From the Heart of Darkness, comes Hearts of Light
Last weekend, two Provinces in South Africa, erupted in unrest, the likes of which we have not seen in decades. Rioters in their thousands descended on individual cities, towns and local communities, intent on burning, destroying and looting Kwazulu-Natal, Province of my birth, epicentre of the chaos and unrest. Johannesburg, the financial hub of the country, located in Gauteng Province also bore the brunt. To give some perspective, the whole of the United Kingdom would fit inside Kwa-Zulu Natal, and the entire Province was at the mercy of rioters and looters.
Many have postured reasons, from political destabilisation to poverty to general discontent, for this violent upheaval, which saw gun battles and warfare ensue in our local neighbourhoods, petrol bombings of walled housing complexes, shopping malls gutted and destroyed, factories and trading estates set alight and burned to the ground. Every ounce of food produce and goods looted from affected stores. Distribution networks severely disrupted and threats made to electricity and water supplies. Trucks and cars set alight and left to burn in the middle of the street. Broken glass and mangled steel everywhere. Nothing was sacred. Part of the consequences of these actions was chemical spills and environmental incidents which will have untold consequences for the eastern coastline and local fishing industry. Luminous blue chemical spillage has been flowing into the ocean and is visible miles out to sea. Numerous species of marine life and birds affected have been affected in this environmental catastrophe. Octopus, crayfish, crabs, fish all washed ashore, dead. The carnage has been widespread, beyond the human experience alone.
IOL news report: Chemical spill Jul-2021 https://www.iol.co.za/news/environment/watch-durban-chemical-spill-alleged-to-have-killed-scores-of-marine-life-a3365292-dcbd-4c0d-8bbc-ec9850f41ec2
The riots and looting were sparked by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma. He was found guilty of contempt of court by the South African Constitutional Court, for failing to appear before a commission which was investigating the corruption in government under his term in office.
It has since emerged that this was likely a plot to overthrow the government and stage a coup, by those in the communist corner of South African politics, ardent supporters of Jacob Zuma. The idea was to destabilise the country and bring it to it's knees, whilst simultaneously depriving white South Africans of food and fuel supply. They wanted white citizens to experience the hunger and desperation that comes with poverty and loss. The government is investigating and has pledged to bring the real culprits, those in the echelons of the political sphere behind the destabilisation and unrest, to justice.
You can read my article from 12 July which includes a poem about living through the experience of the events earlier this week, and a brief synopsis, so that you can get a sense of what it was like to be caught up in the melee; the fear, the anxiety, and the loss. It is written from the perspective of feeling helpless 6000 miles away while my homeland burned, but incorporates the feelings expressed and shared with me by family and friends on the ground, and the thoughts and fears I experienced whilst viewing personal footage shared by community members, and monitoring communications almost non-stop with very little sleep.
Today I am Broken (A true story) https://www.proofofbrain.io/hive-150329/@samsmith1971/today-i-am-broken-a-true-story
It is now Sunday 18th July and the country has for the past few days been experiencing some calm after the storm, or perhaps a lull between storms. We are not completely sure what the true state is at the moment, although some sense of normalcy has resumed. The few local shops left standing have opened where possible. South Africans of all races have queued together to replenish provisions. Some queues have stretched miles over the past few days; miles of actual people on foot, not cars! If they are lucky enough to get to the front of the queue before stocks are depleted, they are allowed to purchase strictly rationed limits of 10-20 items with no duplicates. Things are slowly improving with distribution channels being re-established, albeit with assistance from neighbouring provinces, resulting in improved availability of food and fuel supplies, but it will take some time before things actually return to a new sense of normal.
The government has deployed the military in support of the police, too little too late, and falling short of announcing a state of emergency, for fear that this will play straight into the hands of the Zuma faction as the military is controlled by Nkosasane Zuma, the ex-wife of Jacob Zuma. It's a no win situation.
However, out of the heart of darkness of the past week has emerged many bright hearts of light. The light within it all was the strength of spirit within the communities. A small flicker grew quickly and ignited into flames of courage and hope. The resolve to unite, work together, and support each other, with food, medical supplies and armed patrols, including patrolled residential road blockades, was immense. Neighbourhood Watch Groups were bolstered with well meaning local residents and kept watch on the streets 24/7. Zello emergency chats were established together with local community emergency Whatsapp groups.
They worked in unison. They worked in community. Race, colour, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation; none of these mattered, and community has prevailed at the end of the day. They were enriched by their diversity of talents and skills and life experiences and held together with a united goal: to protect the community as a whole. To protect what was collectively built by them, collectively sustained by them and collectively owned by them. When it mattered, in the midst of fight or flight, people chose to stand together, rise above the chaos, and hold their ground. Strangers shared what little they had, to sustain and protect their community members, not knowing where their own next meal was coming from, but ensuring that nobody went hungry. They became each other's family, and nobody got left behind. They showed the instigators of this mayhem that attempts to destabilise and tear communities apart only strengthened their resolve and pulled them more tightly together.
In the calm that has existed the past few days, community communication channels are being kept open, communities have taken control of their own areas and defied local government requests to stand down, intent on protecting what is theirs in the absence of any real presence from the police or military in their areas. Strangers have become friends and group gatherings and neighbourhood braais (bbqs) are being discussed.
The clean up of vandalised, looted malls, rubbish strewn streets and burnt out factories and vehicles, is almost complete. Side by side the communities have come together and taken charge of the clean up operation. They have stood together to clean up the malls, restore shops to their prior status, sweep the roads clear of debris; to begin slowly to remove the signs of chaos and destruction that was tipped so unwantonly on their doorsteps.
Warning: *video clip below contains some swearing with use of the F word*
Community in action: South africa cleans up https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10159531744622953&id=536537952
There are now reports of a shutdown of the country being planned for tomorrow. Authorities are aware and remaining vigilant. Everything still hangs on a knife edge. The aftermath has left us with an incalculable loss to the country. Whilst the financial cost is quantifiable, and runs into billions of US dollars (with an estimated 0.7% hit to GDP), the intrinsic values of trust, freedom, and co-operation between opposing sides, have been challenged to breaking point and beyond. Tensions, particularly in Kwa-Zulu Natal, remain high between those who support the Zuma faction and the communities who stand opposed. It remains to be seen whether this will be exploited by the puppet masters holding the strings.
The powder keg remains. We just hope and pray that nobody re-lights the fuse!
Photo credit Sudan Chowdhury https://www.pexels.com/photo/macro-shot-of-light-bulb-170781/
Financial data source and additional reading:
Businesstech: Economic Impacts of riots and looting in South Africa and wider emerging problems https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/506136/economic-impact-of-riots-and-looting-in-south-africa-and-wider-emerging-problems/
Aspirations of the intangible kind
I've seen so many people write about their Proof of Brain journey and aspirations and it almost always seems to go something along the lines of...
*'I joined the platform so many months ago. I currently have 500 POB or 100 Hive or 50 Leo tokens for arguments sake. My plan is to grow this to 1000, 200, 100 in the next (insert number of months). I therefore plan to write at least 1 article a day, and hope to get noticed by a whale or two...and one day become one myself'*
Ok, perhaps that last bit about whales is made a bit more subtle...but it's there, more often than not, in the subtext. It's just how this platform seems to have evolved or at the very least, directs the misguided perception of it's "value" to newcomers joining it.
When I first joined a little over a month ago (although it feels like I've been here forever), I felt like an intruder, an alien in a very foreign world. The Hive and it's related communities seemed to me a minefield of locked doors requiring special key access wherever I turned and it took me about a week or two to get to the point that I could do some basic navigation around the system without the need for constant handholding and support. @jaxsonmurph knows all about this lol and was my wonderful mentor and support during those first few weeks, and has continued to encourage and inspire with the initiatives being introduced to the platform. I received support from @leprechaun when I was stuck powering up and others like @calumam have given me great feedback, encouragement and support and been an inspiration to follow. https://www.proofofbrain.io/@jaxsonmurph https://www.proofofbrain.io/@leprechaun https://www.proofofbrain.io/@calumam
I initially read these POB journey type articles in the hope that I would glean some understanding of what the platform was all about, how to go about using it, what to aspire to...Now, I don't bother much anymore. I am honestly not interested in how many tokens Joe Soap has or how many he/she wants to get in the next 2 months, 6 months or year. That is not my journey. I don't mind if they share it, but it just does not personally hold much meaning to me in isolation; without the context of the full framework of community engagement. I personally have no interest in trying to stalk whales or appease their interests in the misguided hope that this might induce them to follow me, curate me, or upvote me. It's certainly nice when they do find and read my articles and see value in them, and I have great appreciation for their promotion, support and encouragement, no argument there, but I realised quickly that those who focus only on the tokenisation element of the platform, can lose themselves somewhat along the way, treading a very narrow line chasing tokenised rewards at the expense of adding real value to their own being and to those around them; that a narrow approach to measuring one's worth on the platform would simply promote the wrong behaviours and an ethos that was not at the heart of community. So a strategy for success in Proof of Brain that does not venture beyond the realms of bean counting, is not for me. Don't get me wrong, I will still read people's journeys that they post, if the article grabs me from the outset, and I can see from a quick scan that it has more than just a discussion of financial token value to offer. I also appreciate that some may write these articles purely to keep a record of where they were at token wise at various points of their journey, and therefore publish it to the blockchain simply for perpetuity sake :-)
Now...I get it, I mean, it's really great being rewarded for your efforts and the rewards on Proof of Brain, and other Hive communities like Peakd and Leo, come in the form of author and curation reward tokens, which do have immediate monetary value, but which also have longer term, big picture staking value to benefit both yourself and others as well. There is nothing wrong with having financial aspirations both for yourself and for the community, and I don't think anyone can deny that they are also here, present on the platform, partly for those benefits, but I wonder if we could take a step back and also measure our success on this platform using different metrics? I wonder how each person's individual perspective and success in the community might differ if we also used non-financial KPIs to assess the true underlying value of our engagement; an assessment of how our actions support and drive the values behind Proof of Brain instead?
Just because something is a certain way, doesn't mean it has to stay that way or continue to be perpetuated, and I see many examples across the community of longer standing members trying to do their bit to keep this community on track. It is also wonderful to see that their ethos has filtered quickly to some of the newer members who have joined the efforts to fight the good fight, to keep the community primarily focussed on the intangible value of engagement, with merely an eye kept on the construct of tokenisation. The more I looked around, the more I found exciting opportunities for engagement such as @jaxsonmurph 's Favourite Article of the Day, @calumam 's Word of the week, @elricmoonslayer 's Random Thought of the Day, @wiseagent 's spreadingpob, and the @inkwellprompt, to name but a few. I am sure there are many more, but these are the ones I tend to support most, with the latter being a new discovery that I plan to explore further, but then again, I haven't been here long enough to find every engagement contest out there that may be of interest to me. Please do hit me up in the comments if you know of others you personally love, as I am sure it will benefit not just me but anyone who takes the time to stop by and take a read. https://www.proofofbrain.io/@jaxsonmurph https://www.proofofbrain.io/@calumam https://www.proofofbrain.io/@elricmoonslayer https://www.proofofbrain.io/@wiseagent https://www.proofofbrain.io/@inkwellprompt
I enjoy writing to prompts as they push me outside of my comfort zone and force me to try new things, and these contests promote fabulous opportunities for community engagement and exposure to diverse perspectives.
I love to read across the spectrum of the community. My interests are so wide, so varied and I am never too shy to venture into an article about something completely different, or an unfamiliar genre, if the title catches my attention. I will also dip and sometimes dive into that article that's been sitting around for a few days with hardly any views, as not everyone is a master of the art of headline grabbing narrative. We are all on our own journey of literary growth. Most people have something important to say, if you just listen, and a good proportion of those add real value if you just give them a chance and lend them your time.
So, I've been giving it some thought:
Firstly, to be absolutely clear, I am not dissing those who measure their success in tokens. I'm sure that most of you who have done well, have achieved success through the relentless pursuit of POB's true values, and your accumulated tokenisation value is simply evidence of those efforts, and it it through your own curation, that you share your weighted value in the community with others. For some, the importance of gaining financial remuneration may be critical to survival, or to the support of their family, or to the achievement of the goal of escaping their day job and being able to support themselves financially through their passion for writing, and so a keen focus on token accumulation and value is important to them, and I respect that. But for those starting out or perhaps struggling on Proof of Brain, or those who may have become a little lost along the way, I truly believe that everyone should be setting themselves Proof of Brain goals that go beyond the mere value of tokenisation. Goals that measure the extent to which we uplift and support new authors, the extent to which our ambition for the platform stretches us as individuals, to reach out for the holy grail of attaining the level of engagement required to truly experience the uniqueness of the community, it's diversity of opinion, interest and perspective. We need to measure the range of unique interactions that we have across the board including who we interact with, the genres we explore and the diverse interests on offer. After all, we are not merely here to earn tokens, we are here to grow. We are here to learn. I feel like I may be beating a dead horse on this theme as I've rolled it out before, but it's important and warrants attention. As human beings, we are here to learn the art of engagement, the value of community. If we do not have the metrics to measure that human growth experience, then all we are doing is pocketing tokens.
