The most unfortunate part of being a self-storage supervisor is having to occasionally discipline or even terminate employees. The goal is to avoid reaching a point of no return with a team member, but unfortunately, corrective action is sometimes inevitable. Lets examine some strategies to prevent the need for punishment and the best ways to move forward if an employee does violate your policies and procedures.

Discipline can be unpleasant and disruptive to your self-storage business, so why not try to prevent reprimands and firings altogether? The best way to do this is through the following four strategies.

Establish policies and procedures. Clarifying expectations and setting workplace standards are important parts of mitigating staff issues. Even if you have just one employee, establishing a set of policies and procedures is critical to measuring performance.

Create an operations manual and employee handbook. The latter should outline what your company expects and accepts from staff as well as identify terminable offenses. There are numerous industry resources to help you cull this material, including attorneys, consultants and suppliers who specialize in self-storage. Once you have your guides in place, youll be able to point to any specific violations that occur.

Audit. Manager tasks, such as daily close and balance, petty-cash transmission, and bank deposits, should be audited regularly. This preserves honesty, maintains balance and immediately identifies issues. Modern technology allows owners to easily keep tabs on various systems, with most processes accessible online. If you have a manager whos stealing, for example, regular auditing will typically uncover the crime within the month it occurs.

Onsite audits are also key to preventing or catching policy infractions. If possible, site visits should occur monthly, with time for an in-depth review of all operational, marketing and site inspections. Document any problems discovered. Have the manager sign the report and retain a copy.

If you have multiple sites, include each in a monthly overview report, with scores and numbers for key performance indicators like activity, income, traffic, closing ratios and delinquency. Distribute the report to every facility, allowing teams to compare their site numbers against those of the group.

Conduct performance reviews. An important part of keeping staff off the path toward discipline is providing constant feedback and mentorship. This includes setting goals and measuring performance for each employee.

Regular reviews are an excellent way to check progress, identify areas for improvement and document qualifications for raises. At least annually, have each team member complete a review of his own performance, evaluating work progress and goals. He should discuss these with his supervisor, who should also provide scores for each area.

Regularly documenting progress reduces surprises and helps quickly identify issues that need to be remedied through additional training, mentorship or other supportive measures. Regular staff communication will reduce serious policy infractions.

Train and retrain. Initial and ongoing training is a strategic way to prevent employee missteps, or correct poor decisions or actions. Not everyone will completely understand a procedure or system, so you may need to retrain someone more than once. This is why an operations manual can help staff down a path to excellence. Supplemental training can help make them feel part of the team.

Performance often improves through extra training, in which case no further action should be needed. However, there does come a point when, if an employee isnt progressing, he may need to be moved to a different environment or position. Depending on the reasons for the continuing deficiency, a verbal or written warning may be warranted. Consult prior written records of any disciplinary action to make decisions regarding the employees abilities, attitude, aptitude and competence.

Depending on the severity of a work infraction, there are four main steps to disciplining an employee, according to team-collaboration website Lucidchart: verbal warning, written warning, suspension and improvement plan and, lastly, termination. The goal should be to stop the progression at the first step. Ideally, the disciplinary action should make the employer and employee comfortable with how issues are being addressed, including expectations to prevent a reoccurrence.

Employee discipline should not be seen as a form of punishment, but as an opportunity for growth and development, according to Process Street, a provider of business-workflow software. If approached with the right mindset and executed correctly, it can be an effective training method that helps improve performance while establishing a safe and honest working environment for all employees.

From my three decades in the self-storage business, I can tell you most owners and operators dont follow a formal disciplinary process. Many are entrepreneurs at heart and prefer to fly by the seat of their pants. The problem is shortcuts can leave you exposed to wrongful-termination lawsuits or, at best, disgruntled employees.

Dont skip self-protection. Its crucial to document your process for staff reprimands, disciplinary action and termination. If you need to advance to a written warning, it should include:

I recommend using a formal written-warning form that includes:

The form should be signed and dated by the employee and supervisor. If the employee refuses to acknowledge the warning, that should be noted on the form with the supervisors signature and date. Documentation is vital to protecting your self-storage business.

Every self-storage operator needs a structured process to set clear expectations and hold employees accountable for performance and behavioral issues. This can help ensure a smooth transition during those rare occasions when a person must be terminated.

Its never fun to fire someone, so bring a calm mind, detailed documentation and respect to the discussion. If you handle the situation in a professional manner, the employee should leave feeling hes been treated fairly and in accordance to the law, and that he was given every opportunity to improve.

