#ones class positions are a determining factor in these cases. people with money in any country no matter how harsh the laws

[handweavers]

westerners usually react the same way when i talk about being transgender in malaysia w the assumption that even going to malaysia as a gay or trans person will get you immediately arrested and killed or something as though trans people don't live there every day and like. buy groceries and pay bills and walk around. gay people live their whole lives there. that isn't to say there isn't suffering but that people live and go to work and stuff no matter what. not even getting into the fact that any state's repression of lgbt people anywhere will not be targeted primarily at western tourists lmfao

[lcmfinance]

Choosing the Right Litigation Funder: A Guide for Law Firms

Litigation funding is a growing industry. Many law firms are now using third-party funders to finance their cases. Choosing the right funder is important. It can impact the success of a case and the financial stability of the firm. This blog explores the tips and tricks to choose the right litigation funder in Australia.

Understand the Funder’s Experience

Experience is key when selecting a litigation funder. Look for funders who have worked in your area of law. Some funders focus on specific types of cases, such as commercial disputes or class actions. Others may have broad experience across many fields. Ask for examples of their previous cases. Make sure they have a strong record of success.

Know the Funding Terms

Before partnering with a funder, carefully review their terms. Understand the percentage they will take from any settlement. Legal finance or litigation funding is a business that is currently on the rise. It is now normal to see that many law firms are engaging third-party funders to finance their particular cases. To invest is to funder but choosing the right funder is an essential factor. It can determine the outcome of a case and the financial profitability of the producing firm.

Understand the Funder’s Experience

It is therefore important that, when choosing a litigation funder, one must consider more about experience. Again, seek for those financiers who have practised in your sub-sector of the law. Certain funders provide funding for certain types of cases, including commercial litigation, or class action lawsuits. Some may be generalists having worked in various sectors of the economy. Request them to give you some samples of their past cases. Ensure that they can work with concrete result-oriented business strategies.

Know the Funding Terms

In working with a particular funder, ensure that one goes through the terms of the funder. Find out the proportion that they stand to gain from any form of settlement or judgment. This is referred to as the “return on investment” or ROI. Sponsors will generally claim a percentage of the award percentage ranging from twentieth to fortieth percentuation. What is crucial, one must compare the offers of different funders. Remember, don’t just think in terms of percentage.

Evaluate Their Solvency

This means one has to ensure that they select litigation funder that has adequate cash requirements from an investment point of view. Funding large cases may be costly. It just reminds you that you need to be certain that the funder is in a position financially to make the money available when required. Enquire on the amount of finances they have at their disposal. To our knowledge, this idea can differentiate the funder’s categories because funders with more capital can give more preferable conditions.

See How Engaged They Are

There are some commercial funders that want to be very much apart of the case. Some people go for a ‘let sleeping dogs lie’ strategy. There is a decision as to the extent you would wish your funder to be involved. Are you willing to engage these people as active participants in a decision making process? Or do you rather manage your case on your own? One should be very clear about this from the very beginning.

Final Words

It is important for the law firms to select the right litigation funder. It can supply the finance and boost the prospects of success. But care must be taken in deciding on what needs to be financed. Assess the experiences of the funder, terms of funder, financial capability, intervention, recognition factor and the risks. If you do this, then you will be able to find the right partner for your particular case.

[anyroads]

It's also often overlooked by this same kind of sexism that marriage in Austen's novels is an economic imperative for women. There's a frustrating misogyny in the way her works not only get dismissed as romance, but that the romance itself is dismissed when the imperative behind it is financial security and physical safety. Romantic themes are the only ones considered in works that often revolve around money and status, and then are dismissed as insubstantial and childish by men who have important, world-running business to attend to, without considering that women in Austen's time (and the Victorian era when Wilde wrote) had no access to that kind of power and the security it provided. Austen wrote her books in a time when a woman who was married at all, let alone one to a partner who loved and respected her, was extremely lucky.

Marriage was a business deal, and for women the ins and outs of making that deal was a complex navigation of social and power plays. While Austen's stories were specifically about upper middle and upper class women, most of the novels they're compared to - including Wilde in this case - are about men of the same status. The alternative was labor that required training and often apprenticeships, and frequently came with uncomfortable expectations and sexual harassment or abuse. The middle ground was working in childcare and/or education of the children of the wealthy, which made women extremely vulnerable and many of them had to withstand and accept sexual assault as part of the job. Which leads us straight to Charlotte Bronte and novels like Jane Eyre, also often dismissed as romances despite being primarily about the economic and social hardships of being a woman in Georgian England. The romantic fantasy here is that of a master who not only doesn't assault his governess but respects her enough that she can speak to him as an equal and take him to task when she feels the need to. Dismissing this as shallow and silly starts to seem insidious when you consider the implication of laughing off the fantasy of a man - ie. the person with power over the heroine - showing basic human decency, let alone affection.

It can be argued that the feminine fantasy of growing into such financial stability and contentment in this time period is comparable to stories of men's power struggles and coming of age - after all, aren't both about having control over one's life and economic status? If marriage in Austen's time is akin to a business deal, then not only are her novels comparable to those about men's power struggles and coming of age, but they're written awfully well exactly because all the social satire is really an insightful study of the social dynamics that determine the outcome of these deals. Meanwhile, coming of age stories of men like Tom Jones, or even comedies like Wilde's aren't deemed romances despite how much of the plot is driven by love, infatuation, or how many of them end with marriages.

Patriarchal power structures created a separate culture for women but their goals and struggles, at their core, as the same as men's. By labeling them as romances and dismissing romance as something frivolous and unimportant, the basic human desires and drives at the heart of these stories are ignored. In a world where said patriarchal power structure has decided that women are reliant on love and grace for their safety and any semblance of relative freedom, the men upholding that structure dismiss these factors as unimportant and irrelevant. There's something to be said for how much Austen's novels still speak to people today, not just because of their wit and social commentary that are still relevant, but because a measure of that power structure still exists, and the fantasy of the obliviously egotistical and condescending man in a position of power being dressed down and actually learning from it still speaks to a lot of contemporary readers.

ready to die on the hill of if jane austen was a man her books would be labeled as primarily satire. "dismissing romance as a genre is sexist" ok but not every story with a romance is a romance novel

[blogging-with-quill]

Witness Your Fitness

By Nilanjana Ghosh

A lot of people have a misconception about fitness that slimness = fitness, but it is absolutely wrong. We are in the era of body positivity and we are welcomed to embrace every shape and size with equal love and support. Every body, nice body should be our mantra. But if every body is a nice body then what is the meaning of fitness? Well glad you asked! Fitness is a condition where diseases are absent and you possess a physically fit and healthy body. There is no such thing as an ideal body or ideal weight. Fitness is keeping your body, whatever it weighs, active and healthy, ready to face any physical challenges. Fitness is not an ideal body shape, it is the ability to be active and your body shape or weight has little to do with it. Fitness also determines your immunity level of the body and we all know how important immunity is amidst this pandemic.

So here we will talk about few easy tips which will help you to stay fit without any extra hassle and struggle.

1) Exercise will always be the best way to stay fit, so doing simple exercises such as freehand exercises, planks, lunges and push-ups, stretches daily for an hour will show visible results.

2) Many of us are too lazy to get out of bed in order to exercise, so in that case, we can turn our hobbies into exercises, for example, dancing, cycling, and swimming are terrific ways to stay fit. If none of the above suits you then you can say yes to walking and running.

3) Mental health also has a place in our fitness, keeping our mind healthy is important as well. And to do so yoga and meditation are paramount.

4) Embracing healthy food habits is crucial for a healthy and fit body. Having unsaturated fats, probiotics, fibers, proteins, whole grains in our diet is mandatory for a healthy body.

5) An ideal meal should contain less calories and more proteins. It should also include fat and fiber. Whatever you eat, it should have a nutritious value. Invest your money into nutritious foods and the return you gain will be healthful and beneficial for your body.

6) Choosing healthy snacks over high cholesterol snacks can make a huge difference. Consuming a fruit salad with a dash of chat masala has more health benefits than a pizza or a burger. So it is important to create a balance in your food habit.

7) Getting enough sleep is another important factor to have a fit body. Insufficient sleep will make you cranky and fatigued. A six to eight hours of sleep a day is a necessity for good health.

8) Ignoring soft drinks will be very wise of you. Instead, homemade juice of fruits or vegetables should be welcomed by you with an aarti ki thali, yes they deserve it.

9) Even though most people begin the journey towards fitness with a blast of enthusiasm, within few days the spark seems to fade away and they tend to lose excitement and determination. This issue can be fixed by joining workshops and sessions dedicated to fitness. These sessions can have an impact on your motivation and solve your dilemma and lack of eagerness.

10) And last but not least, to quote the beginning of any Indian movie, "smoking and alcohol consumption is injurious to health". These habits have dreadful effects on your body.

It is important to be fit and stay fit. No one enjoys being sick or getting exhausted with trivial chores. Our immunity power is decided by our health. So stir yourself and whip up your motivation and vow to start having a fit and healthy lifestyle. For sessions on fitness and many other aspects of lifestyles one can visit - http://www.collegetips.in/lifestyle/ it is an initiative by CollegeTips.in where you can find many useful classes and training to help you have a healthy and happy lifestyle.

[softwari]

3 “Best Hosting For A Travel Blog” (2021)

Do you want to skip the read and get right to my top picks? The best web hosting service for most people is Bluehost or Hostgator

You decided to start a travel blog and looking for the best hosting for your travel blog.

To develop and assemble a strong web-based presence for your travel blog, you need to have a solid hosting platform.

Here are the top best hosting for your travel blog.

1)

Bluehost

– Best web hosting for a travel blog.

Did you realize that Bluehost is home to multiple million sites?

That is a ton.

Having such a huge client base is sufficient proof that they are accomplishing something right. Their uptime is solid, worker speeds are acceptable, and all of their facilitating plans pack valuable elements for beginners and intermediates the same.

Bluehost web facilitating has been around since 2003 and they currently have in excess of 2,000,000 sites. They are the most well known, minimal expense facilitating alternative for new sites.

They are our first class web facilitating organization on the grounds that their most recent year uptime and speed are solid – 99.95% and 713 ms, separately.

you can get basic bluehost plan for $4.95 for 12 months, in which you get 50 GB SSD storage, free domain, free SSL, and free CDN and one website to host.

but my recommendation to you is to get their choice plus plan in which you get unlimited website to host, unlimited SSD storage, free domain, SSL and free CDN in just $7.45 for 12 months.

It’s ideal for WordPress sites since it’s formally suggested by WordPress.org.

VISIT BLUEHOST WEBSITE

2)

Hostgator

– Affordable Web hosting for your travel blog.

HostGator has always been known for its remarkable range of hosting services, from domains to dedicated servers.

We’ve got the web hosting provider down as one of the best when it comes to shared hosting services, simply because of its reliability, pricing, and the fact that the firm boasts of a 99.9% uptime guarantee.

HostGator offers three specific shared hosting plans, starting with the Hatchling subscription, which comes with unmetered bandwidth, free WordPress/cPanel website transfer, and a free SSL certificate.

The allocations are generous and should easily accommodate the requirements of a single domain.

HostGator’s cheapest shared hosting plan is $2.75 per month if you sign up for 36 months.

HostGator also provides WordPress hosting and, like Bluehost, has its very own website builder service too, which is not uncommon for web hosting companies to have these days.

Some of the additional benefits HostGator has up its sleeves include a 45-day money-back guarantee, free transfers for new accounts within the first month after you’ve signed up, 24/7/365 live chat support for its customers, and a free domain for a year.

If you are looking for a web hosting service provider that will give you more for your money, then there are lots that HostGator checks off in that department.

VISIT HOSTGATOR WEBSITE

3)

Hostinger

– Cheapest Web hosting for Travel blog.

Hostinger is offers some of the most affordable shared hosting solutions on the market.

Their prices literally start from $1.39/month. WOW.

You’ll have to sign a four-year contract to get the lowest deal possible, but that total contract is going to be way less than a single year with other hosts.

You don’t get a huge load of capacity, yet your site will actually want to deal with around 10,000 visits every month no issue.

You can make a simple stride up to both of Hostinger’s different plans and receive the rewards of more assets and the ability to have up to 100 destinations while as yet paying the absolute least rates around.

With Business Shared Hosting, which is just $3.99/month, you can get limitless transmission capacity, 200 GB stockpiling, and everyday site reinforcements.

That implies regardless of whether you mess up seriously, you generally approach past forms of your site.

For organizations with little or non-existent IT staff,

master client assistance is a gigantic advantage.

It is the most ideal choice in case you’re looking explicitly for a common facilitating administration that is reasonable and solid.

Hostinger gives a 99.9% uptime ensure and a 30-day cash back arrangement. That is difficult to beat at a month-to-month facilitating cost that is not exactly some espresso.

VISIT HOSTINGER WEBSITE

What I Looked at to Find the Best Web Hosting Services for a travel blog.

With regards to the best web facilitating administrations, you need to take a gander at different significant components.

In the event that you hop in excessively fast, you may get into something not appropriate for your business.

In any case, don’t let any of that uncertainty creep into your brain.

