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React Native has been a hot topic among developers since its launch by Meta in 2015. Want to know the reason? It’s pretty simple—“Ultimate UX.” Yes, it offers UX that you, as a developer or entrepreneur, have never experienced. But your users can! HOW? I’ll tell you all about it and something more about React Native, which can help you achieve the ultimate UX with low cost and effort. Let's begin by understanding why it’s such a magnet attracting app developers worldwide. This framework allowed developers to build apps using a single code across platforms. This saved time and money by reducing the need to create separate codes for each platform. You might be skeptical about the quality of the apps in such cases. What if I tell you there is a way to ensure quality, optimize cost, and provide enhanced UX? Does that seem far from the truth? Well, not really! I recently came across React Native Libraries, which are easy to set up, take less time, and save money. Want to know which one of them is best for you? Here is a list! Top 7 React Native Libraries For Ultimate UX! Here are the top Libraries that will help you build a React Native App with a great user experience: 1. React Native Elements React Native Elements is a UI component library for building apps with better navigation and screen space. It has over 24,700 stars on GitHub. Navigation components: Gets components like badges and avatars, headers and tabs, and features for handling user interactions like checkboxes and switches.
Screen space: This feature provides tools for creating dialogues and bottom sheets, allowing for additional content without taking up too much screen space.
Community and updates: Its active and regular community ensures the app stays updated with the latest design trends and best practices. 2. React Native Paper React Native Paper gets over 10,000 stars on GitHub. It focuses on providing a consistent look for your app across all platforms (iOS and Android). The best part, it follows Google's Material Design guidelines. Now, for those unfamiliar with material design let me explain in brief. Material design refers to print design methods that include typography, grids, space, scale, color, and imagery. It helps to create a hierarchy, meaning, and focus that gives users an immersive experience. Material design style: Employs Material design styles and themes, ensuring that apps developed using React Native Paper have a clean and professional appearance. Dark Mode: Supports dark mode, which can significantly enhance the user experience, especially in low-light environments. Customization: Customizable style of components to match the specific needs of the brand identity while maintaining consistency. API Integration: Technically, React Native Paper leverages native platform APIs for optimal performance and a natural feel. 3. React Native Vector Icons React Native Vector Icons specializes in icons and boasts over 3,000 appealing and scalable icons that can be used in your React Native app. It has over 15,000 starts on GitHub. Icons Collection: The library bundles a massive collection of icons from popular icon sets, such as FontAwesome, Entypo, ion icons, Material Icons, and more.
Crisp rendering: These scalable icons extend, style, and integrate seamlessly into your project, ensuring crisp rendering across all screen resolutions without quality loss.
Flexibility: These icons are versatile, functioning as emojis alongside text, button components, or native image elements.
SVG Support: It supports SVG via Fontello or regular icon fonts, making it easy to customize the appearance of the icons.
Time saver: The library is handy for saving time by not having to create custom icons from scratch. 4. React Native Navigation React Native Navigation is a library that allows the creation of complex navigation flows easily and provides features like: Stack navigation (used for hierarchical navigation),
Drawer navigation (for side-menu navigation),
Tab navigators (for bottom tab navigation) and
Modal navigators (for overlays). Other crucial features are, Animation and Transitions: Offers customizable navigation features like animations and transitions, and it uses an API to manage them and the user journey as well.
Supports Deep Linking: Allows users to navigate specific parts of your app directly through external links. 5. React Native Gesture Handler Users are increasingly looking for gesture-based interaction in mobile apps, and this library is specially designed for it. React Native Gesture Handler lets developers create responsive gesture-based interactions in their React Native apps. Declarative API: Offers a declarative API that builds a responsive and better touch-based experience.
Built-in Handler: Provides built-in gesture handlers that can understand users' common gestures, such as taps, swipes, rotation, long presses, and pan gestures. It aims to replace React Native's built-in Gesture Responder System, which has performance limitations as it runs on the JavaScript thread. So, every time a gesture event is carried out, the app has to go through several phases to determine the user's intention. This can lead to a more extended response of a touch. React Native Gesture Handler can eliminate that and give a seamless experience. 6. React Native UI Kitten It is a free and open-source library based on the Eva Design systems, which give the app a clean visual experience. Domain Variation: This can be a starter kit for building mobile applications in various domains such as e-commerce, social media, fitness, and more.
Dark and Light theme: UI Kitten creates appealing UIs with 20+ customizable components with light and dark themes, saving you time on design details.
No reloading: Allows runtime themes to instantly switch between different visual styles without reloading the application or modifying its source code. Easy to use: Once you install the UI Kitten package, you can import and use the components in your project. 7. React Native Gifted Chat Accessible communication is an essential aspect of user experience. Users should be allowed to communicate efficiently within the app. React Native Gifted Chat is one such library that provides chat functionality in the app. Built-in Components: Offers inbuilt components like bubbles, avatar views, input text fields, text messaging, emojis, and more.
Personalization: Comes with available option of further customizing them to match the brand identity and the overall look and feel of the app.
Multimedia Support: This library supports multimedia content like Images, videos, and audio messaging that can be integrated into the chat interface.
Customization: Users can customize their chat interface by changing the color, font, and avatar style. Conclusion These libraries offer various customization options, themes, and components that can give React native apps a clean and appealing user interface. Using these libraries, developers can create a one-of-a-kind experience for users, boosting retention and conversions. It also reduces development time and costs but needs effective deployment. This is where a seasoned  React native developer can help. The best way is to hire React native developers and leverage these libraries for optimal performance at low cost and time. React Native has been a hot topic among developers since its launch by Meta in 2015. Want to know the reason? It’s pretty simple—“Ultimate UX.” Yes, it offers UX that you, as a developer or entrepreneur, have never experienced. But your users can! HOW? I’ll tell you all about it and something more about React Native, which can help you achieve the ultimate UX with low cost and effort. Let's begin by understanding why it’s such a magnet attracting app developers worldwide. This framework allowed developers to build apps using a single code across platforms. This saved time and money by reducing the need to create separate codes for each platform. You might be skeptical about the quality of the apps in such cases. What if I tell you there is a way to ensure quality, optimize cost, and provide enhanced UX? Does that seem far from the truth? Well, not really! I recently came across React Native Libraries, which are easy to set up, take less time, and save money. Want to know which one of them is best for you? Here is a list! Top 7 React Native Libraries For Ultimate UX! Here are the top Libraries that will help you build a React Native App with a great user experience: 1. React Native Elements React Native Elements is a UI component library for building apps with better navigation and screen space. It has over 24,700 stars on GitHub. React Native Elements Navigation components: Gets components like badges and avatars, headers and tabs, and features for handling user interactions like checkboxes and switches. Screen space: This feature provides tools for creating dialogues and bottom sheets, allowing for additional content without taking up too much screen space. Community and updates: Its active and regular community ensures the app stays updated with the latest design trends and best practices. Navigation components: Gets components like badges and avatars, headers and tabs, and features for handling user interactions like checkboxes and switches. Navigation components: Screen space: This feature provides tools for creating dialogues and bottom sheets, allowing for additional content without taking up too much screen space. Screen space: Community and updates: Its active and regular community ensures the app stays updated with the latest design trends and best practices. Community and updates: 2. React Native Paper React Native Paper gets over 10,000 stars on GitHub. It focuses on providing a consistent look for your app across all platforms (iOS and Android). The best part, it follows Google's Material Design guidelines . React Native Paper Material Design guidelines Now, for those unfamiliar with material design let me explain in brief. Material design refers to print design methods that include typography, grids, space, scale, color, and imagery. It helps to create a hierarchy, meaning, and focus that gives users an immersive experience. Material design style: Employs Material design styles and themes, ensuring that apps developed using React Native Paper have a clean and professional appearance. Material design style: Employs Material design styles and themes, ensuring that apps developed using React Native Paper have a clean and professional appearance. Material design style: Dark Mode: Supports dark mode, which can significantly enhance the user experience, especially in low-light environments. Customization: Customizable style of components to match the specific needs of the brand identity while maintaining consistency. Customization: Customizable style of components to match the specific needs of the brand identity while maintaining consistency. Customization: API Integration: Technically, React Native Paper leverages native platform APIs for optimal performance and a natural feel. API Integration: 3. React Native Vector Icons React Native Vector Icons specializes in icons and boasts over 3,000 appealing and scalable icons that can be used in your React Native app. It has over 15,000 starts on GitHub. React Native Vector Icons Icons Collection: The library bundles a massive collection of icons from popular icon sets, such as FontAwesome, Entypo, ion icons, Material Icons, and more. Crisp rendering: These scalable icons extend, style, and integrate seamlessly into your project, ensuring crisp rendering across all screen resolutions without quality loss. Flexibility: These icons are versatile, functioning as emojis alongside text, button components, or native image elements. SVG Support: It supports SVG via Fontello or regular icon fonts, making it easy to customize the appearance of the icons. Time saver: The library is handy for saving time by not having to create custom icons from scratch. Icons Collection: The library bundles a massive collection of icons from popular icon sets, such as FontAwesome, Entypo, ion icons, Material Icons, and more. Icons Collection: collection of icons Crisp rendering: These scalable icons extend, style, and integrate seamlessly into your project, ensuring crisp rendering across all screen resolutions without quality loss. Crisp rendering: Flexibility: These icons are versatile, functioning as emojis alongside text, button components, or native image elements. Flexibility: SVG Support: It supports SVG via Fontello or regular icon fonts , making it easy to customize the appearance of the icons. SVG Support: regular icon fonts Time saver: The library is handy for saving time by not having to create custom icons from scratch. Time saver: 4. React Native Navigation React Native Navigation is a library that allows the creation of complex navigation flows easily and provides features like: React Native Navigation Stack navigation (used for hierarchical navigation), Drawer navigation (for side-menu navigation), Tab navigators (for bottom tab navigation) and Modal navigators (for overlays). Stack navigation (used for hierarchical navigation), Drawer navigation (for side-menu navigation), Tab navigators (for bottom tab navigation) and Modal navigators (for overlays). Other crucial features are, Animation and Transitions: Offers customizable navigation features like animations and transitions, and it uses an API to manage them and the user journey as well. Supports Deep Linking: Allows users to navigate specific parts of your app directly through external links. Animation and Transitions: Offers customizable navigation features like animations and transitions, and it uses an API to manage them and the user journey as well. Animation and Transitions: API Supports Deep Linking: Allows users to navigate specific parts of your app directly through external links. Supports Deep Linking: 5. React Native Gesture Handler Users are increasingly looking for gesture-based interaction in mobile apps, and this library is specially designed for it. React Native Gesture Handler lets developers create responsive gesture-based interactions in their React Native apps. React Native Gesture Handler Declarative API: Offers a declarative API that builds a responsive and better touch-based experience. Built-in Handler: Provides built-in gesture handlers that can understand users' common gestures, such as taps, swipes, rotation, long presses, and pan gestures. Declarative API: Offers a declarative API that builds a responsive and better touch-based experience. Declarative API: Built-in Handler: Provides built-in gesture handlers that can understand users' common gestures, such as taps, swipes, rotation, long presses, and pan gestures. Built-in Handler: It aims to replace React Native's built-in Gesture Responder System, which has performance limitations as it runs on the JavaScript thread. So, every time a gesture event is carried out, the app has to go through several phases to determine the user's intention. This can lead to a more extended response of a touch. React Native Gesture Handler can eliminate that and give a seamless experience. 6. React Native UI Kitten It is a free and open-source library based on the Eva Design systems, which give the app a clean visual experience. open-source library Domain Variation: This can be a starter kit for building mobile applications in various domains such as e-commerce, social media, fitness, and more. Dark and Light theme: UI Kitten creates appealing UIs with 20+ customizable components with light and dark themes, saving you time on design details. No reloading: Allows runtime themes to instantly switch between different visual styles without reloading the application or modifying its source code. Domain Variation: This can be a starter kit for building mobile applications in various domains such as e-commerce, social media, fitness, and more. Domain Variation: Dark and Light theme: UI Kitten creates appealing UIs with 20+ customizable components with light and dark themes, saving you time on design details. Dark and Light theme: No reloading: Allows runtime themes to instantly switch between different visual styles without reloading the application or modifying its source code. No reloading: Easy to use: Once you install the UI Kitten package, you can import and use the components in your project. 7. React Native Gifted Chat Accessible communication is an essential aspect of user experience. Users should be allowed to communicate efficiently within the app. React Native Gifted Chat is one such library that provides chat functionality in the app. React Native Gifted Chat Built-in Components: Offers inbuilt components like bubbles, avatar views, input text fields, text messaging, emojis, and more. Personalization: Comes with available option of further customizing them to match the brand identity and the overall look and feel of the app. Multimedia Support: This library supports multimedia content like Images, videos, and audio messaging that can be integrated into the chat interface. Customization: Users can customize their chat interface by changing the color, font, and avatar style. Built-in Components: Offers inbuilt components like bubbles, avatar views, input text fields, text messaging, emojis, and more. Built-in Components: Personalization: Comes with available option of further customizing them to match the brand identity and the overall look and feel of the app. Personalization: Multimedia Support: This library supports multimedia content like Images, videos, and audio messaging that can be integrated into the chat interface. Multimedia Support: Customization: Users can customize their chat interface by changing the color, font, and avatar style. Customization: Conclusion These libraries offer various customization options, themes, and components that can give React native apps a clean and appealing user interface. Using these libraries, developers can create a one-of-a-kind experience for users, boosting retention and conversions. It also reduces development time and costs but needs effective deployment. This is where a seasoned  React native developer can help. The best way is to hire React native developers and leverage these libraries for optimal performance at low cost and time.

