Home Blog Page 45

The Expert’s Guide to Surviving Long Haul Flights

0

Whoever said “It’s not about the destination. It’s the journey” never flew on a long haul flight. Those flights can be painful, tiresome, jet-lagging, and not to mention absolutely boring despite whatever Disney movie is playing above you on the TV screen. As someone who has flown from Europe to the USA countless times, I’ve picked up some tips and tricks on flying long haul. Here are my tips.

Bring a scarf or jacket.

A scarf especially can act as a blanket or pillow during your long haul flight. Nowadays it’s becoming less common to have a blanket included on your flight, and sometimes the cabin doesn’t even have enough for everyone. The best advice is to bring something functional just in case because flights can get quite chilly. A relatively thick, large scarf will almost always do the job.

Pack a memory foam neck pillow.

Once again, you want to be comfortable on your flight and no matter if you’re in the window, aisle, or middle seat, a memory foam neck pillow will make it all the more comfortable and relaxing for you.

Tip: Some people are hesitant to pack a neck pillow because of space. But most neck pillows have a snap closure, meaning you can easily snap it onto your carry on handle or strap it to your personal item. When it doubt, you can always wear it around your neck. No shame.

Bring an eye mask for sleeping.

If you’re flying through the day, an eye mask will be extremely helpful in getting some relatively normal shut-eye. If you’re flying on a red eye flight, it’s less necessary, but honestly every little bit helps.

Put headphones and a portable charger in your personal item.

This one is crucial for keeping yourself entertained or productive. Headphones for jamming or listening to podcasts and a portable charger for keeping your mobile devices charged. Sometime flights have the USB port, but you can’t always count on them to be functioning… Yes, I’m serious. Pack headphones, a portable charger, and your cord just in case.

Download podcasts.

Fun, educational entertainment! Podcasts have become one of my favorite pastimes for flying. I just download a few interesting ones before my flight and enjoy them while I’m on board.

Pro Traveler Tip: If you’re traveling somewhere new, I love listening to podcasts about that country or location to start getting inspired and excited about my adventure. You could even download a couple of podcasts that teach you some essential words or phrases in your destination country, too!

The Tattoo Taboo for the Asian Woman

0

Tattoos have been around for centuries. From the Native Americans to the ancient Egyptians to the Maori tribes. Tattoos have held significance in a lot of cultures. They symbolised a person’s identity in a number of ways, whether it be status within a community, passage into adulthood or a connection to a spiritual group.

Being the complex creatures that we are, we communicate in multiple ways. Art and symbolicism are some of the most consistent forms of communications us humans have sustained over the span of our existence as a species.

I like to think it is probably because of man’s fascination with art which is as old as time itself. Art, drawings, symbols- they have, time and time again, helped us express ourselves; be it to communicate with others, or to communicate with ourselves. It is only natural that we decided to wear this symbolic form of art on our skins forever.

For some, tattoos are indeed a form of rebellion. A way of finally making a stand after being asked not to rock the boat their whole life. Tattoos empower one and give the confidence to walk with pride. You can only appreciate the importance of this if you have had to follow without question; like an ideal Indian girl.

It is a coming of age. A graduation ceremony. A reclamation of identity.

The critical need for self-expression for an Indian woman is a symbol of liberation and a rejection of oppressive and limiting rules. Although not everyone expresses themselves in this manner, it is important to let the ones who choose tattooing as a form of therapeutic self-expression be themselves because dare I say, tattoos save lives.

The stigma may never really go away but so long as there is a need for us as humans to express ourselves, tattoos will be there. Besides, public opinion is of the least concern when one gets a tattoo. One may come across negative comments but as long as you are firm in your decision, who cares what others say?

Now, excuse me while I go plan my next tattoo. 😉

Impossibly High Beauty Standards Are Ruining My Self Esteem

0

Impossibly High Beauty Standards Are Ruining My Self Esteem

In my excitement, I whipped out my iPhone for a photo opportunity the moment I got into my car after leaving the salon. I placed one hand on the steering wheel of my Volkswagen and used the other hand to take the photo. Then I looked at the picture on my phone screen in horror.

