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This paper is available on under CC 4.0 license. Arxiv Authors: (1) Md Masud Rana, Department of Mathematics, University of Kentucky; (2) Duc Duy Nguyen, Department of Mathematics, University of Kentucky & ducnguyen@uky.edu. Table of Links Abstract & Introduction Datasets and Results Methods Conclusion, Data and Software Availability, Competing interests, Acknowledgments & References 4 Conclusion The study of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) and the prediction of mutation-induced binding free energy changes are of great importance in understanding the molecular basis of biological processes. The application of geometric graph theory and atom-level graph coloring techniques provides a powerful framework for analyzing biomolecules and capturing their intricate relationships. By utilizing the concept of geometric subgraphs and constructing multi-scale weighted colored geometric subgraphs (MWCGS), we can effectively represent the structural and functional properties of PPIs. The site-specific MWCGS features allow us to extract meaningful patterns and characteristics, shedding light on the effects of mutations and the underlying molecular interactions. In this work, we developed a mutation-induced binding free energy change predictor, called GGL-PPI, by incorporating site-specific MWCGS features for PPIs and gradient-boosting trees. Our method demonstrates superior performance compared to existing methods. The model was validated on three datasets: AB-Bind S645, SKEMPI 1.0 S1131, and SKEMPI 2.0 S4169 and S8338, showcasing its robustness and effectiveness. Furthermore, GGL-PPI was evaluated on a blind test set, the Ssym dataset. To prevent data leakage between the test and training sets, the model was trained on a homology-reduced balanced training set Q3488. This approach ensures the reliability and fairness of the evaluation process. GGL-PPI exhibits the most unbiased and superior performance in predicting binding free energy changes for both direct and reverse mutations, outperforming other existing methods, particularly for reverse mutations. Overall, the results highlight the potential of the GGL-PPI approach in accurately predicting mutation-induced binding free energy changes in protein-protein interactions, providing valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying protein-protein interactions and facilitating drug design and discovery efforts. 5 Data and Software Availability The source code is available at Github: https://github.com/NguyenLabUKY/GGL-Mutation. 6 Competing interests No competing interest is declared. 7 Acknowledgments This work is supported in part by funds from the National Science Foundation (NSF: # 2053284, # 2151802, and # 2245903), and the University of Kentucky Startup Fund. References [1] Dana Chuderland and Rony Seger. 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PPIs and the Prediction of Mutation-Induced Binding Free Energy Changes: What It All Means

Q - A lot of times, we'll hear from technologists “software is eating the world.”  You and I probably disagree with this as we know there are so many other creative intelligences to add to the picture. A -  Software might be eating the world, but at what cost to humanity? Are we becoming lazier? Or are we just mentally drained or more distracted? Being addicted to apps is no solution to being overwhelmed or depressed. We shouldn’t encourage people to be vain digital hermits. Automation could be doing more harm than good, especially in the world of B2B, as it has plagued sales and marketing with disgusting amounts of spam and ineffective email sequences. What about the ? Is there too much software? Do too many software solutions copy each other, and do the same things? SaaS valuation bubble The bottom line: software is like a magnifying glass to the end user. It enhances life for those who use it properly, and destroys lives who abuse it. Q - You're an interesting mix of a musician turned digital marketer.  Why do you think that so many other musicians do not embrace marketing? A - Have you heard the phrase, “ ” before? Personally, I think it’s awful advice. If your passion isn’t financially lucrative, it should probably remain a hobby. You need to become financially independent and find ways to subsidize your passions and creative endeavors with your day hustle. follow your passion How can you follow your passion if you’re broke? That’s the problem with most musicians. They’d prefer not to embrace a digital marketing career, because they’d rather be in the music studio all day creating songs. While this is admirable, it’s not realistic in today’s world. (Unless you want to live in your mom’s basement). The primary reason I switched to marketing is because . The idea of not having to promote my own content was very attractive, and I immediately fell in love with SEO. I stumbled upon my passion for SEO while blogging about the music business As a self-taught growth marketer with an agency background, I soon figured out that my skills were in very high demand, especially within the tech sector. Fast forward to today, and I’m head of growth marketing at Nextiva, a leader in cloud communications. I’ve applied my SEO skills to help the company rank highly in search engines for competitive terms like . virtual phone system I eventually realized that a career in growth marketing might provide me with a more stable income to support my music projects. I haven’t completely forsaken music; now I use it to . Pouring energy into music improves critical workplace skills. Pursuing a passion overflows into inspiration in your marketing. balance my life and charge up my creativity That said, all musicians and music producers are their own marketers. Even if they’re successful enough to hire a marketing team eventually, it’s up to them to sell themselves. The more they can improve their marketing skills, the better chance they have of surviving – especially during uncertain economies. And I say this as someone who has experienced some success in the music industry. I’m a singer / songwriter / producer and have produced records for some of the biggest names in urban music including Shaggy, Fat Joe and Ryan Leslie. But at this point, I’ve earned more success as a growth marketer. Not to mention, it’s been more financially lucrative. Q - How do you see the music industry evolving out of necessity due to COVID and digital distribution? A - The music industry is holding on for dear life, trying to survive as a result of the pandemic. Cities like New York, LA, Nashville, Atlanta and Austin are traditionally known for their live music venues - none of which are able to operate due to surging COVID cases across the US. Live shows, concerts and performances represent a huge portion of revenues, which are no longer happening. Therefore, it’s 100% digital, but the margins for songwriters, producers and musicians remain very small. While creators have more time on their hands to create music, distribution and promotion has become more difficult due to all the clutter and congestion. Unfortunately, songwriters and producers don’t make a lot of money from streaming. - e.g. placing their music in movies and commercials, in order to generate meaningful revenue. Songwriters should focus on sync deals So who's really killing it? . Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Amazon and many others who are banking on advertising revenue and paid subscriptions. They’re basically collecting the rake, and leaving table scraps for the little guys. The major platforms Q – Is COVID affecting digital marketing in a negative or positive way and why? A - Digital marketing is surging due to lockdowns and a dragging pandemic. Software as a Service (SaaS) companies are thriving like never before. The pandemic created a for the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which in 2020. bull market environment grew by an astounding 40% Businesses that were already online are expanding and optimizing while those who lagged behind are scrambling to support employees suddenly working from home – possibly indefinitely. Seeking Alpha summarized the and conveniently compiled many charts including the one below. They indicate that  “Software-as-a-Service generates more revenue than any other cloud segment”. top segments driving growth As Director of Growth Marketing at Nextiva, I’ve seen firsthand the growth being driven by businesses in  technology. , only High Tech is seeing increased industry spend – up 7.1% -- rather than contractions of 5-10% or greater. According to Coupa Businesses have no choice but to do more online and improve their business processes. And that is only going to be a positive factor for companies like Nextiva where we are seeing . growth of 30% year-over-year

AMA With Musician Turned Growth Marketer, Gaetano DiNardi

Now that Super Tuesday has taken place in America, it seems clear that we'll be treated to a rematch of the 2020 presidential duel in America. Donald Trump has been dreaming of this for the past 4 years, and now he'll be able to take on Joe Biden again for revenge. Donald Trump's goal seems obvious: to return to the White House so he can wage his vendetta against all those he deems traitors. , it would seem that Joe Biden has his work cut out for him. With the slogan “It's the economy stupid” seemingly no longer an election staple I'm not for Joe Biden or Donald Trump because I believe that both will pursue disastrous policies that will continue to worsen the situation. It can't be otherwise, because beyond the politicians, the current system is flawed. All these politicians can't change the situation. The system won't be fixed, and the revolution will come from the people. This revolution is embodied by Bitcoin. That said, something is astonishing. While , Donald Trump is now enthusiastic about Bitcoin. Bitcoin has just beaten a new ATH above $72K and entered uncharted territories . He was interviewed a few hours ago on Squawk Box Here's where Donald Trump talks about Bitcoin: “Sometimes we'll let people pay through Bitcoin...it's an additional form of currency.” The most blinkered optimists went straight to ultra-bullish thinking that Donald Trump was now pro-Bitcoin. These people almost forgot what he said a little later about possible competitors to the US dollar: “I would not allow countries to go off the dollar, because when we lose that standard, that will be like losing a revolutionary war.” Donald Trump has become a true politician since he can say two contradictory things in the same televised speech. You can't be pro-Bitcoin and then say that you'll do anything to protect the hegemony of the US dollar over the world. These are two contradictory things. As Hillary Clinton has said in the past, “Bitcoin has the potential of undermining the role of the dollar as a reserve currency.” Bitcoin's potential goes far beyond replacing gold as a reference store of value for the general public. Quite simply, . Bitcoin has the potential to become the world's next reserve currency From now on, you need to learn to read between the lines and understand that Donald Trump was not Bullish on Bitcoin. Far from it! He wants to capitalize on Bitcoin's current popularity to try and make people think he's different from Joe Biden and get more votes for the 2024 presidential election. Remember what Donald Trump said about Bitcoin in 2019: Donald Trump had even tasked some of his staff with finding a way to ban Bitcoin ... LOL ... So, have no illusions. Donald Trump won't do any better than Joe Biden on Bitcoin. In fact, in his 2024 program, Joe Biden is proposing a 30% tax on the electricity consumed by Bitcoin Miners. Something disgraceful, designed to pave the way for the arrival of a Digital Dollar in the future. . This Digital Dollar will be the worst thing for your privacy All these politicians will do nothing but protect the current system, in which the American dollar is king. For those who doubt this, look to the past, and you'll see why Americans have gone to war so often in past decades. The latest example relates to Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Shortly before Gaddafi's fall, Libya had a plan to create a pan-African currency based on the Libyan dinar backed by its 143 tons of gold reserves, as revealed in an April 2011 email from Sidney Blumenthal, found in the Clinton documents leaked to the Net by Wikileaks. Gaddafi imagined breaking French hegemony over the former African colonies by offering an alternative to the CFA franc and using the weight of his nearly 2 million barrels of daily oil production. At one time, Gaddafi was also talking about denominating his oil exports in euros. In short, Gaddafi's ambition was to undermine the exorbitant privileges that Westerners granted themselves in Africa. It will then come as no surprise that a coalition led by America, France, and the UK took it upon themselves to put an end to Gaddafi's regime in Libya. Of course, I wouldn't say that Gaddafi was a democrat, far from it. He was a dictator, but what must be shocking here is the radical reversal of position on the part of Westerners, who had no hesitation in inviting Gaddafi to their homes in style, as President Sarkozy did in December 2007 at the Elysée Palace. It was later revealed that Gaddafi's Libyan regime had paid 50 million euros to finance Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 French presidential campaign. The official amount of Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign was 20 million euros ... I'll stop there, but you can do your research on these subjects to understand that these politicians will do anything to protect the current system. None is better than the other. The real revolution comes from Bitcoin, and it's by supporting the Bitcoin revolution that the people will be able to regain power. But to do this, we need to put speculation aside and focus on , to take full advantage of . the why of Bitcoin the liberating power of the Bitcoin revolution Quite a program, you may say! But that's what's at stake for the Bitcoin revolution in the future. It's up to you to tell me what you think of Donald Trump's statements on Bitcoin. Also published here

