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How to prevent an ‘operational catastrophe’

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via https://ift.tt/t7ne2KN Julia Ivzhenko Contributor Julia Ivzhenko is head of operations at Futurra Group, an IT company with Ukrainian roots that develops math service MathMaster. Developing a fast-scaling business with a supply side in the early stages requires growing with high dynamics and little resources. Operational mistakes while scaling might have an exorbitant price. We faced it when we decided to break into edtech and launch an education app that aims to provide experts the ability to answer millions of students’ requests in an online chat, almost instantly. We started with a team of 20 people, which was enough to cover the demand in the early stages. To make the business profitable, the real race started: The marketing team had to scale the number of users, while operations had to follow their pace and grow the supply side. We scaled demand without considering team resources. We got up to speed quickly: 120+ experts were solving 3,000+ math tasks daily. We ...

Public transit is driving EV sector growth in Kenya

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via https://ift.tt/AMnTekQ The public transit sector in Kenya is driving the country’s electric vehicle adoption as global calls for a switch to sustainable transport continue. For the first time last year, commercial electric mass transport buses were deployed to various routes across Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, marking the beginning of the transition from fossil fuel vehicles for some public bus operators. This came after electric motorcycle taxis, locally known as bodaboda , had already made inroads into the popular two-wheel public transport segment. The current trend points at the possibility of Kenya’s public transit sector maintaining its leadership of EV adoption, in contrast to most developed countries, where private vehicles are spearheading the transition. This is likely to continue in the wake of increased production by startups eyeing the public transit sector, and the actualization of proposed tax incentives/exemptions and reliefs like the special power (charging) tarif...

Twitter has officially changed its logo to ‘X’

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via https://ift.tt/0BJZnj6 Twitter has removed the iconic bird logo and adopted ‘X’ as its official logo. This move comes after Elon Musk announced the change over the weekend . The change is already live on the website. Notably, Musk tweeted that x.com now also redirects to twitter.com. In the post, Musk also called this an “interim” logo, so we might see another logo change in the future. https://t.co/bOUOek5Cvy now points to https://t.co/AYBszklpkE . Interim X logo goes live later today. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2023 The social network might not stop at just replacing the logo. Musk said the company will eventually “bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.” Late Sunday, Musk changed his profile picture to the new Twitter logo. Twitter’s official account @Twitter has also changed its name and display picture to the new X logo. Image Credits: Twitter/@Twitter In a reply to a user, Musk also hinted that people should refer to Tweets as “X...

FedNow may finally be live, but will it be too costly for businesses to adopt?

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via https://ift.tt/6bkjG0Z Welcome to The Interchange ! If you want this in your inbox, sign up here . It was an event-filled week in the fintech world, what with FedNow launching , the former CEO of fintech Bolt — and the company itself — being subpoenaed by the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission and much more. Let’s drill down here. It’s about time Last week, the U.S. government’s instant payment system, FedNow Service , finally went live. FedNow is an instant payment infrastructure for transferring money that promises to be a faster payment rail for financial institutions, offering immediate access to funds no matter the day or time. As you know, this is huge because banks aren’t traditionally open 24/7 or let you receive money and use it on the same day. It’s also something that the U.S. has been considered “behind” on in light even though other countries have been live with similar services for some time, including Brazil, India, the United Kingdom and the European U...

An AI-generated ‘South Park’ episode, Microsoft’s security woes, and Tesla’s first Cybertruck build

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via https://ift.tt/IBEYA28 Hey, folks, welcome to Week in Review (WiR) , TechCrunch’s regular roundup of the past week in tech. Too busy to check the headlines this week? Don’t sweat it. That’s why WiR exists — we’ll get you caught up to speed. This edition of WiR features pieces about a fake AI-generated “South Park” episode; the surging downloads of Threads, an app that shares the same name as Meta’s Twitter competitor; and Tesla’s first Cybertruck build. We also recap the CEO of OnlyFans stepping down; Wix’s new tool that can create websites on the fly, using generative AI; and Plex’s free Winamp-inspired music player. That’s a lot to cover, so let’s get cracking. Oh, and if you haven’t already, sign up here  to get WiR in your inbox every Saturday. Most read Poor timing for AI-generated TV: AI startup Fable Studios demoed its platform this week, using it to create a full, fake “South Park” episode in which Cartman tries to apply deepfake technology to the media industry. ...

Goodbye VR, hello AR, and can AI be more human, plz?

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via https://ift.tt/hYx296J Welcome to Startups Weekly. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Friday. It seems like the fizzle has gone out of the VR conversation altogether , as every manufacturer and conversation is refocusing its attention on AR. That wasn’t particularly new, but Apple’s flagship headset is a huge leap away from virtual reality, embracing the blended world more fully. Apple didn’t actually add much to the conversation so far — the headset hasn’t started shipping yet, after all — but you’d be a particularly spicy mixed blend of not-in-touch-with-reality spices to bet against the Cupertino giant these days. This represents a profound opportunity for startups . Will we find the humanity in AI? Image Credits: NanoStockk (opens in a new window) / Getty Images There’s an old joke: Bob says to his friend, peering into the infinite abyss of space: “Do you think there’s any intelligent life out there?” Anna replies: “Why would there be — there’s barely any do...

Leave sex workers out of your NPC TikTok discourse

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via https://ift.tt/Wzr3Xhj Every time a woman monetizes the absurd, she’s accused of making fetish content. It’s a symptom of the anti-sex moral panic sweeping pop culture — and this time, it’s coming for TikTok’s NPC creators.  Snippets of these creators’ livestreams keep going viral, and because the internet loves to hate on women, the nonsensical mannerisms that these creators use in their content has been written off as disturbing, cringe and definitely a sex thing. Sex workers, meanwhile, are unfairly dragged into dehumanizing conversations about the genre.  What onlookers actually seem to be mad about is the fact that these creators — most of whom are attractive young women — manage to profit off of being weird online.  The phrase NPC, or “non-playable character,” refers to video game characters whose personalities, dialogue and story lines cannot be controlled by the player. Instead, all interactions with NPCs are preset, which means the characters are limite...