Serious Tech News #10: $600,000 Cat Meme
New sh*t on the block, the 90s called, Facebook vs Strayans (again), and life on Mars
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New Sh*t On The Block(chain)
If you have been using the internet since at least 2010 — which is a decade ago, by the way — you’ve probably know Nyan Cat.
So what’s new with the Japanese pixel rainbow-farting-pop tart-cat? Well, this former internet phenomenon was sold for $600,000 last week by his creator—just the right amount to buy a Bay Area property that looks like an abandoned crackhouse.
How is it possible, you say? If you ever fantasized about becoming a snobby art collector looking down on your friends and families from the comfort of your $1,999 WFH high chair, this is your chance, all thanks to the blockchain.
Non-fungible Token (NFTs) is a cryptocurrency token that is indivisible and unique. With NFTs, you can make a cryptographically unique digital art, making it verifiable directly to the creator and impossible to replicate. Yes, this is our new blockchain shit of the week.
So what kind of arts can you apply NFT to? It can be in the form of NBA collectible cards, animated kittens, a picture of Spiderman, and even digital boobs.
NFT has been around for a while, but the hype is on an ascending trend these past few weeks. From June 2017 until the time this newsletter is written, there has been a total of $302 million spent on NFTs, and $139 million of them came within the past month. You can check the graphs here.
The hype was brought to the next level when Christie — a British auction house not related to the renowned New Jersey beach enthusiast — auctioned NFTs for the first time in history.
This new trend might be good for the art market transactions, which is notoriously known as a money-laundering scheme. The solution is, of course, to do art transactions using unregulated currencies.
The 90s Just Called
Another day, another invite-only hot social media platform. This time it’s Dispo: a social media slash camera app that works like an old-timey disposable camera.
After you take a picture, you have to wait until 9 am the next day until the film is ‘developed.’ As an industry lauded for future innovation, tech workers sure love to dwell in the past.
Serious Tech News sources confirmed that inspired by Dispo’s hype, venture capitalists are now looking for startups reviving things from the 90s, such as cassette tapes, rollerblades, Aaron Carter’s career, and dial-up connections.
Zuck Says, “Nah Mate”
Facebook 'as stopped allowin' news content in 'straya. This decision came about afder the bloody strine government demanded facey ta pay local news outlets fawr every ahrticle reposted on their platfawrm. Facebook’s strine representative said, “this is fahkin' ridiculous mate” 'n decided to up the bloody ante by bannin' news-related content from their services.
However, this decision lead ta some unintended consequences, as content not related ta news such as chahrities, government offices, 'n local businesses weah also mistakenly banned. Luckily, vegemite official page was safe from this errawr, evadin' a national-level riot—Fahkin' fair dinkum mate.
There’s a Starman Waiting in The Sky
Team Earth did it again. Last week, NASA successfully landed the Perseverance rover on Mars. In this mission, the drone’s objective is to seek signs of habitable conditions on the Red Planet, evidence of past life, and rescuing Matt Damon.
You can also follow Perseverance’s journey from the lens of NASA’s social media manager on Twitter @NASAPersevere
In Other News…
- Video remastering technology has reached the next level. See for yourself.
- Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is dead serious about bringing Silicon Valley talent to South Beach, and he bought a billboard. I have no jokes here. Florida had enough.
- Microsoft is focusing on improving remote work. Our sources reported that the initial plan to achieve this goal is by telling users to "stop using Windows,” which was vehemently rejected.
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