Localize is a no-code translation solution for SaaS platforms, allowing you to easily translate your web app, dashboard, API docs, and much more. With Localize you can translate your web app and website in minutes, not months.

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Hi! My name’s Amir. I’m a Web3 Community Manager and a podcast host. To improve the reach of my podcast, 2 months ago, I tried the Rask.ai platform, and have edited over 10 hours of footage since. In this review, I’ll go into the challenges Rask.ai can solve for you, its features, and the pros/cons of the platform. What Is Rask.ai, and Why Did I Buy It? Essentially, Rask.ai is a platform that uses AI for video/audio localization and repurposing. By repurposing, I mean auto reframing to vertical format, and auto-editing long videos to capture the most interesting moments. Rask.ai poses itself as a platform that has all the AI features for content makers in one place, a one-stop-shop of some sort. In one subscription, you get all the AI tools you would need to make your video content better. The main purpose that I had in mind when checking out Rask.ai was to increase the reach of my podcast on TikTok and YouTube. The podcast originally is in Kazakh, but to expand the potential audience and potential advertisers, I was looking for ways to target the English-speaking market as well. Price, Interface, and Functionality The platform is very flexible when it comes to pricing: you have 3 options to choose from, which vary by the price, the amount of minutes, and other available features. Honestly, I think the only metric you should really look at is the amount of minutes, as it will influence your work the most. I’ve picked the second plan, Creator Pro. It includes 100 minutes of edited footage per month and costs me $120. They also offer a plan for $50 and 25 minutes, as well as a corporate plan - $600 and 500 minutes. The biggest plan the platform offers is enterprise, which starts at 2000 minutes with a custom price. Note that all prices are correct if you pay annually - plans with monthly payments will be ~15% more expensive. Last month, I had 2 podcasts instead of one, and I ran out of minutes on my regular plan. However, you can always buy additional minutes at a $3 rate. Setting up the account is very easy (as it should be in 2024): you can use your Google account to log in or create the account with your email. The interface is very clean and isn’t overloaded by different buttons and links. You have FAQ and customer support at the top right corner, accessible from any page, so if you get a bit confused, there’s always that. I can’t say that I’m a tech guru of any kind, but I got used to the website in a matter of minutes. I’ve never worked with a mobile version of the site as I always store all raw footage on my Mac, but if you’re editing a small TikTok/Reels, you can easily do it from your phone. What Does Rask.ai Do, and How Do I Use It? The platform has 2 main features: localization and shorts. Let’s start with the first one, which became a selling point for me. You download a video from your device or paste a link from YouTube or Google Drive, choose the number of speakers, original language, and the language you want to translate the video to, and click “translate.” After that, the magic begins. In a matter of minutes (depending on the length of the video), you get the same video but translated to a different language. The voice-over keeps the voice’s depth, tone, and emotion, and even creates a lip sync, so the video footage is similar to the audio. How do I use that feature? Before discovering Rask.ai, in order to reach the English-speaking market, I was adding EN subtitles to all my podcasts. However, that approach was far from ideal as I was always encountering many barriers: Time-consumption. The current speech-to-text AI solutions are very far from perfect. On 100 AI-generated subtitles, I was getting ~30 errors that I needed to edit manually. Scale that to hours of footage and thousands of text, and you get yourself many hours of manual work.


Accessibility. Subtitles can’t be a permanent solution to expand your foreign audience, especially when it comes to podcasts. When was the last time you paid attention to video footage on a podcast? People listen to them while exercising, cooking, cleaning, and working. My podcast gets 40% more listeners on Spotify and Google Podcasts (which don’t have video) vs YouTube (which has video), meaning that people aren’t looking at the screen and subtitles when listening.


Retention. Even if a person bothers to actively read the subtitles, they still are getting less than people watching the original. Many intonations, jokes, or facial expressions are just not working when perceptive through text. Listeners are too busy reading to actually relax and enjoy the podcast. The Rask.ai platform solved all these problems for me. The amount of manual work I had to do had decreased to practically 0, since in 2 months of using the platform, I haven’t encountered any errors in translations. The retention improved a lot as well: YouTube has statistics that show you how many people watch your videos until the end, and this number significantly improved, since your listeners can actually LISTEN instead of reading. Another feature that I didn’t even know about when getting the subscription to Rask.ai is Shorts. Basically, it takes your hour-long footage and splits the most interesting moments into many short vertical videos. As you probably know, one of the best ways to promote your podcast in 2024 is to share these videos on TikTok, Shorts, and Reels, because these platforms have much better recommendation systems than YouTube, and putting the link to the full podcast in your bio. That’s how I personally discovered many of my favorite podcasts and began to host them myself. Before discovering that feature, I had a friend on a part-time salary doing that for me, because apart from the podcast, I also have a full-time job in Web3 that is taking a significant part of my day. Creating 15 short videos from one podcast took us about 5-6 hours of manual work since you have to fully watch the podcast, then edit all shorts separately, and add some graphics and subtitles. When I discovered a shorts feature on Rask.ai, the same amount of work took me from 5 to 10 minutes (again, depending on the length of the footage). This let me cut my editorial costs down to the sole price of my Rask.ai plan, without having to pay the salary to a whole person doing that. And you say AI won’t take our jobs :) There are a couple of smaller features that I haven’t really tested a lot until today, but I’m planning on exploring them in the future as well. For example, subtitles generation, and API for translations. The company also plans on integrating some features that I’m really excited about: AI video generation (Like MidJourney, but videos), and Zapier integration. Pros, Cons, and Who Can Use It? In conclusion, Rask.ai won’t make your video content more interesting or helpful and won’t make you a superstar overnight. However, with the right distribution strategy and exciting content, Rask.ai will significantly cut your editorial costs, saving you hundreds of dollars on people who translate and edit your content for you, as well as save you A LOT of time, letting you focus on the stuff that really matters: scripts, topics, guests, and other things that make your content better. Rask.ai is a great solution for podcast hosts like myself, social media or community managers producing content for their companies, or TikTok and Instagram influencers that focus on short video content. Pros: Clean and simple interface
Precise translations
Multiple features in one subscription Cons: Relatively high prices
Not all features are ready yet Hi! My name’s Amir. I’m a Web3 Community Manager and a podcast host. To improve the reach of my podcast, 2 months ago, I tried the Rask.ai platform, and have edited over 10 hours of footage since. In this review, I’ll go into the challenges Rask.ai can solve for you, its features, and the pros/cons of the platform. What Is Rask.ai, and Why Did I Buy It? What Is Rask.ai, and Why Did I Buy It? Essentially, Rask.ai is a platform that uses AI for video/audio localization and repurposing. By repurposing, I mean auto reframing to vertical format, and auto-editing long videos to capture the most interesting moments. Rask.ai poses itself as a platform that has all the AI features for content makers in one place, a one-stop-shop of some sort. In one subscription, you get all the AI tools you would need to make your video content better. The main purpose that I had in mind when checking out Rask.ai was to increase the reach of my podcast on TikTok and YouTube. The podcast originally is in Kazakh, but to expand the potential audience and potential advertisers, I was looking for ways to target the English-speaking market as well. Price, Interface, and Functionality Price, Interface, and Functionality The platform is very flexible when it comes to pricing: you have 3 options to choose from, which vary by the price, the amount of minutes, and other available features. Honestly, I think the only metric you should really look at is the amount of minutes, as it will influence your work the most. I’ve picked the second plan, Creator Pro. It includes 100 minutes of edited footage per month and costs me $120. They also offer a plan for $50 and 25 minutes, as well as a corporate plan - $600 and 500 minutes. The biggest plan the platform offers is enterprise, which starts at 2000 minutes with a custom price. Note that all prices are correct if you pay annually - plans with monthly payments will be ~15% more expensive. Last month, I had 2 podcasts instead of one, and I ran out of minutes on my regular plan. However, you can always buy additional minutes at a $3 rate. Setting up the account is very easy (as it should be in 2024): you can use your Google account to log in or create the account with your email. The interface is very clean and isn’t overloaded by different buttons and links. You have FAQ and customer support at the top right corner, accessible from any page, so if you get a bit confused, there’s always that. I can’t say that I’m a tech guru of any kind, but I got used to the website in a matter of minutes. I’ve never worked with a mobile version of the site as I always store all raw footage on my Mac, but if you’re editing a small TikTok/Reels, you can easily do it from your phone. What Does Rask.ai Do, and How Do I Use It? What Does Rask.ai Do, and How Do I Use It? The platform has 2 main features: localization and shorts. Let’s start with the first one, which became a selling point for me. You download a video from your device or paste a link from YouTube or Google Drive, choose the number of speakers, original language, and the language you want to translate the video to, and click “translate.” After that, the magic begins. In a matter of minutes (depending on the length of the video), you get the same video but translated to a different language. The voice-over keeps the voice’s depth, tone, and emotion, and even creates a lip sync, so the video footage is similar to the audio. How do I use that feature? Before discovering Rask.ai, in order to reach the English-speaking market, I was adding EN subtitles to all my podcasts. However, that approach was far from ideal as I was always encountering many barriers: Time-consumption. The current speech-to-text AI solutions are very far from perfect. On 100 AI-generated subtitles, I was getting ~30 errors that I needed to edit manually. Scale that to hours of footage and thousands of text, and you get yourself many hours of manual work. Accessibility. Subtitles can’t be a permanent solution to expand your foreign audience, especially when it comes to podcasts. When was the last time you paid attention to video footage on a podcast? People listen to them while exercising, cooking, cleaning, and working. My podcast gets 40% more listeners on Spotify and Google Podcasts (which don’t have video) vs YouTube (which has video), meaning that people aren’t looking at the screen and subtitles when listening. Retention. Even if a person bothers to actively read the subtitles, they still are getting less than people watching the original. Many intonations, jokes, or facial expressions are just not working when perceptive through text. Listeners are too busy reading to actually relax and enjoy the podcast. Time-consumption. The current speech-to-text AI solutions are very far from perfect. On 100 AI-generated subtitles, I was getting ~30 errors that I needed to edit manually. Scale that to hours of footage and thousands of text, and you get yourself many hours of manual work. Time-consumption. The current speech-to-text AI solutions are very far from perfect. On 100 AI-generated subtitles, I was getting ~30 errors that I needed to edit manually. Scale that to hours of footage and thousands of text, and you get yourself many hours of manual work. Accessibility. Subtitles can’t be a permanent solution to expand your foreign audience, especially when it comes to podcasts. When was the last time you paid attention to video footage on a podcast? People listen to them while exercising, cooking, cleaning, and working. My podcast gets 40% more listeners on Spotify and Google Podcasts (which don’t have video) vs YouTube (which has video), meaning that people aren’t looking at the screen and subtitles when listening. Accessibility. Subtitles can’t be a permanent solution to expand your foreign audience, especially when it comes to podcasts. When was the last time you paid attention to video footage on a podcast? People listen to them while exercising, cooking, cleaning, and working. My podcast gets 40% more listeners on Spotify and Google Podcasts (which don’t have video) vs YouTube (which has video), meaning that people aren’t looking at the screen and subtitles when listening. Retention. Even if a person bothers to actively read the subtitles, they still are getting less than people watching the original. Many intonations, jokes, or facial expressions are just not working when perceptive through text. Listeners are too busy reading to actually relax and enjoy the podcast. Retention. Even if a person bothers to actively read the subtitles, they still are getting less than people watching the original. Many intonations, jokes, or facial expressions are just not working when perceptive through text. Listeners are too busy reading to actually relax and enjoy the podcast. The Rask.ai platform solved all these problems for me. The amount of manual work I had to do had decreased to practically 0, since in 2 months of using the platform, I haven’t encountered any errors in translations. The retention improved a lot as well: YouTube has statistics that show you how many people watch your videos until the end, and this number significantly improved, since your listeners can actually LISTEN instead of reading. Another feature that I didn’t even know about when getting the subscription to Rask.ai is Shorts. Basically, it takes your hour-long footage and splits the most interesting moments into many short vertical videos. As you probably know, one of the best ways to promote your podcast in 2024 is to share these videos on TikTok, Shorts, and Reels, because these platforms have much better recommendation systems than YouTube, and putting the link to the full podcast in your bio. That’s how I personally discovered many of my favorite podcasts and began to host them myself. Before discovering that feature, I had a friend on a part-time salary doing that for me, because apart from the podcast, I also have a full-time job in Web3 that is taking a significant part of my day. Creating 15 short videos from one podcast took us about 5-6 hours of manual work since you have to fully watch the podcast, then edit all shorts separately, and add some graphics and subtitles. When I discovered a shorts feature on Rask.ai, the same amount of work took me from 5 to 10 minutes (again, depending on the length of the footage). This let me cut my editorial costs down to the sole price of my Rask.ai plan, without having to pay the salary to a whole person doing that. And you say AI won’t take our jobs :) There are a couple of smaller features that I haven’t really tested a lot until today, but I’m planning on exploring them in the future as well. For example, subtitles generation, and API for translations. The company also plans on integrating some features that I’m really excited about: AI video generation (Like MidJourney, but videos), and Zapier integration. Pros, Cons, and Who Can Use It? Pros, Cons, and Who Can Use It? In conclusion, Rask.ai won’t make your video content more interesting or helpful and won’t make you a superstar overnight. However, with the right distribution strategy and exciting content, Rask.ai will significantly cut your editorial costs, saving you hundreds of dollars on people who translate and edit your content for you, as well as save you A LOT of time, letting you focus on the stuff that really matters: scripts, topics, guests, and other things that make your content better. Rask.ai is a great solution for podcast hosts like myself, social media or community managers producing content for their companies, or TikTok and Instagram influencers that focus on short video content. Pros: Pros: Clean and simple interface Precise translations Multiple features in one subscription Clean and simple interface Precise translations Multiple features in one subscription Cons: Cons: Relatively high prices Not all features are ready yet Relatively high prices Not all features are ready yet