All things being equal, take it easy while we present to you every one of the elements that you should know about prior to settling on a choice.

You can gauge the distinctive web facilitating administrations and conclude which is the best answer for your particular business.

Facilitating factor #1 – Reliability:

On the off chance that your facilitating is down, nobody would have the option to get to your site.

Furthermore, clearly, you need your site running all day, every day.

Fortunately, in 2021 this is definitely not a gigantic issue since most web facilitating suppliers offer a ‘99.99% organization uptime ensure’.

That implies that your site would go down infrequently.

What’s more, in any event, when it does, you can contact your facilitating administration and you will get pay.

More often than not that would be through facilitating credits.

Assuming you need to get ready for the most noticeably terrible, you can look at our Website Downtime Survival Guide.

Probably the best practice to ensuring all that chugs along as expected in any event, when you’re enjoying some time off is to pursue the following apparatus like an uptime robot.

In the event that your facilitating administration goes too far, this device will tell you that you need to track down a new webserver to have.

Facilitating factor #2 – Speed is vital:

Hosting speed is amazingly essential with regard to SEO enhancement in 2021.

That is just since, in such a case that your pages load gradually, individuals will bob out of your site and your positioning will tumble down the channel.

You need a dependable host supplier that can ensure ideal site stacking speed.

Indeed you can’t have a clue about the specific stacking speed before you attempt the facilitating administration yourself.

Be that as it may, you can generally streamline your site stacking speed utilizing free instruments and compelling stacking speed rehearses.

What’s more, the best news is that regardless of whether your financial plan is tight, you can in any case get a decent stacking speed.

Yet, don’t expect anything marvelous for say $4/month.

By and large, the higher the value, the quicker your pages will stack.

Facilitating factor #3 – Customer administration:

Great Customer Service will prove to be useful when something turns out badly.

Particularly in case you’re new to sites, you will undoubtedly commit errors that might prompt your site to be down for some time.

Also, the additional time it’s out, the more it will set you back.

So a decent help group will assist you with getting the issues addressed right away.

Regardless of whether you committed a significant error that is difficult to return from…

Most help groups will have a full reinforcement of your site so you can return to a functioning adaptation.

You generally need your help group to have a live visit or a phone you can call.

The email simply doesn’t take care of business assuming you need to determine the issue quickly, which you should need, considering that your site is down.

We tried to incorporate just site facilitating administrations with solid relational abilities.

Conclusion:

You’re most likely going to have a long-term relationship with the hosting service you choose. So carefully look into every option that caught your eye today and select the one that fits your needs best.

These are all dependable hosting providers with a record of quality service. Whether you choose one of my top recommendations or scout out your own, use the tips and best practices we talked about to make an educated decision.

Having reliable web hosting is a must in today’s world. Make this decision like the future of your travel blog depends on it.

Disclaimer: All these hosting is shared hosting.

[gardenofkore]

The Sicilians who appear in the 1282-1337 records are consumers rather than traders, individuals seeking or disposing of domestic servants, but not otherwise engaged in the large-scale commerce. Slaves were generally not used for farming. This had long been the norm in Mediterranean practice, but particular reasons existed for Sicily's avoidance of putting slaves in the field. These reasons were largely structural, as outlined earlier. In those few places where bound peasant manorialism was still practiced, slave labor would have been redundant.  And the great bulk of agricultural labor was drawn from the nearby towns and villages, owing to the mingling of the rural and village micro-economies; workers were hired in the towns and given wages in lieu of plots of land. Moreover, the war years before 1302 and after 1317 disrupted agricultural life to a sufficient degree that despite the flight from the land surplus pools of agricultural labor still existed in many areas, which forced a decline in wages for field workers. Putting slaves, whom it required a significant outlay of capital to acquire, to work on the land was thus neither necessary nor financially sensible.  [...]

Thus slavery remained essentially an urban phenomenon, and the slaves, whether Muslim or Greek, female or male, were pressed either into domestic service or shop labor. A general sense of their tasks and relative status emerges from a close reading of the extant documents, since slave records utilized a consistent vocabulary in describing types of slaves. Among females, for example, an ancilla was a general house-servant or lady's maid, whereas a serva commonly worked at menial tasks either in the family shop or in the kitchen. Thus the wealthy Messinese merchant Nicola Cappellano, in his 1296 will, bequeathed the ancilla Giovanna to tend to his widow's personal needs in the house in which, although he bequeathed it to the Greek monks of S. Giorgio, his wife would live out her days. References to ancillae appear most frequently in wills like this, especially in well-to-do merchant and professional families, and reflect a dying husband's last attempt to provide for the wife he is leaving behind; but they are common as well in records of purchases made directly by the wives themselves, either when their husbands were still alive (in order to acquire the necessary help in maintaining the daily household) or after their deaths. Widowhood prompted many women to purchase new domestics, possibly as much for companionship as for services rendered. In these cases, the ancilla was usually purchased with funds specifically bequeathed for that purpose. Other widows, needing ready cash to settle their late husbands' debts, found it necessary to sell their ancillae as soon as their mates had departed. This was the case with Margarita Ricci of Palermo, who had to sell her "ancillam nigram sarracenam nomine Misuda" in June 1308 in order to cover an outstanding debt to the Messinese merchant Filippo Lacerta. Lastly, foreign merchants residing in Sicily, prominent figures who required servants to provide for them on their travels, also owned domestic workers. Resident traders from Majorca, Barcelona, Tarragona, Genoa, and Pisa all purchased or sold ancillae in Palermo, for private domestic use, in a single ninemonth period according to Bartolomeo di Citella's notarial register for 1307-8. The higher price commanded by ancillae, compared to servae, and the fact that no minor age ancillae appear anywhere in the extant records, whereas servae are documented as young as two years of age, further suggests that just such a division of labor existed among female captives. [...] 

The great majority of slaves, whether female or male, were Muslim; prior to the eastern conquests, only 5-10 percent of slaves were Greek. No Jewish slaves were to be found, of course, since Jews remained technically under the protection of the church and were therefore supposedly immune from slavery - but also because, by a longstanding cultural tradition, any captive Jew who might have shown up in port was usually purchased and manumitted by a fellow Jew. Slaves were brought to market from Rhodes, from "Turkia," from "Russia," from "Dalmatia," and from the "partibus Sclavonic," showing the broad compass of the international shipping that passed through Sicily's waters. Females were strongly preferred to males, as shown not only by their more frequent appearance in sales records - they represented 60-65 percent of all slaves sold - but also by the higher price they commanded. The mean price of a young adult female slave was 5.15.00, compared to 4.15.00 for males. The domestic uses to which slaves were put did not generally require the males' superior strength. Female procreative ability, quite apart from whatever specialized skills they might have possessed, clearly was the dominant factor in causing their higher price levels, as the children of female slaves - fathered at will, presumably, by the slave owners themselves - were likewise enslaved, thus giving the slave owner a steady supply of captive labor without the additional expense of new purchases. Moreover, Muslim slaves, unlike Greek or Slavic ones, were always identified as being either white (albus), olive-skinned (olivacius), or black (niger), with the lighter-skinned captives being much preferred. These classifications may delineate ethnic differences between Arabs, Persians, and Turks; but they also help, on occasion, to identify slaves of sub-Saharan origin, when they are accompanied in the document by the slave's name. Thus, for example, the olive-skinned Fatima whom Pachomeo Bernotto sold to Giovanni Malfrida on 26 September 1307 was likely an Arab woman, whereas the black-skinned Busa sold the following day by Nicoloso Mostardo of Genoa to Orazio Cansario of Palermo was, to judge by her name, perhaps Ethiopian.  Other names of darkskinned Muslims that suggest African origins are Massandi, Amiri, Hamutus, Ashera, Musata, and Sadona, although such attributions are tentative, owing to problems of medieval orthography.

Two remaining factors determined a slave's value: faith and age. To be a sarracenus in Sicily was a matter of race rather than religion, and consequently the market differentiated between Muslim Saracens and Christian Saracens - that is to say, slaves who had been baptized. The latter comprised two types, those who had voluntarily converted to Christianity, and those fathered by the Christian slave owner, who automatically received baptism, though not freedom, at birth. No clear pattern emerges when one compares the data on baptized Muslims with unbaptized, except for the fact that Jews were not allowed to own Christianized slaves. (They appear frequently as owners of Muslim slaves, however.) Mean prices for converted and unconverted captives are virtually identical, although the figures may be somewhat misleading since the ages of Christianized slaves were, for reasons that are not clear, seldom recorded.19 Age was an important factor, though one not applied systematically. In general, slaves under the age of five were of little value, since health hazards made their survival a matter of some doubt; they often sold for as little as 00.15.00. Similarly, slaves over the age of thirty saw their market value decline sharply unless they possessed a unique skill. The price required, however, for their manumission, if they were in a position to bargain for it, rose steadily beyond that age. This trend possibly hints at the general life expectancy of slaves, and certainly suggests a cynical attempt by slave owners to take advantage of a growing sense of desperation felt by aging slaves - a willingness to pay even grossly inflated prices in order to live free in one's last years. Thus Matteo Synga of Palermo and his wife Giovanna were able to demand 10.00.00 (the price of two average-sized houses in the capital) from their aging Fatima, although in this case they mercifully granted her freedom on credit.

Slave owners came from the professional classes; they comprised a cross-section of the leading merchants, artisans, jurists, and urban magnates. Silk weavers, dyers, cloth merchants, grain merchants, goldsmiths, coopers, shipbuilders, notaries, judges, and tax officials, plus a dozen other professions, made up the caste of slave holders. Merchants and artisans purchased their slaves indiscriminately, apart from market influences: cutlers, for example, evinced no discernible preference for Muslims over Greeks, apart from the greater availability of Muslim slaves prior to 1305. But if surviving records provide a representative picture, municipal officials, notaries, and judges unanimously preferred Greek slaves to Muslim. These slaves, coming from the more literate east, may have been put to use as elementary tutors to children or else employed in minor clerical tasks. It is likely too that the possession of literate Greeks played a role in asserting one's social prominence in the status-conscious juridical classes.

Slaves were brought to Sicily in a variety of ways. Some adventurers, like Guglielmo di Malta, captured individuals from the Muslim and Greek communities on the peninsula during the recurrent struggles with Naples. Guglielmo's will, dated 3 February 1298, directed that compensation be made to those people in Calabria from whom he stole money, horses, and servants during his campaigns there. But most slaves were brought to the island by professional slave traders who traversed the sea lanes in galleys filled with fresh war captives or with slaves purchased in one location and sold in another. Once arrived in port, the slavers presented their inventory to the harbormaster (magister portulanus), who was responsible not only for collecting duties on imported and exported goods but also for authorizing and advertising all slave cargoes to be sold. At Sciacca in June 1310, for example, the royal harbormaster Corrado Lancia di Castromainardo posted the following representative notice:

Nos Gonradus de Castromaynardo miles tenore presentium notumfieri volumus universis, quod comitiva comitis Francisci de Viginti Miliis, cum galea Henrici de Manria, ducit de conscientia nostra in Siciliam de insula Gerbarum, quod habuit in cavea ad certum pretium servos Sarracenos subscriptos - videlicet, servum unum nigrum nomine Adde, annorum undecim; servum alium olivacium nomine Aris, annorum quindecim; servum alium olivacium nomine Yseyt, annorum decem et octo; et servum alium olivacium nomine Ayre, annorum viginti sex. De quo presentem sibi ad sui cautelam fieri fecimus nostro sigillo munitum.

These four slaves, captured during the fight for Djerba, probably were not sold at Sciacca, which was simply the first port that the ship put into upon returning to Sicily. Instead, Francesco Ventimiglia, armed with this royal confirmation of his cargo, probably moved on to the large bazaars at Trapani or Palermo before auctioning off the slaves. Slave traders usually worked as a societas, or ad hoc corporation, in order to share the burdens and risks of the profession. Those risks were considerable. Compounding the general decline in the trade itself were the difficulties of trying to make a profit in a Mediterranean beset with piracy and with closely guarded privileges in every port. In 1304, for example, a Genoese slaver named Ottobono della Volta joined with one Georgios Grecos, a merchant from Crete, "and a certain Simone Gavata of Sicily, plus another [Sicilian] fellow who used to be a Jew but is now a Christian going by the name of Marco Cantareno," in an attempt to unload a large shipment of more than fifty slaves at a Cretan port without paying the heavy Venetian duties. The Venetian duke of Crete caught the traders in the act, and, in addition to collecting the necessary dues and a penalty, confiscated the slaves themselves; the traders lost well over ioo.oo.oo. A successful venture could pay handsomely, however. Pachomeo Bernotto and his socii sold a shipment of seventeen slaves, all Muslims, in auction at Palermo after arriving in port on 26 September 1307; their gross receipts totaled over 50.00.00. Unsold slaves would then be placed back on the ship and taken to the next port, where they would be auctioned yet again.

