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A Short History of the World, by H. G. Wells, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . EGYPT, BABYLON AND ASSYRIA EGYPT, BABYLON AND ASSYRIA The Egyptians had never submitted very willingly to the rule of their Semitic shepherd kings and about 1600 A.D. a vigorous patriotic movement expelled these foreigners. Followed a new phase or revival for Egypt, a period known to Egyptologists as the New Empire. Egypt, which had not been closely consolidated before the Hyksos invasion, was now a united country; and the phase of subjugation and insurrection left her full of military spirit. The Pharaohs became aggressive conquerors. They had now acquired the war horse and the war chariot, which the Hyksos had brought to them. Under Thothmes III and Amenophis III Egypt had extended her rule into Asia as far as the Euphrates. We are entering now upon a thousand years of warfare between the once quite separated civilizations of Mesopotamia and the Nile. At first Egypt was ascendant. The great dynasties, the Seventeenth Dynasty, which included Thothmes III and Amenophis III and IV and a great queen Hatasu, and the Nineteenth, when Rameses II, supposed by some to have been the Pharaoh of Moses, reigned for sixty-seven years, raised Egypt to high levels of prosperity. In between there were phases of depression for Egypt, conquest by the Syrians and later conquest by the Ethiopians from the South. In Mesopotamia Babylon ruled, then the Hittites and the Syrians of Damascus rose to a transitory predominance; at one time the Syrians conquered Egypt; the fortunes of the Assyrians of Nineveh ebbed and flowed; sometimes the city was a conquered city; sometimes the Assyrians ruled in Babylon and assailed Egypt. Our space is too limited here to tell of the comings and goings of the armies of the Egyptians and of the various Semitic powers of Asia Minor, Syria and Mesopotamia. They were armies now provided with vast droves of war chariots, for the horse—still used only for war and glory—had spread by this time into the old civilizations from Central Asia. TEMPLE AT ABU SIMBEL Showing the statues of Rameses II at entrance Great conquerors appear in the dim light of that distant time and pass, Tushratta, King of Mitanni, who captured Nineveh, Tiglath Pileser I of Assyria who conquered Babylon. At last the Assyrians became the greatest military power of the time. Tiglath Pileser III conquered Babylon in 745 B.C. and founded what historians call the New Assyrian Empire. Iron had also come now into civilization out of the north; the Hittites, the precursors of the Armenians, had it first and communicated its use to the Assyrians, and an Assyrian usurper, Sargon II, armed his troops with it. Assyria became the first power to expound the doctrine of blood and iron. Sargon’s son Sennacherib led an army to the borders of Egypt, and was defeated not by military strength but by the plague. Sennacherib’s grandson Assurbanipal (who is also known in history by his Greek name of Sardanapalus) did actually conquer Egypt in 670 B.C. But Egypt was already a conquered country then under an Ethiopian dynasty. Sardanapalus simply replaced one conqueror by another. AVENUE OF SPHINXES Leading from the Nile to the great Temple of Karnak Photo: D. McLeish If one had a series of political maps of this long period of history, this interval of ten centuries, we should have Egypt expanding and contracting like an amœba under a microscope, and we should see these various Semitic states of the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Hittites and the Syrians coming and going, eating each other up and disgorging each other again. To the west of Asia Minor there would be little Ægean states like Lydia, whose capital was Sardis, and Caria. But after about 1200 B.C. and perhaps earlier, a new set of names would come into the map of the ancient world from the north-east and from the north- west. These would be the names of certain barbaric tribes, armed with iron weapons and using horse-chariots, who were becoming a great affliction to the Ægean and Semitic civilizations on the northern borders. They all spoke variants of what once must have been the same language, Aryan. THE GREAT HYPOSTYLE HALL AT KARNAK Photo: D. McLeish Round the north-east of the Black and Caspian Seas were coming the Medes and Persians. Confused with these in the records of the time were Scythians and Samatians. From north-east or north-west came the Armenians, from the north- west of the sea-barrier through the Balkan peninsula came Cimmerians, Phrygians and the Hellenic tribes whom now we call the Greeks. They were raiders and robbers and plunderers of cities, these Ayrans, east and west alike. They were all kindred and similar peoples, hardy herdsmen who had taken to plunder. In the east they were still only borderers and raiders, but in the west they were taking cities and driving out the civilized Ægean populations. The Ægean peoples were so pressed that they were seeking new homes in lands beyond the Aryan range. Some were seeking a settlement in the delta of the Nile and being repulsed by the Egyptians; some, the Etruscans, seem to have sailed from Asia Minor to found a state in the forest wildernesses of middle Italy; some built themselves cities upon the south- east coasts of the Mediterranean and became later that people known in history as the Philistines. Of these Aryans who came thus rudely upon the scene of the ancient civilizations we will tell more fully in a later section. Here we note simply all this stir and emigration amidst the area of the ancient civilizations, that was set up by the swirl of the gradual and continuous advance of these Aryan barbarians out of the northern forests and wildernesses between 1600 and 600 B.C. And in a section to follow we must tell also of a little Semitic people, the Hebrews, in the hills behind the Phœnician and Philistine coasts, who began to be of significance in the world towards the end of this period. They produced a literature of very great importance in subsequent history, a collection of books, histories, poems, books of wisdom and prophetic works, the Hebrew Bible. In Mesopotamia and Egypt the coming of the Aryans did not cause fundamental changes until after 600 B.C. The flight of the Ægeans before the Greeks and even the destruction of Cnossos must have seemed a very remote disturbance to both the citizens of Egypt and of Babylon. Dynasties came and went in these cradle states of civilization, but the main tenor of human life went on, with a slow increase in refinement and complexity age by age. In Egypt the accumulated monuments of more ancient times—the pyramids were already in their third thousand of years and a show for visitors just as they are to- day—were supplemented by fresh and splendid buildings, more particularly in the time of the seventeenth and nineteenth dynasties. The great temples at Karnak and Luxor date from this time. All the chief monuments of Nineveh, the great temples, the winged bulls with human heads, the reliefs of kings and chariots and lion hunts, were done in these centuries between 1600 and 600 B.C., and this period also covers most of the splendours of Babylon. FRIEZE SHOWING EGYPTIAN FEMALE SLAVES CARRYING LUXURIOUS FOODS Photo: Jacques Boyer Both from Mesopotamia and Egypt we now have abundant public records, business accounts, stories, poetry and private correspondence. We know that life, for prosperous and influential people in such cities as Babylon and the Egyptian Thebes, was already almost as refined and as luxurious as that of comfortable and prosperous people to-day. Such people lived an orderly and ceremonious life in beautiful and beautifully furnished and decorated houses, wore richly decorated clothing and lovely jewels; they had feasts and festivals, entertained one another with music and dancing, were waited upon by highly trained servants, were cared for by doctors and dentists. They did not travel very much or very far, but boating excursions were a common summer pleasure both on the Nile and on the Euphrates. The beast of burthen was the ass; the horse was still used only in chariots for war and upon occasions of state. The mule was still novel and the camel, though it was known in Mesopotamia, had not been brought into Egypt. And there were few utensils of iron; copper and bronze remained the prevailing metals. Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool. But there was no silk yet. Glass was known and beautifully coloured, but glass things were usually small. There was no clear glass and no optical use of glass. People had gold stoppings in their teeth but no spectacles on their noses. One odd contrast between the life of old Thebes or Babylon and modern life was the absence of coined money. Most trade was still done by barter. Babylon was financially far ahead of Egypt. Gold and silver were used for exchange and kept in ingots; and there were bankers, before coinage, who stamped their names and the weight on these lumps of precious metal. A merchant or traveller would carry precious stones to sell to pay for his necessities. Most servants and workers were slaves who were paid not money but in kind. As money came in slavery declined. A modern visitor to these crowning cities of the ancient world would have missed two very important articles of diet; there were no hens and no eggs. A French cook would have found small joy in Babylon. These things came from the East somewhere about the time of the last Assyrian empire. Religion like everything else had undergone great refinement. Human sacrifice for instance had long since disappeared; animals or bread dummies had been substituted for the victim. (But the Phœnicians and especially the citizens of Carthage, their greatest settlement in Africa, were accused, later of immolating human beings.) When a great chief had died in the ancient days it had been customary to sacrifice his wives and slaves and break spear and bow at his tomb so that he should not go unattended and unarmed in the spirit world. In Egypt there survived of this dark tradition the pleasant custom of burying small models of house and shop and servants and cattle with the dead, models that give us to-day the liveliest realization of the safe and cultivated life of these ancient people, three thousand years and more ago. THE TEMPLE OF HORUS AT EDFU Such was the ancient world before the coming of the Aryans out of the northern forests and plains. In India and China there were parallel developments. In the great valleys of both these regions agricultural city states of brownish peoples were growing up, but in India they do not seem to have advanced or coalesced so rapidly as the city states of Mesopotamia or Egypt. They were nearer the level of the ancient Sumerians or of the Maya civilization of America. Chinese history has still to be modernized by Chinese scholars and cleared of much legendary matter. Probably China at this time was in advance of India. Contemporary with the seventeenth dynasty in Egypt, there was a dynasty of emperors in China, the Shang dynasty, priest emperors over a loose-knit empire of subordinate kings. The chief duty of these early emperors was to perform the seasonal sacrifices. Beautiful bronze vessels from the time of the Shang dynasty still exist, and their beauty and workmanship compel us to recognize that many centuries of civilization must have preceded their manufacture. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. H. G. Wells (2011). A Short History of the World. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022, from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/11870/11870-h/11870-h.htm This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

