

Now, I think it bears repeating that when I started watching jjk, even though I liked him right from the beginning, I thought Megumi was underwhelming af given his trope.

But that's only because, again, I was measuring Megumi against the wrong standards.

In retrospect, I also do feel like Gege wanted Megumi to be perceived as "underwhelming given his trope" (MOST ESPECIALLY SASUKE imo), otherwise the payoff in chapter 58 would not have had the same impact.

So anyways.

To your point. Existing at the intersection of these two fandoms must be an interesting experience because most of the bad comparisons are rooted on surface level similarities.

Thing is, being able to see the nuance between the two characters and why neither is objectively better than the other, does require the ability to read below the surface AND to at least have a certain degree of emotional investment in the story and the characters.

Also, can I just say fandom wars are so pointless?

It's just a bunch of people who can't handle the idea that other people could have a different opinion because they see their opinion as the ultimate truth.

And don't let me act like I'm not the kind of pretentious asshat who will say something like "Megumi is a purposeful deconstruction but Aki is a copy" because I can be quite elitist myself. I just also don't take my opinion too seriously because I know I don't own the ultimate truth about what is and isn't good media.

Also I like to indulge in trash tv like every normal human being in this planet so that alone makes my taste questionable.

To that point, I saw a really good quote that is so relevant to your ask:

The price for certainty means that other people must be wrong. And that leads to holy war.

Lionel Corbett

"uwu Megumi is weak"

But... there's something that has been nagging me about why people don't like Megumi in general that is highly related to how his predecessors, Sasuke included, set the bar we use to measure the trope, most specifically in Battle Shonen.

And that's that the way me measure what makes Megumi a good character is based on toxic masculinity values.

Now... I'm not an expert on the topic, so please correct me if I'm wrong or need to expand my perspective here but...

There's something inherently "toxic" about how people are approaching both Megumi independently of Sasuke, and Megumi compared to Sasuke.

Like... if Sasuke wouldn't curl up in a ball because he's had to experience a traumatic event and instead just keeps on going, that's called repression and/or suppression and it's both not a healthy coping mechanism AND not realistically written.

So what if Sasuke would never?

Why is it wrong for a character (or a real human for that matter) to feel so defeated after the trauma they've had to face?

I am more interested in learning why we are so obsessed with looking down on a fictional character for feeling down on himself... like, Momo, are you ok, dude?

Do you ever allow yourself to feel all your feels or do you just berate yourself when you feel down on yourself?

And why are we measuring trauma on a scale of who has it worse just so that we can cancel someone else's trauma?

Actually, the fact that we can sit here and talk about who has it best and who has it worse like it's a competition?

That's gaslighting, and it's toxic af.

But again. The problem is that jjk fans themselves hate on Megumi independently of whether they compare him to Sasuke or not.

And I'm not sure whether kin here just has shitty reading comprehension skills, but...

I'm noticing a trend that has EVERYTHING to do with my female gaze and it's the fact that I kind of don't give a fuck about power scaling.

Like, it's cool. I'm not hating on people who do, you know. I'm just saying I don't care for it. But what I'm trying to say here is that people hate on Megumi for weird reasons...

Like... I don't think Hyena here is reading the same manga if he can't tell that Megumi has had character development, unless what he expects in terms of character development is...

Which is fine too... I loved dbz back in the day.

Who could ever forget Goku looking like he has to poop so bad his hair grows really long?

But like... are we fucking for real? JJK is far too nuanced to limit your experience of the manga to flashy fights and power ups only.

Again, if this is the standard we are using to measure Megumi as a character, no wonder people are disappointed.

So I say let them eat cake.

No shade to all of the people who I screenshotted here, but they're going to have to come up with smarter arguments to back up their subjective opinions about Sasuke's supposed objective superiority and why Megumi sucks.

In all honesty, the fact that Megumi is perceived as weak strikes me as toxic masculinity.

I get that some people read fiction to escape from their daily lives and not have to face the failures and successes they experience in the real world, but I personally want more human characters who fail and cry because that's more relatable to me than Goku's super powered instinct Saiyan form or whatever its called.

I guess we all read for different reasons. All I'm saying is "don't hate on Megumi for shortsighted reasons."

To bring it back to where it all started, let's be real here:

Megumi will NEVER be Sasuke

and that is fantastic news because Megumi is Megumi and that's exactly why we love him.

Dear anon, I think I went on a rant there hahahaha.

BAH! I just get so annoyed when people hate on Megumi for shallow reasons. Like, if you don't like him, you don't like him and that's that. But like some of the comments about him are just...

LOL!

Thank you for stopping by anon!

[foodandfolklore]

Tools you Do NOT need

I got more things I want to add to my list of recommendations of what to keep on hand as a kitchen witch. But I figured it may be more productive to share my opinion on things most Kitchen Witches don't need. Now, this will be my experience and based on what I've heard from others. And if you have anything listed and love it, don't get rid of it or stop using it! Just if you see some of this stuff on videos or advertised; maybe pass on them.

Silicone Spoon

Silicone is great for a lot of things, and I highly recommend you have a silicone spatula for scraping. But a Silicone spoon is so impractical. It tends to be a plastic form spoon covered in a layer of silicone, so it doesn't have the same flexibility as a silicone spatula when scraping edges. Silicone also tends to be soft, so it's not unusual for it to cut or tear. For a spatula that's fine, because it's a solid piece so it can still work fine with a few nicks. But for a spoon that has a layer of silicone, it means there's a change for moisture to get in-between the layer and cause it to start separating. Not to mention the fact Silicone will melt at high heat. So if you're mixing something that can get very very hot, like oil or sugar, your spoon may melt. Then there's just the fact nothing sticks properly. Which sounds great for cleaning, but can be a pain if you're trying to check if a sauce or custard is done. Stick with a wooden spoon and use a silicone spatula when you want to scrape.

Garlic Press

A controversial one for sure! You see these used all the time in cooking videos. But they are so impractical. All the garlic doesn't even go through the press, and you still need to sever the end from the press. Mincing garlic with a chef knife is far more effective. However, I know not everyone has the dexterity to mince garlic. So, some alternatives: Blend a big batch using a food processor, and freeze portions for later. There's a few videos on ways to do this, but my favourite way I've seen uses a ziplock bag and chopstick. Use a microplane grater. Just grate the gloves using a microplane and you'll easily get the fine pieces you are after. The neat thing is a Microplane can be used for a variety of foods, while a garlic press is limited to just...well garlic.