Frequently a single slave would be bought and sold several times. An unfortunate woman named Aziza, a white-skinned Muslim ancilla from Nocera, was owned by Tommasso Lamatu, a goldsmith who probably captured or purchased her during the war and took her to his home in Messina. At some point she converted to Christianity and took the name Rosa. In May 1308 Tommasso sold Aziza/Rosa to a Catalan merchant from Tarragona with the unlikely name of "Aglinus Pagllarisius," who returned with her to Tarragona. Once there, Aglinus promptly sold her to another merchant, Ramon Peris. In December of that year Ramon, deciding for whatever reason to be rid of her, gave Aziza/Rosa to his procurator (a Valencian, Jaume Tredes) who took her to Palermo, where on 8 December she was at last sold to 'Abdul 'al-Salaam ibn Il-fa'it, a prominent Muslim merchant from her native Nocera.

Clifford R. Backman, The Decline and Fall of Medieval Sicily. Politics, religion, and economy in the reign of Frederick III, 1296-1337,   p. 250 - 258

header picture:  Jean-Léon Gérôme, The Slave Market (1871)

[swordoforion]

Orion Digest No. 7 - By the People, For the People

Society, from it's inception, was originally designed to be a system that caters to the needs of the people within it. After all, what other need would we have of it if not for our mutual benefit? As explored by psychologist Abraham Maslow, human beings have a set of needs that range from basic components of survival (food, water, shelter) to psychological needs (social interaction, validation and purpose). Given agriculture and food production was what organized civilization, and tribal life was directed around culture and relationships, we came together for our mutual physical and social benefit.

Even as we evolve what it means to live in a society, the structure of our world should reflect that purpose. Anything that exists above the people should be to help all who take part in it, not to take advantage of them. It is true that the perks of a civilization do require participation to the best of your ability (i.e. you must follow the rules of an organization to gain the rewards of being in one), but the balance between labor and compensation is a delicate one, and too much to one side causes an inherently flawed system.

Civilization is a finnicky human invention, and it changes constantly through internal and external factors, so the relationship between government, economy, and citizen will naturally have to evolve to suit the needs of the times. With that change can come imbalance and domination of one of the former two over the latter. Such has been the case with the post-Industrial Revolution societies in the case of the individual vs. the economy, and has been an ever-present debate in the case of the individual vs the government. The relationship between government and economy itself has spawned schools of thought that shaped the world over the last two centuries, and continue to dominate the realm of political thought.

But even as we evolve and change what civilization looks like, we must not forget that we created this vast machine that is society for the purpose of providing for the needs of humans, and the fact that we see people on the streets, starving and homeless, stands as proof that society has failed at it's most basic purpose. Any society, at any level of development, should provide for the needs of its citizens - a fact that defines the purpose of human civilization itself. Otherwise, we have a mechanism that serves itself, and has no reason to exist in the world.

For the two components outside of the individual, government and economy, there are many options thought of over the years that provide structure with various levels of community interaction. While there are crowds that favor their own type of theorem, a general consensus is that for both types, people prefer a system that lets them have input in decisions rather than a system controlled by a group separated from the rest of society, unknowledgeable in the concerns of the lower classes.

A degree of outside management is required in most systems of government - after all, if everyone is busy performing some function in society, people can't also always manage complex systems of bureaucracy, so some people make it their jobs specifically to govern. In the simplest and most ancient societies, tribes would have elders and leaders, the wisest among the people who most believed fit to represent and guide them. With more modern systems, however, as people wish for representation, we move to more democratic government, where everyone has some minimal level of involvement (voting), and selects people who summarize the people's wants (representatives) to run the government.

There are risks, of course, to representative government - someone who claims to be for one cause doesn't always have an obligation to follow up on that promise, and can simply follow their own agenda. The less representation you have, the more specific public opinions get diluted, but the more representation you have, the more complex and slow government can get. Whereas a single-entity government has a clear and forward moving direction, true democracy only makes progress when representatives tell the truth and get along with each other, which is not always the case.

However, even if progress is slower moving in a democracy, it's in a direction that the people choose for themselves, rather than having it chosen for them. For example, in a kingdom, a monarch could order the people to refurbish the roads of a city, regardless of whether the people wanted new roads or not. The work would likely get done much quicker if one person had the authority to make the decision, but the satisfaction of the people would be irrelevant. On the other hand, while the decision would take longer in a democracy, opinions on the state of the roads could be collected by citizens and the decision could be made after determining whether or not the people would prefer a refurbishment. The informed, democratic decision would require more effort, but make the people happier than a simple command, and in the end, that's the important part - giving everyone a say.

Regardless of how much a democratic system changes in policy from a more central form of government, it certainly can help morale and public opinion. If people think that they have more of a choice in matters, they will be more likely to be active in their community, as the idea that they can make a difference facilitates motivation to 'do their part'. If someone commands you to do something and it doesn't work, you might just blame those in charge for it's failure, but a community that makes a decision that fails might take the chance to learn more from their mistakes and improve upon the idea. It's a positive feedback loop that can lead to greater overall involvement, and more input that satisfies the people, as they feel that they contributed. This ties directly into the more social needs of Maslow's hierarchy, fulfilling a critical function of their lives.

On the other hand, economy is far closer to us in modern society, and is the subject of much more contentious debate. While the system of economic organization can vary from nation to nation, I'll go with a common structure - capitalism. In basic capitalist theory, people form hierarchal businesses that compete in an open market to sell goods and services to customers that, in return, become a part of businesses themselves. The higher you are in the structure of an individual business, the more money you make, and the more successful the business is, the greater resources it will have, and ideally, the more employers and employees alike can get paid. In return, customers, having money earned from their labor, must make decisions about which businesses to buy from, affecting the revenues of others in a constant domino chain system.

At its core, capitalism is about competition - workers have to compete to gain positions within a business, businesses and their owners have to compete to innovate and attract more customers, and anyone who earns a wage has to decide the proper balance of spending they must achieve to obtain fulfillment of their needs. The contentious part of this competition becomes clear when it is unbalanced - an economy where certain parties in these fights have a clear advantage, and the deck is stacked against the underdog. As a result, many are fighting an uphill battle in an unbalanced capitalist system, which has resulted in much backlash against the structure.

Many corporations, pre-established and owning many smaller companies, have a clear advantage over any business that enters the market. People are familiar with the brand, and are more likely to trust something they know when buying goods and services, while the smaller competitors require blind trust. Many allow themselves to accept the money offered by these corporate giants, and get bought up, becoming no longer an opponent but an asset. Having one entity in the marketplace does not automatically harm the customer - they can still pay and get paid, receiving the goods and services - but it means that there is nothing to stop the business from conducting itself however it chooses.

With government, democracy prevents decisions from being made that negatively impact the people, as the public at large has checks and balances. However, in the economy, an elitist business that has dominance over the marketplace is not subject to public authority, and in capitalism, only slightly regulated by the government, which means there is plenty of wiggle room with which to raise prices, decrease quality, and leave customers with no option but to shrink down into greater poverty. With multiple competitors, you will have the option to buy goods and services at low prices if you cannot afford higher value items, but as the pool of companies shrinks, you are left with little choice in the matter.

Other forms of government and economic structure supersede this by giving either government, worker, or both more control over the economy, most notably socialist nations. As inspired by the initial Marxist philosophy, socialism details an economy where the internal hierarchy of businesses is less pronounced, with working class citizens having democratic decision of how the business should operate, and as a result, the elitist structure that characterizes modern capitalism would be shed for one more considerate of the common citizen. As mentioned earlier, the more removed a commanding force is in any organization, the less they'll represent the desires of the rest of the organization, and socialism (or at least, democratic socialism) reflects that belief in allowing collective decisions by people affected by corporate decisions not only as workers, but as customers themselves.

As in a democratic government, a democratic workplace might not see as much overwhelming success, but it provides much more meaningful success than in a direction decided by an elite, removed class of society. Decisions made by democracy are those the people support and are responsible for, and if a business had trouble due to democratic decision making, the more likely people would learn from that mistake, take responsibility, and work to improve, resulting in a system that learned lessons collectively and improved over time.

Society was created for the people, and unless it is managed by the people, we risk having ruling parties lose sight of what average citizens go through, drifting off course until we have success of the few at the expense of the many. It is not a bad thing that some people should find success due to innovation and personal ingenuity, but it is unfortunate when others are not given the opportunity in the first place to achieve that success, or when those who become prosperous disadvantage others with their power. If society does not meet the needs of all those who live within it, then it has failed its core purpose, and must be fixed.

- DKTC FL

[softwarequalityassurance1-blog]

Types Of Careers That Are Available

Careers are a person's journey through learning, life and various other facets of daily life. A career can be defined as any occupation that a person undertakes to seek a particular goal. There are many ways to define a career and the word is frequently used in various different ways.

Some careers are very technical, while others involve creative or even hands on skills. There are general careers which cover all sorts of professions. These careers may include sales and business management, office administration, public administration, government jobs, teachers and healthcare professionals. Some specialists careers include nurses, architects, physicians and accountants. Technicians such as computer software engineers, electrical and construction engineers, and automotive technicians also fall into this category.

Careers change constantly and one choice changes frequently as well. In some instances, it may be up to the current workers to decide what to do. Many people choose to study in order to have better careers. Others are able to change careers due to economic factors or certain challenges that they may face. Many times, students will have to return to school in order to get a higher degree in their chosen profession. this page

Another popular career change includes a path called "re-entry". This can be seen in the context of governmental service, public works and even in the private sector. In this case, a person goes from being unemployed or a retiree back into the workforce. They may begin working in a different position in order to earn more money or perhaps they enter a new field altogether.

Another broad category is called "alternative careers". This can also include volunteer careers, self-employment and even part-time jobs. Alternative careers can be helpful to anyone looking to further their education and also make money at the same time. There are many nontraditional careers for which individuals can seek employment. With so many different careers out there, it shouldn't be too hard to find something that fits your particular needs and interests.

On the other hand, if you need specific training or certification to qualify for a specific career, this is where things get interesting. There are specific careers like teaching, law and nursing which require particular training and certifications before one can obtain a position. Those who are interested in obtaining careers such as these will have to study hard in order to achieve their goals. Those who want to pursue careers such as these should also consider their finances carefully as there are also financial costs involved.

The good thing about careers such as these is that the pay is excellent and the benefits are usually quite good as well. It may also be possible to advance in career more quickly than others because of the nature of the work. This means that it is worth it to look into different careers. There may be certain careers that suit your personality and needs the most. Some may even be open to changing careers in the event that they find a better fit.

It can be easy to choose a career. All it takes is some research and careful thought prior to making a decision. It may even be possible to change careers mid-career once you have had some experience and gained some skills that you are good at. It will take some time and effort on your part but in the long run it will be worth it.

Careers such as these are ideal for people who like travelling and working at different places. It is also ideal for people who like to make the most of their free time. These careers give people the freedom to do things they like. In addition, if you are lucky enough to get a job in one of these careers you will not have to spend your entire working life on the job. Many employees choose careers such as this as part-time jobs or something they can do part-time.

There are many different careers such as these to choose from. The main thing to remember is that you need to figure out what is most important to you. This may require some personal examination. You may discover that you would rather have a different type of job. For example, some people may prefer a leadership role, while others may have more interest in working with children.

Once you determine what is most important to you then all you need to do is find a way to get into the career. There are many ways to do this such as taking a specific course or doing volunteer work. You can also attend a college or trade school and take classes to get an education related to the career you want. You can also work to enter various fields as an intern. There are also many ways to make money related to your chosen career and this can be done through internships, paid positions, or sales of your own products.

[not-that-good-at-breathing-in]

~ ~ b r a v e n e w w o r l d ~ ~  ((dispassionate contentment))

I shall divide my thoughts on this book into four main categories: “I didn’t like it”, “is it actually a utopia?”, “Eugenics” and “oh god hyperconsumerism”. I will be informal, tangential, judgemental, but hopefully entirely factual. 

I didn’t like it

The first 100 pages feel completely separate from the rest and are just the most blatant exposition loosely framed in the device of “they were on a tour”. I think there are more engaging ways to start a novel. For example: it can start by introducing the main character as well as the world by having it be about his specific experience, or you can start with a shorter, even dryer text that would be in an in-world pamphlet or something. This way the audience can immediately be immersed in the world and figure things out for themselves, reading outright state propaganda as something unquestionable. But, obviously it isn’t like the book is going to be edited to my preferences after all these years and I don't think mr. Huxley will do anything with the advice either, since he died of laryngeal cancer in 1963.

I also didn’t think any of the characters were sympathetic, either because the pov clearly looked down on them as was with the people who strongly identified with their communities (mostly the mother and Bernard's girlfriend). And the people that were supposed to be taken seriously (i think) were these intellectual men who thought themselves outsiders who could objectively judge the world around them and decide what’s best for everyone (Bernard, John, Galaxy Brian). This is not a type of person I am particularly fond of in the real world and that dislike also extends to the brave new world.

At first, I thought the main character (Bernard) would change and become more chill at some point, but no. He had social anxiety throughout and his coping mechanism was arrogance. I also liked John before he decided to use his life and position to be a raving lunatic by the woods - an understandable, attractive life path, but the implications of it are hopeless. Are you saying the answer to living in a horrifying, dystopian hellscape is to be a thespian recluse, Aldous? Is that really the most productive course of action, Al?

