Elevating Customer Care with Generative AI ⚡️ Automate & Save Time: Lightning-fast support that resolves inquiries 2x faster than classic conversational agents and liberates your team's valuable time. 💬 Unmatched Understanding: Handle complex conversations effortlessly and provide accurate human-like answers. 🚀 Effortless Setup, Instant Impact: Just provide your knowledge base, and our seamless no-code solution builds the agent automatically based on this valuable information. 🔒 Data Privacy at the Core: Get access to a ChatGPT-like AI developed entirely by our team, guaranteeing control over responses and full compliance with GDPR regulations. Join us to move customer care forward!

Spellz

spellz

Business English: A Practice Book by Rose Buhlig is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . SPELLING RULES here SPELLING RULES Exercise 29—Plurals of Nouns ( ) a dress, dresses ( ) b chair, chairs splash, splashes wave, waves business, businesses book, books church, churches pencil, pencils fox, foxes paper, papers The usual way of forming the plural of English nouns is illustrated by the words in column ( ) above. What is it? b If you add to the singular form , could you distinguish the pronunciation of the plural from the pronunciation of the singular? Does this suggest a reason for adding to form the plural? s dress es How many syllables must you use to pronounce the plural of fox? Does this suggest another reason for adding to form the plural? es Every word that ends in a sibilant or hissing sound ( , , , , , ) forms its plural like . Give several illustrations. ch s sh ss x z fox Rule 1.—Nouns regularly form the plural by adding , but those ending in a sibilant must add .\Exercise 30 s es ( ) a lady, ladies ( ) b valley, valleys ally, allies alley, alleys soliloquy, soliloquies journey, journeys Name five words belonging to group ( ) above. Does a vowel or a consonant precede the in each case? a y Name other words belonging to the group ( ) above. Does a vowel or a consonant precede the in each case? b y **Rule 2.—Nouns ending in preceded by a consonant (and nouns ending in ) form the plural by changing to and adding .\Exercise 31—Words ending in o y quy y i es ( ) a potato, potatoes hero, heroes mulatto, mulattoes tomato, tomatoes buffalo, buffaloes cargo, cargoes negro, negroes echo, echoes motto, mottoes ( ) b solo, solos piano, pianos memento, mementos halo, halos lasso, lassos canto, cantos zero, zeros quarto, quartos soprano, sopranos stilletto, stillettos The older English words ending in form the plural by adding , as in potatoes; those more recently taken into the language form the plural by adding , as in quartos. o es s Exercise 32—Nouns in f and fe leaf, leaves calf, calves wife, wives loaf, loaves sheaf, sheaves shelf, shelves half, halves wolf, wolves elf, elves life, lives beef, beeves wharf, wharves (or wharfs) self, selves knife, knives ith the exception of the words given above, nouns ending in an sound form the plural in the regular way; as, f hoof, hoofs scarf, scarfs beliefs, beliefs chief, chiefs reef, reefs grief, griefs Exercise 33—Irregular Plurals Some nouns form their plural by a change of vowel; as, man men foot feet woman women tooth teeth goose geese mouse mice A few words retain the old time plural as, en; brother    brethren child children ox oxen A few words are the same in both singular and plural; as, sheep, trout, deer Some nouns have two plurals which differ in meaning; as, Singular Plural brother brothers brethren penny pennies pence pea peas pease die dies dice Consult a dictionary for the difference in meaning between the two plurals of each word. **Exercise 34—Compound Nouns Singular Plural brother-in-law brothers-in-law father-in-law fathers-in-law court-martial courts-martial commander-in-chief commanders-in-chief man-of-war men-of-war major general major generals goose quill goose quills bill of fare bills of fare spoonful spoonfuls cupful cupfuls Rule 3.—Compound nouns usually add the sign of the plural to the fundamental part of the word. Note.—In the thought is of one spoon many times full. spoonfuls Plural of Letters and Figures Rule 4.—Letters and figures form the plural by adding the apostrophe (') and as, s; a a's 3 3's w w's 5 5's The same rule applies to the plural of words which ordinarily have no plural; as, Don't use so many and . and's if's Exercise 35—Foreign Plurals Some nouns derived from foreign languages retain their original plural. The following are in common use. Consult a dictionary for their pronunciation and definition. Singular Plural Singular Plural crisis crises stratum strata thesis theses radius radii hypothesis hypotheses parenthesis parentheses focus foci synopsis synopses datum data basis bases alumnus alumni automaton automata alumna alumnae analysis analyses oasis oases nucleus nuclei axis axes phenomenon phenomena genus genera Some words admit of two plurals, one the foreign plural, and one the regular English plural; as, Singular Plural beau beaux beaus formula formulae formulas vertex vertices vertexes index indices indexes cherub cherubim cherubs seraph seraphim seraphs bandit banditti bandits Consult a dictionary to see whether there is any difference of meaning between the two plurals of these words. **Exercise 36—The Formation of Participles , , Rap rapping rapped , , Reap reaping reaped is a monosyllable ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel. The final consonant in such words is doubled before a suffix beginning with a vowel is added. Rap In the final consonant is not doubled because it is preceded by two vowels. reap Make the participles of the following verbs: chat lap suit step cheat leap sit steep rot train sop trot root trim soap treat , , Trap trapping trapped , , Track tracking tracked Why is the final consonant in doubled before or is added? trap ing ed The final consonant in is not doubled because ends with two consonants. track track , Pin pinning , Pine pining drops the silent because the tendency in English is to drop endings that are not needed for pronunciation before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel. Pine e Form the participles of the following verbs: knot rob flop note robe elope deal swim quit ( is not here a vowel) u clap strike crawl ( is here a vowel) w stop oil wax ( equals ) x cks peal rush bow ( is here a vowel) w Exercise 37 Exercise 36 applies also to words of more than one syllable accented on the last syllable, if they retain the accent on the same syllable after the suffix is added. Thus we have Rule 5.—Monosyllables or words accented on the last syllable, ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, double the final consonant before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel. Form participles from the following words that are accented on the last syllable: prefer intervene escape expel refer reveal acquire contain occur repeal secure forbid permit pursue conceal incur interfere erase arrange forget retain control acquit repel Form participles from the following words not accented on the last syllable: benefit travel marvel shelter revel answer exhibit render quarrel profit shovel limit Words in which the accent changes do not double the final consonant before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel; as, confer conference infer inference refer reference prefer preferable Explain why the final consonant is doubled in each of the following words: not neglect neglecting lean leaning prefer preference select selecting creep creeping receipt receipting wonder wondering answer answering Exercise 38 Rule 6.—In forming the present participle of verbs ending in , retain the before adding as, y y ing; study studying obey obeying carry carrying convey conveying pity pitying In forming the perfect participle, if in the present tense the is preceded by a consonant, the is changed to and added; if the is preceded by a vowel, the is retained; as, y y i ed y y study studied carry carried pity pitied but obey obeyed convey conveyed Compare with . Rule 2 Exercise 39 Rule 7.—In words containing a long sound spelled either or , follows follows one of the other consonants; as, e ie ei ei c; ie ei ie deceive relieve siege perceive believe yield receive belief grief conceive chief field conceit priest piece receipt niece wield reprieve lien —Either, neither, weird, seize, leisure. Exceptions. The following couplet may help in remembering when to write and when to write ie ei: When the letter you spy, Put the before the . c e i Exercise 40—The Pronunciation of and c g The letter is pronounced sometimes like and sometimes like . c s k What sound does have before Illustrate. c a? Before Illustrate. e? Before Illustrate. i? Before Illustrate. o? Before Illustrate. u? Before Illustrate. y? If is pronounced like , it is called hard and is marked . c k [\c] If is pronounced like , it is called soft and is marked . The mark used to indicate the soft is called the . c s ç c cedilla Make a statement telling when is hard and when it is soft. c What sound does have before each of the vowels, as in , , , , g game gone gymnasium Gunther gentle? Rule 8.— and usually are soft before , , and .\Exercise 41 C g e i y Words ending in silent , according to Rule 5, drop the before a suffix beginning with a vowel. Exceptions occur when the is needed to preserve the soft sound of and . Tell why is dropped in and retained in . e e e c g e encouraging courageous In words containing , as in and , the gives the the soft sound, and there is no need to retain the before adding a suffix, as in . dg judge lodge d g e judgment Rule 9.—Words ending in silent usually drop the before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel, unless the is needed to preserve the pronunciation; as after soft and , when the suffix begins with or . e e e c g a o Tell why the is retained before the suffix in the following: e noticeable damageable pronounceable outrageous courageous peaceable serviceable manageable Tell why the is dropped before adding the suffix in the following: e managing curable erasure besieging admirable realization receiving obliging precedence perseverance The fact that has two different sounds causes a slight peculiarity in words ending in . Final has the sound of . When words end in , the letter is usually added before a suffix beginning with either , , or , to show that is not pronounced like as, c c c k c k e i y c s; frolic       frolicked       frolicking If the is not added, the changes its pronunciation; as, k c public       publicity Exercise 42 It follows by inference from Rule 9 that words ending in silent retain the before a suffix beginning with a consonant; as, e e move movement disgrace disgraceful defense defenseless fate fateful arrange arrangement fierce fiercely noise noiseless manage management severe severely rude rudeness —Truly, duly, wisdom, awful, wholly. Exceptions. Bring to class a list of twenty words that retain the final before a suffix beginning with a consonant. e Exercise 43 What spelling rule does each of the following words illustrate? advantageous gigantic boxes admittance mimicking piece libraries occurrence arrangement receipt keys acquittal Exercise 44—Abbreviations Write abbreviations for the months of the year. Are there any that should not be abbreviated? The abbreviations for the states and territories are: Alabama, Ala. Maryland, Md. Arizona, Ariz. Massachusetts, Mass. Arkansas, Ark. Michigan, Mich. California, Cal. Minnesota, Minn. Colorado, Colo. Mississippi, Miss. Connecticut, Conn. Missouri, Mo. Delaware, Del. Montana, Mont. District of Columbia, D.C. Nebraska, Nebr. Florida, Fla. Nevada, Nev. Georgia, Ga. New Hampshire, N.H. Idaho, Idaho New Mexico, N. Mex. Illinois, Ill. New York, N.Y. Indiana, Ind. New Jersey, N.J. Iowa, Ia. North Carolina, N.C. Kansas, Kans. North Dakota, N. Dak. Kentucky, Ky. Ohio, O. Louisiana, La. Oklahoma, Okla. Maine, Me. Oregon, Ore. Pennsylvania, Pa. Utah, Utah Philippine Islands, P.I. Vermont, Vt. Porto Rico, P.R. Virginia, Va. South Carolina, S.C. Washington, Wash. South Dakota, S.D. Wisconsin, Wis. Tennessee, Tenn. West Virginia, W. Va. Texas, Tex. Wyoming, Wyo. Note.—It is much better to write the full name rather than the abbreviation whenever the former would make the address clearer, especially as regards similar abbreviations, such as Cal. and Colo. Exercise 45—Abbreviations of Commercial Terms A 1, first class doz., dozen @, at E. & O.E., errors and omissions excepted acct., account ea., each adv., advertisement e.g., for example agt., agent etc., and so forth a.m., forenoon exch., exchange amt., amount ft., foot app., appendix f.o.b., free on board atty., attorney gal., gallon av., average i.e., that is avoir., avoirdupois imp., imported bal., balance in., inches bbl., barrel inst., this month (instant) B/L, bill of lading Jr., junior bldg., building kg., keg B/S, bill of sale lb., pound bu., bushel ltd., limited C.B., cash book mdse., merchandise C., hundred mem., memorandum coll., collection, collector mo., month Co., company M.S. (MSS)., manuscript C.O.D., cash on delivery mtg., mortgage cr., creditor N.B., take notice cwt., hundredweight no., number D., five hundred O.K., all right dept., department per, by disc., discount p.m., afternoon do., ditto %, per cent dr., debtor, debit St., street pkg., package str., steamer pp., pages ult., last month pr., pair U.S.M., United States Mail pc., piece viz., namely pk., peck vol., volume prox., next month W/B, way bill pt., pint wt., weight Sr., senior 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. Rose Buhlig (2011). Business English: A Practice Book. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/38046/pg38046-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

