Techno-Politics and Tech Culture

VisaNet can process more than 65,000 tps (transactions per second). By comparison, Bitcoin (BTC) can only process ~5 tps. Therefore, Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies by proxy) are inherently too slow for practical use. Before you buy into this apples-to-oranges comparison, let's define the word "process." With a little more clarity, you will be better able to frame your thoughts about centralized (VisaNet) versus decentralized (Proof of Work) crypto transactions. Continue Reading →

Consumers can’t possibly adopt a preference for custom or personalized manufactured goods and services in big enough quantities to upset mass manufacturing and distribution … can they? Continue Reading →

You can attend the “must attend” event during CES® 2022 whether you’re going to Las Vegas or working from home. The Shelly Palmer Innovation Series Summit will stream live on January 5, 2022 at 11 a.m. ET at shellypalmer.com/live. Continue Reading →

My MetaMask Chrome Extension Wallet was hacked. The ETH is gone forever. Even though I can clearly see that address of the wallet that stole it, there's nothing I can do to get it back. I'm just writing this blog post as a warning for anyone who thinks keeping more than a few hundred dollars in a "hot wallet" is a good idea. I always keep a small amount of ETH in my MetaMask wallet to buy virtual goods and NFTs and game tokens, etc. I have been aware that the wallet was vulnerable to attack, but this hack is remarkable. They must have figured out my password – which is hard to do. Here's a chronicle of the events. I'll keep it updated. Continue Reading →

You know how to amass a $1 million fortune investing in NFTs? Start with $5 million. If you are trying to “get rich quick,” stop reading now. There’s nothing here for you. If, on the other hand, you want to dig a little deeper into the most popular use cases for NFTs and the transitional technologies empowering web 3, read on. Continue Reading →

There is a significant shortage of employees in the United States. One popular explanation suggests that the pandemic caused a massive realignment of personal values. Some are calling it the "great resignation." Another popular explanation suggests that average Americans are disincentivized to return to work due to overzealous government benefits. Which is correct? There probably isn't a single satisfying sound bite explanation, but this past week, I got schooled by my clients and my students and it made me think deeply about how we will adapt to the new normal. Continue Reading →

The interviewer asked, "Is that image real"? There's no way to tell. "What about this video?" It's hard to say. "You can't tell if that's real or fake either." No. Not without analyzing it. "Well, what about the prose? Did a human write this sentence?" It's possible, but it would not surprise me to learn that it was machine generated. "What about the voice in the video?" It's sonically perfect. I'd say 60/40 it's a machine, but I'd need to hear a few more sentences to be sure. "So, what you're saying is that I can't trust my eyes or my ears?" Yes. That's what I'm saying. "Is this the end of truth?" Continue Reading →

If you were Mark Zuckerberg and you wanted to get ahead of potential government regulation of your business, what would you fix first? Would you try to curtail social media addiction, protect privacy, reduce mental health risks, reduce weaponized information, eliminate hate speech, flag misinformation, deal with data governance, or address some other seemingly intractable problem? Here's what I'd fix first. Continue Reading →

During an upgrade to the Compound platform, a bug caused the system to transfer close to $90 million in COMP (their cryptocurrency) to random users. In a desperate tweet, Compound’s CEO begged the users to give the money back. He threatened to dox the users. (That’s a slang term for making user identities public or, in this case, reporting them to the IRS.) Then offered a 10 percent reward for “doing the right thing.” Continue Reading →

China has declared all financial transactions involving cryptocurrencies illegal and is issuing a nationwide ban on cryptocurrency mining. Does this make crypto illegal in China? Not exactly. What does this mean for the crypto markets worldwide? What about the US? How will US crypto be regulated? Are cryptocurrencies considered securities? What about other digital assets? Welcome to the crazy, confused world of crypto regulation. Continue Reading →