Is Donald Trump Really Bullish on Bitcoin? Read Between the Lines!

Web applications have greatly benefited from the inclusion of maps, providing users with valuable location-based information. Maps have transformed our interaction with the world, from navigating unfamiliar places to discovering nearby eateries. As a result, the integration of maps into websites has become increasingly popular in recent times. Nevertheless, designing maps that are both functional and user-friendly can present a challenge, especially for those lacking experience in this domain. In this article, I will share useful tips on how to create effective maps within your browser. Tech stack Let’s discuss technologies. When working with maps, we typically use three layers: Rendering the user interface, which includes buttons and forms. In our stack, React performs this role; Rendering the map and enabling user interaction. We use Mapbox for this; Fetching data from the server, such as information about markers or polygons. To retrieve data, we use the browser’s built-in fetch feature. Let’s review each item to gain a better understanding of our technology stack when working with maps. React The library enables you to work with page elements conveniently and efficiently. It was developed by Facebook for their own use, and includes numerous components such as buttons, forms, and other interactive elements on the pages. For example, Facebook created a to quickly compare different states. React reconciliation algorithm As changing elements on a page is the most expensive operation for a browser, it’s essential to do it as efficiently as possible. To address this issue, Facebook engineers developed the React library, which enables fast and straightforward element changes on a page. Besides providing rapid state changes on a page, React allows us to do this declaratively without working with DOM elements directly. Instead, we use an abstraction, usually , which looks like HTML. Let’s consider an example: JSX // It's our state. Is the user our friend or not?
// false by default
const [isFriend, setIsFriend] = useState(false)

// Depending on the state, we show the text on the button
const buttonText = isFriend ? 'Your my Friend' : 'Add as Friend'

// There is JSX, syntax for UI
// In this case, we display a button, when clicked, we change the state
return (
  <button onClick={() => setIsFriend(true)}>{buttonText}</button>
) It is possible to nest components with ordinary DOM elements like forms, buttons, and inputs at the bottom of the hierarchy. By assembling these simple elements, we can create more complex ones, such as a complete form: const Form = () => (
  <form>
      <input name="Email"/>
      <input name="Password"/>
  </form>
)

const App = () => (
  <main>
      <h1>My form!</h1>
      <Form />
  </main>
) How does React assist us in the context of maps? As the map on the page is interactive, similar to a button or form, we aim to optimize its rendering and interaction through events like clicks on the map. React can help achieve this optimization. Here is an example of how it works: // Use React to render the map with different event handlers
// and render markers
return (
  <BaseMap
    onInitMap={() => console.log('I am alive!')}
    onClickMap={() => console.log('Click!')}
    onDestroyMap={() => console.log('Oh no!')}
  >
    <ClustersMarkers />
    <PostsMarkers />
    <ListingsMarkers />
  </BaseMap>
) When working with React, it is essential to remember that it allows for efficient manipulation of elements on the page, quick changes, and interaction with them through events. This is achieved through an abstraction that resembles HTML, making it easy to create complex components from simpler ones. Mapbox Now, let’s discuss the map itself. Creating and using maps can be challenging, and only a few product companies can design maps from scratch. Typically, most people rely on pre-made libraries with a user-friendly API that has been tried and tested. Numerous dynamic map providers are available, including Google Maps, Leaflet, Bing Maps, Mapbox, and more. However, we will focus on due to its extensive features and fair pricing policy. For instance, Google Maps charges for 100k map views per month, while Mapbox only charges . Moreover, Mapbox offers free access for up to 50k map views per month. Mapbox $700 $250 Mapbox offers , a tool often compared to Photoshop for maps. With this tool, designers can create custom styles, hide unnecessary map elements, and remove house displays. One of its benefits is the ability to enhance the visibility of . Another advantage is the opportunity to experiment with map styling in corporate colors. However, it’s essential to consider the user experience and maintain a familiar color palette, including green grass and blue water. The best part about Mapbox Studio is that it simplifies the map design process by eliminating the need for developing and transferring requirements, ultimately reducing the cost of working with maps. Mapbox Studio Points of Interest Additionally, Mapbox provides a that can convert addresses to coordinates or vice versa, simplifying the process of locating points on a map. However, the tool’s may be insufficient, leading to difficulties for certain projects. Mapbox gathers data from , such as governments, open data initiatives like OpenStreetMap, and private companies. geocoding tool worldwide coverage numerous sources Mapbox provides a variety of , although the could benefit from some improvement. For instance, when incorporating marker functionality, examples can be more informative than the documentation. Additionally, challenges may arise when merging multiple components, such as marker clusters, custom data loading, normalization, and marker state changes. practical examples documentation Let’s revisit Mapbox maps. What does the do? Mapbox API It initializes the map in an HTML element on the page; It loads and renders images that make up the map; It draws additional elements, such as markers, using GeoJson as input data; It generates events, such as clicks or zoom changes, that can be handled. Let’s take a closer look at each of these items. Mapbox specializes in map rendering using tiles. Tiles are small square images that make up the larger map. The default size of a tile is 512x512 pixels, and it can be either . tiles are used to display roads, buildings, Points of Interest (PoI), and more. They can be dynamically styled, are lightweight, and allow for smooth interaction with the map. tiles, on the other hand, are used for displaying satellite imagery. vector or raster Vector Raster Just so you know, Mapbox Studio allows us to choose the specific data we want to include in the map tiles. These tiles are then placed onto a , which is a special DOM element in the browser that displays images and other graphical elements on the web. To give you an idea, it’s similar to how documents are displayed on a canvas in Google Docs. canvas <canvas width="100" height="100" /> Mapbox handles the loading, insertion, and updating of tiles. All we have to do is specify where we want the map to be displayed and the initial conditions, like the zoom level or the map’s coordinates. To use Mapbox, you’ll need an , which is a unique key that can be found in your Mapbox account. To set up a basic map, here’s a quick example, but for more information, check out the provided: access token link mapboxgl.accessToken = 'YOUR_MAPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN';

const map = new mapboxgl.Map({
  container: 'map', // we can use an Id or an element
  style: 'mapbox://styles/mapbox/streets-v11', // URL for styles
  center: [-74.5, 40], // initial coordinates [lng, lat]
  zoom: 9, // initial zoom
}); After this, we will get a map on the page in an element with the id ‘map.’ To provide users with more information on the map, we often display the location of a certain establishment or the boundaries of a specific area. To achieve this, we use a specific data format called and instruct Mapbox on how to showcase this data. GeoJSON GeoJSON is the standard format for storing geographic structures on maps. It can store various primitive types that describe geographic objects such as addresses, locations, streets, highways, borders, countries, states, and combinations of these, known as multipart. GeoJSON was introduced in 2008 and is represented like this: {
  "type": "Feature", // also can be FeatureCollection, it's collection of Feature
  "geometry": {
    "type": "Point", // also can be LineString, Polygon, MultiPolygon
    "coordinates": [125.6, 10.1] // for other types you can use Array with coordinates
  },
  "properties": { // it's metadata, we can you that to show something on the map
    "name": "Dinagat Islands"
  }
} Let’s talk about the coordinate system used in Mapbox. By default, Mapbox employs , which is a way of projecting the Earth onto a flat surface to work with tiles. This is known as Web Mercator and is the standard for online maps. However, when dealing with data about markers and polygons, it uses a different coordinate system called . This system relies on latitude and longitude to describe coordinates on the Earth’s ellipsoid. Mapbox and other map providers automatically convert coordinates from EPSG 4326 to EPSG 3857. If we need to work with different , we can use the method. EPSG 3857 EPSG 4326 projections map.setProjection Now, we will discuss how to display GeoJSON on the map. Mapbox offers two entities that we will find helpful: — This is the data seed. We can create a new source with GeoJSON data and configure it, for example, to generate an ID for each feature in the feature collection. Source — This is the data representation. We can display the data from the source in different ways, such as showing boundaries. Layer To display polygons or markers on the map, we must retrieve the data in GeoJson format from the server. Then, we create a source, input the data into it, and connect it to the required layer. const geoJsonFeature = {
  'type': 'Feature',
  'geometry': {
      'type': 'Polygon',
      'coordinates': [
          [-67.13734, 45.13745],
          [-66.96466, 44.8097],
          [-68.03252, 44.3252],
          [-67.13734, 45.13745]
      ]
  }
}

