Everyone who is pretty active on the internet must have come across the viral memes being made on DALL-E Mini also known as Craiyon, a viral text-to-image tool that can make most of your imaginations come true.
For the past month, people have used this AI model to create hysterical memes ranging from controversial topics to a baby from the Victorian era hitting a vape, the possibilities are endless. You must simply go to the website, type anything you can think of, and press enter. But what happens if we just press enter without typing anything?
— ? Random Craiyon Generations (@RandomCraiyon) June 21, 2022
The Rest of World also had the same question as us. They became fascinated with this thought and hit the search button again and again without typing anything. In a bizarre chain of events, DALL-E Mini (Craiyon) was throwing pictures of women in sari’s at them. They continued to try as they thought it was a glitch and this kept on happening every time.
For the unversed, Sari is a piece of clothing that women from South Asia wear. A sari symbolizes a traditional woman in many cultures, including our own.
Right now we don’t have any concrete answers to explain why this phenomenon happens. According to a few AI model researchers, the reason behind this might be incomplete data sets and tagging. This is a guess that people are making as no one is really sure. According to a report from the Rest of World, even the developer of DALL-E Mini, Boris Dayma, seems to be scratching his head in confusion.
It’s pretty interesting and I’m not sure why it happens. One possibility is the potential high representation of this picture in the datasets, maybe with small captions.
Boris Dayma, AI developer of DALL-E Mini
DALL-E 2 can be called the elder brother of this new software. DALL-E 2 can also have its fair share of controversies, most importantly the fact that how easy it would be for people to create scandalous images and circulate them as being real. Keeping this in mind, OpenAI tackled this by providing exclusive access to the app, only for 400 AI researchers.
Taking heavy inspiration from this, Dayma felt like creating an AI platform that is not restricted to a select few people. He envisioned an open-source platform, which can be used and improved by people. Recently, DALL-E Mini got rebranded as Craiyon. Comparatively, DALL-E 2 produces far better quality pictures but the accessibility to Mini has created an entire sub-culture of memes and wacky pictures on social media.
The computer science community which is active on the Hugging Face Forum, a popular place for discussions on machine learning, also gave their two cents on this issue. They believe that the reason for this occurrence might be because the AI could have been trained on multiple pictures of South and Southeast Asian people. These pictures lie in the ‘unlabeled’ section in the data they collect and show up for the same reason when a blank space is being searched on the AI tool.
Artificial intelligence promises to revolutionize the way we work and live. Its integration in different types of industries is happening rapidly, and we can expect to see it transform the global economy. As time goes by, more and more companies will be using artificial intelligence to improve their products and services. In this article, we’ll take a look at how AI has transformed the global economy by looking at the different industries that are benefiting from its use.
Information Technology
The information technology (IT) industry has been one of the first industries to adopt artificial intelligence. Almost every company uses computers to store and process data. With the help of AI, these companies have been able to analyze large amounts of data in real-time. This helps them make better decisions about customers and employees.
For instance, businesses like Amazon use machine learning algorithms to build recommendations for their users. Google also uses AI to power Gmail’s spam filters and translate text between languages. AI also helps developers in the IT industry enhance coding productivity. Coding requires an intensive amount of time and human interaction. However, AI can speed up the software development process by helping developers detect errors and bugs faster.
Finance
Financial services firms can take advantage of AI to improve stock trading, investment management, and banking activities. Some banks use AI to monitor financial transactions, while others use it to analyze big data sets to better understand market dynamics. AI can also help finance professionals identify fraud and other suspicious activity.
For businesses with dedicated finance teams, automated spend management solutions can help managers track spending across different departments. These platforms can also help in budgeting and forecasting, thus reducing the risk of overspending.
Marketing
AI is known to collect and classify vast amounts of data, and that data can then be used to create models that predict customer behavior. As such, you can use AI in marketing to help you target your audience based on their interests, location, and demographic characteristics. It can also help you create personalized content for each user.
For example, Facebook lets advertisers tag people with certain interests so they can show relevant ads to them. Also, if you want to sell something to someone who already likes a particular product, you could send them targeted advertisements or offers. This helps marketing agencies save money as well because they don’t have to pay for expensive advertising campaigns that don’t work. Moreover, you can do things like automating social media posts, which would otherwise require a lot of manual labor.
Healthcare
In healthcare, AI can help doctors diagnose patients’ conditions in real-time. Machine learning algorithms can scan through medical records to find patterns and similarities among various diseases. By doing so, they can develop accurate diagnoses using a patient’s symptoms. AI can also help doctors with their jobs by automating administrative tasks. For example, it can automatically generate reports, schedule appointments, and notify patients when test results arrive.
Another area where AI is impacting healthcare is personal care. AI systems can now perform tasks such as detecting skin cancer, analyzing blood samples, and diagnosing neurological disorders. In the long run, it may even provide high-quality health care without the need for a physician in person.
Beauty and Fashion
Fashion and beauty companies can use AI to help consumers discover new trends. They can also recommend items that suit their needs. For example, retailers use AI to suggest clothes to customers based on their preferences. The technology can also help stylists get more creative by suggesting outfits that complement a client’s body shape.
AI in the beauty industry has also made it easier for consumers to determine what products are best for them. You can use AI to discover the perfect match for your skin tone, hair color, and eye color. These help customers make informed decisions about which products they should buy.
Travel and Transportation
AI can also help improve the travel and transportation industries. It can help airlines optimize routes, increase flight efficiency, and cut down on delays. Similarly, self-driving cars can reduce traffic accidents and fuel consumption while increasing safety. This is a great way to save time and money for travelers.
In addition, AI can determine the best routes when it comes to navigation in the shipping industry. For instance, it can analyze factors such as weather, road conditions, and traffic patterns to determine the most efficient route for delivery trucks. Shipping companies can then use this information to plan better deliveries and avoid congestion. It’s also a great way to reduce carbon emissions from freight shipments.
Business Operations
Companies today rely heavily on software platforms for business operations. The most common examples include ERP (enterprise resource planning) solutions, CRM (customer relationship management), SCM (supply chain management), and others. AI is being used to support these platforms so that businesses can run efficiently.
AI can also gauge cultural diversity for employee engagement. If an organization wants to retain its workforce, it must understand how different groups of people think. This will enable managers to create a diverse environment that fosters innovation. With AI, organizations can easily measure diversity metrics that reveal differences between demographics.
Education
Another area where AI has found traction is education. Schools and teachers can leverage AI to create personalized lessons and assessments. They can also use AI to provide more personalized feedback. On the other hand, students can use AI to learn in ways that interest them. This helps boost student engagement and performance since students find the content interesting.
In addition, since AI learns over time, it can predict whether a child is going to fall behind. For instance, if a student does badly on a test, the AI system can inform the teacher. Teachers can then intervene and guide the student through remedial measures so that they don’t lose ground. Parents can also gain valuable insights into their children’s progress using AI.
As we move forward with AI, there will be many opportunities to use it across various sectors. In fact, you may have already seen some of these benefits at work. However, the key takeaway here is that the possibilities are endless. In the long run, AI promises to transform our world by improving productivity, saving lives, enhancing the human experience, and helping us achieve our goals.
The value of the metaverse might increase to $5 trillion by 2030, according to recent research from McKinsey & Co. This demonstrates the potential effects the metaverse will have over time on various important industries and businesses.
The paper, Value creation in the metaverse, according to McKinsey, suggests that the metaverse might be too large to ignore. Since the metaverse is an interconnected realm of virtual realities, like in books like Ready Player One and Snow Crash, many of us consider this to be science fiction. But as a spatial equivalent of the internet, it has evolved into a concept for the next stage of computing. (Neal Stephenson, who wrote the 1992 novel Snow Crash, has lately launched an open metaverse project called Lamina1).
According to a preliminary McKinsey prediction, the value of the metaverse might increase to $5 trillion by 2030. Prior industries like virtual learning ($270 billion), advertising ($206 billion), and gaming ($125 billion), reveal that eCommerce ($2.6 trillion) is the world’s largest economic power.
the value of the metaverse might increase to $5 trillion by 2030. Prior industries like virtual learning ($270 billion), advertising ($206 billion), and gaming ($125 billion), reveal that eCommerce ($2.6 trillion) is the world’s largest economic power.
This research offers a clear picture of what the metaverse is and is not, what the early adopters are doing, what’s driving the investment, and the possibilities for consumer and business-to-business (B2B) enterprises as businesses of all kinds and shapes aspire to enter the metaverse.
