The fact that energy efficiency and climate protection also play an outstanding role in IT is not only demonstrated by the server farms of large digital companies, which are all located close to the Arctic Circle for cooling reasons. b.r.m. took a different approach here and now uses the waste heat from the servers to air-condition the offices.
We will be able to show our visitors these and many other measures in the field of practical sustainability when the Bremen Greens' state working group on economic and financial policy visits us on March 13, 2018 at 6:30 pm. We look forward to lively discussions about a contemporary IT service.

Bremen, March 7, 18

The 'heart' of every computer is the CPU. This Central Processing Unit (CPU) is a miniaturized computing chip that processes defined computing processes ('algorithms') according to its 'architecture' of semiconductors (or 'transistors'). CPUs are no longer only found in computers, but nowadays also in washing machines, cars and ticket machines, for example.

A CPU consists of several components. The arithmetic-logic unit (ALU) forms the center. It is supplemented by the control unit, which primarily manages addresses. Registers and a memory manager (Memory Management Unit or MMU) complete the core of the chip.

Small 'helpers' - or co-processors - support the central processing unit in its tasks, for example by performing floating point operations. Today's CPUs are designed as multi-core units, which increases parallel processing and the speed at which tasks are solved. The data lines ('buses') ensure communication with the other components of the computing system, especially with the main memory. 'Caches' (intermediate memory) enable rapid further processing of partial results.

The choice of processors used in a company should be based on the tasks to be performed. The most expensive solution is by no means always the best or most efficient. Just ask us ...

The introduction of e-files, digital business models, new software functions, documentation, project planning 'on the run', constant availability - the rapid pace of digitalization is not only overwhelming employees, but has also long since overwhelmed many employers. The pressure to implement is increasing, while at the same time there is a growing fear that one's own skills and job security could be automated tomorrow. This fear is no longer limited to 'simple tasks', but also extends to the 'carpeted floors' - for example, in accounting as well as with lawyers and notaries.

As a result, the number of mental illnesses is rising and rising: psychological stress, burn-out, depression. No technical revolution in the history of mankind has taken place at such a speed as digitalization. One of the reasons why this change should be accompanied by psychosocial support ...

Without a clear address, no message reaches the recipient on the Internet; in this respect, 'virtual life' and 'real life' are similar. This address, called a 'domain', is a coherent sub-area within the Internet hierarchy that allows exact addressing. Network customers can freely choose the names of the domains - if not already assigned. They register the name with the responsible registry, the NIC (Network Information Center) of the respective top-level domain to which the endings on the far right of the Internet address refer (e.g. .de, .com or .org). In Germany, 'DENIC eG' registers all Internet addresses ending in .de.

The domain system resembles a widely ramified root system. At the top of the hierarchy is the root level, followed by the top-level domains and then the subordinate second- and third-level domains. In the address www.brm.de, for example, the 'www' is the root level that refers to the 'World Wide Web', the '.de' determines the German top-level domain, a 'brm' refers to our own domain in the second level, and possible further additions in the third and fourth levels allow precisely defined pages on our homepage to be accessed. The selection and registration of domains is a standard task, also for our for our IT service.

Page views - or page impressions - measure the number of page views of online content, i.e. clicks. It is primarily a commercial key figure that is determined monthly by the 'Gesellschaft für die Verbreitung von Werbeträgern e.V.' (IVW). Those who take part in the process are also subject to the IVW's regulations. To date, this includes around 1,000 fixed websites, 300 mobile offerings and 300 apps. The IVW figures are of particular interest to media providers, media agencies and other advertisers who are looking to use their customers' budgets as effectively as possible and are looking for suitable online advertising platforms to do so. Not every action counts as a 'call'. Automatic reloads, multiple visits by web robots or clicks when closing a page, for example, are not included in the figures.

Anyone who deals with quantum computers will soon find their head spinning. You will suddenly find yourself deep in the field of theoretical and atomic physics. Here is just this much: where 'traditional computers' are based on two voltage states that are either exceeded or fallen short of (the bits), a quantum computer uses the many different states that an electron can assume at molecular level (the qubits). Instead of the usual 'physical space', a quantum computer uses the 'complex space' of quantum mechanics. The computing power increases and completely new algorithms become possible. It is also clear that such computers will no longer run under Windows 10 or MacOS.