So my strategy for getting the most out of Proof of Brain, as an author, is endeavouring to write from experience, write with passion, write about what is meaningful to me; all the while exploring new genres and perspectives and pushing myself outside of my comfort zones. When it comes to *my* creative works, it is *me* and *my* values and *my* pursuits whom it should represent, and my writings should not prostrate themselves or pander to the interests of others, just to earn tokenised rewards.
As a curator, my goal is simple. Read as widely as possible. Lend my eyes to the works of as many different members of the community as I can. Mix it up and explore a blend of different genres each day. I haven't done any statistical analysis of my curation but I know from the joy that I gain constantly from interacting on this platform, that I am on the right path and that if I can keep my eye on Proof of Brain's true purpose, if I can remain true to myself, I don't need to focus on the tokens, as they will take care of themselves. It reminds me of the well known tagline from the film, Field of Dreams. "If you build it, they will come." The most important thing about community, after all, is community, and we can only build relationships and grow the strength of the community, through continuous positive engagement.
So it makes me really happy when I see engagement projects on this platform. They come in the form of daily and weekly contests as already mentioned. They come in the form of community members making calculated decisions to improve the diversity of curation such as the POBLeus Project curation trail, the Engagement Project, @clixmoney 's dcc curation initiative, Ecency, and those who as individuals simply change the way in which they structure their account token distribution so that author rewards are increased to those who are deserving and here I give as an example @onealfa . I am not going to write a comprehensive list of all of those involved in these various curation projects; there are so many leading the charge and providing support behind the scenes. Suffice to say, the community has some solid foundations upon which to build, and architects working tirelessly to realise their design aspirations to improve across the board. https://www.proofofbrain.io/@clixmoney https://www.proofofbrain.io/@onealfa
We can only exist as a community because we act and behave as a community. Without that we are nothing more than random strangers pursuing self interest alone, passing like ships in the night.
Photo credit:
Valeriy Ryasnyanskiy https://www.pexels.com/photo/modern-ships-sailing-in-sea-during-majestic-sundown-3840203/
A moment lost... (a short story)
He emptied the bath tub, stepped out and stood gazing at the reflection staring back at him. A mirror image, in more ways than one, he thought. His lips parted and curved upwards at the edges, ever so slightly, at his own wit, a pool of water now gathering at his feet. He stroked the 3 day stubble, ran a comb through his wet ringlets and reached for the bath towel. Regardless of the exact outcome, he determined, today was definitely going to be a good day.
As he sat in the waiting room, he reached for his pocket watch, examined it briefly, before tucking it back inside the safety of his double breasted jacket. Almost time.
He glanced around the room, drumming his fingers on the edge of the chair, and his eyes came to rest on the man seated next to him. He appeared of similar age; mid twenties, moustache, a mop of dark brown hair adorning his head, slightly unruly and in stark contrast to his own well kept locks.
He leant over.
"You have a paper to deliver?" he postured by way of casual conversation.
"I do".
"Right, me too. I can't believe I've spent 3 years on this thing!"
"Try 15." came the response.
He clearly failed to conceal his simultaneous sense of shock and amusement at this revelation, and so as if by way of explanation, the young man responded, "I've faced a few challenges, it's been relatively complex".
"Oh, I hear you," he responded, now having gathered himself enough to garner some sort of polite response.
Goodness, he pondered. What on earth has the guy been doing all this time? He eyed up his competition, his confidence now boosted. He was about to pry further, when their conversation was cut short.
"Mr Akerue, I presume". Collar folded, tie straightened, shoes shone, he rose to greet the man in the polished suit striding towards him; the man who held the keys to a future that would soon be his. The handshake was firm, considered, deliberate; just what you'd expect from a person of his position and stature.
He purveyed his audience. Moisture gathering in the creases of his hands as he scratched the corner of his brow, exhaling long and slow. They were going to be a tough crowd to please! Twelve pairs of eyes around the long table followed him as he paced up and down, delivering line after line of perfectly manicured text, not a beat out of place, except for the one rising in his chest. Three years spent burning the candle, every waking moment consumed, and it had come down to this; a single hour in a single day. He had yearned for this moment.
"...and that ladies and gentleman, concludes my presentation. I'd be happy to take any questions?"
Eleven pairs of eyes had now shifted focus. Only one set were still raised to meet his.
"Mr Akerue, whilst an engaging and almost convincing narrative, your hypothesis is unfortunately flawed."
The words rained down on him; blows, knocking the wind out of his sails.
He exited the boardroom, defeated, dejected, resigned, a shadow of his former self. He would forever remain no more than 'Mr !Akerue', the erstwhile aspiring professor. Nothing mattered now, he concluded; he just didn't have the energy to continue. He may forever be destined, never to experience his own Eureka moment. Never to come face to face with pure inspiration, pure genius and to be able to shout it gleefully from the rooftops.
He took one last look around at what might have been. The reception area was quiet. Just one person remained; the same young man, pensive, still sat in the corner seat of the room. He noticed for the first time the newly pressed grey plaid suit, high boots, sock line missing. And that messy hair. He was, altogether, the very antithesis of himself. He sighed. The guy just didn't stand a chance.
As he walked on, he heard a familiar voice behind him and turned back momentarily to see the man in the polished suit stretching out his hand to the stranger seated in the corner.
"Mr Einstein, I presume?"
Photo credits:
Anuj Bansal: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-photography-of-lightbulb-736008/
Today I am broken (A true story)
Warning: Words and scenes related to violence and aggression contained in article.
Broken
I wake up and look
To my beloved
Country of birth,
In turmoil.
6000 miles away.
A man, erstwhile
A president,
Trailblazed a path...
Of corruption and fraud,
Moral and financial
Coffers emptied.
Sentenced to jail:
15 months.
Protestors march.
They loot,
They riot.
They come to destroy.
Protesting incarceration
Is the excuse,
The cloak they hide behind.
Shattered glass
In every unkept pavement crack.
Smoke billows spew,
From malls and factory hats.
Burnt out,
Cars litter the road.
People lie...
Dead by it's side.
Anarchy reigns.
Gunpowder lingers in the air.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Another volley rattles.
Men and women scatter...
Into the red mist of night.
Trolleys brimming,
With the spoils of their hunt.
Homeward bound.
An old man cowers
In the sanctity
of his bedroom.
He hears the Zello chat.
THEY might be coming back.
Shops exhausted,
Are homes next...
On the shopping list?
A man,
The President,
Speaks
On the tv.
To a nation
Under fire.
The army will deploy...
Finally.
But, there is no State
of Emergency.
Politics at play...
Once again.
.
This evening,
Madiba turns in his grave, and I...
I cry...
For my family, for my friends,
For my beloved country.
For she is broken.
This evening,
I lie...
6000 miles away,
With one eye and one ear
To my phone.
Alert to it's constant beep.
I am so tired
Of the corruption.
Tired of the ineptitude.
Tired of the hatred.
Tired of the violence.
Tired of the futility.
So very very tired...
But this evening,
I am broken...
And I cannot sleep.
Copyright asserted 12 July 2021 Samantha Smith
Footnote:
I share this poem with you; my thoughts on the chaos and destruction that has consumed South African provinces today and throughout this evening, and is still ongoing. I live in the UK and haven't been able to work today. I am unsettled and constantly distracted by the needless aggression swallowing my homeland and the fear for my loved ones. So, I haven't read much, curated much or commented much today...on anything. It didn't feel right. But, I needed to write this to do something. To say something! And I found it cathartic in a way to express my feelings.
My father is the man in the bedroom in this poem and I can't even begin to imagine his deep rooted sense of vulnerability and fear. I feel so helpless and I am so worried for his safety and that of my family and close friends who are in a real lockdown fight to protect their lives and their homes. The local communities are standing up to the rioters and looters but the fight is far from over and they are very outnumbered. I am on the Zello app which is a kind of walkie takie/CB radio style phone app, listening in to the constant messages in the community, the calls for help, the responses, the constant swing between calm and storm. I am also on a number of local community whatsapp groups monitoring the situation so that I can do what I can to help my family from afar. Please pray with me, and if you don't believe in a higher being, at least send positive thoughts for a nation and people in need of your strength.
Blessings everyone.
Photo credit: David Geib https://www.pexels.com/photo/broken-glasses-on-the-ground-3220848/
Have you ever been slammed? - An exploration of Art in Performance and Performance in Art
There is something quite wonderful and magical that happens when, as individuals, we are exposed to an experience for the first time; an experience that takes us to a place we've never been before, and moves us beyond our wildest imaginings. One that causes us to pause and regroup, re-examine what fulfills us, and then draws us back in for more. To stir and kindle something deep within, that ignites after re-visitation, is the seat of true inspiration.
When one encounters pure genius, pure talent, pure enjoyment, it's akin to being at a basketball match and witnessing the greatest slam dunk taking place in front of you. You know that feeling of elation, the shiver down your spine, that tingly feeling inside of euphoria, when the likes of Lebron James or Kobi Bryant rise above the plane of the net's rim and put the ball through the basket. It's not just worth the 2 points it adds to the score board. It's creates a whole new level of engagement with the audience. It is not merely the ball that is taken to new heights, but the artform as a whole.
They by no means invented the slam dunk, which had first emerged in the early 20th century, (click here to read more about this if you wish The history of the slamdunk ), but they sure as hell went a long way to perfecting it! They tinkered and retuned the artform, adding in the wow factor, and are part of a generation of players that challenged the norm, stepped outside the zone, and proceeded to change the game, for the better. https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/history-slam-dunk-shot-basketball
It became more exciting, more alluring, more engaging. More visual, more artistic, more interesting. (I may get shot for that last one! lol). Kobe added art to his performance which massively elevated his game and his appeal. In 1997 Kobe won the NBA Slam Dunk contest as a Rookie, and the commentators were blown away saying he "added style and rhythm" to the game.
Kobe Bryant adds style and rhythm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkADnhLwhXc
Now this piece is not actually just about basketball, it's about the mastery of art in performance and performance in art (and Kobe was a master!), and is actually inspired by my introduction to a genre of poetry known as slam poetry.
Now, I don't know if you know what slam poetry is or whether you've even heard of it before. Perhaps you've come across it and simply did not know that there was a specific name to describe it. Slamming in poetic circles is the art of delivering one's own poetry as performance poetry, and examples stretch back to well known classics such as Robert Lee Frost and Lewis Carol (both of whose writings I adore!) although clearly I have never been privy to a live performance (or even a recorded one). The poet performs spoken word poetry before a live audience and audience participation is encouraged. As with any genre of the written word, there exists a spectrum from brilliance to mediocrity but boy am I ever so pleased that my introduction to this artform came in the guise of Neil Hilborn. Well, I was blown away!
My first encounter was in 2018 when I came across a video clip on Facebook that had gone viral. You may well have seen it yourself. It was a share from Neil Hilborn of his poem "OCD". It was so poignant and was delivered in a way that connected me to him as a poet, as an artist, as a human being. The delivery of slam poetry seemingly removes the traditional barriers that sees poetry reserved for the elite, and opens up the art form to the world. Through the use of dramatic interpretation and delivery, as well as visual production, the audience is drawn into the world of the poet and gripped by their story. It truly elevates the written word to new levels of appreciation and engagement and in my view, changes the poetic sphere for the better.
You have to watch this viral clip of Neil performing "OCD" to truly understand what I mean about the emotional connections that are forged and enhanced through this performance driven artform, which I feel has challenged preconceived ideas of poetry and improved the patina of the written word OCD- Neil Hilborn. One word. Wow! https://youtu.be/vnKZ4pdSU-s
Another such brilliant example of slam poetry can be found in the works of Amanda Gorman, the first American youth poet laureate who was invited to speak at the inauguration of President Joe Biden. Her delivery of her poem 'The Hill We Climb' was watched by millions around the world and touched a lot of lives as it examined contemporary themes of racial justice in America. She said of her poem that "there is space for grief and horror and hope and unity", source: CNBC , and her delivery of the poem connects each of these themes as she in turn connects more deeply with her audience, at levels the written word alone cannot reach. If you haven't had the privilege of seeing it yet, or you fancy revisiting it's powerful message, you can watch it here: The Hill We Climb https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/20/amanda-gormans-inaugural-poem-the-hill-we-climb-full-text.html https://youtu.be/Wz4YuEvJ3y4
I feel truly blessed when my whole being is engaged by art in performance or performance in art. It challenges my preconceptions of the world, elevates my expectations and hopes as a human being and truly excites and fulfills me. It just feels like the complete package. A holistic learning experience. It's honestly a slam dunk for my soul.
I hope you enjoyed reading this piece as much as I enjoyed the process of writing it to share with you.
Photo credit: Tima Miroshnichenko https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-in-white-shirt-and-black-shorts-holding-basketball-5586400/
Consensus Reality and the Curse of Individualism in the POB Community
I was doing some research the other day on languages and came across a term I was not familiar with, albeit that it made perfect sense:
'Consensus Reality'.