7 React Native Libraries For Ultimate UX You Never Experienced

Overview Digital fingerprinting is a technique used to identify users across different websites based on their unique device and browser characteristics. These characteristics - fingerprint parameters, can include various software, hardware (CPU, RAM, GPU, media devices - cameras, mics, speakers), location, time zone, IP, screen size/resolution, browser/OS languages, network, internet provider-related and other attributes. The combination of these parameters creates a unique identifier - fingerprint, that can be used to track a user's online activity. Fingerprints play a crucial role in online security, enabling services to identify and authenticate unique users. They also make it possible for users to trick such systems to stay anonymous online. However, if you can manipulate your fingerprints, you can run tens or hundreds or more different accounts to pretend that they are unique, authentic users. While this may sound cool, it has serious implications as it can make it possible to create an army of bots that can spread spam and fakes all over the internet, potentially resulting in fraudulent actions. Note: Obviously, I won’t discuss here how you can do "bad" things; you must always be careful, stay away from the “dark side,” and avoid committing illegal actions. This article is about the technology behind this, so use the information wisely. This is the first (and maybe not the last) article in this domain, so it will be more like an overview. The content offers an intro to the topic. There are dozens of tools and ways to detect, collect, and spoof fingerprints, and there are many different parameters and technologies that can reveal or hide your real identity or the fact that you're spoofing fingerprints (meaning you're not an authentic user). Parameters in Digital Fingerprints Let's consider some of them, some examples of obvious, simple, or well-known params, some that are rarer, less-know, and difficult to spoof. this string provides information about the user's browser, operating system, and device. User-Agent: it reveals the user's network and geo-location. Services use IP addresses for security and to prevent malicious activities. If you use one account from different IPs or many different accounts from the same IP, some services may view this activity (in combination with other params) as suspicious and use some level of bot protection against you. This can also be triggered if you use IPs that are already used or in some kind of banned list (proxies). IP: Information about installed plugins and extensions can be used to create a unique fingerprint - it helps in identifying users based on their browser's additional functionalities. Browser Plugins and Extensions: different users often have different display characteristics. Screen Resolution and Color Depth: they are important factors in fingerprinting - if you have random values, e.g., Japan timezone Norwegian language this is a bit unusual. Timezone and Language Settings: it involves rendering hidden graphics in the user's browser to gather information about the graphics hardware. Quite a tricky one because if you spoof your hardware info, then you can’t have the proper canvas value - you can’t render it on your different real hardware. Canvas: it exploits the unique capabilities and limitations of the user's graphics hardware in rendering 3D graphics - additional information about the user's device. WebGL Fingerprinting: the list of fonts installed on a user's system can be used as a fingerprinting parameter. This information is accessible through JavaScript. The list of fonts has to be realistic - so e.g. you can’t have Win fonts on macOS or you can’t have just 1 or 2 fonts, this is a very suspicious indicator. Fonts: it allows websites to determine the device's battery level and charging status, the combination of battery attributes can be used for fingerprinting. Battery status API: websites can use the web audio API to generate unique audio fingerprints by analyzing the audio processing characteristics of the device. Audio Fingerprinting: This information includes details about the software and hardware components of the device, such as the graphics card, network adapter, and operating system. This adds to the uniqueness of the fingerprint. Hardware Concurrency: This information includes details about the network connection, such as the IP address, ISP, and DNS server. Network Information: some users may use some software that listens to specific ports which also might be useful for some specific cases. Open and used ports: Navigating the Web incognito Digital fingerprint manipulation is a difficult task that demands a proactive approach to avoid detection. The are lots of strategies and tools to hide your identity (fingerprints) or pretend that you are someone else. Use privacy-focused browsers Opting for privacy-focused browsers, such as Brave, Ghostery, Tor, Octo Browser, or Vivaldi with enhanced privacy settings, provides a fundamental defense against common fingerprinting techniques. These browsers prioritize user privacy and incorporate features designed to hide your real fingerprints, making it harder to track your activities. For example, the Tor Browser, grounded in principles of anonymity, routes internet traffic through the Tor network. This strategic routing obscures the user's identity by bouncing connections through a series of volunteer-operated servers, enhancing overall online anonymity. Browser Extensions Privacy-centric browser extensions, including AdBlock, uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, or CanvasBlocker, could be active defenses against tracking scripts, cookies, and fingerprinting attempts. These tools operate in the background, protecting and preserving user anonymity. VPN and Proxies The use of VPNs or proxy services adds an additional layer of protection by masking the user's real IPs (location, timezone, language, etc) and encrypting internet traffic. This is not only used to change your fingerprints but also to provide a more anonymous online presence and a higher security level. Motivations behind fingerprint spoofing Understanding the Whys Individuals concerned about personal privacy and the growing digital surveillance often spoof fingerprints to shield themselves from relentless online tracking. Privacy: Spoofing fingerprints prove useful for circumventing geo-restrictions, allowing users to access content restricted to specific regions. VPN and proxy services play a crucial role here by not only hiding the user's identity but also providing access to servers in different geographic locations. Geo-restriction: Avoiding targeted advertising and online profiling serves as a compelling motive for individuals to manipulate their digital fingerprints. Some tools can block 3rd-party tracking scripts and cookies, disrupting the profiling process. Ads: Web scraping, multi-accounting, e-commerce, bounty&airdrop, bonus-hunting, social networks bots, and affiliate marketing are often sources of income or bases for medium businesses. Digital agencies, individuals, and influencers engaged in these activities may require fingerprint spoofing to navigate through complicated bot detection systems. Avoiding detection becomes vital for some services, ensuring that legitimate activities are not mistakenly flagged or restricted (though quite often, such activities and accounts are not really legit but pretend to be so). Some of the most popular tools are Multilogin, X-Browser, Octo Browser, AdsPower, Incogniton, Scrapy, Surfsky, Web Scraper.io, ScrappingBee, etc. Strategic needs in the digital arena, bot detection, and protection systems: Collecting Users' Fingerprints Websites use JS (obviously) to harvest details about users to construct comprehensive digital portraits. This involves probing screen resolution, device orientation, mouse movements, keystroke dynamics, etc. Sophisticated fingerprinting scripts enumerate a wide range of browser and hardware attributes. JavaScript: Persistent cookies and data stored in local storage work to track users across sessions and platforms. Techniques include leveraging browser cookies and storing unique identifiers for user tracking. Depending on your purposes you need to know when you need an "empty" browser with unique fingerprints or when you need to trick a service showing that you have particular cookies and the same fingerprints. Cookies and local storage: The inclusion of 3rd-party scripts for analytics and advertising embeds invisible trackers often used to adjust systems behavior for a specific user based on collected fingerprints. You can use the aforementioned tools and approaches to selectively block or trick such scripts to get the needed behavior. 3rd-party scripts: Understanding Your Online Identity Panopticlick (EFF), Pixelscan, deviceinfo.me, and BrowserLeaks show your browser's fingerprint parameters such as User-Agent, canvas fingerprinting, fonts, etc. These checkers provide insights into the uniqueness and stability of your digital fingerprint across different browsing sessions. Online checkers: they allow users to inspect network requests, cookies, and other fingerprinting parameters, fostering a deeper understanding of their digital imprint and how websites detect bots and unique legit users and collect fingerprints. Examining the Network and Application tabs in browsers provides a real-time view of the data exchanged between the browser, websites, and servers. Browser developer tools: Here are some examples of how you can get some info about users' fingerprints in the browser. GEO: navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(function(position) { var userLocation = position.coords; }); Microphone: navigator.mediaDevices.enumerateDevices() .then(function(devices) { var microphones = devices.filter(device => device.kind === 'audioinput'); }); Camera: navigator.mediaDevices.enumerateDevices() .then(function(devices) { var cameras = devices.filter(device => device.kind === 'videoinput'); }); Speakers: navigator.mediaDevices.enumerateDevices() .then(function(devices) { var speakers = devices.filter(device => device.kind === 'audiooutput'); }); Audio: var audioContext = new (window.AudioContext || window.webkitAudioContext)(); var oscillator = audioContext.createOscillator(); var analyser = audioContext.createAnalyser(); oscillator.connect(analyser); analyser.connect(audioContext.destination); GPU: var canvas = document.createElement('canvas'); var gl = canvas.getContext('webgl') || canvas.getContext('experimental-webgl'); var renderer = gl.getParameter(gl.RENDERER); console.log(renderer); Fonts: var fonts = []; var fontList = document.fonts.forEach(function(font) { fonts.push(font.family); }); console.log(fonts); Canvas (hashing): var canvas = document.createElement('canvas'); var context = canvas.getContext('2d'); var dataURL = canvas.toDataURL(); var canvasHash = MurmurHash3(dataURL); console.log(canvasHash); RAM and CPU: function getCPUInfo() { return navigator.hardwareConcurrency || 0; } function getDeviceMemory() { return navigator.deviceMemory || 0; } var cpuInfo = getCPUInfo(); var deviceMemory = getDeviceMemory(); console.log(`CPU Cores: ${cpuInfo}`); console.log(`Device Memory (GB): ${deviceMemory}`); Bot Detection Systems: Defending Against Automation A couple of examples of such systems: It is a global leader in bot detection and mitigation. It provides a proactive and precise way to verify that legitimate human users are accessing your website, mobile app, and APIs. Distil Networks uses a combination of techniques to detect bots. It studies a range of variables such as cursor movement, click patterns, and web browsing patterns across other websites. It uses , which checks all visitors against hundreds of different characteristics, focusing on their behavior. Distil Networks defends against web scraping, competitive data mining, account takeovers, transaction fraud, unauthorized vulnerability scans, spam, click fraud, denial of service, and API abuse. It can automatically block 99.9% of malicious traffic without impacting legitimate users. It also offers Distil Bot Defense for Web and API, which protect your website and API servers respectively. Distil Networks: Bot Detection: device fingerprints and Are You a Human technology It actively pulls additional data from the browser to identify devices with precision. When a browser request comes in, Distil interrogates the headers to see if the visitor is lying about their identity. This unique identifier can be used to fully or partially identify individual devices even when cookies cannot be read or stored in the browser, the client IP address is hidden, or one switches to another browser on the same device. It uses machine learning to detect biometric patterns in mouse activity and scrolling, as well as looking at browsers, devices, and other factors for clues. It can detect many simple or medium complexity bots that run JS from a web page. Resource Protection: It's a comprehensive cybersecurity platform that integrates fingerprint-based identification to discern legitimate users from potential threats. Utilizing advanced behavioral analysis and anomaly detection, Imperva builds profiles based on a combination of factors, including IP reputation, user-agent, different fingerprint params, and behavioral characteristics. This allows the system to detect suspicious activities indicative of bot traffic and mitigate potential threats effectively. Imperva: It's a prominent content delivery and cloud service provider that incorporates robust bot detection mechanisms within its security offerings. Leveraging a combination of fingerprint-based detection, behavior analysis, and machine learning, Akamai identifies and mitigates various bots. Akamai's global network allows for real-time threat intelligence, enabling proactive defense against evolving bot tactics. Akamai: It's a widely used content delivery network and security service that employs a multifaceted approach to bot detection. Cloudflare distinguishes between human users and bots by analyzing parameters such as IP reputation, user-agent characteristics, and behavioral patterns. The platform also utilizes threat intelligence and community-driven insights to stay ahead in the battle against emerging bot threats. Cloudflare uses to profile SSL/TLS clients and block potential bot requests. It also uses to apply rules and route traffic based on HTTP request information. is used to identify specific files and prevent data loss. These techniques help in detecting not real users. Cloudflare: JA3 Fingerprinting HTTP Filtering Data Fingerprinting Role of Bot Detection Systems: They play a pivotal role in enhancing bot detection capabilities. With servers strategically positioned around the globe, they can leverage geographical insights and real-time threat intelligence to identify and mitigate bot traffic effectively. The platform's WAF and bot managers contribute to a comprehensive defense against automated "users.” In this ongoing cat-and-mouse game, Bot Detection Systems continue to evolve, leveraging advanced technologies to stay ahead of fingerprint spoofing tech. The collaboration between security providers, businesses, and the wider online community remains crucial in defense against the tactics of automated threats but also, in a way, used against users' privacy, anonymity, and experience online, bringing intrusive ads and sophisticated user tracking tools that are only beneficial for businesses not for users. However, privacy protection, fingerprint hiding and spoofing, and ads and trackers blocking tools are also developing to evade even the most sophisticated user tracking systems. Websites' additional verification steps If a fingerprint appears suspicious, such as frequent changes or unusual combinations of data points, the website may trigger additional verification steps. Suspicious behavior: Websites may present users with captcha challenges to verify their identity. This involves solving puzzles or identifying distorted text, tasks that are difficult to perform for primitive bots. Captcha: Websites may request users to verify their mobile phone numbers to establish a stronger connection between a unique identity and a real-world entity. This can help prevent fraudulent activities. Mobile verification: the idea is the same as with mobile phones, but you need to submit your ID ID verification: Examples: Google doesn't require additional verification for new users with clear, consistent fingerprints. If a user's fingerprint changes frequently or resembles those used by known bots (or just already known for Google), Google may ask for a mobile phone number or ask to deal with a captcha. Financial websites often enforce stricter verification measures due to the sensitive nature of transactions. They may require users to provide additional personal information, verify their identity through secure channels, or pass more complex captcha challenges. Opinion: spoofing is better than hiding Hiding fingerprints can enhance privacy, security, and online anonymity, but spoofing them to appear as a unique, legitimate user offers even greater advantages. By blending in with the crowd and avoiding suspicion from systems that detect anti-detection tools, you can maintain credibility and trust. This approach allows you to enjoy the benefits of being perceived as a unique, legitimate user, minimizing the chance of facing additional protecting measures or obstacles. and, obviously, it helps in preventing leaking of your real data and identity. Also published . here

