Digital Wire: Digital business, digital transformation, APIs, AI and payments

TL;DR AI Playground User Guide

My better half is an artist and maintains a Wix.com site. For the second time in two years, Wix decided to raise the hosting fees. That’s when I suggested to my spouse that I could rebuild the website and host it on Firebase (where I host most of my projects). I assumed this wouldn’t be a big deal (I was wrong) and started researching ways to use a lightweight CMS with Firebase support. Such a system exists — it’s called FireCMS — and it’s excellent. Before I dive deeper, here’s her original site (no longer a paid Wix site):  Miyuki's WIX site Her instructions were clear: replicate it as closely as possible. So I went to work. I created a product development document with use cases, scope, screenshots from the original site, the required features, and of course FireCMS integration. I used ChatGPT to draft the document, then set up a new Firebase instance, and finally launched the Vibe Coding agent (Claude Code). The process wasn’t too different from my other projects, but what sur...

In the past few months, I've embarked on an experiment that has fundamentally changed how I approach software development. I've been "vibe coding" - essentially directing AI to build software for me without writing a single line of code myself. This journey has been eye-opening, and I'd like to share what I've learned and where I think this is all heading. My Vibe Coding Journey I started vibe coding with Claude and Anthropic's Sonnet 3.5 model, later upgrading to Sonnet 3.7, Claude Code, and other tools. My goal was straightforward but comprehensive: create a CRM system with all the features I needed: Contact management (CRUD operations, relationships, email integration, notes) Calendar management (scheduling meetings, avoiding conflicts) Group management for organizing contacts A campaign system with templates A standalone application using the CRM's APIs for external contacts to book meetings direct The technical evolution of this project was inter...

Over the last decade, two seismic waves have taken shape in the digital realm. On one hand, we have the cryptocurrency movement, championed by Bitcoin and its ideological siblings, seeking to redefine money and power structures. On the other, artificial intelligence (AI)—and especially its recent breakout star, generative AI (GenAI)—is slipping into our everyday lives, reshaping how we work, create, and interact. As Bitcoin edges toward a mythical $100,000 valuation, and AI quietly proliferates, a fascinating contrast emerges: Are we witnessing the technological upheaval crypto once promised, or are we seeing existing institutions reinforced by the subtle genius of AI? Bitcoin’s Institutional Crown—and Limited Utility For years, Bitcoin has been heralded as digital gold, a hedge against uncertainty and the ultimate “people’s money.” If it hits $100K, it will symbolically confirm its acceptance by the very institutions it once aimed to circumvent. Big players—banks, asset managers, and ...