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Category: blockchain

  • That’s so Meta, Dude!

    That’s so Meta, Dude!

    The adage that whatever you see in science fiction, you will witness in reality, seems to ring true more than ever in the 21st century. In fact, Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg is probably one of the biggest believers having bought the virtual reality company, Oculus as far back as 2014.

    Now, he and people from all walks of life are embracing the creation and adoption of a “Metaverse”. 

    But is this a buzz term or a new reality, and are the ultra-rich throwing money at it because they are trying to entertain themselves? Or is it because they actually want to ‘augment’ hundreds of millions of peoples’ senses of reality with beneficial technology? 

    Like many things in life, the truth isn’t black or white in this regard. While multi-dollar billionaires including Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have looked to build cities in space that we can escape to when the world becomes overpopulated or uninhabitable, others are developing the ‘Metaverse’ as a complementary set of enhancements and parallel spaces for our lives on earth.   

    What is The Metaverse?

    Is the Metaverse more than just ‘sales speak’ for a bunch of sales-speak-for-tech companies? It has been bandied about throughout 2021 but Zuckerberg has been even more brazen, having announced at the end of October that Facebook would be rebranded as Meta. Rather cheeky!

    But what is this swanky new world we may soon be living, and maybe thriving in? I’ve been called Mr. Anderson for over 20 years, so it feels like a fitting time, with the release of the fourth Matrix movie, to ask: “What is the Metaverse(Matrix)?” 

    The Metaverse is a hypothesised iteration of the Internet, that supports persistent online 3-D virtual environments via conventional personal computing, as well as virtual & augmented reality headsets.

    Wikipedia

    It’s still being given a concrete definition but essentially it is an advanced version of the Internet wherein we can become immersed. You don’t just look at the Internet; you are ‘digitally immersed’ in it. Instead of just looking at a 3D object on your PC using a mouse to scroll up and down to see it from different angles, in the Metaverse your brain will convince you that you are in the same world as that object.

    Metaverses, in some limited form, were already present on platforms like VR-Chat or video games like Second Life. These suggest that we have been moving toward living in a Metaverse for years. But why should we care so much now about the Metaverse then?

    Why The Metaverse Matters

    The Metaverse has the potential to bring fulfilment, economic opportunity and equity to people. But, for this to happen, we would probably need a situation where a handful of companies – here’s looking at you Zuckerberg – are prevented from dominating it. The virtual world could overcome the shortcomings of the physical one which humanity has lived on for millennia. Digital environments could become actual places where people don’t only live; but also thrive.

    It is for these reasons that we believe Metaverses will be pervasive across our lives from a young age until our retirement.

    Images courtesy of the respective companies

    For example, the gaming platform, Roblox might be unknown to well, adults, but this 13-year-old platform is booming. Children and teenagers use this platform to play existing games together but also to create new games. It also sports a marketplace where users can sell those experiences and other products like online outfits and personalized avatars. Another incredibly popular online multiplayer game Fortnite is well poised to switch its huge user-base into ‘Metaversians’. Two upcoming multi-billion dollar gaming platforms built on Blockchain technologies are Decentraland and The Sandbox.

    The former made the news recently when a tech company bought a patch of virtual real estate in the Decentraland metaverse for 618,000 MANA (its native currency) – valued at $3.2 million.

    Virtual ‘land’ and other items (digital assets) in Decentraland are sold in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are a class of crypto assets. All of these are authenticated using a Smart Contract component of the blockchain.

    Play-to-earn is another incentive to getting onto the Metaverse. You will now be able to earn virtual tokens (with monetary value) while emersed in your favourite game. This no-brainer strategy has seen an explosion of Blockchain play-to-earn games in the last quarter of 2021.

    Other Use Cases

    Back in the “real working world” virtual productivity platforms are also growing as companies’ employees use MS Teams, Zoom and other platforms to be able to communicate easily and at any time.

    You will be able to now have online offices and attend online conferences in virtual conference centres while represented by avatars. No more suiting up or wasting time on perfect makeup! So, while one can’t stop people from spending time in a cyber world, we can, however, enhance their experiences using cutting-edge technology.

    The opportunities for business and revenue generation will not be limited. Simulations for building and engineering projects will make presentations almost real – without having to travel to the actual sites. Online gambling/shopping companies will also look to capitalise by offering virtual casinos and stores in the Metaverse.

    Marketing Spin-offs

    There are even talks that companies may sell apparel and clothing and are designing virtual versions thereof. Virtual shoes could become status symbols which is rather bizarre but perhaps fun for the nouveau riche. Joke if you want but brands like Gucci, Adidas, and Nike are prepping (with partnerships) to board the Metaverse for obvious marketing opportunities.

    People are rapidly immersing themselves in virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) worlds. Headsets are becoming more affordable and an assortment of AR/VR programmes are being written daily. These include entertainment programmes for PlayStation 5 as well as for pornography apps (another billion-dollar industry).

    Soon the Metaverse will become a tool that improves our lives and will go beyond being just an entertainment novelty.

    It doesn’t stop here. There is a little-known Metaverse company currently worth $2bn, that has made some major breakthroughs using Blockchain tech. They have actually created a device to scan entire people and objects to immerse them into the digital world.

    The ambitious project, MetaHero will be paying people a decent amount to have their avatars made and used in games from January 2022. Sounds absurd but perhaps you need to take a look yourselves.

    Final Word of Caution

    Bear in mind that the Metaverse may exacerbate problems faced by humans because of the Internet. We need a better grasp of managing data rights, data security, misinformation, the radicalisation of morally wrong ideas such as racism and vaccine hesitancy as well as platform power.

