Technology

Minting

I’ve been hinting about minting.

TL:DR – I’ve minted a new NFT collection!

As a community builder and hybridized translator of technology, I’m proud to be surrounded by remarkable artists and nerds you need to know. As trailblazers continue to push boundaries, the decentralized, community-driven aspects of blockchain technologies has me in a curious state of pure wonder.

To test a blockchain technology, Nathan T. Wright and I teamed up to learn through action. We decided to explore non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) by creating a new NFT collection called Roasted Reflections!

This caffeinated collaboration commemorates one year of YDNTB and is dedicated to connecting entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and community builders. Only 100 NFTs will be minted on OpenSea throughout the month of April. We’ve established two small, more exclusive categories of tokens that include bonus materials, VIP access, and tradable value. A third category has more NFTs minted as free airdrops for those who pickup the new YDNTB NFT Bundle to share.

This special NFT collection is now live, as the first NFT was minted on April 1st, 2022. This rare collectible comes with all sorts of perks and was appropriately titled, Hello World – #1, with a .412021 ETH price that pays homage to the 4/1/2021 publishing date for YDNTB. Two more tokens will be released into the RR collection each Wednesday until all 100 tokens have been minted!

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Did you catch the subtle hint for this emerging NFT project in Launch? This learning expedition was also the inspiration behind Perpetual.

What’s next? Watch your inbox for more details on this interactive NFT project, including a special invitation to a new Discord channel built for all of us to continue building together. My hope is that along with a fun way to collectively enjoy this digital treasure hunt, the Roasted Reflections NFT collection will be remembered as how my family and friends secured their very first NFT! In the meantime, here are a few of the lessons learned along the way.

– Humans enjoy collecting things together.
– Value is often based on supply, demand, and a sense of belonging.
– NFT minting creates a unique item connected to a smart contract.
– A smart contract for each NFT is then data stored on a blockchain.
– The first NFT was minted in 2014.
– Think less about how NFTs look or sound.
– NFTs represent ownership verified by data.
– These digital assets can also be used for various types of access.
– Categories in a collection provides scalability and diversifies value propositions.
– You need a digital wallet to receive, buy, or sell NFTs. (I use Coinbase)
– OpenSea is the largest marketplace to learn, create, buy, and sell NFTs, but Coinbase NFT is coming soon.
– Floor price is the lowest priced NFT in a collection.
– Weekend minting is often less expensive.
– Computing power for the verification process creates a harmful environment impact that needs improvement.
– Successful NFT collections are community-driven.
– The most expensive NFT sold for $91.8M.
– Airdrop is a fancy term for giveaway.

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I can’t help but to think, perhaps the NES generation who grew up wasting all our allowance on sports cards as kids, was destined to bring this technology to life.

I thought NFTs were silly at first. Talking with others and thinking about smart contracts can transparently certify proof of ownership has made me think again.

In the future, perhaps NFTs (or similar blockchain technologies) will be applied to verify event tickets, legal documents, and personal property? What if a birth certificate came with it’s own NFT that had a smart contract secured to the same person’s death certificate? Weird stuff, eh! Tokenomics is still the wild west and NFTs are considered a speculative asset, but it’s fun exploring uncharted territory and it’ll be interesting to see if a community-driven NFT collection like Roasted Reflections allows more explorers to own a small piece of this new frontier.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Online Event Management

Live event management is a handful. Virtual events should also be well thought out. How can we create a memorable experience when everyone is participating online? Let’s teleport into this topic together.

First, consider what must be accomplished. What cannot be achieved without this time together? Determine how long the virtual experience should last. It’s usually less than you think. Next, line up the right technologies to ensure it fits the needs of your virtual experience. As tech is selected, use security tactics to avoid unwanted distractions. With objectives and logistics in place, it’s time to flesh out the experience.

While our connected era has unlocked the next level of efficiency with these virtual interactions, a drawback to online gatherings is the lack of time before and after a meeting. This means there’s less serendipitous interplay. Stay efficient, but it may be wise to weave in random value through manufactured moments that still feel natural for participants.

As attendees arrive, use your opening remarks to set the tone. Generate cohesion with jolts of genuine energy as any rules of engagement are quickly confirmed. If there’s a meeting agenda, run through that and connect it with meeting goals so attendees know what to expect.

After a welcoming attendees with a concise, energizing, and clarifying introduction, have fun unpacking the primary discussion. Stay on task and try to avoid distractions, but leave time for interactive dialogue. With less open dialogue due to the limitations of a virtual experience, this is one way to create space for those manufactured moments of serendipity. These conversational buffers help to avoid having the loudest voice be the only one that’s heard and invites an inclusive environment with deliberate space for everyone to participate.

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The term “hybrid” is hard to define. There’s value in weaving tech into in-person events so that others are able to virtually feel the experience. There’s also value in keeping things simple so the focus remains on your attendee’s engagement. Experiment with what works for you, but one interesting combination is to go all-in with live events, and then add strategic online events into the mix. This avoids fragmented coordination, eliminates the hollowness of virtual content within an in-person experience, and creates ease for organizers who benefit from both types of environments.

As you bring your online events together, you want interactivity so it’s not talking heads with attendees pretending to listen. Do this by including icebreakers, musical moments, pop-up polls, breakout discussions, scavenger hunts, doodling exercises, physical activities, and scheduled breaks. Encourage note taking and grab screenshots as artifacts to share later. Leave time for questions before wrapping things up.

