GoGlocalis in the E-Commerce Enablers Industry

GoGlocal

goglocal

This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: (1) Pietro Ghezzi, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (2) Peter G Bannister, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, UK; (3) Gonzalo Casino, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain and Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain; (4) Alessia Catalani, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (5) Michel Goldman, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (6) Jessica Morley, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; (7) Marie Neunez, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles; (8) Andreu Prados, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain, Iberoamerican Cochrane Center, Barcelona, Spain, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h), Université libre de Bruxelles, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, and Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain; (9) Mariarosaria Taddeo, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK; (10) Tania Vanzolini, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, PU, Italy; (11) Luciano Floridi, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Methods Web search and content analysis Results Discussion Conclusion and References Table 1. Example of classification of webpages Table 2. Percentage of vaccine-negative webpages in different SERPs Web search and content analysis Searches in English were done from Falmer, Sussex, United Kingdom; in Italian from Urbino, Italy; in French from Bruxelles, Belgium; in Spanish from Barcelona, Spain. Each search was done using a logged-out Chrome browser cleared of cookies and previous search history so that the only identification was the IP address and its geolocalization. Additionally, when available, the local version of each search engine was used (e.g. Google.co.uk and Google.it). For searching Google.com, automatic redirection to google.co.uk was avoided by using the URL Google.com/ncr (no-country-redirect). The first 30 URL results from each search engine result page (SERP), excluding those marked as advertisements, and were transferred to a spreadsheet. When a duplicate URL was encountered, it was excluded. Websites were then visited and the content of each page was coded as vaccine-positive, negative or neutral, depending on the stance taken on the connection between vaccines and autism. Webpages recommending vaccination and/or negating the link with autism were coded as “vaccine-positive”. Those promoting vaccine hesitancy, cautioning about the risk of autism or openly anti-vaccine, were coded as “vaccine-negative”. Additionally, webpages that claimed further studies needed to be conducted to clarify the link between vaccines and autism were also coded as “vaccine-negative”, as previous research by {Browne, 2015 #421} has shown that users perceive this as confirmation of the fact that vaccine safety has not been proven. Webpages simply reporting the history of the anti-vaccine movement or a related legal debate were coded as “vaccine-neutral”. Examples of positive, negative and neutral webpages are provided in Table 1. Coding was completed by two raters for each language and inter-rater agreement was calculated with GraphPad, which uses equations 18.16 to 18.20 from Fleiss 19. On a sample of 59 webpages in English, agreement was 85%, with a Kappa of 0.669 (standard error, 0.077) and a 95% confidence interval from 0.518 to 0.820, a strength of agreement is considered to be 'good' 19. In Italian, agreement was 90%, with a Kappa of 0.818 (standard error, 0.067) and a 95% confidence interval from 0.687 to 0.950, a strength of agreement is considered to be 'very good'. In Spanish, agreement was 83%, with a Kappa of 0.609 (standard error, 0.098) and a 95% confidence interval from 0.418 to 0.801, a strength of agreement is considered to be 'very good'. In French, agreement was 89% with a Kappa of 0.746 (standard error, 0.091) and a 95% confidence interval from 0.568 to 0.924. When frequencies of vaccine-negative webpages was compared across different search engines, we used a two-tailed Fisher’s test corrected for multiple comparison using the method of Benjamini, Krieger and Yekutieli and a false discovery rate (FDR) of 5%.

Online Information of Vaccines: Web Search and Content Analysis

Our users wanted to store app preferences so that every time they use , they can start with the same settings applied. engyne.ai In our case, it was these 3 settings: Author, Publish Status, and Sorting Order. Ideally, once you select these, they should be selected permanently, even if you navigate away or log out. To do this, we decided to build a custom hook that would load and store user preferences from local storage. Since the user can have multiple projects, the preferences should be saved per project. Setting up the Local Storage The name of the key would be: . The subdomain is the project name. For example - engyne-user-prefs-{{subdomain}} engyne-user-prefs-hackernoon. This way, each key would have its own . This type represents the settings that will be stored. UserPrefsType export type UserPrefsType = {
  sortType: string,
  publishingStatusFilter: string,
  authorFilter: string,
} Creating the React Hook Now that we know the key/value to store in the local storage, here’s how we create the React hook called to both save and get value from the local storage. useUserPrefs Note that you can only store strings in the local storage, so all JSON has to be stringified when saving and parsed when retrieving. We also specify a default value in case the project to get the user prefs is not specified. //hooks/useUserPrefs.ts

import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
import { PostPublishStatus, PostSortType } from "/types";

export type UserPrefsType = {
  sortType: string,
  publishingStatusFilter: string,
  authorFilter: string,
}

const defaultUserPrefs: UserPrefsType = {
  sortType: PostSortType.NEWEST,
  publishingStatusFilter: PostPublishStatus.ALL,
  authorFilter: "",
}

const getLocalStorage = (key: string): UserPrefsType => {
  let currentValue;
  try {
    currentValue = JSON.parse(
      localStorage.getItem(key) || JSON.stringify(defaultUserPrefs)
    );
  } catch (error) {
    return defaultUserPrefs;
  }

  return currentValue;
}

const useUserPrefs = (subdomain: string) => {
  const key = `engyne-user-prefs-${subdomain}`

  const [value, setValue] = useState<UserPrefsType>(() => {
    if (!subdomain) return defaultUserPrefs;
    return getLocalStorage(key)
  });

  useEffect(() => {
    if (!subdomain) return;
    const currentValue = getLocalStorage(key);
    setValue(currentValue);
  }, [subdomain])

  useEffect(() => {
    if (!subdomain || !value) return;
    localStorage.setItem(key, JSON.stringify(value))
  }, [value])

  const updateUserPrefs = (userPref: Partial<UserPrefsType>) => {
    if (!subdomain) return;
    const currentValue = getLocalStorage(key);
    const updatedUserPrefs = { ...currentValue, ...userPref }
    setValue(updatedUserPrefs);
  }

  return { userPrefs: value, updateUserPrefs };
};

export default useUserPrefs; Use the Hook in the Application Now, we can import this hook into the application and get the saved author value from the local storage. First, we set up the hook to get the specified project’s user prefs, then we set the author value using the . userPrefs.authorFilter The is used whenever the user selects a different author name. updateUserPrefs import {
  Select,
} from "@chakra-ui/react";

const subdomain = "hackernoon"

const { userPrefs, updateUserPrefs } = useUserPrefs(subdomain)
const authorsData = ["Author 1", "Author 2"]

// in component

<Select size="md" color="gray.600" width="unset" variant="unstyled" placeholder="Select author" onChange={(evt) => {
                  updateUserPrefs({ authorFilter: evt.target.value })
                }} value={userPrefs.authorFilter}>
                  {authorsData.map((author: any, i: number) => (
                    <option key={`author_${i}`} value={author.id}>
                      {author.name}
                    </option>
                  ))}
                </Select> This is what the saved user prefs look like in local storage.

How We Store User Prefs in Local Storage Using Hooks in Next.js

Even with the multitude of libraries available today, it can sometimes be challenging to find one that offers the specific functionality needed for a particular task. Instead of spending time searching for the perfect library, I recommend crafting your own implementation; even if it's tailored specifically for one project. Once, I found myself in need of a library that could easily convert data classes into an Excel document for report generation. When I couldn't locate a suitable library, I decided to develop functionality tailored to my specific needs. My ambition was to design a library akin to Jackson, which would use annotations to transform a list of data classes into an Excel document as dictated by the annotations. I want to share the library I created, hoping it may benefit others or inspire them to create their own mapper for their unique tasks. Let's explore how to develop in Java such a data mapper to achieve this: from this: void demoReport() {
    var excelMapper = new ExcelMapperImpl();

    var fileName = "demo-out-" + LocalTime.now() + ".xlsx";
    List<Demo> demos = generateDemos();

    try (Workbook workbook = excelMapper.createWorkbookFromObject(demos);
         var fileOutputStream = new FileOutputStream(fileName)) {
        workbook.write(fileOutputStream);
    }
} Defining Annotations Let's identify the main elements essential for Excel mapping. At its core, we require an Excel column. This foundational component of the report should distinctly showcase the column name and the corresponding value in each row. Moreover, we must incorporate support for formula cells, allowing us to utilize values and present the results dynamically. At the column's end, a concluding formula is essential, whether it represents an average, sum, or any other pertinent metric for the end-user. Beyond mere data cells, we should also integrate features to easily manage cell styling. After identifying the essential elements, the next step is to craft the necessary annotations. The initial annotation will embed metadata about cell styling. This annotation will encompass fundamental attributes along with their default values: @Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
public @interface ColumnExcelStyle {
    ExcelColumnDataFormat cellTypePattern() default ExcelColumnDataFormat.NONE;
    IndexedColors cellColor() default IndexedColors.AUTOMATIC;

    boolean isWrapText() default false;

    boolean isCentreAlignment() default false;

    boolean isFramed() default true;

    ExcelColumnFont fontName() default ExcelColumnFont.DEFAULT;

    short fontSize() default -1;

    boolean isFontBold() default false;

    ExcelColumnCellTextColor fontColor() default ExcelColumnCellTextColor.AUTOMATIC;
} The primary style elements crucial for report creation are conveyed as attributes. Following this, the initiation of an Excel column annotation can be undertaken: @Target({ElementType.FIELD})
@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
public @interface ColumnExcel {
    String[] applyNames() default {};

    int position();

    ColumnExcelStyle headerStyle() default @ColumnExcelStyle(
            fontColor = ExcelColumnCellTextColor.BLACK,
            isCentreAlignment = true,
            isFontBold = true,
            fontSize = 14,
            isWrapText = true);

    ColumnExcelStyle cellStyle() default @ColumnExcelStyle;
} This annotation encompasses potential column names (for mapping from Excel) and a mandatory field - ' '. This will determine the column's placement and be instrumental in formula calculations. Additionally, it will detail the style of both the header and the cell. position Excellent. Now, let's formulate an annotation specific to Excel formulas. Anticipating a dynamic formula contingent on the row's position, this annotation will be exclusive to methods: @Target({ElementType.METHOD})
@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
public @interface ColumnExcelFormula {
    String name() default "";

    int position();

    ColumnExcelStyle headerStyle() default @ColumnExcelStyle(
            fontColor = ExcelColumnCellTextColor.BLACK,
            isCentreAlignment = true,
            isFontBold = true,
            fontSize = 14,
            isWrapText = true);

    ColumnExcelStyle cellStyle() default @ColumnExcelStyle;
} Lastly, let’s introduce an annotation for the culminating formula, which typically occupies the final row in Excel, summarizing or illustrating the cumulative result for a column. Given that the formula's annotation also mandates its applicability solely to methods: @Target({ElementType.METHOD})
@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
public @interface ColumnExcelTotalFormula {
    boolean useValue() default false;

    int position();

    ColumnExcelStyle cellStyle() default @ColumnExcelStyle;
} Building an Excel Reporting Service With Apache POI After the creation of all necessary annotations, crafting a service class becomes the next step. The core library utilized will be , effective for working with .xls and .xlsx files. This class will use annotations’ attributes to generate an Excel report. Apache POI The primary method accepts a list of objects as input and returns a prepared workbook. For added flexibility, an overloaded method will be introduced to enable the specification of both the file name and the sheet name for report generation: <T> Workbook createWorkbookFromObject(List<T> reportObjects) {
    return createWorkbookFromObject(reportObjects, 0, "Report");
}

<T> Workbook createWorkbookFromObject(List<T> reportObjects, 
                                      int startRowNumber, 
                                      String sheetName) {
...
} To extract information about the class using reflection, any element from the array is selected. After accessing the class details, the first row can be established. Utilizing data from the annotation allows for the creation of cells with their respective names. If a name is absent, the class field's name can serve as an alternative: private <T> void createHeaderFromDeclaredExcelColumns(Row row, Class<T> clazz, PropertyDescriptor propertyDescriptor) {
    try {
        Field field = clazz.getDeclaredField(propertyDescriptor.getName());

