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CAC 40, DAX 40 and Dow Trade at Record Highs but may Short-term Consolidate

Meet the Winners of Startups in North and Central America

DeFi continues to garner the attention of retail and institutional investors with incentivized participation, one of the keys to Bitcoin’s continued success. Unlike most of us in 2020, Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has been having a very good year, becoming one of the most compelling innovations in the blockchain space with over $12.27 billion of value in the sector (based on 44 providers tracked by DeFiPulse). locked There are several factors at play in DeFi’s success, but like a hit song suspiciously reminiscent of the Beatles, the wild enthusiasm seems to be based on a familiar theme of incentivization — just like Bitcoin, but this time not . farming, mining has captured crypto investors’ attention by allowing investors to earn returns by providing stabilizing liquidity to DeFi protocols. Yield farming In function, yield farming resembles the innovative (and famously successful) formula devised for Bitcoin mining which provides long-term incentivization and returns for active members positively supporting the ecosystem. In the case of DeFi yield farming, users are similarly rewarded for positive participation, earning yields for buying and holding platform-native tokens. The demand for DeFi tokens has grown with more exchanges all over the world adding them to their basket of tradable assets, despite the threat to centralized finance that DeFi poses. NDAX.io is the latest exchange to add DeFi, with an announcement touting support for Chainlink (LINK) for the audience. Bilal Hammoud, NDAX.io President, CEO, and Founder, said “2020 has shaped up to be the year of institutional adoption of Bitcoin, Stablecoins, and decentralized finance…which provides retail and institutional investors exposure to new crypto products...” (Disclosure: I have in the past contracted with NDAX.) Canada crypto investing Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, CEO of Binance, and potential to cannibalize his own business as his company launched their own DeFi initiative, Binance Smart Chain while maintaining their position as the world’s largest exchange by trade volume. Zhao said, “I’m always much more worried about if we have users using the product. There are always multiple options for business models, so the key is to build something that’s useful.” acknowledged the contradiction DeFi is still considered an untested, high-risk concept by some crypto investors and dubbed the DeFi Pulse Economic Safety Grade which measures the risk of protocols becoming insolvent. DeFi Pulse recently announced a risk grading system It took DeFi three years to build momentum, but at over $10 billion in investments, many new protocols are looking to capture the imagination of crypto investors. Of course, the vast majority of efforts will fail or consolidate over time but the promise of yields based on participation continues to drive enthusiastic participation from users. Justin Roberti has a background in media and fine arts and has been writing and doing PR/marketing for over 20 years for Fortune 500 and startups in media, gaming, consumer tech, mobile tech, fintech, and blockchain. He writes about tech, media, and web culture. He is the PR Director for blockchain agency Zage.io .

DeFi’s Success Modelled on Bitcoin’s Formula 

A plain-talk explanation of crypto for people who just want to get it over with. Ever since I started representing blockchain startups 3 years ago, I have had many opportunities to explain what crypto is and why it’s not completely a scam — mainly to friends, family, and neighbors. I cannot overstate the degree to which “normies” think all crypto is a scam. It’s a legitimate extension of traditional finance filling a role that has only , and during the economic crisis that is certain to follow. grown during the COVID-19 crisis For those of you who are wishing you’d stop hearing so much about Bitcoin and kind of wish it would go away — . I don’t know where it’s future fortunes lie but I think it’s safe to say it will have some value for the next ten years, whether you think that will be $100,000 or $199, so it’s better to understand than not understand. Bitcoin has had a good 2020 There are a few common misconceptions you have to dispel to understand the what and why of Bitcoin… “Bitcoin is a scam” Bitcoin is a brilliant innovation — it gave us a platform for a truly independent and decentralized form of currency. It is still the most successful and brilliant practical use case of blockchain technology to date, 11 years after its launch. Bitcoin made some brilliant moves incentivizing honest participation (including miners) long-term, and basically getting people to invest in the concept that this untethered asset has value. Bitcoin has been used by scammers, it has been the center of various scams, but Bitcoin is not responsible for criminals that use it any more than the US Dollar is responsible for criminals that use it as a tool for crime. Of course, Bitcoin not being a scam says nothing about the veracity of the more than 2,000 altcoins that can be purchased on exchanges all over the world. Bitcoin showed us that communities could be built on positive participation and collective belief and that those communities can assign value to a currency, which means that currency is independent of state. As a U.S. citizen, I can see the appeal of independent of state very much in 2020. 2. “Bitcoin isn’t worth anything” If you think that Bitcoin has a value based on nothing, that just isn’t true. It’s just harder to define. The fact that Bitcoin is staked to no tangible assets has actually been a strength — it works as a deflationary asset. When nothing has value, Bitcoin still has value. What Bitcoin is really staked with is the effort and investment that created the collective belief that Bitcoin has value. National currencies like the U.S. dollar are a sort of investment, deriving value because the holder believes in the strength of the U.S. economy. But like any successful product, Bitcoin filled a need that pre-dated its launch. There is a real desire among the wealthy and the highly-independent investor who wants assets independent of state and all the uncertainty that global politics bring. Of course, Bitcoin is the shadow of the traditional financial system — it’s not truly independent, as it is subject (inversely) to traditional market movements (particularly the S&P 500, whom some are suggesting dictates BTC movements — when the S&P is down, Bitcoin goes up.) Bitcoin hasn’t been around long enough to be a reliable store of wealth and anyone with a financial background knows that — but institutional investors are moving the market more than ever. The suit-wearing investors of traditional markets are getting on board with crypto (and their own blockchain in the case of JPMorgan’s IIN network which has over 300 banks enabling ) but not because they it is a reliable store of wealth — it’s because they still think it’s safer because USD, oil & gas, and even gold have been outperformed by Bitcoin. Bitcoin transactions know 3. “You Can’t Buy Anything with Bitcoin” This just isn’t true anymore. of places you can spend crypto, including: Bitpay keeps a curated directory Buy Gift cards from Amazon, Delta, DoorDash, PapaJohn’s, Red Lobster, Uber, Wayfair, and many others. Entertainment & Gaming from Microsoft, Twitch, and DishTV, and others. Donations to The United Way, American Cancer Society, and the American Red Cross, among others.Electronics from NewEgg and hundreds of other vendors for jewelry, food, web services, and more. 4. “Bitcoin just isn’t for me.” Judging by the principles of Bitcoin, as expressed on their , Bitcoin is for everyone. That’s the whole idea. white paper If you fit any of these categories, it’s for you: If you live in a country with an unstable fiat currency.If you don’t have access to reliable traditional banking — 2 billion people all over the world are unbanked or underbanked. If you don’t have access to reliable online payments. Bitcoin won’t necessarily be usable for all of your expenses, but if you have access to a smartphone you can set up decentralized banking, store your wealth, and make payments using crypto even if local currencies and banking are unreliable.If you deeply distrust the nation you live in and the stability of its currency. Bitcoin is the hedge position du jour for investors who see trouble on the horizon from the U.S.’ and the world’s “No-Good, Very Bad Year”. People don’t consider a global economic collapse to be inevitable, but they want to hedge against the possibility. It’s smart not to keep all your assets in one basket, after all, and not put all your faith in one system. Don’t Worry, the Suits have come to Save Us represent a larger portion of bitcoin transactions than ever before and that trend is only increasing. That means good things for the mainstreaming of cryptocurrency, but it also means less Bitcoin is going to be held by the bleary-eyed blockchain developer or entrepreneur and more of that wealth will be held by people in sharp business attire — some independently wealthy, most working for traditional financial institutions. Large-volume and institutional investors Many exchanges like Kraken and Coinbase have OTC desks to handle high-volume transactions and service these large and institutional investors (usually starting at $50,000 purchases). OTC desks give big buyers the ability to access liquidity pools without actually having to find the “BTC whales” who are sitting on hoards of Bitcoin gold, some of whom might want to sell. NDAX.io, a Canada-based trading platform (which I’ve consulted with through past contracts), has recently revamped and rebranded its OTC desk to include improved service — including an AE to service your account and 24x7 hotline to ask questions about your transactions. In other words, the level of service people coming from the traditional banking world might expect. Don’t Panic (Crypto is Coming for you Anyway) Douglass Adam’s advice from “The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy”, published in 1979, is still great advice. "Don't Panic". Don’t worry, crypto is likely to be part of your life whether you choose it or not. Certainly, blockchain will power the back end of sites you use all the time, like t. But if Facebook’s Libra project doesn’t have billions of consumers taking out credit loans and spending in crypto to earn savings in the short term — then another monolithic tech company will come along and fill the void. Amazon which already has its own projec People want more options. Projects like Libra is ready to give us another option. I’m not going to opine whether it should be allowed to succeed — but let’s not kid ourselves that stopping Libra will stop the tide. Crypto will become mainstream, particularly if people can use it without ever being aware of crypto’s involvement. You will know crypto has really become mainstream when they stop talking about it as a separate animal from other electronic payments, and blockchain will be accepted when it has become as exciting in headlines as any other coding platform. The hype will die and the true useful life of blockchain and crypto will begin. Justin Roberti has a background in media and fine arts and has been writing and doing PR/marketing for over 20 years for Fortune 500 and startups in media, gaming, consumer tech, mobile tech, fintech, and blockchain. He writes about tech, media, and web culture. He is the PR Director for blockchain agency Zage.io and sometimes-consultant for NDAX.io . (Photo by Marina Vitale on Unsplash )

