Victoria Song reviews all things wearables and fitness tech for The Verge. Before coming to The Verge, she'd been yammering on about this space—and other consumer tech—for Gizmodo and PC Magazine. When not nerding out over gadgets, she can be found on ...

Victoria Song

The Formula 1 World Championship team Williams Racing has partnered with Life Fitness to create a world-class training facility, designed to drive performance on and off the track

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Wondercise, Body Charger, DYACO, SportsArt, Dacian, and AVer. The Taiwan Excellence’s One-on-one Business Matching event is now open for keen registration, welcoming Malaysian businesses to ...

Taiwan Excellence Invites Malaysian Companies to Explore the Smart Future

Caoimhe Bamber, co-founder of Digme Fitness, has described a recent Daily Telegraph article which claimed

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This is a rare case of an unqualified VAT win for local authorities. Not only will most of their leisure facility income be VAT-free, but their VAT costs will still be recoverable

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Wondercise

wondercise

In 2021, hosted the first-ever awards!! HackerNoon Startup of the Year The goal of this campaign was to give recognition to the hardworking startups who pulled through the pandemic -- growing and thriving (despite all of the challenges). More than 44,000 startups were nominated all across the globe! They were selected from over 4,553 cities, with a total number of * cough * “4 billion” votes. Insane, right? To see who is a winner in each respective city, visit and pick a city. The name at the top of the list is the winner. (Compromised awards are under review. Cities with tie votes will be updated to have two winners!) startups.hackernoon.com The will announce the winners per region in their respective cities. Startups Winners Announcement series Here are the winners in the : Asia region Top Startup Cities in East Asia Seoul The Startup of the Year in is with 377 votes! Seoul dable Central is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 121 votes. UpNow Central Sheung Wan came out as the Startup of the Year in with 154 votes. Votee Sheung Wan Tokyo The Startup of the Year in is with 41 votes! Tokyo ACES Wan Chai The Startup of the Year in is with 54 votes! Wan Chai Zetl Osaka, Japan In , is the winner! Osaka Nanophoton Taiwan came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Tico Taiwan Dongcheng, China In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Dongcheng Waiju Taipei came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Tico Taipei Akasaka In , is the winner! Akasaka WAKUWAKU Chuo In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Chuo GO-NET Ginza came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Netyear Ginza Kanazawa In , is the winner! Kanazawa Granzella Minami-aoyama In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Minami-aoyama Tokyo6 Entertainment Shibuya came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Hupro Japan Shibuya Toranomon In , is the winner! Toranomon Small Worlds Toshima In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Toshima Altplus Guangzhou, China came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Leyaoyao Guangzhou Hong Kong, Hong Kong In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Hong Kong Episode Six Kunming In , is the winner! Kunming Green A Sapporo In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Sapporo Polar Star Space Shirokanedai came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Nupp1 Shirokanedai Wuhan In , is the winner! Wuhan CSICEE Baoan, China In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Baoan Jumper Baoshan, China In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Baoshan Renren Games Chengdu, China came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Ju You Xi Chengdu Fujisawa, Japan In , is the winner! Fujisawa Scohia Pharma Fukuoka, Japan In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Fukuoka Kyulux Haidian, China came out as the Startup of the Year in ! 51vv Haidian Hongkou, China In , is the winner! Hongkou Kidstone Jiading, China In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Jiading IMRobotic Kawasaki, Japan came out as the Startup of the Year in ! QD Laser, Inc. Kawasaki Kyoto, Japan In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kyoto Hacarus Minato, Japan In , is the winner! Minato Visionary Fun Nagoya, Japan came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Prodrone Nagoya Ningbo, China The winner in is . Ningbo OlymTech Corporation Aomori In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Aomori Forte Japan Bandai-cho In , is the winner. Bandai-cho Delta-Fly Pharm Changchun In , the Startup of the Year is . Changchun Kaidi Animation Fuchu In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Fuchu TMS Fukuoka-shi The winner in is . Fukuoka-shi SkyDisc Fukushima In , the Startup of the Year is . Fukushima Matsuri Technologies Gotanda In , is the winner. Gotanda Basset Hachioji In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Hachioji Adriakaim Harbin The winner in is J . Harbin oining Technology Iwaki In , is the winner. Iwaki Tao Engineering Izumo In , the Startup of the Year is . Izumo PuREC Kagoshima In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kagoshima Farmers Support Kamakura In , the Startup of the Year is . Kamakura KAYAC Kami-meguro The winner in is . Kami-meguro Buzzreach Kanagawa In , is the winner. Kanagawa LoiLo Kashiwa In , the Startup of the Year is . Kashiwa Intelligent Surfaces Kita In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kita Ax Robotix Kobe The winner in is . Kobe Coconomi Koriyama In , the Startup of the Year is . Koriyama Tocoton Kumamoto In , is the winner. Kumamoto Bloom Technology Kunitachi In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kunitachi Trys Liaocheng The winner in is . Liaocheng Jinzheng Animation Minami In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Minami ATLAB Miyazaki In , is the winner. Miyazaki Caster Nagano In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Nagano Precision Forestry Nagaoka The winner in is . Nagaoka Plant Form Nihombashi-hamacho In , the Startup of the Year is . Nihombashi-hamacho Shizen Energy Niigata In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Niigata UniBio Japan Nishi-shinagawa In , is the winner. Nishi-shinagawa Play Heart Okayama In , is the winner! Okayama Arch Farm Okinawa In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Okinawa BlogNinja Otemachi In , the Startup of the Year is . Otemachi beBit, Inc Qingdao Shi In , is the winner! Qingdao Shi Manyoubang Quanzhou In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Quanzhou KungFu Animation Group Roppongi The winner in is . Roppongi Holo-X Saitama In , the Startup of the Year is . Saitama GameTector Sendai In , is the winner! Sendai Sendai Smart Machines Setagaya In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Setagaya Skyestate Shenzhen In , the Startup of the Year is . Shenzhen Aiator Shinjuku In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Shinjuku Scalar Shizuoka In , is the winner! Shizuoka PiPhotonics Sumida The winner in is . Sumida Holotch Tachikawa In , the Startup of the Year is . Tachikawa PlusOne Takamatsu In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Takamatsu Ken Robotec Tokushima In , is the winner! Tokushima DennoKotsu Toyonaka In , the Startup of the Year is . Toyonaka FISH BIOTECH Tsukuba In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Tsukuba WARPSPACE Wakayama In , the Startup of the Year is . Wakayama 4D Sensor Xiangzhou In , is the winner! Xiangzhou ALLiN Edutech Group Xianyang The winner in is . Xianyang TONLY Xiaoshan In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Xiaoshan GONGHUI Yamaguchi In , the Startup of the Year is . Yamaguchi Archis Yangpu The winner in is . Yangpu Tmxmall Yau Tsim Mong In , is the winner! Yau Tsim Mong Airnugget Yeoksamdong In , the Startup of the Year is . Yeoksamdong WizSchool Yichang In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Yichang Hubei Kento Electronic Yokohama In , is the winner! Yokohama Next Innovation Yubei In , the Startup of the Year is . Yubei Ophiux Network Yueqing The winner in is . Yueqing Yueqing Easythink Media Zhuhai In , is the winner! Zhuhai Aijuba Hongo In , the Startup of the Year is . Hongo Smile Robotics, Inc Admiralty In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Admiralty BUNCH Southern In , the Startup of the Year is . Southern Retykle Yongdungpo In , is the winner! Yongdungpo Push News Taichung In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Taichung Wondercise Cyberport, Hong Kong In , the Startup of the Year is . Cyberport Animoca Brands Hefei, China In , is the winner! Hefei Tsinglink New Territories, Hong Kong The winner in is . New Territories, Hong Kong Zeek Dezhou In , the Startup of the Year is . Dezhou Dezhou Baji Kitakyushu In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kitakyushu Reif Seongnam In , is the winner! Seongnam EOFlow Yanshi In , the Startup of the Year is . Yanshi CASI Vision Top Startup Cities in South Asia Hyderabad, India The Startup of the Year in is with 962 votes Hyderabad Quixy Lahore, Pakistan is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 186 votes. SmartWindows Lahore Bangalore, India When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year with 210 votes! Bangalore vBridge Hub Pune, India couldn’t be beaten for Startup of the Year in , it won with 129 votes! InfraCloud Pune Jaipur, India The Startup of the Year in is with 166 votes Jaipur Emizen Tech Lucknow, India is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 279 votes. Keeros Superfoods Lucknow Noida, India came out as the Startup of the Year in with 156 votes! Bagisto Noida Mumbai, India When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year with 96 votes! Mumbai Sequretek Sylhet couldn’t be beaten for Startup of the Year in , it won with 122 votes! DataXpie Sylhet Mylapore, India In , is the winner! Mylapore Yalimart Goa, India In , the Startup of the Year is Goa Filter Coffee Delhi, India In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Delhi EkAnek Networks Karachi, Pakistan The winner in is Karachi Bykea Ahmedabad, India In , is the winner Ahmedabad MageComp Dhaka, Bangladesh The winner in is Dhaka SOLshare Islamabad, Pakistan In Islamabad, is declared the Startup of the Year! TAG Gurgaon, India In , the Startup of the Year is Gurgaon ixigo Bengaluru, India In , is the winner! Bengaluru Prakshep Private Limited Haryana, India couldn’t be beaten for Startup of the Year in ! Footprints Childcare Haryana Kolkata, India