So your grandma just asked you about blockchain gaming and you thought, “Why does grandma want to know about blockchain gaming? Is she having a stroke? Am I having a stroke?” Don’t worry! Neither of you is having a stroke. That toast smell is the smell of Bitcoin mining rigs churning away. Why does your grandma live so close to a bitcoin mining farm that she can smell the fumes coming off it? Because you’re a terrible grandchild, so the least you can do is stop asking so many questions and start explaining what the hell blockchain gaming is. What is Blockchain Gaming? Here, just let me do it… Okay, Grandma, so you remember how during The Depression you stored all of your money in the walls because you didn't trust the banks, but then that money was eaten by squirrels? Well, think of blockchain technology as the walls, except for this time it's not full of squirrels that will eat your money. And we're not storing regular money in these walls; we're storing something called “digital assets”. Don't let the term “digital assets” scare you, Grandma. A digital asset is just anything inside the digital world, that you own. Remember that email you sent me with a picture of your fried bologna casserole and your friend Meredith's obituary? Well, since you took that fried bologna casserole picture and uploaded it to the digital world, that's your digital asset! Now, traditionally, that bologna casserole would have gone to one centralized location in the digital world and stayed there, just like money going to the bank. But with blockchain technology, we slice up that bologna casserole and hide it in different walls, safely out of the hands of the bank. And since it's all digital, nobody has to worry about getting botulism from wall bologna! Get it, Grandma? That's nice, Grandma, but I need you to focus. Now that I've covered blockchain technology, you might be wondering what that has to do with blockchain gaming, or if you can go home. Well. the answer is, respectively, “I'm about to tell you”, and “This is your home, Grandma”. So, a blockchain game is just a game that uses that blockchain technology that we just talked about. You see, just like your email went to a centralized location before it landed in my spam folder, it's no different with traditional video games. But that's not the case with blockchain games! Let's take , for example. The Sandbox This is a sandbox This is The Sandbox game Whatever you can imagine, you can make in The Sandbox, unless, of course, what you're imagining is some sort of interdimensional shape that transcends the very concept of spacetime and is impossible to perceive with the meager consciousness bestowed to us in this mortal coil. But if you imagine that, Grandma, you're probably Cthulhu, and way too busy enslaving entire civilizations to play The Sandbox! But since you're human, you can craft whatever your heart desires! And guess what? Since this is a blockchain game, it's decentralized! Just like your email got cut up and stowed away in its very own metaphorical bologna wall, the same concept applies to what you make in a blockchain game. And the best part is, those things you make don't belong to some game company or Cthulhu, they belong to you! If you make something in The Sandbox, you own it! So what exactly are those “things” you make anyway? Well, those are something called NFTs. Don't worry about what that stands for Grandma; that's a different article and that'll just confuse you more. Just think of it like this: Let's say you're playing The Sandbox and you decide that you want to become a virtual trader of your very own fried bologna casserole. This effectively makes the game into what is known in the industry as an “FBS” or “Fried Bologna Simulator”. And the first step to becoming a proper bologna trader in your FBS is to make that delicious fried bologna casserole, so that's exactly what you do; you craft your very own Grandma Bertha's Fried Bologna Casserole. Now, just like the real fried bologna casserole, this virtual bologna dish has your unique spin on it, with the virtual Werther's Original topping and everything! And the cool thing about having something unique to you that you also own is that you can sell it. That's right, a lot of blockchain games allow you to earn money! So, Grandma, you know how you convert your fixed income into a giant cup of quarters that you stuff into a slot machine that then converts those quarters into poverty? Well, lots of blockchain games work the opposite of that. See, instead of the “Play-to-leave-you-in-utter-destitution-wondering-why-you’ve-become-a-recluse-with-an-insurmountable-addiction-that-only-alienates-everyone-you-love” business model of most casinos, blockchain gaming is “Play-to- earn”. Instead of dumping quarters into a machine, this machine dumps quarters in you! And, of course, by “quarters”, I mean cryptocurrency, and by “you”, I mean “you”... Seriously, Grandma, I need you to listen and stop pressing the Life Alert button. We're almost done here... So, you see, Grandma, with the power of blockchain gaming, now can stop selling your dementia medication to Eugene! Never mind that, Grandma. Let's just give you another one of those examples. Say you log into The Sandbox and you decide that fried bologna casserole NFT you made is ready to sell. If another player buys it from you, they pay you in what's known as SAND. What is SAND Crypto? SAND is the currency used in the game, but because it's a blockchain game, that SAND is a real cryptocurrency! And the best part is, just like your other digital assets, it’s decentralized! And since it's decentralized, do you know who that cryptocurrency belongs to? No Grandma, Obama doesn't want your SAND. Obama has nothing to do with this. We're talking about blockchain gaming. That SAND that you earned from selling that ooey-gooey bologna casserole belongs to you! And you can take that SAND and spend it on other people's virtual bologna NFTs or whatever kind of digital asset you want to buy in The Sandbox, or you can even exchange it for a different cryptocurrency! See grandma, just like you can exchange US currency for other currencies, or bingo cards for insulin, you can exchange cryptos. But that's not even the best part! See, unlike the US dollar, most cryptocurrency doesn't have a fixed price. Its price is primarily determined by demand. And that means in some cases your cryptocurrency might even be worth more than when you initially got it. You might YOLO all of your pension into SAND and see it yeet to the moon! Just remember to HODL!”. But Grandma, I understand that at your age, you might not want to adopt some newfangled currency, and that's fine too. You can exchange that cryptocurrency for cash to hide in the walls and get eaten by squirrels. So that pretty much covers it, Grandma. We've talked about blockchain technology, we touched on NFTs (i.e. unique bologna), and we showed you what makes blockchain gaming different (i.e. you own your unique bologna, and sometimes you can sell it). Now you understand blockchain gaming, or maybe you don't. It doesn't matter because visiting hours are over anyway and I'm pretty sure they're about to install another crypto mining rig in your laundry room. Any questions before I go? This article is part of The hosted by HackerNoon in partnership with Gaming Metaverse Writing Contest . The Sandbox Submit your today for your chance to win up to $2000. #gaming-metaverse story

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How to Explain Blockchain Gaming to Your Grandma

is often used on social media sites such as Twitter or Pinterest. The feature allows users to load some pictures/contents on a website and then load more once reaching the end of the webpage. Infinite scroll I used to get random pictures. This article will focus on how to use JavaScript to make use of some properties to achieve infinite scroll. You can find other project files (HTML or CSS files) in this . Unsplash API repo Four Properties to Achieve Infinite Scroll A) : How far the document has been scrolled from the top window.scrollY B) : The visible part of the window window.innerHeight C) : The height of the entire document
D) 1000px (or any value): The distance from bottom of document document.body.offsetHeight The diagram below better illustrates these properties: Looking at the above, we can listen to the scroll event: If A (scrollY) + B (innerHeight) >= C (document height) - D (1000px) 
-> load more photos // Check to see if scrolling near bottom of page; load more photos
window.addEventListener('scroll', () => {
  if (
    window.scrollY + window.innerHeight >= document.body.offsetHeight - 1000
  ) {
    getPhotos();
  }
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Organizations using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) solutions face a challenging problem: deploying these capabilities into production systems. The last component of ModelOps and MLOps pipelines is the production deployment stage. This stage occurs after a model is trained and reaches a suitable level of performance and is ready to make predictions against live data. See the previous posts in our ModelOps pipeline series to learn more. So why is this a challenge? On average, it takes organizations about nine months to deploy models into production, leaving an estimated 50-90 percent of all machine learning models in the metaphorical “AI Valley of Death.” The skills gap required to build AI-powered solutions and software systems is one of the major drivers of the AI Valley of Death. Only a fraction of production ML systems are composed of actual ML code. As a result, data scientists are left facing the daunting task of building a production system without the skillset to do so. This often leads to quick and cheap solutions, which ultimately generate significant technical debt, costing organizations more in the long run. To address this monumental need for a solution that makes data scientists’ lives easier, several AI model deployment options have surfaced in the market in recent years from the open-source community, cloud providers, software startups, and more. While these products are sufficient in some scenarios, many have significant gaps that prevent them from offering a robust solution. Namely, these tools fall short because they: Support models only native to their platform Require a difficult set up and large learning curve Do not provide out-of-the-box horizontal scaling Offer limited deployment options as organizations increasingly look for support for multi-cloud compatibility, edge, or on-premise deployments Lack robust monitoring features, like drift detection, explainability, and more Modzy is built to help data scientists seamlessly deploy their models to tailored production systems without having to worry about any of these persistent challenges. Our Solution Modzy’s model deployment solution provides data scientists the tools to integrate the deployment stage into their existing MLOps pipeline, regardless of the tools, custom implementations, or training platforms they are using. Given the vast number of frameworks and customizations that go into data scientists’ ML processes, why should you have to deviate from the status quo? With Modzy, there are several choices to best fit your own paradigms—including a deployment tool within the Modzy interface and Modzy’s Python SDK. The only pre-requisite to leveraging Modzy’s different deployment options is that all models must be containerized to meet the open-source container specification. This container specification comes in a few different flavors – gRPC protocol, REST protocol, or Open Model Interface – each providing data scientists the flexibility to choose what fits best for them. How Modzy’s Model Deployment Tool Works After you have containerized your model to meet one of the above specifications, save your container image as either a .tar file or push it to a Docker registry of your choice. At this point, you can begin the deployment process by selecting the “Deploy Model” option within your personal model library. Once your container image finishes uploading, follow a few simple steps to complete the full deployment: Configure the hardware and memory requirements for your model container (customizable to your infrastructure) Define the input and output specifications for your model so users understand how to submit inference API calls to your model and know what to expect as output Document information about your model (technical details, training data, performance metrics, and whatever else you prefer to include) Now, you can publish your model, begin running production inference, and leverage all the monitoring features Modzy offers. How the Python SDK Works Two popular model training tools leveraged by data scientists are AWS Sagemaker and MLFlow. Both tools provide users an intuitive set of APIs to train, evaluate, and save ML models. While these tools are commonly leveraged for model development, their model deployment equivalents do not field the same widespread usage. With Modzy, users have automatic containerization and deployment support for both these model frameworks into Modzy’s Python SDK. To begin using this capability, you need (1) the raw output of a trained Sagemaker or MLFlow model, and (2) the model artifacts saved in an AWS s3 bucket or Azure Blob. Once you have met these requirements, use Modzy’s Python SDK in your preferred editor (my tip: Jupyter Notebooks work great) and follow a few steps to deploy your model to Modzy: Complete a yaml file with documentation about your model and provide any additional metadata files for the specific model type that you chose. In the case of image classification, you will need to provide a labels.json file that contains a mapping between numerical classes and human readable labels. Include credentials required to access your cloud storage blob that contains your model artifacts, specify the path to your weights file(s) and additional model resources, define your model type (e.g., Image Classification), and pass this information to Modzy’s Model Converter through the SDK. Execute the converter and see your model deployed to your environment in just minutes. For data scientists and developers who wish to add a more programmatic approach to their MLOps pipeline, Modzy’s SDK deployment capability unlocks the potential for automation, improved efficiency, and most importantly, a significant improvement in speed to production. Using Modzy’s AI model deployment solution makes this process easier for all data scientists and all existing MLOps pipelines. It also gives way to the many features the Modzy platform offers once models are in production. These features include the model versioning management, intuitive APIs for model inferencing, standardized infrastructure management, auto-scaling for resource management, and comprehensive monitoring capabilities including drift detection, explainability, model health checks, and more. Data scientists no longer need to modify their existing training processes to deploy their models into production and face the AI Valley of Death. Using Modzy, a seamless deployment is possible.

