3 Surprising Facts - Latest tech news

Firefox Logo Fact

Many people believe the animal in the Mozilla Firefox logo is a fox. However, the creature depicted is actually a red panda, which is sometimes referred to as a "firefox". This is a common misconception about the popular web browser's branding.

Digital Money Share

While we often think of money as physical cash and coins, the reality is that a vast majority of the world's currency exists in digital form.

Estimates suggest that around 91.7% of the world's money is digital. Only a small percentage, possibly around 5% or 8%, is in physical cash. This digital dominance makes sense when considering that most large transactions occur electronically. Banks primarily store money digitally, and this digital share includes transactions made via credit/debit cards and wire transfers.

The adoption of digital money is driven by factors like lower handling costs compared to cash, increased connectivity through mobile and fixed line networks, and technological advancements.

The landscape of digital money is also evolving with the rise of cryptocurrencies and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). As of 2024, the global user base for digital currencies reached 562 million people, a 34% increase from 2023. This represents about 6.8% of the global population. Many countries are exploring or piloting CBDCs, with some having already launched them.

Bug Bounty Pay

Bug bounty programs reward security researchers for finding and reporting vulnerabilities in software and systems. Many tech companies utilize these programs to enhance their security by leveraging the expertise of ethical hackers.

Payouts for finding bugs can vary significantly depending on the severity of the vulnerability and the company offering the bounty. Some programs offer hundreds or thousands of dollars for bugs, while critical findings can yield much larger rewards, potentially exceeding a million dollars in some cases.

Major tech companies often have substantial bug bounty programs. For example, Google paid out nearly $12 million in bug bounties in 2024 and over $10 million in 2023, with a single payout reaching $605,000 in 2022 for an Android vulnerability. Microsoft also reported paying out approximately $16.6 million over the past year through its various bug bounty programs, with the largest single reward being $200,000. Meta's program awarded over $2.3 million in 2024.

While the potential for high payouts exists, the average earnings for bug bounty hunters can vary widely. Some researchers may earn a significant income, while others may find it challenging to make a living solely through bug bounties, especially when starting out.

AI Chip Limits

Recent developments in the tech world have highlighted the impact of export restrictions on AI chips, particularly affecting companies like Nvidia and their business in China. The US government has implemented controls on the export of advanced AI chips to China, citing national security concerns and the potential for these chips to be used to strengthen military capabilities.

Nvidia, a major player in the AI chip market, has been significantly impacted by these restrictions. The company had developed specific chips, like the H20, to comply with earlier US export controls. However, the US has recently imposed further restrictions, requiring a license to export the H20 chip to China. This has led to Nvidia planning to release a downgraded version of the H20 chip for the Chinese market with reduced memory capacity in an effort to navigate these regulations.

These export controls have created challenges for US companies, potentially limiting their access to the large Chinese market and creating opportunities for competitors, including Chinese domestic chip manufacturers like Huawei. Some reports suggest that the restrictions could even accelerate China's efforts to build a self-sufficient chip industry.

First Website Fact

The very first website ever created is still accessible today. It was launched on August 6, 1991, by British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee while he was working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland. The website was hosted on a NeXT computer and was dedicated to the World Wide Web project itself.

Its purpose was to explain what the World Wide Web was, how to use a browser, set up a web server, and how to create your own website. Initially, this site contained only text and hypertext links; there were no images, colors, or graphics. The creation of this first website and the technologies behind it, like HTML, HTTP, and URLs, were developed to facilitate automated information-sharing among scientists.

Berners-Lee envisioned the web as an open and free space for information exchange and deliberately chose not to patent his invention, allowing it to evolve rapidly. In 2013, CERN initiated a project to restore this historical website, which can be found at the address http://info.cern.ch.

Email's Age

Email, a cornerstone of modern communication, has a history that stretches back further than you might think. Its origins can be traced to the early days of computing in the 1960s. Initially, electronic messaging was limited to users on the same computer system.

The first networked email, as we know it today, was sent in 1971 by Ray Tomlinson while working on ARPANET, the precursor to the internet. Tomlinson is credited with implementing the now-familiar "@" symbol in email addresses to separate the user's name from their location. The content of this historic first email was likely something simple, a test message such as "something like QWERTYUIOP".

