ClubLink

clublink

Clubhouse was trending big time, now comes a time of consolidation and figuring out what to do with it 🤔️ That much is clear. This brings one question up: how can you use it for your benefit? What are the common ways to promote your side-project, business, or ideas? Also, how does it integrate with other social media? Keep reading to learn four methods to drive attention to your business or project with the help of Clubhouse. If you aren’t fully on board, read up on (if you are new and need some more). how to use Clubhouse Let’s jump straight into the first way to promote your business with expert interviews. 1. Interview Experts Who Turned Their Passion Into a Business It’s easy to find people who want to talk to you, especially if you’re willing to give them publicity. In the past, finding experts to talk to you meant cold-calling or emailing businesses and people you didn’t know. Fortunately, social media changed all that. Today, it is far easier to find experts willing to talk to you. The most obvious place to find experts is LinkedIn, . There, you can reach virtually any profession — even very specialized professions. which has more than 700 million users worldwide Let’s say, for example, that you want to learn more about how to improve the performance of your company’s sales department. Start by putting “sales” in the “Industry” box at the top of the LinkedIn homepage. Then click into the “Companies” box and type in the name of your company. Now hit the Search button to bring up a list of all the companies that have salespeople. 2. Host an AMA or Q&A session AMA stands for "ask me anything" and it is a type of "self-interview". Traditional interviews are led by a moderator and have pre-selected questions by the interviewer. AMAs have the host actively engaging the audience and having the guests participate. Usually, the questions are sent in by listeners before the session. In recent years, AMAs have become popular on Reddit and YouTube especially. To learn more about AMAs in general, . Most of the lessons can be used on Clubhouse. here 3. Pre-Event and Post-Event Sessions A great way to engage with your listeners is with pre and post-events on Clubhouse. Clubhouse Events allow you to create pre-event and post-event discussions for elections, sports events, fundraising challenges, media launches, etc. As you can plan and organize an event for various cases, the limit is your imagination here. 4. Hold a panel discussion on Clubhouse A panel is a group of experts discussing a topic. Each person in the group needs to be an expert to some degree. Ideally, you want the group to not entirely agree as there wouldn't be much to talk about. Naturally, diverse panels lead to much more interesting discussions. It is essential to have a moderator to start with - a moderator who can keep the discussion going and solve conflicts if they occur. The moderator's job is to maintain a friendly environment and allow everyone to have a pleasant experience. Bonus Tip: Get the most out of your social shares You surely want to take your friends and fans along to your Clubhouse sessions. Yet, whenever you post a Clubhouse link, they look a bit sad: This leaves room for improvement. is a free tool I've built to help with this. It converts your sharing posts to awesome looking images: ClubLink This is especially important with dropping . I hope this helps you driving more attention to your Clubhouse sessions! organic traffic from social media Over to you! With these four ideas, you should be armed to get your sessions going. So head over to Clubhouse and get started today. A spontaneous session often helps to get your direction sorted.

4 Creative Ways to Use Clubhouse For Marketing

Saboteur of Space

EDDIE MAKES GOOD

The Fight For the Treasure

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burroughs, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . The Escape from Opar The Escape from Opar Werper was astounded. Could this creature be the same dignified Englishman who had entertained him so graciously in his luxurious African home? Could this wild beast, with blazing eyes, and bloody countenance, be at the same time a man? Could the horrid, victory cry he had but just heard have been formed in human throat? Tarzan was eyeing the man and the woman, a puzzled expression in his eyes, but there was no faintest tinge of recognition. It was as though he had discovered some new species of living creature and was marveling at his find. La was studying the ape-man’s features. Slowly her large eyes opened very wide. “Tarzan!” she exclaimed, and then, in the vernacular of the great apes which constant association with the anthropoids had rendered the common language of the Oparians: “You have come back to me! La has ignored the mandates of her religion, waiting, always waiting for Tarzan—for her Tarzan. She has taken no mate, for in all the world there was but one with whom La would mate. And now you have come back! Tell me, O Tarzan, that it is for me you have returned.” Werper listened to the unintelligible jargon. He looked from La to Tarzan. Would the latter understand this strange tongue? To the Belgian’s surprise, the Englishman answered in a language evidently identical to hers. “Tarzan,” he repeated, musingly. “Tarzan. The name sounds familiar.” “It is your name—you are Tarzan,” cried La. “I am Tarzan?” The ape-man shrugged. “Well, it is a good name—I know no other, so I will keep it; but I do not know you. I did not come hither for you. Why I came, I do not know at all; neither do I know from whence I came. Can you tell me?” La shook her head. “I never knew,” she replied. Tarzan turned toward Werper and put the same question to him; but in the language of the great apes. The Belgian shook his head. “I do not understand that language,” he said in French. Without effort, and apparently without realizing that he made the change, Tarzan repeated his question in French. Werper suddenly came to a full realization of the magnitude of the injury of which Tarzan was a victim. The man had lost his memory—no longer could he recollect past events. The Belgian was upon the point of enlightening him, when it suddenly occurred to him that by keeping Tarzan in ignorance, for a time at least, of his true identity, it might be possible to turn the ape-man’s misfortune to his own advantage. “I cannot tell you from whence you came,” he said; “but this I can tell you—if we do not get out of this horrible place we shall both be slain upon this bloody altar. The woman was about to plunge her knife into my heart when the lion interrupted the fiendish ritual. Come! Before they recover from their fright and reassemble, let us find a way out of their damnable temple.” Tarzan turned again toward La. “Why,” he asked, “would you have killed this man? Are you hungry?” The High Priestess cried out in disgust. “Did he attempt to kill you?” continued Tarzan. The woman shook her head. “Then why should you have wished to kill him?” Tarzan was determined to get to the bottom of the thing. La raised her slender arm and pointed toward the sun. “We were offering up his soul as a gift to the Flaming God,” she said. Tarzan looked puzzled. He was again an ape, and apes do not understand such matters as souls and Flaming Gods. “Do you wish to die?” he asked Werper. The Belgian assured him, with tears in his eyes, that he did not wish to die. “Very well then, you shall not,” said Tarzan. “Come! We will go. This SHE would kill you and keep me for herself. It is no place anyway for a Mangani. I should soon die, shut up behind these stone walls.” He turned toward La. “We are going now,” he said. The woman rushed forward and seized the ape-man’s hands in hers. “Do not leave me!” she cried. “Stay, and you shall be High Priest. La loves you. All Opar shall be yours. Slaves shall wait upon you. Stay, Tarzan of the Apes, and let love reward you.” The ape-man pushed the kneeling woman aside. “Tarzan does not desire you,” he said, simply, and stepping to Werper’s side he cut the Belgian’s bonds and motioned him to follow. Panting—her face convulsed with rage, La sprang to her feet. “Stay, you shall!” she screamed. “La will have you—if she cannot have you alive, she will have you dead,” and raising her face to the sun she gave voice to the same hideous shriek that Werper had heard once before and Tarzan many times. In answer to her cry a babel of voices broke from the surrounding chambers and corridors. “Come, Guardian Priests!” she cried. “The infidels have profaned the holiest of the holies. Come! Strike terror to their hearts; defend La and her altar; wash clean the temple with the blood of the polluters.” Tarzan understood, though Werper did not. The former glanced at the Belgian and saw that he was unarmed. Stepping quickly to La’s side the ape-man seized her in his strong arms and though she fought with all the mad savagery of a demon, he soon disarmed her, handing her long, sacrificial knife to Werper. “You will need this,” he said, and then from each doorway a horde of the monstrous, little men of Opar streamed into the temple. They were armed with bludgeons and knives, and fortified in their courage by fanatical hate and frenzy. Werper was terrified. Tarzan stood eyeing the foe in proud disdain. Slowly he advanced toward the exit he had chosen to utilize in making his way from the temple. A burly priest barred his way. Behind the first was a score of others. Tarzan swung his heavy spear, clublike, down upon the skull of the priest. The fellow collapsed, his head crushed. Again and again the weapon fell as Tarzan made his way slowly toward the doorway. Werper pressed close behind, casting backward glances toward the shrieking, dancing mob menacing their rear. He held the sacrificial knife ready to strike whoever might come within its reach; but none came. For a time he wondered that they should so bravely battle with the giant ape-man, yet hesitate to rush upon him, who was relatively so weak. Had they done so he knew that he must have fallen at the first charge. Tarzan had reached the doorway over the corpses of all that had stood to dispute his way, before Werper guessed at the reason for his immunity. The priests feared the sacrificial knife! Willingly would they face death and welcome it if it came while they defended their High Priestess and her altar; but evidently there were deaths, and deaths. Some strange superstition must surround that polished blade, that no Oparian cared to chance a death thrust from it, yet gladly rushed to the slaughter of the ape-man’s flaying spear. Once outside the temple court, Werper communicated his discovery to Tarzan. The ape-man grinned, and let Werper go before him, brandishing the jeweled and holy weapon. Like leaves before a gale, the Oparians scattered in all directions and Tarzan and the Belgian found a clear passage through the corridors and chambers of the ancient temple. The Belgian’s eyes went wide as they passed through the room of the seven pillars of solid gold. With ill-concealed avarice he looked upon the age-old, golden tablets set in the walls of nearly every room and down the sides of many of the corridors. To the ape-man all this wealth appeared to mean nothing. On the two went, chance leading them toward the broad avenue which lay between the stately piles of the half-ruined edifices and the inner wall of the city. Great apes jabbered at them and menaced them; but Tarzan answered them after their own kind, giving back taunt for taunt, insult for insult, challenge for challenge. Werper saw a hairy bull swing down from a broken column and advance, stiff-legged and bristling, toward the naked giant. The yellow fangs were bared, angry snarls and barkings rumbled threateningly through the thick and hanging lips. The Belgian watched his companion. To his horror, he saw the man stoop until his closed knuckles rested upon the ground as did those of the anthropoid. He saw him circle, stiff-legged about the circling ape. He heard the same bestial barkings and growlings issue from the human throat that were coming from the mouth of the brute. Had his eyes been closed he could not have known but that two giant apes were bridling for combat. But there was no battle. It ended as the majority of such jungle encounters end—one of the boasters loses his nerve, and becomes suddenly interested in a blowing leaf, a beetle, or the lice upon his hairy stomach. In this instance it was the anthropoid that retired in stiff dignity to inspect an unhappy caterpillar, which he presently devoured. For a moment Tarzan seemed inclined to pursue the argument. He swaggered truculently, stuck out his chest, roared and advanced closer to the bull. It was with difficulty that Werper finally persuaded him to leave well enough alone and continue his way from the ancient city of the Sun Worshipers. The two searched for nearly an hour before they found the narrow exit through the inner wall. From there the well-worn trail led them beyond the outer fortification to the desolate valley of Opar. Tarzan had no idea, in so far as Werper could discover, as to where he was or whence he came. He wandered aimlessly about, searching for food, which he discovered beneath small rocks, or hiding in the shade of the scant brush which dotted the ground. The Belgian was horrified by the hideous menu of his companion. Beetles, rodents and caterpillars were devoured with seeming relish. Tarzan was indeed an ape again. At last Werper succeeded in leading his companion toward the distant hills which mark the northwestern boundary of the valley, and together the two set out in the direction of the Greystoke bungalow. What purpose prompted the Belgian in leading the victim of his treachery and greed back toward his former home it is difficult to guess, unless it was that without Tarzan there could be no ransom for Tarzan’s wife. That night they camped in the valley beyond the hills, and as they sat before a little fire where cooked a wild pig that had fallen to one of Tarzan’s arrows, the latter sat lost in speculation. He seemed continually to be trying to grasp some mental image which as constantly eluded him. At last he opened the leathern pouch which hung at his side. From it he poured into the palm of his hand a quantity of glittering gems. The firelight playing upon them conjured a multitude of scintillating rays, and as the wide eyes of the Belgian looked on in rapt fascination, the man’s expression at last acknowledged a tangible purpose in courting the society of the ape-man. 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. Edgar Rice Burroughs (1993). Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/92/pg92-images.html 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.