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Fonts play a large part in the visual representation of applications and web-based reports. By default, JavaScript allows developers to customize things like font size, weight, and style and even include custom font types. The ability for developers to work with and customize fonts allows them to enhance both the aesthetic and readability of the information that they’re presenting. JavaScript To match JavaScript's flexibility, ActiveReportsJS allows users to heavily customize the text within reports. In this article, we’ll be focusing on how you can leverage the ActiveReportsJS Designer’s ability to customize fonts, covering the following topics: The Basics of Fonts Configuring the Standalone Designer Application Configuring ActiveReportsJS-based Applications Configuring the Report Designer Component The Basics of Fonts All ActiveReportsJS components operate within a web browser environment: The is built with , which uses Chromium to display the user interface. Standalone Report Designer Electron The and components are parts of a web application that runs in the browser on a user’s machine. JavaScript Report Viewer Designer PDF, Tabular Data, and HTML Export Filters use a web browser environment to measure report content. A typical report consists of textual content that the browser renders using shapes called glyphs. Font resources contain information that maps character codes to glyphs representing these characters. Therefore, browsers need access to font resources to display text as expected. All textual content in ActiveReportsJS have several font properties, including: : The font ID, i.e., Arial, Calabri, or Times New Roman. Font Family : Normal or italic. Font Style : Thin, Extra Light, Normal, Medium, SemiBold, Bold, Extra Bold, Heavy. Font Weight A unique combination of these three properties is called a . A font family typically consists of several font faces, which are (normally) represented by several files. Font Face For instance, the font family has six different font faces: Calibri When ActiveReportsJS renders a report, it translates these font properties to font-family, font-style, and font-weight CSS style properties. It relies on a browser to resolve associated font resources and extract required glyphs. The browser has two ways to access font resources; locally, on the system a browser runs, or by download. Downloadable font resources are easy to maintain; all modern browsers support them, and it guarantees the consistent output of textual content across all environments. Besides, the ActiveReportsJS PDF Export requires downloadable fonts because it embeds their subsets in a PDF document. Therefore, the best way to ensure consistent report output across all environments is to configure ActiveReportsJS components to access downloadable font resources. Before we get started, we need to decide which font families we want to use for our reports. It could be standard fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, or Helvetica. Or, it could be any number of web fonts. For our example, we will be using the Montserrat font; this is the same font we use for our demo reports. In any case, ensure you have all font face files for all font families you plan on using. ActiveReportsJS supports the following font formats: Configuring the Standalone Report Designer To add a font family to the standalone designer, you’ll first need to navigate to the folder that holds the ActiveReportsJS font config file. These are at the following locations, based on your operating system: : %AppData%\ActiveReportsJS Designer\fontsConfig.json Windows : ~/Library/Application Support/ActiveReportsJS Designer/fontsConfig.json macOS : ~/.config/ActivereportsJS Designer/fontsConfig.json Linux At this location, create a folder named and copy all of the files for all of the font faces that you plan on using into this folder. Fonts Then, open the file in your text editor of choice. This file contains descriptors for font races that a report author will use for textual content. In the property, specify the absolute path to the parent folder of the directory. Replace the default items of the descriptors array with the descriptors of the desired font faces. fontsConfig.json path Fonts Each descriptor includes the following properties: For example, to allow the Regular, Italic, and Bold faces of the font, you would use the following descriptors: Montserrat {
    "name": "Montserrat",
    "weight": "400",
    "style": "normal",
    "source": "Fonts/Montserrat/Montserrat-Regular.ttf"
},
{
    "name": "Montserrat",
    "weight": "400",
    "style": "italic",
    "source": "Fonts/Montserrat/Montserrat-Italic.ttf"
},
{
    "name": "Montserrat",
    "weight": "700",
    "style": "normal",
    "source": "Fonts/Montserrat/Montserrat-Bold.ttf"
} Run the standalone designer application, add a TextBox in a report's body, and make sure that you can set its property to one of the fonts that you enumerated in the file and that all the font faces are correctly displayed. Font Family fontsConfig.json Configuring ActiveReportsJS-based Applications An application that displays reports in the JavaScript report viewer, exports reports to a PDF or hosts the reports designer component should use the same configuration you created for the standalone designer application. The easiest way to achieve that is to copy the folder and the file to your application’s static assets folder. Fonts fontsConfig.json This folder varies for different front-end frameworks. Here are a few examples: : Uses assets configuration; if the folder and the file are copied to the assets folder, modify the source properties of the font descriptors in the file so that they will start with assets. For example: Angular Fonts fontsConfig.json fontsConfig.json { "name": "Montserrat", "weight": "900", "style": "italic", "source": "assets/Fonts/Montserrat/Montserrat-BlackItalic.ttf" } : Uses the public folder for applications created with create-react-app. React : Uses static assets handling. Vue Finally, the application should call the method of the FontStore object with the URL of the file. This code should run before the application starts displaying or exporting reports. Note that the method is asynchronous and returns a object. registerFonts fontsConfig registerFonts Promise The code that calls this method can also wait until this returned Promise resolves before loading reports into the viewer component or exporting them. For pure JavaScript applications, the code will look like this: <script src="https://cdn.grapecity.com/activereportsjs/2.2.0/dist/ar-js-core.js"></script>
<script>
  GC.ActiveReports.Core.FontStore.registerFonts(
    "/resources/fontsConfig.json" // replace the URL with the actual one
  )
</script> For , , and Vue applications: Angular React import { Core } from "@grapecity/activereports";
Core.FontStore.registerFonts("/assets/fontConfig.json") // replace the URL with the actual one You can find examples of this code in our . live demos Configuring the Report Designer Component Finally, to ensure that the report designer component displays the registered fonts only, set the property of the designer instance to registered. fontSet In addition, if you want to ensure that the newly added report items have one of the registered fonts by default, you can use the feature. Custom Init Template Conclusion And with that, we’ve come to the end of the article. As we’ve discussed, fonts are a powerful way for developers to enhance aesthetics and readability. In this article, we’ve shown how easy it is to incorporate custom fonts into your reports via the ActiveReportsJS Report Designer and Viewer. Happy Coding! Also published . here