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RNN is one of the popular neural networks that is commonly used to solve natural language processing tasks, other neural networks are Feed-Forward Neural Network which is used for regression and classification problems. The last one is a Convolutional Neural Network or CNN which can be used for image classification and object detection. Table of Contents: What is an RNN? How does an RNN work? 5 Common Use Cases of RNNs What is an RNN (Recurrent Neural Network)? RNN stands for Recurrent Neural Network, this is a type of artificial neural network that can process sequential data, recognize patterns and predict the final output. This Neural Network is called Recurrent because it can repeatedly perform the same task or operation on a sequence of inputs. An RNN has an internal memory that allows it to remember or memorize the information of the input it received and this helps the system to gain context. Therefore if you have sequential data like a time series, then an RNN will be a good fit to process that data. This can not be done by a CNN or Feed-Forward Neural Networks since they can not sort the correlation between previous input to the next input. Popular products like Google's voice search and Apple's Siri use RNN to process the input from their users and predict the output. How do RNNs Work? The logic behind an RNN is to save the output of the particular layer and feed it back to the input in order to predict the output of the layer. Below is a simple example of how you can convert a Feed-Forward Neural Network into a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). On the left side of the image, represent the following: X - is the input layer. h - is the hidden layer and it holds the information for the previous output and feeds it back to itself. y - is the output layer A, B, C are the parameters to improve the output of the model. Here is an example of a fully connected Recurrent Neural Network. Recurrent Neural Networks share the same weight parameter within each layer of the network while Feed-Forward Networks tend to have different weights across each node. Note: Now that you understand what a recurrent neural network is, let’s look at the common use case of RNNs. 5 Common Use Cases of Recurrent Neural Networks 1. Machine Translation RNN can be used to create a deep learning model that can translate a text from the source language into the target language without human intervention. For example, you can translate a text from your local language to the English language. Resources for Machine Translation https://hackernoon.com/neural-machine-translation-using-open-nmt-for-training-a-translation-model-1129a3a2a2d3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI2Y3I-JI2Q 2. Text Generation RNNs can also be used to create a deep learning model to generate text. A trained model learns the likelihood of occurrence of a word/character based on the previous sequence of words/characters used in the text. You can train a model at the character level, n-gram level, sentence level, or paragraph level. Resources for Text Generation. https://hackernoon.com/generate-stories-using-rnns-pure-mathematics-with-code-cb6f1e967b22 https://www.tensorflow.org/text/tutorials/text_generation 3. Image Captioning Image captioning is the process of generating text that describes the content of a given image. The image's content can show the object and the action of the particular object on the image. For example, in the image below the trained deep learning model by using RNN can describe the image as . "A lady with the green coat is reading a book under a tree" Resources for Image Captioning. https://hackernoon.com/summarizing-most-popular-text-to-image-synthesis-methods-with-python-34d3xkn https://towardsdatascience.com/a-guide-to-image-captioning-e9fd5517f350 4. Speech Recognition This is also known as Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) that can process human speech into a written or text format. Don't confuse speech recognition with voice recognition; speech recognition mainly focuses on transforming voice data into text, while voice recognition identifies the voice of the user. Products like Alexa, Cortana, Google Assistant and Siri are examples of Speech recognition technologies that are used daily by different users. Resources for Speech Recognition. https://hackernoon.com/how-to-do-speech-recognition-in-python-bk1234w9 https://heartbeat.fritz.ai/a-2019-guide-for-automatic-speech-recognition-f1e1129a141c 5. Time-Series Forecasting You can use an RNN to create a time series prediction model that predicts the future outcome after being trained from the historical time-stamped data. A good example is in the stock market. You can use the stock market data to create a machine learning model that can predict the future stock price in the market based on what the model learns from the historical data. This can help investors to make a data-driven decision for their investments. Resources for Time Series Forecasting. https://hackernoon.com/time-series-forecasting-with-tensorflowjs-co3rz32ms https://machinelearningmastery.com/time-series-prediction-lstm-recurrent-neural-networks-python-keras/ There is more to cover in Recurrent Neural Networks, I recommend you take one of the following courses to learn more about RNNs. https://machinelearningmastery.com/crash-course-recurrent-neural-networks-deep-learning/ https://www.coursera.org/projects/simple-recurrent-neural-network-keras If you learned something new or enjoyed reading this article, please share it so that others can see it. Until then, see you in the next post! You can also find me on Twitter . @Davis_McDavid And you can read more articles like this . here Want to keep up to date with all the latest in Machine Learning & Data Science? in the footer below. Subscribe to our newsletter

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This story is a part of Hacker Noon's . The series is intended for tech professionals contributing the most insightful Hacker Noon stories to share more about their writing habits, ideas, and professional background (and maybe a hobby or two). Meet the Writer series of interviews If you too would like to start contributing to Hacker Noon, . you can do so here So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests. Hi there! My name is Branislav Đalić and I'm a self-taught software developer with over 10 years of experience across different IT industries. Over time I matured as a chief technical officer and now a co-founder of a small startup. I studied philosophy, practiced martial arts, had a metal band and even tried myself out as an amateur young actor once or twice. Since then my personal interests are mostly revolving around blockchain, machine learning and information security. (I know.. sigh) Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about? The last article was a project that was for too long. I remember reading somewhere that in today's world an average person has to remember approximately between 100 and 200 passwords during their lifetime. Unfortunately, password managers don't actually solve this problem, they just add a way to store all those garbled characters that somehow prove to the computer it was really us behind the keyboard. stuck in a drawer The story was following an experiment to see if our inherent typing styles can be used to uniquely verify our identity in a similar way as handwritten signatures do. Right now, we are using fingerprints, face recognition, iris scanners etc., but there might be other less intrusive sources of uniqueness to exploit for this purpose, like keystroke dynamics. Check out Branislav’s story Using Javascript to Identify Unique Typing Styles Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about? I usually write on topics that I get inspiration by either from IRL problems, books on different approaches or simply some practical challenges that I wanted to solve in retrospective. That being said I fully enjoy the freedom of letting my curiosity pick the topics for me. It is never boring in computer land! Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?) Unlike my professional routine, my writing routine is loosely arranged around my free time, and that is mostly at night when everyone else is asleep. If I have to sum up my routine in one sentence it would be: . "Coding during day, writing during night" Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing? When I write I try to take the reader alongside for a ride as I develop the idea in my mind. The biggest challenge for me was and still is keeping the reader engaged and as curious as I am on the subject. What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career? That’s a hard question. Let's say that I hope to keep delivering helpful perspectives on the ever changing field of technology and its applications as it shapes the world around us. Also I hope to invite more minds to think as we face more and more complex problems in the future. outside of the box Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice? Black coffee and black olives, but not mixed together :D Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it? Playing guitar and making music is definitely something that's stuck with me from the early days. Working on music helps me relax, provides a nice distraction for my thoughts and a way to get around burnouts in my day to day life. What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next? More practical examples and DIY tutorials on decentralized tech like IPFS, WebTorrent, Blockchain and Machine Learning! Thanks for taking the time to join our “Meet the writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words? If you want to change the world, you need to read the source code first.

