“Fake news is the biggest problem of our day”

Halef Remzi Vayıs

Interview with Halef Remzi Vayıs, General Manager at MTM, Medya Takip Merkezi, a media intelligence company in Turkey.

Hi Halef, what is your background and what is included in your current role at MTM?

Our company was founded about 20 years ago. I am a founding partner and a general manager of MTM. We have opened 6 branches in various cities in Turkey, and have set up a local company in Azerbaijan. We currently service 1000 customers with 120 employees. Turkey’s most important companies work with us.

Our company consists of 8 main sections, where I serve as president and the directors of the sections forming our governing body. The establishment operates dynamically and keeps the pulse of the industry in the world. It responds to the renewed needs of our customers and ensures that the developing technology is included in our business. We follow trends, respond to new demands and develop products that will lead to new demands. We work to spend our money rationally by making the right investments. We organize events to educate and improve our human resources, and we participate in events organized outside. I also undertake all these tasks and responsibilities together with them as part of the team.

What differs MTM from other media intelligence companies in Turkey?

Our most important difference is our innovative construction; our vision is always fresh and up-to-date. This enables our customers to quickly integrate with changing and evolving services around the world. Our sector’s customers are naturally a group that stands out from all sorts of social developments. In other words, if there is a development in the country and in the world, this sector is seen first, it tries, it lives. So, they like to work with an innovative and dynamic company.

What are your greatest challenges ahead at MTM when it comes to serving your customer analysis and developing your offer?

The biggest paradox is the “quality service and low price” equation. I think this does not affect just our country, but many countries, especially sectors with high competition where the customer wants high quality, complete and fast services, while paying less for it. When you have to upgrade the service quality, but that can’t affect the price, this causes your profit margins to fall. You can reduce your margins up to some extent, of course, but sometimes you come to a point where the customer is stuck between choosing a quality service or a low price.

If any, what specific needs are there in the Turkish market for media intelligence that you think differs from the rest of the world?

I do not think there is a big difference in expectations from the media monitoring service. They want us to use every possible opportunity as a resource, and quickly provide the analysis to them. One of our mottos is “to deliver the most intelligent information in the fastest way.”

According to your clients, what are the most important sources of information to monitor about their company and brand?

It depends on the product and the company. As the transition between traditional media and social media continues, understanding is shaped accordingly. According to some, social media is a balloon, and it is more valuable to follow traditional media. Some customers pay more attention to the impact of digital and social media. In short, we can say that the counterpart, supposed to be under the influence of the brand or the target volume of the product, is accepted as the source by the customer.

Which social platforms or sources do you see as having the most potential in the future when it comes to gathering relevant information for your customers?

Obviously, I do not think it would be very realistic to give a specific name because in today’s world everything can happen. Facebook’s “Cambridge Analytica” issue is an example for this. However, digital and social platforms have a high potential as a source of information and will continue to be.

Have you recently, or are you about to, release any new technology-based solutions that will add to or improve services you offer clients? If so, what solutions and how will your customers benefit from them?

Of course we always want to do new things 🙂 We develop our own systems with our 18-person software and technical team. We have a research and development department. We do our own hosting with 30 servers and storage.

We also collaborate with international companies such as PerVoice, Talkwalker and Twingly, who provide technical and information support. This kind of support eliminates our shortcomings and provides new perspectives and facilities to our customers.

Is “fake news” a big issue in your region? If so, what are the challenges media intelligence and monitoring companies face and how do you cope with it?

Fake news is the biggest problem of our day, but I think this is not the current issue of media monitoring companies. Our task is to find and bring what is published. I repeat: Find out what is published, even if it is fake. Because this fake news can be a result that needs to be dealt with.

On the other hand, solutions for news that are not true can be developed by companies like us as a new product. This product can capture and report fake news. However, we have not encountered such a demand until now. We do not have any systems yet to identify fake news.

Some media intelligence companies have recently moved up the value chain, providing their clients with content within PR and Advertising. Have you been moving in that direction recently, or would it be interesting to do so?

Our business mostly focuses on reporting and measuring PR practices. We don’t focus on content support.

As we all know, the media is changing shell every day and will continue to change. As various platforms and publishing equipment enter our lives, the media increases, so media monitoring has already turned into big data. The biggest problems of our day are the fake news and the privacy of private life. The steps and arrangements of the authorities of the countries will also determine the direction of our work. But I anticipate that our work will become more important in every situation as long as we can do more precise and attentive works.

How do you see that MTM will have changed and developed over the next 5 years?

MTM has always been ambitious since its founding, and will continue to be so. Five years from now, it will be easier for us to reach both current and archive intelligent knowledge. At that time, we will want to be called a “smart data company” rather than a “technology company” like now.

By Renata Ilitsky

Twingly is heading to SXSW!

We hope to see you in Austin!

For meetings, please just send us a note.

The Grace of Latin Beauty Blogs

Susana Chavez, Beauty Airlines

Beauty Airlines

What was your motivation for starting the blog?

Jai Correa, Mami’s Time Out

Mami’s Time Out

Rocio Isabel, RisasRizos

By Renata Ilitsky

The Rich Taste of US Food Blogs

Dan bing
Dan bing

The Perfect Steak
The Perfect Steak

Why does he blog?

Tasty Breakfast
Tasty Breakfast

Aluminum Foiled Kitchen

What was your motivation for starting the blog?

By Renata Ilitsky

Three Fashion Blogs From Around the World

China – Elle Lee

We got an exclusive interview with Elle about her blogging:

What was your motivation for starting the blog?

What are the biggest advantages/disadvantages of being a blogger?

How does it work with the different languages on your blog?

Sweden – Fanny Lyckman

Canada – Jen Tam

What’s one go-to piece every woman should own?

The perfect pair of black jeans.

Dress up or dress down?

What’s one fashion rule you’re proud of breaking?

By Renata Ilitsky

How Leonardo helps us shape the future of social data

So, we introduced Leonardo.

By Pontus Edenberg

Mohamed Abdel-Mottaleb - original
Mohamed Abdel-Mottaleb

Which type of companies benefit from your services?

What other challenges do you face in your market?

Which social platforms are currently most important for your customers?

By Renata Ilitsky

“Other global social media monitoring services failed in Brazil because they didn’t understand what kind of customer service our clients require”

Mauricio Brentano
Mauricio Brentano

Interview with Mauricio Brentano, COO of Seekr, a social journey company in Brazil

Hi Mauricio, what is your background and what is included in your current role at Seekr?

My degree is in the area of information systems, so I have a background in technology. My current role at Seekr is COO, and I am responsible for everything having to do with operations in the company, such as technology and customer success. Essentially, the tech team develops and maintains the product, and the customer success team is responsible for contacting and training the clients who will use our platform, as well as helping to fix the technological issues that come up when they use our product.

What differs Seekr from other social media intelligence companies in Brazil?

Seekr is much more than just a social media intelligence company. We believe in a process that we call “Social Journey,” which means that we understand that engagement in social media involves four steps, which are:
1. Listening/Monitoring – We have to find/identify data that provides insights and helps our clients solve problems.
2. Solving the Problem – We offer applications that are useful for customer service on social media. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, as well as email and chat, all have their problems; customers have questions and complaints in these channels and Seekr helps our clients to solve them.
3. Engaging – After solving problems, the company has to make the clients happy. We offer features like publications, which enable our clients to communicate with their clients better and we have social CRM so our clients can see a 360- degree field of their customers.
4. Analyzing – After completing the previous steps, it is important to understand what worked and what has to be improved. For this purpose, we have more than 100 reports, which help them to analyze this entire process.

We are not just a social media intelligence company, it’s just the first step, but we are more complete than that. We have an entire strategy process about how we engage the clients and solve their problems, making them happy.

Which type of companies benefit from your services?

We don’t have a specific type of company that benefits from our services; our clients are in different kinds of industries, such as telecommunications, insurance, television, drink/food, as well as politicians. Everyone wants to make decisions driven by data, and everyone wants to improve their customer care. Any company can use our monitoring platform to get insights on what’s happening in their market and improve their customer care.

What are your greatest challenges ahead at Seekr when it comes to developing your offer?

The biggest challenge is the dynamics of the market, and the fact that it constantly changes as people need more information. It’s really hard keeping up to date with what happens in the market and technology. We have to follow the evolution of the market and social media, and what people want to do with social media.

Next year we are planning to release Spanish and English versions, which we are developing for the global market.

In our products, we want to bring more intelligence about analyzed data and more information to help our clients make informed decisions; as well, we aim to increase our channels of providing customer service.

Can you give specific examples where one or more of your clients have made changes in their communication, organization or similar, based on the information or analysis you provided?

We helped a Brazilian telecommunication company implement a strategy that allowed all stakeholders and responsible parties to receive an email alert when a relevant person with a lot of followers and social presence said something negative about their brand. By alerting these individuals, the company was able to manage crises better and faster.

You have recently moved more from collecting data yourself to relying on external suppliers. What have you found most challenging in this transition and why?

