Facebook slams executive order: It will restrict more speech online – Engadget

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In an earlier interview, Mark Zuckerberg said he didnt believe it was the right reflex to combat censorship with more censorship. In general, I think a government choosing to censor a platform because theyre worried about censorship doesnt exactly strike me as the right reflex there, he said.

He and Facebook are referring to a section of the executive order that says Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects tech companies from being legally liable for what their users say, should be clarified and its protections rolled back if a company isnt acting in good faith.

The good news for Facebook and Twitter is that experts agree the order is largely unenforceable and at odds with the First Amendment.

But Facebook still has valid reasons to be worried about the future of Section 230. Joe Biden has also stated that 230 should be repealed and, even if Trumps executive order ends up being mostly toothless, it could still result in lengthy legal battles for social media companies.

Twitter, who one executive once described as the free speech wing of the free speech party, and has been dealing with targeted harassment of one of its employees, called the executive order reactionary and politicized. Section 230 protects American innovation and freedom of expression, and its underpinned by democratic values, the company wrote in a statement. Attempts to unilaterally erode it threaten the future of online speech and Internet freedoms.

CEO Jack Dorsey previously defended the companys choice to fact-check Trumps tweets.Well continue to point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally, Dorsey tweeted, pointing to the companys civic integrity policy. Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves.

Update 5/28 9:08PM ET: Added Twitters statement in response to the executive order.

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Facebook slams executive order: It will restrict more speech online - Engadget

Governments are Using COVID-19 Crisis to Crush Free Speech – CounterPunch

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Photograph Source: Beatrice Murch CC BY 2.0

Stop those non-humans who are writing and provoking our people, says Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in an Instagram video. The non-humans he objects to are journalists who criticise the Chechen authorities for mishandling their response to the Covid-19 epidemic.

Given Kadyrov has faced allegations of torturing and disappearing critics (which the leader denies), he leaves nobody in any doubt about how unwelcome journalistic questions should be dealt with.

The cause of his rage was an article in the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta by investigative journalist Elena Milashina, who cited Kadyrov as saying that people who spread the coronavirus are worse than terrorists and should be killed. As a result of these threats, Milashina wrote that people in Chechnya with Covid-19 were hiding their symptoms because they were too frightened to seek medical help.

Authoritarian and proto-fascist governments around the world are using Covid-19 to excuse or divert attention from the arrest, jailing and disappearance of critical journalists. Kadyrov, who acts as a quasi-independent Russian viceroy in Chechnya, is simply more blatant and violent than his counterparts, from Viktor Orban in Hungary to Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey and Narendra Modi in India. In few such countries is repression new, but it is deepening by the day under a new guise.

Kadyrovs actions in Chechnya are a crude but telling example of this toxic campaign against the independent media. The Chechen leaders threats against Milashina was not the first time she has been targeted for her reporting in Chechnya: two years ago she broke the story of the gay purge in which gay men were being abducted, tortured and killed. This February she was assaulted in the lobby of a hotel in the Chechen capital, Grozny, where she was reporting on the trial of a blogger who had posted a film of luxury villas alleged to belong to people close to the Chechen leadership.

Governments worldwide claim that journalists are impeding their heroic struggle against coronavirus, but their real motive is more often to conceal the inadequacy of those efforts. Political elites everywhere fear that the pandemic will expose their incompetence and corruption, weakening their grip on political power and economic resources.

A report by Amnesty International, titled Crackdown on journalists weakens efforts to tackle Covid-19, contains a long and detailed list of offenders: new laws against disseminating fake news the definition of which is to be decided by the authorities themselves has been passed in Azerbaijan, Hungary, Russia, Uzbekistan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tanzania and in several Gulf states. The Hungarian leader Orban has amended the criminal code so journalists are threatened with five years in prison for spreading false information that would impede successful protection against the coronavirus.

Governments are highly sensitive to accusations that they are lying about the number of infections or fatalities: in Egypt a newspaper editor who challenged the official figures was disappeared for a month and a reporter who did the same in Venezuela was jailed for 12 days. In Bosnia, a doctor was charged with misinformation and creating fear and panic and faces a fine of 1,500 after posting on social media about the lack of ventilators and other equipment in a local hospital.

Leaders ignoring their own lockdown and physical distancing orders want to keep quiet about it: in Tanzania, the licence of the online newspaper Mawanachi was suspended after posting a photo of John Pombe Magufuli, the president, out shopping surrounded by a crowd of supporters.

The Turkish government has put extraordinary efforts into hunting down journalists and social media critics, 102 of whom are currently in jail, many accused of being terrorists or spreading terrorist propaganda a charge often levelled in Turkey against any critic. No fewer than 64 social media users have been detained in recent weeks over posts about coronavirus.

No sign of dissent or independent information is too small to escape the authorities notice: when Ismet Cigit and Gungor Aslan wrote on a news website about two Covid-19 deaths in a local hospital, they were immediately detained and questioned. And even a short detention in Turkey could be a death sentence because overcrowded prisons are hotspots for the epidemic.

Most culpable are states such as India, whose security measures are preventing attempts to lessen the spread of the pandemic. In Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, the lockdown predates the rest of the world, starting last August when Modis government revoked the special status of Indias only Muslim-majority state.

An internet blackout was imposed for 175 days and when it was restored it was in the form of the slow-moving 2G network. But even this, along with other communications, such as the telephone, is subject to sudden and prolonged blackouts nominally aimed at separatists, but in practice hampering or stopping the campaign to prevent Covid-19.

The Indian government has tried with some success to suppress local and foreign media reporting from inside Kashmir, but a special report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation from Srinagar, the largest city in Kashmir, reveals a health system damaged by the constant blackouts. We were shocked that we had to work without the internet even for a week during the pandemic, said one Srinagar-based hospital doctor, speaking anonymously, adding that the government had told health professionals not to talk to the press.

Tracking and tracing of Covid-19 victims is made impossible in Kashmir by interrupted communications. A health department official, again speaking anonymously, said there was no way of finding and testing victims during the blackouts, explaining that it was impossible to trace the contacts of Covid-positive cases during those three days [in early May] as there was no way of reaching out to people. Paradoxically, Modi has told everybody including Kashmiris to download a contact-tracing app on their phones as a prime means of identifying, testing and isolating those infected by the virus.

Journalists in Kashmir who report about the extent to which draconian security measures have hobbled efforts to suppress the epidemic find themselves accused of glorifying anti-nationalist activities and causing fear or alarm in the minds of the public.

Autocratic governments everywhere are becoming more autocratic and repressive regimes more repressive. They believe that they can get away with it: frightened peoples are looking to their governments to save them in this time of peril, and do not want to discover that they are ruled by incompetent people determined to serve their own interests and stay in power.

But not all the news is bad. The zeal with which governments from Budapest to Delhi and Grozny to Ankara are pursuing the humblest blogger or smallest newspaper shows that they feel fragile and are afraid. Great disasters shine a bright light on the incompetence and greed of the powers-that-be, exposing them for what they are. No wonder they see independent journalists as dangerous foes, non-humans to be silenced wherever possible.