How to Localize Your Shorts in 3 Clicks

Most mobile apps and games, big and small, support multiple languages, as it is simply counter-productive to spend a lot of time and resources on app development and then reduce the audience to speakers of just one language. Usually, this one language is English, but despite its global presence, experience has shown that releasing your iOS app in just English can significantly cut into your potential downloads and, consequently, revenue. Alconost clients’ experience shows that audience volume can after localizing their app into the most-used languages. grow 10-fold Supporting multiple languages is essential for the organic growth of downloads and conversions into paying users. For example, check out how the number of organic installs for Narcade’s mobile apps grew in Korea after translating their games into Korean. More and more iOS developers are realizing that covering a wide range of languages is one of the keys to growth in terms of both downloads and revenue. The team of photo editing app RetouchMe, for example, started off with just a few languages, but after realizing how many more international users they could reach with localization, they expanded their range of languages to 35, and that localization into all 35 languages . paid off The chart below shows how their App Store ranking changed after localizing the app and its App Store page (for Brazil, Italy, and Turkey). The team generously shared more screenshots with stats in . this case study How do you choose for localizing your game? See what non-English speaking markets you’re getting downloads from. There is a good chance that localizing your app properly will boost your downloads in those markets. the right languages Some companies prefer to start with (translating the app store description, the title and subtitle, and the copy of the screenshot) to see how localization will influence conversions on the App Store. After seeing the results, they will then decide to localize the whole app. ASO localization Informed Decision for iOS Localization: The Pros and Cons of the Popular Options How can your team approach iOS localization? First off, make sure you’ve prepared your game for localization. In , we’ll walk you through the key preparation steps. this guide But how do you tackle localization as a process? Let’s take a look at the available options and discuss their advantages and drawbacks. Machine Translation Though we generally don’t recommend machine translation for customer-facing content, sometimes companies turn to this solution to cut down on costs. It may work for very simple casual games when the key purpose is to make the UI understandable for gamers. We should mention that just using the free Google Translate might not do the trick, and is likely to set you up for translation failures. The best practice is to use machine translation APIs, such as Google API and DeepL API. But you can expect good enough quality only if you have a large translation memory for your game content to train the machine translation engine properly. Another way to use machine translation and get an adequate translation is , where professional native-speaking translators edit your machine-translated content. However, the chances are that translators will deem the quality of this translation too low, and will charge their full rate. PEMT: Post-editing machine translation Here is a vivid example from one of our clients, the gaming company Full HP, who managed to . The client approached Alconost with English-to-Korean and English-to-Japanese translations. These game texts were machine-translated, after which the Full HP team ordered from Alconost for this content. combine machine and professional translation for their games post-editing The content contained dialogues, and unfortunately, machine translation failed to adapt the dialogues into Korean. As a result of the poor quality, the entire translation had to be done from scratch, and the client had to order the English-to-Korean translation with the standard translation workflow. The Full HP team went with this suggestion and received high-quality localization and content gamers. As a result, the team was able to strike a balance between using third-party machine translation for more generic and simple content while localizing more context-heavy texts with Nitro, Alconost’s human translation platform. This approach the in-app conversion rate by 25%. helped increase Community Translation and Freelance Translators This is another tempting option for saving money on localization. If you can boast a large and active community, you can go for this option. Your gamers know your game inside and out, so there shouldn’t be too many contextual mistakes. The main drawbacks of this approach are translation inconsistency and the amount of time it takes, as gaming enthusiasts are not professionals and are working on the translation in their free time. On the one hand, freelance translators are a better option; they are usually professional translators, and you can expect them to stick to the deadlines. However, we’ve noticed that many of our clients turned to Alconost because they found managing freelance translators too cumbersome and time-consuming. Here is what the has to say about it: Narcade team “Before Alconost and Nitro, we worked with freelance translators via a crowdsourcing platform. Naturally, the process took more time and was more complex (and small wonder, what with contacting each translator separately for each language pair!). In addition, we weren’t sure the translations were accurate. With Nitro, it’s an easy matter for us to send the text for translation into multiple languages simultaneously: we just copy the text, specify the languages needed, and receive our translated texts within 24 hours!” Human Translation Platform Nitro: The Best of Both Worlds Alconost has developed its own translation platform, Nitro, which combines professional native-speaking translators and the convenience of a self-service platform saving time for the client. The good news is that translations through Nitro are quite affordable. is a human translation platform that supports over 70 translation languages and boasts a fast turnaround. All translations are carried out by professional translators, who have been working with Alconost long-term. Nitro The self-service mode allows clients to place translation orders independently, without reaching out to Alconost’s localization managers. It is also a convenient way to translate app store descriptions, text on screenshots, and frequent updates, as there is no minimum order. Here is why Nitro can be a good fit for localizing your iOS game: Easy order placement. When you add content for translation and tick off the required languages, you’ll get an automatically-calculated quote right away; Support for .strings. Download your .strings file and receive the translation in the same format; Context information. Attach screenshots, choose the tone of voice, and leave notes for translators to provide context. The context within the .strings file will also be visible to translators; API. You can use to cut down on the work needed from your side, like manually uploading and downloading the localized content, and enjoy quality localization without extra effort; Nitro API A translation memory and discounts for repetitions. Nitro stores all your previous translations in the translation memory, allowing them to be reused when an identical segment pops up. So, for a 100% phrase match, we will discount the translation of the repeated phrase by 70%; Character limit restriction . App Store copy or UI buttons usually have a character limit restriction, and on Nitro, you can set this restriction and ensure the translations fit the allocated space. (optional) what the Nitro platform looks like! Try adding your content, play around with choosing languages, and you’ll get an instant quote—all without even creating an account. Check out If you have questions or any issues, you get in touch with Nitro’s support team in the live chat and get a reply within 10-15 minutes. Just like Nitro’s turnaround time, it is fast. For questions to the translators, you can send your order for revision on Nitro and add your question. You’ll receive a reply directly from the translator. This human translation platform is especially convenient for translating smaller games, updates, and marketing content. Large projects requiring , Mobile SDK integration, support for a wide range of file formats, and other adjustments are better handled on cloud-based . Such projects are managed by a PM who helps set up a seamless localization process. continuous localization localization platforms Summary iOS localization has become a must in the highly competitive app market. Experienced publishers and app development companies recommend localizing both your app store page (including screenshots localization) and the app itself and making sure the translation considers all contexts. While you do have a choice between machine and human translation, it’s best to go for the latter to avoid translation failures. For each mobile app or game, you’ll need to strike a balance between the risks and costs. It’s important to point out that if you’ve gone with a low-quality, high-risk solution, your conclusions about inefficient localization results in a certain language might be incorrect, simply because you cannot be sure what put off your users; it could very well be the poor quality of localization. Even one sloppily translated button may result in poor conversion rates and hurt monetization. So it’s essential to choose a quality solution. If your iOS app is smaller and does not have a lot of content for translation, it is best to go with the easier and more affordable option of the self-serve human translation platform. This will allow you to skip the step of sending the files to a localization agency just to get a quote and further back and forth. This option is also the best fit for fast and professional translations for app store descriptions, screenshots copy, and in-app updates. For larger projects, however, you may prefer more advanced localization platforms as they have more customization options. Do you need to localize your mobile game?

How to Localize Your iOS App and Reach a Global Audience?

Localize your iOS applications with Transifex Native: A How-To Guide

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

This example project has everything you need to localize your native iOS and macOS applications on our platform, using a fully automated approach. Smartcat continuous localization What we offer here is a pre-configured Docker container with our command-line localization automation tool, , which will pull the changes from your code repository, parse the source and files, send translation data over to Smartcat, get translations back, integrate them into its local database, generate localized files and push them back to your repo, all in a single sweep. Serge (String Extraction and Resource Generation Engine) .strings .plist See >>> bootstrap project at github This approach to localization: Doesn't require writing custom low-level integration code: you write declarative configuration files instead Doesn't require you to change your CI/CD build process: translations are integrated statically into your source code repository Is secure: you don't give Smartcat direct access to your source code repositories, and you control all the synchronization Is vendor lock-in free: you own your translation data, and can generate localized resource files completely offline Is flexible: you can manually run it on your computer, or run it on a schedule on a dedicated host Is powerful: you can implement localization workflows that otherwise would require many months of development (see below). Features With our continuous localization solution, you have an unprecedented flexibility and power. Some ideas that might inspire you are: Automatic discovery and localization of multiple product branches Ability to prohibit localized file updates unless they are 100% translated (handy for marketing materials!) Ability to specify target languages right in each file, to enable automated self-service scenarios Pseudo-localization for easier internationalization (i18n) QA Conditional exclusion of certain strings by mask Ability to auto-generate comments and preview links for each string Ability to group multiple repositories and different file types under a same logical project Ability to preprocess source files for greater flexibility Ability to post-process localized files so that the final result is CI/CD-ready Ability to email developers if source files are broken ... and much more! Installation 1. for your Windows, Mac, or Linux. Install Docker 2. Run this command to install Serge for the first time, or to update it to a latest version: $ docker pull smartcatcom/serge 3. Clone this repository into any directory: $ git clone https: //github.com/smartcatai/smartcat-serge-bootstrap-ios-native.git 4. Create an account at Smartcat. 5. Create a new project in Smartcat to synchronize your data with, with as a source and and as target languages (don't worry, you will be able to change the settings later). English German Russian Getting Started Running Serge in interactive mode In the root directory of this repo we have provided you a convenience script to run a Serge shell, from which you will have access to command. Run it as follows (both under Windows, Mac or Linux): serge $ ./serge-shell When you enter your shell, the root directory of your bootstrap project will be mounted as and you will see the following prompt: /data [Serge Shell] /data $ Here and below, it is assumed that you're running the commands inside this shell. At the same time, you can continue editing the configuration files or browse the directory outside of the shell in Explorer, Finder, or any other favorite file management tool and code editor. Note: Now you that you are inside this interactive shell, you can run Serge (the command below will just show some short usage synopsis and a list of available commands): $ serge To exit the shell later, use the command: exit $ exit Getting around This repository contains a sample project, . First things to do are: ios-native See the configuration file: configs/ios-native.serge Look at the contents of the source project folder: vcs/ios-native This sample project is set up to have (English) as a source language and (German) and (Russian) as target languages, and will process all keys in the resource file in directory. en de ru strings.xml vcs/ios-native/en.lproj Initial run Go to the directory and run the localization step: configs $ cd configs
$ serge localize This will create localized files under and directories. These files will have English content, since translations have not been provided just yet. vcs/ios-native/de.lproj vcs/ios-native/ru.lproj The same localization step will generate translation files under and directories. You can examine the generated files and also see their initial state with no translations. ts/ios-native/de ts/ios-native/ru .po Doing translations locally Edit e.g. file and provide a translation for a single string (for testing purposes, any random "translation" will work). ts/ios-native/de/Localizable.strings.po Run once again from the directory. If you now open the localized resource file, e.g. , you will see that your translation has been integrated into this resource file. serge localize configs vcs/ios-native/de.lproj/Localizable.strings Connecting with Smartcat Create a new project in Smartcat with as a source language and and as target ones. Languages must be registered on the project before you can upload files targeting those languages. You can later change the list of target languages at any time. English German Russian Edit the file and fill out your account parameters and credentials under config section: , , and . Instructions next to each parameter will help you understand where to get the values from. Once defined, these settings will be shared across your future localization projects. configs/common.serge.inc common-settings → ts base_url account_id token Edit the file and specify the , following the instructions in the configuration file. configs/ios-native.serge project_id Now you can push your translation files to Smartcat: $ serge push-ts Go to Smartcat, open the test project you created, and there you will see your , , , and files available for translation: two files are for German, and another two are for Russian. Localizable.strings_de strings.plist_de Localizable.strings_ru strings.plist_ru Open e.g. e and edit the translation for the string that you translated previously. Localizable.strings_d Now you can pull translations from Smartcat and run a localization cycle at once: $ serge pull-ts localize If you now open the localized resource file, , you will see that your translation has been integrated into this resource file. vcs/ios-native/de.lproj/Localizable.strings Running the localization continuously This project has two convenience scripts, and that you can use as a starting point for your continuous localization process. sync-once.sh sync-loop.sh Run to run the sync/localization cycle just once. ./sync-once.sh Run to run the sync/localization cycle every 5 minutes. You can edit the file and put any delay you want. ./sync-loop.sh While the localization is running in background (eventually you will want to run it on a dedicated server), you can modify your example project (add, change or delete keys in your source XML file) and provide translations on Smartcat side at the same time, and Serge will merge in all these changes, gathering the new translations, updating the localized resources, and pushing new strings for translation. Adding VCS synchronization The last missing step is to make Serge not only generate the localized files locally, but also pull the sources from your actual source code repository, and push localized files back to the remote repo. Since Git is the most popular version control system, this sample project includes a stub for connecting to a Git repo. Edit the file so that parameter points to the actual remote repository URL. Now initialize the data from the remote repo (this will remove the previous contents of folder with the contents of your repository): configs/ios-native.serge → sync → vcs → data → remote_path vcs/ios-native $ serge pull --initialize ios-native.serge The parameter in this command is needed only once, when you want to delete and re-populate the contents of the project folder. --initialize Now your project has a different directory structure, and maybe different files (not JSON), so you need to edit your file accordingly (see , , parameters, and the section). configs/ios-native.serge → jobs → (first job section) → source_dir source_match output_file_path parser At this point we recommend you to spend some time reading the for the list of available parsers and their parameters, and the . Serge documentation configuration file syntax and reference Once you have your job parameters tweaked, it's time to test this by running a localization cycle once again, and also cleaning up the outdated translation files: $ serge localize
$ serge clean-ts If you see that a set of localized files was properly created in your folder, and that translation files in folder also look good, you can push the localized files back to the remote repository: vcs/ios-native ts/ios-native $ serge push The last and final step is to enable the full synchronization cycle. Edit the script by disabling the line and enabling the line. The latter command is equivalent to . In human language, this means that running will do everything a continuous localization is expected to do: pull the new contents from both your Git server and Smartcat, update localized resources and translation files, and push changes back to Git and Smartcat, respectively. sync-once.sh serge pull-ts localize push-ts serge sync serge pull pull-ts localize push-ts push serge sync Finally, run: ./sync-loop.sh Congratulations! You now live in the world of smooth continuous localization . (press Ctrl+C anytime to get back to reality) Running Serge in a non-interactive mode When you don't need an interactive shell (especially when you're running Serge on a dedicated server), you can use a provided wrapper, as follows: run-in-docker $ ./run- -docker serge localize configs/ios-native.serge in or: $ ./run- -docker ./sync-loop.sh in Adding new projects In the paradigm of continuous localization, your Smartcat projects will be permanent; content in these projects will be constantly updated, reflecting the changes in your repositories and external content sources. You can create one project for your iOS application, another one for Android, for your website, documentation, and so on. To set up a new project (besides creating one in Smartcat), you will need to make a copy of to (of course, file and project names are up to you), and edit a new configuration file accordingly. configs/ios-native.serge configs/project-b.serge Getting professional support At Smartcat, we strive to build delightful localization processes that work seamlessly and don't slow you down. We offer managed solutions and localization engineering services , so you don't have to figure this out all by yourself! as a part of the subscription Also published at: https://github.com/smartcatai/smartcat-serge-bootstrap-ios-native

