by Don Basile | Apr 23, 2021 | Tech
Whether we realize it or not, we are constantly impacted by cloud storage. Perhaps you begin your work day by opening a Google Doc or an email sent to you via Gmail. Both of those platforms are dependent upon cloud storage. Or perhaps you spend your lunch hour checking Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. All those platforms make use of it as well.
It’s all around us, whether we’re downloading cat videos or toiling away on a big project, and impacts us most directly when we want to back up or store our own personal data — as will increasingly be the case. Spurred by the advent of such cloud-storage systems as Google One, Amazon Cloud and OneDrive, the cloud storage market size is expected to be $49.13 billion in 2021, then jump to $297.54 billion by 2028, a CAGR of 25.3 percent.
Cloud storage is particularly popular in the business world, as some 85 percent of enterprises around the world use it.
But what is it, really?
It consists not of storage in some mystical place free of Earth’s bounds (as its name might suggest), but in far-off data centers, where files of all sizes are secured and backed up but also constantly accessible to owners via the Internet. In fact, users — who pay for the service either via subscription or on a per-consumption basis — can access their information courtesy of any device.
It is, in other words, a sizable step beyond storing information on thumb drives or external hard drives. It has also been particularly useful during the coronavirus pandemic, given many companies’ pivot to remote work. Files can be shared, and it is possible for multiple users to access a file at the same time. In other words, collaborative projects are a breeze when cloud storage is involved.
Security is, of course, a constant concern, especially given how much data is going to be out there in the years to come. While there were some 33 zettabytes of data (the equivalent of 33 trillion gigabytes) throughout the world in 2017, that total is expected to mushroom to 175 zettabytes in 2025. And rest assured that cybercriminals are always lurking.
The countermeasures adopted by cloud servers are considerable. Most take steps such as encrypting files, storing them behind firewalls, and availing users of two-factor authentication. Some even resort to artificial intelligence to scan their system for weak spots.
In addition, most services make multiple copies of files and store them at various data centers — a practice known as redundancy — to preclude their loss in a natural disaster. A 2019 report even noted that there are occasions where these services back up data on magnetic tape, often considered a relic of a bygone era but actually a reliable, secure means of storage.
The long and short of it is that we continue to be enveloped by the cloud. It is all around us, at all times, and enables us not only to store an ever-increasing amount of data, but also to access and share it. All of that is valuable — particularly the latter, and particularly now.
by Don Basile | Dec 10, 2020 | Tech
3D printing is not just a matter of bigger and better, but also smaller and smaller. While such printers have already reached the point where they can produce items as large as houses and as complex as gastrointestinal system models, they can now recreate or reproduce objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
3D nanoprinting, as it’s called, involves using a focused electron beam to produce nanostructures — i.e., structures of molecular dimensions. This technique is invaluable in every field from medicine to electronics, and even in such areas as food science.
So how did we get here?
Until the advent of 3D printing, the only way to make objects ranging from ceramic mugs to carburetors was to create a mold of an object then fill the mold with the substance the object was to be made from. Creating the molds is prohibitively expensive, so the more you produce of a single object, the more the price of that object goes down.
One problem with this, however, is that any imperfections in the mold will result in an imperfection in the thousands, if not millions of items that mold produces. Any changes you want to make in the item also require the creation of a brand new mold.
3D printing, on the other hand, prints an object in hundreds and hundreds of thin layers that are created with thin strands of heated plastic. Heating the plastic liquifies it just enough that each layer will bond with the preceding layer.
More expensive and elaborate 3D printers are available that can print with almost any type of materials that can be heated and softened, such as metal but for the most part, 3D printing works by shooting very precise, thin strands of polymers or plastics in streams that bond together to create a single object. This offers the opportunity for changes to be made with each new printing and even to create a single, unique object without a mold.
There are, however, several challenges to printing on a microscopic level. Coming up with a device capable of shooting a microscopic strand of polymer is one but then shaping that polymer into a usable object is another. Recent advances have developed a system using negative polarity to attract one strand of polymer to another.
The implications of nanotechnology are almost limitless and every one of those applications will eventually need to be mass-produced. Imagine tiny armies of nanobots that can be absorbed directly through the skin that can be programmed to seek out and destroy cancer cells, leaving healthy cells intact or microstructures that can replace damaged tissue in a liver or kidney.
