Nick Weisser

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  • A Hacker’s Redemption

    A Hacker’s Redemption

    Decrypted is yet another amazing technology podcast produced by Bloomberg Technology. The global technology industry is a powerful engine of innovation. It’s also a collection of insular communities full of hidden projects, quiet rivalries, and uncomfortable truths. One episode per week uncovers what actually happens behind closed doors.

    By the time he was 27, Hector Monsegur had become one of the most notorious hackers on the Internet. With the vigilante group Anonymous and its offshoot LulzSec, he launched attacks against multibillion-dollar companies and governments around the world. But then he got caught. In theses 2 episodes of Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology’s Aki Ito and Brad Stone bring you his story in its entirety, in two episodes.

    Part 1 recounts Hector’s childhood as he fell in love with the Internet, and gradually descended into the world of cybercrime. Part 2 traces his complicated journey to rebuild his life.

    (Picture courtesy of Gabriella Bass)

  • The Big Guy Vs. The Little Guy

    The Big Guy Vs. The Little Guy

    Unchained is a podcast about big ideas from the worlds of blockchain and cryptocurrency. Laura Shin recently was in an episode of the amazing Bad Crypto Podcast where I learned about her Unchained Podcast.

    I first listened to her episode with Shapeshift’s Erik Voorhees on How Crypto Will Separate Money and State and then went on to get my mind blown by the episode with Vitalik Buterin, creator Of Ethereum, On The Big Guy Vs. The Little Guy.

    This podcast is indeed  providing premium content about blockchain technology. Vitalik certainly is one of the most if not the most important figure in the blockchain space. But is he really the benevolent dictator of Ethereum like Matt Mullenweg is for WordPress?

    I really like his broad, but very practical vision and perspective. Not often can someone with a very deep technical understanding of the underlying technology articulate himself so elaborately and concisely at the same time. And last but not least, I also really like his humor.

    In the podcast he speaks about how Ethereum as an ecosystem is becoming more and more decentralized – just as the technology itself, so even if some part becomes «evil», there’s still a fair chance that the ecosystem as a whole will be able to steer ahead.

    About Unchained

    Crypto assets and blockchain technology are about to transform every trust-based interaction of our lives, from financial services to identity to the Internet of Things. In this podcast, host Laura Shin, an independent journalist covering all things crypto, talks with industry pioneers about how crypto assets and blockchains will change the way we earn, spend and invest our money. Tune in to find out how Web 3.0, the decentralized web, will revolutionize our world.

    About Laura Shin

    Laura Shin is a Forbes senior editor managing their crypto and blockchain technology coverage (Bitcoin, Ethereum, ICOs, token sales, etc.), co-lead reporter of the Forbes Fintech 50 list, and host of the podcast Unchained: Big Ideas From The Worlds Of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Honors from Stanford University and has a master of arts from Columbia University’s School of Journalism. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Fortune, Fast Company, The Week, ZDNet and others. Follow her on Twitter at @laurashin.

    (Picture of Vitalik Buterin courtesy of TechCrunch/Flickr)

  • Snap Maps für ein offeneres Internet

    Snap Maps für ein offeneres Internet

    Nachdem sich in letzter Zeit viele einschliesslich Casey Neistat negativ über Snapchat geäussert haben, erhofft sich der YouTuber mehr von der Firma, deren Mission die schnellste Art den Moment zu teilen, teilweise von Instagram und Facebook durchkreuzt wurde.

    Ein spannendes neues Feature von Snapchat is die öffentliche Snap Map, die es ermöglicht öffentliche Snaps auch ausserhalb der App zu teilen wie ich das hier beispielhaft mit einem öffentliche Snap aus Zürich getan habe.

    Das ist einer der Gründe, weshalb ich Twitter lieber habe als Facebook. Es ist offener. Wäre ja schön, wenn Snapchat sich noch weiter öffnet für ein offeneres Internet.