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The Story Girl by L. M. Montgomery, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . THE WEDDING VEIL OF THE PROUD PRINCESS CHAPTER IV. THE WEDDING VEIL OF THE PROUD PRINCESS When we had lived for a fortnight in Carlisle we belonged there, and the freedom of all its small fry was conferred on us. With Peter and Dan, with Felicity and Cecily and the Story Girl, with pale, gray-eyed little Sara Ray, we were boon companions. We went to school, of course; and certain home chores were assigned to each of us for the faithful performance of which we were held responsible. But we had long hours for play. Even Peter had plenty of spare time when the planting was over. We got along very well with each other in the main, in spite of some minor differences of opinion. As for the grown-up denizens of our small world, they suited us also. We adored Aunt Olivia; she was pretty and merry and kind; and, above all, she had mastered to perfection the rare art of letting children alone. If we kept ourselves tolerably clean, and refrained from quarrelling or talking slang, Aunt Olivia did not worry us. Aunt Janet, on the contrary, gave us so much good advice and was so constantly telling us to do this or not to do the other thing, that we could not remember half her instructions, and did not try. Uncle Roger was, as we had been informed, quite jolly and fond of teasing. We liked him; but we had an uncomfortable feeling that the meaning of his remarks was not always that which met the ear. Sometimes we believed Uncle Roger was making fun of us, and the deadly seriousness of youth in us resented that. To Uncle Alec we gave our warmest love. We felt that we always had a friend at court in Uncle Alec, no matter what we did or left undone. And we never had to turn HIS speeches inside out to discover their meaning. The social life of juvenile Carlisle centred in the day and Sunday Schools. We were especially interested in our Sunday School, for we were fortunate enough to be assigned to a teacher who made our lessons so interesting that we no longer regarded Sunday School attendance as a disagreeable weekly duty; but instead looked forward to it with pleasure, and tried to carry out our teacher’s gentle precepts—at least on Mondays and Tuesdays. I am afraid the remembrance grew a little dim the rest of the week. She was also deeply interested in missions; and one talk on this subject inspired the Story Girl to do a little home missionary work on her own account. The only thing she could think of, along this line, was to persuade Peter to go to church. Felicity did not approve of the design, and said so plainly. “He won’t know how to behave, for he’s never been inside a church door in his life,” she warned the Story Girl. “He’ll likely do something awful, and then you’ll feel ashamed and wish you’d never asked him to go, and we’ll all be disgraced. It’s all right to have our mite boxes for the heathen, and send missionaries to them. They’re far away and we don’t have to associate with them. But I don’t want to have to sit in a pew with a hired boy.” But the Story Girl undauntedly continued to coax the reluctant Peter. It was not an easy matter. Peter did not come of a churchgoing stock; and besides, he alleged, he had not yet made up his mind whether to be a Presbyterian or a Methodist. “It isn’t a bit of difference which you are,” pleaded the Story Girl. “They both go to heaven.” “But one way must be easier or better than the other, or else they’d all be one kind,” argued Peter. “I want to find the easiest way. And I’ve got a hankering after the Methodists. My Aunt Jane was a Methodist.” “Isn’t she one still?” asked Felicity pertly. “Well, I don’t know exactly. She’s dead,” said Peter rebukingly. “Do people go on being just the same after they’re dead?” “No, of course not. They’re angels then—not Methodists or anything, but just angels. That is, if they go to heaven.” “S’posen they went to the other place?” But Felicity’s theology broke down at this point. She turned her back on Peter and walked disdainfully away. The Story Girl returned to the main point with a new argument. “We have such a lovely minister, Peter. He looks just like the picture of St. John my father sent me, only he is old and his hair is white. I know you’d like him. And even if you are going to be a Methodist it won’t hurt you to go to the Presbyterian church. The nearest Methodist church is six miles away, at Markdale, and you can’t attend there just now. Go to the Presbyterian church until you’re old enough to have a horse.” “But s’posen I got too fond of being Presbyterian and couldn’t change if I wanted to?” objected Peter. Altogether, the Story Girl had a hard time of it; but she persevered; and one day she came to us with the announcement that Peter had yielded. “He’s going to church with us to-morrow,” she said triumphantly. We were out in Uncle Roger’s hill pasture, sitting on some smooth, round stones under a clump of birches. Behind us was an old gray fence, with violets and dandelions thick in its corners. Below us was the Carlisle valley, with its orchard-embowered homesteads, and fertile meadows. Its upper end was dim with a delicate spring mist. Winds blew up the field like wave upon wave of sweet savour—spice of bracken and balsam. We were eating little jam “turnovers,” which Felicity had made for us. Felicity’s turnovers were perfection. I looked at her and wondered why it was not enough that she should be so pretty and capable of making such turnovers. If she were only more interesting! Felicity had not a particle of the nameless charm and allurement which hung about every motion of the Story Girl, and made itself manifest in her lightest word and most careless glance. Ah well, one cannot have every good gift! The Story Girl had no dimples at her slim, brown