// Create source with our data
map.addSource('ourSource', {
  'type': 'geojson',
  'data': geoJsonFeature
});

// Add layer for background
map.addLayer({
  'id': 'background',
  'type': 'fill',
  'source': 'ourSource', // название нашего source
  'layout': {},
  'paint': {
      'fill-color': '#0080ff',
      'fill-opacity': 0.5
  }
});

// Add layer for border
map.addLayer({
  'id': 'border',
  'type': 'line',
  'source': 'ourSource',
  'layout': {},
  'paint': {
      'line-color': '#000',
      'line-width': 3
  }
}); After running this code, we get the result: To learn more about this topic, you can refer to the provided by Mapbox. In this tutorial, we have covered the process of initializing the map and presenting our data. Next, we will explore how to handle events like clicking, dragging, and zooming. For instance, we can use Mapbox to monitor events and display the coordinates in the console as the user moves their cursor on the map. To achieve this, we simply call the method with the event type we want, similar to how we work with DOM elements. documentation on map.on('mousemove', (e) => {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(e.point));
});

// Result: {"x":330,"y":49} In summary, what do we need to remember? Mapbox allows us to display a map, draw our data on top of it, and process map events. At the same time, Mapbox takes care of loading and displaying images (tiles). Fetch A word about . We have already seen how to render data on a map, but first, we must retrieve it from the server. When we dynamically request data from the server in the background without reloading the page, we call this approach (“ synchronous avaScript nd ML”). There are many tools for loading data asynchronously from the server, such as Axios or XMLHttpRequest (native). fetch AJAX A J a X What to remember? We retrieve data from the server, and there are many libraries for this, but we will use fetch. Next, we will look at how we do this specifically when working with maps, as there are nuances. React + Mapbox Now let’s see how the technologies described above work together. First, we will retrieve the data for displaying the polygon using fetch. Then we will declare the initialization of the map, and after it loads, we will add the polygon to the map. You can also find a working example at the provided. link const useFetch = () => {
  /*
  Our data
  {
      'type': 'Feature',
      'geometry': {
          'type': 'Polygon',
          'coordinates': [
              [
                  [-67.13734, 45.13745],
                  [-68.03252, 44.3252],
                  [-68.90478, 47.18479],
                  [-67.13734, 45.13745],
              ]
          ]
      }
  }
  */
  const [data, setData] = useState(null)

  useEffect(() => {
    fetch('https://our-api.com/polygon')
      .then(response => response.json())
      .then(setData)
      .catch(e => {
        console.error(e)
      })
  }, [setData])

  return { data }
}

const BaseMap = () => {
  // Use the hook to fetch data
  const { data } = useFetch(GET_REGION);

  // Map instance
  const map = useRef(null);
  // DOM element
  const mapContainer = useRef(null);

  // Main logic - init the map and add the event
  useEffect(() => {
    if (map.current) {
      return; // initialize map only once
    }

    mapboxgl.accessToken = 'YOUR_MAPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN';
    map.current = new mapboxgl.Map({
      container: mapContainer.current,
      style: 'mapbox://styles/mapbox/light-v10', // style URL (it's Mapbox's core style)
      center: [-68.137343, 45.137451], // starting position
      zoom: 5 // starting zoom
    });

    // Handle event
    map.on('load', () => {
      const sourceId = 'source-region'

      // Add a data source containing GeoJSON data
      map.addSource(sourceId, {
        'type': 'geojson',
        'data': data.region // our data from Apollo
      });

      // Add a new layer to visualize the polygon
      map.addLayer({
        'id': 'background',
        'type': 'fill',
        'source': sourceId, // reference the data source
        'paint': {
            'fill-color': '#0080ff', // blue color fill
            'fill-opacity': 0.5
        }
      });
      // Add a black outline around the polygon
      map.addLayer({
        'id': 'outline',
        'type': 'line',
        'source': sourceId,
        'paint': {
            'line-color': '#000',
            'line-width': 3
        }
      });
    });
  });

  return <div ref={mapContainer} />;
} Conclusion We looked at the technology stack that underpins our future architecture. In the following article, we will discuss the principles that help design a map architecture, how to achieve maximum low coupling and high cohesion of modules, and how to maintain and develop a scalable map system. Thank you very much for your attention! Have a great day.

Maps on the Web Using React and Mapbox

প্রতিক্রিয়া এবং ম্যাপবক্স ব্যবহার করে ওয়েবে মানচিত্র

Karten im Web mit React und Mapbox

Mapas en la Web usando React y Mapbox

Cartes sur le Web à l'aide de React et Mapbox

रिएक्ट और मैपबॉक्स का उपयोग करके वेब पर मानचित्र

React と Mapbox を使用した Web 上の地図

React와 Mapbox를 사용하여 웹에서 지도 만들기

Mapas na Web usando React e Mapbox

Карты в Интернете с использованием React и Mapbox

React ve Mapbox Kullanarak Web'deki Haritalar

Bản đồ trên web bằng React và Mapbox

使用 React 和 Mapbox 制作网络地图

Have you ever felt the adrenaline rush of checking your bank account, unsure if the numbers will spell adventure or setback? That's the daily gamble for us digital nomads, making not just about numbers but about navigating life. budget planning I tried different budgeting/financial planning apps and created “one more tool.” The Challenge of a Nomadic Wallet Picture this: You're in Phuket, rent’s due, a baby's needs, and a new currency exchange rate to wrap your head around. It’s not just about tracking expenses; it’s about predicting life in different currencies. Traditional money management advice falls flat when your lifestyle is as dynamic as the places you explore. It’s worth mentioning that personal budgeting is different for everyone, depending on so many factors, so I can’t imagine a one-fits-all solution is possible. This article is mostly about my own experience in setting up the budget. I genuinely believe that some people struggle with the same issues as I did, where existing solutions do half the work at most. If you recognize yourself in this story and would like to share yours, I’d be happy to talk more about your journey; please write me at dmitrii@malakhov.one Preamble Planning a budget is challenging. It takes months to years to properly prepare it, learn your habits, do educated estimates, and stick to the plan. Even so, emergencies happen, and you’d better be ready. When you’re a nomad (or traveler, or entrepreneur, or you’re just starting your path in financial planning) - you always deal with extreme uncertainty. There always are things you couldn’t think of a week ago; there are always things that will happen in a few weeks or months you are not ready for. That’s where many people overspend, underestimate, and fall into money stress. The problem As a nomad and expat with a family, I had to deal with numerous problems I was unprepared for with “traditional” money planning approaches. The variety of living costs - from rent to groceries, medical expenses, visas, taxes, etc. are different every time. I always have at least three active currencies in mind - the local one, my homeland currency, and the payroll currency - it’s tricky to track everything in one place. But the main problem is the question: “Do I have enough money till the next payroll?”. It’s easier to answer if your budget is relatively constant - you learn it, and you’re more or less confident with estimates. But when you need to know when to buy tickets, when your rent deposit will be returned, payroll changes, etc. - it is easy to miss that little thing and get into the big problem: But payroll is on the 5 and 25 of the month (for example) Estimates show a positive monthly balance You have considerable expenses between 5 and 25 (flight and rent, for example) You’re broke for a week because of that There are lots of variations of this case, but the general idea is the same: Can I spend X now always to have enough cash Should I transfer Y from one account to another (it may take days) And so on. Should I take N from the fund and return after Z days? Surprisingly, there are not many solutions for this case, and none help to answer all of them. The Misfit of Existing Tools After diving into , my comfort zone, I quickly hit a wall—the nomad's wall. No premade spreadsheet was ready for the financial gymnastics of managing rent in dinars, groceries in rubles, and savings in dollars. Excel Existing solutions and what’s missing Here, I’ll list a few options I’ve discovered. To be clear on what I’m looking for - I want to find two main features: Daily balance in the calendar Multi-currency support Excel/Google Sheets Of course, the first thing most people refer to when it comes to budgeting is Excel. There are countless templates, presets, and macroses to help with this. Actually, “Excel on steroids” tools like AirTable, Notion, and others also go here. It’s hard to underestimate the power of those tables - you can customize them in whatever way you like, write your macroses, and craft The System. There is nothing wrong with this approach in general - it helped thousands of people to keep track of their money. But when it comes to the case above, it lacks several essential things that are very hard to handle, and even if we can do it, it becomes a Frankenstein. Plus, if we want to simplify logging expenses - it’ll require even more effort. Regarding daily balance and multi-currency - you’d better be an Excel wizard to implement something like this on your own. In conclusion, it works for some, but it is not the best choice for us here. Expense tracking apps They’re following in our queue. Most offer neat UI, allowing you to visualize spending habits, set goals, and adjust plans, and are suitable for those who don’t want to bother with Excel. Often, those are mobile-only, which is excellent for quick logging but struggle to show things that may be important. Some offer multi-currency support (some with great auto-conversions to show all of them in Euros, like ZenMoney) and other cool features; others (DollarBird and Calendar Budget) - show daily balance, but only in one currency. After a few days of searching and several months of testing, I’ve realized that, for example, Calendar Budget is a great tool - it shows daily balances that support multiple currencies (but when you look at the total balance of several accounts with different currencies it just sum up numbers, so if you have 100 Thai Bath, 100 dollars and 100 Argentinian pesos, you’ll see you have 300 in total). Plus, it looks pretty outdated, so I still don’t have all my questions resolved. So, I’ve started building my own thing. Crafting My Solution First, I’ve decided to do the - to test the idea, find some use cases, etc. Two evenings later, I realized things were getting quite complex; the target was still not reached, and the solution wouldn’t work anyway. prototype in AirTable Okay, let’s write some code. Frustration became an innovation. I coded a prototype, envisioning a dashboard that understands the ebb and flow of a traveler's life. Here’s a sneak peek: ￼ Notice the highlighted cell? That's the danger zone indicator, telling me when my finances are walking a tightrope. This screenshot is a bit later version, but here is the solution in a nutshell - we can log transactions in different currencies, see the balance for each currency, and, in this case - see that the cell below is highlighted if the balance is negative (which was the most important feature to me) Later, I added an option to display the balance summed across accounts in a single currency and lots of other things. For example, I’ve simplified reconciliation - pull the natural balance for each account and keep planning. But one of the most significant improvements I didn’t see previously - is a ChatGPT input from the single-line message in Messenger. I use Telegram, so this - is how it looks now: It auto-detects the amount, account, date, category, and type of transaction. It’s WIP yet, so it's not 100% accurate, but still. It’s only a fraction of the features this product has at the moment, and even more are coming, but this allowed me to switch from all other apps and finally see the accurate picture of my budget and see in advance if there are potential risks so that I can handle them timely. Thank you for reading! Let's Connect and Collaborate My journey is ongoing, and this tool is growing. If you're craving a budget that moves with you, let's talk. or . Together, we can craft the financial compass for the digital age. Book a demo email me