The research is based on a number of in-depth analyses and insights that are exclusively ours, including a survey of more than 3,400 executives and consumers about the adoption of the metaverse, its potential, and its expected influence on behavior. Researchers also spoke with industry leaders and creators of the metaverse.
What is generating investment in the metaverse?
Over $120 billion has already been spent in the metaverse by businesses, venture capitalists, and private equity firms this year, more than double the $57 billion invested overall in 2016.
This investor enthusiasm is influenced by a variety of factors:
The metaverse is benefiting from ongoing technological developments throughout the required infrastructure.
Marketing and brand interaction are becoming more consumer-focused.
Users explore the metaverse as it exists today, which is primarily driven by gaming while apps for socializing, staying fit, commerce, virtual learning, and other purposes arise. This increases market awareness.
Currently, the metaverse is accessible to more than three billion gamers worldwide.
Customers are already using the metaverse
Customers have already arrived. According to a McKinsey study, 59% of customers prefer at least one metaverse encounter to its physical counterpart, demonstrating that consumers are enthusiastic about moving their lives into the metaverse.
Among these customers, the following activities stand out as being the most favored in the immersive world:
Shopping is when you buy physical or digital goods (79%).
Participating in online social events or social games (78%).
Using virtual reality to help you work out (76%).
Senior officials think their sector will be significantly impacted by the metaverse
Business executives recognize the metaverse’s potential to increase impact and margins. Within five to ten years, 95% of leaders predict the metaverse will have a positive impact on their sector, with 31% predicting it will fundamentally alter how their sector functions. More significantly, a quarter of CEOs predict that over 15% of their organization’s total margin expansion in the following five years will be driven by metaverse technology.
This article is only meant for educational purposes. We strictly suggest to stay away from hacking online accounts. We hope to spread basic awareness on the truth about the Facebook Hacking Trend.
At least once, you would have wished if you could hack a Facebook account for free. Trust me, you’re not alone, all of us have done, including me.
But the end result might have probably been a disappointing one. Right? 90% of the people who wish and then put effort to hack online accounts don’t really succeed. And yes, the other 10% does.
If you’re reading this right now, it means that you belong to the 90% of people who fail to hack the password of the accounts they wish to.
The Irony about Facebook Hacking Trend
I’m the Go-To-Guy at my college when it comes to the technical stuff. And last week, some of my friends came to me. They looked tensed and angry about something (Well, not to me).
They said that they doubt if one of their’s friend’s girlfriend is cheating on him. And they wanted me to hack her Facebook account so that they can check her Facebook conversations with the guy whom they doubt.
Crap, what do they think of me? A 100% Guaranteed Hacker? Hell no! I do know some of the methods used for hacking Facebook accounts the fail-proof way. But, I’m not a Mercenary Hacker or something.
Enough of the story, right? So, this is what happens in the world right now.
They think Hacking Facebook accounts is easy as a piece of cake.
They think they can download Facebook hacking software for free.
They even think there are online tools that could generate JavaScripts that can hack online Facebook accounts.
They think if they can complete some online surveys, they can do it.
They think they can easily learn hacking tricks.
Plus, they think it’s not against the law.
The Truth is that, you have been Fooled
And, What’s the Truth?
The exact opposite of the list above. Hacking is not easy and there are no such JavaScripts or codes that could hack Facebook accounts. Think about it. Do you think the big Giant – Facebook’s security team is not strong enough?
Millions and Billions of money roll through the social media websites like Facebook. And they put everything they have to make their security structure strong.
Do you think the big Giant – Facebook’s security team is not strong enough?
And, Hacking is really illegal, and this law comes under Cyber Crime. This could leave you fining enough money to make you go bankrupt, and even spend the rest of your lives behind the bars.
And, there are no such software, programs, tools, or applications that can hack Facebook accounts just with some clicks. Those are all pure nonsense.
You might have heard of some popular online hacking tools with crazy names and all. Here are the reasons why people build such software.
One: They drive in a lot of fools like you, thus making money from their websites via Advertisements.
Two: Some of the applications are even Paid, with which they make a hell lot of money. But you will end up being the clown.
Three: These tools and applications could contain Trojan Viruses and bots that could steal your private information.
Here are some of the most popular so-called Facebook hacking tools which fool a lot of people, thus making a lot of money.
007 Facebook Hack.
Pro Facebook Password Stealer.
Ultimate Facebook Hack Tool.
These are some of the top scams on the internet I’ve seen. They make a hell lot of money luring in people who aren’t aware of the truth. If you happen to see any of these software on the way ahead of you, please don’t use them.
But right now, you might be ready to argue with me that there are people who hack Facebook accounts. Well, you got a point. Yes, there are. You, me, and everyone can do it just with some effort. But, please don’t. I’m again reminding you that it’s highly against the law.
So, how do they do it, if not with these crazy software?
The Real Facebook Hacking Methods
Even though those software and tools I talked about don’t work. There are some other ways to hack online accounts. In fact, there are more than 10 to 20 methods. But, here are two of the Facebook hacking techniques that I’m aware of.
1. Keylogging:
Does the name suggest anything to you? Keylogging is basically the process of recording every keystroke you make to a log file, usually encrypted. It is used to record instant messages, e-mail, and any information you type at any time using your keyboard.
Using Keylogging, the hacker can access the victim’s password, along with the other things she/he types into the computer through the keyboard.
So, here is how the process works :
The Hacker creates the keylogger application. This software is built in such a way that, if someone opens it, it will infect their computer. So, the hacker then sends the keylogger or plants it on the victim’s computer.
And when the victim opens it – Boom. The system will be affected and will be ready for action. It is mandatory that the computer system should have an internet connection in it so that the saved keystrokes will be sent to the hacker’s Email or FTP account later. And boom. The hacker gets the golden information, along with the password of the Facebook account.
[I do not wish to talk about how to use keyloggers. But, there are some trust-worthy spying software out there. The Free Keylogger Pro on Cnet by Download.com is something worth the shot.]
2. Phishing
Phishing can be alternatively labeled as a “Fraudulent Technique“. I call it the Fooling Method.
This is the process where the Hacker creates a fake log-in page and sends the link out to the victim. And the victim gets fooled and tries to log into the fake page. The information typed in on the fake page is then sent to the hacker, thus retrieving the Email ID and Password of the Facebook account – just like that.
It can be also done by sending out a Fake Email to the victim, fooling them with your authority, and asking for your Email ID and Password. Again, just like that.
This was one of the methods I used to do to hack my friends’ accounts while I was in high school, though I later told them that I did. It was a friendly kinda hacking after all.
Keep Calm and Be Wise
Summing it Up
So, now that you know the truth about Facebook hacking, don’t act like a fool again. Know that, there are no free Facebook hacking tools or easy ways around it. And, it really is a Criminal Act to hack other people’s Facebook accounts. Watch out and avoid all those crazy fake applications, it will get yourself hacker or into problems.
Facebook’s founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, changed the company’s name to Meta in October 2021 and pledged to invest billions in the metaverse. The magnificent virtual world known as the metaverse has given rise to grave safety issues.
Online harassment, assaults, bullying, and hate crimes are already commonplace, and there aren’t many channels for reporting this behavior. According to the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, a violent incident happens once every seven minutes in the well-known virtual reality game VRChat. Because virtual reality immerses users in an all-encompassing digital universe where everything is made to feel more real and sensory sensations are enhanced, this type of unwanted behavior can be more severe than typical internet harassment and bullying. Because occurrences happen in real-time and frequently go unrecorded, misbehavior in virtual reality is typically harder to monitor.
Simply expressed, the purpose of the Metaverse is to construct a new universe, or Metaverse, within our own. It can be made with the aid of several apps or video games. Social media will undergo several changes as a result of the Metaverse system. Numerous negatives will result from these adjustments.
The main drawback of the metaverse is how disconnected it makes people feel from reality. People will become isolated from the actual world and dependent on the metaverse. This will significantly disturb daily life for most individuals, and they will continue to contrast the actual world with the virtual one while also experiencing despair there. Here are some of the negative effects of the metaverse:
Internet harassment and Dehumanization
With Metaverse, users report that everything seems more authentic. When using it, a Metaverse user is totally submerged in it. In this instance, it becomes even more distressing when a user is a target of cyberbullying.
