Fintech/Blockchain

Coolman’s Universe: NFTs and The Art of Coolman Coffeedan

Coolman’s Universe: NFTs and The Art of Coolman Coffeedan

Coolman’s Universe Digital Creator, Danny Casale, and Community Manager, Ryan Dunlop, spoke with Carla Gatt on the future of the NFT Web 3 Space, its mass adoption, and regulation.

1. Danny, could you guide me a bit through the trajectory of your career as a creative?

In kindergarten, I was always that kid doodling and making home movies. Back then there was nowhere to post it on social media. It wasn’t until I got into fifth, and sixt

Cryptography 2: Irreversibility and Cryptographic Hashing on the Blockchain

Cryptography 2: Irreversibility and Cryptographic Hashing on the Blockchain

Cryptographic hash functions have many variations and are strong barriers to outside attacks. Blockchain requires complex cryptography to make sure that keys and digital wallets are kept safe from hackers.

In the previous blog post, we looked at the history of cryptography as well as symmetric and asymmetric cryptography. So how do cryptographic hashes work?

Let’s consider the example of colour mixing below and the pr

Cryptography 1: Symmetric Cryptography vs Asymmetric Cryptography

Cryptography embeds security into the blockchain, adding to its complexity. However, if the method used to encrypt your transaction is hackable, you risk losing your money.

Even though the subject at hand is elaborate and time-consuming, adding extra layers of security measures to your transactions, is a fool-proof method to keep your digital money safely.

My intention here is to explain the process step by step in two blog posts.

The first known proof of the use of cryptography goes back to

Many Worlds Founder, Steve Bumbera, on the Way Forward for Crypto

Many Worlds Founder, Steve Bumbera, on the Way Forward for Crypto

Bumbera spoke with CARLA GATT about why he believes the Terra Luna crash occurred. He outlined the way forward when it comes to regulating cryptocurrency and the Blockchain future.

Bumbera is a confessed computer wiz. After he graduated from New Haven, he spent five years in the Marine Corps, where he worked in Signals Intelligence and Electronic Warfare. Passionate about both the financial and technological world, he quickly ca

Business Organisations and Company Management

Coolblue: Thriving and Making Customers Happy is the New Blue

Founded in 1999 by three Erasmus University students, the Dutch e-commerce firm Coolblue has gone on to experience exponential growth, mainly due to its obsessive focus on data and its two KPIs, the Net Promoter Score and EBITDA. In 2017, Coolblue’s main aims – make customers happy and make money – were achieved and by 2018, its turnover reached €1.35 billion.

When the company started, the modus operandi at Coolblue was quite simple: get products from their providers and make sure they arrive t

Housing Anywhere: Finding Accommodation Abroad at the Click of a Button

Founded in 2009, HousingAnywhere started as a student-to-student platform proposing its services to universities. At the time, the focus was to help international students find a suitable home in the Netherlands. Not only did the need for accommodation grow bigger, but international mobility became an overriding priority. Along with the evolution of the rental market, the company evolved in order to "help people with housing, anywhere", including young professionals and expats.

Balancing Exclusivity and Sustainability in the Luxury Fashion Industry: #Burnberry

The principle of building and maintaining a reputation of exclusivity has long been acknowledged as the key to the success of luxury brands. The way these ambitions are realized often remains hidden from the public eye. In June 2018, British luxury brand Burberry faced considerable backlash after news surfaced that the brand had burned excess stock worth £28.6m (USD 37m) to reportedly safeguard its brand image. Various hashtags circulated, including the viral #Burnberry, publicly calling out the

Rabobank: Coping with Reputational Downslide (A)

In 2013, Rabobank suffered a major fallout following the LIBOR scandal. The Communications and Corporate Affairs (CCA) at Rabo needed an overhaul. Communications expert, Leendert Bikker, was brought in to rectify the situation in 2016. He went on to reorganize the whole Corporate Communications Organisation and to launch the cooperative bank’s mission ‘Growing a Better World Together’. However, challenges, such as: helping farmers become more sustainable; and low interest rates leading to an out

The Coffee of Andradas: Building a Brand to Help a Community

Located in the mountainous region of Minas Gerais in Brazil, Andradas has the ideal environment for growing coffee. The community's high-quality coffee hadn’t had the chance to reach the outside world on a large scale when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. In a bid to improve the life of the farmers and their families, the people of Andradas are working to bring out the coffee flavour map - a tool to showcase the quality of their coffee and the stories behind them. What are the potentials of the coffee

Cybersecurity

The Consequences of Data breach

The consequences of data breach may not only signify loss of millions to a business organisation but may mostly impact the business element when it comes to relationships with its clients.

This could be evidenced by the recent shutting down of the offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca as the media siege that revolved around the organisation not to mention the collapse of its reputation as well as the aberrant activities on behalf of Panamian authorities have totalled in what the company itself has

Cybersecurity and Digital Health Records

Who has access to your patients’ health records and protection? Is it securely held?

In May 2017, a major hospital breach led to 16 hospitals shutting down in the UK whilst in 2016, US Healthcare facilities were the victims of one Cyber attack per month over a period of 12 months. Healthcare organisations are the topmost vulnerable entities for cyber threats as they are the most entrusted entities when it comes to holding personal identifiable information (PII), which consists of patient’s name

IT Security and Company Reputation

Who is at the helm of reputation risk in your organisation? Who is responsible for it? What are the organisations’ capabilities when it comes to managing it? What is its impact? These were some of the questions posed by the “Reputation@Risk” 2015 survey carried out by Forbes on behalf of DTTL that saw around 300 leaders, board members and risk executives around the world queried on their view points on reputation risk.