EGYPT, BABYLON AND ASSYRIA

Authors:
(1) Renato P. dos Santos, CIAGE – Centre for Generative Artificial Intelligence in Cognition and Education. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Materials And Methods Results and Analyses Prompts and generated texts Conceptualizing chemical reactions Deepening on understanding of chemical reactions Question about combustion Question about a graph of gases turning into water over time Question about the difference between atoms, molecules, and moles Deepening on the concept of mole Question about changing of state Question about an animated representation of water molecules undergoing phase changes Question about plasma, a state of matter Question about chemical bondings Question about illustration of chemical bonds Question about the essence of the type of chemical bonding Further analysis Conclusions Limitations of the study and possible future studies Author Contributions, Conflicts of interest, Acknowledgements, and References Abstract This research delves into the comparative advantages of Generative AI chatbots (GenAIbots) - ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Bard, and Claude - in the context of Chemistry education, framed within a constructivist perspective. Our primary objective was to identify which of these four AI tools is more effective for enhancing Chemistry learning. Employing a single-case study approach, we scrutinised interaction logs between the AI systems and a simulated student persona during Chemistry learning simulations, incorporating Content Analysis methodology to delve deeper into the discourse. Our findings underscore these tools' potential as "agents-to-think-with", enhancing critical thinking, problem-solving, comprehension, creativity, and tailored learning. Especially noteworthy is their ability to stimulate learners through Socratic-like questioning, aligning with constructionist principles. The research emphasises the pivotal role of prompt crafting to coax desired responses from GenAIbots, engendering iterative reflections. It also highlights the need for robust educator training to infuse these technologies into educational settings. Conclusively, while ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Bard, and Claude are poised to enrich Chemistry education by fostering dynamic, inclusive learning experiences, ChatGPT stood out, decisively surpassing Bing Chat's performance. Bard and Claude trailed closely, with all three showcasing a more in-depth, precise, and nuanced understanding, underscoring ChatGPT's adeptness at contextual comprehension. Keywords: Chemistry education, ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Bard, Claude, Artificial Intelligence in Education, agents-to-think-with Introduction Chemistry, a core Science Education subject, clarifies matter's properties and transformations, thus critically shaping our daily lives (Dunlop et al., 2020). However, Chemistry is also a complex and dynamic field that necessitates a profound grasp of fundamental concepts and principles, and it is sometimes difficult for students to associate real-life circumstances with abstract chemistry concepts (Dewi et al., 2021). Research in Chemistry Education seeks effective strategies to alleviate these learning difficulties (Permatasari et al., 2022; Timilsena et al., 2022; Tümay, 2016). Timilsena et al. (2022) identified difficulties in understanding the abstract nature of chemical reactions and factors such as inadequate teaching materials and curriculum complexity, emphasising the need for effective teaching strategies and tools. Tümay (2016) discussed students' struggles in understanding fundamental chemistry concepts and emphasised the importance of addressing misconceptions and learning difficulties. Dewi et al. (2021) underscored the need for critical thinking skills and the integration of digital technology to enhance the quality of Chemistry education for Generation Z students. Dunlop et al. (2020) proposed introducing philosophical dialogue in higher education to address undergraduate Chemistry students' challenges, suggesting that it can stimulate new ways of thinking. In 2023, Castro Nascimento and Pimentel undertook a study to evaluate the proficiency of the ChatGPT model by having it respond to five distinct tasks across various subfields of chemistry (Castro Nascimento & Pimentel, 2023). These tasks included converting compound names to their SMILES chemical representation and vice versa, procuring information on the octanol-water partition coefficient of chemical compounds, extracting structural information on coordination compounds, determining the water solubility of polymers, and identifying the molecular point groups of simple molecular compounds. The unsatisfactory outcomes highlighted potential limitations in the model's ability to adequately address these specific chemistry-related queries. Notably, the suboptimal performance observed might be attributed to utilising an antiquated version of ChatGPT, specifically the GPT-3 model introduced by OpenAI in 2020 (Brown et al., 2020). In a separate study conducted in the same year, Leon and Vidhani (2023) explored the reliability of ChatGPT responses within the framework of an introductory college-level Chemistry course. Their findings indicated a significant reliability concern, with ChatGPT failing to secure a score above 37%. Such a performance implies that learners relying on this tool for study support would predominantly receive incorrect responses, with the variability of the tool leading to different responses for individual learners. Although the authors didn't specify which version of ChatGPT they utilised in their study, their reference to "ChatGPT's free original version" and the citation of Floridi and Chiriatti's (2020) research on ChatGPT-3 hint at the likelihood that they employed this version. Additionally, Pimentel et al. (2023) delved into the efficacy of ChatGPT versions 3 and 4 in responding to intricate questions spanning six topics in Chemistry. While they concluded that both versions were currently inadequate in addressing the nuances of complex topics, they also observed noteworthy advancements from ChatGPT-3 to ChatGPT-4. Such progress signals promising potential for the tool to aid scientists in future literature reviews, surveys, and educational endeavours. Generative AI-powered chatbots (GenAIbots), including ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Bard, and Claude, have been introduced as innovative solutions to persistent challenges in Chemistry education (Baidoo-Anu & Owusu Ansah, 2023; Taylor et al., 2022). Their emergence offers a dynamic, inclusive educational environment, transforming how complex concepts are conveyed and understood. These GenAIbots simplify intricate topics, promote self-reflection, engage users in stimulating dialogues, facilitate personalised learning, and enhance critical thinking, collaboration, and cognitive development (Okonkwo & Ade-Ibijola, 2021). As a result, they have played a pivotal role in revolutionising Chemistry education. In the discourse on agency, traditional theories, such as the ones of Anscombe and Davidson, attribute actions to entities based on representational mental states encompassing desires, beliefs, and intentions. However, alternative perspectives, drawing from the works of Heider and Simmel, Dennett, Davidson, and Barandiaran et al., challenge this representation dependent view, suggesting potential agency without such mental representations (Schlosser, 2019). When considering GenAIbots within these frameworks, the entity's ability to respond based on training contrasts with its lack of self-awareness, intentions, and proactive behaviour— characteristics central to the agency. Consequently, while dominant philosophical and cognitive models would not grant ChatGPT agency, more expansive interpretations, as offered by these cited thinkers, could accept it. Building on this foundation and inspired by Melanie Swan's suggestion, we have expanded upon Papert's (1980) concept of "objects-to-think-with" to introduce “agents-to-thinkwith.” This positions GenAIbots as integral participants in the educational path, echoing Turkle's (1984) concept of "metacognitive machines," in the sense that they assist in enhancing one's awareness of their own cognitive processes, i.e., "thinking about thinking" as described by Flavell (1976). In Latour's (1991) perspective, we can perceive GenAIbots as "hybrids," which blur the boundaries between humans and non-human entities. Such a perspective further aligns with Swan's (2015) vision of a future where augmented humans and AI collaborate and thrive symbiotically. While GenAIbots posit themselves as powerful metacognitive educational tools, promoting critical thinking, problem-solving, and deep comprehension of concepts, it's imperative to acknowledge their limitations. For instance, there's the possibility of generating nonsensical or inaccurate content, as OpenAI (2023) highlighted. Nevertheless, the unique ability of GenAIbots to provide instant feedback, introduce diverse perspectives, and foster an interactive engagement with complex ideas solidifies their position as influential agents-to-think-with in the realm of Chemistry education. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED license. Authors: (1) Renato P. dos Santos, CIAGE – Centre for Generative Artificial Intelligence in Cognition and Education. Authors: Authors: (1) Renato P. dos Santos, CIAGE – Centre for Generative Artificial Intelligence in Cognition and Education. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Abstract and Introduction Materials And Methods Materials And Methods Results and Analyses Results and Analyses Prompts and generated texts Prompts and generated texts Conceptualizing chemical reactions Conceptualizing chemical reactions Deepening on understanding of chemical reactions Deepening on understanding of chemical reactions Question about combustion Question about combustion Question about a graph of gases turning into water over time Question about a graph of gases turning into water over time Question about the difference between atoms, molecules, and moles Question about the difference between atoms, molecules, and moles Deepening on the concept of mole Deepening on the concept of mole Question about changing of state Question about changing of state Question about an animated representation of water molecules undergoing phase changes Question about an animated representation of water molecules undergoing phase changes Question about plasma, a state of matter Question about plasma, a state of matter Question about chemical bondings Question about chemical bondings Question about illustration of chemical bonds Question about illustration of chemical bonds Question about the essence of the type of chemical bonding Question about the essence of the type of chemical bonding Further analysis Further analysis Conclusions Conclusions Limitations of the study and possible future studies Limitations of the study and possible future studies Author Contributions, Conflicts of interest, Acknowledgements, and References Author Contributions, Conflicts of interest, Acknowledgements, and References Abstract This research delves into the comparative advantages of Generative AI chatbots (GenAIbots) - ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Bard, and Claude - in the context of Chemistry education, framed within a constructivist perspective. Our primary objective was to identify which of these four AI tools is more effective for enhancing Chemistry learning. Employing a single-case study approach, we scrutinised interaction logs between the AI systems and a simulated student persona during Chemistry learning simulations, incorporating Content Analysis methodology to delve deeper into the discourse. Our findings underscore these tools' potential as "agents-to-think-with", enhancing critical thinking, problem-solving, comprehension, creativity, and tailored learning. Especially noteworthy is their ability to stimulate learners through Socratic-like questioning, aligning with constructionist principles. The research emphasises the pivotal role of prompt crafting to coax desired responses from GenAIbots, engendering iterative reflections. It also highlights the need for robust educator training to infuse these technologies into educational settings. Conclusively, while ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Bard, and Claude are poised to enrich Chemistry education by fostering dynamic, inclusive learning experiences, ChatGPT stood out, decisively surpassing Bing Chat's performance. Bard and Claude trailed closely, with all three showcasing a more in-depth, precise, and nuanced understanding, underscoring ChatGPT's adeptness at contextual comprehension. Keywords: Chemistry education, ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Bard, Claude, Artificial Intelligence in Education, agents-to-think-with Keywords: Introduction Chemistry, a core Science Education subject, clarifies matter's properties and transformations, thus critically shaping our daily lives (Dunlop et al., 2020). However, Chemistry is also a complex and dynamic field that necessitates a profound grasp of fundamental concepts and principles, and it is sometimes difficult for students to associate real-life circumstances with abstract chemistry concepts (Dewi et al., 2021). Research in Chemistry Education seeks effective strategies to alleviate these learning difficulties (Permatasari et al., 2022; Timilsena et al., 2022; Tümay, 2016). Timilsena et al. (2022) identified difficulties in understanding the abstract nature of chemical reactions and factors such as inadequate teaching materials and curriculum complexity, emphasising the need for effective teaching strategies and tools. Tümay (2016) discussed students' struggles in understanding fundamental chemistry concepts and emphasised the importance of addressing misconceptions and learning difficulties. Dewi et al. (2021) underscored the need for critical thinking skills and the integration of digital technology to enhance the quality of Chemistry education for Generation Z students. Dunlop et al. (2020) proposed introducing philosophical dialogue in higher education to address undergraduate Chemistry students' challenges, suggesting that it can stimulate new ways of thinking. In 2023, Castro Nascimento and Pimentel undertook a study to evaluate the proficiency of the ChatGPT model by having it respond to five distinct tasks across various subfields of chemistry (Castro Nascimento & Pimentel, 2023). These tasks included converting compound names to their SMILES chemical representation and vice versa, procuring information on the octanol-water partition coefficient of chemical compounds, extracting structural information on coordination compounds, determining the water solubility of polymers, and identifying the molecular point groups of simple molecular compounds. The unsatisfactory outcomes highlighted potential limitations in the model's ability to adequately address these specific chemistry-related queries. Notably, the suboptimal performance observed might be attributed to utilising an antiquated version of ChatGPT, specifically the GPT-3 model introduced by OpenAI in 2020 (Brown et al., 2020). In a separate study conducted in the same year, Leon and Vidhani (2023) explored the reliability of ChatGPT responses within the framework of an introductory college-level Chemistry course. Their findings indicated a significant reliability concern, with ChatGPT failing to secure a score above 37%. Such a performance implies that learners relying on this tool for study support would predominantly receive incorrect responses, with the variability of the tool leading to different responses for individual learners. Although the authors didn't specify which version of ChatGPT they utilised in their study, their reference to "ChatGPT's free original version" and the citation of Floridi and Chiriatti's (2020) research on ChatGPT-3 hint at the likelihood that they employed this version. Additionally, Pimentel et al. (2023) delved into the efficacy of ChatGPT versions 3 and 4 in responding to intricate questions spanning six topics in Chemistry. While they concluded that both versions were currently inadequate in addressing the nuances of complex topics, they also observed noteworthy advancements from ChatGPT-3 to ChatGPT-4. Such progress signals promising potential for the tool to aid scientists in future literature reviews, surveys, and educational endeavours. Generative AI-powered chatbots (GenAIbots), including ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Bard, and Claude, have been introduced as innovative solutions to persistent challenges in Chemistry education (Baidoo-Anu & Owusu Ansah, 2023; Taylor et al., 2022). Their emergence offers a dynamic, inclusive educational environment, transforming how complex concepts are conveyed and understood. These GenAIbots simplify intricate topics, promote self-reflection, engage users in stimulating dialogues, facilitate personalised learning, and enhance critical thinking, collaboration, and cognitive development (Okonkwo & Ade-Ibijola, 2021). As a result, they have played a pivotal role in revolutionising Chemistry education. In the discourse on agency, traditional theories, such as the ones of Anscombe and Davidson, attribute actions to entities based on representational mental states encompassing desires, beliefs, and intentions. However, alternative perspectives, drawing from the works of Heider and Simmel, Dennett, Davidson, and Barandiaran et al., challenge this representation dependent view, suggesting potential agency without such mental representations (Schlosser, 2019). When considering GenAIbots within these frameworks, the entity's ability to respond based on training contrasts with its lack of self-awareness, intentions, and proactive behaviour— characteristics central to the agency. Consequently, while dominant philosophical and cognitive models would not grant ChatGPT agency, more expansive interpretations, as offered by these cited thinkers, could accept it. Building on this foundation and inspired by Melanie Swan's suggestion, we have expanded upon Papert's (1980) concept of "objects-to-think-with" to introduce “agents-to-thinkwith.” This positions GenAIbots as integral participants in the educational path, echoing Turkle's (1984) concept of "metacognitive machines," in the sense that they assist in enhancing one's awareness of their own cognitive processes, i.e., "thinking about thinking" as described by Flavell (1976). In Latour's (1991) perspective, we can perceive GenAIbots as "hybrids," which blur the boundaries between humans and non-human entities. Such a perspective further aligns with Swan's (2015) vision of a future where augmented humans and AI collaborate and thrive symbiotically. While GenAIbots posit themselves as powerful metacognitive educational tools, promoting critical thinking, problem-solving, and deep comprehension of concepts, it's imperative to acknowledge their limitations. For instance, there's the possibility of generating nonsensical or inaccurate content, as OpenAI (2023) highlighted. Nevertheless, the unique ability of GenAIbots to provide instant feedback, introduce diverse perspectives, and foster an interactive engagement with complex ideas solidifies their position as influential agents-to-think-with in the realm of Chemistry education. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED license. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED license. available on arxiv

Enhancing Chemistry Learning with ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Bard, and Claude as Agents-to-Think-With

ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Bard, এবং Claude-এর সাথে এজেন্ট-টু-থিঙ্ক-এর মাধ্যমে রসায়ন শেখার উন্নতি করা

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चैटजीपीटी, बिंग चैट, बार्ड और क्लाउड के साथ रसायन विज्ञान सीखने को बेहतर बनाना, एजेंट-टू-थिंक-विथ

ChatGPT、Bing Chat、Bard、Claude をエージェントとして利用して化学学習を強化する

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Nâng cao việc học hóa học với ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Bard và Claude với tư cách là Đại lý để suy nghĩ

使用 ChatGPT、Bing Chat、Bard 和 Claude 作为思考代理来增强化学学习

VERSES closed out 2023 with an important video titled, The Year in AI 2023. If you missed it, take a look here: https://youtu.be/2NAO9qiuhww?si=zAH58k6NU00uL9qD&embedable=true What a mind-blowing year it’s been for Generative AI. We’ve all seen the multitude of 2023 wrap-up posts recapping the staggering growth of these amazing tools. I, for one, cannot imagine going back to working without them. The amount of time tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Fireflies, and others have saved me in tasks I can now perform in minutes that would have taken me days to complete beforehand. It really has been a great year for productivity! For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And nest year’s words await another voice.” - T.S. Eliot 2023 is behind us now, and standing here on January 1st, 2024, a new year awaits with new technological developments that we can only imagine. These next years are primed to change the experience of living a human life on every conceivable level. One change we are definitely going to see this year is technology, which is altering everything we know about computing and the relationship between humans and machines. I’m referring to technology beyond the tools of Generative AI. The actual framework of computing is changing, and VERSES AI is leading that change. At the end of November 2023, at the , NVIDIA Founder Jensen Huang said: DealBook Summit “ ” You can’t solve this new way of doing computing by just designing a chip. Every aspect of the computer has fundamentally changed. And so everything from networking, to the switching, to the way computers are designed, to the chips themselves, all of the software that sits on top of it, and the methodology that pulls it all together — it’s a big deal because it’s a complete reinvention of the computer industry. And now we have a trillion dollar worth of data centers in the world, all of that’s going to get re-tooled. That’s the amazing thing. We are in the beginning of a brand new generation of computing. It hasn’t been reinvented in sixty years. This is why it’s such a big deal. It’s hard for people to wrap their head around it, but that was the great observation that we made. It includes a chip, but it’s not about that chip. As we begin this new year, it’s important to understand that Generative AI is not in competition with VERSES AI. They are entirely different kinds of AI, and they serve a different purpose. Generative AI is a tool within the framework of the next era of computing, and VERSES has built that framework. The next era of our internet — a common global network linking all legacy, current, and future technologies together with a common language for all, VERSES built the new protocol (HSTP and HSML) for it four years ago. Then they donated it to the public, because no one can own the internet. But they knew it was necessary for technology to be involved in this next era of computing. They knew it was necessary to establish a world model of real-time context, interoperability, interaction, and perception for building the AI technology of their vision for the future. At that time, the IEEE (the world’s largest core standards body) declared the Spatial Web Protocol “A Public Imperative” — their highest designation. The global core standards — socio-technical standards — for this new network protocol have been in development with the IEEE in the years since. In the meantime, VERSES has built the first platform to facilitate the world’s interaction within this new network — a network of shared intelligence powered by AI that perceives, learns, and acts on the world following the very principles of biological intelligence. It’s been a year since I published the first article of a Series titled “ ?” on December 30, 2022. In Part 1 of this series, I began to introduce Active Inference AI to my readers, explaining how it differs from Deep Learning. In this particular article, I touched on the VERSES’ AGI roadmap, ending the article with this: The Spatial Web and the Era of AI — What is Active Inference “Active Inference AI inside of Genius™ has access to the entire Spatial Web with IoT sensors and cameras and all context markers attached to all objects within all space and time. This AI becomes an ecosystem of Intelligent Agents that are all interoperable over HSTP. This Collective Intelligence is trained on realtime data and evolves making decisions and updating its interior model based on what is happening NOW, not on historical datasets. This is the missing piece of the data puzzle that gets us to Artificial General Intelligence. We now have the world model, and we now possess the ability for continuous and adaptive context markers enabling a cognitive model of this world and the ability to compute awareness. Dan Mapes, President, and Co-Founder, , and Director of ” “For the first time in history, starting now, we have the roadmap. AGI is now possible.” — VERSES AI The Spatial Web Foundation And here we are one year later… VERSES is coming in hot, announcing its AGI breakthrough just days before Christmas, along with its Genius platform and technology rollout timeline for 2024. After the past couple of years of private pilots and international programs, they’ve been teasing out announcements of their initial very strategic Beta platform partners every week during the last couple of months of 2023. So far, they’ve announced , , , , and , with more announcements to come on the first of this year. If you aren’t familiar with these companies, look them up. I think you’ll start to see the bigger picture unfolding. NASA Volvo Cortical Labs Nalantis SimWell This is HUGE people. Computing is changing on every basic and fundamental level. Generative AI is one piece of that computing puzzle. It’s a massive tool in this next era, but it’s not the framework for computing itself. What VERSES is building IS that framework, and the AI they are building will be a kind of overseeing AI for all the technology within this shared intelligent network of computing. A kind of AI that mimics biological intelligence. A safe AI that is programmable, explainable, trustworthy, and governable. One that safeguards our privacy on a computing network that solves the biggest problems and threats within the world wide web. This is AI that can be trusted to run mission-critical operations for smart city infrastructure, the supply chain, hospitals, airports, and so much more: A nervous system for the network, a nervous system for the planet. And one of the best parts: this is AI that is energy efficient in the same way as the human brain. The need for super-powerful processing chips will remain for Generative AI tools but will not be necessary for the distributed intelligence across this expanded global network. Active Inference AI offers a path to intelligence that minimizes complexity and energy, promising a profoundly scalable and cost-effective path to Artificial General Intelligence. By mimicking biology, we can nurture AI that thinks and learns while protecting the planet. 2024 is gearing up to be a defining year in history, and I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds. , and Explore the future of AI with Active Inference and gain insights into this revolutionary approach! at Visit my blog https://deniseholt.us/ Subscribe to my channels on , , , , and more. Subscribe to my newsletter on , for more ground breaking content. YouTube Spotify Apple Amazon LinkedIn Also published . here