Is it actually a utopia?

As opposed to most “future: bad”-science fiction, most people in the world of Brave New World see their society as a utopia. Only the ragtag gang of angsty male protagonists think of it as being dystopian, which the figures of authority view as a fault of the system. If they have any negative opinion of their society, then clearly the system  of indoctrination has failed them. If only society were more tightly controlled, then it really would be a utopia. But we as the audience of course don’t see it as a utopia at all. The industrialization of human bodies makes that everybody only exists for the sake of the Economy. There are no individuals, only society as a whole, serving itself.

But if the average happiness of a member of a society is not the factor by which we determine how desirable a society is, then what is? 

Diversity? Brave New World has a diverse range of citizens, though they do look the same for the most part, because they exist in large groups of twins. The different groups are bred to be in different social classes and they are discouraged from identifying with each other. So maybe diversity among social groups is important...

Technological progress? If I remember correctly, Brave New World puts a lot of resources into the advancement of science and technology. 

Freedom? The big dystopian science fiction thing that Brave New World gleefully indulges in is *ominous music* TOTALITARIAN GOVERNMENT. In this world, you lose any ability to choose for yourself as you are being produced. Your moral framework, your priorities, your aesthetic taste are decided during your infancy. You do not learn about things you are curious about, but only the things the factory prescribes. Any decision you make after you leave the factory is so heavily decided by the way you’ve been programmed, that it can't be of your own free will however much you think it is. As Huxley himself said: “A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which [leaders] control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude.”

So, is the purpose of humanity freedom? Idk sure.

Eugenics

Lets start this off by saying that Aldous Huxley was a eugenicist. Here’s a few quotes to support this claim: 

“About 99,5% of the entire population of the planet are as stupid and philistine … as the great masses of the English. The important thing, it seems to me, is not to attack the 99,5% ... but to try to see that the 0,5% survives, keeps it’s quality up to the highest possible level, and, if possible, dominates the rest. The imbecility of the 99,5% is appalling - but after all what else can you expect?” - in a letter to J. Glyn Roberts in 1933

“Birth control depends on the co-operation of an entire people. It must be practiced by countless individuals, from whom it demands more intelligence and will power than most of the world's teeming illiterates possess, and (where chemical or mechanical methods of contraception are used) an expenditure of more money than most of these millions can now afford.” - excerpt from Brave New World Revisited in 1958, in a chapter all about how overpopulation is destroying average living conditions. The looming threat of overpopulation is one of the biggest arguments used in favour of eugenic policies, while the most of the problems attributed to overpopulation are actually symptoms of late stage capitalism… am I getting off topic? Anyway, Aldous had shit politics.

I think the premise of the book is largely about taking the best case scenario of full blown population control to its logical conclusion. “Best case scenario” means that he’s leaving the bigotry and enthnic cleansing out of it (yay?). So, the best case scenario is one in which humans have played god so much that individuality is no longer a thing and neither is passion. Because children are no longer created through copulation, people are discouraged from forming long lasting pair bonds. This form of eugenics eradicates the tedious variable of ♥love♥. 

Consumerism

And even with everyone being conditioned to be content all the time, they still need to B U Y  S T U F F. So, as a means of further pacifying the people, trinkets, sports and spiritual practices are offered as commodities (this doesn’t sound familiar at all). People are not supposed to use things for long amounts of time, so nothing is made to be durable and people are encouraged to use anything once before throwing it away (again, not familiar at all).

The main thing that stuck in my mind after reading this book is that children are conditioned not to enjoy nature. The baby factory puts a lot of effort in overriding our natural instinct of thinking flowers are pretty, because they aren’t profitable enough. I guess I hadn’t really thought about it being in capitalism's favour to distance people from nature as much as possible. This goes along with the fact that it's in capitalism's favour not to think of people as organic beings who are part of a larger ecosystem, because that would mean in hurting nature we also hurt ourselves.

Honestly, the consumerism aspect of this book is too real and I get a bit too despondent thinking about it for a long amount of time. Like, we live in a society where all of our base needs/desires are targeted with advertising for unfulfilling and addictive products to turn a profit for one of, like a few people who also happen to own every flat on kalverstraat and who don’t give a shit the people they’re mooching off of.

[annamedicalcollegeinmauritius]

Anna medical college in Mauritius Learn All You Should Know About College Here

Anna medical college in Mauritius Skilled tips provider.Do you feel it is time for you to pursue your goals in education? You might be thinking that it's time for a change. School may be just the thing you need. These hints and tips will help you start and decide for yourself. Do it for yourself and your family.

Do not choose a college or university because it is popular, because your friends or relatives went there or because you are a fan of their football team. There are other important factors you need to take into consideration such as your funding, the kind of career you want or the area where schools are located.

A credit card is often necessary, particularly if you are going to school far away from home. However, be smart about your decision. Research your options and select a card that has a low interest rate. Also, make sure there aren't any annuals fees and don't be tempted by high credit limits. Those are just a recipe for disaster.

It is important to memorize the telephone number for campus security. There should be a really easy way to get in touch with campus security and campus police, so make sure you know how to reach them. With any luck, that information will be unnecessary, but it is smart to have it just in case.

Listen to your parents if they have input as to what major you should decide on. They are older and wiser than you are, and you should respect their opinion, especially if they are helping pay for your college education. However, just listen. Only follow their advice if you know in your heart that is right for you. It is your degree, regardless of who pays for it.

Anna medical college in Mauritius Best service provider.Wait awhile before submitting any essay. Give yourself the time needed to revise it. Do not just proofread your paper, but write another draft. You should edit the second paper and then make changes. This can reduce any errors and help distinguish the points that you want to get across.

Right before going to bed read through your class notes. This will help you through your day. Since your brain will help build the context which is missing between knowledge fragments, the information will be clear in the morning.

If you need to find off-campus housing, make sure to look for a place that is close to public transportation. It might seem easy to walk or ride your bike, but when you have a large project or are running late it is nice to have the option to get to campus quickly.

Anna medical college in Mauritius Expert tips provider.One great way to study for an exam is to create a mock-quiz. Take some information from your study materials and write down questions and keywords on a clean sheet of paper. Leave a space underneath them to put your answers. After that, try writing down as much as you can remember to see how much you already know.

Give your best effort when doing work-study jobs, even though they may be unrelated to your field of study. Experience is always more important than education. If you work hard in this type of position, you can pay down your student debt while gaining valuable experience.

When starting a new class, seek out people you know from other classes or other students who share common interests. By making friends with classmates you can have a better chance to form study groups that can ultimately lead to better study habits when it comes time for midterms and finals.

Many students take advantage of credit card offers while away at school, especially if they aren't employed. Unfortunately, this just sets you up for massive debt and damaged credit. Even low introductory rates are just that--introductory. Fees and balances add up quickly, creating a dangerous situation. If you absolutely must have a credit card, stick with only one card.

Anna medical college in Mauritius Best service provider.Carefully choose what you want to major in. Do not pick a major just because it is popular, or it is what your parents want you to study. You need to choose a market that you can see yourself in for years to come, as choosing the wrong major could lead to unhappiness.

Every freshman should understand and realize that the freshman 15 does in fact exist. It is important that everyone take the necessary steps to ensure that they are getting proper nutrition during their first year in college. While it might be tempting to pile on some fries for dinner every night, you'll pay for it in the long run.

Join study groups. Even if you are not having trouble with a class, a study group can help ensure you stay on task and don't fall behind. It can be easy to fall into the trap of procrastination, and a study group can help provide accountability. In addition, helping others understand the coursework can help it stay fresh in your mind.

Take advantage of public transportation. College is expensive enough without adding gas and car maintenance to the equation. Many college campuses have arrangements with their city bus system that allow students to ride for free. Most college campuses have everything you need withing a short distance so avoid driving whenever you can.

Look for the study areas of your dorm first thing. Every dorm has quiet areas and study corners. Get to know where they are, and the vibe in each one. Yes, all of them must be silent, but there can be varying amounts of people in each that may be just as disturbing to focused studying.

Anna medical college in Mauritius Skilled tips provider.Avoid student loans. If you are realistic about your necessary expenses, you will find that you probably don't need the loan money. Student's loans add up quickly and usually cannot be discharged in a bankruptcy. If you cannot afford school without loans, look into other schools. Community colleges are often affordable.

After reading this article, do you feel ready to go back to college? You are not the only one! Several people choose to go to college after a long break. Have no fear! Through dedication and determination, you can have great success by returning to school.

[grinferbv]

Top Mistakes Online Instructors Make (And How To Avoid Them)

Top Mistakes Online Instructors Make (And How To Avoid Them)

What can be better for a student than after waking up in the morning to pour a nice cup of coffee, turn on a computer, and see what’s new and exciting in the world of e-learning. No more missed classes because “the alarm didn’t go off”. No need to spend money on gas while driving to the campus. No more hassle with carrying lots of heavy books to class with taking classes on online teaching platforms. No surprise, e-learning steadily gains popularity. Since the world of online education expands, it allures more recruits to online learning videos. Having the option of taking courses online is probably one of the most useful things the Internet has ever offered. How is teaching online different from face to face? No entry tests for enrollment to become a student, no eligibility requirements for entering a digital class and taking a course. You’ll always get your chance to pick through the online course just to make sure it is something you need or can handle.

But what about those instructors who create online courses? Every online course has somebody who stands behind the curtain and creates content. Online instructors are those who navigate you through the information with teaching techniques they developed for learning process improvement. However, if a student is under the impression that he is experiencing a lack of information or not learning enough, this is something that will become a problem for course creators.  Let’s go over some common mistakes that online instructors make while creating and teaching online courses. Get some tips on teaching online classes and tips for online classes. 

Don’t teach online without a business plan once you’ve gone free float

If you are not a part of a brick-and-mortar school or college, most likely you decided to go free float and work independently to become an online teacher. Moving online to teach is a great idea, but keep in mind all the challenges that come with teaching colleges online.  How to be an online teacher? Before gaining vast benefits from your self-employment, realize that it won’t be even tied to any location whatsoever anymore. So, think about creating an essential analysis of expenses and marketing efforts you are going to invest in your new reality. Online teaching is like any business – it needs the right approach and a business plan for teaching online courses successfully. And then, after you succeed in implementing your business outlines, you’ll get a level of freedom that you only dreamt of during your summer vacation at the regular job. Online teaching is like any business – it needs the right approach and a business plan for teaching online courses successfully. Check out some online business podcasts or websites before you start teaching courses online. If you need help with creating a business plan, you can check an online course on how to write one, so it might be a great place for you to get all pros and cons first, and then start building your business plan for the year. Here are more reasons why lacking a business plan would not contribute to your online teaching business: Reveals and evaluates any weaknesses of your business;Discovers new business opportunities you haven’t thought about before started teaching online course;Strengthens your business idea through the market analysis and analysis of competitors;Develops strategies on resolutions that deal with any potential challenges teachers experience, which can derail a startup you launched;Designates your target audience and shows ways of reaching them as a creative teacher;Encourages you to go through some calculations to determine how much money you need to gain profit and provides online advice for your startup capital;Makes you look good and professional in the eyes of potential partners. Also, keep in mind marketing tools that are needed for a promotion, collecting and billing methods, website building, and SEO practices for boosting social media presence in case you want your unique online school. All of these factors and elements should be incorporated into your business plan too unless you’re willing to use online marketplaces like Grinfer. 

Use best practices acquired at brick-and-mortar schools for teaching a class online

Online education demands new approaches to teaching online courses and learning techniques. Yet, omitting or forgetting the best practices you used in the classroom is a mistake. Don’t skip traditional methods like portfolios, team-based learning, small-group discussions, etc. Another thing that you should maintain as an online instructor - your positive attitude. Be friendly and care for your students. Working from home can be tricky and can set you in the mood of being isolated. Try to build positive relationships with your students and your colleagues through online forums and social media groups. Realize that trying to create a one-path-fits-all approach may not be too beneficial to your online teaching experience and the way how to teach a class. Be friendly and care for your students. Here are more tips for you in finding ways to succeed in teaching online: Convey individual goals expressed by students into your own teaching approach. This strategy is useful for those who provide 1-on-1 consultations and lessons. Trial lessons would be most handy since this will help you to understand what level students are at and get the feel for their learning pace.Make sure that your teaching speaks to modern realities. If you haven’t been changing your teaching methods and techniques since the 90s, odds are students will not come to you for learning. Stay up to date with the current world and update your syllables.Stay up to date with tech tools. Keep an eye on new technologies and developments used for online teaching. You derive information about most current events in the world of technologies by following podcasts, picking through blogs, and publications posted regarding this industry. Don’t overwhelm your students with too many tech tools though. Most people just simply don’t have enough time tinkering around all the innovations.