In , is the winner! Kolkata Wow! Momo New Delhi, India In , is declared the Startup of the Year! New Delhi Rusk Media Indore, India The winner in is Indore Chattar Patar Kormangala In , is the winner Kormangala Sanctum Technologies Ghaziabad came out as the Startup of the Year in Craftfurnish.com Ghaziabad! Mohali In , the Startup of the Year is Mohali DataKund Mysore The Startup of the Year in is Mysore Excelsoft Karnal came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Dunar Karnal Kolhapur In , is the winner! Kolhapur Zanvar Group Patiya In , the Startup of the Year is Patiya Kloud Project Kathmandu In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kathmandu Vairav Technology Bangalore City, India In is the winner! Bangalore City, PagarBook Ernakulam The winner in is Ernakulam Epixel Solutions Colombo, Sri Lanka couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in MAs Foods Colombo Andheri, India When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Andheri DoorMint Kanpur, India came out as the Startup of the Year in ! ServiceWalaa Kanpur Faisalabad In , is the winner! Faisalabad DigiKhata Nasik The Startup of the Year in is Nasik Sahyadri Farms Patna came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Asvin Tech Patna Chennai, India In , is the winner! Chennai Agnikul Cosmos Faridabad, India In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Faridabad UClean Panjim, India The winner in is Panjim TempoGO Ranchi, India In , is the winner Ranchi Osam Dairy Surat, India In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Surat Wishbook Thane, India In , is the winner! Thane Delight Foods Trivandrum, India came out as the Startup of the Year in ! GenRobotic Trivandrum Vijayawada, India In , the Startup of the Year is Vijayawada Eruvaka Technologies Visakhapatnam, India In , Ltd is declared the Startup of the Year! Visakhapatnam Greenline Labs Pvt Ahmadabad In , is the winner! Ahmadabad KiwiQA Services Bandra came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Car Club Bandra Bombay In , is the winner! Bombay Locobuddy Mobile Technology (Sportobuddy) Cochin In , the Startup of the Year is Cochin Tuttifrutti Interactive Gandhinagar In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Gandhinagar Kroop AI Guwahati In , the Startup of the Year is Guwahati GNRC Hospitals Jamshedpur In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Jamshedpur Intelliber Kabul The winner in is Kabul Miracle Shop (Vocinno Technology) Karur In , is the winner Karur Karur Vysya Bank Kochi The winner in is Kochi BestDoc Kozhikode In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kozhikode OfficeKit HR Ludhiana In , the Startup of the Year is Ludhiana Trendy Beat Network Madhapur In , is the winner! Madhapur Head Digital Works Mangalore When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year Mangalore Hangyo Nagpur came out as the Startup of the Year in ! UPrudence Agro Nagpur Rawalpindi The Startup of the Year in is Rawalpindi Pro Options Marketing Rishikesh came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Descatuk Rishikesh Secunderabad couldn’t be beaten for Startup of the Year in Prakriti Biosystems Engineering Secunderabad Tirupur In , is the winner! Tirupur Tubeknit Fashions Udupi The winner in is Udupi Krishitantra Top Startup Cities in Southeast Asia Singapore, Singapore The Startup of the Year in is with 6556 votes! Singapore Cake DeFi Hanoi, Vietnam is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 683 votes. DeFi For You Hanoi Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia came out as the Startup of the Year in with 109 votes! Trambellir Kuala Lumpur Pasig, Philippines When it comes to , . is the Startup of the Year with 110 votes! Pasig Quickreach Inc Bangkok, Thailand couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in , it won with 60 votes! Perception Codes Bangkok Johor Bahru In , the Startup of the Year is . Johor Bahru AGR1 Bandung, Indonesia In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Bandung Prosa Portugal The winner in is . Portugal SCEMAI Tangerang, Indonesia In , is the winner Tangerang Yummy Corp Jakarta, Indonesia In , is the winner! Jakarta Tokocrypto Dki Jakarta, Indonesia In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Dki Jakarta Limakilo Bangkok Metropolis In , is the winner! Bangkok Meticuly Medan The winner in is ! Medan DIKA Manila, Philippines In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Manila PawnHero Phnom Penh, Cambodia In , the Startup of the Year is Phnom Penh vKirirom Bali In , is the winner! Bali Radius App Penang When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year Penang EasyParcel Surabaya came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Super Surabaya Setiabudi, Indonesia The Startup of the Year in is Setiabudi Chilibeli Cebu City came out as the Startup of the Year in MiCab Cebu City! Jawa couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in DAUR Jawa Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam In , is the winner! Ho Chi Minh City Pharmacity Selangor, Malaysia is the Startup of the Year! BabyDash Selangor Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia In , is the winner! Jakarta Pusat StickEarn Semarang When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Semarang Food Bear Petaling Jaya, Malaysia The winner in is . Petaling Jaya Deemples Kebayoran Baru, Indonesia couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! Yogrt Kebayoran Baru Kuningan The winner in is . Kuningan Prinzio Bukit Merah came out as the Startup of the Year in ! DC Alliance Bukit Merah Huai Khwang In , the Startup of the Year is . Huai Khwang AppMan Co.,Ltd Kuta In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kuta Gringgo Mandaluyong came out ahead as the Startup of the Year! Work Inspire Mandaluyong Midview City In , is the winner! Midview City BioMers Phuket The Startup of the Year in is ! Phuket Sapahn Yangon, Myanmar The winner in is . Yangon Wave Money Denpasar When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Denpasar Revasi Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand The winner in is . Nakhon Ratchasima Siam Lottery co., Ltd Taguig, Philippines In , is the winner! Taguig PayMongo Bogor came out as the Startup of the Year in ! TIRANYX Bogor Senai, Malaysia won as the Startup of the Year. Nutrition Technologies Senai Bekasi Kota couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! 8villages Bekasi Kota Top Startup Cities in Middle East Tel Aviv, Israel The Startup of the Year in is with 1,065 votes! Tel Aviv hyro Beirut, Lebanon is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 1,276 votes. Hovi Digital Lab Beirut Riyadh, Saudi Arabia With 350 votes, came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Flicron Riyadh Tel Aviv-yafo, Israel When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year with 167 votes! Tel Aviv-yafo Cymbio Haifa, Israel couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in , it won with 183 votes! Pico Haifa Amman, Jordan In , with 141 votes, is the winner! Amman Edexy Dubai, United Arab Emirates In , the Startup of the Year is with 74 votes. Dubai Ziina Doha, Qatar In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Doha SkipCash Tehran, Iran The winner in is . BeyondBoard AR Tehran Jerusalem, Israel In , is the winner! Jerusalem SolidBlock Rishon Le Zion The Startup of the Year in is ! Rishon Le Zion Passparto Ness Ziona, Israel is the Startup of the Year! Soapy Ness Ziona Kuwait, Kuwait came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Brapper Shop Kuwait Manama, Bahrain couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! Doctori Manama Lod, Israel is the winner in ! Phinergy Lod Agudat Israel, Israel When it comes to is the Startup of the Year with [vote ] votes! Agudat Israel, Aqaurius Engines Beersheba, Israel In , the Startup of the Year is . Beersheba Visual Estate Ltd Giv'atayim, Israel In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Giv'atayim WSC Sports Modi'in, Israel The winner in is . Modi'in Loginno Nazareth, Israel In , is the winner! Nazareth AR Guide In Medical Ramat Gan, Israel The Startup of the Year in is . Ramat Gan Datos Health Baghdad When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Baghdad Mishwar Khobar In , the Startup of the Year is . Khobar Garage Misgav couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! Eden Shield Misgav Sharjah came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Bookends Sharjah Affula In , the Startup of the Year is . Affula eMotion Technologies Bene Beraq, Israel In , is the winner Bene Beraq Reflectiz Caesarea, Israel In , the Startup of the Year is . Caesarea CardiacSense Dubayy In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Dubayy North Ladder Muscat couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! iLab Marine Muscat Tirat Carmel In , the Startup of the Year is . Tirat Carmel PassCall Advanced Technologies Hod Hasharon, Israel The winner in is . Hod Hasharon Idomoo Holon, Israel came out ahead as the Startup of the Year! OptimalPlus Holon Jeddah, Saudi Arabia When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Jeddah Arabian Combustion Technologies Ramat Hasharon, Israel is the Startup of the Year! Lumen Ramat Hasharon Al Khobar came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Swyft Al Khobar Bet Shemesh In , is the winner! Bet Shemesh Degania Medical Binyamina When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Binyamina OncoHost Makkah In , the Startup of the Year is Makkah Scimagine Or Akiva Last but not least, couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in the city of ! WMT Or Akiva More Information: If you’re a winner, please answer ! If you’re a reader, participant, just a curious individual, consider answering one of our interviews . this interview here Read the FAQs about or . Startups here here To see all of the winners you may visit , pick any city and view the name that appears at the top. this site If you’re interested in partnering with us, we invite you to look through some of these or reach out to our business department. unique sponsorship options Perhaps creating your very own tickles your fancy or maybe you have a whole new idea for how we can partner! writing contest Thank you to all of our sponsors! We truly appreciate your contribution to the tech world and thus the future! The Startups Awards are sponsored by: , , , , , , , , , , Blockster Brex FreeCodeCamp LaunchDarkly Coil Udacity Udemy Vercel Asia Pacific Transgender Network Bybit Everscale Network The post was written by Kushal Tamrakar and Valerie Ejegi, edited by Hang Ngo. If you have any questions or concerns or would like to report a discrepancy please email ellen@hackernoon.com.

