Olivia Brown

When my eight-year-old son told me he was making his friends happy and fighting bullies in a video game, I was curious. He told me about Kind Kingdom, a game his school librarian recommended. On his computer, my son walked his character toward a friend whose head was down and handed the other character a heart. The friend picked up his head and smiled. Then my son maneuvered the player along a path and came across a bully who was jumping up and down with his teeth clenched. One swift series of button presses, and the bully was behind bars. Kind Kingdom was made by Interland, a division of Google, and is part of a four-game series that teaches players about internet safety, like building strong passwords and only interacting with trusted friends online. I particularly liked that the lessons can be broadly applied to life, too. I found Kind Kingdom listed at Games for Change, a nonprofit that promotes and supports creators that are using games for social good. Arana Shapiro, managing ... Continue reading →

round forty-three hundred years ago, in a region that we now call Iraq, a sculptor chiselled into a white limestone disk the image of a woman presiding over a temple ritual. She wears a long ceremonial robe and a headdress. There are two male attendants behind her, and one in front, pouring a libation on an altar. On the back of the disk, an inscription identifies her as Enheduanna, a high priestess and the daughter of King Sargon. Some scholars believe that the priestess was also the world’s first recorded author. A clay tablet preserves the words of a long narrative poem: “I took up my place in the sanctuary dwelling, / I was high priestess, I, Enheduanna.” In Sumer, the ancient civilization of southern Mesopotamia where writing originated, texts were anonymous. If Enheduanna wrote those words, then she marks the beginning of authorship, the beginning of rhetoric, even the beginning of autobiography. To put her precedence in perspective, she lived fifteen hundred ... Continue reading →

If I have to determine what is React then I would suffice that it is a popular front-end library that helps developers build feature-rich and interactive sites with both less time and effort. ReactJS is one of the most widely used open-source Javascript libraries. It was developed by Facebook and Instagram to help developers build web applications more easily. They already use ReactJS to build scalable, interactive user interfaces. And that’s not it, many top brands enjoy various benefits of using React JS for your development project. This javascript library can come in quite handy when you want to get things done with less time and effort. But some experts in the industry warn professionals against using this library for app development because of some of its serious drawbacks. And that led to the debate about whether ReactJS is a good choice for software development or not. Hence, in this article, we’ll take a look at some of the pros and cons of ReactJS. So you ... Continue reading →

Many might associate the word ‘vogue’ with the magazine, or at a stretch, Madonna’s hit 1990 single. But ‘letting your body move to the music’ might be a closer guess than you think. The iconic documentary ‘Paris is Burning’ was also released in 1990, and focuses on artist Paris Dupree’s annual ‘ball’. The Ballroom Scene is a part of the LGBTQ+ subculture that originated in late 20th century New York City, specifically by Black and Latinx drag queens. The documentary is an insightful look into the Golden Age of New York City drag balls, with a lens on race, class, gender, and sexuality. These balls slowly transitioned from shows of pageantry into voguing battles, inspired by themes like ‘Black and White Drama’ or ‘Latex Eleganza’. Ballroom culture gave queer people a safe space to survive and thrive, with people who were in the same boat as them, especially during the height of the AIDS crisis in the ... Continue reading →

What’s so funny? ? If you’re talking about screen comedy in the 21st century, the answer is easy: bumbling manchildren, the more boorish and clueless and stuck in their stunted adolescence, the better. Talking foxes, Huey Lewis-loving serial killers, world-saving marionettes, foul-mouthed political fixers and boisterous bridesmaids — all great as well. German father-daughter duos and goofy stoners? Bring ’em on! Headbanging teachers and backstabbing bureaucrats? Yes, we’ll take them too. Since the turn of the century, we’ve giggled at the poignant and the perverse, rom-coms and raunch-coms, new-and-improved takes on singular comic types and loose, highly improvised ensemble pieces that spread the spotlight around. Some of these movies have been gently witty, while others have displayed all of the subtlety of a dose of Sex Panther cologne. But they’ve all consistently cracked us up, in a two-decade-plus span in which — let’s be ... Continue reading →

Introduction As we all know, JavaScript is one of the best and leading programming languages transforming the interface of web and mobile applications to improve customer experience. Of all the Javascript frameworks, Angular development is gaining immense popularity and some positive responses from developers and entrepreneurs. As Google-owned Angular, it is highly maintained and supported by a wide spectrum of developers having in-depth knowledge about modern technologies. Angular is a simple yet powerful framework that keeps up with JavaScript systems and uses modern techniques that make it the preferred choice for many developers. Applications built using Angular are highly interactive and provide a complete solution to make your business stand out from the crowd, including high webpage performance and user experience, using the best Angular features. So if you're planning to build secure and powerful dynamic programming structures, then make sure to follow the common ... Continue reading →

n poll after poll, Americans say they are deeply concerned about rising incivility online. And extensive social media research has focused on how to counteract online incivility. But with Civic Signals, a project of the National Conference on Citizenship and the Center for Media Engagement, researchers took a different approach: If you started from scratch, they asked, what would a flourishing, healthy digital space look like? They quickly realized that it wouldn’t always be civil. MATTERS OF FACT: Exploring the intersection of science & society. The Civic Signals project, which began about four years ago, initially involved conducting a thorough literature review and expert interviews in the U.S. and four other countries to identify the values — or “signals” — people want reflected in the design of online spaces. The team then conducted focus groups and polled more than 22,000 people in 20 countries who were frequent users of social, ... Continue reading →