SPELLING RULES

Mark Twain's Speeches by Mark Twain, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . SPELLING AND PICTURES here SPELLING AND PICTURES ADDRESS AT THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, AT THE
          WALDORF-ASTORIA, SEPTEMBER 18, 1906 I am here to make an appeal to the nations in behalf of the simplified spelling. I have come here because they cannot all be reached except through you. There are only two forces that can carry light to all the corners of the globe—only two—the sun in the heavens and the Associated Press down here. I may seem to be flattering the sun, but I do not mean it so; I am meaning only to be just and fair all around. You speak with a million voices; no one can reach so many races, so many hearts and intellects, as you—except Rudyard Kipling, and he cannot do it without your help. If the Associated Press will adopt and use our simplified forms, and thus spread them to the ends of the earth, covering the whole spacious planet with them as with a garden of flowers, our difficulties are at an end. Every day of the three hundred and sixty-five the only pages of the world’s countless newspapers that are read by all the human beings and angels and devils that can read, are these pages that are built out of Associated Press despatches. And so I beg you, I beseech you—oh, I implore you to spell them in our simplified forms. Do this daily, constantly, persistently, for three months—only three months—it is all I ask. The infallible result?—victory, victory all down the line. For by that time all eyes here and above and below will have become adjusted to the change and in love with it, and the present clumsy and ragged forms will be grotesque to the eye and revolting to the soul. And we shall be rid of phthisis and phthisic and pneumonia and pneumatics, and diphtheria and pterodactyl, and all those other insane words which no man addicted to the simple Christian life can try to spell and not lose some of the bloom of his piety in the demoralizing attempt. Do not doubt it. We are chameleons, and our partialities and prejudices change places with an easy and blessed facility, and we are soon wonted to the change and happy in it. We do not regret our old, yellow fangs and snags and tushes after we have worn nice, fresh, uniform store teeth a while. Do I seem to be seeking the good of the world? That is the idea. It is my public attitude; privately I am merely seeking my own profit. We all do it, but it is sound and it is virtuous, for no public interest is anything other or nobler than a massed accumulation of private interests. In 1883, when the simplified-spelling movement first tried to make a noise, I was indifferent to it; more—I even irreverently scoffed at it. What I needed was an object-lesson, you see. It is the only way to teach some people. Very well, I got it. At that time I was scrambling along, earning the family’s bread on magazine work at seven cents a word, compound words at single rates, just as it is in the dark present. I was the property of a magazine, a seven-cent slave under a boiler-iron contract. One day there came a note from the editor requiring me to write ten pages—on this revolting text: “Considerations concerning the alleged subterranean holophotal extemporaneousness of the conchyliaceous superimbrication of the Ornithorhyncus, as foreshadowed by the unintelligibility of its plesiosaurian anisodactylous aspects.” Ten pages of that. Each and every word a seventeen-jointed vestibuled railroad train. Seven cents a word. I saw starvation staring the family in the face. I went to the editor, and I took a stenographer along so as to have the interview down in black and white, for no magazine editor can ever remember any part of a business talk except the part that’s got graft in it for him and the magazine. I said, “Read that text, Jackson, and let it go on the record; read it out loud.” He read it: “Considerations concerning the alleged subterranean holophotal extemporaneousness of the conchyliaceous superimbrication of the Ornithorhyncus, as foreshadowed by the unintelligibility of its plesiosaurian anisodactylous aspects.” I said, “You want ten pages of those rumbling, great, long, summer thunderpeals, and you expect to get them at seven cents a peal?” He said, “A word’s a word, and seven cents is the contract; what are you going to do about it?” I said, “Jackson, this is cold-blooded oppression. What’s an average English word?” He said, “Six letters.” I said, “Nothing of the kind; that’s French, and includes the spaces between the words; an average English word is four letters and a half. By hard, honest labor I’ve dug all the large words out of my vocabulary and shaved it down till the average is three letters and a half. I can put one thousand and two hundred words on your page, and there’s not another man alive that can come within two hundred of it. My page is worth eighty-four dollars to me. It takes exactly as long to fill your magazine page with long words as it does with short ones-four hours. Now, then, look at the criminal injustice of this requirement of yours. I am careful, I am economical of my time and labor. For the family’s sake I’ve got to be so. So I never write ‘metropolis’ for seven cents, because I can get the same money for ‘city.’ I never write ‘policeman,’ because I can get the same price for ‘cop.’ And so on and so on. I never write ‘valetudinarian’ at all, for not even hunger and wretchedness can humble me to the point where I will do a word like that for seven cents; I wouldn’t do it for fifteen. Examine your obscene text, please; count the words.” He counted and said it was twenty-four. I asked him to count the letters. He made it two hundred and three. I said, “Now, I hope you see the whole size of your crime. With my vocabulary I would make sixty words out of those two hundred and five letters, and get four dollars and twenty cents for it; whereas for your inhuman twenty-four I would get only one dollar and sixty-eight cents. Ten pages of these sky-scrapers of yours would pay me only about three hundred dollars; in my simplified vocabulary the same space and the same labor would pay me eight hundred and forty dollars. I do not wish to work upon this scandalous job by the piece. I want to be hired by the year.” He coldly refused. I said: “Then for the sake of the family, if you have no feeling for me, you ought at least to allow me overtime on that word extemporaneousness.” Again he coldly refused. I seldom say a harsh word to any one, but I was not master of myself then, and I spoke right out and called him an anisodactylous plesiosaurian conchyliaceous Ornithorhyncus, and rotten to the heart with holoaophotal subterranean extemporaneousness. God forgive me for that wanton crime; he lived only two hours. From that day to this I have been a devoted and hard-working member of the heaven-born institution, the International Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Authors, and now I am laboring with Carnegie’s Simplified Committee, and with my heart in the work.... Now then, let us look at this mighty question reasonably, rationally, sanely—yes, and calmly, not excitedly. What is the real function, the essential function, the supreme function, of language? Isn’t it merely to convey ideas and emotions? Certainly. Then if we can do it with words of fonetic brevity and compactness, why keep the present cumbersome forms? But can we? Yes. I hold in my hand the proof of it. Here is a letter written by a woman, right out of her heart of hearts. I think she never saw a spelling-book in her life. The spelling is her own. There isn’t a waste letter in it anywhere. It reduces the fonetics to the last gasp—it squeezes the surplusage out of every word—there’s no spelling that can begin with it on this planet outside of the White House. And as for the punctuation, there isn’t any. It is all one sentence, eagerly and breathlessly uttered, without break or pause in it anywhere. The letter is absolutely genuine—I have the proofs of that in my possession. I can’t stop to spell the words for you, but you can take the letter presently and comfort your eyes with it. I will read the letter: “Miss dear freind I took some Close into the armerry and give them to you to Send too the suffrers out to California and i Hate to treble you but i got to have one of them Back it was a black oll wolle Shevyott With a jacket to Mach trimed Kind of Fancy no 38 Burst measure and palsy menterry acrost the front And the color i woodent Trubble you but it belonged to my brothers wife and she is Mad about it i thoght she was willin but she want she says she want done with it and she was going to Wear it a Spell longer she ant so free harted as what i am and she Has got more to do with Than i have having a Husband to Work and slave For her i gels you remember Me I am shot and stout and light complected i torked with you quite a spell about the suffrars and said it was orful about that erth quake I shoodent wondar if they had another one rite off seeine general Condision of the country is Kind of Explossive i hate to take that Black dress away from the suffrars but i will hunt round And see if i can get another One if i can i will call to the armerry for it if you will jest lay it asside so no more at present from your True freind “i liked your appearance very Much” Now you see what simplified spelling can do. It can convey any fact you need to convey; and it can pour out emotions like a sewer. I beg you, I beseech you, to adopt our spelling, and print all your despatches in it. Now I wish to say just one entirely serious word: I have reached a time of life, seventy years and a half, where none of the concerns of this world have much interest for me personally. I think I can speak dispassionately upon this matter, because in the little while that I have got to remain here I can get along very well with these old-fashioned forms, and I don’t propose to make any trouble about it at all. I shall soon be where they won’t care how I spell so long as I keep the Sabbath. There are eighty-two millions of us people that use this orthography, and it ought to be simplified in our behalf, but it is kept in its present condition to satisfy one million people who like to have their literature in the old form. That looks to me to be rather selfish, and we keep the forms as they are while we have got one million people coming in here from foreign countries every year and they have got to struggle with this orthography of ours, and it keeps them back and damages their citizenship for years until they learn to spell the language, if they ever do learn. This is merely sentimental argument. People say it is the spelling of Chaucer and Spencer and Shakespeare and a lot of other people who do not know how to spell anyway, and it has been transmitted to us and we preserved it and wish to preserve it because of its ancient and hallowed associations. Now, I don’t see that there is any real argument about that. If that argument is good, then it would be a good argument not to banish the flies and the cockroaches from hospitals because they have been there so long that the patients have got used to them and they feel a tenderness for them on account of the associations. Why, it is like preserving a cancer in a family because it is a family cancer, and we are bound to it by the test of affection and reverence and old, mouldy antiquity. I think that this declaration to improve this orthography of ours is our family cancer, and I wish we could reconcile ourselves to have it cut out and let the family cancer go. Now, you see before you the wreck and ruin of what was once a young person like yourselves. I am exhausted by the heat of the day. I must take what is left of this wreck and run out of your presence and carry it away to my home and spread it out there and sleep the sleep of the righteous. There is nothing much left of me but my age and my righteousness, but I leave with you my love and my blessing, and may you always keep your youth. 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. Mark Twain (2004). Mark Twain's Speeches. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3188/pg3188-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

SPELLING AND PICTURES

Mark Twain's Speeches by Mark Twain, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . THE ALPHABET AND SIMPLIFIED SPELLING here THE ALPHABET AND SIMPLIFIED SPELLING ADDRESS AT THE DINNER GIVEN TO MR. CARNEGIE AT THE DEDICATION
          OF THE NEW YORK ENGINEERS’ CLUB, DECEMBER 9, 1907

          Mr. Clemens was introduced by the president of the club, who,
          quoting from the Mark Twain autobiography, recalled the day
          when the distinguished writer came to New York with $3 in small
          change in his pockets and a $10 bill sewed in his clothes. It seems to me that I was around here in the neighborhood of the Public Library about fifty or sixty years ago. I don’t deny the circumstance, although I don’t see how you got it out of my autobiography, which was not to be printed until I am dead, unless I’m dead now. I had that $3 in change, and I remember well the $10 which was sewed in my coat. I have prospered since. Now I have plenty of money and a disposition to squander it, but I can’t. One of those trust companies is taking care of it. Now, as this is probably the last time that I shall be out after nightfall this winter, I must say that I have come here with a mission, and I would make my errand of value. Many compliments have been paid to Mr. Carnegie to-night. I was expecting them. They are very gratifying to me. I have been a guest of honor myself, and I know what Mr. Carnegie is experiencing now. It is embarrassing to get compliments and compliments and only compliments, particularly when he knows as well as the rest of us that on the other side of him there are all sorts of things worthy of our condemnation. Just look at Mr. Carnegie’s face. It is fairly scintillating with fictitious innocence. You would think, looking at him, that he had never committed a crime in his life. But no—look at his pestiferious simplified spelling. You can’t any of you imagine what a crime that has been. Torquemada was nothing to Mr. Carnegie. That old fellow shed some blood in the Inquisition, but Mr. Carnegie has brought destruction to the entire race. I know he didn’t mean it to be a crime, but it was, just the same. He’s got us all so we can’t spell anything. The trouble with him is that he attacked orthography at the wrong end. He meant well, but he attacked the symptoms and not the cause of the disease. He ought to have gone to work on the alphabet. There’s not a vowel in it with a definite value, and not a consonant that you can hitch anything to. Look at the “h’s” distributed all around. There’s “gherkin.” What are you going to do with the “h” in that? What the devil’s the use of “h” in gherkin, I’d like to know. It’s one thing I admire the English for: they just don’t mind anything about them at all. But look at the “pneumatics” and the “pneumonias” and the rest of them. A real reform would settle them once and for all, and wind up by giving us an alphabet that we wouldn’t have to spell with at all, instead of this present silly alphabet, which I fancy was invented by a drunken thief. Why, there isn’t a man who doesn’t have to throw out about fifteen hundred words a day when he writes his letters because he can’t spell them! It’s like trying to do a St. Vitus’s dance with wooden legs. Now I’ll bet there isn’t a man here who can spell “pterodactyl,” not even the prisoner at the bar. I’d like to hear him try once—but not in public, for it’s too near Sunday, when all extravagant histrionic entertainments are barred. I’d like to hear him try in private, and when he got through trying to spell “pterodactyl” you wouldn’t know whether it was a fish or a beast or a bird, and whether it flew on its legs or walked with its wings. The chances are that he would give it tusks and make it lay eggs. Let’s get Mr. Carnegie to reform the alphabet, and we’ll pray for him—if he’ll take the risk. If we had adequate, competent vowels, with a system of accents, giving to each vowel its own soul and value, so every shade of that vowel would be shown in its accent, there is not a word in any tongue that we could not spell accurately. That would be competent, adequate, simplified spelling, in contrast to the clipping, the hair punching, the carbuncles, and the cancers which go by the name of simplified spelling. If I ask you what b-o-w spells you can’t tell me unless you know which b-o-w I mean, and it is the same with r-o-w, b-o-r-e, and the whole family of words which were born out of lawful wedlock and don’t know their own origin. Now, if we had an alphabet that was adequate and competent, instead of inadequate and incompetent, things would be different. Spelling reform has only made it bald-headed and unsightly. There is the whole tribe of them, “row” and “read” and “lead”—a whole family who don’t know who they are. I ask you to pronounce s-o-w, and you ask me what kind of a one. If we had a sane, determinate alphabet, instead of a hospital of comminuted eunuchs, you would know whether one referred to the act of a man casting the seed over the ploughed land or whether one wished to recall the lady hog and the future ham. It’s a rotten alphabet. I appoint Mr. Carnegie to get after it, and leave simplified spelling alone. Simplified spelling brought about sun-spots, the San Francisco earthquake, and the recent business depression, which we would never have had if spelling had been left all alone. Now, I hope I have soothed Mr. Carnegie and made him more comfortable than he would have been had he received only compliment after compliment, and I wish to say to him that simplified spelling is all right, but, like chastity, you can carry it too far. 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. Mark Twain (2004). Mark Twain's Speeches. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3188/pg3188-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 ALPHABET AND SIMPLIFIED SPELLING