On the screen, in high definition and vibrant color, was one giant beefy paw with cheerfully bright nail polish. It was my giant beefy paw. And I didn’t like it one bit.

How could I have believed that a coat of polish would make my large, chubby hands appear less manly? My palms looked so wide. My fingers were thick. And the lines — so many lines everywhere. There were creases on the backs of my hands, creases on my knuckles, creases on my palms. What was happening to me?

In my mind, I remembered hands — other people’s hands — as being perfectly smooth, lineless, flawless, artistic arrangements of elegant fingers and slender palms. My hands were the exact opposite of the hands in my mind’s eye. They weren’t hands; they were anti-hands.

Adjusting to Your Home is no Different than a New Country

0

I’ve been home from China for nearly three weeks now. While it hasn’t hit me that I’m not going back to China any time soon yet, there’s one thing that both countries have in common. Adjusting to each place can be difficult.

First, there’s the jet lag

There’s a twelve-hour difference between Michigan and China. No matter which country I go to, I have at least two weeks to adjust to time zones.

For both countries, this means I’m in bed insanely early and waking up earlier. If I’m not careful, I look like a zombie for about a week while I adjust.

This means I’ve got to be careful about sitting down anywhere cause at any time, I could fall asleep. The only time I’m okay to be sitting down is when I’m eating. I’ve never been so tired that I’ve fallen asleep while eating. Not yet.

It makes me want to be lazy in my first week I’m in any country. It’s hard to want to do anything when you never know when you’re going to crash.

Then there’s the food

Two countries. Two appetites. Two food cultures. Everything from adjusting to table manners to different kinds of food, I have to re-adjust when I go to both countries.

In America, a lot of the food feels heavy after I eat it, I tend to have a lot of stomachaches after a meal. I’m not sure if it’s what’s being put in the food or the fact there’s way more dairy in the diet than what’s in China. I can taste the sugar with almost every piece of food or drink I consume.

I Moved Across the Country and Never Looked Back

0

There are these moments in your life where you don’t know where the power is coming from, but you find yourself making a choice, a choice you never imagined you would make — even in your bravest daydreams — but somehow, you choose, and everything changes.


Gainesville, Florida is small, but radical — like most college towns — a liberal escape in the part of Florida where people wave Southern accents and racist flags.

I’d been there 6 years, after an entire childhood spent in the same Central Florida house. Never left the country. Never left my comfort zone, if I could help it.

Sure, the winter was impossibly cold. Especially coming from Florida with nothing but a cotton hoodie. And especially with no money for expensive oil heat. And especially because my housemate parked on top of the place we were supposed to refill the oil, then went away for all of December, so heat wasn’t even an option. And especially because when we tried to plug in more than one space heater in the house, we blew a fuse.

So I slept in a sleeping bag all winter, drank a lot of hot tea. And we made a house rule that any time anyone complained,

“It’s so cold in here!”

we all had to get up and dance together. It was almost always me uttering it. Everyone would groan, and then everyone would dance.


Everything fell right into place. It doesn’t always. In 2013, we got priced out of Seattle and moved to the country.

Seattle has changed a lot. Most of the punk houses have been torn down. Tent cities are growing, and so far, the rich aren’t doing near enough to make the city accessible for everyone again.

But as for me, at that time in my life, I was right where I needed to be. I didn’t need to get medicated. I just needed to take a leap, to leave my comfort zone and have an adventure. I came thisclose to accepting a mediocre life. But I made one brave decision, and it changed everything.

No Fixed Abode: Quitting Home Ownership

0

A little over a year ago, I quit my job, sold my home and gave away 99% of my possessions so that I could travel the world. It was the most exciting thing I’ve ever done.

To me, quitting a great job was very scary (No more income! A large gap in my employment history! Burning bridges right, left & centre! Throwing away a fabulous career!) but I’ve come to realise that for most people, that isn’t the scary part. The thing that everyone asks about — the part that they can’t quite get their heads around — is that I don’t have anywhere to live.

