#greek tech ecosystem

[xasha777]

In the cosmic stretches of the Milky Way, somewhere between the sprawling arms of spiraling stars, a planet lay hidden—a forgotten shard of Earth that harbored the remnants of the Aegean Sea. This fragment of a once-thriving world, detached during the great celestial upheaval, found refuge in a pocket of space-time, creating an anomalous paradise where Earth’s history mingled with alien realities.

On this planet, Captain Rex, a German Shepherd of remarkable intellect and engineered enhancements, was a celebrated figure. Equipped with a high-tech suit and sensory headgear that amplified his canine senses to superhuman levels, he was the guardian of the Aegean Expanse, a stretch of space where time anomalies and gravitational distortions made navigation perilous. His mission: to protect and explore this oceanic relic, mapping anomalies and safeguarding the myriad of species that had evolved in this extraordinary ecosystem.

Rex’s ship, The Odyssey II, was a marvel of engineering, capable of submersible travel in the watery depths of the space-bound Aegean and swift flight through the stars. It was equipped with labs, observation decks, and even an artificial beach that mimicked the ancient Grecian coasts.

One day, while patrolling the outer edge of the expanse, Rex picked up a distress signal emanating from a nearby asteroid field. The signal was weak, interspersed with what sounded like ancient Greek, which piqued his curiosity. His suit’s translator, developed from Earth’s linguistic databases, identified it as a call for help against some impending threat.

Rex maneuvered The Odyssey II toward the source, his senses heightened, ready for whatever challenge lay ahead. As he approached, the sensors detected unusual readings—a fusion of organic and mechanical energies that did not match any known database entries.

Hidden within the asteroid’s shadow, he discovered an ancient ship, its design reminiscent of the legendary Argo. But this was no ordinary relic; it was alive, integrated with biomechanical enhancements much like his own suit, suggesting an ancient civilization that had mastered technologies blending biology with technology. Rex carefully approached the ship, his presence triggering an activation sequence that illuminated the craft with ethereal light.

The ship’s AI introduced itself as Argonaut, a sentinel left behind by a civilization that had thrived on the shores of the original Aegean Sea, now long lost to cosmic upheavals. The Argonaut had been guarding an ancient artifact capable of stabilizing time distortions, but its power was waning, and it needed assistance.

Together, Rex and the Argonaut devised a plan to rejuvenate the artifact using the energy cores from The Odyssey II. The operation was risky; without the cores, Rex would lose critical life support systems in his suit. Yet, the potential to stabilize an entire region of space outweighed the personal risk.

As they executed their plan, Rex felt a kinship with this ancient sentinel, a fellow guardian of history and protector of the cosmos. The procedure was a success, the artifact thrumming with renewed energy, its pulse synchronizing with the cosmic flow of the Aegean Expanse.

With the artifact stabilized, Rex took his leave, his ship slightly less capable but his spirit enriched. He continued his patrols, now with deeper knowledge of the cosmos’s intertwined histories and a reinforced commitment to his mission.

As Rex soared away from the asteroid, his thoughts lingered on the mysteries of the universe and the enduring legacy of Earth, encapsulated in this celestial fragment of the Aegean Sea, forever sailing the stars.

[govindhtech]

The origins and development of Kubernetes

Kubernetes, an open-source container orchestration technology, simplifies containerized app and service deployment, administration, and scaling in modern IT infrastructure.

CNCF found that 71% of Fortune 100 companies use Kubernetes for container deployments. Linux is the most popular open-source OS. Explaining how Kubernetes defeated microservices and cloud computing requires context.

Evolution of Kubernetes

In 2013, Google engineers Craig McLuckie, Joe Beda, and Brendan Burns proposed an open-source container management system. Kubernetes, whose name comes from the Ancient Greek for “pilot or “helmsman” (the person at the helm who steers the ship), was born. These tech pioneers wanted to extend Google’s internal infrastructure expertise to large-scale cloud computing and help Google compete with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud industry leader.

Traditional vs. virtual IT infrastructure

To understand the history of Kubernetes (also known as “Kube” or “K8s,” a “numeronym” (link exists outside ibm.com)), we must compare containers to traditional and virtual IT architecture.

Historically, companies operated their software on physical servers (bare metal servers). Keeping system resource boundaries for those apps was impossible. When a physical server ran numerous applications, one application may use all the processing power, memory, storage space, and other resources. Businesses would run each application on a separate physical server to avoid this. But running programs on several servers wastes resources and hinders scaling. Having many physical machines is pricey and takes up room.

Virtualization

Then came virtualization the cornerstone of cloud computing. Virtualization technology dates back to the late 1960s, although it wasn’t extensively utilized until the early 2000s.

Hypervisor software powers virtualization. Hypervisors are lightweight software that lets several virtual machines (VMs) run on a physical server’s CPU. A guest operating system (OS), a virtual duplicate of the OS’s hardware, and an application with its libraries and dependencies execute on each virtual machine.

While VMs use hardware resources more efficiently than real servers to execute software, they still need a lot. This is especially true when multiple VMs with their own guest operating systems share a physical server.

Containers

This is container technology. Chroot, part of Unix version 7, was developed in 1979, marking a milestone in container development. Chroot isolated processes by restricting file access to the root and its offspring.

Modern containers bundle application code with libraries and dependencies. This speeds up apps on desktops, private data centers, and public clouds.

Unlike VMs, containers virtualize the operating system (typically Linux or Windows). Containers are quicker, lighter, and more portable than VMs since they lack the guest OS.

Kubernetes precursor Borg

Google wanted to optimize its virtual server performance in the early 2000s to accommodate its increasing infrastructure and public cloud platform. This produced Borg, the first unified container management system. The 2003–2004 Borg system is named after a species of Star Trek aliens, the Borg, who are synthetic organisms that share a hive mind called “The Collective.”

The Borg name suits Google perfectly. Borg’s large-scale cluster management system runs containerized workloads across its data centers. Google built Gmail, Google Docs, Google Search, Google Maps, and YouTube using Borg, which ran alongside its search engine.

Borg let Google perform hundreds of thousands of jobs from many apps on many machines. This gave Google exceptional resource utilization, fault tolerance, and scalability for big workloads. Borg remains Google’s main internal container management system.

Google released Omega, its second-generation container management technology, in 2013. Omega expanded the Borg ecosystem with a flexible, scalable scheduling solution for big computer clusters. Docker, a prominent Kubernetes participant, debuted in 2013.

Docker introduces open-source containerization

In 2013, Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) company dotCloud released Docker, an open-source platform enabling online software developers to build, deploy, and manage containerized applications.

Docker containers use Linux kernel features to partition programs for independent operation. Docker, Inc. (previously dotCloud, link lives outside ibm.com) provides productivity tools based on its open-source containerization platform, environment, and community.

Docker inspired Kubernetes’ founders by popularizing a lightweight container runtime and making it easy to build, distribute, and deploy applications. Googlers Craig McLuckie, Joe Beda, and Brendan Burns were excited by Docker’s ability to build and execute containers on individual machines.

Docker revolutionized cloud-native infrastructure, but its single-node architecture prevented automation. As programs were designed for thousands of containers, managing them across environments became onerous because each development had to be manually packaged. The Google team spotted a need and opportunity for a container orchestrator that could deploy and manage containers on numerous servers. Thus, Kubernetes, Google’s third-generation container management technology, was created.

Birth of Kubernetes

Kubernetes developers had worked on Borg and intended to create a simpler open-source container orchestrator with a user-friendly interface that included all they learned from Borg and Omega. The name Project Seven of Nine honors a former Borg drone from Star Trek: Voyager. Although the project name didn’t stick, the Kubernetes logo’s seven points honor it.

In a Kubernetes cluster, containers run across several machines and environments in running clusters. Nodes in each cluster fall into two categories:

Worker nodes for containerized applications.

Control plane nodes, cluster controllers.

The control plane orchestrates the Kubernetes cluster and includes the API server, control manager, cloud controller manager, and others. Docker-based worker nodes operate containers. One or more app containers exchange storage and networking information in pods, the smallest deployable units in a cluster.

Kubernetes goes public

Microsoft, RedHat, IBM, and Docker joined Kubernetes, an open-source version of Borg, in 2014. The software tool has basic container orchestration features:

Application replication to deploy several instances

Service discovery, load balancing

Simple health checks and repairs

Scheduling to assign tasks to many machines

At OSCON 2015, the Kubernetes founders announced Kubernetes 1.0, a more advanced version. Red Hat OpenShift developers joined Google soon after, bringing engineering and enterprise experience to the project.

Kubernetes and Cloud Native Computing Foundation history

The Linux Foundation’s Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) received Kubernetes 1.0 from Google in 2015. Docker, Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Red Hat founded CNCF. CNCF wants “to make cloud-native computing ubiquitous.”

Kubernetes was CNCF’s first hosted project in 2016 and its first graduation project in 2018. Kubernetes became one of the fastest-growing open-source projects in history with over 700 contributing firms. It outperformed Docker Swarm and Apache Mesos to become the container orchestration standard by 2017.

Cloud-native apps and Kubernetes

Software applications were tethered to hardware servers before cloud. Kubernetes and containers became the management standard for cloud vending enterprises in 2018, introducing cloud-native applications. Cloud-based software research and development began.

Kubernetes helps construct cloud-native microservices-based apps and containerizes existing apps, speeding up app development. Kubernetes automates and monitors many applications for effective management. The declarative, API-driven Kubernetes infrastructure lets cloud-native development teams work autonomously and efficiently.

Kubernetes’ influence continues

Kubernetes, a portable, adaptable, open-source platform for containerized workloads and microservices, continues to evolve.

Since Kubernetes joined the CNCF in 2016, contributors have increased 996% to 8,012. KubeCon + CloudNativeCon), the CNCF’s flagship global conference, draws thousands of engineers and users to learn about Kubernetes and other DevOps developments.

Kubernetes popularity is rising in cloud transformation and application modernization. The CTO’s Guide to Containers and Kubernetes from Gartner predicts that by 2027, over 90% of enterprises would operate containerized apps in production.

