I apologize for how snobby the title of this blog post is.
I sound so privileged when I say things that way, I know, I know. But moving past that, I did want to share my travel experiences this holiday! As you know, I'm living in Spain at present as an Auxiliar de Conversación through the Spanish government's ministry program. This means I'll be in Europe from September through June, teaching English at an elementary school. Because we work as teachers, we get all of the same holidays off as the kids. This year (2016-2017), our break started on December 22 and lasts until January 8 – a perfect time to travel! Many auxiliares choose to go home for the long holiday break, by my roommate, Amy, and I opted to travel instead! I'm not sure how long I'll stay in Spain, so taking advantage of long travel breaks is a must.
Our first destination was a city everyone should try to visit at least once in their lives. I'm talking, of course, about Paris! Paris is the capital of France as well as it's largest city with over 2.2 million people in the center. It is known for being the City of Lights, and over Christmas it did not disappoint. In addition, there is amazing art, culture, fashion, and food in the city.
From Madrid, Paris is 650 miles (1200 km) northeast. We decided to head there on Christmas Eve by plane. We took all budget airlines to try to save money, and to get to Paris, we rode Vueling at the cost of €67/person. All of the budget airlines are pretty strict about your carry-on size, and Vueling did make Amy check to see if her hiking backpack fit to the specified dimensions (it did). The flight lasted about 2 hours and we arrived in Paris just after 10am.
Our trip started off rather chaotically once we got into the city center from the metro. We couldn't figure out where the hell to buy our metro tickets to get to our stop! It was a mess. We ran all over looking for a ticket booth and the only two we found were out of order. We stopped and asked other tourists if they had any idea and they said they were running into the same problem! So it wasn't just us. Finally, a Paris man used his card to get us through the other side of the gate so we could buy metro tickets. We were lucky we ran into him! Later, we found that our train tickets could be used more than once (*eyeroll* no other city is like that!). Finally we made it to our hostel.
We stayed at The Loft Hostel in Paris. It was pretty nice! We chose a mixed dorm with four beds. I'm not sure if it was because of the holidays or what, but the hostel wasn't very booked. It ended up just being Amy and I in the room for the two nights! The rooms themselves were pretty cool too. Standard hostel style bunk beds, but everything was very clean and new.
I haven't stayed in too many hostels, but Amy assured me that it is very rare to have a room to yourself! My only complaint was that the lockers there were very small. Our little carry-on bags wouldn't fit in them, but our purses did. Since we had the room to ourselves, it didn't really matter though.
Our first outing in Paris was to the Musse d'Orsay. It was a destination Amy really wanted to see and it was pretty neat. There are lots of impressionist paintings there. The building itself was made out of an old train station. One of the first things I realized was that this trip was going to bet rather expensive for me, being 26 years old. Unfortunately, France seems to be under the impression that those 25 and under don't have their sh*t together yet, but once you hit 26, you do… and you pay. The museum was free to Amy, being only 24 at the time, but it cost me €12 to get in. That was a bummer. But it was a beautiful museum. I believe they do have free days for everyone but it's like Wednesday or something and we weren't going to be there on a Wednesday. So fine. I paid.
We spent a few hours in the museum and then decided to run around the town for a bit. We were already near the center so we wanted to check out the Christmas markets. The Christmas markets are close to the Eiffel Tower, so we headed that way and stopped for a few pictures with the iconic building of Paris.
It's really difficult to get good shots in front of the tower since it's such a massive structure! We instead opted for photos across the Seine River.
As we got closer and found the Christmas markets, our first stop was to get crêpes! I got apple cinnamon and Amy got nutella banana. Needless to say, it was a great decision. We then walked through the markets and got ourselves some mulled wine. It was my first time trying hot, spiced wine and it was delicious! The wine is made slightly differently in each country, but it's always delicious. While there may not have been snow on the ground, it was still pretty cold. Hot wine was just the thing we needed as we browsed the markets.
We continued to walk around the markets as it got a bit darker. The sun set before 5pm so it got dark quickly! Amy said there was this macaroon place that she loved and we had to go there. It was called Laduree and it was right off the main street in Paris!
The selection of sweets was amazingly pleasing for my sweet tooth! There were small macaroons, big macaroons, cakes, cookies… deliciousness every way we looked. The line was a bit long, but luckily they gave us free samples as we waited! Each macaroon costs €2.10, so I was happy to get a free sample. Amy and I tried to be good so we only got three macaroons a piece (plus one waiting in line, so technically four total). Most people were getting gift boxes with tons of sweets. Unfortunately my macaroon budget didn't allow for that. Still, it's a must if you've got a sweet tooth like me!
After our sweets, we headed back to our hostel.
When we woke the next morning it was Christmas day! This is the first Christmas in my 26 years of existence that I haven't been with my family for the holidays. It was quite weird and honestly didn't feel too much like Christmas to me. There were no presents, no Christmas trees, no Christmas music… It was cool to be in Paris for Christmas, but I imagine it might feel more like the holidays if you're with a family or a loved one. Not that my roommate wasn't great, just that I didn't have the warm fuzzy Christmas feelings I usually have when I wake up on Christmas morning.
On Christmas, there wasn't a lot open. Part of this was due to Christmas falling on a Sunday. That and it was obviously a major holiday. Luckily the Eiffel Tower was open and we had read that there was ice skating there! It sounded like fun so we headed once again into the center. There was a ton of security around the Eiffel Tower. This is probably because of the recent Berlin Attack, which was fine by me. I would rather spend an extra few minutes in line making sure nothing crazy is going to happen and knowing I am safe. Since security was heightened, everything took a bit longer, but eventually we got in. To go up the Eiffel Tower, you can either ride an elevator or take the stairs. Again, if you're 25 or younger, everything is a bit cheaper. To ride the elevator being 25 or younger cost €4.00 and to go up the stairs cost €5.00 (no idea why it's cheaper for younger people to go up the elevator, but whatever). If you're 26 or older, it costs €11.00 to use the elevator and €7.00 to use the stairs (maybe they think older people need more exercise?). Either way, we chose to do the stairs.
I didn't think it was too bad! You walk up the stairs to the first platform. From there, you can get a pretty great view of Paris! Since it was the holidays, they also had an ice rink on the first platform. The best part about that? It was totally FREE to skate! The only requirement was that you had to wear gloves as you went around the rink. The lady wouldn't hand you your skates if you didn't first prove you had gloves.
It was a fairly small rink, but it wasn't too busy. The ice wasn't perfectly maintained, but that was fine. I always enjoy ice skating, but I never do it quite right and it always ends up killing my calves! I think I invert my feet a bit and don't hold my weight right. After a few laps, I was done and ready to climb up to the second platform. It was also a really cool view from up a bit higher!
At the second platform, you can choose to go up to the very top (for an additional fee, of course) by elevator. We didn't end up going all the way to the top. It may not have been snowing, but it was still pretty cold! Our view from the second platform was fine enough.
Hiking up the Eiffel Tower was a blast. I know it's such a touristy thing to do, but it was worth it! I'm glad we went. After we left the tower, we decided to see more of the Christmas markets. I bought my mom some soap from there, since it was all hand-made and smelled incredible. Amy got an ornament. For lunch, we got raclette sandwiches… I have no idea how I'd never heard of these before Paris. They are AMAZING! The roll of cheese is so hot and scrapes right off into your sandwich of either sausage or ham.
Needless to say, I was very happy with my cheesy sandwich and Orangina drink (basically carbonated orange juice). As we sat down to eat, we tried practicing our French. There was this sweet little lady next to us who spoke a little English and helped us with a few phrases. She was so nice!
I think a lot of the time, people in Paris get a bad rap for being rude or snobby to foreigners. I've had friends tell me stories where the people in Paris were so rude to them for seemingly no reason. I'm pleased to say that was NOT my experience. I found the French to be very kind and helpful. Maybe it was the Christmas spirit in everyone, but all seemed to be in a good mood.
We ran around for the rest of the day checking out all the markets and doing some more sightseeing. We ended up going to Notre Dam Cathedral which was really awesome. Again, security was heightened so the lines took a bit longer to get in. Luckily, because it was a Catholic holiday, we were able to go into the church for free! It was beautiful.
It was right as the sun was starting to set (which is why my iPhone had trouble getting a decent photo). We went inside and found that there was a free church concert before mass started. We stayed for that and it was magical. A very cool place indeed. By the time we left, it was pitch black outside.
We thought it would be a good idea to grab some dinner at the Christmas markets again before going on a boat tour of Paris on the Seine River. The boat tour cost €12/person and there was no discount if you were under 25. The tour started at 9pm and we were on the boat ready to go. Of course there were other Americans who wanted to catch the 9pm boat as well but were late. They kept protesting, "It's not our fault! He told us we could get a drink!" (Pointing to a worker inside). The French man was irritated and pointed to the large clock on the wall that read 9:01pm and told them, "The boat sets off AT 9pm!" But they continued complaining and the man let them on board (clearly irritated though). The tickets were open ended and they realistically could have gotten on again at 9:30pm, but they got their way and all was well.
