The stablecoin alert is a variation of the crypto-fiat battle. Every few months, you shall come across articles, tweets, or Reddit discussion threads about the conspiracy of Tether and the USDT stablecoin. Similar accusations appear again and again, but still, no one can shoot them down . USDT remains at the top of the stablecoin billboard, it is the largest issuer globally in terms of tokens created, and volume transacted. yet Unlike the above, the purpose of this article is not to debate whether the claims are valid or if any stablecoin is legitimate. Instead, we would like to dig deep into the root cause and discover and uncover the reasons behind its glory, which alarm us all. Do fate and destiny determine it, or are invisible hands mastering the success behind the scene? Crypto Is Not Currency Yet If you have been in the crypto world long enough, you must have remembered the market slaughters that happened in crypto history. Even the flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has dropped by 80% to over 90% within one year. It is what the moment investors are calling “crypto winter”. The worse is, winter is not a moment but a period. It usually lasts for several months, if not prolongs to years. The idealist will say if you HODL your Bitcoin, you will make a fortune . eventually But what does it mean indeed? It tells you if you have bought Bitcoin previously and do not sell, you are now a lot richer in terms of US Dollars. Sadly, the denomination is in US Dollars but not in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. People still believe Bitcoin is a commodity but not a currency. At present, the crypto economy is depressed in the real world. You have to use fiat currency to purchase the goods and services offered. Though , the settlement currency they chose is not any cryptocurrency but USDC, a stablecoin deemed to have complete redemption for US Dollars. most of Visa announced earlier this year to partner with Crypto.com and Anchorage for digital currency settlement The Rise Of Stablecoin Bitcoin, mentioned initially as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system in the whitepaper, is not a perfect solution for digital payment because of its massive price fluctuations. People rush in to place heavy bids, overheat the market. The subsequent correction is so deep that it hurts the value storing power (at least short term) of Bitcoin. The value of Bitcoin as a new medium of exchange, paradoxically, makes Bitcoin undesirable as a new medium of exchange. The volatile tendency of Bitcoin prompted the emergence of stablecoin. A stablecoin is a digital currency using blockchain for book-keeping. Still, its monetary policy depends on another fiat currency, whether USD, EUR, or precious metal such as Gold. Thus, stablecoin is filling this gap by providing constant value storage (in terms of fiat currency), plus the convenience of digital payment without the hassles of traditional financial institutions. As of May 2021, the total stablecoin supply surpassed the $100B mark. First Mover Advantage The snapshot below suggests that though the market is diversifying, USDT is currently the most prominent stablecoin, followed closely by USDC. While USDT had the foresight on the market since 2014, it took nearly four years to have the next stablecoin. This early move established USDT to be the stablecoin with the most significant trading volumes. Plenty of altcoins contain a USDT trading pair as traders widely adopt it. The original trust — that every USDT is fully backed by US Dollar was not rigorously verified in older days because the demand for stablecoin covered it up. As long as people are not redeeming simultaneously and a secondary market exists, the one-to-one peg is only a side benefit. Even if there are occasional suspicious claims, USDT continues to be the main bridge for cryptocurrency and fiat currency traders in the upgrowth market. Join Hands Or Declare Clone War Stablecoin finally becomes the arch-rival of fiat currency. It serves from a derivative for the liquidity in the cryptocurrency market to a multi-functional financial vehicle, working on investment, lending, payment, and settlement, which are bread-and-butter businesses for banks. The claimed one-to-one USD backup reserves from stablecoin issuers, especially Tether, turn out to be some unknown commercial papers, but people still have faith in it. It acquiesces stablecoin issuers to print their own money, offending the Governments’ monetary policy autonomy, aka the “financial stability”. This cannibalization poses a real threat to the financial market that regulators have to put close surveillance on the development of stablecoin. The money printing power endowed by citizens from no regime is tempting but excessively risky. Some issuers are choosing to give in, complying with regulators, and increasing transparency to the public. Circle revealed applying for a national banking license in the US and . Paxos, another issuer, has received conditional approval from OCC to . changing their USD reserve with cash and Treasury bonds operate as a National Trust Bank Meanwhile, Tether, the bellwether, has settled with the Office of New York Attorney General with $18.5M and retreat from New York. A bail essentially but better than none. Bitcoin As Digital Gold: Bretton Woods 2.0? Authorities have the upper hand so far, but we cannot cast away the enigma of fiat currency. Regulators are pressing hard on stablecoin because they suspect it is “money created in thin air”, but crypto enthusiasts will put the same question on regulators’ table. Is “In God We Trust” convincing? A little piece of history is worth mentioning. Under the backdrop of World War II, in 1944, allied countries opted in a fixed exchange rate to US Dollars, ultimately backed by Gold, to pursue “economic security” against FOREX manipulations. The Bretton Woods System, which eventually crackdown in the early 1970s due to inflationary monetary policy in the US, making a bank run by allies to convert US Dollars for Gold. The US suspended the Gold conversion and became a fiat currency. Deemed to be more flexible, central banks gained back their monetary policy autonomy after the unpegging, designed according to self-economic conditions. It was until the 2008 global financial crisis, which triggered the rethinking of a new international currency. A decade later, Bitcoin is acclaimed as digital Gold, and some have been using it as a currency substitute. El Salvador The Central American country is the first to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender, parallel with US Dollars. El Salvador was one of the developing countries that carried Dollarization, once hoped to revive its domestic economy by giving up the monetary policy autonomy. Unfortunately, it felt. From Dollarization to “Bitcoinization”, it is not an easy journey. Around 2 million Salvadorians are working in the US, and remittance from the US sums up nearly 25% of El Salvador’s GDP. Trading activities aggravated the dependency on US Dollars because the US is their major import and export partner. The Bitcoin Law in El Salvador is both an economic and political move, but legislators shall not regard national currency simply for domestic reasons. Most of the international settlement today is domiciled in US Dollars, but Bitcoin is negligible. El Salvador is a bold pioneer ambitiously waiting for Bitcoin to bloom, but whether other international players will chip in is still doubtful because money printing machines are too powerful and attractive. China, Sweden, the Bahamas, Eastern Caribbean Areas, and the Marshall Islands are all experimenting with their Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), and many countries are following. Expectation and Confidence Because we trust in the power of the US Government, we choose to accept their Dollars, a fiat currency without collateral as the common medium of exchange across borders, and a leading “asset” that stablecoin mirrors. Bitcoin is another discipline. With a redefined monetary policy, no one controls the money supply besides the preset lines of codes. Public confidence is the ultimate remedy. If there is no single sovereignty (such as the example of fiat currency and the derived stablecoin), we prevent inflation from the overissue of banknotes. Still, we are exposed to the risk in an open market, which is about confidence again. The ubiquitousness of the network determines its intrinsic value, not speculation.

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Money Printer Goes Brrr: Fraud, Confidence, And The Impact of Role of Stablecoins in Crypto

. 😱 Yes, this time I did read the comments After spending the afternoon celebrating that my article, made it on the f , it was time to buckle down and start parsing the comment section. Below are some of the most illuminating comments. Nerds Don’t Respond to Marketing: Try Technical Documentation Instead ront page of Hacker News Note: these are direct quotes, lightly edited. The 13 Comments When marketing to nerds, it is important to delve into details. A product that "works outside of the box" has the potential of hurting a nerd's ego. Developers rather inspect the specs than "hop on a call." Traditional marketing caters to the stakeholders who want to , as opposed to the stakeholder who actually needs to use and buy the product customize the product. Software developers are afraid of being scammed or deceived by a professional bullshit artist (a marketer). Details help developers make more rational buying decisions. Products that lack detains in marketing are usually geared to C-level execs for decision making, with their underlings being the ones who are then supposed to call a dozen vendors for developers. A sea of tech specs may, after all, be entirely meaningless and could actually hide important aspects by drawing attention to irrelevant details. "Anyone can do it" is not going to win over a nerd. "You can do it," might. If we accept that a lot of nerds are , and quite a few are full-blown aspies - focus on details instead of the big picture is the core feature of this particular non-neurotypical demographic. on the spectrum "Out of the box" can work with nerds if that feature allows them to do what they "really want to do" more easily and faster. Nerds respond to being told they are . That is emotional appeal and conference organizers and such play on it. more rational or otherwise superior/cool/etc Nerds are people who are incredibly easy to market products to - it just needs to appeal to the rational mindset more than the emotional mindset. Putting out a website full of statistics, or a tutorial, or a Product Hunt launch, or just a Show HN with a paragraph about how your product is incrementally better than the existing solutions will get thousands of nerds showing up at your door. We might like to think we're better than people who follow ads, but really we . just follow different ads

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Waste is a global problem that is not reflected only in trash or food. But also in the software industry. According to a new study, U.S companies waste almost $30 billion on unused software over a year. Also, in the recent report of the study, the global average came to 37% waste per company. This is a big waste that is reflecting in companies’ expenses. That’s why people and companies need to change the way they consume and purchase software products. Now that the problem has been identified, how can companies end their software waste and save more money on other things? Why do companies get to software waste? This is a severe phenomenon right now, with companies ending to spend so much money on different software products meant to improve their business. They are spending money on purchasing software licenses without using them to their full potential. This fact is on account of the growth of the software industry in the last years. As a result, more and more software products were developed, which led to an overcrowded market. This fact brings us to the $30 billion problems. At this point, users and companies have a hard job in choosing a product from the market. And most of them don’t know which ones fit their business model or personal needs. And, in the end, companies are spending money that leads to nowhere. How to stop software waste? The answer to this problem is more complex. Yet, instead of going on a trial-and-error strategy, businesses and users should use only the tools they need and the ones that fit their business model or needs. Or you should find a suitable marketplace where you can find the right software for your business or personal needs. For example, is a that set out to put an end to software waste. Tekpon software marketplace On , you’ll find everything you need to start boosting your business with the right software products. In addition, users and companies can find honest reviews about the tools on the market, newcomers, popular, and old ones. Without an accurate picture, you can’t know for sure which one will work for you. Tekpon is working to help both users and companies to make the right choice. And put an end to software waste and fake reviews. But it has to be a collective job, as users need to understand the importance of feedback and user-experience reviews. Tekpon encourages users to write their own experiences to help other users who don’t know what to choose or what product they need. Tekpon Even in the software industry, we can talk about sustainability, but unused software is not part of the plan. This waste will lead to nowhere good. The companies will waste money on tools that will just grow their expenses instead of boosting their business. And users will end up being disappointed and unsatisfied by the fact that the chosen software product hasn’t brought an improvement in its life. Thus, the only viable solution for companies to avoid software and money waste is to choose the right software and purchase only the licenses that work for them.

