I’ve been writing online for about 4 years now, and I’ve learned a bit about “SEO” - this blog and my (my side project being ) now have combined traffic of about 100k visits each month. I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who know a lot more about growing relevant organic traffic for businesses than I do, but I’ve become convinced of something that I’d like to run by you. side project’s blog Boot.dev Those claiming to be an “SEO” probably provide little marketing value First, let’s acknowledge that everyone uses job titles to mean different things. That said, I’ve heard someone claim to work as “an SEO” they consider their responsibilities to include: almost every time Recommending technical updates to improve search engine rankings Doing keyword research Distributing organic content to various media channels Finding or creating backlinks More importantly, they typically consider their responsibilities to include: do not Implementing technical updates to improve search engine rankings Doing product/market research to find keywords that are likely to convert users Writing blog content that will rank for target keywords Guest posting and adding value to various online communities to gain backlinks organically So when you hear me attacking the idea of an “SEO”, I’m referring to people who are willing to take on the responsibilities in the first list, but shy away from those in the second. Let’s talk about each one in a bit more detail. Recommending technical updates vs implementing technical updates Let’s get something straight, “technical SEO” is hard. Most web platforms take care of it for you, and if you’re even a little familiar with how the web works, you can learn about the most important 80% of it in just a few minutes. not Your site should: Load quickly and efficiently Work well on mobile and desktop Have a sitemap and an RSS feed Have a user-friendly menu structure Link internally to related content as appropriate Did I miss anything? Probably. But most other things are also not super important and would have a fairly negligible impact on your rankings, especially on a smaller site. The point I’m making is that most “SEOs” use the same stupid 15-item checklist, and will tell you which rules you’re breaking. Unfortunately for you, that’s about 2% of the work. Actually all those changes is where an “SEO” should add value - and some of them do, but many of them don’t. implementing Oftentimes this means knowing how to code, but sometimes it just means being intimately familiar with the web tools the site uses. Doing keyword research vs product/market research This one is a bit trickier - it’s probably best that product research is not the role of an SEO. Product research is a huge job, and a whole team can spend most of their time daily just talking to customers and devising plans for how to sell to them. In other words, your product marketing person (or team) probably needs to be the one deciding which clusters of keywords are valuable to your business. Your “SEO person” just isn’t going to have enough information to make those decisions. Trouble is, once those clusters are identified with accuracy, doing keyword research is one of the easiest jobs in the world. It’s as simple as pulling up SEMrush, Ahrefs, or even just Google Keyword Planner and looking for related keywords with a good ratio between monthly traffic, ranking difficulty, and relevance to your business. So what should you do? It’s actually quite simple, you should take your internal product/marketing team and spend the 15 minutes required to teach them how to do keyword research. They will quickly be creating high-quality lists of keywords for your content writers to target that are more relevant that anything a dedicated “SEO” would come up with. Creating organic content If an “SEO” does the single most important task for increasing relevant traffic, that is, writing (or outlining) great articles that answer the questions of your customers, then I have nothing to complain about. The problem is that too many SEOs claim to “specialize” in “SEO”, and they consider writing content out of the scope of their work. They want to put together some high-level plan, then dump a list of keywords on the marketing team. This is a inefficient way to go about gaining organic traffic. very In my opinion, the best SEO marketers will frequently write and edit content themselves, if for no other reason than to figure out what is working and what isn’t. They can then scale up the operation by creating a content schedule for a team of writers. Distributing content Content distribution requires no special skills - it can often be automated. By “as a task” I mean the actual work involved with going to various online communities, influencers, or publishers and informing them of your new content. as a task On the other hand, putting together a plan and then executing that plan efficiently via a well-documented workflow does take some experience. Knowing which communities will be interested in your content, and putting together a repeatable plan to effectively reach those people isn’t a walk in the park. It takes serious customer research. Again, we run into the problem of the average SEO not being an expert on the product personas being targeted. A good “SEO” is just a good marketer at the end of the day, and in order to be successful, they need to have a deep understanding of the people they are trying to reach. If they do, they will likely do a great job distributing content. Growing a backlink profile In the early days of search engines, what mattered most was keyword density. You would essentially just use the keyword you want to rank for liberally in your web pages and would rank well. Ever since Google’s groundbreaking algorithm was released, the number (and quality) of other websites that link to your webpage matters a lot more. These days, it’s even more involved than that. Thankfully, Google uses page experience metrics as well. very very Pagerank So at the end of the day, it’s simple, there are 3 main things to make sure you have covered if you want to rank. Your page answers the search intent of the keyword you’re targeting (provide value, don’t stuff keywords) Your page does a great job delivering that value by being in-depth and having a great user experience Other pages on the internet link to you to as an additional signal that you are providing value If you lurk in like I do sometimes, you’ll see the same question frequently asked, “how do I get backlinks to my content”? Most people in the industry refer to this kind of backlink building as “offsite SEO”, and most people will tell you there are 2 main ways to do it. /r/seo Cold emailing website owners and asking/paying for links. Guest posting on other people’s websites and sneaking in links back to your site. I’m convinced that both of these approaches . suck I’ve never actually cold emailed anyone to ask them to include a link to my website, but I have ignored 100% of the requests I get from others, and I get a lot of requests. I’ve also watched hundreds of people in several online SEO communities complain that cold outreach has an insanely low success rate. As far as guest posting goes, I don’t think it’s a terrible approach, but I still think it’s less efficient than what I’ve been doing. What I do: Make no special effort to get backlinks I’ve had much greater success focusing on “onsite SEO” and content distribution. What I mean is, instead of wasting my time cold DMing and emailing people to link to a shitty article, I just do my best to write great articles. Then, if the article is good, and I’m doing a decent job of distributing it to communities that actually give a shit about the topic, then people in that community will link to it. If they don’t like it, they won’t, and I need to write something better. completely SEO is a great growth channel, just be careful who you work with SEO has been a great growth channel for my side project, . It allows me to inexpensively find customers who are interested in what I’m building consistently over time. I’m knocking SEO as a growth channel, I’m knocking some bad (or maybe just outdated) industry practices that can harm businesses if they aren’t familiar with the space. Boot.dev not To sum up, if your “SEO person” believes their entire role is just to tell other people what they need to implement, create, distribute, or pay for in order to rank, they probably aren’t a great SEO person. On the other hand, if they optimize your site personally, write great content and share it to relevant channels, they might be worth their salt. © 2022 | | Lane Wagner Github Twitter

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UK ISP Sky Broadband is monitoring the IP addresses of servers suspected of streaming pirated content to subscribers and supplying that data to an anti-piracy company working with the Premier League. That inside knowledge is then processed and used to create blocklists used by the country's leading ISPs, to prevent subscribers from watching pirated events. High Court injunctions that order ISPs to block certain websites deemed to be infringing have been in existence for around a decade in the UK. Obtained by entertainment industry companies, largely in the movie, TV and music sector, traditional orders target torrent, streaming and file-hosting platform websites, with ISPs taking measures to prevent subscribers from accessing them by ordinary means. More recently, sports companies such as The Premier League, Matchroom Boxing, and Queensbury Promotions have obtained injunctions to block live sports broadcast by unlicensed streaming providers, mostly IPTV services. While the aims of these injunctions are broadly similar, blocking pirated IPTV broadcasts is a more complex affair since the targeted servers and systems are less static than traditional websites. Nevertheless, the anti-piracy vendors involved in these projects enjoy a level of success but how they actually achieve this is largely shrouded in mystery. Today we can reveal one interesting aspect that has been hinted at previously but never fully explored – the cooperation of at least one major ISP in the UK. Court Documents Provide a General Background As far back as 2017, there were that despite being defendants in blocking injunction legal action, one or more ISPs actively helped the sports company applicants in their quest to have pirate streams blocked in the UK. indications Then, two years ago, we made by Friend MTS, a UK-based anti-piracy company that works with the Premier League and ISPs, which also confirmed a level of ISP cooperation. reported on comments However, limited information made available as part of a blocking injunction obtained by UEFA in 2020 put even more meat on the bones, suggesting that Sky had been accessing pirate servers. monitoring the traffic of subscribers Codename: RedBeard In recent weeks, an anonymous source shared a small trove of information relating to the systems used to find, positively identity, and then ultimately block pirate streams at ISPs. According to the documents, the module related to the Premier League work is codenamed ‘RedBeard’. The activity appears to start during the week football matches or PPV events take place. A set of scripts at anti-piracy company Friend MTS are tasked with producing lists of IP addresses that are suspected of being connected to copyright infringement. These addresses are subsequently dumped to and the data is used by ISPs to block access to infringing video streams, the documents indicate. Amazon S3 buckets During actual event scanning, content is either manually or fingerprint matched, with IP addresses extracted from DNS information related to hostnames in media URLs, load balancers, and servers hosting Electronic Program Guides (EPG), all of which are used by unlicensed IPTV services. Confirmed: Sky is Supplying Traffic Data to Assist IPTV Blocking The big question then is how the Premier League’s anti-piracy partner discovers the initial server IP addresses that it subsequently puts forward for ISP blocking. According to documents reviewed by TF, information comes from three sources – the anti-piracy company’s regular monitoring (which identifies IP addresses and their /24 range), manually entered IP addresses (IP addresses and ports), and a third, potentially more intriguing source – ISPs themselves. “ISPs provide lists of Top Talker IP addresses, these are the IP addresses that they see on their network which many consumers are receiving a large sum of bandwidth from,” one of the documents reveals. “The IP addresses are the uploading IP address which host information which the ISP’s customers are downloading information from. They are not the IP addresses of the ISP’s customer’s home internet connections.” The document revealing this information is not dated but other documents in the batch reference dates in 2021. At the time of publishing date, the document indicates that ISP cooperation is currently limited to Sky Broadband only. TorrentFreak asked Friend MTS if that remains the case or whether additional ISPs are now involved. “While the details of our content protection technology engagements with our customers are strictly confidential, we can confirm that neither Sky nor any other ISP provides Friend MTS with any customer data, and they never have done so,” a spokesperson said. It appears that instead of monitoring customer IP addresses, Sky is compiling data on which IP addresses subscribers are pulling most data from during (and potentially before) match or event times. Sky then uploads the highest-trafficked IP addresses along with the port the traffic is streamed on to the S3 bucket mentioned above, every five minutes. It is then accessed by the anti-piracy company which, every five minutes, extracts the IP, bandwidth rate, and the port number that bandwidth is on. At the time of the document’s publication, the Sky ‘Top Talker’ threshold for the Premier League’s ‘RedBeard’ module was 100mbps. The IP address information provided by the ISP that exceeds this limit then appears to be cross-referenced by IP address and port number with data obtained during game week scanning at Friend MTS. It is then processed accordingly. Sky Today, More ISPs Tomorrow? While the documents indicate that ISPs (plural) provide ‘Top Talker’ IP address lists, as far as we can see only Sky is cooperating at the moment. However, the Premier League is reportedly seeking cooperation from additional ISPs too. This would prove obviously helpful in identifying potential ‘pirate’ servers and infrastructure so they can be tested and subjected to blocking, when appropriate. In summary, it appears that Sky subscribers aren’t being directly monitored per se, but the servers they draw most bandwidth from are being noted by Sky and that data is being forwarded for anti-piracy enforcement. This means that Sky subscribers’ piracy habits are directly providing information to support Premier League, Matchroom Boxing, and Queensbury Promotions blocking efforts. Whether that will affect IPTV providers’ attitudes towards Sky customers moving forward remains a question. Previously published here.