The night cruise was really cool and the lights of Paris were beautiful. Our guide told us all about the different bridges and pointed out some landmarks we went to earlier, like the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dam.
On the left you can see the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night. On the right is a statue of Saint Genevieve, patron saint of Paris. I couldn't resist taking a picture of my saint! Even though it did turn out a little low res.
This bridge, Le Pont Nuef, was cool because you can see all of the heads from the water. It reminded me of Game of Thrones a little bit 😉 These were the "friends" of King Henry, according to our tour guide. The boat tour was very fun and beautiful. The tour lasted an hour and afterwards, we headed back to our hostel.
This was our last day in Paris! We had done and seen a lot, but still left on my bucket list was the famous Louvre Museum. A trip to Paris wouldn't be complete without a stop at the Louvre, right? We headed over early to make sure we got a decent spot in line. Unfortunately, a lot of other people had the same idea.
Still, it wasn't peak tourist season so the lines weren't as long as they could have been. Once inside the Louvre, you pay €15 if you're 26 or older and it's free if you're 25 or younger (with a valid EU residency card which we get through the Auxiliares Program – it is your TIE). Once again, Amy got in for free and I had to pay the fee. It was worth it though. There is so much to do and see in this museum. Our tour guide told us that if you spent 2 minutes in front of every work, you could spend a full 152 days at this museum! And that doesn't even take into consideration the amount of time you spend fighting your way to the front to see things like the Mona Lisa.
Luckily, I made my way up there without too much difficulty. Just had to view her from a slight side angle. Oh well. This was definitely the most packed area of the museum. There were lots of other things to see as well.
I was so confused at first why everyone was running around with a Nintendo DS! Turns out that these people paid for a tour and the DS has a video walking tour on it. Certain paintings or sculptures will have certain markings for you to listen on the DS. In the gift shop, you can even buy the tour game for about €20! I thought that was really cool. I think it is great to incorporate technology into the historical arts. To me, anything that brings people/kids into learning is a great investment. Very neat idea!
After our tour of the Louvre, it was time to catch our Bla Bla car to Rennes, France! Rennes is about 220 miles (350 km) west of Paris. We had to get back to our hostel and then catch the metro to get to the other side of Paris for our Bla Bla car. It was a bit hectic and we were actually about 10 minutes late! Luckily, Amy has an American phone with international data on it so she was able to call and get a hold of our driver to let him know we were on our way. Our drive to Rennes was quite nice. We had one other passenger with us, which we were grateful for because he spoke English and French while our drivers only spoke French. Their car was very comfy and even though I rode the middle seat, it was a pleasant journey. The only downside was that there was a wreck about 12 miles (20 km) outside of Rennes which delayed us quite a bit. We stayed at an AirBnB in Rennes and our host was expecting us around 6:30pm but we didn't arrive until after 7pm. We felt bad but the traffic was out of our control.
After we got in, we were pretty tired. We went to dinner and I had a quick shower.
I thought the shower was interesting. I've never seen a shower where the head wasn't mounted and you had to hold it the whole time you took a shower! Amy said she thought it was pretty normal. I think I'll stick with mounted shower heads though! After my shower, it was time to call it a night.
We were really excited for this day! We had decided to visit Mont Saint Michel, a beautiful little island with a giant abbey on it. The population of this island is around 50. It was initially founded by a hermit who gathered a small following to the island. The story I read said that the archangel, Saint Michael, appeared to a man in his dreams and told him that he needed to build a giant monument to God to honor him on the island. The abbey was then constructed over many years and is a very unique shape due to the island's hilly landscape.
To get to the island from Rennes, you can take a bus, which will cost you about €22 round trip and is about an hour outside of the city. Here, there was yet another student discount for those 25 and under. I may have told the bus lady that I was 25 in order to get the cheaper ticket. Oops. Otherwise the ticket will cost you €30.
The bus was packed with tourists! It was clearly a popular day trip.
The sun was shining so brightly that day! It was absolutely beautiful. Because it was winter, the water was a lot lower than it is during other seasons. Normally there would be water surrounding the whole island!
To be honest, there isn't a ton to do on the island. That's probably why the last bus leaves at 5:30pm for the day. If you miss that bus, you better find a hotel or a ride home because you're out of luck! We arrived at about 12:30pm and we figured 5 hours would be enough.
We ran around the fortress around the island and admired the view. We then decided that we should go take a tour of the abbey. Unfortunately, this was another one that was free if you were 25 or younger and they were checking IDs. I paid €9 to get in and Amy went for free. There goes the money I saved on the bus ride anyway. I was glad to have done the tour of the abbey though. It was beautiful.
The views from the top were absolutely beautiful. The land seems to go on forever.
The inside was also wonderful. There were so many little gardens and things you could see. There were a lot of prayer rooms, areas for the service, crypts, stained glass windows, and even an area where they used to keep prisoners!
The line waiting to get in and the actual tour itself took up most of our day. Once we got done with that, we walked around a little bit more and bought some souvenirs. I'm trying to collect beautiful water color prints of all of the areas I visit and Mont Saint Michel had some! They seem to range in price from about €3 – €20 depending on where you get them. Luckily they were only €3 here!
We enjoyed our one last walk around the village and decided to head back to Rennes as it was quickly approaching 5:30pm and we wanted to catch that last bus! The ride home was very peaceful. We got back to Rennes, went out to dinner, and called it a night.
This was a day we had to just relax and chill! It was the first day we didn't feel pressured to go out and try to get stuff done as quickly as possible. Honestly, it was much needed. After so many days of go, go, go, it's important to take some time to just relax. We had been doing a lot of walking every day and our clothes were starting to show it.
Seriously, our socks smelled like the roclette cheese.
So we walked around and did some much needed laundry. Luckily for me, the laundromat had free wifi! My phone did not have international data, so I wasn't able to use it most of the trip. I could still record snapchats, but I wasn't able to post them until I got back to our AirBnB or someplace with wifi, so that was really nice! I definitely realized that I took using my phone whenever I wanted for granted in Spain.
After laundry, we went to lunch at this fancy restaurant Amy wanted to try. It was a bit expensive, but we wanted to try some oysters. This area of France is apparently really well known for their oysters. I'd never had any so I figured why not?
Sorry if that is an unpopular opinion, but they tasted like slimy salt water! I'm glad I tried them (no worries about FOMO here), but I think that'll be the last time I ever do! I had one and Amy ate the other four. To be honest, I'm not sure if she actually liked them or just wanted to like them, haha. But she powered through them, so good for her!
After lunch, we continued walking around and just enjoyed Rennes. After the hustle and bustle of Madrid and then Paris, it was nice to be in a smaller town. Rennes has a population of just over 200,000, but it doesn't feel very crowded or busy. In the city center, it was definitely busier than the outskirts (where our AirBnB was), but it was nice. We checked out the old French style architecture. The buildings were really cute!
After walking around for a while, we went back to our AirBnB and chatted with our host for a bit. He was a nice guy. I personally felt like he offered a lot of details about his background, but maybe he was just using the English that he knew… Still, at least we felt very welcome in his home (despite his weird shower and the fact that the toilet was in a separate room from the rest of the bathroom).
We left again to get dinner and it was very nice. As we continued walking to the main plaza, we stumbled upon this crazy French video being projected onto one of the main buildings in the square!
I don't understand French, but what I gathered from the video was that the queen of France had gone missing. There was a search team deployed to find her and it went through all of these different places around the world. Where was she in the end? Rennes of course! "The place to be!" as she said in English at the end. It was really cute and fun to watch before we called it yet another night.
This was our last day in Rennes! We actually finished our time in France this day. We had to book another Bla Bla car back to Paris to catch our flight to Hamburg at 3pm. We actually had the best Bla Bla car driver of all time. He took us straight to the airport which saved us a little bit of extra cash for the metros. That was pretty awesome. He was also just really friendly in general. We arrived at the airport with about six hours to burn. Luckily I had my kindle and a good book, so I was set. Next stop: Hamburg and Cologne for the New Year!
Obviously my taste of France was very small, but overall I really enjoyed it! The people were incredibly nice to us and we had a lot of fun doing the tourist thing. We were able to do and see a lot (even if it did cost me considerably more because of my age 🙁 ). It was nice though! Aside from one creepy French boy trying to hit on us on Christmas as we made our way to our boat tour, everyone was incredibly friendly and welcoming. France definitely made me appreciate my Spanish knowledge! As much as I think I don't know, I realized that there were a lot of things I couldn't say in French that I could have easily said in Spanish. It was definitely a confidence booster in that regard! I also really enjoyed the food in France. The sweets and crêpes and cheeses were just amazing (if a little overpriced in Paris). I would have to say that France was a blast! We may have only spent 5 days there, but I would say that I really enjoyed each and every day.
Have you ever been to Paris? Rennes? Mont Saint Michel? What were your impressions? Are there any places in France that you highly recommend for visitors? Let me know in the comments below! Au revoir!


