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Inefficiency is bliss (sometimes)
Bureaucracy and inefficiency are frowned upon, often rightly so. But they also have their good sides: Properly applied, they ensure reliability and legal certainty. Blockchain disciples want to “improve” bureaucracy-ridden processes, but achieve the opposite. Two examples:
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The FTX crypto exchange and its spider web
Yesterday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its indictment against Sam Bankman-Fried. It details the financial entanglements of FTX, Alameda Research and more than a hundred other companies and individuals. We have tried to disentangle these allegations somewhat for you.
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Reproducible AI Image Generation: Experiment Follow-Up
Inspired by an NZZ Folio article on AI text and image generation using DALL•E 2, I tried to reproduce the (German) prompts. Someone suggested that English prompts would work better. Here is the comparison.
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Web3 for data preservation? (Or is it just another expensive P2P?)
Drew Austin raises an important question in Wired: How should we deal with our accumulated personal data? How can we get from randomly hoarding to selection and preservation? And why does his proposed solution of Web3 not work out? A few analytical thoughts.
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«The Cloud» does not exist
What is cloud anyway? And why are not all clouds the same? An overview to create clarity. The topic of the cloud is currently on everyone’s lips again, and decisions are pending in many places. Clarity is essential for assessing the impact on individuals, the economy and society. That’s why we’re starting a small series…
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Rejuvenation for Pro Senectute through NFT and Metaverse?
Pro Senectute beider Basel, a foundation to help the elderly around Basel, launched its NFT project last week and already informed about its Metaverse commitment beforehand. According to a media release, Michael Harr, managing director of the 15-million Basel-based company, wants to use the purchase of these “properties” in a “central location” in two online…
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What is an NFT, behind the scenes?
“NFT” is currently on everyone’s lips again, and not only because of Pro Senectute. But what is actually behind the full-bodied promises of the NFT advocates? For more insights on NFTs and the entire blockchain ecosystem, click here. You can also read this text in German 🇩🇪. “NFT” stands for “Non-Fungible Token” and is being…
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The NFT Danger Zone
Susanna Petrin closes her NFT experiment with a dystopia of life after we destroyed our environment: Admiring our NFTs while strolling through the metaverse. I hope we can avert both.
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Blockchain in a nutshell
People often try to claim blockchain use cases without much deliberation. Here is a condensed, quotable version of «Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Blockchain» and «Data lifecycle questions, not only for Blockchains».
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Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Blockchain
Blockchain, cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, Web3 and NFT are the talk of the town. Almost everyone has an opinion, but hardly anyone understands the foundations or relationships. The goal of this series, whose first part you are currently reading, is to provide a structured presentation of promises, the technology behind, and the reality. Using everyday analogies…