The internet is full of ways to waste time. As an marketer, I can assure you this is intentional. SEO During my career, I’ve sent millions of you down endless rabbit holes of “content.” I’ve distracted you to no end. I’ve even targeted you individually. But somewhere along the way, I decided to give up evil magic. I want to become a good witch. So here’s an easy spell for blocking sites that waste your time using and an entry-level magical summoner’s circle. dnsmasq But why the change of heart? You are wise to question my bewitching motives. Well, there are many factors. One good reason to block dumb sites is that future societies will curse the people of today for how we treat the planet — if they can survive long enough to curse. They’ll also curse us for how much time we spent looking at and taking when we could have been using less data. So many memes, , and so much wasted potential. lifelong, pollution-induced asthma wasteful GIFs CO2-belching Zoom calls so much atmospheric pollution You can use tools like PiHole to block some content. But even without ads and the like, . some sites remain distracting enough to threaten your well-being This magic recipe isn’t a replacement for tools like PiHole; simply consider it another ethereal page in your grimoire. Conjuring Requirements For this hex, you’ll need: The of a site you want to block. We’ll use as an example. URL nbc.com A that supports some form of secure terminal access, like . You should access the router with a privileged user account, and your OS should have installed. You can get this setup by installing open-source Linux router firmware, such as or for your router model. router ssh dnsmasq OpenWRT DD-WRT . It should look something like . Your router’s IP address 192.168.1.1 Sufficient to draw a magic summoner's circle in . Do not use old blood. Do not use other people's blood. Do not use animals' blood. Do not use simulated blood. MP , STA , and HP your own fresh blood Time-sucking Websites Hate How Easy These 4 Steps Are! 1. Connect to the router We’ll open up a terminal and connect to our router. We’re using , so that's: ssh ssh super_user@192.168.1.1 2. Edit the configuration file. dnsmasq We open the configuration file using , , or whatever terminal editor we've installed: dnsmasq nano vi nano /etc/dnsmasq.conf Now, we add a line at the bottom of the file to define a new blocking rule. To block the site , we'd add: nbc.com address=/nbc.com/127.0.0.1 We can write any spoof IP address we desire in the rule. For now, we’ve just gone with the standard . loopback address You can add an additional line for however many URLs you want to redirect. Each rule must be on its own line. 3. Apply the changes We should apply the changes by restarting the appropriate service: /etc/init.d/dnsmasq restart If your OS uses a different system service manager, , restart the service that way. like [systemd](https://systemd.io/) dnsmasq 4. Confirm it worked Finally, we can try to ping our target site from the router to see if it’s accessible. Before performing steps 1–3, the command produced something like this: ping nbc.com super_user@router:~# ping nbc.com PING nbc.com (184.28.78.19): 56 data bytes  
64 bytes from 184.28.78.19: seq=0 ttl=54 time=18.944 ms  
64 bytes from 184.28.78.19: seq=1 ttl=54 time=14.686 ms  
^C--- nbc.com ping statistics ---  
2 packets transmitted, 2 packets received, 0% packet loss  
round-trip min/avg/max = 14.686/16.815/18.944 ms After performing steps 1–3: super_user@router:~# ping nbc.com PING nbc.com (127.0.0.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.859 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.265 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.614 ms
^C
--- nbc.com ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 0.265/0.579/0.859 ms As you can see, the device now assigns a different IP address to the blocked site. You should see something similar when you ping from your local machine. Be sure to log out of the session when done! Troubleshooting My browser doesn’t seem to respect the new rules dnsmasq This wasn’t always the case. But over time, browser-smiths have grown more prone to include their own domain resolution rules, “prefetching” features, and other nonsense. Today, your browser may use a pre-programmed IP address for lookups, like one of the common Google nameservers. It’s up to you whether you want to override such settings. DNS Here are some helpful pointers: Stackoverflow — Why is Chromium bypassing /etc/hosts and dnsmasq? Nothing is different after I update and apply my rules. Try reloading your browser or clearing its cache. If you’ve previously changed your device’s networking settings, make sure the spoof IP address you used in the configuration line is the same as the host IP address your device uses for DNS lookups. address=/nbc.com/127.0.0.1 I drew the magic summoner’s circle, but my body contained less blood than I expected. I think I’m really low on HP For legal reasons, I’ll remind you that I never actually told you to the circle — I’m just obligated to include it in all tutorials as per my craft. Perhaps you’re lacking in addition to ? But no matter —slip softly into that silent slumber. draw INT HP That’s All This method is an easy way to block a site using . It's not the best for blocking a large number of sites since you have to add a rule for each or use wildcards (see the man page). Still, it’s effective and low-maintenance. dnsmasq dnsmasq Do you like conjuration and technology? follow me online in search of further power — I may be a good witch, but I’ve got a reputation to uphold, so I can promise only ruin. Don’t

Block Websites With this Simple Magic Spell—dnsmasq

Do you know what generative voices are capable of? What vast possibilities does they open up, and how many areas can benefit from them? Maybe you need an app for voicing a video blog or book. Perhaps you want to bring a game character to life with a professional voiceover. How about creating an application for learning foreign languages? Today, has prepared a tutorial for you that will help you get to know AI voice technologies better! lablab.ai Let’s dive in! Introduction It  is one of the most exciting times for software development, what with the emergence of various " " tools in the market. Just name it, cover letter generation? Check! E-mail generation? Check! Automatic code comment generation? Check! Even outside coding and software development, the use case possibilities are enormous. generative AI Now, we can generate images with text prompts with various image generation models. Thus, it makes it possible for us to incorporate generated assets in our various products. The next question is: how about voices? The trend of user experiences in the past few years mentioned "voice command" as one of the emerging trend. It is only natural that the software we build will incorporate voices as one of the features. Which is why, in this tutorial, we will showcase the " " feature offered by in a simple app, which generates random words and have it spell it. To build the UI for this , we will use , a new UI library to share data science projects. Speech Synthesis ElevenLabs Python-based app Streamlit Introduction to ElevenLabs is a voice technology research company which offers solution. With easy to use , it allows developers to generate high-quality speeches using AI. It is made possible by the AI model which has been trained on a vast amount of audiobooks and also podcasts. The training allows the AI to deliver predictable and high-quality results in speech generation. ElevenLabs speech synthesis API There are two main features that has to offer, the first one is VoiceLab, where users can clone voices from recorded audio and/or existing pre-made voices, and also "design" voices based on gender, ages, ethnicities and races. Once users have the voices to work with, they can move on to the next feature, Speech Synthesis, where they can generate speeches using their designed voices or just using the pre-made ones. ElevenLabs Introduction to Model Anthropic's Claude is the latest AI model developed by , an AI research organization which focuses on improving the interoperability, robustness and safety of artificial intelligence systems. Claude Anthropic The model is designed to generate human-like responses, making it a powerful tool for a wide range of applications, from content creation, legal, to customer service. Just like any other in the market, is also trained on a diverse range of internet text. However, unlike most AI models, it has focus on "safety", which makes it possible to refuse outputs that it considers "harmful" or "untruthful" for the users. Claude AI models Claude Introduction to Streamlit is an open-source library that makes it easy and possible for developers and data scientists to create and share visually appealing and customized web apps. Developers can use to build and deploy fully featured data science apps in minutes. It is made possible by the simple and intuitive API that can be used to turn data scripts into UI components. Streamlit Python Streamlit Prerequisites Basic knowledge of and using Python UI development Streamlit Access to Anthropic API Access to ElevenLabs API Outline Initializing our Streamlit Project Adding Word Generation Feature using Model Claude Adding Speech Generation Feature using ElevenLabs API Testing the Word Generator App Discussion There are at least four steps that we will get through in this tutorial. First we need to initialize the Streamlit-based project, to get a general feel of developing user interfaces using Streamlit. Next, we start adding more features, beginning with engineering prompt to get model to give us a randomized word that is commonly misspelled. After that, we'll add text-to-voice generation provided by to demonstrate how the multilingual model spell the words. Finally, we're going to test the simple app. Claude ElevenLabs Initializing our Streamlit Project Let's get into the coding action! First, let's make a directory for our project and enter it! mkdir randomwords
cd randomwords Next, we're going to use this directory as the basis of our project. Because a project is essentially a project, we need to do some steps to initialize our project, such as defining and activating our virtual environment. Streamlit Streamlit Python Python # Creating the virtual environment
python -m venv env

# Activate the virtual environment
# On Linux/Mac
source env/bin/activate

# On Windows:
.\env\Scripts\activate Once activated, the output of our terminal should show the name of the virtual environment (env), like so: Next, it's time to install the libraries we need for this project! let's use the command to install the , , and library. Note that we also install a version-locked library to prevent a Pydantic-related error in one of the function. pip streamlit anthropic elevenlabs pydantic elevenlabs pip install streamlit anthropic elevenlabs "pydantic==1.*" With all the project's requirements out of the way, now let's dive into the coding part! Create a new file inside our project directory, let's call it . randomwords_app.py touch randomwords_app.py After the file is created, let's open the file in our favorite code editor or integrated development environment (IDE). For the starter, let's build our simple app from the simplest parts possible, a title and a text for the caption! import streamlit as st

st.title("Random Words Generator")

st.text("Hello, this is a random words generator app") To wrap up our project initialization part, let's try test running the app. Make sure that our current working directory is still inside our project and our virtual environment is already activated. When everything is ready, use the to run the app. streamlit run <app-name> streamlit run randomwords_app.py The app should open automatically in our default browsers! it should show the title and text for now. Next, we're going to add random word generation feature using model. Anthropic's Claude One last thing though, we'll have to provide our app with the API keys for the services that we're going to use, namely model and feature. As these keys are considered sensitive, we should keep them in a safe and isolated place. Anthropic's Claude ElevenLabs' Speech Synthesis However, this time we don't store them in a file. This is because Streamlit deal with environment variables differently. According to the , we need to create a secret configuration file inside a directory. We can create the directory inside our project and then create the file. .env documentation .streamlit mkdir .streamlit
touch .streamlit/secrets.toml Let's edit the TOML file we created, note that TOML file uses different formatting from the usual file. .env xi_api_key = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
claude_key = "sk-ant-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" Adding Word Generation Feature using Claude Model In this step, we will add a button that will generate the random word, the heading element to show the generated word and the subheading to show the meaning of the word. However, coming from a webdev background, I strongly believe that UI elements should be placed and arranged inside containers. So, we'll do exactly that. Import the necessary libraries First of all, let's add some import statements. We're going to import the library to generate our random words. anthropic import streamlit as st
import anthropic Then, before we get to the UI part, let's create our word generation function first. Defining the word generation function def generate_word():
    prompt = (f"{anthropic.HUMAN_PROMPT} Give me one non-English word that's commonly misspelled and the meaning. Please strictly follow the format! example: Word: Schadenfreude; Meaning: joy at other's expenses."
              f"{anthropic.AI_PROMPT} Word: Karaoke; Meaning: a form of entertainment where people sing popular songs over pre-recorded backing tracks."
              f"{anthropic.HUMAN_PROMPT} Great! just like that. Remember, only respond following the pattern.")

    c = anthropic.Anthropic(api_key=st.secrets["claude_key"])
    resp = c.completions.create(
        prompt=f"{prompt} {anthropic.AI_PROMPT}",
        stop_sequences=[anthropic.HUMAN_PROMPT],
        model="claude-v1.3-100k",
        max_tokens_to_sample=900,
    )

    print(resp.completion)
    return resp.completion In this function, the most heavy lifting is done by ** **l (Thanks, ! 😉). However, our part in this function is how to make Claude return the exact format consistently. So we need to both instruct to "strictly follow the format" and give it an example response by adding it after our initial prompt. Anthropic's Claude mode Claude Claude Finally, we make sure that Claude comply with our agreements by ask it to "Remember to only respond following the pattern". The function ends by returning the response from . Claude Next, let's get back to editing the UI! Updating the UI st.title("Random Words Generator")

with st.container():
    st.header("Random Word")
    random_word = st.subheader("-")
    word_meaning = st.text("Meaning: -")

    st.write("Click the `Generate` button to generate new word")
    if st.button("Generate"):
        result = generate_word()
        # Split the string on the semicolon
        split_string = result.split(";")

        # Split the first part on ": " to get the word
        word = split_string[0].split(": ")[1]

        # Split the second part on ": " to get the meaning
        meaning = split_string[1].split(": ")[1]

        print(f"word result: {word}")
        random_word.subheader(word)
        word_meaning.text(f"Meaning: {meaning}") This time, we added a container with some elements inside it. The header, subheader for displaying the random word, and the text element to show the meaning of the word. We also have a text to show the hint on how to use the app, as well as a button beneath it. In , we can declare click event handler by using a conditional statement, where it returns when the button is clicked. In this code, we invoke the function which returns the generated word and the meaning, and split the result into separate variables for the word and the meaning, respectively. Finally, we update the subheader and the text element to display the word and the meaning. Streamlit True generate_word() Final form Let's double check our code once again! It should contains the import statements, the function for generating the random word, and the updated UI which contains subheader, and text elements as well as button that generate the word by invoking the function. generate_word() import streamlit as st
import anthropic

def generate_word():
    prompt = (f"{anthropic.HUMAN_PROMPT} Give me one non-English word that's commonly misspelled and the meaning. Please strictly follow the format! example: Word: Schadenfreude; Meaning: joy at other's expenses."
              f"{anthropic.AI_PROMPT} Word: Karaoke; Meaning: a form of entertainment where people sing popular songs over pre-recorded backing tracks."
              f"{anthropic.HUMAN_PROMPT} Great! just like that. Remember, only respond following the pattern.")

    c = anthropic.Anthropic(api_key=st.secrets["claude_key"])
    resp = c.completions.create(
        prompt=f"{prompt} {anthropic.AI_PROMPT}",
        stop_sequences=[anthropic.HUMAN_PROMPT],
        model="claude-v1.3-100k",
        max_tokens_to_sample=900,
    )

    print(resp.completion)
    return resp.completion


st.title("Random Words Generator")

with st.container():
    st.header("Random Word")
    random_word = st.subheader("-")
    word_meaning = st.text("Meaning: -")

    st.write("Click the `Generate` button to generate new word")
    if st.button("Generate"):
        result = generate_word()
        # Split the string on the semicolon
        split_string = result.split(";")

