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The Internet’s Transformative Effect on Small Businesses
The very nature of business has been transformed dramatically by the rise of the internet, as has a lot of different aspects of modern life. The internet revolutionized the way a business operates; it introduced a wide range of changes necessary to its survival. But, as a small business owner, do you feel confident that you are using the internet to your advantage? To put it simply, a business today will struggle to survive without the internet. It has had a profound effect on the way most businesses operate but especially small businesses. Read on for more information. Easier Start-Up In the past, it was notoriously difficult to get a business up and running, and entry into the business world as a whole was restricted. However, with the internet, the initial start-up costs are now a lot lower, and it is far easier to start a small business. You can gain visibility and make connections through your website or social media; you can network with business contacts and affiliates. You can even find investors. The internet has also made it easier to find talented individuals who can help your business to grow. In addition, you can research and test products before committing to producing large quantities, which reduces the chance of failure. Increased Efficiency The internet has increased the efficiency of all the markets. It has made it a lot easier for people to find things that fulfil their niche interests. It is much more convenient for the collectors of niche items who would not otherwise be able to source these goods through traditional stores. The internet has made...
Database Logging with Serilog in an ASP.NET Core Application
What do we, developers, do when we want to use a framework we haven’t heard of before? Usually, we dig deeper and deeper to find some answers and sometimes we end up searching in too many places. This is what happened to me when I started implementing database logging with Serilog in ASP.NET Core, for one of our projects. In order to help other fellow developers in need, I decided to put the most important details about database logging using Serilog all together in this article. What Is Logging and Why Is It Important? Having an effective logging strategy can be vital for our applications. Logging usually provides useful data that can be often helpful in diagnosing failures, problem root causes analysis, and even do a performance review of the application. What Should Be Logged? Well, everything! We should log everything that provides useful data about the app and its behavior. For example: Remember not to include sensitive data in logs! A good practice is to customize error messages. Logs should contain some details to ease the investigations into the app’s failures: Where Should We Keep the Logs? One way to log data is using the Console. However, this isn’t the best approach in case of logs from the past need to be analyzed. In order to make this happen, logs should be stored in external files or databases. To make this happen, there are some third-party frameworks that could be used. One of them is Serilog. What is Serilog? Serilog is a framework used to gather structured logs for an application and it is well suited to collecting...
Mobile App Development Trends 2021-2022 | Eastern Peak
The article was updated on July 17, 2021. Mobile app development in 2021 is an area of lightning-fast changes, disruptive technologies, and new blooming trends that help companies win customers in this tumultuous period for the industry. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has been excruciating for many businesses, the mobile development market continues to thrive, with the global revenue estimated to hit $44.3 trillion by 2027. The impact of the global lockdowns has shifted the general focus in mobile app development trends towards mobile-first, contactless, and connected services. In this article, we’ll highlight the most significant useful and practical trends in mobile app development for 2021-2022 and demonstrate why you shouldn’t pass up on opportunities to innovate. 1. 5G Modern app development has the luxury of utilizing 5G technology—the newest generation of telecommunication networks that’s already displaying stunning connection speeds. In fact, Opensignal reports that 5G was between 1.6 and 15.7 times faster than 4G on download during trials. Together with the improved security and increased number of possible connections per square kilometer that 5G enables, the support of this new networking standard is on the verge of becoming one of the critical 2021-2022 mobile app trends. 5G is transformative for mobile developers because it expands the possible functionality of apps. The gaming industry can leverage the speed of 5G to promote mobile versions of highly demanding games like Fortnite and Clash Royale. Going further, 5G also opens a door for creating more sophisticated and realistic AR/VR apps, streaming quality 4K-8K and 360 videos, and introducing more interconnected IoT devices into the market. 2. Voice technology In the not-so-distant past,...
