#top programming language 2018

[moirtre]

do the members have backstory’s ? if they do what are they ?

yes they do! here's a very very quick rundown, i'm not sure if i'll do a little drabble series on their family dynamics but here's their backstories so they're out there!

 ‎ ‎ ┉       *       ﹙ㅤʬ              ›             NAIRA LIESE CHRISTIANSEN.

naira is a norweigian singer and actress born to norweigian investment banker, jesper christiansen and his wife, former miss universe, dauenphen prempree on december 2, 1993. naira was raised alongside her older brother, lukas, between her parents' two native countries. though most of her schooling took place at the top private schools in oslo, naira has publicly acknowledged chiang mai, thailand as her true hometown.

hailing from a very well-off family, naira was forced to grow up quicker than most. notably, the others often voice their irritation with naira's composure as it is quite unclear what she thinks or feels at any given moment. this trait is attributed to her mother who suffered through years of racial abuse at the hands of the european media without the defense of her husband or his family.

naira's interest in music never truly took off until she was in high school. after coming across a video of apricus culture soloist allison nam in 2008, naira grew fond of the korean music industry, secretly convincing her older brother to take her to auditions while in chaing mai. after being accepted into several companies, naira decided to join gemini entertainment's trainee program in 2010, hoping later to be matched with apricus.

after training for three years, naira was the fifth member chosen for letalis' final lineup. despite being offered the leader position, naira turned it down claiming, "she wasn't ready to be tied to the group's reputation." currently, naira is a SUB VOCALIST and official VISUAL of the group, occasionally taking part in thai and norweigian-language melodramas and soap operas under her birth name.

 ‎ ‎ ┉       *       ﹙ㅤʬ              ›             MELANIE BAE.

melanie is an australian singer-songwriter born in brisbane on june 12, 1994. her parents, jason and marissa, are working-class korean-australians who raised melanie and her older sister, madison, quite comfortably along the australian west coast. melanie is very close to her family who all frequently appear on her social media and are always acknowledged in her album dedications.

the two bae sisters found a love for performing quite early on with melanie following in her sister's footsteps participating in dance competitions across the country. though madison would give up dance to pursue a fashion design degree in europe after graduating from high school in 2008, melanie would continue to work towards what she planned to be a professional career in dance.

while at a mall with friends, melanie would be approached by an apricus culture talent scout who persuaded her to audition for the company in july of 2010. during her time as a trainee, melanie would be given several opportunities to stir up attention for the company's planned girl group. after being featured on a title track for soloist, lastdraw, in 2013, apricus would announce melanie as the central member of their upcoming girl group, letalis.

as the MAIN VOCALIST, LEAD DANCER, CENTER, and FACE of letalis, melanie is without a doubt the group's most popular member. finding success as a global ambassador for vivienne westwood in addition to popular appearances on korean variety shows and a stellar solo career, melanie is easily the modern face of apricus culture following allison nam's retirement in 2018.

 ‎ ‎ ┉       *       ﹙ㅤʬ              ›             YANG YEEUN.

better known by her stage name, juniper, yang yeeun is a south korean singer born in suwon on december 11, 1994 to yang dae and eom youngmi. raised alongside her brothers, hyunwoo and sanghun, the three yang siblings were encouraged to engage in creative pursuits from a young age. their mother, youngmi, specifically made sure to throw her full support behind her childrens' dreams, regardless of the strain it would often place on the family's finances.

ultimately, those financial strains would eventually lead to an episode of psychosis in juniper's father who was institutionalized in 2007. being unable to work for an extended period of time forced the family to move in with juniper's grandparents who lived just outside of seoul that same year.

the move proved to be especially tough on juniper's younger brother, sanghun, who experienced extensive bullying at his new school. despite this, sanghun would go on to audition for gemini entertainment in 2007 before being matched to apricus culture. seeing sanghun's success as a trainee prompted juniper to try her luck and audition for the company in late 2008. during the audition however, juniper proved too shy to sing and was instead chosen to debut as a model under apricus in 2011.

while she earned money modeling to help support her family, juniper would continue to receive vocal and dance lessons. following sanghun's debut as a soloist under the stage name ophion in 2011, juniper would make her way through the trainee ranks to be the final member picked for letalis' final lineup. famously, juniper claims she was chosen to join letalis on the condition that she accept the role of leader.

 ‎ ‎ ┉       *       ﹙ㅤʬ              ›             EMIYA UENO.

better known by her stage name, emmy, emiya ueno is a japanese singer born in okayama on may 25, 1995 to kisho ueno and himeko chiura. raised as an only child, the marital strife between kisho and himeko would eventually force the parents to send emmy off to a prep boarding school in bristol, england while they endured a toxic divorce in japan. kisho would later be granted custody of a six-year-old emmy in 2001 after himeko failed to appear in court and forfeited her maternal rights.

after kisho arrived in england, he would go on to raise emmy as a single parent while working as an archeologist. emmy had an extremely happy childhood, made possible by her incredibly supportive father who made it a point to encourage emmy to dream as big as possible. kisho would go on to marry emmy's stepfather, otis matthews, in 2015. together, kisho and otis would adopt emmy's stepsiblings, sasha and travis.

emmy quickly found comfort in the spotlight after being scouted by a talent agent who managed to secure emmy a role in several west end productions as an ensemble member during her teenage years. her big break finally arrived in 2011 after being invited to debut in a short-lived j-pop girl group, x-sys. the group was active for less than a year before their company would go bankrupt. after their contracts were bought out by apricus culture, emmy would be chosen as the second member to debut in letalis.

currently, emmy is the MAIN RAPPER, MAIN DANCER, and SUB VOCALIST of the girl group. in addition to her roles in the group, emmy is an acclaimed solo rapper in japan, occasionally taking on dramatic stage roles in both japan and england.

 ‎ ‎ ┉       *       ﹙ㅤʬ              ›             SOHN NARYUN.

naryun is a south korean singer-songwriter and producer born in daegu on september 1, 1995 to famed prima ballerina min kyunghee and her husband, professional soccer player sohn namkyu. alongside her older sister, narim, and twin sister, narae, the sohn sisters were expected to follow in their mother's poised footsteps. being placed in prestigious ballet conservatories from young ages, the girls quickly proved themselves to be worthy of their mother's reputation.

despite their immense talent, naryun and narae were often subjected to demeaning comparisons where naryun was often left trailing behind her twin sister. early on, it became evident that despite naryun obvious greater affinity for the art, narae would be shown favoritism by the instructors at their conservatory and later at their company.

naryun's distaste for the favoritism shown for her sister over her and narae's general distaste for ballet in general led to a divide between the twins that would last until narae announced her decision to forefeit her position as principal dancer at the korean national ballet. following her twin sister's lead, naryun would give up her position as well in 2012 out of solidarity.

finding herself lost without direction, naryun was approached by apricus culture ceo at the time jeong karin in a bid to bring legitimacy to apricus' trainee program. naryun agreed to train, initially believing it to be a short break to allow her to gain perspective. she soon fell in love with the prospect of becoming an idol and was the third member to be announced for letalis' final lineup in 2013.

currently, naryun is the group's MAIN DANCER and LEAD VOCALIST. despite efforts to separate herself from her time as a principal dancer for the korean national ballet, naryun cannot escape the shadow of disappointment that industry snobs continue to cast upon her. regardless, she has found immense success as a producer and solo artist as well as the opening of her own pilates studio in collaboration with former apricus ceo, jeong karin in 2022.

 ‎ ‎ ┉       *       ﹙ㅤʬ              ›             JADEN KIM.

better known by her stage name, jiseo, jaden kim is an american idol born in san diego on january 14, 1996 to siwoo kim and andrea jeong. raised as an only child, jiseo was notably incredibly shy growing up. her parents, worrying their daughter would be socially stunted by her bashfulness, would take initiative to enroll her in choir lessons hoping it would draw her out of her shell.

falling in love with being on stage, jiseo would go on to beg her parents for violin lessons, landing her a firm position on a children's orchestra by age 12. as she continued to grow out of her shell, jiseo would begin to seek the approval of older, more reckless upperclassmen. after being escorted home in a cop car after her 15th birthday, jiseo's parents decided to send her to live with her grandparents in gwangju for the summer.

while in gwangju, jiseo was exposed to k-pop by her cousins who found a way to persuade her to join them in auditioning for apricus culture in 2011. though her parents were unsure if they were ready to part with their only child, they would support the structure provided by the trainee atmosphere, hoping it would settle their daughter's learned tendencies. though it did nothing but increase her reckless decisions after finding a solid friend group through avos' ian, jiseo would be a successful trainee.

after being chosen to debut in letalis, jiseo would assume the LEAD RAPPER and SUB VOCALIST positions upon the group's debut in 2013. currently, jiseo also promotes as a solo artist under the stage name, oisa.

