#Deciphering Intellectual Capital

[capsulelabs08]

Metrics for HEI Intellectual Capital Assessments

  In Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), gauging Intellectual Capital (IC) isn’t just essential—it’s imperative. Simply tallying publications or leaning on generic commendations barely scratches the surface. A deeper exploration into the alchemy of intellectual capital creation is essential because it empowers HEIs to create an additional revenue stream and  dominate their domain. Deciphering…

[novagad]

Forex Trading Advisor @novagad

I’ve been a Forex Trader since 2007 and an instructor since 2017.

Forex Trading: Exploring the Global Financial Frenzy

In the vast and dazzling world of financial markets, there's one beast that roars louder than the rest: Forex trading. It's a domain where fortunes are made (and sometimes lost) faster than you can say "exchange rate."

But what exactly is it about Forex that has millions of people hooked, eyes glued to screens, fingers poised over keyboards, and hearts racing like they've had one too many espressos? Let's dive deeper into the world of currency trading and uncover the secrets behind its irresistible allure.

1. The 24/5 Convenience Store of Trading

First and foremost, Forex trading operates 24 hours a day, five days a week. Unlike the stock market, which opens and closes like a sleepy small-town shop, the Forex market is like a neon-lit convenience store that never sleeps.

Traders from New York to Tokyo can engage in their currency escapades whenever the mood strikes. This flexibility allows part-time traders to moonlight after their day jobs and early birds to catch the worm in real-time market action.

2. The Seductive Leverage

Leverage in Forex is like having a turbocharger in a sports car. It gives traders the ability to control larger positions with a relatively small amount of capital. It's the dream of making big bucks with a small investment.

Of course, leverage is a double-edged sword—one moment you're racing at full throttle, and the next, you're careening off a cliff. But for many, the potential for high returns is too tempting to resist.

impressive gains. For those who relish a challenge and have a knack for puzzles, Forex trading offers a never-ending mental workout.

3. The Global Playground

Forex is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily trading volume exceeding $6 trillion. Yes, you read that right—trillion with a T! This immense liquidity ensures that traders can enter and exit positions with ease, without worrying about slippage.

Plus, the sheer variety of currency pairs means there's always something to trade, whether you're bullish on the dollar, bearish on the euro, or just feeling adventurous about the Malaysian ringgit.

4. The Democratization of Trading

Gone are the days when Forex trading was exclusive to big banks and hedge funds. The rise of online trading platforms has leveled the playing field, allowing anyone with a computer and an internet connection to join the fun.

And with a plethora of educational resources, webinars, and demo accounts available, the Forex market is as inclusive as it is vast. It's like the world's biggest, most volatile party, and everyone's invited.

5. The Thrill of the Chase

Let's face it: Forex trading comes with an undeniable adrenaline rush. The fast-paced nature of the market, the constant flux of prices, and the never-ending stream of economic news and geopolitical events create an environment that's as exhilarating as it is unpredictable.

It's like being on a financial rollercoaster, with every twist and turn bringing new opportunities and risks. For many, it's this thrill that keeps them coming back for more, despite the occasional stomach-churning drops.

6. The Intellectual Challenge

Forex trading isn't just about clicking buy and sell; it's a cerebral game of strategy, analysis, and psychology. Traders spend hours poring over charts, deciphering technical indicators, and keeping up with economic data.

It's a constant test of wits and nerve, where making the right call can yield impressive gains. For those who relish a challenge and have a knack for puzzles, Forex trading offers a never-ending mental workout.

7. The Quest for Financial Independence

At its core, the popularity of Forex trading is driven by a simple, powerful desire: the quest for financial independence.

The dream of making a living from trading, of being your own boss, of earning money from anywhere in the world with just a laptop and an internet connection—it's a compelling vision.

While the reality can be tough and the road fraught with risks, for many, the potential rewards make it a journey worth embarking on.

8. The Bottom Line: Why Forex Trading is Gaining Popularity

Forex trading is no joke, my friend. It's a vibrant and global marketplace that offers incredible opportunities to make some serious dough, keep your brain buzzing, and achieve financial independence.

What makes it so darn attractive, you ask? Well, it's a 24/7 affair, meaning you can jump in whenever you please. Plus, there's this thing called leverage that gives you some extra oomph.

And let's not forget about the internet, which has made trading accessible to just about anyone. Oh, and did I mention the sheer adrenaline rush you get from the chase? It's like being on a rollercoaster ride you just can't resist.

9. But let's get real, shall we?

Now, let's not kid ourselves. Forex trading isn't some magical money-making machine that spits out cash on demand. It requires some serious learning, discipline, and a healthy dose of respect for the risks involved.

But here's the deal: If you're willing to put in the effort and approach it with a clear, strategic mindset, the rewards can be absolutely mind-blowing. We're talking big bucks, my friend.

So, whether you're a seasoned trader who knows the ropes or a curious newbie eager to dip your toes in the Forex waters, the world of trading is calling your name. Just remember to buckle up because it's going to be one heck of a wild ride.

Get ready to feel the rush!

Thanks for reading and please consider upvoting it, if you liked the content :)

[athomewiththecicadas]

Life as a Senior NCO for a Head of Household that can't Provide.

Here you go. A "Rank" is perfect for appreciating Full Dress Uniforms. Which is the uniform we issue "merits." And we consider an individual's merits in our on-going decision making.

As a Senior, I'm always interested in the opportunity to appreciate each others merits. It allows us to decipher each other's personal characteristics.

But at 5 years old, you could consider some of the equities I was faced with. And how all of this relates to pressing issues in modern pop culture. Even almost as a "timeless staple" in home economics.

Thinking back at "QVC," and "fake trees."

And the "Cops" TV Show came out, which was nothing but episodes of night fever, as society tried to figure out where exactly our high tech Sergeant Major would apply to their lives.

And some of these Equities are obviously relevant to today's society, if not a portfolio of inequities:

-a Semiconductor, or Microprocessor

-Wireless Data Communication

-Birth Certificate and Deed

These are all measures that would completely embarrass a well renowned man and his public image. If not embarrass his public opinion.

But we as Officers enumerate the economy, the same as our ranks.

I've heard arguments from all different angles. And the issues really amount to misunderstandings of the ways of a ranking system to begin with.

What is the point of living your entire life, even making good money, if it isn't going to pay you and your person.

On the otherside, there are merely the rules of earth, in which I would have no control over.

And so, a Senior is dealt with unfortunate phenomena from two sides. If you are unhappy to begin with, it isn't going to help. And then it's nearly impossible to get anybody to do anything in the first place.

But a rightful shareholder is often settled through the "electoral process" of a ranking system. And I'll be the first to tell you, the inward criticism of a Rank, is not the friend of a Rank to begin with.

And so, Seniors go through a vetting process, that may even last for many, many years. And they are expected to learn the rules, even to the degree that exceeds the expectations of the "private rank," which is the most important role a Senior would need for any chance of success.

If a Private is expected to run a 4 minute mile, a Senior is expected to attain a skill set to the degree of the rank described.

And this completely explains the lack of facilitation Ranks will suffer from. And was one of the key points I made when conditioning the Joint Militia Detachment Brigade.

If a Mercenary Duty was required to address the Substancial Effects presented, then a Shareholder's intellectual properties would rightfully be described in the Capital that has been explained.

You can see the tell tale signs of the weaknesses of the British Ally, and their struggle with the USSR. Where a rank necessary to perform the duties necessary for the interworkings of our economy, would have to be considered, "beyond our common expectations of work life."

And this brings us to a point where you would have to consider the establishment of the Federal Reserve to begin with.

In today's economy, especially in relation to the 2000's. And considering my stature in this economy, it's clear you can see I would have obligations.

If there is one thing that WWII taught us, the values of Institutional Regulations are much more important than the population is ready to understand.

Sergeant Major Nathan Marksmith, North Wales Militia/ Joint Militia Detachment Brigade (Virginia Militia Association)

[learnstockmarketcourses]

Elevate Your Skills: Learn Stock Market Trading

Are you intrigued by the idea of diving into the dynamic world of stock market trading? If so, learning stock market trading can be an incredibly rewarding journey that opens up a plethora of opportunities for financial growth and independence. Whether you're a novice investor looking to build a solid foundation or an experienced trader seeking to refine your skills, understanding the ins and outs of stock trading is essential.Learning stock market trading involves gaining knowledge about various aspects of the financial markets, including but not limited to, market analysis, trading strategies, risk management techniques, and investment psychology. It's about deciphering the complexities of the market and learning how to make informed decisions that can lead to profitable outcomes.One of the key benefits of learning stock market trading is the potential for significant returns on investment. By mastering the art of trading, you can capitalize on price fluctuations in individual stocks and other financial instruments, thereby maximizing your profits. Additionally, learning to trade stocks provides you with the flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions and seize opportunities as they arise.Moreover, learning stock market trading is not just about making money—it's also about continuous learning and personal growth. As you delve deeper into the world of trading, you'll develop valuable skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and discipline, which are transferrable to other areas of life. Additionally, trading can be an intellectually stimulating pursuit that challenges you to stay informed about market trends, economic indicators, and global events.In conclusion, learning stock market trading is a worthwhile endeavour that can lead to financial success and personal fulfilment. Whether you're looking to generate additional income, build wealth for the future, or simply expand your knowledge base, investing in your education and learning the intricacies of stock trading can set you on the path to achieving your financial goals. So, why wait? Start your journey towards mastering stock market trading today and unlock the potential for a brighter financial future.

[escaperooms1234]

The Escape Game Orlando: A Mesmerizing Puzzle Adventure in the Theme Park Capital

Nestled amidst the enchanting world of theme parks and attractions, Orlando, Florida, has an immersive experience that promises to captivate the hearts of both locals and tourists. The Escape Game Orlando has emerged as a popular destination, attracting puzzle enthusiasts and thrill-seekers with its meticulously designed escape rooms, challenging puzzles, and captivating narratives. Offering participants a chance to embark on their own adventure, The Escape Game Orlando promises an unforgettable journey filled with mystery, excitement, and team camaraderie.

The Concept of The Escape Game

The Escape Game is an interactive real-life adventure that originated in Japan and has gained global popularity. In Orlando, the concept has been embraced by a diverse audience, eager for an intellectually stimulating and engaging experience. The game involves a team of participants being "locked" inside a themed room and tasked with solving puzzles, uncovering clues, and escaping within a designated time limit, typically 60 minutes.

