#NYTech

[twistingcells]

Nytech CA-252 amplifier and CT-206 tuner (1987)

[zusnetwork]

Züs Hackathon with NYTechAlliance Weekly Debrief June 21 2023

Züs Hackathon with NYTechAlliance Weekly Debrief

Happy Wednesday! Welcome to our weekly debrief. This week we are excited to announce our upcoming Züs hackathon with NYTechAlliance – a great opportunity for our community. We will also be taking a look into distributed ledgers, debunking some of the common misconceptions surrounding this increasingly important element in data storage strategies. Plus, learn more about the latest blockchain updates. So, without further ado, let’s get started!

Mainnet Update:

Since our last update, our team has continued the load testing process (without chaos), and we are delighted to share that transaction execution and network liveness have performed well under normal testing conditions without encountering any issues.

However, we found a few bugs, when high-load testing blobbers and their effect on the network, which are now addressed and fixed. Our current focus lies on retesting the blobbers under a high load of operations, which we estimate will require several days, potentially concluding by the end of this week.

Once blobber testing is completed and issues are addressed, we will start our final phase of load testing with chaos, which, once completed, we can finally engage and start the Active Set again.

Züs Hackathon in Partnership with NYTechAlliance:

We are thrilled to announce an exciting upcoming event: the Züs Hackathon in collaboration with the New York Tech Alliance! This event is set to offer a thrilling week of innovation, bringing together creative minds from across the technology sector.

The hackathon will kick off on July 10th, 2023, and conclude on July 17th. This is your chance to transform applications or websites using the powerful Züs SDK. As a high-performance decentralized storage network, Züs provides the perfect playground for developers seeking to explore the possibilities of a decentralized Web3 infrastructure.

Register for the Züs Hackathon

Register for the event by following this link: Züs Hackathon Registration. We are proud to partner with the New York Tech Alliance, sharing the mission of encouraging innovation and tech development. Learn more about them here: NYTech Alliance.

Mark your calendars and join us on this exciting journey. Your passion for innovation and technology can bring about the next big breakthrough in decentralized technology. This is your call to gather your team, spread the word, and prepare for an unforgettable experience at the Züs Hackathon. We cannot wait to see what you will build!

In the News:

Debunking Misconceptions Around Distributed Ledgers

Explore the transformative potential of blockchain technology as Saswata Basu, CEO of Züs, debunks common misconceptions surrounding distributed ledgers. In this insightful article, Saswata sheds light on key highlights that will reshape your understanding of blockchain’s capabilities:

Lack of understanding

Unveiling the robust security of blockchain

Addressing business uptime and scalability challenges

Exploring the cost efficiency of decentralized storage

Discussing the need for a regulatory framework

Shedding light on adoption hurdles

Blockchain Updates:

Last week, the blockchain team focused on optimizing smart contracts. The new_allocation_request smart contract, which previously took about 10ms with the default benchmark test config, was a key area of improvement. The default tests only selected four blobbers to create an allocation, but more blobbers may be selected in real cases. Therefore, we tested the contract with nine blobbers per allocation, resulting in an increased time of 21ms, which was considered too slow.

After the optimization efforts, the team decreased the time to around 3.5ms for four blobbers per allocation and around 4.5ms for nine blobbers per allocation. It was discovered that the time could be further reduced by not encoding the entire allocation into JSON and returning all as transaction output. However, due to certain APIs relying on the current format, this change will be postponed to avoid disrupting system tests.

Several improvements were implemented during the optimization process, including the following main changes:

a) The team addressed the issue of excessive MPT (Merkle Patricia Trie) reading and writing, which resulted in a significant performance bottleneck. Before the optimization, the number of different data types for each blobber (represented by m) could be 2, indicating the data types of the blobber and stake pools. With 4 blobbers per allocation (n=4), this led to at least 16 MPT accesses (4 times blobber reading, 4 times blobber writing, 4 times stake pool reading, and 4 times stake pool writing). With 9 blobbers per allocation, the MPT accesses increased to 36 (9 times blobber reading, 9 times blobber writing, 9 times stake pool reading, and 9 times stake pool writing).