Utilizing Custom Fonts in JavaScript Reports

Utilizar fuentes personalizadas en informes JavaScript

Utilisation de polices personnalisées dans les rapports JavaScript

जावास्क्रिप्ट रिपोर्ट में कस्टम फ़ॉन्ट्स का उपयोग करना

JavaScript レポートでのカスタム フォントの使用

Utilizando fontes personalizadas em relatórios JavaScript

Sử dụng phông chữ tùy chỉnh trong báo cáo JavaScript

在 JavaScript 报告中使用自定义字体

Icons are small images that represent a bigger, more complex idea. They’re all over the internet and can be helpful for many different purposes, but sometimes it’s hard to find good ones that are free to use. If you’re looking for icons for your design project and don’t want to pay for them, this is the article for you! We’ve compiled a list of 25+ free resources where you can find free icons that anyone can use in their projects (with or without crediting). Are you maybe thinking the title was for 50+ Free Icons, right? But this list has only 25+ Free Icons, let me share with you something I made, and it has 70+ Free Resources for Icons. See Below. 50+ 600+ Free Design Resources Resources. Freebies. Learn. We’re making things easier on the Internet. Visit — 600+ free design resources What are icons? You might be wondering, what exactly is an icon? At its most basic level, an icon is a visual representation of something. It could be a person or place, or it could be an object or action. In the digital world, icons are used in design to replace text and make content easier for people to understand. For example, if you wanted to show someone how many steps they needed to take in order to reach their destination on their way home from work each day, you could replace those words with an image of stairs (or walking shoes). This would help them understand what they need to do without having to read anything at all! Icons also serve as navigational elements within websites and mobile apps, as well as branding elements for companies around the world — and that’s why we have so many free resources available today! Do I have to give credits? You can use the icon without giving credit. Just don’t do that, please! It’s always nice to know where you get your icons from, especially if you are using them for commercial purposes. That’s why it’s best practice to include a reference to the author in some way. You can do this either in the footer or by linking to their website on a source file (documents containing an image or multiple image files). But there are some resources below where giving credits is not mandatory. Futuramo Futuramo offers a suite of work management tools for teams working on digital projects. Foster collaboration between teams, clients and businesses. Visit — https://futuramo.com/apps/icons/ FindIcons Download Free Icons and Free Icon Packs. More than 500,000 icons in PNG, ICO and ICNS icons for Mac! +2000 icon pack for free use. Visit — https://findicons.com/ Shape Shape lets you customize the style, colors and border of static & animated icons and illustrations. You can export to React, SVG and Lottie code. Visit — https://shape.so/ PhosphorIcons A flexible icon family for interfaces, diagrams, presentations — whatever, really. Visit — https://phosphoricons.com/ EverIcons For your next project, Evericons is a collection of more than 460 carefully crafted icons.It’s free to use for personal or business purposes. Visit — http://www.evericons.com/ Free UX/UI Design Playbook Kickstart your UI/UX journey by following this playbook crafted with the insights from world's best designers. Learning the Skill Get Familiar with Design Concepts Familiarize yourself with UI principles Develop your eye for Design 🎨 Keep yourself updated with UX Design Blogs Learn the creative UX process It’s actually priced at $50, but if you sign up at you get free access. Fueler.io Flaticon Download Free Icons and Stickers for your projects. Resources made by and for designers. PNG, SVG, EPS, PSD and CSS formats Visit — https://www.flaticon.com/ IconFinder Iconfinder is the largest marketplace in the world for SVG, AI, and PNG icons, illustrations, and 3D illustrations. Visit — https://www.iconfinder.com/ StreamLine Figma has chosen Streamline as the best graphic resource for 2022. The world’s largest collection of icons, illustrations, emoji, and element sets. Visit — https://www.streamlinehq.com/ FontGoogle Material Symbols are our newest icons consolidating over 2,500 glyphs in a single font file with a wide range of design variants. Visit — https://fonts.google.com/icons?selected=Material+Icons/ Iconshock-Free Icons Fully editable vector icon sets, including free SVG and PNG icons, are available for download as a free icons pack. Use them for all of your social media, web, and app projects. Incorporating well-liked designs like Flat and Material. Visit — https://www.iconshock.com/free-icons/ Icons8 Free access to design elements: music, images, icons, and vector illustrations for your videos. Consistent quality across all of the assets designed Visit — https://icons8.com/ Iconstore The IconStore is a collection of high-quality vector (SVG) icons that can be downloaded for commercial use for free. Visit — https://iconstore.co/ Icomoon You can easily search for vector icons, download them, and create fonts (icon fonts) with IcoMoon. Icon set management is another application for this instrument. It can make sprites, SVGs, PDFs, PNGs, and icon fonts. Visit — https://icomoon.io/app/#/select/ TheSquidInk 6,000+ Handcrafted Flat Icons, Line Icons, Glyph Icons. Easy to customize and scalable. Designed for applications, iOS and Android. Include Photoshop, Illustrator and SVG files. Visit — https://thesquid.ink/flat-icons/ Fontawesome The world’s most popular and easiest-to-use icon set just got an upgrade. More icons. More styles. More Options. Visit — https://fontawesome.com/ Uxwing The world’s most popular and easiest-to-use icon set just got an upgrade. More icons. More styles. More Options. Visit — https://uxwing.com/ IconFactory The world’s most popular and easiest-to-use icon set just got an upgrade. More icons. More styles. More Options. Visit — https://freeware.iconfactory.com/icons/ TheNounProject Noun Project features the most diverse collection of icons ever. Download SVG and PNG. Millions of free icons or unlimited royalty-free icons with NounPro. Visit — https://thenounproject.com/icons/ Iconmonstr Free simple icons for your next project Visit — https://iconmonstr.com/ Softicons Free icon sets. The catalog allows users to download icon sets free of charge (at least for personal use) and renders additional icon-related services, such as favicon generator, image to icon converter. Visit — https://www.softicons.com/ Fontello Tool to build custom fonts with icons. Visit — https://fontello.com/ Veryicon 100,000+ Free vector icons in SVG, PNG, EPS format or as ICON FONT. Thousands of free icons in the largest database of free vector icons! Visit — https://www.veryicon.com/ Boxicons Boxicons is a free collection of carefully crafted open source icons. Each icon is designed on a 24px grid with the material guidelines Visit — https://boxicons.com/ Feathericons Feather is a collection of simply beautiful open-source icons. Each icon is designed on a 24x24 grid with an emphasis on simplicity, consistency and readability. Visit — https://feathericons.com/ PixelBuddha We bring free and premium design resources of the highest quality to the professional community. Visit — https://pixelbuddha.net/ Pixeden Web icon sets to download for your web design project. Each premium and free icon set comes in PNG format from 16x16 to 512x512 and depending on the icon set with its fully layered adobe photoshop psd in vector shape. Visit — http://www.pixeden.com/icons-set/ Icojam UI assets for creatives. Grab their free icons and illustrations for your next project! Visit — https://www.icojam.com/ Conclusion I hope this post has given you some ideas of where to look for free icons. Please let me know in the comments below if you have any other suggestions or resources that I haven’t included here! Originally published . here

Get Over 50+ Free Icons for Your Projects Here

Recently, I decided to spend a bit of time exploring LÖVE in my spare time. It uses Lua as programming language. Also, it’s an open-source engine available for free on Windows, Mac, and Linux. You can also build your game for iOS/Android and even WebGL. Website: https://love2d.org/ I thought it would be easy, coming from Unity and different other languages. But it took me a bit of time to find the information or logic behind the language and engine. So I decided to write this guide to help you get kick-started and easily transitioned to LÖVE. Guide Lua Language Here are some examples of different things you may want to use: Important Links Programming language reference: Programming in Lua https://www.lua.org/pil/contents.html Package manager for Lua: LuaRocks https://luarocks.org/ Variables local x = 1 -- Only available in local scope
globalVar = 2 -- Global variable Usual Operations -- increment variable
i = i + 1

-- decrement variable
i = i - 1

-- concatenate the variable name with two strings
message = "Hello, my name is "..name.."!"

