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BITCOIN MINING DECENTRALIZATION ‘NOT GREAT,' SAYS ORDINALS CREATOR

Ordinals and Runes creator Casey Rodarmor has criticized the Bitcoin mining space for sharing the same transaction selection policies, hurting decentralization.

WACOM SAYS ITS FIRST OLED DRAWING TABLET IS COOL AND SKINNY

Wacom has launched Movink 13, a light and thin OLED pen display tablet aimed at digital creatives. It provides advantages like deeper blacks, a broader color spectrum, and lower pen latency. This is the thinnest and lightest Wacom pen display yet. At $750, it's a portable and more affordable alternative to the expected OLED iPad Pro but requires connection to an external device for operation.

WITH EASEL, EX-SNAP RESEARCHERS ARE BUILDING THE NEXT-GENERATION BITMOJI THANKS TO AI

Founded by two former Snap employees, Easel lets you create images of yourself and your friends doing extraordinary things. By capturing a few seconds of the user's face, the app creates a corresponding AI model and uses Stable Diffusion's generative AI to make Bitmoji-style stickers. Easel can be integrated into the native iOS Message application, enabling users to send the creations as images.

THIS GAME BOY-LOOKING PHONE STAND IS WHY MAGSAFE IS GOOD

Although people have mixed feelings about MagSafe's charging efficiency and case compatibility, the Elago MagSafe MS W5 Charging Stand adds a touch of nostalgia by imitating the Game Boy Advance SP design but without functional buttons. Available on Amazon, this charming stand is purely aesthetic and doesn't include a charger, yet it can support both iPhones and new Qi2 Android devices with MagSafe.

TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE: BUILDING STRONG PARTNERSHIPS IN THE MODERN WORKPLACE

Grace Sunnell and Jeff Robke, professionals from Slack's product design and management teams, attribute their successful collaboration in expanding Slack Connect for Enterprise customers to building solid foundational relationships and setting clear expectations. They emphasize the importance of trust, adaptability, and frequent check-ins to align strategies, resulting in significant financial impact and momentum for the company's services.

HOW TO AVOID DESIGNING FOR CURRENT USERS AT THE EXPENSE OF FUTURE ONES

Businesses often prioritize current customers, potentially neglecting future users. Sales teams may need to pay more attention to deeper user needs than UX teams. To design for present and future users, designers must focus on user-centric requirements, leverage sales demos, and collaborate with the product team to prioritize features effectively.

CSS-ONLY SHAPES

This collection is made of pure, optimized, modern CSS shapes using a single element.

MAKE SOCIAL MEDIA POSTERS EFFORTLESSLY

Wizad generates consistent social media posters, keeping your brand's color scheme, tone, and elements.

AI CONTENT GENERATOR (FIGMA PLUGIN)

Rewrite your texts in Figma in a couple of clicks using OpenAI GPT-4 to generate smart, creative text suggestions.

RABBIT R1: I SPENT 17 HOURS WITH IT — AND SOMETHING'S IFFY ABOUT IT

Mashable reviewed the new Rabbit R1 and found that the gestures were addictive. It can't browse the web, doesn't text or make calls, responds faster than expected, gets some answers wrong, can see and describe things, and has a good battery life. With a price tag of $199, it seems too good to be true, and the company will find a way to squeeze more money out of its user base.

WHY WE MOVED AWAY FROM PRIMARY, SECONDARY, AND TERTIARY BUTTONS

The hierarchical button style paradigm classifies buttons into primary, secondary, and tertiary importance in product design. However, there are better approaches for brands that use color playfully. This article shows how switching from hierarchy to emphasis enabled a better color system for brands that explore a broader color spectrum.

THE LEGOISM OF DESIGN SYSTEMS

Jim Nielsen discusses the limitations of the "LEGO" analogy for design systems, arguing that prefabricated components have less value in the age of generative AI and open-source libraries. Even with prefabricated components, custom "one-off" designs are still necessary for each product, and a successful design system needs more than just prefabrication and composition.

THE BIG SUR-IFICATION OF MACOS ICONS

macOS Big Sur changed how app icons are designed, standardized to a square with rounded corners.

MEET THEODORU, AN ARTIST SHAPED BY A BLEND OF SURREALISM AND CHILDHOOD

In Theodoru's words, his art is "character-based Pop Surrealism," a vibrant and whimsical style that mixes 3D characters, personal experiences, classic cartoons, and Hieronymus Bosch's grotesque elegance.

IKEA MEETS JAPAN IN THIS NEW PATTERN-FILLED COLLECTION

In her work, Hiroko Takahashi uses only circles and straight lines to create patterns that symbolize the 'infinite possibilities that come from the finite.'