IBM/Kubernetes

In 2014, IBM was among the major corporations that adopted Kubernetes and container orchestration. To assist businesses in navigating their cloud journeys, IBM deploys cloud-based management solutions such as Kubernetes container orchestration.

IBM can help us use Kubernetes for cloud-native app development, large-scale app deployment, or microservice management.

Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud lets developers containerize and deploy enterprise workloads in Kubernetes clusters quickly and securely.

IBM Cloud Code Engine, a fully managed serverless platform, runs container, application, and batch jobs on a container runtime.

Read more on Govidhtech.com

[dekaydk]

Cities are the human equivalent to ecosystems: complex, having a variety of contributing elements, evolving. Actual residents and local workers are the lifeblood of a city. This is why businesses in the financial district in post-pandemic San Francisco are struggling or just closing: many tech firm employees are working from home. This is why the Main Street sections of Disney parks, as well-crafted as they are, don't feel quite right, because the ground floor "businesses" are just selling food and Disney merchandise, instead of the full mix of options that a real town possesses. Venice is the leading example of cities which have been damaged this way, where at some point in the last several years the housing stock crossed a line where more of it caters only to non-residents, with much not even owned by residents. Today, most of Venice is its own Disney park, with the cruise ships disgorging tourists by the tens of thousands each day, to mill about the Piazza San Marco, get in a vaporetto to see the Grand Canal, eat mostly bad food, buy trinkets or overpriced jewelry, and after sunset leave the city to the tourists who are staying there, while many of the workers get on the train to Mestre or Padua because (aside from government housing) Venice isn't an option. Parts of Paris are losing residents to short-term rentals and suffering a drop in local non-tourist businesses; Greek island towns; US towns like Santa Fe, Key West, Carmel-by-the-Sea, etc.. I'm particularly sad to hear this story because Barcelona is an amazing city with amazing people despite its tourism problem, and among other civic improvements has been doing great things with pedestrianizing/slowing the streets in the Eixample.

The takeaway: AirBnB and their ilk take long-term housing out of circulation, displacing locals, which drives up living costs for everyone in the local economy, while mostly transferring income away. They market an image that you're supporting some sole proprietor or family business, but it's more likely that your money's going to some kind of investment company (REITs, private equity, owner pools, etc.).

Hotels aren't necessarily better when it comes to local ownership (except as noted above by (@kapustainu), but it is inarguable that hotels don't displace residents on a massive scale and drive up housing costs. Hotels employ lots of locals and (usually) pay decent wages. If you're going somewhere with plenty of acceptable hotel options, please consider the hotel vs. the AirBnB.

(And if your local government is considering restricting short-term rentals/AirBnBs, support the initiative if it seems like it has real teeth. Don't listen to the arguments about "harming competition" or "hurting small businesses" because that's a classic frame by monopolists.)

Xavier Olivé is the last person renting a flat in a building in the Eixample [neighbourhood of Barcelona, Catalonia], after a Dutch company has bought the whole building. He denounces that the owners have expelled all the neighbours who always lived here and now all the other flats are touristic or luxury apartments.

Despite being saddened by the situation and fearing they might expel him as well, he is decided to resist because he doesn't want to leave.

By Barcelona TV. English subtitles added by me.

Sadly, this is a common story in Barcelona and other cities and towns affected by touristic massification.

We urgently need laws that regulate housing so that locals aren't massively expelled to make room for tourists or second homes for rich foreigners, and to stop vulture funds from buying up huge amounts of property to raise the prices. But right now, as a tourist, the most important thing you can do to stop kicking people out of their homes is easy: NEVER, NEVER STAY AT AN AIRBNB, AN UNCONTROLLED TOURISTIC APARTMENT, OR SIMILAR. Always stay at certified hotels (or, of course, with friends and family if you have them there).

If you rent an apartment that is being marketed to tourists where there's a housing crisis for locals, or an Airbnb anywhere, you're effectively destroying the local community.

[mpetyx]

A Journey Begins: Orfium Early Days

A Journey Begins: Orfium Early Days

Our story begins in the -not so- distant 2015, with me doing my Ph.D. and a lot of freelance work, mainly to gain experience. I was paid by the university, but I could also see that the academic career wasn’t my thing. I had also just been rejected from a full-time position that seemed to be my dream job: refactor the legacy backend of an enormous global bank to APIs(I don’t think I should…

[northwindow]

where the heart is

a domestic syllabus [x]

"lecture on the history of the house" by claire schwartz

poem by american poet claire schwartz, published in poetry magazine and her 2022 collection civil service.

"the house. from cellar to garret. the significance of the hut" by gaston bachelard

the opening chapter to bachelard's seminal work the poetics of space. bachelard theorizes that the house's role as a site of reverie lends it a profound influence on the psyche. coining his own term, topoanalysis, to explore this influence; he surveys different poetic images of houses as representations of mind and soul.

the bedroom: an intimate history by michelle perrot, trans. by lauren elkin

french historian michelle perrot's history of the western bedroom as the site of birth, sex, illness, and death; from the ancient greek kamára to the postmodern bedrooms of today. perrot traces developments in the bedrooms of royalty, families, laborers, women, children, recluses, monks, and travelers. see also "black in bed" by art historian ella ray on the legacy of black bed art and "the bedroom of things" by caitlin blanchfield and farzin lotfi-jam for a discussion of private space through digital images.

rooms by rohan mcdonald

animated short film by illustrator rohan mcdonald featuring interviews with participants about their rooms and homes.

never home alone: from microbes to millipedes, camel crickets, and honeybees, the natural history of where we live by rob dunn

book by biologist rob dunn about the nearly 200,000 other species that live in our homes, from welcome pets to reviled pests. dunn's work researching the ecosystems of houses has illuminated the sheer scope of creatures that thrive there, often unbeknownst to both inhabitants and scientists, as well as the benefits of a biodiverse household.

"human stains" by heather havrilesky

author and "ask polly" columnist heather havrilesky on the endlessness of housework and "the strange gift that laundry brings to our lives."

the midcentury kitchen: america's favorite room from workspace to dreamscape, 1940s-1970s by sarah archer

a visual history of american kitchens, using examples of advertising and deisgn photography to show the evolution of their aesthetics, technology, and cultural ideals. see also sarah archer's episode of you're wrong about on martha stewart.

"full spectrum" and "if these walls could talk, listen, and record" by emily anthes

excerpts from the great indoors by science journalist emily anthes, which investigates the intersections of health and design in indoor spaces. "full spectrum" (republished by next city as "everyone has a basic right to good design") follows an apartment complex designed for autistic adults. "if these walls could talk, listen, and record" (republished by slate as "senior care homes are becoming high-tech medical devices") reports on the promise and limitations of smart home technology for the elderly.

"inside out, or interior space" by rebecca solnit

essay from rebecca solnit's collection of work on place, the encyclopedia of trouble and spaciousness. solnit discusses the pursuit of the "dream home" through decoration and renovation, examining our desire to craft the perfect nest.

windowswap by sonali ranjit and vaishnav balasubramaniam

a collaborative online database of user-submitted videos shot from windows around the world. conceived as a way to "travel" during early phases of the covid-19 pandemic, visitors can shuffle through videos to experience the views from homes in a plethora of different environments.

[pragmatikotitagr]

Νέα tech hubs στην Ελλάδα – Ποιες πολυεθνικές απασχολούν μηχανικούς και προγραμματιστές

Σε περιφερειακό κέντρο τεχνολογίας και πληροφορικής εξελίσσεται η Ελλάδα, καθώς τα τελευταία χρόνια ξένες εταιρείες, από startups έως τεχνολογικούς κολοσσούς, επιλέγουν τη χώρα μας για να δημιουργήσουν κέντρα έρευνας και τεχνολογίας, οδηγώντας στα ύψη τη ζήτηση για μηχανικούς πληροφορικής, προγραμματιστές, αναλυτές δεδομένων κ.α.

Μια πρώτη αποτίμηση της κατάστασης που δημιουργείται στη χώρα μας πραγματοποίησε η Endeavor Greece η οποία στο πλαίσιο της φετινής της έρευνας για το οικοσύστημα καινοτομίας μέτρησε 138 ξένες εταιρείες που έχουν ιδρύσει «tech hubs» στην Ελλάδα. Οι 73 από αυτές είναι πολυεθνικές εταιρείες που απασχολούν περισσότερα από 8.000 άτομα σε «τεχνολογικές» θέσεις εργασίας.

Στη λίστα της Endeavor περιλαμβάνονται τηλεπικοινωνιακοί όμιλοι όπως η Vodafone, τεχνολογικές εταιρείες όπως η Nokia, η ΙΒΜ και η Microsoft αλλά και συμβουλευτικές όπως η Deloitte, η EY και η Accenture.

Οι 10 πολυεθνικές με τις μεγαλύτερες τεχνολογικές ομάδες στην Ελλάδα είναι οι εξής:

Μια πιο προσεκτική ματιά στις πολυεθνικές δείχνει πως οι 10 εταιρείες με το υψηλότερο ποσοστό εργαζομένων είναι οι εξής: Openbet (86%), Atos (81%), Citrix (78%), Nokia (75%), Accenture (63%), Ericsson(53%), IBM(51%), Microsoft(46%), Oracle (40%) και Pfizer(32%).

Οι ξένες startups που προσλαμβάνουν στην Ελλάδα Εκτός όμως από τις μεγάλες πολυεθνικές η έρευνα της Endeavor καταγράφει και 65 ξένες εταιρείες που κατατάσσονται στην κατηγορία των startups ή των εταιρειών που βρίσκονται σε φάση ανάπτυξης (scale-ups). Οι συγκεκριμένες εταιρείες προέρχονται από 13 χώρες και απασχολούν περίπου 650 εργαζόμενους στην Ελλάδα.

«Αν και ο αριθμός των εργαζομένων μπορεί να φαίνεται μικρός, η παρουσία ξένων startups στην Ελλάδα είναι σημαντική καθώς ενισχύει την εξωστρέφεια του ελληνικού τεχνολογικού οικοσυστήματος και μπορεί να στρέψει προς τη χώρας μας το ενδιαφέρον ξένων επενδυτών», αναφέρει η έρευνα.