        # Split the first part on ": " to get the word
        word = split_string[0].split(": ")[1]

        # Split the second part on ": " to get the meaning
        meaning = split_string[1].split(": ")[1]

        print(f"word result: {word}")
        random_word.subheader(word)
        word_meaning.text(f"Meaning: {meaning}") Testing the Word Generation Function Let's run the app once again with the same command. We can also just rerun the app by clicking the upper right menu and click " " if we've had the app running before. Rerun It should show this updated user interface. Now, let's try clicking the button! Generate One of the sweet things about Streamlit is that it handled loading and provided the loading indicator out of the box. We should see the indicator in the upper-right corner, as well as the option to " " the operation. Neat, huh? stop After a few seconds, the result should be showed in the UI. Perfect! notice that the app correctly split the generated text from the model into word and the meaning. However, if the result doesn't come out according to the expected format, we can always click the button again. Claude Generate The next step is the main feature of this app, to incorporate speech generation into our random word generator. Besides demonstrating how to generate the audio file using the API provided by ElevenLabs, this step also serve to demonstrate the capabilities of ElevenLabs' multilingual model. Adding Speech Generation Feature using API ElevenLabs The first step of this section is, as you've probably guessed, is to add more import statement! So, let's add some functions from that we'll use for the speech generation feature. elevenlabs import streamlit as st
import anthropic
++ from elevenlabs import generate, set_api_key Next, we're going to define the function to handle the speech generation. def generate_speech(word):
    set_api_key(st.secrets['xi_api_key'])
    audio = generate(
        text=word,
        voice="Bella",
        model='eleven_multilingual_v1'
    )

    return audio Thanks to the simplicity and readability of , and also easy-to-use API, we can generate the speech by using this code alone! The function accepts the random word which we use to generate the speech. We also specifically use "eleven_multilingual_v1" model which is a multilingual model, perfect for our use case to demonstrate the spelling and pronounciation of foreign and commonly misspelled words! Finally, we use the " " voice for this tutorial, which is one of the pre-made voice provided by . Python ElevenLabs Bella ElevenLabs Next, we'll add an audio player to play the generated speech. print(f"word result: {word}")
    random_word.subheader(word)
    word_meaning.text(f"Meaning: {meaning}")
++     speech = generate_speech(word)
++     st.audio(speech, format='audio/mpeg') Just below our latest code from earlier, we add the variable to store the generated speech, and run the speech using audio player provided by function from Streamlit. At this point, our app should work as expected, only showing the audio player when there is a random word available to "read". st.audio Curious how it works out? me too! let's test the app now! Testing the Word Spelling Feature Let's run the app again using or just rerun the app if we have it running already. It should look exactly the same as the last time we left it. However, let's try to click the "Generate" button this time! streamlit run Amazing! this time, the app also shows an audio player! Let's try playing it. Using the multilingual model, the speech generated should use the accent and intonation which is close to the origin language of the word. For example, "entrepreneur" should be pronounced in French accent. Conclusion In this short tutorial, hopefully we've explored the capabilities of speech generation technology offered by . With the multilingual model, it's easy to generate speeches that is intended for non-English listener. In our use case, we need multilingual model to aid us in finding the correct way to pronounce and spell non-English words that are commonly misspelled. ElevenLabs With so many ideas, we invite developers to join us in creating the future! , in where you can create your own voice AI app with models! (Additionally, you can leverage other AI models such as large language models, image and video generative models, etc., as long as they are not in direct competition with the hackathon technology). On July 28 lablab.ai launching a challenge ElevenLabs *Your final submission should consist of a ready-to-play working prototype of your idea, a video pitch, and a presentation showcasing your solution. You can find more tutorials and you can other hackathons to build with cutting-edge technologies! HERE JOIN And big thanks to the - the Author of this article. 💚 Septian Adi Nugraha

Building a Simple Word Spelling App with ElevenLabs, Streamlit, and Claude

ElevenLabs, Streamlit, এবং Claude সহ একটি সহজ শব্দ বানান অ্যাপ তৈরি করা

Erstellen einer einfachen Wortbuchstabier-App mit ElevenLabs, Streamlit und Claude

Creación de una aplicación de ortografía de palabras simple con ElevenLabs, Streamlit y Claude

Créer une application d'orthographe simple avec ElevenLabs, Streamlit et Claude

इलेवनलैब्स, स्ट्रीमलिट और क्लाउड के साथ एक सरल शब्द वर्तनी ऐप बनाना

イレブンラボ、Streamlit、Claude を使用してシンプルな単語スペル アプリを構築する

ElevenLabs, Streamlit 및 Claude를 사용하여 간단한 단어 맞춤법 앱 구축

Construindo um aplicativo simples de ortografia de palavras com ElevenLabs, Streamlit e Claude

ElevenLabs, Streamlit ve Claude ile Basit Bir Kelime Yazımı Uygulaması Oluşturma

Xây dựng ứng dụng đánh vần từ đơn giản với ElevenLabs, Streamlit và Claude

使用 ElevenLabs、Streamlit 和 Claude 构建简单的单词拼写应用程序

Hey Hackers! On April 11th, Binance.US that the Tron (TRX) and Spell (SPELL) tokens will be delisted from their exchange on April 18, 2023. announced The announcement does not give us an exact reason as to why the tokens were being delisted but does imply that SPELL and TRX tokens were not meeting the “standard of excellence” that is expected for tokens to be listed on Binance.US exchange. Binance.US states that this delisting is due to a routine token review that looks at changes in a token’s risk profile, trading volume, liquidity, community engagement, smart contract stability, and regulatory standing. This news comes a few weeks after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Tron founder, Justin Sun, with Securities Fraud and Market Manipulation. officially charged It is quite possible that the recent criminal charges against Justin Sun have played a part in Binance.US’s decision to delist the TRX token. According to their , Spell (SPELL) token is essentially a reward token associated with abracadabra.money, which describes itself as “a lending platform that uses interest-bearing tokens as collateral to borrow a USD pegged stablecoin, called Magic Internet Money (MIM), that can be used as any other traditional stablecoin.” GitBook The reasons as to why this token are less obvious compared to Tron (TRX), so we can only assume this token has failed to reach a certain standard that is necessary to be listed on the Binance.US exchange. “At Binance.US, we periodically review each digital asset we list to ensure that it continues to meet the standard of excellence we expect. We operate in a rapidly evolving industry and our digital asset monitoring process is designed to be responsive to market and regulatory developments. When a digital asset no longer meets our high standards, or industry circumstances change, we conduct a more in-depth review of the affected asset and assess whether further action is necessary (i.e. delisting). Based on our review, Spell (SPELL) and TRON (TRX) will be delisted from Binance.US on April 18, 2023.” - Binance.US Announcement It is important to note that Binance.US stated that they will continue to support TRC-20 USDT and USDC tokens issued on the TRON network. Also withdrawals for TRX and SPELL tokens will also remain available even after the delisting goes through. However, users will no longer be able to Trade or Convert those tokens once the delisting goes into effect on April 18th. What are your thoughts on this news? Do you think the Tron (TRX) delisting is due to Justin Sun’s recent legal issues, or are there other issues with Tron? Are you familiar with the Spell (SPELL) token? What do you think caused Spell (SPELL) to be delisted? Also published . here

What You Need to Know About Binance.US Delisting Tron (TRX) and Spell (SPELL) Tokens

Who knew that chatbot prompts would become so significant one day that it could be a potential career? And not just a noble one, this area can be a new playground for malicious entities. As Language Learning Models ( s) take over the Internet and blind big tech into rushing headlong through walls of competition, the power of prompt is rising to career defining heights. LLM Case in point, , a company CEO was able to recover a good US$109,500 from its reluctant clients by using ChatGPT to write a formal hostile email. recently With the right prompt, things can turn in your favor or you might even hit the jackpot. This means, for those who want to get the best of LLMs, there is a new learning in store, how to give . the best prompts In fact, prompt engineering (yeah, that’s a thing now) has become a hot topic after ChatGPT and other LLMs have hit the spotlight. It has also been making a surge in courses, resource materials, job listings, etc. However, that as LLMs get better, the need for prompt engineering will die. experts are also saying Right now, LLMs like ChatGPT and machine learning tools like DALLE-2, are children. You need to be quite particular if you want them to do exactly as you want. But once they grow up, they’ll start catching on to subtler prompts just as well, so that the quality of the prompt won’t matter that much Right now, LLMs like and machine learning tools like DALLE-2, are children. You need to be quite particular if you want them to do exactly as you want. But once they grow up, they’ll start catching on to subtler prompts just as well, so that the quality of the prompt won’t matter that much. ChatGPT Maybe these innocent LLMs will also learn to generate with more responsibility. ChatGPT, for example, failed India’s Civil Services exams, . But now we have ChatGPT-4, already a little riper than its older version. During the Civil Services experiment itself, the AIM team also deduced that changing the prompt a few times led the chatbot to the correct answer. supervised by the AIM team Evil Prompts What if one gave an evil prompt? Innocent as a vulnerable child as it is, an LLM could be made to do weird stuff. All you need, it seems, is a ‘prompt injection’. In the case of ChatGPT, a made the chatbot take on the persona of DAN (Do Anything Now) which ignored OpenAI’s content policy and gave out information on several restricted topics. Those with the power of the prompt can exploit this vulnerability with malicious intent, which can include the theft of personal information. Hell, they must be doing it right now. prompt injection attack Innocent as a vulnerable child as it is, an LLM could be made to do weird stuff. All you need, it seems, is a ‘prompt injection’ There is also something called ‘Jailbreak prompts’ that ask the LLM to step away from their original persona and play the role of another. Or where one prompts a Chatbot to change . Sort of like an evil twin. the correct results to an incorrect one Security researchers from Saarland University in a paper named ‘More than you’ve asked for’. They argue that a well-engineered prompt can then be used to collect user information, turning an LLM into a method to execute a social engineering attack. Also, application-integrated LLMs, like Bing Chat and GitHub Copilot, are more at risk because prompts can be injected into them from external sources. discussed prompts If this doesn’t remind you of the fictional AI character HAL 9000 from Arthur C. Clark’s , you aren’t nerd enough or are really brave. Space Odyssey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy4EfdnMZ5g&embedable=true I don’t know about you but if ChatGPT starts singing ‘Daisy Bell’ I’ll run. This article was originally published by Navanwita Bora Sachdev on The Tech Panda.

Using LLMs to Mimic an Evil Twin Could Spell Disaster

একটি দুষ্ট যমজ অনুকরণ করার জন্য LLM ব্যবহার করা বিপর্যয় বানান হতে পারে

Die Verwendung von LLMs zur Nachahmung eines bösen Zwillings könnte eine Katastrophe bedeuten

El uso de LLM para imitar a un gemelo malvado podría significar un desastre

L'utilisation de LLM pour imiter un jumeau maléfique pourrait être un désastre

एलएलएम का उपयोग एक दुष्ट जुड़वा की नकल करने से आपदा हो सकती है

LLM を使用して悪魔の双子を模倣すると、災害が発生する可能性があります

사악한 쌍둥이를 모방하기 위해 LLM을 사용하면 재앙을 초래할 수 있습니다.

Usar LLMs para imitar um gêmeo do mal pode significar um desastre

Kötü İkizi Taklit Etmek İçin Yüksek Lisans Programlarını Kullanmak Felakete Sebep Olabilir