We realize that it’s a great effort to collect data ourselves, and some of that data isn’t part of our core service; therefore, we hired an external supplier to provide reliable data. The most challenging aspect of working with a supplier is understanding what kind of data they bring, what the quality of the data is, how it will help us, and how much it costs. Then, we have to make the decision if it is better to keep the data here or to have a supplier that we pay.

Which social platforms are the most important for your Brazilian customers?

Facebook is important, and Twitter sees a lot of interaction between people and brands. Instagram, YouTube and ReclameAqui, which is specific to Brazil, and means “complain here” in Portuguese, are also highly used.

That’s a hard question; I think Facebook will lose users because it’s too global. I think that social media platforms will become more specific, like TripAdvisor for traveling, YouTube for videos, Instagram for photos, etc.

Three years ago, we didn’t have all the platforms we have now; that is why it’s so hard to have any forecast for the future in this market.

I would be interested in Facebook opening their API about public data, which they closed in April of 2015. A lot of customers that made data decisions based on this platform couldn’t do that anymore. Even using companies that sell Facebook data is not sufficient because it’s not in raw mode, but in aggregate mode. We can’t give reports that so and so posted this, just anonymous identifying data, such as the location and gender of the person.

Are there specific or typical needs in the Brazilian market for social media monitoring that you think differs from rest of South America or the world in general?

Other global social media monitoring services, such as Hootsuite, failed in Brazil because they didn’t understand what kind of customer service our clients require. Our Brazilian clients like us to treat them with a “warm” feeling. We prioritize keeping our clients happy by getting in touch with them and becoming close with them, which they like. This limits other companies from coming into Brazil, as they don’t know how to provide this type of customer care.

It’s really hard to forecast, but social intelligence will change greatly. Artificial intelligence (AI) will have many consequences and provide more information to make decisions. Image recognition, personality insights, relationship extraction, and things that take massive data sets, analyze them and convert raw data into good information to make decisions will benefit from AI.

By Renata Ilitsky

“It would be amazing to get access to Snapchat data and analyze the behaviors”

Jonathan Israelsson_edit
Jonathan Israelsson

During the course of my education, I always felt ambivalent between a career in sports and a more traditional path. While I wrote my master thesis in marketing and communication at Stockholm University, I also worked as a soccer coach for teams ranging from youth groups to the premier league for female players. After a couple of years, I realized that I found it more fulfilling to work in the communication and events field. I was responsible for a meeting facility before joining Lissly, but the choice was easy because I could clearly identify another level of customer value.

In my role as partner and CEO at Lissly, my main responsibility is to motivate and support our six employees in succeeding and reaching their full potential. I also engage in customer care, and I regularly attend meetings with our existing customer base. All members of the Lissly team are involved in sales, which means some of my time is devoted to coordination and support.

What differs Lissly from other media monitoring and social intelligence companies in Scandinavia?

That is a difficult question! When meeting with customers and industry colleagues, it seems apparent that all players have the same type of monitoring sources, which makes the competition fierce. Lissly has chosen to focus on the Nordic market, specifically Sweden and Norway. We consider ourselves a strong brand because we understand how social media works in Sweden. We always strive to provide statistics as a basis for our offerings, and a lot of variables in social media mentions allow us to generate interesting insights using a mix of statistical frameworks and a slight touch of finesse. We always try to adapt to the new demands and changing landscape of the market, which means implementing new channels in our analysis and comparing with existing customer data to maximize the customer’s value.

Which type of companies benefit from your services?

Lissly has a wide range of customers, but we are particularly strong with the Swedish trade unions and employers’ associations. A growing number of them use our analysis to create opinion and measure the effects of their campaigns. Furthermore, we have experience working with customers from all markets, from local daycare for dogs to the largest agencies in Sweden.

You have recently moved more into analysis than just being a media-monitoring platform. Why is that?

Our customers demanded more information and insights than any tool can provide with automated methods. Therefore, we began to develop our analysis offering together with our key customers to provide answers to what they really need to know from their endeavors in social media. We also invented new types of KPIs, which simply were not possible in the platform environment. The feedback from our customers was overwhelmingly positive, and now we are proud to deliver the greatest possible customer value based on the information available in social media.

We created an analysis for one of Sweden’s largest coffee producers, and one of the key insights was the identified behaviors of the different demographics. For example, females between the ages of 25 to 45 were prone to share, late at night between 9 and 10PM, what they are baking for the coffee break the next day. This meant that the coffee producer could adjust the marketing and commercials accordingly.

What are your greatest challenges ahead at Lissly, when it comes to serving your customers analysis and develop your offer?

The main challenge is rebranding and creating awareness of our new focus on manual analysis. We are working on communicating these changes and the fact that “Lissly 2.0” is not an update of our tool but rather our core business model. This process is going well, but there are always some potential customers who should realize this sooner rather than later.

All clients have different levels of understanding how social media can be analyzed. Which is the most common misconception that your clients have?

That it’s possible to monitor everything by yourself. It’s possible to get a basic understanding of the situation, but do you really have the time and energy to read everything and understand what the aggregate means? When Lissly applies its expertise and KPIs, it really provides a level of understanding, which is impossible to attain with the traditional tools on the market.

Which social platform do you see has the most potential in the future?

I believe everything related to picture and video will grow. It would be amazing to get access to Snapchat data and analyze the behaviors of one of the largest social media platforms.

There has always been a great demand to monitor the activity on LinkedIn, especially for the B2B customers, which are particularly interested in potential leads and decision makers. This has been impossible with the automated methods available for the monitoring tools, but we have come up with a way to incorporate LinkedIn data in our analysis offering.

If I could pick a source to compare to our existing data, it would be Snapchat. The insights would be really interesting for certain markets. We have begun to test the possibilities, but unfortunately only the data from your own account is available, which greatly limits the potential. We are eagerly waiting for the official API, and if it provides a way to collect data, Lissly will be the first in line to implement it in our analysis.

My intuition tells me that everything will be focused on insights. The main focus will be to use all available information to identify the optimal market conditions and key individuals to generate more business. Today, the market is focused on what is being said, but it will shift to what it really means.

By Renata Ilitsky

“AI will be huge in terms of its impact and helpfulness in social media analytics”

Tam Su
Tam Su

Interview with Tam Su, Senior Director of Product at Crimson Hexagon, a social media analytics company with headquarters in Boston, US.

Hi Tam, what is your background and what is included in your current role at Crimson Hexagon?

I have been in tech for about 18 years, having helped start a few. I am currently the senior director of product at Crimson Hexagon. My responsibilities include product design, strategy and user experience.

What differs Crimson Hexagon from other social media analytics platforms?

Great question. Our biggest strength over the other offerings is the strength of our tech platform and the vastness of our data store (the amount of data we store ourselves). Our CTO jokes that we have more public data than anyone on earth, except for the NSA. We have the best analysis platform, and a superior foundation, that is where we lead.

Traditionally, we are weaker on the user experience front, so we have been working hard for the last year and a half to overcome that. Look for exciting announcements from us in the coming months.

You recently received an investment of $20M in Crimson Hexagon; how will that affect your product in the near future?

As mentioned, expect exciting announcements in the next two to three months, as we launch our new offerings. These have less to do with our funding, and more with the fact that we’ve been focused on delivering a world-class user experience.

The funding will accelerate our efforts across the board – across product lines, technology, data sources, and our research pipeline as we get more into deep learning and related AI efforts.

What are your greatest challenges ahead at Crimson Hexagon when it comes to serving your customers analysis and develop your offer?

Great question. The greatest challenges for any company in an accelerated growth stage after a big funding event is the danger of not staying focused on the important stuff. In other words, a lot of companies have the tendency to say – we have the money now to spend on things that we didn’t have before, so let’s go after things that maybe we shouldn’t.

We need to stay laser focused on the most important set of needs for our customers. We continue to concentrate on social listening and analysis, with a special focus around insights derived from that data, as we build a road map to better predict customer behaviors using social data.

As we look to the future, we aim to become more prescriptive in what we can recommend to our clients.

About a year ago you introduced image analysis and logo detection. How well has that played out when it comes to quality and client adaptation?

A year ago we launched a rudimentary product; over the last year, we have sharpened those skills and continue to improve the quality of our product in terms of accuracy, volume, etc. It’s not as widely adapted as we hoped, which has to do with analysis maturity. Image analysis is in the early days; this has become an important source of data, but many of our clients are not at that point yet in terms of their journey in social media analysis.

What are the next steps when it comes to enhancing the use of image analysis?

We have an exciting pipeline, looking at scene, object and facial detection. We can tell if a person is in a restaurant or on a mountain top based on a scene. We can detect not only logos, but also items, allowing us to tell if a Starbucks logo is on a mug or on a can of coffee.

Facial detection now allows us to detect sentiment without having to analyze associated text, which may not even exist. If people smile, we know they’re happy, if they are frowning, we know they are not. Being able to discern sentiment straight from the image is huge.

