Adidas Wilson's Blog, page 79
September 19, 2017
Mexico to Join Club of Countries with Bitcoin Regulation
Mexico, this month, will unveil proposed legislation aimed at regulating its fast-growing financial technology sector, including firms that use cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
The bill seems to be aimed at protecting customers, as well as spurring competition in this burgeoning industry. Mexico is also hoping, in this bill, to ensure financial stability and defend against money laundering and financing of extremists.
Massive potential growth in Latin America
Mexico will be joining a small list of countries, which include the UK and the US who have actively sought to regulate not only cryptocurrencies, but also fintech companies.
The hope for fintech companies is to try and crack a massive potential market as over half of Mexico’s 120 mln strong population are bank account-less.
“This legislation recognizes the need that a sector as dynamic as that of technological innovation needs a regulatory framework that allows authorities to mitigate risks and allow for growth in a competitive environment,” the bill draft says.
What’s in the Bill?
The Bill proposes to set out a clear set of rules pertaining to the running of fintech companies which will help reduce costs and drive competition in a sector that includes crowd-funders and payment firms.
Additionally, there will be a section aimed at regulating companies that operate with digital currencies, such as Bitcoin. There is not too much detail on this, but it does say a lot of it will fall to the central bank to referee such actions.
“The regulation is good news for all companies in this sector because … growth will be greater with clear rules,” said Luis Ruben Chavez, the founder of Mexican crowdfunding firm Yotepresto.
Massive Mexican growth
Mexico is a huge untapped market globally, and especially in Latin America where it leads the way.
In 2015, the number of fintech companies came in at about 50, while year to date in 2017 there are already 2401 known companies in the new industry.
Source:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/mexico-to-join-club-of-countries-with-bitcoin-regulation
Strong 7.1 quake hits Mexico, people trapped in collapsed buildings
A 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit Mexico on Tuesday, collapsing buildings and trapping an unknown number of people.
TV images showed a multi-story building in the capital with a middle floor collapsed as sirens blared from first responders rushing to the scene. Other video showed the side of a government building sheering off and falling into the street as bystanders screamed.
In Cuernavaca, a city south of Mexico City, there were unconfirmed reports on local radio of people trapped beneath collapsed buildings.
The quake came just over a week after another major quake shook the country. A civil protection official told local TV that an unspecified number of people were trapped inside various buildings that caught fire in Mexico City.
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Mexican TV and social media showed cars crushed by debris. Many people fled into the streets, and electricity and phone lines were down in parts of the capital.
Tuesday’s epicenter was located 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Atencingo in the central state of Puebla at a depth of 32 miles (51 km), the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The quake hit only hours after many people participated in earthquake drills around the nation on the anniversary of the devastating quake that killed thousands in Mexico City in 1985.
Many people were also still shaken from the recent quake on Sept. 7, a powerful 8.1 temblor that killed at least 98 people.
President Enrique Pena was on a flight to Oaxaca, one of the hardest hit areas by that quake, and said via his Twitter account that he was immediately returning to attend to the quake in Mexico City.
Source:
Pablo Escobar’s Brother Wants Netflix To Provide Cartel Hitmen As Bodyguards For ‘Narcos’
Following the death of Carlos Muñoz, a 37-year-old locations manager on Narcos who was found dead in his car in Mexico last week, the brother of drug lord Pablo Escobar wants Netflix to provide hitmen as bodyguards.
“You have to eliminate all threats,” Roberto De Jesus Escobar Gaviria, who worked as an accountant for the Medellín Cartel (he was also employed as the “chief of the hitmen”), told The Hollywood Reporter. “When I was walking in the jungle one day, I had a bag with $2 million in $100 bills. The army was searching for me and Pablo at this time. Suddenly, we are being shot at.”
He continued, “Both me and Pablo, along with a few security people, start running towards a small channel of water, we swim away. This was all done without guns. If you have the intellect, you don’t need to use weapons. If not, you have to. In this case, Netflix should provide hitmen to their people as security.”