The Escape from Opar

Dedicated to Compass Books/Books Inc

In a moment we were in a French village

The relation of love to pain is one of the most difficult problems

The HackerNoon editorial team has launched this interview series with women in tech to celebrate their achievements and share their struggles. We need more women in technology, and by sharing stories, we can encourage many girls to follow their dreams. Share your story today ! Marlene, I met you at one of the blockchain conferences this year. Please, tell me more about yourself. What was your interest in Web3? I am very interested in the field, and among many other things I’m the co-founder of the Data Union DAO. The mission of the DAO is to give people like you and me back ownership over our data. How? We offer a technical framework for builders to integrate with existing applications - think your sports app that collects data about your personal fitness - with our framework integrated, data producers like you and I can sell our data. Why did you choose this field in the first place? There are two major events and one minor event that got me eventually interested in crypto. The first one was when Wikileaks could no longer accept donations via credit card but still managed to stay afloat through bitcoin donations. The second event was when in 2013 Edward Snoweden revealed that the NSA had been spying on us all over the internet and that essentially the only way out of this surveillance state was better and more encryption. And the third event was an interview I did with the artist Harm van der Dorpel on the rooftop of Soho House Berlin about how he is putting digital art on the blockchain. That was in 2016 and NFTs weren’t really a thing yet, but that was when I wrote my first article about crypto. What are you most excited/passionate about right now and why? I’m most excited about the growing zero knowledge proof space. There are new programming languages being released that will make it a lot easier for the average dev to implement ZK technology and I’m quite excited to see what kind of services they might be building with that. It could be also interesting for us at the Data Union DAO to eventually make use of ZKPs in a way that users wouldn’t even have to share their data anymore for selling it, but keeping it hidden by using specific ZKP applications. The easiest way to start out with that would be for concealing demographic characteristics like gender, age and income and only sharing access to that information without sharing the information itself. What are you most worried about right now and why? I don't really trust pseudo decentralized applications. The whole purpose of crypto is to be permissionless and censorship resistant. But if L1s like BSC or Solana can just be halted for maintenance or reversing major hacks then I don’t quite see the point of using a blockchain in the first place. A lot of web3 applications are a decentralization theater where a mySQL database with a “Login-with-Google '' button could have equally been used to allow people live out their gambling addictions. But that’s not the worst part. When we look at the recent OFAC sanctions against Tornado Cash and how the centralization of presumably decentralized applications means that protocols and dApps have to obediently follow what US regulators are prescribing, then the whole point of crypto is being lost IMHO. What are your hobbies and interests outside of tech? More tech. Techno. I used to be a techno DJ. But I decided that lifestyle was a little bit too unhealthy for me so now I only go properly clubbing like once a year and DJ in front of five people at crypto company parties. I also enjoy writing. I wrote a novel during the lockdown and am now working on the second one whenever I’ve time in an airport lounge or in a conference free week. Let's talk about breaking the glass ceiling. What were the biggest challenges you faced as a woman in tech, and how did you deal with them? It’s not necessarily disadvantageous that there are only that many of us out there. That’s all I’ll say on this. Any questionable misogynistic story/situation you faced/handled, and you want to share with the HackerNoon Fam? It happens. And: *uck them. What was the biggest setback/failure that you faced, and how did you manage it? Maybe more of a regret, together with a couple of friends we started an art collective in late 2018 around fractionalized art ownership via NFTs. We did some art auctions at conferences and events and played around with how a decentralized art collection could look like. People were intrigued by the concept, but I personally didn’t really believe in it enough and neither did the rest of my crew so we eventually stopped the project. Now looking at how NFTs have taken off I sometimes have regrets about not sticking to it. So yea, it’s all about the right timing. In your opinion, why do we see this huge gender gap in the tech industry, and how can we reduce it? Maybe it’s a question of personal interests. Right after highschool I did an internship with ELLE, the fashion magazine, the gender ratio was just as at any crypto company just that the majority was female and the two males in the office were both gay. The place was one massive cliche, we got tons of free makeup and there was always something to gossip about in the office. And at least back then in the fashion nobody seemed to really care about the gender gap. Who is your tech idol? Why? A couple of years ago I was really idolizing this lady who worked for a big tech NGO. Eventually I got to meet her in person and work with her on a project and that’s when I realized that our values were after all really not aligned. Since then I’ve avoided idealizing people since all of us can very easily share great ideas on stages or on Twitter, whereas it’s much harder to actually implement these ideas. Do you have any advice for aspiring girls who want to join the field? Try stuff out. I was with a security token project back in 2018 and our CEO told to us that “you can’t work on a farm without knowing how to milk a cow” before she handed a ledger to each one of us equipped with some testnet eth and had us play around for half a day pretending we’d all be all gazillionaires.

