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Egyptian actress Nadia Al Jundi has refused to accept the Egyptian Broadcasting Television’s schedule for the airing of her upcoming television drama “Mishwar Imra’a” (A Woman’s Journey ...

Nadia Al Jundi refuses to accept scheduled screening of her journey

Al Bawaba News

Painting land and people in vivid colors, Nazareth-born vocalist and researcher Dalal Abu Amneh embarked in Summer 2021 on a trip around Palestine for the Al Araby 2 series “Mishwar Sitti” (My Grandmother’s Journey), singing over 100 songs ...

Palestine as a Song: Grandmothers’ Journeys into Musical Steadfastness

Palestine Chronicle

Egyptian actress Nadia Al Jundi has recently completed shooting the final scenes of her upcoming television drama series “Mishwar Imra’a” (A Woman’s Journey), which involve her being in an ...

Accident mutilates Nadia Al Jundi’s face

Get the most recent info and news about Mishwar on HackerNoon, where 10k+ technologists publish stories for 4M+ monthly readers.

Mishwar

In 2021, hosted the first-ever awards!! HackerNoon Startup of the Year The goal of this campaign was to give recognition to the hardworking startups who pulled through the pandemic -- growing and thriving (despite all of the challenges). More than 44,000 startups were nominated all across the globe! They were selected from over 4,553 cities, with a total number of * cough * “4 billion” votes. Insane, right? To see who is a winner in each respective city, visit and pick a city. The name at the top of the list is the winner. (Compromised awards are under review. Cities with tie votes will be updated to have two winners!) startups.hackernoon.com The will announce the winners per region in their respective cities. Startups Winners Announcement series Here are the winners in the : Asia region Top Startup Cities in East Asia Seoul The Startup of the Year in is with 377 votes! Seoul dable Central is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 121 votes. UpNow Central Sheung Wan came out as the Startup of the Year in with 154 votes. Votee Sheung Wan Tokyo The Startup of the Year in is with 41 votes! Tokyo ACES Wan Chai The Startup of the Year in is with 54 votes! Wan Chai Zetl Osaka, Japan In , is the winner! Osaka Nanophoton Taiwan came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Tico Taiwan Dongcheng, China In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Dongcheng Waiju Taipei came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Tico Taipei Akasaka In , is the winner! Akasaka WAKUWAKU Chuo In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Chuo GO-NET Ginza came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Netyear Ginza Kanazawa In , is the winner! Kanazawa Granzella Minami-aoyama In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Minami-aoyama Tokyo6 Entertainment Shibuya came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Hupro Japan Shibuya Toranomon In , is the winner! Toranomon Small Worlds Toshima In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Toshima Altplus Guangzhou, China came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Leyaoyao Guangzhou Hong Kong, Hong Kong In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Hong Kong Episode Six Kunming In , is the winner! Kunming Green A Sapporo In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Sapporo Polar Star Space Shirokanedai came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Nupp1 Shirokanedai Wuhan In , is the winner! Wuhan CSICEE Baoan, China In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Baoan Jumper Baoshan, China In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Baoshan Renren Games Chengdu, China came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Ju You Xi Chengdu Fujisawa, Japan In , is the winner! Fujisawa Scohia Pharma Fukuoka, Japan In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Fukuoka Kyulux Haidian, China came out as the Startup of the Year in ! 51vv Haidian Hongkou, China In , is the winner! Hongkou Kidstone Jiading, China In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Jiading IMRobotic Kawasaki, Japan came out as the Startup of the Year in ! QD Laser, Inc. Kawasaki Kyoto, Japan In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kyoto Hacarus Minato, Japan In , is the winner! Minato Visionary Fun Nagoya, Japan came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Prodrone Nagoya Ningbo, China The winner in is . Ningbo OlymTech Corporation Aomori In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Aomori Forte Japan Bandai-cho In , is the winner. Bandai-cho Delta-Fly Pharm Changchun In , the Startup of the Year is . Changchun Kaidi Animation Fuchu In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Fuchu TMS Fukuoka-shi The winner in is . Fukuoka-shi SkyDisc Fukushima In , the Startup of the Year is . Fukushima Matsuri Technologies Gotanda In , is the winner. Gotanda Basset Hachioji In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Hachioji Adriakaim Harbin The winner in is J . Harbin oining Technology Iwaki In , is the winner. Iwaki Tao Engineering Izumo In , the Startup of the Year is . Izumo PuREC Kagoshima In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kagoshima Farmers Support Kamakura In , the Startup of the Year is . Kamakura KAYAC Kami-meguro The winner in is . Kami-meguro Buzzreach Kanagawa In , is the winner. Kanagawa LoiLo Kashiwa In , the Startup of the Year is . Kashiwa Intelligent Surfaces Kita In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kita Ax Robotix Kobe The winner in is . Kobe Coconomi Koriyama In , the Startup of the Year is . Koriyama Tocoton Kumamoto In , is the winner. Kumamoto Bloom Technology Kunitachi In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kunitachi Trys Liaocheng The winner in is . Liaocheng Jinzheng Animation Minami In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Minami ATLAB Miyazaki In , is the winner. Miyazaki Caster Nagano In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Nagano Precision Forestry Nagaoka The winner in is . Nagaoka Plant Form Nihombashi-hamacho In , the Startup of the Year is . Nihombashi-hamacho Shizen Energy Niigata In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Niigata UniBio Japan Nishi-shinagawa In , is the winner. Nishi-shinagawa Play Heart Okayama In , is the winner! Okayama Arch Farm Okinawa In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Okinawa BlogNinja Otemachi In , the Startup of the Year is . Otemachi beBit, Inc Qingdao Shi In , is the winner! Qingdao Shi Manyoubang Quanzhou In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Quanzhou KungFu Animation Group Roppongi The winner in is . Roppongi Holo-X Saitama In , the Startup of the Year is . Saitama GameTector Sendai In , is the winner! Sendai Sendai Smart Machines Setagaya In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Setagaya Skyestate Shenzhen In , the Startup of the Year is . Shenzhen Aiator Shinjuku In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Shinjuku Scalar Shizuoka In , is the winner! Shizuoka PiPhotonics Sumida The winner in is . Sumida Holotch Tachikawa In , the Startup of the Year is . Tachikawa PlusOne Takamatsu In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Takamatsu Ken Robotec Tokushima In , is the winner! Tokushima DennoKotsu Toyonaka In , the Startup of the Year is . Toyonaka FISH BIOTECH Tsukuba In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Tsukuba WARPSPACE Wakayama In , the Startup of the Year is . Wakayama 4D Sensor Xiangzhou In , is the winner! Xiangzhou ALLiN Edutech Group Xianyang The winner in is . Xianyang TONLY Xiaoshan In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Xiaoshan GONGHUI Yamaguchi In , the Startup of the Year is . Yamaguchi Archis Yangpu The winner in is . Yangpu Tmxmall Yau Tsim Mong In , is the winner! Yau Tsim Mong Airnugget Yeoksamdong In , the Startup of the Year is . Yeoksamdong WizSchool Yichang In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Yichang Hubei Kento Electronic Yokohama In , is the winner! Yokohama Next Innovation Yubei In , the Startup of the Year is . Yubei Ophiux Network Yueqing The winner in is . Yueqing Yueqing Easythink Media Zhuhai In , is the winner! Zhuhai Aijuba Hongo In , the Startup of the Year is . Hongo Smile Robotics, Inc Admiralty In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Admiralty BUNCH Southern In , the Startup of the Year is . Southern Retykle Yongdungpo In , is the winner! Yongdungpo Push News Taichung In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Taichung Wondercise Cyberport, Hong Kong In , the Startup of the Year is . Cyberport Animoca Brands Hefei, China In , is the winner! Hefei Tsinglink New Territories, Hong Kong The winner in is . New Territories, Hong Kong Zeek Dezhou In , the Startup of the Year is . Dezhou Dezhou Baji Kitakyushu In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kitakyushu Reif Seongnam In , is the winner! Seongnam EOFlow Yanshi In , the Startup of the Year is . Yanshi CASI Vision Top Startup Cities in South Asia Hyderabad, India The Startup of the Year in is with 962 votes Hyderabad Quixy Lahore, Pakistan is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 186 votes. SmartWindows Lahore Bangalore, India When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year with 210 votes! Bangalore vBridge Hub Pune, India couldn’t be beaten for Startup of the Year in , it won with 129 votes! InfraCloud Pune Jaipur, India The Startup of the Year in is with 166 votes Jaipur Emizen Tech Lucknow, India is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 279 votes. Keeros Superfoods Lucknow Noida, India came out as the Startup of the Year in with 156 votes! Bagisto Noida Mumbai, India When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year with 96 votes! Mumbai Sequretek Sylhet couldn’t be beaten for Startup of the Year in , it won with 122 votes! DataXpie Sylhet Mylapore, India In , is the winner! Mylapore Yalimart Goa, India In , the Startup of the Year is Goa Filter Coffee Delhi, India In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Delhi EkAnek Networks Karachi, Pakistan The winner in is Karachi Bykea Ahmedabad, India In , is the winner Ahmedabad MageComp Dhaka, Bangladesh The winner in is Dhaka SOLshare Islamabad, Pakistan In Islamabad, is declared the Startup of the Year! TAG Gurgaon, India In , the Startup of the Year is Gurgaon ixigo Bengaluru, India In , is the winner! Bengaluru Prakshep Private Limited Haryana, India couldn’t be beaten for Startup of the Year in ! Footprints Childcare Haryana Kolkata, India In , is the winner! Kolkata Wow! Momo New Delhi, India In , is declared the Startup of the Year! New Delhi Rusk Media Indore, India The winner in is Indore Chattar Patar Kormangala In , is the winner Kormangala Sanctum Technologies Ghaziabad came out as the Startup of the Year in Craftfurnish.com Ghaziabad! Mohali In , the Startup of the Year is Mohali DataKund Mysore The Startup of the Year in is Mysore Excelsoft Karnal came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Dunar Karnal Kolhapur In , is the winner! Kolhapur Zanvar Group Patiya In , the Startup of the Year is Patiya Kloud Project Kathmandu In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kathmandu Vairav Technology Bangalore City, India In is the winner! Bangalore City, PagarBook Ernakulam The winner in is Ernakulam Epixel Solutions Colombo, Sri Lanka couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in MAs Foods Colombo Andheri, India When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Andheri DoorMint Kanpur, India came out as the Startup of the Year in ! ServiceWalaa Kanpur Faisalabad In , is the winner! Faisalabad DigiKhata Nasik The Startup of the Year in is Nasik Sahyadri Farms Patna came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Asvin Tech Patna Chennai, India In , is the winner! Chennai Agnikul Cosmos Faridabad, India In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Faridabad UClean Panjim, India The winner in is Panjim TempoGO Ranchi, India In , is the winner Ranchi Osam Dairy Surat, India In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Surat Wishbook Thane, India In , is the winner! Thane Delight Foods Trivandrum, India came out as the Startup of the Year in ! GenRobotic Trivandrum Vijayawada, India In , the Startup of the Year is Vijayawada Eruvaka Technologies Visakhapatnam, India In , Ltd is declared the Startup of the Year! Visakhapatnam Greenline Labs Pvt Ahmadabad In , is the winner! Ahmadabad KiwiQA Services Bandra came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Car Club Bandra Bombay In , is the winner! Bombay Locobuddy Mobile Technology (Sportobuddy) Cochin In , the Startup of the Year is Cochin Tuttifrutti Interactive Gandhinagar In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Gandhinagar Kroop AI Guwahati In , the Startup of the Year is Guwahati GNRC Hospitals Jamshedpur In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Jamshedpur Intelliber Kabul The winner in is Kabul Miracle Shop (Vocinno Technology) Karur In , is the winner Karur Karur Vysya Bank Kochi The winner in is Kochi BestDoc Kozhikode In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kozhikode OfficeKit HR Ludhiana In , the Startup of the Year is Ludhiana Trendy Beat Network Madhapur In , is the winner! Madhapur Head Digital Works Mangalore When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year Mangalore Hangyo Nagpur came out as the Startup of the Year in ! UPrudence Agro Nagpur Rawalpindi The Startup of the Year in is Rawalpindi Pro Options Marketing Rishikesh came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Descatuk Rishikesh Secunderabad couldn’t be beaten for Startup of the Year in Prakriti Biosystems Engineering Secunderabad Tirupur In , is the winner! Tirupur Tubeknit Fashions Udupi The winner in is Udupi Krishitantra Top Startup Cities in Southeast Asia Singapore, Singapore The Startup of the Year in is with 6556 votes! Singapore Cake DeFi Hanoi, Vietnam is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 683 votes. DeFi For You Hanoi Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia came out as the Startup of the Year in with 109 votes! Trambellir