The latest articles on DEV Community by Murewa (@murewaashiru). https://dev.to/murewaashiru https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F677186%2F410b4045-5432-4af4-9b48-0de079fa0cfb.jpeg https://dev.to/murewaashiru en Murewa Sun, 28 Nov 2021 16:46:01 +0000 https://dev.to/murewaashiru/hackathonsprograms-to-watch-out-for-in-q4-2021-17h9 https://dev.to/murewaashiru/hackathonsprograms-to-watch-out-for-in-q4-2021-17h9 <p>This quarter is on a good start in the tech community with a lot of hackathons and programs happening globally.</p> <h2> African App Launchpad AAL Cup 2021 </h2> <p>IBM is collaborating with Information Technology Industry Development Authority (ITIDA) in its 3rd edition of the African Application Launchpad Cup (AAL Cup 2021) — to launch the "Africa for Creative Games and Digital Applications" competition. The competition aims to up-skill 10,000 African youth and support 100 startups in the field of applications and game development. Participants will get the chance to leverage IBM SMEs and train using the IBM Digital - Nation Africa platform. Selected winners will enjoy IBM mentorship opportunities and get the chance to deploy their solutions on IBM Cloud using the worldwide program "Startup with IBM".</p> <p><strong>Eligible African Countries-</strong> Egypt, Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, The Gambia, Nigeria, Togo and Uganda.</p> <p>Read more about the program <a href="http://techleaders.eg/aal/competition2021/">here</a></p> <h2> AU Digital and Innovation Fellowship </h2> <p>The fellowship program seeks highly competent tech innovators within the African continent to organs within the African Union Headquarters and organs as ‘resident fellows’ to understand the system within those organs; identify challenges within the system and propose solutions to these challenges.<br> The fellows will be expected to co-create and build innovative tailor-made products and processes that improve the delivery of the African Union’s mandate especially in the context of good governance and citizens engagement. Additionally, the program will seek to facilitate conditions for building the internal capacity of the host African Union organs in the long term.</p> <p>Read more about the program <a href="https://auinnovationfellowship.com/">Here</a></p> <h2> Hacktoberfest </h2> <p>Hacktoberfest is a month-long celebration of open source software run by DigitalOcean. During the month of October, open-source software enthusiasts, beginners, and the developer community participate by contributing to open-source projects. It is open to everyone.</p> <p>Read more about the program <a href="https://hacktoberfest.digitalocean.com/">here</a></p> <p>Additional Resource- <a href="https://ayushirawat.com/beginners-guide-to-hacktoberfest-2021">Beginner's guide to Hacktoberfest 2021</a></p> <h2> Bridge To MassChallenge Nigeria 2021 </h2> <p>Bridge to MassChallenge Nigeria is a national startup competition in partnership with the National Information Technology Development Agency that identifies and accelerates the top startups in Nigeria while connecting them to the MassChallenge global network. The program is focused on supporting early-stage startups across all industries that are based in Nigeria and interested in growing their business in the Nigerian market. </p> <p>Read more about the program <a href="https://apply.masschallenge.org/-temporary-slug-195bbb91-3f42-4b90-b2b1-a1712dbc0c33?hs_preview=FrbYBroP-49904863060">here</a></p> <h2> SCA Web Monetized Hackathon </h2> <p>%[<a href="https://twitter.com/SheCodeAfrica/status/1442764487656984578">https://twitter.com/SheCodeAfrica/status/1442764487656984578</a>]<br> As part of SheCodeAfrica's 5th Anniversary, Coil is sponsoring an Interledger and Web Monetization learning program. The hackathon is only open for female techies (SCA Community Members):</p> <ul> <li>Designers, Developers, Designers, Product Managers, and every other role</li> <li>People looking to explore new ideas, build new skills and learn about Interledger and Web Monetization</li> <li>Anyone who wants to learn about new advancements in open payments</li> </ul> <p>Join the SheCodeAfrica community via this <a href="//bit.ly/scaslacksignup">link</a> to get started.