How do you think the development in AI will affect the social media analytics business?

It will be huge in terms of its impact and helpfulness; it’s going to impact a number of areas, ranging from the analysis itself to certain recommendations that we may be able to offer our users. For example, this type of data is best paired with these types of charts. Another example is the idea of being able to recommend actions based on what we see. We can say that this tweet from an influencer is likely to be further amplified with certain promotional; if you promote it, it will likely be amplified by 10 times than what it is now. To be able to predict that and make recommendations is huge.

Another frontier is looking at data information and data ingestion, we are thinking about proprietary data and how AI can help us ingest proprietary corporate data, like chat logs, more efficiently, and be able to then sort through that data, make sense of it, and analyze it more effectively.

We are very bullish on Tumblr, the third largest network by active users. We have a partnership with them, where we get the entire firehose. We are very excited to see their active user growth trends, and where the entire network will go.

Beyond that, Twitter and Instagram will continue to have bright futures. We are partners with Twitter, and have access to all their data. Instagram is challenging because of their limited API, but hopefully that will change.

Instagram and Facebook are headaches for all of us. We all would like to know what is going on inside Facebook, with respect to the privacy of Facebook’s users. It would be great to get a greater peek in than what we are able to with current channels.

What kind of data, that you would need to do even better analysis, is the hardest to get hold of?

Facebook and Instagram; beyond that, we are curious about the various messaging apps, such as Snapchat, because our clients are becoming curious about them. We would love to get behind the curtains there, with respect to privacy restrictions, to understand what people are talking about and care about.

The biggest thing in that regard is working on making our ability to work with proprietary corporate data more robust. We currently have an ingestion mechanism that works. Making it more open and robust so companies can gain greater value is a goal.

The next five years will be very exciting for the whole industry as it grows and matures. A lot of unknowns will be shaken out of the system. Perhaps the biggest change is the ability for platforms leveraging AI to predict scenarios and outcomes in order to prescribe and recommend actions. So, in the next five years we should see that technology developing and maturing in a more visible way.

By Renata Ilitsky


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August 5 – 18 September, 2016

Tim Silver: Oneirophrenia

Oneirophrenia: From the greek words oneiros, ‘dreams’, and phrenos, ‘mind’ A hallucinatory, dreamlike state caused by several conditions such as prolonged sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation or drugs.

In Greek mythology, the Oneiroi are the personifications of dreaming: Morpheus, the winged god of dreams, can take human form; Phobetor is the personification of nightmares, appearing in the guise of animals or monsters; and Phantasos is known for creating dreams of surreality or illusion.

In Oneirophrenia, Silver presents a typology of self-portraits in the form of classical busts. Their iconic form and dense arrangement evokes a quintessential fine arts atelier or workshop, yet their surreal, at times grotesque nature adds a strong sense of the absurd.

In opposition to more traditional sculptural materials such as bronze that aspire towards permanence, Silver often uses organic or entropic materials which degrade and change form over time, including wax crayon, putty, fairy floss and chocolate. Here the artist has packed his heads with bread dough, which, as it rises, ruptures through his plaster skin, fracturing the classical forms with unique and random mutations of matter.


About Challahland

Randi and Sam are cousins AND besties. Challahland was born in 2020 during both of their maternity leaves when Randi shared her love for baking with Sam. Challahland started off as a one-sku show and slowly turned into a 20+ sku baking operation run by two busy moms on-the-go.

How did Challahland come to life? Thanks to our amazing neighbours and friends. Even though it all started as kind of a joke, our neighbours would enjoy our challahs out on the streets and they told us that we should start our own business ASAP. So we did and we are extremely grateful for their support since day 1.

Randi is a professional pastry chef who studied all over the world. Her love for creating deliciousness in the kitchen started while she was studying in France under the best chefs. Randi also owned her own bakery as well as worked in some of the greatest bakeries in Montréal. Randi is forever grateful for all her experiences and all the amazing bakers who helped her along the way.


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Visualization cost and price formation

Creating a three-dimensional visualization of architecture and interior of buildings is a complex and time-consuming process that requires certain knowledge and skills. During the design, the designer takes into account all the features of the future building: the size of the windows, the height of the ceiling, the type of facade, infrastructure and the surrounding space as a whole. Considering all these factors, it is impossible to accurately determine the price of visualization: it is calculated purely individually, depending on the complexity of the technical task. This page presents our portfolio, where you can see the detail and complexity of a particular work. We specifically do not post only the best works, thereby showing that we can work for any of your budget. The colorfulness of the visualization directly depends on the time spent on it and, as a result, the price. If you need an express visualization of medium quality and for a low budget, we will be happy to perform this type of work. Moreover, you will always be able to return to its refinement to high detail in our studio, we store projects for up to five years! Also, under certain conditions, we prepare and issue source files of 3D models and scenes to each client. We will be glad to every customer!

3D Visualization Pricing Factors

In order to find out what the cost of rendering will be in each specific case, it is necessary to take into account the following factors:

  • The area and height of the structure.The area and height of the structure. The creation of a three-dimensional image for private single-storey buildings is calculated according to the value of their area at the base rate. If the building has several floors, then the cost of services increases in proportion to the increase in their number. The most expensive project is a three-dimensional visualization of residential complexes, where, in addition to the main building, shopping, office and other infrastructure facilities are located.
  • Complexity of execution. It depends on the architectural features of the structure: the presence of non-standard designs of rooms, roofs or facade elements. The calculation of the cost of visualization is carried out after a detailed acquaintance with the drawings and other accompanying documentation of the future object.
  • Details. The higher the requirements for the realism of the image and the study of the exterior or interior by the client, the higher the price of the work. This is due to the fact that it takes much longer to draw the details.
  • Deadlines. In case of urgent execution of the project, the cost of work increases several times compared to the standard pricing.


Wei Dai-What Is His Influence in the Crypto Sector?

Wei Dai-What Is His Influence in the Crypto Sector?

Wei Dai is a renowned cryptographer who is among the early pioneers of the crypto space. He is also a member of the Cypherpunk group, which is well known for its efforts and contribution to the innovation of modern cryptocurrencies. Wei’s legacy in the crypto space will stick due to his work on the crypto ++ cryptographic library and his joint effort with Satoshi Nakamoto during the inception of Bitcoin.

The crypto space’s success results from the work of different inventors and pioneers like Wei Dai. While it is true that the father of modern cryptocurrencies is Satoshi Nakamoto, it is accurate to claim that he did not achieve fate alone. Different cryptographers and developers helped him examine his code’s logic and provide suggestions. Also, he built BTC on the works of others like Wei Dai.

After Satoshi prepared his first BTC whitepaper, he contacted Wei Dai and Hal Finney to pass through the work and give him feedback. He chose the two as they were some of the best cryptographers. Satoshi also contacted Wei Dai and told him that his work on B-money was part of his inspiration for the invention of Bitcoin.

Wei Dai is a computer scientist of Chinese origin whose life has been a mystery, something common to most crypto pioneers. Due to his tendency to be anonymous, some people think he could have been Satoshi Nakamoto. Dai is a graduate of computer science from the University of Washington and has a minor in Mathematics.

The two fields of study have allowed him to innovate and influence the crypto space greatly. Below is more on Wei Dai and his influence on the crypto space.

The History of Wei Dai

Wei Dai is a Chinese computer scientist best known for his work on b-money, crypto ++ cryptographic library, and VMAC. He was a member of Cypherpunks, SL4 mailing lists, and Extropians. He used to exchange ideas with people like Robin Hanson, Eliezer Yudkowsky , Nick Bostrom, and other rationalists in the 1990s.

He has made many contributions to cryptography. Some of his work features the identification of critical Cipher Block Chaining vulnerabilities that affect SSH2. He also explored the browser exploit against SSL/TLS ( BEAST).

His influence in the crypto space is tremendous and not to be looked down on. He worked with Satoshi Nakamoto during the inception of Bitcoin, and his impact on the crypto space also grew past Bitcoin. Wei, the smallest subunit of Ethereum, is named after him.

Some of Wei’s greatest projects include:

  • Crypto++ cryptographic library
  • VMAC
  • b-money

Wei Dai’s Career in Cryptography

Wei Dai began his career as a programmer in Terra Sciences Acton, Massachusetts. During his time there, Dai worked on innovating security solutions and secure communication of control stations for industrial applications.

Later, he joined the Cryptography Research Group of Microsoft located in Redmond, Washington. At Microsoft, Dai was part of a group that focussed on the study, design, and implementation of encryption systems for special applications.

At that time, Dai registered the patents 5724279 y 6081598 to optimize encryption systems in the Microsoft technology stack. Those patents proved helpful to Microsoft as it applied them in securing most of its softwares. The company mostly used innovation in the RSA encryption algorithms applications.