        ColumnExcel columnExcel = field.getDeclaredAnnotation(ColumnExcel.class);
        if (nonNull(columnExcel)) {
            String headerName = columnExcel.applyNames().length > 0 ? columnExcel.applyNames()[0] : field.getName();
            createHeader(row, columnExcel.position(), headerName, columnExcel.headerStyle());
        }
    } catch (NoSuchFieldException e) {
        log.debug(e.getLocalizedMessage());
    }
} When fashioning the header, remember to assign a style to every cell. Style parameters can be derived from the annotation: @ColumnExcelStyle private void createHeader(Row row, int position, String name, ColumnExcelStyle columnExcelStyle) {
    Cell cell = row.createCell(position);
    cell.setCellValue(name);

    setCellFormatting(cell, columnExcelStyle);
    row.getSheet().autoSizeColumn(cell.getColumnIndex());
} The process then turns to generating rows in the report based on data from the provided array. By iterating over the data, successive rows are formed: for (T report : reportObjects) {
    Row bodyRow = sheet.createRow(proceedRowNumber);
    createCellsFromDeclaredExcelColumns(bodyRow, report);
    proceedRowNumber++;
} Property descriptors are procured to utilize getters instead of granting direct access to fields: private <T> void createCellsFromDeclaredExcelColumns(Row row, T tObject) {
    try {
        PropertyDescriptor[] propertyDescriptors = Introspector.getBeanInfo(tObject.getClass()).getPropertyDescriptors();

        for (var propertyDescriptor : propertyDescriptors) {
            createCellFromDeclaredExcelColumns(row, tObject, propertyDescriptor);
        }
    } catch (IntrospectionException ex) {
        log.debug(ex.getLocalizedMessage());
    }
} With the property descriptor, a cell is formed: private <T> void createCellFromDeclaredExcelColumns(Row row, T tObject, PropertyDescriptor propertyDescriptor) {
    try {
        Field field = tObject.getClass().getDeclaredField(propertyDescriptor.getName());
        Method readMethod = propertyDescriptor.getReadMethod();

        ColumnExcel columnExcel = field.getDeclaredAnnotation(ColumnExcel.class);
        if (nonNull(columnExcel)) {
            Class<?> returnType = readMethod.getReturnType();
            Cell cell = row.createCell(columnExcel.position());

            Object invokeResult = readMethod.invoke(tObject);
            if (nonNull(invokeResult)) {
                defineAndAssignCellValue(returnType, cell, invokeResult, readMethod);
            }
            setCellFormatting(cell, columnExcel.cellStyle());
        }
    } catch (NoSuchFieldException | InvocationTargetException | IllegalAccessException e) {
        log.debug(e.getLocalizedMessage());
    }
} Next, let’s turn our attention to processing the annotations. Crafting formulas proves slightly more complex than simply extracting a value from a field. A method is expected to generate a formula, which is subsequently assigned to the cell. @ColumnExcelFormula The method should consistently return a string and accept the row number as an argument, ensuring accurate data usage from adjacent cells. Thus, it falls on the handler to verify these conditions are met before forming the cell with the specified formula: private <T> void createCellFromDeclaredExcelFormula(Row row, T tObject, Method readMethod) throws IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException {
    ColumnExcelFormula columnExcelFormula = readMethod.getDeclaredAnnotation(ColumnExcelFormula.class);
    if (columnExcelFormula != null) {
        Class<?> returnType = readMethod.getReturnType();
        Cell cell = row.createCell(columnExcelFormula.position());

        if (returnType.isAssignableFrom(String.class)) {
            cell.setCellFormula((String) readMethod.invoke(tObject, row.getRowNum()));
        } else {
            log.debug(" Return type for the method: " + readMethod.getName() + " with @ColumnExcelFormula annotation has to be String " +
                    "and now it's: " + returnType.getName() + " method is ignored for the reason");
        }
        setCellFormatting(cell, columnExcelFormula.cellStyle());
    }
} The final step involves creating a row to display the concluding results. Importantly, this row should be generated only once, irrespective of the number of objects relayed to the handler. An annotation in a static method is anticipated for this purpose. This method receives both the number of the initial row and the current row where the cell will be instantiated as arguments. Provision of the initial row's number is vital, enabling the method to devise a formula that leverages the aggregate result for the entire column: private <T> void createTotalFormula(Class<T> tClazz, Row row, int firstRowNum) {
    Method[] methods = tClazz.getDeclaredMethods();
    for (Method method : methods) {
        ColumnExcelTotalFormula columnExcelTotalFormula = method.getAnnotation(ColumnExcelTotalFormula.class);
        if (columnExcelTotalFormula != null
                && method.getReturnType().isAssignableFrom(String.class)
                && method.getParameters().length == 2
                && Modifier.isStatic(method.getModifiers())
                && !Modifier.isPrivate(method.getModifiers())
        ) {
            String cellFormula = (String) method.invoke(tClazz, firstRowNum, row.getRowNum());
            Cell cell = row.createCell(columnExcelTotalFormula.position());
            cell.setCellFormula(cellFormula);

            if (columnExcelTotalFormula.useValue()) {
                cell = applyFormulasValue(cell);
            }
            setCellFormatting(cell, columnExcelTotalFormula.cellStyle());
        }
    }
} Making a Report The main functionality is now in place, and it's time to see it in action. Let's construct a simple report to demonstrate its operation. For this, let’s create a ' ' class and incorporate all the necessary annotations: Sales @Data
@Accessors(chain = true)
public class Sales {

    @ColumnExcel(
            position = 0, applyNames = {"Date"},
            headerStyle = @ColumnExcelStyle(
                              fontColor = WHITE, 
                              cellColor = DARK_BLUE, 
                              isCentreAlignment = true),
            cellStyle = @ColumnExcelStyle(
                            cellColor = GREY_25_PERCENT, 
                            cellTypePattern = DATE))
    private LocalDate date;

    @ColumnExcel(
            position = 1, applyNames = {"Sold"},
            headerStyle = @ColumnExcelStyle(
                            fontColor = WHITE, 
                            cellColor = DARK_BLUE, 
                            isCentreAlignment = true),
            cellStyle = @ColumnExcelStyle(
                          cellColor = GREY_25_PERCENT))
    private Integer sold;

    @ColumnExcel(
            position = 2, 
            applyNames = {"Price Per Unit (USD)"},
            headerStyle = @ColumnExcelStyle(
                            fontColor = WHITE, 
                            cellColor = DARK_BLUE, 
                            isCentreAlignment = true),
            cellStyle = @ColumnExcelStyle(
                          cellColor = GREY_25_PERCENT, 
                          cellTypePattern = USD))
    private Double pricePerUnit;

    @ColumnExcelFormula(
            position = 3, 
            name = "Total Sales (USD)",
            headerStyle = @ColumnExcelStyle(
                             fontColor = WHITE, 
                             cellColor = DARK_BLUE, 
                             isCentreAlignment = true),
            cellStyle = @ColumnExcelStyle(
                            cellColor = GREY_25_PERCENT, 
                            cellTypePattern = USD))
    public String sales(int rowNum) {
        return new CellAddress(rowNum, 1).formatAsString()
                + "*"
                + new CellAddress(rowNum, 2).formatAsString();
    }

    @ColumnExcelTotalFormula(
            position = 0,
            cellStyle = @ColumnExcelStyle(
                           cellColor = LIGHT_BLUE))
    public static String total(int firstRowNum, int lastRowNum) {
        return "CONCATENATE(\"Total\")";
    }

    @ColumnExcelTotalFormula(
            position = 1,
            cellStyle = @ColumnExcelStyle(
                          cellColor = LIGHT_BLUE))
    public static String unitsSold(int firstRowNum, int lastRowNum) {
        return "SUM(" + new CellAddress(firstRowNum, 1).formatAsString() + ":"
                + new CellAddress(lastRowNum - 1, 1).formatAsString() + ")";
    }


    @ColumnExcelTotalFormula(
            position = 3,
            cellStyle = @ColumnExcelStyle(
                          isCentreAlignment = false, 
                          cellColor = LIGHT_BLUE, 
                          cellTypePattern = USD))
    public static String totalSales(int firstRowNum, int lastRowNum) {
        return "SUM(" + new CellAddress(firstRowNum, 3).formatAsString() + ":"
                + new CellAddress(lastRowNum - 1, 3).formatAsString() + ")";
    }
} The class comprises three fields: , , and . Additionally, it has a sales formula and a concluding line with the totals: and . The fields utilize the annotation, denoting the column's position and name. date sold pricePerUnit unitsSold totalSales @ColumnExcel The annotation defines the style for both the header and individual data cells: @ColumnExcelStyle @ColumnExcel(
        position = 0, 
        applyNames = {"Date"},
        headerStyle = @ColumnExcelStyle(
                          fontColor = WHITE, 
                          cellColor = DARK_BLUE, 
                          isCentreAlignment = true),
        cellStyle = @ColumnExcelStyle(
                          cellColor = GREY_25_PERCENT, 
                          cellTypePattern = DATE)
) As previously discussed, when creating a formula, the method must accept a parameter indicating the row number. This requirement is evident in the method's signature: public String sales(int rowNum) {
        return new CellAddress(rowNum, 1).formatAsString()
                + "*"
                + new CellAddress(rowNum, 2).formatAsString();
    } Given the row number and column indices, crafting any specific formula becomes feasible. Within the class, methods intended for the concluding formulas are static and require two parameters: the starting row's number and the ending row's number: public static String unitsSold(int firstRowNum, int lastRowNum) {
        return "SUM(" + 
                new CellAddress(firstRowNum, 1).formatAsString() + 
                ":" + 
                new CellAddress(lastRowNum - 1, 1).formatAsString() + 
                ")";
    } Now, let's launch the method: void salesReport() {
    var excelMapper = new ExcelMapperImpl();

    var fileName = "sales-out-" + LocalTime.now() + ".xlsx";
    List<Sales> sales = List.of(
                new Sales().setDate(LocalDate.of(2023, 1, 1))
                        .setSold(50)
                        .setPricePerUnit(10d),
                new Sales().setDate(LocalDate.of(2023, 1, 2))
                        .setSold(40)
                        .setPricePerUnit(11d),
                new Sales().setDate(LocalDate.of(2023, 1, 3))
                        .setSold(55)
                        .setPricePerUnit(9d);

    try (Workbook workbook = excelMapper.createWorkbookFromObject(sales);
         var fileOutputStream = new FileOutputStream(fileName)) {
        workbook.write(fileOutputStream);
    }
} And examine the generated report: Conclusion Writing a specialized library for a specific task proved to be straightforward. The library crafted meets the requirements and includes the planned functionality. The approach utilizing annotations facilitates quick and convenient customization of cell styles, modification of formulas, and dynamic report creation from varied data sources. Hence, the next time a suitable library is elusive, considering the development of a personalized one might be beneficial. Naturally, presenting every line of code in this article was not feasible; thus, only the primary methods essential to the mapper's operation were highlighted. The complete code is available on my . GitHub page

From Data Classes to Excel: Building a Java Mapper With Annotations

ডেটা ক্লাস থেকে এক্সেল পর্যন্ত: টীকা সহ একটি জাভা ম্যাপার তৈরি করা

Von Datenklassen bis Excel: Erstellen eines Java-Mappers mit Anmerkungen

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데이터 클래스에서 Excel까지: 주석을 사용하여 Java 매퍼 구축

