pollen decentralized wireless

Pollen Mobile gets a seed round from various VCs and angels to  accelerate the development of the world’s first privacy-focused, user owned and operated mobile wireless carrier.

Tough industry.   Pagarba tried to do a disaster emergency broadband like device using Lora , Blockchain, p2p communication protocols, encryption and other security features,  but it's hard to compete against the Verizons and At&Ts.  

And now first responders networks exist with far monetary backing plus Elon Musk has his satellite internet .

I do wonder how pollen is different vs helium and other internet communication startups and platforms though.  

 Pollen empowers  its user community to build, own, and operate a decentralized network infrastructure utilizing blockchain, the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum, and other open source technologies. 

The project has already deployed infrastructure in San Francisco, New York City, and Los Angeles, and last week completed its first nationwide hardware drop. 

Sounds like helium in a way.  Hopebox had some similar ideas and implementations but geared more towards emergency and disaster communication and saving lives.  

NFTs , deathtech & to much chaos

I was reading this article today about a cool new deathtech web3 metaverse NFT like startup called Remember Metaverse.   

Cool concept and possibilities to improve end of life and bereavement proceses and memories and the digitizing of loved ones who passed away.  

However you read things like this, 

" The pre-sale of the Remember Memorial Stone NFTs will go live at 2:00 am UTC on February 23. But get in quick—there are only 50 Whitelist spots to mint the NFTs for 0.1 ETH. After this, the price will rise to 0.125 ETH for the phase 1 sale set for 2:00 am UTC on February 24."

It's sounds more like  another rip off 

scam than a legit empathetic business statup model.     

This is one of their pitches, 

" Remember Metaverse is a project like no other in the web3 space. For the first time ever, thanks to Remember’s Memorial Stone NFTs, you can commemorate your loved ones in the metaverse "

That sounds like a great concept and maybe supporting local artists or a loved ones favorite charity would be an awesome memorial and gesture.  

But In an end-of-life funeral based  industry that's been filled with many issues and stories of price gouging and  shady used car sales person vibes ,  remember metaverse and their website and pitch and blog press releases come off as another quick money grab by a bunch of silicon valley folks trying to capitalize on deathtech and NFTs and the metaverse.   

Interesting and well thought out concept but "buy now limited time offer before price goes up" is sketchy at best and plain evil at worse.   

Web3 should be more 'do the right thing' and 'dont be evil' as much as they can, not come off as another scam ripping off grieving folks.  

Disappointing and the metaverse aspect designs look good. 

ABB sets course for sustainable river transport with ten all-electric Lisbon ferries – gCaptain

ABB sets course for sustainable river transport with ten all-electric Lisbon ferries – gCaptain: Press Release – ABB secures landmark contract with Spanish shipbuilder Astilleros Gondán to supply all-electric power solution for fast 40-meter urban passenger ferries transporting up to 540 passengers each across...

happy world tea day

Happy world tea day ! 

Tea is one of the oldest beverages in the world with records dating back to 2737 BC. It is one of the most popular and widely consumed drinks in the world.  

Tea in the morning, tea in the evening, tea before bed , tea in the dark, yeah after yoga ?  Tea all day.  

Many studies also claim tea might actually be a super health food beverage when consumed in the right manner and dosage depending on the type of tea. 

So what kinds of tea exist  ? 

Green tea is usually processed by raw tea leaves and roasted in a  pan, making it stay as close to its natural form as possible. Green tea is exceptionally high in flavonoids, which play a key role in maintaining a healthy heart by lowering bad cholesterol levels and reducing blood clotting.

Other recent studies have shown green tea can help lower blood pressure, triglycerides and total cholesterol. It's also shown to be an anti-inflammatory and aids in weight loss.

The black tea variety is the most popular tea and consumed by the most people around the world. It is made by drying and fermenting the tea leaves and thus ,  brings out a stronger and richer flavor. 

One cup of black tea holds many various benefits like packed with flavonoids, which combat inflammation and support a healthy immune system. 

Oolong tea is a partially processed tea. While green tea doesn't oxidize and black tea is oxidized until it turns black,  Oolong tea is a amalgamation between both the oxidized black tea and non-oxidized green tea. 

The partial oxidation is responsible for oolong tea’s color and taste.  It is notable for containing l-theanine, an amino acid that reduces anxiety and increases alertness and attention. 

Scientists have also found that l-theanine can help prevent cognitive diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

So what else is healthy about drinking tea ? 

All 3 (black, oolong, and green tea) polyphenols have shown to reduce body fat and  increase calorie expenditure.  A number of other scientific and nutritional studies have demonstrated that individuals who consume 2-5 cups of green tea a day for longer than 3 months ,  had lower body fat and body weight than subjects who did not.

All types of tea, especially green tea, are rich in antioxidant polyphenols. These polyphenols are highly effective in combatting inflammation. Many sudies have shown that antioxidants in green tea is 100x more potent than antioxidants in vitamin C.

Drinking tea is a great way to boost a between digestive system and help improve gut health. Research has show  that tea's polyphenols can beneficially modify gut bacteria. This can lead to a host of positive health effects like reduced carbohydrate absorption, improved blood sugar levels and weight loss.

Green tea helps reduce the variety of complications caused by diabetes. Research has shown green tea can improve insulin sensitivity, protect pancreatic cells from further damage and decrease inflammation.

Individuals who consume tea daily have shown to be a lower risk for neurological diseases as well as having decreased stress levels. There are other studies claiming tea may lower the risk of getting Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. 

The combination of caffeine and L-theanine in tea has been shown to improve reaction time, visual processing, memory, and brain concentration.

So on world tea day, go have yourself a nice cup of hot tea.   And smile. It's good for you. 

Gartner Cloud contender list

AWS fails to lower its prices, Microsoft 'cannot guarantee capacity', Google has 'devastating' network outages

https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/09/gartner_on_cloud_aws_fails/

augmented & virtual reality In performance entertainment

VR for Performance Entertainment

Due to covid 19 and the quarantine nature of 2020  performance entertainers, musicians and others have gone virtual. 

VR helping to enhance viewer  experience.

tensorflow magic

tensorflow magic

" TF-Coder considers 134 tensor-manipulation operations of the 500 in TensorFlow including reshapes, filters, aggregations, maps, indexing, slicing, grouping, sorting, and mathematical operations. It’s able to handle problems involving compositions of four or five different operations and data structures of 10 or more components, which have little room for error as the shapes and data types must be compatible throughout."