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Live and on-demand video constituted an estimated 66% of global internet traffic by volume in 2022, and the top 10 days for internet traffic in 2024 coincided with live streaming events such as the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match and coverage of the NFL. Streaming enables seamless, on-demand access to video content, from online gaming to short videos like TikToks, and longer content such as movies, podcasts and NFL games. The defining aspect of streaming is its on-demand nature. Consider the global reach of a Joe Rogan podcast episode or the live coverage of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft launchboth examples demonstrate how streaming connects millions of viewers to real-time and on-demand content worldwide. Im a computer scientist whose research includes cloud computing, which is the distribution of computing resources such as video servers across the internet. Chunks of video When it comes to video contentwhether its a live stream or a prerecorded videothere are two major challenges to address. First, video data is massive in size, making it time-consuming to transmit from the source to devices such as TVs, computers, tablets and smartphones. Second, streaming must be adaptive to accommodate differences in users devices and internet capabilities. For instance, viewers with lower-resolution screens or slower internet speeds should still be able to watch a given video, albeit in lower quality, while those with higher-resolution displays and faster connections enjoy the best possible quality. To tackle these challenges, video providers implement a series of optimizations. The first step involves fragmenting videos into smaller pieces, commonly referred to as chunks. These chunks then undergo a process called encoding and compression, which optimizes the video for different resolutions and bitrates to suit various devices and network conditions. When a user requests an on-demand video, the system dynamically selects the appropriate stream of chunks based on the capabilities of the users device, such as screen resolution and current internet speed. The video player on the users device assembles and plays these chunks in sequence to create a seamless viewing experience. For users with slower internet connections, the system delivers lower-quality chunks to ensure smooth playback. This is why you might notice a drop in video quality when your connection speed is reduced. Similarly, if the video pauses during playback, its usually because your player is waiting to buffer additional chunks from the provider. Dealing with distance and congestion Delivering video content on a large scale, whether prerecorded or live, poses a significant challenge when extrapolated to the immense number of videos consumed globally. Streaming services like YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix host enormous libraries of on-demand content, while simultaneously managing countless live streams happening worldwide. A seemingly straightforward approach to delivering video content would involve building a massive data center to store all the videos and related content, then streaming them to users worldwide via the internet. However, this method isnt favored because it comes with significant challenges. One major issue is geographic latency, where a users location relative to the data center affects the delay they experience. For instance, if a data center is located in Virginia, a user in Washington, D.C., would experience minimal delay, while a user in Australia would face much longer delays due to the increased distance and the need for the data to traverse multiple interconnected networks. This added travel time slows down content delivery. Another problem is network congestion. As more users worldwide connect to the central data center, the interconnecting networks become increasingly busy, resulting in frustrating delays and video buffering. Additionally, when the same video is sent simultaneously to multiple users, duplicate data traveling over the same internet links wastes bandwidth and further congests the network. A centralized data center also creates a single point of failure. If the data center experiences an outage, no users can access their content, leading to a complete service disruption. Content delivery networks To address these challenges, most content providers rely on content delivery networks. These networks distribute content through globally scattered points of presence, which are clusters of servers that store copies of high-demand content locally. This approach significantly reduces latency and improves reliability. Content delivery network providers, such as Akamai and Edgio, implement two main strategies for deploying points of presence. The first is the Enter Deep approach, where thousands of smaller point-of-presence nodes are placed closer to users, often within internet service provider networks. This ensures minimal latency by bringing the content as close as possible to the end user. The second strategy is Bring Home, which involves deploying hundreds of larger point-of-presence clusters at strategic locations, typically where ISPs interconnect: internet exchange points. While these clusters are farther from users than in the Enter Deep approach, they are larger in capacity, allowing them to handle higher volumes of traffic efficiently. Infrastructure for a connected world Both strategies aim to optimize video streaming by reducing delays, minimizing bandwidth waste and ensuring a seamless viewing experience for users worldwide. The rapid expansion of the internet and the surge in video streamingboth live and on demandhave transformed how video content is delivered to users globally. However, the challenges of handling massive amounts of video data, reducing geographic latency and accommodating varying user devices and internet speeds require sophisticated solutions. Content delivery networks have emerged as a cornerstone of modern streaming, enabling efficient and reliable delivery of video. This infrastructure supports the growing demand for high-quality video and highlights the innovative approaches needed to meet the expectations of a connected world. Chetan Jaiswal is an associate professor of computer science at Quinnipiac University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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E-Commerce