There is no way to stop the harassment of cyberbullying through participation in any political or social activities. A Metaverse user might become emotionally distressed if he experiences cyberbullying in this situation.
Because metaverses are starting to resemble real-world environments more and more, bullying, insults, and harassment there could become almost as close, uncomfortable, and mentally damaging as in the actual world.
The perceived remoteness, anonymity, and division brought on by the internet can bring out the worst in people. Humans treat one another inhumanely on the internet and social media as if they were communicating with robots whose purpose was to psychologically devastate people. The intensity of this kind of activity might be amplified by the metaverse.
Because metaverses are starting to resemble real-world environments more and more, bullying, insults, and harassment there could become almost as close, uncomfortable, and mentally damaging as in the actual world.
The metaverse will still be accessible online at the same time. Due to the intrinsic anonymity, perceived distance, and absence of repercussions that have any actual relevance to the internet, the metaverse is likely to remain to be a place that produces trolls in excess.
The worst of all worlds is delivered by harassment in the metaverse, which may be as prevalent as it is on the regular internet while also appearing to be just as real as harassment that takes place in real life.
Possibility of Addiction
The reason why people are becoming more and more addicted to the Internet is that businesses have built their algorithms in such a way that consumers will return frequently and spend more time on it. A media platform will make more money from displaying people’s adverts if they stay on the platform longer.
It is simple to presume that Metaverse will use the same economic structure.
We can predict the impact this tactic will have on a user through the Metaverse with a little consideration. The actual world will seem very faint to you while you are in a virtual environment where you can do whatever you want.
Companies in control of the metaverse will have complete knowledge of you
Today’s gold is data. Currently, the big data sector is worth approximately $200 billion annually. Companies will want a piece of that data goldmine if users start using the metaverse even half as frequently as they do the conventional internet today. They will pounce on creating the metaverse and gaining control of it like ravenous wolves. The battle to control the upcoming large data store, which may be the biggest ever, may perhaps be more important than the race to construct the metaverse that we are currently witnessing. We’ve given internet corporations knowledge of our personal information over the past few years, whether consciously or unknowingly.
The organizations in charge of governing, policing, and censoring the metaverse will be able to learn every single detail about you if you spend the majority of your time there. They will be able to see up close and personal whatever you do during the day. Even worse, they might learn more about you than you do about yourself.
Your eye and facial emotions will be tracked by technology in Meta’s next revolutionary VR headset, “Project Cambria”. It’s very likely that someone will gather this important information, just as they already do with information on where you click and hover your mouse on a website and how long you pause when scrolling through your newsfeed.
Your genuine feelings about many issues will be understood by the owners of your metaverse data. They will be able to hear everything you say, as well as the tone and expression of your voice. As you speak or hear things, they will be able to watch your facial expressions and eye movements. They may eventually be able to observe your physiological responses to various visual and aural stimuli (dilated pupils, flushed face, etc.).
The organizations in charge of governing, policing, and censoring the metaverse will be able to learn every single detail about you. They will be able to see up close and personal whatever you do during the day. Even worse, they might learn more about you than you do about yourself.
It is possible for them to learn your true passions and fears through voice and biometric analysis. For media outlets, powerful businesses, and governments that frequently employ strategies for widespread public opinion manipulation, this kind of data would be especially valuable. Companies might then produce media content that arouses the greatest degree of fervor or terror, as this is the kind of content that typically receives the highest level of participation. They’ll be able to manipulate and persuade you after they know everything there is to know about you.
Most likely, advanced AIs capable of simultaneously gathering, classifying, organizing, storing, and possibly selling data from hundreds of millions of users will carry out all of the intricate data collection and categorization in the metaverse through lightning-quick algorithmic procedures. Naturally, businesses will also be able to pinpoint the specific goods and services you are most likely to purchase thanks to data collection.
The Distinction Between Your Metaverse “Reality” and Actual Reality Is Growing
People can now search for and consume just content online that they agree with, ignoring content to the contrary. To take this a step further, social media companies frequently employ algorithms to try and only present you with information that you find appealing, as this is what produces the highest levels of content interaction. One of the main reasons for today’s societal divisions is this component of the internet.
In the metaverse, you will only be exposed to complete realities that you agree with, as opposed to only posts, articles, and videos that you agree with.
In your virtual environment, you might eliminate everything with which you disagree. Perhaps the hard realities of life don’t appeal to you; you could prefer to live in a world where nothing makes you consider anything that gives you the willies. The metaverse will make sure that your “perfect reality” is protected from reminders of social concerns and opinions that you don’t want to think about in order to elicit the most involvement from you.
There might be nothing and nobody to contradict your perception of reality in your uniquely crafted version of the metaverse. There won’t be any opportunities for you to evaluate other viewpoints or empathize with others. You have the power to make anything in your reality go away forever if it doesn’t accord with your mental schemas. Consider the psychological impact that prolonged existence in a “perfect reality” created only for you might have.
What if, after living for a while in your “ideal world,” you finally decide to venture out into the real world? How on earth would you be able to mix and converse with so many different kinds of people?
What if, after living for a while in your “ideal world,” you finally decide to venture out into the real world? How on earth would you be able to mix and converse with so many different kinds of people? How would you survive in a world where people don’t always act the way you would expect them to?
It will probably be a rather rude surprise when you finally remove your VR headset and interact with the outside world. You will find real-life more challenging the longer you spend building and residing in your custom-tailored metaverse “world.”
People will eventually desire to spend an increasing amount of time in their customized metaverse “realities” in order to avoid the progressively more unpleasant experience of adjusting to actual reality. It might start to seem uncannily like a drug addiction cycle. Many people could develop a reluctance to wake up from happy dreams, similar to drug addicts.
The hazards of the metaverse are likely to be overshadowed by the huge number of individuals who are fixated on how it might affect the future as the buzz surrounding it grows. After reading this article, we hope you are aware of some of the potential risks the metaverse poses.
Sitting in our homes and having bottled water is easy. A lot of us have been so privileged that we often overlook the problems that the world is facing. For us, getting clean drinking water is not a task but it is in many parts of this world.
Dr. Suphiya Khan is a scientist, innovator, and entrepreneur. Among many achievements and awards, she has also received a Chevening Fellowship from the University of Oxford. She is the founder of Drumlins Water Technologies, a spin-off company that is striving to solve the fluoride issue in water. A few years down the line, she wants to see India as a fluoride-free country.
Team Sociobits connected with Dr. Suphiya Khan to know more about her and Drumlins.
Team Sociobits: Could you tell us about how was Drumlins Water Technologies founded?
Dr. Suphiya Khan: Drumlins Water Technologies was established at my research center, Centre of Excellence on Water and Energy in 2015 when we had a novel discovery in this area. I come from a place that is situated in the fluoride anemic zone. We have strived for several years to solve the problem of fluoride in water and since around 2010, I noticed that the water technology that was being used didn’t tackle the problem of fluoride contamination or dental and skeletal fluorosis that still persists especially in the young population.
We took this research problem and found a novel solution in 2015 and for the commercialization of this technology, we found this company. Not only solving the fluoride problem, but I also want to empower women through my company because women are still not considered for higher positions in the research sector. And our company has the potential to not only create opportunities for them but also create a huge social impact. This could be transformative for our society.
I am the Founder of this company and have seventeen years of research and teaching experience mainly in the water and biotechnology sector. I was already a part of the MHRD Centre of Excellence for Water and Energy and currently, also run the Water Innovation sector. I come from a very technical background in nanotechnology and water. Our co-founder is Dr. Samina Khan, she is one of my students and has twelve years of business strategy experience. She had a good idea about how can we commercialize this technology. Finally, we founded the company in 2019 to put this idea into action. Our team members are diverse consisting of students with them I have worked in the last 10-12 years and also recruit people for sales and marketing.
Team Sociobits: Can you explain the solution that Drumlins is providing to tackle these problems?
Suphiya Khan: We are in the drinking water sector similar to RO systems. RO systems release brine after purification but our solution doesn’t release that, making it sustainable and affordable. So, it seems like the right solution for community water tanks.
“The unique part is that our solution doesn’t require excess water or electricity for its operation and we have formulated a scalable, patented, and smart defluoridation technology”
-Dr. Suphiya Khan, Co-Founder of Drumlins
The unique part is that our solution doesn’t require excess water or electricity for its operation and we have formulated a scalable, patented, and smart defluoridation technology. Now, we are at a stage where our solution not only removes fluoride but it also removes other contaminants from water such as heavy metals, odor, microbes, etc.