Stop Procrastinating: Time to Learn About Bitcoin

Canada’s relationship with blockchain and cryptocurrency has had dramatic highs and lows. Though some world-leading blockchain technology like Ethereum started as Canada-based projects,  Canada has not embraced crypto with the same zeal as some other countries. And unfortunately, bad actors in the crypto community have given Canadian regulators and the public reasons to worry. The Canadian crypto ecosystem has been slapped three times in the past two years. In January 2019, QuadrigaCX made global news when Gerald Cotten, the 30-year-old co-founder and CEO of Vancouver-based crypto exchange, QuadrigaCX, died while on honeymoon in India. He was, it seems, the only person with access to $190 million of funds in crypto and fiat money, which was the majority of funds stored on the exchange. In November 2019, Einstein Exchange, Vancouver, British Columbia-based crypto exchange, suddenly closed its operation, literally locking its physical location while founder Michael Ongun Gokturk went missing. British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) took control of the Einstein Exchange and investors were owed C$16 million. In July 2020, Toronto-based Coinsquare was found to have been engaged in “wash trading”, with 90% of transactions faked between Q4 2018 and Q1 2019. Coinsquare CEO Cole Diamond, founder Virgile Rostand, and executive Felix Mazerwere found to have knowingly “authorized, permitted or acquiesced” to the fraudulent practice. Over C$2 million in fines were paid and all three men resigned. However, despite the highly publicized scandals, the Canadian government seems to value the potential of blockchain and crypto at a macro level. recently showed that COVID-19 has advanced the adoption of blockchain just as it has increased digital adoption, globally. The survey showed that 76% of Canadians see cryptocurrency as an alternative to fiat currency. Deloitte’s 2020 Global Blockchain Survey So what is the best way to buy Bitcoin in Canada? Canadian Crypto Exchanges Here is an overview of some of the leading exchanges serving Canadian audiences. 1. Coinsquare Since 2015, the Toronto-based Coinsquare has been dedicated to providing a safe, affordable, and simple way for users to exchange cryptocurrencies online. The company has grown in the past few years -- but the scandal of this year and has hurt its reputation and sent many users looking for another solution. resignation of leadership Pros With 5 fiat currencies and 10 cryptocurrencies available to trade, there are many options for the users. Coinsquare employs all standard security measures to ensure safety and privacy. Through storing 95% of all funds in offline cold wallets, extensively testing its technology against distributed denial of service attack (DDoS), and having close relationships with a number of Schedule 1 Canadian Banks. Though its site’s simple UX seems to be catered towards entry-level traders, they have also done a lot of work to attract and support high-networth investors by opening up a mining venture arm and a capital markets division. They offer a program for Coinsquare Wealth, targeted to more advanced traders. It is an exclusive service for those who trade over 25k worth of orders at a time. Users receive exclusive benefits including discount funding/withdrawal fees, faster withdrawal speed, and a dedicated wealth director. Cons There are only two ways of depositing money, through e-transfer or wire transfer. With deposit processing times of 1-3 days and withdrawal processing times of 1-9 days, the overall process can be frustrating, especially since they place withdrawal holds. Its fees are among the highest of all exchanges. Ethical issues concerning the exchange’s business practices have given many users misgivings concerning doing business with Coinsquare. It will be up to new leadership to rebuild that trust however they can.- based 2FA user account security system was proven to be insecure in the past. 2. NDAX.io Founded in 2017 in Calgary, NDAX.io’s goal is to make it easier and faster for people to buy bitcoin in Canada. (Disclosure: I work with NDAX.io as one of my clients when I’m not writing articles.) They keep a physical office, a support line for resolving issues by phone, relationships with traditional banks, and have worked proactively to stay ahead of the regulatory curve, so they offer a mix of traditional economy accessibility and support and leading-edge security and compliance. Pros NDAX offers a clean, easy trading platform that doesn’t overwhelm newbie crypto investors and makes transactions fast. NDAX.io offers leading security on their platform with 95-98% of digital assets offline in cold storage. It uses multiple data servers which are monitored 24/7 and employ Multi-Signature technology to keep assets secure. To fund your account, you can use Interac e-transfer, Wire Transfer, or Bank Draft / Certified Cheque. For  support, they offer live chat on the site, email, and phone support. NDAX is registered as a Money Service Business (MSB) with FINTRAC. They work closely with regulators to meet the requirements of today and regulations that are not yet in effect, essentially future-proofing its business from a regulatory POV. NDAX allows you to buy and sell 8 coins including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, XRP,, EOS, Dogecoin, Cardano and Stellar. They have announced that they will be offering 4 new coins/pairings in Q3 2020. NDAX offers low fees that are especially advantageous for more experienced traders - no fee on deposits, flat fee withdrawals and 0.20% trading fees. NDAX registration process is quick (approved within 15 minutes) and relatively simple. If you do have any problems, its support is very responsive. It also offer training guides, advanced trade training, and product tours to help you get up to speed. Cons NDAX is devoted to serving a wide range of Canadian users -- meaning its finest points are not terribly sexy from an outside POV. Security, compliance, transparency, and user-centric customer service are important to have but don’t make exciting sound bytes. Users accessing more advanced trading features may find themselves quickly out of their comfort zone. NDAX doesn’t have the international capabilities of larger exchanges like Kraken, which means you may have to use other exchanges as well to deal with multiple fiat currencies, etc. American Crypto Exchanges that Serve Canadian Residents Below are crypto exchanges based out of the United States that serve Canadians. 3. Coinbase Founded in San Francisco in 2012, the Coinbase mission is to allow anyone to easily and securely access Bitcoin. It offers a simple interface preferred by new crypto buyers. Pros Coinbase is one of the largest exchanges, supporting over 100 countries and over 30 million customers around the world. Coinbase has a wide array of services but its main service allows users to buy and sell Bitcoins through a credit card and debit card. Coinbase UX is optimized to the inexperienced buyer. Coinbase offers on-platform cryptocurrency conversions allowing users to make complex transactions without leaving the platform. There is a 2.0% fee for conversions. Coinbase does have an extensive knowledge base -- but does not have a good reputation for customer support. Cons Fees are relatively high and support can be problematic. Coinbase uses a flat fee between $1.50 and $3.00 for transactions below $200 or a percentage of the transaction (whichever is greater). Most transaction fees are 1.49% for standard buy and 3.99% for credit card buys -- meaning that credit purchases are potentially quite higher.The market price on Coinbase Pro +0.5%, which is better than with standard accounts but fees are not competitive for larger or institutional buyers. Coinbase is rated badly by the Better Business Bureau for . failure to respond to hundreds of customer complaints Though Coinbase is popular in Canada, it is not Canada-based which can cause delays in transactions. 4. Kraken Founded in 2011 in San Francisco, Kraken claims to be the largest Bitcoin exchange in terms of euro volume and liquidity. Its strong reputation is supported by low transaction fees, a wide range of features, and overall security. Pros Kraken follows industry security practices such as keeping , two-factor authentication, and 24/7 surveillance on the exchange so that nothing comes in or out without being monitored. 95% of user funds in cold storage They were one of the first exchanges to prove that it was keeping its customers’ money safe using an independent cryptographically-verified audit (proof-of-reserves audit process). Kraken offers three different types of accounts (starter, intermediate, and pro) with different limits and features in order to cater to any experience level. Its futures and fiat trading are standout features that aren't often found on other exchanges. The ability to trade with five different fiat currencies allows users to make trades without having to visit other exchanges. The sign-up process differs based on which account you choose to open. If signing up as a starter account, only basic info is needed. For an intermediate account, the requirements are similar to other exchanges, with photo ID and proof of address. For an advanced account, AML verification and financial statements are needed additionally. The verification period on Kraken was very fast (I was verified in about 15 minutes). Cons Kraken is a powerful platform - and also potentially complicated and slow. Though it has many tools available, those who are just starting out may be overwhelmed and confused. The process of actually buying cryptos on the site can take a long time. Through creating an account, waiting for verification, depositing fiat currency via bank transfer and waiting 1-5 business days for the deposit to reach the Kraken account in order to finally be able to exchange fiat currency for crypto, takes a long time in comparison to other exchanges. Though they say its fees are the lowest in the industry, with a volume-based fee model this is only advantageous to pro-traders. Finally, since Kraken isn’t based in Canada, wiring money through an intermediary bank means extra time and fees. Summary Based on BTC’s current performance, it’s safe to say that deflationary assets like crypto are gaining traction and have not reached their high-water mark of value. It’s not too late to get on board the “crypto train”. Scandals and widespread adoption aside, the train has barely begun to leave the station. Based on their individual capabilities, it is likely that a newcomer to crypto investing may want to try several exchanges -- starting with a simpler platform and exploring others as the user looks for more coins and more advanced options. If there is a lesson to be learned from the global pandemic and economic fallout, it’s that governments are not infallible. So, the average consumer may be better served by diversifying than by keeping all of their liquid wealth in their national currency. Remember -- if you fail to invest in crypto or traditionally traded assets you are NOT opting out of the investing game, you are just keeping all your wealth in one fiat “basket” which history has shown can sometimes go badly, especially during global economic upheavals. (Disclosure: I work with NDAX.io as one of my clients when I’m not writing articles.)

Where Can Canadians Buy Bitcoin: A Review of The 4 Most Popular Crypto-Exchanges

Use Beta Distribution and Thompson Sampling to Beat The Multi-armed Bandit at the Casino

Startup founders keep asking my colleagues from Flyer One Ventures and me to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) before they start sharing any metrics. It's easy to spot founders who are likely to want an NDA: These ninjas send investors decks without numbers, implying that everything they work on is classified information. In reality, however, your idea is no secret, and no one will steal it — especially not VCs. You don't look cautious when asking to sign an NDA; you look weird. From a legal point of view, NDAs significantly increase the time for due diligence and costs for lawyers, as all NDAs are different and often nonstandard. Add to it a non-compete clause, and nearly every investor I know will likely turn away. So take a deep breath and stop worrying. Here are five reasons why nobody would copy your idea. Stealing ideas isn't an option for VCs When investors hear a good idea, they don't think about leaving their VC firms to launch a similar startup. They spend years building their reputation, trust, Twitter following and media presence to raise a fund and start investing. Quitting the job is not an option. In most cases, venture firms don't have any spare employees to copy a random product: everyone is busy solving current problems – helping portfolio companies with fundraising, doing due diligence for new startups, and spending hours on social media. Also, investors can't patent your idea when they hear it: It takes up to 3 years to obtain a patent in the U.S. and up to 5 years to register it in Europe. VCs won't just spend three years getting a patent for an early-stage startup's idea, which they just heard about. Theoretically, investors can leak your idea to your competitor. But signing an NDA with a VC doesn't prevent your rivals from understanding what and how you do. If they want to copy you, other founders can pretend to be potential clients or hire someone to do it for them. You are already ahead of potential copycats Even if a VC leaks your idea to friends or colleagues, it will take 6 to 12 months to bring it to life. It will take even more time to get the first clients. Your startup will already be way ahead in raising Series A. It takes months for startups to research, build a minimum viable product, fix bugs, do customer development, find the first clients, and actually make money. Plus, budget some time for founders to cry when one of these stages doesn't go according to the plan. Even if other founders have endless financial resources, they still need time to hire motivated people, mentor them and have them build a decent product that fits the market's needs. Potential copycats will need a lot of time, financial resources, and motivation to do the same. The probability that the copied idea will be better than the original and that everything will go smoothly is lower than your chances of becoming a unicorn. Besides, there's no guarantee that your idea will always work, even a good one. Building a startup is a process of iterations. You don't just come up with one single idea and use it forever — you adapt. Large companies don't care about raw ideas In 2020, Alphabet earned $258 billion; Meta made $118 billion and Netflix — $30 billion. Even if you're building a business intending to make $100 million in seven years, that kind of revenue will add less than 1% to a big corporation's financials. The big tech companies would better buy your startup in seven years instead of spending time and cash to build something similar. Why then, do large businesses often ask employees to sign NDAs? In their world, the rules are different. Amazon, for example, may have the resources to take a huge market share before anyone knows about it, while startups usually don't have the same pace and scale. their The monetary value of the losses for Tech giants is huge if their idea is stolen by other corporations. It's not just a verbal idea — it is hundreds of millions of dollars of market share. Startups often don't have the same scale, especially in the early stages. Your idea is a hypothesis only you can turn into a business All ideas are untested hypotheses, which need years of validation, and thousands of iterations, and might not work eventually. Even if you have tested the idea and think it's the one to work in your market, there's no guarantee that this recipe will work elsewhere — for every client and every startup. Plus, potential copycats can copy only the most obvious things. Yes, they can make an identical product. Yes, they can hire people with the same qualifications. Yes, they can set the same price. But they can't copy your thinking, communication with clients, management skills, and network. If someone dresses like you, tries to talk like you and dyes his hair like yours, they don't automatically become you. Your core asset — motivation Suppose someone left their job to launch a business, hired a small team with their savings, and spent months convincing their families not to leave them for good. In that case, they already have more motivation to turn an idea into success than a person/company which only wants to make money by copying one's product. People driven solely by the wish to make money give up when they face problems. Why bother if, nowadays, they could make a picture of a funny ape and sell it as an NFT for half a million dollars? (not anymore, but still) By contrast, people with deep personal motivation could only be stopped if they tried everything and nothing worked. In most cases, they never stop because they can pivot, raise more money, convince first employees to work for free for a while, and finish what they've started. If you want to cement your startup idea for yourself by forcing people to sign NDAs until you find inspiration to execute it, no NDAs will help you. Running a startup is about hard work, stress, problems, and only then success. And sharing ideas with investors, potential buyers from large corporations, or other founders will bring you closer to succeeding. Sharing is a good way to collect feedback and brainstorm together. Having someone unbiased to listen to the hypothesis may provide even better solutions to the problem. Not sharing, in turn, is a good way to get stuck and have no fresh hypotheses to move on with. It may be hard for you to trust strangers with your ideas, but don’t forget that VCs are supposed to trust you with other people’s money and reputation. Originally published . here