Από τη συγκεκριμένη κατηγορία η Endeavor Greece έχει ξεχωρίσει τις 12 εταιρείες με τις μεγαλύτερες ομάδες στην Ελλάδα, λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τόσο τον αριθμό των εργαζομένων στον τεχνολογικό τομέα όσο και το ποσοστό τους σε σχέση με το σύνολο των εργαζομένων. Πρόκειται για τις: Sitecore, Toptal, Indeavor, Global Web Index, Capture One, Sunlight.io, Rokoko, Adzuna, Fairlo, Axiomatics, Intuition Robotics και Panther.

Γιατί οι ξένες εταιρείες ψάχνουν ταλέντα στην Ελλάδα Γιατί όμως μια εταιρεία να ξεκινήσει μια τεχνολογική ομάδα στη χώρα μας; Σύμφωνα με την έρευνα της Endeavor Greece οι λόγοι είναι πολλοί και διαφορετικοί μεταξύ τους. Ο πρώτος και πιο σημαντικός παράγοντας είναι ο αριθμός των αποφοίτων από τεχνολογικά πανεπιστημιακά τμήματα, όπως το μεγάλο απόθεμα αποφοίτων μηχανικών στα Ιωάννινα που οδήγησε μεγάλες τεχνολογικές εταιρείες σαν τις TeamViewer και P&I αλλά και την scale-up BestSecret να δημιουργήσουν ομάδες εκεί.

Ένας άλλος παράγοντας, ο οποίος επίσης σχετίζεται με την ανώτατη εκπαίδευση, είναι τα πανεπιστημιακά τμήματα που παράγουν εξιδεικευμένους αποφοίτους όπως αυτό των μηχανικών πληροφορικής στο Ηράκλειο, που οδήγησε την startup Sunlight.io να δημιουργήσει και να αναπτύξει την μεγαλύτερη της ομάδα παγκοσμίως στη χώρα μας.

Τέλος, το συνεχώς αναπτυσσόμενο οικοσύστημα των ελληνικών startups παίζει έναν σημαντικό ρόλο, καθώς πολλές εταιρείες αναπτύσσουν ομάδες οι οποίες παραμένουν στην Ελλάδα, ακόμη και μετά από εξαγορές από ξένες εταιρείες. Χαρακτηριστικά παραδείγματα είναι η εξαγορά της Moosend από τη Sitecore το 2021 kai της Blendo από την RudderStack το 2020.

Το ελληνικό οικοσύστημα Και όλα αυτά βέβαια έρχονται να προστεθούν στους εργαζόμενους που απασχολούν οι ίδιες οι ελληνικές startups. Σύμφωνα με την έρευνα «2021 Greek-Tech Ecosystem Insights & 2022 Predictions» της Endeavor Greece το ελληνικό οικοσύστημα έχει δημιουργήσει 12.785 θέσεις εργασίας, εκ των οποίων 8.500 στην Ελλάδα το 2021 – αριθμός που αυξήθηκε κατά 82% σε σχέση με τις συνολικές θέσεις εργασίας το 2020.

«Αυτή τη στιγμή παρατηρείται σημαντική αύξηση σε όλους τους μοχλούς ανάπτυξης του οικοσυστήματος, όπως επενδυτικά κεφάλαια, συγχωνεύσεις και εξαγορές, νέες θέσεις εργασίας, δημιουργία τεχνολογικών hubs από διεθνείς κολοσσούς κ.α. Είναι καίριας σημασίας, η ανάπτυξη αυτή να γίνει γνωστή εκτός των στενών ορίων της χώρας, η Ελλάδα να μπει στον ��αγκόσμιο χάρτη και οι ευκαιρίες να πολλαπλασιαστούν», αναφέρει στο Money Review η Μαίη Γαλάνη, Data & Insights Manager της Endeavor Greece.

«Για εμάς είναι σημαντικό να αποδώσουμε μια αντικειμενική και σφαιρική εικόνα των όσων συμβαίνουν στο οικοσύστημα καινοτομίας της χώρας και να βάλουμε την Ελλάδα στον παγκόσμιο χάρτη. Ο στόχος αυτός είναι πλήρως εναρμονισμένος με την στρατηγική της Endeavor, που τα τελευταία χρόνια επικεντρώνεται στην ενίσχυση της εξωστρέφειας του Ελληνικού οικοσυστήματος και τη σύνδεση όλων των φορέων της επιχειρηματικότητα εντός και εκτός της χώρας. Σημαντικό ρόλο στην παραπάνω στρατηγική διαδραματίζουν οι Έλληνες επιχειρηματίες της διασποράς, οι οποίοι είναι σε θέση να παρέχουν γνώση, νέα τεχνολογία και κεφάλαια και να αναδειχθούν σε κορυφαίους εργοδότες και job creators στην Ελλάδα την επόμενη δεκαετία», σχολιάζει ο Παναγιώτης Καραμπίνης, Managing Director της Endeavor Greece

Πηγή άρθρου: Νέα tech hubs στην Ελλάδα – Ποιες πολυεθνικές απασχολούν μηχανικούς και προγραμματιστές

[jedi-hawkins]

Okay... Hear me out. Tech would be a fire bender. Analysis Below!

I immediately thought of him as a reflection of the Greek God, Hephaestus, god of artisans, blacksmiths, craftsmen, etc. who is very often depicted in his forge, surrounded by fire. Tech is a creator, he is always tinkering, always has a million burning questions. He is hungry for knowledge and data in the same way a fire continuously consumes fuel and oxygen. He is passionate about what he does, nothing is ever just for kicks, it all has a purpose.

Fire is the only element that is really purposeful. The earth, the air, the water, they all exist as the default. Fire, it is started deliberately (whether by humans or nature), there is always an event that kicks it off, same as Tech in each thing he does. Altering the marauder to better fit his squad's needs. Recording every mission his squad goes on (Hunter claims it as a hobby, but I think Tech does it to analyze the effectiveness of his brothers' plans and think of new strategies). Getting the Marauder impounded as a plan. Some may argue that he is more of an air sign, constantly changing and moving, but there is a definite intent with everything he does, it's not just acting on a whim.

Now for the 'negatives.' Much like a fire, he can get a little out of control (let's circle back to getting the Marauder impounded behind Hunter's back as a plan). He can be fiery and ambitious to the point that he takes big risks, like stepping in for Tay-O in the riot racing. He is clear and simple, things can get mixed in with the other elements, there's not a whole lot that can actually get into a fire. He is so clear that he can often burn those around him, like when he snaps at Omega, or when he is what some people would say is harsh when it comes to Crosshair leaving the squad.

I think fire is misunderstood as an element of destruction when it is the element of creation and new cycles. Even when a whole forest is burned down, a new one will grow from the ashes and 'reset' the ecosystem. Oftentimes campfire are lit to end the day and their embers smolder as a new day rises. Tech was the first to accept the end of the war and the new galaxy that came from the massive shift of Order 66. He was the first to accept both Crosshair and Echo leaving. Tech, being Tech, is also tends to be misunderstood himself, because people don't always understand what is happening at his core. He might be seen as 'weird' or 'flighty' or rude, but at his core, he is a creator, he is (forgive the pun) an enlightener. Tech is a fire bender, like a forge.

In relation to the other Batchers:

Crosshair (water), often thought of as his twin, is his foil, his opposite, the one that balances him.

Hunter (earth), combined they can be like a volcano. Sometimes Tech's plans are left-field for Hunter, I'll mention getting the Marauder impounded for a third time, but in other things like Tech dismissing getting thrown out of hyperspace, usually they are calm and get along, but sometimes there is an eruption.

Wrecker (earth), is like fireworks with Tech. They often butt heads, usually they're the first to argue with each other. Usually benign elements from the earth lit with fire can give explosive results. Also, like fireworks, when earth and fire are combined in the right way, the results are magnificent.

Echo (fire), if Tech is the forge, Echo is the hearth. Many people noticed the similarities between the two in their personality and contributions to the batch. While they both have a fiery passion and work well together, their mannerisms and purpose are slightly different.

Omega (air), a fire needs oxygen. Tech was a great man during the war, but when he met Omega, he blossomed. Now there was a new mind jumping from place to place, eager to feed his curiosity and knack for teaching. Sometimes Omega can be too much for Tech and start to stifle his flames, but with a deep breath and a step back, they bring a wonderful light to the team.

Once again, thank you for sticking through another long character analysis. Thank you to @echoxbuggs for kicking this off with their polls for the batchers! Analyses for the other batchers are below!

Hunter

Echo

Wrecker

Crosshair

Omega

[pijayplow93]

ETNA.Network combines a hybrid banking network, the first to support the use of NFT as collateral, and a hybrid liquidity protocol

Overview

Cryptocurrencies are gaining much more popularity faster than expected. The crypto industry has significantly grown and expanded. Decentralized finance, also known as DeFi, is a fast-growing sector of the cryptocurrency industry. Another aspect of Decentralized finance is NFT, gaining much popularity from last year and having the potential to grow to infinity as the NFT’s giving freedom to an artist, gamers, celebrities, tattoo artists, photographers to sell their own digital items as Non Fungible tokens also known as NFT’s.

The video gaming industry is still been trouble with the non-existence of true ownership when it comes to in-game assets. The Market Will Surpass $200 Billion by 2023. This is coming after $87 billion was spent in 2019 by gamers to purchase in-game assets of which they have no true ownership. Blockchain technology has enabled some games to introduce true ownership of in-game assets but the utilities for this new concept are still small and have no real impact on the industry. ETNA Network will be introducing new concepts and utilities for in-game assets using blockchain technology.

What is ETNA Network?

ETNA Network is a one-stop shop for all things DeFi, NFTs, and gaming. User-centered technologies that will revolutionize the crypto space and aid in the adoption. Cyclops Finance is a blockchain company that started out as a Hybrid gaming ecosystem with plans to integrate in-game NFT assets into a Decentralized borrowing and lending platform. Enabling a seamless integration of finance and gaming on the Ethereum Protocol.

In Greek Mythology, Cyclops made their home on Mount Etna, hence the Cyclops Finance’s name ETNA Network for migration onto BSC.

