Stages of software development and testing or what Pre-Alpha, Alpha, Beta, RC, Final means. Alpha version
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end... who is and who was and who is to come...” (Rev. 1:8)
Symbolism surrounds people on all sides. By studying signs, a person expands his consciousness and can look at the world in a new way.
Alpha
Alpha is the symbol of birth in the Greek alphabet. In Syriac, Cretan and Sinai the letter was inverted and looked like a horned bull's head in the shape of a triangle. In various Aramaic, Palestinian and Attic variants it bends to the side and eventually comes to our “A”.
Greek alphabet
Currently, the Greek alphabet is used by Greek diasporas in the Russian Black Sea region, southern Italy and southern Albania, as well as by some Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians, Gypsies, Slavs and Muslim groups of northern Greece.
It is also widely used in science. For example, in chemistry, when designating organic compounds, in physics, many constants, quantities, etc., in astronomy, angles, figures and planes, the symbol alpha is used. In mathematics, they denote, for example, the sine of an angle.
Letters of the Greek alphabet
In ancient times, all letters had a sacred meaning.
Thus, symbols and other letters of the Greek alphabet have different meanings. Let's look at some of them.
Alpha originally meant a bull and implied the care of cattle, multiplication and correct use wealth.
Beta meant a violation of unity and even had demonic properties. In some religions it is identified with a challenge to God.
The characters alpha and beta are the first letters of the Greek alphabet. There are twenty-four letters in total. The article discusses only two of them in detail.
Omega means abundance and wealth, apotheosis, successful completion of a task. In its numerical equivalent, it means “faith” and “lord.” Thus, this symbol means regardless of the type of religion.
The roundness of an omega is sometimes interpreted as hell opening up. Omega is a circle, alpha is a symbol representing a compass that draws this circle.
It is worth noting that compasses and circles are present in both Freemasonry and Taoism.
Why did Christ use the Greek letters of the alphabet when saying “I am Alpha and Omega...”?
The interesting thing is that in the Greek alphabet there is no letter corresponding to “B”. Only “upsilon” (Y) somewhat resembles it in sound, but does not correspond completely.
It is curious that the Aramaic and Greek alphabets are similar. Apparently, they have a certain common proto-language. However, the letters corresponding to each other before and after this are absent in the position with “B”, that is, the Aramaic “Vav” has no counterpart in the same position. Omega is only in last place, and in the Hebrew (Aramaic) alphabet - in sixth. I remember that Jesus, speaking Aramaic, for some reason used “Alpha and Omega” in his speech.
The fact is that the Hellenic worldview consisted of a primary reverence for the spiritual. It is “El” (spirit) that is the main thing. Therefore, the most spiritual letter "Alpha", symbolizing the spirit, stood in first place, and the most carnal letter "Omega" may have gradually moved to the end of the alphabet in the language.
Then it becomes clear why Christ used After all, if he had spoken in Aramaic, then the first letter “Aleph” would have meant a bull, that is, what he said would have meant “I am a bull.” An association involuntarily comes with the veneration of the “golden calf”.
Alpha and Omega in banknotes
If you look closely at the designations of banknotes, it becomes clear that they represent certain symbols. What do these signs mean? After all, when inventing currency, the authors probably wanted it to flourish in the future.
Alpha and omega as a symbol are often found in many banknotes. In addition to them, you can find traces of yin and yang, the number Pi and more.
The clear alpha is sterling.
The American dollar and the Israeli shekel have yin and yang lines, and the Chinese currency has the number Pi.
Perhaps a country that has its own currency symbol in the outline of Omega will have its own special role to play?
Omega - a symbol in magic
Magicians believe that magic appeared when man learned to interrupt infinity.
Space initially consists of threads and their filler, which are constantly in vibration. You can hear them, influence them, changing the sound.
Each item has its own range. When you change it for something, the item may disappear or turn into something else. But this can only be done by those who have freed their Spirit from the challenge that the Omega symbol carries.
