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The Russian war against Ukraine has not only escalated into the most extensive use of cyber operations in the history of state conflicts but has also propelled cybersecurity and geopolitical tensions to the forefront of global concern. With the World Economic Forum's Global Risk Report 2024 ranking cyber insecurity as the fourth most severe short-term global risk, and cybersecurity being a top worry among CEOs as per PwC’s CEO Survey, the significance of this digital warfare extends far beyond the battlefield. This conflict has reshaped the cybersecurity landscape, compelling nations and businesses worldwide to reassess and fortify their cyber defense strategies in anticipation of an uncertain future. The blend of cyber warfare with traditional geopolitical conflicts presents a complex challenge, urging a continuity of cyber defense that blurs the lines between competition, crisis, and war in cyberspace. The Kyivstar Attack: A Stark Reminder The cyberattack on Kyivstar, Ukraine's largest mobile operator, in December 2023 was not just another statistic in the annals of cyber warfare but a stark revelation of the vulnerability of critical national infrastructure. Orchestrated by the Russian Sandworm group, this meticulously planned operation plunged 24.1 million subscribers into a communications blackout, effectively isolating a significant portion of the nation during a critical time of war. The aftermath of the attack was catastrophic, with services disrupted for over 58 hours, leading to a direct financial hit to Kyivstar of UAH 3.4 billion due to the cancellation of subscription fees. This incident underscores the multifaceted impact of such cyber operations, affecting not just the economic bottom line but also national security and civilian well-being. The attack's implications extended beyond immediate operational disruptions. It was a psychological maneuver designed to instill fear and uncertainty, impacting millions. The destruction was near-total, wiping out critical infrastructure, including thousands of virtual servers and PCs. The level of access gained by the attackers raised alarms over potential intelligence gathering, including the theft of personal information and the interception of communications. This incident serves as a grim reminder of the escalating cyber threat landscape and the need for robust cybersecurity measures. For Kyivstar and similar entities, the attack has necessitated a reevaluation of cybersecurity protocols and the adoption of more aggressive defense mechanisms to prevent future breaches. It highlights the essential need for continuous vigilance, advanced threat detection capabilities, and swift response strategies to mitigate the risks posed by state-sponsored cyberterrorism. Strengthening Cybersecurity Teams Amidst Rising Threats With cyber investments projected to reach $215 billion in 2024, the focus on securing our digital world has never been more acute. However, as threats proliferate, a critical challenge emerges: the widening talent gap in cybersecurity. The ISACA State of Cybersecurity report reveals that 71% of organizations have unfilled cybersecurity positions, underscoring the urgent need for skilled professionals to counter these evolving threats. The cybersecurity landscape is increasingly becoming a battlefield, with demand for expertise far outpacing supply. In 2023, we've witnessed a 13% surge in the global workforce gap, particularly in pivotal areas like cloud computing security, AI/ML security, and Zero Trust frameworks. Yet, the gap isn't just in technical skills; there's a pronounced need for professionals who excel in leadership, flexibility, and communication. From our vantage point, working closely with leading cybersecurity firms, it's clear that bridging this gap requires more than just competitive wages and training programs. It demands a holistic approach to fostering a culture of innovation and growth. For instance, one of our long-standing clients, a cybersecurity pioneer, has embarked on a mission to cultivate a workforce that is not only technically adept but also possesses strong soft skills. They've established a mentorship program that pairs seasoned professionals with emerging talent, focusing on the development of leadership and communicative excellence alongside technical proficiency. CEO Insights: Practical Strategies for Cyber Resilience In the face of today's heightened cyber risks, it's imperative for CEOs and boards to prioritize cybersecurity as a core component of their strategic agenda. Here are a few strategies that have proven effective for our clients, from SMEs to large enterprises: Allocate Adequate Budget: One of our clients, a fast-growing tech startup, allocated 15% of its annual budget to cybersecurity initiatives. This bold move supported their defensive measures and facilitated the development of a robust talent pipeline. Partner with Reliable Providers: Another multinational corporation's client enhanced its defense capabilities by forging a strategic partnership with a top-tier cybersecurity service provider. This collaboration has fortified their resilience against sophisticated cyber threats. Build Strong Teams: Recognizing the value of exceptional talent, we've helped several clients streamline their hiring processes to attract and retain the industry's best. This includes creating roles that appeal to the desire for career growth and learning opportunities. Educate Your Team: Acknowledging the human factor as a potential vulnerability, we've observed a trend among our clients toward implementing comprehensive cybersecurity awareness programs. These initiatives aim to foster a culture of vigilance and preparedness across all levels of the organization. Conduct Regular Assessments: Regular cybersecurity assessments and tabletop exercises have become a staple for our clients. These practices identify vulnerabilities and prepare teams for potential attacks, ensuring a swift and effective response. Conclusion As the geopolitical landscape continues to influence the cyber domain, the lessons learned from the ongoing conflict and its challenges are invaluable. The Kyivstar attack and the broader implications of the war on global cybersecurity underscore the need for a proactive, informed, and strategic approach to cyber defense. By adopting these practical strategies, CEOs can lead their organizations towards greater resilience, safeguarding their assets and contributing to a more secure digital future in these uncertain times.

Two Years On: How Ukraine's Cyber Warfront Is Redefining Global Cybersecurity Strategies

: Nataraj recently came under the radar of the HackerNoon editorial team for a very interesting concept: the constant need to experiment with AI. Impressed by his decision to play around with AI for 100 days, the HackerNoon editorial team decided to showcase his work. Over the next few months, Nataraj will be sharing his insights on what he’s learned by pushing the boundaries of what AI and do. Be on the lookout for his posts and learn a bit more about the man behind the series, below. Editor’s Note can cannot So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests. My full name is Nataraj Sindam. I am currently a Product Manager at Microsoft Azure. I believe humans are not built to do just one thing, specialization is for ants not humans. Humans can excel in more than one thing. So outside of my day job I host a podcast about startups and investing called Startup Project. I am also an investor in 20+ companies across the world and currently a venture partner at $10M SaaS Fund called Incisive.vc where I help invest in pre-seed stage SaaS companies. Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about? I have decided to focus on learning and writing about AI in 2024. As part of this I started 100 Days of AI as a forcing function. So for 100 days each day I am spending 1-2 hrs a day on learning AI. And as I learn about AI I am documenting my experiments, ideas, thoughts & future predictions for AI in the form of blog posts here on my website and on Hackernoon. My most recent post was about how to create "Chat with You Data” applications using Langchain, Chroma DB & Open AI’s Gpt-4. Its one of the most popular use case of AI which every individual and organization is looking to use at scale. The post also introduces basic concepts that are the cutting edge of these applications like retrieval, data spitting, vector databases, embedding and more. Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about? I usually write about technology businesses but not about my own experiments that involve writing code. I write a bi-weekly newsletter called , which is meant for people working in tech and want to know the second order reasons, behind the scene strategies & future predictions related to the technology business. As some one who works at a big technology company while at the same time interacting with startups and reviewing 1000+ pitch decks a year I try to bring a unique vantage point of view in my newsletter and opinions that are not usually discussed elsewhere. The idea is that the reader should get ideas & thoughts that provoke them to think differently and are not found elsewhere. In a world where information is ubiquitous having an informed unique point of view is an edge and my goal is to provide that edge to my readers. Above Average Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?) My process of writing can be described as everywhere & all the time. I maintain google docs that are focused on writing new things. I obsessively take note of the smallest idea from a topic to an experiment to a funny sentence that I should use. For my weekly post I pick the latest three ideas that I find my self most attracted towards or opinionated about. Once I come up with basic draft, I follow some basic editing tips I have accumulated over time. Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing? I am an idea person, when it comes to writing. I generate ideas for articles everyday. The most challenging part about writing is not finding enough time to bring those ideas together into an article form. Time is the scare part of my writing journey. Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice? I watch a lot of content. As I grew up in India and am fluent in three languages (English, Hindi & Telugu) and follow movies in 2 other languages (Tamil & Malayalam). I have plenty of context across diverse geographies that I watch. This means my music diet is also pretty diverse. Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it? Last couple of years I have been going to CrossFit, I am still a beginner but that’s my non-tech related hobby these days. What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next? I will be writing about AI & the business of technology. I will be talking about the strategies behind the move tech companies are making with my newsletter and bring some of those ideas in the form of individual posts to Hackernoon. Apart from that, the current focus is to complete the journey that I stared with 100 Days of AI in 2024. So expect a lot more interested ideas, experiments, predictions & simple products using AI from me on Hackernoon. Above Average What’s your opinion on HackerNoon as a platform for writers? HackerNoon as a community is a writer friendly platform, I have been interacting with the team on & off since the past 4 years and have always had positive experiences. They have created a unique corner on the internet which allowed technologists channel their creativity. There is no other platform that I have see that enable this. Thanks for taking time to join our “ ” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words? Meet the writer Keep up all the great work you are doing with HackerNoon. If your audience is interested in following my work as part of 100 Days of AI, please follow me on , or . Twitter LinkedIn bookmark this page