Similar to a written warning, create a formal employee-termination notice. It should include the employees name and title, date of termination, and a list of violations and previous warnings. Include an employer statement explaining in detail the reasons for termination. I also recommend including a statement referencing your employee handbook and a declaration to immediately return company-owned property like keys, uniforms, cellphone, laptops, etc. An explanation about final compensation and instructions regarding health benefits is also helpful.

If you have good operational systems in place at your self-storage facility, terminations will be the exception, not the rule. Rather than being presented as a punishment, discipline should be framed as a chance to learn to grow. I like to call it T2R4 (train, test, reward, retrain, retest, reward). If approached with the right attitude and documentation, this approach can be an effective way to improve team performance.

M. Anne Ballard is president of training, marketing and developmental services for Universal Storage Group and the founder of Universal Management Co. Shes past president of the Georgia Self Storage Association and has served on the national Self Storage Associations board of directors. Shes also participated in the planning, design and operation of numerous storage facilities. For more information, call 770.801.1888; visit http://www.universalstoragegroup.com.

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Ways to Prevent Staff Discipline and Termination in Self-Storage and What to Do When You Can't - Inside Self-Storage

While the events that marked the start of 2021 have made the year already feel like its lasted an entire decade, we are, in fact, just getting started. Which means there is still timeso much time!for good things to happen, and dare we say, even things to look forward to. Like these 21 podcasts, all of them premiering in the first half of 2021 and bringing something new for fans of true crime, self-help, comedy, television, spirituality, and politics. It should be an auspicious year for audiophiles, even if the jury is still out on everything else.

Chicano Squad (Vox)

Premiered January 5

Hosted by actor, writer, and activist Cristela Alonzo (Cristela), Chicano Squad details the true story of five Latino officersthe titular Chicano Squadwho were assigned to solve homicides in Houstons Latino neighborhoods in the late 1970s. The 11-episode series, which premiered on January 5, is a deeply reported and sobering look into the intense racial discriminaton and police brutality that plagued Houston during the time period, and resulted in a growing number of unsolved murders. Featuring interviews with members of the squad, including Jaime Escalante, Raymond Gonzales, and Cecil Mosqueda, and grounded by Alonzos compelling narration, Chicano Squad delivers on true-crime conventions while digging deeper, unafraid to expose the social inequities and institutional failures that are so often the fulcrum for violence and tragedy.

Listen: The Death of Jos Campos Torres

The Hoame Podcast (The Brand Is Female)

Premiered January 7

As registered psychotherapists and cofounders of the Hoame meditation studio, hosts Carolyn Plater and Stephanie Kersta are on a quest to improve societys collective mental health through meditation, mindfulness, and other healing modalities. On The Hoame Podcast, Plater and Kersta will speak with healers, authors, doctors, and spiritual leaders to explore topics including crystal work, energy healing, and tarot reading. While their clinical practice is rooted in science, Plater and Kerstas goal is to expand listeners understanding of what healing, medicine, and wellness can look like, with a particular focus on mental health issues like anxiety, depression, addiction, and stress.

Listen: Tarot reading: learning to trust our intuition

The Apology Line (Wondery)

Premiered January 19

If you could call a number and apologize for anything youd ever done, what would you apologize for? In the 1980s, a man named Allan Bridgealso known as Mr. Apologyset up a hotline where New Yorkers could come clean about whatever wrongdoings were weighing on them. As the confessions flowed in, Bridge soon found himself mired in tales of infidelity, drug dealing, and even murder. Hosted by Marissa Bridge, The Apology Line charts Allans complicated relationship with his own creation, which threatened to consume him as he became more and more entangled in his callers lives and crimes.

Listen: Whos Sorry Now?

The Kennedys (Spotify)

Premiered January 19

Launched on the 60th anniversary of John F. Kennedys inauguration, The Kennedys will examine the highs and lows of the famed American dynasty, from their outsize influence in the realms of politics, entertainment, and public service, to their more sordid scandals, tragedies, and conspiracies. Hosted by Carter Roy (Conspiracy Theories, Unsolved Murders), The Kennedys aims to provide a new perspective on the Camelot myth.

Listen: Who Stole JFKs Brain?

No F*cks Given (Cadence13)

Premiering January 26

Hosted by best-selling author and self-help anti-guru Sarah Knight, this weekly podcast is based on her No F*cks Given Guides self-help book series (The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck). In her characteristically profane and candid style, Knight will offer unique self-improvement advice, with the goal of helping listeners live happier, calmer, and more confident lives. Topics will include getting organized, surviving the daily grind, making big life changes, and improving relationships with family and friends. Preaching her care less and get more out of life ethos, No F*cks Given aims to fire up listeners who want to start 2021 in high gear.