Das classes de dados ao Excel: construindo um mapeador Java com anotações

От классов данных к Excel: создание Java Mapper с аннотациями

Veri Sınıflarından Excel'e: Ek Açıklamalarla Java Eşleyici Oluşturma

Từ các lớp dữ liệu đến Excel: Xây dựng trình ánh xạ Java bằng chú thích

从数据类到 Excel：使用注释构建 Java 映射器

In the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats, ransomware has proven to be one of the most notorious and damaging forms of attack. Among the various ransomware variants, RagnarLocker has garnered significant attention for its sophisticated tactics and impact on critical infrastructure sectors. In this blog post, we delve into the world of RagnarLocker ransomware, exploring its indicators of compromise (IOCs), technical intricacies, and the havoc it wreaks on targeted systems. 💥🔓 Ransomware Strikes Israeli Hospital: Ragnar_Locker Takes Responsibility 🏥 In a chilling turn of events, RagnarLocker’s menace struck closer to home as it targeted Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak, Israel a few days ago. The ransomware attack wreaked havoc on the hospital’s administrative computer systems. The aftermath was devastating — medical treatments were disrupted, and the emergency room was compelled to redirect patients to other hospitals for urgent care. Emerging from the chaos, Ragnar_Locker took responsibility for this audacious attack. However, I’ve made a detailed investigation that yielded no signs of any leaked data or information on the group’s Onion site or Telegram group. This marks an unusual departure from the norm, where cybercriminals often flaunt their exploits on such platforms. This incident serves as a grim reminder of the vulnerabilities lurking in critical infrastructure sectors, with healthcare being no exception. It underscores the pressing need for fortified cybersecurity measures to shield essential services from such malicious onslaughts. As the investigation into this unsettling event progresses, the global cybersecurity community will undoubtedly be closely monitoring further developments. 🌐🔒🦠 The Emergence of RagnarLocker 🌄💻 The first traces of RagnarLocker ransomware came to light in April 2020, catching the attention of cybersecurity experts and organizations worldwide. Notably, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued an initial report detailing known IOCs associated with RagnarLocker. Over time, this ransomware variant has evolved, refining its obfuscation techniques and evading traditional detection methods. 🚀🔍 A Persistent Threat 🎯🌐 As of January 2022, the FBI has identified over 52 entities spanning across 10 critical infrastructure sectors affected by RagnarLocker ransomware. These sectors encompass critical manufacturing, energy, financial services, government, and information technology, underscoring the ransomware’s indiscriminate targeting. 💼🏢🔒 Technical Insights 🔍💡 Ransom Note and Identification: RagnarLocker is recognizable by the “.RGNR_<ID>” extension appended to encrypted files. The actors, self-identifying as “RAGNAR_LOCKER,” accompany this extension with a .txt ransom note, containing instructions for payment and data decryption. 💰🔐📄 Advanced Packing Techniques: The ransomware employs advanced techniques like VMProtect, UPX, and custom packing algorithms, adding layers of complexity to its execution. This obfuscation serves to complicate detection efforts. 🧩🔒🔍 Geographical Targeting: RagnarLocker uses the Windows API GetLocaleInfoW to identify the infected machine’s location. If the victim’s location falls within certain geopolitical areas, the ransomware terminates its processes, potentially hinting at the attackers’ geopolitical motivations. 🗺️🌍🔍 Selective Encryption: Instead of opting for a widespread encryption approach, RagnarLocker selectively encrypts files. It designates folders it won’t encrypt, allowing the system to function “normally” while encrypting files with valuable data. This method minimizes disruptions while maximizing the potential payout. 📁🔒🤖 Before encryption, Ragnar Locker spawns the following child processes: This system command deletes all shadow copies on the victim’s system, preventing data recovery by the victim : wmic.exe shadowcopy delete This system command also deletes shadow copies, preventing data recovery by the victim : vssadmin delete shadows /all /quiet This command launches Notepad.exe to show the ransom note to the victim. : notepad.exe [User path]\RGNR_AABBCCDD.txt After the ransom note is created, the actual file encryption process initiates using the __ __algorithm. It excludes files ending in . Salsa20 db, .sys, .dll, lnk, .msi, .drv and .exe. Neutralizing Defenses 🛡️🚫 Service Termination: RagnarLocker goes a step further in its attack strategy by identifying and terminating services commonly used by managed service providers (MSPs) for remote network administration. This further hampers recovery efforts. 💔🔧 Shadow Copy Deletion: Preventing victim recovery efforts, the ransomware erases Volume Shadow Copies, a mechanism used to restore files to previous states. The malware employs various methods, including >vssadmin delete shadows /all /quiet and >wmic.exe.shadowcopy.delete. 🗑️🔮 Conclusion 📢🔐 RagnarLocker ransomware presents a multifaceted threat that combines advanced technical techniques with an intricate attack strategy. Its evolution since its discovery in 2020, along with its targeting of critical infrastructure sectors, underscores the urgency of bolstering cybersecurity measures to defend against this and similar threats. As organizations and security experts continue to dissect RagnarLocker’s mechanisms, it becomes increasingly evident that the fight against ransomware demands a proactive and collaborative approach, where vigilance and innovation go hand in hand. 🛡️🌐🔒 References: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/bnei-brak-hospital-bracing-for-release-of-sensitive-patient-information-after-hack/ https://www.ic3.gov/Media/News/2022/220307.pdf https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/dailydarkweb/ https://www.pcrisk.com/removal-guides/17018-ragnar-locker-ransomware Also published . here

Uncovering Ragnar_Locker Ransomware: Exploring IOCs

Last week, we described the concept behind : you forward a request to the same upstream because there's context data associated with the session on that node. However, if necessary, you should replicate the data to other upstreams because this one might go down. In this post, we are going to illustrate it with a demo. sticky sessions Content Overview The overall design The heart of the application Configuring Spring Session with Hazelcast Configuring Spring Security Putting our design to the test Conclusion The overall design Design options are limitless. I'll keep myself to a familiar stack, the JVM. Also, as mentioned in the previous post, one should only implement sticky sessions with session replication. The final design consists of two components: an instance with sticky sessions configured and two JVM nodes running the same application with session replication. Apache APISIX The application uses the following: Dependency Description Spring Boot Eases the usage of Spring libraries Spring MVC Allows offering HTTP endpoints Thymeleaf View technology Spring Session Offers an abstraction over session replication Hazelcast (embedded) Implements session replication Spring Security Binds an identity to a user session The design looks like the following: and are two instances of the same app; I didn't want to overcrowd the diagram with redundant data. app1 app2 The heart of the application The heart of the application is a session-scoped bean that wraps a counter, which can only be incremented: @Component
@SessionScope
public class Counter implements Serializable {              //1

    private int value = 0;

    public int getValue() {
        return value;
    }

    public void incrementValue() {
        value++;
    }
} Necessary for Hazelcast serialization to work We can use this bean in the controller: @Controller
public class IndexController {

    private final Counter counter;

    public IndexController(Counter counter) {               //1
        this.counter = counter;
    }

    @GetMapping("/")
    public String index(Model model) {                      //2
        counter.incrementValue();
        model.addAttribute("counter", counter.getValue());
        return "index";
    }
} Inject the session-scoped bean in the singleton controller thanks to Spring's magic When we send a request to the root, increment the counter value and pass it to the model GET Finally, we display the bean's value on the Thymeleaf page: <!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns:th="http://www.thymeleaf.org" lang="en">
<body>
<div th:text="${counter}">3</div> Configuring Spring Session with Hazelcast Spring Session offers a filter that wraps the original to override the method. This method returns a specific implementation backed by the implementation configured with Spring Session, in our case, HttpServletRequest getSession() Session Hazelcast. We need only a few tweaks to configure Spring Session with Hazelcast. First, annotate the Spring Boot application class with the relevant annotation: @SpringBootApplication
@EnableHazelcastHttpSession
public class SessionApplication {
    ...
} Hazelcast requires a specific configuration as well. We can use XML, YAML, or code. Since it's a demo, I can choose whatever I want, so let's code it. Spring Boot requires either an Hazelcast object or a configuration object. The latter is enough: @Bean
public Config hazelcastConfig() {
  var config = new Config();
  var networkConfig = config.getNetworkConfig();
  networkConfig.setPort(0);                                                      //1
  networkConfig.getJoin().getAutoDetectionConfig().setEnabled(true);              //2
  var attributeConfig = new AttributeConfig()                                     //3
          .setName(HazelcastIndexedSessionRepository.PRINCIPAL_NAME_ATTRIBUTE)
          .setExtractorClassName(PrincipalNameExtractor.class.getName());
  config.getMapConfig(HazelcastIndexedSessionRepository.DEFAULT_SESSION_MAP_NAME) //3
          .addAttributeConfig(attributeConfig)
          .addIndexConfig(new IndexConfig(
            IndexType.HASH,
            HazelcastIndexedSessionRepository.PRINCIPAL_NAME_ATTRIBUTE
  ));
  var serializerConfig = new SerializerConfig();
  serializerConfig.setImplementation(new HazelcastSessionSerializer())            //3
                  .setTypeClass(MapSession.class);
  config.getSerializationConfig().addSerializerConfig(serializerConfig);
  return config;
} Choose a random port to avoid port conflict Allow Hazelcast to search for other instances and automagically form a cluster. It's going to be necessary when deployed as per our design Copy-pasted from the Spring Session documentation Configuring Spring Security Most Spring Session examples somehow use Spring Security, and though it's not strictly necessary, it makes the design easier. I want to explain why first. One can think about sessions as a gigantic hash table. In regular applications, the key is the cookie value, the value, and another hash table of session data. However, the is specific to the node. The app will give a different if one uses another node. Since the key is different, there's no way to access the session data, even if the session data is shared across nodes. To prevent this loss, we need to come up with a different key. Spring Security allows using a principal (or the login name) as the session data key. JSESSIONID JSESSIONID JSESSIONID Here's how I set up a basic Spring Security configuration: @Bean
public SecurityFilterChain securityFilterChain(UserDetailsService service, HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {
  return http.userDetailsService(service)                                    //1
             .authorizeHttpRequests(authorize -> authorize.requestMatchers(
                 PathRequest.toStaticResources().atCommonLocations())        //2
                            .permitAll()                                     //2
                            .anyRequest().authenticated()                    //3
             ).formLogin(form -> form.permitAll()
                                     .defaultSuccessUrl("/")                 //4
             ).build();
} The default in-memory user details service doesn't allow custom user details classes. I had to provide my own. Allow everybody to access static resources at "common" locations All other requests must be authenticated Allow everybody to access the authentication form Redirect to the root if successful, which maps the above controller Putting our design to the test Besides the counter, I want to display two additional pieces of data: the hostname and the logged-in user. For the hostname, I add the following method to the controller: @ModelAttribute("hostname")
private String hostname() throws UnknownHostException {
    return InetAddress.getLocalHost().getHostName();
} Displaying the logged-in user requires an additional dependency: <dependency>
    <groupId>org.thymeleaf.extras</groupId>
    <artifactId>thymeleaf-extras-springsecurity6</artifactId>
</dependency> On the page, it's straightforward: <!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns:th="http://www.thymeleaf.org"
      xmlns:sec="http://www.thymeleaf.org/extras/spring-security">  
<body>
<td sec:authentication="principal.label">Me</td>                     Add the namespace. It's not necessary but may help the IDE to help you sec Require the underlying implementation to have a method UserDetail getLabel() Last but not least, we need to configure Apache APISIX with sticky sessions, as we saw last week: routes:
  - uri: /*
    upstream:
      nodes:
        "webapp1:8080": 1
        "webapp2:8080": 1
      type: chash
      hash_on: cookie
      key: cookie_JSESSIONID
#END Here's the design implemented on Docker Compose: services:
  apisix:
    image: apache/apisix:3.3.0-debian
    volumes:
      - ./apisix/config.yml:/usr/local/apisix/conf/config.yaml:ro
      - ./apisix/apisix.yml:/usr/local/apisix/conf/apisix.yaml:ro    #1
    ports:
      - "9080:9080"                                                  #2
    depends_on:
      - webapp1
      - webapp2
  webapp1:
    build: ./webapp
    hostname: webapp1                                                #3
  webapp2:
    build: ./webapp
    hostname: webapp2                                                #3 Use the previous configuration file Only expose the API Gateway to the outside world Set the hostname to display it on the page We can log in using one of the two hard-coded accounts. I'm using , with password and label . Notice that Apache APISIX sets me on a node and keeps using the same if I refresh. john john John Doe We can try to log in with the other account ( / ) from a private window and check the counter starts from 0. jane jane Now comes the fun part. Let's stop the node which should be hosting the session data, here and refresh the page: webapp2 docker compose stop webapp2 We can see exciting things in the logs. Apache APISIX can no longer find the , so it forwards the request to the other upstream that it knows, . webapp2 webapp1 The request is still authenticated; it goes through Spring Security The framework gets the principal out of the request It queries Spring Session And gets the correct counter value that Hazelcast replicated from the other node The only side-effect is an increased latency because of Apache APISIX timeout. It's 5 seconds by default, but you can configure it to a lower value if needed. When we start again, everything works as expected again. webapp2 Conclusion In this post, I described a possible setup for sticky sessions with Apache APISIX and replication involving the Spring ecosystem and Hazelcast. Many other options are available depending on your stack and framework of choices. The complete source code for this post can be found on . GitHub To go further: Spring Session and Spring Security with Hazelcast Spring Session Hazelcast Originally published at on July 2nd, 2023 A Java Geek