Cyber security boost for Inner Range with 2FA
Figures show one in ten employees will have their security username or password compromised by cyber criminals. For people operating access and security systems, preventing this kind of cyber breach is even more important. Tim Northwood, director of Inner Range, discusses how Two Factor Authentication (2FA) provides an extra layer of cyber security for customers. Benefits of 2FA Two Factor Authentication (2FA), which is offered by Inner Range’s intelligent integrated access and security management system, Integriti, ensures operators must present their usual username and password as well as an additional security credential. This includes extra security passwords or memorable information, biometrics such as thumb or finger prints and facial scans, or a code received on a registered device, such as via an app on a mobile phone. Using 2FA means customers can rest assured that any potential rogue users with stolen usernames and passwords will still be denied access. Easy company-wide set up The initial set-up for company-wide use of 2FA within Integriti can be completed within a few minutes by activating 2FA and adding it to a security policy that makes 2FA a requirement for system operators. Operators are then asked to enroll in 2FA at their next login. For this, they are prompted to scan a QR code using a compatible authenticator app on a mobile phone or other device, and enter the 6-digit code provided. Enrolled operators need to enter the code provided by the authenticator each time they login. The codes time-out after 30 seconds to ensure maximum security. If anyone forgets their phone or device needed to generate 2FA codes, a system administrator can...Using Machine Learning To Detect Anomalies – SecuriTeam Blogs
I’m going to start blogging more about detection of protocol/app anomalies, detection of lateral movement and/or data exfiltration, and more. For many years I have been watching users and applications furrow their way across networks and I’m gonna start data-dumping that info here 🙂 But…first…I manage a web server for a friend. It occurred to me that machine-learning could be useful in alerting when an attack is under way. I took the following steps 1) Get as much data as possible for this device. For Apache, this just meant gathering all the log files. 2) Parse the data and, for each session, look at the path taken as the user or bot perused the server (Note: outside of my initial scope, but timestamps are useful here to weed out a user versus a machine). 3) So, an average session will look like R1->R2->R3->RX where each “R” is a request. So R1 could be index.html, R2 could be “Contact Us”, R3 could be “contact_form.php”, etc. I started using Markov to build a model; however, instead, I took each set of 2 and initialized those values…e.g. S={R1->R2,R2->R3,R3->RX}. For the next session I might have S={R1->R5,R5->R3,etc.}. At the end of all the parsing, I have a big set of all state transitions possible for each R. So, given RX, there are a finite number of R states that RX can transition to. 4) For each of the R states, I now re-parse the log file and find the number of transitions. This is a matrix that shows the number of observed transitions from RN to every other R state. So, for instance,...
Laravel Or CakePHP: Which is Better for Web App Development?
Laravel development services are becoming increasingly popular, with the framework being frequently compared to CakePHP. Both Laravel and CakePHP are well-known PHP frameworks. PHP is frequently used to create dynamic web pages and high-end apps. PHP frameworks enable the creation of cost-effective websites with excellent UI/UX. On the other hand, Laravel is an open-source MVC PHP framework that is mostly used to create innovative, creative, and attractive full-featured web applications. It provides a distinct set of PHP frameworks’ fundamental functions. Let’s delve in to get some more information about the two frameworks. What is Laravel? To begin, Laravel is a PHP framework designed specifically for the building of MVC-based apps. It is an open source PHP framework that is often regarded as the greatest of the PHP frameworks. Some of the major advantages of choosing Laravel as your web development environment are listed below. Laravel is another PHP-based open source framework for building online apps and websites. As this amazing php-based framework is open source, there are no expensive licence fees or capital investments required to use it. Laravel is also beginner friendly, which implies that aspiring will find it quite simple to utilize this framework. This framework is used to develop a variety of tools. This framework allows for a great deal of customization. Are you convinced to use the Laravel framework for your next project and or do you need to know about CakePHP? Here we go. What is CakePHP? To begin with, CakePHP is a free and extremely helpful PHP programming framework. It’s also a fantastic development framework due to the capabilities it offers. As a...
Top 10 Laravel development companies in 2021
If you’ve been looking around for a Laravel development company, but you haven’t been able to find a good one, you’ve come to the right place. It’s not necessarily as popular as some of the other frameworks on the market, but that’s because it’s a little more specialist and is built with more specific use cases in mind. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves, so let’s take a step back. Now, we will look at what Laravel is and why you might want to think about using it, along with some of the best companies out there to give you a helping hand. Why use Laravel? Let’s get started by taking a little look at the whats and whys of Laravel so that you’re up to speed with what it is and what it does before we share some suppliers. What is Laravel? Laravel is essentially a free-to-use PHP framework that’s distributed on an open-source model. You can take it and use it to build your applications using the basics that it puts into place. In particular, it was developed for web apps that use a “model-view-controller” pattern(MVC). Branding itself as the PHP framework for web artisans, it’s better than building with pure PHP because of its foundation for developers. It means that less time is needed to build basic functionality because it’s already there. It’s like going in to build a house after the foundations have already been laid down. Which companies use the Laravel? We could fill an entire article just answering this question. That’s because it’s arguably the most popular rapid web app development framework, powering...