Meet the Writer: HackerNoon Contributor Nataraj Sindam on Experimenting With AI 

Hi, all! Here is my weekly email discussing mental models, performance, business, and entrepreneurship. If you love this content (please share it), but also… Check out my , connect with me on / , and read my Podcast YouTube Twitter daily newsletter. What’s in today’s newsletter? We now enjoy the most health, freedom, and opportunities in human history - standing on the shoulders of inventors and pioneers who sacrificed to expand potential. But too many people waste this unprecedented access to tools for fulfillment by chasing distraction and pleasure while avoiding reality and responsibility. It's ironic how much progress surrounds us externally, yet how stagnant most individuals are in taking the initiative to actually seize it. Entitlement has bred widespread complacency. We must shake off victim mindsets full of excuses. Progress depends on personal accountability. Inheriting progress means accepting responsibility to compound it. Seize the generosity of past generations as fuel for your own creation. Transform excuses into action. Lift all rising tides through your differentiated efforts right now. The heaviest weight is unfulfilled potential despite an unprecedented opportunity explosion. Fortify resolve beyond comfortable circumstances handed to you. Don't take generational privilege for granted - use it as a foundation for your own progress. “We are living at the peak of human civilization.” I know that sounds hyperbolic. But consider this objectively. You stand now at the highest vantage point in the history of mankind when it comes to opportunity, technology, wisdom, and quality of life. In 75 years, we went from prop planes to commercial space flight. From news communicated by post to video calls on handheld devices transmitted by satellites in space. You can access virtually all cumulative knowledge known to humans in seconds from something in your pocket. Translate between languages instantly via AI. Map travel to remote villages Google hasn’t even photographed yet. But here’s the shocking part most haven’t realized... Despite all this exponential progress around us, most individuals fail to hold themselves to the standards such advancements make possible when it comes to actualizing our potential. We life spanned through a renaissance period that unlocked orders of magnitude more opportunity, tools, and information to enhance performance, well-being, and success... Yet, most trade this inheritance for distraction and limitation. Why Do We Squander Our Potential Despite Having Every Advantage? Make no mistake, you stand at the mountaintop when it comes to opportunity. But most come nowhere near achieving what is newly possible in their lifetime when it comes to fulfillment, human performance, and leaving a legacy. There is an alarming chasm between the acceleration of external potential... And lack of internal initiation to seize it. We’re living through discoveries and technological leaps our ancestors couldn’t even conceptualize. Yet, most use these for distraction and entertainment versus deliberate enhancement. For example, learning mastery was always a privilege of the well-connected or exceptionally motivated self-starter. To be a for most pursuits required intense commitment bordering on obsession. “student of the game” Now, you can access Ivy League-level curriculum from home on nutrition, fitness, finances, starting a business, languages, and more for free or extremely affordable. Yet, how many leverage this privileged panopticon of education handed to them? The mere abundance of opportunity actually has the inverse effect. It creates anxiety. The paradox of choice kicks in. They feel overwhelmed by open doors and unsure which path aligns with innate talents or burns with authentic passion and zeal. We know exponentially more about performance, psychology, wellbeing, and success than prior generations too. But we rarely apply this diligently to transcend the excuses that are holding us back. The pioneer heart still lies dormant within despite overwhelmingly favorable conditions for bold new frontiers. The perfect analogy: you’re standing in a forest, amongst massive Redwoods. You can’t help but be memorized by their grandeur, but you can’t bring yourself to plant a seed yourself. So Why This Tragic Gap Between Peak Potential and Performance? In one word? Entitlement. Entitlement manifests when we inherit reward without risk. Have privileges dropped in our lap without paying dues. Act entitled to outcomes without earned merit. The hallmark of entitled mindsets is desiring results now without requisite work beforehand. A gross sense of entitlement stems from the unusual situation we find ourselves in... We’re thrust into an environment drastically different than what our recent ancestors faced. Like time travelers, we skipped hundreds of incremental steps. We opened our eyes to a life wildly transformed by technology and innovation created before we were even born. Handed gadgets, tools, and abundances like magic. Yet, without direct experience progressively earned through each rung ourselves from the bottom up. We didn’t slowly acclimate across generations to appreciate or have a reference for how good we have it. We just stepped into this future now and accepted it as normal. Numbing ourselves to the heights we stand atop. When you don’t earn through your own blood, sweat, and tears — forced to find opportunity where little exists — you don’t fully respect the competitive advantage and possibilities at your fingertips today. Like trust fund kids aimlessly drifting through privilege not grounded by reality. Without scarcity as a sharp contrast, we lose sight of how overwhelmingly abundant life is now for those taking initiative. We gaze into the infinite realm of potential yet focus only on what remains out of reach still versus claiming all within grasp already. Innovation Alone Doesn’t Elevate Individually Make no mistake, access alone means little without action. Books on the shelf don’t transform until read and applied diligently. Courses mean nothing if never finished. Accountability partners lose their leverage when you stop showing up. As Morpheus reminded... “There is a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path.” Don’t pat yourself on the back simply for discovering life-changing wisdom not utilized. It remains inert potential energy at best. Only through courageous initiation do we embody new standards what expanded possibility now allows for. Step fully through the doorway from old limitations into frontiers before off-limits. Otherwise, we cash our inheritance early for distraction instead of investing and compounding gains. We celebrate progress but don’t individually push progress. Squandering our unprecedented opportunity ultimately just increases disempowerment and entitlement. Until we regress despite external progress lifting most boats. As Viktor Frankl said... “Ultimately man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather realize it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.” The path is paved, and tools are available to actualize your best life. But it demands responsibility. Owning our personal progression versus making excuses. Amor Fati — loving your fate — regardless of where you start. Seizing opportunity despite disadvantage. Forging your capability despite circumstance. Excuses or Action. Constraint or Creation. You choose daily. Mindset Determines Outcomes Over Environment Here’s an uncomfortable truth most deny... Your external conditions don’t determine outcomes nearly as much as initiative, mindset, psychology, and choices. Environment influences but doesn’t override individual responsibility. Regardless of noise that’s not within control, own what is, with extreme prejudice. This is called displacement theory — where we overfactor context and underappreciate personal accountability. Consider two examples that illustrate the immense leverage of mindset over environment: Immigrants frequently outperform their native peers in academics, income, and home ownership. Despite less access to resources, networks, or cultural familiarity when they start over, many immigrants radically thrive through bottom-up hustle. Conversely, lottery winners ending up worse financially years later is a documented phenomenon. Through entitlement without maturity, they squander windfalls despite luck removing obstacles for them. Or another example... Children of wealthy parents earning trust funds underperform self-made peers substantially, despite infinite safety nets allowing risk and failure. They substitute privilege for individual will and work ethic. Yet, those climbing from nothing showcase immense ambition regardless of environmental factors trying to limit belief in potential outcomes. The Championship Mindset In An Era Of Participation Awards Maybe these realities make you uncomfortable. Good. They are. We want to believe factors out of our control determine destinies. It absolves responsibility to take inventory of decisions and habits within influence that drive outcomes. Blaming society, injustice, or circumstance is easier than reflecting on the dicey notion “If I transformed my psychology and made better choices, I could radically change my results.” But let’s pause here. The goal isn’t condemnation over what have been done or guilt for past approaches. “should” The purpose is illumination, so we pivot forward empowered by truth. Awareness spurs change, not judgment. Transform excuses into energy toward your next phase of actualized potential. Forge opportunity by expanding the possibility of what you believe can be done despite constraints trying to convince you otherwise. Musashi called this having a “championship mindset.” Winners in any domain — sports, art, business, spirituality, relationships — build identity narratives that cut through obstacles in their heads first before ever seeing them manifest physically. Mental fortitude precedes external manifestation. Jelly insides show up as weak results regardless of your potential. Champions hold an almost delusional-level conviction in what they can accomplish if they strategically apply themselves over enough time. They embody the identity of excellence, domination, and impact so completely that it etches their physiology. Confidence is their baseline, not an aspirational boost needing external validation. This unstoppable mindset fuels consistent action towards audacious goals despite hurdles or timelines seeming unreasonable to rest. Great ones know external wins start within long before visible to the outside world. Cultivating sheer efficacy and willpower to turn dreams into plans and then plans into progress. They hold themselves to higher standards constantly. Making incremental improvement daily until the plateau of potential reached elevates baseline. Knowing marginal gains compound over time. This mentality separates those who squander natural talents that the rest wish they had...from those with championship vision who maximize every drop of human potential possessed. Who will you become? Identity drives reality. Claim Your Modern Birthright Manifesting potential starts by taking complete ownership of precious opportunity within your grasp right now. Birthright means an inheritance you’re entitled to by birth. Financial security, status, and assets family members pass down. I challenge you to view the situation you were born into more expansively. Your ancestor just two generations ago likely: Performed backbreaking labor from sunrise to sundown Had health issues we resolve easily today Had way less economic opportunity without global mobility and the internet Access to maybe a few books their whole life in rural areas Die by 60 years old from now preventable causes Just since 1990... Automation replaced 50% of tedious and dangerous jobs Healthcare innovation increased life expectancy over a decade The Internet created millions of economic opportunities Education went from privilege of few to accessible for all Extreme global poverty dropped by 50% The point is you won the cosmic lottery simply by being born in this time and place in history. So before complaining about limitations, perhaps compassionately reflect on how much circumstance-defying potential surrounds you here and now... Then courageously claim it. Sacrifice excuses for initiative. Accept abundance over entitlement. Double down on excellence and accountability. Living through these rare times is a modern birthright. But Destiny's true inheritance must be claimed with both hands despite endless distractions tempting complacency. Compounding This Windfall Part of maturity means realizing you don’t deserve anything simply because you exist. Universal energy rewards those taking responsibility. Actualizing your full potential involves stewarding ALL inheritances — money, knowledge, tools, relationships, inspiration — handed down to responsibly create MORE value as you climb the hierarchy of goals. Think back to stories like the Jesus told. A master going on a journey entrusts servants with bags of gold. In return, two invested and compounded the money. But one simply preserved the original inheritance, digging a hole to hide it without attempting to increase it. “Parable of the Talents” The message is clear: To those faithfully stewarding opportunity: “Well done! You have been trustworthy with small things, I will now give you much more.” But to the servant burying their potential: “You wicked and lazy servant! Take the gold from him and give it to the man enterprising increase.” So think back… Who worked diligently starting with little versus who squandered opportunity? Who multiplied gains versus who generated entitlement? Who owned the identity of excellence versus excuses? Compare where you started to possibilities before you now thanks to external progress. Have you compounded personal capability at an equal rate? Or stagnated in complacent entitlement enjoyed as a birthright? Awaken The Modern Pioneer Spirit Beyond holding yourself to higher standards, adopt the heart and spirit of past pioneers who settled frontiers. The pioneer journeys not for glory itself but so their grandchildren may have opportunities they never dreamed of. Sacrifice in the short term to build foundations for the betterment of future generations. Plant trees under whose shade you may never sit. But know they allow the fruits of your labor to be enjoyed for decades beyond your short, fleeting lifespan. This pioneer spirit is precisely what built the privileged conditions we enjoy but take for granted today. We forget the backs broken with labor and risk so we could have comfort and safety to unlock our creativity. Standing on the shoulders of giants, how will we lift the next wave still higher? The Modern Pioneer Rises What frontiers — physical, spiritual, scientific, personal — will you charge courageously into despite unknowns and fears holding most peers paralyzed? How can we hold ourselves to elevated expectations equal to the abundant privileges we inherited? Where can you multiply opportunity before passing the baton to youth who will one day stand exactly where you stand now? Progress depends on pioneers scraping trails where none exist yet. To blaze so others may follow. To settle where most only daydream of. To actualize imaginary places into inhabitable spaces. You now have guides, tools, and abundance allowing manifestation beyond the wildest dreams of ancestors just decades ago. Much gifted to start farther than they ever imagined. But the modern pioneer can’t rest on generational privilege alone. They must charge forward to meet the future. Create so their young may build upon foundations in place. Ignite sparks today so flames illuminate unforeseen horizons tomorrow. The Bravest Act of Our Times Perhaps this whole discussion seems irrelevant. But I assure you, truly embracing even a fraction of the exponential change swirling around us requires courage and foresight seen only at pivotal transitions in human history. Our complacency and distraction are simply conditioned comfort against risking the unknown frontier. Preference for slow deaths of boredom and limitation over daring greatly into undiscovered possibility. But you can’t selectively inherit the privilege of progress without also accepting responsibility to steward this momentum. Enjoying luxury without risking further elevation is not honorable. Progress depends on pioneers in every generation putting their shoulders to the wheel. To push exponential technology, innovation, and thought even higher. Standing on shoulders while lifting still taller. The bravest act in our times is acknowledging frankly the heights we now stand atop... legacy capital accumulated... gifts and knowledge solemnly passed down to us. Then courageously planting flags further. For not even the sky need be the limit anymore. The Summit Still Beckons Perhaps this brings more questions than concrete steps. It would make sense to feel overwhelmed realizing the progress civilization has made. Opportunities now exist beyond anything known for thousands of generations before. You may also feel anxious realizing you haven’t taken full advantage of what currently surrounds you. Instead, you’ve taken for granted the progress and inventions created by past generations who made this moment possible. That’s completely understandable. The first step is to gain perspective - to accurately see where we are thanks to those who came before us. Consider feeling grateful for the progress made by ancestors you now benefit from. Appreciation carries no judgment, only responsibility. We honor past generations by continuing the march of progress. Their innovations enable us; now, we must execute ourselves and pave the way for those to come. If you enjoyed this article, I’d love to hear from you. Email me at scott@scottdclary.com or at me and I’ll do my best to get back to everyone! tweet , @ScottDClary Also published here

