Private Blockchains vs The Bitcoin Blockchain

Lately, there has been a huge spike in interest in private blockchains, particularly from banks and financial institutions. Some of them are already working on their own private blockchains to improve the efficiency of their services. Improving the efficiency of their services is one thing, but to equate the private blockchain to the Bitcoin’s Blockchain is something totally different.

Private blockchains are no different than relational databases, which are centralized. They are like an Intranets to Corporations. While Bitcoin’s Blockchain is like the Internet i.e the World Wide Web.

Private blockchains are centralized. An organization that owns it, can, if they want, alter any transaction at their will. There is absolutely nothing stopping them from doing it. So, private blockchains shouldn’t be seen as transparent, tamper-proof systems.

On the other hand, Bitcoin’s blockchain – The Blockchain – is unique and different precisely because it’s not centralized. It’s not owned by a particular organization. Decentralized nature of The Blockchain is the main value proposition and its competitive advantage over its counterparts – private blockchains. The Blockchain is analogous to a public ledger that is transparent and tamper-proof, and it contains all the transactions that ever happened on its network. Continue reading

Roundup: Cool Gears for $150 or less

Movement Watches (MVMT) – ($95 – $140)

mvmt_gear

Successfully crowdfunded at Indiegogo, MVMT (movement) watches aim to provide high quality watches at affordable prices. Prices range from $95 to $140. Watches are based on a Japanese Miyota Precision Quartz Movement.

Websitehttp://www.mvmtwatches.com

Space Pen – #400 Chrome Bullet ($25)

Perfect to carry around in your pockets. When open it’s a full sized, evenly balanced proper pen. But its specialty is not in its size. It’s in its ability to write in all circumstances and almost all surfaces. It’s the original pen that was taken onboard Apollo 7.

spacepen_gear

Its cartridge is pressurized with nitrogen so that it doesn’t rely on gravity to make it work. It’s dependable in freezing cold and desert heat. It can also write underwater and upside down. The ink flows when you want it to, and doesn’t flow the rest of the time.

Websitehttp://www.spacepen.com/chromebullet.aspx Continue reading

Product Development in Startups vs Corporations

In my previous post I had discussed about how startups start small and evolve into bigger companies and this process of growth brings many challenges with it. In this post, I want to discuss about how Product Development differs between Corporations and Startups.

We all know, how compact the organizational structure of a startup is. And this compactness has many advantages and benefits. As you can see from the picture below, Startups usually consist of couple of teams only, they are usually Dev Team (which normally includes Designers, Testers and UX Professionals), Sales & Marketing usually bundled together and Support Team. I’m not going to discuss the advantages of a small team that has full focus on a particular idea/product. Rather, I will be discussing more on the disadvantages of a big corporation trying to launch a new “startup” within itself.
startup_prod_dev

Corporations can be huge. They could be divided into several Groups (eg; IT), each Group will have multiple Divisions (eg; Digital Technology) in them, and each Division will have multiple Departments (eg; Product Development) in them, and each Dept will have multiple Units (eg; Software Development) in them and some Units might have different Teams (eg; Product Based Teams) in them.

product_dev_corp

Above structure was an actual organizational structure in one of the corporations in Malaysia.
Continue reading

What is the reason behind the QWERTY keyboards?

type_qwertyWith old typewriters, if two adjacent letters were pressed in quick succession, there was a very good chance that the lever arms which stamp the ink on the page would jam. As such, they developed a keyboard (the QWERTY) that spread out the most used letters to prevent such jamming.

When computer keyboards were first becoming a thing, they kept the layout because it was what all the typists were familiar with.

AZERTY was pretty much the same thing, but just for other countries (and was in fact modeled off the QWERTY layout).

This was originally published at Reddit (source). Stock image credit to Pixabay.

Which Social Media Metrics Really Matter

Josue of Engagebit.com has asked 55 experts the following question: “If you could measure social media success with only 3 metrics, which 3 would you choose?”