An Introduction to MERN: ReactJS
As an entrepreneur who is looking for a digital partner for the development of their very own application, it can be difficult to follow the technical jargon that’s mentioned in many consultancy meetings and proposals. If you’re not a software developer yourself, the information regarding technical specifications can be complex and difficult to understand. As a company of digital experts, we want to make sure our clients are always on the same page as us, no matter how complex the topic. That’s why we have been taking a deep dive into the technologies and frameworks our development team at Lizard Global works with on a daily basis. Last time, you could read about NodeJS, an indispensable part of the MERN tech-stack. This week, we’re having a look at another programming language of MERN: ReactJS. The tech stack of MERN MERN is a full-stack web development framework consisting of 4 key technologies that revolve around Javascript: MongoDB, ExpressJS, ReactJS and NodeJS. These 4 technologies cover all layers of application development. Most applications consist of a frontend and a backend. Backend is where all the complex logic lies including the database itself, while the frontend is the customer-facing components that consist of forms, tables, buttons etc. An application will communicate continuously with the frontend and backend to provide a useable working application. At Lizard Global, we use the MERN tech stack where Express and NodeJS are comprised of the backend attached to a Mongo database and ReactJS for the frontend. ReactJS is a Javascript library that allows developers to build the frontend of an application with beautiful interactive UI components. It...
Understanding Blockchain – A Natural Digital Evolution For Professional Services – Web & Mobile App Development Company | IT Services & Software Solutions | Coding Brains Blogs
Blockchain is a data model which is widely known as ledger technology. It uses a distributed database that provides a peer-to-peer network for everything. There are many Blockchains to choose from, they can be public and used as internet or private which can be used as an intranet. How to use BlockChain? It is a tool like any other technology, Firms use the technology to connect to other blockchain networks. Who is using blockchain? Bitcoin was the first one that started using blockchain followed by other major financial institutions such as IBM, Japanese firm ripple, and NASDAQ Myths associated with BlockChain Blockchain is similar to Bitcoin: This is a myth that many people fall for but in fact, the truth is that Blockchain is a very large electronic system in which you can create applications and currency. Just like email and the internet are two very different things, similarly, Bitcoin and blockchain are two different concepts. This misconception has arisen because of the rising popularity of Bitcoin. Blockchain provides questionable security: No network is absolutely secure, the same is with Blockchain. But still, it provides a lot of security over other networks. The attacker who has substantial control and enough resources to attack can access the blockchain and tamper with the data. But still, because of the distributed network, it is very secure and safe to use. Monetary perspective: The myth is that Blockchain is just monetary in nature, but it is not so. This has come up because of the rising popularity and interest in bitcoin. The potential that technology provides goes far beyond bitcoin, it is not...
The Urgency of Cyber Security Advancement
“There’s time, though not unlimited time, to get the job done. We must make a continuing public commitment to securing cyberspace — and we must do so now.” – Melissa Hathaway Cyber Security Expert and President of Hathaway Global Strategies, LLC On June 10, the McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University hosted Chris Brose, author and former policy adviser to Senator John McCain, to discuss his book, “The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare.” During the discussion with former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Nick Rasmussen, Brose emphasized the need for American focus and investment in cyberspace and cautioned against risking “calamity and crisis” that could occur absent addressing American cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Brose’s passionate call to action pointed out that our ever-increasing dependency on technology, while greatly enhancing our society, has created systemic risks that require urgent attention. We must be clear-eyed – safeguarding our society from cyber security issues is very complex. Without significant mitigation of these risks, we will see more and more disruptive and damaging cyberattacks that have the ability to greatly impact our day-to-day lives. Protecting our national security, our commercial interests and the security and rights of our civilians is a highly complex task. According to the United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, there are 16 critical infrastructure sectors. Some of these include commercial facilities, critical manufacturing, chemical, communications, dams, emergency services, financial services, food and agriculture, energy, healthcare and public health. Cyberattacks on these sectors present extreme risk and the fallout from attacks on any one of them could cause long term damaging consequences....Ionic vs React Native: Which Cross-Platform Framework is Best for You? | ButterCMS
In this article, we will address two of the most common mobile app development frameworks—Ionic and React Native—to help you consider the primary distinctions between these two frameworks as well as their main features and disadvantages. We’ll also take a look at how you can quickly implement a headless CMS for Ionic or React Native. Before we get into the Ionic vs React Native debate, let’s take a quick look at the differences between native and hybrid (cross-platform) apps. Table of contents Native Apps vs Hybrid (Cross-platform) Apps There are several ways to develop a mobile application as an end product in this modern technological era. The foremost approach is to develop it natively, using the native language of each platform. Native applications are developed for a particular platform in a particular programming language. As an example, when we develop an iOS-specific application using the Objective-C language or an Android-specific application using Java, then the app is called a native app. The use of native code results in better performance, but the only disadvantage is the requirement of multiple teams to manage the mobile application. In contrast, hybrid apps are software applications that are created using web technology such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. PhoneGap/Cordova platforms are used to have a localized experience and navigate native functionality in Android, iOS, or some other app. Cross-platform applications focus on common web resources such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to provide native interfaces while using native functionality. The hybrid approach has the upper hand in improving app development efficiency by using a single project on all platforms and providing UX compatibility...