A company’s reputation is not only affected by its performance but also by t

New Malware Steals Credit Card Data

Welcome to the current era of malware, where some are extremely rare to find and delve beyond the ‘usual suspects’, which normally belong to the category of the ever-expanding ransomware families, cryptocurrency miners and credential stealers.

In October 2017, a sample called the LogMeIn pack was detected. A deeper analysis and investigation led to the discovery of a kind of malware designed to steal the magnetic strip payment card information, which is a trademark of the Point of Sale (PoS) ma

Cyber Security and GDPR

As of 25 May 2018 a new directive, formally known as the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), will be implemented in full force. This regulation underlies a number of imperative views that companies and organisations must embrace, in order to comply with this new directive. Its purpose? To meet the modern privacy requirements that the mid-90s EU Data protection Drive 96/46/EC and other local data protection laws fail to address.

At this stage, companies need to ask themselves the followin

Protect your Devices: Cryptocurrency mining malware is on the rise

Protect your Devices: Cryptocurrency mining malware is on the rise

Your computer is showing signs of slowing down. Does this mean it is gradually giving up the ghost? There could be an ulterior motive! It could be generating digital coins for someone else.

It is no secret that the popularity of digital currencies has reached dizzying heights in 2017. This in turn has coined a new meaning to the noun ‘hacker’; one considered more sophisticated, with profit in mind , who seeks to generate virtua

Drones/UAVs

Commercial Use of Drones at Airports

Commercial Use of Drones at Airports

In previous blog posts, we outlined the dangers of drones around airports and aircrafts, due to the damage they can cause when unassisted or not properly controlled. Whilst in Malta it is still illegal to operate drones around airports, unless their use is regulated and rightly operated, unmanned vehicles can have transformative powers and various benefits when used around airports. The applications of drones are seemingly infinite and consistently expanding

Drones For Wildlife Conservation

How can Drones Be Used For Wildlife Conservation

The concept of drone technology for the use of conservation started in 2011. Drones cut costs and risks and have a higher performance, which makes them a requirement for conservation applications. According to the director of the Marine animal Response Society, Tonya Wimmer: “Drones are allowing people to ask questions and look at things that they may not have been able to look at before.”

When observing species, you change their environment, th

Drone Security

It has become a well-known fact that many industries have resorted to the use of UAV technology due to their ease of use, availability, cost reduction, and ease of accessibility. The roles that a drone can take on in our current and future lives are still a work-in-progress.

From a security standpoint, the increasing number of drones per day is a cause of concern, especially when it comes to collision with aircrafts. So, what is the way forward when ISIS themselves have begun to utilise UAV tec

Drone Regulations in Malta

The Dos and Don’ts of Drone Activity in Malta So Far

Are your ready to fly your drone but you’re not sure how to go about it safely and conform to the law? This post gives a list of simple ‘dos and don’ts’ that walk you through all the current regulations to ensure that you keep within the confines and limits of drone activity.

Do make sure you have permission to fly your drone

A drone operator or owner requires permission to operate within the prescribed terms and conditions. Remember that M

Drones For Maritime Industry

The Use of Drone Technology in the Maritime Industry

Thinking of using drones for maritime industry and offshore services? Then knowing the difference UAVs making in the sector, will be important in taking such decisions. The Return of Investment, for using drones in maritime and offshore, can be significant. In this post we will highlight the deployment and advantages of drones in this industry, in depth and detail.

Collecting data via UAVs can be considered cheaper, faster, and safer. For in

Miscellaneous

Adoption: Then and now

The Adoption Bill, which has been presented in Parliament, follows the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in respect of inter-country adoption. The Family and Social Solidarity Ministry explained to CARLA GATT that this bill was drafted with the best interests of the child in mind.

Adoption has always been a subject of great public interest, largely because it affects so many families.

Being a tightly-knit com

The problem with ME

The name for the illness Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) was coined by Melvin Ramsay way back in 1956 following his observation at the Royal Free Hospital epidemics department in London between 1955 and 1957.The statistics with regards to ME/CFS are still hazy, as no reliable epidemiological studies have been done. In the UK, the official department of health estimates patients with ME to be around 0.02 to 0.04 per cent of the population, which is about 120,000 to 240,000 of the population. In th

FEBRUARY IS HEART MONTH

While Valentine’s Day may be over, few of us may actually know that February is Heart Month. While cancer is on the rise in Malta, pacing steadily behind is this disease of the cardiovascular system, which is still the leading cause of death amongst men and women.

So what is cardiovascular disease? It’s first and foremost an umbrella term for all diseases associated with the heart and circulation, including strokes, heart failure, cardiomyopathy and atrial fibrillation. In Malta, the major risk

New Emerging Hotel Trends ::

Can improved hotel design increase the number of guests?

Identifying trends in customer expectations is crucial in an industry that desires nothing more than to keep its customers content and well-looked after when they are away from home. It comes as no surprise, therefore, those hotel brands are constantly transforming and progressing as a way of staying ahead of their game to ensure their customers are satisfied. At the most rudimentary level, hotel design should involve a "personalised" con

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Email: carla.f.gatt@gmail.com

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