Then his spiel took a turn to a personal testimony of his experience with IF. He’d burnt more fat than he previously could with any other diet. He felt happier, healthier and more energetic. He’d streamlined his morning routine and was saving money by no longer buying late-night snacks. All because he didn’t eat for 16 hours of the day.

Sitting there, I felt like I was given one of those ‘too good to be true’ offers than lead to you joining a cult. I was sceptical. It sounded great and all that, but I’m a breakfast guy. Besides, it sounds like a fad diet that I wouldn’t be able to maintain. I’d drop some weight while doing it, then I’d put it back on when I realised I couldn’t maintain it.

The Journey Begins

A month later, I conceded that I might as well give it a go. Over the past few years, I had been carrying a few extra kilograms that I had tried to drop. For the six months prior, I had been going to the gym regularly to try and burn it off. In those six months, I had shifted the scales slightly, but not enough considering the work I was putting in. Intermittent fasting became a very tempting option. I thought I’d give it a go.

I spent a lot of time researching the 16:8 approach to fasting. Honestly, there are a lot of mixed things out there, with a lot of evidence supporting it’s proclaimed benefits, while others are not as sold on it. The overarching point I found was to give it a go and see if it works for you.

The first couple of weeks were tough. My body was so conditioned to eat at certain times and I had to fight hard to resist. This was one of the big learning experiences for me. I had to remind myself that I don’t need to eat right now and that it was my body responding to a change in routine. I decided to be as strict as possible in the first month, knowing that it takes about 4–5 weeks to establish a new routine, and it worked.

Developing Self-Control Through The Wonders of Intermittent Fasting

0

I remember staring at my watch hoping that I could eat now. Had it been 16 hours yet? I imagined my stomach passive-aggressively pretending to digest knowing full well it was empty. I thought I couldn’t wait, but I could. I had waited yesterday and I was fine, I could wait today.

When I First Met Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting, IF, first came into my life while I was catching up with a Personal Trainer friend. It was about 10 am and we’d met for coffee, but I was feeling peckish. I asked him if he wanted to order food and he responded by looking down at his watch before politely declining.

Without much of a prompt, he spilt the good news of IF like a true evangelist. He took me on a journey through time, casting our minds back to a simpler generation of hunter and gatherers. Passionately, he explained to me that the ‘three-meal day’ simply isn’t practical and I was simply conditioned to think that I needed it. I could spend all morning hunting and gathering and still not waste away due to starvation, he told me.

The shortest & simplest meditation

You don’t have to get fancy with your meditation, short or long. In fact, the easiest and shortest meditation I know is often the most effective for any reason you might want to meditate.

Simply sit, stand or lie in a comfortable position and close your eyes. Take in a deep breath, inhaling slowly and all the way into your belly. Hold your breath for a moment, then exhale slowly. Repeat for however long you like.

Short or long, meditation has the power to change your mood, your day, and even your life. If you’ve never tried a short meditation, why not do it today? You might be amazed at what happens.

The Argument For Short Meditations

0

Most of the time when people talk about meditation, you hear a couple of things:

· It’s really great and has tons of benefits

· You should do it consistently, usually daily

When this is what you always hear, it might surprise you to also hear that you might be better off doing short meditations rather than long ones.

If it’s so good for you, and you should do it daily, then doesn’t it also make sense that you should meditate for as long as you can each day? Not necessarily. If you can find long periods of time in your day to fit in a lengthy meditation, more power to you.

But there is an argument to be made for doing short meditations.

Others are more likely to understand and leave you alone

Maybe your spouse doesn’t get why you meditate. Or you might have kids who won’t leave you alone for a 30–60 minute meditation. Perhaps you have a roommate that isn’t into the whole be quiet and respect your roomie thing.

When you share a space with other people, or are responsible for little humans, finding time for a lengthy meditation that doesn’t get interrupted can be pretty rare. But you can usually find 15 minutes or so to practice a short one. Sometimes you can even sneak off on a “bathroom break” and get a 2–3 minute meditation done if that’s all you can manage.

You can do more than one

When you do shorter meditations, it makes it easier to find time for them. But it also leaves it open for you to practice multiple times a day when you have more time. This can be really useful if you meditate to reduce anxiety or stress, because it allows you to practice whenever you need it.