Egg Separator

These can be really cute and funny and sometimes make fun decore. But, realistically speaking, they don't work any better than just using your hands. Or if you hate touching egg, tipping the yolk back and forth between the cracked shells. Every single fancy egg separator I have seen is just as effective, and yolks have the same break rate (which is low) Save your money, save your space, don't get these. Oh and a quick note about eggs; don't get egg holders. Yeah they're cute, but for something that only has one purpose, they can take up a fair bit of space. Instead, try using standard shot glasses. It's what my parents had us use when we were kids.

Specialty Peelers/Cutters

I'm talking big, turn style apple peelers, pineapple peeler and corer, banana slicers; anything that's for one specific type or size of food. You really don't need it, and it takes up space. Just use your vegetable peeler and knife. If you have trouble cutting evenly, perhaps consider a mandolin. These allow you to slice a variety of foods thinly. Just take great care, as these are very sharp and it can be easy to slice off a finger tip if you are not using proper safety measures.

Turkey Baster

I have one of these in my kitchen drawer since moving in with my SO years ago. Neither of us have ever used it. A baster is used for 1 thing which can be substituted for a ladle or large spoon. Many people still see this as an essential for cooking meat though, so take this with a grain of salt. I'd also add roasting pan; since any time I make a roast now I grab my Crock Pot. But I'm aware a roasting Pan has it's uses for other people.

More Jars and Containers

This might seem weird cause I put glass jars down as a needed must for Kitchen Witchcraft. This is not a PSA for those of you who have just started your collection and have maybe 20 jars. This is to those of us who have accumulated over 200 with realistically only enough space for half that. Stop it. Maybe start giving some of your jars away that you've washed and reused from products. Same goes for plastic containers. I have a habit of saving my large yogurt containers, but they just started taking up too much space. Find a balance is all I'm saying.

I may make an ingredient list later; but that's far more subjective.

[ashraful090]

The 60 Best Watches for Men 2020

The Esquire editors pick their favourite new and upcoming watches from big Swiss brands and under-the-radar newbies.The Esquire editors pick their favourite new and upcoming watches, including launches from Breitling, Audemars Piguet, Omega and Cartier.So named after the British explorer who discovered New Zealand, Rado's Captain Cook was first brought to life in the Sixties, and not aboard the ships of ponytailed colonists. And now, the archival piece is available in the enduring case material du jour – bronze – with a punchy forest green dial.

It's another set of features that sets the dive watch apart, and one that'll keep the Captain Cook in the good books: upon its release, Rado's dive watch was largely seen as one of the best in class. That hasn't changed much. And now, you can even get it on a Nato strap..It is a crying shame that Tag Heuer's Monaco – a watch that paid homage to the race track of Le Mans – was decommissioned for around 20 years. But following a re-release in 1998, it's slowly become one of the marque's marquee pieces. In 2020, they've managed to improve it still.

As part of a trio that made slight amendments to the current Monaco model, a black dial on black leather is as close to dress watch territory as a racing watch can park and better yet, the in-house Heuer 02 movement has enough juice for over 80 hours of action.Once upon a time, the industry wasn't centred in Switzerland. American manufacturing had a stake in the watch business too, rigging small town Main Street aesthetics with big impressive movements. Hamilton was at the forefront.

Now, it's re-released a 1968 archival piece for 2020. It's got impressive Swiss innards these days, yes, but in terms of what's on the outside, very little has changed. And that's a good thing. For all the opulence and extravagance of a diamond-laden automatic from the Jura, there's as much charm in an 'aw shucks' midwestern sensibility.A Rolex on the wrist is a serious investment. And thus, a serious watch. Though for all the commanding Wall Street presence of a big Day-Date, the industry's biggest marque is releasing watches that are a bit fun, a little bit more playful – watches just like the new Oyster Perpetual 36.

Quietly released just a few months ago, a tangerine dial on stainless steel is the off-duty Rolex collectors have long dreamt about, and better yet, it's no solo act: the Oyster Perpetual 36 sits within a larger collection of five watches in shades of candyfloss pink, forest green, sky blue and blood red.A Lange & Söhne is a connoisseur's watch brand. That's why it uses terms like 'rattrapante', confident that its clientele will know that it refers to a double chronograph that can record multiple time intervals at the same time. Taken from the French for 'catch up', it's a proper horologist's complication, the driving watch equivalent of a 600bhp V8 under the bonnet. And in the skilful hands of A Lange & Söhne, a piece of practical watchmaking becomes pure artistry, courtesy of a gold alloy that's said to be "considerably harder than platinum". We'll take their word for that.Without the deep blue sea, Oris wouldn't be able to make its big bold dive watches. And as such, the Swiss marque has a good habit of giving back to subaqueous charities. For its latest gesture: the Oris Hangang Limited Edition.

Released in tandem with the Korea Foundation for Environmental Movement, the Hangang Limited Edition siphons a section of its profits to a clean-up operation on the river of the same name – South Korea's second longest in fact. The piece is also as good as its intentions, with an automatic movement powering an emerald dial (inspired by the creeks of the Hangang's source) with an engraved caseback depicting the river's path across Korea.As one of the oldest watch marques in the whole wide world (if not the oldest, but that's up for debate), Vacheron Constantin is on the top shelf of Swiss watches. That's because they're known for wholly classic, hi-spec pieces. But that doesn't mean they're averse to New Things, though.

Case in point: the Overseas Self-Winding in pink gold. While previously gilding other models in rose gold, pink gold is defined by a smaller copper content, giving it a lighter blush and a subtle newness to the Overseas model. Factor in an impressive movement too (the splendid in-house caliber 5100) and here's a watch that plays to the well-worn strengths of Vacheron Constantin.

01

Apple Cyber Week deals: MacBook, Apple Watch, AirPods, more

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Continue

02

Apple Watch May Gain Breakthrough Health Feature, Patent Hints

Apple Watch Series 6 measures blood oxygen levels - will a future model monitor blood pressure, too? ... [+]

Apple

Since the first Apple Watch was launched, health and fitness have been front-and-center. So, the latest patents suggest a whole new capability may be about to be added: continuous blood pressure monitoring.

MORE FROM FORBESApple Reveals Its Highly-Anticipated Apple Watch Upgrade Is Almost HereBy David Phelan

Two patents have just been made public, as seen on Patently Apple, which indicate that Apple is working on adding this to the raft of features already on its smartwatches. The latest model, Apple Watch Series 6, measures blood oxygen level and can look out for atrial fibrillation and take an ECG reading. Several Apple Watches alert users if their heart rate is unusually high or low, offer sleep tracking and have a neat stress-reduction app called Breathe.

So, blood pressure monitoring would be a great next step. It wouldn’t quite be a first – Samsung has this feature in some of its smartwatches, but it has yet to be deployed conveniently or widely and requires calibration using a separate, standalone blood pressure monitor on a monthly basis.

