From Hero to Zero with Learning Management Systems

LiaScript Aug 24, 2020

Why and How LMSs fail in distributing knowledge

Abstract: Learning Management Systems provide more restrictions than access to educational resources and developing courses with the offered authoring tools is more tedious and intimidating task than a creative one. These claims are proved by adopting metrics from software-development, additionally a possible solution is presented: LiaScript is a domain-specific language that is based on Markdown and open-source principles, targeting interactive online-course development.

Keywords: LiaScript, LMS, MOOC, Software-Metrics, OER

Authors: André Dietrich & Sebastian Zug

1 Introduction

Learning Management Systems, so called LMSs, gain more and more popularity, especially in university education. Although these are mostly systems developed under an open-source license, they are commonly applied to restrict the access to educational resources. Cynically one could say, they are simply a continuation of locked up lecturer halls, brought to the internet. But even more than that, the integrated authoring tools offered by these LMS actually restrict the creation of online-course through unnecessary complex Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), with lots of plugins, options, descriptions and repetitive click-events. Additionally, a course created with one system cannot easily be shared, translated, adapted by other authors, or simply reusing parts or apply versioning is not possible.

To prove these claims, we apply metrics from software- and GUI-development to measure the intricateness of the most widely applied systems. Furthermore, we show how most common problems in online-course development can be avoided, with a simple shift in mindset.

… instead of forcing humans to create courses by typing and clicking onto an endless set of opaque GUI elements, that can be easily interpreted and rendered by a machine … we should enable humans to express their thoughts and ideas with a simple and more natural language …

… that is why LiaScript was created …

2 Lineup of Different Ideologies

This comparison is focused on the creation and dissemination of educational content only. However, most LMSs also offer many sophisticated features on communication, management, assessment, or user analytics, see therefor [Ca14, Le05, Ma08].

2.1 LiaScript: Domain Specific Language (DSL) for Open-courSe Development

LiaScript [Di19] was born out of the idea to let anybody (even without programming skills) develop high-quality online-courses, with focus on content and the latest web-technologies. It was founded on open-source principles, simplicity, and (re)usability. The figure below shows some features of LiaScript:

Screen-shot of the development process of online-courses with the Atom editor and the liascript-preview plugin (with LiaScript code on the left and the rendered and result on the right)

A course is text-file written in Markdown [MD19], a lightweight markup language with plain text formatting syntax, designed for readability. Courses can be hosted as opensource projects on GitHub[1], together with required multimedia content, JavaScript libraries, and any other data. Code-blocks (line 46) can be made executable by attaching a JavaScript script-tag that defines how the source-code should be processed. To ease this step, we provide macros (line 54) that get replaced by HTML, JavaScript, CSS-annotations, Markdown, etc. Such macros can be parameterized and are evaluated by an internal text-substitution system at compile time. Additionally, it is also possible to import macros from other courses, which reduces boilerplate code.

The support for quizzes is backed into the language (see line 58). Adding a new line with starting double brackets adds also a new option to the quiz. Singe-choice quizzes are defined similarly, but with parenthesis [(X)]. LiaScript has also support for [[text|select]] and generic-quizzes [[!]]. Hints [[?]] can be attached as well as more expressive solutions.

ASCII-art (line 63-74) gets translated into nicely rendered images. LiaScript has also support for effects and transitions, similar to PowerPoint, and native support for text2speech, which can be used to develop screen-cast like presentations, among with other features (see the documentation But above all, it is still Markdown that can be read/written without a technical background.

  1. The most popular file-hosting platform for version control led projects with git: ↩

2.2 LMS: Restricted Access to Educational Resources

As the name suggest, a LMS is more about managing educational resources, administration, controlling access, and reporting and tracking on user progress, than it is about creating new content. Additionally, various communication channels are provided between students and teachers, such as wikis, forums, and chats. The offered authoring tools are mostly WYSIWIG[1]-editors, but they also do have support for plugins or extensions that allow to create more sophisticated learning materials with quizzes, multimedia content, user repositories, etc. Indeed, this was only a brief overview on LMSs, for more detailed information see [Fa11].

  1. What You See Is What You Get: An editor that displays content closely resembling the (printed) result. ↩

3 Methodology

We chose some of the most popular LMSs (i.e., Moodle, ILIAS, Canvas, Edmondo)[1] for the comparison with LiaScript, which is not trivial task, since LiaScript represents an entirely text-based approach, while the LMSs are based on GUIs. Nevertheless, both are used solve similar tasks: creating, adapting, and sharing educational content. We apply different metrics to identify quantitative differences. Qualitative measurements are probably possible, but require larger analysis, while the results remain highly speculative.

How many Lines Of Code (LOC) are required to print out “Hello World” on the console with a certain programming language? This is a simple metric to compare programming language simplicity and to measure boilerplate code. The example below, shows how this task is solved in Python, it requires one LOC and one command to execute it:

print("Hello World!") # command: python

With correct indentation, C++ requires 6 or at least 5 LOC in total to solve the same problem (see line 47 in Fig. 1). Two steps are needed to compile and execute the code. A more complex metric that is based on this principle is the Time To Hello World metric (TTHW) or in other words From Zero to Hero metric. It is often applied as a key determinant in programming languages and measures the time it takes for a novice programmer to write and execute the first HelloWorld program. But, this metric is also applied to measure the “usability” of an Application Program Interface (API) [An16]. An API is an abstract set of clearly defined methods, that control the access and configuration of certain functionalities, which are offered by a software module or library. Hence, there is little difference to a GUI, which is used for the same purpose, but on program-level. Thus, successful HelloWorld-states can also be quantified in GUI development, how long does it take to complete a task (time-on-task), number of clicks (also page-views), task level satisfaction (subjective measure on the difficulty of a task), next to others.

We provide an unconventional shortcut get to the LMS metrics, instead of performing various tests with different user groups [Bu08] or usability experts [MF15] we simply ask professionals. There are various tutorials on YouTube explaining how to set up a course in a certain environment. We analyzed the top ranked tutorials on integrating multimedia resources and quizzes for the chosen LMS. We measured their length (time-on-task) and counted the number of performed clicks and page-switches. If multiple solutions were presented in one video, then the average was stored. The number of comments with focus on difficulty (-1) or simplicity (+1) were summed up and associated with task-level-satisfaction.

  1. Websites of the chosen LMSs:,,, ↩

4 Comparison

We try to discuss several aspects and provide the measured metrics. All recorded data is stored for further review at the Open Science Framework (visit At the end the reader has to decide, which approach fits more for her/his purposes, based on personal preferences and skills.

4.1 What are the Requirements for Development?

All LMSs require a server installation with a login. Thus, working on a course mostly happens online and via the offered web-interface and with the required user permissions. Mostly in that case means, that there are some desktop-authoring systems (e.g. iSpring authoring Tool), which do have support for SCORM[1] and can be used to work offline. But, not all LMSs do have support for this standard, which makes it even a more a challenging task to get such content imported into the desired LMS. In contrast to this, a LiaScript course can be a simple git-repository[2] hosted/published on Github and developed locally. Everything that is required is a simple text editor. To ease the development process with the Atom editor, a snippets-plugin[3] is provided, next to the previewer, which provides a search on all language features and inserts fragments, it also provides more detailed information and examples.

  1. Sharable Content Object Reference Model (col. of eLearing standards): ↩

  2. See the exemplary LiaScript course about LiaScript: ↩

  3. liascript-snippets: ↩

4.2 How to add Multimedia Resources?

As depicted in the image below, the integration of audio and video-content is just an extension to the common Markdown syntax for links. A link can be given a name in brackets, which is followed by an absolute or relative URL in parentheses. A starting exclamation mark is used to indicate an image resource. That was the Markdown part so far. In LiaScript you can use a question mark to indicate audio resources (we hoped that this somehow resembles an ear) and by combining the image with the audio notation, it is possible insert video content. By doing this, the additional elements are still valid links in Markdown and any other Markdown-viewer, but in LiaScript this multimedia content gets displayed automatically within the appropriate web-player.

Tab. 1: Short-codes for references on the left and the rendered result in LiaScript on the right.

However, as the screen-casts reveal, integrating multimedia content to one of the LMSs seems to be a more challenging task and requires to deal with a couple of user interfaces. The overall average time-on-task was 3:06 minutes and required 11 clicks and 5 page changes.

Tab. 2: Average user-interface metrics for attaching movies to 4 LMSs (see

System time-on-task # of clicks # of pages satisfaction
Canvas 02:56 10.4 5.1 0.83
Edmodo 02:33 9.1 2.9 0.00
ILIAS 02:59 11.2 5.3 0.00
Moodle 03:51 13.9 7.3 0.27

If content from other websites (e.g., YouTube, Vimeo, TeacherTube, Soundcloud, etc.) was imported, users had to work with HTML code. Thus, search for the embed-code on the content-site and import it by switching to code editing mode. Compare this, with the LiaScript notation. LiaScript also recognized links from the aforementioned sources. Hence, you only have to provide a link to the desired YouTube-site and the video will be embedded automatically. But, it has to be noted that a similar solution is offered by Canvas, which requires only 3 clicks and embeds the video view, only by pasting a YouTube-URL.