Development of Crypto ++ Cryptographic Library

Crypto++ is a library that Wei wrote using the C++ programming language. It has an open-source code used in academic, business, and open source projects. Some of the projects that have applied this technology include:

  • Microsoft Office Groove
  • Steam online gaming platform
  • Lastpass- password manager
  • Tripwire-computer security tool

The open-source code of the crypto ++ cryptographic library is available on GitHub. It supports various cryptographic systems, contributing to its usage across different projects. Its attributes like code cleanliness, portability, and good documentation have made it one of the most popular cryptographic libraries.

Wei Dai was one of the people who discovered a significant vulnerability in the SSL/TLS protocol. This vulnerability affected the internet security and left room for secured communications to be intercepted.

Breaking SSL/ TLS (BEAST) involved an attacker tricking a browser into sending a known snippet of plain text over an SSL connection. Then a copy of the message being communicated could be decoded using plain text. Although gaining an encrypted message is not equivalent to having a key to the message, the trick gives the attacker the advantage of obtaining the actual message.

This method was used to break the security of SSL/TLS posing a threat to the organizations and agencies that used it for communication.

Wei Dai also unearthed another vulnerability in the SSH2 protocol. He discovered that the Encryption Block Chaining mechanism had a vulnerability that put SSH2 at risk of exploitation. He published a report on the vulnerabilities and said:

“The SSH2 protocol, when used with block encryption in CBC mode, allows the attacker to look at the last encrypted text block in a packet, which is then used as the implicit in the next packet.

He then reported the vulnerability under the code CVE-2008-5161. It affected all SSH implementations that relied on CBC, including OpenBSD. This discovery showed that not even the most secure operating system was free of vulnerabilities.

Wei Dai and Ted Krovetz proposed the VMAC encryption-based Message Authentication Code algorithm. The Algorithm relies on a universal hash that the duo proposed in April 2007. It was designed to offer high-performance functionality through formal analysis. Wei published the specifications of their project later on in a detailed report.

He designed the Algorithm to run on a 64-bit system to allow fast data verification. The speed of data verification offered by the 64-bit systems is vital in reinforcing his algorithm’s perfection.

What Is B-Money?

Wei Dai first revealed b-Money in 1998 and explained that it was meant to be an anonymous and distributed electronic money system. The system sought to provide services akin to what modern cryptocurrencies offer.

Though digital currencies have risen and been developed to achieve futuristic performances over the past several years, it’s best to know that they have come a long way than just a decade. Most people know that Bitcoin was the first modern cryptocurrency to be adopted publicly. However, there is more to the story that many are yet to learn.

Satoshi Nakamoto built his work on previous projects like b-money, which formed some of the core features of the coin. While Bitcoin was launched to the public, Wei Dai never launched his b-money project.

The Development of B Money

Dai first published a paper on b-money in 1998 detailing the concept of the project. He outlined the general functionality of his currency in different ways that pre-date modern cryptos.

He described b-money as “a scheme for a group of untraceable digital pseudonyms to pay each other with money and enforce contracts amongst themselves without outside help.”

His concept for the currency included several features that most modern cryptos exhibit. Some features include the need for computational work for the currency to work, and the computation would require a community. Every member of such a community would be rewarded for their work (similar to crypto mining). The records of the transactions would also be stored in a collective ledger (similar to a blockchain distributed ledger).

Dai introduced a system where a collective bookkeeping mechanism would fit to keep the records safe. He also introduced the use of cryptographic protocols to facilitate the authentication of the transactions. He further suggested using digital signatures/ public keys to authorize the authentication of transactions and enforce automated contracts (similar to smart contracts).

These developments match some of the fundamental features of modern cryptocurrencies like blockchains, public keys, smart contracts, and the mining process of the currency.

His concept for b-money also included two proposals, with the first seeming impractical as it relied on PoW to generate money. The second proposal was a network structure for keeping records similar to what modern cryptocurrencies are.

Even though the new technology behind cryptocurrencies overshadows Dai’s work, he remains one of the key pioneers of the industry. Currently, Vitalik Buterin’s Ethereum network uses the name Wei to refer to the smallest unit of Ether. The name is an honor to Wei Dai’s work and research on cryptocurrencies through the b-money project.

How would b-money work?

According to Wei Dai’s paper sent to the Cypherpunk mailing list, the currency would have two major protocols. The first protocol would keep the records of the amount owned by every holder. It would let the aggregate accounts define the ownership of the money.

According to Dai, the protocol is “impractical because it makes heavy use of asynchronous and unjammable anonymous broadcast channels.”

However, it would pave the way for the second protocol. The second protocol keeps the money records by a subclass of participants rather than all users. The users are connected using a Usenet-style broadcast channel. The affected participants of each transaction are tasked with verifying that a transaction message has been received and successfully processed by a subset of record keepers. The system would pick the subset of the record keepers at random.

The currency’s creation system in the second protocol would follow four steps:

  • Planning- Account keepers would use a consensus method to agree on how the money supply would increase over the following season.
  • Bidding– All who would like to create b-money would broadcast a bid containing the amount they are willing to generate. The bid would also include a predetermined and unsolved problem class where each problem class would have a nominal cost that is publicly agreed upon.
  • Computation– Those who bid would solve their selected problems and broadcast the solutions.
  • Creation– Each account keeper would accept the highest bids and credit the accounts accordingly.

However, Wei Dai abandoned the project. According to him, the project was a personal endeavor and had no links to any funding or institution. He claimed that it was a result of personal interest in his comments.

“My motivation for b-money was to enable online economies that are purely voluntary… ones that couldn’t be taxed or regulated through the threat of force.”

What Were the Goals of B-Money?

While creating b-money, Wei Dai envisioned a community where the financial landscape would be free of discrimination regarding people’s status and other attributes like locality and identity. Since there would be no law-breaking and favoritism in such a system, there would be no need for a central oversight, and the system would be self-sufficient.

However, he knew that for the system to do away with the need for government intervention, the community would have to adopt P2P transactions.

Dai said, “Until now, it’s not clear, even theoretically, how such a community could operate. The cooperation of its participants defines a community, and efficient cooperation requires a medium of exchange (money) and a way to enforce contracts. Traditionally these services have been provided by the government or government-sponsored institutions and only to legal entities.”

How Did Dai Influence Modern Cryptocurrencies?

Wei Dai was a necessary force in the crypto space as he introduced some of the most common features. He brought the whole concept of digital currencies and decentralization to life at a time when technology was a limiting factor.

Even though he did not launch his project publicly due to different factors like fear of government hostility and limited technology, his influence will never be forgotten. Below are some of the features and ideas he brought to life and how they affect the crypto space.

Digital Money

Wei Dai introduced digital currency in the 1990s, while many people did not even know what the internet was. The internet was initially at Web 1.0 thus very slow and limited options of international connectivity which points to the ingenuity of his project. Though he did not launch the project for reasons best known to him, he gave other inventors like Satoshi Nakamoto the idea that money could be digital. This idea cuts across the cryptocurrency sector as different assets can be digitized now.

Blockchain/ Distributed Ledger Technology

While Dai was developing the b-money project, he planned to apply a ledger that would be public to collect all data on the transactions. He envisioned a log that could only be written through consensus and without the need for governmental control. That sounds more like a blockchain-distributed ledger system. Even though it is not exactly it, at least Dai came up with the idea that reshaped the world by giving rise to the crypto space.

Smart Contracts

In his project b-money, Dai talks about the project running on digital contracts to allow systematic operations. The contracts in question are programs with specific purposes whose pre-programmed functionality cannot be altered thus free from any form of bias. The contracts in question are referred to in the modern crypto sector as smart contracts.

Smart contracts play a crucial role in the crypto sectors as many projects like Defi rely on them. They also automate most processes and enforce decentralization by eradicating the need for third parties. Therefore, Wei Dai’s idea on digital contracts will always be landmarking as smart contracts are set to automate even more processes in the future.

Crypto Mining Mechanism

According to Wei Dai, the b-money project would require a group of record keepers to serve as validators of transactions. These validators would be selected at random to solve some problems, and the process would validate a transaction. In return, the validators would be rewarded for their work.

Such a mechanism is already introduced in modern cryptocurrencies. Miners are paid for validating the transactions on the networks. Dai’s concept is mainly applicable to PoW networks like Bitcoin.

PoW Money Generation Mechanism

Wei Dai planned to apply the PoW mechanism for b-money to be generated. However, he left the project behind since the available technology could not help him realize his dream.

While Dai could not incorporate the PoW mechanism of generating digital currencies, modern cryptos do. Major cryptos like Bitcoin are using PoW mechanisms to generate and control the mining of new coins. This is a feature that Dai introduced and has helped build the crypto sector.

Concept of Digital Signatures

In the b-money project, Wei Dai introduced a system where a public key would be used to authenticate major processes like the mass generation of coins. The core idea behind the key is a digital signature.

Digital signatures are some of the most important security features in the crypto space. Even though some attackers manage to bypass or trick digital signature mechanisms, the signatures secure funds from unauthorized access.

Peer-to-Peer Transactions

For b-money to function without the need for a government’s control, it had to apply the use of P2P transactions. Dai even explained that it was the only way that they would eradicate the need for the government to oversee the transactions.

