Supersightis in the Blockchain Infrastructure Industry

Supersight

supersight

Let’s skip the technobabble and talk about how blockchain will impact the wallets of you, me and maybe even your mom. WTF is blockchain, really? We’ve been bombarded with this, and that, but really…why should the Average Joe give a #$%?? decentralization trustlessness So let’s start with what blockchain actually does: Blockchain individual contributions, and in some cases, to these contributors. VERIFIES DISTRIBUTES VALUE A glorified ledger that tracks . Cool. But let’s be honest with ourselves, this sounds like gibberish to most people, especially our parents. stuff What does this for the Average Joe? actually mean Blockchain will provide a way for people (and things) to be compensated for ALL types of contributions: big or small, work or leisure. Your previously INVALUABLE skills, knowledge, creativity and time…now have VALUE. Fancy shmancy. To understand how we get there, let’s revisit history. Internet = “Information Superhighway” Back when Kurt Cobain, Tupac and Biggie were still alive, the Average Joe described the Internet as the A cheesy phrase if you ask me, but still better than “Information Superhighway.” Hypertext Transfer Protocol. Like blockchain, the Internet means different things to different people. At its core, however, it solved a major problem from the Real World. It’s cumbersome and expensive to share information in the Analog world, especially around the globe. The “ solved this by providing instant global distribution of digital information. These new capabilities have ushered in a period of unprecedented new value creation. Information Superhighway” But, where the F did all the value (aka money) go?!? The Internet, aka “ provides instant global distribution of digital info Information Superhighway,” Today’s challenges with “Value” How does one determine the “value” of an item or activity? It’s a difficult and rather esoteric exercise, so the tendency is to valuate based off either initial inputs (e.g. time spent) or final outputs (e.g. product, cash flow), ignoring most everything in between. Outdated compensation models Today’s organizations are incredibly reliant on the cooperation and contributions of its employees. So it’s mind-blowing that companies still compensate their employees using Industrial Era models that haven’t changed in 100+ years: hourly wages, salaries based on attendance, and flat rates based on time spent. Input, time-based compensation is woefully inefficient for compensating productive work in today’s modern economy. Even worse, it undervalues important contributions such as leadership, mentorship and cooperation. Ignored contributors On the other end of the valuation challenge, you have many stakeholders and contributors who are “left out in the cold.” For example, consider that the vast majority of Facebook’s content is provided by consumers and small business partners. Yet, these contributors are often under-compensated or not compensated at all. The collective value from their contributions is instead held by the Facebook corporation that owns the final product and its associated digital info. Concentrated control Whether one is valuating contributions based on initial inputs or final outputs, both methods rely on a centralized player to determine and distribute compensation. A centralized entity that determines how much is worth. your time A centralized entity that owns the final product, all of its associated info, and much of its accrued value…and has the to distribute value to you (or not) as it sees fit. exclusive choice To put it more plainly, just imagine you had a boss like Michael Scott deciding the value of all your work contributions… Valuating your work like it’s 1918 Distributin’ ain’t easy What about the centralized entities who ? do want to compensate their contributors $30+ billion Airbnb and $60+ billion Uber have the crucial role of their sharing economy contributors: publicly acknowledged “We believe that enabling private companies to grant [sharing economy participants] equity in the company from an earlier stage would further align incentives between such companies and their sharing economy participants to the benefit of both.” But as the illustrated, good intentions may not be enough to overcome the significant hurdles in distributing “value” to contributors. Today’s regulatory frameworks and liquidity options are simply not designed for free-flowing distribution of “value.” Juno case Blockchain = more precise, less biased valuations Bitcoin’s appropriately named consensus model, in a nutshell, is a transparent way to verify one’s work contributions. proof of work Art and science…but more science By using math to directly verify work contributions, Bitcoin and other blockchains are able to pinpoint the “value” of an individual’s contribution from the larger haystack. Think of it like MRI scans for valuations. Direct and precise verification lays the groundwork for new valuation models that will be magnitudes better than previous models that relied on indirect and imprecise inputs and outputs. As consensus and valuation models improve, I’d expect an exponential growth in the number of activities and contributions that will be efficiently compensated. Gatekeepers not required A transparent verification process means anyone around the world . This makes it that much more difficult for a misbehaving gatekeeper (like Michael Scott) to suppress, ignore or manipulate the “value” of your contributions. can see where the value is coming from Transparency combined with well-designed incentives (aka value distribution) means we can avoid the altogether. centralized Leviathan Blockchain = wider, more aligned distribution Besides giving us the warm fuzzies, why should we care about distributing “value” to contributors? Because incentives drive us. When “value” is offered as an incentive, humans will literally move mountains. Case in point: Silicon Valley. Mo Distribution, Mo Value When asked about Silicon Valley’s greatest innovation, iconic products typically come to mind: the personal computer, smart phones, social networks, etc. But perhaps Silicon Valley’s greatest innovation isn’t technological, rather, it’s behavioral, in the form of employee stock options. Let me explain. Valley tech companies the distribution of company equity to employees, essentially transforming these employees into mini-owners. These employees were then incentivized to grow their individual wealth by aligning their work activities with the interests of the larger company. Today, tech companies’ dominance of the stock market and our everyday lives highlights the effectiveness of using value distribution to align groups of people. pioneered The from Silicon Valley is that “value” is NOT a . insight zero-sum game The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The for blockchain is that value distribution incentivizes the group alignment that creates even more “value.” The wider the value distribution, the greater the group alignment, the more net “value” is generated. lesson Employee stock options democratized ownership of company “value” from a few founders to thousands of employees. Blockchain takes this democratization to a whole new level to include MILLIONS, perhaps even BILLIONS of consumers, partners and other contributors. Blockchain = “Value Superhighway” Tying together better valuation models with wider distribution give us the conditions for blockchain to be a superhighway for in the same way the Internet was a superhighway for . value, information Blockchain, aka “ provides instant global distribution of digital value Value Superhighway,” The Internet solved a major problem of the Analog World by digitizing stuff and distributing it everywhere. However, the Internet still sucks at distributing value. Blockchain solves this problem by valuating stuff and distributing it everywhere. Just as the Internet was built off the lessons and infrastructure of the Analog World, so will blockchain build off the lessons and infrastructure of the Internet. How will this affect my wallet? Multiple income streams FTW Consider the many different work activities you perform for your job today. Now think about the many different leisure activities you enjoy. What if you could be compensated for each of these work and leisure activities? In fact, there already are several blockchain solutions that compensate you for activities such as , the web, , and even . answering surveys browsing online shopping watching TV Now, not every activity can or should be compensated via blockchain. But just as the Internet enabled completely new ways to make money (did anyone predict social media managers?), blockchain will do the same. So the bigger question is how such a future will affect you, your family, friends and colleagues? Would having multiple income streams change your attitude towards your 9-to-5 job? How would you allocate your free time? How would you differentiate between Work and Play if you’re getting compensated for both? The Long Road Ahead Construction on Route 66 The Internet, aka “Information Superhighway,” required decades of iteration on products, ecosystems and business models to arrive at an efficient global network for information. Likewise, for blockchain, aka “Value Superhighway,” much work remains on what is today, just a dirt trail. This is a multi-decade journey that will require patience as the industry proceeds . But the underlying ingredients are incredibly promising: one bite at a time Thanks to improved valuations and better aligned distribution on the “Value Superhighway,” blockchain will have a major impact on how we organize, work and play. In future posts, I’ll explore in more detail how blockchain will touch our daily lives, as well as dive into the building blocks of the “Value Superhighway.” Progress never proceeds in a straight line — there will certainly be plenty of detours, dead-ends and accidents along the way. My hat goes off to all the entrepreneurs, investors, regulators, academics, and most of all — the contributors, who are paving the road for others to follow. I’m just happy to go along for the ride. Like what you read? If so, please hold the clap button to clap away! Follow to be notified of future posts. Thanks to Luke Xie , Matthieu Courtin , Ed Wu , Jim Breese and Rajiv Pardiwala for their invaluable feedback.

Blockchain: The “Value Superhighway” into your Wallet

Drone Delivery and Flight Mapping Using the Blockchain After months of quiet work from an incredibly talented and immensely dedicated , it is a true pleasure to unveil an Ethereum-based blockchain technology that will team AERO Token , enable a drone highway infrastructure within the United States. Moving aspects of the sharing economy onto the blockchain, starting with airspace, is a high-impact, real world use of the blockchain that will radically transmogrify the sharing economy. necessary to enable and easily facilitate the consent of property owners for low-altitude drone flight over private property. AERO Token provides the missing technological and legal mechanism By utilizing the blockchain, enhances the sharing economy by demonstrating that , over private property, can be easily leveraged to generate income. AERO Token under-utilized assets airspace Problem: In the United States, drone operators need permission to fly at low-altitude over private property without trespassing and there is significant demand for commercial drone services (i.e. parcel delivery). According to the , 86% of American parcels are under 5 lbs. and can be handled by drones, which would rapidly accelerate retailer-to-consumer transactions, while providing the added benefit of alleviating traffic congestion and lowering logistical services environmental impact. NYTimes Solution: AERO Token enables hosts (i.e. property owners) to authorize their property for commercial drone Right-of-Way operations. Participants can notify the blockchain their airspace is available, making their under-used asset (i.e. airspace) a source of income generation and maximize its potential value. AERO Network Flight Routes and Chain of Connectivity will serve as a repository of navigable airspace for commercial drone service providers, utilizing the blockchain to broadcast available airspace, match hosts with drone service providers and ensure compensation to appropriate AERO Network participants. AERO Network AERO Network flight routes will be determined from available Right-of-Ways on the AERO Network. Drone service providers can map contiguous flight routes from daisy-chaining available airspace on the AERO Network, enabling uninterrupted flight routes. Please see the , by Chase Perkins, Eric Wroble and Hayley Halpin for the white paper in its entirety. AERO Token White Paper AERO Token Pre-Sale Starts: 9.25.2017 0.000085 BTC AERO Token Pre-Sale Price: 1,000,000,000 (“1 Billion AERO Token”) AERO Token Fixed Supply: Up to 33% of Fixed Total Token Supply Available During Pre-Sale: 25,000 BTC AERO Token Raise Goal: is an Ethereum-based blockchain technology that enables property owners (i.e. hosts) to grant temporary Right-of-Way easements to authorized drone service providers in exchange for income. AERO Token