While medical applications may be among the most exciting applications for nanotechnology, its everyday uses are of interest as well. The smaller the tech that powers your electronic devices, for example, the smaller the devices themselves can be. Imagine an entire smartphone being reduced to the size of a disposable microdot you can simply stick onto your inner ear.
In addition, nanotechnology is being used to create smart coatings for windows that can lighten or darken to allow in a precise amount of light or even shade a certain area of a large window where the light is the strongest. All of these applications, however, will require millions of individual nanostructures to be created, which will create a greater and greater demand for 3D nanoprinting.
So onward we go, to a frontier that is becoming ever smaller, ever more complex — and yet, ever more promising. 3D nanoprinting enables us to go places we might not have ever visited before, and to improve structures and processes in ways that could have only been imagined in the past. It has been said that the future stretches out in front of us, as far as the eye can see. Actually, it goes well beyond that, to places that can’t even be viewed with the naked eye.
by Don Basile | Nov 2, 2020 | Tech
In 2016, Frederic Kerrest, COO and co-founder of the identity tech startup Okta, told Inc. that business was only “in the first inning” of cloud computing adoption. It is safe to say that we have moved along to subsequent innings. Snowflake, a Silicon Valley cloud data warehousing company, on September 15, 2020 raised $3.4 billion in what is the largest software IPO ever.
Now just about everyone wants his or her turn at bat (to torture the baseball metaphor a bit more).
Precious few industries have been left unaware of the advantages the cloud can offer. It is estimated, in fact, that 90 percent of companies are now reaping its benefits, and that spending on cloud infrastructure services will increase from $39.5 billion in 2019 to $63 billion by 2021.
Those benefits range from things like increasing accessibility, improving efficiency, and reducing the sheer size of a company’s data center to reducing an enterprise’s carbon footprint.
Of particular interest is the level of security the cloud provides. A 2019 post on Onehub noted that all businesses would be wise to follow the 3-2-1 backup plan, under which data is stored in two places on-site and a third off-site, thus negating the impact of a disaster such as a fire.
That same site shared some grim statistics about cybersecurity. Fully 21 percent of business files go unprotected, and 41 percent of companies leave over 1,000 files vulnerable to attack, including files that contain sensitive personal information. And just about half of cyberattacks are aimed at small businesses, while ransomware attacks have skyrocketed by some 350 percent each year.
The cloud obviously offers a much-needed layer of protection. Also pertinent — especially in this day and age, as the coronavirus pandemic rages — is the fact that the cloud offers businesses more flexibility in terms of remote work. No matter where an employee happens to be at any given moment, he or she can access a company’s data and applications. All that’s needed is the proper device and a working internet connection.
Here are four industries that have soared into the cloud:
- Education: With remote learning now a necessity in a great many places, the cloud offers the same flexibility it does to remote workers. Chad Stevens, leader for K-12 Education at Amazon Web Services, told EdTech Magazine that AWS affords students the opportunity to access educational resources, and in the case of the sprawling Los Angeles Unified School District, was integral to the setup of call centers for tech/remote support.
- Marketing/Advertising: Data is king, and cloud platforms allow those in such fields as marketing to gather information from various sources — and do so in real time. This obviously helps to spot emerging trends and markets, and thus get a leg up on the competition.
- Real Estate: As with other disciplines, agents and brokers in real estate benefit from accessibility while on the go. The cloud gives them the ability to store data, safely and securely — and have peace of mind in the event of, say, a hard drive gone bad.
- Healthcare: Telemedicine has taken on added importance during the pandemic, and is expected to be critical to this sector in the years ahead. That means, once again, that storing data in the cloud is of the utmost importance. In addition, patients have easy access to their own records, and thus a greater say in their own care than ever before.
The cloud looks incredibly promising for many businesses, in a variety of industries, as they look to meet current challenges and anticipate those in the years ahead. It offers accessibility, security and flexibility — and, perhaps most of all, peace of mind.
by Don Basile | Oct 20, 2020 | Tech
While 4G technology made possible high-speed mobile browsing and wearable connectivity, 5G promises that those wearables will become even more prominent, smaller, and more efficient. That goes for ones already in existence, like smartwatches and health trackers, and those still on the drawing board (like, believe it or not, tattooables).
How that happens comes down to 5G’s accessibility to the cloud, its lower latency, and its speed, which can theoretically be 100 times faster than 4G.