Announcing the GUI Stake Pool | Small Business Web Design Services and Web App Development | Denver Boulder
gooWee has officially launched a Cardano stake pool! We’re proud to be supporting this amazing project! 🎉 What’s a Cardano you ask? Good question. Here’s another blog to answer that. Why did we decide to do this? Honestly there are several reasons. For starters, we’re always looking for new projects and new technologies to learn. And while this is a pretty new space for us (coming from websites and apps), it’s actually a logical progression since more and more apps are going to require connectivity with blockchain technology. In fact we’ve already started discussions on a project involving smart contracts and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). So our efforts are kind of dovetailing. Also, gooWee is very much aligned with Cardano’s mission and vision. Cardano aims to be a new financial infrastructure for the whole world, especially in places where old models of financial infrastructure are inequitable or non-existent. We’re proud to be able to support that infrastructure, and to do it with zero carbon footprint. This last part because we’re running our stake pool out of a European data center that uses 100% renewable energy. Most importantly, and on a very personal note, we feel most productive and useful when finding ways to help and support our own community. As we’ve often said, we’d be nothing without our community and we never forget the importance of giving back. Luckily this aligns perfectly with Cardano’s culture and ethos. Stake pool operators are encouraged to be mission oriented and to give part of their earnings to a good cause. One cause that is near and dear to our hearts is technology education,...
ReactJS vs React Native – The Ultimate Comparison
ReactJS and React Native are two immensely popular technologies when it comes to app development. Although they retain similar names, and have both been launched by Facebook, their enormous popularity still hasn’t meant that people understand the difference between the two! Notwithstanding the few who are aware that one is a web framework, and the other is a mobile framework, many are still left stumped when asked about the differences between these two frameworks. and React Native development have both gained prominence among frontend developers with their massive contingencies to build interactive UIs. The ReactJS framework is a JavaScript library used to develop user interfaces on the web using declarative programming. This permits developers to design a simple overview and keep the app views consistent. Commonly referred to as React, it is used to develop user-friendly and responsive UI components for front end and server-side operations. It is also used to build high performance and scalable web applications. It is a component-based library that allows development of reusable components and also supports rendering of UI components. The ReactJS framework provides support for both frontend and server-side development. The is a JavaScript framework that enables developers to build apps for both iOS and Android platforms with near native UI by only using the JavaScript programming language. React Native development compiles the native code to create practically native mobile apps with reusable components. It uses ReactJS for abstraction, although the library components vary. Here, we look at some of the business advantages and limitations of both platforms and outline the key differences when it comes to choosing between ReactJS development and...
How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing The Future Of Mobile App Development | e3zine – E-3 Magazine International
Artificial intelligence has been getting a lot of press lately. It is no longer the realm of science fiction stories – we now experience a wide array of AI systems almost every day. Whether you are a professional in digital strategy services or the average consumer, you probably see that there is a lot of potential for machines that can simulate human intelligence. When you look at mobile app development, you see an industry that is currently experiencing big changes as the result of AI. It is not only changing the way developers work, it is helping to deliver better apps for consumers. While we are still at the beginning of the AI revolution in mobile app development, we can already see significant changes. The following are some of the ways AI is changing the future of mobile app development. Automation in development App development is a field that requires a lot of skill. With that said, there are also many repetitive tasks and processes that take up a lot of time. With AI, development teams can save time and money by automating many of these tasks. Beyond saving time and money, automation in app development could help to deliver better consistency while also eliminating errors. While many of these tasks are simple, the tedious nature of doing them can lead to mistakes on the part of human programmers. With a machine doing this work, most of these mistakes can be eliminated. Understanding the user AI systems can be trained to pick up on cues from the user of an app. By analyzing the behavior and actions of an...
