3 Techies Banter #3TB

So, here is what we found out about COWS. Cows are social animals. They form strong bonds and prefer staying close to their friends in the pasture, often grazing, resting, and grooming each other. Research shows that heart rates increase and stress hormone levels rise in cows that are separated from their bonded friends. BTW - a stressed cow produces less milk than a happy one. Onto airbags and their uses. Where do you think they could be used (other than cars)? Soft landings for gymnasts, perhaps? Miniature ones attached to your breakables? Or just a part of your jeans as an everyday consumer fall-protection device. Think about it 🤔. And finally, elections and indelible ink. Is it a good business? How big? If it is so indelible, can we use it for other purposes? Clinical trials? Marking prisoners? Equipment identification? Wow! It is almost as powerful as blockchain😎. Listen on for other life-saving trivia.

Ever wondered how organizations keep their data squeaky clean and under lock and key? 🧹🔐 In our latest episode, we dive into the nitty-gritty of data integrity and authentication. First up, we spill the beans on how companies ensure their data doesn't go rogue. We're talking input validation (because garbage in, garbage out), deduplication (no duplicates allowed!), data backups (better safe than sorry), access control (who's got the keys?), and audit tracking (keeping an eye on everything). Then, we break down the holy trinity of authentication:🔑 What you know (passwords, but please, no "123456")📱 What you have (hello, hardware tokens and software tokens)👁️ Who you are (biometrics, because nobody else has your face) And finally, we pivot to India to unravel the mysteries of cybercrime, focusing on the top hotspots for online financial fraud. Did you know that 10 districts account for 80% of cybercrime in India? Tune in for a blend of tech talk, practical tips, and some cyber sleuthing!

Listen up, you Illuminati, Opus Dei, Freemasons, and Skull & Bones Society; there's a new secret society in town. The Order of 37 was founded by eccentric mathematicians tired of mainstream numbers getting all the glory. Pi, Fibonacci, Mersenne and the Catalan numbers were such show-offs. But 37? It was the unsung hero of the number world.  Members, known as "Threesevenians, believed that one of their own discovered that 37 was not just a number but a portal to another dimension – a dimension where pi ends and where the square root of two is a nice, neat whole number. To access this, one must write the number 37 precisely 37 times while standing on one leg and humming the theme from "We Are the Champions". If this is thought-provoking, you are at the right place. Listen on.

Tech has a "pacing problem" (believe us - this is an accepted term 😎). Innovation is fast outpacing the ability of laws and regulations to keep up. Regulators are trying to govern Hogwarts with rules written for a Muggle school. Good luck stopping magical mischief with detention and a dress code. Balancing benefits/risks, ethical considerations, determining liability and lack of expertise are just some of the considerations in play. "To regulate or not to regulate" is the constant dilemma. Or should we just let the market decide? So who better than Rahul Matthan, a partner at Trilegal and one of the country's foremost technology lawyers, to walk us all through this nuanced world. Join our delightful conversation on any platform of your choosing (not regulated 😉).

Sujith Nair, the WhatsApp-averse, badminton-loving chief mover and shaker of Beckn, gave us a peek into what the world's first e-commerce protocol is all about. Imagine if Colgate wanted to sell a lot of toothpaste, would it open separate exclusive stores on every street? NO! Instead, it ensures its products are available in all stores where people come to shop, and not just toothpaste. Similarly, Beckn is a way for an online business to make its products and services available on other stores (popular daily-use consumer apps) instead of setting up its own store (its own consumer app) and waiting for customers to come in droves! In fact, we like it so much, we are carrying Beckn use cases as our episode artwork (instead of our normal groovy cover art) to spread the word in our own little way. So, is it an app? Is it an aggregator? Is it a platform? No. It is a Super Capability - decentralised and open.  So listen, learn and use.

History is filled with protracted, drawn-out conflicts, but did you know about a war that could have been missed during a coffee break? It started at 9:00 AM and was over by brunch, proving that even wars can have a tight schedule! Switching gears from fleeting wars to eternal edibles, let’s talk about honey’s impressive shelf-life. This sweet treat has been found in ancient tombs and is still as good as new after thousands of years. So, why doesn't honey spoil? The plot thickens. The human fascination with the number 3 runs deep. Trimurti, Trinity, movie trilogies, states of matter, pigs, musketeers, witches of Macbeth - the list is endless. It gives us a sense of stability that 1 and 2 cannot (legs on a stool 😎). Hopefully, we will not see World War 3. Listen On...

Imagine the Indian fintech industry as a Bollywood dance sequence. It begins in the early 2000s, with a few enthusiastic background dancers, mainly startups like Paytm and ItzCash, shaking to the primitive rhythms of dial-up internet. The choreography was less "smooth moonwalk" and more "clunky robot dance," but the spirit? Unmatchable! As the beat of technology quickened, so did the steps. By the 2010s, the stage was ablaze with newcomers, each adding their own flair to the routine—swiping, tapping, and clicking their way into the hearts of millions. Mobile wallets, digital banking, and e-commerce platforms pirouetted around the traditional banking giants, who were still trying to tie their shoelaces and join the routine. Today, the Indian fintech dance floor is crowded. It's a vibrant, chaotic medley—part traditional garba, part trendy hip-hop, and entirely enthralling. In this episode, Navin Surya, ex-MD and CEO of ItzCash joins us to help us understand the fintech medley of motion.

From a beer-drenched London street to the simple joy of a flying disc and finally to the click of a mouse that bought "Ten Summoner’s Tales," history, it seems, prefers its tales served with a side of whimsical. And we have a rhyme to match. In London's streets, the beer did flow,A flood of ale from long ago.The vats did burst, the town did weep,In hops and barley drowned so deep. Then Yale, where pie tins took to flight,Became the Frisbee's birthright.A simple toss, a joyful cheer,From tin to disc, the path was clear. Online, a transaction bold,Dan Kohn's CD of Sting was sold.Through NetMarket's digital door,A new era began to soar. Laugh along with us in this edition of our Shorts.

Royal Enfield. More than just motorcycles, the brand forges brotherhood across the Indian highways. Owning a Royal Enfield is your passport to a fraternity of wind-chasers and adventure-seekers. It's not just about the ride; it's about the rider's rite of passage into a tribe that shares tales of rugged roads and starlit skies. The IPL is a cricketing carnival that is more than cricket. It builds communities, with fans bonding over their love for the game, city, and team. It is a spectacle where loyalty is measured in cheers and jeers and where every match is a communal celebration. Hardik Pandya can testify to this 😝. Humans thrive in communities. This isn't a quaint relic of the past; it's our species' signature move. To throw more light on how brands are leveraging this ancient wisdom, we have Suhas Motwani, the founder of The Products Folks, Asia's largest product-driven community talking to us on 3 Techies Banter. Listen in groups is our advice 😇

Could a banana split or a split personality have anything to do with the fact we share 50% of our DNA with bananas? Scientific facts or outrageous humour? A little of both, really. And the next time you meticulously pick out unwanted items from your food, remember you're just channeling your inner rock star. Ask Van Halen about their brown M&M snacks. Speaking of refreshments, that glass of water you're sipping might just have a prehistoric past. Thanks to the unending water cycle and the laws of physics that prevent matter from being created or destroyed, your H2O could very well contain molecules that once quenched the thirst of dinosaurs. Or as the title suggests..... So, this episode is a toast to your ancient, banana-sharing, rock-star-emulating, dinosaur-sipping existence. It’s a quirky world we live in. Have Fun.