Latest news with #LimeWire
Buzz Feed
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Millennials Are Sharing The Things We All Did 20 Years Ago That Would Make Any Gen Z'er Question Our Collective Sanity Now, And Oh Wow
I hate to break it to you, but we're officially closer to 2050 than we are to 2000. (Yes, that actually makes me sick just trying to wrap my brain around it.) And with time moving so quickly, tons of things that were completely normal in those days are completely obsolete now. Which is an equally hard pill to swallow. But it's always fun to reminisce on what life was really like in the 2000s, when life was simpler — and make fun of young people in the process. So recently on Reddit, people have been answering the question: "What's something people did instinctively 15 years ago, but now younger people don't even realize was a thing?" and the answers have unlocked some serious memories. Here's what people said: "Spending hours renaming and cataloguing an iTunes library ripped from LimeWire." "Carrying a Garmin or other GPS navigation device with you in your car." "Writing in cursive. I was at a wedding where the seating cards were written in cursive, and when I grabbed mine, I had three different younger couples ask me to find theirs." "'Instinctively'? Ctrl + S every few minutes." "Taking 500 photos on a digital camera on a single night out, and then uploading them all to Facebook in several separate albums." "Paying attention to the way you're going so you know how to get back. Or pay attention to landmarks. No one seems to do this anymore." "Downloading playlists to iPods or phones because streaming would destroy your data." "Set up a meeting point when going to a concert, and a fall-back position after the concert in case we get lost." "Travelling internationally without a smartphone, and hoping a friendly local is honest when you ask directions." "People don't know what it's like for weed to be counter cultural and criminal anymore. Kids don't know how to roll joints in legal states; they all get pre rolls. They don't know what it's like to drive 45 minutes outside of town to meet some 45 year old burnout dude playing with knives in the corner while he tries to spit a freestyle for you, and get you to smoke a blunt with him when all you want is your $35 1/8th of an unknown strain that he swears is some top-shelf med-grade shit." "Putting a CD into your car dashboard." "Taking off the head unit of your car stereo, putting it in its box, hiding it under the seat, and putting a wheel lock on, all before you leave and lock your car." "Printing MapQuest directions." "Lining up hours before a movie to get a good seat (no reserved seats). My friends and I lined up for two hours for Avatar when it first came out." "Checking your data usage to make sure you haven't gone over your 100 MB and incurred $0.05/KB overage charges." And similarly: "Restricting the length of your texts to not be charged another 12p for going over the character allowance for one text." "Memorizing phone numbers." "Mailing the DVD back to Netflix." "15 years ago, I still had to pay to 'rent' the required cable box on top of paying for the cable itself." "Handing the clerk your credit card instead of putting it in the machine yourself. And putting your car key in the door." "Turning on/off car headlights." "We talked to strangers so much because people were seen as our entertainment. It was completely normal to be in line at the grocery store just talking to people beside you while you waited. We didn't have phones to be stuck on all day, so we actually interacted with the world and people around us to not be bored." "Watching the 6:30 nightly news in real time. I stopped watching when Trump was elected." "Actually being friends with work colleagues; going to their birthday parties, etc. Now everyone just seems to want to get to work and go home." "Driving to stores to buy things, and planning your whole day around it." "Wedding invitations or important events would come with a map to the venue." "Writing a check." "Answering the phone when it rings." "Planning your route BEFORE getting in the car." "You went to work in nice clothes and got to wear jeans on Friday!" "Knowing which direction is north. In my experience, young people struggle to navigate anywhere without their smartphone giving them directions. They don't really examine the map, and they don't concern themselves with keeping track of where north is." "Hitting the rewind button." "Calling the credit card company before traveling." "Making YouTube videos for the fun of it. Now everyone thinks it's a job and is making soulless, cookie-cutter content by chasing trends to feed the algorithm." "Turning your phone off to save the battery. Now people would rather sacrifice their social life than be unreachable for 10 minutes." "Looking up businesses in the Yellow Pages." "Bulletin boards in coffee shops and casual restaurants are missing now. It used to be that if you wanted to hire someone for a local service, you could find people's flyers or business cards tacked to it: landscapers, plumbers, painters. You could also find show flyers." And we've covered the '00s, so now, let's chat about the '90s! What's something everyone did 25 years ago that would confuse young people today? Tell me in this quick form, or in the comments below! And for more content that brings you right back to the good ol' days, check out BuzzFeed Canada on Instagram and TikTok!
