The Dark Forest is a vast universe, and most of it is covered in darkness. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to venture into the unknown, avoid being destroyed by opposing players who may lurk in the shadows, and build an empire of enemies. planets that you explore and can create your own.
But while the video game looks and plays like other online strategy games, it doesn’t rely on servers running other popular online strategy games. Instead, Dark Forest runs entirely on a blockchain, in a way that means no one has control over how it plays out.
The game’s success proves that blockchains can be used in far more interesting and complex ways than simply moving digital currency, something several blockchain champions have repeated. since this technology first appeared.
And it could point to something even more profound: the possibility of a metaverse not owned by a major tech company. Read full story.
—Mike Orcutt
Things to read
I scoured the internet to find you today’s most interesting/important/scary/fascinating stories about tech.
1 Cryptocurrency Exchange Binance Doesn’t Buy Its FTX Rival
However, we still don’t know the full extent of FTX’s financial crisis. (WSJ $)
+ Nothing and no one in crypto is too big to fail. (NYT $)
+ The crypto market is even more volatile than usual right now. (Bloomberg $)
+ Meanwhile, crypto is back on the agenda for the new Governor of New York. (The Verge)
2 Why the Republican ‘red wave’ didn’t come true
The specter of Donald Trump and Dobbs’ decision looms large. (Vox)
+ The allure of Trumpism certainly seems to be waning. (Atlantic $)
+ Conspiracy theories regarding the outcome were also unsuccessful. (NYT $)
+ However, that doesn’t stop those who reject the election from trying. (Bloomberg $)
+ Here’s how to avoid being fooled by misinformation. (WP $)
3 Brace yourself for a sick winter
It’s a triple threat of flu, covid and respiratory viruses. (Wired $)
+ The wave of respiratory bugs happened before we had a vaccine. (Slate $)
+ Is a covid and flu an ongoing “twin pandemic”? (MIT Technology Review)
4 How Donald Trump Unwittingly Helped the Paris Agreement
His withdrawal from the treaty actually prompted other nations to take action. (Atlantic $)
+ The compensations could eventually offset the worst-affected countries. (Wired $)
+ Climate action is gaining momentum. So are disasters. (MIT Technology Review)
5 A viral app has been falsely accused of being a front for sex trafficking
This is just the latest in a long line of boisterous apps targeted by trafficking scams. (WP $)
6 There are fewer ransomware attempts than before
The unwillingness to pay the ransom could be a factor behind this drop. (FT $)
+ The world’s largest ransomware gang has disappeared from the Internet. (MIT Technology Review)
Twitter’s 7 laid-off workers flooded with job offers
Despite the tech hiring freeze, they’re still in very high demand. (Information $)
+ More than 11,000 Meta employees will join them. (Motherboard)
+ Twitter’s verification and ‘official’ referrals have been a mess. (WP $)