Welcome to 2024: The Year Computing Changes Forever

LONDON, UK, December 22nd, 2023/Chainwire/--Revolutionary Web3 Platform Prepares to Award $1 Million USDC Prize. , the premier web3 competition platform leveraging blockchain technology, is counting down the last 6 hours in its record-breaking prize draw, where one lucky player will win a life-changing $1 Million USDC! MetaWin MetaWin Millionaire $1 Million Grand Prize Draws In Less than 6 Hours With the competition ending today, December 22nd at 21:00 GMT, there is still time to secure a free entry into the $1 Million USDC sweepstakes before registration closes. The $1 Million USDC prize is already staked in a smart contract on-chain, and will be instantly transferred to the randomly selected wallet, making one lucky participant an instant millionaire. Crypto Twitter Abuzz With Anticipation Interest in the competition is reaching fever pitch with multiple influential accounts entering the draw, with Pranksy, dannycrypt, sibel and noteezzy all showing off their entries. But even with the excitement mounting, there are currently just over 5000 registered entries, which still offers attractive odds for new participants. Just Released: More Than 50+ Eth In Free-to-Play NFT’s To celebrate the momentous countdown to the World’s biggest crypto prize, Metawin has just announced the release of in NFT’s in free-to-enter competitions. The competitions range in value from smaller, but high-quality projects, to more established blue chips such as Killabears, Miladys, Otherdeeds and more. 50+ ETH worth Entries are capped to ensure equal chances of winning, and just require a small gas fee to register the entry on the Ethereum blockchain. With new NFT prizes hitting the site every 30 minutes, participants can join in the excitement throughout the next 6 hours until the draw of the $1 Million USDC main prize. MetaWin's Exciting Journey: Anticipating the $1 Million USDC Winner With the countdown clock ticking down the final hours, MetaWin invites all potential participants to seize the moment and claim their chance at the $ 1 Million USDC prize. Users can claim their free entry via this link: - Opportunity for Users to Win $1 Million USDC Free Entry Available extends its best wishes to all entrants and looks forward to announcing the fortunate victor. MetaWin About MetaWin stands at the forefront of on-chain competition platforms, revolutionizing the landscape of digital contests. Through harnessing the power of blockchain technology, MetaWin delivers a competition experience characterized by transparency, fairness, and excitement. MetaWin With a track record of substantial giveaways and an unwavering commitment to innovation, MetaWin is shaping the future of online competitions. Contact MR MetaWin PR MetaWin press@metawin.inc This story was distributed as a release by Chainwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program . here

Clock Ticking: 6 Hours Left In MetaWin's Thrilling $1 Million USDC Prize Race

ঘড়ির টিক টিক বাজানো: মেটাউইনের রোমাঞ্চকর $1 মিলিয়ন ইউএসডিসি প্রাইজ রেসে 6 ঘন্টা বাকি

Die Uhr tickt: Noch 6 Stunden im spannenden USDC-Preisrennen von MetaWin im Wert von 1 Million US-Dollar

El reloj corre: quedan 6 horas en la emocionante carrera de premios de $ 1 millón de USDC de MetaWin

Le temps presse : il reste 6 heures dans la passionnante course aux prix USDC d'un million de dollars de MetaWin

घड़ी की टिक-टिक: मेटाविन की रोमांचक $1 मिलियन यूएसडीसी पुरस्कार दौड़ में 6 घंटे शेष हैं

時計の針が刻々と過ぎていく: MetaWin のスリル満点の 100 万ドル USDC 賞金レースは残り 6 時間

똑딱거리는 시간: MetaWin의 스릴 넘치는 100만 달러 USDC 상금 경주가 6시간 남았습니다.

O relógio está passando: faltam 6 horas para a emocionante corrida de prêmios de US$ 1 milhão em USDC da MetaWin

Часы тикают: осталось 6 часов до захватывающей призовой гонки MetaWin на 1 миллион долларов США

Saat İşliyor: MetaWin'in Heyecan Verici 1 Milyon Dolarlık USDC Ödül Yarışında 6 Saat Kaldı

Đồng hồ tích tắc: Còn 6 giờ trong cuộc đua giải thưởng hấp dẫn trị giá 1 triệu USDC của MetaWin

时钟滴答作响：MetaWin 激动人心的 100 万美元 USDC 奖金竞赛还剩 6 小时

In an unprecedented move by VERSES AI, today’s announcement of a breakthrough revealing a new path to AGI based on ‘natural’ rather than ‘artificial’ intelligence, appealing to their stated mission VERSES took out a full page ad in the NY Times with an open letter to the Board of Open AI “to build artificial general intelligence (AGI) that is safe and benefits all of humanity.” Specifically, the appeal addresses a clause in the that states in pursuit of their mission “to build artificial general intelligence (AGI) that is safe and benefits all of humanity,” and the concerns about late-stage AGI becoming a “competitive race without time for adequate safety precautions. Therefore, if a value-aligned, safety-conscious project comes close to building AGI before we do, we commit to stop competing with and start assisting this project.” Open AI Board’s charter What Happened? VERSES has achieved an AGI breakthrough within their alternative path to AGI, which is Active Inference. And they are appealing to Open AI “in the spirit of cooperation and in accordance with [their} charter.” According to their today, “VERSES recently achieved a significant internal breakthrough in Active Inference that we believe addresses the tractability problem of probabilistic AI. This advancement enables the design and deployment of adaptive, real-time Active Inference agents at scale, matching and often surpassing the performance of state-of-the-art deep learning. These agents achieve superior performance using orders of magnitude less input data and are optimized for energy efficiency, specifically designed for intelligent computing on the edge, not just in the cloud.” press release Why Is This Significant? In a video published as part of the announcement today titled, “ ” VERSES takes a look at the incredible journey of AI acceleration over this past year and what it suggests about the current path from Artificial Narrow Intelligence (where we are now) to Artificial General Intelligence — AGI (the holy grail of AI automation)… Noting that all of the major players of Deep Learning technology have publicly acknowledged throughout the course of 2023 that “another breakthrough” is needed to get to AGI. For many months now, there has been an overwhelming consensus that machine learning/deep learning cannot achieve AGI. Sam Altman, Bill Gates, Yann LeCunn, Gary Marcus, and many others have publicly stated so. The Year in AI 2023, Just last month, Sam Altman declared at the Hawking Fellowship Award event at Cambridge University that “another breakthrough is needed” in response to a question asking if LLMs are capable of achieving AGI. Even more concerning are the potential dangers of proceeding in the direction of machine intelligence, as evidenced by the “Godfather of AI,” Geoffrey Hinton, creator of backpropagation and the deep learning method, withdrawing from Google early this year over his own concerns of the potential harm to humanity by continuing down the path he had dedicated half a century of his life to. So, What Are The Potential Dangers of Deep Learning Neural Nets? The many problems that pose these potential dangers of continuing down the current path of , are compelling and quite serious. generative AI · Black box problem · Alignment problem · Generalizability problem · Halucination problem · Centralization problem — one corporation owning the AI · Clean data problem · Energy consumption problem · Data update problem · Financial viability problem · Guardrail problem · Copyright problem All Current AI Stems from This 'Artificial' DeepMind Path At University College London, two professors worked right next door to each other. One, Geoffrey Hinton, and the other, Karl Friston. Professor Hinton developed DeepMind, taking an engineering approach to artificial intelligence, resulting in the handful of monolithic foundation models that exist today from which all generative AI is built. Dr. Friston, Chief Science Officer at VERSES and one of the most renowned neuroscientists in history, had other ideas. He pioneered a method called Active Inference, based on a principle he discovered called The Free Energy Principle, opening up an entirely new path to AGI that is grounded in physics and based on the mathematics of natural, biological intelligence rather than mere machines and algorithms. In November 2018, WIRED published an article titled “The Genius Neuroscientist Who Might Hold the Key to True AI,” stating, “Karl Friston’s Free Energy Principle might be the most all-encompassing idea since the theory of natural selection.” In the video released today, Professor Friston says, “You look at machine learning, and you just look at the trajectory. It’s all a trajectory measured in terms of big data, or how many billions of parameters can your large language model handle? That’s exactly the wrong direction.” The AGI Breakthrough In today’s announcement, VERSES explains, “Building on this breakthrough, we developed a novel framework to facilitate the scalable generation of agents with radically improved generalization, adaptability, and computational efficiency. This framework also features superior alignability, interoperability, and governability in accordance with and complemented by the P2874 Spatial Web standards being developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).” VERSES AI is taking a First Principles approach to AI based on the understanding that the path to AGI must be based on natural intelligence. This direction follows the premise that intelligence is multidimensional, adaptive, efficient, and cooperative. The technology they have built demonstrates a systematic blueprint for achieving AGI and even super intelligence resulting from this path. This is the Breakthrough everyone is waiting for. The Research Roadmap Revealed Additionally, outlining the stages of development for Active Inference AI. VERSES unveiled its research roadmap and timeline publicly today, — This is contemporary state-of-the-art Al; namely, universal function approximation-mapping from input or sensory states to outputs or action states — that optimizes some well-defined value function or cost of (systemic) states. Examples include deep learning, Bayesian reinforcement learning, etc. S0: Systemic Intelligence Sentient behavior or active inference based on belief updating and propagation (i.e., optimizing beliefs about states as opposed to states ); where “sentient” means behavior that looks as if it is driven by beliefs about the sensory consequences of action. This entails planning as inference; namely, inferring courses of action that maximize expected information gain and expected value, where value is part of a generative (i.e., world) model; namely, prior preferences. This kind of intelligence is both information-seeking and preference-seeking. It is quintessentially curious, in virtue of being driven by uncertainty minimization, as opposed to reward maximization. S1: Sentient Intelligence — per se Sentient behavior — as defined under S1 — in which plans are predicated on the consequences of action for beliefs about states of the world, as opposed to states . i.e., a move from “what will happen if I do this?” to “what will I believe or know if I do this?”. This kind of inference generally uses generative models with discrete states that “carve nature at its joints”; namely, inference over coarse-grained representations and ensuing world models. This kind of intelligence is amenable to formulation in terms of modal logic, quantum computation, and category theory. This stage corresponds to “artificial general intelligence” in the popular narrative about the progress of AI. S2: Sophisticated Intelligence — per se The deployment of sophisticated AI to recognize the nature and dispositions of users and other AI and — in consequence — recognize (and instantiate) attentional and dispositional states of self; namely, a kind of minimal selfhood (which entails generative models equipped with the capacity for Theory of Mind). This kind of intelligence is able to take the perspective of its users and interaction partners — it is perspectival, in the robust sense of being able to engage in dyadic and shared perspective taking. S3: Sympathetic Intelligence — The kind of collective that emerges from the coordination of Sympathetic Intelligences (as defined in S3) and their interaction partners or users — which may include naturally occurring intelligences such as ourselves, but also other sapient artifacts. This stage corresponds, roughly speaking, to “artificial super-intelligence” in the popular narrative about the progress of AI — with the important distinction that we believe that such intelligence will emerge from dense interactions between agents networked into a hyper-spatial web. We believe that the approach that we have outlined here is the most likely route toward this kind of hypothetical, planetary-scale, distributed super-intelligence.” S4: Shared Intelligence — GENIUS™ Platform Timeline - What to Expect Today, for the first time, . The GENIUS™ Private Beta Program officially launches in January 2024, with previously announced Beta partners like NASA, SimWell, Cortical Labs, and NALANTIS, with more announcements soon. The GENIUS™ Public Beta is set for Summer 2024, with enhanced agent capabilities. Included in the timeline is a projection for Sentient Agents as “Personal Agents” planned for winter 2024 in a Private Beta. VERSES made public their ambitious timeline for the 2024 rollout of their platform Back to Today's Monumental Call for Cooperation and Collaboration Among the AI Community Not only are LLMs unlikely to achieve AGI, they are highly likely to bring about the worst potential for humanity. At the very least, they bring about confusion, misinformation and compound many of the things we already struggle with as a human race. The good news is Active Inference AI can benefit these machine models. They can inherit qualities from Active Inference that solve many of their issues. When faced with a new discovery for a potential path to AGI that is programmable, explainable, self-evolving, governable, and works to scale while preserving individual cultural differences and preferences, aligning with human values.; When it operates in a secure manner — overcoming the security issues and obstacles of using LLMs in an unsecured environment like the centralized World Wide Web; When it has the ability to specify and adhere to rules and regulations for various types, stages of intelligence, and governing needs of a wide gamut of Autonomous Intelligent Systems; We have the potential to do things right from the beginning. We have the potential to embark on this crucial next evolution of technology in cooperation between humans and machines for the ultimate good of the future of human civilization. OpenAI, from its inception, has ensured the public that its mission to develop “AGI that benefits all of humanity” would trump all else, including its own for-profit aspirations. Their charter states very clearly that they would set aside competition to join in support of any leading technology that adheres to that mission. VERSES AI is presenting technology and a timeline that fits the criteria they set in their charter. VERSES AI is demonstrating its own intention and integrity to the public welfare by reaching out to the Open AI board today to appeal to this spirit of cooperation within the AI community. In a space of technology that is rife with fear of a corporate race for domination, it’s hard to imagine a more meaningful gesture than that. At the end of the video, “The Year in AI 2023,” released today, narrated by VERSES CEO Gabriel Rene, states, “ ” We have achieved the breakthrough we believe leads to smarter, safer, and more sustainable general intelligence systems. This isn’t just about achieving AGI. It’s about what we can achieve with it. The natural path invites us to realign our relationship with technology, nature, and each other. And it calls on us to come together to imagine a smarter world and then build it. https://www.verses.ai/year-in-ai-2023-video “The Year in AI 2023,” Full video released today — by permission from VERSES AI , and Explore the future of AI with Active Inference and gain insights into this revolutionary approach! Visit my blog at https://deniseholt.us/ Subscribe to my channels on , YouTube , Spotify , Apple , and more. Subscribe to my newsletter on Amazon for more groundbreaking content. LinkedIn All content for Spatial Web AI is independently created by Denise Holt. Also published . here

