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FRIEND TECH TO CREATE FRIENDCHAIN NETWORK

Friendtech has announced its plans to transition from the Base network to its new Friendchain network, developed in partnership with Conduit.

NOTCOIN GTM STRATEGY

Since launching $notcoin (market cap of ~2.2.B after five months) on Telegram onchain activity has significantly increased, with over 35 million users participating in the TON ecosystem.

ARBITRUM DAO VOTES TO APPROVE $215 MILLION GAMING ECOSYSTEM FUND PROPOSED BY ARBITRUM FOUNDATION

The Arbitrum Foundation has been approved to distribute 225 million ARB, worth $215 million, to the Gaming Catalyst Program.

HERE'S WHAT NETFLIX'S FIRST BIG REDESIGN IN A DECADE LOOKS LIKE

Netflix's first major redesign in a decade replaces the left-hand menu with a horizontal menu bar. Users can now hover over individual tiles for a beat to trigger a clip from a show or movie along with a text description and more information about it. The "New and Popular" and "My List" tabs are gone, the "Discover" feature has been made more prominent, and navigation has been simplified to adapt to a new streaming landscape that includes live sports and games. Netflix is testing the latest app version with a few subscribers before making it available.

ADOBE'S AI ASSISTANT FOR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT NOW AVAILABLE

Adobe has launched its AI-Powered Experience Platform (AEP) AI Assistant to automate tasks, simulate outcomes, and help create new audiences. The assistant provides insights into datasets, audiences, and journeys without running SQL queries, making it accessible to non-technical users. As part of Adobe Experience Cloud apps, the assistant adheres to brand data security standards, ensuring customer data won't be shared outside the company without the company's consent.

WIX'S NEW TOOL TAPS AI TO GENERATE SMARTPHONE APPS

Wix is launching a new generative AI feature integrated into its app builder tool that enables users to create iOS and Android apps by simply describing their ideas in plain English. It promises to simplify app creation. Concerns over AI-generated code quality and security challenges linger, though Wix remains committed to constant product improvement.

SHOULD YOU DITCH PHOTOSHOP WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT?

HOW THE KING OF USABILITY BECAME VULNERABLE TO NAIVE TECH OPTIMISM

Jakob Nielsen, co-founder of Nielsen Norman Group, recently suggested AI could solve accessibility, sparking controversy and tech optimism reminiscent of Silicon Valley's dream of personalized user interfaces. Nielsen's view might suit high-maturity companies but ignores progress made in accessibility. Despite AI's potential, relying too much on it without addressing fundamental issues undermines ongoing efforts and the needs of vulnerable users.

DO YOU STILL THINK CANVA IS ONLY FOR AMATEURS? NOT SO FAST

Canva's new features are revolutionizing the design world, making professional-quality tools accessible to everyone. Creators from all walks of life celebrated the power of easy-to-use design tools at the recent Canva conference. Canva empowers users to create stunning visuals quickly and efficiently with AI-powered features and updates like Magic Media and Bulk Create. This shift challenges traditional design norms, opening the field to a broader audience.

SPELLCHECK FOR UI

Buglab automates the detection of UI/UX issues in websites, platforms, and web apps, helping to accelerate development and ensure software quality.

OKLCH COLOR VARIATIONS (FIGMA PLUGIN)

Generate color palettes with adjustable lightness, chroma, and hue for interface design based on a color space that better aligns with human color perception.

SVG MANAGEMENT MADE EASY FOR DESIGNERS AND DEVELOPERS

SVG Gobbler is a browser extension for finding, optimizing, organizing, editing, and exporting SVGs effortlessly.

REBRANDING AN ICON: THE CLASSIC AMERICAN GIRL LOOK GETS A FRESH SPIN

American Girl, a beloved cultural icon, underwent a brand refresh led by Pentagram to better connect with millennial moms and modern children while retaining its essence. The rebrand introduced new typography and a brighter color palette, emphasizing storytelling, uniqueness, and a premium customer experience.

APPLE PENCIL PRO IS A CASE STUDY IN USER EXPERIENCE PERFECTION

The Apple Pencil Pro takes user experience to new heights with subtle but impactful features. It includes pressure sensitivity, hover, double-tap, and magnetic attachment and introduces barrel roll, squeeze, and haptic feedback. The seamless integration between hardware and software enhances creativity by reducing friction.

“I PICKED A BAD TIME TO BECOME A CRITIC” – ELIZABETH GOODSPEED ON THE COLLAPSE OF DESIGN CRITIQUE

Criticism in design and commercial art often swings between virality-seeking negativity and toxic positivity, with genuine critique frequently mistaken for harshness. This dynamic, worsened by the creative media's reliance on reader subscriptions and sponsored content, discourages critics from providing negative feedback for fear of being vilified or caught in 'cancel culture.'

THIS LEGENDARY DC COMICS STYLE GUIDE WAS NEARLY LOST FOR YEARS — NOW YOU CAN BUY IT

Created to ensure consistency in licensed products from the early '80s, the DC Comics Style Guide showcases the legendary artwork of José García-López.

