EU Parliament informs in a Video about the latest decision on Payments (PSD2)

eu parlamentI am not the biggest fan of the EU parliaments decision on payments as I believe the effects will be quite different than expected and not make payments cheaper or easier for Consumers – but in fact will lead to a much more clustered market and increasing cost, as more players have the share the market, leaving each of them with the overhead cost for the highly regulated business. Payments, as I see it, is a business of scale. Too much clustering prevents scale and leads to increased cost.

But anyway: The EU parliament has decided and here is a link to the EU parliaments ITV channel, explaining the decision. Interesting in any case.

EU Parliament ITV: Cheaper and safer online payments

Science-Fiction in Low Tech: mit AIRY filtern Pflanzenwurzeln die Luft.

airyPflanzen reinigen die Luft, das ist bekannt. Die NASA hat in einer umfangreichen Studie nachgewiesen, dass diese Fähigkeit nicht wie bis dahin vermutet über die Blätter, sondern zu rund 90% über die Wurzeln vonstatten geht. Wird die Luft dann direkt an die Wurzeln gebracht, entwickeln einige Pflanzen gradezu erstaunliche Leistungen bei der Beseitigung von Schadstoffen. Sie sammeln diese nämlich nicht nur, sondern wandeln sie in Nährstoffe um. Hochgiftige Schadstoffe wie Benzol und Toluol, Formaldehyd und Trichlorethylen sind dann dauerhaft beseitigt.

Spannend ist dabei auch, dass Pflanzen die Luft nicht nur viel effektiver, sondern auch viel schneller reinigen als „technische Verfahren“ – und zwar ganz ohne Strom und allein durch die Kraft der Natur.

Kostenloses Buch: „Bogenhanf ist nichts zum Rauchen“

Das Hamburger Startup AIRY Green Tech hat vor diesem Hintergrund einen Pflanzentopf entwickelt, der das Wurzelwerk belüftet. Bevor dieser Topf zum Ende des Jahres erhältlich sein wird, gibt es von AIRY jetzt ein Buch, dass tolle Einblicke in diesen hoch innovativen Ansatz bringt: „Bogenhanf ist nichts zum rauchen“ bereitet viel wissenswertes rund um Pflanzen, Luft und Mensch anschaulich auf. In fünf Schritten und auf 102 Seiten widmet sich Autorin Karin Riesterer beispielsweise der Frage, was wir eigentlich einatmen und warum die Innenluft so eine überragende Rolle für das Wohlbefinden von uns Menschen spielt. Sie erläutert, warum die Lösung für unsere Probleme auf der Fensterbank wächst und stellt mit „Dr. med. Drachenbaum und Kollegen“ 18 Pflanzen im Portrait vor.

Das Buch „Bogenhanf ist nichts zum Rauchen“
ist kostenlos und zu finden im Forum von Airy.

The 100 hottest cars of all times – Esquire

p1800Esquire got most of them right – but the 90th rank for the beloved P1800 is too low! But then again, there IS tough competition and I believe one should just say: these are the 100 hottest cars money can buy and shut up about the ranking. 🙂 I feel like I need more money and a bigger garage. :)))

Esqiure: 100 Hottest Cars Of All Times

@Esquire

Why image intelligence is a key concern – RezF´s Brian Killen @Ad:tech NY

The web is becoming increasingly visible – oftentimes images replace text based communications. One should think „memes“ on Facebook but also sharing product images to indicate that one loves this stuff or just bought it. This still relatively new, dynamically growing world of image sharing brings many benefits, many changes and also so many challenges.

One case we all know. Its two a.m. and all the sudden all the Facebook friends get updates about how awesome the mood is in the pub down at the corner. Or someone finds this hilarious spring-break photo of you from a few years back and shares it with all your friends. Posts that one might regret later. Posts that we would like to track and take off the internet. But how would you possibly find where those pictures ended up to be? These are very individual, personal cases of exposure to what the age of content explosion means. But think about the business impact.

Resolution Foundry CEO Brian Killen

Resolution Foundry CEO Brian Killen

You are a fashion brand and post your collection on your website and to a few select bloggers – knowing it will find its way into Pinterest, Tumblr and the likes. And of course you love it, because this gives you direct access to a huge audience. But how would you know where else your pictures have been posted? People copy and paste them from your site, save as new files – and now you have no idea. Do these pictures link back to your page, so you can sell your collection? Or do they point to counterfeit fraud shops that stole your designs and now stole your copyrighted brand images as well? Making you lose revenue?  

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Amazing: the 2015 Submarine Cable Map

Our global communication – and our digital industries – heavily rely on Satellites and on submarine cables. But where are those arteries of communication to be found? The 2015 Submarine Cable Map of Tele Geography is simply amazing. Not only because of its content, also because its quite simply a masterpiece of art.

2015 Submarine Cable Map, ©TeleGeography