"One of the biggest value propositions of crypto is scalable governance without informal localized trust."
That was one of the many lines in Mike Maples Jr.'s piece entitled 'Crypto Commons' that kinda stopped me in my tracks and gave me some intellectual jerky.
I want to focus on what Mike called informal localized trust in this post today though. While I agree with Mike that informal localized trust will be surpassed in lieu of a more binding, comprehensive and inclusive form of trust, I also believe that whatever shape or form or rules that the new form of trust takes, it will share atleast a few similarities with the informal localized trust that came before it.
To recognize those similarities in the future, I think it's important to unpack what informal localized trust actually is today.
After my run yesterday, I settled on the following formula or definition that encompasses everything that informal localized trust is today: Trust in a reasonable probability of (something [happening]) based on what you think you know of (something [happening]).
What is interesting is despite the word 'localized' being employed, informal localized trust can actually extend across the world. To provide a few prominent examples we can look at Visa credit card transactions and the US dollar. In both cases they rely in trust in a reasonable probability that merchants will accept them. In the case of a transaction with your Visa, this is based on your knowledge that it is accepted most places around the world because merchants eventually get paid. When it comes to the US dollar, people accept it because they think it's backed by the power and promise of the US government.
They will probably be accepted. This probabilty is derived from reason, an amazing phenomenon common to all humans that first became apparent from out of language. And trust or belief (i.e. the basic buy-in from individuals) is what binds these elements and allows for all subsequent action and events to occur.
The cases and instances where that reason, trust and belief runs out and fails to hold true, help to highlight the illogical limits of informal localized trust.
I'll end things here, knowing that much more could be said. In the days and weeks ahead I will come back to this idea of informal localized trust and trying to point out the elements that will most likely remain in the universal, verifiable systems of trust that may arise in the future based on blockchain technology.
2018년 6월 30일 토요일
2018년 6월 29일 금요일
Trippin' on Governance
My thoughts have been pretty much overtaken by all things governance.
The other day when I penned that way too damn long article on digital social primitives [here], I realized after I clicked publish that I was trying to talk about governance, but instead I became too attached to a specific example which I think ended up obfuscating what I really wanted to say.
So in an attempt to distill my thoughts even further I am re-reading and re-watching the writing and talks of people far, far smarter than I am discuss the core concepts of governance.
I'll share exactly what I am reading and watching since it doesn't seem like much:
- There's 'Crypto Commons', a deceptively simple article from Mike Maples Jr. and
- The ZconO Keynote Panel: Cryptocurrency Governance with Zooko, Vitalik et al.
Enjoy your weekend yall, I'll be spending mine digging deeper down into my obsessive rabbit hole thinking blockchain governance through until I find what I hope will be a clearer way to write about it in relation to Cent.
2018년 6월 28일 목요일
2018년 6월 27일 수요일
Cash, Privacy, & Digital Social Primitives
"There is a reason why people used cash to transact. It was private and only the two parties engaging in the transaction knew about it."
~ Michael J. Casey, 'Privacy is Vital to Crypo - and the Global Economy'
While what Michael J. Casey wrote may be true, in addition to privacy, cash also made it easier - by orders of magnitude - for anyone to earn a living by being paid in cash, instead of an unwieldy commodity for example, by simply doing something for someone who had cash. By extension it was likewise much easier for someone with cash to attract a larger group of potential workers for whatever task they needed to have carried out.
That said, a key shortcoming when it came to cash was, and still is, it's fundamental lack of force or ability to guarantee that the exchange of cash in advance of services rendered brings about the expected outcome or that a cash payment following services rendered is really made.
So, societies developed social constructs to help enforce transactions such as: legal systems and contracts, banks, bonding requirements, escrow transactions, degrees, certifications, CVs, identification cards and so on. All of these pre-digital third-party institutions, rules and social proofs served as proxies for trust; the same trust that cash intrinsically lacked.
Now though, the world has just recently been introduced to cryptocurrencies, which are (for some at least) not only intrinsically trustless, but they allow for trust to actually be programmed on top of them in the form of automated smart contracts.
But without sufficient privacy in the form of fungibility in money, or to borrow Michael's clear prose, "...[the] unspoken agreement between market participants that information about a product's history is not only hidden but is actually lost," money loses its "moneyness."
Or so goes a major critique of cryptocurrency as currency, at least as of today.
This critique applies to the many individuals who connect to traditional institutions like banks to either buy cryptocurrency/tokens or convert them into fiat. Where the critique falls apart though, is when individuals open a virgin digital wallet and *earn* cryptocurrency (e.g. on a site like beta.cent.co).
In other words, when cryptocurrency remains as digital money, when it is exchanged natively (i.e. over the internet either via a smart contract or between parties who utilize digital wallets) its "moneyness" is just as good as the paper kind, with the added benefit of being able to be sent to anyone that is able to send or receive digital messages, anywhere (including space).
When it comes to earning money today, whether it be our next job in real life or over the internet, it is implicitly assumed that we will get paid by way of one or many or all of the pre-digital third-party institutions, rules and social proofs mentioned above. To keep things simple, I think that because of that implicit assumption, most people are trying to insert those pre-digital third-party institutions, rules and social proofs into and on top of the fundamentally new and different digitally native crypto-worlds that are unfolding upon the digital universe. To me, however, that seems a bit like if someone from 19th century Philadelphian high society ventured into the lawless Wild West expecting to be able to force Victorian era modes and manners of living upon everyone and everything.
Instead, what I envision as being a more likely early outcome is this: across these new crypto-worlds, digitally native reputation based on some human aspect that is either impossible to account for and keep track of now, or simply not valued that highly by society - or some combination of the two - will begin to manifest and become the first key, digital social primitive on top of which an unimaginable future will arise.
This reputation will be portable and provable to anyone, and will become the universally attainable, clear and straightforward key to earning a living in the digital realm. As an illustrative example of how that would happen and what it may look like, let me take Cent as an example, and project out onto its current reality a few eminently reasonable hypothetical changes. [Note: if you are unfamiliar with Cent, please go through some of my previous posts, or at the very least please read [this article] before reading further]
Let's imagine that the work-based bounties, or the bounties set mainly by businesses and organizations seeking some minimum number of workers to sincerely complete surveys, take polls, or some other series of simple, straightforward digital work, that are already appearing on Cent today become a real thing. All of a sudden tens of thousands of dollars begin to pour into the platform in the form of bounties. But there is a quality control problem: Since any Centian (Cent user) is able to reply and sort responses to any bounty, the quality of responses and accurate verification of those responses - to say nothing of the total number of responses - is simply far, far below the expectations of what the businesses and organizations are expecting.
