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Focal’s $3,000 Stellia aims to be the best portable headphone money can buy

Feb12
by on February 12, 2019 at 2:00 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, Plugged


It was just a few months ago that Focal Audio revealed the Elegia, its first take on a premium pair of closed-back headphones. I liked the Elegia when I reviewed it, but given its $900 price tag and recent release, I thought it would be quite some time before Focal tackled closed-back headphones again. Boy, was I wrong. Focal today announced the Stellia, a new flagship closed-back headphone launching in advance of the CanJam NYC headphone show this weekend. At $3,000, this is one of the most expensive pairs of closed-back headphones I’ve seen; even more expensive than the $2,400…

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How to crop your images to a specific size or aspect ratio

Feb12
by on February 12, 2019 at 1:31 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Basics


Welcome to TNW Basics, a collection of tips, guides, and advice on how to easily get the most out of your gadgets, apps, and connected services. If you’re working with images and want to display them on a website, a presentation slide, or a document, it helps to be able to fit them in just right, without stretching it or unintentionally cropping out important details. The best solution is to simply crop your images manually, using desktop or web apps – a number of which are free to use. It’s easy enough to do with just a few clicks. This…

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Reflecting on my failure to build a billion-dollar company

Feb12
by on February 12, 2019 at 11:41 am
Posted In: Around the Web, syndication


In 2011 I left my job as the second employee at Pinterest–before I vested any of my stock–to work on what I thought would be my life’s work. Just had an idea for my first billion-dollar company. Tomorrow, I start building it. — Sahil Lavingia (@shl) April 2, 2011 Gumroad would become a billion-dollar company, with hundreds of employees. It would IPO, and I would work on it until I died. Something like that. That didn’t happen. Now, it may look like I am in an enviable position, running a profitable, growing, and low-maintenance software business with customers who adore…

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Here are the 5 hottest startups in Ireland

Feb12
by on February 12, 2019 at 11:15 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Tech5


With one of the lowest corporate taxes in Europe (only 12.5 percent compared to Britain’s 23 percent and France’s 33.3 percent) and laxer regulations, almost every major tech company has chosen Ireland as the site for their European headquarters. Today, Dublin’s Silicon Docks look more like a hall of fame featuring the office buildings of major players like Google, Facebook, Airbnb, Apple, and Amazon, to name a few. Ireland’s new Dubliners have transformed the city into a mini tech metropolis, attracting tech talent, investors and an entrepreneurial drive, creating the perfect conditions for a vibrant startup scene to flourish. Dublin…

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Public pensions back new $40M blockchain fund raised by Morgan Creek

Feb12
by on February 12, 2019 at 11:00 am
Posted In: Around the Web, blockchain, cryptocurrency, Hard Fork


A prominent digital asset firm has revealed it successfully closed a new $40 million blockchain-specific venture capital fund, thanks largely to contributions made by two public pensions. Morgan Creek Digital, a hedge fund backed by institutional powerhouse Morgan Creek Capital, has launched what it calls the Morgan Creek Blockchain Opportunities Fund, geared entirely toward investing in the digital asset industry. In March last year, Morgan Creek Digital was reported to have had over $1 billion worth of assets under management. Most notably, the two largest contributors to the new investment pool are public pension funds, specifically the Fairfax County Police and Fairfax County…

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