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Convert any task that requires into a simple, step-by-step procedure. creative problem solving Creativity on demand. That's the dream! Using the creative heuristic algorithm can help spark new business ideas for your next side hustle, new blog post ideas for your next content marketing campaign, identify gaps in the market, or make you more creative in your daily work. The creative heuristic algorithm provides a mechanism for by generating a large array of both closely and distantly related semantic concepts for the brain to associate. creativity on-demand Our brains are responsible for both logical, procedural planning and creative sparks of problem-solving genius — both very useful attributes in business. The problem is that creativity seems to be elusive. It comes and goes. Not easy to conjure on demand: Bloggers suffer from writer’s block. Entrepreneurs struggle to come up with creative solutions Marketers try to captivate their audience Artists can't seem to find the right inspiration Everyone understands the frustration of trying to creative ideas to flow. Often with nothing to show for the time invested. force This particular heuristic algorithm will help you come up with new business ideas, be a more creative writer, blogger and marketer, and can even help you make better strategic business decisions based on research and data - as required by something like . competitor analysis It won't necessarily help you become a better painter or musician. It will help you be a better entrepreneur. Before we take a look at how to put the creative heuristic algorithm into practice, let's look at some background on how and why it works. Why We Use Heuristic Algorithms Not all problems are easy to solve. There are beasts out there, lurking in our mathematics — such as ( ) problems. Non-Deterministic Polynomial Hard NP-Hard The ( ) is a famous type of NP-Hard problem that applies to every-day life. Essentially, you want to work out the most efficient way for a bunch of people to visit a bunch of locations. Multiple Travelling Salesman Problem mTSP Obviously being able to efficiently has real-world applications in many spheres of industry. In particular, so-called last-mile deliveries s. optimize routes can consume nearly 30% of all supply chain cost A very, very moderately sized traveling salesman problem can highlight why this hard to do. Assume a small company has one delivery vehicle and needs to visit 100 locations. What’s the most efficient way to do this? We could test every single possibility and then choose the lowest cost route ( ). i.e. the route that has the lowest overall cost taking into account distance costs like fuel and wear and tear, and time-based costs like paying drivers To work out how many possibilities ( ) there are in the problem we can say the following: permutations Picking the first stop has 100 possibilities Picking the second stop has 99 possibilities Picking the third stop has 98 possibilities … Picking the last stop has 1 possibility To calculate the total number of permutations, we say: 100 x 99 x 98 x 97 x … x 3 x 2 x 1 = approx 9.33 x 10¹⁵⁷ That’s a pretty big number. To put this number into perspective, the Sun is thought to have about 10⁵⁷ Hydrogen atoms. The Sun is very big. It contains about 99.8% of all the matter in our solar system. A Hydrogen atom is very small. 10⁵⁷ is an enormous number. Yet it is infinitesimal compared to our 100-stop delivery problem. Why Traditional Computing Doesn't Work Given these astronomical figures it’s understandable that one can’t simply write a script that instructs a computer to try every permutation. Not unless you’ve got some serious time on your hands. The fastest supercomputers ( ) on the planet would take longer than the remaining time left in the Universe ( ) to come up with the answer. all of them working together regardless of whether you favor a heat death, big tear, big crunch, or another as yet to be conceived doom Quantum computers might be able to handle this type of problem much quicker because they should, theoretically, be able to try an infinite number of permutations simultaneously. Unfortunately, they’re not quite production-ready at the moment. We’re stuck with classical computing for now. To solve ( ) something this complex requires a… change of thinking. by solving I mean, close approximate Instead of solving complex problems procedurally ( ), we can use heuristic algorithms. i.e. take one step after another in a defined way How Heuristic Algorithms Do Work A heuristic algorithm is not procedural. Instead of following a set pattern of steps, it compares alternatives and tries to improve on them over time to reach a good approximation of the solution. Nature uses heuristic all the time. Consider an ant colony that has to scout for food and resources. Initially, ants head off in all different directions. If one finds some food it brings it straight back to the nest leaving a faint pheromone trail for subsequent waves of ants to pick up on. If those ants find food at the same place, they also bring it straight back to the nest, adding more pheromones to the trail for other ants to pick up on. Over time more and more ants follow the strongest pheromone trails leading to the emergence of very efficient and direct routes between the hive and its surrounding resources. It’s not only ants. Our genes employ heuristics. They splice up, combine and recombine ( ) in different ways leading to offspring with different characteristics. If those characteristics are favorable to survival they may be passed on. mutate In this way, mutations lead to the emergence of fitter individuals adapted well for their environment. Heuristics aren’t simply a sneaky way to program software; they’re built into Nature on a fundamental level. The 'Creative Heuristic' Algorithm Humans have a strong procedural bias. We identify a problem, come up with a plan of action consisting of a sequence of clearly defined steps and execute that plan to solve the problem. We apply that thinking over and over, again and again for pretty much every problem we want to solve. Creativity is not procedural. We need to take a more heuristic approach by giving our brain the opportunity to compare many different, potentially creative possibilities. If a problem is creative ( ) it is likely an excellent candidate for an heuristic approach. i.e. not procedural It’s almost impossible to sit down and think of a game-changing disruptor off the top of your head. Similarly, coming up with a new small business idea or a new blog post idea, or a creative solution to a business problem can be a real challenge. We can implement an easy-to-use heuristic approach based on one underlying principle. The building block of creativity is association. In other words, what we view as a creative idea is often, at its heart, an unusual or counter-intuitive association between two concepts that are connected in some way ( ). either closely or loosely — see semantic similarity If the association is a building block, more blocks mean a higher chance of finding something interesting and new. And, if we want to generate associations we need more “things” to associate. Thinking inside-the-box utilizes the your brain already has available. things To change this up, we need to add new and different to allow for ideas that fall . things out the box To really give our brains plenty of , we need a method of introducing a wide range of potentially new and unique associations between a distribution of concepts and concepts. food for thought anchor control Fortunately there is a quick and easy way to do this by merging two lists of concepts in a fashion. Here's an example taken from my page. one to many small business ideas 1. Create an 'Anchor' List Create a big list of all the things you, love doing hate doing are happy doing get mad at are good at suck at would like to do would like to know are skilled at have experience in know about are interested in would love to learn ... Do a thorough job. Try end up with 100+ concepts in the anchor list. 2. Create a Control List The control list should ideally be a diverse list of concepts related to the niche topic you're working in - i.e. blog post topics, side hustle ideas, etc. In this specific instance our control list can be made out of concepts taken from existing business ideas, startups, new advances, market gaps, new tech... pretty much anywhere. There are also 100+ ready-made and unusual ideas for you to choose from in my business ideas list . Search Google for concepts and ideas. Collate or jot down ideas you come across on a daily basis. Use existing ideas lists or niche resources. 3. Merge the Lists Every single concept from the list must now be merged with each concept in the list. control anchor Pretend my lists have two concepts and 3 concepts: anchor control Anchor List Anchor Concept 1 Anchor Concept 2 ... Business Ideas List Business Idea 1 Business Idea 2 Business Idea 3 Merging these gives me the following. Merged List Anchor Concept 1 & Business Idea 1 Anchor Concept 1 & Business Idea 2 Anchor Concept 1 & Business Idea 3 Anchor Concept 2 & Business Idea 1 Anchor Concept 2 & Business Idea 2 Anchor Concept 2 & Business Idea 3 Notice that total number of merged concepts is equal to the number of anchor list concepts multiplied by the business idea concepts. For this example, 2 x 3 = 6 These numbers grow very quickly. By the time you have an anchor list of 100 and a control list of 100 ideas there are, 100 x 100 = 10 000 potentially new ideas. With hundreds, or potentially thousands, of merged concepts we now have a diverse range of . semantically related concepts Not every single combination of concepts will have a meaningful association. For example, semantically identical concepts have nothing to associate between them. The most creative ideas will often arise between the least obvious or least connected ( ) concepts. semantically distant It takes a little mental jiggling to merge two seemingly unrelated concepts together into a workable new idea. It is this exact process that regularly surfaces unique associations that simply wouldn’t have occurred to otherwise. That’s what makes the creative heuristic approach effective. The creative heuristic approach works by forcing your brain to find associations between a diverse range of semantically distant concepts. The point here is that your brain is actually being used. It’s not being forced to come up with a brilliant idea from thin air ( ). which is exactly what we ask it to do when we sit down in front of a blank piece of paper and try to be creative Example: The Creative Heuristic Algorithm for Content Consider the problem of coming up with interesting ideas for new content ( ). Those ideas must be related to the company’s niche industry, but offer something unique and unusual to differentiate it from the mountains of competing for online content. a common problem for businesses, marketers, and entrepreneurs competing in the online space To generate plenty of potentially unique and interesting associations we can use a variant of the  creative heuristic algorithm I call the technique, as explained in-depth in in the section entitled, . SUBMERGE How to make money blogging Write for Growth To summarize: Take one or more specific headings from a piece of content to create an anchor list of sub-headings. SUB Build a list of semantically related concepts (i.e. from a Google search) of those sub-headings to create a control list. every result gathered from every search. MERGE Creatively associate each of the merged concepts until a suitably creative and unique concept is found. The exact same process can be applied to coming up with new business ideas or finding gaps in the market no-one else has. The Creative Heuristic Algorithm 2.0 For more complex creative ideation, make . associations of associations You can either: Add an additional, list to the and lists and merge all three. variable anchor control Create two lists of merged concepts and then merge those two lists. These additional steps create linked that have significantly more variation in semantic distance than only two merged concepts. chains of concepts For example, merging two lists of 200 merged concepts would provide 40 000 merged concepts for your brain to associate. Who knows what unusual associations you might come up with out of that many possibilities. Like heuristics in Nature and heuristic algorithms in programming, you want to give your brain plenty of building blocks to play with in order to emerge creative new ideas. Try it out. Have fun. Crush it in the creative department.