    Somebody needs to rein the likes of Facebook, um I mean Meta, in. We should not just allow the Metaverses to distract millions of us with a ‘wonderful’ cyber world.

  • Digital vulnerabilities

    Digital vulnerabilities

    Global security breaches are on the rise and no one or country is safe. The acceleration of certain technologies has been rapid since the pandemic engulfed the world last year. But unfortunately, we’ve also become slack in the process.

    Once again, it has become apparent just how ‘at-risk’ our data is.

    Data hacks have been frantic and are now getting major press attention. It’s hard to know who each unwanted visitor is in each case but fingers are being pointed in perhaps familiar directions.

    Russian invaders back at it again

    In fact, throughout June, Russians have been blamed for a slew of hacks around the world.

    Microsoft in late May said a wave of Russian cyber-attacks had targeted government agencies and human rights groups in 24 countries, mostly in the US.

    It claimed that around 3000 email accounts of more than 150 different organizations, some of them international, were attacked in just one week.

    Allegedly, the group responsible was the same one that carried out 2020’s SolarWinds attacks, which the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) was accused of orchestrating.

    But the Kremlin denied having any knowledge or anything to do with any cyber-attacks. It challenged Microsoft to how these attacks were linked to the European attacks.

    Nevertheless, authorities are now aggressively investigating cybercrime. In the first week of June, the US Justice Department recovered around $2.3m in cryptocurrency ransom money.

    Webscanner

    This was part of the funds paid by the Colonial Pipeline Company to Russian hackers in the most disruptive cyberattack on record in the country.

    The US deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco said investigators had seized 63.7 Bitcoins which was paid by the company after its systems were hacked, leading to massive shortages of petrol along the US’s East Coast. The department said it founded and recaptured the majority of the ransom.

    The hackers are believed to be a group called DarkSide, whose menace caused a multi-day shutdown in certain petrol stations and a spike in gas prices.

    The attack made international news and prompted the US’s White House to encourage business executives to improve security measures to avoid future cyberattacks whatever their nature, ransomware or otherwise.

    The FBI said DarkSide had also disrupted operations at a meatpacking company. As no one tends to be spared in the spillover effects, it is always a good idea to protect your company’s digital assets as a preventative measure.

    Not so sophisticated

    The attackers rather proved to be quite ‘amatuerish’ because they sent the Bitcoins to an online platform to convert it to fiat money – and that is how they got nabbed. Server-hosted (Online) crypto exchanges are obliged to keep customer data for compliance and anti-money laundering practices. So while your Crypto digital wallet does not reveal your identity, pairing it with an exchange will link it to all the other particulars you needed to provide to use the exchange.

    As long as you need cash to pay for things you will always need to switch your crypto in some way or another – unless your recipient agreed to take payment in Crypto as well. Keeping your digital assets on a hard-wallet or on your hard-drive keeps them “off-the-grid”. But also means you can’t actually spend them.

    Although the initial cyberattack was a smart manuever, the attackers proved to be rookies at the robbing game in the end.

    On a positive note: the ability to retrieve Bitcoins actually reinforces the need for a Blockchain-based financial system. This made it easier for the authorities to track movements of the ‘ransom-paid’ Bitcoins.

    Cuban for a bruising

    But politicians aren’t the only people who are urging businesses, civil society organizations, and other groups to improve security systems and be cognisant of an often-dark future.

    US Dollar billionaire Mark Cuban has also called for stricter cryptocurrency regulations.

    The owner of the Dallas Mavericks who has been investing in trading Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum said the world was in dire need of regulation for the burgeoning decentralized finance (DeFi) space.

    —READ MORE ABOUT DEFI HERE —

    Cuban said in an interview with Bloomberg that there “should be regulation to define what a Stablecoin is” in order for DeFi to be reliable and to prevent total collapses in investments.

    This comes after he saw his investments in a particular Stablecoin ‘went to zero’. Cuban claimed he had been scammed.

    Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency that is pegged to an underlying asset, or currency – usually the US dollar. They are the earliest forms of DeFi and the largest Stablecoin, Tether, is currently worth more than $62bn.

    DeFi has helped the price of Ethereum, the blockchain on which most DeFi projects are built, to also soar. But they can be highly risky investments.

    Investors try to create arbitrage opportunities and liquidity between coins but such a scheme collapsed for Cuban.

    “There should be regulation to define what a stable coin is and what collateralization is acceptable,” he said.

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    Buy, Stake, and Trade Cryptos

    Strong words of caution

    Cuban hasn’t revealed how much money he lost but told a fellow DeFi investor via Twitter that regulation must be implemented- and quickly.

    It had been suggested that Cuban was “rugged” which refers to when a project’s liquidity dries up and investors cannot withdraw their cash.

    Mark Cuban is alleged to have 60% of his crypto holdings in Bitcoin, 30% in Ethereum, and 10% held in other coins. He likes to experiment with new financial tech investments.

    He added further in a recent blog post that banks should be scared of unregulated DeFi technology.

    All crypto-based investments remain highly risky as the technology around them develops. But there certainly needs to be global laws to prevent people from losing hefty amounts of their wealth/investment. Cryptocurrency is without a doubt a very lucrative investment vehicle that could make you an overnight millionaire. But that also makes it a perfect vehicle for scammers to clone projects to make away with your hard-earned cash.

    You must, therefore, be extra vigilant and scrutinize offers for instant riches. But more so, you would be quite negligent these days to navigate the Internet without any form of cyber-protection.

