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While the rest of the big tech companies are coping with a global economic downturn, chipmakers are adjusting to a slump that has affected almost every aspect of their business. Intel faces a number of rivals in addition to a battle to maintain its position as the largest chip maker in America by revenue. With revenues down 32% to $14 billion in the year's last quarter, Intel recorded a $664 million loss overall. According to experts surveyed by FactSet, the result fell short of Wall Street expectations for a $278 million loss on $14.49 billion in sales. While Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger declined to give a revenue forecast for the year 2023 in the company’s earnings call for the most recent quarter, CFO Dave Zinsner stated that the Q1 revenue prediction for Intel was between $10.5 billion and $11.5 billion, far less than the consensus of $13.93 billion. Regardless, Gelsinger remained upbeat about the future growth of the company, noting that the company aims to double down on innovation and on bettering its product portfolio: “We intend to capitalize on this TAM [*total addressable market] through a strong pipeline of innovation and based on the growing strength of our product portfolio, customers are increasingly betting on Intel. We grew share in the second half of '22, and we expect that positive momentum to continue in '23. We remain clear-eyed on managing near-term weakness in PCs but we also see the enduring and increasing value PCs have in our daily lives.” Despite acknowledging that the business may continue to decline, he stated that such a decline might only last for the first quarter. “We expect macro weakness to persist at least through the first half of the year with the possibility of second-half improvements.” Gelsinger also mentioned China as the area most impacted by negative earnings. “While all segments have weakened, enterprise and rest of world, especially China, continues to be weaker than hyperscale.” The CEO also attributed more of the earnings decline to operations in China. “Our share in calendar year '22 was in line with our subdued expectations, and our revenue volatility was a function of TAM, especially given our outsized exposure to enterprise and China.” The value of Intel's stock has declined as the chipmaker struggles with slow manufacturing issues, PC sales, and market share losses to AMD, Nvidia, and Arm Ltd. In the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2022, revenue for Intel's data center and AI segment decreased by 33% to $4.3 billion, while sales of its PC chip segment plummeted by 36% to $6.6 billion in the last quarter. rivals Competitors like AMD and Nvidia have had their stocks drop over the past year as well, with AMD stock taking a 32% decline and Nvidia stock seeing a 13% drop. However, this is still far better than Intel’s stock which has suffered a 42% dive. In the increasingly significant data center industry, where Intel has long been a leader, market share in PCs, and have grown to be a more formidable competitor. According to industry research firm Canalys, ARM-powered PCs of the PC market by 2026. Arm-based CPUs have been gaining will account for 30% Given that more sales losses are anticipated, Intel may continue to lose market share in the PC industry, as the CEO's predictions painted a bleak picture. “In the PC market, we saw a further deterioration as we ended calendar year '22. In Q3, we provided an estimate for the calendar year '23 PC consumption TAM of 270 million to 295 million units. Given the continued uncertainty and demand signals we see in Q1, we expect the lower end of that range is a more likely outcome.” While the company anticipates a reduction in revenue for the first quarter of this year, CFO Zinsner said Intel will implement a $3 billion spending reduction as a cost-cutting measure. “While we're progressing toward a $3 billion spending reduction with significant austerity across the company, given the fixed cost nature of our business, we expect the sequential revenue decline will result in negative operating margin in the first quarter.” Other cost-cutting measures, the CEO said, included possible downsizing, which the company is and a better focus on Intel’s key business units. , already doing “We are making tough decisions to rightsize the organization and we further sharpened our business focus within our BUs by rationalizing product road maps and investments.” According to a report by , the market value of Intel fell by roughly $8 billion on Friday, and experts deem this to be a historic collapse. Reuters

Intel Focusing on Innovation, Growing Portfolio in Face of Declining Revenues, Fierce Competition

ইন্টেল উদ্ভাবনের দিকে মনোনিবেশ করছে, ক্রমবর্ধমান পোর্টফোলিও রাজস্ব হ্রাস, তীব্র প্রতিযোগিতার মুখে

Intel konzentriert sich auf Innovation, wachsendes Portfolio angesichts sinkender Umsätze und hartem Wettbewerb

Intel se centrará en la innovación y el crecimiento de la cartera frente a la disminución de los ingresos y la competencia feroz

Intel se concentre sur l'innovation, son portefeuille en croissance face à la baisse des revenus et à une concurrence féroce

इंटेल टू फोकस इनोवेशन, ग्रोइंग पोर्टफोलियो इन द फेसिंग डिक्लाइनिंग रेवेन्यू, भयंकर प्रतिस्पर्धा

インテルはイノベーションに注力し、収益の減少と激しい競争に直面してポートフォリオを拡大

Intel은 수익 감소와 치열한 경쟁 속에서도 혁신에 집중하고 포트폴리오를 확장하고 있습니다.