We're Living in the Greatest Time in History (Yet Most Squander It)

আমরা ইতিহাসের সর্বশ্রেষ্ঠ সময়ে বাস করছি (তবুও এটি সবচেয়ে বেশি নষ্ট করে)

Wir leben in der großartigsten Zeit der Geschichte (und doch verschwenden die meisten sie)

Estamos viviendo el mejor momento de la historia (aunque la mayoría lo desperdicia)

Nous vivons la plus grande époque de l’histoire (et pourtant, la plupart la gaspillent)

हम इतिहास के सबसे महानतम समय में रह रहे हैं (फिर भी सबसे अधिक इसे बर्बाद कर रहे हैं)

私たちは歴史上最も素晴らしい時代に生きています（しかし、最も多くの人がそれを浪費しています）

우리는 역사상 가장 위대한 시대에 살고 있습니다(그러나 대부분은 그것을 낭비하고 있습니다)

Estamos vivendo o melhor momento da história (ainda que a maioria o desperdice)

Мы живем в величайшее время в истории (однако большинство его растрачивают)

Tarihin En Harika Zamanını Yaşıyoruz (Fakat Çoğu Kişi Bunu İsraf Ediyor)

Chúng ta đang sống trong thời đại vĩ đại nhất trong lịch sử (Tuy nhiên, hầu hết đều lãng phí nó)

我们生活在历史上最伟大的时代（但也是最浪费的时代）

240 Stories To Learn About Startups Of The Year

I recently spoke with Sajjad Rehman, the VP of Revenue at . Sajjad has many years of experience building teams and businesses in Fintech, SoC, B2B SaaS, Gaming, Live Streaming, and now Web3. In our conversation, we discussed Web3’s security challenges, bridging the demand-supply gap for security expertise, and his advice for others building in the space right now. Immunefi Web3 Hello, Sajjad. Thanks for making the time to have this conversation. To start, can you please tell us a bit about yourself? Sure, of course. Thanks for having me. Can’t wait to dive deep into Web3 security, Immunefi, and more. I’m Sajjad Rehman, a design engineer turned venture builder and GTM leader. That’s how I like to see myself after 15+ years of building and managing 50+ teams across multiple industries, functions, and continents. I got an MS degree in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA in Finance from the University of Cambridge. But to be honest, most of what I’ve learned came from working with industry leaders like Amazon, Twitch, Jagex, Unstoppable Domains, and now Immunefi. Joining Immunefi came at the back of some deep personal transformations, though, about which I’ve written on social media. It not only made me a better leader, but also increased my ability to contribute in the way of making Web3—the world’s digital future—more resilient and secure. So, yeah—that’s me. Given your work to make Web3 more secure for projects and end-users, can you shed some light on the current state of the industry? Web3 has a major security challenge to overcome. Let’s face it upfront so we can make choices to solve the issue. There’s no point in sugarcoating this fact. has been lost to 292+ , scams, and frauds in 2023 so far. More than $22.1 million of this amount was in October alone. The figures for September and July are even higher, crossing $340 million and $320 million, respectively. Over $1.4 billion Web3 hacks In October, specifically, 73.7% of the attacks were hacks, while 26.3% were frauds. And almost 100% of these attacks targeted DeFi protocols. Looking into these nuances is very important. They help us see the areas that need focus from a security perspective. It’s the best way for the industry to carve its way forward, as we are already witnessing with the increasing number of projects launching bug bounties and engaging whitehats on Immunefi. Overall, I’d say the focus is steadily shifting towards baking in security from the get-go, unlike the trends we saw during the last DeFi Summer. We’re becoming more sensible, as you’d expect from any industry that’s moving from hype obsession to maturity. Things are great overall, and I’m very bullish. . Now, coming to Immunefi, please tell us about the key problems you’re solving and how. I’d also love to hear about your latest innovation, Vaults Immunefi is positioned as a leading bug bounty platform. From that vantage point, the biggest problem we solve is that of persistent security through a project's lifecycle. That’s fairly obvious. But in my view, what is more important to note is how we approach this mammoth task. On the one hand, you have Web3 projects facing a limbo when it comes to finding security researchers who are in the know of the industry’s trends and also have a vast skill set. The challenge here is that most white hat hackers have a legacy mindset and aren’t 100% efficient in discovering Web3-native threats that are becoming increasingly complex by the day. On the other hand, there are highly skilled Web3-native security researchers who, before Immunefi, didn’t have a dedicated platform to discover projects that would properly value and reward their efforts. They also faced various issues with payment disbursal and reliability, besides the lack of incentives to hunt on emerging projects. So, in all, you can say we’re solving a classic demand-supply matching problem for the Web3 security landscape. And in doing so, we’ve built to improve our value proposition 10/20/30x. It’s basically a smart contract wallet that projects can use to pay security researchers directly without doing it manually for each report or payout. Vaults Vaults will unlock a cutting-edge Proof-of-Funds mechanism, making bug bounties on Immunefi faster, more transparent, and hassle-free. Last but not least, we solve for building white hat communities around new projects. When new projects launch with nuanced tech, they won’t have eyes on code at the outset. This is not an easy problem to solve. It involves not just creating the right incentives but disseminating education the right way to build an informed white hat community around a project’s code that protects it. The launch of our bounty-boosting product is the first step of many in that direction. How can someone check out Vaults if they want to? Also, given your focus on the sales and revenue side of things, how do you see the ecosystem panning out now that we are hopefully recovering from a year-long winter? Setting up your Vault is super easy. Any Ethereum-based project can do it in under 10 minutes. They can simply head over to our and get started. The best part: it’s totally free. sign-up page Okay, now for the revenues, I think the good times are coming back. They never really left, actually. The solid projects, with strong foundations and clear goals, continued to receive support from investors of all kinds, retail and institutional. Of course, there wasn’t all the pomp and show about it, as you’d expect in a bear market. With BTC breaching the $34K mark, the buzz of a bull market is returning. It’s a good sign, overall, since more money will start flowing into the industry and help projects scale their efforts. But to consider things with more nuance, one must realize that the industry has been recovering steadily since the past quarter or so, with the number of daily Unique Active Wallets (dUAWs) in Q3 2023. reaching 2.2 million Moreover, though it’s counterintuitive, a rise in the number of hacks or fraud attempts is actually a sign of a better revenue influx. One mustn’t undermine our adversaries, especially when it comes to seeking out opportunities to make profits. It’s an uncomfortable but necessary truth. So, from now on, if you see a rise in malicious activities in any industry, understand that more money is flowing into that space, which the attackers are chasing. Of course, you’ll do whatever it takes to win the race, which is why platforms like Immunefi and a prolific, driven community of security researchers exist. Before we conclude this discussion, what’s your best advice for projects and teams building in the Web3 space right now? I’d say two things. One, focus on building a strong foundation: robust security, genuine utility, rich UX, etc. These are the aspects that’ll ultimately float your boat, no matter if the markets are up or down. Your customers or community will choose you to get their problems solved. Disappoint them, and they’re gone forever. But even if your token’s price stays low for a few quarters, it can go right back up again. Two, be ready to play the long-term game. It’s not about surfing the short waves alone, even if you make tons of money in the process, especially if your goal is to build a future-proof business capable of making ripples and becoming a pioneer. Web3 is an emerging industry that needs leaders who set examples and build standards. Not inheritors of legacy wealth or influence but real, driven, action-oriented entities. Make sure you fit the bill if you want a chance to succeed and dominate your industry five to ten years down the line. And if you don’t, someone else will—it’s about time.

Setting Standards in Web3 Security: A Discussion with Immunefi’s VP of Revenue, Sajjad Rehman

By its very nature, crypto attracts all walks of life. Participation in the digital economy , and enjoys representation . This makes sense when considering the motivations that lead people to take their value outside of traditional markets. The ongoing uncertainty and lack of accountability for TradFi’s bad actors continue to be sources of anxiety for retail customers. Bitcoin’s genesis block explicit mention of the failures that transpired following the 2008 global financial crisis. From its onset, this skepticism and hope for a system that puts people ahead of privileged insiders was baked into crypto’s source code. registers across age demographics throughout the political spectrum best captures this mood through However, the response from early enthusiasts within the crypto space set a tone that eschewed most aspects of traditional finance, including the scant protections that existed. Unfortunately, such “ ” thinking continues to draw negative attention from regulators while re-establishing an individualist pecking order that remains an albatross for traditional finance. While Satoshi Yakamoto’s preaches “trustless” transactions on a peer-to-peer network, it does not suggest participants should silo themselves in opposition to the broader community (see the BTC genesis block). Rather, allowing a mindset predicated on self-interest to take root risks polluting the inherent potential of crypto’s innovative technology. Like many instances in the real world, emphasis on the individual frequently holds back progress on a systemic level, even in instances where those same individuals stand to gain. A great example, at least in the United States, is education. Wild West white paper In many U.S. communities, within its zone. Along with funding for libraries and parks, these amenities aim to serve everyone and function as pillars of connection within a community. Too often, residents without children (and run-of-the-mill curmudgeons) will raise the argument that, since they experience no direct benefit from these tax-funded institutions, they shouldn’t have to contribute. It’s a somewhat sound argument if you squint because who needs the fire department when your house isn’t actively burning, right? What this umbrage fails to consider is how these investments are injected into the community through a variety of means. a portion of property taxes are allocated to schools back Obstinance to this process from well-off homeowners is inherently a net drain on the surrounding area despite its obvious benefits. Not only are homes situated closer to schools , but desirable (read: well-funded) districts that gallop prices well above market rates. And this is all before addressing the societal benefits that are created, which can have lasting effects on a macro level. typically valued higher can incite bidding wars From a shrewd (read: economic) perspective, schools are job creators and serve as integral nodes that support a community’s potential to deploy a workforce across any number of industries. When properly resourced, schools reciprocate that value by , and prepares subsequent generations for adult life. If your blood pressure is rising, pause and think of a teacher who helped you become the person you are today. Ask yourself: aren’t children more likely to succeed when they’re well-educated supported? , offering a variety of programming that alleviates working parents promotes social engagement for elderly citizens and Now imagine a society where cantankerous taxpayers get their way and retain their wealth without these contributions to the public good. Like us all, they eventually grow old. Nestled in their high-value homes after decades of denying resources to the surrounding blocks, they start to feel the walls closing in. Sure, they’re comfortable. But have trickled up, making it difficult to find local home care that meets their unique needs. This is compounded by a rising lack of agency. At first, just driving at night is tricky. declining graduation rates But soon, the car is safest in park. Homebound, they start to look around their neighborhood for outlets. Available resources that were viewed as plentiful, back when contributing to their longevity felt superfluous, have dried up. And where it was once unconscionable why anyone would go see a high school matinee of , such a social experience suddenly feels like a luxury. Bye Bye Birdie From this commonly accessible vantage point, a two-pronged approach to reorienting the crypto ecosystem emerges: nurture a true sense of community and find points of commonality that rally solidarity among participants. Like the school example above, such a holistic approach could reimagine how networks interact and benefit in the digital economy by abandoning untoward self-interest. If business-as-usual ideology results in regular and in traditional finance (and, let’s be honest, ), why replicate such norms? Why build an analogous system to the one whose colossal failure sparked Satoshi’s monumental breakthrough? calamities fraud crypto too Rather than waiting until the house is on fire or we’re stuck longing for amateur theater, leaders need to think proactively about building solutions that account for crypto’s ultimate dream. Despite effective altruism proving itself to be little more than robber baron alimony for the digital age, . Carnegie at least left libraries behind From equitably sharing the spoils to ceasing black hat trading techniques to rooting out opportunists who see the world as a mark, a new vision must rise from its ashes. This is both a big tent technological vision and a new covenant of values. To find firm global footing, crypto must retreat from gluttonous visions of wealth-at-all-costs if it hopes to survive . compounding regulatory and consumer culls To achieve global adoption, crypto companies need to start conceiving of the ecosystem as a single organism whose success requires collaborative effort and investment. Whether this demands the development of new or better networks, true progress must be measured by our collective will to achieve financial freedom. No longer a zero-sum game, this is an opportunity for the best and brightest to determine which stars are within reach. After watching how the class of Web 2.0 matured and the world they left behind, it's clear that what comes next must truly aim to shift the cultural paradigm.