Meet the Winners of Startups in Asia

BTCS Inc. (Nasdaq: BTCS) (“BTCS” or the “Company”), a leader in blockchain infrastructure and technology, is pleased to announce its partnership with Figment Inc. (“Figment”), one of the world’s foremost blockchain infrastructure providers, for the launch of its Staker Protection Plan. This solution is designed to enhance transaction inclusion and state preservation, addressing a critical pain point for traders and end-users who demand greater certainty for their high-value and time-sensitive transactions. WonderFi Technologies Inc. (TSX: WNDR) (OTCQB: WONDF) (“WonderFi”), a top digital asset company, will join as Figment's first customer in the pilot program. Partnership and Pilot Program Highlights This collaboration underscores BTCS and Figment’s shared commitment to advancing the blockchain ecosystem by addressing critical challenges in wider adoption. With WonderFi’s participation, stakers on the WonderFi-owned Bitbuy and Coinsquare platforms will be the first to enjoy the benefits of the program. The pilot program is anticipated to go live on mainnet in March 2025 in connection with Ethereum’s Pectra update. The Staker Protection Plan program is designed to deliver key benefits, including: Providing end-users with greater confidence that their transactions will be included in a particular block.
Addressing complexities and heightened risks of high-value transactions in cross-chain and cross-venue operations, ensuring timely and predictable trading outcomes.
Optimizing staking rewards rate (SRR) for stakers through improved compliance and performance. Stakers interested in participating in this solution, which is designed to meet applicable regulatory requirements and benefit from increased SRR can contact Figment’s customer success team. End-users seeking information about transaction execution and enhanced features can reach out to the BTCS team for more information. Charles Allen, CEO of BTCS, stated: “By partnering with Figment and integrating WonderFi as the first participant, we are laying a strong foundation for staker empowerment and ecosystem growth. This partnership exemplifies our dedication to delivering solutions that foster revenue growth and operational excellence.” https://www.youtube.com/embed/k3Ct7-XR8kQ Lorien Gabel, CEO of Figment, added: “At Figment, we are committed to driving innovation in blockchain infrastructure to enhance the Ethereum ecosystem and increase adoption. Our partnership with BTCS on this innovative solution demonstrates our dedication to addressing critical challenges in staking operations. By providing solutions that ensure fairness and enhance transaction inclusion, we are fostering a more reliable and fair network for all participants.” Dean Skurka, CEO of WonderFi, stated: “Participating in BTCS’s Staker Protection Plan pilot is a natural extension of our commitment to innovation and growth. We believe that this program will not only enhance our validator operations but also increase revenue for our shareholders and ultimately, higher staking rewards to our customers. We’re excited to be at the forefront of initiatives that have the potential to redefine validator strategies.” About BTCS BTCS Inc. (Nasdaq: BTCS) is a U.S.-based blockchain infrastructure technology company currently focused on driving scalable revenue growth through its Ethereum blockchain infrastructure operations. BTCS has honed its expertise in Ethereum network operations, particularly in block building and validator node management. Its branded block-building operation, Builder+, leverages advanced algorithms to optimize block construction for on-chain validation, thus maximizing gas fee revenues. BTCS also supports other blockchain networks by operating validator nodes and staking its crypto assets across multiple proof-of-stake networks, allowing crypto holders to delegate assets to BTCS-managed nodes. In addition, the Company has developed ChainQ, an AI-powered blockchain data analytics platform, which enhances user access and engagement within the blockchain ecosystem. Committed to innovation and adaptability, BTCS is strategically positioned to expand its blockchain operations and infrastructure beyond Ethereum as the ecosystem evolves. Users can explore how BTCS is revolutionizing blockchain infrastructure in the public markets by visiting www.btcs.com. For more information, users can follow on: Twitter: https://x.com/NasdaqBTCS LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nasdaq-btcs Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NasdaqBTCS About Figment Figment is the leading provider of staking infrastructure. Figment provides the complete staking solution for over 700 institutional clients and $15B in assets staked across asset managers, exchanges, wallets, foundations, custodians, and banks, to earn rewards on their digital assets. For more information, users can visit www.figment.io. Partnering with BTCS for the Staker Protection Plan exemplifies Figment’s dedication to innovation in the ecosystem and empowerment of stakers. About WonderFi WonderFi is the largest regulated crypto trading platform in Canada and a global leader in centralized and decentralized financial services and products. With over $2.2B in assets under custody, WonderFi is well-positioned to service crypto participants on a global scale with trading, payments, and decentralized products, including purpose-built blockchains and non-custodial wallet applications. Designed to provide investors with diversified investment exposure across the global digital asset ecosystem, the Company has a proven track record of launching new products and obtaining applicable licenses. It is also the owner of market-leading brands, including Bitbuy, Coinsquare, SmartPay and Tetra Trust. As the world continues to move on-chain, WonderFi is strategically placed to capture both market and wallet share through ongoing innovation within the digital asset space. For more information, users can visit www.wonder.fi Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding our anticipated launch on mainnet and revenue growth. Words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “continue,” “predict,” “forecast,” “project,” “plan,” “intend” or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation regulatory issues, unexpected issues with the Staker Protection Plan and launch as well as issues with Ethereum’s planned Pectra update, as well as risks set forth in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, which was filed on March 21, 2024. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. BTCS Investor Relations: Charles Allen – CEO X (formerly Twitter): @Charles_BTCS Email: ir@btcs.com Figment Contact: Email: marketing@figment.io WonderFi Investor Relations: Charlie Aikenhead Email: Invest@wonder.fi This story was distributed as a release by Chainwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here BTCS Inc. (Nasdaq: BTCS ) (“BTCS” or the “Company”), a leader in blockchain infrastructure and technology, is pleased to announce its partnership with Figment Inc. (“Figment”), one of the world’s foremost blockchain infrastructure providers, for the launch of its Staker Protection Plan. BTCS BTCS This solution is designed to enhance transaction inclusion and state preservation, addressing a critical pain point for traders and end-users who demand greater certainty for their high-value and time-sensitive transactions. WonderFi Technologies Inc. (TSX: WNDR) (OTCQB: WONDF) (“WonderFi”), a top digital asset company, will join as Figment's first customer in the pilot program. Partnership and Pilot Program Highlights This collaboration underscores BTCS and Figment’s shared commitment to advancing the blockchain ecosystem by addressing critical challenges in wider adoption. With WonderFi’s participation, stakers on the WonderFi-owned Bitbuy and Coinsquare platforms will be the first to enjoy the benefits of the program. The pilot program is anticipated to go live on mainnet in March 2025 in connection with Ethereum’s Pectra