Crafting My Financial Compass: The Journey of a Digital Nomad

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Topographical Notes

This article was published on by . Co-published with . ProPublica Lomi Kriel The Texas Tribune This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for to get up to speed on their essential coverage of Texas issues. The Brief Weekly MATAMOROS, Mexico — For the past five months, Valery Sanchez has shared a cramped two-bedroom apartment here with about a dozen gay and transgender migrants, waiting patiently but desperately for her asylum case to be heard across the border in Texas. From her bedroom window, the 19-year-old transgender woman can see the site of the makeshift migrant camp in Matamoros that she fled months earlier, fearing for her safety. At its peak, the camp, a collection of ramshackle tent structures in a park abutting the Rio Grande, ballooned to 3,000 migrants under the , a policy established by President Donald Trump. Migrant Protection Protocols Starting in 2019, the MPP program forced a total of more than 71,000 migrants seeking asylum to wait in Mexico until their cases could be considered by judges in U.S. immigration courts. Sanchez said she escaped Honduras in February 2020 after strangers beat her and left her for dead because of her gender identity. She spent the next eight months at the makeshift camp in Matamoros, but fled after other Central American migrants harassed and assaulted her and her transgender friends, telling them they would end up “dead in the river,” she recalled. Sanchez never doubted her decision to leave until earlier this month, when President Joe Biden’s administration allowed nearly all of the 700 migrants at the camp to cross into the United States as part of a broader rollback of the MPP program, also known as “remain in Mexico.” Over a little more than a week, the fetid camp, which lacked running water and had sparked public health and safety concerns, was emptied in collaboration with the United Nations, a first at the U.S. border. The tents that had cluttered the Matamoros riverbank across from Brownsville, the southernmost point of the border between Texas and Mexico, were gone. Advocates praised Biden for moving to eliminate one of the most visceral symbols of U.S. immigration policies under Trump. The camp had become notorious for the miserable conditions endured by migrants, as a U.S.- sanctioned refugee settlement. drawing international attention But in closing the camp, the Biden administration strayed from its own guidelines to prioritize vulnerable migrants like Sanchez who have pending court cases, essentially allowing some in the camp to skip the line. Many migrants whose asylum cases had already been denied or who otherwise didn’t qualify for entrance were allowed into the U.S. to be processed, stoking confusion about who gets in and who doesn’t. Department of Homeland Security officials said admissions from the camp were based on “urgent humanitarian concerns” and in consideration of keeping families together. But officials involved in emptying the Matamoros camp, who were not authorized to speak publicly, said pressure in the U.S. and Mexico also factored into the decision to prioritize migrants from the camp. Last month’s record freeze in Texas and Northern Mexico added to alarm about conditions. Sanchez and her housemates feel they are being punished for having sought a safer place to live. Had they stayed at the camp, they would be in the U.S. already, but now they are forced to wait. “We didn’t leave the camp because we wanted to,” Sanchez said. “We had to.” She is among tens of thousands of migrants in urgent situations who are so far left out. “The distinction between who qualifies for relief and who doesn’t is pretty arbitrary,” said Jodi Goodwin, an immigration lawyer in the Rio Grande Valley who works on MPP cases. “It’s a huge, messy problem for the Biden administration.” “Too Much Chaos” About 40,000 migrants, a majority of those sent back across the border under the MPP program, have already been denied asylum or otherwise had their cases terminated, according to . Only a tiny number have been approved for protection; the rest are still pending. federal statistics Typically, after a judge rejects an asylum petition in the U.S., migrants are required to return to their home countries. Many rejected migrants remain in Mexican border cities under perilous situations, hoping for another opportunity under Biden. His administration has not said if it will offer migrants with closed cases a second chance at asking for asylum. Goodwin and other lawyers said many claims were wrongly dismissed. Trump made immigration a cornerstone of his campaign for office and his presidency, arguing that under previous administrations the U.S. had been too lenient and that regulations should be tightened to prevent immigrants from entering the country. During his own presidential campaign, Biden noted that Trump was the first U.S. president to make asylum seekers wait in another country. He promised to undo some Trump-era immigration policies, including MPP, saying they were inhumane. “That’s never happened before in America,” Biden last year. “They’re sitting in squalor on the other side of the river.” said during a presidential debate The Biden administration halted the MPP program of allowing into the U.S. the 25,000 migrants with pending court cases. About 2,200 of those migrants have been admitted so far, including almost everyone from the Matamoros camp, according to the U.N. and in February began the process They will now be allowed to live in the U.S. while they await hearings in civil immigration courts that have an average backlog of more than two years, according to . federal statistics U.N. and U.S. officials said migrants with open cases are being processed as quickly as possible, emphasizing that those who have waited the longest and are most vulnerable should be permitted to enter first. “The Matamoros camp became a visible symbol of a much larger problem,” said Yael Schacher, a historian who serves as a legal advocate at the global organization Refugees International. “But this is just a tiny, very visible population of a much larger group that is in many cases as vulnerable or more so.” Newly confirmed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has urged patience as the administration reconstructs a “dismantled” immigration system. Biden officials have said that, under Trump, the U.S. decimated avenues to seek asylum, and cut foreign aid that had been intended to improve conditions in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. including returning unaccompanied migrant children without legal protections, The administration has promised reforms such as shortening the amount of time it takes to adjudicate asylum claims, but has not yet provided specifics. “We have had to rebuild the entire system,” Mayorkas said Tuesday . “As difficult as the border situation is now, we are addressing it.” in a statement Since taking office, Biden has grappled with an influx of migrants fleeing desperate conditions and hoping that the U.S. immigration system will be more welcoming under a new administration. In February, U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 19,200 migrants with their families, about 9,450 unaccompanied children and nearly 71,600 single adults, . according to federal statistics released last week The total of just more than 100,000 migrants was a 28% increase over January and the highest monthly number since . June 2019 Mayorkas said Tuesday that the U.S. is “on pace to encounter more individuals on the southwest border than we have in the last 20 years,” in part because of worsening conditions in Central America. A decision by the Biden administration to stop automatically expelling migrant children under a public health order invoked by Trump last March also resulted in an increase of unaccompanied minors entering the U.S. That has forced the opening of extra facilities and , which are intended for adults, for longer than the law allows. left children in poorly equipped Border Patrol detention centers On March 13, Biden the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the border to help care for unaccompanied children. announced that he was deploying Mayorkas and other federal officials have said that the border remains closed while the Biden administration tries to reconstruct legal avenues for those seeking protection. “It’s going to take time,” said DHS spokesperson Sarah Peck. “In the meantime, the border is not open, and people should not make the journey to reach it.” The confusion stemming from the camp’s closure has added to uncertainty about how the Biden administration is more broadly handling immigration cases involving migrants at the border. Outside of MPP, the Biden administration is rejecting nearly all migrant adults and some families under the public health order from last March, which invoked COVID-19 as a reason for turning them away. At the same time, the government is allowing to enter in south Texas, pointing to a lack of shelter space because of new regulations in Mexico. some newly arrived migrant families “Now it’s a bit of being at the right place at the right time,” said Savitri Arvey, a researcher on migration at the University of Texas at Austin. “That causes panic and misinformation.” As the Matamoros camp was dismantled, new arrivals pitched tents outside of the park where it had stood. Asylum seekers in Tijuana, Mexico, across the border from San Diego, began forming their own camp at that border crossing, hoping to encounter a similarly speedy process. The Tijuana camp has grown to as many 1,500 people since mid-February, representatives from legal advocacy organizations have said. DHS officials warned that such tactics wouldn’t help. “Physical presence at the U.S. border has not and will not be a means for gaining access to this phased program to address the Migrant Protection Protocols,” agency officials said in a statement to ProPublica and the Texas Tribune. Charlene D’Cruz, an attorney with Lawyers for Good Government who works on MPP cases in the Rio Grande Valley, said the conditions in the Matamoros camp were on par with some of the worst refugee settlements she had witnessed in Greece. But D’Cruz said that prioritizing the camp without offering solutions to the larger number of people suffering in Mexico after being returned under MPP is political “tap dancing.” “There’s too much chaos in an already very chaotic system,” D’Cruz said. “We need more transparency about what’s going to happen next and who is going to be included.” Left Behind Dinora Cruz doesn’t understand how U.S. authorities don’t see her as vulnerable or in need of protection. Cruz, who was returned to Matamoros under the MPP program in 2019, said she pleaded her case to an immigration judge. She explained that gang members had sexually assaulted her twice in Honduras after extorting her for protection money for the convenience store she ran. Once, she said, gangs broke into her house, firing a bullet that scraped her finger, leaving a deep, jagged scar. After a second attack on the street, she filed a police report with Honduran authorities. They noted in the report that the assault had left her with “serious psychological damage.” She could no longer pay the extortion money and lost her business. “The gangs threatened that if I did not give them money, then I would never see my kids again,” she told U.S. authorities at the border, according to her processing paperwork. Without a lawyer, Cruz said, she struggled to complete her asylum application in English and articulate in court why she qualified. She said the immigration judge told her that she hadn’t provided enough proof and rejected her case in January 2020, just before the pandemic shuttered such courts. Many migrants still waiting to enter the U.S. arrived at the border shortly after Trump’s MPP policy began in early 2019. Many of their cases were denied in that were not open to the public. tent courts Advocates , which included mass hearings through video conferencing with poor translation, according to lawyers. denounced the legal proceedings Ariana Sawyer, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, likened the hearings to “kangaroo courts.” She said many migrants’ claims were not properly adjudicated. Of the more than 71,000 migrants returned to Mexico under the MPP program, less than 8% had legal representation. The U.S. government does not provide attorneys to immigrants in such civil deportation proceedings. Many waited across the border in dangerous conditions. More than 1,500 were killed, kidnapped or assaulted in Mexico while waiting for their court dates, . according to tallies by Human Rights First and other international groups After the program was , judges granted asylum or other forms of U.S. protection to only about 650 migrants in the MPP program, according to federal data . implemented analyzed by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse The Trump administration also made multiple changes to immigration courts, which , a think tank in Washington, D.C, to the lowest in decades. according to the Migration Policy Institute reduced the asylum grant rate The measures created a broader crisis at the border. “The Matamoros camp ultimately contained only a tiny fraction of those asylum seekers subjected to this cruel border policy,” Sawyer said. Because a U.S. judge had dismissed Cruz’s asylum claim, Mexican authorities also revoked her permission to stay and work there lawfully while she awaited her fate in a Texas court. Now she and her two boys, 9 and 10, are living in Mexico illegally. The children have not attended school for more than a year. Cruz said she is too afraid to return to Honduras. Another woman sent back under the MPP program, who works at a clinic for migrants outside of the Matamoros tent camp, allowed Cruz to stay for free in her rented room. But the woman has a pending asylum case under MPP and has been told by the U.N. that she will soon be allowed to enter the U.S. under the Biden’s administration’s rollback of the program. Without a job and with no other options for housing, Cruz doesn’t know how she will take care of her boys once the woman leaves. Desperation Remains The Rev. Juan Sierra, who oversees a migrant shelter in Matamoros, stood outside of the tent camp earlier this month as the U.N. began processing migrants to enter the U.S. Sierra was relieved that they would no longer be living in unsafe conditions, but he feared that the city’s two available shelters would not be able to accommodate the remaining migrants and those who continue to arrive daily. “The camp isn’t suitable anymore for people to live,” Sierra said. “But if they take away the camp, we don’t have enough space.” Sierra said his facility can house only about 120 migrants under pandemic protocols. The city’s second shelter is much smaller. He said the U.S. and Mexico must come up with a clear plan for processing migrants seeking asylum and other protections. Otherwise, Sierra said, migrants could resort to entering the country in increasingly dangerous ways. “Migrants are going to get criminal groups to go to the U.S., and people are going to die,” Sierra said. “Hopefully both governments come up with a humanitarian solution.” Rhonda Fleischer, a migration program specialist at UNICEF, which is involved with the dismantling of the MPP program, said migrants are fleeing not only endemic gang violence and poverty but the aftermath of two deadly hurricanes in Central America last year. Many are also searching for employment after months of severe COVID-19 shutdowns obliterated the few available jobs in their countries. “There is nothing for people anymore,” Fleischer said. “I hear the call for people to wait, that the U.S. is working to find solutions for people who genuinely need protection.” Nonetheless, she said, “there are families in situations in Central America in which they are in life-or-death circumstances.” In Matamoros, the tent camp is gone, but the desperation remains. Sanchez, still living in her crowded apartment with other gay and transgender migrants, checked Facebook for updates on her closest friend, Natasha Mayorquin, who also had a pending case and was let into the U.S. last week as part of the MPP rollback. The sprawling settlement is no longer visible out Sanchez’s window. At night, she instead looks out and sees the lights of Brownsville. She thinks about her friend, now on her way to North Carolina. “I feel pretty alone,” she said. Like thousands of migrants across the border, she clings to hope that she’ll be next. Photo by on Will Francis Unsplash