  • Startup with flair

    Startup with flair

    §§§

    Every great product begins with an idea—even while the world waits in lockdown. In fact, some of history’s best masterpieces stemmed from periods of isolation, like Sir Isaac Newton’s Theory of Gravity or Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.

    Whether you’re fulfilling a lifelong dream or simply seeking a new income stream, there are ways to get your groundbreaking tech idea to the market today.

    Do your planning & research

    The first step of software or web development is to appraise the idea itself. Most successful start-ups begin as answers to urgent consumer concerns. They also usually change the way things are done and are therefore called disruptive technologies. To be considered, your tech idea should, therefore, help resolve a relevant problem.

    If you are not solving a pressing need, the fanciest invention or service (even with a solid marketing and financial plan) will fail to appeal to your target market. It will also not catch the eye of potential funders.

    Many startups fail because visionaries fail to elucidate their idea to the people that can make it a reality.

    Next, you should analyze the possible competition. With millions of Apps, DApps, and software developments out there, someone might have already created the same thing. If that’s the case, you could see how your product improves upon its predecessors. It might be a good idea to get your work patented or copyrighted. Likewise, you might want to check to see if the idea has not already been patented.

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    Of course, transforming this amazing tech idea into reality involves a LOT of planning, too. That’s why you should research and map out an approximate timeline, possible tech builders (if you can’t DIY the work), related APIs, and most importantly, a budget.

    Some software developers may offer to partner with you – as your startup’s CTO. This could be for an equity/share in the venture or to provide a discount on the work done. This is a good option if you are still early in the fundraising phase.

    Finding the funds

    If you don’t have the money to get your idea off the ground, not to worry! There are plenty of other ways to find the funds, such as angel investors, banks, or crowdfunding sites.

    While some people rely on traditional loans from banks, others prefer to apply for grants from the government. There are also pages like GoFundMe and Kickstarter, where you can post your idea and crowdfund from private individuals around the world.

    Advert: A debit card for the Blockchain era

    For example, Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus (a virtual reality headset), raised over $2 million using Kickstarter to begin his business. If you instead opt for an angel investor, an individual willing to invest a large sum into budding businesses, studies show that your business is more likely to succeed.

    Another form of assistance is to go through a startup incubator. You might want to look up the best ones in your country – but as ideas are not limited geographically – you can join any of the top incubators in the world.

    Test & distribute

    Finally, after proper planning and fundraising, you can execute and test out your brilliant tech idea. As AOL Founder, Steve Case, once said, “You shouldn’t focus on why you can’t do something, which is what most people do. You should focus on why perhaps you can and be one of the exceptions.” 

    This stage will also include a working prototype and a few open sessions or what is referred to in tech terms as ‘Beta-testings’. You can collect more insights from potential users to make your product stand out from others – preferably before you launch it.

    There are many online tools to help you in this phase. Most of them offer free trials, so you can get away with using them just for the test period.

    Covid-19 is no excuse not to launch a good venture provided it serves a pressing need as mentioned. In fact, projects that address the pandemic directly will indefinitely get preferential treatment when it comes to funding and support.

  • The Online Threats of 2019

    The Online Threats of 2019

    How you can stop them from happening.

    Like a biological virus mutates – as technology advances so do the complexity of phishing and identity theft schemes. With major services adopting cloud technologies and storing private data online, anyone is vulnerable to hacking.

    To make matters worse, hackers continue to come up with some pretty creative ways to profit from stolen information.

    Without wasting time, these are the things you should already be doing to avoid being exposed to hackers in the first place:

    In order to keep these cyber-criminals out of your lives and computers, let’s take a look at some of the actual schemes to watch out for in 2019.

    Hacking

    We all know what hacking is by now – the term has almost become synonymous with internet security. So a question is: do you love watching movies on Netflix or jamming out to your summer playlist on Spotify? If the answer is yes, then you’re at a pretty high risk of getting hacked.

    DynaRisk, a UK cybersecurity firm, recently found that cybercriminals most commonly target these brands, along with adult-oriented sites (you know what we mean) and then, online gaming services.

    Identity Theft

    A few weeks ago, authorities caught a New York-based gang who had used identity theft to steal over $19 million worth of iPhones. Quartz reported that this operation ran for seven years.

    So-called “Top Dogs,” the ring leaders, would organize lower level members of their organization to steal identities and create clone credit and identity cards. Then, affiliates fanned across the nation, signing up for mobile phone plans to acquire iPhones, which were later sold for a profit by the Top Dogs.

    Because phone payment plans take the shape of nominal fees over the course of several years, victims often wouldn’t notice the fraud until it was too late. Learn how another scheme dubbed sim port attack works in the diagram below:

    Ransomware

    Hacking can happen to anyone – including our favorite bands. In early June, a hacker managed to steal the minidisk archive of Thom Yorke, the lead singer of Radiohead. This included previously unreleased demos and audio material from around the time of “OK Computer,” the band’s 1997 worldwide hit album. The hacker then demanded $150,000 on the threat of releasing it.

    Holding files for ransom is so common nowadays that it even has its own name: “Ransomware.” Either pay over the ransom or lose your files—or, even worse, have them released onto the unforgiving Internet.

    In response, Radiohead released all 18 hours of material on Bandcamp themselves, winning against these ransom hackers.

    Most security experts recommend the same route as Radiohead—never pay the ransom, because there’s no guarantee you’ll recover files or prevent their release.

    Sextortion

    If you think ransomware is bad, there’s an entire subgroup of it aimed to profit off sexual shame. Cheekily named “Sextortion,” some hackers creatively upgraded the classic email phishing scam to scare victims into handing over Bitcoin.