</p> <p>Read more about the program <a href="https://apply.africahacks.com/challenge/SheCodeAfrica_Web_Monetization_Challenge">here</a></p> <h2> The Afriex virtual crypto/web3 Hackathon </h2> <p>The Afriex crypto/web3 hackathon is aimed at African developers to promote blockchain development on the continent By bringing together innovative minds, <a href="https://afriexapp.com/">Afriex</a> aims to build an enabling environment for blockchain developers on the continent. The event will last for 4 days and the Winning Team gets a grand prize of $1000 in crypto and a job offer or a chance to continue the project. (Form closes:6th October 2021.)</p> <p>Read more about the program <a href="https://afriexapp.com/">here</a></p> <p>Registration form- <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdjJbK-1hn6LzfrnoMwnWgiV6La3W_9Gf-0BGIpgfYD4YZlhQ/viewform">Here</a></p> <h2> Mercury Hackathon 2021: All about NFTs </h2> <p>At the Mercury Hackathon 2021, we believe that the sky’s the limit in the world of blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Join us on this 6-week online hackathon supported by Filecoin, IPFS &amp; Flow that brings together some of the most talented creators around the world to innovate and redefine boundaries. </p> <p>With up to USD $120,000 worth of FIL &amp; FLOW tokens to be given out and 14 prize categories, participants can choose to build and develop projects spanning between NFTs and decentralized storage services. Wish to experience web3 storage, Estuary, Slate, or NFTstorage and beyond? Strap on, suit up &amp; let's get building.</p> <p>Read more about the program <a href="https://ahack.link/AMBiolubisi">here</a></p> <h2> Red Brick Pre-accelerator Program </h2> <p>This is a 6-week 100% online program targeted at start-up founders.</p> <p>The different premade modules of our online program will help you to validate your idea, find your customer and support your team growth. You have access to high-quality content &amp; tools and will be in direct contact with experienced mentors and coaches. </p> <p>Read more about the program <a href="https://redbrick.fi/programs/pre-accelerator-program/">here</a></p> <h2> TechonDemand Hackthon (FSI Fintech Challenge) </h2> <p>A Physical &amp; Virtual Hackathon Event to address the dominance of cash<br> transactions, manual processes, and access to financial services among retailers,<br> micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as well as individuals in<br> suburban parts of Nigeria including university communities and their environs.</p> <p>Read more about the hackathon <a href="https://fsi.ng/innovation-challenge/1/techondemand">here</a></p> <h2> PyTorch Annual Hackathon 2021 </h2> <p>The PyTorch Annual Hackathon is back in 2021 with all-new opportunities for you to get started or continue learning about PyTorch. Join the community to build innovative and impactful models, applications, and other projects that use AI responsibly.</p> <p>What to Build: Build a project using PyTorch in one of the three categories: </p> <ul> <li>PyTorch Responsible AI Development Tools &amp; Libraries</li> <li>Web and Mobile Applications powered by PyTorch</li> <li>PyTorch Developer Tools &amp; Libraries</li> </ul> <p>Read more about the hackathon <a href="https://pytorch2021.devpost.com/?ref_feature=challenge&amp;ref_medium=homepage-recommended-hackathons">here</a></p> <h2> AWS Graviton Hackathon </h2> <p>Build or migrate an application to Amazon EC2 instances powered by Arm-based AWS Graviton2 processors for a chance to win $10,000 cash and a trip to re:Invent 2021.</p> <p>AWS Graviton processors are custom built by Amazon Web Services using 64-bit Arm Neoverse cores to deliver the best price-performance for your cloud workloads running in Amazon EC2. AWS Graviton2 are the latest generation Arm-based processors that power a range of general-purpose, compute-optimized, and memory-optimized EC2 instances</p> <p>Read more about the hackathon <a href="https://awsgraviton.devpost.com/?ref_feature=challenge&amp;ref_medium=homepage-recommended-hackathons">here</a></p> <h2> Shell.ai Hackathon for Sustainable and Affordable Energy </h2> <p>Tackling climate change is an urgent challenge. Shell is transforming to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, in step with society and our customers. We are exploring new opportunities to provide more low-carbon energy such as biofuels, hydrogen, charging for electric vehicles and electricity generated by solar and wind power. To achieve this, we are working collaboratively on unproven, early-stage ideas with the potential to impact the future of energy.