4.3 Where is all the Data?

For a LMS the case is clear, everything is stored on the server. The progress and state of each user is recorded, which enables sophisticated tracking and reporting, and thus provide useful information for course developers and teachers. LiaScript courses in contrast are freely accessible and store all states and the personal progress locally within the browser. A registration or login is not required, which might be considered as a first barrier by some users, before starting or simply trying a course. But, this local storing of personal data might also be considered as a drawback, because opening the same course on another device or even in another browser is like a new start.

4.4 How to add quizzes?

Of course, adding quizzes takes longer than including multimedia resources and is much more diverse. The overall mean time-on-task was 6:47 minutes, which required 36 clicks and 10 page changes on average. The task-level-satisfaction was also worse, there are two notable cases for Moodle: One person was speaking ironically about the “very intuitive way of creating course”, while another one used the phrase “Damn it”, after multiple attempts in creating the same course, due to some lost configuration settings.

Tab. 3: Average user-interface metrics for adding quizzes to 4 LMSs (see

Canvas 08:34 51.2 15.6 0.38
Edmodo 05:59 24.9 8.2 -0.10
ILIAS 04:04 19.3 7.7 0.10
Moodle 08:33 47.5 9.9 -0.92

Compare this with the creation of quizzes in LiaScript, as depicted below (or see lines 58 and 59 in Fig. 1). It requires only a little amount of boilerplate code to create different types of quizzes.

[[ create a
| (selection **quiz**)
[[X]] a multiple-choice
[[ ]] quiz, that requires
[[X]] the 1^st^ and 3^rd^ option
[[ ]] to be selected

[( )] a single-choice
[( )] quiz with only
[(X)] one solution
Rendered quizzes, defined by the short-codes above.

Of course, our way of creating quizzes can only be used for self-evaluation and not as in a LMS for assessment with points, penalties, max. number of retrials, shuffling, etc. In all systems it was therefor possible to define quiz-banks, which are used as a repositories and allow to display a subset of different quizzes to different users. LiaScript in contrast defines quizzes in a plain-text format, visible to all that know the “raw” course URL (see the next section).

4.5 Support for versioning and internationalization/localization?

To be short, we found no hints on versioning in LMSs. Although, there are different back-up strategies offered and SCORM could also be used as a format for versioning, it does not allow to host/run different versions of a course in parallel. It exists only one course in the most up-to-date version or different courses that represent different versions. Thus, internationalization/localization requires to repeat every change in every translated version of a course.

LiaScript does not support versioning by default, but by using git and publishing on GitHub, these features come for free. It is possible to refer to the most up-to-date version (1), use tags to define versions (2), or to open any uploaded version, since every update is labeled with an unique identifier (3).

Remember, LiaScript is only a text-file and to be complete, a Unicode text-file, which allows to create courses in any known language and to publish them in parallel, only by using git-branches (4).

4.6 Support for Extensions & Add-ons?

Extensions or Add-ons allow to develop courses with more interactive and thus eye-catching elements. Before they can be used, they need to be installed on the server-side, which affects the LMS user interface and requires enough user permissions. On the other it exists a standard for Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI), that allows to link content or apply services from so-called LTI provider to a LMS course, see [Se10]. This content is integrated via an iframe and authentication is handled in the background.

In contrast to this, every LiaScript course can define its own “extensions” as macros, as it was briefly introduced in Sec. 2.1. These macros can be shared among different courses, either by copy and pasting the source-code directly into the main-header of the LiaScript document or by using the following directive (also within the main-header):

If a course is hosted on Github, it is possible to reference to any desired version, as it was highlighted within the previous section. All required macros, JavaScript libraries, CSS style-sheets, will automatically be loaded at the initialization. See also the template-index (, which provides a list of self-documenting macros, ranging from 360 degree imaging, computer algebra, visualization, up to online programming in various languages.

5 Discussion

LMSs are more about recording users and generating scores and reports to measure their progress. This becomes even more obvious, if you search for Add-ons and extensions for your LMS[1]. Only a minority is dealing with content and the integration of new interactive elements. Thus, even if someone is willing to create online courses this way, the majority of GUI elements with too many settings and required clicks and page switches seem to be more daunting than useful. Learning and understanding all of these concepts (and every plugin probably posses its own user logic) before being able to add some content, seems to be simply wrong. That is why we believe that LMS are not only used to restrict the access to educational resources, but also restrict their creation.

LiaScript was developed from an opposite perspective, by focusing on content first through the usage of a simple but yet extendable DSL. This allows to treat courses similar to open-source projects, which can be shared and developed accordingly even by larger developer groups. Since in teaching there is no single source of truth, there can also exist multiple versions of the same course. In open-source terminology that means: a teacher could simply “fork” an existing course and modify or translate it into another language and “push” the changes back or proceed with his own course. Due to discussions with students, the course can be continuously improved by “committing” new versions, while older ones are still accessible, or by creating “branches” for different groups of students. This might sound odd for a non-programmer, but makes totally sense for every programmer[2].

Additionally, even without an online interpreter, the LiaScript remains readable and editable as a text document. One of the key-challenges of LiaScript was to overcome this segregation of learning materials into textbooks, PowerPoint presentations, and videos. By using this DSL, the user can decide what is her/his favorite mode and switch between.

  1. The Moodle plugin repository for instance includes 1584 contributions. The majority of the most popular plugins address themes and certificates, not content: ↩

  2. Git Terms Explained: ↩

[Ca14] Cavus, N., Zabadi, T.: A Comparison Of Open Source Learning Management Systems. In Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 143, pp. 521-526, 2014.

[Le05] Lewis, Barbara A., et al.: Learning management systems comparison. In Proceedings of the 2005 Informing Science and IT Education Joint Conference, pp 17-29, 2005.

[Ma08] Martin, L., et al.: Usability in e-Learning Platforms: heuristics comparison between Moodle, Sakai and dotLRN. In Proceedings of the sixth International Conference on Community based environments, pp. 75-84, 2008.

[Di19] Dietrich, A.: LiaScript: A Domain-Specific-Language for Interactive Online Courses. In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on e-Learning, (accepted), 2019.

[MD19] Markdown, Wikipedia,, accessed 09/03/2019.

[An16] Andrew, M. API Usability at Scale. In 27th Annual Workshop of the Psychology of ProgrammingInterest Group-PPIG, pp. 177–187, 2016

[Fa11] Boneu, J.-M.: Survey on Learning Content Management Systems. In (Ferrer, N., Alfonso, J., ed.): Content Management for E-Learning, Springer, pp. 113-130, 2011.

[Bu08] Buzzetto-More, N.: Student Perceptions of Various E-Learning Components, In (Koohang, A.): Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Learning Objects, Volume 4, 2008.

[MF15] Medina-Flores, R.; Morales-Gamboa, R.: Usability Evaluation by Experts of a Learning Management System. In IEEE Revista Iberoamericana de Tecnologias del Aprendizaje, Volume 10, pp. 197-203, 2015.

[Se10] Severance, C. IMS Learning Tools Interoperability: Enabling a Mash-up Approach to Teaching and Learning Tools. Technology, Instruction, Cognition and Learning, 7(3-4), pp. 245-262, 2010.