Team Sociobits: How does reducing the fluoride level of water help society?
Suphiya Khan: Around 45 lakh people are still getting affected by the problem of dental and skeletal fluorosis. 66 million people in India and 200 million people around the globe are troubled by fluorosis. In fluorosis, the bones in our body get weak very fast, and you start aging in your 40s. Some people even have to get knee replacement surgeries at an early age. In dental fluorosis, your teeth start turning yellow. It also impacts the productivity of an individual.
The government has also put in a lot of effort in tackling the problem in spite of that, this problem exists. After researching a lot about the quantity of fluoride in water, we found that our body requires a certain amount of fluoride. If our bodies will be deficient in fluoride, even then we will need dental care and if there is an excess amount of fluoride in our body, then it becomes toxic for us.
So, there is no technology in this world that can maintain the level of fluoride in our bodies. Also, the fluoride content in the land or water keeps changing almost every 100 meters, it is not the same throughout.
No matter, what kind of technology you develop, in comparison to the input water quality; the output water quality will always have some fluoride left. All the technologies available have not been able to remove ionic fluoride from water and ionic fluorides are highly reactive. It can be harmful to our bodies. Due to all these above reasons, Drumlins provides a very specialized approach to cleaning our drinking water in a very affordable and sustainable manner.
No matter, what kind of technology you develop, in comparison to the input water quality; the output water quality will always have some fluoride left.
Team Sociobits: Is there anyone else who provides a similar approach that Drumlins provides?
Suphiya Khan: There are many competitors of Drumlins. Some are working on, filters, and RO systems, and claim that their technology can remove fluoride, but not all of them remove fluoride successfully. The novelty and uniqueness of our technology are that our product has a high fluoride removal capacity. And the most important thing is that our technology is a single-point solution. Meaning, that if someone from a village opens their tap, they will get purified water. It removes not only fluorides but also other contaminants. Our technologies are patented and for the purpose of commercialization, we are currently on a market fit model of water tanks. The testing and trial for the same are in process.
Team Sociobits: Since 2019, how will you describe your journey with Drumlins? And what have you learnt in your journey?
Suphiya Khan: It was very exciting and also brutal at the same time. It was definitely not easy but it gave me a purpose to live. Although I am working as a professor, I knew that this was my calling. In 2013, I got the drive to get up and do something to change the world.
It was my dream to see an impact on people by using whatever I studied in the field of science. I think that it wouldn’t make sense to practice my science in a lab that was not fruitful for people. At that time it was vague how will our journey be because being a scientist and an entrepreneur is like a roller coaster ride. The scientific mindset and business mindset are very different. So, I learned a lot. I also observed how other professors were commercializing their innovations especially when I went to Oxford.
After this, the next ten years were very clear in my head. What I have learned from my journey is that you have to keep doing your job. You are definitely going to face a lot of problems, there will be issues in the tech, you will face difficulty to find the right team, and funding will also be a challenge. In spite of all these problems, you have to keep going. When you continuously solve these problems, you become more tolerant and you are also appreciated by receiving awards and accolades.
Team Sociobits: What are some of the challenges that you have faced with Drumlins?
Suphiya Khan: In deep tech startups, it is very important to have highly knowledgeable and qualified professionals. So, affording such professionals becomes a little tough initially. In fact, it is very difficult to innovate a product that is market fit in deep tech. Retaining the team was also a tough job.
Working in a startup, it is also important to manage people efficiently. I feel that someone who knows how to manage people can do anything in this world. Even if you are the smartest person alive, if you don’t have people skills, you are bound to fail. It is the era of smart work.
Team Sociobits: Since you have been striving for this cause for a long time now, is there anything that you would like to share with budding startups?
Suphiya Khan: I would only like to say that you will face a lot of challenges, but make sure that you don’t give up. Sometimes your team members will part ways with you, you should remember that leaders are alone at the top. Until your startup starts earning revenue, it will be very difficult but after that, it does get better. I feel that if you are passionate enough and have that drive, there is nothing in this world that can stop you from reaching the top.
Remember that there is light at the end of the tunnel. You cannot be an entrepreneur in one day.
Failure is not an option for me because if I fail, my team also fails and everyone around me will fail. That’s why you should have strong leadership qualities and networking qualities. The journey is very exciting and as a scientist, I have personally learned a lot of things. The journey is quite long but you should be ready to pay the price to see the results.
When you are at the top, there will be a lot of people ready to pull you down but you should not be bothered by it. Remember that there is light at the end of the tunnel. You cannot be an entrepreneur in one day.
Dr. Suphiya Khan is not only headstrong about solving the issue of skeletal fluorosis over the world through Drumlins Water Technologies, but also feels that being an entrepreneur teaches you a lot of things.
Netflix Co-CEO, Ted Sarandos gave confirmation on the matter of ads coming to the service. Ted confirmed this in an interview at the Cannes Lions advertising festival. Although we are not given an official date on which we can expect this shift, a report suggests that the company is planning to roll out the feature by the end of 2022.
This step from them seems to be a well-thought-out one as the company faced a huge loss of subscribers globally in Q1 of 2022. This was also reportedly the first time that they had lost these many subscribers in a decade. Still, they managed to hold on to the title of the largest streaming service with a user base of around 222 million subscribers.
The Netflix Co-CEO talked about how the company is already in talks with multiple potential advertisers.
“We’ve left a big target segment off the table, people who say ‘Netflix is expensive for me so I don’t mind the occasion advertisements.’
-Netflix Co-CEO, Ted Sarandos.
Ted adds,” We are planning to include an ad tier as a different subscription plan for people who are willing to watch the ads at a lower price. We are not adding to the Netflix plans you know today.”
The streaming giant has currently declined quite a lot, as compared to the numbers they previously used to see. The company on its part has taken a considerable amount of effort into staying relevant and interactive. A month ago, there was also news about Netflix planning to bring live streaming to the platform in some capacity. The product is said to be in very early development stages right now and it will air live content such as during a standup show or some other unscripted shows.
Back in April, the company even rolled out a ‘Two Thumbs Up’ button for audiences to use this whenever they like a type of content a lot and would want to see more of it. Ultimately, as the company is observing a decline in its share prices, Ted Sarandos says that Netflix being acquired is also a reality that we might have to accept. If this goes through or not, only time will tell.
The viral image-to-text AI tool that people were using to create hilarious and funny memes called DALL-E Mini has been rebranded as Craiyon. DALL-E Mini towards the end of May 2022 got extremely popular as the tool is open to use for everyone and people have used their vivid imagination to create the funniest and weirdest images using it.
There is also a Twitter account called @weirddalle that has crossed hundreds of thousands of followers and it solely posts images created using this tool. It got so popular that for a short span of time people couldn’t access it and anyone who tried to do it got the pop-up, “Too much traffic, please try again”.
Creator of the tool Boris Dayma started working on DALL-E Mini when he wanted to create a version of Open AI’s text-to-image generator, DALL-E 2. He developed this project in the span of one month and announced it on Twitter in July 2021. The tool enabled everyone in trying and experiencing the limitless possibilities of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The tool previously known as DALL-E Mini has now been rebranded as Craiyon. Open AI’s DALL-E creates extremely impressive images but is currently not available for everyone to access. You have to join a waitlist in order to use the tool. Although it was inspired by Open AI’s tool, the internet sensation is not at all related to it and was rebranded to avoid any confusion.
According to the Craiyon website, Open AI asked the creators to change the tool’s name.It has also mentioned that it is increasing the number of servers so everyone can smoothly generate images even when there is a lot of traffic on the platform
According to the Craiyon website, Open AI asked the creators to change the tool’s name. In the FAQs section, the platform has also answered how they manage to keep the website free, how did they come up with the logo, and many similar questions. It has also mentioned that it is increasing the number of servers so everyone can smoothly generate images even when there is a lot of traffic on the platform. Until they are working to make the tool better, people may have to attempt a few times to get the output.
The tool is extremely easy to use and only needs you to input a prompt and then wait for some time. You can run one-word inputs to extremely complicated sentences and still be amazed by the results. People have created images of “Jesus Christ breakdancing” and also, “Elon Musk eating pizza”. People need to use the tool to experience what it can create.