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Blockchain smart contracts enable trust-minimizing escrow agreements, where value can be received, held, and remitted pursuant to objective conditions and triggers. Defining Escrow The traditional escrow agreement is an arrangement between adverse parties where the timing mismatch of performance and payment is rectified by placing any combination of value, documents, assets, signatures, and other conditions or actions with a third-party escrow agent. Generally, when all required conditions to a transaction’s closing are complete or satisfied, the escrow agent releases funds along with signed and dated documents to close the deal. A title company or other specialized trade or regional entity may act as an escrow agent; occasionally, larger institutions such as banks or law firms might take on the escrow role. When third-party entities execute these agreements on behalf of the contracting parties, the risks of security or contractual breach and other unintended actions augment the transaction expenses to the already complicated conditions of the contract. By replacing third-party escrow agents with blockchain smart contracts, value can be received, held, and remitted under a predetermined set of objective conditions without requiring trust in a third-party entity or individual. Smart escrow contracts leverage the security of thousands of independent nodes running automatically executing code which can also leverage “off-chain” data (i.e. not blockchain-native data, such as data fed by web APIs) by using off-chain-to-onchain translation software known as an “oracle.” An oracle receives data requests from blockchain smart contracts (such as the smart escrow contract suggested here), reads the traditional API, and returns the data in a readable format for blockchains. By using oracles as a gateway for traditional data to blockchains, smart contract escrow can be expressly contingent and automatically execute upon objective external data or conditions like e-signature events, payment messages, financial data, or internet-of-things (“IoT”) data. With , API3 is dedicated to ensuring that each oracle is a first-party oracle (i.e. data provider-run) to minimize vulnerability in the objective data needed for such executions. Airnode When escrow agents are brought into contractual agreements to simply conduct bilateral value transfers, trustless automation presents a breadth of disruptive potential. Traditional escrow agreements tend to suffer from inefficiencies and issues such as: Restriction to the working hours of the parties and escrow agent, especially when international parties face different time zones, which may cause delays and additional costs, including: Opening and utilizing an intermediary account or escrow agent for closings outside of local banking hours; Interest rate slippage, foreign exchange adjustments, swap/break costs, repricing transaction costs if delayed; Accommodating concerns for temporary time zone overlap, pertinent asset location or condition affecting legal or tax favorability, etc.; Tax or funding timing (such as expiry of the fiscal or calendar year, incentive period, stipend, etc.); and Expediting satisfaction of other conditions precedent in order to meet such deadlines may carry additional costs and risks. High fees for merely receiving, holding, and transferring funds; Legal and accounting fees for negotiating the escrow agent’s agreement mechanics and payment waterfalls; Prolonging negotiation and deal process to accommodate escrow parameters, which usually permits an escrow agent’s resignation and substitution with unilateral notice; Using an escrow agent often requires a unique additional set of know-your-customer requirements to comply with anti-money laundering regulations; and Relying on the trust of a centralized third party presents an additional layer of security risk and potentially misaligned incentives including access to otherwise confidential information; 1. Clauses absolving the escrow agent of liability for human error, for example: “for any error in judgment made in good faith by an officer or employee of the escrow agent unless proven that the escrow agent was grossly negligent in ascertaining the pertinent facts or acted intentionally in bad faith”[1]; and 2. Auto-compliance clauses leave the agent’s processing of funds at the whims of pending litigation or arbitration. In some circumstances, funds are frozen during investigations,[2] regardless of relation to the transaction at hand. Many of these problems give smart contracts an opportunity to disrupt the traditional escrow agreement. By placing funds or other digital consents into smart escrow contracts, transacting parties may effectively eliminate several of the above-mentioned problems. Such forms of digital consent can include things like funds converted to cryptocurrency, stablecoins or tokens[3]; e-signatures; or rights to ownership or title via non-fungible tokens. Trustless and ownerless smart contracts can act as the “escrow agent” with respect to value transfer and closing evidence. They can also widen the programmatic possibilities of agreement, including addition of hard-coded trustless dispute resolution mechanisms[4], or even choosing to have escrowed funds earn permissionless yield while the deal is pending. The escrowed funds may be programmatically released and the deal may close at any time 24/7 by onchain signature of the parties or by using rich external data as evidence of objective quantifiable conditions (see the Appendix for a step-by-step example). The programmed conditions for closing and constructing the smart escrow contract may be stipulated in the transaction’s core legal documents, such as a sale or financing contract. The external data used to validate such conditions would be fed by oracle software such as the to the smart escrow contract. Such oracle-fed conditions may include: a commodity or security price point; an agreed level of interest rate or other exchange benchmark or volatility limit (which might also provide an automatic termination or renegotiation threshold); the coordinates of a movable asset by tracking API, GPS or IoT data transmission; or fulfilled e-signature events. Airnode As with any off-chain escrow agreement, on-chain contracts will need to be handled with similar care. It is imperative to use security-audited smart escrow contracts and ensure the smart contract reflects the intention of the parties including any intended actions in relation to off-chain legal agreements. The parties should also consider a time-limited expiry or other condition to return escrowed funds (minus any agreed non-refundable deposit) in the event the transaction is not ultimately consummated. This prevents a lockup of funds should conflict between the transacting parties or other unexpected conditions arise. Appendix: Smart Escrow Step-by-Step Example[5] 1. Parties negotiate commercial terms of the deal, agree on off-chain documentation and process, and closing parameters/processes. 2. Parties sign any relevant pre-closing documents and arrange subjective and off-chain conditions to closing. 3. Smart escrow contract is deployed — typical parameters might include deal/asset description or identifier, deposit and/or purchase price, token payment method (i.e., stablecoin address), time until expiry, parties’ addresses, oracle interface for off-chain objective conditions, and anything else set forth in deal documentation. 4. Buyer indicates it is ready to close by calling a function and depositing funds to the smart escrow contract. This deposit may be done directly, or by using a fiat-crypto API or another interface.[6] 5. Seller checks deposit is in escrow contract’s address and indicates it is ready to close by calling a function. 6. Now that both buyer and seller are ready to close and funds are in escrow, either may call the function to close the deal and pay seller-provided any other objective conditions are satisfied. If such an objective closing condition is queried through the oracle and is not yet satisfied, the function may be called until the objective condition is satisfied (as reported by the oracle) and the deal may close, or until expiry. Similar to the deposit process, the seller may choose to “off-ramp” the received tokens to a traditional bank account by fiat-crypto API or by another interface. 7. When the deal closes, the objective conditions, details, and timing of closing will be emitted as events and are trustless-ly verifiable on-chain. Parties could also choose to include an encrypted reference to where the deal’s documentation is stored, such as on IPFS. By Erich Dylus (Legal Engineer at API3 and contributor to LexDAO) and Emily Cockley (Operations and Process Analyst at API3)

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Photo by on Unsplash. Kristopher Roller During their Developer careers, coders may encounter a Wirex fintech app that combines traditional money and cryptocurrencies onto one platform. For us in the know, it is crucial to understand what’s going on with the app from the user’s perspective; Especially when 4 million active clients trust it with their money. While a checks one particular place (scene/function/module), check the whole flow that the user goes through. unit test end-to-end tests are a convenient tool that can be used for this purpose. They launch an app and start interacting with all the visible elements going from one screen to another the User Interface (UI) Tests same way as the user does. Pros and Cons of Adding UI Tests Advantages of UI testing: It helps to functionality and find critical bugs🪲. check UI Combined with Unit tests, UI tests can give us maximum . code coverage It checks the app from a . user’s perspective UI tests can be shown to customers to explain the necessity of testing. Concerns Regarding UI testing: : Building a UI Test scenario requires preparation of the UI Elements and takes considerable time to create all the dependencies between our screen flows. Harder to build : Each test takes about 13–34 seconds to run in total, all 21 UI tests take , whereas all our 42 Unit tests only take Longer running time 8 minutes 2 seconds. : Detecting the issue is a good thing, but when you want to catch a bug that’s far away from the code, it’s much harder to fix. When a unit test fails, it shows you the exact way it was broken. And yes, all changes in the UI require us to modify the UI test as well. Harder to fix and maintain Page Object Pattern Once we started to write UI tests, one thing became obvious — a will the code and make it difficult to maintain. vast usage of string constants clutter All components visible on the screen are represented as objects and the most common way to identify them is to use string as an identifier. XCUIElement pattern is an effective solution for this problem. This is the description of our implementation. Page Object Every screen is represented by one and every conforms to Page protocol: PageObject PageObject import XCTest

protocol Page {
    var app: XCUIApplication { get }
    var view: XCUIElement { get }

    init(app: XCUIApplication)
} This is how the looks like👍🏻: PageObject import XCTest

class LoginPage: Page {
    var app: XCUIApplication
    var view: XCUIElement

    private let loginButton: XCUIElement
    private let emailTextField: XCUIElement
    private let passwordTextField: XCUIElement

    required init(app: XCUIApplication) {
        self.app = app
        view = app.otherElements["Login_Scene"]
        emailTextField = app.textFields.firstMatch
        passwordTextField = app.secureTextFields.firstMatch
        loginButton = app.buttons["Log In"].firstMatch
    }

    @discardableResult
    func tapEmailTextField() -> Self {
        emailTextField.tap()
        return self
    }

    @discardableResult
    func typeInEmailTextField(_ text: String) -> Self {
        emailTextField.typeText(text)
        return self
    }

    @discardableResult
    func tapLoginButton() -> DashboardPage {
        loginButton.tap()
        return DashboardPage(app: app)
    }
} Pay attention to the line. Unlike buttons, images, or text fields, the main view should have an . view = app.otherElements[“Login_Scene”] explicitly set identifier We set it in the of every scene, in the method: UIViewController viewDidLoad override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
    view.accessibilityIdentifier = "Login_Scene"
} Another thing to mention about is the return type of every function — it is . PageObject either Self or another PageObject As a result, we will be able to chain our methods. Here is what the resulting test may look like: func testLogIn() {
    app.launch()
    // let's assume that login page is the first one that is shown on start
    let loginPage = LoginPage(app: app)

    let dashboardPage = loginPage
        .checkLoginButtonIsDisabled()
        .tapEmailTextField()
        .typeInEmailTextField("newUser@gmail.com")
        .tapPasswordTextField()
        .typeInPasswordTextField("password")
        .checkLoginButtonIsEnabled()
        .tapLoginButton()

    guard dashboardPage.view.waitForExistence(timeout: 20) else { 
      return XCTFail("Dashboard Scene must have been shown") 
    }
} So it’s really quite simple, isn’t it? We can chain our screens to create concise, readable UI Tests that are also easier to maintain. We can reuse these for different flows, we want to check in our UI Test, and if we make some changes in our UI, we only need to fix it in one place. Page Objects If you want to start writing in your project, start by creating . It will save you a lot of time and mental resources 😌 in the future. UITests Page Objects Communication With API Should you use a real server or a mocked one? The second problem we’ve faced was the UI test’s communication with the backend API. We had to choose either to use our development server or to create mocks that imitate API requests. We decided to implement a mock service because of the following reasons: We didn’t have a that could be used for running tests only. dedicated server Our existing development servers had their and often changed. state updated A server could be off or it could be used to test a new API, and some APIs might be broken at the time. a dedicated server in an up-to-date state would require more time to communicate with the backend team. Supporting The network request execution on a real server, but with mocks, we receive the response almost instantly. takes time We created an entity called that basically contained one function: MockServer func handleRequest(request: NetworkRequest, completion: @escaping RequestCompletion) It accepts the object, and is used for passing the request’s response. NetworkRequest closure In our case, is a simple structure containing all the necessary data to make requests (URL, HTTP method, parameters, body, etc.) and conforms to protocol (to be able to use it in the statement). NetworkRequest Equatable switch This function contains the logic that decides whether the request should return a successful response or error: typealias RequestCompletion = (Data?, WirexAPIError?) -> Void

final class MockServer {
    static let shared = MockServer()

    private init() {
        // function that clears local database on app start. I did not include it in the code snippet.
        self.clearDataIfNeeded()
    }

    func handleRequest(request: NetworkRequest, completion: @escaping RequestCompletion) {
        // Convenience method. Use it for error mocking
        let sendError: (WirexAPIError) -> Void = { error in
            self.processResponse(request: request, data: nil, error: error, completion: completion)
        }

        // Convenience method. Use it to mock response. Pass nil if only 200 is needed
        let sendSuccess: (Data?) -> Void = { data in
            self.processResponse(request: request, data: data, error: nil, completion: completion)
        }

        switch request {
        case .postSignIn():
            if !isDeviceConfirmed {
                sendError(WirexAPIError.confirmSMSError)
            } else {
                sendSuccess(nil)
            }
        // all other cases
        default:
            sendSuccess(nil)
            // This way we detect the requests, we forgot to mock or mocked wrong while writing ui test
            print("Here request url, body and any needed info is printed")
        }
    }

    private func processResponse(request: NetworkRequest,
                                 data: Data?,
                                 error: WirexAPIError?,
                                 completion: @escaping RequestCompletion) {
        if let data = data, let onSuccess = request.onSuccess, error == nil {
            onSuccess(data, { completion(nil, $0) })
        } else {
            completion(data, error)
        }
    }
} Mocked data is passed like this . The mock itself is just converted to the data JSON string: sendSuccess(ConfirmLoginMock.response) class ConfirmLoginMock {
    static let response = """
    {
        "token": "mockedToken",
        "expires_at": "2021-03-19T16:38:13.3490000+00:00"
    }
    """.data(using: .utf8)!
} All that is left to do is to inject the function into the app’s network layer. In our project, we have an entity called NetworkManager that has a single point for all incoming requests. It accepts the same parameters as the above-described function: handleRequest func runRequest(request: NetworkRequest, completion: @escaping RequestCompletion) {

#if DEBUG
if isRunningUITests {
    MockServer.shared.handleRequest(request: request, completion: completion)
    return
}
#endif

// Here goes the code that makes actual API request and handles response
} Any request that will be passed to it will be either mocked or sent to an actual server. We use a constant to detect whether to run tests or not. And since we’re not able to pass the data between the main project and UI tests directly (UI tests are run in isolation), we need to use the of the app. isRunningUITests launch arguments We can do it in two steps. The first is to set an argument before the start of the UI test: // Every UI test can set up it's own launchArguments if needed
override func setUp() {
    super.setUp()
    continueAfterFailure = false
    app = XCUIApplication()
    app.launchArguments.append("UITests")
} The second step is getting this argument somewhere in the main project. let isRunningUITests = ProcessInfo.processInfo.arguments.contains("UITests") Lessons we Learned Make sure you clear your local persistent storage, User Defaults, local caches, or any temporary data that influences your app behavior before the UI test is run. Every test needs to start from the same app state because it may still succeed when run independently but may fail when run together with the rest of the tests if they share the same state. Double-check your mock data, it may save you a lot of time and effort. We used the raw JSON data for the mocks. We always checked that it was a valid JSON before passing it into the codebase. Keep your tests code clean. Although it’s not a production code, you may need to return to it in the future — if it’s a mess, it will be hard to work on.

