Sam Plecic Blog

I’m sure you are aware of the alarming rate at which E-commerce businesses shut down. If not, let me share with you the results of recent research about E-Commerce Startups. “90% of the E-Commerce Startups fail within their initial four years.” Are the reasons for startup failure the same as they& https://samplecic.ch/e-commerce-failures-and-mistakes-why-do-so-many-startups-fail.html

What do Pied Piper and blockchain tools have in common? Both are always “coming soon.” By now most of us are familiar with blockchain, the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Outside of cryptocurrency, blockchain has many purported use cases in scenarios that req https://samplecic.ch/5-real-life-blockchain-implementations-outside-of-cryptocurrency-3.html

To become a fireman requires a lot of efforts. It needs you to muster up enough courage to get yourself in and out of a burning building. It requires you to develop a heart to save humanity. Above all, it asks you to commit and be prepared to do everything you can to save the lives of others in ... https://samplecic.ch/elements-to-help-you-develop-emotional-intelligence-2.html

In business, these days, startups and entrepreneurial setups are trending heavily. Maybe startups and entrepreneurial structures will always trend as everyone wishes to initialize a small business for their passive income.  Building for passive income is a good idea, but people can struggle and ... https://samplecic.ch/small-business-marketing-strategies-that-will-work-for-you-2.html

Long ago, the symbol X meant “this is where the treasure is buried.” In today’s digital interfaces, X no longer marks the spot, but rather functions as a way for users to cancel a process or to dismiss an interim screen. How can one tell for sure whether the X means cancel or close? Sometimes, unfo https://samplecic.ch/cancel-vs-close-design-to-distinguish-the-difference-2.html

A widespread misconception with business–to–business (B2B) sites is that they are immune to rules and usability standards that apply to ecommerce on business–to–consumer (B2C) sites. In fact, B2B design teams should account for their users’ needs and follow usability principles to address customer https://samplecic.ch/what-b2b-designers-can-learn-from-b2c-about-building-trust-2.html

On the web, people  don’t read every word on a page; instead, they scan. They naturally attempt to be efficient and put in the least possible work for achieving their goal. They have learned that scanning can deliver almost the same amount of information as reading, but with significant less time a https://samplecic.ch/text-scanning-patterns-eyetracking-evidence-2.html

Since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, mobile usability has made tremendous strides:  we use our phones to do a wide variety of tasks. In fact, according to Pew Internet, in 2019 17% of Americans depended on their mobile phone as their only way to access the internet at home. Those numbers are https://samplecic.ch/large-devices-preferred-for-important-tasks-2.html

Eyetracking Research Eyetracking equipment can track and show where a person is looking. To do so, it uses a special light to create a reflection in the person’s eyes. Cameras in the tracker capture those reflections and use them to estimate the position and movement of the eyes. That data is then https://samplecic.ch/setup-of-an-eyetracking-study-2.html

Long ago, the symbol X meant “this is where the treasure is buried.” In today’s digital interfaces, X no longer marks the spot, but rather functions as a way for users to cancel a process or to dismiss an interim screen. How can one tell for sure whether the X means cancel or close? Sometimes, unfo https://samplecic.ch/cancel-vs-close-design-to-distinguish-the-difference.html

A widespread misconception with business–to–business (B2B) sites is that they are immune to rules and usability standards that apply to ecommerce on business–to–consumer (B2C) sites. In fact, B2B design teams should account for their users’ needs and follow usability principles to address customer https://samplecic.ch/what-b2b-designers-can-learn-from-b2c-about-building-trust.html

Since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, mobile usability has made tremendous strides:  we use our phones to do a wide variety of tasks. In fact, according to Pew Internet, in 2019 17% of Americans depended on their mobile phone as their only way to access the internet at home. Those numbers are https://samplecic.ch/large-devices-preferred-for-important-tasks.html

Eyetracking Research Eyetracking equipment can track and show where a person is looking. To do so, it uses a special light to create a reflection in the person’s eyes. Cameras in the tracker capture those reflections and use them to estimate the position and movement of the eyes. That data is then https://samplecic.ch/setup-of-an-eyetracking-study.html