Demo: Sticky Sessions with Apache APISIX for Improved Load Balancing

Building Your Own Programming Language From Scratch: Part IX - Hybrid Inheritance

Building Your Own Programming Language From Scratch: Part VII - Classes

Construyendo su propio lenguaje de programación desde cero: Parte VII - Clases

Construire votre propre langage de programmation à partir de zéro : partie VII - Classes

स्क्रैच से अपनी खुद की प्रोग्रामिंग लैंग्वेज बनाना: भाग VII - कक्षाएं

ゼロから独自のプログラミング言語を構築する: パート VII - クラス

Construindo sua própria linguagem de programação do zero: Parte VII - Aulas

Xây dựng ngôn ngữ lập trình của riêng bạn từ đầu: Phần VII - Các lớp học

从头开始构建您自己的编程语言：第七部分 - 类

In this article, I’ll make an overview of what I’ve learned from Alexis Roussel, the COO of Nym, who read the lecture “Nym technologies and how they protect your privacy” for Shipyard Academy students on November, 10. Privacy and who needs it Privacy is a broad term, but, briefly speaking, it is the ability to share what you want with whom you want and how you want to do it. So, privacy is about the selective disclosure of your personal information. You may think of privacy as a synonym for seclusion, but there is one interesting thing about it. As Alexis said, in Nym they have a motto “Privacy loves company”, because a lot of people are needed to hide the communication between them. The larger we are, the better anonymity and privacy we’ll have. Imagine you are alone in the park, speaking to your friend. If someone wants to overhear what you are discussing, they can easily do it, because you are visible and hearable very well. But if there are 10 people around, seeing and hearing becomes more difficult. And what if you are surrounded by 1000 people, all wearing the same clothes and facial masks, and all of them speaking loudly? It’ll become almost impossible to overhear you chatting with your friend. So, privacy is about making sure that we are hidden in the sea of anonymity. For some people, this is crucial to protect themselves against the threats they encounter in their lives. One example is women in the US, looking for health advice about abortions, as they are illegal in some states. Also, journalists in places where there is no freedom of speech. Or transgender people, as they are threatened in some cultures. Speaking about organizations, many businesses also need privacy, because when you are doing business, your connections are being looked at. You need private communications with your service providers and other parties. In fact, all of us need privacy, because the internet, which we are using, is built on surveillance. Large corporations like Google, Meta, Apple, etc. provide free services in exchange for harvesting your personal data and selling them to third parties. That’s why personal data has become “the new oil of the digital era”. What has been done to protect us and why is it not enough Cryptography is widely used nowadays to hide data via end-to-end encryption, especially in the finance, healthcare, and communications industries. For example, WhatsApp has adopted the to encrypt the data and thus prevent third parties from having plain-text access to messages or calls. Also, SSL certificates have been made compulsory for sites to be considered trustworthy, so almost all the sites on the web use https instead of http. Signal protocol But encryption of data alone is not enough. Besides cookies (information about pages visited, date of the visit, and even passwords in some cases), which are collected by websites and stored on your hard drive, there is also metadata that needs to be protected. Metadata shows who is communicating with whom at what point, and hiding it is one problem that mixnets can handle with. What is a mixnet Internet is made of layers, suggests 7 layers, ranging from the physical to the application layer. The network layer is the place where all communications are made when you connect to the website or message your friend. There are packets that go through the network and reach destinations. They proceed on a very precise route that can be monitored. OSI model Mixnet is an overlay network, based on the existing network of packets. Using it, instead of sending packets on the internet in a normal way, we are sending them through another network, built on top of this system. On their way, the packets are encrypted, mixed, and proceed to a lot of different hubs on their way. In the end, no one knows what is happening, as the message is sent in a completely disorganized way. The first mixnets Surprisingly, mixnets are one of the oldest concepts on the Internet, dating back to 1981, when David Chaum, the famous engineer, published about them. a paper The first significant usage of mixnets, their first implementation is called Mixmaster, an anonymous remailer, which appeared around 2000. But it has a problem - using it opened doors to tons of spam. Spammers wanted to hide and find computers allowing them to send emails freely. To prevent this, the remailers, who were using mixnets, had to protect themselves. That’s why Adam Back, who was maintaining an anonymous remailer, invented proof-of-work, which is used today by Bitcoin and other blockchains. Nym vs VPN and Tor Nym is building a decentralized mixnet, providing privacy through anonymity tools. It’s important to note that Nym is not another VPN. VPNs are good for bypassing geolocalization, but bad in terms of privacy because VPN company stores data about you and your actions. Nym can’t collect this info, and it hides not only your IP, but metadata as well. It’s a network of computers, just sending packets to each other. They don’t record any packets, just mix and resend them. is also a mixnet, but it uses very old technology, and its design was meant to hide only IP addresses. Also, Tor does not protect you from “the god view”, as corporations may pay for the data collected by it. Tor Unlike Tor, Nym has created a token economy by introducing its utility token, which is used to pay for services. It also helps to fight against attackers, as there is a reputation system, incentivizing good actors and punishing the bad. If someone wants to attack Nym, they will need a large proportion of control in the form of tokens. Nym is like Tor in terms of legality and regulatory space, and Tor has not been subject to legal attacks so far. The thing is, the government may want to destroy privacy, but they need it, too. Think about military or health organizations - they all need their privacy to be protected. If you regulate Nym, you basically regulate something like VPNs, and if you regulate VPNs, many corporations will collapse, because VPNs protect their data. Does the government want to collapse corporations? I don’t think so.

Privacy protection and how Nym can help

Web Scraping Sites With Session Cookie Authentication Using NodeJS Request

Sitios de raspado web con autenticación de cookies de sesión mediante solicitud de NodeJS

Meet the Winners of Startups in North and Central America

The Business Model Canvas is a great tool for entrepreneurs, yet one that is not without flaws. In order to go deeper into your business’ overall plan and identify opportunities, you need more than a single business canvas. . Enter . You need three the Triple Layer Business Model Canvas, created in 2015 to encourage the creation of more sustainability-oriented innovations The Triple Layer Business Model Canvas, as its name indicates, relies on three user-friendly canvases: , . the traditional economics canvas the environmental canvas and a social canvas Though its creators argue that sustainability is at the center of their work, I believe the Triple Layer Business Model Canvas is essential to business, whether they see themselves as sustainable or not — not least because it offers the possibility of discovering new revenue streams. We’ve strayed far enough from Friedman ( ) to know that Ecology and Social Value are essential parts of any and all entrepreneurial activity. Below is a quick guide to this great tool for entrepreneurs, and an explanation as to why it's so sorely needed. any and his ideals which have created unknown misery Environmental Business Model Canvas This canvas aims to ensure that the full life cycle of a product or service is considered when a new business is launched, with . I hope I don’t have to tell you why this is . This model provides insights regarding where organization might wish to focus their attention when creating environmentally-oriented innovations (which might have the added bonus of bringing in additional revenues). an accent on environmental impacts key to our future, as well as that of our children Note that when we talk about environmental impact, . This your canvas should also include components such as human health, ecosystem impact, natural resource depletion, water consumption… we don’t only mean CO2 emission 1. Functional value First thing to consider when completing this framework is… well, It’s important to start here to help you understand what you can potentially do away with, and what you have to keep; you’d be surprised how many CEOs misunderstand how their customer might be fine with waiting a week for a great product if you tell them their delivery will be more environmentally friendly. what are customers getting out of using your product or service? What is the core offering? It might seem easy at first, but filling in the model can actually be a gargantuan undertaking if not framed properly. Understanding well the functional value of a product or a service will inform the impact it has on its environment as it goes through its life-cycle. . Not the most fun part of the exercise, but mandatory 2. Materials In order to deliver value, you need materials, whether you offer a physical product or a service. . Accountants use computers, restaurants use food from various parts of the world, hospitals use a wide array of machines and medicine, car manufacturers use steel and leather… This part of the canvas refers to what is used to directly create the value defined above It’s obviously difficult to put all materials on one canvas but important to include the key ones, as this will also help you identify where your impact on the world is most consequent. Having done this, you might then decide to switch to greener materials, or develop services to make others in your industry benefit from your knowledge if you already believe yourself to be as green you can be ( ). picture me puzzled if that’s the case 3. Suppliers & Outsourcing Once the material at the heart of your value creation is understood and recorded, we can analyse . . I’m talking about things like energy suppliers, the company used to deliver packages to customers, the consultants called to analyse new paths to growth… everything that’s not the core Things that are necessary for a business to run smoothly, but aren’t generally under your full control Recording this gives a view of possible levers you might pull to make your business and industry more responsible. Sometimes you won’t have too much control over your suppliers and external partners, but when you do, you might be able to negotiate with them to ask them to be more sustainable. Believe it or not, this is becoming an increasingly important part of B2B contracts negotiations. . So get on board or get left behind 4. Production Having recorded what you’re offering, as well as who and what you’re building that with, production can begin. Here too, environmental components should be taken into account. Do you really need in-house data centers? Are you using the greenest machines possible? Do your workers need to be in an air-conditioned office, or can they work from home…? By , especially if that impact is high, you can take small, yet meaningful steps towards a more environmentally friendly company ( ). concentrating on key production activities and their potential environmental impact and perhaps save some money on AC 5. Distribution You obviously have to (note that services are produced, distributed and consumed at the same time). This, too, is an opportunity to explore new revenue-making stream, while limiting your ecological impact on the world. get your products and services to customers once they’ve been produced Maybe you transport your goods directly to consumers, or you sell them in stores. Then, transportation modes, distances, packaging and delivery logistics are key to assessing your distribution’s impact. If you offer a service, maybe you do so in a store which consumes a lot of electricity, or you do everything via phone, and might want to consider using I’ve always been fond of picking my orders in store : less trucks on the road, cheaper for me, and the retailer gets me to the store where I might buy more. Everyone wins. the ones that impact the world least negatively. 6. Use phase . Interestingly, this can far outweigh production impacts and is therefore very worthy of consideration. Take the car industry, for example : making greener vehicles with less sustainable machines might yet reduce its overall ecological impact, as cars being on the road for an extended time is much more polluting than car manufacturing. This is the ecological impact of customers and/or end-users getting value out of the product or service provided by your company Thinking about your company in this way might give you idea of new offers you could make to clients, many of which might be delighted to discover sustainable alternatives to what already exists. 7. End of life Once a product has been through its life-cycle, . And This stream helps explore ways to manage a business’ impact through extending its responsibility beyond the initially conceived value of its products. There’s a lot of money to be made there, trust me. it’s time for it to die How can we make this death more dignified (and by more dignified, I mean more environmentally-friendly — looking at you casket industry)? Rethinking this part of your business model will often mean exploring remanufacturing, repurposing, recycling, disassembly, incineration or disposal of a product. It also means considering the topic of obsolescence, whether planned or not ( ). looking at you, Apple 8. Environmental Impact If you’ve done your homework, you should by now be able to . Knowing is half the battle, so it should be easy to come up with a plan of action from that point onwards. pragmatically assess the environmental impact of your organisation’s actions 9. Environmental benefit This is the other side of the coin. It encompasses . Hopefully, these actions also lead to financial benefits. And trust me, they often do. the ecological value the organization creates through environmental impact reductions and even regenerative positive ecological value Social Stakeholder Business model Canvas The second canvas that’s been added to the Business Model Canvas repertoire helps entrepreneurs . By completing this canvas, you’ll be able to track relationships and their impact… and possibly ! Remember : what’s good for society is ( ) good for business. balance the interests of their organization’s stakeholders, rather than simply seeking to maximise gains for/from the organization itself create a new paradigm that benefits everyone usually 1. Social value This question is a bit more complex than some of the previous ones : ? how does your product or service create benefits for its stakeholders, and society more broadly The answers to this question is a great starting point for lively discussions. . More often, it is not. Writing it down will help identify key stakeholders, both near and far your company. Having the answer handy will also , which should be your priority if you’re trying to make money. Sometimes, it’s core to a company’s mission help with recruiting in the long term 2. Employees As hinted above, your key stakeholders are your employees. Not your customers. Customers come and go; there will always be business if you know where to look for it. Great employees, however, are rare, expensive, and take a long time to train. And . And their demands will be different depending on pay, gender, ethnicity, and education (to name a few). . (concentrating on the key ones to start with would be wise). Not doing so would surely be your demise. good employees have demands Hey, if you didn’t want all these complexities, you shouldn’t be trying to create a successful business You need to hear them, and act upon these requests 3. Governance This stream considers . Are you organised as a pyramid or as a matrix? Are you a cooperative, not-for profit, privately owned for-profit, or publicly traded for-profit company? Are your decisions based on transparency, consultation, non-financial criteria or profit sharing? the organizational structure and decision-making policies of your organization We rarely think about this as we like to consider all companies as being for-profit. Yet, there are other ways. Considering them might very well influence how your organisation engages stakeholders in creating social value. 4. End-users These are the people who use your goods and services. And, as annoying as this may be, they’re all different. Age, income, ethnicity, education level… it all matters when considering how your organisation benefits or harms them. As such, . by segmenting end users, you might create better products for them More importantly, few realise that the end-user is not always the customer as defined in the economic layer of the business model canvas. For instance, textbook publishers historically consider course instructors as customers though students are the end-users. This means that there is a world wherein additional revenue streams can be found beyond what was originally thought, hence the importance of digging deep. 5. Communities We can now extend our analysis to the wider communities within which your company exists. They’re ever so important : by paying workers well and ensuring their safety and happiness, they can buy goods at stores, whose owners will themselves be able to pay better, driving more workers to the community, which in turns attracts more businesses, which pay more local taxes, meaning you have better roads to drive on when you go to work and can send your kids to good schools. . Funnily, this concept reversed also works This is why is key, as is doing right by them. A healthier community means better company. . mapping out key stakeholders within your community Pay your taxes 6. Scale of outreach As discussed above, you can start small, but you don’t have to stay that way. With that in mind, the scale of your outreach describes . the depth and breadth of the relationships your organization builds with its stakeholders through its actions over time Is your company local, global or glocal? Have you created deep links with a wide variety of communities? Can you use these links for good, while also turning a profit? . Realising that your hand reaches much further than you originally thought is a superpower. Don’t waste it 7. Societal culture This is the impact of your company on culture, with or without a capital C. This might sound pedantic for a small start-up, but is nevertheless important as you grow. Do you create fun, viral memes? Is your food truck considered cultural heritage in your neighbourhood? ? By carefully , you can drive the conversation, make yourself irreplaceable ( ) and ensure that your impact is a positive one. Have you recently aided and abated an attempted coup at the Capitol considering your reach within your ecosystem eg: you don’t Firefox a word, you Google it . That way, your customers won’t turn on you, and you can make money while pandering to them. . It’s also important to understand and respect the culture within which you’re conducting business But pandering respectfully, of course 8. Social Impacts . It complements and extends the financial costs of the economic layer and the bio-physical impacts of the environmental layer. When mapping this out, remember everything we saw above : working hours, cultural heritage, health and safety, community engagement, fair competition, respect of intellectual property rights. The social impacts stream addresses the social costs of an organization 9. Social benefits This is where we conclude. ? If not, your business might need to change. I promise that the hard work will be worth it. It so often is. Do you bring a net benefit to society If you’re not using these models in your strategy meetings, you’re missing out. Not only because your business will be less sustainable, but also because you might miss out on potential new and innovative revenue streams. They are coherent both horizontally (on their own) and vertically (as a group), and will help support richer discussion and more creative exploration of sustainability-oriented innovations. For these reasons, I believe a triple bottom line approach is what we need today. Good luck out there. This article was originally published . here