Continued here:

Governments are Using COVID-19 Crisis to Crush Free Speech - CounterPunch

First Amendment Lawyer Dismisses Trumps Claim That Twitter Is Stifling Free Speech: He Doesnt Want Critics to Have a Chance to Respond – Mediaite

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Well-known First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams dismissed President Donald Trumps angry assertion that Twitter was completely stifling free speech by adding a misinformation warning label to two of his inaccurate tweets about mail-in voting.

Speaking with SiriusXM host and ABC News chief legal analyst Dan Abrams, the attorney who famously argued the Pentagon Papers case said Trump had no real argument that his First Amendment rights were somehow being violated by the social media platform. As Abrams noted, Trump ability to post whatever he wants has not been affected in any way.

What hes really saying is not that theyre limiting his speech, he can say anything he wants and not even that theyre taking him off [the site], the free speech advocate explained. So, what hes saying, and hes really very clear about it, is not that it violates him by keeping him from speaking. Hes saying he wants to speak in a way where the other side, or critics of his, or people who are saying what hes saying is just false, will not have a chance to respond.

The elder Abrams Floyd is Dans father did question Twitters logic, however, in its selective application of actively fact-checking Trump. Specifically, Abrams called out Twitter for targeting two of Trumps tweets that included false claims but also absurd yet nonetheless factually irrefutable predictions about mail-in voting. Notably, Abrams pointed to Trumps recent Twitter campaign spreading a vicious conspiracy theory about MSNBC host and political foil, Joe Scarborough.

It is sort of an odd choice, Abrams agreed when asked about the social media platforms decision. Some of what the president was saying was sort of a prediction as to the future. And predictions arent facts anyway, right?

That to me is very different where you have a situation where, by a series of accusations, carefully phrased, maybe for legal reasons, buy carefully phrased to be statements of suspicion and calling for investigation, but in a context where there is, literally,literallyno basis at all for an investigation and is obviously an effort to pay back Joe Scarborough and which does real harm to the [Lori Klausutis] family.

That comes a lot closer to Twitters own guidelines about avoiding harassment, Abrams pointed out. That does sound very far down the road, to me at least, of harassing Joe Scarborough at the same time it is inflicting predictable and terrible pain on the family of this dead woman.

Listen to the audio above, via SiriusXM Channel POTUS 124.

Have a tip we should know? [emailprotected]

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First Amendment Lawyer Dismisses Trumps Claim That Twitter Is Stifling Free Speech: He Doesnt Want Critics to Have a Chance to Respond - Mediaite

Free speech ‘under threat’ from both Twitter and the White House – NEWS.com.au

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Sky News host Chris Kenny says it is "ridiculous and insulting" to pretend Twitter will suddenly become the "objective informed arbiter between truth and spin, reality and fake news," as it announces it will fact check President Trump."Twitter, a veritable sewer of obscenity, abuse and fake news - especially on politics - is now pretending to check facts when it comes to the US Presidential election".Mr Kenny said the popular social media platform is not actually checking verifiable facts, it is "just pushing its green Left political spin against Donald Trump's political spin".Twitter's "sudden attempt to play adjudicator" has triggered the president to threaten to sign an executive order on in to "silence or restrict them," Mr Kenny said."So now free speech is under threat from both Twitter and the White House".Image: AP

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Free speech 'under threat' from both Twitter and the White House - NEWS.com.au

YouTube removes video from Free Speech Unions Toby Young after he criticized coronavirus lockdown measures – Reclaim The Net

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YouTube has censored a video from Toby Young, General Secretary of the Free Speech Union and a prominent critic of lockdown measures, for violating YouTubes Community Guidelines.

The clip, which was titled The Case Against Lockdowns, features Young discussing why he believes lockdown measures are a mistake during a panel discussion organized by the Institute of Arts and Ideas and also shows Michael Levitt, a Professor of Structural Biology at Stanford and winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, nodding enthusiastically.

In the clip, Young argues that the government should have to meet quite a high evidential threshold when demonstrating that suspending the civil liberties of its population will save lives and that the government hasnt done this.

He also criticizes the model the government used as the basis for implementing lockdown measures and suggests that it was panicked into implementing these measures.

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As part of its increasingly aggressive crackdown on coronavirus content, YouTube has banned videos that might encourage people to ignore stay at home advice so Youngs video was presumably taken down under this rule.

While the video has been scrubbed from YouTube, its still available on the free-speech-focused video sharing platform BitChute.

The takedown of Youngs video is the latest example of YouTube continuing to censor anything that it deems to be coronavirus misinformation.

One of YouTubes biggest stars, Joe Rogan, has criticized YouTubes censorship of doctors under its coronavirus rules and said that the platform should let people discuss and debate.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has also admitted that theres a double standard when moderating what the platform deems to be unsubstantiated coronavirus health information.

Yet the censorship of videos under YouTubes controversial coronavirus rules is showing no signs of slowing down.

In the last couple of weeks, YouTube has removed a video from anti-lockdown epidemiology researcher Knut M. Wittkowski which had racked up millions of views, a popular interview with Professor Dolores Cahill where she criticized lockdown measures, and even a video discussing the censorship of Cahills interview.

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YouTube removes video from Free Speech Unions Toby Young after he criticized coronavirus lockdown measures - Reclaim The Net

The Many Facts Pointing to Adam Back Being Satoshi | Featured Bitcoin News – Bitcoin News

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During the last year, news.Bitcoin.com created a series that shows the many facts that point to certain individuals who might just be Satoshi Nakamoto and its been a popular run so far. Our series has covered nearly everyone, but there are still a few individuals that havent been covered. On May 11, 2020, the popular Youtube channel Barely Social published a video called Unmasking Satoshi Nakamoto, which claims that Blockstream CEO Adam Back could be Bitcoins mysterious inventor.

In mid-May, the Youtube channel Barely Social, a popular creator of analysis videos for odd corners of the internet, published a new video called Unmasking Satoshi Nakamoto. The video creator has 391,000 subscribers and the Unmasking Satoshi video has been watched over 290,000 times to-date. The video was also posted to the top three crypto-related Reddit forums r/cryptocurrency, r/bitcoin, and r/btc. Barely Socials film was immediately removed from the r/bitcoin forum, it was discussed in r/cryptocurrency but downvoted heavily, and it was flagged for vote-brigading on the forum r/btc. The video explains the massive disconnect between two large factions of big block supporters and small block supporters, and how they went certain bitcoin community members separate ways. It also leverages circumstantial evidence that illustrates how Adam Back, the Blockstream CEO could possibly be Satoshi Nakamoto.

It all started well before the Bitcoin white paper was published on Halloween 2008, as Adam Back described the technology on various occasions and as early as 1998. However, prior to the release of the cryptocurrency and white paper, Back seemingly removed himself from the public eye during the Satoshis development period between 2009 and 2010. Coincidently after Satoshi left, Back appeared on the bitcointalk.org forum acting as though hes been around for quite some time, explains the Barely Social video.

Barely Socials film also had a number of other forms of circumstantial evidence that point to Back possibly being the creator of cryptocurrency. For years, during the early days, many people assumed that Back ignored Bitcoin for a while, and then joined the community with great fervor toward the technology. Backs first posts and replies to other bitcoiners on the bitcointalk.org forum shows his technical understanding of the blockchain was more advanced than most. Barely Social also highlights that when Back joined the community after Satoshi left, he was bossing people around like he had always been around.

