Emma Rapaport is a co-editor of the Street Talk column. Prior to that, she was a markets reporter at The Australian Financial Review. Connect with Emma on Twitter.

KKR, Kim Jackson’s Skip Capital win $3b Queensland Airports race

Dolph Lundgren and his wife Emma Krokdal have become official US citizens. The 66-year-old Swedish born actor and the 27-year-old Norwegian born designer shared the news on Monday.

Swedish actor Dolph Lundgren, 66, and Norwegian wife Emma Krokdal, 27, become US citizens: 'I love America and the wonderful opportunities' | Daily Mail Online

Emma Raducanu endured a difficult setback in her comeback from injury as she lost 6-0, 7-6 (6) to the world No 30 Anhelina Kalinina in Doha

Emma Raducanu dumped out of Qatar Open first round in straight sets | Emma Raducanu | The Guardian

Emma Raducanu says she "struggled with everything" as she was beaten by world number 30 Anhelina Kalinina in the first round of the Qatar Open.

Qatar Open: Emma Raducanu beaten by Anhelina Kalinina in first round - BBC Sport

Emma Raducanu admitted she was 'struggling with everything' after an error-strewn performance saw her crash out of the Qatar Open's opening round on Monday.

Emma Raducanu admits she was 'struggling with EVERYTHING' during Qatar Open first-round defeat - and is 'finding it hard to get used to the tour schedule' again after her injury return | Daily Mail Online

Briton made 48 unforced errors and was unable to recover from a sluggish start at Qatar Open

Emma Raducanu ‘struggles with everything’ in straight-sets defeat by Anhelina Kalinina

Actress Emma Watson had a brief run in with the police in Warwickshire after her illegally parked car got towed.

Emma Watson Makes Rare Social Media Comment After Her Car Was Towed

Emma

emma

I recently spoke with Emmanuel Quezada, the Co-Founder & CEO of , where we explored the realm of Web3 and its potential impact on industries beyond its financial roots, spanning entertainment, media, and art. We delved into topics like the intricacies of Web3 IP licensing, challenges hindering widespread adoption, and efforts to democratize Web3 accessibility for diverse user groups and demographics. I hope you enjoy. U-topia To Start, Can You Walk Us Through Your Professional Journey? I stepped into the role of CEO at ATS Corporate back in 2021, a branch of my family office, . It was an exciting time because I was also studying for my Applied Blockchain Diploma in Gold Coast, Australia. During this period, we dove deep into market research, exploring everything from blockchain to crypto and Web3 industries. We pored over hundreds of articles from big names like CoinTelegraph and CoinDesk to understand these industries' challenges and how we could tackle them. ATS Mexico Out of this came U-topia, a project I'm incredibly passionate about as its Co-founder and CEO. It's not just about business; it's about shaking up the entertainment and Web3 industry. We're working hard to ensure crypto and Web3 tech are accessible to anyone aged 13 and above, collaborating with regulators and governments worldwide. Our primary focus is on Gen Z, who comprise 26% of the world's population. And let's not forget about my family's political ties – my brother Daniel Quezada is gearing up to run for President of Mexico in the 2030 elections with his party, Partido Pueblo. Our mission is to ensure everyone, including future generations, can from Web3. benefit Does Web3 bring new challenges and opportunities for Intellectual Property (IP) licensing? Challenges — not really. Nothing specific to IPs. Of course, general issues like low scalability, etc., are there. But that’s only because the underlying technologies are still new. Opportunities, however, are many. Blockchain technology, cryptography, and other Web3 frameworks have significantly broadened the horizon for IP registration, licensing, and transfers. From automated, non-intermediated copyright enforcements to encoded royalties, we can now do things that were unimaginable in the past decade. It’s a really exciting time. What’s stopping Web3 from achieving mass adoption from an IP and entertainment perspective? Accessibility. Web3 still only serves a niche audience of enthusiasts and early adopters. Most existing projects aren’t designed for everyone, everywhere. This can be a feature in some sense, but it doesn’t help with achieving Internet-scale adoption. Kids, for example, often can’t use Web3 due to complex processes, a lack of regulation, security risks, etc. Parents fear their children will be exposed to scams, hacks, and other dangerous activities. And they’ve got good reason to think so. Plus, there’s a general lack of awareness among adults. Most people still think of crypto, and thus Web3, as a tool for frauds and criminals. Another issue plaguing the Web3 landscape is the lack of interoperability. In simpler terms, the assets of one project are often trapped within its confines, limiting their potential. U-topia, however, offers a solution. We are building a bridge, a gateway to other metaverse solutions like Roblox. While other projects like Pixels and Mocaverse also offer interoperability, U-topia’s unique selling point lies in the world-class IPs we leverage to create our products. The negativity stops the masses from exploring promising innovations in Web3 media and entertainment, among other sectors. How does U-topia solve these problems? —that’s our approach. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater Children can get addicted to the metaverse. The thrill of making some quick bucks flipping NFTs can get to them. They could lose their parents’ hard-earned money to scams and hacks. But none of this means we should stop upcoming generations from accessing cutting-edge technologies early on. It’ll be a disaster for their progress and society as a whole. So, we offer a safe space where anyone above 13 years can explore Web3. That’s , where we’re . It’s a platform to streamline IP licensing, entertainment, and Web3 education. U-topia building Web3 for every age, every stage We’ve built the world’s first crypto ‘Wallet for Kids’ secured with a multi-account feature. It lets parents oversee their child’s Web3 activity and provide guidance. They can also set spending limitations, etc. That too, is within a fully compliant, safe, and regulated ecosystem. So, on the one hand, we help educate our future generations about technologies that matter. On the other hand, we connect creators and collectors who want to explore the full potential of Web3 IPs. will get access to an integrated ecosystem of rich, engaging, and high-value IPs, both from Web2 and Web3. We’ve combined the best of both worlds. Bandai Namco, Nike, BAYC, and others live together in our U-topian multiverse. U-Pass holders Last but not least, we’re to achieve the speed, flexibility, and cost-efficiency needed for broad adoption. We focus on providing a superior user experience that our community members will love and enjoy. Plus, our platform will be highly sustainable and eco-friendly. building on Solana Some people say NFTs are dead. What’s your response? These people can’t look beyond price action and gross market dynamics. But the technologies we’re building have deeper significance. NFTs, for one, are much more than cool PFPs. They’re a means to establish on-chain property rights, provenance, and ownership. They support highly resilient and flexible IPs. That too, is within functional circular economies. These are novel avenues that’ll take a long way forward. NFTs are here to stay. They are not dying soon. To wrap up, share your best advice for newcomers and projects building in Web3. Explore new technologies. Experiment to your heart’s content. But educate yourself in every way. And, most importantly, always do your research. We’re in a bull cycle and lots of lucrative options will pop up left, right, and center. All of them won’t be real, so make sure you test the waters before diving in. Read the docs, and speak with your friends and peers in the industry. Follow experts. Do whatever it takes to make informed decisions. Remember — if something feels too good to be true, it most likely isn’t.