How to Use the Creative Heuristic Algorithm to Generate Business Ideas

Data Management and Consolidation in the Integration of Corporate Information Systems

Co-working is certainly a better approach for getting work done. Coworking ecosystems are designed to be productive and collaborative. Dynamic entrepreneurs and remote employees occupy these ecosystems, which provide them the freedom from corporate constraints and limitations, as well as flexible memberships that match their business and personal needs. The term "coworking space" was first used to describe a shared office space in 2005, when Brad Neuberg, a visionary and courageous entrepreneur, opened the first coworking space in San Francisco. Because the word "coworking space" was unfamiliar to most people, the work environment did not draw any visitors during the first month. They simply had no idea what it was. As the demand for new skills such as , artificial intelligence, mobile app development, video production, and are growing, the market for coworking spaces is also rising. data science cloud computing With an annual increase of 2.1 percent, coworking have developed into a global phenomenon. There are currently over 19, 000 coworking spaces around the world, according to Statista. It is predicted that by 2025, the number will have risen to approximately 26,000 people. According to GCUC, the world's 3.1 million colleagues will nearly quadruple by 2022. Coworking Space Members — Who Are They? Coworking space is worth considering because it allows you to gain experience, learn from mentors, obtain funding, and launch a new product. Coworking spaces have a very diversified clientele. Here's a quick rundown of the many types of people who frequent coworking spaces: SME Coworking spaces with low rent charges are ideal for . There's no need to sign long-term contracts because everything you need for is right here: meeting rooms, conference rooms, kitchens, free coffee, and 24-hour access. small firms and teams a successful business Freelancers The coworking space policy provides flexibility to . They can choose where and when they work while remaining in an office setting and being a part of a productive community of people who share similar values. freelancers For freelancers who feel too isolated working from their home office or a coffee shop, coworking spaces provide a better alternative. Furthermore, a coworking space is a place where they may meet knowledgeable business people who are involved in a variety of businesses, making it possible for them to establish friends and locate potential clients and partners. Remote Workers Employees who , distributed workers, and partially remote workers (those who are allowed to work away from the office for a few days a week) will find all of the facilities in a shared workplace. They can use hot or dedicated desks, have peace and quiet in a private place, reserve a small meeting room, or receive a call in a skype room or phone booth. work remotely they need to stay productive Corporate Organizations Larger businesses might also benefit from the coworking environment. They encourage remote employees to work from coworking spaces, resulting in increased team happiness, creativity, and productivity, as well as interesting networking opportunities. Many also provide yoga and meditation courses, as well as other , to help members (business employees) maintain a healthy, happy, and balanced lifestyle. coworking centrers wellness activities Types of Coworking Spaces Coworking spaces provide a variety of services, ranging from hot and dedicated desks, , kitchen and many other perks. translation services to specific venues for members working in various industries. There is a wide range of coworking spaces available, including: Flexible layouts in multi-purpose areas. Visual art studios with their industrial decor. Spaces outfitted with ergonomic furniture and utensils providing the utmost comfort to residents. Private offices for teams that require physical proximity for members, yet still want to stay connected to the bigger ecosystem. Makerspaces, Hackerspaces. Studios for artists, photographers and filmmakers Virtual coworking office spaces offer many of the same membership perks as physical coworking spaces, but members do not have to be physically present at the same time. They virtually sit at a specific desk highlighted on the virtual floor plan throughout the day, , and visit virtual destinations such as phone booths and conference rooms. communicate with other inhabitants The Pros of Coworking Spaces . Coworking spaces have extremely flexible lease terms. There are no long-term obligations, and you can cancel at any moment. Flexibility . Cost-efficiency It is costly to rent an office on your own (especially if you are looking for a premium location). Plus, there are plenty of other expenses to consider, such as furniture, internet, office supplies, free coffee for staff, snacks, and so on. Flexible workspaces have a variety of benefits like these for a single monthly fee, so you don't have to worry about office cleaning or toilet soap refills. Furthermore, they have several built-in business services, such as receptionists and conference rooms, which might help you save money in the long term. The only thing you need to think about is what characteristics you require for a successful business. Cost-effectiveness is typically a critical benefit for small enterprises tied into pricey leases. . This is particularly true for small business owners who operate from home and are easily distracted. When the kids require attention, the house needs to be maintained, and so on, it's difficult to focus on work. You may immerse yourself in the corporate environment and complete your chores considerably faster by traveling to a customized workstation where everyone works. Increased productivity . One of the most significant advantages of a coworking space is the opportunity to network with like-minded people. If you or in a typical office, you're missing out on crucial contacts that will help you grow your business. The spark that proximity to other successful firms gives is sometimes all a small business needs to accelerate its growth. Networking opportunities work from home . By cooperating with people who share similar interests, you open yourself up to new viewpoints, which can lead to creative bursts. Changing surroundings and going to a different coworking office space might help you renew your thoughts and think of new ways to solve company problems. Creativity boost According to : comparecamp.com nearly 90% of coworkers say they're happier since joining a coworking space, and more than half (55%) say they feel like they're part of a community. Coworkers engage with 1 to 4 members every day on average, and 83 percent say they feel less lonely since joining a coworking space. Famous Companies that Started at Coworking Spaces Nothing can inspire more than a success story that once upon a time began at a coworking space: — Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp started to solve the taxi cab crisis in San Francisco at a coworking space. Now Uber teams work in more than 50 countries all over the world and this number continues to grow. Uber — Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom developed the app in eight weeks only getting together at a coworking space. Instagram — The idea to create one of the world’s biggest crowdfunding portals flashed a Wall Street analyst, Danae Ringelmann's mind at a coworking space. Indiegogo (2009) — It took Christy Liu together with three daring co-founders a year to bring the project brought out by TripAdviser to life at a coworking space. Wanderfly — Working at a coworking space, Igor Dzhebyan & Ross Khanas discovered that coworking spaces are in abundance of creativity but lack technology. So, they embarked on a journey to bridge that gap. They created andcards, the first coworking space management software to delight members now used in 30+ counties worldwide. The platform offers revolutionary solutions based on primary members' and managers' needs, significantly improving their experience and facilitating rapid workspace growth. andcards To summarize, the coworking movement is no longer new or futuristic. Workplaces today are welcoming, flexible, and experimental. They provide residents with much more independence, flexibility, opportunity for progress, and enjoyment.

What Is a Coworking Space?