Those who study magic with the help of symbols, signs, and sounds feel vibrations within themselves and thus have some possibility of influencing the universe.
The Omega symbol is the most difficult. It is the only one that contains the complete matrix decimal code. Other symbols are intended to destroy the power of this one.
Every person should strive to destroy it in himself or master it.
Omega consists of “O”, meaning the united Spirit and Soul, and “Mega” - challenge. That is, together the symbol denotes the challenge that the Spirit accepted. Its modern meaning may sound like the evolution of personality.
The symbol is the end of everything. Having recognized it, a person must transform the form - bring the ends together and create a ring.
It is always used in conjunction with other symbols.
Alpha - a symbol in magic
Magicians believe that the expression “I am Alpha and Omega” can be said in one word “Alpha,” since Alpha is a symbol of Omega in motion.
Finding your direction top part Omega stretches out and becomes sharper. However, the stable O symbol prevents Omega from shrinking at the bottom. The dividing line caused by internal tension gives impetus to the emergence of Alpha. Only the effort of a person's will can create it.
As long as the magician is striving for something, and his actions are subordinated to this goal, he can control Alpha, and his possibilities become limitless.
“I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last...” is the oath of magicians that they take to themselves and gain the ability to use magic, which can be used for both constructive and destructive purposes.
Magicians believe that in cases where the Alpha symbol is placed next to the Omega, then they, contradicting each other, cannot be useful and can even cause harm.
Alpha and Omega - the secret of the symbol
The famous saying of God can be deciphered with the help of Pimander, the magnum opus of the hermetic vault brought to Florence by a monk from Macedonia in the fifteenth century.
It reveals the deep secrets of mind and light.
The basis is taken from some postulates that God is light located in an environment not perceived by our ordinary consciousness, which is why it is called “Nothing” or “External Darkness”. It surrounds God, having neither beginning nor end. God-light, on the contrary, contains all principles and has a beginning and an end.
God-light has a border, a circle, which is filled with light and at the same time does not belong either to it or to the external Darkness. This ring contains the secret of the origin of a number with a beginning and an end, and from it Omega emerges.
God-light, making a loop in the Outer Darkness with his rings, opens the circle below. There the word of God will be born.
External darkness penetrates the loop, and two darknesses arise - internal and external. At the same time, the Inner Darkness is Divine and subject to God. Here the mystery of baptism is revealed. John cleansed people while he was in the water. So God, being in Outer Darkness, cleansed himself and baptized. The essence of the cross is that it divides and moves towards God, and any evil spirits are afraid of it, since it will disappear when cleansed.
Two rings, approaching in the Outer Darkness, transform it from boundless to ultimate, and then, touching and partially intersecting when combining the rotational and translational principles, they create a new one - rectilinear movement or the principle of trinity. In Omega it opens up in the form of a spiral.
In the material world, the Omega knot is clearly visible in black holes in the Universe. Matter is sucked into them in a spiral, forming either Internal Darkness.
Inside Omega, a moist nature is formed, where countless forms and species are born. Next, energies are formed in chaos (hell), after which equilibrium and constancy occur - the energies fluctuate steadily, leading to the generation of sound. And finally, the dead comes to life.
New living forms emerge from living sounds. Further, no more forms appear, but the remnants of darkness, uniting with the father, give birth to the Holy Spirit.
After the Divine light has filled the upper space, forming a triangle, it can only illuminate the rest of the space with rays. The figures in the sign, formed during the separation of the living from the dead - Alpha, are symbols of Divine light.
Alpha and Omega are a symbol, upon comprehension of which some basic secrets of the universe are revealed. The essence of things and the energies that created them are seen in a new way, and a person, gaining secret knowledge, can discover new abilities.
It's no secret that radiation is harmful. Everyone knows this. Everyone has heard about the terrible casualties and the dangers of radioactive exposure. What is radiation? How does it arise? Are there different types radiation? And how to protect yourself from it?