Real-time data transfer will now be possible, and some experts believe that in the not-too-distant future, virtually everything we wear (clothing, shoes, contact lenses, even sensors placed under the skin to track health data) will transform us into walking, talking connected devices.
Certainly skeptics remain, but Fortune cites International Data Corporation projections indicating that wearable sales will reach $49.4 billion this year, and soar to $69.8 billion by 2024. Sanyogita Shamsunder, Verizon’s vice president of 5G Labs and Innovation, told Fortune that ‘2024 will in fact serve as an “inflection point,” as that will be the year that medical sensors will become commonplace.
Already available, Fortune notes, are smart glasses, smart earbuds (a.k.a. “hearables”) and yoga pants that make those wearing them aware if their yoga technique leaves something to be desired.
And those tattooables? While still in development, they are expected to be constructed of wafer-thin electric mesh, according to Fortune, which will enable them to store data and do things like deliver drugs.
The reason wearables are expected to shrink in size, according to TechRadar, is that they will no longer need physical space to store data; 5G can simply zip data right to the cloud. Instead, wearables of the near future will consist of ultrathin sensors, and little else.
An increase in sensors and a decrease in size is precisely what will cement wearables as part of the Internet of Things. Until now, we’ve mostly thought of wearables as items such as smartwatches that the user wears on their wrist. But these sensor-packed devices could just as easily be connected to objects rather than people to read and process data in real-time.
Consumers may also be happy to know that relieving some of the processor’s job means that a device’s battery will be more efficient. The ability to charge wirelessly within a wider range — up to 30 cm away — will allow devices to charge without cables or docks, even when in use.
All of this will take time, however. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have all begun rolling out 5G, but it will be years before most of the country, let alone the world, has coverage. Then, manufacturers must create devices that harness the power of 5G.
In addition, there are privacy concerns about sensitive personal data being widely circulated, location data being easily accessible, and even foreign manufacturing threatening national security.
Such matters give one pause, to be sure. But for now, it’s full speed ahead for 5G, at 100 times the pace of the existing technology. While there are potential hurdles, there are also vast possibilities that make 5G’s future look extremely promising.
by Don Basile | Aug 31, 2020 | Tech
The problem with wearable sensors over the years has been one of durability. When repeatedly folded and bent, they developed micro-cracks that curtailed their conductivity.
Nothing a little red wine won’t fix. Or coffee. Or black tea.
The tannic acid present in those liquids was found by a team of scientists at the University of Manchester, England, to be crucial to improving the mechanical properties of wearables.
The team had previously used the same idea to develop artificial hands and capacitive breath sensors. Prior to the discovery of tannic acid as a useful tool in the creation of wearable technology, there had been many failures due to a lack of effective resources.
Tannic acid is the reason it is so difficult to remove red-wine stains from fabric: It firmly adheres to the material on the surface of the fiber. Such adhesion is, team leader Dr. Xuqing Liu, leader told Phys.org, “exactly what we need for durable, wearable, conductive devices.”
While scientists have been purchasing tannins to create these technological items, they tested fabrics by soaking them in coffee and black tea. They found that these liquids had the same effect on the fabrics that red wine did. This assured them that the adhesive properties of black coffee and tea are just as effective.
Using that knowledge, scientists are hopeful that in the near future they will be able to create wearable technology devices that are not only more comfortable but also longer-lasting and more cost-efficient.
Through the use of red wine, black tea and coffee, developers can create devices that, instead of being made of nylon, are made of cotton instead. The technology that is enabled by the use of tannic acid means that a device’s circuits will be attached to the surface of the fabric. This replaces the previous rigid circuit board with one that the wearer of the device isn’t even likely to notice.
While the technology industry is changing in many ways, wearable technology is among this and next year’s largest aspects. It has been predicted that sales of wearable technology around the world are set to reach a monetary value of $27 billion by 2022.
Yesterday’s wearable devices used conductive yarn. However, the coating on this material often peeled off, rendering it useless. Substituting tannic acid eliminates this problem.
Only time will tell what further research on this subject uncovers. But this latest breakthrough represents a quantum leap forward, in that it improves the durability of these widely used sensors. Moreover, it shows what can be accomplished through an outside-the-box approach — how a problem can be solved, if only it is approached from a different angle.