Aim of ETNA Network

Etna aims to make it intuitive and easy for users to get on board easily while simplifying platform use without having to own multiple wallets. The mission is to create an all-in-one ecosystem, a single platform of interconnected crypto-type technologies built for both the experienced and the inexperienced.

ETNA Network is building technologies in DeFi, gaming, and NFTs. A brief overview of these technologies is as follows:

Features of ETNA Network

DEFI — DeFi product is a combination of the two largest DeFi-type applications:

DeBank, the first lending/borrowing network to support the use of NFTs as collateral and also grants interest-free loans to ETNA holders.

The first hybrid liquidity protocol with Broker-Buyer Type (BBT) trading feature.

NFT Factory — 

All-in-one marketplace and factory for Game Assets and NFTs.

ETNA powered, Value locked NFT marketplace, instant trading of game assets/NFTs with all assets value pegged on a price-demand curve.

Bringing Digital art creators and collectors together.

Gaming — 

Hybrid gaming ecosystem for all enables the seamless integration of conventional games on the blockchain.

Conventional game assets digitization mechanism.

The Tournament, live global gaming events. Players from around the globe compete virtually and more

How Does it work?

ETNA’s DeFi product combines a hybrid banking network, the first to support the use of NFTs as collateral, and a hybrid liquidity protocol with enhanced user experience facilitated by our novel broker-buyer type trading feature. ETNA’s NFT Factory is an all-in-one marketplace and factory, it is the first NFT marketplace that facilitates spot trading of supported assets. The factory allows creators to easily mint digital assets and showcase them to collectors. ETNA’s gaming ecosystem is developed to bridge the gap between decentralized gaming applications and conventional ones. With our tech, developers of conventional games are able to deploy such games on the blockchain easily.

What is ETNA Token?

ETNA is the native currency of the ENTA Network ecosystem which is used for various Defi functions like lending, borrowing, NFT sale and purchase, and for fees.

Tokonomics

Token Name: ETNA Network

Token Ticker: ETNA

Network: Binance Smart Chain

Total Supply: 100,000,000

Staking 40,000,000

BBT Marketplace 30,000,000

Fund Allocation

Presale 10,000,000

Liquidity 6,000,000

Team 3,000,000 (locked for 2 years)

Development Fund 5,000,000

Partnership 5,000,000

Foundation 2,000,000

ETNA Token Utility

Lending Platform — Interest-free loans can be taken by Leveraging ETNA Tokens.

BBT Market — ETNA can be used as collateral as Proof of Insurance Mechanism

NFT Market Currency — NFT Marketplace preferred currency is ETNA used to buy and sell in-game assets and other NFT’s

Rewards — ETNA can be used as a Treasure and reward in the gaming section of the ETNA ecosystem.

ETNA’s Roadmap

Conclusion

In-game assets are NFTs that are stored on the Binance smart chain which gives players full ownership. Players will be able to use them as in-game assets to play the action-packed game, trade them on the secondary market, staked them on NFT reward pools, or use them as collateral to borrow other tokens.

Read More Here

Website: https://www.etna.network/

Whitepaper: https://www.etna.network/assets/ETNA.pdf

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EtnaNetwork

Telegram group: https://t.me/EtnaNetwork

Telegram channel: https://t.me/EtnaChannel

Discord: https://discord.com/invite/dbuEXdm

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgkP_qjdYSZ8iesrz5kK0YQ

Buy on Pancake: Pancake: https://exchange.pancakeswap.finance/#/swap?outputCurrency=0x51f35073ff7cf54c9e86b7042e59a8cc9709fc46

Username :  pijayplow93

Profile : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2750501

Bep-20 wallet address : 0x476366b6839e2046bE2DCf258476633cAE21195e

[seanews11]

Maritime tech: Signal Group launches Signal Ventures

Maritime tech: Signal Group launches Signal Ventures

Signal Ventures, the investment arm of the Signal Group, is seeking entrepreneurs and start-ups in the maritime sector to join its ecosystem of technology partners. Led by Greek entrepreneur Ioannis Martinos, Signal Ventures focuses on B2B SaaS, advanced analytics, optimisation and artificial intelligence technologies for the maritime and trade sectors. Signal Ventures offers its partners access…

[mpetyx]

Growth Stories Series: Didn't have time to blog during #Covid19

Growth Stories Series: Didn’t have time to blog during #Covid19

It’s weird, but I haven’t blogged for almost a year now. I can’t just blame covid19 for this: I was pretty busy scaling the Orfium team. As you probably already know, if you follow my blog for the last few years, I am currently serving as the CTO of Orfium, which is quite challenging. This company has been through many faces, and it’s still growing in a highly fast-paced mode. Keeping up with…

[pharmaphorumuk]

Greek health insurer partners with dacadoo to launch health app

A Greek health insurance firm has released a new platform to encourage members to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

Generali Hellas is the sixth largest insurance company in Greece and has had a presence there since 1886.

With its new platform, My Health IQ, the company aims to improve the wellbeing of customers by encouraging their active involvement in the adoption of a healthier lifestyle.

The company said it will use a combination of motivational techniques from behavioural science, gamification and social networking, plus artificial intelligence and automated coaching to achieve these goals.

Generali has joined with dacadoo, which is providing the technological support for the project, which allows customers to monitor and improve their physical and mental health based on a scientifically validated technology.

The app was released this month.

dacadoo licenses its technology, including its Health Score, to life and health insurance operators, supplying insurtech and health-tech solutions to over 35 of the top 100 life and health insurance operators globally.

Available in over 16 languages, dacadoo’s technology is provided as a fully branded, white label solution or it can be integrated into customers’ products through its API.

dacadoo also provides a risk engine, which calculates relative risk on mortality and morbidity in real-time.

Peter Ohnemus, President and CEO of dacadoo, says: “We are very pleased to work closely with Generali Hellas; it was a perfect match as we both strive for quality and innovation within our product offering.

Panos Dimitriou, CEO of Generali Hellas, said: “The use of digital technology and telematics in the insurance sector is an innovative and necessary step, as it effectively shifts the narrative from a risk-based approach to one focused on the premise of prevention and the promotion of good he”alth.

“The new health app is part of our recently launched Generali Health Ecosystem, where digital tools and services provide added value and an overall elevated customer experience.”

The post Greek health insurer partners with dacadoo to launch health app appeared first on .

from https://pharmaphorum.com/news/greek-health-insurer-partners-with-dacadoo-to-launch-health-app/

[aquaresources]

How to Set up a Planted Tank

1. Aquarium Preparation And Position

A 20-gallon aquarium is an ideal and manageable choice for a beginner. First, clean the interior of your new aquarium with salt using a soft piece of cloth, then rinse it well with boiling water to get rid of the harmful organism and residue sediments, then wipe dry. This will ensure the elimination of any harmful bacteria or algae spores.

Choose a large enough location with level and well supported surface for your aquarium and stand. The total weight of an aquarium would be approximately 10 pounds per gallon of water, so a stand sufficient to hold the weight of the filled aquarium is a necessity. Make sure to leave enough space for electrical connections and other equipment as well as space around the aquarium for maintenance.

The aquarium should be located where light and temperature can be regulated and not influenced by sources such as windows or heating. Sunlight can be responsible for green algae in the tank. Ideally, you should select a location that will help in maintaining a constant temperature between 76 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Set Up The Substrate

After carefully cleaning your aquarium and placing it on a stand in a proper location, cover the bottom of your tank with a layer of substrate. If you want to grow stem plants in your planted tank, choose a soil substrate. If you want a low tech planted tank with moss, anubias, and epiphytic plants, use a gravel or sand substrate.

You will need 2 lbs of substrate per gallon of tank volume to fill a 2-inch bed. This rule of thumb is fairly useful for rectangle tanks. The exact number may vary according to your aquarium shape, it decreases in a tall tank and increase in a long one.

The base substrate will form the breeding ground for the beneficial bacteria that breaks down the organic waste substances. Once this is set up, it is difficult to clean the tank, and is impossible to clean the substrate frequently, so be sure your substrate is set properly before you proceed. The bacteria in the substrate and the roots of aquatic plants require a good supply of oxygen to grow. In order to meet this requirement, the substrate you select must remain loose and porous.

Eco-Complete Planted Black aquarium substrate is a ready-to-use substrate for growing aquarium stem plants. This substrate contains almost major and minor trace elements required to make your aquarium plants thrive and you don't need to supplement anything to it. Moreover, this substrate contains live microorganisms that are ready for establishing a good environment in your tank and nourishing your plants.

The Eco-Complete substrate is ready to use and doesn't need to be rinsed. However, if you use a fry substrate, ensure to rinse it well with clean water before adding to your tank.

3. Positioning Hardscape (Rock And Driftwood)

Stones and driftwood serves as the basic framework of your aquarium layout. The artistic composition of your planted tank is based almost entirely on the arrangement of stones and driftwood.

Most people feel that an object would look more attractive if it is positioned slightly off-center. This balance is called the golden ratio which is expressed by the ratio of 1:1.618 (approximate value is 2:3). Originally founded by an ancient Greek mathematician, the golden ratio is said to be the most harmonious proportion to the human eye and is used as the aspect ratio for postcards and various packages.

In an Iwagumi layout, the largest main stone which constitutes the main focal point of the layout should be placed in the position determined based on the golden ratio in order to achieve visual balance. The standard size of the largest main stone is about two-thirds of the tank height when it is placed on the substrate. The golden rule of Iwagumi is to arrange the stones in order of size from largest to smallest.

Besides stones, driftwood is a natural composition material essential for planted aquariums. It is vital to select driftwood appropriate to the tank size in order to produce a good driftwood layout. The shape of the driftwood is essential, but the most important factor is its size. Too large a piece of driftwood makes the viewers feel visual pressure from the layout, so it is advisable to combine a few pieces of driftwood.

4. Planting And Filling The Tank

After properly positioning the stones, gently pour dechlorinated water (tap water treated with a water conditioner) into the tank until the substrate is well soaked. The weight of water makes the substrate firm, thus preventing the plants from coming loose when planted with tweezers and make the planting procedure more simple.

