Redis database creator Sanfilippo: Why I’m stepping down from the open-source project

MarryComputer

Salvatore Sanfilippo, creator of popular NoSQL database Redis, has stepped down as the maintainer of the open-source project, which is now adopting a new ‘light-governance model’, as opposed to its current autocratic model.

Although Sanfilippo is stepping down as the benevolent dictator for life (BDFL) of the Redis open-source project, he will stay on with Redis Labs on its advisory board, helping guide the project from a distance. 

Sanfilippo, aka ‘antirez’, kicked off the project in early 2009. Since then, the Redis database has become popular for caching and the go-to real-time database for supporting large-scale back-end transaction and content-serving systems.  

Today, the Redis database is open source, while enterprise features and Redis Modules are licensed separately. It’s the most popular key-value store, according to DB-Engines, ahead of Amazon DynamoDB and Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, and Memcached. Last year, Redis Enterprise launched as a managed service on Google Cloud

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FCA estimates about 2.6 million Brits have bought cryptocurrency

MarryTechnology review

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) estimates that 2.6 million people in the UK have bought cryptocurrency, with a significant increase in the past 12 months.

Following online research, conducted by YouGov, the FCA estimates that 1.9 million still hold cryptocurrency, with half of them holding more than £260 worth.

It found that while most owners of cryptocurrency in the UK are knowledgeable, many do not realise they are not protected by regulation.

The FCA research was conducted to gain an understanding of the size of the market in the UK and customer attitudes to cryptocurrencies. The online survey revealed that most people who own cryptocurrencies in the UK are knowledgeable about them, and understand there is a lack of regulation and a risk that prices are volatile. Most owners surveyed (83%) bought their cryptocurrency through non-UK exchanges.

There are hundreds of cryptocurrencies around the world, such as bitcoin, ripple

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UN reports global e-waste production soared beyond 53 million tonnes in 2019

MarryNews

The amount of electronic waste (e-waste) that was produced globally in 2019 reached a record of 53.6 million tonnes (Mt), up 9.2 Mt in five years, according to the United Nation’s (UN) global e-waste monitor 2020 [PDF].

The UN defines e-waste as any discarded products with a battery or plug, and features toxic and hazardous substances such as mercury, that can pose severe risk to human and environmental health.

According to the report, 17.4 Mt of total e-waste in 2019 comprised of small equipment, while 13 Mt was large equipment, and temperature exchange equipment accounted for nearly 11 Mt. Screens and monitors, small IT and telecommunication equipment, and lamps represented 6.7 Mt, 4.7 Mt, and 0.9 Mt, respectively.

According to the report, Asia was the biggest culprit, generating the greatest volume of e-waste during 2019 of nearly 25 Mt, followed by Americas at 13 Mt, and Europe at 12 Mt.

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Remote workforce demands ‘hybrid working’, not the end of the office in the ‘better normal’

MarryMobile Tech

As companies engage with the problem of how best to redeploy staff who have been used to working at home for months, more than three-quarters (77%) of UK employees say a mix of office-based and remote working is the best way forward post-Covid-19, according to new research by the Adecco Group UK and Ireland.

The HR solutions company’s global study Resetting normal: defining the new era of work takes as its basepoint the fact that a new era of work is here and says that businesses, emerging from the pandemic, have a unique opportunity to shape how, when and where people will work in the years to come.

In short, Adecco argues for a “better normal”. The study questions whether businesses are ready to take on this challenge. In particular, it examines what leadership skills executives will need to facilitate this change and what new skills will be critical to

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Microsoft OneDrive updates include 100GB file size boost, dark mode, new admin controls

MarryComputer

Microsoft has on Wednesday announced a slew of updates to OneDrive, including dark mode, an increase in file upload limit, and a bunch of new business and consumer features.

In a blog post penned by Microsoft 365 GM Seth Patton, the new OneDrive features across Microsoft 365 have been touted as bringing a more connected and flexible files experience to business users, more control to admins, and a more personal touch to everyone at home as “remote everything” has become the new normal in 2020.

Firstly, all users will get a file size boost, with the upload file size limit increasing overnight from 15GB to 100GB in OneDrive and SharePoint.

Dark Mode on OneDrive for the web across commercial and personal accounts is also hitting desktop users very soon.

For business users, a public preview will be rolled out later this month that includes a new feature, called Add to

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Société Générale acquires fintech challenger bank

MarryTechnology review

French bank Société Générale (SocGen) has acquired challenger bank Shine to target small business customers with digital accounts and other online services.

The deal will add to the bank’s fintech ecosystem and will support SocGen’s small business and entrepreneur customers.

According to reports, SocGen paid €100m for the French fintech, which has built up a customer base of 70,000 entrepreneurs in the two years since its launch.

As well as an online business account, Shine offers digital tools to support businesses with administrative tasks such as invoicing and accounting, to allow them to focus on their business and development.

Shine will continue to develop independently, according to SocGen.

Marie-Christine Ducholet, director of retail banking at SocGen, said: “Through the acquisition of Shine, we will be able to offer entrepreneurs the widest offer in this growing, high-value market. Shine’s model appealed to us because it reinforces our relational promise to offer

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