Monthly Archives: October 2022

TikTok is poisoning your brain

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TikTok Is Altering The Behavior Of An Entire Generation | by Julien  Dimastromatteo, PhD | Invisible Illness | Medium
Source: https://medium.com/invisible-illness/tiktok-is-altering-the-behavior-of-an-entire-generation-576d38a8d1d5

TikTok has been around for 6 years now. In such a short time it has gained the title of the fastest-growing social network ever in the history of the internet. It not only managed to gain millions of users in a matter of months but also has affected the whole industry of video/photo platforms, and killed millions of brain cells. It is difficult to deny, that TikTok is now virtually in every social media, and the short videos from it even acquired their own name, simply “TikToks”. These short-form videos have a span of up to 60 seconds have overtaken the internet. Instagram is TikTok, Facebook is TikTok, and youtube is TikTok, they just call it in different ways like “reels” or “shorts”. Some would argue that it is great when a new, fun, and useful app gains popularity and the technology is adopted by other companies, it is a natural part of any developing competitive space. Though, let’s take a closer look at why TikTok has made such a boom on the internet, the main reason for which, is it being a real addictive drug.


With TikTok possessing more than a billion active users and its technology being copied and pasted into such giant platforms as Facebook and youtube (promoting it to some of the other hundreds of millions of viewers), it makes me ponder on what makes everyone watching it, and what makes all those companies strive to have the same brainwasher in their software. Though, after a few minutes of active thinking, an answer comes to mind – TikTok is dope.


The essence of its addictiveness (which is truly the highest among all social media platforms), lies in its design. The way the app looks, feels, scrolls, sounds, and the way the buttons are laid out all create a virtual space that lowers the level of our brain’s activity and makes it lose the track of time. It is designed in a way that forces innocent minds to watch hundreds of short videos daily while forgetting what they have seen 30 seconds ago no matter how funny, interesting, or exciting it could seem at the moment. We don’t have to search long for evidence of the effectiveness of such a design, because it has already been given: corporations like Facebook and youtube which used to be the largest social media trendsetters have suddenly adopted the pattern of TikTok app to their own playing fields. Though, the question still stays: why is this design so addictive?


In order to answer that, we first have to figure out how addiction works. As stated in the Harvard Health Article: “Addiction involves craving for something intensely, loss of control over its use, and continuing involvement with it despite adverse consequences. Addiction changes the brain, first by subverting the way it registers pleasure and then by corrupting other normal drives such as learning and motivation.” (Harvard Health Article, Understanding addiction). In other words, addiction makes us lose control over our own actions due to a strong craving to experience this addictive something. Although, for the majority of people when thinking of addiction, some of the first things that come to mind are such substances as cigarettes, alcohol, pills, or marijuana. By way of explanations, those are drugs. However, it is important to notice that those drugs that are used for medical purposes are also called medicaments. At the same time, if we consider the word drug more as a general concept of it being something that causes addiction, then it should not be only restricted to physical substances. Moreover, the addiction mechanism works in the same way for all drugs, be it nicotine, sugar, sex, or TikTok videos. In particular, whenever the brain is exposed to certain external stimuli, which causes it to release a set of hormones that are making it feel good, and starts to crave for that good hormone rush, such as dopamine. Then a pattern emerges, “cue routine reward” (Duhigg, 2016). Whatever can become a cue, say being bored, feeling upset, wanting a distraction, etc. When a cue is touched upon, it then triggers the craving for the reward. The reward is known by the brain, in this case, it is the pleasant hormone rush. Hence, our mind urges a subconscious uncontrolled behavior that, it also knows, will bring the reward it craves for. This is how addiction emerges. Translating it to TikTok, whenever we find ourselves bored we know that we can entertain ourselves in TikTok by watching short funny videos. Whenever we scroll for the next video in the first few seconds we are getting excited by its looks, sound, or contents. This then makes our brain release a little bit of dopamine which makes us feel slightly better. Have you noticed that if the video does not excite you in the first 3 seconds you are very likely to quickly scroll to the next one? This is a clear evidence of you scrolling subconsciously, not even realizing that you are already addicted. Your brain wants more dopamine, hence it traps itself in a loop: scroll, get excited, feel good, crave the good feeling again, scroll, and so forth…


One would say that even if TikTok is addictive, it does not cause any severe consequences to neither individual, nor society. Nevertheless, studies have been conducted which state that the addiction to TikTok, just as for any other addictive essence, does affect our brain activity, especially it lowers the activity of particular part of our brain. This, in turn, might lead to the brain’s certain structures’ gradual atrophy. Especially susceptible to this are people of the age under 25 because the brain is not fully developed up till that time. Ironically, those are the ones that tend to spend the most time on the internet and TikTok due to the lack of interest in the real-world and boring classes in schools and universities.