Creating Resilient & Flexible Web3 IPs — A Discussion With U-topia CEO, Emmanuel Quezada

So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests. Thanks for the opportunity to share my writing! My name is Emma Thompson and I’m a passionate writer for . Fresh out of the University of Minnesota with a BA in Communications and Media Studies, I've delved deep into the world of technology, with an emphasis on AI. Infinite Sights Guided by curiosity, I'm on a mission to unpack the latest advancements and trends, striving to make the complex understandable for our readers and am glad to share my writing here on HackerNoon. Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about? My latest HackerNoon top story delved deep into —AI's fascinating tool that bridges human communication and machine understanding. The piece journeyed from NLP's origins to its future, spotlighting its transformative impact on business and society. Natural Language Processing (NLP) It celebrates some of the pioneers in the field of AI and NLP and addressed the challenges it presents. Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about? Yes, I usually write on similar topics. My focus primarily revolves around technology, especially emerging trends, and advancements in the field. Lately, my content has been very AI-centric in areas like NLP, Computer Vision, and Deep Learning. It's a dynamic and ever-evolving field, and there's always something new to explore and share with  readers! Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?) I typically begin with in-depth research, diving into tech journals, whitepapers, and historical sources to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the topic. I often reach out to experts in the field for insights or interviews to add depth and firsthand perspectives to my content. Once I've gathered all the information, I carve out dedicated writing blocks to assemble and refine my piece, ensuring accuracy and clarity for my readers. It's a blend of research, outreach, and focused writing, and these days, I’m typically publishing one long-ish form piece of content per week. Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing? Some people might not like this, but honestly, the biggest challenge has been navigating the male-dominated tech landscape. Sometimes, my insights or perspectives are inadvertently overshadowed by preconceived notions tied to gender, and there are a lot of people out there who have no idea how to communicate with other people and could learn a thing or two from our future AI Chatbot overlords. What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career? I'm aiming to write a book compiling my conversations with AI experts and pioneers. I want to chronicle AI's journey and provide insights into its future, sharing the wisdom of the leading minds in the field. Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice? Definitely sinking hours into playing Baldur's Gate 3. Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it? When I'm not immersed in the tech world, I love hiking the beautiful trails of Minnesota. The serene landscapes and refreshing air are the perfect escape for me. What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next? The HackerNoon community can expect more AI-related content from me. I'm diving deep into some emerging topics and innovations, aiming to shed light on lesser-known aspects and developments in the field and conversations with experts. What’s your opinion on HackerNoon as a platform for writers? I only just started writing here, but so far it’s been great. The writing platform itself is super straightforward, and anyone with any experience with WordPress or virtually any other experience posting online like on a forum can pick it up and get their content out there. Thanks for taking time to join our “ ” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words? Meet the writer As a parting thought, I'd encourage everyone, especially budding writers, not to be afraid of sharing their voice and work. The journey of writing can be daunting, but platforms like HackerNoon have built a supportive community where diverse voices are celebrated. Embrace the process, keep writing, and stay curious!

