Matt Salter

Inside The Complicated History Between Sam Bankman-Fried & Binance's CZ - SlashGear

Horacio Villalobos/Getty Images This last will-they-won't-they deal between Binance and FTX is in many ways a product of longstanding issues between the two cryptocurrency exchanges. At the heart is a culture conflict between the exchanges and their CEOs. The two companies began in radically different settings.

Huawei and ZTE just landed on the FCC's worst blocklist

Biden administration's crackdown on Chinese-made electronics may take major phone manufacturers off the American market.

How Sam Bankman-Fried's Downfall Could Have Been A Big Problem For Elon Musk - SlashGear

Whenever it seems like the media marketplace has hit some kind of cosmic limitation on complicated business pertaining to Elon Musk, somehow reality provides. For instance, it turns out Sam Bankman-Fried of the collapsing, possibly felonious FTX cryptocurrency exchange, could have owned a sizable chunk of Musk's mess had events turned out just a little bit differently.

Meet Matter: Why This Smart Home Savior Is Worth Paying Attention To - SlashGear

Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock Can Matter change the IoT game? Probably! Based on what's been released to the press, the technology seems solid and the development tools are both clear and user-friendly. Will it? Good question. Close observers of the smart home market, or frankly any competitive market, might have doubts.

Why There's A Rush To Build A Social Media Platform On The Blockchain - SlashGear

Blockchain is the generic term for a particular decentralized approach to storing and accessing information online. The process is complex and requires a network of computers (via IBM), but, in the most basic sense, blockchain scatters information across a network, then encrypts it so that only the whole network working together can read it.

The Sky is Falling? On the Cloud and What Comes Next.

The cloud isn't forever, and may not last as long as businesses are betting. What's next?

Cryptocurrency... IN SPACE!

With help straight from SpaceX, a new cryptocurrency wants to go global - and beyond.

Doing Drones

Drones have several valuable applications in real estate. Don't miss your flight!

Google Hangouts Is Officially Dead - SlashGear

Anelovski/Shutterstock As we consign Google Hangouts to digital posterity, we see two lessons in its successes and ultimate failure. The first is that Hangouts - and Google+ as a whole - simply never got buy-in on the scale it needed to be sustainable.

The Metaverse Was Around Way Before You Realized - SlashGear

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images It might seem strange to mention a free-to-play video game in the same digital breath as something meant to reinvent the entire concept of interacting online. However, Nick Statt at Protocol rightly points out that "Fortnite" has hit goals Meta is nowhere near.

The Unfortunate Mazda 6 Design That Attracted Spiders - SlashGear

false/Shutterstock At the heart of this problem was the yellow sac spider, a particularly common variety of spiders in the Americas. Yellow sac spiders are nocturnal and prefer tube-shaped sites for their nests, where they weave silk shelters to wait out the day (via AnimalDiversity.org).

This Electric Car Failure Was Decades Ahead Of Its Time - SlashGear

Smile Fight/Shutterstock Seattle City Light was well ahead of the marketplace when it came to electric-powered cars. As Seattle's public power utility, City Light has consistently been well-funded and well regarded, giving it time and resources to experiment. One notable innovation hit the streets in 1968.

Sophia, Or the Perils of Robo-Citizenship

Saudi Arabia gave a robot citizenship. What happens if she gets hacked?

Is Monsanto Poisoning Crops?

According to a new study, a chemical treatment from the world's largest seed and pesticide supplier may be destroying competing crops.

On the Demographics of Legal Marijuana

Without major changes, the legal marijuana market is risks recreating the same racial, class and cultural prejudice that plagues drug enforcement.

EU Kicks Off Major Probe Into Microsoft's Activision Blizzard Deal - SlashGear

Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images The EU brief lays out several areas of concern, all valid, though some do seem a little late. For instance, EU watchdogs would like to investigate whether Microsoft holds an effective monopoly over PC operating systems, a question that was answered ("yes, but customers seem content to live with it") before the EU existed.

Xbox Keystone Game Streaming Dongle Shelved: Here's Why - SlashGear

Peter Summers/Getty Images In a talk with Sarah Needleman at WSJ Tech Live, Spencer addressed the Keystone's future: "Keystone was the codename of something we were incubating internally, which was, think of it as a streaming console, so there's no local gameplay, low cost, plug it into your television and you'd be able to stream to your television the Xbox games that are available."

Konami Reveals Major New Silent Hill Game And Movie Projects - SlashGear

For diehard fans of Konami's psychological horror series, the biggest news of the transmission might have been the announcement, complete with trailer, of a ground-up remake of "Silent Hill 2." Widely regarded as the best "Silent Hill" game and one of the best horror games of all time, "Silent Hill 2" holds a special place in horror fans' shriveled black hearts.

Dungeons and Dragons with Kids

The world's most popular roleplaying game can be fun for the whole family. Here's how.

Beginner's Guide to Wordscapes

New to Wordscapes? No worries! Our resident word nerd walks you through the game.

How to Solve Crossword Puzzles

Crosseyed over crosswords? These four steps will take you to mastery.

HARU NEMURI stuns crowd at Mohawk at SXSW

Written by Matt Salter On March 16, Tokyo-based singer/songwriter and rapper, Haru Nemuri, made her debut appearance at the Mohawk, one of the venues for South by Southwest, the Austin, TX festival of art, technology, and culture. Austin's reputation as the Live Music Capital of the World (that's our trademarked motto.