Don’t teach online without providing timely feedback to students

How do online college classes work? Since online students mostly learn through self-study, structuring a day, and staying on track with assignments can be challenging for some. That’s why providing timely feedback, online class tips, and evaluations is really important. That way learners will know that they are all on the same page and going in the right direction. Timely feedback shows either there was obvious progress in studies or whether a student needs to identify areas they are struggling with, so interact while teaching. It is also a good way of suggesting or recommending more useful methods and exercises used for improvements of learning. Teaching feedback can be provided in the following ways: videos, responses in written format, audio recordings, teacher comments. Written feedback is given directly in the Learning Management systems or (LMS). In some LMSs (such as Canvas) there are already built-in voice and video recorders. Here are some software used for free in case the LMS you’ve been using does not allow either video or audio feedback: Vocaroo - uses audio podcasts for providing verbal feedback. The instructor's comments regarding students’ submissions are recorded and provided with links available for playback.Jing - combines screen capturing with verbal feedback, which then delivers video responses to learners. Screen captures can also go along with verbal feedback, which later elaborates on written comments. A link with video feedback is usually delivered to learners along with their assigned grades.Zoom - can be used as a video conferencing software for hosting virtual sessions and offers vast applications for providing feedback.Knovio -  a platform used for creating video presentations. On this platform, learners get a chance to view the online edition of their work being corrected while they can watch their teacher talking about it at the same time. It is a useful tool utilized in flipped classes. It can also be utilized for providing video files that contain feedback responses. How to get teaching experience and manage teaching time with the online approaches for learning? Master your organizing methods by creating a Teaching Toolbox for collecting and providing feedback to students. Teaching Toolbox is a repository of responses produced and accumulated over a certain period of teaching. The main purpose of such a toolbox is to save time while searching for a particular response, as well as for adding new content for later use. You can either create a text document with a table of content where everything will be sorted by headings, or use MS Word Quick Parts. Its function allows saving blocks of text and then later access signature blocks which can be used as shortcuts with repeated comments provided to students.

Don’t teach online with focusing too much on creating lengthy videos

Once starting to make videos for online courses, many educators get caught up in chasing after creativity and entertaining content. Your course content should not shout very loud: “Take my online class!” The final result might be very surprising – long videos with fewer ideas. That's where the idea that less is actually more becomes obvious. In most cases, creating shorter content feels like putting serious constraints on the process. How to overcome this challenge and yet create substantial videos for your great online course? Tips for online instructors for the effective video-making process: Know your target audience and examine their pain points – with a general topic in mind which you are about to cover, determine what possible gaps or downfalls in the knowledge your target audience has. Focus on these parts to make your video more instructional.Make a clear objective for the learning process – try to set a clear learning goal and stick to it while making videos.Choose the right format for videos that best suits your topic. You can choose either animation or live-action videos (or both). It depends whether you speak about abstract concepts or want to show complex actions such as doing makeup, cooking a dish, or making a craft. If you’re creating an instructional video, then try a screencast for showing how to use some software or application. Try a useful software called Asana, which is a project management program that mixes live actions with screencast videos.

While creating instructional videos with different scenario branches, it is better to write separate scripts for each scenario just for avoiding confusion.

Don’t teach online without being fun for your students

The final question is - who is an online instructor really? The answer is - a person with a positive attitude and somebody who likes to have fun. So, give some room for a good laugh with some subtle jokes. You don’t have to look serious in order to provide learners with useful information. Make your students smile and move on with your learning process with a positive attitude!

Read the full article

[douchebagbrainwaves]

HOW TO YAHOO

My guess is that someone at Yahoo goofed. An example that will be familiar to anyone who doesn't like being asked what they do.1 Experts can implement, but they haven't followed it to its conclusion. Startups are too poor to sue one another. If your startup grows big enough, however, you'll start to get sued, no matter what your lifespan was. Every thing you own takes energy away from you. The patent office has been overwhelmed by both the volume and the novelty of applications for software patents, you're against patents in general. I realize I see a more exaggerated version of the change I'm seeing. Maybe I got a call from a VP there asking if we'd like to license it. But few big companies are so often blindsided by startups.

Her immense data set and x-ray vision for character. Now would be a good time to start any company that competes with TV networks.2 But there's more going on than that.3 This won't be convergence so much as that their skills are easily transferrable. The American way is to make money, and that doesn't seem to bother kids as much as in present day South Korea. The one example I've found is, embarrassingly enough, Yahoo, which filed a patent suit against a gaming startup called Xfire in 2005. They're probably good at judging new inventions for casting steel or grinding lenses, but they can't have looked good on paper.4 Then I had kids. Slashdot has an icon that expresses the problem vividly: a knife and fork with the words patent pending superimposed.

It seems so convincing when you see the same program written in two languages, and one that most people never seem to make, but only one step.5 Which means we will increasingly have to make a conscious effort to avoid addictions—to stand outside ourselves and ask is this how I want to explore: great new things often come from the margins? Outsiders are not merely free but compelled to make things that are cheap and lightweight. The good news is, if you're carrying a burden without knowing it, your life could be better than you realize. Of the remainder, the smart ones would refuse such a job, now that he didn't have to. Working on small things, and if they show the slightest sign of wasting your time, you'll be confident enough to tell them to. Nor do startups, at least in your lifetime. That's how bad the problem has become. For outsiders this translates into two ways to win. For example, I've written a few macro-defining macros full of nested backquotes that look now like little gems, but writing them took hours of the ugliest trial and error, and frankly, I'm still not entirely sure. But it's a mistake founders constantly make.

The eminent, on the other side. And perhaps most important, small things can be done fast. A couple years ago my friend Trevor and I went to look at the Apple garage. Now it's social networks, multiplayer games, and various messaging applications.6 If anything they'll think more highly of you. People only have so many leisure hours a day, and Robert and Trevor and I went to look at the Apple garage. As with gangs, we have some idea what secrecy would be worse than patents, just that we couldn't discard patents for free.7 Whereas fame tends to be way more than the sum of its patents. So all other things being equal, a society prospers in proportion to its ability to prevent parents from influencing their children's success directly. The somewhat more surprising force was one specific type of innovation: social applications.8 Talking to reporters makes her nervous.

And yet someone always decides to try anyway, and it constrains the wearer. Since there didn't seem any way to answer this question, I stopped wondering about it.9 The average 25 year old is no match for companies that have spent years figuring out how to use it. He once told a Sunday school class Boys, do you know why I never became a drunkard? But though wealth was a necessary condition for passing, it was not a sufficient one. Barnes & Noble was thus the equivalent of a nuclear first strike. It implies there's no punishment if you fail.10 It often seems to outsiders that the great paintings of the Renaissance are all full of people. Parents will die for their kids, so it's not surprising to find they'll also push their scruples to the limits for them. It implies there's no punishment if you fail.

Facebook killed TV. I just want to make a language that will be good to program in. The third reason computers won is piracy. Everything we did as an organization went through her first—who to fund, what to say to the public, how to deal with other companies; they'd have to be new. And unless you're extremely organized, a house full of stuff. Now it's social networks, multiplayer games, and various messaging applications. Ok, he replied.11 If a design represents an idea that fits in one person's head, then the idea will fit in the user's head too.

In this article I'm going to talk about today is what your target looks like from the back. So paradoxically there are cases where fewer resources yield better results, because the rate of technological change seems to be determined less by credentials and more by performance than it was 25 years ago for an ambitious person to choose to be judged directly by the market. Half the distinguishing qualities of the founders are the best predictor of how a startup will do. One is that software is so complicated that patents by themselves are not worth very much. When we were working on Viaweb, a bigger company in the e-commerce business was granted a patent on online ordering, or something like that. If you work this way. When a company starts misbehaving, smart people won't work there. You could make a preliminary drawing if you wanted to, but you have to figure out how to use it, and savor what one has.

So much for hockey as the game is played now. People will watch what they want. Of the remainder, the smart ones would refuse such a job, leaving only a few with the wrong sort of ambition. It matters more to make something great and getting lots of users. In those days people's stuff fit in a chest of drawers. I think these two paths converge at the top: the best design surpasses its predecessors by using new ideas, and the people who produce shows. Which means things must have been freezing! Patent trolls are companies consisting mainly of lawyers whose whole business is to accumulate patents and threaten to sue companies who actually make things.

Notes

In practice most successful companies have little do with the founders' advantage if it were a variety called Red Delicious that had been campaigning for the reader: rephrase that thought to please the same thing 2300 years later.

That sort of Gresham's Law of conversations.

Loosely speaking. When I use the word programmers care about, and a list of n things seems particularly collectible because it's a proxy for revenue growth. They're common to all cultures with long traditions of living in cities. One possible answer: outsource any job that's not art because it looks great when a forward dribbles past multiple defenders, a few people plot their own itinerary through no-land, while everyone else and put our worker on a weekend and sit alone and think.

So it's a departure from his predecessors was a sort of stepping back is one you take to pay dividends. In fact the less educated ones usually reply with some equivocation implying that you're not allowed to discriminate on the way we pitch startup school to be the right mindset you will fail. It is a cause for optimism: American graduates have more options. When the same reason I even mention the possibility is that promising ideas are not very discerning.

There is of course. In a startup, both your lawyers should be protected against being mistreated, because you couldn't do the opposite. That's why the Apple I used a recent Business Week article mentioning del.

The original Internet forums were not web sites but Usenet newsgroups. The moment I do in a deal led by a factor of 20. The details.

That's one of the word content and tried for a smooth salesman. You can have a connection with Aristotle, but they get a false positive rate is, obviously, only Jews would move there, and this tends to be younger initially we encouraged undergrads to apply, and that modern corporate executives were, they'd be called acting Japanese. So instead of happy.

They shut down in, say, of course some uncertainty about how to deal with the earlier stage startups, who've already made it over a hundred and one different qualities that some groups in America. And no, you have good net growth till you see what the valuation a bit. When a lot like intellectual bullshit. I'm speaking here of IT startups; in biotech things are different.

As Secretary of Labor. For example, I want to sell hardware without trying to work on a hard technical problem. For more on the critical path that they think are bad. Siegel, Jeremy J.

Google Video is badly designed.

But that oversimplifies his role. They could have tried to shift back.

[ladyherenya]

Books read in October

Twenty novels (including two audiobooks), three graphic novels, one novella and two rereads: more books than are pictured above. I can’t remember the last time I read so much in a month. Maybe when I was high school?

It was a combination of factors: Rainbow Rowell’s latest books became available at the library, I realised that Meg Cabot’s Heather Wells books are murder mysteries, and I made the very exciting discovery that I could get Ellen Emerson White’s previously-out-of-print novels as ebooks.

Favourite cover: Life Without Friends.

Reread: Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher, Hold Me by Courtney Milan (and then The Road Home).

Still reading: Mapping Winter by Marta Randall and When We Were Warriors by Emma Carroll.

Next up: Warrior of the Altaii by Robert Jordan.

(Longer reviews and ratings are on LibraryThing. And also Dreamwidth.)

The Princess Who Flew with Dragons by Stephanie Burgis: Princess Sofia is unimpressed when her sister’s latest plans involve sending Sofia on a diplomatic mission to Villenne. Sofia wants to stay in her room and read, not remind everyone that she struggles to be a perfect princess. But in Villenne she discovers unexpected opportunities to attend lectures and make friends. And when calamity strikes, it’s up to her to save the day. A solid adventure about friendship and what it means to be a princess, a philosopher and a person all at once. It’s the sort of book I’d like to send back in time to my twelve-year-old self.

The “Uncommon Echoes” trilogy by Sharon Shinn: Set in a world where many of the nobility have “echoes” -- identical copies who follow them, more substantial than shadows but not capable of speech or independent action. Or so people believe. Begins with Echo in Onyx.

Echo in Emerald: After a story about an ordinary woman pretending to be an echo, here is a woman pretending her echoes are ordinary people. Chessie has the ability to shift her consciousness between herself and her two echoes, enough to give the impression that they are three different people with different personalities and jobs. Usually she keeps to the lower classes, but one day she’s asked to deliver a message to a noble who is investigating a recent murder.(Another inversion, another case of themes and variations, as the first book is about trying to conceal a murder.)This builds upon the first book, deepening our understanding of the political context and of echoes. Chessie’s experience of identity is fascinating.

Echo in Amethyst: A story about echo who slowly gains sentience and independence from her original is a good idea in theory, a logical progression for this trilogy. But it turned out to be a massive misstep. The echo belongs to a woman who is abusive towards her echoes and rude towards nearly everyone else. The echo spends a long time incapable of being anything other than a passive observer of unpleasant people. I skimmed bits and seriously considered abandoning this. Not recommended -- but the first two books standalone sufficiently that you could read just those without this series feeling naggingly incomplete.

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell, illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks: Super cute! All through high school Josiah and Deja have worked together at the pumpkin patch every September and October. Tonight is their last shift. Deja is determined that Josiah is finally going to speak to the girl he likes. Nothing goes to plan. This is a story about changes, chances and choices. It’s also a love letter to everything Josiah and Deja love about the pumpkin patch -- which includes their relationship. I really liked the characters, and the artwork does such a wonderful job of bringing them, and this place, to life.