Even though he never launched the b-money project to show how P2P transactions could remove centralization, current cryptosystems are using it. Some exchanges like Paxful focus solely on providing P2P transaction systems. It is also one of the major transaction methods in the crypto sector.

Is Wei Dai Satoshi Nakamoto?

Even though Wei Dai’s work is seemingly similar to Bitcoin, he may not be Satoshi Nakamoto. However, there is more to the claim than that. No one knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is. It is not evident whether he is an individual or a group of individuals.

Since Bitcoin came as a remix of different technologies and borrowed a lot from Wei Dai’s b-money, many ‘connect the dots’ and think Dai is Nakamoto. The other main reason people think that he is the real Nakamoto is that it’s not common for developers to leave life-changing projects behind.

Also, Bitcoin premiered when technology was not a limiting factor. Web 2 had already launched and introduced digital systems, allowing more intuited systems to be built. That occurrence could have motivated Dai to recreate his project and give him more time to develop it fully.

If Satoshi Nakamoto is a pseudo name for a group of individuals, it could not be surprising to find out that Wei Dai is a member. Additionally, it could also not be surprising to learn that he is or is not Satoshi. However, there is not enough evidence to support any of the theories. Also, there are people with better claims to the ‘throne’ than him.

Final Word

Wei Dai is a perfect example of scientists who reshape the world. Whether his b-money project worked or not, his dream of introducing digital money and decentralization was realized. Others finished the work he started, and the world is a better place due to his efforts.

While some would view his B-money project as a failure, it is not. From a general point of view, a project has to become functional to be considered a success. But from a logical point of view, if a project introduces new ideas and they get satisfied in one way or another, it has succeeded in introducing new possibilities.

The ideas that Wei Dai introduced through the b-money project, like digital money, smart contracts, p2p transactions, digital signatures, etc., are some of the core features of the crypto space. The idea of blockchain technology has been developed to encompass technologies other than digital economies.

Currently, almost every sector that requires data securing can use blockchain technology. It also influences the innovation of other technologies like Web 3 and the metaverse. These technologies are also built on the already present ones, showing how important Dai’s work was to future technologies.

Away from b-money, Dai also worked on encryption algorithms, some of which are applied in the crypto space. Even though not many projects apply his algorithms in encryption, some of his ideas have been used elsewhere.

Due to his contribution to the technology and crypto sectors, Dai will always be remembered as one of the key pioneers of the crypto space.

Samuel Mbaki Wanjiku

Samuel is an adventurous person who likes to explore topics in-depth and learn new things each day. His passion lies in gaining knowledge to help transform the world through his writing skills. He also believes in blockchain technology and its potential to usher in a cashless society. Currently, he is pursuing a Computer Science Bachelor’s degree driven by his fascination with emerging technologies. He has writing experience of about three years in different fields and two in blockchain technology.


…thoughts on optimization of the FP&A value proposition.

Albert Einstein

Imagine you have 3 minutes to explain to a six-year-old what FP&A is and what place it takes in a business ecosystem. Tough, isn’t it? What are things that a six-year-old would understand? For example, animals, right?

Once I came up with an analogy of a three-headed serpent. Later on, this mythical being has evolved into a new ‘species’: a four-headed dragon. This legendary serpent doesn’t live in a fairy tale, though; this story is about the real business world. If you have read the first story about this being, you might remember its biggest problem: deciding which of the three heads is the master. In business, it is also so often the case: there are so many different components involved, so which is the most important, how do they interact, and how can this interaction be optimized?

FP&A delivers value to the business

Let’s start with the following two (rather philosophical) questions:

  1. Why does FP&A exist?
  2. Who are the main customers of FP&A services?

I hope that we all agree that the main customers of FP&A services are management on different organizational levels. And the key value that you deliver to them is support in decision making. That’s it. That is why FP&A exists. All of your daily tasks like budgeting, planning, forecasting, analysis, etc., focus on delivering the key value: supporting decision making in the short-, medium-, and long-term.

How to perform the optimization of the FP&A value proposition?

Step 1. Limit information to the required level and to the scope of the decisions to be made.

Let’s take a look at this picture. The answer to the question ‘how can I optimize FP&A value?’ lies in there.

You support decision-making by providing insights into the information that forms the basis for the decision-making. How many reports does your department deliver to management? How much is information from these reports read and used for making decisions?

Once I heard of an assignment to optimize 11.000 reports. You might be a champion at what you do, but still…Maybe it is time to go and ask your company’s management: which information do they really need for which kind of decisions? This is the first step in the optimization of your FP&A function. Another benefit you can get here is improving your business by partnering with such stakeholders as management, company owners, regulators, etc.

Step 2. Ask for data that is limited to information needs.

To satisfy your optimized information requirements, you need the optimized data delivery. The action will reduce costs on data processing and storage as well as maintenance of software systems. To get make your task done, you need to develop your business by partnering with a business, which owns data, and with a data management function that is responsible for optimization of the whole chain of data delivery from the source to the final destination and set up a data quality framework. Building FP&A architecture together with data architects is also an example of business collaboration. As soon as you get data, it has to be processed and analyzed. Especially the last part is part of FP&A duties. Which optimization can you implement here?

Step 3. Optimize FP&A business processes.

A while ago, I talked to a CFO of a large international company, and I remember him saying: ‘Finance is data.’ These words sounded so true to me, and I think this is the real essence of what is going on in business and FP&A. Do you agree? How much of your daily tasks revolve around data? If you have managed to optimize data delivery, including improving the quality of data, now you might be spending a bit part of your time trying to make sense of the data you have and investigating different business scenarios. You might start experimenting with new FP&A techniques, such as driver-based modeling, rolling forecast, zero-based budgeting. Your business partnering efforts, again, focus on business stakeholders.

Step 4. Implement only those systems that fit your company’s purpose, culture, and resources.

It is a widespread delusion: a new system will solve old problems. No way. A new system can deliver value only when the entered data is clean and when the right processes are chosen. Furthermore, a new system has to fit the purpose, culture, and resources of your business. You should consider any system only as a supporting capability that enables the execution of your core tasks. Here you have a chance to build a solid partnering with IT and data management colleagues. Now data scientists also form a part of the FP&A environment. So, be prepared to work together if you want to optimize your analysis techniques.

Now let’s get back to our serpent. I believe its four heads are four masters that cannot be separated from each other. Each head plays its own important role in FP&A development. They need to work together towards a common goal and correspond to the company’s resources and ambitions. Only then can they conquer the world.

So, I hope that by now, you got ideas about the optimization of the FP&A value proposition


Ensure Lambda function does not have Admin privileges

Error: Lambda function has Admin privileges

Bridgecrew Policy ID: BC_AWS_SERVERLESS_1
Severity: CRITICAL

Lambda function has Admin privileges

AWS Lambda permissions are determined by the IAM execution role associated with the function. With an elevated execution role, an attacker can control the privileges that your Lambda function has.

We recommend you grant the IAM execution role the necessary permissions that your Lambda function needs, instead of providing administrative permissions.

Fix - Runtime

AWS Console

  2. Open the IAM console.
  3. In the navigation panel, select Roles.
  4. Enter the Lambda execution role.
  5. Select the IAM execution role returned in the result set.
  6. Navigate to the IAM role configuration page, select the Permissions tab in the bottom panel.
  7. To access the policy 7. document (JSON format) in the Policy name column, click the attached IAM policy name.
  8. Inside the JSON panel, If the elements values are set to "*" and the Effect is set to Allow, remove them.

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Sojournal X Amanoi Charity Day

You can’t do everything for everyone, but you can always do something for someone.

We were fortunate enough to visit the Vinh Hy local schools, home to 279 primary school students. Greeted by their joyous faces when we stepped off the bus, was truly overwhelming. Their willingness to share their joy with us was something we will never forget. We prepared school bags to share with the children, helping them carry and lighten the load of the baggage as they continue to embark on this next journey of theirs.


19/09/2022 GIP

Geopolitical Development and Its Implications for the Southern Caucasus

S. Neil MacFarlane

S. Neil MacFarlane, Lester B Pearson Professor of International Relations, The University of Oxford

The last six months have awakened many to the significant geopolitical developments accumulating globally over the past decade. This article attempts to address these developments and their implications for the region.

Geopolitics is a much-debated concept with many definitions. The definition proffered here draws from the etymological roots of the word. “Geo” is about territory or space and resources; “politics” is about power and its distribution. So, “geopolitics” concerns the relationship between territory, resources, and power. Issues such as pandemics, economic exchange, and climate change are also important elements of change in the international system but do not fall in the category of geopolitical developments.

The most obvious geopolitical development of relevance to the southern Caucasus is the war in Ukraine and the deepening confrontation between the West and Russia. The rise of China and its increasing engagement in the post-Soviet space, including the Southern Caucasus is also discussed. Both are symptoms of a broader systemic change: the gradual erosion of what we used to call “unipolarity” or American liberal hegemony.