The moment I read the words, I had to revisit them and voice them aloud. Alone they are just common words, letters strung together for everyday use. Together, however, they roll off the tongue so smoothly ; a marriage that is heaven to the orator. But let's skip beyond the joy of finding a new piece of phraseology and ask the all important, but what does it mean and what is it's potential application to POB?
Our good friend Wiki defines 'Consensus Reality' quite simply as:
"that which is generally agreed to be reality, based on a consensus view".
Now, I don't know about you, but definitions like this usually drive me crazy! Admittedly, oftentimes the most simple explanation of something can be the best, and in this case it is quite a simple concept at it's core, but call me picky; I wanted more. My exploration of this wonderful new phrase couldn't just end there. I delved a bit deeper and thankfully Wiki delivered.
At it's core "Consensus Reality" proposes that humans, who share common experiences or traits, will tend to come to consensus more readily and easily on what is real and what is not in the world. Such common affiliations may include having the same cultural background, sharing similar religious beliefs or simply living within the same geographic area. So, because we all share a common experience, we can all agree on it's existence.
Wiki explains that there are ostensibly two approaches to a consideration of the nature of reality: (1) the objective realist approach which states that " a single, objective, overall reality (is) believed to exist irrespective of the perceptions of any given individual" and (2) the subjective idealist approach "in which it is considered that an individual can verify nothing except their own experience of the world, and can never directly know the truth of the world independent of that".
The first approach assumes that one objective truth or reality exists, regardless of whether or not you believe in it, as it is the one generally accepted to be the true reality within a given group of people based on the shared lens through which they filter these experiences. The second approach assumes that multiple acceptable realities can exist and that it all depends on the way in which the individual perceives his/her personal experiences of the world around them and their unique application of filters that they apply to the information and experiences available to them.
I found this really interesting in that it postulates as a sort of Schrodinger's Cat in my view, in that both an objective and subjective version of reality could co-exist at the same time: that simultaneously communities with a shared purpose/experience would likely come to agreement on a shared view of the world which would then be seen as the only true reality because of the nature of the consensus, whilst an individual could aver that their view of reality was also in fact valid (even if in opposition to the objective Consensus reality) as it naturally flowed through a different kaleidoscope of filters to those of the next person, given that each individual, despite perhaps sharing commonalities across a wide set of human factions/groups and experiences, still possesses a unique identity that drives an innate experience of the world that they alone can have.
And so I come onto the title of this article...'Consensus Reality and the Curse of Individualism in the POB Community', and yes, I'm being facetious ;-) (as I love individualism!)
It struck me when reading about Consensus reality and the oppositional approaches to viewing and perceiving reality, that the concept had suitable application within our very own POB community especially with respect to the numerous contentious issues that have been doing the rounds of late. I speak of downvoting, whale power, auto upvotes and such like. It is clear that these issues will always extract emotive responses across the board because, at the heart of it all, lies a tug-of-war between one's heart and soul on the one hand, and self-interest and self-preservation on the other. I do believe there is a balance to be had between them, one that protects both authors and curators alike, as well as both the interests of the big fish and the little minnows.
In a community like POB, there will be common experiences; objectively common POB 'world' views so to speak. By way of example:
We are mostly all authors, whether we proclaim or perceive ourselves as such, as we all engage in writing either full articles, posts or commenting on the works of others. So we all 'author' to a certain extent. On this point we can therefore all agree that one of the reasons we are on the platform is to write and share experiences with each other and we therefore share a Consensus Reality on this point.
We are also all mostly curators too. Most of us also read articles on Proofofbrain, (similar application can be found if you are in the Leofinance community or other such Hive communities), and don't just come here to extol and share our own knowledge. We come to learn, to engage and to grow. Whether our interests are diverse or narrow, whether we are interested in finance, economics, tv/film, art, creative writing, technology or just daily banter and contests and making new connections and forging new friendships. Perhaps a few members of the community don't do this and treat it simply as an investment tool (one of the contentions), but the majority can reach consensus on the view that it is a community platform to promote engagement.
And finally, most of us are seeking to improve our position in life, both through personal and financial growth. The rewards based POB token system is the means for recognising and showing appreciation for engagement and the method by which community members are financially remunerated for all of their efforts. And so, perhaps a large portion of the community would come to the Consensus Reality that token rewards are a huge incentive to staying active in the community.
Sidebar: I do wonder sometimes how many would jump ship if there wasn't any recognition in the form of tokens.
Now, just because Consensus Reality can be illustrated clearly with reference to the examples above, does not mean that we are all necessarily the same. We may have shared experiences of being authors, curators, earners and investors in the Proofofbrain community, and most may derive great enjoyment and fulfilment through engagement, but this does not mean that we suddenly cease to become unique individuals with unique life experience which have coloured the filters of our own lenses as we oversee the broad spectrum of realities that lie before us.
And this is where individualism begins. We cannot simply discount it just because it makes us different from each other, for it is within our differences that we find beauty, that we find joy, solace, that we find interesting connections with the world around us. We will each perceive things differently at some level because we have all been shaped by what has gone before us in our own very personal lives, and we will continue to be shaped forever by what follows. This is part of what makes us human.
It is this aspect that leads us to have conflicting world views, to have conflicting opinions on the same single set of data or on a single contentious issue. And to add a final twist to the story, just because a Consensus Reality has been reached, does not necessarily make it true. As Steven Liebowitz points out in his article "Consensus Reality: Are we all sharing the same illusion?", Consensus reality means that we are are dealing with "habitual interpretations, rightly or wrongly!" Sometimes we need to break out of this self-limiting construct and assert our individualistic view of the world in order to bring about change. He gives a great example: "The earth is flat, If you sail too far out, you'll fall off (that was the Consensus Reality that Columbus transcended" ).
So, can we allow both the objective realist approach and the subjective idealist approach to co-exist? Does one have to exist to the exclusion of the other? Democracy requires that everyone is able to have their say. We all get a vote. But we cannot resolve anything if we all adopt a purely subjective idealistic view of reality as our hearts and minds may then never meet. We have to try to come to a level of consensus (the will of the majority) but this does not mean that the will of the minority should be ignored or downtrodden for they too have their voice and it deserves to be heard.
The saying goes, that life is 1% what happens to you and 99% how you react to it. Let's all remember that on any one day, you may be part of the element contributing to the Consensus reality, or you may find yourself in the rather uneasy position of being on the fringes or perhaps even on the outside looking in; your unique perspective perhaps disempowering you, rightly or wrongly. What is important is how we all respond to the situation, and in that, it is hoped that a Consensus Reality exists whereby people can agree to be kind, courteous, measured and solution seeking, to acknowledge that both realistic and individualistic approaches can co-exist within reality, and that despite our differences, and probably because of them, we can choose to prosper as a community.
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consensus_reality
https://innerself.com/content/personal/happiness-and-self-help/life-changes/5535-consensus-reality-steven-liebowitz.html
Photo credit: Anni Roenkai
https://www.pexels.com/photo/abstract-painting-2156881/
Forever 1942
Forever 1942
Her image remained, faded sepia,
Worn in creases, matching his own,
Comfortable, familiar in his hands.
His fingers traced the line of her smile,
Through the years.
Her eyes, deeply captivating, held his own.
He still heard her voice,
Soft and husky,
Whispering on every breeze.
Could taste the cool, soft sweetness of her skin,
On his lips.
Oh, how sensual she was...
Her every movement, enchanting.
Her entire being, alive with wonder,
His senses, kindle to her flame.
First love...
And he had fallen,
Quickly...too quickly.
He turned over,
The flipside,
Handwritten.
Vivienne, 1942, with love.
He lay back. He remembered...
Her head thrown back, turning to greet him,
Her laughter filling the air.
She had fallen too, quickly.
He still missed her terribly. The 9mm did not.
The Last Post rang out.
His heart,
Bound by history,
Broken,
Into pieces.
Heady notes of Gingham and Lavender lingered long after...
She had left.
Photo credit: Suzy Hazelwood
https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-s-face-3196977/
Who should be left holding the bag? A question of conscience...
I've been seeing a few articles about safemoon lately and it's inevitable downfall as a pyramid or ponzi scheme. Like many newbies, I too bought some safemoon tokens soon after I entered the cryptosphere...only about $70 worth (£50 conversion), but still for me at the time it was a blind leap of faith into what is turning out to be a hyped up chasm!
...mmm...grrr...I also thankfully bought other currencies before and after this misstep and hold a few £k across Eth, Polygon, DOT, CARDANO, SOL and LINK, slowly building a portfolio to diversify my investments, and so I see my Safemoon investment as an uneducated blip lol. A rookie mistake if you were.
I now steer clear of "to the moon", no utility meme coins and only invest in worthwhile projects that I have researched myself. So I give myself at least half a chance of achieving success with my investments :-)
Unfortunately, I still hold the dirty li'l bag of shitcoin, which depreciated drastically the moment I bought it down to about $25, not least because of the "taxes" it seemingly cost me to acquire the little invisible buggers! It's currently "worth" (and I use this term very leniently!) about $14 USD. I was a bit excited to see it go up to around $30 at the peak of the market, hoping it may claw it's way back to purchase price so I could get out without a loss. Ha! No such like. It's value is now seemingly dwindling towards extinction.
So my moral dilemma is this: Do I exchange the grubby little bag for a tiny piece of BTC or Tether or similar and send some other poor unsuspecting newb up the creek without a paddle, having lost a few bob myself on the deal, or do I just suck it up, and hodl the little crapshoot until the inevitable rugpull happens and I draw open the strings to find that the bottom has fallen out and the bag is now completely empty?
Would it be morally outrageous to sell now, given the already low value? Or should I set a new goal to go down in history as the longest hodler of shitcoin ever and perhaps become the last "honourable" woman standing in the largest pile of worthless poo :-)
Photo credit: Readymade
https://www.pexels.com/photo/empty-white-textile-bag-placed-on-marble-table-in-room-3850479/
The Lake of Imagination
The Lake of Imagination
Today I dipped my hand into the Lake
Of Imagination.
I intended to stay,
For only a short while,
Dabbling, stroking the surface...
But I lingered a little,
Too long, perhaps?
It drew me in,
I surrendered.
Creativity pulsed,
Through my being,
Electric, affirming,
My thoughts,
A rainbow,
Rippling and reflecting across the surface.
I felt alive...
To possibility.
To being...
In the moment.
Present.
Aware of nothing,
But the kaleidoscope of potentiality.
Imagination.
Do I dive deeper,
Or come up for air?
Copyright asserted 29 June 2021 by @samsmith1971 https://www.proofofbrain.io/@samsmith1971
Special thanks to @calumam for inspiring the above poem through his post:
https://peakd.com/joy/@calumam/graphical-or-002 https://www.proofofbrain.io/@calumam
If you haven't seen it, please do yourself a favour and go and take a look. It's thought provoking.
If you stopped by to read this, thank you and I hope you liked it.
Photo credit: Alexander Ant
https://www.pexels.com/photo/colorful-mix-of-neon-paints-swirling-on-black-surface-4585185/
To curate or not, that is the question. To read, perchance to engage & upvote. Ah, there's the rub!
So you're an author right? Or a reader/curator? or both? Or maybe you're just one of those people who drop into these blogging platforms just to scoop up the crypto rewards, and penmanship quality is not something you particularly care for?
For now, let's assume that you fit into one of the first 3 categories as the 4th just doesn't bear mentioning.
So, we agree that you are either an author, reader or both. It's why you're here, on this blogging platform and probably on others too.
You aim to write regularly, perhaps once a day, a few times a week, once a week or just adhoc if the inspiration grabs you, but sometimes you go through a lull. It may be writer's block, or just tiredness/lack of motivation, or simply being too busy with everything else that life is throwing your way. And so you don't write as often as you would like to, your articles dry up for a bit and you start to feel like your blog is unravelling with the lack of momentum, along with the increasing lack of enthusiasm. Now more than ever it is important to engage with others in your community!
It was actually through reading an article on read.cash this evening that I was triggered to write this article as I had been thinking along similar lines, and @Jaxson says it really well in the article below which you should definitely take a look after this one:
https://read.cash/@Jaxson/perseverance-is-the-key-to-success-e06daf02#comment-9eafd6f2
It is so important to find the time to engage regardless of whether or not you are actively writing articles yourself, just to read a few articles each day, comment meaningfully on posts and keep active in the communities that you have joined. I have to caveat this and say that even when you are in the swing of things and writing articles freely and passionately, please do put aside time to be a consumer too. It is how we grow as people by exposing ourselves to diversity and knowledge.
Even though I am such a newb myself when it comes to blogging and writing articles (as they are relatively new genres for me) and perhaps it's because I am a newb, I like to read a mix of authors that I already follow and those that I haven't read before, and I do this with purpose and intention! I also take the time to read *that* article that has no upvotes as yet or low readership views, in the hope of being able to offer some peer encouragement and support, and get the upvotes and rewards started for someone else's post.
