Tech Talks Daily

It feels like every aspect of our lives is dominated by tech. It also makes our lives easier in so many ways. But when we lose a loved one, it seems that tech and innovation are absent. Suddenly at a time when you don't want to speak to anyone, you can be thrust into endless calls to arrange a funeral, flowers, closing accounts, removing names from mailing lists, and so much more,

Empathy is removing the taboo on death while providing information to help families navigate the logistics of losing a loved one. These are just some things technology excels at, like navigating logistics. Empathy's app combines technology and human support to streamlines end-of-life bureaucracy, minimizes tedious tasks, and automates processes involved in the administration of an estate while also providing emotional guidance.

It's a sensitive topic, and today I learn more from Ron Gura about how the collaboration of humans and technology can help when we are trying to go through the grieving process.

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Pete Knowlton, Senior Director of Operations for Ghostery, rejoins me on Tech Talks Daily to discuss data tracking, specifically the new (terrifying) channel of email tracking. Pete is a privacy expert who leads US operations for Ghostery, a privacy intelligence platform with over 7 million monthly active users.

Pete focuses primarily on web tracking and how little bits of code can get ahold of your data when you're using Google or another browser. However, as more people have become wary of online tracking, Ghostery has found that email trackers are becoming more prolific, and most people don't know how to protect their data in their inbox. Pete shares what email tracking is and how to prevent it in a language that everyone can understand.

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Etherisc is developing a protocol for decentralized insurance applications. We use blockchain technology to make the purchase and sale of insurance more efficient, enable lower operational costs, provide greater transparency into the industry.

Christoph Mussenbrock shares how Etherisc is on a mission to make insurance fair and accessible through its open-source, decentralized insurance protocol and collectively build insurance products on the Ethereum blockchain. Since its launch in 2016, the Etherisc protocol has been reimagining insurance solutions to democratize the process in the interest of the consumer.

Etherisc is currently working with ACRE Africa on the Bima Pima crop insurance product, which offers farmers weather index insurance policies to protect them against climate-related risks for their crops. This crop insurance is more affordable, fairer, and more transparent than the traditional insurance solutions available to farmers to protect their livelihoods in case of extreme weather events fueled by climate change.

Other projects currently hosted on Etherisc's open-source Generic Insurance Framework include Flight Delay Insurance, Crop Insurance, Social Insurance, and Hurricane Protection.

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Degoo is an experience-driven cloud provider offering 100GB of free, secure storage with an AI-empowered interactive display that helps users re-discover their best, stored memories. Designed in the bursting Swedish startup scene, Degoo's platform offers users a place to securely store and uniquely experience their photos and memories anywhere in the world.

With Degoo, users will never run out of space for their photos and have protection knowing that running out of storage space or a broken phone no longer equals the loss of your favorite photos. In addition, Degoo is available across operating systems and on the web, meaning that users will never be without their memories.

Degoo is constantly innovating and improving their product, having recently released AutoAlbums, which uses AI to create albums of similar photos - whether they are taken during the last year or are photos of basketball games or specific landmarks.

Carl Hasselskog joins me on the podcast and discusses how Degoo has watched competitor after competitor acquired by Google Photos, making it one of the few challenger brands left on the market. He also shares how Degoo has navigated the changing landscape of photo cloud storage.

Andre Leibovici and Anil Kumar join me in a conversation where we explore the Citrix Security Stack and Citrix Ready Security Ecosystem.

The guests discuss how expensive it has become to recruit security professionals and how businesses can turn this challenge into an opportunity. They also talk about retiring legacy VPNs, Zero Trust, monitoring, and analytics to measure your security improvements.

Useful Links

Citrix Ready Workspace Security Ecosystem: https://citrixready.citrix.com/program/workspace-security-program.html

Citrix Secure Access solutions: https://www.citrix.com/solutions/secure-access/

Mike Betzer, CEO of Hypergiant, joins me on The Tech Talks Daily Podcast to chat about how artificial intelligence is actively solving some of the world's biggest problems, both on earth and in space. From powering carbon sequestration machines with algae and fighting climate change to building out the infrastructure for an internet on Mars, artificial intelligence undoubtedly has the capacity to do good. As an enterprise AI company, Hypergiant is genuinely in the trenches developing these groundbreaking technologies – just ask companies like NASA, Boeing, and Apple, all of which are turning to Hypergiant for new and improved AI solutions.

Hypergiant Industries is an enterprise AI company focused on developing world-changing technologies to solve the world's biggest problems in the areas of space, defense, and critical infrastructure. Hypergiant offers a suite of AI services, software, and solutions that support companies and governments in preparing for the future of AI.