Meet the Writer: HackerNoon Contributor Emma Thompson, Writer

If you’re seeing this interview draft, it means you’ve recently published on HackerNoon . For this reason, we would like to help the community get to know you better as well as find out some writing tips from you. a story that the community found interesting and/or valuable While this template is automatic, our interest in the answers below is genuine and our human editors (and some cyborg wannabes) will review it before publishing. So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests. My name is Emmanuel Nwaka. I'm a Content Marketing Professional curating experiences and advancements in Marketing, Blockchain Technology, Cryptocurrency, and Business. I have been working in the writing industry for several years now and have a wealth of experience in these niches and their impact on the world. My role started as that of a freelance writer, moved to that of a content professional, and now I am a co-founder. I also have a passion for entrepreneurship, which is what made me stumble on HackerNoon. In my free time, I enjoy reading about new technology, traveling to new locations, and finding ways to make my life more purposeful and enjoyable. Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about? My Hackernoon Top Story was It was part of my series called the . about Web3 Technical Writing. Web3 Career Guide It explored the meaning of Web3, the career opportunities as a writer in Web3, and unique insights from 10 Web3 Technical Writers on how to go about the field. The article was well received by the HackerNoon community and even ranked on Google among the top three results for that query. Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about? I have a broad range of writing experiences, but I choose to focus on marketing, business, and blockchain technology. I am interested in marketing and how companies can use technology to connect with their audience and achieve their goals. The decentralized nature of Web3 interests me too because it makes technology programmable, secure, immutable, and timestamped on a blockchain. Well, I am still flexible and eager to explore different interests in writing. Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?) My writing routine involves three main steps: Research, Write, and Edit. Research involves looking through the work of others, checking for their viewpoints, asking subject matter experts, and formulating the outline. Writing just involves pouring out my thoughts onto the screen. While editing involves using various tools to check for grammatical and structural errors, making sure the SEO is intact, adding graphics, and giving it finesse. These I do before I hit publish! Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing? My latest challenge is staying informed about the trends in the tech industry. Apart from that, handling client demands while meeting personal responsibilities can be an issue. Well, I've found that setting priorities and communicating clearly my responsibility keeps me in check. What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career? My goal is to gain a much deeper understanding of the tech industry and clearly communicate that knowledge with my audience. Also, I hope to get my stories onto bigger platforms that will help my craft reach a wide audience, land amazing clients, and become a thought leader in the blockchain ecosystem. Moreover, I'm building to become the number one payroll and invoicing firm in Africa. Blockroll Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice? Playing musical instruments and hanging out with friends is a great way to fuel my engine. Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it? I have a lot of hobbies by the way, but I am exploring storytelling. What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next? The HackerNoon community can expect to read a range of topics from blockchain technology, business, and marketing. I will continue to expand my content creation journey by making podcasts, newsletters, and video content that explores these topics and publish them on the internet. More of these are explored in my . social media channels What’s your opinion on HackerNoon as a platform for writers? Simplicity and authenticity are what amaze me with the HackerNoon platform. The fact that every article is reviewed for quality means that people trust what gets on the platform, and the content stays consistent with the rules of the writing game. Thanks for taking time to join our “ ” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words? Meet the writer To aspiring writers, stay on course! It took me two years to get my first writing client. Keep adding new knowledge, don't be afraid to reach out if you need help, and keep being the best!

