What are XSS vulnerabilities?
Cross-site scripting vulnerabilities, commonly referred to as “XSS” vulnerabilities, allow a third-party attacker to run arbitrary Javascript on a website. XSS vulnerabilities might allow a website to be used for crypto mining, for example, or could allow an attacker to steal auth tokens and other sensitive information.
If you’re at all familiar with New York streetwear fashion brand Supreme, you probably already know that their online product releases (commonly referred to as “drops”) sell out fast. We’re talking less than two minutes for one 2016 drop, with many products disappearing from the site in 15 seconds or less.
Interest in the stock market has never seen such diversity as it has in recent years. Technologies have extended interest to a range of demographics that previously did not give much thought into investing and the public markets. Instead of requiring large account balances, persistent fees and unintuitive interfaces, digital first brokerages like Robinhood have proliferated access to the markets in a manner never before seen. Modern “robo-advisors”, like Wealthfront, provide easy access to financial advice to those who would previously not seek it, and micro-investing apps like Acorns make investing a passive, but profitable experience. While these solutions work great for those just getting started in the public markets, how do investment firms with billions of dollars on the line find appropriate investments?
In recent years I have noticed mobile and web apps starting to include motion design in their user experiences. One example of this is Facebook reactions. Instead of the reactions instantly appearing on hover, they gradually appear to the user’s eye and animate to help the user further understand and choose their reaction. If the user hovers over a certain reaction it becomes larger to help signify to the user that that reaction will be the one they choose if the click or tap on it. The motion being used here keeps the user engaged in the app and is included in a meaningful and playful way.
Alternate Title: The Self-Driving ABCs
My boyfriend’s dad’s car was recently broken into. By itself, this would be a pretty low note to start a blog post with, but rest assured that nothing was stolen and only one window of the car had to be replaced. The situation was made 100 times better by the fact that he was lent a Tesla Model X while his own car was being serviced.
The general definition associated with decentralized applications (DApps) is an application that functions through a peer-to-peer network as opposed to a single source or computer. The existence of such an app in cyberspace does not depend on a single authority. It can operate under a blockchain network or any other form of the peer-to-peer system (read more about blockchain here). Moreover, it is important to understand that the definition of these applications can differ with respect to the institution. The notion of blockchain originates from the concept adapted by bitcoin which uses cryptographically-stored records. There are limited tokens in the system as a means of checking the value of the currency. Different DApps exist for different purposes but the key property of the application is the independence from a traditional single server database.
My goal for this post is to share how I answered a seemingly simple question — what should I learn in my free time?
While developing software in Silicon Valley is educationally rewarding on a daily basis, there is still so much more to learn. Tech news is constantly bombarding readers with new technologies like blockchain, machine learning, and autonomous-(insert vehicle type here). Staying ahead is exciting for me, but also critical to my career.
I considered a few ways figure out what is “hot”:
It has been observed that the acceleration of Moore’s Law has left tech culture with a tendency to discount the past, which leads to issues when building for the long-term. If everything we do is going to be circular filed in a few years anyhow, why bother? I think we’re starting to see some of the limits of ahistorical strategies, especially because building for internet scale means that systems can affect higher-order aspects of society and culture in unexpected ways. This is why I want to talk a little bit about cybernetics.
Net Neutrality has become a big argument of debate lately, since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently repealed it on December 2017. But what is it exactly Net Neutrality? Why is it considered so important? What could be the effects on you as a consumer or your business?
Drones have been become one of the hottest tech toys in recent years, but what are these flying machines and what are they capable of?
“Drone” is the common name for an unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV for short. UAVs are vehicles that do not carry humans inside of them. They can be controlled by either a human or by a computer. UAVs were originally used in the military to carry out tasks that were either too difficult or too dangerous for humans to perform. Some other military applications include drone surveillance and drone attacks.