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A Decentralized AI Hub for Creators
LimeWire has reemerged as a decentralized AI platform focused on content creation, storage, and infrastructure. It combines AI-powered image, audio, and video tools with end-to-end encrypted file sharing and unlimited storage. The platform partners with BNB Greenfield for secure decentralized storage and file transfer. Blocknode, a forthcoming decentralized marketplace for enterprise-level GPUs, will allow GPU providers to monetize idle times while providing AI developers with a cost-effective infrastructure. The LimeWire ecosystem includes LMWR, its native token for payments, rewards, and stake-based governance within the platform. Few digital brands have left a cultural imprint like LimeWire. In the early 2000s, it redefined how people discovered and shared media. With its cross-platform interface and easy file search, LimeWire introduced millions to digital music long before streaming was mainstream. Unlike Napster, which faced an early shutdown, or Kazaa, which suffered from malware issues, LimeWire remained a staple until legal battles forced its closure in 2010. Now it's back, with a new architecture and mandate. LimeWire has rebuilt itself as a Web3-native platform centered around generative AI, decentralized compute, and creator monetization. It's not just reviving its legacy. It's rethinking the content stack from the ground up, layer by layer. The new LimeWire rebuilds the content creation stack with a focus on technical composability and open access. Instead of relying on siloed tools and cloud services, it combines AI-powered generation and editing with decentralized storage, encrypted file sharing, and permissionless access to compute resources. Before we dive into Limewire, let's discuss Artificial Intelligence, which has become a big driving force in digital content creation, changing how media is produced, consumed, and monetized. The rise of generative AI has changed how content is created, personalized, and distributed. From AI-written scripts to machine-assisted visual design, tools powered by models like Stable Diffusion and GPT are making creativity faster but not always AI-generated content market is expected to surpass $12B by 2033, and companies like Netflix have already embraced AI for personalization and production, exploring AI-driven script generation and video editing workflows to scale output. But this momentum hasn't translated into a fully usable creative stack for most people. Many AI workflows remain siloed, fragmented across tools that don't talk to each other. A creator might generate an image using one platform, upscale it on another, manage edits through a third-party tool, and then store the final asset in a separate cloud service. This lack of integration leads to duplicated work, broken workflows, and a heavy reliance on centralized storage or third-party plugins that may compromise security or limit collaboration. There's also the issue of quality control. As more users access free or open-source models, inconsistency in output quality, model drift, and fine-tuning limitations begin to surface, especially for non-technical users who lack the expertise to optimize generation parameters or retrain models for specific outcomes. And for larger teams, managing AI-generated assets presents additional pain points: version control, metadata accuracy, multi-user editing rights, and end-to-end security, none of which are natively handled by today's most popular AI content platforms. LimeWire addresses these gaps through a unified platform that combines content generation, enhancement, and decentralized storage. Users can access top-tier models like Stable Diffusion, DALL·E, and LimeWire's in-house Blue Willow, streamlining the path from concept to final asset. Whether creating visuals, music, or video, creators operate within a single, consistent environment; no external plugins or tools are required. Integrated editing features, smart metadata tagging, and encrypted file sharing remove the friction of managing large creative projects, while unlimited storage ensures that creators and teams don't have to compromise on scale. For solo creators and digital studios alike, LimeWire turns generative AI into a full-stack toolset, not just a model playground. Integrating generative AI tools with secure file-sharing, monetization, and scalable GPU access, enabling creators to produce, enhance, and distribute their work more effectively. Focusing on three parts: AI-powered image Generation: Leveraging Stable Diffusion, DALL·E, and proprietary AI models to give creators an intuitive way to generate stunning visuals. Whether it's concept art, marketing assets, or AI-assisted illustrations, these tools remove technical barriers and allow users to focus on creativity rather than complex design processes. AI-Assisted Music & Video Creation: Simplifies the production process for musicians, podcasters, and video creators. Features like automated composition, remixing, and smart video editing help users go from concept to polished product faster. AI-powered beat generation, adaptive mixing, and automated