    According to Fortune, hackers have already racked up over $900,000 with sextortion. In these phishing emails, the sender claims to have spied on you while you watched porn—and has webcam footage of the salacious deeds. The message then demands a Bitcoin ransom, or else face the social and professional consequences of this lewd video getting sent to all your contacts.

    To make the threat even more believable, the sender references a previous password tied to the user’s email account. According to Krebson Security, a sextortion phishing message might look a little like what’s written in the sidebox.

    In rare cases, the threats are real—and hackers get their hands on some sexually explicit photos. Recently, American actress Bella Thorne fell victim to sextortion. Last Saturday, she took a similar, albeit more risqué, route as Radiohead, opting to release her nude photographs on Twitter in order to take the power away from her hacker.

    Last thoughts

    So, what’s the best way to avoid your personal, or, business from costing thousands in virtual currency? Since most of these emails are fake, you can just avoid them with a spam filter. And you should probably buy a webcam cover…just to be safe. When it comes to general browsing- we suggest using a VPN.

    Read more about VPNs here

    There are now more secure anti-hacking tools that use the Blockchain and offer great protection, especially against identity theft. Have a look at our feature on Tokenisation.

    Most online services now like mobile banks, offer App-based 2-factor authentication. This should now be regarded as the minimum security for ANY online account or App.

    To avoid hacking or phishing scams in general, optimizing your cybersecurity and using online common sense will save you loads of time, trouble and money.

    Cybersecurity by Acunetix
  • The latest cloud computing trends in 2019

    The latest cloud computing trends in 2019

    It’s 2019, and the Cloud is everywhere—from the apps we use every day to the infrastructure of global tech giants.

    According to researchers at Gartner, revenue generated from public cloud services is projected to grow 17.5 percent in 2019. This amounts to a total of $214.3 billion, up from $182.4 billion in 2018.

    More than a third of organizations surveyed by Gartner saw cloud investments as a top three investment priority. With this kind of growth, tech organizations are racing to get on board with cloud-only software and platforms.

    Here are some of the trends to look out for this year:

    Hybrid Cloud, Multi-Cloud and Mergers

    IBM announced its purchase of Red Hat last October, calling it the “most significant tech acquisition of 2018.” This combined Red Hat’s extensive network of open-source clouds with IBM’s Hybrid Cloud team.

    Mergers like these are likely to become a trend this year, as companies see the benefit of using multiple clouds across all sectors of their organization.

    Furthermore, this system will dominate in the future, as businesses find public clouds inadequate to meet every one of their requirements.

    As a more flexible and functional solution, many organizations will shift to a network of multiple private, public and hybrid clouds in the future.

    Serverless Cloud

    Serverless computing is a young market in technology, but it will continue growing in 2019. It isn’t actually “serverless.” Instead, it is a cloud-computing model in which the cloud provider itself runs the server on a dynamic, as-used basis (FaaS).

    Rather than buying server space, developers can use a back-end cloud service to code. They will only then pay for the server space they actually use.

    As this relatively new technology develops, we can expect to see more companies providing and expanding their “serverless” offerings.

    Artificial Intelligence

    Although cloud technologies are growing exponentially, artificial intelligence (AI) could prove an even greater economic driving force. According to Accenture, the impact of AI could double economic growth rates by 2035 in developed countries. 

    Around 80 percent of large companies have adopted some form of AI, according to the Harvard Business Review.

    Amazon, Twilio and Nvidia, to name a few, are thus, incorporating AI with cloud computing, next-gen GPUs and the Internet of Things (IoT). This has led to the developing of applications with “smart assistants,” and voice-to-text technologies.

    Such a combination of AI and the cloud provides an extremely powerful and unconstrained computing network.

    Security

    Digital transformation is already underway, with Gartner also projecting that 83 percent of all workloads will shift to the cloud by 2020. However, this movement presents issues of cybersecurity.

    Many businesses have not properly secured their cloud-stored data. For example, marketing and data aggregation firm Exactis left around 340 million records exposed on its cloud servers. This was uncovered in a data breach last year.

    Mitigating factors

    The implementation of the General Data Practice Regulations (GDPR) makes this even trickier. It affects cloud security, and IT companies will likely struggle to comply with these new laws while protecting sensitive information.

    Cloud computing services are progressing exponentially, as are their new developments. The year 2019 will surely be filled with businesses pouring investment into enterprise solutions. This while expanding, securing, and implementing cloud technologies to their fullest extent.

    Bridget is a freelance writer and editor, and the founder of Lost Bridge Blog, where she writes about traveling as a Millennial woman on a budget. When not writing, you can find her traveling, drinking inhuman amounts of caffeine and scrolling through the latest tech & political news.
    N26 Bank
  • A digital address for everything

    A digital address for everything

    The ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) as the name suggests is basically connecting as many devices online for them to communicate with each other.

    If you think that is a far-fetched concept it is nothing new. We have been using it since the advent of GSM, Infrared, GPS, GPRS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and other wireless connections.

    To put the concept into further context, your Smartphone/watch, Bluetooth headset, wireless printer, or smart fridge are all components of the ‘Internet of Things’. They all require a sensor or chip to connect or collaborate with each other.

    Origins

    The term was supposedly coined about a decade ago. This when a company executive discussed an idea which sounded bizarrely unnecessary and over-futuristic at the time.

    He advocated for the need for a chip for every electronic device. The initially requirement was for supply chain and automation in the retail industry.