Anything for Selena (WBUR and Futuro Media)

Premiering January 28

Hosted by journalist Maria Garcia, this 10-episode series revisits the story of beloved Mexican American pop star Selena Quintanillas life and death from a deeply personal angle, and explores what the singers legacy can reveal about identity and belonging. As a queer, first-generation Mexican immigrant, Garcia weaves her own life story with Selenas and provides additional cultural analysis and historical context, resulting in a fresh, vivid perspective on what loving Selena in 2021 really means.

Preview: A Podcast About Belonging

The History of Sketch Comedy (Audible)

As one of the cocreators and costars of the Emmy-winning sketch series Key & Peele (not to mention a five-year stint on MadTV), host Keegan-Michael Key is uniquely qualified to guide listeners through the history of the sketch comedy genre. In this 10-episode series, Key will trace the roots of sketch comedy as far back as the 1500s, and work forward to chart the rise of the form on seminal television shows like SNL and SCTV. Directed and cowritten by his wife, Elle Key, The History of Sketch Comedy will also provide critical analysis of influential sketches, characters, and performers who helped shape the comedic form, while weaving in Keys own personal journey with the genre.

Vox Quick Hits (Vox)

Premiering January 2021

Originally posted here:
21 Podcasts to Look Forward to in 2021 - Vanity Fair

Greetings and salutations, star children. If the new year has felt more like a stubborn hangover than a fresh start, fear not. Aquarius season is here to baptize us in the water of its weirdness. Aquarius energy is all about shifting structures, questioning norms and moving in a humanist direction. We all want better, but Aquarius season reminds us that better rarely comes easily. The danger of its energy lies in prioritizing global change over immediate intimacy, or believing one can exist without the other. We are all the sum of our daily interactions and exchanges, so what are yours communicating to and for the world at large?

AquariusJan. 20 to Feb. 18

The work of Nobel Prize-winning writer and fellow Aquarius, Olga Tokarczuk, is described as inspired by maps and a perspective from above, which tends to make her microcosmos a mirror of macrocosmos. The same vantage should feel familiar to you, water bearer. In the coming weeks, I hope the space between what you see and what you feel grows closer and you are able to see the map and mechanisms of your own heart with distanced clarity.

Notable Aquarius: Flo Kennedy / Feb. 11, 1916

PiscesFeb. 19 to March 20

A prize Pisces in my life recently passed on the following relationship wisdom: There is no one-way liberation. If you are trapped or feeling trapped, so too is the person you perceive as your captor. Get free, baby, and by liberating yourself, youll double your dividends by emancipating whoever has been sharing your emotional prison. Youre the key and the cage.

Notable Pisces: Alan Rickman / Feb. 21, 1946

AriesMarch 21 to April 19

The suns movement into Aquarius activates your 11th house of friendship and teamwork. This is an excellent time to collaborate with others for the common goal of the common good. On a separate but related note, the illumination of the 11th house asks you to consider what kind of friend you are and how generous of a collaborator you are capable of being. Remember, winning is not nearly as important as evolving.

Notable Aries: Dorothy Allison / April 11, 1949

TaurusApril 20 to May 20

Play the long game, not the quick war, Taurus. Current planetary placements favor acting rashly rather than rationally. Spite may well be your favorite spice but pause, please, to consider whom you are punishing by allowing emotion to overrule you. Dont poison the well while you are still drinking from it.

Notable Taurus: Stevie Wonder / May 13, 1950

GeminiMay 21 to June 20

Its the season of strange shores and outrageous schemes for you, Gemini. You will be drawn toward places and people youve never thought attainable, and opportunities youve never thought possible. Jupiter, benevolent celestial body that it is, has arrived to convince you that you can have everything youve ever dreamed. A word of caution: Perhaps youre failing to dream to the degree that you need to. If you think small, you will fail to fit in the vastness that awaits you.

Notable Gemini: William Butler Yeats / June 13, 1865

CancerJune 21 to July 22

Your energy intensifies in the last two weeks of this month, Cancer. Your claws feel less like emotional tuning forks and more like lightning rods. Youll likely feel emboldened, as if you cant quite keep what you have inside. I wholly support your freedom of speech and expression of self, but I caution you to think twice before speaking and thrice before acting in any and all group situations. You want to be seen and heard as a collected human not a raging bull(y).

Notable Cancer: M.I.A. / July 18, 1975

LeoJuly 23 to Aug. 22

Poet T.S. Eliot wrote, What we know of other people is only our memory of the moments during which we knew them. And they have changed since then. We must remember that at every meeting we are meeting a stranger. Consider this wisdom in the weeks ahead, forgive what you can and greet everyone you meet, stranger or otherwise, with the grace of a clean slate and new possibility.