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In smart cities, walking in a park is not that simple. For example, Hyde Park in London collected visitors' demographic information like gender, age, and location by their network provider EE for more than a year. Your walk in the park is not private anymore. To enjoy technological advancement, we are giving away our private information! Another example of a privacy breach - London city, where smart bins were installed in 2012. The bins were used to collect peoples’ data from their phones which were used for targeted advertisements. The data was collected without people's knowledge, which was after a year. exposed by journalists The Smart Sensors Smart city dwellers are exposed to an enormous amount of sensors that are continuously collecting data related to their health, location, habitat, and environment data like pollution, noise, parking slots, etc. This data sometimes exposes the most personal and sensitive information of the citizens. These sensors and actuators are deployed in a huge amount for collecting information. While these sensing and actuating devices provide valuable data and statistics, unauthorized access to these devices can invade user privacy and safety. According to McKinsey & Company report IoT applications like smart cities can only reach their full potential with proper policy actions to ensure security and protect citizens’ privacy. ‘Unlocking the potential of the Internet of Things’ , Security and Privacy Concerns in Smart Cities Smart cities create an environment where the citizens are exposed to government and corporate surveillance the minute they step into the streets. The citizens' data is collected, processed, and shared without even their knowledge, let alone taking consent. Image Source Besides, vulnerabilities in databases and online systems demonstrate that smart cities are under serious cyberattacks and hacking possibilities. In December 2015, more than 80,000 people were left in the dark for 3 hours as was hacked. Ukraines’ power plant Moreover, the phone helpline was also under TDOS, to prevent the users from calling for load shedding complaints. Another demonstrated an attack on street lights, where an infectious worm can quickly spread and bring down all the city street lights within minutes. Interested readers can have a deeper look at the faced by smart cities. research paper top security challenges and cyber-attacks Access Control Models for Smart Cities Access control is the discriminatory restriction of access to any resource for limiting the functions of an entity having legitimate access. has been found to be an effective measure to prevent unauthorized access to resources. It restricts access rights of (data, files, and other resources) only to authorized (users). Access control objects subjects Several traditional access control models can be used according to application requirements. Traditional Access Control models such as focus on the protection of data in a closed environment. Discretionary Access Control (DAC), Mandatory Access Control (MAC), and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) Image Source: CyberHoot As an exemplary scenario of access control in smart cities is that of smart healthcare, access control prevents the leakage of patient’s confidential and sensitive healthcare records by denying access rights to unauthorized users. Similarly, smart locks and keys have been introduced for smart buildings that store permission to open only an allowed list of locks. Image Source: iotforall Most of the traditional access control models provide authorizations through subject attributes and object attributes only. These attributes assigned to subjects and objects are generally static and can be modified only through an administrative role. This static approach is suitable for some traditional access control policies but this approach is no longer appropriate for access controls in today's world of the IoT. However, these traditional access control models can be extended to incorporate the multi-domain, collaborative and dynamic requirements of IoT-based smart cities. Following are some popular access control models that have been proposed to cater to the needs of security and privacy in smart cities. 1. Intelligent Role-Based Access Control (I-RBAC) RBAC is very significant and successful in providing access control measures to static computing domains. Yet, it is unable to adapt to the dynamically changing information of users, tasks, semantically meaningful business roles, access policies, and resources. A novel access control scheme has been proposed by which uses intelligent software agents to achieve access control in smart cities applications. This model uses real-world semantic business roles as occupational roles, provided by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC), USA. Rubina et al 2. Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) Typical access control models like ACL (Access Control List) and RBAC (Role Based Access Control) coarsely provide a discrete list of users/roles that can access an object. Whereas, brings in the context information and also the attributes of subjects and objects into its access control policies. Incorporating attribute information will also aid in reducing the maintenance load as only attribute values will need to be updated instead of changing all the subject-object relationships. This will improve the dynamicity and granularity of ABAC, which is ideal for the security requirements of smart cities. ABAC 3. User-Centric Access Control This model empowers the users to be directly in charge of their sensitive data. Through policy-based access control and attribute-based encryption mechanisms, user-centric access control allow users to : Restrict their devices to join only certain applications that are permitted to sense and publish their data Define fine-grained access control rules for their devices Decide who can or cannot be in ownership of their devices’ data To this aim, have proposed an IoT integrated security ‘SMARTIE’ platform that provides authentication and access control to smart cities. Beltran et al 4. LIGHT est est is an access control infrastructure for IoT-enabled smart cities, which provides on-device authentication. Access control policies are written in a machine-readable format, in this case, Trust Policy Language, which empowers the devices to reject an access request from unauthorized entities on their own. Trust policies can be formulated based on context information like location, time IP addresses, etc. LIGHT 5. CapBAC (Capability-Based Access Control) Capability-Based Access Control provides the most fine-grained access by using access tokens. The access tokens are granted to the subjects only in a specific context (e-g, token usage within a predefined time). The token is valid to perform one action, once the action is performed the access token expires. propose a decentralized CapBAC scheme for smart cities using Ethereum smart contract technology to manage and store capability tokens. Nakamura et al As the acceptability and popularity of smart cities are increasing, there is an increased digital security concern. Fortunately, legislation like the is being introduced to address cyber threats and potential market failure that will be useful in enabling secure smart cities. IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act in the U.S

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There’s a secret about the quarterly performance review process they don’t tell new managers. You learn how to cheat the system. A new manager made this observation after completing his first performance review. And you know what? It’s true. The knowledge of how quarterly performance reviews actually work is unavoidable for managers. So how can we use it to help others? How do Quarterly Performance Reviews Work for Managers? To understand how managers can cheat, we need to know how performance reviews work. Whether it’s an annual, mid-year review, or quarterly performance review cadence, this is what happens behind the scenes: Your manager collects feedback and reviews your contributions. They determine how each contribution applies to your company’s career framework. They then decide your performance review rating. They meet with other managers to explain their decision. Other managers will provide feedback on the performance rating. Reviews are shared. Promotions and raises given. Managers take some time off after an emotionally exhausting process. This is an intense process. Your manager needs to craft this chapter of your career’s story and weave it in the language of the company. They take this story and defend its small details against a panel whose goal it not aligned with yours. This panel’s goal is to ensure fair ratings across all performance assessments. There’s a side effect to this intense review process. Managers learn how the system works. So let’s dig deeper into how performance reviews are seen in a manager’s eyes. What is a Career Framework? A quick aside – what do I mean by a “career framework”? A career framework is a document outlining the expectations of an employee at a company. It defines the career path of a given role. These frameworks show how one progresses in their current title and get promoted to the next. Some companies will even tie raises to one’s growth within a career band. The idea is to incentivize the personal development of one’s skills. If you’re interested in seeing career framework examples, I recommend checking . progression.fyi How managers think about a quarterly performance review There are two major components of putting together an effective performance review. Clear feedback on what an individual did well and where they need to grow. How this individual is performing within the company’s career framework. Giving feedback in a performance review is straightforward. Check out my guides on how to and to learn more. give positive feedback constructive feedback The challenge is tying an individual’s contributions back to a company’s career framework. Managers need to understand how the words of the career framework are interpreted. Are these words interpreted literally? Or do they outline the “spirit” of an expected behavior? What examples have they seen that represent high performance for a given expectation? It’s critical for a manager to have answers to these questions. These answers outline how the company determines raises. They define who gets promoted and when. Let’s look at an example of what I mean. Example of How A Manager Assesses Performance Looking at , let’s use a behavior for a Senior Engineer (Level 5 Individual Contributor): Square’s Career Ladder Improves code structure and architecture in service of testability and maintainability. Reading this, the questions that jump to my mind are: Does Square take this behavior literally or not? What examples exemplify this behavior at Square? Who is considered to be a high performer of this behavior? What is the expected behavior for someone just promoted to Senior Engineer? What about someone who has been in the role for a few years? To me, I see growth depend on the impact of one’s contributions. For a new Senior Engineer, I would expect the following: Be able to refactor code as they go along Set testing goals for a project Build towards the long-term architectural plans of the team. What about a more experienced Senior Engineer? My expectations change. I want them to be able to solve more complex problems that multiply the effectiveness of the team. While they may not see the some problems in a system’s architecture, they can address them once known. Some examples of what I mean are: Defining or contributing a plan to update the foundational architecture of important systems. Leading projects that require coordination across two or three teams. Working with QA to acknowledge risks early in a project. They implement solutions that mitigate those risks. Here’s the thing though – these are all assumptions based on my own experiences. I won’t know Square’s actual expectations until I experience their performance review process. This is where managers learn how to pull the levers of the organization. Why Do Managers Get Frequent Promotions Coming back to the thesis of this post – how managers learn to cheat at quarterly performance reviews. The details from the previous sections are to make a point. They have to understand the subtext of the expectations for your title level. They are in the room where promotions get made. They see the examples that reflect what it means to be a high performer. Managers need to know how career development works at your company. They learn how others rate their employees. In other words, they learn how to pull the levers of the organization to grow careers. Managers can’t escape this knowledge. Managers who care about career development have to learn this information. They have to know how performance reviews work to teach the process to others. What matters is how managers this information. Managers: How Can You Help Your Employees Write a Better Quarterly Performance Review? How managers use their knowledge of the performance review process is important. This decision is why I find management to be an ethically demanding job. This job requires you to be honest with yourself. You must understand your values. You make decisions that affect the actual livelihoods of others. What you do with the information in this article can’t be decided by me. How you share this knowledge is decided by you. The most I can do is share my viewpoint in hopes that it will push you to help others. To me, great people managers are measured by how much the people around them grow. They put others before them because that’s what brings them joy. Successful teams grow when they have a leader that cares about the people on it. Performance reviews are an important part of this. When it comes to performance reviews, here are my tips to put together better assessments: Be clear in what the organization expects of a given role. Overexplain how the performance review process works. Be as transparent as possible. The clarity will build trust in the performance review process. If you use a career framework, explain the actual expectations of a given behavior. Pay attention to the examples that represent high performers at a given title level. Use those to identify similar opportunities for your direct reports. Be as specific as possible in your written assessments. I like to highlight behaviors that one grew and underperformed in. This gives clarity on where employees should focus their efforts. Don’t wait till performance review season to check in on progress. Give feedback early and often. Check-in on your employee’s goal progression. Individual Contributors: How can I Write a Better Quarterly Performance Review for Myself? Now that we know how performance reviews work behind the scenes, what can you do? To write a more effective self assessment for yourself, do the same work as your manager. Track your contributions, learn examples, and tie this information to your career framework. Start a Brag Sheet The easiest thing you can do today is making a brag sheet. Reflect on your work every week or two and try to add at least 1-3 items you’re proud of. A brag sheet is a document that outlines every contribution you are proud of making over time. This is a time to be exhaustive. Don’t hold back – anything that has made a positive impact on your project, team, or company is acceptable. Some examples are: Leading a team meeting Owning a feature or project from inception to release. Helping others with a solve a bug Onboarding new employees This list will make writing your self-assessment and performance review a LOT easier. Learn Examples of Exemplary Behavior in Performance Reviews Ask your manager to explain how performance reviews work behind the scenes. They won’t be able to tell you everything, but it will be more than where you started. This is only the start though. The real trick is to get them to share examples of high performers. Say you’re told to focus on developing your skills in a specific behavior. Ask for examples of what people have done in the past. Managers should have multiple examples to give you. You can use this information to focus your skill development efforts. When it comes to promotions, it’s a similar approach, but on a larger scale. You need to show that most of your skills are contributing at the next level. To reframe the discussion for promotions, use this great question that a report asked me: Who is considered to be a high performer at the next title level? Your manager will point you to people you can pay attention to. Learn from them. They represent what your company sees as a high-performing contributor. Tie Your Work to the Career Framework With a list of your contributions and examples of behavior in hand, it’s time for the last step. You need to tie your contributions to your company’s career framework. This step is exactly what managers do when they write your performance review. They take your contributions and determine which framework behaviors it applies to. This is how they translate your work into the language of the career framework. When you do the same thing, you will show your manager how you have grown. You will speak their language and the results you want will come easier. This is something your manager can help with. Once a month bring your brag sheet to your manager. Work together to tie your contributions to each behavior in your career framework. You will get a deeper understanding of how performance is evaluated. This work will get you the promotions and raises you are looking for. Wrapping Up They need to learn what every word in a career framework means. They must build a library of examples that represent a given behavior. The result of this knowledge is important – they are your guide on the career path of your company. Managers must have a deep understanding of the quarterly performance review process. The risk of this knowledge is that managers can leverage it for their own gain. This is why people management is an ethically demanding job. HOW we managers this knowledge has direct impact the lives of others. I challenge you to decide how you will use this information to help others. That’s why we got into this job, right? I’d love to learn how you think about your performance reviews. How do you approach your employees’ assessments? What do you think about when making your own? Let me know on or . Twitter LinkedIn Before You Go The purpose of Build the Stage is to . teach YOU how to be a successful leader If you learned something new from this essay, : I’d appreciate it if you’d complete one of the following actions *: By sharing, you help others grow their skills and spark discussion.* Share this essay *: What’s one thing you learned from this essay? Let me know on .* Join the Discussion Twitter This story was originally published on . BuildTheStage.com Further Reading How to Give Positive Feedback to Colleagues – with Examples! Transform Your Team: Giving Constructive Feedback to Employees in Spades with Examples Crucial Conversations Amazon Bookshop.org Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager Amazon Bookshop.org The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader: Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow Amazon Bookshop.org Disclosure: This article includes affiliate links to any books I reference. I will receive a commission for any purchases.