The word "radiation" comes from the Latin radius and denotes a ray. In principle, radiation is all types of radiation existing in nature - radio waves, visible light, ultraviolet and so on. But there are different types of radiation, some of them are useful, some are harmful. In ordinary life we are accustomed to calling radiation harmful radiation, resulting from the radioactivity of certain types of matter. Let's look at how the phenomenon of radioactivity is explained in physics lessons.
Radioactivity in physics
We know that atoms of matter consist of a nucleus and electrons rotating around it. So the core is, in principle, a very stable formation that is difficult to destroy. However, the atomic nuclei of some substances are unstable and can emit various energies and particles into space.
This radiation is called radioactive, and it includes several components, which are named according to the first three letters of the Greek alphabet: α-, β- and γ- radiation. (alpha, beta and gamma radiation). These radiations are different, and their effect on humans and measures to protect against it are also different. Let's look at everything in order.
Alpha radiation
Alpha radiation is a stream of heavy, positively charged particles. Occurs as a result of the decay of atoms of heavy elements such as uranium, radium and thorium. In the air, alpha radiation travels no more than five centimeters and, as a rule, is completely blocked by a sheet of paper or the outer dead layer of skin. However, if a substance that emits alpha particles enters the body through food or air, it irradiates internal organs and becomes dangerous.
Beta radiation
Beta radiation is electrons that are much smaller than alpha particles and can penetrate several centimeters deep into the body. You can protect yourself from it with a thin sheet of metal, window glass, and even ordinary clothing. When beta radiation reaches unprotected areas of the body, it usually affects the upper layers of the skin. During the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in 1986, firefighters suffered skin burns as a result of very strong exposure to beta particles. If a substance that emits beta particles enters the body, it will irradiate internal tissues.
Gamma radiation
Gamma radiation is photons, i.e. electromagnetic wave, carrying energy. In the air it can pass long distances, gradually losing energy as a result of collisions with atoms of the medium. Intense gamma radiation, if not protected from it, can damage not only the skin, but also internal tissues. Dense and heavy materials such as iron and lead are excellent barriers to gamma radiation.
As you can see, according to its characteristics, alpha radiation is practically not dangerous if you do not inhale its particles or eat them with food. Beta radiation can cause skin burns due to exposure. Gamma radiation has the most dangerous properties. It penetrates deep into the body, and it is very difficult to remove it from there, and the effects are very destructive.
In any case, without special devices It is impossible to know what type of radiation is present in this particular case, especially since you can always accidentally inhale particles of radiation in the air. That's why general rule one thing is to avoid such places, and if you do get caught, then wrap yourself up as much as possible big amount clothes and things, breathe through the fabric, do not eat or drink, and try to leave the place of infection as soon as possible. And then, at the first opportunity, get rid of all these things and wash yourself thoroughly.
Both in cinema and in life around us we can observe Various types men. Some are courageous and self-confident, others are nice, non-conflict guys, and others are mama's boys running away from responsibility.
Such differences between men gave rise to a certain classification, which became widespread on the Internet. It was based on the long-standing idea of zoologist David Mech, who, while researching social structure wolf pack, called its leader an alpha male. And although the scientist later admitted the fallacy of his theory and expressed the opinion that it is preferable to call the leader of the pack not an alpha male, but a father wolf, the zoological hierarchy of dominance caught the hearts of many and received the right to independent existence.
A little about the Greek alphabet
"Alpha" is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Therefore, it is already clear from the name that the alpha male is the first, the one who goes ahead. He has a strong sexual libido, and women literally hang around his neck. Alpha males are the power players and protagonists in hero films such as Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mel Gibson. They are laconic, independent, not afraid of conflicts and know how to stand up for themselves and their loved ones.
The second letter of the Greek alphabet is "Beta" and according to the distribution of roles in the social system of submission-dominance, beta males are the closest friends and associates of alphas, and recognize the unconditional leadership of the latter. As a rule, betas have a less stubborn character and a cocky disposition, but they are quite capable of achieving success in life thanks to their hard work, intelligence and resourcefulness. Continuing the analogy with cinema, the beta male is the companion and closest friend of the main character, the one who “brings the bullets.” In the literature, prominent examples include Dr. Watson, Sancho Panzo and Dr. Bormenthal.