You should have a nice, neutral background, ideally flat, where you can lay everything on and the main focus will still be on the food. You don't want to be distracted by other things. Feel free to use any type of white surface – your bed sheets, table, foam board, rolled-up floorboards (my favourite) or even a big wooden plank.


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grudes's blurblog
How to influence culture by Claire Lew
Thursday November 2nd, 2017 at 2:38 AM
Signal v. Noise
"How do you actually influence company culture?"
This is the big, hairy question I often get asked by CEOs, managers, and employees alike. The other week, I posed it at the end of my most recent piece, The Culture Cliché.
In that piece, I shared how the fundamental, core element of culture are our basic underlying assumptions. That is, the things we actually believe — but might not always say or outwardly show — are what determines our company culture.
As a result, the key to influencing culture is tapping into those basic underlying assumptions: Listening to them, responding to them, and acting according to them.
But what does that tangibly mean? Can you affect or influence others' basic underlying assumptions, to begin with?
Yes, basic underlying assumptions can be affected.
But no, they can't be outright changed. You can't manipulate someone else's basic underlying assumptions. Employees are not malleable objects for leaders to shape. Each person has her own intrinsic, worthwhile desires and beliefs — and that's not for you as a leader to try to mess with.
Instead, what you can do is to focus on creating an environment where employees can choose to shift their basic underlying assumptions in line with what feels right to them.
Let's talk about what this practically looks like.
There are three parts to creating an environment where the kind of basic underlying assumptions you want — and ultimately, the kind of company culture you want — can come into fruition:
You must model the behaviors and basic underlying assumptions you want to be true. One of the greatest shortcomings of a leader is wanting others to do something when she doesn't practice it herself. For instance, a manager often doesn't admit her own weaknesses, but expects employees to be upfront and forthcoming about mistakes that happen in the company. See the disconnect? Whatever basic underlying assumptions you desire to be deeply rooted in your company, you must exhibit those basic underlying assumptions yourself, first.
As the leader, you should be the living embodiment of the basic underlying assumptions you want your culture to have. You should be consciously and intentionally speaking and acting in a way that shows people, "This is important to me."
Your desired basic underlying assumptions won't be made true unless they are consistent. Basic underlying assumptions are solidified when you act consistently upon them.
Say you want honesty and transparency to be a basic underlying assumptions within your company's culture. You decide to hold an all-hands meeting every month where you cover high-level financials, company goals, accomplishments, and answer employees' questions. Seems like it'd be an effective initiative to establish that honesty and transparency are a basic underlying assumptions within the company.
But here's the missing piece: Is it consistent? Do you hold those all-hands meetings every month, regularly? Or has the frequency of those meetings tapered off so now it's every 2 or 3 months…or just whenever you remember to have them.
If it's the latter, you're falling short of creating an environment where those basic underlying assumptions can be strengthened.
Consistency determines whether or not this tenet of your culture is fleeting, or here to stay.
Richness
Being consistent alone in how you demonstrate your basic underlying assumptions isn't enough. You must think about the richness of how you're communicating these basic underlying assumptions. Are you using a variety of channels, means, and mediums to show that this is something that's important for the team to embrace and embody? Or are you just relying on one?
For example, it's not enough to just hold the all-hands meetings and assume that's the only way to foster honesty and transparency within the company. Consider that some people might not feel comfortable speaking up in front of the rest of the company… so you'll want to make sure you're also doing one-on-ones. But don't also merely assume that a one-on-one is enough of an opportunity for someone to speak their mind. Perhaps that person doesn't always feel comfortable directly addressing that particular manager. Make sure you provide other opportunities for your employees to speak up, be it at group lunches, coffees get-togethers, CEO office hours, or an all-company survey.
The richness of how you communicate, the varying formats and mediums, helps dictate if the basic underlying assumption is truly what it should be: foundational.
Now this is no grand formula by any means for creating the culture that you want. Shaping a company's culture and tapping into a team's basic underlying assumptions is more art than it is science.
But consider these three elements — personal accountability, consistency, and richness — in how you're upholding the basic underlying assumptions you want to make more real.
Pick one, commit to it, and see progress build over time. Slowly, but surely, you'll see the difference.
I wrote this piece as the latest chapter in our Knowledge Center. Each week, we release a new chapter on how to create an open, honest company culture. To get each chapter sent straight to your inbox, sign up below…
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P.S.: Please feel free to share + give this piece 👏 so others can find it too. Thanks 😊 (And you can always say hi at @cjlew23.)
How to influence culture was originally published in Signal v. Noise on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
grudes
What is Little Data? And Why Do Project Managers Need It? by Andy Silber
Wednesday October 25th, 2017 at 10:47 PM
LiquidPlanner Blog | Where Project Managers Plan Smarter
One of the fastest-growing technology trends today is Big Data, probably behind Internet of Things and ahead of Virtual Reality. For instance, a search on the job site Indeed for "Big Data" returned almost 20,000 entries.
But what about Little Data (which only gets four hits on Indeed)?
Big data is mining huge, heterogeneous data sets and pulling out subtle information that can inform all sorts of decisions.
Let's look at climate change science as an example. Data comes from atmospheric measurements over Hawaii, temperature data across the globe, ice cores from Antarctica and Greenland, underwater measurements from all the world's seas, and more. Some of the data were taken by satellite last week; others written in notebooks centuries ago.
[Further Reading: How to Be a Project Team of the Future: Preparing for Industry 4.0]
It's been pored over by scientists from every country in the world. The data and analysis needed to predict how the climate is changing and will change is complicated. To really understand it requires a PhD. The details are so complex that we have been unable to decisively act on this critical issue.
What Is Little Data?
Little data is the opposite. It's the 2+2=4 kind of things.
Little data is the obvious observations and conclusions that those paying attention will catch and can use to their advantage. It's looking outside, seeing it's raining, and deciding to put on a jacket. It's noticing that the prices and quality of the food is better at one store than another and using that information to decide where to shop. It's noticing that if you drink coffee after 5 p.m., you have trouble going to sleep, so you stop drinking coffee after 5 p.m.
Little data has three steps:
Gather data.
Do some straightforward analysis of the data.
Act based on your analysis.
To some extent, little data and big data are close to the same thing, it's just a matter of degree. The biggest difference is that the analysis for little data is straightforward. If you're looking for someone with a PhD in math to help with your analysis, that's not little data. For little data, you should be able to do the analysis in Excel. The challenge is knowing how to respond to your results.
Improve Schedules with Little Data
Here's a straightforward way to use little data to improve your schedules: record task estimates and actuals. The data should include who did the estimation and the work. Using a pivot table in Excel, you can see which estimators typically underestimate or overestimate. You can also see which of your team members take more or less time than was predicated. There are many ways this data can improve your organization, including:
Decrease the bias of future estimations
Identify team members who are not using best practices (and therefore take longer)
Identify team members who have practices you should transfer to other team members
As is often the case, data acquisition is straightforward, analysis simple, and the response requires further digging.
Measuring KPIs
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are a common little data management technique. Leadership decides that certain easily measurable metrics are key to the organization's success, targets are set, and data acquired. If the performance does not reach the target, then some form of response is taken.
For example, you may be managing a manufacturing line. Your KPI is the number of units manufactured per hour. In creating the manufacturing process, you know you can build 100 units an hour, so you set your target at 80 units an hour to account for the normal hiccups (e.g. you're training a new team member).
[Further Reading: AI, IoT, and the Future of Manufacturing]
Data collection and analysis are easy. If you're meeting your target, you can move on to other issues or raise the target. Ideally, if you don't meet your target, the response is agreed to prior to acquiring the data. Often it just indicates you need to dig deeper, as in this case. As is all small data analysis, the challenge is in the response, not acquiring or analyzing the data.
A Real-Life Example: Test Scores
One of the most controversial examples of little data are standardized school tests. The data is homogenous and straightforward (if time consuming) to collect. The naïve analysis is trivial (average score by grade and school). The response is complex and fraught with challenges.
In 2010, an elementary school near my house was labeled as failing according to the No Child Left Behind law. A majority of the students were from refugee and immigrant families. Many didn't speak English at home, which certainly posed a challenge for the school.
The metric, test scores, didn't determine what action was called for, but made clear there was a problem. The district responded by bringing in a new principal and new teachers, and a concerted effort was undertaken to improve performance. After four years, the performance of the school went from one of the worst schools in the state to only a bit worse than the average school. The little data approach showed that by the metrics we use, the interventions improved the performance.
But this same metric can be misused. There are two middle schools near our house, and we choose to send our son to the one with lower test scores. The school our son goes to is incredibly diverse (including most of the kids who went to the formerly failing elementary school), with a great vibe and dedicated teachers. Test scores can tell you when a school is broken, but it's not useful in comparing two functional schools. How a school fosters creativity, teamwork, and curiosity are not captured in any test.
