U4SSC - Digital solutions for integrated city management and use cases

U4SSC - Compendium of survey results on integrated digital solutions for city platforms around the world

LSTP-GLSR Guide on the use of ITU-T L-series Recommendations related to optical technologies for outside plant [Superseded]

U4SSC - User guide for the toolkit on digital transformation for people-oriented cities and communities

XSTR-USM - Unified Security Model (USM) - A neutral integrated system approach to cybersecurity

U4SSC - User guide for the toolkit on digital transformation for people-oriented cities and communities - Version 2

Security aspects of distributed ledger technologies

LSTP-GLSR - Guide on the use of ITU-T L-series Recommendations related to optical technologies for outside plant

DSTR-IoT-DLT-Accounting - Accounting and billing aspects in Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem and integrated approach using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)

DSTR-IoTM2M-Roaming - Roaming aspects of IoT and M2M including any related development and tariff principles

U4SSC - REFERENCE FRAMEWORK FOR INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF AN SSC

TR.FSR - Factual subscriber-base reporting and protected content delivery in a conditional access system (CAS)

TR.qs-dlt - Guidelines for quantum-safe distributed ledger technology systems

HSTP-DLT-CG - Construction guidelines for city-level distributed ledger technology (DLT) infrastructure

United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) Initiative Connecting Communities, Empowering People

DSTR-STUDY_IMT2020MVNOs - 5G related policy considering MVNOs

Terms, definitions and acronyms for television and sound transmission and integrated broadband cable networks

Architecture for an application control framework using integrated broadcast and broadband digital television

Specification for an integrated broadcast and broadband digital television application control framework

Requirements and reference framework for digital representation of cultural relics and artworks using augmented reality

Requirements of distributed ledger systems for secure human factor services

General framework for distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based invoices

Requirements for change management in distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based decentralized applications

Functional assessment methods for distributed ledger technology platforms

Requirements for distributed ledger technology-based power grid data management

Requirements and framework for feature-based distributed intelligent systems

Performance assessment methods for distributed ledger technology platforms

Testing and Test Control Notation version 3: TTCN-3 language extensions: Object-oriented features

Specification and Description Language - Object-oriented data in SDL-2010

Specification and Description Language - Object-oriented data in SDL-2010

Testing and Test Control Notation version 3: TTCN-3 language extensions: Object-oriented features

Testing and Test Control Notation version 3: TTCN-3 Language Extensions: Object-oriented features

Interfacing of renewable energy or distributed power sources to up to 400 VDC power feeding systems

Methodology for assessing the aggregated positive sector-level impacts of ICT in other sectors

Air-assisted installation of optical fibre cables

Passive node elements with automated ID tag detection

Stage 3 description for number identification supplementary services using Signalling System No. 7 : Stage 3 description for number identification supplementary services using Signalling System no.7 - Connected line identification restriction

Stage 3 description for number identification supplementary services using Signalling System No. 7 : Stage 3 description for number identification supplementary services using Signalling System No.7 - Connected line identification presentation

Testing methodologies of Internet related performance measurements including e2e bit rate within the fixed and mobile operators' networks

Support of data terminal equipments with V-Series type interfaces by an integrated services digital network

Electrical characteristics for unbalanced double-current interchange circuits for general use with integrated circuit equipment in the field of data communications

Electrical characteristics for balanced double-current interchange circuits for general use with integrated circuit equipment in the field of data communications

Support of data terminal equipments (DTEs) with V-series type interfaces by an integrated services digital network (ISDN)

Simulated carrier control

Shares of Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) are skyrocketing in early-morning trading after the company announced its Q3 2024 results, which beat expectations. As of the time of this writing, SHOP stock is up an impressive 23% to above $110 per share. 

However, Shopify’s stock isn’t on fire only because of its good Q3. There are some other reasons why Shopify is exciting investors this morning. Here’s what to know:

Shopify’s ‘outstanding’ results

Shopify would probably disagree with the statement that the company had a good Q3. As the company’s president, Harley Finkelstein, said in a press release, the results were “outstanding.”

Why was the quarter so outstanding? A big part of it was the company’s Q3 revenue, which came in at $2.16 billion. That represents a whopping 26% year-over-year growth rate from Q3 2023.

As Reuters notes, it even surpassed many analysts’ lofty expectations of $2.11 billion in revenue, leading to the ninth time in a row that the company has beat analyst expectations on sales.

Not only did Shopify beat analyst expectations again, but its 26% revenue growth for this quarter marked “our sixth consecutive quarter of greater than 25% revenue growth excluding logistics,” Shopify CFO Jeff Hoffmeister said.

In a slide deck, Shopify also announced that as of Q3 2024, the company had facilitated $1 trillion in global sales since the platform’s inception and that it now has a 10% share of the U.S. e-commerce market.

Okay, but why did Shopify have such a good Q3?