Beta males tend to be happy family men. They behave according to the requirements of society and do “the right thing.” These are the regular guys you pass by every day. These are trouble-free cogs of the mechanism we call life. Betas make up 80% of the population.
The third letter of the Greek alphabet is “gamma”. But stop! There is no such category as gamma males. Instead, the creators of the ingenious classification distinguish omega males.
"Omega" is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and its use emphasizes that the men of this group occupy last place in the food chain. This is the type of man who avoids responsibility, refuses to develop and generally avoids participating in real world. An omega male can take many forms: a whiny pseudo-intellectual, a clean metrosexual, or a gambling addict. These types have one thing in common - a complete rejection of what we call masculinity. They are not able to hunt, and they do not want to reproduce.
Is it possible to increase your rank?
It's no secret that both temperament and stability nervous system, and physical data is initially laid down in us at birth at the genetic level. However, homosapiens differs from our smaller brothers in that they can work on themselves.
Excuses like “I can’t” and “I’m not given this” are dictated by your own laziness, which has nothing to do with heredity. We need to accept and understand with all our hearts the axiom: “Our life is what we think about it” and start thinking in the right direction.
How to become an alpha male?
Just straightening your shoulders and buying a fashionable jacket like James Bond's is, of course, not enough. As well as getting into fights with or without reason, or persistently pestering girls on the streets.
The key features of an alpha are responsibility, confidence, and being true to one’s word. Therefore, first of all, it is these qualities that need to be developed.
But for many, this advice sounds quite abstract. Therefore, here are some specific tips that will help you take the path of alpha:
1. Give yourself a promise to “keep your word” at least for three months and do not deviate one iota from this rule. I promised myself to run in the morning - run, even if stones fly from the sky. He promised not to miss classes at the university - die, but come back for a lesson! He promised a girl a trip to Egypt - don’t worry, but find an opportunity to earn money for the trip. To strengthen the motivation to action, you can use aids, for example, counting “one, two, three.”
2. Pay attention to your appearance. There is no need to refer to the proverb that states “one is seen off according to one’s mind,” because one is greeted anyway “by one’s clothes.” Looking clean, neat and healthy means showing others that you are able to take care of yourself. Don't be afraid to visit the dentist and remove plaque from your teeth. Don't forget to shave every morning, because stubble is not as attractive as you might like to think.
3. Start talking to girls. Moreover, preferably in real life. So you will understand that a girl is also a person, and you need to behave with her like a human being, that is, talk calmly, joke appropriately and not try to pretend to be Superman in a conversation. You won’t be able to forget that there’s a female in front of you anyway, and that’s even better.
Important Warning! There is no need to loudly announce to the world that tomorrow you're going to be the alpha. This process does not tolerate bragging.
The success of self-improvement depends on how much a person REALLY needs it. It may well be that he is quite comfortable in his role and does not want anything better. No one has to want to become an alpha. In addition, returning to the beginning of our article, the theory of alpha, beta and omega is quite controversial and conditional; it is still not worth accepting it as a direct guide to action. You need to strive not just to become an alpha, but to achieve harmony with yourself. And if this requires the traits of an alpha male – tum melius, as the ancients said.
More more information On the topic of the article you can learn from the video:
Make a conclusion about the risks and returns of a mutual fund or private trading strategy on stock market possible using coefficients created for the analysis of investment funds. In fact, the advent of alpha and beta coefficients was one of the first attempts to systematize the trading performance of various companies.
The author of the alpha parameter that evaluates profitability belongs to Michael Jensen, and the invention of the coefficient dates back to 1968. Jensen set out to determine whether investment fund managers could systematically outperform the stock market through personal expertise and its components - quality system management, skills and intuition. But in order to understand the essence of the alpha coefficient, first let’s talk a little about its accompanying beta coefficient.