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Engineers, imagine this scenario. Your colleague on the product team sends you a Slack message on a Monday morning. “Hey!” She says, “We just got a new vendor through procurement.” The words begin to tie a knot in your stomach, as if your partner just texted you saying “we need to talk.” At the bottom of the chat window Slack tells you your colleague . and the knot tightens. “It’s an analytics platform that will give us more visibility into user journeys,” her message says. “Do you think we can have it integrated on Web, iOS and Android by the end of the month?” is typing... You know your colleague is just doing her job. After all, the product folks do need to see where users are getting stuck in the new onboarding flow, and this tool should help them out. But you dread what this means for you and your fellow developers. The last time you had to implement a vendor SDK, it was like finding your way out of a cluttered room while wearing a blindfold. You cringe at the thought of once again having to piece together the mental model behind a new API and tie this system into your own codebase without breaking anything, all the while thinking I still have to build that new feature, and this integration is getting in my way. This situation is one with which engineers at mParticle are intimately familiar. While these days our developers build rather than implement SDKs, many of our engineers know what it’s like to be on the other side of the table singing the “New SDK Blues.” It’s this first-hand experience that drove us to make our latest investment in the mParticle developer experience: fully-functioning sample eCommerce applications for , , and , implemented end-to-end with our SDKs. Web iOS Android These apps provide you with a playground for experimenting with our SDK, and learning how event collection works with mParticle. They highlight working examples of our events implemented on common user actions like page views, product customizations, add/remove from cart buttons, and checkout buttons, among others. In many cases, you may find that you’re able to copy these events directly into your own application, and only make light modifications to meet the needs of your specific use case. In the video below, Alex Sapountzis and Peter Jenkins, the mParticle engineers who headed up the Web and iOS sample app development respectively, discuss their own experiences implementing vendor SDKs and why they developed the sample apps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hYc9qalrXQ “We want to quickly give you a mental map of what happens both in your app and our system when you implement mParticle, without requiring you to go through a lot of trial and error,” says Matt Bernier, Senior Product Manager of Developer Experience at mParticle. “Since these apps  show you our SDKs running in exactly the context you’re looking for, there’s no guesswork. This means you can finish your implementation and move on to the next project more quickly.” Looking Under the Hood of the Sample Apps If you’re an mParticle customer, you can see these apps in action and refer to the code directly as you learn more about our process of building them. Here’s how you can run the app locally: Note: You’ll need access to an mParticle workspace to generate an API key. Clone the . sample apps repo Install package dependencies using npm install. Navigate to Setup > Inputs in your mParticle workspace. Select the Web platform, and generate/copy your API key. In the root of this project, rename to .env.sample .env. Update the REACT_APP_MPARTICLE_API_KEY environment variable with your mParticle Web API Key. Run the project using npm start. Not currently an mParticle customer? Our is an opportunity for qualified startups to receive up to one year of complimentary access to mParticle. Accelerator Program Not too DRY: How we Showcased our SDK by Keeping Application Code Simple Above all else, the sample apps team wanted these products to serve as teaching tools for engineers to learn our SDKs and understand best practices for implementing event collection with mParticle. This objective informed many of the technical choices behind the sample apps, from the tools and frameworks used to build them, to the coding conventions used throughout the projects. Relatability was the main reason why Alex Sapountzis decided to use React as the framework in which to build the web sample app. React is the in the world, and is used to build applications ranging from eCommerce sites to streaming platforms. most popular frontend framework It’s therefore a safe bet that most web developers who would be implementing the mParticle Web SDK would not have to learn React before being able to get value out of this sample app. When it came to deciding on the React design patterns to use, Alex tried to strike a balance by favoring relatively new ‘built-in’ features, such as React Hooks and Context Providers versus Redux, a third-party library which is a widely-known standard architecture, but can be very overwhelming and complex to ultimately deliver a clearer learning experience to the user. For example, using has been a trend within the React community for quite some time. Using these entails creating your own functions that leverage common React hooks for the purpose of sharing stateful logic between components. custom hooks Alex felt that using this approach in the sample apps would have gotten in the way of understanding how our SDK is working, and for this reason he opted to stick with using vanilla hooks like useEffect. “If I was building this as a package that someone would use in their project I may have done things a little differently,” Alex says, “but being that this is an educational tool, I didn’t want someone to have to worry about what React is doing––I wanted them to see what mParticle is doing in a React app.” Exploring the components of the web app, you’ll see several examples in which is used to both collect the attributes that will be forwarded with mParticle events, and fire off the events themselves. Here is one such usage of on the component: useEffect useEffect ProductDetailPage useEffect(() => {
        // Generates a Product View Detail Event to signal that a customer
        // viewed the product details, potentially leading to an 'Add to Cart' Event
        if (product) {
            // Generate an mParticle Product Object before sending any eCommerce Events
            const mParticleProduct: mParticle.Product = getMPProduct(product);

            // Fire a single eCommerce Product View Detail Event for this product page
            mParticle.eCommerce.logProductAction(
                mParticle.ProductActionType.ViewDetail,
                mParticleProduct,
            );
        }

        // If you re-render and the product changes,
        // this will re-fire a new Product View Detail Event
    }, [product]); Using the vanilla React hook in instances like this makes it much easier to understand the mParticle SDK than if this logic were packaged into separate functions throughout different modules. Also, you may notice that this is a rather comment-heavy code sample. The sample app developers took the time to clearly comment the code surrounding the use of our SDK––both where event calls take place, and throughout the logic that supports event collection. Here’s another example from the same component showing how comments help give you the complete context of how to use our SDK in real life scenarios, and leave nothing up to guesswork: // It is recommended to use mParticle.createProduct when using our
    // eCommerce logging functions to generate events so that you can
    // be sure to include all of our data points properly
    const getMPProduct = (_product: Product): mParticle.Product => {
        const { label, id, price } = _product;

        // When passing attributes into mParticle, it's best to not include
        // undefined or null values
        const attributes: mParticle.SDKEventAttrs = {};