This same data can also be used in a big data analysis. Throw in demographic data from the census, housing prices from the country, income data from the IRS, alcohol and cannabis consumption data from Washington State and some subtle correlations that aren't immediately apparent might appear.
Of course, they might just be random chance; that's why you need to be careful with big data in a way that you don't with little data. If your school has the lowest test scores in the state, you know you have a problem. If there's a weak positive correlation between playing sports and grades, that doesn't mean every child needs to immediately join a league.
It can be hard to rally the troops to fix a broken team or process. When you come in with data showing how far you are from where you're supposed to be, it's much easier to drive changes. That's true whether it's replacing a principal or fixing a broken manufacturing process.
Use Data Thoughtfully
Throughout your day, you're inundated with data. The key to both little data and big data is to thoughtfully filter out what is unimportant and turn what is important into knowledge, which is data with context and meaning. Then you use that knowledge to inform your actions. If the data can't lead to action, it's worthless. An extreme example of this is Sherlock Holmes's lack of interest in the fact that the Earth orbits the sun,
"What the deuce is it to me?" he interrupted impatiently: "you say that we go round the sun. If we went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work."
Though, as a former astronomer, I don't encourage following Holmes's example, it is important to focus our efforts on data, big or small, that help us make better decisions.
The post What is Little Data? And Why Do Project Managers Need It? appeared first on LiquidPlanner.
Making Remote Work: Behind the Scenes at Stack Overflow by Jess Pardue
Tuesday October 10th, 2017 at 11:25 PM
The logistics of Stack Overflow's remote-first philosophy
By now you've probably heard about Stack Overflow's commitment to making remote work, well… work. If not, you can read about it here, here, and a whole page of links here. Seriously, we care about it a LOT. At Stack Overflow we want to hire the best person for the job, even if that person is in Salt Lake City, Utah; Berlin, Germany; or São Paulo, Brazil. Promoting remote work promotes diversity, and we are committed to improving both.
However, this isn't going to be another article about why we believe in remote work. I'm here to tell you about how we pull the whole thing off. I manage workplace operations for the company, and a huge part of that job is making sure that our 85+ remote employees have everything that they need to get their jobs done. So here are my tips for having a successful remote infrastructure:
Have a dedicated remote person (like me!) to be the point person for remote needs.
This is definitely the most important piece of the remote puzzle. You need a person whose stated job is to make sure that remote employees have a specific person for questions, concerns, and problems. When we hire a new remote employee, I tell them that they can come to me with any type of question, and I will try my best to answer it, or at least point them in the right direction.
I get aaaaaall kinds of questions and requests. For instance, I now know how to buy and ship Belgian beer to Poland for an employee that wasn't able to attend a work event because of a surgery. Also FYI, Uruguay has very strict restrictions on voltage of household items, so getting a crank-lever standing desk to Montevideo was fun (read: not fun).
There also needs to be someone on the executive team (it's better if there is more than one someone) consistently asking "What about the remotes?" When you have a new "x," the execs should be thinking about how that impacts all employees, including remotes.
Have your People and Finance Teams homed in on remote needs
Companies will encounter a wide range of odd legalities in dealing with remote employees, especially with international folks. Did you know that in Romania if someone is going to have a home office, they have to have it inspected by a fire marshal? And in the U.S. we have a rule called "prevailing wage determination" that requires some remote employees to post a paper notice in their home for at least 10 days. (I like to think they put it in a laundry room or over the toilet.)
It definitely helps to have an HR department that is certified in immigration and visa issues. At Stack Overflow we are lucky enough to have a lawyer on our People Team along with other trained HR counsels for employees to go to when these issues arise. The same goes for finance departments. The taxation alone is a handful with multiple states/countries. You need an entity for each state, which requires considerable forethought. You also have to file payrolls properly and that varies depending on location. No one ever accused the IRS of being simple!
Remote first
We've already touched on this in the other blog posts, but it bears repeating: If one person in the meeting is remote, we're all remote. If there are 5 people in a conference room and 2 people dialing in remotely, it is very easy for the folks in the meeting room to forget about the people dialed in. You can eliminate that problem by having everyone call in, if possible. After a while it is second nature to jump on a call instead of finding a room. Currently in the Stack Overflow NYC office it is really common to walk around and see two people on a hangout even though their offices are next to each other! (It is also possible that these people are just lazy…)
Try to recreate office fun stuff in a remote capacity
We have regular "Bev Bashes" and holiday parties in the offices, but what about the remotes? How do you give them fun stuff even though they are scattered all over the world?
For starters, we have "Remote Bev Bashes" over Zoom every Friday. The "Bev Baron" for that week (nominated by the last Bev Baron) schedules a Zoom call and sets a theme. Employees grab a beverage of their choice and just chat. You can stay for just a few minutes to say hi, or you can be a part of the entire thing.
Additionally, each office has a pretty fancy Holiday party in December, so we of course invite any remotes that are near the offices. If they are too far away to attend, we give a $200 stipend so that they can have their own festivities, whether it's a really nice night out with their partners or just a big dinner for family. We don't care as long as the employee does something yummy with it.
Don't forget: If you make swag (t-shirts, hats, new socks etc) make sure that you send them to the remotes too. It may seem like a lot of work (believe me, with 87 remotes, it is a lot of shipping), but it is definitely worth it!
Bring them all together
Once a year, we bring all of our remote employees together for a week for some much needed face-time. It's a different city each time, and there are usually 3 days of Executive Keynotes, Tiny Talks, and many many games of Werewolf. We talk about the state of the company and new projects and teams, but we vow not to make any huge decisions or business altering plans. The focus is on camaraderie, not profits. We look forward to it all year, and it's definitely a blast. No pressure on the person that has to plan it, right? Read: That's also me.
We also have smaller mini-meetups for teams to come together when needed, but those are coordinated by the teams themselves and centered around one of our three offices.
Make their home workspaces as awesome as the offices
When a new remote employee is hired, I contact them for their furniture choices. They get their choice of the exact same desks and chairs that we have in the offices, free of charge. We want them to be as comfortable as possible, and that means if they want to stand instead of sit, no problem. Our IT dept sets them up with all of their tech, and I set them up with everything else.
Need a filing cabinet? Cool. You want a different type of desk that is bright pink and sings? Hey, it's your house. We re-create the in-office set-ups as much as possible so that our remote employees never feel less valued than everyone else.
Want to go remote yourself?
Love remote work or the idea of it? Check out our Live + Work Anywhere job listings on Stack Overflow Jobs.
The post Making Remote Work: Behind the Scenes at Stack Overflow appeared first on Stack Overflow Blog.
An event for CSS position:sticky by Eric Bidelman
Tuesday September 26th, 2017 at 2:51 AM
An event for CSS position:sticky
Here's a secret: You may not need scroll events in your next app. Using an IntersectionObserver, I show how you can fire a custom event when position:sticky elements become fixed or when they stop sticking. All without the use of scroll listeners. There's even an awesome demo to prove it:
View demo | Source
Introducing the sticky-change event
An event is the the missing feature of CSS position:sticky.
One of the practical limitations of using CSS sticky position is that it doesn't provide a platform signal to know when the property is active. In other words, there's no event to know when an element becomes sticky or when it stops being sticky.
Take the following example, which fixes a <div class="sticky"> 10px from the top of its parent container:
.sticky {
top: 10px;
Wouldn't it be nice if the browser told when the elements hits that mark? Apparently I'm not the only one that thinks so. A signal for position:sticky could unlock a number of use cases:
Apply a drop shadow to a banner as it sticks.
As a user reads through your content, record analytics hits to know their progress.
As a user scrolls the page, update a floating TOC widget to the current section.
With these use cases in mind, we've crafted an end goal: create an event that fires when a position:sticky element becomes fixed. Let's call it the sticky-change event:
document.addEventListener('sticky-change', e => {
const header = e.detail.target;  // header became sticky or stopped sticking.
const sticking = e.detail.stuck; // true when header is sticky.
header.classList.toggle('shadow', sticking); // add drop shadow when sticking.
document.querySelector('.who-is-sticking').textContent = header.textContent;
The demo uses this event to headers a drop shadow when they become fixed. It also updates the new title at the top of the page.
In the demo, effects are applied without scrollevents.
Scroll effects without scroll events?
Structure of the page.
Let's get some terminology out of the way so I can refer to these names throughout the rest of the post:
Scrolling container - the content area (visible viewport) containing the list of "blog posts".
Headers - blue title in each section that have position:sticky.
Sticky sections - each content section. The text that scrolls under the sticky headers.
"Sticky mode" - when position:sticky is applying to the element.
To know which header enters "sticky mode", we need some way of determining the scroll offset of the scrolling container. That would give us a way to calculate the header that's currently showing. However, that gets pretty tricky to do without scroll events :) The other problem is that position:sticky removes the element from layout when it becomes fixed.
So without scroll events, we've lost the ability to perform layout-related calculations on the headers.