update. The Staker Protection Plan program is designed to deliver key benefits, including: Providing end-users with greater confidence that their transactions will be included in a particular block. Addressing complexities and heightened risks of high-value transactions in cross-chain and cross-venue operations, ensuring timely and predictable trading outcomes. Optimizing staking rewards rate (SRR) for stakers through improved compliance and performance. Providing end-users with greater confidence that their transactions will be included in a particular block. Addressing complexities and heightened risks of high-value transactions in cross-chain and cross-venue operations, ensuring timely and predictable trading outcomes. Optimizing staking rewards rate (SRR) for stakers through improved compliance and performance. Stakers interested in participating in this solution, which is designed to meet applicable regulatory requirements and benefit from increased SRR can contact Figment’s customer success team. End-users seeking information about transaction execution and enhanced features can reach out to the BTCS team for more information. Charles Allen, CEO of BTCS, stated: “By partnering with Figment and integrating WonderFi as the first participant, we are laying a strong foundation for staker empowerment and ecosystem growth. This partnership exemplifies our dedication to delivering solutions that foster revenue growth and operational excellence.” Charles Allen, CEO of BTCS, stated: “By partnering with Figment and integrating WonderFi as the first participant, we are laying a strong foundation for staker empowerment and ecosystem growth. This partnership exemplifies our dedication to delivering solutions that foster revenue growth and operational excellence.” https://www.youtube.com/embed/k3Ct7-XR8kQ https://www.youtube.com/embed/k3Ct7-XR8k Q https://www.youtube.com/embed/k3Ct7-XR8k Lorien Gabel, CEO of Figment, added: “At Figment, we are committed to driving innovation in blockchain infrastructure to enhance the Ethereum ecosystem and increase adoption. Our partnership with BTCS on this innovative solution demonstrates our dedication to addressing critical challenges in staking operations. By providing solutions that ensure fairness and enhance transaction inclusion, we are fostering a more reliable and fair network for all participants.” Lorien Gabel, CEO of Figment, added: “At Figment, we are committed to driving innovation in blockchain infrastructure to enhance the Ethereum ecosystem and increase adoption. Our partnership with BTCS on this innovative solution demonstrates our dedication to addressing critical challenges in staking operations. By providing solutions that ensure fairness and enhance transaction inclusion, we are fostering a more reliable and fair network for all participants.” Dean Skurka, CEO of WonderFi, stated: “Participating in BTCS’s Staker Protection Plan pilot is a natural extension of our commitment to innovation and growth. We believe that this program will not only enhance our validator operations but also increase revenue for our shareholders and ultimately, higher staking rewards to our customers. We’re excited to be at the forefront of initiatives that have the potential to redefine validator strategies.” Dean Skurka, CEO of WonderFi, stated: “Participating in BTCS’s Staker Protection Plan pilot is a natural extension of our commitment to innovation and growth. We believe that this program will not only enhance our validator operations but also increase revenue for our shareholders and ultimately, higher staking rewards to our customers. We’re excited to be at the forefront of initiatives that have the potential to redefine validator strategies.” About BTCS BTCS Inc. (Nasdaq: BTCS) is a U.S.-based blockchain infrastructure technology company currently focused on driving scalable revenue growth through its Ethereum blockchain infrastructure operations. BTCS has honed its expertise in Ethereum network operations, particularly in block building and validator node management. Its branded block-building operation, Builder+, leverages advanced algorithms to optimize block construction for on-chain validation, thus maximizing gas fee revenues. BTCS Inc. BTCS Inc. BTCS also supports other blockchain networks by operating validator nodes and staking its crypto assets across multiple proof-of-stake networks, allowing crypto holders to delegate assets to BTCS-managed nodes. In addition, the Company has developed ChainQ, an AI-powered blockchain data analytics platform, which enhances user access and engagement within the blockchain ecosystem. Committed to innovation and adaptability, BTCS is strategically positioned to expand its blockchain operations and infrastructure beyond Ethereum as the ecosystem evolves. Users can explore how BTCS is revolutionizing blockchain infrastructure in the public markets by visiting www.btcs.com . For more information, users can follow on: www.btcs.com www.btcs.com Twitter: https://x.com/NasdaqBTCS https://x.com/NasdaqBTCS https://x.com/NasdaqBTCS LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nasdaq-btcs https://www.linkedin.com/company/nasdaq-btcs https://www.linkedin.com/company/nasdaq-btcs Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NasdaqBTCS https://www.facebook.com/NasdaqBTCS https://www.facebook.com/NasdaqBTCS About Figment Figment is the leading provider of staking infrastructure. Figment provides the complete staking solution for over 700 institutional clients and $15B in assets staked across asset managers, exchanges, wallets, foundations, custodians, and banks, to earn rewards on their digital assets. For more information, users can visit www.figment.io . Partnering with BTCS for the Staker Protection Plan exemplifies Figment’s dedication to innovation in the ecosystem and empowerment of stakers. Figment Figment www.figment.io www.figment.io About WonderFi WonderFi is the largest regulated crypto trading platform in Canada and a global leader in centralized and decentralized financial services and products. With over $2.2B in assets under custody, WonderFi is well-positioned to service crypto participants on a global scale with trading, payments, and decentralized products, including purpose-built blockchains and non-custodial wallet applications. WonderFi WonderFi Designed to provide investors with diversified investment exposure across the global digital asset ecosystem, the Company has a proven track record of launching new products and obtaining applicable licenses. It is also the owner of market-leading brands, including Bitbuy, Coinsquare, SmartPay and Tetra Trust. As the world continues to move on-chain, WonderFi is strategically placed to capture both market and wallet share through ongoing innovation within the digital asset space. For more information, users can visit www.wonder.fi www.wonder.fi www.wonder.fi Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding our anticipated launch on mainnet and revenue growth. Words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “continue,” “predict,” “forecast,” “project,” “plan,” “intend” or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation regulatory issues, unexpected issues with the Staker Protection Plan and launch as well as issues with Ethereum’s planned Pectra update, as well as risks set forth in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, which was filed on March 21, 2024. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. BTCS Investor Relations: Charles Allen – CEO X (formerly Twitter): @Charles_BTCS @Charles_BTCS @Charles_BTCS Email: ir@btcs.com ir@btcs.com ir@btcs.com Figment Contact: Email: marketing@figment.io marketing@figment.io marketing@figment.io WonderFi Investor Relations: Charlie Aikenhead Email: Invest@wonder.fi Email: Invest@wonder.fi Invest@wonder.fi Invest@wonder.fi This story was distributed as a release by Chainwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here This story was distributed as a release by Chainwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here here here

