Industries

Down But Not Out: SMIC’s Rocky Path Forward

Down But Not Out: SMIC’s Rocky Path Forward

By: Edward Ding December 18, 2020 was a particularly bad day for SMIC, China’s largest semiconductor manufacturer. The U.S. government blacklisted dozens of Chinese companies, including SMIC, and effectively restricted their purchase of advanced U.S. technology. SMIC, already behind foreign competitors in terms of chip technology, found its plans for catch-up innovation further complicated; its production processes were and continue to be significantly reliant on American tools, equipment, and components. The blacklist’s detrimental effect has yet to fade, but SMIC is likely turning to a different, domestically-oriented path to the technological frontier. Semiconductors, also known as chips, are an essential…
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The Key Trends of Fintech

The Key Trends of Fintech

By: Ke Tang The discussion of how technology can revolutionize the financial system is a heated topic. There is an increasing number of financial institutions starting to integrate their offerings and services with technology such as blockchain. As fintech (financial technology) and digitalization of the financial services industry are developing, fintech startups are facing more capital financing demand. SPACs provide a viable way for fintech startups to go public and acquire the funds necessary for expansion. The relatively easier operation and shorter timeline make fintech SPACs heated in 2021. Two key trends of fintech are consolidation and digitalization, which is…
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Zero-Days: The Billion-Dollar Arms Market You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Zero-Days: The Billion-Dollar Arms Market You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

By: Geneva Bass The market for zero-days began with $10 and a pair of crocodile cowboy boots. In 2002, a Texan named John P. Watters bought the cybersecurity company iDefence for an Alexander Hamilton and the determination to restore profitability after months of hemorrhaging millions.  A zero-day is a computer-software vulnerability. It’s a bug, an undiscovered mistake in code. Its name originates from the fact that once a zero-day becomes known, the code developer has exactly zero days to fix it before it can be exploited. Under the direction of Watters in 2003, iDefence built its competitive advantage on alerting…
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Verizon’s 5G Ultra-Wideband Expands Vandy Coverage Following C-Band Deployment

Verizon’s 5G Ultra-Wideband Expands Vandy Coverage Following C-Band Deployment

By: Shane Mumma Vanderbilt students, staff, and faculty who have 5G Verizon phones on supported plans may have noticed something new beginning on the second day of class of the Spring 2022 semester: greater access to Verizon’s 5G Ultra-Wideband network across campus. The coveted “5GUW” symbol that was once a rare sight is now a frequent occurrence on my phone while trekking around Vanderbilt. On January 19, Verizon activated its C-Band spectrum of 5G Ultra-Wideband following a lengthy dispute with airlines claiming delays and safety concerns could arise from its eventual deployment. Airlines believed that C-band signals could disrupt airplanes’…
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Squid Game Token Cryptocurrency Scam: What Went Wrong?

Squid Game Token Cryptocurrency Scam: What Went Wrong?

By: Neelesh Raj As a result of the popularity of the South Korean Netflix series Squid Game, the developers of a cryptocurrency named after the Squid Game token made off with nearly $7 million. According to its website, which has now been deleted, the coin marketed itself as a "play-to-earn cryptocurrency," which encouraged investors to risk their hard-earned money into a currency which they actually could not sell. Many investors put in lots of money, in which one of them would exit as the winner of the contest, starting with 456 squid coins (roughly $6.3k) to play in the first…
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Avoiding Surveillance Capitalism: Corporate Social Responsibility in Tech Companies

Avoiding Surveillance Capitalism: Corporate Social Responsibility in Tech Companies

By: Eric Wang With advancements in internet technology, mass distribution of information has become accessible to people worldwide. Accompanying these improvements, information technology corporations also developed marketing and promotion tools to attract more growth in user rates and page views. However, customers are impacted dramatically due to their disadvantages in protecting themselves from the overwhelming information flow's harm. One study conducted by researchers at Yale University shows that the spread of biased news and information is altering the public's perspectives on large-scale civic issues, including climate change and environmental protection. Hence, the independent organizations formed by expertise in the IT…
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Pulling the Rug on Squid Game

Pulling the Rug on Squid Game

By: Lexi Blakes This past September, Netflix’s hit series Squid Game debuted at No. 1 with over 3 billion minutes viewed in its first week of streaming, easily gaining the title of “most popular show in 2021”. Squid Game is a Korean television series that acts as an allegory to greed, capitalism, and the prison of debt. The show explores the extent to which money has power in our lives and how shamelessly society’s wealthiest exploit others. Viewed in more than 142 million households globally, its viewership made it 7-times more popular than the most-watched episode of “Game of Thrones”,…
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Can Lucid Be the Next Tesla?

Can Lucid Be the Next Tesla?

By: Ke Tang Competitions in the electric vehicle industry are intense. Multiple electric vehicle startups are making promises to transform the automobile industry and beat Tesla, but only a few of themare performing well. Lucid Motors, a startup founded in Newark, California, is one of the playersin the EV industry with an ambitious game plan to come up with “the best car in the world.” Lucid’s mission is to inspire the adoption of sustainable transportation by creating themost captivating luxury electric vehicles centered around the human experience. On July 23,2021, Lucid Motors completed the previously announced merger with CCIV (Churchill…
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Tesla Relocating to Texas

Tesla Relocating to Texas

By: Mi Nguyen Tesla, the multimillion automotive giant, is moving to Austin, Texas. The announcement was made by Elon Musk at a shareholder meeting on October 7th, after months of speculation and clashing between Elon Musk and California government officials. So, what is the motive behind this transfer - the COVID mandates enforced in California, or the benefits provided by Texas government? Elon Musk had made his opinion no secret on the COVID pandemic and COVID mandates that are being enforced throughout the United States. At the beginning of the pandemic in March, Musk had tweeted “The coronavirus is dumb”…
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