The Escape Game Orlando boasts a diverse selection of intricately designed escape rooms, each with its unique theme, storyline, and set of challenges. Themes can range from historical mysteries and thrilling heists to fantastical adventures and science fiction quests, catering to a wide array of interests and preferences.

The Immersive Experience

What sets The Escape Game Orlando apart is its commitment to providing an immersive and authentic adventure. From the moment participants step into an escape room, they are transported to a different world. Elaborate sets, high-quality props, and meticulous attention to detail create an atmosphere that feels both realistic and exhilarating.

The creators of The Escape Game Orlando understand the power of storytelling, and each escape room is thoughtfully designed to unfold like a thrilling narrative. Participants become the protagonists of the story, fully engaged in uncovering secrets and solving puzzles as they progress through the adventure.

The Challenging Puzzles

The Escape Game Orlando is not for the faint of heart. Participants are met with a series of mind-bending puzzles that demand keen observation, logical thinking, and effective teamwork. Success in escaping the room requires collaboration, creativity, and the ability to think critically under pressure.

Participants must decipher complex codes, solve enigmatic riddles, uncover hidden compartments, and manipulate physical objects. As the clock ticks down, adrenaline surges, and minds race to unlock the final pieces of the puzzle, fostering an exhilarating and immersive experience.

A Social and Bond-Building Adventure

Beyond the thrill of solving puzzles, The Escape Game Orlando also offers an excellent opportunity for social interactions and team-building. The experience promotes effective communication, collaboration, and an appreciation for each team member's unique skills and abilities.

[basil-isk]

Can The Author Be Killed Today?

    The concept of “Death of The Author”, once primarily used by literary critics, has become a common phrase in the online landscape surrounding media criticism of all sorts. Twitter media critics throw around the verbiage recklessly, often times caught up in a cross fire of whether it is morally justifiable to enjoy a piece of media created by someone now seen as “problematic.” But when the scriptor Roland Barthes explained the concept in his famous essay “The Death of The Author” it wasn’t simply about the righteousness of consumption – but rather a critical look on how we criticize literature and writing.

    Barthes provides an argument for why analyzing a narrative should not be about finding the author, but rather about creating a meaning. “In the multiplicity of writing, everything is to be disentangled nothing deciphered;” Reading should be about critically thinking through the complex signs and signifiers one is viewing, and the context they hold through the relation they have with each other. There is no one true meaning to a piece of writing. The meaning of a text has its own standpoint to readers as thinkers, and it should not be our goal to use a narrative to biographically pick apart an Author – but instead to simply pick apart the text which is on the page. Barthes proposes, instead of an Author, a scriptor – whose purpose is to “preform” the concept of a narrative by using an immense knowledge of signs and their cultural significance. A scriptor uses cultural significance to guide, but is not limited by their own world view – thus the reader is not limited by the viewpoint of a specific person, but can be open to a myriad of perspectives being told through the signs on the page.

    Barthes also argues that the idea of the Author is a contemporary one, an idea which has been perpetuated by capitalist desires of Property ownership – which has in turn created Intellectual Property ownership. A scriptor removes this elitist “IP” owner, and instead insists writers to preform narratives in a way that has inherent value –  not just out of a desire for the recognition of being the Author.

    Barthes is proposing not simply returning to a time with no authors - but a way of viewing writers as a consequence of their writing, rather than the opposite. A framework where we know the narrative itself before the creator, and the narrative is not fixed on a right or wrong way to interpret. By removing this fixed interpretation, it is removing the control of a singular entity over an entire concept – and thus killing God in a literary sense.

    So how does this relate to a modern audience, one which is bombarded with a variety of pieces of media which may have many different creators involved.

    I believe what Barthes is somewhat proposing is for writing to be open-source. In the software world, open-source projects are simply tools, lines of code which anyone can propose edits to or use in a way which they see fit. Sometimes open-source requires credit given to the original creator, sometimes it doesn’t, but the point is that there is no one dictating how one person can use the code the original scriptor created – it has been released, free to the public to use or change how they see fit.

    Authorship, creates a proprietary view of a narrative – there is only one way to interpret it (the author's way) and if the narrative is to be transformed by another creator, the original Author must be a guiding hand in the entire process. There is no freedom for creativity, or critical thought, just a simple answer. Barthes also explains that Narratives should distance themselves from having some sort of deeper theological, singular meaning to be deciphered and found. The scriptor is an actor preforming a concept in the best way possible, simply interpreting the abstract script ideas have gifted them and portraying it through language.

    As Barthes alluded to, Capitalism has created a system which perpetuates Authorship. Consuming a narrative isn’t simply consuming a narrative, it can have consequences. Regardless of whether the author exists within the text, you still have to purchase a book to read it (usually) and that money goes to the seller, the publisher, and the author. Those in the modern age have a lot of consideration over where their money, or influence will end up. Consumption of media SHOULD be a neutral act, an act where you can think about the narrative separately from why it exists – by the very act of consuming something tells the endless algorithms to make more of that product. There has been a death of thoughtful media consumption, because media is not created as art, but rather as product.

    While yes, thoughtful reading and watching can still happen, the discussion in the modern age is less about Authorial Intent and about where the money goes and about whether you support the people it goes to.

    The Author is alive and well in the modern age, while reading a text individually it is possible to kill them in your own mind – the modern media consumer is still incredibly focused on who is behind the creation rather than the work itself. Consumers are critical of work before they have even seen it, simply based on who is behind it and how they have branded themselves. Social media has allowed for a closer connection to creators, which has thus influenced the creation of ideas following the names attached to new pieces of work. A complex web of moral considerations, about wanting to support the “right” people rather than interesting concepts, due to a social context where people themselves have become narratives in their own right.

[uthseikoashx-inflamedme]

Summer of 1899 fanfictions: with Philosophy, ancient Greek and Latin, foreign languages and a bit of Literature

(note: by “Summer of 1899 fanfictions”, I refer to the summer of Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald’s meeting as teenagers)

(note: I am not a native speaker, so I apologise for the mistakes, inaccuracies, truly bad use of tenses and wrong phrases. I hope it won’t be too unpleasant. Let me know if something is really not understandable!)

What about philosphy, Latin, etc, but in 1899 fanfictions? (dark academia vibes, I know)

There are already quite a lot of fanfics about it but not enough - because it's so great, let me detail why it is (and expose my headcanons)

(the [1] and [2] are notes, check the end of the post to read them)

(tiny disclaimer: i am not at all an advanced scholar on any of the following topics, just studying that kind of subjects and loving to draw parallels with hp. i hope i won’t say too many wrong things, etc.)

Philosophy :

Moral philosophy

The theories and questions throughout the history of moral philosophy (as far as I know) fit so well with the concerns of our revolutionary boys.

Is there any moral duty? Knowing wizards and witches could solve an amount of muggles' problems, is this immoral for them to stay in the shadows? What about the means of the revolution - is this ok to kill for the Greater Good, to initiate injuries, doom and destruction to build a better world, which cost is acceptable? What about consequentialism, utilitarianism, moral of virtue, deontological philosophy, idk? What's good? What's fair?

More touchy question: the maj-people are able to perform marvellous things, so are they consequently more important than maj-people? Because of their capacities, should they be praised - considered as superior beings - as gods? But if yes, should they treat muggles differently than they would treat wizards? If wizards shouldn’t be considered as superior beings, are they equal to muggles anyway?

And what about the Hallows - is this moral to possess them, considering they mirror Gyges’ ring? Should Albus and Gellet keep them for themselves, use them for the Greater Good (yes they want to, it’s clearly exposed in DH)? Is the Quest important enough to justify sacrifices?

Also, what about Aristotle’s virtue system - being moderate and all, use our reason to be in the middle? Because I’m sure as hell Albus and even more Gellert would reject this idea: isn’t it a form of passivism? (no, but through their pov and situation, they might think that)

(by the way they both read passages of Bentham's and Mill's and Kant's and Plato's and Aristotle's books nobody can convince me otherwise)

(I never read Nietzsche’s extracts and haven’t even merely a define idea of his theories to be honest, except for a few uncertain glimpses of his philosophy - he disagrees with religious morality and is quite vehement about it, and praises an idea of a free human being, released from this moral of the weaks. And as far as I know, I’m pretty sure Gellert would agree with him.)

Political philosophy

I do have a headcanon: Albus and Gellert both read the Republic of Plato (initially because it’s well-known and they didn’t want to be ignorant about it and they surprised themselves being enthralled by Socrates reflexions) ; and quite a lot of their discussions about a perfect society instituted by themselves (and about what’s fair and what’s good) were underpinned by the book.

Is this ok to rule the world? Which system is the best - tyranny, democracy, oligarchy? Are the wizards just like the philosophers and, thus, are righteously meant to be the aristocrats at the top of the government? And are all the wizards as legitimate as Albus and Gellert to rule the world (no)? What’s the acceptable extent of power they should have on civilians? What’s the necessary authority they must be allowed to have on civilians? What about the freedom of the press, of speech (those themes are explored in the Republic and well-), of maj-people and non-maj-people?

Philosophy of desire, joy, pleasure, beauty, etc

Have you ever heard of Plato? (sorry, again, yes.) Well in several Socrates’ dialogs, themes of love and desire are developed (I particularly think about the Symposium) and Albus and Gellert could be convinced by it: the praise of relationships between men, of intellect, of beauty… but also by the myth of Aristophanes (people are halves and search their soulmate (more or less)). Besides, I’ll be quite curious about what Albus and Gellert may say about Alcibiades’ eulogy of Socrates and what they may think of their dynamics.

(long story short, Alcibiades is young and handsome and desires the ugly Socrates, is fascinated by his intellect and considers him as the most interessant man he knows, and can’t help but feeling inferior facing him and being deeply humiliated because Socrates rejects him (on top of that, Alcibiades is drunk and jealous - the parallels to draw between them and our revolutionary boys are bloody interesting but back to the point))

Also, I totally see Albus and Gellert as hedonists during their youth - justifying their immoral and unwise chase of pleasure and complaisance by an artificial sentiment of moderation, temperance, so not true hedonists, like they are not epicurean at all - and this is again something quite compelling, I must admit.