MPT access time reduced

After the optimization, the MPT access times were reduced to n+2, where n represents the number of blobbers per allocation. Additionally, the team optimized the concurrent reading of all blobbers from MPT. The stake pool read and write operations were fast since they only involved saving the mapped blobber staking information (e.g., TotalOffers, TotalStake, and Allocated). Each blobber was assigned a unique index when added to the stake pool list, allowing efficient stake information access using the index (e.g., stakePoolList[blobber_index]). The performance of the stake pool list depended on the total number of blobbers, but the tests showed that even with 30 or 100 blobbers, the differences were negligible due to the small space occupied by each blobber.

Allocation Saving Process

b) Another area that impacted the speed of new allocation requests was the allocation saving process. Each allocation involved saving n blobber allocation nodes and selecting a higher number of blobbers per allocation resulted in slower performance. To optimize this process, the team identified that not all information needed to be initialized when creating the allocation. Some information could be added later during allocation read/write commits. This insight allowed the team to optimize by moving part of the information to the allocation and leaving the rest empty to avoid saving to the MPT.

Closed PRs

In addition to these optimizations, the team successfully closed numerous pull requests (PRs) in the 0chain, blobber, and gosdk repositories. The main PRs included:

PR#2501: Fixed challenge numbers for expired allocations.

PR#2522: Exposed block.finalization.timeout to make the block finalization timeout configurable.

PR#2533: Fixed fault tolerance conductor test cases.

PR#2440: Fixed reward endpoints.

PR#2534: Modified /getblobber endpoint to also return created_at.

PR#987: Replaced allocationTx with allocationID in all blobber REST API calls.

PR#983: Updated blobber image remotely for wasm.

PR#972: Exposed multiupload in gosdk and wasm.

PR#1042: Fixed panic.

PR#1019: Moved the private key from JavaScript runtime variable to the zbox client within the go wasm SDK to prevent private key theft through XSS attacks or malicious browser extensions.

PR#1044: Fixed multiupload to a folder other than root.

PR#1037: Fixed download unit test.

PR#1032: Fixed deadlock in transactionauth.

PR#1123: Resolved issue where the create connection obj API was returning nil in every case, causing problems in wasm.

PR#1126: Added ActualSize for directories.

PR#1100: Fetched allocation directly from eventsdb.

PR#1130: Added share check in file meta handler.

PR#1133: Added build workflow for building a Docker image for conductor test.

PR#1135: Added integration test in blobber.

These updates reflect the team’s dedication to optimizing smart contracts, resolving issues, and enhancing the overall performance and functionality of the system.

source https://zus.network/blog/posts/zus-hackathon-with-nytechalliance-weekly-debrief-june-21-2023/

[nytech]

Driving Access, Equity, and Inclusion in the NY Tech Community

Executive Director’s Message

As we put 2020 behind us, a year of so much disruption to our everyday lives I find myself reflecting upon a world where decades seem to span only weeks and life’s pace is both sped up and slowed down simultaneously; of how I can feel connected in one moment and completely disconnected the next.

I know these feelings are not uncommon and as we continue to guide ourselves and our friends and families through these unprecedented times, we all must look for our true North. What is it that pushes us forward in the work we do, and how can we continue to create opportunities for success? In a time of increased isolation and widening divides, how do we, as a community and as a city, work to bridge these gaps?

Thankfully, I sit at the center of one of the most vibrant and resilient cities in the world, full of the most innovative thinkers and entrepreneurs, many of whom will soon find their voices. For this reason, in a city of immigrants and a city where over 600 languages are spoken, we understand the extreme importance of — Driving Access, Equity, and Inclusion in the Tech Ecosystem.