Introducing The Triple Layer Business Model Canvas

Real estate has always had a reputation for being one of the safer assets. Regardless of the current happenings in the stock market, people will always require a roof under their heads and a stable job. Nevertheless, real estate transactions can become some of the most overly expensive and complicated, making the real estate market comparatively illiquid. Real estate has always had a reputation for being one of the safer assets. Regardless of the current happenings in the stock market, people will always require a roof under their heads and a stable job. Nevertheless, real estate transactions can become some of the most overly expensive and complicated, making the real estate market comparatively illiquid. That can all be done, thanks to tokenization. The process behind tokenization involves the ownership of an interest in real estate through the usage of digital tokens existing on a blockchain. The emergence of blockchain and tokenization offers several advantages over traditional methods when it comes to making deals on the real estate market. Some of these include enhanced security, streamlined management, better liquidity, and transparency. As beneficial as tokenization can be, it does come with a complex process on the legal and technical side of things. Let’s dive deeper into the world of tokenized real estate investing. What is Real Estate Tokenization? The process behind real estate tokenization involves creating virtual tokens on the blockchain and assigning them to a real estate property that already exists or is under construction. These tokens can represent an interest in real estate and be utilized to raise capital towards development investment, allowing a broader range of investors and developers to participate in the real estate market. In short, tokenization is a method that allows organizations to raise capital through crowd sales, which is essentially similar to crowdfunding, but with tokens available on blockchain technology. The goal for this feat is far more doable if funding becomes available in such a manner. The role of tokens for this industry would be to act as the equivalent of stocks, except without requiring any overly expensive intermediaries to be involved. These tokens can then be used as a loan, shares for a development company, or ownership of a property. The Advantages of Real Estate Tokenization Tokenization has the potential to reshape the glocal real estate market. It enables issuers and inventors some significant advantages of existing investment options and serves as a way to introduce a massive number of new investors into the market. Tokenization comes with several benefits that shall be discussed below. Liquidity One of the primary advantages of tokenization would have to be liquidity. For clarification, liquidity refers to how easy it is for investors to acquire or sell or asset. At the moment, real estate investment is considered illiquid. Due to that illiquidity, some people regard it as one of the more significant negative aspects of real estate investing. It impacts the price of investments command, imposing an illiquidity discount on the underlying asset’s actual value. With tokenization, it’s possible to regain some of the lost value to the illiquidity discount. That is possible by making real estate investment easier to buy and sell. Even a tiny improvement in the sales prices of these investments could lead to a rise in new value for issuers and resellers. Some features of real estate tokens merge to make these improvements a reality. Lower Cost of Entry What’s become known as sufficient capital will be changed when real estate becomes tokenized. A virtual token isn’t required to be sold as a whole unit. Instead, the code underlying the token grants permission for its subdivision, enabling the issuer or subsequent holders to sell fractional tokens at much lower prices because of the fractionalization. That paves the way for small investors to enter into the market, who were previously unable to participate, and allows for better opportunities for diversification for weather investors. Standardized Transactions With blockchain technology making tokenization a reality, the ability to buy and sell real estate tokens is implemented through standardized smart contracts. These smart contracts can’t be negotiated separately, and the terms are fulfilled automatically. That reduces the transaction costs considerably. Worldwide Investment Pool Through the power of tokenization, the pool of potential investors becomes a global phenomenon. Anyone with enough capital and internet connection can seamlessly participate in buying, holding, and selling real estate located in any location in the world. Transparency Blockchains can record all transactions that take place on their network. Whenever a token goes through a transaction process, all the participants become aware of it. For that reason, investors can search through a token’s history, pricing, and any other details concerning it’ transaction whenever they wish to do so. Security Since blockchain is a distributed ledger, no individual or organization can control the network and impose its own policies. Furthermore, the distributed ledger technology (DLT) uses advanced cryptography techniques that offer users excellent security. Each user is provided with a personal key that grants them access to their blockchain assets. That key is generally represented with a line of random characters (such as numbers and letters), making it very hard for outsiders to guess it. Immutability Once the transaction has been recorded and confirmed on the blockchain, it cannot be changed in any way. That provides investors with a much-needed assurance that no one can counterfeit transactions after it’s execution. Searching for Property One of the many issues encountered with investing in real estate comes from having to search for a property to invest in. There are plenty of marketplaces where they assess up for sale. If the assets are tokenized, they become listable for a centralized marketplace. The makes the investor’s job much smoother since they now have a seamless way to search for potential investments in one location. With this opportunity, investors gain access to search for potential investments found in other geographical areas and enable sellers to gain access to a massive pool of potential buyers. What Should the Tokenization Strategy Include? It’s essential to understand the tokenization strategy and familiarize yourself with some of its vital parts. Type of Interest The developers of a virtual token have the opportunity to choose what they should tokenize. That can include such things as the real estate property itself, equity interest within a legal entity that has ownership of a property, the mortgage for a property, and the rights to share in the profits generated by the property. There are more options, but these are just some of the many possibilities. To put it in another way, the range of opportunities is massive and diverse. Even so, keep in mind that it’s all dependent on the interest that is tokenized. That means you will face varying levels of regulations. For that reason, before an asset is tokenized, it’s crucial to know which of the ordinances are likely to affect you. Legal Entity Traditionally speaking, securitization of real estate relies on the establishment of a special-purpose vehicle (SPV), and there is a good chance of tokenization doing that. An SPV is a legal entity created for a single purpose, such as holding and managing real estate. An SPV can be a trust, corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, or other entity. However, each of them has its pros and cons. If suitably structured, the SPV’s assets and liabilities are regarded separately from those of the developer for accounting, tax, and bankruptcy purposes. That grants the token permission to stand by its own merit as an investment without requiring the creditworthiness of any of the developers involved. Establishing the SPV, its ownership, and transaction between it and the developer is a complex process that requires the assistance of an experienced advisor. Smart Contracts Smart contracts are computer codes made on a blockchain that can automatically implement and execute agreements between users without requiring an intermediary. Since smart contracts are eternally attached to the blockchain, it’s impossible to alter them once published. As a result, these smart contracts are used to establish the characteristics and sales process for the token. It’s one reason why the creation of these tokens needs to be done carefully. If it launches with some issues, it could lead to total failure on the developer’s end and unforeseen consequences for the issuer and investors. The development of a smart contract needs to trigger the characteristic the issuer wants for its token. For example, if a token holder is expected to receive dividends or a share in profits, the smart contracts need to provide it. One thing you need to keep in mind is that smart contracts are not there to replace lawyers. There are substantial gaps between the requirements of law and the limitation of smart contracts. It’s crucial to be aware of the function that smart contracts can and cannot handle effectively. In some cases, a legal override may need to happen, while in other cases, the smart contract has to be altered to accommodate a legal requirement. Securities Regulations Since real estate tokens are certified as securities under various countries’ laws, they will be required to register with the regulators. In many cases, it’s possible to acquire an exemption from registration. Failure to register with the regulators could result in civil penalties and other severe issues. Tax Requirements While the Internal Revenue Service has published a general guideline regarding the taxation of digital assets such as bitcoins, several aspects of how U.S. tax handles the purchasing and holding of digital tokens remain uncertain. Issuers and investors need to take some time to consult a tax professional for assistance in creating a comprehensive tax strategy. Additionally, issuers need to be aware of any reporting requirements they could have, tax-related or otherwise. Property Location Of course, the location of the real estate property matters the most. The parameters of the location need to be considered not only from a practical standpoint but also from a legal one. For example, not every country out there permits protection for private property rights. As a result, minimal amounts of investors will become interested in purchasing property in those geographical locations. Consider whether or not the location of the property can satisfy all involved parties. Mortgage Issues If the property selected to undergo the tokenization process is subject to a mortgage, the issuer is either required to get the mortgagee’s consent or pay off the mortgage. However, if the tokenization of the property is considered a mortgage itself, then the appropriate laws will need to be observed. Anti-money Laundering and Know-Your-Customer It becomes necessary for issues behind digital tokens to comply with the Anti-Money Laundering and Know-Your-Customer laws in places they decide to offer their tokens. If relying on the securities-law exemption that only sanctions accredited investors, issuers must take appropriate steps to accredit their purchasers. That can also include actively verifying that investors are accredited investors instead of taking their words for it. International Sales Plenty of countries have established securities laws and AML/KYC regulations. That means the issues need to be mindful of the various regulatory requirements when it comes to launching their tokens in specific regions. For example, a security token offering that is legal in Europe could be considered illegal in the United States. Plus, it may be possible that one country could treat a token as security while another may not. Overall, depending on the token’s feature, it may be subjected to several other regulated money services laws and potentially commodity regulations. Before tokenizing a real estate property, you need to take the time to methodically plan a strategy. That way, you can ensure the smooth execution of the tokenization process. Conclusion Tokenization can become one of the most significant game changes in the real estate market. It can change the way people are investing in real estate all over the world. However, realizing that potential will all come down to how well blockchain developers managed to structure the whole thing. Tokenization has some hurdles to overcome, but it has the massive potential to reach new heights. The real estate industry still hasn’t entirely realized the immense potential behind blockchain-enabled tokenization for dealing with existing market issues. Still, tokenization has managed to provide the industry with some benefits. Here at CitaDAO, we are one of the many platforms unlocking real-world assets to DeFi and introducing this innovation into real estate. Take the plunge and check us out for more information. About CitaDAO is a Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platform for Real Estate to be tokenized on-chain, built on the Ethereum ecosystem. CitaDAO aims to solve the lack of liquidity, access limitation, and lack of composability in existing real estate investments by creating interoperability with other DeFi applications/primitives that operate on the Ethereum protocol. Real estate token allows the community to diversify their portfolio on-chain to generate stable yield through real-world assets that have constant liquidity through AMM. CitaDAO.io Interested in building the future with us? Follow us on Twitter: Join our community on Discord: Or check out our website: @citadao_io bit.ly/citadao citadao.io Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication is based on sources considered to be reliable, but not guaranteed, to be accurate or complete. This communication should not be relied upon or the basis for making any investment decision or be construed as a recommendation to engage in any transaction or be construed as a recommendation of any investment strategy.