 ‎ ‎ ┉       *       ﹙ㅤʬ              ›             MIN HERI.

heri is a south korean singer, songwriter, and producer born in seoul, south korea on november 19, 1996 to choi haeun and min kyungjae. raised alongside her younger brother, junyoung, heri was always a positive, bright child.

often the smartest child in the room, heri's parents would eventually realize that her brilliant mind needed more stimulation than the books they stocked in her room. through the recommendation of a teacher, they would decide to enroll heri in acting and piano lesson, hoping she'd grow attached to one of the two to keep her busy.

landing lead roles in school plays soon proved to be too easy to 10-year-old heri who craved another challenge. after being encouraged by her drama teacher, heri found entertainment in poem writing, submitting her work to local contests anonymously. her writing soon caught the attention of hayden beom, a member of apricus culture boy group, nyx in 2009. the company later tracked down the young 13-year-old who was later invited to join the company as trainee in hopes of developing her as a singer-songwriter.

although heri was initially planned to debut as a soloist, the company decided to she would be better suited for a group environment, allowing her time to gain better confidence in the industry. as the sixth member chosen for letalis, heri is the group's LEAD VOCALIST and second VISUAL. though heri has decided to take a more understated role as a producer and songwriter under the name CARRÉ, she is the most credited member of the groups and has been acknowledged for her work outside of the group by the recording academy.

[dedalvs]

Fiat Lingua Top 10 for 2023

It's time for the annual Fiat Lingua rewind!

Background: I created Fiat Lingua over ten years ago with the idea that it could be something like the Rutgers Optimality Archive: A place where conlangers could post work that they wanted to showcase, or work that was in progress. We've had tons of contributions over the years, and some standout work I'm really proud of.

Using our fancy statistics program (you know, the free version) we're able to determine the top 10 visited posts for this year (though, note, the numbers for the current year's December post will always be down a little bit, since it didn't have a full month. If you'd like to take a look at it, Carsten Becker did a version of "Silent Night" in his conlang Ayeri!). Here they are!

NUMBER 10

"Road Trip Conlanging with Kids" (August, 2023) by Mia DeSanzo: Fiat Lingua is supposed to be an archive of long, detailed conlang articles, and also short, breezy conlang ideas, and this is one of the latter! It's less than a page long, but a fun idea, and it was quite well-received!

NUMBER 9

"Art & Anxiety: Conlanging through impostor syndrome" (February, 2023) by Jessie Sams (now Jessie Peterson): This is a personal reflection by @quothalinguist on how she has dealt with impostor syndrome, and how it's impacted her conlanging.

NUMBER 8

"Taadži Linguistics" (March, 2023) by Lauren Kuffler: This is a wonderful introduction to the Taadži language, which features a writing system reminiscent of Mayan epigraphs.

NUMBER 7

"Tone for Conlangers: A Basic Introduction" (April, 2018) by Aidan Aannestad: Making a second consecutive appearance in the top ten, Aidan Aannestad's introduction to tone has been an invaluable resource for conlangers producing tonal conlangs for just over five years now!

NUMBER 6

"Afrihili: An African Interlanguage" (April, 2014) by William S. Annis: Afrihili is an a posteriori auxlang from the late 60s that uses Bantu languages as its source, and it is fascinating! One of my all-time favorite auxlangs, and William provides a wonderful introduction. Of interest, this article was number 6 in the top ten last year, as well!

NUMBER 5

"Names Aren’t Neutral: David J. Peterson on Creating a Fantasy Language" (March, 2019) by David J. Peterson: Up four spots from last year, this is my article on best practices when coming up with names in a fantasy setting—even when no conlang is present.

NUMBER 4

"Grambank & Language Documentation: Zhwadi and Its Features" (June, 2023) by Jessie Sams (now Jessie Peterson): The first of the game-changing mega-resources for conlanging Jessie created in 2023, this is a short description of how to use Grambank in conlanging with a link to a fillable Google spreadsheet any conlanger can copy and use to introduce their conlang to others.

NUMBER 3

"Patterns of Allophony" (April, 2015) by William S. Annis: Definitely one of the most popular papers on Fiat Lingua, William illustrates graphically a number of very common sound changes. This article once again occupies the third spot of our top ten!

NUMBER 2

"A Conlanger's Thesaurus" (September, 2014) by William S. Annis: We have a new number 1 for this year! This has, historically, been the most accessed article on Fiat Lingua, and it's obvious to see why. The article is relatively short, compared to the information and use you can get out of it. William Annis details ways in which languages relate words to other similar words. For conlangers who struggle either with coming up with words that are different from English in meaning, or who struggle with coming up with words at all, this reference article should prove very useful. Using the word maps in this article, you might be able to come up with words you never dreamt of before, but words which could exist in some language. A great resource for conlangers who are desperately trying to break out of the influence of their L1 or L2!

And now for the top viewed article for 2023 on Fiat Lingua...

NUMBER 1

"A Surreal Conlang" (January, 2023) by David J. Peterson: Quite the surprise! Late 2022 I wrote an article about how one might go about creating a surreal conlang—neither naturalistic nor regular and artificial like an auxlang or engelang—and it went up on Fiat Lingua on January 1st. I think (or hope) it served as a useful jumping off point for conlangers who are looking to try something really different from what they've seen done elsewhere.

* * * * *

And that's it for 2023! I'm looking forward to posting more conlang articles next year. If you are a conlanger, a conlang-researcher, or conlang fan who has something to say in .pdf format about a specific conlang or conlanging in general, please consider submitting something to Fiat Lingua! We take any and all articles related to conlanging in whatever form you have them. I'm also happy to help you think up ideas, or refine those ideas you have. There is no strong review like in a fancy journal: I just want to get what you have up. I'm especially in interested in hosting personal conlang stories—stories about how or why you started to create a language, or your experience creating your own language—personal stories that are often lost, but are so vital, as there is an absolute dearth of literature about conlangers! If you think you have even the seed of an idea, please get a hold of me! I want to share as many stories and ideas as I can.

[not-terezi-pyrope]

How did you get into AI (and maybe compsci more generally)? I'm curious in part to know more about your background, but also because I'm interested in getting into it as well

Huh, big question.

Well, I got into compsci via programming and pretty young. I mean, I was always interested in computers as that's the field my dad works in and his excitement for games and hardware transferred. I was particularly into source engine games from his influence, which lead to me being super obsessed with Garry's Mod when I was 10, and when I was 11-12 ish I discovered the "wiremod" logic mod for that, and was instantly entranced building robots and mini-computers in game. Initially that was by hooking up discrete logic gates, but then I discovered that there was an entire full-featured programming language built into the mod as well, and teaching myself that while playing the game after school was how I learned to program.

I wanted to take that to some non-gmod contexts as well, and so I learned a bit of Java via "Greenfoot", which was/is(?) a library and web community for building little 2D Java games, popular with kids and teens. I actually won an iPod in a Greenfoot coding contest when I was 13. I carried that interest in programming through school, where I did computer science at GCSE and AS levels, then after a brief foray at studying film for less than 6 months, picked up programming as a proper hobby again when I was 19, and went to do a Computer Science degree because I was transparently so much better at programming than I was any of my arts stuff, lol. It's uniquely compelling and fits right in my brain the way nothing else does.

The AI interest mostly comes from fiction, again from pretty young. Portal (another source engine game) was one of my favourite games as a teenager, and I spent a while in Garry's Mod building my own automatons and autonomous robots, and creating wiremod bots that could talk in chat, respond to commands, do some basic statistical language analysis, pretty much figuring it out just off the top of my head.

That interest in artificial intelligence lead to me following the field pretty loosely for a while, and I discovered transhumanist thought in my late teens, and was interested in simulating cognition more specifically as it related to subjects like mind uploads, but I didn't get super into AI as a discipline until I discovered the first online GPT-2 demo in 2018 and read the associated papers. I was like, "oh, fuck. This is like nothing we've ever had before, this is going to change the world, I am fascinated by this and I should try to get in on this now". That lead to me focusing on AI for my undergraduate thesis and then later for my master's degree. I would be working in AI now, if I hadn't entirely failed to find any good roles, and also, if I am honest, if the online conversation around and backlash to LLMs and so forth hadn't soured a lot of my initial enthusiasm, which makes it hard to stay fully up to date with the field. My current job is more general IT work with some programming sprinkled in.

Because the sad thing is I was absolutely right, three years before anyone outside of computer science noticed, in predicting that attention transformers were going to completely upend the tech field and how we interact with computers. What I got wrong in my naivety was thinking that people would respond to that in a good way. Instead it's mostly been distrust and revulsion, which in some respects is understandable, and in others is really sad, especially given the potential that was and is still there. But I worry that this idea that AI is the domain of conniving capitalist techbros is fast becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy as everyone who genuinely cares about social issues (I count myself among them) is driven by an almost overwhelming tide to divest themselves from anything that has the whiff of a neural net about it.

I am at least partially resisting for now.

[wjbs-aus]

Since this is having a resurgence kinda,

Reblog for a larger sample-size or something? Or not. Your call!

Context for each below.

Back in, like, 2016 or something, the Secondary School I was at did lifeguard training as part of its PE curriculum; one of the activities involved was rescuing a hollow plastic dummy. When it was my turn, I grabbed it, but it suddenly filled with water, and I was suddenly dragged to the bottom of the pool; eventually I managed to let go of it, and I was allowed to sit on one of the benches next to the pool for the rest of the session.

Last year, around Halloween, my dad randomly phoned me up and asked if I wanted him to buy me an axe or scythe from the Halloween section of Tesco. I said I wanted a scythe, and he bought it; it was very plain, and consisted of a hollow plastic tube and a simple-looking, poorly-moulded blade that slid over the top. It eventually got pretty badly-damaged, and my brother - in a fit of sleep-deprived impulsiveness - secretly bought me a cooler, much higher-quality one (the blade is actually a skull wearing a mask with a long "beak" attached to it!)