I like to challenge myself to read a diverse range of articles, ensuring I pick some that I would not normally "choose" to read. So when I come to the community as a reader, I dabble in a bit of fiction, poetry, life blogging, crypto articles, educational pieces. It's a bit like trying on clothes I guess. If you always just try on the same style, you may never find out if there are other more unfamiliar styles, potentially outside your comfort zone, that may just blow you away with how good they actually are or how right they feel once tried on for size, and how your own personal growth can benefit as a result :-)
Every story, no matter how big or how small, is important in it's own right. It doesn't have to be intellectual; it can come from a place of deep rooted emotion. It doesn't have to be to your exact taste or interest, but that doesn't make it uninteresting, so be kind, recognise and acknowledge when others have put themselves out there and produced a quality piece of work and give them that upvote if they deserve it.
You are part of a writing community. Presumably you chose to be here. So, be part of that community. Engage, support, uplift. Give articles an upvote, tip them an extra few cents to encourage or promote or simply say thank you for sharing something you found useful. And if you've exhausted your 5 free tips for the day on PublishoX for example, take a note of those extra articles that you read that you enjoyed, found interesting, written with passion, deserving and go back and give them the upvote and tip the next day. I know I do, and you may just have got a tip from me along the way because I took the time to read something that I wouldn't usually do or took the time to go back and tip you the next day.
In the diverse works I have read I have been blown away by crypto fiction that is so well written. You have to check out https://www.publish0x.com/@Storytime-Crypto
I have enjoyed allowing myself to be virtually led on an evening walk in https://www.proofofbrain.io/hive-155530/@zellypearl/into-the-dark--let-me-take-you-there#@zellypearl/re-samsmith1971-qv9e2r
I have read poetry that was heart warming https://www.publish0x.com/olawalium/the-place-i-belong-xznlpkd
And I have read really good posts from blogging community stalwarts like @jaxson (read.cash) and @jaxsonmurph (Proofofbrain.io)
https://www.proofofbrain.io/hive-150329/@jaxsonmurph/pob-community-can-t-we-all-just-get-along
Not to mention the many great educational and crypto articles out there to be explored and enjoyed.
So go ahead, keep writing, keep reading, keep supporting your fellow bloggers and authors and allow yourself to continue to grow and learn in the process.
**Photo credits:**
https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-of-paper-over-white-background-256450/
https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-using-typewriter-1448709/ Min An
https://www.pexels.com/photo/two-blue-pencil-on-top-of-white-notebook-730706/ Jess Bailey
https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-love-people-woman-5091171/ Leah Kelly
https://www.pexels.com/photo/silhouette-photography-of-group-of-people-jumping-during-golden-time-1000445/ Belle co
Understanding Pathological Demand Avoidance in children
"We think your son has Pathological Demand Avoidance."
I had no idea how to respond to that, least of all because I had no idea what the Head Teacher had just said to me, and given it started with the word "Pathological", it sounded pretty damn scary! My head was spinning. I didn't know what to think, and the four walls of his office suddenly seemed a lot closer than they were a minute previously. I took a deep breath...
"So, I have 2 questions: firstly what does that mean? and secondly what is this based on?" I asked tentatively, trying to sound calm.
"Well, from everything we have observed, it appears that he is unable to cope with the demands of everyday life, and it is clearly manifesting in school."
I knew my youngest struggled with sensory issues (clothing, space, noise) and had epic meltdowns mainly at school, but these did not always appear to relate to sensory issues and nobody had been able to work out what the "other" triggers were as yet, until seemingly...now. I had spent the best part of 2 years flinching whenever my mobile rang whilst at work, knowing it was a matter of when and not if, the school would call for me to pick him up early. Even on the days that I had not received a call to pick my son up early, I would enter the school grounds with trepidation and a heavy heart, and sigh the biggest sigh of relief each time his teacher nudged him in my direction without calling me over for "a word".
I was always wondering...What would be next? His various outbursts at age 4-6 had included emptying shelves of toys and books all over the floor, throwing everything off the pegs in the cloakroom, kicking a rubbish bin repeatedly for over an hour, throwing things around the classroom, growling at teachers, pulling hair, climbing up a tree and refusing to come down, hiding under a chair in the school library, banging his head under a desk or against a wall, scratching himself, biting himself, punching himself in the head, threatening to kill himself at the age of 6! (but never hurting another child!) Although he was verbal, he struggled to understand, manage and communicate his feelings and emotions and his teachers were therefore unable to understand what was going on inside him and what was causing him so much stress and anxiety. He had cried so many tears. I had cried an equal amount alongside him.
"It's also known simply as Demand Avoidance and is part of Autism Spectrum Disorder. It ticks all the boxes and we are fairly certain that this is one of the main issues, alongside his sensory struggles, causing his uncontrolled behaviour at school".
This conversation was the real start to finding a way to help my youngest to access the school curriculum in a way that doesn't make him as anxious, overwhelmed and exhausted as it had been making him feel the past couple of years. It was the start of conversations that would take us down the road of further Educational Psychology assessments, Occupational Therapy assessments and have us waiting on the CAMHS register for assessment. It would take us down a road of paperwork, the likes of which I had never seen before, from school referrals to GP and Ed Psychs, to GP referrals to Consultant Paeds and CAMHS, from Paeds to OTs, Family Support workers, Sendias support workers and Local Authorities. I lost count of the number of meetings I had, the number of times I had to recount my son's struggles or write up "histories" for the next professional in the queue. I became over familiar with it all such that it felt that I was starting to short cut my responses and not give each response the due diligence and correct level of input it required, but you see it was all so very exhausting: emotionally, mentally, physically.
I did a lot of research on Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) and Sensory Processing Disorder and concluded for myself that my son fit the profiles to a "T". Fortunately, the OT and Ed Psych both concurred and the school provided sufficient documentary support to ensure that the Local authority had no choice but to grant an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP) which provides my son with the right level of support to help him to cope in school. Both his sensory struggles and demand avoidant behaviour are highlighted in his plan along with strategies to help him to access the curriculum and give him the best possible opportunity to achieve his own potential.
As a result of the support provided in school and the conscious actions of us, his family, at home, to reduce the level of demands placed on him and help him to manage his emotions and learn to communicate better, he is now much happier in primary school, is actually enjoying most subjects and is able to spend at least 50 % of his time in class (most of the rest is still spent doing his classwork but in a quieter separate area to give him the space and refuge he needs to enable him to cope through the rest of each day). He has 1:2:1 support for part of each day, reduced workloads and demands placed on him and is given a few movement/ "choosing time" breaks each lesson. This from a child who a year previously was unable to spend more than 5 minutes of each hour in class and had to have all of his lessons provided to him on a 1:2:1 basis in a separate room.
My son is not as yet officially diagnosed by CAMHS as having a PDA profile, or having Sensory Processing Disorder, although these have been mentioned in official assessment documentation by a number of professionals and both Educational Psychologists and Occupational Therapists have mentioned his obvious sensory struggles and demand avoidant behaviour. I don't, however, see it so much as putting a label on my child, as finally identifying the cause of his struggles and therefore having the means to identify and implement the correct strategies to provide him with the support that he needs to cope and enable him to live as normal a life as possible. When he is not struggling with sensory issues and demands are kept low, you would probably not even realise or appreciate that my son has sensory issues or a PDA profile as he is then able to cope much better with everyday life, and to the untrained eye, he then does not appear to present with any issues/challenges.
Per autism.org.uk:
*"****Pathological demand avoidance (PDA) is a profile that describes those whose main characteristic is to avoid everyday demands and expectations to an extreme extent."***
For those who struggle with PDA, what may seem to others as a simple request to do a small task, can in fact be an overwhelming demand which creates immense anxiety and stress. In a school environment this means that strategies need to be implemented by the teaching staff and SENDCO that provide a flexible and adaptable approach, reduce the workload, spread it out over a longer period, and provide lots of movement and creative breaks and timeout for the brain. Teachers need to be able to recognise when children are triggered and be aware of when their anxiety levels are heightened so that they can address any issues of sensory and emotional overload, fear of uncertainty and communication difficulties in a non-direct manner so as not to exacerbate the situation. Those with PDA profile may try to avoid the demand being placed on them by making excuses, creating distractions, hurting themselves, interrupting or adopting a more serious flight/fight approach. The child needs to be given the illusion of control through the offering of limited choices and being encouraged to focus on their own ends goals and the requirements needed to achieve them. Make no mistake, this is not simply a need to avoid doing the mundane, unpleasant or unappealing tasks that are thrown our way each day; it is far bigger than that and extends to the most basic demands in our everyday life. Unfortunately it is often misdiagnosed as it looks very similar from the outside to conditions like ODD and ADHD.
The term PDA was coined by a British Psychologist, ***Elizabeth Newson***, and describes ***"an anxiety-driven need to be in control and avoid other people's demands and expectations"***
**The key features of PDA include:**
1) resisting and avoiding the ordinary demands of life
2) using social strategies as part of avoidance
3) appearing sociable on the surface
4) excessive mood swings and impulsivity
5) being comfortable in role plays and pretence
6) Obsessive behaviour that is social in nature
If anyone has any questions that they'd like to ask me, comments they'd like to share or simply want to engage on the subject, I'd be happy to reply. Just hit me up in the comments. I hope this article provided a useful insight into a critical subject for both children and adults alike who have a PDA profile :-)
**Very useful articles which look at some of the above can be found here:**
An Introduction to Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) - Autism Awareness (autismawarenesscentre.com) https://autismawarenesscentre.com/an-introduction-to-pathological-demand-avoidance-pda/
https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/diagnosis/pda
More information on PDA can be found here: pdasociety.org.uk
Photo credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/bare-feet-boy-child-couch-262103/
Mining crypto on your mobile – my experiences (good and bad) using 4 different mining apps!
First off, I have experimented with mobile mining apps and faucets over the past couple of months and have found mobile mining apps to be the least intrusive to my day, requiring less time commitment and earning more value in shorter time, whilst actually all teaching me something in the process.
You can read my article on the time value of faucets here and make up your own mind:
https://read.cash/@Samantha-Smith/how-much-do-you-value-your-time-and-is-coinfaucetio-worth-it-53c63b7a
The following 4 mobile mining apps are ones that I have personally tried and I am still using these today. I have ditched all the crypto faucets.
**Pi Network app (on Google Playstore)**
My introduction to mining crypto on my mobile came when I started mining Pi which was recommended to me by my brother. They are in testnet phase at the moment, heading for mainnet, and have an app, a browser, nodes and a wallet (latter in testing phase). This project was set up by Stanford University PhDs and looks to be one that should be successful in implementation. They currently have about 15m miners. Pi currently does not have a market value and is not listed on any exchanges as it is still in testnet stage but they are hoping to be picked up by exchanges after Mainnet. This is my favourite mining app and crpto mobile mining project at the moment.
*You can download the app here:*
*https://minepi.com/711heaven*
*Use my username (711heaven) as your invitation code if you want to earn 1 Pi to start you off, and to earn an ongoing uplift in your mining rate per hour (explained below).*
Once you are up and running on the app you will need to go to your profile and verify your mobile phone number (simply using it to register yourself on the app does not count as the verification stage). If you don’t verify your number then any Pi tokens you mine or any rewards that you get from your security circle will be lost. On the same basis, if any members of your security circle do not verify their mobile numbers, you will not get your security reward based on their membership of your circle.
**So how it works is this:**
1) You mine Pi tokens/currency on a 24 hour cycle, and are required to restart the timer every 24 hours. Your mining will be paused when each 24 hour cycle ends and will only start again when you reconfirm your security circle and reset the timer; a lot easier than it sounds :-)
I would therefore recommend that you have the 24 hour timer start at a time convenient to you and set a reminder on your phone to do the quick reset (literally takes a few seconds to reset). At the moment you mine at a rate of 0.1 Pi per hour as a Pioneer but as explained below, this is increased through a few extra steps.
2) You can earn up to an additional 0.1 Pi per hour as a Contributor by creating your own security circle and having up to 5 security connections in your security circle. Your security circle are trusted members (these should be family and friends that you actually trust who are also signed up to the Pi network – you don’t have to have signed them up yourself!) Note: You can all add each other to your respective circles. The app allows you to connect with your phonebook and then pops a little Pi icon next to each phone number in your book that is already signed up to the Pi network so you can manually add them to your circle. You don’t need permission from anyone to add them to your circle either as all you are doing is confirming to the network that you know and trust this existing user. This is how Pi works on: a security circle – proof of trust basis. Every 24 hours, miners have to reconfirm trust in their security circle to validate the network. Although you only earn 0.02 Pi per security connection (up to 5 members in your circle), I would recommend having more than 5 in case some leave the network or fail to verify their mobile numbers.
3) You can then earn additional Pi as an Ambassador by inviting new pioneers to join the network. Tip: if you have been signed up by someone else, both the referrer and referee can add each other under the Ambassador section :-) You will both earn 0.05 Pi per hour for doing this and for each additional person you sign up to Pi whether they are in your security circle or not. The app will also inform you if one of the people you signed up is not active on the app and you can ping them to reset their timer, as you only earn from them while they are active.