-- not equal operator (others are the same as others languages)
test = something ~= 0

-- logical operatiors: not, and, or 
test1 = not something
test2 = something and somethingelse
test3 = something or somethingelse 

-- tertiary operator (a ? b : c)
test = a and b or c Note: there is no in Lua to increment. i++ If, elseif, else if playerJumped then 
  -- Start jump animation
elseif playerCrouch then 
  -- Start crouch animation
else
  -- Play idle animation
end For Loops -- Loop over i from 0 to 20 and increment by 1 at each cycle 
for i = 0,20,1
do
  -- Do something
end : you cannot have multiple variables in the for statement. If you need multiple variables look at doing a loop instead. Note while While Loops local i = 0
while i < 20
do 
  -- Do something 
  i = i + 1
end Functions function f(argument1) 
  return something * argument1
end : all the primary types (numbers, boolean, nil, strings) are passed by values, everything else is passed by reference to the function. Note Classes and OOP There is a native way of doing it, using the official language reference: https://www.lua.org/pil/16.1.html But I found it a bit inelegantly and the function is confusing. setmetadatatable So I found another solution that simplifies the code you need to write to create classes and child classes: https://gist.github.com/paulmoore/1429475 You only need to import the file in your project, but definitely look at the examples. classes.lua But here is a quick example. -- Load the classes helper file
local classes = require "classes"

local Enemy = classes.class() -- Create a class without any parent

Enemy.count = 0

function Enemy:init(name)
    self.hp = 100
    self.name = name
  Enemy.count = Enemy.count + 1
end

-- static function
function Enemy.count()
  return Enemy.count
end

local Orc = classes.class(Enemy) -- Create an Orc who is an enemy

function Orc:init(name, weapon)
  self.super:init(name) -- call to parent constructor
    self.weapon = weapon
end

-- Instantiate some orcs 
local orcWithAxe = Orc.new("Zotor", "Axe")
local orcWithBow = Orc.new("Plead", "Bow") Notes: We use to instantiate and define in the class, which is called implicitly during the operation. new init new For static methods and variables, use the class name followed by a then the name of the element you want to access. . For object methods and attributes, use the variable name followed by a then the name of the element you want to access. : For private methods, don’t prefix the name of the function with the name of the class. Queues and Stacks For that, I made a module based on the example provided by the official language reference. https://www.lua.org/pil/11.4.html List = {}
function List.new ()
  return {first = 0, last = -1}
end

function List.count(l)
  return #table
end

function List.pushleft (list, value)
    local first = list.first - 1
    list.first = first
    list[first] = value
  end

  function List.pushright (list, value)
    local last = list.last + 1
    list.last = last
    list[last] = value
  end

  function List.popleft (list)
    local first = list.first
    if first > list.last then error("list is empty") end
    local value = list[first]
    list[first] = nil        -- to allow garbage collection
    list.first = first + 1
    return value
  end

  function List.popright (list)
    local last = list.last
    if list.first > last then error("list is empty") end
    local value = list[last]
    list[last] = nil         -- to allow garbage collection
    list.last = last - 1
    return value
  end

return List Copy that in a file in your project. Then you can use it this way: list.lua queue = List.new()
stack = List.new()

-- Enqueue values
List.pushright(queue, someValue)
List.pushright(queue, someValue)
List.pushright(queue, someValue)

-- Stack values
List.pushleft(stack, someValue)
List.pushleft(stack, someValue)
List.pushleft(stack, someValue)

-- Consume queue (FIFO)
local value1 = List.popleft(queue)
local value2 = List.popleft(queue)

-- Consume stack (LIFO)
local value3 = List.popleft(stack)
local value4 = List.popleft(stack) Arrays and Tables (structured data) Table is a specific type in Lua, it’s a bit like arrays in PHP, which can be associative or indexed. -- same initialization
local array = {}
local table = {}

-- initializing array values
for i = 0,20,1
do 
    array[i] = i
end

-- initialization table values
table["x"] = 0
table["y"] = 0

-- or could be done at the declaration
local coords = {x=0, y=0} Cron If you want to schedule a specific action at a certain time, you want to use cron/timer. The easiest solution I found is to use the tool made by kikito: https://github.com/kikito/cron.lua local cron = require 'cron'

local function printMessage()
  print('Hello')
end

-- the following calls are equivalent:
local c1 = cron.after(5, printMessage)
local c2 = cron.after(5, print, 'Hello')

c1:update(2) -- will print nothing, the action is not done yet
c1:update(5) -- will print 'Hello' once

c1:reset() -- reset the counter to 0

-- prints 'hey' 5 times and then prints 'hello'
while not c1:update(1) do
  print('hey')
end

-- Create a periodical clock:
local c3 = cron.every(10, printMessage)

c3:update(5) -- nothing (total time: 5)
c3:update(4) -- nothing (total time: 9)
c3:update(12) -- prints 'Hello' twice (total time is now 21) LÖVE Engine Specifics OK, Lua itself requires some learning, as you’ve seen. But LÖVE too! Important Links Official documentation: LÖVE Wiki https://love2d.org/wiki/Main_Page Structure To run a game, you need a folder with at least a file . main.lua Example of minimal structure: function love.load()
    -- Run once at game initialization
end

function love.keypressed(key, scancode, isrepeat)
    -- Run each time a key on the keyboard is pressed
end

function love.mousepressed(x, y, button, istouch, presses)
    -- Run each time a mouse button is pressed, supports multi-touch too
end

function love.update(dt)
    -- Run at each frame before drawing it
    -- This is where you handle most of your game logic
end

function love.draw()
  -- Called at every frame to draw the game
end : There are other functions you may need, you can find the details here: Note https://love2d.org/wiki/love IDE I advise you to use Visual Code with the extension https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=SK83RJOSH.love-launcher Also, add a file at the root of your folder, with the contents: conf.lua function love.conf(t)
    t.console = true
end Now each time you press , your game will pop plus the console window which can help to debug. Alt+L Manipulate the Game Window You can change the default window display attribute during the loading of your game. Example: function love.load()
    love.window.setMode(800, 600, {resizable=true, minwidth=400, minheight=300})
end : Details https://love2d.org/wiki/love.window.setMode SVG Files I found a nice package that adds support for SVG files to LÖVE. It is called TÖVE. : Details https://github.com/poke1024/tove2d No active development since a couple of years ago, so be aware of that. But for me, it worked fine. Fixed Update If you want to make your game at a constant frame rate, it’s not possible natively. But I found that gist from Leandros: that just does the job perfectly. https://gist.github.com/Leandros/98624b9b9d9d26df18c4 You need to copy/paste the code at the end of your ua and that’s it. Constant 60FPS. main.l You can tweak the FPS if you need. ECS (Entity Component System) LÖVE is not natively using the paradigm . But if you like ECS as I do, I found a tiny ECS framework for it. It was written in 2016, pretty old already, but it’s so tiny that it did age well. ECS Here is the link: https://github.com/bakpakin/tiny-ecs If you want to use it, there’s only one file to copy to your project. tiny.lua You can find a project using it here as an example: https://github.com/bakpakin/CommandoKibbles Post Processing Screen VFX If you want to have some post-processing screen virtual effects, the easiest I found is to use moonshine: https://github.com/vrld/moonshine It contains 16 effects like glow, vignette, crt, ... That you can chain as you want and change parameters on the fly. If you want to create your own effect, you will have to start to write shaders and extend moonshine effects. Check the GitHub README to understand how to use it. Screen Shake Effect I found on the forum of LÖVE a reply from vrld that does the job: https://love2d.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=193765#p193765 local t, shakeDuration, shakeMagnitude = 0, -1, 0
function startShake(duration, magnitude)
    t, shakeDuration, shakeMagnitude = 0, duration or 1, magnitude or 5
end

function love.update(dt)
    if t < shakeDuration then
        t = t + dt
    end
end

function love.draw()
    if t < shakeDuration then
        local dx = love.math.random(-shakeMagnitude, shakeMagnitude)
        local dy = love.math.random(-shakeMagnitude, shakeMagnitude)
        love.graphics.translate(dx, dy)
    end
end Game distribution If you want to distribute your game, your starting point is the wiki at that address: love2d.org/wiki/Game_Distribution More details on WegGL First, you need to install the tool from Davidobot: https://github.com/Davidobot/love.js npm install -g love.js Web server with proper headers Then you will need a server and a web server running on it. On my end, I use Nginx, and this is how I configured my : location location /beathoven/ {
        add_header Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy same-origin;
        add_header Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy require-corp;
        alias /usr/share/nginx/html/beathoven/;
} Add missing mime type After several tries looking at errors in the browser, I realize also I needed to edit the file to add the definition for wasm file: /etc/nginx/mime.types application/vnd.google-earth.kmz      kmz;
    application/wasm                      wasm;
    application/x-7z-compressed           7z; Use 7zip not tar on Windows To package your game into a love file, you need to simply zip the files. And since Windows 10, Windows includes a command line utility that you can use to make zip. But it looks like it’s not supported by the WebGL build. So I switched to 7Zip using the following parameters: tar You can also use 7zip in the command line. Example of building & deploy script #!/bin/bash

tools/7za a -tzip Beathoven.zip assets/ gameobjects/ pages/ responsive/ utils/ fonts.lua main.lua -mx0
mv Beathoven.zip Beathoven.love

love.js -t Beathoven -c Beathoven.love game 

ssh server rm -rf /usr/share/nginx/html/beathoven/*

scp -r game/* server:/usr/share/nginx/html/beathoven/ Conclusion Obviously, I haven’t covered everything here, but I hope that it can give a nice introduction to help you get quickly productive with LÖVE and create some cool games! Next week I’ll share about a Rhythm game called Beathoven I decided to make while exploring the possibilities of LÖVE. Originally published . here

An Introduction to LÖVE the 2D Game Engine

9 Types of Essential Tools for Every Web Developer

It’s not a long time ago when creating an iOS app or widget was solely available only for Objective-C or Swift developers with a solid Apple dev background (and of course, macOS device for development). These days, with a app, it’s possible to create a native iOS widget even with basic JavaScript knowledge. Scriptable In this short tutorial, we’ll create an iOS home screen widget that will display scraped content directly on our iOS device home screen. For example purpose, we’ll scrape losers page, we’ll get ticker symbol, name, and daily percentage change. Our script will also serialize these pieces of data into a JSON data source. This JSON file will be updated and published every hour by GitHub Actions. In the end, we use the Scriptable app for getting this JSON data and transform them into an iOS widget. yahoo.finance Of course, we could scrape URL directly using just JavaScript in our Scriptable script, however, we don’t need this data in real-time and I believe python and its packages are more suitable for this kind of task. Scriptable what? is an app for iOS devices. In a nutshell, it allows you to write JavaScript code that will be under the hood translated into native iOS code. It provides you with a variety of nice APIs for creating an iOS widget user interface, networking, notifications, and . For skilled iOS developers, this might sound like magic (or it might remind you React Native, Cordova, or even PhoneGap). If you are wondering how it works under the hood I’d recommend this with the creator of Scriptable, . Scriptable many more great podcast Simon B. Støvring Battleplan Scrape the URL and create JSON with the scraped content Persist and serve data source JSON via GitHub pages Update JSON content every hour with GitHub action Get JSON content in Scriptable’s JavaScript Setup and present iOS widget You’ll also need an iOS device with an installed Scriptable app, a GitHub account, and $0 for infrastructure. 1. Scrape the URL and create JSON with the scraped content Create new GitHub repo and add a new python script (in my case ). main.py requests bs4 BeautifulSoup os json datetime