AERO: Enabling the Drone Superhighway Using the Blockchain

Dedicated to BakkaPhoenix Books

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Welcome back, friends! In the wild expanse of the internet, there's a place that often sparks curiosity and intrigue—the Dark Web. Just as the name suggests, it's a little mysterious, and maybe a bit scary. But let's clear the air and set some things straight. The is a piece of the internet puzzle that's intentionally hidden away. It's like the underground network of the internet, accessible only through special browsers. And despite the ominous name and reputation, the Dark Web isn't just a shadowy haunt for cybercriminals. It's also a haven for activists seeking to avoid persecution, whistleblowers looking to share their truths, or everyday folks who value their privacy. Dark Web Before you take your first steps into this digital 'back-alley', I must stress the importance of understanding the legal and ethical implications. Accessing the Dark Web is not an illegal act, but participating in certain activities within it certainly can be. It's a bit like stepping into a city with hidden corners - it's okay to explore, but straying down the wrong path can land you in hot water. If you're an iPhone user, I have published another guide on . But in this piece, I'm going to focus on how Android and PC users can navigate this hidden part of the internet. So, are you ready to dive in? Let's demystify the Dark Web together. how to access the dark web on iPhones Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. What’s The Difference Between Surface Web, Deep Web, and Dark Web Before diving deeper, it's helpful to understand the structure of the internet, which I like to compare to an iceberg. At the top, visible above the water, we have the Surface Web, the part of the internet we all know and use daily. It's where you find websites like Google, Facebook, Wikipedia - all the sites indexed by standard search engines. Submerged beneath that is the Deep Web, making up the bulk of the iceberg. The Deep Web includes all the pages not indexed by search engines, including emails in your inbox, your online banking details, or the data behind a paywall. It's not necessarily hidden for sinister reasons, but mostly to protect privacy and security. At the very bottom, we find the Dark Web. It's a small portion of the Deep Web that's been intentionally hidden and is inaccessible through standard web browsers. Here, users can access websites anonymously, which leads us to the next point. Why People Use the Dark Web? The Dark Web may have a bad reputation, but it isn't used solely for illicit activities. The anonymity it provides makes it a valuable tool for many legitimate and important uses. Here are a few: : Journalists and activists, particularly in countries with strict censorship laws, often use the Dark Web to communicate safely and share information without fear of retaliation. Privacy & Freedom of Expression : Platforms like SecureDrop on the Dark Web offer a secure and anonymous way for whistleblowers to share sensitive information with media outlets. Whistleblowing : Law enforcement agencies, researchers, and cybersecurity experts may use the Dark Web in their work, investigating cybercrimes, studying online behavior, or understanding security threats. Research : In countries with restricted internet access, the Dark Web provides an avenue to bypass censorship and access information freely. Circumvent Censorship So, as you see, the Dark Web isn't all shadows and crime - it's also a beacon of freedom for some, lighting the way through the murkier depths of the internet. Safety Measures Before Accessing the Dark Web Imagine you're about to explore a new, uncharted territory. It's thrilling, sure, but also fraught with unexpected hazards. That's exactly what venturing into the Dark Web feels like. And just like any smart explorer, you need your safety gear—in this case, it's all about online safety measures. One of the key tools in your digital survival kit should be a Virtual Private Network, or . Picture a VPN as a secret tunnel that camouflages your online activity. It encrypts your data (think secret code) and masks your location by hiding your IP address, which is essentially your device's ID on the internet. On the Dark Web, a VPN can be your invisible cloak, giving you an additional layer of much-needed anonymity and security. VPN I recommend —it's one of the most secure VPNs out there. NordVPN Next, consider antivirus software. The Dark Web can sometimes feel like a sketchy back alley where you might bump into all sorts of cyber threats. Antivirus software is like your personal bodyguard, spotting and neutralizing these potential threats before they can harm your device. Similarly, a firewall functions as a vigilant sentinel, scrutinizing the data entering and leaving your system, and slamming the door shut on anything suspicious. However, remember, as long as you're using a VPN, an antivirus isn't a must-have unless you're already using one. Lastly, just as you'd regularly service your car before a long journey, make sure your device's software, along with your Dark Web browser, is up to date. Developers constantly fix security loopholes in newer updates that could be exploited by the bad guys if left unattended. The Dark Web is a home for hackers. Depending on what you access and who you talk to, a VPN and Antrivirus software may not be enough to keep your device secure. You should always DYOR and understand the risks associated with browsing The Dark Web. DISCLAIMER: What is Tor? Ever heard of Tor? No, it's not the hammer-wielding Norse god. It's a powerful tool that's essential for those venturing into the Dark Web. , short for The Onion Router, is a unique browser designed to make your online presence anonymous. Tor Picture Tor as an internet superhighway, but instead of a straight line from point A to B, it's a winding path through multiple random points. Your data, or more accurately, the layers of it (hence the 'Onion' in the name), is encrypted and sent through several different servers around the world. At each stop, a layer of encryption is peeled off to reveal the next destination. This process repeats until the data reaches its final destination. Because of this roundabout journey, anyone trying to spy on the data can't trace it back to you. Why is Tor essential for accessing the Dark Web? Simply put, standard browsers like Chrome or Firefox can't access .onion sites, the websites of the Dark Web. Tor, however, can, while also offer a degree of anonymity. Keep in mind that while Tor increases privacy, it doesn't make you entirely untraceable. That's where our trusty friend, the VPN, comes back into play, enhancing your security further. How to Access the Dark Web on a Computer Step 1: Download and Install the Tor Browser To embark on your Dark Web adventure from a computer, your first step is to download and install the Tor browser. Think of it as your compass for navigating the Dark Web. Head over to the official . It's crucial to download it from the official source to avoid any malicious versions of the browser. Once there, select the version that suits your operating system (Windows, MacOS, or Linux), download it, and follow the prompts to install, much like any other browser. Tor Project website Step 2: Tips for Using Tor Safely on a Computer Now that you have Tor installed, here are some tips to use it safely: : As much as possible, avoid sharing any personal details that can be linked back to your real-world identity. Don't Provide Personal Information s: Remember, not all .onion sites are safe or legal. Steer clear of any sites offering illegal services or goods. Stick to Legal Site : To bolster your security, consider disabling JavaScript, as it can be exploited to reveal your identity. You can do this from the Tor's security settings. Disable JavaScript : For an added layer of security, make sure to connect your VPN before opening the Tor browser. Use a VPN ! NordVPN 3 Months Free The Dark Web is a home for hackers. Depending on what you access and who you talk to, a VPN and Antrivirus software may not be enough to keep your device secure. You should always DYOR and understand the risks associated with browsing The Dark Web. DISCLAIMER: Step 3: List of Some .onion Sites and What They Offer (Legal Sites Only) The Dark Web is not all dark. There are several .onion sites offering a range of legal services and resources. Here are a few: : This is the Dark Web version of the popular non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. ProPublica ( ) https://www.propub3r6espa33w.onion/ : A directory of other .onion sites to help you navigate your way around the Dark Web. The Hidden Wiki ( ) http://zqktlwiuavvvqqt4ybvgvi7tyo4hjl5xgfuvpdf6otjiycgwqbym2qad.onion/wiki/index.php/Main_Page : A privacy-focused search engine that doesn’t track your searches, now available on the Dark Web. DuckDuckGo ( ) http://3g2upl4pq6kufc4m.onion/ : A whistleblower submission system where media organizations can securely accept documents from anonymous sources. SecureDrop ( ) http://secrdrop5wyphb5x.onion/ How to Access the Dark Web on Android Device To access the Dark Web on Android, you'll need two key apps: Orbot and Orfox. Orbot is like Tor for Android—it connects your device to the Tor network. Orfox, on the other hand, is a web browser that, like the Tor browser, allows you to access .onion sites. Step 1: Install and Use Orbot and Orfox Download Orbot and Orfox from the Google Play Store. They're free and relatively small, so they won't take up much space. Open Orbot and tap "Start". This will connect your device to the Tor network. The process may take a few moments. Once Orbot is connected, you can now open Orfox. Use it just like any other browser, but remember, it's your gateway to the Dark Web, so surf responsibly. Step 2: Safety Measures While Using the Dark Web on Android Even on Android, the basic rules for Dark Web exploration apply: Always use a VPN alongside Orbot and Orfox for enhanced security. Avoid sharing any personal information. Be wary of downloading anything from the Dark Web. Stick to the legal side of the Dark Web. Armed with these guidelines and tools, you can venture into the Dark Web safely, even on an Android device. Remember, always prioritize safety over curiosity. The Dark Web is a vast, uncharted domain—stay safe as you explore its depths. Final Words I'll leave you with this: the Dark Web is not a playground. It's a place that demands respect, caution, and an understanding of the potential risks involved. It's a lot like the deep ocean. There's a lot to discover, but you must always be aware of the potential dangers that lurk beneath. Keep your digital lifejacket on at all times (in the form of a VPN and other security measures), and never forget the rules of safe navigation. Frequently Asked Questions Is it illegal to access the Dark Web? Simply accessing the Dark Web is not illegal. However, many illegal activities take place on the Dark Web, such as the buying and selling of drugs, weapons, and stolen data. Engaging in these activities is illegal, even if they are conducted on the Dark Web. How can I stay safe while browsing the Dark Web? There are several measures you can take to enhance your safety while browsing the Dark Web. These include using a VPN for an extra layer of security, keeping your personal information to yourself, avoiding downloads from the Dark Web, and sticking to legal and reputable sites. Can I use my regular browser to access the Dark Web? No, regular browsers like Chrome, Safari, or Firefox cannot access .onion sites, which are the websites of the Dark Web. The Tor browser is required to access these sites. Are there any risks associated with using the Dark Web? Yes, there are several risks associated with using the Dark Web. These include potential cybersecurity threats like malware and viruses, exposure to illegal activities, and the possibility of stumbling upon disturbing content. Always take precautions to ensure your safety when browsing the Dark Web. What is a VPN and why do I need it for accessing the Dark Web? A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, encrypts your data and hides your IP address, providing you with an extra layer of security and anonymity when browsing the web, including the Dark Web. A VPN can be especially useful on the Dark Web, as it can help protect you from potential surveillance and cyber threats.

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The world as we know it is changing. In fact, the internet – the very innovation that has changed the world so much – is itself evolving. Over the past year or two, we’ve seen a lot of talk about and why it’s a new frontier of the internet that has everyone excited. The new evolution of the information superhighway is expected to change the way we relate with data and each other on a fundamental level. Listening to the chatter from excited fans, there’s definitely a lot of love for it. Web3 Web3 is expected to change the way the entire internet works. Instead of having to deal with big corporations that take our data and use it for their profit, people will now be able to control their data and who sees it. There is expected to be a greater focus on privacy and user control, as opposed to people having to trust big corporations that have shown time and again that they aren’t the right people for the job. If you’re a player in the digital space, however, you might be feeling confused. How will Web3 change your work and the way you live? Is there a way for you to leverage this technology for your benefit? One of the best ways for creators to get ahead of the curve in Web3 is to find their communities. Just as digital communities have thrived in the current iteration of the internet, they are also expected to dominate when the Web3 revolution comes. We spoke to the creators of WiFi Map, a global connectivity platform that is helping likeminded people to connect and share. 1. What was the vision for WiFi Map? As of our launch on the TrustSwap Launchpad on March 30, WiFi Map is the largest connectivity platform in the Web3 space, and well on the way to becoming one of the biggest apps in the world. We’re very thankful to be in the position we’re in, and we’re incredibly excited for what’s next, but to understand how we got here you have to go back a few years. We're old enough to remember a time when the internet was a place you visited for a short period of time. Maybe you wanted to read the news or check your emails. This might seem hard for younger people to imagine, given that we're now connected to the internet all the time. Traveling was also very different in those days and, while there were some great things about those times, I’m not sure I’d go back now! WiFi Map came into being at a time when smartphones were still a relatively new phenomenon and the app stores were buzzing with new possibilities. We saw that people were sharing information about free public WiFi hotspots with their fellow travelers online and decided to create a global map where we could crowdsource that energy. We created a global, shared map where anybody could add a WiFi hotspot, and millions of people did. Let’s face it – you need the internet to function in today’s world, whether that means showing a boarding pass on your phone to get on a flight, paying your bills and taxes, or communicating with your loved ones. We believe that this makes the internet a fundamental human right. As founders and developers, we think WiFi Map has the potential to help connect the whole world and reach the third of humanity that still doesn’t have a reliable and secure internet connection. 2. What are the media through which communities will be developed with Web3? We’ve been working hard on the community front since we announced the Web3 drive last summer, and we think we’ve done a pretty amazing job since then. We have 15,000 members in our Telegram community and 58,000 on Discord, not to mention our 100,000 Twitter followers. We’re looking forward to seeing how these platforms adapt to Web3, and we’re also on the lookout for exciting new Web3-native social platforms. Community has to be at the heart of any crowdsourced project and we’ve been working with some of our most loyal contributors for years. Our community advisory board is an informal group of top WiFi Map users who we’ve been able to consult with on new ideas and receive all kinds of feedback as the project has grown. This has put us in a great position to ensure that the Web3 shift is as community-powered as possible. Web3 is still a relatively small world, and our own little niche of DeWi, or wireless, is just one part of it. We believe that the network effects from launching $WIFI will help us to put our name out there even more and allow our community to continue to grow organically. We’ll be adding more opportunities for community members to interact inside the app very soon. decentralized 3. With Web3 posing a threat to the fundamental powers that be, how do you view its current integration by Big Tech? There was a really interesting survey last year – I think it was done by Rapid Innovation – which found that almost all Fortune 500 executives think that Web3 will define the next century of business. Some of the world’s biggest companies are embracing Web3 in really interesting ways, whether that’s via collabs, NFT collections, or new payment systems. This being said, I think there are some cases where companies view Web3 as merely a trend and don’t expect that they’ll be engaging with it in the long term. In our case, this couldn’t be further from the truth. We are committed to Web3 as a framework for delivering horizontal, decentralized and democratic ecosystems, and it’s going to allow us to make huge improvements to our core product. There have been lots of amazing new projects in the space, and I think you’ll see more cases like ours in the next few years, where established startups and companies harness the benefits of decentralization at a deeper level. Web 2.0 So I think having a massive existing community and a solidly Web3 approach puts us in a strong position, and I’m really excited to see how we can make the most of the first-mover advantage. 4. How does WiFi Map hope to give its communities benefits and what can it expect in return? The entire philosophy of moving into Web3 and launching $WIFI is baked on the idea of giving back to the community. Our 150 million users and 13 million contributors have helped to build the most successful WiFi finder and one of the biggest travel apps in the world. This represents a significant amount of value, and $WIFI is going to unlock that. Millions of people were already happy to build the app without expecting anything in return, and we’re delighted that we can now thank them with $WIFI rewards, which they can use to access services within our ecosystem like eSIM mobile data. Our iOS and Android development teams did an incredible job of building the $WIFI in-app wallet in such a short space of time and making it fully secure. eSIM is actually one of the most popular features in the WiFi Map app, and a core element of our medium-term plans. By combining millions of WiFi hotspots all over the world with international mobile data coverage, we’re aiming to be people’s primary source of connectivity. There’s a term for this – mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO – and we’re the first one in the Web3 space. With the introduction of lifestyle services like those we announced last year in partnership with power bank sharing companies Chargefon and Fast Energy, we’re on the way to becoming a superapp. In the future, WiFi Map is going to do the job of an entire stack of your favorite apps in one place. Ultimately, we need to show people that our belief in the internet as a fundamental human right means something tangible. As well as broadening opportunities for our existing users, entering the Web3 space means we’ll be able to bring free WiFi to everybody. We’re very excited for the weeks and months to come.