VERSES AI Announces AGI Breakthrough: Invokes Open AI's 'Assist' Clause

The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . FURTHER ADVENTURES OF TOMMY CHAPTER XVI. FURTHER ADVENTURES OF TOMMY From a darkness punctuated with throbbing stabs of fire, Tommy dragged his senses slowly back to life. When he at last opened his eyes, he was conscious of nothing but an excruciating pain through his temples. He was vaguely aware of unfamiliar surroundings. Where was he? What had happened? He blinked feebly. This was not his bedroom at the Ritz. And what the devil was the matter with his head? “Damn!” said Tommy, and tried to sit up. He had remembered. He was in that sinister house in Soho. He uttered a groan and fell back. Through his almost-closed lids he reconnoitred carefully. “He is coming to,” remarked a voice very near Tommy’s ear. He recognized it at once for that of the bearded and efficient German, and lay artistically inert. He felt that it would be a pity to come round too soon; and until the pain in his head became a little less acute, he felt quite incapable of collecting his wits. Painfully he tried to puzzle out what had happened. Obviously somebody must have crept up behind him as he listened and struck him down with a blow on the head. They knew him now for a spy, and would in all probability give him short shrift. Undoubtedly he was in a tight place. Nobody knew where he was, therefore he need expect no outside assistance, and must depend solely on his own wits. “Well, here goes,” murmured Tommy to himself, and repeated his former remark. “Damn!” he observed, and this time succeeded in sitting up. In a minute the German stepped forward and placed a glass to his lips, with the brief command “Drink.” Tommy obeyed. The potency of the draught made him choke, but it cleared his brain in a marvellous manner. He was lying on a couch in the room in which the meeting had been held. On one side of him was the German, on the other the villainous-faced doorkeeper who had let him in. The others were grouped together at a little distance away. But Tommy missed one face. The man known as Number One was no longer of the company. “Feel better?” asked the German, as he removed the empty glass. “Yes, thanks,” returned Tommy cheerfully. “Ah, my young friend, it is lucky for you your skull is so thick. The good Conrad struck hard.” He indicated the evil-faced doorkeeper by a nod. The man grinned. Tommy twisted his head round with an effort. “Oh,” he said, “so you’re Conrad, are you? It strikes me the thickness of my skull was lucky for you too. When I look at you I feel it’s almost a pity I’ve enabled you to cheat the hangman.” The man snarled, and the bearded man said quietly: “He would have run no risk of that.” “Just as you like,” replied Tommy. “I know it’s the fashion to run down the police. I rather believe in them myself.” His manner was nonchalant to the last degree. Tommy Beresford was one of those young Englishmen not distinguished by any special intellectual ability, but who are emphatically at their best in what is known as a “tight place.” Their natural diffidence and caution fall from them like a glove. Tommy realized perfectly that in his own wits lay the only chance of escape, and behind his casual manner he was racking his brains furiously. The cold accents of the German took up the conversation: “Have you anything to say before you are put to death as a spy?” “Simply lots of things,” replied Tommy with the same urbanity as before. “Do you deny that you were listening at that door?” “I do not. I must really apologize—but your conversation was so interesting that it overcame my scruples.” “How did you get in?” “Dear old Conrad here.” Tommy smiled deprecatingly at him. “I hesitate to suggest pensioning off a faithful servant, but you really ought to have a better watchdog.” Conrad snarled impotently, and said sullenly, as the man with the beard swung round upon him: “He gave the word. How was I to know?” “Yes,” Tommy chimed in. “How was he to know? Don’t blame the poor fellow. His hasty action has given me the pleasure of seeing you all face to face.” He fancied that his words caused some discomposure among the group, but the watchful German stilled it with a wave of his hand. “Dead men tell no tales,” he said evenly. “Ah,” said Tommy, “but I’m not dead yet!” “You soon will be, my young friend,” said the German. An assenting murmur came from the others. Tommy’s heart beat faster, but his casual pleasantness did not waver. “I think not,” he said firmly. “I should have a great objection to dying.” He had got them puzzled, he saw that by the look on his captor’s face. “Can you give us any reason why we should not put you to death?” asked the German. “Several,” replied Tommy. “Look here, you’ve been asking me a lot of questions. Let me ask you one for a change. Why didn’t you kill me off at once before I regained consciousness?” The German hesitated, and Tommy seized his advantage. “Because you didn’t know how much I knew—and where I obtained that knowledge. If you kill me now, you never will know.” But here the emotions of Boris became too much for him. He stepped forward waving his arms. “You hell-hound of a spy,” he screamed. “We will give you short shrift. Kill him! Kill him!” There was a roar of applause. “You hear?” said the German, his eyes on Tommy. “What have you to say to that?” “Say?” Tommy shrugged his shoulders. “Pack of fools. Let them ask themselves a few questions. How did I get into this place? Remember what dear old Conrad said— with your own password, wasn’t it? How did I get hold of that? You don’t suppose I came up those steps haphazard and said the first thing that came into my head?” Tommy was pleased with the concluding words of this speech. His only regret was that Tuppence was not present to appreciate its full flavour. “That is true,” said the working man suddenly. “Comrades, we have been betrayed!” An ugly murmur arose. Tommy smiled at them encouragingly. “That’s better. How can you hope to make a success of any job if you don’t use your brains?” “You will tell us who has betrayed us,” said the German. “But that shall not save you—oh, no! You shall tell us all that you know. Boris, here, knows pretty ways of making people speak!” “Bah!” said Tommy scornfully, fighting down a singularly unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach. “You will neither torture me nor kill me.” “And why not?” asked Boris. “Because you’d kill the goose that lays the golden eggs,” replied Tommy quietly. There was a momentary pause. It seemed as though Tommy’s persistent assurance was at last conquering. They were no longer completely sure of themselves. The man in the shabby clothes stared at Tommy searchingly. “He’s bluffing you, Boris,” he said quietly. Tommy hated him. Had the man seen through him? The German, with an effort, turned roughly to Tommy. “What do you mean?” “What do you think I mean?” parried Tommy, searching desperately in his own mind. Suddenly Boris stepped forward, and shook his fist in Tommy’s face. “Speak, you swine of an Englishman—speak!” “Don’t get so excited, my good fellow,” said Tommy calmly. “That’s the worst of you foreigners. You can’t keep calm. Now, I ask you, do I look as though I thought there were the least chance of your killing me?” He looked confidently round, and was glad they could not hear the persistent beating of his heart which gave the lie to his words. “No,” admitted Boris at last sullenly, “you do not.” “Thank God, he’s not a mind reader,” thought Tommy. Aloud he pursued his advantage: “And why am I so confident? Because I know something that puts me in a position to propose a bargain.” “A bargain?” The bearded man took him up sharply. “Yes—a bargain. My life and liberty against——” He paused. “Against what?” The group pressed forward. You could have heard a pin drop. Slowly Tommy spoke. “The papers that Danvers brought over from America in the Lusitania.” The effect of his words was electrical. Every one was on his feet. The German waved them back. He leaned over Tommy, his face purple with excitement. “Himmel! You have got them, then?” With magnificent calm Tommy shook his head. “You know where they are?” persisted the German. Again Tommy shook his head. “Not in the least.” “Then—then——” angry and baffled, the words failed him. Tommy looked round. He saw anger and bewilderment on every face, but his calm assurance had done its work—no one doubted but that something lay behind his words. “I don’t know where the papers are—but I believe that I can find them. I have a theory——” “Pah!” Tommy raised his hand, and silenced the clamours of disgust. “I call it a theory—but I’m pretty sure of my facts—facts that are known to no one but myself. In any case what do you lose? If I can produce the papers—you give me my life and liberty in exchange. Is it a bargain?” “And if we refuse?” said the German quietly. Tommy lay back on the couch. “The 29th,” he said thoughtfully, “is less than a fortnight ahead——” For a moment the German hesitated. Then he made a sign to Conrad. “Take him into the other room.” For five minutes, Tommy sat on the bed in the dingy room next door. His heart was beating violently. He had risked all on this throw. How would they decide? And all the while that this agonized questioning went on within him, he talked flippantly to Conrad, enraging the cross-grained doorkeeper to the point of homicidal mania. At last the door opened, and the German called imperiously to Conrad to return. “Let’s hope the judge hasn’t put his black cap on,” remarked Tommy frivolously. “That’s right, Conrad, march me in. The prisoner is at the bar, gentlemen.” The German was seated once more behind the table. He motioned to Tommy to sit down opposite to him. “We accept,” he said harshly, “on terms. The papers must be delivered to us before you go free.” “Idiot!” said Tommy amiably. “How do you think I can look for them if you keep me tied by the leg here?” “What do you expect, then?” “I must have liberty to go about the business in my own way.” The German laughed. “Do you think we are little children to let you walk out of here leaving us a pretty story full of promises?” “No,” said Tommy thoughtfully. “Though infinitely simpler for me, I did not really think you would agree to that plan. Very well, we must arrange a compromise. How would it be if you attached little Conrad here to my person. He’s a faithful fellow, and very ready with the fist.” “We prefer,” said the German coldly, “that you should remain here. One of our number will carry out your instructions minutely. If the operations are complicated, he will return to you with a report and you can instruct him further.” “You’re tying my hands,” complained Tommy. “It’s a very delicate affair, and the other fellow will muff it up as likely as not, and then where shall I be? I don’t believe one of you has got an ounce of tact.” The German rapped the table. “Those are our terms. Otherwise, death!” Tommy leaned back wearily. “I like your style. Curt, but attractive. So be it, then. But one thing is essential, I must see the girl.” “What girl?” “Jane Finn, of course.” The other looked at him curiously for some minutes, then he said slowly, and as though choosing his words with care: “Do you not know that she can tell you nothing?” Tommy’s heart beat a little faster. Would he succeed in coming face to face with the girl he was seeking? “I shall not ask her to tell me anything,” he said quietly. “Not in so many words, that is.” “Then why see her?” Tommy paused. “To watch her face when I ask her one question,” he replied at last. Again there was a look in the German’s eyes that Tommy did not quite understand. “She will not be able to answer your question.” “That does not matter. I shall have seen her face when I ask it.” “And you think that will tell you anything?” He gave a short disagreeable laugh. More than ever, Tommy felt that there was a factor somewhere that he did not understand. The German looked at him searchingly. “I wonder whether, after all, you know as much as we think?” he said softly. Tommy felt his ascendancy less sure than a moment before. His hold had slipped a little. But he was puzzled. What had he said wrong? He spoke out on the impulse of the moment. “There may be things that you know which I do not. I have not pretended to be aware of all the details of your show. But equally I’ve got something up my sleeve that you don’t know about. And that’s where I mean to score. Danvers was a damned clever fellow——” He broke off as if he had said too much. But the German’s face had lightened a little. “Danvers,” he murmured. “I see——” He paused a minute, then waved to Conrad. “Take him away. Upstairs—you know.” “Wait a minute,” said Tommy. “What about the girl?” “That may perhaps be arranged.” “It must be.” “We will see about it. Only one person can decide that.” “Who?” asked Tommy. But he knew the answer. “Mr. Brown——” “Shall I see him?” “Perhaps.” “Come,” said Conrad harshly. Tommy rose obediently. Outside the door his gaoler motioned to him to mount the stairs. He himself followed close behind. On the floor above Conrad opened a door and Tommy passed into a small room. Conrad lit a hissing gas burner and went out. Tommy heard the sound of the key being turned in the lock. He set to work to examine his prison. It was a smaller room than the one downstairs, and there was something peculiarly airless about the atmosphere of it. Then he realized that there was no window. He walked round it. The walls were filthily dirty, as everywhere else. Four pictures hung crookedly on the wall representing scenes from Faust. Marguerite with her box of jewels, the church scene, Siebel and his flowers, and Faust and Mephistopheles. The latter brought Tommy’s mind back to Mr. Brown again. In this sealed and closed chamber, with its close-fitting heavy door, he felt cut off from the world, and the sinister power of the arch-criminal seemed more real. Shout as he would, no one could ever hear him. The place was a living tomb.... With an effort Tommy pulled himself together. He sank on to the bed and gave himself up to reflection. His head ached badly; also, he was hungry. The silence of the place was dispiriting. “Anyway,” said Tommy, trying to cheer himself, “I shall see the chief—the mysterious Mr. Brown and with a bit of luck in bluffing I shall see the mysterious Jane Finn also. After that——” After that Tommy was forced to admit the prospect looked dreary. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Agatha Christie (1998). The Secret Adversary. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1155/pg1155-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html.