So what's Cent to do? First they identify the facts. A small segment of active Centians has been consistently responding to work-based bounties sincerely. Another segment of users respond sincerely, but selectively to work-based bounties. A larger portion of users respond sincerely to semi-formal and playful bounties regularly, and the remainder are sporadic responders or low quality responders.
After identifying these groups, Cent leadership decides to restrict the ability to respond to and evaluate responses to work-based bounty posts to the group of users who have demonstrated "regular and consistent sincerity" across previous bounties on the platform. As a practical example, Cent could say that only users who were in the top 10 of at least three bounty post responses over the last 3 months, which let's say is a small number of only around 400 or so users, will be able to participate in and earn money from work-based bounties.
Put yourself in the shoes of a CEO from one of the nearly 75,000 blockchain startups operating on not simply a small budget, but with an even smaller network and even fewer precious seconds to waste - a couple hunderd dollars here or there for feedback or product testing or whatever carried out nearly instantaneously by fifty to several hunderd reliably sincere responders is a no brainer.
And so very soon these Centians begin to earn hundreds of dollars *a day*. Mind you, all this money, in the form of bounties and user earnings, is visible to all users. So you better believe the responses and curation of the semi-formal and playful bounties rapidly impoves in terms of quality and sincerity as everyone vies for the chance to become a Centurion and earn some serious money.
It's key not to forget that while the money of the work-based bounties may be attractive, the work is pure work. And as pure work it is draining. The semi-formal and playful bounties, by contrast, are not just fun but they are constructive as well in a creatice, social, and financial way. If regular users are able "prove themselves" (i.e. that they are capable of consistently providing sincere responses) by having fun, then Centurions simply continue to prove themselves across each work-based bounty and then have fun.
Over time the types of work-based bounties will probably change. Just as there is demand for educated "specialists," so to the demand for Centurions with very specific reputations and reputation patters (i.e. the history of their performance within the various crypto-worlds) as more and more complex work is able to be carried out digitally. If work-based bounties become more complex, it would only be natural that the semi-formal and playful bounties become more niche and complex. I'm imagining something like a Reddit-esque site but with some unimaginable twist...where Centurions will come to blow off steam and socialize - almost like a bar, except they get paid and continue to prove themselves.
If you've followed me to this point, thank you. Bounties are nothing new, and there are mutliple bounty networks besides Cent that are trying to grow their businesses today. Where Cent distinguishes itself as something completely different from everything else, is in the incentivized social network that has formed around it and proven itself as being something that is genuinely delightful and enjoyable.
Pairing that with the traditional work-based bounties, allows Cent to actually grow a pool of passionate and dedicated workers whose growing numbers helps improve and make the site more and more valuable for everyone else. And it is out of this growing pool of workers that I have caught the first glimpse of that first provable, digital social primitive: a reputation for sincerity that individuals can build for themselves without having to rely on any pre-digital third-party institutions, rules and social proofs.
~ Michael J. Casey, 'Privacy is Vital to Crypo - and the Global Economy'
While what Michael J. Casey wrote may be true, in addition to privacy, cash also made it easier - by orders of magnitude - for anyone to earn a living by being paid in cash, instead of an unwieldy commodity for example, by simply doing something for someone who had cash. By extension it was likewise much easier for someone with cash to attract a larger group of potential workers for whatever task they needed to have carried out.
That said, a key shortcoming when it came to cash was, and still is, it's fundamental lack of force or ability to guarantee that the exchange of cash in advance of services rendered brings about the expected outcome or that a cash payment following services rendered is really made.
So, societies developed social constructs to help enforce transactions such as: legal systems and contracts, banks, bonding requirements, escrow transactions, degrees, certifications, CVs, identification cards and so on. All of these pre-digital third-party institutions, rules and social proofs served as proxies for trust; the same trust that cash intrinsically lacked.
Now though, the world has just recently been introduced to cryptocurrencies, which are (for some at least) not only intrinsically trustless, but they allow for trust to actually be programmed on top of them in the form of automated smart contracts.
But without sufficient privacy in the form of fungibility in money, or to borrow Michael's clear prose, "...[the] unspoken agreement between market participants that information about a product's history is not only hidden but is actually lost," money loses its "moneyness."
Or so goes a major critique of cryptocurrency as currency, at least as of today.
This critique applies to the many individuals who connect to traditional institutions like banks to either buy cryptocurrency/tokens or convert them into fiat. Where the critique falls apart though, is when individuals open a virgin digital wallet and *earn* cryptocurrency (e.g. on a site like beta.cent.co).
In other words, when cryptocurrency remains as digital money, when it is exchanged natively (i.e. over the internet either via a smart contract or between parties who utilize digital wallets) its "moneyness" is just as good as the paper kind, with the added benefit of being able to be sent to anyone that is able to send or receive digital messages, anywhere (including space).
When it comes to earning money today, whether it be our next job in real life or over the internet, it is implicitly assumed that we will get paid by way of one or many or all of the pre-digital third-party institutions, rules and social proofs mentioned above. To keep things simple, I think that because of that implicit assumption, most people are trying to insert those pre-digital third-party institutions, rules and social proofs into and on top of the fundamentally new and different digitally native crypto-worlds that are unfolding upon the digital universe. To me, however, that seems a bit like if someone from 19th century Philadelphian high society ventured into the lawless Wild West expecting to be able to force Victorian era modes and manners of living upon everyone and everything.
Instead, what I envision as being a more likely early outcome is this: across these new crypto-worlds, digitally native reputation based on some human aspect that is either impossible to account for and keep track of now, or simply not valued that highly by society - or some combination of the two - will begin to manifest and become the first key, digital social primitive on top of which an unimaginable future will arise.
This reputation will be portable and provable to anyone, and will become the universally attainable, clear and straightforward key to earning a living in the digital realm. As an illustrative example of how that would happen and what it may look like, let me take Cent as an example, and project out onto its current reality a few eminently reasonable hypothetical changes. [Note: if you are unfamiliar with Cent, please go through some of my previous posts, or at the very least please read [this article] before reading further]
Let's imagine that the work-based bounties, or the bounties set mainly by businesses and organizations seeking some minimum number of workers to sincerely complete surveys, take polls, or some other series of simple, straightforward digital work, that are already appearing on Cent today become a real thing. All of a sudden tens of thousands of dollars begin to pour into the platform in the form of bounties. But there is a quality control problem: Since any Centian (Cent user) is able to reply and sort responses to any bounty, the quality of responses and accurate verification of those responses - to say nothing of the total number of responses - is simply far, far below the expectations of what the businesses and organizations are expecting.