These are the words and ideas that drive the NY Tech Alliance forward in our mission to connect and educate this unique ecosystem. Since 2016, when the NY Tech Alliance was created from the merger of two legacy organizations, our board of directors, staff, and members continue to build upon the work rooted in our organizational ethos — Building a strong and sustainable tech ecosystem for all New Yorkers.

In our daily work, we connect the many communities that make up this brilliant ecosystem and provide a platform for both early-stage and experienced technologists and founders to find, navigate, build, and connect with the greatest available opportunities. Whether immigrants, LGBTQ+, women, and BIPOC, we know that everyone deserves to have access to the richness they provide. Only through surmounting institutional inequities and bridging these communities together can we truly move toward a completely inclusive ecosystem.

For the coming year, we will continue providing programs like our Women’s Demo Night, Immigrant Founders Night, Developing Pride, Founder Spotlights, and NY Tech Latinas, doing so with every New Yorker in mind.

Thank you to everyone that has connected, reconnected, and stayed connected with us, and for making this past year’s programs and events a great success during such a difficult year.

The road ahead is long and challenging but drives us to create a tech ecosystem that truly reflects the diversity of the city we all call home. With your continued support, we will forge this path, together.

Looking forward to a bright 2021!

With deepest appreciation, Eustacio (Andy) Saldaña Executive Director

[palsoftware12]

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[dwightsamuelsphotography]

Apple !!!!! The Mac Store is back !!!! The 5th Ave Store in NYC is finally back. !!! @apple @appletv @wired @5thave #ny #nyc #newyorkcity #newyork #apple #applewatch #appleiphone #applestore #applefan #applemac #applenews #nyphotographer #nycphotographer #5thavenue #59thstreet #59st #nytech #applecomputer #iphone #nynights (at Apple Fifth Avenue) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2tByzxgLgN/?igshid=5bmlp5ywr45z

[exploregroup-blog]

Our Senior New York team enjoying their second DevOpsDays NY Conference - learning & sharing at its best! #devops #devopsdays #devopsdaysnyc #nytech #nyctech #hiringnow #developers #newyork #nycevents #devs #programmers #instacareer #instadaily (at DevOpsDays NYC) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtD7Z-zhMbh/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=mjw55oc5zyc0

[jodinescorner]

Guess who I get to sit down with for a keynote conversation?!! Yes, Karen Hunter @karenhuntershow I am so excited to sit down with her and talk to her about her professional journey as well as #BlackMedia and just media overall for the #BlackTechWeekend keynote event in #NewYork #Brooklyn this Saturday. Swipe for a listing of #BlackTech weekend events and follow @blacktechweek for more information about the weekend! If you are in tech and want to find #diversity in the industry, come meet your tribe. #techindustry #nytech #ILoveHosting #FiresideChat #keynote (at New York, New York)

[nytech]

Teaching Entrepreneurship with Shaun Johnson

This interview is part of our “Getting to Know You” series, featuring brilliant entrepreneurs from the NY Tech community.

Shaun Johnson is an experienced entrepreneur who has worked across the fields of technology acceleration, early-stage investment, and ecosystem development. He lives in New York City and teaches entrepreneurship at Fordham University & Parsons School of Design. Shaun is also a Board Member of the NY Tech Alliance. He agreed to speak with us about his career journey, the lessons learned along the way, his take on diversity in tech, and what makes a successful entrepreneur.

“One piece of advice I’ve been given and still sticks with me in a perplexing way would be to say that perception equals reality. Even though this isn’t always a universal truth, I often wonder if it’s true, untrue, or sometimes true — as there are times one can influence the other, and other times, not at all.”

Tell us about yourself

I like to describe myself as a helper of people, and that has taken a lot of different shapes and forms. I actually started my career in the federal government, then as a management consultant, and finally transitioned into the world startups as an early employee at Techstars, where I ended up spinning out a company called Startup Institute — a career accelerator aiming to equip people with the network skills and mindset to be immediately impactful in the startups that they join.

