Category Archives: Business

Minecraft for $2.5 Billion – Yes, ‘the App’ is King

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Humair

I’m still not completely over the shock from last November when I learned Microsoft had bought Mojang, the company behind Minecraft, for $2.5 billion dollars. Let me repeat that: “$2.5 BILLION”; you heard right. Markus Persson, the 35 year-old original … Continue reading →

Posted in Amazon, Business, Game Programming, Games, Mac OS X Yosemite, Networking, Operating Systems, PC, Programming Languages, Rack Space, Technology, Technology, Virtualization and Cloud Computing, VMware | Tagged $1.3 Billion, 1.26 Billion, 128 million, 2.5 Billion, 2.7 Billion, Amazon, Amazon EC2, Amazon Elastic Block Store, Amazon Relational Database Service, Amazon S3, Apple, Apple Mac OS X, Apple Mac OS X Yosemite, Aruba, Aruba Networks, AWS Elastic Load Balancing, Billionaire, Carl, Carl Manneh, cloud, cloud platform, developing games, EBS, EC2, Forbes World's Billionaire list, game developer, Hewlett Packard, HP, Jakob, Jakob Porser, Jeff Barr, Lego, Lego-like blocks, MAC, Mac OS X, Manneh, Markus, Markus Persson, Microsoft, Microsoft Windows, Minecraft, Minecraft multiplayer mode, Minecraft on Mac, Minecraft Realms, Minecraft single player mode, Mojang, Nicira, PaaS, PaaS vendors, Persson, Platform as a Service, Platform as a Service vendors, Porser, Rackspace, Rackspace Deployment, Rackspace Deployment services, RDS, Realms, SDN, software defined networking, windows | Leave a comment

Security, Art of Hacking, & the Worst 2014 Security Breaches

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Humair

Security is hot; no doubt about it. Consider the fact that between 2011 and 2013, venture investors put nearly $3 billion into cyber security companies, resulting in new funding for some 300 firms (Source: Thomson Reuters). Worldwide security software revenue … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Hacks, Labs, Linux, Network Architecture, Network Security, Networking, Operating Systems, Programming Languages, Python, Red Hat Linux Enterprise, Security, Technology, Technology, Tips, Tips & Tricks, Windows | Tagged backdoor, backdoor access, backdoor script, brute-force, cyber security, data breach, DOS, employee negligence, Experion, firewall, firewall misconfiguration, Gartner, Global Cybersecurity Spending, Goodwill industries, Goodwill Industries data breach, Goodwill industries security breach, hacked Linux, hacked pc, hacked target, hacker, hacking, Home Depot, Home Depot data breach, Home Depot security breach, host scanning, JP Morgan, JP Morgan data breach, JP Morgan security breach, linux, malicious code, malware, malware detection software, malware software, malware software detection, Michael Bruemmer, Michaels Data Breach, Michaels security breach, micro-segmentation, microsegmentation, negligence, Neiman Marcus data breach, Neiman Marcus security breach, network security, novice hackers, packet injection, perl, Point-of-sale, Point-of-sale system, Point-of-sale systems, Point-of-sales system, Point-of-sales systems, Ponemon Institute, POS, POS systems, proxy server, Python, Python client, Python hacking, Python hacks, Python server, RedHat, RedHat Linux, RedHat Linux Enterprise, security, security breach, security exploitation, security infrastructure, security perimeter, security software, sensitive information, social engineering, Sony, Sony data breach, Sony security breach, sophisticated hackers, spyware, spyware detection software, spyware software detection, SQL injection, Target, Target data breach, Target security breach, traffic sniffing, trojan, unpatched Windows, unpatched Windows flaw, vi, Visa, windows, Windows flaw | Leave a comment

Market Cannibalization, Innovation, and Consumer Demand

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Humair

At MacWorld 2007, for the iPhone Keynote, Steve Jobs famously stated, “It’s the best iPod we’ve ever made.” In Q4 2006, iPod units sold stood at 8.73 million. In Q4 2014, iPods units sold were 2.64 million while iPhone and … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, iPad, iPhone, Technology, Technology | Tagged Amazon Prime, Apple, Apple iPad, Apple iPhone, Apple MP3 Player, Apple Watch, Blockbuster, Blockbuster bankrupcy, Blockbuster history, Blockbuster use case, cable, cable TV, Consumer Demand, free market, HBO, HBO Go, innovation, iPad, iPhone, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Jack Welch, larger screen, Market Cannibalization, market share, MP3 Player, Netflix, Samsung, Steve Jobs, Streaming Media Player, Watch | Leave a comment