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Hacking Quarterly Performance Reviews

Introduction is a development platform for building WEB, mobile, and desktop applications using HTML, CSS, and TypeScript (JavaScript). Currently, Angular is at version 14, and Google is the main maintainer of the project. Angular is a simple log component library and allows messages to be displayed on the console and sent to the server using an HTTP request. ngx-logger Prerequisites Before you start, you need to install and configure the tools: git Node.js and npm Angular CLI IDE (e.g. ) Visual Studio Code Getting started Create the Angular Application Let’s create the application with the Angular base structure using the with the route file and the SCSS style format. 1. @angular/cli ng new angular-logger
? Would you like to add Angular routing? Yes
? Which stylesheet format would you like to use? SCSS   [ https://sass-lang.com/documentation/syntax#scss                ]
CREATE angular-logger/README.md (1059 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/.editorconfig (274 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/.gitignore (604 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/angular.json (3255 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/package.json (1076 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/tsconfig.json (783 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/.browserslistrc (703 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/karma.conf.js (1431 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/tsconfig.app.json (287 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/tsconfig.spec.json (333 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/src/favicon.ico (948 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/src/index.html (299 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/src/main.ts (372 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/src/polyfills.ts (2820 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/src/styles.scss (80 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/src/test.ts (788 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/src/assets/.gitkeep (0 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/src/environments/environment.prod.ts (51 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/src/environments/environment.ts (658 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/src/app/app-routing.module.ts (245 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/src/app/app.module.ts (393 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/src/app/app.component.scss (0 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/src/app/app.component.html (24617 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/src/app/app.component.spec.ts (1097 bytes)
CREATE angular-logger/src/app/app.component.ts (219 bytes)
✔ Packages installed successfully. Install and configure the Bootstrap CSS framework. Then, do steps 2 and 3 of the post, . 2. Adding the Bootstrap CSS framework to an Angular application Configure the log settings in the and files as below. 3. src/environments/environment.ts src/environments/environment.prod.ts logger: {
  level: 'TRACE',
}, Install the library. 4. ngx-logger npm install ngx-logger Import the and modules. Configure the log settings. Change the file and add the lines as below. 5. HttpClientModule LoggerModule app.module.ts import { HttpClientModule } from '@angular/common/http';
import { LoggerModule, NgxLoggerLevel } from 'ngx-logger';

import { environment } from '../environments/environment';

const environmentConfig: any = environment.logger;

imports: [
  BrowserModule,
  HttpClientModule,
  LoggerModule.forRoot({
    level: NgxLoggerLevel[environmentConfig.level],
    serverLogLevel: NgxLoggerLevel[environmentConfig.serverLevel],
    serverLoggingUrl: environmentConfig.serverUrl,
  } as any),
  AppRoutingModule,
], Remove the contents of the class from the file. Import the service and create the log levels methods as below. 6. AppComponent src/app/app.component.ts NGXLogger import { Component } from '@angular/core';
import { NGXLogger } from 'ngx-logger';

@Component({
  selector: 'app-root',
  templateUrl: './app.component.html',
  styleUrls: ['./app.component.scss'],
})
export class AppComponent {

  constructor(private logger: NGXLogger) {
  }

  public showTrace(): void {
    this.logger.trace('TRACE level');
  }

  public showDebug(): void {
    this.logger.debug('DEBUG level');
  }

  public showInfo(): void {
    this.logger.info('INFO level');
  }

  public showWarn(): void {
    this.logger.warn('WARN level');
  }

  public showError(): void {
    this.logger.error('ERROR level');
  }

  public showFatal(): void {
    this.logger.fatal('FATAL level');
  }

} Remove the contents of the file. Add the log levels buttons as below. 7. src/app/app.component.html <div class="container-fluid py-3">
  <h1>Angular Logger</h1>
  <div class="d-grid gap-2 col-4 mt-4 mx-auto">
    <button type="button" class="btn btn-sm btn-primary" (click)="showTrace()">Trace</button>
    <button type="button" class="btn btn-sm btn-success" (click)="showDebug()">Debug</button>
    <button type="button" class="btn btn-sm btn-info" (click)="showInfo()">Info</button>
    <button type="button" class="btn btn-sm btn-warning" (click)="showWarn()">Warn</button>
    <button type="button" class="btn btn-sm btn-danger" (click)="showError()">Error</button>
    <button type="button" class="btn btn-sm btn-secondary" (click)="showFatal()">Fatal</button>
  </div>
  <p class="mt-4 text-center">
    <span class="fw-bold me-1">Note:</span>
    <span class="fst-italic">See the messages displayed in the browser console.</span>
  </p>
</div> Run the application with the command below. 8. npm start

> angular-logger@1.0.0 start
> ng serve

✔ Browser application bundle generation complete.

Initial Chunk Files | Names         |      Size
vendor.js           | vendor        |   2.55 MB
styles.css          | styles        | 266.58 kB
polyfills.js        | polyfills     | 128.51 kB
scripts.js          | scripts       |  76.67 kB
main.js             | main          |  14.41 kB
runtime.js          | runtime       |   6.63 kB

                    | Initial Total |   3.03 MB

Build at: 2021-09-04T19:25:20.982Z - Hash: dcc562d0e20cf029eab3 - Time: 12067ms

** Angular Live Development Server is listening on localhost:4200, open your browser on http://localhost:4200/ **


✔ Compiled successfully. Ready! Access the URL and check if the application is working. See the application working on and . 9. http://localhost:4200/ GitHub Pages Stackblitz The application repository is available at . https://github.com/rodrigokamada/angular-logger This tutorial was posted on my in Portuguese. blog

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Adding the log component to an Angular application

For a business, customer feedback happens to be one of the most reliable ways to know how they are doing. As Developer, we should try and make this process as intuitive and simple as possible. This article aims to explain how we could develop a customer feedback component using React, Lottie Web & Framer Motion. So let's get started with it then! 😉 Project Initialization npx create-react-app emoji-feedback Install Dependencies for integrating Lottie animations React Lottie for micro-interactions Framer Motion for styling needs Styled Components yarn add react-lottie framer-motion styled-components Animated Emojis To get the emojis to animate, we have 2 options: Animated emoji pack (Mostly Paid) Lottie Animations (Free & Paid) I went with the 2nd option for this one. The animations used in this component are by . Simply select your favorite animations and place them under the folder. jkkim0124 src/lotties Component Breakdown App Component Call the Emoji Feedback component along with the necessary state props. // React
import { useState } from "react";

// External
import styled from "styled-components";

// Components
import EmojiFeedback from "./components/EmojiFeedback";

const AppStyles = styled.div`
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  height: 100vh;
  background-color: #f8ebe2;
`;

const App = () => {
  const [activeReaction, setActiveReaction] = useState("");
  return (
    <AppStyles>
      <EmojiFeedback
        activeReaction={activeReaction}
        setActiveReaction={setActiveReaction}
      />
    </AppStyles>
  );
};

export default App; Constants Declare an array containing strings of the various supported reactions. const reactions = ["Aweful", "Bad", "Ok Ok", "Good", "Amazing"];

export { reactions }; Emoji Feedback Component Loop through the reactions and then call the Emoji component for every reaction. // External
import styled from "styled-components";

// Components
import Emoji from "./Emoji";
import { Flex } from "../../styles/globalStyles";

// Reactions array
import { reactions } from "./data";

const Card = styled.div`
  width: 800px;
  height: 500px;
  background-color: #fff;
  border-radius: 33px;
  padding: 44px 48px;
  box-shadow: 0 8px 24px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15);