Startups Don't Need NDAs: 5 reasons Why Nobody Will Steal Your Idea

After my latest post about how to build your own RAG and run it locally, today, we're taking it a step further by not only implementing the conversational abilities of large language models but also adding listening and speaking capabilities. The idea is straightforward: we are going to create a voice assistant reminiscent of Jarvis or Friday from the iconic Iron Man movies, which can operate offline on your computer. Since this is an introductory tutorial, I will implement it in Python and keep it simple enough for beginners. Lastly, I will provide some guidance on how to scale the application. Techstack First, you should set up a virtual Python environment. You have several options for this, including pyenv, virtualenv, poetry, and others that serve a similar purpose. Personally, I'll use Poetry for this tutorial due to my personal preferences. Here are several crucial libraries you'll need to install: : For a visually appealing console output. rich : A robust tool for speech-to-text conversion. openai-whisper : A cutting-edge library for text-to-speech synthesis, ensuring high-quality audio output. suno-bark : A straightforward library for interfacing with Large Language Models (LLMs). langchain , , and : Essential for audio recording and playback. sounddevice pyaudio speechrecognition For a detailed list of dependencies, refer to the link . here The most critical component here is the Large Language Model (LLM) backend, for which we will use Ollama. is widely recognized as a popular tool for running and serving LLMs offline. If Ollama is new to you, I recommend checking out my previous article on offline RAG: Basically, you just need to download the Ollama application, pull your preferred model, and run it. Ollama "Build Your Own RAG and Run It Locally: Langchain + Ollama + Streamlit." Architecture Okay, if everything has been set up, let's proceed to the next step. Below is the overall architecture of our application, which fundamentally comprises 3 main components: : Utilizing , we convert spoken language into text. Whisper's training on diverse datasets ensures its proficiency across various languages and dialects. Speech Recognition OpenAI's Whisper : For the conversational capabilities, we'll employ the Langchain interface for the model, which is served using Ollama. This setup promises a seamless and engaging conversational flow. Conversational Chain Llama-2 : The transformation of text to speech is achieved through , a state-of-the-art model from Suno AI, renowned for its lifelike speech production. Speech Synthesizer Bark The workflow is straightforward: record speech, transcribe to text, generate a response using an LLM, and vocalize the response using Bark. Sequence diagram for voice assistant with Whisper, Ollama, and Bark. Implementation The implementation begins with crafting a based on Bark, incorporating methods for synthesizing speech from text and handling longer text inputs seamlessly as follows: TextToSpeechService import nltk
import torch
import warnings
import numpy as np
from transformers import AutoProcessor, BarkModel

warnings.filterwarnings(
    "ignore",
    message="torch.nn.utils.weight_norm is deprecated in favor of torch.nn.utils.parametrizations.weight_norm.",
)


class TextToSpeechService:
    def __init__(self, device: str = "cuda" if torch.cuda.is_available() else "cpu"):
        """
        Initializes the TextToSpeechService class.
        Args:
            device (str, optional): The device to be used for the model, either "cuda" if a GPU is available or "cpu".
            Defaults to "cuda" if available, otherwise "cpu".
        """
        self.device = device
        self.processor = AutoProcessor.from_pretrained("suno/bark-small")
        self.model = BarkModel.from_pretrained("suno/bark-small")
        self.model.to(self.device)

    def synthesize(self, text: str, voice_preset: str = "v2/en_speaker_1"):
        """
        Synthesizes audio from the given text using the specified voice preset.
        Args:
            text (str): The input text to be synthesized.
            voice_preset (str, optional): The voice preset to be used for the synthesis. Defaults to "v2/en_speaker_1".
        Returns:
            tuple: A tuple containing the sample rate and the generated audio array.
        """
        inputs = self.processor(text, voice_preset=voice_preset, return_tensors="pt")
        inputs = {k: v.to(self.device) for k, v in inputs.items()}

        with torch.no_grad():
            audio_array = self.model.generate(**inputs, pad_token_id=10000)

        audio_array = audio_array.cpu().numpy().squeeze()
        sample_rate = self.model.generation_config.sample_rate
        return sample_rate, audio_array

    def long_form_synthesize(self, text: str, voice_preset: str = "v2/en_speaker_1"):
        """
        Synthesizes audio from the given long-form text using the specified voice preset.
        Args:
            text (str): The input text to be synthesized.
            voice_preset (str, optional): The voice preset to be used for the synthesis. Defaults to "v2/en_speaker_1".
        Returns:
            tuple: A tuple containing the sample rate and the generated audio array.
        """
        pieces = []
        sentences = nltk.sent_tokenize(text)
        silence = np.zeros(int(0.25 * self.model.generation_config.sample_rate))

        for sent in sentences:
            sample_rate, audio_array = self.synthesize(sent, voice_preset)
            pieces += [audio_array, silence.copy()]

        return self.model.generation_config.sample_rate, np.concatenate(pieces) : The class takes an optional parameter, which specifies the device to be used for the model (either if a GPU is available, or ). It loads the Bark model and the corresponding processor from the pre-trained model. You can also use the large version by specifying for the model loader. Initialization ( __init__ ) device cuda cpu suno/bark-small suno/bark : This method takes a input and a parameter, which specifies the voice to be used for the synthesis. You can check out other value . It uses the to prepare the input text and the voice preset, and then generates the audio array using the method. The generated audio array is converted to a NumPy array and the sample rate is returned along with the audio array. Synthesize ( synthesize ) text voice_preset voice_preset here processor model.generate() : This method is used for synthesizing longer text inputs. It first tokenizes the input text into sentences using the function. For each sentence, it calls the method to generate the audio array. It then concatenates the generated audio arrays, with a short silence (0.25 seconds) added between each sentence. Long-form Synthesize ( long_form_synthesize ) nltk.sent_tokenize synthesize Now that we have the set up, we need to prepare the Ollama server for the large language model (LLM) serving. To do this, you'll need to follow these steps: TextToSpeechService : Run the following command to download the latest Llama-2 model from the Ollama repository: Pull the latest Llama-2 model ollama pull llama2 . : If the server is not yet started, execute the following command to start it: . Start the Ollama server ollama serve Once you've completed these steps, your application will be able to use the Ollama server and the Llama-2 model to generate responses to user input. Next, we'll move to the main application logic. First, we need to initialize the following components: : We'll use the Rich library to create a better interactive console for the user within the terminal. Rich Console : We'll initialize a Whisper speech recognition model which is a state-of-the-art open-source speech recognition system developed by OpenAI. We'll use the base English model ( ) for transcribing user input. Whisper Speech-to-Text base.en : We'll initialize a Bark text-to-speech synthesizer instance, which was implemented above. Bark Text-to-Speech : We'll use the built-in from the Langchain library which provides a template for managing the conversational flow. We'll configure it to use the Llama-2 language model with the Ollama backend. Conversational Chain ConversationalChain import time
import threading
import numpy as np
import whisper
import sounddevice as sd
from queue import Queue
from rich.console import Console
from langchain.memory import ConversationBufferMemory
from langchain.chains import ConversationChain
from langchain.prompts import PromptTemplate
from langchain_community.llms import Ollama
from tts import TextToSpeechService

console = Console()
stt = whisper.load_model("base.en")
tts = TextToSpeechService()

template = """
You are a helpful and friendly AI assistant. You are polite, respectful, and aim to provide concise responses of less 
than 20 words.
The conversation transcript is as follows:
{history}
And here is the user's follow-up: {input}
Your response:
"""
PROMPT = PromptTemplate(input_variables=["history", "input"], template=template)
chain = ConversationChain(
    prompt=PROMPT,
    verbose=False,
    memory=ConversationBufferMemory(ai_prefix="Assistant:"),
    llm=Ollama(),
) Now, let's define the necessary functions: : This function runs in a separate thread to capture audio data from the user's microphone using the . The callback function is called whenever new audio data is available, and it puts the data into a for further processing. record_audio sounddevice.RawInputStream data_queue : This function utilizes the Whisper instance to transcribe the audio data from the into text. transcribe data_queue : This function feeds the current conversation context to the Llama-2 language model (via the Langchain ) and retrieves the generated text response. get_llm_response ConversationalChain : This function takes the audio waveform generated by the Bark text-to-speech engine and plays it back to the user using a sound playback library (e.g., ). play_audio sounddevice def record_audio(stop_event, data_queue):
    """
    Captures audio data from the user's microphone and adds it to a queue for further processing.
    Args:
        stop_event (threading.Event): An event that, when set, signals the function to stop recording.
        data_queue (queue.Queue): A queue to which the recorded audio data will be added.
    Returns:
        None
    """
    def callback(indata, frames, time, status):
        if status:
            console.print(status)
        data_queue.put(bytes(indata))

    with sd.RawInputStream(
        samplerate=16000, dtype="int16", channels=1, callback=callback
    ):
        while not stop_event.is_set():
            time.sleep(0.1)

def transcribe(audio_np: np.ndarray) -> str:
    """
    Transcribes the given audio data using the Whisper speech recognition model.
    Args:
        audio_np (numpy.ndarray): The audio data to be transcribed.
    Returns:
        str: The transcribed text.
    """
    result = stt.transcribe(audio_np, fp16=False)  # Set fp16=True if using a GPU
    text = result["text"].strip()
    return text

def get_llm_response(text: str) -> str:
    """
    Generates a response to the given text using the Llama-2 language model.
    Args:
        text (str): The input text to be processed.
    Returns:
        str: The generated response.
    """
    response = chain.predict(input=text)
    if response.startswith("Assistant:"):
        response = response[len("Assistant:") :].strip()
    return response

def play_audio(sample_rate, audio_array):
    """
    Plays the given audio data using the sounddevice library.
    Args:
        sample_rate (int): The sample rate of the audio data.
        audio_array (numpy.ndarray): The audio data to be played.
    Returns:
        None
    """
    sd.play(audio_array, sample_rate)
    sd.wait() Then, we define the main application loop. The main application loop guides the user through the conversational interaction as follows: The user is prompted to press Enter to start recording their input. Once the user presses Enter, the function is called in a separate thread to capture the user's audio input. record_audio When the user presses Enter again to stop the recording, the audio data is transcribed using the function. transcribe The transcribed text is then passed to the function, which generates a response using the Llama-2 language model. get_llm_response The generated response is printed to the console and played back to the user using the function. play_audio if __name__ == "__main__":
    console.print("[cyan]Assistant started! Press Ctrl+C to exit.")

    try:
        while True:
            console.input(
                "Press Enter to start recording, then press Enter again to stop."
            )

            data_queue = Queue()  # type: ignore[var-annotated]
            stop_event = threading.Event()
            recording_thread = threading.Thread(
                target=record_audio,
                args=(stop_event, data_queue),
            )
            recording_thread.start()

            input()
            stop_event.set()
            recording_thread.join()

            audio_data = b"".join(list(data_queue.queue))
            audio_np = (
                np.frombuffer(audio_data, dtype=np.int16).astype(np.float32) / 32768.0
            )

            if audio_np.size > 0:
                with console.status("Transcribing...", spinner="earth"):
                    text = transcribe(audio_np)
                console.print(f"[yellow]You: {text}")

                with console.status("Generating response...", spinner="earth"):
                    response = get_llm_response(text)
                    sample_rate, audio_array = tts.long_form_synthesize(response)

                console.print(f"[cyan]Assistant: {response}")
                play_audio(sample_rate, audio_array)
            else:
                console.print(
                    "[red]No audio recorded. Please ensure your microphone is working."
                )

    except KeyboardInterrupt:
        console.print("\n[red]Exiting...")