BTCS Unveils Strategic Partnership With Figment And WonderFi Leading Its Staker Protection Plan

BTCS раскрывае стратэгічнае партнёрства з Figment і WonderFi, якія ўзначальваюць план абароны стакераў

BTCS otkriva strateško partnerstvo sa Figmentom i WonderFi-jem koji predvode svoj plan zaštite stekera

Το BTCS αποκαλύπτει τη στρατηγική συνεργασία με το Figment και το WonderFi να ηγείται του σχεδίου προστασίας Staker

BTCS revela una asociación estratégica con Figment y WonderFi para liderar su plan de protección de los participantes

BTCS presenta unha asociación estratéxica con Figment e WonderFi que lideran o seu plan de protección de staker

BTCS חושפת שותפות אסטרטגית עם Figment ו-WonderFi שמובילים את תוכנית ההגנה על המעריצים שלה

बीटीसीएस ने फिगमेंट और वंडरफाई के साथ रणनीतिक साझेदारी का खुलासा किया, जो इसके स्टेकर प्रोटेक्शन प्लान का नेतृत्व करेगा

BTCS、ステーカー保護計画を主導するFigmentおよびWonderFiとの戦略的パートナーシップを発表

BTCS ເປີດເຜີຍການຮ່ວມມືຍຸດທະສາດກັບ Figment ແລະ WonderFi ນໍາພາແຜນການປົກປ້ອງ Staker ຂອງຕົນ

BTCS ले आफ्नो स्टेकर सुरक्षा योजनाको नेतृत्व गर्दै फिगमेन्ट र वन्डरफाइसँग रणनीतिक साझेदारीको अनावरण गर्‍यो

BTCS e Utolla Selekane sa Togamaano Le Figment Le WonderFi e Eteletšego Pele Leano la Yona la Tšhireletšo ya Batšeakarolo

BTCS Yashyize ahagaragara Ubufatanye Bw’ibishushanyo na WonderFi Biyobora Gahunda Yayo yo Kurinda