5 historical sports that originated in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf

5 historical sports that originated in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf
5 historical sports that originated in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf

While football is one of the most popular sports in the Middle East and throughout the world, the Kingdom and the Gulf states, which are blessed with a variety of other sports, seem to be the preserve of them such as falconry, camel racing, shooting arts, and other games that are a bit strange to them. For others like oil wrestling or greyhound racing, these are two sports that are popular in some Gulf countries and originate in the Middle East, according to the Scoop Embraer website.falconry

Falconry is a popular sport in the Middle East, especially in the Gulf and is said to have originated there. According to experts from Wild Flight, a falconry company, the sport dates back 4,500 years in Central Asia, and only 2,000 years later it was brought to the Middle East. Originally, falconers used birds to feed their families by hunting with them. During the seasonal winter migration, the men would hunt falcons for four to five months and then teach them to hunt prey during the second wave of the bird migration. In addition, falconers made sure to provide enough food for their birds to eat on their own. The falcons will be released back into the wild at the end of the season. Hunting is now banned in Middle Eastern cities. Falconry developed from a means of feeding families into a sport, with domesticated falcons available for purchase from merchants with government permits. Falcons teach their birds to fly from one team member’s arm on one side of the field to another team member’s arm on the other side where the second team member stands with fake prey. Once released, the falcons use their hunting instincts to fly across the field and collect their rewards. The falcon that accomplishes this in the fastest time wins gold.

camel racing

Camel racing has a long and tumultuous history. Camels are not generally thought of as fast-moving animals even though they can reach speeds of up to 40 mph, which is not bad compared to 55 mph for horses. Whoever participated in this sport, in the beginning, was using camels in the region. Today, camel breeding is a big business, with owners vying for prizes worth millions of riyals if their camels cross the finish line first.

shooting arts

Archery has a long history among the well-known sports. Ancient arrowheads dating back thousands of years can be found in museums. For Muslims, archery has religious significance, which explains its appeal as a sporting activity. Archery can be practiced in an archery club, where archery practice and lessons are available at a number of resorts and camping sites.

greyhound racing

Traditional hunting trips were often accompanied by Salukis, one of the oldest dog breeds in the world. It is also among the fastest with a top speed of 65 kilometers per hour. Greyhound racing is now a prominent sport. Greyhound races are held at racetracks all over the world. Championship events such as the Arab Heritage Festival are held in the Emirates for the Saluki race, and huge prizes await the winners, just as in the case of horse racing.

oil wrestling

The sport can be traced back to 1299 where gladiators collaborated by spraying their bodies with olive oil to play the sport of kispet and wore tight knee-length leather pants, their only piece of clothing. To win, the player must either lay his opponent on his back, hold him upside down by his feet, or carry his entire body three steps without his foot touching the ground or take off the kispet or exhaust the opponent until he quits. Ismail Balaban, the son of a farmer from the southern city of Antalya, won one of the most popular oil wrestling tournaments in 2017.

– 65 km per hour Salukis racing speed

1299 – Oil wrestling began in some Gulf countries

Archery has a long history among well-known sports

– 40 miles per hour the maximum speed that a camel can reach

4,500 years of falconry history

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Author Information


Now that you have the environment ID, you need to retrieve a list of integrations associated with that environment. Each integration can have several versions, so you may need to further filter your results to return a more manageable list.

For the purpose of this example, we will assume that you cannot remember the name of the integration kit, but your certain “PingID” was part of it. You want to download the latest version of the integration kit, so you also want to set the expand attribute to latestVersion. Your endpoint becomes {{apiPath}}/environments/{{envID}}/integrations?expand=latestVersion&filter=(name co "PingID"), where {{envID}} equals 020ed26b-ae15-4783-8fb3-gd65816dc391 (from step 1). The filter attribute limits the response to those integrations that contain case-insensitive value of “pingid”. See the PingOne API reference for all filtering options.

The example response to the right (or below) contains the information we want. For the purpose of this exercise, we will assume the first integration is the one we want. Looking at the object, we can see that our integration ID is c290da08-0151-45f6-a651-0efg0805ca34 and the version ID is a9c8a539-191e-4015-ab52-c1943d2142a1.


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Methanol Wirtschaft#

Brutally short summary of Franz Josef Radermacher’s proposal for a “Methanol Economy” or “Desertec 2.0”
von Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, Ehrenpräsident des Club of Rome

Franz Josef Radermacher is proposing a strategy of continued use of carbon fuels and yet (surprise!) suggests it will be climate-neutral.

The primary energy source will be the sun; preferably in regions with reliable heavy sunshine. Solar power will be used for electrolysis of water into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2). Hydrogen molecules will be chemically bound with carbon dioxide (CO2), creating Methanol (CH3OH) (schematic Figure 1).

Fig. 1: Methanol Zyklus, &copy F.J. Radermacher. Solar energy drives electrolysis to separate 2H2 and O2. H2 and CO2 make Methanol (CH3- OH. That can be burnt in industry or vehicles releasing CO2. The process includes large scale CO2 recycling.
Methanol is a liquid fuel suitable for cars, for industry and a broad range of further uses. Burning it creates mechanical power – and CO2. The CO2 can be captured and “recycled” into new methanol using the energy of the hydrogen molecules.

Methanol can be produced in large quantities and can theoretically substitute fossil fuels. This way, conventional industries currently burning fossil fuels can remain while CO2 emissions are dramatically reduced. A fourfold recycling of CO2 can be reached. Still there will be CO2 emissions left. These can be entirely absorbed by healthy soils using terra preta or organic charcoal. Productivity of soils can be considerably increased this way. This will be required anyway to feed humankind in the future. Planting trees is an important element of the approach.

The idea is to maintain and extend classical industry and vehicles thereby avoiding colossal capital destruction while allowing for the needed economic progress in Africa, in India etc. All these countries have China as their development role-model. Compared with the widely propagated full electrification supplanting all internal combustion processes, the methanol method appears much more economically and politically acceptable.

The methanol production can, e.g., be done at large scale in North Africa where steady and reliable sunshine makes the process roughly three times cheaper than in temperate zones. Using the North African and Arabian deserts (as well as other suitable deserts) for the creation of gigantic added value resembles the Desertec idea proposed by the Club of Rome in 2003. At that time Prince El Hasan Bin Talal served as President of the Club of Rome. But the old scheme imagined essentially the transmission of enormous amounts of electrical power through the Mediterranean Sea, and has been largely abandoned, except for small size power stations in Morocco and elsewhere. Among other reasons massive resistance against the needed long-distance transmission lines for electricity made the approach infeasible.

By comparison, the methanol idea sounds technically and economically much more feasible. It can be called "Desertec 2.0". The approach offers enormous investment opportunities for one of the strongest industries in the world which is offered a prosperous future instead of the risk of getting stranded by decarbonization – with all negative societal consequences of such a breakdown. Calculation shows that the needed investments are comparable to today’s investment of this sector into finding new fossil energy depots. New depots will not be needed for a long time within the methanol economy.

Two problems should be mentioned: (i) Water is scarce in the desert areas; in coastal regions, however, it is abundantly available. Obviously, desalination is highly fitting with the methanol economy approach. (ii) Conventional industry size agriculture shows no propensity for applying CO2 capturing using soil fertilization with terra preta and the like. Considerable resistance can be expected. However, regulation and financial input from the carbon and methanol side will probably change the picture. That is, because developing soils into CO2-sinks is also needed to feed a growing world population on a higher level of prosperity – and that is what the whole issue is about.

The full methanol story by F.J. Radermacher (in German).#


Marketing Psychology - blgo banner

Marketing Psychology: 9 Strategies to attract Customers!

In this modern world of market saturation and information overload, it has become more important than ever to understand your customers and their needs.

To be successful as a business, you should always try to understand and anticipate what the customer is thinking, so that you can deliver as per their needs and expectations.

Understanding the customer leads to brand loyalty and can help your company stand out from the rest.

In this blog, we’ll be talking about marketing psychology, its importance, and the different types of marketing psychology that can be used for generating higher sales.

What is Marketing Psychology?

Marketing psychology refers to the use of the principles of psychology in real-world business applications like sales, content creation, and overall marketing strategy.

These psychological principles are loosely based upon understanding the minds of the customers and the subconscious decisions they take in response to certain stimuli.

Check out these 8 amazing psychological techniques that you can implement in your marketing plans and watch your business grow!

9 Strategies to Use Marketing Psychology to Attract Customers

1. Information Gap Theory

It may sound basic, but curiosity is one of the best ways to drive customers towards your business. When there is a gap in the knowledge consumers have and wish to have, they reach out to external sources for information.

Many businesses make use of this by carrying out content marketing; publishing articles related to their niches to drive traffic to their websites.

Once knowledge is given away for free, readers are more likely to trust the brand and look for other things that they offer. This could mean clicking on other articles or checking out the products or services they provide.

This extends to other channels like social media, where businesses provide informative posts on Instagram or Twitter, with links to the full article on their blog.

2. Fitt’s Law

Fitt’s Law is a predictive model that talks about the movement factors that impact speed. It has a variety of applications in ergonomics and layouts. In the marketing and design space, it is essentially a scientific approach to understand user interface and mouse movement.

Fitt’s law states that there are 2 factors that affect the time it takes to move the cursor to an area: the distance to the target, and the size of the area.

elink middle image

It has been discovered that if a company wishes to increases sales or subscriptions after a user has entered its website, it should make the buttons bigger, or decrease the distance between elements.

On the other hand, if you want to push people away from an action, say for example the “unsubscribe” button, you should make it smaller and place it in a distant corner.

Implementing this law on your website design can have a huge impact on conversions!

Read more: 14 Best Marketing Software to Grow Your Business in 2021

3. The Reciprocity Principle

The reciprocity principle states that this is a karmic universe; the more you give without expectations, the more you’ll get back in return. If you help people without hoping for anything in return, they’ll automatically have trust in you and will be more likely to do something positive for you.

This theory holds true in marketing and business applications; if you provide free and informative content on your blog or youtube channel, your audience will automatically be drawn towards other things that you have to offer.