Kuala Lumpur Pasig, Philippines When it comes to , . is the Startup of the Year with 110 votes! Pasig Quickreach Inc Bangkok, Thailand couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in , it won with 60 votes! Perception Codes Bangkok Johor Bahru In , the Startup of the Year is . Johor Bahru AGR1 Bandung, Indonesia In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Bandung Prosa Portugal The winner in is . Portugal SCEMAI Tangerang, Indonesia In , is the winner Tangerang Yummy Corp Jakarta, Indonesia In , is the winner! Jakarta Tokocrypto Dki Jakarta, Indonesia In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Dki Jakarta Limakilo Bangkok Metropolis In , is the winner! Bangkok Meticuly Medan The winner in is ! Medan DIKA Manila, Philippines In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Manila PawnHero Phnom Penh, Cambodia In , the Startup of the Year is Phnom Penh vKirirom Bali In , is the winner! Bali Radius App Penang When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year Penang EasyParcel Surabaya came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Super Surabaya Setiabudi, Indonesia The Startup of the Year in is Setiabudi Chilibeli Cebu City came out as the Startup of the Year in MiCab Cebu City! Jawa couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in DAUR Jawa Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam In , is the winner! Ho Chi Minh City Pharmacity Selangor, Malaysia is the Startup of the Year! BabyDash Selangor Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia In , is the winner! Jakarta Pusat StickEarn Semarang When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Semarang Food Bear Petaling Jaya, Malaysia The winner in is . Petaling Jaya Deemples Kebayoran Baru, Indonesia couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! Yogrt Kebayoran Baru Kuningan The winner in is . Kuningan Prinzio Bukit Merah came out as the Startup of the Year in ! DC Alliance Bukit Merah Huai Khwang In , the Startup of the Year is . Huai Khwang AppMan Co.,Ltd Kuta In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kuta Gringgo Mandaluyong came out ahead as the Startup of the Year! Work Inspire Mandaluyong Midview City In , is the winner! Midview City BioMers Phuket The Startup of the Year in is ! Phuket Sapahn Yangon, Myanmar The winner in is . Yangon Wave Money Denpasar When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Denpasar Revasi Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand The winner in is . Nakhon Ratchasima Siam Lottery co., Ltd Taguig, Philippines In , is the winner! Taguig PayMongo Bogor came out as the Startup of the Year in ! TIRANYX Bogor Senai, Malaysia won as the Startup of the Year. Nutrition Technologies Senai Bekasi Kota couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! 8villages Bekasi Kota Top Startup Cities in Middle East Tel Aviv, Israel The Startup of the Year in is with 1,065 votes! Tel Aviv hyro Beirut, Lebanon is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 1,276 votes. Hovi Digital Lab Beirut Riyadh, Saudi Arabia With 350 votes, came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Flicron Riyadh Tel Aviv-yafo, Israel When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year with 167 votes! Tel Aviv-yafo Cymbio Haifa, Israel couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in , it won with 183 votes! Pico Haifa Amman, Jordan In , with 141 votes, is the winner! Amman Edexy Dubai, United Arab Emirates In , the Startup of the Year is with 74 votes. Dubai Ziina Doha, Qatar In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Doha SkipCash Tehran, Iran The winner in is . BeyondBoard AR Tehran Jerusalem, Israel In , is the winner! Jerusalem SolidBlock Rishon Le Zion The Startup of the Year in is ! Rishon Le Zion Passparto Ness Ziona, Israel is the Startup of the Year! Soapy Ness Ziona Kuwait, Kuwait came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Brapper Shop Kuwait Manama, Bahrain couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! Doctori Manama Lod, Israel is the winner in ! Phinergy Lod Agudat Israel, Israel When it comes to is the Startup of the Year with [vote ] votes! Agudat Israel, Aqaurius Engines Beersheba, Israel In , the Startup of the Year is . Beersheba Visual Estate Ltd Giv'atayim, Israel In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Giv'atayim WSC Sports Modi'in, Israel The winner in is . Modi'in Loginno Nazareth, Israel In , is the winner! Nazareth AR Guide In Medical Ramat Gan, Israel The Startup of the Year in is . Ramat Gan Datos Health Baghdad When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Baghdad Mishwar Khobar In , the Startup of the Year is . Khobar Garage Misgav couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! Eden Shield Misgav Sharjah came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Bookends Sharjah Affula In , the Startup of the Year is . Affula eMotion Technologies Bene Beraq, Israel In , is the winner Bene Beraq Reflectiz Caesarea, Israel In , the Startup of the Year is . Caesarea CardiacSense Dubayy In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Dubayy North Ladder Muscat couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! iLab Marine Muscat Tirat Carmel In , the Startup of the Year is . Tirat Carmel PassCall Advanced Technologies Hod Hasharon, Israel The winner in is . Hod Hasharon Idomoo Holon, Israel came out ahead as the Startup of the Year! OptimalPlus Holon Jeddah, Saudi Arabia When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Jeddah Arabian Combustion Technologies Ramat Hasharon, Israel is the Startup of the Year! Lumen Ramat Hasharon Al Khobar came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Swyft Al Khobar Bet Shemesh In , is the winner! Bet Shemesh Degania Medical Binyamina When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Binyamina OncoHost Makkah In , the Startup of the Year is Makkah Scimagine Or Akiva Last but not least, couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in the city of ! WMT Or Akiva More Information: If you’re a winner, please answer ! If you’re a reader, participant, just a curious individual, consider answering one of our interviews . this interview here Read the FAQs about or . Startups here here To see all of the winners you may visit , pick any city and view the name that appears at the top. this site If you’re interested in partnering with us, we invite you to look through some of these or reach out to our business department. unique sponsorship options Perhaps creating your very own tickles your fancy or maybe you have a whole new idea for how we can partner! writing contest Thank you to all of our sponsors! We truly appreciate your contribution to the tech world and thus the future! The Startups Awards are sponsored by: , , , , , , , , , , Blockster Brex FreeCodeCamp LaunchDarkly Coil Udacity Udemy Vercel Asia Pacific Transgender Network Bybit Everscale Network The post was written by Kushal Tamrakar and Valerie Ejegi, edited by Hang Ngo. If you have any questions or concerns or would like to report a discrepancy please email ellen@hackernoon.com.