The new arrivals are what are called continuation patents, which means the new ones are related to previous blood pressure monitoring patents which date as far back as 2014. In other words, Apple has been investigating this for quite some time.

The titles are, as is usual with this kind of thing, really catchy: "Electrical Coupling of Pulse Transit Time (PTT) Measurement System to Heart for Blood Pressure Measurement." Sounds like a real page-turner, no?

Some details of how the blood pressure monitoring might work on a future Apple Watch.

USPTO

The purpose of the patents is more interesting, including a focus on providing a continuous measurement in a non-invasive way, though the patents also suggest that two sensors will be required, only one of which would be the Apple Watch, with the other described merely as an electrode. The two together would be used so they are “processing the voltage levels to detect when a volume of blood is ejected from the left ventricle; processing output from a pulse arrival sensor coupled to the wrist-worn device to detect when a blood pressure pulse generated by ejection of the volume of blood from the left ventricle arrives at the wrist; calculating a pulse transit time (PTT) for transit of the blood pressure pulse from the left ventricle to the wrist; and determining one or more blood pressure values for the subject based on the PTT.”

All clear?

Well, that’s the point of these patents, to reveal enough for Apple to own the innovation without pinning things down too much.

MORE FROM FORBESApple Watch Series 7 To Have Innovative Features, Upgraded Design, Insider SaysBy David Phelan

Will the final feature, if it ever comes to fruition, involve multiple sensors, or could it, like the ECG feature in the Apple Watch, simply require a circle to be completed by the user touching a sensor in the digital crown with one hand while the sensor on the back of the Watch makes contact with the opposite arm?

The fact that Apple is considering multiple sensors reveals that this is a more complex operation going on here.

When will we see blood pressure monitoring in the Apple Watch? As with all patent applications, it’s impossible to say when, or even if, it will develop into a Watch feature.

But the fact that Apple has been working on patents in this area since 2014 tells you it’s put considerable resources into making it happen and the time could indicate that it will be in an Apple Watch sooner rather than later. As soon as Apple Watch Series 7, expected next Fall? Watch this space.

Follow me on Instagram by clicking here: davidphelantech and Twitter: @davidphelan2009

MORE FROM FORBESApple MacBook Air 2020 Review: Really, Who Needs The Pro?By David Phelan

03

The best Cyber Monday Apple Watch deals still available include $50 off the Series 6 and $20 off the SE

When you buy through our links, we may earn money from our affiliate partners. Learn more.

• Cyber Monday 2020 Apple deals are still live, bringing some of the best prices of the year for highly coveted tech products like Apple Watches and AirPods.

• The $400 Apple Watch Series 6, released in September 2020, is $50 off at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart and Target, while the $280 Apple Watch SE is down $20.

• Stores are offering deals on older Apple Watches, too, including $100 to $200 off the Apple Watch Series 5 at Best Buy, and $50 off the Apple Watch Series 3 at Target.

• Here are the best Cyber Monday deals we're tracking across the internet, all-day, every day.

The Apple Watch is the top smartwatch for iPhone users, combining heath and fitness tracking features with style and design. The latest wearrable tech can be expensive, but Cyber Monday has delivered deals on the newly released Apple Watch Series 6, along with older Apple Watch models, at multiple retailers.

Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target have been offering discounts of $50 to $200 off the Apple Watch since Thanksgiving and Black Friday , and Cyber Monday might be the last chance to claim these deals during the 2020 holiday season.

If you're not sure which Apple Watch is best for you, we've broken down the features for each model in our Apple Watch buying guide, and reviewed each model separately. Business Insider's Apple reporter Lisa Eadiccio said the $280 Apple Watch SE is the best choice for most prospective buyers.

It's important to note that some color options and sizes have varying deals. We try to point out the best deals, but a color or size option you want may not be as low.

Apple's top $400 Series 6 model with all the bells and whistles is getting a $50 discount at the moment. It includes a fast processor inside and a new blood-oxygen sensor. This measures SpO2 levels to track your overall respiratory and cardiac health alongside the usual array of health and fitness tracking sensors and features.

You can read our full Apple Watch Series 6 review here.

If you're willing to buy a slightly older Apple Watch model for a deep discount, Best Buy is offering $100 off the standard Apple Watch Series 5 (now $329) and $200 off the version that uses mobile data (now $449).

The Series 5 is a model that Apple doesn't sell anymore, but it's still a great buy if you can get it for less than the Series 6. It's similar to the cheaper Apple Watch SE, but with an always-on display and advanced health capabilities like ECG monitoring that the SE doesn't.

But, you can easily argue that you don't really need the Series 5 or Series 4, as the more recent Apple Watch SE has similar specs and features, and its $280 retail price is already lower. Add in the $20 off deal we're seeing right now for Cyber Monday, and the SE becomes even more tempting.

You can read our full Apple Watch SE review here.

The Apple Watch SE is the perfect blend of features and affordability. This recently released Apple Watch is selling for $20 less than its usual price — which was already a bargain for all it offers.

And, if you're avoiding big price tags and looking for the core Apple Watch experience, the Apple Watch Series 3 will suit most people just fine. For a $200 retail price, it's already a good option for budget-conscious buyers. An extra $50 off sweetens the deal even further.

You can read our full Apple Watch Series 3 review here.

The Apple Watch Series 3 in aluminum is the perfect blend of style and functionality for an excellent price.

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Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at

[bitcofun]

