Weekend 🔗 Digest - Court Adjourned 👨🏾⚖️
[7 min read] In your inbox every Saturday, best enjoyed with coffee and lunch ☕🍽️. This week is a legal theme, with excitement in the courts this week around NFTs, VR, & a judge using ChatGPT.
Hello everyone!
Hope you all enjoy this weeks legal themed Weekend 🔗 Digest, along with Bitcoin network innovation and a touch of sports (outside my comfort zone for sure!)
Anyone new be sure to check out the history & purpose of this newsletter as well as the archive.
Ryan
Here’s what you’re getting today:
Market update: NZ rate hike makes borrowing more painful, crypto market flat
Interesting news: A legal theme, with excitement in the courts this week around NFTs, VR, & a judge using ChatGPT
Video of the week: NBAs new streaming experience gives a flavour of what the Metaverse will bring
This week’s AI creation: I start a customised children’s book featuring my son and nephew
Market update 📈
🥝 Borrowing costs to increase in NZ. Reserve Bank increased the Official Cash Rate on Wednesday from 4.25% to 4.75%. “The OCR still needs to increase…to ensure inflation returns to within its target range over the medium term. While there are early signs of price pressure easing, core consumer price inflation remains too high, employment is still beyond its maximum sustainable level, and near-term inflation expectations remain elevated”.
🗺️ Crypto Market Heatmap shows the crypto market cooling off slightly this week (size of the blocks are market share, colour & % show the change over the last week)
🤔 Sentiment also cooled off as predicted, heading back to that 50 midpoint🧲 as there is still unease about how long the bear market will last.
Following last week, I continue the series on reasons to be bullish on Bitcoin in 2023. Today I discuss new innovations that continue to emerge on Bitcoin and Lightning such as:
Taro now enables the issuance of theoretically any kind of asset on the Bitcoin blockchain while still using the immutable verification of Bitcoin’s proof-of-work consensus mechanism.
FediMint is a new promising method to custody bitcoin by forming collaborative custody communities to help secure each others’ bitcoin and protect privacy (takes advantage of the inherent fact that people trust those closest to them the most)
Nunchuk released the first (and only) Bitcoin wallet to offer end-to-end encrypted, multi-user multi-signature capabilities.
Impervious Technologies launched the first peer-to-peer (p2p) web browser built on top of Bitcoin’s second-layer scaling solution, the Lightning Network. It offers secure p2p messaging, p2p video calls, p2p workspaces, decentralized identity management, decentralized data storage, and direct user monetization of their data. Amazing.
Machankura was coded by African developer, Kgothatso Ngako, who noticed a problem — most Africans have basic phones, but don’t have access to a reliable internet connection — so he created a solution. Machankura enables people in Africa to receive and spend Bitcoin via text messages without needing an internet connection.
Interesting news from the week 🗞️
This week there is a legal theme:
⚖️ Colombia passed legislation last year enabling the use of emerging technologies in judicial proceedings and is putting it to use. A Colombian court case was recently heard virtually with participants using VR headsets and interacting via avatars, they could also dial the old fashion way of course.
This comes after a Colombian judge last month made what is thought to be the first AI-assisted legal decision - making it clear any info put forward by the ChatGPT gets fully fact-checked and the purpose is to assist and speed up the process, not to replace judiciary expertise.
📖 The US Copyright Office decides that you can’t copyright Midjourney AI-generated images. A copyright registration granted to a comic book has been partially cancelled because individual images generated by AI cannot be copyrighted due to “non-human authorship”.
The dance between AI-generated content and copyright law continues after Stable Diffusion and Midjourney were targeted with a copyright lawsuit last month.
🏀 NBA could be in hot water with their Top Shot NFT collection where fans can own video highlights from their favourite NBA & WNBA teams and players:
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has not yet issued any formal guidance on whether NFTs are securities, but using the Howey definition and the SEC’s Framework, many NFT transactions are (probably) not securities. Excellent analysis here.
Video of the week 🎥
🏀A big part of the emerging Metaverse is immersive experiences. This awesome streaming experience from NBA is just a taste of the direction we are going in.
🔮 I’m imagining a future where fans watch a game, but their team loses by 2 points, missing a shot at the very end. Immediately, via VR, fans can recreate the moment and see if they can make the shot, challenging their friends and earning rewards.
This week’s AI creation 🎨🤖🎵
Each week I showcase something amazing generated by an AI-based tool. AI is disruptive, challenging industries and driving innovation. The emerging Metaverse is being shaped by AI.