How to Localize your Native iOS and macOS Applications on Smartcat

This example project has everything you need to localize your native Android application on platform, using a fully automated approach. Smartcat continuous localization See >>> bootstrap project at github What we offer here is a pre-configured Docker container with our command-line localization automation tool, , which will pull the changes from your code repository, parse the source file, send translation data over to Smartcat, get translations back, integrate them into its local database, generate localized files and push them back to your repo, all in a single sweep. Serge (String Extraction and Resource Generation Engine) strings.xml This approach to localization: Doesn't require writing custom low-level integration code: you write declarative configuration files instead Doesn't require you to change your CI/CD build process: translations are integrated statically into your source code repository Is secure: you don't give Smartcat direct access to your source code repositories, and you control all the synchronization Is vendor lock-in free: you own your translation data, and can generate localized resource files completely offline Is flexible: you can manually run it on your computer, or run it on a schedule on a dedicated host Is powerful: you can implement localization workflows that otherwise would require many months of development (see below). Features With our continuous localization solution, you have an unprecedented flexibility and power. Some ideas that might inspire you are: Automatic discovery and localization of multiple product branches Ability to prohibit localized file updates unless they are 100% translated (handy for marketing materials!) Ability to specify target languages right in each file, to enable automated self-service scenarios Pseudo-localization for easier internationalization (i18n) QA Conditional exclusion of certain strings by mask Ability to auto-generate comments and preview links for each string Ability to group multiple repositories and different file types under a same logical project Ability to preprocess source files for greater flexibility Ability to post-process localized files so that the final result is CI/CD-ready Ability to email developers if source files are broken ... and much more! Installation 1. for your Windows, Mac, or Linux. Install Docker 2. Run this command to install Serge for the first time, or to update it to a latest version: $ docker pull smartcatcom/serge 3. Clone this repository into any directory: $ git clone https: //github.com/smartcatai/smartcat-serge-bootstrap-android-native.git 4. Create an account at Smartcat. 5. Create a new project in Smartcat to synchronize your data with, with as a source and and as target languages (don't worry, you will be able to change the settings later). English German Russian Getting Started Running Serge in interactive mode In the root directory of this repo we have provided you a convenience script to run a Serge shell, from which you will have access to command. Run it as follows (both under Windows, Mac or Linux): serge $ ./serge-shell When you enter your shell, the root directory of your bootstrap project will be mounted as / and you will see the following prompt: data [Serge Shell] /data $ Here and below, it is assumed that you're running the commands inside this shell. At the same time, you can continue editing the configuration files or browse the directory outside of the shell in Explorer, Finder, or any other favorite file management tool and code editor. Note: Now you that you are inside this interactive shell, you can run Serge (the command below will just show some short usage synopsis and a list of available commands): $ serge To exit the shell later, use the command: exit $ exit Getting around This repository contains a sample project, . First things to do are: android-native See the configuration file: configs/android-native.serge Look at the contents of the source project folder: vcs/android-native This sample project is set up to have (English) as a source language and (German) and (Russian) as target languages, and will process all keys in the resource file in directory. en de ru strings.xml vcs/android-native/src/main/res/values Initial run Go to the directory and run the localization step: configs $ cd configs
$ serge localize This will create localized files under and directories. These files will have English content, since translations have not been provided just yet. vcs/android-native/de vcs/android-native/ru The same localization step will generate translation files under and directories. You can examine the generated files and also see their initial state with no translations. ts/android-native/de ts/android-native/ru .po Doing translations locally Edit e.g. file and provide a translation for a single string (for testing purposes, any random "translation" will work). ts/android-native/de/strings.xml.po Run once again from the directory. If you now open the localized resource file, e.g. , you will see that your translation has been integrated into the XML file. serge localize configs vcs/android-native/src/main/res/values-de/strings.xml Connecting with Smartcat Create a new project in Smartcat with as a source language and and as target ones. Languages must be registered on the project before you can upload files targeting those languages. You can later change the list of target languages at any time. English German Russian Edit the file and fill out your account parameters and credentials under config section: , , and . Instructions next to each parameter will help you understand where to get the values from. Once defined, these settings will be shared across your future localization projects. configs/common.serge.inc common-settings → ts base_url account_id token Edit the file and specify the , following the instructions in the configuration file. configs/android-native.serge project_id Now you can push your translation files to Smartcat: $ serge push-ts Go to Smartcat, open the test project you created, and there you will see your and files available for translation, one for German, and another one for Russian. strings.xml_de strings.xml_ru Open e.g. and edit the translation for the string that you translated previously. strings.xml_de Now you can pull translations from Smartcat and run a localization cycle at once: $ serge pull-ts localize If you now open the localized resource file, , you will see that the new translation has been integrated into the XML file. vcs/android-native/src/main/res/values-de/strings.xml Running the localization continuously This project has two convenience scripts, and that you can use as a starting point for your continuous localization process. sync-once.sh sync-loop.sh Run to run the sync/localization cycle just once. ./sync-once.sh Run to run the sync/localization cycle every 5 minutes. You can edit the file and put any delay you want. ./sync-loop.sh While the localization is running in background (eventually you will want to run it on a dedicated server), you can modify your example project (add, change or delete keys in your source XML file) and provide translations on Smartcat side at the same time, and Serge will merge in all these changes, gathering the new translations, updating the localized resources, and pushing new strings for translation. Adding VCS synchronization The last missing step is to make Serge not only generate the localized files locally, but also pull the sources from your actual source code repository, and push localized files back to the remote repo. Since Git is the most popular version control system, this sample project includes a stub for connecting to a Git repo. Edit the file so that parameter points to the actual remote repository URL. Now initialize the data from the remote repo (this will remove the previous contents of folder with the contents of your repository): configs/android-native.serge → sync → vcs → data → remote_path vcs/android-native $ serge pull --initialize android-native.serge The parameter in this command is needed only once, when you want to delete and re-populate the contents of the project folder. --initialize Now your project has a different directory structure, and maybe different files (not JSON), so you need to edit your file accordingly (see , , parameters, and the section). At this point we recommend you to spend some time reading the for the list of available parsers and their parameters, and the . configs/android-native.serge → jobs → (first job section) → source_dir source_match output_file_path parser Serge documentation configuration file syntax and reference Once you have your job parameters tweaked, it's time to test this by running a localization cycle once again, and also cleaning up the outdated translation files: $ serge localize
$ serge clean-ts If you see that a set of localized files was properly created in your folder, and that translation files in folder also look good, you can push the localized files back to the remote repository: vcs/android-native ts/android-native $ serge push The last and final step is to enable the full synchronization cycle. Edit the script by disabling the line and enabling the line. The latter command is equivalent to . In human language, this means that running will do everything a continuous localization is expected to do: pull the new contents from both your Git server and Smartcat, update localized resources and translation files, and push changes back to Git and Smartcat, respectively. sync-once.sh serge pull-ts localize push-ts serge sync serge pull pull-ts localize push-ts push serge sync Finally, run: ./sync-loop.sh Congratulations! You now live in the world of smooth continuous localization . (press Ctrl+C anytime to get back to reality) Running Serge in a non-interactive mode When you don't need an interactive shell (especially when you're running Serge on a dedicated server), you can use a provided wrapper, as follows: run-in-docker $ ./run- -docker serge localize configs/android-native.serge in or: $ ./run- -docker ./sync-loop.sh in Adding new projects In the paradigm of continuous localization, your Smartcat projects will be permanent; content in these projects will be constantly updated, reflecting the changes in your repositories and external content sources. You can create one project for your iOS application, another one for Android, for your website, documentation, and so on. To set up a new project (besides creating one in Smartcat), you will need to make a copy of to (of course, file and project names are up to you), and edit a new configuration file accordingly. configs/android-native.serge configs/project-b.serge Getting professional support At Smartcat, we strive to build delightful localization processes that work seamlessly and don't slow you down. We offer managed solutions and localization engineering services , so you don't have to figure this out all by yourself! as a part of the subscription Previously published at https://github.com/smartcatai/smartcat-serge-bootstrap-android-native

How To Localize Your Android App: A Step by Step Guide

At Transifex, we have been using for some time now to localize our React applications and we would like to showcase how easily you could do it in your application too. Transifex Native Why should you care about Transifex Native? Because Transifex Native is a redesign of the localization stack. Some of the traits of this new approach include: A unified localization syntax across all your projects. Ability to easily push content from your development or production environment. Transifex Native uses Over The Air (OTA) content delivery which means no need for files or back and forth between engineering and localization departments. It just works! But let's just go ahead and jump into the code and see what we can accomplish with a few lines of code and some terminal commands. Installing Dependencies We are going to showcase a simple React app with the help of the tool but the process is the same with any kind of React application. Our simple guide will start with a few commands to install all the required dependencies. create-react-app @ @ @ npx create-react-app txnative-demo cd txnative-demo npm install --save transifex/ native transifex/ react transifex/ cli npm start Next, we need to make sure we have the and environment variables. They are linked to the Transifex resource. The TOKEN is considered a public key that can read from a Transifex resource and the SECRET will be used later in our tutorial in order to push strings for translation to a Transifex resource. REACT_APP_TRANSIFEX_SECRET REACT_APP_TRANSIFEX_TOKEN The prefix is there so that the React application can in client code. REACT_APP_ resolve them Adding the Code Now that we've installed everything we need, we can open and replace its contents with the following code: App.js React ; { tx } ; { T } ;

tx.init({ : process.env.REACT_APP_TRANSIFEX_TOKEN, : }); { ( <p><T _str="hello world" /></p>
    </>
  );
}

export default App; import from 'react' import from '@transifex/native' import from '@transifex/react' token sourceLocale 'en' ( ) function App return <> Nothing fancy here right? We import our libraries, initialise Transifex Native with a token, and the project's source language. The most interesting thing here is the component. This is what marks a string that is translatable. We add our string to the attribute and when we push in a later stage this will be available in Transifex as a translatable string. <T> _str Here’s the result of what we built: Let’s also add a simple language picker with this code: React ; { tx } ; { T } ;
 
 tx.init({ : process.env.REACT_APP_TRANSIFEX_TOKEN, : }); { ( <p><T _str="hello world" /></p>
+      <button onClick={() => tx.setCurrentLocale('en')}>English</button>
+      <button onClick={() => tx.setCurrentLocale('el')}>Greek</button>
     </>
   );
 } import from 'react' import from '@transifex/native' import from '@transifex/react' token sourceLocale 'en' ( ) function App return <> We added two buttons that set the current language: Pushing Strings What we’ve done up until now is just hack our way through the code. We’ve marked our strings for translation with the component and we added two buttons to change languages, but as of now, this does nothing yet. The current state in Transifex Platform for our project is the following: We have one language: <T> And one resource with no strings inside: The next step is to push our translatable content to Transifex. This could be achieved with one command in our terminal: npx txjs-cli push \
    - - - src -token=$REACT_APP_TRANSIFEX_TOKEN \ -secret=$REACT_APP_TRANSIFEX_SECRET \ -verbose \ After we run this command we get an informative report about the strings that were parsed and pushed to Transifex: Parsing all files to detect translatable content...
⸨████████████████████████████████████████⸩ / /src/setupTests.js
✓ Processed file(s) and found translatable phrase.
✓ Content detected file(s).
/src/App.js
  └─ adb6d4ba2eded700fd14e66100fcf268: hello world
    └─ occurrences: [ ]
Uploading content to Transifex... Success
✓ Successfully pushed strings to Transifex.
Created strings: Updated strings: Skipped strings: Deleted strings: Failed strings: Errors: 5 5 5 1 in 1 "/src/App.js" 1 0 0 0 0 0 If we refresh the editor page we will see that we have one string available for the translation! Let’s translate this string: If we refresh our application and click on the “Greek” button we should see content translated: Toggling between languages we see that the translations are loaded without the need for an application reload! Taking It Up a Notch Our current language picker is hardcoded, so each time we add a new language we have to manually add a new button to our application. That’s boring. Let’s automate it! React ; { tx } ;
- { T } ;
+ { T, useLanguages } ;
 
 tx.init({ : process.env.REACT_APP_TRANSIFEX_TOKEN, : }); {
+ languages = useLanguages(); ( <p><T _str="hello world" /></p>
       <button onClick={() => tx.setCurrentLocale('en')}>English</button>
-      <button onClick={() => tx.setCurrentLocale('el')}>Greek</button>
+      {languages.map(({ code, name }) => (
+        <button key={code} onClick={() => tx.setCurrentLocale(code)}>
+          {name}
+        </button>
+      ))}
     </>
   );
 }
 
 export default App; import from 'react' import from '@transifex/native' import from '@transifex/react' import from '@transifex/react' token sourceLocale 'en' ( ) function App const return <> Simple changes again. We get the available languages from Transifex and we loop through these languages to create our switcher dynamically. Keep in mind that this is the last time we will change the code of our application! Let’s try and add a new language to Transifex and see what happens to our React application: And translate our new string to French: Let’s see what changed if we refresh our application. Voila! We got the new language without changing our code and the translation is available. Wrapping Up We’ve only touched the surface of Transifex Native but we managed to have a lot of progress in three simple steps: Mark our strings for translation through our code. Run a command to send these strings to Transifex. Translate. Not bad for ten minutes of work! If you want to try it yourself and see all the benefits of Transifex Native, you can express your interest here https://www.transifex.com/native/ And did we also mention that all this code is ? You can check out the code and of course, contribute to open-source https://github.com/transifex/transifex-javascript/ Thanks for reading and we hope we could save you some time during your next localization project! ( ) Co-authored by Thanos Kolovos and Konstantinos Bairaktaris