As the world generates more and more data — at a clip of 2.5 quintillion bytes each day — it simultaneously struggles to manage it. With humans unable to manually process such large amounts of data and analyze its implications, the business world has to turn to machines to take on some of the load. Smart machines can transform data points into patterns and insights; imbuing these machines with human knowledge and allowing them to “learn” from the additional information they gather can speed up the computations needed by businesses. Cognitive machines aren’t just reactive, however. With enough data, they can anticipate problems, suggest solutions, and carry them out without human intervention. Cognitive predictive maintenance for the Industrial Internet of Things, an arena in which machines detect failures in other machines, is poised to influence whole industries. Empowering machines to perform unsupervised (or partially supervised) techniques to identify equipment failures q...

Black Mirror, recently bought by Netflix, is a hugely popular TV series that is a dark, twisted but spot-on portrayal of the possible ramifications of technology in the future. Advertisements for the show are ironically targeting ad block users, and some argue, are “intentionally creepy.” For better or worse, ad tech is an industry that somehow finds itself embroiled in controversy. Ad blocking was the controversy du jour, until recently when ad blocking rates have leveled out or even dropped. Ad tech’s explosion in recent years, due to the overwhelming user demand for free digital content, has caused the mighty backlash of ad blocking. Ad tech executives are finally taking a breath after ad blocking has stabilized, yet another monster (or two) have been slowly eating away at the industry: ad fraud and transparency issues. The International Advertising Bureau (IAB) estimates the economic cost of ad fraud to be around $8.2 billion annually. Most of this fraud comes from non-human ...

An Internet of Things (IoT) solution offers a multitude of business benefits from decreased operational costs to new revenue streams. But it also comes with a host of security considerations, including an ever-changing array of regulatory compliance requirements, demanding expert navigation and acute attention to detail. Below I’ve listed some of the critical questions to ask when deploying a secure IoT solution. To learn more about IoT security, be sure to register for the IoT in Action event in San Francisco on February 13. How secure are your things? For starters, the actual devices must be secure. In the next few years, a new wave of innovation will drive down costs and inundate the market with internet-connected devices in every price range, from electronic toys to manufacturing sensors. In anticipation of this, my Microsoft colleagues have identified The seven properties of highly secure devices. I have listed out each of these properties below, along with the fundame...

In the 2006 science fiction thriller  Déjá Vu , Denzel Washington plays a government agent who uses novel government technology to fold time and space back onto itself so that he can retroactively prevent a terrorist attack. It’s a creative interpretation of the concept of déjà vu, and, of course, Washington’s character uses this technology only for good. While the idea of literally bending time and space to repeat the past is relegated to science fiction, the film raises important questions about the ethics and prevalence of government surveillance, which are particularly prescient for our modern times. As part of the natural evolution of technology, the internet of things (IoT) has established itself as one of the most transformative innovations of our time. IoT is a simple process of connecting existing devices to the internet so that they can send and receive data that allows them to act independently. Dubbed “smart” devices, they are becoming incredibly popular. We are co...

Science fiction technology may not be as far off as we believe. The Internet of Things (IoT) uses the powerful combination of Wi-Fi and cloud technology to send information and perform actions through devices with Internet capabilities. This advance stems from the use of telemetry, decades-old machine-to-machine communication via wired sensors and transmitters. Now the wires have been replaced by radio waves that transfer a nearly infinite amount of data. IoT technology ranges from entire smart cities that streamline traffic to fridges that detect when you’re low on milk and order it for you, among many other products and services. Devices such as Fitbit and Nest are growing in popularity due to their low price, practicality, and variety of automatic functions. Nearly any object you use regularly can be exchanged for a “smart” version that logs usage, performs tasks for you, or learns your schedule and changes the environment accordingly—rapidly making the ubiquitous dream of a “sm...