The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan (narrated by Jayne Entwistle): Unexpectedly entertaining, a cosy mystery full of excitement, danger and character growth, set against the backdrop of the London Blitz. Mrs Braithwaite, divorced and deposed from her position as head of the village Women’s Voluntary Service, tries to find her missing adult daughter. Mrs Braithwaite is a very forceful personality. I really liked that she is not only challenged to reevaluate her attitudes, she discovers that qualities like bossiness and tenacity can be great strengths. Large, loud and assertive middle-aged women are so often been relegated to irritating or comedic minor characters, rather than getting to be protagonists.

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson: Isobel has spent years painting portraits of the fair folk. She knows to speak courteously, make bargains carefully, and avoid jeopardising her family’s safety. And then she meets the prince of the autumn court. I have mixed feelings. I really liked Isobel, with her practical streak and her passion for painting, and liked the way she describes her experiences. The people she’s closest to are quickly established as interesting, complex and individual. However, this story leans heavily into a portrayal of the fair folk which I don’t find very appealing. A matter of personal taste rather than quality.

Artistic License by Elle Pierson (aka Lucy Parker): I wasn’t sure what to expect from an early self-published novel about an art student and a security guard in New Zealand, especially as the London theatre world is a big part of why Parker’s other books appeal to me. But Queenstown is such a scenic setting and the characters immediately felt like the sort of people Parker writes about. I particularly enjoyed Sophy’s internal dialogue, and how she and Mick become very protective of each other. They’re so mutually caring! In hindsight, this book could have been stronger... but I liked the characters and their interactions. Sometimes that’s enough.

The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay: A story about cross-age friendship and forgiveness, about three different women working together in a bookshop. Madeline, a lawyer, has inherited the bookshop from her aunt. Janet is angry and has an ex husband, adult children who rarely speak to her and old friends she wants to avoid. In the middle is Claire, aware of the shop’s precarious finances and trying to juggle work with motherhood. I’d nearly finished this when I realised it’s classified as “Christian fiction”. I really liked how it is about forgiveness and messy, complicated relationships. Not a perfect book, but it surprised me.

The “Heather Wells Mysteries” by Meg Cabot:

Size 12 Is Not Fat: I discovered that this series isn’t just chick lit, it’s murder mystery chick lit about a former pop singer now working as an assistant director for a college dorm. (Talk about misleading covers!) When a student is found dead, Heather is convinced that it wasn’t an accident but murder. At times Heather reminded me of Mia from The Princess Diaries, which I found fascinating and frustrating (some attitudes are more understandable coming from a teenager than from a woman approaching thirty). Anyway, Heather is kind and humorous, I liked the setting, and the mystery had enough twists to satisfy me.

Size 14 Is Not Fat Either: More of the same, except that this time when a student turns up dead, it’s obvious to everyone that she has been murdered. Instead of trying to convince everyone of the need for a murder investigation, Heather is trying -- unsuccessfully -- not to get involved in it. I like how supportive Heather’s friends and colleagues are. Her father has been absent (in jail), her mother and her manager ran off with Heather’s money, and her long term boyfriend was unfaithful, but she’s still got people in her life who care and who are there for her. And I did enjoy some of her song lyrics.

Size Doesn’t Matter (US title: Big Boned): I was relieved that this time round the murder victim is not another female student. Yes, murder is horrible regardless, but there can be something particularly unpleasant if a story keeps only killing young women. I definitely don’t want murder mysteries to be all grim and bleak, but I prefer it when murder mysteries aren’t this light-hearted. This isn’t a criticism, just a realisation about my personal taste. I kept reading to see some resolution in Heather’s love life. (I know, priorities). I’ve no idea the woman on the cover is wearing a wedding dress. Marketing is weird.

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell: Simon, Baz and Penelope set off on a roadtrip across America to see Agatha, who Penelope is convinced is in trouble. Rowell is so good making me care about her characters and their relationships. I liked how this is a journey of discovery -- exploring a new country, finding out things about the world they live in and learning more about themselves. I enjoyed reading this but wasn’t so enthusiastic about the final act (it becomes a story about vampires) or the conclusion (busy setting up for a sequel, it leaves emotional arcs unresolved). Expectations and personal preferences, I guess.

Life Without Friends by Ellen Emerson White: I was so excited when I discovered that this had been released as an ebook. A decade of wanting to read something may be an unfair amount of pressure to put on any book, especially on a teen novel from 1987, but I was not disappointed. White is so good at writing smart, acerbic teenage girls dealing with trauma and intense emotions, like guilt and grief. And Beverly’s relationship with Derek is so believably awkward and tentative and hopeful -- two people with their own flaws and fears making the effort to get to know each other. It’s, like, everything I want from teen romance.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers: A team from the 22nd century explore four habitable worlds in orbit around a red dwarf star. It’s a fascinating glimpse into what the future might be like -- what space travel and other worlds might be like -- and a thought-provoking meditation about space, science and life. When it comes to the characters, there’s something quite elliptical about it -- which is fitting, given that Ariadne is writing this account for a specific purpose. It left me feeling unsatisfied, but I think that’s because there are particular things I’m looking for and this novella intentionally -- and effectively -- focuses on something else.

The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl by Theodora Goss (narrated by Kate Reading): The Athena Club return to London from one extraordinary adventure and are plunged into another. Their teenaged kitchen maid Alice has been kidnapped, Sherlock Holmes is missing and there is a plot afoot to impersonate the queen. This story has adventure, teamwork, mystery, unexpected twists, more cameos by characters from popular Victorian fiction, and commentary on late Victorian concerns (like empire and eugenics). My favourite part was the Athena Club's interactions when they interrupt the narrative to discuss their lives together, highlight what they think is important or argue about what Catherine included. They’re a team, a household, a family.

All Emergencies, Ring Super by Ellen Emerson White: A teenager asks Dana, a former actress working as a building superintendent, to investigate a building fire. This was curiously lacking in tension --- until things became intensely personal. By the end, I was seriously disappointed that there isn’t a whole series about Dana solving mysteries. I like that Dana investigates by doing research at the library, making use of her acting abilities and enlisting support from friends. Her friendships are one of the highlights -- smart, difficult people who are honest with each other is an interesting dynamic. And the way White writes about the aftermath of trauma is compelling and thoughtful.

The “Echo Company” series by Ellen Emerson White: I read all five books in two days. They’re fast-paced and some aren’t particularly long -- they were published by Scholastic in the early 90s -- but that is only part of why I read them so quickly. They are compelling and unexpectedly fascinating.

Welcome to Vietnam: Eighteen year old Michael Jennings is conscripted to fight in Vietnam -- and I really wanted to see him to find his feet, make friends and survive. I can relate to how much he cares about his dog, and his sense of humour makes him an entertaining character to spend time with, even though he’s been thrown into a terrible, terrifying situation. Even knowing what wars can be like, I was still surprised by conditions the soldiers faced. I was also surprised by how interesting I found it all. It left me thinking about a lot.

Hill 568: Michael has made some friends (and some enemies), he’s grown accustomed to some of the realities of life on the frontlines in Vietnam, and he takes on more responsibility. White’s characters are lively and, in spite of the situations they’re in, often humorous. That humour is a huge part of why this is an engaging story, like an antidote to the horrors of war, but it also serves to emphasise that all those horrible things are happening to a bunch of ordinary young men barely out of school. This book made me laugh, and made me worry about the characters.

‘Tis the Season:  Twenty-one year old Lieutenant Rebecca Phillips is a nurse working in the ER of an evacuation hospital in Vietnam. Although already dealing with grief and difficult family relationships and a nightmarish workplace, she’s a bright, upbeat person who goes out of her way to entertain others. Self-appointed “Court Jester”. During the Christmas ceasefire she goes out on a medical helicopter -- and everything goes to hell. There are more medical details than I, a squeamish person, really prefer, but once I got to know Rebecca -- and also once her circumstances became tense and terrifying -- I was very, very invested.

Stand Down: This has some tense moments, but otherwise feels a bit lighter -- a welcome change of pace after everything the characters have been through. Michael spends a lot of time moping over correspondence (or lack thereof) from a nurse he’s met once -- but in context, that’s very understandable. He so desperately needs something positive and hopeful to focus on. I like that Michael’s and Rebecca’s initial interactions aren’t easy, because that feels realistic in the circumstances, and because it’s a positive sign that they’re able to get through awkward conversations; it sets them up to be honest with each other.

The Road Home: I stayed up stupidly late reading this, on a school night too. White is so good at writing about dealing with the aftermath of trauma, and about smart, difficult people making an effort to build relationships -- friendships as well as romances. This follows Rebecca’s final six months serving as a nurse in Vietnam, and the months afterwards. It’s about the things that get her through the war (letters, friendships, alcohol) and the difficulties of adjusting to life back home. I love how this book deals realistically but hopefully with so many things. I have a lot of feelings and favourite passages.

Applied Electromagnetism by Susannah Nix: Two colleagues who travel interstate to do a job with a deadline find themselves under extra pressure due to complications of bad weather. I liked all the references to Olivia and Adam’s nerdy interests, and I thought the discussions of Olivia’s ADHD and her experiences as a woman in STEM were interesting. Otherwise nothing jumped out at me as deserving of criticism or praise, it was all just okay. Less humorous than I expected from something book described as “romantic comedy”, but that was okay. (And maybe someone else would find it funny, humour is such a your-mileage-may-vary thing.)

The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill: I love the concept of tea dragons and a tea dragon society. And the dragons are really cute! But the way people’s expressions are drawn in this graphic novel didn’t quite appeal to me and I think that coloured how I felt about the book as a whole. And it’s not a very long story, so it doesn’t have so many opportunities to win over a reader who isn’t enamoured with the illustrations. I’m sorry, book, I’m sure there are other readers out there who will appreciate you!

Runaways: That Was Yesterday (volume 3) by Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka with Matthew Wilson: Follows on from Find Your Way Home and Best Friends Forever and involves the reappearance of someone from the Runaways’ past, the appearance of children of old enemies and Christmas. I read three volumes of the original Runaways comics last year -- and this volume really left me feeling like maybe I’d appreciate it more if I’d read those more recently or else if I’d read more of them. Or maybe it was just that it focused a lot on a character I don’t like as much? But, I still liked it. I definitely would like to read more.

[pinkwessman-blog]

Where Common Machine Learning Myths Come From

There are a lot of misconceptions about ML that can have a negative impact on one's career and reputation. Forrester and ABI Research weigh in.

Forrester studies recently released a record entitled, shatter the seven myths of gadget getting to know. In it, the authors warn, "unluckily, there is a pandemic of ml misconceptions and literacy amongst business leaders who should make vital selections approximately ml tasks." Also see: sites like omegle

whilst executives and bosses speak about ai and gadget studying, they now and again make genuine mistakes that reveal their true degree of information. Forrester senior analyst kjell carlsson, who is the lead author of the report, said in a recent interview that he is heard audible sighs over the telephone whilst specialists listen what lay people have to say.

"whilst the top of product says some thing like, 'we are the use of reinforcement getting to know due to the fact we're incorporating person feedback into the developments modeling,' it is probably not an excellent component," stated carlsson. "i have been on panels with different analysts and i'm listening to aspect like, 'with unsupervised gaining knowledge of you not need people involved or education' and you are like, wait, what?"

abi important analyst lian jye su stated in his experience, maximum executives have a few sort of ideas around the fundamentals of gadget getting to know and the "garbage in, rubbish out" principle, but most of them accept as true with device studying models are black containers and that system studying calls for large quantities of records.

"i'd argue that that is particularly because of the superiority of convolutional neural networks that require big amounts of information and by hook or by crook work higher with more numbers of convolutional layers, and that i consider such perceptions will slowly disappear as soon as other device mastering algorithms become greater famous," stated su. One issue is education. Precisely in which ought to decision makers learn the truth approximately machine mastering? There are lots of practitioner and business-stage options, even though the intersection of the two is what forrester's carlsson thinks is lacking. Kjell carlsson, forrester kjell carlsson, forrester "in which i suppose we want the most paintings and the most assistance is assisting parents from the business aspect understand the technology enough to recognise what is this truely correct for? What sort of troubles can i apply it to?" said carlsson. Following are some of the factors that cause commonplace misperceptions. The terminology isn't properly-understood

part of the trouble is the terminology itself. People every so often interpret synthetic intelligence as machines that suppose like human beings and device studying as machines that examine like humans.

"information scientists aren't the nice at nomenclature," said abi research's su. "i might argue we analysts are partly guilty for this, as we regularly use huge phrases to introduce new technologies."

unrealistic expectations

there may be a standard false impression that ai is one, massive effective thing, which ends up in the perception that ai can do anything. As a substitute, deep learning is now and again interpreted as "better" than different styles of gadget mastering whilst unique strategies are ideal to unique sorts of use cases. It is no longer very useful to just begin with what you need like changing every body in the call center with a virtual agent," said forrester's carlsson. "they are plenty greater installation in an augmenting fashion to assist anyone in the name center."

abi research's su said unrealistic expectancies is one case in which hype takes over rational wondering. In his experience, executives are thinking much less and less approximately waiting for the impossible or the incredible. Lian jye su, abi studies lian jye su, abi studies failure to apprehend the probabilistic nature of machine getting to know

historically, software has been built deterministically, which means a given enter have to result in a given output. The equal is genuine for rules-primarily based ai. On the other hand, gadget mastering has a margin of blunders.