  @media only screen and (max-width: 930px) {
    width: 80%;
  }
`;

const Heading = styled.h2`
  font-size: 42px;
  font-weight: bold;
  margin: 0;
  color: #000;
  font-family: Plus Jakarta Sans Bold;
`;

const Content = styled(Flex)`
  height: 452px;
  position: relative;
`;

const Emojis = styled(Flex)`
  top: 30%;
`;

const Button = styled.button`
  background-color: ${props => (props.isSelected ? "#000" : "#ccc")};
  cursor: ${props => (props.isSelected ? "pointer" : "not-allowed")};
  border: none;
  color: #fff;
  padding: 19.5px 107.3px;
  border-radius: 19px;
  font-family: Plus Jakarta Sans Medium;
  font-size: 24px;
  user-select: none;
  position: absolute;
  bottom: 0;
`;

const EmojiFeedback = ({ activeReaction, setActiveReaction }) => {
  return (
    <Card>
      <Heading>How was your experience?</Heading>
      <Content column>
        <Emojis>
          {reactions.map(reaction => (
            <Emoji
              reaction={reaction}
              key={reaction}
              isSelected={activeReaction === reaction}
              setActiveReaction={setActiveReaction}
            />
          ))}
        </Emojis>
        <Button isSelected={!!activeReaction}>Submit</Button>
      </Content>
    </Card>
  );
};

export default EmojiFeedback; Emoji Component The emoji component is being used to render a single emoji. // External
import Lottie from "react-lottie";
import { motion } from "framer-motion";
import styled from "styled-components";

// Helper for handling lottie animation data
import selectAnimationData from "../../lotties";

const EmojiWrapper = styled(motion.div)`
  cursor: pointer;
  margin: 0 12px;
  position: relative;
`;

const EmojiLabel = styled.p`
  text-align: center;
  position: absolute;
  bottom: -32px;
  left: 50%;
  transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
  font-family: Plus Jakarta Sans Bold;
  font-size: 16px;
  user-select: none;
`;

// Constants for emoji's scale during different states
const NORMAL_SCALE = 1;
const HOVERED_SCALE = 1.3;
const SELECTED_SCALE = 1.5;

const Emoji = ({ reaction, isSelected, setActiveReaction }) => {
  // Initialize the animation options as per the reaction
  const animationOptions = {
    loop: true,
    autoplay: false,
    animationData: selectAnimationData(reaction),
    rendererSettings: {
      preserveAspectRatio: "xMidYMid slice",
    },
  };

  // Update state on the click of reaction
  const handleClick = () => {
    if (isSelected) {
      setActiveReaction("");
    } else {
      setActiveReaction(reaction);
    }
  };

  return (
    <EmojiWrapper
      whileHover={{
        scale: isSelected ? SELECTED_SCALE : HOVERED_SCALE,
      }}
      animate={{
        scale: isSelected ? SELECTED_SCALE : NORMAL_SCALE,
      }}
      onClick={handleClick}
    >
      <Lottie
        options={animationOptions}
        height={100}
        width="80%"
        isStopped={!isSelected}
        isClickToPauseDisabled
      />
      {isSelected && <EmojiLabel>{reaction}</EmojiLabel>}
    </EmojiWrapper>
  );
};

export default Emoji; Conclusion And there we have it; the emoji feedback component is ready. The is available on Github. Would love to hear your valuable feedback in the comments down below. code See you guys 👋🏻  in the next article of this Component series! Happy coding & Stay safe! ✨ Follow me on & for more! Twitter Instagram This article can also be read here: . https://www.parmeetasija.com/blog/how-to-make-a-feedback-component-to-seamlessly-collect-reviews-in-reactjs/

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This story is a part of Hacker Noon's ws. The series is intended for tech professionals contributing the most insightful Hacker Noon stories to share more about their writing habits, ideas, and professional background (and maybe a hobby or two). Meet the Writer series of intervie If you too would like to start contributing to Hacker Noon, . you can do so here So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests. My name is Khamisi Hamisi. I come from Mombasa, Kenya. I help small businesses grow their social media profiles. Other than that, I enjoy fishing, filming short films, and eating. Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about? I wrote about the different mistakes people make when it comes to Facebook ads. The article will help businesses avoid these mistakes and increase their ROI. If you like Khamisi’s topic, this is the story: 3 Reasons Your Facebook Ads Are Performing Poorly Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about? Yes, I focus on topics about social media. However, during my free time, I write poetry and short film scripts. Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?) Currently, I do not have a routine. However, most of my inspiration comes from the successes of my clients. Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing? Indeed it is challenging. My biggest challenge so far is making people understand some of the terms in tech. Many businesses are new to social media. I always have to make it simple for them to understand and at the same time pass my point across without diluting it. What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career? I am hoping to create award-winning documentaries in the future. I have always wanted to tell stories through film. Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice? I baby talk to my cat a lot. My friends find it weird but, my cat loves it. If she loves it, then I do too. The cat is always right. Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it? I do. I love fishing. We live close to the ocean, and I have been in love with it since a younger age. Fishing, to me, is like therapy. The sound of the waves hitting the boat, the patience needed to catch fish, the blues skies, and so much more makes me love it. What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next? The Hacker Noon community should expect more tips and tricks on how to grow their businesses on social media. Thanks for taking time to join our “Meet the writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words? I am grateful to be part of the Hacker Noon "Meet The Writer" series. Moreover, I am looking forward to meeting and creating meaningful connections on Hacker Noon.

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The Importance of Getting the Point Across Without Diluting it: Meet the Writer Khamisi Hamisi

Your organization needs exposure. If people do not know that your NGO exists, there's no way that they can become volunteers, supporters, and donors. But where should you turn to get more publicity, without spending a lot of money? Getting your name out there doesn't necessarily require a donor with deep pockets. You can get lots of free publicity if you just know how to get the press interested in what you're doing at your nonprofit. The key to getting the media to help you spread the word about your organization is how you present information to them. If you send them something that sounds like an advertisement, they will direct you to their advertising department. But give them an interesting news story and they may jump at the chance to cover it. Reporters Need Good Stories It's a reporter's job to find news stories. Not just any news stories, but good news stories. Reporters are expected to come up with stories that will attract and engage readers and keep them coming back for more. A great deal of the things that are deemed newsworthy by the media are bad news. Reading about tragic events such as natural disasters, murders, and businesses going under aren't exactly uplifting, but people want to know about it. If this were all that the news was about, however, it would get old quickly. People want some good news to balance it out, but many times notable good news is hard to find. That's where your NGO comes in. Reporters have a need for good news, and you can help them by giving them good, positive stories. It's a win-win situation: Journalists win because they get their hands on a newsworthy topic, and you win because your nonprofit gets exposure. That's not to say that your story has to be all flowers and sunshine. If your programs can be used to solve a problem that has been in the news lately, for instance, a more negative story might be in order. This is called "piggybacking" in the news business. The good news (pun intended) is since your nonprofit has the solution, there should always be a reasonably happy ending. What Are the Elements That Make a Good Story? The key to giving journalists what they want is knowing what makes a good story. There are certain elements that reporters look for in their stories. The more of them your story has, the better. These elements are Stories that affect a large portion of the reporter's audience are very desirable. One example of a topic with an impact would be the COVID-19 pandemic. If your organization supplied laptops for at-risk youth to take classes remotely during school closures, a reporter might be willing to tie it in with a story about the effects of the pandemic. Impact: The primary focus of most media outlets is current events. So if your organization is participating in some important event or a topical theme, it stands a good chance of getting media coverage. Timeliness: Did your organization help get a bill passed by the governor? Brag about it! The media loves to share information about prominent people and organizations. This works especially well with local media. Prominence: Everything else being equal, things that are going on in the reporter's coverage area are more likely to get coverage than things going on in other areas. Local media covers some national news, and national media covers some world news, but each one's primary focus is on things that are happening in their own territory. Proximity: This is a favorite of reporters, but it's one that publicity seekers often want to avoid because they perceive it as negative. But if you provide a service that could solve a well-known conflict or crisis, publicizing it as such could pay off. Conflict: If there is an offbeat element to your organization, the media might be interested in it. For example, many nonprofits create their own holiday that helps promote the cause. Successful ideas include Movember, St. Baldrick's Day, and National Root Canal Appreciation Day. (Yes, it's real, and that's why it could make great news fodder.) Weirdness: The more of these things that apply to your story, the better your chances of holding a reporter's interest. By keeping these elements in mind and making it clear how your story relates to them in your pitches, you're in effect doing part of the reporter's job. And that will win you lots of brownie points with journalists since you are making it easy for them. Now that you understand the elements that make a good story, think about what stories with your nonprofit hit the mark. A great place to start is to look at the stories you’ve already told to your donors in email or shared in a blog post. Those often can be repurposed into a story for a bigger audience. What's the next step? Taking that story and turning it into something journalists will love. That's covered in the upcoming installment, "Types of Stories That Reporters Love and How You Can Get Their Attention." Originally published as " Boost Your Credibility and Visibility with Public Relations " with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