Meta has currently entered into an unstoppable mode of sorts. From clearing off lawsuits for discrimination to coming up with a literal digital fashion store, where you buy clothes for your digital character but with actual money. The company has constantly managed to be in the news and keep tech geeks interested.
As the level of upgrades to the product goes one step ahead each week, Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg announces the rebranding of Facebook Pay to Meta Pay. Existing users of Facebook Pay don’t have to worry as the app will continue to function as it used to across Whatsapp, Instagram, and Facebook. This feature is going to be exclusively launched in America first and will gradually be released across the globe.
Zuckerberg states how futuristic this shift can be as your Meta Pay will be a digital wallet of yours through which you can buy items in virtual reality. You can even buy clothes in the metaverse through the money in your wallet will help you in claiming rights over your money. This will also come in handy in managing one’s online identity and ownership over items.
“In the future, there will be all sorts of digital items you might want to own or create. This can be digital clothing, art, videos, music, and more. Proof of your ownership is very important, especially if you want to transport these items, across services.”
The Meta CEO writes in a Facebook post.
Further explaining the change in the product, Zuckerberg talks about how ideally he aims for users to be able to sign into any augmented reality platform and once they do that, the items they own should be right there too. He plans to give users a seamless experience with their online goods. Even though the goal is still far to achieve but still Mark believes that this sort of interoperability will be beneficial for providing better experiences for the people.
Ultimately, the company plans to achieve a bigger market for the creators. According to them, if you have the liberty to use your digital assets to pay for a lot of things across the board, your value for the digital goods increases, thus creating a big market for creators. A few weeks back Zuckerberg also rolled out the Horizon Homes, a virtual home for you and your friends.
Amongst world news about cryptocurrencies, India has recently decided to add an additional tax to every future cryptocurrency transaction.
Recently, Bank of England Deputy Governor, Jon Cunliffe had some nice things to say about digital currency. Jon compared the crypto meltdown in May, where known names such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Terra’s Luna suffered huge losses, to the dot com crash that occurred at the beginning of the year 2000.
From 21-23 June, the Point Zero Forum took place in Zurich, which is a platform for investors, startups, and entrepreneurs on a global scale to come together and interact. Cunliffe who was present and spoke in the forum said that
Cunliffe also believes that regardless of the happenings in the crypto market, finance and the advancements in crypto technology will go far, hand-in-hand. According to him, crypto brings with it the possibilities of huge efficiencies and visible change in how the market is structured. This comes off as quite a surprising stand from the BoE as just last year, Governor Andrew Bailey stated, “if we look at the larger picture, evidence doesn’t point towards crypto being the next big thing.”
“The analogy for me here is the dot-com boom when $5 trillion just got wiped off. Many companies came and went, but the technology remained the same. The players that survived are in a dominant position right now.”
The Bank of England Deputy Governor said
As the Point Zero Forum discussion proceeded, Cunliffe talked about what opinion the Bank Of England has on crypto and digital currency, in general. An important issue that Central Bank was trying to solve at present is whether to start a completely solo CBDC which has an “on/off ramp for a fiat” or something that is “sufficiently flexible” for being used in private stable coins.
There is a saying which says, “ Actions speak louder than words”. This cannot be more true in the clear goal of the British Government and Bank of England alike, to introduce stable coins to their country with all the necessary framework done. The Treasury department of the British Government recently made the announcement that stable coins and bitcoins will be accepted as a form of payment from now on.
The cryptocurrency winter has now been going on for a long time with the market too, being highly unpredictable. With the news of a major country already planning to adopt cryptocurrency as a form of payment, it won’t be late before other countries follow.
Social Media Moghuls, Twitter announced yesterday that they are going to come up with Twitter ‘Notes’. Notes are going to be a way of writing and publishing, long-form content on the app. With this Twitter will also be giving its users the ability to express themselves well, without the fear of running out of the available 280 characters.
The company states that currently, only select users from the UK, US, Ghana, and Canada have the access to this feature. The feature is still in its initial testing phase. Twitter also says that Notes can be read on and off Twitter by people in most countries. “We plan to gradually expand the number of people with access to this feature. The timing will depend on what we learn during the current test,” the company said.
The users who are a part of the testing team will get to access a new ‘Write’ tab. Whenever they want to access all of their notes or write a new one, they can use this tab. The company is also testing to offer you a ‘Notes’ tab, a feature in your profile that will store your published work, making it easier for new people to connect with you and get access to your write-ups.
These new features will allow the users to create notes up to 2,500 words, a major upgrade in comparison to the current limitation of 280 characters. Users will get around 100 characters for the title. With this feature, users of Twitter will get the chance to include rich formatting and editing to their articles to make them more appealing.
One of these features also includes the ability to embed tweets, GIFs, photos, and videos into their Notes. Similar to tweets, Notes too will have their own link and can be separately tweeted, retweeted, and even sent in DM’s. Just like Twitter’s announcement in April that they are working on an edit feature for tweets, Notes will have its own edit option as well which will allow you to edit a note after being published.
The published note will be visible as a note card to readers across all platforms. One will need to click on the preview that will be available on these cards, which will then lead to the actual note. This comes across as a very drastic change from the platform, which previously focused on short tweets. However, there is no denying the fact that this change will surely add more value to the posts that will be made.
Twitter seems to be working hard on updating its features and giving the users a more enjoyable experience. Although any new updates about the Elon Musk and Twitter saga are not available, the last we heard was that the company agreed to provide Musk with the ‘firehose’ internal data for clarifying his claims on the bot account problem.
As per reports, a panel consisting of federal and state finance ministers is scheduled to meet in a week to discuss the goods and services tax on crypto transactions.
The panel will be meeting on two days which are 28-29 June. The meeting will take place in Chandigarh. The panel is seeking to broaden the tax net to track dealings in virtual digital assets in a more effective manner, people with knowledge on the matter said.
It is rumored that the panel won’t be finalizing a fixed rate during the course of this two-day meeting. However, the rate they will be discussing will be in the highest tax slab of 28%.
So the additional 28% tax will be implemented on top of the already 30% crypto income tax that users are paying on transactions.
In the first quarter of this year, Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitaraman announced that henceforth, a 30% tax will be levied on capital made from the transfer of virtual assets and a 1% tax at source on all crypto transactions. This was done with the aim of being able to assess the size of the crypto market in the country and track the users.
This step from the finance ministry led to the fall of crypto trading volume in India by 30%. The huge tax rate was too much to bear even for major exchanges such as Coinbase and FTX, making them consider leaving the Indian market entirely. To avoid the brunt of a 30% tax rate, a lot of Indians turned toward DeFi projects as they did not fall under the scope of the crypto income tax.
This move was done to remove any sort of confusion among the masses regarding the legal status of crypto transactions, but the imposition of a sales tax on digital currencies still seems to be unclear. A major reason for this is the ambiguity with which crypto goods and services are treated, that too with any sort of regulatory framework lacking.
India’s Goods and Services Tax Council (GST) was the first to propose a meeting to increase the taxes on crypto. The GST believes that crypto is no better than gambling your money away or wasting it on the lottery. The committee, therefore, plans to increase the tax rate so that Indian citizens are discouraged to buy crypto.
Technology has evolved at a breakneck pace. We are now witnessing advancements that were unthinkable in the past. The metaverse, a unique, immersive virtual environment that is swiftly taking over the internet, is one of these advancements for many people. It may have initially appeared in science fiction films, but it is now more than fiction.
Metaverses are permeating the internet as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) become more popular. In 2022, it is expected that 105 million consumers would engage in at least one AR or VR activity every month. While the Metaverse isn’t quite what science fiction has envisioned it to be, it nevertheless has limitless utility as a new computing platform.
On Google, the term “metaverse” returns 677,000 results. Meanwhile, the hashtag #metaverse is popular on Instagram, with over 60,000 posts, and is tweeted over 500 times each hour on Twitter.
A Deep Dive into Metaverse Marketing
Digital marketers must keep up with the most recent technology advancements. Understanding the metaverse and its full potential is part of this. What marketers need to realize is that the metaverse isn’t simply a fad; it appears to be here to stay and on its way to becoming the next big thing.
Image Credits: Influencer Marketing Hub
What strategies may marketers use to adapt as the metaverse grows?
First and foremost, marketers must remember the importance of millennials and Gen Zers as a target demographic. Some sorts of metaverses, such as games like Roblox and technologies like VR, are also popular among these generations. Let’s look at how marketing can be done in the metaverse with that in mind.