Notable Leo: Jackie Kennedy / July 28, 1929

VirgoAug. 23 to Sept. 22

An unforeseen opportunity will soon present itself. To claim it, you will have to act fast and throw a generous amount of caution to the wind. I cant tell you to jump or to stand still, I only ask you to consider this question when making your choice: Are you escaping or are you expanding?

Notable Virgo: Iris Apfel / Aug. 29, 1921

LibraSept. 23 to Oct. 22

Its been said that we are all composed of four rooms: physical, emotional, spiritual and mental. To live fully and know ourselves wholly we have to visit each room every day. Imagine you were asked to give a home tour of your own interior, Libra. Is there an empty room, a cluttered room, a locked room? Take stock, tent for termites, sage for the soul and clean the windows so you might see yourself and let yourself be seen.

Notable Libra: Elmore Leonard / Oct. 11, 1925

ScorpioOct. 23 to Nov. 21

The feminine is at the forefront for you in the weeks ahead, Scorpio. Your mother or mother figure could play a role in how your life is developing. Alternatively, this may be a crucial life moment when you are finally able to mother yourself in a way youve always needed. Tend to your vulnerabilities, starve your fears and nourish your self.

Notable Scorpio: Grace Slick / Oct. 30, 1939

SagittariusNov. 22 to Dec. 21

Action planet Mars is joining forces with Uranus, the planet of sudden, profound change. This union takes up residence in your sixth house of self-improvement and service. You can do it all, Sagittarius, but at what cost to your physical and mental health? Practice pacing yourself and delegating responsibility to people willing to help. As the resident gambler of the zodiac, what could be more thrilling than a trust fall?

Notable Sagittarius: Yolandi Visser / Dec. 1, 1984

CapricornDec. 22 to Jan. 19

Are your finances in need of course correction, Capricorn? Are you overspending and under saving? Consider the stern Swedish adage, He who buys what he does not need steals from himself. Putting a stop to this karmic thievery might require, gulp, help. Reach out to a trusted friend or professional. It may be accountability more than advice that irons your dollars and sets you straight.

Notable Capricorn: Aristotle Onassis / Jan. 15, 1906

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BARSTOOL ASTROLOGY FROM THE FLORIDA KEYS - Florida Keys Weekly

O

K, this year hasnt started the way wed hoped, but there are silver linings to finding ourselves at home again.

This time round, we know what were doing (more running at lunch, fewer Zoom quizzes), which frees up space for new activities. If we have to be cooped up for the first few months of the year, we may as well do something useful with it. That guitar gathering dust at the back of the wardrobe? A chance to dig it out. That childrens book you told yourself youd start in lockdown 1.0? Third time lucky.

From (finally) learning to fix a puncture, to perfecting your handstand, this is your ultimate self-improvement guide.

Complete Spanish course: Busuu

That post-pandemic gap year wont be much use if you cant mix with the locals. During the first lockdown, one in five Londoners committed to teaching themselves a new language; app Busuu has 12 on offer. Research proves that practicing in 10-minute chunks is the most effective way to let a language sink in, so add the app (and its sister podcast) to your weekday repertoire and track your progress with the in-app study plan. Youll be done by breakfast.

USP: Pandemic pen-pals Spanish natives will offer real-time feedback on your work, as long as youre prepared to return the favour.

Full butter croissant and puff pastry workshop: Bread Ahead

Your housemates might be sick of sourdough but wait until they wake up to freshly baked butter croissants on Sunday morning. In this two-and-a-half-hour Zoom workshop, Bread Aheads expert bakers will teach you how to bake croissants, puff pastry and almond frangipane cream from home with simple kitchen utensils. No specialist equipment is required, a workbook and ingredients list will be emailed at least two days before the workshop starts. Bakers, your time starts now.

USP: Bargain! Tickets are reduced from 25 to 10 until the end of January.

Beginner bike maintenance course: International Open Academy

That shiny new road bike you got last lockdown? Time to stop thanking your lucky stars you havent had a puncture yet and learn how to fix one you know itll happen when youre far from home in Richmond Park. The International Open Academys basics course is currently reduced to 15 from 119 and includes 30 hours of maintenance and repair tutorials to do at home in your own time. Modules range from replacing a flat tyre to taking care of your chain and theres a short multiple-choice exam at the end of each one.

USP: Pass each module to earn an official bike maintenance certificate.

Five day coding challenge: Code Institute

Code Institute claims you can learn to build your own web page in just five days, and still do your day job. The sites free coding challenge takes just one hour a day and each session will challenge you to a new task, from understanding the basics of JavaScript to adding style to your page with CSS.

