05.25.21
Good Morning Everyone! As of today we will begin a two-week break, but we will return on June 8th, 2021, ramped up for all-new, exciting cyber-content! Wishing you all the very best as we get going on a great new summer!
Category: Wisdom
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Crypto-Stim: Compound
We are addicted to crypto… and our aim is to stimulate the masses!
Welcome to Crypto-STIM! As we learn, you learn. Each week we vape the 5 unique attributes that make each new crypto we find tantalizing and addictive.
Borrow & Lend Your Way 2 Crypto!
No point in beating bushes, so let us get straight to the point…
1. Finally, Saving Makes Sense Again
For all the volatility in the world today, the thought of saving money is very appealing to many. However, because the beast of inflation looms over us our money tomorrow will not be worth what it was today. So just what the hell are the masses supposed to do about that???
Now we have an answer. A way to save and invest that gains interest, meaning it can pay us an actual rate (we’ve seen over 7%) that potentially can beat inflation, and provides a means of borrowing/lending to the masses where we get to be the banker for a change! That’s exactly what Compound, the crypto, is working to do.
But… we gotta play to win. No one ever wins if they don’t try out for the team!
2. Borrow & Lend Trustless
As with all crypto the goal is trustless, and there is no exception with Compound. Like we said they want to give us the chance to be the banker, but without any middlemen whatsoever. The goal to their program and open platform is simple, anyone depositing Ethereum tokens can provide a balance and earn actual interest (see No. 1 above) or they can even take out a loan. The latter makes this extra special. Gaining more equitable access to lending without the powered elites creates a new world of opportunities.
3. Governing by Community, fo-Realz!
The great thing about Compound is that those who invest and build gain the ability to govern. Like we said gotta pay to play.
For compound, their toke, their governance token (COMP) allows the owner of that coin to propose protocol changes and debate and vote on proposed changes. Better yet, this is a separate body from the team running the thing! We can be the governance team. Yeah, we get it it gets spendy quick but we can invest and build/grow over time. Look at it this way, how easily can you get a say in how your bank treats you now?!?!?!?
4. Cash Out When We Decide
Going beyond governance we realize that sometimes we just need cash and the native ethereum/ERC20 tokens we deposit into the Compound ecosystems is available. Not that we advocate addin’ to the volatility, but we get it. Life is Life.
That’s why compound allows you to bounce; as we need to respond to life sometimes. At any time we can check out our cUSDC (Compound tokens) for normal USD(ollar) Coins (those matching American cash) plus interest.
5. BUY or ENGAGE = COMP
Yeah, we know by now we can buy crypto on exchanges. But how else can we get our hands on digital coin???
Compound allows us the opportunity to gain by engagement. Simply by interacting with the protocol, say by staking, depositing or taking loans, we can earn more COMP.
Bonus: We Know You’re Dying to Know if There is a Cap?
We’ll, yup there is. 10 Million is the target… less than Bitcoin even!
Special thanks today to Compound, Decrypt.co, and CoinMarketCap.com for helping us take in a little COMP. The best thing is when you learn, we learn, and we all get the buzz. Full D, we are long COMP.
See you next time on BCB Cyber.
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Crypto-Stim: Matic2Polygon
We are addicted to crypto… and our aim is to stimulate the masses!
Welcome to Crypto-STIM! As we learn, you learn. Each week we vape the 5 unique attributes that make each new crypto we find tantalizing and addictive.
MATIC for ALL?
To get started, we know that Matic is now Polygon, but we know too the token is still MATIC so we left the logo in our image. However we do really like the new Polygon Logo too!
In any case, we find no point in beating bushes, so let us get straight to the point.
1. It’s Focused: On Simplicity
This particular crypto is all about integration with simplicity as it seeks to simplify the complexities that are found in scaling crypto products and instant transactions. It does this by building on its proof of staking (PoS) mechanism as a means of securing the blockchain. Special nodes on the network called validators, stake (lock up) MATIC (the tokens) collateralizing the network’s consensus mechanism. For this, they receive more MATIC in return.
2. Built Off Ethereum For Access To All
Built off of one of the most secure and proven blockchains: Ethereum. Provides the structure for a variety of DeFI (Decentralized Finance) protocols to get access to the ecosystem as many are already accustomed to programming in the language developers in Ethereum use to design smart contracts. Access continues to be a focus as Matic has become Polygon. The ultimate goal: an interconnected landscape.