loosers_url = loosers_response = requests.get(loosers_url)
loosers_page = BeautifulSoup(loosers_response.text, )
loosers_table = loosers_page.find( )
looser_rows = loosers_table.find_all( )

result_json_content = {}
result_json_content[ ] = datetime.datetime.now().strftime( )
result_json_content[ ] = [] looser_row looser_rows:
  cells = looser_row.find_all( )
  ticker = cells[ ].find( ).string
  name = cells[ ].text
  change = cells[ ].find( ).string
  result_json_content[ ].append({ : ticker, : name, : change
  })

loosers_json_filename = os.path.exists(loosers_json_filename):
  os.remove(loosers_json_filename) open(loosers_json_filename, ) loosers_json_file:
  json.dump(result_json_content, loosers_json_file) import from import import import import 'https://finance.yahoo.com/losers/' 'html.parser' 'tbody' 'tr' 'timestamp' '%c' 'loosers' for in 'td' 0 'a' 1 4 'span' 'loosers' 'ticker' 'name' 'change' 'docs/result.json' if with 'a' as This python script gets the content of the URL using the package. With we’ll find data we are interested in (ticker symbol, name, and percentage). At the end of the script, we are using and packages for serializing and storing JSON on the path. We'll later publish this docs directory to GitHub pages so our data source is available for our iOS widget. requests BeautifulSoup JSON os docs/result.json Do not forget to add . requirements.txt beautifulsoup4
requests==2.23.0 This file is used by GitHub actions for installing dependencies. 2.Persist and serve data source JSON via GitHub Pages Our JSON data source will be served by GitHub Pages — go to of your repository and enable for your folder in your main branch. At his time, the content of the directory does not exist yet. JSON content will be re-created periodically by the GitHub Action. Settings GitHub Pages docs docs 3. Update JSON content every hour with GitHub action In the root of your create new . .github/workflows/ pythonapp.yml # This workflow will install Python dependencies, run tests and lint with a single version of Python # For more information see: https://help.github.com/actions/language-and-framework-guides/using-python-with-github-actions name: Python application on: push: branches: [ main ] pull_request: branches: [ main ] schedule: - cron: '0 13-23 * * 1-5' jobs: build: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v2 - name: Set up Python 3.8 uses: actions/setup-python@v1 with: python-version: 3.8 - name: Install dependencies run: |
        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
        pip install -r requirements.txt - name: Run script run: |
        python main.py - name: Deploy page run: |
        git config --local user.email "action@github.com"
        git config --local user.name "GitHub Action"
        git add docs/result.json -f
        git commit -m "Update docs/result.json" -a
        git push "https://makma:$ @github.com/makma/scriptable-stocks.git" HEAD:main --follow-tags {{ secrets.GITHUB_PERSONAL_TOKEN }} Edit the last line of the script according to your repository name and GitHub handle. This action will run . If you want to change this behavior, just edit the cron expression. In addition, it also pushes serialized JSON into the folder - this behavior is defined in the step. at minute 0 past every hour from 13 through 23 on every day-of-week from Monday through Friday docs Deploy page 4. Get JSON content in Scriptable's JavaScript In the Scriptable app create a new script with the following code.  This is basically the code of the widget on your iOS device. It renders a medium widget with the first seven losers. dataUrl = ; widget = createWidget();
Script.setWidget(widget);
widget.presentMedium();
Script.complete(); { widget = ListWidget(); data = Request(dataUrl).loadJSON(); titleRow = widget.addText( );
    titleRow.font = Font.boldSystemFont( );
    titleRow.textColor = Color.white();
    widget.addSpacer( ); (i = ; i < ; i++) { looser = data.loosers[i]; row = leftColumn.addText( );
        row.font = Font.semiboldSystemFont( );
    } gradient = LinearGradient()
    
    gradient.colors = [ Color( ), Color( )];
    gradient.locations =  [ , ];
    
    widget.backgroundGradient = gradient widget;
} // Variables used by Scriptable. // These must be at the very top of the file. Do not edit. // icon-color: red; icon-glyph: magic; const "https://makma.github.io/scriptable-stocks/result.json" let await async ( ) function createWidget const new const await new let `Losers ` ${data.timestamp} 15 5 for 0 7 const let ` ` ${looser.ticker} ${looser.change} 14 let new new "3a8cc1" new "00A9D6" 0 1 return Change data URL to your JSON data source published on GitHub pages. Protip: Use the Scriptable app directory in your iCloud drive. You can see all your scripts here. Moreover, you can write code directly in your favorite IDE on your PC or Mac. 5. Setup and present iOS widget The last step is adding the widget to your screen. Add a new script to the Scriptable app and add a new Scriptable widget. Select and set your Script. Medium size Your new widget should be displayed now. You can find all the files and source code on . GitHub Disclaimer: I’m not connected with the Scriptable app or Yahoo.

How To Create A Slick iOS Widget In JavaScript

Publishing a book or documentation online has never been easier than it is today. Many services offer you incredible possibilities for publishing beautiful docs with custom domains. The only caveat is that often you need to pay for full features and probably need to use some web-based Markdown editor, which may complicate your life, rather than make it simpler. The good news is that you don't need to pay anything to publish visually appealing documentation online. You don't even need to change your favorite Markdown editor or have a custom domain. All you need is a GitHub account, a text editor of your choice, and a command prompt. In this post, I will show you how to publish your book or documentation on GitHub Pages in less than ten minutes. Getting Gitbook CLI Gitbook is an open-source project that helps thousands of developers, researchers, and journalists build beautiful documentation that support sections, nesting, code rendering, as well as multiple formats. While the main efforts of Gitbook developers are now focused on the platform (which is not completely free), the legacy tool called is still around and can be used to build static HTML files to render in a browser. Gitbook.com gitbook-cli To install the tool, you need , so make sure that you install Node.js ( will install together) if you haven't done so in the past. npm npm Install gitbook-cli. $ sudo npm install -g gitbook-cli Create Book Skeleton Create an empty directory where your docs or book will live. $ mkdir sample-book
$ sample-book/ cd Use the command to create sample files needed to compile a book. gitbook init $ gitbook init If you inspect the and files that were just created, you will see that they have no content except for headers and a table of contents in the file. README.md SUMMARY.md SUMMARY.md This is the file. SUMMARY.md # Summary

* [Introduction](README.md) And this is the file. README.md # Introduction By default, adds an "Introduction" header to the file and it will be the first page in your book. Make sure you add some text below the header. gitbook README.md Add Sections to Your Book Add more sections to your book building on top of the project skeleton. In the same folder, create two files: and . chapter1.md chapter2.md Add headers and optional content to each file and save them. For example, your file can have the following structure: chapter1.md Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. # Chapter 1 Edit the file by adding your newly created chapters to the list of contents. Save the file. SUMMARY.md # Summary

* [Introduction](README.md)
* [Chapter ](chapter1.md)
* [Chapter ](chapter2.md) 1 2 Build Your Book Now, build the book as follows: $ gitbook build You should see the following output: info: 7 plugins are installed 
info: 6 explicitly listed 
info: loading plugin ... OK 
info: loading plugin ... OK 
info: loading plugin ... OK 
info: loading plugin ... OK 
info: loading plugin ... OK 
info: loading plugin ... OK 
info: found 3 pages 
info: found 0 asset files 
info: >> generation finished with success 2.6s ! "highlight" "search" "lunr" "sharing" "fontsettings" "theme-default" in And done! The HTML files from your book are in the folder that created in the current directory. _book gitbook Publish Your Book to GitHub Pages Go to your GitHub account and create an empty repository. Do not tick the option to create a README file (we already have one, remember?). Go back to your terminal. Assuming that you are still in the folder, repeat the following steps (put repository URL when adding origin): sample-book your $ git init
$ cp -R _book/* .
$ git clean -fx _book
$ git add .
$ git commit -m $ git branch -M main
$ git remote add origin https://github.com/your-user-name/sample-gitbook.git
$ git push -u origin main "first commit" Go back to your sample book repository on GitHub, click and scroll down to the part. Settings GitHub Pages In , select the branch, folder, and click . Source main /root Save You will see the message " ." It may take a couple of minutes for GitHub to build your site. Your site is ready to be published at https://your-user-name.github.io/sample-book/ Once it finishes, your book is available at the link! Check it out . here Congrats! You have just published your book on GitHub Pages! What's Next Experiment with sections and nesting. Just edit the list in the file to have nested sections. SUMMARY.md Explore different color themes (you need to click the icon in the upper-left) and fonts. A Finally, add some real content!