    console.print("[blue]Session ended.") Result Once everything is put down together, we can run the application as shown in the video above. The application runs quite slowly on my MacBook because the Bark model is large, even in its smaller version. Therefore, I have slightly sped up the video. For those with a CUDA-enabled computer, it might run faster. Here are the key features of our application: : Users can start and stop recording their voice input, and the assistant responds by playing back the generated audio. Voice-based interaction The assistant maintains the context of the conversation, enabling more coherent and relevant responses. The use of the Llama-2 language model allows the assistant to provide concise and focused responses. Conversational context: For those aiming to elevate this application to a production-ready status, the following enhancements are recommended: : Incorporate optimized versions of the models, such as whisper.cpp, llama.cpp, and bark.cpp, which are designed to boost performance, especially on lower-end computers. Performance Optimization : Implement a system that allows users to customize the bot's persona and prompt, enabling the creation of different types of assistants (e.g., personal, professional, or domain-specific). Customizable Bot Prompts : Develop a user-friendly GUI to enhance the overall user experience, making the application more accessible and visually appealing. Graphical User Interface (GUI) : Expand the application to support multimodal interactions, such as the ability to generate and display images, diagrams, or other visual content in addition to the voice-based responses. Multimodal Capabilities Finally, we have completed our simple voice assistant application, full code can be found at: . This combination of speech recognition, language modeling, and text-to-speech technologies demonstrates how we can build something that sounds difficult but can actually run on your computer. Let's enjoy coding, and don't forget to subscribe to so you don't miss the latest in AI and programming articles. https://github.com/vndee/local-talking-llm my blog Also published here

How to Build Your Own Voice Assistant and Run it Locally Using Whisper + Ollama + Bark

কীভাবে আপনার নিজের ভয়েস সহকারী তৈরি করবেন এবং হুইস্পার + ওল্লামা + বার্ক ব্যবহার করে স্থানীয়ভাবে এটি চালাবেন

So erstellen Sie Ihren eigenen Sprachassistenten und führen ihn lokal mit Whisper + Ollama + Bark aus

Cómo crear su propio asistente de voz y ejecutarlo localmente usando Whisper + Ollama + Bark

Comment créer votre propre assistant vocal et l'exécuter localement à l'aide de Whisper + Ollama + Bark

अपना खुद का वॉयस असिस्टेंट कैसे बनाएं और इसे व्हिस्पर + ओलामा + बार्क का उपयोग करके स्थानीय रूप से कैसे चलाएं

独自の音声アシスタントを構築し、Whisper + Ollama + Bark を使用してローカルで実行する方法

나만의 음성 어시스턴트를 구축하고 Whisper + Ollama + Bark를 사용하여 로컬에서 실행하는 방법

Como construir seu próprio assistente de voz e executá-lo localmente usando Whisper + Ollama + Bark

Как создать собственный голосовой помощник и запустить его локально с помощью Whisper + Ollama + Bark

Kendi Sesli Asistanınızı Oluşturma ve Whisper + Ollama + Bark Kullanarak Yerel Olarak Çalıştırma

Cách xây dựng trợ lý giọng nói của riêng bạn và chạy nó cục bộ bằng Whisper + Ollama + Bark

如何构建您自己的语音助手并使用 Whisper + Ollama + Bark 在本地运行

Hi There! I think that every developer who transitions to a team leader role initially strives to return to coding and solving tasks alongside the team. Later on, we start to encompass more business tasks and issues, diving into business-related challenges, communication between departments or clients, and architecture. From this point on, we no longer have either the time or the desire to do something else. A typical team lead's calendar begins to resemble this: How Do I Return to Development and Start Coding Again? Where Should I Begin? It's also important to assess how genuinely busy you are and what your typical workday looks like. Do you engage in self-improvement after work or not? These are all crucial factors. Based on my experience, I suggest taking steps along the path from “no time before or after work, no desire or opportunity” to “I'm always at the computer, and this is my passion.” Block Your Time! An effective starting point is to schedule dedicated time for development. Simply block out 'coding time' in your calendar for an hour or more. If possible, consider reserving half a day or a full day each week specifically for tackling technical tasks. Yes, it might involve moving meetings around, eliminating unnecessary ones, or discussing the necessity of attending some of them. However, consider reassessing whether certain grooming sessions are still relevant for you. Perhaps you're spending an hour there without much impact? Redirect that time towards coding! Code Review With Your Team! The second and most crucial aspect for optimizing certain processes around you is to communicate the project's values or approaches to your colleagues. Not every developer sees the same approach to problem-solving, so it's essential to predefine coding styles, test coverage, and the fundamental methods and mechanics of the platform or services separately. Always conduct code reviews, and if there's a sense that a question is dragging on, gather the team to swiftly address issues in the pull requests (PRs). As practice shows, this approach speeds up issue resolution time, consequently improving the time to market for features. Over time, your team will fully understand and apply development approaches that require less attention. You'll be focused solely on solving the task at hand and its logic, which will save a few minutes initially and, in the long run, potentially hours of development time. What Are You Responsible For? It might not seem like the most obvious task, but ask yourself, what are you responsible for? What do you need to do? Write down all these points on a sheet of paper and see if you've taken on anything unnecessary. Perhaps you're doing someone else's work just because it has become a habit. Maybe you've been helping a neighboring team with their processes, and you're still involved. Clearly define your position and what you contribute to the project or the company. If you lead a large team, use notes where you can create a queue of tasks and issues. Always conduct reviews, and ensure that if you're a DevOps lead, for example, you aren't inadvertently handling tasks meant for mobile app developers. If you find yourself overloaded with tasks and dependencies, it's worth stopping to talk to your superiors and figure out why this is happening in your department. For example, if you're a DevOps team responsible for Data Engineers, and they have their own lead, it might make sense to delegate responsibilities back to their lead instead of your department. Create specifications and necessary documents to formalize agreements or any hidden details about setup or maintenance and return people to their respective teams. It's essential to note that this is just an example, and everyone has their own teams and principles of their formation. Prioritization and Delegation It's possible that you're not getting things done because priorities keep shifting. The entire company operates on two-week sprints, but this setup no longer suits you, and you don't see value in it. Features aren't making it to completion within a sprint due to weak priorities. This is relevant for service-oriented teams. Consider exploring Kanban or a waterflow approach. Our teams are like separate islands where we have the right to try changing processes for the better. Test transitioning to the new approach for a month, and observe your metrics. In my experience, a couple of weeks were enough to notice that Scrum wasn't suitable for us, and we switched to Kanban. Next, try breaking down the team into domain zones, but not too granularly. Immerse each team member following the 70/30 rule: 70% dedicated to their main stack, project, or product 30% for everything else If your team has more than 5 people, you'll cover all services and functions, allowing individuals to dive faster into the subject area. What does this achieve? It allows you to delegate some tasks to the team rather than doing everything yourself if you see that a developer already has a good understanding and immersion. You don't need to describe the entire algorithm and integrations! They already know it all! Time Management and Productivity How Is the Team Planning Its Work Time? Let's start with something simple: how do you operate as a team? Take a look at your estimations and how you assess tasks. Is everything in order? Perhaps there's room for improvement or the introduction of a workload coefficient? The workload coefficient helps understand how each team member is loaded during a sprint or week, considering potential distractions for support. For instance, if you're a service team with your own product to maintain, other teams might seek your assistance or request enhancements, leading to time spent on communication within the sprint. The same goes for dealing with bugs; you might frequently get sidetracked to address urgent issues in the production environment. But that's a separate topic, and I'd advise checking out my previous article on how to make gradual improvements in this area. https://hackernoon.com/just-go-ahead-and-test-your-project-part-1?embedable=true Now, back to the coefficient. If we acknowledge that each of us is called to a chat or a meeting at least 1 day out of 5 to resolve an issue, take that into during planning. This way, you'll realistically manage to accomplish tasks that truly benefit the team, potentially freeing up time to write code. Try the Pomodoro technique. Nothing groundbreaking; just use an app on your phone that allows you to focus on a task for a set time interval, like 45 minutes. Nothing special, I guess. Utilize trackers. Conduct an investigation into what you spend your 8 working hours on — record each hour and minute of your activities during the week or month. You might discover factors that distract you, or you might notice that taking a 15-minute walk after lunch makes you work more efficiently—perhaps that's the key to success? Or, if you have three consecutive meetings, do you find yourself doing nothing for an hour afterward, just reading specifications? Maybe it's challenging for you? The point is to scrutinize what you're doing, and I believe you'll identify areas for improvement. Participation in Technically Challenging Projects If you find yourself unable to attend meetings dedicated to system design or architectural solutions, read follow-ups or documentation. Try to understand how and what solves the problem. It's preferable not to miss such meetings and strive to immerse yourself as much as possible in the technical aspects. Select projects or project aspects that require a deep dive into the code. This will help you stay abreast of new technologies and development methodologies. RnD for You If you notice areas in the project that have issues or where functionality could be improved, feel free to create prototypes. This will not only allow you to visualize the proposed changes but also provide the team with tangible material for discussion and decision-making. The main goal is not just to showcase ideas but to implement them into the project if they prove to be genuinely significant or beneficial. For example, if you've always dreamt of migrating outdated services from Java 1.8 to version 21, why not give it a try? Create a prototype, show it to the team, develop your solution, and thoroughly document the entire process for future reference. This approach helps not only to implement technical improvements but also to create a shared understanding within the team regarding potential changes. Thus, you can make a constructive contribution to the project, ensuring its effective development and fostering innovation. Review Point! At this stage, you'll have a couple of hours to write code, propose solutions, and then you can take a breather. Of course, the leadership position simply won't allow you to do both, and if your focus is still on development, it might be worth considering a return. There's nothing wrong with that—realizing that management is becoming dull for you, even if you excel at it, is okay. It's just that, at this point in time, it has lost its appeal for you. If You Still Have Some Free Time Learning and Self-Development Continuously educate yourself by reading technical literature, exploring educational courses, and participating in technical conferences. This will help you stay abreast of the latest trends and best practices in software development. Reading technical literature provides a unique opportunity to delve into the depths of new technologies, methodologies, and best practices. This can include books, articles, blogs, and other materials covering various aspects of software development. Taking educational courses is a structured and systematic way to acquire knowledge on new topics and technologies. Online course platforms offer a wide range of courses on different programming languages, frameworks, and concepts. Participating in technical conferences opens up the opportunity not only to learn about the latest trends and innovations but also to engage with industry professionals. Conferences provide a platform for sharing experiences, discussing challenging issues, and building connections within the technical community. In summary, continuous learning through reading, taking courses, and attending conferences allows software developers not only to keep up with the latest trends but also to actively integrate new knowledge and skills into their daily work. Examples: leetcode, Udemy, or Youtube (sometimes, we can find really good FREE content there!). Working on Personal Projects If possible, work on personal projects in your free time. This will not only enhance your programming skills but also serve as a source of new ideas for your primary job. Additionally, combining this activity with the RnD point from the article can be an extra incentive for creativity and innovation. Working on personal projects allows you to apply your skills in practical scenarios, experiment with new technologies, and solve real-world problems. These projects may involve developing your own web applications, creating open-source projects, or participating in interesting side projects. Integrating this activity with the research and development (RnD) work mentioned earlier enables you to create prototypes and showcase them at your workplace. Opening your project to the public, such as participating in open-source development, not only improves your skills but also contributes to building valuable professional connections and gaining recognition for your creativity. However, it is crucial to remember that adhering to the confidentiality policy (NDA) of your main job is a priority. Before embarking on personal projects, it is advisable to consult with legal professionals and management to ensure that your creative process does not violate established rules and to facilitate the free development of your creative energy while preserving the confidentiality of sensitive data. Conclusion Finding time for coding as a team leader requires conscious effort and effective priority management. Remember that your role involves not only directly leading the team but also maintaining your technical skills at a satisfactory level. It will be challenging, and I wish you the best of luck! I saw the problem a long time ago. If you'd like to read professional books, I’d recommend you read books: link and link

From Leadership to Lines of Code: A Team Leader's Guide

লিডারশিপ থেকে লাইন অব কোড পর্যন্ত: একটি টিম লিডারের গাইড

Von der Führung zu Codezeilen: Ein Leitfaden für Teamleiter

Del liderazgo a las líneas de código: una guía para líderes de equipo

Du leadership aux lignes de code : guide du chef d'équipe

नेतृत्व से लेकर संहिता की पंक्तियों तक: एक टीम लीडर की मार्गदर्शिका

リーダーシップからコード行まで: チーム リーダーのガイド

리더십에서 코드 라인까지: 팀 리더를 위한 가이드

Da liderança às linhas de código: um guia para líderes de equipe

От лидерства к строкам кода: руководство для руководителя группы

Liderlikten Kural Satırlarına: Bir Ekip Lideri Kılavuzu

Từ khả năng lãnh đạo đến dòng mã: Hướng dẫn dành cho trưởng nhóm

从领导力到代码行数：团队领导者指南

Yellen or Talkin'?