Meet the Winners of Startups in Asia

MAGNiTT (MENA’s Guide to Startups) Source: Last year, I wrote about and after I toured Tunisia & Morocco on a State Department sponsored tour and presented at a number of accelerators in collaboration with the U.S. embassy, local governments and institutional investors in the region. “ What you need to know about the Middle East startup space ” What you need to know about investing in North African startups ” As a Product Marketer / Commercialization Consultant and member of the Board of Directors of , a 501c3 non-profit that is committed to building bridges of entrepreneurship between the Middle East and the United States, I’ve had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, speaking with entrepreneurs and founders, and leading technology roadshows from Jordan to Abu Dhabi to Dubai to Casablanca to Tunis and more. TechWadi Sensationalist news about conflict captures Advertising dollars and publishers are less financially incentivized to share news about the normalities and progress of human life, but trust me — there are far more normalities in the lives of Iraqis that rarely makes the news. While I certainly acknowledge the stories of conflict, the majority of the country’s 37 Million people are focused on taking care of their families and finding a sense of purpose. At Iraq’s core is the heart and soul of a nation of people that are interested in the expansion of the economy and the investment in entrepreneurship and progress. Their rich history proves it. With the collaboration of Mohammed Khudairi, Managing Partner of Khudairi Group in Dubai, who hopes to establish Iraq’s first venture capital fund, we’re excited to share the data and stories from the country. Iraq’s long reputation of intellectual pursuit of science & art While the Iraq economy today is primarily built on their natural resources, namely oil which represents 65% of their GDP — the country also boasts of a highly driven and professional and progressive culture that stems back to hundreds of years ago. Before modern times, Baghdad was famously known as the ”, where intellectuals would gather and creativity blossomed. With a cultural focus on science and art, a number of Iraqi intellectuals and artists have made famous contributions to the collective world consciousness — from architectural genius to , author of the manifesto to , my Uncle and arguably the world’s greatest living calligrapher to , the man who spent his academic life in Baghdad and invented Algebra to to and more. “Intellectual center of the Middle East Zaha Hadid’s Dia Azawi “Towards a New Vision” Hassan Massoudy Al Khwarizmi Hana Mallah Adel Abidin And if you go back farther in history, you’ll find stories about social leadership and creativity from the code of Hammurabi to the stories about Gilgamesh. The ancient city of Babylon, known in Arabic as “Al-Hilla” is a modern day reminder of the breadth and depth of the country’s rich past and artistic genius. In the 8th Century, the Abbasid caliphs who ruled Baghdad famously established the (The House of Wisdom), a renowned centre of learning. Bayt al-Hikma But I digress. Today, the cultural influences and focus on art and science of the past still permeate throughout the soul of the country. The startup ecosystem, while nascent, is ripe for growth. Of the 37M million of people who live in Iraq, 14M are internet users, and 30M own mobile phones. Iraqis are Young, Tech-Savvy & Connected The country’s demographics are similar to the rest of the Middle East and their biggest asset is human capital. The majority of Iraqis are young, urban and educated. Approximately 60% are under 25 years old, approximately 70% live in urban areas, and literacy rates are north of 80%. “Startup ecosystems across the MENA region continue to develop. Given the challenging environment in Iraq, founders in the country are able to capitalize on the high barriers to entry to create solutions for their market whether it be in e-commerce, logistics or fintech. The key however, as it is for startups across the region, is to create startups that are scalable across borders. Capturing the Iraqi market will make startups interesting acquisition prospects for similar startups across the region looking to capture a new market, however they are also in a prime position to scale into neighboring countries.” MAGNiTT -Philip Bahoushy, CEO & Founder of Investment Signals & Entrepreneurship The media platform and both provide the latest news and information on startup signals in the country, and should be a first point of contact for anyone interested in learning more about the trends in Iraq’s startup ecosystem. BiteTech MAGNiTT A number of signals like the recent major investment in and the emergence of accelerators, co-working spaces and incubators like TechHub, FikraSpace, prove that the stage has been set for a growing startup ecosystem. Baghdad zone for advance technologies (Smart city) FiveOne Labs Some of the startups that have launched in Iraq in recent years include Karwa — a ride hailing service, Mishwar — a Grocery Delivery service (which recently raised 145K), Medresty — an app for parents and teachers, Bersima — an on-demand food delivery service, Chanbar — an e-commerce business, Miswag — an online retailer, and Sandoog — an on-demand logistics solutions platform. Below, you can find a table where they are located in the country and others that are listed on MAGNiTT’s site by vertical. A common theme that we’ve noticed when comparing Iraq’s technology ecosystem with other early startups in the MENA region, is a focus on both logistics and e-commerce. MAGNiTT. Note: If a startup is missing in the table, please contact MAGNiTT. Source: A number of industries require deregulation in order for industry investment to move forward, but Iraq is largely on track to move from an oil based economy to a human capital economy in the not so distant future. For example — the banking sector is an area which Iraq has an opportunity to modernize through the introduction of fintech solutions like mobile payments and automated payment processing for many small businesses. Additionally the government has an opportunity to reduce corruption and bureaucracy by introducing e-government services and allow for greater transparency for all stakeholders. With enough investment in the ecosystem, our hope is that the media and Western perception of Iraq will shift as people realize the potential the country has; not because of it’s oil, but because of it’s people. Stay in touch. Yasmeen Turayhi / @Yasmeen_BT , and @mokhudairi . If you’d like to learn more about the MENA technology ecosystem, you can connect with MAGNiTT and with Founder @MAGNiTT_MENA @pbahoshy . My book “ is available on Amazon! Product Marketing Debunked. The Essential Go-To-Market Guide”