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Photo by on Unsplash. Icons8 Team I’ve been running podcasts for years, and while I worked on some video courses in the past, over the past year I have invested more time in my audio and video setup, primarily for live-streaming. After months and months of getting it to a point where I am “kind of” happy with it, I thought it was high time I documented it. Partly so others can learn from my setup, and partly so I can keep tabs on it myself. A vs. B Setup I am lucky enough to have my own small office/studio, and naturally, this is where I do most of my work. But I also need to sometimes do work at home (a different place from the office, and often interviews with people in the USA), where it’s too late to be in the office, and I’d rather do it home. I have conducted interviews travelling before, and while I’m doing less of that right now, it’s still like to have the option(s) available. I call these my “A” and “B” setups. Or the setup that ), and the setup t . There are some overlaps, but primarily with software. largely stays fixed in the office (A hat I use at home, or travelling (B) Audio The audio part is somewhat easier, and has been mostly the same hardware for a while, but configured in different ways. A with a foam wind/pop filter. Blue Yeti, It’s mounted on a boom arm most of the time, but I do also have a straight mic stand with a (home brand of “Just Music”, a German music store) reflection filter for more precise pure audio recording to counter the echoing high ceilings of many Berlin rooms. Justin B Setup Depending on my mood I sometimes use an mounted on a pretty crumby boom arm if I am not using an external camera, or this odd phone holder (more on that later) mic stand combo thing from iRig HD 2 Exjoy. My other mic option is a lav mic from iRig. It’s analog, so needs a headphone jack, and curiously also needs headphones plugged into its connector, so even though I am often using it with my OnePlus buds for calls, I typically have an audio cable also plugged into it, basically doing nothing. Software For recording (and editing) just me and a mic, I generally use , I have been experimenting with demos of Ableton and Logic, but not committed to either yet. Adobe Audition For recording a mic plus an application or VoIP call, I pretty much always use , it’s a classic macOS app for a reason. Audio Hijack In fact, I have something of a chain of Rogue Amoeba software I use for audio and video, including (SFX) and (audio routing). Farrago Loopback I know there are open source and free equivalents for both, but especially with Loopback, I found its flexibility and ease of use worth the money. I don’t really use any effects on input aside from some volume overrides, but probably should. Video This is where things get a bit more complex unsurprisingly. I mix up hardware and software for some obvious reasons, as there’s some software each camera needs, and then there’s the software I use no matter what. The ‘A’ Setup A Logitech StreamCam. I am still not sure if it's worth the extra over the classic , but there you go, I have it now. It’s mounted on a sort of behind my monitor, but I am not completely happy with the placement, as it makes me look a bit too far away. Logitech C922 UTEBIT magic arm I have tried it in various positions with the same lack of satisfaction, it’s hard to balance the whole “good camera shot” with being able to see your screen, and I am not there yet. I mostly use the camera as a straight input into an application, but I am starting to experiment more with using the supplied software for more fine-grained camera control, and then routing that into an application. Logi Capture B Setup Naturally at times when I am just having a call that I use the camera built into my laptop, but for recording and streams I actually use my phone camera. Uh-huh, my phone camera. The phone is kind of the least relevant part as any modern phone camera is decent, but my current is a . The in-built camera software does do a lot of annoying auto-focusing that can sometimes make my video have this odd kind of “wishy-washy” look, but most people don’t notice it. I actually much preferred using my old Essential phone, as the camera software did next to nothing. One Plus Nord Ironically everyone complained about the camera software on that phone, and this made it a perfect external camera. There are plethora of applications now that let you use a smartphone as an external camera, but mine of choice are (if only recording with OBS) and for pretty much everything else. DroidCam OBS Iriun I was suitably impressed with both, to pay for the full versions. Iriun is one of those “Virtual Camera” applications, which means on macOS, you sometimes need to jump through the unsigning hoop to get it to work in some applications. Software OK, this is where it gets complicated. Let’s add more subheadings… Live Streaming When it’s just me, , I think I could write a separate post on my OBS setup, so that’s all I’ll say for now 😅. Open Broadcast Studio (OBS) If I have guests then , which is web-based. I am not a huge fan of doing things in the browser, but it’s simple for others to join, and gives me enough flexibility for setup, quality, and graphics. Restream studio I also use it deliver my livestreams (via an RMTP feed) when I use OBS, so it’s multipurpose. It’s not cheap, but worth it, and they often have discount codes. Recording I vary between Quicktime, , Logi Capture, and OBS, depending on if I want to record a camera, or record multiple cameras, or record camera plus screen share. Snagit Quite often depending on the quality, I want to record and my mood. I am not entirely satisfied with the video quality of any of these options sometimes, and I am never entirely sure if it’s the camera or the software. Editing Mostly , but sometimes Quicktime or Snagit for something simple. I have tried , but I couldn’t get on with it, I am too used to Premiere. Adobe Premiere Da Vinci Resolve Lighting I know lighting is important, and I am late to that party, muddling through for some time. I acquired some cheap office clearance photography lights last year which resulted in reasonable lighting but took up too much space, and annoyed my office mates. I switched to a set of the . I am still getting the setup quite right, and I am especially unhappy with the shadows they throw behind me. I know the techniques to fix this, but I am trying to balance space and convenience with quality 😉. I often add slight bit of warmth to lighting by also just switching on my Ikea Symfonisk desk lamp. Neweer LED desk lamps One of my biggest issues with lighting in the office is that we have a giant window that looks out over Berlins Spree river. It’s a wonderful view, but terrible for consistent lighting, especially as the sun can reflect off the water, and trains passing the nearby railway tracks. Other Screen Annotation and Highlighting To highlight what I am doing on the screen, I use a handful of different apps and setups. At simplest I increase the zoom level of windows to about 125-150% depending on how they look. This is generally only possible with browser windows or Electron-based applications (which I typically dislike, but in this case brings a positive). With other applications, it can be a mix of using the macOS screen zoom, or just not having a very readable interface. Fortunately, the main applications I show are browser windows, (Electron-based), and , which is highly customizable, and I have a profile specifically designed for live-streaming (I should release that 🤔) that increases font size, removes background transparency, and makes things clearer for people to read. Visual Studio Code iTerm I use a small application called “ ” to highlight my cursor, and to annotate the screen (which I do rarely, but it’s nice to have both in the same application). Presentify I occasionally use another small application called “ ” to show the keyboard shortcuts I’m using, but that’s something I use more when recording tutorial videos. KeyCastr Control I have a Streamdeck mini with a bunch of useful shortcuts for OBS, or whatever other application I’m using setup so I can trigger changes without having to use the mouse. If you don’t want to invest in hardware, they also have a pretty good mobile application to do the same. That's a wrap! That's about it for hardware, software, and tools. Making, editing, and distributing videos, podcasts, and livestreams is a whole other discussion that I am not even sure I could put into blog post form, but maybe one day. I've mentioned in places throughout this post what I'd like to change and tweak about my setup, so I plan to revisit and keep this post updated as I do so. I hope you found this useful and I'd love to hear your comments and setup tips in the comments. Disclaimer I spend a lot of time on making videos, and some of the product links here are affiliate links to cover even some of the time and money I have invested. If you don't like affiliate links, but would still like to say thanks, subscribe to my or channel, or find . YouTube Twitch other ways to support me on my website The article was first published . here

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Photo by sebastiaan stam on Unsplash. When food producers change the food labels from to , it changes the meanings for consumers. use-by-date the best-before-date Not only did I find that confusing, but the concept of “Best Before” is only indicating the food quality instead of food safety. : The product is no longer at its optimal quality . Best Before Date (quality) : The Product is no longer safe for consumption . Use By Date (safety) Best Practices are like the best-before date — if you do not follow them, your security posture will not be in its optimal state. However, if you exercise bad practices — your environment will no longer be cyber-safe. Cybersecurity is about the quality of work, yes. But, — that’s why we should adopt the concept of “use-by” date instead of “best-before” in cybersecurity. safety should be our top priority recognizes these risks and has released a . The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Bad Practices page But, what does that mean for businesses (or those in the business of protecting digital assets)? As of this writing, . the CISA listed just three bad practices Here’s some guidance on how to take action. How can you avoid these bad practices? Bad Practice #1: Using Older Software First, don’t use unsupported or end-of-life software. This is extra important if your business is in critical infrastructure and NCF. Threat actors can easily exploit these. After all, they know defenders probably won’t be able to patch any vulnerabilities they find. Running software beyond its use-by date leads to malware and ransomware attacks and puts data and other critical assets at risk of compromise or theft. Other tips include: When possible, use managed service providers who handle software updates and offer software upgrades when software has reached its end-of-life cycle. Work with vendors that offer software support, even for a fee, for a limited time until you can fully upgrade to the new software version. When purchasing software, ask about its lifecycle so you can budget for upgrades. Conduct regular audits of software and devices. Upgrade hardware that supports current software. Too often, people use older software because legacy systems can’t handle the upgrade. Better to spend money on new devices than on penalties for a data breach caused by an end-of-life exploit. Bad Practice #2: Reusing Passwords The second bad practice CISA discusses is using known, fixed, or default passwords and credentials. As a result, attackers are turning to credential stuffing to enter the network. Unfortunately, they do this most often through password hacking. To counteract this harmful habit, keep up-to-date on the following suggestions from the CISA guidelines: Change the default or fixed password on new devices. Unfortunately, these passwords aren’t secure because they often follow a pattern set by the business that threat actors can quickly figure out. As a result, IoT devices are at the most significant risk of using a default or fixed password, and more threat actors enter networks through compromised IoT. Consider using secure login options that don’t include passwords (password-less authentication). Deploy an identity management platform. It is challenging to detect compromised credentials because the threat actor uses real IDs to get into the system. Identity management tools scan for strange login behaviors. Require employees to use unique passwords for each account. Don’t allow users to store passwords or credentials in browsers or other devices, like smartphone apps. Encourage users to log out of software where possible when they’re done working and to log off devices, or put them in sleep mode with a password to wake them. Avoid entering passwords in public locations, such as Wi-Fi in coffee shops and hotels. Never share a password, including default passwords, with anyone. Then, in an emergency, the admin will be able to get access. Bad Practice #3: Using Single-Factor Authentication for Remote or Administrative Access CISA’s focuses on implementing strong authentication and highlights the risks of using traditional single authentication methods such as a username combined with a password, especially when accessing critical systems, like pipeline applications or companies’ databases. Capacity Enhancement Guide Single-factor authentication is a common low-security method of authentication. It only requires matching one factor — such as a password — to a username to access a system. However, when combining this bad practice with the second one (weak/ default password), gaining access to a critical system would be too easy. Below are the general recommendations: Monitor closely who has access to accounts, particularly for privileged accounts. 2-factors/ multi-factor authentication should be in place. That includes login for OS, SaaS application, and in-house application. Implement separation of duty or split knowledge on NCF. Review privileged accounts permission regularly. Final Words: Still Missing the “How” Only two bad practices may not go far, primarily when addressing the most commonly known threat vectors. However, CISA’s efforts show the need for even elementary security best practices and everyone to take cybersecurity seriously. Unfortunately, simply listing all the bad practices publicly do nothing but a checklist. Companies and organizations who find the bad practices were sadly working in their environment would need some guidance on getting rid of them. Adding the “How” in the bad practices — by advising on not doing such behavior or replacing it with better alternatives would be a perfect match for this guide. Reference: https://www.cisa.gov/BadPractices Also published here. Thank you for reading. May InfoSec is with you🖖.