You can arm yourself with an arsenal of short meditations that fit your needs, from anxiety or stress reduction to breath awareness and more. Whether you use an app where you favorite these meditations, download them into your phone, or simply commit them to memory or do what comes naturally, you can easily access the calm, peaceful state that comes with meditation anytime, anywhere.

When you understand that even a short meditation can help, it becomes much easier to find a meditation short enough to suit however much time you have when you feel the need.

Do You Want Stronger Friendships, a More Balanced Mindset?

0

I’ve been a runner since college. I took up the sport because, as a result of too much beer and late-night fried food, I’d become a victim of the so-called “Freshman 15.” Running was cheap. No gym membership, just a pair of shoes and you can go straight from your front door.

In the beginning, I was a roadrunner. I ran alone. Well, mostly alone. Sometimes I took my sister’s dog out for runs, but not often because he was decidedly anti-running. We would get about a mile in and he would sit down and refuse to move. I would gently tug, beg and plead. But he was steadfast. Eventually, I gave up, and we would walk home together.

Back in those days, I ran maybe 3 days a week. My individual runs were probably in the 4 to 6 mile range.

So, a few things were critical in order to make sure this was a successful adventure and no one was airlifted out from inside the canyon.

  1. Everyone got along with one another and that had been tested before in difficult conditions.
  2. Everyone had run together before and was confident in each other’s abilities.
  3. Everyone studied the map.
  4. Everyone was briefed on what the adventure would entail — the elevation gain, available water in the canyon, possible weather conditions, etc.

I found these same tenants to be true in building a business. I used many of these criteria (more or less) when choosing the cofounders for my first startup, and when it was time to build our team. What’s the culture, and are these people a fit for that? Is everyone acutely aware of what it’s going to take to get this business off the ground? Have they seen the roadmap? Etc.

In conclusion, ultrarunning is crazy. No doubt about it. But life is also crazy.

In order to prepare yourself for how crazy life will be, I have always found it useful to practice rolling with the punches. For me, this means simulating life’s highs and lows in a controlled environment. Building up my reserves of strength in a place away from the busy hum of life, where there is dirt underfoot (or rocks, if you live in Colorado) no judgment, no pressure, just the sound of my own breathlessness and maybe a friend’s voice.

Now, I am ready when life decides to unexpectedly sucker-punch me in the gut. Are you? If not, may I recommend a long-distance run?

The Next Big Thing in Fashion? Not Washing Your Clothes.

0

I have a confession to make: I’ve been wearing the same black T-shirt every single day for two weeks now and I haven’t washed it yet. Anybody who knows me will realize this is very out of character. I’m a laundry addict. I get inordinate pleasure out of transforming my toddler’s mud- and applesauce-covered clothes into freshly laundered, neatly folded piles.

And yet, I may hold off on washing this T-shirt for another few weeks. It miraculously looks (and smells!) like it was just cleaned. This $65 T-shirt is made by a startup called Unbound Merino, founded in 2016, that creates wool travel clothes that can go weeks without being washed.

While the brands I have featured in this story have made less frequent laundering a core part of their design and marketing , there’s a growing awareness among consumers over the last few years that we may be over-washing most of the clothes in our wardrobe. In 2017, the nonprofit Fashion Revolution, which promotes sustainability and social justice in the fashion industry, launched a major campaign called the Care Label Project to educate consumers about the environmental impact of over-washing their clothes. The organization partnered with the washing machine manufacture AEG to help 14 designers incorporate labels that said “Don’t Overwash” into 18,200 styles of clothes.

The point of the project was to make the case that the current system of care labels on clothes are antiquated. The symbols we find on our clothing tags were first invented half a century ago, and often they aren’t very carefully thought through. One designer who contributed to the project, Doriane van Overeem, believes that many fashion brands just don’t want to go through the hassle of educating the customer on the most eco-friendly way to clean garments themselves. This is why they ask the customer to dry clean them, a process that is not very sustainable but frees the brand of any responsibility should a garment get ruined.