Investing in Iraq’s technology ecosystem

Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . POLITICAL VENOM. here POLITICAL VENOM. On the Monday Mr. Turnbull opened the ball by declaring his reasons for going into the same lobby with Mr. Daubeny. This he did at great length. To him all the mighty pomp and all the little squabbles of office were, he said, as nothing. He would never allow himself to regard the person of the Prime Minister. The measure before the House ever had been and ever should be all in all to him. If the public weal were more regarded in that House, and the quarrels of men less considered, he thought that the service of the country would be better done. He was answered by Mr. Monk, who was sitting near him, and who intended to support Mr. Gresham. Mr. Monk was rather happy in pulling his old friend, Mr. Turnbull, to pieces, expressing his opinion that a difference in men meant a difference in measures. The characters of men whose principles were known were guarantees for the measures they would advocate. To him,—Mr. Monk,—it was matter of very great moment who was Prime Minister of England. He was always selfish enough to wish for a Minister with whom he himself could agree on the main questions of the day. As he certainly could not say that he had political confidence in the present Ministry, he should certainly vote against them on this occasion. In the course of the evening Phineas found a letter addressed to himself from Mr. Bonteen. It was as follows:— House of Commons, April 5th, 18—. Dear Mr. Finn, I never accused you of dishonesty. You must have misheard or misunderstood me if you thought so. I did say that you had scuttled the ship;—and as you most undoubtedly did scuttle it,—you and Mr. Monk between you,—I cannot retract my words. I do not want to go to any one for testimony as to your merits on the occasion. I accused you of having done nothing dishonourable or disgraceful. I think I said that there was danger in the practice of scuttling. I think so still, though I know that many fancy that those who scuttle do a fine thing. I don't deny that it's fine, and therefore you can have no cause of complaint against me. Yours truly, J. Bonteen. He had brought a copy of his own letter in his pocket to the House, and he showed the correspondence to Mr. Monk. "I would not have noticed it, had I been you," said he. "You can have no idea of the offensive nature of the remark when it was made." "It's as offensive to me as to you, but I should not think of moving in such a matter. When a man annoys you, keep out of his way. It is generally the best thing you can do." "If a man were to call you a liar?" "But men don't call each other liars. Bonteen understands the world much too well to commit himself by using any word which common opinion would force him to retract. He says we scuttled the ship. Well;—we did. Of all the political acts of my life it is the one of which I am most proud. The manner in which you helped me has entitled you to my affectionate esteem. But we did scuttle the ship. Before you can quarrel with Bonteen you must be able to show that a metaphorical scuttling of a ship must necessarily be a disgraceful act. You see how he at once retreats behind the fact that it need not be so." "You wouldn't answer his letter." "I think not. You can do yourself no good by a correspondence in which you cannot get a hold of him. And if you did get a hold of him you would injure yourself much more than him. Just drop it." This added much to our friend's misery, and made him feel that the weight of it was almost more than he could bear. His enemy had got the better of him at every turn. He had now rushed into a correspondence as to which he would have to own by his silence that he had been confuted. And yet he was sure that Mr. Bonteen had at the club insulted him most unjustifiably, and that if the actual truth were known, no man, certainly not Mr. Monk, would hesitate to say that reparation was due to him. And yet what could he do? He thought that he would consult Lord Cantrip, and endeavour to get from his late Chief some advice more palatable than that which had been tendered to him by Mr. Monk. In the meantime animosities in the House were waxing very furious; and, as it happened, the debate took a turn that was peculiarly injurious to Phineas Finn in his present state of mind. The rumour as to the future promotion of Mr. Bonteen, which had been conveyed by Laurence Fitzgibbon to Phineas at the Universe, had, as was natural, spread far and wide, and had reached the ears of those who still sat on the Ministerial benches. Now it is quite understood among politicians in this country that no man should presume that he will have imposed upon him the task of forming a Ministry until he has been called upon by the Crown to undertake that great duty. Let the Gresham or the Daubeny of the day be ever so sure that the reins of the State chariot must come into his hands, he should not visibly prepare himself for the seat on the box till he has actually been summoned to place himself there. At this moment it was alleged that Mr. Gresham had departed from the reticence and modesty usual in such a position as his, by taking steps towards the formation of a Cabinet, while it was as yet quite possible that he might never be called upon to form any Cabinet. Late on this Monday night, when the House was quite full, one of Mr. Daubeny's leading lieutenants, a Secretary of State, Sir Orlando Drought by name,—a gentleman who if he had any heart in the matter must have hated this Church Bill from the very bottom of his heart, and who on that account was the more bitter against opponents who had not ceased to throw in his teeth his own political tergiversation,—fell foul of Mr. Gresham as to this rumoured appointment to the Chancellorship of the Exchequer. The reader will easily imagine the things that were said. Sir Orlando had heard, and had been much surprised at hearing, that a certain honourable member of that House, who had long been known to them as a tenant of the Ministerial bench, had already been appointed to a high office. He, Sir Orlando, had not been aware that the office had been vacant, or that if vacant it would have been at the disposal of the right honourable gentleman; but he believed that there was no doubt that the place in question, with a seat in the Cabinet, had been tendered to, and accepted by, the honourable member to whom he alluded. Such was the rabid haste with which the right honourable gentleman opposite, and his colleagues, were attempting, he would not say to climb, but to rush into office, by opposing a great measure of Reform, the wisdom of which, as was notorious to all the world, they themselves did not dare to deny. Much more of the same kind was said, during which Mr. Gresham pulled about his hat, shuffled his feet, showed his annoyance to all the House, and at last jumped upon his legs. "If," said Sir Orlando Drought,—"if the right honourable gentleman wishes to deny the accuracy of any statements that I have made, I will give way to him for the moment, that he may do so." "I deny utterly, not only the accuracy, but every detail of the statement made by the right honourable gentleman opposite," said Mr. Gresham, still standing and holding his hat in his hand as he completed his denial. "Does the right honourable gentleman mean to assure me that he has not selected his future Chancellor of the Exchequer?" "The right honourable gentleman is too acute not to be aware that we on this side of the House may have made such selection, and that yet every detail of the statement which he has been rash enough to make to the House may be—unfounded. The word, sir, is weak; but I would fain avoid the use of any words which, justifiable though they might be, would offend the feelings of the House. I will explain to the House exactly what has been done." Then there was a great hubbub—cries of "Order," "Gresham," "Spoke," "Hear, hear," and the like,—during which Sir Orlando Drought and Mr. Gresham both stood on their legs. So powerful was Mr. Gresham's voice that, through it all, every word that he said was audible to the reporters. His opponent hardly attempted to speak, but stood relying upon his right. Mr. Gresham said he understood that it was the desire of the House that he should explain the circumstances in reference to the charge that had been made against him, and it would certainly be for the convenience of the House that this should be done at the moment. The Speaker of course ruled that Sir Orlando was in possession of the floor, but suggested that it might be convenient that he should yield to the right honourable gentleman on the other side for a few minutes. Mr. Gresham, as a matter of course, succeeded. Rights and rules, which are bonds of iron to a little man, are packthread to a giant. No one in all that assembly knew the House better than did Mr. Gresham, was better able to take it by storm, or more obdurate in perseverance. He did make his speech, though clearly he had no right to do so. The House, he said, was aware, that by the most unfortunate demise of the late Duke of Omnium, a gentleman had been removed from this House to another place, whose absence from their counsels would long be felt as a very grievous loss. Then he pronounced a eulogy on Plantagenet Palliser, so graceful and well arranged, that even the bitterness of the existing opposition was unable to demur to it. The House was well aware of the nature of the labours which now for some years past had occupied the mind of the noble duke; and the paramount importance which the country attached to their conclusion. The noble duke no doubt was not absolutely debarred from a continuance of his work by the change which had fallen upon him; but it was essential that some gentleman, belonging to the same party with the noble duke, versed in office, and having a seat in that House, should endeavour to devote himself to the great measure which had occupied so much of the attention of the late Chancellor of the Exchequer. No doubt it must be fitting that the gentleman so selected should be at the Exchequer, in the event of their party coming into office. The honourable gentleman to whom allusion had been made had acted throughout with the present noble duke in arranging the details of the measure in question; and the probability of his being able to fill the shoes left vacant by the accession to the peerage of the noble duke had, indeed, been discussed;—but the discussion had been made in reference to the measure, and only incidentally in regard to the office. He, Mr. Gresham, held that he had done nothing that was indiscreet,—nothing that his duty did not demand. If right honourable gentlemen opposite were of a different opinion, he thought that that difference came from the fact that they were less intimately acquainted than he unfortunately had been with the burdens and responsibilities of legislation. There was very little in the dispute which seemed to be worthy of the place in which it occurred, or of the vigour with which it was conducted; but it served to show the temper of the parties, and to express the bitterness of the political feelings of the day. It was said at the time, that never within the memory of living politicians had so violent an animosity displayed itself in the House as had been witnessed on this night. While Mr. Gresham was giving his explanation, Mr. Daubeny had arisen, and with a mock solemnity that was peculiar to him on occasions such as these, had appealed to the Speaker whether the right honourable gentleman opposite should not be called upon to resume his seat. Mr. Gresham had put him down with a wave of his hand. An affected stateliness cannot support itself but for a moment; and Mr. Daubeny had been forced to sit down when the Speaker did not at once support his appeal. But he did not forget that wave of the hand, nor did he forgive it. He was a man who in public life rarely forgot, and never forgave. They used to say of him that "at home" he was kindly and forbearing, simple and unostentatious. It may be so. Who does not remember that horrible Turk, Jacob Asdrubal, the Old Bailey barrister, the terror of witnesses, the bane of judges,—who was gall and wormwood to all opponents. It was said of him that "at home" his docile amiability was the marvel of his friends, and delight of his wife and daughters. "At home," perhaps, Mr. Daubeny might have been waved at, and have forgiven it; but men who saw the scene in the House of Commons knew that he would never forgive Mr. Gresham. As for Mr. Gresham himself, he triumphed at the moment, and exulted in his triumph. Phineas Finn heard it all, and was disgusted to find that his enemy thus became the hero of the hour. It was, indeed, the opinion generally of the Liberal party that Mr. Gresham had not said much to flatter his new Chancellor of the Exchequer. In praise of Plantagenet Palliser he had been very loud, and he had no doubt said that which implied the capability of Mr. Bonteen, who, as it happened, was sitting next to him at the time; but he had implied also that the mantle which was to be transferred from Mr. Palliser to Mr. Bonteen would be carried by its new wearer with grace very inferior to that which had marked all the steps of his predecessor. Ratler, and Erle, and Fitzgibbon, and others had laughed in their sleeves at the expression, understood by them, of Mr. Gresham's doubt as to the qualifications of his new assistant, and Sir Orlando Drought, in continuing his speech, remarked that the warmth of the right honourable gentleman had been so completely expended in abusing his enemies that he had had none left for the defence of his friend. But to Phineas it seemed that this Bonteen, who had so grievously injured him, and whom he so thoroughly despised, was carrying off all the glories of the fight. A certain amount of consolation was, however, afforded to him. Between one and two o'clock he was told by Mr. Ratler that he might enjoy the privilege of adjourning the debate,—by which would accrue to him the right of commencing on the morrow,—and this he did at a few minutes before three. 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. Anthony Trollope (2006). Phineas Redux. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/18640/pg18640-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