On the app front page you can see your current live Pi balance as it increases. You can also see latest news from Pi team, the chat icon for separate chats with Pi team and other Pi miners, and your current earning rate per hour. If you know your earning rate, you can tell straight away if one of your sign ups is inactive as the value per hour will have dropped. Then just click on the green value per hour rate and it will take you to another screen where you can ping the inactive members. If the rate is showing a 0 it means your 24 hour timer has expired and you need to click on the Pi rate and go to the next screen to reconfirm your security circle and reset the timer. It's all quite simple in practice.
It all works really well and the Pi team seem very much on the ball. The project is progressing nicely. The wallet transfers between members works well too. All in all an easy to use app to mine Pi on a project that looks like it will succeed.
4) You can also set up your own validation node on your pc. White paper available on the app.
**Reflex (RFX) token - Reflex Cloud Mining App (on Google playstore)**
This runs in 3 hour mining cycles and you need to reset this every 3 hours. There are currently only about 3k miners online at any one time probably due to the low value of the RFX token which is currently $0.00150327 USD at time of writing. You can trade RFX on the Uniswap exchange and you can stake a minimum of 500 RFX for periods from 1 month to 1 year, starting at 1.5% to 26% return. There are currently 5234 stakers staking a total of 8,595,077 RFX. If you stake in excess of 50k RFX you also earn a share of 5% of ad revenue over 3 months with other VIP stakers and if you stake in excess of 200k RFX then as a Partner staker you earn a share of 10% of ad revenue for 3 months plus have access to other partner benefits.
Each 100 RFX is worth about 10c (US) and if you only mine, then this is not a big earner at present. You can also earn RFX on Topixer.com by writing articles and having your RFX earned on Topixer credited to your RFX account on the app. I don’t always remember to reset the timer on this one but I keep it ticking over at least 50 % of the time and free passive income is still free passive income.
My personal RFX balance only seems to update for me if I refresh the app screen which then requires me to log in again using fingerprint recognition. Not a big deal but a bit irritating. The app is still in Beta state so this probably explains some of its quirks! You can earn extra RFX by doing surveys, and I have done a fair few successfully but often you get up to a 1/3 of the way through a survey and it pops up with a message that you are not a suitable candidate for the survey as the client has a different requirement in mind. They have, however, just recently started awarding a goodwill 0.3 RFX for the inconvenience when these occasions arise and the app then suggests a new survey for you.
*You can download the app here:*
*Feel free to use code 597gc in the app under friends to earn 30 rfx to start you off.*
**Phoneum (PHT) - Cloud Earning PHT App (on Google playstore)**
Phoneum is also exchange listed like Reflex but has a low value at the moment being $0.0001986 USD at time of writing.
You earn PHT tokens by mining on the app. This has a long timer compared to the other apps and runs 24/7 for 7 days and then needs to be reset. You can see your live PHT mining balance on the face of the app and it gives you the current USD value too.
You can earn additional PHT by doing surveys, playing games, trying out apps etc and I can confirm that these credits are auto credited to your PHT balance. The credit usually happens within a few minutes but one of mine took a few days. They have all worked so far and the games are quite fun.
Once you have 20k of PHT you can stake it and earn up to 12% per year. I staked my full balance the other day and am just waiting to reach threshold again to stake the next lot.
Again, not a big earner at the moment but it’s passive free income and does not require much time input and is rather a fun way to get into mining and staking. I prefer this app to the Reflex app.
*You can download the app here:*
*Download Now:* *https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cloud.earning*
*Sign up now and get 200 PHT Bonus. Use code ge4pxnxk to claim your bonus.*
**Stormgain mining app (on Google Playstore)**
This app mines BTC but not for immediate ownership. Stormgain is an exchange and they encourage people to join their trading platform by providing a free BTC mobile mining app.
Any BTC that you mine can be moved to the exchange (requires a minimum of 10 USDT /Tether equivalent value) and traded. The BTC mined does not belong to you but any profit you make using it to trade on the exchange is yours to keep. The exchange takes a small commission on all trades. It doesn’t cost you anything but is a nice way to get some exposure to trading in a safe and secure manner that doesn’t expose you financially.
They have loads of learning video clips that take you through the process of learning about mining, staking, trading, leverage, candles etc and they have a demo trading platform where you can practise before you use your mined BTC value. I have just started watching the video clips so can’t really comment much on them yet but it looks like a good hand holding app that guides you through the learning curve and enables the average Joe/Josephine to wet their feet on the trading floor without getting burnt. I really like this app too and have a feeling I may grow to love it the more I learn about and play with the trading functionality.
*You can download the app here:* *https://app.stormgain.com/friend/BNS46718693*
**In conclusion:**
These apps are all relatively easy to install and get familiar with and easy to maintain on a daily basis. You also get to learn about staking and trading while you go about earning free passive income and can increase your crypto earnings by variously doing linked surveys, playing games, writing articles and trying out new apps in exchange for crypto rewards that get credited directly to your app balance.
RFX and PHT allow you to withdraw your balance as fiat or hold or stake as the currencies are exchange listed, but their values are quite low at the moment. Stormgain allows you to trade and then withdraw your profits from the exchange as fiat. Pi is moving towards Mainnet and will hopefully get picked up by an exchange soon after Mainnet. Time will tell if any of these mining apps will be worthwhile earners but they do provide a lot of fun, engagement and learning opportunity in the process, and for me, this is worth the small time investment alone.
Let me know what you think of these apps if you currently use them and if any are new to you and you download them as a result of this article, please share your thoughts too.
Photo credit: Olya Kobruseva
https://www.pexels.com/photo/internet-connection-technology-computer-8358149/
Bitcoin Cash goes back to school...
Bitcoin cash was new in town.
When he looked back on his past, it seemed to him as though he had appeared out of nowhere. You know, like he'd opened his eyes one day and found himself staring at a fork in the road and someone or something had sent him hurtling off down on one of the two uncertain paths that lay ahead of him. He felt like a big piece of him was missing but on the other hand, he almost felt lighter and better for it. It was kinda hard to explain. Like a chip off the old block that had broken free from his chains and was on the threshold of achieving something great; his true potential. He'd been on the move for going on 4 years and had decided take a break and settle down for a bit and see where else life could take him.
He could see a small group of kids standing under the shade of a large tree in the back of the schoolyard. It was his first day in this new school and, like most kids his age, he wanted to make a good impression.
Ambling over, trying to appear cool and at ease, he held out his hand, "hey there, I'm Bitcoincash, BCH to my friends. I'm new here!"
"Hello mate! I'm Matic, these are my friends ADA and Dot, and that's Eth, Binance and Ripple.. sitting down on the bench chilling." The others variously smiled, nodded, waved, flashed him a thumbs up, amidst murmurings of "Welcome!", "Good to meet you", and "Nice one buddy."
He followed Matic's gaze til his eyes laid sight on Eth. Tall strong looking lad, looked sensible he thought. He appeared deep in conversation with his companions.
"They look pretty tight", he remarked.
Matic turned to face him, "Aah yeah, they always do everything together, inseparable, through the highs and the lows, but they're decent guys and they often let us tag along with them".
Bitcoincash looked around him and smiled. Seemed like he'd landed amongst a nice group of kids.
He caught a movement up on the balcony. "Who's the big loner sitting up there then?" He looked awfully familiar but he couldn't quite place him.
"Ah mate, that's Bitcoin. He's a law unto himself. Been here the longest of all of us, they say. Bit of a big shot. Loads of followers but he walks his own path. He's a bit snooty and has some major big pals if you know what I mean. Some of his mates are so under his spell they can't see the wood for the trees. He's can't do anything wrong in their eyes. They don't like us lot very much. We're doing things our way and it freaks them out! You're not related by any chance are ya? Similar name and all?"
"Not that I know, but I guess he could be a distant relative. I don't really know much about my ancestry. So, how are you guys so different then?"
"Well for him everything is about power, power, power. Our way of thinking is just too alternative for him. For instance, we try to resolve arguments and problems differently. Still by consensus, you know, but everyone usually has a stake in the outcome. We believe it doesn't necessarily have to be such hard work to reach an agreement. But no!!! Bitcoin doesn't see it that way. So to him, we are just known as the Alts! Some form of lower class beings. He says for little folk we're way too volatile for his liking. Ha, he's one to talk! One day he blows hot, the next he blows cold. His mates are also really fickle. Either all over him or can't get away from him quick enough. He's a bit of a sad case really. So much promise. They say he'll fulfill his potential one day and become a millionaire before any of us. Time will tell though hey...
Anyway we're way too cheap for him but we feel we live more in the real world and can relate better with people and the issues they share with us. Thing is, our little "club" wanna make a difference in peoples' lives and we therefore make more and more friends everyday. We're a friendly group of guys. Sure we have our ups and downs and sometimes we fall out with irrevocably with those who've joined our circle, and they disappear never to be heard of again, but us here, these few guys under this tree, we're doing our best to stick around and be there for each other.
Then there's our mate Eth over there, he's got lots of mates, always yanking on his chain, having a laugh, playing off his strengths. He has expensive taste though. He's a really likeable guy but it can get frustrating dealing with him. Always a trade off. Always has to cost someone an arm and a leg, but we think we're winning him over slowly. He's trying to change his ways, just taking his sweet time doing it if you ask me. But he is a real role model for us in so many ways that we're giving him some latitude, being patient you know. He's kinda worth it. A natural leader.
Folks say if anyone is gonna steal the prom crown from under Bitcoin's nose, it'll be Eth. He's definitely got the smarts for it.
Now that little guy digging in the sandpit, that's Doge. He's ok. Bit of a scrappy kid. Been around a couple of years but his folks don't really get involved in his life anymore. Been left to his own devices but he's ok with it. Carefree. Bit of a joker. A real meme type. Quite a reactive chap though. He's always on his phone, a twitter junkie, believes every hype he reads, often to his own detriment. He's alright for a fun night out but don't get too serious with him. He's just not that kind of fellow.
Then, finally we have Neo, he seems to be pretty cool exchange student from the Far East from the outside. Him and Binance have connected quite well. Really hit it off from the get go." Matic lowered his voice to a hushed whisper, "Now, don't repeat this, but some say his parents may be spies, and that he's been sent here on a contract...like we might have a killer in our midst...and he's been watching Eth closely...so...draw your own conclusions."
"Geez sounds a bit crazy man! I mean, what a diverse lot! And who'd wanna kill Eth??? "
"Hey, it's all just school boy rumour, what else we gonna spend our time doing, hey, other than making up silly hype all day. Enough about us though, what about you mate?"
Bch didn't really know what to say after all that. How could he measure up to the stories of angst, intrigue, suspense, power, immense friendships and schoolyard battles that Matic had shared with him?
He knew who he was intrinsically. A solid bloke, secure, reliable, steady head, focussed, efficient, quick. He didn't have expensive taste. It was all about utility to him. He didn't fancy sitting around all day just gaining Pounds. He had to keep moving from one place to the next, connecting with as many people as possible.
He pulled out his phone. "Hey, let's swap numbers and go catch a bite to eat," he said. "Mines 555-478-558. "
Numbers swapped, contacts saved, they were now, it seemed, friends.
"Sandwich bar?", Matic offered half-heartedly.
"Nah, I don't know about you, but I could kill for a piece of Cake right now!"
Photo credit: Tima
https://www.pexels.com/photo/two-people-sitting-on-wooden-stairs-5560373/
*Footnote: The above is a piece of literary fiction, meant purely for amusement, and does not constitute financial advice. All commentary is intended to be taken in the spirit of good humour.*
“With great power comes great responsibility”
-Should the Peter Parker principle apply to people like Elon Musk?
Most people will recognise this iconic phrase as the one attributed to Peter Parker’s uncle, Benjamin Parker, in the Marvel comic strip, Spiderman, but I wasn’t aware that it was also, as a result, therefore fondly known in comic lore circles as the “Peter Parker” principle.
It comes down to the concept of having an awareness of how one’s position of power in a community, impacts that community, and ensuring that one manages the exercise of that power responsibly, exercising necessary restraint, ensuring due diligence is always conducted before one acts or speaks, and having accountability for one’s actions. This is of particular importance when one occupies a position of such privilege as it gives you the ability to affect the choices and decisions of others, for the better or worse.
The actual phrase or very similar can be traced back to the French Revolution and to a collection of decrees made by the French National Convention in 1793 which translates as “They must consider that great responsibility follows inseparably from great power” So, it is not simply a concept of superhero origins, although truth be told, responsibility with accountability is a superpower in itself, but a tenet of democracy and governance itself. Unfortunately, those who don’t exercise restraint with their power, are often those who would wield it recklessly with no thought of the consequences for others, or simply because of the sadistic and narcissistic pleasure they seem to derive as they bandy it around for all to see.
People in these positions are often idolised or revered, sometimes highly respected, and as a result what they say to their fan base or supporters is often taken at face value, unquestioned and unchallenged by the masses. People simply expect the messages being conveyed to be true, because they trust the messenger, due to their high profile. They expect that the messenger has done their due diligence before giving that interview, blogging that article or tweeting that tweet. But expecting something to be true …doesn’t necessarily make it so.