Intel focará na inovação e aumentará o portfólio diante da queda nas receitas e na concorrência acirrada

Intel Yeniliğe Odaklanıyor, Düşen Gelirler ve Şiddetli Rekabet Karşısında Portföyünü Büyütüyor

Intel tập trung đổi mới, phát triển danh mục đầu tư trong bối cảnh doanh thu sụt giảm, cạnh tranh khốc liệt

面对收入下降和激烈的竞争，英特尔将专注于创新、扩大产品组合

Doing our best creative work sometimes means tricking ourselves into leaving our minds alone. Here are six things to try while walking to achieve this. On a bright autumn day, I find myself strolling through the canals of East London. Croissant and coffee in hand, I navigate narrow walkways taking in the kaleidoscopic colours of fall, the aroma of burning Birch, the honks of Geese wading. It looks like a moment of romanticised tranquillity, but actually, it’s all a — an elaborate ploy to make my brain work harder. trick I’ve spent enough time indoors these last years to know my best ideas don’t happen at a desk. With only so many daylight hours, I’ve learned that sacrificing a few of them to do the seemingly unproductive is the surest path to new creative insights. Going for a walk is the best way to do this. It’s just a matter of planning such walks to get the most significant mental boosts. I call these my . cognitive walks History is filled with famous walkers. Charles Darwin claimed to do his best work, not in his study, but outside on a d–shaped path at the edge of his property called the Sandwalk. “ ” said Nietzsche, who walked with his notebook every day between 11 am and 1 pm. Dickens, the mentalist that he is, preferred to take long walks through London at night. All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking. 60% of people who walk are more creative than their non-pedestrian counterparts a recent Stanford study. Walking has been found to promote between brain cells, ageing brain tissue, increases the volume of the hippocampus (associated with memory and learning), and even of neurons. claims new connections staves off stimulate the growth Anyone can achieve a cognitive walk, and it can be done almost anywhere, but just popping outside for a quick jaunt is not enough. The goal is to enter a , like a daydream, where ‘unthinking’ helps cut through our daily overthink. We need walks that both physically absorb and mentally free us long enough to trick ourselves into leaving the mind alone. diffuse mode of thinking “There is something about walking which stimulates and enlivens my thoughts. When I stay in one place I can hardly think at all; my body has to be on the move to set my mind going.” — Jean-Jacques Rousseau, French philosopher. Cognitive walking is so good because it forces us to mentally recover and get out of what philosopher Walter Benjamin in a . For example, we think a quick scroll through social media is giving us a break, but actually, it only serves to hold our attention hostage, not allowing for any true . called 1935 “constant state of concentrated distraction” mind-wandering Psychologists have long by engaging in tasks that help us take breaks and induce daydreaming help improve subsequent creativity — a phenomenon termed . hypothesised incubation Daily incubation is my goal, and I argue it should be yours as well. To get our heads into this state, I’ve found practising the following exercises beneficial while walking : #1 Get digitally naked Leave those podcasts, those audiobooks, phone calls, messages and even music in your pocket (Apple’s focus mode is great for this), or at home if possible. new People mistakenly believe that removing such technological distractions helps induce boredom which allows our minds to enter some kind of creative state. But that’s a misnomer. naturally Silence isn’t an endgame. It’s a catalyst, an opportunity to discover truer things about the world outside or inside your head. — Diane Cook Boredom, which hovers over us like a bird of prey, does not make us more creative. However, removing mental pacifiers and giving time back to ourselves does. To be content is to be bored, and curiosity is our ticket out. Cognitive walking is an opportunity to untether from our immediate sensory environment, ponder over cluttered thoughts and allow ourselves to model something entirely different. So do yourself a favour. Leave the distractions at home, surrender to your environment and painfully remind your brain that it needs breathing space. #2 Ask what’s new Ask yourself questions while walking. These questions should be reflective. A sort of “What’s on top of mind right now?”, “What’s making me happiest or saddest?” or “Who is having the biggest influence?” Open-ended questions tend to work best, a type of question that can be answered with a simple yes or no. In addition to introspective reflections, don’t hesitate to exclude some extrospective ones. An exercise in questioning everything from the material of shoelaces, the colour of the sky or even what kind of malicious god would clamshell packaging. create “Question everything,” Albert Einstein famously said. Personal creativity and organisational innovation rely on a willingness to seek out novel information, and usually, it’s the most ridiculous question that provokes it. Asking questions has a way of opening our heads and waking our emotional intelligence, which thankfully, in turn, makes us questioners — a virtuous cycle. better I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. — Dr Seuss When you ask yourself a question, know that you don’t always need to have an answer. What’s important is pondering a response. #3 Name things around you It’s funny how trying to name something suddenly makes a thing all the more visible. “More than an identity, a creature’s name is also a password”, once wrote science and nature writer Ferris Jabr. Try naming the things around you, from a species of tree to the of street lamp. type Our ability to think about the world is limited by our ability to describe it, or what philosopher Richard Rorty : a Final Vocabulary. A final vocabulary is the set of words we carry about that justifies our actions, our beliefs, our sense of the world and our place within it. called Uncovering the gaps in our final vocabulary is the surest way to think differently and try new things. It permits noticing the unknown and unpredictable within our existing environments. So try to name the seemingly mundane things around you. After all, it’s hard to research or otherwise learn much about the small brown bird you just encountered — but you can find out quite a lot once you know it’s a house sparrow. #4 Complain about stuff Without complaint, there can be no progress. The trick is to treat negativity as a means, not an end. Author and speaker Seth Godin once suggested a positively negative way to look at the world is by simply asking, “ ” What’s broken? Complaining is an exercise of continually questioning everything around you and pondering how to make it better. I find myself doing this for everything from coffee shop queues to the rubbish dumped in the local canal. The trick is not to use complaining to consume our minds but as a tool to provoke curiosity. Complaining is not just about understanding the reality of a problem but trying to contemplate what factors lead to such issues in the first place. #5 See the world as a historian To see the world as a historian is to ask ourselves to look upon the world as if it’s the first time. A continual exercise of trying to identify what slice of life evokes the whole cake. The child sees everything in a state of newness; he is always drunk — Charles Baudelaire, French poet You don’t need to be a historian to do this. All it requires is you pose yourself a question: “What are the preconditions, the things that have to be in place, for what we observe to be a casually accepted part of a public environment?” What sum of social movements, motives, infrastructure, events and fears means I can stand safely in a queue for coffee on Sunday evening in the middle of winter, wearing nothing more than Speedos, and nobody looks twice? An exercise to try is next time you are confronted with some scene or situation that feels numbingly familiar, stop and ask: What would a child see here? #6 Seek the mundane Tour guides usually urge people to “look up!” when exploring a city, but a downward glance sometimes offers more insightful perspectives. While strolling, we should strive to take a page out of the Dull Men’s Club and “Celebrate the Ordinary.” motto Dr Shepherd Thomas Taylor, who studied medicine in the 1860s, would walk the streets of London pencil in hand to sketch drain hole covers. The doctor “these discs and squares” as “like abstract flowers in an otherwise arid field, bringing a note of flippant gaiety into the often depressing city surroundings.” How wonderful it must be to recognise the beauty in the mundane. described Maybe drain holes are not your thing, but an appreciation of the dull can be applied to anything from bricks to cameras to Latvian bus stops. security depressing Sometimes I like to take my busted DSLR camera along for a stroll to snap up these mundanities. It’s not that my phone can’t take decent photos, but using a dedicated piece of equipment gives me renewed visual attention. Taking pictures is not the point. As photographer Dorothea Lange’s would say, “the camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera”. We walk because we can’t fly, but spending some time outdoors is the next best thing. I don’t know if it’s the connection with nature, but there is a brief period when you sit down after a long walk where it just feels like anything is possible. Despite the guilt of leaving work behind, I know when the ideas stop flowing and diminishing returns set in, walking is the only thing I should be doing. We shouldn’t try to measure the productive output of a walk; to do so would be to defeat the point in a similar way that watching a pedometer is both an instrument of control and self-punishment. The point of cognitive walking is that for it to work, it needs to be . Like a breaking wave expanding outwardly and then inwardly retreating, walking helps us induce the mental oscillation between being impactful and impactless. pointless So next time you encounter a creative block, an unsolvable problem, a computer that strikes abruptly — stop. Take it as a sign from the universe to shut down not only your tools but also yourself. You have taken in all you can, and now you need some time to make sense of it all. In much the same way we plan the routes for our strolls, a cognitive walk helps our minds silently transcribe a trail of thoughts. It is our ticket for navigating the treacherous mental terrains to come. A lot of times, when you have to walk a thousand miles and you take the first step, it looks like a long way, and it really helps if there’s someone there saying ‘Well we’re one step closer…. The goal definitely exists; it’s not just a mirage out there.’ — Steve Jobs Bibliography The Art of Noticing: Rediscover What Really Matters to You — Rob Walker Read behind paywall here