Additionally, the video compares Satoshis writing style with Backs style, as they both double space and spell their words in a British fashion. Barely Social also mentions the 2015 email that allegedly stemmed from Satoshi, which has also never been disputed. Further, the videos narrator talks about how Adam Back has told people that Satoshi has written to him, but unlike Mike Hearn, Back has never shared these corresponding emails.

Barley Socials film also delves deep into the 2015-2017 manipulation and propaganda that stemmed from the block size debate. Within this section of the video, it shows how the r/bitcoin owner, Theymos, censored thousands of people and thousands of posts and still does to this day. Theymos operates r/bitcoin, bitcointalk.org, the bitcoin wiki page, and also he also has some control over bitcoin.org too with an anonymous individual called Cobra Bitcoin. Barley Socials video shows evidence that Back and other members of the company Blockstream were complicit with Theymos and his censorship techniques.

The video further discusses Gavin Andresens role when Satoshi handed the project over to the former lead developer. Barley Socials video details how Andresen fought against the control specific Bitcoin Core developers had over the project and Blockstreams influence. The video showed little bias and explained that both sides of the argument sought control. Barely Social also published a debate between Andresen and core developers, and Adam Back joined in during the discussion. Other prominent members of the discussion included Rusty Russell, Greg Maxwell, Theymos, and many other Bitcoin Core developers.

When Back appeared in the discussion, he was anti-hard fork from the beginning, and said the Bitcoin community needs to foster collaboration and consensus to reduce the risks. Barley Social assumes that a lot of developers know that Back is Satoshi, and that its possible a number of people have signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). The video also says that even though Andresen named Craig Wright as Satoshi Nakamoto in May 2016, it was done to be purposely misleading.

The film shows that Backs company Blockstream purposely stopped onchain scaling, so the company could provide relief to the community with the Liquid sidechain project. Essentially, the belief is the firm suppressed onchain scaling and hard forks, in order to claim revenue from transaction fees. This is probably why the Bitcoin Cash community and r/btc forum disliked Barely Socials theory, because they consider Back and Blockstream enemies of Bitcoin.

The r/bitcoin censorship probably stemmed from the fact that the video does expose the mass censorship thats been plaguing that subreddit for years. Adam Back also denies being Satoshi Nakamoto and has recently rejected the theory publicly. Back told the publication Decrypt that he wasnt Satoshi and said: Just that people speculate, but Im not Satoshi. To cut short Google searches and digging. Back also spoke up on Twitter and stated:

Some claim to be Satoshi, days google research blogging stories, and in court, to widespread non-belief. Seems I need the opposite: I am not Satoshi despite [the] recent video / Reddit claiming so. Some factors & timing may look suspicious in hindsight; coincidence & facts are untidy.

Of course, Barely Social says during the beginning of the film that Back can always leverage plausible deniability. There was also a recent Youtube video, which has the crypto pundit, Tone Vays, doing a rebuttal against Barely Socials video. Even though Barely Social was there in the live stream chat, he wasnt allowed to debate Vays criticism, which was filled with insults, and common logical fallacies.

The Blockstream CEO and Barely Social have also debated the subject on Twitter at great length. Following the video and coincidentally, theres also been a number of spends and messages on the BTC blockchain that stem from early addresses from 2009 and 2010. One 50 BTC block from February 2009, one month after the Bitcoin network was launched, was just spent and sent to another address.

What do you think about Barely Socials video which claims Adam Back may be Satoshi Nakamoto? Let us know in the comments below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Youtube, Twitter, Reddit

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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NGRAVE Hard Wallet Hits 450% of Crowdfunding Goal Within Two Days – Cointelegraph

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The NGRAVE ZERO, claimed to be the worlds most secure hardware wallet, launched its crowdfunding campaign for 25,000 ($27,850) on May 26. In the first two days it smashed this total four times over, and is now well on its way to number five.

The campaign, which was launched through the IndieGogo crowdfunding platform, is set to run for another 28 days. The campaign offers a number of perks for backers who donate above certain amounts. These range from a single ZERO wallet, through bundles including the Graphene accessory, to multiple wallet bundles and even every future product NGRAVE launches for those wishing to donate 2,500 ($2,785) or more.

These perks generally represent a substantial savings compared with the suggested retail price. For example, a single NGRAVE ZERO is offered to those donating 228 ($254), and the retail price is listed as 398 ($443); a savings of 42%.

Interestingly, only 33 of the 430+ backers at time of writing had opted for a perk, representing 11,760 ($13,000) or around 10% of the total raised. This means that 400 people have chosen to donate 106,500 ($118,600) without receiving anything in return.

It must be noted that some of those choosing a perk may also have over-donated for their reward tier. Otherwise the average donation for those choosing no perk was enough to bag them a ZERO wallet on release.

As Cointelegraph reported, the NGRAVE ZERO is the first cryptocurrency hardware wallet to receive the top EAL7 security rating.

In contrast to other cold wallets, which connect to their mobile phone or desktop apps via USB or Bluetooth, the ZERO communicates purely through QR codes. The benefit of this is that this method does not reveal any information about the wallets private key.

The Graphene accessory is billed as the coldest backup available, and comprises a cryptographic puzzle made of two everything-proof stainless steel plates. Together these plates allow you to store and retrieve your private key, although individually they reveal no information to an attacker.

NGRAVE also recently brought on board renowned (and Satoshi Nakamoto-cited) cryptographer Jean-Jacques Quisquater in an advisory role. He described the ZERO as:

... the most advanced solution, really exceeding the state-of-the-art as publicly known today.

The rest is here:

NGRAVE Hard Wallet Hits 450% of Crowdfunding Goal Within Two Days - Cointelegraph

Is It Possible To Patent Bitcoin? – Intellectual Property – Poland – Mondaq News Alerts

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28 May 2020

JWP Patent & Trademark Attorneys

To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com.

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency described for the first time in 2009article by Satoshi Nakamoto. Even now, it is not entirely clear whoSatoshi Nakamoto is. Possibly, it is a group of people cooperatingunder this alias. It is certain, however, that the entire conceptof Bitcoin as an innovative currency revolutionized the globalfinancial market. Bitcoin is one of the so-called FinTechtechnologies.

Bitcoin is one of the examples of utilizing blockchaintechnology. More precisely, blockchain is a decentralized anddistributed database created using cryptographic algorithms withpublic and open registers. In practical terms, it is assumed thatBlockchain makes it possible to obtain a data register that isfully transparent, reliable and safe despite the lack of a centralgoverning body that manages this data. As a result, it was possibleto create, e.g., the Bitcoin cryptocurrency used fortrading online without the supervision of transactions bybanks.

Many people wonder whether such solutions could be patented atall. Firstly, it is necessary to analyze the nature of FinTechsolutions which, as the name suggests, combine finances andtechnology.