Ancient Greek and Latin :

Latin and ancient Greek at Hogwarts

Throughout the 19th century, the civilizations of antiquity increasingly fascinated the intellectuals - a phantasm around the topic grew and influenced artists and erudite persons, and was furthermore a mark of the cultural capital and level of education of somebody.

Although we haven’t any clue about the fact that Hogwarts changed the disciplines provided through the centuries, we know it is possible : Dumbledore himself almost dismissed divination studies and depending the demands of the students, 7th years can study alchemy (most likely thanks a teaching offered by Dumbledore himself).

And I do have the headcanon that Hogwarts was in the past not that far from studies dispensed in english colleges - or at least, proposed classes of British (magic) Literature, maybe Law (like an elitist subject but necessary to enter in the Ministry and consequently pure-blood kids are always following that course) and, of course, ancient Greek and Latin classes.

And it was necessary, because Latin is the language of spells and most of the magical essays written back in antiquity were in ancient Greek - furthermore, the more complex, ancient and ruthless spells and rituals were based on ancient Greek and not on Latin, more used in everyday, ordinary, common magic (it is again an hc).

(by the way, Arabic and Hebrew could be as well considered as ancient languages used in magic (again an headcanon, but it would underline how magic is complex and has multiple forms and is not just European-centred), but I have the slight feeling that the ideologies and culture of European countries combined with xenophobia and racism have excluded the study of those languages even though they are also vital in the history of magic you know)

Yes it’s based on nothing, but it would be so great and ask so many things about the Wizarding World back in the late 19th and early 20th century - especially about social and political struggle between the population - pure-blood families vs muggle born students, etc [1]. (And it would satisfy my dark academia aesthetic. But quite irrelevant here.)

What about Albus and Gellert then?

Durmstrang could also dispense Latin of Ancient Greek class, in my opinion, but I think (again, imo), it is a bit unlikely. But it does not change the fact that Gellert had always been attracted to Dark magic; so he could have learned the basis by himself in order to decipher ancient Dark ceremonies, etc.

That’s why I think both of them had learnt ancient languages. Maybe Albus took an interest in Celtic dialects (Merlin’s language?), and Gellert was familiar with Vicking Runes. It obviously helped them regarding a lot of their magical and academic performances. Indeed, the boys were able to understand old papers about the Hollows, but also ancient rituals, etc. And thus, had a wide access to a more dangerous, unstable, raw and primeral practice of magic: it was not like the average spells in Latin, but an intricate way to unleash their potential [2].

Besides, only few people - erudites - were as interested as the boys were in these old ways to use magic, and needless to say that neither of those persons were as powerful as Albus and Gellert were. Furthermore, the boys were able to keep a balance between the complexity of the enchantments and the instincts they both have regarding the expression of their magic. They accordingly thought of being more powerful than everybody else.

Foreign languages :

The languages in the schools

It is clear that Hogwarts is exclusively Anglophone. The school is quite small: 40 students per year, so 280 students in all, coming from Great Britain - England, Ireland, Scotland, Yales, so the isles. We could also think that the wizardkind living in the CommonWealth during the colonial age also studied in Hogwarts. (again a hc, but Henry Potter and his son Fleamont were both born in India, fight me)

Durmstrang, on the other hand, could host quite more nationalities. I imagine the school having three main languages: German, French and English. But in fact, English and French are more “officials”, used by administration and in some classes (French was quite important at the time, right? then it was English?). So the students most likely speak between them in German (Germany had been formed in 1871 and I think the Austrian-Ungarian Empire was also Germanophone?), Russian, Hungarian, Lithuanian… well, all the languages spoken in Easten Europe.

(and just to mention it, I believe that Beauxbâtons is a huge school, bigger than Hogwarts and Durmstrang, because we need logic at some point - anyway)

What about Albus and Gellert then, again?

Gellert was probably speaking German, English (obviously, he wrote letters in English, spoke in English with Albus and Aberforth…), maybe French, and maybe another language depending on his mother country. I headcanon him coming from the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, but he might as well come from Denmark (the country of Mikkelsen?) or a Balkan State (there were wars here at the end of the 19th century, it could be an interesting theme), etc.

However, I doubt that Albus knew Danish or Hungarian, but he definitely spoke French rather well (he exchanged letters with Nicolas Flamel) and perhaps the basis of something else (Italian? German?).

I do not mention magical foreign languages they could have been familiar with - we know Albus is fluent in Goblegedook and Mermish in 1994, but I doubt he already was in 1899.

(Also, Albus’ mother came from America, so she might be originally from the Native American community and thus know an another language and let Albus know as well, but the fact that she is Christian (most likely, regarding what is her epitaph) let me doubtful; but I’m not enough informed about the Native American history to build meta, headcanon and theories, so I won’t explore this idea more.)

All in all, they are quite familiar with a lot of languages, and they certainly had a few conversations in what was not English (a mix of Latin, Ancient Greek, German and French, perhaps?) to infuriate Aberforth and not let him know about what they were talking about. (headcanon, again)

Literature :

We do not have a lot of clues about fiction - novels, theater or poetry - belonging to the wizarding universe - except Beedle’s Tales, of course. But we can imagine it exists.

Nevertheless, I am more interested in what Albus and Gellert might have read in the muggle literature. Besides, I think it is funny to consider that some writers or playwrights are known by muggles but are in reality wizards and witches - especially Braham Stoker, Mary Shelley… maybe Poe and Shakespeare as well.

So, I imagine that Albus and Gellert would have heard of Goethe, Heine, Novalis for German literature; maybe Hugo, Baudelaire, Flaubert for French literature… most likely Dante (definitely Dante). Though I honestly do not think they were fond of novels and literature, they could have been interested by it sometimes, when it echoed to something in them - Shakespeare, but also the story of Verlaine and Rimbaud, or Oscar Wilde’s story and unique novel.

There is also the theme of Oscar Wilde, homosexual writer, and his trial at the end of the 19th century, which are recurrent topics in 1899 fanfictions - a quite interesting one, imo. Have you ever read the Preface of the Picture of Dorian Gray? Definitely Albus and Gellert vibes.

All in all, I don’t think they may have been interested in literature for literature itself, but rather for the political aspect of it. (except for Shelley, Shakespeare and Dante which are a witch and two wizards, and are interested by the references to magic in the works themselves, again hc)

To conclude :

Even though 1899 fanfictions are great - and I thank you, 1899 fanfictions writers, you are amazing - I quite love the idea of all of this aesthetic that could developed. It is somehow prompt ideas.

(also I an studying humanities so it might be why I see those themes in 1899 fanfics so well, yes)

Thanks for reading! :)

Notes :

[1] : I wrote about the conservative Wizarding World and pure-blood families here:  Why are the Weasleys poor? (eng&fr) (theories about pure-blood families, inheritance, etc) /  How can everyone find their true-love and still be in love after years in HP? (”magic-soulmates” theory and conservative society)

[2] : I wrote about Dark magic and rituals in 1899 here: What if Antonio (Gellert Grindelwald’s chupacabra) had been created in 1899? / What about a dangerous, complicated and a bit gore alchemical experience tried by Albus and Gellert secretly?

And I posted quite a lot of things about GGAD, check the Table of contents if you are interested! :)

[and-then-there-were-n0ne]

If scientific discoveries and technological developments split humankind into a mass of useless humans and a small elite of upgraded superhumans, or if authority shifts altogether away from human beings into the hands of highly intelligent algorithms, then liberalism will collapse. What new religions or ideologies might fill the resulting vacuum and guide the subsequent evolution of our godlike descendants?

The new religions are unlikely to emerge from the caves of Afghanistan or from the madrasas of the Middle East. Rather, they will emerge from research laboratories. Just as socialism took over the world by promising salvation through steam and electricity, so in the coming decades new techno-religions may conquer the world by promising salvation through algorithms and genes.

Despite all the talk of radical Islam and Christian fundamentalism, the most interesting place in the world from a religious perspective is not the Islamic State or the Bible Belt, but Silicon Valley. That’s where hi-tech gurus are brewing for us brave new religions that have little to do with God, and everything to do with technology. They promise all the old prizes – happiness, peace, prosperity and even eternal life – but here on earth with the help of technology, rather than after death with the help of celestial beings.

These new techno-religions can be divided into two main types: techno-humanism and data religion. Techno-humanism agrees that Homo sapiens as we know it has run its historical course and will no longer be relevant in the future, but concludes that we should therefore use technology in order to create Homo deus – a much superior human model. Homo deus will retain some essential human features, but will also enjoy upgraded physical and mental abilities that will enable it to hold its own even against the most sophisticated non-conscious algorithms. Since intelligence is decoupling from consciousness, and since non-conscious intelligence is developing at breakneck speed, humans must actively upgrade their minds if they want to stay in the game.

Dataism says that the universe consists of data flows, and the value of any phenomenon or entity is determined by its contribution to data processing. This may strike you as some eccentric fringe notion, but in fact it has already conquered most of the scientific establishment. Dataism was born from the explosive confluence of two scientific tidal waves. In the 150 years since Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, the life sciences have come to see organisms as biochemical algorithms. Simultaneously, in the eight decades since Alan Turing formulated the idea of a Turing Machine, computer scientists have learned to engineer increasingly sophisticated electronic algorithms. Dataism puts the two together, pointing out that exactly the same mathematical laws apply to both biochemical and electronic algorithms. Dataism thereby collapses the barrier between animals and machines, and expects electronic algorithms to eventually decipher and outperform biochemical algorithms.

For politicians, business people and ordinary consumers, Dataism offers groundbreaking technologies and immense new powers. For scholars and intellectuals it also promises to provide the scientific holy grail that has eluded us for centuries: a single overarching theory that unifies all the scientific disciplines from literature and musicology to economics and biology. According to Dataism, King Lear and the flu virus are just two patterns of data flow that can be analysed using the same basic concepts and tools. This idea is extremely attractive. It gives all scientists a common language, builds bridges over academic rifts and easily exports insights across disciplinary borders. Musicologists, political scientists and cell biologists can finally understand each other.

In the process, Dataism inverts the traditional pyramid of learning. Hitherto, data was seen as only the first step in a long chain of intellectual activity. Humans were supposed to distil data into information, information into knowledge, and knowledge into wisdom. However, Dataists believe that humans can no longer cope with the immense flows of data, hence they cannot distil data into information, let alone into knowledge or wisdom. The work of processing data should therefore be entrusted to electronic algorithms, whose capacity far exceeds that of the human brain. In practice, this means that Dataists are sceptical about human knowledge and wisdom, and prefer to put their trust in Big Data and computer algorithms.