With a rise in entrepreneurial spirit, numerous startups have sprang up. These startups are just like babies in the marketplace, looking for opportunities and finances to expand. If however someone were to ask , they will usually get frustrated. Valuing an early-stage startup is very different from valuing an established one. startups about their worth in the business world Whenever you start nurturing your startup baby, it starts increasing its value in the market. When you add a patent in its platter, the value starts rising. What if you add a kick-ass management team? Of course, the baby startup will begin increasing its worth. Easy, right? The real question however is, how will you determine the value of your startup at an early-stage? In order to raise the startup, valuation is a must. Therefore, understanding how the startup valuation process works is significant to any serious and committed entrepreneur. Before working on the methodologies of finding the startup's perfect value before generating revenue, it would be advisable to understand the meaning of startup valuation. What is Startup Valuation? Startup valuation is a kind of process that helps one figure out the worth of a company. When a company starts its operations, they don't have so much money in their coffers to operate it; let alone pay the salaries of their employees. Thus in the seed funding round, startups offer equity to the investor in exchange for their funds. This is why is a necessary process. startup valuation It helps to determine what equity of startups that organisations can offer to the investors or employees. Finding the value of the startups also helps the investors know how much shares they will receive in place of the funds invested during the seed stage. In general, startup valuation can prove to be the real deal maker or breaker. This could help to build a successful business in the marketplace or ruin all the business operations. This is why, business valuation doesn't work on any guesswork or thrive based on the valuation of other similar startups. In addition, before starting work with the calculation of the company's actual value, the founders would need to have proper knowledge of the entire process. Let's suppose, a company just guesses an absurdly high figure to seed investors, even though they haven't generated any revenue until that time. Here, it has developed a deal maker or breaker situation. If the startup isn't able to make that much revenue, then it might have to raise funds at a lower valuation in the next round. This might prove negative in terms of long term projects. That's why, it is advisable not to use guesswork while calculating the value of startups. What are the various valuation factors for startups at the seed stage? Got the understanding of startup valuation? All business owners of startups need to find out the worth of their venture in the marketplace. This could help them grow the business more effectively without any hurdles. Also, startups should find out the exact valuation of their startups because a wrong valuation can actually break the startup operation. So, now the question is , . There must be some methods to evaluate that. Well, some methodologies can be used to figure out the exact value of the startup. But before, let's gather some information about the factors which influence the valuation of a company: “how will you calculate the exact startup value?” Prototype In order to influence the investor to invest in the startup, it is important to develop the prototype for the company. It shows that the company has already reached a certain level of execution and achievement for the go-to-market phase. In this way, startups can build a positive impression on investors. Make sure that the prototype is ready to go before the startups start planning to pitch to an investor. Pre-valuation Revenues There is no denying the fact that generating revenue is pretty essential for any company. It helps to keep on carrying out the valuation process more easily. If a product has hit the market and starts generating good revenue, it will automatically increase the value of the startup in the marketplace. It could also influence the investors in favor of the startup, and prove to be a real deal sealer. Distribution Channel Distribution channels play a crucial role in finding out the startup value. However, some business owners have underrated this role in the startup strategy; this is not a good idea. When the target company has the distribution channels in one place, the startup valuation will certainly be higher than one without them. Traction Traction is one of the significant factors that influence the valuation process of startups at the early-stage. When the startups are attaining the targeted customer's baseline, then the traction shows that a startup is taking off. To be more precise, traction portrays the growth and development standard of the company. This is why it is considered the most important aspect that convinces investors to invest money in a company. Reputation One of the most important things that an investor always looks at before investing is the founder's image and his capability. If your startup image is igniting a positive spark in the business world, automatically, there are chances that your startup's value is good compared to other competitors. The Industry If you are in a booming industry, such as the mobile gaming or fintech) industry, investors are more likely to pay a premium when buying equity. It means that if the startups fall in the industry, which does not show any growth in the business world, it will not help the businesses increase the worth of a business enterprise. launching a startup Pre-money valuation Methodologies By now, you are familiar with the