1. Introduction: Why I Needed Focero in My Life It started with a simple frustration: my attention was scattered. I was jumping between tasks, endlessly switching tabs, and letting distractions control my day. I’d tried all the usual suspects—Todoist, Notion, Focus To-Do—but they all felt either bloated or gamified. I wanted something quiet. Just a … Read more
What’s the best thing about Bitcoin’s design? Its scarcity (only 21 million coins)? Its decentralized nature (control is spread out)? Its trustless model (goodbye, banks)? Spend some time on crypto Twitter, and you’ll hear plenty of takes on these well-publicized benefits. What you might not hear about as often is a quiet mechanism ticking away … Read more
I’ll admit it: I have over 43,000 unread emails across my Gmail accounts. You’re probably in a similar situation. How does this happen? It usually starts with a free PDF offer that catches your interest. You subscribe, got what you want, but then receive multiple weekly emails that you never open. You don’t unsubscribe because, … Read more
Geopolitical pressures are accelerating a demand in many countries and regions to reshore — that is, to redevelop critical industry infrastructure, and to bring back businesses, which had moved or outsourced some or all of their industrial operations to cheaper countries further away. But that is easier said than done. In the key area of … Read more
TikTok VM Reverse Engineering (webmssdk.js) This project is for reverse engineering the TikTok Virtual Machine (VM). Overview TikTok uses a custom virtual machine (VM) as part of its obfuscation and security layers. This project includes tools to: Deobfuscate webmssdk.js that has the virtual machine. Decompile TikTok’s virtual machine instructions into readable form. Script Inject Replace … Read more
KiloEX, the decentralized exchange (DEX) hit by a $7 million attack earlier this month, has revealed its resolution plans for affected users. Users whose positions remained open during the platform suspension will be compensated for the difference on increased losses or decreased profits, KiloEX said on Thursday. Compensation will only be calculated up to the … Read more
:::info Authors: (1) Evan Shieh, Young Data Scientists League (evan.shieh@youngdatascientists.org); (2) Faye-Marie Vassel, Stanford University; (3) Cassidy Sugimoto, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology; (4) Thema Monroe-White, Schar School of Policy and Government & Department of Computer Science, George Mason University (tmonroew@gmu.edu). ::: Table of Links Abstract and 1 Introduction 1.1 Related Work … Read more
Adobe on Thursday launched the latest iteration of its Firefly family of image generation AI models, a model for generating vectors, and a redesigned web app that houses all its AI models, plus some from its competitors. There’s also a mobile app for Firefly in the works. The new Firefly Image Model 4, Adobe says, … Read more
For years, websites included information about what kind of crawlers were not allowed on their site with a robots.txt file. Adobe, which wants to create a similar standard for images, has added a tool to content credentials with an intention to give them a bit more control over what is used to train AI models. … Read more
LinkedIn is expanding its free verification system to the wider web, allowing external sites and platforms to integrate LinkedIn verification rather than building their own tool. Adobe is among the first companies to sign up. Adobe is integrating LinkedIn verification into its new Content Authenticity app and existing Behance portfolio platform, allowing creators who’ve gone … Read more
Adobe has launched two new versions of its text-to-image generative AI model alongside a host of new Firefly features and Creative Cloud app updates coming to Photoshop and Illustrator. The fourth-generation Firefly Image models follow a similar precedent that OpenAI and Google have set for their chatbot releases, providing users with a choice between one … Read more
Adobe has a new tool that makes it easier for creatives to be reliably credited for their work, even if somebody takes a screenshot of it and reposts it across the web. The Content Authenticity web app launching in public beta today allows invisible, tamper-resistant metadata to be embedded into images and photographs to help … Read more
AI agents dominated the first quarter of this year. You didn’t need to look far for startups, funding, and general excitement pouring into this sector. These everything assistants are capturing the public imagination by promising to revolutionize processes, efficiencies, and decision-making. At home and work, agents will become our best friends. But there’s a problem. … Read more
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As AI becomes more advanced and capable, it’s being applied to a growing number of use cases. There are more and more instances of AI being used as a tool by software developers and the recent emergence of ‘vibe coding’ has certainly been grabbing a lot of media attention. Just a few months ago, Andrej … Read more
Decentralized exchange (DEX) KiloEx said it will compensate traders and stakers hurt by a $7.5 million exploit that temporarily shut down the platform earlier in April. In an April 24 announcement, KiloEx said traders who had positions open while the platform was suspended would get full compensation if their losses increased or profits decreased. The … Read more
ZKsync said $5 million worth of tokens stolen during an admin wallet hack last week have been returned and the case is now considered resolved. The layer-2 blockchain protocol saw a hacker compromise its admin wallet, leading to the theft of unclaimed tokens from the ZKsync airdrop. In a post on X, the project said … Read more
Would you offer insurance when expecting low odds of a claim being made? Most likely, you would, while pocketing the premium without a second thought. Bitcoin (BTC) traders are doing something similar in the Deribit-listed BTC options market, hinting at bullish price expectations. Recently, an increasing number of traders have been selling (writing) BTC put … Read more
So, I was catching up with a PM friend this week about a side project, and we got to talking about work. She dropped this line that’s been stuck in my head: “I honestly feel like I’m always trying to keep pace as a Product Manager.” What does that mean? She explained, “Every time I … Read more
:::info Authors: (1) Evan Shieh, Young Data Scientists League (evan.shieh@youngdatascientists.org); (2) Faye-Marie Vassel, Stanford University; (3) Cassidy Sugimoto, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology; (4) Thema Monroe-White, Schar School of Policy and Government & Department of Computer Science, George Mason University (tmonroew@gmu.edu). ::: Table of Links Abstract and 1 Introduction 1.1 Related Work … Read more
For every 1 bitcoin (BTC) sold by short-term holders, long-term holders (LTHs) have accumulated 1.38 BTC in a clear sign of their commitment as the largest cryptocurrency continues to recover. Since bottoming out in January, LTHs have amassed 635,340 BTC, bringing their total holdings to 13,755,722 BTC, according to Glassnode data. Defined as those who … Read more
Fintech giant Revolut reported a record-breaking year, doubling its pre-tax profit to 1 billion British pounds ($1.3 billion) in 2024, driven by rapid customer growth and a resurgence in cryptocurrency trading. According to its annual report published on Thursday, April 24, Revolut’s profit soared from 438 million pounds in 2023, while revenue jumped to 3.1 … Read more
Quantitative easing (QE), explained Quantitative easing (QE) is a non-traditional monetary policy tool used by central banks, particularly when interest rates are already low and cannot be reduced further. It was popularized during the 2008 global financial crisis when traditional monetary tools, like lowering interest rates, were insufficient to stimulate economic growth. The main goal … Read more
Ethereum Layer-2 project ZKsync confirms resolution after exploit drains millions from airdrop contract; final report pending.
:::info Authors: (1) Evan Shieh, Young Data Scientists League (evan.shieh@youngdatascientists.org); (2) Faye-Marie Vassel, Stanford University; (3) Cassidy Sugimoto, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology; (4) Thema Monroe-White, Schar School of Policy and Government & Department of Computer Science, George Mason University (tmonroew@gmu.edu). ::: Table of Links Abstract and 1 Introduction 1.1 Related Work … Read more
The new policy will remove long-term validators with minimal external stake, promoting decentralization while addressing certain concerns.