The War in Ukraine

The first thing to say here is that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the latest and largest episode of Russia’s meddling with its neighbours in the former Soviet space. That began almost immediately after the dissolution of the USSR. Georgians know this very well from the 1992 and 1993 Russian deployment of “peace-keepers” to South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Another example is the Russian annexation of Crimea and intervention in Donbas and Luhansk in 2014. Most recently, in 2020, Russia deployed a peace-keeping force to police a post-conflict agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan after the latest episode of conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

In other words, Russia has a long history of military deployment in neighbouring states. This was accompanied by an intellectual justification for building and sustaining influence over its neighbours (the idea of a “near abroad”) that has grown in influence ever since its origins in 1992-3. In 1999-2000, Vladimir Putin came into leadership dedicated to the restoration of a Russian-led regional bloc and committed to preventing further western enlargement.

As Russian military capabilities were restored in the 2000s, Moscow became more assertive in regional affairs. In 2008, Russia invaded Georgia, took full control of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and then recognised the two rebel regions as independent states. In 2014, the Russian Federation reacted to the Maidan protests in Ukraine by seizing and then annexing Ukraine’s Crimea, and then helping separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk to seize and to maintain control over parts of those regions. On the 24th of February of 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine on multiple fronts in violation of international law. Two days before, it recognised Donetsk and Luhansk as sovereign states.

There are three things to note about this evolution. The first is that it reflects an inherently geopolitical effort to consolidate a sphere of influence in the western part of the post-Soviet region to limit the autonomy of neighbouring states. The second is to end eastward enlargement of Western institutions.

So far so good in terms of geopolitical developments. The third element is perception and misperception. Take, for example, the Russian perception of existential threat coming from NATO and EU enlargement. But NATO and EU enlargement to Ukraine was not imminent. Nor did it create any immediate existential threat to the Russian Federation.

More specifically, Putin incorrectly estimated numerous aspects of this conflict, notably the weakness and resilience of Ukrainian forces, the strength of Ukrainian identity, and the strength of Russia’s forces. The Russians went into Ukraine expecting to be met with flowers; they were met with Javelins and Stingers.

The Russian government also underestimated the Western response.

This litany of misperception suggests the incompleteness of geopolitical analysis. It focuses on power and territory without adequate attention to the human factor. Beyond misperception, Russia’s attack was rooted in ideological factors: Putin’s irrational obsession with Ukraine, his profound misunderstanding of Ukrainian history, nationhood and identity, and his deep suspicion of western ill intent all reflect his flawed understanding of the bilateral relationship and of the western view of Russia, rather than objective material facts on the ground. In short, Russian aggression against Ukraine is primarily rooted not in geopolitical imperatives, but in the delusions of their leader.

Whether the war’s origins can be explained geopolitically, its consequences involve a dramatic geopolitical shift in international relations both for the former Soviet region and for Russia’s relations with the West.

Consequences of the War

Concerning Russia’s relationship with the West, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine provoked the most comprehensive sanctions ever imposed on a great power that occupies a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Military spending has accelerated throughout NATO. Alliance forces are deploying forward toward the border with Russia. Finland and Sweden have both applied for membership, bringing with them large forces with significant military capabilities that are interoperable with NATO. If Russia’s objective was to end NATO’s eastward enlargement, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine achieved exactly the opposite.

The war also produced a significant consolidation of the EU, with the organization joining NATO in the sanctions effort, dramatically increasing EU military, economic, and humanitarian support to Ukraine, renewing its consideration of military and security cooperation in the EU, and accelerating the process of eastward enlargement through the granting of candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova.[1]

Although not a return to the Cold War, the worsening of relations between Russia and the West appears to be creating a new dividing line across Europe. The 1990 vision of “one Europe whole and free” is dead. That carries significant implications for the states lying in between.

In addition, the war has substantially weakened the United Nations, particularly the Security Council, whose principal function is to maintain peace and security. Russia’s veto prevents the Council from fulfilling its responsibilities.

In a broader sense, the war has damaged the international order in that a permanent member of the Security Council is violating basic principles of international law (the sanctity of sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the prohibition of the aggressive use of force), and international humanitarian law (the protection of civilian lives and property). When leading states in international system abandon or ignore these laws, they undermine the normative fabric of international relations.

Another important consequence of the war has been the strengthening of the Russia-China relationship. Russia’s political and economic isolation from the West makes it increasingly dependent on China, by some measures now the largest economy in the world. It has used this wealth to rapidly develop its military to the extent where it is now a serious competitor to the United States in East Asia. Its competition with the West is enhanced by its heavy investments in infrastructure in its periphery (the Belt and Road Initiative). Both Russia and China are illiberal and expansionist. This evolving alignment consolidates the emerging bipolarity in the international system.

Implications of Geopolitical Developments for the Southern Caucasus

The southern Caucasus is no stranger to geopolitical struggle. Given the region’s interstitial location between three great powers and on major trading routes, it has always been a target and a victim for larger neighbours. That is likely to continue.

Regarding Russia, the analysis suggests that the southern Caucasus, and in particular Georgia, faces several challenges. We have understood the revanchist nature of Russia’s policy towards its neighbours for a long time. The war in Ukraine has strikingly revealed the essence of that policy. Dimitri Medvedev’s is alleged to have said recently that Ukraine was not the end of the process of restoring the Russian empire[2] He went on to mention both Georgia and northern Kazakhstan as historically part of Russia and future targets in this reconstitution. The risk here is that Russia may be tempted to revisit its 2008 attack on Georgia, not least in order to seize control of its energy infrastructure of oil and gas pipelines and rail since the Russians are now using energy supply as a weapon in their struggle with the West. In this sense, Russia poses an existential threat for Georgia.

Europe is now divided again. This raises an important question for the southern Caucasus as a whole: once again they are in between rival centres of power. The Russians have always been sensitive to Western penetration of the Caucasus. In the current context, they are likely to be more sensitive. This will require careful balancing by the Caucasian states. On the one hand, they do not want to be on the Russian side of the line, because they value their interactions with the West. On the other hand, tilting too far westward may provoke an unpleasant Russian reaction. The record of the West in defending Caucasian states (notably Georgia) against Russia is not a very good one.

On the other hand, some might believe that the US, having re-engaged in Europe as a result of Ukraine, may strengthen its security and economic engagement with the Caucasus, and notably Georgia. This will likely result in increasing NATO and direct military engagement through the various strategic partnerships. But in contrast to the threat, such engagement will continue to have small effects. And the assistance provided by the US and NATO in the theatre focuses on Ukraine first and the Baltic republics second. The other expensive effort is to balance China in the Pacific. For the moment, there is not much left over.

The geopolitical and geoeconomic rise of China is of less concern. In the first place, their rise is now spluttering because of the economic consequences of their covid policies, continuing problems in global supply chains, increasing difficulty with the BRI initiative, the coming crisis in their financial markets, and a growing western desire to reduce their dependence on Chinese exports. It is unlikely to pose a direct geopolitical challenge in the Southern Caucasus.

Here I should say a word about Turkey, a powerful state contiguous to the region. It played a major role in Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenia in the second Karabakh war. It is also attempting to balance its relations with its western allies in NATO with its deep and growing ties to Russia. The relationship is growing not only because of a shared authoritarian impulse, but also because of strong bilateral economic ties, and the need for cooperation in the Black Sea region. But, to judge from the historical record, Turkey has no interest in having an armed border with a Russia that controls Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. For Turkey, the Caucasus is a buffer that it would not want to surrender. Turkey remains a problem for Armenia, but not for Georgia or Azerbaijan.

Finally, a word about Iran, the third large state bordering on the Caucasus. The bottom line here is that Iran’s geopolitics is dominated by the “Shi’ite Crescent”, the Persian Gulf, and the ongoing dispute with the United States and Europe over its nuclear programmes. Also, given positive Iranian relations with Russia, it is unlikely to take significant steps in the southern Caucasus.

Two major conclusions can be drawn from this analysis, one theoretical and one practical. At the level of theory, although geopolitics is a useful approach to the study of state behaviour, it fails to account adequately for human agency and perception. As we have seen in the case of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the perceptions and beliefs of leaders strongly influence the tide of geopolitics.

In practical terms, the Russian threat to the region is growing, and the reluctance of the West to bring the Caucasian states into NATO and the EU remains. Given the nature of the Russian political system, even if Putin disappeared, he would likely be replaced by someone with similar views. The penetration of Russian society by national chauvinist and revanchist ideas also suggests that current Russian policy towards its neighbouring region would persist. Russia wants control if not reabsorption of their former Soviet neighbours, and they want to prevent the “intrusion” of the West into their space. Russia is not going away any time soon.

The stalemate in Ukraine appears to have broken southeast of Kharkiv, with Russian forces retreating in considerable numbers. This may be good news, but it is not the end of the story. This has occurred on one small section of the front line. In material terms, Russia remains by far the stronger party in the conflict. Victory is not around the corner for either party. The war will likely go on for some time yet. And, in the extreme possibility that Ukraine ejects the aggressor, that may make things worse for other Russian neighbours.

