【An Affair My Wife’s Friend 2 (2019)】

Dfinity,An Affair My Wife’s Friend 2 (2019) a crypto-startup that caught headlines with its massive valuation even before launch, is showcasing an open social network called LinkedUp.

LinkedUp is running on Dfinity's platform, which the company calls the Internet Computer. Instead of being hosted on a proprietary platform like Amazon AWS, it's hosted in a more decentralized manner (more on that later). And unlike LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft, LinkedUp is "not owned or controlled by a corporate entity," Dfinity claims.

This announcement comes at a time when there's increased scrutiny on social networks with regard to user privacy. Facebook is the most egregious example, given its many privacy violations, for which it was ultimately fined $5 billion in July 2019. The prospect of a social network that can't mess with your data or betray your privacy (without anyone knowing it) is enticing.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

Credit: Dfinity

However, at this point LinkedUp is more of a marketing ploy than an actual replacement for any social network. The app, Dfinity claims, was "built by 1.5 engineers in three weeks to demonstrate the ease at which new open internet services can be created when developers utilize the tools devised by Dfinity."

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

That's nice, but Dfinity hasn't actually launched its platform yet. The startup recently gave developers a software development kit (SDK) and announced a new programming language called Motoko, which has been optimized for creating applications on Dfinity. But the Internet Computer platform itself is scheduled to be launched sometime this year.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

I've asked Dfinity about more details on LinkedUp, and a company spokesperson told me that Dfinity is "absolutely an operating piece of open software," though Dfinity has no plans to develop it further. Instead, the company will open source the code in case someone wants to pick it up and continue the development.

And while Dfinity plans to be fully decentralized in the future, LinkedUp is currently running on a single data center in Switzerland. Call it early days.

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin whale moves $1.1 billion in bitcoins for an $80 fee

Dfinity is one of the most anticipated blockchain startups around, with a team of top engineers and cryptography experts building the platform. Technically, Dfinity is not a blockchain, but a decentralized network protocol which the company says has been inspired by blockchain companies such as Ethereum. It will have its own cryptocurrency at launch, which won't only be used as transfer of value, but also as fuel to power apps running on the platform.

At launch, Dfinity will be valued at about $2 billion, but the launch of its platform has dragged on, as it was originally scheduled for early 2019. I've asked the company for precise dates, but haven't gotten any beyond the 2020 time frame.

Topics LinkedIn Cryptocurrency

• Social Good
• Life
• Science
• Games
• Entertainment
• Tech
• Shopping
• Digital Culture

• The Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones are on sale for $100 off
• The Corner of ‘MacDoodle St.’ and Memory Ln.
• Google Files now has Drive’s scanner tool — 3 new features that’ll make your life easier
• 'GTA 6' fans are losing their entire minds over new trailer and its twerking queen
• 'Severance' puts a spin on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth in its Season 2 finale
• Revisited: ‘Guernica’
• To Believe or Not to Believe: That Is Not the Question by Peter Bebergal
• Redux: Desire Is Curled by The Paris Review
• Scientists find supercolony of penguins on the remote Danger Islands
• A Bathroom of One’s Own by Larissa Pham

• Apple's maxed out 16
• 'Frozen 2' spins a darker, more mature fairy tale: Movie review
• Jerk alligator steals a huge fish off a little boy's line
• Please, for the love of God, stop saying 'Hidden Fences'
• Air fryers at The Home Depot are 50% off
• What the type of steak you eat says about you
• Hate crime murders rose in 2018, according to new FBI data
• Tortoise adopts a tiny bunny, proving even so
• Brie Larson, like everyone else, didn't seem thrilled with Casey Affleck's Oscar win
• Lily Allen quits Twitter after trolls attack her over son's death

• TikTok ban looms in U.S. Here's the latest.
• When did it become OK to film strangers in public?
• 8 worst dating app icks, ranked
• Chantal Joffe’s Many Faces by Olivia Laing
• Mac Mini M2 Desktop deal: Save $100 at Best Buy
• The Unknowable Artist: Stéphane Mandelbaum by Cody Delistraty
• 23andMe confirms how many users affected by data breach. Wow.
• Wordle today: The answer and hints for December 5
• Then and Now: Almost 10 Years of Intel CPUs Compared
• Amazon launches its virtual health clinic across all 50 states

• Mac Mini M2 Desktop deal: Save $100 at Best Buy
• When is 'Barbie' streaming? Here's how to watch it at home.
• Amazon launches its virtual health clinic across all 50 states
• Flowers for Yellow Chins, Bruised Eyes, Forsaken Nymphs, and Impending Death by Katy Kelleher
• You won't see Elon Musk smoking weed in public again, NASA admin says
• Wordle today: The answer and hints for December 5
• Revisited: ‘Guernica’
• Gone in Sixty Sentences by Rachel Kushner
• Amazon Big Spring Sale 2025: Save $170 on Dyson Hot+Cool
• The Artist