Meet the Writer: HackerNoon's Contributor Emmanuel Nwaka, Content Marketing Professional

Happy Black History Month Beautiful Humans! This month, the HackerNoon Editorial team has launched the Black-in-tech interview series to celebrate the achievements, and share in the unique challenges, of all African Americans working to evolve the tech landscape in one way or another. Remember, every story matters! Share yours today and inspire others! Let’s get to it. 1. Tell us a bit about yourself My name is Emmanuel Nwaka, a graduate of Chemical Engineering from the Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria. I am a 2019 MTN Foundation Scholar, a 2020 Commonwealth100 Alumnus, a 2021 LEAP Africa Alumnus, and received the 2022 YIL Scholar Award. As a Content Marketing Specialist, I use customer psychology to attract, engage and convert prospects into customers. I have served in top organizations like the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Blockdegree and SkillUp Nigeria. I have also been featured in top publications like HackerNoon, Bootcamp, Better to Speak, Hashnode and Faun Publication. Currently, I am the Cofounder of Blockroll, a B2B startup that handles payments, expenses and invoicing for crypto companies. 2. Why did you choose to work in this (tech) industry? My love for tech started in high school when I first handled a computer. I was fascinated by the systems, programs and hardware so I made up my mind that I was going to be part of the industry making this tool. 3. In your opinion, what’s the hardest part about working in this industry? Lack of adequate infrastructure like electricity, stable internet and payment barriers. Well, I keep finding ways to overcome it. 4. When you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing? I enjoy playing the piano and travelling. 5. Have you ever encountered any challenges in the industry because of how you look? Yes. When I started Content Writing, a lot of people told me upfront that they can't work with people of my origin cause of negative PR. Others told me that although my skills are good, my colour is bad for business. 5b. How did you overcome them? I refused to accept that my skin colour is a barrier and worked twice as hard to make sure my skills were top-notch. I still get that feedback sometimes, but I rarely get bothered now. 6. What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career? I am hoping to scale my company - Blockroll - to be the largest HRtech for crypto companies in Africa. 7. Who is your tech idol and why? Bill Gates. The strategy he used in building Microsoft to an conglomerate amazes me. 8. Do you have any advice for young African Americans considering a career in tech? Stay strong! Keep improving on your skills and always remember to seek help when necessary. It's going to be challenging at first but don't give up!

From Chemical Engineering to Content Marketing: Black-in-Tech Interview with Emmanuel Nwaka

“Things are only impossible until they’re not.”–Captain Jean-Luc Picard Congratulations Captain! 🎉 🎉🎉 You have won the following award/awards: https://noonies.tech/2022/internet-heroes/2022-hackernoon-contributor-of-the-year-cyber-security-awareness https://noonies.tech/2022/emerging-tech/2022-hackernoon-contributor-of-the-year-data-privacy What does it mean for you to win this title? It means a lot to me. As being a winner of Cybersecurity Awareness award makes me feel appreciated and responsible at the same time. How do you or your company intend to embrace the responsibility of this title in 2023? This responsibility will make me organized and will motivate me to keep myself updated about the new technologies and trends. What goals are you looking forward to accomplishing in 2023 (whether it be through company initiatives or your personal journey)? This title will help me to learn new skills in the field of cybersecurity and going for new certifications and articles. Which trend(s) are you most excited about in 2023? Share your reason. I am much excited about AI, as in 2023, artificial intelligence will become real in organizations. 2022 had been crazy, especially in Tech - what with layoff, web3 fraud, and AI! Which trend are you most concerned about? What solutions can you think of? Be as brief or as detailed as you like. AI algorithms are developed from the data that is fed to them. Correcting the algorithmic bias can be a daunting task, but there are several ways to address it. Do not exclude labeled data from several groups because it does not match other instances if it is typical of those groups. Instead, you should combine techniques learned from smaller datasets and use those datasets as training examples for a bigger ensemble model. This method enables you to build a stronger model. Share your biggest success so far and/or your biggest failure so far. My biggest success is to be recognized as known cybersecurity enthusiast among the fewer good cybersecurity researchers. We would love your feedback on HackerNoon as a tech publication! How has your experience been with us? It is made simpler to accomplish just that with HackerNoon by sharing fascinating news headlines and following a variety of guest-written articles. Knowledge is a wonderful power, especially when used to the field of public relations, as is the case with HackerNoon. Any words of wisdom you’d like to share with us? To find happiness, start by making it. The 2022 Noonies are sponsored by: , and .Tech Domains by Radix . BingX You will be receiving a .Tech Domain for life as well as an official HackerNoon NFT!