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Saturday that he wants to step down as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year. The revelation came as a surprise because the 94-year-old had previously said he did not plan to retire.Buffett, one of the world’s richest people and most accomplished investors, took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 when it was a textiles manufacturer. He turned the company into a conglomerate by finding other businesses and stocks to buy that were selling for less than they were worth.His success made him a Wall Street icon. It also earned him the nickname “Oracle of Omaha,” a reference to the Nebraska city where Buffett was born and chose to live and work.Here are some of his best and worst investments over the years: Buffett’s Best National Indemnity and National Fire & Marine: Purchased in 1967, the company was one of Buffett’s first insurance investments. Insurance floatthe premium money insurers can invest between the time when policies are bought and when claims are madeprovided the capital for many of Berkshire’s investments over the years and helped fuel the company’s growth. Berkshire’s insurance division has grown to include Geico, General Reinsurance and several other insurers. The float totaled $173 billion at the end of the first quarter.Buying blocks of stock in American Express, Coca-Cola Co. and Bank of America at times when the companies were out of favor because of scandals or market conditions. Collectively, the shares are worth over $100 billion more than what Buffett paid for them, and that doesn’t count all the dividends he has collected over the years.Apple: Buffett long said that he didn’t understand tech companies well enough to value them and pick the long-term winners, but he started buying Apple shares in 2016. He later explained that he bought more than $31 billion worth because he understood the iPhone maker as a consumer products company with extremely loyal customers. The value of his investment grew to more than $174 billion before Buffett started selling Berkshire Hathaway’s shares.BYD: On the advice of his late investing partner Charlie Munger, Buffett bet big on the genius of BYD founder Wang Chanfu in 2008 with a $232 million investment in the Chinese electric vehicle maker. The value of that stake soared to more than $9 billion before Buffett began selling it off. Berkshire’s remaining stake is still worth about $1.8 billion.See’s Candy: Buffett repeatedly pointed to his 1972 purchase as a turning point in his career. Buffett said Munger persuaded him that it made sense to buy great businesses at good prices as long as they had enduring competitive advantages. Previously, Buffett had primarily invested in companies of any quality as long as they were selling for less than he thought they were worth. Berkshire paid $25 million for See’s and recorded pretax earnings of $1.65 billion from the candy company through 2011. The amount continued to grow but Buffett didn’t routinely highlight it.Berkshire Hathaway Energy: Utilities provide a large and steady stream of profits for Berkshire. The conglomerate paid $2.1 billion, or about $35.05 per share, for Des Moines-based MidAmerican Energy in 2000. The utility unit subsequently was renamed and made several acquisitions, including PacifiCorp and NV Energy. The utilities added more than $3.7 billion to Berkshire’s profit in 2024, although Buffett has said they are now worth less than they used to be because of the liability they face related to wildfires. Buffett’s Worst Berkshire Hathaway: Buffett had said his investment in the Berkshire Hathaway textile mills was probably his worst investment ever. The textile company he took over in 1965 bled money for many years before Buffett finally shut it down in 1985, though Berkshire did provide cash for some of Buffett’s early acquisitions. Of course, the Berkshire shares Buffett began buying for $7 and $8 a share in 1962 are now worth $809,350 per share, so even Buffett’s worst investment turned out OK.Dexter Shoe Co.: Buffett said he made an awful blunder by buying Dexter in 1993 for $433 million, a mistake made even worse because he used Berkshire stock for the deal. Buffett says he essentially gave away 1.6% of Berkshire for a worthless business.Missed opportunities. Buffett said that some of his worst mistakes over the years were the investments and deals that he didn’t make. Berkshire easily could have made billions if Buffett had been comfortable investing in Amazon, Google or Microsoft early on. But it wasn’t just tech companies he missed out on. Buffett told shareholders he was caught “sucking his thumb” when he failed to follow through on a plan to buy 100 million Walmart shares that would be worth nearly $10 billion today.Selling banks too soon. Not long before the COVID pandemic, Buffett seemed to sour on most of his bank stocks. Repeated scandals involving Wells Fargo gave him a reason to start unloading his 500 million shares, many of them for around $30 per share. But he also sold off his JP Morgan stake at prices less than $100. Both stocks have more than doubled since then.Blue Chip Stamps: Buffett and Munger, Berkshire’s former vice chairman, took control of Blue Chip in 1970 when the customer rewards program was generating $126 million in sales. But as trading stamps fell out of favor with retailers and consumers, sales steadily declined; in 2006, they totaled a mere $25,920. However, Buffett and Munger used the float that Blue Chip generated to acquire See’s Candy, Wesco Financial and Precision Castparts, which are all steady contributors to Berkshire. Josh Funk, AP Business Writer
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E-Commerce
Today (Monday, May 5, 2025) is Cinco de Mayo. The day celebrates the May 5, 1862, victory of Mexico against France in the Battle of Puebla. However, while Cinco de Mayo celebrates an important event in Mexican history, the day is widely observed in communities across America and is now frequently one used to celebrate Mexican-American culture in the United States. Many brands in Americaespecially restaurant chainslike to participate in Cinco de Mayo by offering deals and freebies to customers. This is especially true of restaurants that serve Mexican or Mexican-American food. Here are some deals to be had today if you are up for celebrating Cinco de Mayo with your tastebuds. Baja Fresh Use the code CINCO at checkout to get $5.55 off your order of $20 or more. California Pizza Kitchen The pizza chain is offering free white corn guacamole and chips to customers who show this web page to their server. California Tortilla The Mexican food chain is offering a coupon for a free taco on their next visit to people who purchase something today. Chipotle Chipotle is offering several Cinco de Mayo deals, including $0 delivery fees when using the promo code DELIVER and free chips and Queso Blanco when using the promo code CINCO25. The company is also giving away the chance to win one of 50,000 burritos when you play its Burrito Builder experience on Roblox. Full details of the offers can be found here. Del Taco Get a free burrito with any $10 purchase. Jack In the Box The fast food chain is giving away free Tiny Tacos of any style if you order in the app and spend at least $5 today. Laredo Taco Company Buy one burrito and get one free. 7-Eleven Order Laredo Taco Company food through the 7NOW Delivery app and get 50% off the total as long as the order is $20 or more.
Category:
E-Commerce
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