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Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning have already made their way into a number of regulatory bodies and legal departments. Remarkable advancements in the legal AI era have caused some legal specialists to be concerned that their profession may soon become a victim of Silicon Valley. Apparently, will not automate the legal profession out of existence. Technology will support growth and production by increasing accuracy and riding efficiency. AI and legal tech Ingeniously incorporated AI algorithms are already altering outcomes in corporate compliance, due diligence, agreement management, and e-discovery. In addition, some “much less habitual” use cases, such as legal studies, document mining, and forecasting case outcomes, have shown to be faster, better, and less expensive with the aid of intelligent software programs. For attorneys and legal teams who use artificial intelligence and cutting-edge technology, jail work will become more environmentally friendly and efficient. Increasing sophistication in customer era adoption will put pressure on regulation corporations and legal professionals, who will be chosen for their generation-higher excellent offerings and ability to concentrate on complicated higher-priced artwork to resolve their clients' jail and commercial enterprise issues. AI Will Not Replace Lawyers But lawyers who use AI will replace those who don't. The legal market is witnessing increased rate competition, a loss of efficiency in issuer shipping, an infusion of new competition, and the unstoppable power of technological innovation. As a result, traditional law firms and jail departments seek to understand the capability of AI and the legal period in order to remain relevant. Lawyers must consider the specific, growing cost of AI and create a legal way of life that complements the human cost—legal professionals exercise unbiased expert judgment, focusing on substantial, difficult, and task-important artwork for their clients. Earlier this year, the McKinsey Global Institute reported that while almost half of all responsibilities might be automated with current technology, just five percent of employment could be completely automated, estimating that 23 percent of an attorney's work could be automated. Technology will change a few parts of jail labor, but legal experts anticipate that highly paid attorneys will spend their time at the top rungs of the "legal ladder," taking on duties with higher-level cognitive requirements; non-attorneys or era will do the larger common legal services. AI vs. Human Judgment As device intelligence increases, the rate of human forecasts without AI augmentation will most likely drop. However, this does not portend doom for legal practitioners. AI will transform the way humans make judgments by utilizing machine-derived predictions as a supplement to human judgment. The value of extra-optimal human judgment will rise as a result of system evaluation and prediction. Traditional legal firms and in-house jail departments that embrace AI and suitable advanced jail era may be well-positioned to offer real-time insights, better decision-making, and improved performance. In these legal firms, attorneys may be capable of doing what they are excellent at, which technology cannot replicate. They will use their impartial professional judgment, a higher-order cognitive skill requiring critical thinking and creativity, but they will do so quicker, smarter, and more efficiently thanks to AI and cognitive computing generation. As a result, the application of AI in the legal system will be an evolution rather than a revolution. But, make no mistake, AI is already transforming every industrial agency and interest that attorneys deal with, some more quickly and profoundly than others, and the legal profession will not be immune to this disruptive shift. Incorporating AI into a regulatory employer's systems and operations is a lengthy, learning process, so early adopters will have a significant advantage over firms that lag in adopting the era. Judicial lawyers, legal firms, and enterprises that do not get on the AI trend will be left behind and eventually replaced. Wider Concerns AI in legal practice will raise a slew of wider concerns that can only be briefly summarized right now. How will artificial intelligence (AI) affect law firm billing, when an inventive AI device can do searches and analyses in a matter of seconds that would have previously required several weeks of an associate's billable time? How will AI affect the employment and development of more youthful felony specialists if it eliminates some of the more common repeating responsibilities in legal exercise that may typically be performed by younger friends? How will legal education and law schools need to change to face the current reality of AI-powered felony exercise? How will artificial intelligence affect the competitive advantage of large legal firms over small and medium-sized firms? Will businesses begin receiving legal services straight from legal service providers now, bypassing law firms entirely? Will AI systems be in danger of unlawful practice or regulatory oversight? Given that rather than preprogrammed instructions to make decisions, how can we ensure the correctness, legality, and fairness of AI decisions? Will lawyers be held liable for negligence if they depend on AI systems that make mistakes? AI systems are increasingly using self-learning Will attorneys be held liable for malpractice if they do not use AI to do tasks that are beyond the capabilities of humans? Will self-mastering AI systems have to be deposed and called as witnesses to explain why they make their own decisions? Technology is reshaping the legal profession, but it will not render lawyers' professional judgment and knowledge obsolete. It will enable those that embrace, hire, and utilize it to provide more comprehensive and value-added legal services and cases to their clients. Legal agencies and legal specialists who use AI legal period these days will acquire such advantages—and have a competitive edge over those who do not.

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Today we will be discussing how we can set up a Flutter app and implement Google sign-in using Firebase. We'll be building a two-page app that allows users to log in using their Google Account. This is for a layer of security and to pull user's information associated with their Gmail accounts such as the user name and avatar image etc. Our final app will look like follows: Users can click on the "Sign In with Google" button, which will launch a view where users can provide their Google credentials. Upon success, control is returned to the user and Flutter navigates the user to the Welcome screen, where they can view their name, avatar, and be able to log out. Getting Started I have created my flutter application named . If you have not created any, then you can create a flutter app using the following command: social_login flutter create social_login Now we'll add the plugins required in this project. Open file and in dependencies add the plugins as: pubspec.yaml firebase_auth: ^0.16.0
google_sign_in: ^4.4.4
flutter_auth_buttons: ^0.5.0 Save the file and run: flutter pub get Build the UI Delete the code from the file and add the following code: main.dart // main.dart
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'login_page.dart';
void main() => runApp(MyApp());
class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      debugShowCheckedModeBanner: false,
      title: 'Flutter Login',
      theme: ThemeData(
        primarySwatch: Colors.amber,
      ),
      home: LoginPage(),
    );
  }
} Now we'll move ahead to the login page. // login_page.dart file
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:flutter_auth_buttons/flutter_auth_buttons.dart';
class LoginPage extends StatefulWidget {
  @override
  LoginPageState createState() => LoginPageState();
}
class LoginPageState extends State<LoginPage> {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      body: Container(
        color: Colors.white,
        child: Center(
          child: Column(
            mainAxisSize: MainAxisSize.max,
            mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.center,
            children: <Widget>[
              Image(
                image: AssetImage("assets/logo.png"),
                height: 150, 
                width: 150
              ),
              SizedBox(height: 50),
              GoogleSignInButton(
                onPressed: () {},
                darkMode: true
              ),
            ],
          ),
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
} Now we'll create a new file and name it as . Here we'll keep our code for authentication. auth.dart First, we'll import the packages required. // auth.dart
import 'package:firebase_auth/firebase_auth.dart';
import 'package:google_sign_in/google_sign_in.dart';
final FirebaseAuth _auth = FirebaseAuth.instance;
final GoogleSignIn googleSignIn = GoogleSignIn(); Here, we have created an instance of FirebaseAuth and GoogleSignIn. After creating an instance, we need methods as (to authenticate the user) and then (to just sign out from the current account). signIn signOut Let's create our methods in file. auth.dart // auth.dart
import 'package:firebase_auth/firebase_auth.dart';
import 'package:google_sign_in/google_sign_in.dart';
final FirebaseAuth _auth = FirebaseAuth.instance;
final GoogleSignIn googleSignIn = GoogleSignIn();
Future<String> signInWithGoogle() async {
  final GoogleSignInAccount googleSignInAccount = await googleSignIn.signIn();
  final GoogleSignInAuthentication googleSignInAuthentication =
      await googleSignInAccount.authentication;
  final AuthCredential credential = GoogleAuthProvider.getCredential(
    accessToken: googleSignInAuthentication.accessToken,
    idToken: googleSignInAuthentication.idToken,
  );
  final AuthResult authResult = await _auth.signInWithCredential(credential);
  final FirebaseUser user = authResult.user;
  assert(!user.isAnonymous);
  assert(await user.getIdToken() != null);
  final FirebaseUser currentUser = await _auth.currentUser();
  assert(user.uid == currentUser.uid);
  return 'signInWithGoogle succeeded: $user';
}
void signOutGoogle() async{
  await googleSignIn.signOut();
} We have created our functions but now we need to call our functions in our application to let the user authenticate. So let's call our function to work for us. We'll update our login page to call after clicking the sign-in button. signInWithGoogle() // login_page.dart file
class LoginPageState extends State<LoginPage> {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      body: Container(
        color: Colors.white,
        child: Center(
          child: Column(
            mainAxisSize: MainAxisSize.max,
            mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.center,
            children: <Widget>[
              Image(
                image: AssetImage("assets/logo.png"),
                height: 150, 
                width: 150
              ),
              SizedBox(height: 50),
              GoogleSignInButton(
                onPressed: () {
                  signInWithGoogle().whenComplete(() {
                    Navigator.of(context).push(
                      MaterialPageRoute(
                        builder: (context) {
                        return WelcomeScreen();
                        },
                      ),
                    );
                  });
                },
                darkMode: true
              ),
            ],
          ),
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
} Here, once our sign-in is successful, we are redirecting the user to the . WelcomeScreen Build UI for WelcomeScreen To do this, run the following code: // welcome_screen.dart file
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
class WelcomeScreen extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      body: Container(
        child: Text(
          "Welcome $name to Flutter",
           style: TextStyle(
             fontSize: 30,
             fontFamily: 'DancingScript',
             fontWeight: FontWeight.bold,
           ),
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
} Set Up a Firebase Project To create a new firebase project, go to the firebase console. Click to for creating a new project. Add Project Now, enter your project name and click continue. Follow the steps until the creation of the project. This will lead you to the Project Overview page and from here we'll be able to add firebase to our flutter app. For that, click on the Android icon and follow the steps required to create an android app. Here, you have to add the . For generating the SHA-1 key, just hover over the help (?) and click See this page. This will redirect you to the Authenticating Your Client page where you'll find commands to generate the SHA key. SHA-1 hash Then click on Register App. Next, download the google-services.json file and add it to your project-directory -> android -> app and click Next. In the third step, add the given code to the respective files. Once done, click Next and continue to console. Lastly, go to the Authentication Page -> Users tab and click on the Set up sign-in method. In Sign-in providers under the Sign-in methods tab, hover over Google provider and edit to enable Google sign-in. With this, we are done with the Google sign-in set up for our flutter app. The iOS setup is a little similar to this, but we are not going to implement it in our flutter app now. Still, you can implement it if you wish to run it on an iOS emulator or iOS mobile. To access user data such as name and email in our app, we need to update our auth file. import 'package:firebase_auth/firebase_auth.dart';
import 'package:google_sign_in/google_sign_in.dart';
final FirebaseAuth _auth = FirebaseAuth.instance;
final GoogleSignIn googleSignIn = GoogleSignIn();
String name;
String email;
String imageUrl;
Future<String> signInWithGoogle() async {
  final GoogleSignInAccount googleSignInAccount = await googleSignIn.signIn();
  final GoogleSignInAuthentication googleSignInAuthentication =
  await googleSignInAccount.authentication;
  final AuthCredential credential = GoogleAuthProvider.getCredential(
    accessToken: googleSignInAuthentication.accessToken,
    idToken: googleSignInAuthentication.idToken,
  );
  final AuthResult authResult = await _auth.signInWithCredential(credential);
  final FirebaseUser user = authResult.user;
  assert(user.email != null);
  assert(user.displayName != null);
  assert(user.photoUrl != null);
  name = user.displayName;
  email = user.email;
  imageUrl = user.photoUrl;
  if (name.contains(" ")) {
    name = name.substring(0, name.indexOf(" "));
  }
  assert(!user.isAnonymous);
  assert(await user.getIdToken() != null);
  final FirebaseUser currentUser = await _auth.currentUser();
  assert(user.uid == currentUser.uid);
  
  return 'Successfully loggedin: $user';
}
void signOutGoogle() async {
  await googleSignIn.signOut();
} Complete UI of WelcomeScreen Now we'll complete our UI of WelcomeScreen using the following code: // WelcomeScreen.dart file
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'auth.dart';
import 'login_page.dart';
class WelcomeScreen extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: Text('Flutter Example'),
      ),
      drawer: name != null ? Drawer(
        child: ListView(
          padding: EdgeInsets.zero,
            children: <Widget>[
              DrawerHeader(
                decoration: BoxDecoration(
                  color: Colors.amberAccent,
                ),
                child: Column(
                  children: <Widget>[
                    Padding(
                      padding: EdgeInsets.zero,
                      child: CircleAvatar(
                        backgroundImage: NetworkImage(
                          imageUrl,
                        ),
                      radius: 40,
                      backgroundColor: Colors.transparent,
                    ),
                  ),
                  SizedBox(height: 10),
                  Text(
                    name,
                    style: TextStyle(
                    fontSize: 20,
                    color: Colors.black,
                    fontWeight: FontWeight.bold),
                  ),
                  SizedBox(height: 5),
                  Text(
                    email,
                    style: TextStyle(
                      fontSize: 16,
                      color: Colors.black,
                      fontWeight: FontWeight.normal
                    ),
                  ),
                ],
              ),
            ),
            ListTile(
              leading: Icon(
              Icons.exit_to_app,
              color: Colors.red,
            ),
            title: Text(
              "Sign Out",
              style: TextStyle(
                fontSize: 18,
                color: Colors.red,
              ),
            ),
            onTap: () {
              signOutGoogle();
              Navigator.of(context).pushAndRemoveUntil(
                MaterialPageRoute(builder: (context) {
                  return LoginPage();
                }), ModalRoute.withName('/'));
              }),
            ],
          ),
        ): null,
        body: Container(
          child: Center(
            child: Column(
              mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.center,
              mainAxisSize: MainAxisSize.max,
              children: <Widget>[
                FlutterLogo(size: 100),
                SizedBox(height: 20),
                Text(
                  "Welcome $name to Flutter",
                  style: TextStyle(
                    fontSize: 30,
                    fontFamily: 'DancingScript',
                    fontWeight: FontWeight.bold,
                  ),
                ),
              ],
            ),
          ),
        ),
      );
    }
} Conclusion Once done, let's run our app to do authentication using Google. You can find the code on my . GitHub Repository I hope this is helpful.