3. Stylish Plasma
A unique tech collection of proof-of-stake checkpoints, sidechains, that allow for a high number of transactions per block: 65,536 to be exact! Basically, a fancy way to move between the root chain (main/parent chain) and child (off-shoot) chains. This is what allows all those fancy interconnections in 2 above!
4. Halfway to the Max
Matic has a maximum number of tokens set at 10 billion. We are nearly halfway there as of 05.12.21. The current actual number of Matic is 4,877,830,774. This is great news for those who love the scarcity aspect that some cryptos possess. Plus, we are getting the end fast as they predict the close of minting to occur by end of 2022!
5. Secured, Expansive Scalability
Polygon is fantastic in that it intends to use a variety of technological solutions to achieve the ultimate ecosystem for scalability: PoS Chain, Plasma Chains, ZK Rollups & Optimistic Rollups included. Ultimate scalability, with heavy redundancy, working to achieve low cost transacting! Whew!
Special thanks today to Polygon, Decrypt.co and CoinMarketCap.com for helping us take in a little MATIC. The best thing is when you learn, we learn, and we all get the buzz. Full Disclosure, we are long MATIC.
See you next time on BCB Cyber.
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Crypto-Stim: Helium
We are addicted to crypto… and our aim is to stimulate the masses!
Welcome to Crypto-STIM! As we learn, you learn. Each week we vape the 5 unique attributes that make each new crypto we find tantalizing and addictive in their own right.
Helium: The People’s Network
We find no point in beating bushes, so let us get straight to the point.
1. Decentralized Internet of Things (IoT):
Goodbye GPU mining in this new network. Mining has a new form to meet the needs of IoT devices that need a reliable signal, and for Helium that’s the opportunity for decentralized radio tech spread around the globe to jump in. Lowering expense building networks of neighbors, not corporate overlords, and creating “proof-of-coverage” with a variety of vendors to choose from (to get the hardware from that is).
2. Offers Everyday Folk a Slice of the IoT Pie
Get your own hotspot! Want to participate, it’s as easy as connecting your own node. Yup, a simple PoE (Power over Ethernet) device that you connect to your router and plugin. A quick install and a few clicks with an app and anyone can join in the fun.
3. Double Benefit: Provide Wireless & Earn HNT, Helium’s Coin
No more reliance on others to expand wireless access, a new model of the future of building wireless infrastructure is here and it’s available and dependent upon the masses to imbibe the kool-aid. Not only are we given the opportunity to play a role in connecting our world we get paid for it, in HNT that is, Helium’s native token.
4. Proof of Coverage (PoC)
As with any network, it pays to know that hotspots are actually where they claim to be. In other words, the PoC works on a model that verifies both hotspot location and coverage they are providing “The People’s Network.”
5. Data Credits
Helps give us a pay-per-use model, with no extravagant annual fees. Data Credits (DCs) are used to pay for the uplink that a user will engage. What’s the ratio, every 24 bytes cost 1DC = $.00001. Makin’ those ends.
Special thanks today to Helium.com and CoinMarketCap.com for helping us take in a little Helium. The best thing is when you learn, we learn, and we all get the buzz. See you next time on BCB Cyber.
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Crypto-Stimulation for the Masses
We are addicted to crypto… and our aim is to stimulate the masses!
Welcome to Crypto-STIM
Our newest series at BCB Cyber, a new week means a new protocol! Jolting, titillating, provoking, and inducing thought comas on crypto. We can’t wait…
Each week a new high. Getting blazed, on crypto, yields a variety of sensations deepening the experience. Each has its own unique blend of intoxicating elements. That’s our aim: to find what makes each one special.
So with that in mind, we’ll be digging for the five unique characteristics of each crypto and dig into some cyber-goodness. Which blend will keep you hooked? Join us and find out.
See you next time on BCB Cyber.
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Get Inspired
Join BCB Cyber each and every Wednesday for the inspirational wisdom we need to cyber-fuel our digital dreams.
Our goal: to add a touch of cyberpunk-infused inspiration to the masses within the five cores of Wealth, Health, Wisdom, Gear & Play. We aim to entertain, educate, and inspire within the world of high-tech in the many ways it can empower our daily lives.
