Intro

Good morning and welcome to the future 👋

Free cryptocurrency. The skeptics among you may think it sounds too good to be true, but it’s actually a genuine offer from a US tech millionaire who’s on a mission to bring cryptocurrency to the masses. Read on for the (almost!) unbelievable story.

Today’s update is 253 words, 1.3 minutes

Snippets

📰 Why Facebook’s news feed sucks: We all have our own theories on how particular news items land at the top of our Facebook news feed - maybe engagement or outrage potential. It seems the real reason, however, is something else entirely. Gizmodo →

🧑‍🎤 Hot tunes with a robotic DJ: When your day needs a musical boost, Andy could soon be providing the answer. With all the skills of a seasoned DJ, Andy — Artificial Neural Disk jockeY — is a robot with voice synthesis software that makes it hard to distinguish from a human DJ. WellSaid →

🍿 Netflix plagiarism: Chinese streaming giant YouKu is accused of plagiarizing the format of Netflix’s hit Squid Game to create its own new show, Squid’s Victory. Simply a first draft mistakenly used as promotional material, as YouKu claims? Netizens are not convinced … BBC →

🤔 Emojis need caution: Everyone uses emojis, but do you ever worry that they may be misinterpreted? You are right to be concerned. In international communications in particular, there is huge scope for misunderstanding and even insults. This report explains some of the pitfalls. ROW →

1-Big Thing

Money for all?

Source: Worldcoin

An iris scan in exchange for free cryptocurrency? Tech millionaire Sam Altman, founder of new startup Worldcoin, has promised a windfall to anyone who agrees to verify their account via an iris scan. Altman’s aim? To expand the reach of cryptocurrency to the masses.

Worldcoin, which debuted on Thursday in “stealth mode,” promises to give away free cryptocurrency to people who verify their accounts with an iris scan.

Worldcoin claims to have raised $25 million in funding from Silicon Valley investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase, and LinkedIn co-founder and billionaire Reid Hoffman, valuing the company at $1 billion.

World Coin →