Technically, I don't have all the Skylanders figures I got when I played, since at least one is still at the flat I used to live in, but otherwise I have all of them. Also I only had Giants, Swap Force and Trap Team; I missed out on playing Spyro's Adventure, and I only had a Wii at the time so I couldn't play most of the games after it (except for Superchargers Racing, which is literally just the racing minigame from the fifth game but released on its own).

Play Hard Reset. Do it do it now. It's short, kinda frustrating at times and has questionable writing and voice-acting, but the aesthetic is really cool and it has an interesting mechanic where the player only has two weapons, but can unlock different modes for them that effectively mean the player has ten. I haven't played much of Hard Reset Redux, but it seems to be the same, but balanced a bit better and with much better dialogue.

I got into ZScript late last year, but I've got pretty good at both the inheritence system and making original stuff (which is technically jus the same as using inheritence, but you have to define everything yourself.

I can't remember exactly when this happened, but it was around either Halloween or Christmas (since Nightmare Before Christmas was on TV) and possibly in 2018; I made myself a cup of tea, but didn't notice that the kettle had limescale remover put into it (aside from the colour being a bit off). When I started drinking it, I immediately spat it out, and since then it's been known in my family as A Thing I Did Once™.

I love Sea Power! They make good music! Check out Let The Dancers Inherit The Party, it is their best album in my opinion!

Yep, done this one. Haven't finished Quake 1's second expansion and I'm only on, like, map 2 of Quake II, but I've played all of Quake IV's story campaign. Also, if it counts, Quake III's "singleplayer campaign", which is just a series of increasingly-difficult bot matches.

When I got Reaper one of the first things I recorded was a scream, which coincidentally ended up being a scarily-good impression of the headless bombers from Serious Sam.

A while ago, I tried playing the Game Boy Advance version of Bionicle Heroes with an emulator, since I wanted to check it out; when I tried playing it with VBA, it crashed on the second screen, and while another emulator (namely No$GBA) allowed to, I had to make a DS4 controller-profile specifically for use with it, since it wasn't registering my inputs properly with my regular one. Eventually I just bought a Bionicle Heroes GBA cartridge online so I could play using my DS Lite.

Anyway here's the new scythe.

This picture physically hurt to take, like I had to lean really far back and stretch my arm really far out

[monkeywiki]

HOW TO REFORMAT YOUR RESUME TO MAKE IT EASY FOR RECRUITERS TO SEE IT

Your name, email, contact should be at the top.

Poop Poop | phone number | Email

include 3 REFERENCES of people you trust, teachers, colleagues, even online friends, anyone who would vouch for you, and format.

References 

Blah Blah | College Of Poop and Farts | Lab Tech balhablah@gmail.com 3842348394

Blah Blah | College Of Poop and Farts | Lab Tech balhablah@gmail.com 3842348394

Blah Blah | College Of Poop and Farts | Lab Tech balhablah@gmail.com 3842348394

Education (I recommend putting this next, OR make it the very last thing on your resume.)

Early Graduate Diploma – EebyHS | 2018

Excelled in the Eeby High School Proficiency Exam earning a certificate of diploma prior to most peers in the graduate class.

Experience (notice putting about 2-3 is optimal and fine, if you have none whatsoever, consider volunteer efforts, charity events when you were younger, art clubs you hosted, and consider framing them as Leadership initiatives. Done art commissions? Handling confidential client information and transactions. Pet sitting, helping someone with their homework, babysitting, lawn mowing, anything can be re-framed into buzzword friendly search terms that show you have the diligence and willingness to learn more.)

Job title | Company | Location | Year

Brand Ambassador | Eeby Deeby Programs | Or, Bo | 2019

Utilized PC technology to quickhand troubleshoot technical issues, lead IT support

Camera and photography operations, lead marketing, staging, lighting and merchandising.

IOS maintenance 

POS operation lead, customer & client assurance, tendering sales

TIP: What did this company advocate for? What were your goals and what did your work accomplish? 

Certified Onboarder | Ourga Bourga | Port, Borba | 2018

Coordinates onboarding & training for new hires to successfully transition into their new roles accordingly and within a timely manner.

Communicates effectively to responsibly manage and maintain workflow between the front of house and kitchen.

Leading to ensure customer satisfaction by managing staff’s ticket fulfillment to company standards and to order.

Go to indeed, create a resume and do their skill assessment tests if you want to add more buff to this, however, first you need to look inward. Have you been online your whole life? Welcome to the first step! your next thing on your resume is your :

Skills

(do a wpm test and put your result)

Windows OS & IOS technology

Microsoft technology

Proficient in Word, Excel, Powerpoint 

POS terminals & technology (better way of saying "i was a cashier")

IT support (same thing)

Experience in supervisory, management and training (ever run your own discord? ever recruited for a zine? hosted a re-animated project? No need to say it straight.)

Proficient in marketing, merchandising & staging (AKA: setting up store displays, making sure burgers look Like They're Suppose to, making store aisles clean and products are pulled forward)

(also might help to use indeed, do their resume and their proficiency tests and include those on your resume)

Proficient in OSHA and FDA regulations in food safety control environments (aka i worked foodservice, i have cleaned toilets)

Quality assurance (literally everything ever)

Bonus points if you've worked any place that has access to cleaning products, you can say the following:

Proficient in Ecolab standard protocols.

It's important to consider that recruiters are sifting through hundreds of resumes.

short-term your experience with simple, but BUZZWORD friendly language. Why?

Not only do recruiters want to pick up what you can do Likely within the first few seconds of viewing your application, your application is more likely to be seen by websites like indeed if you use keywords and buzzwords that make your resume relevant to the website's search algorithm.

Sentences are not important. Experience is, and you likely have more than you give yourself credit for. good luck

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

After a surprisingly successful midterm election in which Democrats increased their power in state governments, party leaders now find themselves in a position to advance or protect one of the party’s top issues: voting rights.

Major voting rights bills are on the move in states like Minnesota, where Democrats won complete control of state government for the first time in five years, and New York, where Democrats held on to their majorities. In Michigan, Democrats will now implement and possibly expand on voting rights reforms enacted by voters after winning full control in the state for the first time in 40 years. And in other states, like Arizona and Wisconsin, Democratic gubernatorial wins will thwart any Republican laws rolling back voter access.

After the 2020 election’s dual crises of pandemic and insurrection, Democrats in several states enacted a series of bills, constitutional amendments and ballot initiatives to expand voting rights and voter access. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the public’s desire for easy access to alternatives to in-person election day voting, while the Republican Party’s lies about that voting access showed the need to shore up systems of democratic elections.

With many reforms already enacted in Maryland, Massachusetts and Michigan, the big action on voting rights will occur in Minnesota, where Democrats hold a one-vote majority in the state senate.

“There is a big opportunity this session to take action on democracy reforms that we haven’t had in the last 40 years,” said Lilly Sasse, campaign director for We Choose Us, a coalition of grassroots, advocacy and union organizations in Minnesota backing democracy reform.

On the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, Democrats in both chambers of the Minnesota legislature introduced the Democracy For The People Act and announced the formation of a Democracy Caucus to work together to pass legislation to expand voter access.

The Democracy For The People Act would include provisions to establish automatic voter registration, create a permanent mail ballot list, allow for pre-registration of 16- and 17-year-olds, require voting materials be distributed in multiple languages, and restore voting rights to felons on probation or parole. Additionally, the bill would increase voter intimidation and deception penalties and create a publicly funded system of small campaign donation vouchers modeled after similar programs in Seattle, Washington, and Oakland, California.

The bill does not contain the elimination of the witness requirement for mail-in ballots, an absence noted by Democratic Party lawyer Marc Elias.

Democrats in Michigan also have a newfound opportunity to enact their top priorities after winning control of the state legislature and maintaining control of the governorship for the first time since 1983. But when it comes to democracy issues like voting rights, Michigan voters already adopted many of the proposals Democrats would put forward by backing two constitutional amendments that were on the ballot in 2018 and 2022.

One proposal provided for no-excuse absentee voting with prepaid stamps and a tracking system, the establishment of a nine-day early voting period and a constitutional right to vote without interference, intimidation or harassment, among other things. These reforms will now need to be implemented by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, both Democrats who defeated election-denying Republicans in 2022, and the legislature.

Beyond implementing the new amendment, voting rights advocates hope the legislature continues to advance voting rights proposals. Their focus is on legislation allowing for the pre-registration of 16- and 17-year-olds and expanding protections for election workers.

Pre-registration would “streamline some of the process of young people getting into the voter registration system,” according to Sharon Dolente, a senior advisor with Promote The Vote MI, a democracy reform coalition in the state. This could help alleviate the long lines that appeared at colleges and universities on election day in 2022.

In New York, where Democrats maintained their hold on the government despite a subpar election, the state Senate is continuing a tradition of passing democracy reforms as the first order of business that began in 2019 when Democrats won back control of the chamber.

“New York historically has been a state that did not keep up with other states’ election administration and voting reforms,” Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, a nonprofit that works on democracy-related issues, said.