Comprehensive Guide on Tokenized Real Estate Investment

As a business person without the tech skills to build an MVP, it can be tempting to look for a software development partner as soon as possible. It’s a common trap that many entrepreneurs fall into. But, before even thinking about development,  you should be focussing on your product reasoning. It’s like entrepreneur and product expert Joe Procopio : recently told me “You can do everything else right, but if the product isn’t right, you’re doomed. You can recover from every other part of the MVP process failing. You can’t recover from a misfire on the product.” It’s vital you know the problem you’re trying to solve, who you’re solving it for, and the solution they currently use to solve that problem. Because if your users don’t see any value in your product, they won’t adopt it. A great example of this is the first iteration of Instagram (or as it was then known Burbn). Inspired by founder Kevin Systrom’s love of fine whiskeys and bourbons, it was designed to allow users to check in, share their experiences, and upload pictures. He and his co-founder Mike Kreiger spend a year building Burbn, releasing a fully-fledged product to the market. But the product missed the mark. Adoption was poor, and users found the app confusing. Even that the product felt “cluttered and overrun with features.” Systrom himself commented This could’ve been the end of the story for Burbn & Instagram, but Systrom and Kreiger went back to the core product and re-evaluated everything. They focused on the one feature that all their users loved: easy photo sharing: “We went out on a limb and basically cut everything in the Burbn app except for its photo, comment, and like capabilities. What remained was Instagram.” It was revisiting the product reasoning that kicked off the series of events that led to Systrom and Kreiger selling Instagram to Facebook for $1 Billion. This is just one example of why startups should be putting more importance on the product as they build an MVP. And why many are beginning to onboard a Product Expert or CPO from day zero. Throughout this article, I will show you the blueprint to prepare your product for its development phase. It’s the blueprint we use with all the startups we work with at Altar. I will also cover how a product expert can help you fill out this blueprint. Then I will look at the MVP development stage itself. I’ll cover the options you have when it comes to selecting a tech stakeholder and how to avoid some common mistakes I’ve seen entrepreneurs make (myself included). What Does Help From a Product Expert Look Like? A product expert is not dissimilar to a therapist. They’ll help you organize your ideas in order to come up with an action plan to move forward effectively and efficiently (the difference being that a product expert will actually suggest which plan you should undertake). Depending on the stage your business is at, a product expert will generally divide the process into a series of sessions: Define Your Value Proposition Define the Assumptions to Validate Play the Mirror Game Session 1: Define Your Value Proposition As I mentioned at the top of the article, Session 1 is the critical first step in transforming your idea into a structured business vision. Your product expert will start by helping you define your value proposition by guiding you through the following questions: Here you should describe the stakeholders that are interacting with your product. You should take into account demographics as well as psychological and behavioral factors in the observed context. Who are our stakeholders? Here you should define who your competition is (direct and indirect – for Henry Ford, horses would definitely be in), including their positioning, strengths, and weaknesses. How do those stakeholders deal with the problem today without our product? Here you should describe what differentiates your product from the competition you listed above. Specifically, define the key elements that will drive the user to take action and switch to your product. What makes our product 10 times better than the current solution(s)? Here you should list any barriers of entry or elements that will stop users from switching. E.g., You build enterprise software that is 1000x better than the current solution. But, because all of your stakeholders use that one solution, leaving it is more painful than dealing with terrible UX every day. What are the potential reasons for a user to NOT switch to our product? Once you’ve answered these questions, the next step is to sum everything up in an elevator pitch. “Your elevator pitch has to be simple and crystal clear, so your users can easily see the value behind your MVP.” It should look something like this: ____ has been conceived for ____ who ____ . ____ is a_____ . Unlike ____ we ____ . (Name of your product) (your stakeholders) (state their problem) (Name of your product) (a statement of its key benefit/solution) (the current solutions – e.g., for Henry Ford, it would be horses!), (say what differentiates you from the alternatives/your existing competition) To take this concept one step further, here is an elevator pitch example for Uber (information taken from Uber’s original pitch deck – ): which you can see here has been conceived for who a is a Unlike we provide Uber people who want a taxi service re tired of the poor, inefficient service provided by overpriced taxis. Uber fast and efficient on-demand car service. traditional taxi services, the ability for the user to use an app to hail a cab to their exact GPS location with ease. Moreover, we provide the ability to “rate your trip” to ensure drivers are accountable for the service they provide (and passengers for how they behave). Once you have this, you’ll have completed the session, and it will be time to move on to the next step – defining the assumptions to validate. Session 2: Define the Assumptions to Validate “Assumptions” are those user actions that are key for your business, but at this stage, you don’t know for sure that they will take those actions. For example, Airbnb assumed a number of user actions before building their initial product – for example: Travelers want true experiences, not a hotel that leaves you disconnected from the city you’re visiting. Hotels are expensive – which is a barrier for some travelers if it’s their only option. Travelers would be happy to stay in a stranger’s house to experience the city authentically and save money. Hosts would be happy to open their homes to complete strangers so they can earn some extra money renting out their spare room. With the help of your product expert, you should list all the assumptions surrounding your product – as I did with the example above. Once you have that list, you should select all of the assumptions that can easily be validated with research. Take, for example, validating that hotels are expensive can easily be done with a bit of research. Then, you should be left with a set of assumptions that can only be validated with a working app. For those, you need to move on to the final session – playing the mirror game. Session 3: Play the Mirror Game This session starts by listing all the features you want your product to have; from the fanciest, sexy features to the most basic and mundane ones. Now put this list next to the list of assumptions you made in the previous step. For every feature, ask yourself: “Is this feature absolutely necessary to prove one of the assumptions on the list?” If yes, build that feature into the first version of your product/MVP. If no, put it to the side. Mark it as a “nice-to-have” feature to consider in the future. To take it a step further, here’s an example using Airbnb – starting with the feature, followed by the consideration behind it: : Yes! How can you book a spot without logging in and saving your information? Sign Up/Login Yes! It’s important that travelers can see what’s available and choose based on their requirements. List of available apartments/rooms: Yes! This is the easiest and most organized way to connect hosts and travelers. Booking system: No! Sure, this is a nice feature to have and makes the user’s life easier – but it doesn’t prove any of the assumptions listed in the previous example. Recommendation system to show the user apartments based on their preferences: No! For the same reasons as the recommendation system. Referral system: No! This is nice to have but does not prove our assumptions Geolocalisation search: Absolutely unnecessary at this stage. Calendar Integration: Once you’ve compared all of the features you want with the assumptions you need to prove, you’ll have taken into account all the product considerations you need to build a truly lean MVP. The Practical Advantages of a Product Expert A Product Expert can also help you compile all of the documents you need to bring to a software developer or agency – including but not limited to: UX Personas: an in-depth analysis of all the stakeholders in order to help to guide decisions about the product and also to help to prioritize the key User Stories for the MVP. User Stories: story of the journey users take through the product. This is better than a list of features because it keeps the user at the center of the process. BPMN: (Business Process Modeling Notation) is a flow chart method that models the steps of a planned business process from end to end. This is usually needed at this stage when we have complex workflows to be sure that you’re not missing any important detail in the main flows. Sitemap: Structure of the whole app, with all main and secondary pages. UX/UI key screens: UX wireframes and UI mockups of the main representative pages of the app (this is the most practical and the one that gives you a real taste of your product). Once you have this documentation in place, you’re finally ready to move forward to the development stage with a structured business vision. Significantly decreasing your chances of being ripped off and significantly increasing your chances of building an MVP that’s in line with your target users' needs. With Your Structured Business Vision in Hand, It’s Time to Approach Developers The next step, after you’ve structured your business vision, is to approach a technical partner that will actually develop your product. When it comes to finding a technical partner to help you build an MVP, you have three options: Find a kick-ass CTO Hire a team of Freelance Developers Onboard a Software Development Company There are several considerations to make when choosing this initial stakeholder.  I’ll now go deeper into each of them, starting with finding a CTO. My co-founder, Daniel, has written an extensive guide on how to choose the right technical partner for your startup, . I’ve included a short summary below to give you an idea of the process. which you can check out here Build an MVP with a CTO There’s no denying that bringing in the perfect CTO is the most idyllic option. And if you’re able to find them before you’ve built your MVP, you should jump at the chance to onboard them. That being said, it can be incredibly difficult to find them. I’ve seen first-hand entrepreneurs spend six months or more looking for a CTO and coming up empty-handed. It’s something that Dudley Gould, a UK-based entrepreneur I worked with recently, . faced firsthand For this reason, many entrepreneurs look to freelance developers to help them build their MVP. Build an MVP with Freelance Developers The first benefit of freelancers is you can hire them on an “as-and-when” basis.  Therefore, you’re only paying for development when you need it. Moreover, there is no long-term commitment, so if it doesn’t work out with one freelancer, you can easily find another. And with , you’re also able to cast a wider net to find the best talent available. remote work becoming more and more normal That’s not to say that hiring freelance developers doesn’t come with its downsides. Namely, from a management perspective. Managing a team of developers takes time and effort – and can be extremely challenging, especially if you have no prior experience doing it. The risk here is that it takes time away from what you should be focussing on – the business side of your startup. It’s for that reason, many entrepreneurs turn to the final option:  onboarding a software development company to help them build an MVP. Build an MVP with a Software Development Company Many entrepreneurs who can’t find a CTO early on instead choose to build an MVP with a software development company. As with freelance developers, there is more flexibility than hiring a CTO. It’s easier to manage a software development company, as agencies will have a project manager on hand to ensure development is going smoothly. Lastly, when working with an agency, you have access to a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and experience. An agency worth its salt will have built hundreds of MVPs and fully-fledged products. It’s very likely they’ve already built an MVP similar to yours – even if it’s just because it’s in the same industry. Having that expertise on hand can be hugely beneficial when building your MVP. Working with an agency also allows you to keep looking for your dream CTO without slowing down your time to market – as you’re able to develop your product at the same time. More than this, bringing your MVP to market will actually attract potential CTOs to your company. This is something I . She’s a CTO with nearly two decades of experience in the tech industry. discussed recently with Nelly Yusupova Here’s what she had to say on how building an MVP can help you find a CTO: ​​“It’s about traction. Showing technical stakeholders that this isn’t just an idea. It’s a painkiller and people want it. You’re saying to them, look what I’ve already done without you, imagine what we can achieve together.” That doesn’t mean, however, that working with an agency doesn’t come with its own set of risks. “Choose the wrong agency, and you could end up out of pocket, and in a worst-case scenario without a product.” We worked with an entrepreneur who faced this first hand back in 2019. Before working with us, he outsourced with an offshore agency that offered him a great price and an even better time estimate. They offered to build him a fully working marketplace (full of non-standard features) in two months. Six months later, he still didn’t have a product. So he asked for a code audit. The outcome of which showed that the platform was unusable. 100% of it had to be trashed. Luckily, he had enough money to start from scratch. But not everyone has this luxury. My point is, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Once you’ve found your technical stakeholder and built the MVP, it’s time for the next step: the launch. Launching & Iterating Your MVP Once you’ve built your MVP, it’s time to put it in the hands of your users, and employ the build, measure, learn cycle. The first step is to the feedback from your users. measure With that feedback in hand, look at your feature list and user stories. Use the feedback to how your product can better suit your users’ needs. learn Finally, those improvements into your product. build Then, go back to the beginning and start this process again. This will allow you to continuously iterate your MVP, adding features as you go until you’re left with a fully-fledged, user-centric product. How to Implement the Build, Measure, Learn Cycle When it comes to the interaction stage of your MVP, you have the same options you had before: Hire a CTO (or onboard them as a partner) Stick with the freelance devs Continue with a software development company. It’s worth noting, however, that: “With a successful MVP launch, you are now in a much stronger position to attract a CTO” Remember that I shared earlier in the article. Nelly’s advice Of course, you can carry on with freelance developers. After all, now you have some experience managing a technical project (even if you built your MVP with an agency, you became a little more knowledgeable about rituals and tricks to be effective and get the job done). As well as a working relationship with dependable freelancers. Or, if you built your MVP with a software development agency, you can stick with them too. As a founder of a software development company, here I can tell you the most common approaches that you’ll find out there: Paying as you go for development, as and when you need it, as you iterate your MVP. Time and materials model: This is where the agency allocates a small development team to work solely on your startup. This usually comes with a minimum time commitment. However, as a result of it being more stable than T&M, it usually comes with a reduced cost. To read more about dedicated teams, written by my co-founder André. He’s compiled his wealth of experience building dedicated teams into an easy-to-digest actionable guide on the topic. Dedicated Team: check out this article This is where operational resources (e.g., developers) are part of a dedicated team framework. In comparison, senior resources (such as CTO level advice) are paid for on a T&M basis. This will save you money as you don’t need senior resources on a full-time basis – so there’s no point paying for them on a full-time basis. A Hybrid of The Previous Options: “While continuing development with freelancers or an agency will work – I would recommend internalising the team sooner rather than later.” Despite tech not being the core of your startup, it’s always a great idea to have great talent in-house. Firstly, it makes it a lot easier and faster to pivot your company should you need to. Secondly, your company is going to continually be building knowledge on your user behaviors as you grow. Having that information in-house (and not spread across freelancers or consultants) means that that knowledge can be shared easily across different departments. Finally, it’s important to note that when you do bring your development team in-house, you’ll need to transfer the knowledge from the agency’s development team to a team of devs. This can be a massive headache if handled poorly. For example, a cold handover of documentation, a quick workshop for the new team, and see you later. The best way to do this is to have both teams work together for a certain period of time. The length of time is completely dependent on how long you’ve worked with the agency, the complexity of your product, etc. The objective here is to gradually phase out the agency’s team as the new, in-house team’s confidence grows as they absorb the knowledge. This is a heavier commitment than a quick one-time handover of materials but will save you a lot of headaches in the long term. Wrapping Up While it’s important to build an MVP quickly, taking the time to structure your product will save you a lot of time and confusion later down the line. This preparation will help you give clear instructions to your software development partner – regardless of who you choose. Then, once you’ve launched, assuming your MVP sees adoption, you’ll be in a great position to iterate until you’ve built a fully-fledged user-centric product. Thanks for reading. Also published on: https://altar.io/the-roadmap-to-build-an-mvp-from-idea-to-launch/

