Barça Mobile, the telecom platform linked to FC Barcelona, is adding a digital wallet to its mobile app through partnerships with Wirex, Crossmint and the Stellar Development Foundation. New Era Visionary Group, the official telecom operator and partner of FC Barcelona, is working with the three companies to build the wallet infrastructure. The new feature will combine mobile services with payments, rewards, travel and other digital services for users worldwide.
Wirex will provide payment and card infrastructure for the wallet. Crossmint will provide wallet infrastructure and onboarding technology. Stellar will serve as the blockchain layer for the wallet. Its network will support digital transactions and cross-border value transfers, allowing Barça Mobile to build services for users in different markets.
The wallet will not operate as a separate product. Instead, it will become part of the existing Barça Mobile app. The initiative is part of Barça Mobile’s broader plan to develop a global connectivity platform. The company says the service is aimed at FC Barcelona fans, travelers, and mobile subscribers looking for access to telecom and digital services through a single interface.
Media biz veteran Mary Murcko has joined Fixated, an agency that provides support services for creators ranging from talent representation to creator economy support services.
Murcko has been tapped to steer the company’s global revenue organization, overseeing brand partnerships, direct media sales, podcast sales, clipping and other brand and sponsorship activities. Launched in 2024, Fixated is designed to be a next-generation talent agency plus production services plus distribution partner for promising creators emerging from the wild west of the creator economy.
Murcko reports to Zach Katz, Fixated’s CEO & founding partner, and Jason Wilhelm, president and co-Founder.
“Mary is exactly the kind of executive we look for at Fixated—strategic, entrepreneurial and relentlessly focused on growth,” Katz said. “She has repeatedly built modern revenue organizations, expanded commercial partnerships and helped media businesses evolve during periods of transformation. As we continue scaling our platform at Fixated, Mary’s leadership and experience will help us create even more opportunities for creators, brands and advertising partners.”
Wilhelm pointed to Murcko’s range of experience as being a good fit with Fixated’s mission to build a media firm for the creator economy generation.
“Mary understands both the needs of today’s creators and the expectations of the world’s leading advertisers,” Wilhelm said. “Her experience building innovative commercial organizations across digital media and the creator economy will help us deepen our relationships with brands and agencies while creating new opportunities for our creators to grow sustainable, long-term businesses.”
Murcko comes to Fixated after holding senior business and revenue posts for digital firms as Skimm, Fullscreen, Catch+Release and traditional publishing giants including Condé Nast, Gannett and Rodale.
“I’m excited to join Fixated at such a pivotal moment for the creator economy,” Murcko said. “The company has built an incredibly differentiated platform that brings together talent, content, distribution and monetization in ways that create meaningful value for creators and brands. I look forward to working with the team to deepen our relationships with advertisers and agencies while developing innovative partnerships that help creators build enduring businesses.”
Chiba Institute of Technology has joined Theta Network’s global academic network through a partnership with Theta EdgeCloud. The collaboration will give the university’s Takagi Laboratory and its Web3 club (which has more than 250 student members) access to decentralized computing resources for AI research, simulations, and student projects.
Theta Network is a decentralized computing network. Its EdgeCloud platform provides access to distributed GPU capacity through more than 30,000 edge nodes, offering an alternative to traditional cloud infrastructure.
The partnership includes Professor Toru Takagi and his laboratory, which researches systems using mathematical models that can be processed and simulated by computers. The lab also works on game theory, AI-based automated proving, and the modeling of cellular activity.
The cryptocurrency market has seen a surge in on-chain activity from large investors. Recent data indicates strong accumulation and selling activity in Hyperliquid’s native token, $HYPE, while also showing millions of dollars in transfers in Chainlink ($LINK)-connected wallets.
According to on-chain data, a crypto whale bought another 40,000 $HYPE from Coinbase today, worth approximately $2.3 million.
It was stated that the wallet in question increased its total $HYPE holdings to 260,000 tokens through purchases made from Coinbase, Bybit, and other sources over the past two months. At current prices, the whale’s $HYPE position is worth approximately $15.1 million.
Another Hype Whale Goes on Sale
Another major investor reportedly invested 60,000 $HYPE in Hyperliquid and has begun selling.
The whale has so far earned approximately $1.77 million in exchange for 31,560 $HYPE. Additionally, it’s noted that two TWAP orders for selling $HYPE are still active in the wallet.
It was reported that one of the active orders is worth approximately 40,000 $HYPE, or $2.1 million, and has about 15 hours left to be completed.
The same wallet also sent approximately 1.67 million USDC to Coinbase.
On the Chainlink side, a different whale movement was observed. A large investor transferred approximately 213,810 $LINK, worth $1.87 million, to their Gnosis Safe wallet.