Each country and patent office has its own set of acts and lawsregulating in detail patent law in a given territory. However, somegeneral concepts can be found in all legislations and theyconstitute the basic concept of a patent. One of them is therequirement of a technical nature of the solution. It can be wordedin a variety of ways, e.g., the invention is required to have"a technical effect", solve "a technicalproblem", the invention is "a creation based on atechnical idea, in which natural law is applied", etc. Theirmeaning is similar - we cannot monopolize purely abstract conceptsthrough patenting. Similarly, it is not allowed to monopolize insuch a way scientific discoveries, laws of nature or mathematicallaws and operations. Additionally, schemes, rules and methods ofmental processes, playing games or running a business, as well ascomputer programs are usually treated as intangible, and thereforeabstract, solutions that cannot be patented.

That is why in the case of FinTech, the financial aspect perse is very hard to patent. Financial transactions, especiallyonline, are a fairly abstract concept and it is hard to treat themas inventions of technical nature. The essence of the innovativecharacter of those solutions is utilizing modern technologies infinances, which is also problematic. Making a distinction betweentechnical and abstract characteristics, in the traditional sense asstipulated by patent law, is very complicated especially in moderntechnologies based on artificial intelligence, machine learning orblockchain.

Patent offices around the world are currently facing the need toadapt patent law, with its basic principles created in the late19th century, to the requirements of modern industry,described as Industry 4.0. In practice, each office has its owndistinctive approach to patenting computer-aided inventions, namelythose making use of software. It is a result of a change inperception and legal interpretation. For example, patent law in theUS has changed rapidly over the years, moving from a very liberalapproach to a very restrictive one. It is believed that the moststable and predictable approach, as well as quite liberal, is theone of the European Patent Office.

More and more patent offices maintain that although software assuch is obviously not patentable, its application in order to solvea particular technical problem can be patented. Therefore, it ismore likely to patent solutions enhancing the FinTech development,such as making operations more secure by using cryptography orother technical considerations on the function of the innercomputer. Examples of patents granted for inventions regardingcryptocurrencies can be found primarily (but not only) in the C06Qclass of the International Patent Classification concerning systemsand methods of processing data for financial purposes amongothers:

The answer to the titular question is, unsurprisingly given thecontext, that it all depends on circumstances. Preparingdescriptions of FinTech solutions and other new technologies is acomplex and sensitive task. The solution needs to be properlydescribed, supported by necessary figures and embodiments. It isvital to focus on its technical characteristic, as understood interms of patent law. That is why in such a complicated process, theguidance of an experienced patent attorney is indispensable.

Originally published 27 March 2020

The content of this article is intended to provide a generalguide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be soughtabout your specific circumstances.

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Learn different types of cryptocurrencies and how to earn money | London Business News – London Loves Business

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Before we discuss different types of cryptocurrencies, lets take a closer look at the concept of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is a virtual currency or you can name it as digital money. It is created by an anonymous group or individual named Satoshi Nakamoto. This is developed with the aim of faster and secure transactions. There are some cryptocurrencies that have physical existence and some of them are virtual which means intangible.

Most importantly, the transactions of cryptocurrencies occur within a decentralized framework without any third-party interference. Due to which there is no manipulation happen by any government or financial institutions or banks. Thats why some countries have banned the usage of cryptocurrencies as it is run by a deregulated system.

Here we will discuss some of the most important cryptocurrencies. In fact, there are thousands of cryptocurrencies exist but we will only focus on the most popular ones.

Bitcoin (BTC)

It will not wrong to say that bitcoin is the king of the world of cryptocurrencies. Since its inception in 2009, it has outperformed in terms of its valuation. The crypto experts of bitcoin treasure suggest that if you want to invest or trade in any cryptocurrencies then bitcoin is the best option.

Bitcoin works through a decentralized network called blockchain technology. All the transactions can be viewed by every user in the network. However, only the owner can decrypt the bitcoin who has assigned the private key. There is no third party (any governing body) involvement in the transactions and is purely peer-to-peer transactions.

Etherum (ETH)

Ethereum comes second in the list of cryptocurrencies in terms of its performance, security, and speed. Unlike bitcoin, it has a different mode of operation. Here developers build decentralized applications in an open-source software platform. Ether is a token that is used for transactions within the Ethereum network. This token can be used for investing in other cryptocurrencies. After Bitcoin, Ether is popular for its market cap, however, the difference is very large in terms of valuation with bitcoin. However, it has got a significant response since its inception and the market is expected to grow in the near future.

Ripple (XRP)

Unlike Bitcoin and Ether, Ripple does not work within a decentralized network. It is an international payment platform that allows instant, secure, and low charges transactions. This is used by banks to make cross-border real-time transactions with the highest security, and low cost.

The token used in the Ripple platform is known as XRP and it does not require mining. All the tokens are pre-mined and thats why it reduces the power of computing. Due to this the transactions are faster and reduces the network latency. This is the most trusted and reliable payment platform that allows financial institutions to make cross-border transactions.

Litecoin (LTC)

Litecoin was developed by a former Google engineer, Charlie Lee in 2011. Likewise, bitcoin this digital currency also works under a decentralized network but it uses scrypt to decode. Due to its faster block generation, it allows faster transactions like bitcoin.

Binance (BNB)

Since its inception in 2017, Binance has gained a significant number of participants in the Binance platform for trading. It allows you to trade different cryptocurrencies in the Binance cryptocurrency exchange. The official token of this platform is known as the Binance coin and denoted by BNB. The coin is used for many purposes like payment of different goods and services.

Apart from this, there are hundreds of cryptocurrencies available on the digital currency market. As mentioned above, some of the cryptocurrencies are used for trading investing, and buying other cryptocurrencies, while some are used for application developments and cross border payments. It is expected that the demand for cryptocurrencies will increase in the future and some experts say it may replace the traditional currency system.

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Learn different types of cryptocurrencies and how to earn money | London Business News - London Loves Business

Here’s why digital payments app Anypay does not recommend using BTC – CoinGeek

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Anypay, the Bitcoin service provider that makes it easy for merchants and consumers to use Bitcoin in commerce, recommends that merchants and consumers do not use BTC for payments. In a recent blog post, Anypay President Derrick Horton explored a few of the many reasons why BTC is one of the worst digital assets to use for payment settlement.

BTC Transaction Fees

The Anypay blog dives into why Using BTC sucks, and mainly focuses on how BTCs expensive transaction fees and long block confirmation times make it an unattractive payment method.

At the time of publishing (May 21), the cost to get your BTC transaction into the next block on the BTC blockchain is 318 sats/byte (roughly $7.50), Horton wrote. Let us say you are patient and can wait an extra twenty minutes to an hour, so you include a fee of $5.00Even if your customer is only sending you $1.00, they have to pay $1.00 to you, plus $5.00 on top of that to send the transaction. It costs them $6.00 to send you $1.00.

If you are looking to send a small amount of BTC, then most of the time, the transaction fee will be more expensive than the value of money you are sending. Even if you are looking to send or receive a larger amount of money, you will run into obstacles.

If I paid you $25.00 in BTC, it would cost me $25.00 plus $5.00 to get it to you. Then you would have $25.00 in BTC, but you can only spend $20.00 worth because $5.00 gets eaten up in fees.

Because fees are so expensive and eat away from the total amount being sent, it is inconvenient for merchants to accept BTC. The transaction fee is subtracted from the amount being sent, therefore, the amount of money a merchant would receive in their wallet is reduced in the amount of the transaction fee. As a merchant, you want the value you receive to be equal to the price tag of the good or service being sold, but when you transact with BTC, it is unpredictable if you will receive that amount of value, or significantly less.