Dataism is most firmly entrenched in its two mother disciplines: computer science and biology. Of the two, biology is the more important. It was the biological embracement of Dataism that turned a limited breakthrough in computer science into a world-shattering cataclysm that may completely transform the very nature of life. You may not agree with the idea that organisms are algorithms, and that giraffes, tomatoes and human beings are just different methods for processing data. But you should know that this is current scientific dogma, and that it is changing our world beyond recognition.

Not only individual organisms are seen today as data-processing systems, but also entire societies such as beehives, bacteria colonies, forests and human cities. Economists increasingly interpret the economy, too, as a data-processing system. Laypeople believe that the economy consists of peasants growing wheat, workers manufacturing clothes, and customers buying bread and underpants. Yet experts see the economy as a mechanism for gathering data about desires and abilities, and turning this data into decisions.

According to this view, free-market capitalism and state-controlled communism aren’t competing ideologies, ethical creeds or political institutions. At bottom, they are competing data-processing systems. Capitalism uses distributed processing, whereas communism relies on centralised processing.

Capitalism did not defeat communism because capitalism was more ethical, because individual liberties are sacred or because God was angry with the heathen communists. Rather, capitalism won the Cold War because distributed data processing works better than centralised data processing, at least in periods of accelerating technological changes. The central committee of the Communist Party just could not deal with the rapidly changing world of the late twentieth century. When all data is accumulated in one secret bunker, and all important decisions are taken by a group of elderly apparatchiks, you can produce nuclear bombs by the cartload, but you won’t get an Apple or a Wikipedia.

There is a story (probably apocryphal, like most good stories) that when Mikhail Gorbachev tried to resuscitate the moribund Soviet economy, he sent one of his chief aids to London to find out what Thatcherism was all about, and how a capitalist system actually functioned. The hosts took their Soviet visitor on a tour of the City, of the London stock exchange and of the London School of Economics, where he had lengthy talks with bank managers, entrepreneurs and professors. After a few hours, the Soviet expert burst out: ‘Just one moment, please. Forget about all these complicated economic theories. We have been going back and forth across London for a whole day now, and there’s one thing I cannot understand. Back in Moscow, our finest minds are working on the bread supply system, and yet there are such long queues in every bakery and grocery store. Here in London live millions of people, and we have passed today in front of many shops and supermarkets, yet I haven’t seen a single bread queue. Please take me to meet the person in charge of supplying bread to London. I must learn his secret.’ The hosts scratched their heads, thought for a moment, and said: ‘Nobody is in charge of supplying bread to London.’

That’s the capitalist secret of success. No central processing unit monopolises all the data on the London bread supply. The information flows freely between millions of consumers and producers, bakers and tycoons, farmers and scientists. Market forces determine the price of bread, the number of loaves baked each day and the research-and-development priorities. If market forces make the wrong decision, they soon correct themselves, or so capitalists believe. For our current purposes, it doesn’t matter whether the theory is correct. The crucial thing is that the theory understands economics in terms of data processing.

[…] Dataism naturally has its critics and heretics. As we saw in Chapter 3, it’s doubtful whether life can really be reduced to data flows. In particular, at present we have no idea how or why data flows could produce consciousness and subjective experiences. Maybe we’ll have a good explanation in twenty years. But maybe we’ll discover that organisms aren’t algorithms after all.

It is equally doubtful whether life boils down to decision-making. Under Dataist influence, both the life sciences and the social sciences have become obsessed with decision-making processes, as if that’s all there is to life. But is it so? Sensations, emotions and thoughts certainly play an important part in making decisions, but is that their sole meaning? Dataism gains a better and better understanding of decision-making processes, but it might be adopting an increasingly skewed view of life.

[…] Of course, even if Dataism is wrong and organisms aren’t just algorithms, it won’t necessarily prevent Dataism from taking over the world. Many previous religions gained enormous popularity and power despite their factual mistakes. If Christianity and communism could do it, why not Dataism? Dataism has especially good prospects, because it is currently spreading across all scientific disciplines. A unified scientific paradigm may easily become an unassailable dogma. It is very difficult to contest a scientific paradigm, but up till now, no single paradigm was adopted by the entire scientific establishment. Hence scholars in one field could always import heretical views from outside. But if everyone from musicologists to biologists uses the same Dataist paradigm, interdisciplinary excursions will serve only to strengthen the paradigm further. Consequently even if the paradigm is flawed, it would be extremely difficult to resist it.

- Yuval Noah Harari, The Data Religion in Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

[chinatea]

sg/di, personas au, abo au, royal au, arranged marriage. (feat. ian/bg).

>>> Diminie (Jisoo) and BG (Jiyeon) are omega princelings from the South Kingdom (I know, a very creative name, but it’s a short story, so why bother). BG got married to Ian, the crown alpha prince of the North Kingdom, a few years back, and Diminie has been just married to Ian’s younger brother, SG (Jungkook). They were married through proxies before meeting each other, which they’re going to do in the fic. Hope you enjoy. <3

His carriage comes to a halt with a low tremor.

The long journey is finally over and what a journey that was. Months of travel. Traversing places, sceneries, seasons. And Jisoo spent most of it inside his little carriage, staring out of the window, but mostly sleeping after taking sleep draughts provided in advance. The people of the North are known for their practicalities, they’d thought of everything - even Jisoo’s boredom throughout the travel.

Jisoo yawns so wide a tear springs at the corner of his eye. Last time he looked outside it was snowing - a mind bending sight for someone hailing from the lush evergreen meadows of the South. He’s so far from home, it’s almost a different world out here. And just like they say, the North is one harsh beauty. Makes him wonder if he’ll ever be able to call this place home and mean it from the bottom of his heart. He wonders if his brother does.

Peering once again through the screen of the door, he sees the hustle and bustle of people outside, some of them he recognizes as part of his procession. All of them are from the North. None of his close friends or attendants were allowed to accompany him, for the journey would be too severe for a southerner to withstand. For the same reason, no effort was spared to keep Jisoo as safe and comfortable as possible.

His carriage was fortified with magic. The northern kind of magic, the likes of which Jisoo has never witnessed before. And it's not that the Southerners are less proficient in magical arts, but they do rely on it less than in the North, where the magic is all about survival and harnessing power over the elements, not kitchen remedies and pretty lightworks.

His bespoke fur coat is also layered with a web of magic, enveloping his form like an armour. It looks heavy but in reality, it's almost weightless, swaddling him in comfort and tingling warmth. A wedding gift from his husband. He still remembers unwrapping the furs for the first time, the softness of it as he ran his palms over it, musing to himself - this is it, soon to be married to an alpha prince from a country on the other side of the world where days barely last and nights never really end.

And today, at last, he will meet his husband for the first time. Having spent months fretting over this very day, he feels resigned to his fate, tired of the tyranny of his nervous thoughts. With that, he burrows deeper into his furs and steps out of the carriage down the propped up ladder, his attendants supporting him under his elbows like he’s a fragile doll ready to keel over and shutter into tiny pieces. He thanks them nevertheless with a shy smile.

Outside, it’s so cold he feels pinned down to the spot. And from that spot, all he can see is the Snow Castle that presents like a vision. Otherworldly and breathtaking. A true child of the snowy mountain peaks surrounding it. Diminie has to uncomfortably crank his neck up to take it all in, to no great success, as the castle’s spires drown in the sea of thick clouds up above.

The Snow Castle has been the residence of the crown prince since days of old, as he learned from Jiyeon's letters. His older brother married the crown prince a few years ago, undertaking the same journey as Jisoo all on his own, with no familiar face to greet him on the other end. His brother is as brave as he's enchanting. And Jisoo has missed him dearly, having kept in touch only through letters.

Jisoo had worried about him, but luckily, his worries were in vain. Even if Jiyeon has never been the one to openly speak about his private feelings, whenever he talked about Ian in his letters, every word spoke of love and great admiration for his alpha. Jisoo only hopes he’d be as lucky.

What he knows about Jeon Jungkook could barely fill a thimble. And uncertainty often breeds fear. Even dread, in his case. Would he be gentle with him? Understanding? Even Jiyeon hadn’t been much help - apparently the second prince spent most of his time away, travelling and learning from the world.

That is another thing that has been troubling Jisoo something terrible. Clearly, his husband is a man of knowledge and intellectual pursuits. What if he finds Jisoo dull and ignorant? Being a prince, Jisoo, of course, received the best education their country had to offer, yet he wasn’t as diligent or naturally gifted as his brother, and would often be found playing truant in their labyrinthian gardens, with little remorse for his naughtiness.

And now, he wishes he had paid more attention. If only not to lose face in front of his husband.

“My darling,” a voice calls after him and Jisoo’s limbs grow weak as tears well in his eyes, a wave of emotions rising in his chest. He leaps into his brother’s embrace, taking in his peach golden scent - something that always whispers of summers and vibrant skies. In other words, home.

Jiyeon presses kisses all over his face, his chubby rosy cheeks and button nose - they must make quite a chaotic sight, but Jisoo can only giggle, giddy with happiness, clinging to his brother like lifeline.

A few moments pass like that, exchanging kisses, greetings and giggles, before both of them finally get a hold on their bearings. Besides, the cold starts really getting to him, which he voices to Jiyeon quietly, teeth chattering to add to his point.

The other omega grips Jisoo’s hands in his, warmth running through his fingers.

���I was like you, at first, little one,” he lilts. “The weather is beastly here, but with time, you’ll adapt. We’ll teach you everything you need to know, but meanwhile...”

Jiyeon smiles impishly.

“Ask your alpha to keep you warm,” he adds, unabashed, as Jisoo’s cheeks light up in chagrin. “That’s what I did.”

That's the Jiyeon he knows all right - always the little devil.

With that, he tugs Jisoo along as they traverse the inner yard, leaving his carriage and people behind, with only a couple of attendants following suit. What boggles Jisoo is how quiet castle is, like someone casted a muffling spell on everything. Perhaps, that was the design. From what he knows about the crown prince, the alpha enjoys quietude and privacy, spending most of the year here rather than at the capital.

