Tech
Real World Cases of Blockchain Entering Other Industries

Blockchain is a revolutionary technology that has begun to permeate into a range of other industries. From finance and medical healthcare to art and marketing, blockchain is disrupting and transforming whole fields as it continues to develop.
In this article, we’ll be taking a look at real world cases of blockchain being used within marketing, PR, and advertising. We’ll be discussing:
- Spotify
- MatchPool
- De Beers
- and the Blockchain PR and Marketing industry as a whole
Let’s jump right into it!
Spotify
Back in 2017, Spotify announced that they were going to begin to incorporate blockchain into their daily system of operations. Their plan was to use the decentralized database that blockchain runs on to give a more transparent picture to artists about who owns and earns on certain tracks.
They were about to do this as one of the main benefits of blockchain is how accessible it makes data. Instead of hiding data, every single blockchain transaction is completely transparent. By incorporating blockchain in this way, they have made it so you can see who is involved with a song on the platform. This extends from the singers and the songwriters all the way to the label that released the song.
This transparent form of data sharing allowed for artists, songwriters, and producers to always be fairly attributed with their own work. This eradicated the industry problem of people not getting total credit for their work and resulted in a much fairer system.
MatchPool
Matchpool is an application that uses blockchain currency trading to incentivize their users to participate in certain communities. For example, by using the Matchpool dating app, you’ll be able to receive Guppy Tokens. These can then be redeemed in the application, or purchased and traded or exchanged.
This payment for usage feature works as blockchain can more accurately record transactions. The unalterable style of blockchain ensures that everyone who spends X amount of time on the app is awarded the correlating amount of digital currency.
Alongside this, the incentivization this company uses makes sure that people flock to their products, loading up their networks and ensuring they run smoothly.
De Beers
Having absolutely nothing to do with beer, this application is the very first platform that uses blockchain to track the history of a diamond. Within this application (named Tracr), you’ll be able to see an incredible wealth of data on a diamond – from where it was mined, to who cut and polished it, all the way to who currently owns it or at which jeweler it is located.
The transparency of blockchain ensures that this app gives accurate information on their diamonds. As records within blockchain systems are tamper-proof, each of the records is certified as authentic. This form of data sharing then allows people interested in buying diamonds the certainty that they are buying a real diamond and from a reputable source.
Once again, blockchain’s transparency has led to strides in this app’s development.
The Rise of the Blockchain Marketing and PR Industry
The rise of blockchain has led to a new form of PR and marketing to spring up – one that is wholly devoted to the social development of this particular industry.
Considering the history of blockchain scams, many social platforms did not allow blockchain to advertise on their platforms. Due to this, blockchain PR and blockchain marketing firms had to take to other social platforms.
This led to the redevelopment of the industry, these new platforms needing distinct techniques and PR strategies. One blockchain marketing and PR firm, GuerillaBuzz, composed the following graphic to show the top blockchain PR social sites:
As you can see, whereas normal PR would expect to see sites like Facebook and Twitter, they are nowhere to be found in this industry.
The development of blockchain has led to the upsurge of new industry developments.
Final Thoughts
Even though it is still only in its early days, blockchain is one of the most impactful changes that is beginning to permeate into a range of industries. No matter which industry you work in, its likely that blockchain will begin to take effect – if it hasn’t already!

Tech
Apple reportedly considering touchscreen Mac laptop for 2025

Apple could release a MacBook Pro laptop with a touchscreen as soon as 2025, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Teams inside Apple are working on the project, and the first design would include a trackpad and keyboard as well as a touchscreen, according to the report.
The move, if it were to happen, would mark a significant reversal for Apple, which has said for years that touchscreen laptops are ergonomically inferior, even as competing Windows laptops now have touchscreens as a standard feature.
“We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do,” Apple’s head of software Craig Federighi said in 2018, adding that he’s “not into touchscreens” on PCs.
More recently, he was asked at a conference whether Apple would release a touchscreen laptop, and he said, “who’s to say?”
Apple’s Mac business doesn’t need a shot in the arm, though. Mac sales surged when Apple replaced Intel processors in most of its computers with its own silicon. The change improved battery life and reduced overheating. Apple’s Mac business generated $40.1 billion in revenue during the company’s fiscal 2022, up 14% from 2021.
A touchscreen Mac would require significant software changes to accept finger taps, which require larger buttons, instead of mouse clicks. Apple’s iPhone and iPads use an operating system designed for touchscreens, while macOS can currently only be controlled with a mouse and keyboard.