Now, start preparing and planting your aquarium plants. Presenting depth and congruity in your aquascape is crucial. The size, growth rate and colors of the plants are all contributing factors to the layout and therefore, when planting, a certain basic order is necessary.

Foreground plants (undergrowth plants, carpet plants) form a carpet base for the aquascape,

Midground plants are used to fill in the middle space,

Taller background plants form a green backdrop for the layout.

Using tweezers helps you easily to plant some popular carpeting plants such as Glossostigma elatinoides and Eleochalis acicularis. Remember to water the plants and always keep them well moistened while you consider your design layout.

If you want to sow the substrate with aquarium plant seeds, do this after adding water to wet the substrate and wait until the seeds germinate. It may take you about 3 days for the seeds to germinate and 10 days for the new plants to develop their roots, which then will help the plants to stand against the water current from the filter. Carpeting a planted aquarium with this method takes more time than using mature plants but it is worth the waiting time.

You can tie your stones and driftwood with moss to make them look more naturally. You can also attach different types of moss to bonsai driftwood to make appealing moss trees. Cotton threads and super blue gel are very useful for moss attachment.

After planting all your plants, slowly and gently fill the tank to its capacity with warm water at 78-80 degrees Fahrenheit (25-27 oC). Remember to use dechlorinated water if you use a substrate with live helpful bacteria or want to add several fish right away after setup. Gently fill the tank to prevent the water pressure from destroying your work.

A final examination of the overall layout is required. By taking the time to make this meticulous check, you will strengthen your knowledge of and your relationship to every intricate detail of your layout aquarium. As one of the final touches, trim any plants that affect the overall appearance of the layout.

At this point, many small remnants of aquatic plants and other debris would be floating in the water. Replant anything that can still be used and then, with a fine mesh net, removes all the remaining debris. As another final touch, level the front part of the substrate again with a sand flattener.

Finally, the planting is over! All that remains now is the setup of aquarium equipment such as a filter, heater, lighting and CO2 supply system. Once that is done, you will have successfully completed the initial setup of your planted aquarium.

5. Set Up Equipment For The Planted Tank

Once the planting stage is over, it is time to start setting up various support equipment to keep the ecosystem in your tank alive and healthy. Filters play a crucial role in dissolving all unneeded organic substances and waste products of your aquarium. In other words, the filter is responsible for keeping the tank's water clean and clear.

There are many different kinds of aquarium filters you can use for a freshwater planted aquarium. When choosing, avoid selecting one that is too small for your aquarium, and not use an undergravel filter because it can drain away precious bacteria and nutrients from the substrate. I love to use an external power filter (Hang-On-Back) that is easy to use and very efficient in keeping your aquarium water clean for a long period.

You should choose a filter that is large enough to accommodate as many filter media as possible. The larger filter capacity offers to better filtration and longer maintenance. You should use all 3 types of filter media (biological, mechanical and biochemical) to completely purify your aquarium to not only make it clean and safe for fish but also clear for enjoyment.

Finally, install the filter and check if it works properly. Then, unplug it and set up your heater and other equipment.

As you know, colorful tropical fish are an essential part of a beautiful and lively planted aquarium, and these fish need a warm water at 78-80 degrees Fahrenheit (25-27 oC) to thrive. A good aquarium heater with thermometer helps to control and maintain the temperature at that point.

The thumb rule for choosing aquarium heaters is "4-5 watts per gallon" if you don't live in a region with extreme temperatures. The difference between your room temperature and the temperature you want to achieve, and the aquarium capacity are important factors for choosing the right heater. I have a complete guide for choosing the right aquarium heater by tank size here.

In a planted aquarium; CO2, lighting, and nutrients in the substrate are crucial factors for the plant growth. Aquatic plants could grow in an aquarium only if both light and CO2 were provided. Like plants in nature, plants in the aquarium also use light and CO2 in the morning for their photosynthesis and they need an alternate mode between day and night to thrive. Over lighting doesn't help to grow plants, vice versa it can cause stress and kills them.

A planted tank LED light, which provides white light at 6800-7000 K, is a great choice. The light you need depends on the plants you have in your tank. Consider all your plants and determine if they are low, medium or high light demanding. Then, choosing the right light rated for the tank size and the plant types.

Low light plants need approx 60 lumens per gallon (10-20 Lm/L).

Average or medium light plants need approx 110 lumens per gallon (20-40 Lm/L).

High light plants need over 150 lumens per gallon (> 40 Lm/L).

Finnex Planted+ 24/7 v2 LED light with controller is the best thing to buy for your planted tank, it features a 7000K/multi-color blend for the plant growth. Moreover, it has a 24/7 feature that allows for automatically repeating a preset lighting cycle without daily turning on/off the light by your hands.Read my guide for planted aquarium lighting: https://lovefishtank.com/planted-aquarium-led-light/.

If your have demanding plants that require much CO2 to flourish, you should consider a CO2 supply system. This type of system is fitted with a CO2 regulator for adjusting the CO2 injected into your aquarium. A good CO2 regulator will come with all compositions in the previous picture. (Read the full guide).

The CO2 concentration can be easy measured by using a cheap CO2 drop checker. The ideal CO2 level in a planted tank is 26-35 ppm, where the indicator solution of the drop checker changes to green color. You should ensure that the CO2 is provided at this range, which is best for the plants to thrive but still lie at the level the fish can live happily. This is very important, as the shortage of CO2 supply will result in the undergrowth and in many cases, the death of plants. On the other hand, the over CO2 supplied can harm your fish and shrimps.

If you are new to the CO2 system and your system doesn't include a CO2 bubble counter, you should install one. The CO2 bubble counter helps to quantify the amount of CO2 injected by counting how much bubbles per second. The amount of CO2 necessary differs according to the size and the growth stage of aquarium plants. It is recommended that you should supply approximately 1 bubble per second during the initial stage of your planted tank, then gradually increase the supply to 2-3 bubbles as the plants grow.

More details about CO2 supply system: https://lovefishtank.com/co2-regulator-supply-kit-planted-tank/

6. Test And Adjust The PH And Water Hardness

You should test and adjust the pH and water hardness before running the tank to make these parameters ideal for the healthy growth of your aquarium animals and plants. API test kits are the best ones to use. Remember to monitor the pH often when your planted aquarium has been set up.

The optimal pH range for each tank will depend on the types of plants and fish in that tank. The pH range from 6.5 to 7.5 meets the survival threshold of most freshwater plants and fish. Most aquarists maintain their planted aquariums at that range.

The true and scientific way to reliably change the pH of aquarium water is to change its buffer ability from supporting for neutral pH to acidic/alkaline pH. Seachem buffers are very efficient to do this work. Use 1/4 teaspoon (2g) of either of the buffers (depend on your purpose) for every 20 gallons of water daily until achieving your desired pH. For more details, read the guide for pH adjustment.

If your water is too soft or not well buffered, this is not good for aquarium creatures. Use both of the Seachem buffers together according to your target pH and the suggested ratio from Seachem to improve the hardness and buffer capacity of the water.

If you have the problem with hard water, the problem may come from your tap water, stones and/or other things you add into your tank. The fastest and cheapest way to solve the problem is to dissolve your water (aquarium water or tap water when changing) with RO/DI water. You can also use an aquarium softener to soften very hard water and make it ideal for your aquarium's inhabitants.

7. Cycle The New Setup Planted Aquarium

After installing all aquarium equipment, plug them in and start them up. Let the tank run for over 24 hours until you ensure everything are working properly, there is no water leakage, the filter works with no problem, etc. Now continue to the process.

Any new setup aquarium needs to be cycled before it can accommodate and keep fish healthy. The main purpose of this process it to accumulate helpful nitrifying bacteria, which process toxic ammonia and nitrites from fish and aquarium wastes, as much as possible to prepare for stocking live animals.

You have two options to cycle your aquarium, with fish or without fish. Read more about this procedure: https://lovefishtank.com/new-fish-tank-nitrogen-cycle/.

[cryptoquicknews-blog]

New Post has been published here https://is.gd/zBhLRs

Oxfam Trials Aid Distribution With DAI, Future Use 'Highly Likely'

This post was originally published here

Throughout May 2019, United Kingdom-based nonprofit organization Oxfam International executed a month-long trial that saw MakerDAO’s DAI stablecoin distributed as a means of exchange among citizens of Vanuatu. The Oxfam initiative, named UnBlocked Cash, was conducted in partnership with MakerDAO, ConsenSys and Australian tech startup Sempo. The Australian government also supported the program.

Tsunamis, cyclones and volcanic eruptions comprise a constant concern for the citizens of Vanuatu, with WorldRiskReport describing it as the world’s most at-risk nation to natural disaster for five consecutive years. The month-long program saw 200 residents of the Vanuatu villages of Pango and Mele Maat issued tap-and-pay cards loaded with roughly 4,000 Vanuatu vatu (approximately $50) worth of MakerDao’s DAI stablecoin.

Related: From Clean Water Supply to Rebuilding Notre Dame: Crypto and Blockchain in Charity

Local vendors who agreed to participate in UnBlocked Cash were provided with Android smartphones with an app facilitating the processing of DAI payments. The vendors were also able to convert DAI into fiat currency through Sempo‘s cryptocurrency exchange or any other platform, if desired. In total, 34 vendors participated in UnBlocked Cash, including local stores and schools.

Approximately 2,000 transactions were recorded during the pilot. Due to privacy concerns, an individual’s purchases were not tracked. However, the program recorded the general category of purchases — such as “medicine,” “food” or “bills.” During May, 5% of all new DAI addresses were created by the citizens of Vanuatu.

Cash trumps in-kind provisions

According to Australian media outlet Micky, contemporary research indicates that providing aid in the form of a liquid means of exchange is significantly more effective than giving in-kind support, such as food and other basic provisions. 

The publication approximates that roughly “70 percent of Syrian refugees have been forced to sell in-kind donations for cash so they can buy the items that actually need to suit their personal circumstances.” The provision of cash also serves to encourage local economic activity.