UT Austin Selected as Home of National AI Institute Focused on Machine Learning – UT News
AUSTIN, Texas — The National Science Foundation has selected The University of Texas at Austin to lead the NSF AI Institute for Foundations of Machine Learning, bolstering the university’s existing strengths in this emerging field. Machine learning is the technology that drives AI systems, enabling them to acquire knowledge and make predictions in complex environments. This technology has the potential to transform everything from transportation to entertainment to health care. UT Austin — already among the world’s top universities for artificial intelligence — is poised to develop entirely new classes of algorithms that will lead to more sophisticated and beneficial AI technologies. The university will lead a larger team of researchers that includes the University of Washington, Wichita State University and Microsoft Research. “This is another important step in our university’s ascension as a world leader in machine learning and tech innovation as a whole, and I am grateful to the National Science Foundation for their profound support,” said UT Austin interim President Jay Hartzell. “Many of the world’s greatest problems and challenges can be solved with the assistance of artificial intelligence, and it’s only fitting, given UT’s history of accomplishment in this area along with the booming tech sector in Austin, that this new NSF institute be housed right here on the Forty Acres.” UT Austin is simultaneously establishing a permanent base for campuswide machine learning research called the Machine Learning Laboratory. It will house the new AI institute and bring together computer and data scientists, mathematicians, roboticists, engineers and ethicists to meet the institute’s research goals while also working collaboratively on other interdisciplinary projects. Computer science professor...
Cyber Security Practices We Should All Do- Staying Protected – PCS
Cyber security is one of the most talked about subjects in the technology field. Having your business data secured is crucial, but there are ways to stay protected. We’re here to help you keep your data protected with these security practices we should all do to ensure cyber security! Changing Passwords/Password Strength Password safety cannot be stressed enough! Changing your passwords every 60-90 days will allow your information to stay protected. With that, your cyber security will continue to increase. Not only will changing your password help, but also make sure it is STRONG. Adding symbols, numbers, and making sure the length is 8 or more characters will help keep the password strong. In the example presented above, pa$$word1a has a stronger password strength than password1 (please don’t use example above for your next password). Webroot has given some greats tips for creating a new password. Using a phrase and incorporate shortcut codes and acronyms will keep the password strong while being able to remember your favorite phrase or saying. Some examples are 2BorNot2B_ThatIsThe? (To be or not to be, that is the question) or ABT2_uz_AMZ! (About to use Amazon). Unique passwords are harder to break through than weak and simple passwords (please do not use any examples given above). When selecting a password, do not use any personal information! Using personal information can lead to hackers knowing the answers to your security questions. Examples of personal information to not use: Your name Age Date of birth Child’s name Pet’s name Favorite color/song Don’t Use The Same Password For Everything! Using the same password for multiple logins will cause a bigger...
Everything You Need to Know About The New Version of React Native 0.64.2 – Tech Updates
React Native is an open-source framework employed widely by mobile app development companies. The framework is usually developed to build iOS, Android, Web, Android TV, Windows, etc. The latest release of React Native is 0.64.2, has made the applications lighter, faster, and quicker. This version also helps to fix several other bugs that were previously found in the applications developed. According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey , React Native stood at the 6th position in terms of usage for the development of apps. The new version of React Native is all set to benefit developers, especially iOS developers. This version contains enhancements in terms of applications’ performance and specific other bug fixes that the developers have been waiting for a long time! Developers involved in React Native app development have placed their high expectations on this version since it has bought some fantastic new features in the development spectrum. Without further ado, let us know more about the features of the new version that have some breaking changes. Hermes Support for iOS: Hermes is an open-source new Javascript engine optimized for React Native and enhances the startup time of the application developed. Additionally, it also decreases memory usage, cuts the interactive time down, and enables the reduction of app downloading size. It is because of this ability, that the framework was used to develop almost 31 thousand apps . Initially, Hermes was available with the 0.60.4 React Native (RN) version and for the android platform only. The newly introduced version supports the iOS platform as well. Facebook engineers initially developed Hermes as a lightweight solution for the problems....