See you next time on BCB Cyber.
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Know Crypto: Build Tomorrow
04.14.21
We know, we’re terrible, but we have completely fallen down the rabbit hole of crypto. No more excuses, back next week with technē & Ἥφαιστος, we promise.
We are big proponents of cryptos here and as we love to share what we have learned in our journey into the blockchain multiverse, we are now going to do even more of it. But, we are doing it the BCB Cyber way: simplifying and visualizing.
Know Crypto… Build Tomorrow
Each glimpse we take into cryptocurrencies, we offer a clear look into a unique blockchain topic (for example total market cap). More specifically, we look into the crypto-sphere and pull it back into a plain, easy-to-understand visual matrix. This way, we can help the masses to wrap our collective heads around a potentially perplexing and problematic proposition. So today we turn to a simple topic, how we can each build tomorrow!
We all have heard of Bitcoin and Ethereum. Bitcoin, basically the supreme store of value (overdone, but think digital gold), and Ethereum, the place for the next generation of digital transactions and smart contracts right? All over the news. They are definitely our base, as shown in the illustration above. But what lies beyond?
What we may not know is the ever-growing, decentralized world of opportunity around these two gems of the crypto multi-verse. Teams of brilliant people are working the world over to develop blockchain elements, features, and tools that incorporate these disruptive technologies into all aspects of our defi-lives and beyond.
As a way of introducing them, we submit three in particular that can literally, help to build the world of tomorrow and therefore fulfill the true promise of crypto and blockchain. While there are many different projects ongoing in this space, three stand out to us as a real means of building a better tomorrow: Polygon, Helium, and Energi.
And now for the introductions:
Helium: Building the Network for IoT
By building a network created by individual people, or more specifically the locations we inhabit, we can build a “community of connectivity” for all our individual smart devices. Individually installed hotspots will not only offer the chance for our devices to work to their fullest, all the while conveying the means to a whole new host of people to develop their personal finances with a little investment. Each one of us has the chance to contribute to building the connected world of tomorrow through IoT (Internet of Things, you know all those smart devices we buy that are monitoring our environment) and enhance our well-being at the same time.
Thanks Helium
Polygon: Maximizing Access
Where Helium gave the individual the opportunity to contribute to the capability of tomorrow’s networks, Polygon (formerly Matic) seeks to make sure we all have a minimal barrier to access by means of super-low fees and, in addition, a more ambitious goal to be sure – creating the internet of blockchains!
Thanks Polgyon formerly Matic Network
Energi – “The Ultimate Feedback Loop… A Living, Breathing Organization”
Beyond the development of features of blockchains, self-sustaining, self-reinforcing blockchains are the ultimate future, tomorrow and beyond, for decentralized finance. We are now to the point of building “living” digital systems and we have the opportunity, as individuals, to help build those new life forms and be a part of the future of humanity to a whole new level. Could we even go so far as to say this could form the next evolutionary step in the global, socio-economic order?!?!? Perhaps… it’s up to each one of us to decide!
Thanks Energi
Again, not sponsored by any of the above, but we do think they’ve got something to offer and wanted to share.
If you are intrigued and want to jump in and try for yourself, consider using our link for Coinbase, we’ll each get $10 in free Bitcoin when you sign up and deposit your first $100. Remember though, we need to all do our own homework and decide for ourselves.
While Helium and Energi are not quite yet available for trade on the site (Coinbase), Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Polygon (formerly Matic) all are. And for those who really want to go down the rabbit hole alongside us at BCB Cyber, buying Bitcoin and/or Ethereum on Coinbase can be used to transfer to other exchanges where we can buy the other two! But, that’s a story for another day.
See you next time on BCB Cyber!
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Know Crypto: Total Market Cap
04.07.21
Ok, we know we did it again, but seriously… back next week with technē & Ἥφαιστος, we promise but we’re still just too excited about this new offering on BCB Cyber and delving deep into the world of cryptocurrencies. We are big proponents of cryptos here and as we love to share what we have learned into our journey in technology, particularly crypto, we are now going to do even more of it. But, we are doing it the BCB Cyber way: simplifying and visualizing.
What is the total value/the total market capitalization, of all cryptos?
Each week we take a singular concept (for example Protocol or Market Cap) in the crypto-sphere and pull it into a plain, easy breakdown, visual. This way, we can help the masses to wrap our collective heads around a potentially perplexing and problematic proposition.