After Ethereum's long-awaited Merge, it's a perfect time to consider how we can likewise enhance wise agreements. Basically apps that work on blockchains, wise agreements are an essential part of our Web3 applications. Engaging with them stays rather harmful, specifically for non-developers. Much of the occurrences where users lose their crypto properties are triggered by buggy or destructive wise agreements. As a Web3 app designer, this is an obstacle I consider typically, specifically as waves of brand-new users keep onboarding into different blockchain applications. To completely trust a wise agreement, a customer requires to understand precisely what it's going to do when they make a deal-- due to the fact that unlike in the Web2 world, there's no client assistance hotline to call and recuperate funds if something fails. Presently, it's almost difficult to understand if a clever agreement is safe or reliable. Related: Liquid staking is essential to interchain security One option is to make wallets themselves smarter. What if wallets could inform us if a wise agreement is safe to communicate with? It's most likely difficult to understand that with 100% certainty, however wallets could, at minimum, aggregate and show a great deal of the signals that designers currently search for. This would make the procedure easier and more secure, particularly for non-developers. Here's a much deeper take a look at the benefits and drawbacks of wise agreements, why they appear like the Wild West now, and how we may enhance the UX for utilizing them. The pledge and hazard of clever agreements For designers, utilizing a clever agreement as the backend for their app has huge capacity. It likewise increases the capacity for bugs and exploits. It's excellent that clever agreements can be produced by designers without asking anyone for approval, however that can likewise expose users to significant threat. We now have apps negotiating numerous countless dollars without any security assurances. As it stands, we just need to rely on that these apps are bug-free and do what they guarantee. Many non-developers aren't even familiar with the security problems included and do not take the suitable preventative measures when communicating with blockchain-based apps. The typical user may sign a deal believing it's going to do something, just to find the clever agreement does something else completely. It's why harmful wise agreements are a main attack vector for bad stars. Why are clever agreements the Wild West? When a Web3 app makes a wise agreement call, you do not understand precisely what the deal will do till you really do it. Will it mint your nonfungible token (NFT), or will it send your cash and tokens to a hacker? This unpredictability holds true of any online application, obviously, not simply Web3 apps; forecasting what code will do is really difficult. It's a larger problem in the Web3 world because many of these apps are naturally high stakes (they're developed for managing your cash), and there's so little defense for customers. The App Store is mostly safe due to Apple's evaluation procedure, however that does not exist in Web3. If an iOS app begins taking users' cash, Apple will take it down immediately to reduce losses and withdraw the account of its developer. Related: Latin America is all set for crypto-- Just incorporate it with their payment systems Malicious clever agreements, on the other hand, can't be removed by any person There's likewise no other way to recuperate taken possessions. If a destructive agreement drains your wallet, you can't merely contest the deal with your charge card business. If the designer is confidential, as is normally the case with destructive agreements, there frequently isn't even an alternative to take legal action. From a designer's viewpoint, it is better if the code for a wise agreement is open source. Popular wise agreements do normally release their source code-- a substantial enhancement over Web2 apps.

Even then, it's simple to miss what's actually going on. It can likewise be really hard to forecast how the code will run in all circumstances. (Consider this long, frightening Twitter thread by a knowledgeable designer who nearly succumbed to an intricate phishing fraud, even after checking out the agreements included. Just upon a 2nd closer assessment did he observe the make use of.) Compounding these issues, individuals are frequently forced to act rapidly when engaging with clever agreements. Think about an NFT drop promoted by influencers: Consumers will be stressed over the collection rapidly offering out, so they'll typically attempt to make a deal as quick as they can, disregarding any warnings they may experience along the method. In short, the extremely exact same functions that make clever agreements effective for designers-- such as permissionless publishing and programmable cash-- make them rather harmful for customers. I do not believe this system is essentially flawed. There is a heap of chance for Web3 designers like me to offer much better guardrails for customers utilizing wallets and wise agreements today. The UX of wallets and clever agreements today In lots of methods, wallets like MetaMask seem like they were developed for designers. They show a great deal of deep technical information and blockchain minutiae that work when constructing apps. The issue with that is that non-developers likewise utilize MetaMask-- without comprehending what whatever implies. No one anticipated Web3 to go mainstream so rapidly, and wallets have not rather overtaken the requirements of their brand-new user base. Related: Learn from Celsius-- Stop exchanges from taking your cash MetaMask has currently done a terrific task of rebranding the "mnemonic expression" to "secret expression" to avoid customers from unsuspectingly sharing it with hackers. There's plenty more space for enhancement. Let's have a look at MetaMask's interface (UI), followed by a number of mock-ups I developed detailing some prospective enhancements that might assist customers into the " pit of success" (By the method, MetaMask here works as a referral because it's greatly utilized throughout the Web3 world, however these UI concepts ought to likewise use to basically any wallet app.) A few of these style fine-tunes might be developed today, while others may need technical bear down the clever agreement side. The image listed below screens what the existing MetaMask wise agreement deal window appears like. We see the address of the wise agreement we're communicating with, the site that started the deal, and after that a great deal of information about the funds we're sending out to the agreement. There's no indicator of what this agreement call does or any indication that it's safe to engage with. Potential options to enhance wise agreements What we 'd truly like to see here are signals that assist us as end users to figure out whether we trust this wise agreement deal or not. As an example, think of the little green or red lock in the address bar of contemporary web internet browsers, which suggests whether the connection is encrypted or not. This color-coded indication assists guide unskilled users far from possible threats, while power users can quickly disregard it if chosen. As a visual example, here are 2 fast user experience (UX) style mock-ups of MetaMask deals-- one that's most likely to be safe, and one that's less particular. Here are a few of the signals in my mock-up: Is the agreement source code released? Open-source agreements are usually more trustable due to the fact that any designer can read them to discover bugs and destructive code. MetaMask currently consists of different links to Etherscan, so this would be a basic and hassle-free signal to include. Audit rating. A third-party audit is another signal that can figure out credibility. The primary application concern here is how to identify this rating. Exist any accepted requirements

for this currently? If not, an easy method might be to utilize Etherscan, which supports submitting audits. MetaMask, in this example, might likewise keep its own list of auditors, or count on a list of 3rd parties. (From what I can inform, MetaMask currently does this for NFT APIs and token detection.) In the future, it's simple to envision a decentralized self-governing company for figuring out audit ratings in a more decentralized method. What can this deal do? Can it call external agreements, and if so, which ones? This would be really challenging to figure out completely, however I question if an easy variation for open-source agreements would be practical. There are currently a lot of automated smart-contract vulnerability scanners out there. If this isn't possible for Solidity, I question if we might develop a wise agreement shows language that does permit this level of fixed analysis. Possibly private functions might state the consents they require, and the compiler might ensure conformance. Security suggestions and education. If a clever agreement does not have numerous signals of dependability (see mock-up above on the right), the UI might suggest a proper set of safety measures to take, such as inspecting if the agreement address is right and utilizing a various account. These are tips made in the orange text, instead of red, given that an absence of signals isn't always hazardous; here, we're merely suggesting that users decide to be a bit more careful about their next actions. Like numerous existing functions in MetaMask, these proposed functions might be switched off in the settings. Toward a much safer future In the future, there will likely be numerous safety-focused tools developed on the primitive elements that blockchains supply. It's most likely we'll see insurance coverage procedures that safeguard users from buggy wise agreements end up being commonplace. (These exist currently, however they're still relatively specific niche.) Related: What will drive crypto's most likely 2024 bull run? However, customers are currently utilizing Web3 apps, even in these early days, so I 'd like to see the dev neighborhood include more defenses for them now Some easy enhancements to wallets might go a long method. A few of the abovementioned concepts would assist safeguard unskilled users while all at once enhancing the deal procedure for Web3 veterans. From my point of view, anything beyond trading crypto possessions on Coinbase (or other huge business) is still far too dangerous for the typical customer. When loved ones inquire about establishing a self-custody crypto wallet to utilize Web3 apps (let's face it-- generally, in order to purchase NFTs), constantly begin by alerting them of the threats. This frightens a few of them away, however the more determined individuals wish to utilize them anyhow. When our wallets are smarter, we'll have the ability to feel far better about onboarding the next wave of brand-new users to Web3. Devin Abbott( @ dvnabbott) is the creator of Deco, a start-up gotten by Airbnb. He focuses on style and advancement tools, React and Web3 applications, most just recently with The Graph. This post is for basic details functions and is not meant to be and ought to not be taken as legal or financial investment suggestions. The views, ideas, and viewpoints revealed here are the author's alone and do not always show or represent the views and viewpoints of Cointelegraph. Read More

[aronarchy]

For the ask meme, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 23, 24. I'd do more but that is all I can remember.