Quantum computers have not yet progressed beyond the experimental stage - up to a maximum of 1,000 qubits - even if there are occasional announcements of success, presumably to attract funding. Furthermore, quantum computers are unlikely to be suitable for commercial or private use because they generally require 'superconductivity', i.e. the loss-free transmission that only occurs near absolute zero. To put it bluntly: if you want to use a quantum computer, you first have to build your own power station. Nevertheless, quantum computers are of course extremely interesting for government and intelligence tasks: no conceivable encryption could withstand the attack of quantum-based computing power. This is what makes research in this field so interesting. We, on the other hand, assume that we will not need any knowledge of quantum mechanics for our IT service in the foreseeable future.

Almost everyone has had them in their folders: emails with dubious attachments. The 'sandbox' was created for such potential malware. Like generals who first play through the suspected course of a battle in a sandbox, the impact of the code is analyzed in a quarantine area. Some programs already have a (weak) sandbox function as a plug-in, e.g. the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). Other methods take a much more restrictive approach: the entire browser is executed in an isolation area, sealed off from all write access to the hard disk. Any attempted access is redirected to a separate subdirectory that can be easily deleted. Possible 'malware' does not reach its target. Others build a 'virtual machine' (VM). The computer is simulated on a software level, isolated from the real computer in every respect. Only a 'virtual prison' is then 'infected'. Attempts at system changes, the creation of new network connections or the unmotivated opening of files are always considered suspicious.

In the digital sector, many paths lead to ROM. There are career changers, online students and do-it-yourself experts. As one of the first regional IT companies, b.r.m. has now been recognized by the Oldenburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce for its "outstanding achievements in vocational training". We would like to thank you for this honor, also on behalf of the many partners with whose help we have been able to pave the way to a successful future for young people. You can find the certificate here ...

A familiar picture: at the end of a customer meeting, the partners exchange their business cards. Both of them later enter the data contained on them into their respective customer databases, but they have already violated the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) several times. At least if you take the wording of the law at its word. This is because the GDPR is primarily intended to create 'more data transparency'. Every partner would therefore have to be informed immediately about which personal business card data is processed and how, and which rights of objection this person has in the course of data processing.

How these information obligations are to be fulfilled is described in particular in Articles 13 and 14 of the GDPR. It also states that this information must be provided immediately. So if two people hand over their business cards to each other, for example at a trade fair, then both would have to inform each other about the reciprocal handling of the data in accordance with Art. 13 GDPR. However, a short sentence is by no means sufficient for this; the required data protection information would barely fit on an A4 page. In reality, compliance with the GDPR would therefore be more like a slapstick act, with both parties 'texting' each other for pages on end. It would also be far removed from reality to hand the other person a piece of paper with data protection information when handing over business cards. Combined with the request to confirm this in writing. Especially as this would pose a problem in terms of subsequent verifiability.

In view of the impracticability of the GDPR, politicians are already fiddling around, and not just on this point. A spokesperson for the Berlin supervisory authority said that the mere "receipt of the business card does not in itself trigger an obligation to provide information". This 'duty to inform' would only arise in cases where the data contained on the card is stored. Although this would make things easier, it would still contradict the intention of why business cards are exchanged in the first place. Companies store the data from business cards handed over in their customer data management program so that they can expand their own partner network in the business interests of both sides. Quite apart from this, the supervisory authority also fails to state the legal basis on which it arrived at its unusual opinion. This is because the statement by the above-mentioned employee contradicts the wording of the regulation. In other words, the GDPR is still in conflict with reality in many respects.

Bitkom Managing Director Dehmel recommends informing every person who has handed over a business card promptly afterwards about the mandatory information in accordance with Art. 13 GDPR in order to offer them the opportunity to object to the data processing at a later date. Such a solution would still contradict the direct wording of the law, but at least it seems more 'practicable'. What the GDPR lacks above all, however, are concrete and legally certain statements and assistance from the supervisory authorities. The GDPR urgently needs practical 'implementing provisions'.

The opportunity to generate money online is in the hands of every computer user every day. Twenty years ago, nobody would have thought that a single click of the mouse would one day become the most important key figure on the Internet. The mouse click as a navigator not only guides users through the vast space of the Internet, it has also become the universally accepted 'currency' in e-commerce, because on the one hand it at least signals 'interest', and on the other hand it even enables purchases to be made. Almost every interface on the Internet is now operated intuitively with the mouse. This will continue to be the case until the further development of speech recognition software could even relieve us of this tedious manual work ...