        if (color) {
            attributes.color = color;
        }

        if (size) {
            attributes.size = size;
        }

        // In this example we are not fulling handling multiple brands,
        // categories and other use cases for a fully fledged e-Commerce
        // application. As such, we are passing undefined for many of these
        // attributes to highlight cases where you want may need some
        // parameters but not all of them.
        return mParticle.eCommerce.createProduct(
            label,
            id,
            price,
            parseInt(quantity, 10),
            undefined, // Variant: used for single variants.
            // Use Custom ATtributes for multiple variants like
            // in this use case
            undefined, // Category
            undefined, // Brand
            undefined, // Position
            undefined, // Coupon Code
            attributes,
        );
    }; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zbW4X8Oyg0 Dogfooding Our Own SDKs and Features and Leveraging Our Own Products While the primary purpose of these sample apps is to help our customers easily implement our SDK and realize value from their data, we have also seen great internal value from these apps as a means of testing and improving––or “dogfooding”––our own SDKs and customer-facing features. Bug Hunting in the Wilds of TypeScript For example, building the web sample app allowed us to uncover some edge cases that arise when using our core web SDK within a React project with TypeScript as an npm package. In some cases, the interplay between these three particular technologies resulted in a race condition in which our SDK wouldn’t always be initialized when an event was called. While our core SDK already contained logic to deal with this, certain code within React’s packages broke these checks and caused an unusual cascade to occur. After noticing this issue, Alex went on a bug hunt with fellow JavaScript API guru Rob Ing. The two bushwhacked through the stack trace, fixed the issue, and released patches to our core SDK. Using Our Own Data Planning Features Inconsistencies at the data collection stage are one of the biggest causes of further down the pipeline. data quality issues mParticle’s data planning tools and features are designed to help engineers and other data stakeholders align on a data plan, implement this plan accurately, and identify errors in real time. When we built these sample apps, we wanted to practice what we preach by using our own to maintain consistency with how events and attributes are named, structured, and collected across these three platforms. data planning tools Our engineers and PMs set up a dedicated mParticle workspace for the sample apps project, and used our user interface to create and generate data plans. Once the events were implemented in all three apps and we were sending events from the SDKs to mParticle, we used Live Stream to check for misalignments between collected and expected data, and Live Stream’s error messaging to easily track down the source of the errors. Using these features made the process of creating data plans, implementing event collection, and ensuring cross-platform consistency much smoother. Our own data planning features were a significant help in the creation of the sample apps, and we plan to continue using the sample apps to test and improve our data planning features. What Does the Future Hold? By reducing the learning curve with our SDK, speeding up the implementation time, and decreasing the time-to-value of your data, these sample apps can deliver far-reaching value to engineering teams working with mParticle. The fact that we’ve shipped our MLP (“Minimum Loveable Project,” a term our PM Matt Bernier has coined) marks the beginning, not the end, of our work on improving these resources. “I think this is definitely something that we’re going to continue to invest in and improve over time,” says Peter Jenkins, “from adding additional comments to always keeping it up to date with changes we make to the SDK.” Additionally, we also intend to continue using these apps as a means of testing and improving not only our SDK and API features, but our entire suite of products and features. In forthcoming iterations of the web sample app, for instance, we plan to integrate our developer tools including and . In other words, these sample apps will be, as Peter Jenkins puts it, “An evergreen source of documentation for exactly how to use our SDK that you can actually run.” Smartype Linting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z02F77Yfs_E Previously published here.

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It always sucks when a game you’ve been waiting for is delayed for months or even a year. However, it beats the alternative of releasing a broken, buggy mess. Eventually, the game could get better, but at that point, you realize the game should’ve been delayed altogether. That’s why it’s understandable when games get pushed back, but that still doesn’t stop the sting of disappointment. And, unfortunately, there’s plenty of sting waiting for you in this article. Here are 3 highly-anticipated games that have been delayed to 2023. Games That Have Been Delayed to 2023 Starfield The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Untitled Sequel Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League 1. Starfield https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYqyVpCV-3c This Bethesda game was only as being delayed. It’s not the only Bethesda game that was pushed back either. In the same announcement post, the company revealed that would also be delayed. recently announced Redfall Both games are now slated to release during the “first half of 2023”, according to the company’s Twitter post. This new window isn’t that far away from Starfield’s original release date of November 11, 2022. So, while Starfield is being pushed back, it could’ve been much worse. If the game stayed the course and had been released when it originally intended to, it could’ve been worse than worse. Jason Schreier, a video game journalist, that he talked to some of the people working on Starfield. And this is what he said: tweeted out “Last spring before E3, I spoke to some folks on Starfield who were extremely worried about committing to an 11-11-22 date based on the progress they’d made so far. (“Next Cyberpunk” was the term floated.) Good on Bethesda for delaying even after announcing that specific date.” Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, also about the delay of these Microsoft-exclusive games. Just last year, , the parent company of Bethesda. commented on Twitter Microsoft acquired Zenimax Media So, it looks like fans will have to wait a little while longer to play Starfield. They should take solace in the fact, however, that the game will be available on . Xbox Game Pass at launch What is Starfield? And while fans are excited about a new Bethesda game, we still don’t know a whole much about it; although there are quite a few interesting pieces of information. We know that Starfield is set to take place in outer space, and it’s a role-playing game. We know both of these from the game’s . Starfield’s website also says that this will be Bethesda’s “first new universe in 25 years.” official website The game takes place in 2330, according to the . The video has plenty of information on the game, such as the fact that Starfield takes place after a huge war. Starfield - The Settled Systems video Another tidbit of information is that the player will play as a new member of the Constellation; they’re described as the “ .” last group of space explorers Being a space explorer in a universe created by Bethesda sounds exciting, and we can’t wait to see what Starfield has to offer in 2023. 2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Untitled Sequel Another game that fans are hyped to death about is the upcoming Legend of Zelda game. It will be the sequel to 2017’s . Similar to Starfield, we don’t know too much about it. But we do know this, it has officially been delayed to 2023. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild This game didn’t have a specific release date; the only said it would come out in the year 2022. Then, in March of this year, it was announced that the game would be pushed back to Spring 2023. teaser https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_vgseuw_o8 In the release date update video, they also showed more of the game and gave more information about it. A big aspect of it will be the ability to traverse the sky. For example, we see Link falling from the sky, and we can see him gliding to what look like floating islands. Details on the story are pretty scarce, so fans of the series will have to wait and see what happens with Link and Zelda. With how long it’s been since Breath of the Wild, this sequel is one of the most anticipated games that have been delayed until 2023. 3. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsQ3Js4wYI4 Speaking of waiting long, fans have been itching to see what developer, Rocksteady Studios, has been cooking up for the last few years. Their last game was , which was released back in 2017. Batman: Arkham VR Rocksteady Studios tackled Batman’s story, now they’ll focus on the Suicide Squad in this upcoming game. The Suicide Squad is a team of criminals who are forced to do missions for the U.S. government to get time off their prison sentences. This variation of the team includes Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang. They’re tasked with killing the Brainiac-controlled Justice League which consists of Superman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and more. While this all sounds fun and exciting, we won’t be able to play the game until next year. Originally slated for a 2022 release, Co-founder and Creative Director of Rocksteady Studios, Sefton Hills, that the game would be pushed to Spring of 2023. announced on Twitter Fans may be disappointed that these 3 games have been delayed to 2023, but it’s better than being disappointed with the final product. The upside is that 2023 looks like it’s going to be a great year for video game fans. 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Lately, I’ve caught myself using lists and arrays interchangeably. Specifically thinking of Python, both seem similar. Even dictionaries at least accomplish the same goal of storing information in a structure you can iterate through. But there’s also a list of differences between them. So that’s what this article will talk about today. First, we’ll describe arrays, lists, and dictionaries, then finally we’ll use a brief comparison of the differences between the three. The only comparison we won’t make is with the syntax, as it is a given that they would need to have different syntaxes to work. So, without any further delay, let’s dive straight in. Arrays An array is a special type of variable that can hold more than one value at a time. To do this, it creates a form of a list, where you can iterate through all the different values. To sort through this type, there are indexes. An index simply assigns a number (starting at zero) that gives the array a kind of predetermined order based on when values are added. You can sort it later though with a method. You can also add and remove later. sort The only thing about arrays in Python you should keep in mind is that the Array type isn’t automatically a data type you can use. You must import the array type. But because an array assigns an index, duplicate values are allowed to be added to this type. Lists A list is a data type that allows the storage of multiple values, or items, in one variable. It is automatically a data type in Python, so you can begin using it whenever you want. The lists are ordered by when they are entered into the list, but that can be changed later. Lists are also indexed, starting at zero, and counting so you can iterate through the list. Because the implicit index is given to each value, you can have duplicate values within the list. You can sort the list with the sort method as well. One unique capability of a list is that it can contain values of different types. That means you can store values such as strings and integers within the same list. Dictionaries A dictionary is another data type that allows you to store multiple values into a single data type. The same as the other two types discussed, dictionaries have a predetermined order of items based on when they are added to the variable. However, one big difference between the dictionary data type is that it does not use an index. Instead, values are stored in a key-value pair. When thinking about , it looks more like what a record in a database would do. Every value is prefaced with the type of value it is. This data type also enforces that there cannot be duplicate values. key:value Arrays Vs. Lists Vs. Dictionaries Now that we know a little bit more about each data type, let’s look at some of the differences between them. Firstly, as discussed earlier, to use an array you must import a special module. For both lists and dictionaries, you can use the data types as just a regular extension of Python, nothing special to do there. In an array, all data types must have the same values. For example, if you start with strings, even an integer would need to be in a string format, as all values must be the same data type. In the list, there can be different data types for the values. Dictionaries have the key feature, so the actual value does not matter as much as matching the keys between values. Both arrays and lists use indexes to differentiate the values stored in some order. But a dictionary uses a instead. This means that arrays and lists can allow duplicate values, which dictionaries do not. These indexes also cause be used as their order, so you can reverse the order with the “reverse” method in both arrays and lists. key:value A dictionary doesn’t have a reverse method, as it has keys with the values instead of an index. One other note is that a dictionary does not guarantee that the order of entered information will always stay the same. That is unlike arrays and lists, which maintain their order because they are numbered by the indexes. Arrays can also be used to directly handle arithmetic operations. It is the only data type to handle the operations so directly. Others can have mathematics performed on the data, but it is not as direct as with an array. With a list, you don’t have to iterate through every value to print. You can just print the entire list at once. That’s unlike an array, where you would need to iterate through the values. You would also need to loop through a dictionary. Otherwise, you could create a temporary list of the dictionary values, then print them at once. But without creating extra work, you would need to loop through the values like you would for an array. The final element we’ll look at is the memory involved. So, lists tend to consume more memory, as they’re made to have easier adding and removing from the list. Because of this, they also prefer shorter sequences of data. For arrays, they are built to hold longer sequences of data, so they tend to be more compact. Dictionaries are made to store large amounts of data, but could also eat up more memory than you want them to, and they may run out of their allotted memory. Conclusion This has just been a brief look at lists, arrays, and dictionaries. Although they all hold multiple values in a single variable, they are all different as well. All we discussed is only looking at the Pythonic versions of these data types. Mainly, the article was to just take a chance to remember why the data types are so different, and even a little of why to choose one over the other by remembering their capabilities. We just didn’t look at the differences in syntax, mainly because we understand they all must be different to exist. In Python, you may be considering mainly either lists or dictionaries, depending on the type of data you’re storing, simply because an array would take a special import to work. However, each of these data types has its perks and reasons why to be selected. I hope you found this reminder interesting, and please feel free to comment on any differences I missed. Until next time, cheers! Also published . here

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What is the Difference Between Arrays, Lists, and Dictionaries in Python? 