wrists. We all enjoyed our turnovers except Sara Ray. She ate hers but she knew she should not have done so. Her mother did not approve of snacks between meals, or of jam turnovers at any time. Once, when Sara was in a brown study, I asked her what she was thinking of. “I’m trying to think of something ma hasn’t forbid,” she answered with a sigh. We were all glad to hear that Peter was going to church, except Felicity. She was full of gloomy forebodings and warnings. “I’m surprised at you, Felicity King,” said Cecily severely. “You ought to be glad that poor boy is going to get started in the right way.” “There’s a great big patch on his best pair of trousers,” protested Felicity. “Well, that’s better than a hole,” said the Story Girl, addressing herself daintily to her turnover. “God won’t notice the patch.” “No, but the Carlisle people will,” retorted Felicity, in a tone which implied that what the Carlisle people thought was far more important. “And I don’t believe that Peter has got a decent stocking to his name. What will you feel like if he goes to church with the skin of his legs showing through the holes, Miss Story Girl?” “I’m not a bit afraid,” said the Story Girl staunchly. “Peter knows better than that.” “Well, all I hope is that he’ll wash behind his ears,” said Felicity resignedly. “How is Pat to-day?” asked Cecily, by way of changing the conversation. “Pat isn’t a bit better. He just mopes about the kitchen,” said the Story Girl anxiously. “I went out to the barn and I saw a mouse. I had a stick in my hand and I fetched a swipe at it—so. I killed it stone dead. Then I took it in to Paddy. Will you believe it? He wouldn’t even look at it. I’m so worried. Uncle Roger says he needs a dose of physic. But how is he to be made take it, that’s the question. I mixed a powder in some milk and tried to pour it down his throat while Peter held him. Just look at the scratches I got! And the milk went everywhere except down Pat’s throat.” “Wouldn’t it be awful if—if anything happened to Pat?” whispered Cecily. “Well, we could have a jolly funeral, you know,” said Dan. We looked at him in such horror that Dan hastened to apologize. “I’d be awful sorry myself if Pat died. But if he DID, we’d have to give him the right kind of a funeral,” he protested. “Why, Paddy just seems like one of the family.” The Story Girl finished her turnover, and stretched herself out on the grasses, pillowing her chin in her hands and looking at the sky. She was bare headed, as usual, and her scarlet ribbon was bound filletwise about her head. She had twined freshly plucked dandelions around it and the effect was that of a crown of brilliant golden stars on her sleek, brown curls. “Look at that long, thin, lacy cloud up there,” she said. “What does it make you think of, girls?” “A wedding veil,” said Cecily. “That is just what it is—the Wedding Veil of the Proud Princess. I know a story about it. I read it in a book. Once upon a time”—the Story Girl’s eyes grew dreamy, and her accents floated away on the summer air like wind-blown rose petals—“there was a princess who was the most beautiful princess in the world, and kings from all lands came to woo her for a bride. But she was as proud as she was beautiful. She laughed all her suitors to scorn. And when her father urged her to choose one of them as her husband she drew herself up haughtily—so—” The Story Girl sprang to her feet and for a moment we saw the proud princess of the old tale in all her scornful loveliness— “and she said, “‘I will not wed until a king comes who can conquer all kings. Then I shall be the wife of the king of the world and no one can hold herself higher than I.’ “So every king went to war to prove that he could conquer every one else, and there was a great deal of bloodshed and misery. But the proud princess laughed and sang, and she and her maidens worked at a wonderful lace veil which she meant to wear when the king of all kings came. It was a very beautiful veil; but her maidens whispered that a man had died and a woman’s heart had broken for every stitch set in it. “Just when a king thought he had conquered everybody some other king would come and conquer HIM; and so it went on until it did not seem likely the proud princess would ever get a husband at all. But still her pride was so great that she would not yield, even though everybody except the kings who wanted to marry her, hated her for the suffering she had caused. One day a horn was blown at the palace gate; and there was one tall man in complete armor with his visor down, riding on a white horse. When he said he had come to marry the princess every one laughed, for he had no retinue and no beautiful apparel, and no golden crown. “‘But I am the king who conquers all kings,’ he said. “‘You must prove it before I shall marry you,’ said the proud princess. But she trembled and turned pale, for there was something in his voice that frightened her. And when he laughed, his laughter was still more dreadful. “‘I can easily prove it, beautiful princess,’ he said, ‘but you must go with me to my kingdom for the proof. Marry me now, and you and I and your father and all your court will ride straightway to my kingdom; and if you are not satisfied then that I am the king who conquers all kings you may give me back my ring and return home free of me forever more.’ “It was a strange wooing and the friends of the princess begged her to refuse. But her pride whispered that it would be such a wonderful thing to be the queen of the king of the world; so she consented; and her maidens dressed her, and put on the long lace veil that had been so many years a-making. Then they were married at once, but the bridegroom never lifted his visor and no one saw his face. The proud princess held herself more proudly than ever, but she was as white as her veil. And there was no laughter or merry-making, such as should be at a wedding, and every one looked at every one else with fear in his eyes. “After the wedding the bridegroom lifted his bride before him on his white horse, and her father and all the members of his court mounted, too, and rode after them. On and on they rode, and the skies grew darker and the wind blew and wailed, and the shades of evening came down. And just in the twilight they rode into a dark valley, filled with tombs and graves. “‘Why have you brought me here?’ cried the proud princess angrily. “‘This is my kingdom,’ he answered. ‘These are the tombs of the kings I have conquered. Behold me, beautiful princess. I am Death!’ “He lifted his visor. All saw his awful face. The proud princess shrieked. “‘Come to my arms, my bride,’ he cried. ‘I have won you fairly. I am the king who conquers all kings!’ “He clasped her fainting form to his breast and spurred his white horse to the tombs. A tempest of rain broke over the valley and blotted them from sight. Very sadly the old king and courtiers rode home, and never, never again did human eye behold the proud princess. But when those long, white clouds sweep across the sky, the country people in the land where she lived say, ‘Look you, there is the Wedding Veil of the Proud Princess.’” The weird spell of the tale rested on us for some moments after the Story Girl had finished. We had walked with her in the place of death and grown cold with the horror that chilled the heart of the poor princess. Dan presently broke the spell. “You see it doesn’t do to be too proud, Felicity,” he remarked, giving her a poke. “You’d better not say too much about Peter’s patches.” About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. L. M. Montgomery (2004). The Story Girl. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5342/pg5342-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

THE WEDDING VEIL OF THE PROUD PRINCESS

As the 2023 season of NASA’s Space Apps Challenge is set to be held on 7-8 October 2023, we recall one of the most successful and innovative talents that surfaced in its 10-year milestone season two years ago. In a remarkable triumph of innovation and problem-solving, the 'App Ninjas' team from Arizona claimed the prestigious title of Local People's Choice Winner at the 2021 NASA , the world's largest annual global hackathon. Under the exceptional leadership of Aryyama Kumar Jana, this achievement underscored their outstanding dedication to addressing pressing global issues through technology. Space Apps Challenge Aryyama Kumar Jana is now a Software Development Engineer at Amazon. As a member of the Device Economics team at , he works on optimizing and automating decisions in the Devices business using science and technology, including machine learning. Amazon The 2021 NASA Space Apps Challenge marked a significant milestone as it celebrated its 10th year. The event, known as one of the most prestigious hackathons worldwide, attracted brilliant minds from around the globe. Recently, the event gained added significance through partnerships with nine renowned space agencies, expanding its reach and impact. Aryyama’s exemplary leadership and technical prowess distinguished him in a formidable field of participants. Their mission was to create a mobile application that could demystify NASA's extensive solar and meteorological data parameters, making them accessible to the general public. During Aryyama’s time at ASU, his startup idea was selected by ASU Venture Devils, the startup incubator for ASU. The 'App Ninjas' team excelled in this mission. Their mobile application is a masterpiece of user-centric design, offering easily understandable graphical representations of weekly average "available sunshine" or solar irradiance for the past year, tailored precisely to the user's location. This invaluable tool empowers homeowners to make informed decisions about solar panel purchases and simplifies the monitoring of existing systems. What set Aryyama and the 'App Ninjas' apart is their forward-thinking approach. The application's adaptability allowed users to customize parameters, including the ability to adjust temporal resolutions and time periods, providing highly specialized results. This innovation promises to revolutionize the way individuals engage with solar energy data. But the innovation doesn't stop there. Aryyama and the visionary 'App Ninjas' team have ambitious plans for the app's future. They envision adding user-defined buttons to display additional POWER parameters such as temperature, humidity, and wind, enhancing its versatility and value for renewable energy enthusiasts and sustainability advocates. In a groundbreaking move, the 'App Ninjas' has introduced the concept of integrating users' measurements, enabling comparisons and supplementations with NASA parameters. This transformative feature could democratize access to solar energy data and further advance global sustainability efforts. Aryyama’s recognition as a 'Galactic Problem Solver' underscored his exceptional contributions to the team's success. This prestigious award signifies his outstanding problem-solving abilities and visionary leadership, making him a true standout in the world of innovation. The 2021 NASA Space Apps Challenge in Arizona was an exhilarating journey where Aryyama and the 'App Ninjas' showcased their creativity and problem-solving skills. Winning the Local People's Choice award in such a competitive environment underscores their ingenuity and commitment to making a positive impact on the world. This victory cemented Aryyama’s and the 'App Ninjas' place as trailblazers in innovation, not only in Arizona but on a global stage. Their mobile application signifies a meaningful step towards a sustainable future, leaving an imprint of excellence in the renewable energy technology landscape.