Just like with addictive substances, addiction to TikTok is very difficult to notice, as it happens very gradually and smoothly. You don’t feel like something is going wrong, unless you check out the time of the day before you clicked on TikTok and right after you finished your daily session, here you get surprised by how much time has flown by. The danger is high, as it is hard to detect the full amount of hours we lose to TikTok, though it accumulates over time. Just the mere thought of us spending an hour daily on watching vids we don’t even remember at the end of the day, makes me think of how much I could have achieved if spent it on reading self-improvement literature or learning a new skill. Lets try to leave a worthy legacy behind and not be left known as the “look at me generation”. 😉

Feel free to share your experiences with tiktok and thoughts on this in the comments down below 🙂

I will be very glad to hear from you!

References:

Duhigg, C. (2016). Power of habit. Penguin Random House Audio Publish.

Understanding addiction. HelpGuide.org. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://www.helpguide.org/harvard/how-addiction-hijacks-the-brain.htm

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The New Fashion?

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Trends in fashion are constantly subjected to dynamic changes. Due to the different creative minds of fashion designers, there are dynamic fashion styles and designs, which are displayed in fashion shows today. The modern Fashion Show has highly been influenced by technology, as fashion designers tend to make use of technological pieces of equipment to create their designs. The most recent example of this is Bella Hadid’s look during the Coperni fashion show at Paris Fashion Week 2022.

The model had her whole dress sprayed onto her body through the use of 3D technology, developed by Manel Torres. The model posed as men with paint canisters sprayed fabric paint onto her for about 15 minutes, creating a gorgeous white slip dress that perfectly clung to her body. The spray-on fabric is applied using the likes of aerosol tech, industrial sprayers, and 3D printing. The technology can be used in fashion to not only create dresses like done on Hadid, but also to repair any damaged items.

COMBO-FASHION-FRANCE-WOMEN-COPERNI
JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP via Getty Images


The question now is will there be more fashion shows in which technology creates designs instead of clothes being actually sewed? There is no doubt that AI and machine learning-driven innovation have become critical success factors for fashion design organisations in the twenty-first century. Technology may be supreme in fashion shows today, however fashion generally is dominated by sewed clothes. In my opinion, fashion is an aspect that can never be replaced by technology. I think technology is displayed in fashion just to show the capability of AI generally and not for people to actually start wearing the designs projected. I doubt robots can replace tailors. Therefore upon the advancement of technology in fashion industry, the demand for tailors and designers will never diminish. However, I’m sure there will be more fashion shows involving technology, just like the fashion show back in 1999, where robots sprayed paint on a models dress.

This image may contain Dance Pose Leisure Activities Human Person Crowd Interior Design Indoors Clothing and Apparel
Shalom Harlow sprayed with paint by robots during the finale of the Alexander McQueen Spring 1999 RTW show. (Photo by Guy Marineau/Cond�� Nast via Getty Images)Conde Nast via Getty Images



We can see that technology in fashion started a long time ago, but still hasn’t fully taken over the fashion industry. However, with AI taking over almost every aspect of our lives, will design created by technology be the new fashion of today or in the near future? Will people switch to wearing such clothes?

References:

https://www.today.com/style/celeb-style/bella-hadid-spray-painted-dress-rcna50325

https://people.com/style/bella-hadid-gets-white-dress-spray-painted/

https://www.thecut.com/2022/10/how-bella-hadids-spray-on-dress-was-made.html

https://www.allure.com/story/alexander-mcqueen-shalom-harlow-runway-show

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With the acquisition of Twitter, Elon Musk excites the crypto markets more and is full of ideas to integrate the blockchain into Twitter more strongly.