scene assembly enable more efficient workflows without sacrificing quality. Real-time Editing & Enhancement: AI-powered tools enable smart upscaling, auto-tagging, and seamless file conversion, making it easier for creators to refine and optimize their work. It can also enhance video resolution, clean up audio, or automate metadata generation, improving content quality without the complexity of traditional editing software. They aim to streamline digital content management by reducing reliance on multiple third-party apps and minimizing friction in file transfers and collaborations. Security risks are significantly lowered without a single centralized server dependency, ensuring creators and businesses maintain control over their assets. This improved efficiency allows users to focus on productivity, especially when handling large files and complex workflows. The explosion of AI-driven applications, from generative art to large language models, has sparked an unprecedented demand for compute power. While models and tooling have advanced rapidly, access to the hardware that powers them, specifically high-performance GPUs, remains prohibitively centralized and expensive. The numbers reflect the scale of the problem. The global AI GPU market, valued at $17.5B in 2024, is expected to reach $113.9B by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 30.6%. However, the majority of that capacity is controlled by a handful of cloud hyperscalers such as AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure, underpinned almost entirely by NVIDIA hardware. This concentration creates a chokepoint: Access is expensive, availability is inconsistent, and pricing lacks transparency. According to a 2024 McKinsey report, global demand for high-performance GPUs is projected to grow by 4x between 2023 and 2027, driven largely by the scaling needs of AI model training and inference. For startups and independent developers, this is a non-trivial barrier. A 2025 Deloitte survey found that 41% of AI startups cite GPU access and cost as their top technical hurdle. At the same time, thousands of GPUs across mining farms, data centers, and on-prem hardware sit idle, completely detached from the AI ecosystem due to a lack of liquid infrastructure to onboard them. This imbalance between skyrocketing AI demand and underutilized hardware has created a clear gap: How can GPU supply be made more liquid, discoverable, and affordable? Recognizing the need for a more accessible and cost-effective alternative, LimeWire has introduced Blocknode, a Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN) designed to disrupt the AI compute market. Monetizing Idle GPUs: GPU owners ranging from individual miners to data centers can rent out unused computing power through Blocknode, earning rewards in return. Affordable AI Compute: Developers and AI researchers can access a distributed network of GPUs, eliminating the need to rely solely on centralized providers like AWS. Decentralized & Transparent Pricing: Blocknode operates on a bid-based system, where AI developers use LMWR tokens to pay for GPU power, ensuring fair and transparent pricing. By tapping into idle GPU cycles, the network lowers overall costs and reduces GPU 'waste.' For instance, a GPU provider might see up to 25% ROI on hardware that would otherwise sit idle, while dev teams can save 20-30% compared to large, centralized cloud providers (LimeWire GPU pilot study, mid-2025). Case Example:If you require 400 GPU hours to train a generative model for a new NFT series, you can place a spot bid on Blocknode. Under light usage, spot instances might drop by 30–35% below typical rates, while GPU owners earn incremental LMWR on top of minimal downtime. Blocknode isn't just a cost-saver. It's a fundamental re-architecture of how AI compute is sourced, priced, and provisioned, one that decentralizes control and broadens participation in the next wave of AI innovation. Payments and incentives flow through $LMWR, LimeWire's multi-chain token deployed across Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, and Base for low-fee, high-frequency usage. Users can stake $LMWR or use it directly to bid for compute, with over 60% of advanced users combining both to optimize for yield and utility across fluctuating market conditions. Paul Zehetmayr is a co-founder and the co-CEO of LimeWire. Before LimeWire, he was the CEO of ZeroSSL, a company specializing in SSL certificates. He also served as CEO of Eversign, an electronic signature platform, and Invoicely, an invoicing software solution. His past ventures include APILayer, a software development company acquired by Idera, Inc., and Stack Holdings, where he focused on building user-friendly digital solutions. Julian Zehetmayr is also a co-founder and co-CEO of LimeWire. He previously built and led several successful ventures, including Stack Holdings and APILayer, which Idera Inc later acquired. In 2016, he launched Eversign, a widely adopted e-signature platform, and Invoicely, a small-business billing software. His work in AI and Web3 has fostered one of the largest AI communities on Discord, with over 2M active members. Once known