Multi-Class Classification: Understanding Activation and Loss Functions in Neural Networks

মাল্টি-ক্লাস শ্রেণীবিভাগ: নিউরাল নেটওয়ার্কগুলিতে সক্রিয়করণ এবং ক্ষতি কার্যকারিতা বোঝা

Mehrklassenklassifizierung: Aktivierungs- und Verlustfunktionen in neuronalen Netzen verstehen

Clasificación de clases múltiples: comprensión de las funciones de activación y pérdida en redes neuronales

Classification multiclasse : comprendre les fonctions d'activation et de perte dans les réseaux de neurones

मल्टी-क्लास वर्गीकरण: तंत्रिका नेटवर्क में सक्रियण और हानि कार्यों को समझना

マルチクラス分類: ニューラル ネットワークの活性化関数と損失関数を理解する

다중 클래스 분류: 신경망의 활성화 및 손실 함수 이해

Classificação multiclasse: Compreendendo as funções de ativação e perda em redes neurais

Классификация нескольких классов: понимание функций активации и потерь в нейронных сетях

Çok Sınıflı Sınıflandırma: Sinir Ağlarında Aktivasyon ve Kayıp Fonksiyonlarını Anlamak

Phân loại nhiều lớp: Tìm hiểu các chức năng kích hoạt và mất mát trong mạng thần kinh

多类分类：了解神经网络中的激活函数和损失函数

273 Stories To Learn About Venture Capital

Ever wondered why some companies thrive despite high turnover rates, while others struggle to recover from the departure of a single team member? Talent retention is not the only must-have for building strong tech teams. A poorly performed employee offboarding process puts tech projects off the track. I have dealt with tech teams of different sizes and structures, and can say that there are some offboarding rules, which tech businesses cannot afford to break. I am to provide you with IT offboarding tips based on a decade of my experience in tech hiring at Outstaff Your Team. Business Value of the IT Offboarding Process: Why To Prepare in Advance? Offboarding is not merely about waving goodbye to a departing team member. It's a strategic process that impacts the entire company. Having a well-defined offboarding process, you can: Transfer the knowledge, skills, and responsibilities of the departing team member seamlessly; Prevent any disruptions in ongoing projects; Maintain a positive company culture and team morale. HR routine associated with offboarding includes a bunch of tasks, which could seem not time-consuming or complex at first. Yet, any missed offboarding task may turn into a serious concern in the long run, including the loss of sensitive data and even clients. The average price for one ineffective offboarding was calculated as of nearly $7,5K due to the at the beginning of 2023. survey Practice Tips for Successful Offboarding: How to Prepare in Advance? The first offboarding step begins during onboarding, when an HR specialist or an onboarding specialist notifies newcomers about a leave notice period for their roles and the ways to inform the team in case of leaving. Yet, companies should not wait for day X when they get a leave notice to create a leaving roadmap. Ideally, plans for onboarding and offboarding should both exist before you hire someone. A clear offboarding plan is related to an onboarding program for new employees, where you sign documents and add your newcomer to the corporate systems and chats, linking a specialist to the company step by step. This plan should document “mirror actions” to help you break all the chain links backwards without causing errors. Let’s take a closer look at the actions. Decide on Tooling You’ll need some software where you can visualize a progress bar for your IT offboarding process. It’s perfect if you already have an HRIS (human resources information system) containing all the specialists’ profiles. Some of such systems offer pre-built settings for organizing HR processes like onboarding and offboarding. If you don’t have an HRIS yet, another option would be to fix the task performance in task trackers like Asana or Trello. Prepare Employee Offboarding Checklist Here are the must-haves of a successful offboarding checklist. Communication ✅ Notify stakeholders. Together with the leaving specialist, agree on the last working day and decide when it’s better to inform the team. Try to reveal that fact as soon as possible. Thus, you can avoid gossip and reassign responsibilities in a more stress-free way. Knowledge transfer All the processes from this section go smoothly if you practice ongoing knowledge sharing within your team. Then, you’ll need to adjust instructions rather than create them from scratch. It’s a great approach not only for offboarding, it’s . the main secret of easy team scaling and upskilling ✅ Prepare future hiring and training processes. To do that, evaluate the performance and contributions of the departing IT specialist. Typically, a specialist’s project manager is aware of a team member’s outstanding tasks. To make sure 100% of the tasks were completed or reassigned to other people, direct managers also may gather feedback from team members who worked closely with the departing IT specialist. ✅ Code Repositories. Ensure access to code repositories is revoked, and ownership is transferred. ✅ Update and organize technical documentation for a smooth handover. ✅ Review and update standard operating procedures (SOPs). Your goal is to replace the task performer with another team member. In case you don’t have any SOPs yet, I strongly recommend you consider documenting business operations, as they and help newcomers sort everything out. debunk potential misunderstandings ✅ Culture Integration. When explaining the reasons for a team-mate's leaving to the entire team, frame them in a positive light. Reassure the team about the company's commitment to the specialist's well-being. Fill the vacant position quickly to reduce the workload on the rest of team members. When a new team member joins, celebrate the new beginning. Security Measures 76% of business leaders say that offboarding is a serious security threat. ✅ Account Deactivation. Disable access to company systems, emails, and other digital platforms. ✅ Revoke API Tokens. Secure APIs by revoking tokens associated with the departing employee. ✅ Data Leakage Prevention. Remind leaving specialists about NDA compliance. If you didn’t sign a non-disclosure agreement with your (almost ex-) team members, you can still stay safe by deploying data loss prevention solutions that can monitor, detect, and prevent unauthorized data transfers. ✅ Return Company Assets. Ensure the return of all company-owned equipment and assets if you have provided any. Administrative busywork (exit documentation) ✅ Benefits and Final Payments. Provide information about benefits continuation and process final payments promptly. ✅ Offboarding documents. Complete all necessary legal paperwork related to contract termination. Feedback ✅ Exit Interview. Conduct a meaningful exit interview (not a survey) to gather insights into the employee's experience and reasons for leaving. Thus, you will be able to analyze it and identify areas for improvement in workflows and team collaboration. ✅ Alumni Program. Introduce departing employees to an alumni program if you have any. That fosters a positive relationship after departure. Track the Offboarding Progress Even the perfect offboarding strategy can misfire if there are no people personally responsible for its execution. I recommend you develop an employee offboarding checklist covering all the necessary steps, and then divide it into separate to-do lists for all the involved people so that they can focus on their parts. I’d set a deadline for each task and assign it to people who will actually cover it (even if it’s me). Ensuring compliance with legal timelines and a specialist’s comfort is essential. To measure the efficacy of the offboarding process, I’d assess the time from resignation submission to the last working day. Status change processing should not take longer than planned. During this period, 99% of offboarding tasks should be completed. The typical exception is the last payment. It’s absolutely okay to send it on the usual payment date for your company if you’ve agreed so beforehand. Offboarding Matters for Both a Company and Departing Specialists Implementing an effective offboarding checklist not only mitigates potential risks, but also: Transforms departures into opportunities for growth and improvement; Helps tech teams keep their knowledge base updated all the time. So, should you have a process in place for tech team offboarding? The answer is a resounding yes. Create a working employee offboarding checklist and stick to it. Some in-house HR teams can manage employee offboarding successfully if a team manager asks them to keep such a focus. In other situations, additional expertise is needed. For instance, companies may consider professional tech team onboarding services when they: Don’t have an HR department and need a team which can take over all the HR-related administrative busywork and well-being checks; Don’t have/lack specialists proficient in tech hiring, which typically is more complicated and needs more interview rounds; Hire in foreign countries and require local expertise; Face high retention rates or/and other weak points in their tech teams and want to get an independent and professional teamwork’s audit. Regardless of which specialists are responsible to offboard team members, in-house or third-party ones, the checklist provided in this article will help them organize successful offboarding. Each part of this basic checklist is crucial. Offboarding team or a specialist should track the tasks related to 5 aspects: ethical and on-time communication, well-documented knowledge transfer, security measures, completed administrative paperwork, and gathering feedback not for show but for improvement. I encourage you to think of offboarding as the counterpart of onboarding and prepare both parts in advance!

Tech Team Offboarding: Should You Have a Process in Place?

To retrieve a list of SAP Business Objects schedules using Query Builder, you can execute a query against the repository database where the scheduling information is stored. The repository database typically contains tables with information about schedules, jobs, and other related objects. Here are the general steps: Access and Log in to Query Builder: To access Query Builder directly, log in to Query Builder using your SAP Business Objects credentials by entering the following URL in your web browser: :port/AdminTools/querybuilder/ie.jsp. http://localhost Build Query: SELECT 
    SI_ID, 
    SI_NAME, 
    SI_SCHEDULEINFO.SI_SCHEDULE_TYPE, 
    SI_SCHEDULEINFO.SI_SCHEDULE_INTERVAL_NDAYS, 
    SI_SCHEDULEINFO.SI_SCHEDULE_INTERVAL_NTHDAY, 
    SI_SCHEDULEINFO.SI_SCHEDULE_INTERVAL_MONTHS 
FROM 
    CI_INFOOBJECTS 
WHERE 
    SI_SCHEDULE_STATUS != 8 AND SI_RECURRING = 1 the script retrieves specific columns ( , , and scheduling-related information) from the table for objects that meet the specified conditions. The conditions filter out objects with a schedule status of 8 and include only recurring objects. SI_ID SI_NAME CI_INFOOBJECTS Execute Query: Copy and Paste the SQL Script, Then Submit the Query Review Results: After the query execution is complete, the results will be displayed in the Query Builder interface. Thank you for taking the time to explore data-related insights with me. I appreciate your engagement. If you find this information helpful, I invite you to follow me or connect with me on . Happy exploring!👋 LinkedIn