What are your personality disorder(s)? If you have multiple, do you think you have a “main” one?

I have anankastic personality disorder (the DSM likes to call it "OCPD"; I don't think it's a particularly fitting name given how psych currently defines obsessions and compulsions and OCD and those don't particularly fit), NPD, and ASPD. I don't think I have a "main" one per se; some are worse/a larger part of my thinking/feeling/action at different times and they fluctuate. I used to think a lot about which of my disorders I'd get rid of first if I magically had the option one day. My answer has varied greatly over time, and I don't think I can pin down a consistent one. They all suck.

2. Do you have mental illnesses besides personality disorders? Do you think them or your personality disorders affect you more?

I have ADHD (I consider mine a disorder) and C-PTSD. I may also have some degree of OCD symptoms (leftover?), though I've always tried to bury them/ignore that they exist/pretend they're not that bad actually, and I don't think I can really accurately measure how badly it affects me, and trying to do so or just try to explain it in general/talk about how I experience it would require thinking about it which is always unpleasant to some degree. I usually just try to forget they exist.

My ADHD affects my ability to survive under capitalism fulfilling capitalist demands. It impacts my actions and decision-making and perceptions and behaviors 24/7. It's the reason why I know I will never be able to fully do the things I want to do which my anankastia requires me to do and why I fail at everything which requires skills, why I forget everything, why I'm answering this ask from 8/11 a month and a half later because I just Couldn't anytime earlier, why I'm still struggling hard and feel constant existential despair at the overwhelming workload in front of me which will never fully disappear, why I forget everything and why I'm a total mess.

I've only recently come to terms with the fact that I have C-PTSD, mostly because I didn't really understand that all the things I experienced/am experiencing were/are traumatic, and was in heavy denial and didn't really think my symptoms "counted" (was working off very normative models/explanations of what it looks like). For the past few months I've been examining myself more, including my subconscious physical and psychological reactions to certain things and their patterns and my difficulties doing certain things because of certain mental blocks and feelings those produce and how it is in fact woven into every aspect of everything I do too and how it has awful negative effects on me.

I don't know how to say which affects me "more." It would be like comparing apples and oranges. They all affect different aspects of me and my life (a great deal).

4. What would you like mentally ill people without personality disorders to understand?

That 1) you being misdiagnosed with a PD you don't have by saneists isn't an excuse to center yourself in discussions about our PDs rather than us, 2) yes the current psychiatric paradigms and diagnostic criteria are based on statist fallacies conflating current social/external harm/ongoing trauma with inherent harm/trauma and that needs to be corrected, 3) no that doesn't mean our PDs don't exist at all or that none of us would experience inherent distress post-revolution, 4) it does in fact also require paternalism to so arrogantly demand that you know what our minds are like more than we do, 5) in fact everyone who isn't us can shut up with your assumptions about what our minds must be like most of them are laughably simplistic and totally awful and completely off and make huge sweeping generalizations, 6) yes our experiences are in fact nuanced and complex and messy and often not what you expect including our relationships with compassion, empathy, kindness, anger, authoritarianism, entitlement, violence, victimization, and abuse, having them, not having them, perpetrating them, and/or fighting against them, 6) psychiatry is bad actually and please use your critical thinking and learn how to actually critique things even if they're part of the status quo, 7) no you cannot in fact predict with 100% accuracy someone's internal psychological profile based on some external behaviors you need to unlearn your impulse to do so and following the threads of your beliefs to their origins in carceral culture and start holding authoritarians accountable, 8) please learn what a disorder is, no it's not "when someone is abnormal," no it's not "when someone hurts others," 9) it costs you $0 to not use ableist/saneist slurs or insults or armchair-diagnosing there are literally dozens of other actually accurate things you could say, 10) someone fighting back against you oppressing/victimizing them is not "evil boundary-violating" or "gaslighting" or "abuse."

5. What would you like people with your personality disorder(s) to understand?

Fuck psych. They'll only get worse. Not worth it. Your instincts are right about them being full of bullshit and unable to understand much less help. Learn and cope and heal outside of authorities' radar.

Also, anankastia is incredibly misunderstood and erased, even among other people with PDs, and it sucks, and no one ever talks about it ever, and the few people who do talk about it usually just discuss more shallow surface-level versions of it which I have never been able to fully relate to at all given (what I feel is) the severity of my symptoms and their messiness and how deeply it is woven into every aspect of my life and mind and how tightly they all lock into each other in a way I don't think I can extricate myself from ever (pre-transhumanism, at least). I would appreciate more nuanced discussions and acknowledgment and advocacy for cases like mine (the hopeless ones that don't get happy-ending stories about the magical successes of DBT turning their entire life around and fixing all their problems).

Also, you don't have to be an edgelord to get NPD and ASPD destigmatized or accepted. You don't have to brag about being pro abuse or abusing others or assaulting others or dangerous or whatever. You do have agency and nuanced experiences. Also, it's okay to be cringe, and if you cringe at pastel uwu positivity then it's not for you but that doesn't mean it's objectively bad, wrong, or harmful. Also, fakeclaiming others/training yourself to hyper-scrutinize/fakeclaim others is not going to make you seem more valid/real/correct in the eyes of the neurotypicals. Best to deconstruct that early. Also, the pushback against "allowing minors to dx with PDs" is entirely based on numerous pseudoscientific and ageist fallacies which would appear obviously incorrect if you used a single moment of genuine critical thinking and analysis.

6. What would you want a mentally ill person who’s really struggling today to know?

I don't know. That there are people out there in the world fighting for liberation? That some of us have hopes and dreams and plans of totally eradicating our unwanted pain? Options for direct action, ways to contact people who can get you out of an abusive/unsafe situation? That trying is still worth it? That later/tomorrow will be better? That your brain is wrong and everything's okay and you're still okay? You're right and you're valid? I don't know.