    Fast forward to today, and this has indeed come to fruition. We now have smart cars, smart homes and even tracking chips inserted into pets!

    So, each component or part of the object is equipped with an individual chip (small processor) with a unique IP address.

    The very same IP address used to identify your home modem or Office server.

    IoT application

    Why would you want that you might ask? Wouldn’t it be useful for devices and machines to work things out by themselves – to solve complex problems before you even become aware of them?

    This is in fact how the devices communicate with the central server to relate pertinent information.  An example is the use of fuzzy logic: to regulate the temperature in the fridge (to avoid food getting moldy).

    It can be used, in addition, to check the amount of water used in a washing cycle in your washing machine. 

    Another practical use would be to check car tyres pressure and temperature (to avoid overheating and bursting).

    Can you then imagine the number of chips that are required for the typical household?  For the car, security alarm, fridge, microwave, tumble dryer, TVs, Radios, computers/tablets, lighting, and heating/cooling system? Each would require a unique IP address

    IP address shortage

    Talks about IoT highlighted the need for more IP addresses and a need to track or generate them. This as it is evident we are running out of ‘normal’ IP addresses known as IP4: 4 denotes the number of billion IP addresses available.

    At the birth of the Internet age in the 1980s, no one ever envisioned a time when the world would need more than four million IP addresses. But with the need as mentioned above for the internet of things – that has come to pass.

    Without getting too technical, the issue is being resolved with the development of a newer IP system known as the IP6.

    The main difference between the two but it is merely that one is on 32-bit system while the newer on 128-bit and that influences merely the length of the addresses.

    Again, the technicalities would only matter to the now growing IoT industry and would not affect us as individuals.

    Practical uses of IOT

    Large companies that need to manufacture a lot of parts for their devices would need to insert an IP address on each piece. From items as trivial as the car side-mirror; to more serious parts like the helmet of a sportsperson engaging in the heavy contact sport.

    From an education perspective, the IoT can make learning a lot more fun for kids and young adults. Toy-maker Sphero, for example, has been long making wireless operated toys like its SPRK+(pictured).

    The idea is to fuse physical (programmable) robotic toys with digital apps.

    This would simultaneously provide entertainment experiences while inspiring tomorrow’s leaders in maths, engineering, and science.

    There are discussions to extend this connectedness to human beings. Much like was prophesied in many sci-fi books and George Orwell’s 1984. If there was a ‘rise of the machines’, and Artificial Intelligence was to take over the control of all our devices, we would not stand a chance!

    There are also a few new decentralized systems that are even advocating for a fragmented Internet for that very reason (security and privacy). This would enable you to control your little space within the “interconnected” web.

    You can thus run a (private) local area network (LAN) within the Internet domain – if that makes any sense.

    Blockchain advocates and companies like IOTA and Chinese-based Crypto-firm Tron are pushing the IoT narrative hard. They also want the decentralization of the whole Internet.

    It is only a matter of time before this becomes the norm. Companies are now queuing to get the IP6s and have incorporated adding them to the manufacturing processes.

    Once the security and privacy issues have been adequately planned and implemented. The pros of the full adoption of IoT will outweigh the cons.

  • Vocations of the Future

    Vocations of the Future

    There is a lot of banter, which is backed up by well-research papers on how Automation and Robotics (powered by AI) will replace manufacturing jobs.

    Blue-collar jobs are not the only ones however, that face imminent and progressive extinction.

    A recent survey report conducted by the World Economic Forum predicts futuristic trends affecting certain jobs in the modern workplace.

    Robert Solow predicted decades ago, in his Solow-Swan model, a massive driving force of global growth: technology.

    And the evidence is prevalent with the likes of Apple, Google, and Amazon championing stock markets with Billion-dollar market capitalizations. They also create an abundance of jobs globally.

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    Disruptive technological advances such as AI (Artificial Intelligence); the ubiquitous high-speed mobile Internet (5G); widespread adoption of big data analytics; cloud technology; and the recent Blockchain technology will be the drivers of this job evolution.

    Based on the report, by 2022, this job evolution will be firmly in place as it has already.

    In a matter of just 4 years, we could have a situation where jobs such as postal service clerks, data entry clerks, and bean-counters (accountants and auditors) would be made redundant.

    Impact on services

    Software like Microsoft’s Dynamics 365, aims to remove ‘silos’ within customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) processes.

    The latter takes over (fully automates) back-office operations such as stock-taking and supply chain management.

    Such tasks will be performed via software, reducing the need for more human supervision. Consequently, the focus would be more on managerial roles.

    In the sales and customer service realm, technologies like Microsoft’s AI will provide automated insights to guide employees on improving customer experiences.

    Furthermore, it may lower support costs by using virtual agents or Chatbots to eliminate in-house AI experts and those writing code. This will  result in more redundancies!

    World's jobs

    On a positive note, newer and more exciting jobs such as data analysts, machine learning and AI specialists, digital transformation experts and in general information system services will be on the rise – up to 135 million globally, according to the Report.

    The fields to benefit directly from new technologies would be information technology; information security; innovation; customer services and risk management (financial services).

    Impact on finance

    Another group of professionals whose nature of work will be affected due to the advent of ‘disruptive technology‘ is financial middlemen. Likewise, smaller banks and money transfer institutions.

    Decentralized systems were primarily put in place to eradicate exorbitant fees associated with transferring money across borders.

    Cutting them out completely undoubtedly renders them redundant. It is therefore pertinent for them to innovate their products in order to open up sufficient job position.