various factors that influence the startup valuation process. To find out the value of the startup, you need to follow some formulas. Being aware of every method to figure out the startup's value will help you leverage and negotiate your own valuation with investors. There is no one-size fit all method that can help to find out the value of your startup, so it is better to get insights on valuation methodologies from other entrepreneurs and angel investors. Below are three pre-money valuation methodologies that are often used- Scorecard Valuation Method The first and foremost valuation method that can be used to find out the startups' value is the scorecard valuation method. The angel investors generally use this method to compare the startups to other funded startups, modifying the average valuation depending upon factors like region, market, and stage, then deciding the value of the startup against this benchmark. Below are some steps that you need to follow in order to find out the startup value. The first and foremost step is to determine the average pre-money value of the companies in the same region and sector of the target startup. The second step is to get the pre-money valuation of the early-stage startup using the Scorecard Method. The scorecard is as follows, A requirement of Additional Investment – 0-5 % Management Team's Strength of the Management Team – 0-30 % Market Opportunity's Size – 0-25 % Technology-driven end Product – 0-15 % Competition in the Marketplace – 0-10 % Marketing + Distribution Channels + Strategic Partnerships – 0-10 % Other – 0-5 % And the last step is to assign a factor to the above-mentioned factors depending on the target startups. Then get it multiplied by the blend of the elements by the average pre-money valuation of pre-revenue companies. Venture Capital (VC) Method The next method that can be used to prepare startup valuation is the venture capital method. Basically, this method has gained popularity because of Harvard Business School’s Professor Bill Sahlman. This method helped the professor to find out the pre-money valuation. In order to incorporate this method to find out the net value of the business, it is essential to determine the post-money valuation using industry metrics. The formula to find out the pre-money valuation involves the post-money valuation of the startup, which gets subtracted with the investment. Pre-money valuation = Post-money valuation — Investment To find out the post-money valuation, you need to first determine the terminal value, which gets divided by the Expected Return on Investment (ROI). Post-money valuation = Terminal value ÷ Expected Return on Investment (ROI) What do we mean by terminal value? It is an anticipated value of the assets on a certain date. This projection period is generally fixed between four to seven years. Due to this timeframe, the terminal value is usually translated into the present value. To determine the terminal value, companies need to research the average sales of the established company within the same industry and multiply it by a multiple of two. For example, the startup is rising at a price of $600k, and it estimates that it will generate $30M when it is sold within five years. Terminal Value = $30M x 2 = $60M For the angel investors, the statistical fail rate is over 50%, so investors would target 10x-30xROI on each individual investment. In this example, it will be anticipated that ROI would be set at 20x for the pre-revenue startup. Knowing you're raising $600K, we'll then work on to calculate the pre-money valuation. Post-money valuation = $60M ÷ 20x = $3M Pre-money valuation = $3M — $600K = $2.4M Risk Factor Summation Method Last but not least, the pre-money valuation that can be used to find the value of the startups is a risk factor summary method. This methodology is used to get a more detailed estimation based on the risks involved with an investment. The following are the risks that will be considered in this method- Technology risk Sales and marketing risk International risk Reputation risk Potential lucrative exit Management Stage of the business Competition risk Legislation/political risk Litigation risk Funding/capital risk Manufacturing risk Each of these risks gets the score so that businesses can find out the value of the startup- 0 – neutral ($0) +1 – positive (+$250,000) +2 – very positive for scaling the startup (+$500,000) -2 – very negative (-$500,000) -1 – negative for scaling the startup (-$250,000) By incorporating the risk factor summation method, we assume that the increase of pre-revenue startup valuation is $250,000 for every +1, and +2 for every $500k. On the other hand, when the pre-revenue valuation falls by $250,000, then the risk factor will be considered as -1, and by $500,000 for every -2. This technique would be well-suited while examining the risks involved in starting the business. It helps to manage the business operations to make a successful exit. If the businesses want to have a holistic overview of the startup's valuation, then this method is paired with the Scorecard Method. Conclusion You would have a better idea about the importance of startup valuation, factors influencing the calculation, and how to find the startup valuation at the early stage. As a matter of fact, figuring out the worth of the startup plays an important role, whether it is about attracting investors or operating the startup successfully. But startups at early-stages are also required to choose the pre-valuation method as per their startup niche. However, using multiple pre-revenue valuations methodologies does not prevent other investors from choosing other startups within the same industry. Decide the best method as per the startup's need and niche, and start working on it.