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The pandemic has impacted almost all industries. Some of them flourished greatly, whereas some went to a standstill. eLearning is one of the industries that experienced tremendous growth. With more people confined to their homes, the demand for online learning has increased. Advanced online learning platforms offer opportunities for almost everyone from school to graduation to improve their academic knowledge and skills. If you are interested in investing in the eLearning sector, you will find helpful information in this blog about building an eLearning platform to grow your business. What makes eLearning platforms like Coursera or Udemy successful? eLearning platforms like Udemy have become a convenient and impactful learning tool allowing students to take online courses anytime, anywhere. It facilitates learners to follow a self-paced learning pattern where they can choose their learning schedule according to their convenience. Here are some important factors that distinguish eLearning platforms like Udemy from other online teaching platforms. : This allows learners to enjoy a great learning experience. Advanced technology eLearning platforms host an extensive list of courses from experts of various niches to choose from. Extensive database of courses and tutors: : The eLearning platform offers many courses for free and others at competitive price packages. Competitive pricing policy : Learners can learn from qualified teachers all across the world and view the content in their preferred language. Content in different languages : Allows learners to assess the quality of the content and the expertise of the tutors. Rating system Take the first step Before , properly validate your idea to ensure you are building an effective and productive service that has a demand in the market. The next thing to do is define a niche and come with the list of courses and types of classes you will host on your eLearning platform. You can pick anything from a broad range and decide whether to focus on academics alone or offer some unconventional skill-based courses too. starting an eLearning business It is smart to have a wide range of online courses from different industries and niches as it increases the chances of attracting learners from different verticals. Some of the common niches to choose from include business & entrepreneurship, fitness, health and nutrition, computer and technologies, personal development, arts & crafts, and more. Think about your learner demographics, including age, gender, educational background, etc., to decide the primary objective of your eLearning business and the eLearning preferences. Choose the right business model Selecting the business model is the first thing you need to sort out before starting with the development of your eLearning platform. The business model determines how you will make money through your eLearning platform. Let’s explore some of the most common business models to choose from: Subscription model Users can access your eLearning products and services for a monthly or yearly subscription. Paid online courses Learners can purchase paid courses, and the revenue goes to the tutor and the website ( in the form of commissions per transaction). Paid certificates Students can pay for a verified certificate after completion of the course. Collaboration with corporates You can collaborate with corporates and business organizations to offer specific training services and online courses. Affiliate model You can place integrated links to learning resources or equipment that your learners might need to make progress in the course. Must-have features of your eLearning business When building your eLearning platform, there are several features that you must integrate into your website to bring full functionality. The features can be divided into the student, tutor, and admin features. Student profile features ● Search Integrate search for specific keywords like subject, expertise level, prices, and a lot more. ● Recommendations Displays online courses based on the type of courses a learner has already enrolled for. ● Easy and secure payment choices Student profiles must be integrated with secure payment gateways to facilitate easy, quick, and secure monetary transactions. Teacher profile features ● Course creation Tutors must be able to create, edit, and manage the online courses and classes they create. ● Dashboard The dashboard is another essential feature for tutors to track the courses they have put up, the number of learners participating in it, scheduled online classes, etc. Admin profile feature ● User management Admin must be able to add, edit, and remove all users, both tutors and students. ● Course management Enable add, edit, and remove online courses ● Analytic reports Admin should be able to generate analytic reports with relevant insights. ● Notification management Must be able to manage the notifications sent out by the eLearning platform Select the development approach When it comes to building a site like Udemy or Coursera, you can take two main development approaches- Building the platform from scratch and choosing a readymade solution. Developing from scratch If you want unique functionalities with a lot of customization, developing a custom-made solution is the best choice. However, this is the most elaborate and time-consuming affair; it costs a lot of money as well. Readymade solution Readymade or white label solutions allow you to create a full-fledged learning site like Udemy easily without having to build from scratch. You can choose a to build your eLearning platform designed for tutoring and learning. Pinlearn is a professional, ready-made script to power self-paced learning and live classes on your online tutoring website. It is also one of the cost-efficient approaches you can follow to create and launch your eLearning website. Udemy clone script Conclusion eLearning platforms like Udemy provide online education and training for learners worldwide. Keep in mind that a highly competitive market requires you to bring in exceptional functionalities and a great eLearning experience. Hope this guide gave you valuable tips to build your eLearning platform.

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I’ve recently become fascinated by the idea of “winner’s games” and “loser’s games.” There are several great articles which explain the idea in depth, but here’s a quick summary: An observation was made by Simon Ramo in 1973 that there is big difference in how games are won in amateur tennis versus professional tennis. When two amateur opponents are playing, the game is often won not through the winner’s great skill but because of the loser’s mistakes. The loser often commits unforced errors by hitting the ball out of bounds, missing easy shots, or double faulting. In other words, the loser beats himself. Points are “lost” by the loser more than they are “won” by the winner. This is a “loser’s game.” When two professional opponents are playing, the game is won primarily due to the winner’s skill. Neither player commits many unforced errors. The winner places his shots well and outperforms his opponent to defeat him. Points in this kind of game are “won” by the winner more than they are “lost” by the loser. This is a “winner’s game.” So, if you’re playing a loser’s game, a winning strategy is to simply try to avoid making mistakes and let your opponent beat himself. (If you’ve ever played tennis or ping pong before, I hope at this point you’re nodding your head in recognition. As an avid ping pong player, I’ve seen this scenario play out in the office at work on a daily basis.) The application of this observation is that you should attempt to understand whether any given activity you’re involved in is a winner’s game or a loser’s game. Gaining that understanding teaches you how you should play the game. You can read more about these ideas in this and . article by Charles Ellis this article from the FS blog Parallels to Software Engineering Now, what if we consider software engineering to be a loser’s game? That is to say, we often beat ourselves by committing unforced errors and making mistakes. If we are amateurs, so to speak, how can we keep the ball in play rather than hitting it into the net? It’s a simple thing to say, “If you want to be good, just stop making mistakes.” But that’s somewhat unhelpful. That’s like saying to those in poverty, “Why don’t you just stop being poor?” It’s also unhelpful if we take this analogy too far. If avoiding mistakes is the ultimate goal of software engineering, is the best software engineer the one who writes no code or does nothing? Obviously, no. Software engineers are paid to write code to help bring to life some product in order to achieve some vision (make the business money, solve a real-world problem, simplify a task, etc.), so that must be the real ultimate goal. So it appears that we must balance producing valuable output with avoiding mistakes. This leads to an interesting thought experiment: In what ways do we beat ourselves, and how can we avoid making these amateur mistakes? Unforced Errors Here’s a list of possible unforced errors we commit. I’m sure you may be able to add more to this list as well. Not understanding the problem before trying to code a solution Not understanding the tools or programming languages we use Not carefully reviewing our own code before asking for a code review Not manually testing our own code before asking for a code review Not writing unit tests Not following agreed-upon company standards Solving These Unforced Errors Now that we’ve identified some potential unforced errors, how do we avoid making them? For starters, we can put safeguards in place to help us catch and correct our mistakes before they become too costly. All code repos should be configured with code linters, code formatters, and a suite of automated tests. These safeguards can be run as part of a CI pipeline prior to allowing any code to be merged. We can also be more thorough in our own attention to detail when writing code. After creating a merge request, we should always do a self code review before asking others to review our code. We should always manually validate our changes as well. Nothing is more frustrating as a code reviewer than reviewing someone else’s code who clearly didn’t do these checks themselves. It wastes the code reviewer’s time when he has to catch simple mistakes like commented out code, bad formatting, failing unit tests, or broken functionality in the code. All of these mistakes can easily be caught by the code author or by a CI pipeline. When merge requests are frequently full of errors, it turns the code review process into a gatekeeping process in which a handful of more senior engineers serve as the gatekeepers. This is an unfavorable scenario that creates bottlenecks and slows down the team’s velocity. It also detracts from the higher purpose of code reviews, which is knowledge sharing. We can use checklists and merge request templates to serve as reminders to ourselves of things to double check. Have you reviewed your own code? Have you written unit tests? Have you updated any documentation as needed? For frontend code, have you validated your changes in each browser your company supports? Have you ensured that all user-facing text is translated? Have you ensured that the UI meets accessibility standards and guidelines? By performing these checks ourselves, aided by automated tools, we show an added measure of professionalism and respect for our coworkers. Trust will grow and velocity will increase. The key is to be diligent and disciplined. Conclusion Software engineering is a loser’s game. So let’s learn to play the game and stop losing to ourselves.

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Product School is where PMs discuss and navigate through hot topics in the Product world. Check out this discussion on how to handle feature requests 👀 community Erlend Valle Sep 14, 2021, 8:33 AM Hi everyone How do you handle feature requests? Customers are like kids in a candy store. They want everything, and they ask for it. It is our job as responsible parents (product managers) to say no. However, collectively all these (in many cases small) feature requests are data on what customers want. How are you able to zoom out from a long list of jira issues and extract something that will make an impact on your product? Methods, tools etc. Abdul Hannan Sep 14, 2021, 10:25 AM Hi Eric Lamendola, I totally agree with you that customers are like kids in a candy store. I personally like to gather the feature requests from the clients and analyze them. At times I find logical feature request which would result in better user experience. Most of these feature requests are part of the backlog or the on-going sprint(s). So I inform the customer of a tentative date if the feature is planned or let them know it is on the roadmap with a certain priority. Then come the feature requests that do not align with the product vision. I convey the same to the customers. At times, such tickets end up in the backlog when customer has a logical point how it solve the problem(s). This way everything is not part of the backlog and I avoid having a long list. And also I sit down with key stakeholders and sales to manage the priorities of the tickets in the backlog (new features). This help me in focus on what the market needs and will have a positive impact on the product. Erlend Valle Sep 14, 2021, 1:44 PM Thanks for your input Abdul Hannan, I think that is a very nice and clean process. What Im a bit curious about are those that are not aligned with product vision. At the moment. Over time there might be some opportunities hidden somewhere among these. The number of requests for a given feature, a number of separate feature requests that together may open a new opportunity, etc. How can one analyze this data to possibly find these opportunities? Abdulwaheed Alayande Sep 14, 2021, 1:46 PM Feature requests can be a nightmare if not properly managed. Our job is to listen to customers but that doesn’t mean we can build all what they want. We should strive to build the most impact features for them. One of the things I do that I find helpful is to use tools like , embed it in your product or emails - anyone that works for you. Ask your customers to drop feature requests and feedback. It is open to every other customers as well. They can vote on features that someone already raise. To help manage your time, you can have internal metrics - you will only check a request if n number of votes. So that way, you create time to focus on other deep work. Ideally before they ask important features, you would have spot that during one of your discoveries especially when doing opportunity mapping. I wish you all the best http://Canny.io Abdul Hannan Sep 14, 2021, 3:43 PM Erlend Valle I understand what makes you curious. Such feature requests lie in the grey area in terms of product vision. For such feature you can dicuss with all internal stake holder and make a combined decision on them as each stakeholder will bring a different point on the table. The features on which all stakeholders agree should be part of the product roadmap would require to be evaluated for impact and priority. For impact and priority evaluation I usually ask my Sales team and customer success team to provide me with the relevant customer/prospect feedback on those features. I at times talk to the customers myself to get the required information. I hope this helps you. Abdul Hannan Sep 14, 2021, 3:53 PM Also, I currently use data funnels (analytics) and visualize user data to see how a certain feature in the flow can help product usage or customer retention. That also help Monica dhiman Sep 15, 2021, 3:40 AM I usually weigh the list on two parameters i.e. how important a feature is and secondly is it feasible. Then determine low hanging fruits and come up with a roadmap. 👍 1 Erlend Valle Sep 15, 2021, 8:14 AM Thank you all for your input and tips. I totally agree that finding the requests that makes most impact are the ones that needs to be added to the roadmap. I will definitely checkout . Using such a tool together with analytics and the other inputs you have shared may help discover what that is. http://canny.io mark Sep 16, 2021, 3:16 AM is a great tool too http://ProductBoard.com