    Read more about the effect of Cryptocurrencies on the banking sector here

    Recently, Malta’s finance minister whilst in a private interview during a Blockchain Conference, echoed this. He said that the advent of cryptocurrency has changed financial middlemen into traditional “photo developers”.

    “I can see this, just like in photography when you could tell that […] those who process the photos will lose their jobs; a lot of financial intermediaries will be facing the chop in the not too distant future,” says Edward Scicluna.

    The good news for governments will be that the trend shows that the jobs created will surpass those lost.

    Be proactive and skill yourself accordingly or get the right personnel who can quickly adopt some of the mentioned skills so that you do not fall behind!

  • Modern-day Profit Hunters

    Modern-day Profit Hunters

    Dealing with Cryptocurrency has its interesting dynamics. There are, however, many hidden facets making it still a mystery to the masses. Not knowing about it makes you prone to, get rich-schemes or outright scams.

    We are all by now aware of the mania caused by the soaring prices and then, the subsequent decline that followed early this year.

    What we don’t pay attention to, however, is just how complex it is to physically “acquire” and store these Cryptocurrencies.

    Mining coins can be described very basically as the process where users “or miners” become part of a Cryptocurrency network. This by making hardware (processors & graphics cards) available to support that specific network’s operations.

    As a miner, you contribute towards the working of the Blockchain. The technology requires millions of calculations to validate transactions into what are known as public ledgers.

    Click here for more about how the Blockchain works.

    There are three main ways to mine these coins but we will not be highlighting them in this post. The matter to be covered here, however, is the business aspect: how the Blockchain has created a new line of commercial entities and ‘profit-takers’.

    These modern tech “enterprises” offer you a specific or cluster of altcoins and tokens as a reward for helping them maintain their Blockchain.

    Sounds like a win-win situation right?  Or is it?

    Mining is hard

    If you have actually looked into the methods of mining, you will discover that only those with high-end hardware are able to produce enough energy to power the Blockchain. This is called “hash power” or “hash rate”. This is kind of like horsepower for cars, but for PC processing.

    There are sites that illustrate how to calculate potential profits such as one conveniently called ‘what to mine’.

    The opportunity cost of operating the customized computer systems (known as Mining Rigs), will have to be offset with the cost of acquiring hardware such as the Antminer S9i. Then there are energy costs associated with running the rigs for long periods of time.

    Your profit would, therefore, be the balance of the costs versus the revenue involved in mining coins.

    The mining profit = revenue (quantity multiplied by the price of the coin in local fiat currency). Then subtract the cost of the mining devices + annual electricity costs (measured in local currency per KWh).

    The problem with going at it alone is that it is very hard to break even. You are also faced with a conundrum:  the more powerful your hardware is, the more electricity it consumes.


    It also takes a lot longer to acquire the coins which you are awarded by the respective blockchain network after successful hashing is completed.

    To make it worth your while you would hope that the coin you mine’s market value exceeds the costs of the monthly/annual electricity bill.

    Value proposition

    There a now hundreds of these so-called Crypto/Tech companies spurting up by the day. Their modus operandi: to relieve you of the burden of the high electricity and hardware costs. This in exchange a monthly or once-off fee.

    In return, they promise to mine coins and provide you with daily or monthly profits. They can do this because they presumably have more powerful mining setups and therefore, larger economies of scale.

    Some of these establishments use big rooms, whole buildings or even warehouses to run thousands of mining rigs throughout the year.

    The payments you make supposedly help them with maintenance costs and pay for the said electricity bills. They are also usually stationed in countries where the cost of electricity is very low.

    MiningCosts

    You are likely to, however, run the risk of dealing with the occasional Ponzi-scheme – setup.  Such companies dive at the opportunity to swindle those not familiar with Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies.

    By dazzling you with the price increases and potential astronomical returns, they take your money and make a run for it!

    You can also ponder, it is incredibly difficult and expensive to mine Bitcoin these days. If these setups are actually just people who have already made their millions from acquiring Cryptocurrency.

    The acquisition naturally, would have been when they were dirt cheap, and are now offering the residue to make more profit off unknowing investors.

     

    A working example

    How it would work is: let’s say you owned 100 Bitcoins mined in 2010 for the opportunity cost of $100 each (cost of electricity).  You then sold half at the height of the Crypto ‘bull-run’ in January 2018 when they were worth $19 000 each.  You would have been $945 000 richer.

    So, with almost a million bucks in the kitty and another 50 units of coins (which would be now worth a lot less); the natural inclination would be to look at ways to make the extra coins ‘work for you’.

    And what better way than to be your own boss and head a Crypto company! You can with your new setup, sell off the residue of Crypto coins in bits for profits in cash.

    This is likely what some of these companies offering you coins for an opportunity to get Bitcoins. This under the false pretence of partaking in a ‘mining operation’. Meanwhile,  in reality, the actual mining probably took place almost a decade ago!

    All in all, do stay alert and do your research before parting with your money to join a mining pool or Crypto investment scheme!

  • Cloud (Storage) Wars!

    Cloud (Storage) Wars!

    The term “storage wars” has taken on a new meaning. It has shifted literally from the ability to keep one’s belongings in physical containers to having one’s data stored and managed in the digital realm.

    A question often asked is whether the (Internet) cloud is infinite. The answer is both a yes and no.

    The top four cloud tech companies are endlessly engaged in a silent market share war. It is a tough choice as they all offer millions of gigabytes in storage. We can only attempt to investigate to what extent is there an abundance of storage when we ‘run out’.


    The “Cloud” as explained in our previous blog, is a series of backed-up servers scattered across the globe.