“Galactic Problem Solver”— NASA’s Recognition for Aryyama Kumar Jana’s Solar Irradiance Tracking 

Holidays are the special time when you give gifts to your loved ones. Nowadays people prefer to give gifts that make their life easier and more enjoyable. We all have people who love technology so isn’t it a good idea to get them something unique that will substantially improve their lives? With unique, thoughtful, practical, & AI-based gifts tech lovers will surely be impressed and use them for years. We can see that the ThingsFromMars offer amazing, and unique gifts which you can get for your friends, and family members. With the help of the creative team, we’ve collected a list of the best gifts for the tech-obsessed. Here take a look at some creative gift items that will stand out as distinctive this season. Home Security Device Are you looking for something to monitor? Don’t worry, home security devices fulfill your needs. This device is helpful for home safety and detects the motion and notifies you directly to your phone. You can keep it in the office, bedroom, dorms, or anywhere in the house. When you go outside the home you don’t want to leave your home at risk so that’s why this home security device is an amazing option to leave your space at low risk. On the other hand, you have the option to get this monitor free for your home. With this device, you can send unlimited user invitations and also notification alerts. Solar Laptop Charger If your close one is conscious about their work then this solar charger is a useful gift especially when it comes to motivating them to work outside. This charger is a type of portable solar generator. This works the same as a that converts sunlight into electricity. This charger will help you when you’re out of the city or you have to constantly work on the laptop. PV system Smart Bulb Now you don’t need to get out of bed and switch the lights. To control your lights is now in your hands. You can set this bulb easily. This will be connected with wifi and smart bulbs. Use this smart bulb to clean your home because the light this releases has a high-energy voltage light to destroy germs and bacteria. This is also used to set the schedules through scenes. Rylo The Rylo camera is used to capture 360-degree video with cropping in a traditional style. Two features, breakthrough stabilization & horizon leveling are already built-in in this camera. The result of Rylo looks professional. Rylo instantly creates a fluently smooth video that connects each of your points. So, what do you think? Isn’t a good gift, this will be useful when you go for a picnic, on holiday, or attend a family event. Nest Thermostat So, here’s another amazing AI-based gift: Nest Thermostat. With this, you can monitor the cooling & heating system. This is used to make sure that everything is running OK. When you leave home it automatically helps to adjust the temperature. The nest app is used to control your thermostat from anywhere. You can save more by checking out the energy you used. Time Tracking Device As people live so busy with their schedules they don’t know where the time goes. Relax, time-tracking devices solve this problem.  Now you must be thinking about why this is useful. Tracking your time working is important. You should know which things you spend more or less time on. This time tracking gets accessible, complete, and useful and this will also be an eyecatcher on your desk. Baby Monitor will be happy to get this gift. If an item covers your baby’s face, this smart monitor will immediately alert you. This will give you peace of mind and you know instantly when your baby needs you. This detects the baby's cry, danger zone, and sleep health. You have an option to connect multiple cameras to one account and share access with a maximum of 7 people. New parents Digital Playstation Console Watch Aside from the dull and old-fashioned watch when the digital console watch is available. You don't have to ask others for the time again & again. Now track your time with this smartwatch. For people who love the classic game, the console is a perfect gift for them. A lot of other technology items are available that will help you to spend your life tension free. Smart Toothbrush gives you a smart option for hygiene. Smart toothbrushes are battery-powered brushes that give vibrations moments to remove the badge. It has a different color lighting and each light on the brush performs different functions like brushing hard, light, or keeping you protected from germs. Take advantage of technology and work smartly in today’s time. AI Brain Sensing Headband As , here is a new version of meditation class that is not related to apps. A brain-sensing headband that will help you as a personal meditation assistant. It is used to measure your mind whether it is relaxed or active and translate signals into suggesting sounds. This uses biofeedback to help you stay focused during the day and recover overnight. technology is growing so fast AI Home Gym If you don’t have time to go to the gym. With this AI home gym, you can stay in shape. You will enjoy doing exercise in front of the smart gym. With this, you can personally do weight training and feel secure through custom workout plans. Get the benefit of an AI-powered home gym. It will give you the perfect form of workout. Brainiac Central Car Computer If you are a tech enthusiast and you want to make your vehicle more high-tech then consider the Brainiac central car. There is a built-in sensor added to this car computer. Now turn your simple car into a smarter one with this new technology. Brainiac will help you to track your car metrics, like its performance & fuel efficiency, for your knowledge. Smart AI Chessboard People like to get fun items as a gift. This AI chessboard piece moves independently because of the robotics sensor. You can challenge opponents from all over the world. Your close ones feel so happy when you give them this as a holiday gift. This is such an enjoyable game and a good thing for time passing on holidays. Wrap Up Hopefully, you loved these extraordinary gift ideas because you had not considered before for sure. Your close ones will be amazed to receive this. Now don’t get confused about what to buy for the tech lover. These uncommon AI gifts will not only save time but also make their life more enjoyable, and easy. So, don’t think too much, just go and buy the gifts which you like the most. Happy Holiday!