We are living in a world where some thrive on power for power’s sake; where, sadly, power is not always wielded responsibly. Where thoughts roll off the tongue without any thought for the welfare of those affected by the drivel being dished up. From past political leaders with huge followings whose reckless tweets arguably promoted action that subsequently went on to result in criminal behaviour and unnecessary civilian deaths, to stars of film and tv who sometimes endorse products simply for the paycheque that follows. These people have millions of adoring followers who would not give it a second thought to follow the advice given by their erstwhile mentors.
And so enter into the cryptospace…Mr Elon Musk.
Musk is undoubtably a brilliant and wealthy tech savvy entrepreneur and innovator. He has received international recognition for his achievements, winning multiple awards in the process.
Think… X.com (Paypal), Tesla, Space X, Open AI, Solar City, and Hyperloop, and a variety of charitable causes to top it off. Most of the aforementioned are household names. From online payments to electric cars, space exploration to artificial intelligence, solar power to high speed rail systems, Elon Musk is lighting the path for others to follow. He is a brand unto himself and there is little doubt that his influence is immeasurable. This makes him an extremely powerful individual.
So when Elon Musk has something to say, people quite simply listen. They listen when he gives interviews, they read when he tweets, they even listen when he hosts Saturday Night Live (a comedy sketch of all things!). But should they believe everything they hear or everything they read, just because of his noteworthy accolades and the revered position he has carved out for himself in society? Perhaps…perhaps not. Just because someone has great knowledge, experience and ability in one or more niche fields, does not mean that that person will be the oracle in all fields or that, being human, they are not also capable of falling at any given hurdle exposing their human fallibility.
Now as I said at the start of this article, “with great power, comes great responsibility”. Having initially invested $1.5b in Bitcoin through Tesla and then subsequently selling off $250m to support Q1 Tesla profits, I would like to think that Elon knows a thing or two about cryptocurrency markets and bitcoin in particular, and I’m guessing that those news stories gave others a similar comfort.
When Elon tweets about bitcoin, the market reacts. When Elon tweets about DOGE, the market reacts. In fact when Elon tweets, the market reacts. Now the market is largely made up of institutional whales and Wall Street traders but it also has a “small guy” component. You know, the average Joe or Josephine who is just hoping to make their lives a little brighter, a little better than it was before with one or two little savvy investments, and who better to follow, than Elon Musk, entrepreneur and innovator extraordinaire, right? The problem is that Elon’s oftentimes random tweets in crypto have the effect of contributing to a pump and dump mentality. He speaks his mind with little filter (something he himself attributes to having Aspergers). His initial investment in Bitcoin together with his announcement that Tesla would be accepting Bitcoin in payment for vehicles, helped to push BTC to new highs. Everyone wanted in on it. He then u-turned on the currency within the space of months, halting all further Tesla Bitcoin investment, reversing Tesla’s decision to accept bitcoin as payment, and the market dumped hard.
Now I’m not so naïve as to believe that Elon was the sole cause of the BTC crash this time around. There were other factors sure: long overdue market corrections, Chinese rumours, whale profiteering. Elon’s change of heart also came from what many will call altruistic origins and was based on Bitcoin mining’s massive energy footprint. But his words had an impact and paper hands panicked losing money. The exchanges shed newbies and those who could not afford to lose their entire investments.
Now on the one hand, it was commendable what Elon did and those who care about our planet and the sourcing of green energy will hail him as a hero. But on the other hand, his seemingly whimsical relationship with BTC and DOGE is literally playing with other people’s livelihoods. One could say, ‘hey everyone lives in choice and they shouldn’t be so naïve or they should do their own research’ (DYOR as everyone always says as a form of disclaimer at the end of their “this is not financial advice” personal opinion pieces on crypto) but when an influencer like Musk says things, however fickle or whimsical, it prompts a response. However, people may have done other research when Elon started investing in Bitcoin and Tesla’s involvement may have been the cherry on the top of the cake that convinced them to go all in, then Elon jumps ship soon after sailing. With the captain gone, the ship is adrift and everyone panics.
Elon said on SNL in May this year that “I sometimes say or post strange things, but that’s just how my brain works”. On SNL he both pumped and dumped on DOGE in the course of a single hour, and the currency crashed hard after the show, leaving those who had placed their trust in Elon’s pump of DOGE over the past few months, potentially holding a bag of proverbial shitcoins. Now some may believe that the meme token has a future, and only time will tell if that is in fact true, but those who invested on his hype in the weeks leading up to the show and bought at ATHs, lost big if they sold in the dump, and will have to have played with diamond hands and freecashflow to spare, to still be in the game.
No matter what the reason or motivation for high profile influencer’s candid unfiltered online commentaries (be it narcissism, egotism, boredom or genuine medical conditions), the result is still the same. Followers trust, followers follow…and he has millions of them (myself included).
So should we hold Elon Musk to the same platitude? Should he shoulder the responsibility of tens, hundreds, thousands if not millions who take him at his word, no matter what? Or should the average Joe and Josephine learn not to trust so deeply, to DYOR and not rely on single sources of information, or at the very least apply their own filters, learn from their mistakes and tread more carefully next time around?
With great power, does come great responsibility, and Elon, like others in his position of privilege and power should adopt a more measured approach to his social media and other media based interactions. At the very least we know that he recognises what he is doing and appreciates the impact of what he says (as he took the time to explain it) and so he should take steps to counter his unchecked, unfiltered spontaneous ventures into the online world. He has to take responsibility for the position that he holds in society.
In the end, however, we are all held to account and we are all accountable, and so we all bear a little responsibility for the actions that we take and cannot simply expect others to bear the burden of responsibility entirely for the rest of us. If those in positions of power around us consistently fail to filter their thoughts or act responsibly and effectively, we should ensure that we filter for them all.
https://www.pexels.com/photo/spider-man-on-top-of-building-2854693/
Photo credit to Josh Hild on pexels.com
Plasmafinance changing the landscape of DEFI and DEX
Plasmafinance is an all in one DEX aggregator which incorporates a dashboard providing a simplified entry level approach for newcomers and simultaneously providing superior options for more experienced DEFI traders.
I am yet to get into DEFI myself and haven't as yet wet my feet in liquidity mining or staking. Until now I hadn't found an easy entry point, and put off by all the jargon and complexity around using multiple systems and wallets, but I stumbled across Coinmarketcap earn and learn and discovered their latest lesson series on Plasmafinance and PPAY tokens (as an aside, the campaign went live on 2nd June and enables one to earn $5 PPAY tokens if you progress through the 4 short lessons and answer the quizz questions at the end. Link at end of this article).
Suffice it to say, Plasmafinance and it's native DEX Plasmaswap look very interesting and attractive for both newbie and experienced traders alike.
Plasmafinance is certainly looking to shake things up in DEFI! I have pulled together some of the more salient points in this article but should you wish to delve deeper, I can highly recommend the 4 lessons in Coinmarketcap as a great starting point.
Plasmafinance has their own DEX called Plasmaswap but also connects to the ever popular Uniswap and Sushiswap amongst others. By only connecting to other DEXs, they protect the user from falling victim to scam sites.
They aggregate the most profitable fully vetted DEFI opportunities under one roof, in one app, providing an enhanced experience with greater transparency and security and providing complete token data on the various options available. You can also buy your native crypto directly on the DEX in FIAT using a bank card or account and then pop it straight into a liquidity mining pool or stake it to earn passive income.
Their data sets provide the user with a broad range of information from all networks and protocols, allowing the user to access all information in one place and choose the best DEFI option available at the time.
Plasmaswap uses a tool called Flash rebalancer which has allowed them to rationalise the number of steps required in liquidity swaps from a minimum of 4 to only 1, which has drastically reduced gas fees. Liquidity migration just got easier, quicker and much cheaper!
Plasmaswap has Limit Order Functionality which allows the user to:
Set profit order
Set Stop loss order
Set Future orders
These orders will always fill 100% securing total output value in one transaction, so DEFI investors no longer need to be online all the time to get the best deals.
You simply set the rate at which you want to swap and place it as an advance order on a smart contract.
An example of this from Plasmaswap is seen below.
Plasmaswap also has a number of exciting innovations in the pipeline primarily aimed at Gas Optimisation.
They will be launching Plasma Gas Station which will allow users to pay gas fees with all major stable coins or Plasmaswap's own native token, PPAY, without needing to remain reliant on ETH.
They will also be introducing Hyperloop (a layer 2 solution integrated into Plasmaswap) which will act as a bridge between blockchains allowing for near instantaneous defi transactions at zero cost. Hyperloop will additionally facilitate a number of integrations and interoperability between DAPPS.
In my humble opinion, this really does finally give the little guy, the average Joe or Josephine, a more secure and sensible entry level point to DEFI, liquidity mining and staking and provides a much improved package to more serious veteran traders. A big part of their ethos is to make DEFI something that is accessible to all and I honestly believe that once everything is in place, they will be leading the way. They appear to be on the right path to deconstructing and demystifying a highly complex and convoluted arena of investment options and opportunities for the masses and will be delivering a platform that is easy on the eye, allows for complex tools that operate in the background, invisible to the user, yet of invaluable use in terms of interoperability, data provision, easy management of multiple wallets, and simplified processes around liquidity management.
Hope you enjoyed this article and found it useful.
***Coinmarketcap earn and learn link:***
https://coinmarketcap.com/earn/videos/plasmafinance-experience-defi-thats-easy-convenient-and-safe
If you are interested in cryptocurrency coins and tokens and blockchain, I would highly recommend signing up to Torum. It's a social media platform for crypto enthusiasts. Has a Facebook / Myspace type feel to it.
If you use my referral link, you will get 35 XTM tokens as a sign up bonus and you can earn daily XTM tokens just by liking posts, sharing posts, and creating posts. Their aim is to become a central repository for all crypto engagement.
https://www.torum.com/signup?referral_code=samantha_smith
Tupan: a truly green defi hoping to help save the Amazonian forest.
With Defi being all the rage, and looking to be the future of crypto, I started exploring the options available in the market, and came across this rather interesting project started by ForestAu Green LLC, an investment fund which acquired the perpetual environmental rights to the production output of 420 million ha or 4.2 billion cubic metres of Brazilian Amazonia forest, by purchasing Amazonia Forest Farm NFTs from Brazilian landowners, which have then been partitioned into 4.2 billion parts, of which 3.69 billion have been tokenised.
To put this into perspective:
That is 4 x the area of Hong Kong, or 7 x the area of Singapore, or 1/10 of the total area of Switzerland!
ForestAu Green LLC created the Tupan token developed on the Wave Blockchain algorithm and have issued 3.69 billion tokens backed by these Amazonia Forest Farm NFTs. The farmers are under an obligation to use a percentage of the funds raised to promote preservation and regeneration in the area.
So Tupan is a tradable defi token backed by the NFTs acquired, with each token being equivalent to 1 cubic metre of native preserved Amazonia forest. Cool, right?
In a cryptospace environment crying out for eco-friendly crypto options, this one is looking pretty green.
ForestAU Green LLC are therefore partnering with farmers in the Amazonia forest to manage preservation and regeneration in the region. There is a huge need to step up and protect one of our most uniquely biodiverse environments on the planet which under constant threat from forest fires and deforestation, and ForestAu Green LLC believe they have a win-win approach for the region and green investors.
The Tupan white paper can be accessed here and is a comprehensive interesting read so I would advise as always to do your own research and make up your own mind as to whether or not this project is for you:
https://tupan.io/tupan-white-paper-v-1-1.pdf
The Fund is using the Wave Blockchain which claims that transactions are fast and have a fixed fee of 0.001 wave or approx $0.023011.
More on wave blockchain can be found here:
waves.tech/waves-protocol
The Tupan Token ICO has commenced and sales of the token will end in 104 days time. At the time of writing, the tradable defi tokens cost $3.12 each (with a minimum purchase of $50 so approx 17 tokens) and can be purchased in one of two ways; either by using my referral link below or by going straight to their website. I'll leave you to decide which to choose should you decide to support their cause:
https://tokensale.tupan.green/sign_up.html?referralCode=JDJhJDA3JG5HWUNDbWhyempyZ2RFQVVuaXF1ZU9YQnNBbDJnS1QvWW94Z2NVdFpYVnpBcWpUallOeHku
https://tupan.io/
You will have to register on the tupan.io site and validate your email address before you can purchase tokens.
You will then need to register in the Waves exchange and then update your Waves Exchange address on the Tupan site. You can either exchange FIAT for BTC or ETH on WAVE exchange or simply use a bank card to be able to purchase Tupan tokens.
As at today, there were **110,676,338**/110,700,000 tokens still available.
https://waves.exchange/
Signing up to the Wave exchange is really simple and can be done using email and a password. You then have to do a quick email validation and the account is set up.
From start to finish it shouldn't take more than about 5 minutes to register on both Tupan and Wave and get to checkout on your purchase :-)
There is a good little summary article on the project here by Christopher Fowler although the white paper is far more comprehensive and really interesting. I hope this piqued your interest as it did mine. I am pleased to be throwing in my hat to support this project. You don't have to invest a lot to become a part of something really powerful which truly resonates with eco-friendly green investments.
https://techbullion.com/tupan-project-puts-the-wealth-of-the-amazonia-forest-in-your-hands/
How much do you value your time... and is coinfaucet.io worth it?