Providing value for free acts as a lead generation tool and also helps educate the customers in your niche. Hence, not only are you drawing attention to yourself in a genuine way, but also helping out the community in general.

For the reciprocity principle to be more effective, it has been researched that the goodwill created should not be too valuable or expensive, or customers will undermine your worth. It also helps when the goodwill is delivered as a surprise rather than as an expectation – provide value when it is the least expected.

4. The Golden Ratio in Design

Humans are visual creatures and we can’t deny the role that aesthetics play while we make our everyday decisions. Subconsciously, being attractive increases trustworthiness and likeability. We like to choose things that please the eye and this applies to design as well.

Research has proven that there are certain proportions that look more pleasing to the eye than others. This theory, known as the Golden Ratio, is derived from the Fibonacci sequence, which is a proportion that is seen in various aspects of nature like in seashells, galaxies, flowers, and more!

Most of the beautiful things in nature follow this proportion, and this should be extended to marketing design as well. The Golden Ratio can be used to decide website design proportions like column widths, lengths of margins, heights of lines, and font sizes.

This will appeal more to audiences that visit your website, and they’ll be more likely to make purchases from you.

5. Foot in the Door Theory

The foot in the door theory talks about the impact that consistency has on sales conversion. Before we dive into the marketing implications, let’s understand how this theory came to be.

The first study of the Foot In The Door Theory was conducted by Jonathan Freedman and Scott Fraser sometime in the 1960s. They posed as researchers and called many homemakers to understand the household products that they use.

A few days later, they called them again but asked if they could send a group of workers to their houses. The goal would be to manually note down the cleaning products present in their homes. The study concluded that the women who responded to the first phone call positively were twice as likely to respond to the second call.

In marketing, this means increasing the points of contact between you and the customer. The more that customers read your newsletter or comply with your request, the more likely they are to carry out larger tasks like sharing your content or buying your product.

6. Scarcity Theory

Humans are known to desire things that are limited in quantity, as we subconsciously associate the low availability with high value.

Hence, the scarcity theory suggests that when consumers fear that they’ll miss out on an offer, they feel like they are running out of choices and high-value products. Hence, they will be more likely to buy your products.

Real-world marketing applications of this concept include sales on Black Friday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and more. For almost a century now, retailers have used these days to create a feeling of high discounts, must grab value deals, leading to high sales.

Another sneaky way businesses use this theory is by advertising low stock levels, which is prevalent in e-commerce and dropshipping companies. When potential customers see that there are only a few units left, they are more likely to make the purchase at that very moment.

Read more: Marketing Channels You Need to Use This Year!

7. Nudge Theory

Nudge Theory was mainly developed by Richard Thaler and talks about encouraging your audience to make the right choice in a subtle manner.

The theory refers to architecting choice in a manner that subtly leans towards one choice, but doesn’t significantly change economic incentives. This theory has a wide variety of applications in sales and marketing.

For example, in pricing strategy, you often see two options: one which is really expensive while the other is cheaper but with almost the same amount of features. This makes customers lean towards the second option as it appears like a bargain.

Hence, you can indirectly convince the customers to buy a particular product by positioning it as more valuable compared to the others. It hence becomes a win-win situation for both parties.

8. Impact of Social Proof

It’s no secret that we are attracted to things that have been supported by others.

Social proof occurs when people are influenced by the experiences and actions of others, which draw them to a particular situation, company, or product.

The most prominent example of social proof is client testimonials, which involve reviews from happy customers. Most companies back up the reviews with real photos of the reviewers to authenticate them. Moreover, many B2B businesses add the names of prominent clients on their homepage to beef up their social proof.

Another unique method of building social proof is through social media. Businesses that post informative content regularly can acquire a large number of social media followers.

When other consumers see a large number of followers, there is an immediate sense of respect and curiosity that is engraved in their minds. Another way companies use social media is by showing the number of article shares on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Hence, your social popularity immediately conveys the level of appreciation that people have towards your brand.

Read more: Content Development Guide for 2021- A Must-Read!

After reading these different psychological marketing strategies, we hope you understand how important it is to understand the customer. Making slight changes to your sales, marketing, and design policies can increase conversion rates exponentially.

However, note that you should see what works for your business as each industry is different, having different requirements. It is important to test and try out new strategies to figure out what suits you the most.

Also, make sure you can identify the source that is leading to higher conversions, so try implementing one new psychological theory at one time!

Further reads:

Email Campaigns: What are they & How to Ace them with Steps!

Viral Marketing: Definition, Benefits, Techniques & Tools!

Marketing Strategies to Take Your Business to the Next Level

Marketing Psychology - pinterest Create more content in less time


Bon parfumeur

Traditional French perfumery, products with exceptional ingredients. An artistic and chaotic perfumery, where everyone is free to test, mix or collect their fragrances.

Today, Bon parfumeur It offers a range of 27 Eaux de Parfums created by eleven talented French perfumers and divided into ten olfactory categories. Unique and unisex fragrances that can be combined with each other thanks to the mix & match.

For a free perfumery.


New partnership helps keep Salvation Army service delivery on track

“It was especially helpful at the beginning of our response in Wilmington and its surrounding counties because so many roads were closed from flooding and downed trees,” said Alvin Migues, Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) Director for the Texas Division. “Because of the tracking devices, we could see exactly where our teams were and re-route them safely to reach people who needed our help.”

The tracking devices are placed on Salvation Army EDS vehicles and equipment, including mobile feeding units, personnel sleeping units, generators, and off-road utility vehicles.

“To see how US Fleet Tracking plays a role in helping The Salvation Army coordinate and provide relief efforts is both exhilarating and humbling,” said Sam Sims, spokesperson for US Fleet Tracking. “Each situation and its effects will be different, which is why live location and tracking information is critical for The Salvation Army’s deployment of resources. Having the knowledge of assets’ positions is yet another logistics puzzle piece that is easier to coordinate and position in the most-needed locations.”

The Salvation Army will continue to explore how live GPS tracking can expand the level of care and service provided during future disaster response.

For more information, visit

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Temperature per spoken question?

I would like to be able to ask Homey how cold it is outside - I even tried setting a flow for the specific wording. I have Netatmo, so I have SEVERAL temperature values, but it still say " No device with the temperature capabilty was found" (or close to that).

Anyone who has managed to figure out what to change to fix this?


This is Microsoft’s AI pipeline, from research to reality

To are searching for the origins of Microsoft’s hobby in synthetic intelligence, you want to go way returned–well before Amazon, Facebook, and Google had been in business, not to mention titans of AI. Bill Gates based Microsoft’s research arm in 1991, and AI changed into an area of research from the beginning. Three years later, in a speech at the National Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Seattle, then-income leader Steve Ballmer pressured Microsoft’s perception of AI’s capacity and said he was hoping that software programs could in the future be clever sufficient to persuade a car. (He’d banged up his personal car inside the automobile parking space upon arriving at the event.)

From the beginning, Microsoft Research (MSR for short) employed more than its truthful proportion of computing’s most visionary, carried out scientists. For a long time, it had a reputation for struggling to show its innovations into functions and products that clients wanted. In the ’90s, for example, I recollect being confused about why its formidable paintings in regions inclusive of speech recognition hadn’t had a profound effect on Windows and Office.

Five years into Satya Nadella’s tenure as Microsoft CEO, that stigma is gone. Personal willpower on Nadella’s part has honestly helped. “Satya is–allow’s positioned it very undoubtedly–impatient to get greater generation into our merchandise,” says Harry Shum, Microsoft’s executive VP of artificial intelligence and studies. “It’s without a doubt very encouraging to every person in Microsoft Research.” That’s lots of happy humans: greater than 1,000 laptop scientists are in MSR’s hire at its Redmond headquarters in addition to Boston, Montreal, Beijing, Bangalore, and beyond.

CEO determination, using itself, handiest goes up to now. Microsoft has gotten desirable at the elaborate logistics of identifying what research to leverage wherein merchandise, encouraging some distance-flung personnel to collaborate on that attempt, and getting the consequences in front of all of us from employee bees to game enthusiasts.

For the report, Shum argues that Microsoft’s antique rep for failing to utilize its researchers’ breakthroughs changed into unfair–however, he doesn’t deny that the business enterprise is an awful lot better at what he calls “deployment-driven research” than inside the past. “The key now is how fast we will make the ones things occur,” he says.

Judging from my current go to its campus, Microsoft is making matters occur at a clip that’s the simplest accelerating. I talked to Shum and a number of his colleagues from across the business enterprise approximately the process of embracing AI as unexpectedly and widely as possible. And it became out that it isn’t one system, however, a bunch of them.

Meeting of the minds

On the maximum essential level, making sure that Microsoft AI improvements gain Microsoft clients is about ensuring that research and product teams aren’t siloed off from every different. esonFor instance, every six months or so, an occasion referred to as Roc is devoted to go-fertilization between research efforts and Office product improvement. That approach encourages groups to talk to everyone, which Microsoft now does in a massive, prepared style.