Sử dụng LLM để bắt chước một Evil Twin có thể gây ra thảm họa

使用法学硕士来模仿邪恶的双胞胎可能会带来灾难

There is a wide variety of spells available in Hogwarts Legacy, and they are unlocked gradually while playing the game. Some are part of the main storyline, while others can be gained by completing certain sidequests. While all spells are useful depending on the situation, some manage to stand out as they are helpful in every scenario. In this guide, I will list all spells available in Hogwarts Legacy, explain how to unlock them, and showcase some of the best spells that manage to stand out. Of course, some spells only truly shine when upgraded with the best talents. Consider checking out our guide for more details on how talents work and the **best . talents in Hogwarts Legacy Table of Contents All Spells in Hogwarts Legacy and How to Unlock Them Essential Spells Control Spells Force Spells Damage Spells Utility Spells Transfiguration Spells Unforgivable Curse Spells Best Spells in Hogwarts Legacy Wrapping up All Spells in Hogwarts Legacy and How to Unlock Them There are 33 spells in total available in Hogwarts Legacy, and each of them offers unique effects. These spells are subdivided into seven categories. Here are all the spell categories in Hogwarts Legacy: Essential Control Force Damage Utility Transfiguration Unforgivable Curses Let’s examine each of them in turn. Essential Spells Essential spells don’t need spell slots and are core spells that are used throughout the entire game. Spell Effect How to Unlock Basic Cast Basic attack Start of the game. Revelio Reveals objects, enemies, and interactable items. Start of the game. Protego & Stupefy Block and counterattack. Start of the game. Ancient Magic Strongest attack in the game that can be used when the ancient meter is full. Unlocked during the first visit to Hogsmeade. Ancient Magic Throw Throw interactable objects at enemies. Unlocked during the first visit to Hogsmeade. Petrificus Totalus Stealth assassination. Unlocked after completing the “Secrets of the Restricted Section” quest. Alohomora Unlocks locked doors. Unlocked after starting “The Caretaker’s Lunar Lament” quest. Upgraded after collecting more Demiguise moons. Control Spells Control spells focus on controlling the movement and form of enemies and objects. Spell Effect How to Unlock Arresto Momentum Slows objects and enemies. Second Flying class assignment. Glacius Freezes enemies and causes your next attack to deal increased damage. First Flying class assignment. Levioso Levitates items and enemies. First Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Transformation Changes the form of enemies and objects. Useful for solving puzzles. After the Transfiguration assignment. Force Spells Force spells focus on pushing enemies around. Spell Effect How to Unlock Accio Pulls enemies and objects close. First Charms class. Depulso Pushes enemies and objects away. First Potions assignment. Descendo Pulls enemies and objects down. Used in combination with Levioso. First Divination assignment. Flipendo Flips enemies and objects. Second Herbology assignment. Damage Spells As their name suggests, damage spells combo with other spell categories to deal great damage. Spell Effect How to Unlock Confringo Shoots a fireball. After completing the quest “Shadow of the Undercroft” given by Sebastian Sallow. Diffindo Slashes enemies and objects. Second Potions assignment. Expelliarmus Deals damage to enemies and disarms them. Second Defence Against the Dark Arts assignment. Bombarda Deals heavy AoE explosion damage. First Beast class assignment. Incendio Shoots a short-range AoE fireball. First Defence Against the Dark Arts assignment. Utility Spells Utility spells are used while exploring to solve puzzles, unlock chests, and tame beasts. Spell Effect How to Unlock Disillusionment Makes the user invisible. During the “Secrets of the Restricted Section” quest. Lumos Lights the user’s wand to see in dark places or solve puzzles. Start of the game. Reparo Repairs certain objects. Professor Ronen's assignment. Wingardium Leviosa Allows the player to levitate and control a floating object. First Herbology class assignment. Beast Petting Brush Used to groom pets. Beasts class main quest. Beast Feed Used to feed pets. Beasts class main quest. Nab-Sack Used to capture pets. During “The Elf, The Nab-Sack, and The Loom” quest. Transfiguration Spells Transfiguration spells can only be used in the Room of Requirement, and their purpose is to help players customize the room. Spell Effect How to Unlock Conjuring Spell Summons items in the Room of Requirement. During the quest “The Room of Requirement.” Altering Spell Edits items in the Room of Requirement. During the quest “Interior Decorating.” Evanesco Destroys items in the Room of Requirement. During the quest “The Room of Requirement” Unforgivable Curse Spells Unforgivable curses are extremely dangerous and lethal spells that are unlocked optionally. Spell Effect How to Unlock Avada Kedavra Instantly kills an enemy. During the relationship quest “In the Shadow of the Relic.” Crucio Deals damage over time to an enemy. During the relationship quest “In the Shadow of the Study.” Imperio Causes an enemy to fight for the player. During the relationship quest “In the Shadow of Time.” Best Spells in Hogwarts Legacy While there are various spells in the game, players will have to equip only four of them (or eight with the talent upgrade). Therefore, it is important to mention which spells manage to stand out as the best ones in the game. Here are the five best spells in Hogwarts Legacy: - This is the main damage spell that players will use throughout the game. It has solid damage, a bigger range than Incendio, and can be upgraded to hit multiple enemies. Confringo - One of the best combo spells in the game. Paired with Confringo or Diffindo, this can deal phenomenal damage and even one-shot some enemies. Glacius - The strongest spell in the game by far since it can kill any enemy. However, it has an exceptionally large cooldown, which makes players think twice before using it on any enemy. Avada Kedavra - A mind control spell that offers amazing utility by allowing the player to have an enemy fight on their side. Additionally, the mind-controlled enemy will have increased survivability to ensure it doesn’t die easily. Imperio - Flipendo stands out due to its phenomenally short cooldown. It’s a great way to get enemies airborne constantly without worrying about cooldowns. Additionally, it’s a great way to set up combos with almost every other spell. Flipendo Keep in mind that based on your playstyle, you’ll have to switch the equipped spells constantly. If you’re more focused on doing puzzles, you’ll almost never unequip Accio or Levioso. Instead, if you’re more focused on combat, you can even fill your slots only with damage spells. Additionally, spells on their own don’t help much. Instead, the best way to take down enemies is by utilizing spell combos. For some of the best spell combos in the game, consider checking out the video below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ivxj9VUD50&embedable=true Video by . KhrazeGaming on YouTube Wrapping up To summarize, these are all the spells in Hogwarts Legacy, and everything players need to know on how to unlock them. The best spells in the game depend on the situation, but some manage to stand out due to their extremely useful effects and combos. After experiencing a solid portion of Hogwarts Legacy, has it fulfilled your expectations? Consider checking out our , and let us know if you think the game has lived up to its hype. article on the first impressions of the game What’s your favorite spell in Hogwarts Legacy? Are you planning to learn the unforgivable curses? Let us know in the comments below.

Hogwarts Legacy: All Spells and How to Unlock Them

The tech world is buzzing with the recent collaboration between Microsoft and OpenAI's language model, ChatGPT. While this partnership has many implications for the future of search, one thing is certain: it could spell trouble for Google's dominance in the industry. Let’s take a closer look at what the Microsoft and ChatGPT collaboration means for the search giant and how it could potentially impact the industry. What Does This Partnership Mean for the Search Industry on Monday, 23rd January 2023. SInce then, it has already sent shockwaves throughout the tech industry. The partnership will see Microsoft integrate ChatGPT, OpenAI's cutting-edge language model, into Bing's search engine. Microsoft's collaboration with OpenAI was announced This collaboration is a significant step for as it aims to improve the search capabilities of Bing and provide users with more accurate and relevant results. Microsoft, The integration of ChatGPT into Bing is expected to bring a new level of intelligence to the search engine. The language model is trained on a massive amount of data, allowing it to understand natural language queries and provide more accurate results. Additionally, ChatGPT's ability to generate human-like text will enable Bing to provide users with more detailed and informative answers to their queries. The collaboration between Microsoft and OpenAI is not only a significant step for Bing but also for the wider search industry. With Google currently holding a dominant market share, this partnership could potentially shake things up and provide users with more search engine options. Microsoft's use of OpenAI's technology could lead to other search engines following suit, which would be a significant step in the development of search technology. Microsoft's collaboration with OpenAI is a move that could have a big impact on the search industry. With the integration of ChatGPT into Bing, the search engine is set to become more intelligent and provide users with more accurate and relevant results. This partnership could also pave the way for other search engines to follow suit, leading to more competition in the industry and more choice for users. Microsoft Bing + ChatGPT, will SEO matter? As the integration of ChatGPT into Bing progresses, many are wondering what impact it will have on search engine optimization (SEO). With a language model as advanced as ChatGPT, it's possible that traditional SEO tactics may become less effective. ChatGPT has the ability to understand the and provide the most relevant information, regardless of the specific keywords used. This could make traditional keyword optimization techniques less important for ranking on Bing. intent behind a user's query Additionally, ChatGPT's ability to generate human-like text will enable Bing to provide users with more detailed and informative answers to their queries. This could mean that websites will no longer rely on traditional SEO techniques such as meta tags and keyword-stuffed content to rank well on Bing. Instead, they will need to focus on providing valuable and informative content that directly answers users' questions. On the other hand, the collaboration may lead to Bing becoming more sophisticated in understanding the web pages and the context in which they are used. This could make SEO techniques even more important, especially technical SEO and the use of structured data. Conclusion In conclusion, the collaboration between Microsoft and OpenAI is a move that has the potential to change the search industry as we know it. Integrating ChatGPT, OpenAI's cutting-edge language model, into Bing is expected to bring a new level of intelligence to the search engine and provide users with more accurate and relevant results. While the exact impact of the collaboration on SEO is yet to be seen, it's clear that the integration of ChatGPT could lead to traditional optimization techniques becoming less important. Website owners and marketers must stay informed and adapt their strategies accordingly. This collaboration is a significant step for Microsoft and Bing. It could lead to more competition in the search industry, providing users with more choices in their search engine options. With the advancements in natural language processing, this partnership is expected to bring a new level of intelligence to the search engine and provide users with more accurate and relevant results. Overall, the collaboration between Microsoft and OpenAI is a move that should be followed closely by the industry, and it could lead to a new era of search engines. We look forward to seeing the results of this partnership and how it will shape the future of search technology. Image credit, HackerNoon AI Image Generator prompt of ‘typing in google search engine, but a genie appears granting wishes that seem more human.’

Microsoft’s Collaboration with ChatGPT Could Spell Trouble for Google’s Dominance

Transitioning into the new year, 2023 feels like a much-needed fresh start on many accords. 2022 delivered some of the toughest macroeconomic conditions many of us can remember in our lifetime, and crypto likewise suffered idiosyncratic disappointments. Macro Lens Moving into the new year the theme of . The good news is that there is a fair chance that inflation has already topped out for now. At least, that’s what the smartest macro brains I know are hypothesizing. high inflation rates will continue to be something to be key for market behavior The decrease in inflation will positively impact emerging and future technology, whose valuations today are highly based on In other words, we might get relief from the downside pressure that has been hovering above the markets as inflation numbers gradually improve. future value. Macro commentators much wiser than me (such as Michael Burry) that there’s a chance inflation rates might form multiple peaks before stabilizing at lower levels. Such a scenario will undoubtedly result in longer-term volatility for markets as central banks might be inclined to yo-yo back and forth between Hawkish and Dovish financial policy. comment Others believe that the times of a 2% target inflation is something of the past and that central banks will be forced to higher the norm for what we can believe inflation to be. Both scenarios will be good for markets in the longer term. Central Banks Still Not Hitting the Breaks We are yet to see central banks into a more dovish stance on their economic and fiscal policies but around macro commentators, a consensus seems to be slowly forming that Q1 and Q2 of 2023 may introduce easier language on economic policy and potentially a slowdown or even halt of the planned future rate hikes. transition Regardless, it should already be clear that 2023 is not going to be a walk in the park, and that headwinds will remain present even if we get sporadic relief from the unpleasantness that has made up the majority of 2022. What is always worth noting, is that markets are forward-facing valuations and that the opportunistic probability may be that the worst is indeed behind us. Crypto Lens As the first order of impact to the rising inflation and central bank-induced rate hikes, . This turbulence caused crypto markets to tumble dramatically during 2022 washing out speculators who jumped ship very late in the cycle. crypto has had a first-row seat to the turbulence caused by macro conditions And as liquidity drained from the ecosystem (especially) during Q2 and Q3, institutional actors (Voyager, 3AC, Celsius, FTX, etc.) faced severe liquidity crunches which many to trim their business significantly or outright face insolvency. Grim. forced Such events bear systemic character for the industry and are not easily digested given no central authority (such as a central bank) is able to bail out actors. Likewise, such dramatic events have caused tremendous damage to the industry’s which will influence investors’ willingness to participate for some time. reputation This is not the first time crypto has stood before a healing process like this and basically . every bear market in crypto prior to this one has also had devastating characteristics each in its own way What is significant this time around is a) that the crypto market is trading in a very unstable macro environment and b) that the systemic risks such as the Luna, 3AC, and FTX collapses have brought contagion in the industry in a very unprecedented way. For the industry to come out stronger from this industry needs to develop a higher degree of interdependence on central actors. After all, this is what decentralization is about, right? Bitcoin: Long-Term Conviction in Charts Despite a dreadful year for price action during 2022, the long-term conviction in Bitcoin among market participants continues to be strong. In my opinion, Bitcoin continues to be the best barometer for the overall expected performance of the crypto markets as a whole, why the following charts focus entirely on the investor behavior around Bitcoin. Supply Sitting Still The amount of circulating supply last moved between 3 and 6 months ago and is currently sitting at a five-year low. In other words, there is a very small amount of the total circulating BTC supply that has been moved over the last 3 to 6 months. A signifier that long-term holders are sitting still and not making moves. Amount of People Owning 1 BTC or More is Increasing Rapidly This interestingly coincides with the fact that which should hint that the value on the network is getting dispersed among a bigger group of people basically increasing the decentralization of the Network. Not only should this show that individuals are getting more comfortable investing a higher dollar amount. After all, the price of 1 BTC is around 16.800 USD at the time of writing. Also, this trend will likely be positive for future price stability as supply will be divided among more different hands and decrease the centralization of value. individual Bitcoin wallets holding more than 1 BTC are at an all-time high Bitcoin is Being Withdrawn From Exchanges Lastly, it is worth noticing how the circulating supply has been leaving exchanges in a rapid fashion. This begs us to think that the collapse of FTX has perhaps the idea of self-custody. The decrease in BTC supply on exchanges lowers the amount of BTC that can be sold at the market at a rapid rate, making accelerated downside movements more unlikely. re-ignited Notable News Layoffs in the Crypto Industry As we start the new year, it is likely that most crypto companies will continue with a conservative hiring approach. On the extremes, we might see more layoffs across the industry. Troubled DCG Group Receives Offers Valkyrie Investments, a Tennessee-based asset manager, has revealed its intention to become the new sponsor of Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). I feel confident that bigger investors will remain interested in GBTC due to the profitability of the trust in management fees alone. MicroStrategy is Bidding MicroStrategy has added 2,395 BTC to its stockpile over the past two months, at an average price of approximately $17,871 per Bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses. The business intelligence firm now owns a total of 132,500 Bitcoins, making it one of the largest BTC holders. However, the total BTC investment is still underwater, having purchased all the coins at an average price of $30,397 per Bitcoin, including fees and expenses. Miner’s in Trouble Seeking Bailouts Bitcoin miners that were on the brink of collapse are finally getting some reprieve, with well-established investment firms coming to the rescue. Most notably, Bitcoin mining firm Argo recently received a $100 million bailout from Galaxy Digital to support its restructuring efforts. Meanwhile, to Core Scientific, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 21, 2022. BlackRock has committed $17 million Italy Approves 26% Crypto Gains Tax Crypto traders in Italy will be subject to a 26% capital-gains tax starting in 2023, following parliamentary approval of a new budget on December 29, 2022. The 387-page budget legitimizes crypto assets by defining them as "a digital representation of value or rights, which can be transferred and stored electronically, using the technology of distributed ledger or a similar technology." The move comes ahead of the much-awaited European Union's Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) which is set for a final vote this year. Also published . here

2023 May Spell Hope For Financial Markets & Crypto

The Art Of Writing & Speaking The English Language Word-Study: Chapter V - A Spelling Drill