Methods Used to Value Early-Stage Startups

When I first started KinkBNB in 2015, I bought an off-the-shelf AirBNB clone codebase to build the first version on. One of the things we had to do was hook it up to with an API key. It was amazing to me how it transformed the dead piece of software we’d gotten from an off-shore programming company into something that seemed to work. It was only after we got into operation that the problem became clear — despite the fact that the software worked, it didn’t actually monetize our traffic because AirBNB’s business model only works at scale. It took us two different packages to come to this realization in 2017. Google Places API This became the impetus for — a completely custom written piece of software. Based on my research I chose the Django framework to write this version. There were a few advantages to this. I’m a pretty hands on guy and I know python like the back of my hand from writing IRC bots in the late 90’s. It allowed me to keep the old databases and userbase intact, and that was pretty cool. But above all I figured out how to drop this Google API into our codebase. This gives KinkBNB the spark of life it would not have otherwise — you can type in an address and it will not only autocomplete based on your location, it will give us the GPS coordinates to do a Point based search in . KinkBNB Mark III Haystack I’ve revisited this particular API a few times for KinkBNB. I have used it in other projects for clients as well. It’s pretty good for building dealer locators as well as finding the nearest restaurants to your sex dungeon. I am still all about this API. It’s Google that I have a problem with. Specifically, their non-communication in making changes. I don’t have much of a reason to pay attention to the backend of this API in the — at least I didn’t before June of 2018. It was then that Google decided they wanted to make money off this API and started charging for it. We didn’t actually notice this for a few reasons. Google Cloud Console We’re in a very weird area with KinkBNB. We get a lot of traffic and we are profitable, but it’s that weird kind of profitability you get in that first year of profitability. Namely, everything affects your bottom line. We exhibit at the and it’s not an inexpensive proposition — but this year we paid for it completely with profits. It was about this time that I started getting notices in my personal mail about our credit card being declined for small payments. Folsom Street Fair Of course, several years ago when I wasn’t thinking I’d signed up for this with my personal email. I shrugged it off until after the Fair, how bad could it be? This photo by the captures me (left, in my trusty hat) on my phone trying to figure out why Google is charging us so much despite all the stuff going on around me. SF Chronicle As it turned out, it was pretty bad. Not only were we badly behind, for some reason Google had given us a credit or something going forward several months. We were pulling a LOT of requests and at their full pricing tier. My best guess is they knew folks would need time to fix it, but in the meantime here is $500 a month credit for several months to make your bills not pile up. I sat up and took notice when that credit stopped. Here’s the fun code portion of the article! The very basic call to Places is simple. You grab an and throw up this piece of HTML and Javascript which is and VOILA — you have a map. API key from the API Dashboard currently on their website <!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Simple Map</title>
    <meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <style>
      /* Always set the map height explicitly to define the size of the div
       * element that contains the map. */
      #map {
        height: 100%;
      }
      /* Optional: Makes the sample page fill the window. */
      html, body {
        height: 100%;
        margin: 0;
        padding: 0;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div id="map"></div>
    <script>
      var map;
      function initMap() {
        map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById('map'), {
          center: {lat: -34.397, lng: 150.644},
          zoom: 8
        });
      }
    </script>
    <script src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?key=YOUR_API_KEY&callback=initMap"
    async defer></script>
  </body>
</html> Now, the piece of code to focus on is that maps.googleapis.com call at the end. <script src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?key=YOUR_API_KEY&callback=initMap"
    async defer></script> That piece of code right there is the very BASE call. You can use that as the basis of every call to Places API, whether it is the maps or the geocoding or the autocomplete. Notice also that is only has two values being passed — the API key and the callback. Folks, that piece of code controls how much you are being charged. If you just call it with your API key, it charges you the maximum amount they can, per request — because ostensibly it returns all the data in their databases about what’s near you or in your coordinates. Google Maps and Places now has a new If you want just basic address capabilities, that’s a very low rate. But if you grab everything in their API, the bill piles up VERY quickly. Luckily you can staunch the flow of money pretty quickly. pricing structure according to their website. December is my traditional month to do a good code sprint on KinkBNB. This year I had to fix this problem ASAP, and code a new GPS enabled search function for our user directory. I took the time to figure out and understand what was going on. It takes a few days sometimes to figure out if your code actually worked when you have an external API, and I can report that the following problem was definitely fixed by some simple additions to the Places API call lines. First off — you need to make your Google Places API calls priced by session instead of by every API call. Luckily in Django it’s just a matter of adding a value to your API call. <script type="text/javascript" src="//maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?libraries=places&&v=3.34&key={{ GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY }}&sessiontoken={{request.session.session_key}}"></script> Next, you need to limit what data you are calling from Places. I wrote the following Javascript function that runs when the page loads — it lets me access the location data from the browser, stores it for the user who is logged in, and sets up the Autocompleting search bar on our search pages. {% block head_js %}
<script type="text/javascript" src="//maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?libraries=places&&v=3.34&key={{ GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY }}&sessiontoken={{request.session.session_key}}"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
    function showError(error) {
        switch(error.code) {
            case error.PERMISSION_DENIED:
                alert("User denied the request for Geolocation.");
                    window.location.href = "https://www.kinkbnb.com/explore/";
                break;
            case error.POSITION_UNAVAILABLE:
               alert("Location information is unavailable.");
                    window.location.href = "https://www.kinkbnb.com/explore/";
                break;
            case error.TIMEOUT:
                alert("The request to get user location timed out.");
                    window.location.href = "https://www.kinkbnb.com/explore/";
                break;
            case error.UNKNOWN_ERROR:
                alert( "An unknown error occurred.");
                    window.location.href = "https://www.kinkbnb.com/explore/";
                break;
        }
    }
        function initialize() {
            var input = document.getElementById('geocomplete');
             if (navigator.geolocation) {              navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(function(position) {
                  var pos = {
                     lat: position.coords.latitude,
                     lng: position.coords.longitude,
               };
                   document.getElementById('id_lat').value = position.coords.latitude;
                   document.getElementById('id_lng').value = position.coords.longitude;
                      $.ajax({
                    url : '/kinksters/{{ request.user.id }}/gps/',
                    type : "POST",
                    data : {
                        'csrfmiddlewaretoken' : "{{  csrf_token  }}",
                     'lat':position.coords.latitude,
                     'lng':position.coords.longitude,
                    },
                    success : function(result) {}
                   },showError);
                   }, function() {
                             });
            } else {
              // Browser doesn't support Geolocation
                    window.location.href = "https://www.kinkbnb.com/explore/";
             }
            var autocomplete = new google.maps.places.Autocomplete(input,{fields: ["address_components", "geometry"],
      types: ["geocode"],});
            google.maps.event.addListener(autocomplete, 'place_changed', function () {
                var place = autocomplete.getPlace({placeIdOnly: true});
                var lat = place.geometry.location.lat();
                var long = place.geometry.location.lng()
                document.getElementById('id_lat').value = place.geometry.location.lat();
                document.getElementById('id_lng').value = place.geometry.location.lng();
            });
        }
        google.maps.event.addDomListener(window, 'load', initialize);
    </script>