Marlene Ronstedt on Creating a Successful DAO

OUR PROGRESS FROM CAMDEN TOWN TO CREST HILL

Imagine the time when people used to go through a lot of clumsy paperwork and tedious formalities just in order to raise an insurance claim. The process of buying insurance policies, disbursing claims, policy renewal, etc., had been extremely complicated until we entered the age of the internet. Although the internet made a lot of things easier for the insurance companies, there were still many pain points left to be addressed. This is where the role of AI has been commendable, as it has revolutionised the insurance sector completely. No one would have ever imagined buying an insurance policy just with a few clicks. None of us had ever thought that we can raise an insurance claim just by uploading pictures online. However, not all of these changes in the insurance sector happened by intention. Events like COVID pandemic and some big natural calamities forced the insurance industry to adopt the new age AI technologies. If we look at the data, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused more than to the insurance companies. This figure only comes second to the financial loss the industry suffered due to hurricane Katrina. Such catastrophic events do force various business sectors to evolve, and the insurance industry is one to witness these changes. Before starting on what use cases AI is offering in the transformation of the insurance sector, let us get a glimpse at some key figures. $55 billion in losses Here are some numbers to support our point: According to the research done by McKinsey, of the significant work which is performed by insurance companies is expected to take root in automation in the upcoming decade. In addition to this, 70% of the insurance-related tasks such as claims, underwriting, finance and operations will see a significant change in scope. As a result, people working in insurance companies will require upskilling and reskilling to stay relevant in this industry. around 55% Accolade Inc's Maya Intelligence platform is taking the help of machine learning and AI to assist patients in selecting the most appropriate, cost-effective insurance coverage plan depending on their medical history and other sets of data. Right now, Accolade is providing this service to more than clients. 1.1 million 70% of potential insurance customers will trust an insurance company if it is readily available via messaging to provide sensible advice, solve their queries and help them in buying insurance. Bupa is one of the best groups, which is serving more than 33 million people worldwide in order to connect with their clients over Apple Business Chat, Whatsapp, and SMS in addition to providing call centre-based services. international health insurance using LivePerson's Conversational Cloud What Does All This Usage of AI Actually Mean? The above real-world stats of the finance industry clearly depict that making investments in AI and the related technologies such as machine learning, deep learning, and predictive analytics is now one of the significant talk points in decision-making meetings of finance companies. The good thing about using AI is that its implementation actually pays off well. For instance, McKinsey came up with a massive number of 1.1 trillion dollars of upcoming investment in AI by the finance industry. So how does this enormous investment opportunity work for an insurance company? Let's find out. Use Case 1: Streamlining The Claim Process In the age of the internet, customers are always looking for on-demand, real-time processing of their queries and claims. Insurance companies can use AI to implement a new method of submitting claims, such as submitting them via smartphones, web portals, and insurance company mobile applications. The AI can assist the customer with the submission of claims and will answer the questions which might arise during the claim submission process. Apart from this, at the end of filing the claim, AI can check if a customer has written the verified policy details and pass it through the fraud detection algorithm before sending the claim to the insurance company to start the settlement process. Cost efficiency evolution per industry, percentage is normalised to 100% in 2009 to take it as a reference point. (As from the data-driven out by in the above graph, we can see that over the years, the insurance industry is the one which is falling behind when it comes to addressing the issues and the costing of its operations.) McKinsey & Company Besides this, AI-powered chatbots can help in keeping customers in the loop about the latest updates on their claim process. Meaning they don't have to manually connect with a customer care representative to find out how many steps have been completed in their claim process. AI can be used to detect and capture documentation. It will also ensure that the documents are not fake with the use of character recognition. The AI has come to that level where it can read handwritten text as effectively as humans. There are so many telematics and onboard sensors in cars, home assistant devices, and fitness trackers in watches, along with various types of IoT devices that allow insurance companies to constantly collect the needful data from customers to provide them with better services. What's That One Thing Which is Good About AI in This Case? Well, with enough data provided by the insurance company. AI, with the help of Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) algorithms, can improve itself on its own. Meaning there is no extra programming which needs to be done in order to have better and quicker results out of the AI. Apart from this, insurance teams will be able to gain access to even more accurate data for insurance claims and complex insights about the customer which were not accessible in the past. Fukoku Mutual Fund Insurance Company In recent years Fukoku, one of the prominent mutual fund insurance companies, replaced its 34-strong claim assessment workforce with the implementation of an advanced form of IBM's Watson Explorer AI. The company was aiming to increase the productivity of their work by 30% and save 140 million yen each year. Lemonade Transforming Its Insurance Process Via AI Chatbots Lemonade is a company based in New York which is working towards making changes to the insurance industry from necessary evil to social good with the assistance of AI chatbots. The very first chatbot company is named Maya, and it is a virtual assistant that is capable of building perfect insurance plans for Lemonade customers. The second AI chatbot which the company developed was called Jim, and it was explicitly designed to handle the claims. The best part about the Jim AI chatbot is that it was actually able to take one-third of the cases on its own. Its massive progress in helping customers to get their claims sorted via AI and machine learning resulted in the company gaining a value of during the IPO in 2020. $3.9 billion Use Case 2: Adjustment of Claim in Shortest Time Possible Everyone wants the claim process to be as simple as possible. This saves time for both customers and the company. With the implementation of AI, insurance companies are aiming to bring up that blazing fast speed of claim adjustments. With AI, some of the intense, labour-heavy and inspection-driven tasks can be quickly taken care of. But why do we need AI for inspection purposes, you may ask? Well, the stats are straightforward, property insurance rate adjusters are 4x times more prone to sustain an injury than construction work, this is a pretty crazy stat, but it's all true. As a result, we saw the implementation of equipped with AI to assess the damage to properties after Hurricane Harvey in 2017 Texas. flying drones With these drones, insurance companies are able to create comprehensive datasets, which include Geospatial data, HD video or imagery, and lots of data collected from IoT devices as well. Now let's see which companies around the world are using AI and ML to automate the automotive insurance sector. Liberty Mutual Insurance Using AI for Assessing Vehicle Damage is a well-known company and probably one of the first ones to ever provide insurance policies to customers. The company is taking assistance from in to develop an AI that estimates auto damage. This is done by conducting comparative analyses of anonymous claim photos. Liberty Mutual Solaria Labs The AI is able to access the damage on the vehicle and provide the repair estimates post-accident on its own. As a result, no one has to actually meet the customer in person to come up with the cost of the insurance claim. Apart from this, in order to create a five-year collaboration to support AI research in computer vision, understanding of the computer language, data privacy and security as well. Liberty Mutual tied up with MIT Use Case 3: AI Helping in Detecting Insurance Claim Settlement Frauds Insurance claim frauds cost a minimum loss of annually in the United States alone. Faking an accident, injury, or any form of damage which can be used to claim against an insurance policy will come under a claim settlement fraud. With the use of AI in insurance claims, a company can make the following benefits and steer clear of these sorts of claim frauds. 80 billion dollars AI could use the historical data available to find the probability of an incident occurring. Not only that, it will also calculate the cost of claims by accessing typical claims which were raised by the policyholder in previous years. With the implementation of AI, insurance companies can detect fraudulent activities and patterns. These will trigger automatically when the insurer is filling claims repeatedly. With the clubbing of all these scenarios, AI could create a list of high-risk profiles so the insurance agency can take a deeper look at their case when they come for future claims. Use Case 4: Use of OCR for Fast Document Digitization (OCR) is the AI technique which is being used by insurance companies to scan customers' documents when they avail for an insurance policy and claim from the insurance company as well. There are certain benefits which insurance companies are able to enjoy with the use of AI-based OCR. The first advantage is increased security. This is because physical documents are hard to track but scanned documents can be easily tracked down. Also, accessibility of digitised documents can also be restricted to certain employees in the company who are taking care of that specific case. Optical Character Recognition Apart from this, employees of the insurance company don't have to manually write or type the information of customers on their portal as it will be taken from the scanned documents automatically. Furthermore, the OCR also helps in easy data search as you can simply type in the search keyword, and the document will appear on your screen. The cost of producing a single physical document is more than creating 1000s of digitised documents. Physical documents require paper, a printer, ink, and a place to store them as well while with digitised documentation, everything is done by a single system and documents are saved online. All of this leads to __ __of the individual processes, which are pretty standard and can be quickly done by an automated machine. saving 80% OCR is a great way to streamline the KYC process for customers and provide them services in the shortest time possible. The use of AI reduces the cost of customer onboarding while, at the same time, also increasing the speed of claim processing and customer satisfaction. car insurance According to the reports shown by the EY insurance industry Outlook of 2021, we can see the following results. __ __prefer purchasing the insurance plan online rather than purchasing it from the insurance company's office. 58% of life insurance customers Apart from this, of customers in Sweden and in Spain prefer to search for an insurance policy online before making a decision about whether to purchase it or not. 68% 52% These numbers are pretty essential as it shows how certain developed countries are moving toward digitalising their insurance process and implementing AI to streamline the day-to-day tasks at an insurance firm. AXA Extractions of Data from Hand-Written Forms is one of the great leaders in the industry of finance and insurance as they offer complex services in the field of health and property insurance to their customers. AXA (Source:- Snapshot of web interface prototype designed by For AXA. ) Rare Technologies The AI company wanted to increase the efficiency of taking in handwritten forms so as to extract information from them. At the same time, AXA also wants to reduce human labour in order to save money and reduce the chances of human error. They collaborated with to build a deep learning solution which gave the final POC output in the form of analysis, classification of incoming documents, extraction of hand-printed field values, a web interface as a prototype to test out the working, and implementation of REST API which calls the service in a pragmatic fashion. RARE technologies Use Case 5: Faster & Better Underwriting Process The increase in complexity of insurance policies and fraudsters levelling up their strategies, making them elaborate, results in insurance companies being more careful in their underwriting process, rules-based evaluations and other tasks which deal with particular sets of risks. With the advancement in the field of computer science, we see connected devices everywhere, from our mobile phones to our cars, everything is connected, and with all these connected devices, a mature insurer can easily find better ways to make appraisals. The AI-enabled underwriting process, which is paired with IoT devices, will help insurance companies carefully track down the required data in real time. For example, with the use of a GIS data stream, an insurance company can completely eliminate the need for in-person property inspections, as well as monitor the state of the property over the course of time to come up with an accurate policy pricing. On the other hand, this technology is also beneficial for raising appraisals for massive industrial infrastructure to estimate the recovery cost of any sort of damage and operational mishaps. A single seismic dataset is hundreds of gigabytes, which results in multiple terabytes of information processing and interpretations for a single day. This vastly improves our picture of the earth's surface and makes it possible for scientists to completely abandon the need to drill a multi-million dollar hole in the earth to get the same results. data AI processing of 3D seismic (Source:- showcasing how different tasks in oil and gas mining acquire data on a daily basis.) Nvidia Besides this, insurance companies can take needful information from the above data and churn it into predictive analytics of their own to find out the levels of degradation, perform automatic defect inspections, and find the potential failure rates and other risks which come from operating with such machinery. Baker Hughes Partnered with NVIDIA for Changing Future of Oil & Gas Massive oil companies like Baker Hughes have to deal with oceans of data before they can take out a single drop of oil. As a result, in 2018, the oil and gas company came up with the plan to partner with Nvidia to use to distil the incoming data in real time. This leads to a reduction in the cost of finding, extracting, processing and delivering oil. AI and GPU accelerated computing With the use of AI, the company was able to unlock the data by predicting the machinery failure, optimising the supply chains, implementing neural networks and more. The following use of AI results in: increase in accuracy of finding anomalies before drilling. 50% - 75% increase in an interactive exploration of massive datasets. 10x Reduction of across the full stream. OPEX by 15% Future of AI in The Insurance Industry Truth be told, the insurance industry is under a lot of pressure as we are now living in a post-pandemic world. The thing is, AI is not the solution for every single problem which arises in this industry. It can indeed reduce the cost and time spent on most of the tasks commonly performed by an insurance company. Still, it isn't a single solution to all the problems on which the whole insurance industry needs to focus at present. The above use cases that we have mentioned depict how AI can be used in the insurance industry. But these are some of the few ways in which AI is currently helping insurance companies sort their things out. These use cases are making sure that insurance companies are moving towards a digital-first customer experience and providing a technically advanced line of products to their customers.