Welcome to ’s Writing Prompts! Would you like to take a stab at answering some of these questions? HackerNoon The link for the template is HERE. What cryptocurrencies have you most recently purchased? And why? Pro Tip: You can . add these cryptocurrencies as a disclosure on your HackerNoon about page None. But I would only advise the bitcoin strategy in my book to anybody who is not a professional investor or trader. It is not about the coin, it is all about the strategy What cryptocurrencies have you most recently sold? And why? Same answer; none. When you have a strategy and you follow the crypto cycles, individual events do not faze you. What percentage of your wealth do you invest in cryptocurrencies? And how did you determine that percentage? Typically, less than 10%. Crypto is something I have little control over. I have to follow the cycle to determine when to buy and sell. So, a large part of my financial life has to happen within those cycles. Hence, the less dependent on them I am, the better. Which cryptocurrency/ies do you think has/have the most long-term utility value? And why? Bitcoin. There are other promising cryptocurrencies, but only bitcoin is certain to stand the test of time. Things can change for other crypto projects in the near future but as it currently stands, every other cryptocurrency is subject to massive unfavorable changes What is the most money you’ve made on a cryptocurrency? Which coin when? Bitcoin. Late 2020 and mid-2019. 3X to 5X return. What is the most money you’ve lost on a cryptocurrency? Which coin when? In 2018. Ethereum and ncash How would you describe your investment thesis? Dollar-cost averaging and rebalancing technique following the 4 phases of the crypto cycle. More about that in my book - cryptoinvestbook.com Lastly, do you have a hot cryptocurrency tip to share with the HackerNoon community? Yes. This is not the bottom of the crypto market yet. (Bitcoin is around $29k as of writing). Crypto bears are always like this. It goes without saying, but please (do your own research). #DYOR Would you like to take a stab at answering some of these questions? The link for the template is HERE.

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When it comes to data management, the data lifecycle (also known as the information lifecycle) refers to the full-time period during which data is present in the system. This lifecycle includes all the stages your data goes through from the time it is first captured to the time it is deleted from your servers. . During this phase, you obtain information in a variety of ways; you may generate data from data entry, acquire existing data from other sources, or receive data from devices. This stage essentially refers to the point when data first enters your system, regardless of how it was obtained. The first stage is data creation Second, data processing is carried out, which entails data cleansing and the preparation of raw data for later analysis. The data is normally reformatted, summarized, and then validated in order for it to be usable. The data is often analysed during the third stage of the data lifecycle, which is the most important stage of the process. In this stage, a great deal of data analysis, such as statistical analysis, data modelling, and the use of artificial intelligence may be performed on the data. When we speak of the fourth step, we are referring to the exchange and publication of data. The findings of the analysis are obtained, and we may be able to make forecasts and make business decisions based on the information obtained from the results. As soon as all of the decisions have been made in the last stage, the data is archived for future reference, which is referred to as archiving. In an organization, refers to the process, rules, and procedures that are used to manage business data throughout the organization's lifecycle, from creation through retirement. data lifecycle management What Are Public Keys in a Data Lifecycle? are a type of identifier that can be used to distinguish between entities in different systems. This is not comprehensible simply using the definition of the term. So, let us use a scenario as an example. Public keys Consider the case of a person who is a citizen of a foreign country. He possesses a large number of documents, including his driving licence, password, and other identification cards. All of those have a picture of him on them. One day, he is pulled over for speeding and is taken into custody. He now has a photograph that is included in the criminal database as well. Now, all of those photographs have different properties that have been allocated to them, such as the DL Number for a driving licence or the __ __for a criminal database, and these IDs are utilized throughout the system to identify the images or the person. ID These IDs may be used by a user to gain access to information through the public system, which is why they are referred to as public keys. These public keys are particularly distinct, may have a variety of characteristics, and may be stored in a variety of formats, whereas their generation, such as the DL number, may have StateCode-Year-Date-Unique number in their public keys as the dynamic structure allows keys to be stored in a variety of formats and they can be generated in vast quantities. Benefits of Using Public Keys in Data Lifecycle Management When we establish or design a public key structure for data lifecycle management, we often gain a number of benefits. The structure only needs to be developed and tested for one application, and if it is successful, it may be readily implemented or added to another. As long as the capability for accessing and preserving the data is established once, the time to market inside the business is reduced significantly. The use of public keys in conjunction with __ __and validity allows for the creation of a complete lifecycle for an entity, which improves troubleshooting, error-correction, audit-ability, and other aspects of the entity's operation. versioning If there is an error that needs to be corrected, it is simple to fix it by updating the link between the public key and the entity object. The whole history will be available to us, and troubleshooting will be simpler: after all, the incorrect public key was used for the object at some point in time—it may have been used in interfaces, for example. Conclusion When dealing with large amounts of data, the use of public keys becomes necessary since public keys aid in the tracking down of data, its attributes, and the history of the data. It is necessary when we need to look for information on a specific attribute. Since these public keys may describe the same properties in multiple systems, and because the public key types and features may differ per instance, it is recommended that maintenance be performed on a per instance basis.

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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Chapter X - The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor

Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens is part of HackerNoon’s Book Blog Post series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here. Chapter IV. I fully expected to find a Constable in the kitchen, waiting to take me up. But not only was there no Constable there, but no discovery had yet been made of the robbery. Mrs. Joe was prodigiously busy in getting the house ready for the festivities of the day, and Joe had been put upon the kitchen doorstep to keep him out of the dust-pan,—an article into which his destiny always led him, sooner or later, when my sister was vigorously reaping the floors of her establishment. “And where the deuce ha’ you been?” was Mrs. Joe’s Christmas salutation, when I and my conscience showed ourselves. I said I had been down to hear the Carols. “Ah! well!” observed Mrs. Joe. “You might ha’ done worse.” Not a doubt of that I thought. “Perhaps if I warn’t a blacksmith’s wife, and (what’s the same thing) a slave with her apron never off, I should have been to hear the Carols,” said Mrs. Joe. “I’m rather partial to Carols, myself, and that’s the best of reasons for my never hearing any.” Joe, who had ventured into the kitchen after me as the dustpan had retired before us, drew the back of his hand across his nose with a conciliatory air, when Mrs. Joe darted a look at him, and, when her eyes were withdrawn, secretly crossed his two forefingers, and exhibited them to me, as our token that Mrs. Joe was in a cross temper. This was so much her normal state, that Joe and I would often, for weeks together, be, as to our fingers, like monumental Crusaders as to their legs. We were to have a superb dinner, consisting of a leg of pickled pork and greens, and a pair of roast stuffed fowls. A handsome mince-pie had been made yesterday morning (which accounted for the mincemeat not being missed), and the pudding was already on the boil. These extensive arrangements occasioned us to be cut off unceremoniously in respect of breakfast; “for I ain’t,” said Mrs. Joe,—“I ain’t a-going to have no formal cramming and busting and washing up now, with what I’ve got before me, I promise you!” So, we had our slices served out, as if we were two thousand troops on a forced march instead of a man and boy at home; and we took gulps of milk and water, with apologetic countenances, from a jug on the dresser. In the meantime, Mrs. Joe put clean white curtains up, and tacked a new flowered flounce across the wide chimney to replace the old one, and uncovered the little state parlour across the passage, which was never uncovered at any other time, but passed the rest of the year in a cool haze of silver paper, which even extended to the four little white crockery poodles on the mantel-shelf, each with a black nose and a basket of flowers in his mouth, and each the counterpart of the other. Mrs. Joe was a very clean housekeeper, but had an exquisite art of making her cleanliness more uncomfortable and unacceptable than dirt itself. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and some people do the same by their religion. My sister, having so much to do, was going to church vicariously, that is to say, Joe and I were going. In his working-clothes, Joe was a well-knit characteristic-looking blacksmith; in his holiday clothes, he was more like a scarecrow in good circumstances, than anything else. Nothing that he wore then fitted him or seemed to belong to him; and everything that he wore then grazed him. On the present festive occasion he emerged from his room, when the blithe bells were going, the picture of misery, in a full suit of Sunday penitentials. As to me, I think my sister must have had some general idea that I was a young offender whom an Accoucheur Policeman had taken up (on my birthday) and delivered over to her, to be dealt with according to the outraged majesty of the law. I was always treated as if I had insisted on being born in opposition to the dictates of reason, religion, and morality, and against the dissuading arguments of my best friends. Even when I was taken to have a new suit of clothes, the tailor had orders to make them like a kind of Reformatory, and on no account to let me have the free use of my limbs. Joe and I going to church, therefore, must have been a moving spectacle for compassionate minds. Yet, what I suffered outside was nothing to what I underwent within. The terrors that had assailed me whenever Mrs. Joe had gone near the pantry, or out of the room, were only to be equalled by the remorse with which my mind dwelt on what my hands had done. Under the weight of my wicked secret, I pondered whether the Church would be powerful enough to shield me from the vengeance of the terrible young man, if I divulged to that establishment. I conceived the idea that the time when the banns were read and when the clergyman said, “Ye are now to declare it!” would be the time for me to rise and propose a private conference in the vestry. I am far from being sure that I might not have astonished our small congregation by resorting to this extreme measure, but for its being Christmas Day and no Sunday. Mr. Wopsle, the clerk at church, was to dine with us; and Mr. Hubble the wheelwright and Mrs. Hubble; and Uncle Pumblechook (Joe’s uncle, but Mrs. Joe appropriated him), who was a well-to-do cornchandler in the nearest town, and drove his own chaise-cart. The dinner hour was half-past one. When Joe and I got home, we found the table laid, and Mrs. Joe dressed, and the dinner dressing, and the front door unlocked (it never was at any other time) for the company to enter by, and everything most splendid. And still, not a word of the robbery. The time came, without bringing with it any relief to my feelings, and the company came. Mr. Wopsle, united to a Roman nose and a large shining bald forehead, had a deep voice which he was uncommonly proud of; indeed it was understood among his acquaintance that if you could only give him his head, he would read the clergyman into fits; he himself confessed that if the Church was “thrown open,” meaning to competition, he would not despair of making his mark in it. The Church not being “thrown open,” he was, as I have said, our clerk. But he punished the Amens tremendously; and when he gave out the psalm,—always giving the whole verse,—he looked all round the congregation first, as much as to say, “You have heard my friend overhead; oblige me with your opinion of this style!” I opened the door to the company,—making believe that it was a habit of ours to open that door,—and I opened it first to Mr. Wopsle, next to Mr. and Mrs. Hubble, and last of all to Uncle Pumblechook. N.B. I was not allowed to call him uncle, under the severest penalties. “Mrs. Joe,” said Uncle Pumblechook, a large hard-breathing middle-aged slow man, with a mouth like a fish, dull staring eyes, and sandy hair standing upright on his head, so that he looked as if he had just been all but choked, and had that moment come to, “I have brought you as the compliments of the season—I have brought you, Mum, a bottle of sherry wine—and I have brought you, Mum, a bottle of port wine.” Every Christmas Day he presented himself, as a profound novelty, with exactly the same words, and carrying the two bottles like dumb-bells. Every Christmas Day, Mrs. Joe replied, as she now replied, “O, Un—cle Pum-ble—chook! This is kind!” Every Christmas Day, he retorted, as he now retorted, “It’s no more than your merits. And now are you all bobbish, and how’s Sixpennorth of halfpence?” meaning me. We dined on these occasions in the kitchen, and adjourned, for the nuts and oranges and apples to the parlour; which was a change very like Joe’s change from his working-clothes to his Sunday dress. My sister was uncommonly lively on the present occasion, and indeed was generally more gracious in the society of Mrs. Hubble than in other company. I remember Mrs. Hubble as a little curly sharp-edged person in sky-blue, who held a conventionally juvenile position, because she had married Mr. Hubble,—I don’t know at what remote period,—when she was much younger than he. I remember Mr Hubble as a tough, high-shouldered, stooping old man, of a sawdusty fragrance, with his legs extraordinarily wide apart: so that in my short days I always saw some miles of open country between them when I met him coming up the lane. Among this good company I should have felt myself, even if I hadn’t robbed the pantry, in a false position. Not because I was squeezed in at an acute angle of the tablecloth, with the table in my chest, and the Pumblechookian elbow in my eye, nor because I was not allowed to speak (I didn’t want to speak), nor because I was regaled with the scaly tips of the drumsticks of the fowls, and with those obscure corners of pork of which the pig, when living, had had the least reason to be vain. No; I should not have minded that, if they would only have left me alone. But they wouldn’t leave me alone. They seemed to think the opportunity lost, if they failed to point the conversation at me, every now and then, and stick the point into me. I might have been an unfortunate little bull in a Spanish arena, I got so smartingly touched up by these moral goads. It began the moment we sat down to dinner. Mr. Wopsle said grace with theatrical declamation,—as it now appears to me, something like a religious cross of the Ghost in Hamlet with Richard the Third,—and ended with the very proper aspiration that we might be truly grateful. Upon which my sister fixed me with her eye, and said, in a low reproachful voice, “Do you hear that? Be grateful.” “Especially,” said Mr. Pumblechook, “be grateful, boy, to them which brought you up by hand.” Mrs. Hubble shook her head, and contemplating me with a mournful presentiment that I should come to no good, asked, “Why is it that the young are never grateful?” This moral mystery seemed too much for the company until Mr. Hubble tersely solved it by saying, “Naterally wicious.” Everybody then murmured “True!” and looked at me in a particularly unpleasant and personal manner. Joe’s station and influence were something feebler (if possible) when there was company than when there was none. But he always aided and comforted me when he could, in some way of his own, and he always did so at dinner-time by giving me gravy, if there were any. There being plenty of gravy to-day, Joe spooned into my plate, at this point, about half a pint. A little later on in the dinner, Mr. Wopsle reviewed the sermon with some severity, and intimated—in the usual hypothetical case of the Church being “thrown open”—what kind of sermon he would have given them. After favouring them with some heads of that discourse, he remarked that he considered the subject of the day’s homily, ill chosen; which was the less excusable, he added, when there were so many subjects “going about.” “True again,” said Uncle Pumblechook. “You’ve hit it, sir! Plenty of subjects going about, for them that know how to put salt upon their tails. That’s what’s wanted. A man needn’t go far to find a subject, if he’s ready with his salt-box.” Mr. Pumblechook added, after a short interval of reflection, “Look at Pork alone. There’s a subject! If you want a subject, look at Pork!” “True, sir. Many a moral for the young,” returned Mr. Wopsle,—and I knew he was going to lug me in, before he said it; “might be deduced from that text.” (“You listen to this,” said my sister to me, in a severe parenthesis.) Joe gave me some more gravy. “Swine,” pursued Mr. Wopsle, in his deepest voice, and pointing his fork at my blushes, as if he were mentioning my Christian name,—“swine were the companions of the prodigal. The gluttony of Swine is put before us, as an example to the young.” (I thought this pretty well in him who had been praising up the pork for being so plump and juicy.) “What is detestable in a pig is more detestable in a boy.” “Or girl,” suggested Mr. Hubble. “Of course, or girl, Mr. Hubble,” assented Mr. Wopsle, rather irritably, “but there is no girl present.” “Besides,” said Mr. Pumblechook, turning sharp on me, “think what you’ve got to be grateful for. If you’d been born a Squeaker—” “He was, if ever a child was,” said my sister, most emphatically. Joe gave me some more gravy. “Well, but I mean a four-footed Squeaker,” said Mr. Pumblechook. “If you had been born such, would you have been here now? Not you—” “Unless in that form,” said Mr. Wopsle, nodding towards the dish. “But I don’t mean in that form, sir,” returned Mr. Pumblechook, who had an objection to being interrupted; “I mean, enjoying himself with his elders and betters, and improving himself with their conversation, and rolling in the lap of luxury. Would he have been doing that? No, he wouldn’t. And what would have been your destination?” turning on me again. “You would have been disposed of for so many shillings according to the market price of the article, and Dunstable the butcher would have come up to you as you lay in your straw, and he would have whipped you under his left arm, and with his right he would have tucked up his frock to get a penknife from out of his waistcoat-pocket, and he would have shed your blood and had your life. No bringing up by hand then. Not a bit of it!” Joe offered me more gravy, which I was afraid to take. “He was a world of trouble to you, ma’am,” said Mrs. Hubble, commiserating my sister. “Trouble?” echoed my sister; “trouble?” and then entered on a fearful catalogue of all the illnesses I had been guilty of, and all the acts of sleeplessness I had committed, and all the high places I had tumbled from, and all the low places I had tumbled into, and all the injuries I had done myself, and all the times she had wished me in my grave, and I had contumaciously refused to go there. I think the Romans must have aggravated one another very much, with their noses. Perhaps, they became the restless people they were, in consequence. Anyhow, Mr. Wopsle’s Roman nose so aggravated me, during the recital of my misdemeanours, that I should have liked to pull it until he howled. But, all I had endured up to this time was nothing in comparison with the awful feelings that took possession of me when the pause was broken which ensued upon my sister’s recital, and in which pause everybody had looked at me (as I felt painfully conscious) with indignation and abhorrence. “Yet,” said Mr. Pumblechook, leading the company gently back to the theme from which they had strayed, “Pork—regarded as biled—is rich, too; ain’t it?” “Have a little brandy, uncle,” said my sister. O Heavens, it had come at last! He would find it was weak, he would say it was weak, and I was lost! I held tight to the leg of the table under the cloth, with both hands, and awaited my fate. My sister went for the stone bottle, came back with the stone bottle, and poured his brandy out: no one else taking any. The wretched man trifled with his glass,—took it up, looked at it through the light, put it down,—prolonged my misery. All this time Mrs. Joe and Joe were briskly clearing the table for the pie and pudding. I couldn’t keep my eyes off him. Always holding tight by the leg of the table with my hands and feet, I saw the miserable creature finger his glass playfully, take it up, smile, throw his head back, and drink the brandy off. Instantly afterwards, the company were seized with unspeakable consternation, owing to his springing to his feet, turning round several times in an appalling spasmodic whooping-cough dance, and rushing out at the door; he then became visible through the window, violently plunging and expectorating, making the most hideous faces, and apparently out of his mind. I held on tight, while Mrs. Joe and Joe ran to him. I didn’t know how I had done it, but I had no doubt I had murdered him somehow. In my dreadful situation, it was a relief when he was brought back, and surveying the company all round as if they had disagreed with him, sank down into his chair with the one significant gasp, “Tar!” I had filled up the bottle from the tar-water jug. I knew he would be worse by and by. I moved the table, like a Medium of the present day, by the vigor of my unseen hold upon it. “Tar!” cried my sister, in amazement. “Why, how ever could Tar come there?” But, Uncle Pumblechook, who was omnipotent in that kitchen, wouldn’t hear the word, wouldn’t hear of the subject, imperiously waved it all away with his hand, and asked for hot gin and water. My sister, who had begun to be alarmingly meditative, had to employ herself actively in getting the gin, the hot water, the sugar, and the lemon-peel, and mixing them. For the time being at least, I was saved. I still held on to the leg of the table, but clutched it now with the fervor of gratitude. By degrees, I became calm enough to release my grasp and partake of pudding. Mr. Pumblechook partook of pudding. All partook of pudding. The course terminated, and Mr. Pumblechook had begun to beam under the genial influence of gin and water. I began to think I should get over the day, when my sister said to Joe, “Clean plates,—cold.” I clutched the leg of the table again immediately, and pressed it to my bosom as if it had been the companion of my youth and friend of my soul. I foresaw what was coming, and I felt that this time I really was gone. “You must taste,” said my sister, addressing the guests with her best grace—“you must taste, to finish with, such a delightful and delicious present of Uncle Pumblechook’s!” Must they! Let them not hope to taste it! “You must know,” said my sister, rising, “it’s a pie; a savory pork pie.” The company murmured their compliments. Uncle Pumblechook, sensible of having deserved well of his fellow-creatures, said,—quite vivaciously, all things considered,—“Well, Mrs. Joe, we’ll do our best endeavours; let us have a cut at this same pie.” My sister went out to get it. I heard her steps proceed to the pantry. I saw Mr. Pumblechook balance his knife. I saw reawakening appetite in the Roman nostrils of Mr. Wopsle. I heard Mr. Hubble remark that “a bit of savory pork pie would lay atop of anything you could mention, and do no harm,” and I heard Joe say, “You shall have some, Pip.” I have never been absolutely certain whether I uttered a shrill yell of terror, merely in spirit, or in the bodily hearing of the company. I felt that I could bear no more, and that I must run away. I released the leg of the table, and ran for my life. But I ran no farther than the house door, for there I ran head-foremost into a party of soldiers with their muskets, one of whom held out a pair of handcuffs to me, saying, “Here you are, look sharp, come on!” About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Dickens, Charles, 1998. Great Expectations. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved April 2022 from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1400/1400-h/1400-h.htm#chap04 This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