So, having read a number of articles on coin faucets, I decided to give it a try. Why not, right? Free crypto currency is not to be sneezed at. Now, I have been doing this for about a week or two, using coinfaucet.io on the Brave browser and thought I'd let you know my findings and let you make up your own mind.
Firstly, Coinfaucet.io has 14 crypto coins/tokens including some of the big names: Eth, BTC, Cardano, Binance, XRP, USDT, USDC, and so I thought...well this looks attractive from the get go!
Then I started to play around a bit and it was really super easy. You get one spin per hour (think casino) on each crypto currency. They claim you can earn more spins by watching their adverts but that never seemed to work for me. Just doing the one spin per hour was enough though frankly anyway, and every few hours it gets you to prove on each spin that you are not a bot by selecting all squares in a grid that contain a traffic light, or bicycle or boat or plane etc....you get the picture if you've done anti-bot validations before.
Now, the way in which it allocates percentages of crypto to you is based on the value of your spin and these potential values are tiered. So spin in the top tier and you earn $300 of that crypto coin/token, spin in the lowest tier and you earn $0.0003 of that coin...and you earn factors of 10 in between the lowest and highest tier (see image below).
Now the problem is that not once have I got anything but the lowest tier in all the spins I have made which has been in excess of 1000 total and reading up in forums I have discovered that nobody seems to have ever seen a number above 9880 on a spin, which would earn you the dollar value equivalent of whichever currency of $0.0003 per spin.
So let's see how this pans out if you "play" this coin faucet game for a year and never get anything but the lowest tier spin (which makes sense as given the bracketed values, if you want to "win" a decent value, let's say even the the second lowest tier of $0.003 (so almost 1/3 of a cent, then you would have odds of 115/10,000 of getting that, and the odds get worse as you climb the tiers)).
Anyway let's calculate:
There are 24 hours in day but you need to sleep 8 and work 8 so let's say you do 8 spins per day per coin. If you don't have to do the anti-bot validation then a full set of 14 spins to cover all cryptos takes 2 minutes. I timed it! Let's multiply that by 8 spins per day per crypto and you are looking at 16 minutes of each day spent spinning a little crypto barrel on your smart phone. By the end of this you will see...not so smart!
16 mins per day multiplied by 356 days in the year gives you a total time investment of: 5696 minutes or 94.93 hours or 4 full days of your life, or discounting sleeping time and working time, approximately 12 days of free time. Do you know what you are likely to get in return for that mammoth sacrifice? I can tell you because it is easy to calculate: you will get $0.0003 x 14 crypto coins x 8 spins x 356 days = $11.96. This equates to $0.12/hour.
Now, I don't know about you but my time is much more valuable than that.
I have recently read that some coin faucets also include options to do surveys and that these are not too bad in giving more decent returns so I may check out Cointiply (being one of them) and let you know how I go on that. But I personally cannot recommend that anyone wasteS their lives spinning numbers on coinfaucet.io unless you're just wanting to muck around and practise setting up wallets and transferring crypto with no risk to your own wealth.
Eth (ethereum) - Bear market or Healthy retracement? - and what do some of the top digital asset CEOs think?
Everyone is asking the question: is Eth dead, have we entered a Bear market or was this simply a rebalancing and necessary pullback, ahead of another surge?
Should I have sold? Should I have HODLed? Were Diamond hands foolish this time or is the age old DCA approach to buying shares and crypto and holding for the long term still the best approach?
On the one hand it's a blame game: Elon, China, the BIG institutions, the whales, the market manipulators. On the other hand, some claim that the likes of Binance SmartChain, Cardano, Polkadot and Solano are competing strongly for their place alongside Ethereum and that the Ethereum project itself is in danger of being usurped by better blockchain technologies entering the market, pointing to faster and cheaper transactions with better decentralisation, amongst other markers.
Analysts canvassed by Forbes have pointed to it simply being a "healthy retracement", reminding investors that the digital currency skyrocketed this year from under $800 to close on $4400 and that's it's fall back had occurred amongst a "broader sell-off in digital currencies". They cite the CEO's of both Civic and Zilliqua Capital as supporting this view.
In addition the price volatility of crypto markets make them unpredictable, and as Amber Ghaddar of ALLiANCEBLOCK states " The traditional definition of bull and bear markets is inconsistent with the price action of crypto as 20% dips are frequent and are often part of a correction followed by a broader build-up...(when it comes to defining bear and bull markets in crypto) there is no rule of thumb as this asset class is too young and historical data is too little".
The future of Eth seems unpredictable at best and as I don't have a crystal ball to show me the future, I can only do the research myself, inform myself as best as possible and make my own decisions on whether to jump ship or HODL, and I suggest you do the same. We are all responsible for our own investments and this is not financial advice. I personally have not sold but have not lost much either, so I am not worried, but I believe that I am only in this position as I have been using a consistent DCA approach and buying a little extra in the dips. I accept the innate volatility of digital assets (hence their ability to yield high returns and deliver searing losses) and therefore only include them as a small part of my investment portfolio. Personally I am holding thumbs for the next move upwards as Eth progresses to Eth2 and the blockchain addresses the challenges that have been holding it back, but I am also taking cognisance of other interesting players in the market and throwing some of my attention and FIAT in their direction too.
Link to original article below:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/cbovaird/2021/05/19/did-ether-enter-a-bear-market-after-losing-more-than-50-of-its-value/?sh=fd9506c39530
From the South African bush to West of London, a short story of 50 years.
In a little under 3 months I will be celebrating 50 years on this sometimes beautiful, sometimes wild, sometimes turbulent, sometimes peaceful, always home, planet Earth. My life journey has taken me to places and people I never thought possible, as most of ours have, I guess, and I find myself filled with gratitude and humbled by all that life has offered to me so far.
It's not the colour of the coin that makes me wealthy but the riches of my family. My husband and I are so blessed to be parents to two gorgeous young boys whom we adopted at the ages of 1 year and 9 months respectively... but for now...I am getting ahead of myself...so allow me to roll back a few decades or 5, and let you into my world.
I was born in 1971 in Durban on the East coast of South Africa, a city that swelters in the summer, and has winter mid-day highs that rival London in August, but I grew up about 30 kms inland from this vibrant coastal city, in a little village called Forest Hills, about 800 metres above sea level and several degrees cooler at times! My parents were both born in South Africa, although my mom grew up in Northern Rhodesia which is now know as Zambia. I am the eldest of 3 and have a sister and brother whom I adore. The picture below from a few years ago is clockwise from the left: me, my parents, my sister, my sister-in-law and my brother.
I remember as a kid walking the sun-baked roads to school, when there were only a handful of houses on a stretch a few kilometres long, and an occasional speeding car would whip up clouds of dust that twisted and twirled, then collapsed into themselves, erstwhile choking their unsuspecting little victims clad in school uniform. But I loved it out there! My mornings were spent in school, my afternoons spent disappearing into the bushveldt with my friends and my dogs. Most days the only person we saw on the roads was an occasional game ranger on his way to or from a shift in the local reserve. When we saw land for sale signs start to go up, our 6 year old selves protested in the only way we knew how: we blockaded the road with boulders to stop the out of town cars from prospecting. Of course it didn't work! Instead we were greeted with shaking fists, adult expletives and threats to inform our parents.
We lived on a ridge, above a massive deep gorge where the river had carved it's own path over countless years and spent our afternoons and weekends with the neighbourhood kids, exploring the cliffs, climbing up waterfalls using monkey ropes, spotting dassies (rock rabbits), duiker (deer), zebra, vervet monkeys, lizards and snakes, chameleons and a plethora of birds of prey. We would beat our way through wild grassland whose sheafs rose above our heads, traverse the footpaths, flanked by Protea bushes, into the valley used by the locals, who lived in their little mud and tin hut villages by the riverside, and finally strip down to swimming costumes and play in the riverbed below. The smooth white rocks would shimmer in the sun and when the river was high, we could slide down the rocks and allow the current to sweep us over the little waterfall drops into deep rockpools below. Our own private piece of paradise; days of youthful innocence played out in a country whose heart and soul, unbeknownst to us at the time, were broken by Apartheid.
When we weren't bush-wacking, we could be found on our bicycles cycling a 12 km roundtrip up to the sugar cane farms, where friendly farm workers would hack a few pieces of cane for us to chew on our journey home. Freewheeling downhill the last two kilometers, hair blown back, cane fibres offering up the last of their sweetness, smiles on our faces. Home would welcome us with a dip in the pool and a game of Marco Polo with my brother, sister and friends. The night sky would invite us in with views of the Milky way to die for. We were truly blessed.
Christmas day would always be spent around the swimming pool with extended family, and my cousins and I are still very close to this day.
I remember that the one thing that was always top of my list for birthday and Christmas was books, books and more books! I was a literary sponge! I could never get enough. I loved to read and still do. On Christmas morning I loved nothing more than to disappear into my room with my books and some treats and bury myself in the pages of an adventure that was brought to life by my imagination. My favourite childhood titles included: I am David, My Side of the Mountain, The Hobbit, The Chronicles of Narnia and Le Petit Prince. Hamlet is my favourite Shakespearean play and these days I love autobiographical and memoir, books of pilgrimage, philosophical reads, educational pieces and a nice balance of light summer novels to round it off. Wild, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah and Jonathan Livingston Seagull are some of my favourite reads.
As I grew up I became more politically aware of the world in which I lived. I joined the debating team at school, listened to contentious "political" music (some of it banned at the time but which I had managed to get from a friend at school) and read a lot more about the deplorable state of our society. I entered a regional schools literary competition where my topic explored the music of Johnny Clegg as a Contemporary political poet whose works focussed largely on the anti-apartheid movement.
I went on to study Law, Politics, English literature and other languages at University, eventually majoring in Law and English literature, and followed up my Bachelor of Arts with a Bachelor of Laws degree, where I elected to study Alternate Dispute resolution and spent a semester in the Durban Legal Aid clinic assisting indigent clients with their legal issues. I witnessed many political protest marches on campus and in town, some of them peaceful, others not so much. There were numerous occasions where we had to flee campus due to political protests that had got out of hand. I have been mugged, burgled and witnessed a drive by shooting in Durban city centre, that wasn't so much as mentioned in the daily newspapers.
In my final year at University, I worked for the I.E.C. during South Africa's first national democratic elections, and the entire process was an eye opener. With tensions running high, we had armed escorts to the electoral counting stations and had to keep the peace when conflict arose during the counting process. It was a humbling privilege to be part of such a pivotal moment in our country's history.
After University, I joined the Legal department of a major commercial bank and worked my way up through the ranks for a couple of years. I met my husband at a local English pub and when an opportunity arose for him in China, we jumped at it! The economy was tanking and violent crime was on the rise. We resigned from our jobs and moved across to China. We spent an initial 4 months based just outside Guangzhou city, in a rural development town. Hardly anyone spoke any English and I remember getting passionate about MLB as it was the only thing broadcast in English at the time. The world series was on and the Yankees beat the Mets to be crowned world champions, although it always amuses me that American sports such as MLB and NFL crown their eventual league winners "world champions" when nobody outside of America actually takes part.
Some days I stayed in our little apartment, had Mandarin lessons, took a motorbike taxi into the local town and did some shopping or did some photography or painting. Other days I would ride the company bus to work with my husband, through rural roads, flanked by paddy fields. We would arrive at the Paper Mill where my husband was a contract systems control and automation engineer and I would spend the day learning about the work that they did. In the evenings we would often pop into the local town, explore the market, grab some food at a cafe that had emerged out of nowhere from somebody's garage and finish off with a massage at one of the local parlours. I used to love our monthly trips to Hongkong to renew my visitor's visa and explore the islands and loved visiting the mountainous regions of Southern China in our time off.
The mountains have always been my happy place. In South Africa I used to love the Drakensberg mountains, the sheer magnitude and grace, the cool mountain breezes and the exhilarating hikes and chain ladder climbs. One of my best memories was hiking to the top of the Tugela falls, one of the tallest waterfalls in the world at 950 metres.
After the initial 4 months in China we headed back to South Africa for the summer and then emigrated to the UK. My husband spent the next 5 years contracting in China, coming home every couple of months, whilst I set up home in the UK, got a job and retrained as a Certified Chartered Accountant.
When my husband stopped working in China and found work in the UK, we spent a few years enjoying each others' company (travelling, enjoying London, going to football matches, learning to scuba dive, skiing, going micro-lighting, dance classes, clubbing, pubbing and enjoying life).
Then we started to think about raising a family. We were in the unenviable position of not being able to have biological children of our own, something we had known from the start of our relationship, and so we looked into adoption.
It was a long 2 year journey of training workshops, seminars, volunteering with children, applying to be matched with a number of different children along the way, and we kept hitting dead ends. We almost always made it to final selection but were always edged out by THAT couple that were more experienced, were going to have a stay at home mom available, had a greater support network of family and friends in the UK etc etc. After almost 2 years, I felt done. Done with the never-ending paperwork, done with the frustration, done with the disappointment, done with the heartache. It was there and then that I told my husband. "Take Friday off, I need to climb a mountain...a real one for a change!" I just knew I needed to hit the reset button. I needed to feel alive and invigorated. I needed to feel happy, and so I went to my happy place....