5 Use Cases of AI to Show How It Is Transforming the Industry

“You have to realize that behind the [Beeple] $69 million sales, there’s very modest prices that are supporting a lot of legitimate artists,” said digital creator Matt Kane. In conjunction, they can receive the original artwork through the mail if it was created physically. The blockchain-based deed will always be a public testament to the transaction that happened directly from the artist to the customer. This value proposition is one that can apply to the most famous creators as well as to emerging players in the space. If an art collector believes in the quality of a piece, she can reward its creator directly for her work. Below are 7 artists whose life changed thanks to the invention and proliferation of NFTs: In effect, NFTs provide an immutable record of ownership for art buyers. 1. Emily Yang (pplpleasr) Emily Yang, whose pen name is pplpleasr, is a New York-based digital artist who made a fortune putting her artworks up for sale as NFTs.  Following her rescinded job offer at Apple when the COVID-19 pandemic hit along with a slew of rejections ensuing, she hit a low point in her life. At that stage, she started making art for the sake of it while up until then it was always within the context of a school or professional assignment. At around the same time, a friend of hers introduced her to the world of DeFi, DAOs, and NFTs. Her exposure to the crypto-community on Twitter her. “I couldn’t help but notice two things,” Yang recounts. “First: The community, culture around memes, and sense of humor highly resonated with my own. Second: There was a shortage of creative talent in promotional efforts in the space.” gripped From then on, through referrals and a keen entrepreneurial spirit, Yang started creating for DeFi projects. Building her portfolio, she ended up securing a gig for the NFT Virtual Summit organized by Andreesen Horowitz and the Stanford Center for Blockchain Research. Next, she was commissioned to make a video teaser for Uniswap V3. Her two most celebrated pieces, and , were both fruits of these projects. She later auctioned them off as NFTs and respectively them for USD 111,186 and USD 986,911. 3D animations Apes Together Strong x*y=k sold Notably, a formed around her to purchase her pieces as investments. At first, pplpleasr’s involvement with NFTs was primarily motivated by a need to earn a living in a tumultuous time. Nowadays, she takes on the larger responsibility to drive forward the NFT and DeFi movements. She namely gives a sizable portion of her NFT-sale earnings to in the space. DAO by the name of PleasrDAO charitable causes Victor Langlois (FEWOCiOUS) Victor Langlois, more widely known by his alias FEWOCiOUS, is a Seattle-based NFT artist. Most famously, not only did his pieces make it to the illustrious auction house Christie’s, but they also had its website due to the traffic garnered from contending bidders. His story is one of hardship to discover his sexual identity and build himself back up after leaving a difficult family situation. To date, his most expensive artwork sold for USD 550,000, and the aggregate value of his NFT sales amounts to the colossal sum of USD 18 million. His first piece ever sold as an NFT, , was purchased for slightly over USD 1000. crash The EverLasting Beautiful i Always Think of You Langlois’s was introduced on its website as “his inspiring journey from Las Vegas to Seattle, and from Victoria to Victor Langlois.” It features artworks that made up his journal where drawings and writings overlap. It tells a tale of struggle, catharsis, and soul-searching with him finally accepting himself as a transgender man. Because he had disciplinarian guardians with a close-minded outlook on queer rights, his only outlet was his art, even outside his home environment at school. For fear of retribution, he would draw digitally on a tablet to conceal his deepest expressive impulses. Years later, after studying how to publicize his art and monetize it, he sells his creations for millions. Indeed, the authenticity of his creative outlet and his eye-watering story shines through. Christie’s collection Vyankka (Squirterer) Vyankka, who goes by the pseudonym Squirterer, is a 24-year-old digital artist from the Philippines. She generated non-trivial revenue from selling NFTs online. Based in Davao, Mindanao, a group of islands in the country’s south, she has been able to earn the totality of her income from selling crypto art since 2018. Squirterer first started creating digital art on a $50 tablet. Later on, she was able to acquire an iPad Pro for her crafts, thanks to the rewards in ETH and Hive she had earned from selling NFTs and writing blogs about her artworks. Squirterer learned everything she needed to know about cryptocurrencies and decentralized platforms on Hive where she published pieces focused on her art. Indeed, she learned how to convert Hives to ETH and ETH to pesos first through Coins.ph and then through Bittrex and Binance. Suffering from PTSD and having always wanted to pursue a career in fine arts, she was told she could not because she was “too emotional.” To this, she tweeted: “‘You’re too emotional” Ok imma make money out of it.” Her most famous piece to date is the fruit of a collaboration with Kitty Bast and is called . It sold for 5 ETH, which traded for USD 16,859 at the time. The Dauntless Michelle Soneja del Mundo Michelle Soneja del Mundo who usually goes by Shelly Soneja is a digital artist and art director from the Philippines. She has said that the concept of digital scarcity has been “a game-changer, especially for digital artists.” It came as a pleasant surprise when the 10 editions of the first artwork she minted sold out for 0.1 ETH each, which at the time was equivalent to USD 38. She stated: “For people in developed countries, maybe that amount is not much” but that it meant a lot to her as someone “from Asia, from a developing country on top of that and being a digital artist who has never really seen that kind of amount of money.” “For people in developed countries, maybe that amount is not much” but that it meant a lot to her as someone “from Asia, from a developing country on top of that and being a digital artist who has never really seen that kind of amount of money.” Nowadays, Soneja works for the blockchain game studio Altitude Games. As part of her tenure there, she released an NFT avatar project called DJEnerates. Its current floor price on Open Sea is 0.04 ETH (USD 134) with a volume traded of 152 ETH (USD 510,000). On the project website, it is announced that the perks of the exclusive 10,000-person membership include metaverse clubbing: “Get access to DJENERATES hosted events in the Metaverse and party all night long with us in Decentraland. Special trait DJENERATES collectors will gain access to the VIP Amnesia balcony in Decentral Games and all DJENS will be invited to our October launch party in Decentral Games.” Alejandra Glez Alejandra Glez is a 24-year-old Cuban feminist artist who was the first in her country to mint and sell an NFT. In only eight minutes, she was able to earn no less than 3 ETH, equivalent at the time to USD 5,700. This is all the more significant considering that the monthly minimum wage in Cuba is 480 pesos, amounting to about USD 20. Given that the Cuban economy has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with its impact on travel and tourism, Glez paved the way for other artists to follow in her footsteps. Glez’s NFTs are meant to be thought-provoking and hold a mirror up to society regarding its treatment of women. Her diptych is a tribute to all women worldwide who were victims of injustices she purposely exposes. She does so, in her own words, “by exploring the lives of women claimed by femicides, migrant women enduring extreme hardship, and victims of gender-based violence.” Indeed, she hails NFTs as a medium thanks to which she can express herself fully without having to pass through the hoops of courting a gallery or curator. She reveals: “What’s most important to me is that this drop contains my unapologetically feminist work; it’s not art made for the sole intention of being minted.” Presence and Absence Jason Osinachi Jason Osinachi is a digital artist from Aba, Nigeria. As an aspiring writer in his youth, he would use Microsoft Word to write poems and short stories. When he got bored and needed to take a short break before he could refocus his mind, he would play with the drawing tools on the software. Today, he is one of Africa’s foremost NFT artists and earns income in US dollars which affords him a comfortable life. Fifteen years later, he uses no more than a touchscreen HP laptop to draw his artworks. Osinachi’s priciest piece, sold for 20 ETH — USD 35,919 at the time of the transaction. Further, his digital drawings and were respectively purchased for 9 and 13.2 ETH, equivalent to USD 16,227 and USD 23,633 when auctioned off. Osinachi has had a long history of making art and trying to live off it with limited success. He ended up as an academic librarian but never stopped creating and trying to earn a living through his craft. When the NFT boom in March 2020 hit, he had already been learning the ABCs of minting NFTs online for two years. In December 2019, NFT art collectors bought Osinachi’s pieces for 1 ETH when the cryptocurrency exchanged for merely USD 150. Today he sells pieces which he completes in a day for tens of ETH. Resignation, Mirror Mirror Am I Pretty “Crypto art has changed my life.” Muhammad Rifqi Ardiansyah (rubahitam) From Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Rifqi Ardiansyah whose pseudonym is is an NFT artist. He has sold a total of 50 artworks for a tidy sum of 44.978 ETH, equal to USD 155,333. Accordingly, Rifqi Ardiansyah has stated: “Crypto art has changed my life.” As a freelance motion designer, it has given him the freedom to express himself unadulteratedly. He remarks: “No revisions, no fixes, no tweaks, no notes given by clients.” Thanks to the NFTs he has sold online, Ardiansyah has been able to nearly quintuple the income he would normally earn from commissioned work. rubahitam At 25 years old, Ardiansyah recognizes that something fundamentally changed in the Indonesian art market. Deloitte’s 2019 Art and Finance Report relays that the auction market in Southeast Asia accounts for only USD 41 million. In contrast, it is a USD 2.5 billion industry in the United States, USD 112 million in China, and USD 92 million in South Asia. Because of the lack of alternate opportunities, Southeast Asian artists are hired for their cheap labor both nationally and internationally without holding any copyright to their craft. With the advent of NFTs art collectors can now circumvent middlemen and directly interact with artists. They can thus reward disenfranchised creators for their artistic labor. Accordingly, with NFTs local artists can henceforth put an end to exploitative treatment by art dealers and secondary salesmen. Closing Remarks This article tells a story of NFTs as a technology that bridges the opportunity gap and levels the playing field between artists worldwide. Whether for musicians, game developers, or any company wishing to append an immutable, digital deed to limited-edition products, NFTs are transforming several professions. Detractors of NFTs’ disruption of the art market will argue that not only do they predominantly concentrate wealth in the hands of a few, but they also put vulnerable populations in danger due to their environmental toll. Indeed, the barriers to entry to minting an NFT are high and can be prohibitive for digital artists from low-income countries. Putting food on the table or paying a month’s worth of income in gas fees to mint an NFT as a dilemma bodes only moderately well for a technology that promises to equalize. This is especially true when the outcome of an NFT auction is mostly uncertain. Nonetheless, the advent of astounding rags-to-riches stories and special-purpose blockchains geared at tuning out current technological setbacks offers a different perspective. Effectively, NFTs are already standing out as a net positive for the global art economy. References Callon-Butler, L. (2021, May 25). Artists Who Now Make a Living Because of NFTs. Retrieved from CoinDesk Covington, A. (2021, June 29). Meet FEWOCiOUS, the Teenager Who Crashed Christie’s Auction House. Retrieved from Esquire CryptoArt. (2021, September 17). RUBAHITAM | CryptoArt. Retrieved from CryptoArt Daley, B. (2021, April 26). NFTs are much bigger than an art fad — here’s how they could change the world? Retrieved from The Conversation Foong, L. (2021, March 23). A leap for art, a lifeline for artists: SE Asia’s burgeoning cryptoart movement. Retrieved from The Ken Glez, A. (2021, April 26). Alejandra Glez preview. Retrieved from t Snark.ar Lim, M. (2021, June 8). How NFTs are redrawing Asia’s art scene from artists to galleries. Retrieved from Forkast.News Locke, T. (2021, May 12). These millennial creators are making 6 figures selling NFTs: ‘It changed the trajectory of my career and my life.’ Retrieved from CNBC Onukwue, A. (2021, March 19). How Nigeria’s leading crypto artist makes and sells NFTs. Retrieved from TechCabal Pplpleaser. (2021, August 6). NFT artist pplpleasr: How crypto changed my life. Retrieved from Fortune Rosales Gerpe, M. (2021, August 11). For Women Cuban Artists, NFTs Offer A Surprising Opportunity. Retrieved from Refinery29 Stevens, R. (2020, December 30). The Nine Most Innovative Crypto Artists of 2020. Retrieved from Decrypt SuperRare. (2021, September 17). Artworks created by @rubahitam | SuperRare. Retrieved from SuperRare ‍