FURTHER ADVENTURES OF TOMMY

The Present Social Attitude Towards Prostitution

The Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . Chapter III The Outlaw of Torn Chapter III For nearly a month, the old man haunted the palace, and watched in the gardens for the little Prince until he knew the daily routine of his tiny life with his nurses and governesses. He saw that when the Lady Maud accompanied him, they were wont to repair to the farthermost extremities of the palace grounds where, by a little postern gate, she admitted a certain officer of the Guards to whom the Queen had forbidden the privilege of the court. There, in a secluded bower, the two lovers whispered their hopes and plans, unmindful of the royal charge playing neglected among the flowers and shrubbery of the garden. Toward the middle of July De Vac had his plans well laid. He had managed to coax old Brus, the gardener, into letting him have the key to the little postern gate on the plea that he wished to indulge in a midnight escapade, hinting broadly of a fair lady who was to be the partner of his adventure, and, what was more to the point with Brus, at the same time slipping a couple of golden zecchins into the gardener’s palm. Brus, like the other palace servants, considered De Vac a loyal retainer of the house of Plantagenet. Whatever else of mischief De Vac might be up to, Brus was quite sure that in so far as the King was concerned, the key to the postern gate was as safe in De Vac’s hands as though Henry himself had it. The old fellow wondered a little that the morose old master of fence should, at his time in life, indulge in frivolous escapades more befitting the younger sprigs of gentility, but, then, what concern was it of his? Did he not have enough to think about to keep the gardens so that his royal master and mistress might find pleasure in the shaded walks, the well-kept sward, and the gorgeous beds of foliage plants and blooming flowers which he set with such wondrous precision in the formal garden? Further, two gold zecchins were not often come by so easily as this; and if the dear Lord Jesus saw fit, in his infinite wisdom, to take this means of rewarding his poor servant, it ill became such a worm as he to ignore the divine favor. So Brus took the gold zecchins and De Vac the key, and the little prince played happily among the flowers of his royal father’s garden, and all were satisfied; which was as it should have been. That night, De Vac took the key to a locksmith on the far side of London; one who could not possibly know him or recognize the key as belonging to the palace. Here he had a duplicate made, waiting impatiently while the old man fashioned it with the crude instruments of his time. From this little shop, De Vac threaded his way through the dirty lanes and alleys of ancient London, lighted at far intervals by an occasional smoky lantern, until he came to a squalid tenement but a short distance from the palace. A narrow alley ran past the building, ending abruptly at the bank of the Thames in a moldering wooden dock, beneath which the inky waters of the river rose and fell, lapping the decaying piles and surging far beneath the dock to the remote fastnesses inhabited by the great fierce dock rats and their fiercer human antitypes. Several times De Vac paced the length of this black alley in search of the little doorway of the building he sought. At length he came upon it, and, after repeated pounding with the pommel of his sword, it was opened by a slatternly old hag. “What would ye of a decent woman at such an ungodly hour?” she grumbled. “Ah, ’tis ye, my lord?” she added, hastily, as the flickering rays of the candle she bore lighted up De Vac’s face. “Welcome, my Lord, thrice welcome. The daughter of the devil welcomes her brother.” “Silence, old hag,” cried De Vac. “Is it not enough that you leech me of good marks of such a quantity that you may ever after wear mantles of villosa and feast on simnel bread and malmsey, that you must needs burden me still further with the affliction of thy vile tongue? “Hast thou the clothes ready bundled and the key, also, to this gate to perdition? And the room: didst set to rights the furnishings I had delivered here, and sweep the century-old accumulation of filth and cobwebs from the floor and rafters? Why, the very air reeked of the dead Romans who builded London twelve hundred years ago. Methinks, too, from the stink, they must have been Roman swineherds who habited this sty with their herds, an’ I venture that thou, old sow, hast never touched broom to the place for fear of disturbing the ancient relics of thy kin.” “Cease thy babbling, Lord Satan,” cried the woman. “I would rather hear thy money talk than thou, for though it come accursed and tainted from thy rogue hand, yet it speaks with the same sweet and commanding voice as it were fresh from the coffers of the holy church. “The bundle is ready,” she continued, closing the door after De Vac, who had now entered, “and here be the key; but first let us have a payment. I know not what thy foul work may be, but foul it is I know from the secrecy which you have demanded, an’ I dare say there will be some who would pay well to learn the whereabouts of the old woman and the child, thy sister and her son you tell me they be, who you are so anxious to hide away in old Til’s garret. So it be well for you, my Lord, to pay old Til well and add a few guilders for the peace of her tongue if you would that your prisoner find peace in old Til’s house.” “Fetch me the bundle, hag,” replied De Vac, “and you shall have gold against a final settlement; more even than we bargained for if all goes well and thou holdest thy vile tongue.” But the old woman’s threats had already caused De Vac a feeling of uneasiness, which would have been reflected to an exaggerated degree in the old woman had she known the determination her words had caused in the mind of the old master of fence. His venture was far too serious, and the results of exposure too fraught with danger, to permit of his taking any chances with a disloyal fellow-conspirator. True, he had not even hinted at the enormity of the plot in which he was involving the old woman, but, as she had said, his stern commands for secrecy had told her enough to arouse her suspicions, and with them her curiosity and cupidity. So it was that old Til might well have quailed in her tattered sandals had she but even vaguely guessed the thoughts which passed in De Vac’s mind; but the extra gold pieces he dropped into her withered palm as she delivered the bundle to him, together with the promise of more, quite effectually won her loyalty and her silence for the time being. Slipping the key into the pocket of his tunic and covering the bundle with his long surcoat, De Vac stepped out into the darkness of the alley and hastened toward the dock. Beneath the planks he found a skiff which he had moored there earlier in the evening, and underneath one of the thwarts he hid the bundle. Then, casting off, he rowed slowly up the Thames until, below the palace walls, he moored near to the little postern gate which let into the lower end of the garden. Hiding the skiff as best he could in some tangled bushes which grew to the water’s edge, set there by order of the King to add to the beauty of the aspect from the river side, De Vac crept warily to the postern and, unchallenged, entered and sought his apartments in the palace. The next day, he returned the original key to Brus, telling the old man that he had not used it after all, since mature reflection had convinced him of the folly of his contemplated adventure, especially in one whose youth was past, and in whose joints the night damp of the Thames might find lodgement for rheumatism. “Ha, Sir Jules,” laughed the old gardener, “Virtue and Vice be twin sisters who come running to do the bidding of the same father, Desire. Were there no desire there would be no virtue, and because one man desires what another does not, who shall say whether the child of his desire be vice or virtue? Or on the other hand if my friend desires his own wife and if that be virtue, then if I also desire his wife, is not that likewise virtue, since we desire the same thing? But if to obtain our desire it be necessary to expose our joints to the Thames’ fog, then it were virtue to remain at home.” “Right you sound, old mole,” said De Vac, smiling, “would that I might learn to reason by your wondrous logic; methinks it might stand me in good stead before I be much older.” “The best sword arm in all Christendom needs no other logic than the sword, I should think,” said Brus, returning to his work. That afternoon, De Vac stood in a window of the armory looking out upon the beautiful garden which spread before him to the river wall two hundred yards away. In the foreground were box-bordered walks, smooth, sleek lawns, and formal beds of gorgeous flowering plants, while here and there marble statues of wood nymph and satyr gleamed, sparkling in the brilliant sunlight, or, half shaded by an overhanging bush, took on a semblance of life from the riotous play of light and shadow as the leaves above them moved to and fro in the faint breeze. Farther in the distance, the river wall was hidden by more closely massed bushes, and the formal, geometric precision of the nearer view was relieved by a background of vine-colored bowers, and a profusion of small trees and flowering shrubs arranged in studied disorder. Through this seeming jungle ran tortuous paths, and the carved stone benches of the open garden gave place to rustic seats, and swings suspended from the branches of fruit trees. Toward this enchanting spot slowly were walking the Lady Maud and her little charge, Prince Richard; all ignorant of the malicious watcher in the window behind them. A great peacock strutted proudly across the walk before them, and, as Richard ran, childlike, after it, Lady Maud hastened on to the little postern gate which she quickly unlocked, admitting her lover, who had been waiting without. Relocking the gate the two strolled arm in arm to the little bower which was their trysting place. As the lovers talked, all self-engrossed, the little Prince played happily about among the trees and flowers, and none saw the stern, determined face which peered through the foliage at a little distance from the playing boy. Richard was devoting his royal energies to chasing an elusive butterfly which fate led nearer and nearer to the cold, hard watcher in the bushes. Closer and closer came the little Prince, and in another moment, he had burst through the flowering shrubs, and stood facing the implacable master of fence. “Your Highness,” said De Vac, bowing to the little fellow, “let old DeVac help you catch the pretty insect.” Richard, having often seen De Vac, did not fear him, and so together they started in pursuit of the butterfly which by now had passed out of sight. De Vac turned their steps toward the little postern gate, but when he would have passed through with the tiny Prince, the latter rebelled. “Come, My Lord Prince,” urged De Vac, “methinks the butterfly did but alight without the wall, we can have it and return within the garden in an instant.” “Go thyself and fetch it,” replied the Prince; “the King, my father, has forbid me stepping without the palace grounds.” “Come,” commanded De Vac, more sternly, “no harm can come to you.” But the child hung back and would not go with him so that De Vac was forced to grasp him roughly by the arm. There was a cry of rage and alarm from the royal child. “Unhand me, sirrah,” screamed the boy. “How dare you lay hands on a prince of England?” De Vac clapped his hand over the child’s mouth to still his cries, but it was too late. The Lady Maud and her lover had heard and, in an instant, they were rushing toward the postern gate, the officer drawing his sword as he ran. When they reached the wall, De Vac and the Prince were upon the outside, and the Frenchman had closed and was endeavoring to lock the gate. But, handicapped by the struggling boy, he had not time to turn the key before the officer threw himself against the panels and burst out before the master of fence, closely followed by the Lady Maud. De Vac dropped the key and, still grasping the now thoroughly affrightened Prince with his left hand, drew his sword and confronted the officer. There were no words, there was no need of words; De Vac’s intentions were too plain to necessitate any parley, so the two fell upon each other with grim fury; the brave officer facing the best swordsman that France had ever produced in a futile attempt to rescue his young prince. In a moment, De Vac had disarmed him, but, contrary to the laws of chivalry, he did not lower his point until it had first plunged through the heart of his brave antagonist. Then, with a bound, he leaped between Lady Maud and the gate, so that she could not retreat into the garden and give the alarm. Still grasping the trembling child in his iron grip, he stood facing the lady in waiting, his back against the door. “Mon Dieu, Sir Jules,” she cried, “hast thou gone mad?” “No, My Lady,” he answered, “but I had not thought to do the work which now lies before me. Why didst thou not keep a still tongue in thy head and let his patron saint look after the welfare of this princeling? Your rashness has brought you to a pretty pass, for it must be either you or I, My Lady, and it cannot be I. Say thy prayers and compose thyself for death.” Henry III, King of England, sat in his council chamber surrounded by the great lords and nobles who composed his suit. He awaited Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, whom he had summoned that he might heap still further indignities upon him with the intention of degrading and humiliating him that he might leave England forever. The King feared this mighty kinsman who so boldly advised him against the weak follies which were bringing his kingdom to a condition of revolution. What the outcome of this audience would have been none may say, for Leicester had but just entered and saluted his sovereign when there came an interruption which drowned the petty wrangles of king and courtier in a common affliction that touched the hearts of all. There was a commotion at one side of the room, the arras parted, and Eleanor, Queen of England, staggered toward the throne, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. “Oh, My Lord! My Lord!” she cried, “Richard, our son, has been assassinated and thrown into the Thames.” In an instant, all was confusion and turmoil, and it was with the greatest difficulty that the King finally obtained a coherent statement from his queen. It seemed that when the Lady Maud had not returned to the palace with Prince Richard at the proper time, the Queen had been notified and an immediate search had been instituted—a search which did not end for over twenty years; but the first fruits of it turned the hearts of the court to stone, for there beside the open postern gate lay the dead bodies of Lady Maud and a certain officer of the Guards, but nowhere was there a sign or trace of Prince Richard, second son of Henry III of England, and at that time the youngest prince of the realm. It was two days before the absence of De Vac was noted, and then it was that one of the lords in waiting to the King reminded his majesty of the episode of the fencing bout, and a motive for the abduction of the King’s little son became apparent. An edict was issued requiring the examination of every child in England, for on the left breast of the little Prince was a birthmark which closely resembled a lily and, when after a year no child was found bearing such a mark and no trace of De Vac uncovered, the search was carried into France, nor was it ever wholly relinquished at any time for more than twenty years. The first theory, of assassination, was quickly abandoned when it was subjected to the light of reason, for it was evident that an assassin could have dispatched the little Prince at the same time that he killed the Lady Maud and her lover, had such been his desire. The most eager factor in the search for Prince Richard was Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, whose affection for his royal nephew had always been so marked as to have been commented upon by the members of the King’s household. Thus for a time the rupture between De Montfort and his king was healed, and although the great nobleman was divested of his authority in Gascony, he suffered little further oppression at the hands of his royal master. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Edgar Rice Burroughs (1995). The Outlaw of Torn. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/369/pg369-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

The old man haunted the palace

Internet of Things (IoT) is really good mimicry Why should an article about certainly high and possibly transcendent technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT) start by stating familiar, easily observable ideas? First is biomimicry, which in its basic definition is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature in taking on human problems. Some examples of biomimicry can be found in aviation, architecture, technology and material design where for instance flight and physiological patterns of birds guide aircraft design. Then you have ants, which are known for their hive mindsets in the way they exhibit swarm intelligence i.e., thinking in unison with each other, working together to solve complex problems and finding solutions to these problems. There is also Stranger Things, the American science fiction television series created by the Duffer Brothers. For the four seasons Stranger Things has been on air, the teenage protagonists have battled a ‘great evil’ residing in an alternate dimension called ‘the upside down’. While the ‘great evil’ and ‘the upside down’ won’t be winning beauty or landscape design contests anytime soon, they certainly possess a great deal of durability and effectiveness that comes from the main villain, Vecna and the support villain, Mind Flayer having a most distinct ability called ‘hive mind’, which is built on synchronicity in connection, communication and control of all the elements in this compelling new world. Illustration: Vecna refreshing its connection to its Internet of (evil) Things The final easily retrievable example for getting into a discussion about IoT is the story of the Tower of Babel in the Jewish Bible or Tanakh. The mythical narrative is often presented as a way of explaining the origin of different languages spoken among different peoples of the world. However, the other point in the story is that seemingly ancient people communicating with each other in the same language could attempt to carry out a project that could elevate them right to the front of God’s door knocker in the skies, and to quote parts of the story from the book of Genesis- “ Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves… The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them” For the leader of an organization, what are the obvious threads linking the four examples? It is that there is the opportunity to maximize what can be achieved in a system or organization when all the parts of a system are designed to connect seamlessly and actually communicate effectively towards a common purpose. This probably holds true in all spheres of human endeavor, but the rest of this article explains how powerful these concepts are regarding the connection and communication among hardware and software systems within an organization. Simply put, whatever ideological persuasion resonates most with you, whether the biblical Tower of Babel story; biological - where plants and animals in nature transmit signals and act in synch towards a common purpose; pop-culture; or day-to-day observations of ants going about their work-life balance; a wide number of examples exist to hit the reader’s head with a figurative stick as to what IoT is fundamentally about and how shockingly effective environments where can be as a really great place for achieving positive business and social outcomes. ‘everything is talking to every other thing at every point in time’ How do we tie all of these into digital transformation? In digital transformation parlance, the Internet of things describes objects equipped with sensors for transmitting and receiving signals, along with the ability to process signals being sent back and forth, all powered by the internet and software which make it convenient and seamless for these interconnected objects to communicate with each other. The average 21st century organization that fits IoT smartly into its digitization equation has the potential to leverage the exponential possibilities of this technology in its operations. As far as IoT is concerned, a simple representation of the digitization equation resembles something like employees distributed across different locations geographically or within the same building possessing connections via their hardware devices to other objects (IoT) among themselves and with external players such as customers, partners etc. During the course of work and external service delivery, these interactions produce Big Data which can be stored and parsed via the Cloud, and which overtime can be used to create unique Artificial Intelligence that can be applied to solve complex problems...just like ants? Yes! And the truth is the more an organization is set up to leverage every step of the above equation, the better positioned it is to optimize its possibilities for scale, scope and learning - thereby increasing the amount of value it can deliver as well as capture. Furthermore, for organizations already some way into their digitization journey, investing in more digitization produces a value curve that grows rapidly in positive outcomes from the increase in IoT connections, the data analytics drawn from these connected devices and the quality of trained AI these improved connections offer. The larger the number of ants working in sync in the colony, the larger the hurdle they can take down. Traditional companies and the status quo are going to be overwhelmed by organizations with advanced IoT and other digitization capabilities. For example, we in Gumi have discussed with smaller players in countries like Nigeria with terrible energy supply, how estate or industrial settlements can create an IoT stack to optimize allowable and integrated energy sources i.e., distribution companies, large diesel generators, mini-grids and solar setups, and to build systems that integrate these options into highly reliable and efficient energy delivery solutions. If every home or unit within the residential or industrial settlement embeds smart metering, each one connected to other whilst sending status, performance and usage readings back and forth throughout the day, algorithms can be developed for pricing, monitoring, control and other decision making and predictions such as when equipment may fail or when usage peaks or drops, allowing the control office to maintain and regulate supply before power cuts or failure. The aforementioned example is relatively small compared to a much larger energy use case like the American power grid where the integration of IoT, cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence has completely digitized the utility industry originally designed over a century ago by Edinson and Westinghouse. Here, the transformation of the 20th century power grid into a smart grid consisted of IoT led transformation in upgrading or replacing a multitude of devices to fully sensor the power generation and distribution value chain in a way that all devices now emit telemetry and can be remotely managed. Additional sector use cases also bring to bear the possibilities of IoT. There is the potato farmer example found in the Digital Transformation text written by Siebel. “A potato farmer in the Netherlands now runs one of the world’s most advanced potato farms because of IoT. Multiple types of sensors on his farm—monitoring things like soil nutrients, moisture levels, sunlight, temperature, and other factors—provide large amounts of valuable data, enabling the farmer to use his land more efficiently than other farms. By connecting every piece of the farming process through IoT, he knows exactly which parts of his land need more nutrients, where pests are eating leaves, or which plants are not getting enough sunlight. Equipped with these insights, the farmer can take the right actions to optimize his farm’s production”. Many more examples exist at industrial scale, in healthcare for development interventions and in consumer IoT with notable examples such as smart watches, heart monitors, refrigerators and the car. The applicability of IoT is industry agnostic and every organization’s leader can and should begin to think about it from today, and in the final parts of this article, we begin to give advice on what to do going forward. Looking forward, advice for companies on their IoT journey is grouped into two categories depending on current levels of digitization: Category 1 - O wow! You have a long way to go, please get started Category 2 - Here is how you can improve on what already works What should organizations in category 1 do? Procure computers, mobile phones, internet service and start to phase out much loved, unnecessarily held on to analog and traditional business processes. This is simple advice but a staggering number, possibly up to 70% of ministries, departments and agencies in developing countries don’t even have the entry level hardware for IoT. Recruit data analytic capabilities into organizational operations to establish a framework that optimizes for what is relevant from what the newly connected devices are transmitting over the course of work and service delivery, how what is being transmitted can be disaggregated, and how can insights be drawn from all what is being transmitted into useful information for organizational processes and decision making. What should organizations in category 2 do? Connect your communication-enabled devices to a purpose-built platform capable of receiving and analyzing data which can then be used to develop policy, customer applications, services, processes as well feed forward learnings to the beginning of the IoT loop. Invest in security, privacy and confidentiality infrastructure from the beginning as the IoT technology stack is being developed. Breaches in any of these areas can have adverse consequences for the organization and its stakeholders. Acquire 5G wireless communication capabilities as it provides the opportunity to move data at velocities great enough for accelerated decision-making There is so much more for organizations to understand about the internet of things, first and foremost, generally and as it relates to them more specifically and what they can do. The intention of this article is to lightly recenter thinking about IoT as part of the strategy, digitization discourse for leaders of organizations going into the new year, as they expectedly search for areas to thrive and maximize competitiveness. A deeper and wider read can be where we conduct a deep dive not only into the internet of things but other exponential technologies. found here in our earlier released knowledge paper Finally, readers can also engage us further by commenting or reaching out with questions. To also discover how we can help further your IoT capabilities or digitization agenda, please reach out to a Practice Director on . projects@gumi.company Also published . here