MariaDB and the Future of MySQL

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Humair

As you may know by now, since the acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle in 2009 for $7.4 billion, there has been some uncertainty in the industry on the future of MySQL which Sun Microsystems itself acquired for $1 billion … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Databases, Fedora, Linux, MariaDB, openSUSE, Red Hat Linux Enterprise, Slackware, SUSE Linux Enterprise, Technology, Technology | Tagged Andrew Riston, Fedora, forked, forked MySQL, Google, Jaroslav Reznik, MariaDB, MariaDB vs MySQL, Michael "Monty" Widenius, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsystems, Monty, Monty Widenius, MySQL, MySQL documentation, MySQL forked, open source, openSUSE, Oracle, Oracle acquires Sun Microsystems, Oracle Express, Red Hat Linux Enterprise, Slackware, SQL, Sun, Sun Microsystems, Sun Microsystems acquires MySQL, SUSE Linux Enterprise, Widenius, Wikipedia | Leave a comment

TechCrunch DISRUPT Europe 2013 Recap and Winners

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Humair

At TechCrunch DISRUPT Europe in Berlin (Oct 25 – 27, 2013), coders, hackers, engineers, and designers from multiple countries spent the last 24 hours to build the best product possible. Top price was $5000 with many other sponsored prizes [tablets, … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Hacks, Tech Events, TechCrunch DISRUPT Europe 2013, Technology, Technology | Tagged A Colorful Gift, coder event, coders, coding event, Crunchbase, DISRUPT 2013, DISRUPT Europe 2013, Foarsquare, Foursquare preCheck-in, hack, hacker event, hacking event, Lufthansa, Mashery, PayMill, TechCruch, TechCruch conference, TechCrunch DISRUPT 2013, TechCrunch DISRUPT Europe 2013, TechCrunch DISRUPT Europe in Berlin, Teleapp, Weather Underground, Xing, Yammer, Zalando | Leave a comment

OUYA: The ‘Open’ Video Game Console for Users and Developers

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Humair

Amazingly, OUYA, the open video game console platform raised $8,596,474 in funds on KickStarter. OUYA is based on the Android 4.0 operating system. The idea is to create a low cost console (currently $99) available for consumers that also allows … Continue reading →

Posted in Android, APIs/SDKs, Business, Games, NVIDIA, Operating Systems, OUYA, OUYA, Processors/CPUs, Technology, Technology | Tagged console, game console, kickstarter, Muffi Ghadiali, NVIDIA, NVIDIA Tegra 3, NVIDIA Tegra3, open game console, open source, OUYA, ouya sdk, Tegra 3, Tegra3, Tegra3 quad-core processor, video game, Video Game Console | Leave a comment

IT Certifications, Innovation, and Career Growth – Making the Right Decisions

Posted on September 7, 2013 by Humair

I often get asked, “What certification should I get next?” There is no right way to answer this question without a deeper analysis of why a certification is being sought in the first place. I’ll focus specifically on IT certifications … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Life, News, Technology, Tips | Tagged best certifications, best IT certifications, Bill Gates, CCIE, CCIEs, CCNA, certifications, Cisco, Cisco CCIE, Cisco CCNA, CompTIA, CompTIA Linux+, employment, IT certifications, job, job opportunity, jobs, Larry Page, linux, Mark Zuckerberg, opportunity cost, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, technologist, top certifications, top IT certifications, vmware | Leave a comment

Is Life and Work Like a Big Game of Chess?

Posted on July 13, 2013 by Humair

Chess is fascinating. I always tell people it reminds me of real life in the way of developing a strategy, reading your competition and thinking several steps ahead of them, and of course battling it out for that final checkmate. … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Chess, Entertainment, Tips | Tagged 1962 Candidates Tournament, 1962 Candidates Tournament in Curacao, Bobby Fischer, business is chess, Chess, Chess Grandmaster, Curacao, famous chess game, famous chess games, Fischer, Grandmaster, is business like chess, is life like chess, life is chess, Mikhail Tal, Robert Fischer, Sicilian Defense | Leave a comment

Investing Into Entrepreneurs More than Ideas/Products?

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Humair

I’ve seen it many, many times where investor(s) invest into an idea because they have some belief in the idea/product but more belief in the entrepreneur(s) behind it. This isn’t to say that investors/angels just throw money down on worthless … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Tips | Tagged angel, angel investor, angel investors, angels, Business, cash, entrepreneur, entrepreneurs, founder, founders, funding, investor, investors, start-up, start-ups, startup, startups, Upstart, venture, venture capitalist | Leave a comment

The Importance of Making Quick Decisions

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Humair

As with so many things in life, I’ve found through experience just how critical and rare it is to have the ability to make quick decisions. Nowhere is this more important than in business, but it can also apply to … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Tips | Tagged analysis, analysis paralysis, Business, business decisions, business partner, business rule, business rules, business tip, business tips, chossing a business partner, decisions, electronic trading, Importance of Making Quick Decisions, New York Board of Trade, productivity, quick decisions, the pit | Leave a comment