So what's Cent to do? First they identify the facts. A small segment of active Centians has been consistently responding to work-based bounties sincerely. Another segment of users respond sincerely, but selectively to work-based bounties. A larger portion of users respond sincerely to semi-formal and playful bounties regularly, and the remainder are sporadic responders or low quality responders.
After identifying these groups, Cent leadership decides to restrict the ability to respond to and evaluate responses to work-based bounty posts to the group of users who have demonstrated "regular and consistent sincerity" across previous bounties on the platform. As a practical example, Cent could say that only users who were in the top 10 of at least three bounty post responses over the last 3 months, which let's say is a small number of only around 400 or so users, will be able to participate in and earn money from work-based bounties.
Put yourself in the shoes of a CEO from one of the nearly 75,000 blockchain startups operating on not simply a small budget, but with an even smaller network and even fewer precious seconds to waste - a couple hunderd dollars here or there for feedback or product testing or whatever carried out nearly instantaneously by fifty to several hunderd reliably sincere responders is a no brainer.
And so very soon these Centians begin to earn hundreds of dollars *a day*. Mind you, all this money, in the form of bounties and user earnings, is visible to all users. So you better believe the responses and curation of the semi-formal and playful bounties rapidly impoves in terms of quality and sincerity as everyone vies for the chance to become a Centurion and earn some serious money.
It's key not to forget that while the money of the work-based bounties may be attractive, the work is pure work. And as pure work it is draining. The semi-formal and playful bounties, by contrast, are not just fun but they are constructive as well in a creatice, social, and financial way. If regular users are able "prove themselves" (i.e. that they are capable of consistently providing sincere responses) by having fun, then Centurions simply continue to prove themselves across each work-based bounty and then have fun.
Over time the types of work-based bounties will probably change. Just as there is demand for educated "specialists," so to the demand for Centurions with very specific reputations and reputation patters (i.e. the history of their performance within the various crypto-worlds) as more and more complex work is able to be carried out digitally. If work-based bounties become more complex, it would only be natural that the semi-formal and playful bounties become more niche and complex. I'm imagining something like a Reddit-esque site but with some unimaginable twist...where Centurions will come to blow off steam and socialize - almost like a bar, except they get paid and continue to prove themselves.
If you've followed me to this point, thank you. Bounties are nothing new, and there are mutliple bounty networks besides Cent that are trying to grow their businesses today. Where Cent distinguishes itself as something completely different from everything else, is in the incentivized social network that has formed around it and proven itself as being something that is genuinely delightful and enjoyable.
Pairing that with the traditional work-based bounties, allows Cent to actually grow a pool of passionate and dedicated workers whose growing numbers helps improve and make the site more and more valuable for everyone else. And it is out of this growing pool of workers that I have caught the first glimpse of that first provable, digital social primitive: a reputation for sincerity that individuals can build for themselves without having to rely on any pre-digital third-party institutions, rules and social proofs.
2018년 6월 26일 화요일
The Gig Economy & Truck Drivers
I've been thinking a lot about truck drivers lately. Not because they're the primary example given for jobs at risk of total elimination due to automation; but more so owing to the nomadic and isolated nature of the work they do.
I'm not sure if there is another job today that could be more instructive or worth studying for potential parallels to the future of gig economy work than the trucking industry generally, and truck drivers specifically.
What I've really been thinking about are the infrastructure and businesses that play a large role in any trucker's life. I can think of three main ones: trucking companies, weigh stations and truck stops.
The company secures, co-ordinates and distributes work assignments to every trucker in that company. An important distinction that I am not clear on is if truckers are generally employed with one company, or if they have contracts in place with multiple companies. My guess is the former.
The weigh station operates ostensibly as an evaluation center - checking to make sure they are following basic rules and are functioning properly.
Truck stops, on the other hand, serve multiple purposes for the truck driver outside of acting as a re-fueling point. Broadly speaking, they also supply truckers with leisure, sustenance, very basic entertainment, opportunities to socially engage with other truckers, as well as vice. Truck stops are basically non-alcoholic bars for truckers.
I'm not a trucker, so I can't say for sure, but I imagine truck stops are very, very important to truckers. If they disappeared, I'm not sure how trucking could remain a form of work someone could repeatedly engage in and sustain over long periods of time.
If you think about the infrastructure (both digital as well as physical) being set up for the workers of the gig economy, there are barely any "companies" established let alone weigh stations or the equivalent of truck stops. When it comes to the gig economy, it makes sense to focus on those infrastructural aspects first, or at the very least in tandem with whatever design or plans one has around work and workers in the gig economy.
I'm not sure if there is another job today that could be more instructive or worth studying for potential parallels to the future of gig economy work than the trucking industry generally, and truck drivers specifically.
What I've really been thinking about are the infrastructure and businesses that play a large role in any trucker's life. I can think of three main ones: trucking companies, weigh stations and truck stops.
The company secures, co-ordinates and distributes work assignments to every trucker in that company. An important distinction that I am not clear on is if truckers are generally employed with one company, or if they have contracts in place with multiple companies. My guess is the former.
The weigh station operates ostensibly as an evaluation center - checking to make sure they are following basic rules and are functioning properly.
Truck stops, on the other hand, serve multiple purposes for the truck driver outside of acting as a re-fueling point. Broadly speaking, they also supply truckers with leisure, sustenance, very basic entertainment, opportunities to socially engage with other truckers, as well as vice. Truck stops are basically non-alcoholic bars for truckers.
I'm not a trucker, so I can't say for sure, but I imagine truck stops are very, very important to truckers. If they disappeared, I'm not sure how trucking could remain a form of work someone could repeatedly engage in and sustain over long periods of time.
If you think about the infrastructure (both digital as well as physical) being set up for the workers of the gig economy, there are barely any "companies" established let alone weigh stations or the equivalent of truck stops. When it comes to the gig economy, it makes sense to focus on those infrastructural aspects first, or at the very least in tandem with whatever design or plans one has around work and workers in the gig economy.
2018년 6월 25일 월요일
Common Work
Eric Garcetti, Mayor of LA, was on the most recent episode of The Ezra Klein Show, and he was an absolute pleasure to listen to. You can give it a listen [here].
My biggest takeaway from the discussion had to do with the concept of 'common work' that Eric brought up. Actions speak louder than words, especially when it comes to integrating multiple different groups, and when two or more groups of people actually work on something, say building out a shared neighborhood park, that 'common work' can serve as a major unifying impetus for those different groups much more so than simply asking groups to 'tolerate' one another.
This concept of common work also helps explain why the vibes on Cent are so good despite the amazing differences between the diverse user base. While fun, responding to bounties can also be described as work - work that most users understand as being worthwhile not just because they benefit financially, but because it's necessary to ensure the continued development of Cent for themselves and the greater network in the months and (hopefully) years ahead.
