10 posts
aws Twenty years of Amazon S3 and building what’s next Twenty years ago today, on March 14, 2006, Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) quietly launched with a modest one-paragraph announcement on the What’s New page: Amazon S3 is storage for the Internet. It is designed to make…
google Protecting cities with AI-driven flash flood forecasting March 12, 2026 Oleg Zlydenko, Software Engineer, and Deborah Cohen, Research Scientist, Google Research We’re expanding our global flood forecasting coverage with the roll-out of flash flood predictions in urban areas. Usi…
discord Discord has introduced "Discord Checkpoint," the platform’s first comprehensive year-end recap designed to provide users with a personalized summary of their 2025 activity. By analyzing data such as message counts and voice call duration, the feature offers a nostalgic overview of a user's digital footprint and social interactions over the past year. This initiative marks a shift toward data-driven user engagement, rewarding active community members with exclusive digital collectibles based on their usage patterns. **Accessing the Activity Recap** * The feature is rolling out globally over several days and requires users to be on the latest version of the Discord application. * Desktop users can find their recap by clicking the flag icon located in the top-right corner of the interface. * Mobile users can access the experience via a Checkpoint banner located within the "You" tab at the bottom-right of the screen. * Visibility is contingent upon having "Use data to personalize my Discord experience" enabled in privacy settings and meeting a minimum activity threshold. **Key Metrics and Personal Statistics** * The recap calculates the total volume of messages sent and the cumulative time spent in voice channels throughout the year. * Users receive a breakdown of their most-frequented servers and their most-used emojis. * The system identifies a "top contact," highlighting the individual user with whom the account owner interacted the most. **Personalized Rewards and Social Integration** * Upon completion of the recap, users are assigned one of ten distinct "Checkpoint cards" that categorize their year. * Each card unlocks a corresponding Avatar Decoration that remains available to use until January 15, 2026. * The feature includes a direct sharing toggle that allows users to post a summary card into text channels, though the data remains private by default if the user chooses not to share. To ensure you can view your 2025 Checkpoint before it expires, confirm that your privacy settings allow for data personalization and that your client is fully updated. If the Checkpoint does not appear, you may need to increase your platform activity for future recaps or check the Help Center for specific troubleshooting regarding data permissions.
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aws Amazon CloudWatch has evolved into a unified platform for managing operational, security, and compliance log data, significantly reducing the need for redundant data stores and complex ETL pipelines. By standardizing ingestion through industry-standard formats like OCSF and OpenTelemetry, the service enables seamless cross-source analytics while lowering operational overhead and storage costs. This update allows organizations to move away from fragmented data silos toward a centralized, Iceberg-compatible architecture for deeper technical and business insights. **Data Ingestion and Schema Normalization** * Automatically collects AWS-vended logs across accounts and regions via AWS Organizations, including CloudTrail, VPC Flow Logs, WAF access logs, and Route 53 resolver logs. * Includes pre-built connectors for a wide range of third-party sources, such as endpoint security (CrowdStrike, SentinelOne), identity providers (Okta, Entra ID), and network security (Zscaler, Palo Alto Networks). * Utilizes managed Open Cybersecurity Schema Framework (OCSF) and OpenTelemetry (OTel) conversion to ensure data consistency across disparate sources. * Provides built-in processors, such as Grok for custom parsing and field-level operations, to transform and manipulate strings during the ingestion phase. **Unified Architecture and Cost Optimization** * Consolidates log management into a single service with built-in governance, eliminating the need to store and maintain duplicate copies of data across different tools. * Introduces Apache Iceberg-compatible access via Amazon S3 Tables, allowing data to be queried in place by external tools. * Removes the requirement for complex ETL pipelines by providing a unified data store that is accessible to Amazon Athena, Amazon SageMaker Unified Studio, and other Iceberg-compatible analytics engines. **Advanced Analytics and Discovery Tools** * Supports multiple query interfaces, allowing users to interact with logs using natural language, SQL, LogsQL, or PPL (Piped Processing Language). * The new "Facets" interface enables intuitive filtering by application, account, region, and log type, featuring intelligent parameter inference for cross-account queries. * Enables the correlation of operational logs with business data from third-party tools like ServiceNow CMDB or GitHub to provide a more comprehensive view of organizational health. Organizations should leverage these unified management features to consolidate their security and operational monitoring into a single source of truth. By adopting OCSF normalization and the new S3 Tables integration, teams can reduce the technical debt associated with managing multiple log silos while improving their ability to run cross-functional analytics.