13 Premium AI Gifts Tech Lovers Might Not Have Considered

Every week, my team at publishes a newsletter to track the most recent developments in AI research and technology. You can find this week’s issue below. You can sign up for it using . Please do so, our guys worked really hard on this. Invector Labs this link From the Editor: Can Elon Musk Help Us Understand the Brain The human brain remains the biggest inspiration for artificial intelligence(AI) research and technologies. Many of the modern techniques in areas such as deep learning draw inspiration from neuroscience. Furthermore, there are entire fields within AI dedicated to recreate elements of human cognition such as memory, common sense and, of course, consciousness. The biggest challenge is that we still know very little about the human brain. Neuralink is the newest, and not- so well-known, venture of tech provocateur Elon Musk. The ultimate goal of Neuralink is to create a human-machine interface that achieves symbiosis between human and machine intelligence. To get there, Neuralink first needs to have a deeper understanding of the human brain. This week unveiled some of their initial work and, not surprisingly, they are truly fascinating. Technologies like Neuralink can play an incredible roles in the next decade of AI. Now let’s take a look at the core developments in AI research and technology this week: AI Research AI researchers from IBM published a paper proposing a new method for few-shot learning; a new technique that allow machine learning models to learn more with less. >Read more in this blog post from IBM Research Google published a new paper describing a speech recognition technique to improve communications for people with speech impairments. >Read more in this blog post from Google Research Alphabet’s subsidiary DeepMind published a paper about a model that can generate realistic videos from YouTube clips. >Read more in this coverage from VentureBeat Cool AI Tech Releases Uber releases Plato Research Dialogue System, a platform for building high quality conversational agents. >Read more in this blog post from the Uber engineering team IBM unveiled a fascinating AI-based solutions for helping students to learn a second language. >Read more in this blog post from IBM Research MIT and Harvard Press join forces to launch a new publication focus on data science research. >Read more in this blog post from MIT News AI in the Real World Elon Musk’s company Neuralink announced its plans to implant electrode deep into the brain to monitor neuron activity. >Read more in this coverage from The Atlantic AI legend Patrick Winston who served as director of MIT’s AI Laboratory passed away this week. Professor Winston pioneered different areas of research such as the recreation of human-like intelligence. >Read more in this coverage from MIT News Fitness startup Pivot raised $17 million to deliver AI-powered home workouts. >Read more in this coverage from VentureBeat

Last Week in AI

In this blog post I will tell you how I migrated my blog content from WordPress to its new happy cloud-content-powered home on . offers an intuitive API that can deliver content to any website or application, giving you the freedom to build your application using any programming language while allowing for easier scaling within your development team. Cosmic JS Cosmic JS offers a streamlined editing experience that gives you everything you need to publish content quickly and easily. Since there is no CMS installation, you can easily build content in any phase of development and avoid unnecessary process bottlenecks. Cosmic JS EXPORT FROM WORDPRESS The first step I had to take was to export the data out of my old blog. Since makes it super easy to import data into a bucket, all I had to do was find a WordPress plugin that exports WordPress data into a JSON file that is properly formatted to import into a Cosmic JS bucket. Luckily such a plugin exists :) . After installing the plugin, all I had to do was select which post types I wanted to export then click export. This gave me one JSON file with all of the data I needed to perform the migration into . Cosmic JS https://github.com/cosmicjs/cosmicjs-wp-export Cosmic JS _cosmicjs-wp-export - WordPress Export Plugin for Cosmic JS._github.com cosmicjs/cosmicjs-wp-export IMPORT INTO COSMIC JS The next step was importing the data into . To import into a new bucket, I created a new bucket and navigated to Bucket > Settings > Import / Export Data. Then I just dragged the JSON file that I exported from WP onto the page and within seconds my data (AND FILES!) were imported into my bucket. (Plugins are not imported) Cosmic JS BUILD THE NEW BLOG APP My next task was to build a new blog app. The app I chose was the Future Imperfect app available on the . It has a sleek, modern front end (designed by at ) and is built on top of a light-weight Node.js server (goodbye PHP!). I forked the Future Imperfect app from and edited it to suite my needs. made it easy to pull the content in from the Cosmic JS API into its new JavaScript backend. The mustache templates (Hogan) became the perfect compliment with the name-spaced object properties provided by the Cosmic JS JavaScript client, for example: {{ cosmic.object.nav.metafield.site-title.value }}, how easy is that?!? Cosmic JS Apps page @n33co HTML5UP.net the GitHub repo The Cosmic JS NPM module DEPLOY! The next and final step was to deploy the application for the world to see and marvel! I decided to deploy my new blog app using the deploy feature in my bucket. The path to do so is Bucket > Settings > Deploy Web App. It was really easy to add and click Deploy! Within a few minutes my new blog was deployed and out in the world. Cosmic JS the public GitHub url for my new blog I’m happy to say that the blog you are reading right now is built on this new easy-to-manage, fast Node.js / Cosmic JS application stack! With this new setup my blog is now much faster and performs much better on page speed tests. This is because my blog now runs on a light server / stack rather than a heavy stack of installed applications and plugins. CMS API I hope you’ve enjoyed my story of how I freed my content from the confines of an installed CMS. today and see how easy it is to free content! Let me know if you have any questions or comments in the comment section below. You can also . Create a free Cosmic JS account your reach out to me on Twitter Compare Cosmic JS to WordPress _Cosmic JS is an API-first CMS that helps teams of developers and content editors build apps faster. 64.5% of developers…_hackernoon.com Cosmic JS vs. WordPress is an API-first cloud-based content management platform that makes it easy to manage applications and content. If you have questions about the Cosmic JS API, please reach out to the founders on or . Cosmic JS Twitter Slack