We reached out to Anypay president Derrick Horton to learn more about why using BTC for payments is suboptimal, but did not hear back before publishing time.

BSV is better for paymentsand everything else

Although BTC is not a good payment vehicle, Bitcoin SV (BSV)the original Bitcoinis. According to Coin.Dance, the Bitcoin statistics platform, it is currently 10,956.07x more expensive to transact on BTC than it is on BSV. BSV has several features that make it the best digital asset to make payments with, beyond that, there are many BSV apps that the blockchain community uses each and every day.

The Anypay blog closes out by examining why BSV is the better blockchain:

[BSV has] the economic conditions you want. A fixed protocol. Competition among service providers. Freedom to differentiate. A predictable supply of monetary units with a fixed upper limit. Put all this together, and you have the best tool for communicating value among people the world has ever seen.

BSV is the original bitcoin, it follows the bitcoin white paper created by Satoshi Nakamoto to a T. For those reasons, BSV can be used as peer-to-peer electronic cash without running into any of the obstacles that BTC runs into.

New to Bitcoin? Check out CoinGeeksBitcoin for Beginnerssection, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about Bitcoinas originally envisioned by Satoshi Nakamotoand blockchain.

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Here's why digital payments app Anypay does not recommend using BTC - CoinGeek

Watch Ron Keel Cover Lynyrd Skynryd’s ‘Red White and Blue’ – Ultimate Classic Rock

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The Ron Keel Band's new album, South x South Dakota,pays tribute tothe frontman's Southern rock roots. Among its offerings is a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's 2003 single "Red White & Blue."

You can watch the video's premiere below.

I went on the road with Lynyrd Skynyrd for a couple of weeks on the [1999] Edge of Forever tour, not as the opening act, but as part of the merch crew," Keel tells UCR. "Thats how big a fan I am. To me, Skynyrd personifies tenacity and perseverance, as theyve been able to stick to their guns while dealing with such adversity and still evolve musically. I hope that if they hear our version of 'Red White & Blue' and they will approve and understand that its my way of saluting one of my favorite bands of all time.

South x South Dakota, which was released on April 24, also features classics by the Allman Brothers Band ("Ramblin' Man"), Molly Hatchet ("Flirtin' With Disaster") and a live medley of songs originally performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Although he's best remembered as the singer inthe metal band Keel, Keel notes in the press material for the new record that his roots in country and Southern rockfirst led him to Nashville in 1979, where he was dismissed by one label executive as "Twang Petty."

The genesis ofSouth x South Dakota stems from a track recorded in 2015, when Henry Paul of the Outlaws produced the Ron Keel Band's take on Johnny Cash's "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and the Atlanta Rhythm Section's "Homesick." Asthe band wasworking on last year's Fight Like a Band, themembers would occasionally pass the time by playing other covers. Unknown to the band, producer Mike Dresch was recording.

"Upon hearing some of the tracks, it was obvious we had the makings of something special," Keel says.

Ron Keel Band, 'South X South Dakota' Track Listing1. "Train Train"2. "Rockin' Into the Night"3. "Don't Misunderstand Me"4. "Red White & Blue"5. "Flirtin' With Disaster"6. "Ramblin' Man"7. "Fire on the Mountain"8. "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys"9. "Homesick"10. "Ghost Riders in the Sky"11. "Creedence Medley Live"

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Watch Ron Keel Cover Lynyrd Skynryd's 'Red White and Blue' - Ultimate Classic Rock

Company that built Florida’s unemployment site was being sued by the state when it was hired – ABC Action News

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TAMPA, Fla. (WFTS) -- As laid off Floridians struggle to file for benefits on the states broken unemployment website, ABC Action News has uncovered the company that built the system secured its multi-million-dollar, taxpayer-funded contract, even as the state's top leaders questioned its work for other state agencies.

Florida hired Deloitte Consulting in 2013 to build its unemployment website.

Deloitte is one of the worlds largest accounting firms. The client list for Deloitte and its related firms spans the globe and includes several state governments, including Florida, which paid the companys consulting arm $77 million to build the website known as CONNECT the gateway to Floridas unemployment system.

But ABC Action News Anchor Paul LaGrone uncovered the state of Florida was actively suing Deloitte for a completely different issue when it hired the companys consulting arm to build its unemployment website.

In a 2010 lawsuit, the state accused Deloitte of malpractice for failing to perform its auditing obligations of insurance companies that folded after a string of hurricanes. The lawsuit went to trial and the jury ruled in favor of Deloitte in 2015.

But as the case made its way through the court system, Florida hired Deloitte Consulting to build the states unemployment website.

Problems with the website were flagged early on.

Shortly after being hired in 2013, the Department of Economic Opportunity started fining Deloitte Consulting $15,000 a day because of the problems with the unemployment website.

Annual state audits beginning in 2015 also found dozens of glitches in Floridas unemployment website. The audits noted technical errors and system defects all of it contributing to a backlog of claims.

Deloitte has said it fixed the problems and completed its work on the website five years ago.

ABC Action News asked DEO whether it dismissed those fines or made Deloitte pay and is still waiting on an answer.

But even after being sued by Florida and fined by Florida the consulting arm of Deloitte landed a $16 million contract with DCF in 2016 for a different project.

The I-Team also followed the money and found state election records show a Deloitte firm has doled out more than $251,000 since 1997 to Florida lawmakers, who have a direct say in the states unemployment policies.

Federal election reports also show Deloittes political action committee has contributed millions of dollars to members of Congress from Florida both Republicans and Democrats since 2000.

Governor Ron DeSantis, who has been critical of the unemployment website by declaring it was designed to fail, has also accepted campaign donations from Deloittes political action committee.

Deloittes PAC has given $3,000 to Gov. DeSantis past congressional campaign since 2013.

We had a system that was a disaster, said Gov. DeSantis of the unemployment website at a news conference on May 15.

But at the same briefing, Gov. DeSantis also blamed the unemployed for filling out their applications incorrectly, saying, I can tell you that DEO goes through this and 9 times out of 10, the application is incomplete.

In January just months before record unemployment the I-Team found the political committee supporting the governor Friends of Ron DeSantis accepted $3,000 from a Deloitte firm.

After the Great Recession decimated jobs in Florida, former Governor Rick Scott and Florida lawmakers created an unemployment system that cut benefits and imposed new requirements on people seeking to collect, according to Clearwater labor attorney Ryan Barack.

The system was designed to not pay benefits to people, said Barack.

The same law set the weekly check for Floridas unemployed at $275 one of the lowest in the nation and set the stage for the current unemployment website.

When ABC Action News Anchor Paul LaGrone asked Barack why he thinks the system was set up that way, Barack said, It made it so that the economy was better than it actually was, which helped Rick Scotts political fortunes.

Dan Raulerson, a former state representative, urged his fellow state lawmakers to fix CONNECT years ago at a public hearing, but he says his concerns were mostly ignored.

Raulerson, a Republican who sat on the auditing committee, said the same problems with the states unemployment website continued to surface year after year.