How to Fetch a List of SAP BusinessObjects Schedules Using Query Builder

102 Stories To Learn About Startups Advice

Personnel management serves as the backbone of any enterprise. Nevertheless, it is common for organizations to underappreciate and downplay the significance of their HR department. It is imperative to acknowledge that a proficient HR system plays a pivotal role in ensuring the smooth operation of a business. was valued at $21.69 billion in 2022. The global market of human resource management The market is projected to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.7% until 2030. The advancement of contemporary digital tools and technological innovations is expected to propel the market forward and enhance the development of HR systems. The global HR Management Software market is poised for consistent growth, expected to reach $33.04 billion by 2024. Mobile workforce management software is also on the rise, with its value increasing from $6.05 billion in 2022 to $7.15 billion in 2023, marking an 18.19% growth. As a result, businesses that choose to integrate HR management solutions have the potential to enhance their HR operations, improve overall efficiency, streamline talent acquisition, and reduce costs. If you're considering investing in a new system or upgrading your existing one, this is tailored for you. We will delve into an analysis of the most popular HR Management systems in the market. For those interested in developing a more effective global HR system, you'll find insights into features, current trends, and the optimal software development approach for HR systems in this article. Keep reading to learn more. article What is HR System Development and Its Benefits? Creating an HR development system is a strategic undertaking. It involves the creation, implementation, and customization of software tools to optimize HR operations. The core objective is to streamline and improve HR processes, making them more data-driven, employee-focused, and efficient. Whether it's meticulously planning the development of a customized SAP HR system or revamping HR procedures and bolstering workforce management, the advantages of developing a tailored HR system are numerous. These advantages encompass: With an HR System, manual and tedious HR tasks become a thing of the past. Automated workflows make hiring, onboarding, processing payroll, and other tasks easier. What’s the result? HR experts can concentrate on strategic projects due to a lessened administrative burden. Smooth HR processes. The workforce is empowered by having easy access to information in a well-designed HR system. Increased transparency encourages a sense of ownership. As a result, employee satisfaction and engagement also increase. Enhanced engagement of employees. Reporting and analytics open illustrative information for all critical metrics. They show turnover rates, staff performance, training needs, and others. HRs are in a better position to make decisions that will lead to organizational success. Both talent retention and talent acquisition can be optimized. Smart decision-making. Other crucial business tools can integrate with a flexible HR system. You can integrate it with payroll software or candidate management systems. As your organization grows, the system can scale as well. It supports expanding workforces and changing needs. Seamless integration and scalability. Tracking employee performance can help managers to pinpoint the need for improvement. This can be a ground for providing timely feedback. Employees can get new skills by being given learning opportunities. They will stay up-to-date on the most recent trends. This can make them more valuable to the business and help them to advance their careers. Performance management and learning. Best HR Software Products In this section, we'll explore some of the best HR software available today. Each one promises to revolutionize the way you manage your workforce. BambooHR BambooHR proves to be an excellent solution for small to medium-sized enterprises, offering valuable assistance in time off management, performance evaluations, and candidate tracking. Its user-friendly interface minimizes the need for extensive training, rendering BambooHR a favored option for expanding organizations. This software streamlines the onboarding process, thanks to its workflow automation that simplifies task management and prioritization. Checklists ensure that no important details are overlooked. Furthermore, the integrated training materials expedite the learning curve, facilitating a seamless onboarding experience for new team members. Workday Workday is a cloud-based HR program. It combines HR, earnings, and talent management. It provides a seamless experience for both HR teams and employees. The software smoothly combines HR and finance. It gives you a complete picture of the workforce and financials at your company. Decision-making is aided by reports and analytics tools. Workday is a game-changer for organizations of all sizes. Deel Deel represents a transformative force in the realm of remote work and global recruitment, illustrating the immense advantages of enhancing global HR systems. With an increasing number of businesses embracing the remote work model, the need to effectively manage international teams while complying with regulatory standards becomes paramount. Deel streamlines the provision of benefits to international team members, making it possible for businesses to offer perks such as insurance and retirement plans regardless of their employees' geographic locations. Furthermore, Deel automates intricate legal and tax compliance processes, ensuring adherence to regional laws, tax withholding, and other legal prerequisites. Yello Yello is a powerful talent acquisition platform. It revolutionizes recruitment and candidate experience. Yello offers a centralized database for managing candidates. This feature enables personalized and timely interactions. The software also offers interview scheduling and automation. Yello knocks out the back-and-forth email exchanges and simplifies interview coordination. Peoplebox Peoplebox serves as performance management software with a primary emphasis on continuous feedback and employee growth. This platform facilitates open communication between team members and managers, ultimately leading to enhanced performance and increased employee satisfaction within businesses. Utilizing the software, organizations can establish specific and measurable goals, aligning with the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) methodology. Furthermore, Peoplebox simplifies the performance review process by gathering 360-degree feedback from subordinates, supervisors, and colleagues, providing a comprehensive overview of an employee's performance. HR Systems’ Types and Functionality Let’s delve into the functionality and transformative capabilities of an HR system. This will help you find the best software development approach for the HR system. Human Resource Information System (HRIS) HRIS is the beating heart of HR operations. It serves as a comprehensive database for all information linked to employees. Its primary functionalities include: The competitive talent landscape demands seamless recruitment processes. HR staffing firm system development software offers a range of tools to attract, screen, and hire top talent. Recruitment and candidate tracking. At the core of any HRIS software lies a comprehensive and secure employee database. HRIS stores data, such as personal details, performance history, training certifications, and more. Multiple spreadsheets and paper-based records are no longer necessary. Thus, HRIS lowers the possibility of errors. It ensures data accuracy and simplifies the retrieval of essential information. Employee database. HRIS software is not just a data repository. It is an intelligent system that generates valuable insights. HR specialists can make data-driven decisions thanks to HRIS. It collects and organizes real-time data on the demographics of the workforce, performance, training, etc. Real-time data and analytics. To keep top talent, it is crucial to invest in their growth. HR learning and development systems offer learning opportunities, training, and expertise development programs. Thus, employees can upskill and enhance their skills. Learning and development. Managing employee attendance is essential to maintain productivity and address potential issues. HRIS integrates with biometric systems or time-clock applications. It helps the system to automate attendance tracking, scheduling, and leave management. This functionality reduces time theft and buddy punching. It also assists in calculating accurate payroll and leave balances. This way, it plays a great role in optimizing workforce management. Attendance and time tracking. Human Capital Management (HCM) HCM focuses on nurturing employees throughout their entire careers in an organization. It goes beyond conventional HR functions by focusing on hiring, managing, and maximizing talent. The core functionality of HCM software includes: Finding the right talent and onboarding them is a top priority for any HR department. HCM streamlines this hiring procedure. It automates job advertising, candidate tracking, and evaluation processes. It guarantees that new hires experience a sense of inclusion and welcome from day one. Furthermore, it aids in reducing the time to hire. Recruitment and onboarding. Reviews are an essential aspect of employee development and motivation. The process of performance review is automated by HCM software. It provides a structured evaluation framework based on predefined metrics. The data collected helps pinpoint high-potential talent, problem areas, and top performers. Performance management. Building a sustainable future requires preparing for leadership transitions. As said earlier, HCM software assists in finding high-potential employees. It also helps in nurturing them through tailored development plans. This strategic development core HR systems approach ensures stability within the organization. Succession planning. It serves as a centralized repository dedicated to storing all crucial documentation. It also has employee records, policies, and organizational knowledge. Employees have immediate access to a vast knowledge base through the HR space. Whether it's new employee onboarding paperwork, handbooks, education materials, or company rules, everything is right at their fingertips. However, business security continues to be a top priority. So, HR Space provides a fortress of protection. Confidential information is in the right hands thanks to strong access controls. HR space. Human Resource Management System (HRMS) An HRMS is a transformative software solution that automates and streamlines HR activities. It acts as a dynamic hub for employee information. The system makes information retrieval seamless. HRMS streamlines the entire HR lifecycle, from recruitment to retirement. End-to-end HR processes. Management and administration of employee pay, bonuses, and benefits are possible with HCM. These systems also handle tax deductions. In that way, it cuts down on manual errors and guarantees prompt payment of compensation. Payroll and benefits management. Gone are the days of manual leave requests and updates to personal information. HRIS software boasts a portal for staff, offering convenient access to records, benefits, and leave balances. Employees can manage their information, view pay notes, and apply for leave. Thus, employees feel empowered and take on more responsibility. As a result, there is increased satisfaction among the workforce, and designing and developing an HR system lets HR staff cut their administrative workload. Employee Self-Service (ESS). It is a fundamental module that focuses on monitoring employee attendance and other labor-related data. It allows employees to clock in and out through various means. This can be mobile applications, biometric devices, or web-based portals. Time and Labor Management (TLM). Our Experience Stfalcon’s team developed an employee personal account in the HR system of the largest logistics company in Ukraine. While the project is currently under a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), the software developed by our team functions as a centralized repository for employee-related data. Our journey began with gathering business requirements for the development of an HR system, which then evolved into the creation of transformative HR software. This comprehensive solution provides instant access to critical data, encompassing personal details and work-related information with just a few clicks. Employees can conveniently submit requests related to their finances and vacation directly through the platform, effectively automating these processes and eliminating the need for manual labor. Our secure platform empowers employees to access their salary details, deductions, and other payment-related information. Additionally, we've implemented a streamlined vacation management system, allowing staff to submit online time-off requests. These requests can be easily reviewed and approved by supervisors, ensuring a seamless workflow and efficient resource allocation for the organization. Conclusion In essence, the journey of crafting HR systems and processes is intricate but ultimately gratifying. By harnessing the potential of technology, organizations can optimize the capabilities of their workforce. Embrace the evolution of HR systems and unlock boundless opportunities for the growth of your organization. Whether it's conceiving, designing, developing, or implementing, Stfalcon is here to accompany you throughout the entire HR system development life cycle. today and begin your journey toward success. Contact us Also published . here

Everything You Need to Know About HR System Development in 2023 and Beyond

2023 এবং তার পরেও এইচআর সিস্টেম ডেভেলপমেন্ট সম্পর্কে আপনার যা কিছু জানা দরকার

Alles, was Sie über die Entwicklung von HR-Systemen im Jahr 2023 und darüber hinaus wissen müssen

Todo lo que necesita saber sobre el desarrollo de sistemas de recursos humanos en 2023 y más allá

Tout ce que vous devez savoir sur le développement du système RH en 2023 et au-delà

2023 और उसके बाद मानव संसाधन प्रणाली विकास के बारे में आपको जो कुछ जानने की आवश्यकता है

2023 年以降の人事システム開発について知っておくべきことすべて

2023년 이후 HR 시스템 개발에 대해 알아야 할 모든 것

Tudo o que você precisa saber sobre o desenvolvimento de sistemas de RH em 2023 e além

Все, что вам нужно знать о развитии системы управления персоналом в 2023 году и далее