    Consequently,  in terms of availability of storage, it is just a matter of where (location) a datacenter can be run and at what its maintenance costs are.
    The answer to how infinite is the cloud, therefore, boils down literally to a cost, rather than a capacity issue for cloud-storage providers (CSPs).

    The main CSPs vying for a market share in the paid cloud storage subscriptions are Google, Microsoft (Azure), Amazon, and IBM.

    There are also smaller yet significant players such as Box, Dropbox, Tresorit, and Barracuda.  A quick online search on their websites will reveal what they can offer you.


    Similarly, the pages of any one of the smaller companies will give some comparisons of each cloud storage offer (bundles).


    We will, however, focus on the major ‘players’ and summarize their offerings based on offers for both individuals and small to large enterprises.

    What to look out for
    stacking-up-cloud-vendors-2018-right-scale-2

    Some of the key features to look for when storing data in the cloud include Encryption at rest and in transit, as well as end-to-end encryption; 2-Step Verification, HIPAA Compliance.


    Other factors to consider are the actual server location, ability to sync any folders, and perform selective Synchronization.


    There are also key offerings such as offering the ability to edit files on mobile devices. For businesses, the ability to remotely wipe mobile devices, perform file-versioning, and other useful features for data management.

    As a business, if the above-mentioned features are not in your cloud solution, you better look into switching away.


    While you can technically run your own cloud, it would require a full-on IT team. That or a very good support system to assist in its maintenance and administration.


    It is for this very reason that a SaaS(and Hybrid)-approach to storage is preferred by many medium to large enterprises.

    4 of the most popular CSPs 

    Google

    Weaponry: 

    A standard (personal) GoogleDrive starts from 15 GB in size and comes when you open a Google email account. This is a standard with most Android-powered mobile phones which require a Gmail account to register the phone.

    It is a convenient way to store and access your pics, videos, and files across multiple devices or back them up in case of a hard drive crash.
    If you do not mind the inconvenience of having several logins, you could get away with multiple drives giving you 15 GBs each.


    There is, however, a drawback as there is no such a thing as a free lunch – the level of security and compliance features naturally are little to almost none.  Additional storage can also be purchased with different upgrade plans, which may come with more  add=ons such as extra file encryption.


    When it comes to their business offering, their Team Drive is available with the G-Suite bundle. One can upload 750 GB of data per day and up to a total of 5 TB in size.  Team Drive can contain a maximum of 100,000 files and folders, however, this limit can be increased upon request.


    The basic package including the more advanced security costs $5 per user per month and gives you 30 GB for storage and collaboration.

    A full comparison of available storage plans 

    Tactical strengths:

    The ease of accessing and using the drives via strategic partnerships such as Android provides them with a growing market share.   As it is cloud-based and not linked to physical devices,  you can access your GoogleDrive using a Mac computer as well.


    There are growing talks of incorporating Artificial Intelligence <AI> into the data management systems. They are currently building a full AI Center in Accra, Ghana. This will help bigger companies manage, access, and organize their stored information faster and with more purpose.


    They have recently launched a set of new cloud storage tiers under the branding Google One. This comes with revised pricing and storage options: 15 GB: remains Free; 100 GB costs $1.99/month; 200 GB $2.99/month  and 2 TB $9.99/month.

    Potential weakness/es:

    Google is a latecomer when it comes to offering business solutions and still battles with the stigma of being a free service and thus associated with inferior quality.


    The integration with Office applications is still something they struggle to get right. Not many are fans of  Googlesheets.


    Most non-Microsoft platforms will have this compatibility problem.
    They also run into a few data syncing problems ever so often, especially with the free storage. Google offers full 24/7 customer and technical support with their products. More aggressive advertising and pricing of their business offerings now serves to hopefully alleviate this issue for them.


    How Google bounces back from a hefty  EUR 4,34 billion fine for colluding with Android will determine if they survive the storage war. This especially if they will be now forced to allow other CSPs to offer services on mobile devices.

    Amazon

    Weaponry:

    One of the first cloud solution providers to offer eCommerce and Business-to-Business (B2B) offerings. Amazon and its Amazon Web Services (AWS) have come a long and calculated way from just offering/selling books online.


    They are actually seen as a formal threat and a direct (more superior) competitor to Microsoft’s cloud (equivalent) offering –  which we touch on next.
    Most of this comes from a robust and apparently the world’s largest global cloud infrastructure.


    Based on this, its cloud storage, dubbed Amazon S3, works on a “pay as you use” basis while its free tier starts you off on 5GB of storage. Thereafter you pay in increments based on the storage class you fall under.


    So the first 50 TB will cost  $0.023 per GB per month and then the next 450 TB will cost $0.022 per GB per month and so on.
    This is practical for businesses that do not have a limit to storage space but scale up and down very quickly based on their operations.

    Tactical strengths:

    Amazon’s storage platform gives users and businesses alike the ability to geographically store and move data with the highest levels of encryption. In addition, one can use data analytics on your data without moving the data into a separate analytics system.


    Amazon Athena additionally provides anyone who knows SQL on-demand query access to vast amounts of unstructured data. As with Google, AI incorporation along with Alexa would facilitate this even further.


    Other notable benefits offered include open workflows, Hybrid-cloud storage capability, powerful APIs, and easy and reliable access to many Third-Party vendors & Partners.


    Naturally, you get access to its AWS Marketplaces. It also has a strong compliance adherence including HIPAA/HITECH, EU Data Protection Directive, and FISMA.

    Comparison of the various storage classes available.