How I Moved My Blog From WordPress to Cosmic JS

brings about detrimental effects to societies, as prices of all goods and services rise rapidly over a short period of time, whereas your income and savings remain stagnant, thus leading to a significant decrease in purchasing power very quickly. Hyperinflation Globally, there are several countries plagued by hyperinflation or generally high inflation due to unsustainable monetary policies, fiscal policies, which led to the devaluation of their local currencies in foreign exchange markets thereby eroding the purchasing power of the government, businesses and its citizens. This sets off a ripple effect where the state would no longer be able to afford to maintain public goods, businesses unable to compete internationally and individuals no longer have the purchasing power to improve their lives, thus leading to an economic collapse and social breakdown. In the article below, I set out to make a case on how countries plagued by hyperinflation can overcome it through the adoption of Bitcoin and reap the benefits of paying Bitcoin as a universal basic income (UBI) through Stacks’ (PoX) mechanism. Proof-of-Transfer Bitcoin, probably the hardest form of money ever created, with a fixed supply of 21million that runs on the Bitcoin Blockchain was invented by . Satoshi Nakamoto The invention of Bitcoin introduces to the world a decentralized ledger that is fully transparent/verifiable, permissionless, and trustless network. Bitcoin miners help to prevent the double-spending problem through Proof-of-Work by competing to solve complex mathematical problems to receive block rewards in Bitcoin. Today, experiences one of the highest inflation globally, which was caused by government printing and injecting more money into the domestic economy to cover for budget deficits. Venezuela The erosion of wealth within the country has led to adopt Bitcoin as the alternative store of value to protect their wealth from being inflated away due to actions that they’ve no control in. Not only the Venezuelans have embraced Bitcoin, the Bolivarian army is mining Bitcoin in its , and the has also legalized crypto mining via its national mining pool. communities military facilities state This clearly shows that the government of Venezuela and its citizens are receptive towards Bitcoin as an alternative store of value against hyperinflation, a globally recognized asset that is censorship resistant, fungible and easily traded to spend on daily necessities. Source However, the acceptance of Bitcoin within the country is only half the job done in curbing hyperinflation. In the following paragraphs, I would like to make a case for Venezuela to implement Universal Basic Income (UBI) for all of its citizens, paying out in Bitcoin in a sustainable manner, which paves the way for programmable money to be integrated into the economy which enables Venezuela to benefit from the next frontier of technological growth. The capital expenditure incurred for mining bitcoin is astronomical, with mining equipment product refresh averaging every , and paying out mined bitcoin to citizens is simply unsustainable. This is where Stacks Blockchain comes into the equation, where holders of Stacks (STX) token receives a payout in Bitcoin every 2 weeks, with an average APY of 11%( ). 2years source How is this achieved? The underlying mechanism that powers Stacks Blockchain is Proof-of-Transfer, where stacks miners are to commit bitcoin to the Stacks protocol to win new stacks blocks paying out Stacks token, while STX token holders receive the committed bitcoin. intrinsically motivated A recent shows that Venezuela paid Iran 9 tons of gold (worth USD500 million), in exchange for assistance in reviving Venezuela refineries(the main source of income for Venezuela). We’re still unsure how impactful the 9 tons of gold payment were in helping Venezuela’s economy and its citizens, but we’re certain that Venezuela’s reserves are now 9 tons of gold less, its citizens are still facing hyperinflation, and the cost of transporting 9tons of gold is pretty expensive. report Let’s deep dive into a hypothetical analysis if Venezuela used the 9tons of gold to kick start the country’s adoption of Bitcoin as its treasury reserves and UBI plan for its citizens. In a simple back-of-the-envelop calculation below, I’ve detailed some factors that Venezuela can consider when adopting BTC UBI. Bitcoin mining Bitcoin mining could be the most direct way to opt-out of the existing financial system while building up your bitcoin reserves overtime and potentially implementing bitcoin UBI given the regular payouts that mining provides, but is it a sustainable approach? Some assumptions I’ve used to derive with the above numbers: Antminer S19 Pro, 110 TH/S, 3250w, costs: US$10,000ea ( ) source Electricity cost in Venezuela is heavily subsidized by the government, thus taking the global average electricity cost to account for the cost that the government has incurred for subsidizing electricity. - source Bitcoin mining calculator - source Bitcoin price – USD58,000* *I’ve kept BTC price constant through my comparison as both payout in BTC and the fluctuation of BTC price will affect both examples. Profits available from USD500 million of investment into mining equipment yields USD 226.8million for country reserves and bitcoin UBI for the 1st year. Venezuela has a population of approx. 