7 Artists That Had Their Lives Changed By Selling NFT Art

When the Mountain Came to Miramar

Cuando la Montaña Llegó a Miramar

Quand la montagne est venue à Miramar

जब पर्वत मीरामाड़ी में आया

山がミラマーに来たとき

Quando a Montanha Chegou a Miramar

Khi ngọn núi đến Miramar

当山来到美丽华

First, you will require installing all Solana stuff and the framework for the backend anchor. You can find the installation guide , also there are some basic examples and other useful stuff. here The working repository can be found . here Open the terminal in the folder you prefer to create the program and simply run the next command. It will create the project structure with all the required things. anchor init crowdfunding-program
cd crowdfunding-program The main executable code is stored in (all changes need to be done there): programs/crowdfunding-program/src/lib.rs First things first you need some account (it is actually like a wallet) for the program. solana-keygen new -o id.json Terminal then print the pubkey: <ACCOUNT_ADDRESS> Change the location of the wallet to "./id.json" in ‘Anchor.toml’ file. wallet = "./id.json" Before deployment, you need some amount of Sol to do that. Request some money to your new account. solana airdrop 2 <ACCOUNT_ADDRESS> --url devnet Now you can deploy the application. anchor deploy You will find new folders in your solution after deployment is completed. Basically, we need to obtain the program address and replace it with the automatically generated address by anchor. solana address -k ./target/deploy/crowdfunding_program-keypair.json This address will be the program ID. In the ‘lib.rs’ file and also in ‘Anchor.toml’ replace the program ID that you generated with what is inside these files. The application will support 3 major functions: - create a campaign with the ‘name’, ‘description’, and ‘target_amount’; create - donate the particular amount to the campaign; donate - withdraw the particular amount of money from the campaign account to the user’s wallet. withdraw In the body of the function I’m simply assigning all parameters to the campaign account. create pub fn create(ctx: Context<Create>, name: String, description: String, target_amount: u64) -> Result<()> {
        let campaign = &mut ctx.accounts.campaign;
        campaign.name = name;
        campaign.description = description;
        campaign.amount_donated = 0;
        campaign.target_amount = target_amount;
        // * - means dereferencing
        campaign.owner = *ctx.accounts.user.key;
        Ok(())
    } The is a structure of the current function context accounts, that must include a campaign account, and a signer who creates the campaign. <Create> #[derive(Accounts)]
pub struct Create<'info> {
    // init means to create campaign account
    // bump to use unique address for campaign account
    #[account(init, payer=user, space=9000, seeds=[b"campaign_demo".as_ref(), user.key().as_ref()], bump)]
    pub campaign: Account<'info, Campaign>,
    // mut makes it changeble (mutable)
    #[account(mut)]
    pub user: Signer<'info>,
    pub system_program: Program<'info, System>,
} #[account]
pub struct Campaign {
    pub owner: Pubkey,
    pub name: String,
    pub description: String,
    pub amount_donated: u64,
    pub target_amount: u64,
} The donate functionality requires transferring a specific amount of money to the campaign account. The instruction describes from what account to what account the Sols’ will be transferred. At the I also increasing the counter of donated Sols’ . campaign.amount_donated += amount pub fn donate(ctx: Context<Donate>, amount: u64) -> Result<()> {
        let instruction = anchor_lang::solana_program::system_instruction::transfer(
            &ctx.accounts.user.key(),
            &ctx.accounts.campaign.key(),
            amount
        );
        anchor_lang::solana_program::program::invoke(
            &instruction,
            &[
                ctx.accounts.user.to_account_info(),
                ctx.accounts.campaign.to_account_info(),
            ]
        );
        let campaign = &mut ctx.accounts.campaign;
        campaign.amount_donated += amount;
        Ok(())
} The structure of the accounts context is close to the , but here I don’t need to initialize the campaign itself, I just use the campaign that users selected. <Donate> <Create> #[derive(Accounts)]
pub struct Donate<'info> {
    #[account(mut)]
    pub campaign: Account<'info, Campaign>,
    // mut makes it changeble (mutable)
    #[account(mut)]
    pub user: Signer<'info>,
    pub system_program: Program<'info, System>,
} In the function besides transferring all funds to the user’s wallet I need to check if the amount of money is sufficient for transferring and if the user is the owner of this particular campaign. withdraw pub fn withdraw(ctx: Context<Withdraw>, amount: u64) -> Result<()> {
        let campaign = &mut ctx.accounts.campaign;
        let user = &mut ctx.accounts.user;
        if campaign.owner != *user.key {
            return Err(ErrorCode::InvalidOwner.into());
        }
        // Rent balance depends on data size
        let rent_balance = Rent::get()?.minimum_balance(campaign.to_account_info().data_len());
        if **campaign.to_account_info().lamports.borrow() - rent_balance < amount {
            return Err(ErrorCode::InvalidWithdrawAmount.into());
        }
        **campaign.to_account_info().try_borrow_mut_lamports()? -= amount;
        **user.to_account_info().try_borrow_mut_lamports()? += amount;
        Ok(())
} #[derive(Accounts)]
pub struct Withdraw<'info> {
    #[account(mut)]
    pub campaign: Account<'info, Campaign>,
    // mut makes it changeble (mutable)
    #[account(mut)]
    pub user: Signer<'info>,
} As you can see in the method, I throw errors if the User is not the owner of the campaign and if the balance is insufficient. The error messages actually represented in an enum called . withdraw ErrorCode #[error_code]
pub enum ErrorCode {
    #[msg("The user is not the owner of the campaign.")]
    InvalidOwner,
    #[msg("Insufficient amount to withdraw.")]
    InvalidWithdrawAmount,
} If you are done with all changes in your code, you need to build and deploy your program to the network. anchor build And deploy the program to the preferred network that you will work this, for example, ‘devnet’. In the root directory, there is file ‘Anchor.toml’, change the value of cluster to ‘devnet’. cluster = "devnet" The number 2 is some kind of constraint on the ‘devnet’. And finally, deploy it. anchor deploy After creating the main functionality it will be nice to cover it with tests. You can find tests in the repository, they are more or less similar to what you will have on the UI. Then let’s move forward and create the frontend part. After you have done the backend part you can move to the frontend part and initialize react application via . create-react-app npx create-react-app crowdfunding-ui --template typescript Change directory: cd crowdfunding-ui And install packages for the UI npm i @solana/wallet-adapter-react @solana/wallet-adapter-react-ui @solana/wallet-adapter-wallets @solana/web3.js @project-serum/anchor react-bootstrap The library is for styling only. react-bootstrap But it is not enough to properly build and run the UI application. There are some dependencies in the anchor package and some features in Solana libraries if you use react-scripts. npm i --save-dev react-app-rewired source-map-loader The problem is in some modules that don’t maintain the webpack 5. So create the file ‘config-overrides.js’ in the root of your UI application and copy the next code. /* 
* To build solana dependencies properly
*/
const { ProvidePlugin } = require('webpack');

module.exports = function (config, env) {
    return {
        ...config,
        module: {
            ...config.module,
            rules: [
                ...config.module.rules,
                {
                    test: /\.(m?js|ts)$/,
                    enforce: 'pre',
                    use: ['source-map-loader'],
                },
            ],
        },
        plugins: [
            ...config.plugins,
            new ProvidePlugin({
                process: 'process/browser',
            }),
        ],
        resolve: {
            ...config.resolve,
            fallback: {
                assert: require.resolve('assert'),
                buffer: require.resolve('buffer'),
                stream: require.resolve('stream-browserify'),
                crypto: require.resolve('crypto-browserify'),
            },
        },
        ignoreWarnings: [/Failed to parse source map/],
    };
}; As in the example of the Solana library, it is better to create a separate ‘wrapper’ or ‘provider’ to connect and work with the wallet. const supportedWallets = [ new PhantomWalletAdapter() ];

const WalletWrapper: React.FC<WalletWrapperProps> = ({ children, network }) => {
    return (
        <ConnectionProvider endpoint={network}>
            <WalletProvider wallets={supportedWallets} autoConnect>
                <WalletModalProvider>
                   {children}
                </WalletModalProvider>
            </WalletProvider>
        </ConnectionProvider>
    );
}; And basically, wrap the whole App in it. const App: React.FC<AppProps> = () => {
    return (
        <WalletWrapper network={network}>
            <CompaingsView network={network}/>
        </WalletWrapper>
    );
} From the Anchor program you created, we need one file → crowdfunding_program.json.  Copy it to the UI src folder. This file contains a description of how to communicate with your program, with all types that you defined. cp ./target/idl/crowdfunding_program.json ../crowdfunding-ui/src/idl.json To be able to send and receive data, you require to create the Program class, where you put copied , and . It will be in the CampaignsView component. Idl programId provider const getProgram = () => {
        /* create the provider and return it to the caller */ 
        const connection = new Connection(network, opts.preflightCommitment);
        const provider = new AnchorProvider(connection, wallet as any, opts);
        /* create the program interface combining the idl, program ID, and provider */
        const program = new Program(idl as Idl, programId, provider);
        return program;
    };