“We have the ones -, three-day workshops where we’ve 50 human beings from Microsoft Research, a hundred human beings from Office, all coming together,” says Shum. Everybody shares what they’re running on, and the entire affair ends with a hackathon. Another ongoing assembly of the minds, the Distinguished Engineering Leadership Lecture Series, brings executives answerable for merchandise to the Microsoft campus’s Building ninety-nine, where MSR is based. “I say, ‘You must come in and do three things for me,’” Shum says. “Number one is telling us your product roadmap. The number is [list] 10 things you need Microsoft Research to remedy for you. And then wide variety 3 is before you depart the constructing, decide to one or two initiatives that we can paintings on collectively.”

Of route, getting humans talking approximately problems and solutions is simply the beginning. The potential for AI to improve regular Microsoft Office tasks consisting of formatting a record or plugging data into a spreadsheet is considerable. But it’s additionally easy to peer how automated help should feel intrusive rather than beneficial. Exhibit A: Office 97’s Clippy assistant remains a poster baby for a grating, unwelcome generation.

More than a decade after Office eliminated Clippy; it nonetheless desires to come across if you’re acting an assignment in which AI might be useful. It just wants the enjoy to be diffused rather than intrusive. As Ronette Lawrence, important product planning manager for Office, says, “One of our center concepts is ensuring that the human stays the hero. Lawrence says that nearly everything Microsoft is adding to Office nowadays has an element of AI and machine mastering. In PowerPoint, as an example, the business enterprise needs AI to be “the clothier that works in the cloud for you.” If you’re using a pen-ready PC such as Microsoft’s own Surface, PowerPoint can convert your scrawled freehand phrases and shapes into polished text blocks and items. And if the software notices which you’re coming into a chain of dates, it’s going to realize that it’d make feel to lay them out as a timeline.

Instead of shoving unsolicited recommendations for your face but, “we’re careful to make certain that this kind of suggestion pops out as a whisper,” says Lawrence. The “Design Ideas” feature analyzes your presentation in the process. It suggests thumbnails of viable tweaks–inclusive of that timeline format for a chain of dates–to the proper of your slides. They’re equally easy to enforce or ignore.

Though many Office functions depend on Microsoft Research’s cutting-edge work, certain brainstorms make their way out of the lab extra without problems than others. “Some of it appears like technology fiction,” says Lawrence of AI in its raw shape. “And other [examples] experience closer to product readiness.”

During one workshopping session between the Office product crew and MSR, the reality that people commonly rough out Word documents and fill in holes later–or ask coworkers to do some of the fillings–came up. What if Word helped wrangle the process?

A new to-do function targets this with the aid of scanning a document for placeholders, including “TODO: get modern-day sales figures” or “insert graph here” and listing them in a sidebar so that you recall to attend to them. Microsoft plans to extend the functionality so that your colleagues can deliver factors you’ve requested via responding to an email in place of rummaging around for your file. It additionally intends to apply AI to indicate applicable content material.

The first Office customers to get admission to this to-do feature in its initial shape are Windows and Mac customers who’ve signed up for Office’s early-adopter application. (It’s due for preferred launch using the end of the 12 months.) Oftentimes, however, new AI capability shows up first in Office’s net-based totally apps, wherein it’s easier for Microsoft to get it in the front of a variety of humans fast–and examine, and refine–than if the organization had to watch for the following release of Office in its extra conventional shape.

“It’s pretty important for us to listen to remarks and see how people are using it to train aversion,” says Lawrence. “That is part of the new generation of Microsoft, in which it isn’t just about the usability of the capability when you release it. The web gives us that comments mechanism.”

A present-day collection of online ads is dedicated to showing that the Office 365 carrier has an array of available features absent in Office 2019, the cutting-edge pay-once model of the suite. All these capabilities leverage AI, but the advertisements don’t point out that. After all, the human is meant to be the hero.
Changing the game

When did AI begin to have an impact on the video game business? If you ask Kevin Gammill, companion well-known supervisor for PlayFab at Microsoft, he’ll attain back 4 decades and produce up early laptop-managed opponents such as the alien craft in Atari’s Asteroids arcade game. “I suppose AI has been around so long as gaming’s been around,” he says.


Do anti-inflammatories help healing?
Maryke Louw

Maryke Louw

Do anti-inflammatories help healing?

Table of content

Why people (mistakenly) think that anti-inflammatories can help heal sports injuries?

Inflammation is important for healing. That's why anti-inflammatories don't help healing.

This is mainly due to a misconception with regards to inflammation. For some reason people have come to believe that inflammation is a bad thing and that your injury will heal more quickly if you can reduce the inflammation. But this is not true – inflammation is a very important part of the process that our bodies use to heal acute injuries like muscle strains and sprains.

Your body uses inflammation during the first 3 to 5 days of injury to get rid of the injured and damaged cells. The research has shown that, if you suppress this process, it can interfere with your healing response.

Yes, an excessive inflammatory response may not be good but in the case of most healthy people, their bodies will produce just enough inflammation to get the job done.

Anti-inflammatories can affect the outcome of your rehab

During stage 3 of the muscle healing process, the newly formed cells grow stronger in response to the rehab exercises that you do. Anti-inflammatories can blunt this response.

When you exercise your body sustains micro-damage. This is normal and your body uses the 24 to 48 hours after your training session to repair this micro-damage; this is how you grow stronger. There is research that shows that anti-inflammatory drugs negatively affect this repair process and that  you don’t get the same increases in strength if you use anti-inflammatory medications when training.

How your muscles, tendons and bones grow stronger through exercise.

Anti-inflammatory medication affect more processes in your body than just inflammation

Your body uses enzymes to control all the processes that happen in the cells. The same enzyme, when released under different conditions, can cause different things to happen. COX-2 is one of the many enzymes that are involved in the inflammatory process but it is also involved in the production of new cells.

What the research has shown is that, when you take anti-inflammatories to decrease pain and inflammation, you also inhibit the production of new cells. In studies done on rats, anti-inflammatory drugs caused mal-union of fractures in 30% of the animals and this rate increased with higher doses. This is also supported by prospective research on humans.

The research has also shown that these drugs negatively affect the healing of injuries of the enthesis (the area where tendons attach onto bones) as well as muscle strains.

Pain is not a bad thing

Yes, nobody likes pain but pain can act as a good safeguard when you’re recovering from an injury. If you take medication that numbs all the pain, you’re more likely to overdo things and make your injury worse.

That said, excessive pain is also not good. If your pain is of such a level that it is interfering with your sleep or just making your life miserable, speak to your doctor to find out what medication you can use. Anti-inflammatories are not the only option available.

If your rehab exercises are causing a spike in pain, it may mean that they aren’t right for you. The Exakt Health app uses your feedback about pain and effort levels to adjust the intensity of your exercise plan.

Exceptions to the rule

In medicine you will find that there are always exceptions to the rules. There are certain conditions and circumstances that will require you to take anti-inflammatory medication and where it is the best thing that you can do. For instance, sometimes your body may cause excessive inflammation which can cause your injury to get worse. If this is the case, anti-inflammatory medication may be the right choice of treatment. You should consider discussing this with your doctor so that you understand your options.

We understand. We’ve been there. Finding convenient and reliable help for injuries online can be a tedious and demoralising process. Here’s our story and why we started Exakt Health.

The Exakt Health App provides a convenient, intuitive and science-based injury rehab experience for runners.

All treatment advice is based on trusted medical evidence and reviewed by licenced sports physiotherapists, with each rehabilitation plan tailored to your unique grade of injury and phase of healing.  Download the Exakt Health App and start your recovery now.

How do tendons heal?

How do tendons heal?

Tendon injuries can be divided into overuse injuries (tendonitis/tendinopathy) and tears. Here I explain what happens in your tendon when you injure it and how it heals.