Jisoo will only visit in a few months, officially presenting himself to the court and the Omega Monarch, his terrifying father-in-law. But first, he’ll have some time to settle into his new married life and get to know his husband better, away from the curious eyes of the public.

“We have some time before dinner,” Jiyeon says as they enter the maze of private quarters, full of long empty hallways and stone. “And as much as I’d love to show you around, I’m sure you’re starving, darling, so I had us a light meal prepared.”

Jisoo follows him dutifully into a room with a fireplace that gobbles most of the wall. It’s blasting hot and Jisoo sighs, happy, taking his coat off and folding it neatly over the back of a couch.

The help minces in and out of the room, going about their business, and every time someone new steps in, Jisoo’s heart flutters, expecting Jungkook to strut in any moment now, which would be disastrous as Jisoo is so strung up, so prickly with nerves, he doesn’t think he’ll be able to string together a simple sentence. Maybe Jiyeon picks up on that as he coos,

“Relax, love, he and Ian went hunting at dawn. Ian was adamant they hunt their own game for dinner because tradition and, oh, you know, typical alpha silliness,” the omega clucks his tongue, but his eyes brim with fondness. “Jungkook is lovely though, such a sweet awkward thing. As much as you must be fretting over meeting him, trust me, my darling, he’s thousand times more worried. Be gentle with him, will you?”

Jisoo nods, a shy smile flowering on his lips. He’s cradling a dainty teacup between his palms, mulling over Jiyeon’s words. They put him at ease, somewhat. All Jisoo had to go off all these months to decipher Jungkook’s personality was his portrait, a very fine and dashing one, but still hardly trustworthy since most portraits are notoriously deceiving. He barely recognized himself when he saw his own and immediately requested it be redone as he couldn’t have Jungkook expect some ethereal beauty that doesn’t exist.

Not that Jisoo isn’t confident. He knows he’s pretty - all omegas in his family are. Many alphas have expressed their admiration for him and his cuteness, which, in their kingdom at least, is legendary. Hence, he has no need for a lie, simple as that.

After the tea break, Jiyeon showed him around their private wing, their last stop being the nursery. Jisoo squealed at the sight of his brother’s pup, six months old now, all chubby cheeks and smart inquisitive eyes. He’s been dying to hold his tiny nephew ever since Jiyeon wrote about his pregnancy.

"Goodness, he’s so tiny," Jisoo coos, cradling the precious bundle to his chest. "A tiny omega pup."

"And a whiny one at that," Jiyeon remarks wryly. He boops his son’s nose and the pup babbles at them happily, tiny digits wrapping around Jiyeon’s thumb. "You just caught him on a good day."

Jisoo kisses the pup’s temple, nuzzling tufts of dark baby hair. Pups have the best scents about them, milky and soft and just new. Which makes him a touch wistful - he wants all the pups, as soon as possible, and hopefully his husband would be on-board with that.

"Do you think Jungkook would love to have many pups?"

"I think you should ask him yourself," Jiyeon says with an amused curve of his mouth. "Speak of the devil…"

The Devil, indeed, steps in and the whole room hushes. A tender smile blossoms on Jiyeon’s lips and in an instant, he is enveloped in his alpha’s arms, rising on his tiptoes for a kiss.

Ian might have an intimidating presence about him, but the way he is holding his brother is precious and sweet. It’s endearing and it makes Jisoo let out the quietest sigh. To be embraced and kissed and held by the person he loves is something he's wanted for himself for the longest time.

"Well? What are you waiting for?"

Jiyeon gives him the briefest of glances while Ian is pressing a kiss to his hand, eyes only on him.

"It’s down the hallway and up the stairs. He has his little study up in the tower. We’ll see you both at dinner, now shoo."

And this is how Jisoo meets his husband for the first time - by tracking him down down the hallway and up the stairs. Two hundred steps up the spiral staircase. Not that he'd been counting, only he did, to keep his racing heart still. He’s out of breath and livid with nerves by the end of it.

Left with no other option, he braces for the worst and knocks on the door, delicate knuckles barely grazing the sturdy wood. No reply comes, but that's to be expected from how faint the sound was.

Jisoo pushes the door open and meekly peeks inside a modestly spaced study. A wild unkempt look to it, a bunch of empty flowerpots, surprisingly, cluttering up the place - the shelves and bookcases, the working desk, the floor. And in the center of this chaos, exists he, Jeon Jungkook, none the wiser about Jisoo's presence, examining some papers scattered all over the tabletop.

A fireplace is roaring in the corner.

Jisoo coughs politely to gain his attention and

Jungkook swooshes around, his papers flying into the air.

"Oh dear, I’m so sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," Jisoo bubbles, stumbling forward to help subdue the mess he caused. Naturally Jungkook does the same. Their hands touch and Jungkook recoils, eyes wide and frightened. A sheet of paper clutched to his chest. It’s too quiet all of a sudden, and Jisoo feels like crawling out of his skin.

It’s so, so awkward.

"I’m sorry for intruding," Jisoo mutters, bottom lip trembling. "I should have waited for dinner, I’ll leave…"

"No," Jungkook says, even quieter. “Don’t go. Please?”

He’s nothing what Jisoo imagined him to be. Jiyeon was right on the nose with his description - a lovely awkward thing. Dark swept hair and big hands, pretty lips, eyes that are out of this world, imploring him to stay. His husband. And Jisoo stays.

Just nods and helps him pick up the scattered papers and as they do so, mindful of every movement and hyper aware of each other's presence, Jisoo finds his calm again, even allowing a tentative smile to slip through - Jungkook ducks his head down, a blush spreading across his cheeks.

“I was told that nothing really blooms in the North,” Jisoo speaks up then, his earlier observation coming to mind as he points at the flowerpots. While most of them are indeed empty, a rare few host sickly looking sprouts. A far cry from the verdancy he enjoyed in his private garden back home.   

“That’s, ah, correct,” Jungkook confirms with a sigh, reaching out to caress one of the sprouts despondently. “These ones won’t survive either.”

“Oh,” Jisoo hums, gaze drown to Jungkook's fingers, the well-moulded shape of them. “There was more?”

Jungkook cracks a smile, just the corners of his lips tipping up.

“More than I could count, probably,” he confesses. “These are the first batch that sprouted, well, some of them anyhow. I thought I'd be able to make something bloom by the time you...eh...arrive.”

Jisoo cocks his head in a curious tilt, pondering over Jungkook's words.

“Well, ah...”  Jungkook stutters, fingers locked in front of him. “You know...”

Suddenly, it dawns on him.

“You’re doing this for me,” Jisoo says, in quiet wonder.

“They said you love flowers, spending time in your garden, we...ah, don't have that here, still I thought...I should at least try...”

Jungkook rambles, eyes glued to some spot at the floor. He's blushing. And Jisoo's heart races, a hand flies to cover his mouth, bubbling excitement zipping through his body.

“You’re doing this for me,” he repeats, voice rising in pitch. He feels so elated he could just kiss him. Instead he settles for a smile and adored, “You’re too kind.”

“It’s...it’s nothing,” Jungkook mutters, but he glows under the praise, chest pushing forward. A shy he may be, but still an alpha. His handsome and kind alpha husband.

“It’s the thought that counts.” Jisoo steps forward, reaching out for Jungkook's hands. Their palms touch, fingers lancing together. A pleasant hum of their energies erupting upon the caress. “Before we even met, you've thought of me. That means a lot. Thank you.”

“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you,” Jungkook says, with quiet vigor and honesty that leaves Jisoo speechless. A touch breathless. A bit teary-eyed.

And maybe already in love.

---

AN: Yeah, it’s kinda short, but if you have any questions about this world, SG/Di or Ian/BG, etc., I might write some bonuses or extras later.

[psychologyofsex]

Why I Deleted My Academia.edu Account and Why You Should, Too

The traditional model of academic publishing restricts access to research by putting it in the hands of private companies. As a result, I’ve had to work hard to make my research available to those who wish to read it. I’ve done so by publishing accessible summaries on this blog, by publishing as much as I can in open-access journals, and by establishing profiles on file-sharing sites like Academia.Edu and ResearchGate, which allow you to store and share full-text uploads of papers with anyone. I will keep doing the first two going forward, but I’ve grown leery of the latter and have increasingly come to realize that these file-sharing websites aren’t an effective solution to the problems of academic publishing. In fact, I’ve grown quite concerned about these sites and have come to realize that academics need to pursue other means of sharing their work. Let me explain.

Before I go on, you may want to read this post first, which explains why I switched to publishing in open-access journals whenever possible. Long story short, academics have historically given their work away to big publishing houses for free (including the copyright to our research papers). The publishers have then turned around and sold our work to libraries and subscribers for exorbitant prices—and kept all the profits to themselves. The end result is that research is typically accessible only to those with the funds to access it. Academics have grown increasingly uncomfortable with this arrangement in recent years because we’re giving our work for free to companies that are severely limiting access to it while making billions of dollars.

By contrast, open-access papers can be freely viewed by anyone with an internet connection. This is great for the general public, which subsidizes most academic research in one form or another anyway. I mean, why should the public pay for research to be conducted, and then have to pay a middleman separately in order to access the results? Open-access is also great for students at universities that don’t have massive library budgets, as well as for scholars in developing countries where research resources are scarce. 

Getting back to AcademiaEdu and ResearchGate, these are online repositories where researchers can upload copies of all of their works, which others can freely access. In other words, they provide an avenue for widely sharing research. Of course—and as I noted above—with traditional publishing, we give the copyright to our work away to journal publishers, so we usually can’t upload the final version of our articles without violating copyright law. However, most publishing agreements I’ve seen permit researchers to share the pre-publication version of their papers (i.e., the basic-looking version that you create in Microsoft Word, not the pretty version formatted by the journal. Some will allow you to share the version that has been through peer review; however, others may not). 

I painstakingly reviewed all of my previous copyright transfer agreements and, in cases where it was permitted, I uploaded pre-publication versions of my articles to file-sharing sites like AcademiaEdu and ResearchGate. 

I guess I was naïve, though. Initially, I thought those sites were solutions to the problem of poor research access. However, I’ve come to learn that these are large and growing for-profit companies that, just like journal publishers, are harvesting free labor from academics. We’re building a massive research infrastructure for them, which they’re turning around and monetizing. These are multi-million dollar companies backed by venture capital firms that see big profit potential.