A Look Into the Lives of  Transgender Asylum Seekers

Food and Flavor: A Gastronomic Guide to Health and Good Living: Chapter VIII - EPICUREAN ITALY

caught the attention of technologists and anarchists alike following the 2008 Global recession. Bitcoin took Bitcoin’s ‘Digital Gold’ status and gave us . took and gave us supply chain management solutions for problems that we never knew existed. Ethereum smart contracts ICOs smart contracts A crypto-winter later, just when we thought that: Altcoin season was over; Decentralized Exchanges were dead in the water; without regulators’ tacit approval. Crypto won’t grow Along came and ended all doubts that that had lived out its 15 seconds of fame. Uniswap crypto was a fad The innocuous-sounding or Decentralized Finance had humble beginnings in the days of the ICOs where ‘Banking the Unbanked’ was the de facto sales pitch of ICO Founders on LinkedIn and Twitter. DeFi Today, metamorphosed into the befitting reply to like and Coinbase. DeFi has metamorphosed centralized exchanges Binance Exchanges like and the similarly named Mooniswap have dealt a death-blow to the Order Book, upon which, centralized exchanges, their listed , and the alleged shady listing-fees market was built. Uniswap tokens liquidity How Does UniSwap Work? Imagine a bank that , hands out eco-friendly plastic tokens instead of a passbook to denote your deposits. You deposit your funds and get your bioplastic tokens. does not want to waste paper Now. banks hold not just dollars, but also, euros, pesos, rupees, dinars, and other such currencies, to facilitate international remittances. While banks use models to determine how much of a currency it should hold, Uniswap lets the community decide. You deposit your funds in a ‘liquidity pool’ to and in return, you get a small fee. While banks give you interest (after subtracting their arbitrary spread), on , this is called liquidity mining. facilitate transactions UniSwap How’s it Different From Banks then? First off, which makes a lot of . Second, banks have salaried employees while the has none. banks are centralized their rules arbitrary UniSwap protocol Also, banks are to protect the general public, is, to put it mildly, . regulated by Governments DeFi risky Finally, on UniSwap, if you , you have a say in the governance structure and implementation - it’s completely transparent. own UNI tokens Impact of UniSwap on the Crypto-verse Centralized exchanges are, for the first time, facing an existential crisis - and they face regulators Token issuers have started offering attractive liquidity mining fees for pooling funds in their token It is easier in the crypto-verse than ever before to pump and dump UniSwap overtook USDT ( ) as the biggest spender of Tether Ethereum’s GAS fees Ethereum’s GAS fees skyrocketed as projects started mushroomingEthereum 2.0 shall be tested by DeFi just as 1.0 was tested by ICOs Conclusion As with all , they’re always subject to and Black Swan events. If you’re looking to dip your toes to see why the crypto-people are going gaga over UniSwap. Investments market risks

BTC, ETH, ICOs, and now - DeFi: How far Have We Come?