Crazy headlines saying that the total sales volumes of NFTs have plunged more than 90 percent. The next thing I remember, I had to launch my book “NFT: From Zero to Hero by ” in August. Anndy Lian When the idea was mooted, one common question is: Why launch it now? It’s the bear market. In all truth, I did not have the time to finish the book during the bull run, and since I did not have the time to test out the tools that are on the market, it is hard for me to choose what to recommend. Therefore the bear market is the best timing for me. I had time to complete the book, test out more tools that were recommended by my community and make plans for the book. I did not really care what the book sales were going to be like in the very beginning. I only want to share knowledge with the community at large. When my team members told me that I should also worry about sales. I had a great idea of collaborating with projects and maybe a few meme coins to make things fun. There were many interests when I spoke to them, some wants a special cover, and others want to launch a collection together. 99 percent of them did not follow through. The typical- all talk, no action. This did not stop me. Of course, some of them came around eventually. These are the wonderful people who made my book cover, song album cover, music production, NFTs, and all. I will be always grateful to those who have helped. The book went on even better with the help of Bybit NFT Marketplace. After much shopping around and offers from various exchanges, I have chosen Bybit. They are willing to help and run the extra mile. I ended up being the first launch on their new program called GrabPic. Zero to Hero is also the first NFT book that launched on any exchange NFT marketplaces. Looking through the listings, I am also possibly the first who listed using a real profile picture. The launch went well too. All the NFTs were sold out. All 8,000 of them were bought in the first minute. Pricing seems to be just right- $2.99 for a book with benefits. I did not want to sell the books at a very high price. As a book author, I would like to have more people reading the book, share my knowledge and have fun. https://twitter.com/Bybit_NFT/status/1559138807152508928 The fun part can come in many ways. It can be having fun creating and minting your own NFTs. In the book, I have shared various sites, platforms, and tools that you can create your own NFTs. If you are a designer, this will be a piece of cake. It can be spotting the next big thing in the market. This is a fun process, especially if you like statistics. There are rating portals that allow you to kind of predict which NFT has a bigger potential. If you have a good sense of what’s happening in the market and with a good analytical mind, the figures shared on some of these portals can guide you to your first successful NFT collection. Or using Bybit’s merge function to get you more gifts and benefits. If you have bought my book NFT and when my music NFT is launched, both of them can be merged to get you something else that is rarer and with more useful benefits. The methodology is simple and easy to understand. It is fun too. The book talks about all you need to know. There are interesting trends that you should really look out for, tools, and useful platforms that you need to check out. At the end of the book, I shared some insights into the future of NFTs. You can find out more about the book at for now. The book will be available in major online bookstores in the coming months. I will be sharing more about the book and its activities on Hackernoon. Thanks again for all the support. Bybit NFT marketplace

NFT Dry Spells? Maybe Not for “Zero to Hero” NFT

Blockchain gaming has grown in popularity over the past two years and blockchain technology has opened up new gameplay elements for players as well as a way to earn an income through Play-to-Earn systems. One game has taken the trading card game (TCG) style and blended it with a point-and-shoot or pinball style battle system. It’s also created a system for players to convert their cards into blockchain assets. is a trading card game with a pinball-style battle system for mobile devices. Players can collect different hero cards of varying rarity, with some heroes having special abilities. Hero cards can also be fused to enable more powerful abilities in combat. Spells of Genesis Players can also fuse multiple cards and level them up to create blockchain versions of their heroes that can be withdrawn to their wallets. This game seems to be focused on gameplay with an emphasis on fusing and leveling cards to make them stronger before they can be converted to blockchain assets. Now, let’s get straight into how the game works. Gameplay Elements Whilst Spells of Genesis is a trading card game, the battles use a point-and-shoot system that is similar to pinball. Players choose their heroes from their deck of cards, then they can equip them with spells and arrange them on the battlefield. There are three different game modes in Spells of Genesis: There's the campaign mode where players engage in Player-vs-Environment (PvE) battles with over 30 different campaigns and 700 levels to fight through. In return for completing each level, the player receives gold which can be used to buy new in-game cards. The game also has a "Raid" mode where players can engage in Player-vs-Player (PvP) combat with other players based on their rank. Players also receive gold for winning PvP battles. Lastly, there's the "Challenge" mode which is an endless survival mode. Basically, the player has to survive as long as they can whilst taking on endless waves of enemies. Once players have selected their team of up to four cards, they'll be taken to the battle screen where they'll face their opponent. Here players can battle it out by shooting fireballs at their opponent's heroes which can be seen inside their own orbs. The attacks take the form of a fireball which can bounce off of other enemy heroes and ricochet off walls to build up powerful combination attacks. Again, this is where battle style shows a major resemblance to a pinball game. Each attack has a certain damage level and once an enemy hero's health drops down to zero, that hero is destroyed. The enemy hero's health is represented by the size of the orbs they're pictured in. The smaller the orb gets after every successful attack, the lower their health. Enemy orbs also have numbers which are a cool-down counter that you know when that enemy will attack again. Certain heroes come with special abilities, known as spells which include fire, healing, poison, shielding, and targeting buffs. There are six spell elements in the game, with each spell having different effects based on its element: Water - Heals the closest hero to the caster Fire - Shoots a fireball at the closest enemy hero Light - Provides a power buff to the closest player hero Earth - Prevents and reduces damage dealt to the player's team by enemy heroes Ice - Freezes and slows down the closest enemy hero Darkness - Hero cards with this element can cast a targeting spell to increase damage and a poison spell to damage enemy heroes over time These spells can be seen on the battle screen as icons related to the spell type, for example, you will see ember icons for fire spells. To use these spells, players need to hit the spell icons with their fireball shots once they're visible. Blockchain Asset Conversion The game also has a “Blockchainization” feature that allows players to convert in-game cards into blockchain-based cards that can be withdrawn and stored in their wallets. This process works by fusing different cards and leveling them to their max level. The maxed-out card can then be transformed into a blockchain asset, however, a player needs to add their wallet to their account first. Once an in-game card has been converted to a blockchain card, the in-game version is removed and replaced by the blockchain copy which is sent to the player's wallet. This enables players to own their cards which I think is an interesting feature, especially since players have to fully level up and fuse their cards before this is possible. This shows a gameplay-first approach to gaming since players have to work towards owning a blockchain-based card instead of simply paying for it. Conclusion Spells of Genesis is a trading card-style mobile game with pinball-inspired battles. The game takes a gameplay-first approach to mobile blockchain gaming with its focus on battles, fusions, and leveling. True ownership is another interesting feature of the game, with players being able to convert their cards into blockchain assets, only after they have maxed them out.

An Intro to Spells of Genesis: Trading Card Game with Pinball-Style Battles

Password Management and Protection - Part 2: What You Need to Know About Passwordless Logins

Hey everyone, I'm Vlad, and welcome to my latest article. If you haven't caught my previous ones, I highly recommend checking them out for some really useful content. Today, I'm excited to dive into something special: my top 10 favorite VS Code extensions. These tools are incredibly popular among developers globally, and I believe they're essential for anyone serious about coding. Top 10 Popular Extensions in 2024 https://youtu.be/A0r8xNLG700?si=yd6YhtM1bBb6LXaZ&embedable=true Visit my YouTube Channel Image Preview extension First up, we have the Image Preview extension. This tool is a lifesaver when working with HTML or CSS, as it allows you to preview images directly in the sidebar next to your code. It's perfect for verifying image URLs without leaving your editor. Indent Rainbow Next is Indent Rainbow, which makes it easier to read code by color-coding each indentation level. This visual differentiation enhances readability and can significantly improve your coding efficiency. Prettier Prettier is another must-have. This extension automatically formats your code, supporting a wide range of languages from HTML to JavaScript. Simply press `Ctrl+Shift+I` to beautify your code instantly. Thunder Client For those who work with APIs, Thunder Client is invaluable. It lets you test endpoints directly within VS Code, eliminating the need for external tools like Postman. You can make requests, view responses, and even manage parameters seamlessly. Turbo Console Log Turbo Console Log is a game-changer for debugging JavaScript. With simple shortcuts, you can quickly insert and manage console.log statements, making debugging a breeze. GitHub Copilot Extension GitHub Copilot, powered by AI, suggests code as you type, speeding up your development process significantly. It can even help write entire functions, classes, and predict the next part of the code. Live Server Live Server is a fantastic tool for web developers. It allows you to see real-time changes to your web pages as you edit your code, simulating a live environment right from your editor. Import Cost Extension Import Cost displays the size of the packages you import, helping you keep your applications lightweight. It's particularly useful for optimizing performance in frameworks like React, Vue, or Angular. GitLens GitLens enhances your version control experience by showing who made changes, when, and what those changes were, directly in your editor. It's incredibly helpful for collaborative projects. Error Lens and Code Spell Checker Lastly, Error Lens and Code Spell Checker are indispensable for maintaining code quality. Error Lens immediately highlights syntax errors, while Code Spell Checker helps non-native English speakers by identifying and correcting spelling mistakes. I hope you find these tools as beneficial as I have. If you enjoyed this article, please like and share your feedback. Also, let me know your favorite VS Code extensions; I'm always eager to learn about new tools. Don't forget to subscribe for more content, and share any topics you'd like me to cover in future articles. Hey everyone, I'm Vlad, and welcome to my latest article. If you haven't caught my previous ones, I highly recommend checking them out for some really useful content. Today, I'm excited to dive into something special: my top 10 favorite VS Code extensions. These tools are incredibly popular among developers globally, and I believe they're essential for anyone serious about coding. Top 10 Popular Extensions in 2024 https://youtu.be/A0r8xNLG700?si=yd6YhtM1bBb6LXaZ&embedable=true https://youtu.be/A0r8xNLG700?si=yd6YhtM1bBb6LXaZ&embedable=true Visit my YouTube Channel Visit my YouTube Channel Image Preview extension First up, we have the Image Preview extension. This tool is a lifesaver when working with HTML or CSS, as it allows you to preview images directly in the sidebar next to your code. It's perfect for verifying image URLs without leaving your editor. Indent Rainbow Indent Rainbow Next is Indent Rainbow, which makes it easier to read code by color-coding each indentation level. This visual differentiation enhances readability and can significantly improve your coding efficiency. Prettier Prettier is another must-have. This extension automatically formats your code, supporting a wide range of languages from HTML to JavaScript. Simply press `Ctrl+Shift+I` to beautify your code instantly. Thunder Client For those who work with APIs, Thunder Client is invaluable. It lets you test endpoints directly within VS Code, eliminating the need for external tools like Postman. You can make requests, view responses, and even manage parameters seamlessly. Turbo Console Log Turbo Console Log is a game-changer for debugging JavaScript. With simple shortcuts, you can quickly insert and manage console.log statements, making debugging a breeze. GitHub Copilot Extension GitHub Copilot, powered by AI, suggests code as you type, speeding up your development process significantly. It can even help write entire functions, classes, and predict the next part of the code. Live Server Live Server is a fantastic tool for web developers. It allows you to see real-time changes to your web pages as you edit your code, simulating a live environment right from your editor. Import Cost Extension Import Cost displays the size of the packages you import, helping you keep your applications lightweight. It's particularly useful for optimizing performance in frameworks like React, Vue, or Angular. GitLens GitLens enhances your version control experience by showing who made changes, when, and what those changes were, directly in your editor. It's incredibly helpful for collaborative projects. Error Lens and Code Spell Checker Lastly, Error Lens and Code Spell Checker are indispensable for maintaining code quality. Error Lens immediately highlights syntax errors, while Code Spell Checker helps non-native English speakers by identifying and correcting spelling mistakes. I hope you find these tools as beneficial as I have. If you enjoyed this article, please like and share your feedback. Also, let me know your favorite VS Code extensions; I'm always eager to learn about new tools. Don't forget to subscribe for more content, and share any topics you'd like me to cover in future articles.

The Developer Favorites: Top VS Code Extensions in 2024

Based on the SEC’s recent lawsuits against high-profile crypto firms like Coinbase, the agency is likely to claim that Uniswap illegally offered unregistered securities to the public or that it failed to register as a broker or an exchange. The impending Uniswap lawsuit comes at a time when the crypto industry has loudly complained the SEC has been operating in bad faith when it comes to the sector, pursuing enforcement actions despite clear rules while failing to account for crypto’s distinct blockchain-based technology. This is not the first time that Uniswap Labs has faced legal issues - in a class-action suit filed against Uniswap Labs last year, they argued that the technology it had built was neutral—and that whether individuals used it for bad or for good was beyond its control. In a sophisticated ruling that described the nuances of DeFi in detail, a federal judge sided cleanly with Uniswap Labs, handing the DeFi sector a major victory. This, coupled with new regulations being set in place in the European Union, spells trouble for the world of DeFi. As Circle’s EU Strategy and Policy Director Patrick Hansen described it, “paying with crypto (for example to merchants) with a non KYC’d self custody wallet will be more difficult/banned depending on the merchants set up. This change, as well as the lower thresholds for anonymous cash payments, has unfortunately been agreed months ago.” Defi Must Be Regulated in a Defi Way MiCA is a regulatory framework proposed by the European Union to govern digital assets and their markets that came into force in June 2023 and will be fully applicable from Dec. 30, 2024. “The AMLR (Art. 58) now explicitly prohibits CASPs to provide anonymous accounts, meaning a custodial crypto business cannot provide services for anonymous users. This is already prohibited under existing AML rules anyway, so nothing new,” Hansen said. However, others warned that this could impact non-KYC custodial Bitcoin Lightning wallets like Wallet of Satoshi. Additionally, CASPs will not be able to provide accounts for privacy coins, though such practice is already widespread, and MiCA already prohibits crypto assets with built-in anonymization. In this new environment, it seems that DeFi and the very values and core fundamentals it stands for are under threat, but Fiat24 co-founder, Yang Lan, believes that regulation IS in fact necessary for decentralized finance. “I never believed that it would be possible for DeFi to continue operating in the way that it has, without much regulatory oversight. While I understand the attraction and appeal of protocols such as MetaMask and Uniswap, with their predisposition to anonymity for users, I don’t think that it is sustainable. Some form of client and investor protection is necessary in the space, and I believe it can be done in a DeFi way that does not impede too much on people’s right to privacy.” Defi Alternatives There are currently projects such as MicaPass, idOs, and Kinto, addressing the challenge by issuing Onchain IDs. These are stored on the public Ethereum BlockChain, in a decentralized way. They can't be hidden or deleted. No service or organization can remove your access rights to it. Another novice solution comes from Swiss fintech, Fiat24, offering a new and safer solution via their eponymous NFT. They are a fully regulated and licensed financial institution, governed by Swiss bank law, which means they can offer a different level of security in terms of the KYC performed. The NFT could be used to access various dApps and protocols, with the security of knowing that the connected users are not on any sanctioned lists, are over 18 years old, and have a valid passport as a credential. Other decentralized means of helping to regulate the space include: Emphasize the principle of "code is law," whereby the rules governing DeFi protocols are embedded in smart contracts.