Read More »

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A rejoint le : 3 mai 2022
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Bulking calories, bulking calories calculator

Bulking calories, bulking calories calculator - Legal steroids for sale

Bulking calories

Bulking is the art of eating just the right amount of calories for your body to build muscle, not any overbearing goals. If you're eating well and building muscle, but feeling sluggish or weak, you're probably not going to gain muscle. There are plenty of reasons why you may not gain muscle — your age, your body build, your genetics, your activity level, your nutrition, your exercise, or your environment, good bulking tips. You've got to take a hard look at both and make the healthy choice. You need to know the difference between an "adequate" diet (one that meets your body's needs for at least the most crucial nutrients) and the "healthy" diet, bodybuilding calorie calculator macros. An "adequate" diet is one that meets your body's needs at a healthy level of protein, carbohydrates, fat (the healthy thing is, all of our macronutrients are macronutrients, not just protein), vitamins, minerals and fiber, along with the correct foods to keep them happy. If you're in a calorie deficit, your diet will be even more restrictive than a healthy, balanced meal plan — and your body type and activity level will be compromised, bulking calories. In addition, your overall health status may suffer too (as I've already mentioned, bulking home exercises!), bulking home exercises. A "healthy" diet is one that meets body's needs at a healthy level of body fat, fats, calories, carbs and protein, along with what may be healthy nutrients such as plant sterols, plant enzymes, and organic protein sources. If you're an athlete, it is more likely that you're not doing enough protein and carbs; if you're working out in a gym, then that's going to affect you too! However, when you are not eating healthily, it takes the body far longer to build muscle, lose fat, maintain lean muscle mass, and increase your performance — this is one of the reasons that bulking is so beneficial for fat loss and muscle gain, bulk pick up 311. You often see guys (and most women) who get really fat off the thin-line diets that tell them to drop the calories to maintain their figure. This is a huge mistake, bulking calories. You can lose a large amount of weight and still be fat if you don't get enough exercise, if you don't consume enough carbs and if you don't eat enough protein — especially if you're not following a nutritious diet. The best way to achieve both is by following a food plan that is right for you, bulk supplements casein.

Bulking calories calculator

When bulking your aim is to gain muscle mass , which means that you will need to try and increase the amount of calories and protein you consumeto gain muscle. In reality, most people who are training for bodyweight will always be increasing their caloric intake. So what are your calories? When we want to gain bodyweight, we are simply eating more calories than we burn, calculator calories bulking. This is called the energy balance equation (EBI). To calculate calories you need to know your bodyweight and then add up your weight in kilograms plus the weight you are gaining in pounds (kilograms). Calorie needs for different bodyweights & body types Bodyweight Body mass (kg) Bipole (kg) Lean mass (kg) Fat mass (kg) Age* 0 - 20 21 - 25 26 - 30 31 - 35 36 - 40 40 - 50 51 - 60 57 - 70 71 - 80 81+ Males 0 - 20 20 - 30 33 - 35 39 - 45 46 - 50 60 - 65 70 - 80 81+ Females 0 - 20 20 - 30 33 - 35 39 - 47 46 - 50 55 - 60 65 - 70 75 - 80 81+ Females in the 0 - 20 BMI range 0 - 19 20 - 27 28 - 31 32 - 35 37 - 41 41 - 45 46 - 50 55 - 60 63 - 70 71 - 75 76-80 81+ Males 18 or under 0 - 15 16 - 19 22 - 24 25 - 27 27 - 31 35 - 39 41 - 45 47 - 49 53 - 60 63 - 70 71 - 75 77-80 81+ Females 18 or under 0 - 15 17 - 20 23 - 25 26 - 27 28 - 31 35 - 39 41 - 45 47 - 49 53 - 60 65 - 70 71 - 75 76-80 81+ *This is not the same as an energy deficit. When you lose muscle mass, you actually will need more calories to gain the same amount as when you gain muscle, lean mass supplement. *This is also not the same as being below 18% BMR or an energy deficit. When you are below the 18, mass muscle gainer 20lbs (9.07kg).6% BMR or an energy deficit, you will need to add more calories to lose the same amount of bodyweight, mass muscle gainer 20lbs (9.07kg). If you weigh 175lbs, add about 1,300 to 4,600 calories a day: 170 - 195lbs = 1,400 - 2,200 = 3,200 - 4,200 = 5,800 calories a day, bulking powder instant oats.

Plus, the review will highlight some of the supplements made by Crazy Bulk that mimic the results of anabolic steroids without dire side effects. With so many questions about the new supplement industry, and the potential repercussions it could have, we decided to have a little fun over at CaffeinatedScientist, looking at what supplements are being touted by online forums. Here is what we found out. 1. HGH Is Nothing To Do With HGH According to The Athletic Report and other sites, supplement company Alpha Male claims that it produces "HGH" in their products, an extract of human chorionic gonadotropin, otherwise known as "hGH." However, the most common "supplement" brand on Amazon is called "Alpha Male." (They also claim to give you "Fitness HGH," which is actually a derivative of human growth hormone.) This "HGH" is, of course, nothing to do with hormone-replacement therapy and the other forms of GH we have found. It's actually the product of synthetic biology and is, in fact, just water that is combined with a drug to produce the substance. 2. Testosterone Is Actually a Vitamin While this has been the most popular misconception in the supplement industry, it isn't at all. Testosterone is actually a vitamin and isn't just some form of steroid, according to the Mayo Clinic. And while supplement companies are advertising that they are going to make you feel like a man and have a big muscle mass, only one study has found that taking supplements containing testosterone is effective at creating muscle strength. 3. Muscle Building Supplements Aren't Real There is also a misconception that your muscle building supplements can't work, or won't work at all. And to be honest, it's ridiculous because the effects are so profound and the effectiveness is so high. (The only supplement that hasn't been proven effective is a generic creatine.) 4. Creatine Is Fake Supplements We also get tired of people claiming that creatine is not "real" supplements. This can make it seem like creatine is not a supplement because it doesn't contain a substance that would make it in a supplement. Creatine is the most common and popular supplement by far due to its wide-spread popularity, and supplement makers like New World and Eisai are taking up the claim that they aren't. 5. Creatine Is "Pure," It's Only "Haven't Found a Problem" on TV While it has been talked about in the media, and in the fitness industry for quite some time <p>If you gained extra fat, however, gently reduce your calories. This is how you pinpoint your clean bulk. Still not bulking the way you want? track your food. — there are 419 calories in 1 serving (120 g) of vital strength hardgainer mass rapid bulking protein. Get full nutrition facts for other. — bulking and cutting calories. Getting cut and bulking up are bodybuilding terms relating to body composition. Cutting involves losing body. Counting calories can be the most obnoxious thing, but it's worth doing for a few weeks to better — nevertheless, weight gain doesn't necessarily mean getting fat as people in the fitness industry know very well. The practice of "bulking". Lose fat ("cut") build lean muscle ("lean bulk") maintain the same weight. To our hair and muscle, protein constitutes the bulk of these structures. Use the tdee calculator to learn your total daily energy expenditure, a measure of how many calories you burn per day. This calculator displays much more! — use this calorie calculator to find out how many calories you really need! match it to your goals and activity level to help you make better. Moderate carb represents a typical carbohydrate intake whereby 40% of your total calories comes from carbohydrates, 40% comes from protein, and 20% comes. If you want to lose weight aim to eat 500 calories less than your daily caloric needs (which you can work out using our calculator) – or burn off more calories. — weight gain calculator or the bulking calculator is the best tool you can use to calculate your daily caloric intake for your desired weight Related Article:

Bulking calories, bulking calories calculator
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Graph500 Benchmark Code for Energy Measurements

The original Graph500 code runs 64 iterations of a BFS-validate loop. The BFS steps are typically an order of magnitude faster than the validation steps and often only take in the order of seconds. To get a clear measurement of the BFS energy consumption only, the modified code runs only the BFS loop (without validation) for a specified number of seconds (repeating the same 64 BFS searches (same start vertices) as the actual benchmark). After the energy measurement loop is finished, the official Graph500 code is run (producing a number legal for submission).

The time to run the energy loop is passed as the third (unnamed) parameter. If no energy time (or 0) is specified, then the execution is identical to the original benchmark.

Download the code

Version 3.0.0 has energy loops integrated( to be enabled by defining macro at compile time)

Running the code
The original Graph 500 code runs several BFS searches with one check after each search. Each iteration is shorter than the time resolution of many power measurement devices. Thus, the Green Graph 500 code offers one more optional parameter that allows the user to specify the time for running run the BFS repeatedly in order to measure power consumption with low-resolution meters.

The MPI version can be started with:

mpiexec -n 2 ./graph500_mpi_simple 10 16 600

To run the measurement for 10 minutes. The benchmark will output the start and end-time for the energy measurement. The measurement can be performed anytime during this interval (after making sure all components are warmed up as stated in the rules).

Please contact us using the form above if you have any questions!


Episode 56

Conscious Investing mit Christin ter Braak-Forstinger

In association with unseen heroes

- Shining a spotlight on extraordinary women

Christin ter Braak-Forstinger

Dr Christin ter Braak-Forstinger, LL.M. is the founder of PVA Advisory and the co-founder of Chi Impact Capital and has a longstanding and professional track record in the area of strategic philanthropy and impact investing advisory. She is an advocate of a holistic and conscious approach to investing and a regenerative capital market.

How can everyone use their money for good? How do we succeed in changing the economy and our world sustainably at the same time?

Christin ter Braak-Forstinger inspires with her book "Conscious investing" and breaks the traditional understanding of asset management. She advocates fairness, equality and climate justice as relevant decision-making criteria for investments.