Reading Time: 2 minutes
Elon Musk pushes Dogecoin up 20% with  tweet of Tesla accepting the meme coin  
https://nairametrics.com/2022/10/30/dogecoin-gains-126-in-one-week-as-musk-buys-twitter/

Well, let’s start as everyone knows, recently Elon Musk became the official owner of Twitter. As we can see, Elon Musk is wasting no time and is trying to implement a blockchain system on Twitter in the near future, and Bloomberg analysts believe that this will happen.

So,against the backdrop of these news the “meme” currency dogecoin (dogecoins), which Musk has long supported for a long time (he even called himself “Dogefather”), and which, according to his negotiations with colleagues, he even planned to use on Twitter to pay for reposts and comments, as result already gone up sharply in price.We can notice over the past five days, the dogecoin (DOGE) rate has grown by 83%, however, then it slightly decreased as part of the correction.

So, in a discussion with The Boring Company President Steve Davis, Musk said that “my plan B is a blockchain version of Twitter, in which transactions are built into the commenting system. The user will pay… let’s say 0.1 DOGE for each repost or comment.” Later, however, Elon Musk admitted that the plan was not feasible, but the course of his thoughts was generally clear.

However, you need to understand long before the acquisition of Twitter by Musk, Twitter was still consciously developing its crypto direction and Twitter even created a dedicated Twitter Crypto department.Earlier, under the leadership of Jack Dorsey, Twitter took steps to integrate blockchain technology into this social network – for example, the ability to accept tips in Bitcoins, Ethereum, NFT and the USDC digital dollar was introduced.

In general, Elon Musk is not the first time integrating cryptosystems into his companies. Let me remind you that in May 2021, Tesla offered the opportunity to pay for electric cars with bitcoins, but two months later the project was curtailed. However, from January 14, 2022, the company introduced payment in dogecoin cryptocurrency for Tesla merch. So, currently, you can buy a whistle in the form of the expected Cybertruck SUV with meme-coins. Previously, you could also buy a Tesla logo buckle and a Tesla Cyberquad for kids.

We should also note that one of the co-investors in the purchase of Twitter was the Binance crypto exchange, which, according to some information, has already created a special department whose task will be to study the use of cryptocurrencies in the Twitter social network.

So let’s wait, what will be the consequences of Elon Musk’s decision to strengthen crypto integration on Twitter, as well as cooperation with Binance, and what will they achieve together?

Sources:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-29/how-elon-musk-can-add-crypto-nft-transactions-on-twitter?leadSource=uverify%20wall

https://www.analyticsinsight.net/everything-elon-musk-has-said-about-dogecoin-twitter/

https://www.tesla.com/support/dogecoin

https://www.reuters.com/technology/crypto-exchange-binance-musks-co-investor-help-twitter-with-blockchain-2022-10-28/

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Controversies with nuclear power around Europe

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https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/energy-crisis-revives-nuclear-power-plans-globally-2022-08-04/

The war in Ukraine and the reduced influx of gas coming into Europe from Russia made electricity prices rocket. It is estimated that the prices will stay high until 2024 which is going to be tough for many people. This arrived in a worldwide debate about the significance of using renewable sources of energy. One of them is nuclear power which is seen as one of the most efficient ones and the best possible out of every source of energy we know so far. Yet, there are voices that the cost of them is highly expensive and because of that, we cannot base the whole electricity market on it, as it is not profitable in the short-term (as the building process takes years) and it does not leave sustainable opportunities when the nuclear plants are not operating.

Firstly, to produce nuclear power uranium is needed. It is often forgotten that uranium is not a common material and most European countries import it from Russia. Russia is the second biggest exporter of uranium, right after Nigeria. Cutting off export significantly affects the nuclear plants and therefore even the electricity market in countries that rely on nuclear power a lot, like France. Therefore, the use of nuclear power is not independent enough to be the main source of national energy which many green activists or states promote.