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Great Expectations: Chapter IV

Moby-Dick; or The Whale, by Herman Melville is part of HackerNoon’s Book Blog Post series. You can jump to any chapter in this book Chapter 6: The Street here. CHAPTER 6. The Street. If I had been astonished at first catching a glimpse of so outlandish an individual as Queequeg circulating among the polite society of a civilized town, that astonishment soon departed upon taking my first daylight stroll through the streets of New Bedford. In thoroughfares nigh the docks, any considerable seaport will frequently offer to view the queerest looking nondescripts from foreign parts. Even in Broadway and Chestnut streets, Mediterranean mariners will sometimes jostle the affrighted ladies. Regent Street is not unknown to Lascars and Malays; and at Bombay, in the Apollo Green, live Yankees have often scared the natives. But New Bedford beats all Water Street and Wapping. In these last-mentioned haunts you see only sailors; but in New Bedford, actual cannibals stand chatting at street corners; savages outright; many of whom yet carry on their bones unholy flesh. It makes a stranger stare. But, besides the Feegeeans, Tongatobooarrs, Erromanggoans, Pannangians, and Brighggians, and, besides the wild specimens of the whaling-craft which unheeded reel about the streets, you will see other sights still more curious, certainly more comical. There weekly arrive in this town scores of green Vermonters and New Hampshire men, all athirst for gain and glory in the fishery. They are mostly young, of stalwart frames; fellows who have felled forests, and now seek to drop the axe and snatch the whale-lance. Many are as green as the Green Mountains whence they came. In some things you would think them but a few hours old. Look there! that chap strutting round the corner. He wears a beaver hat and swallow-tailed coat, girdled with a sailor-belt and sheath-knife. Here comes another with a sou’-wester and a bombazine cloak. No town-bred dandy will compare with a country-bred one—I mean a downright bumpkin dandy—a fellow that, in the dog-days, will mow his two acres in buckskin gloves for fear of tanning his hands. Now when a country dandy like this takes it into his head to make a distinguished reputation, and joins the great whale-fishery, you should see the comical things he does upon reaching the seaport. In bespeaking his sea-outfit, he orders bell-buttons to his waistcoats; straps to his canvas trowsers. Ah, poor Hay-Seed! how bitterly will burst those straps in the first howling gale, when thou art driven, straps, buttons, and all, down the throat of the tempest. But think not that this famous town has only harpooneers, cannibals, and bumpkins to show her visitors. Not at all. Still New Bedford is a queer place. Had it not been for us whalemen, that tract of land would this day perhaps have been in as howling condition as the coast of Labrador. As it is, parts of her back country are enough to frighten one, they look so bony. The town itself is perhaps the dearest place to live in, in all New England. It is a land of oil, true enough: but not like Canaan; a land, also, of corn and wine. The streets do not run with milk; nor in the spring-time do they pave them with fresh eggs. Yet, in spite of this, nowhere in all America will you find more patrician-like houses; parks and gardens more opulent, than in New Bedford. Whence came they? how planted upon this once scraggy scoria of a country? Go and gaze upon the iron emblematical harpoons round yonder lofty mansion, and your question will be answered. Yes; all these brave houses and flowery gardens came from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. One and all, they were harpooned and dragged up hither from the bottom of the sea. Can Herr Alexander perform a feat like that? In New Bedford, fathers, they say, give whales for dowers to their daughters, and portion off their nieces with a few porpoises a-piece. You must go to New Bedford to see a brilliant wedding; for, they say, they have reservoirs of oil in every house, and every night recklessly burn their lengths in spermaceti candles. In summer time, the town is sweet to see; full of fine maples—long avenues of green and gold. And in August, high in air, the beautiful and bountiful horse-chestnuts, candelabra-wise, proffer the passer-by their tapering upright cones of congregated blossoms. So omnipotent is art; which in many a district of New Bedford has superinduced bright terraces of flowers upon the barren refuse rocks thrown aside at creation’s final day. And the women of New Bedford, they bloom like their own red roses. But roses only bloom in summer; whereas the fine carnation of their cheeks is perennial as sunlight in the seventh heavens. Elsewhere match that bloom of theirs, ye cannot, save in Salem, where they tell me the young girls breathe such musk, their sailor sweethearts smell them miles off shore, as though they were drawing nigh the odorous Moluccas instead of the Puritanic sands. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved April 2022 from Melville, Herman,2001. Moby-Dick: or The Whale. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2701/2701-h/2701-h.htm#link2HCH0006 This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

Moby-Dick; or The Whale: Chapter 6 -  The Street

Despite being a longtime lightning rod for controversy, even Twitter employees were caught off-guard by recent events. On April 25, 2022, announced Elon Musk would acquire it in an all-cash deal of about $44 billion. The founder and CEO and self-described “technoking” said he plans to “remake” the social media platform into a beacon of free speech. Twitter Tesla Reactions to Musk’s acquisition of Twitter were mixed on the Blind. Blind’s community of more than 5 million professionals includes more than 5,000 verified Twitter professionals or more than two out of three Twitter employees. professional social network What do Twitter employees think about Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter? Many Twitter professionals feared the company culture at Twitter might change after Musk acquires the company. “Assume EM takes over Twitter and rules with [an] iron fist,” said a verified Twitter employee on Blind, referring to Elon Musk in a discussion about the future of at Twitter. “On one hand he seems [like a] huge advocate for in person [work] but on [the] other hand he jokes about turning [the] SF office [in]to a homeless shelter because employees are at home.” remote work “Elon is notorious for firing WFH and contractors,” reported a verified SpaceX professional. “He’s went as far as to pull the plug on VPN before,” referring to virtual private networks that allow employees to connect to corporate networks while working from home or remotely. Musk is also the founder and CEO of SpaceX. Twitter is well-known for its strong work-life balance. The company has a rating of 4.4 stars out of 5 stars for work-life balance, as of April 26, 2022, among verified Twitter employees’ reviews on Blind. The rating makes it the 10th best company for work-life balance on Blind, ahead of companies such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook parent company Meta, Microsoft and Uber. How will Elon Musk’s acquisition affect Twitter employees’ pay? Musk’s acquisition of Twitter is expected to close in 2022, and once it does, the social media company will become a private company. Many Twitter professionals expressed concern about the stock-based compensation they currently receive. “I feel like going from public [to] private is [the] opposite of what you want from a comp perspective,” a verified Twitter professional said on Blind, adding they felt “pretty stressed” about the acquisition. “If comp is negative[ly] [a]ffected then we’ll lose a lot of great talent and any incentive for working at Twitter will be gone.” Some private companies offer restricted stock units or profit-sharing programs. However, many of these companies provide these compensation schemes because they expect to be publicly listed one day, which is unlikely for Twitter. The change could be significant for Twitter professionals. According to pay data shared on Blind by verified Twitter professionals, the median total compensation package across all roles is $165,000 and as high as $345,000, including the restricted stock units many employees earn. “I am pretty depressed,” another verified Twitter professional said in a discussion on Blind about the employee morale at Twitter. “I think layoffs are inevitable, plus being a private company means we won’t have RSU re freshers [sic].” Many offer “refreshes” or additional grants of restricted stock units or other stock-based compensation to reward performance or incentivize employees to stay at the company longer. Professionals typically earn an initial new-hire grant that vests anywhere from one to five years, with four years the most common. technology companies How much will Twitter employees get from Elon Musk’s acquisition? Every Twitter stockholder will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter common stock they own after the acquisition is finalized. Twitter employees who own Twitter stock will receive the same cash payment. According to a verified Twitter engineer on Blind, the company will also pay employees for any unvested stock they hold “as per [the] vesting schedule. Cash compensation would be provided instead of stocks.” After the companywide all-hands for employees, another verified Twitter professional confirmed, adding that the $54.20 per share amount “is a big jump from [the] last refresher” and that there will be “no comp changes for one year.” The bottom line Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has created fear, uncertainty and doubt for many Twitter professionals. Twitter employees turned to Blind to express concerns about their pay and a potential change to its company culture, which could affect the ability to work remotely or have a meaningful work-life balance. Originally published on Teamblind's blog.