Parallel metaverse marketing within real-life marketing
Create marketing experiences that connect with real-life events or that are similar to what your company already does in the real world. As a result, developing an online platform where non-fungible token (NFT) horses may be sold, raced, and bred appears to be a natural next step for them.
Make collectibles available
People enjoy collecting stuff, and the metaverse provides them with yet another platform to do so. You can replicate the experience in the metaverse by providing assets or limited-edition items that can only be obtained in the metaverse.
The Collector’s Room, for example, is available in the Gucci Garden Roblox experience. In the metaverse, it allows consumers to gather limited-edition Gucci products. Gucci made a total of 286,000,000 Robux from the game’s initial sales of collectible products.
Engage with existing communities
Advertising is disliked by many people. As businesses try to break into the metaverse, it’s critical that they don’t offend those who are already there. You’ll also need the favorable feedback of these users because you’ll be marketing to them.
Remember that you can’t simply enter a new platform without taking into account the new format. When businesses collaborate with members of the Roblox developer community to create things and experiences, for example, they gain more traction. Similarly, when O2 put on a Fortnite performance, they teamed up with developers who were already experts on the game.
Consider this a form of influencer marketing. Community members become key aspects of the execution of your project since user-generated content is important to your campaigns.
Continuously experiment
It’s an exciting moment to be a marketer right now. While there are some guiding principles that can help marketers determine what techniques and methods to use, the metaverse is still a relatively young platform with plenty of potential for experimentation. Best practices are still being defined, and paradigms are still being developed in their entirety. This provides marketers a lot of leeways to explore new things and be unique in their approaches.
The Metaverse Marketing Strategy
The metaverse is approachable, intriguing, and has the ability to launch brands into a marketing realm that has never been seen before. Traditional advertising, on the other hand, is unlikely to be successful in the metaverse. To make the metaverse work for them, marketers will need to think not only outside the box but also outside the physical world. The sky is the limit in the metaverse, therefore we’ll be keeping a pixelated finger on the pulse of it, even if it’s still a few years away.
Digital marketing necessitates engaging interaction, which metaverse gives in spades. As a result, we may claim that metaverse is the new digital marketing platform.
In the digital environment, there are several virtual conferences, events, and meetings. It is appealing to all people, especially in COVID-19 situations. Even if it’s only virtually, they can still be together. Metaverse will remain with us for a long time, based on evolving consumer behavior and historical experiences. It’s just getting started, but the metaverse for digital marketing will be fascinating.
Because it’s still so new, even simple concepts can work for brands. Many companies have already entered the fray. We also know that many more are on their way. The Metaverse for Brands is making a lot of noise.
Create a Unique Brand Experience
People nowadays pick a brand above competitors based on their brand experience. By collaborating with digital and content makers, Metaverse can assist you in creating a one-of-a-kind experience.
In marketplaces, they promote your brand by providing an engaging experience. Metaverse allows you to communicate with your brand in a unique way. As a result, you’ll be more noticeable, memorable, and, most importantly, intriguing.
Expand Audience Reach
To begin with, joining the Metaverse marketplaces allows you to access new audiences. Diverse communities exist, ranging from digital producers. People are eager to participate since it is new and has increased in real-world value.
These interactions in the Metaverse markets will allow you to expand your consumer base as people become familiar with you and talk about you.
What are the Opportunities in the Metaverse?
On the other side, the metaverse’s opportunities outnumber the obstacles. The metaverse for brands is a fertile ground where you may sow your seeds.
Campaigns such as games and events are excellent opportunities to connect brands with customers.
Build Strong Bonds
On metaverse, you can form long-term relationships with your target audience because it is very participatory. They will appreciate participating in your virtual events or enjoying your games. You may either create your own space or join one that already exists. Branded events and campaigns are already taking place in places like Roblox.
Campaigns such as games and events are excellent opportunities to connect brands with customers. Instead of promoting yourself, give them an engaging experience. You’ll have more active users spending time in your space as a result.
Boost Your Visibility
The metaverse for companies is a hot issue, but it’s still in its infancy. When you have a slightly exciting concept, your name will be known all over the world. Everyone is talking about the current campaigns. You’ll reach out to more people, even if they’re not in the metaverse.
Focus on engagement marketing
You can welcome potential customers to your online store. People find it appealing to shop on eCommerce websites or on social media. They’ll adore a 3D store where they can roam around and engage with other consumers virtually.
These shops are displacing physical stores because individuals can shop from the comfort of their own homes. It’s similar to browsing Amazon’s wares, but with a much more realistic feel. They can even sample the goods. As a result, you have a better chance of persuading them to buy. As a result, interaction marketing has a lot of potential in this area.
What are the Digital Marketing Challenges in the Metaverse?
Despite all of the benefits of metaverse for digital marketing, there are certain drawbacks to consider. As a result, we will begin to discuss new themes in digital marketing:
One of them is intellectual property ownership. You might not be able to receive intellectual property protection if your content producer is an AI. In this circumstance, you are unable to assert your legal rights to your work.
On the metaverse, there are some security vulnerabilities that need to be addressed. You may learn more about how the platform will use your data by visiting their website.
It’s difficult to prove who owns a digital asset. Let’s pretend you made money online. You’ll have to show proof that it’s yours.
Why Brands Should Market In the Metaverse?
While technology creates its own realm, brands will always be present. For brands looking to reach out to a global audience, this is the perfect opportunity for globalization.
It will, without a question, expand quickly. To make a major leap towards your goals, you need to appear in the metaverse before it’s too late. We’ve all witnessed this, first with the launch of brand websites and later with the rise of eCommerce.
there are numerous reasons for companies to participate in metaverse marketing, including the exponentially growing number of users, endless chances for brands, readily implementable concepts (which are not conceivable in the physical world), and many others.
To summarise, there are numerous reasons for companies to participate in metaverse marketing, including the exponentially growing number of users, endless chances for brands, readily implementable concepts (which are not conceivable in the physical world), and many others.
Metaverse marketing will allow you to be daring with your advertising ideas if you have them. You’re beyond the physical world’s bounds in this universe, with boundless possibilities. As a result, this is an excellent moment for brainstorming and developing effective advertising.
The startup ecosystem is continuously evolving and growing in India but every startup founder know that the major challenge they will face during the earlier stages of the company is finding the right mentors, investors and connects,
Connect Club is a networking platform that has been solely designed to make the life of investors as well as startups easier. Founde in 2019, Team Sociobits connected with the Founder of Connect Club, Mr. Nikhil Srivastava to know more about the company.
Team Sociobits: Could you tell us a little about yourself?And how did you ideate Connect Club?
Mr. Nikhil Srivastava: I am a final year engineering student and I have been working on Connect Club for the past two and half years. This is actually my second startup and my I ideated my first startup when I was in the 10th grade, which was a video game console renting platform. I had an extra video game console that I used to rent out to people and this was doing pretty well. But the major problem that I was facing was that I did not know how to escalate it.
As a 10th-grade student, I knew what an incubator was and what an investor was but coming from a service class family, there was no one to guide me. I did not have anyone to tell me how I can convert my idea into a startup or a full-fledged business. That’s when I found a mismatch in the industry and I thought that the startup ecosystem was a very disconnected market where it is difficult for people to network with each other.
When I moved on to pursue my degree in engineering, the thought of doing something about this once again crossed my mind and I finally came up with Connect Club.
“I did not have anyone to tell me how I can convert my idea into a startup or a full-fledged business. That’s when I found a mismatch in the industry”
Team Sociobits: When you pitched the idea of creating Connect Club, what was the first reaction of your friends and family?
Founder: Initially, I got a mixed reaction for my friends, but my family has always been supportive about this. In fact, my family completely supported me and also believed that I can do whatever I wanted to do. My father also offered financial help with this project. Among my friends, there were a set of friends who were very supportive and nice to me, and they also joined me as the co-founding team members. I would also say that Connect Club is Connect Club because of them.
Team Sociobits: Basically, what is Connect Club all about?
Founder: Connect Club is a networking platform for the startup ecosystem where investors, incubators, VCs, and accelerators from all over the world can connect on one networking platform. Like-minded people can connect with each other, share their thoughts, and attend video calls and meetings, so it is a full-fledged networking platform focused on the startup ecosystem.
Team Sociobits: Since 2019, how has your journeywith Connect Club been so far?Did you face any challenges in particular?