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) utilize technologies to digitize a country’s official currency. Governments are increasingly examining CBDCs with the goal of having them play an integral part of their economies due to their many potential benefits despite a myriad of detracting factors. While there is significant debate over how CBDCs should be implemented, the fact remains that they represent the best chance for governments to remain involved within the ever-changing financial technology (fintech) sector. With its many effects, one specific use-case that CBDCs may be able to help most with is to bring stability to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The war-ridden Israeli and Palestinian populations have been engaged in significant turmoil for decades, and this paper recognizes that CBDCs alone cannot bring such a conflict to an end. However, they represent a potential solution to help both sides regain trust in one another, with CBDCs acting as a mutually trusted system for all groups to transact and interact with the goal of bringing economic prosperity to all. Current explorations into regional CBDCs Both Israel and Palestinian authorities have recognized the benefits of a CBDC and are working quickly to examine implementation for their respective populations. In , the Bank of Israel announced trial tests of the digital shekel based on Ethereum technology. This statement followed a report in that reflected favorably on such digital payment systems, with this report highlighting how cryptocurrencies could help simplify the payments process while providing security to transaction participants. June 2021 May Additionally, also saw the announcement of potential CBDC proposals by the Palestinian Monetary Authority (PMA). The use of a Palestinian-controlled CBDC would have significant implications for Palestine and its neighbors, with this move truly validating the PMA as a governing body for monetary issues in the region. June 2021 With these mutual visions of CBDC development, both the Israeli and Palestinian governments are taking their first steps towards ensuring better financial inclusion, equity, and economic growth for all. CBDCs helping to set the stage for mutual Israeli and Palestinian economic growth The utilization of CBDCs would help unbanked individuals receive access to traditional credit, savings sources, and financial investment vehicles, among many others. The fact is that Israel’s poor, of its population is a traditionally unbanked and underbanked community. 20.9% Palestinians suffer from even higher rates of bank inaccessibility, with one study showing that more than of adults in the Palestinian Territories not using banking institutions at all. Giving these people access to better financial resources would help propel them to new heights in terms of economic prosperity. 50% It is also worth noting that Palestinians currently do not have their own currency, with Palestinians relying on the shekel for daily use. Other popular stores of value currently include the Jordanian dinar, euro, and American dollar. This overreliance on other countries’ currencies does little to inspire confidence for regional economic growth, with rules such as strict Israeli anti-money laundering laws cross-border transactions bringing significant financial worries to those in the region. limiting CBDCs could help resolve these types of issues, with governments being able to encourage secure cross-border transactions to promote economic growth. Additionally, CBDCs could be used to tackle traditional challenges to emerging governments, including corruption, graft, and money laundering, which would be made significantly more difficult considering the implementation of a CBDC. This would help reduce scenarios ranging from extreme inflation to outright theft, ensuring economic stability and protection from corrupt actors. Such a CBDC could help further legitimize the PMA and the Palestinian government, with a Palestinian-run CBDC surely acting as a point of nationalistic pride for the Palestinian population. Why not cryptocurrency? It can be argued that cryptocurrencies could also perform a similar service for the Israeli and Palestinian communities. The use of blockchain, distributed ledger technologies, and cryptocurrencies could also act as a store of value for individuals much in a way that El Salvador legally recognized Bitcoin as legal tender in . June 2021 However, current power dynamics between Israeli and Palestinian authorities would make the use of cryptocurrencies as legal tender a temporary solution to the problem of regional stability. The development and implementation of a CBDC, particularly if established jointly or via partnership, would act as a signaling factor to the outside world that both Israel and Palestine are ready for future growth and peace. Simply put, the centrally controlled nature of CBDCs would act as a positive point to ensuring cross-border cooperation, ensuring stability, honesty, and transparency in all transactions through government support and enforcement. Therefore, CBDCs could act as a flexible platform for issuing digital money to all, with CBDCs being a positive force for change in a region so often in crisis. Conclusion In conclusion, the exploration of CBDCs by both Israel and Palestinian authorities is one that must be viewed with positivity. While both groups have been at conflict for so long, CBDCs represent a stabilizing factor that can bridge the divide between the Israeli and Palestinian governments, enabling both groups to highlight their readiness for peace and for future economic growth.

CBDCs Could Bring Economic Growth to Israel and Palestine

Recently I made a that requires user accounts. I learned quite a bit about setting up authentication with Firebase on the client-side and using it on the server-side to protected API routes with a middleware pattern similar to Express.js. This post is a recap of what I learned based on this project for future reference. You can find the code for this project on GitHub . small web app here Authentication - Client Side Initialization Setting up Firebase is easy. You create a project and enable the sign-in providers you plan to use, along with authorized domains. Grab the credentials from Project Settings in the Firebase console, and we can initialize the Firebase SDK on the client-side like this. here firebase ; ; ; clientCredentials = { : process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_API_KEY, : process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_AUTH_DOMAIN, : process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_DATABASE_URL, : process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID, : process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_APP_ID,
}; (!firebase.apps.length) {
  firebase.initializeApp(clientCredentials);
} firebase //lib/firebase.js import from 'firebase/app' import 'firebase/auth' import 'firebase/firestore' const apiKey authDomain databaseURL projectId appId if export default (See file and folder structure in the actual project) here React Hooks and Context Provider Since the user's authentication status is a "global" state, we can avoid recursively passing it as a prop through many layers of components by using . Context To do this, we need a context Provider and a context Consumer. A Provider comes with a Context created by createContext(). The value prop we pass to the Provider will be accessible by its children. authContext = createContext(); { auth = ; //lib/auth.js const export ( ) function AuthProvider { children } const /* something we'll fill in later */ return {children} ;
} < = > authContext.Provider value {auth} </ > authContext.Provider For the descendant components to use the value, i.e., consume the Context, we can use Context.Consumer, or more conveniently, the useContext . hook useAuth = { useContext(authContext);
}; SomeComponent = { { user, loading } = useAuth(); } //lib/auth.js export const => () return //components/SomeComponent.js const => () const // later we can use the object user to determine authentication status // ... In Next.js, the AuthProvider we implemented above can be inserted in the _app.js so all the pages in the app can use it. See . here Implementation Details of `AuthProvider` In the AuthProvider skeleton above, we passed an auth object as the value prop, and this is the key thing that all the consumers consume. Now we need to figure out what we need to implement this auth object. The key thing auth need to achieve is subscribing to the changes in the user's login status (and associated user info). These changes can be triggered through the Firebase SDK, specifically the sign-in / sign-out functions such as firebase.auth.GoogleAuthProvider() and authentication state observer function firebase.auth().onAuthStateChanged(). So, our minimal implementation could be the following, mainly pay attention to the new getAuth function. We definitely need to return something from getAuth and that'll be the auth object used by AuthProvider. To do this, we implement the handleUser function to update the state user as follows React, { useState, useEffect, useContext, createContext } firebase authContext = createContext() { auth = getAuth() //lib/auth.js import from 'react' import from './firebase' const export ( ) function AuthProvider { children } const return {children} }

export const useAuth = () => {
  return useContext(authContext)
}

function getAuth() {
  const [user, setUser] = useState(null)
  const handleUser = (user) => {
    if(user){
      setUser(user)
    }
  }

  useEffect(() => {
    const unsubscribe = firebase.auth().onAuthStateChanged(handleUser);
    return () => unsubscribe();
  }, []);
  
  /* TBA: some log in and log out function that will also call handleUser */
  
  return {user}
} < = > authContext.Provider value {auth} </ > authContext.Provider Since we are calling other React Hooks, e.g. userEffect,  getAuth needs to be either a React functional component or a custom hook in order to follow the . Since we are not rendering anything, just returning some info,  getAuth is a custom hook and we should thus rename it to something like useFirebaseAuth (i.e the custom hook's name should always start with use, per ). The main function userFirebaseAuth provides us is to share the user state between components. Actually, across all the components since we used a Context Provider in _app.js. rules here note here Below is a fuller implementation of userFirebaseAuth. There are quite a few things we added here: Exposing sign-in and sign-out logic so that context consumers can use them. Since they would trigger changes in user state similarly to firebase.auth().onAuthStateChanged, it is better to put them here. We actually need to change firebase.auth().onAuthStateChanged to firebase.auth().onIdTokenChanged to capture the token refresh events and refresh the user state accordingly with the new access token. Adding some formatting to make the user object only contains our app's necessary info and not everything that Firebase returns. Add redirect to send user to the right pages after sign-in or sign-out. React, { useState, useEffect, useContext, createContext } ; Router ; firebase ; { createUser } ; authContext = createContext(); { auth = useFirebaseAuth(); import from 'react' import from 'next/router' import from './firebase' import from './db' const export ( ) function AuthProvider { children } const return {children} ;
}

export const useAuth = () => {
  return useContext(authContext);
};

function useFirebaseAuth() {
  const [user, setUser] = useState(null);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);

  const handleUser = async (rawUser) => {
    if (rawUser) {
      const user = await formatUser(rawUser);
      const { token, ...userWithoutToken } = user;

      createUser(user.uid, userWithoutToken);
      setUser(user);

      setLoading(false);
      return user;
    } else {
      setUser(false);
      setLoading(false);
      return false;
    }
  };
  
  const signinWithGoogle = (redirect) => {
    setLoading(true);
    return firebase
      .auth()
      .signInWithPopup(new firebase.auth.GoogleAuthProvider())
      .then((response) => {
        handleUser(response.user);

        if (redirect) {
          Router.push(redirect);
        }
      });
  };

  const signout = () => {
    return firebase
      .auth()
      .signOut()
      .then(() => handleUser(false));
  };

  useEffect(() => {
    const unsubscribe = firebase.auth().onIdTokenChanged(handleUser);
    return () => unsubscribe();
  }, []);