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Photo by on Unsplash. trail Choreo allows you to create, publish and manage all aspects of an API and its’ lifecycle. In this blog post, let’s have a look at how we can create an API that has an already existing service. Create the API Sign in to the Choreo Console at https://console.choreo.dev/ Navigate to the card and click on . APIs Get Started Click in the card on the Create API page. Next Create an API proxy Select the card and click . Design a new REST API Next You can provide the following details or provide details relevant to your service, API Name: API Version: Endpoint : Covid19API 1.0.0 https://disease.sh Click on and your API will be created. You will be directed to the Overview of the API. Create, There are multiple configurations that you can add to your API. You can add the following details related to your API under each configuration: Design Configurations: description, tags Business Info: business owner and technical owner details Documents: documentation related to the API Runtime Configurations: CORS configurations, Application-level security Resources: add GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS resources API Definition: import/download definition, convert to json/yaml Endpoint Configuration: endpoint configuration Subscriptions: Attach a subscription plan to the API and manage subscriptions. To add a resource to the API, follow the steps below. a. Under select . API Configuration, Resources b. Select from the dropdown. c. Enter as the URI pattern and click the button to add the resource.
d. Click . GET HTTP Verb /v3/covid-19/states + Save Deploy the API 1. Click the tab in the left navigation pane. Deploy 2. On the Deployments page, click on . Create a Revision and Deploy 3. Add “This is a Demo revision” as the description and click . Deploy You have now successfully created a revision from the current API and deployed it. Test the API 1. Click the tab in the left navigation pane. Test 2. Click to get an access token. GET TEST KEY 3. Click on the resource that was added previously and click on and then Execute. GET Try it out, We have now successfully created and tested the API. Let’s Publish the API to the Developer Portal so that API consumers can use the API. Publish the API 1. Click the tab in the left navigation pane. Publish 2. Click on the Lifecycle Management page. Publish 3. Click Go To Developer Portal to consume the API from the developer portal. Invoke the API The published API is shown on the Developer portal as below. 1. Click the tab in the left navigation pane. Credentials 2. Click which creates the credentials for an internal application and subscribes to the API using that internal application. Generate Credentials 3. Click on and copy the access token. Generate Access Token 4. Click the tab in the left navigation pane. Try Out 5. Paste the copied access token in the field. Access Token 6. Click on the resource you added and click on and then . GET Try it out, Execute You will be able to see the COVID-19 data for all the states of the USA as the response from the API. You have now successfully created, tested, and published your API in the developer portal and invoked the API successfully!!

How to Expose Your API Endpoint Using Choreo

Photo by on Unsplash. Christian Englmeier One of the biggest challenges facing digital advertising companies today is mobile users. Clearly, potential customers who are increasingly using mobile to communicate, research, and view online content are becoming smarter and more educated, as well as less patient with slow pages and their ads. We now live in a digital world where a short time of just a few seconds can affect the success or failure of an advertising campaign. More specifically, pages and ads that take more than a second to fully load can sometimes cause huge financial losses to the advertising company. What is AMP? AMP stands for , a Google-affiliated technology whose sole purpose is to improve the loading speed of pages for mobile web users. Accelerated Mobile Pages AMP is based on the HTML AMP, which is another version of the same code that builds the structure of the web. AMP HTML is part of an open-source framework designed to speed up mobile pages. The framework also uses AMP JS and AMP CDN. AMP JS is a JavaScript framework for mobile sites, and AMP CDN is an optional content delivery network (CDNs generally crawl your web pages and distribute them across multiple servers in different geographical locations, making uploads faster. To users close to those places). AMP removes parts of the branding from the screen for better speed. This has caused concern among some critics, who believe that by doing so, fake news may be legitimized and seen as much as content produced by reputable news agencies such as the Guardian or NPR. Among the elements of the page that are removed to reduce loading time, two elements are more important for marketers and advertising companies: Any form. Such as registration form or user information receipt form. Any external JavaScript element. (Of course, there are solutions to these limitations, which require additional code to be written). After removing these "irrelevant" sections of code and branding, the AMP page can load 15 to 80% faster than the original version of the page without deleting even a basic function for the user. It is quite possible to create pages with separate sections using some advanced performance optimization tools. But it is better for professional programmers to do this. Most small business website owners do not have the time or resources to do this. The Google AMP app helps these people get mobile pages faster and easier for their users without having to spend a lot of time and money developing the technology. Setting up AMP is relatively easy for publishers. The main AMP integration process requires two versions of the page that you want to be the result of AMP work, valid code, CSS integration style, and a new canonical tag in the main version of the page. AMP Integration for WordPress Sites uses plugins for convenience. You need to remember that we are talking specifically about mobile users in this text, and Google AMP is not for desktop or laptop users. But mobile users are increasingly becoming an important part of the target audience of advertising companies. Statistics show that mobile usage among users is constantly increasing. So, it is important to keep mobile users happy and AMP is a useful way to do this. How does AMP work with on-screen ad networks? The AMP Project provides a basic overview of AMP integration with advertising. AMP is primarily focused on improving the mobile user experience of using the web. Although the overall goal of this project is a better user experience, part of that goal is to support and provide technology for greater security and speed of advertising. Ads on AMP pages behave much like their original version on web pages. The page publisher, like the main pages, uses JavaScript to add a <amp-ad> tag to the AMP page to allow space for ads on a particular network. Then when a user clicks on the link on that AMP page, the defined tag sends a request to the ad network to display the ads in the space provided. AMP works with a large number of supported ad networks. Like AdSense or Zucks. What does AMP do for your ads? Because AMP requires pages that have separation code without external JavaScript or complex HTML elements, it has so far been used more for static pages that consist primarily of textual content. Such as blog posts and articles that you may have seen at the top of the Google mobile search page. This has changed recently. Google AMP has been expanded to include ads and landing pages (via ALP or Accelerated Landing Pages, which is a framework similar to AMP and specifically targets ). In the past, ads loaded inside an AMP page at low speeds, while the page around the ad could load in less than a second. landing pages Remember that AMP affects advertisers in two ways, and both are equally important.
First of all, AMP affects the loading of the page itself (except for the ad). This impact in itself will be significant for potential users. The faster the page loads, the better the user experience; Because it puts the user in a better and more acceptable situation to see the ad. On the other hand, delaying the page loading will significantly reduce the conversion rate (up to a 12% reduction per second delay in full-page loading). If this process takes too long, the visitor may leave the page and you will lose him/her completely. What does "too much" mean here? It may be hard to believe, but the time it takes for the screen to overload is about three seconds or less. Now keep in mind that most pages with mobile ads take about 6.9 seconds to fully load. These advertisers do not have a chance to show themselves to the user and impress him. Additionally, when a user stops visiting the page, they will most likely never visit the page again. Worse, some of these users will share their bad experiences with friends and acquaintances. But AMP pages load in less than a second, which makes the user feel instantly satisfied because he can find the content he wants faster. The improved user experience by your page prepares the audience's mind to see and follow the ad message. The second effect of AMP is that it also speeds up the loading of the ad itself. Even if the page loads quickly but the ad is not loaded and a blank space is displayed, the user may scroll and never see the ad. A page that uses AMP technology will not have this problem. The ad will load almost immediately with the entire page and the user is more likely to click on it. As a result, the conversion rate will also increase. This will have a huge impact on your marketing. Now we want to see what will happen by putting all the sections together.
Imagine a member of your target community browsing the web on mobile, searching for information about a product or service that your company offers. This user sees several AMP pages in the Google results from list that are in the top priority of the results. One of these pages is the mobile-friendly version of the Buyer Guide page on a website that has content for you. This page will be loaded immediately on the user's mobile. An ad will then be displayed to the user which, when clicked, will take you to your website. This step will also be done using ALP, like a high-speed AMP screen. All in all, the benefits of AMP for everyone are: The user will have a better user experience. The better UX will benefit advertisers and marketers by increasing the conversion rate Publishers of pages containing ads also benefit from this. Because more effective ads will lead to more clicks and as a result, the demand for ads on those pages will also increase. Why Should You Be Careful? What may be said may seem too great. But the truth is that for some reason you need to be careful about using AMP on your pages and ads. The main reason for caution is your audience. If the audience is not aware of the mechanism of AMP pages, they may not trust the search results that are prioritized at the top of the list, or they may, by experience, be indifferent to the banner ads on AMP pages. But with the expansion of this program and the use of AMP, there is a possibility of change. The Last Word: If in general, your conversion rate from ads on mobile pages is not high, you can try the AMP campaign and examine its impact on your business.