To Achieve Global Adoption, Crypto Should Remember Its Roots

গ্লোবাল অ্যাডপশন অর্জন করতে, ক্রিপ্টোকে তার শিকড়গুলি মনে রাখা উচিত

Um eine weltweite Akzeptanz zu erreichen, sollte sich Krypto an seine Wurzeln erinnern

Para lograr una adopción global, las criptomonedas deben recordar sus raíces

Pour parvenir à une adoption mondiale, la crypto devrait se souvenir de ses racines

वैश्विक स्वीकृति प्राप्त करने के लिए, क्रिप्टो को अपनी जड़ें याद रखनी चाहिए

世界的な普及を達成するには、暗号通貨はそのルーツを思い出す必要があります

글로벌 채택을 달성하려면 암호화폐는 그 뿌리를 기억해야 합니다

Para alcançar a adoção global, a criptografia deve se lembrar de suas raízes

Чтобы добиться глобального принятия, криптовалюта должна помнить свои корни

Küresel Benimsenmeyi Sağlamak İçin Kripto, Köklerini Hatırlamalı

Để đạt được sự chấp nhận toàn cầu, tiền điện tử nên nhớ về nguồn gốc của nó

为了实现全球采用，加密货币应该记住它的根源

Over the course of a year, I embarked on a project, initially uncertain about its nature and significance. It began with an attempt to solve the Collatz "3x+1" conjecture, a mathematical game involving the transformation of numbers. If a number is odd, you multiply it by 3 and add 1; if even, you divide it by 2. For example, starting with 3: 3 = 3*3+1 = 10 = 5 = 16 = 8 = 4 = 2 = 1, and so on. This sequence forms a loop (4 = 2 = 1) that repeats indefinitely, and similar loops exist for numbers like 7, though my memory of this is somewhat uncertain. The central notion is that mathematics cannot definitively prove whether there exists a number x that perpetually grows towards infinity, given the intricacies of infinity and related concepts. The very idea of infinity can be fragmented into various categories, some tangible and others abstract. While my mathematical knowledge and ability to articulate it are limited, I dedicated most of my time to pondering the philosophical aspects of these problems. After nine months, I have arrived at a conclusion. The connection between my initial project and the thoughts I want to convey is somewhat intricate. In February, when I initiated this project, I was openly proclaiming my interest in psychology. Despite my lack of recent formal studies in psychology, my past knowledge was extensive, especially compared to those I conversed with. While the concepts I discussed were not novel, their historical depth and significance remained intact. With this background, let's delve into a seemingly simple yet deeply controversial notion: "The Earth is flat." On the surface, this idea may appear unsophisticated or even foolish, yet it has persisted through the years. How could such a concept exist in a world of science, mathematics, and quantum physics? The answer lies in philosophy. Our unique ability to create and explore the uncharted realms of imagination by blending bits of information from various sources, incorporating ideas from Euclidean geometry, spherical geometry, and hyperbolic geometry, allows us to engage in profound philosophical contemplation. We can explore new facets of our world by contemplating possibilities such as a reversed universe's geometry. What if we are not at the center of a sphere but positioned outside it, offering a primordial perspective that encompasses all? These musings open doors to understanding how a being could be so powerful in facing a sphere and simultaneously embodying the two opposing aspects. At this juncture, religion could interject, asserting that spheres cannot exist, thereby transforming our existence into something akin to Minecraft (though, of course, I jest). My fascination with these ideas led to numerous conversations with ChatGPT, delving deeply into philosophical discussions. One topic that emerged from these dialogues was the concept of primitive humans, beings capable of consciousness yet hindered by their lack of physical tools for exploration. How did they interpret the nature of reality? One example of such interpretation is the philosophical and esoteric tradition known as Hermeticism, which draws wisdom from ancient texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. Hermeticism encapsulates several core principles: Everything is fundamentally mental, suggesting that the mind is the primary source of reality. The Principle of Mentalism: As above, so below; as below, so above, implying a connection between the universe and individuals. The Principle of Correspondence: Everything is in constant motion, with varying vibration levels corresponding to different forms of energy and matter. The Principle of Vibration: Everything has its opposite, and these dualities create balance. The Principle of Polarity: Everything follows natural cycles, offering insights into harmony with the universe. The Principle of Rhythm: Known as the Law of Karma, this principle highlights personal responsibility for one's actions. The Principle of Cause and Effect: Recognizes gender at all creation levels, suggesting masculine and feminine energies contribute to the creative process. The Principle of Gender: Explores the presence of both masculine and feminine aspects within an individual's mind. The Principle of Mental Gender: These principles can be found in texts like the "Emerald Tablet," attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, and have influenced various esoteric and spiritual traditions, including alchemy, astrology, and the Western magical tradition. This interplay of ancient philosophical concepts and modern science is particularly engaging. Despite my limited scientific knowledge, I ponder ideas that bridge the gap between quantum and Newtonian physics. From a higher vantage point, we might interpret the probabilities and chaos within the subatomic realm. Imagine this chaos as akin to the interactions of cells (and our immune systems particularly), with some perishing while others engage in conflicts. This perspective posits that the universe could be teeming with viruses. Building upon an idea suggesting life on Earth originated from space. Each creature possesses a specific DNA length, with viruses potentially disrupting it to establish replication factories, spreading themselves further. While the existence of extraterrestrial viruses remains uncertain, this line of thought is nonetheless intriguing. The concept of DNA ladders traveling through space, carrying the knowledge of unconsciously combatting viruses, and ultimately regaining their previous level of consciousness to fully understand their bodies, presents a fascinating perspective that bridges the gap between evolutionism and creationism. It suggests a common origin for all Earthly creatures, featuring shared body parts like eyes, ears, and mouths. These may have derived from a central DNA structure that gradually evolved in complexity over time, eventually leading to the development of higher cognitive functions. Cognition, in this context, might be a product of complex interplays within the brain. Such complexity could be intricately tied to a specific DNA length and the information required to guide the body. In a scenario where a virus threatens the existence of intelligent beings on a planet, these beings may decide to replicate segments of their DNA using repetition as a space-saving mechanism. This would ensure the continued existence of their genetic code, even in the face of potential devastation. Through this replication process, they would preserve the repetitive instructions necessary to restore the original guiding principle that initiated their evolutionary journey. Frequently, following the same path results in collapse, emphasizing the importance of not adhering to this path unless one seeks failure. Now, to anchor to reality, repetition serves to maintain space and initiate the cycle of life's evolution and self-development. In this context, these beings are akin to gods, with the struggle between matter and antimatter now manifesting as a conflict between viruses and our internal systems, revealing their underlying similarities. In conclusion, my intention was to capture the attention of individuals interested in contributing to a better future. While the concepts and theories discussed are captivating, tangible progress necessitates a solid grounding in the real world. We must embark on the creation of revolutionary inventions to prepare for an array of potential scenarios, from nanobots capable of predicting diseases to small drones collecting excess sunlight to prevent overheating. The scope of work is vast, requiring collaborative efforts. While some might perceive these ideas as delusional, I'd rather dwell in a world colored by optimism than one marred by war, pain, and suffering. The cognitive revolution occurred approximately 70,000 years ago, marking the inception of ideological conflicts. The advent of agriculture 12,000 years ago led to further conflicts, often unintentional, which took a toll on our species. The scientific revolution, dating back 500 years, has provided us with powerful instruments, including destructive ones. Two hundred years ago, the Industrial Revolution made these tools readily accessible to all. I propose that we pause intermittently, looking beyond our immediate concerns to contemplate the broader picture. What might we discover when we shift our perspective? Will we encounter a reflection of ourselves, or will we encounter something entirely new? My hope is that the next revolution will prioritize the future's well-being.

How Complex is Humanity? Short Answer: Very; Long Answer? Well..

By Aoibhinn Mc Bride Holding your hands up and taking accountability for a mistake is never easy. So, spare a thought for the who are now admitting that hastily issuing return to office (RTO) orders wasn’t their best decision. 80% of business leaders A found that most leaders made their decision around forcing staff back to the office by analyzing keycard monitoring data and by seeing how many times meeting spaces were utilized, rather than by speaking to employees and taking their thoughts around returning to the office five days per week into consideration. new report by Envoy Additional data compiled by Owl Labs for its found that 69% of employees believe companies are insisting on a return to office because of traditional work expectations rather than functional benefits. State of Hybrid Work 2023 report Using employee monitoring data to ensure their staff are coming into the office is nothing new—companies including and have been using employee badge swipes to monitor in-office attendance for over a year—but is counting swipes the best way to make decisions around workplace location? JPMorgan Chase Google While 94% of those who took part in the Owl Labs survey shared that they could be convinced to come back to the office, 56% said their level of work-related stress increased since last year, highlighting that being in the office full-time isn’t serving everyone. Moving Forward So what can you do if your employer is insisting you wave goodbye to your home office for good and return to the office permanently? For starters, if commuting to an office every day is going to leave you worse off financially, you could ask for a pay rise to cover the cost—29% of those Owl Labs spoke to expect a pay increase if forced back to the office. Or perhaps you can speak to your manager about revising its technology so that it facilitates remote work more effectively, meaning you can adopt a hybrid working model instead. Additionally, you could try and negotiate a four-day week where you consolidate your work into four days but your . productivity and output stay the same However, if your employer is refusing to meet you half or even part of the way, one solution is to find a new job in a company that facilitates remote work. If so, the is the perfect place to start your search. HackerNoon Job Board It features thousands of jobs in companies that are actively hiring remote workers, including the three below. Senior Sales Engineer, Coder, Remote Coder is on a mission to build enterprise software that makes software developers’ lives easier and keeps them in flow. We are looking for a who will work with enterprise account executives to qualify, progress, and close revenue opportunities with Fortune 500 customers for Coder’s self-hosted Development Environment Platform. Senior Sales Engineer In this role, you will be a stakeholder in the technical relationship with customers, demonstrate the Coder platform from both the end user (developer) and administrator points of view, and install the Coder platform on various cloud and on-premise Kubernetes and VM infrastructure. . Find out more information here Product Manager, Search Platform Integration, Virtuoso Ltd, Remote Virtuoso is the leading global travel agency network specializing in luxury and experiential travel. The will oversee the integration of the Algolia search platform and play a crucial role in enhancing the search capabilities of the platform, ensuring a seamless and intuitive search experience for travel products, travel advisors, network-specific content, and travel inspiration content for valued travelers. Product Manager, Search Platform Integration As such, you will work closely with technical teams to define data structures, indexing strategies, and search algorithms that optimize search results across various content types. . See the full job description here Salesforce Solutions Architect, Vantage Point Consulting, Remote As a , you will play an integral role in the high satisfaction of Vantage Point's clients through the design and development of scalable, high-quality Salesforce services and solutions. Salesforce Solutions Architect The Solution Architect is responsible for owning the overall design of the technical application and recommending best practice solutions based on client business needs. . View additional details here Find your next job in tech today via the HackerNoon Job Board

Does Your Boss Regret Asking You to Come Back to the Office?