As also noted by Reuters, Shopify attracted more merchants to its online e-commerce platform this quarter. One of the attractions for the merchants seems to be a new artificial intelligence tool Shopify started rolling out in June called Sidekick.

Sidekick is an artificial intelligence assistant currently in early access for some merchants. Shopify says the AI bot “will act as your very own advisor, guiding you with tailored, skilled advice to make your business stronger.”

It does this by shouldering some of the mundane but necessary tasks that any businessperson needs to do to manage their business. Sidekick can help easily keep track of a merchant’s inventory, generate myriad reports that reveal new insights about your business, and even suggest ways to attract more customers to a storefront.

Sidekick is in addition to another AI tool Shopify offers, this one called Shopify Magic, which helps merchants create product images for their wares, write product descriptions, and even help them generate FAQs for their stores.

These AI tools are making it easier than ever for customers to manage their storefronts, and their availability is clearly a draw for some merchants.

The future looks promising, too

But Shopify’s stock isn’t only surging because the company had a terrific Q3. If anything, investors seem most excited about what the company has predicted will happen next.

Shopify’s current quarter, Q4, is arguably the most important of the year for the company and its merchants. This is the all-important holiday shopping quarter—and Shopify has anounced it has strong hopes for the period.

The key metric that Shopify has forecast is its revenue expectations for Q4, which the company says it expects will “grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.”

That’s music to investors’ ears, as it means Shopify expects it may do even better in Q4 than its just-completed outstanding Q3. That revenue growth estimate is also more than the 22.7% revenue growth many analysts were expecting, noted Reuters.

A resurgent stock

Shopify’s stock started 2024 with prices hovering in the high seventies before dropping to the low sixties over the summer. But since the beginning of the fall, SHOP shares have been on an upswing. Today’s 23% surge means SHOP shares are actually up over 38% year-to-date.

However, despite the resurgent stock, SHOP shares are nowhere near their all-time high of above $152 per share. Those highs were achieved in mid- to late-2021 when e-commerce was enjoying a pandemic boom as more people preferred online shopping over brick-and-mortar stores.

Influencers have played a big role in this election cycle. Hundreds of typically nonpolitical content creators have been using their platforms to endorse candidates on both sides of the political spectrum. Funnily enough, those who said nothing on election day actually ended up being the loudest. 

“Speaking as an influencer, a lot of your favorite influencers are fucking embarrassing,” said TikToker Kate Glavan. “To be a woman in America with a huge fucking platform and a huge audience and post nothing yesterday, just business as usual, ‘I’m going to my Pilates and I’m going to my brunch . . . ’ No one gives a fuck about your Amazon storefront or your fucking makeup routine.” 

The comment section of her video is filled with people calling out the names of influencers who have been notably silent throughout the election. “Me finding out which influencers voted [Republican] cause they are the ones who are strangely silent and acting like its a regular day,” posted another TikTok user last week. 

For influencers, posting who they voted for is a lose-lose situation. Pick a side and they risk alienating a large section of their audience. Stay silent and they risk alienating a large section of their audience. While it makes sense that followers want to know who their favorite influencer voted for, should we expect—or even want—political activism from people whose job involves posting their Sephora hauls and workout routines?

With apologies to Voltaire, with great virality comes great responsibility. Unlike media outlets, which are subject to regulation, there is little oversight of social media, meaning influencer posts can reach millions and have huge sway over their followings. During the 2024 election cycle we have seen influencers and internet personalities being paid on behalf of groups backing both Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump to court their followers’ votes, cashing in on thousands—sometimes millions—for a single post. 

Social media influencers have more influence than they are often given credit for, according to research published in the journal Management Information Systems Quarterly. In fact, research by Pew shows that more than half of U.S. adults (54%) turn to social media for news at least some of the time, putting influencers in direct competition with traditional news outlets for audience attention. To stand out in this crowded space, influencers are incentivized to exaggerate their messages, often leading to polarized followers. If their audience ends up blindly following what they say instead of examining the candidate’s or party’s policies for themselves, it can result in diminished critical thinking in voters. 

Influencers are human and will have a political opinion whether they choose to share it or not. Being pressured into posting about politics can sometimes end up causing more harm than good. At the same time, choosing not to post anything at all during such a divisive election is a choice. So is following an account.

Tune into our newest addition to our course library: Ubuntu Server (18.04): Installing and Managing openLDAP Directories, with Andrew Mallet to learn the basics of Ubuntu server. About the Course: OpenLDAP is a directory service that predates many proprietary systems and provides a universal authentication mechanism for client system to authenticate to and white pages [...]

Get ready to explore the different methods of automating technical and business challenges with Azure in James Rudley’s new course; Automation With Microsoft Azure. In this course you will learn a range of azure features including: Azure Automation Functions Logic Apps ARM Templates Update Management Azure PowerShell Ready to master Azure? You can buy this [...]

NHTSA Questions Limits of Tesla Technology that Uses Windshield-Mounted Cameras  glassBYTEs

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