How to Take Your MVP From Idea to Launch

How We Localized Our Website in 9 Languages in Under a Week — And So Can You

Hazelcast and Spring Boot for Scalable Task Execution - A How-To Guide

React is build on top of pure Javascript for the most part.  Here you will learn about 10 Javascript concepts that will help you write better React code. Let and const variables is used for variables that need to be reassigned after creation. let is used for variables that don't need to be reassigned or changed. Const Both of these variables are limited within the scope of the curly braces that surround them. (They are block scoped) What happens when you try to reassign a const? newUser = ;
    newUser = ; const true false // TypeError: Assignment to constant variable. In React and are the preferred way for declaring variables, as their behavior is predictable. let const is also recommended when declaring components in combination with arrow functions, since the components remain unchanged. const Header = { username = ; const => () // Local variable declared with const const "Bob" return Welcome back, {username}!;
    } < > Header Pattern strings In Javascript Template strings are much more dynamic than the basic String type in Javascript, obtained using single or double quotes. Using them is much easier to interpolate and paste values ​​into strings. It is enough to use the syntax ${} to insert a valid expression in Javascript. Concatenating and combining strings does not require the “+” operator, it is easier to write multi-line objects of type String, since you do not need to create new strings using the newline character (\ n) or carriage return (\ r). In addition, enclosed quotes (single and double) can be used in pattern strings without fear of errors. username = ; greeting = + username + ; username = ; greeting = ; const "Fred" // Code in which strings are concatenated using "+" is difficult to read const "Hi " ", how are you?" // Template strings (``) are much easier to write and read const "Anna" // Dynamic values ​​are inserted using the expression $ {} const `Hi , how are you?` ${username} Template strings are used to create complex objects of the String class, as well as dynamically calculate the styles of elements depending on conditions. You can insert variable values, operators, function calls, etc. In React { isOddUser = id % !== ; }
     <UserCard id={ } name= /> ( ) function UserCard { id, name } // check user id ... const 2 0 // Odds get a dark background return {name} < = ? ' ' ''}> div className {idOddUser dark-bg : </ > div 1 "Bob" // displays UserCard with a dark background Arrow functions In javascript Shorthand syntax can be used with arrow functions. This makes the whole code shorter. You can replace the return keyword (the return occurs by default if there are no curly braces) and the function body (curly braces) with a large arrow (=>). It’s easier to work with objects and classes through the this keyword. You can also remove brackets around a single parameter. { word.toUpperCase();
    } capitalize = { word.toUpperCase();
    } capitalize = word.toUpperCase(); // Standard function ( ) function capitalize word return // Arrow function const ( ) => word return // Use all the features of the arrow function const => word In React If you can create a standard function in JavaScript, you can create a arrow function. As a rule, the second option is preferable because the syntax is simpler. Most often, arrow functions are used to create components, as well as for higher-order array methods such as .map () or .filter (). UserList = { (
{users.map( ( ))}
      );
    } const ( ) => { users } return ( ) => user, index Array methods .map (), .filter (), .reduce (), etc. In Javascript Like the for loop, the map, filter, and reduce array methods allow you to iterate over the elements of an array: .map () - allows you to convert each element of the array; .filter () - creates a new array with all the elements that passed the test specified in the function; .reduce () - allows you to convert the entire array in accordance with our needs (even in a different data type). These methods are shorter and easier to read than the for loop. By combining these methods and arrow functions, you can further reduce code. users = [
        { : , : },
        { : , : },
        { : , : }
    ]; usernames = []; ( i = ; i < users.length; i++) {
      usernames[i] = users[i]
    }

    usernames; usernames = users.map( user.username);

    usernames; // Purpose: convert the users array to usernames array const name "Bob" id 1 name "Jane" id 2 name "Fred" id 3 const // For loop for let 0 // ["Bob", "Jane", "Fred"] // .map() - concise + readable const => user // ["Bob", "Jane", "Fred"] In React The methods ), , can be used to convert data. They are usually used to dynamically display elements and components using .JSX, since these methods can be linked in chains for successive transformations. .map ( .filter () .reduce () { users = [
        { : , : },
        { : , : },
        { : , : }
    ]; ( <li key={id}>{user.name}</li> );
    }; ( ) function UserList const name "Bob" id 1 name "Jane" id 2 name "Fred" id 3 // Drop the user with id = 2 and then distribute the entries and display the usernames return {users
             .filter(user => user.id !== 2) < > ul < ( => .map user )
         } </ > ul Destructive Assignment In Javascript Destructive assignment allows you to unpack arrays or objects into variables. This is a convenient concept since you don’t need to refer to the whole object when we want to use it. Destructuring allows us to extract the value we need from the object, creating an independent variable for this value. We can make the code cleaner without referring to the object when we need only one of its values. user = { : , : , : , : { : }
    }; .log( ); { name, email } = user; .log( ); { username, : { title } } = user; .log( ); const name "Reed" username "ReedBarger" email "reed@gmail.com" details title "Programmer" // Access to the object without destructuring console ` , ` ${user.name} ${user.email} // logs: Reed, reed@gmail.com // Restructure the object to reduce repetition const console ` , ` ${name} ${email} // logs: Reed, reed@gmail.com // Restructuring an object with a nested object "details" const details console ` , ` ${username} ${title} // logs: ReedBarger, Programmer In React Most often, a destructive assignment is used to obtain the value of a single property of an object. If we pass only one property of an object to a given component, we do not need all the others. Instead of referencing properties, we can destructure them and pass one variable to the component. { ( <h1>All Users</h1> <UserList users={["Bob", "Jane", "Fred"]} />
    </div> ( ) function App return < > div );
} { ( <li key={index}>{user}</li> );
} ( ) function UserList { users } return {users.map((user, index) => ( < > ul ))} </ > ul Default options In javascript The default parameter is useful to handle the event passed by the function without arguments. They will also help to avoid errors and make the code more predictable. { + name;
}
sayHi(); { + name;
}
sayHi(); sayHi = + name; 
sayHi(); // No default parameters ( ) function sayHi name return "Hi" // "Hi undefined" // With default parameters ( ) function sayHi name = 'Bob' return "Hi" // "Hi Bob" // With default parameters and arrow function const ( ) => name = 'Jane' "Hi" // "Hi Jane" In React Default settings are often used when defining properties. In the example below, we use destructive assignment to get the 'username' parameter from the properties of the object. And although the property is not passed, the default value is set to 'guest' and the component still works. Header = { ;
    }