How to Publish a Book with GitBook CLI and GitHub Pages in 7 Minutes

A couple months ago, I was traveling outside of the U.S. and wanted to show a friend a link on my personal (static) site. I tried navigating to my website, but it took much longer than I anticipated. There’s absolutely nothing dynamic about it — it has animations and some responsive design, but the content always stays the same. I was pretty appalled at the results, ~4s to DOMContentLoaded, and 6.8s for a full page load. There were 20 requests for a , with 1mb of total data transferred. I was accustomed to my 1Gb/s, low latency in Los Angeles connecting to my server in San Francisco, which made this monstrosity seem lightning fast. In Italy, at 8mb/s, it was a different picture entirely. static site internet This was my first foray into optimizations. Up to this point, any time I wanted to add a library or resource, I would just throw it in and point to it with . I had paid zero attention to any form of , from caching to inlining to lazy loading. src=”…” performance I started looking around for people with similar experiences. Unfortunately, a lot of the literature on static optimizations gets dated fairly quickly — recommendations from 2010 or 2011 discussed libraries or made assumptions that simply weren’t true anymore, or just repeated the same maxims over and over. However, I did find two great sources of information — and . While I didn’t go as far as Dan in stripping formatting and content, I did manage to get my page load to be roughly 10x faster, to about a fifth of a second for DOMContentLoaded and only 388ms for full page load (which is actually a little inaccurate, as it tacks on the lazy loading explained below). High Performance Browser Networking Dan Luu’s similar experience with optimizing static sites The Process The first step of the process was to profile the site. I wanted to figure out what was taking the longest, and how to best parallelize everything. I ran various tools to profile my site and test it from various locations around the world, including: https://tools.pingdom.com/ www.webpagetest.org/ https://tools.keycdn.com/speed https://developers.google.com/web/tools/lighthouse/ https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/ https://webspeedtest.cloudinary.com/ Some of these offered suggestions on improvements, but there’s only so much you can do when your static site has 50 requests — everything from a spacer gif left as a remnant from the 90s to assets that aren’t used (I was loading 6 fonts and only using 1). Timeline for my site — I tested this on the Web Archive as I didn’t screenshot the original one, but it looks similar enough to what I saw a few months ago. I wanted to improve everything that I had control over — from the contents and speed of the javascript to the actual web server (Nginx) and DNS settings. Optimizations Minify and Coalesce Resources The first thing I noticed was that I was making a dozen requests each for CSS and JS (without any form of HTTP keepalive), and to various sites, some of which were https. This added multiple round trips to various CDNs or servers, and some JS files were requesting others, which caused the blocking cascade seen above. I used to coalesce all my resources into a single js file. Any time I make a change to my content, it automatically minifies and turns all my dependencies into a single file. webpack I played around with different options — currently, this single bundle.js file is in the <head> of my site, and is blocking. It’s final size is 829kb, and that includes every single non-image asset (fonts, css, all libraries and dependencies, and js). The vast majority of this is are the font-awesome fonts, which make up 724 of the 829kb. I went through the Font Awesome library and stripped all but the three icons I was using — fa-github, fa-envelope, and fa-code. I used a service called to only pull the icons I needed. The new size was just 94kb. fontello The way the site is currently built, it won’t look correct if we only have stylesheets, so I accepted the blocking nature of a single bundle.js. Load times are ~118ms, which is more than an order of magnitude better than above. This also had a few added benefits — I was no longer pointing to 3rd party resources or CDNs, so the user would not need to 1) perform a DNS query to that resource, 2) Perform the https handshake, and 3) actually wait for the full download from that resource. While CDNs and distributed caching might make sense for large scale, distributed sites, it does not make sense for my small static site. The additional hundred milliseconds or so are a worthwhile tradeoff. Compress Resources I was loading an 8mb sized headshot and then displaying it at 10% width/height. This wasn’t just a lack of optimization — this was . almost negligent usage of users bandwidth I compressed all my images using — it also suggested I switch to , but I wanted to remain as compatible with as many browsers as possible, so I stuck to jpg. It’s possible to set up a system in which webp only gets delivered to browsers that support it, but I wanted to remain as simple as possible, and the benefits for that added layer of abstraction did not seem worth it. https://webspeedtest.cloudinary.com/ webp Improve Web Server — HTTP2, TLS, and More The first thing I did was transition to https — when I started, I was running Nginx bare on port 80, just serving files from /var/www/html I started by setting up https and redirecting all http requests to https. I got my TLS certificate from (an great organization that just started signing as well!). Let’s Encrypt wildcard certificates Just by adding the http2 directive, Nginx was able to take advantage of all the modern, baked in advantages of the newest HTTP features. Note that if you want to take advantage of HTTP2 (previously SPDY), you use HTTPS. Read more about it . must here You can also take advantage of HTTP2 push directives with http2_push images/Headshot.jpg; Note: Enabling gzip and TLS might put you at risk for . As this is a static site, and the actual risks for BREACH are fairy low, I felt comfortable keeping compression on. BREACH Utilize Caching & Compression Directives What more could be accomplished through just Nginx? The first things that jump out are caching and compression directives. I was sending raw, uncompressed HTML. With just a single line, I was able to go from 16000 bytes to 8000 bytes, a decrease of 50%. gzip on; We are actually able to improve this number even further — if set Nginx’s it’ll look for precompressed versions of all requested files before hand. This goes hand in hand with our webpack config above — we can use the to precompress all our files, at build time! This saves computational resources, and allows us to maximize our compression with no tradeoff to speed. gzip_static on, ZopflicPlugin Additionally, my site changes fairly infrequently, so I wanted the resources to be cached for as long as possible. This would make it so that, on subsequent visits, users would not need to redownload all assets (especially bundle.js). My updated server config looks like this. Note that I won’t touch on all the changes I made, such as TCP settings changes, gzip directives, and file cache. If you’d like to know more about these, read this article on tuning Nginx. And the corresponding server block Lazy Loading Lastly there was a small change to my actual site that would improve things by a non-negligible amount. There are 5 images that aren’t seen until you press on their corresponding tabs, but that were loaded at the same time as everything else (due to their being in a <img src=”…”> tag. I wrote a short script to modify the attribute with every element with the These images would only be loaded once the corresponding box was clicked. lazyload class. So once the document had completed loading, it would modify the <img> tags so that they went from <img data-src=”…”> to <img src=”…”>, and load it in the background. Future Improvements There are a few other changes that could improve the page load speeds — most notably, using Service Workers to cache and intercept all requests, and have the site operate even offline, and caching content on CDNs so that users do not need to do a full round trip to the server in SF. These are worthwhile changes, but not particularly important for a personal static site that serves as an online resume/about me page. Conclusion This improved my page load times from more than 8 seconds to ~350ms on first page load, and an insane ~200ms on subsequent ones. I really recommend reading through all of — it’s a fairly quick read, and provides an incredibly well written overview of the modern internet, and optimizing at every layer of the modern internet model. High Performance Browser Networking Did I miss anything? See anything that violates best practices or that could improve my performance even more? Feel free to reach out — JonLuca De Caro!

10x Performance Increases: Optimizing a Static Site

. Things To Make by Archibald Williams is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . PREFACE here PREFACE. The making for oneself of toys and other objects of a more or less useful character has certain advantages over buying them. In the case of the more elaborate and costly articles, it may enable one to possess things which otherwise would be unobtainable. Secondly, a home-made article may give a satisfaction more lasting than is conferred by a bought one, though it may be less beautiful to look upon. Thirdly, the mere making should be a pleasure, and must be an education in itself. To encourage readers to “use their hands” the following chapters have been written. The subjects chosen provide ample scope for the exercise of ingenuity and patience; but in making my selection I have kept before me the fact that a well-equipped workshop falls to the lot of but a few of the boys who are anxious to develop into amateur craftsmen. Therefore, while the easiest tasks set herein are very easy, the most difficult will not be found to demand a very high degree of skill, or more than a very moderate outlay on tools. I may say here that I have been over the ground myself to find out its difficulties for my readers, and that I made an engine similar to that described in Chapter XV (the most elaborate mechanism included in the book) with very simple tools. Some of the items which I had on my original list were abandoned, because they presupposed the possession of comparatively expensive machines. My selection has also been guided by the desire to cater for different tastes. In some cases the actual manufacture of the thing described may be regarded as the most instructive and valuable element, and may appeal most forcibly to the “handy” boy; in others—the Harmonograph provides a good instance—the interest centres round the experiments made possible by the construction of a simple piece of apparatus; in some the utility of the article manufactured is its chief recommendation. I feel certain that anyone who follows out the pages of this volume with hand as well as with eye, will have little reason to regret the time so spent. The things made may in course of time be put aside and forgotten, but the manual skill acquired will remain. Nowadays one can buy almost anything ready-made, or get it made without difficulty; yet he who is able to make things for himself will always have an advantage over the person to whom the use of tools is an unprobed mystery. 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. Archibald Williams (2005). Things To Make. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/14664/pg14664-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 , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

The making for oneself of toys and other objects of a more or less useful character

These are my notes from . Drucker was an Austrian-born American consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern corporation. Managing Oneself by Peter F. Drucker management business Most people think they know what they are good at. They are usually wrong. Whenever you make a key decision or take a key action, write down what you expect will happen. Nine or 12 months later, compare the actual results with your expectations. The only way to discover your strengths is through feedback analysis. Practiced consistently, this simple method will show you within a fairly short period of time, maybe two or three years, where your strengths lie — and this is the most important thing to know. The method will show you what you are doing or failing to do that deprives you of the full benefits of your strengths. It will show you where you are not particularly competent. And finally, it will show you where you have no strengths and cannot perform. Here are some of the steps to do well in your career First and foremost, . Put yourself where your strengths can produce results. Second, . Analysis will rapidly show where you need to improve skills or acquire new ones. It will also show the gaps in your knowledge — and those can usually be filled concentrate on your strengths work on improving your strengths Third, discover where your intellectual arrogance is disabling ignorance and overcome it If analysis shows that someone’s brilliant work fails again and again as soon as cooperation from others is required, it probably indicates a lack of courtesy — that is, a lack of manners. Try to improve on how you deal with people and work on improving your collaborative skills There are two kinds of people: Listeners and Readers. Few listeners can be made, or can make themselves, into competent readers — and vice versa. The listener who tries to be a reader will, therefore, suffer the fate of Lyndon Johnson, whereas the reader who tries to be a listener will suffer the fate of Dwight Eisenhower. They will not perform or achieve. Try to figure who you are. The explanation for above is that Because schools do not allow them to learn this way, they get poor grades. There are people, like Churchill, who learn by writing. Some people learn by taking copious notes. Beethoven, for example, left behind an enormous number of sketchbooks, yet he said he never actually looked at them when he composed. Asked why he kept them, he is reported to have replied, “If I don’t write it down immediately, I forget it right away. If I put it into a sketchbook, I never forget it and I never have to look it up again.” writers do not, as a rule, learn by listening and reading. They learn by writing. Some people learn by doing. Others learn by hearing themselves talk. A chief executive (who Drucker knew) who converted a small and mediocre family business into the leading company in its industry was one of those people who learn by talking. He was in the habit of calling his entire senior staff into his office once a week and then talking at them for two or three hours. Am I a reader or a listener? and How do I learn? are the first questions to ask. But they are by no means the only ones. To manage yourself effectively, you also have to ask, Do I work well with people, or am I a loner? And if you do work well with people, you then must ask, In what relationship? A great many people perform best as advisers but cannot take the burden and pressure of making the decision. A good many other people, by contrast, need an adviser to force themselves to think; then they can make decisions and act on them with speed, self-confidence, and courage. This is a reason, by the way, that the number two person in an organisation often fails when promoted to the number one position. The top spot requires a decision maker. Strong decision makers often put somebody they trust into the number two spot as their adviser — and in that position the person is outstanding. But in the number one spot, the same person fails. He or she knows what the decision should be but cannot accept the responsibility of actually making it. Do I produce results as a decision maker or as an adviser? To be able to manage yourself, you finally have to ask, Organizations, like people, have values. Otherwise, the person will not only be frustrated but also will not produce results. Or rather, they should be able to decide where they do not belong. The person who has learned that he or she does not perform well in a big organisation should have learned to say no to a position in one. The person who has learned that he or she is not a decision maker should have learned to say no to a decision-making assignment What are my values? To be effective in an organisation, a person’s values must be compatible with the organisation’s values. They do not need to be the same, but they must be close enough to coexist. Accept the fact that other people are as much individuals as you yourself are. They perversely insist on behaving like human beings. This means that they too have their strengths; they too have their ways of getting things done; they too have their values. That sounds obvious, but few people pay attention to it. Typical is the person who was trained to write reports in his or her first assignment because that boss was a reader. Even if the next boss is a listener, the person goes on writing reports that, invariably, produce no results. Invariably the boss will think the employee is stupid, incompetent, and lazy, and he or she will fail. But that could have been avoided if the employee had only looked at the new boss and analysed how this boss performs. To be effective, therefore, you have to know the strengths, the performance modes, and the values of your coworkers. The same holds true for all your coworkers. Each works his or her way, not your way. And each is entitled to work in his or her way. What matters is whether they perform and what their values are. As for how they perform — each is likely to do it differently. The first secret of effectiveness is to understand the people you work with and depend on so that you can make use of their strengths, their ways of working, and their values. Working relationships are as much based on the people as they are on the work The second part of relationship responsibility is taking responsibility for communication. Whenever Drucker, or any other consultant, start to work with an organisation, the first thing he hears about are all the personality conflicts. Most of these arise from the fact that people do not know what other people are doing and how they do their work, or what contribution the other people are concentrating on and what results they expect. And the reason they do not know is that they have not asked and therefore have not been told. After 20 years of doing very much the same kind of work, people are very good at their jobs. But they are not learning or contributing or deriving challenge and satisfaction from the job. And yet they are still likely to face another 20 if not 25 years of work. That is why managing oneself increasingly leads one to begin a second career. There are three ways to develop a second career. The first is actually to start one. The second way to prepare for the second half of your life is to develop a parallel career. Finally, there are the social entrepreneurs. These are usually people who have been very successful in their first careers. They love their work, but it no longer challenges them. In many cases they keep on doing what they have been doing all along but spend less and less of their time on it. They also start another activity, usually a nonprofit. To summarise: Use “feedback analysis” to discover and focus on your strengths Determine who you are: a reader or a listener, decision maker or an advisor? Think about your values Learn about your colleagues just like you learn about yourself Think about your second career once you have spent 20–25 years in your industry Liked this summary? Read , and On Writing Well Deepwork So good they can’t ignore you Stay up to date with my latest posts/tweets here: @manas_saloi