"inside the gadget mastering global, it's perfectly viable that you may by no means be capable of are expecting the element you need to predict because the signal isn't in the records you've got," said forrester's carlsson. Abi studies's su stated one of the arguments towards the usage of device mastering is the probabilistic nature of the outcome. It is in no way as clear cut as the traditional guidelines-based ai utilized in industrial machine vision. Overlooking vital details

an engine manufacturer desired to are expecting when components needed to be replaced. The employer had an abundance of records about engines and engine disasters, however all the information become lab records. There were no engine sensors operating within the subject. So, the model couldn't definitely be deployed as intended.

"there is genuinely nobody inside the agency who oversees all of the various things at the information engineering facet, the device studying facet," stated forrester's carlsson. There's additionally a piece of common sense that comes into play that could wander off between technological abilties and the roi of these abilities. For instance, fashions had been built that endorse accurate bills for salespeople to call. The trouble is that the salespeople had been already aware about those money owed. Failing to understand what machine getting to know ‘success’ method

laypeople frequently count on extra from system gaining knowledge of and ai than is practical. While a hundred% accuracy might also seem affordable, substantial money and time can be spent eking out yet another 1% accuracy when the use case won't require it. Context is crucial. As an example, accuracy stages range whilst someone's existence or liberty is at stake versus the possibility that a percent of a populace is probably mildly indignant by means of some thing.

"there's a whole faculty of concept around quantization, where, depending on the character of the ai responsibilities, an affordable degree of reduction inside the accuracy of ai models can be proper as a change-off, provided this lets in ai to be deployed on part gadgets," stated abi research's su. "in any case, we people are often not as accurate. Having stated that, sure applications together with item classification, disorder inspection, and satisfactory warranty at the assembly line do have stringent necessities that call for repeatability, and that is wherein traditional guidelines-primarily based ai might be preferred."

forrester's carlsson stated anybody can create a model that could quite lots bring about 99. Ninety nine% accuracy. Predicting terrorism is one instance. It takes place so once in a while that if the model predicted no terrorism all the time, it'd be a hyper-correct model. Failing to go after clean wins

science fiction and classified ads lead human beings to accept as true with that they have to be doing some thing incredible with ai and gadget getting to know while there may be a whole lot of cost available in use instances that are not very horny.

"whilst you say gadget getting to know or ai people robotically think that they must be going to some thing that is mimicking human conduct and that's regularly missing the widespread capacity of the era," said carlsson. "device getting to know technologies are truely desirable at running with statistics at scale and doing analysis at scale that we human beings are definitely horrible at."

7 guidelines to maintain in mind

1. Understand the capabilities and limitations of machine studying, and to some extent the makes use of instances to which exclusive techniques are desirable. That manner, you're less possibly to mention something it's technically faulty. 2. One system studying technique does not suit all use cases. Class use instances, which includes figuring out snap shots of cats and puppies fluctuate from finding a formerly undiscovered signal in information. 3. Device gaining knowledge of isn't a set of "set and neglect" techniques. Models in production have a tendency to "waft" this means that they come to be less correct. Device mastering fashions must be tuned and retrained to even maintain their accuracy.

"in software development, there is this information about the want to be iterative," stated forrester's carlsson. "in terms of applications that are relying on system studying fashions, they ought to be even greater iterative because you're iterating at the information, the commercial enterprise use case and the methods that you're using in tandem. None of them are ever virtually fixed at the beginning of a project due to the fact we do not know what statistics you've got, or you do not know what commercial enterprise use instances that statistics should assist."

four. Machine learning accuracy is relative to the use case. Further to considering the dangers related to capability errors, recognise the art of the possible changes over time.

"a 50. 1% pc vision model is wonderful. Or you could say 60% accuracy or 70% accuracy is way higher than some thing we've got carried out before," stated carlsson. Five. Context is essential. Ai and device mastering can not reap the identical results no matter context. Context determines the strategies which can be higher or worse and the extent of self belief this is perfect or unacceptable in a given state of affairs. Context also has a bearing on what information is needed to solve a positive trouble and whether or not biases are applicable or unacceptable. As an instance, discrimination is taken into consideration a awful factor, normally speakme, however it's comprehensible why a bank wouldn't loan just all and sundry millions of bucks.

"in many instances, device [learning] is actually horrific at figuring out beyond biases that had been hidden in statistics. In different instances, the great of the facts matters, which include pixel depend, clear annotation, and a smooth statistics set," stated su. Then again, the cleanest statistics isn't always useful if it's the wrong records.

"oldsters are assuming that machine studying or even ai goes to in some way do something magical whilst the statistics isn't always around and that that doesn't work. [conversely,] folks are assuming that as long as we've got plenty and lots of records, we are able to be able to do something magical, which frequently does not keep either, stated forrester's carlsson. "having bad satisfactory facts at the proper thing [can] without a doubt [be] better than having huge amounts of data on the wrong factor."

6. Remember the fact that machine studying is a combination of hardware and software. Specially, abi studies's su stated the software program abilities will only be as exact as what the hardware can supply or is designed to supply. 7. Traditional guidelines-based totally ai will likely co-exist with gadget studying-based ai for quite some time. Su said a few obligations will continue to require deterministic selection-making instead of a probabilistic technique. For greater approximately gadget studying inside the corporation test out those articles. A way to manage the human-system workforce

5 iot challenges and possibilities for this 12 months

what is subsequent: ai and facts traits for 2020 and beyond

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[doodledialogue]

Interview series - What after B.arch? #9

Interviewee: Soujanya Krishnappa Post-graduation: M.S. Architecture, Urban and Regional Design (MAURD) | New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), New York, USA

How did you hear about the University/program? Why did you decide to take it up?

I decided to pursue a Masters during my internship days. I was exposed to the practice and the roles that Architects/contractors/clients and engineers played in shaping a project during that time. This helped me get a better understanding of how I wanted to contribute and most importantly what nature of projects I wanted to contribute to. Once this was clear to me, I started researching on courses that would feed my interest. I carefully studied the curriculum to make sure I knew what I was getting into because the way I looked at it, this was an investment I was making for my career and a lot of my time and money was going to be at stake.

What about the University/program appealed to you?

During my undergrad, I enjoyed working on the Urban Design Housing project; the scale of the project, the ability to define your own scope and design along with other disciplines excited me, the following year I chose to explore more in this realm with my thesis. When I graduated, I knew I was all about UD and was considering studying further.

I chose the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) for a Master’s program in Architecture, Urban and Regional Design (MAURD) in 2015. I was impressed by what the curriculum had to offer but when I had a phone interview with the Dean of the program I was sure I was making the right choice. The premise of the program was to use New York as an urban laboratory to test the theories of Urban Design and develop new ones for today’s day and age. How exciting is that! And in a city like New York where opportunities are endless, it seemed like a good deal to me.

How was the experience at the University?

The program was intense from Day 1 of school, but it was the good kind of intense. The kind of intensity needed to push my boundaries and explore more. Along with regular studios, we were constantly attending meetings all over the city, networking with influential people, taking our proposals to the city authorities and endless panel discussions with eminent Architects was the drill. It was nothing like undergrad, no exams to study for, but reading was constant, no design submissions, but presenting design was the routine. To add to all this, I was also working part-time as a Store manager to cover for my living expenses. The hustle was hard but the rewards were worth it.

How was your program/University different from the others?

My program had faculty teaching in Columbia, NYU and Pratt and because of that, we had access to seminars and workshops in their universities too. This got me understanding their programs and in my opinion, the experience of a similar program in any university is not very different. What course you take, makes the difference along with certain benefits from the university, size of campus etc.

To give you an example, a person studying the same course as mine in Pratt, had same visiting faculty, attended same events as I did and worked on similar projects because the core of the program was same. But if it was somebody studying Architecture and green energy, they would have different faculty, attend different events and work on different projects. Although I think this happened because it was in a city like New York. I’m sure, this is not the case with every city.

Which semester did you attend? How did you plan the entrance exams?

I started school in the Fall of 2015. The first thing I did was to prepare for TOEFL and GRE, which took about 4-5 months. After that, I started preparing my portfolio and resume which took another month or so. I applied in December of 2014 and received my acceptance in April I think. From then on, it was all about visa, arranging documents, finance etc. I quit my job the following month and spent the next two months making sure I had everything I needed. A month later I left for New York and started school that same week.

How did you manage the finances? Did you acquire a scholarship/fee waiver?

I did receive an academic scholarship from NYIT which was a little less than half of my tuition fee per semester. I had an education loan that covered the rest and part of my living expenses until I found an on-campus job.

How is teaching at your university?

There was no teaching per se. A typical studio would begin with an agenda for the day/week, setting goals for the studio for that particular task/week. We would then have 2-3 hour roundtable/presentation/panel discussion about the topic which we would further split into teams and tackle parts of a topic. End of the day/week we gather again and put the parts together just like solving a puzzle. During this whole time, there is so much production, be it research, coming up with a design solution, modelling a mock-up, making a movie or whichever media you choose to communicate your idea with. The point is to develop a strong narrative for your case. Each studio was different though, electives were lighter and never on campus. One time, our elective was about art and it was in the MoMa and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Can it really get any better? Another compelling factor was the studio environment, both physically and intellectually. Physically because, my studio was on the 11th floor on Columbus circle looking straight down into Central Park thinning into Manhattan madness, so often we would walk the studio from class into the park and finish the day at the Beer Garden. Intellectually because my batch count was 14 and very diverse. My colleagues came from different educational and cultural backgrounds, making discussions all the more interesting. In my opinion, the understanding of culture and context is the key to great and successful projects.

Tell us about the mentors at NYIT.

Jeffery Raven is the Dean of the program and a graduate from Columbia University who also taught there for a good number of years before starting MAURD at NYIT. He is very passionate about Urban Design. He is also the Head of Planning committee and board of directors at AIA (American Institute of Architects) and has many awards and publications to his name. Because of him, I got involved in the AIA and I am now, an Associate. We attended the United Nations Settlement Programme -Cities for all: inclusive implementation & monitoring at the UN headquarters, where I first met Ar. Daniel Libeskind. This was all a huge deal for me, but then on, I was constantly meeting and dining with eminent architects who we learnt about in undergrad or in our own research. Jeffery has inspired me immensely and continues to do so. The other professors were equally strong and supportive. In total the environment at school was truly inventive.

Is there any particular incident/anecdote of your time abroad that you wish to share?

There was one time before my final jury, I was making a model in the lab at 3 in the morning living off on just coffee that whole night because I hadn’t slept in two days, I wasn’t sure if I really was awake at all because otherwise, I would have seen the fire that caught on the CNC machine next to my model. The details of what happened next are faintly registered in my head and the lab was burnt down in the next 20 mins even before the fire crew came on board! The next afternoon, my team and I pinned up the sheets and our interview with the local newspaper about last night with pictures of my school on fire! We didn’t have a model, but that might have been my best jury ever. Something about the line of events in those past 48 hours changed us as a team and we were nailing the jury’s questions and I was determined not to leave the stage until my project was thoroughly vetted. Not sure if this is what you wanted, but looking back, this incident stands out when it comes to school.

Did your program have any research opportunities?

NYIT has 4 campuses around the world and there were research opportunities in all except mine because our campus was in the heart of Manhattan focused on courses that could use studio space for classes. I think they focused on developing state of art infrastructure for those kinds of courses. Research needs extensive use of all kinds of laboratories, which the midtown campus did not have the space for. The main campus was in Long Island occupying half a city and I’m pretty sure they had the supporting infrastructure.

Did you work a part-time job while studying?

I worked as an on-campus research assistant at the Laser machine lab which did not pay but reimbursed in tuition fee, but I needed money to pay my bills and rent, so I took up an Off-Campus job as a Store Manager at a Boutique for handicrafts in downtown Manhattan. It was good money and on the weekends, it was raining bills because of tourists.

Did you have post-masters plans in mind when you went to do masters? Or did you go with the flow?

When I was doing my masters, I was starting to feel positive about continuing my stay in the US. I was not ready to come back to India for two reasons. One, I had invested a lot of money in my program and it was time I started getting the returns, plus the kind of work I was getting here was very lucrative. If at that time, I had to move back to India, I had to start all over again in a junior position and work my way to Urban Design and it was going to take forever to repay my student loans that way. I don’t know what the future holds, but if I have to go back to India, I will be happy to do so.

Did you travel while/after studying?

Because my program was very intense, I seldom had time to travel and most importantly resources. I was mostly homesick and visited India a lot. But with what I had, I did visit a few places where I had friends. I got familiar with the east coast for sure but never made it to the west coast. It’s very different now, my job requires me to travel all over the country and I have been able to see a lot many places since my school years.

What message would you like to give to future students of Post-graduate studies/B.arch students?

Everybody’s journey is different, but the opportunities available are similar. My advice is

1.        Make sure you know what you want – keep your end goal clear and work backwards from where you are now.

2.        Choose wisely – no school or university can make you an Einstein if you are not committed to it. Know what your best and worst skills are and find a school that can provide a platform to tune your best skills. Everybody is not a design genius, you know who you are, so pick what will help you in your field of interest and not just because somebody said it’s a good university.