Tech
Amazon’s Twitch CEO steps down nearly 10 years after acquisition

Emmett Shear, the CEO of Amazon’s livestreaming service Twitch, is stepping down from his role effective immediately, the company announced Thursday.
Amazon acquired Twitch for almost $1 billion in 2014. The site is most known as a popular livestreaming platform for video gamers. After buying Twitch, Amazon was largely hands off with the business, though it has offered Prime subscribers perks on the livestreaming platform, such as free games and in-game loot.
Shear will be replaced by Twitch President Dan Clancy, who has been a “close partner” to Shear, he wrote in a blog post. Shear said he’s stepping away to spend more time with his newborn son. Shear will continue to work at Twitch in an advisory role.
“With the arrival of my son, the time has come for me to focus my energies on building that tiny little startup family, and I’m ready to dedicate my energies there,” Shear wrote. “Twitch will always remain part of my extended family, a community where I grew in so many ways alongside Twitch itself.”
Shear’s resignation adds to a recent exodus of leadership under CEO Andy Jassy. Earlier this month, Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff announced he was stepping down from his role at the home security subsidiary. Last year, executives overseeing Amazon’s Alexa and hardware research and development group, known as Lab126, exited the company. Last July, public policy chief Jay Carney announced he was leaving to join Airbnb, and 23-year Amazon veteran Dave Clark resigned as retail chief the same month.

Tech
How to Fix HP Black Ink Not Printing

If your HP printer is not printing in black color, there may be some issues with the black cartridge. However, HP printers have a special ink-backup mode that allows printing using only tricolor cartridges (C, M, Y) when the black cartridge encounters a problem.
In such cases, the black color can either disappear on the printout or appear as a grayish color instead of true black. Mostly, a low level of black ink is responsible for the issue. Sometimes, a mispositioned or clogged printhead can also prevent the printer from printing in black color.
Check the Level of Black Ink
If your HP printer is refusing to print in black color, you should first check the level of black ink on the cartridges. There are multiple ways you can check the ink levels on your HP printer.
If you have an HP Ink Tank series printer, you can inspect the ink levels from outside the printer only. Otherwise, you can use the HP assistant tool to check it.
- Open Control Panel.
https://9db0732cdace87f6755b80f95f544792.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
- Click Hardware and Sound.
- Click Devices and Printers on the next window.
- Double-click the HP printer profile.
https://9db0732cdace87f6755b80f95f544792.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
- Again double-click HP Printer Assistant.
- Go to Estimated Levels.
- Now click Estimated Cartridge Levels to see the level of black ink on your printer. Consider refilling the ink tank or changing the ink cartridges if the ink levels have gone too low.
You can also refer to this guide to learn about multiple ways to check ink levels in HP printers
Change Paper Settings
An incorrectly configured paper setting is another reason the printer refuses to print in black color. Not only black, but it can also sometimes cause problems printing in color. It is because the ink spraying mechanism of the printer varies depending on the paper type.
So, you should always set the paper size and paper type that exactly matches the papers in the input tray of the printer. Also, make sure you are using papers compatible with your printer.
- Hit Windows and R keys simultaneously on your keyboard.
- Type
control printers
in the text area. - Click the OK button.
- On the new Control Panel window, look after the HP printer name and right-click it.
- Select Printing preferences.
- Click the Paper/Quality tab.
- Choose the correct Paper Size and Paper Type from the respective drop-downs.
- Click OK.
Align the Printheads
The printheads of your printer should be correctly aligned so that it can properly spray the ink onto the paper and generate quality printouts. Even a slight change in the position of the printhead can prevent the colors from getting to the paper. Aligning the printheads also helps if you have started facing issues after installing the cartridge.
- Open HP Printer Assistant from Control Panel.
- Go to the Maintain Your Printer menu.
- Now click the Device Services tab and select Align Cartridges.
- Click Print alignment page > Next.
- You will get a printout of an alignment page like this.
- Insert the printout over the scanner assembly.
- Now click the Scan button.
- You will get an alignment successful popup after the printer completes the alignment process.
You can consult this comprehensive guide to learn more about aligning the printheads of HP printers.
Run the Printhead Cleaning Cycle
Running a printhead cleaning cycle will be helpful if the printhead of the black cartridge is blocked due to ink residues or any foreign bodies. We recommend you run about three cycles of printhead cleaning for better results.
- Open the Run application on your PC.https://9db0732cdace87f6755b80f95f544792.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
- Type
control printers
and click OK. - Double-click HP printer > HP Printer Assistant.
- Select Maintain Your Printer.
https://9db0732cdace87f6755b80f95f544792.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
- Click the Device Services tab.
- Click Clean Cartridges.
- Your printer will eject a diagnostic report after completing the cleaning process.
You may also read our other article on how to clean the HP printheads and learn more about the manual process of cleaning them.
Running a manual clean cycle will help if you cannot sort out the issue after performing the automatic cleaning cycle.

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