My biggest takeaway from the discussion had to do with the concept of 'common work' that Eric brought up. Actions speak louder than words, especially when it comes to integrating multiple different groups, and when two or more groups of people actually work on something, say building out a shared neighborhood park, that 'common work' can serve as a major unifying impetus for those different groups much more so than simply asking groups to 'tolerate' one another.
This concept of common work also helps explain why the vibes on Cent are so good despite the amazing differences between the diverse user base. While fun, responding to bounties can also be described as work - work that most users understand as being worthwhile not just because they benefit financially, but because it's necessary to ensure the continued development of Cent for themselves and the greater network in the months and (hopefully) years ahead.
2018년 6월 24일 일요일
Jobs: Work, Social & Play
If you've ever watched Madmen, or are older than 50, you know that the workplace used to be a place where work, social and play all occurred and co-existed.
Owing to multiple factors, not least of which being the great many abuses that took place in the name of "fun," play was the first element to be steadily extricated from the workplace. Professionalization is the euphemism that is often employed to signal this change, especially in startups that want to shed their "sophomoric" image and signal they have become a place totally focused on work and the generation of profits.
At most jobs today, regardless of what the leadership or PR departments might say, the demarcation between work and 'social' is also getting starker by the day. The work/life balance that most employees demand and many employers claim they provide speaks to this. That said, while it may be a shell of its former self, the social aspect of work cannot be fully eliminated from jobs that require employees to work out of physical offices.
The splitting of the constitutional elements of the workplace - work, social and play - as a way to create the purest form of distilled work possible would seem to have its apotheosis in gig economy jobs that have begun to come online over the past few years. In the so-called gig economy the job is work, and work is the job. It should go without saying, but the workplace-as-family has no home in the gig economy.
While jobs have been made play-less over the last half century or so, it's my belief that the social aspect of the office has made work bearable. The British and American versions of the classic TV show 'The Office' make this clear - in a very ironic way to be sure. But just try to imagine what the gig economy equivalent of 'The Office' would look like. If they made it about Uber drivers, for example, well, it'd just be fooking depressing.
And that's kind of the rub, for me personally at least, when it comes to the gig economy and its future prospects. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely think the gig economy is where the overwhelming majority of new jobs will be created heading forward. That said, I think it would be an incredible mistake to simply play forward the trend of the work maximizing and social/play minimizing workplace that originated in and has been propagated throughout the world by the West.
What if, instead, there was a way to bring the social and play elements - without their past problematic baggage that led to their respective minimization and extirpation from the realm of work - back into the gig economy which is the future of work?
What if, amidst the slog of isolating digital work, the gig economy worker could sit down at the equivalent of a digital bar and simultaneously tap into that social connection and lost play?
Furthermore what if that digital social and play facilitates, bolsters and contributes to digital work of that gig economy worker?
I am envisioning something along the lines of a digital weigh station (the evaluation centers of the quintessential 20th century nomadic worker, the trucker) that users will be able to use to verify certain basic or minimum requirements in addition to everyone's favorite local watering hole where digital laborers can connect and have a little fun. And that is exactly what I see Cent positioning itself as, all the while strengthening its vision of allowing anyone to earn money anywhere by providing their knowledge and creativity, Madmen style.
Owing to multiple factors, not least of which being the great many abuses that took place in the name of "fun," play was the first element to be steadily extricated from the workplace. Professionalization is the euphemism that is often employed to signal this change, especially in startups that want to shed their "sophomoric" image and signal they have become a place totally focused on work and the generation of profits.
At most jobs today, regardless of what the leadership or PR departments might say, the demarcation between work and 'social' is also getting starker by the day. The work/life balance that most employees demand and many employers claim they provide speaks to this. That said, while it may be a shell of its former self, the social aspect of work cannot be fully eliminated from jobs that require employees to work out of physical offices.
The splitting of the constitutional elements of the workplace - work, social and play - as a way to create the purest form of distilled work possible would seem to have its apotheosis in gig economy jobs that have begun to come online over the past few years. In the so-called gig economy the job is work, and work is the job. It should go without saying, but the workplace-as-family has no home in the gig economy.
While jobs have been made play-less over the last half century or so, it's my belief that the social aspect of the office has made work bearable. The British and American versions of the classic TV show 'The Office' make this clear - in a very ironic way to be sure. But just try to imagine what the gig economy equivalent of 'The Office' would look like. If they made it about Uber drivers, for example, well, it'd just be fooking depressing.
And that's kind of the rub, for me personally at least, when it comes to the gig economy and its future prospects. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely think the gig economy is where the overwhelming majority of new jobs will be created heading forward. That said, I think it would be an incredible mistake to simply play forward the trend of the work maximizing and social/play minimizing workplace that originated in and has been propagated throughout the world by the West.
What if, instead, there was a way to bring the social and play elements - without their past problematic baggage that led to their respective minimization and extirpation from the realm of work - back into the gig economy which is the future of work?
What if, amidst the slog of isolating digital work, the gig economy worker could sit down at the equivalent of a digital bar and simultaneously tap into that social connection and lost play?
Furthermore what if that digital social and play facilitates, bolsters and contributes to digital work of that gig economy worker?
I am envisioning something along the lines of a digital weigh station (the evaluation centers of the quintessential 20th century nomadic worker, the trucker) that users will be able to use to verify certain basic or minimum requirements in addition to everyone's favorite local watering hole where digital laborers can connect and have a little fun. And that is exactly what I see Cent positioning itself as, all the while strengthening its vision of allowing anyone to earn money anywhere by providing their knowledge and creativity, Madmen style.
2018년 6월 23일 토요일
Podcast of the Week No.10
Apologies for the late post - power cut off in the morning at our apartment complex due to an elevator inspection (but on a Sunday?!) so when I went to grab my phone and head out for the day it had 1% battery left.
Anyways, on with todays post.
For the best podcast of last week, I want to share a short but special podcast from a16z, the most generous show in tech.
Their most recent episode was dedicated to all things compensation, which as far as I can tell was a first in the history of the show.
As an HR professional working in a relatively slow moving sector - construction - it was super interesting to listen how compensation is approached from a philosophical and strategic perspective by startups working in the hottest and most competitive sector on earth today.
Despite talking about compensation in an industry as different from mine as night and day, I was able to take a lot away, as will anyone who listens to it. Take a listen [here].
2018년 6월 22일 금요일
Parties & Opportunity Costs
"It's always good to go to a party because the opportunity cost is low and the return could be high."
~ Nassim Nicholas Taleb
2018년 6월 21일 목요일
Cent Updates About to Roll Out
We have a new update for everyone^^
It's been a busy week, and the time to roll out updates and new functions is almost here.