{% endblock head_js %} As in the previous little codeblock, there are specific lines you need to pay attention to here. var autocomplete = new google.maps.places.Autocomplete(input,{fields: ["address_components", "geometry"],
      types: ["geocode"],});
var place = autocomplete.getPlace({placeIdOnly: true}); This is how you limit what data you get back from Places API. You are limiting your fields to geometry and address data, and the type of call you are making is “geocode”. The second line is to specify that you don’t want all the Places Details in your call. If you leave these lines in without specifying the code type, placeIDOnly, or the address fields, then Google will charge you at the full data rate for their Places Details API — and this is what took a few days to figure out after I figured out to make all API calls part of a session. Naturally if you want to get more data back from them this is where you do it as well — but all the tiers cost more on top of what Google is charging as a base. Per Google’s website, here are the available fields and pricing tiers: Basic The Basic category includes the following fields:address_component, adr_address, alt_id, formatted_address, geometry, icon, id, name, permanently_closed, photo, place_id, plus_code, scope, type, url, utc_offset, vicinity Contact The Contact category includes the following fields:formatted_phone_number, international_phone_number, opening_hours, website Atmosphere The Atmosphere category includes the following fields: price_level, rating, review If you want to include reviews and ratings, then you can do this. Just be warned that this is charged at the maximum rate possible. If you get between 20,000 and 30,000 users a month on your search bar and every API call is at maximum rate, that’s going to add about $1000+ a month to your bill. The minimum rate is much more palatable so far. I had virtually no help from Google to solve this. I say virtually, because I actually used Google to search the internet for the answers — and those were not published officially by Google except in their dry documentation that just assumes you’re starting from scratch. I didn’t get or notice an email warning about the change in pricing, nor did I find anything explaining this change and how it would affect older customers. It to be a trick to get as much surprise revenue as possible before their users fixed it. Nobody would be that evil, would they? seems And so it comes full circle to my article’s title. Google used to have a motto. It was “Don’t be evil.” Unfortunately they seem to have left this motto by the wayside, sometime around the time they bought that company that builds scary military robots. Surprising people with pricing changes is about as evil as it gets. I hope someone at Google sees this and tries to do better next time they want to implement a large change that will affect small businesses like mine if we don’t jump right on fixing our code.

Dear Google: Don’t Be Evil

Exploring more programmable incentives use cases. Want to learn how blockchain can help your business? Request a blockchain workshop ! A quick refresher In our last blog we presented , a peer-to-peer marketplace for human intelligence. In this decentralized application or ‘dApp’, users can issue tasks they’d like a hand with. Users can attach a bounty to their task to incentivize other users to help them. ‘Knuckles’ This mechanism of bounties lies at the core of many applications like , or . ‘Knuckles’ relies on that same mechanism of incentives but works very different under the hood. Previously we would have relied on a central operator like Amazon or HackerOne to provide this service for a fee, in return the central operator takes care of hosting, security, payment processing and arbitration. Knuckles on the other hand omits this trusted third party and allows parties to directly engage with one another. StackExchange Hackerone.com Amazon Mturk Stack Exchange is a network of question-and-answer (Q&A) websites on topics in diverse fields, each site covering a specific topic, where questions, answers, and users are subject to a reputation award process. This is possible because we use a ledger that’s distributed over a peer-to-peer network of all participants. In an earlier blogpost we’ve laid out a concept called . Quick refresher: ‘Programmable Incentives’ Blockchains like allow us to write code or ‘smart contracts’ that live on the . This allows us to make conditional value transfers. With programmable incentives the goal is to reward positive outcomes and behaviour and disincentivize bad behaviour Ethereum blockchain In the rest of this blogpost we’ll lay the groundwork for some other exciting use cases for programmable incentives. Customer Loyalty Program & Marketplace Customer loyalty programs are nothing new, far from even. It’s highly likely that you too have a library of customer cards from different stores, many of which have points on them, but you never really visit those stores all that often. Then, when you’re shopping in one of your go-to places you’re desperately trying to find the right card when it’s your turn at the cashier, such a joyful experience. Additionally, loyalty programs are most often something only offered by larger companies, as the overhead for SME is larger than the ROI. On top of that is it the merchant that implements a centralized IT system that prevents double-spending of points. What if we could solve those problems using a distributed ledger? Instead of a separate card or app per store we could join the vendors together on a single blockchain platform. Each vendor would be able to issue their own token, which works as a point system. These tokens are transferrable, so you can trade loyalty points with friends and family. Each merchant would implement his/her reward conditions in a smart contract (e.g. Minimum purchase amount). All of this without the stores having to establish a direct trust relationship for this. Isn’t that awesome? One could even build a marketplace where you could effectively trade those points directly with anyone, seamlessly. Social Responsibility Network & Collaborative Commons Another use case we’ve discussed extensively and even have a concept for on the table is a network catering to Social Responsibility, where business, non-profits, people and governments come together to create a positive network effect. To keep the length of the blog post in check we’ll leave government out of the discussion for now. Sadly, volunteering numbers are in decline. Something that’s likely to be attributed to multiple causes. One undeniable fact is that volunteering has been historically driven by intrinsic motivation, maybe this just doesn’t cut it anymore in a society where our lives seemingly get more busy and stressful. The passion to help others is something one either has or doesn’t, our solution does not change that. But we can perhaps try to ignite a spark through incentives. The two main other reasons for people to do charitable work are professional development and the ability to receive discounts at local businesses. Maybe if we can combinate the latter with intrinsic motivation it can yield positive results. We could issue ‘badges’ on the blockchain, non-transferrable tokens, that represent a proof-of-completion as verifiable credential. Tokens could be organized by category and merchants would be free to marginally lower prices to holders of tokens that represent causes they approve of. When an entire community approves of a cause, there is a community wide incentive and thus social pressure to maintain the equilibrium and associated positive outcomes (collaborative commons). Additionally, should a scheme of marginal price discrimination be implemented which raises prices slightly for non-volunteers but lowers prices for people with a ‘badge’, merchants could effectively contribute more than the cost of contribution. To implement the ‘sense of purpose and impact’ that comes with charity a voting mechanism could be introduced to give influence to contributors over the charity they’re contributing to (either through donation or volunteering). This could be done by way quadratic voting where a donation of X would result in a voting power of √X, but that would be a subject for its own blogpost. Sustainable Transport Another great example of ‘collaborative commons’ would be eco-friendly transportation to reduce the ecological footprint of a community or nation. The incentive and disincentive could be in the form of a carbon tax. We could implement a mechanism of price discrimination as described above. Where the government would tax bad behaviour (high carbon footprint) slightly more and good behaviour would get a slight tax benefit. A dynamic equilibrium would guarantee the incentive. Essentially what you’d get is a carbon credit market for people. A cool concept we’ve played with in our minds is incentivizing the notorious Blue bike/Antwerp city bike rides using smart locks and a GPS tracker. We could then keep track of time and distance and pay out a reward according to the total of “good” distance and time travelled by the entire community. While distributed ledger networks of IoT devices are still a novelty, identity, tracking of distance and carbon credits could still be maintained on a ledger of local municipalities and companies with such an offering. Artificial Moral Agents To conclude we’ll discuss a more futuristic topic in short: how AI and incentives match together. AI is one of the current hot topics in tech, with its rise also come concerns about its dangers. More specifically on the topic of morality and the dangers of AI improvements outpacing our understanding of it. Blockchain could potentially offer a solution for creating AI that resembles having a sense of morality. There could be incentives and disincentives in the form of a machine reputation system. The challenge is to create an economic system for the AI to play in that promotes good outcomes for society. You could literally imagine this as different machines playing a virtual game within certain confines that should lead to good outcomes. Blockchain for your business We organise to discover viable use cases for your business, industry or verticals. workshops and interactive sessions Would you like to know more about the use cases we’ve described here? Contact . Yoeri Conickx View all blogposts Originally published at www.designisdead.com .