Lessons from Managing Oneself

Transcendence Book 10: The Ultimate "Why?"

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How to Create the Ultimate Unstoppable Robotic Combat Unit

Innovation seems to operate at a relentless pace and requires that today’s leaders have “agility on demand.”  Power Leader Jake Thompson’s "Lead Better Now" offers a toolkit for tech executives, or those who aspire to be leaders, better navigate a landscape where growth is essential. As a Keynote Speaker, Published Author, and Leadership Performance Coach who has worked with over 80,000 people, Thompson distills his extensive expertise into a guide that addresses the unique challenges faced by leaders in the tech industry. Drawing on personal experiences and the transformative journeys of leaders like his wife during the pandemic, the book equips tech leaders with the necessary tools to foster personal growth, build intentional connections, and master effective communication. This introduction to his principles sets the stage for tech leaders to enhance their influence and steer their teams toward groundbreaking innovations and sustained success in the fast-paced tech sector. Q1: What inspired you to write "Lead Better Now"...well, now? A1: I wanted to provide a practical guide to help new and seasoned leaders navigate the complexities of leadership, especially in challenging environments. My wife's struggles as an unprepared manager during the pandemic particularly motivated me to write this book and share the tools needed to succeed. Q2: You discuss the importance of competing with oneself. Can you elaborate on why this is crucial for effective leadership? A2: Competing with oneself is about striving to improve continuously. It’s crucial because true leadership begins with personal growth. By focusing on becoming a better version of ourselves, we set a positive example for our teams and create a culture of self-improvement. This mindset helps leaders stay motivated, resilient, and committed to their goals. Q3: How can leaders cultivate intentional connections within their teams? A3: Intentional connections are about building genuine relationships with team members. Leaders can cultivate these by actively listening, showing empathy, and being present in their interactions. It’s important to understand and value each team member’s contributions and challenges. Building trust and fostering open communication can significantly enhance team cohesion and performance. Q4: Communication is a major theme in your book. What are the key elements of effective communication for leaders? A4: Effective communication involves clarity, consistency, and courage. Leaders must clearly articulate their vision, goals, and expectations. Consistency in messaging helps build trust and reliability. Courageous communication means addressing difficult topics head-on and being transparent, even when it’s uncomfortable. These elements create an environment where team members feel informed, valued, and empowered. Q5: What common pitfalls do new leaders face, and how can they overcome them? A5: New leaders often struggle with imposter syndrome, inadequate training, and managing their ego. To overcome these pitfalls, they should seek continuous learning opportunities, find mentors, and develop self-awareness. It’s also important for leaders to focus on building strong relationships within their teams and fostering a supportive culture that encourages growth and innovation. Q6: Can you share a real-life example from your book that illustrates the impact of effective leadership? A6: One example is the story of my wife, Elena, who was thrust into a leadership role during the pandemic. Initially overwhelmed and unprepared, she learned to navigate her challenges through intentional learning and applying the principles I discuss in the book. Her journey from struggling manager to confident leader exemplifies how the right tools and mindset can transform leadership effectiveness. Q7: How can tech industry leaders specifically benefit from the principles in "Lead Better Now"? A7: The tech industry is fast-paced and constantly evolving, which makes effective leadership even more critical. By applying the principles in "Lead Better Now," tech leaders can better manage their teams, drive innovation, and navigate change. The focus on personal growth, intentional connection, and clear communication is particularly relevant in an industry where collaboration and adaptability are key. Q8: As a top keynote speaker on leadership, especially within tech companies, what trends or challenges are you currently seeing? A8: In my keynote speeches, particularly with tech companies, I observe a recurring theme of rapid change and the pressure to innovate constantly. This creates a unique set of challenges for tech leaders, such as managing remote teams, maintaining company culture in a hybrid environment, and fostering innovation while preventing burnout. Leaders in tech must be agile, empathetic, and strategic in their approach to overcome these hurdles. My talks often focus on equipping leaders with the tools to navigate these challenges, emphasizing the importance of continuous learning, adaptability, and fostering a supportive and innovative team culture. Innovation seems to operate at a relentless pace and requires that today’s leaders have “agility on demand.”  Power Leader Jake Thompson’s "Lead Better Now" offers a toolkit for tech executives, or those who aspire to be leaders, better navigate a landscape where growth is essential. As a Keynote Speaker, Published Author, and Leadership Performance Coach who has worked with over 80,000 people, Thompson distills his extensive expertise into a guide that addresses the unique challenges faced by leaders in the tech industry. Drawing on personal experiences and the transformative journeys of leaders like his wife during the pandemic, the book equips tech leaders with the necessary tools to foster personal growth, build intentional connections, and master effective communication. This introduction to his principles sets the stage for tech leaders to enhance their influence and steer their teams toward groundbreaking innovations and sustained success in the fast-paced tech sector. Jake Thompson’s "Lead Better Now" Q1: What inspired you to write "Lead Better Now"...well, now? Q1: What inspired you to write "Lead Better Now"...well, now? A1: I wanted to provide a practical guide to help new and seasoned leaders navigate the complexities of leadership, especially in challenging environments. My wife's struggles as an unprepared manager during the pandemic particularly motivated me to write this book and share the tools needed to succeed. A1: Q2: You discuss the importance of competing with oneself. Can you elaborate on why this is crucial for effective leadership? Q2: You discuss the importance of competing with oneself. Can you elaborate on why this is crucial for effective leadership? A2: Competing with oneself is about striving to improve continuously. It’s crucial because true leadership begins with personal growth. By focusing on becoming a better version of ourselves, we set a positive example for our teams and create a culture of self-improvement. This mindset helps leaders stay motivated, resilient, and committed to their goals. A2: Q3: How can leaders cultivate intentional connections within their teams? Q3: How can leaders cultivate intentional connections within their teams? A3: Intentional connections are about building genuine relationships with team members. Leaders can cultivate these by actively listening, showing empathy, and being present in their interactions. It’s important to understand and value each team member’s contributions and challenges. Building trust and fostering open communication can significantly enhance team cohesion and performance. A3: Q4: Communication is a major theme in your book. What are the key elements of effective communication for leaders? Q4: Communication is a major theme in your book. What are the key elements of effective communication for leaders? A4: Effective communication involves clarity, consistency, and courage. Leaders must clearly articulate their vision, goals, and expectations. Consistency in messaging helps build trust and reliability. Courageous communication means addressing difficult topics head-on and being transparent, even when it’s uncomfortable. These elements create an environment where team members feel informed, valued, and empowered. A4: Q5: What common pitfalls do new leaders face, and how can they overcome them? Q5: What common pitfalls do new leaders face, and how can they overcome them? A5: New leaders often struggle with imposter syndrome, inadequate training, and managing their ego. To overcome these pitfalls, they should seek continuous learning opportunities, find mentors, and develop self-awareness. It’s also important for leaders to focus on building strong relationships within their teams and fostering a supportive culture that encourages growth and innovation. A5: Q6: Can you share a real-life example from your book that illustrates the impact of effective leadership? Q6: Can you share a real-life example from your book that illustrates the impact of effective leadership? A6: One example is the story of my wife, Elena, who was thrust into a leadership role during the pandemic. Initially overwhelmed and unprepared, she learned to navigate her challenges through intentional learning and applying the principles I discuss in the book. Her journey from struggling manager to confident leader exemplifies how the right tools and mindset can transform leadership effectiveness. A6: Q7: How can tech industry leaders specifically benefit from the principles in "Lead Better Now"? Q7: How can tech industry leaders specifically benefit from the principles in "Lead Better Now"? A7: The tech industry is fast-paced and constantly evolving, which makes effective leadership even more critical. By applying the principles in "Lead Better Now," tech leaders can better manage their teams, drive innovation, and navigate change. The focus on personal growth, intentional connection, and clear communication is particularly relevant in an industry where collaboration and adaptability are key. A7: Q8: As a top keynote speaker on leadership, especially within tech companies, what trends or challenges are you currently seeing? Q8: As a top keynote speaker on leadership, especially within tech companies, what trends or challenges are you currently seeing? A8: In my keynote speeches, particularly with tech companies, I observe a recurring theme of rapid change and the pressure to innovate constantly. This creates a unique set of challenges for tech leaders, such as managing remote teams, maintaining company culture in a hybrid environment, and fostering innovation while preventing burnout. Leaders in tech must be agile, empathetic, and strategic in their approach to overcome these hurdles. My talks often focus on equipping leaders with the tools to navigate these challenges, emphasizing the importance of continuous learning, adaptability, and fostering a supportive and innovative team culture. A8:

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