Vecna and Ants Have a Lot in Common With the Internet of Things

Vecna y las hormigas tienen mucho en común con el Internet de las cosas

Vecna et les fourmis ont beaucoup en commun avec l'Internet des objets

वेकना और चींटियों में इंटरनेट ऑफ थिंग्स के साथ बहुत समानता है

Vecna とアリはモノのインターネットと多くの共通点があります

Vecna e formigas têm muito em comum com a Internet das Coisas

Vecna và Ants có nhiều điểm chung với Internet vạn vật

Vecna 和蚂蚁与物联网有很多共同点

As the co-founder and engineering lead of a fast-growth tech company, I’ve had no choice but to do a lot with a little. As layoffs and cutbacks continue to plague the tech universe, I’m sure many founders are in a position where they need to squeeze everything they can out of their engineering teams. I’m lucky enough to have these technical skills as a founder, but for those who aren’t as well-versed in the world of software development, here’s how I’ve crushed our growth with just a team of four. Hire Creatively Aside from the typical filters like no assholes, someone who’s technically competent, communicates well, etc., we look for engineers who genuinely love to code. None of our engineers have what you would consider a traditional Silicon Valley background where they studied at Stanford/MIT (or even studied computer science at all in undergrad, for that matter) and spent time at Google or Meta. However, through other avenues, our engineers have shown a strong desire to learn and a passion for coding. For example, someone on our team is in the top 1% of stackoverflow respondents. This passion and curiosity help us sharpen each other’s thinking during discussion and allows us to get through difficult technical problems. Plus, it’s fun to work with people that love what you love to do. Here are a few signals we look for to help identify candidates who don’t just like but coding: love Side hustle - Do they build things on the side outside of school and work? Community focused - Are they active and do they contribute in open source communities? Self taught - Have they taught themselves new skills? Pair Programming Pair programming is a pivotal part of our engineering culture. Especially when we hire a new engineer, we try to pair program as much as possible. We believe pairing is the best and fastest way to onboard someone and familiarize them with the code base and team culture. It’s also a great way to get a fresh pair of eyes on our existing codebase. Furthermore, pair programming allows engineers to work across projects as knowledge is spread across the team, so almost anyone can hop in to implement a new feature or fix a bug. As a result, this allows us to minimize bottlenecks and protect engineering time as people don’t have to get dragged away from their current project and continuously context switch. Let Engineers Code Even though we are a calendar company, we do everything we can to minimize meetings and create as many focus blocks for deep work as possible. When we went through YC in 2018, YC’s president Michael Sibels gave us a framework for sprint planning that we still follow to this day. The basic summary is that you have one meeting a week, that is, as long as it needs to be for review and discussion, and at the end, everyone commits to a set of things to complete for the week. This is our one and only dedicated meeting for the week for the engineering team. An additional benefit is that engineers can work on a schedule that’s most comfortable for them. We have someone on the team who’s a total night owl, and as a result, he’s able to work when he feels productive while not slowing the rest of the team down. Share Feedback/Bug Reports While we don’t expect engineers to read through every single customer email, everyone on the team receives them in a shared inbox. As a result, everyone has a sense of what needs to be built and what needs to be fixed. This does three things: Aligns the team, and no one feels like they’re doing unimportant work. Sharpens product discussions as everyone has their own read of customer emails - this is especially true for feature requests. Allows for faster response times as someone on the engineering team will often see a relevant ticket and can put a fix in that day without having to wait until the next sprint cycle. This also helps us avoid losing track of emails and raise overall user satisfaction. Final Thoughts Building a tech product requires great grit, passion, and determination from all involved, which is table stakes for success. Outside of that, the above is what’s helped us at Vimcal scale our product to meet the demand and issues associated with thousands of new users in a short period of time. It doesn’t take a coding genius to know that tech will probably need to run lean for the foreseeable future, so I hope the above can be a helpful guide to getting more done with less as a tech founder.

How to Build Tech with Less 

NFTs are widely despised, and rightly so. They tend to , … the list goes on. Billions are however invested in the technology every year. While , are likely to appear in the near future. When we throw enough money and brain-power at an idea, we make it reality — it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. promote over-capitalistic behaviors they hurt the environment, they come from centralized entities that often outright lie about their value many of the ideas conjured today are outlandish real use cases With this is mind, it’s healthy to consider the future of NFTs, when we’ve ( ) evolved beyond worthless monkey JPGs. A few months ago, the creator of Ethereum did just this by co-publishing ( ). I highlight below the key takeaways from the 35-page long research. finally a surprisingly accessible white paper about “soulbound NFTs” a reminder that geeks are bad at naming stuff The problem with NFTs The most realistic NFT use case today is . The technology can help companies, sports teams and artists interact with their community and reward them for their commitment to the brand. within the realm of community-building Football tickets as NFTs are a simple example. A fan could receive a signed shirt if they prove with a unique, entry-activated token that they attended every match of their team that year. The issue, however, is that a vast majority of NFTs today are A) and B) cannot be . This means that identification and active membership cannot be guaranteed, rendering communities relying on NFTs worthless and over-transactional. Meanwhile the world revolves around non-transferable and revocable relationships — immensely valuable assets that cannot and should not be sold. transferable revoked real We do, in fact, . We are connected to one another in a thousand different and non-transactional ways, and our tech needs to reflect it. . To reach wide-spread adoption, it will need to reinforce these links, not erode them. One of the key challenges of the 21st century will be ensuring that we manage to square that circle. live in a society Web3 came to be mostly because of a lack of social links This is where soulbound NFTs come in. The solution: “Soulbound NFTs” The name comes from , but the similarities stop there. This specific type of NFT would not be transferable, and would create on-chain / digital proofs of our social links. Picture it as cryptographic wallet filled with unique tokens representing the companies you’ve worked for, fairs you’ve attended, schools you’ve gone to… Warcraft lore It will serve two purpose. First, it will aggregate online the specific social elements that make us unique (a bit like Facebook in the early days, but verifiable/traceable). Second, the “wallet” will highlight and categorize social connections between entities and people, creating a spiderweb of networks that enables a wide variety of use cases. It embodies the proposed by 20th-century sociologist , in which individuality emerges from the intersection of social groups, just as social groups emerge as the intersection of individuals. theory of identity Georg Simmel Let’s continue our example of the football fan. The tokens he accumulated representing the games he’s been to show he likes football. That’s very one-dimensional. If we add to this a token for the university he’s attended, for the job he’s been to, for the shelter he volunteers at, for the supermarket loyalty card he’s got… you start to see three-dimensional person emerge. Correlation and network effects are very powerful forces here. It may sound dystopian, but assessing social context is something we do very naturally every day. . A good brand name on a CV makes applying for a job easier. Good clothes tend to make a person more trustworthy. The list goes on. We can recreate this natural behavior online… and improve it to reduce current negative externalities. You’re more likely to listen to a violinist in a concert hall rather than in the metro seem Towards a decentralized society The “soulbound” concept opens up a whole new world of social organization. Reducing online manipulation It’s difficult to see today if a decentralized project is a scam. . We can now imagine a world in which every participant’s wallet is accessible on the blockchain, showing not only which entity has vouched for this person, but also the social value of these entities, how many people are linked to them, and how trustworthy these people tend to be. This traceable social spiderweb would drastically increase trust, and reduce the risk of falling for a scam. So many of them are The technology can also do away with a lot of online / web3 “cheating”. A system can be put in place to ensure that only socially “rich” or “reputable” wallets can participate in projects, ensuring that no one can create many wallets to influence governance in decentralized projects. Improving social links The above does not mean excluding people from less prestigious social background. Far from it. Having access to an unimaginable depth of data on social, real-world connections can ensure we prioritize access to assets / programs for those that need it most. Some parts of society are heavily lacking in . Hundreds of years of racism, sexism and homophobia will do that. Public wallets can help identify pecific social groups to onboard them and link them tighter to the rest of the world (think of it as the inner city / suburb divide caused by lack of public transportation). social contextualization very s Increasing plurality Soulbound NFTs can also ensure that when decisions are made online, highly correlated wallet are given less power of vote to ensure we have real pluralism. This solves a real-world problem : decision-makers are often very correlated socially (same sports club, same schools, same interests…). This makes the decision-making offices of the world ground zero for “ ” — which is today very much baked in the system. HUGE innocent cooperation Innocent cooperation happens even among people who don’t know each other, highlighting the need to create a new paradigm entirely. Using soulbound NFTs means we can assign a score to each project depending on its decentralization… and reward diversity. actual Making more informed decisions Today, loan-taking includes a thorough review of one’s finances, and little else. Taking out an insurance policy, however, entails reviewing every part of one’s life (where you live, who you interact with, where you work, your habits…). Why can’t this also be applied to loans? The strength of someone’s character is not limited to their income, and we KNOW many people just need a shot. Soulbound tokens could offer a helpful additional avenue to review one’s loan request. It could also be applied for people looking to rent apartments, adopt a pet, a child… Finding a community If it feels like we go back to community again and again, you’d be right. Soulbound tokens and the wallets they’re in are by nature transparent and accessible by all. This means we could more easily find people like us in some ways… but who are also very different in others. If you look at your friends and family, it’s likely you see that this is rare. This kind of already exists today on Reddit and Facebook, but is being so heavily financialized that communities are slowly perishing under the weight of The Algorithm. The many issues It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of a new technology. But, as with everything, soulbound NFTs could have a dark side if we’re not careful. Saying “ ”, as the soulbound paper’s authors do, is not good enough. very There are a lot of dystopian issues, but at least they’d be transparent Creating a social credit score As I wrote the above paragraphs, I was very careful to avoid the phrase “social credit score” — . This is however very much what we’re discussing here. We have to be upfront with the fact that this technology is potentially very dangerous if misused. a much-maligned chinese “invention” This is why we need to make sure that governments are not in charge of such a system, and do not have the keys to the house. Governments serve a necessary, powerful role in society. They may even mean well. But the Orwellian risks are too great. Blockchain technology is useful in that regard, though I do not like the odds of the fight between “a few well-meaning web3 aficionados Vs the world’s governments”. Furthermore, we need to make sure people choosing to opt out of such a system for ethical reasons are not punished in any way — an interesting social challenge if you think about it. Losing privacy Cryptographic wallets are meant to be traceable, auditable and anonymous. The latter is the one I have an issue with, . We don’t want to dox the world, especially using potentially personal information. Targeting minorities or disfavored social groups is what society often does best, and this could be a terrifying tool in the wrong hands. as some social detective work makes identifying their owners fairly easy very We need to test the technology with information we’re already willing to make public. I’m specifically thinking of the information currently on LinkedIn profiles or open-source projects, which could benefit from having a stronger authentication potential (diplomas, work history and code repository participation…). The idea of through is also a very powerful concept. Using this concept would make it possible to prove that you’re above 18 without revealing your birthday. It is however very difficult to achieve this at scale from a technological standpoint. programmable privacy zero-knowledge proof Losing a wallet A “soul wallet” would be absolutely key to everyday life in the world I describe in this article. But, as anyone can attest, it’s very easy to lose a wallet, and even easier to forget a password. There is an elegant social solution: social recovery. The primary idea is to let people who know you vouch for you through a “vote of confidence”. If 50% agree that you are indeed you, you can regain access to the wallet. But people lose touch, die, get influenced, and collude ( ). It might thus be very powerful to implement the concept of “community recovery” : a set of guardians socially linked to you through soul NFTs come together and regenerate a private key. This set would be automatically generated by an algorithm to ensure they are connected to you socially, but not through each other, making it difficult for them to collude and influence each other. rarely all at once I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Everything web3 invents already exists today. Soulbound NFTs are just shiny re-iterations of and/or the . In fact, we’re not witnessing a revolution, but being presented with an opportunity to experiment on a wide scale to improve our current systems. the Nakamoto coefficient Herndahl-Hirschman index Whether we like it or not, some part of the crypto/web 3 world is here to stay. A robust identity and reputational system will be key to making it somewhat tolerable. Furthermore, it’s hard to imagine any of use interacting in any metaverse without being able to re-create real-world social links in it. Good luck out there. Also Published Here

Steps Toward a Decentralized Society

If you work in a startup, you’re probably familiar with minimum viable product (MVP) and Product/Market Fit (PMF). If PMF and MVP had a baby, it will be today’s concept: Minimum Viable Product/Market Fit—a concept that I created for myself to help me internalize how to build something people want. LFG! 🤓 1. What is considered as PMF? In the tech world, everyone talks about Product/Market Fit (PMF). Startup founders hustle their way to achieving it. VCs and investors use PMF to assess startup investments. Product managers use PMF to measure the success of new products being adopted in a market. PMF consists of three things: : A product that solves a real problem Product Being in a market that is adequate to support the entry, growth, and scalability of your product Market: An audience who want to fix that problem and willing to pay for your product Customer: Signs of Product/Market Fit: How do you know if you have found Product/Market Fit? Here are some signs to help you identify PMF: people are using and paying for your products people love using it (and want their friends to use it) people rave about your products on social your product sells itself without you trying to sell it people keep coming back to your app you’re gaining traction (e.g. app download, usage, retention) you’re growing user base, MRR, revenue, profits — rapidly you’re hiring more people to support the growing customer base 2. The path to product/market fit First of all, a startup is a series of experimentation, validation, and iteration. Therefore, PMF is not a linear event. It’s a long process of — often going back-and-forth (1) testing ideas and hypotheses; (2) tweaking your product based on user feedback; (3) pivoting if it doesn’t work — until you can achieve growth, profitability, and scalability. The whole PMF process involves working through these elements: You research the industry to find out the market demand. 📕 Here’s my on consumer tech opportunities. The Market: lean research You research your target customers and understand their needs. 🔮 Here’s my . The Customer: user-driven framework You talk to users, run user research to see if your target customer is facing valid problems you want to solve. 🤓 Here’s a list of to ask your potential users. The Problem: curated questions You create a prototype or minimum viable product (MVP), test with users to find out if it solves the problem, and validate/disprove your MVP 🚀 My breakdown The Solution: step-by-step MVP You launch your product, acquire users, test different marketing channels to find the most effective ones. Go-to-Market (GTM): 3. Start from a Minimum Viable Market Minimum Viable Product/Market Fit is made up of two components: Minimum Viable + Minimum Viable . Market Product Here’s what most founders overlook: Product/Market Fit starts from the Market — not the Product. Let that sink in… 🎯 But first, let me explain why: Start from the Market, not the Product: The market is where you will find customers who will adopt the product — where problems and opportunities arise. I internalized this concept in my . latest work If you search for a market, you will find a problem where your product (or solution) can exist. But if you find a product/solution to fit a problem or market that doesn’t even exist — you will create something with no market needs. If your technology or app doesn’t solve a problem in a market — your product doesn’t exist. And if you create a product in a market that can’t find enough paying customers — your business doesn’t exist. Got it, the Market is everything. So, how to start from a Minimum Viable Market? Marketing genius Seth Godin called this Minimum Viable Audience. : He wrote Stake out the smallest market you can imagine. The smallest market that can sustain you, the smallest market you can adequately serve. When you have your eyes firmly focused on the minimum viable audience, you will double down on all the changes you seek to make. When you’re starting a startup, your product is in the early stage, you don’t immediately access a large market — big TAM (total addressable market) or global expansion. Instead, you start small: by looking into a niche. As you expand the product features, you increase the market size by tapping into adjacent industries, countries, and widening use cases. For example, Amazon started off by selling books online. Today, Amazon sells everything from A to Z. How to find a minimum viable market? Find a problem worth solving facing an adequate amount of people. In other words, the smallest market size that can sustain you. Look into a specific type of audience or unique set of users. Build a persona for this group of people. What are their needs? What goals do they want to accomplish? Build a solution to solve a primary pain point. Then, expand the product by solving more pain points. 4. Create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Now, you’ve worked through the Market (problem) and the Customer (audience). Next, you want to deliver the Product (solution) to your Minimum Viable Market. You need to find a way to serve your users. What makes a minimum viable product (MVP)? A product with just enough features to solve the primary pain point facing your minimum viable market. Allows you to gain traction (Beta users, pre-order, download, or pay). Helps users accomplish their goals. Deliver values to users. How to build an MVP? Brainstorm a list of possible solutions to the problem you want to solve. Define value proposition. How do you differentiate? Identify feature set and key functionality. Map out the user journey — the steps involved in interacting with your app. Use the right tools and technology to build the MVP features. Remember, users don’t care about your tech; they only care about if you can fix their problems. For inspiration, you can go through all my MVP guides: sneaker app , meal kit app , virtual event app , SaaS tracker , food delivery , content app Next, find your minimum viable market (audience) and get them to use your MVP. Locate them — which channels can you reach them? It could be Twitter, Discord, Facebook groups, LinkedIn, Reddit, etc. 5. Measure Minimum PMF Once you’ve launched your MVP, you want to see whether your solution is to your target audience. Helpful-Valuable-Useful Here’s how to evaluate Minimum PMF Do they pay for it? Are there any signs of increasing revenue? Are you ? Use Stripe to monitor billing analytics. Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR). Ramen profitable Do they recommend your product to their friends? To measure NPS: take the % of Promoters (those who rated 9, 10) minus % of Detractors (those who rated 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). Here’s an by Typeform. Net Promoter Score (NPS). NPS survey template Coined by Sean Ellis, who led early growth at Dropbox. He suggests asking users — The higher the % of “very disappointed”, the better. See how find product/market fit. “Very Disappointed” test. “how would you feel if you could no longer use the product?” Superhuman Are your daily, weekly, monthly active users increasing? Use , , to measure retention. Retention. Amplitude Heap Mixpanel 6. From Minimum PMF to true PMF Minimum PMF gets you started. But your job as a founder isn’t done yet. You need to search for . true PMF Michael Siebel, Managing Director at Y Combinator : explains why I often talk to founders who believe they’ve found product/market fit when they haven’t. This is a huge problem because they start hiring people, increasing burn, and optimizing their product before they’ve actually discovered what needs to be built. A step-by-step to true PMF: Enter a minimum viable market, solve a pain point, make rents or become Ramen profitable. Looks a lot more like a business than a startup since it involves serving customers manually and doing things that don’t scale. E.g. Airbnb started off by renting air mattresses in their apartment 💡 Minimum PMF: using this MVP, skip to Point (1) Discover and move towards solving an extremely painful problem that has big enough demand. The solution must be better, faster & cheaper. Leverage go-to-market strategies to grow the user base and sales. Growth PMF: Expand the market size, countries, widen use cases across customer segments. E.g. Airbnb became a and went public in 2020. Scalability PMF: $31 billion company Thanks for reading till the end! This article is part of my ↗️ where I share insights on building things in tech. Join me :)‍ Note: resource newsletters 👋 I’m : builder, advisor, curious about innovation & built multiple apps using the rapid MVP method: , , , , , +more. Zoe sneaker app meal kit app virtual event app SaaS tracker food delivery content app Discover Market Opportunities: 🛍 Online Shopping: Opportunities and Monetization 🧠 D2C Wellness: Monetization & Opportunities 🏡 Future of Real Estate Tech [1] Find me on my Personal Site / Twitter / LinkedIn 🔥 [2] Next tech insight in your inbox — Join my newsletter 💌 Also published on: https://whizzoe.substack.com/p/minimum-viable-product-market-fit