As you read through blogs and articles about cybersecurity and the Industrial Internet of Things ( IIoT ), it’s easy to get so focused on the complexities (and there are many), that you lose sight of the big picture. There is huge opportunity in this space—untapped by the existing IT cybersecurity players. To state it in the simplest terms, when protecting free consumer accounts like, Gmail or Facebook accounts, the motivation for investing in security is driven by certain objectives—protecting customer trust, avoiding an unpleasant hit to the company’s reputation, etc. These are, of course, real and important concerns. But when an industrial company is trying to protect a $10 million turbine, the economics of investing in security become very different—and much more straightforward. There’s a reason why much of current security investments are directed towards the industrial space: it’s an enormously promising market—and one where new innovations can have an enormous impact. GE ...

Online media companies are chasing their tails when it comes to policing terrorist material, and other dangerous and offensive content. But there is artificial intelligence-based technology out there that can spot it before it goes live, says David Fulton, CEO of WeSee. Leading figures in both government and academia have been focused on a common cause in recent months – how best to solve the growing problem of online terrorist content. However, the jury’s out on whether the big digital media players, like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, are up to the job, despite being under growing pressure from pending legislation. The good news it looks like a powerful new image-recognition technology based on deep learning and neural networks could provide a solution. In the same week in June that German lawmakers passed a bill forcing major internet companies to banish “evidently illegal” content within 24 hours or face fines up to $57 million, a conference took place in Harvard Universi...

The WannaCry ransomware attack from this May made the whole world think about cyber security issues once again. Another unique point for WannaCry versus previous cyber attacks is IoT also got involved with the crisis as well. We learned from the news reports that this worm virus was different from usual. It had not only tried to encrypt computer data, but it had also attacked connected devices such as medical and teaching equipment in hospitals and schools. This is also why this May’s cyber attack has influenced so many industries. IoT has minimized the barrier between the Internet and devices. Once one of these two is attacked, the other one would also be involved inevitably. As for the IoT security, cameras on our smart devices and smart homes are the most associated aspect of every one of us and may have influence on our everyday life. Thanks to the IoT technology, we can remote control those connected cameras. Even if we are not home, we still can access these device...

When it comes to the Internet of Things, traditional cybersecurity approaches are difficult to integrate and can’t keep operational devices secure. Many embedded device approaches isolate systems, offering only partial protection, and only against known attack vectors. Could all of our IoT security issues be resolved through a simple tweak to the supply chain? In my mind, yes, if we start thinking about it as the IoT Supply Chain of Trust. The IoT Security Foundation coined the idea in May 2016, that IoT security has no single owner and all vendors are have a duty to care for their direct customers and the wider ecosystem. Let’s think about it in a slightly more practical manner. If you are a manufacturer, the Supply Chain of Trust is knowing from where you’re sourcing software or hardware and understanding the security inside of whatever it is you’re sourcing. It boils down to taking ownership for each layer of security. The problem With more than 8 billion IoT devic...

Researchers at a Belgian University earlier this week revealed the discovery of a break in the security protocol used to protect the vast majority of Wi-Fi connections (WPA2 based).  Mathy Vanhoef of imec-DistriNet, KU Leuven University, released his findings explaining that an attacker within range of a victim can exploit these weaknesses using key reinstallation attacks (KRACKs) to read information that was previously assumed to be safely encrypted. This can be abused to steal sensitive information such as credit card numbers, passwords, chat messages, emails, and photos. Vanhoef stressed that “Depending on the network configuration, it is also possible to inject and manipulate data. For example, an attacker might be able to inject ransomware or other malware into websites.” Further, The KRACK attack is universal and works against all type of devices connecting to or using a WPA2 WiFi network. This includes Android, Linux, iOS, macOS, Windows, Op...

You can’t stop what you can’t see coming. Understanding the value of intelligence gathering on the Dark Web and gaining Open Source tools to better protect your company The Dark Web is inherently scary for those who are unfamiliar with it, which to be frank, is most of us. Even asking most regular internet users to define what the Dark Web is could be quite a stretch. Most will probably rattle off something about open-air drug markets, illicit pornography, and possibly something about it being used by the Islamic State for planning their plots with sleeper cells in the West. While some of these nasty groups have found their home on the less traveled parts of the internet known as the Dark Web, the real story and how it affects the world of security, is far, far more interesting than drug dealers and pedophiles. What is the Dark Web? In the simplest of terms, the Dark Web is a part of the World Wide Web that is accessible through special browsers like Tor. Built with layers of enc...