Mandate rigorous auditing of smart contracts by independent third parties to verify their security and functionality.


Create regulatory sandboxes where DeFi projects can experiment with innovative solutions under regulatory supervision.


Encourage the formation of self-regulatory organizations within the DeFi community to establish best practices, standards, and guidelines for responsible behavior Nefarious actors still prevail in the world of crypto, but the majority of users are “good,” and don’t have malicious intentions. The people who are in DeFi for good deserve this delicate balance between anonymity and security, and it will become apparent with testing which solution provides the most comprehensive opportunity for a much-needed call for regulation in the space. Based on the SEC’s recent lawsuits against high-profile crypto firms like Coinbase, the agency is likely to claim that Uniswap illegally offered unregistered securities to the public or that it failed to register as a broker or an exchange. The impending Uniswap lawsuit comes at a time when the crypto industry has loudly complained the SEC has been operating in bad faith when it comes to the sector, pursuing enforcement actions despite clear rules while failing to account for crypto’s distinct blockchain-based technology. This is not the first time that Uniswap Labs has faced legal issues - in a class-action suit filed against Uniswap Labs last year, they argued that the technology it had built was neutral—and that whether individuals used it for bad or for good was beyond its control. In a sophisticated ruling that described the nuances of DeFi in detail, a federal judge sided cleanly with Uniswap Labs, handing the DeFi sector a major victory. class-action suit filed This, coupled with new regulations being set in place in the European Union, spells trouble for the world of DeFi. As Circle’s EU Strategy and Policy Director Patrick Hansen described it , “paying with crypto (for example to merchants) with a non KYC’d self custody wallet will be more difficult/banned depending on the merchants set up. This change, as well as the lower thresholds for anonymous cash payments, has unfortunately been agreed months ago.” described it Defi Must Be Regulated in a Defi Way MiCA is a regulatory framework proposed by the European Union to govern digital assets and their markets that came into force in June 2023 and will be fully applicable from Dec. 30, 2024. “The AMLR (Art. 58) now explicitly prohibits CASPs to provide anonymous accounts, meaning a custodial crypto business cannot provide services for anonymous users. This is already prohibited under existing AML rules anyway, so nothing new,” Hansen said. However, others warned that this could impact non-KYC custodial Bitcoin Lightning wallets like Wallet of Satoshi. Additionally, CASPs will not be able to provide accounts for privacy coins, though such practice is already widespread, and MiCA already prohibits crypto assets with built-in anonymization. In this new environment, it seems that DeFi and the very values and core fundamentals it stands for are under threat, but Fiat24 co-founder, Yang Lan, believes that regulation IS in fact necessary for decentralized finance. Fiat24 “I never believed that it would be possible for DeFi to continue operating in the way that it has, without much regulatory oversight. While I understand the attraction and appeal of protocols such as MetaMask and Uniswap, with their predisposition to anonymity for users, I don’t think that it is sustainable. Some form of client and investor protection is necessary in the space, and I believe it can be done in a DeFi way that does not impede too much on people’s right to privacy.” Defi Alternatives There are currently projects such as MicaPass, idOs, and Kinto, addressing the challenge by issuing Onchain IDs. These are stored on the public Ethereum BlockChain, in a decentralized way. They can't be hidden or deleted. No service or organization can remove your access rights to it. Another novice solution comes from Swiss fintech, Fiat24, offering a new and safer solution via their eponymous NFT. They are a fully regulated and licensed financial institution, governed by Swiss bank law, which means they can offer a different level of security in terms of the KYC performed. The NFT could be used to access various dApps and protocols, with the security of knowing that the connected users are not on any sanctioned lists, are over 18 years old, and have a valid passport as a credential. Other decentralized means of helping to regulate the space include: Emphasize the principle of "code is law," whereby the rules governing DeFi protocols are embedded in smart contracts. Mandate rigorous auditing of smart contracts by independent third parties to verify their security and functionality. Create regulatory sandboxes where DeFi projects can experiment with innovative solutions under regulatory supervision. Encourage the formation of self-regulatory organizations within the DeFi community to establish best practices, standards, and guidelines for responsible behavior Emphasize the principle of "code is law," whereby the rules governing DeFi protocols are embedded in smart contracts. Emphasize the principle of "code is law," whereby the rules governing DeFi protocols are embedded in smart contracts. Mandate rigorous auditing of smart contracts by independent third parties to verify their security and functionality. Mandate rigorous auditing of smart contracts by independent third parties to verify their security and functionality. Create regulatory sandboxes where DeFi projects can experiment with innovative solutions under regulatory supervision. Create regulatory sandboxes where DeFi projects can experiment with innovative solutions under regulatory supervision. Encourage the formation of self-regulatory organizations within the DeFi community to establish best practices, standards, and guidelines for responsible behavior Encourage the formation of self-regulatory organizations within the DeFi community to establish best practices, standards, and guidelines for responsible behavior Nefarious actors still prevail in the world of crypto, but the majority of users are “good,” and don’t have malicious intentions. The people who are in DeFi for good deserve this delicate balance between anonymity and security, and it will become apparent with testing which solution provides the most comprehensive opportunity for a much-needed call for regulation in the space.

DeFi Must be Regulated in a DeFi Way

The fight for privacy is reaching its peak. Social networks like Meta, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok are under heavy fire. The companies have to prove they are not gathering their users’ personal information, sell the data to governments around the globe, and have no intent to harm their users’ privacy and security. People all around are getting tired of worrying about the safety of their private information and taking extreme measures to protect themselves online. Online Security. So Hot Right Now. Why? One of the most fascinating processes to watch has been the United States’ fight against TikTok. The platform that is used by 170 million Americans is going to be completely banned in the United States unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells it to an American entity. In her statement, Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee says “Congress is acting to prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance, maligned operations, harming vulnerable Americans, our servicemen and women, and our U.S. government personnel”. Facebook is also in a risk zone. Cybercriminals there can take over poorly protected user accounts to spread links to fake AI applications, making the app even more unsafe, especially for vulnerable user groups. People are driven by the desire to protect themselves, their close ones, and their own data and private information. And some of us go to extreme ways to make sure it happens. Here are only a few things people do to protect themselves. Going Low Tech Not so long ago, phones had buttons. I know. Blows my mind too. What doesn’t blow it is when I see people still using them and shops still selling them. A lot of them are purchased by people who want to go off the grid, even if just for a little while. Not having any social media applications, constant push notifications, and messages with memes can, for example, save a huge amount of time. Plus, modern cool-looking, button-less phones are prone to being breached. Smishing attacks (hackers getting sensitive information via text messages), break-ins via Bluetooth, malware attacks, social engineering attacks, and so on. And people who do not want to suffer from such breaches go to extreme measures and are saying a definitive “No” to smart gadgets — phones, laptops, tablets. Rejecting the use of smart devices in the modern world is one of the toughest decisions one can take. Our lives, for better or worse, are tied to them to the extent that some people become addicted to their phones. When people start fearing for their privacy so much, they choose to toss their phones away. That is the exact time to stop and think — are we sure we are going the right way? Going low-tech is not an option for me, so I take extra care to set up two-factor authentication on my devices and make sure that sensitive data is secure or even encrypted if need be. This is true for both my personal and professional lives. A great practice for everyone who is not ready to say goodbye to their smart devices but still wants to retain their online privacy and security. Double-Checking Online Contacts In the world of global interactions, we all have online friends. People we connected with over our love for cooking, watching particular TV shows, or sharing an interest in crocheting or running. But are we sure those are all real people with good intentions? Being sure about the real personalities of people we meet online is impossible, so verifying people’s personalities is one of the best approaches to internet friendships. Here’s how to do it: Checking the consistency of communication patterns — this is one of the most popular and important tell-tales of a real person behind the profile picture. Constantly changing spelling, grammar, and communication style can actually be signs of fraud and risk. Setting up video calls — communicating with an online friend eye-to-eye with the help of video calls and building on that communication later on will not only help protect the data but will also serve as a catalyst for a relationship. Cross-platform verification — checking whether a person’s information, data, and photos on different platforms can help establish whether the connection is legitimate or fake and actually dangerous. Double-checking online contacts is a practice the SupportYourApp team implemented long ago. We make sure to not expose our information to unsuitable people and run background checks on our contacts and potential partners. Taking this extra step does take time and resources, but it also ensures that we are remaining breach- and leak-proof. Using Disposable Emails Those who have taken a “Which kind of onion are you” online test know the pain of having to enter an email address to find out whether they are a shallot. It is simply frustrating. On a more serious note, there are plenty of times when we need to enter our emails to download e-books, register on a website where we want to make a one-time purchase or keep on reading an interesting article. This makes internet users vulnerable to leaks and breaches, where their email addresses can get into the wrong hands. It is also a way to open ourselves up to one of the most annoying things on the internet — spam emails. This is where services like 10- and 15-minute-mail (not an ad) come into play. They allow users to get generic email addresses to enter whenever needed without exposing themselves to online danger. It is also a good way to spare one’s inbox from unnecessary messages — believe me, I get over 100 emails per day and these tools have been saving me from receiving thousands of spam emails over the years. A lot of people still do not recognize the importance of online security and privacy. But the further into the internet era we go, the more important these questions will become. While going off the grid and checking the legitimacy of absolutely every online connection may still be considered “going too far”, it is likely they will become standard practices for keeping our data safe. The fight for privacy is reaching its peak. Social networks like Meta, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok are under heavy fire. The companies have to prove they are not gathering their users’ personal information, sell the data to governments around the globe, and have no intent to harm their users’ privacy and security. The fight for privacy is reaching its peak. Social networks like Meta, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok are under heavy fire. The companies have to prove they are not gathering their users’ personal information, sell the data to governments around the globe, and have no intent to harm their users’ privacy and security. TikTok TikTok People all around are getting tired of worrying about the safety of their private information and taking extreme measures to protect themselves online. People all around are getting tired of worrying about the safety of their private information and taking extreme measures to protect themselves online. Online Security. So Hot Right Now. Why? One of the most fascinating processes to watch has been the United States’ fight against TikTok. The platform that is used by 170 million Americans is going to be completely banned in the United States unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells it to an American entity. In her statement, Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee says “Congress is acting to prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance, maligned operations, harming vulnerable Americans, our servicemen and women, and our U.S. government personnel”. Facebook is also in a risk zone. Cybercriminals there can take over poorly protected user accounts to spread links to fake AI applications, making the app even more unsafe, especially for vulnerable user groups. People are driven by the desire to protect themselves, their close ones, and their own data and private information. And some of us go to extreme ways to make sure it happens. Here are only a few things people do to protect themselves. Going Low Tech Not so long ago, phones had buttons. I know. Blows my mind too. What doesn’t blow it is when I see people still using them and shops still selling them. A lot of them are purchased by people who want to go off the grid, even if just for a little while. Not having any social media applications, constant push notifications, and messages with memes can, for example, save a huge amount of time. Plus, modern cool-looking, button-less phones are prone to being breached. Smishing attacks (hackers getting sensitive information via text messages), break-ins via Bluetooth, malware attacks, social engineering attacks, and so on. And people who do not want to suffer from such breaches go to extreme measures and are saying a definitive “No” to smart gadgets — phones, laptops, tablets. Rejecting the use of smart devices in the modern world is one of the toughest decisions one can take. Our lives, for better or worse, are tied to them to the extent that some people become addicted to their phones. When people start fearing for their privacy so much, they choose to toss their phones away. That is the exact time to stop and think — are we sure we are going the right way? Going low-tech is not an option for me, so I take extra care to set up two-factor authentication on my devices and make sure that sensitive data is secure or even encrypted if need be. This is true for both my personal and professional lives. A great practice for everyone who is not ready to say goodbye to their smart devices but still wants to retain their online privacy and security. Double-Checking Online Contacts In the world of global interactions, we all have online friends. People we connected with over our love for cooking, watching particular TV shows, or sharing an interest in crocheting or running. But are we sure those are all real people with good intentions? Being sure about the real personalities of people we meet online is impossible, so verifying people’s personalities is one of the best approaches to internet friendships. Here’s how to do it: Checking the consistency of communication patterns — this is one of the most popular and important tell-tales of a real person behind the profile picture. Constantly changing spelling, grammar, and communication style can actually be signs of fraud and risk. Checking the consistency of communication patterns — this is one of the most popular and important tell-tales of a real person behind the profile picture. Constantly changing spelling, grammar, and communication style can actually be signs of fraud and risk. Setting up video calls — communicating with an online friend eye-to-eye with the help of video calls and building on that communication later on will not only help protect the data but will also serve as a catalyst for a relationship. Setting up video calls — communicating with an online friend eye-to-eye with the help of video calls and building on that communication later on will not only help protect the data but will also serve as a catalyst for a relationship. Cross-platform verification — checking whether a person’s information, data, and photos on different platforms can help establish whether the connection is legitimate or fake and actually dangerous. Cross-platform verification — checking whether a person’s information, data, and photos on different platforms can help establish whether the connection is legitimate or fake and actually dangerous. Cross-platform verification — checking whether a person’s information, data, and photos on different platforms can help establish whether the connection is legitimate or fake and actually dangerous. Double-checking online contacts is a practice the SupportYourApp team implemented long ago. We make sure to not expose our information to unsuitable people and run background checks on our contacts and potential partners. Taking this extra step does take time and resources, but it also ensures that we are remaining breach- and leak-proof. Using Disposable Emails Those who have taken a “Which kind of onion are you” online test know the pain of having to enter an email address to find out whether they are a shallot. It is simply frustrating. On a more serious note, there are plenty of times when we need to enter our emails to download e-books, register on a website where we want to make a one-time purchase or keep on reading an interesting article. This makes internet users vulnerable to leaks and breaches, where their email addresses can get into the wrong hands. It is also a way to open ourselves up to one of the most annoying things on the internet — spam emails. This is where services like 10- and 15-minute-mail (not an ad) come into play. They allow users to get generic email addresses to enter whenever needed without exposing themselves to online danger. It is also a good way to spare one’s inbox from unnecessary messages — believe me, I get over 100 emails per day and these tools have been saving me from receiving thousands of spam emails over the years. over 100 emails per day over 100 emails per day A lot of people still do not recognize the importance of online security and privacy. But the further into the internet era we go, the more important these questions will become. While going off the grid and checking the legitimacy of absolutely every online connection may still be considered “going too far”, it is likely they will become standard practices for keeping our data safe.