toss Toss has developed MTVi (Mid-term Value - incremental) to quantify the financial impact of specific services within its platform, moving beyond the limitations of traditional LifeTime Value (LTV). By focusing on the incremental value generated over a one-year period, the metric allows the company to justify services that may lose money individually but drive significant ecosystem-wide growth. This framework provides a data-driven standard for prioritizing features and setting marketing budgets based on actual financial contributions. ### Limitations of Traditional LTV * **Time Horizon Mismatch:** Traditional LTV projects value over 3 to 5 years, which is too slow for Toss’s rapid iteration cycles and fails to reflect the immediate impact of service improvements. * **Investment Recovery Gaps:** Standard LTV models often benchmark marketing costs (CAC) against long-term projections, making it difficult to evaluate the efficiency of short-term experiments. * **Lack of Incrementality:** LTV measures average user value but cannot isolate the specific "extra" value created by a single service, making it impossible to distinguish between a service's impact and natural user growth. ### Defining MTVi and DID Methodology * **Incremental Focus:** MTVi is defined as the net financial value generated over one year specifically because a user experienced a new service, rather than just the average revenue of a user. * **Quasi-Experimental Design:** Since A/B testing every service combination is impossible, Toss uses the Difference-in-Difference (DID) method to compare "Newly Activated Users" (NAU) against "Never" users. * **Segment-Based Analysis:** To prevent bias—such as highly active users naturally gravitating toward more services—Toss segments users by age and historical activity (e.g., app open frequency) to ensure "apples-to-apples" comparisons within identical cohorts. ### Organizational Impact and Strategy * **Unified Decision Metric:** MTVi provides a "common language" for different product teams (silos), allowing them to compare the value of disparate services—like pedometers versus remittances—on a single financial scale. * **Efficiency Benchmarking:** The metric establishes a hard ceiling for investment; for example, Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is strictly managed so it does not exceed the calculated MTVi. * **Platform-Wide Valuation:** By calculating both direct revenue and indirect spillover effects, Toss can prove the financial viability of "loss-leader" services that provide user benefits but increase overall app engagement and cross-service usage. For organizations operating complex multi-service platforms, adopting an incremental value metric like MTVi is essential for moving beyond isolated P&L statements. Data teams should prioritize quasi-experimental methods like DID and rigorous user segmentation to accurately map how individual features influence the broader financial health of the ecosystem.
discord Discord is scaling its Quests advertising platform by introducing a new virtual currency and expanding its measurement capabilities through a strategic analytics partnership. These updates aim to deepen user engagement while providing brand partners with more granular data on the return on investment for their campaigns. **Introduction of Discord Orbs** * Discord Orbs serve as a new virtual reward that users can earn by participating in sponsored Quests. * The currency is redeemable in the Discord Shop for a variety of digital goods, including Nitro credits and profile cosmetics. * Some Shop items will be designated as Orbs exclusives to drive participation within the Quests ecosystem. * The feature is currently rolling out to a select group of users to test integration before a broader release. **Enhanced Advertising Analytics with Kantar** * Discord has established a new partnership with Kantar to bolster the measurement framework of its advertising products. * This collaboration provides advertisers with advanced analytics tools to better track campaign performance and ROI. * The partnership is designed to validate the effectiveness of Quests as an advertising medium by offering third-party performance insights. These updates represent a strategic shift for Discord, transforming Quests from a simple engagement tool into a robust advertising product that rewards user participation with tangible platform value. Brands looking to reach gaming audiences should monitor the rollout of Orbs as a potential benchmark for gamified digital advertising.
discord Discord’s "Quests" initiative aims to revolutionize game advertising by creating a reward-based ecosystem that benefits both players and developers. Early performance data suggests the format is successfully driving deep engagement and player growth for major titles, signaling a shift toward more player-centric marketing strategies within the platform. ### Performance and Engagement Metrics * Participating campaigns have delivered a 16% lift in average playtime across integrated titles. * Developers have seen a 9% increase in average player counts during Quest periods. * Millions of players have already participated in the program, completing dozens of campaigns for high-profile games. ### Industry Adoption and Developer Benefits * The platform has successfully executed campaigns for major industry titles, including Fortnite, Genshin Impact, and World of Warcraft. * The format allows developers to engage audiences authentically by rewarding them for active gameplay rather than passive consumption. * By focusing on value-driven discovery, the system helps developers reach both existing player bases and potential new users. ### Future Expansion and Evolution * Based on early success, Discord intends to evolve Quests into a more robust pillar of its player-centric advertising model. * The platform is currently developing a new type of Quest format, which is scheduled to launch later this year to provide further variety in how players interact with games. Game developers looking to boost retention and acquisition should view Discord Quests as a high-conversion tool with proven efficacy in increasing session depth. As the platform prepares to introduce new formats later this year, early adoption provides a strategic opportunity to leverage Discord's massive user base for sustained player growth.
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