Getting Started With the Cult of Cognitive Walking

Two Hololens wearing guys. Me and my friend Ptah Dunbar at the Pirate Summit in Cologne, Germany I joined the European StartupBus competition two weeks ago. For those who have not heard about it, it is a 72 hours hackathon on wheels through Europe that ends at the 2 day Pirate summit in Köln. It has the same format as most hackathons: In the beginning of the event people pitch ideas they want to work on. The best ideas are selected by the participants and teams are formed to work on them. An ideal team has developers, designers and business people. Our bus traveled from Zürich to Leipzig, then on to Berlin, Hamburg, Amsterdam and to the presentation day in Hasselt in Belgium. In Zürich we started at the . In Leipzig we were received by folks at the . In Berlin we visited , and in Hannover the folks from , who let us crash in their sofas when we learned that we had no hotel reserved for the night. In Amsterdam we were hosted by , and the final in Hasselt was hosted by . There are a few differences between a normal hackathon and a hackathon-on-wheels. First of all is internet access. We knew that we had crossed the boundaries of a country when our internet connection stopped working. Swiss Startup Factory SpinLab Project A Mindspace TQ Corda Augmented reality on the road Another difference is the emphasis put on pitching and refining ideas. In most hackathons I’ve attended and organized the focus is on the technical solution, and the presentation slides are done in a hurry at the end. Being in a bus gives you enough time to practice your pitch, plus there is nothing else to do on the way. Pitch, Pitch, Pitch. Like parents looking to keep their kids busy on the road, our conductors kept us busy by having the teams perfect their pitch along the way I work in the area of Virtual Reality(VR) and wanted to get experience programming for the , which is an Augmented Reality(AR) device. The main difference between VR and AR is that in VR the user only sees the screens in front of her eyes, while in AR these screens are translucent and the user can interact with her surroundings. Hololens An AR device could in theory detect the faces you are seeing and show a label with their name. Or it could show you projections of virtual objects next to you. These objects, which in Hololens terms are called Holograms, can also interact with you. Hackers at work The way to interact with the Hololens is by focusing your gaze in an object and then either using voice commands or doing hand gestures. There is a click gesture, a drag gesture and a quit gesture. The gesture is called bloom because it looks as if it was a flower blooming. Back to the competition, our team Immerse set the goal to project images on to virtual walls that could be defined by the user. In many antique ruins all around the world you can see that people would paint their walls to depict scenes. It was a way for them to transport themselves to another world, or to tell stories. Using an AR device every user could choose to have a different background in their rooms. If your girlfriend prefers to be at the beach but you like it by the lake in the mountains you could both transport yourselves to these virtual settings in your AR devices, while still being aware of the other person in the room. There are a few things relevant to the Hololens that I learned in these 3 days: Unity is your friend. Unity is a gaming development environment that can produce programs that run in a miryad of platforms. When used properly the platform allows you to interact with objects without having to think about their physics (gravity) or light effects In hololens you dont need light effects The Hololens device web page is the place to go when troubleshooting issues. The device emulator will only take you so far. Inside of a bumpy bus the Hololens will sometimes not be able to lock in the background walls. After 3 days of development, short nights, and a roller coaster of desperation and hope we had our prototype working. On the day of the presentation the TV crew followed us while we were preparing for the demonstrator. Our deck of slides were ready, and we had practiced our choreography a dozen times. One guy would wear the hololens while another operated the computer and yet another presented. It went well, and we were happy. One of the technical judges told me he thought the technology we had developed during the event was on the top 3. We still did not make it into the finals. The jury just did not see a business case behind it. And honestly they are right. As Bill Gates said: We tend to overestimate what will happen in 6 months and underestimate what will happen in 5 years. On we went to the pirate summit in Köln. And there was a new set of learnings regarding the Hololens awaiting for me there: Wearing a device will attract attention of folks who want to see what you are doing. The device is bright enough to see stuff in daylight. Of course a darker place is much better to see all details. Its better to carry a battery pack strapped to the device than to be turning it on and off all the times Wearing the device for long times will give you headaches. Yes, it is heavy A bunch of pirates having the “are we living in a simulation” discussion Gestures of fellow Hololens wearing folks will affect your device. My good friend, Ptar Dunbar bloomed me once. Hackathons have always been great events to really get to know software developers or designers. The reduced amount of time and the stress of the situation bring in the best of people. You can figure out in a few hours how someone reacts to setbacks. After a hackathon you create a deeper relationship with the people with whom you interacted. The startup bus takes this experience a level further. It is a mix of intensive working, intensive partying Ibiza style, and deep encounters with like minded folks. I know I have gained a set of lifetime friends. I can recommend the experience to everyone. Startupbus