</p> <p>Help us harness the power of the sun and win monetary awards or funding for your project!</p> <p>Read more about the hackathon <a href="https://www.hackerearth.com/challenges/competitive/shell-ai-hackathon-2021/">here</a></p> <blockquote> <p>Cover image <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/p6YWrjhmjhM">Unsplah</a></p> </blockquote> Murewa Sun, 28 Nov 2021 16:42:35 +0000 https://dev.to/murewaashiru/stress-the-inevitable-2bl2 https://dev.to/murewaashiru/stress-the-inevitable-2bl2 <p>Stress is an inevitable part of life- whether going to work, school or just staying at home. It takes energy to get things done but there's only so much we can do before it's all zapped out. It's important to realize when one's stress level is getting high and manage it.</p> <p>That being established, let's take a deeper look into the subject.</p> <h2> What is stress? </h2> <blockquote> <p>A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances.</p> <p>Physiological disturbance or damage caused to an organism by adverse circumstances.</p> <p>(Oxford dictionary)</p> </blockquote> <h2> What causes stress? </h2> <ol> <li> <strong>Money:</strong> A popular saying goes, "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." Money is essential to survive. It's how we can afford certain pleasures of life or otherwise. It, however, is never enough because human needs are insatiable. Not having enough money to take care of essential needs is one of the major cause of stress around the world.</li> <li> <strong>Being under a lot of pressure or work overload:</strong> Having too much work is known to cause stress. It's common for companies or employers to overload their staff with a lot of work in a bid to "reduce cost and optimize profit." This might work for a little while but the resulting effect is a reduction in efficiency or staff or high staff turnover.</li> <li>Facing discrimination or harassment at work</li> <li> <strong>Changes in the external environment:</strong> This can be explained using <a href="https://www.professionalacademy.com/blogs-and-advice/marketing-theories---pestel-analysis">PESTEL Analysis</a>. Changes outside your control have effects on activities you are involved in and cause favourable or unfavourable impact. </li> <li>Underlying medical conditions</li> <li> <strong>Traumatic event, such as a natural disaster, pandemic, theft or rape:</strong> The COVID-19 pandemic is a typical example. It stressed a lot of individuals and companies. Questions about survival, the long-term impact on lives, companies, the economy, socio-economic environment and other areas were raised.</li> <li> <strong>Unrealistic expectations:</strong> No one is perfect. If you expect perfection at all times, you are bound to feel stressed as it is an impossible feat.</li> <li>Big changes</li> <li>Social discrimination</li> </ol> <h2> Impact of Stress </h2> <ol> <li>Constant fatigue</li> <li>Depression</li> <li>Medical conditions e.g. stroke, high blood pressure</li> <li>Difficulty in sleeping</li> <li>Unhappiness</li> <li>Use of hard drugs or other illegal substances</li> <li>Weight gain or loss</li> </ol> <h2> How to deal with Stress </h2> <p>A few of the ways to destress are:</p> <ol> <li>Acknowledge that it is real and inevitable.</li> <li>Speaking about what stresses you to friends, family or even a therapist.</li> <li>Exercise and eat well.</li> <li>Don't take on too much work. Delegate when you can.</li> <li>Don't overthink. Some things are beyond your control.</li> <li>Create a work-life balance strategy</li> </ol> <p>Managing your stress can make a real difference to your health, both physical and mental health. It's therefore imperative to be conscious about the causes of stress that we face and act on them.</p> <h2> Resources </h2> <ul> <li> <a href="https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/stress/what-is-stress/">Stress</a> </li> <li><a href="https://www.singlecare.com/blog/news/stress-statistics/">Stress statistics 2021: How common is stress and who’s most affected?</a></li> <li>Cover Image- <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/44D6S-5jDJQ">Unsplash</a> </li> </ul> motivation