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What is Playwright? Playwright is a NodeJS library, created by Microsoft, which offers very similar features to Puppeteer. Both libraries allow you to automate actions within a browser. With Playwright, you can start or connect to a Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox browser and send commands back and forth. The protocol used for these messages is the DevTools protocol (for Chromium browsers) and a custom protocol for Firefox and WebKit browsers. The main advantage of using Playwright instead of Puppeteer is that Playwright supports multiple browser vendors, where as Puppeteer only supports Chromium based browsers. How can I use Playwright to do automated testing? One of the use-cases in using a browser automation framework, is to use it with a testing framework. Popular testing frameworks, such as and , already implement support for Playwright testing. Jest Mocha These test frameworks allow you to start or connect to a browser and perform the actions defined within your test cases. An important thing to keep in mind is that Playwright will run in a headless-mode by default. This means that the UI of the browser will not be visible to the user. While running your automated tests, you will not see the browser perform these actions. Headless mode is used to speed up the Playwright execution: it reduces CPU usage because no UI updates are required and improves the speed of total execution. What is Visual Regression Testing? Visual Regression Testing is used to prevent unintentional changes to an application's visual state. Let's say you have a website and you know how the page should look like. You instruct your test framework to take a screenshot of your pixel-perfect page, and tell the framework that the page should always look identical to the screenshot you just took. In a perfect world, your webpage will always look perfect to the end user, just like the screenshot you took. However, sometimes an update to your website, by a developer or someone else in your team, might cause a (visual) bug. This could be a DOM element missing on your page, or a CSS change that causes rendering issues, or any other bug resulting in an inferior experience to the website visitor. This is where the power of Visual Regression Testing shines: it will alert you when an unintended change occurs on your website and causes a visual bug. Visual Testing Libraries There are quite some libraries available online, open-sourced and other licensed visual comparison libraries, that help you to set up and perform regression testing. Popular libraries such as for Puppeteer, or provides developers and QA with powerful techniques to quickly, and easily, set up visual regression testing. BackstopJS Loki In the case of , Playwright Test provides a built-in feature to take, and visually compare, screenshots with Playwright. Playwright testing Visual Comparison Configure Visual Comparison Testing with Playwright Playwright contains a package called Playwright Test, which is built as an utility to run automated tests with Playwright. When you first run a test, Playwright Test will take a screenshot of the page, a baseline screenshot (or golden image), and save it in a folder. Subsequent tests will continue to take screenshots and match these, pixel-by-pixel, with the baseline screenshot. Let's say you saved your golden image as , a simple assertion would be to use this syntax: golden.png expect(await page.screenshot()).toMatchSnapshot('golden.png'); Where is an object provided by Playwright Test, trying to match the output of with the contents of . page page.screenshot() golden.png When a test fails, meaning the page has changed its contents, you will receive a test error, indicating the screenshot no longer matches the golden image. Internally, Playwright Test uses the library to compare screenshots for visual differences. pixelmatch It is possible to pass several options to this library, to fine-tune the comparison of images. The most important option is the option, which indicates the threshold amount of differences allowed between two images. threshold A full example of a test case using Visual Comparison Testing: // example.spec.js
const { test, expect } = require('@playwright/test');

test('example test', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto('https://testingbot.com');
  expect(await page.screenshot('.hero')).toMatchSnapshot('hero.png');
}); Comparing binary or text formats Next to visual comparison of images, Playwright Test is also capable of comparing texts and binary outputs. Let's say for example that you want to make sure your DOM element keeps using the same text content. A simple way to do this is to snapshot the contents of the DOM element and compare it in later runs with the golden snapshot: // example.spec.js
const { test, expect } = require('@playwright/test');

test('example test', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto('https://testingbot.com');
  expect(await page.textContent('.login')).toMatchSnapshot('login.txt');
}); Conclusion Playwright Test gives you a basic, but powerful way to (visually) compare webpages. Give it a try - more information available on the . Playwright Test Documentation page

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Today, technology is surprising the world by automating tasks that were once required human intervention. From online shopping to banking operations, everything is just a click away. However, digital platforms are vulnerable to fraud and attacks. ID verification solutions are the answer to these challenges. A Bit On Artificial Intelligence The simplest of all, artificial intelligence can be described as the intelligence of machines to do work that was once being performed by humans. It is leveraging robotic workflows and is dominating operations of various sectors. The demanding need of businesses in verifying the identity of their customers can be fulfilled by an AI-powered ID verification system. The core might seem difficult and complex but using the right type of tools and techniques can do wonders for businesses. AI uses devices and computer systems to perform multiple functions. idea of artificial intelligence Enterprises are spending a huge amount of their revenue on ID verification systems to make themselves compatible with today’s needs. An estimated will be spent on intelligent process automation (IPA) in 2021. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotic process automation (RPA) business operations are planning to spend 4 and 5.4 billion dollars respectively in the same year. However, AI and RPI corporate operations are expected to gain vital traction by the end of 2023. 10.9 billion Artificial Intelligence In Financial Infrastructure Digital payment is the area of FinTech that effectively deploys the services of AI. The significant applications of AI are being employed in fraud prevention, securing customers’ data, and many more. Digital payments that once were the dream of humans have now been realized with the birth of artificial intelligence. FinTech has revolutionized the market with artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, blockchain, and deep learning. Fintech trends expected to be worth 26.5 trillion US dollars in 2022 are definitely going to rule the world in the foreseeable future. AI integrated with Big Data (BD) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is vastly used by the financial industry to revamp ID verification processes. Payment Industry Making The Most Of AI-based ID Verification Mechanisms solutions have proven to be a paradigm shift by digitally saving the payments in banking and non-banking sectors, between business to business transactions and from businesses to customers, etc. AI-based ID verification AI usage is increasing because of the onset of machine learning, deep learning, big data, and the extended use of digital services. Realizing the requirements and advantages of using artificial intelligence, it is estimated that 8 out of 10 business entities in financial processing are employing artificial intelligence along with machine learning, deep learning, and big data processes. All of these advanced tools are efficiently being used in ID verification solutions to deter financial fraud. A highlighted that AI is directed to expand the GDP of financial services corporations by 10% by 2030, considering consumption in North America. report Recurring Payment Process And The Working Of AI Subscription-based businesses such as rentals, , insurance, and e-commerce are required to charge their customers on a recurring basis. These businesses need to have secure, encrypted, and prompt recurrent payment methods to receive subscriptions from their customers on a regular basis. SaaS The chances of fraudulent transactions, data theft, and payment fraud increase with recurring payment processes. With the help of AI-based ID verification solutions, the financial infrastructure has enhanced the digital security of transactions with end-to-end encryption and . transaction monitoring AI-driven recurrent payment processes with the help of subscription management software help subscription service providers and SaaS to leverage customers’ data to authenticate digital payments that eventually assist them to avoid various online frauds like chargebacks. AI models are enhancing the experience for the subscription retailers and users in recurrent payment processes with the help of subsequent elements: 1. Payment Optimization The set of artificial intelligence modules in any subscription software and payment processors aid the service providers and customers to optimize their payment processes. AI learns the behaviors, trends, and nature and on the basis of data, recommends the verified payments gateways that process the funds in secure, safe, and fraud-free ways. 2. Digital Transaction Monitoring The customers can be validated using an at the time of registration and to fulfill ongoing monitoring applications of AI in subscription software are employed to monitor end-to-end payment transactions. Not only it monitors the transactions but also aids in offering numerous services during the process. ID verification system AI systems can monitor the transaction from the point the message of the transaction hits the bank until it leaves the system. It monitors transactions at regular intervals and suggests offers like payment gateways, currencies, payment methods, and more. 3. Payment Adjustment Artificial intelligence can play a key role in recurring payment revenue through solicit management processes. Whenever the amount exceeds the credit card limit, AI partially declines the process instead of canceling it. Deep learning and money laundering modules then suggest the subscription providers retry payments when the AI indicates that there are enough funds to recover their recurring revenue. 4. Payment Validation Payment Account Validation (PAV) is the process of validating payment accounts with the use of before processing online payments. It is done to enhance digital security while offering a seamless flow of transactions. different ID verification mechanisms AI verifies the history of user information with the help of an ID verification software and if anything seems unsafe accessing the funds, it highlights the transaction as a suspicious activity that can later be clarified by the in-person interference. The Efficacy Of AI-powered ID Verification In Enhancing Digital Security Digital frauds and identity thefts can leave a huge impact on businesses and customers. Cybercriminals once steal the data from any means can use it in many ways. Therefore, retailers are using the following AI-powered ID verification solutions to reduce digital frauds: 1. Identity Thefts Customers’ identities can be protected by using that offer great speed and accuracy. Deploying ID verification systems integrated with AI discourages unauthorized identities to access genuine customers’ data. AI models Various ID verification measures use government-issued ID cards in real-time to verify the identity. Using documents in real-time makes it difficult for cybercriminals to commit crimes which ultimately drops down the probability of fraud. 2. Online Financial Frauds The financial sector has the urgent need to incorporate sophisticated ID verification measures to get rid of fraud. These ID verification solutions can help in detecting fraud and enhancing digital security. AI offers better data analysis techniques and examines the transaction accurately and precisely. It can also detect fraud instantly by incorporating sophisticated ID verification techniques which aid fraud analysts to do their job efficiently by reducing financial fraudulent activities. 3. Account Takeover (ATO) Artificial intelligence integrated with machine learning is helping businesses to minimize account takeover identity thefts. Account takeover is an identity fraud in which a fraudster illegally uses bots to get access to customers’ accounts. Account takeover can be used to make illicit transactions from legitimate user accounts. ID verification measures can be deployed by businesses to reduce account takeovers. Wrap up Integrated with deep learning and machine learning, AI is no less than a to provide them with a solution for recurring payment processes. Various identity thefts, account takeovers, and financial frauds can be dropped down by deploying AI-powered ID verification modules in the systems. blessing for financial sectors