In supporting companies like AcademiaEdu and ResearchGate, we’re simply transferring power and control over access to research to another set of companies—companies that can and are looking for ways to cash in on that power. For example, AcademiaEdu is currently free to access, but has a “premium” subscription model. I’d bet good money that they’ll eventually start charging everyone for access once they have a big enough repository and user base. That would just put everything back behind a paywall, thereby defeating the purpose of why many of us joined the site in the first place.

I’m also concerned about other ways they’re trying to monetize their site. For example, in 2016, AcademiaEdu toyed with charging users to get their papers “recommended” on the site. Efforts like this would have the effect of pushing self-interest over scientific advancement by giving anyone the opportunity to promote their work regardless of its quality or merit. 

So how do we get around the problems that these sites create? Here are a few things you can do:

· Stop investing your time building up places like AcademiaEdu. They’re just taking your free labor and cashing in on it. This is a big part of the reason why I recently deleted my profile with them (I also deleted it because they’re poor at policing intellectual property infringement, but that’s a whole other story). AcademiaEdu and ResearchGate have done a brilliant job marketing themselves as noble causes—places where academics can go to share research—while hiding their real goal, which is building a massive research database curated by the world’s experts that they can cash in on. As I write this, ResearchGate is the 171st and Academia.edu is the 275th most visited website in the entire world. These are incredibly powerful companies we are unwittingly building up and we don’t know what they’re ultimately going to do with the fruits of our labor—other than turn it into a huge profit, of course.

· Unfortunately, there doesn’t yet exist a non-profit equivalent of AcademiaEdu that I’m aware of. However, until that exists, one option is to post pre-prints of your work on a site like PsyArxiv, which is run by the non-profit Center for Open Science. This can at least get your work out there in some form and it will be accessible to anyone online.

· Publish your research in open-access journals whenever possible. This is the best way of ensuring that your work remains free and easy to access for the long run. If an open-access journal requires a fee to publish, try to request a waiver or apply for a grant to cover the costs. I’ve been able to get several open-access papers published without paying one cent. It shouldn’t have to cost academics money to give their research away. 

· If your research is locked behind a paywall, review your copyright agreement(s) to see what kinds of information sharing are permissible. Odds are that there’s some version of the paper you can share freely. You can share these versions on your own personal website, put them out on social media, email them to anyone who requests them, and/or store them on professional websites. For example, if you have a profile on a site like the Social Psychology Network, you have a certain amount of storage available for sharing any files you wish.

· Take advantage of institutional repositories. A lot of colleges and universities have them, and depositing your research with them can make it easier for others to access your work. For example, the University of California repository is accessible to everyone, although you must be affiliated with that university to post your work in it.

· Blog about or otherwise publish accessible summaries of your research that the average person can understand. Making academic papers more widely available is great, but they’re often written with so much jargon that only our peers can decipher them. Accessible summaries can help others to better understand our work and why it’s important.   

These are just some of the alternatives that exist for getting science out there. We’d all do well to consider investing in them in the interest of ensuring freer and wider access to research for the long haul. If you have other tips or recommendations for sharing research, weigh in with your comments below.

Want to learn more about Sex and Psychology ? Click here for previous articles or follow the blog on Facebook (facebook.com/psychologyofsex), Twitter (@JustinLehmiller), or Reddit (reddit.com/r/psychologyofsex) to receive updates. You can also follow Dr. Lehmiller on YouTube and Instagram.

Image Source: 123RF/Wichapol Polpitakchai

You might also like:

Why I Started Publishing In Open Access Journals, And Why You Should Too

What Is It Like To Publish In An Open-Access Journal?

[robertmarch82]

“hi, I’m not from the US” ask set (if I'm not too late this..): 4, 7 & 17?

4.favourite dish specific for your country? - It´s really hard to decide. I love typical czech cuisine. I love our “Svíčková na smetaně” - “Roast sirloin in sour cream sauce with dumplings”

“Vepřo, knedlo, zelo” - Roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut, 

“Pečená kachna s knedlíky a dvěma druhy zelí” - Roast duck with dumplings and two kinds of sauerkraut.

“Hovězí guláš” - Beef goulash and 

“Švestkové knedlíky” - Dumplings filled with plums.

I think, that on the first place I would put Roast duck with dumplings and two kinds of sauerkraut. 

From soups I love typical “Kulajda” - Dill soup and “Zelňačka” - Cabbage soup. 

7.three words from your native language that you like the most? 

That is fun. I am from east part of the Czech republic, Ostravsko and there we have fantastic dialect. It´s historically industrial part of the country, but mines were already closed in 90´s. So people were “raw”, very hard working and dialect is like that. We have amazing curse words: cyp, chumaj, chuj... That is dialect. And standard czech language is very beautiful. I love it. I love mainly czech language presented by our great writer Alois Jirásek. Three words from standard czech: maminka, tajtrlík, studánka.

17.are you interested in your country’s history? 

Very much. I studied history on university. We have so amazing history. Our heritage is rich. Karel Čapek, Jaroslav Seifert, Czech baroque, Tamara and Věra radar system (passive sensor) of thirdgeneration, able to recognize targets of “stealth” type; Semtex worldwideknown explosives, 

Prokop Diviš - lightning rod inventor, Jan Evangelista Purkyně - anatomist and physiologist of the first half of 19th century, discovererof Purkinje cells in the brain (1837), Bedřich Hrozný - orientalist and linguist who deciphered the ancient Hittite language, Gregor Mendel: the founder of the modernscience of genetics, in Czechia born and working, Jaroslav Heyrovský - the inventor of the polarographic method, father of the electroanalyticalmethod. 

Otto Wichterle -inventor of soft contact lenses, 

Antonín Holý - chemist of world recognition, inventorof the most effective drugs in the fight against the AIDS epidemic.  

St.Adalbert of Prague (inCzech svatý Vojtěch): Czechpriest, bishop of Prague, who brought Christianity to nations of Central Europe- Hungarians, Poles, and Prussians. 

PřemyslOtakar II: Czech king, ruler of seven other countries, his reignstretched from Silesia to the Adriatic coast, founder of many towns and citiesnot only in Czech kingdom, but in contemporary Poland and Prussia (13thcentury). 

Charles IV:Holy Roman Emperor. probably the most famous personality of the Czech stateever. He rebuilt the city of Prague as the capital of Central Europe and one ofthe intellectual and cultural centers of Europe. In 1348, he founded theCharles University in Prague, which was named after him and was the firstuniversity in Central Europe and third in Europe. 

Jan Hus - theologian, Catholic priest, philosopher, whobecame a church reformer, an inspirer of Hussitism, a key predecessor toProtestantism and a seminal figure in the Czech Reformation (14–15thcent). 

King George of Poděbrady(Jiří z Poděbrad) - well known for his idea and attempt toestablish common European institutions and supranational insignia. It is seenas the first historical vision of an European unity forgoing the European Union(15th century). 

Comenius(Jan Ámos Komenský) - inventor in educational systems, theory ofeducation, practical educational work, methods of education (17th cent.);  

Jan Žižka: Czech general,a contemporary and follower of Jan Hus, successful Hussite military leader(died 1424). He is considered to be among the greatest military leaders andinnovators of all time. His accomplishments in this regard are especiallyunique and noteworthy as he had to quickly train peasants to repeatedly facehighly trained and armored opponents who usually severely outnumbered his owntroops, and for this, some have considered him to be the greatest general inhistory. Žižka developed tactics of using wagon forts, called vozováhradba in Czech (wagons fortification) as mobile fortifications,predecessors of tanks, with original armament of soldiers, incl.various lightand heavy firearms, 

Josef František - fighter pilotof World War II, the highest-scoring Allied ace in the Battle of Britain (1940), 

Czech words, which became international - robot (invented by Karel Čapek in hisstage-play R.U.R., derived from the word “robota”, which was a compulsoryunpaid work for landowners in the past), pistol(from Czech word “píšťala”), houfnice(English “howitzer”), polka, dollar(from Czech word “tolar”), hocus-pocus,tunel (in the sense of “tunnel the bank” - to rob the bank’s assets bytransferring money elsewhere by its own owners).

Sportsmen: Emil Zátopek - long-distance runner, only person towin the 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres, and marathon in the same Olympics, Věra Čáslavská - sevenOlympic gold medals holder in gymnastics, all in individual events, which is anall-time record among female Olympians, Martina Navrátilová - tennis player, arguably the bestfemale tennis player of all time, multiple winner of women’s singles title atWimbledon, Jaromír Jágr -ice hockey player, the best European player in the history of Canadian-AmericanNational Hockey League, ranking overall 2nd in points, third in goal scores,and first in the number of game-winning goals in all history of NHL.

[milescpareview]

CMAs To Deliver Both Profit & Purpose For Businesses

The conventional number-crunching Certified Management Accountant (CMA), running through historical records and churning out financial statements, is rapidly dying out as organizations need a broader perspective than just the bottom line. Making US CMA certification a go-to credential to get recognized in the F&A space.

The accounting and finance role can become a proactive and forward-thinking strategic business partner, emphasizing profit as well as purpose. However, to achieve this, CMA review courses driven by industry experts can give a deeper dive into the accounting management skills required to collect and decipher data on business performance beyond just bottom lines.

Finance Data Redefined by CMAs

The “six capitals of integrated reporting” - financial, intellectual, human, natural, manufacturing, social, and relationship - can help recognize the insights CMAs must deliver.

Financial resources are no longer something to look at separately. CMA training is necessary to integrate skills in managing these capitals to create an overall view and analyze business-wide insights to offer valuable information.

With the involvement of the six capitals in decision-making, certified management accountants will have to become the organization's conscience, offering guidance to take more complex and purposeful decisions.

Tech Innovations and Data-driven Insights

As digital innovation, emerging technologies, and automation disrupt and challenge CMAs, loads of non-financial insights, KPIs, and metrics are becoming available to extract data. While this can significantly extend CMA’s capabilities, it can only be a catalyst. The change challenge is broader and includes re-inventing the role and purpose of CMAs.

Further, CMAs must play an instrumental role in optimizing business operations to leverage financial and non-financial information, help generate insights that have an economic impact, and fuel performance against organizational purpose instead of just profit.