USP: Text speak youll be talking HTML and CSS in less than a week.

Handstand Zoom class: Handstandman

A new skill doesnt have to involve complicated vocab lessons. In times of crisis, psychologists say being playful can boost physical and mental health, and months at home is a perfect opportunity to strengthen up and nail your handstand you need zero equipment and no one has to see you when you tumble into a hot mess on the living room floor. For expert coaching, try a 60-minute Zoom class from Blok trainer and self-described handstand man David Rutherfoord. Each at-home workshop takes 12 participants through a series of balance and overhead mobility exercises, or you can book a semi-private session for you and just two others.

USP: Start tonight Rutherfoords handstand school takes place on Monday and Thursday evenings.

Learn to play guitar: Fender Play

Led Zepplin and 750,000 others cant be wrong: Fender isnt just the frontman of guitar manufacturing, its also a pretty handy instructor. The guitar makers online learning school, Fender Play, offered subscribers three free months of guitar, bass or ukelele lessons over lockdown 1.0 and its user base rocketed six-fold. You can now subscribe for just 9.99 a month. Songs by Billie Eilish, Ed Sheeran and The Beatles are among rehearsal tracks and you can track your progress using the free guitar learning app. Users say they learnt to play Van Halens Eruption in just a week.

USP: Subscribe and receive a 10 per cent discount on all fender.com guitar gear. 9.99 a month,

Data science A-Z: Udemy

Want to get rich quick? Become a data scientist. According to jobs site Indeed, data modellers were the highest-paid earners in the UK in 2020, and the good news is online teaching platform Udemy claims you can learn the basics in 21 hours. Its data science bootcamp features lessons on cleaning and preparing your data for analysis, performing basic visualisation and how to model your data. The bad news? Youll experience first-hand the pain a data scientist goes through on a daily basis, from corrupt data to anomalies.

USP: Tutor Kirill Eremenko has written two books on data skills for follow-up reading.

Starting to write your novel: Curtis Brown Creative

You rolled your eyes at those who wrote a book during the first lockdown but this time, why not join the gang? God knows the last 12 months have offered plenty of inspiration (and free evenings). They say starting is the hardest part, so try calling in a helping hand to get you in gear: Curtis Browns six-week starting to write your novel course starts on Thursday. It aims to help you develop your idea, plan out your story and get writing and youll receive expert advice on assignments from its in-house editors.

USP: Help from heroes Guardian columnist and five-time author Anna David leads the lessons.

Drawing foundations: figure, LinkedIn Learning

The upside of life drawing from home is you can learn from the best without a snooty art tutor looking over your shoulder. LinkedIn Learnings figure-drawing class is led by Amy Wynne, a fine arts professor at Americas Clark University and is open to beginners or intermediates who fancy a refresh. She will break down a classical approach to figure drawing in simple steps: capturing gesture, structure and form, understanding the landmarks of the body, drawing proportionally and adding volume with shapes and shadows. Its filmed in a professional art studio and provides worksheets and sample poses to practice in your own time.

USP: Wynne holds an MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art.

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Get smart: the best online courses to become an even better you this lockdown - Evening Standard

Harry Toffolo has revealed the pro-active approach to self-improvement that has seen him work his way up from League Two to become one of the Championship's leading full-backs.

The Huddersfield Town defender is always looking to push himself and coax more out of his game, and his desire to consistently add new facets to his game has him constantly looking at the stats to find new ways to up his game.

Toffolo, considered one of the most-improved full-backs in the EFL in recent years, admits he regularly studies his stats and averages following matches.

Speaking on Town's YouTube Preview Show ahead of the Millwall game, Toffolo said: Im massive on stats - it's the way football is going.

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I remember looking at the stats once, and theres no point me comparing myself to Troy Deeney for example, its not my position.

"But you compare yourself to other left-backs in the Championship and the Premier League to see what theyre doing, and even in League One and League Two, because theyre at your heels and want to take your job so youve got to prepare yourself for that.

I look at the interceptions throughout the games and I was at the lower end of the stats and I thought to myself, I want to be in the top two or top three of the stats of every single possible thing I can be at, because I want to be recognised as one of the best left-backs in the league.

So I had to work on different things and it was being more aggressive defensively, and now Ive got my interceptions where Im making consistently over four or five interceptions a game. I still want to improve on that because thats just my character, but before Id be on 1.1 or 1.2 averages.

I knuckled down and thought what can I do to improve my game, the manager wants an aggressive front-foot defender, full-back as well which is harder to play against.