The state Senate passed legislation on Jan. 9 to legalize the provision of refreshments to people waiting in line to vote, allow counties to run portable polling locations, establish absentee ballot drop boxes, update election technology and make voter suppression a crime.

These changes follow previous legislation that has eased voter access, including the passage of automatic voter registration, early voting and a state-level Voting Rights Act modeled on the landmark federal bill of the same name.

There have been hiccups as New York Democrats seek to update the state’s election laws.

The legislature placed two constitutional amendments on the ballot in 2021 to allow for same-day voter registration and no-excuse absentee voting, but voters rejected them at the polls. The state Democratic Party organization spent no money supporting the amendment campaigns. However, a Republican billionaire funded a $3 million campaign against them.

While the biggest action is taking place in Michigan, Minnesota and New York, other opportunities remain afoot across the country.

In Maryland, where Democrats won complete control of the government for the first time in eight years, there is talk of passing a state-level Voting Rights Act akin to the ones enacted in New York and Virginia. A similar bill may also be considered in New Mexico, where Democrats maintained full control of the state government. And voting rights advocates also hold out hopes that Illinois and Oregon could advance bills that failed last session to allow felons to vote while serving their sentences.

And then there are the states where a Democratic win in 2022 prevents the passage of laws making it harder to vote. That is the case in Arizona, Kansas, North Carolina and Wisconsin, where Democratic governors hold the veto pen over their Republican-run legislatures.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is the only first-time governor among these four states. In her first term, her main sway over democracy issues will be preventing further Republican legislation to reduce voting access or question election results. The state GOP is still in thrall to wild conspiracies about state elections – Hobbs defeated Republican Kari Lake last fall, and Lake is still falsely insisting she won the election.

Hobbs will also have some ability to influence the operation of elections by signing off on the state’s Election Procedures Manual, which sets rules on how to run elections for county officials.

The last effort to adopt a manual in 2022 was scuttled when then-Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, rejected then-secretary of state Hobbs’ revisions to the 2019 manual that both of them and then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, approved. Democrats swept the races for governor, secretary of state and attorney general in the midterms and can now set these rules for local officials.

[thesocialchanges]

Smoking is a top global polluter whose pollution production contributes to climate change (n.d.). Smoking is an addiction that affects emotional and physical health. The physical addiction to smoking can be traced to nicotine in each cigarette (Siegel, 2022). Vaping, tobacco, cannabis, marihuana, and other illegal drugs are considered to be a form of smoking. 

Vaping affects the environment differently by generating an extremely high volume of waste (Prochaska & Velicer, 1997). Nevertheless, there is a misconception that vaping can be an alternative option to quit smoking. However, vaping is no different than smoking tobacco. That misconception led to an increase in the pandemic of vaping, which attracts the youth to flavored vapes (n.d.).

“Smoking is both physical and psychological addiction, but quitting smoking can be done. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2018 estimated that 55.1 percent of adult smokers in the United States gave up the habit for more than one day to quit. Since 2002, the CDC reports that the number of former smokers has remained greater than that of current smokers in the United States.” (Siegel, 2022). 

The social environment influences smoking, and psychologists can assist with alternative behavioral changes to help individuals who want to quit smoking (Van de Brand, 2019). Quitting smoking can be challenging and impactful on physical health and emotional changes. The nicotine in cigarettes and the act of smoking harvest a calming effect of mental clarity and relaxation that is perceived as a social activity and as a coping mechanism (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (n.d.). However, smoking has the opposite effect than what is believed. It increases anxiety level tension, and over time, smokers are more likely to suffer from depression secondary to smoking, health disease, emphysema, lung cancer, as well as other medical conditions secondary to smoking. Regardless of whether it is cigarettes, vaping, or e-cigarettes, an option used mainly by young adults and teenagers is a habit that can cause lifetime health damage.

Therapeutic Approach

Smoking cessation group therapy’s objective is for smokers to learn vicariously from their peers in group sessions to quit together to motivate and stimulate each other through peer pressure to improve the quit success rate and participation in the group (Van de Brand, 2019). 

Smoking cessation therapy emphasizes techniques and mechanisms to quit smoking. To date, at least 40 evaluated anti-smoking programs or campaigns. Nine programs/campaigns were motivational informational, 11 were promotion specifics cessation activities, and 20 were mass media cessation “self-help clinics” (DPhill,1987). The CDC resources for quitting are in many languages. For the purpose of this assignment, I will only provide the Spanish and English telephone numbers. There are text message services and Smartphone apps, Tips, information, and challenges to help smokers quit.

Begin your journey today! Quit Smoking today!

Resource for Quitting 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) English

                                   1-855-DÉJELO-YA (1-855-335-569) Español

Evaluation of the Ethnic Inequalities 

           The evaluation is not one of ethnic inequality but one of gender inequity between men and women smokers and non-smokers. Smoking rates are higher among couples who are married or living with a partner, social isolation, socioeconomic status, and isolation (Martin et al., 2019). Research suggests that marital status or living with a partner leads to a high likelihood of quitting smoking, and having a non-smoking partner increases the possibility of quitting smoking (Martin et al., 2019). 

Mass Media Programs and Campaigns Designed to Reduce Smoking Behavior.

Mass media is a significant influencer in the increase and awareness of the danger of smoking, motivating smokers to quit and helping many ex-smokers to quit successfully. 

The CDC spearheaded a campaign named “TIPs” to address the health disparities in smoking cessation to bridge the gap of health equity, representation, accessibility of smoking cessation programs, and assistance for smokers who are receptive to quitting smoking regardless of income, geographic location, or who they are.

The objective of the “TIPs” campaign is to increase the awareness of free smoking cessation educational resources among adults- adults- no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they make (CDC, n.d.).

The “TIPs” campaign places a variety of tips ads in the media channels, reaching out to the community and groups with high levels of smoking-related disease management, including those populations that are disproportionally affected by tobacco use (CDC, n.d.).

The social influence attached to this research in the UK suggests that having a partner who quits smoking has a more significant impact on smoking tobacco than having a non-smoker partner (Martin et al., 2019). The workplace also favors smoking cessation, where colleagues are strongly associated with quitting success (Van de Brand, 2019).

Martin et al., 2019 report the social gradient to quit smoking on socioeconomic status in women is lower and may be less successful for men in quitting and women who had nonsmoking partners compared to women who had a partner who smokes at both points, having a partner who was non-smoker throughout was associated with a doubling of the odds of stopping smoking 99% and having a partner who smoked initially but stopped in the next four years was associated with 6 -fold increase in odds of quitting smoking 99% (Martin et al., 2019). Smoking cessation is highly associated with the workplace setting supporting smoking cessation and is strongly associated with quitting success (Van de Brand, 2019). Therefore, it is proposed that social change does influence smoking and smoking cessation. 

The Role and Responsibilities of Psychology Concerning Smoking Cessation.

Psychologists have been advocates for smoking cessation throughout the years. Psychologist advocacy by APA not only gets reimbursed for being in the lineup of providing screening, smoking cessation treatments, and brief interventions for tobacco use. Action for compensation for therapeutic services, coverage for treatments, substance abuse, adopting smoke-free policies in public settings, and anti-smoking educational campaigns have been taken. Evidence-based information reflects a decrease in the use of cigarettes at the same time, contributing to the decline in smoking nationwide rates, reflecting the progress in services to help people during the challenges to quit smoking (Novotney, 2022).

Steps were taken to incorporate psychological treatments to intervene with patients’ smoking cessation therapies into existing behavioral health treatments to assist smokers with depression, anxiety, or other mental health conditions (Novotney, 2022). It would be conducive to the success of the smoking cessation regimens. Wilson Compton, MD, deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), reports the long-term effects of smoking cessation would lead to a healthier lifestyle for “all people” when healthcare providers take a holistic approach to health issues and patient experiences, substance abuse disorders, and mental health disorders. Novotney (2022) goes on to say with the continuity of smoking; smokers can develop depression consequently to smoking. Therefore providing assistance and skills to quit smoking is essential in any platform. whether it is at work, school, clinical setting, or everyday interactions.

      Because of the addictive concerns of smoking as a mental health condition and the withdrawal symptoms as any drug dependency, the withdrawal symptoms are comparable to cocaine and heroin, resulting in craving, anxiety, agitation, nausea, depression, and dizziness (Siegel, 2022). The dependency on nicotine makes it challenging to quit smoking, whether it is cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or other tobacco products. Nevertheless, psychological treatments and critical strategies can influence behavioral changes with tools for smoking cessation. 

Social Changes /Social Justice.

The theoretical framework that would shape the behavior of my social change would be the transtheoretical model or the stages of change model. This model helps navigate to understand why people “stop smoking” and “how to do it .”The transtheoretical model suggests that health behavior changes involve a process through six stages of change (Prochaska & Velicer, 1997). The transtheoretical model can help smokers move through a series of phases before they quit smoking successfully. The change cycle is a phase one goes through when implementing behavioral change. Pre-contemplation (no plans of stopping), contemplation (planning on quitting), and preparation (planning to quit within the time next 30 days) (Prochaska & Velicer, 1997). Are the steps followed or experienced before making a lifestyle change?

In preparation for changes, access to mental health care can bridge the gap between the challenges and social changes in addressing the long-term effects of smoking, motivating and helping clients to quit smoking. Promoting health education and encouraging therapeutic intervention open the doors and facilitate the process of adaptation to quit smoking.