I'm really excited about the new functions that will be added today, especially the new logo, ability to tip in app and the social share widget that will make sharing great content from responses possible for the first time.
With each successive update that I've been a part of, I've found that more so than the headline additions or changes, it's the small changes or updates that leave me feeling most satisfied. This time the simple addition of showing lifetime earnings and total number of responses has me super stoked.
There are still a few last minute items to finalize so todays post will end right here. But check back to beta.cent.co in a few short days to catch all the new new [sic] we have for you.
2018년 6월 20일 수요일
Types of Bounty Posts on Cent
On Cent, despite - or maybe because of - the fact that there is only one bounty smart contract, it is amazing to see the wide range of applications that different users are able to imagine using such a seemingly simple tool.
What's more amazing is that distinct but complementary categories have formed around certain specific and repeatable types of bounty posts.
So far, in a broad general sense, I have sussed out three main categories along with a fourth 'other' type of bounty.
Those three main categories are:
The fourth or other bounty is the traditional 'winner-take-all' bounty, which funnily enough, currently isn't (yet) possible on Cent.
Work-based bounties are bounties that put a premium on compliance and speed of completion with relatively little demand for creativity on the part of the fulfilling party. These bounty posts are looking for some non-trivial number of responses that meet their minimum requirements and are willing to provide a uniform award for each completed response.
A few examples of work-based bounties that have made frequent appearances on Cent include: posts asking Centians to user their referral links and provide proof, follower boosts (i.e. posts that ask Centians to follow them on whatever SNS they are using like Twitter), polls, surveys, and targeted feedback.
One degree removed from the relatively straightforward and joyless work-based bounties are what I call semi-formal bounties. These bounty posts definitely have a target in mind that delineates the range of acceptable feedback, but they provide a higher degree of freedom to the responders to be creative. These bounties work pretty well based on the existing bounty distribution method that Cent employs now: top answers (currently limited to 10) receive a percentage of the bounty that corresponds to the percentage of total up votes they received from users who sorted the responses from best to worst.
Some good examples include the weekly BOTI bounty that asks as many users as possible to submit what they think is the best of the internet from the previous week, as well as general recommendation bounties (e.g. what are some awesome under-the-radar Netflix shows), competitions like the current cryptoground bounty [here], and general idea sourcing bounties. In short, these are bounties that are looking for something where that something is unknown until many other people each show you examples of what you wanted to look for (but didn't know you wanted).
Playful bounties represent pretty much every other bounty on Cent. These bounties have no real clear target response in mind - they simply want responses. And they can be super fun for both the bounty poster and responding user. The current bounty distribution model on Cent works great for these bounties too.
In terms of loose examples, open-ended posts that don't seem to ask for anything (e.g. blog post, rant) and super subjective questions (e.g. what's your favorite 'x'?) fit the bill perfectly.
Now how will the product of Cent develop now that these categories have become apparent? That is the question.
What's more amazing is that distinct but complementary categories have formed around certain specific and repeatable types of bounty posts.
So far, in a broad general sense, I have sussed out three main categories along with a fourth 'other' type of bounty.
Those three main categories are:
- Work-based bounties
- Semi-formal bounties and
- Playful Bounties
The fourth or other bounty is the traditional 'winner-take-all' bounty, which funnily enough, currently isn't (yet) possible on Cent.
Work-based bounties are bounties that put a premium on compliance and speed of completion with relatively little demand for creativity on the part of the fulfilling party. These bounty posts are looking for some non-trivial number of responses that meet their minimum requirements and are willing to provide a uniform award for each completed response.
A few examples of work-based bounties that have made frequent appearances on Cent include: posts asking Centians to user their referral links and provide proof, follower boosts (i.e. posts that ask Centians to follow them on whatever SNS they are using like Twitter), polls, surveys, and targeted feedback.
One degree removed from the relatively straightforward and joyless work-based bounties are what I call semi-formal bounties. These bounty posts definitely have a target in mind that delineates the range of acceptable feedback, but they provide a higher degree of freedom to the responders to be creative. These bounties work pretty well based on the existing bounty distribution method that Cent employs now: top answers (currently limited to 10) receive a percentage of the bounty that corresponds to the percentage of total up votes they received from users who sorted the responses from best to worst.
Some good examples include the weekly BOTI bounty that asks as many users as possible to submit what they think is the best of the internet from the previous week, as well as general recommendation bounties (e.g. what are some awesome under-the-radar Netflix shows), competitions like the current cryptoground bounty [here], and general idea sourcing bounties. In short, these are bounties that are looking for something where that something is unknown until many other people each show you examples of what you wanted to look for (but didn't know you wanted).
Playful bounties represent pretty much every other bounty on Cent. These bounties have no real clear target response in mind - they simply want responses. And they can be super fun for both the bounty poster and responding user. The current bounty distribution model on Cent works great for these bounties too.
In terms of loose examples, open-ended posts that don't seem to ask for anything (e.g. blog post, rant) and super subjective questions (e.g. what's your favorite 'x'?) fit the bill perfectly.
Now how will the product of Cent develop now that these categories have become apparent? That is the question.
2018년 6월 19일 화요일
What's an Hour of Your Time Worth?
For anyone who earns an annual salary, this is an important question to ask yourself. It's this particular unit of time that determines, for example, how much you make when you put in for OT (i.e. what integer actually gets multiplied by 150% for 'time and a half'), how much you need to pay if you want to use an extra day of vacation or annual leave, and it may play a role in determining certain company bonuses, amongst other things.
The first place to start is by figuring out the total number of hours you will work (or are typically expected to work) in a given year, and multiply that by the number of hours you should work in a given day, minus lunch of course (e.g. 7~8 hours per day). Then you need to figure out of your company factors in any additional working hours.
At least in Korea, most employers have factored in an additional 20 hours of extra work per month (this is referred to as 기준연장).
If your employer also factors in such extra work time, you must add that to the total expected number of working hours per year. So, for the case of most people in Korea, at least until next month, that means they must add an additional 360 hours of work to get the total number of expected working hours per annum.
Once you have that figure, you simply divide your annual salary into that. For example, if you're employed in Korea and you earn USD 200,000 per year and you're expected to work a total of 200, 7 hour work days (lunch excluded) in any given year, after factoring in the extra work you're expected to carry out in a given year (which in Korea is 360 hours per year), that means you will work a total of 1760 total hours giving you an hourly wage of approximately $114. So, getting back to OT, that means you will earn about $170 per hour of overtime if you are paid 'time and a half' as most employers do, particularly on weekends.
2018년 6월 18일 월요일
Checks & Balances
Strong organizations place checks and balances on the *actions* and *decisions* that people and teams take.
They challange proposed decisions and tap them to make sure they are strong.