How to Find Minimum Viable Product-Market Fit (PMF)

Image via wearablex Over the years, fashion and sport have grown rather complementary of each other. Fashion is the art of self-expression while sport is the form of physical activity; together, as Blair Waldorf would put it, it is movement, design, and architecture all in one. Chic sportswear has never looked better. But, can it do better? Impossible turned Possible In 2016, sportswear leaped when a fashion tech company called Wearable X took fashion and sports to the next level. They reiterated a universally, classic idea—the fan jersey—and applied elements that combined art and science. Their reinvention of the fan jersey raised opportunities for sports fans of all backgrounds to feel like a part of a team. It was no longer chic sportswear but rather “wearable technology.” Science says The [adult] human brain, according to David Ezell and licensed professional counsellor Darien Wellness, is wired with specialized neurons known as mirror neurons. Mirror neurons wire the human brain to grasp empathy. For sports fans, in particular, the experience of games makes them feel “ ” as if they were actually there and participating in it Through the construct of human empathy and a recreation of the sense of touch, the end result is a “ ” recognizable as wearable technology. This, altogether, sanctions sports fans to feel what the players are feeling and generally, further blurring the lines between player and spectator. fourth dimension of entertainment Gif via wearablex Where it Began Wearable Technology, namely the Fan Jersey by Wearable X, was introduced at Super Bowl 50 (circa 2016). NFL fans were offered a revolutionized sporting experience where, for the first time, they can physically feel the sensations of a game—from the actual gameplay itself to its players. About Wearable X Launched in 2013, Wearable X is a Sydney-born, New York-based fashion tech company whose mission is to create a better quality of life with a combination of raw-edge design and technology. Their products, like the Fan Jersey, showcase the balance of those joint forces because it goes beyond quantifiable experiences to further enhanced ones. The Specs Wearable Technology, like the Fan Jersey, taps into a custom data feed offered by stadium partners that provide information to broadcasters who present game statistics in a TV broadcast feed. During a game, wearers will be able to experience certain key moments that will transmit a vibration to the garment. This allows wearers of all backgrounds to experience, in a live stream setting, their sport of choice. Though, there are set limitations to the haptic technology of the Fan Jersey to maintain the perfect balance of shock and excitement. Image via wearablex DON’T HATE THE PLAYER (OR THE GAME) Wearable Technology is not partial to a singular sport. To name a few, others like hockey, martial arts, basketball, and their elements can be transferred to the Fan Jersey. A Sensory Experience With sewn-in sensory technology and a haptic vibration system, Fan Jerseys allow wearers to physically feel the full force of a game through its players. For instance, while watching an NFL game, wearers can feel the impact of first downs, fourth downs, interceptions, field goals, forced fumbles, red zone penetrations, and—of course—touchdowns, to name a few. Billie Whitehouse, co-founder and CEO of Wearable X, says consumer trials determine the actions and process them similarly to writing music, except on the human body: “ ” Choosing the frequency, the intensity and the placement instantly has an emotional reaction Smart-Approved Through Wi-Fi or a cellular data network, Wearable Technology through the Fan Jersey connects via Bluetooth to a free cell phone application that follows a real-time game data feed. According to Whitehouse, stadium partners provide information to transmit a sensory experience that is fast and secure: “ ” We cut down on the transmission times and alert the fans as near to real-time as possible. Our servers can be set up to synchronize the sensations to the actual events as they broadcast via the TV networks Additionally, through its haptic vibration system, the Fan Jersey has a sewn-in simblee chip/board that connects to a broadcast networking app and receives game signals, allowing fans/wearers to watch a game at their own expense—whether it’s at a stadium, from home, or in a sports bar. Gif via wearablex Going International Currently, Fan Jerseys are only available commercially in the U.S. market. Whitehouse explains that wearable technology is “ ” , noting that Germany and the U.K. are looking extremely high in potential. Not to mention, it is in the works of being introduced to global sports giants like the NFL, Premiere League, and the IOC (also known as the International Olympic Committee). most certainly penetrating internationally Unlike any Other With the rapid growth of technology and the current climate of the world, wearable technology will surely become a game-changer in traditional sporting events and athletic wear. Sports fans, from the comforts of their homes to front row seats, will be able to experience games in true definition. However, the anticipation, the intensity, and the hum of pride—the love of the game itself—will never change. Funnily enough, neither will the fan jersey. It can only get better.

Haptic Feedback Jerseys Could be a Game Changer for Sports Fans

Leaders from Playtika, Unity Technologies, and Infinity Games share some of the challenges they’ve faced and solutions for delivering highly engaging games. In 2020, the mobile gaming industry saw a massive spike in engagement and revenues, growing more than 13% year over year. With game quality and performance being of critical importance to stakeholders in the space, improving it has become top priority for mobile game development and QA teams globally. At Apptim , we’ve been collaborating with several teams within the mobile game industry to better understand how they approach game performance testing. With that aim in mind, we invited , Performance Test Manager at , and , QA Lead at to join our CEO, , and , Quality Engineering Manager at , for a panel discussion and Q&A session about mobile game testing! Aliaksandr Kavaliou Playtika Robson Siebel Infinity Games Sofia Palamarchuk Melissa Eaden Unity Technologies Below is a recap of the webinar ( see video here ), including questions by the audience: What Are Some of the Biggest Mobile Game Testing Challenges You’ve Faced? shared that one of the biggest challenges teams find themselves tackling first is testing on the myriad of different devices and operating systems that are a direct result of the growing fragmentation within the Android ecosystem. For example, the emergence of newer devices every year, makes testing more complex than ever before. Melissa Mobile game testing and quality isn’t only focused on functionality and performance, Eaden shared. She and her colleagues are focused on helping Unity developers to make games that are engaging and interactive enough that keep players coming back again and again. Some other areas in game quality that present challenges, she added, were: Ensuring compliance with new privacy laws and regulations such as GDPR, Testing ads and third party integrations, and How to create games with high-quality, using advanced features such as inter-player chat, matching, awards, etc. shared that at Infinity Games, they create games that are designed to be immersive and relaxing, so there’s nothing worse than a user finding a bug, thus ruining their experience. Worse, if that user that experienced a buggy game leaves a negative review on the app store, it could lead to a negative financial impact for the business. Robson Another challenge for his team in particular is that they don’t have a dedicated tester, which, in the past, had resulted in devs being handed over imprecise or less helpful bug reports than desired. For , his greatest challenges at Playtika revolve around capacity testing / capacity planning on a huge setup. Aliaksandr He explained, “Once you have more than one data center, hundreds of virtual machines, a lot of Kubernetes setups and so on… data warehouses, databases, and hundreds of thousands or millions of users, and you’re awaiting a new feature or a marketing campaign that is expected to generate a user traffic increase… Planning for this enormous setup is a headache, really.” The second biggest challenge he mentioned in for games is the high cost of running end-to-end performance tests. The closer to production, the more expensive it is for any team to run these tests. He elaborated, the cheaper the tests are, the less realistic numbers you can obtain, and you can’t somehow approximate those results and understand what exactly you need and how much to scale. mobile performance testing What Are Some Ways You’ve Overcome These Challenges? For , he has found ways to help his team overcome the challenge of not having dedicated testers. He assumed the role of the QA lead and also adopted Apptim, which has helped enable anyone on the team to run functional and performance tests on their games. Robson He shared that, before Apptim, “The bug reports were either vague or they were sometimes incorrect and that led to a lot of wasted time for the developer trying to hunt or to reproduce a bug.” He continued, “Being able to have a tool that recorded the play session of the person and automatically got all of the logs and generated a performance report in the end, is something that for us, as a small company, was pretty huge. We’ve improved the quality of the games a lot because of the crashes or exceptions that we couldn’t catch before, and now we have that access.” shared that, to deal with the high cost of end-to-end mobile game performance tests, he found you can reuse existing automation tests. He commented, “It will also save you time in such cases because almost every time you have automation already created for your functionality, why not or some [performance] measurements, and it will help you to also understand what’s going on where you are.” Aliaksandr add some markers But, he warns, although that’ll help, it can’t protect you from bad code and a bad configuration, so a lot of effort and attention should be placed on the configuration of your performance test, not to saturate earlier than expected due to some numbers conflicting somewhere. “That’s why it’s hard, step-by-step analytical work,” he asserted. What is Your Advice for Reducing Testing as a Bottleneck? For , the short answer may seem controversial to testers, but she shared that the best thing she’s learned to do is to get out of the developers’ way. She said, Melissa “Removing myself has been the biggest, reducing that bottleneck, putting automation in place, letting the developers really collaborate on those ideas and moving the production cycles and everything faster because I am not stationed on a team, I’m not embedded, but I’m there as somebody that can coach them and help them.” She explained that she’s a big advocate of modern testing principles, which give a lot of credence and leverage to the teams themselves. “Developers know the code the best, the more they interact with the code and the more they understand the code, the more they can test it, and they can test it on a level that oftentimes as someone who was traditionally in the role of a tester might not be able to get to.” She continued, this is the collaborative part; helping developers understand where their knowledge gaps are and that’s where she comes in. She’ll often be the person that asks questions like, “Hey, you’ve developed this wonderful piece of functionality, but did you think about how to scale it?” She remarked that there are a lot of moving pieces and developers are really well positioned to handle that. It’s about helping developers uncover their blind spots. Melissa added, “So I’m not perfect, they’re not perfect, but getting out of the collective folks’ way that deal with the code on a day-to-day basis has really improved removing that bottleneck from the development process, along with adding in DevOps and CI/CD practices, which have just made things a lot easier.” “Automation always makes things easier as much as it makes it harder, but you have to balance the positive with the negative, right?” The first answer that came to mind about reducing testing as a bottleneck was, “You can always ask the developer to stop creating bugs. That works very well.” Robson’s Kidding aside, he shared that in his experience, having a well-defined test pipeline in a reliable software that can automate some of the steps goes really a long way. Another key area of improvement has been reducing the friction between developers and whomever is testing the games: “Using a tool like Apptim for that can also help catch some underlying bugs and reduce the friction between the tester and the developer because sometimes there is a lot of back and forth.” To illustrate the point, he said, “Today, I had an issue where someone reported a bug. ‘Hey, this is happening at the end of level six of the game.’ I checked the video from Apptim because he was using it for that session, and it was actually at level 10. So if I didn’t have the video to back it up, I might have lost quite a lot of time chasing a bug that didn’t really exist.” How is Testing a Mobile Game Different Than Testing Other Mobile Apps? The consensus among the panel was the added complexity that games have at different levels and understanding how they interact. stated, Melissa “Mobile apps are complex as it is, but you have multiple platforms you’re looking at, and then you multiply that by the game complexity and the algorithms and the performance you have to maintain.” Melissa shared several other factors that add more complexity in mobile game testing: Handoffs between ads, online chatting, or any other auxiliary things that your app is doing besides just being a game. Dealing with game performance, device performance, and network performance. Testing various ad layouts and formats: For example, you can have a full page static ads, banner ads, video ads, etc. Non-linear usage and behavior patterns from users open a wide array of possibilities. Depending on the order that the user does something, you might find a different bug. What Aspects of Non-Functional Testing Like Performance Do You Prioritize in Your Games and Where? For , when choosing where to prioritize performance, he stated areas like the game lobby and anything a brand new player will see first are top priority. Aliaksandr He explained that, for a fresh player, he or she should see the functionality of your game as soon as possible and enter the game fast. This aspect should be the most prioritized because players will not want to wait a long time to get started. But, he added, it depends on what experience the user has during the waiting; “If it’s something interesting, he interacts with something, even during the game, during the waiting lobby or whatever inside the game, it’s maybe a good thing. But if he sees just a blank page and a spinner, it’ll make him crazy. Of course, for fresh users, I suppose getting to the lobby as fast as possible is a critical thing, but then other features should work also fine.” How Do You Set Mobile Game Performance Benchmarks? volunteered to expand upon this follow up to the previous question, saying that it can be measured from the number of users. But first, it’s important to understand business critical transactions. Then step by step, you can do benchmarking, load testing, and so on. He also shared, “Use such a tool as Apptim to and see what’s wrong with these events, with this transaction, this feature, deep dive, and use code profiling… and so on.” Aliaksandr set markers He stated that self-written solutions will be the most accurate because you inject something in your code and this code will show the real duration, but it takes time to do. Therefore, if you have a good profiler on hand, which can easily show you the bottlenecks, then it’s better to use that at first. Don’t forget to for more insights from our guests in this panel discussion and check out similar videos on our . watch the full webinar Youtube channel This article was originally published here: https://blog.apptim.com/mobile-game-testing-qa-panel/