The result is a resounding consensus on the importance of Engagement, followed by Traffic and lastly Conversion. Engagement refers to the level of activity (i.e the comments, likes, retweets, shares etc.) that goes on on the social sites, websites or blogs of that particular brand, product or a campaign. Traffic is obvious, the more traffic the site receives the more awareness and revenue it’s going to generate. And lastly, for most product campaigns, it’s all about the bottom line – revenue. So obviously driving conversions will be the key, be it user registrations or sales.

socialmediamatters

You can read the individual answers from all 55 experts here. I was honored and humbled to be included in the list too, you can read my response here. Thanks to Josue for the great work!

 

Hiring the right people for your Startup

Note: You can jump to Personality Plus Test here if you are already familiar with the four temperaments that are discussed below.

More and more companies are using Personality Tests to get the right people for the right positions. For example, if you are Technology Startup and hiring Developers, would you rather hire someone who is very talkative, extrovert, forgetful, not detail-oriented, doesn’t like to follow rules and regulations or someone who is calm, introvert, detail-oriented, persistent, thorough etc? I think the answer is obvious. But let’s say you were hiring a Sales Manager, I think again the answer would be obvious.. you wouldn’t choose an introvert for a Sales position.

The problem is, interview setting is a professional setting, so you don’t really see the real personality or the temperament of a person at interviews. Therefore, more and more companies are now starting to give Personality Tests to the candidates prior to the interview session. Knowing which temperaments are dominant in candidate’s personality will give you a better understanding of the candidate during the interview itself.

Personality Plus

One of such personality tests is Personality Plus which was created by Florence Littauer. It’s one of the popular ones among others, probably due to its straight-forwardness and easily understood nature.

She has divided people into four groups:

  • Choleric – considered to be leader and commander types, being dominant, strong, decisive, and occasionally arrogant. They tend to be good leaders because they are driven to get things done, however they might offend some people along the way. Cholerics are also known as the “Powerful” type. 

    Some famous examples are Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Phil, Phil Donahue, Donald Trump, Bill Gates and Bill O’Reilly.

  • Melancholy – described by Littauer to be the mental types, with their personality displaying a strong emphasis on thinking, evaluation, and assessment. Their typical behaviour involves thinking, assessing, making lists, evaluating the positives and negatives, and general analysis of facts. They love maps, charts and graphs. They are usually the most intelligent of the four types, however they tend to dwell on details. A Melancholy is a planner, making sure things happen, although sometimes they can paralyze themselves with over-analysis. Lists and “doing things the right way” are characteristics of this personality type. Melancholies are also known as the “Perfect” type. 

    Some famous examples are Hillary Clinton, Ernest Hemingway, Vincent Van Gogh and Beethoven.

  • Sanguine – is a social personality type, displaying characteristics such as a predisposition to socialize and entertain. They enjoy fun, socializing, chatting, telling stories – and are fond of promising the world, because that’s the friendly thing to do. A Sanguine gets on well with people and can get others excited about issues, but cannot always be relied upon to get things done. They love interacting with others and play the role of the entertainer or center of attention in group interactions. They have a tendency to over-promise and under-deliver. Sanguines are also known as the “Popular” type. 

    Some famous examples are Bill Clinton, Robin Williams, Kelly Ripa and Richard Simmons.

  • Phlegmatic – described as having a flat-type personality, being laid back and desiring a peaceful environment above all else. They are easy going, laid back, nonchalant, unexcitable and relaxed. Desiring a quiet and peaceful environment above all else. They tend not to actively upset people, but their indifference may frustrate people. They try not to make decisions, and generally go for the status quo. They are good as mediators because they don’t usually have many enemies. They also have a “dry” and quick sense of humor. Phlegmatics are also known as the “Peaceful” type. 

    Some famous examples are Calvin Coolidge, Tim Duncan, Sandy Koufax, and Keanu Reeves.