You teach entrepreneurship ー according to you, what are the skills one must develop to become a successful entrepreneur?

In teaching entrepreneurship, there are a lot of things that are important, especially at the university level because there’s always this tension between “can entrepreneurship be taught?” or “should you just go out and do it?”

The mentality of doing and learning through action is definitely a skill worth acquiring, whether in the field or the classroom.

There will always be a lot of little failures along the way, and that’s actually a good thing, but it can be counterintuitive for folks who aren’t used to accepting failure on their way to success. Grit is also another important factor. And then the last one, just because I want to leave it at three, is empathy. To have a deep understanding of your customer, the mission that you have, and the people that you’re building around helps you to build exceptional teams, exceptional products, and ultimately, address your market in an exceptional way.

What’s your favorite thing about teaching entrepreneurship?

The people. Students are always so different. People come from multiple backgrounds, different parts of the world, different industries, and with different perspectives. Even if you are teaching one specific course on entrepreneurship, it’ll never look the same because it’s always dependent on the people who are there. Everyone brings their unique personality, and the diversity and plurality come together to create a unique experience.

My desire and appreciation for plurality reflect my sentiments about New York City itself. The city is made of 8 million people coming from different backgrounds and places, who all have unique personalities, desires, hopes, and dreams.

We all have to interact with each other and try to build a better future. Whether it’s through entrepreneurship or just our own coexistence, I think that there’s something productive and meaningful about that.

How do you think the tech industry can become more diverse?

I think one of the challenges is that we tend to take one shade or one arc of diversity, drill in on that and assume that we’ve done our job. For example, one aspect of diversity can be ensuring your company hires people of color, or getting women into the tech ecosystem and make sure that there’s equal pay and that gender rights are respected.

But can you actually look at this kaleidoscope and not just say, ‘Hey today we want to focus on, like, LGBTQ rights?’ Or ‘today we want to focus on Black people or women.’ But instead, the dialogue has to answer the question of: “How can we actually approach inclusion and value creation that is accessible to all?”

Rather than trying to identify a specific group on its own, let’s actually think about how we can lift everyone up together while also valuing their uniqueness.

Is this part of the reason or the reason why you wanted to become involved with the NY Tech Alliance?

I’ve been a huge fan of the NY Tech Alliance since my career in startups has begun. Before I was living in New York City, I would take a bus from out of state to attend NY Tech Meetups, to see that the energy in the room with so many different people there.

It just felt like a panorama of what the startup ecosystem has to offer. It was a great entry point for me. And the NYTA still serves in that capacity for others and provides a jumping-off point, an entry point, and a point of connection, learning and motivation for people.

When given the opportunity to serve on the board, it was something that I couldn’t pass up.

Which trends do you think will emerge in the tech industry in the near future?

You know, I never pretended to be a fortune teller, but I think the year we just survived showed us that despite quarantine and isolation, we still need to connect with each other and be productive. It has been great for Zoom but so many people are zoomed out and looking for different ways of connecting with people that may not just be from the shoulders up.

You’re also seeing some trends around climate tech. The conversation is now rightly shifted from climate change to the climate crisis, and it is attracting a lot of bright minds and big dollars. And I think that’s great because it’s imperative for our survival as human beings.

How has a past failure set you up for success?

I mean, I guess I’m always failing at something. If you’re not failing, you’re probably not trying hard enough. I think the little failures along the way are indicative of trying to do something audacious or something that you’re unsure of. I couldn’t point to one specific failure because there’s just a butterfly effect of one thing leading to the next thing. But overall, the lesson in failure is really to process it and move on to the next thing, ideally in an upward fashion.

As New Yorkers, there may not always be the time or space to do that. You know, we move so fast. We break things, we execute, and there’s so much going on that we can forget to stop and reflect for a minute, look objectively at failure and ask “What could I have done better? What did I learn here? What would I do next?”

It’s important to reflect in a way that builds off of that failure rather than just repetitively coming right back at the same scenario, which is likely to lead to the same outcome.