Don’t bloom me bro!, or writing a Hololens application in 3 days

3LAU doing his thang at Royale Boston I was introduced to Justin Blau through a mutual friend who told me about his vision of making music events a better experience for the fans by tokenizing them. My first response was to roll my eyes and say, “Here we go,” and wrote him off as just another dude trying to cash in on Crypto mania. I did some research on Justin and realized that he is a renowned DJ and producer who has worked with many A list musicians and currently tours around the world. My curiosity got the best of me and we scheduled a phone call to discuss his event. Before we talked I jotted down all kinds of questions, and my goal was to test him and try and shoot holes in plans. I am very skeptical of token schemes and I promised myself to be hard on him. Justin and I finally got on a call and we talked for over an hour. I pressed him on many points as he walked me through the who, what, where and how his events would work. Justin never balked, and his sincerity for wanting to make music festivals more fan friendly is what hit home with me. I told him I was interested in doing an interview, but this would not be a fluffy PR piece. I explained to him that many would be critical of the idea, and this interview would be a great opportunity to respond to people questioning his motives. Justin and I stayed in contact via text over the last few months while he was jet setting around the world on tour, and we managed to put this interview together. During this process my respect for him grew, and I can assure you is he is a very grounded and humble guy for being so acclaimed. In the meantime, Justin and his team have been hard at work planning to launch the premier Our Music Festival (OMF) event in San Francisco on October 20th. The headliners are no joke with Zedd, Big Sean, Matt and Kim and of course 3LAU a.k.a. Justin, along with a lineup of other solid musicians. As a matter of fact, when I was writing this intro the OMF Crypto presale sold out in under an hour. Unlike many tokens out there with no utility, the OMF tokens will be redeemed for concert entry. Justin and his crew have big plans to continue to evolve this project, and whether you agree or disagree with the business model it will be interesting to see how this evolves. Justin 3LAU Online Identity: 3LAU, previously Chronocornica RJ: (Real Job) Musician / producer DJ Years in the $BTC game: 3 inactive years, 1 active year How might people know you? Most likely for my music :) How can people follow you? 3LAU on most social platforms What is your background, education or formal training? Before going into music I studied finance at Washington University in St. Louis, Olin. I left school after my junior year to pursue music full time, with blessing from my professors, friends & parents. When did you become interested in Bitcoin and Crypto? The Winklevoss twins are friends of mine, and were building Gemini at the time I was first interested in the space. What is the single best experience you have had in this space? Meeting such incredible, intelligent, and forward thinking people. Tell us your biggest Bitcoin or Crypto fail. When BCH was added to Gdax, and I converted most of my on-exchange binance holdings to BCH to arb the spread between Binance & Gdax… and then Gdax locked the market, and my withdrawal limit was too low to do anything about it… Terrible day(s). Where do you personally get your Bitcoin or Crypto news? All over the place, but lately Medium posts from my favorite authors, as well as aggregator apps! Best tips you can give anyone new to the Bitcoin world? Trust no one and DYOR on anything and everything before making brash decisions about investments! Where did you grow up? Originally New York, but since I was 13 years old, my current home of Las Vegas. What kind of kid were you? I loved video games, legos, and weird music. I definitely didn’t have many friends. What advice would you give your younger self? To embrace my personal oddities and to listen to my parents (both are true heros). Justin got his start DJing small college parties. You are an accomplished DJ and producer, tell us how you got into this? It all kind of happened by accident! I always loved making music, but was inspired to make mashups in college, to access a more mainstream audience. I was previously making more experimental electronic music. A couple of these mashups took off on music blogs, and before I knew it, I was getting requests to play college campuses all over the US. Who are some of the people you have worked with that we might know? Everyone from Ariana Grande to Katy Perry; before they were some of the biggest in the game, The Chainsmokers actually opened for me on tour :) What is it like touring the world as a DJ? It’s not as glamorous as anyone would expect. Making music, and playing shows are two huge passions of mine. What is the biggest show you have ever played? EDC Vegas in 2016, probably the biggest crowd I’ve ever played for. It was also a long term dream of mine. Where can people find your music? The best place would be searching for my spotify profile, just @3LAU — be sure to checkout my latest album called Ultraviolet. In the last year you have launched Our Music Festival (OMF). Explain what it is and what you would like to accomplish? Our goal with OMF is to give fans more power over their festival experiences, rewarding them for their involvement and encouraging them to give back to the ecosystem by telling friends and providing feedback Where is OMF based out of? In year one, OMF will take place at the Greek Theater in Berkeley, CA. We hope to expand all around the world in the next three years with targets in Barcelona, Seoul & Tokyo! Who else is involved in OMF and why do you think it will be successful? I’m lucky to have such an incredible team of music industry leaders, successful entrepreneurs, and tech experts. From my co-founder Adam, to some of our incredible advisors like the founders of Origin Protocol, I think we’re poised to make serious waves in both the music industry and the blockchain space. Many people will scratch their heads when they hear about this and ask why do music events need to be on a blockchain? There are thre primary applications we’re exploring. First is ticketing; collapsing primary & secondary markets with a more transparent means of access transfer / price discover. The entire concept of a “ticket” will shift towards digital assets that enable access, we want to be a part of that journey. Second, fan engagement & loyalty are both increasingly difficult for experience creators to secure. By incentivizing fans to engage more deeply with festival ecosystems, OMF will disintermediate the festival business and cut middlemen that are profiting from arbitrary fees and useless marketing campaigns that fail to engage end-users. Ideally that combats ticket inflation and decentralizes promotional efforts for events. Finally, OMF aims to compensate fans fairly for contributing data, and opting in to share personal information. Most other participants in festival ecosystems have no access to that data, including artists like myself that ultimately drive traffic to live music experiences in the first place. We ultimately want to build a protocol for all events to tokenize, and engage fans at a deeper level. Our branded events will function as pilots for the tech we build, as we build it! In the long term, our