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If you have not heard before about it till now, Zepto is an Indian startup that delivers groceries in 10mins. You heard it right they claim (attempt or try and do deliver in some SKUs) to deliver groceries in 10mins. To date, the company raised, $360M and is valued at ~$900M. Firstly, I think the 10-minute delivery of most things is unnecessary. The number of things that you need in less than 10mins is far and few in between. This is one of those ideas I might don’t ever want to see in fruition because it’s a waste of a lot of resources. And most importantly this puts the delivery people at risk of getting into accidents and worsens their quality of life further. In terms of customer experience over longer-term Zepto like 10min delivery ideas won’t work because of the feeling a customer gets of mistreating a delivery person. Just looking at the effort it takes for a delivery person to get something to you in 10 minutes makes most people question their beliefs and next time they want to order for a 10 min delivery they will just walk down to the store in their apartment or select the non-10min delivery option which they will have overtime or might already be in place (I haven’t checked). So how will the 10min story end? Is there something that we are not seeing? Why did the Venture arm of Kaiser Permanente (KP) invest in Zepto? And remember KP is not for profit organization known for running one of the world’s largest hospital networks. I can see interesting scenarios play out. Firstly why pursue such an idea? The justification for about 10min on the outer surface is often talked about as customer experience. But in my opinion, it is business jujitsu. I am not sure if the founders think the way I do, but here is what I think. The fact that Zepto offers 10 mins delivery is a good stunt (stunts are not necessarily bad) to acquire new customers, investors including me love a big idea so the money will flow in, you are putting your competition like Swiggy, NinjaCart, BlinkIt and others in an uncomfortable position. They have to adapt to the new game set by Zepto and they will now be operating from a position of weakness than strength because you are driving the narrative. So what will the ending be for Zepto? Here are some scenarios that might play out. Zepto in the process of scaling 10 mins will create one of the largest grocery chains with a significant user base (and losses) and over time moves to a regular delivery model. In this case, looking back, the 10 min delivery is the main go-to-market strategy for creating a new grocery delivery business in India. They will continue to execute the business and over time can exist as an individual company. Competitors in the space both food and grocery delivery will try the 10min delivery, and realize that it is bleeding their cash reserves. Will stumble multiple times. They will realize the best way to solve the 10 min delivery problem is by acquiring Zepto and then shutting it down (or slowing it down significantly). One of the unicorns in the space will make an acquisition offer with partial cash + stock deal. With VC money becoming hard to come by, Zepto might burn through their recently raised $200M in 36-42 months. Failing to raise further capital because of macro conditions, they might get sold for less than the overall investment they raised. In either case, the 10min mania will end and remain as a back burner model. Most companies will say they will deliver some of their SKUs in 10 mins but most deliveries will not be in 10 mins and the status quo will remain in place. One lesson aspiring entrepreneurs should take away from Zepto is to swing for the fences even if it might end up seeming ridiculous to others. Even though I don’t like the fact that Zepto as a business is resource-intensive and as a negative side of modern consumerism, I do admire the confidence of the founders to aim for something big and create a narrative that is making bigger players react. It takes confidence and skill to pull off what they pulled off till now and I admire the gutsy approach!

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What Will Happen to Zepto?

A group of movie companies continues its legal efforts to hold VPN services liable for pirating subscribers. A new lawsuit lists Surfshark, VPN Unlimited, Zenmate, and ExpressVPN as defendants. Besides damages, the filmmakers want the VPNs to block pirate sites and start logging user data. The accused companies have yet to respond in court. Last week, these companies filed a new lawsuit at a federal court in Virginia, targeting four VPN services. In their complaint, the filmmakers accuse Surfshark, VPN Unlimited, Zenmate and ExpressVPN of being involved in widespread copyright infringement. The complaint sums up a long list of alleged wrongdoings. This includes allowing VPN subscribers to bypass the geographical restrictions of streaming services such as Netflix. “Defendants advertise their service for allowing their subscribers to bypass regional restrictions of streaming platforms to stream copies of copyright protected content including Plaintiffs’ Works from locations Plaintiffs have not authorized the platform to stream the Works,” the lawsuit reads. The filmmakers list various examples of promotional pages where the VPN providers claim that their services can bypass blocking efforts and other restrictive measures. In some cases, these are fairly outspoken, as the following announcement from UnlimitedVPN illustrates. BitTorrent Piracy In addition to bypassing geographical restrictions, the filmmakers also list various examples of VPN subscribers who are directly involved in sharing pirated movies via BitTorrent. While BitTorrent can also be used legally, the VPN companies allegedly promote their service as a tool to download copyright-infringing material anonymously. “Defendants promote their VPN services as a tool that can be used to pirate copyright-protected content without getting caught,” the complaint reads. “The records show Defendants’ subscribers downloaded the torrent files for reproducing Plaintiffs’ motion pictures such as The Brass Teapot, Hellboy, Rambo V: Last Blood, Angel Has Fallen, London Has Fallen, 2 Guns, And So It Goes, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt…” The filmmakers argue that some VPNs “partner” with notorious movie piracy websites to promote their service. For example, the site YTS.movie encourages the use of ExpressVPN. It’s not immediately clear whether ExpressVPN is aware of that, however. The movie companies further allege that VPN customers are engaged in other types of “outrageous conduct” under this privacy shield, including racist comments, child pornography, and even committing murder. Logging Repeat Infringers? The rightsholders have sent thousands of copyright infringement notices to hosting companies, which were reportedly forwarded to the VPN defendants. However, based on these notices, the accused VPNs can’t pinpoint individual subscribers. Most VPN users are connected to shared IP addresses that can’t be directly tied to single users, so the VPN companies simply don’t know which subscribers are flagged. According to the movie companies, VPNs can easily overcome this problem by logging user data. “Defendants have the capability to log their subscribers’ access to their VPN service but purposely delete the logged information or set up their system so that the logged information is deleted so that they can promote their service as a means to pirate copyright protected Works anonymously.” Damages, Site-Blocking, and Logging Based on these and other claims, the filmmakers argue that the VPN services are liable for direct, contributory, and vicarious copyright infringement. Through this lawsuit, they request compensation for the alleged damage. In addition to money, the filmmakers also request that the VPN services start blocking known pirate sites such as The Pirate Bay and RARBG, which have been listed in the notorious markets list of the US Trade Representative. Furthermore, they request an order that required the VPN companies to terminate the accounts of subscribers for which they receive three unique copyright noticed within 72 hours, unless the subscriber appeals. Needless to say, these are broad allegations that will likely be contested in court. At the time of writing, the VPN providers have yet to file an official response. This isn’t the first time that VPN providers are facing copyright infringement allegations. Previously, VPN.ht was sued as well, while Private Internet Access and TorGuard were recently added to previously filed lawsuits against Quadranet and respectively. LiquidVPN A copy of the complaint against Surfshark, VPN Unlimited, Zenmate, and ExpressVPN, which the movie companies filed at a federal court in Virginia, is available here (pdf) Previously published here.

