I was thinking about the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle today
I was thinking today about the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle today. How it brought together an unlikely group of teamsters, steelworkers, Christian activists, eastern medicine defenders of human rights in Burma and China, academics, anarchists, and crust punks; and in doing so, brought an antiglobalization message into the mainstream. Rage Against the Machine’s “Sleep Now in the Fire” was the anthem. All during a Clinton economy that created 20 million jobs and a federal surplus. (There hasn’t...
I was thinking about the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle today
I was thinking today about the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle today. How it brought together an unlikely group of teamsters, steelworkers, Christian activists, eastern medicine defenders of human rights in Burma and China, academics, anarchists, and crust punks; and in doing so, brought an antiglobalization message into the mainstream. Rage Against the Machine’s “Sleep Now in the Fire” was the anthem. All during a Clinton economy that created 20 million jobs and a federal surplus. (There hasn’t...
What happens when the creative class makes their own currencies?
The featured image is an unauthorized remix of “Fake Internet Money #607” by Steve Pikelny. This essay is intended as a creative exploration of Jihad’s invitation to “describe a higher vision of the future,” and does not constitute investment advice.The more it circulates, the more value it has.One of the great benefits of NFTs entering popular discourse in 2021 was the number of art critics and theorists that pierced the bubble of pseudo-intellectualism that characterized the cultural discus...
What happens when the creative class makes their own currencies?
The featured image is an unauthorized remix of “Fake Internet Money #607” by Steve Pikelny. This essay is intended as a creative exploration of Jihad’s invitation to “describe a higher vision of the future,” and does not constitute investment advice.The more it circulates, the more value it has.One of the great benefits of NFTs entering popular discourse in 2021 was the number of art critics and theorists that pierced the bubble of pseudo-intellectualism that characterized the cultural discus...
My favorite albums and tracks released in 2023
Late night albums for conversation pits:Purelink - SignsAndré 3000 - New Blue SunWata Igarashi - AgarthaMaara - The Ancient TruthAzu Tiwaline - Night in PalmtreeDaytime albumsKelela - RavenDJ Danifox - AnsiedadeJames Holden - Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Place Of All PossibilitiesChristopher Bear, Daniel Rosen - Past Lives (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)buttechno & Triš - In Your HeadFacta - EmelineSinglesClonnex, Billionhappy - “见到你我的爱”Tirzah - “No Limit”Amaarae - “Angels in Tibet...
My favorite albums and tracks released in 2023
Late night albums for conversation pits:Purelink - SignsAndré 3000 - New Blue SunWata Igarashi - AgarthaMaara - The Ancient TruthAzu Tiwaline - Night in PalmtreeDaytime albumsKelela - RavenDJ Danifox - AnsiedadeJames Holden - Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Place Of All PossibilitiesChristopher Bear, Daniel Rosen - Past Lives (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)buttechno & Triš - In Your HeadFacta - EmelineSinglesClonnex, Billionhappy - “见到你我的爱”Tirzah - “No Limit”Amaarae - “Angels in Tibet...
Two new tracks; comparing Nina and Catalog
One of my favorite early projects at Consensys was Ujo Music, a platform for musicians to share their music onchain -- before the NFT (ERC-721 standard) was even really a thing, and nearly a half-decade before we even started saying “onchain.” So many of the early experiments at Consensys were just that -- brilliant but a little too early. Three years later, more artists were beginning to explore music NFTs thanks to a new NFT standards that automated royalty payments, like ERC-2981. I breath...
Two new tracks; comparing Nina and Catalog
One of my favorite early projects at Consensys was Ujo Music, a platform for musicians to share their music onchain -- before the NFT (ERC-721 standard) was even really a thing, and nearly a half-decade before we even started saying “onchain.” So many of the early experiments at Consensys were just that -- brilliant but a little too early. Three years later, more artists were beginning to explore music NFTs thanks to a new NFT standards that automated royalty payments, like ERC-2981. I breath...
The Internet is our Default Reality Now: Taylor Lorenz's "Extremely Online"
“Those legacy systems are gone, they’re irrelevant. They are becoming more and more irrelevant by the day. The internet is the only thing that matters. I would say the internet is our default reality now.”This quote comes from Taylor Lorenz in Chuck Anderson’s recent Pattern Recognition podcast. As someone with a large physical book collection, I would have been more surprised to hear her describe print rather meaningless had I not already read the book. Though as Taylor continued, “No one ca...
The Internet is our Default Reality Now: Taylor Lorenz's "Extremely Online"
“Those legacy systems are gone, they’re irrelevant. They are becoming more and more irrelevant by the day. The internet is the only thing that matters. I would say the internet is our default reality now.”This quote comes from Taylor Lorenz in Chuck Anderson’s recent Pattern Recognition podcast. As someone with a large physical book collection, I would have been more surprised to hear her describe print rather meaningless had I not already read the book. Though as Taylor continued, “No one ca...