This isn’t the first time Escobar Gaviria has voiced his frustration with Netflix. In 2016, the founder of Escobar Inc. demanded $1 billion from the streaming service for unauthorized usage of content. “To this date, I am one of the few survivors of the Medellin cartel,” he wrote, “and I was Pablo’s closest ally, managing his accounting and he is my brother for life. I think nobody else in the world is alive to determine the validity of the materials, but me.”
He told The Hollywood Reporter that “Netflix is scared,” and that “they sent us a long letter to threaten us.” Escobar Gaviria, who claims to “own all the trademarks to all of our names and also for the Narcos brand,” added, “Right now, we are in discussions with them through our attorneys [to] obtain our $1 billion payment. If we don’t receive it, we will close their little show.”
Billon dollar lawsuits, drug lords, and hitmen bodyguards? Lady Dynamite is going through the exact same thing.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
Moving Beyond E-books… and Into the Virtual
Over the years, multiple different versions of geocaching developed, which evolved as technology grew more sophisticated. Laws were established governing where geocaching could occur, historical sites and cemeteries being commonly off-limits. There have been rescues of searchers who have gone into dangerous areas, and, tragically, there have been deaths as well.
Humans love a mystery story, and we also love new technology. The combination of the two is irresistible to many. One evolving technology brings both together: augmented reality.
When we think of augmented reality, we think (mostly) of Pokémon Go. That is the latest and most successful commercial application of AR we’ve seen so far. Released last summer, Pokémon Go has had millions of people out on the streets, in parks, at beaches—even at the White House—searching for and “capturing” virtual critters. The phone-based app displayed a map (created with GPS technology) of where the user was standing or walking, and imposed Pokémon creatures available for capture. The point of any Pokémon game is collection—the more creatures you have, the better you are doing. Suddenly people found themselves exercising and exploring in ways they hadn’t before. This is, ultimately, virtual geocaching.
Any hunt is a story—which was the point of Masquerade. The quest for the Holy Grail—which has inspired poetry, opera, Indiana Jones movies, and Monty Python—is a story. A mystery is a hunt for clues that will lead to a solution. Where there is seeking, be it one individual’s search for answers about his life or a community’s hunt for a perpetrator, there is the possibility for an AR application to bring it to life.
In other words, publishers have the opportunity to look at stories in different ways. Publishers can develop apps for readers, who could point them at books in a manner similar to Pokémon Go and retrieve additional information about the story, or trivia, or details about the likely size of Jo March’s house. AR provides the “enhancements” that we were looking for with e-books—that other dimension that a straightforward narrative can’t offer without footnotes.
Even more enticingly, publishers have the opportunity to create games from their stories. Imagine a Harry Potter AR game: your house is your dormitory, your school is the Hogwarts classrooms, your homework is framed as “spell practice.” AR allows readers to bridge the gap between the narrative and their own lives.
Laura Dawson, CEO of Numerical Gurus, is a book supply chain consultant. She also facilitates Metadata Boot Camp, a webinar series tackling metadata issues in publishing.
Source:
Google will now show you what ebooks are available in your local library
Google has added a new feature to Search that will show you if your local library has the ebook you’re looking for in stock. If you’re old like me and didn’t know that you could borrow ebooks, well you can, and many libraries across the US have a digital collection that you can borrow from.
Now you don’t have to bother searching through what’s likely an archaic library website — Google will do all the legwork for you. The company says the feature is now available on both mobile and desktop to users in the US.
Source:
https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/18/16330324/google-ebooks-search-available-local-library
10 Big Differences between Asian and American Education Systems
When I first walked into Daewon High School in Seoul (the #1 high school in the country), I wasn’t surprised by the motto over the main door: “Less of me, more of us.” American culture encourages students to express their opinions about a particular subject matter freely. They are also encouraged to discuss some topics with other students and the teacher, and to do projects at home. On the other hand, Asian schools are completely different. Schools in Asian countries are lecture-based, and learning is memorization-based. Creativity is not required, discipline is. The teacher presents a particular matter and lectures while students are sitting and carefully taking notes. Well, at least, they’re supposed to be taking notes! My friend, a school teacher in Seoul, used to constantly agonize over the number of students sleeping in her class, sometimes many at a time, and that it was a common problem for all teachers in Korea.