Plus as an add-on, we’ll do the searching for you and share the inspirational site that gave us a deeper understanding of each concept so we can all dig a little deeper.
This week’s inspiration came from coinmarketcap.com and businessinsider.com. Again, not sponsored but we do think they’ve got something to offer and wanted to share. See you next time!
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Know Crypto: Protocol
03.31.21
Back next week with technē & Ἥφαιστος, we promise but we’re just too excited about this new offering on BCB Cyber. We are big proponents of cryptocurrencies here and as we love to share what we have learned into our journey in technology, particularly crypto, we are now going to do even more of it. But, we are doing it the BCB Cyber way: simplifying and visualizing.
What is Protocol???
Each week we take a singular concept (for example Protocol) in the crypto-sphere and pull it into a plain, easy breakdown, visual. This way, we can help the masses to wrap our collective heads around a potentially perplexing and problematic proposition.
Plus as an add-on, we’ll do the searching for you and share the inspirational site that gave us a deeper understanding of each concept so we can all dig a little deeper.
This week’s inspiration came from Ivan on Tech’s Blockchain Academy, and steveklabnik.com, with a thought-provoking breakdown of protocol and language. Again, not sponsored but we do think they’ve got something to offer and wanted to share. See you next time!
One-Part Wisdom,
One-Part Play
No worries, we aren’t forgetting about our Wisdom Series on Ancient Tech. We are just taking a week to further our research as we fell down a few rabbit holes. All in the name of bettering our contribution to our readers! We promise to have it for you in all its glory next Wednesday. In any case, we didn’t want to leave you wanting so we chose to RE-visit a post from our Character Study Series that plays on one-part wisdom, one-part play.
Character Study Series: Alita from Alita: Battle Angel (2019), Film Edition RE-posted from Fall 2020
Facing Identity While Going Cyborg
Written by BCB, Edited by Antonia Martinez
*** WARNING *** SPOILERS *** AHEAD ***
Drawn to a mysterious figure at the start of the film Alita: Battle Angel, audiences are introduced to a young woman as the remnants of another. Torn into half a body and left on a trash heap, one that Dr. Dyson Ido (a cybersurgeon who caters to cyborgs) discovers as being still alive despite other appearances.
Alita is a character that may be down in the dumps, quite literally, but one that holds great potential, nonetheless. As Ido holds a partial body, upper torso, and head, he stares into her face, and the pullback shot the film treats the viewer to, reveals two individuals coming face to face and unveiling the central theme of the story to come.
In his next line, Ido states “what are you dreaming little angel.” Despite her humbling initial entry, Alita is given a new opportunity at a powerful, impactful life. We, the audience, are invited into the classic journey of discovering who we are through the big, bright eyes of an incredible young woman and the oft-dualistic nature of the choices we face: trash/angel, and so much more. Ultimately it is where trial meet failure combines with the interminable spirit that Alita can push herself forward into discovering who she genuinely wants to be.
While the opening act juxtaposes the wonder and awe of discovering the world with the potential harshness it has to offer, Alita is pulled toward a physical strength she has yet to fully discover. The character development found within pushes Alita toward a mechanical ability and increased physical prowess from the outset.
For instance, in a competitive game of pick-up Motorball, a tech-enhanced form of roller derby, Alita is pushed as another competitor plays rough knocking her down. Alita responds quickly with a demonstration of her own enhanced physicality and force.
Not to be outdone, this is character arc is repeated several times. When Alita follows a suspicious Ido, Alita discovers that Ido is a bounty hunter looking to save young women in the harsh streets of Iron City from being killed by roving cyborgs. Quickly the tables are turned on Ido though as he finds himself in trouble from a trio of cyborg villains. A hidden Alita must come to the rescue. As she continues to uncover the knowledge she has regarding martial arts, she repeatedly moves to test her abilities in such capacities. This continues until Alita becomes a bounty hunter.
Entering a bounty hunter bar with a smirk, she seeks to gain allies in her quest against one particular cyborg that has been killing women in the streets; one that nearly had Ido conquered earlier in the story. Alita is quickly rebuked and again turns to force as she quickly disarms and defeats one of the loudest in the bar. She tries again to ask for allies but instead fights the whole bar in a typical action-movie style!