    Potential weakness/es:

    Its primary offering of consumer goods and online delivery will make it prone to any bad press received if that arm of operations does not work well.


    Further expansion into areas like streaming TV via Amazon Prime and cashless stores might result in a jack of all trades expert in none phenomenon. They are, nevertheless, handling all well so far.

    Microsoft

    Weaponry:

    The “go-to” tech company for word-processing software as well as operating systems. This software giant like Amazon is branching into many products.


    They now offer games, server hosting software, applications, an online store for all its devices, software, services, and of course, storage.
    Its Azure platform powers certain parts of Nasa and utility giant Schneider Electric to mention a few clients. Its purchase works similarly to Amazon via ‘pay-as-you-use’ terms.


    Storage users need to have a .Net Framework and SQL installed to use the storage. For those looking for quick storing solutions without building heavy infrastructure, they can adopt the cloud completely.


    With the launch of its online services (Microsoft 365), it has had to repackage a portion of its Azure platform to cater to small to mid-sized businesses.


    These include functional/specific bundles such as OneDrive (personal), OneDrive for Business, and Sharepoint (powerful storage and content management tool).


    The online version of the Sharepoint starts at $5.00 per user per month for a rather limited 1 TB per organization. Thereafter, users can purchase more in 1 GB increments of 12 to 16 (US) cents depending on the total (storage space) size ordered.

    Tactical strengths: 

    Also early adopters of AI (Machine Learning) and recently, the Blockchain (Blockchain Workbench), Microsoft is providing its developers with more and better reasons to use its storage space for practicality.
    Like their online storage offers on Office 365, Azure storage packages are also quite structured and well categorised.


    There are specific functions such as a database server-data management system. Then there is one for application running services, and others to handle rest-based object storage (Blob Storage).
    Lastly, they offer storage to help perform computations and process events (Functions).
    These bundles are all provided free for the first 12 months and then range from $0.002 per GB to about US 0.20c per million executions.


    They have a good Partner system to help distinguish and provide support for the best storage package based on one’s immediate needs.


    To bolster their growing Marketplace, they recently also purchased a business that deals with OpenSource (GitHub).  This enables more freedom for developers to manipulate the software on their platform.

    For a comparison of the storage types via Azure and pricing for each, click here.

    Potential weakness/es:

    People have found its pricing a little to steep on the storage side and so keeping market share will be tough.  Many new smaller CSPs offering cheaper per GB rates.


    They can only counter this by offering more products that require their storage (compatibility-wise).
    Some other cumbersome restrictions like users being only able to upload 20 000 files at once or the actual file-size limit might not bode too well with heavy cloud data users.


    They also don’t have as many APIs as Google or Amazon does, but these are growing by the day.

    IBM

    Weaponry:

    Probably the first of the CSP batch that provided cloud computing. It therefore has had the experience of honing ways of storing and retrieving data for larger businesses. International Business Machines (or IBM) can be considered as the grandfather of data storage.


    As with the other CSPs, there is a free offering called the “Lite plan” consisting of a single IBM Cloud service instance with storage up to 25 GB/month.
    Paid storage is staggered, per consumption and based on complex costing tiers based on location, storage class, and resiliency choice.


    Storage charges start from $0.09 for up to 50 GB down to $0.014 for 500+ TB on what they call the Cross-Region Flex plan.

    For more insight into the complex costing table, visit the IBM storage pricing page here.

    Tactical strengths:

    Their security is their biggest pride and strength and makes them a firm favourite for large companies and potentially governmental institutions.
    The fact that they do not actively advertise as much as Google or Microsoft is telling. They clearly need to provide high secrecy and protection for their existing clients.


    One such feature unique to the way data is stored on their cloud servers is using Information Dispersal Algorithms (IDAs). This helps to separate data in unrecognizable “slices” that are distributed across datacenters.


    So basically the complete copy of the data resides in any single storage node, and only a subset of nodes are available in order to fully retrieve the data on the network. This is similar to how peer-to-peer sharing or data encryption works.


    And speaking of heavy encryption, they have allegedly recently also started on the Blockchain and are experimenting with a particular Cryptocurrency to enable ease of payments. This in the light of IBM with its Watson platform looking to become more of a cloud-based data operating system.

    Potential weakness/es:

    IBM relies too much on its reputation as a forerunner for tech and cloud-based computing. It has earned that title for several decades before the likes of Google and Amazon barged in.


    They might lose out on market share once the newer CSPs start to offer more robust products and compliance services like theirs.


    Their high security and complex system come at a premium so designed for or rather restricted to wealthy companies essentially. The hosting option (main server locations) looks limited and restricted to geographical areas primarily in the US and EU.

    250x250

    Be wary of clandestine terminology such as ‘unlimited archiving/storage’ even with a paid subscription. This usually refers to storing data at rest and not the ability to constantly and unlimitedly sync files.


    Another salient factor to compare would be the number of files that you can upload or sync at the same time.
    This will be relevant for larger companies that need to upload large files and by large, we mean 10 GB files (2 and a half HD DVDs’ worth of content) and upwards.

    Making a choice

    At the end of the day, your decision to take on a faction in the storage war should be based on your priorities. You simply match it to what each of the companies is offering taking your budget into consideration of course.


    You may need to consider running a combination of two or more of them.
    Some larger companies offer storage as a “must-have” with hosted email or something as basic as purchasing a new smartphone.


    You will, however, have to ask yourself a few more pressing questions around functionality, data security, and compliance before taking it up.

    Or you can simply not accept the offer or disable it in cases where it is presented as a freebie!
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