2023 ve Sonrasında İK Sistemi Geliştirme Hakkında Bilmeniz Gereken Her Şey

Mọi điều bạn cần biết về phát triển hệ thống nhân sự vào năm 2023 và hơn thế nữa

关于 2023 年及以后人力资源系统开发您需要了解的一切

Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . THE SPOONER CORRESPONDENCE. here THE SPOONER CORRESPONDENCE. It will be remembered that Adelaide Palliser had accepted the hand of Mr. Maule, junior, and that she and Lady Chiltern between them had despatched him up to London on an embassy to his father, in which he failed very signally. It had been originally Lady Chiltern's idea that the proper home for the young couple would be the ancestral hall, which must be theirs some day, and in which, with exceeding prudence, they might be able to live as Maules of Maule Abbey upon the very limited income which would belong to them. How slight were the grounds for imputing such stern prudence to Gerard Maule both the ladies felt;—but it had become essential to do something; the young people were engaged to each other, and a manner of life must be suggested, discussed, and as far as possible arranged. Lady Chiltern was useful at such work, having a practical turn of mind, and understanding well the condition of life for which it was necessary that her friend should prepare herself. The lover was not vicious, he neither drank nor gambled, nor ran himself hopelessly in debt. He was good-humoured and tractable, and docile enough when nothing disagreeable was asked from him. He would have, he said, no objection to live at Maule Abbey if Adelaide liked it. He didn't believe much in farming, but would consent at Adelaide's request to be the owner of bullocks. He was quite ready to give up hunting, having already taught himself to think that the very few good runs in a season were hardly worth the trouble of getting up before daylight all the winter. He went forth, therefore, on his embassy, and we know how he failed. Another lover would have communicated the disastrous tidings at once to the lady; but Gerard Maule waited a week before he did so, and then told his story in half-a-dozen words. "The governor cut up rough about Maule Abbey, and will not hear of it. He generally does cut up rough." "But he must be made to hear of it," said Lady Chiltern. Two days afterwards the news reached Harrington of the death of the Duke of Omnium. A letter of an official nature reached Adelaide from Mr. Fothergill, in which the writer explained that he had been desired by Mr. Palliser to communicate to her and the relatives the sad tidings. "So the poor old man has gone at last," said Lady Chiltern, with that affectation of funereal gravity which is common to all of us. "Poor old Duke!" said Adelaide. "I have been hearing of him as a sort of bugbear all my life. I don't think I ever saw him but once, and then he gave me a kiss and a pair of earrings. He never paid any attention to us at all, but we were taught to think that Providence had been very good to us in making the Duke our uncle." "He was very rich?" "Horribly rich, I have always heard." "Won't he leave you something? It would be very nice now that you are engaged to find that he has given you five thousand pounds." "Very nice indeed;—but there is not a chance of it. It has always been known that everything is to go to the heir. Papa had his fortune and spent it. He and his brother were never friends, and though the Duke did once give me a kiss I imagine that he forgot my existence immediately afterwards." "So the Duke of Omnium is dead," said Lord Chiltern when he came home that evening. "Adelaide has had a letter to tell her so this afternoon." "Mr. Fothergill wrote to me," said Adelaide;—"the man who is so wicked about the foxes." "I don't care a straw about Mr. Fothergill; and now my mouth is closed against your uncle. But it's quite frightful to think that a Duke of Omnium must die like anybody else." "The Duke is dead;—long live the Duke," said Lady Chiltern. "I wonder how Mr. Palliser will like it." "Men always do like it, I suppose," said Adelaide. "Women do," said Lord Chiltern. "Lady Glencora will be delighted to reign,—though I can hardly fancy her by any other name. By the bye, Adelaide, I have got a letter for you." "A letter for me, Lord Chiltern!" "Well,—yes; I suppose I had better give it you. It is not addressed to you, but you must answer it." "What on earth is it?" "I think I can guess," said Lady Chiltern, laughing. She had guessed rightly, but Adelaide Palliser was still altogether in the dark when Lord Chiltern took a letter from his pocket and handed it to her. As he did so he left the room, and his wife followed him. "I shall be upstairs, Adelaide, if you want advice," said Lady Chiltern. The letter was from Mr. Spooner. He had left Harrington Hall after the uncourteous reception which had been accorded to him by Miss Palliser in deep disgust, resolving that he would never again speak to her, and almost resolving that Spoon Hall should never have a mistress in his time. But with his wine after dinner his courage came back to him, and he began to reflect once more that it is not the habit of young ladies to accept their lovers at the first offer. There was living with Mr. Spooner at this time a very attached friend, whom he usually consulted in all emergencies, and to whom on this occasion he opened his heart. Mr. Edward Spooner, commonly called Ned by all who knew him, and not unfrequently so addressed by those who did not, was a distant cousin of the Squire's, who unfortunately had no particular income of his own. For the last ten years he had lived at Spoon Hall, and had certainly earned his bread. The Squire had achieved a certain credit for success as a country gentleman. Nothing about his place was out of order. His own farming, which was extensive, succeeded. His bullocks and sheep won prizes. His horses were always useful and healthy. His tenants were solvent, if not satisfied, and he himself did not owe a shilling. Now many people in the neighbourhood attributed all this to the judicious care of Mr. Edward Spooner, whose eye was never off the place, and whose discretion was equal to his zeal. In giving the Squire his due, one must acknowledge that he recognised the merits of his cousin, and trusted him in everything. That night, as soon as the customary bottle of claret had succeeded the absolutely normal bottle of port after dinner, Mr. Spooner of Spoon Hall opened his heart to his cousin. "I shall have to walk, then," said Ned. "Not if I know it," said the Squire. "You don't suppose I'm going to let any woman have the command of Spoon Hall?" "They do command,—inside, you know." "No woman shall ever turn you out of this house, Ned." "I'm not thinking of myself, Tom," said the cousin. "Of course you'll marry some day, and of course I must take my chance. I don't see why it shouldn't be Miss Palliser as well as another." "The jade almost made me angry." "I suppose that's the way with most of 'em. 'Ludit exultim metuitque tangi'." For Ned Spooner had himself preserved some few tattered shreds of learning from his school days. "You don't remember about the filly?" "Yes I do; very well," said the Squire. "'Nuptiarum expers.' That's what it is, I suppose. Try it again." The advice on the part of the cousin was genuine and unselfish. That Mr. Spooner of Spoon Hall should be rejected by a young lady without any fortune seemed to him to be impossible. At any rate it is the duty of a man in such circumstances to persevere. As far as Ned knew the world, ladies always required to be asked a second or a third time. And then no harm can come from such perseverance. "She can't break your bones, Tom." There was much honesty displayed on this occasion. The Squire, when he was thus instigated to persevere, did his best to describe the manner in which he had been rejected. His powers of description were not very great, but he did not conceal anything wilfully. "She was as hard as nails, you know." "I don't know that that means much. Horace's filly kicked a few, no doubt." "She told me that if I'd go one way, she'd go the other!" "They always say about the hardest things that come to their tongues. They don't curse and swear as we do, or there'd be no bearing them. If you really like her—" "She's such a well-built creature! There's a look of blood about her I don't see in any of 'em. That sort of breeding is what one wants to get through the mud with." Then it was that the cousin recommended a letter to Lord Chiltern. Lord Chiltern was at the present moment to be regarded as the lady's guardian, and was the lover's intimate friend. A direct proposal had already been made to the young lady, and this should now be repeated to the gentleman who for the time stood in the position of her father. The Squire for a while hesitated, declaring that he was averse to make his secret known to Lord Chiltern. "One doesn't want every fellow in the country to know it," he said. But in answer to this the cousin was very explicit. There could be but little doubt that Lord Chiltern knew the secret already; and he would certainly be rather induced to keep it as a secret than to divulge it if it were communicated to him officially. And what other step could the Squire take? It would not be likely that he should be asked again to Harrington Hall with the express view of repeating his offer. The cousin was quite of opinion that a written proposition should be made; and on that very night the cousin himself wrote out a letter for the Squire to copy in the morning. On the morning the Squire copied the letter,—not without additions of his own, as to which he had very many words with his discreet cousin,—and in a formal manner handed it to Lord Chiltern towards the afternoon of that day, having devoted his whole morning to the finding of a proper opportunity for doing so. Lord Chiltern had read the letter, and had, as we see, delivered it to Adelaide Palliser. "That's another proposal from Mr. Spooner," Lady Chiltern said, as soon as they were alone. "Exactly that." "I knew he'd go on with it. Men are such fools." "I don't see that he's a fool at all;" said Lord Chiltern, almost in anger. "Why shouldn't he ask a girl to be his wife? He's a rich man, and she hasn't got a farthing." "You might say the same of a butcher, Oswald." "Mr. Spooner is a gentleman." "You do not mean to say that he's fit to marry such a girl as Adelaide Palliser?" "I don't know what makes fitness. He's got a red nose, and if she don't like a red nose,—that's unfitness. Gerard Maule's nose isn't red, and I dare say therefore he's fitter. Only, unfortunately, he has no money." "Adelaide Palliser would no more think of marrying Mr. Spooner than you would have thought of marrying the cook." "If I had liked the cook I should have asked her, and I don't see why Mr. Spooner shouldn't ask Miss Palliser. She needn't take him." In the meantime Miss Palliser was reading the following letter:— Spoon Hall, 11th March, 18–ndash;. My dear Lord Chiltern,— I venture to suppose that at present you are acting as the guardian of Miss Palliser, who has been staying at your house all the winter. If I am wrong in this I hope you will pardon me, and consent to act in that capacity for this occasion. I entertain feelings of the greatest admiration and warmest affection for the young lady I have named, which I ventured to express when I had the pleasure of staying at Harrington Hall in the early part of last month. I cannot boast that I was received on that occasion with much favour; but I know that I am not very good at talking, and we are told in all the books that no man has a right to expect to be taken at the first time of asking. Perhaps Miss Palliser will allow me, through you, to request her to consider my proposal with more deliberation than was allowed to me before, when I spoke to her perhaps with injudicious hurry. So far the Squire adopted his cousin's words without alteration. I am the owner of my own property,—which is more than everybody can say. My income is nearly £4,000 a year. I shall be willing to make any proper settlement that may be recommended by the lawyers,—though I am strongly of opinion that an estate shouldn't be crippled for the sake of the widow. As to refurnishing the old house, and all that, I'll do anything that Miss Palliser may please. She knows my taste about hunting, and I know hers, so that there need not be any difference of opinion on that score. Miss Palliser can't suspect me of any interested motives. I come forward because I think she is the most charming girl I ever saw, and because I love her with all my heart. I haven't got very much to say for myself, but if she'll consent to be the mistress of Spoon Hall, she shall have all that the heart of a woman can desire. Pray believe me, My dear Lord Chiltern, Yours very sincerely, Thomas Platter Spooner. As I believe that Miss Palliser is fond of books, it may be well to tell her that there is an uncommon good library at Spoon Hall. I shall have no objection to go abroad for the honeymoon for three or four months in the summer. The postscript was the Squire's own, and was inserted in opposition to the cousin's judgment. "She won't come for the sake of the books," said the cousin. But the Squire thought that the attractions should be piled up. "I wouldn't talk of the honeymoon till I'd got her to come round a little," said the cousin. The Squire thought that the cousin was falsely delicate, and pleaded that all girls like to be taken abroad when they're married. The second half of the body of the letter was very much disfigured by the Squire's petulance; so that the modesty with which he commenced was almost put to the blush by a touch of arrogance in the conclusion. That sentence in which the Squire declared that an estate ought not to be crippled for the sake of the widow was very much questioned by the cousin. "Such a word as 'widow' never ought to go into such a letter as this." But the Squire protested that he would not be mealy-mouthed. "She can bear to think of it, I'll go bail; and why shouldn't she hear about what she can think about?" "Don't talk about furniture yet, Tom," the cousin said; but the Squire was obstinate, and the cousin became hopeless. That word about loving her with all his heart was the cousin's own, but what followed, as to her being mistress of Spoon Hall, was altogether opposed to his judgment. "She'll be proud enough of Spoon Hall if she comes here," said the Squire. "I'd let her come first," said the cousin. We all know that the phraseology of the letter was of no importance whatever. When it was received the lady was engaged to another man; and she regarded Mr. Spooner of Spoon Hall as being guilty of unpardonable impudence in approaching her at all. "A red-faced vulgar old man, who looks as if he did nothing but drink," she said to Lady Chiltern. "He does you no harm, my dear." "But he does do harm. He makes things very uncomfortable. He has no business to think it possible. People will suppose that I gave him encouragement." "I used to have lovers coming to me year after year,—the same people,—whom I don't think I ever encouraged; but I never felt angry with them." "But you didn't have Mr. Spooner." "Mr. Spooner didn't know me in those days, or there is no saying what might have happened." Then Lady Chiltern argued the matter on views directly opposite to those which she had put forward when discussing the matter with her husband. "I always think that any man who is privileged to sit down to table with you is privileged to ask. There are disparities of course which may make the privilege questionable,—disparities of age, rank, and means." "And of tastes," said Adelaide. "I don't know about that.—A poet doesn't want to marry a poetess, nor a philosopher a philosopheress. A man may make himself a fool by putting himself in the way of certain refusal; but I take it the broad rule is that a man may fall in love with any lady who habitually sits in his company." "I don't agree with you at all. What would be said if the curate at Long Royston were to propose to one of the FitzHoward girls?" "The Duchess would probably ask the Duke to make the young man a bishop out of hand, and the Duke would have to spend a morning in explaining to her the changes which have come over the making of bishops since she was young. There is no other rule that you can lay down, and I think that girls should understand that they have to fight their battles subject to that law. It's very easy to say, 'No.'" "But a man won't take 'No.'" "And it's lucky for us sometimes that they don't," said Lady Chiltern, remembering certain passages in her early life. The answer was written that night by Lord Chiltern after much consultation. As to the nature of the answer,—that it should be a positive refusal,—of course there could be no doubt; but then arose a question whether a reason should be given, or whether the refusal should be simply a refusal. At last it was decided that a reason should be given, and the letter ran as follows:— My dear Mr. Spooner, I am commissioned to inform you that Miss Palliser is engaged to be married to Mr. Gerard Maule. Yours faithfully, Chiltern. The young lady had consented to be thus explicit because it had been already determined that no secret should be kept as to her future prospects. "He is one of those poverty-stricken wheedling fellows that one meets about the world every day," said the Squire to his cousin—"a fellow that rides horses that he can't pay for, and owes some poor devil of a tailor for the breeches that he sits in. They eat, and drink, and get along heaven only knows how. But they're sure to come to smash at last. Girls are such fools nowadays." "I don't think there has ever been much difference in that," said the cousin. "Because a man greases his whiskers, and colours his hair, and paints his eyebrows, and wears kid gloves, by George, they'll go through fire and water after him. He'll never marry her." "So much the better for her." "But I hate such d—— impudence. What right has a man to come forward in that way who hasn't got a house over his head, or the means of getting one? Old Maule is so hard up that he can barely get a dinner at his club in London. What I wonder at is that Lady Chiltern shouldn't know better." 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

THE SPOONER CORRESPONDENCE.