In general, trading can be assessed by different ratios - for example, the Sharpe ratio, which I wrote about. But unlike it, alpha and beta are not used in the foreign exchange market, assessing the effectiveness of securities management. In other words, trading and funds are usually assessed by these coefficients.
What is beta?
Beta coefficient is an indicator of the degree of risk of an asset (stock, fund unit or investment portfolio) in relation to the market. It indicates the ratio of rise/fall of its price relative to the entire securities market. Those. if the asset is a mutual fund trading first-tier shares, then it is clear that its changes must be compared with first-tier securities, i.e. with the MICEX index. Bond mutual funds need to be compared with a bond index, etc. The relationship () of the compared quantities is assessed by the coefficient of determination R2 - it is sometimes believed that for the correct calculation of beta it must be at least 75%.
But what is beta for an entire market? In fact, this is the average aggregate of the returns of all major shares of the market, taken as one. Those. if over a certain period of time the market gave 15% per annum, then this is our comparison standard with β = 1. Over another period of time, the value may be different, so it is important to compare the fund with the market at the same time. Formula for calculating the beta coefficient of an individual stock or unit management company compared to the market:
Where k i– return on shares/chartering company in i-th period (usually a month);
— expected (average) return on shares/MC for the entire period (usually three years);
p i– market profitability in i-th period;
— expected (average) market return;
n– number of observations (usually 35).
Beta coefficients of companies are calculated by many analytical agencies - Barra, Bloomberg, Merrill Lynch, Value Line, etc. If Bloomberg evaluates the indicator based on a 2-year observation period, then Barra and Value Line use monthly data on the returns of funds and the market over the past 5 years. The link to calculating beta was given in my article.
Interpreting Beta Results
In total, the formula allows for both positive and negative coefficient results. If β > 0, then this means that the market and the asset compared to it are changing in the same direction. This is a normal situation. If beta is negative, it means that if the market falls, you should expect the asset to grow - and vice versa.
At the same time, the beta value itself characterizes the “sensitivity” of the asset to the market. How larger number, the more sensitive the asset’s reaction to market behavior. For example, the results of calculating some mutual fund gave us β = 1.7. This means that if the market grows by 10%, we can expect the mutual fund share to grow by 10% × 1.7 = 17%. Likewise, a 10% drop implies a 17% loss. The same growth will occur at β = 1, whereas at β = 0.5, a market growth of 10% will cause the share to grow by only 5%. Falling returns lead to lower risk, so funds with 0< β < 1 можно считать менее рисковыми, чем рынок. И наоборот, фонд с β = 1.7 является весьма рисковым.
What is Smart Beta?
Passive investing is built around capitalization-weighted index funds. This means that the larger capitalization a company has, the greater weight it occupies in the index. The market capitalization of a company is quite easy to calculate, knowing the number of company shares and their market price - multiplication will give the desired result.
It is clear that such an index has a shift towards reliability - large companies have less potential for growth, although they show greater stability during a crisis. Therefore, the idea of smart beta, without departing from the principles of passive investing, tries to form indices based on other parameters - for example, high dividend or low volatility funds. The latter type of funds concentrate on sustainable industries - public utilities, telecommunications and consumer products. They are considered to be more crisis-resistant than others. Examples of specific funds: PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility Portfolio (SPLV), Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG), etc.
IN Lately The popularity of smart beta among investors has increased significantly. A year ago, the capitalization of smart beta ETFs was $16.15 billion, and almost all new ETFs today are based on this strategy in one way or another, trying to squeeze out competitors.
As you know, the market price of an asset is influenced by two factors - business performance and speculative interest. The higher returns of some smart beta funds are driven more by investor interest in the sector than by truly any fundamental advantage. As a result, funds have become quite expensive and their risk has increased. It is known that the Dividend Aristocrats Index has significantly outperformed the S&P500 over the past 20 years - but this does not mean that it will continue to do so. The foundation may well make sense as a source passive income, but not as a universal option better than the standard index.