const program = getProgram(); This Program class will be responsible to communicate with the crowdfunding program. And to create the first campaign you need some amount of Sols on your wallet and of course wallet itself. I used a wallet, so install the extension to the browser if you haven’t done it yet. Change the network to ‘devnet’ in the settings of the wallet, after airdrop to your wallet. Phantom The create functionality is covered by the method. It basically uses values from inputs like: name, description, targetAmount. And signer here is a User’s wallet. At the end CampaignsView will look like this: createCampaign import React, { ChangeEvent, useState } from 'react';
import {
    AnchorProvider,
    BN,
    Idl,
    Program,
    utils,
    web3,
} from '@project-serum/anchor';
import { useWallet } from '@solana/wallet-adapter-react';
import { WalletMultiButton } from '@solana/wallet-adapter-react-ui';
import { Commitment, Connection, PublicKey } from '@solana/web3.js';
import idl from '../idl.json';
import { Button, FloatingLabel, Form } from 'react-bootstrap';
import CampaignsTable from '../components/campaigns-table';

const opts: { preflightCommitment: Commitment } = {
    preflightCommitment: 'processed',
};

const programId = new PublicKey(idl.metadata.address);

interface CampaignsViewProps {
    network: string;
}

export const CampaignsView: React.FC<CampaignsViewProps> = ({ network }) => {
    const wallet = useWallet();
    const [name, setName] = useState('');
    const [description, setDescription] = useState('');
    const [targetAmount, setTargetAmount] = useState<number>(1);

    const getProgram = () => {
        /* create the provider and return it to the caller */ 
        const connection = new Connection(network, opts.preflightCommitment);
        const provider = new AnchorProvider(connection, wallet as any, opts);
        /* create the program interface combining the idl, program ID, and provider */
        const program = new Program(idl as Idl, programId, provider);
        return program;
    };

    const program = getProgram();

    const onNameChange = (e: ChangeEvent<any>) => {
        setName(e.target.value);
    };
    const onDescriptionChange = (e: ChangeEvent<any>) => {
        setDescription(e.target.value);
    };
    const onTargetAmountChange = (e: ChangeEvent<any>) => {
        setTargetAmount(e.target.value);
    };

    const createCampaign = async () => {
        const [campaign] = await PublicKey.findProgramAddress(
            [
                utils.bytes.utf8.encode('campaign_demo'),
                wallet.publicKey!.toBuffer(),
            ],
            program.programId,
        );
        await program.methods
            .create(name, description, new BN(targetAmount))
            .accounts({
                campaign: campaign,
                user: wallet.publicKey!,
                systemProgram: web3.SystemProgram.programId,
            })
            .rpc();
    };

    return (
        <div className='campaigns-view p-5'>
            {!wallet.connected && <WalletMultiButton />}
            <Form>
                <Form.Group className='mb-3'>
                    <FloatingLabel controlId='name' label='Name'>
                        <Form.Control
                            type='text'
                            placeholder='Name of the campaign'
                            value={name}
                            onChange={onNameChange}
                        />
                    </FloatingLabel>
                </Form.Group>
                <Form.Group className='mb-3'>
                    <FloatingLabel controlId='description' label='Description'>
                        <Form.Control
                            as='textarea'
                            placeholder='Description of the campaign'
                            style={{ height: '150px' }}
                            value={description}
                            onChange={onDescriptionChange}
                        />
                    </FloatingLabel>
                </Form.Group>
                <Form.Group className='mb-3'>
                    <FloatingLabel
                        controlId='targetAmount'
                        label='Target Amount'
                        className='mb-3'
                    >
                        <Form.Control
                            as='input'
                            type='number'
                            placeholder='Targemt amount that need to be reached'
                            value={targetAmount}
                            onChange={onTargetAmountChange}
                        />
                    </FloatingLabel>
                </Form.Group>
                <Form.Group className='mb-3'>
                    <Button variant='primary' onClick={createCampaign}>
                        Create Campaign
                    </Button>
                </Form.Group>
            </Form>
            {wallet.connected && <CampaignsTable  walletKey={wallet.publicKey!} program={program}/>}
        </div>
    );
};

export default CampaignsView; At least the user must have the ability to see all campaigns, then add a list with all of the created campaign accounts. In the program, there is no specific functionality for that. It’s because such functionality is inside the framework. For each account, there is the extension method called ‘all’, you need to call it like . Anchor program.account.campaign.all() const [campaigns, setCampaigns] = useState<ProgramAccount[]>([]);

    const getAllCampaigns = async () => {
        const campaigns = await program.account.campaign.all();
        setCampaigns(campaigns);
    }; The value for donation and withdrawal are hardcoded, but they can be input like for campaign creation. Otherwise and functions are using to invoke specific methods. For each program method invocation Phantom wallet will ask you to approve or decline the transaction. But the call of the particular function is pretty easy. donate withdraw program import React, { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
import { BN, Program, ProgramAccount, web3 } from '@project-serum/anchor';
import { PublicKey } from '@solana/web3.js';
import { Button, Table } from 'react-bootstrap';

interface CampaignsTableProps {
    program: Program;
    walletKey: PublicKey;
}

export const CampaignsTable: React.FC<CampaignsTableProps> = ({
    program,
    walletKey,
}) => {
    const [campaigns, setCampaigns] = useState<ProgramAccount[]>([]);

    const getAllCampaigns = async () => {
        const campaigns = await program.account.campaign.all();
        setCampaigns(campaigns);
    };

    useEffect(() => {
        getAllCampaigns();
    }, [walletKey]);

    const donate = async (campaignKey: PublicKey) => {
        try {
            await program.methods
                .donate(new BN(0.2 * web3.LAMPORTS_PER_SOL))
                .accounts({
                    campaign: campaignKey,
                    user: walletKey,
                    systemProgram: web3.SystemProgram.programId,
                })
                .rpc();
            await getAllCampaigns();
        } catch (err) {
            console.error('Donate transaction error: ', err);
        }
    };

    const withdraw = async (campaignKey: PublicKey) => {
        try {
            await program.methods
                .withdraw(new BN(0.2 * web3.LAMPORTS_PER_SOL))
                .accounts({
                    campaign: campaignKey,
                    user: walletKey,
                })
                .rpc();
        } catch (err) {
            console.error('Withdraw transaction error: ', err);
        }
    };

    const allCampaigns: () => JSX.Element[] = () => {
        return campaigns.map((c, i) => {
            const key = c.publicKey.toBase58();

            return (
                <tr key={key}>
                    <td>{i + 1}</td>
                    <td>{c.account.name}</td>
                    <td>{c.account.description}</td>
                    <td>{c.account.targetAmount.toString()}</td>
                    <td>{(c.account.amountDonated / web3.LAMPORTS_PER_SOL).toString()}</td>
                    <td>
                        <Button
                            className='m-1'
                            variant='primary'
                            onClick={() => donate(c.publicKey)}
                        >
                            Donate
                        </Button>
                        <Button
                            disabled={c.account.owner.toBase58() !== walletKey.toBase58()}
                            className='m-1'
                            variant='danger'
                            onClick={() => withdraw(c.publicKey)}
                        >
                            Withdraw
                        </Button>
                    </td>
                </tr>
            );
        });
    };

    return (
        <>
            <div>Campaigns</div>
            <Table>
                <thead>
                    <tr>
                        <th>#</th>
                        <th>Name</th>
                        <th>Description</th>
                        <th>Target Amount</th>
                        <th>Donated</th>
                        <th></th>
                    </tr>
                </thead>
                <tbody>{allCampaigns()}</tbody>
            </Table>
        </>
    );
};

export default CampaignsTable; Now you can run your program and enjoy it. npm start All data is stored in the blockchain, brilliant.