This new generation of wash-less brands are contributing to the broader effort of helping consumers better understand the environmental impact of caring for their garments. In the end, as Bishop says, it takes time to change someone’s behavior and psychological outlook, especially after years of being told that they’re unclean if they aren’t wearing freshly laundered clothes. All three of these brands believe that the best way to get the message across is for the customer to have a good experience with their clothes. “Once the clothes are in customer’s hands, you’ve already won half the battle,” says Bishop. “They’ll suddenly realize they haven’t washed their clothes in a couple of weeks and it still feels fresh.”

I’m now on week three of wearing the black T-shirt. It’s so versatile, I’ve worn it with shorts, skirts, and jeans. It kept me cool through several sweltering days when I took my kid to a theme park. And as promised, it still looks crisp and smells fresh. (Believe me, I’ve sniffed it a lot.) It might just be enough to convert a laundry junkie like me to back off from my beloved washing machine.

 

Genderless Kei – Japan’s Hot New Fashion Trend

0

One of the hottest Japanese fashion trends to watch for in 2016 is not a specific brand, type of clothing, or makeup look – it’s Genderless boys!

Genderless Kei (“kei” means “style”) blew up in the Japanese media after several top Genderless models appeared in the popular Tokyo Girls Collection 2015 Autumn/Winter fashion show. This new style tribe has been gaining popularity on the street – and social media – ever since.

Technically, the Genderless Kei boom applies to both men and women, but so far Genderless boys have been getting all of the attention.

Yuutarou
Yuutaro works as a charisma staff at the popular Harajuku resale boutique San To Nibun No Ichi. His look is cute and childlike, with lots of pastel colors. The legions of teen girls and boys who frequent the shop look to him for inspiration. Like a few of the other models listed here, he has been popular long before Genderless became a buzz word, but the Japanese media has decided that he fits the mold.

The Genderless Kei boom is very new in Japan. As more models join the movement, they’ll likely find new and exciting ways to experiment with fashion unbound by traditional gender rules. We also haven’t heard much from Genderless Kei women thus far – something that will hopefully change in the future.

It’s possible that Genderless Kei is just another fashion trend that will fade away one the initial interest is gone. But it could also be the beginning of a different way for people to look at the rules of fashion in Japan. Either way, it’s already proven itself one of the hottest Japanese fashion trends of 2015 and 2016.

If you’d like to know more about Genderless Kei, you can search for either “ジェンダーレス系” (Genderless Kei) or simply “ジェンダーレス” (Genderless) in Japanese on Google, Instagram, or Twitter.

The Two Most Important Tools to Reconnect With Your Partner

0

We all experience conflict in our relationships.

Whether it’s a recurring argument over something you and your partner just can’t agree on, or random distancing because of slight annoyances that pop out of nowhere, conflict is a natural part of any relationship.

The only question is: how fast will we move past these hurdles? Will we let them control us?

Or, will we have the awareness and know-how to turn these hurdles into opportunities for greater love and connection.

Why is this so worthwhile investing effort in?

Because the benefits of having harmony in your relationship are huge!

Research has shown that happy relationships help relieve harmful levels of stress, which can adversely affect coronary arteries, gut function, insulin regulation, and the immune system.

The #1 Tool to Making Things Work

A skill that is a must have in any relationship is Conscious Listening

How you listen to your partner will have a profound influence on the way you take them in, appreciate them and relate to them. Your listening habits as a couple will determine whether you find yourself bonding, or arguing.

When we feel that someone is really listening to us, it helps diffuse a lot of the negative emotion and frustration that builds up in our life, and could otherwise bottle up and create havoc in our relationship.

Conscious listening is not just about hearing what your partner has to say, but wanting to feel them, to really know them deeply.

It’s moving your self-focus towards your partner little by little, to perceive more of how they see reality.

As they speak to you, you need to “make room”, by putting yourself aside, and taking them in without judgment.

It’s also about taking the time to mutually learn who our partner is, to talk about what we need from each other, and how to help each other be our best selves.

This is so important because it’s only when we communicate and want to fulfill each other’s needs, that we can connect and feel satisfied in our relationship!