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BlobGAN allows for unreal manipulation of images, made super easily controlling simple blobs. All these small blobs represent an object, and you can move them around or make them bigger, smaller, or even remove them, and it will have the same effect on the object it represents in the image. This is so cool! As the authors shared in their results, you can even create novel images by duplicating blobs, creating unseen images in the dataset ! Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it is one of, if not the first, paper to make the modification of images as simple as moving blobs around and allowing for edits that were unseen in the training dataset. like a room with two ceiling fans And you can actually play with this one compared to some companies we all know! They shared their code publicly and a Colab Demo you can try right away. Even more exciting is how BlobGAN works. Learn more in the video! Watch the video References ►Read the full article: ►Epstein, D., Park, T., Zhang, R., Shechtman, E. and Efros, A.A., 2022. BlobGAN: Spatially Disentangled Scene Representations. arXiv preprint arXiv:2205.02837. ►Project link: ►Code: ►Colab Demo: ►My Newsletter (A new AI application explained weekly to your emails!): https://www.louisbouchard.ai/blobgan/ https://dave.ml/blobgan/ https://github.com/dave-epstein/blobgan https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1clvh28Yds5CvKsYYENGLS3iIIrlZK4xO?usp=sharing#scrollTo=0QuVIyVplOKu https://www.louisbouchard.ai/newsletter/ Video Transcript 0:00 if you think that the progress with guns 0:02 was over you couldn't be more wrong 0:04 here's blob gun and this new paper is 0:07 just incredible blob gun allows for 0:09 unreal manipulation of images made super 0:12 easily controlling simple blobs all 0:14 these small blobs represent an object 0:17 and you can move them around make them 0:19 bigger smaller or even remove them and 0:22 it will have the same effect on the 0:24 object it represents in the image this 0:26 is so cool as the authors shared in 0:29 their results you can even create novel 0:31 images by duplicating blubs creating 0:34 unseen images in the data set like this 0:37 room with two ceiling fans correct me if 0:40 i'm wrong but i believe it's one of if 0:42 not the first paper to make the 0:44 modification of images as simple as 0:46 moving blobs around and allowing for 0:49 edits that were unseen in the training 0:51 dataset and you can actually play with 0:53 this one compared to other companies we 0:55 all know they shared are called publicly 0:58 and a collab demo you can try right away 1:00 even more exciting is how bloggian works 1:03 which we'll dive into in a few seconds 1:05 to publish an excellent paper like 1:07 blobgun the researchers needed to run 1:09 many experiments on multiple machines 1:12 those who played with guns know how long 1:14 and painful this process can be plus 1:16 their code is available on github and 1:18 google collab this means their code has 1:21 to be reproducible funnily enough this 1:24 is also a really strong point of this 1:26 episode's sponsor weights and biases 1:28 weights and biases change my life as a 1:30 researcher it tracks everything you need 1:32 for your code to be reproducible the 1:34 hyper parameters the github commit 1:36 hardware usage metrics and the python 1:38 version leaving you without headaches ok 1:41 some might still appear because of 1:43 deadlines or bugs but none from trying 1:45 to reproduce experiments weights and 1:47 biases is also super helpful when 1:49 sharing your experiment results with 1:51 your colleagues a great tool for that is 1:53 reports they can act as dashboards for 1:56 supervisor pis or managers to check how 1:59 experimentation is going meaning more 2:01 time for research while improving your 2:03 feedback's quality please don't be like 2:06 most researchers who keep their code a 2:08 secret and try using weights and biases 2:10 with the first link below 2:13 now let's get back to our paper blub gun 2:16 spatially disentangled scene 2:18 representations the title says it ital 2:21 blovkian uses blobs to disentangle 2:23 objects in a scene meaning that the 2:25 model learns to associate each blob with 2:28 a specific object in the scene like a 2:30 bed window or ceiling fan once trained 2:33 you can move the blobs and objects 2:35 around individually make them bigger or 2:37 smaller duplicate them or even remove 2:40 them from the picture of course the 2:42 results are not entirely realistic but 2:44 as a great person would say just imagine 2:47 the potential of this approach two more 2:49 papers down the line 2:51 what's even cooler is that this training 2:53 occurs in an unsupervised scheme this 2:55 means that you do not need every single 2:57 image example to train it as you would 3:00 in supervised learning a quick example 3:02 is that supervised training will require 3:05 you to have all the desired 3:06 manipulations in your image that are set 3:08 to teach blobs to learn those 3:10 transformations whereas in unsupervised 3:13 learning you do not need this extensive 3:15 data and the model will learn to achieve 3:17 this task by itself associating bluffs 3:20 to objects on its own without explicit 3:22 labels we train the model with a 3:24 generator and a discriminator in a gun 3:27 fashion i will simply do a quick 3:28 overview as i've covered guns in 3:30 numerous videos before as always in guns 3:33 the discriminator's responsibility is to 3:35 train the generator to create realistic 3:38 images the most important part of the 3:40 architecture is the generator with our 3:42 blobs and a style gun 2 like decoder i 3:45 also covered style gun based generators 3:48 in other videos if you are curious about 3:50 how it works but in short we first 3:52 create our blobs this is done by taking 3:55 random noise as in most generator 3:57 networks and mapping it into blobs using 4:00 a first neural network this will be 4:02 learned during training then you need to 4:05 do the impossible take this blob 4:07 representation and create a real image 4:10 out of it this is where the gan magic 4:12 happens since you are still listening 4:14 please consider subscribing to the 4:16 channel and liking the video it means a 4:18 lot and supports my work for free also 4:21 we have a community called learn ai 4:23 together on discord to learn exchange 4:26 with fellow ai enthusiasts i'm convinced 4:28 you'll love it there and i will be glad 4:30 to meet you 4:32 we need a star gun like architecture to 4:34 create our images from these blobs of 4:37 course we added the architecture to take 4:39 the blobs we just created as inputs 4:41 instead of the usual random noise 4:43 then we turn our model using the 4:45 discriminator to learn to generate 4:47 realistic images once we have good 4:50 enough results it means our model can 4:52 take on blob representation instead of 4:54 noise and generate images but we still 4:57 have a problem how can we disentangle 4:59 those blobs and make them match objects 5:02 well this is the beauty of our 5:04 unsupervised approach the model will 5:06 iteratively improve and create realistic 5:08 results while also learning how to 5:11 represent these images in the form of a 5:13 fixed number of blobs you can see here 5:15 how blubs are often used to represent 5:17 the same objects or very similar objects 5:20 in the scene here you can also see how 5:22 the same gloves are used to represent 5:24 either a window or a painting which 5:26 makes a lot of sense likewise you can 5:29 see that light is almost always 5:31 represented in the fort blub similarly 5:33 you can see how blubs are often 5:35 representing the same regions in the 5:37 scene most certainly leads you to the 5:39 similarities of images in the dataset 5:42 used for this experiment and voila this 5:45 is how blobgan learns to manipulate 5:47 scenes using a very intuitive blob 5:50 representation i'm excited to see the 5:52 realism of the results improve keeping a 5:54 similar approach using such a technique 5:57 we could design simple interactive apps 5:59 to allow designers and anyone to 6:01 manipulate images easily which is quite 6:04 exciting of course this was just an 6:06 overview of this new paper and i 6:08 strongly recommend reading their paper 6:10 for a better understanding and a lot 6:12 more detail on their approach 6:13 implementation and tests they did as i 6:16 said earlier in the video they also 6:18 shared their code publicly and a color 6:20 demo you can try right away all the 6:22 links are in the description below 6:24 thank you for watching until the end and 6:27 i will see you next week with another 6:28 amazing paper [Music]

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BlobGAN: A BIG step for GANs

The below updates are reflective up to May 3, 2022. Hey there, Hackers. Time flies when you’re working hard!😜 It’s time for our regular updates on the fun new features we’ve deployed in the past month. As always: A big thank you to our team of uber-talented developers who use their superBrain skills to make HackerNoon a better place. 1. Comment on Your Favourite Articles! Are you a smooth typist? Great, now you can show it off in the brand-new comments section! That’s right, ! Now, you can give your take on all of the articles you read, compliment your favorite writer, and just share your overall thoughts with the big green world. comments are available site-wide For writers, we’ve made it easy to see all of the comments left on your articles. They will appear in your dashboard menu, or via this link: https://app.hackernoon.com/dashboard/comments Please note that editors can edit these comments if you decide to drop too many ‘F-bombs.’ They will also be screened before approval, so please say no to being a spammer. 2. An Improvement to Story Stats In a data-driven universe, stats are an essential building block. Alas, sometimes stats can be more honest than their interpretations. At our writers and readers want a legitimate reflection of how well their work is doing. HackerNoon Previously, we used Google Analytics, but now With this new tracking system, stats are as accurate as ever. Less blocking, more honest views. Cloudflare Analytics is king. Turns out, a lot of people block Google Analytics entirely. But now, writers can sit back, drink their coffee, and relax knowing their story stats are correct. 3. Trending Tech Company Reports Let’s face it Hacker, there is a lot of tech news to keep up with. But what is the most important of the lot? Now you can be in the front row, simply by checking out ’s tech company brief, a Bloomberg-esque weekly newsletter where we give you the gist of what’s going on with the biggest tech companies within the past 7 days. HackerNoon See the first few reports here: https://hackernoon.com/tagged/tech-company-brief Find out the companies that are making the biggest waves, read what everyone is talking about, and learn more about the tech world surrounding you by subscribing to the Trending Tech Company Brief here: https://hackernoon.com/companies Click and hit subscribe. here 4. Notifications for the Clever Human Have you clicked on the little bell icon lately? We’ve launched this feature last month, and since then have iterated a good bit on the UX of the feature to make it smoother for readers and writers alike. We also updated a number of valuable notifications you receive when it comes to your articles as well as what is going on with the HackerNoon community. Like this “On this day” feature for writers: What’s more, every week you can also scroll down to the bottom of your notis center to see what’s new in the HackerNoon universe! 5.Noonie Wins Reflected on Your About Page For those that have earned the right to gloat, behold our acknowledgment. We’ve deployed badges to all of the winners’ profiles. Noonie Now, everyone will get to see how amazing you are when they click your About Page and see that glorious Noonie badge. Or badges, you starfish. Didn’t win in the recent Noonies? Don’t worry, we’ve deployed badges to all Noonie winners, even from previous years. Because when you’re a Noonies winner, you’re a winner for life. Speaking of Noonies, we have shipped the first set NFT badges to Noonies winners. Other Updates Contests The system has been improved for better tracking of contest participants as well as empowering the team with an easier way to create new contests. HackerNoon Entering one story in multiple contests is not allowed. The system knows to follow this as well. Other : Navigate in style with an improved navigation bar design. Navigation Bar : It’s now possible for our team to add YouTube videos to story footers. Footers Lists, lists, and more lists. We have an easier time finding information on specific tags, whether it be writers, stories, or contact info. Database Wins: Thank you all for being a part of the HackerNoon community! Post written and compiled by Linh, Jose, and Ellen!

HackerNoon Tech Stories Archive May 14th, 2022

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