vision is to have the fans vote for the artists on the lineup; we cannot wait till we get there! Do you feel the blockchain is an overused buzzword? Yes, and no. It’s definitely the go-to term to describe this giant revolution that humanity is still learning about, but it’s difficult to succinctly characterize this new industry with any other term. It’s a crutch, but necessary in conversation :) What kind of funding have you raised privately to build the back end infrastructure to launch OMF? We started with 1m, and we’re over 2x committed for our strategic round of 3m. This current round is reserved for long term partners who we believe can build the OMF story & provide both labor and capital resources to ensure the success of the project. The next round will be a 12m soft cap 15m hard cap round. In ICO terms, these are small numbers, but it’s more important to our team to protect investors & fairly value the nature of what we’re building. In the long term, we believe that’s key to our success. Just 3LAU tours the world and his home is entertaining sold out venues. Many people might call OMF token a marketing ploy. What’s your response to that? I would just tell someone to check out our all-star team, read our materials, and ask questions. Everyone on the OMF team is happy to answer. How will you differentiate OMF from the long list of scammers trying to make a quick buck off developing a shit coin or token? Our goal is to be as transparent as possible. We aren’t raising money from the public until we know that we’re building completely functional tech. Our #1 priority is the fan experience. You are building OMF token on Ethereum. Why have you chosen Ethereum versus Bitcoin or using other options? We are exploring every option currently. We are primarily using ETH as a means of raising funds, since it has become the industry standard for ICOs, and it’s familiar to investors! Take us through how OMF token will be used by fans at your events? It’s easiest to think of OMF utility tokens like SkyMiles, but that are limited in quantity and have multifaceted functionality. Fans will be able to earn tokens by participating in the festival ecosystem as explained in the previous Fan Incentive Mechanisms section of this paper. The more tokens a fan earns, the higher status they earn within the network, representing their contribution to the network’s success. Simultaneously, tokens earned will be redeemable for tickets, merch, food & beverage at heavily discounted rates; they will also be redeemable for exclusive experiences like artist meet & greets, backstage tours, VIP upgrades, and other elements of festivals that are currently inaccessible to members of the music festival community. How will music fans purchase OMF tokens? The public will not be able to purchase OMF tokens directly until more clarity from the SEC is given on utility token frameworks. We are exploring compliant airdrops to enable fans to start earning OMF as quickly as possible, without necessarily purchasing it directly. Will the OMF token be listed on exchanges? If so, which ones? Unfortunately cannot give more detail here due to regulation, it’s a very unfortunate circumstance. What type of regulatory challenges is OMF up against? Many. That’s why I focused the first six months of this project on compliance measures and corporate structure. I look forward to sharing a lot of my documents with the public down the road! When and where will the first OMF event take place? The first OMF will occur in the bay area on October 20th! Zedd is our first artist on the lineup, but of course I’ll be playing too. We can’t wait to announce the rest of the artists soon, and we’ll be selling tickets ASAP. Describe what fans can expect? In year one, we’re enabling crypto-payments for tickets, and everyone who joins the festival will receive an ETH paper wallet, which we can airdrop to in the future. As our app is developed, fans will be able to import that wallet & we’ll be adding features over time. What artists have signed on to perform? We’ll be announcing our list of artist ambassadors very soon! Will all attendees be forced to use OMF token to buy tickets? Definitely not, our goal is to create a hybridized system that gives all consumers access, that’s the key to fueling mainstream adoption of crypto, on a macro-level. What if they don’t want to? They’ll be able to use fiat, ETH, BTC + more. Will fans be able to buy merchandise and music with OMF token? In year one, we might face network issues, but in year two we hope to enable OMF purchases for all kinds of products and services in the festival ecosystem. Are you afraid this concept might be over the heads of the masses? Ideally we can build a beautiful UI & create simple, educational content to bring the masses to our platform. Thankfully, our founders and advisors have some serious reach. What other technical hurdles do you foresee? There are obvious network / scaling issues for blockchain ticketing. We also have to make sure that festival internet can handle the load. How will fans hold their OMF tokens and what incentive will there be for doing so? There will be multiple staking incentives to access VIP upgrades, early access to tickets, meet & greets + more. The exact incentive structure is still in development. What type of response have you received from the music industry? So far the response has been incredible, the six agent advisors to our project make up some of the most powerful leaders in the live music business. We’re excited to keep expanding our music team as well! What is your end goal with OMF? The end goal is to give fans more control over the experiences they love and look forward to on a daily basis. Disintermediating the music industry as a whole is essential for it to grow, but it’s great to start with the festival business, which attracts so many people, with different tastes, across the globe! The tools of the trade for a boss DJ What is your relationship with the Winklevoss twins? I credit the twins with the reason why I entered the space in the first place. I met them while they were building Gemini, and became intrigued with the potential of cryptocurrencies immediately. I didn’t take the deeper dive until mid-2017 when markets sparked unprecedented upward momentum. Are they down to help and support you? The twins were helpful in pointing me in the correct legal direction for the project. They cautioned moving too quickly without having the proper legal team in place. I’m thankful they encouraged me to double check all of my work. What is your prediction for Bitcoin in 5–10–20 years? I truly believe that we’ll see substantial price appreciation once institutions begin to explore the space. Until then, we’re at the whim of uncertain regulation and constant scamming. I hope the world remains open to the potential that bitcoin holds. Anyone you want to throw a shout out to? Shout out to you PB! Thanks for taking the time to interview me, and educate the masses on the potentials of DLT! Where can people learn more about upcoming OMF events and tokens? You can check it all out at omf.io and stay in touch on our telegram channel :) https://t.me/ourmusicfest Any last words? Huge thanks to PB for conducting this interview. So glad to meet other passionate people in the space! If you like this interview, check out some of my other articles Hackernoon/@piratebeachbum or find me on twitter @piratebeachbum or @coin_strategy or coinstrategy.io

