We'll likely see the top picks for safer, post-quantum encryption technology early in 2022.
When these machines will be able to crack conventional encryption is an open question. But the safe money suggests it won't take long.
A new ad campaign targets Nike, Coca-Cola and American Airlines.
Some of America’s most prominent CEOs have been getting political, as in woke political, and perhaps they figured it was cost-free. They are now learning the hard way that it isn’t, as a national advertising campaign targets their brands and credibility.
The campaign launched Tuesday by Consumers’ Research, a conservative nonprofit, takes aim at Nike, Coca-Cola and American Airlines. But others could be the targets, says Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research. The 30-second spots will air on national cable news, as well as “in local markets where the companies are headquartered,” the nonprofit said. One source says the overall ad buy could be up to $13 million....
Comments from readers:
new update on Jan 9, 2022
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new update on May 29, 2021
Hackers behind the SolarWinds attack gained access to the email system of a US aid agency, says Microsoft.
===================Wary of alarming investors, companies victimized by ransomware attacks often tell the SEC that “malware” or a “security incident” disrupted their operations.
Dec. 23, 2019,
Thanks to Michael Gillespie, an obscure programmer at a Nerds on Call repair store, hundreds of thousands of ransomware victims have recovered their files for free.
Oct. 28, 2019,
Cybercriminals are zeroing in on the managed service providers that handle computer systems for local governments and medical clinics.
Sept. 12, 2019,
Even when public agencies and companies hit by ransomware could recover their files on their own, insurers prefer to pay the ransom. Why? The attacks are good for business.
Aug. 27, 2019,
From 2015 to 2018, a strain of ransomware known as SamSam paralyzed computer networks across North America and the U.K. It caused more than $30 million in damage to at least 200 entities, including the cities of Atlanta and Newark, New Jersey, the Port of San Diego and Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles. It knocked out Atlanta’s online water service requests and billing systems, prompted the Colorado Department of Transportation to call in the National Guard, and delayed medical appointments and treatments for patients nationwide whose electronic records couldn’t be retrieved. In return for restoring access to the files, the cyberattackers collected at least $6 million in ransom.
I'll update this page with latest digital currency information:
The whipsawing price of Bitcoin has turned the market into paradise for professional traders – but a potential nightmare for the amateurs who previously dominated the space. For the rational mind, trying to take on the balance sheets and focus of Wall Street Pros is tough enough – now comes news that the US Federal Reserve expects introducing its own Bitcoin-alternative by 2023. Click here to watch chairman Jay Powell’s five minute video on the topic, which was released last night. Alarm bells are ringing louder than ever. – Alec Hogg
By Craig Torres
(Bloomberg) – Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell turned up the volume in the U.S. digital dollar debate, announcing the central bank will publish a research paper and seek public comment as it weighs issuing one in the future.
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I listened today to zoom meeting to lawyers discussing about cryptocurrencies:
Top 3 Wholesale CBDC countries are:
Hong Kong, Thailand, China, UAE, Singapore
Retail: Bahamas, China, Cambodia
Lawyers need to know knowledge of basic programming and coding.
Crypto lending platforms 10%
Future of money: Coinstats? Henri Arslanian
check out Youtube page and get google alerts on bitcoin
Crypto
Fintech
blockchain
digital economy
double spend is problem
started in 208
Smart contracts: program it, so that you get paid automatically. It's decentralized way of smart payment.
Crypto highly volatile
China says no to Crypto and bitcoin
There are many types of cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin is traceable and not used by criminals, and those who use are caught, it's 0.34%
CBTC cash will disappear
policy makers know about black economies like cash
Economist used the term block chain in 2015
bitcoin is decentralized.
Central Bank doesn't like but wants to leverage it:
1. cash
2. reserves
3. digital banknotes coming implications =>
4. low interest rate
CBTC - to help kickstart economy (make it to expire) hmmmmm.....
Future of money by China, it's ahead by 6 years, set in 2014 and England started in 2020.
Cash banned in China
Cashless -Central Bank in control....