In summary, smart beta funds can be investment options - but it is worth understanding that they do not provide best ratio reliability and risk compared to classic index funds. In addition, smart beta funds usually charge higher commissions, which eventually affects investor returns. First of all, the investor should be smart, not the ratio.
Alpha coefficient
Having dealt with beta, we can talk about alpha coefficient. If beta, as we saw above, is a measure of risk, then alpha shows the “art of managing” assets, i.e. the ability to buy and sell the desired asset in right time. The debate between supporters of active and passive investing is ongoing - I’ll try to present my version. But first, about the formula for calculating alpha - it is tied to the beta discussed above:
The risk-free rate in Russia (indicated R0 in the chart below) is usually taken to be equal to either the yield on federal loan bonds or a deposit in Sberbank. Rp is the average return of our managed fund (often over 3 years). In index funds (where there is no management as such, just rebalancing), alpha is usually close to zero, but can be negative due to increased company fees. A positive alpha indicates that the company managed to beat the market return - but not necessarily absolute, but extrapolated relatively directly:
If the return Ra lies on the red line, then alpha is zero. If higher, alpha is positive, lower, alpha is negative. The picture shows a company with an estimated coefficient βa and a positive alpha that beat the market - but as we see, the absolute return of the market is higher (Rm > Ra). The situation looks close to impossible when Ra turns out to be greater than Rm with β noticeably less than 1. This means that the fund managed to beat the market by absolute value, keeping the risks at a noticeably lower level than the latter.
Where can I view alpha and beta coefficients?
There are hundreds of managed mutual funds in Russia, and tens of thousands of mutual funds in the world. It is clear that calculating their coefficients yourself is, to put it mildly, expensive. But there is good useful resources with coefficient values - for mutual funds they can be found at the link: http://pif.investfunds.ru/analitics/coefficients/.
On this moment on the first page, only 2 out of 30 funds have a positive alpha of less than one. But negative alphas reach noticeable values. The maximum alpha value at the time of this article was 1.78, with only eight out of 306 companies exceeding 1. The maximum beta is 1.19, both coefficients are calculated over three years.
Here's a resource where you can see alpha and beta coefficients for mutual funds: http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/mutualfund_screener.html.
Here the situation with positive alpha looks noticeably better: more than a quarter of all funds available for calculation showed it. If we remember that US mutual funds will turn 100 years old in 2024, and Russian mutual funds have just celebrated their coming of age, then this situation should not be surprising. However, setting moderate risk in the form of beta from 0.75 to 1.5, the number of options is reduced by approximately half (1095 funds).
conclusions
Any odds are based on historical data and do not predict the future. Smart beta raises questions. Based on a positive alpha, we can only say that the company was previously well managed and nothing more. Quite long periods of calculation of coefficients lead to the fact that good indicators slowly fall, and bad indicators slowly increase - a lag effect occurs (although, again, it is impossible to predict how long it will last). In addition, individual managers can always leave the company - this arises human factor. For me, the determining factor is the number of funds (especially Russian ones) that are losing to the market - their probability of beating passive index investing, based on the results of the analysis, seems very small.
I think not everyone understands exactly what the prefixes mean when some software is released. And they talk about the stage of development of the program, that is, from these very words you can determine at what stage of creation it is.
The stages go one after another, in order: Pre-Alpha, Alpha, Beta, RC, Final, but it is not necessary that the product passes all of them - some may not. And now, in more detail, what each of these consoles can tell you about.
Final (Stable, Release, Release, RTM, Release to manufacturing)
As the name suggests, this is a stable finished version, which has passed the previous stages. It is assumed that it should no longer contain errors, although this is not always the case.
Despite the fact that, for example, the alpha version of the program is intended for developers or community members, and the beta version may be full of errors, among ordinary users there are always people willing to try New Product. Some are driven by the desire to make their contribution to the development of this software, some are a fan of the program and simply cannot help but try it one of the first, while others are curious about what will be in the newly created software. For whatever reasons you become an alpha or beta tester, do not forget that there is a high probability of failure and be sure to do backup data.