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Photo by Lucas Benjamin on Unsplash. Whether you like it, make a living out of it, hate it, or ignore it, undeniably crypto is everywhere. It is here to stay and the foreseeable future involves money-making using . It is not an art anymore, nor too challenging to comprehend. Cryptocurrency For most crypto traders, crypto is a passion and for some, it is an addiction. It counts how you play with it. Certain moves bring you the anticipated luck while some can make you scratch your head. If you know what you are doing, you are good to step into a world where investing is not rocket science. While I can't list everything you need to know or do to be a pro in crypto here, let me list some valuable insights that'll assist you if you are new to the crypto world. The 5 Stages of Adoption for a Crypto Investor You can potentially master a new practice quickly and effortlessly adapt to it if you can observe these 5 stages: Stage 1: Awareness The awareness stage is the first time you hear about Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency that did a minimum of 2x to somewhere like 300x within months, weeks, or days. Sounds like a hoax? It is a common occurrence in the crypto market. Visit everyday gainers and losers section to see for yourself. Coinmarketcap There is another practical explanation for this stage from my personal experience. I saw an article in a local newspaper somewhere in 2017 about 'What is bitcoin?' Is it a scam, or is it worth a try? Well, those who tried have made a fortune for themselves. Those trillions of dollars in Bitcoin and significant support from prominent financial institutions and personalities like Mark Cuban, Elon Musk, and VISA or Paypal accepting crypto is just the beginning. Stage 2: Interest & Information Now that you know about Cryptocurrency, what is your excuse? The ship is sailing but, will you be on board? In this stage, you hunt through Blogs, YouTube videos, scroll millions of Tweets in a day, or maybe look for a course if you are eager to know. I would recommend you look for reliable and ethical sources and consult with friends in crypto or follow the trend for some time, but don't just hop in to buy one until you know where to buy from. Once you know that you are ready, the and which one to buy. next step is to learn where to buy and store your crypto or digital assets Where to Buy Crypto and Where to Store Cryptocurrencies There are various centralized crypto exchanges where you can buy your 'First Crypto,' but you are probably coming in at such a time where regulations are all over. I would suggest you go for LCX, one of the most consumer complaint and regulated crypto exchanges out there. You may also opt for a more local crypto exchange or a platform where you can easily convert fiat(i.e., your Local Currency ) to crypto and let it sit for a while. You can even exchange your crypto for stable coins / digital currency like digital Euros on . LCX Binance (not Binance U.S.). Coinbase (another trusted crypto exchange). Kucoin (not using anymore). Okex (an average choice). LCX LCX is pioneering a blockchain infrastructure bridging the gap between traditional monetary systems and the fast-moving trusted technology landscape. If you have made up your mind about a particular crypto exchange to choose to buy these digital assets, the next concern is where to store them? If you trade more often and want to save money while making a good profit, a centralized exchange is the first option. However, if you intend to keep it in a vault, go for decentralized software wallets like Metamask, Trust Wallet, etc. It would be best if you started by doing small trials before storing more significant values. Also, , which you get when creating a software wallet. It might not look significant, but if you lose this, you lose what's inside, so keep your wallet safe at all times. ALWAYS keep your seed phrase, also called private key safe and secret (don't even share it with your better-half if she/he has a habit of stealing) I would still recommend keeping it on an exchange or , which you can get from Amazon or eBay. hardware wallet like Ledger or Trezor In 2021, Which Cryptocurrency Should You Invest in? You might think of Bitcoin and Ethereum, as they have had their peaks. However, I support Ethereum and projects based entirely on Ethereum along with some Multi Blockchain projects in DeFi, also known as altcoins like Matic, Razor Network, Celo, Reef, Uni, Aave, Polkadot, Solana, BNB, and  some stable coins like USDC or USDT to grab some future opportunities and early-stage projects as a ready option for quick buys. (previously Matic) and Razor are still early. Nevertheless, they have incredible potential, in my opinion, as these projects are the future of Decentralized Finance, one (Matic) a Layer 2 solution connecting the multi-blockchain ecosystem for various use cases and . Polygon Razor as an Oracle solution At this stage, you must learn or know that whitepapers are a thing just like regulations and compliance is a thing for crypto exchanges. Stage 3: Evaluation Stage The most crucial step is to evaluate your purchase decisions because once you push the buy button and sit for a day, it will show its true colors. I have been trading for almost 3 years, and I still experience FOMO and end up buying some newer projects. Some turn out good and some bad. Some scams also come along the way as promising, and evaluating a scam is not easy. (P.S. I am not a financial advisor) 7 things to Check Before Investing in Altcoins/ Cryptocurrencies Check for a Whitepaper Check the Team (most important) Check their Twitter Check their Telegram Community Check for Tokenomics Check for Market Cap Check for Trend Charts Disclaimer : Do your research and due diligence before investing in crypto. It is risky and rewarding, but it depends when you get in, and most importantly, trust yourself more than you do others, unless you have a financial advisor a call away, which I am not, nor any YouTuber. Stage 4: Trial If you have made up your mind about a specific first or next Cryptocurrency, take a baby step and buy small. By that, I mean not more than 5% of what you make in a month. Do this for the next few months until you are sure or can invest the kind of money you are willing to invest (as in forex and stock exchanges) on your risk capacity. Yes, you can , and people with weary hearts would not make money in crypto. Also, if you are a couch person, you might not be ready to get in. lose Unlike the stock market, crypto is a 24-hour job! You might get obsessed with checking the price charts more than you open your Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok. So, start slow, and have multiple experiments to amass a lot of experience. Also, don't buy or sell what you don't believe in, and don't invest in something if you think it will help you make 2x in a day; eventually, it can. Thus our community says HODL or hold your investments, and one day they could change your life forever. , and some projects take a year or more from the TGE (token generation event) before they become famous. A well-sounded dedicated team behind a project is a tremendous first clue always. You don't lose until you sell Stage 5: Adoption Adopting, you may have become well-versed with crypto at this stage, but some around you might have stepped down early. They might be scared to invest due to a lack of information or knowledge. Almost 65% of virgin investors don't understand how to invest, resulting in a loss of opportunity. Eventually, they end up spending their savings on their wedding or hospital bills. If you are fortunate to get in now, it is still early. Let me tell you why; Bitcoin was just $1 a few years back, and several other cryptocurrencies cost less than $1 today. Who knows what time has in store for everyone. Imagine Cryptocurrency as the internet or computer of the 90s; not everyone believed in it. Netflix was founded in 1997 when the internet was a luxury to have, and data packs did not exist. Digitization is the future. We have seen one such evolution with the mass adoption of OTT platforms resulting in the quitting of regular entertainment channels post-pandemic. have played a significant role in the growing adoption of digital currency / digital assets/crypto/altcoins. They all are the same thing but exist for you to get a taste of it. Regulations However, a potential ban in some countries like India has built uncertainties around investing in crypto and brought the Investor community from diverse geographies to fight back and show the strength of unity. Crypto is now at ease in India. Several countries, including India, are still trying to bring regulations and are consulting with countries that already regulated Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Another example that has touched the hearts of many crypto believers and gives another good reason to regulate crypto is that recently, with the pandemic crisis at its peak in India, the Indian crypto community started a to help people in need of oxygen and other covid essentials. A few big names worldwide in the crypto community have come forward to donate. The best thing about crypto is crypto relief fund its transparency. The application of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency are in their infancy. Are you next in the queue to witness the future of money and technology? Disclaimer: All opinions shared in this article are that of the author and they do not count as investment advice.

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Photo by on Unsplash. Mikhail Vasilyev We all spent a year getting used to remote work; now, the big question is how do we transition back to the in-person work pattern in a new world with Covid-19? Or should we transition back at all? In a study of workers by (both pre-pandemic remote workers and workers who became remote during the pandemic), Buffer 97.6% confirmed they would like to continue working remotely at least some of the time. The two most significant benefits for these remote workers were the flexible schedule (32%) and the ability to work anywhere (25%). However, aside from the benefits, they also expressed their two biggest struggles as “not being able to unplug” and “difficulties with communication and collaboration.” was founded in April 2019. Although that was only a couple of years ago, the way people work has changed dramatically since then. Until March 2020, we operated under the same assumption that almost all of America had operated on: we’d get an office, and people would come into the office pretty much every day. Courier Since then, we’ve gone on a journey that’s ended at the destination of a hybrid-remote approach to work—and here’s how we got there. Benefits of Remote Work Generally, remote work gives employees the freedom to plan and organize their schedules to suit both their work and personal lives. It also increases the level of productivity and employee retention. A showed that 43% of workers stated their higher productivity levels came from flexible work hours. Gartner study We think of ourselves as an innovative company. But we weren't set up to work remotely, so we found ourselves scrambling to adjust to being remote. Some things were easy—our product is software, so nothing stopped our engineers from building or our customers from using our API. Other things weren't. For instance, we rebuilt our onboarding process for new users earlier this year, but virtual whiteboard sessions were noticeably slower, less productive, and less imaginative compared to how the same sessions went after coming back to the office. Over time, we made many changes to account for the remote nature of our work, and we noticed many improvements. For one, remote work increased the visibility of our communication. We shifted our communication on Slack to center around public channels instead of direct messages to increase visibility. We also simplified our meeting structure to spend less time in meetings and instead communicated information asynchronously via Google Docs or Notion docs when possible. As a result, the average efficiency of every meeting has gone up, so we've been more selective about which meetings we have and which ones we cancel. We also found ways to spend time together virtually since we couldn't hang out in person (if you haven't done a virtual escape room, we'd highly recommend it!). Remote work also helped us better acknowledge employee contributions. For example, we made copious use of a Slackbot called to celebrate our progress and recognize everyone for their achievements. HeyTaco Face-to-Face Interactions The culture at Courier had been built around collaborating face-to-face because we believe that working in the same office is more conducive to speedy execution and decision-making, and collaboration for an early-stage startup. So getting on the same page when we transitioned to working remotely was difficult and inefficient. This challenge only increased as we expanded beyond being an engineering organization and added team members in customer success and marketing. When you’re a small startup, part of your edge is the ability to organize rapidly, iterate on experiments quickly, and naturally build a strong team ethos. These become logistically challenging to create as a company grows larger. And these deficiencies can be more glaring in a remote-only setting. First, remote work has yet to replicate the kind of high-bandwidth collaboration an in-person meeting naturally creates. Sure, not all meetings need to exist, and there are a plethora of productivity tools that simulate in-person collaboration. Still, we haven’t found any of them to equal the experience of gathering around a whiteboard and physically writing out a workflow or drawing a mockup. Part of what we’ve found lacking is convenience and ease of use. The missing piece here is that non-verbal communication is effectively non-existent when working remotely and the natural spontaneity that occurs during in-person meetings is absent over Zoom. In practice, you can notice when your colleague seems a little puzzled in a face-to-face meeting, and you can ask them where they disagree or what they think. It’s easier to miss that over Zoom unless someone vocalizes their thoughts. Sometimes, people don’t want to ruin the conversation flow with a tangential idea. However, there’s an opportunity for a teammate to engage via a sidebar to the primary conversation when you’re in person so you can still explore the tangent without disturbing the broader meeting. These things seem trivial, but, particularly during the more creative parts of development, they have a significant impact. The other loss from working remotely is unplanned conversations, particularly those among members of different teams. At a company level, this blocks information flow across teams and reduces collaboration. It makes it harder to learn about how the rest of the business functions at an individual level. It’s one thing for an engineer to read a Google Doc laying out the plan for a marketing campaign after a series of planning meetings among the growth team. It’s another thing to catch the postscript of a meeting at lunch and throw some ideas out that help improve alignment between the product roadmap and growth plans. These impromptu discussions lead to a better outcome for both teams, but it also gives everyone involved some insight into their counterpart’s workflow, which they may not have gotten otherwise. Because of the unprecedented speed at which venture-backed startups are expected to execute, building context across the entire business can help you come up with ideas, prioritize your own, and provide a useful perspective on new initiatives. If you’re a younger member of the working world, in-person meetings with your colleagues are even more valuable. You’re even more and will find it more challenging to pick up business context remotely than you would by simply observing your colleagues in the office. likely to hesitate to interrupt people in Zoom to ask basic questions Lastly, in our opinion, in-person work is more conducive to building great work relationships and, ultimately, making the startup journey more fun. Of course, being in person is not a requirement for getting to know someone, and getting to know someone is not required to get work done with someone. But for people who enjoy getting to know their colleagues and feed off the energy of being in a building full of people working toward the same goal, working in a remote-only environment can be less stimulating and more taxing mentally. A Hybrid Approach Blends the Best of Both Worlds Unlike many similar organizations, we don’t intend to become a fully remote workplace. Instead, we believe the best way forward for us is to adopt a hybrid approach. A hybrid approach for Courier means we have an office, the team will generally be expected to come in one to two days a week, and planning happens on those days. The rest of the week is for working on assignments remotely. And since we’ve invested in making remote work viable for us, if we happen to be traveling, we can work remotely during our trip (or take time off, of course). For example, our VP of Growth, Nick Gottlieb spent two months working from Montana. Raymond See, our Head of Data, spent a month in Hawaii, and I frequently visited my family in New York. At Courier, we’ve continued hiring folks exclusively in the Bay Area. We’ve even had team members move here from other parts of the country because they wanted to be part of a team that meets in person every week. I moved here from New York before the pandemic, Tejas Kumthekar, an engineer, moved here earlier this year from Chicago, and Andrew Youngwerth, another engineer, just moved here from Boise, Idaho. — Micah Zayner, Sr. Growth Marketing Manager at Courier "Having the freedom to work in the office has given me the feeling of wanting to go somewhere again. Synchronized work in a safe space brings a sense of community that I look forward to each day." Consider many factors — like your organization's norms and culture — before choosing your approach to a model that works for your company. While you can learn from our model, you have many other options. Check out on how you can effectively choose a model and reimagine your post-pandemic workforce. McKinsey’s study Finally, we encourage you to be open about this with your team and start the conversation as soon as possible. That way, your company’s and won’t get anxious about what the post-pandemic work pattern will be. employees aren’t wondering Further reading: Making Hybrid Work more permanent, set some ground rules Hybrid Approach We started this hybrid approach work pattern in May 2021, and so far, we’ve seen a good turnaround in our creativity. Here are some significant achievements: Since our team has grown throughout the pandemic, we had physical meetings to brainstorm ideas, refocus our mission statement, and figure out core team values. We’ve run multiple cross-functional growth experiments and have iterated multiple times on different flows in the product (by contrast, the product development lifecycle during the pandemic was full releases with minimal design iteration involved). We’ve also had countless examples of unplanned conversations leading to great outcomes for the product and business—we decided to change our pricing when Nick overheard a conversation Troy, our CEO, and I were having. We were talking about some customer feedback around the complexity of our pricing, and he suggested we offer customers simple per-message pricing. Another instance was when Suhas, an engineer on our team, overheard a conversation Seth Carney, our CTO, and I were having on notifying customers about their billing status. He suggested that we find a way to use our own product for these kinds of notifications, which made too much sense not to do. We’ve since continued expanding our usage of our own product inspired by his offhand comment. —Chris Gradwohl, Engineer at Courier "For me, I feel like my time in the office during collaborative activities is energizing and inspiring and allows me to form meaningful in-person relationships. Yet as an engineer I also highly value distraction-free focus time, which for me is best done in my home office. This balance has made Courier a really enjoyable and energizing place to work." While some companies may never return to the office again, Courier believes taking a hybrid approach retains many advantages of a remote-only organization while adding back significant aspects of in-person working. If you’re interested in our work environment, we have some open roles on our . careers page