POLITICAL VENOM.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, code-switching is defined as, The "process of shifting from one linguistic code (a or ) to another, depending on the social or conversational setting." language dialect context When identifying code-switching in corporate settings, I don’t look for loud exaggerated caricatures. I don’t think of minstrel-type, cartoonish gestures that were designed to mock the cultural displacement of Black American descendants of slavery. This pattern of behavior was adopted to demean us. Code-switching is a behavioral pattern practiced by African American people as a survival apparatus. It is a veil we adopt to soften the sting of ostracization forced on us from the pressures to assimilate in every environment. The first stanza of The Mask by Maya Angelou comes to mind. The Mask We wear the mask that grins and lies. It shades our cheeks and hides our eyes. This debt we pay to human guile With torn and bleeding hearts… We smile and mouth the myriad subtleties. Why should the world think otherwise In counting all our tears and sighs. Nay let them only see us while We wear the mask. Code-switching can be displayed by wearing a straight wig to cover your kinky tresses. It can be stiffening your handshake instead of a casual combination of “daps”, fist bumps, or hand signals. When speaking, it can be a combination of words, phrasing, or usage of tone to merge American vernacular English regional speaking patterns representative of the culture of the people who settled there. A heavy Southern drawl can warm any heart. Especially when it is oozing from the lips of a woman like warm honey on a buttered biscuit. It displays trustworthiness to the listener. But on the downside, it causes them to deem your use of AAVE as a sign of aloofness, unintelligence, or laziness. You disarm the listener and make them more accepting, but this causes them to lose engagement in your words. It also causes distrust if the person notices inconsistencies in the social and behavioral cues presented. It can come off as disingenuous or manipulative. Once a subconscious practice used as a way to submit to the assimilation practice forced on them, code-switching is now a choice, a crutch. Although awareness of the historical and psychological impacts of this practice is increasing, it is still a subconscious survival mechanism that many Americans of color don’t even realize they are doing on a daily basis. As a young Black woman, while attending a predominately white university, in student cafes, I realized I was trying to code switch when ordering my Grande Frappuccino from Starbucks like my classmates. I habitually stressed each syllable of my order to avoid being misunderstood and still received a cup with my misspelled name scrawled across. How do you mishear Brittany for Tiffany or Whitney? Is my accent really that thick? Am I overdoing it? It causes an extreme case of self-doubt and uncertainty. The imposter syndrome begins to slowly creep in. The disconnect is no longer just in the classroom, and the pressure to morph into someone with more mass appeal becomes heavy. However, I noticed that this was also an advantage after graduation and progressing in my career. I realized that this understanding gap is the perfect wedge to place yourself in a prime advantage during technical or high-level discussions. The negative aspects of stereotypes against black people, particularly women, place a position of code-switching into the "token" black role a cushy settlement. By using language barriers to disarm initial imposter syndrome, you can present yourself in a non-threatening manner more effectively and reap the benefits of submitting to the socially perceived lesser role. However, the negative of this advantage is that you are also forced to present yourself inauthentically. You can never perform and excel when being insincere in your intention. Taking an affirmative action role is a default move and only places you in a passive advantage, thus a disadvantage. The professional advantages you gain ultimately don't serve you. You also become insecure in your ability to perform without cloaking yourself. People form first impressions nearly immediately. Those impressions are often encoded by stereotypes and biases that have been culturally embedded into us. Even the most racially tolerant and welcoming American has preconceived prejudices generationally programmed by decades of systemic racism. How do you combat those prejudices? – by highlighting their ridiculousness of them. Play into ridiculous stereotypes by mirroring those expectations against others. You don't have to embody the stereotypes; you simply reflect the negatives and embrace the true positives. Speak in your natural culture dialect or wear your cultural garb with confidence and grace. Don’t shrink yourself to fit into an unrealistic corporate image. My method of letting my personality show in an authentic yet professional manner is to sprinkle the individual flair and style of my background on my work like seasoning. Slang and euphemisms aren’t always helpful when speaking in a high-level technical environment. However, a casual tone is useful to slow the flow of aggressive discussions. A conversational tone is less intimidating than cold, factual dialogue and establishes rapport. When speaking publicly, I can utilize those patterns of speech to rouse a listener. It becomes a garnish instead of a tool to carry a conversation. I don't switch my tone or mimic the speech of the other person to appeal to their cultural sensitivities because it isn’t necessary to alter my patterns. In high-level conversation, discussions can become tense and spirited as passions run high. To diffuse a heated discussion, a light-hearted phrase would be a casual non-threatening way to remind the speakers to return to a more suitable tone of voice without using pointed or accusatory language. My knowledge of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) comes in handy because it is perfect to gain a sense of familiarity. It is a communal language. The vowels flow off the tongue in a relaxed manner that invites the listener in. When talking to another person of color, it establishes a sense of community and connection. When done subtly, it is perfect for an impromptu elevator pitch. People are also generally more approachable when the person shares similarities, such as race, nationality, or ethnicity. It's an instant commonality and ice-break to establish and build rapport. This isn’t something to switch on and off, it is a characteristic I simply embody. It isn’t a weakness. It is a strength to celebrate instead of masking. Code-switching might not be the survival apparatus it was in previous generations. However, it is useful for African Americans and people of color to continue to navigate systems within this country. It is not necessary to practice code-switching anymore because there are many opportunities for people of color to utilize their voices and occupy spaces in a skilled manner without betraying themselves culturally or having to take on the role of an imposter in the workplace. Exceptional performance can be highlighted without cultural barriers and division of circumstances.