Sandra Uwantege Hart, the head of Oxfam’s Pacific Cash & Livelihoods in Vanuatu, told Cointelegraph that “Oxfam was already managing a portfolio of activities designed to scale cash transfers as a means of delivering disaster assistance across the Pacific region” as early as 2017. She continued:

“Typically, cash transfers are much more efficient than providing goods as a form of aid relief, but they are also slow to set up and often bogged down by lengthy financial reconciliation processes and slow monitoring and reporting, which is often difficult for donors to verify. We saw the potential for higher transparency, rapid analytics and automated transaction tracking typical of blockchain solutions as a vehicle to improve and accelerate our cash transfer programs and ultimately make them more responsive to people’s needs.”

According to Hart, it took Oxfam “a while to find the right tech provider to get this solution off the ground before settling on Sempo through an RFP process. Sempo stood out from the pack as one of the only tech providers who fully understood both sides of the equation we were trying to solve — how cash transfers work, and how to design blockchain solutions in a local context-adapted way to make them work for the people who need them the most.”

Sempo’s platform operates offline

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Sempo’s Melanie Hardman described that the platform’s mission is to solve the challenges encountered by both vendors and customers who seek to conduct trade in periods of crisis. Hardman said:

“Our platform consists of: an app used by vendors as a ‘point of sale’ platform, an e-voucher or ‘tap and go’ card which hold a balance of funds and is used by recipients to make purchases, and a dashboard managed by the Oxfam team, where they can enroll and approve program participants, disburse funds and monitor transactions.”

The platform is able to continue operating offline by “cryptographically recording recipient’s balances on tap-to-pay smart cards, which are then synced at a later point.” The platform also does not require recipients to have access to a mobile phone and does not require users to undergo Know Your Customer (KYC) identification checks, which Hardman described as “critical,” given that many people living in the developing world lack identity documentation. 

In late 2018, Sempo used its platform to deliver cash aid to refugees based in the Greek city of Athens, Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as Beirut and Akkar in Lebanon. According to Sempo, the programs saw the “creation of a digital credit transfer platform that is easy for both vendors and recipients to use, regardless of literacy and existing levels of financial inclusion.” The company also noted that it was able to increase the transparency of the program by leveraging distributed ledger technology.

Stablecoin issuance as cash aid

Sempo’s Nick Williams told Cointelegraph that MakerDAO and Sempo developed a process for UnBlocked Cash that distributed DAI-backed digital vouchers, which were redeemable for fiat currency, to Vanuatu citizens. 

“Dai was used as collateral for a special e-voucher, which means that vendors can be reimbursed by anyone who meets the regulatory requirements of the Vanuatu Government. This gives the platform capacity for much lower cost overheads, as well as creating the foundations for open financial ecosystems in the communities that need them.”

Greg DiPrisco, head of business development for the Maker Foundation, told Cointelegraph that “Sempo was convinced that Dai was the best solution for their needs and thus went through the proper channels to ensure that they could use it in the pilot.” DiPrisco described the initiative as “a testament to the power of a decentralized stablecoin to empower disenfranchised populations.”

Sempo’s Hardman stated that the company was selected by Oxfam to provide its cash transfer platform technology for the Unblocked Cash pilot following year-long discussions between the two entities regarding “the potential to revolutionize the cash transfer space using blockchain.” Hardman continued:

“Sempo was invited to put forward a proposal by Oxfam as part of their RFP process. This involved Sempo presenting an initial presentation on our work to date, and then developing and submitting a proposal, which we did in partnership with ConsenSys.”

Claudio Lisco, strategic initiatives lead at ConsenSys, told Cointelegraph that the company was engaged by Oxfam alongside Sempo “to assess the time, cost and quality of digital cash based transfer programs” after the nonprofit became aware that ConsenSys had built a financial inclusion platform in conjunction with the Union Bank of the Philippines, titled Project i2i. Lisco stated: 

“ConsenSys aided in the initial design of the pilot, provided blockchain advisory and communications support, and evaluated the pilot to make recommendations for future utilization and scaling potential. We were on the ground during the pilot, to document and collect data insights, and conducted interviews and filming. We are now producing the debrief report, video case study, and advising on future developments and how iterations of the cash transfer program can be scaled.”

Pilot program seen as success

While Sempo and ConsenSys will meet with Oxfam during the final week of June to discuss the pilot’s findings — and whether there is potential to employ the program at scale in Vanuatu and other regions — representatives of the entities involved indicate that the program was seen as a success. 

Oxfam’s Hart stated that Oxfam’s previous cash assistance programs in Vanuatu involved a setup process that “took between 30 minutes and an hour of long lines and verifying paper lists.” According to Sempo’s Hardman: 

“Within the pilot, enrolment times were reduced between communities from 5.4 minutes to 3.6 minutes, demonstrating significant time savings when compared with other cash transfer modalities, where recipients may have to attend a registration session, return at another time to verify their identity, and then travel to collect a cheque.”

Hart concluded that there were significant gains in the speed with which Oxfam was able to pay vendors, emphasizing meaningful participation on the part of many small, community-level merchants, who rarely take part in assistance programs due to typically being unable to wait weeks to be paid. Hart explained:

“Now, with weekly payments, virtually all vendors in this trial were small scale and community based, and located within walking distance for most recipients — this means that we are enabling small-scale community economic recovery that is more inclusive and better adapted to people’s purchasing habits.”

Pilot program produces “unprecedented�� transparency

Transparency has long comprised a fundamental value proposition put forward by cryptocurrency, with the UnBlocked Cash pilot demonstrating the advantages digital currencies offer over opaque means for distributing public finance. Hardman stated that the initiative “provided high levels of transparency for Oxfam and their donor, the Australian Government, as administrators were able to see transaction data in real time both on the Sempo dashboard, and the public blockchain.” 

Related: Young Africa Looks to Crypto for Payment

Hardman also reported that Vanuatu community members indicated that Sempo’s platform would be the preferred modality of aid issuance in future disaster scenarios, attributing such to the greater ease of use afforded to recipients when compared with other forms of cash aid. However, she also noted, on reflection, that Sempo would like to see the platform’s offline data reporting functionality strengthened in order to improve monitoring.

ConsenSys’ Lisco described the program as showcasing the unique value propositions of cryptocurrency technology, concluding that Sempo’s platform offered significant efficiency advantages over cash, checks and other traditional methods for distributing financial aid. He continued: 

“The pilot demonstrated that direct donations (without any intermediaries or administration) are possible utilizing Ethereum-based stablecoins. This method of transfer was also significantly cheaper for small donations. For instance, bank transfers to Vanuatu from Australia cost approximately $20 AUD. An Ethereum transaction, by contrast, averages less than 10 cents in AUD.“

Oxfam “highly likely” to continuing using stablecoins to distribute aid

Moving forward, Hart indicated that Oxfam is currently in the process of compiling reports aimed at showcasing the UnBlocked Cash initiative, and that it will “seek out the resources to be able to plan longer-term, and look at how we scale up this innovation in the Pacific, and elsewhere.” 

Joshua Hallwright, Oxfam Australia’s humanitarian lead, told Cointelegraph that it is “highly likely that Oxfam will use stablecoins or other distributed ledger technologies to provide cash aid in disaster responses in the future, either in Vanuatu or elsewhere.”

Hallwright noted that “Oxfam is exploring the use of distributed ledger technologies because of their potential to change power dynamics and address inequities,” adding: 

“As DLTs become ever more present in society, Oxfam is engaging in their development and impact in line with our goals of eliminating poverty and reducing inequalities. Oxfam is currently piloting six different uses of DLTs, globally, and sees these pilots as producing important insights that will shape future DLT applications in crisis responses and more broadly in emerging economies.”

The program showcases the potential of cryptocurrencies to facilitate far greater efficiency in the provision of resources, especially within the developing world and in response to crisis formulation. It is also good to hear that more such trials may take place, which could lead to a wide-scale adoption of crypto in the disaster relief sector.

#crypto #cryptocurrency #btc #xrp #litecoin #altcoin #money #currency #finance #news #alts #hodl #coindesk #cointelegraph #dollar #bitcoin View the website

New Post has been published here https://is.gd/zBhLRs

[cryptswahili]

Why I left BTC to The Real Bitcoin — BitcoinSV – Shem Booth-Spain – Medium

Ladies & Gentleman…

So a few people asked about why I left Btc and moved to BitcoinSV. I hope this gives a good understanding of my personal crypto journey..

Every story has a start..

Although not a programmer I come from an arts background. I understand media, advertising, technology and when I discovered Bitcoin I was blown away by its application to transforming commerce and our world for the better.

I Studied BA(Hons) fine art & visual arts (Kent Institute of Art & Design) and MA Sonic Culture, Arts and Media in the Digital Age at the University of East London. I began a PHD in computing & mathematical sciences at Greenwich University but ran out of loans to finish, Im a Artist/Musician (The Singing Pictures) — & Producer of experimental electronic music/sound art. Released a new album call “Notions of Synthetic Life” and am based in London Uk & part of the art collective PH7, Harmony Label plus my own label Element 115. Main research areas of interest are synesthesia, (Greek, SYN=together + AISTHESIS= perception) which is where one sense becomes mixed with another, Cyberpunk culture, Human-Computer interaction, New Media/Arts. I have traveled to art labs under artist residencies, spoken at tech/art conventions and involved as a artist in cyberpunk collectives working on art/media projects such as experimental music, Multimedia Arts.

Id always been a rebel in my early 20’s. rocknroll, music, art. I always counted myself as a think outside the box kinda person and as a lover of new innovative disrupting technologies. I sought out technologies at thin end of the wedge, Transformative technologies that could make the world better.

After reading the news on bitcoin breaking 1k post mount gox i read about bitcoins innovative marketcap of 21 million — the notion of a stable p2p currency immediately pricked my ears and set about a journey that forever changed the course of my life. It wasn’t the idea of some hidden money or lambos that got me into it, it was the fact that money, debt based money and the order of money on planet earth need improvement for the betterment of humanity future, it always seemed the one thing no movement or political party would modify or develop and here had it arrived! Exciting times!!