  return {
    user,
    loading,
    signinWithGoogle,
    signout,
  };
}

const formatUser = async (user) => {
  return {
    uid: user.uid,
    email: user.email,
    name: user.displayName,
    provider: user.providerData[0].providerId,
    photoUrl: user.photoURL,
  };
}; < = > authContext.Provider value {auth} </ > authContext.Provider Authorization - Server Side The other use case we need with Firebase authentication is to ensure users have proper access to server-side resources, i.e., specific API routes will be only accessible if certain access criteria is met. I guess this called authorization. An example would be, for /api/users/[uid] route, we would only return results the user requesting their own info. Firestore Security Rules One pattern to manage access to backend resources (mostly database access) is to use Firestore and Firebase authentication together and use Firestore's to enforce access permissions. security rules For example, in the example above, to limit access to user info, on the client-side, we attempt to retrieve the user record as usual { doc = firestore.collection( ).doc(uid).get(); user = { : doc.id, ...doc.data() }; user;
} export async ( ) function getUser uid const await 'users' const id return But we define the following set of security rules to only allow read/write when the user's uid matches the document's uid. rules_version = ;
service cloud.firestore {
  match /databases/{database}/documents {
    match /users/{uid} {
      allow read, : isUser(uid);
    }
  }
} { isSignedIn() && request.auth.uid == uid;
} { request.auth.uid != ;
} '2' write if ( ) function isUser uid return ( ) function isSignedIn return null You can actually do a lot with this setup. For example, in order to determine access to a document, you can do some extra queries on other collections and documents. Here are the I used, which involved a bit of that. security rules With this client-side setup and security rules, there are downsides. Mainly: We are defining access using this security rule syntax, which is less flexible than just writing arbitrary code on the server-side. Firestore also limits the number of queries you can do to verify the access permission on each request. This may limit how complex your permission scheme can be. Some of the database operations can be very heavy, such as recursively deleting a large document collection, and should only be done on the server-side. (See Firestore's documentation for more details.) here Testing security rules require extra work. (Firebase does have a friendly UI and simulator for this). Finally, it gets a little scattered that some database access logic lives on the client-side ( ) and some on the server-side ( ). I probably should consolidate to the server-side. code pointer code pointer Using Firebase Admin on Server Side OK, now the more "classic" way of doing the authorization on the server-side. The general workflow is: The client-side code should send over an access token along with each request. The server-side code has an instance of firebase-admin, which can verify and decode the access token and extract user information, such as the uid of the user Based on that information, the server-side code can do more queries and apply more logic to figure out it should proceed or reject the request. (The firebase-admin will have privileged access to all Firebase resources and will ignore all the security rules, which are only relevant for client-side requests). This is how I initialized firebase-admin * admin ; (!admin.apps.length) {
  admin.initializeApp({ : admin.credential.cert({ : process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID, : process.env.FIREBASE_CLIENT_EMAIL, : process.env.FIREBASE_PRIVATE_KEY.replace( , ),
    }), : process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_DATABASE_URL,
  });
} firestore = admin.firestore(); auth = admin.auth(); { firestore, auth } //lib/firebase-admin.js import as from 'firebase-admin' if credential projectId clientEmail privateKey /\\n/g '\n' databaseURL const const export The documentation suggests generate a private key JSON file. The file contains many different fields, the three fields above: projectId, clientEmail, and privateKey seem to be enough to get it to work. here Now we can extract uid on each request and verify the user's access { auth } ; (req, res) => { (!req.headers.token) { res.status( ).json({ : });
  } { { uid } = auth.verifyIdToken(req.headers.token);
    req.uid = uid;
  } (error) { res.status( ).json({ : error.message });
  } } import from '@/lib/firebase-admin' export default async if return 401 error 'Please include id token' try const await catch return 401 error // more authorization checks based on uid // business logic Authentication Middleware for Next.js API Routes One small annoyance with the above is that as we have more API routes that need authentication, the code need to be repeated in these API routes functions. I find Next.js out of the box doesn't have as strong a support for server-side development. A couple of things from Express.js I wish Next.js have are: routers and . middleware In this scenario, making authentication work as a middleware would be convenient. Middleware is things you can plug into the request handling lifecycle; the middleware would enrich the request and/or the response objects and can terminate the request early if errors occur. It turned out to be pretty straightforward, we just need to create a wrapper for our normal handler function, and in the wrapper we can modify the req and res objects and return early if errors occur. Here is how I defined a withAuth middleware { auth } ; { (req, res) => { authHeader = req.headers.authorization; (!authHeader) { res.status( ).end( );
    } token = authHeader.split( )[ ]; decodedToken; {
      decodedToken = auth.verifyIdToken(token); (!decodedToken || !decodedToken.uid) res.status( ).end( );
      req.uid = decodedToken.uid;
    } (error) { .log(error.errorInfo); errorCode = error.errorInfo.code;
      error.status = ; (errorCode === ) {
        error.status = ;
      } res.status(error.status).json({ : errorCode });
    } handler(req, res);
  };
} import from '@/lib/firebase-admin' export ( ) function withAuth handler return async const if return 401 'Not authenticated. No Auth header' const ' ' 1 let try await if return 401 'Not authenticated' catch console const 401 if 'auth/internal-error' 500 //TODO handlle firebase admin errors in more detail return error return And this is how we can use it, notice instead of exporting handler we are exporting withAuth(handler) { withAuth } ; { getUserSites } ; handler = (req, res) => { { { sites } = getUserSites(req.uid); res.status( ).json({ sites });
  } (error) { .log(error); res.status( ).json({ : error.message });
  }
}; withAuth(handler); // get all sites of a user import from '@/lib/middlewares' import from '@/lib/db-admin' const async try const await return 200 catch console return 500 error export default Here are the relevant files on GitHub: and . middleware.js sites route That's all I learned about authentication on the client and server side with Next.js and Firebase. Overall it's a great developer experience and pretty painless to figure things out. Previously published at https://www.dingran.me/next-js-authentication/

Next.js: Firebase Authentication and Middleware for API Routes

Each year brings new challenges and… design trends! With so many design options available, designing visually engaging content is crucial for making your audience sigh with awe. I am not even sure if is even a thing but.. you get it right? ‘sigh(ing) with awe’ So as I was saying… design trends of 2020 were definitely driven by innovation but those past innovations will be even more promising in 2021. The graphic design industry is expected to grow by 3% from 2018 to 2028. A good design is significant for today’s modern and competitive business landscape. Nowadays, companies are all about innovating and turning imaginative ideas into reality. Almost 40% of digital marketers prefer visual graphics over plain text because they are ranked as the best-performing element used in marketing activities. No matter the industry, powerful marketing materials are important if you want to ’ and engage your ideal audience. Either its’ a simple social media post or your company’s website, exceptional design helps you build your brand and connect with your customers. ‘stand out from the crowd Staying on top of the latest trends can help you transform your business and 2021 is all about embracing new ideas. It’s a year of pop art, seamless surrealism, and cool illustrations. So let's see what 2021 has in store for us in terms of design. 3D: Look Alive! It isn’t new but definitely the coolest. 3D design trends certainly have a lot of capabilities. Due to the AR and virtual reality technologies, 3D designs are bringing endless possibilities for both mobile and website design every year. We can see brands implementing 3D in their graphic design projects as well. Designers believe that 3D is one of the most creative design trends that seem to be causing ripples in the world of design, and I can’t agree more. Besides, companies that encourage creativity achieve 1.5 times greater market share. Talking about 3D website designs, is one of my favorites because it offers such as interactive 3D design for a healthcare industry. Google cloud next As amazing as it sounds, 3D designs have surely established themselves as consistent design trends over the course of previous years, say since 2019. It provides a more immersive experience when combined with flat illustrations, add a little movement to it… and voila you have got yourself a 3D dancing monkey! As 3D design adepts to realism, it can surely open the door for infinite possibilities in all aspects of graphic design. Muted Color Palettes Gone are the days of bold and bright colors. It’s all about muted colors now. They are desaturated light colors that make the design look more natural. Using light colors in web and interface design gives a rather relaxing feeling. The sharpness that comes from bright and dark colors are heavy on the eyes and can be overbearing. Therefore designers, moving forward, have embraced the use of muted colors to avoid unpleasantness. If you click on the link given below, you will know what I am talking about. https: //daveyandkrista.com/custom-design/rebecca-love/ 38% of visitors will stop browsing a website if the layout is unattractive. The reason why, websites using light colors are much more engaging. It enhances the entire visual experience and the calming effect encourages visitors to stay on the website for longer, which minimizes the bounce rate, improving website performance all in all. Emojis, Emojis Everywhere Adding a little fun to design always helps get user's attention, hence we can expect a more creative use of emojis dominating the design in 2021. Designers are finding newer ways to incorporate emojis as a design element to get the message across. Almost everyone in the world is familiar with emoticons, therefore people can associate with them much quicker than random images. 92% of the online population uses emojis daily. Icons for HuaJiao/ Dribble They are fun visuals that give a playful vibe to the seriousness of the content and make it sound simple and friendly. Besides, emojis evoke emotions. Add a wink to the end of the sentence and you got yourself a ten! Emojis fuel light feelings and encourage users to interact with your brand. Land Really is the Best Art Designs inspired by nature are gaining popularity among the community of designers. Brands are using elements of nature such as wood textures, leafy patterns including soft earthy colors, and gradients in their designs. In short, nature is making its way into designs this year 2021. Dilara İsis Yavuz/ Dribble One of the many reasons for inclination towards nature is due to self-isolation during the global Pandemic. Everyone wants to spend time with nature and looking at nature-inspired designs brings a calming and soothing effect. The main idea behind such designs is that ‘If you can not go out to the beach, let the beach come to you.’ Icon-ic Illustrations Illustrations only evolve but can never go out of style if you ask me. They make the entire design stand out and give websites a rather subtle, clean, and minimalistic look. Illustrations themselves have a lot more variations such as custom cartoon creations. Just like emojis, they add playfulness to the entire design. Also, hand drawn and black & white illustrations over muted colors call for engaging imagery.  Either you want to tell a story, or visualize a data, illustrations make complex information easier. Speaking of icons, graphic design trends are cyclic. For example, we have seen flat icons gaining attention some five years ago, it was outplayed by the glyph and outlined icons. But they are back to being classy and trendy again. Doesn’t mean glyph, outlined, or colored icons are out of style, no. We can see many designers using the combination of one or two styles for maximum effect. Icons are considered powerful tools for visual representation. They are self-explanatory. Just by glimpsing at icons, users can tell the context of the content. - A software outsourcing company is one of the great examples of using hand drawn illustrations in their blog section and a combination of icons in their website design. Invozone Geometric Shapes Mhm, we saw them coming! Using variations of geometrical shapes to construct a design is set to peak in 2021. Simple shapes when placed together randomly can form amazing designs. Geometric shapes are reshaping design trends. We don’t need noise to stand out; delicate geometric shapes can do the trick, they are as functional as the loud ones. 48% of users believe website design is the #1 factor when judging a business’s credibility. Geometric design not only looks clean but beautiful and professional. They can compliment business cards, webpages, and social media posts, just the same. I absolutely love . Perfect example of using geometric design. Invision's Design blog https: //www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/ Micro Animations They are small animations but significant. These tiny interactions guide and keep the users engaged. Adding micro animations to hero headers is more practical since it has a navigation bar. Micro animations have been exceedingly used in web design in recent years. The possibilities of using micro interactive animations are endless. It enhances the entire user experience. Animations either big or small leaves a striking impression when visitors first land on the website due to their eye-catching properties. They can entice users and draw their attention to exactly where you want them to. Such as upon hovering, icons alter their color or appearance. and both have some amazing micro-interactions on their websites. Stripe Invision Typography Yes, I am talking about typography here. Classic serif fonts are quite old but they are still going strong. Serif fonts are classy, elegant, and super professional. But not all serif typefaces can go with your brand, therefore you must choose the one that sits well with your design. Serif and San Serif fonts are favored among brands mostly because of their readability value. Use serif fonts and see people start taking your brand seriously. Concerning design, then your choice of font indicates your company’s personality which is why it is important to choose the right typeface. My personal favorite is Georgia. Look at typography. Mailchimp's The Bottom Line Predictions may not always be accurate but they are still useful. The design trends don't stop here. 2021 will be the year of exciting innovations. The graphic design community is growing at an unprecedented rate, where everyone wants to be at the top of their game. According to web design statistics, are design-related. So to take the front seat, keeping in touch with changing trends is a step in the right direction. 94% of first impressions This article was orginally published on . Linked-In