Addressing environmental factors, research findings on the effects of nicotine, triggers, preparation, and counseling can stimulate successful smoking cessation. Consequently, it leads to better health outcomes, identifying a plethora of reasonable motivators and products of smoking support. The assistance of “Physicians, regulators, and educators should discourage youth and everyone from attempting to use e-cigarettes as a way to stop smoking.” (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Since better health insurance coverage for smoking cessation, developing new addiction treatment has been advocated by psychologists. The decline in smoking among adults, from 20.9% in 2005 to 12.5% in 2020, according to research by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has been noticeable (Novotney, 2022). Patient education should include community outreach, Public Announcements (PSAs), educational flyers, one-on-one patient education appointments with a smoking cessation wellness coach, psychological treatment, medical intervention, free smoking cessation medications, and no referrals required for smoking cessation counseling from primary care providers. These are great incentives, motivational tools, and resources to stop smoking. 

The mentioned suggestions are important segway in exploring the methods and new perspectives to focus on adapting to changes through environmental factors, research findings, and the validity of outcomes on information, strategies, and accessible instruments as interventions for smoking cessation. At the same time, it emphasizes triggers, life experiences, practices, and beliefs that lead to smoking and vaping becoming a gateway to other drugs.

Educating smokers about resources available in the community, hospitals and mental health services, and helplines for smoking cessation are valuable tools for successfully quitting smoking.

Promoting Outreach programs in the community, mass media, reputable sources, and schools where kids are vaping flavorful e-cigarettes and vaping pens, all appealing to the younger generation by providing misleading information on TV, social media, and mass media that vaping is not as harmful as tobacco. In 2019, California researchers did some “shoe-leather investigating.” They discovered that by collecting tobacco, cannabis, and vape waste from a dozen high school parking lots across the San Francisco Bay Area, vape waste made up 19% of the litter recovered, let alone other pollutants from environmental vape (California Department of Public Health End Tobacco Damage Now, n.d.).

Therefore, parents, educators, school psychologists, school nurses, mental health professionals, and other community service programs need to educate the public on the long-term effects of smoking, e-cigarettes, vaping, tobacco, marijuana, and other smoking products effects on mental health and physical health. That will otherwise create a pandemic, and increasing dependence on smoking will become a mental health and physical public health burden that will be difficult to maneuver into incorporating behavioral change modification in the pursuit of promoting smoking cessation.

Subsequently, the goal is to incorporate psychological treatment where clients feel safe to thrive, with interventions and smoking cessation therapy, into existing behavioral health regimens for smokers with depression and any other mental health disorder or behavioral condition (Novotney, 2022).

Given the approval of the APA for secure reimbursement for psychological treatment and billing for psychotherapy services for smoking cessation. This approach will allow patients to receive care on a one-on-one basis or in a group setting for smoking cessation, including motivational interview-based interventions instead of physicians providing the treatment when psychologists are the ones who train physicians on motivational interviews and behavioral change modification.

Reference

California Department of Public Health (n.d.). End Tobacco Damage Now.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (n.d.). Tips From Former Smokers.https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/index.html

DPhill; B. R. (1987). Mass Media and Smoking Cessation: A Critical Review. American Journal of Public Health.77 (2).

HOPE TMS AND NEWUROPSYCHIATRIC CENTER (n.d.). How Can a Psychologist Help with Smoking Cessation (n.d.).

Martin; J. L., Barnes; I, Green; J, Reeves, G. K., Beral; V, Floud, S. (2019). Social Influences on Smoking Cessation in Mid-life: Prospective Cohort of UK Women. PLoS One. 14 (12): 

Novotney; A (2022). American Psychological Association. APA Advocates for Psychologists Working to Help Patients Stop Smoking. 53 (7) pp. 26.

Prochaska, J. O; DiClemente, C. C; Velicer, W. F; Joseph S. Rossi; S. J. (1993). Standardized, Individualized, Interactive, and Personalized Self-Help Programs for Smoking Cessation. Health Psychology. 12 (5) pp. 399-405. The American Psychological Association, Inc., and the Division of Health Psychology/0278-6133/93 

Prochaska; J. O, Velicer; W.F. (1997). The Transtheoretical Model of Health Behavior Change-American Journal of Health Promotion: AJHP, 12(1), 38-48. doi:10.4278/0890-1171-12.1.38. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Pollution from Production to “Disposal”: The Life Cycle of Vape (2023). Environmental Destruction. 

Siegel; J. (2022). Smoking Cessation. Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health. e0226019. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226019

Van de Brand; F, Nagtzaam; P, Nagelhout; D. G, Winkers; B, Van Schayck; P. C. (2019). The Association of Peer Smoking Behavior and Social Support with Quit Succes in Employees Who Participated in a Smoking Cessation Intervention at the Workplace. International Journal Enviro Research and Public Health. 16 (16):2831 doi: 10.3390/ijerph161281 https://www.ncbi.nim.nih.gov

[mariacallous]

Scores of books go into print in Iran every year. Data from 2018 puts the number of published titles at 102,691, positioning Iran as one of the top 10 nations with the most books released annually. The figures have slightly fluctuated ever since, but Iran has remained loyal to its publishing bonanza.

A tradition of translating literature from English, as well as other European languages, into Persian has long animated Iran’s cultural scene, accounting for the lion’s share of Iranians’ reading preferences. Some of the country’s most celebrated intellectuals rose to fame courtesy of their translation work, which the middle-class treasures as a bridge to the rest of the world, facilitated by elites who understand the nuances of exotic cultures and interpret them for the inhabitants of a hermit kingdom.

As different realms of artistic practice continue to be constrained by the hard-line conservative administration of President Ebrahim Raisi and independent artists find themselves hard-pressed to subsist under heightened levels of fear and inhibition, Iran’s vibrant tradition of literature translation is becoming the collateral damage of a retrograde cultural agenda. For a government that is overtly opposed to anything that resembles the relics of the modern world, clamping down on translated books that showcase the best of Western literature appears entirely justified.

The introduction of some of the finest translated classic literature predates the Islamic Republic. Still, the translation of contemporary U.S., British, and other European novels and nonfiction into Persian gained currency following the 1997 ascent of the reform-minded President Mohammad Khatami, who ventured to reverse the country’s self-inflicted isolation and initiated a fresh national introspection on the relatively alien concepts of press freedom and civil liberties. Along with dozens of progressive newspapers that were issued licenses to operate, new publishing houses were founded that specialized in translated literature.

After years of cultural strangulation in which newspapers, books, music, and other forms of artistic expression languished, the birth of a nascent reform movement meant Iranians were afforded propitious opportunities to explore the outside world. International travel became trendy, and many families started sending their children to language institutions to prime them for educational programs overseas. At the same time, literary translators provided enchanting insights into Western life by making the masterpieces of U.S. and European literature accessible to Iranian readers.

As the rules on vetting cultural products were eased and censorship mutated into subtle forms, young, middle-class Iranians gained better access to the works of writers such as Margaret Atwood, Raymond Carver, Doris Lessing, Toni Morrison, Harold Pinter, J. D. Salinger, and Kurt Vonnegut, and exposures that were previously unthinkable were made possible piecemeal. The internet had not yet evolved into a dominant mode of communication, and people were still circumscribed in their ability to broaden their global experiences. The translated books would give them a glimpse of what distinct cultures and lifestyles looked like, especially regarding mundane particulars.

The year Khatami was elected president, no more than 2,450 titles out of a total of 14,386 books published were works of translation. When his presidential term expired in 2005, nearly 39,000 books were published, and 9,146 of them were translations. The significant rise in the number of translated books signaled that literary practitioners were orienting Iranian readers to the best of world literature and also that the market was receptive to that sort of output.

That doesn’t mean that every work of Western literature could be translated and published freely, though, or that those that survived the purgatory of censorship at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance were faithful, verbatim reproductions.

First, with Iran being an outlier of the 1886 Berne Convention on copyright, most books are translated in Iran without the authors’ and primary publishers’ permission, at times spawning international disputes.

Translated works were also plagued by bowdlerization. During the various stages of translation and preparation, any passage construed as having a political message that could be potentially unfavorable to the government was typically expunged preemptively by translators or eventually omitted by the stern reviewers based at the culture ministry, and the erotic innuendos that are fixtures of many novels were hardly ever tolerated. It was thus common to see poorly sanitized and redacted translations of Nobel Prize-winning books and other literary masterpieces for sale at bookstores and seasonal exhibitions.

Yet the window of cultural familiarization was open wider than it had been since immediately after the revolution, catapulting a number of prolific translators to national acclaim. Reading translated books came to be seen as a mark of intellectual sophistication and refinement. In cozy cafes in Tehran and other large cities, some of which had emerged as literary hangouts, passionate young people, including female university students, discussed the latest U.S. and European literature they had read, both as a departure from the vicissitudes of life and to flaunt their artistic know-how.

A career in translation soon became so esteemed that Iranian publishers featured the names of translators on the book covers with the same font size and stature as the authors, and usually included brief biographical blurbs of the translators somewhere on the back cover or before the preamble. However, translation work never matured into a profitable enterprise. Book circulations are notoriously low, and some titles are printed in as few as 1,000 copies. And despite near-universal adult literacy, which the government says stands at 97 percent (UNESCO puts it at 85.5 percent), reading is not ubiquitous across generations. This kept translators’ financial prospects within bounds.