The whale withdrew the aforementioned amount of $LINK from Binance approximately two weeks ago. The transfer of the tokens from the centralized exchange to a self-custody platform like Gnosis Safe could be interpreted as an indication that the assets are not being held for short-term sale on the exchange. However, wallet transfers alone do not provide a definitive signal regarding an investor’s future transactions.
The Trump-controlled Kennedy Center board voted once again to close the arts institution for renovations, after a judge rejected a previous move to shutter the complex because it did not fully consider the scope of options and impacts.
At a meeting on Thursday, the board approved a plan in which the main complex would be shuttered but a newer extension, called The Reach, would still offer limited programming and as a memorial to John F. Kennedy, according to a source familiar with the deliberations.
The board will still have to submit its action to U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who previously ruled that the closure plan needed to consider other factors, including programming. Cooper wrote that the board was “derelict” and “based its decision on an insufficient, one-sided presentation of information and neglected to consider the full range of its statutory obligations and potential adverse consequences of closure on programming and memorial functions.” His ruling left open the possibility of closure, but only if the board conducted a more comprehensive analysis.
In the same ruling, the judge ruled that the board overstepped its authority by adding Trump’s name to the center, ordering that it be taken down from its facade, website and other materials. A crew removed the lettering from the front of the complex in an overnight operation in June, but left up a tarp that now conceals much of the original name, The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
The center is appealing the judge’s ruling.
The New York Times first reported on the board vote.
Congress appropriated $257 million in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for Kennedy Center repairs and renovations. In February, Trump announced the plan to close the complex during the overhaul, and the board, in which he leads as chairman, endorsed the proposal the next month. But Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) sued the center over the name change and the closure, arguing that it failed to fully account for the impact on programming, among other things. The plan also was approved amid declining attendance and a number of artists pulling out of shows after the name change.
The judge has ordered a status update on the center’s plans for construction and future operations by next week, as well as on the purpose for the tarp at the front of the complex.
The center’s final large events ended in early July, the original target date for closure, but there have been smaller performances at The Reach, which opened in 2019 as a major expansion on the complex’s south side.
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The 2026 FedEx Cup Playoffs commence on Aug. 13 as the top 69 golfers (formerly 70; Daniel Berger withdrew due to injury) compete in the St. Jude Championship. The four-day tournament, the first of three playoff events, has a $20 million purse at stake ($3.6 million for first place) and, of course, advancement to the BMW Championship. This year’s St. Jude Championship will air across CBS, ESPN and Golf Channel, all three of which can be livestreamed via DirecTV (with a five-day free trial) or Hulu + Live TV.
At a Glance: How to Watch FedEx St. Jude Championship 2026
Dates: Thursday, Aug. 13-Sunday, Aug. 16 (broadcast times below)
Since three primary TV networks share broadcasting rights of the tournament (CBS, ESPN and Golf Channel), neither Paramount+ (which will simulcast CBS’s two weekend windows) nor ESPN+ (which will simulcast ESPN’s linear TV coverage on Thursday and Friday mornings) will suffice for full event coverage — only partial. In a similar vein, live TV streaming service Fubo includes both CBS and ESPN (and also offers a five-day free trial), however, due to a carriage dispute, it does not currently carry Golf Channel.
Where to Watch FedEx St. Jude Championship 2026: Broadcast Schedule
The 2026 St. Jude Championship will be broadcast across CBS, ESPN and Golf Channel from Thursday, Aug. 13 through Sunday, Aug. 16.
Thursday, Aug. 13: 6-8 a.m. PT (9-11 a.m. ET) on ESPN; 11 a.m.-3 p.m. PT (2-6 p.m. ET) on Golf Channel
Friday, Aug. 14: 6-8 a.m. PT (9-11 a.m. ET) on ESPN; 11 a.m.-3 p.m. PT (2-6 p.m. ET) on Golf Channel
Saturday, Aug. 15: 10 a.m.-12 p.m. PT (1-3 p.m. ET) on Golf Channel; 12-3 p.m. PT (3-6 p.m. ET) on CBS
Sunday, Aug. 16: 9-11 a.m. PT (12-2 p.m. ET) on Golf Channel; 11 a.m.-3 p.m. PT (2-6 p.m. ET) on CBS
Alternatively, Fubo includes both CBS and ESPN (and also offers a five-day free trial), however, due to a carriage dispute, it does not currently carry Golf Channel, meaning select windows of coverage will be absent.
DirecTV
Five-day free trial; packages from $19.99 per month
CBS, ESPN and Golf Channel are included in DirecTV’s top three Signature packages: Choice, Ultimate and Premier. Plus, DirecTV offers a five-day free trial for its streaming service, meaning new subscribers can tune in at no cost for a limited time.