So I thought I had to change my game and Ive been able to do that, and theres other parts of my game Im looking to improve as well and bits I want to keep improving that are up there on the stats.

As players we look at it intensely to be honest. I think the manager looks at the GPS stats and its become second nature to us now. We dont even have to ask now, I think the performance team Callum Walsh, Josh Snowden just send us over the information straight away."

Toffolo has started every single Championship game for Town and has featured in 2,160 out of a possible 2,250 minutes.

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Huddersfield Town's Harry Toffolo reveals ambitious benchmark he aspires to reach - Yorkshire Live

MEADVILLE, Pa. (PRWEB) January 22, 2021

Titanic: a captivating handbook that retells the story of the Titanic in a way where one gets to reflect on their own life and understand the truths of God introspectively. Titanic is the creation of published author Bill Dinkins, a born-again Christian. He has been married for thirty-one years and has two daughters.

Dinkins shares, Titanic: Facts and Faith is a labor of inspiration. Like millions of others, I am a Titanic enthusiast. As a Christian, I see many spiritual insights in the story of the Titanic and know that people can glean a lot from the story.

Written like a graphic novel, the dramatic history of the Titanic is told with a good deal of introspection about the dangers of being distracted in life. The story of the Titanic is about life and death. Titanic: Facts and Faith is about existence on the other side: the side after death. We are all on the Titanic of life. Our own iceberg awaits us. Its not a question of if but when it will strike. What then?

While we should not hasten the end of our lives, we should get to the point where our own biological death does not create sheer panic. When biological life is over, what do we see then?

We should live life between the tension of living and enjoying our life; we also should look with eager expectation at the life to come. To focus on only one and not the other is not balanced.

This book is also about self-improvement. God is just a prayer away. God does not have to race across the universe when you call his name. He is already with you. He is an ever-present help in a time of need. Remember the words ever present. So read and enjoy with your guard down. God may speak to your heart and mind a little while you read.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Bill Dinkinss new book is a powerful read that will bring one closer to God and discover a variety of important lessons through a famous true story.

Everyone, may it be children or adults, will find something striking and worth remembering in these pages.

View a synopsis of Titanic on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase Titanic at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Titanic, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.

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Bill Dinkins's newly released Titanic constructs a brilliant way of embracing spiritual insights and truths. - PR Web

A pushy or demanding approach will cause friction between you and those who can help you. Take better care of your health, possessions and investments. Dont rely on others to do things for you. Strive to maintain peace of mind. Be charming and diplomatic.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Difficulty with a friend, relative or co-worker will surface if you let your emotions take control. Refuse to get dragged into someones dilemma. Concentrate on fitness and self-improvement.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Share your intentions, and you will resolve pending issues. Holding in your feelings will cause stress and anxiety that will affect your health and emotional well-being. Be honest.

Stackeruseddata from the American Kennel Club's most popular breedrankingsfrom 2019 to put together a list ofthe 30 most popular large dog breeds. Click for more.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Say whats on your mind. Be direct, and the response you receive will be honest and reliable. The more aware you are of the people around you and how they think, the better.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) If you care, share. Helping a cause or someone in need will make you feel good. Keep emotional issues and personal matters to yourself. Dont take an unnecessary risk.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Put your time and energy to proper use. Take care of unfinished business before you start something new. Look for unique ways to use your skills and knowledge. Choose kindness over conflict

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Dont let confusion take charge and ruin your day. Do your best to take care of responsibilities, regardless of whats going on around you. A job well done will lead to financial gain.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Someone who has something unique to offer will appeal to you. Handle partnerships carefully. Dont let your emotions lead to bad assumptions. Be a good listener.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Youll have plenty to mull over. Get organized, and gather information that will help you make better decisions. A problem with a co-worker will develop if you cannot agree on strategy.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Explore the possibilities, but dont make a move prematurely. An offer you receive will interest you, but consider the cost before you get involved. Make a romantic gesture with confidence.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Be reasonable when dealing with personal matters. Dont jump to conclusions or make a fuss without having all the facts. Spend time sorting through clutter and taking stock.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Catch up with an old friend or relative via phone or email. Rethink your situation and what you are up against. Find innovative ways to ease stress.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Make a change to how you earn your living or handle your finances. Sticking to a budget and lowering your overhead will ease tension at home and make your life better. Avoid excessive people.

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0119_Astro | | albanyherald.com - The Albany Herald

David Michigan is an extremely well known and internationally recognized actor, entrepreneur, social media influencer, fitness coach and model. David is primarily an actor who ventured into the world of entrepreneurship because of his desire to create an impactful and positive change in the world.