There are periodic reviews to check if assumptions have held and to re-calibrate if need be.
They go through multiple rounds of interviews to make sure they bring on the right people with the right experience so they can strengthen the checks and balances on decision making and decisions made.
Weak organizations, on the other hand, check their own people and try to re-balance the odds against them in an attempt to prevent any substantive (i.e. risky when viewed from the lens of a weak org) decisions from being taken.
Project issues are viewed as personal failings rather than the result of structural or material issues and so issues are usually addressed in weak organizations by adding more bodies or replacing high ranking individuals in an attempt to re-balance "capacity."
Proximity and similarity are synonomous with trust in weak organizations so there are more checks placed on decision makers the farther away they are from the corporate core.
Efficiencies and opportunities are lost due to rumor milling and rumor chasing.
Corporate meetings are places to raise doubt and suspicion about other persons and to create invisible checks on said persons.
They challange proposed decisions and tap them to make sure they are strong.
There are periodic reviews to check if assumptions have held and to re-calibrate if need be.
They go through multiple rounds of interviews to make sure they bring on the right people with the right experience so they can strengthen the checks and balances on decision making and decisions made.
Weak organizations, on the other hand, check their own people and try to re-balance the odds against them in an attempt to prevent any substantive (i.e. risky when viewed from the lens of a weak org) decisions from being taken.
Project issues are viewed as personal failings rather than the result of structural or material issues and so issues are usually addressed in weak organizations by adding more bodies or replacing high ranking individuals in an attempt to re-balance "capacity."
Proximity and similarity are synonomous with trust in weak organizations so there are more checks placed on decision makers the farther away they are from the corporate core.
Efficiencies and opportunities are lost due to rumor milling and rumor chasing.
Corporate meetings are places to raise doubt and suspicion about other persons and to create invisible checks on said persons.
2018년 6월 17일 일요일
State of the dApps
I tweeted this last night:
The reality is that the state of the dApps, as of June 2018, is still super early days.
Just check out these stats from DappRadar:
The technology underlying dApps (i.e. the entire web3 ecosystem) is just as revolutionary and powerful as David Winer's RSS was for podcasts. A key difference is that the former has attracted billions of dollars in (speculative) investment to push development into warp speed.
So whereas podcasts had to fight an over decade long battle before they became a part of mainstream behavior when they were thrust into the world's conscience by the stratospheric success of 'Serial', dApps should, at least in theory, hit an inflection point much, much sooner.
In 2017, podcasts in the US raked in around $314 Mil or about 86% more than they did in 2016, and are expected to continue growing *all around the world*.
Despite podcasts and the revenue they are generating representing a fraction of the $17.6 Bil that commercial radio raked in over the same period, they are an unstoppable force whose creative and experimental potential is only just beginning to be realized.
For me the semi-centralized dApp Cent is like Adam Curry's podcast in 2004. It's so different from what came before it, but it's familiar enough to not to be alienating, and it can only work on top of this brand new technology. It's a POC for dApps in general, and is something that could become something much bigger.
dApps are still early days. To know that and still see their potential though could make all the difference in a year or so...🚀
The reality is that the state of the dApps, as of June 2018, is still super early days.
Just check out these stats from DappRadar:
The technology underlying dApps (i.e. the entire web3 ecosystem) is just as revolutionary and powerful as David Winer's RSS was for podcasts. A key difference is that the former has attracted billions of dollars in (speculative) investment to push development into warp speed.
So whereas podcasts had to fight an over decade long battle before they became a part of mainstream behavior when they were thrust into the world's conscience by the stratospheric success of 'Serial', dApps should, at least in theory, hit an inflection point much, much sooner.
In 2017, podcasts in the US raked in around $314 Mil or about 86% more than they did in 2016, and are expected to continue growing *all around the world*.
Despite podcasts and the revenue they are generating representing a fraction of the $17.6 Bil that commercial radio raked in over the same period, they are an unstoppable force whose creative and experimental potential is only just beginning to be realized.
For me the semi-centralized dApp Cent is like Adam Curry's podcast in 2004. It's so different from what came before it, but it's familiar enough to not to be alienating, and it can only work on top of this brand new technology. It's a POC for dApps in general, and is something that could become something much bigger.
dApps are still early days. To know that and still see their potential though could make all the difference in a year or so...🚀
2018년 6월 16일 토요일
Paying for Subscriptions
Subscriptions are support vehicles. As always, good writing will need to be supported. Luckily people are willing to pay too, just not for every single thing.
Case in point: The NY Times earns more revenue now from direct subscriptions than ad revenue and the difference is only growing.
More people today are opening up to paying for digital goods too. This is such a key core sentiment change for the future generally but crypto specifically - opening up to paying for digital goods (even things as common and copiable as an email). This change in individuals is super super interesting to watch grow.
Niche publications like Stratechery who have a savvy combo of free content as well as articles reserved only for paying subscribers have proven that subscriptions work for them as much as the big media outfits, but they aren't perfect and are quite clunky (for legacy regulatory and credit card payment/cost reasons).
Developing a potentially trivially easy way for a legacy publication or one-person niche outfits to establish a direct economic outfit with readers may be the only way journalism (in it's current form) can hope to survive.
Ben Thompson says it better than me (the end specifically deals with print journalism) in one of his posts [here].
Case in point: The NY Times earns more revenue now from direct subscriptions than ad revenue and the difference is only growing.
More people today are opening up to paying for digital goods too. This is such a key core sentiment change for the future generally but crypto specifically - opening up to paying for digital goods (even things as common and copiable as an email). This change in individuals is super super interesting to watch grow.
Niche publications like Stratechery who have a savvy combo of free content as well as articles reserved only for paying subscribers have proven that subscriptions work for them as much as the big media outfits, but they aren't perfect and are quite clunky (for legacy regulatory and credit card payment/cost reasons).
Developing a potentially trivially easy way for a legacy publication or one-person niche outfits to establish a direct economic outfit with readers may be the only way journalism (in it's current form) can hope to survive.
Ben Thompson says it better than me (the end specifically deals with print journalism) in one of his posts [here].
2018년 6월 15일 금요일
Good Peoples
I was at the Glosfer-Hycon party last night to celebrate Hycon launching on mainnet at the beginning of June.
Great for them.
But better than that was the fact I could catch up with and meet some folks deep in crypto who happen to also just be good peoples.
If any of your are familiar with the early-days Bezos with a broke amazon.com sign, there are a good grip of Bezos-esque folks that are just grinding in the crypto space right now.
Not a soul really *knows* what'll come next, but we all know it's coming.
Key takeaway from last night?
Don't be greedy - it's a simple truth that few can live. But there are people who are living that truth. And I am glad that I can call them friends.