Mike discusses how artificial intelligence impacts space innovations, defense solutions, infrastructure improvement, climate solutions, and how tech and AI can shape the future.

Since 2014, RAKwireless has delivered simple but powerful tools that eliminate barriers in IoT connectivity and empower people to build a smart future. RAK's continuous development of these IoT solutions empowers innovators and commercial enterprises to build the right environment for their property.

The brand has held partnerships with some of the world's leading tech players such as Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Microsoft. In addition, they regularly partner with academies, schools, and organizations supporting young people working to build a better, more innovative future through IoT devices. But after hearing how they recently secured $10M in Series A funding, I invited Jose Marcelino, Solutions Architect at RAKwireless, on the podcast to learn more.

Despite global manufacturing and supply chain disruption, the renowned producer of IoT tools, hardware, miners, and software tools has seen tremendous growth. We talk about RAKwireless, the relationship with Helium, and how the miners work. We discuss the People's Network, what it represents and why the 'builder community is so important to RAKwireless. We also talk about how to mine the Helium cryptocurrency tokens (aptly named HNT) and how it allows people to create passive income. Finally, we talk about why this is such an exciting time for RAK fans and other young folks who love to 'tinker, create and build new devices and ideas?

Killian Brackey is the CTO at Sezzle, a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) payments tool working with global brands like Discover, Target, Lamps Plus, GameStop, Barstool Sports and more.

Over the last few years Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) has exploded in popularity, especially during the peak of the pandemic when online spending saw record levels. Now that stores have fully reopened across the country, consumers are looking to get a fix of the in-store shopping experiences.

However, many still want to have the option to finance their purchases with BNPL payments platforms. Additionally, BNPL will only improve the touchless experience at the register, with tap-to-pay tools, improving the overall contactless experience.

Killian discusses what Sezzle is doing to move the needle on that front with its own tap-to-pay technology, as well as Apple's move into buy now, pay later, whether big tech is set to take over the space (and why that may not be a good thing for innovation), and more.

People relied on the internet more than ever before throughout the pandemic, doing everything from ordering groceries to keeping up with critical health updates online. However, for millions of people with disabilities, only 2% of all websites are accessible, making navigating the internet nearly impossible. This is where accessiBe comes in, using proprietary technology to make websites usable for people in the disability community. As a web accessibility hub, accessiBe provides different AI-Powered solutions for testing and remediating web accessibility and various professional services to create an inclusive web and help businesses comply with web accessibility standards and regulations, i.e., WCAG and ADA.

accessiBe's full suite of web accessibility solutions enables businesses of all sizes, from solopreneur to large corporations, to participate in global inclusion efforts and make their websites available to everybody, regardless of ability. accessiBe's founding team has deep domain expertise in the field of web development and accessibility services. It has developed the technologies in close partnership with users who have vision impairments or blindness, epilepsy, motor impairments, cognitive dysfunctions, and other disabilities.

I learn how their technology helps businesses meet ADA and WCAG 2.1 compliance within 48 hours and as low as $49/month.

Proof-of-Stake (PoS) continues to dominate the blockchain landscape in 2021, with Ethereum moving closer to its 2.0 upgrade and PoS consensus, as well as other major protocol launches this year using the consensus mechanism.

Tushar Aggarwal, CEO, and Founder of Persistence, an ecosystem of next-generation financial services designed to stimulate global liquidity, has been a long-term advocate for PoS blockchains.

A former Podcast Host for Decrypt Asia and Venture Partner deal sourcing for blockchain and crypto startups for Outlier Ventures, Tushar has extensive expertise across operations, investment, and management consultancy in the financial technology and blockchain industry. Prior to founding Persistence in 2015, Tushar worked as a Principal at blockchain and cryptocurrency fund LuneX Ventures.

The experienced entrepreneur and investor, Tushar was awarded a place on the renowned Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list in 2021 for his work in finance and venture capital. As CEO of Persistence, Tushar is aiming to bridge the gap between legacy finance and decentralized finance via a fully interoperable protocol and evolving ecosystem of services purpose-built for seamless integration across blockchains.

As a recognized thought leader on DeFi, staking, and interoperability, he shares his insights on several developments in blockchain including, Interoperability in blockchains; the importance of a self-sovereign network of blockchains. We also discuss Blockchain network governance on Eth2.0 and liquid staking and how to stimulate locked assets. Finally, we discuss unlocking mass DeFi adoption through better tooling.