How To Localize A React Application Using Transifex Native

In 2017 I launched a College and University themed version of the game . College Cards, as I dubbed it, was my first ever ‘official business’, and as a 22 year old recent college grad, I was pretty excited when I sold $13,000 of the game to University of Wisconsin students just 45 days after launch. Cards Against Humanity How did I do it? Easy. I growth-hacked the College Cards Instagram page with fake followers, fake engagement, and fake everything to make it look like the game was . all the rage This way when I drove real traffic and real people to the Instagram account, it looked like College Cards was simply something you to own. had It worked well. Honestly, too well. The game went so viral that the intellectual property law firm representing the University demanded that I shut the whole thing down and threatened me with a trademark infringement lawsuit if I didn’t comply. Checkout written by the school newspaper at the time. this article Looking back, this was one of the best things to ever happen to me. It’s the reason I wound up pursuing the entrepreneurial path and why I was able to start a new company which has become 10X more valuable than College Cards ever could have been. But more on that later… Allow me to explain exactly how I growth-hacked Instagram to drive hundreds of product sales and thousands of dollars of revenues in a short period of time College Cards Instagram Follower Count = 0 The goal was fairly straightforward. Prior to launch, I wanted to create an engaging and seemingly popular Instagram page for College Cards that would showcase the game. This way, once I started driving traffic and real people to the Instagram page, they would be much more inclined to check it out, interact with a post, and perhaps even buy the game. I started out by buying 500 fake followers for the Instagram account. Perception is reality, and my plan was to make the account appear as if it was all the rage before the game was even launched. To buy the followers, I simply typed “buy Instagram followers” on Google, and went with a company that was using Google Adwords to bid on that search term. It might have cost me $20 back then to purchase 500 followers. I put in my credit card, added the , and voila! 500-ish followers followed the account by the next day. @College_Cards Instagram handle College Cards Instagram Follower Count = 500 Next, I needed a solid gallery of photos and content live on the Instagram page before I started driving traffic to it. This way once people landed on the account, they had content to peruse and tag/share with their friends. I took pictures of the game content with my iPhone. I intentionally made the combinations that I posted on Instagram as outrageous as possible. I knew that the more raunchy and ridiculous I could make it, the more buzz and word of mouth the Instagram page would generate. Fake Engagement 101 It wasn’t enough to just have fake followers. To make the account look like it was thriving and active, I also needed some of that Grade A fake engagement. I needed people liking and commenting on the game photos to create the illusion that the game was popular, hilarious, and fun. In the fake world of Instagram, manufacturing fony engagement isn’t hard to do. It’s just time consuming. Every time I’d post a new photo, I’d head over to Kylie Jenner’s Instagram account, open one of her recent photos, and comment something like: ‘LB’, ‘Lbbbbb’, or ‘LB LB :)’. You see, Instagram is a huge cesspool of fakers. ‘Engagement’ is the currency of the cesspool, and as a result, it has become commoditized. You can purchase fake engagement just like you can followers. There is a whole micro-economy that lives to generate this type of engagement. And there are huge numbers of people working day and night to try to game the cesspool system. People like me. By simply commenting LB (“Like back”) on the recent posts of insanely popular instagram accounts like Kylie Jenner, other poor souls would take the time to click on my profile and like my photos in hopes that I would return the favor and “Like back” theirs in return. Insane, right? Below is Kylie Jenner’s most recent post on Instagram. Take a look at the comment section, and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. So, this was my system. Post a hilarious and outrageous photo, comment hundreds of times on Kylie Jenner’s Instagram account to generate phony ‘likes’, and then do it all over again. My College Cards Instagram content was generating hundreds of likes this way, and the page was coming alive. Generating fake comments was harder. Especially for an Instagram account like College Cards. I could have simply commented “Comment back” or “CB” on Kylie’s posts, but doing this would only get me a bunch of pre-written comments like “So inspirational <3” or “Love THIS” (perhaps you’ve seen these fony comments on some of your friends’ Instagram posts!). I didn’t want these spam comments on my posts. I wanted real comments talking about how freakin’ awesome my card game was. It’s these types of comments that inspires people to take action and purchase the game. So I simply recruited my friends and asked them to comment on my new Instagram account for the game I was creating. I had sent them copies of the game prior, so they were commenting their honest opinions about the game—they just needed a little push from me! The Stage Was Set After a couple weeks worth of work, my Instagram account was done. I had about 12-15 photos in my gallery showcasing hilarious card combinations from the game. Each photo had more than 100 likes and were filled with comments from my friends saying how much fun it was. Pre-Launch At this point, I had spent months preparing for launch day. My launch plan was simple: send as much qualified traffic (University of Wisconsin students) as possible to the College Cards Instagram page. If my thesis was correct, this traffic and these people would check out all of the pictures and posts and I had worked so hard to generate and pump up with fake engagement. They would see how great this game was and potentially buy themselves a copy. To drive this qualified traffic to the Instagram page, I did a couple things. 1. Get UW students to post and tag @College_Cards in their Instagram stories Prior to the day of launch, I reached out to all of my UW friends and connections and explained the game I had created and how I really could use their help to get the word out on the day of launch buy tagging @College_Cards on their Instagram stories. All of my close friends were happy to do this for free. For others I offered discounts and free games in exchange for shoutouts. For everyone who agreed to participate, I sent a number of product pictures/card combinations of the game that showcased it being played. I instructed them to write whatever they wanted about the game and simply tag @College_cards on the day of launch. Using this method, I had between 30-50 Instagram accounts ready to shout out the game on launch day. 2. Aggressively follow as many UW students as possible On the day of launch (as well as days following the launch), I spent hours and hours simply ‘following’ students on Instagram who went to UW Madison. This was extremely time consuming, but for every person I followed, they received a notification showing that “College Cards” just followed them. They then proceeded to check out our instagram account showcasing the game. The Launch The combination of these two things sent a wave of traffic to the Instagram account on the day of launch. My phone completely blew up that day with notifications, alerts, and messages. Just as planned, people were tagging their friends, commenting, liking, and messaging in asking how they could get a copy of the game. The techniques mentioned above drove thousands of page impressions and hundreds of click throughs to the website where the game was for sale. The game was selling fast, and that first day I sold more than $2,400 of College Cards to students who found us through our Instagram account. 45 days following the launch, I had officially sold more than $13,000 of the game almost solely through Instagram. So then what happened? About a month after the launch, the virality of the game started to take on a life of its own. School newspapers were talking about, kids on campus were playing the game with their friends, and those friends were then buying the game and playing with their friends—starting the process all over again. The flywheel was rolling. Unfortunately it all came crashing down once the intellectual property law firm that represents the University caught wind and demanded I shut the whole thing down. I wrote about the entirety of these events in my blog post describing exactly how I manufactured, marketed, and wound up having to shut down the game here: . The Story of College Cards Takeaway College Cards was my first official business venture. I had an absolute blast building it, and more importantly I learned so much doing so. Since then, I have started a number of other businesses like which has allowed me to quit my “9 to 5” and live life on my terms. While building these other companies, I’ve learned even more about the best possible ways to drive amounts of traffic, users, and customers. this tax software company insane I love sharing these real-life growth tactics with as many people as possible. If you enjoyed this article, you should I talk about my first-hand experience with the best possible ways to market and grow your business in today’s competitive environment. I’ll see you in the inbox! sign up for my email list here !

How I Localized Cards Against Humanity, Gamed Instagram, Made $13,000, & Got Shut Down by University

Mufta.org The largest impact of the decentralizing news and information may be in how humans culturally and politically self-identify. Fundamentally, culture is the way, manner or behavior in which we satisfy the requirements of the human condition. How we gather and prepare food, communicate, or find inner peace, all stem from tried and partially proven methods our communities teach us. Royals, nobles, and clergy have long held the monopoly on collective problem-solving, resource management, and culture. Blockchain Royalty-based governing systems had often bloody inefficiencies when power needed to be transferred, hence the rise of the nation-state. The nation-state construct is a shift from loyalty to the king, to loyalty to the kingdom. has a notable role in political advancement — the Printing Press led to an increased sharing of ideas and demand for rights. However, the Printing Press also led to a new level of standardization, documentation and bureaucratic form generation; increasing institutional performance. The nation-state has its roots in institutional legitimacy that organizations took from royals, nobles and clergy through the ability to document process and record keep. Technology The Arab Spring Social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook proudly accept their roles in 2011 Arab uprisings that brought down super-entrenched power structures across the Middle East and North Africa. Specifically, social media’s facilitation of horizontal communications helped popular movements share revolutionary ideas, procedures, tactics and even makeshift weapons. Since 2011, state and non-state organizations have become clever in controlling the flow of information on these platforms. As nation-states and intelligence organizations meddle on Facebook and Twitter, the Blockchain offers the people a strong counter-punch. Blockchain transperency is the latest escalation in the arms race against Fake News. The decentralized zero-trust media environment the Blockchain offers will have the greatest impact on local cooperation. Peer-to-peer idea and news sharing will help solve localized problems with localized solutions. This horizontal information and solution sharing will usher new levels of sustainable collective problem-solving. The ubiquity of cell phones, cameras and pictorial “emojis” breaks the monopoly on information held by those who can use an alphabet. Providing access to horizontally shared information increases the relevance of news and information to the basic levels of human community. I’ve had conversations with remote African villagers about US and European politics thanks to the BBC. However interesting and enlightening villagers’ views on foreign current events may be; the news and information these communities desperately need aren’t spawning in London or New York. Centralized news won’t help these villagers overcome their daily challenges. In most cases, this Blockchain fueled localization will happen gradually as local governance out perform physically and administratively distant centers of political power. As a result, more problems solving at lower levels; less of society’s issues will be pushed to higher centralized sovereigns. Mufta.org

Blockchain: localize sharing; localize identity

A of an application name in a project and in a native project is a similar process. localization React Native Localize an iOS application name Create a new file in the root folder in XCode: InfoPlist.string Creating InfoPlist.string in Xcode Add a default application name to the file, like this: "CFBundleDisplayName" = "Example Application Name";"CFBundleName" = "Example Application Name"; Where “Example Application Name” is your application name. Select the file and press “Localize…” button on the right side. Then press “Localize” in the popup to add the current file as Base language. Change the Display Name as well, because newest iOS versions uses it as a fallback instead of Base language: Now add languages in XCode you want to localize the application name. Press “+” in “Localizations” of Info tab of your project. Adding new language in XCode And choose file to localize. InfoPlist.string For each language you added XCode will create a file for InfoPlist.strings. Change the content of localized files: That’s all! Localize an Android application name By default an Android application name is in strings.xml file : ./android/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml Similar to iOS, we’re going to localize file. Let’s create a new folder inside with name like , where is a language you want to localize, it’s Deutsch in our case ( ). strings res values-de de full list of codes Copy to the folder, and change the application name. strings.xml Done. More info about Android localization Thanks.

Localize an Application Name in React Native

In today’s technology landscape, the effects of Globalization are seen everywhere — the ability to buy products from most countries, interact with business partners from another continent (virtually), and even the real-time social media following of the news, regardless of where it took place. In the landscape of Globalization, the shift in focus has spun back around to hyper-local communities of consumers through a term called “Localization”. While the words being thrown around are lofty and larger topics to discuss, for the purposes of this blog, Localization will be characterized as serving the same original content to numerous consumers over different geographies in their specified localized language. The same content can feel like a tailored experience when localized properly. Today I will be demonstrating how to build a basic example of a localized application with content powered by the . Adding localization to your Cosmic JS object types allows you to add versions of your content in different languages and locales by using simple Ajax requests to switch content out between the various geographies. The that I will be using is a content-ready web application from . Cosmic JS CMS API Localization Example App Cosmic JS I’ll be using for this example app. Cosmic JS is an that makes managing and building websites and applications faster and more intuitive. By decoupling content from code, Cosmic JS empowers developer flexibility while ensuring content editors can plan and deploy content as it best suits them. We’ll be using Cosmic JS to install our example app, deploy and make content updates moving forward from the . Cosmic JS API-first CMS cloud-based Content Management Platform If you haven’t already, get started by for . Helpful resources are provided below to streamline your development operations. Signing Up Cosmic JS Localization Example App Page Localization Example App Demo Localization Example App Codebase on GitHub Video Tutorial: Localization 1. Create a New Bucket Your bucket’s name is the name of your website, project, client or web application that you are building. I named mine “Localization” to remain concise for our example blog. 2. Install the Localization Example Application Once you’ve signed up and named your bucket, you’ll be prompted to start from scratch or “see some apps”. For this blog I simply clicked the right button to “see some apps” so that I could begin the installation process for the Cosmic JS Localization Example App. App Installation Options gives you the ability to filter between programming languages such as , , , and more. Cosmic JS Node.js PHP React AngularJS Simply click “Install” underneath the icon to get started, or visit the . Localization Example Cosmic JS Apps Page 3. Deploy to Web I clicked “Deploy to Web”. I can then edit Objects while my web application is deploying. You will receive an email confirming the deployment of your web application. If you encounter any issues during deployment, you may be routed to the . Cosmic JS Troubleshooting Page Confirm Deploy Location and Branch Deploy Branch Confirmation Modal I’m drawing from a repo, my branch is clarified and I have a deployed location that matches my slug / bucket name that I made in Step 1. Deploy, Deploy Away A little reassurance that you’ll soon be up, alive and well on the web. :) 4. Edit Global Objects Now you can edit Global Objects, Files, Users, Media and more. Editing is a dream come true in the Cosmic JS Dashboard. To read more about how was built with editing content in mind, read . Cosmic JS Building With the Content Editor in Mind App Deployment Confirmation You’ll receive an email confirming your deployed web application, as well as links and instructions for accessing your live application and managing its content thereafter. It’s as easy as signing up, creating a new bucket, installing the web application(s), edit objects and deploy! I get my confirmation email to access my web application and also see my options for bucket upgrades like custom domains, one-click SSL, webhooks and localization. is an API-first cloud-based content management platform that makes it easy to manage applications and content. If you have questions about the Cosmic JS API, please reach out to the founders on or . Cosmic JS Twitter Slack is the Co-Founder & CMO of , an API-first Cloud-based that decouples content from code, allowing devs to build slick apps and websites in any programming language they want. Carson Gibbons Cosmic JS Content Management Platform

Build a Localized Application in 4 Steps

By Jassem Osseiran, Co-Founder of PlaysOut In the rapidly evolving landscape of gaming, industry veterans are aiming to bridge the gap between traditional web2 games and the burgeoning world of web3. Co-founded by industry veterans with extensive experience in both gaming and blockchain technology, PlaysOut's mission is to integrate mini-games into major traffic platforms, providing access to Web3 tools and making them available through popular messenger apps and other platforms with large user bases. This approach seeks to create a seamless gaming experience that leverages the strengths of both web2 and web3 environments. A Serious Technological Edge PlaysOut leverages a distinct technological framework that sets it apart from traditional platforms, providing easy access to games outside of H5/webview and standalone mobile games. Using a mini-game container technology, we’ve created a closed runtime environment. This approach enhances security through sandbox technology, ensuring that games run in an isolated and protected environment, enhancing security, and protecting both game developers and players from potential vulnerabilities and threats. By optimizing game resource preloading, PlaysOut significantly improves game loading speeds and enhances native capabilities. This results in a more seamless and responsive gaming experience. PlaysOut's focus on game performance optimization also leads to smoother graphics and a more enjoyable gameplay experience. This optimization allows mini-games to achieve near-native fluidity while maintaining the convenience and same accessibility of H5. The technological advancements enabled by PlaysOut allows mini-games to support medium to heavy games with rich content, providing a gaming experience that rivals standalone mobile games while retaining the user-friendliness of H5/webview platforms. It’s All About Your People The strength of PlaysOut lies in the combined expertise of its core team, which encompasses deep knowledge of both gaming and web3. The core team is highly skilled in Web3, having been active in the field since 2014 with over 10 years of industry experience. Our expertise covers a wide range of domains, including underlying public chains, DEX, cross-chain bridges, DeFi, GameFi, and NFTs. This team has both the technological and operational capabilities needed to navigate the complex Web3 landscape. The synergy of gaming and Web3 expertise at an S-tier level provides a solid foundation for PlaysOut's mission to create a world-class mini-game platform that bridges Web2 and Web3. With a diverse background in Technology, Venture Building, Finance, Web3, and Tencent technology, the technical team lead brings 20 years of experience in the gaming industry. Prior to joining Playsout, our team was responsible for the overall technical operations of Tencent's independent game studio and possesses technical capabilities at the level of all major game engines. Our profound understanding of the technical principles and architecture of WeChat mini-games, combined with a decade of experience in the Web3 environment, is a significant asset. In complete synergy with the technical team, the product operations team comes from major game companies such as Perfect World and SNK. The team product lead has 20 years of experience in the gaming industry and has served as Vice President of Distribution, launching over 25 international games. Partnerships Give the Ultimate Advantage PlaysOut's unique collaboration advantages further bolster its position in the market. With Tencent as a partner for mini-programs, PlaysOut secured status as the only overseas company to achieve this collaboration at several exclusive levels. China's vast market of over 400,000 WeChat mini-game developers, producing tens of thousands of mini-game products annually, presents significant opportunities for the space. The primary collaboration advantages for these developers are: Efficient Integration Advantage Independently developed mini-game container technology allows for seamless integration similar to WeChat mini-games. This ensures that mini-game products from the Chinese and Asian markets can be easily adapted and integrated into the PlaysOut platform, localized and deployed for global traffic access.


Developer Trust Relationships Establishing strong relationships with developers sets the stage for seamless global positioning. Some notable groups in the space include  4399, Huaxia Leyou, Beijing Haibi, Stars Interactive Entertainment, Shanghai Coolreal, Chengdu MUMU, and Beijing Aodun Network Technology.