Learn more here

MICROSOFT BEAT EXPECTATIONS AS PROFITS RISE 20% TO NEARLY $22B

Microsoft reported a significant increase in its fiscal third-quarter revenue, reaching $61.9 billion, a 17% rise, with profits up 20% to $21.9 billion, surpassing Wall Street expectations. The growth was driven by a 31% increase in Azure cloud services revenue, significantly boosted by AI technologies, including the Azure OpenAI service, highlighting AI's expanding role in enhancing business outcomes across various industries.

IPO MARKET INSIDERS CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC

Rubrik, a Microsoft-backed data security firm, went public on Thursday, joining other significant IPOs this year and reigniting discussions about the revitalization of the IPO market. Despite a more cautious market environment where investors prioritize fundamentals like profitability, there is optimism for a steady increase in IPO activity, with companies like Databricks and Stripe anticipated to enter the market soon.

MATTERPORT IS BEING ACQUIRED BY COSTAR AT A 212% PREMIUM

Matterport, a digital twin platform, has agreed to be acquired by CoStar, one of its customers, in a cash-and-stock deal valuing the company at approximately $1.6 billion. The acquisition is expected to enhance CoStar's real estate marketplaces by incorporating Matterport's virtual tour technology, but the deal is subject to regulatory approvals, which could potentially derail the transaction, as seen in CoStar's previous attempt to acquire RentPath.

THE RULE OF 20+20

SaaS companies may receive better acquisition offers in the current market by focusing on moderate growth and profitability instead of rapid growth at the expense of the bottom line. The "Rule of 20+20" states that companies with 20-30% growth and 10-20% profit margins are more attractive to buyers than those solely focused on growth or profitability.

REINVENTING B2B MARKETING FOR 2024

B2B marketing is shifting towards more efficient, targeted strategies that prioritize direct impact on revenue, with a focus on signal-based marketing, AI integration, and refined metrics like CAC and ROI. It is important to adapt to digital engagement necessities and economic pressures in a future where AI, community insights, and revenue-focused metrics will dominate B2B marketing strategies.

EIGHT HARD-EARNED LESSONS FROM REPEAT FOUNDERS

While there is an abundance of guidance available for first-time founders, there are comparatively fewer resources tailored to the unique challenges faced by serial entrepreneurs launching their second or subsequent ventures. This article distills invaluable insights from seasoned founders who have navigated the complex landscape of starting multiple businesses. They share hard-won lessons on overcoming the psychological hurdles and operational pitfalls that can derail repeat entrepreneurs.

GARPLE

Portfolio of short, memorable domain names that nobody else is using.

CAP

Open source Loom alternative.

GENERATIVE AI IN THE WORKFORCE (REPORT)

A report on work, workforce, and workers reinvented in the age of generative AI.

IN CONFLICT, YOU'RE NOT AS RATIONAL AS YOU THINK

SAAS METRICS FOR FUNDRAISING

Fundraising for your SaaS startup can be chaotic, but one thing you can control is having your metrics in order. This guide helps founders prepare for fundraising by highlighting the key metrics investors care about, such as ARR growth, customer acquisition costs, lifetime value, and retention rates. It also emphasizes the importance of building a "data deck" to anticipate investor questions and tell your company's story through data.

HOW WE SEEK STATUS IN THE DIGITAL AGE

This article discusses the evolving concept of status in a digital age, highlighting how technology, especially social media and smartphones, has transformed the way status is quantified, compared, and displayed, leading to significant cultural and psychological impacts. It explores the role of conventions in society and the transient and fragmented nature of digital status and predicts future shifts towards valuing analog creations and eschewing overt digital status displays as markers of true status.

A SHIFT IN LLM MARKETING: THE RISE OF THE B2B MODEL

With the general knowledge performance of LLMs reaching a plateau, buyers are now prioritizing different attributes based on their specific needs, leading to the emergence of specialized models and smaller, more cost-effective options.

STATE OF PRE-SEED: Q1 2024

Key highlights from the report include SAFEs becoming the preferred investment instrument for rounds under $3 million, valuation caps remaining stable, and small checks under $25,000 making a significant impact in SAFE rounds under $1 million.

GROWING TO $255K/MO WITH GOOD, OLD-FASHIONED SEO

Read more on the WorkOS blog ↗️

MULTIPLE VULNERABILITIES IN OPEN DEVIN (AUTONOMOUS AI SOFTWARE ENGINEER)

Open Devin, an AI software tool, had path traversal and DNS rebinding vulnerabilities that could lead to data exfiltration. The community swiftly fixed these issues. Mitigations include using authentication, enforcing host header value, and employing TLS for protection.

CYBER-ATTACK LEAVES LEICESTER STREET LIGHTS PERMANENTLY ON

A highly sophisticated cyber-attack on Leicester City Council has left some street lights illuminated day and night as an ongoing effect, weeks after the initial disruption to council services. The council was forced to take IT systems offline after the incident.