A Great Design Is Only Half The Battle Won: Design Trends 2021

The digital technology race sweeping all countries in the world has made them fiercely compete for talent. The Russian approach is access to affordable higher education for everyone and a series of championships motivating talents to grow and test their skills. Nowadays, this also means availability online. AI is a big deal in that digital race. The best minds of the current century have said that those who control AI would control the world . AI and other digital technologies certainly have a significant impact on our life, not just on separate nations but on us as species. The United Nations declared that we have entered the stating that “no one individual, institution, corporation or government alone can or should manage digital developments; and that it is essential that we work through our differences in order to shape our common digital future.” and that AI is more dangerous than nukes Age of digital interdependence Russian specialists have become well-known in the field of AI and Machine Learning, winning worldwide professional competitions and getting highly-paid jobs as data scientists in the biggest tech-corporations all over the planet. One of the major suppliers of young scientists with outstanding training in math, statistics, and physics, who also perform very well in AI/ML, is MIPT. As an educational institution, sees its mission as providing equal access to digital professions that are in demand in the innovative global environment, creating an ecosystem that nurtures talent and prepares young generations for jobs that make a difference and bringing mankind closer to mitigating the major risks, including climate change and current and future pandemics. To do this, MIPT, together with other Russian higher education schools, started the RuCode Festival. MIPT Instant Education Education in Russia is still available to everyone as it used to be in the time of the Soviet Union. Each individual has the chance to be accepted to the best universities and colleges without paying anything or having lifelong student debts put on their shoulders. MIPT is making the entrance to recently appearing professions even easier. A project called started at the university’s campus. It is a series of short courses based on an intensive immersion in programming. These courses quickly became popular among talented students and young professionals across the globe.The main benefit of this educational format is that participants can quickly learn a new field and dive directly into it. This approach is similar to one taken by Executive MBA institutions. They enable a student to achieve a BA degree without quitting the  job while providing knowledge and practical training on a module basis. Moscow Workshops They’ve since developed a new initiative focusing on instant education — - in cooperation with 15 higher education organizations. With its more affordable and democratised format everyone, even without any experience in coding, can take a month-long course in Artificial Intelligence, algorithmic programming or C++ at RuCode. All of the content is free and available on the after the event is over. The 4-week curriculums were developed by 50 lecturers from top Russian universities and higher education facilities. RuCode Festival Stepik platform Those who finish the courses leave with a clear understanding of their future career, “Instant education allows you to acquire basic skills in a new profession in a very short period of time and then to apply for an internship or junior position in an IT company. It should be clear that the largest and most prestigious corporations will hardly employ inexperienced specialists right away. Experience is very important for major employers, in addition to skill and professional knowledge. That’s why, for most newbie programmers, their career path starts at smaller IT companies and IT departments not focused on software development or as freelancers. The next step, once they’ve gained some experience is to take a chance applying for a position with an IT giant,” commented Sergey Brazhnik, Director of educational projects at Yandex. Intensive Skill Care For young people with some skills in these fields, RuCode offers a separate track — intensive courses in which they solve real business problems that MIPT’s partners, the larger corporations, are facing. Anyone can apply to participate but all applicants have to go through a competitive selection to take part in these “intensives.” In the second and most recent RuCode festival which finished on October 3rd, 1,300 participants were chosen from the 2,300 wishing to take part. Participants spent two weeks working on solving problems with help of AI or algorithmic programming before showing off their solutions on October 3rd. The first assignment was provided by Gazprombank, one of the top Russian employers, according to Forbes list. Participants had to develop an algorithm for anonymizing personal data in accordance with state regulations. It was important to make a system that didn’t allow reverse data restoration and that saved the meaning of data and visual presentation. Another assignment, provided by Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia, was not connected to the financial sphere directly but rather had participants create a predictive algorithm with the ability to verify news and understand whether or not it was fake. “We had initially decided to organize the festival in cooperation with other universities and businesses, because our goal is to turn the project into a global educational initiative that new co-organizers can join. This will make it possible to regularly conduct short, high-quality intensive educational programs for all willing to acquire knowledge and master advanced IT skills. In such rapidly changing conditions, these are exactly the kinds of services that what will be most demanded by both beginners and professionals,” said Aleksey Maleev, Director of Remote Programs, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) and the initiator of the RuCode festival. For companies, it’s a way to discover talent and potential employees which is crucial for making sense of innovative technologies. shows that one of the major barriers that businesses in the US and UK face in adopting AI is lack of talent. During the survey, 93% of organizations’ representatives claimed that AI is a business priority for them and that they plan to run projects in this field or have already started doing so. However, 51% acknowledged that they don’t have skilled AI talent in-house to bring their strategies to life. Initiatives such as RuCode are a way to fill this gap and overcome the number one barrier to driving forward their AI initiatives, not just for the UK and US, but also for Russia and other countries. Experts’ estimation of IT-specialist shortage in Russia varies from 200,000 to 1 million. A study by SnapLogic Banks, telcos, industrial companies and other organizations take part in all kinds of hackathons and IT competitions to find talent or ideas for solving their business problems. Maxim Fedyna, chief analyst in innovations at MegaFon (one of the top-3 mobile carriers in Russia) explained that such festivals allow their company to meet a lot of young professionals in a short period of time, evaluate their ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills and invite them to a job interview. Or, if a team is taking part in a competition, it could be a good start of a long-term partnership. MegaFon offers early-stage startups and teams of IT professionals a spot in their ‘ ’, which is an environment for quick testing of hypotheses, piloting projects and implementing new solutions. Many of those solutions have been deployed after piloting in the company and now constantly bring benefits to its business. sandbox Olympic approach Education in the Soviet Union had an element of gamification. The best students had the chance to participate in so-called ‘Olympiads’ at their school and then on a regional and national  level. Such events started 80 years ago with multilevel country-wide competitions in maths, physics and chemistry. This was the most direct and surest career path for young talent. Having won awards  in physics or maths in the Olympiads was the same as having a golden ticket to a bright future. Russia continues this noble tradition today. Every year, including 2020, despite the pandemic, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education publishes a list of officially recognized Olympiads for school children of all grades and subjects, some of which are national. Last year, 80 such competitions took place in 29 academic disciplines. In the 2020-2021 academic year there will be 83 Olympiads in addition to the previous year- in geography, history,  law science and theory of music. Winning any of them gives an edge when it comes time to apply for a prestigious university place . Prize - winners always emphasize these achievements in their resumes  and HR recruiters compete for such talent. The RuCode’s primary purpose is providing affordable and fast education in the hottest fields. In addition, organizers decided to combine the educational part of the festival with an Olympiad-like competition as the final part of the festival. For those who took courses participating in the challenge is mandatory. This way they demonstrate their freshly obtained skills and get the certificate at the end. This document is accepted as confirmation of their qualification by any Russian higher school. The RuCode festival was conceived as an educational opportunity for everyone not limited by geography, age or professional experience and for a much larger number of participants. The first RuCode, in April 2020, attracted more than 11,000 participants from Russia and 58 foreign countries. The second one took place in October 2020 and brought together more than 20,000 people from 80 regions and 56 countries. Also, any person or a team of up to three members from anywhere in the world could take part in the final Olympiad. Aged from 10 to 55, participants competed in the RuCode Finals solving 10 algorithmic programming assignments in 5 hours. All the assignments were translated into English which opened doors for foreign professionals. In the championship, during the first RuCode festival, which took place in April, students from Warsaw University took the first prize. One of the largest consumers of IT talent in Russia is the internet giant Yandex. The company takes part in all the significant hackathons, competitions, Olympiads and couldn’t miss RuCode. “Such contests are an important part of an IT community's life. They allow young specialists to compete with participants from all over the world and test their skills” — said Dinar Gumirov, the director in Olympiads at Yandex. — “The format of such a competition gives an opportunity to learn time management, how to build teamwork effectively and most importantly — it’s a chance to communicate with like-minded people. Our educational initiative is aimed to help talented programmers who are at the beginning of their path to develop technologies of the future.” The original idea for the RuCode festival was to make an offline event spreading across 10 Russian regions. With the pandemic messing up these plans, the organizers ended up moving it online in just a month. It wasn’t easy but it made the festival more economically efficient and opened virtual doors for participants worldwide attracting a significantly larger number of people and making the initiative more impactful. This is also true for championships, Olympiads and all kinds of hackathons organized by top Russian universities that were transferred online as well. This pandemic worked as a ‘growth hormone’ for new forms of the Olympiad tradition and catalyst of the digitalization in education in Russia.

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