While Tomlinson is widely recognized for this initial breakthrough, the history of email also includes the work of others. V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai claims to have invented email in 1978 as a 14-year-old, developing a system he called "EMAIL" which replicated the features of an interoffice mail system. He registered the copyright for his program in 1982. However, historians generally dispute this as electronic mail was in use prior to 1978.

Email systems continued to evolve throughout the 1970s and 1980s, with various proprietary systems emerging. The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) was implemented on ARPANET in 1983, contributing to the standardization of email transmission.

Email began to gain wider popularity in the 1990s with the commercialization of the internet and the rise of web-based email services like Hotmail and Yahoo Mail, which made email more accessible to the general public.

QR Code Start

QR codes, or Quick Response codes, have become a familiar sight, bridging the gap between the physical and digital worlds. They are a type of two-dimensional matrix barcode.

The Birth of the QR Code

The QR code system was invented in 1994 by Masahiro Hara of the Japanese company Denso Wave. The initial purpose was to label automobile parts for faster and more efficient tracking during manufacturing.

Before QR codes, manufacturers relied on standard one-dimensional barcodes. However, these barcodes had limited storage capacity, holding only about 20 alphanumeric characters, and needed to be scanned multiple times and from a specific direction.

Masahiro Hara's inspiration for a two-dimensional code came while playing the game Go, realizing a grid system could hold significantly more information and be read from various angles.

From Factories to Everyday Use

Denso Wave made the QR code technology freely available, which was a strategic move, although they sold the scanner technology. The widespread adoption of smartphones with built-in cameras and scanning apps, starting around 2002, played a crucial role in the popularization of QR codes beyond industrial use.

The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated the mainstream use of QR codes as businesses adopted them for contactless interactions, such as displaying digital menus in restaurants.

Today, QR codes are used for a variety of applications, including product tracking, marketing, payments, and providing additional information about items.

Data Explosion

The world is generating data at an unprecedented rate, a phenomenon often referred to as the "data explosion." This surge in digital information is driven by the increasing use of technology in nearly every aspect of our lives, from smartphones and social media to the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing.

Estimates suggest that approximately 402.74 million terabytes of data are created every day. This figure includes data that is newly generated, captured, copied, or consumed. To put this into perspective, this daily amount is equivalent to roughly 0.4 zettabytes.

The volume of data created annually has grown significantly. In 2023, around 120 zettabytes of data were generated, and this is projected to increase by over 150% to 181 zettabytes in 2025. Some forecasts predict the global datasphere could reach 175 zettabytes by 2025 and potentially soar to 491 zettabytes by 2027.

A substantial portion of this data comes from online activities. Videos, social media, and gaming together account for more than 75% of all internet data traffic. For instance, Facebook alone generates about 4,000 TB of data daily. Google processes billions of searches daily, resulting in petabytes of data.

The rapid increase in data presents both opportunities and challenges. While more data can lead to greater insights and innovation, managing, storing, and analyzing this massive volume requires advanced solutions and strategies. Experts note that a significant amount of the data collected by businesses is not analyzed or used effectively.

First Computer Bug

The term "bug" has been used to describe mechanical issues for over a century, predating computers. Thomas Edison, for instance, referred to "bugs" in electrical circuits in the 1870s. However, the first actual case of a bug being found in a computer occurred in 1947.

On September 9, 1947, engineers working on the Mark II computer at Harvard University discovered a moth stuck in one of the components. This moth was causing the computer to malfunction. They removed the insect and taped it into their logbook, with the note "first actual case of bug being found".

While the term "bug" for a technical issue existed before this event, the discovery of an actual insect causing a computer problem popularized the use of "bug" and "debug" in the context of computing. Computer scientist Grace Hopper was among the team at Harvard at the time, and while the logbook entry may not have been hers, she is often associated with this famous story and helped to popularize the terms.

Tech Power Needs

Modern technology relies heavily on power. As devices become more powerful and data processing demands grow, so does the need for energy.

Consider the infrastructure required to support the digital world. Data centers, which house the servers that power the internet, streaming services, and cloud computing, consume vast amounts of electricity. This power is needed not only to run the servers themselves but also for cooling systems to prevent overheating.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is another area driving significant power demand. Training complex AI models requires immense computational power, which translates directly into high energy consumption. Advanced AI chips, like those used in high-performance computing, are designed for intensive tasks but come with substantial power requirements.

The increasing power demands of technology pose challenges related to energy sources, infrastructure, and environmental impact. Ensuring a sustainable future for technology involves addressing these growing power needs efficiently.