Web3 Deployment Expertise
Creating and facilitating an environment for developers and games entering the Web3 space through access toessential tools such as wallet, swap, and token infrastructures enables seamless transitions and optimization of traffic performance and behavior across various game titles. One of the core challenges faced by web3 games is integrating into the broader gaming industry. The vision centers on creating a self-sustaining ecosystem where all participants — game developers, players, investors, and gaming platforms — are driven by more than just profit. However, it is impossible to ignore profit as a driver, and the gaming industry is among the top 10 most profitable industries globally, serving as a strong monetization terminal for the internet industry. Ideally, the next WeChat of web3 gaming would become a true global mini-games publisher, and combined with the intrinsic profitability of games with web3, they would ultimately elevate the overall web3 ecosystem and bring entertaining and profitable games and players into the space. PlaysOut’s platform and SDK solution tackles the profitability challenges faced by game developers and traffic providers worldwide, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to earn rewards for their effort and engagement with games. The profitability of games serves as the underlying support for PlaysOut, upon which web3 empowerment is built, amplifying the value of excellent products. PlaysOut is poised to revolutionize web3 gaming by fostering a thriving community through innovative developer and gamer tools. This focus on a healthy ecosystem will attract high-quality games and players while also engaging better with the existing audience. By setting a new standard for transitioning web2 games and building a unified platform, PlaysOut is on track to become a central force in the future of gaming, where the best of both worlds collide. About Jassem Osseiran Jassem ("J") is an experienced entrepreneur and operational investor based in London. With a deep understanding of global finance gained through his Economics degree at the University of San Francisco, Jassem began his career as a tech venture builder with Rocket Internet in New York. He then shifted his focus to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), managing media portfolios and founding startups tailored to the region. A sought-after advisor for high-growth brands and cutting-edge technology platforms, Jassem has orchestrated multiple successful exits, including a notable IPO on the London Stock Exchange. In 2020, he founded 611 Capital Investments, concentrating on investments, incubation, and market scalability across the EU, the Middle East, and Asia. Currently, Jassem is the founder and chief strategy officer of PlaysOut Technologies, spearheading the commercial framework for seamlessly integrating mini-games within super apps. This initiative represents a significant shift in the digital ecosystem, leveraging evolving Web3 technologies to unlock immense potential for mini-games in the digital space. Jassem remains a close advisor and partner to multiple global institutions and key opinion leaders. About PlaysOut PlaysOut is a globally oriented open platform for mini-programs that fully aligns with the Weixin Mini-Program framework. It provides SDK interfaces for super apps, offering a rich array of mini-program and mini-game content. Additionally, PlaysOut streamlines the integration process for developers, providing convenient tools and seamless access to mini-program and mini-game products. This story was distributed under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here. By Jassem Osseiran, Co-Founder of PlaysOut By Jassem Osseiran, Co-Founder of PlaysOut PlaysOut PlaysOut In the rapidly evolving landscape of gaming, industry veterans are aiming to bridge the gap between traditional web2 games and the burgeoning world of web3. Co-founded by industry veterans with extensive experience in both gaming and blockchain technology, PlaysOut's mission is to integrate mini-games into major traffic platforms, providing access to Web3 tools and making them available through popular messenger apps and other platforms with large user bases. This approach seeks to create a seamless gaming experience that leverages the strengths of both web2 and web3 environments. rapidly evolving landscape rapidly evolving landscape A Serious Technological Edge A Serious Technological Edge A Serious Technological Edge PlaysOut leverages a distinct technological framework that sets it apart from traditional platforms, providing easy access to games outside of H5/webview and standalone mobile games. Using a mini-game container technology, we’ve created a closed runtime environment. This approach enhances security through sandbox technology, ensuring that games run in an isolated and protected environment, enhancing security, and protecting both game developers and players from potential vulnerabilities and threats. By optimizing game resource preloading, PlaysOut significantly improves game loading speeds and enhances native capabilities. This results in a more seamless and responsive gaming experience. PlaysOut's focus on game performance optimization also leads to smoother graphics and a more enjoyable gameplay experience. This optimization allows mini-games to achieve near-native fluidity while maintaining the convenience and same accessibility of H5. The technological advancements enabled by PlaysOut allows mini-games to support medium to heavy games with rich content, providing a gaming experience that rivals standalone mobile games while retaining the user-friendliness of H5/webview platforms. It’s All About Your People It’s All About Your People It’s All About Your People The strength of PlaysOut lies in the combined expertise of its core team, which encompasses deep knowledge of both gaming and web3. The core team is highly skilled in Web3, having been active in the field since 2014 with over 10 years of industry experience. Our expertise covers a wide range of domains, including underlying public chains, DEX, cross-chain bridges, DeFi, GameFi, and NFTs. This team has both the technological and operational capabilities needed to navigate the complex Web3 landscape. The synergy of gaming and Web3 expertise at an S-tier level provides a solid foundation for PlaysOut's mission to create a world-class mini-game platform that bridges Web2 and Web3. With a diverse background in Technology, Venture Building, Finance, Web3, and Tencent technology, the technical team lead brings 20 years of experience in the gaming industry. Prior to joining Playsout, our team was responsible for the overall technical operations of Tencent's independent game studio and possesses technical capabilities at the level of all major game engines. Our profound understanding of the technical principles and architecture of WeChat mini-games, combined with a decade of experience in the Web3 environment, is a significant asset. In complete synergy with the technical team, the product operations team comes from major game companies such as Perfect World and SNK. The team product lead has 20 years of experience in the gaming industry and has served as Vice President of Distribution, launching over 25 international games. Partnerships Give the Ultimate Advantage Partnerships Give the Ultimate Advantage Partnerships Give the Ultimate Advantage PlaysOut's unique collaboration advantages further bolster its position in the market. With Tencent as a partner for mini-programs, PlaysOut secured status as the only overseas company to achieve this collaboration at several exclusive levels. China's vast market of over 400,000 WeChat mini-game developers, producing tens of thousands of mini-game products annually, presents significant opportunities for the space. The primary collaboration advantages for these developers are: Efficient Integration Advantage Independently developed mini-game container technology allows for seamless integration similar to WeChat mini-games. This ensures that mini-game products from the Chinese and Asian markets can be easily adapted and integrated into the PlaysOut platform, localized and deployed for global traffic access. Developer Trust Relationships Establishing strong relationships with developers sets the stage for seamless global positioning. Some notable groups in the space include  4399, Huaxia Leyou, Beijing Haibi, Stars Interactive Entertainment, Shanghai Coolreal, Chengdu MUMU, and Beijing Aodun Network Technology. Web3 Deployment Expertise
Creating and facilitating an environment for developers and games entering the Web3 space through access toessential tools such as wallet, swap, and token infrastructures enables seamless transitions and optimization of traffic performance and behavior across various game titles. Efficient Integration Advantage Independently developed mini-game container technology allows for seamless integration similar to WeChat mini-games. This ensures that mini-game products from the Chinese and Asian markets can be easily adapted and integrated into the PlaysOut platform, localized and deployed for global traffic access. Efficient Integration Advantage Independently developed mini-game container technology allows for seamless integration similar to WeChat mini-games. This ensures that mini-game products from the Chinese and Asian markets can be easily adapted and integrated into the PlaysOut platform, localized and deployed for global traffic access. Developer Trust Relationships Establishing strong relationships with developers sets the stage for seamless global positioning. Some notable groups in the space include  4399, Huaxia Leyou, Beijing Haibi, Stars Interactive Entertainment, Shanghai Coolreal, Chengdu MUMU, and Beijing Aodun Network Technology. Developer Trust Relationships Establishing strong relationships with developers sets the stage for seamless global positioning. Some notable groups in the space include  4399, Huaxia Leyou, Beijing Haibi, Stars Interactive Entertainment, Shanghai Coolreal, Chengdu MUMU, and Beijing Aodun Network Technology. Web3 Deployment Expertise
Creating and facilitating an environment for developers and games entering the Web3 space through access toessential tools such as wallet, swap, and token infrastructures enables seamless transitions and optimization of traffic performance and behavior across various game titles. Web3 Deployment Expertise
Creating and facilitating an environment for developers and games entering the Web3 space through access toessential tools such as wallet, swap, and token infrastructures enables seamless transitions and optimization of traffic performance and behavior across various game titles. One of the core challenges faced by web3 games is integrating into the broader gaming industry. The vision centers on creating a self-sustaining ecosystem where all participants — game developers, players, investors, and gaming platforms — are driven by more than just profit. However, it is impossible to ignore profit as a driver, and the gaming industry is among the top 10 most profitable industries globally, serving as a strong monetization terminal for the internet industry. Ideally, the next WeChat of web3 gaming would become a true global mini-games publisher, and combined with the intrinsic profitability of games with web3, they would ultimately elevate the overall web3 ecosystem and bring entertaining and profitable games and players into the space. PlaysOut’s platform and SDK solution tackles the profitability challenges faced by game developers and traffic providers worldwide, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to earn rewards for their effort and engagement with games. The profitability of games serves as the underlying support for PlaysOut, upon which web3 empowerment is built, amplifying the value of excellent products. PlaysOut is poised to revolutionize web3 gaming by fostering a thriving community through innovative developer and gamer tools. This focus on a healthy ecosystem will attract high-quality games and players while also engaging better with the existing audience. By setting a new standard for transitioning web2 games and building a unified platform, PlaysOut is on track to become a central force in the future of gaming, where the best of both worlds collide. About Jassem Osseiran About Jassem Osseiran About Jassem Osseiran Jassem ("J") is an experienced entrepreneur and operational investor based in London. With a deep understanding of global finance gained through his Economics degree at the University of San Francisco, Jassem began his career as a tech venture builder with Rocket Internet in New York. He then shifted his focus to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), managing media portfolios and founding startups tailored to the region. A sought-after advisor for high-growth brands and cutting-edge technology platforms, Jassem has orchestrated multiple successful exits, including a notable IPO on the London Stock Exchange. In 2020, he founded 611 Capital Investments, concentrating on investments, incubation, and market scalability across the EU, the Middle East, and Asia. Currently, Jassem is the founder and chief strategy officer of PlaysOut Technologies, spearheading the commercial framework for seamlessly integrating mini-games within super apps. This initiative represents a significant shift in the digital ecosystem, leveraging evolving Web3 technologies to unlock immense potential for mini-games in the digital space. Jassem remains a close advisor and partner to multiple global institutions and key opinion leaders. About PlaysOut About PlaysOut About PlaysOut PlaysOut is a globally oriented open platform for mini-programs that fully aligns with the Weixin Mini-Program framework. It provides SDK interfaces for super apps, offering a rich array of mini-program and mini-game content. Additionally, PlaysOut streamlines the integration process for developers, providing convenient tools and seamless access to mini-program and mini-game products. PlaysOut PlaysOut This story was distributed under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here. This story was distributed under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here . here here

