TechCrunch reported that RSS is undead.

Another enormous challenge is discovery and curation. How exactly do you find good RSS feeds? Once you have found them, how do you group and prune them over time to maximize signal? Curation is one of the biggest on-boarding challenges of social networks like Twitter and Reddit, which has prevented both from reaching the stratospheric numbers of Facebook. The cold start problem with RSS is perhaps its greatest failing today, although could potentially be solved by better RSS reader software without protocol changes.

Rather than letting platforms or reader apps handle the curation and feed discovery, I believe the feeds would do better with manual curation. Bloggers are most likely heavy consumers of RSS feeds. Have them share their a feed list for a particular topic, kind of like how Twitter lists are.

Their readers would then be able to see where they get their inspiration, information, and influencers. The list is kind of an evolution of the blog roll. It could be a list of links or a downloadable OPML file to easily help beginners populate their reader apps.

TechNode reported on WeChat’s impressive social impact.

• WeChat-driven information consumption reached RMB 209. 7 billion
• WeChat accounted for 34% of the total data traffic of users
• WeChat drove RMB 333.9 billion traditional consumption, covering travel, food, shopping, tourism, etc.
• WeChat contributed the employment of 20.3 million persons in 2017, more than twice the 2014 figure
• The number of stores accepting WeChat Payment in Japan was multiplied by 35 in 2017

Of note are the following:

WeChat-driven consumption in traditional sectors of the economy has also been rising exponentially, rising 22.2% in 2017 to 333.9 billion RMB.

More importantly, it is so easy to set a regular donation through your WeChat Pay, as showed by 40.3% users who donate to charity via WeChat.

TechNode reported that WeChat launched new shopping function for shopping on JD.com with just a few clicks.

WeChat has launched a new shopping function that lets people shop on JD.com with just a few taps. Now simply by entering consumer product related keywords into the search box at the top of the WeChat homepage or the search function in the “Discover” tab, top search results popping up are product pages JD.com.

Not surprising. JD is facing stiff competition from Tmall and Pinduoduo.

Great to be able to do this within the WeChat app. I enjoy using the Shenzhen Metro and Bus micro apps within WeChat because I don’t need to download an app for these services. And they seamlessly work with WeChat Pay. Very low friction and highly practical.

TechNode reported that China’s tech firms are adapting to an increasingly IP sensitive environment.

Data shows that these supporting policies have incentivized Chinese companies to create and file for IP. Chinese companies filed more than 1 million patent applications in 2015, more than one third of the total number of patents filed globally. Now China is the world’s #1 patent and trademark country, filing more than the US and Japan.

[…]

In addition to a complete legal system, several macro-level measures are boosting the change. The Chinese government has reshaped its judicial system to increase the damages awarded via Chinese courts, which in turn adds an incentive for companies to file lawsuits in China.

While it remains hard to enforce patents in China, it is still important to have because the patents can be used as proof of IP ownership. These can be used to block shipments of copies and to get patent infringers kicked out of trade shows.

e27 reported on freelance platform 3Clicks.

What caught my eye is the unfortunate name of the company. This is a textbook example of how not to name a company.

Notice that they are branding it as 3Clicks with a capital C. This makes it less obvious but they can’t hide the fact that the URL would mostly be typed in lowercase: www.3clicks.co.

Mashable reported that authorities weren’t down with a biohacker who inserted a travel card chip into his hand.

Australian man Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma Meow-Meow (yes, that’s his real name), 33, has been in a legal dispute with public transport authorities over not having a ticket.

That name got me.