Merge branch 'main' of github.com:maxr21/belgiumsquad

Author: maxr21

README.md

@@ -1,105 +1,3 @@
-# Data and Software Belgium Blog - Summer 2025
+# Best Life App Development Blog
 
-This repository contains a template for your Team's Blog. It is a Hugo-based blog uses a customized Blowfish theme. Blowfish supports multiple authors.
-
-## Local Development Setup
-
-**Note:** Everyone needs a GitHub account!
-
-<!-- ### Prerequisites
-
-- Git
-- Hugo (Extended version) -->
-
-### Installing Hugo
-
-#### Installing Hugo on macOS
-
-Using Homebrew:
-
-```bash
-brew install hugo
-```
-
-#### Installing Hugo on Windows
-
-1. Download the latest release from [Hugo Releases](https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/releases)
-2. Extract the downloaded zip file
-3. Add the Hugo executable to your system PATH
-
-### Getting Started
-
-1. One team member needs to fork the repo. We'll refer to this team member as the _blog owner_. **Change the name to your team name if you have one. If not, no better time to come up with one.**
-1. The blog owner should add remaining team members as collaborators in GitHub. you can do this from the repo's Settings Tab > Collaborators and Teams. Each team member will receive an invitation to join the repo via email which they will need to accept.
-1. Clone the team's repository:
-
-```bash
-git clone [repository-url]
-cd
-```
-
-2. Start the development server:
-
-```bash
-hugo server -D
-```
-
-The site will be available at `http://localhost:1313`
-
-## Adding New Authors
-
-1. For each Team Member, update the `data/authors` folder to include a new `.json` file based on the examples included.
-2. For each Team Member, create a new folder in `content`. Inside each, add an `_index.md` file
-
-## Creating New Content
-
-### Basic Post Structure
-
-1. Create a new markdown file in your author directory or in `content/team_posts/`
-2. Use the following frontmatter structure:
-
-```markdown
----
-title: "Your Post Title"
-description: "Brief description of your post"
-date: YYYY-MM-DD
-draft: false
-tags: ["tag1", "tag2"]
-categories: ["category1"]
-authors:
-  - "eric_gerber"
-  - "mark_fontenot"
----
-```
-
-### Markdown Basics
-
-- Use `#` for headings (e.g., `# Heading 1`, `## Heading 2`)
-- Use `*` or `_` for emphasis (`*italic*`, `**bold**`)
-- Create lists with `-` or `1.`
-- Create links with `[text](url)`
-- Create code blocks with triple backticks (```)
-
-## Working with Images and Assets
-
-### Adding Images
-
-1. Place your images in the `assets` directory
-2. Reference images in your markdown using the following syntax:
-
-```markdown
-![Alt text](/your-image.jpg)
-```
-
-### Best Practices for Images
-
-- Use descriptive filenames
-- Optimize images for web use
-- Recommended formats: JPG for photos, PNG for graphics with transparency
-- Keep image sizes reasonable (recommended max width: 1200px)
-
-## Additional Resources
-
-- [Hugo Documentation](https://gohugo.io/documentation/)
-- [Markdown Guide](https://www.markdownguide.org/)
-- [Blowfish Theme Documentation](https://blowfish.page/)
+Best Life is a web app developed in Leuven, Belgium by four Northeastern University students on a Dialogue of Civilizations focused on data and software in international government and politics. It provides insight in Europeon Union member states on how a user can improve their own or others' quality of life based on a set of priorities. This blog provides an overview of our app development process and details each team member's contributions to this project.

assets/er_diagrams-01.jpg

@@ -12,10 +12,6 @@ showAuthorsBadges : false
 
 # About Areti Makropoulos
 
-<div style="float: right; margin-left: 20px; width: 250px;">
-  <img src="areti.jpg" alt="Areti Pic" style="width: 100%;" />
-</div>
-
 Hey! My name is Areti Makropoulos, and I am a CS student at Northeastern University. I am currently studying abroad in Belgium to expand my technical skills and gain a broader understanding of cultural and international government. Learning more about databases in CS 3200 and working on a team project allows me to continue learning and applying my skills.
 
 ## Favorites In Belgium

assets/er_diagrams-02.jpg

@@ -13,14 +13,6 @@ authors:
 showAuthorsBadges: false
 ---
 
-Create new team and individual blog posts which
-
-- demonstrate fundamental understanding of ML models and their
-  implementation in the software architecture
-- Incl. verifying checking of all model assumptions and predictive
-  checks (things not included in the web app)
-- describe software architecture and final version of database model
-
 # Project: Phase 4 Deliverable
 
 ## ML Models
@@ -67,4 +59,36 @@ Ultimately, it seems that our residual plots are not the best, so some assumptio
 
 ## Software Architecture
 
+The Best Life application uses a three tier architecture with the frontend built in Streamlit which communicates with Flask REST API and the backend with a MySQL database where data is stored.
+
+### UI Layer
+
+### REST API Layer
+
+A great description of the endpoints of our API lies in our REST API Matrix as seen below.
+
+<div style="width: 640px; height: 480px; margin: 10px; position: relative;"><iframe allowfullscreen frameborder="0" style="width:640px; height:480px" src="https://lucid.app/documents/embedded/7c38fc78-a0ca-4f35-a835-330b3ea030ba" id="qcroFt0rlEWb"></iframe></div>
+
+### Database Layer
+
+The database layer contains 12 entities and is further described in the section below.
+
 ## Database Model
+
+The final database model is best displayed in our updated entity relationship diagram and relational mapping. Here is the global relational mapping.
+
+<div style="width: 640px; height: 480px; margin: 10px; position: relative;"><iframe allowfullscreen frameborder="0" style="width:640px; height:480px" src="https://lucid.app/documents/embedded/6399ce45-7fe8-4d5b-b456-1b6e986de67d" id="XoqoXAboBGN4"></iframe></div>
+
+In our database model we have 12 entities which structure and organize our data for our Best Life application.
+
+**ML_Score_US**, **ML_Score**, and **Predicted_Score** store the data used by our machine learning models. **ML_Score_US** contains the unstandardized scores of each country by year for our factors of health, education, safety, and environment as well as the quality of life score. **ML_Score** stores the standardized version of the same attributes, used for the cosine similary ML model. **Predicted_Score** holds the the weights and lags produced by our times series autoregressive model, allowing for prediction.
+
+**User** and **User_Role** support user login with role based experiences. **User** stores the specific information about the user and **User_Role** allows for each **User** to have a role, ensuring the features and pages accessible to the user.
+
+**Country** plays a crucial role with many relationships as much of our data being stored is country specific, this table is referenced by many entities. Additionally, **Factor** contains the names of the four key areas which is health, education, safety, or environment, allowing for consistent referencing.
+
+**University** stores information on top universities within each country which assists the prospective university student persona in evaluating academic opportunities. **Preference** stores the user's selections regarding how much they weigh the value of each factor (health, education, safety, environment) enabling personalized country recommendation.
+
+For the policymaker persona, **Similarity** provides data on countries similar to another country derived from cosine similarity calculations which enables them to explore comparative insights. **Policy_News** stores web-scraped recent policy artices for each country allowing policymakers to stay informed and make well informed decisions.
+
+**Organization** contains information about organizations in specific countries addressing certain factors, so activists can find causes aligned with their interests.

assets/er_diagrams-03.jpg

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 {
-  "name": "maxrobinson", 
+  "name": "Max Robinson", 
   "bio": "2nd year Northeastern Student studying Computer Science and Mathematics"
 }