This week I was inspired to make a childrens book for my son and his little cousin, Tupaia. For fun, I wanted to include the family dogs 🐾. This week I will show you how I used ChatGPT to generate the story itself. Next week I’ll make the illustrations using Midjourney. Then I will self-publish the book on using KDP Amazon, which can be printed to order by parents, grandparents, etc.
Below is a selection of the prompts used, overall it took about a 30min of trial and error to get to the final output I was happy with.
Page 1-7 are shown below:
Sterling and Tupaia loved exploring the world around them with their furry friends, Geoffrey and Tua. One day, while playing in the park, they stumbled upon a secret cave hidden behind a small but bushy manuka tree. Geoffrey and Tua barked with excitement as they stepped into the cave. The air became colder, and the boys shivered while the dogs stuck close to their owners. Suddenly, a loud roar echoed through the cave, making the ground shake. The group froze, not knowing what to do.
Then, suddenly, from the shadows emerged a giant, furry creature with horns and sharp teeth. Sterling and Tupaia were frightened at first, but the creature soon introduced itself as Kaitiaki, the friendly monster. They were the guardian of the cave, and had been waiting for visitors. Kaitiaki led the group deeper into the cave, where they came across a glowing portal. "This portal leads to a magical galaxy full of friendly monsters," Kaitiaki said. "Each monster teaches a different lesson. You must be careful and listen closely." The group stepped through the portal and suddenly found themselves in a world unlike any they had ever seen. The sky was filled with swirling colors, and the trees sparkled like diamonds.
The first monster they met was a fluffy, pink creature named Mawhero, who was busy gathering flowers and arranging them in a beautiful bouquet. Sterling and Tupaia watched as Mawhero carefully selected each flower and arranged them just so. Mawhero noticed the children watching and waved them over. "Hello there. Do you like flowers?" Sterling and Tupaia nodded enthusiastically. "Well, I have a special lesson for you," said Mawhero. "You see, just like flowers need water and sunlight to grow, people need kindness to flourish." Mawhero showed them how just a smile or a kind word can make someone's day.
The second monster they met was a glittery, green creature named Kakariki. Kakariki was busy digging through a pile of shiny gems and crystals. "Welcome, welcome!" said Kakariki, looking up at Sterling and Tupaia. "I'm Kakariki. Do you like shiny things?" Sterling and Tupaia nodded excitedly. "Well, I have a special lesson for you," said Kakariki. "You see, just like sharing your toys or your snacks can make someone happy, sharing your time and your talents can make a big difference too." Kakariki showed them how to make a beautiful necklace out of the gems, and they all shared it, taking turns wearing it.
The third monster they met was a spiky, yellow creature named Kowhai. Kowhai was busy practicing his martial arts moves. "Hey there!" said Kowhai, grinning at Sterling and Tupaia. "I'm Kowhai. Do you like to be brave?" Sterling and Tupaia nodded, a little nervously. "Well, I have a special lesson for you," said Kowhai. "You see, sometimes it's scary to try new things or to stand up for what you believe in. But if you're brave and face your fears, you'll find that you can do anything." Kowhai showed them some cool martial arts moves, and they tried them out, feeling braver with each try.
The fourth monster they met was a wobbly, blue creature named Kahurangi. Kahurangi was busy balancing on a stack of books. "Oh, hello there," said Kahurangi, wobbling a little bit. "I'm Kahurangi. Do you like to keep going even when things get tough?" Sterling and Tupaia nodded, feeling a little unsure. "Well, I have a special lesson for you," said Kahurangi. "You see, sometimes things don't go as planned, and you might fall down or make a mistake. But if you keep trying and don't give up, you'll learn and grow and get better." Kahurangi showed them some balancing tricks, and they laughed as they tried to stay upright.
They had learned so much and had so much fun, but they were ready to go home. They returned back through the glowing portal and thanked Kaitiaki for their help, then walked back to the park then went home. After their adventure, Sterling and Tupaia returned to their world, feeling inspired and enlightened. They realized that the lessons they had learned from the friendly monsters applied not just to the alien galaxy, but to their own world as well. And so, they went on to live their lives, carrying the lessons with them and always remembering the magical world they had discovered.
Next week I will generate awesome illustrations for this, and get it printed by an online print-on-demand service.
Feel free to make one yourself, or you can always commission me to customise one for your children or grandchildren. I can also run a workshop for your organisation on how to use tools like ChatGPT, it’s one of many consulting services I offer.