PlaysOut: Bridging Worlds, One Mini-Game at a Time

প্লেসআউট: ব্রিজিং ওয়ার্ল্ডস, এক সময়ে একটি মিনি-গেম

PlaysOut: Welten verbinden, ein Minispiel nach dem anderen

PlaysOut: Uniendo mundos, un minijuego a la vez

PlaysOut : Bridging Worlds, un mini-jeu à la fois

प्लेज़आउट: ब्रिजिंग वर्ल्ड्स, एक समय में एक मिनी-गेम

PlaysOut: ミニゲームで世界をつなぐ

PlaysOut: 세계 연결, 한 번에 하나의 미니 게임

PlaysOut: unindo mundos, um minijogo de cada vez

PlaysOut: соединяя миры, по одной мини-игре за раз

PlaysOut: Dünyalar Arasında Köprü Kurmak, Her Seferinde Bir Mini Oyun

PlaysOut: Cầu nối các thế giới, mỗi lần một trò chơi nhỏ

PlaysOut：连接世界，每次玩一款迷你游戏

NeRF Editing and Inpainting Techniques: Conclusion and References

Most people don’t know that behind huge renewable energy projects lies a hidden cost—e-waste from solar panels. This is becoming a significant problem in places like India, where solar energy investment is booming. With a lifespan that lasts between 25 and 30 years, we are now discovering that this energy alternative has become one of the largest contributors to modern e-waste. This isn’t expected to slow down as countries worldwide continue to announce new renewable energy projects in the years to come. For example, Waree Energies, an India-based solar panel company, recently announced it would establish its first U.S. solar module manufacturing facility in Texas, which is looking to open its door by 2025. The rush to build large-scale projects often prioritizes growth over sustainability. However, there’s a better approach: empowering communities and individuals through smaller-scale solar solutions. Let’s examine how solar panels contribute to major e-waste and how the sector can channel solutions to this issue. Big e-waste contributors Solar panels are commonly referred to as a green technology, yet their environmental footprint extends beyond their operational phase. Past its lifecycle, this technology pollutes before going to market with a wasteful production process and a polluting afterlife. The production of solar panels involves extracting and processing raw materials such as silicon, silver, and various rare earth elements—a process that is energy-intensive and generates significant emissions. In fact, experts say the waste will be more costly than the impact on electricity production. The end-of-life stage of solar panels also presents a significant challenge. While the lifespan of a solar panel is typically 25-30 years, disposal and recycling infrastructure is not adequately developed, yet it requires very meticulous processes to avoid causing environmental and health risks. Many panels end up in landfills, racking up e-waste. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), planet Earth could see larger amounts of annual solar panel waste by the early 2030s, projecting a total of 28 million tonnes by 2025. Unfortunately, reusing solar panels hasn’t provided much of a solution to the growing problem, including for residential purposes. Used panels, which may have reduced efficiency, don’t offer significant savings. With installation costs and other equipment making up about half the cost of a residential solar array, the marginal savings on used panels do not justify their lower output. Thankfully, modern solar panels have become more affordable and efficient, providing an incentive for residential properties to replace existing ones and for other homeowners to join the solar energy revolution. As a temporary solution, many expired solar panels are being sent to developing countries to power water pumps for farming in low-income communities. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mitigate the overall environmental impact it poses in the near future. Investing in Smaller-Scale Solutions Investing in smaller-scale and community-focused solutions is a promising strategy to mitigate the e-waste issue while still benefiting from solar technology. In the first half of 2023, $358 billion was invested in the renewable energy sector, with $335 billion directed towards project deployment through asset finance and small-scale solar initiatives. This approach emphasizes producing just the right amount of energy needed for specific applications, reducing the excess and waste associated with large-scale installations. In recent years, supporting small-scale initiatives has proven to be a valuable approach to tackling the issue. A recent study comparing large and small solar PV systems confirmed that small-scale solar solutions are less environmentally harmful than large-scale solar systems. Additionally, smaller solar panels can effectively meet the needs of communities with limited access to reliable power sources. These panels can provide essential services like lighting, which is crucial for safety and running daily activities. For example, our team at Techko Group witnessed first-hand the impact a small-scale solar solution can have on a community—the Taiwanese Atayal Tribe. During a heavy storm, our solar-powered lights enabled their local school to continue its Halloween costume parade despite power outages, showcasing localized solar projects’ immediate and practical benefits. Prioritizing small-scale, community-driven projects can meet local energy needs without the downsides of large-scale installations. An example of successful implementation can be seen in various regions like Africa, where off-grid solar solutions have provided reliable electricity to remote villages, enhancing quality of life and economic opportunities without contributing significantly to e-waste. While intentional practices in clean tech production are required, including government regulations and efficient recycling programs, investing in smaller communities is another step in fostering sustainable development. Localized solar projects reduce the technology’s environmental impact by cutting down on transportation emissions, avoiding massive waste, and providing tailored energy solutions that match the community’s needs. For renewable energy solutions like solar, it’s all about starting small before going big. Ted Ko, President of The Techko Group Most people don’t know that behind huge renewable energy projects lies a hidden cost—e-waste from solar panels. This is becoming a significant problem in places like India , where solar energy investment is booming. With a lifespan that lasts between 25 and 30 years, we are now discovering that this energy alternative has become one of the largest contributors to modern e-waste. significant problem in places like India This isn’t expected to slow down as countries worldwide continue to announce new renewable energy projects in the years to come. For example, Waree Energies, an India-based solar panel company, recently announced it would establish its first U.S. solar module manufacturing facility in Texas, which is looking to open its door by 2025. recently announced The rush to build large-scale projects often prioritizes growth over sustainability. However, there’s a better approach: empowering communities and individuals through smaller-scale solar solutions. Let’s examine how solar panels contribute to major e-waste and how the sector can channel solutions to this issue. Big e-waste contributors Solar panels are commonly referred to as a green technology, yet their environmental footprint extends beyond their operational phase. Past its lifecycle, this technology pollutes before going to market with a wasteful production process and a polluting afterlife. The production of solar panels involves extracting and processing raw materials such as silicon, silver, and various rare earth elements—a process that is energy-intensive and generates significant emissions. In fact, experts say the waste will be more costly than the impact on electricity production. more costly The end-of-life stage of solar panels also presents a significant challenge. While the lifespan of a solar panel is typically 25-30 years, disposal and recycling infrastructure is not adequately developed, yet it requires very meticulous processes to avoid causing environmental and health risks. Many panels end up in landfills, racking up e-waste. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), planet Earth could see larger amounts of annual solar panel waste by the early 2030s, projecting a total of 28 million tonnes by 2025. 28 million tonnes Unfortunately, reusing solar panels hasn’t provided much of a solution to the growing problem, including for residential purposes. Used panels, which may have reduced efficiency, don’t offer significant savings. With installation costs and other equipment making up about half the cost of a residential solar array, the marginal savings on used panels do not justify their lower output. Thankfully, modern solar panels have become more affordable and efficient, providing an incentive for residential properties to replace existing ones and for other homeowners to join the solar energy revolution. As a temporary solution, many expired solar panels are being sent to developing countries to power water pumps for farming in low-income communities. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mitigate the overall environmental impact it poses in the near future. Investing in Smaller-Scale Solutions Investing in smaller-scale and community-focused solutions is a promising strategy to mitigate the e-waste issue while still benefiting from solar technology. In the first half of 2023, $358 billion was invested in the renewable energy sector, with $335 billion directed towards project deployment through asset finance and small-scale solar initiatives. This approach emphasizes producing just the right amount of energy needed for specific applications, reducing the excess and waste associated with large-scale installations. $358 billion was invested In recent years, supporting small-scale initiatives has proven to be a valuable approach to tackling the issue. A recent study comparing large and small solar PV systems confirmed that small-scale solar solutions are less environmentally harmful than large-scale solar systems. recent study Additionally, smaller solar panels can effectively meet the needs of communities with limited access to reliable power sources. These panels can provide essential services like lighting, which is crucial for safety and running daily activities. For example, our team at Techko Group witnessed first-hand the impact a small-scale solar solution can have on a community—the Taiwanese Atayal Tribe. During a heavy storm, our solar-powered lights enabled their local school to continue its Halloween costume parade despite power outages, showcasing localized solar projects’ immediate and practical benefits. Prioritizing small-scale, community-driven projects can meet local energy needs without the downsides of large-scale installations. An example of successful implementation can be seen in various regions like Africa, where off-grid solar solutions have provided reliable electricity to remote villages, enhancing quality of life and economic opportunities without contributing significantly to e-waste. While intentional practices in clean tech production are required, including government regulations and efficient recycling programs, investing in smaller communities is another step in fostering sustainable development. Localized solar projects reduce the technology’s environmental impact by cutting down on transportation emissions, avoiding massive waste, and providing tailored energy solutions that match the community’s needs. For renewable energy solutions like solar, it’s all about starting small before going big. Ted Ko, President of The Techko Group Ted Ko, President of The Techko Group Ted Ko, President of The Techko Group Ted Ko , President of The Techko Group Ted Ko Techko Group

How Small-Scale Solar Systems Can Mitigate E-Waste and Empower Communities

In recent months, OVER has been intensely focused on its 3D mapping campaign, developing tools and designing incentives to achieve the goal of creating the latest 3D map of the world. You’ve probably already seen some of the OVRMaps created by their community members. These aren’t just point clouds or fly-through videos; they are real-time 3D environments you can freely explore from both mobile and desktop devices. https://youtu.be/VTFzwJlPyOg?embedable=true The Power of OVRMaps in AR Experiences The first simple answer is that once an OVRMap is created for a location, it becomes possible to create AR experiences that are simply not achievable using only GPS to contextualize assets in space. These AR experiences are seamlessly integrated with the physical space using a technology called VPS (Visual Positioning System), which enables centimeter precision in re-localization, both indoors and outdoors. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg. OVRMaps enable much more; they create portals between the physical and virtual worlds, breaking the barriers between AR and VR experiences. Bridging the Gap Between AR and VR To better understand this, let’s dive into the specific characteristics of AR and VR. Traditionally, we can draw a clear line between AR and VR experiences. AR blends digital assets with the physical world, while VR offers a completely virtual environment detached from the physical world. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. The main drawback of VR is that it completely detaches you from the physical world. While this can be desirable, we must remember that we are, at least for the moment, physical beings, and there is only a limited amount of time we can spend in such an alternative reality. The recent launch of Apple Vision Pro addresses this issue by emphasizing AR over VR. “When you first put on Vision Pro, you see your space and everything in it,” was a key statement in the much-anticipated keynote. Conversely, VR’s clear advantage over AR is non-locality or accessibility: visiting or meeting in a virtual environment is effortless while sharing a localized AR experience is currently impossible. Imagine you create an amazing AR experience, like a reconstruction of a gladiator fight inside the Colosseum, which can be experienced locally with AR. How can you share it with people who are not physically there? OVRMaps is the solution. Combining the Best of Both Worlds OVRMaps blends the strengths of AR and VR into a unique experience. A mapped OVRLand enables precise local AR experiences in the physical location while adding the non-locality component of VR. This means that AR content can also be experienced remotely inside the digital twin of the location. https://youtu.be/LjvrZSOFnTk?embedable=true This combination of AR and VR strengths creates a unique experience and represents a giant leap in the accessibility of geo-localized AR content. It offers a new means for AR creators to share their content with the world, blending the tangible with the virtual in unprecedented ways. Experience the future of AR and VR with OVRMaps, and see how this innovative platform can transform the way you interact with both the physical and digital worlds. In recent months, OVER has been intensely focused on its 3D mapping campaign, developing tools and designing incentives to achieve the goal of creating the latest 3D map of the world. You’ve probably already seen some of the OVRMaps created by their community members. These aren’t just point clouds or fly-through videos; they are real-time 3D environments you can freely explore from both mobile and desktop devices. https://youtu.be/VTFzwJlPyOg?embedable=true https://youtu.be/VTFzwJlPyOg?embedable=true The Power of OVRMaps in AR Experiences The Power of OVRMaps in AR Experiences The first simple answer is that once an OVRMap is created for a location, it becomes possible to create AR experiences that are simply not achievable using only GPS to contextualize assets in space. These AR experiences are seamlessly integrated with the physical space using a technology called VPS (Visual Positioning System), which enables centimeter precision in re-localization, both indoors and outdoors. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg. OVRMaps enable much more; they create portals between the physical and virtual worlds, breaking the barriers between AR and VR experiences. Bridging the Gap Between AR and VR Bridging the Gap Between AR and VR To better understand this, let’s dive into the specific characteristics of AR and VR. Traditionally, we can draw a clear line between AR and VR experiences. AR blends digital assets with the physical world, while VR offers a completely virtual environment detached from the physical world. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. The main drawback of VR is that it completely detaches you from the physical world. While this can be desirable, we must remember that we are, at least for the moment, physical beings, and there is only a limited amount of time we can spend in such an alternative reality. The recent launch of Apple Vision Pro addresses this issue by emphasizing AR over VR. “When you first put on Vision Pro, you see your space and everything in it,” was a key statement in the much-anticipated keynote. Conversely, VR’s clear advantage over AR is non-locality or accessibility: visiting or meeting in a virtual environment is effortless while sharing a localized AR experience is currently impossible. Imagine you create an amazing AR experience, like a reconstruction of a gladiator fight inside the Colosseum, which can be experienced locally with AR. How can you share it with people who are not physically there? OVRMaps is the solution. Combining the Best of Both Worlds Combining the Best of Both Worlds OVRMaps blends the strengths of AR and VR into a unique experience. A mapped OVRLand enables precise local AR experiences in the physical location while adding the non-locality component of VR. This means that AR content can also be experienced remotely inside the digital twin of the location. https://youtu.be/LjvrZSOFnTk?embedable=true https://youtu.be/LjvrZSOFnTk?embedable=true This combination of AR and VR strengths creates a unique experience and represents a giant leap in the accessibility of geo-localized AR content. It offers a new means for AR creators to share their content with the world, blending the tangible with the virtual in unprecedented ways. Experience the future of AR and VR with OVRMaps, and see how this innovative platform can transform the way you interact with both the physical and digital worlds.