As you bring things to a close, it’s important everyone feels a sense of accomplishment. If ramblings drag on before the meeting abruptly cuts off, people will leave feeling empty. Keep the virtual energy juicy, review key takeaways, and encourage action to tie a bow on the efficiency of all your online events.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Hybridize

Remember being a kid and waking up to a winter wonderland? Snow day! Fresh powder means mayhem for many, but all that mattered back then was how quickly we could get outside to enjoy the day’s frosty gift. After a rushed breakfast, twas time to mint snow angels, roll up a snowman, and hit the sledding hill.

As we arrived atop the neighborhood glacier, the interactions of a temporary community began to form. The actors were always different yet played traditional roles. First-time sledders were excited but timid. Action junkies pushed to go faster, with adults on snow patrol.

Among the common players, hybrids presented an interesting twist. These were the children who appreciated exhilarating activity but also united others by creating space to ensure newcomers were safe and having fun too. There was an empathetic maturity in their welcoming enthusiasm.

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Successful adults do not lose their childhood spirit.

Fast forward, and hybrids continue to bring us together. Teachers inspire the next generation and encourage students to think differently. Technologists translate nerd to normal. Intrapreneurs shepherd positive change inside existing organizations. Founders use existing resources to create new realities and community builders act like spiders, weaving a web, tightening its connections, and activating the vibrations of opportunity to proactively push progress.

There are many other types of hybrids who inclusively identify all that may be possible. Leaders like this welcome a full spectrum of interactions between everything. They are nimble, encourage complexity, and mobilize diverse perspectives to facilitate more relevant, long-lasting impact.

For the hybrids among us, thank you. Stay curious, don’t underestimate your limitless value, and bring others along for the ride to avoid obstacles over time.

For those who may not feel such a unifying spirit, continue to lead the tribes you trust but know that fresh opportunity awaits the intellectually humble. Avoid the temptation to simplify everything and invite doubt. This open-minded empathy makes things more interesting and will unlock fresh ways for those you care about to achieve even more.

Brewed From Within
#71 📖 Technology

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The original riff, as seen in comments, included this 2021 year-end Tweetstorm and introduced a linked library to explore all that became Roasted Reflections (2020-2025).

By Ben McDougal, ago

13.8 Billion

The universe is estimated to be 13.8 billion years old. That’s enough time to ask a few cosmic questions…

  • What are educational paths to the space industry?
  • Can astronomy, cosmology, and religion co-exist?
  • Does digitized consciousness unlock time travel by leaving the limitations of a human body behind?
  • How long would it take to arrive at the closest black hole? Who’s going in first?
  • How will robotics, AI, quantum computing, and material science accelerate space exploration?
  • It seems impossible that extraterrestrial life does not exist. When we learn that aliens are real, how should first contact be carried out?
  • If life on Earth has endured less than 25% of the time our universe has existed, how many distant civilizations may have come and gone?
  • Is it not foolish to mindlessly feed on energy that uses finite resources? When might we run out?
  • How does our planet’s spatial position and cosmic direction change inside an infinite universe that is expanding at an ever-increasing rate?
  • Visiting, even colonizing Mars feels like an important interplanetary exercise, but could other planets be a place to store all the things we don’t want on Earth? Even better, how about asteroids we load up and send off into the dark matter?
  • Can subatomic nanotechnologies alter the input of an energy source to transform the output?
  • How will ownership be handled in space?
  • Does seeing deeper fuel urgency?

                        These are bizarre prompts, and cosmic conversations can quickly become theoretical. To find answers in the unknown, our imagination, scientific exploration, and continual learning are essential as we keep tackling the questions of our universe and the unsolved problems in astronomy and astrophysics.

                        Cosmic questions put life into perspective and make our existence feel fragile. Arguing becomes a lost cause when collaboration is vital for our species to survive.

                        Brewed From Within
                        #108 📖 Life & Happiness

                        By Ben McDougal, ago

                        Neon Future

                        The deep future is the totality of realized dreams. It’s the culmination of how humanity continues to interact. Cultural temptations lurk at every turn, but if we dodge divineness, the neon future will shine bright.

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                        Great minds think alike.
                        Greater minds think differently.

                        As leaders (like you) guide us through the unknown, a provoking question that connects with the genre of this book is, does everyone have an entrepreneurial spirit?

                        It’s surprising how many say no, but one hopeful response includes a thoughtful caveat: Perhaps everyone has a creative spirit, but those who are able and willing to tolerate risk unlock the opportunity to decipher an entrepreneurial lifestyle. Along the way, technology reduces the need to turn knobs all day, and instead, helps us focus on what all the turning knobs accomplish. With this advancing capacity, more people can scrutinize their own creativity.

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                        When progress leaves past ideas vulnerable, opportunities await.

                        Together, we’ll ride the rolling waves of technology. Each wave may be different, but all remain significant and our lasting ambition ensures the next wave will always come.

                        This ambition honors the luxurious time we share and activates technology with integrity to stretch our true potential.

                        How we interact with ongoing innovation will determine the shared direction of our kind. It’s up to us to generously interact with a sense of abundance, to creatively leverage technology, and to guide us toward that future. This neon future is entirely unpredictable, which presents an open invitation to be absolutely extraordinary.

                        Brewed From Within
                        #89 📖 Technology

                        By Ben McDougal, ago