Great for them.
But better than that was the fact I could catch up with and meet some folks deep in crypto who happen to also just be good peoples.
If any of your are familiar with the early-days Bezos with a broke amazon.com sign, there are a good grip of Bezos-esque folks that are just grinding in the crypto space right now.
Not a soul really *knows* what'll come next, but we all know it's coming.
Key takeaway from last night?
Don't be greedy - it's a simple truth that few can live. But there are people who are living that truth. And I am glad that I can call them friends.
2018년 6월 14일 목요일
Just Head Over to Cent Already
There are 11 bounties worth a combined freaking $400+ right now over on beta.cent.co - that's the highest combined bounty value we've had in about two months.
So what are you still doing here?
Head over to beta.cent.co right now and start getting paid for sharing your wisdom.
2018년 6월 13일 수요일
A Crypto-Native Nation?
Jake Brukhman (investor in Cent) Tweeted this interesting remark the other day:
Now while I definitely think it may be a little premature to say that there is a "nation" of crypto-natives, I do think that Cent has created one of the first spaces where crypto-natives are beginning to gather.
It's my belief that it will be from out of these gathering spots that the future nations created for and by crypto-natives will probably spring.
Now while I definitely think it may be a little premature to say that there is a "nation" of crypto-natives, I do think that Cent has created one of the first spaces where crypto-natives are beginning to gather.
It's my belief that it will be from out of these gathering spots that the future nations created for and by crypto-natives will probably spring.
2018년 6월 12일 화요일
Multiple Perspectives on Bitcoin's PoW Energy Consumption
It seems like more than a few (needlessly long) articles are popping up re-hashing the energy consumption issue related to Bitcoin's Proof of Work consensus algorithm.
A simpler way to see the issue is through bullet points of both the optimistic side as well as pessimistic side.
A few months ago the Token Economy email newsletter did just this and provided this awesome list of pessimistic/optimistic takes on Bitcoin's energy use. I'll share then with you here:
Pessimistic view:
- Bitcoin uses as much energy as 520,000 Canadians every day
- Bitcoin uses as much energy as the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Bitcoin uses more energy than 116 countries each
Optimistic view:
- The energy that Bitcoin consumes in a year would only last the U.S. for 19 hours.
- Bitcoin uses only 20% of the energy from a single coal power plant in Taiwan
- The Three Gorges Damn in China produces three times as much electricity as Bitcoin consumes
- The U.S. produces more electricity from a single Geothermal plant than Bitcoin requires
- 17 NSA Data centers together consume more electricity than Bitcoin
- Google used about double as much electricity in 2015 than Bitcoin does today
- Bitcoin miners will consume an estimated 8.27 terawatt-hours per year, but that's less than the estimated 11 terawatt-hours per year to produce the global cash and coin supply, while gold mining burns the equivalent of 132 terawatt-hours - and that doesn’t include armored trucks, bank vaults, security systems and such.
2018년 6월 11일 월요일
Negotiations & History
For those with short memories, journalists and North Korean experts were up in arms a few short weeks back after Trump "canceled" negotiations. The furor they raised just confirmed how little they (or really most people for that matter) know about negotiations. Negotiations are never over until they are over, and while parties may kick and scream during negotiations, when the ink dries on a final, signed agreement everything except what has been agreed upon is forgotten.
Despite the negotiations pushing ahead and even after the summit was declared on again, you have a bunch of ideologues criticizing the whole meeting citing past North Korean atrocities as evidence that the US is negotiating not just with a terrorist but a war criminal.
Everyone knows North Korea has been a shitty place to live, and some people were really fucked over. You can also say the same thing about really any group or nation throughout history, including the US and South Korea. But the key things to look out for are the moments when things may change and benefit a huge swathe or group of people.
The meeting between Trump and Kim may be one of those moments, but also it may not be. That said, directionally they are heading towards one of those moments where the past of North Korea will be (largely) forgotten so that a future can be opened up where many more people than were fucked over in the past can benefit. That is how history, thought broadly, is written.
So, to summarize: Negotiations are finalized when participants agree to do one thing or a set of things while forgetting everything else in much the same way that history is written about one thing or a set of things while omitting everything else. When you see people only focusing on the "everything else" on Twitter or on the news or at the bar, ask them why they are focusing on everything else.
2018년 6월 10일 일요일
Son of the Smith Hard Cider
After a week (or to be precise 9 days) off I am on the company shuttle heading into the office.
So what better time than now to quickly review my favorite alcoholic beverage that I imbibed on break.
That honor goes to the phenomenal 'Son of the Smith Hard Cider' produced in none other than Nagano, Japan but inspired by the amazing ciders of Portland, Oregon.
While they say they were inspired by Portland ciders, they certainly didn't stop there. And despite Portland, in particular the good folks at Rev Nat's Cider, producing world-class ciders, Son of the Smith has produced perhaps the tastiest, most well-rounded general purpose cider the world has ever known.
I was fortunate enough to enjoy four bottles of this amazing drink at Beer Cellar Sapporo located a few short minutes by Street Car from Susukino Street in downtown Sapporo.
After my first sip, I closed my eyes and nearly cried. The perfect balance of the cider's very subtle sweetness and crisp tartness were brought into perfect relief atop the lovely and velvety full mouthfeel. It was everything I'd ever wanted in a general purpose cider. That and the ambiance of the unpretentious bar paired together with whatever song that was playing at the time and my wife sitting beside me just made for one of the most perfect moments in my life so far.
This cider changed my life. So if you are able to get your hands on a few bottles of this stuff I recommend you buy as much as you can. It's not often that you can buy revelation packaged in a tastefully designed 330 ml brown bottle. Oh and buy some smoked Olympia Provision's sausage to go with it if you can. It's a match made in heaven.
2018년 6월 9일 토요일
Podcast of the Week No.9
When Joe Rogan says a new episode of the Joe Rogan Experience is one of his favorite ever, you gotta listen to it.
Recently Joe recorded such an episode with Dr. Robert Schoch, an associate professor of Natural Sciences at the College of General Studies of Boston University, and for those who are endlessly fascinated with getting as close to the bottom as we can about the origins and history of early man/earth, this episode is very much a must listen.
Hopefully Joe takes Dr. Schoch up on his offer to take a trek together in person to the Sphinx and other ancient Egyptian ruins to record a podcast. That would be so amazingly dope.
Make your earballs happy and listen to the episode [here].
2018년 6월 8일 금요일
We Are All Astro Travellers
By now most have heard that the one and only Anthony Bourdain has left the world of the living. I'm not one to get struck by the passing of those I never met in real life, but when I read about Anthony I cried.