Blurring the boundaries between AR and VR

We might be poised to trust simple intelligences in blockchains like Bitcoin more than many big artificial intelligences. It will not fully replace AI; it will only augment it. Replacing what must be replaced without turning back. With this, it may be possible to build a blockchain to manage a bunch of robots. Manage them in a decentralized way using a majority of user nodes. Unlike AI today, where one individual could sit on the power of an ASI (Artificial Super Intelligence) all by themselves. Really, we fear AI because all the control is in one hand. The nascent way to decentralize AI, is to control it using the blockchain. In the future, we may indeed have some robots driven by blockchain intelligence, not artificial intelligence. Because a publicly verifiable blockchain is more trustworthy than a closed-off AI pre-trained behind closed doors. We could start by putting the AI’s paywall payments along a blockchain like Bitcoin. Later, code changes and more. Blockchain Intelligence explained In the Bitcoin blockchain, if a transaction has not been approved by all Bitcoin nodes, it will not pass. But what is a transaction if not a bunch of instructions approving a certain change in Bitcoin’s code? Indeed, if Bitcoin was a robot, then the evolution of its code would be transactions. And they would only be added to its core in a blockchain if majority of node-running Bitcoiners had approved it. Certainly, one might wonder if Bitcoin is not too simplistic to manage a behemoth of code like that behind the phenomenon that is ChatGPT. And yes. Not ChatGPT if we are to manage the AI’s codebase as a collective. Something simpler, but still able to do a great job. Bitcoin does a great job, but high school maths can explain a lot of its mathematical bells and whistles. The answer is carefully crafted autonomous systems that are not AI. Not all autonomous systems are AI In the novel Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, a medical robot awakes the protagonist - Ryland Grace - from his medically induced coma, in a spaceship 12 light years from Earth, and the story begins. What is interesting is that even though this robot is so well-designed to be capable of taking care of a human being’s physical and communication needs, it is fully autonomous, not artificially intelligent. Here is an opening conversation with the robot after it wakes him up and tries to evaluate if his math skills are still intact; “What’s the cube root of eight?” the computer asks. “Where am I?” I say again. This time, it’s easier. “Incorrect. What’s the cube root of eight?” I take a deep breath and speak slowly. “Two times e to the two-i-pi.” “Incorrect. What’s the cube root of eight?” But I wasn’t incorrect. I just wanted to see how smart the computer was. Answer: not very. “Two,” I say. “Correct.” Two pages later, we get a feel of how this med bot works. Its job is simple: Keep the patient fed, and keep them peeing and defecating healthily through the three tubes going into the respective holes.
Keep the patient clean and shaved.
If the patient wakes up, do a simple cognitive exam. If they fail the exam, sedate them back to sleep.
Repeat. Granted, its robotic arms must have needed a truck load of code to navigate around a human body with precision, lifting it like a real doctor (with some serious muscle) to turn it around on the medical bed, clean the body, the sheets, clean the tubes, insert them back, and so on. But that is the thing. It is long and complex. But it is not … drum roll .. artificial intelligence in the sense of something like ChatGPT. Blockchain automation works for us; AI works for big corps One of the things I like about robots vs. disembodied chatbots is the fact that they occupy space and have weight. Give a chatbot a body, and it will feel 2x more interactive to a human than a bot on their smartphone screen. In the blockchain world, transactions come first, so a chatbot that broadcasts to a user their incoming transaction is pretty more interesting than a ping on one’s screen. Like if I went to a hotel and the robotic receptionist cared to inform me of my private incoming transactions, the way receptionists of old warned people of their incoming phone calls, I think I would like that. To step it up a notch, imagine you need to buy groceries, and you automate them with the robotic receptionist, who automates them with the grocery store receptionist. If the bots have decentralized code for their physical bodies, this will move us a step closer to having an affordable personal assistant operating off-cloud where they could not be spied on for the benefit of big data corps. I have nothing against centralized, big-data AIs. These have their place wherever solid productivity gains are required on millions of dollars of capital. But these AIs do little for individual creativity, the ballpark of the small-time players in the world economy. Meanwhile, these creative players freely share their insightful data with these big corps. Who make even more millions and billions. The last straw shall be if we freely give them as well interaction data from our robotic assistants. That will be like creating a derivative of our personalized interaction value, and still giving it away freely so that big corps can make more billions while they return peanuts (AI prompts) that simply channel us to their stores once again. Big data AI has taken our data freely. It shouldn’t take our interactions as well which we outsource to our robots. That will be the end of individual self-sovereignty, no matter how much we might wish to fight it. However, if the robots are owned by us because their code is our blockchain code (albeit pseudonymized so that the beneficiaries of code transactions are not known), then this is precisely how blockchain robotics will fight back to make our productivity ours. Self-driving (robotic) cars might need this One real example that might need the majority voting of blockchain intelligence instead of the brute force intelligence-hacking that is artificial intelligence is self-driving car technology. Elon Musk has tried to bring FSD (Full Self Driving) to his Tesla cars but in vain. He keeps promising, and the goalpost keeps receding. Perhaps what is needed is some way to treat self-driving like a blockchain problem. Currently, self-driving cars operate as individual systems that do not synchronize their data unless this data goes to a central server. But if data synchronization is added for each car, then localized intelligences could be built to create a simple but effective hive mind of a bunch of cars. Car accidents could also be drastically mitigated if all cars within some vicinity are blockchain synchronized say over a 1 minute window. Auto-braking technology in one car trying to avoid an accident with another is all good. If you put it into the two cars in sync, now on a collision course, that is a way better auto-braking idea. Redefining online games Imagine playing pong against an AI opponent - Yeah. Been there. Imagine playing pong against another human player on an online platform managed by a central server - the usual. Been there as well. Now imagine playing pong against another human player across 2 blockchain nodes, with no central server but a sync of the two games across the two gaming machines - this is the future I hope to create on the bitcoin blockchain, with singular satoshis and zero-fee transactions. Check out my prototype HTML game here. Hoping to build a true decentralized pong for the Bitcoin blockchain. Maybe one day, a decentralized MMOG (massively multiplayer online game). Space Robotics Would you prefer to have robots mining on the Moon and Mars courtesy of one or two big corporations on Earth as owned by one individual or one country, or by the majority of shareholders pseudonymously spread out all over the Earth, who directly control via blockchain where each person’s coded instructions can be seen, debated, cheered or reversed (with an update/fork) when need arises? To me, blockchain intelligence is much safer than centralized artificial intelligence. Hence, more trustworthy. Bitcoin may be crashing, but my money is still largely on Bitcoin, not ChatGPT or Nvidia. Trustworthy decentralized robotics is the future of not just our planetary economy, but even the way we interact as a species. It will take time to build these autonomous robots on the blockchain, but each one we build shall be tremendously treasured. Because it will be ours, interacting with us, for us, by us. The ‘cloud’ has hung above our heads enough already, while giving back little rain. Let’s not add to it, shall we. We might be poised to trust simple intelligences in blockchains like Bitcoin more than many big artificial intelligences. It will not fully replace AI; it will only augment it. Replacing what must be replaced without turning back. With this, it may be possible to build a blockchain to manage a bunch of robots. Manage them in a decentralized way using a majority of user nodes. Unlike AI today, where one individual could sit on the power of an ASI (Artificial Super Intelligence) all by themselves. Really, we fear AI because all the control is in one hand. The nascent way to decentralize AI, is to control it using the blockchain. In the future, we may indeed have some robots driven by blockchain intelligence, not artificial intelligence. Because a publicly verifiable blockchain is more trustworthy than a closed-off AI pre-trained behind closed doors. We could start by putting the AI’s paywall payments along a blockchain like Bitcoin. Later, code changes and more. Blockchain Intelligence explained In the Bitcoin blockchain, if a transaction has not been approved by all Bitcoin nodes, it will not pass. But what is a transaction if not a bunch of instructions approving a certain change in Bitcoin’s code? Indeed, if Bitcoin was a robot, then the evolution of its code would be transactions. And they would only be added to its core in a blockchain if majority of node-running Bitcoiners had approved it. Certainly, one might wonder if Bitcoin is not too simplistic to manage a behemoth of code like that behind the phenomenon that is ChatGPT. And yes. Not ChatGPT if we are to manage the AI’s codebase as a collective. Something simpler, but still able to do a great job. Bitcoin does a great job, but high school maths can explain a lot of its mathematical bells and whistles. The answer is carefully crafted autonomous systems that are not AI. Not all autonomous systems are AI Not all autonomous systems are AI In the novel Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, a medical robot awakes the protagonist - Ryland Grace - from his medically induced coma, in a spaceship 12 light years from Earth, and the story begins. What is interesting is that even though this robot is so well-designed to be capable of taking care of a human being’s physical and communication needs, it is fully autonomous, not artificially intelligent. Here is an opening conversation with the robot after it wakes him up and tries to evaluate if his math skills are still intact; “ What’s the cube root of eight?” the computer asks. What’s the cube root of eight?” the computer asks. “Where am I?” I say again. This time, it’s easier. “Where am I?” I say again. This time, it’s easier. “Incorrect. What’s the cube root of eight?” “Incorrect. What’s the cube root of eight?” I take a deep breath and speak slowly. “Two times e to the two-i-pi.” I take a deep breath and speak slowly. “Two times e to the two-i-pi.” “Incorrect. What’s the cube root of eight?” “Incorrect. What’s the cube root of eight?” But I wasn’t incorrect. I just wanted to see how smart the computer was. But I wasn’t incorrect. I just wanted to see how smart the computer was. Answer: not very. Answer: not very. “Two,” I say. “Two,” I say. “Correct.” “Correct.” Two pages later, we get a feel of how this med bot works. Its job is simple: Keep the patient fed, and keep them peeing and defecating healthily through the three tubes going into the respective holes. Keep the patient clean and shaved. If the patient wakes up, do a simple cognitive exam. If they fail the exam, sedate them back to sleep. Repeat. Keep the patient fed, and keep them peeing and defecating healthily through the three tubes going into the respective holes. Keep the patient clean and shaved. If the patient wakes up, do a simple cognitive exam. If they fail the exam, sedate them back to sleep. Repeat. Granted, its robotic arms must have needed a truck load of code to navigate around a human body with precision, lifting it like a real doctor (with some serious muscle) to turn it around on the medical bed, clean the body, the sheets, clean the tubes, insert them back, and so on. But that is the thing. It is long and complex. But it is not … drum roll .. artificial intelligence in the sense of something like ChatGPT. Blockchain automation works for us; AI works for big corps One of the things I like about robots vs. disembodied chatbots is the fact that they occupy space and have weight. Give a chatbot a body, and it will feel 2x more interactive to a human than a bot on their smartphone screen. In the blockchain world, transactions come first, so a chatbot that broadcasts to a user their incoming transaction is pretty more interesting than a ping on one’s screen. Like if I went to a hotel and the robotic receptionist cared to inform me of my private incoming transactions, the way receptionists of old warned people of their incoming phone calls, I think I would like that. To step it up a notch, imagine you need to buy groceries, and you automate them with the robotic receptionist, who automates them with the grocery store receptionist. If the bots have decentralized code for their physical bodies, this will move us a step closer to having an affordable personal assistant operating off-cloud where they could not be spied on for the benefit of big data corps. I have nothing against centralized, big-data AIs. These have their place wherever solid productivity gains are required on millions of dollars of capital. But these AIs do little for individual creativity, the ballpark of the small-time players in the world economy. Meanwhile, these creative players freely share their insightful data with these big corps. Who make even more millions and billions. The last straw shall be if we freely give them as well interaction data from our robotic assistants. That will be like creating a derivative of our personalized interaction value, and still giving it away freely so that big corps can make more billions while they return peanuts (AI prompts) that simply channel us to their stores once again. Big data AI has taken our data freely. It shouldn’t take our interactions as well which we outsource to our robots. That will be the end of individual self-sovereignty, no matter how much we might wish to fight it. However, if the robots are owned by us because their code is our blockchain code (albeit pseudonymized so that the beneficiaries of code transactions are not known), then this is precisely how blockchain robotics will fight back to make our productivity ours. Self-driving (robotic) cars might need this One real example that might need the majority voting of blockchain intelligence instead of the brute force intelligence-hacking that is artificial intelligence is self-driving car technology. Elon Musk has tried to bring FSD (Full Self Driving) to his Tesla cars but in vain. He keeps promising, and the goalpost keeps receding. Perhaps what is needed is some way to treat self-driving like a blockchain problem. Currently, self-driving cars operate as individual systems that do not synchronize their data unless this data goes to a central server. But if data synchronization is added for each car, then localized intelligences could be built to create a simple but effective hive mind of a bunch of cars. Car accidents could also be drastically mitigated if all cars within some vicinity are blockchain synchronized say over a 1 minute window. Auto-braking technology in one car trying to avoid an accident with another is all good. If you put it into the two cars in sync, now on a collision course, that is a way better auto-braking idea. Redefining online games Imagine playing pong against an AI opponent - Yeah. Been there. Imagine playing pong against another human player on an online platform managed by a central server - the usual. Been there as well. Now imagine playing pong against another human player across 2 blockchain nodes, with no central server but a sync of the two games across the two gaming machines - this is the future I hope to create on the bitcoin blockchain, with singular satoshis and zero-fee transactions. Check out my prototype HTML game here . here Hoping to build a true decentralized pong for the Bitcoin blockchain. Maybe one day, a decentralized MMOG (massively multiplayer online game). Space Robotics Would you prefer to have robots mining on the Moon and Mars courtesy of one or two big corporations on Earth as owned by one individual or one country, or by the majority of shareholders pseudonymously spread out all over the Earth, who directly control via blockchain where each person’s coded instructions can be seen, debated, cheered or reversed (with an update/fork) when need arises? To me, blockchain intelligence is much safer than centralized artificial intelligence. Hence, more trustworthy. Bitcoin may be crashing, but my money is still largely on Bitcoin, not ChatGPT or Nvidia. Trustworthy decentralized robotics is the future of not just our planetary economy, but even the way we interact as a species. It will take time to build these autonomous robots on the blockchain, but each one we build shall be tremendously treasured. Because it will be ours, interacting with us, for us, by us. The ‘cloud’ has hung above our heads enough already, while giving back little rain. Let’s not add to it, shall we.

Robots Driven by Blockchain and Not AI Could Be More Trustworthy

ব্লকচেইন দ্বারা চালিত রোবট এবং এআই নয় আরও বিশ্বস্ত হতে পারে

Roboter, die von Blockchain und nicht von KI gesteuert werden, könnten vertrauenswürdiger sein

Los robots impulsados por Blockchain y no por IA podrían ser más confiables

Les robots pilotés par la blockchain et non par l'IA pourraient être plus dignes de confiance

ब्लॉकचेन द्वारा संचालित रोबोट और अधिक विश्वसनीय हो सकते हैं, न कि AI द्वारा

AIではなくブロックチェーンで動くロボットはより信頼できるかもしれない

AI가 아닌 블록체인으로 구동되는 로봇이 더 신뢰할 수 있음

Robôs movidos por Blockchain e não por IA poderiam ser mais confiáveis

Роботы, управляемые блокчейном, а не искусственным интеллектом, могут быть более надежными

Yapay Zeka Değil, Blockchain Tarafından Yönetilen Robotlar Daha Güvenilir Olabilir

Robot được điều khiển bởi Blockchain chứ không phải AI có thể đáng tin cậy hơn

由区块链而非人工智能驱动的机器人可能更值得信赖

Image credits: Unsplash To define IP geolocation it’s important to understand that, when connected to the internet, your location is often available to businesses and marketers. This technology can be used on almost any device that connects to the internet. How IP Geolocation Works Utilizing this location option requires multiple data sources and the use of several techniques to be successful. IP Address Allocation Data: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) assign IP addresses to their customers. The allocation records, managed by regional internet registries, provide the primary source of location data.


Routing Information: The paths data packets take through the internet can provide clues about their origin. This information is often gathered from various network routers.


Database Services: There are numerous commercial and open-source databases that map IP addresses to geographical locations. These databases are continuously updated with information from ISPs, web services, and network infrastructures.


User-provided Data: Some services enhance their geolocation accuracy by using data provided by users during registration processes, such as billing addresses. Benefits of IP Geolocation It Enhances The User Experience: When it comes to business use, IP geolocation can be used to personalize what you put in front of your audience based on their location. An example of this is e-commerce websites. Perhaps certain products are only available to certain regions; using geolocation can allow your business to show those products only to people in those areas. You can also localize pricing and offer different language options.


It Improves Security: In an increasingly digital world, fraud seems to be inevitable. However, IP geolocation can help users to both detect and prevent instances of fraud. It allows users to monitor transactions or even login attempts from unknown locations. Even businesses can use this service to find potential security threats and take action before the problem becomes a bigger issue.


It Allows for Targeted Marketing: Perhaps one of the most obvious uses of IP geolocation is by marketers. Ads can be created for and sent to only specific regions instead of being used worldwide. This allows companies to create relevant, effective, and, most importantly, targeted campaigns likely to produce more success.


It Maintains Regulatory Compliance: Specific businesses sometimes have regional regulations that must be followed. Businesses can use IP geolocation to tailor their compliance to a user’s location, avoiding any unintentional slip-ups and ensuring they stay within local laws and regulations. Challenges of IP Geolocation Accuracy Issues: Unfortunately, the use of IP geolocation is not always exact. While it can give a general idea of the user’s location, it can experience errors or provide too general of a location. Users can also purchase services like a VPN, proxy, or dynamic IP address to hide their real location.


Privacy Concerns: Some users do not appreciate the use of IP geolocation due to privacy concerns. It can be seen as frightening as businesses track visitors’ locations on the internet. To increase trust, it’s important for businesses to be clear about their use of this technology. This is also critical to comply with many privacy regulations.