Build a Solana Crowdfunding App using React

Giving constructive feedback to employees is a core skill of successful leaders. Underperforming teams need to understand your expectations, regardless of how difficult the conversation is. While the emotional burden weighs on your shoulders, you can’t hold back these words. The trick is to give this feedback in the right way. So how do you give constructive feedback to employees that they will act upon? I can tell you now that saying things like “Do better next time!” or “You aren’t meeting my expectations.” is not enough. To the person hearing your words, it’s like you’re clubbing them with disappointment. To create positive change, we MUST do better as leaders. In this guide, I will show you how to give constructive feedback that employees will positively appreciate. They will thank you for your thoughts. It requires you to give them a ♠️Spade♠️. Disclosure: This article includes affiliate links to any books I reference. I will receive a commission for any purchases. Constructive Feedback Starts with Your Mindset When giving constructive feedback to an employee, first ask yourself: What is my goal with giving this feedback? Do you want to show that you didn’t like their work? They didn’t meet your expectations? Do you just want to make the other person feel bad? People won’t listen to you if your goal is to express dissatisfaction. Constructive feedback that creates positive change comes from a place of growth. When you intend to help the person succeed, your words will leave an impact. Wanting to help others achieve their goals shows you care. This mindset makes them feel like you’re on their side. Everyone has room to improve. Showing an authentic desire to help will leave a lasting impression. Prevent Defensiveness to Your Constructive Feedback Giving constructive feedback to employees requires more than saying the right words. The emotional response of the other person plays a significant factor.
Think about when you learn you’re about to receive constructive feedback. What goes through your body? Fear. Uncertainty. A fight-or-flight response. These physical feelings are natural when one senses a threat to their survival. In the corporate world, those threats involve others thinking you’re not valuable. Think about this feeling whenever you give constructive feedback. If you surprise them with your candid thoughts, a defensive response is natural. You surprised them with a potential threat to their job. To solve this problem, let your employee know they are about to receive feedback. Then wait a moment. These extra seconds will give them time for their body to respond and calm down. Having time to process these feelings will result in a better reception of your words. Here are a few subtle ways you can give this space: Tell the person that you would like to give them feedback then walk to a room to have a private conversation. Message the person before you create a link to a video call. The extra minute of setup will give them space. Wait two or three seconds after telling them about your constructive feedback. Yes, the space is awkward, but the extra moment is needed. The SBIR Framework Creates Effective Constructive Feedback To organize my thoughts, I use the . SBIR Framework This acronym defines the structure of how to deliver constructive feedback: ituation: State the specific situation where you observed the behavior. S ehavior: Explain the precise behavior you saw. B mpact: Describe the exact impact the person’s actions had on you. I equest: State the explicit request you would like to make of the person. R I love this framework as a way to give feedback. SBIR’s format forces you to explain the contextual information you observed. You need to define the situation, the specific behavior, and how it directly affected you. I’ve had positive success with the people who receive feedback in this form. Let’s look at an example from the wonderful show Ted Lasso. Example: Constructive Feedback in Ted Lasso . It’s no surprise that there are numerous examples of giving constructive feedback. Ted Lasso is a great show to learn how to be a successful leader In this scene, Roy Kent is giving constructive feedback to Jamie Tartt requesting him and others to stop bullying Nate. Let’s take a watch: Video: Roy Kent tells Jamie Tartt to stop bullying Nate This is how Roy uses the SBIR method to give effective feedback: : Roy explains that Jamie has a lot of influence over the team and other players look up to him. Situation : The players pick on Nate and Jamie laughs at the bullying. Behavior : The other players think it’s ok to pick on Nate. Impact : Roy stares at Jamie, showing his disapproval. This silence is his request to have Jamie tell others to stop bullying Nate. Request This is an important moment of leadership for Roy. He confronts an influential teammate and requests Jamie to improve. Roy uses specific details of the negative behavior to explain the impact. Unfortunately, Jamie does not act upon this, but that’s part of his story arc of growth. Stop ♣️Clubbing♣️ People, Give Them a ♠️Spade♠️ Right – the whole spade metaphor. It’s a similar mindset to how I approach giving positive feedback to colleagues. You see, I’m not talking about shovels. I’m talking about suits of cards. (Trust me – I have a point to this) When it comes to negative feedback, we have two types: Clubs and Spades. ♣️Clubs♣️ feel like you’re being hit with a blunt object. You feel bad, you know you need to overcome something, but where do you start? This is constructive feedback that has no detail, it’s not specific. Giving clubs results in your employees feeling like they are underperforming. They want to improve but have no idea how to do it. Instead, give a ♠️Spade♠️. Spades help others grow their garden of skills. Yes, it will take a lot of work and time. You need to dig holes and attend to the seeds of new abilities. A spade makes it easier to start. This constructive feedback is specific. It’s actionable. Sure, it may hurt at first, but at least people will know what to do. So with these details, you can now ask yourself before you give negative feedback: Am I giving constructive feedback that’s a club or spade? People can do amazing things with spades. More Examples of Giving Constructive Feedback to Employees 📝 Example 1: A Lack of Status Updates from an Underperforming Employee Hi Steve, I know you’ve been working on that difficult library upgrade the past month. I see you’re committing updates to our code repository. This is great, but I’ve noticed you’re not giving regular updates to the team. The lack of status updates can lead to uncertainty. People won’t know your capacity to take on new work. They won’t know when you will complete your work. Going forward, can you provide a high-level update at the weekly team meeting? 🐞 Example 2: Too Many Bugs Needs Effective Feedback Hey Avery, I’ve seen that the team has been working hard to hit your project’s deadline. Unfortunately, I’ve been seeing few bad habits from the team. There are a lack of unit tests and quicker reviews in the team’s pull requests. For the changes that touch existing code, I’ve seen an increase in customer-facing bugs. I would like you and the team to write unit tests when touching existing code. Then, after you complete the project, do a review of the bugs and identify common causes that we need to address. 🦹‍♂️ Example 3: Giving Difficult Feedback to a Manager that Steals Ideas Hi Dale, At today’s design review, I noticed that Susan expressed the hamburger menu idea. A bit later, I saw you repeat the same idea but did not attribute the original idea to her. You may not be aware you’re doing this, but there is an impact on this behavior. Over time, this behavior will lead others to not value one’s work as much. I would like you to practice attributing the ideas you repeat back to the original person. Not only will this help others, but will increase the respect they have for you. Conclusion Providing constructive feedback to employees is important to helping your teams grow. Put yourself in the . mindset to help others become more successful Help your employee by letting them know ahead of time. prepare for feedback With the , your feedback will be contextual and actionable. to ensure that your employee understands your notes. SBIR Framework Use specific details In summary, stop clubbing people with blunt criticism. Give them a spade of constructive feedback to help them grow their skills. What’s been the most difficult constructive feedback you’ve given to an employee? Let me know on or . Twitter LinkedIn Before you go The purpose of Build the Stage is to . teach YOU how to be a successful leader If you learned something new from this essay, : I’d appreciate it if you’d complete one of the following actions : By sharing, you help others grow their skills and spark discussion. Share this essay : What’s one thing you learned from this essay? Let me know on . Join the Discussion Twitter Further Reading Radical Candor Amazon Bookshop Crucial Conversations Amazon Bookshop Non-Violent Communication Amazon Bookshop Kudos to for teaching me the ♠️Spades♠️ metaphor LifeLabs 5 Tips to Scale your Learning Culture

Successful Leaders Give Constructive Feedback in Spades

Integrating Zendesk and Slack will team up to be the numero uno business productivity tool that synergizes throughout. It is more like clubbing the best DNAs to get the unique genera characterized by the best genetic attributes' of both. Unsurprisingly, such an ensemble offers smooth ticket flow, reduces resolution latency and customer churn across businesses' sales, support, and communication landscape while enabling superior service and collaboration. Combining both empowers business users to connect any data source without complex IT support in place. Together, it streamlines mission-critical customer support tasks and keeps the bottom-line in the loop while touching the workflows' contact points. In this article, let's explore the productivity automation achievable by integrating Slack and Zendesk. There are several benefits of integrating both, allowing interaction with Zendesk Support tickets in your Slack channels. Let's analyze the various Productivity automation that Slack and Zendesk can achieve and how you can easily enable the integration flawlessly. 1. Slack Notifications for New Tickets Customer issues should be dealt with at the earliest to maintain customer service and meet the customer's requirements. Support issues are to be attended to in minimum time, which could be made possible only if the team is notified of it without delay. Specified slack channels can be used to receive information about Zendesk Support ticket events, to which detailed information on the ticket will be displayed. This could range from the subject to the person it has been assigned to. To enable this, and keeping them discoverable through searches. When we keep Zendesk to Slack integration template on, a message will be sent to the channel or the person corresponding whenever a Zendesk ticket is generated. They even provide an opportunity to customize the ticket, including ticket description, due date, type, and the like. This would make it easy to categorize the issue and let the personals resolve it without delay. Even if a ticket has been left unanswered, you will receive a notification on it to fix the problems earliest, providing the customer a quality experience. Zendesk has inbuilt Slack integration that enables sending messages to Slack The tickets can be notified in different ways to the corresponding team members. Certain people might have been used to Slack notification; you shall ping the corresponding person, which alerts them that you are waiting for a notification. On the other hand, for those who prefer to have notifications via email, Zendesk has automation through which alerts can be sent as email. 2. Resolving customer issues faster Certain issues might require a developer's assistance. The combined power of both Zendesk and Slack is highly effective in achieving this. Those who do not work under the support will not be having access to the support tools. It could be made possible to grant the others temporary access so that we can grant them permission to the tickets. They could be , which helps them look at the issue raised and resolve it. Eventually, the company will be much more effective in , thereby maintaining a closer relationship with the customer. sent tickets to Slack customer service 3. Building closer customer relations Customer relations can be enhanced as the sales team will be enabled to connect with new users quickly while integrating themselves with the support team, who can interfere and resolve issues at the earliest. There is no requirement for a manual connection to join the channels to connect each customer. However, sales can invite support directly to provide support immediately or provide them with a Zendesk ticket. We can provide better and improved support to our valued customers or VIP members. , and our team can be made available to them whenever they are in need. Your agents can also find it highly impressive. They shall add an emoji to raise a ticket whenever they come across an important message. As it can be connected to the ticket form, the command can quickly note the form's required fields. They can be invited into Slack This enables tracking to be done through Zendesk even though the conversation and other communication can be channelized through Slack. This accustoms both a better relationship as well as enhanced and effective customer service and satisfaction. 4. Maintaining Feedback Loop and Creating Requester With the help of automation, feedback in Slack can be viewed at any point in time. An individual's feedback shall be intimated with them with the help of an incoming webhook in Slack. This helps them understand their own work progress and what improvements are required for betterment. The same could be provided to channels that aid them in enabling tabs for customer comments. The team leader can offer them a channel where the entire team members can view the customer comments and view them at any point in time. Besides, when a new or unfamiliar user creates a Zendesk Support ticket, the automation , and the ticket will be assigned to the new Zendesk user. On the other hand, if an agent creates a ticket on behalf of someone, there are two options available- either a user can be selected from an existing list, or a new end-user can be created for them. creates a new Zendesk user 5. Support made simple by minimal hurdles It is obviously challenging to adapt to new devices and tools while answering customer queries. These might affect the quality of information as well as the number of questions answered by the team. The repeated changes from Slack and Zendesk might create an increased workload for the team. The perfect solution for this is to combine the powers of both into one. Other than mere access to both, they can keep a regular watch over the notifications to prompt the pending tickets. Apart from that, the team members can keep themselves connected and seek help from other members whenever they need it and maintain quality relationships with the customers, giving the VIP customers utmost importance. is also useful as agents can use them in tickets to initiate and participate in Slack threads. They shall even use Answer Bots to listen to certain channels. They could provide solutions to specific queries by giving suggestions of articles from the knowledge base. Inducing side conversations in Zendesk Bottom Line: The possibility of creating your kind of combination based on the unique requirement is vast, specifically with the right integration tools.

