In January 2021, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez took to Twitter to declare his city the new cryptocurrency mecca. “The City of Miami believes in #Bitcoin,” he tweeted, “and I’m working day and night to turn Miami into a hub for crypto innovation.” Those weren’t just empty words: That same year, Suarez launched MiamiCoin, a crypto coin for the city that generated $5 million for the city since its launch. And with no state income tax and a corporate tax rate o
Kristine sat in a reclining chair, cocooned in an eyeshade and headphones, with a weighted blanket covering her lap. Incense burned in the background. She felt a pinch in her arm. “Okay,” the nurse said. “Have a nice trip!” Kristine peeled back her eye mask. “How long does it take to kick in?” she asked. “About 45 to 60 seconds,” the nurse said. “Okay, then. I’ll see you later,” Kristine said, bringing the mask back dow
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Like anyone, Mayuko Inoue craved a stable career, which she found working as a software engineer in Silicon Valley. She also found burnout. So, after nearly six years working for Intuit, Patreon, and Netflix, Inoue decided to become a full-time YouTuber in 2020. It’s certainly not lost on her that she essentially hopped out of the fire of
For decades, robots have worked alongside humans. In the auto industry, for example, they’ve long been the most precise and reliable welders and painters. Sitting in place and doing the same job, over and over, has historically been automation’s sweet spot. But, with the explosion in artificial intelligence, robots are coming to understand more complex, nuanced tasks. And they are increasingly able to navigate, both inside and outside. In agriculture, robots are not only plowing fi
Netflix is entering uncharted territory as it tries to turn password sharers into paying customers. After a historically rough quarter in which the streaming giant lost 200,000 subscribers—and forecasted losing 2 million more in the quarter ahead—the company says it will crack down on users who share their accounts with people outside their homes. The company has been testing “Extra Member” plans in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, and it now aims to bring similar initiat
Brave, the maker of a privacy-centric web browser and search engine, is addressing a big blind spot in its quest to take on Google by piping in search results from Reddit and other forums. Those forum threads will appear in a new “Discussions” breakout box whenever Brave’s search algorithm deems them relevant. These threads will appear inside the main search results page and will come from Reddit and Stack Exchange to start, with more sources to follow. Brave sees the new fe
In late 2019 then-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that his company would look for ways to decentralize its social network to give users more control over their tweets and other content, and to rely less on Twitter itself to dictate what could and couldn’t be said on the platform. The idea was to use the blockchain, or something like it, to make Twitter more like email, where users can choose a “client”—that is, a software program or web program that acts like a fron
It’s a beautifully sunny day in San Francisco, and I’m roaming the roof deck above an apartment in the city’s North Beach neighborhood. There’s a lot going on up here: In quick succession, I explore a model of the solar system, attempt to outrun a zombie, paint in 3D space, and learn about various types of flowers as I arrange them in a vase. From the celestial to the down-to-earth, all of these experiences are digital. They’ve moments of augmented reality that
As Coinbase rolls out beta testing for its NFT trading platform Wednesday, it joins a host of cryptocurrency exchanges that are reconfiguring themselves for tokenized collectibles. In many ways, that’s a natural evolution for blockchain businesses, but unlike rival platforms, Coinbase NFT clearly aspires to go beyond just a hub to buy and sell goods. In fact, its user interface looks a lot like—dare we say it?—a social media app. Coinbase first publicized the project back in
Josh Clemente was only 28 years old, but he was extraordinarily tired. He was, by all metrics, healthy. Yet he was convinced he had a terminal illness. Unfortunately, his doctor told him that his blood work revealed only a niggling vitamin D deficiency. He decided that he wanted to better understand his relationship to sugar. After making his fingers black and blue with finger-prick blood tests, a book called Wired to Eat led him to something called a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) that could