When asked if he thinks the system was designed to fail, Raulerson said, Well, put it this way: If someone designed it fail, they need to go to jail. Its as simple as that.

Raulerson said he holds the governors office responsible for the states broken unemployment system, saying, The DEO is under the purview of the governors office. They receive the reports. They are the ones who are responsible for this and they need to get it fixed.

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State Sen. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, has called for Deloitte Consulting to return the money it was paid build the website or for a lawsuit that would force the company to issue a refund for its website work.

The system is not just a debacle. The system is an epic failure, said Cruz, who told ABC Action News her office is now being flooded with emails and calls from Floridas unemployed. My staff of three works eight and 10 hours every day talking to people on the verge of suicide who dont have money.

In April, a class action lawsuit was filed in Florida against Deloitte Consulting and DEO alleging negligence surrounding the states failing unemployment website.

In court filings, Deloitte said it is no longer in charge of the unemployment website and has told ABC Action News its work on CONNECT ended in 2015 and saying, We have not been involved in the system since then. Clearly, any lawsuit involving us would have no merit.

Floridas unemployment office told ABC Action News it is now making daily improvements to the system and claims are being processed faster.

On May 4, Gov. DeSantis ordered an investigation into the CONNECT website, but the call to investigate was of little comfort to those struggling to get unemployment benefits.

Literally for a month I tried calling them nonstop through the day and never got a hold of anybody, said Ricky Karls of his efforts to file for unemployment.

Karls and Kelly Foss, who lost their jobs during the height of the pandemic shutdown, said they spent weeks trying to log onto the states unemployment website.

Never in my life did I think this would happen, said Foss.

When asked what she would tell Gov. DeSantis, Foss said, I want to say help us. I work in your town. I work in downtown Dunedin thats your town I take care of your community. Take care of us.

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Company that built Florida's unemployment site was being sued by the state when it was hired - ABC Action News

Author of Bailout Nation Gets Bailout – TheStreet

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Please note the $1.3 billion Ritholtz Wealth Firm Takes Out a PPP Loan.

Count Ritholtz Wealth Management among the $1bn-plus RIAs which have taken out government-backed coronavirus relief loans.

Reformed Broker Under Pressure

The RIAs chief executive, Josh Brown had this to say in a Reformed Broker blog post.

We qualified for the SBA-backed payroll protection loan after submitting our information and attestations. Two and a half months worth of employee payroll. Im never comfortable taking on debt, but Im even less comfortable about the idea of having to let people go. I would never be able to look myself in the mirror again if I had made that promise and didnt back it up with action.

Thank you, Chase Bank! Thank you, SBA! Its the news I needed and it came at the right time. Many of our peers of a similar size and employee headcount throughout the industry were able to make use of the program too. Being able to assure the firm that were keeping everyone and honoring all of our financial commitments meant everything in the moment.

Thank You Chase Bank!

Heaven forbid that an RIA would have to lose money over anything at all or layoff any employees.

It would be un-American for such travesties of justice to occur.

Fortunately, Ritzholz Wealth can use that money and under small business loan rules does not even have to pay it back.

Tears to My Eyes

I nearly cried when I read this part.

This post is dedicated to the 13,000 registered investment advisory firms in America and their 835,000 employees. Our industry serves 43 million clients nationwide and we are proud to be a part of it. Thanks to all of our colleagues whove shared their stories with us as weve shared ours.

God's Work

No one can possibly be more deserving of a taxpayer bailout than RIA.

They do God's Work.

Bailout Nation - The Book

I happen to have a copy of the book Bailout Nation at hand.

From the jacket of Bailout Nation.

Ritzholz leaves no stone unturned as he breaks down how the Federal Reserve's interest-rate targeting policies as well as a condition known as moral hazard - the belief that you won't bear the full consequences of your actions.

The United States has abandoned its capitalist roots and become a Bailout Nation.

Once again, thank you Chase Bank for allowing RIAs to continue with their God's work.

Mish

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Author of Bailout Nation Gets Bailout - TheStreet

Ron Paul: One Good Thing About The Lockdown – FITSNews

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byRON PAUL||One of the few good things to come out of the government-mandated shutdown is that many parents have started homeschooling their children. Many of these parents are likely to continue homeschooling after the government schools reopen.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did its part to encourage homeschooling when it unveiled guidelines for schools to follow when they reopen. Among the CDCs guidelines are that schools put tape on the hallways, directing children which direction to walk and how much distance to keep between themselves and their classmates. The CDC also recommends children do not share electronic devices or learning aids. The guidelines even say children should wear masks at school.

The CDCs guidelines instruct schools to close playgrounds and cafeterias, and to cancel all field trips and assemblies. Instead, students are to spend all day at their desks, not even leaving classrooms for lunch or recess.

The CDCs guidelines may not have the force of law, but it is likely most government schools will adopt them in order to ensure continued access to federal funding. Schools will do this even though children are at a very low risk of being seriously harmed by coronavirus. In fact, by forbidding children from going outside to play, exercise, and get sunshine, the guidelines actually endanger childrens health. The guidelines also harm children by limiting their ability to interact with their fellow students and develop social skills.

Opponents of homeschooling claim that homeschooled children lack proper socialization. Like many attacks on homeschooling, the claim that homeschoolers are not socialized is the opposite of the truth. Education researcher Corey DeAngelis recently told journalist John Stossel in a Reason interview that children who are homeschooled get much better academic and social results than kids in government schools. Mr. DeAngelis pointed out that homeschoolers score about 30 percent higher on the SAT test than kids in regular schools.

Parents looking for a homeschooling program that includes an introduction to the ideas of liberty should consider my homeschool curriculum. My homeschool curriculum provides students with a solid education in history, literature, mathematics, and the sciences. It also gives students the opportunity to create their own websites and internet-based businesses. The curriculum is designed to be self-taught, with students helping, and learning from, each other via online forums.

Starting in fourth grade, students are required to write at least one essay a week. Students also take a course in public speaking.

The curriculum teaches history from a pro-liberty perspective, and the economics section is taught from the Austrian viewpoint. But, unlike government schools, the curriculum does not compromise education quality or distort facts in pursuit of a political agenda.

Students using my homeschooling program develop a love of learning, study superior communication skills, and gain real-world business experience. They also develop the critical thinking skills necessary to see through the lies peddled by government officials and their sycophants in the mainstream media. The skills and knowledge students gain will enable them to succeed in whatever careers they choose to pursue.

Parents interested in giving their children a well-rounded homeschool education that includes sound economics and the history and philosophy of liberty can get more information about my curriculum by going toRonPaulCurriculum.com.

(Via: Gage Skidmore)

Ron Paulis a former U.S. Congressman from Texas and the leader of the pro-liberty, pro-free market movement in the United States. His weekly column reprinted with permission can be foundhere.

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Ron Paul: One Good Thing About The Lockdown - FITSNews

Cyborg & Deathstroke Have One MAJOR Thing in Common | Screen Rant – Screen Rant

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Deathstroke and Cyborg have more in common than the Teen Titans - in fact their looks are both constructed from the same alloy!

Aside from both appearing on the pages of Teen Titans, Cyborg and Deathstroke don't have much in common at first glance aside for penchant for exotic eyewear. After all, one is a stoic killing machine while the other is a hero who proves to be more man than machine. However, despite these superficial commonalities, both Cyborg and Deathstroke are literally made from the same metal.