The First Crypto Powered Music Festival: Interview with OMF Co-Founder Justin Blau

Photo by from Tima Miroshnichenko Pexels Data storage and access have long been a concern for businesses. A ton of data is created daily, and efficient storage is a must to keep track of everything. Physical storage has been the norm, but many businesses are opting to switch to cloud-based IT solutions instead. Cloud-based solutions simply provide numerous benefits that can’t be obtained with physical storage and standard IT solutions. Some of the top benefits of switching to cloud-based include the following. Better Efficiency With Reduced Costs Cloud computing allows for more efficient storage for businesses. With the right enterprise architecture software, there’s no need to purchase expensive physical storage solutions to store data. Plus, downtime is rare, so this can help reduce costs as well. With a more than 99% uptime average, businesses know they will always have access to their data. Along with these cost savings, cloud computing typically offers various payment plans, so it’s possible to only pay for the features that will be used. Increased Data Security Security is crucial for businesses, and that includes the data. A data breach can cause catastrophic damages for a business, depending on what data is stolen or hacked. Cloud-based options provide better security. If anything does happen, the business is able to recover the data within just a few hours. Very few businesses can restore the data for their business in a short amount of time. Most likely, without cloud access, it can take a day or longer to restore everything. Easy Scalability for the Business The goal of every business is to grow. With that comes the need for . Businesses must be able to scale up their storage and IT solutions to meet the increasing demand of new customers as the company grows. With traditional IT solutions, this takes time to do. Cloud-based IT solutions are incredibly easy to scale, so it’s possible to grow quickly and keep up with the demand of new customers. Scalability with cloud-based solutions is less expensive since there’s no need to purchase physical servers or storage and can be done instantly, providing the business with a way to stay competitive with other companies. scalability Improved Collaboration Teams need to be able to work together to be successful. What happens when one team member needs to be out of the office for the day? How’s the collaboration going to work if team members need to meet in person or on the phone to get things done? Cloud-based solutions make it easier to collaborate. Team members can reach each other easily, can share documents and make changes instantly, and can make sure everything shared is secure. With easier collaboration, teams can get more done, can get the work done faster, and can work together without issue. Easily Update Software Software needs to be updated regularly to improve security, make sure everything works properly, and to take advantage of the latest features. Typically, updating software needs to be done manually to prevent issues or has to be done after hours, and if there is a problem, it could be difficult to fix quickly. When the software is stored in the cloud, however, it’s easier to keep everything updated. Employees won’t have to worry about whether the software they’re using needs to be updated since it’s already done. More Sustainable Option Energy consumption is at an all-time high, and a lot of energy is consumed by businesses. This is unsustainable and does long-term damage to the environment. Cloud-based solutions, on the other hand, are more sustainable. There’s no longer a need for physical storage, saving significant amounts of energy. Using the cloud can also help cut down on paper waste, allow easier access to information for employees no matter where they are, and can help reduce transportation-related environmental concerns because employees can work from home and still get everything done. Improve Accessibility Today, more businesses are opting to let employees work from home at least part of the time. This provides more flexibility for employees who may need to take personal time to get things done if they can’t work from home. With cloud-based solutions, everything is still accessible for employees that are working from their home office. The employees can get to everything they might need for their job, so they can be home and still work. Though there may still be some times when coming into the office is required, employees often appreciate the flexibility of being able to work from home with ease. Today, many businesses are opting to switch to cloud-based solutions. With so many benefits, this is a transition that just makes sense. If you haven’t adopted cloud-based solutions for your business yet, it’s time to look into what you can do with the cloud and how it can help your business grow and thrive.