Adding dumby DOM to determine scroll position
Instead of scroll events, we're going to use an IntersectionObserver to determine when headers enter and exit sticky mode. Adding two nodes (aka sentinels) in each sticky section, one at the top and one at the bottom, will act as waypoints for figuring out scroll position. As these markers enter and leave the container, their visiblitiy changes and Intersection Observer fires a callback.
The hidden sentinel elements.
We need two sentinels to cover four cases of scrolling up and down:
Scrolling down - header becomes sticky when its top sentinel crosses the top of the container.
Scrolling down - header leaves sticky mode as it reaches the bottom of the section and its bottom sentinel crosses the top of the container.
Scrolling up - header leaves sticky mode when its top sentinel scrolls back into view from the top.
Scrolling up - header becomes sticky as its bottom sentinel crosses back into view from the top.
It's helpful to see a screencast of 1-4 in the order they happen:
Intersection Observers fire callbacks when the sentinels enter/leave the scroll container.
The CSS
The sentinels are positioned at the top and bottom of each section. .sticky_sentinel--top sits on the top of the header while .sticky_sentinel--bottom rests at the bottom of the section:
Position of the top and bottom sentinel elements.
--default-padding: 16px;
--header-height: 80px;
top: 10px; /* adjust sentinel height/positioning based on this position. */
height: var(--header-height);
padding: 0 var(--default-padding);
.sticky_sentinel {
right: 0; /* needs dimensions */
.sticky_sentinel--top {
/* Adjust the height and top values based on your on your sticky top position.
e.g. make the height bigger and adjust the top so observeHeaders()'s
IntersectionObserver fires as soon as the bottom of the sentinel crosses the
top of the intersection container. */
.sticky_sentinel--bottom {
/* Height should match the top of the header when it's at the bottom of the
intersection container. */
height: calc(var(--header-height) + var(--default-padding));
Setting up the Intersection Observers
Intersection Observers asynchronously observe changes in the intersection of a target element and the document viewport or a parent container. In our case, we're observe intersections with a parent container.
The magic sauce is IntersectionObserver. Each sentinel gets an IntersectionObserver to observer its intersection visibility within the scroll container. When a sentinel scrolls into the visible viewport, we know a header become fixed or stopped being sticky. Likewise, when a sentinel exits the viewport.
First, I set up observers for the header and footer sentinels:
* Notifies when elements w/ the `sticky` class begin to stick or stop sticking.
* Note: the elements should be children of `container`.
* @param {!Element} container
function observeStickyHeaderChanges(container) {
observeHeaders(container);
observeFooters(container);
observeStickyHeaderChanges(document.querySelector('#scroll-container'));
Then, I added an observer to fire when .sticky_sentinel--top elements pass through the top of the scrolling container (in either direction). The observeHeaders function creates the top sentinels and adds them to each section. The observer calculates the intersection of the sentinel with top of the container and decides if it's entering or leaving the viewport. That information determines if the section header is sticking or not.
* Sets up an intersection observer to notify when elements with the class
* `.sticky_sentinel--top` become visible/invisible at the top of the container.
function observeHeaders(container) {
const observer = new IntersectionObserver((records, observer) => {
for (const record of records) {
const targetInfo = record.boundingClientRect;
const stickyTarget = record.target.parentElement.querySelector('.sticky');
const rootBoundsInfo = record.rootBounds;
// Started sticking.
if (targetInfo.bottom < rootBoundsInfo.top) {
fireEvent(true, stickyTarget);
// Stopped sticking.
if (targetInfo.bottom >= rootBoundsInfo.top &&
targetInfo.bottom < rootBoundsInfo.bottom) {
fireEvent(false, stickyTarget);
}, {threshold: [0], root: container});
// Add the top sentinels to each section and attach an observer.
const sentinels = addSentinels(container, 'sticky_sentinel--top');
sentinels.forEach(el => observer.observe(el));
The observer is configured with threshold: [0] so its callback fires as soon as the sentinel becomes visible.
The process is similar for the bottom sentinel (.sticky_sentinel--bottom). A second observer is created to fire when the footers pass through the bottom of the scrolling container. The observeFooters function creates the sentinel nodes and attaches them to each section. The observer calculates the intersection of the sentinel with bottom of the container and decides if it's entering or leaving. That information determines if the section header is sticking or not.
* `.sticky_sentinel--bottom` become visible/invisible at the botton of the
* container.
function observeFooters(container) {
const ratio = record.intersectionRatio;
if (targetInfo.bottom > rootBoundsInfo.top && ratio === 1) {
if (targetInfo.top < rootBoundsInfo.top &&
// Add the bottom sentinels to each section and attach an observer.
const sentinels = addSentinels(container, 'sticky_sentinel--bottom');
The observer is configured with threshold: [1] so its callback fires when the entire node is within view.
Lastly, there's my two utilities for firing the sticky-change custom event and generating the sentinels:
* @param {string} className
function addSentinels(container, className) {
return Array.from(container.querySelectorAll('.sticky')).map(el => {
const sentinel = document.createElement('div');
sentinel.classList.add('sticky_sentinel', className);
return el.parentElement.appendChild(sentinel);
* Dispatches the `sticky-event` custom event on the target element.
* @param {boolean} stuck True if `target` is sticky.
* @param {!Element} target Element to fire the event on.
function fireEvent(stuck, target) {
const e = new CustomEvent('sticky-change', {detail: {stuck, target}});
document.dispatchEvent(e);
Final demo
We created a custom event when elements with position:sticky become fixed and added scroll effects without the use of scroll events.
I've often wondered if IntersectionObserver would be a helpful tool to replace some of the scroll event-based UI patterns that have developed over the years. Turns out the answer is yes and no. The semantics of the IntersectionObserver API make it hard to use for everything. But as I've shown here, you can use it for some interesting techniques.
Another way to detect style changes?
Not really. What we needed was a way to observe style changes on a DOM element. Unfortunately, there's nothing in the web platform APIs that allow you to watch style changes.
A MutationObserver would be a logical first choice but that doesn't work for most cases. For example, in the demo, we'd receive a callback when the sticky class is added to an element, but not when the element's computed style changes. Recall that the sticky class was already declared on page load.
In the future, a "Style Mutation Observer" extension to Mutation Observers might be useful to observe changes to an element's computed styles. position: sticky.
Viewing Software Engineers Through The Lens Of The Milgram Experiment On Obedience To Authority Figures
Tuesday September 19th, 2017 at 9:22 PM
Ben Nadel's Web Development and User Experience Feed @ BenNadel.com
Ben Nadel considers the software engineer through the lens of the Milgram Experiment on Obedience to Authority Figures. And, attempts to build better empathy and understanding through the constraints of culture as opposed to the intent of the individual....
Dwelling On The Past: The Importance Of Project Retrospectives (Part 1) by Victor Yocco
Tuesday September 5th, 2017 at 11:53 PM
We should always look for opportunities to grow and improve. Retrospectives and reflections allow you to codify what you've learned from experience, to document mistakes and avoid future ones, and to increase your potential to grow in the future.
Agile methodologies typically include time for retrospectives throughout a project. Regardless of your methodology, all teams would benefit from having a retrospective at the conclusion of a project.
The post Dwelling On The Past: The Importance Of Project Retrospectives (Part 1) appeared first on Smashing Magazine.


text:
Cinematography by Kazuo Miyagawa
Directed by Akira Kurosawa • 1961 • Japan
The incomparable Toshiro Mifune stars in Akira Kurosawa's visually stunning and darkly comic Yojimbo. To rid a terror-stricken village of corruption, wily masterless samurai Sanjuro turns a range war between two evil clans to his own advantage. Remade twice, by Sergio Leone and Walter Hill, this exhilarating genre-twister remains one of the most influential and entertaining films of all time.
Up Next in Cinematography by Kazuo Miyagawa
Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold
ZATOICHI #6
Directed by Kazuo Ikehiro • 1964 • Japan
After arriving in a small village, Zatoichi finds himself accused of stealing the citizens' hefty tax payments. To clear his name, he must face off against a corrupt official, a succession of hired blades, and a bullwhip-wielding titan, played...
Tokyo Olympiad
Directed by Kon Ichikawa • 1965 • Japan
A spectacle of magnificent proportions, Kon Ichikawa's TOKYO OLYMPIAD ranks among the greatest documents of sport ever committed to film. Utilizing glorious widescreen cinematography, Ichikawa examines the beauty and rich drama on display at the 1964 Summe...
Directed by Masahiro Shinoda • 1971 • Japan
Starring David Lampson, Don Kenny, Tetsuro Tanba
Two Portuguese priests go to Japan to help Christian sects, driven underground by a ruthless magistracy, to regain a foothold. Quickly drawn into a mire of persecution, the missionaries learn the fat...