আপনার বস কি আপনাকে অফিসে ফিরে আসতে বলার জন্য অনুতপ্ত?

Bereut Ihr Chef es, Sie gebeten zu haben, ins Büro zurückzukehren?

¿Se arrepiente su jefe de haberle pedido que volviera a la oficina?

Votre patron regrette-t-il de vous avoir demandé de revenir au bureau ?

क्या आपके बॉस को आपको कार्यालय वापस आने के लिए कहने पर पछतावा है?

あなたの上司はあなたにオフィスに戻ってくるよう頼んだことを後悔していますか?

당신의 상사가 당신에게 사무실로 돌아오라고 한 것을 후회합니까?

Seu chefe se arrepende de ter pedido para você voltar ao escritório?

Сожалеет ли ваш начальник, что попросил вас вернуться в офис?

Patronunuz Ofise Geri Dönmenizi İstediğinden Pişman mı Oldu?

Sếp của bạn có hối hận khi mời bạn quay lại văn phòng không?

你的老板后悔让你回到办公室吗？

A Conversation with Ilnar Shafigullin Today, we are privileged to converse with Ilnar Shafigullin, a notable methodology specialist with an expansive expertise in applied mathematics, data science, and AI/ML methodologies and solutions, particularly within the innovative sphere of EdTech platforms. Ilnar, with a substantial 12-year history in university teaching and a deep-seated passion for educational methodologies, has been an influential figure in the field. In recent years, he has been steering the methodological direction at Geekbrains, a preeminent entity in the realm of EdTech in CIS and a luminary in IT education, holding the #1 position in the CIS. With a staggering 70K+ students enrolled in programs spanning 1-3 years and a user base of over 6M+, Geekbrains stands as a monumental presence in the educational technology sector. As its Methodology Director, Ilnar has significantly impacted the educational narrative, notably through his pioneering "Developer" educational product. As we unravel the intricacies of modern educational trajectories, explore the prevailing challenges, and contemplate the anticipated future of learning, let’s embark on this explorative discourse. The past decade has witnessed education metamorphosing in unprecedented ways, transitioning online and further morphing with the advent of generative networks. How do you perceive the contemporary educational market? Could you shed light on the essence of education, its constituents, and its multifaceted forms? Alexander Volchek: To truly grasp the essence of education, we need to appreciate its multifaceted nature, influenced by a myriad of parameters. Education can manifest as online, offline, or a hybrid blend; it can be synchronous or asynchronous; orchestrated for individuals or groups, and so forth. The permutations are vast. For instance, traditional schooling predominantly hinges on offline, synchronous group sessions. Contrast this with online foreign language tutoring, which leans towards an individual, synchronous mode. And mind you, these are just the tip of the iceberg. The myriad combinations underscore the expansive canvas that is "education." Ilnar Shafigullin: It's also pivotal to understand that there isn't a one-size-fits-all formula. The choice of educational approach hinges heavily on the objectives in play, whether from the student's lens, the EdTech entity's perspective, or the educator's vantage point. Zooming into my most recent endeavors over the last few years, I've been deeply entrenched in large-scale, blended synchronous-asynchronous online education tailored for the IT realm. As it stands, programs that I've helmed have tens of thousands of students onboard, with durations spanning from 6 to a staggering 36 months. Let's delve deeper into the vast expanse of large-scale online education. Could you shed light on its intricacies and the prevailing trends in recent times? Alexander Volchek: The landscape is dotted with a myriad of entities, each charting their unique course. Yet, when we distill their essence from a business lens, the overarching ambition for EdTech ventures invariably circles back to maximizing profitability. Navigating this quest, several pivotal educational challenges emerge: Ilnar Shafigullin: Scalable Education: The imperative is not just to cater to the masses but to ensure scalability without diluting educational quality. Cost Efficiency: Every student's operational expenditure needs to be streamlined to the bare minimum. High Completion and Referral Rates: The gold standard is not just student retention but ensuring they realize their set educational aspirations. The ripple effect? A satisfied student body that becomes ambassadors of your product. The market's diverse players adopt varied strategies to tackle these challenges. A popular approach hinges on asynchronous, online, and solo learning paradigms. Here, the learning ecosystem orbits around students autonomously navigating pre-curated materials and undertaking assignments. These tasks either undergo automated assessments or are vetted by educators. Whether it's text-based content or video lectures, this model stands out in scalability and cost-effectiveness. However, this model grapples with the challenge of ensuring tangible educational outcomes. Given the absence of real-time interactions with educators or peers, the onus of success squarely rests on the student's shoulders. Their intrinsic motivation and tenacity become the linchpins of their educational journey. My professional odyssey resonated with an establishment that championed synchronous, online, group-centric learning. Here, each session transforms into a virtual conclave of students and a subject maestro, unraveling new topics and collaboratively tackling tasks. The allure of this model lies in its heightened student engagement, fostered by collective learning and immediate access to experts. But it's not without its challenges, especially when scaling becomes the ambition. For context, teaching a cohort of 50 students might necessitate one expert. But scaling this to 5,000 students implies rallying an army of 100 experts, each mirroring the same expertise level. The inevitable fallout? Skyrocketing operational costs. Fascinating insights. Confronted with such intricate challenges, how did you navigate this maze to ensure scalability without compromising quality? Interviewer: It's a multifaceted conundrum, no doubt. Our leadership was unequivocal in its vision: preserve the essence of synchronous education while championing scalability and fostering operational frugality. And as the numbers suggest, with over 30,000 students engaged with our product, we've indeed hit our stride. Ilnar Shafigullin: To unpack this, it's pivotal to demystify the learning process. What does it encapsulate? Fundamentally, it's about imparting a chunk of theoretical knowledge to students and subsequently ensuring they not only grasp it but can pragmatically apply it. If there's a disconnect, the onus is on us to bridge that gap. In an undiluted synchronous paradigm, both these facets resist effortless scalability. Especially the preliminary phase, the dissemination of theoretical knowledge, is a veritable minefield. Hypothetically, let's say our arsenal comprises 100 experts tasked with enlightening our students. The expectation is uniformity - each educator should exude consistent expertise, radiate enthusiasm, and be adept at student interactions. Each of these sessions carries a price tag, and an expert's caliber directly inflates the cost. Yet, stripped to its core, they're essentially echoing the same content. The logical pivot? Transitioning such sessions into the asynchronous realm. Imagine harnessing the prowess of a singular, top-tier expert, recording it in a state-of-the-art studio. Every student would then access this meticulously crafted lecture, potentially reaping more value than from a live session helmed by a mid-tier expert. The ensuing challenge, ensuring the assimilation and application of imparted knowledge, still merits synchronous engagement. But with a twist. We could curate a blueprint for these sessions, laden with well-defined tasks, probing questions, and a roadmap for student interactions. Supplement this with exhaustive solutions and preemptive answers, and even a novice instructor can steer the session to success. This recalibration not only mitigates our dependence on high-caliber experts but also catapults our product's scalability and, importantly, accentuates the educational experience. Still, this is but a glimpse into the myriad adjustments essential to uphold the sanctity of synchronous education. Indeed, the details you've shared are eye-opening. Can you shed light on any other intricacies associated with synchronous education? Interviewer: Certainly. When you cast your gaze upon the titans of the industry—entities that don't confine themselves to niche domains but endeavor to enlighten students across an expansive spectrum of disciplines—a glaring challenge presents itself: maintaining the gold standard of educational content and orchestrating the formation of cohorts. Given our commitment to synchronous learning, operational overheads associated with conducting classes are significant. Consequently, the initiation of any teaching cohort mandates a specific student count to ensure financial viability. Ilnar Shafigullin: Both these challenges find their solution in a radical reshaping of learning trajectories. I've pioneered a tree-structured learning framework within our entity. This strategy emphasizes front-loading the foundational components of the learning journey—those segments that demand infrequent updates. The more volatile, frequently updated segments are positioned towards the trajectory's culmination. This stratagem enabled us to unify certain segments of diverse learning pathways. All students embark on a unified journey for the initial two months. Subsequently, a career alignment phase bifurcates them into specialized paths, and another seven months down the line, they diverge based on their chosen tech stacks. This approach not only optimized our unit economics in an unprecedented manner but also guaranteed that our student cohorts reached a critical mass, facilitating bi-monthly commencement of courses. In essence, we've managed to retain the essence of synchronous learning, scale it to accommodate tens of thousands, and sculpt an unparalleled economic model for our segment. This has been vividly demonstrated through the Developer program, a project I've passionately been building for the past 2 years, where all these methodologies and principles have not only been implemented but have also proven their efficacy and impact in real-world educational contexts. That's truly commendable! Casting your gaze forward, how do you envision the trajectory of education and the EdTech landscape, especially with the dawn of transformative technologies like generative networks? Interviewer: Generative networks are potent catalysts poised to supercharge the educational realm. Traditional education invariably grapples with the constraints of human bandwidth— the responsiveness of an expert, the turnaround time for assignment evaluations, or elucidations of intricate lecture points. And let's not forget, experts come with a premium. Generative networks, in this context, can potentially revolutionize the triad of challenges I previously outlined: scalability, operational expenditure, and realizing educational outcomes. Ilnar Shafigullin: While integrating these nascent technologies does pose certain challenges, primarily due to their novelty and the limited fraternity with access to such tech, the trajectory is clear. Generative networks are poised to make their indelible mark on the educational tapestry. Virtually every facet of the learning ecosystem stands to gain from these networks, signaling an exhilarating future. A heartfelt thank you to Ilnar for sharing such a comprehensive and enlightening narrative about contemporary IT education. It's truly been an insightful journey into understanding the intricate, multifaceted nature of the educational process. If any of our readers are contemplating venturing into the education sector, it's crucial to recognize and appreciate its multifaceted nature. Ilnar has gracefully unfolded just a glimpse of a few parameters, illustrating an immensely varied approach towards learning and educational methodologies, and there is certainly a profound depth to explore further in this narrative. Moreover, the emphasis on integrating AI into educational practices is not to be dismissed as mere trend-following; it's a tangible leap towards the future. The imminent years are poised to witness transformative shifts in education, significantly shaped by the introduction and integration of generative networks. It's a field ripe for exploration, experimentation, and practical application of these networks. Thus, delve, explore, and experiment with generative networks as they undeniably play a pivotal role in scripting the future trajectory of education. Your journey into understanding and perhaps shaping the future of education starts with recognizing these emerging, transformative trends.