Secondly, the overtake of the Ukrainian nuclear plant in the Zaporizhzhia region by Russian forces raises fears about the weaponization of nuclear power which stand as an alarming problem for the future. Not only does it paralyse the country’s electricity but it creates a potential ‘uncontrolled nuclear reaction in a nuclear reactor could result in widespread contamination of air and water.’ Fabian Lüscher, who is the head of the nuclear energy section at the Swiss Energy Foundation claims that ‘ Europe’s ageing nuclear fleet is not adapted to deal with contemporary terrorist attacks and cyberattacks.’ His quote and the Russian occupation of the nuclear facility create a question of whether nuclear plants nowadays are truly as safe as they are described in public and what can we do about this problem. So far, the problem has not been raised in the public with greater success.

https://www.chathamhouse.org/2022/08/attacks-ukraine-nuclear-plant-whats-stake

In addition, the main problem raised by the activists is waste. They claim that because nuclear-powered countries powered are interlinked when they transfer between each other energy there are ‘risks of nuclear accidents extending across borders.’ Moreover, because of the hazardous features of the waste, it creates a threat to the environment as it stays hazardous for thousands of years until it decays from being radioactive. Yet, the statistics say something different about the danger that the waste present. The health issue associated with nuclear waste is not a problem as the radiation never harm people in nuclear history moreover the crucial part is that the potential contact with the waste either by the environment or a human would not be harmful because the world we live in is already radioactive at the acceptable levels and the potential leak of radiation would be 50 times smaller than the environmental one. In addition, out of all of the waste that is produced 90% is classified as low-level waste which is ‘lightly-contaminated items, such as tools and work clothing, and contains only 1% of the total radioactivity.’

War in Ukraine pushed some countries to speed up their plans by relying more of their energy on nuclear plants, like Poland. The lack of gas and coal supply coming out of Russia posed a higher need for other means of energy. This approach would significantly reduce Poland’s carbon emissions as it is ranked one of the most carbon emission countries in the world, placing the 20th place. On the other hand, experts say that the use of nuclear energy promises is based mainly politically, as there are upcoming elections and the government tries to distract the public from the rising energy prices and give them hope as it cannot provide cheaper prices. It shows that plans for nuclear energy cannot be made during a crisis and that in times of shortages of energy or problems with the usage of the facilities (militarization or renovation) nuclear power is useless.

Bibliography:
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63245112
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1147442/imports-of-uranium-to-eu-by-country/
https://world-nuclear.org/nuclear-essentials/what-is-nuclear-waste-and-what-do-we-do-with-it.aspx
https://www.dw.com/en/poland-chooses-us-company-to-build-its-first-nuclear-power-plant/a-63591358
https://www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/co2-emissions-by-country/

Pictures:

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/energy-crisis-revives-nuclear-power-plans-globally-2022-08-04/

https://www.chathamhouse.org/2022/08/attacks-ukraine-nuclear-plant-whats-stake

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Is Mark Zuckerberg’s grand vision going to be the biggest flop in tech history?

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Thomas Edison. Nikola Tesla. The Wright Brothers. Alexander Graham Bell. 

What do all these visionaries have in common? 

Well, they all changed the course of humanity and our civilization’s technological development.

From inventing the lightbulb (Edison) to the creation of the telephone (Bell), they were undoubtedly figures that played key roles in getting to where we, as humans, have come so far.

But why am I mentioning them?

They were all ridiculed at first.[1]

In 1903, just nine weeks before the first manned flight, The New York Times stated that it would take at least a million years for humanity to create a functional airplane.[2] A million years.

And how are they relevant to Mark Zuckerberg?

As you might have read, the Meta (formerly known as Facebook) founder has come into great criticism recently over his vision of the Metaverse. With a 2021 loss of 10 billion dollars[3] and being over 300 000 users short of Meta’s year-end goal,[4] the Metaverse has already been branded as a massive flop by major media outlets.

The major feedback points were that:

  • The users’ avatars were ‘soulless’ and had no legs;
  • The virtual world felt empty and lonely.

The issue doesn’t seem to be only existent in Meta’s creation, as another metaverse, Decentraland (valued at over 1.1 billion USD[5]), reportedly had only 38 daily active users.[6]

Mark Zuckerberg showcasing his Metaverse avatar
Source: https://qz.com/2081426/facebooks-meta-company-wants-control-of-the-metaverse

The metaverse was supposed to serve as an “alternate reality” to our real world, with limitless possibilities. In fact, the idea seemed quite appealing, as you could travel to any place in the virtual world instantly. Of course, there are also dystopian visions of a Matrix-like scenario, where, in the distant future, a person would be constantly hooked up to a headset and haptic pads that would produce a fully immersive experience, essentially replacing actual reality.