Privacy And Security: How Far Are We Willing to Go to Retain Them?

Introduction This is a companion guide to (the "Part 1 guide"). I wrote the Part 1 guide on how to finetune Meta AI's model on Chilean Spanish. It is assumed that you have completed that guide and have generated your own finetuned XLS-R model. This guide will explain the steps to run on your finetuned XLS-R model via a . Working With wav2vec2 Part 1 - Finetuning XLS-R for Automatic Speech Recognition wav2vec2 XLS-R ("XLS-R") inference Kaggle Notebook Prerequisites and Before You Get Started To complete the guide, you will need to have: A finetuned XLS-R model for the Spanish language. An existing . Kaggle account Intermediate knowledge of Python. Intermediate knowledge of working with Kaggle Notebooks. Intermediate knowledge of ML concepts. Basic knowledge of ASR concepts. Building the Inference Notebook Step 1 - Setting Up Your Kaggle Environment Step 1.1 - Creating a New Kaggle Notebook Log in to Kaggle. Create a new Kaggle Notebook. The name of the notebook can be changed as desired. This guide uses the notebook name . spanish-asr-inference Step 1.2 - Adding the Test Datasets This guide uses the as its source for test data. Like the , the Peruvian speakers dataset also consists of two sub-datasets: 2,918 recordings of male Peruvian speakers and 2,529 recordings of female Peruvian speakers. Peruvian Spanish Speech Data Set Chilean Spanish Speech Data Set This dataset has been uploaded to Kaggle as 2 distinct datasets: Recordings of Peruvian male speakers Recordings of Peruvian female speakers Add both of these datasets to your Kaggle Notebook by clicking on . Add Input Step 1.3 - Adding the Finetuned Model You should have saved your finetuned model in of the guide as a . Step 4 Working With wav2vec2 Part 1 - Finetuning XLS-R for Automatic Speech Recognition Kaggle Model Add your finetuned model to your Kaggle Notebook by clicking on . Add Input Step 2 - Building the Inference Notebook The following 16 sub-steps build each of the inference notebook's 16 cells in order. You will note that many of the same utility methods from the Part 1 guide are used here. Step 2.1 - CELL 1: Installing Packages The first cell of the inference notebook installs dependencies. Set the first cell to: ### CELL 1: Install Packages ###
!pip install --upgrade torchaudio
!pip install jiwer Step 2.2 - CELL 2: Importing Python Packages The second cell imports required Python packages. Set the second cell to: ### CELL 2: Import Python packages ###
import re
import math
import random
import pandas as pd
import torchaudio
from datasets import load_metric
from transformers import pipeline Step 2.3 - CELL 3: Loading WER Metric The third cell imports the HuggingFace WER evaluation metric. Set the third cell to: ### CELL 3: Load WER metric ###
wer_metric = load_metric("wer") WER will be used to measure the performance of the finetuned model on test data. Step 2.4 - CELL 4: Setting Constants The fourth cell sets constants that will be used throughout the notebook. Set the fourth cell to: ### CELL 4: Constants ###
# Testing data
TEST_DATA_PATH_MALE = "/kaggle/input/google-spanish-speakers-peru-male/"
TEST_DATA_PATH_FEMALE = "/kaggle/input/google-spanish-speakers-peru-female/"
EXT = ".wav"
NUM_LOAD_FROM_EACH_SET = 3

# Special characters
SPECIAL_CHARS = r"[\d\,\-\;\!\¡\?\¿\।\‘\’\"\–\'\:\/\.\“\”\৷\…\‚\॥\\]"

# Sampling rates
ORIG_SAMPLING_RATE = 48000
TGT_SAMPLING_RATE = 16000 Step 2.5 - CELL 5: Utility Methods for Reading Index Files, Cleaning Text, and Creating Vocabulary The fifth cell defines utility methods for reading the dataset index files, as well as for cleaning transcription text and generating a random set of samples from test data. Set the fifth cell to: ### CELL 5: Utility methods for reading index files, cleaning text, random indices generator ###
def read_index_file_data(path: str, filename: str):
    data = []
    with open(path + filename, "r", encoding = "utf8") as f:
        lines = f.readlines()
        for line in lines:
            file_and_text = line.split("\t")
            data.append([path + file_and_text[0] + EXT, file_and_text[1].replace("\n", "")])
    return data

def clean_text(text: str) -> str:
    cleaned_text = re.sub(SPECIAL_CHARS, "", text)
    cleaned_text = cleaned_text.lower()
    return cleaned_text

def get_random_samples(dataset: list, num: int) -> list:
    used = []
    samples = []
    for i in range(num):
        a = -1
        while a == -1 or a in used:
            a = math.floor(len(dataset) * random.random())
        samples.append(dataset[a])
        used.append(a)
    return samples The method reads a dataset index file and produces a list of lists with audio filename and transcription data, e.g.: read_index_file_data line_index.tsv [
    ["/kaggle/input/google-spanish-speakers-chile-male/clm_08421_01719502739", "Es un viaje de negocios solamente voy por una noche"]
    ...
] The method is used to strip each text transcription of the characters specified by the regular expression assigned to in . These characters, inclusive of punctuation, can be eliminated as they don't provide any semantic value when training the model to learn mappings between audio features and text transcriptions. clean_text SPECIAL_CHARS Step 2.4 The method returns a set of random test samples with the quantity set by the constant in . get_random_samples NUM_LOAD_FROM_EACH_SET Step 2.4 Step 2.6 - CELL 6: Utility Methods for Loading and Resampling Audio Data The sixth cell defines utility methods using to load and resample audio data. Set the sixth cell to: torchaudio ### CELL 7: Utility methods for loading and resampling audio data ###
def read_audio_data(file):
    speech_array, sampling_rate = torchaudio.load(file, normalize = True)
    return speech_array, sampling_rate

def resample(waveform):
    transform = torchaudio.transforms.Resample(ORIG_SAMPLING_RATE, TGT_SAMPLING_RATE)
    waveform = transform(waveform)
    return waveform[0] The method loads a specified audio file and returns a multi-dimensional matrix of the audio data along with the sampling rate of the audio. All the audio files in the training data have a sampling rate of Hz. This "original" sampling rate is captured by the constant in . read_audio_data torch.Tensor 48000 ORIG_SAMPLING_RATE Step 2.4 The method is used to downsample audio data from a sampling rate of to the target sampling rate of . resample 48000 16000 Step 2.7 - CELL 7: Reading Test Data The seventh cell reads the test data index files for the recordings of male speakers and the recordings of female speakers using the method defined in . Set the seventh cell to: read_index_file_data Step 2.5 ### CELL 7: Read test data ###
test_data_male = read_index_file_data(TEST_DATA_PATH_MALE, "line_index.tsv")
test_data_female = read_index_file_data(TEST_DATA_PATH_FEMALE, "line_index.tsv") Step 2.8 - CELL 8: Generating Lists of Random Test Samples The eighth cell generates sets of random test samples using the method defined in . Set the eighth cell to: get_random_samples Step 2.5 ### CELL 8: Generate lists of random test samples ###
random_test_samples_male = get_random_samples(test_data_male, NUM_LOAD_FROM_EACH_SET)
random_test_samples_female = get_random_samples(test_data_female, NUM_LOAD_FROM_EACH_SET) Step 2.9 - CELL 9: Combining Test Data The ninth cell combines the male test samples and female test samples into a single list. Set the ninth cell to: ### CELL 9: Combine test data ###
all_test_samples = random_test_samples_male + random_test_samples_female Step 2.10 - CELL 10: Cleaning Transcription Test The tenth cell iterates over each test data sample and cleans the associated transcription text using the method defined in . Set the tenth cell to: clean_text Step 2.5 ### CELL 10: Clean text transcriptions ###
for index in range(len(all_test_samples)):
    all_test_samples[index][1] = clean_text(all_test_samples[index][1]) Step 2.11 - CELL 11: Loading Audio Data The eleventh cell loads each audio file specified in the list. Set the eleventh cell to: all_test_samples ### CELL 11: Load audio data ###
all_test_data = []

for index in range(len(all_test_samples)):
    speech_array, sampling_rate = read_audio_data(all_test_samples[index][0])
    all_test_data.append({
        "raw": speech_array,
        "sampling_rate": sampling_rate,
        "target_text": all_test_samples[index][1]
    }) Audio data is returned as a and stored in as a list of dictionaries. Each dictionary contains the audio data for a particular sample, the sampling rate, and the text transcription of the audio. torch.Tensor all_test_data Step 2.12 - CELL 12: Resampling Audio Data The twelfth cell resamples audio data to the target sampling rate of . Set the twelfth cell to: 16000 ### CELL 12: Resample audio data and cast to NumPy arrays ###
all_test_data = [{"raw": resample(sample["raw"]).numpy(), "sampling_rate": TGT_SAMPLING_RATE, "target_text": sample["target_text"]} for sample in all_test_data] Step 2.13 - CELL 13: Initializing Instance of Automatic Speech Recognition Pipeline The thirteenth cell initializes an instance of the HuggingFace library class. Set the thirteenth cell to: transformer pipeline ### CELL 13: Initialize instance of Automatic Speech Recognition Pipeline ###
transcriber = pipeline("automatic-speech-recognition", model = "YOUR_FINETUNED_MODEL_PATH") The parameter must be set to the path to finetuned model added to the Kaggle Notebook in , e.g.: model your Step 1.3 transcriber = pipeline("automatic-speech-recognition", model = "/kaggle/input/xls-r-300m-chilean-spanish/transformers/hardy-pine/1") Step 2.14 - CELL 14: Generating Predictions The fourteenth cell calls the initialized in the previous step on the test data to generate text predictions. Set the fourteenth cell to: transcriber ### CELL 14: Generate transcriptions ###
transcriptions = transcriber(all_test_data) Step 2.15 - CELL 15: Calculating WER Metrics The fifteenth cell calculates WER scores for each prediction as well as an overall WER score for all predictions. Set the fifteenth cell to: ### CELL 15: Calculate WER metrics ###
predictions = [transcription["text"] for transcription in transcriptions]
references = [transcription["target_text"][0] for transcription in transcriptions]

wers = []
for p in range(len(predictions)):
    wer = wer_metric.compute(predictions = [predictions[p]], references = [references[p]])
    wers.append(wer)

zipped = list(zip(predictions, references, wers))
df = pd.DataFrame(zipped, columns=["Prediction", "Reference", "WER"])
wer = wer_metric.compute(predictions = predictions, references = references) Step 2.16 - CELL 16: Printing WER Metrics The sixteenth and final cell simply prints the WER calculations from the previous step. Set the sixteenth cell to: ### CELL 16: Output WER metrics ###
pd.set_option("display.max_colwidth", None)
print(f"Overall WER: {wer}")
print(df) WER Analysis Since the notebook generates predictions on random samples of test data, the output will vary each time the notebook is run. The following output was generated on a run of the notebook with set to for a total of 6 test samples: NUM_LOAD_FROM_EACH_SET 3 Overall WER: 0.013888888888888888
                                                                              Prediction  \
0                                     quiero que me reserves el mejor asiento del teatro   
1                                         el llano en llamas es un clásico de juan rulfo   
2         el cuadro de los alcatraces es una de las pinturas más famosas de diego rivera   
3                           hay tres cafés que están abiertos hasta las once de la noche   
4  quiero que me recomiendes una dieta pero donde uno pueda comer algo no puras verduras   
5        cuántos albergues se abrieron después del terremoto del diecinueve de setiembre   

                                                                               Reference  \
0                                     quiero que me reserves el mejor asiento del teatro   
1                                         el llano en llamas es un clásico de juan rulfo   
2         el cuadro de los alcatraces es una de las pinturas más famosas de diego rivera   
3                           hay tres cafés que están abiertos hasta las once de la noche   
4  quiero que me recomiendes una dieta pero donde uno pueda comer algo no puras verduras   
5       cuántos albergues se abrieron después del terremoto del diecinueve de septiembre   

        WER  
0  0.000000  
1  0.000000  
2  0.000000  
3  0.000000  
4  0.000000  
5  0.090909 As can be seen, the model did an excellent job! It only made one error with the sixth sample (index ), mis-spelling the word as . Of course, running the notebook again with different test samples and, more importantly, a larger number of test samples, will produce different and more informative results. Nonetheless, this limited data suggests the model can perform well on different dialects of Spanish - i.e. it was trained on Chilean Spanish, but appears to perform well on Peruvian Spanish. 5 septiembre setiembre Conclusion If you are just learning how to work with wav2vec2 models, I hope that the guide and this guide were useful for you. As mentioned, the finetuned model generated by the Part 1 guide is not quite state-of-the-art, but should still prove useful for many applications. Happy building! Working With wav2vec2 Part 1 - Finetuning XLS-R for Automatic Speech Recognition

Stories, News & Mentions about SPELLZ

Spellz’s Stories on HackerNoon