How Digital Communities Can Get First-Mover Advantage with Web3

With over 5 years of experience in chatbot development, I’ve been building on top of GPT models since the early days of GPT2, when it was once considered too dangerous. The introduction of ChatGPT piqued my interest, and I was curious to learn how people perceive this technology and how they plan to use it. In order to gain this knowledge, I offered free development assistance to members of the OpenAI community in exchange for their project insights. In this article, I’ll share what I’ve learned and the tools I’ve created to help others achieve their goals. You can find the OpenAI thread here: . https://community.openai.com/t/let-me-help-you-build-your-project-no-fees/27085 Although ChatGPT is an amazing tool, most users expressed dissatisfaction with two key aspects. Firstly, ChatGPT only includes training data up to 2021, which implies that the model’s responses may be outdated. However, since Microsoft is integrating GPT into Bing, this concern may not be significant for too long. Secondly, users face the challenge of being unable to use ChatGPT with their own data source. Although ChatGPT has been trained on a large amount of data and has a general understanding of our world, it is difficult to train ChatGPT to prioritize its responses to custom data. What is the significance of this? Assume you are a marketer who wants ChatGPT to write blog posts promoting your brand’s products and services. Teaching ChatGPT unique aspects of your brand and including product details that may not be in their training data is not currently possible using OpenAI’s standard API. Similarly, for chatbots to assist with answering customer questions, they must be knowledgeable about the company they represent, or else they will not be effective. After speaking with various users across different industries and use cases, it became clear to me that all their issues could be resolved if they had their own version of ChatGPT. To assist these users, I divided the challenge into two parts. Firstly, generating content on a large scale from their own knowledge base. Secondly, answering questions for themselves or the people they serve using their own knowledge base. Content Generation from Custom Data Source To simplify content generation at scale, I created a Google spreadsheet where users can input their custom data, and the spreadsheet will automatically call OpenAI’s API to generate content in multiple rows. You can download this sheet at . https://community.openai.com/t/google-spreadsheet-gpt3/25460 I chose Google spreadsheets because they’re user-friendly, and you can easily create workflows by chaining together multiple cells. Here’s an example of how you can generate a lot of content using a GPT custom function in Google spreadsheets. In one column, you can input the context, and in the next column, you can ask GPT a question based on that information. This allows you to upload multiple rows of data in one column and receive responses for multiple rows at scale. Additionally, you can chain multiple cells together and create a workflow of GPT calls from your spreadsheet. This is useful when you want to ask GPT a series of questions based on previous answers. ChatGPT Answering on Custom Data Source Many users have expressed interest in using ChatGPT as an extension of their own knowledge base by teaching it information that is currently unavailable to ChatGPT. To help these users achieve this goal, I created a web app that allows users to upload their documents or attach web pages to their library and teach ChatGPT to answer questions using these references. For example, you can attach an article about the LA Lakers trade news and use ChatGPT to reference it and get your questions answered. You can also view the references to see where ChatGPT sourced its answers from. Furthermore, you can export your custom-built ChatGPT as a plugin and embed it onto your website so that others can use it as well. Think of it as a combination of Google Drive and OpenAI ChatGPT. This web app is currently free to use, and you can register at . https://superinsight.ai Utilizing Generative AI to understand data has become increasingly essential for individuals and organizations alike. With the massive amounts of data being generated every day, traditional data analysis techniques are no longer sufficient. Generative AI offers a powerful solution that can analyze and interpret data at scale, providing insights that would be impossible for humans to uncover manually. By leveraging Generative AI, businesses can gain a competitive edge by making data-driven decisions faster and more accurately. Here are two links to the tools discussed in this article 1. Google SpreadSheet + GPT 2. Build Your Own ChatGPT

Lessons Learned From Conducting 100+ ChatGPT User Interviews

The the or the : Each of its names depict a massive potential of impact on humanity. A huge compilation of stories, conversations and cute animals. And hate speech, false narratives. Let’s not forget versions of reality created for politics, and neon, glittery stuff everywhere. Information Superhighway, ‘net World Wide Web The Internet is part of our lives, every single day. It’s changing; and very much like how we can’t sense how our face subtly changes over the years, we can’t feel the change as it happens. Let’s talk about the future of the Internet, reviewing the key occurrences that led to the Internet as we experience it today. Maybe afterwards, in time, we can plan how we may start thinking about the kind of Internet we want to create. Deliberate organization of information Jerry Yang and David Filo, two engineering students, founded . This was a critical moment in time, where a profit-oriented player entered the game to organize the information on the Internet. Their method was to categorize websites into groups expressing the topics they touch upon, such as politics, games or movies. If you love movies, there are tens of pages, interesting stuff to entertain yourself with. Yahoo A marvelous thing! What the Internet enabled us to do The most recent advancements in data science, artificial intelligence, augmented reality usually first translate into cool experiments online. As we wander the Internet’s most popular squares and peek through its alleys, further marvels cross our way. The vast amount of options leave us amazed and oftentimes, cluttering our vision with opportunities to get smarter, connect with others or have some more fun. Or all of it at once. There’s data everywhere, a lot of people are analyzing a lot of interesting things to predict how things will go e.g. in finance, science and physics. With tons of education material online, you can master many crafts relevant in the offline or online world. Here, play your favorite childhood song on a ukulele you ordered online yesterday, and it’s so much fun! Let’s not forget about the AI guy in town that answers all types of questions. Last but not least, you can use your phone camera to place a lion in the middle of your living room. Technology and the Internet’s symbiotic relationships created diverse opportunities for livelihood-making, moments of fun and perhaps most importantly, a sense of belonging. Our techno-archeological footprint Humanity, with our epic tales, quirks, heroes, weirdos & dramas found our place on the Internet. The Internet documented humanity’s best and worst moments. As time marched on, made it easier to tell stories to people, near & far, friends & foes, all day all week. Here’s something my high school best friend ate for lunch in Norway. Oh, and the influencer I’m in a love-hate relationship with just moved to the city I live in. big tech Every post comes with a story. Citing the French philosopher , the writer talks about how we’re left with mini narratives everywhere. There’s no place left for grand narratives, like progress, liberation or salvation, in our footprint. It’s mostly full of our imperfect stories with self-serving, greedy twists. Jean-François Lyotard Peter Brooks Economic impact of The Internet 1999 marked the year online shopping started with . Nowadays, buying something is as simple as it gets. You can shop first or last thing in the day, while you pretend to work, during commute or in the bathtub. a huge burst The Internet is our biggest bazaar, the latest coolest shopping mall in town. There are so many shiny and perfect things. If you buy the right things at the same time, you can be this shiny and perfect, too. Shaping generations Coming of age online means witnessing so much. Bullying, peer pressure and individual complexes. All the while, you’re trying to better understand who you are and build your own narrative for your online self. It’s not an easy task. often counted among the first YouTubers with a lively follower base. He tackles coming of age online in his 2018 movie , and adds: Bo Burnham is Eighth Grade We really do spend so much time building narrative for ourselves, and I sense with people that there was a real pressure to view one’s life as something like a movie. And you better have a strong narrative, or no one might want to watch that movie. Radical emotions, extremist ideas & a mighty tool of mass deceit Do you know what most folks want to watch, or consume online? Things that will bring them to tears, from anger or from sadness. Outrage. Paranoia. Shock. We want to be surprised as we keep learning about the latest absurdities of becoming part of this wonderful mess we found ourselves inhabiting. That’s natural. Things get unnatural as a bunch of paranoid opinions cut through everything else. When people turn to hatefulness to attempt to solve their problems. Hate spreads fast. Also through benevolent sharers who want to point at danger. Algorithms don’t care. If something gets interactions, it will drive profit and deserves a spotlight. Polarization Do you know what else drives profit? When there are more people creating more high-arousal content. Do you know how you get more of those? By putting like-minded individuals into the same groups. Groupthink leads to consensus around more destructive options. This was studied many times, pioneered by on the power of groups. When big tech wants more viral content, putting people with similar views into close circles usually does the trick. It’s human nature. Charming coincidence that this raises profits. Prof Myers’ 1970 study Each of us carries more journalistic power than before when we’re online. Not helping the spread of misinformation, hate speech or any other harmful conversation is part of our responsibility. A hopeful outlook We’re just starting to think more deeply about the type of Internet we want for ourselves. When I say we, I don’t only mean the practitioners intensely involved in co-creating healthy communities. I also mean regular users, who are sick of the flow of non-stop ads. People who have seen enough insincere, self-serving stories of others. Some others want to be loved and perhaps recently started to understand that this isn’t love. Almost ten years ago, Internet experts It may have been that some developments were hindered along the way and some are cooking slower than expected. Still, a couple deserves highlighting in an attempt to sprinkle some hope into our gazing of the future: made predictions for the Internet of 2025. The Internet is blending into the background of our daily lives, giving us quick feedback for better decision-making. Especially in personal health and behavior change, supported by various innovations in user experience blending hardware, software and psychology. We are more aware of the massive disparities in access to health care, clear water, education, food, and human rights. There are more opportunities to come together for collective action to make sure all living beings lead more ecologically sustainable, dignified and fulfilling lives. , pioneer Internet activist and Internet rights advocate, fathomed that there would be many fragments of the Internet, controlled by a diverse set of protocols. It’s never too late to think about which fragments we each want to be a part of, and how we can make sure it’s as open, free, and as respectful and factual in its sociality as possible. Ian Peters Further references If you find yourself further pondering about all this, you may like what the following organizations have to say: World Wide Web Foundation Electronic Frontier Foundation Internet Engineering Task Force Community Data Science Collective Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society