Hulu + Live TV
Three-day free trial; packages from $89.99 per month
Watch CBS, ESPN and Golf Channel with Hulu + Live TV, which offers a three-day free trial. Subscriptions come bundled with Disney+ and ESPN+, and start at $89.99 per month.
Lilly Wachowski, who co-directed The Matrix franchise, is opening up about the struggle to get financing for her new film that features a “wall-to-wall trans cast.”
During a recent interview on KCRW’s The Business podcast, the filmmaker acknowledged that it’s unfortunately “not the greatest time in the industry to be trying to make these kinds of things because all of these opportunities are dwindling for folks with those kinds of stories to tell,” specifically those with “underrepresented voices and marginalized points of view.”
Wachowski used her next project, The Hunted, as an example, saying it’s been a challenge because when she showed the script around Hollywood, nobody wanted to finance the dystopian political thriller that’s budgeted at roughly $10 million.
“People like it, but they really don’t want to make it because it’s [got a] wall-to-wall trans cast,” she said of the film. “I have to get creative and figure out different ways that I can get this in front of people.”
Wachowski added that the script, which she co-wrote with her partner, Mickey Ray Mahoney, “was extremely important for me to write.” She continued, “It was a response to what is happening in the world for trans people, and it gave me a hugely cathartic receptacle to dump all of my anger and rage and frustration into.”
Despite her funding obstacles, Wachowski said she’s pivoted to other ways to get this story in front of people “that maybe isn’t a $10 million movie,” such as holding a live table read at Los Angeles’ Dynasty Typewriter theater earlier this month.
“I’m just going to go out and I’m going to grab that trans joy with all of my friends. And we’re going to hopefully experience this together.” Wachowski said of The Hunted table read. “It’s not the thing that I had imagined it was going to be, but the end result is the same.”
In addition to Wachowski and Mahoney, The Hunted is being produced by Lawrence Mattis and Sarah Marie Flores at Anarchists United and Natasha Lyonne at Ariadne Collective.
Wachowski is best known for helming 1999’s The Matrix, 2003’s The Matrix Reloaded and 2003’s The Matrix Revolutions alongside her sister, Lana Wachowski. She’s also directed 1996’s Bound, 2005’s Speed Racer, 2012’s Cloud Atlas and 2015’s Jupiter Ascending, as well as co-created the TV series Sense8.
A new original series exploring the life of Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh is in development at Collective Studios’ Historyverse.
The project is being made in association with Hathiramani Commercial Ventures and co-produced with investor and entrepreneur Manish Hathiramani, who marks his producing debut with the show.
The series is designed to move past the familiar episodes of Singh’s story and instead examine the man beneath the myth – his childhood, intellectual development and the social and political forces that shaped his convictions in early 20th-century India. Rather than revisiting the widely known chapters of Singh’s life, the show will track how his ideas evolved across the different stages of his journey, culminating in the revolutionary figure whose legacy continues to endure.
Sudeep Lahiri, head of channels and distribution at Collective Media Network, said: “There are some figures in our history whose stories we think we know completely. Bhagat Singh is one of them. But behind the icon was a young man whose ideas, influences and experiences shaped the person he would become. That is the story we are interested in exploring. Having Manish come on board as a co-producer makes this collaboration particularly exciting, because we share a strong belief in finding new perspectives within stories that have already been told many times and bringing them to audiences with scale and ambition.”
“Bhagat Singh is a figure whose life has always fascinated me, but what interests me most is the person before the legend,” Hathiramani added. “We know the revolutionary, the freedom fighter and the icon; this series gives us an opportunity to understand the many facets of Bhagat Singh’s life and the journey that shaped him. I am delighted to be producing this project with Historyverse and to bring a fresh perspective on his life and legacy to audiences.”
Title, cast and additional details are to be confirmed. Singh has been the subject of at least five Indian features, among them “Shaheed” (1965), “Shaheed-E-Azam” (2002), “23rd March 1931: Shaheed” (2002), “The Legend of Bhagat Singh” (2002) and “Rang De Basanti” (2006). The Bhagat Singh project joins a Historyverse slate that already encompasses titles drawn from Indian mythology and history, including projects centered on Shivaji and Swami Samarth.
The Zurich International Film Festival unveiled highlights from its gala program Thursday, with a selection of “auteur cinema for a broader audience” in the words of festival boss Christian Jungen —that should further cement Zurich’s position as a key international stop for awards season.
The gala lineup includes several of this year’s buzziest titles, among them Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky, Beth de Araújo’s Josephine starring Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan and Possible Love, the new drama from acclaimed Korean director Lee Chang-dong (Burning).