How Code-Switching Leads to Imposter Syndrome for WOC in Corporate Technology  

কিভাবে কোড-স্যুইচিং কর্পোরেট প্রযুক্তিতে WOC-এর জন্য ইমপোস্টার সিনড্রোমের দিকে নিয়ে যায়

Wie Code-Switching zum Imposter-Syndrom für WOC in der Unternehmenstechnologie führt

Cómo el cambio de código conduce al síndrome del impostor para WOC en la tecnología corporativa

Comment le changement de code conduit au syndrome de l'imposteur pour WOC dans la technologie d'entreprise

कैसे कोड-स्विचिंग कॉरपोरेट टेक्नोलॉजी में WOC के लिए इम्पोस्टर सिंड्रोम की ओर ले जाता है

コードスイッチングが企業テクノロジーにおけるWOCのインポスター症候群につながる方法

코드 전환이 기업 기술의 WOC에 대한 임포스터 증후군으로 이어지는 방법

Como a troca de código leva à síndrome do impostor para WOC em tecnologia corporativa

Kurumsal Teknolojide WOC için Kod Değiştirme, Sahtekarlık Sendromuna Nasıl Yol Açıyor?

Cách chuyển đổi mã dẫn đến hội chứng kẻ mạo danh WOC trong công nghệ doanh nghiệp

代码转换如何导致企业技术领域 WOC 的冒名顶替综合症

Previous Chapter - The Last 3 Days (13): Nick, Father of Nations? All published chapters can be found here. 36:28:43 Dressed in Italian silk he could have never afforded, Ryan watched Don exit Becky’s apartment block, get in his cruiser and pull away. “What is it with this cop? Someone needs to let him know the world is ending.” “We need to find a party,” Bobby declared. Ryan opened his door. “We will. Now get in back. I want my queen up front.” 36:24:21 Out of her Thurro uniform, her hair down, Olga Popoff was quite attractive but no less savvy than she was at work. Her foot braced against the door, she addressed Ryan through a narrow gap. Russian pop music played in the background. “Becky not here,” she told Ryan. “Only me.” Ryan raised his phone to his ear. “Then where is she? She’s not answering her phone.” A phone rang in the apartment, calling Olga’s bluff and folding her resolve. Ryan dropped his shoulder and shoved against the door, forcing Olga to step backwards awkwardly, off-balance. He entered the apartment as if he owned it. He leaned over her, pressing his advantage, but Olga stood her ground. “What did you tell the cop?” “I tell him nothing — “ “Leave her alone,” Becky said from her bedroom doorway. “The cop had nothing to do with you.” She was in her pyjamas. Ryan seemed to forget about Olga. “Get dressed. Something nice. We’re going out.” “No. I want to stay in. We’re playing chess.” Ryan shrugged. “Fine. We’ll bring the party here.” “No,” Olga said. “No party.” “It’s OK, mama. I’ll go.” Becky went back into her bedroom. Turning back to Olga, Ryan asked, “So what did the cop want?” “He look for boy.” “What boy?” “His son. Nick.” Ryan’s arrogance vanished like smoke on a breeze. Raising his voice, he called, “Hurry up, Becky. I’ll be in the big SUV at the curb,” and Olga noticed a hint of fear in his impatience. 36:17:55 Permission to party arrived with the night. Larger numbers of people roamed the streets amidst a growing carnival atmosphere. Spontaneous parties blossomed outside liquor stores, spilling into the roads and snarling traffic. Bobby and Dave amused themselves by challenging each other to hit passing targets with their empty beer bottles. The tequila bottle between Ryan’s thighs was already a quarter empty. Joining a slow queue of vehicles navigating one particularly raucous celebration was not on Ryan’s agenda, so he simply turned left, climbed the boulevard, shredded a bed of carefully tended flowers and chose a side street of darkened facades. With one exception. Sinuous ribbons of green, white and red neon signalled Februzzio’s Slice of Italy was not only open for business but offering free meals. Ryan brought the Escalade to a halt between two ‘no parking’ signs. “Every king deserves a feast.” Bobby held the door for Becky, but Ryan shouldered him aside so violently Dave had to grab Bobby’s sleeve to keep his inebriated friend upright. Narrow lattice screens supporting sprays of artificial vines and low-hanging lamps provided an intimate and cozy atmosphere, like an island of normalcy within the creeping chaos outside. Few of the tables were occupied, though a cluster of adjacent tables hosted a lively group laughing with delight as they sampled then passed each plate of food to their neighbour. Emilio Februzzio, wearing an apron over crisp white shirt and bowtie, beamed at their compliments as he poured their choice of red or white wine and ignored their unkempt appearance and telling body odours. Seeing his new arrivals, Februzzio set the wine decanters down and scuttled between tables to greet Ryan and his friends, pretending not to notice the tequila bottle in Ryan’s hand. “Welcome, be welcome,” he said through a genuine smile. He waved his arm in a flourish, spinning to follow. He chose a table near the joyful diners but separated from them by a screen. He held a chair for Becky, and Bobby and Dave sat down. “Not here,” Ryan said, loud enough to quiet all conversation. “I don’t want to smell these people while I’m eating.” Ignoring the sudden silence, he crossed the room to the largest table, dropped the car key next to his tequila and sat. As the others joined him, Februzzio circled the table, placing menus. “Please, order whatever you like. May I interest you in some wine while you select from the menu?” “Please,” answered Becky. “White, if possible.” “Beer for me,” Bobby said. “And me,” added Dave. Ryan held up the tequila. “I’m good.” Februzzio went for the drinks, leaving them to open and read their menus. Ryan let his lie, instead swigging from his bottle as he watched Becky. 36:09:11 Not all the evening’s gatherings threatened to descend into anarchy. Not far from the park’s new war memorial, a vast crowd sat on the grass surrounding a wide fountain and sang common hymns. Many sported wet and drying hair. A queue of people stretching into the darkness waited their turn to sit on the fountain’s rim and receive their baptism from the Pastor. Knee deep in the pool’s water, he listened to whispered confessions and then supported them as they leaned back to let him wash their sins away. 36:07:43 Becky swirled the wine sample in her glass and watched how it ran down the sides of the goblet. She raised it to gently inhale its aroma and finally wet her lips with it before nodding at the Italian proprietor and extending the glass to be filled. Februzzio produced a pad and pen. “Have you made your choices?” Ryan picked up his unopened menu and handed it to the Italian. “Everything,” he ordered. The restauranteur thought he misheard. “I’m sorry?” “One of everything. A royal feast.” “But — “ “One of everything,” Ryan repeated. “A feast fit for a king. Or my friends and I get a head start on the rock.” With a slight bow, the Italian said, “As you say.” 36:02:34 Don shut the front door quietly. He could see his wife, Anne, dozing on the couch. The TV was on, but muted. He stood over her for a moment, leaned down to wake her but changed his mind. He walked down the hallway to his study, unbuckling his weapons belt and detaching his holstered sidearm. He removed his uniform, exchanging it for the fresh sweatshirt and jeans Anne hung on pegs behind the door so he didn’t need to walk through the house to their bedroom in his underwear. He slid his department-issued firearm in the small of his back as he climbed to the second floor to get a windbreaker, which he donned as he passed his younger son’s room. He could hear Jack quietly talking to himself, which meant he was playing a video game, so he rapped on the door and pushed it open. “Hi, Jack.” The boy dropped his controller and jumped up to hug his father. “Hi, dad. I’m sorry I caused all this trouble. I should have just walked home, then Nick wouldn’t have run away.” Don eased his son backwards. “None of this is your fault. Got it?” “Okay. I just hope he comes home soon. I just beat a level he’s been stuck on forever.” Disentangling himself from his son, Don ruffled Jack’s hair. “I’ll be sure to tell him when I find him. I’m going back out to keep looking.” 35:53:57 Bobby and Dave skirmished with a variety of appetizers, while Becky ate more selectively and Ryan’s plate remained empty. The now half empty tequila bottle held his focus. Bobby looked up when the spread of plates hid no survivors. “Man, this is awesome. I’ve never even tasted half of these dishes.” Just then another, dishevelled group of people entered the restaurant, expressing their excitement for this unique opportunity as they greeted those already eating. “Yeah,” Dave answered. “Sure beats being locked in a storage room waiting for the world to end.” Ryan wasn’t listening. Instead, he watched the new arrivals, disgust plain on his face. Tequila bottle in hand, he got up and sauntered over to the boisterous homeless. Bobby’s gaze followed Ryan as he pushed some crusty roll into his mouth. Becky’s attention was fully on Dave. “Who’s locked in a storage room? Where?” Dave snapped his fingers, trying to recall a name. “What’s his name. The rat. We taught him his lesson and threw him in the janitor’s room at school.” Across the room, Ryan was pointing at the door. “I said, get out. Now. All of you.” One of the seated men pushed his chair back and went to stand. “You can’t make — “ was all he said before the tequila bottle clipped the back of his head and sent him sprawling onto the table. Bobby’s sudden movement drew Dave’s eye, and he never missed a fight. Becky grabbed at his sleeve as he stood. “Jay?” She prompted. Over his shoulder, Dave said, “Him.” Becky saw the Escalade’s key on the table, slid her hand over it and walked through the kitchen door. Also published here.