for music sharing, LimeWire has reinvented itself as a full-stack AI platform, blending file sharing, compute access, and creator monetization. With unlimited storage, robust encryption, decentralized GPU access, and $LMWR incentives, it has everything in place to become an indispensable hub for creators, developers, and businesses. By combining DeFi, AI, and a heritage brand name, LimeWire offers a comprehensive approach to crypto-driven content creation, and if the early adoption metrics are any indicator, it's only just getting started. Suppose you're working on AI-native creative tools, decentralized compute infrastructure, or building at the intersection of media and Web3. In that case, LimeWire provides the rails to launch, scale, and monetize content in a fully composable stack. Explore the platform at or learn more about the $LMWR ecosystem at Sign in to access your portfolio
The Guardian
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Jordan Shea: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet)
I grew up pretty much without the internet until its apparent boom in my teenage years, around 2007-2008, at which point I hijacked my family's very limited bandwidth to watch the evolution of Tony award openings, and reruns of Whose Line Is It Anyway? Other experiences included picking up our landline to be met with the unholy screech of dial-up and ripping a CD on LimeWire, causing the monitor to slightly combust. Now, as a high school teacher, I battle the internet. Often my students refer to content that sends me to Google or my teacher WhatsApp group in search of understanding. But in the dressing room, my co-stars, who all have done their honours in The Internet, are teaching me, allowing me to feel less in the way and more part of the crowd. So, here are my 10 funniest things on the internet. Not ranked, just off the top of my head. This whole clip sums up the hilarity, stamina and pacing that anyone in a Mel Brooks musical requires to deliver the goods. It certainly was my own education while rehearsing The Producers! This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. Led by Mama LuLu, this Filipino family from the Bay Area thrive on making content dedicated to affectionately bullying each other. They are all hilarious, representing contemporary Filipino culture in America, with commentary on social issues, cooking, politics – and every single video they put out kills me. Mama LuLu refers to her children by their nicknames: Bottom, Apple and Lesbean – so I never knew their actual names until about two months ago. The family talk really seriously about issues, then pivot to total ridiculousness and screaming. Any video on their page is worth a watch. Here we see Mr G, in my opinion one of the best comic creations in Australian television, clearing the office of the school's head of drama. She's gone to New Zealand for about six weeks, and he clears the office like she's never coming back and he's replacing her. The way Mr G drops someone else's items into boxes so carelessly shows a contempt for teaching hierarchy that is totally believable. My best friend and I always quote 'Shit, crap, useless. You could use that couldn't you?' when we are in an op shop. The former Liberal candidate Jaymes Diaz appeared out of his depth when interviewed by Channel 10 ahead of the 2013 election. This was the first election I voted in, and I remember this resonating with me, because I thought the Liberal party were particularly callous in sending out someone so unprepared. The aesthetic of a candidate standing there, blanking entirely to a reporter, between two people who seemingly nod along with him, is like something out of Fast Forward. Fortunately, Diaz paid himself out a little later. I personally just love anyone screaming loudly in a comic way – on stage or on screen. Don Rickles is one of my favourite comedians ever. He was in his late 80s here but still shot some barbs that were extremely funny. The full version of this Larry King interview is worth watching, but this clip shows him acting like he has no idea who Justin Bieber is while also dismissing him completely, without saying anything at all. I will read this usually once a month, because it reads me to filth. Studio 10 is fascinating. Live audience numbers and applause are as slim as my bank account and waistline when I was in theatre school. The segments were extremely diverse: from political issues to segments on Darling Harbour. In this segment, veteran performer Denise Drysdale and blue tongue lizard aficionado Craig Bennett prepare a full three course meal for $82. It's full of zingers, and everything from thinning out soup with a bit of stock to Mark Trevorrow donating a super sweet 'Gary Sweet' prosecco. Just watch it. If I ever get extremely wealthy and have lots of free time, I want to track down the creative director and cast members and pitch to McDonald's the revival of this 1983 ad campaign. It is excellent, and brings a genuine smile to my face. I also have it on good authority that this was recreated by a McDonald's team in western Sydney. Jordan Shea is appearing in The Producers at Riverside theatres 15-18 May.