Although some teachers might encourage student participation after the end of lectures, it’s not considered a priority in the Asian school system.
Teacher – student relationship
The relationship between a student and a teacher in American schools is casual and friendly. Students are allowed to communicate with their teachers freely. Also, teachers value students’ opinions without a dismissive attitude.
Asian countries are characterized by a certain hierarchy, which transmits onto schools as well. Schools have their own hierarchy that doesn’t incorporate casual and friendly relationships between teachers and students. Teacher-student communication in the average Asian school is strictly formal. Teachers respect students and demand respect in return. Openly disagreeing with a teacher isn’t encouraged. As a result, many Western teachers, when teaching in Asia, find the students to be highly respectful.
Grades
The American grading system is very simple – when a student gets a particular score, he or she gets a grade that is in the range for that score e.g. scoring higher than 93 gives you an A, but also scoring at least 93 gives you an A as well.
The grading system in Asian schools is more complicated than that in the American system. However, it’s also more precise. Asian schools use a relative grading system, which doesn’t have a set score that defines the great. Instead, the system divides scores into percentages and assigns different grades to specific percentages.
For example, students whose grades are in top 35% in entire class can receive an A, the next 40% get a B, etc. The primary purpose of this grading system is to increase competitiveness and motivate students.
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After-school school, sort of
Children in America rely on their “regular” school education to study, get informed, etc. They do homework that was assigned to them by their teachers, and that would be it. On the other hand, Asian kids go to school after their regular schools. These are called different things, like Hagwons (학원) in South Korea, and Eikaiwas (英会話教室) in Japan; they are private academies.
Private academies teach kids subjects and lectures they are taught in schools. Many (all?) mothers in these countries send their children to these academies after school, which range in subjects taught from academic, instrumental, sport, and, most popular, English language study. These after school academies are probably why sleeping students are tolerated on occasion in public schools; their teachers know they have many hours of schooling left! And they know the students are most likely going to listen to the same subject matter in private academy later. Teachers from private academies assign kids additional homework. Some private academies open their doors during vacations only; children can stay there up to 11 PM. The government of South Korea had to place laws against hagwons being open late into the night because there was such demand from parents! Children go to these academies right after their regular schools.
Class size
American teachers usually work with smaller classes. For example, 25 – 30 students in one class. On the other hand, classes in Asian schools are much bigger. They can go from 35 students up to a staggering number of 65 students in some regions.
Of course, in private schools and after-school academies, class sizes can be as small as 10-20.
Homeroom concept
In American schools, children “change” their classmates all the time. One child can attend Math class with one group of students, while at English class he or she will see a completely different group of students in the classroom.
Asian schools have a homeroom concept in which students are assigned to particular classes where they stay throughout their time in that particular school, or if some student is particularly exceptional, then he/she gets the opportunity to advance. This cohort concept aims to bring different children closer together, to allow them to get used to each other which in turn increases productivity – so they say – as well.
Classrooms
Teachers in American schools have their classrooms. Children come to them. Also, each child has his or her own hallway locker where they place their stuff.
However, in Asian schools, each class has its own classroom and the teacher is the one who comes to them to lecture. That’s why there’s no need for hallway lockers. Children have their stuff with them at all times. After the language class is over, they put their books into their backpack and take out the book and notebook for the next class.
Head teacher
This is something that American schools don’t have, though I like it. In Asian schools, besides having teachers for different subjects, each class has its own head teacher (remember kids stay in one classroom the whole day, basically). This teacher is responsible for establishing discipline in his or her class. Also, the head teacher is the one who calls a child’s parents if he or she misbehaves. On the other hand, in American schools, each teacher has to establish discipline or contact parents on a per-student basis, amongst all his or her many students.
Discipline
Teachers in American schools are allowed to send their students out in case they misbehave or show lack of respect. Also, schools are allowed to suspend students.
Asian schools are different; according to their law, “no child shall be denied an education”, teachers aren’t allowed to send kids out of the classroom. Also, schools don’t suspend kids. They assume kids would fall in with a bad crowd, smoke, drink, or do other mischievous things if they are banned from the class.