84million, with a of USD3 per month and being exposed to inflation per annum. A yield of USD 226million in Bitcoin to provide every Venezuelan with 1 month worth of minimum wage in BTC, creates a material hedge against the country’s hyperinflation and making a significant impact towards improving Venezuelans’ livelihood. Where for the first time, Venezuelans can receive an income that will not erode in value on a daily basis, instead value can be stored and appreciate over time. This Venezuelans to have the freedom to plan for the longer term(as their wealth will not be inflated away the next day) and save/invest for future plans. Which, to many of us is part and parcel of life to be able to make plans beyond the next day. minimum wage 2,660% empowers However, taking into account of bitcoin mining which increases by approx. 30% in the last year represents that the amount of bitcoin mined will decrease over time, assuming Venezuela mining operations maintains the same level of hash rate over the next 5 years.  Therefore, USD 226.8million available for reserves and UBI distribution in Year 1, will decrease to approx. USD 38.1million in Year 5 assuming no further capital expenditure are invested into upgrading mining equipment, thus making BTC mining unsustainable for UBI. difficulty Besides, taking into account general equipment depreciation of 15% yearly due to regular wear & tear and product refresh. The mining equipment that was bought for USD500million in Year 1 will be valued at approx. USD 221.8million in 5 years, resulting in a net decrease in the country’s assets in the attempt of building a national bitcoin reserve & UBI plan via BTC mining. Stacking Stacks for Bitcoin Source Stacks blockchain offers a unique tokenomics made possible with PoX where the bitcoin committed by STX miners to mine new blocks on the stacks blockchain are transferred to stackers (holders of STX token), thereby providing a bi-weekly payout in bitcoin. Using this unique mechanism, stackers are getting regular payouts in bitcoin, and in the context of Venezuela, allowing the government to adopt this model to structure a bitcoin UBI plan for its citizens. In addition to Stacks tokenomics which enables regular UBI payouts, other synergistic value can be obtained via Stacking for BTC UBI model. Venezuela will retain the value of its USD500 million as compared to 1) making payment to others to sustain its oil industry(no clear evidence of effectiveness) or 2) investing in BTC mining equipment that is subject to depreciation over time. With the USD500 million in Stacks which enables BTC payouts, the value of Stacks token is largely tied to its network usage and stacking mechanism whereby comparison with the above 2 options is much more resilient in retaining value. To understand why network usage and stacking mechanism drives value in stacks blockchain, one needs to understand the fundamentals of . Stacks is a layer 1 blockchain protocol that anchors to the bitcoin network for finality. While Stacks blockchain leverages on the security of the bitcoin network for settlement, it brings programmability and scalability to the bitcoin network, thereby allowing developers to have the best of both worlds (security & programmability + scalability). This unique combination enables applications to be built on top of Stacks blockchain and secured by the world’s most established & secured blockchain network thereby driving value to the Stacks blockchain. Stacks Stacking enables STX token holders to participate in securing the stacks blockchain by committing STX token to the protocol via its PoX mechanism, and in return gets paid in BTC. This brings another dimension of use case to token holders, whereby owning STX tokens and stacking them, they are entitled to regular btc payout, which plays a crucial role in kickstarting the tokenomics flywheel of empowering STX holders in the community. Beyond retaining value, adopting Stacking for BTC UBI allows the integration of programmable money into Venezuela's economy alongside its fiat currency. This allows Venezuela to attract foreign investments, entrepreneurs and talent to the country to build out crypto-native use cases & business models. The development of blockchain technology and crypto-native use cases takes on a different dimension where we witnessed a crossover between technology, communities, economics and governance. This will put Venezuela at the forefront of technological and business development and reap the rewards of wealth creation, in-demand sector expertise and skilled labour for Venezuela's economy, as the technology goes mainstream and the industry matures. Venezuela will be in an advantageous position, as developed nations may find it hard to pivot so quickly due to the strong inertia caused by existing network effects and infrastructure, thereby allowing Venezuela to future proof its economy while solving for hyperinflation. Political alignment Venezuela has largely been a socialist state historically, through the BTC UBI model allowing the government to remain aligned with its socialist ideology and empower their citizens through the introduction of sound monetary policy (adoption of bitcoin as a unit of account) and solving for hyperinflation. The majority of the Venezuelan community recognizes that Bitcoin is a more resilient store of value medium over the Venezuela Bolivar. This allows for a smooth transition when the government introduces a sustainable way to implement BTC UBI and foster greater trust and goodwill between the government and its citizens which would eventually lead to a path of reconciling & unity for the country. What are the considerations when implementing Stacking for btc UBI? The current payout rate is at , and the following are some factors that will affect the yield rate over time. 11% APY STX rewards/block Usage of stacks blockchain STX market price BTC market price Also, according to , Stacking will enter its sunset phase on the 100,000th bitcoin block from the genesis stacks block that was first anchored to the bitcoin block (approx. 2 years) if the proposal remains unchanged. SIP 007 Relevant crypto-first policies need to be in place to ensure a smooth transition to Bitcoin as a unit of account, a form of UBI payout, and a settlement standard either domestically or internationally.

Can bitcoin-denominated UBI fight hyperinflation?

