Tech Talk with Toni

   If you don't define your brand, other people will.  In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, personal branding is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity.  These are the sentiments echoed by Keron Rose on an episode of his podcast, Digipreneur (check out the links below).  Whether you’re an aspiring developer, a seasoned IT professional, or a tech entrepreneur, your personal brand can significantly impact your career trajectory.  But before I get into that, I wanted to touch on a key difference between personal brand and reputation, which was also mentioned on the podcast. Personal Brand  Your personal brand is a deliberately crafted identity that you strategically create for yourself. You have direct control over your personal brand. It’s the image you project intentionally through your online presence, interactions, and content. Building a personal brand allows you to showcase your expertise, values, and unique qualities. It’s an ongoing process tha...

  This piece of plastic tells people who you are.  The verb authenticate originated from the Latin word authenticus , meaning genuine. Confirming that someone is really who they claim to be has always been a problem that we humans have tried to solve. You see, just because someone says they are Michael Jackson, it doesn't mean they are, because they could also be lying (who doesn't lie to get what they want?) . Before the advent of modern technology, various authentication methods were used to verify the identities of individuals before granting access to resources, from signatures to special passphrases. As a child, I can remember devising specific ways of knocking on the door with my siblings and cousins to confirm each other's identities before granting access to our top-secret room. However, knocking on digital doors requires more robust methods of accessing resources, such as your social media profile or your bank account. Today, I will mention some authentication meth...

Reasoning : the action of thinking about something in a logical, sensible way   Earlier this week, a DataCamp course sparked an interesting thought about how we reach conclusions. In data analysis, we ask key questions, gather information, and draw insights from what we find. This happens across many STEM fields. But something I recently noticed is how we actually get to those conclusions – there are two main methods: inductive and deductive reasoning. Let's break it down: Inductive Reasoning:  Imagine you see all your friends going into tech or medicine. Based on this limited view (your friends), you might guess (general conclusion) that young people aren't interested in plumbing careers. However, this might not be entirely true! Deductive Reasoning:  This approach is more like a detective story. We use established facts (like employment data) and analysis tools to reach specific conclusions. For example, we could analyze data over time to see if there's actually been a...

Can you spot the imposter?  Mom always insisted you were unique as a snowflake, irreplaceable and one of a kind.  Enter the era of deepfakes, where your likeness can be copied and pasted.  Never heard the term? Don't worry, you're not alone .  Basically, it's like a high-tech puppet show, but instead of felt Muppets, it uses AI to stitch together videos and audio. The result? Someone seemingly saying or doing something they never did in real life. Case in point: Scammers in Hong Kong used a deepfake video call to impersonate a company's CFO and steal a whopping 25 million dollars .   Scary isn't it?  Fun Fact: This whole "deepfake" thing actually started on the wild west of the internet – a forum called Reddit – back in 2017. And let's just say, the intentions of these people weren't exactly butterflies and rainbows; they used it for evil. As human beings, we rely heavily on our eyes to perceive our environment, and not being able to distinguish be...

We check our phones every 12 minutes This week I officially became an owner of a smartwatch and I must say that this device has encouraged me to get up and reach my goal of 7500 steps per day more frequently.  However, even before this addition, I've been taking afternoon walks on my own for some time and I do believe that this is a habit that most people can develop. Now, as someone in the field of technology, we often find ourselves spending an unhealthy amount of time glued to screens and seats. Our bodies, with a quarter of our bones chilling in our feet (seriously, go ahead and count!), were clearly designed for more than just staying in one place.  This post serves as your friendly reminder to get up, get moving, and rediscover the joy of not feeling like a human pretzel at the end of the day.  With that being said here are some common diseases associated with sitting all day: Heart disease Sitting for long periods increases your risk of heart disease, the leading c...