This is a story about emotional intelligence, building resilience, and (oddly) high school humor.    I think we should start with the high school humor, and then work our way toward the emotional intelligence.  When I was a teenager, some friends and I used to frequent a Chinese restaurant. A girl who was sort of the center of the group and the life of the party (let's call her Jessica) introduced us to a PG-13 joke that you probably know. It went like this. At the end of every meal, we'd get fortune cookies, and we'd read the fortunes out loud. Then, we'd pause and look at Jessica. With perfect timing, she'd add the same two words to the end of each fortune: "In bed." For example, my fortune might read: "Focus, determination, and hard work will always pay off ..." And Jessica would add, "In bed!"   Original Article Link to read more Continue reading →

Have you ever heard about AWS Lambda, Microsoft Azure Functions, Google Cloud Functions and IBM cloud functions?  These are all examples of serverless computing. Today, one of the leading buzzwords around the globe is serverless computing and almost all cloud providers are found striving hard to deliver the best possible serverless solutions. Now what happens is in any general development scenario, developers spend endless days and nights in programming codes and on the other hand, the ops team are asked to spend hours figuring out how to make things run in a seamless manner. And what’s more tedious here is such procedures are never-ending. So here the serverless computing concept comes to the rescue!     What is Serverless Computing? Source: nasscom.in Gone are the days when one has to take constant care of the application being developed as well as deployed. Today with the help of serverless computing like AWS lambda and Azure managing, deploying ... Continue reading →

Has a gull ever snatched a French fry from you, or made a dive at your sandwich? Would you have been more, or less, annoyed if you found out that the bird knew exactly when you would appear, and was in effect lying in wait? Scientists in Bristol, England, recently discovered that Lesser Black-​backed Gulls predictably showed up at a school just before snack time and lunch, waiting in large numbers on nearby rooftops for the opportunity to snag food from the students. The birds also visited a waste center at the appropriate time of day for freshly dumped garbage, capitalizing on weekends when humans were scarce and hence less likely to disturb them. Both of these behaviors are strikingly different from the techniques gulls typically use when searching for fish or other prey, and both only appear in urban gulls, illustrating how some creatures, at least, can thrive in human environments. The gulls’ predictive ability is impressive, but it is just the latest indication of birds ... Continue reading →

By day, Lauren Tischendorf, 39, is a special education assistant principal in Sydney, Australia. But, outside of work hours, Tischendorf swims, a lot. Just about every day, Tischendorf dives into the Pacific Ocean as part of an intense open-water swimming regime she’s maintained for years. And in 2021, Tischendorf set her sights on something that had never been done before—to become the first woman to circumnavigate the shark-infested waters around Lord Howe Island. Five hundred miles northeast of Sydney, the small, volcanic island is 6 square miles and measures about 20 miles around. On what started as a clear April day, Tischendorf embarked on her historic swim. Accompanied by two small support boats but alone in the water, she had to deal with tiger sharks, unexpected conditions, and currents so strong she was swimming backwards for hours.   Atlas Obscura spoke to Tischendorf about being within hugging range of an ocean predator more than twice her size, how ... Continue reading →

Angular JS is an open-source front-end Javascript programming language built by Google to develop applications. It was launched initially in the year 2010 whereas its subsequent versions were numbered Angular 2 and onwards. This framework successfully gained support from the community of developers as Angular can make your static HTML pages more interactive. This has given immediate popularity to the angular development framework.  However, with the launch of new development frameworks, the limitations of the angular were highlighted the most. It made Google completely rewrite the framework and launch it again. This time it uses Typescript as the new language which solves all the issues regarding the previous version.  The decision of Google to shift from Javascript to Typescript paid off. This not only became helpful in avoiding all the setbacks of javascript but it also introduces some on-demand features for web developers. As a result, nowadays, approximately 40% of ... Continue reading →

There is a lot of value in empathy at work. Understanding the situations your colleagues are facing can help you to work more effectively with them. Understanding customer and clients can make it easier to provide them the service they want in the way that they want it.     There are clear differences between people in how much empathy they bring with them in interactions. Some people naturally take other people’s perspectives and emotions into account when interacting with them. Others are rooted in their own way of thinking about things and can be oblivious to the goals, motivations, and emotions of others. Luckily you can practice being more empathetic—in the workplace, and beyond. If empathy doesn’t come naturally to you—or if you are mentoring someone else who rarely takes other people’s perspectives into consideration—there are some ways to learn to show more empathy and to make a habit of it: Have three questions and a statement in ... Continue reading →