It's hard to make or find the right button. I've curated 24 of my favorites and most useful, so you can use them freely. Button On Hover Slide Effect. Creative Button Animation Effects | Only Using HTML & CSS Creative button | hover over UI Button Hover Effect #2 Playful button hover effects Button hover effect Hover effect using pseudo elements Need a simple button hover effect for your project? Here's my list of examples. Button Hover Draw - CSS Only A cool collection of Easy button hover effects using CSS only. Professional and clean. Don't forget to leave some comments, questions, or concerns. Would you like to see more? or have some ideas ? Let me know! Awesome button hover effects Button with a subtle gloss/shine wipe on hover. No images, just a single HTML element and a CSS pseudo-element. These are ten buttons with CSS hover effects. The effects are used transitions, text-shadows, animations, and transforms. Button with simple effect on hover! Single element required Playing with css animations and hover effect. A collection of CSS3 powered hover effects to be applied to links, buttons, logos, SVG, featured images and so on. Easily apply to your own elements, modify or just use for inspiration. Available in CSS, SASS, and LESS. Simple button styles to kickstart you webdesign! Making some basic animations with box-shadows. No extra elements or even pseudo-elements required. Some button hover effects using psuedo elements and borders. A few examples of flashy hover effects. Currently updating this pen. Work in Progress A simple idea that ended up being really hard to pull off. No 3D elements or transformations are used in this experiment, only 2D elements and some clever math to give the illusion of a 3D coin with real thickness. I'm happy with the results given the limitations of HTML and CSS. Pay Button Confetti using JS, SCSS, and a HTML5 canvas. T-Shirt cannon button with GreenSock. For CSS buttons and more, check out FrontEndin

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Sponsor: Scraper API discusses how growth hackers use web scraping Big Tech & Startups A bundle package from Disney including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ will be available from the 12th of November for $12.99 a month. The pricing is cheaper than or on par with competitor streaming services, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. While Disney plans to launch Disney+ internationally, details have yet to be released. The bundle may not be available for an international audience due to licensing issues. Disney is still in talks with distributors for where Disney+ will be available, but it is likely to be at least available through Apple and Amazon. Disney announces $12.99 bundle for Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ (2 minute read) FedEx to end ground delivery business with Amazon (3 minute read) FedEx has announced that it will no longer make ground deliveries for Amazon, two months after it terminated its air delivery contract with Amazon. In a regulatory filing in February, Amazon stated that its competitors included transportation companies such as FedEx, and it appears that FedEx is treating Amazon like any other competitor by terminating services. Amazon has been growing its own fleet of air and ground transportation and reducing its reliance on FedEx, UPS, and the US Postal Service. Its plans to switch from two-day delivery to one-day delivery have proved to be more difficult than originally planned, with costs going higher than the estimated $800 million required for the transition. FedEx will continue to complete some deliveries for Amazon and both companies released amicable statements regarding the separation. Science & Cutting Edge Technology French inventor makes 'beautiful' flight across Channel on hoverboard (2 minute read) Franky Zapata, a French inventor, has successfully crossed the Channel on a jet-powered hoverboard, taking off from Sangatte in northern France and landing in St. Margarets Bay in England. The journey took just over 20 minutes. Last month, Zapata failed an attempt as he missed a platform mounted on a boat to refuel the hoverboard. Uninjured from the incident, he has since worked 15 to 16 hours a day to rebuild the machine. Zapata has plans for a flying car and has signed contracts for the project. The French military has invested $1.4 million to pay for the testing of Zapata's hoverboard as it may have several military applications. This Incredible Skyscraper Is Also a Farm That Can Feed a Village (3 minute read) The Mashambas Skyscraper in Africa is a new concept for a skyscraper designed to serve as a farm, an education center, and a community center all in one. 70 percent of the African population lives in rural areas, practicing subsistence farming and barely making $2 USD a day. The Mashambas Skyscraper aims to train subsistence farmers in modern farming techniques in order to improve harvests and help the farmers pull themselves out of poverty. The design won the eVolo skyscraper competition, beating out over 400 other designs. One of the most unique features of the design is that it is moveable. The skyscraper can exist in a location for a period of time and then be rebuilt in a new location, leaving the base layer to serve as a marketplace for villagers. By providing farmers with tools, resources, and education, the Mashambas Skyscraper has the potential to promote long-term sustainable farming and improve crop yields. Programming, Design & Data Science Using TensorFlow.js to Train a “Rock-Paper-Scissors” Model (6 minute read) It is possible to create a machine-learning algorithm to detect whether a hand is making the symbol for rock, paper, or scissors within 10 minutes in a browser. This tutorial uses a website that implements TensorFlow.js so that all the processing happens within the browser. Picture data from a pre-made dataset is used to train the model, and then the model is tested using the webcam on a computer. The full source code for the website is available. electron-extensions (GitHub Repo) electron-extensions allows users to use Chrome extensions APIs with Electron. All that is required to use the library is to insert a short snippet of code into the main process. Miscellaneous MoviePass Changed Some Users’ Passwords on Purpose So They Couldn’t Use the Service (2 minute read) MoviePass, a movie ticket subscription service that was extremely popular in 2018, was built on an unsustainable model and it started having problems when the userbase grew too quickly. Instead of trying to offset costs, CEO Mitch Lowe ordered his employees to change the passwords of heavy-use premium users as they were costing the company too much money. This was done discreetly without the members finding out. Eventually, the company implemented an automatic shutdown system if it surpassed a certain budget on that day. The company is technically still running but it is suspected that many legal hurdles await. Some critics believe that the story behind the rise and fall of MoviePass has what it takes to be made into its own movie. You can sign up to receive TLDR in your inbox every morning at 6am EST at ! https://www.tldrnewsletter.com

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