The Last 3 Days (14): A Feast for a King

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ERRORS—(Conclusion)

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ERRORS

Before diving into details let me explain quickly what this project is about. I come from the generation that watched while growing up. As any kid in those days, I was inspired by animated characters becoming real in my imagination through their artistic expression. One of more recent inspirations are , the virtual band and many others. Robotech Kizuna AI Gorillaz For some time now I was trying to find the shortest, laziest path of creating a virtual Youtuber with technology that's available to everyone, right at this moment. It seems plausible to have an AI create video content on-demand in a matter of minutes with good enough results to demonstrate what I believe will be perfected by the generations to come. Some Early Failures After trying out the same idea with and GPT2 I didn't get the results that were coherent enough without constantly tweaking and adjusting it. project AIYA Even then, it sounded bad and took a couple of hours of work for every video. That's just not a viable workflow! I wanted something quick, intuitive and creativity boosting, some new uncharted territory! But like always first tries are doomed to fail. You can see how that first try went on a youtube video and if you don’t mind hacky code, you can check the github . here repo Now, that GPT3 is finally here I got excited after seeing all the demos and examples of what it can do. But with it being accessible only to those who OpenAI allows (despite the name), I had to look elsewhere. Luckily, I found which is an open-source replica of GPT3's architecture, and chose it as the next best text-generator alternative. This is also possible thanks to the good people at who provided the updated to the public. GPT-Neo Huggingface transformer model Unlike my older project that had thousands of lines of code, this one is done with not more then 400 lines of Python. That being said. How Does it Work Prepared ahead of time: Static image for the video background Some subject I wanted to cover in the video as the main theme It could be another video in the background like some gameplay or animated gifs, but I chose to stick with static background for now. I would write a of the video and let GPT finish creating the rest. I decided to generate up to 600 characters, which is fine for a three-minute video. quick prompt or a question on the subject After generating the text, I used Text-to-speech to and give Arty her voice. With some tweaking of pitch and sample rate, added randomized patches of silence, she gets to have a bit more pleasant and dynamic character voice. convert text to audio Here Google-Cloud-Speech kicks in. The audio file I just created is sent to Google Cloud to for each word. Hint, for audio longer than one minute Google asks you to upload the file to GC Storage first and pass the bucketed link. get the transcription with timed captions Some random noise is always added to the process just by the fact that this transcription process is also probabilistic and it returns different confidence levels and slightly different transcription every time. There are a lot of bloopers and funny, misheard words that make it almost charming. It's a feature, not a bug! Or so I choose it to be! After getting the transcript, now it's time to from the text with an exact notation on when those words appear in audio. Why? You will see. extract some nouns and verbs Here I used another amazing open-source NLP tool called to . SpaCy detect and extract phrases from the generated text Now, with a nice list of some (misheard) phrases and their timing, let's search and download images based on those terms. We will also sample and randomize it every time so that each search produces different images. - to overlay the correct meme at the exact time it was uttered in a video. In the end, you get a nice understandable video with audio of the character talking and almost human-like meme edits, randomly chosen from the internet. Voilà! These images now are added and mixed with the audio file using lengthy FFMPEG command and timed captions Be careful it may catch you by surprise! Just like misheard lyrics are quirky, if you chuckle on some memes, you may be tricked to think Arty is the real deal, at least for a split second. These imperfections are the that give humour to her videos. secret souce Can it drag you into its story and then make you laugh? You ! decide The whole procedure of creating a video from a prompt is automated and takes about 10-15 minutes on Google Collab with a good GPU or TPU (recommended). It takes an image and some starting sentences... and you get a youtube ready video! As a final twist and a feature - you can provide and - and get a brand new, original video in a matter of minutes, completely replacing the AI part with you own content. your own voice short text The next step will be to get the subjects of Arty’s videos chosen by the people of Twitter! Final Words Anyone can experiment with these technologies and create his own videos, add unique editing style, tell a better story or just perfect the currently available toolset for even better, more creative results. Follow Arty on for most recent videos! Youtube Follow Arty on ! Twitter

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