“Being able to sell it just shows us that we do have some sort of control, some sort of agency in the whole process,” Roth said in an interview...
BITS ‘N’ PIECES
“Disaster Girl” Zoe Roth, now 21, has made bank after selling a NFT of her meme. It sold for 180 Ether, which was worth $430,000 at the time of auction. The image was minted so Roth retains copyright. She gets a 10% cut every time it is re-sold.
She was the subject of a viral image that became a meme favourite for humorous (and somewhat sinister) takes on life, after the photo snapped in 2005 by her father was turned into a meme.
Roth, then 4, was wandering around her North Carolina neighbourhood when her father took a picture of her flashing a sly smile while firefighters put out a house fire. While she may not be an arsonist or a pyromaniac, that soon became her alter ego.
The image turned into a popular meme re-shared millions of times over the last decade, but the family never found a way to make money off Roth’s internet infamy — until it was suggested that she sell the original image as a non-fungible token (NFT).
“Being able to sell it just shows us that we do have some sort of control, some sort of agency in the whole process,” Roth said in an interview.
NFTs are unique digital assets stored on blockchain technology — the same technology that makes cryptocurrency like Bitcoin possible. Most NFTs are stored on the Ethereum blockchain, a digital ledger. In Roth’s case, the image can be likened to a “trading card” or a unique work of art.
Samsung is bringing some of the strengths of its flagship Galaxy smartphones over to its notebook line.
The company announced four mobile-first PCs that combine the power of a laptop with the responsiveness of its smartphones: the Galaxy Book, Galaxy Book Pro, Galaxy Book Pro 360 and Galaxy Book Odyssey, all of which run on Windows 10 and an Intel processor.
The new laptops are super thin and light. They also feature a long-lasting battery, an updated S Pen, noise-cancelling microphones, and deep integration with smartphones. The integration is perhaps one of the most interesting additions, allowing users sync their phone with a Galaxy laptop. Windows’ Your Phone App lets users checking texts, calls and run apps on the PC.
The company has long been known for its displays, design, battery life and camera quality, so it’s a natural step to bring some of that over to its notebooks.
Samsung’s two annual “Unpacked” press events are usually reserved for its smartphones. Holding an event specifically to showcase laptops underscores how the company is betting on sustained interest in PCs even as offices prepare for workers to return. Even though lockdown restrictions are lifting, the pandemic has changed the way consumers and businesses view laptops.
Samsung is playing catch up, especially when it comes to business users where Dell, HP, and Lenovo currently dominate.
The pressure is also on Samsung to say its products can keep up with Apple’s new blazing-fast M1 chip featured inside its latest line of Apple iMacs and iPhones.
In January, Research firm Gartner reported US consumer demand for PCs in 2020 was the highest it’s been in two decades; worldwide, PC sales jumped five percent from the year before — the biggest growth in 10 years.