I bought some bitcoin @ $250 dollars and sought about learning to send/spend and use, dark markets was never my thing as clearly the new technology was being watched with envious eyes and merkle trees of activity would be followed retrospectively for those that pursued it for illicit purposes would have karma knocking at their door. For me, it was the speedy quickness, as email had transformed the message beyond the postman and postbox, to me Bitcoin innovation was programmable money and its ability to unify the world under 1 currency and not “the beast” as written/ tracking and locking humanity under its reign, to me Bitcoin is a freeing of the monetary shackles of humanity’s predicament, ultra fast portable liquidity with global reach, empowering economies and driving business to new dazzling heights…

I hodled from Mt gox through the 2yr bear market keeping my head low and learning and watching, it seemed everyone was for the mission, global unifying money that could free humanity. but things started to change around the segwit upgrade, honestly as im not a programmer or coder the noise from the BTC/BCH segwit fork passed way over head, I wasn’t aware of the technical underpinnings of segwit, or the implications of the chosen path or political sides of the VS’s, blockstream or miner groups that made up the ecosystem, perhaps naively I swam the crypto seas with the rest, with the herd hoping for the big break in the crypto waves to cascade a sea of adoption as it would take the world by storm like it had myself,,, wishing, wanting, waiting…

Through the 2017 fork to the ath of 20k I myself was consumed by the euphoria of the time and all of the errors that come with base emotions and noob trade phycology, I could have plotted my emotional state in time with the BTC price ticker had one been developed, the exhilarating high of numbers never seen in my life, i studied wealth, learnt to manage my money and finances, Bitcoin did change me, it taught me to get my shit together, it taught me politics, economics, the process of fiat, fractional reserve currency. Once entering the rabbit hole (excuse the pun) it just gets deeper, it travels as far as one allows themself to fall, truth of systems never known is a drug that never afraid id inject more and consume all information pertaining it to understand the greater system of crypto and the forces that governed it.

Its funny how humans organise too, we form groups, fall apart, come back together and id always been aware of that so I did keep my head down even up to the ATH of 2017 i was pretty much off the radar with fear that I would get hacked or doxxed or just some crypto folk would bury my reputation through social media, in all of this though I found myself slowly swallowing the star wars memes and feeling “part of BTC” defending the old guard of crypto, defending the bastion of Bitcoin BTC itself without question… Id even reached out to Blockstream to help them first hand (rejected of course!). I was through & through a Bitcoin Maximalist.. and wore the badge proudly hidden…

But something changes post ATH….

I remember talking a friend into bitcoin and as my eyes widened he too could see how amazingly pumped I was, it was infectious, but he returned a week later saying “i bought TRON TRX”…. I was like WTF?, this for me as the ATH prices had hooked the next round of speculators the explosion of ICO’s, altcoins and various shitcoins I couldn’t believe a victim was born of the crypto scene. this for me really summarised the problem, these bag holders had bought top with promises of cryptos unheard of and untested,,

But it got worse, as the price ebbed down from ATH, Every crypto was proclaiming to be the NEW BITCOIN/ the iphone upgrade of crypto or the innovation humanity was waiting for,,, I found myself drawing sword and charging into the crypto verse ready to defend the principle of bitcoin, how could we have 1 central unified currency when the proliferation of altcoins had bleed devs away from BTC, muddled the waters and diluted branding, it was bad enough with Ethereum around and id never even bothered with Litecoin (punting itself as the silver of crypto.. PMSL). I saw rather than the changing market cap of coins who would come and go we saw contenders entering to take the throne of Bitcoin, Pump strategies of bot nets appearing and all manner of scammy projects and business slapping a crypto coin on a no tech and pricing their business at 350million. My motivation was always unification, Simple, Humanities monetary unification.

Now things get really interesting..

Id participe in the crypto community shows and get involved working hard to speak of the innovation of bitcoin, then I got a slot at the world crypto community youtube channel with my show Bitcoin 2049 talking about the future application of bitcoin and its innovation. around summer 2018 we was covering things like Paper bitcoins vs Bitcoin BITCOIN 2049 — Paper Bitcoins VS Bitcoin — SBS & AngryDentist — Caitlin Longand also academic Saifdean Ammous BITCOIN 2049 — Shem Booth-Spain & AngryDentist — Saifedean Ammous — World Crypto

But something came up again that got my interest, BitcoinCash was having a fork it emerged, as I dug deeper I saw that bch was to split to BitcoinSV and BchABC (althought bchabc took the bch ticker) the distinct layer 2 proof of burn technology being applied to BCHABC made me very aware something was cooking big! Bitcoin 2049 — All out war in BcashLand! 128mb CSW vs Jeehans — WORMHOLE

Around this time I started to see how BTC so called og’s where just asking people to keep buying btc in the next hope a ATH, futures CME/etc was compressing price, innovation was stagnating and for at least 6months we had all been banging on about Lightning Network with no actual adoption and decent usage taking place, everyone and there exchange was getting into crypto stable coins and the whole space in Bitcoin BTC has started to take on socialist, marxist theme, people where coming into the space and co opting Bitcoin and placing a “ism” onto it.

Everyone was suddenly a OG and the tech stagnation of the space left me feeling that hollow words and politics was taking over. What about 1 coin, what about programmable technologies on bitcoin, the fractured crypto market had become a place of lambo dreaming speculators, real base emotions that thought nothing of sound global money, it was all about the high, all about the next all time high!

We started doing shows in the run up to the bch fork, discussing more and investigating I learned about onchain more, someone shared an image to me — I post it below… he said to me “Shem do you know what this image means” really do you know? I didn’t really but he explained it and I looked closer, I could understand how bchABC was forking away from bitcoin cash, but id never know the onchain bch,, i refused to believe it,,

You only grow good plants when you prune back..

As the hash war was heating up I found myself unable to communicate to any BTCers, I did try to a select few, but they scoffed as i begged for us to assist in the first hashwar..

However truley, Bitcoin Btc wouldnt understand and community was so militant to seeing any other way I couldn’t stand by as nakamoto consensus was being attacked by bch proof of burn wormhole and defended by BitcoinSV, even as Bch or Bcash we would mockingly call them I could see there plight, I could see no one in the BTC space speaking of support for them or even defending. The very rules of Bitcoin Mining was under attack and no one else in crypto wanted anything to do with it. if the very notion of nakamoto consensus is not defended, then what does Bitcoin Proof of Work mean? Nothing…Bitcoin means nothing…

At first I perceived wormhole as a bigger threat but then as i watched every Dr Craig Wright video I saw a passionate inventor defending his invention. A man unwavering in his believe and vision and unchanged through the passage of time in his objective, One does not keep this up if its bullshit….. when I turned and looked at the so called masters of BTC space i saw few men of honour and few with this level of vision. It was a hard pill to swallow, could i be on the wrong team? defending a crypto that doesnt work and will not function as originally planned? had i got swept up… yes!

Even though BCH was sworn enemies of BTC I found myself feeling anger at the attack was on BitcoinSV. Could they be the real bitcoin? Is BTC even the real BITCOIN I thought?, Confused i kept my cards to myself and started to trickle support to BTC side hoping we would stand by with them and help, after all BTC had a lot in common with BSV,,,,,,,no one in BTC came to assist.

Bitcoin 2049 — WeatherReport — The First Hashwar — BitcoinSV

Our first show regarding the subject we stumbled on our words trying not to let off our opinions wildly but tease ideas and trickle thoughts in the hope BTC community would pick up the signals, knowing we would be booted off the bitcoin maximalist show,,,

Hashwar Starts..

It felt like history was being made on the start of that day, something never before done in crypto, a new underdiscovered country, crypto evolution of the strongest in action, I was dying for a reorg on bchabc chain, that will show the power of nakamoto consensus and lead to a completely new landscape,

I was turning to BSV, I helped assist in anyway I could, social media, marketing, information warfare, I wanted to help change minds and gain support for BSV, undercover I made calls, phoned contacts, pulled out the little crypto blackbook, I was going in to assist in anyway possible, Lets ride with satoshi! obviously unless mining your a spectator but i was climbing onto the racetrack!

I couldn’t let on though overtly across my traditional contacts, a lot of people was gonna be pissed in Bitcoin BTC, I had to break out but I thought deeply before moving personally to support BitcoinSV, I realised BitcoinSV was restoring the bitcoin protocol, id never know how bitcoin BTC has been mutated over time to be not the same bitcoin satoshi used in 2009, it was a distant mutated stunted technology and the application of lightning network was a overarching technological decision that ment forcing a mesh network of IOU’s upon bitcoin btc.

Dr Craig Wright’s vision was unlimited, he wanted metanet — the ability to store data in bitcoin transactions, Instant transactions, the speed & value of bitcoin born again, scalability, security and stability.

It was a difficult and stammering show below but we wanted to drive the knife into BTC, I was prepared for the ultimate sacrifice of BTC if it means we could bring stable honest global money to the world..

Bitcoin 2049 — A NEW CRYO LANDSCAPE — BitcoinSV BSV, 2K BTC / Market Shift

On the day night of the hashwar we saw how ABC pulled mining power from BTC, we saw a 10% mining movement a 50% price drop on BTC, all the stars of crypto coming to the aid of BCHABC & blowing more smoke up eachothers ass’s than ever and patting themselves on the back with a first night victory!

I almost puked in my mouth, did they know they were destroying the very notion of Bitcoins proof of work aka nakamoto consensus? did they know they were the “wrong side”. still today they dont….

It was the equivalent of fighting in a boxing ring then calling in a bigger opponent mid fight, the crypto natural laws were broken and a fair fight did not happen, As the video says ABC was well aware the modifications they made to survive the siege that BSV had them at ment that a reorg we all wanted never came..

HASHWAR | We F***d Up By Using Centralized Authority

I was quickly rejected from the world crypto network and others within the BTC Community, there wasn’t even debate, just rejection which a few of us knew was coming once they realised we was deeply embedded into BSV hashwar efforts.