Blockchain business case variety seems secondary in the conversation around blockchain hype. Tokenization on a blockchain system has received attention around the world with the increasing prevalence of ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings). For those who continue to see “ICO”, but have no firm understanding of the definition, here’s an over simplified version. An ICO is a way a company can raise funding through using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. This works by the company creating its own coin, perhaps the ClaytonCoin, and those interested in purchasing shares in the company can trade their Bitcoins for ClaytonCoins. A ClaytonCoin then supposedly represents a share in the company, but, to quote Smith + Crown: “Most ICOs today are marketed as ‘software presale tokens’ akin to giving early access to an online game to early supporters. In order to try to avoid legal requirements that come with any form of a security sale, many ICOs today use language such as ‘crowdsale’ or ‘donation’ i...

When it comes to smart city innovation, it’s arguable that most use cases are not that exciting to the average resident. A connected garbage bin, traffic light or parking meter is not going to cause applause and adoration for city officials at least in the first instance. But as more and more local systems start to communicate, it will start to make more sense and increase consumer satisfaction, at least until residents forget a life before they existed. I spoke to Peeter Kivestu, director of travel industry solutions and marketing from analytics solutions and consulting services company, Teradata.  Kivestu believes that much of the focus has been on connecting the ‘things’ rather than the data within. The value of data grows with use according to Kivestu: “If you have data and you use it, it increases in value, particularly if you curate it, integrate it or get to use it in a purposeful way.” He believes that there’s an opportunity for cities to embrace a platform ...

According to Gartner forecast, there are 8.4 billion internet-connected IoT devices in use currently and most new business systems and business processes will incorporate IoT. Ericsson Mobility report predicts that the number of IoT connected devices will reach 28 billion marks globally by 2021 and it would surpass the number of mobile devices. Cisco estimates endorses that point as they predict that there would be 3.4 connected devices per person by 2020 . All these statistics shows why IoT is the hottest emerging technology and it has a bright future ahead. Even businesses have started taking IoT seriously and are looking to maximize their efficiency by using internet of things. We might see a significant increase in investments in the field of internet of things. See also: Vint Cerf sees big IoT security issues in our future Every coin has two sides. Similarly, emerging technologies also have their drawbacks. One of the biggest downside of internet of things (IoT) is secur...

There’s no question that the Internet of Things is the new security battleground. Internet-connected webcams, HVAC systems, cars, TVs, watches, printers and more are giving people more use out of their devices. But these devices also open doors to hackers who want to steal corporate data, lasso thousands of devices into botnets that can launch DDoS attacks, or even set off Dallas’ 156 emergency outdoor sirens. See also: Will these Chinese satellites provide hack-proof data security? When it comes to security, corporations are struggling to keep up with the speed at which problems evolve. For example, a researcher with Google Project Zero recently discovered a flaw in Broadcom Wi-Fi chips that could allow someone to remotely execute code on affected iPhones, Nexuses and Samsung devices just by being in their general vicinity. Another researcher found 40 zero-day vulnerabilities in Samsung’s Tizen operating system for smart watches, phone...

Every year IoT brings new things to biotechnology, manufacturing, home living and every aspect of our daily lives. We’ve seen it disrupt traditional industries, transform our cities and contribute to the autonomous transport of the future. It sits in an ecosystem where machine learning, AI and data analytics help us understand our world more than ever before. At the beginning of each year, it’s tempting to make expansive predictions for the 12 months ahead. This year we decided to do something different and asked some of those working across our IoT verticals. Here’s what they told us, exclusive to ReadWrite: 1. Smart tech will transform how we shop “Smart tech will quickly become the backbone of retail, although it may be in ways the customer doesn’t always see. While there will invariably be beautiful, innovative experiences that involve products and fixtures with instrumentation that make the store “come alive” around ...