Digital # banks use - CBTC - US not in top 10
Stable coins coming up - for cross border money transfers payments in 90billion
BM - Libra by FB moving from Geneva to US
Recently I was having issues with my FIOS internet access! It was acting up. On the router there are two ways to connect, the 2.4 GHz didn't work.
Today I was checking and the settings website was: myfiosgateway.com SURPRISE SURPRISE it has now NOTHING to do with the router!!
It shows this tiny announcement and NOTHING ABOUT WHY IT"S NOT WORKING:
I had to do some search on duckduckgo.com and this is what I found out! SURPRISE SURPRISE< VERIZON has abandoned it!!
- last edited on by
LawrenceC
At Bayside Digital, we give a special link to our clients, once their videos are converted to .mp4.
At times, it's not easily visible the download button, that's below the lower right, below the video.
All you need to do is click on the download arrow and it would download where normally you have set up your downloads from online sources.
Vimeo has also instructions that I hope will help you. It's at: https://vimeo.com/blog/post/how-to-download-videos-from-vimeo/
I hope this helps.
Click on the down arrow and it will give you options to download:
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I am looking into using ECWID after finding out negative comments regarding WIX and Shopify. I am doing some research, before I decide if it's good for me.
Looking for ecommerce software? Here's how Ecwid and Etsy stack up.
ECWID = Pricing from
$ 15.00 / month
Free Plan?
Yes
Best for
All retailers that need a powerful store added to their existing site - without the need to change their CMS (content management system), site design, or hosting - will find Ecwid an attractive option.
I know for a fact, that trying to sell something just because you enjoy making it is not always the answer to your money problems. As a matter of fact, it can be a real drain on your bank account. I have had this happen before, and it was disheartening.
Thankfully, I did not let that stop me from trying again. It took some time and extra effort on my part to figure things out, but since then I have enjoyed hearing that Cha-Ching on a regular basis.
Being passionate about your product is only one part of the equation. The real key to success is by being able to solve a problem. Can you explain what problem your product solves?
In order to solve your customer's problem, you first have to understand who your customer is! Take the time to think about who you are trying to help? What is their problem? How can you solve it? Can they afford it? If not, can you lower your price? And then ask yourself why they should buy your product over your competitors.
This is called customer profiling. You can give your ideal client a name, age, geographic location, and even a picture if you want, so you can really know them.
If your product cannot solve your idea customers problem, or maybe your ideal customer may love your product, but they cannot afford it, you may have to take a step back and figure out if you should do some product research to find a better product to sell, or if you can get your costs down, so your customer can purchase your product.
This is step one. If you are not solving some sort of problem, then you do not have a business. Likely, you will be able to figure out the problem, just make sure your ideal customer can afford it.
Once you have done this, you can move forward with setting up your store to help your customer find you, and hopefully convince them that you indeed do have the solution to their problem.
When you walk into a physical store, most of the time there are a few key things that make them recognizable to being that specific store. Usually, there are a few things that are memorable.
First, the sign, which is made up of a logo. Your shop should have that too. Despite being a creative person, you are still a business, or aka a brand. You need a marker that makes your brand unique. This doesn’t have to be complicated, and you can find premade logos on Etsy, or you can hire a designer to make one for you.
Just like your logo, a banner across the top of your shop can help your store stand out. You can use this to highlight your products, or just to reinforce your brand.
Etsy provides many places for you to allow your customer to get to know you and your product. I have seen so many profiles that all of this is blank. Your about section and your announcement section are both great places to highlight your unique product and how it can help solve your target customer’s problem.
More so now than ever, it is so important to fill out your shop policies. Do you accept returns? How about allowing cancelations after a product has been ordered? Do you have a specific amount of time you need to get an order made and shipped out?
If you do not have these policies stated, you are in for a real headache when someone orders a custom piece of art and then decides once you ship it out that they don’t want it anymore. If you do not have these policies filled out and the customer opens a case against you with Etsy, you are going to end up eating the costs.
It is important to protect you, and Etsy has been known to shove shops without their policies filled out to the back of the searches. Given how many sellers are on this platform, this could be preventing you from even being seen.