FOOD ARTIST DEVONEY SCARFE CREATES BEAUTIFUL PIE ARTWORKS

Devoney Scarfe, a food artist from Auckland, creates stunning pie artworks featuring famous people, animals, and whimsical scenes.

CANVA'S CRINGEY RAP WAS ACTUALLY A MASSIVE MARKETING WIN

Canva recently attempted to stand out with a bold move at an event, but the attempt was akin to the infamous cringe-worthy moments from tech history.

MANY Y COMBINATOR STARTUPS ONLY WANT TINY ROUNDS

In 2024, many Y Combinator startups are opting for smaller seed rounds of $1.5 million to $2 million with higher valuations, often avoiding traditional institutional investors. This trend, driven by a desire to give up less equity, is challenging for VCs who typically seek a minimum 10% ownership, and it may lead to startups being undercapitalized for future growth stages.

THE VIBES ARE WEIRD

Silicon Valley's evolution from a nerdy rebel haven in the early years to a get-rich-quick ecosystem between 2015-2021 reflects the tech world's cyclical nature. Where are we now in the cycle? Everyone is talking about AI optimism, but under the hood, there's still caution in the air. Amidst this tumult, founders face the challenge of navigating a shifting landscape where traditional success markers dissolve. The key takeaway? In an era where AI redefines industry boundaries, adaptability, and a forward-looking mindset are crucial for survival and success, founders should continuously innovate or risk obsolescence.

NVIDIA CEO DOESN'T DO 1<>1S

NVIDIA's CEO, Jensen Huang, challenges traditional management by shunning 1-on-1s, advocating for transparency and collective learning with his 60 direct reports, arguing it flattens corporate hierarchies and enhances team-wide growth. Can you imagine the ATRs?

BREAKING THINGS DOWN

Big goals are really just a collection of small goals. Break daunting tasks into smaller, manageable goals. Start small, like writing a single post or securing one customer, to gradually build momentum. This approach simplifies large projects, making ambitious goals more achievable without being overwhelmed.

WHY AES NEED TO BE GENERATING THEIR OWN PIPELINE

As an early-stage founder hiring your first enterprise AE, you can't expect marketing or BDRs to magically fill their pipeline from day one. Help set them up for success by encouraging them to leverage internal networks for support, meticulously organize outreach efforts, and maintain consistent, personalized communication with prospects. Doing the hard prospecting yards matters.

HOW TO FUND GROWTH & WHEN NOT TO

Smart capital allocation is crucial for growth. Capital allocation is a core responsibility, but too often decisions are based on overly certain projections. Companies have four levers to fund growth–growth capex, discretionary opex, working capital, and M&A. As you scale, adopt a structured capital allocation process to rigorously evaluate organic and inorganic growth investments. Push your team for realistic ranges and probabilities, not just point forecasts.

HOW TO WRITE HIGH-QUALITY ARTICLES THAT ATTRACT SEARCH ENGINES

A simple framework for positioning your written content in order to attract more interest to your startup.

THE PRE-SEED ROUND DEFINED: HOW TO SUCCEED AS AN EARLY-STAGE STARTUP

Pre-seed has emerged as the gateway round for venture-backed startups, but expectations are evolving rapidly. DocSend's new Pre-Seed Startup Index provides benchmarks on what it takes to win pre-seed funding in today's environment.

BEYOND BENCHMARKS 2024

Emergence, an early-stage VC firm focused on B2B cloud companies, has released its first annual "Beyond Benchmarks" report. Drawing on proprietary data from 600+ software startups, the report provides founders with key insights on generative AI adoption, current fundraising dynamics, and 2023 company performance metrics to help guide strategic decisions in the evolving market landscape.

BIFURCATING BUDGETS

Software budgets are splitting into two camps: AI-related spend, which is growing rapidly, and "legacy" spend, which is flat to shrinking. Buyers are scrutinizing every dollar to assess if it advances their AI agenda. Software companies are struggling as sales cycles lengthen from this budget bifurcation. To win, vendors must clearly articulate how they future-proof customers for an AI-centric world or risk being perceived as "legacy" and losing out on budget.

BUILDING AI PRODUCTS

Navigating the buggy terrain of an online visa application led to a deeper dive into the challenges and potentials of using Generative AI (like ChatGPT) for precise tasks. The key takeaway? While AI's error-prone nature today seems like a drawback, especially for tasks demanding precision, this inherent flaw actually opens up vast possibilities for innovative product design. Rather than expecting deterministic answers, we should explore using AI to enhance or create products that thrive on probabilistic outputs, focusing on user-friendly design and domain-specific tools.

RULE OF 50 WEIGHTED 2X FOR GROWTH

In the evolving startup landscape, the old "Rule of 40" (growth + profitability = 40+) has been recalibrated to emphasize growth's higher value. Dubbed the "Rule of 50," it considers growth twice as valuable as profit, urging founders to aim higher for sustainable success. Prioritize growth but don't neglect profitability for a balanced, scalable approach.