But what is actually going on in the Metaverse?

For now, the main purpose of this virtual world seems to be entertainment, with virtual concerts making headlines.[7] Other such virtual experiences include art exhibitions, movie showings and gambling. 

As crazy as it may seem, there are going to be Subway franchises in the Metaverse – the company has filed for a trademark earlier this year.[8] So, worry not, you’ll be able to order a sandwich that you cannot actually eat soon enough.

While some of the ideas (such as virtual food and drinks) are ridiculous, if implemented properly, a virtual world could serve well for business and educational ventures. It could replace Zoom for virtual conferences and add at least a touch of reality to remote calls and work. 

Zuckerberg seems confident enough in his strives to popularize the Metaverse and there is no sign of him backing down anytime soon. For one, as he recently stated on his Joe Rogan Experience appearance, he wants VR to ‘eat TV’, so that people could spend time socializing inside of his creation instead of sitting in front of a TV.[9]

Mark Zuckerberg
Source: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/12/mark-zuckerberg-surfing-again-electric-board-sunscreen

So where is this alternate reality headed? It is hard to say for sure, but it doesn’t seem to be replacing actual life anytime soon. There is major money to be made in the technology, and perhaps we could see a Metaverse boom after we come out of the upcoming recession. 

In the distant future, we might hold business meetings virtually by default. It is not impossible that we are headed into a Matrix-like world. Or maybe, in 50 years’ time, we might remember the Metaverse as the biggest flop in tech history.

If the Meta founder fulfills his ambitions, perhaps a future Kozminski student will start his October 2053 tech blog entry with the words:

Thomas Edison. Nikola Tesla. The Wright Brothers. Alexander Graham Bell. Mark Zuckerberg.

Where do you think is the Metaverse headed? Would you prefer to hold your classes and business meetings in such a virtual world, or do you think that the venture is going to fail miserably? Feel free to reply in the comments.

Until next time,
Jan


[1] https://scienceinfo.net/7-famous-inventions-were-initially-badly-criticized.html

[2] https://bigthink.com/pessimists-archive/air-space-flight-impossible/

[3] https://stealthoptional.com/news/facebooks-metaverse-lost-10-billion/

[4] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11319449/Mark-Zuckerbergs-Metaverse-FLOP-users-complain-lonely.html

[5] https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/decentraland/

[6] https://insidebitcoins.com/news/is-it-that-lonely-in-the-metaverse-platforms-speak-out-about-daily-active-users

[7] https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2022/07/27/the-world-of-metaverse-entertainment-concerts-theme-parks-and-movies/?sh=53f366136531

[8] https://www.todaynftnews.com/subway-files-2-trademark-applications-to-enter-the-metaverse/

[9] https://open.spotify.com/episode/51gxrAActH18RGhKNza598?si=TSH3vCOcQP6NOddq3a_XIg

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Bumble’s AI tool available to the wider tech community

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In 2019, dating app Bumble launched its AI tool called Private Detector. It alerts users when they have been sent a potential nude image and automatically blurs the photo. They have the choice of viewing, deleting, or reporting the image.

The AI tool was launched in response to cyberflashing, which is the act of sending nude photos through a phone. There is even a possibility of a new bill in the UK that will make cyberflashing a criminal offence. If it will be approved, social media companies that do not manage to remove nudity will face multimillion-euro fines.

Online harassment is a serious thing. There is research from 2020 finding out that 75.8% of girls between the ages of 12 and 18 have been sent unsolicited nude images of boys or men.

Anyone who wants to find Bumble’s tool has to go to GitHub. Private Detector has been released under the Apache License so that others can adapt it and make features of their own.

In my opinion, Bumble’s move to open its AI tool to the wider tech community is a beneficial thing. First of all, other social media companies might also use that tool to remove nudity from their apps, so as not to get fined. Secondly, children’s safety will be much improved. For instance, adolescents using social media will get lewd images only in a blurred format. Also, parents of a small child may like to use Bumble’s AI tool if, for example, an offspring accidentally clicks on ads inappropriate for their age, the child will not see the exact photo. Furthermore, people with traumatising memories regarding abuse, etc., would prefer not seeing nude photos, so Private Detector will help with it.