23. What are your hardest mental illness symptoms?

When I was 6-11 years old I would probably say the anankastia, the absolute total overwhelming need for [X] to be [Y] way or to do [A] in [B] way despite that being physically impossible and the overwhelming fear of that happening and the intense pain/discomfort which would follow, and the intense pain/discomfort if I did do it correctly anyway because it was time-consuming and exhausting and extremely stressful trying to get it perfectly right all the time and punishing myself if I didn't get it exactly right and arguing with myself trying to figure out what Counted as "Right" in the first place.

When I was 12/13 I would probably say the NPD symptoms which were already showing up and the total paranoia of being criticized/being viewed as less "Good" at all in any way and going to drastic and hugely time-consuming measures trying to prevent that and trying to perfect that the need for which caused me intense constant stress and fear, and being criticized for harming others in an attempt to preserve my own self-esteem/sense of superiority which I need(ed) above all else and caused a major collapse in me and total despair and I couldn't cope with that, and I could hardly cope with any of my other mistakes/failures either.

Or maybe my intense self-hatred regarding my body influenced by my other disorders to cause a horrible eating disorder for several years(?) (recovered now dw).

In 2021 I would say "my overwhelming feeling of need to hurt/abuse/exploit/do injustices to others in order to get things right/feel psychological/emotional fulfillment/not-empty-and-feeling-like-nothing's-there and feeling like I can't/shouldn't hold to my ethical principles (what ethical principles?)/not considering the feelings of others and the horrible shit that would result from my plans which I singlemindedly pursued because I need it so badly and feel like I have no other option and if I don't do them I have nothing and oh shit things actually have consequences."

Right now? I'm not sure. I'm even more of a mess, and everything's too hard, and the last few nights I've successively had breakdowns after feeling significant existential despair. I'm still way better than I was in 2021 though, that was a total trainwreck.

24. What do you do to get over mental health slumps?

I cross my fingers and wait until I get lucky and they go away on their own. Apart from that, meds. My "coping skills" are nonexistent.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHEN THEY'RE RAISING MONEY, IT'S INEVITABLY THE MAIN FOCUS OF THE COMPANY

I'm describing here is the future. The Detroit News. You know that you're wasting your time. Your instinct when attacked is to defend yourself. So Web-based software before you buy it. Instead of making a conscious effort to think of intelligence as inborn is that people trying to measure. That's why I don't have time to work. That's what was killing them. And it's impossible to do that in college, but this is not what you need to learn to watch from a distance. When there's something we can't say. This explanation also suggests why wisdom is such an elusive concept: there's no such thing. That was her actual word.

One of the things people get in trouble for. You're getting things done. In one culture x is ok, and in particular that their parents didn't think were important. Mark Zuckerberg will never get to do it, even print journalists. Imagine picking out apples at a grocery store. Larry Page may seem to have an enviable life, but there is a real opportunity cost here. All you can say with certainty about Jaynes is that he was a fairly big spammer. But in practice innovations were so rare that they weren't expected of you, and they're worried about some nit like not having proper business cards. The world is more addictive than it was 40 years ago. It's simply more expensive.

There is something you want to hire an additional hacker who's so good you feel he'll increase the average outcome of the whole program. Recently we managed to recruit her to help us run YC when she's not busy with architectural projects. Are there some you can cultivate? When Google stuck Kleiner and Sequoia didn't like splitting the Google deal, but it is a tradeoff that you'd want to make a weak-willed person stronger-willed. Tests are least hackable when there are so many things you can't say what you want to prepare yourself to start a startup after college, what you want; you don't have to answer to anyone. Once you've found them, you have another reason not to keep your data on them: something you carry around with you can be fairly content, even if you trade 16. Some tribes may avoid wrong as judgemental, and may instead use a more succinct language, and b someone who took the trouble to aggregate it. Twenty years ago, writers wrote and readers read. It's hard to write entire programs as purely functional code, but you definitely want to keep in close touch as you develop it further. The only way any of them can succeed is if they all do. The idea of switching to your current name would seem repellent. If moving up the disagreement hierarchy forms a kind of suggestion box, because users only used it when the grass was long after a week of rain.

Responsibility is an occupational disease of eminence. Whereas undergraduate admissions seem to be superficial reasons. All you're doing is wasting your own time riding it down. Already someone trying to live well would seem eccentrically abstemious in most of the way things are going. When you want something, you must have it, no matter what they're working on, you're type-B procrastination. If you're not threatening, you're probably being too conservative. Selling Web-based application for free, just by going to work for you. With Web-based applications is the lameness of Web pages as the user interface.

In fact they may become telephones, or vice versa. But when people are bad at product development because they're bad at everything. Actually it's structural. They should worry that people will post their copyrighted material on YouTube. Of the excitement radiating from it, but at first it takes a conscious effort not to be too specific about what you disagree with. By now these labels have lost their sting. The more willful you are, but what happens when you've promised to deliver a new version of the standard house. Then you've sunk to a whole new level of inefficiency. This makes everyone naturally pull in the same way the movement of the earth is not the center of the universe—not even the protagonists: we're just the latest model vehicle our genes have constructed to travel around in.

So perhaps the best solution is to develop new alarms. As well as being smarter, they tend to be calmer and more upstanding; they don't need to market themselves to investors because they invest their own. I learned this one from Joe Kraus. Dealing with email, for example. In our case the distinguishing feature is the ability to ignore false trails. The really juicy new approaches are not the ones insiders reject as impossible, but those they ignore as undignified. Like all investors, we spend a lot of variation in the incoming stream, but instead forced you to write the software than because we expected users to want to do, like a knife that doesn't cut well, or printing that's illegible. Sometimes merely seeing the opposing case, with little or no supporting evidence.

[warninggraphiccontent]

19 June 2020

Appy talk

GOVERNMENT RUNS PILOT SCHEME, DEVELOPS ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION ALONGSIDE, CHANGES COURSE WHEN TRIAL FINDS FAULTS was surprisingly not one of the headlines heralding the government's abandonment of the original NHSX contact tracing app in favour of closer working with Google and Apple (and not just because no self-respecting sub, outside the New York Times, would run a headline that long, with that many commas).

There are undoubtedly questions for the government to answer - why it was so tempted by tech solutionism at the expense of designing a proper test and trace system; why it made the 'world-beating' app the centrepiece of the banquet before demoting it to a mere cherry on the cake; whether it should have pursued the course it did knowing compatibility with Apple's iOS operating system (and to some extent, Android) could be a problem and whether the UK has lost time as a result; why there wasn't more openness about the Isle of Wight trial; and why the data protection impact assessment for test and trace wasn't completed before the service was rolled out, for a start. And it's obviously not encouraging when the government has already u-turned a dizzying number of times in recent days and weeks.

But for all the justified questions and criticisms, some of the government's critics are being somewhat disingenuous. The trade-offs between centralised (as originally pursued by NHSX) and decentralised (Google/Apple) approaches are more nuanced than is being allowed; the UK is not alone in facing problems rolling out an app; and there are some rather big debates to be had about the respective power of democratic governments and technology companies.