Seven Spires Finds Clarity in Chaos

Seven Spires' This God Is Dead feat. Roy Khan properly puts "symphonic" in "symphonic metal." In places the 10 minute track is almost theatrical, showing as much DNA from Andrew Lloyd Webber and neoclassical experiments like Trans-Siberian Orchestra as Nightwish and Maiden, particularly in the harmonies early in the song.

Pom Pom Squad has stories to tell of life, love, and growing up

Written by Matt Salter Pom Pom Squad had already grabbed the attention of the great and the good when they played their first SXSW show on March 16. By the time we caught their Channel 3 show, word had gotten around about the sweetly sinister, proudly queer pop/grunge act.

Black Pistol Fire Drop Video For "Look Alive"

Kevin McKeown and Eric Owen may have grown up in North Toronto, but the work they've done as duo Black Pistol Fire does honor to their adopted home. Their latest video, "Look Alive," is pure Austin -- a little bit hick, a little bit hipster, plenty of punk.

Texas Textbooks Pay Tribute to the I-35 Corridor With "Birds"

Texas Textbooks' "Birds" is a warm, twangy, surprisingly smart album just right for summer 2021. The band's staunch localism, which might have been off putting in a less welcoming package, instead provides a solid roadmap for songs to please listeners in and out of Bat City.

Rapper and singer/songwriter, Bbymutha, spits out killer rhymes at SXSW's FLOODfest

Bbymutha, brought everything she had to a killer set at SXSW. Her heavy-as-Hell mashup of rap, R&B and electric blues hit a hot, packed room just right. Austin may have a hipster reputation, but it's still Texas. Serve up thick, heavy Southern heat in those beats, lay down those brilliant too-real lyrics about love, death, sex and God, and we will shout out.

Mobley Releases New EP "Young and Dying in the Occident Supreme"

Right from the title, Mobley's new release is a mouthful. "Young and Dying in the Occident Supreme" has a great deal to say about America, capitalism, religion and sundry Big Ideas™. It doesn't always hit. Mobley apparently recorded "Occident Supreme" sojourning in Thailand. You can kinda tell.

Leti Garza Releases "Borderland" EP

Let's get right to it -- the first song on this album features the line "All this crazy border madness/That makes a country create laws/without looking at the faces of the children." Earnest, we're saying. If that's your jam, allow us to recommend Leti Garza's latest, "Borderland." Musically, "Borderland"'s Spanish-language tracks hit hardest.

Thanks Light Drops Video For "I Get High (Off You)"

Funny fact - as of writing, Google lists Austin indie rockers Thanks Light as "classical." And y'know what? They're not wrong. That's not to say Thanks Light, who recently dropped a new video for their single "I Get High (Off You)," are in danger of adding contrabass or harpsichord to their current four-piece featuring lap steel and Moog.

Philadelphia’s Ceramic Animal shines in debut SXSW performance

Tyson Swindell Releases Single "Binary Stars" Off Box Set

In the Spotify Age, musicians looking to sell hardcopy releases are well-advised to bring extra assets to play. "L'Aventura," the latest box set from songwriter and composer Tyson Swindell comes correct for lovers of musical minutiae, with a bound book of poetry and an honest to Memorex mixtape of pre-release material alongside his sweet, new lo-fi lament "Binary Stars."

EZRA FURMAN CLICKS, MOVES AT LUSTRE PEARL DURING SXSW

Furman's performance, it may have been that the music didn't quite fit the room. Lustre Pearl was classic Austin on the 15th, a freewheeling, slightly vague crowd pointing their collective attention at everything from dates to drinks to several games of ping pong in front of the outdoor stage.

Danilo Melds Thick Electronica, Smooth R&B On 'All I Want' EP

Danilo's "All I Want" EP is classic late-night makeout music, and there's not a damn thing wrong with that. Bedroom R&B in all senses of the term, every track is carefully constructed, showcases Danilo Riggs's lovely tenor and righteous songwriting chops, and has every intention of getting in your pants.

TV Spies

Even if you have your computer and phone locked down tight, there may be a hole in your data security. Follow our guide to secure the biggest, easiest hack in your home - the TV.

Graham Wilkinson Refines His Sound With "Cuts So Deep"

Graham Wilkinson has never been shy about exploring the antecedents and outer fringes of the AOR idiom. Wilkinson's 2009 "YEARBOOK" memorably ranged from ballads to heavy riffs to ska, snagging appearances from local luminaries Alejandro Escovedo and Hayes Carll for even more variety. 2016's effort "Because of You'' brought as much reggae to the table as rock.

Twitter's first post-Musk blog claims 'none of our policies have changed'

Musk's first Twitter blog strategically ignores organizational chaos.

New Filings Show Tesla Has Big Plans for Gigafactory Texas

New paperwork indicates major changes on the horizon for Tesla's huge Texas factory.

Meet Matter - Why this smart home savior is worth paying attention to

The Matter software protocol may change the smart home business forever.

iPhone 15 Pro could see Apple's war on buttons claim new victims

Apple's war on buttons and analog control may have claimed another victim.

Apple may be Taking Secret Payments From One of Its Biggest Competitors. Here's Why

Apple may be skirting legality in a secret arrangement with a major competitor.

Metaverse and Fortnite

Struggling Metaverse could learn from the immersive success of Fortnite.