DISCOVERED, NOT DECIDED

Founders often fall into the trap of "spoiling the magic trick" by over-explaining product details instead of focusing on customer benefits.

SAAS GROWTH FLATTENS, BUT BRIGHT SPOTS EMERGE

ChartMogul's latest data shows SaaS growth continuing to slow in May, marking multi-year lows for many.

CUSTOMERS DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY WANT (1 MINUTE VIDEO)

How much of delivering great products is about listening to your users' requests, or using your own intuition and insight to deliver something beyond their imagination?

Start on the FREE Tines Community Edition

NASTY BUG WITH VERY SIMPLE EXPLOIT HITS PHP JUST IN TIME FOR THE WEEKEND

Security researchers warn of a critical PHP vulnerability that allows trivial remote code execution on Windows devices. Within 24 hours of its disclosure and patch release, scans for vulnerable servers were detected. Experts strongly recommend checking and patching PHP servers immediately to mitigate risks.

750K IMPACTED BY FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS DATA BREACH

Frontier Communications suffered a data breach and the personal information of over 750,000 individuals, including names, addresses, emails, dates of birth, phone numbers, and Social Security numbers got leaked.

CLUB PENGUIN FANS BREACHED DISNEY CONFLUENCE SERVER, STOLE 2.5G OF DATA

A leak of data from Disney's internal Confluence server was published to 4chan last week. The data was thought to only contain archives about Club Penguin but was revealed to also contain new information about Disney's corporate strategies, advertising plans, internal tools, business projects, and internal infrastructure. One of the tools was a high-performance asynchronous messaging library and the other was a show authoring and playback tool that allows Disney producers and authors to create non-linear experiences using real world input from sensors in Disney parks.

THE HIDDEN RISKS OF AI: AN OFFENSIVE PERSPECTIVE ON EMERGING THREAT VECTORS

This post explores potential AI threat vectors through an offensive mindset. It discusses mitigation strategies and acknowledges the need for further development of AI security solutions as adoption rapidly increases.

ENCRYPTION AT REST: WHOSE THREAT MODEL IS IT ANYWAY?

This post discusses the importance of encryption at rest for web and cloud applications to protect sensitive data. It highlights the need for a clear threat model and proper key management when implementing encryption at rest. It also emphasizes the risks of confused deputy attacks and the importance of understanding the nuances of encryption strategies.

HOW TO SECURE THE SAAS APPS OF THE FUTURE

This post introduces the identity problems that modern SaaS apps face and the more complex ways that attackers hunt for access. It lays out SSO, user provisioning (via SCIM), and programmatic access to logs as requirements for modern SaaS apps. It also proposes proof-of-possession, continuous access evaluation profiles, and universal logout for SaaS apps of the future.

advanced mitigation techniques. Save your spot today!

AIEMDR (PRODUCT LAUNCH)

AirMDR utilizes AI for triaging security events, investigating alerts, and deploying response and containment measures.

BETTERSCAN CE

Betterscan is an orchestration toolchain that uses state-of-the-art tools to scan your source code and infrastructure IaC and analyze your security and compliance risks.

KUBELET CSR APPROVER

Kubelet CSR Approver is a Kubernetes controller designed to automatically approve kubelet-serving CSRs after validating a configurable series of security checks.

GOOGLE'S $2.3 MILLION CHECK HELPED THE COMPANY GET A TRIAL BY JUDGE INSTEAD OF JURY

The U.S. Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against Google's alleged adtech monopoly will proceed as a bench trial before a judge this fall, after Google filed a $2.3 million cashier's check to cover potential damages, avoiding a potentially unpredictable jury trial.

MICROSOFT 'RECALLS' SCREENSHOT FEATURE AFTER OUTCRY

Microsoft is revising its controversial "Recall" feature for Copilot+ PCs after privacy concerns. Originally designed to capture desktop screenshots, Microsoft is now making Recall an opt-in feature with improved privacy and security safeguards.

DUCKDUCKGO OFFERS “ANONYMOUS” ACCESS TO AI CHATBOTS THROUGH NEW SERVICE

DuckDuckGo unveiled a new AI Chat service that allows users to freely converse with mid-range LLMs while attempting to preserve privacy. The available models include OpenAI's GPT-3.5 Turbo, Anthropic's Claude 3 Haiku, Meta's Llama 3, and Mistral's Mixtral 8x7B. DuckDuckGo notes that in the case of GPT-3.5 Turbo and Claude 3 Haiku, the data needs to be sent to remote servers outside of DuckDuckGo, so the privacy experience is not as strong.

ADOBE RESPONDS TO VOCAL UPROAR OVER NEW TERMS OF SERVICE LANGUAGE

Amid controversy over changes to its Terms of Services, Adobe claims that it does not train Firefly Gen AI models and will never assume ownership over a customer's work.