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\Every business is trying its best to be visible on Instagram. So far, . Furthermore, . Those figures are both exciting and scary.\The good news is that you have a chance to showcase your product or services to 500 million + active users daily. On the other side, you are competing with 200 million + businesses for attention. That is some stiff competition.\So, what can you do to cut through all that noise? In this piece, I will go through three types of content that can help your content reach more people.## 3 types of content that can help you boost your Instagram profile.* Educating posts* Engaging posts* Entertaining posts## Educating Posts Most people come on Instagram to learn new things. Why not take that advantage and teach them something new? For example, you own a bakery shop. Instead of posting your products all the time, why not teach your audience how you prepare your bread?\You can teach them your simple tricks when it comes to adding sugar. You can also teach them how to manage the heat for that perfect bread. According to the tech giant, . Make them discover your products by providing valuable content that educates them.## Engaging Posts No one loves to follow a boring account. If you are not engaging your audience through your posts, you are losing out on a lot of free traffic. Let's take the bakery as an example. You can encourage your existing followers to generate content for you. Give out coupons to whoever takes a pic while in your bakery.\Generate a unique hashtag and share it with your followers. Ask them to use it when they take photos in your bakery. Remember, . You will get free traffic to your account. Others will be curious enough to try your products because their friends are posting about them.## Entertaining Posts Your Instagram stories can be a good spot when it comes to entertaining your audience. Depending on your type of business, there are different ways you can achieve this. For example, let's go back to our bakery. You can post short videos on your stories that introduce your employees.\Also, you can share a tour of your bakery. Give your users an all-exclusive pass to some of the areas where the action is taking place. These are just examples but, there are so many ways you can entertain your audience without selling to them directly.\An Instagram study shows . People want to view your stories. Why not make it fun?## ConclusionPeople are tired of seeing ads everywhere. You see ads on tv, hear them on the radio, seeing them on billboards and other places.\The last thing a user wants is to log in on Instagram and see more ads from your business. Tone it down and try a different approach that is within your business objectives and keeps the users locked.\With the 3 E's, you will attract more traffic to your profile and increase sales. Moreover, you will create a long-lasting relationship. there are 500 million + daily active members on Instagram there are 200 million + businesses already using Instagram 70% of shopping enthusiasts turn to Instagram for product discovery User-Generated Content Has a 4.5% Higher Conversion Rate that 1/3 of the most viewed stories are from businesses

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I would like to devote this article to those people who, after learning Python, faced the usual problem - What next? Are you sure you have already learned it? I will attach a small checklist: Classes and OOP, you can immediately name 5 magic methods Functional programming possibilities Generators, iterators, and decorators Have an idea of what is in the standard library Know how to work with libraries and virtual environments Understand asynchrony and its use You understand what the GIL is, threads and processes You can name at least one interpreter besides CPython If you were able to answer all these questions yes, then congratulations you know Python. But I hate to disappoint you - you only know the language itself and there is still a lot to learn besides the programming language. Although this will already be enough to solve simple automation tasks. It is very important to understand that in order to maintain skills, you need to write code at least 3-5 days a week. Resources such as can help here, there you can pump in the knowledge of algorithms, a very important skill, but only for interviews. But there is an increasingly interesting solution - Pet projects. leetcode In them, you can implement your own ideas, write automation of any workflows, or maybe even start something big and make a startup out of it. The main thing is not to be afraid to try different projects, not to be limited only to a specific language, technology, framework. In my experience, Pet projects played an important role, I developed my version of RSA cipher from scratch using C ++ and Qt5 for the graphical interface, after which I liked Qt so much that I decided to use it to write my browser using the Python language. Python is commonly used in backend development, data science, and machine learning. From the paragraph above, you can see that Python is suitable for almost any purpose. In Backend development, you should be familiar with various web frameworks such as Django, Flask, FastApi, Aiohttp. After moving on to SQL, ORM, and do not forget about NoSQL databases, as well as various caches. You can also try yourself in a related field - DevOps. Namely, deal with docker, k8s, Linux, configuring Nginx. Also, a bonus skill will be working with CI \ CD, for example, Github Actions, Jenkins. For the most part in my work, I work with various web frameworks, so I will dwell on them in more detail. is the most famous Python framework. It has many built-in features: Django ORM, support for many DBMS (SQLite, MySQL, Postgresql), built-in templating engine, built-in admin panel, forms, and this is just the bare minimum. Django The framework is often considered overloaded, which is partly true. But if you figure out the optimization, then you can turn off part of the functionality. Very suitable for testing a prototype or releasing an MVC, also very suitable for hackathons. is a modern, fast (high performance) web framework for building APIs and HTML templates. It is very fast due to its asynchrony, it supports WebSocket, swagger, and typing out of the box. It also has a lot of additional libraries that will make the job easier. Suitable for heavy-duty projects. Fastapi is a framework for building web applications in the Python programming language using the Werkzeug toolkit as well as the Jinja2 templating engine. The main difference is that most of the features must be installed manually using the package manager. Flask Therefore Flask can be more complex than Django due to its large number of dependencies. Suitable for home projects, and rarely found in a Production environment. If you want something that works faster, but at the same time work with web development, your choice is . An excellent and in-demand language with many different libraries, but it seemed to me too much geared towards web development. The well-known Docker and K8s are written on it. You can get acquainted with the concept of channels, although I first met it in another Python interpreter - Stackless Python. Go (Golang) Also, don't forget about . JS is now the language of both sides, Backend and Frontend. This means that by studying it, you can completely create web applications, plus some frameworks, for example, React Native and the like, do not allow you to create applications on several platforms at once (Web, Android, iOS), which is also very popular and cool. JS and Node Js In general, I have little to say about data science and machine learning, since I came across them only indirectly and I can only remember a couple of libraries: . Tensorflow, scikit, and Pandas But most of all I liked the [https://github.com/ray-project/ray]. It is dedicated to distributed computing in Python and was primarily used for machine learning, now it has a serve extension that allows you to create a backend. I highly recommend that you familiarize yourself with this project, it has many different interesting features that will help improve your application. Ray project But if you are bored or disliked by Python, you can learn something else. There are many other languages, if you want something more low-level you can try C \ C ++. At the same time, look at the language without the GIL. But based on recent ratings like StackOverflow, Rust is a better choice. An interesting language, I liked the fact that the compiler “hits hands” for bad code and refuses to compile until it is written correctly. Plus it has a great package manager.Personally, I'm interested in it for its asynchronous and multithreading capabilities. Another interesting development option is hardware. One of the most popular platforms is Arduino. This platform supports several languages ​​such as micropython, C, Rust. Historically, most projects have written sketches in C. There is an online micropython editor and environment [https://micropython.org/unicorn/] where you can look at various projects and try to write something yourself. I would also like to mention boards with WiFi support, for example, esp8266. Great board, using it I was trying to make a small HTTP server. You can also make a Wifi access point, a WiFi network scanner, a small proxy server and even a server with web sockets support on it. If you can figure out how to work with it, it will be a huge leap into the world of IoT Whatever you choose, it will help you become a T-shape specialist by studying either in width or in-depth. In any case, the choice is yours.

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This story is a part of Hacker Noon's . The series is intended for tech professionals contributing the most insightful Hacker Noon stories to share more about their writing habits, ideas, and professional background (and maybe a hobby or two). Meet the Writer series of interviews If you too would like to start contributing to Hacker Noon, . you can do so here So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests. I am Shrey Jain, a Chartered Accountant, and a Crypto Enthusiast. I have been in the finance space for a significant part of my career and have worked on auditing & project finance divisions in various industry sectors. Lately, I have grown quite fond of Blockchain technologies and have taken a keen interest in writing on different applications of Blockchain. I do love reading, and you can call me a Dan Brown follower in Fiction. I also love reading Autobiographies of great personalities and learning more about their success and failures. I also love music and playing guitar is one of my favourite pass times. Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about? My was on the possible solutions to ETHs high gas fees and some altcoins that could be a game-changer in the future. latest Hackernoon story Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about? Yes, I often write about the latest developments in the Blockchain and Crypto space. Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?) Well, I usually love writing during the nighttime. Once I am back from work and have had dinner, I usually fall back to my bed with my iPad and try to give some quality time for writing. Though I won’t say, this is my routine. A lot depends on the frame of mind that I have on that particular day. If it’s good, I will probably write an article that might blow your mind. (Like the last one!) Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing? The biggest challenge that I feel is to stay updated on the developments that are always happening. In tech, there are always fresh ideas from brilliant minds that are being published every day. If you are not aware of the developments, you won’t be able to write much. What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career? Well, I would like to launch an NFT with some crazy artwork. Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice? I would say, solo trips. I love travelling alone and cannot resist it. Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it? Yes, I Do! Reading Books and Playing Guitar. What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next? Something related to On-Chain Analysis to get ahead in Crypto Markets. Thanks for taking the time to join our “Meet the writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words? Well, there is no alternative to Hard Work. Even behind Smart Work, a lot Of Hard Work has Already Been Done!

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This story is a part of Hacker Noon's . The series is intended for tech professionals contributing the most insightful Hacker Noon stories to share more about their writing habits, ideas, and professional background (and maybe a hobby or two). Meet the Writer series of interviews If you too would like to start contributing to Hacker Noon, . you can do so here So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests. I am Gimbiya Galadima, a fifth year medical student and content writer from Nigeria. Currently, I am a HackerNoon blogging fellow and I write about health, cryptocurrency and finance with the pseudonym “Juxtathinka.” I like books, music and good food. In my spare time, you are likely to catch me watching a movie or getting some zzzzs. Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about? My latest top story was a comparison between Cardano and Ethereum.  It is based on the arguments between crypto traders and my personal opinion. Check out Juxtathinka’s story Cardano vs. Ethereum: May the Best Blockchain win Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about? Yes, I took an interest in cryptocurrency and I write similar topics from time to time. Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?) I take a break after the days activities, then start writing usually in the evenings. I brainstorm for topics that readers will be interested in, then I create an outline before every word comes together. Ironically, when I am writing a story or poem(I write short stories and poems from time to time), I like to let the words flow out: then I just go with the flow. After some drafts, I do my editing before the piece comes out. Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing? I think my biggest challenge is time. As a medical student, I have a full schedule and squeezing in time to write can be difficult. What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career? I hope to become a better writer with time and establish a strong connection with my readers. Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice? Chocolate, Nigerian jollof rice, wine and cakes: I have multiple guilty pleasures Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it? Movie watching. I love watching movies, especially the classics. What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next? Hmmm…More health, finance and crypto content. I want you all to enjoy these new stories. Thanks for taking time to join our “Meet the writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words? Thank you so much for having me. I just want to thank my readers for taking out time to read my stories. Thank you so much.