What was the biggest challenge that you faced in your career?

Walking away from something that just wasn’t for me at the time. With an early career as a management consultant, a lot of things about that job were great: the prestige, the nice fancy suits, the travel.

But then you start to just understand what your calling is, what motivates you or what nourishes you. Changing your career to pursue your calling can be risky, but it ultimately is good for the soul. At the time, I didn’t know exactly what my calling was going to be. And it took courage and conviction to just say “Ok, all these things are good and everyone else loves them for me. But I just don’t love them as much, and I’m willing to look out into the abyss and seek out something that actually is more aligned with who I am and who I want to be.”

It was really scary and that’s one of the biggest moves I’ve made. That’s the advice I give to my students. Do what you love. Life’s too short!

What was the best advice you’ve ever been given?

One piece of advice I’ve been given and still sticks with me in a perplexing way would be to say that perception equals reality. Even though this isn’t always a universal truth, I often wonder if it’s true, untrue, or sometimes true — as there are times one can influence the other, and other times, not at all.

I apply that saying as a prompt for a lot of different things, from looking at analytics and wondering what’s going on with your company, checking in with your mental health and wondering if all of this anxiety or depression is actually real or if your perception influences what you’re feeling. And it’s also a way to keep yourself grounded.

Any final words?

Yeah. If Alicia (interviewer) says or types anything that makes me sound stupid, that was her edit. Everything that I said was brilliant (laugh). And she’ll make sure that it comes across!

To connect with Shaun on LinkedIn, click here.

To learn more valuable lessons from Founders, watch our NYTA Founder Spotlight series on YouTube.

[palsoftware12]

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[nytech]

The art of DOING, with serial entrepreneur Georgie-Ann Getton-McKoy

Learn about getting started as an entrepreneur, hosting a successful crowdfunding campaign, and believing in your dreams with Georgie-Ann Getton-McKoy, Founder of GSD Solutions.

Georgie is an execution strategist, award-winning serial entrepreneur, community builder, speaker, author, podcast host, and Diversity in Tech Enthusiast. Georgie founded multiple ventures including GSD Solutions and GSD With Georgie to help businesses produce their own online events. She also launched the very first Black Podcasting Awards after a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2020, and wrote a book called The Art of Getting Sh*t Done, where she shares her experience and secrets on productivity and entrepreneurship. We’re proud to count Georgie as a member of the NY Tech Alliance Community — she’s been a dedicated member and brilliantly hosted our virtual Celebration of Black Women Founders.

What’s your daily routine?

I usually get up around 7am. First thing is to get myself situated, shower, brush my teeth. Then if the weather allows it, I will take a morning walk, and if it’s not the best weather outside I just read and meditate at home. After that, I make breakfast and wake up the kids to get ready for school and the day. After breakfast, I start my day with my first call at 9am a daily stand-up. Then I create the task list for the day and start to tackle that list while taking breaks to do homeschooling and interact with the kids.

Combining parenthood and entrepreneurship can be challenging. How do you manage your family and your company?

Having a clear schedule is the best way to handle all things family and kids because at any moment there is so much going on. With a clear schedule, I can then build the flexibility I need, swap out things when needed and just make sure any fires that pop up personal or professional I have the mental space to tackle. I also have many standard operating processes in both my house and my company so if t I am not available, someone else is and can hop in.

“I have many standard operating processes in both my house and my company.”

What’s the advice you would give to an aspiring entrepreneur?

Stay persistent. Life is all about curveballs. The sooner you accept that “the game is rigged and fair” doesn’t exist, the sooner you gain the mental freedom to just DO, without worrying about if you’re doing it wrong or right.

What’s your biggest failure as an entrepreneur?

My biggest failure was being fearful of my finances. This was a huge failure for me because my personal financial insecurities trickled into my business and because of that some business ventures I have had failed. I was afraid to charge my worth or even charge at all. Once I started tackling this fear I because more successful overall.