Thanks for your time. Feel free to comment below 🙂

References:

https://www.business-standard.com/article/technology/bumble-open-sources-ai-tool-private-detector-that-detects-nudes-122102500464_1.html

https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2022/10/25/bumble-open-sources-its-lewd-spotting-ai-tool/

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/new-bill-will-see-cyberflashing-become-a-criminal-offence-1378842.html

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Its hard to think of a way how digital world and fashion industry might collaborate and create new business plans. Graphic design programs are enabling designers to compose and test outfit ideas without wasting time and materials ,websites improve sales and these tools are for sure a great game changer , although they are still mostly used for developing physical products . The key to the success , however,  was gaming industry .

The aspect of clothing has always been a big part of gaming. Dressing up your character in different costumes/armor to increase statistics or just for the joy of persona development is to this day a very important subject considered by the developers and graphic designers . In games like for example NBA2K or League of Legends , players can exchange real money for in-game currencies to acquire clothing for their fictional character . Big fashion houses like Balenciaga , Moncler or Louis Vuitton have already stepped up in the gaming world. The collaborations between LV and league as well as Balenciaga-Fortnite occurred in huge global scale success.

Wielka cyfrowa moda Balenciagi zawita w Fortnite

Many people can ask what is the purpose of spending money on non-psychical items  like clothing for game character, especially if it doesn’t improve the game quality or champion abilities. The reason for that is very simple . It works exactly like in the real world , players want to show off their new digital looks or  buy new outfits to change the character looks the same way as people do in real life . Another thing is the design availability . New designer clothes are definitely upmarket  products , whereas digital pieces are much more affordable. The fact that gamers can express themselves without even standing up from the computer desk is also a very interesting thing that is slowly but surely taking over the world.

I think that usage of artificial intelligence and  graphic programs is the future of fashion designing . Of course the demand for the physical clothing made of actual materials will always be the number one priority , but the online world has unlimited potential and this area of digitalized clothing business is still a fairly new unexplored field. 

I’m excited to see how these trend will develop and what other areas of virtual world will be conquered by fashion industry.

Sources : https://hypebeast.com/2022/10/behind-the-hype-unreal-engine-digital-fashion

https://www.gry-online.pl/S018.asp?ID=3148

https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/pl/news/high-digital-fashion-drops-into-fortnite-with-balenciaga

Fashion digitalization

Do you need to read programming books?

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Well, first of all, why should we read books? Reading books upgrades your mental activity and improves memory and logic. As for myself, reading books is an excellent way to lower your stress and expand your knowledge. 

Now about programming books. First, You have to decide what you want to master. Would it be Python, JavaScript, C++, etc… But is it that important to learn new technologies and methods with the help of a book? Well, the answer is – Yes and No. 

If we are talking about complex technologies, binary trees, etc., then it makes sense to study the theory and try doing something in practice.

On the other hand, let’s take as an example HTML. It doesn’t require you to understand math or binary trees. Nowadays, there are a lot of websites or videos with which you can learn how to develop websites. For example, let’s take a worldwide website called “w3schools”. It is an educational website created for programmers to learn how to develop websites. Using their online code editor, you can write code online and see the results of your work.

Usually, for the reading material to stick correctly in your head, you must practice. In my opinion, examples from books should be used in practice. Here, for example, you read something entirely new for you in a book and don’t fully understand how it should work. Open your compiler right away and start trying out the examples in practice. You can also make them more complicated and come up with your problems using the material you just learned.

It is also essential to reread the book several times. Usually, if the technology is new to you, it will be tough to understand by reading it only once. That is why I recommend, after reading the book for the first time, to return to the text again while practicing.

My favorite book list:

Robert Sedgewick ” Java algorithms.”

Robert Martin ” Clean code.”

Charles Severance  “Python for Everybody: Exploring Data Using Python 3.”

Mark Lutz “Learning Python.”

William S. Vincent “Django for Beginners.”

Bruce Eckel “Thinking in Java.”

How artificial intelligence is used in financial market?

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Artificial intelligence-based investment computer programs have been operational for a number of years. Programs of this nature focus on portfolio management, trading, and risk management. There are also Rabo-advisors on the market, which are computer programs that offer several suggestions for individual investors’ financial activity.