The History of the Internet: Collaboration, Commerce, and Polarization

La historia de Internet: colaboración, comercio y polarización

L'histoire d'Internet : collaboration, commerce et polarisation

इंटरनेट का इतिहास: सहयोग, वाणिज्य और ध्रुवीकरण

インターネットの歴史: コラボレーション、コマース、二極化

A história da Internet: colaboração, comércio e polarização

Lịch sử của Internet: Hợp tác, Thương mại và Phân cực

互联网的历史：协作、商业和两极分化

Relational databases have been the foundation of some of the world’s most critical applications for the last fifty years. While there are other databases available, such as Key Value, Document, and Graph databases, relational databases remain the most popular. The main reason for this is that SQL, or relational database language, is easy for beginners to learn and effective for experts to implement. However, as we enter a new era of artificial intelligence, storing structured data is no longer sufficient. Today 80% of the world’s data today is unstructured data, and it includes raw text, images, audio, video, and a variety of other file types. These unstructured data contain a large amount of critical information that we cannot retrieve using the current relational database system. The good news is that recent advances in machine learning allow us to comprehend unstructured data in ways never before possible, and we can capitalize on this opportunity by making this technology more accessible. Relational database for unstructured data In this article, I will introduce Superinsight, a relational database with built-in machine-learning capabilities. Superinsight empowers anyone with an SQL background to run a query on top of unstructured data. The core concept for Superinsight are the following Superinsight is built on top of PostgreSQL, so it has all of PostgreSQL’s features as well as machine learning capabilities. Superinsight automatically analyzes and indexes any data stored in columns with data type [TEXT]. Raw text data is stored as values, while file-based data such as images are stored as a reference to the actual location. Installation Superinsight can be run as a standalone machine or as part of an orchestration framework like Kubernetes. The standalone version will be used for the purposes of this demonstration. Docker is the most convenient way to install Superinsight. Before running the command, remember to change the username and password. docker run \
--name superinsight-db-standalone \
-p 5432:5432 \
-e SUPERINSIGHT_USER=admin \
-e SUPERINSIGHT_PASSWORD=password \
-e ENV_IMAGE_TO_LABEL=True \
superinsight/superinsight-db-standalone:latest For this demonstration, we are going to set the flag ENV_IMAGE_TO_LABEL=True, this option allows us to search on images base on text. Connecting Once the docker container is running, you can connect to Superinsight using the PostgreSQL protocol and the default database Superinsight on Port 5432. postgres://admin:password@127.0.0.1:5432/superinsight Storing and Searching Unstructured Data Superinsight can store both structured and unstructured data using standard SQL. Superinsight will only analyze unstructured data if it is stored in a column with the data type [TEXT]. In the following example, we will use the . Flipkart Products Dataset Create Table The standard CREATE TABLE statement can be used to create a table. Because we only want Superinsight to analyze the columns under name, image, and description as unstructured data, we use the data type [TEXT] for these columns. Also, each table must have a primary key; this is a requirement for Superinsight. CREATE TABLE mldb.product (
    _id serial PRIMARY KEY,
    category varchar(500),
    brand varchar(500),
    name TEXT,
    image TEXT,
    description TEXT,
    price float8,
    url varchar(500)
); Insert Records Standard SQL Insert statements can be used to insert records. The values for the column names and descriptions are stored in the database, but for images, we store the image URL. Superinsight will automatically read and index the images based on each image URL. In this example, we’ll add 20 records to our database.  SQL script can be downloaded from . here Semantic Search for Raw Text We will create a semantic search query using the statement between our table and the prebuilt model. The keyword indicates which column is used as input for the semantic search model. The keyword is used to specify the value to compare to. Finally, we can use predictions.score as to sort the most relevant results. JOIN ON WHERE ORDER BY Note: Superinsight must download the latest semantic search model to your database before our first search. Depending on internet bandwidth, this may take 1–2 minutes. SELECT predictions.score, mldb.product.image, mldb.product.name, mldb.product.description
FROM mldb.product
JOIN model.semantic_search
ON model.semantic_search.inputs = mldb.product.description
WHERE model.semantic_search.similar = 'Something to sit on'
ORDER BY predictions.score DESC Our semantic search for “Something to sit on” yielded four records of sofa beds with scores greater than 0.11. The most significant distinction between Superinsight and other relational databases is that the results are scored by machine learning models that understand the context of the data, resulting in much richer search results. Semantic Search for Image To Image Image searching is just like searching for raw text. All that needs to be changed is the clause value and the clause condition. We will use an image url as the search value to find records based on image similarity. WHERE ON SELECT predictions.score, mldb.product.image, mldb.product.name, mldb.product.description
FROM mldb.product
JOIN model.semantic_search
ON model.semantic_search.inputs = mldb.product.image
WHERE model.semantic_search.similar = 'http://img5a.flixcart.com/image/short/u/4/a/altht-3p-21-alisha-38-original-imaeh2d5vm5zbtgg.jpeg'
ORDER BY predictions.score DESC Notice the first image has a score of 1 because it is exactly the same image we are looking for. We can see the following five images are very similar so they have scores higher than 0.87. Semantic Search for Text To Image We can also search for images by describing the context of the image with text. In the following example, we’re looking for “woman dress” images. SELECT predictions.score, mldb.product.image, mldb.product.name, mldb.product.description
FROM mldb.product
JOIN model.semantic_search
ON model.semantic_search.inputs = mldb.product.image
WHERE model.semantic_search.similar = 'woman dress'
ORDER BY predictions.score DESC Conclusion Superinsight makes it simple to store and search unstructured data. Since it is based on PostgreSQL, any existing applications and data visualization tools that support the PostgreSQL protocol can now use Superinsight. For more information on Superinsight, visit the links below. Documentation: https://docs.superinsight.ai GitHub: https://github.com/superinsight/superinsight-db