For the reliability analysis problems in multidisciplinary systems with stochastic and interval uncertainty models in coexistence, based on the sequence of variable processing framework, the original problem is decomposed into the interval reliability analysis and probabilistic reliability analysis sub-problems, and the corresponding solution procedure is established. Among them, interdisciplinary consistency constraints are introduced into the interval reliability analysis to reduce the calculation burden of multidisciplinary coupling analysis; advanced mean value method, arc search method and active set quasi Newton method are integrated into reliability analysis process to construct a set of asymptotic convergence processing strategy. Finally, we build the iterative relationship between the two sub-processes based on the idea of tolerance hierarchical structure and process random and interval uncertainty simultaneously. A numerical example and a reliability analysis application in multidisciplinary system of flight vehicle are demonstrated to verify the validity of the proposed method from different aspects. Simulation results show that the efficiency is increased and adaptability is rather strong in the mode of various initial values and design points.


Egyptian geometric style pin with turquoise colored carved scarab. Finished with Joseff's signature gold plating technique. Has the original round Joseff script tag that dates back to early 1950's.
Pin measures 1 1/4 inches at the widest point.


text:
HomeAll ArticlesShoulder Injury forces Serena Williams out of WTA Finals
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Shoulder Injury forces Serena Williams out of WTA Finals
Serena Williams has withdrawn from the WTA Finals for the second straight year as she continues to recover from a right shoulder injury. She has not played since losing her No. 1 ranking to Angelique Kerber in August.
The WTA announced Monday that Williams, currently No. 2 in the WTA world rankings, will not take part in the WTA Finals in Singapore that starts on October 23. Williams, 35, explained her decision in a video posted on their twitter feed.
Williams participated in only eight tournaments in 2016 and won two of them, including Wimbledon. Shoulder troubles hampered her in the Olympics and the US Open, losing to 10th seed Karolina Pliskova in the semifinal at the Flushing Meadows. The American's 186-week reign as the World No. 1 came to an end as Angelique Kerber eclipsed her following the German's US Open victory.
The withdrawal opens the door for Johanna Konta, Carla Suarez Navarro and Svetlana Kuznetsova to snag the eighth spot in the tournament. Either Navarro or Kuznetsova must win the title in Moscow at the VTB Kremlin Cup to edge out Konta for the final qualifying spot.
Kerber, Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska, Karolina Pliskova and Garbine Muguruza, Madison Keys and Dominika Cibulkova have already qualified for the WTA Finals. Radwanska is the reigning Champion and has won three WTA tournaments in 2016.
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text:
Ron Carson
Ron Carson Published: January 18, 2023
Patriots fans are STILL swallowing a bitter pill after a loss to The Buffalo Bills as their division rivals are advancing on the road to The Super Bowl and New England is literally "on the outside looking in". But remember, there is always next year. Last Monday, Tom Brady and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers were also eliminated from post-season play after they lost to Dallas as #12 suffered his first losing season on the gridiron. Many Massachusetts sports aficionados follow his progress in The Sunshine State after 2 decades at Foxboro as we all wonder if this will be the year he retires from pro football.
His former boss, Bill Belichick is not too happy with this season's end result, but he remains optimistic as things can only get better starting in September. Here is a slice of his playbook on why double B remains one of the BEST head coaches in the NFL:
1) BE YOURSELF: While at the helm in Cleveland, Belichick tried his BEST to emulate Bill Parcells, his mentor who taught him basic tools of the trade while he was an assistant with The New York Giants. When he became the Pats head coach, things changed as he began implementing his own practices and now others are basing their style from his brand of coaching as you could say that history repeats itself, in a different way.
2) ADJUST: Coach B has the knack of yielding results as a comeback kid, especially during the 2nd half during his tenure as his halftime meetings with the squad are intense and his motivational skills yield wins on the gridiron. Again, his brand of leadership is unique in more ways than one as his teams tallied 6 Super Bowl wins.
Baltimore Ravens v New England Patriots
3) KNOW YOUR EMPLOYEES: The secret to his success is bringing players who have NOT performed up to par, but you can tell once they put on a Patriots uniform, it's a complete turn around for those who have became an integral part of his team. This is accomplished through massive research and coach B does his homework in bringing a top quality football team to Gillette Stadium.
Washington Football Team v New England Patriots
4) FOCUS ON OPPONENTS: The team prepares by watching plenty of film regarding their upcoming challenger. It is a pre-requisite to studying the competition and strategy is completely implemented once players take the practice field. Belichick believes in one-on-one competition as he measures the basic challenges to find ways to win in Foxboro or when on the road.
5) STRENGTHS: Not only does Belichick examine the strength of his players, he studies the opponent with a fine tooth comb as he is automatically forming a game plan that results in wins across the board. His team members are very cooperative with this practice and they focus on the best of their abilities to secure a victory. This is a prime reason why the franchise is successful in nature.
BOTTOM LINE: Bill Belichick has few words to say during a post-game press conference, but his mind is ALWAYS one step ahead of the game and this is the reason he is a well-respected head coach in the league. Keep on ROCKIN double B!
(Some information obtained in this article, courtesy of www.margolisbloom.com)
LOOK: These Are the Richest NFL players
To uncover the richest NFL players, Stacker consulted Celebrity Net Worth and ranked them by their 2022 net worth, calculated using a proprietary formula.
Source: MA Residents: Get Some Sage Advice From The Patriots Head Coach
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text:
Saeed Saeed
Syrian author Khaled Khalifa on Aleppo: 'There is a resilience in the city'
The author has optimism for the future of the country and believes that the current dark period will act as a catalyst for a new generation of Syrian writers
Syrian children play in a neighbourhood in Aleppo previously held by rebel fighters. AFP
There is no mistaking the key theme of Khaled Khalifa's acclaimed novel. Like the grey clouds and dust from the rubble of the buildings of Aleppo in which his recently translated 2013 novel No Knives in the Kitchens of This City is set, what hovers over most of the sprawling cast of characters is a foreboding sense of shame.
It is wrapped in the anguish of lost hopes and dreams, and the overall grief of witnessing a once proud city losing its lustre.
But while it is easy to associate those feelings with what is happening in Syria now, the plot draws a longer bow: it begins during the First World War and moves forward at a brooding pace towards the 1963 Baathist coup led by Hafez Al Assad, father of current leader Bashar, and the early 2000s towards the end of his rule.
Through it all, our detached narrator takes us into the multigenerational lives of a family consisting of a musician, a teacher and a villager, and how tightening repression has dulled their judgment and sense of morality. For example, one of the heartbreaking stories within the plot is the fraught relationship between the mother, Suad, and her disabled daughter, which teeters on the edge of outright cruelty, the repercussions of which ultimately destroy Suad's life.
Khalifa, who was born in Aleppo and appears in Dubai this weekend as part of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, says such dynamics don't happen in a vacuum.
"That's the thing with shame," the 53-year-old says.
"That is a feeling that plenty of us Syrians identify with because of the years of withstanding the violence and repression. Whole generations went through that silently, and when I speak to people, there is a sense of shame for experiencing such a situation. But it is important to note that this is not based on what is happening in Syria now, which is also a tragic situation."
Staying in Syria
Considering his international stature – No Knives in the Kitchens of This City won the prestigious Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature in 2013 and was shortlisted for the 2014 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, while his 2008 novel In Praise of Hatred was translated into several languages – it is surprising to find that Khalifa resides in Damascus. While offered invitations to live abroad, he is adamant about living in Syria, where he also has a successful career as a television dramatist.
"This is really down to a personal choice to be honest and I am not trying to say or prove anything," he says. "I have my friends and colleagues here. While there has been no fighting here, it doesn't mean that we don't know there is a conflict that is going on. We are careful here in all that we do."
The distance from the wreckage of Aleppo, about 370 kilometres from the Syrian capital, proved beneficial in the writing process.
"You are away, but not too far," he says. "You are still in the same country and you generally share the same culture. But writing the novel here gave me a wider vantage point on the city and allowed me to pick up on certain things that I perhaps may have not if I was living over there."
For one thing, he says, it uncorked great reserves of memory he rarely accessed from his childhood and university years.
"They were thousands of pictures that kept appearing within me. Images of myself, the city and the social life, and one of the things that came out was this notion of repressed pain," he says.
"These feelings welled up inside me, like injustice or grief, and they all told me that I should write about them. These are all good things for a novelist, of course."
Hopeful for Aleppo
For all the novel's bleak perspective, however, Khalifa is optimistic about Aleppo's future.
"You need to understand Aleppo's past," he says.
"This is a city that went through many periods of turmoil over hundreds of years, from earthquakes to invasions. There is a resilience in the city, and that causes me a great deal of optimism."
Khalifa predicts that the present dark period will act as an incubator for a new generation of Syrian authors whose experience will mark a decisive break from the past when it comes to their output.
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"I am positive that we will be entering a new phase of Arabic novels soon," he says.
"They will come with new and innovative ideas when it comes to stories and techniques. I view that as a normal occurrence. What is happening now in Syria and parts of the Arab world is a big earthquake, but from that wreckage new life will grow.
"Many countries that experienced such situations had the nature of their arts and culture change. This is why I think the future will be bright and there will be better writers coming."