[1] Georgia also applied for membership but did not receive candidate status. Instead, the Council of Europe decided that Georgia would be invited to candidacy when it addressed the priorities laid out in the European Commission’s opinion on Georgia’s membership application. See Council Conclusions – 23-24, 2022. 2022-06-2324-euco-conclusions-en.pdf (europa.eu).
[2] Mr. Medvedev is a former president and prime minister of Russia and is currently the Deputy Chairman of Russia’s National Security

Perspective was produced in cooperation with the Heinrich Boell Stiftung Tbilisi Office – South Caucasus Region. The contents of this perspective are the sole responsibility of the author and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Heinrich Boell Stiftung Tbilisi Office – South Caucasus Region and Georgian Institute of Politics.
Photo Credit: The Asia Today
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Healthcare and Project Management Trends on the Horizon. Are you Ready?

Project management has been an ever-evolving and critical business discipline for decades. Now, with the impending, fast-paced societal, environmental, economic, and technological changes on the horizon, it is critical to ascertain how different industries, including healthcare, will manage and execute processes. Professionals need to be more proactive and prepared to ride the wave of evolution. The real question pressing today is – Are you ready for the project management trends that are ready to transform the healthcare industry?

Let’s explore some critical healthcare and project management trends and how can you prepare for them:

Trend 1# – Artificial Intelligence and Automation

The pace of change in the healthcare industry is showing no signs of slowing down. With global healthcare spending expected to rise at a CAGR of 5% between 2019 and 2023, there is strong evidence suggesting an impending evolution in the industry. This will also likely present multiple opportunities for enhanced treatment techniques and technologies. As of now, artificial intelligence and automated technologies have been successful in providing more precise, efficient, and impactful treatment. Moreover, as learning algorithms become more advanced and accurate, they allow professionals to gain unprecedented insights into diagnostics, patient care, treatment viability, as well as patient outcomes. Owing to the onset of the technological revolution in the healthcare industry, healthcare providers have been able to introduce predictive care models that use a proactive approach. Real-time health monitoring, digital therapeutics, digital biomarkers, remote clinical trials, etc., are transforming the already progressing healthcare industry. Also, project managers have been able to collect more accurate patient data and use automation methods to perform complex tasks, capture insights, and make informed decisions ensuring comprehensive patient health.

Artificial intelligence and automation

Trend 2# The Digital Revolution

Without a doubt, the healthcare industry is on a transformational journey. The methods of providing care for patients have indeed changed and progressed over the years. But simultaneously, the way patients select their healthcare providers and opt for a treatment method has also been modified. The patient community has become highly engaged and informed. Today, patients have a plethora of options to choose where and how they get care. Patients research and study their healthcare options online, and also share their healthcare experiences online. The experience sharing is detailed and includes, reviews of providers, ratings of hospitals and doctors, discussions of treatments and procedures, the listing of medications, and much more. This has, in turn, increased the burden on healthcare organizations and project managers to ensure they keep patient satisfaction as the focal point and provide improved patient experiences. In this race, healthcare organizations have opted for digital technologies, allowing them to optimize their efficiency and productivity, as well as attract and retain the best talent, manage highly complex processes like insurance and legal while at the same time following the strict industry standards.

The Digital Revolution

Trend 3# Data is the Way Forward

Today, everything is driven by data. The modern world is now surviving and thriving on data, and hence, the healthcare industry is no exception. Healthcare organizations receive a huge inflow of data, which if utilized correctly can help them improvise their treatment methods and other related processes in the future. Moreover, health data is sensitive information. Hence, healthcare organizations should focus more on adopting methods that protect patient data security and privacy. All new technologies should only be adopted once they surpass the privacy-keeping lens. This is applicable for electronic health records, as well as other technologies that help manage everything right from hospital operations, clinical trials, certifications, insurance claims, employee on-boarding, mergers, and more. That said, most new technologies help to reduce the data risk by providing healthcare organizations more control and transparency in their processes. This further

reduces errors. Hence, the goal should be to adopt tech-driven data solutions that confirm privacy. In some cases, organizations push away the latest means only because of the significant investment undergone into the development of the legacy systems. But, when compared on an equivalent scale, there are compelling financial benefits of using healthcare technologies for more efficient workflows.

Data is the Way Forward

Trend 4# Healthcare Project Management is the Need of the Hour

As healthcare and its related sectors grow more complex, the importance of efficient project management has come to the forefront. Well-rounded project management processes help to optimally handle everything right from employee on-boarding, facilities management, legal and regulatory compliance, insurance claims, doctor-scheduling, and much more. Organizations that are not ready to ride this bandwagon are most likely to work in siloes, which hinders productivity. There are multiple technologies and software in the project management space that can enable collaborative work management. These solutions are low-cost, easy-to-use, and highly prolific. Moreover, the new-age, empowered tools help reduce delays in patient care by ensuring optimum coordination and well-established links between the different departments and even offices across multiple locations. Cloud-based and AI-powered project management solutions empower teams to work as one, regardless of their time zones and geographical location. Most of these tools offer real-time information via dashboards and reports, enabling organizations to identify and respond to trends, be it patient satisfaction or facilities operations. The idea behind adopting collaborative project management tools is to make the technology work for you, be it managing facilities and operations, optimizing IT operations, streamlining insurance processing, and managing compliance across the entire business organization. However, before organizations invest in a solution to improve healthcare project management, they must assess the flexibility of the tool. Also, understand its functioning, dependence, and prefer to opt for a connected platform rather than a single tool.

Healthcare Project Management is the Need of the Hour
Recommend0 recommendationsPublished in General, Leadership, Project Management, Soft Skills

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What’s So Trendy Regarding Crime That Every Person Went Bananas Over It?

There are various definitions of criminal activity in the regulation. A common definition is any type of unlawful act punishable by the state or another authority. Nonetheless, in modern criminal regulation, there is no basic, global meaning of what comprises a crime. Legal interpretations have been offered different purposes, yet the term has stayed elusive. This short article will certainly provide some info on criminal offense as well as its various categories. A quick introduction to the field will certainly be offered below.

A criminal activity has numerous various levels. It can be a felony or an offense of the legislation. An infraction might be a public law or a social problem. A criminal activity is a wrong that is devoted in a details setting. As an example, criminal damage is an instance of a crime. This kind of offense is typically unlawful. There are various interpretations for every type of criminal offense, including sex-related offenses and also criminal activities against building.

Criminal activity’s origin is complex and also greatly based upon the history of human culture. It stemmed from the Saxon kings that continued to apply Roman rule in England. In the 4th century, Germanic hirelings were sent out into England to secure the nation. This combination of Latin and Germanic languages was the first to be used in the English language. The term criminal offense is likewise utilized to describe an occurrence in which a person is required to utilize force to obtain something.

Some criminal activities are considered criminal offenses because they are a lot more severe violations of public order, while others are minor as well as not punishable. A criminal offense may be an omission or an act. While the majority of criminal activities need the visibility of intent to be considered a crime, there are instances where no intent is required. Regardless of the nature of a criminal offense, the effects can be devastating. The complying with table defines the different kinds of criminal activity. If you have committed a criminal offense, there’s a high chance that you were the sufferer of a criminal offense.

Willful commission of a criminal activity is the primary kind of criminal act. These criminal offenses are defined as deliberate acts, and also are punishable by a variety of means, such as imprisonment, penalties, as well as death. These crimes are categorized as violations, and also are usually the result of human habits. Some jurisdictions might even be a mix of both. In some territories, a person is charged with a criminal offense when they go against the law.

Much of the theories that are commonly made use of in criminal justice are debatable. As an example, some criminal activities are considered to be inherently wicked. Other crimes, like murder, are forbidden by statutes. These are lawbreakers that profit from the activities of others. Although that these criminal activities are not always willful, these crimes might be the item of a social trouble. Oftentimes, individuals are compelled to accept the offenders. There is no refuting that a crime is a criminal task, but it is a significant infraction.

In terms of sociological theory, criminal activity is an act dedicated by a person that creates damage to one more person. It can be devoted by a person or a team of people. It can additionally be a result of a solitary act. Furthermore, it might be a minor criminal activity that has no repercussions. Connecting with a social team is oftentimes linked with a specific kind of a racial or ethnicity.

An individual’s identification is important in comprehending a crime. As an example, it is the identification of an individual and also the manner in which she or he views themselves. It is necessary to be knowledgeable about this in order to prevent the wrongdoer from carrying out a criminal offense versus the sufferer. A burglar may not be a member of a particular group, so it is vital to maintain the target’s info private and protected.

In addition to physical crime, there are numerous non-criminal habits. These activities can include betting, hooking, profanity, as well as substance abuse. While these acts are ruled out criminal activities, they may be taken into consideration dangerous. They may be against the law however are not in the group of criminal activity. The legislations on betting are likewise various in various societies. Along with being a crime, individuals can be punished for breaking the law. For example, a person might be penalized for blasphemy.