Through his Instagram, David Michigan has always strived to introduce dialogue about self-improvement and development. Using spaces of stories, captions and posts, David has regularly talked about the ideas of personal development, positivity, self-esteem and encouragement. He has more than 10 million people following and looking up to him on various social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

As easily noticeable through his very artistic and fitness-oriented Instagram profile, David Michigan lives an extremely wealthy and luxurious life. He is also proactively involved in helping budding entrepreneurs increase their market reach on digital platforms.

David Michigan is a humble man with immense riches and wealth. With a net worth of millions, he serves as an example of how hard work and authenticity take you far in life. He says, While Im incredibly thankful for all my resources, I feel that wealth has always been of secondary importance to me. The love, respect and recognition that I've earned is something that I give the most importance and thought to.

One of his key achievements in the digital space has been the launch of the Michigan Academy which is a web portal and course package aimed at providing expert and research-based knowledge and information to people around the world. Currently, more than 170,000 people are students of the Michigan Academy.

While most people benefit from the regularly uplifting content that he puts out, a large part of his audience loves to take glimpses of Davids life of ultimate style and wealth. David is not limited to being an entrepreneur, he is a social media influencer and posts content on fashion as well. Most millennials love how David Michigan has the ability to connect and relate with them, in terms of fashion, fitness and life in general. He is of the firm belief that a positive thought leads to positive action and this is why he advocates the importance of a healthy, forward looking mindset.

With a net worth of millions, David Michigan is one of most successful entrepreneurs and social media influencers in the world. With his very creative ideas, he has transformed the digital space into a positive, growth-oriented community which has the potential to change the world.

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David Michigans Fortune: The Secret to this Self-Made Millionaires Wealth - Fortune India

Eyes on you.

Dota 2s public matchmaking environment isnt the most conducive to self-improvement. But Valve is looking to introduce some oversight in the form of Overwatch, a player review system taken from another popular Valve esport, CS:GO.

The aim is to get the community to self-regulate, relying on highly skilled and well-behaved players rather than an automated system.

The Overwatch system tasks trusted and experienced members of the community, named Investigators in CS:GO, to view the match replay of a specific player and determine if any suspicious activity was involved.

Unlike CS:GOs four different charges, Dota 2s Overwatch system is focusing on two: cheating and griefing. Using unauthorized scripts and hacks will fall under the former category, while intentional feeding or ability abuse will fall under the latter.

Overwatch tasks investigators to be confident that the observed behavior would be disruptive, anti-competitive, and/or anti-social beyond a reasonable doubt.

Several acts like smurfing and toxicity remain rampant problems, but the topics subjectiveness lends to skewed judgment. Should Dota 2 also follow CS:GOs systems, Investigators would be rewarded with experience after a certain amount of correct judgments and higher-level Investigators would obtain proportionally more weight behind their verdicts.

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CS:GO's Overwatch system is in the works for Dota 2 - Dot Esports

Twenty years ago, Facebook did not exist. Google had just failed to sell itself to Yahoo for $1 million. Netflix was a fledgling startup struggling to establish a working business model around selling and renting DVDs online. Today, Facebook and Google are among the top ten most valuable companies, and Netflix, now the most popular online streaming service with nearly 200 million users worldwide, is worth over $200 billion. Yahoo sold its assets to Verizon for a fraction of Googles value, and Blockbuster, the video-renting giant that refused to acquire Netflix in 2000, no longer exists.

The internets short but rich history shows that surprises can come from where you can least expect them.

The next big thing might come from Finland, where the public broadcaster Yle has been making impressive inroads in online streaming with its Areena service, which is known to 92 percent of the countrys population and used by 78 percent of them, making it more popular than Netflix. According to an annual brand survey by Taloustutkimus Research, YLE Areena is Finlands number-one internet brand.

Whats behind the success of Yle Areena? How does the company manage to flourish in an era where online streaming is dominated by the likes of Netflix, HBO, and Hulu? If the past is any indication, the companies that move and create new markets do so with good ideas, sound engineering, great product management, strong leadership, and the ability to reinvent and adapt to changes.

In this regard, Yle ticks all the boxes, and its success is supported by its timely and open-minded embracing of data and machine learning, which has allowed it to innovate and rebuild its platform in ways that were previously impossible.

Founded in 2007, Yle Areena was one of the first online video services in Europe. But while streaming giants are challenging local streaming services and broadcasters, Yle has continued to grow. One of the key factors that have contributed to its success is its remarkable ability to personalize the experience of its users. The company developed this capability with the help of an advisory company,Fourkind.