Using a Relational Database to Query Unstructured Data

The roots of the term "metaverse" goes all the way back to 1992, the year when the critically-acclaimed sci-fi novel of Neal Stephenson, "Snow Crash", was first published to the world. Since then, the Internet has gone from being the niche plaything of hardcore computer geeks dubbed the "information superhighway", to become increasingly ubiquitous to our daily lives as it penetrates every facet of our modern society: social media, e-commerce, financial services, and so forth. The maturation of Internet technologies during this timespan is what allows the Metaverse as a concept to evolve from being purely a sci-fi notion to become a feasible proposition in the present. Read on as we decipher the Metaverse: an open oasis of interoperable 3D virtual worlds. The Metaverse: Virtual Worlds, Reimagined It is easy to overlook that "social media" isn't even a term back in the early 2000s, let alone an industry category, until Facebook goes mainstream. The same goes to "smartphone" before Apple's iPhone, or "e-commerce" before Amazon. Correspondingly, the Metaverse is set to be the next blue ocean: a network of interoperable 3D virtual worlds. Just like how social media encompasses Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat, the Metaverse will encompass the whole universe of interoperable virtual worlds of the future. The Metaverse is not and will not ever refer to one company or one virtual world — it will be like describing the World Wide Web as a single webpage, or labelling social media as only Facebook. Make no mistake, virtual worlds are not new by any means. As a matter of fact, gaming virtual worlds like Grand Theft Auto and World of Warcraft have seen tremendous amounts of success due to its rich storyline and immersive gameplay. Social virtual worlds like Roblox and Minecraft have also made their mark, imbuing players with the ability to create their own 3D assets and craft experiences within their platforms. Fortnite takes it up a notch, offering players both gaming (via Battle Royale) and social elements (via Fortnite Creative) within the same platform! With that said, what's truly revolutionary is a state where these virtual worlds could interoperate with each other: a state where virtual items in a particular virtual world could be seamlessly ported to another virtual world (and back); a state where virtual assets are freely composable with one another; and a state where conducting virtual asset transactions, no matter its underlying virtual world, does not involve a centralized gatekeeping intermediary. Just like how webpages can range from casual food blogs to full-blown e-commerce sites, virtual worlds also come in all shapes and sizes: an outer space shooter with story-driven gameplay, a VR-based virtual office, a pixelated social virtual world filled with user-generated experiences, a cyberpunk-themed metropolis for 3D commerce, you name it! A single webpage is only able of fitting in so much information — but with a network of interconnected webpages, you create the World Wide Web. Similarly, a single virtual world is only capable of hosting so much experience — but with a network of interoperable virtual worlds, you create the Metaverse. Realizing the Metaverse: A 3-Stage Endeavour It is easy to overlook that the Internet did not actually start out as the permissionless public network that we are accustomed to right now. In fact, the Internet back in the 1990s are more like private networks connected to each other via permission controls (what we now know as Intranets). It was only when standards like FTP and HTTP emerged that Intranets gradually became more open, and it took a few more years in order for these standards to congregate under the Internet protocol suite (or the TCP/IP), marking the start of the World Wide Web and the Internet as the permissionless public network that it was originally envisioned. Likewise, the absence of a common standard to denote virtual items across the Metaverse has spurred projects to resort to a Walled Garden approach — a siloed virtual world in which they are in the driving seat. Understandably so, it does not come as a surprise that the general perception on the term "metaverse" has skewed towards "siloed social virtual worlds" (like Roblox or The Sandbox), instead of it being a "network of interoperable virtual worlds". All in all, the realization of the Internet unfolds in three stages: adoption of Intranets; transition from private Intranets to the public Internet; commercialization of Internet applications. Similarly, the realization of the Metaverse would somewhat resemble the Internet's three stages as well: adoption of virtual worlds; transition from siloed virtual worlds to the open Metaverse; commercialization of Metaverse virtual assets. 1) 2) 3) 1) 2) 3) Having said that, each stage presents itself with challenges-to-address before the Metaverse is no longer an elusive dream: 1) Adoption of Virtual Worlds — Slow UGC Proliferation User-generated content (UGC) is the lifeblood of all networked services. Without imbuing users with a free rein to create their own webpages, the World Wide Web would not grow to the degree that it is at right now. Virtual worlds are not an exception: just like how people will not use Facebook or Twitter if their friends or favourite content creators are not there, people will also not visit a virtual world if there isn't sufficient UGC piquing their interest. However, existing 3D editors (e.g: Blender, VoxEdit, etc.) require specialized expertise, such that it locks out ordinary people from the creative process. As a result, there remains a large skill gap to even create one simple 3D asset for use on a single virtual world, let alone across the Metaverse. A thriving UGC base is of paramount importance in order for the Metaverse to become widely adopted. The more people participating in UGC creation, the more UGC will be generated, which attracts more users to virtual worlds (and with it, the Metaverse). 2) Transition from Siloed Virtual Worlds to the Open Metaverse — Archaic NFT Standards What TCP/IP is for the Internet, is what NFT standards will be for the Metaverse. Without TCP/IP, the Internet would essentially be a collection of Intranets. Likewise, without NFT standards, the Metaverse will remain a wasteland of siloed virtual worlds. Unfortunately, current NFT standards are not advanced enough to represent even the most foundational game logic — one example being nested ownership (e.g: a sword equipped with a skin) — leaving current virtual world projects with no choice but to resort to their own closed-off central database in order to facilitate their virtual world's mechanics. A fully-fledged NFT standard able to store all the resources and dependencies of a virtual asset would be a watershed moment towards the realization of the Metaverse. The ability to facilitate any game logic on-chain will open the floodgates for creators to experiment with novel cross-world mechanics and collaborative monetization models via interoperable and composable virtual items represented as NFTs. 3) Commercialization of Metaverse Virtual Assets — Fragmented NFT Liquidity The rise of other L1 ecosystems outside of Ethereum (e.g: Solana, Avalanche, etc.) has made it clear to everyone that the future will be multi-chain: there will not be a single chain to "rule them all". As a consequence, the aggregate liquidity from market participants would inevitably get segregated across chains. In other words, protocols hosted on say, Ethereum, would be unable to gain access to liquidity from protocols on other chains like Solana or Avalanche (and vice versa). A solution able to relay interchain smart contract communications would be vastly needed in order to de-fragment NFT liquidity across chains — an "interchain layer" of sorts that could call upon or trigger certain functions of a smart contract via commands originating from a different chain. This would allow the UI/UX to be refined to such a degree that users do not need to know on which chain a specific NFT is hosted on — they only need to know what virtual asset(s) that NFT represents, and on which virtual world are they configured for (e.g: an NFT representing a sword in world A and a gun in world B). Reitio: Metaverse UGCs, Democratized Reitio is on a mission to tackle the first stage towards the realization of the Metaverse: adoption of virtual worlds. The root cause is simple: creating even a half-decent 3D asset carries a steep learning curve, which locks out ordinary users from participating in UGC creation — hindering virtual world adoption. As such, Reitio is built from the ground up to eliminate the steep learning curve associated with creating a 3D asset, empowering users to create 3D renditions of their own imaginations and bring them to life on their virtual world of choice, instead of getting intimidated before they even started. Being a fully web-based solution, Reitio's mix-and-match, templates-oriented approach to 3D design ensures that the toolkit is intuitive enough to be picked up by anyone within a few minutes — the Canva for 3D assets. Demand-Side: Metaverse Participants A Reitio-generated 3D asset is fundamentally made up of templates stacked on top of each other — like Lego blocks. Templates come in different flavours: free default templates are provided in-house by our internal designers, while premium templates are listed by community contributors or our virtual world partners, whereby each instance of usage will subject users to a pay-per-use royalty payment to the template creator. The whole design experience is comparable to creating Lego structures: users start by choosing a 'base' template, then gradually work their way up — the extent of what defines a "finished" 3D design will ultimately depend on the user itself, just like the extent of what constitutes a "completed" Lego structure will be in the hands of that structure's builder. This design philosophy is what allows Reitio to be extremely user-friendly without sacrificing much of the variability and extensibility offered by more complex fully-fledged 3D editors. On the other hand, our extensive integrations with various web3 virtual worlds will allow users to deploy their created 3D assets into their virtual world of choice straight from the Reitio web app, ensuring a smooth WYSIWYG design-to-deployment experience for users. In addition, Reitio-generated 3D assets could also be exported to a user's local drive — allowing them to be brought to life even on virtual worlds not natively supported (yet) on Reitio. Supply-Side: Professional 3D Artists Reitio will be the perfect breeding ground for 3D artists to build their brand and presence, providing them with an avenue to showcase and monetize their skills to eager Metaverse participants across the globe. To this end, artists can choose to either develop a new 'base' template for potential users to start on, build add-ons on top of an already popular 'base', or create their own branded asset packs — each comes with their own implications: Base: Essentially a blank canvas (e.g: a car frame); Secondaries: Templates built on top of an existing base template (e.g: a car bumper attached to a car frame); Add-ons: Templates built on top of an existing secondary template (e.g: a paint job for a car bumper attached to a car frame); Asset pack: A collection of "finished" 3D assets from the issuing artist (e.g: a branded virtual clothing line for an avatar). Reitio's Lego-like approach towards 3D design gives artists the liberty to choose which areas to specialize in. Over time, artists would find themselves carving out their own respective niches. For instance, an artist could specialize in generating cat 'base' templates, while another artist could be well-known for creating car add-ons. Soon enough, prominent artists whose designs are wildly popular amongst the Metaverse populace would find themselves effectively becoming "Internet celebrities" in due course, in a similar vein to the YouTubers or social media personalities of now. Towards Metaverse Adoption: User-Generated Content is King https://twitter.com/Reitiocom/status/1549676951367196674?s=20&t=4KzqmnR9zE5tiUtrDblBNA The Metaverse is not a single virtual world, just like how the World Wide Web is not a single webpage. Yet, its actual realization still lies far beyond — first priority is getting to virtual world adoption: without it, you have nothing. As with any other networked services, user-generated content is king — the Metaverse is not an exception. The current landscape however, imposes a steep learning curve towards ordinary Metaverse participants such that it locks them out from participating in UGC creation — holding back adoption. Reitio is developed from square one to fill this gap: a codeless, no-download, on-the-web 3D design tool so intuitive that it will only take users no longer than a few minutes to get a hang of it and generate their first Metaverse 3D asset. Also published . here About Reitio Reitio democratizes the Metaverse's user-generated content (UGC) creation process to the masses. Being an intuitive and user-friendly 3D design tool at its core, Reitio enables users to create their own fully customizable 3D assets and bring them to life on their virtual world of choice, regardless of background or experience. No longer limited by the steep learning curve of existing 3D asset editors, Reitio unlocks the vast creative potential hidden amongst ordinary Metaverse participants, setting the stage for the mass adoption of virtual worlds across the Metaverse. | | | | | Website Twitter Telegram Discord Medium Documentation

Supercharging Metaverse Adoption with User-Generated Content (UGC)

: Vested Interest Disclosure The author's an independent contributor who received compensation from the company/ies mentioned in this story. While HackerNoon has reviewed the story for quality, the claims hereon belong to the author. #DYOR bloXroute secures $70 million in funding to build blockchain distribution network is a blockchain distribution network (BDN) provider for DeFi traders on Ethereum, Polygon, and BSC, which has closed a $70 million Series B funding round headed by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and other big names like Blindspot, Dragonfly, Flow Traders, Flybridge, GSR, Jane Street, Lightspeed, ParaFi Capital, and Rockaway Blockchain Fund also participated in the round. bloXroute bloXroute is a worldwide content distribution channel aimed at increasing blockchain scalability. By offering mempool services and transaction/block propagation facilities, the services help decentralised finance (DeFi) traders earn more trades. BloXroute's unique network architecture speeds up to block propagation by up to 2 seconds, transaction propagation by up to 1 second, and transaction detection by up to 50-400 milliseconds. Uri Klarman, CEO of bloXroute, said: “We are thrilled to announce today's significant milestone as we welcome Softbank Vision Fund 2 and other new investors and thank them for this vote of confidence. This investment enables us to expand our team, extend our reach, and continue making the propagation of data more efficient and reliable.” The company, based in Chicago, supplies crucial technology for DeFi, which has expanded to a collective trading volume of over $1 trillion by 2021. DeFi transaction volume on bloXroute surpasses $1.5 billion per day, owing to an increased appetite for peer-to-peer trading. bloXroute has developed a massive Blockchain Distribution Network (BDN) that allows users to bypass congestion in the network and obtain crucial information, including buy and sell orders, pricing, holdings, liquidations, and oracle updates, practically instantly. Aaron Wong, an investor at SoftBank Investment Advisers, said: “We believe that bloXroute holds the key to unlocking faster transaction speeds and reduced latency on multiple blockchain networks, bloXroute’s global distribution network enables unparalleled transaction settlements for trading and we foresee exciting use cases to emerge in industries such as NFTs, blockchain-based metaverses and gaming. We are thrilled to partner with Uri and the team to help build a blockchain superhighway with uncongested performance.” The distribution industry cannot afford to embrace blockchain with a futuristic mindset. Whether it was the 2016 Egyptian phony cotton scam or the 2017 horse meat incident, the distribution business has been beset by problems that have eroded customer trust. The retail and wholesale distribution industries can benefit from distributed ledger technology by improved productivity, authenticity, transparency, and simplicity of doing business. Without the requirement for a single point of control, the industry may keep an accurate account of all data a product receives throughout its entire lifespan using a highly secured id. By nature, no single entity may unilaterally edit the information without the approval of other network members. Don’t forget to like and share the story!

BloXroute Closes $70 million Series B Funding Round Headed by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 