I was afraid to charge my worth or even charge at all.

And your biggest win?

I would say one of my biggest wins was getting into the CUNY startups accelerator when I was in college. It gave me a huge sense of confidence in my work as an entrepreneur. Then when I made it to the Top 4 it was clear that I had all this untapped potential inside me that I needed to embrace.

A word on your book “The Art of Getting Sh*t Done”— How do you go from being a dreamer to a doer?

You go from being a dreamer to being a doer by starting. Life is a journey and so is everything in life including entrepreneurship. You will feel overwhelmed at times, and think you don’t have everything you want to start or continue that journey. This could be true, but you will always have everything that you need within you!

Just start, here, today, now with what you have and EVERYTHING else will fall into you path.

You raised more than $9,000 to fund the Black Podcasting Awards. What was your strategy and in other words, the key to success for someone wanting to start a crowdfunding campaign?

The key to the success of that campaign was tapping into my network and sharing what I was doing. I did a lot of cold tweeting, random live streams, texting, emailing, and posting on social media. When we were less than 48 hours from the deadline and below half of our goal I told myself that we would not only meet, but exceed our goal. Then I pulled out every card I had and made it happen. Tap into your network! Share your work! Be your biggest champion.

When we were less than 48 hours from the deadline and below half of our goal I told myself that we would not only meet, but exceed our goal.

You’ve been a wedding officiant for 5 years. Tell us more about that!

Well, I am a nerd! I love learning and doing new things. When I became a wedding officiant I was on a major “Side Hustle” journey. I loved the flexibility that being an entrepreneur offered but I was also aware that I had bills and a child to take care of so I needed to make money. I got certified so it could be an income stream and also so that I could go to more weddings. At the time of getting certified I had only been to one or two weddings in my entire life. What’s the best way to get invited to a wedding? By being a vendor! Being a wedding officiant satisfied a professional and personal need all at once. Since getting certified I have helped four couples say “I Do”.

“I loved the flexibility that being an entrepreneur offered but I was also aware that I had bills and a child to take care of.”

What’s your number one rule for a successful online event?

Start from the goal and work your way backward! The golden rule to community engagement around your brand? Be yourself. When I try to get all fancy with the content people don’t really resonate with it. I get the most engagement when I remain my crazy, doing-the-most self.

Tell me about your thoughts on diversity in tech.

Diversity in tech is essential. At least as a concept. When it is put into action, often time companies miss the mark on what needs to be done to achieve this goal. The systematic issues that come from the government, constitution, and institutions built many years ago consistently leave diversity initiatives gasping for air. The only time true diversity will be achieved is when companies and their leaders look at it as a staple in business success from day one, not as an afterthought to not get attacked by the public.

The systematic issues that come from the government, constitution, and institutions built many years ago consistently leave diversity initiatives gasping for air.

What steps can tech companies take to be more diverse and inclusive?

They can start by taking a look within, “Do we have unconscious biases?”. Then from there, they can begin to look at their team and goals and see if the picture that they see reflects their short and long-term goals as a company. There are many, many, many diverse team members and founders out there. Diversity in race, ethnicity, gender, orientation, geographic location, education level, age, and the list goes on and on. But before a company can embrace that diversity and become inclusive they have to take a look at their own flaws as to why have they never seen this before? Why did they not think of this before? Then and only then will companies become diverse and inclusive in an authentic way.

Connect with Georgie-Ann on LinkedIn, and head to our website to browse our upcoming events and meet more empowering founders.

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[hgohd]

Here is my Snapchat URL. Have a great HGOHDMAS DAY (Dec 25/2021) and Happy H New Year!! MY PUBLIC PROFILE IS VISIBLE ON MY SNAPCHAT! Check it out!! @applemusic @spotify @washingtonpost @nytech #h #H #harjgtheonedba #harjgtheone #hgohdmusicgroup #hwoworld @contemporaryartdaily @cbc