Transportation
In America, kids go to school in a school bus. Once they turn 16 and get their driver’s license, they drive to school. In Asian countries, kids don’t go to school in a school bus. They go to the nearest school. Since they live close, they walk or ride their bikes to school.
Though, high school is a different story. When teenagers go to high school that’s not near their home, they take the subway, bus, or train. They can’t drive because you have to be 18 in Asian countries to get a driver’s license. Even when 18-year-olds get the much-anticipated license, he or she isn’t encouraged to drive to school.
As you can see, American and Asian schools are extremely different. What do you admire the most about the American and Asian school systems? Is there any trait from Asian schools that you’d like to see in America as well? Or vice versa?
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Lyft requests will light up phones for deaf drivers
Back in April, Lyft launched features that made its system easier to use by deaf drivers and those who are hard of hearing. Now, it’s adding a couple more to celebrate National Deaf Awareness Month. Thanks to its partnership with the National Association of the Deaf, the ride-hailing firm has developed “flash-on request” for drivers.
If they’ve activated the app’s hard-of-hearing accessibility function, they’ll get a powerful visual notification whenever a ride request comes in: their phone’s screen and flashlight will both light up. When combined with the Amp emblem flashing the words “New Ride,” it could lower the chances of a driver missing out on a request.
In addition, Lyft is also making an attempt to breach the language barrier between drivers and passengers. It’s beefing up the automated text it sends out notifying passengers that their drivers are deaf or hard of hearing with a link to a tutorial on how to say “Hello” and “Thank you” in American Sign Language. The company didn’t say when the features will be available exactly, but it promises to roll them out soon.
Source:
https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/18/lyft-flash-on-request-deaf-awareness-month/
Ethereum Could Challenge Credit Card Companies In “A Couple of Years”
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is optimistic about the future of his blockchainplatform, sharing his predictions during a talk with AngelList founder Naval Ravikant at TechCrunch’s Disrupt SF 2017 event on September 18.
Despite the growing popularity of Ethereum and other technologies like it, a large majority of people still don’t know what blockchain is or what it does. However, once the technology does reach the mainstream, Buterin believes it will be able to take business away from major credit card companies. He sees this shift potentially taking place in the next “couple of years.”
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin believes the blockchain-based platform has the potential to rival financial institutions like Visa in scale. Before it can, however, it needs to increase the speed with which it can process transactions.
TAKING ON FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is optimistic about the future of his blockchainplatform, sharing his predictions during a talk with AngelList founder Naval Ravikant at TechCrunch’s Disrupt SF 2017 event on September 18.
Despite the growing popularity of Ethereum and other technologies like it, a large majority of people still don’t know what blockchain is or what it does. However, once the technology does reach the mainstream, Buterin believes it will be able to take business away from major credit card companies. He sees this shift potentially taking place in the next “couple of years.”
Before Ethereum can compete with the likes of Visa and MasterCard, though, the platform will need to speed up. “Bitcoin is processing a bit less than 3 transactions per second,” Buterin explained to Ravikant. “Ethereum is doing five a second. Uber gives 12 rides a second. It will take a couple of years for the blockchain to replace Visa.”
According to Business Insider, the co-founder said he expects to see low-security financial prototypes revealed within the next year, which may signal the beginning of Ethereum’s ability to disrupt mainstream finance. That said, a few more years will be needed before their effectiveness can be proven.
FROM FINANCE TO CLOUD COMPUTING
Buterin’s thoughts on the capabilities of blockchain extend beyond finance and into the world of cloud computing. While he believes Ethereum has a solid chance at changing the financial world, Buterin is less optimistic about its effect on cloud services, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Source:
https://futurism.com/ceo-ethereum-could-challenge-credit-card-companies-in-a-couple-of-years/
Douxmatok lets you use 30 percent less sugar without affecting sweetness
As of 2016, one in five people in the U.S. are obese. As of a 2014 study, nearly 10 percent of Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes. In short, our resistance to good nutrition, both on a personal and commercial level, is causing lasting problems within the population.