Khaled Khalifa appears at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in the session Aleppo in Our Heart on March 2 at 7.30pm. He will also take part in the Contemporary Arabic Literature in the West session on March 3 at 7.30pm. All events are held at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City. For more information, visit www.emirateslitfest.com
Updated: February 28, 2018 08:41 PM
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Hi-Frequency Traders Ripping Off Investors, Michael Lewis Says
Hi-Frequency Traders Ripping Off Investors, Michael Lewis Says by David Fuller
Here is today's initial article by Nick Baker and Sam Mamudi for Bloomberg, prior to the public release of Michael Lewis' new book: Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt. The original article is no longer available online but having sent it to my PC this morning, I make the PDF above. The article was subsequently watered down and also diluted with rebuttals from the very powerful HFT industry, which has so far had the blessings of most exchanges, because their profits have increase dramatically as a consequence of all the additional volume created by high speed electronic orders. Here is the opening from the original article:
March 31 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. stock market is rigged when high-frequency traders with advanced computers make tens of billions of dollars by jumping in front of investors, according to author Michael Lewis, who spent the past year researching the topic for his new book "Flash Boys."
While speed traders' strategies, developed over the past decade with help from exchanges, are legal, "it's just nuts" that they're allowed, Lewis said during an interview televised yesterday on CBS Corp.'s "60 Minutes." The tactics are too complicated for individual investors to understand, he said.
"The United States stock market, the most iconic market in global capitalism, is rigged," Lewis, whose books "Liar's Poker" and "The Big Short" highlighted Wall Street excesses, said during the interview. The new book comes out today. "It's crazy that it's legal for some people to get advance news on prices and what investors are doing," he said.
Everyone who owns equities is victimized by the practices, in which the fastest traders figure out which stocks investors plan to buy, purchase them first and then sell them back at a higher price, said Lewis, a columnist for Bloomberg View. To show how lucrative the tactics are, Lewis said a technology firm spent $300 million to build a line that would shave three milliseconds off the time it takes to communicate between New Jersey and Chicago, then leased it out to securities companies for $10 million each.
David Fuller's view
Veteran subscribers are very familiar with the debate concerning high-frequency trading (HFT) because this service has been posting articles on the subject and writing about it throughout the last five years, as the historic Archive will confirm.
Michael Lewis and others who have expressed criticisms of HFT today are rightly focussing on the fact that it is mainly a front-running system. Therefore the 'T' in HFT is actually a misnomer because the normal definition of trading does not include front-running, which is supposed to be illegal.
Moreover, normal trading has always carried a level of risk because the future is generally unknown. Today's HFT would be more accurately described as HFFR, for high-frequency front running. HFFR virtually eliminates risk because it gets a clear look at the immediate future by seeing everyone else's buy and sell orders, microseconds before they are excuted.
(Note: subscribers interested in this subject can review well over 100 previous articles and comments on this subject posted since 2010, by using the Search facility above. Please search under these three headings: the unhyphenated high frequency trading, high-frequency trading, and also HFT, to see them all.)
I have commented so often on HFT over the last five years, when it was too often given an uncritical free ride, that I am happy to supply the latest informed comments of others on this subject. Bloomberg columnist Barry Ritholtz describes it accurately in his column today: Speed Trading in a Rigged Market. Here is the opening:
"On ``60 Minutes'' last night, author Michael Lewis made a bland assertion: High-frequency traders, he said, working with U.S. stock exchanges and big banks, have rigged the markets in their own favor. The only surprising thing about Lewis's assertion was that anyone could be even remotely surprised by it.
"The math on trading is simple: It is a zero-sum game. One trader's gain is another trader's loss. Only in the case of HFT, the losers are the investors -- by way of their pension funds, retirement accounts and institutional funds. The HFT's take -- the "skim" -- comes out of these large institution's trade executions.
"Trading on Speed
"The technology behind HFT may be complex, but the math is that simple. Once the Securities and Exchange Commission allowed stock exchanges to share with traders all of the unexecuted incoming orders, it was hard not to make money by skimming a few cents or fractions of a cent from each trade. Several years ago, the founder of Tradebot, one of the biggest high-frequency firms, had said that the firm had "not had a losing day of trading in four years." The firm's average holding period for stocks is 11 seconds.
"Any professional trader can tell you that his job is to manage risks. It is a statistical certainty that a percentage of trades will be losers. You are establishing a position with an unknown outcome. Sometimes they go your way, other times they go against you.
"How is it possible that one of the largest high-frequency trading firms executes millions and millions of orders for four years without ever having a down day? The short answer is what they do is not trading -- it is skimming. I call it legalized theft. High-frequency trading is a tax on investors, encouraged by the exchanges, allowed by the SEC. It is prima facie proof that something is amiss."
I look forward to reading Michael Lewis' new book, finding him entertaining as well as accurate. Meanwhile, I am certain that we have not seen or heard the last of HFT. I am disappointed although not surprised by the slow response to HFT on Wall Street, although the link to 60 Minutes in the email below shows that this is beginning to change.


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Jonah Hill And James Franco Teaming For True Story
By Eric Eisenberg
Despite the fact that both actors are part of the Judd Apatow inner circle, James Franco and Jonah Hill have never shared a scene together. In fact, the only movie that they both appear in is Knocked Up and Franco's role in that was little more than a uncredited cameo. Both are signed on to star as themselves in the directorial debuts of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg in The Apocalypse, but they will also be uniting for a real-life drama.
Both actors are now set to play the leads in True Story, a film based on the memoir by journalist Michael Finkel. Newcomer Rupert Goold is directing the project with Brad Pitt on board to produce. The story will feature Hill as Finkel, who worked as a journalist at The New York Times Magazine in 2002 when it was revealed that Christian Longo (Franco), a killer who had been on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, was captured in Mexico. Making things even stranger, Longo had been living under the identity of Finkel in order to evade capture. Finkel was then fired from the magazine for reportedly falsifying information in an investigation but sees a chance at redemption when he learns that the only journalist that Longo will talk to is Finkel. Deadline says thatTrue Story is already out to financiers and could have a deal this week.
Both Franco and Hill are actors who started in comedy and then proved themselves dramatically with Oscar-nominated performances in 127 Hours and Moneyball, respectively. Let's see if they can both pull it off again.
Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor
NJ native who calls LA home and lives in a Dreamatorium. A decade-plus CinemaBlend veteran who is endlessly enthusiastic about the career he's dreamt of since seventh grade.
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MASTERS week is here! The most highly anticipated PGA Tour Event of the year is finally here and it has the potential to be an all time great Tournament. All of the world's top golfers have shown some great form lately and….TIGER IS BACK.
The first Major of the year kicks off in Augusta, GA at the historic Augusta National Golf Club. Unlike the three other majors, The Masters is an invitational event, so the field is much smaller. This year there will be 87 players in the field and the top-50 after Friday's round will make the cut. Last year's champion at -9, Sergio Garcia, defeated Justin Rose in a playoff to claim the first Major Victory of his decorated career.
Experience plays a key role in success at the Masters as there have only been 3 first time winners ever. Players will often reference needing to have a good "feel" for the course and that is something that can only be acquired through experience. This is also the strongest field of golfers the PGA Tour will see all year, so the competition is stiff to say the least.
Augusta National, the iconic home to The Masters, is a 7,435 yard par 72 with four par 3's and four par 5's. The fairways are wide and play fast as a result of the natural slope that Augusta is built on. Despite their width, the fairways are lined with an abundance of pine trees and many strategically placed bunkers result in demanding shots off the tee.
The bentgrass greens are larger than average and play very fast, averaging 13+ on the stimp. Despite the overall size of the greens, they have dramatic slopes and contours that require players to key in on a much smaller target. Having experience at this course is crucial on the approach because being on the wrong side of the pin can lead to an abundance of bogeys. The greens are also known to be difficult to read and require players to tap into their previous knowledge in order to have a good feel for where the ball will go.
Most of the scoring will come on the Par 5's and length off the tee can be advantageous to players here. Historically the course plays very difficult relative to average, so limiting mistakes on the par 4's often leads to the most success. The emphasis on experience at Augusta can not be understated.
Augusta National does not release their strokes gained statistics, which makes identifying key stats a bit more difficult this week. However there are some common themes that have been identified throughout the years that help when building a model.
As I alluded to above, this is a long course and most of the scoring comes on the Par 5's. With that being said, it is crucial that players avoid any major mishaps on the par 4's because the winning score is typically in the high single digits under par.
I have played around with a few different models this week, and have settled in on the one below. I will be looking at this model from many different lengths of time and looking for overlap on players. I will also be weighing course history much higher than I normally would, due to the nature of Augusta.
Much like how the course plays, building lineups and identifying good plays will require more "feel" this week than any other week of the season. This is the strongest field in golf, so the margin between players is much smaller. I will talk more about strategy for the week below, but game theory will outweigh statistics for me this week.
There are a couple things that are unique about The Masters, the first of which is that there are only 87 players in the field. The top 50 after Friday's round will make the cut and play the weekend. This puts the made-cut percentage at just under 60%, which is more than 10% higher than a standard stroke play event. You will absolutely need 6/6 make the cut and most likely you will need multiple guys near the top of the leaderboard to have any chance of taking down a GPP.