A. Brief Overview of the Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Space: The digital asset space needs novel regulation to account for novel applications, software, technologies, utility, and burgeoning economic frameworks. For this reason, among others, to be explored in later papers, cryptocurrency and blockchain are inextricably linked and should be (self-)regulated as such. Among the key value propositions of the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector is the ability to serve as an engine for continuous innovation and disruption. It also serves as a meaningful opportunity to empower citizens of the world with self-sovereignty over their assets and facilitate a higher quality of life by reducing economic friction caused by a massive network of intermediaries. This has rippled across all sectors of business from logistics to finance (including but not limited to investment, banking, cross-border payments, peer-to-peer transactions, self-sovereignty and self-custody of digital assets, real estate, and more), legal, artificial intelligence, network communications, media and entertainment, and more. Arguably, the expansive reach of innovation and disruption which has spawned from the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry should speak volumes to the need for self-regulation. B. Introduction to the Topic of Self-Regulation: Self-regulation by FINRA and other SROs within the US securities market has been essential to developing one of the world’s largest and healthiest capital markets. This same approach has been used in the US trade finance and commodities markets. The digital asset space is primed for self-regulation and the ability to generate similar outcomes at scale, in a fully-interconnected, global economic environment. Statement of Position: I posit that this same approach of self-regulation is vital to developing a fully-globalized economy in which interconnected, digital assets of all types can be created, innovated upon, disrupted, and transacted. An alternative to consider for “true” self-regulation would be regulation by a novel regulatory body. Having one regulator (e.g., the SEC, or the CFTC) at the helm of burgeoning technological markets appears to have created agenda-driven regimes, leading to irresponsible and ineffective oversight at a critical time in global development. One such novel body may, perhaps, be staffed half by SEC appointment, half by CFTC appointment, and chaired by seven experts, Three of these experts are appointed on a two-year rotation by congressional vote, and Two are appointed from each of the SEC & CFTC. Failure to recognize and respect the importance of this need will likely result in the US being left behind, as numerous . other experts have already stated II. Argument 1: The Unique Nature of Cryptocurrencies and Tokenized Assets While various tokens, tokenized assets, and cryptocurrencies can mirror securities, commodities, or some blend thereof, they can also exhibit fully unique characteristics. One such example is bitcoin. Since the , it can deploy a broad range of code-driven utilities, such as “ ”, or on-chain artworks and tokenized representations. Taproot Upgrade ordinals Taking the underpinning technology a step further, “ ” represents only one of many that have emerged from this industry which provides a novel utility that cannot be contained within the securities and commodities classifications, or even within a split definition or overlapping definition of these terms. Ordinals Theory technological innovations Broadening these terms (securities, commodities) stands to cripple innovation within the US and force a vibrant ecosystem of innovation overseas, thereby placing the US further behind in economic and technological innovations. Underlying code innovations are being pioneered which leverage the use of blockchain and distributed ledger technology, for use in creating novel artwork types, such as “living” artwork and evolving artwork. Other innovations that are being tackled, like , stand poised to revolutionize both the creator and global economies in ways never seen before at scale. automated royalty distributions For these reasons and many others, I posit that cryptocurrencies and other digital assets deserve to be classified within a separate category that does NOT include securities and/or commodities. I do expect that some cryptocurrencies and digital assets will be disqualifiable from this separate category, however, and would likely then fall into the definition as either a security or a commodity. This separate classification should remain sovereign and include rules that govern taxation, identity, transparency, interoperability standards, and other vital definitions. III. Argument 2: The Inappropriateness of Backward-Looking Analysis in Cryptocurrency Regulation Some digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies have been used as fundraising vehicles, leading to the SEC’s notion that users who purchased such digital assets beyond a certain date have had an expectation of profitability. I posit that we cannot reasonably define an expectation of profitability “after a certain date” when that date falls well beyond the point that the underlying digital asset was available on secondary markets. This scope stands poised to enable a gross overreach and abuse of power on the SEC’s part, particularly as a NON-ELECTED body. Ecosystems, such as $MATIC (collectively the Polygon Ecosystem), are built by a wide range of third parties and promoters. The technology has grown to scale due to a burgeoning need in a novel digital ecosystem. It doesn’t make sense to stifle the ability of innovators to create decentralized and/or decentralization-oriented solutions as a result of archaic decision-making systems that, when applied at the highest government level (US Supreme Court), feature defining tools that compare all elements with the term “employee” (see Supreme Court definition of common enterprise as applied in legal precedent.) It can readily be argued that the (and likely other “Digital Asset Securities”) could have been built, albeit more slowly, without any required investment of funds. Ecosystems have emerged which have built their codebases and communities without an external investment of funds, such as the ecosystem and the initial launch of Bitcoin. Polygon ($MATIC) ecosystem Pi Blockchain Currently, the US is evaluating new legislative avenues to properly regulate and oversee cryptocurrency markets. The European Union recently passed its as well. MiCA framework Startlingly, CoinBase was approved for before any spot markets or ETFs were approved. In an environment built to “protect” investors, it just doesn’t make sense to approve leveraged financial products before approving regulated spot market product availability. bitcoin and ether futures products IV. Counterargument: Cryptocurrencies as Securities and Commodities Some cryptocurrencies and digital assets are readily definable as securities or commodities. Many of these have been named, marketed, and sold as “Security Tokens” via “Security Token Offerings (STOs).” Meanwhile, other “Asset-Backed Tokens” (ABTs) have been marketed and sold as being backed by commodities, such as silver, gold, oil, etc. I do think that . NOT should fall outside of securities and/or commodities registration and regulation all cryptocurrencies and digital assets I DO, however, think they should be evaluated for their provisional qualification as novel (or non-novel) asset(s) that are exempt from registration and/or regulation as a security or a commodity being classified as commodities or securities. BEFORE either V. Rebuttal: The Need for Novel Classifications for Cryptocurrencies Commodity: “ Commodities are most often used as inputs in the production of other goods or services. A commodity, thus, usually refers to a raw material used to manufacture finished goods.” A commodity is a basic good used in commerce that is interchangeable with other goods of the same type. Commodities are, traditionally, things like oil, natural gas, gold, silicon, diamonds, salt, produce, etc. One common facet among all of these goods: The ability to interchange them. They are fungible—purity Under “Ordinals Theory”, not every bitcoin is the same and is therefore not able to be classified as a commodity. Each bitcoin contains 100,000,000 satoshis (the smallest unit of bitcoin, one one-hundred-millionth of one bitcoin), which are now being used to “inscribe” data onto the bitcoin blockchain. This removes the fungibility of the underlying currency. Bitcoin is just ONE example from among many which exist that evade classification along these means. VI. Recommendations A. Proposal for a quantifiable test for qualification as a security that can apply to cryptocurrencies at scale and adapt as new characteristics of cryptocurrencies emerge. To this end, I propose a test, the NDADT, which should be applied to digital assets before any securities or commodities-based tests, which would seek to prove that a digital asset IS NOT justified in classification under a separate asset class. This test would be a five-pronged analysis, based on the pre-existing best practices of blockchain and cryptocurrency as an industry that is beginning to show meaningful signs of maturity at a global scale. Tentatively to be named the “ (NDADT)”, this test is intended to spark conversation and curiosity from regulators, market participants, experts, and other people that might be able to help collaboratively reason through the process of bringing this from a position to a viable concept, and finally, evaluating it at the legislative stage. Novel Digital Asset Test Disqualification Utility Test: Does the asset lack a clear utility or function within its native platform or ecosystem? Novel digital assets should provide some unique functionality or use within their respective systems. Innovation Test: Does the asset fail to present a significant innovation or advancement compared to existing digital or traditional assets? Novel digital assets should offer something new or different that is not present in existing asset classes. Interoperability Test: Is the asset unable to interact with or be utilized by other systems, platforms, or technologies? A defining feature of many novel digital assets is their ability to operate across multiple platforms or systems. This may include interoperability via cross-chain atomic swaps, Inter Blockchain Communication (IBC) Protocol, Arbitrary Virtual Machine (XVM), or other means of interoperability. This should not be taken as an exclusion to novel Layer 1 blockchain protocols. Decentralization Test: Is the asset controlled by a centralized entity, without any mechanism for distributed consensus or decentralized governance? A key characteristic of many novel digital assets is their decentralized nature. Transparency Test: Is there a lack of transparency regarding the asset's creation, distribution, or operational mechanics? Novel digital assets typically employ blockchain or similar technologies to provide an immutable, transparent record of transactions and changes. If this “NDADT” test is failed, then I propose that the digital asset be evaluated for CLASSIFICATION as: A Security (regulated by the SEC) A Commodity or Future (Regulated by the CFTC) A Separate, “Non-Novel” Digital Asset to be regulated under the purview of a self-regulatory organization that has been built and developed from within the global industry and that can therefore account for and properly administer rules and regulations for the industry at large. That second test should be a five-pronged test, which either: Fulfills the “Howey Test” for an investment contract (and therefore a security); Fulfills classification as a commodity or futures; Fulfills the three prongs of a non-novel digital asset; AND Fulfills : The Howey Test; OR Classification as a commodity or future simultaneously. neither Fulfills : The Howey Test; AND Classification as a commodity and/or future. both That test is as follows: Purpose Test (Non-novel, yet differentiated asset prong #1): Evaluate the primary purpose of the token: Does it serve a functional purpose within a platform (utility token)? Is it primarily used as a store of value or a medium of exchange (currency)? Is it used to represent an underlying asset (asset-backed token)? The purpose test can help establish the basic nature of the token. Howey Test: Apply the Howey Test to determine if the token qualifies as an investment contract. This includes looking at whether there is: An investment of money, With an expectation of profit, Derived from the efforts of others. If the token fails to meet of the Howey Test, it is likely not a security (under the classification of investment contracts, which have been the primary vehicle for pursuing crypto regulation by enforcement.) all conditions Governance Test (General Securities Disqualification prong): Evaluate the governance model of the token. Does the token allow holders voting rights or a say in the project's direction (similar to shareholders in a company)? If not, this may suggest it is not a security. Economic Realities Test (Commodity vs Non-novel, yet differentiated asset prong): Consider the economic realities surrounding the token. Does it behave more like a commodity in the marketplace? Does it exhibit significant price volatility? Is it bought and sold primarily for speculative investment purposes or for its use value? Novelty and Differentiation Test (Non-novel, yet differentiated asset prong #3): Finally, evaluate whether the token demonstrates unique properties not covered by existing asset classes. Does it combine aspects of securities and commodities in a novel, innovative, decentralized, or disruptive capacity? Does it leverage blockchain technology to provide for expected forms of value or interaction? If so, it might constitute a non-novel, yet differentiated asset class. VII. Conclusion I believe that the proposed tests and theories create sufficient space and differentiation to justify the classification of “digital assets and cryptocurrencies” in a separate and sovereign category that does not overlap with either securities or commodities. I further believe that “ ” is an inappropriate term that has begun circulating due to a lack of efficient regulatory oversight and communication, despite repeated (sometimes multi-year long requests) for such clarity by the SEC which remain unanswered. Digital Asset Securities I fear that the use of such terminology is yet another overstep of the regulatory directive of the SEC, which will lead to further gross and unjust misclassifications of assets in the name of expanding regulatory regimes. I call upon regulators, policymakers, and key industry stakeholders (executives & directors within key companies in-industry, subject matter experts, consultants, and other “knowledgeable” parties) to review this position paper and provide feedback based on their insights and expertise.

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