This episode is part of the Unseen Heroes series

Created by digital agency FS Parker, Unseen Heroes is a project to shine a spotlight on extraordinary women. Why? Because momentous events happen all the time, all around us, every day. Each one of them changing the world a little bit. But only a small number of these happenings get the attention and applause they truly deserve. FS Parker wants to shine a spotlight on some of these outstanding efforts and the extraordinary women behind them.

Through this podcast series, hosted by Heidi Hauer, these women will be given a platform. During the next 13 months you will get to know 13 extraordinary women and hear their inspiring stories.

Who is Christin and why was she chosen as an Unseen Hero?

Dr Christin ter Braak-Forstinger, LL.M. is the founder and managing director of Chi Impact Capital and is passionate about the shift towards a regenerative economy and deep impact economy. She has many years of experience in the financial services industry and in private equity, impact investing and sustainable investment. She is also an author, keynote speaker and juror and a long-time university lecturer on impact investing. In her private life, she is co-founder of the award-winning NGO Braveaurora, which has been active in Northern Ghana since 2009. Christin enjoys spending her free time with her family in nature or meditating.


From the Executive Director: Week of March 8

9 Mar 2021, by Seth Grigg Share :

We’re (potentially) entering the home stretch of the legislative session. The end of this week marks the transmittal deadline. Each year the legislature sets a deadline for all bills introduced in one chamber to be transmitted to the other chamber. Think of it as an aspirational goal, kind of like a New Year’s resolution. The transmittal deadline is set with good intentions, but it is rarely followed. That being said, there is a movement to at least get to a point where the legislature can recess for an extended period of time prior to official adjournment. This means the legislature may be in session into late April or even longer.

Why, you ask? It’s all about the American Rescue Plan recently passing the Senate. The $1.9 trillion COVID relief package has cleared both the House and Senate. Over the next few weeks Congress will go through a reconciliation process in an effort to reconcile differences in the House and Senate bills. So how will this delay the end of our legislative session? The act includes funding for state and local governments and the legislature does not want to adjourn sine die until it has a say in how Idaho’s dollars are spent. As a result, the legislature will do its best to complete its regular legislative work before the end of March and then recess for an agreed upon time period. It will reconvene once federal guidance has been issued and the state knows how it can spend its funds.

So what does this mean for counties? There are two separate funding sources for counties. The first of which comes from a newly created Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund which includes $65.1 billion in aid to counties across the country. Idaho’s share is estimated to be $350 million. The National Association of Counties (NACo) has developed a toolkit to estimate each county’s potential share. You can access the toolkit by clicking here.

Eligible uses of coronavirus recovery funds include:

  • Expenses incurred in response to the coronavirus public health emergency, including, but not limited to, county expenses tied to coronavirus mitigation and assistance to households, small businesses, and nonprofits impacted by coronavirus.
  • Funding for premium pay to workers performing essential work during the coronavirus public health emergency.
  • Backfill of lost tax revenues due to the coronavirus public health emergency (note that governments cannot create a loss of revenue by intentionally reducing taxes).
  • Investments in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure.

As with the CARES Act, IAC expects the US Treasury to issue guidance on allowed uses of funds. The big difference; however, between the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan is that federal aid to counties will be allocated directly from the US Treasury to counties, bypassing state legislatures.

The second source of county funds comes in the form of a new, two-year revenue sharing program for counties. Under this program, the US Treasury will provide a $750,000,000 payment to counties nationwide within 60 days of passage. Twelve months later, the US Treasury will provide an additional $750,000,000 in revenue sharing to counties. This revenue-sharing program was authored by Oregon Senator Ron Wyden. Details on how the funds will be allocated to counties are slim but we do know that the fund was set up to primarily benefit rural counties in the west that have been impacted by economic downturns in the natural resource industry. Specifically, counties for which the US Treasury Secretary determines that there is a negative revenue impact due to either the implementation of a federal program or changes to implemented federal programs will be eligible for the two-year revenue sharing. SRS recipient counties will likely qualify as eligible counties. The revenue share will be in addition to PILT and SRS payments. Eligible counties can use the funds for any government purpose, similar to PILT, provided that funds must be expended by the end of 2024. Again, little is known about this two-year revenue-sharing program. IAC will provide more information once it is available.


The Advent of the Worlds First Parliament in Iceland

When the Vikings settled Iceland, no monarch was installed, which forced these settlers to find a new system of government; democracy. The early decades of settlement were effectively without structured law, but after 2 generations, 36 leading farmer Vikings banded together to develop the concept of an assembly to govern Iceland referred to as the “Alþingi” (written “Althingi” in English) (pronounced “all-thing-ee”) in 930 A.D.. The council met once every year for 2 weeks to create laws, preside over and judge disputes, and appoint a legal speaker, whose responsibility it was to remember and recite the law. The Althingi convened at Þingvellir (written “Thingvellir” in English) (pronounced “thing-vet-lear”) which is a unique location as it is a gorge where 2 of the Earth’s tectonic plates meet and 45 kilometers east of what later became the capital city of Reykjavík, Iceland (pronounced “rake-yah-veek”). The term “Althingi” means “thing field” or “assembly field” in the Icelandic language. This form of government met for the next 800 years at this exact spot, even after merging with Norway in 1262, with the location eventually moved to Reykjavík in 1800. The Althingi is the oldest parliament in the world, which is astonishing as it is still functioning and currently running the country of Iceland as a whole

A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Oncology Treatment

Sweden’s Major Contributions to Vehicular Safety Standards Worldwide

In 1959, Nils Bohlin (pronounced “neels bow-leen”) created the 3 point seatbelt while working for Volvo, an invention which Volvo intentionally designed to be patent free so that the advent could be utilized and implemented globally in a concerted effort to save lives everywhere. This was one of the first examples of open source technology in business and manufacturing. It’s been estimated that the seatbelt has saved more than 1,000,000 (1 million) lives over the past 40 years as of 2020. Swedish company Autoliv (pronounced “ow-tow-leeve”) furthered this pursuit towards safety by creating the seatbelt pre-tensioner which instantaneously reels in seatbelt slack during a vehicular accident and has also helped to design newer, better airbag systems and advanced artificial intelligence automobile visual systems

The Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918 in London, England


Books Education

Bicycle Culture

Our library has a new publication titled "Cycling Infrastructure. Design Principles & Practices".

Alexander Vasilyukha is an urbanist and graduate of the program ARCHITECTS.RF, and he notes that it is vital for the community of cycling culture development that many Tyumen citizens read the book.

"Tyumen has excellent cycling potential: flat terrain, wide streets, high demand. The city can and should become more bike-friendly so that the bicycle is the same means of transportation as a bus or car".

Alexander Vasilyukha

The urbanist is sure that the book will сreatе a request from Tyumen citizens for bicycle infrastructure and tell how to implement it.

We are waiting for everyone who wants to read a strategy for cycling and get practical advice in the reading room of our Library.


A saree or sari is a beautiful Indian garment. This is a traditional Indian garment wore in different parts of the country. It is an unstitched drape that may vary from 5 to 9 meters long and can be from 700 millimeters to 1200 millimeters in width. Saris are usually worn as an essential outfit traditionally and are still the best choice for any occasion and events.

Sarees are also listed as a formal wear and obviously can be carried around as a casual as well as party wear. The way traditional saris are worn is by tying it around petticoat, which is usually an A-line skirt and strings to tighten or loosen it from the waist. The end strip of the saree is known as a Pallu and is usually more than a meter long. Pallu are the most intricate part of the saree since it is one part which is not wrapped and designs can easily be visible.

Origin of a Saree

‘Saree’ or ‘Sari’ has been taken from the word ‘Sati’. Sati means a strip of cloth. People in India were well versed with sewing and weaving but still preferred clothing that could be draped around the body, like- Saree and Dhoti. The reason for it was the hot climate of the country.

Indian people preferred unstitched clothing during Indus civilization. They would take a cloth and wrap around the waist and remaining fabric would be used to drape other parts in a comfortable manner.

Sarees now!

Availability of designer saree online only denotes the demand and popularity of saris. Now sarees come in different pattern, fabric, for various occasions using multiple techniques.

Saree is no longer a cloth a utility, it has become subject of fashion and trend. Saris are still the most sought-after clothing for special occasion like a wedding. It is also one of the most gifted clothing pieces in India.

Get your saree for every occasion!


Treating the Toughest Cases of Depression and Brain Illness

Do you have chronic depression?

Did you ever wonder why your depression did not respond to treatment? About half of all patients fail to respond to traditional treatment. This is called Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD).

Some researchers define Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) as a case of depression that doesn’t respond to two different antidepressants from different classes. And other experts say that a person needs to try at least four different treatments before depression can be truly considered resistant to oral medications.

  • Has your oral medication failed to make you feel better?
  • Has your oral medication helped a bit, but you still don’t feel like your old self?

Call 847-236-9310 to schedule a consultation

Did you know?