Part of the problem is that the best-tasting food is usually the worst for our health, and bad eating habits beget worse eating habits.
That’s where DouxMatok comes in.
The Israel-based startup has found a way to make sugar more efficient and potent so people can eat less of it and still get the same effect.
The whole thing started when CEO Eran Baniel went to his annual check-up and learned that he was on the cusp of being pre-diabetic, and his physician told him to cut back on his sugar intake. Around the same time, his father, Dr. Avraham Baniel (a leading industrial chemical researcher in Israel), came to him with an idea to make sugar even sweeter without affecting taste.
The father-son duo, along with other founding members of the team, created a small batch of this re-engineered sugar and invited some food industry folks to try it out. Following an enthusiastically positive response, DouxMatok was born.
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The company recently raised $8.1 million in funding, led by Pitango.
“We’ve been following DouxMatok from the beginning,” said Ittai Harel, managing partner at Pitango. “Part of the reason we chose to get in now is that we saw that DouxMatok was effectively creating a dynamic with food companies where they saw it as a positive. Food companies were turning a favorable eye and it became clear that DouxMatok had figured out how to position themselves within the industry.”
For years now, pharmaceutical companies have been using what they refer to as a drug carrier, which is a chemical compound or molecule that transports the drug to the intended receptors within the body. DouxMatok is doing the same thing with sugar.
The average American consumes between 150 and 170 pounds of sugar in a single year. But according to DouxMatok CTO Dr. Alejandro Marabi, we never taste a significant amount of the sugar we eat. Instead, it goes straight to our belly, adding to our caloric intake without any of the benefit of getting that sweet taste.
DouxMatok has developed a carrier system for sugar that makes the sugar molecule travel straight to the sweetness receptors on your taste buds and stay there as long as possible, increasing the efficacy of sugar within your diet.
DouxMatok says it can reduce the amount of sugar needed in foods, without affecting taste at all, by around 30 percent, differing slightly based on the recipe.
“Right now, the sugar industry is fighting against artificial sweeteners like Stevia and high-impact sugars,” said Eran Baniel. “Sugar is considered the enemy and people are looking for ways to replace sugar. It’s not just a trend; that sentiment is here to stay.”
DouxMatok is working both with sugar refiners and food brands to work out new recipes for existing products that use less overall sugar.
In terms of business, DouxMatok will work with refiners to buy their original refined sugar at wholesale prices, and then partner with them to re-engineer it into DouxMatok sugar, sharing revenue from the sale of DouxMatok products to food brands.
Source:
Douxmatok lets you use 30 percent less sugar without affecting sweetness
September 18, 2017
Stranger Things Season 2 Will Put Eleven On An Emotional Rollercoaster
If you’re waiting around for Stranger Things Season 2 and are hoping for some tidbits to tide you over, Matt and Ross Duffer spoke with TVLine’s Michael Ausiellolast night at the Emmy Awards red carpet event. The creators and executive producers for the series teased a bit about the upcoming sophomore season for the Netflix hit series.
Starting off, they talk about Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and how her journey this season will be very different — besides the fact that she will have hair and be able to complete sentences. It’s going to be more of an emotional rollercoaster in the second season, as she will basically be going through adolescence while having powers.
They did confirm that there will be justice for Barb in the new season, but actress Shannon Purser will not be returning. Barb is dead; she’s not coming back and there won’t be flashbacks or ghost appearances. Barb will be talked about, but she’ll get no screen time. The Byers got Will (Noah Schnapp) back, but the Hollands didn’t get their daughter back, and we’ll get to see the repercussions from that with them and Nancy (Natalia Dyer).
As for as how long the series will go, don’t expect it to be around forever. They have a specific place in mind where they are going to end it, and they don’t feel that the story justifies that long of a run. Maybe four or five seasons at the most is the impression the Duffers give — definitely not six.
Don’t expect a big cliffhanger ending to the second season, either.
Stranger Things Season 2 will debut October 27 on Netflix.
Source:
https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/09/18/stranger-things-season-2-emotional/