I Play Rocky, starring Anthony Ippolito as a young Sylvester Stallone, will have its world premiere in Toronto. Netflix title Possible Lovepremieres in Venice. Josephine screened at Sundance and Berlin.
Love, After All
c_Andres_Dresen_Kordes_und-Kordes_Film_Pandora
Zurich also announced three world premieres. Films from two of Germany’s most acclaimed directors: Love, After All from Andreas Dresen (Cloud 9) and Doris Dörrie’s How Can I Help? will both launch at the Swiss fest — “their films are grounded in everyday life and, with a little wink, reflect on the state of our society,” says Jungen — as will Simon Wallon’s documentary The Hammer, a look a famed auctioneer Simon de Pury.
Other 2026 Zurich festival galas include 111 – Echoes from Halifax, a true-life drama from Mexican-Swiss director Mauro Mueller about the 1998 crash of Swissair Flight 111 off the coast of Halifax. The film will open this year’s Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax in its world premiere.
111 – Echoes from Halifax
Courtesy of the Zurich Film Festival
Three more Venice titles: Casey Affleck’s Company starring Nick Nolte and Ben Mendelsohn; Nanni Moretti’s It Will Happen Tonight with Louis Garrel and Jasmine Trinca; and the documentary Burgundy from The Truffle Hunters directors Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw will also screen as Zurich galas.
Bill Swearingen’s noRecognition project generates patterns that stop camera software from classifying what it covers—people, faces, or cars.
The patterns defeated all 11 open-source detection algorithms he tested, including the software behind Flock license plate readers, Axon body cameras, and Clearview AI.
The first public test came Friday at Def Con in Las Vegas: a 2009 Toyota Yaris wrapped in the pattern, driven past a Flock camera.
Bill Swearingen spent the past year running one experiment over and over from his home in Kansas City, where he co-founded the SecKC security meetup. About 31 million tests later, he says he can produce patterns on demand that hide whatever they cover from the detection software wired into Flock cameras—the controversial surveillance system being rolled out across America.
He showed it in public for the first time Friday at Def Con, working with the YouTube channel Donut Media to cover a 2009 Toyota Yaris in one of his newest patterns and roll it past a Flock camera.
“We proved it was effective,” Swearingen told TechCrunch, though he said the wheels were a challenge. Donut Media said video of the demo lands in the next few weeks.
The pattern doesn’t blind the camera. Footage still records normally, and a human watching the screen sees a car. What breaks is the layer on top—the object-detection model that decides “that’s a vehicle, that’s a plate, log it.”
So basically, feed an AI detector with enough visual noise engineered against its own math and it logs nothing. The car goes back to being a needle in a haystack.
Image credit: Donut Media
That’s adversarial machine learning, and it works because computer vision doesn’t see what you see. A wrap that reads as loud graphic design to a person can read as nothing at all to a classifier.
Swearingen built it with a reinforcement learning model that grades its own homework. Pattern gets detected, model adjusts, tries again—what he described as teaching the model “how to paint.” It now spits out fresh patterns every minute, and he’s keeping the strongest ones offline so camera vendors can’t train against them.
“Privacy is a fundamental right,” he said, calling the patterns a way for people to “opt out of being tracked.” He said the idea took hold last year when he wanted to attend a protest and worried about the cameras logging everyone who showed up.
The long tail of hiding from machines
People have been improvising against detection systems for years, usually with hardware store solutions. San Francisco activists put traffic cones on the hoods of Waymo and Cruise robotaxis to freeze them in place, an exploit that needed no code at all.
During last year’s Los Angeles immigration raids, protesters went further and torched several Waymos. Masks, hoods, and brimmed caps remain the default on protest lines. Adversarial clothing labels have been selling face-confusing prints for years, and anti-recognition eyeglasses have arrived with thin evidence they do much.
What separates Swearingen’s project, which he calls noRecognition, is the target list. Swearingen tested against the specific stacks in wide deployment, and Flock is the one drawing heat. The company is facing a growing backlash on Capitol Hill, and internal documents show it pitched a plan to turn 350,000 Uber and Lyft dashcams into a rolling plate-scanning fleet.
Swearingen’s noRecognition project is running a crowdfunding campaign to fund early merchandise—T-shirts and hoodies now, vehicle skins later. Swearingen said the goal is resolution high enough to work at a distance and design good enough that people will actually wear it.
Driving a wrapped car on public roads is its own legal question, and plate obstruction statutes vary by state. The patterns cover bodywork, not plates.
“Every failure improves my model, and so [the patterns] keep getting better and better,” Swearingen said.
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