Navigating the Future of EdTech: Synchronous Learning and the Power of Generative Networks 

THE ADJUSTER

198 Stories To Learn About Founder Stories

Exploring Developer Experience on ZKRUs: An In-Depth Analysis

Spinning Silk: Embracing the Chaos of Web3 🕷

স্পিনিং সিল্ক: Web3 এর বিশৃঙ্খলাকে আলিঙ্গন করা 🕷

Seide spinnen: Das Chaos von Web3 umarmen 🕷

Spinning Silk: Abrazando el caos de Web3 🕷

Filage de la soie : embrasser le chaos du Web3 🕷

कताई रेशम: Web3 🕷 की अराजकता को गले लगाते हुए

Spinning Silk: Web3 の混沌を受け入れる 🕷

Spinning Silk: Web3의 혼돈 수용 🕷

Spinning Silk: abraçando o caos da Web3 🕷

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Opportunities in Engineering by Charles M. Horton is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . THE CONSULTING ENGINEER THE CONSULTING ENGINEER The consulting engineer represents the pinnacle, as it were, of professional success. The inventor is something else—a wilding in the profession—and as such cannot be considered in a paper of this kind, save only as to say that he is the presiding genius among engineers, the Shakespeare or Milton among his kind, a man whose path to the heights is nowhere known of men. The consulting engineer, on the contrary, representing, as he does, the zenith of slowly attained power in some certain branch of engineering, a vantage—point open freely to all, is the embodiment of the goal toward which all graduates should strive. The consulting engineer has perfected himself in his chosen field; he has become an authority in his branch of engineering; his word is accepted as final in court and privy council. Having gained to this enviable position only after prolonged study and protracted and wide experience in his particular specialty, the consulting engineer has well earned whatever accrues to him in the way, among other things, of generous fees for his services. 49 Still, there are consulting engineers who have become so through accident. The writer personally knows a consulting engineer who was following a general engineering practice when called upon one day to advise a group of capitalists in the matter of a garbage-disposal plant of new design for a large mid-Western city. His services were sought not because he was a garbage expert, but rather because he was expert in intricate pipe layouts and the like. However, once he got his hand into garbage disposition on a large scale, he remained in this branch of engineering, eventually traveling about the country supervising the design of similar plants whose object was the economical disposal of municipal refuse. Practically alone in the field, his writings soon became accepted as authoritative, and yet the whole thing began with that first call, quite by chance, in a matter foreign to the subject. Like other professional men, engineers never know when the heavens will open for their particular benefit. Yet these cases are rare. The average consulting engineer is a man who has won to pre-eminence only through protracted study and hard work in one line. He is a specialist with a high reputation for accuracy and skill in that line. The basis of this skill, of course, lies in a broad general engineering experience, upon which is built a peculiar knowledge of a certain, and not infrequently isolated, branch of engineering. Heating and ventilating engineers are but specialists grown to such large numbers as to form a definite branch of engineering. Likewise, automotive engineers are men who have specialized through long years in this branch. The man who knows more about building dredges, say, than any other man among his engineering brothers is a man who will be most frequently sought by industrial powers feeling the need for a dredge, just as a man suffering eye-strain will seek out the best specialist known to the medical fraternity. He goes to the one acknowledged authority in this line, and in doing so but follows a sane inner dictation. 50 And that is consulting work. The individual of money who would launch into manufacturing, knowing nothing of manufacturing, will, after deciding as to which branch of manufacturing he wishes to follow, enlist the services of a consulting engineer big by reputation in this branch. The capitalist may wish to enter the paper-manufacturing field. Straightway he will put himself in touch with a consulting engineer whose specialty is paper-manufacturing plants, and, having informed this man as to the amount of money he is willing to spend on the venture, together with the location where he wishes, within certain prescribed limitations, to have his plant stand, may withdraw from the thing, if he choose, until the plant is built and in operation. The consulting engineer has done the rest. He has gone out upon location, seeking sites with an eye to economy both of power and transportation; he has supervised the design of the plant and the location in the plant of the necessary machinery; has enlisted the service of a builder whose task it is to follow these plans from foundation to roof in the work of actual construction. For this work the consulting engineer receives a fee, usually based upon a percentage of the cost, and then turns to other clients—waiting in his outer office—who would enlist his services in a similar capacity. 51 The consulting engineer has other sources of revenue. Like the lawyer, he is frequently retained by traction and lighting interests to guard the rights of these interests, service for which he receives payment by the year. His testimony is valued in matters of litigation, sometimes patent infringements, sometimes municipal warfare between corporations, but always of a highly specialized nature. He is an authority, and when I have said that I have said all. His retainer fees are large; his work is exact; he is a man looked up to by those in the profession following a general practice. He has his office, and retains a staff of engineers, usually young engineers just out of college, who, like himself at one time, are on their way upward in the game. He is rarely a young man; generally is a man of wide reading; is a man respected in his community not for what he knows as an engineer, but for the standard of living which he is able to set by virtue of his income. Besides the sources of revenue which are his, and as I have set forth above, he is sought by technical editors to contribute to magazines powerful in his field, and this is a pleasurable source of income to any man in any walk of life. The consulting engineer is a man to be admired and emulated by all engineering students. 52 As to the time in life when an engineer feels qualified to enter upon consulting work, that is something which must come to him from within. Usually the engineer knows that he has become a factor in his chosen branch or specialty when he finds himself becoming more and more sought in an advisory capacity among his fellows. He can judge that he has become an authority in his work by the simple process of comparing himself and his work with others and the work of these others in the field. If he finds that he is designing a better plant or automatic machine, or more economically operated mine or more serviceable lighting station than his neighbor, and, together with this knowledge, perceives also that capitalists are beating a deeper path to his door than to the doors of his competitors—to warp an Emersonian phrase—then the handwriting on the wall should be clear to him—to quote the Bible. Having sufficient capital to carry him through a year or two of personal venturing in the consulting field, he will open an office and insert his professional card in the journals in his field—and fly to it. If he be a man of righteous parts, he will succeed as a consulting engineer—and can go no higher in the profession. 53 The game is certainly worth the candle. 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. Charles M. Horton (2008). Opportunities in Engineering. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/24681/pg24681-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 CONSULTING ENGINEER