With the advent of the internet and social media, the reliance on translated books as the primary conduit of learning about what lies beyond the national boundaries was challenged and supplanted with new availabilities, but the books didn’t lose their luster. Indeed, reading translated literature continues to be an emblem of enlightenment and cosmopolitan, pro-Western attitudes.

This is largely why resistance to translation has been a hallmark of the cultural policies of the various conservative, hard-line administrations that have been in power on and off since 1979—including the current government of Raisi.

Censorship has been the most effective tool used by hard-line administrations to sideline translation and stymie the intimate cultural connections that Iranians could have forged with unfamiliar Western cultures, even when those bonds were solely cognitive and cerebral. At times, translators complained that entire paragraphs or even chapters were eliminated from their drafts, often convincing them to withdraw the manuscripts in favor of their own reputation or that of their publishers.

Conservative administrations also often teamed up with like-minded publishers, earmarking substantial funds to purchase their books written by Iranian authors en masse, both as an economic stimulus and to proselytize a specific cultural and political viewpoint. The outcome was that in a barely competitive book market, publishers that primarily produced translated works were inevitably marginalized.

Since coming to power in August 2021, the Raisi government has been defined by its Orwellian aversion to civil liberties, women’s rights, and artistic expression. And translated literature has not been spared. Although no official road map has been announced on curtailing translation, it’s clear that the administration and its allies have been quietly working to thwart Western literature from influencing Iranian hearts and minds.

According to local media reports, in the three-month period ending on Sept. 22, 2022, a total of 1,431 translated books were published in Iran—a 37 percent decline compared to the summer of 2021, when 2,258 works of translation were printed over the same three-month period. In the first three months of the current Persian calendar year, 5,713 translated books have been released, while the number stood at 7,936 for the corresponding period last year, suggesting a steep decrease.

The administration doesn’t have the means to directly outlaw the translation of Western literature, though it’s likely it would have done so if it did have a legal mandate. But its top officials don’t shy away from publicly lamenting the notion of translation as something morally reprehensible.

Raisi explicitly told publishers at a recent book exhibit in Tehran that translated works should not be allowed to “overtake” domestically written books, and his minister of culture, Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili, said last year that “a stack of translated work has captured the minds and spirit of our children” and that this situation should change so that books written about the “rich Iranian, Islamic culture” become the focus of attention. He didn’t forget to mention that the “ideals and norms of the Islamic Revolution” should be preserved by the members of the book supervisory committee, which is in charge of ideologically screening manuscripts before they can be circulated.

During the 34th Tehran International Book Fair that wrapped up in May, books by Iranian authors were sold with a special discount of 25 percent, while translated books were offered with just a 15 percent price cut.

One of the members of the policymaking committee at the 2021 edition of the  book fair, the country’s largest cultural event sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and usually visited in person by the supreme leader, is on the record saying the prevalence of translated books can bring about “cultural invasion.”

He also argued that subscribing to the international copyright convention and translating treatises into Persian after securing permission from Western publishing houses is “extremely dangerous and illogical.” He didn’t elaborate on why Iran complying with its copyright obligations would be dangerous, but it is probably the case that, in the thinking of the Islamic Republic authorities, upholding copyright would necessitate refusing to arbitrarily abridge or alter the content of the books, and this is something they won’t acquiesce to.

Mohammad Hosseini, the vice president for parliamentary affairs and a former culture minister under former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said in April that the translation of written texts from other languages during the Qajar and Pahlavi eras induced “infatuation, alienation, and Westernization” among Iranians. In a conference dedicated to what is billed as the “reverse translation movement,” he gloated about the government’s plans to have the books of Iranian authors translated into the world’s most commonly spoken languages. He claimed that “from China to the United States and from Russia to Africa,” people around the world are curious to read the works of Iranian writers and intellectuals, which is why the government is going to invest in encouraging “reverse translation” as opposed to financing the translation of Western literature into Persian.

It’s not a bad idea to promote books by Iranian writers and make them available to readers internationally. But as long as they are merely works of a religious nature or otherwise ideologically charged materials that the government wishes to popularize, rather than the best works of modern Iranian literature, the reverse translation campaign will remain a lost cause.

Many young Iranians are still avid fans of Western literature, and however determined the Islamic Republic is in monopolizing the public’s media diet and cultural interests, most no longer wish to adhere to the government-mandated way of seeing things. A silent crackdown on translation may deprive some Iranians of the chance to access what their counterparts are reading elsewhere in the world, but it is hardly practical to cordon off a population that has never lost its appetite for international connectivity.

[taperwolf]

Hasbro released a toy "smart" R2-D2 back in 2016. It has three basic modes: one where it beeps and flashes lights in response to various stimuli, one where it does that and also moves about, and one where it acts as a motion-detecting alarm. But the big draw was the Bluetooth-connected smartphone app, developed by Sphero, that let you drive it around or program various behaviors into it.

I picked one up a few years ago, and played with it a little, but then it sat for some time. I decided to try playing with it today.

First problem: the app has not been available for download since 2018. Okay, I've got an old copy, it's on my phone now. Second problem: the toy won't connect to the phone. Indeed, according to reports, it won't connect over Bluetooth on any Android version newer than Android 8.

(The app screenshots are from an old PC Magazine review.)

I mean, boo and curses, right? Now, it's not a pure brick without the app. The standalone toy modes still work. But obviously, there's a lot less you can do with it, and so the proper recourse is to hack the thing. Unfortunately, a quick search didn't turn up anyone who'd already done this, so I'd be starting from scratch, and obviously you don't expect a product that had a two-page PDF manual to have a lot of manufacturer's notes on the wiring.

But!

This thing spoke Bluetooth, so it's a radio. And if you sell a radio in the US, it has to have certification testing done for FCC approval, and that testing is done by folks who want to know what they're testing. So they often get a bunch of internal documentation, and all the data is saved in the FCC's database. So we look at the lettering on R2's back that says "FCC ID: RS4B7493", and that turns up not just that tiny manual, but a block diagram, the complete schematics, and photos of all the internal parts. Hooray!

Back to unfortunately, one thing the schematic makes clear is that the processor is not reprogrammable, so making the thing connect to new devices or run arbitrary code would require a brain transplant. Probably the most compelling hacked mode would be to have the new microcontroller have a WiFi connection and host a web server, which would then either show the same sort of remote control buttons as the original's "drive" mode or expose its own programming environment. Maybe both a graphical language like the app and something classic like Logo?

I'm really blue-skying here, and this project isn't gonna be at the top of my priority list, but I'm more positive about the prospects than I was originally. Sometimes it's really nice having a signals bureaucracy.

[aestheticcmilkk]

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆ looking for rp partners!

hello! i am finding for a roleplay partner who would be interested in a 1:1 bxg type beat roleplay.

(ps. i havent roleplayed in years, the last time i did was 2018.) - im 21! please be an adult too about it AHJSMS i uh yes

- i write in advanced literate to literate! (although, i might get some grammars, typos, and so wrong, english isnt my first language, so sorry!)

- im into angsty with a hint of fluff and romance type plots, im a sucker for those! im still going to leave plots i have in mind that i wanted to do for a while though, so read them and hmu c:

- im mostly comfy with kpop idols being the characters, their names just stick around more for me.

the plot i have my eye on!:

muse A is a medical intern who just freshly graduated from med school, at top of their class, while muse B is a resident, who has been around for five years. B took A under their program to teach, B's colder nature and A's warm nature balanced eachother well, from being friends, to now slowly falling for eachother, but will the relationship work out in such harsh job conditions being a medical intern training to be a surgeon? in this competitive field?

- feel free to make some changes! pm me if interested !

[darkmaga-retard]

https://www.globalresearch.ca/hiroshima-day-2003-secret-meeting-on-the-privatization-of-nuclear-war/25920

Hiroshima Day 2024. Towards a World War III Scenario: The Privatization of Nuclear War

Secret Meeting Held on "Hiroshima Day" Ten Years Ago to Privatize Nuclear. Behind closed doors at Strategic Command Headquarters at the Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky and James Corbett

Global Research, August 06, 2024

https://www.globalresearch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/nuclear-button-Trump.jpg

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the “Translate Website” drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version). 

Visit and follow us on Instagram at @crg_globalresearch.

This article was first published on August 7, 2011.

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the “Translate Website” drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version).

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Visit and follow us on Instagram at @globalresearch_crg.

Author’s Note and Update

Of relevance to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

Is the Biden Administration committed to the use of nuclear weapons as an instrument of peace? The cost of America’s “peace-making” nuclear weapons program is of the order of 1.3 trillion dollars, slated to reach 2 trillion in 2030. 

The focus of US military doctrine since the Bush administration has been on the development of so-called “more usable nuclear weapons”.

George W. Bush’s 2001 Nuclear Posture Review, which was adopted by the US Senate in late 2002. envisaged the development of “a generation of more useable nuclear weapons.” namely tactical nuclear weapons (B61-11 mini-nukes) with an explosive capacity between one third and 6 times times a Hiroshima bomb.