A Short History of The Commercial Internet: From Mosaic to Web3

My name is Oleksandr Yaroshenko. I am Ukrainian, Kyiv-borne, and I work on investor relations and strategy development for tech product startups with Ukrainian roots. Like many of my Ukrainian colleagues, I woke up on February 24, 2022, not to the alarm clock but to the sounds of bombing and air raid sirens. Russia had started a full-fledged war against my country, destroying our civilian districts, entire villages, and children and maternity hospitals. Though my life and the lives of all Ukrainians have drastically changed, we all stay strong and fight for our country on various fronts — from military to informational and cybersecurity. And what is more, the majority of Ukrainian tech businesses keep on with their work. In this article — I’m writing it between my apartment and a bomb shelter in Kyiv — . I will tell you how my life and the lives of my Ukrainian colleagues have changed and how we manage to carry on business during these turbulent times The day that changed everything For the last three years, I have been working at the largest startup ecosystem of Ukraine called Genesis. And for about a year, as a Head of Investor Relations, I have been fully focused on , a global EdTech startup with Ukrainian roots, with the R&D department in Kyiv, and the recently opened office in London. 2021 was remarkably fruitful for our startup — Headway had x2 year-over-year growth, the number of paid subscribers of our app has increased three times, and our team grew more than twofold. We have been on a steep growth trajectory, starting a non-deal roadshow for investors and entering new markets while maintaining profitability. Headway On February 24, I was supposed to go to work, finalize our usual update on the financial model, and transfer the data into the pitch deck. After work, I planned to get a ride on the bicycle to prepare for the IronMan 70.3 this summer. But that day went totally different. Many people were talking about how Russia was ramping up its forces near the Ukrainian borders over the past several weeks, but nobody believed they would start bombing Ukraine. Therefore, the beginning of a full-scale invasion caught us all by surprise. We kept on working and joined the fight Headway developed a contingency plan prior to the Russian invasion, so the company helped our team with relocation to safer places. As for me, I stayed in Kyiv, a decision I made primarily because of my parents, who were against leaving their house in these uncertain times. My family bond is strong, and I realized that I wouldn’t be able to focus on work if I left them behind. The feeling of safety is quite relative in Kyiv, but I believe people can adapt and overcome nearly everything. Just take a look at how my house is constantly transforming into a light fortress. On the first day of the war, I managed to grab my work set up, including my laptop, two screens, and the mount for them. So now I can keep working comfortably, except that work is accompanied by the "soundtrack" of air raid sirens and explosions outside my window. My colleagues were lucky to escape the great danger just in time, especially those who lived in small villages in the suburbs of Kyiv, where thousands of young families have settled in recent years. The Russians demolished nearly all the houses there, left people without food, water, heat, and connection, and killed some civilians on the streets. Fortunately, none of our team was there, and nobody was hurt. Finally safe, our Ukrainian unit was divided and settled in different parts in the west of Ukraine and abroad. Some people were relocated in organized groups, some went to their relatives in locations without active hostilities, and others went abroad. We are now physically apart but act as one. As soon as the company secured our safety, we all teamed up to resume our work to ensure business continuity and development. Readily-available emergency plans and established operations enabled Headway to conduct business as usual and fulfill previously set KPIs. From the first days, we created a collection of content about the war in a new format, which we were to launch later in 2022. This new type of content on hot topics generated a boost in users’ engagement in our app. So, it not only spreads the truth about current events but also has a positive impact on business and product metrics. Also, as a business, we have donated UAH 1M to support Ukraine. Ukrainian tech companies don’t stop The startup scene of Ukraine is underrepresented in the global arena, but Ukrainian IT talents are already well known and hunted by the world’s dominant tech players like Meta and Google. The IT industry is the third-largest category of foreign exchange earnings in Ukraine and has generated more than $6 billion in export revenue in 2021. There are some success stories, like the unicorn with Ukrainian roots — , the viral face-wrap app — , which has been famously tweeted by Elon Musk and Hollywood superstars, the security hardware company — formerly known as purchased by Amazon for $1 billion, — a leading pan-African classified that conquered markets from OLX and my personal source of pride — an EdTech company providing fun and easy educational content suiting busy adults’ lives. Grammarly Reface Ring Jiji Headway Many of these startups became global IT companies with teams distributed across several countries but leveraging the access to tech talent and maintaining development R&D centers in cost-efficient cities of Ukraine. Having an R&D center in Ukraine has already become an “efficiency rule” for global tech companies. with headquarters in Tel Aviv, with their head office in San Francisco, from Montreuil, and from Paris are among them. Wix JustAnswer Ubisoft Gameloft CEOs of these companies condemn the war, focusing on the security of their employees over the past few weeks. Many IT businesses in Ukraine established temporary offices in the west of Ukraine or started relocating their employees to EU countries. For example, , a company developing Mac utility apps, ensured its infrastructure, user data, and cloud operation were outside Ukraine, their team was safe, and the business would operate uninterrupted. Ukrainian security systems company is relocating not only its team but the whole factory to continue fulfilling its obligations to customers and partners. Even those companies whose employees stayed in Kyiv continue working, like , turning from a fun face-swapping app into a tool of information resistance. MacPaw Ajax Systems Reface Now all Ukrainian IT companies are among the leading domestic financial guardians of Ukraine. They have already to support the Ukrainian Armed forces and the whole country. donated almost $25M When even the war does not interfere with business results, the situation shows that Ukrainian businesses focused on international markets can be lucrative in terms of risk/return investment and, after the breakout of the war, can be considered even with the ESG-angle. I believe that in the upcoming weeks and months, more and more investors will try to approach our “tech gems” — Ukrainian startups. Moreover, a range of world-known investors has already expressed their stance supporting Ukraine. The world stands united against the Russian aggression Ukraine has clearly won the information side of the war. The world is watching a real representation of the ongoing events in my home state. , this victory became possible primarily due to the vast presence of reporters from the leading world media who have been in Ukrainian cities starting from late 2021, allowing the reality to be truthfully depicted in news outlets free from “pro-Russian narratives.” According to Anders Åslund The international community reaffirms its support for democratic values and peace and continues giving . generous donations to humanitarian, military, and infrastructure-rebuilding charity funds supporting Ukraine On the other hand, Russian affiliation is becoming a tremendous reputational risk for businesses. Therefore, more and more companies are cutting their ties with the aggressor state. Leaving Russia is a part of the necessary Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) factors compliance and is simply a matter of ethics. Corporations are taking care of ESG, and investors are increasingly applying these non-financial factors as part of their analysis process to identify material risks and growth opportunities. And in this case, I believe that the weights have significantly shifted to the ban of Russian ties sending this country ages back in its development. “As an investor, you have to consider not just the company, but the environment in which they operate” — said , managing partner at research firm Sustainable Market Strategies in Montreal. Felix Boudreault The balance should be restored in terms of investment for the sustainable future of Ukrainian companies. It's not only about donations but also about that can be considered part of the ESG mandate from the perspective of the investment funds. taking a closer look at the Ukrainian gems Ukrainian unity and the world’s support will help Ukraine thrive Though the life of each Ukrainian was separated into “before” and “after” the Russian invasion, the “after” doesn’t mean the devastation, decline, and stagnation of Ukraine. The unity and power of Ukrainians fighting against the enemy will indeed transform into unity and power for rebuilding the country and its rapid and steady development. We’ve already seen such a tendency after the Revolution of Dignity in 2013-2014. It became a robust push for the flourishing of Ukrainian business in various sectors — from tech to hospitality — providing a lucrative risk/return ratio for investments. So, after the war, Ukraine will expectedly experience an even stronger boost for the future development of businesses and the economy. As Ukraine has been brought to the spotlight, funds are being gathered to rebuild its cities and combat the humanitarian catastrophe taking place in a range of Ukrainian cities. , , , , , , and have also joined to support Ukrainian startups and IT specialists. Index Ventures BlackRock Mirova Insight Partners Flyer One Ventures Atmos Ventures s16vc Donations from all over the world are flooding into Ukraine and already total hundreds of millions of dollars, ensuring everything will be restored after the war, and Ukrainian cities will return to everyday life with even more energy to overcome new daily challenges. You can also support Ukraine via the following initiatives National Bank of Ukraine Humanitarian aid to Ukraine: https://bank.gov.ua/en/about/humanitarian-aid-to-ukraine You can find more international initiatives to help Ukraine and our people in tough conditions via this link: https://how-to-help-ukraine-now.super.site

Ukrainian Tech Startups Carry On: How We Are Enduring The Invasion

Las nuevas empresas tecnológicas ucranianas continúan: cómo estamos soportando la invasión