Pellucidar by Edgar Rice Burroughs, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . CAPTIVE CAPTIVE When Goork and his people saw that I had no token they commenced to taunt me. "You do not come from Kolk, but from the Sly One!" they cried. "He has sent you from the island to spy upon us. Go away, or we will set upon you and kill you." I explained that all my belongings had been stolen from me, and that the robber must have taken the token too; but they didn't believe me. As proof that I was one of Hooja's people, they pointed to my weapons, which they said were ornamented like those of the island clan. Further, they said that no good man went in company with a jalok—and that by this line of reasoning I certainly was a bad man. I saw that they were not naturally a war-like tribe, for they preferred that I leave in peace rather than force them to attack me, whereas the Sarians would have killed a suspicious stranger first and inquired into his purposes later. I think Raja sensed their antagonism, for he kept tugging at his leash and growling ominously. They were a bit in awe of him, and kept at a safe distance. It was evident that they could not comprehend why it was that this savage brute did not turn upon me and rend me. I wasted a long time there trying to persuade Goork to accept me at my own valuation, but he was too canny. The best he would do was to give us food, which he did, and direct me as to the safest portion of the island upon which to attempt a landing, though even as he told me I am sure that he thought my request for information but a blind to deceive him as to my true knowledge of the insular stronghold. At last I turned away from them—rather disheartened, for I had hoped to be able to enlist a considerable force of them in an attempt to rush Hooja's horde and rescue Dian. Back along the beach toward the hidden canoe we made our way. By the time we came to the cairn I was dog-tired. Throwing myself upon the sand I soon slept, and with Raja stretched out beside me I felt a far greater security than I had enjoyed for a long time. I awoke much refreshed to find Raja's eyes glued upon me. The moment I opened mine he rose, stretched himself, and without a backward glance plunged into the jungle. For several minutes I could hear him crashing through the brush. Then all was silent. I wondered if he had left me to return to his fierce pack. A feeling of loneliness overwhelmed me. With a sigh I turned to the work of dragging the canoe down to the sea. As I entered the jungle where the dugout lay a hare darted from beneath the boat's side, and a well-aimed cast of my javelin brought it down. I was hungry—I had not realized it before—so I sat upon the edge of the canoe and devoured my repast. The last remnants gone, I again busied myself with preparations for my expedition to the island. I did not know for certain that Dian was there; but I surmised as much. Nor could I guess what obstacles might confront me in an effort to rescue her. For a time I loitered about after I had the canoe at the water's edge, hoping against hope that Raja would return; but he did not, so I shoved the awkward craft through the surf and leaped into it. I was still a little downcast by the desertion of my new-found friend, though I tried to assure myself that it was nothing but what I might have expected. The savage brute had served me well in the short time that we had been together, and had repaid his debt of gratitude to me, since he had saved my life, or at least my liberty, no less certainly than I had saved his life when he was injured and drowning. The trip across the water to the island was uneventful. I was mighty glad to be in the sunshine again when I passed out of the shadow of the dead world about half-way between the mainland and the island. The hot rays of the noonday sun did a great deal toward raising my spirits, and dispelling the mental gloom in which I had been shrouded almost continually since entering the Land of Awful Shadow. There is nothing more dispiriting to me than absence of sunshine. I had paddled to the southwestern point, which Goork said he believed to be the least frequented portion of the island, as he had never seen boats put off from there. I found a shallow reef running far out into the sea and rather precipitous cliffs running almost to the surf. It was a nasty place to land, and I realized now why it was not used by the natives; but at last I managed, after a good wetting, to beach my canoe and scale the cliffs. The country beyond them appeared more open and park-like than I had anticipated, since from the mainland the entire coast that is visible seems densely clothed with tropical jungle. This jungle, as I could see from the vantage-point of the cliff-top, formed but a relatively narrow strip between the sea and the more open forest and meadow of the interior. Farther back there was a range of low but apparently very rocky hills, and here and there all about were visible flat-topped masses of rock—small mountains, in fact—which reminded me of pictures I had seen of landscapes in New Mexico. Altogether, the country was very much broken and very beautiful. From where I stood I counted no less than a dozen streams winding down from among the table-buttes and emptying into a pretty river which flowed away in a northeasterly direction toward the op-posite end of the island. As I let my eyes roam over the scene I suddenly became aware of figures moving upon the flat top of a far-distant butte. Whether they were beast or human, though, I could not make out; but at least they were alive, so I determined to prosecute my search for Hooja's stronghold in the general direction of this butte. To descend to the valley required no great effort. As I swung along through the lush grass and the fragrant flowers, my cudgel swinging in my hand and my javelin looped across my shoulders with its aurochs-hide strap, I felt equal to any emergency, ready for any danger. I had covered quite a little distance, and I was passing through a strip of wood which lay at the foot of one of the flat-topped hills, when I became conscious of the sensation of being watched. My life within Pellucidar has rather quickened my senses of sight, hearing, and smell, and, too, certain primitive intuitive or instinctive qualities that seem blunted in civilized man. But, though I was positive that eyes were upon me, I could see no sign of any living thing within the wood other than the many, gay-plumaged birds and little monkeys which filled the trees with life, color, and action. To you it may seem that my conviction was the result of an overwrought imagination, or to the actual reality of the prying eyes of the little monkeys or the curious ones of the birds; but there is a difference which I cannot explain between the sensation of casual observation and studied espionage. A sheep might gaze at you without transmitting a warning through your subjective mind, because you are in no danger from a sheep. But let a tiger gaze fixedly at you from ambush, and unless your primitive instincts are completely calloused you will presently commence to glance furtively about and be filled with vague, unreasoning terror. Thus was it with me then. I grasped my cudgel more firmly and unslung my javelin, carrying it in my left hand. I peered to left and right, but I saw nothing. Then, all quite suddenly, there fell about my neck and shoulders, around my arms and body, a number of pliant fiber ropes. In a jiffy I was trussed up as neatly as you might wish. One of the nooses dropped to my ankles and was jerked up with a suddenness that brought me to my face upon the ground. Then something heavy and hairy sprang upon my back. I fought to draw my knife, but hairy hands grasped my wrists and, dragging them behind my back, bound them securely. Next my feet were bound. Then I was turned over upon my back to look up into the faces of my captors. And what faces! Imagine if you can a cross between a sheep and a gorilla, and you will have some conception of the physiognomy of the creature that bent close above me, and of those of the half-dozen others that clustered about. There was the facial length and great eyes of the sheep, and the bull-neck and hideous fangs of the gorilla. The bodies and limbs were both man and gorilla-like. As they bent over me they conversed in a mono-syllabic tongue that was perfectly intelligible to me. It was something of a simplified language that had no need for aught but nouns and verbs, but such words as it included were the same as those of the human beings of Pellucidar. It was amplified by many gestures which filled in the speech-gaps. I asked them what they intended doing with me; but, like our own North American Indians when questioned by a white man, they pretended not to understand me. One of them swung me to his shoulder as lightly as if I had been a shoat. He was a huge creature, as were his fellows, standing fully seven feet upon his short legs and weighing considerably more than a quarter of a ton. Two went ahead of my bearer and three behind. In this order we cut to the right through the forest to the foot of the hill where precipitous cliffs appeared to bar our farther progress in this direction. But my escort never paused. Like ants upon a wall, they scaled that seemingly unscalable barrier, clinging, Heaven knows how, to its ragged perpendicular face. During most of the short journey to the summit I must admit that my hair stood on end. Presently, however, we topped the thing and stood upon the level mesa which crowned it. Immediately from all about, out of burrows and rough, rocky lairs, poured a perfect torrent of beasts similar to my captors. They clustered about, jabbering at my guards and attempting to get their hands upon me, whether from curiosity or a desire to do me bodily harm I did not know, since my escort with bared fangs and heavy blows kept them off. Across the mesa we went, to stop at last before a large pile of rocks in which an opening appeared. Here my guards set me upon my feet and called out a word which sounded like "Gr-gr-gr!" and which I later learned was the name of their king. Presently there emerged from the cavernous depths of the lair a monstrous creature, scarred from a hundred battles, almost hairless and with an empty socket where one eye had been. The other eye, sheeplike in its mildness, gave the most startling appearance to the beast, which but for that single timid orb was the most fearsome thing that one could imagine. I had encountered the black, hairless, long-tailed ape—things of the mainland—the creatures which Perry thought might constitute the link between the higher orders of apes and man—but these brute-men of Gr-gr-gr seemed to set that theory back to zero, for there was less similarity between the black ape-men and these creatures than there was between the latter and man, while both had many human attributes, some of which were better developed in one species and some in the other. The black apes were hairless and built thatched huts in their arboreal retreats; they kept domesticated dogs and ruminants, in which respect they were farther advanced than the human beings of Pellucidar; but they appeared to have only a meager language, and sported long, apelike tails. On the other hand, Gr-gr-gr's people were, for the most part, quite hairy, but they were tailless and had a language similar to that of the human race of Pellucidar; nor were they arboreal. Their skins, where skin showed, were white. From the foregoing facts and others that I have noted during my long life within Pellucidar, which is now passing through an age analogous to some pre-glacial age of the outer crust, I am constrained to the belief that evolution is not so much a gradual transition from one form to another as it is an accident of breeding, either by crossing or the hazards of birth. In other words, it is my belief that the first man was a freak of nature—nor would one have to draw overstrongly upon his credulity to be convinced that Gr-gr-gr and his tribe were also freaks. The great man-brute seated himself upon a flat rock—his throne, I imagine—just before the entrance to his lair. With elbows on knees and chin in palms he regarded me intently through his lone sheep-eye while one of my captors told of my taking. When all had been related Gr-gr-gr questioned me. I shall not attempt to quote these people in their own abbreviated tongue—you would have even greater difficulty in interpreting them than did I. Instead, I shall put the words into their mouths which will carry to you the ideas which they intended to convey. "You are an enemy," was Gr-gr-gr's initial declaration. "You belong to the tribe of Hooja." Ah! So they knew Hooja and he was their enemy! Good! "I am an enemy of Hooja," I replied. "He has stolen my mate and I have come here to take her away from him and punish Hooja." "How could you do that alone?" "I do not know," I answered, "but I should have tried had you not captured me. What do you intend to do with me?" "You shall work for us." "You will not kill me?" I asked. "We do not kill except in self-defense," he replied; "self-defense and punishment. Those who would kill us and those who do wrong we kill. If we knew you were one of Hooja's people we might kill you, for all Hooja's people are bad people; but you say you are an enemy of Hooja. You may not speak the truth, but until we learn that you have lied we shall not kill you. You shall work." "If you hate Hooja," I suggested, "why not let me, who hate him, too, go and punish him?" For some time Gr-gr-gr sat in thought. Then he raised his head and addressed my guard. "Take him to his work," he ordered. His tone was final. As if to emphasize it he turned and entered his burrow. My guard conducted me farther into the mesa, where we came presently to a tiny depression or valley, at one end of which gushed a warm spring. The view that opened before me was the most surprising that I have ever seen. In the hollow, which must have covered several hundred acres, were numerous fields of growing things, and working all about with crude implements or with no implements at all other than their bare hands were many of the brute-men engaged in the first agriculture that I had seen within Pellucidar. They put me to work cultivating in a patch of melons. I never was a farmer nor particularly keen for this sort of work, and I am free to confess that time never had dragged so heavily as it did during the hour or the year I spent there at that work. How long it really was I do not know, of course; but it was all too long. The creatures that worked about me were quite simple and friendly. One of them proved to be a son of Gr-gr-gr. He had broken some minor tribal law, and was working out his sentence in the fields. He told me that his tribe had lived upon this hilltop always, and that there were other tribes like them dwelling upon other hilltops. They had no wars and had always lived in peace and harmony, menaced only by the larger carnivora of the island, until my kind had come under a creature called Hooja, and attacked and killed them when they chanced to descend from their natural fortresses to visit their fellows upon other lofty mesas. Now they were afraid; but some day they would go in a body and fall upon Hooja and his people and slay them all. I explained to him that I was Hooja's enemy, and asked, when they were ready to go, that I be allowed to go with them, or, better still, that they let me go ahead and learn all that I could about the village where Hooja dwelt so that they might attack it with the best chance of success. Gr-gr-gr's son seemed much impressed by my suggestion. He said that when he was through in the fields he would speak to his father about the matter. Some time after this Gr-gr-gr came through the fields where we were, and his son spoke to him upon the subject, but the old gentleman was evidently in anything but a good humor, for he cuffed the youngster and, turning upon me, informed me that he was convinced that I had lied to him, and that I was one of Hooja's people. "Wherefore," he concluded, "we shall slay you as soon as the melons are cultivated. Hasten, therefore." And hasten I did. I hastened to cultivate the weeds which grew among the melon-vines. Where there had been one sickly weed before, I nourished two healthy ones. When I found a particularly promising variety of weed growing elsewhere than among my melons, I forthwith dug it up and transplanted it among my charges. My masters did not seem to realize my perfidy. They saw me always laboring diligently in the melon-patch, and as time enters not into the reckoning of Pellucidarians—even of human beings and much less of brutes and half brutes—I might have lived on indefinitely through this subterfuge had not that occurred which took me out of the melon-patch for good and all. 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 (1996). Pellucidar. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/605/pg605-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.