Why Should Your Business Adopt Cloud-Based IT Solutions?

Are you on the fence about getting a business email? This post is for you. You’ll learn about what a business email is, how you can leverage it, and how to get one. Getting a business email might be the difference between finding a high-paying job or client versus disappearing in a sea of messages that every client deletes as part of their routine. Let’s get started and learn everything you need to know about using emails for your personal and professional needs. business What is a Business Email? A business email is a non-generic and personalized email address. It’s typically paid for (as opposed to ‘free’ email by Gmail or Yahoo) and represents a brand or a business. Business emails are also unique and reference specific companies, personal brands, and blogs. A business email would look like this: versus . youremail@brandedmail.com youremail@gmail.com A business email aims to represent a professional (either an individual or a business) and implies authenticity and authority, although this is not always the case, as anyone can get a business email. Next, let’s look at why you should consider getting one. 6 reasons to get a business email Here, we’ll cover the benefits and uses of a business email and why you should get one. You might find that having a business email could give you a small boost that helps you grow or might be the game changer that transforms you and your business to the next level. Let’s dive in. 1. Create a Professional Impression While anyone can for a low price (or even free), most people don’t. get a business email Creating a business email shows thought, investment, and a level of seriousness and authenticity that a generic email might not convey. If you’re looking to make a strong first impression, then using a business email will make a difference. It sets you apart from the large number of people who barely make the effort to create a coherent user name, often using terms like ‘cooldude’ or ‘breakdance21’ instead of their names. And it adds a certain degree of lift to your image and perception as an established professional. Again, it’s perfectly possible to be entirely fake, but in most cases, a business email will automatically convey a higher degree of credibility than a normal one. 2. Better Management and Organization Don’t deny it. Your normal email is subscribed to dozens of websites you have no use for and has hundreds of unread emails. Trying to run a business, find clients, or job search with an already cluttered inbox could be your undoing without you realizing it. You might miss important content and opportunities, forget to reply to important emails, or just ignore your inbox when it’s overwhelmed with unnecessary information. Having a business email that’s separate from your personal one helps you stay organized and focused on what’s important. You’ll find it easier to pull up important conversations, find key details, and follow up on job searches, client conversations, and more. You will also be less distracted when your inbox is focused on your professional and business concerns because trivial social information, distracting sales messages, and so on are nowhere in sight. You’ll also manage any tools you use more easily. You can subscribe to job boards, professional communities, and networks using one email and thus manage your presence on them more easily. Instead of forgetting what email and password you’ve used, your business email can act as the key to accessing any space for your growth. 3. Streamline Communication with Clients and Teams A professional email or business email creates a centralized point of contact that streamlines communication with your clients and other team members. Your client will find it easier to remember your email address when it’s linked to your business. And you’ll simplify communication if you’re working with a partner or team. Instead of your client having to remember five different team members’ addresses, they can just write to support@yourbusiness.com which will redirect to the right person instantaneously. Overall, you make workflows and communication efficient and streamlined. 4. Create Email Security and Protect Your Brand While generic and normal email services are protected, they don’t have advanced security measures. When you have a business email, you’ll have access to better security features. Many email services provide advanced encryption and dedicated support along with authentication measures. You’ll protect sensitive information and shield your brand's reputation by preventing a security breach. 5. Access to Email Marketing A key way for businesses to grow is to leverage email marketing. It has the highest return on investment out of all marketing efforts. For , you get $44 back. every dollar you spend on email marketing This means sending carefully crafted emails to your email list or cold emailing potential clients with personalized content. If you want to unlock sophisticated marketing tools to communicate with several people, then you need a professional or business email. Many email marketing service providers will only integrate with your email if it’s a business one. So, if you want to scale up and have better reach, you’re best served by having a business email address. 6. Increased Storage and Better Features Another thing to consider is that you need email storage, data recovery, and other features. When you take a business email, you get access to useful additional platforms to boost your productivity. Let’s say you get a Google business email using Workspace; you also get a high amount of storage every month and can use many enhanced features that Workspace offers. These are a few benefits of using a business email. I’m sure you can think of more. For the next section, we’ll look at how you can get your own professional branded email. How to get a business email There are over , which means you can buy from any of them. 1000 domain name registrars However, you’re best served by buying one that combines a few services. Many business email offers are tied with some other package. For example, when you buy a Workspace subscription from Google, you can also set up your business email and domain. Or, if you take up a hosting package for your website, you could get a domain name and a business email for free. So, it’s best that you plan to set up a proper business presence in some way. You could set up your own blog or website and thereby opt for a business email free with your domain name and hosting. Or you could sign up for Google Workspace and get your business email. You’ll have to have a domain name too. So, make sure you pick a comprehensive package for your professional and business growth needs. If you need my advice, I suggest setting up a website or blog with your own name as the domain name. And set up your business email with your name, too. This way, you can grow your personal brand and also change the topic of your website at any time should you need it to pivot. With a few steps and at a very low price, you can start using your professional email for all your needs. Back to you A business email is a powerful way to start building your personal brand. The day could come when you’re ready to launch your own business or become a thought leader. Having a business email and your own domain will ensure you’re ready to launch on the right foot and will help you build a strong online presence over time. So, get started today and invest in your business email; you’ll soon find that it will pay back in leaps and bounds.