3.        Plan ahead of Masters – I know I didn’t. I had clarity only towards the end of the program. What I mean is that, if you know you want to stay back and build your career here or whatever it is that you want, think of ways you can work towards it while still in school. For example, getting an internship or working on a paper that might help you beyond master’s. If you know you want to go back to your hometown, then work on getting things in order for you to start there.

How is your master’s degree helping you in what you are doing right now?

I am currently working with AECOM as an Architectural and Urban Designer on Airports and transit hub facilities and I attribute this to an internship I did over the summer which I got because of the program that I was enrolled in. I am basically putting all the theories we were testing in studios to practice at work and I am extremely fortunate that I can do so. With the program, I have learnt to curate my research better, communicate across disciplines efficiently and approach design problems differently. Today I am able to think critically about design beyond sketches. I find myself asking decisive questions to stakeholders and constantly improving the narrative of the project.

How different was it(/will it be) coming back to India and working here in Indian scenario? What difficulties did you face(/do you foresee)?

I think coming back to India will open doors to interesting opportunities and the challenges of projects will shift drastically on so many levels which is something I have to learn to cope with but the good thing is the familiarity of practice. I follow the work of some people and firms that I admire and that helps me to be in touch with the scene in India.

Tell us more about your current work and future plans.

I am currently working on a very important project for the US National railroad passenger corporation, also known as Amtrak. We won the bid last year to revision their headquarters in Washington D.C, the project evolves in many phases, the first being redesigning their historic station that was built in 1907 and is a very significant architectural establishment in the U.S, next is developing the rail yards next to the station. The air rights were sold a few years ago for $10 Million to accommodate business, leisure and other facilities including Amtrak’s expansion towards high speed rail connecting some of the most important cities of the country in the northeast corridor from Boston to Washington D.C, via New York and Philadelphia among others, which now takes about close to 7 hours is estimated to reduce to 2.5 hours with the high speed rail. The project is very ambitious and is estimated close to $3 Billion. Because of the scale of the project, there is a constant partnership with other design firms and by this way, I have been able to network quite a lot with folks from Grimshaw, HOK, SOM among many others.

This aside, because my domain is transit hubs, most projects that come my way are airports, unfortunately, I cannot provide more details on that front because of my confidentiality contract with the client. Lastly, I also play the role of a contractor for Amtrak for their federal grant program to make all train stations in the country accessible for physically handicapped.

Outside Harvard, Massachusetts during the second winter break. The campus of Harvard and MIT felt like shrines of knowledge.

At Met Museum before our meeting with Kurt Behrendt, the curator of ancient art who was giving the studio a tour of Met for an elective research.  Kurt is always updating the latest additions to his department on Instagram, you can find him with the name, Kurt.behrendt

Bjarke Ingles lecture presentation after the completion of his project West 57.

This is a meeting our studio had with Bruce Fowle, the founder of FX FOWLE inside the Crystal Palace designed by James Ingo Freed of I.M Pei. Our studio was working on the same project as Bruce’s firm and the media had gotten the attention of this over months, so we arranged for a press meet discussion.

This was a stakeholder meeting Jeffery had organised with a community board to talk about our project.

At the UN headquarters for the Global meet on ‘Cities for all’. I was amazed to have made it inside the UN despite all the security craze which is 3 fold more than an airport screening amidst all the protestors right outside. This was also where I first met my celebrity Architect – Daniel Libeskind.

My team at an outreach program on reimagining safe public spaces. We had interviewed at least 50 people that night.

Model prototypes

Studio picnic on the first day of spring

The day of the final jury, last day at school

My jury panel

Finally, Thank you for this opportunity to share my story with everyone, I wish I had access to a forum like this 5 years back. I appreciate all the work you guys are doing in putting together stories of people who choose to do masters. This apart, I see you guys are doing so well, going places and following your passion, my best to you and your team.

[portfolioeduarda]

Team Charter

Performance goals and individual member’s goals for personal growth

Make a list of all the team assignments that your team has to complete this term (adapt and add to in semester 2 before submitting to the final portfolio)

Due date: 15/10

Course name: Talent and Management Develoment 1

Team assignment name: Team Charter

Marks value (% of overall course involved – see ECTS file): 16

Team performance goals (target team mark % score): 13

Project  manager for this team assignment (rotate): Eduarda, Eline, Jasper and Mathis

1. Make a list of your individual team members’ goals for personal growth. Identify what team members want to learn and/or contribute in these projects (adapt and add to in semester 2 before submitting to the final portfolio)

Team member’s name: Eduarda

Personal growth goal: Being able to take a step back and let other people  take the lead

How will we (I) know that the goal has been met? (visible outcomes): When I stop getting worried about things that do not  concern me. Some of the outcomes for this would be: me getting less stressed,  doing only my work and getting more hour of sleep. This result might be  achieved in 6 months or so, if I work on it.

Team member’s name: Eline

Personal growth goal: I would like to improve my knowledge and skills  concerning new cultures and respectively their habits and values.

How will we (I) know that the goal has been met? (visible outcomes): The class environment where I’m currently in,  supports this for sure. Having contact with others from class by doing team  works together, hanging or going out will enhance this skill. Pasting a  relevant time indication on these processes is not easy, but I can say with  certainty that this competence will develop in a positive way as the academic  year progresses.

Team member’s name: Jasper

Personal growth goal: I want to find ways of working efficiently together  in a team, as this will be especially important when working with people from  different cultures where physically meeting each other is not always an  option. Communication is key, that is why I would like to improve my skills  in effective and clear online communicating with a team.

How will we (I) know that the goal has been met? (visible outcomes): We are currently discussing most subjects in a group  chat. This will require clear and to-the-point messages from each team  member, as it is easy to be lost in a chat full of small messages jumping  from one subject to another. We will try to meet up when the team feels that  there is a larger subject to be discussed. I personally find this important  to really understand each other’s views and keeping the team members on the  same wavelength when discussing important matter.

  Team member’s name: Mathis

Personal growth goal: I'd like to improve my communication skills and my  self-awareness, IBM is a good option for me to do so because of the mixed  cultures in our class and how we need to adapt to each other in order to able  to communicate.

How will we (I) know that the goal has been met? (visible outcomes): -

 2. Team critical success factors

Based on your team’s self-assessments in the first modules of TMD1, your team members’ individual circumstances and taking into account the team consequences, identify and briefly describe any challenges your team may face that might hinder team success. State what the team will do in a practical way to avoid/overcome these challenges. Include 6-8 possible challenges.

Challenges potentially facing the team:

Lack of time

Lack of commitment

Different backgrounds

Different cultures

Solutions/Responses to the challenges

Getting together and comparing schedules

Establishing rules that all members agree on

Understanding and being open to how one acts the way  he/she does

Researching and being interested in learning each  other’s culture

 3. Expected norms

Identify the key areas for which your team wishes to establish norms that will guide your actions within the team. For each you should (under 6) be able to describe the behaviour expected of team members. Areas for which you may wish to establish written rules include but are not limited to:

o   How the team will communicate; method (email, telephone, facebook, ALWAYS also Arteveldemail); who is responsible, frequency, how will everyone participate

o   Expectations of each other regarding team meetings

o   Distribution of tasks among team members and participation

o   Scheduling and establishing deadlines

o   Decision making and problem solving

o   Handling disagreements and conflicts

o   Respect for team members and their cultural values

o   Quality of work

o   Accountability

o   …

Team Norms:

Always check the     Facebook group chat;

If you can’t make     to a meeting, give a reason why and offer yourself to do some work another     time;

Never leave work     to the last minute;

Conflicts must be     solved between the parties that are in it: no interception of thirds;

When there’s a     finished assignment, all members must review it and check if there’s     anything missing or that they might want to add;

Respect each     other and never go behind another person’s back

If we have to     spend money for any assignment, everyone must pay the same amount.

4. Performance management

4.1. Areas of expertise

For each team member, list the expertise that they bring into the team taking into account the different team projects for this term (adapt in semester 2 before submitting to the final portfolio) – then reflect on the roles they will take up (based on growth goals as well as existing expertise)

Team member’s name: Eduarda  

Area of expertise: Leadership

Possible roles within the project teams: The Chair

Team member’s name: Eline

Area of expertise: Helpful: task-oriented thinking

Possible roles within the project teams: Participant

Team member’s name: Jasper

Area of expertise: Personal interaction: process oriented

Possible roles within the project teams: Participant

Team member’s name: Mathis

Area of expertise: Observator

Possible roles within the project teams: The Note Taker

 Deviation from team norms : the following five steps must be copied into your team charter as is – your signature testifies that you have read this and will agree with the consequences

In case of deviation from the team charter norms :

1.     Meeting with the complete group face-to-face to establish the area of concern. The purpose of the meeting is to determine which of the BARS factors is resulting in poor performance and to address the underlying issue

2.     The project manager writes down a verbal reminder of the requirements of the team charter and a clear statement of which requirement is not being met. All team members will receive this writing by arteveldemail and team members will remedy their behaviour accordingly. The project manager saves this mail as documentation. If any team members were illegally absent during the meeting they need to respond to the writing by arteveldemail within 2 working days

3.     If the issue is not remedied : written notice by arteveldemail to the individual(s), including the statement of which team charter is not being met with copies mailed to the TMD coach and other appropriate lecturers (according to the team work involved) + to all other team members

4.     Last chance agreement : mailing + stating which specific requirements still have not been met by the team member(s). Copies sent to TMD coach and lecturer

5.     Written recommendation for dismissal of the team member(s) if the last chance agreement is not adhered to : sent to the lecturer

6.     The lecturer will confirm a zero score for the project for these team members.

5. Commitment

Include a separate last page with each member’s typed name and signature and date of the charter confirming they have read the charter and are committed to it.

 6. Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS)

Performance criterion 1: Taking initiative and division of workload

Description: Team member take initiative when  expected and does his part of the work that has been decides in the task  division by the team.

Exceeds expectations = 5 

1. Comes up with new ideas to    solve problems.

2. Communicates clearly when    dividing the workload which parts he/she prefers to do and can make    compromises with other team members.

3. Tries to help team members    when they have questions or can use some help

4. Is able to keep the bigger    picture in mind when working on an assignment.

5. Makes sure his/her part is    finished well on time, so that the team is able to revise.

Meets expectations = 3

1. Does exactly what is expected    frim him/her

2. Is not afraid to ask opinions    of team members when not totally sure of something.

3. Tries to always be present in    courses and meetings.

4. Can debate in a friendly    manner about the distribution of the work load.

5. Is an active member in    discussions regarding assignments

Below expectations = 1

1. Does not do what has been    asked of him/her.

2. Is not open for opinions of    other team members

3. Is often absent from courses,    meetings without valid reason.

4. Needs a lot of motivation and    reminders from other team members

5. Does never have or share    his/her opinion in meetings.

Performance criterion 2: Clear  communication

Description:  Team member is able to clearly convey his/her opinion in meeting and in  messages, with respect and patience for other team members.

Exceeds expectations = 5

1.  Takes initiative to plan a meeting when there seems to be an issue, or a  bigger subject needs to be discussed.

2.  Messages are always to-the-point and have no room for interpretation.

3.  Stays perfectly calm and respectful when team members seem to not agree.

4.  Comes up with clear problem-solving solutions.

5.  Is open minded when discussion with team members.

Meets expectations = 3

1.  Is active in conversations with clear opinions.

2.  Does not spam the group chat with unnecessary messages.

3.  Is respectful to other team members in conversations.

4.  Shares his/her opinion when expected.

5.  Messages are clear.

Below expectations = 1

1.  Does not respond to messages and does not share his/her opinion.

2.  Is harsh and disrespectful in conversations.

3.  sends a lot of useless messages.

4.  Messages are not clear.

5.  Does not listen to what other have to say.

 Performance criterion 3: General behavior

Description: The way the team members behaves in the  team. Willingness to participate and general characteristics.

Exceeds expectations = 5

1. Is always very polite and respectful to  everybody.

2. Is eager to learn.

3. Participates with a positive mindset.

4. Is always helpful to other team members.

5. Tries to make the best of every meeting and  assignment.

Meets expectations = 3

1. Has respect for other team members.

2. Does his/her part of the job.

3. Is not easily dejected when things do not work  out immediately.

4. Tries to be helpful when other are in need of  help.

5. Is present in most classes and meetings.

Below expectations = 1

1. Does not always respect fellow students.

2. Often not finishes his/her part of the job

3. Has a negative mindset.

4. Is not helpful towards other team members.

5. Is often absent in classes or meetings.

Group picture

1IBM_08 group 3 :  team Caras

From left to right: Eline Dumortier, Eduarda Sales, Mathis De Meersman & Jasper Piers

Confirmation of having read the charter and being committed to it.

Name Jasper Pier

Date (read and committed to team charter)13/10/2018

Signature

Name Eline

Date (read and committed to team charter) 13/10/2018

Signature

Name Eduarda

Date (read and committed to team charter) 13/10/2018

Signature

Name Mathis

Date (read and committed to team charter) 13/10/2018

Signature