Make programmable incentives work for YOU.

I have made a selection of the most interesting programs for safe work in the network. All of them will help you not to fall prey to hackers and keep your personal and private corporate data safe. Many people already know about the anonymous Tor browser or secure messengers like Telegram or WhatsApp. Today we will talk about programs that are not yet so widely known, but are no less effective. 1. Epic Privacy browser Anonymous and protected browser from developers in India. The main pro is that the program does not track your search and visit history, does not record cache and cookies, blocks ads, trackers and plug-ins, and does not remember passwords you entered. 2. DuckDuckGo A search engine that monitors the safety of its users, particularly closely. The search engine does not use the data of people for targeted advertising or personalized search output. Moreover, the developers have focused on the purity of the information, rather than on its quantity. 3. Protonmail Secure email service from Switzerland. A simple and rigorous interface, ease of use and high security combined with data encryption have made Protonmail a huge hit with millions of users around the world. In some countries, the service is blocked, but it’s possible to access mail using a VPN. 4. Tutanota Another mail service with Encryption, this time from the Germans. Here is what the developers themselves write about their brainchild: “Secure mail for everyone! Tutanota is the safest mail service in the world, easy to use and private”. 5. Signal Protected messenger for safe communication. The creators assure that third parties will never have access to your correspondence and will never be able to take possession of your personal data if you use Signal. There is no room for advertising, obsessive marketers or hackers who follow you. 6. Threema Instant messaging software. A concise messenger with a good interface. Developers prioritize the security and privacy of their users and, as a result, their data. An excellent alternative to more popular analogues. 7. Jabber A protocol for exchanging messages. It can be difficult for an average citizen to understand the program at first, but the discomfort quickly disappears. The interface seems to be very native, as it resembles the good old “Aska” (ICQ). But it seems that nobody will say anything better about the program than the creators themselves. Here is what the official site of the project says: “This is jabber.ru, the largest jabber server in runet. In combination — the oldest and probably the most reliable … Just take our word for it: Jabber is a chat. A chat that works equally well on your phone, computer, or anywhere else." 8. Slack Corporate messenger, simple, reliable and convenient — what else is needed to quickly coordinate the next question with colleagues? In the program, there is a possibility both to create a set of group chats, and the correspondence one-to-one. Interestingly, Slack was named the fastest growing business application of all time. 9. Spark Another messenger. It’s written using Jabber protocol. Some users prefer Spark, so the program is present in our rating. However, you will hardly find any significant difference between the interfaces of Spark and the above-mentioned Jabber. However, Spark is very easy to register and also allows users to mark chat rooms or check the spelling. You’ll agree, it’s a useful tool. 10. Utopia P2P ecosystem Developers position the project as a whole P2P ecosystem that provides maximum security and anonymity to users. Utopia occupies a special place in our list, as the program is fundamentally different from all the software on the market today. The system refused to track users and lunched a secure browser, private chat, encrypted mail service, channels for mass communication or publication of any news, as well as an electronic wallet and its own mining system while creating its own cryptocurrency. In fact, the developers were able to create a real system, which contains all the most necessary programs that are in great demand. SUMMARY All of the above programs have been able to win an audience and prove in practice that user safety comes first. The developers of each of these projects aim to protect people while making their lives more comfortable. Any of the programs mentioned in this article will help you to use internet with maximum efficiency and without fear of becoming a victim of Internet fraud. Whichever site you choose, remember that no one can protect you from hackers at 100% if you do not take care of the safety of your personal data. Do not disregard elementary security rules in the network and, of course, stay cyberhealthy. Also published at https://medium.com/@tommysview/no-more-spy-apps-and-hacker-attacks-10-secure-online-programs-b74f61f67a9c

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-- employees

Since n.d.

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