While many have analyzed the Facebook move into the “Metaverse” more from a corporate political standpoint, here we’ll look at another key aspect for long-term survival and thrive: When Facebook announced Meta, the company highlighted: Distribution! "The metaverse will feel 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." All nice words, but what does that mean? Understanding the attention merchant business model Facebook, together with Google, is the most profitable attention merchant. The company has emulated successfully the Google advertising machine. The most powerful money-making machine ever created on the Internet. Yet with a couple of slight differences in their business models. First, Facebook’s ads are pushed to the users via targeting, wherein in Google’s case these ads are pushed based on contextual search. This, if at all, is an advantage to Facebook, which growth potential is even greater than Google. In fact, Google has been trying to emulate that unsuccessfully in the last decade. The power of the Facebook advertising machine stands in the fact that it can be easily adopted by the masses. You don’t have to be a nerd to use Facebook Ads. Quite the opposite. While to understand Google Ads, you need to understand the nuances of search, algorithm scoring. And most of all how search intent works. In an asymmetric business model, the organization doesn’t monetize the user directly, but it leverages the data users provide coupled with technology, thus having a key customer pay to sustain the core asset. For example, Google makes money by leveraging users’ data, combined with its algorithms sold to advertisers for visibility. This is how attention merchants make monetize their business models. Second, where Google’s distribution passes through ownership of hardware (Google manufactures the Pixel), browser (Google owns Chrome), mobile operating system (Google runs Android), and search. Thus, Google (Alphabet) is way more vertically integrated. What does that imply? We need to look at the digital supply chain. In business, vertical integration means a whole supply chain of the company is controlled and owned by the organization. Thus, making it possible to control each step through customers. in the digital world, vertical integration happens when a company can control the primary access points to acquire data from consumers. The interesting part is that a supply chain where the raw materials are data gets flipped upside down compared to a traditional/physical supply chain. In a data supply chain the closer the data to the customer the more we’re moving downstream. For instance, when Google produced its own physical devices. While it moved upstream the physical supply chain (it became a manufacturer) it moved downstream the data supply chain as it got closer to consumers using those devices, so it could gather data directly from the market, without intermediaries. In fact, in a data supply chain, the hardware component is also a data harvesting tool, as it usually runs a closed operating system controlled by the same company together with a hybrid marketplace (closed in terms of rules who are defined centrally by the organization, and open in terms of developers that can participate in creating applications on top of the marketplace). Therefore, where Google has tight control over the supply chain, both on desktop and mobile. Facebook’s distribution is primarily based on strong brand names. With the acquisitions of Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus, Facebook has kept a strong distribution, yet primarily based on the strength of these brands. This leads to the next point. Metaverse and market expansion theory The market expansion consists in providing a product or service to a broader portion of an existing market or perhaps expanding that market. Or yet, market expansions can be about creating a whole new market. At each step, as a result, a company scales together with the market covered. A market expansion usually consists of building new markets, out of existing ones. These new markets use the previous as a foundation, yet they develop their own logic. And are prone to wider mass adoption. And in turn, the business people operating there will need to master a whole new business playbook. Why does it matter here? Well, because the Metaverse would give Facebook both the defense to keep its distribution strong; and an attack to build a wider market than mobile. To do that though, it will need to create a business ecosystem and what I like to call a “ business platform” which is something different from a technical platform: A business platform like in the example above is the combination of hardware, and software, combined with a developer’s and entrepreneurial ecosystem. It’s a hybrid model of closed and open. Thus, from here we can really really explain the swift move that Facebook made into the Metaverse. Blitzscaling into the Metaverse We can argue that Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is in a . In short, he’s both trying to defend its business model, and attack the market, by creating a whole new industry, potentially bigger than mobile, as explained above. In fact, Apple’s changes in privacy are affecting badly all the main mobile advertising players. The ones that will survive in the long-term are those who have their own physical and distribution pipeline. And Facebook is not among those! Blitzscaling mode By June 2021, Apple announced all its changes to the UI to enhance privacy. The new Apple’s privacy control panel (Source: Apple) As Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering : announced "Privacy has been central to our work at Apple from the very beginning, every year, we push ourselves to develop new technology to help users take more control of their data and make informed decisions about whom they share it with. This year’s updates include innovative features that give users deeper insights and more granular control than ever before." The App Privacy Report (Source: Apple) This move by Apple already started to erode the digital advertising industry. And it’s hitting the most, those players that do not have control over the supply chain of data. Among them, Snapchat. As Evan Spiegel, Snapchat’s CEO explained: Our advertising business was disrupted by changes to iOS ad tracking that were broadly rolled out by Apple in June and July,” CEO Evan Spiegel said during a call with analysts. “While we anticipated some degree of business disruption, the new Apple provided measurement solution did not scale as we had expected, making it more difficult for our advertising partners to measure and manage their ad campaigns for iOS. Players like Facebook and Snapchat, therefore, are the most involved and those who need to move fast into the metaverse! Zuckerberg’s Bill Gates moment? As we saw, unless Facebook, now Meta succeeds in building up the Metaverse it might really face a survival threat in the coming years. In fact, while many look at this moment for Marck Zuckerberg, like the Bill Gates moment, there is a huge difference. For a bit of context in 1995 Bill Gates realized the importance of the Internet, thus moving the whole company in the direction of what he called the “Information Superhighway.” However, the “Information Superhighway” was a term used by “ business intellectuals” to describe more interactive TV on the web. Rather, the web how it really evolved. Therefore, it was more like a linear projection of the future. However, native and much simpler, bottom-up applications turned out to be the killer apps of the web: browsing and searching. As Bill Gates realized that, Microsoft turned to its distribution strenght to take over the browser market, dominated by Netscape. In fact, the initial version of Internal Explorer (a knock-off of Netscape) took immediately traction, as it was bundled together with Microsoft office, and therefore a no-brainer for most PC users. Yet, this was a clear abuse of dominating position, which attracted the attention of the antitrust, and it led Bill Gates to sit for hours and hours in a courtroom, toasted by antitrust lawyers. This was 1998. And Bill Gates, eventually drained by the antitrust. Slowly passed the reins (we don’t really know what happened in the backstage, and it might be possible that Bill Gates had to leave as CEO to prevent Microsoft to be broken up) to Steve Ballmer. A slowed, threatened Microsfot eventually lost the browser war, the search war, and the social media war. And yet, it survived all this, thanks to its distribution advantage (if you run a startup, you might be surprised to figure that many large corporations still run Microsoft Office). And eventually, what won was not the top-down, linear model where you pour billions and bring the TV online. On the opposite side, the content of web 1.0 (1995-the 2000s) was much more amateurish, yet it was not centrally controlled, which made it way more appealing. Only much much later on, as Internet speed, and other complementary tech picked up, players like Netflix fully transitioned to streaming (around 2007), thus proving the viability of what Bill Gates had in mind. And also then, the format was not the same as TV. The content model and formats had completely changed, and the “Hollywood Model” didn’t longer apply. This was particularly clear, when Kevin Spacey, Speaking at the Edinburgh Television Festival urged the industry to nurture talent and give audiences: “what they want, when they want it.” And Kevin Spacey continued: “If they want to binge then we should let them binge.” He stressed how the media industry could learn from the unlearned lesson from the music industry as it tried to resist the unstoppable rise of the web: “Give people what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in, at a reasonable price, and they’ll more likely pay for it rather than steal it.” To sum up, the most important lesson here is that we completely lack imagination when it comes to reinventing the future (and we can argue the more “business experts” we are the more we lack it) and that we apply to the future a linear innovation model. Where you take the future tech and without imagination, we stuck the old tech on top of it. Therefore, in the case of the Information Highway, here the TV was supposed to be brought online. Instead, the bottom-up model saw the first real web players (Google going forward) take over. In fact, the first Internet players like AOL were still managed as walled gardens with a centralized and controlled user experience and a subscription-based monetization model. The new web players instead succeeded because they enabled billion of users to generate amateurish content in a messy way (which over time evolved into pro content, yet a completely different format than TV – see Netflix). There is a huge difference, therefore, between Facebook of today and Microsoft of the time. Microsoft in 1995, while running after the Internet, already owned and controlled the distribution (Microsoft today is among the most valuable companies on earth, still thanks to its distribution advantage). Facebook today does not own the distribution or the billions of hardware consumer devices coupled with an operating system, and a marketplace, which instead other tech giants do have. The only parallel we can make here is that today like then, we’re using a buzz term like Metaverse, to describe the future. And players like Facebook are trying to design a whole ecosystem top-down, by pouring in billions of dollars. And Facebook today, like Microsoft back then (Microsoft invested $1 billion back then to ramp up the Information Highway) is investing over $10 billion into the Metaverse (some might argue cynically and they might be also right that Facebook is doing these investments to clean its brand from all the scandals of the last years appealing to the EU with a massive cash infusion, as a “lobbying investment”). This leads us to the Metaverse, which is the survival escape for Facebook. Inside the Metaverse Supply Chain Let’s now try to answer on how the Metaverse supply chain might look like. As reported by uploadvr.com, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and VP AR/VR Andrew Bosworth on Instagram, in which they explained: hosted a live Ask-Me-Anything session "These new platforms are so different from everything that’s come before it – not just the input, but the app model, how you’re going to discover things, how tightly they need to be optimized. If you’re building a pair of glasses that need to look like normal glasses, you need to have the system be so tightly optimized so you can basically do all the computation that you would expect from a modern computer, but do it on someone’s face within a thermal envelope and a power envelope that can last all day long. So that’s a very big challenge." The team is pretty far along in this, at this point. We’re building a microkernel-based operating system, which is the architecture that you want to segment the pieces to make it as secure as possible. That way you have a small [set] of pieces that you know are going to be fundamentally trustworthy that you can build on top of. But at the end of the day, we need to basically be able to and customize every layer of the stack in order to build out the performance and efficiency that we need in order to deliver these systems.” design And they highlighted how the company is building a “reality operating system.” Andrew Bosworth, transitioning as CTO of Meta will play a key role in this development. However, as Andrew Bosworth also highlighted in an interview for : The Verge "There’s lots of things that you can do in the metaverse by yourself as experiences and that’s going to be great. But a lot of it is going to be quite new because I think the metaverse is largely a synchronous experience. You’re there with people in real time having an experience in real time. There’s something meaningful about it." This is a key point, as it highlights what makes the whole Metaverse different. And questioned about how crypto and NFTs fit into the puzzle he highlighted: When you think about interoperability, entitlements, as we would call it in the game industry, is an important concept. Like who owns this thing and what rights do they have to it? Can they make copies of it? Can they sell it? Can they take it with them into every single location? What locations can they take it into? And that’s not hard to do with the database if the entire metaverse is controlled by one company, which we don’t want it to be. And we don’t think it can be. It’s not necessarily hard to do with a database if we have a really good standardized schema and you can pick which database it’s in and it goes here and there and everyone kind of has access to that. But another way to do it, that could be really strong, is NFTs and crypto, where you’ve got the ledger. Therefore, the blockchain might work as a decentralized ledger for goods that exist in the Metaverse. And: Instead of having to store it in a database somewhere, which has its own downsides, you store it in the blockchain. Let me describe how this chain might look like, from the bottom up: Data Layer : the raw data might consist of the universe of things that metaverse users will do within the virtual environment, plus all the actions performed and items/virtual spaces they own. Raw data that data need to be portable. So that users can transfer it anywhere in the metaverse/parallel metaverses. As this data might represent the whole digital identity of the user it’s critical that this is also transferable to the blockchain, so that it can be controlled by the user. Portable data: : while the Metaverse company might have the right to use the data for advertising purposes. An advertising marketplace will have to reward users for the data used and also enable them opt-in mechanisms for how this data is getting used in the advertising process. Owned data : the Metaverse might also bring data from the real world into the digital world through AR and make it interoperable. Mixed data Operating Layer Initially, as a viable option, a minimal operating system integrating all the pieces of a virtual and mixed experience will need to be highly optimized to track the user movements and the interactions across the digital worlds. Applications Layer In the application layer, the development ecosystem will be able to build worlds and things that can be done by users in each digital environment. Ownership Layer The ownership layer might be a mixture of data marketplace combined with blockchain. So that it can be controlled, it must be portable and it can be tokenized, to be reused in many other ways. So that the digital identity is not tied to a single platform, but it can be reused across the Metaverse. Key takeaways Rather than looking at Facebook’s move into the Metaverse from just a rebranding standpoint, this is a distribution move. And a move to guarantee the survival of the company. The swift move by Apple’s new privacy policy is accelerating the investments in AR/VR as a few tech companies (Facebook and Snapchat primarily) might face survival threats in the comings years. This, in turn, might lead to a forced development of the “Metaverse” and the reshaping of the whole tech industry’s landscape. A Metaverse might be much more of what was envisioned by Facebook, to comprise an additional layer of ownership through blockchain technologies, to enable ownership to be distributed, decentralized, portable, and controlled by each user. Graphics Copyright: FourWeekMBA

As Facebook and Apple Battle for User Identity, The Metaverse Supply Chain Grows

If you asked people in 1989 what they needed to make their life better, it was unlikely that they would have said a decentralized network of information nodes that are linked using hypertext. - Farmer & Farmer In the beginning, we could only understand the Internet and the Web through the lenses of metaphors. The Internet is derived from the words “interconnection of networks”, thus a global network of networks. The Web or the World Wide Web is information accessed through the Internet. How can we better describe the distinction between the Internet and the Web? Using metaphors, of course. The Internet is the infrastructure, whereas the Web is a service provided via that infrastructure. An earlier metaphor of the Internet was the . Another metaphor for the Internet is the where everyone is connected, and we are brought closer together through cyberspace. However, the global village metaphor has its critics as this metaphor suggests the is connected, ignoring the fact there still is a vast digital divide that prevents millions of people from accessing the Web through the Internet. information superhighway global village entire world Then, we the Web. The Internet can be , online or , offline. Web invoke static sites, plots, or areas on the Web. Nevertheless, we can describe websites by using the book metaphor (“ a web “, “ a site”) or the home metaphor (“go to the page”, “sign in as a “). surf up down sites bookmark page publish home guest Forums are boards (“ on a forum”, “ to a board”) and applications are vehicles (“ a program”, “the application “). post pin run crashed Blogging appeared as a metaphor for online logging or online diary ( ). weblog We can still find one of the first blogs and the first webpage developed by Sir Tim Berners-Lee . here here In web security, walls are systems or walls that block viruses or pop-up ads, and walls are methods that restrict access to content via purchases or subscriptions. Currently, browsing the Web without using an ad-blocker or better browsers looks like shopping in the middle of a pandemic without a mask. fire pay How often did I not want to read an article only to feel trapped like the Romans in the Caudine Forks? Mortal, disable your adblocker if you want to read this post. Then accept my cookies. Close the next five modals. Subscribe to my newsletter. Do not dare to close my auto-play video. Now, yes, about the article. You must make a donation. Metaphors are crucial for good design. Some of us, versed in the emoji language, do not think twice about the metaphors hidden behind emojis and icons. We understand the meaning in a heartbeat because we know we do not literally take a pencil and start editing on our laptops, nor do we put our computers in the bin. We think in metaphors. However, for a large population, emojis are nothing short of modern hieroglyphs. Thus, designing icons and emojis by using well-known metaphors is vital. Settings – ⚙️ New – ➕ Edit – ✏️ Save – 💾 (we would have to explain the floppy disk to our children) Delete – 🗑️or ❌ Notifications – 🔔 Search – 🔍 Comment – 💬 Web metaphors are not only meaningful by using comparations but also practical by using real-life examples. Computer pioneer Grace Hopper coined the term “bug” for errors or glitches in a program. that in 1946, operators traced an error in their computer to a moth trapped in a relay. They removed the moth and logged it as a cause for the program’s glitch. The story says A page from the Harvard Mark II electromechanical computer’s log featuring a dead moth that was removed from the device. Courtesy of Wikipedia . Metaphors tend to jump from the offline world to the online world as we don’t sometimes have the vocabulary to express new software concepts. Just as well, software metaphors jump from the digital world to our analogue, concrete world. is not only the process of transferring data from one computer to another via a network. In the offline world, there is a tv series called , where humans can “upload” themselves into a virtual setting. Upload Upload The c term was initially used in computing to describe how multitasking operation systems run multiple processes. When switching between applications, the computer stores the state of a process or thread, putting it on hold until we come back to it. ontext switching Another example of a technical metaphor we encounter in our life is the concept of . Asynchronous conversations involve a mindset shifting from synchronous conversations (we want such conversations to take place “right now”) to delayed or asynchronous conversations where the participants do not communicate instantaneously. asynchronous conversations If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough. - Albert Einstein Nowadays, this quote is reduced to a blend of acronyms and metaphors: ELi5, short for . Good metaphors are therefore crucial to provide simple explanations to complicated questions or problems. Explain Like I’m 5 Previously published at https://www.roxanamurariu.com/the-hidden-power-of-thinking-in-metaphors-the-web-metaphors/

The Web Metaphors

The Bitcoin Halvening is More Than Just About Money [Deep Dive]

Cryptocurrencies are a democratization of typical currencies. They’re not regulated by any single governing body. They’re accessible to anyone with technological access and understanding. And hypothetically, they could be universally accessible. Even more importantly, their existence is maintained, tracked, and governed by the people using them. This concept has been considered as a platform for something bigger, ; through asset tokenization, physical and conceptual assets could be “democratized” in the same way. For example, a local business owner could tokenize ownership of their business, serving almost like a small-scale version of issuing stock, and paying employees partially in the form of tokens of ownership in the company. Similarly, you could invest in a “share” of an emerging song you like, ultimately capitalizing on a share of the royalties if and when it becomes a breakout hit. in the form of asset tokenization Now, it looks like “smart links,” which integrate smart contracts with existing online link structures, could serve as the groundwork for a new mode of online transaction. But how exactly do they work, and how would they function compared to modern links? What are Smart Links? Let’s start with a brief definition of “smart links.” Smart links , but with a simple, tech-driven twist: smart links natively track when and with whom a link has been shared via an embedded smart contract. Whenever a link generates traffic that results in a revenue-driving action, sharers gets a proportional share of that revenue. function much like traditional links Links themselves have long been a democratizing function in the landscape of the web. Users are free to use links to cite research, recommend resources, and direct traffic however they see fit. And they use links regularly and reliably, constructing a kind of complicated superhighway on the web. Google and other search engines have taken advantage of this for a long time, using both the number and quality of links to evaluate the subjective “authority” of each web domain. If two sites cover the same topics, but one has three times as many supportive links, that site will be considered more trustworthy, and will therefore rank higher in search engines. In turn, search engine optimization (SEO) has emerged, enabling companies to take control of their own ranking strategies, and has risen to become one of the most popular marketing strategies on the web. link building for SEO In a way, users are already in control over how links are created and shared—and how they support their favorite businesses and organizations. But the addition of a smart contract would make them a more active and more rewarded participant in this system. The Variables has devised the initial structure for smart links, but this is a concept that will evolve in the future, both as 2Key perfects its approach and as other companies and organizations experiment with the idea on their own terms. For now, the general approach is to track each person who comes in contact with a link, associating a wallet with that person. The wallet can then be “unlocked” through any browser offline. 2Key Network Hypothetically, this could be used for any cryptocurrency network, and even for tokens that don’t yet exist; for example, a company could pay link sharers for their role in generating traffic to a site in the form of tokens of ownership in that site. It’s a wild concept, and one that serves as the imaginary last link in a long chain of development, but it’s certainly conceivable based on the technology to which we have access currently. Contract creators would be the ones in control of when and how smart links pay off. They’re the ones determining the value of each web visitor, and distributing payment accordingly. In principle, this could be a massive step forward for online marketing and advertising, as well as encouraging more ethical, more collaborative online interactions and transactions. However, there are a few complications that would inevitably disrupt the status quo. If Embedded in Content, Will Smart Links Be Considered Sponsored? Here’s an interesting ethical and pedantic dilemma; if you embed a smart link in your own content, hoping to generate traffic to a product page so you can generate revenue, is that considered a sponsored link? For reference, are a modern advertising strategy in which an advertiser pays for their link to be placed in search engine results, in the body of an article, or sometimes, as an article that masquerades as an organic article with a major publisher. Currently, the standard best practice is to acknowledge sponsored links as “sponsored,” marking them clearly so that readers and users know these links have not emerged organically. sponsored links Smart links could be considered “sponsored” in a few different ways. Most importantly, money is changing hands; if the link generates traffic, and the user who shares the link makes money, it can be considered a kind of transaction. The inclusion of a smart link is also unlikely to be purely or organically motivated; most users sharing these links will be at least somewhat motivated by the allure of revenue generation. However, there’s no guarantee that a smart link generating traffic would result in profitability; remember, it depends on the visitor committing some revenue-generating action. On top of that, in a possible future where most (or all) links are smart links, would you then consider all links to be sponsored? What would be the point? If Smart Links Are Not Marked Sponsored, Will They Come to Violate Search Engines' TOS? Currently, Google (like other search engines) has . Because its search ranking algorithm depends heavily on evaluating organic, unbiased links as a measure of trustworthiness and authority, it greatly discourages “link schemes” meant to fool its algorithm or result in the production of unnatural links. strict policies on how links can be built For example, if I link to a bicycle website because I’ve found it extraordinarily helpful, that link can be considered organic; it’s me vouching for this reputable website that I now trust. If the bicycle website pays me to link to them (and I don’t mark it as sponsored), that link violates Google’s terms of service; it’s reading the link as organic, whereas its existence is due to a form of bribery, rather than being the result of earned trust. So what about smart links? Will they have to be marked as sponsored? And if not, will they violate search engines’ terms of service? We may need to develop rules for links that fall into a gray area here. Smart Links to Replace Affiliate Networks Affiliate networks, the most popular being , allow individuals on the web to build links to individual product pages, then get as much as 10 percent commission on the sale of any products they initiate. It’s a good deal for everyone involved, especially if you have a blog or other platform with lots of traffic. Amazon Associates But smart links could eventually render affiliate links obsolete. For starters, they’re able to track data more reliably. They’re also decentralized, meaning you could hypothetically create them without the help of the “middle man” affiliate network. The emergence of smart links would inevitably disrupt the affiliate link industry, and perhaps come to completely redefine it. Other Smart Link Uses Smart links could also be used to , bypassing the internet machinations that allow internet companies to profit from charitable endeavors. Instead of competing for clicks on a paid advertising platform, shelling out ridiculous prices per click, charities could opt to feature links to their donation pages through more organic channels. Depending on their goals, they could set up smart contracts to pay users for their efforts in making the charity more visible, or give users the choice to redistribute their payments in the form of additional donations. democratize and empower the supporters of charities The marketing angle itself is more valuable here, since the people incentivized to share these kinds of smart links are more capable of leading charities to the highly relevant, targeted audiences most likely to support them. What the Future Holds for Smart Links Obviously, smart links are still in the early stages of development. There are still many issues to sort out, including how to ensure smart links are being tracked securely and accurately, how to consider smart links in the context of marketing and advertising, and how to make it easier for new users to learn. Additionally, there are many paths for experimentation and development; as smart links evolve, they could come to track far more variables in user behavior (both in terms of how the link was shared and how it was followed). They could also be used for a wide variety of different distribution networks. In any case, smart links are the natural evolution of standard hyperlinks, and they have the potential to democratize the web even further. Within the next several years, we’ll likely see a full-scale revolution in how we transact (and advertise) online.

Link Building 3.0: How Smart Links Will Change How We Transact Online

They say that fish cannot see the water. It's the same with us. In every area of our lives, there is a dominant model of thinking, a means by which we interact and interpret the world, a lens so thoughtlessly worn, so ubiquitously, that it's almost impossible to see the assumptions we share. Computers have always had a keyboard. Since Windows brought PCs into homes, screens have always had a graphical representation of a virtual ‘workspace’. This model has come across to mobile phones, which present us with a tinier desktop for us to jab around on. Fifty years ago, the paradigm was born here at the 'Augmented Human Intellect Research Center', a concept so unfamiliar it could only be shown, not described, in what has become known as the “Mother of All Demos”. Doug Englebart, 1968: “If you're in your office, you as an intellectual worker were supplied with a computer display, backed up with a computer, that was alive for you all day and instantly responsive to every action you have, how much value could you derive from that?” It reached the mainstream here some 17 years later... Apple desktop, 1985 In this paradigm, you have a means by which you can interact with this digital space. A bridge between the real and the virtual, in the form of a pointer, the mouse, or with a smartphone - your finger touching the screen - like Morten Harket touching the mirror to an ‘other’ world in the video for A-Ha’s Take on Me. The world wide web = shared desktop The dominant interaction paradigm we’ve had since the dawn of the internet is pages on screens. That is to say flat paper substitutes, rendered as pages in a representation of the previous generation of technology. In its own time it was revolutionary, and not at all obvious — simply because we are used to it does not make it any more of a leap. That which is obvious in hindsight, rarely is in foresight. The first coding I ever did was on a now defunct package, called HyperCard: the promise was that these were more than mere analogies of paper cards on a screen, they were “hyper” cards with “hyper” text that could be connected together, to skip and flip trans-dimensionally in a way never seen before. “Let me introduce the word ‘hypertext’ to mean a body of written or pictorial material interconnected in such a complex way that it could not conveniently be presented or represented on paper.” — Ted Nelson, 1965 This in itself was a proper mind-bender for people, and again it is hard now to understand the shock of a new paradigm released upon the world. And so it has continued for 25 years or more, that device looks into a virtual room, a workspace, or a desk-top, and you have a digital representation of your hand, that reaches through the screen through which you can touch and move things, along with an old fashioned typewriter stuck to the front, where you can write on a representation of piece of paper. Sounds a bit weird when you write it out like that. It wasn’t always intended to be such, during the 1990s there was a wild and wonderful selection of “hypermedia” that would be soon travelling down the information superhighway, virtual reality was a promise in 1991 that was coming very soon, even then. 29 years ago. From one paradigm to the next Each generation of technology has to jump off from where the previous one left off. The first cars for instance were steered with a tiller arm, as the only other powered vehicles were boats, and they were controlled with rudder and a tiller, so that was the starting point. However, we are now seeing the pages paradigm straining and breaking. Not just with all the other realities we are now promised, but also that data representation and data input methods are moving away from pointing and clicking and towards other types of sensory and haptic enhancement. Ever wanted to see some extra colours? https://www.cyborgarts.com/ Always know which way is north? This man has a magnet embedded in his body which buzzes every time he faces north Talking to your radio? It’s actually quite weird to constantly be talking to your house. What about having an extra thumb? Because why shouldn’t a modern human have four thumbs . Insert a computer into your head? Because basically that’s what you’re doing already anyway, right. Coming to an office near you? The thing is with the future, it is sometimes coming for a long time. The vision is clear long before the delivery gets here. Why is that? Mode switching All through her life, and despite my urging, and tireless instruction, my mother could never program the VCR recorder. Some of you might be too young to understand what a VCR was. It was one of these — a “Video Cassette Recorder” Video Cassette Recorder, enemy of the Boomers I think the reason for the trouble, was that many of that generation that grew up in the 1940s, and 1950s, were born into and built their world model in a fundamentally analog age. One feature of this mechanical, rather than electronic age, was that each button, or switch only had a single function. You press or turn something, and it moves a real thing in the physical realm to a different state: on or off, up or down, to a different frequency. VCRs in the 80s and 90s, and most electronic devices since, made use of “mode” buttons, where you hold something down and one thing happens, you cycle through some modes, and the exact same button does something completely different. The mental models we have are a shorthand that enable us to process information, to achieve more than we otherwise could, and enable us to act, but also limit us by what you can understand. My mum got there eventually with the internet, as like virtual paper, a desk top and hands inside the screen are shortcuts that help us understand. skeumorphs So one part of the question is having the mental models that can deal with these innovations — to first conceive, then understand, and ultimately to use them. Earlier generations struggled in the shift from mechanical technology to electronic technology. Our generational challenge is from the screen paradigm, to pervasive and disembodied technology. But have we got the right technology trigger? I worked for a while on mobile internet, serving on the board of the Mobile Marketing Association between 2005–7, and after that IPA Mobile Marketing Group and literally every year for about 10 years the next year was going to be “The Year of Mobile” where all the promise was finally going to kick in, and the potential of the tech would be revealed to the world. Before you reach the mainstream first you need a technology trigger, the iPhone and perhaps more importantly the app ecosystem of iTunes did that for smartphone adoption in the 2010s. Right now, we are missing this highly usable version of embodied technology, most things we are using is a However, it’s important we don’t underestimate how far we have come in augmented reality over the past few years, that which was fantastical a few years ago is now commonplace. little clunky. We each have a supercomputer permanently attached to our body It is literally already (!) augmenting your reality. It is worth considering that we have been living in an age of augmented reality for many years — money, the book, the limited liability company, the telegraph, the telephone are all prototypes of technology mediated reality. However, the last 20 or so are showing the beginnings of a move to embodied technology. If the long term trend is human augmentation via technology, the last 30 or so have shown the phone and personal computer bringing it closer to the body. And the next generation will begin to apply it directly to the clothing, the skin, and into the body. The gap is something in the visual field, but this will come at some point. Look out for the technology trigger for mainstream adoption of stuff you wear, stuff you insert into your body, under the skin. We are becoming cyborgs of a kind, and I for one, welcome our new cyborg overlords.

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