Founder: My journey began in 2019; I think that challenges are something that every startup faces during their journey and I faced certain challenges too but I got good support from my friends and family so they helped me get over these challenges and also smoothen out my journey.
Team Sociobits: Do you have any competitors? Is there anyone similar to Connect Club?Why do you think startups and investors will choose Connect Club?
Founder: See, there are many platforms that let investors and startups connect with each other, and there are multiple companies that are still doing it. But when it comes to networking, we are one of the first few companies that are doing it.
Also, if you look at the startup ecosystem, it’s a huge market and only in India, around 1000 startups are emerging every day. Especially in India, startups are not just coming from metropolitan cities but also from tier-two and tier-three cities and these startups don’t get the same access or exposure that startups from the cities get. The startups emerging from the metropolitan cities have the access to go to networking events and it is easier to meet investors. So, I am trying to develop a platform where no matter where you are emerging from, you get the same access.
“Especially in India, startups are not just coming from metropolitan cities but also from tier-two and tier-three cities and these startups don’t get the same access or exposure that startups from the cities get.”
-Founder of Connect Club
That way, if you are starting from the interiors of India, you can still connect with an investor from anywhere chat with them and network with them. And but obvious, ‘network is the networth’ and by joining Connect Club, you are increasing your net worth.
Team Sociobits: Did COVID-19 had an impact on your startup in any way?
Founder: In a way, the pandemic actually helped us because most of the networking events that were talking place were at a halt or they were converted into an online format because of which, the networking in the startup ecosystem was at a pause. That is when, people started looking at our platform. Though, during the pandemic, we were still at a prototype stage, we started seeing good response from the limited number of users we had.
Team Sociobits: What do you have planned for the future? Do you have any immediate goals set to be achieved this year?
Founder: I aim to be dominating the networking platform of the startup ecosystem and my goal is to have a networking platform emerging from India that could be reached to a global scale. Currently, most of the networking sites that exist are from a foregin country. Indian sites that have a global presence are very limited. And my goal for five years is that I want Connect Club to grow on a level where after five years, if someone says that I have startup, then the other person’s first response should be, ‘what’s your Connect Club like?’
Connect Club wants to make it easier and ultimately upgrade the way startups and investors connect with each other so that funding would be a hassle free job.
The government of America and Meta seem to have come to an agreement to clear up a lawsuit. The lawsuit was regarding the tendency of Facebook’s algorithm to show discriminatory housing advertisements. Just a week back they were hit with multiple lawsuits from across America over their app being addictive.
According to the press release, the company gave advertisers the option to specify that some of their housing ads will not be shown to people belonging to certain protected groups. Meta has further agreed in front of the government that they will change their ad algorithm and they have to pay $115,000 to settle the case. The first case done against the company for the same matter goes back to 2019 and back then, they even tried to rectify the issue on their part.
The Department of Justice(DOJ), says that it happened for the first time that they are dealing with a case of algorithmic violations under the Fair Housing Act. Back in 2019, Facebook was accused of unlawfully discriminating based on color, race, religion, sex, and disability, by restricting who can view housing ads. Ashley Settle, a Facebook spokesperson, talks about
“building a novel machine learning method without our ads system that will change the way housing ads are delivered to people residing in the U.S. across different demographic groups.”
As per the terms of the settlement, Meta will need to immediately stop using an advertising tool for housing ads that takes the help of a discriminatory algorithm. They were also asked to stop the usage of their ‘Lookalike Audience’ tool which relies on factors such as race, sex, and other characteristics. The company was asked to develop a system that addresses the racial and other disparities caused by its personalization algorithms in its ad delivery system.
Meta is now taking active steps along with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to make sure that their machine-learning technology is working in such a way that the ad will only be targeted and shown to the people who are actually eligible to see it. The company will monitor factors such as race, gender, and ethnicity to measure how far off is the targeted audience as opposed to the audience interacting right now.
Meta has also decided to be transparent from now on about their systems and the progress they are making on their new algorithm. The settlement shows that they will need to prove by the end of 2022 that its algorithm doesn’t have any malice and works the way it’s intended to. If the government does approve it, a third body will be given the responsibility to investigate and verify the workings on an ongoing basis.
Although these conversations have created a lot of hype around the product, there still needs to be unified standards around the app. This is probably the direction a lot of tech companies have decided to take as well. Microsoft, Epic Games, Meta, and 33 other companies have come together to set up an open standards group for Metaverse, called the Metaverse Standards Forums.
The forum promises to promote and monitor the standards of augmented reality technology. It brings together leading standard organizations and companies for industry-wide cooperation on interoperability standards, which are extremely important in building the open metaverse. The forum also talks about exploring where the lack of interoperability is holding back the metaverse deployment.
“The Metaverse Standards Forum is a unique venue for coordination between standards organizations and industry, with a mission to foster the pragmatic and timely standardization that will be essential to an open and inclusive metaverse,”
Neil Trevett, Khronos President.
The forum is pretty clear in its focus on pragmatic, action-based projects such as implementation prototyping, hackathons, plugfests, and open-source tooling to accelerate the testing. Other founding members of the forum are the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Nvidia, Qualcomm, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Khronos, and Lamina1 among many others.
There are still some expected names missing, as there is no sign of Apple on the list. Experts believe them to be busy with creating their own AR & VR technology. Companies such as Niantic and Roblox who have been pioneers in the world of video games and virtual worlds also seem to be missing. The forum is expected to schedule its first meeting in July of this year, as they are waiting for more members to come on board.
VR, AR, and all the other virtual worlds can be grouped under one term, Metaverse. Multiple standards organizations already exist for different sub-fields and have even become a part of the new forum. Open standards will make it simpler for the developers to create the same content for several platforms or consumers. This will also help in exporting the data from one service to another.
All of us may have faced a situation where our two-wheeler may have broken down in the middle of nowhere and we would try to figure out a way to get out of it. If you have not faced it, you may definitely have seen it somewhere. Developing a solution that can take care of it sounds hard but is definitely not impossible.
Mechanify is a tech-enabled two-wheelers servicing company based in Haryana that was founded by Viren Thakur (CEO) and Ujwal Seth (COO) in 2019. Mechanify makes its customers and garage owners experience a seamless, transparent, and cost-effective two-wheeler service industry. Mr. Viren Thakur and Mr. Ujjwal Seth met through a common friend and decided to take on Mechanify together.
Team Sociobits connected with the Co-Founders of Mechanify to know more about the founding of the company.
Team Sociobits: How did you come up with the idea of Mechanify?And what issues areyou solving through Mechanify?
Co-Founders: The idea of Mechanify was reflected when Viren Thakur was riding his bike and it broke down in between. He was unable to find a repair shop or any roadside assistance. That is when we started thinking that why can’t we start a business which solves such problems for many of us who get stuck in between roads due to our bikes or scooters.
The idea is simple. Through our company, we are building a technology platform that bridges the gap between the customers and garages while making two-wheeler services more accessible, transparent, cost-effective, and standardized.
The company raised its first round of funding in September 2021 and Then we moved on to raising the second round of funding from India Accelerator and Zypp Electric.
Team Sociobits: How has your journey with Mechanify been so far?
Co-Founders: Starting in 2019, it took some time to make a product that fits the market. At that time we ran our operation in Rohini, Delhi, and side by side searched for investments, we were facing a lot of challenges with respect to the finances.
Mechanify was growing well until the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. We started to lose all our hopes. We then began exploring the EV Market and our company ran trials with Zypp Electric and eBikeGo, these companies were facing issues with the servicing during the lockdown. Then the Founder of Zypp Electric, Akash Gupta saw the spark in us and helped us with building connections.
The company raised its first round of funding in September 2021 and received great traction and a good response from the market. Then we moved on to raising the second round of funding from India Accelerator and Zypp Electric. Zypp Electric invested as a strategic partner. As of now, are growing exponentially month on month.
Team Sociobits: Could you point out some of the major challenges that you faced in your journey? Also, do you have any competitors?
Co-Founders: In organizing the unorganized two-wheeler market, we faced a lot of challenges. This included challenges like the credit underwriting problem. The traditional mindset was another biggest challenge.
“We want to reach a level where if a spaceship lands on Earth, its service should be done by Mechanify only.”