5 Productivity Hacks Achievable by Integrating Slack and Zendesk

Japan is home to many things and is one of the longest-lasting civilizations in the world. While many people think of anime, ninjas, or video games when they think of Japan, there is so much more the country has to offer. I've been fortunate to call Tokyo my home for the past four years. I've worked as an English teacher, taught college classes, and eventually transitioned to a full-time content writing career. I've gone through immigration processes, learned the language (but still have a way to go), and even got married here. Thus, I am always open for anyone in the Hacker Noon community to ask me anything about Japan! This Slack discussion occurred in official #AMAS channel, and has been edited for readability. This discussion was the first of our daily AMAs being hosted in our official Slogging channel, every weekday at 12PM MT. Slogging's Ask me Anything About Japan Hey ya'll! I've been living in Japan for the past 4 years. Ask me anything Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 7:00 PM How long did it take you to speak the language? Amy Tom Feb 11, 2021, 7:03 PM I heard people in Japan are quite strict with investments, as in they don't put much in investing. They tend to "save" more. Is that true? Hang Feb 11, 2021, 7:05 PM "How long did it take you to speak the language?" I still have a long way to go, my Japanese is only N4 - N3 ish which is a Japanese language certification level. N5 N4 N3 N2 N1, with N1 being the highest level you can achieve. I'd say it was about 1 year before I started getting better and 2-3 years before I became comfortable with handling most any daily tasks. Now I can go to city hall and get paperwork done on my own if I do enough prep beforehand! I learned basics from videos and textbooks but the best way to learn is to start dating a Japanese person 🤣. Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 7:06 PM "I heard people in Japan are quite strict with investments, as in they don't put much in investing. They tend to "save" more. Is that true?" Yes very true and very interesting. There is some investing here and similar systems like Mutual Funds, but it is not that common. I've even met some French foreigners in Japan that said investing is more of an American concept. Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 7:07 PM Hmm interesting. I once had a whole economic lesson/theory about that. My professor and colleagues suggest that after the bubble in the 90s they became much more conservative about investing. Hang Feb 11, 2021, 7:11 PM Also, why did you decide to move to Japan? Hang Feb 11, 2021, 7:11 PM Hmm yeah it would be interesting to study the reason for that but I did watch a short documentary about how Tokyo used to be like Manhattan and people had more money than they could spend and would go to Korea just to buy more expensive stuff. I moved to Japan because it had always been my dream. I loved Japanese anime and games and those stories inspired me to be a writer. It was always my goal to live in Japan and teach English there, so I went right after I finished college! Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 7:14 PM What is Japanese pop culture really like in terms of music, film, and art? Is it really all about anime? And how does it differ from North American pop culture? Amy Tom Feb 11, 2021, 7:14 PM It's not "all about anime" at all. One of the most ..."unique"...things about their music culture is the idol culture where girl groups with artists aged anywhere from 12 - 30 can pack out stadiums. Check out AKB48 and Babymetal. Interestingly, the movie theaters here are expensive AF, but the best thing about them is they are always reserved seating only so you don't have to get there early. In terms of the actual films, I'd say normally 50-60% are Japanese and 40-50% of films shown in theaters and Hollywood films. So even if you don't speak Japanese, you can still enjoy movies here. Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 7:17 PM The art scene is cool, especially in Tokyo! There are tons of art museums scattered around from tiny exhibits in small galleries in Harajuku to large exhibits in Ueno Park Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 7:18 PM But of course, gaming and anime could be considered pillars of their pop culture. Some of the biggest companies use anime to advertise their products and it is still one of the last places in the world that has video game arcades! Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 7:19 PM Limarc Ambalina what is the name of the documentary (asking for a friend) 😅 Hang Feb 11, 2021, 7:19 PM Hang I forgot...but it was on Netflix so I'll try to find it and send it to you haha Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 7:23 PM What surprised you the most about Japan? Amy Tom Feb 11, 2021, 7:30 PM Oh so many things......but if I had to choose one thing I'd say it's the safety and higher sense of morality. I don't know if that's the best word for it, but when I was teaching a college class, I asked them if they $100 on the street, would they keep it or turn it in and everyone said they'd give it to the cops. When I asked why, they said "because it's not mine". Even if they were all lying to me, it is still interesting that they all feel the need to at least say that they wouldn't keep the money. And to be honest, I believe them. IF you drop your wallet in Tokyo, there is like an 80 - 100% chance that you will find it at the nearest police box. On top of that, there is like a 50 - 70% chance the person who returned it didn't take any money out of it as a reward. Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 7:35 PM What is the general perception of Japanese idol groups and the older men who follow them? I’ve heard that there are girls that are under 12 who are child pop stars and they get idolized in a sexual way. Amy Tom Feb 11, 2021, 7:46 PM I remember walking through a park one day and there was an idol group who must've been like 4 girls 14 at the oldest. There was a general crowd of just people who were in the park for a festival and the front row was lined with old men, who were all standing, singing along with synchronized dance moves, At the time, I assumed they were the girl's fathers. It was later that I realized they were probably just super fans who follow the group to every concert. Idol groups (both male and female) are part of pop culture and accepted by the community (for the most part). Just like KPOP, idol groups usually produce the country's top 40 hits every year. How do people feel about the groups of old men aged 30 - 65 that idolize these groups and young girls with...frightening passion? I can only speak with personal anecdotes and every Japanese person I asked said they thought it was creepy. Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 7:52 PM On the other hand, baby metal is a group of girls all under 15, and they are popular all over the world? I assume no one thinks the people who attend their concerts are creepy. But one of the creepiest parts of the idol culture in Japan is that many...many people will pay extra so attend a "handshaking" event after the concert where they are allowed to shake hands and talk to the idol for a set amount of time 10 seconds, 30 seconds, etc. and it is literally timed and they use all of the time. Is that normal? I'd say hell no, but some people try to justify it. I recommend watching this documentary if you want to get really creeped out: Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 7:53 PM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0df7k__KEHw And what about sex in Japan in general? The perception amongst North Americans is that Japanese people are squeamish about sex and that young people don’t really have sex Amy Tom Feb 11, 2021, 7:54 PM I mean, to play devil’s advocate (although I definitely don’t support the sexualization of young girls) isn’t that just like a “regular” fan meet and greet? Amy Tom Feb 11, 2021, 7:55 PM There are probably studies done and statistics we can find, but in general Japanese people tend to lose their virginity later in life compared to America for instance. I remember hearing that statistic somewhere. But are they squeamish about it? No. It's just that the culture is much more conservative.  People wear less revealing clothes, for example, almost no one wears shirts that show their belly button for instance. I'm often the only one in the general vicinity wearing a tank top despite the sweltering heat. Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 7:56 PM Another problem could be that the lifestyle in Tokyo is too busy to date, and there are just fewer people entering relationships and thus we are having fewer babies and have an aging population problem. Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 7:58 PM "I mean, to play devil’s advocate (although I definitely don’t support the sexualization of young girls) isn’t that just like a “regular” fan meet and greet?" I guess so, but I think it's different if the girl is 13 and all the fans meeting and greeting are men over 30. Especially if those men go to every event and always pay for the meet and greet. Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 7:59 PM Oh is it over yet I wanna ask about technology in Japan! Linh Smooke Feb 11, 2021, 9:15 PM Go for it! Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 9:19 PM I read somewhere that the ATMs in Japan shut down at 8PM. Is that true? What can a night-owl do in Japan? Utsav Jaiswal Feb 11, 2021, 9:21 PM Not exactly 8pm, but it is true that they shut at a certain time and it depends on your bank. I learned this just last month when I tried to withdraw money at 11 pm at 7-11 and it said "your banks service is closed for the day". So night owls have to either withdraw money early or I believe you can withdraw from a credit card at any time. Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 9:22 PM Fun fact: we still use bank books in Japan...I feel so old school going to the bank every month to update my book Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 9:26 PM Ah cool. Question is: we’ve been to Japan once and were so impressed with their technology. What’s your favorite tech Japan makes? Linh Smooke Feb 11, 2021, 10:39 PM Let me give my true answer and then a more entertaining answer. My real answer is sinks above the toilet tank. Why hasn't the entire world adopted this? How much water would we save if people washed their hands with the clean water that enters the toilet tank after we flush? That was the one technology that I've thought WTF! How have we never done this yet in Canada?! Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 11:17 PM This is what I mean. Almost every toilet in Japan as this. Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 11:17 PM This answer might also be boring, but I also love IC payment cards, most common ones in Tokyo are and PASMO. We use these to pay for train fare and we can attach a monthly train pass to them so we aren't paying per ride, but a flat rate per month. On top of that, you can load any amount of money on them and use them as "tap pay" cards at all convenience stores, most fast food restaurants, family restaurants, grocery stores, shops, and vending machines as well. Almost everywhere accepts them. While Japan still uses a lot of cash for payments, we also have IC cards for super quick contactless payments Limarc Ambalina Feb 11, 2021, 11:22 PM https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/suica.html Damn I'm so late to this party but my question would've been I've got 72 hours in Japan - what do I do? 🤗 Feb 12, 2021, 6:44 AM That's way too short a time, so I would say stay in one area either: IF you're going to Tokyo, I'd say go to Harajuku to see the famous fashion scene there. And while it's touristy, you should go to Asakusa to try different Japanese foods, wear traditional Japanese kimonos, enjoy a tea ceremony, and go to one of the most famous temples: Sensoji Temple. At night time head to Shibuya for its clubbing scene, stay at the club until 2 am and (since the trains don't start up until 6 am) head to a karaoke room afterwards to keep partying or take a rest. I'd also recommend checking out Odaiba which is on the coast, where you can take a short cruise. Since Kyoto is such a famous place, another option would be to spend 72 hours touring Kyoto and Osaka. Kyoto is famous for numerous temples, shrines, and matcha tea. It's a good place to visit because it's very close to Osaka, which is another famous area of Japan famous for great food like Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki, and Kushikatsu. While Japan is a very respectful, reserved, and quiet country, I see Osaka as like the rowdy area where people are said to be louder and speak differently...maybe we'd call it the Boston, MA of Japan. But anyways, this is a terribly short guide plan, so if you actually are planning to visit after this pandemic calms down, head to for any guides and destination reviews! They are one of the first companies I ever got paid to write for and I still contribute to them from time to time! Limarc Ambalina Feb 12, 2021, 6:52 AM http://GaijinPot.com

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