You will notice that the DK pricing for this week is very soft, meaning you can make lineups that are completely loaded with talent very easily. That has something to do with the field being so strong and the odds to win be relatively close for a lot for players. It also has something to do with Draftkings enticing people to play more volume. There are a lot of casual golf fans who will fire some lineups for the first time this week because this is the first tournament they will be paying any attention. The GPP's this week also have a lot larger fields than they would for standard tournaments, so there will be a lot more lineups to compete against.
If you are playing large field GPP's, you will want to make sure you take the necessary steps to differentiating your lineups. As I mention every week, the easiest way to do so, is to leave some salary on the table. I normally leave anywhere from $100-$500 on the board. The more you leave off the less likely you are to have your lineup duplicated, but you want to make sure you still have a lot of upside with your player selections.
Also, be sure to monitor and utilize ownership projections throughout the week as this may be the single most important thing you can do to gain an edge. With a field this loaded, the margin of skill between payers is much thinner, so going with a lower owned play can lead to much higher upside lineups.
If you are looking for a good indicator of ownership, I like to use Fanshare Sports. Each week they review all the related DFS content they can find and count the number of times a player is mentioned. This is listed as a "tag". These tags are continuously updated throughout the week and then they release ownership projections on Wednesday nights. This is a really quick and easy way to get a feeling for ownership and popular roster construction for any given week. Finding leverage or pivot plays is crucial for GPP success and the best way to do so is by analyzing accurate ownership projections.
Dustin Johnson ($11,400) – There is not much that needs to be said here about DJ's skill and fit. He is one of the top players in the world and an absolute bomber. His game sets up perfect for Augusta. I have a feeling that he may be lower owned than he should be because he is the highest priced golfer and he has not won anything super recently. I love him as a pivot play in this range.
Justin Thomas ($10,800) – JT has been on a tear for the last 18 months and he is definitely one of the best players in the game. Like DJ, he is a bomber and his short game has been very good lately as well. He may be a little bit on the riskier side in this top range, but I fully anticipate seeing his best stuff this week. I am not expecting him to be low owned, but after Jordan Spieth's good showing at The Houston Open and his track record at Augusta, I expect a lot of ownership to go that way.
Jon Rahm ($9,300) – Rahm is a world-class golfer with all the skills to win anywhere on tour. I think he is bound to win his first major soon and I could very well see it happening here. Similar to my thoughts on DJ, I think Rahm could go a little under-owned relative to his skill set. You can easily make a case for every player $9k+ to win, so I will be using ownership to make some decisions here for the most part.
Justin Rose ($9,200) – Rose seems to be everyone's favorite to win The Masters and rightfully so. He has an incredible track record at this tournament and he has been in great form this year as well. I expect him to be 25%+ owned this week and I plan to eat some of that chalk and differentiate elsewhere. He is as consistent as it gets and probably $1,000 too cheap.
Hideki Matsuyama ($8,400) – Since being cut in 2014, Hideki's worst finish at Augusta came last year with a T11. He plays this place well every single year and absolutely has the upside to win. It should be noted, he did suffer a wrist injury earlier this year, but he came back for API and showed no signs of any discomfort. He may be a bit on the riskier side since we have not seen great form lately, but he will be a risk I am willing to take, especially if it looks like he will be lower owned.
Alexander Noren ($8,100) – Noren is second in total strokes gained over the last 24 rounds and he has a couple near wins already this year. His recent form and skillset lead me to believe he can be in contention on Sunday. He rates out very well in my model and the thing I like the most is his ability to avoid the costly mistake. The main knock on Noren is his limited experience at Augusta, but I think he has turned a corner this year and I will lean on that.
Henrik Stenson ($7,800) – Stenson is a tough guy to figure out for this week. If you consider his pedigree combined with his recent form, he is coming in at a significant discount this week. However, if you look at his history at the Masters you will see a different story, with not one top-10 finish in the last 5 years. He does not need to win to pay off this price tag, but he provides that upside and that is exactly the profile you need to target this week. Polarizing play and I understand the fade, but I will be playing him.
Adam Hadwin ($7,200) – Not an overly exciting play here, but I think Hadwin is somewhat safe this week. He has been rating out very well in multiple different models that I have run and he made the cut here last year. I do not have enough conviction to go all in on a chalky Hadwin, but if his ownership stays reasonable I will have some shares.
Kevin Chappell ($6,900) – I think Chappell's game sets up very well for Augusta and this is backed up by his T7 finish last year. He is a great ball striker and has plenty of length off the tee, both of which are very valuable at Augusta. Although he struggles on the greens, I do not think putting is nearly as important as you might hear. Chappell has already shown his Top-10 upside and at this price, that is more than you will need.
Brendan Steele ($6,900) – Steele has been rating out very well in multiple models this week. Similar to Chappell is he a good ball striker and has plenty of distance off the tee. He finished T27 last year, and i believe he has top-10 upside. I think he is another relatively safe option below $7k if you need some salary relief.
This is one of, if not the best week of the year to watch the PGA Tour and play fantasy golf. With all the top dogs playing well, this is shaping up to be an all time great Masters. I cannot wait to watch all weekend long and hopefully have a good DFS sweat as well.
I went a bit more in depth on the strategy for this week above, so be sure to consider what I outlined. I will be firing a bit more than I usually do in my hopeless pursuit of taking down the milli-maker. If I don't take it down, I hope one of you do!
Previous articleMasters 2018 – Another Preview.


Welcome to India! Upon arrival at Indira Gandhi International Airport, you are greeted by our representative. Be transferred to hotel where our representative helps you check in and brief you about the following tours. Have some free time on your own to adjust to the new time zone.
Breakfast at hotel, your tour guide will pick you up in hotel lobby then head to Old Delhi for the magnificent Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque; then catch a unique glance at local life by an exploration to the bustling local bazaar of Chandni Chowk on rickshaw.
View Red Fort before drive to New Delhi for the tallest stone tower in India, 800-year-old Qutub Minar surrounded by ancient Hindu and Muslim complex. Continue to Raj Ghat - the cremation sites of Mahatma Gandhi. Drive along the city landmarks of India Gate, President's House, Parliament House & Government Secretariat Buildings. Finish today with an insight into the local religion at a colorful Hindu temple - Laxmi Narayan Temple.
After breakfast, proceed for Mandawa, the capital of Shekhawati region famous for its old merchant mansions and beautiful fresco art. Stopovers for a rest or photo opportunity would be at your request en-route. On arrival, settle down at hotel,and the rest of the day is at leisure.
Breakfast then enjoy your walking tour of Mandawa to discover many hidden havelis (mansions). The Shekhavati area is like an open art gallery in India, your private guide's commentary will definitely enhance your impression. Later afternoon enjoy a camel ride into the sand dunes surrounding.
Continue travelling to rural Rajasthan to discover the small village of Samode nestled among rugged hills where cobbled narrow streets curve up till you reach the fairytale palace. This superbly restored eighteenth-century palace was put on the map by its starring role in the 1984 mini-series 'The Far Pavilions'. This palace will be your home for the night!
After breakfast at hotel, a short drive to 'pink city' of Jaipur. On arrival proceed for sightseeing of Amber Fort, the ancient capital of the State. Situated just to the north of Jaipur, Amber Fort overlooks the city from a spar of the Aravali Hills. From the parking area below the Fort, you take the short walk up the steep path to the entrance courtyard, which leads to a magnificent complex of palaces, halls, pavilions, gardens and temples built over a period of 125 years by successive rulers. Inside, you'll also experience the Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors).
Afternoon city tour of Jaipur includes a brief stop at façade of the famous Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) and your tour guide shows you the best angle for a perfect picture. Continue to the City Palace Museum & Jantar Mantar - the largest stone observatory in world that still in service today, check the local time in person by the giant sundial is interesting. Drive through the pink rose residential & business areas before you are escorted to the hotel.
This morning we will head east to Agra, en-route a brief exploration to the former royal city of Fatehpur Sikri (about 1.5 hrs), one of the finest examples of Mughal architectural splendor at its height, built by Emperor Akbar in 1569 and abandoned after 15 years due to scarcity of water. Lunch time after that and then proceed to Agra. Hotel check-in on arrival and rest of the day is at leisure.
Today you start from an early morning visit to Taj Mahal (closed on Friday) which frees you from the crowds and heat in daytime; this white-marble world wonder was built by a great emperor in memory of his beloved. Later visit the palatial Royal Pavilions at the red sandstone Agra Fort for a glimpse of the royal Mughal lifestyle.
Tips: Strict security check is needed before entering Taj Mahal. Foods, plastic bags, chargers,etc are all prohibited things. We suggest you catch the sunrise view in the early morning for the temperature is relatively cool and avoid the peak time.
Say goodbye to India today. After breakfast, you will be escorted to Delhi airport directly for your international flight.