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Cyber-crime is a complex landscape, but when it comes to actually launching cyber-attacks, there are three main techniques that criminals have relied on for decades to help them get around organizations’ defenses and into their networks:  phishing, credentials theft and business email compromise.  According to Verizon’s Data Breach Investigation Report, these ‘big three’ are the cause . over two-thirds (67%) of all successful data breaches globally Check Point Research recently joined forces with to analyze and take a deep dive into a large scale phishing campaign that targeted thousands of global organizations, revealing the campaign’s overall infection chain, infrastructure and how the emails were distributed. Otorio In August, attackers initiated a phishing campaign with emails that masqueraded as Xerox scan notifications, prompting users to open a malicious HTML attachment. While this infection chain may sound simple, it successfully bypassed Microsoft Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) filtering and stole over a thousand corporate employees’ credentials. Interestingly, due to a simple mistake in their attack chain, the attackers behind the phishing campaign exposed the credentials they had stolen to the public Internet, across dozens of drop-zone servers used by the attackers. With a simple Google search, anyone could have found the password to one of the compromised, stolen email addresses:  a gift to every opportunistic attacker. Infection Chain The initial attack started with one of several phishing email templates. The attacker would send an email imitating a Xerox (or Xeros) scan notification with the target’s first name or company title in the subject line. Once the victim double-clicked the attached HTML file, the default system browser displayed a blurred image with a preconfigured email within the document (see figure 1 above). Throughout the campaign several other phishing page variants were used, but the blurred background image remained the same. After the HTML file was launched, a JavaScript code would then run in the background of the document. The code was responsible for simple password checks, sending the data to the attackers’ drop-zone server, and redirecting the user to a legitimate Office 365 login page. Throughout the campaign, the code was continuously polished and refined, with the attackers creating a more realistic experience so the victims were less likely to have their suspicions aroused, and more likely to provide their login credentials. By using simple techniques, the attackers were also successful in evading detection by most Anti-Virus vendors, as can be seen from the following detection rates from the latest iteration of the campaign: Infrastructure This campaign utilized both unique infrastructure, and compromised WordPress websites that were used as drop-zone servers by the attackers. While using a specialized infrastructure, the server would run for roughly two months with dozens of XYZ domains. These registered domains were used in the Phishing attacks. We discovered dozens of compromised WordPress servers that hosted the malicious PHP page (named “go.php”, “post.php”, “gate.php”, “rent.php” or “rest.php”) and processed all incoming credentials from victims of the phishing attacks. Attackers usually prefer to use compromised servers instead of their own infrastructure because of the existing websites’ well-known reputations. The more widely recognized a reputation is, the chances are higher that the email will not be blocked by security vendors. Email Distribution Analyzing the different email headers used in this campaign allowed us to draw several conclusions regarding the Tactics Techniques & Procedures (TTPs) used by the attackers: The emails are sent from a Linux server hosted on Microsoft’s Azure The emails are often sent by using PHP Mailer 6.1.5 (latest version from Mar 19 to May 27) The emails are delivered using 1&1 email servers Attackers used compromised email accounts to distribute spam through high-reputation phishing campaigns because the emails are harder to block. In one specific campaign, we found a phishing page impersonating IONOS by 1&1, a German web hosting company. It is highly likely that the compromised IONOS account credentials were used by the attackers to send the rest of the Office 365 themed spam. Targeted Organizations We found that once the users’ information was sent to the drop-zone servers, the data was saved in a publicly visible file that was indexable by Google. This allowed anyone access to the stolen email address credentials with a simple Google search. The public availability of this data allowed us to create a breakdown of the victims according to their industry (based on a subset of ~500 stolen credentials). Although there was a wide distribution of targeted industries, there appears to be a special interest in Energy and Construction companies. Previous Campaigns We found several correlations to previous phishing activity by comparing the campaign’s TTPs. Due to the similarities, these activities were likely executed by the same attacker or group of attackers. We discovered a phishing email from May 2020 that perfectly matched the TTP’s described above. It also used the same JavaScript encoding that was used by this campaign in August. In this older scenario, the script redirected the user to another variant of an Office 365 phishing page that was not entirely encoded within the initial HTML file. Google search engine algorithm naturally indexes the internet, and that is what makes it the most popular search engine ever invented. Thanks to its powerful algorithm, it also capable of indexing the hackers pages where they temporarily store the stolen credentials. We informed Google for them indexing the hackers’ failures and victims now can use Google search capabilities to look for their stolen credentials and change their passwords accordingly. The suspended the associated .xyz domains immediately upon receiving this information from Check Point and confirming the abuse. XYZ Registry’s Anti-Abuse Team Conclusion Our analysis of this campaign highlights the efforts that attackers will make to conceal their malicious intentions, bypass security filtering and trick users. To protect yourself against this type of attack, be suspicious of any email or communication from a familiar brand or organization that asks you to click on a link or open an attached document. Here are some practical tips to help keep your data safe: Beware of lookalike domains, spelling errors in emails or websites, and unfamiliar email senders. Be cautious with files received via email from unknown senders, especially if they prompt for a certain action you would not usually do. Ensure you are ordering goods from an authentic source. One way to do this is to NOT click on promotional links in emails, and instead, Google your desired retailer and click the link from the Google results page. Beware of “special” offers that don’t appear to be reliable or trustworthy purchase opportunities. Make sure you do not reuse passwords between different applications and accounts. Organizations should prevent zero-day attacks with an end-to-end cyber architecture, to block deceptive phishing sites and provide alerts on password reuse in real time. Check Point Infinity is effective because it combines two key ingredients: full convergence across all attack surfaces and all attack vectors, and advanced prevention that can tackle the most sophisticated zero-day phishing and account takeover attacks. Indicators of Compromise C&C domains registered by the attacker aauths[.]xyz asklogzswq[.]xyz bdqopt[.]xyz drakovexlogz[.]xyz hrekre[.]xyz ionlineforyou[.]xyz itsthebestasajob[.]xyz khetwexw[.]xyz livestrde28[.]xyz loggsofice[.]xyz manonwork[.]xyz officeautonow[.]xyz officednslogsonline[.]xyz quantityscape[.]xyz redirectitto[.]xyz rhbreeef[.]xyz sendlivofse[.]xyz shlivemicrosft[.]xyz synchoilas[.]xyz urentr[.]xyz vintageredwe[.]xyz wegoforyou[.]xyz weworkhard[.]xyz workingoni[.]xyz zixzanwe[.]xyz mtietw[.]xyz justgoturwork[.]xyz froffisse[.]xyz Recent C&C pages on compromised servers http://corp.uber24[.]ru/php/go.php https://aparthotelgeres[.]pt/wp-content/plugins/1/post.php https://expendiatus[.]xyz/post.php https://ifultech[.]com/1/post.php https://www.aascarrierinc[.]com/wp-includes/SimplePie/Decode/HTML/rest.php https://silverstream-london[.]com/1/post.php https://actorsstudio.com[.]np/wp-admin/includes/1/post.php http://365itsos.com[.]au/wp-admin/includes/rent.php https://www.skyblue-network[.]com/wp-includes/images/go.php https://www.kayakingfloridakeys[.]com/wp-admin/rent.php https://easimedic[.]com/1/post.php https://www.aascarrierinc[.]com/wp-includes/SimplePie/Decode/HTML/rest.php HTML Phishing pages SHA-1: e76eb571068c195444d0e23cbdc35fba19a95e0c 9fc656e03703994d5f144457d020db5b06469abc 79d4464c7325feb38a02726b049d6cce3d747627 44c05f4b2bb0787a9c2fcf7c36e1dab457fbe370 c1ec15c712c29dcac08660fddb0da71e94b3d04a 4933bd2fa4c9a3ea30ac479a738ebcdfb488044f d098f6473f2f6bfd8e3f2f14dd56adc969e76725 a8e817fa63fe2c5bf0273f63f2267b61ce89de72 37713a64ffd1b126f8a4809e94faf9cd72538974 53c4ccab781d93eb04ff5bcfc01321c11958816c 4f309c3a8d754a3fcdfed611e4f101e6b690ddd5 cccf673f3c9c02f5f9a21346cdc91f78d94c92b3 2ac423a86d94d82cc0ecc3c508aa7a90c27a4b9c

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Dozens of advertisers instructed the company to not show their ads to people of “unknown” gender, meaning people who had not identified themselves as male or female By Jeremy B. Merrill Google’s advertising system allowed employers or landlords to discriminate against nonbinary and some transgender people, The Markup found. Companies trying to run ads on YouTube or elsewhere on the web could direct Google not to show those ads to people of “unknown gender”—meaning people who have not identified themselves to Google as “male” or “female.” After being alerted to this by The Markup, Google pledged to crack down on the practice. “We will be implementing an update to our policy and enforcement in the coming weeks to restrict advertisers from targeting or excluding users on the basis of the ‘gender unknown’ category,” Elijah Lawal, a spokesperson for Google said. Google’s forbid ads targeting or excluding male or female people from jobs, housing, or financial products, in order to comply with federal anti-discrimination laws. But until The Markup alerted Google, the company gave advertisers the option of keeping their ads from being shown to people of “unknown gender”—effectively allowing employers and landlords to either inadvertently or purposefully discriminate against people who identify as nonbinary, transgender, or anything other than male or female. policies The Markup found two such job ads on YouTube, which is owned by Google—one for jobs at FedEx and the other for Dewey Pest Control, a California-based chain. In both cases, Google’s ad targeting explanations, collected by New York University’s Ad Observer, indicated that the employer had targeted the ad based on gender but that the data did not specify which gender was targeted. In those cases, Lawal said, the advertiser had chosen to exclude people of unknown gender from seeing the ads. Upon further review, Lawal said, the company “identified approximately 100 advertisers out of many thousands” who had done the same for housing, credit, or job ads. advertisers, “out of many thousands,” that Google identified as having chosen to exclude people of unknown gender from housing, credit, or job ads. ~100 A FedEx spokesperson, Shannon Davis, said FedEx declined to comment “on our specific marketing or recruiting processes.” Dewey Pest Control didn’t respond to a request for comment. It’s not clear if the advertisers meant to prevent nonbinary people or those identifying as transgender from finding out about job openings. That would be “completely unethical and I think dangerous to society as a whole,” said Joseph Turow, a professor of communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Lawal said that Google’s existing written policies forbid excluding people on the basis of transgender or gender nonconforming identity, for any ad. But he acknowledged that the “unknown gender” checkbox had effectively allowed advertisers to discriminate by gender despite Google’s policies against that. “This is why we are working swiftly to implement a change,” he said. While federal law prohibits discrimination by gender or race in advertising for employment and housing, there’s little in the way of case law about whether restrictive online ad targeting qualifies as discrimination. Nor is there any case law about excluding trans or nonbinary people from such ads, said Pauline Kim, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. If a company’s intention was to exclude nonbinary or gender nonconforming people, Kim said, “you could possibly argue … that it is a form of sex discrimination” under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, according to a , covers discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation as well. recent Supreme Court decision The of employment discrimination against nonbinary and transgender people is grim. What makes advertising discrimination different is that, “you don’t even know what you don’t see,” said Kendra Albert, a technology law instructor at Harvard Law School who studies technology, law, and gender. prevalence Beyond gender, the primary categories Google offers for targeting ads to some people and not others—what it calls “personalized advertising”—are age, household income, and parental status. For ads for job opportunities, housing, and credit, Google’s rules say advertisers shouldn’t use these categories. The boxes start prechecked, meaning that in the default mode, gender isn’t taken into account in determining who will be shown the ad, but advertisers can uncheck them, effectively excluding certain categories of people from seeing their ads. That’s allowed for most ads, but Google uses other mechanisms—”internal processes” that Lawal declined to explain—to block job, housing, and credit ads that exclude people by gender, age, household income, and parental status. Meanwhile, someone signing up for Google or editing their account settings has four options for reporting their gender: “male,” “female,” “rather not say,” and an option to set a custom gender in a text box. Lawal said that the “unknown category is intended to refer to individuals where we have been unable to determine or infer the user’s gender and is not intended to allow for targeting or exclusion of users based on gender identity,” but said that people who choose not to identify their gender or write in a “custom” gender also fall into this category. Google does offer a way for users to see how they’re categorized for ads, on an ads preferences page. Google’s options for users amount to putting “a rainbow-colored Band-Aid” on “systems that were not really designed to include nonbinary people,” said Albert. “Really the question they should be asking is which gender are you, and which of these gender categories would you like us to serve you ads for,” and explaining how the ads system uses gender, Albert said. Allegations of race and sex discrimination have d Several years ago, civil rights groups sued Facebook for allowing discrimination in ads for jobs, housing, and credit; Facebook settled the suit and agreed to take those options away. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) filed a lawsuit against Facebook too. Last year, HUD that it had “worked with Google to improve Google’s online advertising policies to better align them with requirements of the Fair Housing Act.” After those interactions with HUD, Google job, housing, and credit advertisers from excluding either men or women from their ads, along with similar rules for age and other protected groups. ogged online ad platforms for years. announced banned While ads for jobs, housing, and financial products fall under special protections, it’s perfectly legal—and very common—to target other kinds of ads to one segment of the population, by age, gender, or other categories. Those categories are what digital advertisers want, Turow said, so they’re built into the heart of online ads systems. “The nirvana of advertising in 1994 has turned out to be a big mess in 2021,” he said. Originally published as " " with the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license Google Has Been Allowing Advertisers to Exclude Nonbinary People from Seeing Job Ads

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HackerNoon Tech Stories Archive September 18th, 2021

@michaelkwokMichael Kwok

@agencycecilPortia Burton

@tekponCogneve Inc

@api3API3

@borysenkoAlex Borysenko

@ChrisChinchillaChris Chinchilla

@z3nch4nZen Chan

@christinechenChristine Chen

@akshata26Akshata

@kavishkafernandoKavishka Fernando

@webwalkerrztargetedwebtraffic.com

@parasbabbarParas Babbar

@courierCourier

@khamisihamisiKhamisi Hamisi

@exactorMaksim Kuznetsov

@shreyjainshreyjain

@VitalikVitalik Buterin

@juxtathinkaJuxtathinka

@checkpointCheck Point Software

@TheMarkupThe Markup

@michaelkwok
Michael Kwok

@agencycecil
Portia Burton

@tekpon
Cogneve Inc

@api3
API3

@borysenko
Alex Borysenko

@ChrisChinchilla
Chris Chinchilla

@z3nch4n
Zen Chan

@christinechen
Christine Chen

@akshata26
Akshata

@kavishkafernando
Kavishka Fernando

@webwalkerrz
targetedwebtraffic.com

@parasbabbar
Paras Babbar

@courier
Courier

@khamisihamisi
Khamisi Hamisi

@exactor
Maksim Kuznetsov

@shreyjain
shreyjain

@Vitalik
Vitalik Buterin

@juxtathinka
Juxtathinka

@checkpoint
Check Point Software

@TheMarkup
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