USA Today
05-03-2025
- USA Today
Keep your family and devices safe with Norton AntiVirus: Up to 58% off the first year
Keep your family and devices safe with Norton AntiVirus: Up to 58% off the first year — Recommendations are independently chosen by our editors. Purchases you make through our links may earn us and our publishing partners a commission. We all learned our lessons about computer viruses during the LimeWire-era, right? But in today's world of phishing emails and text message scams, it is just as important to protect your devices now as it was then. The new issue is that we all have several devices that need protection (and if you remember LimeWire, you might be protecting kids devices, as well). Don't worry, Norton AntiVirus has you covered with more than antivirus software. Not only can you protect the obvious devices around your home, like desktops and laptops, but also the ones that might not be as obvious, like your smartphone and little one's tablet. Norton offers plans to cover up to 10 devices, with features like malware, ransomware, and hacking protection. Right now, you can protect all of your devices for up to 58% off the first year. What does Norton Antivirus offer? Norton is one of the top names in the market when it comes to protecting your sensitive material. Norton offers a couple different packages to fit your needs. Pick the best Norton plan for your family 📲 More: Protect your devices with Norton: Get 58% off your first year now What kind of protection does Norton Antivirus Software provide? The protection that is included in all of Norton's device security plans does more than just protect against computer viruses, but protects against a myriad of digital threats. Norton protects against viruses that can multiply and spread, sure, but it also projects against Trojans, coin-miners, and crypto-jacking and key logging. It protects against spyware that could be tracking your personal information and sharing it with third parties, and against bad actors disguising themselves as ads and safe links. On top of all the protection that Norton Antivirus provides, you can also experience all of its protection free with a seven-day trial. ⌚️ More: Discover the best Samsung deals at this week's spring sale How can Norton help families protect their kids online? Norton Family allows parents to protect their children's devices. It provides parents with an online web portal to manage things like web supervision, screen time limits, search supervision and access requests. Parents can also stay in the loop with Norton's parent mobile app. Norton's School Time feature can also help parents keep their kids focused on their schoolwork by customizing what activities they can access during times designated for school and learning. Protect your child online with Norton Family Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.
Buzz Feed
07-02-2025
- General
- Buzz Feed
22 Uniquely Millennial Things That Everyone Born In The '80s And '90s Will Instantly Remember
Having grown up in the '90s, I will never forget so many quintessential millennial experiences, like racing to be the first to use the family computer so I could run my very important business (aka my Neopets shop). Recently, redditor pabloandthehoney asked the r/Millennials community to share some of their generation's "rites of passage." Here are the experiences they mentioned. 1. "Being old enough to experience life before the internet and young enough to adopt it." — JerryWagz "This is the one rite of passage that no other generation will ever, ever be able to understand — it's foundational." — JeepersMysster 3. "Playing Snake on a Nokia phone." 4. "Getting really good at typing because you liked a girl you only communicated with on AOL Instant Messenger." — throowaaawaaaayyyyy "This is so accurate. AIM and online gaming had me typing super fast." — pwolf1771 5. "Learning to code at 14 to make your MySpace page look cool." Bloomberg / Bloomberg via Getty Images — b00kbat "For me, it was my AIM buddy profile. I was a pro by the time MySpace came around." — minishaq5 7. "Pressing the button four times to get an 'S.'" 8. "Trying to play a video game, but the TV had to be on Channel 3." — CountGrande 9. "~..~TyPiNg LiKe ThIs AnD pUtTiNg a VaGuE 'aWaY mEsSaGe' On YoUr AiM pRoFiLe HoPiNg YoUr CrUsH sEeS iT~..~" LGR / Via 10. "Getting chickenpox as a kid. Not only getting it but being actively infected in order to get it out of the way while it's safer. I didn't realize this until recently, but there has been a chickenpox vaccine since 1995. Kids today will never know the hell of lying in a fever dream, itching all over with oven mitts taped to your hands (depending on how young you were). I still have scars." — PotatoTheBandit 11. "Calling the movie theater for movie times because they didn't have a website yet." 12. "Having to let the whole household know when you were planning to go online so everyone could make their phone calls first." — AshDawgBucket 13. "Getting your ears pierced at Claire's." David Mcnew / Getty Images 16. "Getting a ridiculous email address that included at least one underscore and probably a 69 at the end." — daisy_nz "My husband looked up all my old email addresses, and to say I was mortified would be an understatement." — Ameliap27 17. "Burning mix CDs." u/QPShroomyDude / Via 19. "Having a virus-riddled PC due to all the music you downloaded on LimeWire." MagikarpUsedFly / Via 20. "Calling your friends on the home phone and having to talk to their parents first. Also, having all of their numbers memorized." — Challot_ 21. "Going to Wet Seal and buying your first thong underwear and hiding it from your mom." James Leynse / Corbis via Getty Images