Things are only broken up when Ido appears again and threatens, “no more free repairs” if they don’t stop fighting, Things are shaken up though when Grewishka, the cyborg Alita is seeking allies against, shows up to confront and take Alita as a hostage for an unknown master. A skirmish ensues and for the first time, Alita is shown to be vulnerable in a fight.
Alita is sliced into pieces by the massive mech warrior. A flashback ensues and Alita is forewarned that her true enemy lies beyond this experience. Torn in two again, reflecting the dualistic nature of her character once again and bringing us full circle to the opening scene, Alita’s battle with Grewishka, demonstrates the limits of rage and violence, not to mention lesser tech and her physical prowess at that time. Nearly killed, Alita with one arm tears out Grewishka’s eye and is saved when Hugo, a boy she met in her first explorations into the world, and Ido, come to her aid with another bounty hunter from the bar.
Following this scene, Alita is finally given a body that unites her with her former identity as a specialized warrior. Ido claims to have joined “warrior spirit with warrior body” but reassures Alita that the choices of bad and good are up to her. We are told that Alita has “found” her identity and she now knows who she is, fully armored with nanotechnology. Stronger, faster, and more powerful, she claims that it feels, “more me.”
It is here where we see still more willing to push her world headlong a test of her own character. Instead of pushing the physical, technological side as she had multiple times before, she turns to her human side. This is the first instance where we see a push back against the technological. In a very human moment being with Hugo, they share their first kiss. Only when exposing her apparent vulnerability, that she is not completely human, Hugo tells her that she is the “most human person (he) has ever met” and she is able to push further in understanding that she is the one who will choose who she is going to be; fighting against the dualistic nature of choice in our lives.
Running headlong into another experience, the Alita style, she offers Hugo her heart if it will aid his quest to get to Zalem, a mysterious city in the sky that is all that still stands of a long off war that Alita’s former life had been engaged in. But again Alita, with the help of Hugo, finds that there are alternate ways and many gray areas in life. Instead of pushing her abilities toward violence, or self-sacrifice, yet again, the two decide that they can earn their way to Zalem if Alita becomes a champion in motor-ball and they work together in their dedication to each other.
During the competition, Alita is taken off track, and both Hugo and Alita are confronted by cyborgs. In the ensuing fight, Hugo nearly dies. He can only be saved when Alita removes Hugo’s head with the help of Ido’s ex-wife, and Ido adds a cyborg body.
In racing to a close for the film, Alita confronts Nova’s henchmen in Iron City and destroys them through violence, but in doing so has exposed Hugo. In a call from Ido, she learns that Hugo has learned that Zalem’s forces are coming for Hugo and in response, he has decided to use his new cyborg body to attempt to make his way into Zalem itself. Racing after him, Alita catches up and in convincing him to return to Iron City, Hugo is knocked off the cables holding the city in place in the air by the city’s defense mechanisms. Alita catches him but is ultimately presented with the most character-defining situation she faces, one where there is no choice. At this moment, she must face the loss of the one she loves in combination with complete powerlessness to be able to stop it. Hugo is killed and Alita is left with no choice but to return to their plan and win their way to Zalem. Alita’s choice is to become the underdog champion of Motorball and continue her journey toward destroying Zalem in honor of her relationship with Hugo.
Throughout the film, Alita continually chose to push against the dualistic nature of her character, which makes her most human. Her new life was continually thrust against the remnant of the old. In each she is given the choice to decide who she is going to be; ultimately it is the cumulative effect of all those choices that leaves her with no choice and all and yet the most character-defining moment in the whole story. Despite great defeat and failure, Alita pushes forward with a relentlessness of spirit that defines her character; it is what she has chosen. Alita, despite the outside world pushing back on who she is to be, chooses to never surrender and become something more than either human or machine.
For those of us always looking to cyberize ourselves and self-determine our worlds, not to mention determine our own identity as well, the portrait of Alita found in Alita: Battle Angel (2019) (#CommissionsEarned) offers a unique opportunity for analysis and self-reflection as we digitize our worlds.
We thank you for joining our Cyberpunk Character Study on Alita, and hope you come back soon for more great content! To discover more pure inspiration and entertainment to keep us passionate about our tech lives, check out our Cyber-Play page. And don’t forget next Wednesday, we get back to our Ancient Tech.