He was a teacher and a prophet: introducing and explaining largely unknown or unfamiliar parts of the world while constantly preaching the value to humanity of being a student of the world.
Anthony introduced me, in great detail, to many an amazing chef and city. No episode of any show has ever had as large of an impact though, as has the episode where Anthony covered in exquisite detail the city of Copenhagen where he introduced the head chef of the world renowned restaurant Noma, René Redzepi.
That is an episode I have watched over 15 times by now. It is a masterpiece.
I'll leave you with another beautifully brilliant hidden gem of a poem that was unearthed for me and the world in the Jamaica episode of Parts Unknown. The poem was uttered in heavilly accented Jamaican English, and is one of my favorite moments in all of broadcast history. It also happens to feel like the perfect way to send Anthony off.
RIP Anthony. You will be missed, so very much.
"It's a joyous day!
Let us find the sprit in man, and travel; to the unknown.
To think because we are here in the present, it hasn't just started; this is coming - reality - out of the unknown, out of the nothingness. And we are going to go on into the infamous; into the celestial.
We are what you call Astro Travellers. So we are travelling from dimension to dimension.
If one man die, all men dead; and one man live, all men live.
Tell the ranks!
One dog, one cat, one goat, one fowl, one moon, one sun; it had to be multi purpose in order to sustain energy and life. So you have black, blue, green, pink, yellow, river, sea, mountain, birds, dogs - Man.
Everything is travelling on such. Everything is relative.
The car, the money.
Everything is connected to the universe.
So whether you are one person that does not realize how vulnerable we are within the changes of time, the earth will not disappear my brethren.
Because I and I!"
~ Parts Unknown, Jamaica
2018년 6월 7일 목요일
Analogies, Irony and Paradoxes
The best way to illuminate the present is through the past using analogies.
Irony makes history a worthy subject of study.
Paradoxes, in addition to irony, are something that a good historian should always be on the lookout for.
~ Niall Ferguson on Waking Up with Sam Harris
Irony makes history a worthy subject of study.
Paradoxes, in addition to irony, are something that a good historian should always be on the lookout for.
~ Niall Ferguson on Waking Up with Sam Harris
2018년 6월 6일 수요일
Morning by the Sea in Hakodate
This morning I awoke to the sound of waves crashing just beyond the open veranda.
Looking out at the sea, an enormous and seemingly unending plume of mist was rolling out onto land.
I took a deep breath, cleared my mind and hugged my wife tight
And now we're grabbing breakfast, Hakodate style: fresh shucked uni and snow crab topped rice with slices of morning caught squid accompanied by a couple of pints of crisp, exclusive-to-Hokkaido Sapporo Classic.
2018년 6월 5일 화요일
Proof of Passion (PoP)
What do you talk about when you're drunk?
I'm not sure if there's a better Proof of Passion than the topics and subjects individuals bring up and (try to) focus on when they're drinking. To be clear, 'drinking' here refers to the consumption of alcoholic beverages, but I suppose it could also apply to the consumption of any marijuana-based product as well.
As any casual reader of this blog knows, my passion for the past eight or so months has been Cent. And you best believe that I am talking about Cent every damn time I drink. Just ask my wife or best mates, or close co-workers.
While the activity of drinking catches a lot of flack, mostly stemming from the results and consequences of over-drinking, when engaged with in moderation the results can be enlightening and therapeutic.
Nearly everytime I drink and talk about Cent, or anything that I am super passionate about and have invested a great deal of time and thought into, I make new connections, associations, convictions and advancements in my thinking.
The key is to remember these new connections, associations, convictions and advancements in your thinking. That's why I'm not shy about taking notes in my Diaro app while I'm drinking. Especially when it comes to Cent, my notes are writing the future. And alcohol has definitely helped in tha process.
But alcohol is just a tool. If that underlying passion hadn't existed, alcohol wouldn't have helped anything; in fact it probably would have had a net negative impact on my life. So I guess the moral of this story is to find your passion, and then get drunk or high. God, parents are going to love this blog post. Cheers everyone🍻
2018년 6월 4일 월요일
Reservation Culture
Yesterday we found some banging lamb bbq and kyoja restaurants, but we couldn't eat at any of them.
Why?
Because we didn't make any reservations. Sigh.
But luckily every restaurant we wanted to go to took 1 day reservations, so today is going to be dedicated to eating. And eating some more.
So far Sapporo feels like a combo of Portland, Perth, and Fukuoka with a Northern Japan vibe.
2018년 6월 3일 일요일
On the Plane
That's me, writing this
Thanks to all the Centians who recommended those dope flying tracks [here].
See yall in the land of the rising sun.
Live life. Love it. Remember it. Write it.
2018년 6월 2일 토요일
Podcast of the Week No.8
One of my low key favorite podcasts is The Digiday Podcast. For those of you who may not be familar with the show, it's focused on covering all things digital media by bringing listeners into conversations with a wide range of thought-leaders in the digital media sector and industry professionals.
This week Bryan Goldberg, CEO of Bustle, was on the show with CEO of Dotdash Neil Vogel [here] and it was a great episode.
Bryan Goldberg is one of my favorite personalites and leaders in the digital media landscape today. He has strong opinions that are well argued and isn't afraid to stick his neck out there taking contrarian positions. As one of the founders of Bleacher Report back in 2007 when he was *24* he's not only a pioneer in the emerging digital media market but already a warworn veteran with the requisite wisdom to boot.
So enjoy the episode and keep an eye out for any other podcasts, interviews or articles featuring Bryan.
2018년 6월 1일 금요일
Vacation Planning
Today will be spent getting any last minute supplies needed for a little summer vacation my wife and I will be taking for a week starting Monday over in Japan.
I'm super excited.
For me at least one of the joys of traveling is the plane ride to and from wherever the destination is, especially when you can listen to music along the way.
It's been my experience that certain songs just sound better on planes. That's why I have a 'flying playlist' where I've added songs throughout the years that are awesome to listen to in-flight.
But I'm looking to add to that playlist, so I posted a bounty on Cent asking fellow Centians what their favorite songs to listen to while flying are. If you have some songs, go [here] and leave me your recommendations and help me sort up the best reaponsea so far. It'll be worth your while since you'll be getting paid.
I'm super excited.
For me at least one of the joys of traveling is the plane ride to and from wherever the destination is, especially when you can listen to music along the way.
It's been my experience that certain songs just sound better on planes. That's why I have a 'flying playlist' where I've added songs throughout the years that are awesome to listen to in-flight.
But I'm looking to add to that playlist, so I posted a bounty on Cent asking fellow Centians what their favorite songs to listen to while flying are. If you have some songs, go [here] and leave me your recommendations and help me sort up the best reaponsea so far. It'll be worth your while since you'll be getting paid.
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