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AI-Powered ID Verification: Guarding Digital Payment Gateways

This story is a part of Hacker Noon's ws. The series is intended for tech professionals contributing the most insightful Hacker Noon stories to share more about their writing habits, ideas, and professional background (and maybe a hobby or two). Meet the Writer series of intervie If you too would like to start contributing to Hacker Noon, . you can do so here So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests. Paul Bailey Profession: Aerospace Engineer by training but now I write and architect software for the web and space applications. Personal Interests: Kayaking, Biking, Triathlons, Running Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about? How to configure your Android phone to give up less of your personal data to big tech. I think we have given up of our personal privacy and there will be a wave of new products and ideas to take some of this lost privacy back. The story Paul is mentioning is: Have Your Privacy Cake on Android and Eat it Too Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about? I don’t usually write about any particular topic. I usually write about stuff that is particularly interesting to me at the moment or stuff that I have expertise in. And many times when I write about stuff I have knowledge in, the article is more for myself, so I remember how to do something in the future. Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?) Whatever inspires me, that’s when I write. So no routine normally. Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing? The biggest challenge is finding the time and making it a priority. Oftentimes, I’d rather be coding than writing, even though I know writing is very important too. What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career? Continue to grow my space startup, and personally I’ve just started a new side project I’ve launched recently, . I’m hoping to grow that project too. cognitivespace.com neutronsync.com Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice? I run a lot mainly so I can eat more pizza. And if I run more than 5 miles, I get a Dr Pepper too. Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it? Triathlons. Since, I work remotely, getting outside to run, bike, and swim became very important to my sanity. I then started to compete in triathlon events too. What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next? I’ve been meaning to write some articles about blockchains. I’ve recently written some blockchain software for the aerospace industry and think I have some unique takes on the subject. I also have some Kubernetes knowledge I need to make a brain dump on. Thanks for taking the time to join our “Meet the writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words? In software and generally in technical related fields often people like to dive deep into subjects. This is very good, but I have also acquired a wide amount of knowledge throughout my career. This is often overlooked because deep expertise is valued. We need more people that have a wide range of knowledge and can integrate several layers of a technical stack. So don’t forget to break out of your expertise sometimes and learn something totally different.

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On the Importance of Wide Range of Knowledge: Meet Paul Bailey, Systems Architect

There is a long story behind the development of online games. The traditional video games based on the platforms like XBOX One and PS4 have already generated billions of dollars with a huge number of players from all around the world. The variety of online gaming environments allow players to do different activities like buying, crafting, fighting, selling, holding online properties, etc. This multi-billion-dollar industry is incredibly surging in this world and it is the most profitable industry. Nowadays, gaming entertainment has integrated into the modern culture as the old age people are also familiar with the modern game how to play. A brief history: The birth of digital gaming was started on the commercial scale when Ralph Baer and his team released Brown Box (vacuum tube-circuit for gaming). After that, the era of arcade gaming started when the companies Sega and Taito released the games named Periscope and Crown Special Soccer for the wider community at that time. Around the 1980s, the video gaming industry felt the crash due to some reasons like scarcity of computer resources as the gaming companies were failed to produce devices to fulfill the growing demands, lack of the trained manpower, worst games, etc. In 1985, the video game home industry started to recover the NES improved 8-bit graphics, colors, sound, and gameplay over previous consoles which were failed to meet the expectations of the players. In 1995, the company named Sega released the first 32-bit console that was used to play games on a CD rather than cartridges and it was a huge step for online 3D gaming. The modern age of gaming started in 2005 and 2006 when Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s Playstation 3, and Nintendo’s Wii were there to introduce high-definition gaming & Xbox 360 has played a key role to maximize the online video game adoption rates in this world. After 2007, video games started to spread to the social media platforms like Facebook and mobile devices like iPhone, Nokia, etc. In addition, high-quality smartphones are started to available at the cheapest rate around 2015 and the smartphone-based gaming craze started to explode. In 2016, Sony released the powerful Playstation 4 Pro console that was capable of processing the 4K video output & it was another milestone for the gaming industry. Currently, so many companies are interested in virtual reality-based online gaming to give the best gaming experiences to the players. These are all about centralized gaming. So many improvements are being noticed in the gaming sector according to the pace of the modern advanced technology but the centralized gaming platforms still have the following notable downsides: All gaming activities of the players are being monitored by the gaming platforms operators. When you achieve something in the game, do you think you have really owned them? In reality, you still do not have full access to your achievements because the platform operators can suspend your gaming accounts. Centralized gaming platforms can be vulnerable to single-point failure due to hacking and another reason. Centralized storage systems and sometimes, scalability problems can be very costly especially when high traffic is observed in the network. Lack of employee loyalty can be another serious issue in the case of centralized gaming platforms because the frustrated employee can misuse the mass data to vent his frustrations. An Era of the Decentralized Blockchain Gaming: There were several shortcomings with the traditional gaming platforms so the concept of decentralized gaming was introduced along with the pace of blockchain technology development. Unlike the different traditional games, different in-game items that you earn on the blockchain games will be always with you as blockchain technology grants you indisputable ownership. In 2017, the first recognized Ethereum-blockchain-based game CryptoKitties was launched to start the new journey of the gaming industry. After its creation, there are already so many blockchain-based gaming platforms like , , , , , etc. So, what are the benefits of decentralized gaming? Well, they are also covered pointwise here: Upland The SandBox Axie Infinity OpenSea Decentraland You have indisputable and permanent ownership of the different in-game items or assets. Blockchain ensures the security and transparency of your data which will give you more confidence while playing the games. A decentralized system is a key beauty to give freedom to players. Blockchain technology is based on the distributed ledger so the connected decentralized nodes to a blockchain network form permanent storage for the decentralized gaming environments so the players can re-play the past games as the records are available in the blockchain for a long time. Blockchain games are entertaining and hence they have Investment & economic value. Some blockchain-based gaming platforms have introduced their own native assets to be owned while playing the games so the players can also make real money. So here are the benefits of blockchain gaming but everything has both pros and cons. Blockchain-based gaming cannot be the exception here so some shortcomings are as follows: There is no reverse operation in the blockchain-based platforms so once you initiate the transaction or the in-game operation, they will be final no matter you did them accidentally or not. Implementation of the features can be time-consuming and difficult as all the players of the blockchain-based gaming platforms have to upgrade their software to see the changes. Most of the blockchain networks are still facing scalability challenges so it can also affect the speed of blockchain-based gaming experiences. As the scalability and low throughput issue are becoming serious to the blockchain network, the cost for the different in-game operations is also increasing. If you locate the Ethereum blockchain network now, it is becoming more expensive every day. UX can be quite complicated for a non-technical person. So, these are the limitations what will be the next? How I See the Future of the Gaming World Humans by the nature, always seek freedom so decentralized gaming can be the best option in the future. In addition, high-quality chips are being built to produce high-quality smartphones and digital gadgets which are the plus points for the further developments of online gaming platforms. After a few years, virtual reality games, based on the advanced blockchain or superior technology than the blockchain can be the game-changer. The AI-enabled and photorealistic graphics can be seen in future gaming. As the players are growing every day, the gaming companies should also care to fulfill the growing demands. So according to the pace of the technology developers should try to figure out the direction of the development process. The games are not just the games, they play crucial roles to change the players’ lives if things are done correctly.

HackerNoon Tech Stories Archive September 20th, 2021

How to Explain Blockchain Gaming to Your Grandma

@itooamcraig
Craig Williams

Implementing Infinite Scroll with Vanilla JS: It's Easy as A.B.C & D

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TC Wang

Approaching AI Model Deployment the More Efficient Way

@modzy
Modzy

What is an RNN (Recurrent Neural Network) in Deep Learning?

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Davis David

Coding During Day, Writing During Night: Meet the Writer Branislav Đalić

@omodaka9375
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Life in Smart Cities: Your Walk in the Park isn't Private Anymore

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Hacking Quarterly Performance Reviews

@ternarywat
John

Adding the log component to an Angular application

@rodrigokamada
Rodrigo Kamada

How to Make an Animated Customer Feedback Component in React.JS

@parmeetsasija
Parmeet Singh Asija

The Importance of Getting the Point Across Without Diluting it: Meet the Writer Khamisi Hamisi

@khamisihamisi
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Public Relations 101 for Nonprofit Organizations

@techsoup
TechSoup

How to Build a Successful eLearning Platform Like Coursera or Udemy

@pinlearn
Pinlearn

Solving for Software Engineering's Unforced Errors

@thawkin3
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How to Handle Manage Feature Requests

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Visual Regression Testing with Playwright

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AI-Powered ID Verification: Guarding Digital Payment Gateways

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TaraCruz

On the Importance of Wide Range of Knowledge: Meet Paul Bailey, Systems Architect

@pizzapanther
Paul Bailey

The Decentralized Gaming Evolution

@induction
Vision NP

HackerNoon Tech Stories Archive September 20th, 2021

@itooamcraigCraig Williams

@tingchun0113TC Wang

@modzyModzy

@davisdavidDavis David

@omodaka9375Branislav Đalić

@sidrazafarSidra Zafar

@ternarywatJohn

@rodrigokamadaRodrigo Kamada

@parmeetsasijaParmeet Singh Asija

@khamisihamisiKhamisi Hamisi

@techsoupTechSoup

@pinlearnPinlearn

@thawkin3Tyler Hawkins

@productschoolProduct School

@headlesstestingJochen Delabie

@taracruzTaraCruz

@pizzapantherPaul Bailey

@inductionVision NP