The term “more usable” emanates from the debate surrounding the 2001 NPR, which justified the use of tactical nuclear weapons in the conventional war theater on the grounds that tactical nuclear weapons, namely bunker buster bombs with a nuclear warhead are, according to scientific opinion on contract to the Pentagon “harmless to the surrounding population because the explosion is underground.”

Michel Chossudovsky,  Hiroshima Day, August 6, 2024

[annajamessa]

Top Bitcoin Layer 2 Solutions to Keep an Eye on in 2024

Like other layer 1 blockchain, Bitcoin also experiences congestion, which restricts transaction volume and makes it unsuitable for high-volume peer-to-peer exchanges. However, several Bitcoin layer 2 solutions are also emerging to address these limitations and enhance the network's scalability and functionality. In this blog, we will delve into the top layer 2 Bitcoin solutions you should keep an eye on in 2024. 

Why Does Bitcoin Require Layer 2 Solutions?

Bitcoin faces the scalability trilemma, which posits that no network can be simultaneously decentralized, secure, and scalable. Bitcoin was initially designed for extreme decentralization at the trade-off of processing only 3 to 4 transactions per second. 

Satoshi Nakamoto also proposed a 10-minute block generation time to balance network latency, computational efficiency, and propagation time. Although the SegWit upgrade expanded blockchain size, Ethereum, with its 20-second block time, maintained a competitive edge. 

The introduction of BRC-20 and Ordinals also increased Bitcoin's congestion and transaction fees, demanding a better solution to address scalability solutions.

What Are Bitcoin Layer 2 Solutions?

Bitcoin layer 2 solutions are secondary protocols built on Bitcoin's base layer to process transactions off the mainchain, address congestion issues, and improve network functionality. These solutions enhance scalability, and throughput, and reduce transaction costs without altering Bitcoin's fundamental structure.

List of Top Bitcoin Layer 2 Solutions in 2024

1. Stacks

Created by Ryan Shea and Muneeb Ali, Stacks facilitates smart contracts on the Bitcoin network using the Proof of Transfer (POX) consensus algorithm. Stacks token (STX) holders validate transactions and earn BTC rewards, adding security. The Clarity programming language also improves smart contract security.

2. Lightning Network

Launched in 2018, the Lightning Network enables instant micropayments with near-zero fees, processing up to a million transactions per second. It uses payment channels and onion routing for maximum anonymity.

3. Rootstock (RSK)

Developed by RSK Labs, Rootstock is an EVM-compatible platform for decentralized applications (dApps) on Bitcoin. It extends Bitcoin's capabilities with sidechain technology, improving transaction times and enabling smart contracts. Rootstock’s RBTC maintains a 1:1 peg with BTC, facilitating DeFi apps.

4. Liquid Network

Introduced by Blockstream in 2018, Liquid Network accelerates secure and confidential settlement and issuance of digital assets like security tokens and stablecoins. Operated by a federation of financial institutions, Liquid Bitcoin (L-BTC) maintains a 1:1 peg with Bitcoin which adds to the transparency.

Conclusion

As the demand for efficient Bitcoin transactions grows, Bitcoin layer 2 solutions are pivotal. In 2024, Bitcoin layer 2 projects like Lightning Network and Rootstock are transforming Bitcoin interactions. Staying informed about these advancements is crucial for leveraging their opportunities. For detailed insights about Bitcoin layer 2 solutions, consult Antier’s blockchain experts.

[techtired]

What are the top technologies and frameworks used for Ecommerce store development?

Developing an Ecommerce store with all the necessary features like adding to a cart, searching for the product, and making the payment online requires the hands-on expertise of the app developers. An iOS app development company uses the best technologies and frameworks available within the Ecommerce store to design and develop the store. However, there are tons of E-Commerce technologies and frameworks available within the market that are necessary for app developers to utilize and bring in exceptional Ecommerce digital experience. Whenever a user lands on your Ecommerce store, they come with the urge to purchase something and put it in the cart. Once the order is confirmed, it is delivered to the doorstep, and you can pay online or through the cash delivery option. Anyhow, there are tons of frameworks available, and you can choose the option that best fits your Ecommerce stores. Let's explore some of the interactive Ecommerce store frameworks that will make your digital experience more amazing… But first let’s hear about some interesting statistics related to Ecommerce. Ecommerce Industry Statistics – Points You Can’t Ignore Over the past few years, e-commerce has become a significant part of global retail. Just like a lot of industries, the buying and selling of goods has become a substantial part of the digital ecosystem. Hence, thanks to the digitization that has transformed modern life, consumers all over the world are now taking part in purchasing products from Ecommerce stores. In fact, the overall sales of Ecommerce stores are also increasing, and it’s estimated that it will exceed 6.3 trillion US dollars worldwide. This figure is expected to reach new heights of success in the coming five years. Moreover, the Ecommerce sales are expected to grow by 8.8% in 2024. Hence, it’s the right time for app developers to understand Ecommerce platforms and explore the best platforms for the design and development of E-Commerce stores. An eCommerce app development company uses different patterns and their previous expertise to bring in the most exceptional results. However, let’s start discussing the interesting frameworks that are ideal for Ecommerce app development. Let’s get started, then! Amazing Ecommerce Frameworks For The Development Of The Ecommerce Apps In this section, we are going to explore the top-class Ecommerce frameworks for the development of Ecommerce apps. WooCommerce Framework for Ecommerce App Development WooCommerce is the first E-commerce development framework that is an open-source ecommerce plugin for Wordpress. Moreover, it is designed for small to large-scale online merchants using Wordpress. Moreover, it was launched on September 27, 2011, and the plugins quickly became famous for the simplicity of installing and deploying it in a real-time environment. This open-source framework is based on the PHP programming language, and it is easier to use and deploy in a real-time environment. Magento Framework for Ecommerce App Development Magento is another open Ecommerce platform that is written in PHP. Moreover, Magento source code is distributed under the Open Software License. Moreover, Magento was acquired by Adobe INC in May 2018 for $1.68 billion. More than that, 150,000 online Ecommerce stores have been created on the platform. It's a robust and highly acclaimed Ecommerce platform that is known for flexibility, scalability, and extensive features within the marketplace. It offers customization to the app developer so they can make the changes as per their choices. Shopify Framework for Ecommerce App Development Shopify is a Canadian multinational E-Commerce company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. Moreover, Shopify is the name of its proprietary Ecommerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sales systems. You can use Shopify for the design and development of the Ecommerce store. It’s one of the best ecommerce platforms and loved by the users. It’s a self-hosted platform and comes with efficient features and functionalities that make the Ecommerce store a perfect fit for the users. BigCommerce Framework for Ecommerce App Development Next, we have BigCommerce INC, which is a NASDAQ-listed Ecommerce platform that offers software as a service experience to retailers. The platform includes online store creation, search engine optimization techniques, hosting, and marketing along with security for small to Enterprise size businesses. It’s highly flexible with API integration with robust headless commerce offerings. Hence, you can download the Ecommerce store for a prior experience and get the best results as the outcome. OpenCart Framework for Ecommerce App Development OpenCart is an online store management system that Hong Kong-based OpenCart Limited developed. It is a PHP-based framework based on MySQL and PostgreSQL databases, along with HTML components, for a more intuitive experience. Moreover, its support is provided for different languages and currencies. Furthermore, it is freely available under the GNU General Public License. SquareSpace Framework for Ecommerce App Development Lastly, a lot of app developers in Chicago are seen being familiar with Squarespace and other Ecommerce platforms that are ideal for the design and development of Ecommerce stores. Hence, these platforms are the best for the development of Ecommerce stores. It’s an American website building and hosting company that is based in NYC. Moreover, it offers SAAS for website building and hosting with pre-built website templates and drag-n-drop elements for the creation and modification of webpages. Ready To Start With Your Ecommerce Stores And we are done for the day. We hope you enjoyed reading about the different Ecommerce frameworks that are available for the ease of the app developers. They don’t have to do everything from scratch. Instead they can use the frameworks for the development of the Ecommerce store. Start with the hiring of the app developers and make the best Ecommerce store for the audience. Try to add up all the necessary features for the Ecommerce app in order to give the best digital experience to the customers. Read the full article

[stackify-by-net-reo]

Explore the top programming languages and discover why Java, C, Python, JavaScript, and Ruby are essential for developers. Learn about their unique features, applications, and why they continue to dominate the tech industry.  Read now-https://stackify.com/popular-programming-languages-2018/

[amandi-2024mi5016]

CV Development

First attempt at my CV (pg 1 & 2):

There wasn't enough space for my reference so I tried formatting it differently. This resulted in me having to sacrifice some information about my education.

I'm having trouble figuring out the formatting and choosing which extracurriculars and community service work are most relevant for this cv. This is what I have so far:

School career highlights 

Cambridge Outstanding Learner Awards, Top in Country – English Language (2018)

Master Scuba Diver - Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) (2020). Youngest British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) qualified Ocean Diver in Mauritius, 2015. 