Four temperaments can further be grouped into two: Extroverts and Introverts. Sanguine & Cholerics are naturally extroverts, and Melancholy & Phlegmatics are naturally introverted people.

personality_plus

It’s important to note that, normally each person will have two temperaments, one dominant and another slightly less dominant. For example, your primary temperament could be Choleric, but your secondary temperament could be Melancholy.

Before you use personality tests in your hiring process. Go ahead and test your own personality with this Personality Plus Test that I have created. If you like it, please share it with others. Enjoy!

Jack Ma’s Advice to Entrepreneurs

Summary, with some paraphrasing;

  • Before 20 years old – be a good student, gain experience. This is the time to take risks, fail and learn from your experiences.
  • Before 30 years old – follow somebody, go to small company. Choose a good boss and not chase after a good company. You will learn a lot of things from good boss.
  • Between 30 – 40 years – this is the time to be an entrepreneur and be your own boss.
  • Between 40 – 50 years – do the things that you are good at, don’t try to learn new stuff at this age. Focus on things that you are good at.
  • Between 50 – 60 years – work for the  young people, rely on them, invest in them. Because young people can do better than you.
  • After 60 years old – enjoy the life, spend time with yourself and family.

Jack Ma’s regrets are – that he worked too hard and didn’t spend enough time with his family. And that if he had another chance, he wouldn’t live his life the same.

Securing the Web for Your Kids with OpenDNS [Guide]

Note: This is not a “technical” post, any parent can set this up to make the web little more secure for their kids. Read on..

Update: 5 Oct 2017 – if you are looking for easy way to manage your kids’ internet safety, you should check Kaspersky Safe Kids out. Setup is very simple for it and UI is very user friendly.

I have three kids, all boys, eldest is 10 years old (Manas), followed by 7 years old (Aihan), and the youngest is 3 years old (Azat). Manas is now able to do his own research for his school assignments. Usually searching for specific topic in Google/Wikipedia. He is also into Minecraft. He follows some Minecraft YouTube Channels like DanTDMCaptain Sparklez, etc. He is almost entirely not watching any TV (he just joins in when Azat is watching some cartoons). He is either at the Home PC playing Minecraft or doing his homework, or on his iPad watching Minecraft videos and playing games. Home PC is located at the living room area, for obvious reasons.

I have talked to Manas and Aihan about basic security on Minecraft and the Web in general, such as;

  • Don’t give any specific info about where you study (school name, school address) and where you live (home address) to strangers in Minecraft. Just tell them general information, like I live in Malaysia etc.
  • I have explained to them that it’s ok to ignore people’s questions, you don’t have to always answer all the questions directed at you.
  • I have explained the possible consequences of the above points and how some people are not as they claim to be on the internet.
  • When you search for something in Google, use phrases instead of single keywords. Because single keywords are more likely to show something other than what you are looking for.
  • Can’t watch / play something that is violent with bloods, PG, PG13 etc.

Alhamdulillah, my kids are also very understanding, and they do their best to be good kids on their own. I don’t have to strictly monitor their browsing, watching or playing habits. In fact, they are the ones sometimes decline to go to cinema, because they perceive the movie to be too violent or not suitable to them..

Ok, these are given. How about those accidental things that might happen on the internet? Like clicking on a link or banner that might open an inappropriate website? You can teach your kids to be responsible (managing the pull factor) but we have to also try to protect them from push factors. And this is where OpenDNS comes to our ‘rescue’. Continue reading

Book Review: How Google Works

howgoogleworksMy Rating: 6/10 How Google Works – Quite boring book to read to say the least. It’s written from 3rd person perspective too – referring to Eric Schmidt – “he did this and he did that..” which was kind of strange for me, since the book was supposedly written by Eric Schmidt himself (& Jonathan. Couldn’t they just write different chapters on their own?). It’s a very general book too, nothing special. It talks a lot about hiring “smart creatives”, so I think that could be the central theme of this book, everything else was just common sense stuff.

Smart creatives – are impatient, outspoken risk-takers who are easily bored and change jobs frequently. They are intellectually versatile, typically combining technical depth with business savvy and creative flair.