Not to be rude, but I have seen some pretty nasty photos for product listings. Dirt, dog hair, clutter, etc., cannot be in your product photo. For most people this is obvious, but look at your images and make sure there is nothing like that that accidentally made it into your image.
That is only the beginning.
If you are not sure how to take a good product photo, please take the time to do some research on youtube. There are so many resources to help you take photos. You do not need an expensive camera, especially if you have an up-to-date cell phone.
If you are really wanting to make money, you have to realize that your customer cannot hold your product unless they buy it. If it is blurry, busy, dark, or dirty, it is not going to catch their eye in the search — at least not in a good way — and that alone can keep someone from even clicking on your listing, even if you do manage to show up in a search.
It doesn’t have to be perfect, but remember, your competitors are working really hard to stand out, and even if your product is way better, your photos are all your customer has to go by, so make sure they can tell how awesome your product is.
That being said, please consider using at least two photos, but don’t be afraid to take all ten that Etsy allows.
Something a bit newer that Etsy has added is allowing video of your product. This is the closest to real-time that someone can see your product. It brings it to life and really lets people see your work.
Do not skip this step!
It takes 5–15 seconds to record a quick video. Stand back and then move closer and show the details.
But make sure just like your photos, that your videos are bright, clean, and clear.
Another issue I see on Etsy is people doing one of two things with their descriptions. They either leave them blank, or they fill them out like a robot. This is a chance to talk directly to your customer. Write in the first person, say hello, thank them for looking at your stuff, and explain to them what you have to offer.
It is very important to be clear on your descriptions of what they are getting. Don’t leave them guessing, because they may jump right over to your competitor's listing that is crystal clear — which Etsy has been posting competitors listings at the bottom of the page lately!
Last, but most importantly, is your tags. When you are listing your product, towards the bottom of the page there are lots of options to fill in things like tags, materials, holidays, etc., don’t skip any of this.
These are all used to help you rank in searches. It is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If you skip filling out your tags or do not put any real effort into it, you could be hurting your chances of making any money or even being found.
Those tags and other descriptions are what your ideal customer might be putting into the search bar to look for your product. If your tags are not specific to your product, you might end up in a vague search with over 300,000,000 listings. The people who are looking for your exact product might never find you at all.
You want to be as specific as possible. If you are selling a gold women’s watch, tag your listing with “gold women’s watch” but add more detail; is it metal? Plastic? For a young lady? Is it fancy? Could it be for a bridesmaid gift? These are not tag words that I suggest using per se, but think about what your customer may be specifically looking for.
This is not an exact tutorial-type article, but there are some websites that can help you with finding the perfect tag words for your listing. A few of them are Marmalead.com, Alura.com, and Erank.com. Each one of these is a specific tool to help you with your keywords, but also once you get the hang of using them, they can help you find what kinds of products in your niche are selling, which can also help boost your income.
Again, you can find lots of tutorials on youtube and around the web. I suggest watching videos on how to use those three websites to help you up your SEO game.
It can really make a difference in your visibility and have a better chance to turn into sales.
Selling on Etsy can be hard, but not because it is saturated. It is because starting a business is hard. There are so many moving parts.
This list is not where it ends being an Etsy seller, there are other things to keep in mind, like building your brand by sharing your listings on social media, and learning how to use paid ads, and starting an email list. But if you don’t start with the five things I have shared with you first, then you are going to be swimming upstream no matter how many posts you make for Instagram or Facebook.
Remember, if Etsy gives a spot to fill something out, or to upload an image, do it, and do it to the best of your abilities. These things are what pull your ideal customer in, build trust, and then hopefully when they buy, you can turn them into loyal, long-term customers!
The chief executives of Facebook and Apple have opposing visions for the future of the internet. Their differences are set to escalate this week.
Lawsuit cites controversial FOSTA-SESTA rule
Connectivity issues -
ISPs are painting over US broadband problems, and the FCC is letting it happen
Via social media post, here is a very interesting explanation as to why pay with cash whenever possible, when you are shopping. I copied th...