Cyborg first appeared in DC Comics #26 as a teenager maimed in a lab experiment conducted by his scientist parents. Meanwhile, Deathstroke first appeared in New Teen Titans #2 as a highly-capable assassin and mercenary with enhanced healing and reflexes. While the two were both pivotal characters in the series, they typically didn't share too many pages. However, there's a major connective tissue between the two - they both use the fictional element promethium.

Related: Batman's Deathstroke Impression Is Perfect (Apparently)

Promethium is essentially DC's answer to Vibranium, capable of absorbing limitless amounts of energy. However, unlike Vibranium, promethium can be both depleted and volatile, with its volatile state often used to trigger metagenes in humans, granting them superhuman abilities. The alloy had been used to create a team of supervillains known as the Hybrid. It's also been mentioned somewhat recently as one of the five metals capable of accessing the Dark Multiverse.

Cyborg's machine side is constructed with depleted promethium - and he's actually not the only Titan to wield the powerful substance. Arsenal's costume is also made from a promethium and Kevlar weave. Similarly, Deathstroke uses quite a lot of promethium in his own bag of tricks. Both his sword and staff are forged from promethium, and much like Arsenal, his armor is promethium as well. Unlike Victor Stone, however, Deathstroke's weapons and armor are derived from volatile promethium.

Interestingly enough, promethium is a real element outside of the comic books. While it doesn't grant superpowers, it is used in a variety of ways, including batteries for everything from missiles to watches. It also could eventually be used to eventually generate X-rays as well.

In addition to this surprising commonality between two of DC's most iconic characters - one hero and one villain - this detail also explains why Cyborg and Deathstroke are both forces to be reckoned with. After all, Deathstroke's armor is composed of an unstable alloy capable of absorbing near-limitless amounts of energy, while Cyborg is partially made from the exact same substance. This also means that a match-up between Cyborg and Deathstroke might be a closer call than anyone ever realized.

Next: Marvel Tolls DC With Its Own DEATH-STROKE Terminators

Hulk Almost Killed Marvel's THING With A Single Punch

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Cyborg & Deathstroke Have One MAJOR Thing in Common | Screen Rant - Screen Rant

Researchers Have Created a Cyborg Eye that Works Like the Real Thing – PetaPixel

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A team of scientists at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have developed an artificial eye that could someday help cure blindness or even enhance human vision. For now, their creation boasts just 100-pixel resolution, but the groundwork has been laid.

The team, led by Leilei Gu, describe their creation in a paper published yesterday in the journal Nature. In that paper, Gu et al. describe an electrochemical eye with a hemispherical retina made of a high-density array of nanowires [that mimic] the photoreceptors on a human retina.

Build to be structurally similar to a real human eye, the spherical cyborg eye uses a 100 FOV lens (the human eye boasts a 130 FOV) to focus light onto a 2mm-wide area that features a densely packed array of photosensitive nanowires in lieu of the rods and cones in our own eyes. Just like in the human eye, the light travels through a space filled with, in this case, an ionic fluid before activating those photoreceptors and sending a signal further down the pipe using thin, flexible wires made of a liquid metal (eutectic galliumindium alloy) in lieu of nerve fibers.

Most impressive is that even the current prototype can match or even surpass the human eye in certain respects. According to a news report in Nature, the sensitivity to light of the artificial retina is already on par with the human eye, and the nanowires responsiveness is actually fasterthey can produce a response in 19.2ms and recover in as little as 23.9ms, compared to the 40-150ms response and recovery times of photo receptors in the human eye.

Where it falls (far) short is in overall resolution. Each pixel is made up of four nanowires, and the current version only boasts a 10 x 10 pixel resolution in that tiny 2mm-wide array. The nanowires themselves are tiny, but the liquid metal nerves are still too big. Manufacturing the current version is both expensive and slow, and the actual resilience of this design needs to be tested to determined how quickly the artificial retina breaks down. Finally, the current version needs external power, though scientists say this design could someday be solar powered.

Knowing all of this, were obviously a ways away from curing blindness with cyborg eyes, much less improving on human vision with eye upgrades that could extend our visual awareness beyond the traditional visible light spectrum. But a waysthe Nature report imagines real-life use as soon as within the next decadeis a far sight sooner than most of us can even fathom for a technology straight out of science fiction.

To read up on this breakthrough in more detail, check out the news report on the Nature website. And if you have a subscription to the journal, you can read the full research paper at this link.

(via New Scientists via Engadget)

Image credits: Header photo by Harry Quan, CC0

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Researchers Have Created a Cyborg Eye that Works Like the Real Thing - PetaPixel

Transhumanism: Meet the cyborgs and biohackers redefining beauty – CNN

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Written by Karina Tsui, CNN

Today, we can alter our bodies in previously unimaginable ways, whether that's implanting microchips, fitting advanced prosthetic limbs or even designing entirely new senses.

So-called transhumanists -- people who seek to improve their biology by enhancing their bodies with technology -- believe that our natural condition inhibits our experience of the world, and that we can transcend our current capabilities through science.

Ideas that are "technoprogressive" to some are controversial to others. But to photographer David Vintiner, they are something else altogether: beautiful.

Made in collaboration with art director and critic Gem Fletcher, the book features a variety of people who identify, to some degree, as "transhuman" -- including a man with bionic ears that sense changes in atmospheric pressure, a woman who can "feel" earthquakes taking place around the world and technicians who have developed lab-made organs.

Fletcher was first introduced to the transhumanist subculture via the London Futurist Group, an organization that explores how technology can counter future crises. Upon meeting some of its members, the London-based art director approached Vintiner with the idea of photographing them in a series of portraits.

"Our first shoot was with Andrew Vladimirov, a DIY 'brain hacker,'" Vintiner recalled in a phone interview. "Each time we photographed someone new, we asked for referrals and introductions to other key people within the movement."

Redefining human experience

One of Vintiner's subjects, James Young, turned to bionics after losing his arm and leg in an accident in 2012. Young had always been interested in biotechnology and was particularly drawn to the aesthetics of science fiction. Visualizing how his body could be "re-built," or even perform enhanced tasks with the help of the latest technology, became part of his recovery process.

But according to the 29-year-old, the options presented to him by doctors were far from exciting -- standard-issue steel bionic limbs with flesh-colored silicone sleeves.

"To see what was available was the most upsetting part," Young said in a video interview.

"What the human body can constitute, in terms of tools and technology, is such a blurry thing -- if you think about the arm, it's just a sensory piece of equipment.

"If there was anyone who would get their arm and leg chopped off, it would be me because I'm excited about technology and what it can get done."

Japanese gaming giant Konami worked with prosthetics sculptor Sophie de Oliveira Barata to design a set of bionic limbs for Young. The result was an arm and leg made from gray carbon fiber -- an aesthetic partly inspired by Konami's "Metal Gear Solid," one of the then-22-year-old's favorite video games.

Beyond the expected functions, Young's robotic arm features a USB port, a screen displaying his Twitter feed and a retractable dock containing a remote-controlled drone. The limbs are controlled by sensors that convert nerve impulses from Young's spine into physical movements.