-Co-Founders of Mechanify
Some of our competitors include GoMechanic.in, GOBumper, and Hoopy. But Mechanify is a one-stop solution for all two-wheeler needs. Mechanify is creating a seamless experience for the complete supply chain, right from procurement of the spares to fitting them in the end user’s vehicle.
Team Sociobits: Do you have any goals set to be achieved this year? What is your roadmap for the future?
Co-Founders: We have set a goal for this year to close partnership and franchise deals in Delhi/NCR and expand to other cities as well. For the future, we would only like to say one line; We want to reach a level where if a spaceship lands on Earth, its service should be done by Mechanify only.
Mechanify is taking care of all the two-wheeler servicing needs like pick and drop, garage services, swapping stations, spare parts, roadside assistance, and more. The company wants to manage your servicing needs and make maintenance hassle-free for customers.
The note released by RBI on Monday has hit several fintech startups like a truck. The Reserve Bank of India has released a circular stating that it will forbid non-banks to load credit lines on pre-paid payment instruments.
The notification sent to many fintech companies and non-banks read, “The PPI-MD (PPI-master direction) does not permit loading of PPIs from credit lines. Such practice, if followed, should be stopped immediately. Any non-compliance in this regard may attract penal action under provisions contained in the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.”
“The PPI-MD does not permit loading of PPIs from credit lines. Such practice, if followed, should be stopped immediately.”
– The notification sent by the Reserve Bank of India.
The PPI-MD is a document that comprises rules and regulations regarding these payment instruments. Basically, according to the RBI, pre-paid instruments can be loaded using cash, debit cards, credit cards, and bank accounts but they are not allowed to be loaded using credit lines.
It is being said that the impact of this circular will majorly be seen on fintech companies that are offering credit lines in partnership with an NBFC to its customers and on fintech companies that are offering prepaid cards to their customers with a banking or a non-banking partner. It can also impact companies with a business model that offered BNPL services linked with an NBFC-linked wallet. Companies like, Jupiter, Fi, Slice, LazyPay, AmazonPay, Pay U Payments, and many more are likely to be affected by this notification.
Rohit Ramachandran, CEO of Neowise Technologies
Reacting to this notification, Mr. Rohit Ramachandran-CEO of Neowise Technologies, a banking as a service company that offers multiple payment and banking APIs to fintechs in India, exclusively told Sociobits, “It’s going to be interesting to see how the ecosystem evolves, but it’s definitely going to change the way a whole host of credit card challengers and BNPL players operate. A couple of the larger credit card challengers had already formed a co-branded credit card partnership with a private sector bank even before this circular came out and we foresee a lot more players exploring this route. However, RBI has also recently barred banks from sharing transaction data related to card spending with their co-brand partners (credit and debit cards), and how this impacts the viability of these proposed co-brand partnerships will have to be seen.”
“It’s going to be interesting to see how the ecosystem evolves, but it’s definitely going to change the way a whole host of credit card challengers and BNPL players operate.”
Rohit Ramachandran, CEO of Neowise Technologies
He further added, “We’ll probably see more fintech’s look at the NBFC license route since RBI has allowed NBFCs to directly issue credit cards as long as they have net owned funds of above ₹100 crores and receive a one-time approval from the central bank. We’ll have to wait and watch as to how liberal the regulator is when it comes to handing out these one-time approvals. However, the days of BIN sponsorship and co-branded cards at least within the credit realm seem to be numbered.”
Mr. Sarabjeet Singh, CEO of Eazr
Mr. Sarabjeet Singh, CEO of Eazr, a BNPL fintech solution that aims to prioritize health and education in the country said, “I believe that RBI has outlined the distinction between banks and non-bank issued instruments. I do not see any restrictions being imposed on the fairly successful business models which offer PPIs issued by the banks. Business models with NBFC-backed credit lines will now have to partner with banks to operate legitimately.”
Mr. Jeevan Gopisetty, the Co-Founder of Nemo, a neo-banking platform that provides financial tools and services to small Indian businesses, also reacted to the recent development, “A major blow to all the years of infra that was created. He added, “Also, RBI ruled out banking licenses to neobanks and asked to continue to partner with banks. I think the Indian startups are passing through watershed moments & when this passes we will evolve to be a mature ecosystem like the Silicon Valley.”
Mr. Rishabh Verma and Mr. Jeevan Gopisetty, Co-Founders of Nemo
Mr. Rishabh Verma, also the Co-Founder of Nemo added, “In such unique situations, collaborations and partnerships become the key to success, this could lead to larger players becoming more prominent but fintech’s with a focused target audience can still make an impact.”
While everything seems a little vague right now, this development is surely going to impact fintech startups in a certain way. On the other hand, this will have a positive impact on banks that have a huge credit card base.
According to Inc42, the market opportunity of the fintech industry in India is expected to reach around $1.3 Tn by 2025, in which the BNPL segment is estimated to emerge as the biggest winner in this space.
There is a quote that says, ” Nostalgia is like grammar, you find the present tense but the past perfect”. We love to switch off from the present and reminisce our days in the past quite often. Quite often, we like to look at old pictures and it gives us a sense of how much times have changed.
Nowadays, apps help you go on this sweet nostalgic ride. Apps such as Google Photos and Apple Photos have features that pop-up pictures from the past time and again. It’s extremely fun to open your Facebook or Instagram and see what you were doing on a particular day, a few years back.
Some of you might have thought what is the kind of content I was interacting with when I opened my account. People even wonder what was probably the first post that they ever liked. Luckily now, Instagram answers that question for you as you can easily access that and more information from the app.
Here is how you can find the first Instagram post that you liked :
1 . Open your profile on the Instagram profile and click on the three lines in the top right corner.
2 . Tap on ‘Your Activity’.
3 . Select ‘Interactions’.
4 . Once in interactions, go ahead and select ‘Likes’.
5 . Next, click on the ‘Sort & Filter’ option and then click on ‘Sort by’
6 . As you can see in the previous image that the pictures are sorted by ‘Newest to oldest’, you just have to change this setting to ‘Oldest to newest’.
Once you hit apply, within a few seconds, your page will show you the earliest picture you liked. Not only that, it will show you all the pictures you liked from the beginning, chronologically.
You can also tap on any post and be guided back to it to have a look as to when it was posted. This works on both Android as well as iPhone. Users can also choose to participate in the current trend of revealing “what was the first post that you liked on Instagram?”, just to share a laugh with friends and family.
Google is soon going to bring a price tag to what you use now for free, The G suite legacy free edition. It consists of the email app, Docs app, and Calendar app among others.
A long-time user of all these services, Richard J. Dalton Jr. who operates a scholastic test-prep company in Vancouver, feels cheated because of this change.
“They’re basically strong-arming us to switch to something paid after they got us hooked on this free service.”
– Richard said talking about the situation.
Mr. Dalton first used Google work email for his business, Your Score Booster, in 2008.
Google clearly wants longtime users of their G suite app ecosystem to start paying a monthly charge. The users have to pay around $6 for each business email address. Businesses have been given an ultimatum to switch to the paid service by June 27. Those who do not voluntarily switch will be automatically moved to Google Workspace. If you still fail to pay by the 1st of August, your account will be suspended.
Small-business owners are furious over this decision from the company. It’s not about the decision being a hard financial hit for them but they also don’t need that major inconvenience each month. These owners feel that the tech Moghul is being absolutely petty for a company that earns billions in profits. It applies true to some extent for a few owners as they might be first-time business owners using these apps for their workflow.
Google’s business decision of starting to charge for its existing software also proves that the company is trying to profit off the utility factor, its apps have already created throughout the years. Apps such as Calendar, and Gmail have helped users for a decade now in managing their work and schedules. Recently, it’s been observed that Google has become more aggressive with its ads and paid software. This is the reason you might come across multiple ads on the Youtube videos you are watching, as opposed to one or two earlier.
The company with this decision is trying to compete with companies like Microsoft, whose productivity apps such as Word and Excel are extremely dominant in the market.
The company has already had to push its plans for a paid service from May 1 to August 1 due to a number of complaints from its longtime users. Google also declared that people who use their account for personal purposes may continue to do so for free and they won’t be charged.
When Google began with Gmail and Docs in the early 2000s, they aimed at new startups and small businesses and tried to get as many people to use their software as they could. They also let companies bring custom domains that matched their business names to Gmail. Even when these apps were in testing, they put out the word that these apps will be free for life. In 2020, G Suite got a new identity as Google Workspace. The company states that over 3 billion total users, use a free version of the workspace.