"Where do you want to go?" he had asked. "I want a mountain that reminds me of home. It must look and feel like my beloved "berg". I so desperately wanted to reconnect with something familiar. So I started Googling images of mountains in the UK and when I saw it, I just knew... this was the one! I had found my Drakensberg in the UK and it was called Helvellyn, in the Lake District. So we packed our overnight bags and road tripped up for the weekend.
We stayed in a lovely little b&b and told the host of our plans to hike up Helvellyn the next day. He warned us of the dynamic weather conditions on Helvellyn and to beware of the fog. We headed off the next day into the sunshine and were well into our hike when the clouds started to come in, closer and closer until we could feel their wetness on our skin. We couldn't see more than a few feet in front of us, but we had our map and we knew we were on the right path. I won't lie, I was more than a little nervous but we had no idea how long the fog would last and the b&b host didn't know which route we had taken. We knew we couldn't just stay there so we started leaving markers every 10 metres or so, in case we got lost. We picked our way slowly over boulders and around larger rocks and eventually heard other voices and made our way onto a wall where a group of 3 teens were sitting on what looked to be a broken down turret. We were very fortunate that the fog started to dissipate just at that time (about an hour after it had drawn in), and we realised that although we had started to see the mountain slope away from us to our right, to our left was a sheer drop-away to certain death. The fog had not completely subsided and although we were less than 100 metres from the top, we sensibly called it day, took a few pics and made our way down the scramble to our right along with the other 3 hikers who also chose not to continue. But that day I had climbed a mountain and I went home happy.
We arrived back on our doorstep to a large brown envelope that was to contain the future we had been dreaming of for the past few years. Our social worker had dropped off a profile of a little boy available for adoption who was just perfect in every way. We fell in love with his story and his pictures and were fortunate enough to be matched with him a month later. We knew at the time that his birth mother was pregnant with her 3rd child and we were asked if we would consider adopting him/her too as social services did not believe that the mother was going to be capable of looking after a baby. Of course we jumped at the opportunity as we had wanted to adopt two children and the chance to keep a sibling pair together was too precious an opportunity to forego. So within 9 months of meeting our first son, we welcomed our second into our family. There was a protracted legal battle between social services and the birth mother before our youngest could be made available for adoption, but in the end her demons unfortunately won out, and we were blessed to be given the opportunity to raise 2 beautiful little boys.
I am now a proud mom of an 8 and 10 year old, who can be found doing the school run most mornings and afternoons and squeezing in a part-time day job in-between. When I'm not spending time with my husband and children and 3 cats, or being drafted in to play Fortnite, front-yard cricket or football with the kids, you can find me walking, cycling, growing my own veg, cooking vegan food, reading, writing, researching, and exploring the fascinating world of blockchain and crypto... I have an inextinguishable love for karate, where I hold a brown belt, and yoga, and hope one day to return to them in one form or another but for now I am managing a shoulder injury and a diagnosis of osteoporosis.
I also love spending time with my sister, my brother and his family. With Covid restrictions finally lifting enough, I have started booking weekends away to the Mountains, the Lakes and the Coast, and plan to share my happy place with the ones I love most.
Hats off to Vitalik Buterin (co-founder of Ethereum) for burning £6b Shiba Inu, but not before donating a shed load to charity along the way.
The makers had transferred half the minted tokens to Vitalik to "burn them", believing that Vitalik would do nothing with them. Vitalik did nothing for a few days and then donated a chunk to covid relief in India and another chunk to other charitable organisations, raising serious concerns among HODLERS that the currency was set to die a fiery death.
He has confirmed, however, that he has burned 90% of his SHIBA INU holding and has now asked for cryptocurrency makers not to ship tokens to his addresses in future as he doesn't want the responsibility of having that kind of power. In the end a bit of a win-win with Covid relief charities benefitting enormously, and Vitalik also not completely dumping the token and all of it's paid investors in the gutter.
Lessons to be learned by meme creators not to pull what has been deemed a massive publicity stunt that almost backfired miserably.
This time they and their investors were lucky; next time it may not be the tokens that get burned!
Looking for those elusive GPUs for mining - I found one that is regularly available!
Let's face it, with the current chip shortages worldwide, decent priced GPUs are just not available. The minute they hit the market, scalpers suck them all up like hungry vacuum cleaners and extort stupid amounts of money from desperate people...desperate crypto miners and desperate gamers.
I got into the crypto mining game late but managed to buy a full gaming pc setup for £1200 with a good spec Nvidia gpu to start mining Eth. Thought I'd look around for some additional cards to boost my hashrate and...you guessed it. Nothing. Everywhere I looked I hit a brick wall. Ads and Google links lured me in with promises of availability at decent prices but when I clicked through to all the usual high street places and some more obscure online ones, everywhere was actually sold out with no info on when they would be available again. You could either buy something really rubbish (no thanks!) or something decent but at scalpers prices, or very high spec GPU cards at market prices but way out of my league. Even Amazon was sold out. But then one day I found a card on Amazon that was available for £359!
AFOX Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB GDDR6 128Bit HDMI 3xDP ATX
Now, I hadn't heard of AFOX before, but given the card had an advertised hash of 25mh/s and I only had 36mh/s running, I figured it was worth a try. I purchased said GPU card mid April, hubby installed it when it arrived 2 days later, and it runs like a dream. Very consistently giving 25mh/s as advertised on Ethermine and with Eth rapidly climbing price, it is doing very nicely indeed. Of course, it sold out shortly afterwards and I figured that was it then, but...it keeps coming back in stock and still at a very fair £359. It has been back in stock twice since then, and I would have bought another but for the timing. With Eth rising I had put the rest of my available funds straight into crypto. As of today, not currently in stock again but it is regularly in stock every couple of weeks so if you are looking for a decent little GPU that actually delivers and produces it's fair share of "found shares" on Ethermine, then you can't really go wrong, especially considering 2 of these would give you 50mh/s which is more than my Nvidia 2060 Super gives me, the latter being available on ebay at the mo for around £540. Hash rate /£1 for the AFOX is 0.0696 mhash/£1 cost, whereas the Nvidia is 0.0667 mhash/£1 cost. Now I don't have anything against EBAY sellers but, given I pay for Amazon Prime, I personally will go the Amazon route again, especially as I know the product is genuine, regularly available and on quick delivery, and I could squeeze another of these babies into my setup without having to upgrade the power supply which I would have to do with another Radeon 2060 Super.
Anyway, hope that helps anyone still looking for a sensible and cost effective way to increase their hash power.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/AFOX-Radeon-5500-GDDR6-128Bit/dp/B08WJH4CCJ
Microfiction - making every word count!
**Nexus:**
*Pedals, clocking cycles round my mind, thoughts receding in quiet imaginings. A drum beats faintly, echoes rhythmically inside my head.*
*The sweet scent of Spring hanging in the air, my lungs alive with the ebb and flow. There is both everything and nothing, connected only by breath. In. Out. In. Air gently brushes my cheeks. A voice whispers. My soul replies.*
*Dandelion clouds float by, tickling my senses. My contemplation punctured, I sneeze, brake gently. The towpath ends. I pause. Did I just meet God, or did I meet myself? I smile, adjust my helmet and head for home.*
***Original work by Samantha Smith Copyright 2020***
As far back as I can remember, I have always had a passion for literature, writing and debate. I entered Literary contests in my teens, joined the debating team and wrote short stories and poetry, mostly musings on life and philosophical by nature. I've started writing a few "books" in my life (we all have at least one in us, right?) but have never quite managed to complete them. I've either hit writer's block, or life has thrown me a curveballs. You know that thing where you desperately want to do one thing but circumstances appear to be conspiring against you? Time itself conspires against us, or so we think! But we can and should make time for the things in life that give us pleasure and help us to grow.
So, there I was in Covid lockdown, working from home, trying to do some home schooling with the kids, planting out a veggie garden and generally finding myself with a bit more of that precious commodity...time. I was desperate to write again and had some good ideas for a new book. This time, though, I thought I would do things a little different and instead of just diving in, do a little research and learn a bit more about the construction of a novel and what makes a good novel work. I came out with a few pearls:
(1) Every word, every scene has to contribute to the development of the story. If it doesn't, remove it.
(2) Show rather than tell. Construct your scenes so that the reader feels as if they were there in the story witnessing and feeling it for themselves. Allow the reader to engage all of their senses to truly become immersed in the story. Let them work some things out for themselves. Retain just enough mystery.
(3) Every genre has it's own innate structure that need to be kept in mind at all times when writing
(4) Dive right in! There will be many iterations of your novel before the final version and each iteration has it's own purpose, the first being to get it all down. Get your thoughts and words onto paper (or screen) and not worry too much about spellings, grammar, verbosity, structure, continuity, character development; there is plenty of time for refinement.
Right, now what? I ordered a few books on writing and did a lot more research, and I came across writing competitions, and one that particularly drew my interest: a Microfiction challenge. So what is this magic I speak of?
Microfiction is essentially where you tell a complete story using very few words. So every word has to matter. Every word has to count. Literally! The one I was drawn to was the NYC Midnight Microfiction challenge (I will put the link below which is not a referral link just a link to their website). The 100 word Microfiction challenge was about to consume my life for 24 hours. The basic premise is that you register for the challenge, which requires a payment of about £15/$21 (after using a promo code). You are then entered into the competition which runs over 3 rounds and each round the judging panel select the best stories to promote their authors to the next round. Last year there were around 7.5k entrants. After round 1 the top 15 in each genre progress to the next round. After round 2, the top 8 in each genre progress to the final round and then the top 10 in the final round win a combination of cash and in-kind prizes. The judges provide constructive feedback on every story submitted. The rounds take place over a series of weekends over 3-4 months. Each round you get given a random genre (which could be completely unfamiliar to you), random action and random word. You have to write a 100 word story in that genre, using the action they have provided and using the specific word or a derivative thereof in your story. I have never spent so much time writing and refining a piece of work before in my life!
I realised pretty quickly that the challenge of microfiction would help me to hone my writing skills in preparation for writing my "novel". I revisited the pearls of wisdom I had gained in my research:
(1) Every word counts. Well ain't that the truth when it comes to microfiction. You literally have a strict 100 words within which to tell your entire story. Weeding out the superfluous words would be a challenge but could only improve my writing. Verbosity and ramblings would not be within my budget
(2) Show rather than tell. With microfiction, you cannot afford to be boring or obvious. You have to grab attention, immerse the reader and convey something meaningful in 100 words.
(3) Structure. This has to be tight.
(4) Dive right in! Well I did this and my first attempt (ignoring the 100 word limit as I knew I would have many iteration attempts to refine it) came out at around 250-300 words. How the heck was I going to reduce that? I reread what I had written over and over. I refined it a little. Reread. I was happy. Wordcount c. 175. Face palm!!! I reread it a few more times. Nope, I just can't make this shorter. Changing it will ruin it. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this! I'll just not submit it. At least I like it. No...that wasn't the deal. I came here to learn didn't I? I came here to improve my writing. If I can't stick to the remit and achieve what must be achievable, then what's the point?
So... I did what any good writer should do. I took a step back from my writing and went and did something else for an hour or two and allowed it to be. (Now if you were writing a novel, you may take a break of a week or a month in between rewrites but hey, we are talking about microfiction here and a 24 hour challenge :-) When I revisited my work later that same day with a fresh perspective, I started to find ways to tighten the narrative. Replaced longer words with shorter synonyms. Used a bit of artistic licence. Removed repetition. Shortened my sentences. Numerous iterations later and I had my final draft. I was happy with it, and on comparing it to my first c. 300 word attempt, there was no comparison! Who would have thought that economical writing using words that matter, really can be that much better. Now, I know that I can do better. I didn't make it to the 2nd round although I received some very complimentary feedback. I did receive some decent advice too for my future attempts and plan to improve my writing with each new project. It was a truly rewarding experience to be part of the NYC 100 word Microfiction challenge and my writing definitely improved as a result of those 24 hours. Having received a reminder email this past week about this year's challenge, I am now entered once again :-)
So what did I do after the 2020 Microfiction challenge? I dived right in to my novel. It is a work in progress, but a journey that I am enjoying, and that is the most important thing.
I would encourage anyone else with an interest in or passion for writing to look out for writing challenges on the web, perhaps check out NYC's website and take part like I did, if you fancy. They have a number of challenges throughout the year from Microfiction, to flash fiction, short stories and screenplays. I don't have any vested financial interest in whether or not you choose to explore the above, all I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and my novel writing is better for it. Now blogging....this is a new writing genre for me; one I have not tried before, and one where I don't have to be so tight on the narrative lol.
Here is the link to NYC Midnight's website. Entering challenges does have a cost. This years microfiction challenge started 14th May so it's too late to enter this year but don't worry, they always have other writing challenges coming up during the year (including a 250 word challenge, short story, screenplays etc) and there are other websites out there with writing competitions for you to enter to challenge yourself and improve your writing.
http://www.nycmidnight.com/
@Samantha-Smith