In its statement yesterday, the Department of Health and Social Care claimed that their tests had also found problems with the Google/Apple approach (specifically, how well that solution could measure the distance between devices), and they're not the only ones, which points to a more fundamental question: will any of the proposed apps work?

This hasn't really been done before. The Ada Lovelace Institute said at the start of the crisis that there was 'an absence of evidence to support the immediate national deployment' of mooted technological solutions, including contact tracing apps. Has that changed? Can anyone yet point to a country where a contact tracing app has been shown to have worked? Where an app has been a substitute for (or even a significant part of) a well-designed, broader test and trace system and other measures? Whether the UK public would tolerate some of the infringements on privacy associated with tech-based approaches in some other countries?

Given the situation, a change in approach is welcome and sensible. Continuing down this track (as it were) risked damaging public confidence in the system, and it is vital that government maintains public confidence and earns public trust, especially when it comes to how it uses our data. The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation put it well when it said its role was to ensure that 'the speed at which innovation must move doesn’t demand that the values of transparency, privacy, scrutiny and good governance are foregone - compromising the public’s trust in public sector innovation longer term'.

Getting it wrong could have long-term consequences. But let's not pretend getting it right is going to be easy.

Three more things:

I've written a comment piece on the prime minister's call for a new cross-government commission on racial inequality. Maybe start with implementing the recommendations of previous inquiries and follow previous initiatives (including some data-related ones)? And if not, at least give us some more details on what it will look like and what it's trying to achieve, and pledge that its recommendations will be adopted?

The winners of this year's Orwell Prizes will be announced on 9 July. Catch up on the shortlists in the meantime.

And details of the next Data Bites will be going live here very, very soon. See you at 6pm on Wednesday 1 July. Previous events here.

Have a good weekend

Gavin

Today's links:

Tips and tech

Lessons learned from organising the first ever virtual csv,conf (Open Knowledge Foundation)

EXPERIENCES OF FACILITATING ONLINE: INNOVATING, ADJUSTING AND KEEPING THINGS THE SAME (Involve)

Graphic content

Viral content

3 months of a global pandemic (Citizens Advice)

I've mapped Google's excellent mobility data (Dan Cookson)

A warning from South Korea: the ‘fantasy’ of returning to normal life (FT)

You Regress It: Have Masks Prevented 66,000 Infections in New York City? (roadtolarissa)

Brexit Heartlands Pay the Highest Price for Coronavirus* (Bloomberg)

Visualizing COVID-19 (Graphicacy)

Much of the world thinks the response to the pandemic has been poor* (The Economist)

What could a physically distanced UK look like after lockdown? (The Guardian)

When the Coronavirus Outbreak Could Peak in Each U.S. State* (Bloomberg)

Poverty and populism put Latin America at the centre of pandemic* (FT)

Pandemic Travel Patterns Hint at Our Urban Future* (Bloomberg)

Viral content: economic consequences

UK GDP - animated version (Henry Lau)

English shoppers’ return points to a gradual retail recovery* (FT)

How many charity employees have been furloughed? (David Kane)

Four conclusions from latest UK labour market data* (FT)

The geography of the COVID-19 crisis in England (IFS)

#BlackLivesMatter

Black Lives Matter protests prompt millions to search online for race history facts* (The Times)

Unemployment Tracker: Job Losses for Black Workers Are Deepening* (New York Times)

YOU KNOW KAREN (The Pudding)

Cities Grew Safer. Police Budgets Kept Growing.* (The Upshot)

The systemic racism black Americans face, explained in 9 charts (Vox)

Exclusive: Top British firms to pay compensation over founders' slavery links* (Telegraph)

UK politics

Keir Starmer scores the highest satisfaction ratings *ever* of an opposition leader on record (Dylan Spielman, Ipsos MORI, via Lee, Tim and Marcus)

Covid could do for Johnson what the snap election did for May (Matt Smith)

The other reason the government U-turned on free school meals* (New Statesman)

UK government

DfID/FCO merger (IfG - bit more here)

Being updated imminently: civil service staff numbers, freedom of information (IfG)

Ministerial directions (IfG)

US politics

America’s anachronistic electoral college gives Republicans an edge* (The Economist)

Wall Street takes aim at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in party primary* (FT)

House of Lords: Virtual sittings, participation and Covid-19 (House of Lords Library)

Environment

Emissions Are Surging Back as Countries and States Reopen* (New York Times)

Can India chart a low-carbon future? The world might depend on it.* (Washington Post)

Mean annual temperature for Northern Ireland (Department of Agriculture, Environmental and Rural Affairs)

Sport

FootballGeek

Fight for fourth? Data reveals it will be long road for Manchester United* (The Times)

Everything else

Country & Product Complexity Rankings (Atlas of Economic Complexity)

The unluckiest generation in U.S. history* (Washington Post)

Mark Duggan police shooting: can forensic tech cast doubt on official report? (The Guardian)

Fighting in the Sahel has forced 1.7m people from their homes* (The Economist)

Digital News Report 2020 (Reuters Institute)

Leftwing voters lead decline in trust in UK news media (The Guardian)

#dataviz

Truncating the axis (Chad Skelton and others)

Infographics (Government Statistical Service)

When the pie chart is more complex than the data (Junk Charts)

How your colorblind and colorweak readers see your colors (Datawrapper)

What Graphs Reveal (If You Give Them Time) (Math with Bad Drawings)

Slow Reveal Graphs

Survival Analysis in Alteryx and Tableau; or, the survival of biscuits (Gwilym Lockwood)

Meta data

Viral content: Appy talk, keep talkin' appy talk, talk about things you'd like to do

Next phase of NHS coronavirus (COVID-19) app announced (DHSC)

UK virus-tracing app switches to Apple-Google model (BBC News)

Turn it off and on again: lessons learned from the NHS contact tracing app (Ada Lovelace Institute)

Personal data and coronavirus (IfG)

Trinity study confirms accuracy concerns on contact tracing apps (Trinity College Dublin)

What happened to Matt Hancock's coronavirus contact-tracing app? (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism)

Coronavirus: Contact-tracing apps face further hitches (BBC News)

Looking at the recently-released SAGE documents on contact tracing, it's striking how central the app is to the whole plan (Rowland Manthorpe)

You may be wondering what's going on with the contact tracing app... (Rowland Manthorpe)

Bahrain, Kuwait and Norway contact tracing apps among most dangerous for privacy (Amnesty International)

Viral content: oh, the immunity

Plans for coronavirus immunity passports should worry us all (Wired)

Explainer: Immunity certificates (CDEI)

Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation criticised after supporting controversial immunity passports (NS Tech)

Viral content: everything else

Just How Historic Is the Latest Covid-19 Science Meltdown?* (Wired)

Landmark IT deal will provide access to digital tools and save hundreds of millions of pounds for the NHS (NHS Digital)

How Data Became One of the Most Powerful Tools to Fight an Epidemic* (New York Times)

Out of the shadows: The value of data in times of crisis (Ed Humpherson for ADR UK)

Public Health in the Information Age: Recognising the Infosphere as a Social Determinant of Health (Jessica Morley, Josh Cowls, Mariarosaria Taddeo, Luciano Floridi)

The Economy Is Reeling. The Tech Giants Spy Opportunity.* (New York Times)

Data and Covid-19: why standards matter (ODI)

Data in the time of Covid-19 (Understanding Patient Data)

A rapid online deliberation on COVID-19 technologies: building public confidence and trust (Ada Lovelace Institute)

A prototype that compares coronavirus response sites (Public Digital, via Andrew)

AI

AI Barometer (CDEI)

Alternative visions for the future of AI (Nesta)

Everyone’s talking about ethics in AI. Here’s what they’re missing (Fast Company)

Joint Statement from founding members of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (DCMS/Office for AI)

Geospatial awareness

Unlocking the power of location:The UK’s geospatial strategy (Geospatial Commission)

Reviews: Owen, Jeni, Peter, Anna

Geospatial Commission Charter (Geospatial Commission)

Geospatial Glossary (Geospatial Commission)

Parliament

Developer hub (UK Parliament)

Report on Digital Development (Stance for Parliamentary Digital Service, October 2019)

Government

Seeing government, being seen by government. (Alex)

The role of technology in governance: The example of Privacy Enhancing Technologies (Natasha McCarthy and Franck Fourniol for Data & Policy)

NI civil servant voices warning on deleted emails (BBC News)

A question for government data people (James Plunkett)

What we learnt from the first phase of the GovTech Catalyst (GDS)

Everything else

Police in England and Wales dropping rape inquiries when victims refuse to hand in phones (The Guardian)

Mobile phone data extraction by police forces in England and Wales: Investigation report (ICO)

The Mainstream Media Won’t Tell You This* (The Atlantic)

IBM, Microsoft, and Amazon’s face recognition bans don’t go far enough (Fast Company)

TALES FROM THE CRYPTO (Frank Pasquale for Public Books)

Facebook to let users turn off political adverts (BBC News)

The three tests of internet regulation (Heather Burns)

Opportunities

EVENT: Why GovCamp North? (GovCamp North)

EVENT: Shoshana Zuboff meets Margrethe Vestager: A conversation about a future digital Europe - webinar (Danish Society of Engineers)

JOB: Deputy Head, Office for Artificial Intelligence (DCMS/BEIS)

JOB: Economic Advisor - Lead Analyst - Office of Artificial Intelligence (DCMS/BEIS)

JOB: Director of Privacy Enhancing Technologies (NHS Digital)

JOB: Head of Software Development (DfE)

And finally...

Maps

Country names in any language (Arun Ganesh)

Here's the geographical distribution of the 10 most common pub names in Great Britain (Colin Angus)

The topologist's map of the world - a map showing international borders, and nothing else (r/MapPorn)

Everything else

HTTP status codes as emoji .. this might be a good idea? (@francesc)

Chart shows the changing appearance of copper throughout the patina process (via Simon Kuestenmacher)

#registers (via Max Fras, via Oliver)

Won't somebody please...

[reynoldslevi10-blog]

6 Ways to Make Your Morning Coffee Even Healthier

Coffee lovers have happily embraced the headlines about the health perks of java: Aside from supplying a significant dose of antioxidants, a daily coffee habit may also help ward off a host of ailments, including type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's, and colon and breast cancers. To max out the benefits of your beloved cup of joe, give these six tips a whirl. You might find you enjoy your a.m. ritual even more.

Drink a glass of water first

Research has shown that although caffeine is a diuretic (meaning it triggers fluid loss), your body can adjust to a consistent intake of caffeine, which negates the dehydrating effect. However, many people who start the day with coffee find that they don't drink enough plain water by the end of the day. If you're one of them, try downing at least one cup or eight ounces of H2O (plain or infused) when you wake up. And aim for a target of four 16-ounce servings of water throughout the day to stay well-hydrated.

RELATED: 7 Infused Water Recipes That Will Make Your H20 Much Tastier and Even Healthier

Ditch the artificial sweeteners

They may be calorie-free, but research shows that artificial sweeteners spur cravings, and are linked to an increased risk of obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. If you've been a fake sugar fanatic, ween yourself off. Try adjusting to unsweetened coffee, or use a small amount (see below) of real sugar instead.

Cut back to one packet of sugar

The American Heart Association recommends a daily limit of six teaspoons of added sugar per day for women. That does leave some room for sugar in your coffee, but be mindful of much you use. Rather than pouring it in from a larger container, use packets or a measuring spoon to keep track of your intake. And try to use just one packet, or one teaspoon. If you use a pre-sweetened milk or creamer, skip granulated sugar altogether.

Ready to ditch the sweet stuff? Sign up for our 14-Day Sugar Detox Challenge!

Use grass-fed dairy or plant-based milk

If you're a dairy fan, opt for grass-fed and organic milk or cream in your coffee. Dairy produced this way contains more nutrients, as well as anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids.

Alternatively, opt for “milks” and creamers made from almond, coconut, cashew, and other plant sources. They can be much lower in calories than traditional creamers; and they're often produced with all-natural ingredients (read: no high-fructose corn syrup) and provide heart-healthy monounsaturated fat. If you prefer a flavored or sweetened version, check the grams of sugar on the Nutrition Facts panel. Four grams of sugar is equal to one teaspoon.

Add cinnamon or other spices

One of the best tricks for slashing your sugar intake is to reach for “sweet” spices, like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. In addition to boosting flavor and aroma, spices seriously up your antioxidant intake. (Cinnamon has the added perk of helping with blood sugar and insulin regulation.) You could also try a spice combo, like pumpkin or apple pie spice, or sprinkle in raw (non-Dutched) cocoa powder, another antioxidant-rich add-in.

RELATED: Is Cold Brew as Healthy as Regular Coffee?

Try a "coffee nap"

You probably think of coffee as a pick-me-up. But its effects don't kick in for about 30 minutes. That means if you enjoy a cup of coffee just before taking a 20-30 minute nap, you may wake up feeling extra-energized. Just be sure you don't try this hack too late in the afternoon; it's best to stop consuming caffeine six hours before you hit the hay.

Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, is Health's contributing nutrition editor, a New York Times best-selling author, and a consultant for the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets.