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GRAPHCAST

DeepMind has open sourced its GraphCast algorithm, which is substantially better and faster at localized weather prediction at 36 hours. It also runs in a fraction of the time.

CREATING OPTICAL ILLUSIONS

This project advances visual anagram generation - images that change appearance when flipped or rotated - by refining how diffusion models handle multiple viewpoints.

3D SCENE COMPLETION FOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

ScoreLiDAR is a new method that speeds up 3D LiDAR scene completion for autonomous vehicles.

NEW FISH AUDIO MODEL

The newest Fish Audio 1.5 is currently #2 on Text To Speech Leaderboards behind ElevenLabs. It supports voice cloning and is fast to run, although the output quality seems hit or miss.

OPENAI PARTNERS WITH ANDURIL

OpenAI and defense company Anduril have partnered to create a national security-based AI.

KEY LEADERS BEHIND GOOGLE'S VIRAL NOTEBOOKLM ARE LEAVING TO CREATE THEIR OWN STARTUP

Three key Google NotebookLM members have left to start a new stealth AI venture. The startup aims to leverage the latest AI models to create consumer-facing, user-first AI products. It remains in its early stages without a clear focus or announced funding.

AI_IRL London.

DEEPTHOUGHT 8B REASONING MODEL (HUGGING FACE HUB)

Ruliad has released a small reasoning model that takes extra time to think through problems.

GUI AGENTS

A collection of research papers and projects on large language model-brained GUI agents.

SAM ALTMAN SAYS ARTIFICIAL GENERAL INTELLIGENCE IS ON THE HORIZON

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, stated at the DealBook Summit that Artificial General Intelligence might impact everyday life less significantly than expected.

BITCOIN FUTURES PREMIUM HITS 8-MONTH HIGH — WILL THE BTC RALLY CONTINUE?

Bitcoin has surged past $100,000, marking a new all-time high after a 9.4% rally between December 4-5. Though the price has corrected downward since then, futures markets are showing an 8-month high premium of 20% annualized. Options market data reveals sustained bullish sentiment will call options maintaining a 48% lead over puts, though analysts caution that Bitcoin remains correlated with traditional markets amid broader economic concerns.

PANTERA BITCOIN FUND HITS 1,000X

Pantera's Bitcoin Fund has returned 1,000x since its inception in 2013 at Bitcoin's then-price of $65. The firm maintains its bullish opinion, citing only 5% current institutional adoption, and projects a potential BTC price of $740,000 by 2028 driven by regulatory clarity and ETF approvals. The fund, which initially purchased 2% of all Bitcoin during 2013-2015, has maintained an 88% compound annual growth rate over its eleven-year history.

INTRODUCING ELIP-001: REWARDS V2

EigenLayer's new governance framework has revealed its first EigenLayer Improvement Proposal (ELIP) – an upgraded rewards system designed to enhance AVS reward flexibility and onchain attribution. It gives AVSs expanded tooling for operator-directed rewards management and implementation improvements.

ZK COMMITMENTS OVER TLS: THE DISTEFANO PROTOCOL

The Brave Browser's DiStefano is a new protocol that enables zero-knowledge attestations and commitments over TLS. The protocol allows users to prove statements about encrypted data without revealing the underlying information. It aims to improve upon existing solutions by adding full TLS 1.3 support, implementing enhanced privacy guarantees through ZK proofs of valid signatures and improving the commitment scheme. It enables applications like privacy-preserving age verification and anti-fraud systems and is viable for widespread deployment.

https://www.erpc.cloud/aggregator

HOW TO TAKE PROFITS ON MEMECOINS USING CONCENTRATED LIQUIDITY

This guide outlines strategies for profit-taking on memecoins by using concentrated liquidity pools, which enable traders to earn yield while exiting positions with minimal price impact, especially for coins with high volume, low liquidity, and high market attention. It emphasizes active management, understanding price bounds, and careful execution to balance risks like impermanent loss against potential APRs, offering a customizable approach for experienced traders to optimize returns.

THE ROLE OF CRYPTO IN AN AGENTIC ECONOMY

The rise of AI agents as key economic participants will transition human-to-agent and agent-to-agent commerce toward a more autonomous, efficient, and decentralized ecosystem, where crypto rails like blockchains and stablecoins are positioned to play a more crucial role because of their programmability, global accessibility, and cost advantages over traditional systems. This evolution will create value for infrastructure layers like ID verification, settlement blockchains, and stablecoin issuers, while reshaping competition to focus on performance over branding, ultimately benefiting end-users with more optimized services.

DIFFERENTIATING FACTORS IN AI

The effectiveness of AI agents is determined by the quality of contextual data they access, support for plugins, ability to fully leverage underlying LLMs, and integration into products. Contextual data drives relevance, plugins expand capabilities, and product integration paves the way for broader utility, including potential SaaS replacement.

CORPORATE BITCOIN TREASURIES ARE ALL THE RAGE. NOW XRP?

Nasdaq-listed Worksport has announced plans to allocate up to 10% of its $5 million cash reserves into both Bitcoin and XRP, marking a departure from the traditional corporate Bitcoin treasury strategy popularized by MicroStrategy. The CEO cites inflation protection and transaction efficiency as key motivators, while acknowledging that the decision comes as the company's stock has declined 65% over five years.

BASE REACHES ANOTHER ALL-TIME HIGH WITH 8.8 MILLION DAILY TRANSACTIONS ON ITS NETWORK

Base achieved a record-breaking 8.8M daily transactions and $766K in network fees on November 28 driven by rising interest in AI agent protocols like Virtuals and innovative L2 developments.

L1 DEPOSITS TO BASE EXCEED $5B

Base has passed $5B in L1 deposits, marking a 10x increase this year and reinforcing its potential as the "Asset Hub" of the Optimism Superchain.

ZK PROOFS AREN'T JUST FOR SCALING

Zero-knowledge proofs are not just used for scaling solutions like zk rollups, but also crucial for enabling privacy and off-chain computation to trigger on-chain actions.

INTRODUCING BLINKS IN BACKPACK

Backpack has integrated Dialect's Blinks, enabling seamless on-chain experiences directly in its mobile app without redirections.

FIGMA UPDATES: NEW PLUGIN FEATURES, SLIDES, AND HORIZONTAL LAYER SCROLL

Figma has rolled out several updates that significantly enhance its functionality and user experience, including horizontal scrolling in the Layers Panel for better navigation of long or deeply nested layer names. Plugin updates include advanced interaction capabilities with API enhancements, such as annotations, measurements, and rich text formatting for component descriptions.

GOOGLE'S NEW GENERATIVE AI VIDEO MODEL IS NOW AVAILABLE

Now in private preview via Vertex AI, Google's Veo generative AI model produces high-quality 1080p videos from text or images. It features customizable cinematic styles, advanced safeguards, and DeepMind's SynthID watermarking. Veo beat OpenAI's Sora to launch. Businesses are increasingly adopting generative AI due to revenue growth and creative possibilities.

SAMSUNG ONE UI 7 BETA STARTS TO ROLL OUT SHOWCASING THE GLIMPSE OF FUTURE OF MOBILE AI

Samsung has launched the One UI 7 beta program and introduced an AI-driven platform with advanced features like writing assist tools, call transcripts in 20 languages, and a streamlined design called Now Bar for better notifications. The beta is available for Galaxy S24 devices in select regions starting December 5, with the official release set for Galaxy S series devices in Q1 2025.

DESIGN SYSTEMS ARE DEAD. LONG LIVE DESIGN SYSTEMS

HOW TO USABILITY TEST YOUR PRODUCT (IF YOU WANT BAD UX)

Poor UX research practices, such as unrealistic scenarios, unchangeable scores, and a lack of participant observation lead to unreliable results and hinder meaningful product improvements. Quality user research is essential for effective design. Avoid using flawed methodologies as they undermine trust and do not produce actionable insights.

UNSOLICITED ADVICE TO MY YOUNGER DESIGNER SELF

Starting as a designer at a large tech company like Microsoft requires embracing continuous learning and adapting to the role. Navigating complex structures, understanding decision-making, and identifying key influencers enhance effectiveness. Clear communication, especially in hybrid settings, and aligning daily tasks with a larger purpose inspires motivation, fosters growth, and sustains impact.

UX RESEARCH TEMPLATES

A set of UX research templates that can be used for workshops and setting up research plans, methods, and outcomes.

CREATE BEAUTIFUL 3D VIDEOS TO SHOWCASE YOUR PRODUCT

Use a simple product screenshot or screen recording, and SuperMotion will turn it into a beautiful video.

IDEA TO APP IN SECONDS

Lovable is an AI Full Stack Engineer that lets you ship apps with auth and data storage 20x faster than writing code.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING UI DESIGN

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, showcases Weaponized AI through compelling FUI designs. The shifting data cloud visualization symbolizes AI's power, while the contrasting tracking interfaces emphasize team dynamics. Highlights include real-time security manipulation, glitching hacks, and seamless ID scans, blending innovative visuals with storytelling to enhance AI's enigmatic presence.

CONTRAST IS CLARIFYING

The web ecosystem thrives on diversity, offering endless contrasts: generalist vs. specialist, JavaScript vs. TypeScript, React vs. Vue, and more. Opposing options provide context and understanding, highlighting the complexity and adaptability required in tech. Growth emerges from imperfect choices. No silver bullet exists for building technology - only learning through experience.

ISSUE NO.8: WHAT WE SHIPPED

Figma introduced 180 new features in 2024, reflecting its collaborative spirit of "We ship it, you shape it" and marking a significant evolution in design tools. The design community played a crucial role, with the involvement of over 10,000 attendees at Config and more than 220 Friends of Figma groups globally. Critical updates this year included UI3 refinements, AI tools enhancements, Dev Mode improvements, and the launch of Figma Slides for impactful presentations. Figma also revamped its visual identity, embracing a new typeface to better suit its diversified audience.

FROM BARBIE FLIP PHONE TO LEGO POLAROID CAMERA, RETRO DESIGNS STIR NOSTALGIA IN MODERN TECH

Modern gadgets like Barbie flip phones, LEGO Polaroid cameras, and Divoom speakers combine tactile elements and vintage aesthetics with advanced functionality.

THE STUNNING NEW WWF VIDEO USED A REALLY WILD ANIMATION TECHNIQUE

Nomint's In Hot Water uses thermal imaging and precise heat control to create a stop-motion animation highlighting climate change's impact on oceans, blending innovative techniques with storytelling for WWF's campaign.

LUMA AI INTRODUCES RAY 2 MODEL, ENABLING VIDEO CREATION FROM TEXT AND IMAGES IN SECONDS

Luma AI's Ray 2 model, launched at AWS re:Invent, enables rapid five- to ten-second video generation from text or images - it is integrated into Amazon Bedrock for broader developer access and scalability.

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10 CHARTS THAT CAPTURE HOW THE WORLD IS CHANGING

The global landscape is experiencing significant shifts across prediction markets, venture capital, and consumer behavior. Emerging platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket are revolutionizing how people monetize knowledge through betting on real-world outcomes, while the experience economy is making a strong comeback with consumers increasingly prioritizing memorable events over material goods. Meanwhile, the space industry is undergoing a remarkable transformation with a dramatic surge in satellite launches driven by falling costs and growing venture capital interest.

PRODUCT POSITIONING

Product positioning is a strategic decision centered on choosing a target customer segment and differentiating the product to meet their needs. Effective positioning requires identifying use case-based segments (focused on specific workflows or activities) rather than relying solely on firmographics, with the goal of aligning messaging and strategy for sustainable differentiation. This process, owned by the CEO, sets the foundation for consistent messaging and product-market alignment, with the homepage acting as a key communication asset.

REFLECTIONS ON A FAILED COMPUTER VISION STARTUP

DirectAI, a startup focused on computer vision solutions without data collection or labeling, faced challenges despite innovative technology and some successful customer implementations. The company discovered that while its product could effectively serve niche use cases and replace traditional computer vision tools, the limited market size for each specific application made it difficult to achieve venture-scale growth. After multiple pivots and stagnant growth, the founders made the decision to shut down operations in September 2024, though some customers continue to use their open-sourced service.

BUILDING SALES COMMISSION PLANS

To create effective sales commission plans, teams must collaborate cross-functionally and understand key concepts. The primary objective is to incentivize reps to win customers who achieve successful outcomes and strong lifetime value, not just to close deals. This requires careful planning around OTE, quota, accelerators, ramp time, renewal/expansion rates, and clawbacks.

LANDING PAGE TIPS TO INCREASE CONVERSIONS BY 5X

Not all landing pages are built to convert. Successful landing pages can generate a significant amount of revenue. While a well-optimized landing page can drive a significant amount of revenue, failing to understand the psychology and key design principles behind it can result in wasted time and resources. 48% of visitors leave after viewing just the first page, without engaging with any marketing materials - giving you only a brief window to capture their attention. However, by following a few proven steps, you can increase your landing page's conversion rate by 5x. This blog breaks down the essentials to help you optimize every page while maximizing ROI on traffic.