THE NOT-SO-SILENT TYPE

A report from Citizen Labs assessing the security of nine major cloud-based pinyin keyboard apps. The researchers found critical vulnerabilities in eight out of the nine assessed apps that would allow a passive network eavesdropper to decipher the user's keystrokes. Together with a previous report on Sogou, Citizen Labs estimates that up to one billion users are affected by these vulnerabilities.

EXPLOITING EMBEDDED MITEL PHONES FOR UNAUTHENTICATED REMOTE CODE EXECUTION

This post describes how the author achieved unauthenticated remote code execution on a Mitel IP phone. They gained full root access to the device by exploiting vulnerabilities like command injection. Through careful exploitation and debugging, they successfully crafted an exploit payload for remote control of the device.

HOW TO BLOCK EXECUTABLE FILE UPLOADS IN PHP

This post explains how you can prevent executable file uploads in PHP by calling a free API during the upload process that verifies file formats. By setting $allow_executables to false and optionally providing a $restrict_file_types whitelist, the API checks against 17+ million virus/malware signatures and rigorously verifies accepted formats, blocking executables and other threatening file types.

SECURING MILLIONS OF DEVELOPERS THROUGH 2FA

GitHub CSO Mike Hanley writes about their journey to implement a 2FA initiative to enhance software supply chain security by requiring developers to enable 2FA. The results showed a significant increase in 2FA adoption and a focus on secure authentication methods like passkeys. GitHub continues to prioritize user experience and aims to further improve account security measures in the future.

IBM TO BUY HASHICORP IN $6.4 BILLION DEAL TO EXPAND IN CLOUD

IBM announced it will acquire HashiCorp in a $6.4 billion deal to expand its cloud software offerings and tap into surging AI-driven demand. IBM will pay $35 per share, a 42.6% premium, for HashiCorp. HashiCorp is well known for Terraform, as well as Vault, Boundary, and Consul for security.

NAGOMI SECURITY (PRODUCT LAUNCH)

Nagomi Security has developed a proactive defense platform that enables security teams to optimize their existing cybersecurity solutions to identify risks, threats, and adversaries and their techniques.

BFOREAI (PRODUCT LAUNCH)

BforeAI monitors most of the internet to establish a baseline for anomaly detection and stay ahead of cyber threats and prevent attacks before they happen. It autonomously maps and predicts malicious infrastructure to provide customers with preemptive defense and safeguard data, digital assets, users, and IT and OT networks.

GODFATHER BANKING TROJAN SPAWNS 1.2K SAMPLES ACROSS 57 COUNTRIES

More than 1,000 samples of the prolific Godfather mobile banking Trojan are circulating worldwide, targeting hundreds of banking apps across dozens of countries. First spotted in 2022, Godfather can record screens, intercept 2FA, initiate transfers, and more. Its developers are automatically generating new samples at scale to evade detection.

GOOGLE'S CONTROVERSIAL MOVE TO KILL THE WEB COOKIE JUST GOT DELAYED UNTIL 2025

Google is further postponing its plan to phase out third-party cookies on Chrome, citing ongoing challenges in reconciling feedback from the industry, regulators, and developers. The long-delayed move to remove the small data files used for cross-site user tracking and ad targeting was originally announced in 2020 but has faced multiple delays due to significant considerations raised by various stakeholders.

(THE) POSTMAN CARRIES LOTS OF SECRETS

Postman's Public API Network is unknowingly leaking thousands of live credentials from popular SaaS and cloud providers. The exposure of sensitive information is due to an unclear UI, ambiguous taxonomy, and the practice of publicly forking collections containing live API keys. Despite Postman's basic secret scanner, there is a significant risk of leaking secrets due to insufficient scanning and misleading terminology like "secret" environment variables.

FTC SENDING $5.6 MILLION TO RING CUSTOMERS OVER SECURITY FAILURES

The FTC is sending $5.6 million in refunds to Ring customers due to security failures

GARTNER SURVEY REVEALS 63% OF ORGANIZATIONS WORLDWIDE HAVE IMPLEMENTED A ZERO-TRUST STRATEGY

Gartner reports that 63% of organizations globally have partially or fully implemented a zero-trust strategy into their operations.

GOOGLE MEET OPENS CLIENT-SIDE ENCRYPTED CALLS TO NON GOOGLE USERS

Google Meet now allows external participants, even those without Google accounts, to join encrypted calls through client-side encryption.

THE INSIDE TRACK ON GEN Z: DISCOVER WHAT YOUR FUTURE CUSTOMERS VALUE

This report covers 10 insights into the preferences, attitudes, and buying behaviors of Gen Z. With Gen Z being the largest demographic group in the US, even a small segment of this population can significantly impact brands. This group tends to be renters and faces challenges in home ownership, shaping their purchasing behaviors. Social media heavily influences their shopping habits, with loyalty driven more by personal values and influencers' opinions than brand identity. They also prefer mobile-first experiences and expect seamless digital customer experiences from brands.