To maintain its relevance, the media must be capable of reinventing itself quickly and with determination. The pressure to renew itself was also an enormous opportunity for Yle , says Elina Huumo, Strategic Design Director at Fourkind. There are no other options than to understand customers deeply to create unique value for them faster and more effectively. In renewing itself, Yle has recognized that it needs to be more customer-centric and solve how to lead and create offerings in an intelligent way.

Among the changes Yle has brought to its platform is the implementation of artwork personalization, which uses a machine-learning algorithm to select the best cover image for each video content for each user. This affects not only the bottom line, but increases understanding on what imagery drives content performance for which types of customers.

Many platforms use machine learning algorithms that cluster users based on characteristics and behavior and recommend content that users from the same cluster have viewed. But these machine learning systems often suffer from noisy, biased data, and a bubble effect that reinforces users preferences instead of providing them with novel content. To overcome this obstacle, Fourkinds experts helped Yle implement a contextual bandit, a reinforcement learning algorithm that discovers customer preferences through controlled exploration and feedback. The addition of AI has resulted in a 2.3-percent growth in viewing minutes in Areena.

On the one hand, this is a simple solution because it affects a small part of the whole experience, says Jaakko Lempinen, Head of Customer Experience at Yle. But on the other hand, it tremendously changed how we see the possibilities of using machine learning to create more adaptive user interfaces. It also helped our editorial people to better understand the effects of their work because we started to get completely new data and insights on how different types of images lead to different choices, viewing preferences, etc.

The Yle Areena team is still in the process of automating the entire content pipeline. They are also testing the use of machine learning to automatically extract suitable cover images from the raw content. The outcome would be that the contextual bandit algorithm could teach the image selection algorithm to always choose the best images from every film, Lempinen says.

This would create a self-improving loop where the image-selection algorithm constantly learns to pick better images through feedback from the algorithm that analyzes customer behavior and personalizes the experience. Finding more of these self-improving loops is an interesting area Yle will continue to work on.

One of the benefits of a well-designed AI recommendation system is finding areas where the company can outperform the bigger players in the streaming market. Yle might not have the resources of a company such as Netflix, but it has more than 30,000 hours of unique content, most of which is created by the company itself and its collaborators. And being able to connect users with the right content has been very important in maintaining its appeal to the Finnish population.

We produce and promote a lot of local Finnish content, and at the same time, our recommendation algorithms promote more diverse content for the users, Lempinen says. So we are not always looking for the quick fix for the recommendations but what kind of content would create more long-term relationships

While talk of AI adoption is abundant these days, the transition is anything but easy. Our technical infrastructure and our development culture support AI development very well, but the biggest challenges have come from the people who will work in the end with the systems, Lempinen says. And its not the peoples fault in any waycomplicated AI systems require an even better communication strategy and floor discussions where different parties discuss the functionalities of the system in a shared language. We also need good dashboarding to visualize the different aspects of decision making.

This is where Fourkinds specialties helped facilitate the transition. The companys experts engage with clients in different areas, not only providing guidance and leadership but also helping in the implementation of actual AI solutions.

Our team consists of an interdisciplinary collaboration among experts in strategic design, data science, and machine learning, says Jarno Kartela, Principal Machine Learning Partner at Fourkind. We all have a strong understanding of the value of emergent technology for media transformation and the ability to execute solutions at different levels, from strategic to operative, from data to design.

In the past two years, Fourkind has worked with Yle in applying different methodologies and testing different hypotheses and scenarios.

We have supported the efforts of building personalization to the core platform, focusing on both increasing the key targets of the service itself and increasing the understanding of what customers prefer and what content they enjoy, Kartela says.

And the effort has paid off. This year, Areena surpassed 1 billion video views, which means more than 190 views for every person in Finland.

I think the biggest benefit and what has helped us grow the most relates to how we understand the insights that machine learning systems can provide, whether its about descriptive, predictive or prescriptive analytics, Lempinen says.

While these are interesting examples of how Yle has managed to integrate artificial intelligence into its platform, it is not the finish line. Yle and Fourkind are working together to solidify a vision in which Yle can rapidly reinvent itself when needed. They will focus on further developing the customer-centric R&D and creative process.

The keys to success are excellent content and quality of personalized services, Huumo says. We have helped Yle to listen to and interact with the Finns so they can understand them deeply, create meaningful content and build a future-proof creative process and tools to build better content and personalized experience and world-class recommendations for everyone.

With Fourkind I think we have quite a good partnership where we combine business and service design methods with modern machine learning. This has been quite unique and has worked very well so far for us, Yles Lempinen says.

Yles success story provides a glimmer of hope for local companies that want to compete with internet giants at their own game.

This article is brought to you by Fourkind.

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How this company leveraged AI to become the Netflix of Finland - The Next Web