CAPTIVE

A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . A FAIR CAPTIVE FROM THE SKY A FAIR CAPTIVE FROM THE SKY The third day after the incubator ceremony we set forth toward home, but scarcely had the head of the procession debouched into the open ground before the city than orders were given for an immediate and hasty return. As though trained for years in this particular evolution, the green Martians melted like mist into the spacious doorways of the nearby buildings, until, in less than three minutes, the entire cavalcade of chariots, mastodons and mounted warriors was nowhere to be seen. Sola and I had entered a building upon the front of the city, in fact, the same one in which I had had my encounter with the apes, and, wishing to see what had caused the sudden retreat, I mounted to an upper floor and peered from the window out over the valley and the hills beyond; and there I saw the cause of their sudden scurrying to cover. A huge craft, long, low, and gray-painted, swung slowly over the crest of the nearest hill. Following it came another, and another, and another, until twenty of them, swinging low above the ground, sailed slowly and majestically toward us. Each carried a strange banner swung from stem to stern above the upper works, and upon the prow of each was painted some odd device that gleamed in the sunlight and showed plainly even at the distance at which we were from the vessels. I could see figures crowding the forward decks and upper works of the air craft. Whether they had discovered us or simply were looking at the deserted city I could not say, but in any event they received a rude reception, for suddenly and without warning the green Martian warriors fired a terrific volley from the windows of the buildings facing the little valley across which the great ships were so peacefully advancing. Instantly the scene changed as by magic; the foremost vessel swung broadside toward us, and bringing her guns into play returned our fire, at the same time moving parallel to our front for a short distance and then turning back with the evident intention of completing a great circle which would bring her up to position once more opposite our firing line; the other vessels followed in her wake, each one opening upon us as she swung into position. Our own fire never diminished, and I doubt if twenty-five per cent of our shots went wild. It had never been given me to see such deadly accuracy of aim, and it seemed as though a little figure on one of the craft dropped at the explosion of each bullet, while the banners and upper works dissolved in spurts of flame as the irresistible projectiles of our warriors mowed through them. The fire from the vessels was most ineffectual, owing, as I afterward learned, to the unexpected suddenness of the first volley, which caught the ship’s crews entirely unprepared and the sighting apparatus of the guns unprotected from the deadly aim of our warriors. It seems that each green warrior has certain objective points for his fire under relatively identical circumstances of warfare. For example, a proportion of them, always the best marksmen, direct their fire entirely upon the wireless finding and sighting apparatus of the big guns of an attacking naval force; another detail attends to the smaller guns in the same way; others pick off the gunners; still others the officers; while certain other quotas concentrate their attention upon the other members of the crew, upon the upper works, and upon the steering gear and propellers. Twenty minutes after the first volley the great fleet swung trailing off in the direction from which it had first appeared. Several of the craft were limping perceptibly, and seemed but barely under the control of their depleted crews. Their fire had ceased entirely and all their energies seemed focused upon escape. Our warriors then rushed up to the roofs of the buildings which we occupied and followed the retreating armada with a continuous fusillade of deadly fire. One by one, however, the ships managed to dip below the crests of the outlying hills until only one barely moving craft was in sight. This had received the brunt of our fire and seemed to be entirely unmanned, as not a moving figure was visible upon her decks. Slowly she swung from her course, circling back toward us in an erratic and pitiful manner. Instantly the warriors ceased firing, for it was quite apparent that the vessel was entirely helpless, and, far from being in a position to inflict harm upon us, she could not even control herself sufficiently to escape. As she neared the city the warriors rushed out upon the plain to meet her, but it was evident that she still was too high for them to hope to reach her decks. From my vantage point in the window I could see the bodies of her crew strewn about, although I could not make out what manner of creatures they might be. Not a sign of life was manifest upon her as she drifted slowly with the light breeze in a southeasterly direction. She was drifting some fifty feet above the ground, followed by all but some hundred of the warriors who had been ordered back to the roofs to cover the possibility of a return of the fleet, or of reinforcements. It soon became evident that she would strike the face of the buildings about a mile south of our position, and as I watched the progress of the chase I saw a number of warriors gallop ahead, dismount and enter the building she seemed destined to touch. As the craft neared the building, and just before she struck, the Martian warriors swarmed upon her from the windows, and with their great spears eased the shock of the collision, and in a few moments they had thrown out grappling hooks and the big boat was being hauled to ground by their fellows below. After making her fast, they swarmed the sides and searched the vessel from stem to stern. I could see them examining the dead sailors, evidently for signs of life, and presently a party of them appeared from below dragging a little figure among them. The creature was considerably less than half as tall as the green Martian warriors, and from my balcony I could see that it walked erect upon two legs and surmised that it was some new and strange Martian monstrosity with which I had not as yet become acquainted. They removed their prisoner to the ground and then commenced a systematic rifling of the vessel. This operation required several hours, during which time a number of the chariots were requisitioned to transport the loot, which consisted in arms, ammunition, silks, furs, jewels, strangely carved stone vessels, and a quantity of solid foods and liquids, including many casks of water, the first I had seen since my advent upon Mars. After the last load had been removed the warriors made lines fast to the craft and towed her far out into the valley in a southwesterly direction. A few of them then boarded her and were busily engaged in what appeared, from my distant position, as the emptying of the contents of various carboys upon the dead bodies of the sailors and over the decks and works of the vessel. This operation concluded, they hastily clambered over her sides, sliding down the guy ropes to the ground. The last warrior to leave the deck turned and threw something back upon the vessel, waiting an instant to note the outcome of his act. As a faint spurt of flame rose from the point where the missile struck he swung over the side and was quickly upon the ground. Scarcely had he alighted than the guy ropes were simultaneously released, and the great warship, lightened by the removal of the loot, soared majestically into the air, her decks and upper works a mass of roaring flames. Slowly she drifted to the southeast, rising higher and higher as the flames ate away her wooden parts and diminished the weight upon her. Ascending to the roof of the building I watched her for hours, until finally she was lost in the dim vistas of the distance. The sight was awe-inspiring in the extreme as one contemplated this mighty floating funeral pyre, drifting unguided and unmanned through the lonely wastes of the Martian heavens; a derelict of death and destruction, typifying the life story of these strange and ferocious creatures into whose unfriendly hands fate had carried it. Much depressed, and, to me, unaccountably so, I slowly descended to the street. The scene I had witnessed seemed to mark the defeat and annihilation of the forces of a kindred people, rather than the routing by our green warriors of a horde of similar, though unfriendly, creatures. I could not fathom the seeming hallucination, nor could I free myself from it; but somewhere in the innermost recesses of my soul I felt a strange yearning toward these unknown foemen, and a mighty hope surged through me that the fleet would return and demand a reckoning from the green warriors who had so ruthlessly and wantonly attacked it. Close at my heel, in his now accustomed place, followed Woola, the hound, and as I emerged upon the street Sola rushed up to me as though I had been the object of some search on her part. The cavalcade was returning to the plaza, the homeward march having been given up for that day; nor, in fact, was it recommenced for more than a week, owing to the fear of a return attack by the air craft. Lorquas Ptomel was too astute an old warrior to be caught upon the open plains with a caravan of chariots and children, and so we remained at the deserted city until the danger seemed passed. As Sola and I entered the plaza a sight met my eyes which filled my whole being with a great surge of mingled hope, fear, exultation, and depression, and yet most dominant was a subtle sense of relief and happiness; for just as we neared the throng of Martians I caught a glimpse of the prisoner from the battle craft who was being roughly dragged into a nearby building by a couple of green Martian females. And the sight which met my eyes was that of a slender, girlish figure, similar in every detail to the earthly women of my past life. She did not see me at first, but just as she was disappearing through the portal of the building which was to be her prison she turned, and her eyes met mine. Her face was oval and beautiful in the extreme, her every feature was finely chiseled and exquisite, her eyes large and lustrous and her head surmounted by a mass of coal black, waving hair, caught loosely into a strange yet becoming coiffure. Her skin was of a light reddish copper color, against which the crimson glow of her cheeks and the ruby of her beautifully molded lips shone with a strangely enhancing effect. She was as destitute of clothes as the green Martians who accompanied her; indeed, save for her highly wrought ornaments she was entirely naked, nor could any apparel have enhanced the beauty of her perfect and symmetrical figure. As her gaze rested on me her eyes opened wide in astonishment, and she made a little sign with her free hand; a sign which I did not, of course, understand. Just a moment we gazed upon each other, and then the look of hope and renewed courage which had glorified her face as she discovered me, faded into one of utter dejection, mingled with loathing and contempt. I realized I had not answered her signal, and ignorant as I was of Martian customs, I intuitively felt that she had made an appeal for succor and protection which my unfortunate ignorance had prevented me from answering. And then she was dragged out of my sight into the depths of the deserted edifice. 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 (1993). A Princess of Mars. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/62/pg62-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 .

A FAIR CAPTIVE FROM THE SKY

THE PRISONER

With the rising adoption of healthcare apps and wearable devices that gather medical data, the importance of data privacy for healthtech companies is greater than ever. Broadly defined, “ . While this includes applications from traditional healthcare providers, it also includes technology that handles healthcare data, like fitness apps, nutrition apps, or biometric wearables. This means that the companies behind these technologies — healthtech companies — often deal with . healthtech” is any technology that assists with someone’s healthcare protected health information (PHI) Healthtech companies greatly benefit consumers, but working in this space also means plenty of risks. For example, is a set of rules that governs how organizations use and protect the PHI of their patients and customers. HIPAA Companies that work with PHI must ensure they’re HIPAA-compliant, lest they face fines, lawsuits, or closures. However, HIPAA is only a starting point if you want to provide truly robust privacy protections for your customers. In this article, we’ll look at how your healthtech company can implement greater privacy safeguards by using a in your applications. We’ll also discuss why it’s important to exceed the bare minimum of what is required by law for PHI, as doing more for data privacy can actually win you customers and improve your healthtech products. data privacy vault But first, let’s lay the groundwork with a brief treatment of HIPAA and PHI. Understanding HIPAA Compliance and PHI HIPAA is the baseline of compliance for protecting patient health data. Commonly considered the legislation which codified medical data privacy in the United States, HIPAA represents the minimum bar for safeguarding PHI that any healthtech company must meet. Why PHI is Unique Financial data, such as a reissued credit card or an updated credit score can change, and we have standards, such as , to regulate the use of this data. Personally identifiable information (PII), such as a home address or a driver’s license number can also change. For handling PII, we have regulations like or . PCI GDPR CCPA However, PHI is a unique kind of data because the majority of PHI typically doesn’t change. For example, laboratory results or entries in a patient’s medical history are fixed. Because of this, HIPAA takes the protection of client health data very seriously. How PHI is defined One of the key ways that HIPAA protects patients in the US is by defining what sort of data is considered PHI. Essentially, PHI is any information that can be used to identify an individual and that is related to the following: That individual’s past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition The provision of healthcare to that individual Payment for the provision of healthcare to that individual That means that if someone’s name, contact information, photo, or ID number is attached to the health-related data point, it’s also considered PHI, and it needs to be kept safe. HIPAA rules apply to what the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) calls “ ” as well as . If you’re operating without HIPAA compliance, then you’re liable to face some serious penalties, including hefty fines, customer remediation costs, and even being added to a public list of breaches commonly referred to as the HIPAA . Covered Entities and Business Associates any health-related applications that deal with PHI So, if your business takes health data and ties it to any kind of identifier for a specific person, then it is very likely to be subject to HIPAA. Wall of Shame From the vantage point of simple compliance, it’s hard to overstate the importance of HIPAA for healthtech companies. How a Data Privacy Vault Protects PHI Fortunately, protecting your customers’ PHI data is possible. The HHS provides . Companies can detach health data from identifiers so that it can no longer be used to identify an individual. guidance on how to de-identify PHI However, the challenge for healthtech companies is ensuring that they’re doing this correctly. There’s no room for mistakes. If you try to “roll your own” solution, you take precious engineering resources from your core business needs, and you’ll lack the confidence that you’ve covered all your bases. Instead, many of today’s healthtech companies are looking to the architectural pattern. A data privacy vault — and specifically one that is designed to deal with healthcare data — allows you to securely store identifiers for customers in an isolated, encrypted data vault that’s from normal transactional data. This kind of enables you to de-identify health data, protecting both your customers and your business. By providing tokenization, masking, and redaction capabilities, a data privacy vault makes working with protected data much less risky. data privacy vault separate healthcare data privacy vault Now that we’ve discussed the risks of non-compliance and the solution for protecting customer PHI, the big question is this: Is it worth it? Instead of adopting tried-and-tested tools to secure your customer data fully, would it be acceptable just to assume some risk and hope for the best? Let’s consider this. Reducing the Risk (and Scope) of a Data Breach Perhaps your company is already up and running a data privacy vault, and you’ve implemented other mechanisms for protecting your customers’ PHI. without You may feel like you’ve already invested a lot and don’t want to sink more effort into something that feels like a net-neutral investment. But it’s important to realize that you can still end up on the HIPAA Wall of Shame with a breach that impacts even if you have basic protections in place. as few as 500 customers, Not only that, but the best repayment to your customers for their trust in you is building a more trustworthy system. While it may seem you’ve met HIPAA’s standards for de-identification of PHI, reducing even a small risk of a breach by introducing a data privacy vault can win even greater trust from your customers. Take a look at the above example architecture. Notice that only tokenized, masked, or redacted information would be passed between different parts of your systems, allowing you to exceed HIPAA requirements and keep you off the Wall of Shame. Building Customer Trust Building a privacy-centric system will do more than just keep you out of trouble. It can also be a great tool for driving customers to your business. By protecting customer data, you can actually make better use of it. Isolating customer PHI in a data privacy vault allows you to use that data in various workflows and extract valuable insights identifiable data. without compromising Choosing a good tool for managing PHI will also require you to establish various data governance policies and access controls. By specifying these operational pieces of your business, you can ensure your customers’ trust is well placed. Given the high demand for privacy in any consumer technology today— and especially in healthtech — prioritizing these policies and standards sets your company apart as a leader in privacy, differentiating your business from competitors. Conclusion If you still want to learn more about HIPAA compliance or how a data privacy vault can help you with other aspects of HIPAA, there’s out there for that. plenty of information Fortunately, with the great tools available on the market, building a secure solution for your healthtech business is completely possible and easy to start immediately. Protecting your customers from compromised PHI is serious business, so make sure to use the right tools to safeguard your customer health data. Also published here.

How a Data Privacy Vault Protects PHI for Healthtech Users

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