Horseback Rider - BHS Complete Horsemanship (Ride and Stable Management) Stage 1 qualified (2018). Gold medals at competitions organised by Ceylon Riding Club, Mauritius Equestrian Sports Federation, Club Equestrian Du Nord, and Club Hippique in Mauritius. (2013/14 - 2020)

Duke of Edinburgh - Gold Level Award (1st secondary school student, and youngest participant to receive this award in Sri Lanka) (2020)

Senior Prefect 2018/19 academic year, British School in Colombo 

Set up The British School Scuba Club. (2019)

Participant of Monash Art and Social Sciences Competition organised by Monash University Malaysia, taking on two challenges: a film pitch for the next blockbuster (group) and a quiz (individual) covering subject matter in media and communication, world politics, gender issues, art and literature, and film. (2018)

Theatre of Silence workshop series organised by Lionel Wendt (2019)

5-day theatre workshop by West End Theatre Company. (2019)

Worked as a stable hand at Lenka Equestrian Centre, Canada (2019)

Community services

§ Independent projects 

The Serendipity Project - Founded the Serendipity Project in June 2018, identifying needs in the government health sector and organising sponsors to provide solutions. Coordinated sponsorships/donations for projects worth over LKR6.5M completed to date. (2018 - 2021)

Monthly Art sessions in ‘acrylic abstract’ for pre-teen and teenage patients of the paediatric ward at Apeksha Hospital for Cancer, Maharagama. (2017 - 2020)

Art workshops at Maithree Children Development Centre, a government probation home for girls.(2020)

Published “The Sanctuary” - an informative book of original paintings for free distribution, on the value of, and the damage done to, the Bellanvila-Attidiya Wetland Sanctuary situated in the suburbs of Colombo. (2019)

§ Volunteering 

Indira Cancer Trust (ICT) registered volunteer (2016 - 2022)

PetVet Clinic, Colombo trainee volunteer as an assistant nurse to Veterinary doctors. (2016 - 2020)

Embark registered volunteer for residential 6-day CNVR camp in Anuradhapura (2018) and adoption days over weekends (2016-2021).

UAE Dolphin Project volunteer for Saadiyat Island Dolphin survey and office work in Dubai, identifying and recording individual dolphins of the Gulf waters. (2019)

Foundation of Goodness registered volunteer for residential services at Seenigama MCC Centre for Excellence. (2019)

TandemVision volunteer pilot rider, providing cycle riding experiences using tandem bicycles for children and adults who are visually impaired, at Ratmalana Blind School and Sri Lanka Council for the Blind. (2017 - 2020)

CandleAid ‘extra eyes’– assistant to instructors in a program to teach swimming to children who are visually impaired. (2016)

[theculturedmarxist]

Yves here. We are overdue on giving a full-bore treatment on Project 2025, but this post will hopefully serve as a starting point. Sadly, ambitious and well-organized right wing campaigns to greatly increase the acceptance of their social and policy agenda have proven to be extremely successful, witness the Powell Memo and the Project for the New American Century. Trump is the explicit target of this Heritage Foundation scheme. Because the first Trump presidency was very much a “dog that caught the car” event, Trump had perilous little in the way of plans, and on top of that, weak cabinet members. For instance, Steve Mnuchin’s tax reform plan was an embarrassment, barely rising to the level of a napkin doddle. So after that misfire, the Administration took up the anti-tax lobby’s plan, include their off-the-shelf language. Trump might be a tad better prepared to be President if he wins again, but that does not make him any less receptive to pre-packaged programs from his fellow travelers. So this initiative very much bears watching.

By Diana Cariboni, who started writing for Tracking the Backlash in 2018 and is now openDemocracy’s Latin America editor. She was previously co-editor-in-chief of the IPS news agency and led its Latin America desk for more than ten years. She wrote the book ‘Guantánamo Entre Nosotros’ (2017) and won Uruguay’s national press award in 2018. Originally published at openDemocracy

Last month, populist leaders from around the world gathered for the Europa Viva 24 summit in Madrid. Headlines from the event were dominated by the big names in attendance – Argentinian president Javier Milei, France’s Marine Le Pen, Chile’s José Antonio Kast, and Italian and Hungarian prime ministers Giorgia Meloni and Viktor Orbán – and the fact it ended in a diplomatic row between Argentina and Spain.

But away from all of this noise and fury was a lesser-known speaker: Roger Severino, a former official in Donald Trump’s administration and the vice-president for domestic policy at influential US think tank The Heritage Foundation.

In a six-minute speech delivered in Spanish, Severino described Trump as a victim of lawfare launched by “the lefties” and said young people are subjected to a “culture and a medical system” that tells them to “explore all sexual appetites at age of 10” and that “abortion is not about destroying babies but about healthcare”.

Adding that young people are also taught “that if you are uncomfortable with your sex you were probably born in the wrong body, and surgeries can fix that mistake”, he said: “I’m here to tell you that God doesn’t make mistakes.

Severino is one of the architects of the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for a second Trump term, named ‘Project 2025’. This aims to reshape the federal state in 180 days, fire tens of thousands of public servants and replace them with people loyal to the conservative cause, undermine the separation of powers, attack public education, and erase or restrict the rights of women, LGBTQ people, workers, migrants and Black people.

It also seeks to dismantle policies to tackle climate change and push for an energy agenda reliant on fossil fuels.

Its plan for doing so is set out in the ‘Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise’, an 887-page playbook published by the think tank, whose mission is “to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual liberty, traditional American values, and strong national defence”.

It is not absurd to say that some of the Heritage Foundation’s suggestions may well become law if Trump is elected in November. The politically well-connected organisation was founded in 1973 and published its first ‘Mandate for Leadership’ as Ronald Reagan took office in 1981 – later boasting that Reagan had enacted more than 60% of its policy recommendations.

Severino, who was Trump’s director of the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services, wrote Project 25’s section on health. Of the 199 times the word ‘abortion’ is mentioned throughout the document, 149 are in this chapter, which urges the federal government to remove (or restrict as much as possible) any sexual and reproductive healthcare and rights whose oversight it has responsibility for.

Severino suggests eliminating the approval of abortion pills and banning their distribution by mail; barring the use of federal funds to transport people seeking an abortion in a state where it’s illegal to one where it isn’t; cutting federal funding to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers; and removing emergency contraception from workers’ health insurance coverage.

In contrast, it’s hard to find any proposals to tackle the US’s real public health crises: opioids, falling life expectancyand rising maternal and infant mortality rates. This is perhaps unsurprising; the Heritage Foundation sees the Supreme Court’s overturning of the 1973 Roe decision that protected abortion up to 23 weeks as a victory – but also as “just the beginning”.

In the two years since Roe’s repeal, 21 states have banned or drastically restricted abortion, and legislative and judicial battles are raging in others attempting to follow suit. But the number of abortions carried out annually has actually increased, according to multiple studies – and so grow the dystopian battleplans for the continued war on reproductive autonomy. Several US cities have made it illegal to use their roads to transport people seeking abortions from a state where abortion is prohibited to one where it is permitted.

Project 2025 wants the Department of Health to go further still, urging it to “protect life, conscience and bodily integrity” and place “strong respect for the sacred rights of conscience” at the top of its agenda. Severino’s chapter calls for legislation requiring states to record data on abortions, including the number of terminations carried out, the reasons for them, the method used, the length of the pregnancy, and the state of residence of the person seeking an abortion.

It also suggests that scientific research conducted with public money should focus on “the risks and complications of abortion” and on “correcting and not promoting misinformation about the health and psychological benefits of giving birth compared to the health and psychological risks of intentionally taking a human life through abortion”.

But Project 2025’s focus isn’t only on reproductive health.

The president who takes office in 2025, the foreword says, must “remove from every existing rule, regulatory agency, contract, grant, regulation, and federal law the terms sexual orientation and gender identity, diversity, equity, and inclusion, gender, gender equality, gender equity, gender, gender-sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights, and any other term used to deprive Americans of First Amendment rights” (which protects freedom of religion, freedom of speech and press, and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances).

The future government must also “immediately cease the collection of data on gender identity, because it legitimises the unscientific notion that men can become women (and vice versa) and encourages the phenomenon of the constant multiplication of subjective identities”, Severino adds.

An Anti-Rights Past and Future

The Heritage Foundation is not the only highly influential institute involved in the writing of Project 25. Of the 100 organisations that sit on its advisory board or directly contribute to the playbook, several have been crucial to the advancement of extremist agenda in the US in recent decades and years.

In 2018, four years before Roe was overturned, Mississippi banned abortions after 15 weeks in the state – with legislation modelled on a bill conceived by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which the Southern Poverty Law Center lists as an anti-LGBTQ hate group and which sits on the Project 25 advisory board. The law was challenged and stayed by two courts on the grounds that it was unconstitutional because it violated Roe.

The law’s promoters took the case all the way to the Supreme Court, aiming to challenge and ultimately overturn Roe. Their strategy relied on the court having a right-wing majority, which was ensured by Leonard Leo, a conservative lawyer and activist who has founded a network of groups and funding hubs. Leo, who had already been influential in the appointment of three other justices, successfully lobbied Trump to appoint three anti-abortion members to the court – achieving a conservative supermajority of six out of nine justices. Leo’s network of nonprofits has reportedly donated millions of dollars to organisations that sit on the Project 2025 advisory board since 2021.

The result has been that around a third of women of reproductive age in the US, as well as other people who do not identify as women but can get pregnant, now live in a state where abortion is banned or severely restricted, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

The Heritage Foundation, ADF and Leo didn’t answer our requests for comments.