Tool #2: How to Be Smart, Even When You’re Right?

The second tool is all about dealing with conflict in the moment.

Even when you have dedicated time and effort to listen to your partner, get to know them better, and deeply connect to them, conflicts are bound to come up.

Relationships are dynamic and we can be triggered by a myriad of events, behaviors or even something that is said in a way that defies our expectations.

How we react to these triggering events is crucial.

If you can manage to delay your automatic response of judging, criticizing and blaming, you will solve 99% of your relationship problems!

Delaying the response doesn’t mean you avoid the issues that need to be confronted, it simply means that you raise them in a manner that is effective and does not start a fight.

Avoiding the immediate urge to lash out or criticize makes room for you to later approach your partner calmly and tell them how you felt, and how you chose to not make a scene about it (because you love them! Yes, say it!).

This approach will make room for a much more accepting, open conversation.

Conscious listening, as well as resisting your automatic responses are two tools that put together, can completely transform your relationships.

Remember to have compassion for yourself!

Relationships take work, and practice makes perfect. With willingness from both sides to change, you will find that you both go through the most amazing transformation as a couple and as individuals.

The 4 Convolutional Neural Network Models That Can Classify Your Fashion Images

0

Clothes shopping is a taxing experience. My eyes get bombarded with too much information. Sales, coupons, colors, toddlers, flashing lights, and crowded aisles are just a few examples of all the signals forwarded to my visual cortex, whether or not I actively try to pay attention. The visual system absorbs an abundance of information. Should I go for that H&M khaki pants? Is that a Nike tank top? What color are those Adidas sneakers?

Can a computer automatically detect pictures of shirts, pants, dresses, and sneakers? It turns out that accurately classifying images of fashion items is surprisingly straight-forward to do, given quality training data to start from. In this tutorial, we’ll walk through building a machine learning model for recognizing images of fashion objects using the Fashion-MNIST dataset. We’ll walk through how to train a model, design the input and output for category classifications, and finally display the accuracy results for each model.

Last Takeaway

The fashion domain is a very popular playground for applications of machine learning and computer vision. The problems in this domain is challenging due to the high level of subjectivity and the semantic complexity of the features involved. I hope that this post has been helpful for you to learn about the 4 different approaches to build your own convolutional neural networks to classify fashion images. You can view all the source code in my GitHub repo at this link. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions on improvement!

— —

If you enjoyed this piece, I’d love it if you hit the clap button ? so others might stumble upon it. You can find my own code on GitHub, and more of my writing and projects at https://jameskle.com/. You can also follow me on Twitteremail me directly or find me on LinkedInSign up for my newsletter to receive my latest thoughts on data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence right at your inbox!

Extreme Athleticism Is the New Midlife Crisis

0

The last thing I remember before passing out was the pain. It had overtaken everything, hunching my back, and curling my fingers into claws pecking out incoherent thoughts on my laptop before finally collapsing. It was 3 a.m. on the morning of my 43rd birthday, and depression had finally consumed me.

There was no clear reason as to why it was happening. Objectively, my life was good. I had a beautiful family, I owned my house, and I had a dream job covering the NBA. But I have lived with a form of mild chronic depression since I was a teenager, and depression has a way of taking everything that’s good and turning it against you. My job was a pressure cooker with endless travel and sleepless nights in hotels. My house felt like a 30-year millstone. My family tried to give me space, but all I really wanted to do was escape. That a lot of people would eagerly trade places with me only added to the feelings of guilt and negativity. I spiraled. Things had to change. I had to change.

You do not commit to someone because things are perfect, you commit to them in spite of the fact that they’re not.

Commitment is not just an arbitrary word to be found in the dictionary. It is not just a statement of temporary monogamy. It is a pledge, a vow, a way of living that embodies honor and integrity. Commitment is not a rule, or a regulation — it is an action.

Commitment is not the act of losing your freedom; but exercising it to choose who you want to give your most valuable gifts to:

Your time, your emotions, and your heart.

Sorry, you’ll never find the perfect person. But, you will find the right person, once you realize that the two do not have to be the same.