Why You Should Get a Business Email

The 21st century has seen an exciting growth in startups and SMEs. The costs of starting businesses are far lower now than in the 20th century. In all industries, small businesses have chipped away at the market caps, often dominated by two or three large corporations. The SME market now has over 100 million businesses globally, increasing 8% annually, with SMEs now representing around 99% of all enterprises¹. The boom in startup culture, combined with technology spurred globalisation, has made operating internationally far more affordable for small businesses than in previous years. SME international trade in the UK is now worth $935 billion, with businesses transferring an average of around £35,000 every month internationally.¹ As fantastic as these statistics might seem for anyone looking to start up a company trading internationally, the costs of trade are likely to be a minor concern when compared to the costs of transferring money alone. SMEs are paying out £4bn a year in built-in costs when transferring money overseas through the UK’s high street banks.⁴ On average, a transfer of £75,000 within the EU will cost a small business £1,822; with banks charging up to 4%, some even more.⁴ˡ⁶ On top of these high rates, the banks hidden fees cost UK enterprises a further £3.96bn in 2014.⁴ With 72% of SMEs making international transfers, it’s shocking to hear that only 20% of SMEs know the true cost of their transfers.⁵ˡ⁶ Comparing transfer providers is time consuming work, and with hidden fees so common, it’s difficult to know who truly offers the best rate. Here at Find.Exchange, we believe we have found a solution that will save SMEs time and money when transferring funds overseas. The comparison industry has been booming in recent years. From car insurance to travel, you can compare hundreds of providers across the globe. However, despite costing UK businesses around £7bn a year, comparison companies do not offer a degree of transparency that SMEs require.³ This is where we come in. At Find.Exchange we are offering users the ability to see which provider offers the lowest transfer rates in real time, coupled with live exchange rates; saving SMEs time and money. Our automated comparison service clears the air, showing the user exactly how much they will get charged, with no extra costs and no hidden fees. This transparency is designed to make transferring money a more comfortable experience, giving enterprises and individuals comfort in knowing they are getting the best available rate. We have our eyes on the future. The money transfer industry is undoubtedly due for an upgrade, and having spotted the potential of implementing cryptocurrencies, our team are aiming to go a great deal further in saving SMEs time and money. Stay tuned at . Find.Exchange ¹ http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Statistics_on_small_and_medium-sized_enterprises ²Migration and Remittance Factbook 2016, The World Bank. ³ https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/08/leaked-santander-international-money-transfers-transferwise ⁴ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/12097516/Banks-charge-small-firms-extra-4bn-on-top-of-standard-fees-for-money-transfers.html ⁵ https://www.worldfirst.com/downloads/GlobalBarometerFeb17.pdf ⁶ https://www.moneymover.com/media/uploads/files/UK-SME-International-Payments-Analysis-Summary.pdf

The Outdated Industry Costing UK Companies $7bn a Year

The world of email design and development moves notoriously slow… or at least it did before this month. In just about 30 days, three huge announcements by some of the biggest players in the space have completely changed the game and for the better: The Microsoft Outlook team is no longer annoying the #emailgeek community. Litmus will now act as a liason to ensure bugs get high priority and will offer new Microsoft Outlook clients in their testing suite. The goal? Make email better. Litmus and Microsoft Outlook have announced a partnership **You can now use Foundation for Emails and create ready-to-send emails right in your browser**We’ve developed a new tool called that uses the power of Foundation for Emails combined with the slick features of CodePen so you can create beautiful, responsive emails with no downloads or build environment to set up. Slinky **Gmail will soon support responsive email**The team at Google announced on a developer blog that Gmail will soon support styling and media queries. This could spell the end for inlining and opens up a ton of new possibilities. We’re thrilled about how each of these announcements is going to push email forward! Get all of the details as well as links to resources in the latest issue of the Inky Insider: http://zurb.us/2d5ZXTm

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