Meet Noonies 2022 Winner Naina Emmanuel of Cybersecurity Awareness & Data Privacy

In the last year, riveting news has been circulating on a 19-year old Nigerian founder who has taken the Tech-crypto world by the horns. His name is Njoku Emmanuel, CEO and CoFounder of Lazerpay, a crypto payment gateway startup with the main aim of facilitating crypto payments around the world for businesses and individuals. Lazerpay was launched in October 2021 alongside CoFounders Abdulfatai Sulaiman and Prosper Ubi, and has raised more than a million dollars for funding the company. In this episode of Founders Connect, Njoku shares his background with me. His undeniable passion for coding which stayed true despite the adversity of his parents and loved ones, the many places he has worked where he was given the opportunity to hone his skills, his love for technology and crypto and building, and his enthusiasm for the future of Lazerpay. I really enjoyed hearing him speak, and I hope you do too. Watch the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vsi51svEbnA Video transcripts 1:25 - Background 8:39 - How Njoku discovered the love for coding? 10:50 - His favourite Childhood memories? 12:30 - How he dropped out from Electrical Engineering and became a professional 16:08 - University Days, Meeting Ugochukwu Aronu of Xend, Working, Becoming A Web/Mobile Developer, Entrepreneurial Dreams 24:50 - ForLoop Enugu, Dealing Depression 28:52 - Learning about Blockchain 31:45 - Dropping out of school 33:00 - Lagos, Hackathon Incubation Programme, Ezvotes 37:05 - Days working at Kwivar 39:49 - Days working at Hydro Blockchain 42:50 - Days working (again) at Xend Finance with Ugochukwu 46:22 - Working at Maker DAO 52:50 - The making of Lazerpay 1:01:11 - Biggest milestones at Lazerpay 1:02:35 - How it feels being 19 and leading a company of 15 people 1:03:27 - Biggest Lessons learned from Lazerpay 1:06:21 - What should be looked forward to with Lazerpay

#FoundersConnect: Njoku Emmanuel, the 19-year-old CEO & Co-founder of Lazerpay

Let's discuss centralized internet first. What is your opinion on the centralized internet? What are its pros/cons? I think the centralized internet has been useful, especially in the post-2000s era. In the past, all we had was pockets of people scattered everywhere, with little means of communicating. The rise of social networks broke these barriers and made it easy for people to exchange information and value without meeting physically. But innovations almost always outlive their usefulness, which is happening to centralized internet now. People have since realized that relying on centralized platforms for the exchange of information and value is problematic—and they want out. So, what are the problems with centralized platforms? We can start with the collection and exploitation of user data for marketing. Almost every site we visit today collects personal information, some of it confidential, before granting access. Users are not compensated for this, and even worse, they must live in fear of their data getting compromised by malicious actors. Of course, there are more problems with Web2, but discussing them all would be impossible. What does decentralization mean to you? Decentralization means replacing client-server infrastructure with peer-to-peer systems. Distributed systems are better than centralized systems in many ways. For example, in a peer-to-peer system, people won't need to rely on centralized servers to use certain services. They could join networks at will and start connecting with others. Beyond technology, though, decentralization is a way of distributing control of the Internet among users, instead of concentrating it in the hands of a few people. This creates a fairer system, allowing more people to participate in the creation and exchange of value and information online. How decentralization changes the internet? I think it creates a better experience for users. No matter how you slice and dice it, Web2 companies often consider user experience the least of their concerns. But, because a few companies have managed to monopolize the industry, it becomes difficult for users to switch. Decentralization fixes that problem. As we've seen, literally anyone can launch a service and attract users in Web3. The playing field is more level, so providers are compelled to offer better services to consumers or risk losing out. The rise of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) means users get to have a say in the direction of projects. It's no longer the case where a bunch of Silicon Valley VCs sit in a boardroom and make product decisions without making the remotest attempt to think about what consumers need. Decentralization changes things for creators, too. Now, they have more control over the supply of content and don't need to rely on rent-seeking platforms to truly profit from their work. What is the best thing about decentralized internet? I think the best argument for a decentralized internet is the control it gives people. You're not boxed into a corner, forced to play on the terms set by corporate bigshots. We've seen it happen in DeFi where people are participating in high-level financial investments without having to go through an intermediary. NFTs are giving artists and content creators to directly connect with buyers and keep the larger percentage of their earnings. Then you have crypto which allows people to transact seamlessly, privately, and securely from anywhere in the world. It's the freedom and control I'm talking about—this time it's just financial. For example, large payments providers like PayPal restrict users from certain countries, like Nigeria where I live. Many people in these countries have turned to crypto to send and receive remittances, collect merchant payments, and pay for things online. It's amazing. Are you currently directly or indirectly working on the decentralized internet use case? We would love to know more about it. I can say I work indirectly on the decentralized internet use-case—as a writer. I run a , where I cover everything related to Web3—cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, decentralization, and other stuff. Besides contributing stories to Hackernoon’s blockchain section, I also write for the official Hashnode Web3 blog. There, I create content for people interested in learning about decentralization. blog I think educational content is very important if we want to get more people on board with the idea of decentralization. Right now, there are many people actively discrediting Web3 and trying to paint it as a capitalist money-grab. Writers in this space have to dispel these notions and show people why a decentralized internet is best for our future. Perhaps in the future, I can explore decentralized content creation platforms like . These platforms allow writers to earn money from their work without having to satisfy rent-seeking platforms. It's a really great idea. Mirror What are the biggest challenges in the way of the decentralized web? An acute lack of education on what Web3 means for users is preventing more people from accepting the idea. Too many people think "decentralized internet" is just another buzzword—and the anti-Web3 articles floating online don't help, either. At first, people didn't really see the need for cryptocurrencies; it was just "magic internet money." But, with time, people started seeing the need for more private, seamless, and secure means of exchanging money. Then we had those bull runs and massive spikes in adoption. I'll also add that Web3 is still in its infancy, so user experience is poor. And then there's the issue of scalability of the blockchain technology, which powers the decentralized internet. However, I believe these problems will get solved with time. For example, layer-2 solutions are improving transaction speed on blockchains, meaning decentralized applications may scale in future to accept more users. Do you have any apprehension or fear related to the decentralization of the internet? Like every other concept, decentralization has its downsides. With no central entity to control what happens, it becomes difficult to protect users from bad actors. Take for example the huge sums lost in DeFi hacks over the years. With little to zero barriers to entry, we're going to see different businesses popping up to offer "services." While this helps democratize the space, it creates a glut and makes it difficult to find worthwhile projects. Finally, it is very possible that malicious individuals may take advantage of the lack of centralized control to carry out harmful acts unabated. Imagine if someone decides to start publishing misinformation on a blockchain-based social network. The chances of getting them off the platform—thereby limiting their impact—is next to none. How do you see the future of the decentralized internet? I think we're still a long way off before decentralized internet becomes a reality. I think people in Web3 forget how long it takes for innovations to take hold. I could list a number of things that got hype and still haven't seen mass adoption—hybrid cars, 5G, smart devices, et cetera. But the good thing is people will always follow the money; and there's a lot of money pouring into Web3. You have new entrants looking to get the first-mover advantage and Web2 companies slowly integrating into the Web3 economy. There's a lot of innovation going on and I expect that to continue for a while. I expect more people are going to see the benefits of a decentralized internet with time. While it seems obvious now, people in the early 2000s never understood why we needed the (Web2) Internet. The same is happening with Web3, but we can expect that to change in the future. Thank you for your time! Any closing thoughts/advice for the readers? Self-education is key to getting a grasp of what decentralization really means for the individual. Look beyond the hype and million-dollar investments and understand why a decentralized internet matters for you and our society. Take, for example, cryptocurrencies. You don't have to listen to a crypto bro give you 1000 reasons why crypto is good. Grab a book that explains in plain English why non-state money is the future. Read the Bitcoin white paper to see why digital money was created in the first place. You can apply this to pretty much any concept associated with decentralized internet technologies. Trust me, even the most trivial innovations like NFTs have solid potential if you take the time to understand them. Like crypto bros will say, do your own research.

Meet the Writer: HackerNoon's Contributor Emmanuel Awosika, Freelance Blockchain Writer

A decision by Universal Pictures to quickly make movies available on VOD services due to the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the inevitable. Titles including The Invisible Man, Emma, and The Hunt, which are still in their theatrical windows, are now all available for download on pirate sites, just hours after release. For the major Hollywood studios and industry body the MPA, theatrical windows have always been something to vigorously protect. Supporting the big screen experience and the massive infrastructure behind it is a top priority for the industry overall, not to mention a crucial revenue stream. Slowly but surely, however, theatrical windows have shortened due to various pressures but nevertheless, day and date cinema and VOD releases have remained a distant prospect for major titles. Then coronavirus happened. In common with hundreds of business sectors and individuals around the world, the spread of the virus is having a profound effect on cinemas. As preventative measures are put in place, revenues are reportedly down to the lowest levels in twenty-five years. On the other hand, services that can be accessed at home – Netflix for example – are enjoying a boom in usage. In an effort to cushion the blow, earlier this week Universal Pictures announced that it would be releasing some of its newest movies, that are technically still in their theatrical windows, on digital platforms for rental. As a result, The Invisible Man, The Hunt, and Emma all went on sale Friday at around the $20 mark. How well these movies will be received and in what volumes consumed remains to be seen but within hours of them appearing on official platforms, the inevitable happened. At the time of writing, all are available for free downloading and streaming on dozens of pirate sites. Currently available in both 1080p and 720p, The Invisible Man is now being downloaded and streamed by huge numbers of pirates and is currently the most popular of the trio. At this point, most copies are so-called ‘web-rips’ meaning they have been captured from streaming service streams rather than downloaded. Obtained via the same method, available in the same qualities, and in second place in popularity terms, is horror/thriller movie The Hunt. Emma sits in a distant third place, with mainly lower quality rips and substantially lower levels of consumption. The big question remains whether this illicit consumption will have a measurable effect on the success of these movies and those that may follow under the ’emergency’ release policy implemented by Universal. Most years big movies have to compete with leaked screener copies so this type of availability isn’t new but it is unprecedented for the content not to have come from ‘leaked’ sources. If nothing else, the studios now find themselves in the middle of an experiment. Will VOD sales soar as a result of these early releases and if they do, will it be possible to replicate in a more stable environment later on? Already beleaguered cinema chains will certainly have plenty to say in the months to come and could find themselves in the middle of yet another crisis, beyond what they’re experiencing today. Originally published as “ The Invisible Man, Emma, and The Hunt Hit Pirate Sites After Rushed VOD Releases ” with the Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC 3.0) license

The Invisible Man, Emma, and The Hunt Hit Pirate Sites After Rushed VOD Releases

In this installment of the Developer Spotlight Series, we sat down with Emma Wedekind, a developer and New York native now residing in Karlsruhe, Germany. Emma is a Software Engineer at and the Founder of . Follow Emma on , or , and enjoy the Q/A. Cosmic JS LogMeIn CodingCoach.io Twitter LinkedIn Medium I began my Sophomore year of college. I was originally a Biology major but switched to actuarial science, and ultimately found my passion in software engineering. Cosmic JS : When did you first begin building software? Emma: I am a huge fan of / Redux / TypeScript :) I began learning it about a year ago when I joined LogMeIn and have fallen in love with it! I am also a huge lover of for building static sites with React. Cannot recommend highly enough! What is your preferred development stack? React Gatsby I built the IBM Q Network website all by myself in just a couple of weeks! I chose to use , which was extremely challenging as it was my first time using Vue, but I learned so many incredible skills as a result. What past projects are you most proud of and why? Vue.js Understanding the underlying architecture. It’s built on top of Web-RTC, but there is a lot of proprietary and legacy code which can be difficult to navigate. Debugging can sometimes become a bit convoluted when you don’t know which layer to start with. What are your biggest challenges in building software at LogMeIn? **What was the inspiration for Coding Coach?**I am a huge proponent of mentorship, primarily because I didn’t have a mentor when I was beginning my front-end development journey. Navigating the world of front-end was extremely difficult without a mentor to guide me along. And although there are mentorship platforms out there, they’re often expensive. I wanted to create something accessible to all! I want to really hone in on learning SVG animations this year. I will also be focusing a lot more on how to build robust Design Systems and Component Libraries using React and native web components. What are some technologies you are excited about or want to learn more about? The is dedicated to showcasing developers that are building apps using modern tools. Learn how to . To stay connected with us and . Cosmic JS Spotlight Series Contribute here follow us on Twitter join the conversation on Slack Developer Spotlight: Kyle Mathews of Gatsby Developer Spotight: John Leider of Vuetify Developer Spotlight: Brandy Morgan of CreatorsCode

Developer Spotlight: Emma Wedekind of LogMeIn

Please welcome Emmanuel Straschnov, co-founder of Bubble, the easiest way to build software with no code. Davis Baer : What’s your background, and what are you working on? I’m originally from France, and I worked for a few years before getting into technology. I studied math in France before moving to China to work as a management consultant for a few years. I came to the US for business school and met Josh Haas through mutual friends. He had started a company a few months before (it wasn’t called Bubble at the time) and was looking for a co-founder. We actually decided to partner after our first coffee! Emmanuel Straschnov : Bubble is a visual programming platform that lets users build web apps without typing any code, and then let’s them run their app on Bubble’s cloud platform without having to maintain servers, etc. It’s designed for startups and business owners mostly, as it helps them build their solutions (whether it’s customer facing or internal tools) for a fraction of the cost of traditional development, and gives them more control on their software. We started building Bubble in 2012, and launched publicly in late 2015. We now have thousands of businesses that run on our platform, and have now more than 160,000 users. What motivated you to get started with Bubble? My co-founder Josh and I started building Bubble because: 1 — We want to empower everyone to create technology instead of just being a user. Most jobs and activities will require some programming in the future, but everyone can’t learn to code: it’s slow and tedious. There has to be a more efficient way to build things. 2 — Coding hasn’t really changed over the last 50 years. The languages have changed but the actual process has been the same since the beginning of the software industry. Creating software should be fun and visual. It’s similar to the jump that happened from MS-DOS to Windows. Before Windows, we had to type code to edit a text document. After Windows, we just double-click. Bubble does the same thing at the programming level. After five years, I have to say that watching our users become makers themselves is one of the most rewarding things ever. What worries you about the future of tech and how does tech help here? I am worried that we, as a society, rely on engineers to build the tools that we use to live, work, communicate, etc. We’re turning these engineers into an elite class that run our world. If we keep doing this, major tech companies will control all aspects of our lives. Instead, we need everyone to have the power to create the tools that runs their lives. That’s what drives us at Bubble. Another related issue is that some people are going to have a hard time converting to new technologies to find jobs. I’m not sure whether automation or AI will destroy jobs, but what is certain is that our brain’s ability to learn new technologies does not improve exponentially, unlike technological development. That’s a very dangerous trend. I’m not sure if universal income is the way to solve this, but we certainly need to think about the right solutions to this issue. What went into building the initial product? A lot of time, patience and talking to users. When you build something like Bubble, the interface is by definition quite complex, as you need to let people describe exactly what they want visually. You also need to build a ton of features as users will need their app to do a lot of things. And it’s easy to get the interface or the list of features wrong… That’s where talking to customers is super useful, I would even say critical. During the first year, I basically was spending 1 to 3 hours a day talking to users on Skype and screen sharing. This may sound too much, but I don’t think we would have been able to build Bubble till today had we not done this. Also, it’s a way to get a lot of love from users, which feels awesome and definitely helps with tough times! What’s your business model, and how have you grown your revenue? Bubble’s business model is fairly traditional. It’s a SaaS (actually, it’s a PaaS — platform as a service) where we charge a monthly fee for some features and additionally provide the ability to add some capacity when a user’s app takes off. We also have a marketplace where users can build templates or plugins and get compensated for them. We had a few different models before the current one, but they weren’t as clear to our users. We started charging by user visits and then by workflow runs, but we’ve learned from users that server capacity is the best resource to sell. Revenue growth has been quiet for the first 3 years as we were mostly building the product, and since then it’s growing quite nicely, on average 15% per month since our public launch on Product Hunt. How did you get your first 10 users? We recruited them offline, at meetups or on campuses. At first, something like Bubble seems too good to be true, especially as many before made that promise and failed to deliver. On the other hand, our users are betting their businesses on us, so it requires an extremely high level of trust. And this works best by in-person interaction when you’re still early stage. So we went to tech cofounders meetups in New York, and a lot of people were looking for tech talent to join them, and we would go to them and tell them what we were doing and how it could help them. The fact that they saw us in-person was I think important for them to know that while it seemed too good to be true, they would have a personal connection with the founders. The second place where we found quite a few users was at Harvard Business School. I just graduated from there and HBS is a place full of driven people that want to start companies with tech resources. It’s a good place to find users. And here as well, we did thing offline. What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced and obstacles you’ve overcome? Managing the struggle between user experience, easiness of use and power is a daily struggle. Every day, we have users asking for more features, while having new users that need to learn the tool, and for whom too many features can be scary. The way we overcome this is by being smart with our UX, and hide the features that aren’t necessary at first, and show them to experience users instead. This took us a lot of work on the user experience research side, and that one of our strong assets. If you weren’t building Bubble, what would you be doing? I’m actually very happy with what I’m doing now! But I guess if I were doing something else, I would be teaching somewhere, either in a university or in a high school (I actually did this full-time for about a year in my early 20s). In many ways though, Bubble encompasses teaching as we’re explaining users how to program, though the medium is different! This interview is brought to you by , a tool to schedule and automatically repeat your posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google My Business OneUp

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