For instance, utilizing innovative technologies to retrieve updated information on the production processes or the product life-cycle can empower more nimble decision-making. Further, smart workplaces and optimized supply chains will offer real-time data, wherein the ability of CMAs to act fast will be crucial.

A forward-looking certified management accountant needs to adopt this tech-powered transition. By becoming more tech-savvy and leveraging at-scale automation and the profusion of new data at hand, they can develop a more dynamic role that helps businesses deliver on purpose and profit.

New Focus, New Function, New Accounting

As businesses start thinking differently about performance, CMAs need to put themselves at the heart of the change.

The role of CMAs who have a worldview supported by a clear understanding of the business and the data will be essential. But to deliver this, they need to adapt. They must become proactive units that offer strategic advice and recommendations to shareholders based on loads of data sources and expert knowledge.

This must be underpinned by an ecosystem that accepts agile cooperation and is conducive to creating valuable insights.

Miles Education is a premier CMA training institute for finance & accounting professionals looking to earn US CMA credentials. The focus of Miles Education is to provide CMA courses to up-skill students and professionals to help them be future-ready and enable their career progression through the US CMA qualification.

Committed to achieving this goal, today, Miles is India's largest and #1 CMA review course! It has been instrumental in building India's CMA ecosystem, holding offices in 9 cities and partnerships with 100+ MNCs, including all of the Big 4s. Miles Education provides student/professional-centric services while keeping concept-based learning at its core which has helped it climb to the top ranks in the US CMA course in India.

Connect with Miles Education to know more about the US CMA eligibility or US CMA syllabus.

[escaperooms1234]

The Escape Game Orlando: A Mesmerizing Puzzle Adventure in the Theme Park Capital

Nestled amidst the enchanting world of theme parks and attractions, Orlando, Florida, has an immersive experience that promises to captivate the hearts of both locals and tourists. The Escape Game Orlando has emerged as a popular destination, attracting puzzle enthusiasts and thrill-seekers with its meticulously designed escape rooms, challenging puzzles, and captivating narratives. Offering participants a chance to embark on their own adventure, The Escape Game Orlando promises an unforgettable journey filled with mystery, excitement, and team camaraderie.

The Concept of The Escape Game

The Escape Game is an interactive real-life adventure that originated in Japan and has gained global popularity. In Orlando, the concept has been embraced by a diverse audience, eager for an intellectually stimulating and engaging experience. The game involves a team of participants being "locked" inside a themed room and tasked with solving puzzles, uncovering clues, and escaping within a designated time limit, typically 60 minutes.

The Escape Game Orlando boasts a diverse selection of intricately designed escape rooms, each with its unique theme, storyline, and set of challenges. Themes can range from historical mysteries and thrilling heists to fantastical adventures and science fiction quests, catering to a wide array of interests and preferences.

The Immersive Experience

What sets The Escape Game Orlando apart is its commitment to providing an immersive and authentic adventure. From the moment participants step into an escape room, they are transported to a different world. Elaborate sets, high-quality props, and meticulous attention to detail create an atmosphere that feels both realistic and exhilarating.

The creators of The Escape Game Orlando understand the power of storytelling, and each escape room is thoughtfully designed to unfold like a thrilling narrative. Participants become the protagonists of the story, fully engaged in uncovering secrets and solving puzzles as they progress through the adventure.

The Challenging Puzzles

The Escape Game Orlando is not for the faint of heart. Participants are met with a series of mind-bending puzzles that demand keen observation, logical thinking, and effective teamwork. Success in escaping the room requires collaboration, creativity, and the ability to think critically under pressure.

Participants must decipher complex codes, solve enigmatic riddles, uncover hidden compartments, and manipulate physical objects. As the clock ticks down, adrenaline surges, and minds race to unlock the final pieces of the puzzle, fostering an exhilarating and immersive experience.

A Social and Bond-Building Adventure

Beyond the thrill of solving puzzles, The Escape Game Orlando also offers an excellent opportunity for social interactions and team-building. The experience promotes effective communication, collaboration, and an appreciation for each team member's unique skills and abilities. Visit

[yessadirichards]

The U.S. vs. China: Who Is Winning the Key Technology Battles?

China leads in 5G, but the U.S. has an edge in other crucial niches—for now

In a world where geopolitical power is increasingly linked to technological advancement, the U.S. has long led its rivals. American companies make some of the world's fastest computers, deadliest jet fighters and most capable robots.

But China's growing economy--now the world's second largest--and huge government investments in technologies are eating away at that edge like never before.

Such progress has spurred President Trump's all-out trade and economic battle with Beijing, encompassing tariffs, export controls and a crackdown on Chinese scientists allegedly stealing American companies' secrets.

It's not clear yet how the economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus will change the rivalry, but one thing is certain: The disease hasn't done much to cool tensions. The Trump administration is weighing new curbs designed to hamper China's ability to make leading-edge semiconductors, according to people familiar with the matter. The chairman of Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. warned last month that Beijing would impose its own restrictions if the U.S. moves forward with that plan.

The most visible technological battle has been over 5G, the superfast cellular networks that promise to be the foundation for tomorrow's technologies. The U.S. government has taken extraordinary measures to try to thwart Huawei, the cellular-technology leader that Washington considers a cybersecurity threat.

The battle has also extended to other technologies that, like 5G, are not life-altering today but could transform how we live, work and fight wars in the not-so-distant future. Artificial intelligence is often touted as the linchpin of a new industrial revolution, with applications such as augmented reality and remote surgery. Quantum computing could help discover new drugs and decipher encrypted data once thought uncrackable. Autonomous vehicles could fundamentally revamp our transportation systems and infrastructure and the way we all get around. Advanced computer chips act as digital brains that orchestrate it all.

Here is how the technology battle between the U.S. and China is shaping up in some of the most important areas of innovation.

5G

Attorney General William Barr made it clear where the U.S. stood in 5G in February by suggesting that Washington and its allies should consider taking a financial interest in Huawei rivals Nokia Corp. and Ericsson AB. Both are based in Europe.

The White House later dismissed the idea of buying either company, but Mr. Barr's remarks still emphasized how there is no American giant to challenge Huawei, the world's biggest maker of telecom equipment, such as the radio hardware that hangs on cellular towers.

After bad bets, what remained of onetime American champions Lucent and Motorola were acquired by Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson. They in turn have gone through layoffs and unprofitability while competing with Huawei, which gained nearly the combined market share of its European rivals via its cutting-edge products and low prices.

The U.S. has some 5G players. Cisco Systems Inc. is the largest maker of the behind-the-scenes routers and switches that connect to cellular equipment. Qualcomm Inc. and InterDigital Inc. are leading intellectual-property companies earning royalties for cellular-technology patents.

But those markets are comparatively small, and Huawei is a player in both. And more than 60% of a wireless carrier's 5G capital expenditures could go to cellular equipment, such as radios, a market Huawei leads. "All the money is in radio," says Dimitris Mavrakis, 5G research director at market-advisory firm ABI Research.

Huawei's technologically advanced cellular equipment, and its ability to churn it out quickly, helped China quickly roll out 5G, turning much of the nation into a potential lab for 5G-dependent technology, such as self-driving cars. Meanwhile, airwave restrictions have slowed the construction of U.S. 5G networks.

Still, it would be premature to declare China the winner in the 5G race, especially since Washington has further tools to slow Huawei's dominance in both the cellular-equipment industry and smartphone business, in which it is also a global leader.

"Federal agencies in Washington are currently debating whether and how to tighten sanctions on Huawei," says Dan Wang, a Beijing-based technology analyst at research firm Gavekal Dragonomics. "If they do, then Huawei's operations will be disrupted in major ways, such that it may have difficulty making smartphones and 5G equipment."

Edge goes to: China

Artificial intelligence

Three years ago, Beijing declared its intention to be the world leader in AI by 2030, envisioning a domestic industry alone worth some $150 billion.

China's publicly traded tech giants, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc., have plowed billions of dollars into AI research and set up labs in China and Silicon Valley, taking advantage of the latter's openness. That has made them juggernauts, outshining global rivals in areas including e-commerce algorithms and facial recognition. China's huge population, surveillance infrastructure and more lax attitude on privacy rights generate huge volumes of data, which produces ever-smarter AI.

But while China may contribute more AI research and be ahead in some important subsets of AI, like facial recognition, it's not ahead in all of them. And when it comes to research into artificial general intelligence, or AI with broader, humanlike thinking abilities, the large U.S. companies-- Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc.'s Google and others--are clearly leading, says Paul Triolo, an analyst at political-risk consulting firm Eurasia Group. American tech giants have untold amounts of money to spend on AI, which they're using in recommendation engines, targeted advertising and automatic filtering of obscene or otherwise banned pictures and videos, among other areas. Some also sell AI services, letting companies, governments and police departments tap into the power of their algorithms.

The U.S. produces some of the world's best AI research and talent because of its combination of leading universities, deep-pocketed tech companies and an openness to ideas and people from across the globe--areas where the U.S. has a sustainable advantage, at least in the medium term. Not shutting down academic and commercial exchanges with Canadian, European, Israeli and even Chinese experts is crucial for the U.S. to maintain the advantages it has, Mr. Triolo says.

"In some sense the AI industry is still in its infancy, and many are contributing to its growth and maturity," he says. "This may be more important than the level of funding in determining the success of U.S. companies in leveraging AI in new and important sectors like autonomous driving and health care."

Edge goes to: U.S., but it's close.

Quantum Computing

Unlike today's computers, which use streams of ones and zeros to encode data, quantum computers use atom-scale quirks that allow particles to exist in more than two states. That added complexity gives them the ability to process more information more quickly, potentially far exceeding the power of supercomputers.

Harnessing that potential will probably take a decade or more. Today's quantum computers have a relatively small number of quantum bits, or qubits, with which to make calculations. It will not be easy to get to the point where there's enough of them to perform hard calculations quickly.

Because quantum computers eventually could be powerful enough to defeat current methods of encryption and run complex simulations to discover new drugs, the field has attracted a groundswell of investment from private capital sources and governments.

The U.S. is the clear world leader in the construction of quantum computers. Google last year claimed its 54-qubit machine, which excels at measuring probabilities in randomly outputted numbers, achieved "quantum supremacy," making a calculation that wasn't possible--or, at least, not practical--on a classical computer. International Business Machines Corp., another American company that has a quantum computer rivaling Google's, disputed that result, saying the calculation actually could be performed with a supercomputer in a reasonable amount of time. Chinese scientists have built quantum computers, but analysts say they're years behind the U.S.