What Mobile Gaming Industry Leaders Think About Testing Challenges

We all have different roles to fulfill during a product’s journey. Some of us are heavily invested on the sales and marketing side while others consider the technical decisions as their day to day job. While segregation of work is important as well as useful for founders, there are  a lot of things that all founders need to learn to make sure they are ahead on the curve as they take continuous decisions for the product and its growth. Here are 10 things to do right away as you start your product journey. 1. Learning about the Product Development Cycle You want your product developed ideally- No delays, just the right features, quick iterations and perfect collaboration- Isn’t it? Well, then learn about product development lifecycle. A Product lifecycle understanding will cover understanding of MVP, features priorities, feature specs, development cycles and so on. There should be structured planning for development of a product with specific goals on each cycle. The goals can be different from increasing users to increasing retention. The ideation of new features and upgrades should be well planned and excite the team. Missing understanding of the Product Development Cycle would lead you to unplanned scope creep, lack of understanding of what is working and what is not which in turn would make your judgement ineffective. Some major aspects to follow in your Product Development Cycle are Building Consensus in the team Clarity in measuring success and setting up KPIs Determining goals and priorities Planning ideal development cycle length By having a proper product development cycle, you can iterate fast, make best use of resources and avoid team issues. Suggested Reading: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/4e-product-development-cycle-fundamentals 2. Learn about the difference between MVP and full product. What constitutes an MVP and what does not. Do not get confused by making too small or too large product for MVP Most new startups often make a big mistake that they think that their full product is the complete MVP and that the users need everything but that is not the reality. In Fact Michael Siebel of YCombinator says- “the goal of a pre launch startup is extremely simple. Step one, launch quickly” Remember that AirBnB did not have map view or payments when they launched. Stripe founders themselves integrated Stripe in the user's system by coming down to the office. The idea for MVP should be to make a minimal product that you can get customers to use and give feedback. You should then be able to iterate faster. Products fail when the product you are developing isn’t the requirement of the user at all. Hence, firstly understand the user requirements and then start building the product. In this way you’ll be able to deliver the appropriate product to the user. This can be done by talking to users, getting to know the needs and not think of your product as the best because you need to be flexible to change. That being said, your MVP would still require work and would need a proper development cycle, unless you just want to launch a webpage. Check out the full talk by Michael Seibel on How to plan MVP here. 3. Learn about talking to the users As we continue to emphasize about learning from your users, it is really important to learn how to do it.  While many people would claim to talk with their users and take feedback, it is important that user surveys/feedback are done in the right way so that you get to the right answer. When planning your product, you should ask your users How do you solve this problem currently? If the end user is not solving the problem currently, he/she may not be having that problem. What tools do you use for solving this problem? Is there any gap you find in the current solution? How likely are you to switch to a better alternative? Always take surveys via phone or in person meeting and not email etc. Being able to decipher what the users really want  is one of the most important to do for a startup founder. By doing user surveys right, you will understand your user requirements and need for your solution. by YC Partner Eric Migicovsky outlining a framework for asking questions and collecting feedback from your users. Here is a video 4. Start Building your target list/ 20 initial customers list As you plan your product, start finding your set of initial customers. If they are not known to you, reach through LinkedIn. The plan is to get in front of at least 20 people with your product idea or demo. Keep them engaged by giving them updates as the product grows. Make them your Beta customers gradually. This initial reach and pitch has to be done by you- the founder. A sales person cannot replace you here. Remember while these early customers learn about your product, you learn about them and you get to know they interact with your product. Hence, the importance of doing it yourself. The initial period is going to be consultative sales where you may be fixing errors and answering questions as they come. Another reality check during this phase is would these early customers miss you if you stop your product. Major channels to get your early customers would be LinkedIn, networking events, references, paid ads etc. 5. Learn about prioritizing your time Time is the most precious thing for anyone and especially for a startup founder, it is the only thing that is getting spent continuously.  It is important for everyone to manage time and stay frugal with time. The important thing to learn would be to set out priorities and focus areas. One nice trick to get your focus would be dividing the activities into 4 buckets between high impact to low impact on one axis and high time taken to low time taken on another axis. You need to first take up the high impact and low time investment activities and leave the low impact and high time ones. Another way to identify gaps is by making logs of your day for a few days and looking back into it. 6. Find Mentors Mentors can help you make less mistakes. As a product journey will take you from different situations, a mentor can help you take better decisions and solve dilemmas. Infact, many times you would find yourself in a situation where you have to choose between to do and not to do. Mentors can help break these stalemates. Mentors help you see things that you may miss. Constructive criticism can help you improve and rectify your own faults. Other advantages of having a mentor are getting connections, someone to bounce ideas with, encouragement and even discipline. Ask them the 'stupid' questions and the things that seem silly or small. Primarily look for a mentor from a similar domain who can tell you about customers and scale in the particular domain you operate in. 1-2 mentors is a good start as too many mentors may mean you are not able to execute fast enough on the advice. Arrangement with mentors can be on a fee basis, equity basis or mix of both. To find a mentor, you first need to think of your expectations from the person. You may require different mentors at different points in your journey. LinkedIn is a great place to start your mentor research. You can reach out with a sincere message seeking help. You will get it often :) 7. Start writing a Journal You are in for a bumpy ride. You would be learning and unlearning everyday. Unless you are actively journaling, you would forget these lessons soon. Further you cannot pass these lessons to your team to have them grow quickly. Things like what got you started, what was the first thing you did, what was your aha moment etc are often asked questions from founders. How about you have a record of these as they get created rather than going back into a blurry memory lane. Journal helps you catalog your journey that can be used as an input for blogs, interviews and other PR activity you would do at launch. Journal is your place to put out ideas, snippets, learnings that collectively grow into a great document, evolving often into a playbook for the team, place for blog ideas, a collection of mental notes and what not. Personally, when I go over my own journal, often I find ideas that I may otherwise have missed. The team's KPIs or the plans are not built in a day. For me, they are mostly coming from different notes, recorded over a month and more. The habit of keeping a journal should happen as soon as possible in your startup journey.  Keeping a journal doesn’t necessarily mean to have a personal thick book lying with you. It could simply also be a word file on your desktop. You may scribble in as soon as something comes to mind as well as the major events as they happen like parts of a speech that you gave. I personally find Google Drive to be the best tool for the same. Though it may lag in sophistication of many other tools, I like that ideas from my emails, photos and notes are all available through a common search. 8. Learn tools that you would be using in your journey When working with your team- inhouse or outsourced, it will help you if you know the tricks of the trade. You do not need to learn programming or any other high level stuff, but a little attention to all the non tech tools that help you be productive would help. “True entrepreneurs are those that fold their sleeves and get work done”. Similarly you need to become multi dimensional  by learning as much as possible. You need to grow your skills in areas such as having an eye for visuals, building benchmarks for team, testing, prototyping and so on. Try out the tools, take help, make yourself learn. Here is a list of 20+ tools that non tech founders need to learn 9. Following channels for finding inspiration You are building something that is full of unknowns. You need inspiration. You need access to the best resources. Well, all of this is possible from your desk. You just need to subscribe to the right channels and mediums. Here is what we recommend - Every important news related to startups TechCrunch - Subscribe to channels where your industry is being covered. I found Reddit threads to have more intellectual inputs Reddit - Find Slack channels of interest from slofile.com- You will get a lot of like minded people from these groups. Also great way to quickly find people for feedback Slack Channels - Backed by YCombinator, Startup School has all the Y Combinator curriculum that you need to follow until you get into YC Startupschool - This publication covers great content on growth ideas, new trends and in depth analysis of various startup issues . Andrew Chen Essays on Startups - The guy who started the lean startup movement. Steve Blank has covered several in depth pieces on customer development, marketing and technology Steve Blank -  I find a16Z blog to be utterly useful with great content and often ideas that help you grow your mind Andersson Horowitz blog Make sure that you subscribe to them so that automatically you receive an update when a new post comes out. Google alerts is also a handy tool to keep tabs on industry news. 10. Getting active on LinkedIn As a founder you need to get seen, noticed and talked about. The good news is that it all starts on LinkedIn. I work with many founders who last opened LinkedIn 5 years ago (Well, this is an exaggeration but you get the point). LinkedIn is where you meet your most important connections today from mentors, first hires, cofounders, influencers and whoever else you would need in your startup journey. So get out on LinkedIn, start participating in conversations, post your hypothesis and ask for your opinion. You will get your first customers over LinkedIn. Bonus: Read Books You need to read fella. There is just no option. Plan out your time to be able to do enough reading. Reading gives you the fertilizer to grow your mind as your startup journey takes you to uncharted territory. Here is a list of my personal favourites Zero to One- Peter Thiel The Sales Acceleration Formula- Mark Roberge The Lean Startup- Eric Ries Rework- Jason Fried Traction- Gabriel Weinberg Here is my detailed list of 20+ books for entrepreneurs Bonus 2:  Understand what not to do When I first shared this blog with fellow founders, they asked me immediately, what not to do. Hence here is an additional section about what not to do. Do not get bothered by noise. Everyone has their own unique journey at their own pace Do not believe in everything you read in press. Do not be in a hurry to accomplish. Grow steadily. Do not choose quantity over quality. Do not underestimate the power of a wrong hire. Do not skip planning. Plan and move. Do not try and do too many things. Prioritize Conclusion Each product journey is different from others but the process remains the same. The things to do that are mentioned above help you build a great foundation for the execution of your startup idea. If building a startup is a journey, Take the right baggage with you. About writer: Ayush is the CEO of Mindbowser Global Inc, a top-notch agency providing software development services to renowned companies like Dell, Pepsi as well as to a lot of growing startups. Ayush is also the director of the StartupGrind community and editor of The IoT Magazine and Chatbots Journal . Ayush serves on the board of several startups and is a seed investor. Click here to read more blogs.

10 Things To Do Right Away Before Starting Your Product Journey

'El transformador ilustrado' una traducción al español

We all know startups are supposed to solve problems. And, 2020 has been a record-setting year for problems. “Founders often hold too tightly onto solutions and too loosely onto problems,”- . Michel Siebel, Y Combinator It’s estimated that COVID unemployment could be close to that of the Great Depression which reached . One problem is unemployment . 25%, according to Pew Research When shelter-in-place took effect in March in the Bay Area, and my projects got put on hold, I started actively networking for a new job. To do this from home, I’ve attended over 100 virtual events in the past six months. Like a lot of people, I’ve discovered new groups, events and resources in addition to re-connecting with my existing network. The problem I kept hearing was: people wanted to work, but didn’t have a job. Then, people becoming depressed looking for jobs can cause problems. ( .) And, finally, people losing skills and financial gains because they are not working are also problems. The New York Times gives tips on how to overcome job seeker depression When I took a digital detox at the end of June, I thought about these problems and my own unemployment problem. I reflected on doing my best to make intros which got a few people new work, but I, myself, had not been successful in securing a job. (I spoke more about the detox in my Hacker Noon Noonies interview here .) I thought back to my first freelance marketing client during The Great Recession, a fashion designer who paid me in clothes. While I had done other work-trade gigs before (a resort in Hawaii, a farm in France, ashram in New York and more), this was the first one I was using my marketing skills to help a solopreneur. Adding to my wardrobe was a definite plus, too. . I used my barter experience plus my marketing ( ) and community building experience ( ) to develop the plan. It’s a remote, barter network for professionals and business owners that have time, are stuck at home/life, and want to be productive with their many skills. In July, as my solution to the unemployment problem, I launched THE WISHERIE 10 years got to #12 on Amazon’s New Adult Book Bestseller List THE WISHERIE is a different type of start-up. First, it’s a side project for me, while continuing looking for a job. Second, it’s solely based on donations and bartering. Third, I call it a pop-up startup because I have the goal of helping 20 professionals get new barter projects by Dec. 31, 2020. I would consider future options if we meet this goal and response gains (financial) momentum. In short, THE WISHERIE is a referral-based barter network, rooted in the passion economy and improving mental health. I’d like to share the evolution of THE WISHERIE broken down into four strategic steps that I recently did for a job application: From March - June, I heard from a lot of frustrated people in my network that they wanted to work. While I did my best to make quality introductions, I felt frustrated I could not help them. I also felt frustrated with the rejections I had been getting. Research: In June, after a digital detox, I developed a plan for a pop-up startup project with my goal to help 20 people by Dec. 31, 2020 secure barter projects. The goal is to help beat job seeker depression, help small businesses and create new opportunities. I came up with the name “Wisherie” because people are wishing for easier times and I wanted the community to tell us what they need and wish for to make it through the pandemic. Planning: In July, I secured the domain and built the website with forms for seekers and businesses to express their needs. I also created a plan, brand book and calendar for THE WISHERIE. In late July, we completed the first barter project. I traded copywriting for WordPress consulting based on a contract with deliverables and dates. Launch: Wisherie.co Presently, I send out THE WISHLIST, our weekly email newsletter for THE WISHERIE. In addition, I also hold BREAKFAST PIZZA, our virtual networking event. We’ve been featured in Virtual Mojito and had the founders of ConversationExchange and NOMAWO speak at BREAKFAST PIZZA. Talented professionals seeking opportunities in marketing, copywriters, branding, creative, UX/UI, and web development make up the majority of the community presently. Community: Lastly, while I have worked with many early stage startups in my career -- not one was a six-month project, based on donations or had a budget as small as mine. In addition, I don’t provide any job guarantees, shady subscriptions, or tax advice. THE WISHERIE is unique in many ways and is built on referrals and reciprocity to provide one solution to the unemployment problem we are currently facing. Bartering is not for everyone, but it’s something worth trying to get unstuck and move forward. You never know who you will meet. **To learn more about how to participate or be featured, write us today: hello@wisherie.co. (P.S. I’ve been nominated for two of Hacker Noon’s awards and would appreciate your support for “ Contributor of the Year, Women in Tech ” and “ Indie Tech Journalist of the Year .” Thank you!) Also published here .

How The Great Recession Led Me To Innovate Now

has been nominated for a 2020 Noonie in the Future Heroes and Technology categories. are Hacker Noon’s way of getting to know — from a community perspective —  what matters in tech today. So, we asked our Noonie Nominees to tell us. Here’s what Stacey had to share. Stacey Schneider from the United States The Noonies 1.  Which 2020 Noonie have you been nominated for? Hacker Noon Contributor of the Year - Security 2. Tell us a bit about yourself. The theme of my career revolves around solving how to build software faster and at scale. This comes from building a unicorn (Siebel, now Oracle) back in the 90s, when building scalable software was a horribly painful, slow process. From the first forays of ecommerce, to open source, cloud computing, agile development, and platform computing—I'm driven by rethinking the way we do things, and believe sometimes you need to break things to go faster. 3. Tell us about the things you make / write / manage / build. I generally write about digital transformation. Specifically, I look at emerging markets in technology like Web3 technologies and write about their early impact, and look for emerging patterns. Most of the time, we are repeating history—just doing it faster and at greater scale with a better UI. 4. What are you most excited about right now? Enterprise adoption of blockchain and digital marketing. 5. What are you worried about right now? I think the economy is becoming risk adverse due to COVID impacts. I am concerned it could be slowing adoption and progress for Web3 when in reality, it's needed more than before. 6.   What's the most useful advice you've ever given somebody? Out of change comes opportunity. Lean in, and find out how you win. 7. How has the pandemic changed your life and/or career? Some contracts moved around, but I've been working from home for 10+ years. 8. If we gave you $10 million to invest in one thing right now, where would you put it? If the ROI was money, likely some emerging tech from COVID—FarUVC light or drugs would be obvious. But, really, I would rather put $10m into human relief funds to fight hunger, homelessness and the cycles of oppression. 9. What's an opinion you have that most people don't agree with? You can't teach anybody anything. You can only inspire them to learn for themselves. 10. Which apps can't you live without? G-Suite. Canva. WhatsApp. 11. What are you currently learning? The Veeva platform - how the medical community is dealing with communications & learning. For much the same reasons Hacker Noon decided not to put good ideas behind pop-ups or paywalls — nor abuse your personal data to target you with creepy ads — we also decided that you don’t have to be an influencer or have 50k followers on Twitter to earn the recognition that comes with a 2020 Noonie Nomination. Make somebody’s day and nominate them to be recognized in the Internet’s most independent and community-driven awards: . NOONIES.TECH Don't forget to vote for Stacey: Hacker Noon Contributor of the Year - Security

Stories, News & Mentions about SIMBEL

Simbel’s Stories on HackerNoon