I opened up the SV Youtube Channel & explained in a series of christmas shows my personal thoughts and why I left Bitcoin BTC, I realised it wasn’t even bitcoin no more, and I wasn’t alone, many from crypto had joined the exodus, from different parts too, different coins. Bch was no more,.. But something amazing had happened, A new renewed focus on what Bitcoin was was alive and kicking in the BSV space, Building had replaced Hodling, people where unified against the “shitcoins” which fragment and water down efforts, there can only be one is the mantra, uncomfortable to the weak lambo speculators and comforting to the learned cause and global monetary crusade… So folks this is where I arrived, It is Atlantis, and Atlantis is indeed rising…

Source

[Telegram Channel | Original Article ]

[csrgood]

Covestro and Baytown Wetlands Center Unveil New Mobile Exhibit Focused on Clean Energy

Today, Covestro LLC and the Eddie V. Gray Wetlands Education Center in Baytown, Texas, unveiled a state-of-the-art traveling exhibit designed to educate the public about sustainable energy. Called “Cleaner energy – Brighter world,” the new exhibit was developed by the Wetlands Center through a generous sponsorship with Covestro totaling $190,000.

Click to tweet: .@CovestroGroup and @CityofBaytown Wetlands Center unveil new mobile exhibit promoting a #BrighterFuture: http://bit.ly/2sQUAcV.

The unveiling ceremony was held at the Wetlands Center, where nearly two dozen local school-age children helped set the stage for the big reveal, parading out with colorful pinwheels to an audience of roughly 75 local community and business leaders. The children represented the next generation that will benefit from the educational exhibit.

The mobile education center lives inside a 48-foot-long trailer, outfitted with interactive displays that highlight the science behind diverse sources of renewable energy, such as windpower, geothermal and hydro-electricity. When not traveling to schools, festivals and events throughout the Texas region, the mobile unit will serve as an additional exhibit at the Wetlands Center facility. 

“We’re proud to support the Wetlands Center in bringing this unique educational experience to communities throughout Texas,” said Rod Herrick, vice president and site manager, Covestro Industrial Park Baytown. “This sponsorship not only aligns with Covestro’s global focus on sustainability, but it also gives us a ‘vehicle’ to inspire the next generation in the push for a cleaner future.”

A leading producer of high-tech polymers, Covestro is continually pushing boundaries to promote sustainability through innovative material solutions and more energy-efficient manufacturing processes. The company recently set ambitious sustainability targets, aiming to cut its carbon emissions in half by 2025 and to do the same with its energy consumption by 2030.

With a robust corporate social responsibility initiative, called i3 (ignite, imagine, innovate), Covestro is bringing its passion for sustainability into communities like Baytown, home to its largest manufacturing facility in North America. 

As part of its i3 STEM program, this sponsorship builds on a rich history of giving back to the Baytown community. Last year, Covestro donated solar-powered trash and recycling bins to keep the city parks clean. The company also has strong ties with the Wetlands Center. In 2015, Covestro established its i3 STEM Center there, bringing hands-on science education to nearly 1,700 Goose Greek Independent School District fifth graders annually through its Microscope Lab program. Covestro also sponsors two exhibits inside the Wetlands Center, providing visitors with firsthand insight into the local wildlife. 

“We truly value our partnership with Covestro, which shares our mission to strengthen science education by inspiring curiosity about the natural environment,” said Tracey Prothro, superintendent of natural resource programs at the Wetlands Center. “The new mobile exhibit is another extension of that commitment, and we’re grateful for the support from Covestro to help bring this vision to life.”

“Through this generous donation, Covestro continues to demonstrate its strong commitment both to our City and to environmental education,” adds Mayor Stephen DonCarlos, City of Baytown. “Our students will profit from this gift for years to come, and we thank Covestro for this addition to the Wetlands Center program.” 

The Eddie V. Gray Wetlands Education Center informs thousands of visitors and students annually about the ecosystem in Texas. The “Cleaner energy – Brighter world” exhibit will be open to the public for tours with advanced reservations starting in August. The Wetlands Center also hopes to bring the exhibit to festivals throughout Texas, including the Baytown Nature Center’s SeedFling WingDing Festival, the Energy Day Festival in Sam Houston Park, Fort Worth’s Mayfest and Fiesta de los Niños in San Antonio.

About Covestro LLC:

Covestro LLC is one of the leading producers of high-performance polymers in North America and is part of the global Covestro business, which is among the world’s largest polymer companies with 2016 sales of EUR 11.9 billion. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, construction, wood processing and furniture, electrical and electronics, and medical industries. Other sectors include sports and leisure, cosmetics and the chemical industry itself. Covestro has 30 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 15,600 people at the end of 2016.

Find more information at www.covestro.com. 

About Eddie V. Gray Wetlands Center:

Education lies at the heart of the Eddie V. Gray Wetlands Education and Recreation Center, located on six acres along the banks of Goose Creek. Through education and recreation programs offered aim to increase awareness, appreciation and understanding of wetlands, the environment and cultural history.  Each year, thousands of visitors and school children come to the center in Baytown to learn about the importance of wetlands and their inhabitants.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Covestro AG. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Covestro’s public reports which are available on the Covestro website at www.covestro.com. Covestro assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

source: http://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/40167-Covestro-and-Baytown-Wetlands-Center-Unveil-New-Mobile-Exhibit-Focused-on-Clean-Energy?tracking_source=rss

[joshuajacksonlyblog]

Crypto Music Festivals Are Setting a Precedent for Future Gatherings

Last month, Bitcoinist reported on Our Music Festival (OMF), a cryptocurrency music festival held in Berkeley at the end of October. OMF’s crypto environment sets a precedent for future festivals like South by Southwest, which will host a series of crypto-related events and talks next year.

The University of California at Berkeley served as the site of Our Music Festival (OMF) on October 20th. Berkeley’s Hearst Greek Theater — named after media magnate William Randolph Hearst — served as the stage for the event. The Greek Theater is a historic venue, having hosted a spectrum of names over the years from the Teddy Roosevelt to the Dalai Lama, the Grateful Dead to the Berkeley Jazz Festival. Why not add a crypto music festival to the list?

Party On

By all accounts, the festival appears to have been a success. According to Zara Stone of Forbes, 8,000 people showed up to the Greek to take part in the collective crypto experience. Stone attended the festival, and she illustrates the kaleidoscopic scene at-length in her article.

The line-up for OMF, announced in early August, included a Zedd headlining set, as well as sets from Big Sean, Matt and Kim, and Charlotte Lawrence.

Excited to introduce your debut #OMF lineup featuring @Zedd, @BigSean, @3lau, @mattandkim and @charlottelawr!! Get your tickets FIRST during our #crypto presale at https://t.co/Uw5mqFDJbz. We’re accepting #BTC, #ETH, #BCH and #LTC. General on sale starts tomorrow at 10AM PST! pic.twitter.com/7YZeLp2Y1x

— OUR Music Festival (@OURMusicFest) August 2, 2018

Producer 3LAU — who also performed his own DJ set — teamed up with promotion company Prime Social Group, as well as SingularDVT, a “blockchain entertainment” company. Together the trifecta succeeded in packing the Greek Theater. Stone said that “During 3LAU’s set, the DJ made a plea for more ‘people to get on the blockchain […]’”

That time we threw our own festival in the bay… @OURMusicFest pic.twitter.com/SkBT0mibEo

— ▽ (@3LAU) October 21, 2018

While the party was clearly incredible, the festival’s underlying focus on crypto made it especially unique. For the occasion, the organizers introduced the OMF Token. The original Berkeley ticketing page for the event notes that the token was introduced in hope of:

[…] creating the first decentralized music festival network powered by a cryptocurrency (OMF Token) that will be redeemable for products, services, and experiences (physical, digital & virtual) within the network. The network will be comprised of OMF branded events and partnered festival events. OMF will establish the gateway for all transactions between consumers, artists and event organizers that participate in festival ecosystems

The festival also incorporated its own OMF app which could be used to tokenize festival-wide QR codes. The app was created by Interstellar, “[…] a new company formed by Chain and Lightyear to make building and operating on Stellar even easier.”

@OURMusicFest IS TODAY

And we built one of the first consumer driven crypto mobile-apps with @go_interstellar to issue rewards to attendees with $XLM tokens!

Download: https://t.co/07v0gu53q2 pic.twitter.com/rOTBDtJmts

— OUR Music Festival (@OURMusicFest) October 20, 2018

Quest for the Fest

OMF is a unique case in the rich and often innovative history of the American music festival. However, a handful of festivals — like South by Southwest Festivals & Conferences (SXSW), a multimedia festival in Austin, Texas — have begun to incorporate crypto elements.

The 2019 South by Southwest event, which will be held between March 8th and 18th, encompasses music, film, and tech, and more. SXSW also includes a series of conferences, workshops, and panels that run along particular topical ‘tracks.’ This portion of SXSW will hold a handful of crypto-centered events. These include idiosyncratic selections like “Crypto Crime: How to Steal Cryptocurrency,” as well as more practical choices like “The Arsenal of a Blockchain Developer.”

Crypto motifs were even been spotted at this year’s Burning Man festival in the form of a Bitcoin (BTC) 00 sculpture protruding from a group of tables. Burning Man organizers even accepted bitcoin donations in 2014. Ironically, Burning Man’s intentional community is based entirely on a barter economy.

Perhaps in the future, festival giants like Bonnaroo and Coachella will join the party. Until then, OMF remains not just the first, but the only full-fledged crypto festival.

A Shared Heritage

The merging of crypto and festival culture tells a story about a shared set of values. Both cultures strive to rethink the status quo by introducing creative and experimental alternatives to traditional ways of doing things.

These values are reflected in Berkeley’s Bay Area locale, which historically represents the birthplace of both large music festivals, and Silicon Valley tech culture — both rooted in the countercultural values of the 1960’s.

There is no word yet on whether Our Music Festival will become a Bay Area fixture. Regardless, the event is bound to reshape the festival-going experience.

What are your thoughts on Our Music Festival and the future of crypto in the festival scene? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!

Images and media courtesy of Bitcoinist archives, Forbes, Shutterstock, Twitter (@OURMusicFest, @3LAU), Wikimedia Commons.

The post Crypto Music Festivals Are Setting a Precedent for Future Gatherings appeared first on Bitcoinist.com.

from Cryptocracken Tumblr https://ift.tt/2FmeIPX via IFTTT