Quantum technology, however, goes beyond computers and extends into using quantum properties to communicate quickly and securely. That's where China may have the advantage. Led by Pan Jian-Wei, dubbed China's "father of quantum," the country has pushed the envelope in quantum communications, sensors and radar--all areas with possible military applications. The country in 2016 launched a satellite, called Micius, that uses photon beams in a quantum state that makes transmissions impervious to interception. It's building a huge quantum-information-sciences lab in east China, a project with a $10 billion price tag.

So the scorecard is split: The U.S. leads in quantum computing, and China leads in quantum communications and encryption. The future is hard to forecast because advances that will shape the field are likely still decades off, says Elsa Kania, a researcher at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank based in Washington, D.C.

"We're at a relatively early stage of what I think can be more accurately characterized as a marathon," she says.

Edge goes to: U.S. in quantum computing, China in quantum communications

Semiconductors

China has spent tens of billions of dollars over decades trying to get a leg up in semiconductors, essential ingredients in the race for faster computers and smartphones and more-sophisticated weaponry. Statistics from the Semiconductor Industry Association, based in Washington, D.C., suggest U.S. exports of chips to China have stayed around the same level for years, and that Chinese companies haven't gained tremendous market share, even domestically. About 47.5% of chips sold in China were American as of 2018, according to SIA figures.

China's neighbors have made a prominent place for themselves in the global semiconductor supply chain, with South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. becoming a dominant smartphone and chip supplier and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. becoming the world's largest contract chip manufacturer.

That's a model that China could never seem to replicate. The country's leading chip maker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., isn't able to produce the most cutting-edge chips with the smallest transistors. Some estimates suggest China is five to seven years behind the U.S. and Taiwan on chip technology, but it may take longer for China to catch up because cutting-edge chips are a moving target. By the time China is able to make chips that compete with the best available today, the rest of the industry will likely have taken another leap ahead.

That said, China has surprised U.S. officials by replacing American chips in many of its companies' electronic devices with a combination of domestic chips and ones sourced from non-U.S. companies. Huawei's newest phablets, launched last year, didn't include any U.S. chips, according to a teardown of the devices commissioned by the investment bank UBS.

For the short term, China's semiconductor strategy is focused on reducing reliance on the U.S., which often means finding other non-Chinese substitutes. In the long term, though, many industry observers think it's a matter of when, not if, China's huge investments in chip making finally pay off.

"If you're willing to spend billions of dollars for dozens of years, eventually you'll get there," says Jim Lewis, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank.

Edge goes to: U.S.

Autonomous vehicles

Silicon Valley businesses such as Google's Waymo and General Motors Co.'s Cruise got a head start on testing driverless-car technology, helping give U.S. companies the early lead in sensor hardware, such as the cameras and radar needed to detect obstacles on the road. And the U.S. dominance of the semiconductor industry gives American companies the edge in making the chips that will essentially be the brains of such vehicles.

Chinese companies were two to three years behind international rivals in the important capabilities needed for self-driving cars, McKinsey & Co. said in a report last year.

But in the long term, China is poised to come out ahead. It is already the world's biggest car market, and the country's regulatory environment--such as restrictions on accessing maps on national-security grounds, as well as requiring foreign companies to partner with local ones--favors domestic champions trying to win the market there, which include Baidu, Didi Chuxing Technology Co. and Pony.ai. "It will be difficult for American companies to be competitive," says Nikolaj Herskind, of Scandinavian consulting firm Qvartz.

China's huge population will give Chinese companies more data they can use to refine autonomous-vehicle technology. It also helps that the Chinese are more willing to try self-driving cars. While 48% of Americans said in a 2020 Deloitte survey that they thought autonomous vehicles were unsafe, only 35% of Chinese respondents thought the same thing.

China's lead in 5G infrastructure means its car companies can test, in real-world conditions, how the wireless technology can be used to beam map and traffic data to cars, or even remotely control vehicles in some situations.

But given how governments intensely regulate self-driving car tests and technology, says Andrey Berdichevskiy, director of Deloitte's Future of Mobility Solution Center, the most likely outcome of the autonomous-vehicle technology race is a bifurcated world--similar to how the U.S. and China are developing their own ecosystems for other hardware and software.

"I expect U.S. and Chinese players to first become successful in their home markets, but regulations and consumer perception makes it harder for either side to flourish on the other's territory without a local partner," Mr. Berdichevskiy says.

The edge goes to: U.S., for now.

[designslikesweethearfbnt]

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Why I Deleted My Academia.edu Account and Why You Should, Too

The traditional model of academic publishing restricts access to research by putting it in the hands of private companies. As a result, I’ve had to work hard to make my research available to those who wish to read it. I’ve done so by publishing accessible summaries on this blog, by publishing as much as I can in open-access journals, and by establishing profiles on file-sharing sites like Academia.Edu and ResearchGate, which allow you to store and share full-text uploads of papers with anyone. I will keep doing the first two going forward, but I’ve grown leery of the latter and have increasingly come to realize that these file-sharing websites aren’t an effective solution to the problems of academic publishing. In fact, I’ve grown quite concerned about these sites and have come to realize that academics need to pursue other means of sharing their work. Let me explain.

Before I go on, you may want to read this post first, which explains why I switched to publishing in open-access journals whenever possible. Long story short, academics have historically given their work away to big publishing houses for free (including the copyright to our research papers). The publishers have then turned around and sold our work to libraries and subscribers for exorbitant prices—and kept all the profits to themselves. The end result is that research is typically accessible only to those with the funds to access it. Academics have grown increasingly uncomfortable with this arrangement in recent years because we’re giving our work for free to companies that are severely limiting access to it, all while making billions of dollars.

By contrast, open-access papers can be freely viewed by anyone with an internet connection. This is great for the general public, which subsidizes most academic research in one form or another anyway. I mean, why should the public pay for research to be conducted, and then have to pay a middleman separately in order to access the results? Open-access is also great for students at universities that don’t have massive library budgets, as well as for scholars in developing countries where research resources are scarce. 

Getting back to AcademiaEdu and ResearchGate, these are online repositories where researchers can upload copies of all of their works, which others can freely access. In other words, they provide an avenue for widely sharing research. Of course—and as I noted above—with traditional publishing, we give the copyright to our work away to journal publishers, so we usually can’t upload the final version of our articles without violating copyright law. However, most publishing agreements I’ve seen permit researchers to share the pre-publication version of their papers (i.e., the basic-looking version that you create in Microsoft Word, not the pretty version formatted by the journal. Some will allow you to share the version that has been through peer review; however, others may not). 

Over the last several years, I painstakingly reviewed all of my previous copyright transfer agreements and, in cases where it was permitted, I uploaded a version of each of my articles to file-sharing sites like AcademiaEdu and ResearchGate. 

I guess I was naïve, though. Initially, I thought those sites were solutions to the problem of poor research access. However, I’ve come to learn that these are large and growing for-profit companies that, just like journal publishers, are harvesting free labor from academics. We’re building a massive research infrastructure for them—and the profit potential is so big that these companies have some of the biggest venture capital firms in the world investing in them.

In supporting companies like AcademiaEdu and ResearchGate, we’re simply transferring power and control over access to research to a new set of companies—companies that can and are looking for ways to cash in on that power. For example, AcademiaEdu is currently free to access, but has a “premium” subscription model. I’d bet good money that they’ll eventually start charging everyone for access once they have a big enough repository and user base. That would just put everything back behind a paywall, thereby defeating the purpose of why many of us joined the site in the first place.

I’m also concerned about other ways they’re trying to monetize their site. For example, a couple of years ago, AcademiaEdu toyed with charging users to get their papers “recommended” on the site. Efforts like this would have the effect of pushing self-interest over scientific advancement by giving anyone the opportunity to promote their work regardless of its quality or merit. 

So how do we get around the problems that these sites create? Here are a few things you can do:

· Stop investing your time building up places like AcademiaEdu. They’re just taking your free labor and cashing in on it. This is a big part of the reason why I recently deleted my profile with them (I also deleted it because they’re poor at policing intellectual property infringement, but that’s a whole other story). AcademiaEdu and ResearchGate have done a brilliant job marketing themselves as noble causes—places where academics can go to share research—while hiding their real goal, which is building a massive research database curated by the world’s experts that they can cash in on. As I write this, ResearchGate is the 171st and Academia.edu is the 275th most visited website in the entire world. These are incredibly powerful companies we are unwittingly building up and we don’t know what they’re ultimately going to do with the fruits of our labor—other than turn it into a huge profit, of course.

· Unfortunately, there doesn’t yet exist a non-profit equivalent of AcademiaEdu that I’m aware of. However, until that exists, one option is to post pre-prints of your work on a site like PsyArxiv, which is run by the non-profit Center for Open Science. This can at least get your work out there in some form and it will be accessible to anyone online.

· Publish your research in open-access journals whenever possible. This is the best way of ensuring that your work remains free and easy to access for the long run. If an open-access journal requires a fee to publish, try to request a waiver or apply for a grant to cover the costs. I’ve been able to get several open-access papers published without paying one cent. It shouldn’t have to cost academics money to give their research away. 

· If your research is locked behind a paywall, review your copyright agreement(s) to see what kinds of information sharing are permissible. Odds are that there’s some version of the paper you can share freely. You can share these versions on your own personal website, put them out on social media, email them to anyone who requests them, and/or store them on professional websites. For example, if you have a profile on a site like the Social Psychology Network, you have a certain amount of storage available for sharing any files you wish.

· Take advantage of institutional repositories. A lot of colleges and universities have them, and depositing your research with them can make it easier for others to access your work. For example, the University of California repository is accessible to everyone, although you must be affiliated with that university to post your work in it.

· Blog about or otherwise publish accessible summaries of your research that the average person can understand. Making academic papers more widely available is great, but they’re often written with so much jargon that only our peers can decipher them. Accessible summaries can help others to better understand our work and why it’s important.   

These are just some of the alternatives that exist for getting science out there. We’d all do well to consider investing in them in the interest of ensuring freer and wider access to research for the long haul. If you have other tips or recommendations for sharing research, weigh in with your comments below.

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