An effective approach of gathering information from a variety of sources, including news articles, internet posts, financial contracts, and social media, which can include incredibly useful information, can be used to construct risk management. The ability of computer algorithms to analyze satellite photographs in order to forecast grocery sales or crop yields in the future is a good example. We are able to better manage risk in our transactions because of the information provided, and it also makes speculation a little easier.

So far, artificial intelligence is not able to replace humans, but it can facilitate many processes. An example of this is the whole process of a transaction, which is divided into 3 stages: pre-trade, transaction, and post-trade. Pre-trade analysis involves using data to examine the characteristics of financial assets in order to predict future performance and transaction risks. Given that asset managers may want to take into account findings from pre-trade analysis together with risk assessments and customer preferences, this stage is typically overseen by humans. The information provided at this point automatically caused the transaction to be opened. Additionally, post-trade analysis needs human oversight too.

There is no doubt that the implementation of Al provides higher efficiency in investing industries. For example, artificial intelligence can collect, analyze, and identify data that can be hard to spot for humans. Algorithms can also improve the decision-making process, but so far they are not able to make decisions by themselves. I think that the amazing attitude towards artificial intelligence is the objective „thinking.”

It is stated that emotions are the enemy of humans when investing in the stock market, and you need to be able to control them or cope with them. We tend to overlook numerous facts and frequently tell ourselves lies because emotions trigger cognitive bias . But is artificial intelligence a solution? I have a strong belief that nothing will ever be able to completely replace human intuition when it comes to business or investment.

https://www.cfainstitute.org/-/media/documents/book/rf-lit-review/2020/rflr-artificial-intelligence-in-asset-management.ashx
https://strefainwestorow.pl/artykuly/analizy/20201020/sztuczna-inteligencja-inwestowanie-cfa

Are wind turbines harmful to environment ?

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There is no definitive answer to this question as the effects of wind turbines on the environment can vary depending on a number of factors, such as the location of the turbines, the size of the turbines, and the number of turbines. Some studies have shown that wind turbines can have negative effects on the environment, such as noise pollution, visual pollution, bird mortality also how sa storage of used turbines may seem strange or controversial to many, as they are buried in fields and covered with soil. What is intresting wind turbine blades can be even longer than the wings of a Boeing 747. It may seem strange, but this is how we dispose of waste from old wind turbines, it is not a way that seems healthy for the environment, this is because the turbine wings are made of fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP), most often glass, carbon, aramid and basalt, unfortunately, this makes them non-recyclable, hence the idea to store them in such a way. By 2024, 70,000 tons of materials from the blades alone will be discarded in Germany alone, where 30,000 wind turbines are now in use. The turning point is anticipated to occur in 2021 when a support program that began in 2000 will conclude its 20-year period of government subsidies for the first turbines covered by it. After that, the majority of these units will be disassembled, which can cause financial difficulties for the businesses that run them. The industry that promotes wind energy believes that extending the “life” of the turbines is the best course of action for delaying the issue until efficient recycling techniques are discovered. The next step is to integrate remnants from decommissioned windmills into urban areas, as has been done, for instance, in Denmark and the Netherlands where they were utilized to create bus stops, benches, tables, and playground equipment. The toxic dust that is released when cutting FRP makes it challenging to implement this approach on a large scale. On the other hand, pyrolysis and the recovery of fibers for use in the creation of adhesives, paints, and concrete through the chemical processing of polymers to create plastic pellets for use in buildings are still in the early stages of development. Storing used shovels in landfills or burning them in fires is the least preferable option, especially in light of the stringent environmental standards put out by recent EU rules. Previously, dismantled wind power plants were sold to markets in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Russia, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. However, as these markets’ needs continue to grow, they are less and less interested in acquiring outdated technology due to the higher operating costs associated with such plants.

The federal and state governments are being urged by the German Federal Environment Agency to establish regulations and procedures for recycling outdated turbines as soon as feasible. Work on similar regulations is underway in other countries.

Other studies have shown that wind turbines can have positive effects on the environment, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing renewable Energy also the cost of production of turbines is relatively cheaper than other sources. I personally think that turbines are not the best choice if we are talking about renewable energy sources, but they are significantly better than coal-fired power plants.   

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