Alex1Powell's Categories

Alex1Powell's Authors

Latest Saves

Hear hear. For folks visiting Lagos, this a thread of businesses/services that I have patronized that ABSOLUTELY delighted me.

1. Pedicure - The Nail Boutique (7-12 Rumens Road Ikoyi). I tried their super lux pedicure, not sure what they put in it but my feet never felt so good.

2. Braids - The Braiding Vault (GreenVille mall Lekki). Best braiding experience of my entire life! They are appointment only so please call.

3. Skincare products - I ordered online from Skincare Lagos. They had everything I was looking for and the whole experience was super smooth.
https://t.co/OVbXZG7ho3 @skincarelagos

4. Hair - Hair by Bees Root. First time buying hair so I had loads of questions. They patiently answered all of them and the hair looked gorgeous - as advertised.
@hairbybeesroot on Instagram.
38 Adeyemo Alakija off Sanusi Fafuwa Victoria Island.

5. Make Up - Switch Cosmetics. 17B Olosa Street VI. I was super impressed by all the COVID protocols they took. And face beat was A1.
The artists are also so cheerful. @Switchcosmetics @switchcosmetics_beautystudio on instagram.
Now, a more technical tweet thread to give updates on the science - which is moving fast. Again, I recommend following @arambaut, @firefoxx66, @EBIgoldman, @The_Soup_Dragon, @pathogenomenick and @jcbarret along with others to stay on the cutting edge of this

Most important has been the paper by the @CovidGenomicsUK consortium on the new variant, here:

(This is super-rapid pre-print on
https://t.co/PHmxAcVUoB - other people will pick over this no doubt - but the openness of the data and quality of analysis from this group means this is super solid, and any updates on discussion likely to happen fast)

Two key take aways from this paper for me:

1. There is a big jump in number of changes - too big to be explainable with the natural progression over time. @arambaut and colleagues point out that similar big jumps have happened in immunocompromised patients treated via convalescent plasma + drugs
Working on a newsletter edition about deliberate practice.

Deliberate practice is crucial if you want to reach expert level in any skill, but what is it, and how can it help you learn more precisely?

A thread based on @augustbradley's conversation with the late Anders Ericsson.

You can find my complete notes from the conversation in my public Roam graph:
https://t.co/Z5bXHsg3oc

The entire conversation is on

The 10,000-hour 'rule' was based on Ericsson's research, but simple practice is not enough for mastery.

We need teachers and coaches to give us feedback on how we're doing to adjust our actions effectively. Technology can help us by providing short feedback loops.

There's purposeful and deliberate practice.

In purposeful practice, you gain breakthroughs by trying out different techniques you find on your own.

In deliberate practice, an expert tells you what to improve on and how to do it, and then you do that (while getting feedback).

It's possible to come to powerful techniques through purposeful practice, but it's always a gamble.

Deliberate practice is possible with a map of the domain and a recommended way to move through it. This makes success more likely.
Islamic language that dehumanizes unbelievers is where Islamic violence begins. Slurs like Kuffar (derogatory term for someone who doesn't believe Islam) and Najis (filth) are weaponzied language, designed to ā€otherā€ and get their base worked up. /1 https://t.co/rxu64kds14


It is very clear from their language they do not recognize the humanity of those that doesn't believe what they believe. This is not due to the individual, but rather because of Islamic teachings found in it's source materials.

And when they curse their imaginary God characters wrath on you, and condemn you to an imaginary hellfire in an none existent afterlife all within the mythological construct of Islam, it is only telling of what they would rather do to us if they had a choice. /3

And to expect these people will have any good faith against someone else who is suffering and demanding a respite from that suffering is foolish. They do not see humans and human rights in the same light as we do. /4

They only see their own self interest and the interest of Islamic teachings that seak to oppress and dominate everyone else. All sane and rational people must say no to this bullshit, if we are ever to overcome islam’s assault on humanity. /5