There is an entire field of study for this condition known as Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD)

Scientists have discovered common causes for this failure to respond to treatment. An accurate diagnosis is crucial.

Underlying causes can create “treatment-refractory” mood disorders. Our advanced technology and treatment approaches help the toughest cases of long-term depression.

  • Concussion (also called mild TBI), and other Traumatic Brain Injury, so-called “non-traumatic” brain injury
  • Autoimmune illness and other abnormalities of inflammation (all create an Autoimmune Encephalopathy)
  • Inadequate plasticity
  • Stress responses and hormonal imbalances
  • Abnormalities of network recruitment and/or perfusion/metabolism
Pay attention and allow yourself to have some hope!  The common causes are treatable, and with common-sense treatment, your mood can improve on a long-term basis.

Conditions that often cause Treatment-Resistant Depression include:

Autoimmune Illness

Hormonal Inbalances

Traumatic Brain Injury

Other conditions can be factors for why traditional treatment such as talk therapy isn't working for depression. Because of this, the correct diagnosis of the underlying cause is often the only way to resolve the long term depression.

  • Epilepsy and other conditions associated with abnormal EEG
  • Autoimmune and other immune-based dysfunction, obesity (adipokines)
  • Tick-borne, spider-conveyed, and insect-borne illnesses
  • H. pylori, toxoplasmosis, Herpesviridae, parasitic infestation
  • Nutrition, metabolism, digestive/gastrointestinal
  • Adverse effects of medications
  • Pharmacogenomic and pharmacodynamic adversities
  • Learning disability or giftedness (in particular those children with “regulatory disorder of childhood”)
  • Environmental poisoning
  • Endocrine dysfunction
Treatment Resistant Depression

What are the consequences of long-term chronic depression?

There are three parts of the brain that appear to play a role in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD): the hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex. Memory issues, sleep problems, and emotional regulation can all be impacted by MDD.

Many researchers believe high cortisol levels play the biggest role in changing the physical structure and chemical activities of the brain, triggering the onset of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Normally, cortisol levels are highest in the morning and decrease at night. But in people with MDD, cortisol levels are always elevated, even at night.

The hippocampus is located near the center of the brain, and its main job is to store memories. Secondly, it regulates the production of a hormone called cortisol. The body releases cortisol during times of physical and mental stress, including during times of depression.

Problems can occur when excessive amounts of cortisol are sent to the brain due to a stressful event or a chemical imbalance in the body. In a healthy brain, brain cells (neurons) are produced throughout a person’s adult life in a part of the hippocampus called the dentate gyrus. In people with major depressive disorder (MDD), however, the long-term exposure to increased cortisol levels can slow the production of new neurons and cause the neurons in the hippocampus to shrink. This can lead to memory problems.

Prefrontal Cortex

The prefrontal cortex is located in the very front of the brain. The prefontral cortex is responsible for regulating emotions, decision-making, and forming memories. Just like the hippocampus shrinking when the body produces an excess amount of cortisol, the prefrontal cortex also appears to shrink.

The amygdala is the part of the brain that facilitates emotional responses, such as pleasure and fear. But in people with MDD, the amygdala becomes enlarged and more active as a result of constant exposure to high levels of cortisol. An enlarged and hyperactive amygdala, along with abnormal activity in other parts of the brain, can result in disturbances in sleep and activity patterns. It can also cause the body to release irregular amounts of hormones and other chemicals in the body, and that can lead to further complications.

man with brain

Get Started Today

To get started on treatment give us a call at the number below or fill out our confidential new patient form

The Neuroscience Center (TNC) began serving the general psychiatric needs of patients over 40 years ago. We are committed to providing modern and comprehensive mental health care tailored your specific case.

New Patients

The above information will be used to reach out and schedule a consultation/appointment. We will never sell, distribute, or spam you.


MAPUTO, Mozambique (PANA) – The West “has eaten our flesh raw and committed historic crimes by engaging in the slave trade and making huge fortunes from it,” Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gadhafi declared here July 12.

Speaking at the end of the African Union (AU) summit in the Mozambiqan capital, the Libyan leader affirmed that the West in the past considered Africa as an unknown continent discovered by the Portuguese and the Dutch, and where lived in the jungles people who could be taken and sold as slaves.

“This is what led to the boats of historic crimes, the boats of slavery,” the Libyan leader said.

Colonel Gadhafi called on the West to deal with Africa as an equal partner, adding that he who wished to do business there must do so with respect for the continent and the huge sacrifices it underwent during the slave trade for centuries.

Reaffirming his objection to western attempts to impose their values, culture and morality on Africa, the Libyan revolutionary leader said that Africa was a continent rich of its own values, culture, morality and religion, which dated back to thousands of years.

These religions, he said, dated back before the Berlin conference of the late 19th century, when the West embarked on Christianization campaigns in Africa during the colonial period.

He insisted on the capacity of Africans to manage their own social, economic and political affairs, and found it “absurd” for the continent to import cultures, values, religions, morality, and even the history of the West.

For the Libyan leader, Africans are capable of dealing with issues, such as good governance, the management of their business, far from the western models and from western democracy.

Col. Gadhafi called for the consolidation of the African Union, its structures and instruments, and the mobilization of the youths and women to that end.

He said he favored the redistribution of the continent’s wealth and water resources and for its industrialization and access to technology, in a bid to answer the West, which disparaged the Black man.

“We are friends to those who mean friendship to us, and enemies to those who assault us,” he concluded.


Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH), has been declining in opposition to its high crypto rival, Bitcoin (BTC), since Sept. 3.

Ether dropped in worth in opposition to Bitcoin by nearly 25% after topping out in September at 0.07955 BTC. As the highest altcoin declined, it left behind a path of decrease highs and decrease lows, thus forming a descending channel.

Later, ETH/BTC broke the channel to the upside on Saturday, elevating anticipations a few sturdy prolonged restoration development. However a selloff on Sunday and the continuing session had merchants take a look at the channel’s resistance trendline as assist.

ETH worth charts counsel bullish divergence

The sentiment raised Ether’s risk to reenter the falling vary as proven within the chart beneath.

ETH/BTC day by day worth chart that includes bullish divergence. Supply: TradingView

On the identical time, the formation of upper highs in ETH/BTC’s day by day commodity channel index (CCI) confirmed hidden divergence in opposition to the pair’s downtrend. For the uninitiated, CCI is a momentum oscillator that measures an instrument’s variations from its statistical imply to identify potential reversals.

“A hidden divergence is all the time an indicator for a potential development reversal,” noted Stefan Krecher, a Germany-based market strategist, including that ETH/BTC could rebound within the coming periods additionally because the pair’s day by day relative energy index (RSI) stays “not overbought.”

Krecher anticipated Ether to hit its month-to-month pivot level round 0.071586 BTC, nearly over 8% of the present ranges. The upside goal additionally coincided with the 0.618 Fib line (0.071505 BTC) of the Fibonacci retracement graph within the chart above.

On the flip facet, reentering the descending channel vary risked sending ETH/BTC to its vary assist trendline close to 0.058238 BTC.

Ether worth in opposition to the greenback

The bullish ETH/BTC worth outlook appeared as Ether held $4,000 as stable assist whereas rebounding over 2.6% Monday. In the meantime, Bitcoin’s worth retraced nearly 3.5% after organising a equally sturdy price floor near $60,000.

Because of this, ETH/BTC merely regarded weaker as a result of Bitcoin rallied strongly in opposition to the USA greenback than Ether. However, the Ethereum token’s prospects regarded bullish, as earlier reported by Cointelegraph, with the help of an ascending triangle setup proven beneath.

ETH/USD day by day worth chart that includes ascending triangle setup. Supply: TradingView

Ether broke out of the sample on the day by day timeframe however with little buying and selling quantity, exhibiting weak point within the worth development.

The cryptocurrency now assessments the triangle’s higher trendline as assist for bullish affirmation. Ought to a rebound observe go well with, the value may eye new report highs above $4,384, with the triangle setup’s goal sitting close to $6,500.

ETH provide crunch

Moreover, the availability of Ether tokens has been declining after the Ethereum community’s London laborious fork. Particularly, the Ethereum Improvement Proposal 1559, which went dwell with the replace, began burning ETH that it beforehand paid to miners.

Knowledge collected from WatchTheBurn shows that the Ethereum community has destroyed nearly $2.25 billion value of Ether tokens for the reason that London laborious fork’s launch.

Associated: Altcoins breakout even as Bitcoin price falls to $60,000

Moreover, the Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract has attracted greater than 8 million ETH, thereby eradicating them from circulation for at the least a yr.

Whole worth staked in Eth2 sensible contract. Supply: CryptoQuant

Furthermore, regulated funds have increased their Ether holdings from 2.43 million ETH in November 2020 to 4.08 million ETH right now, signifying rising institutional demand.