Technical Limitations: Implementing IP geolocation can be technically challenging. The reason is that it requires access to reliable geolocation databases and sophisticated algorithms. As a result, businesses may need to invest in specialized software and expertise to effectively use this technology. IP Geolocation: Its Future There are many benefits that come with the powerful technology of IP geolocation, including improved security and compliance. There are downfalls to be aware of relating to accuracy, privacy, and technical implementation, which need to be addressed to realize the full potential of this technology. IP geolocation is set to become an indispensable tool for both businesses and individuals as the internet continues to evolve. Image credits: Unsplash Image credits: Unsplash Unsplash Unsplash To define IP geolocation it’s important to understand that, when connected to the internet, your location is often available to businesses and marketers. This technology can be used on almost any device that connects to the internet. IP geolocation IP geolocation How IP Geolocation Works Utilizing this location option requires multiple data sources and the use of several techniques to be successful. IP Address Allocation Data: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) assign IP addresses to their customers. The allocation records, managed by regional internet registries, provide the primary source of location data. Routing Information: The paths data packets take through the internet can provide clues about their origin. This information is often gathered from various network routers. Database Services: There are numerous commercial and open-source databases that map IP addresses to geographical locations. These databases are continuously updated with information from ISPs, web services, and network infrastructures. User-provided Data: Some services enhance their geolocation accuracy by using data provided by users during registration processes, such as billing addresses. IP Address Allocation Data: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) assign IP addresses to their customers. The allocation records, managed by regional internet registries, provide the primary source of location data. IP Address Allocation Data: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) assign IP addresses to their customers. The allocation records, managed by regional internet registries, provide the primary source of location data. IP Address Allocation Data: Routing Information: The paths data packets take through the internet can provide clues about their origin. This information is often gathered from various network routers. Routing Information: The paths data packets take through the internet can provide clues about their origin. This information is often gathered from various network routers. Routing Information: Database Services: There are numerous commercial and open-source databases that map IP addresses to geographical locations. These databases are continuously updated with information from ISPs, web services, and network infrastructures. Database Services: There are numerous commercial and open-source databases that map IP addresses to geographical locations. These databases are continuously updated with information from ISPs, web services, and network infrastructures. Database Services: User-provided Data: Some services enhance their geolocation accuracy by using data provided by users during registration processes, such as billing addresses. User-provided Data: Some services enhance their geolocation accuracy by using data provided by users during registration processes, such as billing addresses. User-provided Data: Benefits of IP Geolocation It Enhances The User Experience: When it comes to business use, IP geolocation can be used to personalize what you put in front of your audience based on their location. An example of this is e-commerce websites. Perhaps certain products are only available to certain regions; using geolocation can allow your business to show those products only to people in those areas. You can also localize pricing and offer different language options. It Improves Security: In an increasingly digital world, fraud seems to be inevitable. However, IP geolocation can help users to both detect and prevent instances of fraud. It allows users to monitor transactions or even login attempts from unknown locations. Even businesses can use this service to find potential security threats and take action before the problem becomes a bigger issue. It Allows for Targeted Marketing: Perhaps one of the most obvious uses of IP geolocation is by marketers. Ads can be created for and sent to only specific regions instead of being used worldwide. This allows companies to create relevant, effective, and, most importantly, targeted campaigns likely to produce more success. It Maintains Regulatory Compliance: Specific businesses sometimes have regional regulations that must be followed. Businesses can use IP geolocation to tailor their compliance to a user’s location, avoiding any unintentional slip-ups and ensuring they stay within local laws and regulations. It Enhances The User Experience: When it comes to business use, IP geolocation can be used to personalize what you put in front of your audience based on their location. An example of this is e-commerce websites. Perhaps certain products are only available to certain regions; using geolocation can allow your business to show those products only to people in those areas. You can also localize pricing and offer different language options. It Enhances The User Experience : When it comes to business use, IP geolocation can be used to personalize what you put in front of your audience based on their location. An example of this is e-commerce websites. Perhaps certain products are only available to certain regions; using geolocation can allow your business to show those products only to people in those areas. You can also localize pricing and offer different language options. It Enhances The User Experience It Improves Security: In an increasingly digital world, fraud seems to be inevitable. However, IP geolocation can help users to both detect and prevent instances of fraud. It allows users to monitor transactions or even login attempts from unknown locations. Even businesses can use this service to find potential security threats and take action before the problem becomes a bigger issue. It Improves Security : In an increasingly digital world, fraud seems to be inevitable. However, IP geolocation can help users to both detect and prevent instances of fraud. It allows users to monitor transactions or even login attempts from unknown locations. Even businesses can use this service to find potential security threats and take action before the problem becomes a bigger issue. It Improves Security It Allows for Targeted Marketing: Perhaps one of the most obvious uses of IP geolocation is by marketers. Ads can be created for and sent to only specific regions instead of being used worldwide. This allows companies to create relevant, effective, and, most importantly, targeted campaigns likely to produce more success. It Allows for Targeted Marketing : Perhaps one of the most obvious uses of IP geolocation is by marketers. Ads can be created for and sent to only specific regions instead of being used worldwide. This allows companies to create relevant, effective, and, most importantly, targeted campaigns likely to produce more success. It Allows for Targeted Marketing It Maintains Regulatory Compliance: Specific businesses sometimes have regional regulations that must be followed. Businesses can use IP geolocation to tailor their compliance to a user’s location, avoiding any unintentional slip-ups and ensuring they stay within local laws and regulations. It Maintains Regulatory Compliance : Specific businesses sometimes have regional regulations that must be followed. Businesses can use IP geolocation to tailor their compliance to a user’s location, avoiding any unintentional slip-ups and ensuring they stay within local laws and regulations. It Maintains Regulatory Compliance Challenges of IP Geolocation Accuracy Issues: Unfortunately, the use of IP geolocation is not always exact. While it can give a general idea of the user’s location, it can experience errors or provide too general of a location. Users can also purchase services like a VPN, proxy, or dynamic IP address to hide their real location. Privacy Concerns: Some users do not appreciate the use of IP geolocation due to privacy concerns. It can be seen as frightening as businesses track visitors’ locations on the internet. To increase trust, it’s important for businesses to be clear about their use of this technology. This is also critical to comply with many privacy regulations. Technical Limitations: Implementing IP geolocation can be technically challenging. The reason is that it requires access to reliable geolocation databases and sophisticated algorithms. As a result, businesses may need to invest in specialized software and expertise to effectively use this technology. Accuracy Issues: Unfortunately, the use of IP geolocation is not always exact. While it can give a general idea of the user’s location, it can experience errors or provide too general of a location. Users can also purchase services like a VPN, proxy, or dynamic IP address to hide their real location. Accuracy Issues : Unfortunately, the use of IP geolocation is not always exact. While it can give a general idea of the user’s location, it can experience errors or provide too general of a location. Users can also purchase services like a VPN, proxy, or dynamic IP address to hide their real location. Accuracy Issues Privacy Concerns: Some users do not appreciate the use of IP geolocation due to privacy concerns. It can be seen as frightening as businesses track visitors’ locations on the internet. To increase trust, it’s important for businesses to be clear about their use of this technology. This is also critical to comply with many privacy regulations. Privacy Concerns : Some users do not appreciate the use of IP geolocation due to privacy concerns. It can be seen as frightening as businesses track visitors’ locations on the internet. To increase trust, it’s important for businesses to be clear about their use of this technology. This is also critical to comply with many privacy regulations. Privacy Concerns Technical Limitations: Implementing IP geolocation can be technically challenging. The reason is that it requires access to reliable geolocation databases and sophisticated algorithms. As a result, businesses may need to invest in specialized software and expertise to effectively use this technology. Technical Limitations : Implementing IP geolocation can be technically challenging. The reason is that it requires access to reliable geolocation databases and sophisticated algorithms. As a result, businesses may need to invest in specialized software and expertise to effectively use this technology. Technical Limitations IP Geolocation: Its Future There are many benefits that come with the powerful technology of IP geolocation, including improved security and compliance. There are downfalls to be aware of relating to accuracy, privacy, and technical implementation, which need to be addressed to realize the full potential of this technology. IP geolocation is set to become an indispensable tool for both businesses and individuals as the internet continues to evolve.

Understanding IP Geolocation: Its Benefits and Challenges

আইপি জিওলোকেশন বোঝা: এর সুবিধা এবং চ্যালেঞ্জ

IP-Geolokalisierung verstehen: Vorteile und Herausforderungen

Comprender la geolocalización IP: sus beneficios y desafíos

Comprendre la géolocalisation IP : ses avantages et ses défis

आईपी जियोलोकेशन को समझना: इसके लाभ और चुनौतियाँ

IP ジオロケーションを理解する: その利点と課題

IP 지리적 위치 이해: 이점과 과제

Compreendendo a geolocalização IP: seus benefícios e desafios

Понимание IP-геолокации: ее преимущества и проблемы

IP Coğrafi Konumunu Anlamak: Avantajları ve Zorlukları

Hiểu vị trí địa lý IP: Lợi ích và thách thức của nó

了解 IP 地理位置：其优势与挑战

Authors:
(1) Hamed Alimohammadzadeh, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA;
(2) Rohit Bernard, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA;
(3) Yang Chen, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA;
(4) Trung Phan, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA;
(5) Prashant Singh, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA;
(6) Shuqin Zhu, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA;
(7) Heather Culbertson, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA;
(8) Shahram Ghandeharizadeh, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Flying Light Specks User Interaction Multimedia Systems Challenges Related Work Conclusions and Current Efforts, Acknowledgments, and References 4 MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS CHALLENGES A DV raises many interesting multimedia systems challenges. The characteristics of a challenge may vary for different applications. This section presents two challenges. 4.1 FLS Localization FLSs must localize in order to illuminate a shape and implement haptic interactions. The modular design of DV will enable an experimenter to evaluate alternative localization techniques. These techniques may be implemented by hardware components attached to the DV display, an FLS, or both. This section presents infrared cameras, RGB cameras, ultra-wideband (UWB) transceivers, retroreflective markers, or a hybrid of these components for localization. Below, we describe the four techniques in turn. First, one may install infrared cameras on the DV display and mount retro-reflective markers on the FLSs. Software hosted on the DV-Hub will process images captured by the cameras to compute the location of FLSs. This centralized technique is inspired by Vicon which provides a high accuracy [35, 54, 57]. It requires the FLSs to maintain a line of sight with the cameras. It may be difficult (if not impossible) to form unique markers for more than tens of small drones measuring tens of millimeters diagonally [54]. Second, one may install a set of sensors at known positions [37], e.g., on the side beams, a back panel, floor, or ceiling of the DV display. These cards serve as an anchor. A sensor may be mounted on each FLS to become a tag. (This is the LOC in Figure 4.) Both centralized and decentralized algorithms can be implemented to localize the FLSs using this setup. In this approach, the position of the anchors should be fixed and known by the individual FLSs. This approach requires accurate time synchronization between the anchors. Depending on the algorithm, time synchronization between anchors and tags may be required as well. We have experimented with UWB cards [20] as candidate sensors. In our experiments [52], we observed a high margin of error with measuring small distances such as 1 cm, see Figure 7. This is consistent with their reported 5-15 cm margin of error in measuring distance [14, 20, 37]. Third, the CPU of each FLS may host a vision-based algorithm that processes the patterns superimposed on the floor (and ceiling) tiles to compute its position [10, 60, 78]. A limitation of this technique is that some FLSs may occlude the line of sight between other FLSs and the patterns. With a fix sized DV display, it may be possible to develop algorithms to address this limitation. Fourth, we envision FLSs with mounted sensors and antennas that enable an FLS to compute its relative distance and angle to an anchor FLS. A localizing FLS will compare this information with the desired distance and angle in the ground truth, making adjustments to approximate the ground truth more accurately. This decentralized localization algorithm will require line of sight between a localizing FLS and an anchor FLS. It may implement nature inspired swarming protocols [56] to render animated shapes. 4.2 3D Acoustics DV audio is a multi-faceted topic. It includes both how to suppress the unwanted noise from the FLSs and how to generate the acoustics consistent with an application’s specifications. Consider each in turn. First, the unwanted noise is due to the propulsion system of an FLS consisting of engines and propellers [61]. This noise increases with higher propeller speeds and larger propeller blades [43, 64]. Second, an application may want to render 3D acoustics given the 3D illuminations [25]. For example, consider an illuminated scene where a character placed at one corner of the display shouts at another placed at the farthest corner of the display. The application may want the audio to be louder for those users in close proximity of the shouting character. We will investigate a host of techniques to address the above two challenges. With undesirable noise, we will investigate sound suppression and cancellation techniques. With 3D acoustics, we will investigate use of speakers built in the DV display and a subset of the FLSs. We will also consider out-of-the-box solutions. Central to this system would be a pair of noise-canceling headphones, purposefully designed to minimize the ambient drone noise that could potentially distract from the content being displayed. This feature ensures that users are fully focused on the audio-visual presentation, enhancing their overall experience. Additionally, the incorporation of 3D audio technology would allow the sound to dynamically adapt based on the displayed content. This means that as the display changes, the audio component would adjust in real-time, mirroring the spatial positioning and movement of the drones. This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: (1) Hamed Alimohammadzadeh, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; (2) Rohit Bernard, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; (3) Yang Chen, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; (4) Trung Phan, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; (5) Prashant Singh, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; (6) Shuqin Zhu, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; (7) Heather Culbertson, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; (8) Shahram Ghandeharizadeh, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. Authors: Authors: (1) Hamed Alimohammadzadeh, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; (2) Rohit Bernard, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; (3) Yang Chen, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; (4) Trung Phan, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; (5) Prashant Singh, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; (6) Shuqin Zhu, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; (7) Heather Culbertson, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; (8) Shahram Ghandeharizadeh, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Abstract and Introduction Flying Light Specks Flying Light Specks User Interaction User Interaction Multimedia Systems Challenges Multimedia Systems Challenges Related Work Related Work Conclusions and Current Efforts, Acknowledgments, and References Conclusions and Current Efforts, Acknowledgments, and References 4 MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS CHALLENGES A DV raises many interesting multimedia systems challenges. The characteristics of a challenge may vary for different applications. This section presents two challenges. 4.1 FLS Localization FLSs must localize in order to illuminate a shape and implement haptic interactions. The modular design of DV will enable an experimenter to evaluate alternative localization techniques. These techniques may be implemented by hardware components attached to the DV display, an FLS, or both. This section presents infrared cameras, RGB cameras, ultra-wideband (UWB) transceivers, retroreflective markers, or a hybrid of these components for localization. Below, we describe the four techniques in turn. First, one may install infrared cameras on the DV display and mount retro-reflective markers on the FLSs. Software hosted on the DV-Hub will process images captured by the cameras to compute the location of FLSs. This centralized technique is inspired by Vicon which provides a high accuracy [35, 54, 57]. It requires the FLSs to maintain a line of sight with the cameras. It may be difficult (if not impossible) to form unique markers for more than tens of small drones measuring tens of millimeters diagonally [54]. Second, one may install a set of sensors at known positions [37], e.g., on the side beams, a back panel, floor, or ceiling of the DV display. These cards serve as an anchor. A sensor may be mounted on each FLS to become a tag. (This is the LOC in Figure 4.) Both centralized and decentralized algorithms can be implemented to localize the FLSs using this setup. In this approach, the position of the anchors should be fixed and known by the individual FLSs. This approach requires accurate time synchronization between the anchors. Depending on the algorithm, time synchronization between anchors and tags may be required as well. We have experimented with UWB cards [20] as candidate sensors. In our experiments [52], we observed a high margin of error with measuring small distances such as 1 cm, see Figure 7. This is consistent with their reported 5-15 cm margin of error in measuring distance [14, 20, 37]. Third, the CPU of each FLS may host a vision-based algorithm that processes the patterns superimposed on the floor (and ceiling) tiles to compute its position [10, 60, 78]. A limitation of this technique is that some FLSs may occlude the line of sight between other FLSs and the patterns. With a fix sized DV display, it may be possible to develop algorithms to address this limitation. Fourth, we envision FLSs with mounted sensors and antennas that enable an FLS to compute its relative distance and angle to an anchor FLS. A localizing FLS will compare this information with the desired distance and angle in the ground truth, making adjustments to approximate the ground truth more accurately. This decentralized localization algorithm will require line of sight between a localizing FLS and an anchor FLS. It may implement nature inspired swarming protocols [56] to render animated shapes. 4.2 3D Acoustics DV audio is a multi-faceted topic. It includes both how to suppress the unwanted noise from the FLSs and how to generate the acoustics consistent with an application’s specifications. Consider each in turn. First, the unwanted noise is due to the propulsion system of an FLS consisting of engines and propellers [61]. This noise increases with higher propeller speeds and larger propeller blades [43, 64]. Second, an application may want to render 3D acoustics given the 3D illuminations [25]. For example, consider an illuminated scene where a character placed at one corner of the display shouts at another placed at the farthest corner of the display. The application may want the audio to be louder for those users in close proximity of the shouting character. We will investigate a host of techniques to address the above two challenges. With undesirable noise, we will investigate sound suppression and cancellation techniques. With 3D acoustics, we will investigate use of speakers built in the DV display and a subset of the FLSs. We will also consider out-of-the-box solutions. Central to this system would be a pair of noise-canceling headphones, purposefully designed to minimize the ambient drone noise that could potentially distract from the content being displayed. This feature ensures that users are fully focused on the audio-visual presentation, enhancing their overall experience. Additionally, the incorporation of 3D audio technology would allow the sound to dynamically adapt based on the displayed content. This means that as the display changes, the audio component would adjust in real-time, mirroring the spatial positioning and movement of the drones. This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. available on arxiv

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