Fortunately, we can point to simple techniques that neuroscience suggests work effectively to make people much less anxious--quicker than you think.  Here are five of them:  1. Listen to this specially designed song. I'm putting this first because it's my favorite and I'm still shocked at how well it works. A decade ago, British musicians teamed up with sound therapists to record a song called Weightlessness that stimulates specific neurological reactions: lower heart rate, lower blood pressure, and reduced levels of the stress hormone, cortisol.   "The song...contains a sustaining rhythm that starts at 60 beats per minute and gradually slows to around 50," explained Lyz Cooper, founder of the British Academy of Sound Therapy. "While listening, your heart rate gradually comes to match that beat." It's just eight minutes long, and it works like a charm. I first tried it several years ago, and I've kept it ... Continue reading →

While Node.JS is an easy-to-learn programming language, having the right skill set can make the difference between someone who builds a handful of websites and the one who builds enterprise-grade web applications that handle millions of users and become part of anyone’s daily routine. Of course, you can imply best node js development practices for a successful project but for that too along with making progress in your career, it is equally important for you to master the right skills for the job.  This article will cover the skills needed to develop to be a successful Node developer.  Database Management A database is a collection of information, data, and records. It is managed by a database management system (DBMS). A DBMS provides the structure, storage, and security of databases. There are many types of DBMSs, such as relational DBMS, object-relational database management systems (ORDBMS), hierarchical databases, network databases, and distributed ... Continue reading →

“How to Build a Life” is a weekly column by Arthur Brooks, tackling questions of meaning and happiness. Click here to listen to his podcast series on all things happiness, How to Build a Happy Life. When people consider making big changes in life—moving cities, changing careers, leaving relationships, quitting jobs they didn’t much like—they’re usually motivated by one common desire. Upheaval can be worthwhile if it leaves the past behind and creates a future that is happier and more promising. Original Article Link to read more   Continue reading →

Curaçá, Brazil—In 1995, conservationists and scientists embarked on a desperate attempt to save the world’s rarest bird, a blue-gray parrot called the Spix’s macaw. The bird had scarcely been spotted since scientists first described it in the early 19th century, and it had taken on an aura of mystery, making it irresistible to parrot lovers—and to poachers. “For well over a century we just had this very, very weak information that there was this kind of mythical, rather beautiful blue bird,” says Nigel Collar, a conservationist at BirdLife International. By the mid-1990s only a single individual remained alive in the wild, close to this dusty, small town in northeastern Brazil. From DNA in molted feathers, researchers in the United Kingdom confirmed that the last wild bird was a male. At the time, fewer than three dozen birds were known to be held in collections and zoos around the world, and a decision was made to release a single ... Continue reading →

Introduction In the past few years, we have seen massive growth in the adoption of modern web applications. Many small, as well as large organization ventures, are planning digitization to explore and increase the efficiency of their business. React, the web development framework is capturing huge attention for web applications. One of the most prominent factors to choose React over other developing platforms is, it is launched by the social media king Facebook. Implementing the best ReactJS practices for developing amazing web apps lies in the fact that it uses single components where the developer can break down the complex UI elements into individual ones. It is linked with some of the top-notch giants such as BBC, Instagram, PayPal, Yahoo, Netflix, and others.   According to a report generated by Similar Tech, the United States is the leading country using React JS, followed by other developed nations like Japan, China, Russia, UK, etc. It further reports that the website ... Continue reading →

OVER THE past three years India has endured more than its share of bad news and suffering. The pandemic has killed between 2.2m and 9.7m people. Lockdowns caused the economy to shrink temporarily by a quarter and triggered the largest internal migrations since partition in 1947, as city workers fled to their villages. Religious tensions have been simmering, stoked by the anti-Muslim chauvinism of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in power since 2014 under the strongman prime minister, Narendra Modi. Now a heatwave is baking the north of the country and the global oil- and food-price shock is battering the poor. Yet as our Briefing explains, if you take a step back, a novel confluence of forces stands to transform India’s economy over the next decade, improving the lives of 1.4bn people and changing the balance of power in Asia. Technological leaps, the energy transition and geopolitical shifts are creating new opportunities—and new tools to fix intractable problems. The ... Continue reading →

Faisal Masud knows what it takes to make a multibillion-dollar company thrive. The 49-year-old spent more than two decades working his way up the executive ranks at Amazon, Google, eBay and Staples. Now, he’s trying to implement lessons from those successful firms as the CEO of Fabric, a Seattle-based e-commerce start-up that launched in 2016 and is valued at $1.5 billion. (The company stylizes its name as “fabric,” to avoid confusion with online insurance company Fabric Technologies.)   Masud was recruited as CEO in 2020 by co-founder Ryan Bartley, with whom he’d worked closely at Staples. Upon stepping into the role, Masud says, he worked to take what he’d learned from his previous employers to create a culture at Fabric that champions empathy, efficiency and — most of all — success.  “Culturally, we’ve built a company that’s sort of a hybrid of all the companies I’ve worked at,” Masud tells CNBC Make ... Continue reading →