Lifeboat Foundation

Tech companies continued to draw criticism for their roles in political and social scandals, most notably when whisteblower and former Facebook employee Frances Haugen testified to lawmakers. Undeterred, Facebook rebranded itself Meta and said it would now focus on building the metaverse. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down and likewise changed the name of his company Square to Block in a not-so-subtle nod to the blockchain.

Meanwhile, volatile cryptocurrencies set new records, their prices jumping and crashing on a tweet. NFTs, a once-obscure type of cryptoasset, went on an eye-watering tear as redditors pushed meme stocks skyward. It was also the year of ever-bigger AI. Machine learning models surpassed a trillion parameters, designed computer chips, and tackled practical problems in biology, math, and chemistry. Elsewhere, billionaires went to space, regular folks bought 3D printed houses, fusion power attracted billions in investment, gene editing trials hit their stride, and “flying car” companies hit the New York Stock Exchange.

For this year’s list of fascinating stories in tech and science, we sifted our Saturday posts and selected articles that looked back to where it all began, glanced ahead to what’s coming, or otherwise stood out from the chatter to stand the test of time.

Cloud computing and blockchain industries may very well have one property in common; both are growing rapidly while having the potential to revolutionize their respective fields. However, up until now, pioneers within the two industries have not yet found a common interest. That could soon change as projects have started embracing the idea of integrating the blockchain into the cloud computing sector, and we could soon see a future of endless possibilities.

The game-changing development could mean big things for both industries. The development of the cloud computing sector has been aided by several elements, including the increasing use of mobile devices and data storage and processing capability. However, the integration of blockchain technology into the cloud computing industry could turn out to be one of the most significant drivers of the age of cloud computing.

Originally published on Towards AI the World’s Leading AI and Technology News and Media Company. If you are building an AI-related product or service, we invite you to consider becoming an AI sponsor. At Towards AI, we help scale AI and technology startups. Let us help you unleash your technology to the masses.

We’re in the midst of an NFT boom, but that won’t always be the case. Today, NFTs are being flipped quickly — much like house flipping in the lead up to the 2007-08 financial crisis.

Obviously, that doesn’t mean that NFTs are all driven by speculation, just that we need to be cautious and prudent when evaluating their value. Artificial intelligence (AI) is one tool for helping identify and produce valuable art NFTs. Let’s dive into that more here (but see Christian Jensen’s recent article for a broader background on the investment lingo in NFT land).

Allowing users to buy NFTs with fiat money.

Cryptocurrency might be illegal in China, but that doesn’t mean non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have to be.

China is planning to separate the infrastructure used for crypto from the one used to create NFTs so that its crackdown on cryptocurrencies doesn’t harm the country’s NFT industry, a report from South China Morning Post reveals.

Continue reading “China Reportedly Wants to Separate NFTs from Crypto With State-Backed Blockchain” »

Prager Metis has become the first CPA firm to open up a metaverse headquarters. The firm, which in real life is based in New York, is setting up shop in Decentraland, a 3D virtual world, as part of a joint venture with Banquet LLC, a metaverse studio.

The firm purchased the piece of virtual real estate on Dec. 28, a three-story digital structure. On the first floor is an open floor plan that doubles as a gallery space for nonfungible tokens from Prager Metis clients along with a large entertainment area. The second floor will provide more of a working space with meeting rooms and conference capabilities. The third floor will serve as a rooftop space where Prager Metis intends to host events and even live entertainment.

The metaverse has been attracting attention ever since Facebook’s parent company announced a name change last October to Meta to highlight its interest in developing technology for virtual reality and augmented reality. More businesses have followed suit in setting up shop in the metaverse. Prager Metis isn’t the first firm to dip its toes in the waters: PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Hong Kong firm announced last month that it had bought virtual land on another metaverse platform, the Sandbox, but Prager Metis is going further by setting up an actual headquarters in Decentraland. It plans to focus on advisory services for clients and potentially for other accounting firms as well. The firm already has clients who have entered the rapidly growing market for nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, which use blockchain technology to create collectibles and artwork that people bid on to buy and trade.

Such is the promise and peril of NFTs.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, offer many potential benefits to creators. They apply the mechanisms of scarcity to digital assets by allowing artists to render them as one-of-a-kind collectibles, like a painting or a baseball card. This means artists — especially digital artists — who have struggled to make their streamable, screenshot-able or reprintable work hold value — can price their items at rates appropriate for something in short supply.

However, the digital trading mechanism is still in nascent stages, and rife with scams, hacks and copyright issues. Beeple was hit by an organized hack, for example. While artists can sometimes find financial solvency with NFTs, other times, they lose millions.

Blockchain Technology on Mars.

Can a Mars economy be established on top of Blockchain Technologies?

Continue reading “Blockchain Technologies on Mars — Building a cryptocurrencies economy on another planet” »

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

| My holiday message to you, guys!

Continue reading “2022: The Gateway Year to Transcension” »

Trivergence is starting to affect every industry. In financial services, the wallet has become a smart app that can collect data and learn. On a blockchain, users can exchange, save, borrow, invest and protect this digital money peer-to-peer without the intermediation of banks. In manufacturing, 3D printers are manufacturing aircraft parts in a Boeing facility with a blockchain network facilitating all the patented files, contracting and payments peer-to-peer. Telecommunications companies are no longer negotiating complex, costly and ever-changing roaming agreements, but using blockchain-based smart contracts among providers to automate the web of payments and settlement globally.

Over time, the Trivergence will usher in a next-generation internet where nearly every animate and inanimate object on Earth generates data, a distributed ledger records and secures this data and AI analyzes the data, communicates with the objects, alerts their owners and continuously adjusts and improves the efficiency of the economy and the sustainability of its effects on the environment.

New business models enabled by this Trivergence are beginning to disrupt many industries and provide platforms for innovation in the economy for decades ahead. This second era has weighty implications for every business, government and individual, as well as technology strategy, architecture and leadership. If we can overcome the dark side — and that’s a big “if” — this Trivergence helps us reclaim our digital identities, effectively fight climate change and help solve some of the world’s most intractable problems.