    <Header /> const ( ) => { username = } "guest" return Welcome, {username}! < > header </ > header // prints: Welcome, guest! Spread syntax (three dots - ...) In Javascript The spread syntax allows you to expand objects (their key-value pairs) and arrays to get new objects. This syntax only works when creating a new object or array. The spread syntax is good for combining the properties of an old object in a new one. When an object or array expands to create a new object or array, a temporary copy appears. user = { : , : , : ,
    }; newUser = { : , : ,
    }; mergedUser = { ...user, ...newUser }; 
    mergedUser; // Combine empty default data with user data from the subscription form // using the operator operator const name "" email "" phoneNumber "" const name "ReedBarger" email "reed@gmail.com" //The last object, when expanding, replaces the value of the same properties of the previous object with its own // const // { name: "ReedBarger", email: "reed@gmail.com", phoneNumber: "" }; In React The spread syntax is great for dynamically creating new objects and arrays; it is often used in React libraries (like Redux) for more predictable data changes. In addition, in React, such a technique can be used to transfer object data as a set of properties without accessing them in turn: for this, we can expand the object into a component, since we will get an object of a set of properties. { name = { : , : }; ( <UserGreeting 
       first={name.first}
       last={name.last}
      />
      */}
      <UserGreeting {...name} />
    </div>
  );
}

function User({ first, last }) {
  return (
    <p>
      Hi, {first} {last}
    </p>
  );
} ( ) function App const first "Reed" last "Barger" return {/* < > div Short conditional statements In Javascript JavaScript has an abbreviated form for writing conditional if-else statements - ternary operation. Unlike if-else, ternary operations are expressions. This gives you great flexibility, allowing you to use them just like any other expression (such as $ {} in the case of pattern strings). Ternary operations are not always better than the if-else statement. For example, when processing multiple conditions, the former will be unreadable. age = ; greeting; (age > ) {
  greeting = ;
} {
  greeting = ;
} greeting = age > ? : ;
greeting; let 26 let // Without the if-else operator in such cases, you can do. Here we just // assign the value to the variable depending on the condition if 18 "Hello, fellow adult" else "Hey kiddo" // Ternary operations do the same thing, but much shorter const 18 "Hello, fellow adult" "Hey kiddo" // 'Hello, fellow adult'; In React You can output through JSX one result if the condition is true, and another if it is false, while writing the code is much shorter than through if-else. If the result needs to be output only if the condition is true, the && operator can be used. Navbar = { isAuth = ; ( <AuthLinks /> <Login /> <UserProfile/> );
    } const => () const true return // For authorized users, shows a list of links, for others - an authorization screen
            {isAuth ? < > div : }
// Show profile to authorized users only
            {isAuth && } </ > div ES Modules In Javascript Using ES modules, it is convenient to distribute code among application files. We export what we want to transfer to other files of our application (mainly variables and functions), and then import them where necessary. You can perform multiple export / import using curly brackets (and keywords export / import) or single without brackets (with keywords export default and import). This approach allows you to make the code modular. We can write code where it is needed without collecting everything into one large file. The example below shows how to call the getLocalTime function from a separate file in app.js. getLocalTime = ().toLocaleTimeString(); getLocalTime; getLocalTime App = { ( <header>The time is {getLocalTime()}</header> );
    } // utils/getLocalTime.js const => () new Date export default // app.js import from './utils/getLocalTime.js' const => () return < > div ... </ > div In React You can export and import almost anything, not just JS, but also CSS, image files, etc. In React, you often do not need to add a file extension when importing JavaScript. Extensions are needed only when importing other file types into JS. App = hello world! html, body { : ;
        padding: ;
    }
    h1 { : cornflowerblue;
    } React ; ReactDOM ; App ; rootElement = .getElementById( );
    ReactDOM.render( // App.js const => () // styles.css margin 0 0 color // index.js import from 'react' import './styles.css' import from "react-dom" import from "./App" const document "root" , rootElement); < /> App Promises + async / await In Javascript You can delay indefinitely the execution of certain sections of code in JavaScript (for example, setTimeout (), the listener event, or the network request with the fetch API). Promises are a way to make asynchronous JS code predictable. They help resolve code created with async. Successfully executed code is processed using the .then () callback functions, errors are processed using the .catch () function; async / await is an improved syntax for working with promises that makes asynchronous code look synchronous. navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition( { .log(position);
    }, error => { .error(error);
    }); .log( ); promise = ( {
      navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(resolve, reject);
    });

    promise
      .then( .log(position))
      .catch( .error(error))
      .finally( .log( )); { result = ( {
      navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(resolve, reject);
      }); position = result; .log(position); .log( );
    }

    getPosition(); // Asynchronous code; 'done' is logged after position data, although 'done' is assumed // execute in code later => position console console console "done" // Asynchronous code processed after the promise; we get the desired result - position data // logged, then logged 'done' const new Promise ( ) => resolve, reject => position console => error console => () console 'done' // Asynchronous code with async / await looks like a synchronous, most readable way // work with promises async ( ) function getPosition // async / await only works in functions (for now) const await new Promise ( ) => resolve, reject const await console console 'done' In React Promises and async / await are used to create network requests such as API calls. Libraries like the fetch API or axios apply promises to requests that can take indefinitely to complete. Promises and async / await in similar libraries are also used to form network requests: .fetch( )
      .then( response.json())
      .then( .log(data)); { response = .fetch( ) data = response.json(); .log(data);
    }
    getPostData(); // Get data through the API using the basic syntax of the promise (pay attention to arrow functions) window 'http://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts' => response => data console // Get the same data through the API using async / await async ( ) function getPostData const await window 'http://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts' // We need to allow two promises using await to get the resulting data const await console Practice makes perfect. After a long time of practicing, our work will become natural, skillfull, swift, and steady. My main intention with this article is to help you write better and more efficient code. If you have any questions please contact me, I will be glad to answer all of your questions. All the best -Dannison Arias

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Photo by Rajeshwar Bachu on Unsplash Predicting the future is oftentimes a foolhardy thing to do. If you were old enough to understand the internet in the late 90s, you might remember the Y2K scare; a small glitch in the internet matrix that experts said was going to mess things over temporarily. Similarly, technophiles have also been predicting the death of newspapers and magazines since the emergence of computers. But the print media — despite significant decline in readership — have stunned their critics by adapting to the taste of today’s digirati. Celebrity investor and contrarian thinker Peter Thiel, once famously quipped, “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters,” taking a dig at the 90’s predictions about technological innovation for the early 2000s that fizzled out in unexpected ways. Predictions are perhaps most rampant in the marketing realm because we (the marketers) like to assume some level of certainty — even if we are just hypothesizing. It’s become an annual ritual for a majority of marketing teams to come up with a round-up of things that are going to die in the coming year. Here is the marketoonist’s take on the annual apocalyptic tradition of marketing predictions: In defense of all marketers, I think it’s a good thing for us to try and get a feel of which way the wind is blowing. The world of marketing runs on experimentation and continued elimination of processes that become invalid after a certain period of time. Therefore, the marketing community is often very quick to jump to conclusions even when our judgment seem sloppy and exaggerated. As a faithful member of the tribe, I have my own strong opinions about the future of marketing. Now I am no Nostradamus or a marketing seer in any way (at least not yet). And expecting things to happen within 2020 would be short-sighted because trends don’t change by the calendar dates. Therefore, I try not to be prescriptive and myopic about my forecasts. My predictions are largely based on the current marketing norms that are indicative of certain trends and also certain aspects that are timeless. Therefore, I have tried to zoom out and envision these marketing trends to gradually take place over the next 10 years. With that said, let’s take a closer look at my crystal ball for the future revelations. Abracadabra…! 1. Google will face-off new rivals If TV ads and billboards were the past of marketing, Google is the present. Google is one of the most powerful platforms that helps millions of businesses worldwide market their products to their customers. If, by chance, an online apocalypse were to befall upon us tomorrow and Google ceased to exist, its consequences would be as big as the exodus of Noah’s Ark. It’s important to understand that Google is not just a tech conglomerate like Apple or Amazon. Google is not just in the business of making software products or fiber optics. If you look closely, you will see that Google is the world’s biggest advertising agency — its biggest source of revenue is online ads. Google aggregates ads to help businesses discover their customers and vice versa. But the consumer community are somewhat worried by a few worrying trends surrounding Google. The general consumers as well as businesses are coming to a bitter realization that while Google enjoys an absolute monopoly for their consumption needs, it’s not always their best friend. AngelList CEO and Silicon’s Valley philosopher-at-large Naval Ravikant says that the most powerful people in the world today are people who design algorithms, because they can influence people’s decisions and sway their behaviors towards whatever side they want. And that seems to be true with people working in the Alphabet Inc. It’s no secret that Google wants to expand their walled garden, just like others in the club do. So they deliberately shoot down businesses that pose a threat to one of their services and manipulate results that favor them. Google can especially be a femme fatale for you if your business poses some kind of threat to one of its revenue stream. FAANG Take Expedia for example. It’s one of the largest online travel aggregator (OTA) in the world. A few years back, Expedia’s CEO Mark Okerstrom publicly accused Google of trying to in the search results in order to promote their own flight recommendations. Google is supposedly down-ranking Quora results because it’s posing similar threats to Google’s monopoly of having a ready-answer for every online search query. kill Expedia’s pages Most importantly, a large section of the consumers are riled up about Google’s habit of hoarding users data and reportedly selling it to third-party vendors. Similarly, the U.S. senate and courts in the past have summoned Alphabet Inc’s executives time and gain for accusations against unethical manipulation of algorithms. Hence, the marketing ecosystem around Google looks a little different based on the present-day zeitgeist sentiments. I am inclined to believe that Google’s monopoly will soon end. It’s hard to imagine a world without Google at this point and it would be a gross exaggeration to say they might be completely obliterated. However, my prediction is that Google will get a few rivals who will take advantage of the distrust consumers have on Google. For instance, Duck Duck Go is already quite popular among the privacy-loving communities. With its CEO Gabriel Weinberg directly pitching his company’s promise about not snooping on people’s data across the internet forums, they might just be lucky (and prepare) for a widespread adoption. 2. The future is probably no marketing Consumers are already very sensitive and resistant to marketing and sales and this trend is likely going to grow bigger. People will antagonize the traditional marketing for the manipulative and shady practices it involves. I have to clarify though. When I say the future of marketing is no marketing, I don’t mean marketing as a discipline will cease to exist. I just think this form of marketing is going to live up to its true form, i.e., to bridge businesses with the ideal customers. The marketing that we know traditionally will pivot to become a conversation between business and its consumers. Given the growing distrust between businesses and consumers, marketing is going to be highly inbound and commoditized in a self-service manner. The current marketing trend already leans towards this direction. In B2B realm, for example, prospects complete 57% of their buyers journey on their own before even getting in touch with a company’s sales team. To compensate for the lack of such push marketing, businesses will have to come up with better, more genuine ways to communicate the value of their services. Marketing will have to become more conversational and less transactional, more DIY and less cryptic, more niched and less arbitrary. We will talk about the nuances of niche-based marketing in more detail in the next section. Naturally, the conversational aspect of marketing will also lend ways to accommodate dynamic interactions between business and consumers, powered by the likes of artificial intelligence, voice search, and augmented reality. 3. Community marketing will grow bigger This is my favorite prediction of all and I strongly believe this is more likely to happen because we already have proof for it. I am a long-time Redditor and I love the neatly-organized smorgasbord of knowledge that are scattered across the thousands of sub-reddits. Communities like Quora and Stack Overflow are other examples of niche-based communities that are go-to resources for many people who hang out in those watering holes to seek answers to their specific pursuits. Even to rejig their algorithms to encourage interest-based interactions and counter account-based bias. Topical communities are more helpful because they cater to a limited set of specific interests rather than being a massive motley of unorganized information. Twitter is contemplating Community marketing will also have direct implications on online search. Imagine dozens of niched-down Hacker News and threads emerging at the top of search results when you look for topics such as “best account based marketing software”. We are already seeing instances of this happening in forums such as Product Hunt and Indie Hackers. The conversations in these communities are highly moderated, and thus, cremier and meatier in quality. When done well, marketers will have better chances of reaching the right audience and wooing them. In other words, riches will be in the niches. Cake.co Let’s gear up Besides the aforementioned trends, the glocal approach of running business will also influence the marketing norms in the coming decade. For example, as we step closer to a gig-based economy, managing and/or collaborating with remote teams from across the world will be a highly sought-after skill for business professionals, including marketers. I think the coming years will also help businesses settle the row between which has been in a tricky spot for the last decade. Maybe permission-marketing will become the norm because of tighter data and privacy regulations all over the world. personalization and privacy William Gibson, who introduced the concept of cyberpunk through his sci-fi literature, once said, “The future is here. It’s just not widely distributed yet.” And that’s true for most of the future predictions — most of them are already happening around us albeit at a small scale, but they are far from being mainstream. And for all you know, most of them might fall out of fashion before we notice. But hey, if any of these forecasts come through — remember that I told you about it first. 🙂 Lastly, if you liked reading this blog post, I’m sure . you will love the 4th episode of our ABM Conversations Podcast

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