The term “crime” is an abstract idea and is defined as any type of unlawful act that can be penalized by a state or various other authority. Its use in criminal law has actually differed substantially throughout the years, and legal definitions have been included for certain objectives. Regardless of the different lawful uses words, there is no widely accepted meaning of the term. The idea of criminal activity is usually comprehended as an act of harm committed against another human.

The term has lots of sources. For example, criminologists have actually kept in mind that the word “crime” has its roots in Latin cernere, a word that implies to sort. In addition to its roots in “cry” words, various other scholars think that the term is originated from the Old English facen, which indicates fraud. While these theories vary in their verdicts, several experts agree that criminal offense came from old Europe.

The beginnings of this term can be mapped back to anti-Jewish riots in 1819, where troubles damaged Jewish home. Words “crime” was first created in English during the British Questions right into the Origins of Criminal offense. In the early 19th century, lawbreakers were described as “wrongdoers,” however the term was also used to describe misbehavior dedicated by non-criminals. While most of these activities might have been classified as criminal offenses, they are not the reason for criminal activity. Browse this site

The origin of the term “criminal offense” is unclear. It is specified as an act that creates injury to a person or society. The idea was developed in the center Ages by Germanic hirelings, that remained to enforce Roman rule in England. In the nine century, the term ended up being a linked principle with the Norman intrusion. In recent times, the term “crime” has been made use of to describe misdoings dedicated versus a state or culture.

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Signature Salad

Salads are nutritious and have endless creative possibilities limited only by your imagination and what you have on hand. They can be a side dish or the main course. A salad can restore your health and refresh your palate.

My friend, Lynn, who is also a Kitchen Chat producer, shared her family tradition with me. Her Italian mother- in law, Lola, taught her the basics to create a signature salad. The secret is to use good quality, fresh ingredients. Do not use precut, prepackaged, or prepared items such as bottled garlic.

Start with a foundation of a quality vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, I use red wine vinegar. Experiment with apple cider, malt, balsamic as well. Choose a lettuce or combination of lettuces and put in an bowl. I personally enjoy Romaine. Squeeze a clove of garlic through a garlic press and put it on the lettuce. Cut up onion; white, red, green, or chives and place on salad. I enjoy using a mandolin for the onions. Now you can add any other ingredients you wish. Fresh pepper, olives, berries, apple, pear, nuts, roasted pumpkin seeds, dried fruit, cheese, egg, steak, salmon, shrimp, avocado, honey, squeeze of lemon, etc. Create a palette for your palate!

Finish your creation with a sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, sea salt, pepper, parmesan reggiano and croutons. I remember Patricia Wells telling me years ago that “a salad always needs a crunch to satisfy.” The amount of oil, vinegar, etc. is put on the salad to taste. This takes practice to understand, it is what makes your salad unique. You, too can perfect the tradition of Lynn and Lola to create your own taste legacy for your family and friends.

Ingredients in my pictured salad:

Romaine hearts, garlic, red onion, red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, parmesan reggiano, olives, raspberries and blueberries.


Kevin Lewis

Accessing MongoDB Atlas From Netlify Functions

June 6th 2020

I recently tried to use a MongoDB Atlas instance with Netlify Functions and couldn't seem to connect to the database (I could locally). Here's why, and how I fixed it

The cause

When setting up a MongoDB Atlas Cluster you must provide a list of allowed IPs - with a one-click button to enable your own machine.

During local development everything will work file, but when you push your functions to Netlify the IP address will no longer match the one in the allowed list.

Unfortunately, Netlify don't provide the IP range for the machines that run serverless functions (as is the very nature of serverless), so this led me down a rabbit hole.

The fix

After spending a couple of hours to find the solution, I discovered it was just a single button click. In 'Network Access' in your cluster settings click 'Add IP Address'.

Then click 'Allow Access From Anywhere' and confirm your changes.

Hopefully this short post can save you debugging time.


Plutarch’s morals

The philosophers tell us that some bodies are composed of distinct parts,as a fleet or army; others of connected parts, as a house or ship; others united and growing together, as every other animal is. the marriage of lovers is like this last class, that of those who marry for dowry or children is like the second class, and that of those who only sleep together is like the first class, who may be said to live in the same house, but in no other sense to live together. but just as doctors tell us that liquids are the only things that thoroughly mix, so in married people there must be a complete union of bodies, wealth, friends and relations. And thus the Roman legislator forbade married people to exchange presents with another, not that they should not go shares with one another,  but that they should consider everything as common property.

I think that is sound advice.


Patients and Physicians Should Take Note of Ethnicity-Specific Body Mass Index (BMI) Guidelines

One size truly does not fit all according to the latest research, an expert from a top American hospital,
Cleveland Clinic, points out

Leslie Heinberg, PhD, MA

Cleveland, Ohio: While body mass index (BMI) as a body composition assessment tool has long had its critics, recent research has highlighted a new potential drawback in that it could prevent people of certain ethnicities from having their risk for Type 2 diabetes assessed earlier. A psychologist and weight management specialist at a top American hospital, Cleveland Clinic, stresses the importance of physicians and patients being aware of different cut-off points based on their ethnicity.

Leslie Heinberg, PhD, MA, explains that recently, researchers in the U.K. discovered that the cutoff BMI number associated with a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes varies between different patient populations. For example, a BMI of 30 or above was linked to a higher risk for white people. For Black people, the cutoff number was 28 or above. For South Asian people it was 23.9 or above and for the Middle Eastern population, the BMI cutoff was 26 or above.

The problem? Some healthcare providers might only be making recommendations for diabetes-related lifestyle changes or treatment options based on the risk level for white people. This means that other populations might not get the medical interventions they need in time.

Here, Dr. Heinberg, explains why BMI is still used and gives some tips for how people of color can make sure they’re on the right track despite the discrepancies.

Where did BMI come from?

The formula for calculating body mass was the creation of a Belgian mathematician, astronomer, sociologist and statistician named Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet. Quetelet wasn’t focused on studying obesity when he developed what was first known as the “Quetelet Index” (your weight in kilograms divided by the square of your height in meters, or Kg/M²). He was looking at years of crime data that he compiled to link crime to social conditions. In doing so, he noticed a relationship between an adult’s height and weight.

In 1972, American physiologist Ancel Keys gave the Quetelet Index a new name as he thought the formula was a good way to identify obesity. He referred to it as the body mass index.

“It’s a ratio that takes height into account because taller people weigh more than shorter people,” says Dr. Heinberg. “It was developed more for actuarial tables and to determine which people are at a higher risk for mortality. It’s something that makes sense when you look at a very large population.”

Dr. Heinberg adds that today, many organizations and businesses still rely on BMI when it comes to providing things like insurance or medical procedures.

The drawbacks of BMI

Dr. Heinberg says that BMI can be a pretty blunt instrument for health because it leaves a lot of physical attributes out of the equation.

“It doesn’t take into account a lot of things about an individual. You can ask somebody for their height and weight and it becomes a very easy assessment in comparison to a full and comprehensive evaluation. When we think about an individual’s health and their health risks, taking their background information into account is helpful. But when you’re looking at a million people, you just can’t do that.”

Other physical signs of health risks

While BMI is one way of measuring risks, Dr. Heinberg says there are other physical clues to watch out for.

“We do know things like waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and where you hold excess weight might play an even more important role when it comes to metabolic diseases,” she says.

For instance, if you have an apple body shape or a pear shape, the excess abdominal weight of an apple shape is associated with more cardiovascular risks and metabolic disease. “Also, with things like obstructive sleep apnea, neck circumference seems to be important. It all goes way beyond just BMI.”

How people can advocate for their health

Since BMI originated with the measurements of European men, we know that it leaves a wide range of people out of the equation. However, since it is just one piece of information, Dr. Heinberg recommends getting the full picture of your health.

“What’s helpful about this study is that it helps illustrate that BMI should not just be used to determine if someone is healthy, unhealthy, lean or obese. Instead, it should be considered as another vital sign. If a provider sees someone with an elevated BMI, particularly if they are from a population that is at higher risk for Type 2 diabetes, that should suggest doing some lab work and making additional assessments. It would also be good to discuss any factors that can keep a patient out of that pre-diabetic or full diabetic range.” These factors might include sleep habits, stress management, dietary changes and increased physical activity.

If you already know that your family has a history of diabetes, high blood pressure or other health concerns, discuss it with your provider. The more information they have, the better equipped they are to monitor your health and help you manage any conditions.

The main thing to keep in mind about BMI

Dr. Heinberg says the other important message when it comes to BMI or weight is that you do not have to lose a large amount of weight to improve your health.

“There’s this unfortunate message that everyone has to be within this little window. But even a small amount of weight loss — around 2.5kg to 4.5kg — is associated with really significant improvements in metabolic risk or cardiovascular risk.”

About Cleveland Clinic: