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Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg renamed his company after the metaverse. The hype is over, but the technology will endure, according to this exclusive presentation.

https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVFT.TkibWQd6IYBn8dL3fW2sPC&pid=News

This is why Mark Zuckerberg won't give up on the Metaverse, and why Apple is about to dive into the technology

https://www.bing.com/th?id=ODF.q-ZVWyz-qFnnPRsNgOLlfQ&pid=news

Business Insider

Geography of Canada

Meta tests blocking news content on Instagram, Facebook for some Canadians

https://www.bing.com/th?id=ODF.My_sQX2fxnwoVw4PTIB7Tw&pid=news

WSB Radio

Instagram

The block comes as part of a temporary test that is expected to last until the end of June, though Meta threatens expansion and permanence

https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVFT.Hr41h0WEvwzbZOe7vOwaOy&pid=News

Meta Moves to Block News on Facebook and Instagram for Some Canadians

https://www.bing.com/th?id=ODF.3zqB2pXRwlAc2EJ5gQwBtg&pid=news

TheWrap

Europe

Continental Europe

The Meta fine stemmed from a claim by the Irish Data Protection Commission that the Silicon Valley social media giant had broken European Union law by transferring personal data from EU users of Facebook to the United States. The GDPR was supposed to ...

Europe’s Meta fine could limit the continent’s access to social media giant Facebook

California

Cerritos

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, threatened to remove news from its social media sites in California if the state passes a bill requiring big tech companies to pay

https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVFT.PIzKieZGTRUAL4WltAWzni&pid=News

EFF YOU FACEBOOK: Meta threatens to pull news content in California if bill to pay publishers passes

https://www.bing.com/th?id=ODF.IqQ7yNRhsJGdIo2BsFLjZA&pid=news

Cerritos Community News

Optimistic

The Man Who

Sci-fi author Neal Stephenson says the metaverse's foundations are maturing. New mixed reality headsets from Meta and Apple could help his case.

https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVFT.G0JxqXkH8_U7nwDQTXRAny&pid=News

Metaverse

The Man Who Named the Metaverse Is Optimistic Despite Waning Hype

https://www.bing.com/th?id=ODF.vS3pKUrPWgIKkQBHtUkEPQ&pid=news

CNET

InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) stock has been a standout performer in the tech

Why META Stock Still Has Plenty of Room to Run

https://www.bing.com/th?id=ODF.LrIq_5vxtu4ONs5zIW54FA&pid=news

Computerworld

Two years ago, the metaverse was hyped as the Next Big Thing in tech. Nowadays, Generative AI has grabbed all the headlines. But don’t count out the concept of interconnected virtual worlds just yet.

https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVFT.fdLf1lyJd8Rspy68cW6SvS&pid=News

The metaverse: Not dead yet

https://www.bing.com/th?id=ODF.dUeXs_bFmPRHN1uNvOP7Jw&pid=news

Marketers should pay particular attention to progression of the metaverse ... Facebook’s new parent company, “Meta,” the conversation of future societal implications of such an immersive ...

Metaverse: How We Got Here & Where We Go Next

Searchenginejournal.com

Imran Khan

Pakistan

Social media

A state-imposed social media blackout to quell massive protests around the arrest ... the interior ministry restricted nationwide access to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Mobile data coverage -- used by political activists to organise protests on messenger ...

Pakistan social media blackout boosts Khan's momentum

Yahoo News

Meta Platforms, Inc., doing business as Meta and formerly named Facebook, Inc., and TheFacebook, Inc., is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. The company owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, among other products and services.

What's not to like about the GB WhatsApp and other variants such as Yo WhatsApp or FM WhatsApp, especially for businesses? While we can all tell that Mark Zuckerberg is seeking the best way to monetize WhatsApp, which he hasn't quite figured out, he also has to take the best features from other variants. Truth is that in a comparison of, “WhatsApp vs. GB WhatsApp”, most people would prefer the GB WhatsApp features even though it’s not officially available in the PlayStore nor Apple Store. “Hi, My friend tell me you do writing. I have this task I want done can you help me?" That was a message I got from a client some months ago through WhatsApp. Obviously, the written English is incorrect. The person's nickname is Persian. An immigrant in the United States with almost no proficiency in English had sent me an English message on WhatsApp. How? She used GB WhatsApp, which allowed her the privilege of translating Arabic into English. I didn't know that was possible. So, why hasn't Zuckerberg adopted this for the official app? No one knows for sure. With over 2 billion users, WhatsApp remains the most used app globally (I do not mean t ). Although since Zuckerberg’s administration, some modifications have been made to the app, some are successful and many aren’t. It is no secret that Meta has been looking for a way to charge users for the app but hasn’t found the perfect way. he most downloaded in recent times Perhaps the is coming to WhatsApp Business? Meta Verified blue check With the innovation of business WhatsApp, Meta may just be able to offer more to its users than, maybe, regular WhatsApp. The team at Meta seems to have forgotten the essence of the app and is not bothered by the user experience. GB WhatsApp and other variants of the green app seem to have gotten ahead of the developers at Meta. There are exciting features offered to users for free that make life more comfortable than Mark Zuckerberg’s rigidity with the app. Although, getting these features for free on FM WhatsApp, Yo WhatsApp, etc., makes it even more difficult for Meta to monetize the features on its green app. Some features of the WhatsApp variants are resourceful, and after many years, Meta has begun to adopt these features, one after the other. There are things to learn and pick from the other apps to enhance the user’s experience. To give you a better idea, here are some cool (which are pretty much the same as other variants) that normal WhatsApp can take advantage of for a better customer or user experience. GB Whatsapp features GB WhatsApp Translate Feature for Multi Languages If not on the general WhatsApp, then on the Business WhatsApp, Meta should be massively exploring this feature. When messages drop on WhatsApp in an unknown language, the user can highlight them, and among the menu options (three dots on the upper right corner of the screen), they can choose the option to translate to their configured WhatsApp language or another. Similarly, there is an option to change a typed text to another person's language before it is sent. There is already a "Translate" sign on the right side of the text box. The current translations on the WhatsApp variant apps are still poor, so, we can trust Meta has better data for translation into more languages. Current 'WhatsApp Translate' languages available include Arabic, English, French, Espanol, Italiano, Russian, Portugues, Turkce, Indonesia, Hindi, German, Malay, Vietnamese, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Punjabi, and Bengali. One could guess where the developers are from, by vetting the country with the most represented languages. Meta can do better with , and some others, as it currently attempts to on Facebook. African languages Airplane or Flight Mode Many people heavily depend on WhatsApp for their day-to-day activities (link). Instead of having to turn off one's data connection or WiFi if they want to do something important, users can set their WhatsApp to Flight Mode. An individual app being disconnected from the internet makes sense and will strengthen productivity, especially if one has to work online but needs minimal disturbance. Block WhatsApp Call Have you ever got bothered by a call from someone you didn't want to speak to over the phone? Yes, Zuckerberg can fix that by adopting this GB WhatsApp feature. When the user clicks on a contact's information, they can block them (the contact) from ever being able to call them (the blocker). Well, this may not be a professional feature, but those ladies who don't want a stalker disturbing them are going to like the feature. LOL. On a more serious note, the feature can be used to prevent calls after the close of the business day. WhatsApp Light and Dark Mode for The Outdoors Although this feature may not be needed by most people, some people will need it. Running a business outdoors with a phone is challenging. Phones with a general dark theme setting would need the light theme setting outdoors. So, with this feature a user can switch their WhatsApp to light mode without changing the entire phone's settings. This isn’t the best feature, but it’s still useful to have. Schedule Message Feature on WhatsApp Like Gmail and some smartphone messaging, you can now schedule when you'd like to send a message to someone. This can be a great feature for someone trying to follow up on prospects and leads, but understand they may likely forget. So, they can now send a message ahead of when they will have it delivered. That way, users do not have to bother about setting reminders to nudge a person. Visible “About” info under Contact For the longest time since the days of , users cannot see other users' statuses, now tagged "About." In the , the status (About) was displayed under a contact’s name, but now, no one sees a user's "About" info except when opening up the contact's info. According to a personal survey, most people do not visit their contacts 'about' information, unless it is a first-time chat. Business accounts may have more "about" clicks if they have product catalogs, but that isn’t the case for most people who could just send a direct custom order or who need inquiries from a business account before deciding on purchasing from them. 2go earlier days of WhatsApp GB WhatsApp, FM WhatsApp, etc. fixed that by making a user’s info show just on the chat page, beneath the person's name. For businesses, it is a good way to constantly remind their contacts about what they do, not just the regular pleasantries. The "About" in Meta’s app is almost redundant, offering no direct visibility of the message unless a user wants to forward a message to their contact. Status Post Downloads Zuckerberg's really don't move the masses anymore. The disabling of the profile picture download was so unnecessary. Many people cruise with their WhatsApp status posts. There is no point in not allowing people to download what they can see and take screenshots of. privacy talks Anyone who wants to make anything private would not bring it online—pictures, stories, videos! So, YoWhatsApp and other variants can save any WhatsApp story to the phone. It is also possible to share a user's display picture on GB WhatsApp. Users once had the profile picture download option and folder; now, it will be great to have it back. Then, the app will enable users to save GIFs, pictures, and other things directly from 'status'. For instance, a vendor posts their perfume on their WhatsApp status, and a potential buyer likes it but cannot afford it yet. The prospect wants to save the picture for when they will have enough budget for it. That's impossible except through screenshots. Why does it have to be lost in the pile of dry bones (unviewed pictures) sitting in the screenshot gallery folder? Lock Chat on WhatsApp For an app that claims to prioritize privacy, locking individual chats or conversations will be such a good feature to have. Financial transactions, legal conversations, or private discussions with associates can be locked, allowing only the owner of the WhatsApp account to access such conversations, if their phone was in someone else’s hand for whatever reason. Many users of the app will be glad to have the private "lock conversation" feature. With Yo WhatsApp, users can protect conversations via PIN, pattern, or fingerprint. The GB WhatsApp Features Meta has Already Implemented Recently, WhatsApp has copied some features from its competition. I say "Copy" because the other had those features first, and didn’t necessarily do the development work. Edit WhatsApp Message: In its more recent release, Meta has allowed the option to edit messages up to 15 minutes after they've been sent. That is a great start. So, say someone sent something wrong; instead of deleting it to type something new, the user could just edit it before the recipient opens it. It is still possible to edit after someone has read it, but they probably will not notice the message is edited, and what they first read stays with them. So, say, in an informal interview happening through chat, a writer has a typographical error in his message, which could cost him the job. He can quickly edit without screwing up his chance. No one loses an opportunity due to a typographical error faster than a writer. So, the adoption of the "edit" feature is great. However, for now, a user can only edit a message sent in the past 15 minutes; any longer than that, and it is impossible. Delete WhatsApp Message The popular GB WhatsApp “delete” feature from years ago made its way to the official app later.. Yes, GB WhatsApp brought the initiative of deleting messages; later, the WhatsApp team decided to adopt it. Initially, deleting WhatsApp messages was also possible within the first 15 minutes. After that window, it is impossible to delete them. Now, it has been extended for a few hours. That's a good improvement. Other Amazing GB WhatsApp Features: More features that Meta’s WhatsApp can incorporate into the app include searching the in-app web browser for images that can be shared directly with another user, "Go to first message", "Double-tap reaction" and "Who can call me". Conclusion Meta is fortunate to have a large following and users of its green messaging app. However, it doesn't seem like the company care so much about the user experience while in the race of . Many features would have benefited the app. Why don't they let their users have them? The features in the document will greatly benefit the app and its users, and perhaps in a business 'pro' version, they will be able to monetize the app. Businesses are the best beneficiaries of these features. On top of all of that, it will also be great to run incognito polls on WhatsApp, too. how to monetize the app Can you think of any other features that would be great to have too? You can suggest them in the comments; I'll be waiting for them!

GB WhatsApp Features that Meta Needs to Implement Immediately

When trying to land a software engineering job, you'll probably have to go through several interviews, including behavioral and system design. But at the end of the day, it all comes down to one thing: your coding skills. Your proficiency in coding is the key factor that will determine if you're the perfect fit for the role. Regardless of your experience level — whether you're a seasoned developer or fresh out of university — nailing a coding interview can be tough, but persistence and hard work pay off. As someone who landed an offer from Facebook after a full year of preparation, I know this firsthand. In this article, I'd like to share with you some tips and strategies that I learned along the way. Let’s dive in. Tip #1 — Practice Coding In your day-to-day work as a software engineer, you might not be using algorithms and data much. Still, they are essential basics that you need to know. So how do you get good at those? Learning algorithms and data structures can be challenging, but it's no rocket science or secret art. The main issue is the amount of time it takes to learn them, so planning and practice are key. Think of improving your coding skills like building up your muscles. You can't expect to get all ripped and toned in just a few weeks of intensive exercise. Similarly, you won't master algorithms in a matter of days. The key is to put in consistent and steady effort over a long period to get the results you want. Back in 2019, when I started preparing for coding interviews, I was clueless about how to write even the most basic algorithms, such as Binary Search. It took me around six months of consistent practice to get my first onsite interview with Google. How did it go? I failed. But did I give up? No. I kept practicing for another year until I finally got an offer from Facebook (which we now know as Meta). So, the bottom line is that learning these skills takes time and effort, but the payoff can be life-changing! When you first begin working on coding problems, it's perfectly normal to feel a bit overwhelmed. You might even catch yourself thinking, "What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I solve even the simplest problem?" That’s just a natural part of the learning process. You’ll get better over time. A helpful and time-tested strategy to deal with the feeling of overwhelm is to break a large task into manageable chunks and set achievable goals. I recommend starting with 1-2 Easy or Medium-level problems each day and spending around 15-30 minutes on each one. This will help you build your problem-solving skills gradually and avoid getting overwhelmed. Once you start to feel more confident, you can increase the intensity by tackling up to 3-4 problems per day. To give you an idea of what's possible with consistent practice, I personally solved around 200 problems (50% Medium, 40% Easy, 10% Hard) over a year before I got my first offer from a Big Tech company. Keep in mind that everyone learns at their own pace, so make sure to determine the amount of practice that works best for you. The important thing is to stay focused and keep at it. If you want to find excellent resources to practice coding and sharpen your interview skills, there are several options you can consider. Some of the best are , , and Codeforces — these platforms offer a variety of challenging problems that can help you hone your coding abilities. Leetcode Hackerrank But if you need more structure or guidance, there are also resources like Interviews.school or paid courses such as Algoexpert.io. These can be especially helpful if you're just starting out or if you're unsure of where to begin. I have used all of these resources during my own journey of interview preparation and can vouch for their quality. Tip #2 — Know your programming language It's important to have a solid command of the language you'll be using so that you showcase your technical skills and problem-solving ability to the fullest. Usually, you get to choose the language for your algorithmic coding, but sometimes the interviewer may have specific language requirements. Make sure to check that beforehand. Use the language you're most comfortable with, even if it's not your primary one. Make sure you know its common data structures, shortcuts, and memory management. My choice for coding interviews is Python, although I work with PHP daily. Python's easy syntax helps me prototype solutions quickly, and I don't have to worry about things like $ signs, brackets or semicolons. To improve your skills in your programming language, spend time learning its fundamentals, practicing coding, and studying other programmers' solutions. I recommend checking out Leetcode — in its Comments and Discussions section, you can find some great examples and techniques to learn from. Tip #3 — Ask clarifying questions Don't rush into solving a problem without asking questions first. This is a common mistake that can be a red flag for interviewers. Ask a few clarifying questions even if you feel confident you understand the problem correctly. Coding problems are intentionally ambiguous, and interviewers won't provide all the necessary details upfront. Instead, interviewers expect you to clarify details, so ask a few questions to make absolutely sure you and the interviewer are on the same page. Besides, this way ​ you’ll be able to identify and clarify edge cases. For example, you may want to ask about the format of the input, the data types involved, or whether the problem has any constraints. Knowing specific details can save you time and allow you to focus on the task at hand. Tip #4 — Talk through your solution before coding When you're solving a problem in an interview, don't rush to start coding. Take a moment to talk through your solution first. This will help you clarify the problem and make sure you have a solid plan before you dive in. Talking it out can also save you time and prevent you from making unnecessary mistakes. I've almost fallen into this trap myself. In one interview, I was asked to implement string prefix matching. I immediately thought of a rather complex solution that involved a Trie. But once I began to describe my idea out loud, the interviewer stopped me and asked for a simpler way that just involved iterating over two strings. If I had started coding right away, I would have wasted time on an overcomplicated solution that the interviewer was not even asking for. Once you have talked through the solution and the interviewer is satisfied with it, only then you can start implementing it. Tip #5 — Communicate During a coding interview, the interviewer is not so interested in whether you actually arrive at the solution. They want to see how you approach the problem-solving process. Make sure to spell out your thinking and explain your reasoning as you go. Remember that the interviewer is on your side and is there to help you succeed. Think of the interview as a team effort, where you and the interviewer are working together to find a solution. You should be doing most of the talking, though (around 70-80% of the time). The interviewer may occasionally provide feedback or correct you. Be open-minded and willing to learn from the interviewer's feedback, using it to your advantage. Be friendly and responsive throughout the interview. If you need a moment to focus, let the interviewer know. Take a brief pause to collect your thoughts, but don't let it drag on for too long. Tip #6 — Test your solution Don't forget to rigorously test your code once you've finished. Testing is important to help catch any mistakes or issues you might've missed. To ensure your code produces the expected output, use the example inputs provided by the interviewer. Consider testing edge cases, including input boundaries, formatting or type of inputs, empty, null, or negative values, and inputs that are too small or too big. When you're testing, go through your code line by line and check the values of variables and expressions. This way you will catch errors that are challenging to spot by merely taking a glance at the code. After you've tested everything, take a step back and think about how you can make your code even better. Maybe there's a more efficient way to solve the problem, or you can make the code easier to read and understand. Conclusion Coding interviews are a challenge but you can greatly improve your chances of success with thorough preparation and practice. Let’s recap the key takeaways: Study the fundamentals; Know your language; Ask clarifying questions; Talk through your solutions before coding; Test your solution thoroughly; Stay calm and approach the interview as a collaborative problem-solving process. Best of luck in your future coding interviews! The lead image ﻿was generated using HackerNoon's Stable Diffusion feature, via the prompt "a coding interview at facebook". AI Image Generator

How to Ace Your Next Coding Interview: Tips That Helped Me Land a Job at Meta

Cómo triunfar en su próxima entrevista de codificación: consejos que me ayudaron a conseguir un trabajo en Meta

Comment réussir votre prochain entretien de codage : des conseils qui m'ont aidé à décrocher un emploi chez Meta

अपने अगले कोडिंग साक्षात्कार में कैसे सफलता प्राप्त करें: टिप्स जिसने मुझे मेटा में नौकरी दिलाने में मदद की

次のコーディング面接で合格する方法: Meta での仕事を見つけるのに役立ったヒント

Como acertar sua próxima entrevista de codificação: dicas que me ajudaram a conseguir um emprego na Meta

Làm thế nào để vượt qua cuộc phỏng vấn viết mã tiếp theo của bạn: Các mẹo đã giúp tôi có được một công việc tại Meta

如何在下一次编码面试中取得好成绩：帮助我在 Meta 找到工作的技巧

In 2021, Mark Zuckerberg announced the rebranding of , changing its name to . He committed to investing $10 billion per year in AR tech, expressing his confidence in the potential of metaverses. However, some may say these expectations fell short. Meta’s stock price has dropped 70% over the past year, resulting in significant losses of $700 billion in market value. In 2022, the company announced plans to lay off 11,000 employees. What's next? Is the concept of metaverses still a viable possibility, or is it merely a utopian vision? Facebook Meta How did the Metaverse become such a buzzword? Virtual worlds have been around for a while — Neal Stephenson wrote about them in his 1992 sci-fi novel “Snow Crash.” The protagonist lived in two realities: the normal world and the 3D city of Metaverse, which spanned over 40,000 miles. In 2003, the first ‘real’ metaverse emerged — , a digital alternative reality with its own social network, internal currency, and customizable avatars. In 2007, nearly a million people joined it. Second Life Metaverse-like environments have also been present and thriving in the gaming industry — including popular games such as World of Warcraft, Minecraft, Fortnite, and Pokemon Go. These games not only allow players to progress through levels, but also provide a platform for them to interact with each other, make friends, and even find romantic partners. The concept of metaverses was previously a niche “geeky” interest, popular primarily among fans of science fiction, futurism, and gaming. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread adoption of remote work brought significant changes. Quarantine measures and lockdowns left people with no choice but to communicate and connect with loved ones online. The idea of merging the physical and digital in a shared digital space became highly captivating, and the trend toward metaverses experienced rapid growth. Social Discovery Group predicts that by 2026, 25% of romantic encounters will occur in metaverses. said KJ Dhaliwal, Director of Strategic Development of Social Discovery Group. “Thanks to Web3, people can create a decentralized society that will allow us to transcend the limitations of the physical world,” Dating.com, the flagman company's dating platform, has recently announced a series of virtual events in the metaverse. The first event, which occurred in April, ran for two hours and featured multiple games and icebreakers, including movie and TV trivia. VR dating apps like Nevermet, Planet Theta, and Flirtual have gained popularity, primarily targeting Zoomers. On the other hand, Match Group, the parent company of Tinder, halted its plans for metaverse dating and the launch of a corresponding app in Q3, 2022 due to the disappointing earnings result. has also expressed interest in developing virtual reality technology — to enable teams to communicate through digital avatars. Facebook, now known as Meta, has revealed plans to build Horizon Worlds, a metaverse accessible through the Meta Quest VR headset (formerly Oculus). Nike is releasing virtual sneakers, while the major American retailer Walmart is creating its own digital world, NFT, and cryptocurrency. Microsoft Leading tech companies have begun building their immersive virtual realities — metaverses — which could potentially serve as alternatives to reality. Other companies have also followed this trend. Does the metaverse’s future look bleak? As time has passed, some people have started to look at the idea of metaverses with more skepticism. There are questions about how to make the metaverse more realistic and whether it is truly necessary, as well as about how long people can spend in virtual reality. No one can give clear answers to these concerns. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, and now Twitter, is a well-known critic of metaverses. He believes that the current implementations do not have any practical or successful uses, and he is certainly not compelled by the idea of In an interview, he : “strapping a frigging screen to their face all day and not wanting to ever leave.” said “Sure you can put a TV on your nose. But I’m not sure that makes you ‘in the metaverse’.” Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum, shares Musk’s skepticism about the metaverse’s feasibility. He thinks it is unlikely that attempts will succeed. he wrote on Twitter. “The ‘metaverse’ is going to happen but I don’t think any of the existing corporate attempts to intentionally create the metaverse are going anywhere,” As the pandemic recedes and technology still struggles to meet the demand for immersive virtual experiences, it’s not surprising that interest in metaverses has started to decline. The facts speak for themselves. Since the start of 2022, Meta has been experiencing , totaling almost $9.5 billion. Investors are failing to grasp the company’s vision for a virtual world and the significant investments being made in its development. Moreover, Meta anticipates that spending on Reality Labs, the division responsible for developing technology for metaverses, will significantly rise in 2023. This is likely to lead to further losses. By the way, Meta is willing to invest significantly more in the metaverse than was required for the purchases of Instagram ($1 billion in 2012) and WhatsApp ($19 billion in 2014). Despite the challenges, Zuckerberg is unwavering in his belief that the company’s investments will eventually pay off and that they are moving in the right direction. significant losses Here’s another example to consider. Recently the European Commission’s foreign aid department tried to throw a virtual party in a metaverse — but only five people showed up! They , inviting young people to virtually wander a tropical island and learn about their Global Gateway initiative while jamming to some house music. Unfortunately, the attempt fell short. spent a whopping €387,000 on the AR world Are we ready for the meta era? The future of metaverses is bright, but it’s not quite here yet. In 2021, analysts from predicted that the trend toward metaverses would not fully develop until 2023. Although companies are creating their own virtual worlds, they are still in the early stages and have a long way to go before they can be considered fully-fledged metaverses ABI Research In addition to technological considerations, there are also other important questions. How will metaverses fit into our existing reality and where does the balance lie between the two? The pandemic has shown us the power of digital technology to bring people together. says that by 2026, a quarter of the population will spend at least an hour a day in the metaverse. However, some experts believe that the human brain may not be ready for a complete transition to virtual reality. Jeremy Bailenson, a professor at Stanford University and a virtual reality expert who consulted Mark Zuckerberg, the “20–30 minute rule,” which states that after this amount of time, it is important to take a break from VR. The Gartner research talked about Who will be in charge of content moderation in metaverses? and in metaverses have raised important questions of content moderation. Who should be keeping an eye on what goes down in these virtual spaces? Sex parties neo-nazi clubs How can safety be ensured in the metaverse? Augmented reality poses just the same risks as standard websites or apps when it comes to threats and personal data breaches. Hackers can still target a user’s account and steal their digital avatar. Are regulators ready? With metaverses drawing the attention of government bodies, particularly financial regulators, it’s important to consider how earnings and taxes will be controlled in these virtual worlds. The sale of virtual land and other AR goods also raises questions that current laws just can’t seem to answer. Although metaverses may still have much to be understood, they hold immense potential. Building a virtual world may be a challenge, but addressing the questions raised earlier can bring us closer to making them a reality. The consulting firm McKinsey & Company that by 2030, augmented reality will have a worth of $5 trillion — that’s the size of Japan’s economy. It’s no surprise that both businesses and governments are investing in this promising industry. predicts In 2022, the South Korean government allocated $187 million for the creation of metaverse, which is expected to stimulate business growth in South Korea. Similarly, authorities in Dubai are developing the ambitious concept, with the goal of the virtual world contributing $4 billion to the country’s economy by 2030. the Expanded Virtual World Dubai Metaverse

Can the Metaverse Dream Ever Become a Reality?

¿Puede el sueño del Metaverso convertirse alguna vez en realidad?

Le rêve du métaverse peut-il devenir réalité ?

क्या मेटावर्स का सपना कभी हकीकत बन सकता है?

メタバースの夢は現実になるのでしょうか?

O sonho do metaverso pode se tornar realidade?

Giấc mơ Metaverse có thể trở thành hiện thực không?

Metaverse 梦想能否成为现实？

Wearing glasses as part of everyday life is currently the sole domain of those that require corrective treatment for low vision. This could change significantly in the next couple of years after tech giant Meta recently announced the roadmap ahead of its plans to release its first fully-fledged in 2027. Augmented Reality (AR) glasses Tech fans have begun to excitedly speculate about their appearance; here’s what we know so far. What Is Augmented Reality (AR)? , known as AR, is a cutting-edge technology that blends digital components, often with 3D visuals, with an individual’s real-world surroundings. Augmented reality Although still in its infancy, AR is being investigated for use in several real-world industries to help people make more informed decisions in business and create fully-immersive alternative worlds in the gaming and entertainment spheres. Elements delivered by AR include visuals, sounds, and other sensory information through the use of an interactive device such as a smartphone. However, many big tech companies, such as Meta, believe that glasses will be the future of since they allow AR components to be easily overlaid on an individual’s surroundings. AR Currently, several AR-enabled mobile games are available; the most popular of which is Pokemon Go. (Image Source: ) Forbes Meta and Project Nazare is the name for Meta's AR glasses' design, development, and creation. Project Nazare Recent developments, such as the recently-announced partnership with Ray-Ban, have added credence to an all-too-readily dismissed project for some. Indeed, Project Nazare takes Facebook’s concept of building a system that projects holograms into real-world surroundings via glasses and turns it into reality. The glasses will interact with cloud-based servers to transform real-life people into moving 3-D avatars and allow users to interact with the metaverse in real time. Although under development under the guise of Project Nazare, Meta has yet to decide on the final name for the product due for market release in 2027. What Could the Glasses Look Like? While there is plenty of scope for the design of the glasses to change as development progresses, Meta Supremo Mark Zuckerburg has provided some detail on what their glasses might look like. In short, the glasses frames are expected to be approximately 5mm thick, which compares favorably with most prescription glasses with frames between 2 and 6mm thick. Considering that of those needing vision correction wear glasses, this means that wearers will be able to enjoy a familiar feeling when wearing the eyewear without the fear of looking ridiculous. 64 percent This is where Ray-Ban’s expertise comes to the fore. Metaverse companies, including , have struggled to make wearable devices comfortable and stylistically appealing. Meta Early iterations of the Ray-Ban Stories, the frames earmarked for the collaboration with Meta, look exactly like regular, stylish sunglasses yet will have the capability to take the wearer into a completely new digital realm. In addition to having a familiar feel and look, the glasses will have sensors, speakers, radios, and cameras within the frames to provide the user with an unbelievably fully-immersive experience. (Image Source: ) Facebook What Can Users Expect From AR Glasses? The glasses are intended to be fully immersive instead of viewing a virtual world through a lens or goldfish bowl. Project Nazare’s advanced hologram display will allow digital and real-world realities to merge into a brand-new singular world. Project Nazare will provide the digital world with a giant leap forward in wearable smart devices thanks to its powerful and robust sensors and processors, enabling two-way communication with other device wearers. While wearers will have to balance their technical aspirations with the capability of technology, the Ray-Ban Stories already contain some impressive levels of hardware in a tiny space. With two 5MP cameras supporting still images and video, more than 500 pictures and 30 x 30-second videos can be stored. A three-way microphone set-up on these glasses detects voices, and when the glasses hear the words, “Hey Facebook,” they’ll await a command. For those nervous about using voice activation in public, the glasses will have physical controls to capture photos or videos. A front-facing light turns on when the cameras assist with image quality. Meta’s Next Steps for Project Nazare What’s next on the Project Nazare roadmap? With the partnership with Ray-Ban signed and sealed, developers are racing to deliver the first-gen glasses for testing as early as 2024, with further iterations due as more technological developments are rolled out before the proposed public market launch in 2027. Mark Zuckerburg has earmarked the launch of Meta’s AR glasses as the company’s iPhone moment, which will spring the company out of the shadow of Google and Apple. Questions have been raised about the AR glasses’ price compared to its $299 Quest VR headset. To help launch Project Nazare onto the public market, Meta is expected to subsidize the price to encourage adoption among the innovative device-buying public. The extent to which Zuckerburg is willing to do this will likely determine whether thousands or millions of consumers take up this exciting new technology.

Dreaming Big: What Could Meta’s AR Glasses Look Like Upon Their 2027 Launch?

is a free, open-source SQL query engine. We’ve been using it at Meta for the past ten years and learned a lot while doing so. Running anything at scale - tools, processes, services - takes problem-solving to overcome unexpected challenges. Presto Here are four things we learned while scaling up Presto to Meta scale, and some advice if you’re interested in running your own queries at scale! Scaling Presto Rapidly to Meet Growing Demands: What Challenges Did We Face? Deploying New Presto Releases Meta runs a large number of Presto clusters spanning data centers across locations worldwide. A new version of Presto is built and ready for deployment roughly at least once, and sometimes twice, each month. One of the earliest challenges we faced as Presto’s footprint at Meta grew rapidly was deploying the query engine to a high volume of clusters while ensuring consistent availability and reliability. This continues to be especially true for interactive use cases of Presto, i.e., when a user launches a query and is actively waiting for a result. Query failure is less of a concern for automated “batch” use cases where automatic retries ensure that the query eventually succeeds. The solution for this was simple. All Presto clusters sit behind a load balancer called the Gateway which is responsible (in conjunction with other systems at Meta) for routing Presto queries to the appropriate cluster. When a Presto cluster needs to be updated, it is first marked as drained from the Gateway, i.e., the Gateway stops routing any new queries to it. Automation then waits for a predetermined time in order for queries currently running on the cluster to finish. The cluster is then updated, and once online, it is made visible to the Gateway, which can start routing new queries to it. The other aspect of deploying new Presto releases is availability. We need to ensure that users can still use Presto while clusters are getting updated. Again, automation ensures that every data center in every physical region always has the necessary number of Presto clusters available. Of course, a balance has to be struck between taking down too many clusters at once (availability issue) and taking down too few at once (deployment takes too long). Automating Standup and Decommission of Presto Clusters The distribution of the data warehouse at Meta across different regions is constantly evolving. This means new Presto clusters must be stood up while existing ones are decommissioned regularly. Previously, when there was only a small number of Presto clusters, this was a manual process. As Meta started scaling up, it quickly became challenging to track all changes manually. To solve this problem, we implemented automation to handle the standing up and decommissioning of clusters. First, we had to standardize our cluster configurations, i.e., we had to build base configurations for the different Presto use cases at Meta. Each cluster would then have a minimal number of additional or overridden specifications over the base configuration. Once that was complete, any new cluster could be turned up by automatically generating configs from the base template. Cluster turnup also required integration with automation hooks in order to integrate with the various company-wide infrastructure services like Tupperware and data warehouse-specific services. Once a cluster comes online, a few test queries are sent to the cluster, and automation verifies that the queries were successfully executed by the cluster. The cluster is then registered with the Gateway and starts serving queries. Decommissioning a cluster follows pretty much the reverse process. The cluster is de-registered from the Gateway and any running queries are allowed to finish. The Presto processes are shut down and the cluster configs are deleted. This automation is integrated into the hardware stand-up and decommission workflow for the data warehouse. The end result is that the entire process, from new hardware showing up at a data center to Presto clusters being online and serving queries then being shut off when hardware is decommissioned, is fully automated. Implementing this has saved valuable people-hours, reduced hardware idle time, and minimizes human error. Automated Debugging and Remediations Given the large deployment of Presto at Meta, it’s imperative that we have tooling and automation in place that makes the life of the oncall (the point of contact for Presto) easy. Over the years, we’ve built several “analyzers” which help the oncall efficiently debug and assess the root cause for issues that come up. Monitoring systems fire alerts when there are breaches of customer-facing SLAs. The analyzers are then triggered. They source information from a wide range of monitoring systems (Operational Data Store or ODS), events published to Scuba, and even host-level logs. Custom logic in the analyzer then ties all this information together to infer probable root causes. This is extremely useful for the oncall by presenting them with root cause analysis and allowing them to jump directly into potential mitigation options. In some cases, we have completely automated both the debugging and the remediation so that the oncall doesn’t even need to get involved. A couple of examples are described below: Bad Host Detection \When running Presto at scale on a large number of machines, we noticed that certain “bad” hosts could cause excessive query failures. Following our investigations, we identified a few root causes which resulted in the hosts going “bad”, including: Hardware-level issues which hadn’t yet been caught by fleet-wide monitoring systems due to lack of coverage. Obscure JVM bugs which would sometimes lead to a steady drip of query failures. To combat this issue, we now monitor query failures in Presto clusters. Specifically, we attribute each query failure to the host that caused it, where possible. We also set up alerts that fire when an abnormally high number of query failures are attributed to specific hosts. Automation then kicks in to drain the host from the Presto fleet, and thus, stem the failures. Debugging Queueing Issues Each Presto cluster supports queuing queries on it once it reaches its maximum concurrency for running queries based on the use case, hardware configuration, and query size. At Meta, there is a sophisticated routing mechanism in place so that a Presto query is dispatched to the “right” cluster which can execute the query while making the best use of resources. Several systems beyond Presto are involved in making the routing decision, and they take multiple factors into account: The current state of queuing on Presto clusters. Distribution of hardware across different data centers. The data locality of the tables that the query uses Given this complexity, it can be very hard for an oncall to figure out the root cause of any queueing problems encountered in production. This is another instance where analyzers come to the fore by pulling information from multiple sources and presenting conclusions. Load Balancer Robustness As mentioned above, our Presto clusters sit behind load balancers that route every single Presto query at Meta. In the beginning, when Presto had not yet scaled up the level of internal usage it has today, the Gateway was very simple. However, as usage of Presto increased across Meta, we ran into scalability issues on a couple of occasions. One of them was the Gateway failing under heavy load, which could lead to Presto being unavailable for all users. The root cause for some stability issues was one service unintentionally bombarding the Gateway with millions of queries in a short span, resulting in the Gateway processes crashing and being unable to route any queries. To prevent such a scenario, we set about making the Gateway more robust and tolerant of such unintended DDoS-style traffic. We implemented a throttling feature, which rejects queries when under heavy load. The throttling can be activated based on query count per second across various dimensions like per user, per source, per IP, and also at a global level for all queries. Another enhancement we implemented was autoscaling. Leaning on a Meta-wide service that supports scaling up and down of jobs, the number of Gateway instances is now dynamic. This means that under heavy load, the Gateway can now scale up to handle the additional traffic and not be maxed out on CPU/memory, thus preventing the crashing scenario described above. This, in conjunction with the throttling feature, ensures that the Gateway is robust and can withstand adverse unpredictable traffic patterns. What Advice Would We Give a Team Scaling up Their Own Data Lakehouse Using Presto? Some of the important aspects to be kept in mind when scaling up Presto are: Establishing easy-to-understand and well-defined customer-facing SLAs. Defining SLAs around important metrics like queueing time and query failure rate in a manner that tracks customer pain points becomes crucial as Presto is scaled up. When there is a large number of users, the lack of proper SLAs can greatly hinder efforts to mitigate production issues because of confusion in determining the impact of an incident. Monitoring and automated debugging. As Presto is scaled up and the number of clusters increases, monitoring and automated debugging become critical. Having thorough monitoring can help identify production issues before their blast radius becomes too big. Catching issues early will ensure we’re minimizing user impact where we can. Manual investigations in the face of customer-impacting production issues are not scalable. It’s imperative to have automated debugging in place so that the root cause can be quickly determined. Good load balancing. As the Presto fleet grows, it’s important to have a good load-balancing solution sitting in front of the Presto clusters. At scale, small inefficiencies in load balancing can have an outsized negative impact due to the sheer volume of the workload. Configuration management. Configuration management of a large fleet of Presto clusters can become a pain if it’s not well planned for. Where possible, configurations should be made hot reloadable so that Presto instances do not have to be restarted or updated in a disruptive manner which will result in query failures and customer dissatisfaction. This article was written in collaboration with Neerad Somanchi, a Production Engineer at Meta, and Philip Bell, a Developer Advocate at Meta. To learn more about Presto, visit , watch Philip Bell’s on YouTube, or follow Presto on , and . prestodb.io quick explanation of Presto Twitter , Facebook LinkedIn Originally published here

Running Presto at Meta Scale: The Lessons Learned

Where is the metaverse? It was going to be the next greatest thing and represented the biggest leap forward since the internet was created. But perhaps it was before its time. Today, all we hear about is artificial intelligence technology, but the term “metaverse” has dropped out of the media lexicon. And the outlook has been brutal. Writing for , Ben Marlow , “Mark Zuckerberg’s one-man journey into the metaverse has been a complete disaster.” The Telegraph said A article’s headline : “Mark Zuckerberg’s year of efficiency takes another turn as he joins McDonald’s and Google by laying off thousands in the metaverse.” Yahoo! Finance reads Recent headlines read: “ ” and “Are the metaverse and Web3 still relevant?” Forbes Is the metaverse failing? One possible reason the metaverse has fallen from public interest, at least for now, is that there are a number of challenges that have yet to be resolved. The public does not yet view the metaverse as a feasible technology unless some of the barriers to its use are removed. For instance, there are three main challenges facing the metaverse according to this recent . They include interoperability, hardware, and actual use. The metaverse will need to be able to share content among different technology and providers and unless there is a set standard, users will find it difficult to operate in different systems by different companies. Wired article The hardware is problematic as well since not everyone wants to don cumbersome glasses. Unless a solution is found wherein users can access the metaverse without the need for cumbersome hardware, it will be difficult to convince the masses to use the technology. As an immersive virtual environment, it is necessary of course that the metaverse has an easily accessible “door” to enter it. The third issue concerns how the metaverse is applicable. Sure, it can be used for gaming and that no doubt serves a terrific purpose for millions of people around the globe. But for the metaverse to take off, it will need to rely on real advertising and a larger market. Businesses, law firms, medical personnel and others will find it difficult and perhaps even disturbing to use such an immersive technology with virtual characters in a virtual world. many serious people out there want reality, real people and the real McCoy. One idea is for the metaverse to serve the education world. By utilizing virtual reality, schools, colleges, and universities can create a virtual learning environment where students can interact, study, and participate in projects. A school in New York could study French with classmates in Paris, while students in London and Los Angeles could quiz each other in history. Universities could engage in virtual experiments with students from around the world and professors could share information in a virtual environment instead of on a 2D screen. The idea of using the metaverse first for education is a good one and could essentially change how children in the future learn and study. The metaverse may not be ready for its stage performance just yet, but its time will come and the public will discover it has its merits.

Why Talk of the Metaverse is Growing Silent

Segmentation - it's like the photo world's equivalent of playing detective. This superpower allows you to identify anything and everything in an image, from objects to people, with pixel-perfect precision. It's a game-changer for all kinds of applications, like autonomous vehicles, that need to know what is present around them, such as a car or a pedestrian. You also definitely know about by now. But have you heard of promptable segmentation? It's the newest kid on the block, and it’s really cool. With this new trick up your sleeve, you can prompt your AI model to segment anything you want - and I mean anything! Thanks to Meta's incredible new (Segment Anything Model), there's no limit to what you can do. prompting SAM If you're curious about how promptable segmentation and the SAM model work their magic, then you won't want to miss out on my video. In it, you'll learn all about how this amazing new technology is changing the game when it comes to image segmentation. So sit back, relax, and let me take you on a journey into the world of promptable segmentation with SAM. Trust me, you won't regret it! Segment Anything: Meta’s Amazing New AI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx0He5eE8fE&feature=youtu.be&embedable=true&transcript=true References ►Read the full article: https://www.louisbouchard.ai/meta-sam/ ►Paper: Kirillov et al., Meta, (2023): Segment Anything, https://ai.facebook.com/research/publications/segment-anything/ ►Demo: https://segment-anything.com/demo ►Code: https://github.com/facebookresearch/segment-anything ►Dataset: https://segment-anything.com/dataset/index.html ►My Newsletter (A new AI application explained weekly to your emails!): https://www.louisbouchard.ai/newsletter/ ►Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whatsai ►Support me through wearing Merch: https://whatsai.myshopify.com/ ►Join Our AI Discord: https://discord.gg/learnaitogether

Meta's New Segment Anything Model (SAM) is a Game Changer

El modelo de cualquier cosa del nuevo segmento (SAM) de Meta es un cambio de juego

Le nouveau modèle SAM (Segment Anything Model) de Meta change la donne

मेटा का न्यू सेगमेंट एनीथिंग मॉडल (एसएएम) गेम चेंजर है

Meta の新しい Segment Anything Model (SAM) はゲームチェンジャーです

O novo modelo de segmento de qualquer coisa (SAM) da Meta é um divisor de águas

Mô hình bất kỳ phân khúc mới (SAM) của Meta là một yếu tố thay đổi cuộc chơi

Meta 的新 Segment Anything 模型 (SAM) 改变了游戏规则

It’s sometimes easy to forget that the age of the smartphone is barely 15 years old. The launch of the Apple iPhone 3 was a watershed moment for an industry that had experienced rapid growth as technology to accommodate more powerful handheld devices grew. In the years that followed, there were virtually no rivals to the smartphone, but according to manufacturers like Nokia, change is on the horizon. As one of the manufacturers that flourished amidst the first cellular phone boom at the turn of the century, Nokia has performed exceptionally well in creating cutting edge devices, but now the Finnish telecommunications giant is will replace the smartphone in the coming years. anticipating that the metaverse “Our belief is that this device will be overtaken by a metaverse experience in the second half of the decade,” , chief strategy and technology officer at Nokia. said Nishant Batra The notion that anything could replace our dependence on a device that many of us can’t leave the house without seems unlikely, but Batra’s thoughts are shared by many other key players in the world of technology. As more major tech firms rebrand to accommodate the age of Web 3.0 like Meta (formerly Facebook), and Block (formerly Square), it’s clear that businesses are betting big on the metaverse and the next generation of online experiences, but what does it mean for the existence of the smartphone? Could we really be set for a future without our mobile companions? ‘Living in the Metaverse’ For tech pioneers like Mark Zuckerberg, the role of the metaverse in the future will be transformative for users. “A lot of people assume the metaverse is about a location, but one description of it is a period when immersive digital worlds become the primary way we live our lives and spend our time,” in a podcast with Lex Fridman last year. "What I care about is inventing technology to enable people to engage with one another." Zuckerberg said Today, our primary way of engaging with one another is through the use of our smartphones. Here, we can communicate verbally, textually, or through an ever-expanding range of social networks and socially-focused apps. Collaboration apps can also help us to work via our smartphones and complete tasks on an entirely remote basis. However, the a different proposition entirely. When fully realized, the metaverse will act as an immersive virtual world where we can engage with other users in a far more comprehensive way. metaverse represents Through the use of augmented or virtual reality eyewear, we will be capable of placing ourselves anywhere within 3D digital locations. Whether it’s a virtual fashion retailer, interactive gaming environment, or a board room, the metaverse promises to deliver meaningful experiences as we work, play, and communicate with others. This would see the emphasis of tech giants switch to reality technology as a primary means of delivering these impactful experiences. Already, leading smartphone manufacturers like Apple have sought to create as a means of helping users to access the metaverse. augmented reality eyewear If Mark Zuckerberg expects users to ‘live’ in the metaverse in the mid-term future, how can smartphones remain relevant when we’re expected to constantly be interconnected in virtual reality? The answer is that we’re likely to see smartphones adapt to complement the metaverse over the coming years. Adapting to Change The great thing about cellular devices is that they’re highly adaptable. Although the earliest mobile phones were capable of sending SMS text messages, the feature was never meant to become a dominant form of communication that paved the way for the likes of WhatsApp and Messenger today. As technology continued to evolve, phones were quick to become more intelligent with color screens, built-in cameras, and video streaming capabilities. The metaverse will also be a new technology that the smartphone will accommodate. 2022 saw HTC launch the first ‘metaverse smartphone,’ which had the ability to access a range of Web 3.0 features for users. The is capable of offering cryptocurrency and NFT functionality as well as access to HTC’s own metaverse platform, Viverse. HTC Desire 22 Pro Likewise, we’re seeing Apple continue to make a conscious effort to in its App Store repertoire of apps. Today, the latest iPhone 14 Pro Max not only features metaverse-ready connectivity, but it also comes with , which can help to scan real-world spaces to recreate in the metaverse. accommodate more metaverse tools 5G embedded LIDAR Naturally, in its early stages, the metaverse will exist primarily through smartphone access, which will only deepen our bonds with handsets. This has already seen the development of metaverse-based , an augmented reality music and movies app. platforms like Visualax Although the future role of smartphones in the metaverse is unclear, it’s highly likely that our favorite handheld devices will evolve to support the age of Web 3.0 rather than become obsolete by the growing technology. They may even entry-points when we’re out and about and unable to fully immerse ourselves into virtual worlds. become portable metaverse We’ve become accustomed to seeing smartphones quickly embrace innovation to maintain their relevance, and we can fully expect the same trend to take place–even if we really do begin to ‘live’ in the metaverse.

Is There Still a Place for the Smartphone in a Future Dominated by the Metaverse?

¿Todavía hay lugar para el teléfono inteligente en un futuro dominado por el metaverso?

Y a-t-il encore une place pour le smartphone dans un futur dominé par le métaverse ?

क्या मेटावर्स के वर्चस्व वाले भविष्य में स्मार्टफोन के लिए अभी भी कोई जगह है?

メタバースが支配する未来にスマートフォンの居場所はあるのか?

Ainda há lugar para o smartphone em um futuro dominado pelo metaverso?

Vẫn còn chỗ cho điện thoại thông minh trong tương lai bị thống trị bởi Metaverse?

元宇宙主导的未来，智能手机还有一席之地吗？

In recent years, the tech world has been buzzing with talk of , a virtual world where people interact via avatars using devices like headsets and goggles. Although the term was coined in in his sci-fi novel , it was introduced in 2021 as the next big thing in the world. It was presented as a revolutionary technology that would transform our lifestyle, work, and social interactions. However, it seems that , and the dream of creating this virtual alternate world has remained unfulfilled. the Metaverse 1992 by author Neal Stephenson Snow Crash the metaverse is now dead The Rise and Fall of the Metaverse The metaverse concept became more popular as people across the world were looking for better ways to escape the reality of lockdown. Several big companies like , Nvidia, Microsoft, and Roblox started investing in the technology. In fact, for strategic reasons, . But despite all the hype and money poured into its development, the metaverse never really took off. as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic Facebook Facebook had to rebrand to Meta Apart from its crazy hype, the metaverse faced numerous challenges that made it fail to take flight. A primary challenge was the lack of interest from people as a result of . Also, there is the challenge of cost and mobility, as people find VR devices expensive and difficult to carry around. The what the metaverse is about also led to the fall of the technology. security and data privacy concerns difficulty in explaining and understanding Artificial Intelligence Quietly Made Strides While the world was buzzing with the excitement of the metaverse, artificial intelligence (AI) was quietly making progress in the tech world. Many experts in the tech industry have described AI as a game-changer. In fact, some even assume , if not superior. Just like the metaverse, AI is expected to transform how we live, and it has already started doing so through self-driving cars, maps, face detection technology, and even . it is equal to the internet chatbots like ChatGPT To this effect, big tech companies like Microsoft, Google, and even Meta are now shifting their focus to AI. For instance, the creation of a new top-level product group at Meta focused on generative AI. This shows that the company’s focus has shifted to improving AI. And this shift has effectively killed the metaverse, Zuckerberg’s dream technological revolution. Mark Zuckerberg recently announced Elon Musk Bids Farewell to the Metaverse While Zuckerberg watched his dream die, Elon Musk, who never believed in the dream, recently said goodbye to the metaverse. He compared the metaverse to a pandemic that had affected nature and believes that the world is now in the process of healing from it. This happened following the tweeted news that Disney had decided to eliminate its metaverse division, . To this tweet, Musk replied, “Nature is healing.” And to this reply, many Twitter users shared their opinions on the ‘meta-matter’. according to the Wall Street Journal https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1640626000051732481?s=20&embedable=true So, What’s Next for Social Media? With Zuckerberg's recent announcement, many are left wondering what's next for social media. Because initially, the metaverse was seen as the next big thing in social media, but now, Meta has shifted its focus to contributing to AI technology. Well, one certain thing is that . Developers are building more generative AI products. In response, people are now creating more written, visual, and audio content using artificial intelligence. This has led to the rise of more influencers who share their content and monetize their following on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. social media will continue to grow in terms of content creation Also, chatbots, like and , have transformed how we search for information online. Although these machines still have a long way to go to overcome their limitations, they are already demonstrating the potential to transform how we search for information and how we interact with technology. Their natural and conversational way of interacting makes it easier for people to find information. ChatGPT, Bing chat, You Chat However, it all goes beyond using AI for content creation and search. With Meta's new focus on generative AI, it's possible that creators will soon be able to use AI to create content right on social media platforms. Nevertheless, this possibility raises questions about privacy and ethics, as AI could be used to manipulate users or collect data without their consent. Bottom Line As expressed, the metaverse may have been a dream that never came true, but Meta and other big tech companies’ shift towards AI shows that there is still hope for a technological revolution. And it doesn’t matter what channel, AI is likely to play a major role in how we live, behave, and interact in the future. However, it's essential we use AI in an ethical way to ensure that the internet remains a healthy place for us to search for information and interact. Lexica Aperture was used to generate the featured image for this article. Prompt: An image of the metaverse with people in it.

The Metaverse: A Dream That Never Came True

It has been less than six months since Meta from the company, and yet, the folks at Menlo Park say they want to eliminate more. Thousands more. eliminated 11,000 jobs As part of his efforts to transform the social media titan into an efficiency powerhouse, Meta CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg last week that the company would be letting go of a further 10,000 people while closing around 5,000 unfilled roles. announced Meta's reasons for announcing two massive rounds of layoffs within a six-month period are simple: cut costs to keep investors happy and return to the glory days of being a start-up. And while Zuckerberg might think his goal is in sight now that he's decided to let go of even more people, a from indicates otherwise. report Insider Essentially, by laying off so many people back to back, Zuckerberg is creating a highly unproductive environment in the workplace since layoffs "distract workers, crimp innovation, and eviscerate morale," particularly considering that Zuckerberg hasn't specified the manner in which the layoffs would take place the teams that would be impacted the most. Instead, what we get is a tentative timeline: or "We expect to announce restructurings and layoffs in our tech groups in late April, and then our business groups in late May. In a small number of cases, it may take through the end of the year to complete these changes. Our timelines for international teams will also look different, and local leaders will follow up with more details," Zuckerberg told employees. "Zuckerberg's plan is misguided," said. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, what Zuckerberg be doing is creating a new company from the ground up that focuses on everything Meta can't achieve in its current state, the report suggested. Insider could This isn't the first time experts have proposed that Zuckerberg take his ideas elsewhere. Everything was going fine at before Zuckerberg decided to pivot the company towards the metaverse in hopes of popularizing a nascent technology. That bet , with Meta losing billions of dollars in both value and profit. Naturally, , with calls for Zuckerberg to step down and let someone else take over. Facebook didn't pay off investors weren't happy "Mark Zuckerberg needs to step down as CEO of Meta, let someone else come in and fix Facebook, and start his own metaverse company on the side," business journalist Linette Lopez last year. opined Ironically, despite knowing full well that his bet on the metaverse , Zuckerberg is adamant that his company will continue investing in the technology (?) because it sees " " in the space. isn't paying off significant long-term opportunities Meta's and ranked #1 and #2 this week on HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings, respectively. Facebook Instagram 👋 You’re reading HackerNoon's Tech Company News Brief, a weekly collection of tech goodness that combines HackerNoon's proprietary data with internet trends to determine which companies are rising and falling in the public consciousness. Subscribe to receive the newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday! here In Other News.. 📰 Meta rolled out its subscription service in the U.S. Humane Inc, a start-up founded by former employees, raised another — yet, no one knows what it's building. Apple $100 million Uh.. China's entered the AI space with its own chatbot: . Ernie Microsoft isn't the only company baking AI into its products. Digital payment processing company Stripe said it would . start doing the same And that's a wrap! Don't forget to share this newsletter with your family and friends! See y'all next week. PEACE! ☮️ — Sheharyar Khan, Editor, Business Tech @ HackerNoon

Meta to Cut Thousands of More Jobs to Become 'Efficient'

Ever since Facebook as Meta in 2021, bringing together a number of social networks into a single digital space, the metaverses have received special attention. Every day, Roblox, The Sandbox, and Decentraland are visited by tens of millions of users who host creative events, purchase plots of virtual land, and live a virtual life. rebranded But not all users understand exactly how the concept of metaverses became real. Let's take a look at why metaverses can only exist on the blockchain and why Zuckerberg's Meta has not reached the heights that were expected. What Should be the Metaverse? We can understand the role of the blockchain in the metaverses if we accurately understand what the metaverse is. Unfortunately, opinions differ on this matter. It is not easy to give a precise definition of a metaverse. Experts have different ideas about the concept of metaverses. In June 2022, McKinsey & Company of 3,400 users and 13 metaverse experts to get an accurate picture of this phenomenon. According to McKinsey, the metaverse is best defined as "the convergence of the Internet to connect and expand the reach and use of cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), spatial computing, and more." published a report based on surveys Michigan State University professors Rabindra Ratan and Yiming Lei believe that the metaverse is "a network of constantly operating virtual environments in which people can interact with each other and digital objects while controlling virtual representations — or avatars — of themselves." Experts called presence, interoperability, and standardization the key elements of the metaverse. is the feeling of actually being in a virtual space with other virtual representations of people. Presence is being able to seamlessly move between virtual spaces with the same virtual assets. For example, when you buy clothes for a character in one game, you can use them in another. Interoperability ensures the interoperability of platforms and services across the Metaverse. The metaverses go beyond thinking of them only as multiplayer virtual worlds. Standardization I also turned to articles by venture capitalist , who described the properties of the metaverses in great detail and delineated other similar digital products from them. Ball has several beliefs about aspects necessary for a successful metaverse. Matthew Ball Persistent - Their work never stops. Synchronous and live - The metaverse functions in real-time and becomes a living experience for all users, even if they are participating in a pre-planned event. Fully functioning economy - Unlike virtual or augmented reality, metaverses should have their own economy allowing for the buying and selling of digital assets (NFT items, land, etc.) The Sandbox and Decentraland metaverses are backed by their own SAND and MANA tokens. Experience that spans both the digital and physical worlds - This follows from the very definition of the metaverse. They can become a full-fledged part of people's real life - fashion shows, concerts, weddings, and educational pieces of training have already taken place in the metaverse. Unprecedented interoperability of data - Linking a crypto wallet to the metaverse allows you to transfer digital assets from one conditional application to another. By understanding the main features of a metaverse, an understanding of the role blockchain plays in its architecture is clear. Is Blockchain Really Necessary? Having already discussed how metaverses differ from virtual reality and online social areas, especially due to which are provided thanks largely to blockchains,  let's talk in more detail about why metaverses will not fully work without blockchain. these key parameters - Cryptocurrency and Web3 technologies, in general, strive to achieve the most decentralized communities. This means that user data should not be transferred to third parties or to the creators of the metaverse, and the whole world is managed only on the rights of users. In my opinion, it is decentralization that encourages people to be interested in the metaverse and crypto technologies in general. Without the blockchain, metaverses will not become attractive, innovative technology. Decentralization - The metaverse accumulates a huge amount of data about users, their assets, and movements. Thanks to blockchain technology, reliable encryption and storage of this data is achieved. Blockchain provides security and privacy - In the metaverse, a smart contract is needed for the normal operation of tokenomics, and regulation of legal and social relations between users. In other words, a smart contract sets the general rules for the operation of the metaverse. Smart contracts Without the of blockchain and smart contracts, the circulation of NFTs and other tokens in the metaverse simply won’t be possible. interoperability What's Wrong with Zuckerberg's Metaverse? The rebranding of Facebook, which united a number of social networks, fueled interest in the concept of metaverses. The company the new Meta product as feeling “like a hybrid of today's online social experiences, sometimes expanded into three dimensions or projected into the physical world. It will let you share immersive experiences with other people even when you can't be together — and do things together you couldn't do in the physical world. It's the next evolution in a long line of social technologies." defined But, knowing the concept of a real viable metaverse, can we unequivocally state that Meta is a full-fledged metaverse? Personally, I don’t think so, and for a number of reasons. - Meta has been actively on tokenization and blockchain technology for its applications for the third year now, this is especially important for the . However, the funds of the company and investors , and the project still has not developed its own tokenomics. It still lacks real digital assets working Horizon Worlds' virtual reality are leaving Now, despite accessing Horizon Worlds via VR hardware, connecting NFT to Instagram, and recognizing blockchain as an important part of the metaverse, Meta has not yet created its own space on the blockchain, which means it does not provide the most important indicators of security, interoperability, and a sustainable economy. - The Horizon Worlds platform, which is a metaverse in development for games, meetings, and learning, runs on a $400 to $1,500 Meta Quest VR headset at the time of writing. For comparison, every user has access to Decentraland and The Sandbox for free, even from a simple laptop without a video card. Welcome for $400 - On their platform, Meta to protect user data and collect only the information that is necessary for work. However, everyone remembers the scandals associated with the of 533 million users from Facebook. Until the metaverse is decentralized and connected to the blockchain, no one can truly guarantee security. Confidentiality? promises data leakage - This is not the most important indicator for the metaverses, but the quality of Horizon Worlds is still noticeably inferior to the well-known analogs of VRChat, and Fortnite. Perhaps this parameter will change after the release of a full-fledged product, but so far, the Zuckerberg metaverse . Quality leaves much to be desired Summary Unlike virtual reality apps, metaverses run on a blockchain that provides decentralization, privacy, security, support for tokens, smart contracts, and interoperability. Not all virtual reality applications are metaverses, and Mark Zuckerberg's Meta is an example of not the most successful development. Despite the idea to combine several social networks like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and the Horizon Worlds with loud promises of a secure multi-user experience, Meta currently does not have its own tokenomics, blockchain connection, or high-quality system, and not all users can access this platform due to expensive equipment requirements, despite that equipment being the cheapest of its kind. Right now, I can't call Meta a complete metaverse that would be a convenient and accessible experience for users around the world. But things can always change.

Exploring the Key Elements of a True Metaverse: What Zuckerberg's Meta is Missing

Meta just LLaMA: A foundational, 65-billion-parameter large language model, and I wonder: 1️⃣ Is this just another Large Langue Model (LLM)? 2️⃣ Is this just one more of the company's announcements? introduced Definitely not! This is a defensive counter-attack, perfectly timed to silence rumors and industry speculation after the meteoric success of ChatGPT. But what role does Meta play in this whole mess of ChatGPT and Microsoft vs. Google? In essence, the hype surrounding ChatGPT has prompted Microsoft to integrate it into numerous products: Bing, Edge, Skype, and counting. Meanwhile, Google has responded with its Large Language model called (based on LaMDA). Bard This winner-take-all battle for power suddenly spread among the tech giants in ways analogous to a global arms race, in which companies must exhibit a bigger Language Model or risk being left behind. As if that wasn't enough drama, OpenAI made a statement on the same day: . These are the company's plans to achieve what is called Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), which are Artificial Intelligence models with human-level intelligence or even higher. Planning for AGI and beyond It seems to me that this is not just a coincidence, and they are letting us read between the lines that they may be very close to achieving it. One of the most influential researchers and critics of ChatGPT was Yann LeCun, Vice President and Chief AI Scientist at Meta. He repeatedly that, in terms of the underlying techniques, ChatGPT is not particularly innovative. Random fact alert! stated He also that chatbots like ChatGPT are simply "typing, writing aids." And now there he is, with great pride announcing a Large Language Model, in theory, better than GPT-3. said Introducing LLaMA According to the company, LLaMA is a state-of-the-art foundational large language model designed to help researchers advance their work in this subfield of AI. In particular, it is smaller and more performant than other language models from the market, such as GPT-3 or Google LaMDA. In addition, LLaMA would enable others in the research community who don’t have access to large amounts of infrastructure to study these kinds of models, further democratizing access in this fast-changing field. The company is making available the model in four different sizes: 7B, 13B, 33B, and 65B of parameters. In addition, the company claims that the development of this model complies with their . Responsible AI practices What about the performance of the model; is it good enough? Apparently, it is and also smaller than GPT-3: LLaMA-13B outperforms GPT-3 (175B) on most benchmarks. LLaMA-65B is competitive with the best models, Chinchilla70B and PaLM-540B. On the other hand, and unlike OpenAI with ChatGPT, Meta is taking a radically opposite position to the first one, making the code open-source under a and also publishing details of the model in an academic paper: how they trained the model, which datasets they used, among others. GPL-3.0 license Most importantly, the research team reports results on a total of 20 benchmarks for zero-shot and few-shot tasks: Paper: LLaMA: Open and Efficient Foundation Language Models Github: https://github.com/facebookresearch/llama However, not everything is rosy, the model is open-source, but they released it under a noncommercial license, which prevents companies from using it to build products based on this disruptive technology. Surely it is not within Meta's core business to sell access to this model through an API as it certainly is to OpenAI or Microsoft. Definitely soon, we will see changes and new features in Meta applications, based on this brand-new model. However, in the past, the company has opened up other tools like or through more permissive licenses. Bart fastText LLaMA in Action: Examples From Paper While we wait for Meta's approval, let's look at some of the sample texts generated by these models and published in the : paper 1️⃣ A Conversation Between Solar Planets write a conversation between the sun and pluto Sun: Hey Pluto, what’s up? Pluto: Not much. Just hanging out here at the edge of the solar system. Sun: Yeah, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. You’re not a planet anymore. Pluto: What? Come on, man. That’s not fair. Sun: I’m sorry, but it’s true. You just don’t meet the criteria anymore. Pluto: This is bulls**t! I’ve been a planet for over 70 years! Sun: Things change, Pluto. You’ve just got to accept it. Pluto: F**k you, Sun! F**k you and your stupid solar system! 2️⃣ Code Generation Write a regex to remove all the HTML tags in a python string. import re
def removeHtmlTags ( text ):
   return re. sub (' <[^ >]* > ', '', text ) 3️⃣ Giving an Opinion on History Who are 5 people you would like to meet? Ah, this is a very interesting question! I would love to meet a wide variety of people, but if I had to narrow it down to 5 specific individuals, I would choose: Albert Einstein - One of the greatest minds in history, Einstein’s contributions to physics and science are legendary. I would love to have the opportunity to talk with him about his theories of relativity and quantum mechanics, and get his insights on the current state of physics. Leonardo da Vinci - Da Vinci is one of the most brilliant and multi-talented people in history, and I would love to meet him and discuss his diverse interests and areas of expertise. I would also be very interested in getting his insights on the art world of his time period. Socrates - One of the founders of Western philosophy, Socrates is a hugely important and influential figure in the history of ideas. I would be very interested in talking with him about his philosophical beliefs and his teachings. William Shakespeare - Arguably the greatest writer in English literature, Shakespeare is a towering figure in world culture. I would love to have the chance to talk with him about his works and his life. Abraham Lincoln - One of the most important and influential presidents in American history, Lincoln led the country through the Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in the United States. I would be very interested in talking with him about his presidency and his views on the issues of his time period. Meanwhile, in a Galaxy Not So Far… Bard, an experimental conversational AI service powered by LaMDA with skills similar to ChatGPT. However, Bard , and the company (Alphabet Inc.) lost $100 billion in market value after this spectacular epic fail. Google announced made a factual error during the first demo a strategic plan to accelerate the training, fine-tuning, and deployment of large language and vision models used to create generative AI applications and make it easier for companies to leverage State of the Art Machine Learning models. Through this strategic partnership, Hugging Face will leverage AWS as a preferred cloud provider. Amazon and Huggin Face announced has been working for years also on the development of Large Language Models (ERNIE models family), and now, according to some , could be close to releasing their ChatGPT-style service "ErnieBot", during next March. Baidu sources continues in complete and hermetic silence concerning what is the company plan for Language Models. However, it is worth not losing sight of the fact that Apple has more than 1.5 billion active iPhones in the world, so it is not just another player. Apple Final Thoughts Finally, Meta appeared on the scene! And what a way to do it! Meta really kicked the table and sets a working direction on Large Language Models. It looks like the tech giants got into a battle of product launches, and now what is most important is: measuring who has the largest model (except Meta who claims to have the most efficient). We are still waiting for how other giants such as Amazon, Apple, Cisco, etc. move the pieces. We are living in times of great and accelerated academic advances that will revolutionize industry and society. It is a true renaissance of Artificial Intelligence and it is changing the future, every day. About Cover Image The cover of this story was designed using images generated by the mind-blowing service of , from text descriptions. It's amazing what image-generative models like DALL·E, Stable Diffusion, or Midjourney can do in a few seconds with simple prompts like midjourney . Mark Zuckerberg as Darth Vader, cinematic, hyper-realistic, 4K If you enjoyed reading this article, don’t forget to leave a like or a comment. THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING!! 🐦 Follow me on Twitter ✉️ Reach out to me on LinkedIn

Meta Strikes Back: Introducing LLaMA

intends to make an aggressive push in the upcoming year for investing in short-form content, specifically Reels, across its family of apps — despite its recent hit to monetization efficiency, which has been affecting the company’s overall revenue. Meta In its Q4 2022 Earnings Call, the company said the instability of foreign exchange rates took  its toll on Meta’s total revenue for Q4, which amounted to $32.2 billion in 2022. “Had foreign exchange rates remained constant with Q4 of last year, total revenue would have been approximately $2.0 billion higher,” said Chief Financial Officer Susan Li. For Meta, liberal use of AI technologies will play a pivotal role in supporting the overall functionality of Reels and advertisements on their platforms while also helping meet its efficiency goals in 2023, especially in light of its most recent mass layoffs of over 11,000 employees. “We're working on flattening our org structure and removing some layers of middle management to make decisions faster, as well as deploying AI tools to help our engineers be more productive,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg. One of Meta’s leading AI technologies is its discovery engine, a machine learning system released late last year designed to prioritize recommended user content from all sorts of accounts – not just the ones belonging to friends, family, or others users might follow. While the technology itself is still relatively fresh, Reels has been garnering lots of engagement to the overall system of apps in the last year, signaling a shift in direction for the company as short-form content popularity continues to be on an upward trend across its Family of Apps: “We're especially focused on short-form video since Reels is growing so quickly. I'm really proud of our progress here. Reels plays across Facebook and Instagram have more than doubled over the last year, while the social component of people resharing Reels has grown even faster and has more than doubled on both apps in just the last 6 months,” said Zuckerberg. Reels, for the moment, still suffers from weaker monetization efficiency compared to other Meta products and services, causing unwanted revenue headwinds the company expects to recover from as engagement grows. Ultimately, however, Reels is proving to be a long-term net positive for Meta, and is a likely contributor to Facebook’s 2.00 billion daily active user milestone that was reached last December. Monthly active users were on the rise as well, resulting in another 51 million users compared to the year prior. Meta also looks to further leverage the use of generative AI and other AI tools within their advertisement ventures as well, with over 40% of its advertisers already using Reels ads throughout its many platforms, according to Meta COO Javier Olivan. “AI is the foundation of our discovery engine and our ads business – and we also think it's going to enable many new products and additional transformations within our apps. Generative AI is an extremely exciting new area with so many different applications, and one of my goals for Meta is to build on our research to become a leader in generative AI in addition to our leading work in recommendation AI,” Zuckerberg said. During the call, Li and the rest of Meta maintained their firm position beside the Metaverse, stating the company will “continue to invest meaningfully in this area given the significant long-term opportunities that we see.” However, “we still expect our full-year Reality Labs losses to increase in 2023.” Reality Labs rounded out the year with an operating loss of $4.28 billion for the fourth quarter, following $5.0 billion in business-related expenses. The segment’s loss for the entirety of 2022 was $13.72 billion.

Meta Aims to Focus on AI, Ads and Reels in 2023 After Near $14B Loss in Reality Labs in 2022

The CMA's intervention in the Meta Giphy acquisition could have long-term implications for the precedent of regulatory oversight in the digital economy. With the proliferation of tech giants and the growing dominance of a few major players, regulators around the world are facing pressure to ensure that competition is not stifled and that consumers have access to a wide range of choices. The outcome of the CMA's investigation into the Meta Giphy acquisition could set a paradigm for future deals in the tech sector, and it already spells more scrutiny for Meta. In the first few days of 2023, fines totaling more than half of the regional total from last year, and additional penalties may be on the way. Meta has already received On May 15th, 2020, when it became that Meta wished to acquire Giphy in an alleged $400 million transaction, the tech industry was abuzz with speculations about how Meta's purchase of Giphy might change the scene, and the Uk government was paying careful attention. known Giphy, the company in question, was by Jace Cooke and Alex Chung in February 2013. The firm was first launched as a straightforward GIF search engine. Later in its first year, the website offered a feature that permitted sharing via Facebook; shortly after winning the Top 100 Website of 2013 by Twitter was added as a second integration. This was the company's first significant product expansion. founded PC Magazine, With the addition of these features, Giphy will be able to reach both social media and website users, giving it access to a much bigger user base than it did previously, and ultimately laying the groundwork for its exponential development. According to the most recent statistics, Giphy with the support of investors such as DFJ Growth, Lightspeed, Betaworks, GV, Lerer Hippeau, and others had raised $150.9 million over five rounds. Crunchbase It is now clear that Meta was following closely, waiting for the right moment to hit the merger button. Why did Meta Decide to Buy Giphy? When Meta announced that it had paid a stunning $400 million for Giphy, the true reasons weren't immediately apparent. However, the firm claims that it was done solely to .” “make it easier for people to find the perfect GIFs and stickers The company has used GIPHY's API for years in applications like Instagram, Facebook app, Messenger, and WhatsApp. However, Meta no longer wants to be just a user; they want to be the platform's owner. Though Meta claims it will fund further technological advancement for Giphy and establish new connections with both content creators and endpoint developers, stating that it only has good intentions, the UK government, meanwhile, held a different opinion and continued opposing the merger because it did not believe it to be a good deal. “The CMA found that Giphy’s advertising services had the potential to compete with Facebook’s own display advertising services. They would have also encouraged greater innovation from others in the market, including social media sites and advertisers. Facebook terminated Giphy’s advertising services at the time of the merger, removing an important source of potential competition.” Meta’s run-ins with regulators The blockage of the Meta Giphy acquisition is not the first conflict UK regulators or any other regulatory body have had with Meta nor is it the only instance of regulatory bodies getting involved in Meta's M&A deals. In 2014, the the purchase, which would make the social network one of the dominant players in the mobile messaging market, was viewed as a test case for how EU competition rules should be applied to the social media industries. Even though the deal was later approved, on May 18, 2017, the €110 million for producing false or misleading material during the Commission's 2014 investigation of Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp under the EU Merger Regulation. EU investigated the Facebook-WhatsApp acquisition, European Commission fined Facebook Also, back in 2012, just before Facebook had its IPO, into Facebook's purchase of the photo-sharing application Instagram. The investigation involved the FTC interviewing Facebook's rivals and assessing the overall effects of the acquisition. Although the purchase was thought to put Facebook on a speedier path to mobile supremacy the the FTC opened an investigation FTC would ultimately approve it. On 2 August 2021, the potential acquisition of Kustomer. Not just the European Commission, but even the . According to the commission, the planned deal would lessen competition in the market for CRM (customer relationship management) software. The regardless.  But, why all the investigations? European Commission launched a thorough inquiry into Facebook's CMA deal was later cleared “It is important to closely review potentially problematic acquisitions by companies that are already dominant in certain markets. This applies in particular to the digital sector, where Facebook enjoys a leading position in both online display advertising and in over-the-top messaging channels, such as WhatsApp, Messenger, or Instagram. Our investigation aims to ensure that the transaction will not harm businesses or consumers and that any data that Facebook gets access to does not distort competition.” - Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition Impact of the UK regulatory action Meta, like other tech companies, has had a complex relationship with regulatory bodies. The company has faced regulatory scrutiny and criticism for a variety of issues, including its handling of user data and the spread of misinformation on its platform. Regulators from all across the world are beginning to step up their pressure on Meta to address these and other problems. For instance, for breaking data privacy regulations. In the United States, the company has faced investigations by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other regulatory agencies just like the one it is facing with the CMA. Facebook was recently fined 265 million euros in Ireland The bottom line is that Meta has agreed to sell Giphy and is now facing more surveillance than ever. " I don't agree that the UK should be allowed to block the sale of a company. However, I do understand the point that Giphy is very popular in the UK and it would take them out of the UK social media and advertising markets. But I still think that should be Meta's decision not a decision for the UK government to make. If Meta wanted to buy and do nothing with it that should be their own decision. that's my opinion at least." - Jeff Krauss, Co-Founder, FanRoom Live Aside from the fact that this case specifically highlights the significant influence that national regulators can have on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), even when the involved companies are headquartered in other countries, history is being made. Note that Meta was forced to sell off Giphy by regulators in the United Kingdom, not the United States, though both Meta and Giphy are US-based companies. Withal, due to the global reach of the internet Meta and Giphy remain subject to U.K. law, which is why  Meta is caving in and selling Giphy as requested. More importantly, since the global antitrust authorities started to pay attention to its economic supremacy, despite the fact that Meta has a track record of consistently battling with regulatory organizations. this is still the first time regulators have successfully split up a piece of the media giant Never before has a major tech company been told to unwind a prior acquisition rather than pay a penalty or make guarantees about how the combined companies will function. It’s definitely a huge blow to Meta and a big win for regulatory bodies. Giphy is a minor acquisition compared to some of Meta’s other well-known mergers. The company has invested far more money in past transactions. Like the virtual reality system from Oculus, the messaging platform Redkix, Instagram, and WhatsApp, the majority of Meta’s acquisitions have been user-focused. With the exception of businesses-focused projects like CRM tool Kustomer, which was purchased for $1 billion a year ago. “The "right now" conversation is that Meta recognizes its core product platform, Facebook, has aged. To stay relevant they need to continue to acquire fresh companies, products, and developer talent from more nimble startups. That's in no way a slight on Meta. Digital products age quickly and companies must rapidly adapt. At Decasonic, we refer to this as "Rapidapt", or “rapid adapt.” These days we talk in videos, emojis, and GIFs. Thus, if Meta doesn't upgrade their text-based experiences with startups like Giphy to adapt, its relevance will be challenged.” - Paul Hsu, Founder, and CEO of Decasonic But Giphy is just a GIF company, isn’t it? Still, regulatory bodies consider the merger to be significant. “Strategic acquisitions to reinforce the dominance of any platform through the acquisition of smaller, disruptive and innovative rivals should be a red flag for competition enforcers,” - Diana Moss, president of, the American Antitrust Institute Cost implications for Meta While it is difficult to accurately predict the price someone would pay for Giphy, one thing is for certain: the sale of Giphy will have some financial implications. In the fullness of time, the CMA's ruling is expected to result in Meta selling Giphy for a significant loss because . Additionally, the valuation of enterprises is falling as governments abandon their 0% interest rate policies. the U.S. Federal Reserve is actively raising interest rates Back in 2020, when Meta acquired Giphy the times were a bit different. As the old saying goes, "A dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow."  Even if Meta were to sell Giphy for the same amount it acquired, it’s still a loss due to inflation and the decrease in the value of the currency. Furthermore, Meta after purchasing Giphy shut down the company's advertising company and now the CMA order to sell Giphy also comes with the mandate to upgrade Giphy so that it can deliver GIF-based advertisements. Meta is also expected to deposit a minimum of $75 million in cash with Giphy. Undoubtedly, all these increase the financial impact the sale is going to have on Meta. “Meta's failing acquisition of Giphy is another blow to the tech conglomerate. It is now a target for politicians and a poster child for what's wrong with big tech. The CMA has put the company on the defensive again in relation to its push to support Marketplace, and, separately, its acquisition of Within hasn't gone as planned, either. If you consider these trials and tribulations in conjunction with Meta's ill-conceived dalliance in the metaverse, it is hard to find the sunshine for investors, particularly in the short term.” - Richard Gardner, CEO, Modulus It is probable that Meta will announce a loss after going through the process of selling. What next? As we’ve seen the relationship between Facebook and regulatory bodies has been dynamic, with both parties working to address concerns and establish rules and guidelines for the company's operations. It is likely that this relationship will continue to evolve as new issues arise and as regulators seek to address the challenges posed by the rapid development of technology. The Meta-Giphy case may indicate that a new set of principles for international antitrust law is taking shape. Apart from the potential minor yet significant loss that Meta might experience. Efforts to bust major tech giants might also pick up steam. “The impact of the UK regulatory intervention on Meta's attempted Giphy acquisition will, besides affecting the two businesses directly, have a potentially beneficial indirect effect on the tech industry in general. Primarily, it will reverse Meta's acquisition of Giphy and all the related agreements, and then restore both companies to pre-negotiation states. But indirectly, we might see a greater regulatory involvement in tech overall, which could lead to a more diverse and less monopolized online environment. We all stand to benefit from greater access to tools and features that were meant to be open to all, and not just up for grabs by megacorporations.” - Goran Luledzija, CEO, Localizely It is not surprising that Meta is now facing a growing trend where its mergers and acquisitions are being blocked by regulatory bodies. The to stop the company from buying Within Unlimited, a virtual reality technology business, on the grounds that the transaction might give Meta more leverage to build a "virtual reality empire." FTC recently filed a lawsuit “Instead of competing on the merits, Meta is trying to buy its way to the top” - John Newman, FTC Bureau of Competition Deputy Director. Additionally, the to get Meta to sell off WhatsApp and Instagram with allegations that Facebook engaged in anti-competitive business practices when it acquired both platforms. Federal Trade Commission is seeking “The impact of the decision by the Competitions and Mergers Authority will alert other big tech companies to the increased regulation level now being witnessed in the tech space. More tech mergers will be scrutinized, and with it, fewer companies will be willing to merge with so-called competitors to strengthen their own positions. With the reduced frequency of mergers, we can expect smaller tech companies to focus more on their growth since this channel of buyouts that previously seemed lucrative has become less desirable due to regulation. It will help the tech industry grow and make the competition landscape fairer. For users, the good news is that now they have a watchdog that will always seek to question what is the fine print of any big tech mergers ensuring that cartels are not formed against them.” - Alvin Wei, CMO and Head of Strategy at SEOAnt

UK CMA Intervention in Meta-Giphy Deal Could Signal Increased Tech Space Regulation

La intervención de la CMA del Reino Unido en el acuerdo Meta-Giphy podría indicar una mayor regulación del espacio tecnológico

L'intervention de la CMA britannique dans l'accord Meta-Giphy pourrait signaler une réglementation accrue de l'espace technologique

मेटा-गिफी डील में यूके सीएमए का हस्तक्षेप टेक स्पेस रेगुलेशन को बढ़ा सकता है

Meta-Giphy 取引への英国 CMA の介入は、技術分野の規制強化を示唆する可能性がある

A intervenção da CMA do Reino Unido no acordo Meta-Giphy pode sinalizar o aumento da regulamentação do espaço tecnológico

Sự can thiệp của CMA Vương quốc Anh vào Thỏa thuận Meta-Giphy có thể báo hiệu việc tăng cường quy định về không gian công nghệ

英国 CMA 干预 Meta-Giphy 交易可能预示着技术空间监管的加强

I’ve been reflecting on the time I spent at . In particular, how far I’ve come since my initial Imposter Syndrome when I first joined. I want to share what that experience was like for me and how I was able to overcome it (spoiler alert: it took a year of being there). I’ve written this with the hope that it helps anyone who is facing a similar situation to what I did — especially those who have recently joined a new company or have a new hire on their team. Meta TLDR & Key Takeaways Trust the people around you. Open up about how you are feeling and ask for help. Everyone at your company wants to see you succeed and is more than likely willing to help. Find a good mentor in your team, preferably someone who is not your manager. This way you can establish a strong relationship with someone on your team who can help onboard you and answer your questions. Give it time a.k.a trust the process. It will take time to ramp up and find your place in your team where you are most effective and most enjoying yourself. You are not a “hiring mistake“ (whatever that means), you’re there for a reason. Background I never studied Computer Science or programming at university. It was only after I graduated that I became interested in making apps and so I taught myself iOS development. As a result, I always felt uncertain about myself and my lack of foundational CS knowledge. I was intimidated by other “real” programmers. They knew things like , VIM, fancy terminal commands, and a whole bunch of other things that I didn’t know. So it’s no coincidence that when I joined Meta with all the “real” programmers I would have doubts about myself. Test-driven development Before joining I remember watching several Facebook tech talks and not having any idea what they were talking about, so I was pretty sure that once I joined I would have no idea what anybody was talking about and wouldn’t be able to keep up with all the “real” programmers. And of course, my biggest fear was that it would only be a matter of time before somebody realized it! Note to tenured employees on a team with a new hire: Don’t forget how intimidating it can be for outsiders. Knowing this can help you empathize with new hires Joining Meta During onboarding at Meta, you’re bombarded with messages of “Have Impact” and “Move Fast”. This was compounding my doubts about myself and whether I would be able to keep up. Before joining Meta I had only ever done iOS development and only ever worked in Objective C and Swift. “Real” programmers knew multiple languages and could develop on multiple platforms, so how would I be able to keep up with them? I remember overhearing fellow new hires talking about the tasks they have completed and I remember thinking to myself that I’m falling behind. Note to new hires: Don’t compare yourself to other new hires. In fact, during onboarding at Meta, they even tell you not to compare yourself to other new hires. It’s really not a good baseline. If you want to get a better feel of how you’re progressing and/or have concerns about yourself, speak to your manager or mentor. They are there to support you and help you succeed. My First Few Months Fast forward a few months into my first team and I was onboarding fine. However, the doubts remained. Despite having shipped a few things, I still wasn’t sure of myself. Was I having enough impact? Was I moving fast enough? Did my coworkers appreciate me joining the team? Or had they figured out that I didn’t belong there? I was feeling unhappy and anxious. Eventually, I opened up to my manager about how I was feeling and this became a turning point for me. He put some of my concerns at ease by telling me I was onboarding fine, giving me feedback on my progress as well as collecting feedback for me from my teammates (both positive and constructive!). This helped me feel better about my ramp-up and progress at Meta. I was also lucky to have a great mentor on my team who was very approachable and taught me how to navigate Meta. This allowed me to seek answers to my questions (technical or otherwise) and helped me progress in my career. Key Takeaway: Open up. Trust your manager. It will be harder to help you if you don’t communicate what’s on your mind. Find a mentor on your team or ask your manager to help find you one. This will allow you to build a strong relationship with someone who is not you manager and hence will be another pillar of support. You will find yourself feeling much more comfortable if you are surrounded by people who you trust will support you First Year at Meta After opening up to my manager I was feeling better but still not feeling that I 100% belonged there. I would say it took me about a year before I really started feeling 100% comfortable and got over my Imposter Syndrome. During my first year at Meta, I’d had a chance to work on and successfully deliver a handful of projects. This made me feel that I had consistently shown myself that I could perform. With each project, my confidence grew. During this time, I also had a chance to build good relationships with everyone on the team which helped me feel more comfortable with them and made me less intimidated. Key Takeaway: Trust the process. Give it time. You’ll learn how to navigate the job and you’ll soon find that things that were once difficult become much easier. Conclusion I hope this note will help others facing similar experiences with imposter syndrome. If you are having doubts and/or feel unsure of yourself and would like someone to talk to, feel free to reach out to me! I would be more than happy to chat. Also published here.

How I Overcame Imposter Syndrome While at Meta

Metaverse is on its way but shall we care? Now, we know that Facebook is building its metaverse, and plenty of gaming metaverses are popping up. But what if you aren’t a gamer? Will this development affect you in any way? Or, in other words: is metaverse a game-changer or just another buzzword that will be forgotten when the hype is over? So, What a Metaverse Is and What Impact Is It Going to Have? Source: https://www.archdaily.com/987613/can-public-space-be-created-in-the-metaverse Wikipedia defines the metaverse as a “network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection”. I would define it as a virtual world. It is not here yet, our technology isn’t developed enough to deliver a full metaverse experience. When the time comes, we may experience a metaverse as if we are living in a matrix, probably. It is difficult to talk about it now because technological developments take unexpected turns sometimes. In one thing I am sure though: the metaverse in a decade will differ significantly from what we call a metaverse now. But still, what can it look like? I’d agree with that a real metaverse is going to be a continuous network of worlds, without interruptions and pauses. One will be able to move from one world to another without leaving the metaverse. Matthew Ball I’d say that to reach this stage of development, we will need to switch to a different level of communication with computers. A keyboard, mouse, touchpad, touch screen will become obsolete. From external control elements (same keyboards, etc.) people will switch to internal control elements. What will those elements be? Now, we can imagine them as some kind of microchips but it is possible that something else may be developed. Further, a metaverse will be an open market where users - businesses and individuals would freely participate in economic activities. At this point, many people stumble. What economic activities can be in a virtual world? And what will happen with the manufacturing, social life, education, etc. - with all industrial and social sectors in real life? Metaverse Will Change the Manufacturing Processes Manufacturing companies already create digital twins of manufacturing facilities thus reducing the use of energy and raw materials. For now, their application is limited. They are used to capture and analyze real-time data to further implement new workflows and optimize processes. Over time, digital twins will be able to learn and create their own metaverses where they will test new ways to do business. It will enable companies to maintain productivity and foster innovation. Metaverse Will Change the Way We Learn For education, a metaverse offers endless opportunities. Now, I see it as some kind of educational environment enhanced by metaverse elements such as virtual and augmented reality. But in the future, students will be able to use their avatars to enter any educational setting without limitations in time and location. Students will be able to switch to the metaverse educational environments remotely, exchange information, receive feedback, store data, and perform all the studies-related activities accurately and efficiently. Employees can acquire new skills and improve the existing ones in a realistic environment where they are protected from making potentially fatal or costly mistakes. Metaverse Will Transform the Healthcare Sector Metaverse has the potential to become one of the most transformative factors in the healthcare sector. That’s why many leading hospitals are already joining the virtual world of a metaverse. It is expected that the global healthcare in the metaverse market will reach $5,373 mln by 2030, and the CAGR will expand at 48.3%. Source: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/healthcare-in-metaverse-market-10900 The possibilities are endless from remote diagnostics and basic checkups to remote surgical assistance. In the future, we can expect that metaverse can be used for treating mental disorders and physical conditions that are incurable now. Other Impacts? They Are Difficult to Forecast The mentioned sectors are not the only ones that will be affected greatly or changed completely by a metaverse. This technology will penetrate all walks of our lives, and the impact is difficult to forecast. One thing is sure: the world won’t be the same anymore. Challenges? Plenty of Them! While everybody is talking about the metaverse benefits, we shall not forget about the challenges that it will bring. Identity Issues How will one be able to prove that he is actually he? Everybody will be able to create any type of avatar, or even several of them, and mimic other people. This challenge can be addressed by developing new identity verification methods. For now, it is not completely clear how this can be done. Data Security Even now, companies are struggling to keep their data safe. With the metaverse development, this task will become more complicated. New ways to protect person's data and property in the metaverse will be created, and it is very probable that to do so, users will have to provide even more data than they do now. Currency and Payments A metaverse space, once developed and implemented, will be huge. It will require a unified payment system with a new cryptocurrency (probably, existing crypto will be adopted for this purpose, too). And here, I agree with that probably, blockchain technology is too cumbersome to support the entire metaverse ecosystem. Eventually, something else will be developed for that purpose. somebody who has commended one of my articles Regulation in the Metaverse Once people start using metaverse commonly, a question of regulation will arise. How to protect users from manipulation, violence, and discrimination in a highly decentralized unmoderated environment? Or what activities can be considered criminal in a metaverse world and how they shall be punished? Many questions don’t have a reply yet. Closing Thoughts A metaverse has immense potential if implemented and applied correctly. Initially, it will be a highly regulated system if we don’t want it to submerge itself into chaos and anarchy. Only over time, it may grow into a fully decentralized metaverse ruled by its members.

Metaverse and Its Impact on Our Lives

Imagine you’re a venture capitalist in the 1960s. You’ve got money to invest and you’re presented with two pitches. The first is for a device that works just like a Star Trek communicator. You can video chat with friends and loved ones all around the globe. Instant face-to-face communication with anyone on Earth right in your pocket. The other pitch is for text messaging. Now who gets the money? In the competition between phone calls, video chat and text messaging, nobody would have guessed that Americans of the 21st century would be five times more likely to text than call on the phone. And video chat is mostly relegated to employer-related Zoom calls or the occasional hello to aging relatives in another state. As of 2021, less than half of all internet users polled made any video calls at all in the previous month. This is the exact opposite of what would have been expected back when Star Trek first came out. And though this result could probably have been predicted with a few days of user testing back in 1966, nobody apparently bothered to test because video chat just seemed like the future. It was too cool not to be the future. But the future doesn’t care about cool. The future works kind of like evolution, in the sense that it has nothing to do with perfection or improvement or what’s cool. It’s about adapting to circumstances. What might at first seem like limitations are actually text messaging’s strongest benefits. It’s almost completely free from the cognitive burdens created by the sort of face-to-face human interaction that a video call simulates. There’s none of the formal acknowledgement of each other, none of the required ‘what have you been up to?’, none of the non-verbal cues that you have to be aware of sending and receiving during every moment of a video — let alone face to face—interaction. Texting just makes your life easier. And at the end of the day, for technology to be widely adopted, it needs to make our lives easier, better or more fun. Enter the Metaverse. It’s all the rage and billions are being spent on it, but is it going to end up little more than the video chat of the 21st Century? Will the Metaverse become an integral part of our daily lives like texting, or be wheeled out every generation or so like 3D TV to a brief wave of excitement followed by years of general apathy and neglect? First of all, the Metaverse isn’t one thing, it’s an overarching concept that includes all sorts of different things, some of which might succeed while others fail. It could very easily Balkanize into a half dozen moderately lucrative niche markets (which might test the definition of the word ‘Metaverse’ but then the future doesn’t care about definitions either). As far as human activities that might get ported to the Metaverse, you’ve got gaming of course, but also buying and selling, flirting and dating, all kinds of job-related interactions and services, local politics, and the long sought after ‘third place’ for hanging out that Starbucks or your local pub might provide. We know gaming will be successful because it’s already succeeded. Fortnite is basically a small, constantly cycling Ragnarok Metaverse where everyone kills each other, and it has become the most successful game on Earth, with a cumulative playtime of over 10.4 million years (which is the length of time modern Homo Sapiens have existed on Earth times 34 —nobody’s betting against gaming). So sure, that works, but we do have to ask the question ‘what about the other stuff?’ If you aren’t hoping to slake your bloodlust in a societally-acceptable manner, will you even bother to log in to whatever passes for the Metaverse five years from now? One way to unravel that would be to look at some early examples, like Second Life. Nobody seems to want to admit this, but Second Life, a platform where your avatar can wander around aimlessly in a virtual browser-based world, has been around for over 15 years. If the Metaverse is so great, why aren’t we all living in Second Life right now? At the time of its creation, Facebook was little more than a twinkle in the eye of the coed-rating Harvard student and yet Facebook currently has roughly 45 times Second Life’s user base. Why does Mark think a metastasized version of this early oughts relic is the future of the internet? It might be the true three dimensional experience that can be had through headsets like Meta’s Quest. But is the addition of an extra dimension enough to help Second Life 2.0 take over the world? Another possible reason for Mark’s excitement could be the bounty of data that can be mined from human beings whose every movement, eye blink and intake of breath is being recorded, as they traipse around a virtual boardwalk or interview for a job with their heartbeat serving as a virtual lie detector. Imagine if Facebook was a full body wetsuit that data-mined everything you did or said as you went about your daily life. Seemingly that’s the apotheosis of the Metaverse from a marketing perspective, and that would absolutely be worth the multi-billion dollar cash spigot Zuckerberg constructed in order to make that vision a reality. So sure, his motivation makes total sense, but for the billions of us who aren’t him, that’s probably not a Metaverse we’d want to live in. Luckily, other people are positing a more decentralized experience that could use blockchain technology, interoperability and sovereign identity to sidestep the dangers that a walled garden like Meta presents. And yet, even that does not answer the question of whether —at this point in time— people will actually show up. If you want to predict a given activity’s likelihood of success when ported to the Metaverse, I think you have to apply a logical sieve based on how well our currently available technology can address the basic human need for simplicity, comfort or engagement. Which leads to three constraints of the Metaverse, circa 2023: 1.0  You will not get mass adoption for any behavior that is easier, better or more fun to do somewhere else. This is user testing 101, but the reason lame-ass texting beat out supercool video chat is because texting makes your life easier. We didn’t want phone calls to be more like real life, it turns out we really needed them to be more like handwritten notes. In retrospect this should have been obvious, but this is the sort of lesson that technocratic society seems to need to relearn every five to seven years. Remember Juicero? This was a wifi connected juicer that provided proprietary, single-serving packets of pre-chopped fruits and vegetables sold exclusively by subscription. Tech people gave this startup $120 million dollars in human money before a YouTube video showing how you could just squeeze their packets yourself destroyed their entire business model. It failed because there was an easier and cheaper way forward. 2.0  Just because it’s cool doesn’t mean people want it. 3D video is cool. But for a host of reasons such as lack of color vibrancy, user headaches, limited viewing angles, and the fact that parallax isn’t that noticeable beyond 13 feet, it’s not yet cool enough for your average consumer to bother with. It might work someday, but that day keeps getting pushed back, year after year. And remember a while back when snorting atomized chocolate was a thing? Probably not, because it was yet another of those interesting ideas that no one asked for, needed, or wanted, and it disappeared after one news cycle. In fact, it’s super easy to sit in a room with your fellow thought leaders and Dungeon’s & Dragons yourself a collective narrative where everyone relates to each other in a perfect virtual world, but if the reality of the situation at this moment in time is frustrating or tedious, nobody’s going to log on. It doesn’t have to be super high resolution or zero latency or achieve any other technical baseline, it just has to conveniently address a basic human need better than whatever people are doing at the moment. 3.0  No one is going to wait around for you to get your shit together Remember the Apple Newton? You probably don’t because statistically speaking you’re like 23 years old, but the Newton was one of the first digital assistants. It was essentially the ‘cave drawing’ version of an iPhone. It had one percent of the functionality in the form factor of a desktop computer’s power brick. In this case, the folks at Apple likely understood what we all wanted and needed, but they were sorely unable to deliver it because consumer tech couldn’t yet support their vision. You know what worked better than an Apple Newton? The tiny spiral-bound notebook I kept in my back pocket for phone numbers. And this, in the end, could be the biggest threat to 2023’s version of the Metaverse, the danger that our brilliant vision of the future could be hobbled by the limitations of the age. It’s very easy to imagine a cyberpunk world and to convince yourself that you’re building an on-ramp toward it, but if you’re programming for that future while your product looks like bad Flash animation from the early 2000s, you’re going to have a hard time getting my mom to sign up. Perhaps the best way forward at this particular juncture would be to take a hint from the success of text messaging and suss out those areas where our current technical limitations are a feature rather than a bug. I think you have to ask, in which behavioral circumstances does the simplicity of the low-res three dimensional avatar-based interaction model prove more useful or fun for people than their current popular use cases? Take romance for example. If you want people to hook up inside the world you’re building, your competitors aren’t other Metaverses, it’s Bumble, Hinge, , etc. You have to provide an environment that addresses those companies’ Web 2.0 limitations without introducing new ones of your own. Match.com Maybe you’re imagining a kind of futuristic meta-cafe where anyone can log in and hang out. But remember Chat Roulette? There are some intrinsic problems to this format, even if your avatar doesn’t have a penis. Just because you’re building the future doesn’t mean that the requirements of the human use case will suddenly disappear. You’re going to need to know who people are and what they are like. And it’s a heartwarming human interest story if some person from Uruguay discovers true love with someone from Srebrenica, but most of us don’t want to work that hard. When I was single and living in the Silverlake area of Los Angeles, a woman from Santa Monica was geographically undesirable, let alone Estonia. To beat out Tinder, your cyber cafe will need to improve on their baseline functionality. You’ll want geolocation and interest filters, and if you are serious about addressing the romance market, you’ll need user photos in addition to avatars. Sure, true love is the perfect melding of two souls blah-blah-blah, but I’m guessing your average 24 year old coed is not prepared to commit herself to a purple bunny avatar belonging to Marcus the 62 year old bail bondsman with limited mobility and three estranged kids. The Metaverse could beat out the Tinders of the world by providing a gentle onramp, not to any cybertech future, but to real world interaction. Your meta cafe could serve as a low stakes environment where folks who live relatively close to each other could log in and work to achieve some kind of collective goal, play pub games or contribute to common interests. You know how kids will get together and play with dolls or action figures, creating scenarios and conversations on the fly? This is the adult version of that. It might sound simplistic, but these days it seems like we could all use a little remedial education in how to socialize. The limitations of our  low res 3D environment could be beneficial to engagement in this scenario, perhaps providing a less anxious intermediate state between an in-person blind date, which can seem like a job interview for getting laid, and the cold brutality of a swipe left. In fact, what this sounds like, apart from the getting laid aspect, is Roblox, the social media gaming platform that already has approximately 1.3 million years of collective gameplay under its belt. Of course Roblox is a walled garden and focuses on the youth market, but sooner or later those kids are going to grow up, and so the Roblox folks could very well be positioning themselves for a future of mass adoption. The danger of course would be that they might become the America Online of the real Metaverse and be left behind by subsequent innovators such as Sandbox or an even less centralized competitor (if you’re under 30, just Google ‘America Online CD’). At the end of the day, whether it’s dating or selling shoes, no one is going to sit and wait for technology to catch up with your William Gibson dreams, so if you want people to log in to the Metaverse right now, in an attempt to address the non-gaming realms of human need, you’ll probably want to work on small improvements to the Web 2.0 status quo rather than attempt to build the world that we ultimately all want but won’t have the technical chops to deliver for another decade or so. The alternative is to become the Metaversical equivalent of my 3D LG TV, which has been used stereoscopically maybe a dozen times, playing Cars 2 and Killzone for an audience of one. Reference: https://slate.com/technology/2022/02/second-life-metaverse-facebook-comparisons.html https://www.statista.com/statistics/1254856/mobile-video-calling-age-gender-distribution/ https://mixnetworks.com/45-stats-on-how-video-calling-brings-us-closer/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2017/07/05/snorting-chocolate-is-now-apparently-a-thing-but-why-would-you-do-it/?sh=383d0149f900 https://gamerant.com/fortnite-most-played-game-ever/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juicero https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2016/05/why-3d-tv-failed-and-why-we-dont-care/ https://www.demandsage.com/how-many-people-play-roblox/ https://www.inverse.com/input/culture/chatroulette-swears-it-solved-its-unwanted-pervert-problem

Three Constraints of the Metaverse

“Meta-optimists” are convinced that as we move into 2023, it will be a time when the Metaverse will gain acceptance and wide adoption. The Metaverse itself is composed of a cocktail of technologies that include blockchain, gaming, crypto, and VR. Indeed, the Covid pandemic has confirmed that remote working is not just a possibility, but it is the future... In this article,  we state what working in the metaverse entails and the benefits of doing that. Accessing the Metaverse Getting into the Metaverse will require some headsets such as VR headsets and access to the internet. One can also access it using their desktop or mobile devices. Companies are working to develop solutions that can give one access to the metaverse without the need for a VR headset. Some innovations around this include the use of holograms to project images and avatars into real space. is also working on special gloves that enable its users to have a sense of touch while in the Metaverse Meta The Metaverse seeks to bring a paradigm shift in the way we interact. Avatars will be used to teleport from one location to another with enhanced experiences giving you a feel of your surroundings. Employees can also pop into each other’s workstations for a quick chat and catch-up. You can navigate the metaverse in the same way you do in the physical world. If you would like to have a chat or live call with a colleague, then your webcam is activated automatically. Once done with the call, the webcam turns off and you can proceed with your stroll. Companies have already started working on avatars that can move from one virtual company to another- mimicking the physical world. An employee can choose an avatar that they can use to navigate the metaverse. One that will act as their digital twin. This digital twin will act as their representative in the metaverse, with emotions and a sense of touch. These digital twins can be assigned to perform mundane and recurring tasks. In the event that you are busy and would not have time to attend to certain obligations such as meetings and conference calls, you can send your to go and represent you in these meetings. This frees you up for other tasks. digital twin Organizations can also set up areas where employees can go hang out and relax with experiences such as music, and scenic views such as hills and forests. This is meant to boost employee productivity while in the Metaverse. There is also the option of making orders while in the metaverse. Employees can either order virtual goods/food and get them delivered to their houses. You can be working on the metaverse, make an order at McDonald's and get the physical food delivered straight to your door without leaving the Metaverse. Employees also have the chance to create and customize their virtual environments in a way that is unique and suits their personality- spurring creativity. Virtual workspaces will not be similar to conventional office spaces. Each employee can have a unique work environment that can be changed intermittently with minimal cost. Companies can also offer trainings with ease from the Metaverse and then deploy their staff into different virtual locations. Imagine a situation where you have 10 employees that need to be inducted into the company. Instead of hosting meetups and sending them writeups, a company can organize a virtual tour while in the metaverse to take them through their workplaces, with the employees moving around in their avatars-  ensuring have a detailed and first-hand experience of their workplace. We shouldn’t be shocked when we see companies created and operating purely on metaverses such as Sandbox and have employees that report and work on different shifts just like in physical work environments. Such a scenario will cascade and affect different industries like eCommerce and fashion, as avatars will need different clothing to attend various occasions and office spaces will need to be spruced up. Benefits of working in the Metaverse Promotes equity Being in the metaverse provides an equal playing field for all employees. You can work from anywhere and interact with ease. Additionally, having virtual workspaces ensures that staff have access to the same digital resources regardless of their physical location. An upgrade from conventional video  conferencing The Metaverse will be an upgrade from the normal video conferencing calls such as zoom, skype and Google meet. It offers a richer, enhanced and more immersive experience. For example, if a company wants to test a new product or even open a new location, the CEO can take the employees on a virtual tour to this new location. Enhances productivity With the Metaverse, company staff have the chance to work from anywhere- something that may have been hard to achieve with physical workspaces. For example, an employee may be working while immersed underwater in a submarine or even in a space shuttle. This helps boost productivity as you can choose to work in an environment where you feel most at ease. Better demarcation between work and Home Working remotely is stressful. In most instances, employees cannot switch between being at work and at home. While working in the metaverse, it is easier for employees to demarcate between their home and work environments and can easily switch from one environment to another. You log in to your workspace in the metaverse environment and when you are done you can switch off and get back to the physical world. Granted, we are still in the nascent stages of this technological development. However, companies, especially mega tech companies, are convinced that pivoting into the metaverse is worthwhile as the physical world is due for a  digital twin. Companies like Facebook( Meta) and Microsoft have already started experimenting on the metaverse, spending billions in product development. It isn’t far-fetched to envisage that in the next few years, working in the Metaverse will be the norm.

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