An OfCom study on smart speaker use prompts TMO Managing Editor Jeff Butts and Ken to talk tech that disappoints and tech that delights.
Blockchain
What Does Warren Buffett's TSMC Investment Tell Us? - TMO Daily Observations 2022-11-16
Warren Buffet doesn’t invest in fads. This used to mean he didn’t invest in tech, though between his Apple holdings and the $4.1B he’s invested in chipmaker TSMC, he’s pretty deep in tech at this point. So – what does that mean for technology? “Daily Tech News Show” host Tom Merritt joins Ken to trip down memory lane and peer into tomorrow.
A Blocked Deal and the Blockchain - TMO Daily Observations 2022-10-18
TMO Managing Editor Jeff Butts joins Ken to talk over the implosion of the reported NAND deal between Apple and China-based Yangtze. Plus – South Korea is moving state-issued IDs to the blockchain – listen as Jeff tries to make Ken understand.
South Korea to Double Down on Blockchain, Using It to Manage Digital IDs
A report recently outlined plans in South Korea to adopt digital IDs reliant upon decentralized blockchain technology.
NFT Company 'Unblocked' Valuation Rises After $10 Million Seed Round
Unblocked rises to a US$90 million valuation following a US$10 million seed round led by Tiger Global and Penske Media Corp.
An NFT on OpenSea Can Steal Your IP Address
An NFT found on the OpenSea marketplace can steal visitors’ IP addresses, according to a repot from Motherboard.
Of course, websites often collect and store visitors’ IP addresses in virtue of how the sites function. OpenSea itself likely collects the IP addresses of visitors, like plenty of other sites, apps, or services. But here, an outside third party—the NFT seller—is able to gather information themselves on the people viewing the NFT, potentially without them knowing.
MultiChain Hack Still Affecting Customers a Week Later
The Multichain hack is still affecting crypto users a week later, despite promises from the company that it had been contained.
Congress Explores Blockchain Energy Usage From Mining
On January 20, the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee of the U.S. Congress House Energy and Commerce Committee discussed blockchain energy usage and other concepts related to mining and consensus.
Representatives then took to the floor with statements and questions. A few used their time for partisan attacks and political grandstanding, yet most made an honest effort to ask questions that either tackled the energy-related issues at the core of the hearing or sought broader context on the uses and potential applications of blockchain technology.
Twitter NFT Profile Photos Roll Out to iOS Subscribers
Twitter NFT profile photos are rolling out to members of the Twitter Blue subscription in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
At launch, Coinbase Wallet, Rainbow, MetaMask, Ledger Live, Argent, and Trust Wallet are supported. After authenticating, you’ll select the NFT you want to showcase. Twitter says that, currently, JPEG and PNG NFTs minted on the Ethereum (ERC-721 or ERC-1155 tokens) can be used as NFT Profile Pictures.
'Orchid' Nanopayments for VPN Support 8 More Blockchains
Orchid nanopayments for its VPN service can now be bridged onto eight additional blockchains via the company’s layer 2 system.
'Cash App' From Block Now Supports Bitcoin Lightning Network
Block, formerly known as Square, has added support for Bitcoin’s Lightning Network upgrade. This lets users send bitcoin to anyone around the world within seconds.
The Lightning integration is made possible by the Lightning Development Kit created by Spiral, which is funded by Block. Cash App customers will also be able to send bitcoin to any compatible wallet that accepts Lightning Network payments, without being charged fees.
Hackers Scam Blockchain City Group 'CityDAO' and Stole Funds
CityDAO, a group that bought 40 acres of land in Wyoming to build a blockchain-based city, has gotten hacked this week.
What is Web3? Explaining the Technology Stack in This New Ecosystem
A recent report from Coinbase examines the web3 stack, or the various protocols and blockchain technologies that make up the ecosystem.
Where a third party like Facebook owns your identity and data in Web2, your identity in Web3 can move fluidly between platforms without your data being captured and monetized by service providers. While Web2 apps are centrally controlled, tokens in Web3 grant users the right to help govern the services they use, representing a form of ownership in the platforms themselves.
First Crypto Single Sign-On Option Launches for Ethereum, Polygon
Unstoppable Domains has launched the first-ever crypto Single Sign-On (SSO) option for Ethereum and Polygon.
Associated Press NFT Marketplace Announced for its Photojournalism
On Monday the Associated Press announced an NFT marketplace it will launch on January 31 in collaboration with Xooa.
Polygon Fixes Bug That Endangered $24 Billion Worth of MATIC Token
Polygon, a Layer 2 scaling network for Ethereum, fixed a bug that put its MATIC token at risk. However, a hacker was able to steal tokens.
These NFT 'Meta Watches' Aim to Transform the Luxury Watch Market
Meta Watches is a set of unique watches automatically generated and represented as NFTs, living on the Ethereum blockchain. Every watch will have a unique name and feature set. A Meta Watch is fully functional and will show you the current time on your device. Currently there are three ways to obtain a metawatch: schachter-welker collection: 10 unique nft watches that can be acquired for 10 eth each by the nagel draxler gallery. Gm collection: 17 handcrafted watches that already sold for an average of 0.55 eth each. Analog summer 2021 collection: 1234 generative art watches we are soon releasing for minting (0.08 eth each)
What is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)?
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is out with another explainer article, this time about DAOs.
Simply put, DAOs are software enabled organizations. They allow people to pool resources toward a common goal and share in value creation when those goals are achieved. DAOs run on top of open blockchain networks like Ethereum, organized by tokens with their rules encoded in smart contracts. DAOs aren’t tied to a physical location, which allows them to mobilize quickly and attract talent from all over the world
Here's What Coinbase and Intel Think About the 'Metaverse'
“The Metaverse” has been hyped in the news recently by companies such as Facebook/Meta. Brian Armstrong, CEO and cofounder of crypto exchange Coinbase, as well as Raja Koduri, Senior vice president and General manager of the Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Group at Intel, both recently shared their thoughts.
From Mr. Koduri: “Truly persistent and immersive computing, at scale and accessible by billions of humans in real time, will require even more: a 1,000-times increase in computational efficiency from today’s state of the art.”
From Mr. Armstrong: “The Metaverse is the distant evolution of Web3. In its most complete form, it will be a series of decentralized, interconnected virtual worlds with a fully functioning economy where people can do just about anything they can do in the physical world.”
Unstoppable Domains and Alchemy Launch API for Enterprise NFT Domains
On Thursday, Unstoppable Domains announced a partnership with Alchemy. The companies have launched an API for NFT domain name integrations.
New VPN Called 'Exidio dVPN' Runs on Sentinel's Node Network
Exidio is a new decentralized VPN application that uses the Sentinel blockchain, which itself is part of the Cosmos ecosystem. “Exidio dVPN is rewriting the true definition of what it means to be a VPN. This is made possible by the Sentinel blockchain where all the global, distributed nodes are sharing their available and unused bandwidth. So as long as the Sentinel blockchain stays active, the network of nodes that offer bandwidth to the network remain active.” Exidio claims that traffic is end-to-end encrypted with proven no data logging.
Ledger Wallet Adds Support for Internet Computer (ICP), Staking Included
Ledger on Friday announced that its crypto hardware wallet now supports Internet Computer Protocol token (ICP) to hold and stake.
Ledger Announces Plan to Launch Crypto Debit Card to Work With Hardware Wallet
At the Ledger Op3n conference, the company announced its intention to release a crypto debit card called Crypto Life.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Joins Chainlink Labs as Strategic Advisor
Eric Schmidt, former CEO and executive chairman of Google, has joined Chainlink Labs as a strategic advisor.