Hello everyone. Isabel laments, Ukraine is fighting back and the new Covid vaccines are here. But this week will be remembered for the merger, which makes cryptocurrencies more useful and perhaps moves them beyond the era of scam games.

the flat view

Neal Stephenson invented the metaverse. At least from the point of view of the imagination. Although other science fiction writers had similar ideas, and virtual reality pioneers were already building artificial worlds, Stephenson’s 1992 novel snow crash it not only fleshed out the vision of escaping to a place where the digital displaced the physical, but also gave it a name. That book cemented him as a great writer, and he’s been wildly successful ever since. But late last year, Stephenson’s persistent, immersive ambient alternate reality suddenly became known as the next step in…