"Advanced prosthetics enabled James to change people's perception of (his) disability," said Vintiner of Young, adding: "When you first show people the photographs, they are shocked and disconcerted by the ideas contained within. But if you dissect the ideas, they realize that they are very pragmatic."

Young says it has taken several years for people to appreciate not just the functions of advanced bionic limbs but their aesthetics, too. "Bionic and electronic limbs were deemed scary, purely because of how they looked," he said. "They coincided with the idea that 'disability is not sexy.'"

He also felt there was stigma surrounding bionics, because patients were often given flesh-colored sleeves to conceal their artificial limbs.

"Visually, we think that this is the boundary of the human body," Young said, referring to his remaining biological arm. "Opportunities for transhumanists open up because a bionic arm can't feel pain, or it can be instantly replaced if you have the money. It has different abilities to withstand heat and to not be sunburned."

As Vintiner continued shooting the portraits, he felt many of his preconceptions being challenged. The process also raised a profound question: If technology can change what it is to be human, can it also change what it means to be beautiful?

"Most of my (original) work centers around people -- their behavior, character, quirks and stories," he said. "But this project took the concept of beauty to another level."

Eye of the beholder

Science's impact over our understanding of aesthetics is, to Vintiner, one of the most fascinating aspects of transhumanism. What he discovered, however, was that many in the movement still look toward existing beauty standards as a model for "post-human" perfection.

Speaking to CNN Style in 2018, Hanson said that Sophia's form would resonate with people around the world, and that her appearance was partly inspired by real women including Hanson's wife and Audrey Hepburn, as well as statues of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti.

Related video: Meet Sophia, the robot who smiles and frowns just like us

But with her light hazel eyes, perfectly arched eyebrows, long eyelashes, defined cheekbones and plump lips -- Sophia's appearance arguably epitomizes that of a conventionally beautiful Caucasian woman.

"When I photographed Ben Goertzel, he vocalized how he took no time to consider how he (himself) looked -- it was of no interest to him," the photographer recalled of the photo shoot.

Vintiner saw a certain irony: that someone who was unconcerned about his own appearance would nonetheless project our preoccupation with beauty through his company's invention.

It also served as a reminder that attractiveness may be more complex than algorithms can ever fathom.

"I fear that if we can design humans without any of the 'flaws' that occur in our biological makeup, things will be pushed further and further towards a level of perfection we can only imagine right now." Vintiner said. "Look at how plastic surgery has altered our perception of beauty in a very short space of time.

"If the transhumanists are right and we, as humans, can live to be several hundreds of years old, our notion of beauty and the very meaning of what it is to be human will change dramatically."

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Transhumanism: Meet the cyborgs and biohackers redefining beauty - CNN

Ray Fisher says Cyborg story in Zack Snyder’s Justice League will hit some hearts" – Flickering Myth

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Ray Fisher, who plays Cyborg in Zack Snyders Justice League, says that his storyline is deep and emotional.

Supposedly, a lot changed between Zack Snyders Justice League and the theatrical version we have seen directed by Joss Whedon. Now that Snyders take is finally being released, we will get to see just how different it is.

Ray Fisher, who plays Cyborg in the movie, teases that Snyders film is actually a lot deeper and Cyborgs story is really emotional. Speaking to TheNiceCasthe said:

Cyborg in Zack Snyders Justice League, hes not a happy camper by any stretch, but I dont think anybody would be if you had just lost everything that youve known about yourself. Your body, youve lost your mother, youve lost your ability to play football, one of the defining things that youve established for yourself. Youve lost a sense of yourself, and its about finding that again, finding that humanity again.

Theres a ton of allegory with respect to that in being a Black man, and just the journey that Black people have taken in this country. It can go as deep as you will allow it to, and I thank my stars that I was in the capable hands of Chris and Zack to be like, Listen, how far are we going to take this? This can hit some hearts, man. It can really hit some hearts.'

SEE ALSO: Zack Snyders Justice League will cost way more than $30 million to complete

Fans will certainly be hoping that the Snyder Cut lives up to the hype after all this build-up. At the very least, audiences will get to see the movie that was originally intended.

InJustice League, fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Supermans selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroesBatman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flashit may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Justice Leaguewas directed by Zack Snyder and featured Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta and Robin Wright as General Antiope, J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, Amber Heard as Mera and Ciaran Hinds as Steppenwolf.

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Ray Fisher says Cyborg story in Zack Snyder's Justice League will hit some hearts" - Flickering Myth

Watch Cyborg Actor Ray Fisher Tear Up After the Snyder Cut Announcement – Epicstream

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It was no mystery that Justice League was not well received when it came out, and one of the characters considered to have been thrown under the bus was Ray Fishers Cyborg. With the announcement of Zack Snyders Justice League though, everyone was celebrating online. As for Fisher, he got a tad emotional during the announcement.

You can watch him tear-up in his twitch stream here (via DC Movie News):

No doubt, Cyborg is the underdog of the entire League, and JL was supposed to be his origin story. With most of his character development being thrown out the window, Im very interested to see just how much we missed him in the film.

Personally, I really thought the casting of Fisher was spot-on, and I was really looking forward to seeing more of him in the DCEU. Should everything have gone according to plan, Fisher would have already starred in his own solo Cyborg film sometime in the year. Then again, it could have been delayed what with the Coronavirus and all.

We dont know what the release of Zack Snyders Justice League means for the DCEU as a whole, but Im crossing my fingers that it renews interest for the entire franchise moving forward. I still want that Cyborg film, and I want to see more of Ben Afflecks Batman.

This is also possibly a long shot, but a lot of people want to see David Ayers original cut of Suicide Squad as well.

For now, Zack Snyders Justice League is set for a release date sometime in 2021 on HBO Max.

Read Also: Justice League Stars React to Snyder Cut Announcement

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Watch Cyborg Actor Ray Fisher Tear Up After the Snyder Cut Announcement - Epicstream

Scientists Create A Cyborg Eye Thats Almost Like The Real Thing – Ubergizmo

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The problem with a lot of prosthetics today is that they dont 100% mimic human parts, although some really do come close. However, thanks to the work of scientists at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, they have developed a cyborg eye that is said to be almost like the real thing.

Current visual prosthetic devices have their limitations, one of which is that it uses a flat object to sense images. This means that it doesnt exactly conform to the human eyes spherical shape, and as a result, its field of vision is narrower versus the human eye, which has around a 150-degree field of vision.

However, what the researchers have done is create an artificial eye that mimics the human eye. This particular design includes a lens to help focus light, along with a hemispherical retina. In the middle of the eye, they have filled it with a conductive fluid, similar to an actual human eye which is hollow in the middle and filled with vitreous humour.

The eye itself is made from porous aluminum oxide and filled with nanowires that are light-sensitive. This means that when there is light, it will activate and transmit electrical signals. Right now, the eye requires an external power source, but the researchers believes that given the use of the nanowires, it is possible that it could double up as a small solar cell and eventually make the eye self-sufficient in future iterations.

Filed in Medical >Robots. Read more about Science, Social Hit and Wearable Tech. Source: newscientist

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Scientists Create A Cyborg Eye Thats Almost Like The Real Thing - Ubergizmo