I know her from her beautiful avatar, who always looks sharp at all Decentraland events. She was one of the first users I've found on Twitter to follow who actively participates in web3 space. On a sunny Sunday evening, I talked to Maryana. She is one of the few female Decentraland Twitch streamers. It's 8 am where she's at and 3 pm where I am. As we log in to our google meets, we keep joking about the time difference and how difficult it is for me to attend events in Decentraland that usually happen while I am asleep. Maryana admits - this is the first thing that needs to be improved – flexibility in event timing. There should be more timing options for people not in the USA. You're not the first person I am hearing this from! Maryana: Only crazy people come to the events that are on 2 am in their local time. It's not fair! Maryana says it should be more before 8 am (USA time) events, and she checks the total users on Decentraland as we speak - 902! Tell us, who Maryana is, and what is your background? I am from the USA. I come from a finance background. I learned about blockchain four years ago, but back then, I was too young or didn't have money to invest in crypto or dive into the blockchain too much. Also, the concept was pretty new to me, so I didn't fully understand its potential. Maryana: I've been trying to learn about web3 and coding. Been networking a lot. I used to attend a few blockchain events before covid. Besides that, I do a lot of hobby photography and videography. But I am just a normal person working. (laughs) We talk a lot about those two sides that are important for someone joining the Decentraland, the only active open virtual world at this moment. But I am curious how someone like Maryana entered the space? I didn't get into it until I entered Decentraland in December 2021. I had a Metamask wallet since April last year. I had some friends into buying and making photography NFTs. We were always on Clubhouse talking about photography coming to an NFT space. So I set up a Metamask. However, I never knew how to transfer money. I had a Coinbase account, but I always was nervous about making a transaction to my Metamask. So honestly, Maryana: (web3 space - editors note) I didn't make my first NFT transaction until I posted my first wearable in Decentraland. So Decentraland helped me learn how actually to transfer money. Now it's a curse, because if I have MANA - I need to go shopping. (laughs) Tell us a little bit about project B-Verse. Was it the reason you became more active in Decentraland space? It's one of the reasons. It started as a little business networking group. In January, GoldGuy and Alpha started doing these business discussion meetings every Thursday in a random Decentraland location. They just got sick and tired of always partying, and they wanted to meet more IRL businesspeople who would enjoy talking about business, growing, and just networking. With time it grew, and many people became more interested in it. They discussed what it's like to be in the Metaverse and how they can make a Decentraland a better place. Maryana: I joined around the third meeting, and they were super happy to have more women in the space. I just wanted to come in, be lowkey, and play games. So that was just my only goal in Decentraland - just to hit rocks and walk around. Actually, when I came to Decentraland, I didn't want to show my IRL professional persona. Have you ever met your partners in person? No, the only people I have met in Decentraland were Bokkeh, Emtastic, and Klow from WisherVodka. Once, I was at a party at Klow's house. I want to get better at meeting more people or going to events. Maryana: As we talk about shopping in Decentraland and who are the best creators out there, I have to ask Maryana about the few dresses that she created some time ago and why she stopped doing that. What about creating wearables? Since B-Verse and twitch streaming, I haven't been into wearable creating because of the limited market in Decentraland - it's just so slow, and even if I make a wearable, I will only sell two items due to a low consumer base. It's just not the right thing to do right now. With high design fees, it is hard to break even. Maryana: Do you think you would be back to wearables once it's improved, or will you focus on business and communication more? Well, I doubt it will solve the problem of not having enough customers to buy wearables. So I will focus on Metaverse education and the B-Verse network. Because right now, the biggest gap in web3 is not enough people here from web2. I am trying to always go to other web2 platforms trying to meet people who would be interested in joining. I have a goal to get those people over here. Maryana: Everyone has these side ambitions. For example, you're into fashion and not a gamer, so each avatar has a story behind it. I'd love to meet everyone, have calls like this, and talk in Twitter spaces where you can hear people's voices. So it's not just a game. Decentraland could be a place to business network, and it could help you in your IRL career. People imagine Decentraland being a game, more like Roblox. Still, in my eyes, it's more like social media platform, represented by an avatar, because everyone here is the real people (hopefully, haha). What is the biggest challenge in the Metaverse? Talking about the Decentraland - accessibility. Right now, the only way to enter is through your laptop. However, you're not going far if you don't have a decent computer. Maryana: I share my experience with Maryana; as I tried logging into Decentraland, I thought my computer would burn. What about other Metaverses? I tried Cryptovoxels and Spatial once or twice each, and it's not as heavy on your computer as Decentraland. Once I tried Cryptovoxels and Spatial, I thought I would rather stay here because it's just so much easier on my computer, and you can access it on your phone too. Unfortunately, I never see many people on Spatial, so I am still trying to figure out where that community is. Maryana: Going back a little, how did you actually HEAR about Decentraland? First, I heard of the concept of virtual land back in 2018/2019. It was the earth2 io project. Back then, I didn't know its purpose and what you could do with it. And then, as I started learning more about photography NFTs, my TikTok became NFT and crypto-based immediately. Maryana: I heard the concept of Decentraland on TikTok. The only reason why I stopped to listen to it was that I'd heard of the concept of the virtual land before. And I actually watched a WonderMine video about how you can make a free NFT, and it's funny because 7months later, I didn't make any NFT, haha. So I told my husband, "Omg, I can go to Decentraland, play a game for 30 days, and get a shirt NFT, and I can sell that NFT!" Back then, I didn't know what wearable NFT was. I thought I could easily flip it. Nope, never even had a chance to enter that business because I got so busy! How do you manage your time in Decentraland? It should take a lot of time! I know it takes a lot of my time! I think I got so ambitious in the first few months, so I was probably not sleeping enough then. It was very unhealthy, so I have been cutting that back for the last few months. I've been regaining my real schedule. I am not logging in as much as I used to because I try to enjoy my real life now. I only log in to Decentraland about twice a week at this point. Maryana: I used to be up until 4 am each night, and after working my real job, I was spending 12 hours in Decentraland. Every Monday, I do DCL Report for an hour and go to a party once in a while. I am more at this building phase right now. I've been trying to make more content on the topic, but it's so hard because my job takes a lot of my time. Do you see yourself working in the web3 space as your full-time job? It's definitely a goal. If it's possible financially, I'd love to do this full-time. Unfortunately, as I initially thought there would be, cash flow returns are not there yet unless you're working for a reputable, established web3 company. Maryana: It's nice to be here in the beginning. I hope one day I can say I remember when there were just two people in web3, haha. I just want to be a part of something that might scale to be something crazy in a few years. Maryana, who are your Decentraland favorite members? Maryana: KevinOnEarth999 GoldGuy Canessa Roustan WisherVodka Digifun Later, we carry our conversation towards more personal things, such as people being hacked and their wallets drained. Maybe a little bit of high school drama and community still being so small. We briefly touch on the topic of gender in web3 space and why gender-based communities don't work out the way they do in the web2 space, but I feel like this is a separate topic to talk about in general. It seems like Maryana lived through a lot in these couple of months, and I am grateful for her sharing it with me. Follow my insights on Decentraland and its community by subscribing to newsletter that comes out every week. The Wearables Daily

Maryana from Decentraland: I want to Contribute to Something Revolutionary

Exponential View Azeem Azhar ’s Weekly Wondermissive: Future, Tech & Society . This issue has been supported by our partner: Ocean Protocol sgCarMart is building Singapore's very first 'Know-Your-Vehicle' data marketplace on Ocean Protocol to help used car buyers make smarter buying decisions This week I am sending the same issue to free and Premium members. Like, comment or share this email by pressing the little buttons at the top of this email. Dept of the near future 🍏 After 23 years, Apple’s design chief Jony Ive, the “ ”, is stepping away from the empire he helped build. Ive’s departure, which according to insiders, was preceded by a long, steady withdrawal from the daily work of the company, is being read as a sign of the increasing shift away . most unremarkable remarkable person you could meet from the Steve Jobs era into one driven more by operations than inspiration 🤭 Despite all the early hype around voice assistants, usage is abysmal. Either the industry has yet to find the right use case for voice technology, or perhaps, , “[n]obody wants to walk around their house talking to a computer.” Fun fact: 10,000 Amazon employees work on the Alexa voice assistant. as one founder points out 🚨 An exceptional piece of research from Jordan Dworkin measures jobs, and concludes that service and industrial sector workers are likely to struggle with transitions more than those in business, scientific and medical sectors. the impact of automation in different professions against the ability of workers to transition to new Optimal recommendations should not only consider a new job’s automatability and growth potential, but also its similarity to the job a worker is leaving. Skills most associated with less automatable jobs differ across sectors, and skills that facilitate job transitions may be distinct from those that facilitate within-job skill redefinition. Automation will likely have complex effects on the job market that are not fully captured by the likelihood of individual jobs becoming automated. Instead, it is important that policy-makers, businesses and workers consider the relationships between jobs when determining who is at the highest risk of long-term displacement and which transition or reskilling opportunities they should pursue. ⚖️ . With those two countries removed from the dataset, income inequality has worsened in the remaining 143 countries measured in the study. Growth in regional income inequality in Asia outside of China and India is particularly significant. (Sorry, paywalled!) 📧 He explains: “What I see in Superhuman though is a company that has mistaken taking advantage of people for good design. They’ve identified a feature that provides value to some of their customers (i.e. seeing if someone has opened your email yet) and they’ve trampled the privacy of every single person they send email to in order to achieve that”. To his credit, Rahul Vohra of Superhuman, ending the practice. (This is part of the norming process we are going through as we grapple with these technologies, see the Dept of Surveillance below and my End Note.) Income inequality declined globally between 1988 and 2015, but only if we count India and China Mike Davidson raises an important question about Superhuman, an email client favoured by the digerati. Superhuman tracks when recipients open mail. responded effectively 🌡️ Climate crisis: 413.76ppm | 3,972 days Each week, we’re going to remind you of the CO2 levels in the atmosphere and the number of days until reaching the 450ppm threshold, the point at which significant portions of our planet’s ice will melt away. (as of July 1): 413.76 ppm; 12 months ago: 409ppm; 50 years ago: 326.66ppm; 250 years ago, est: 250ppm. Share this reminder with your community by forwarding this email or . 🔥 . European average temperatures were more than 2°C above normal, and temperatures were up to 10°C above normal over parts of France, Germany and Spain. Globally, the average temperature was about 0.1°C higher than during the previous warmest June. That was only three years ago. The speed at which temperature records are now being broken is an alarming sign of the future we may be facing. 🚫 The tide appears to be finally turning against fossil fuels, however. . Over 100 leading global financial institutions are pulling back from the sector, creating a “progressive strangulation” on access to capital markets and insurance for coal companies. Earlier this week, for example, insurer Chubb Ltd announced that and that it would phase out its coverage for existing risks which exceed this threshold by 2022. Researchers from the US and China find that . If we are to meet that target there is no room for new carbon-emitting energy infrastructure, and some existing infrastructure must be retired prematurely. as much as 200 gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere. The latest measurement tweeting this This June was the hottest ever recorded Capital is exiting the coal business, according to a recent report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis it would not underwrite new risks for companies which generate more than 30% of their revenue from coal committed emissions from existing and proposed energy infrastructure represent more than the entire remaining carbon budget for the 1.5 °C climate target Planting a trillion trees could capture Dept of artificial intelligence Unsupervised word embeddings capture latent knowledge from materials science literature. . Essentially, a machine learning system, requiring little training, was able to process more than three million abstracts in materials science. By looking at relationships between words and phrases, it was able to suggest hitherto unknown materials with thermoelectric properties. (Find a less technical .) The implications for science are significant. As a reminder, claimed: “on a per-dollar or per-person basis, science is becoming far less efficient.” If science is suffering diminishing returns, this might mean fewer insights to inspire breakthroughs that we need as we strain our planetary boundaries. AI is making progress in helping scientists. Think of Deepmind’s Alphafold predicting the 3-D structure of folded proteins or helping chemists understand millions of reaction pathways. And firms like Zymergen and LabGenius use machine learning tools to accelerate genomic research and drug development. The beauty of this current paper is that the technique, word2vec, is really rather simple compared to some breakthrough approaches. And the authors have . Elsewhere: This paper had scientists abuzz with the potential summary here this excellent essay on the stagnation of science made their code available for all . Sandhu draws out the point that some degree of bias is inherent and even necessary—the important thing is to explicitly recognise and understand which biases are present, how they're influencing the output and what the implications are. An excellent breakdown by Jaspreet Sandhu of the concepts and current state of knowledge about the role bias plays in machine learning MIT researchers . reckon they can predict emotional states by reflected wifi signals Dept of surveillance Worth noting just how surveillance, by government and private sector, has exploded as an issue. We covered this in , but there are a handful of more interesting developments. These indicate we need a new agreement around consumer and citizen privacy, and more clarity on how these technologies could be used. Partly it is about law and regulation. Partly it is about norms and behaviour. See my End Note. 👎 Dave Lee: . “Is Facebook fixing itself, or merely making it harder for us to see it’s broken?” Shoshana Zuboff doesn’t think we’ve failed to rein in Facebook and Google; . She argues that lawmakers need to “outlaw the secret theft of private experience”, disrupt revenue flows and business models based on surveillance, develop laws and regulations which protect users and empower new forms of grassroots collective action against the tech giants. 🔈Shoshana and I a couple of weeks ago. 🚓 The London Metropolitan Police’s facial recognition program continues to draw attention for all the wrong reasons. The system’s sky-high levels of inaccuracy (with a 98% false positive rate) have been repeatedly in the past. In that context, the revealed in the latest independent report commissioned by Scotland Yard almost looks like an improvement—although, in fact, it could be higher than that, as some of the “suspects” could not be found to verify whether or not the program had accurately identified them. The report also identified significant operational problems and issues around informed consent, or lack thereof. In the US, The group points to a well-known study which showed that major US retailers, Walmart and Home Depot, offered lower prices to users browsing anonymously. (Some anonymous users were offered 15% lower prices than identifiable users.) 🇪🇺 . The group are concerned about both state and commercial surveillance, but their report overall encourages the uptake and expansion of AI across multiple levels of society. last week’s special issue Facebook may be pivoting to something worse she thinks we haven’t really tried had a great conversation about surveillance capitalism highlighted 81% inaccuracy rate a consumer advocacy group has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the practice of “surveillance scoring” customers’ financial status. An independent group advising the European Commission on whether and how to regulate AI has recommended an outright ban on the use of AI for mass-scale credit scoring and blanket surveillance Short morsels to appear smart at dinner parties 💔 🙈 Waymo has been given the to carry passengers in its self-driving vehicles on public roads. Women in most leadership skills. Could blockchain help ? 👀 Apple is trying to . 🙀 It wasn't your imagination: The world's of individual atoms. 👂 Five couples lined up at Russia’s largest fertility clinic for . Globalisation is already dead. go-ahead by Californian regulators score higher than men save politics from big money make eye contact using FaceTime way less awkward wiggling the mouse in Windows 95 really did make it run faster. smallest MRI visualises the magnetic field CRISPR babies to avoid deafness End note How should we make sense of the surveillance-privacy axis? Well, it is another instance of the ethics of invention. To quote Sheila Jasonoff from her book, (See what I did there?): The Ethics of Invention The challenge for modern societies is to develop sufficiently powerful and systematic understanding of technology for us to know where the possibilities lie for meaningful political action and responsible governance. The bargains struck in enhancing human capability do not have to be Faustian, ratified between unequal bargaining partners under conditions of blind ignorance or irreducible uncertainty. I want to talk about email tracking as such a technology. The story about Superhuman broke this week. The firm’s email client did, apparently, cross a boundary. The product had a tracking capability which meant that a sender could see a recipient’s rough location and online status, without opt-in or opt-out. But understand that elements of this capability are now foisted on us across the board. Superhuman was far from unique. Add-ons like Mailtrack and Boomerang have provided similar email tracking capabilities for close to a decade. Messengers like Signal, WhatsApp and iMessage also give away the recipient’s status information. Superhuman’s response has been rapid and significant. The firm put a moratorium on that particular technology while they figure out what the non-Faustian bargain should be. (I offered Rahul, the CEO, about what a product fix might look like.) some typo-ridden suggestions The reality is that we are all in a process where we figure out positive-sum arrangements for these enhancing technologies. The technologies will shape our norms, yes. But our norms should also shape the technologies. Incidentally, you may wonder what kind of tracking happens on emails sent by ? Well, in the case of this newsletter, every single recipient is on here via a double-opt-in. You have selected to receive the newsletter and confirmed you wanted to receive it. Exponential View In common with virtually every other newsletter, our mailing platform provides us with operational data that includes which users opened the mail, and which links they clicked on. We use this data for operational reasons. Most commonly, we use it to track open and click rates. If we see these changing, usually declining (!!), we can make course corrections. Often a declining open rate means we are being caught by spam filters, and need to take action. Sometimes a declining open rate means that I’ve started to bore you, and we need to shake things up. We have also drilled down into per-user open rates to understand cohort behaviours. This helps us to talk to you about improving . Exponential View We’ve also used open rate information as a way of identifying the most engaged readers. These users have become eligible for perks like early-access copies to new books or exclusive invites to events and conferences. Many hundreds of you have benefitted from this in the past few years. Of course, today those occasional goodies are now . concentrated on members of our Premium tier We don’t provide an opt-out for tracking these metrics. It is essential operating data for us. If you are uncomfortable with it, you could also use a separate email box to receive your weekly wondermissive. is rather good for those types of things. 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🔮 AI & science; Apple & Ive; job transitions under automation; killing globalisation++ #225

The terms “hard skills” and “soft skills” are problematic. that computers are not going to be taking all our jobs quite yet. “We’re still a ways away from computers being able to replicate and replace human interaction and human touch.” Jeff Wiener, the boss of LinkedIn, says The result? Most in-demand, according to Wiener, are the so-called “soft skills” of human interaction, communication and conflict resolution. While, recent US data still shows that l, “hard” skills like , IT and trucking, I would agree with Jeff. These soft skills are paramount. But I think they have the wrong name. most in-demand roles are emphasising highly technica engineering One way to understand Jeff’s comments is to recognise we actually live in a world populated by people. We need “soft skills”, like communication and leadership. But the terms “hard skills” and “soft skills” are problematic. . Hard in this context has garnered two connotations. The first is difficult (as in “understanding the generalization of the chain rule to tensors is hard”). The second is that you’re dealing with things like machines, that are physically hard (“I hurt my head when I hit it on the laser printer which is hard”). The trouble is that this terminology put “soft skills” into an oppositional position. If hard means difficult (like tensors), then soft must mean easy. The notion of “hard skills”, especially in opposition to “soft skills”, is truly misleading Yes, soft skills involve working with things that are physically soft relative to server racks and diesel generators. Your boss is, physically, quite squishy compared to a truck. But undercurrent that “soft means not hard and therefore means easy” remains, especially as we glorify the hard skills of STEM. In a world of well-defined objectives and militaristic commercial language, “soft” skills are harder to quantify and fit in a spreadsheet, and so have no place in the modern, Taylorist workplace. Soft is hard Photo by on Miguel Bruna Unsplash Here’s the thing. Look at what is in the bucket of soft skills: team management, interpersonal communication, empathy, conflict resolution, critical thinking, perspective-taking. The origin of the dichotomy comes from a . Hard skills were hard because they were well-defined and straightforward. Soft skills were soft because “we don’t know much about the and social environments in which the skill occurs and… the consequences of different ways of accomplishing the job function”. The so-called “soft skills” are neither easy nor are they out of place in an organisation. US Army assessment between 1960–1970 physical In fact, the hard skills are actually the easy ones to grasp. You can wrap your head around them. Advanced calculus, or understanding the chain rule, or fiddling with a Gantt chart is really teachable and manageable once you know how. What is truly tough is persuading a child to do something they don’t want to do. Or resolving a conflict between two, three or more people. Or motivating a recalcitrant team to follow you, even when the data doesn’t support it. Or deciding that even when the data suggests it, something shouldn’t be done. That’s hard. Hard skills are easy because they can be taught more easily, and often in scalable ways. So-called soft skills are tougher to explain and require considerably more complex modalities than “hard skills”. Feel the power I’d propose a rebrand. “Soft” is the wrong modifier. These not-hard skills are actually the skills that we most need as individuals, at home and in the workplace. I’d go for “power skills”. It encapsulates both what these skills give you and what it takes to master them. What do you think? Is ‘soft’ the right way to encapsulate these skills? Or is power, or something else better? What would you call them? How do you teach them? The best way to stay in touch with me is through my weekly . . wondermissive Signup here It is free.

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