Thanks in a large part to social media, we live in a status-obsessed culture. This truism isn’t a big secret — as W. David Marx concludes in his excellent book Status and Culture, “status structures provide the underlying conventions for each culture, which determine our behaviors, values, and perception of reality” — but it bears mentioning all the same. No, Zuckerberg and his ilk didn’t rewire humans to be any more susceptible to social rank than they were in pre-Internet days, but big tech...

Thanks in a large part to social media, we live in a status-obsessed culture. This truism isn’t a big secret — as W. David Marx concludes in his excellent book Status and Culture, “status structures provide the underlying conventions for each culture, which determine our behaviors, values, and perception of reality” — but it bears mentioning all the same. No, Zuckerberg and his ilk didn’t rewire humans to be any more susceptible to social rank than they were in pre-Internet days, but big tech...

It is interesting to note that the wallet as we historically know it — that is, a physical object, approximately flat, designed to hold cash, cards, and other items roughly 3” x 2” in size — was invented concurrently with paper money, almost 350 years ago. Another 200 years would elapse before the object itself became a fashion curiosity, wallets initially being more purpose built. Although the literal size of one’s wallet, and what that projected about one’s status and wealth, has been a foc...

It is interesting to note that the wallet as we historically know it — that is, a physical object, approximately flat, designed to hold cash, cards, and other items roughly 3” x 2” in size — was invented concurrently with paper money, almost 350 years ago. Another 200 years would elapse before the object itself became a fashion curiosity, wallets initially being more purpose built. Although the literal size of one’s wallet, and what that projected about one’s status and wealth, has been a foc...

Today’s post comes to you courtesy of Andrew Braswell, senior product designer here at Blackbird Labs, Inc. Andrew will be using the space below to talk web3 UX design and why he’s pushing us to evolve it. We hope you enjoy it and, as ever, we’d love to hear from you: either in the comments below, on Twitter, or by dropping us a line at hello@blackbird.xyz. I’ve done design work for a lot of different brands — Apple, Google, Beats by Dre, to name a few. The breadth of my work has created many...

Today’s post comes to you courtesy of Andrew Braswell, senior product designer here at Blackbird Labs, Inc. Andrew will be using the space below to talk web3 UX design and why he’s pushing us to evolve it. We hope you enjoy it and, as ever, we’d love to hear from you: either in the comments below, on Twitter, or by dropping us a line at hello@blackbird.xyz. I’ve done design work for a lot of different brands — Apple, Google, Beats by Dre, to name a few. The breadth of my work has created many...

Today’s post comes to you courtesy of Jeff Blanchette, Senior Software Engineer here at Blackbird Labs, Inc. Jeff will be using the space below to talk about Formula One NFTs and why they represent exciting new territory for the increasingly popular sport. We hope you enjoy it and, as ever, we’d love to hear from you: either in the comments below, on Twitter, or by dropping us a line at hello@blackbird.xyz. Formula One — the global motor-racing competition that ranks as the ne plus ultra of j...

Today’s post comes to you courtesy of Jeff Blanchette, Senior Software Engineer here at Blackbird Labs, Inc. Jeff will be using the space below to talk about Formula One NFTs and why they represent exciting new territory for the increasingly popular sport. We hope you enjoy it and, as ever, we’d love to hear from you: either in the comments below, on Twitter, or by dropping us a line at hello@blackbird.xyz. Formula One — the global motor-racing competition that ranks as the ne plus ultra of j...

Welcome to From The Kids Table, a new, personal essay series we’re beta testing. On some Sundays we’ll ask writers to share childhood memories about dining out. First up is our very own James Jung, who recollects winters in New Hampshire and what dinners out in a tourist resort felt like as a townie. We hope you enjoy, and would love to hear your feedback in the comments below. Last Sunday, I met my in-laws for dinner at a red sauce joint in the east sixties of Manhattan. My wife and two youn...

Welcome to From The Kids Table, a new, personal essay series we’re beta testing. On some Sundays we’ll ask writers to share childhood memories about dining out. First up is our very own James Jung, who recollects winters in New Hampshire and what dinners out in a tourist resort felt like as a townie. We hope you enjoy, and would love to hear your feedback in the comments below. Last Sunday, I met my in-laws for dinner at a red sauce joint in the east sixties of Manhattan. My wife and two youn...

Who remembers the classic Seinfeld episode in which Elaine becomes obsessed with scoring a free sandwich at Atomic Sub? For those who’ve never seen it, or simply forgotten the episode, a primer below: The joke, of course, is Elaine being driven mad in the pursuit of a reward she doesn’t even want — a free sub from a place whose food she can only describe as “crap.” Seinfeld’s appeal has always been the outlandish way its four main characters act. But in this particular case, Elaine’s behavior...

Who remembers the classic Seinfeld episode in which Elaine becomes obsessed with scoring a free sandwich at Atomic Sub? For those who’ve never seen it, or simply forgotten the episode, a primer below: The joke, of course, is Elaine being driven mad in the pursuit of a reward she doesn’t even want — a free sub from a place whose food she can only describe as “crap.” Seinfeld’s appeal has always been the outlandish way its four main characters act. But in this particular case, Elaine’s behavior...

In this installment of The Supersonic — and for reasons that will hopefully reveal themselves by the end of the exercise, if talking about diners isn't, just, fun — we note the singular American success story that is the diner. The generally understood history is that they started as food trucks of a sort, horse drawn, in the late 1850s. By the 1930s, they had evolved into the form factor that we know today, a space with booths and/or tables on one side and a counter on the other. There ...

In this installment of The Supersonic — and for reasons that will hopefully reveal themselves by the end of the exercise, if talking about diners isn't, just, fun — we note the singular American success story that is the diner. The generally understood history is that they started as food trucks of a sort, horse drawn, in the late 1850s. By the 1930s, they had evolved into the form factor that we know today, a space with booths and/or tables on one side and a counter on the other. There ...

By most standards (or simply any that disregard Tokyo) New York is a city awash in Michelin stars. Still, when a few famous places get stripped of their status, people tend to notice…or do they? We’ll get to that. But first, last month’s list, which saw nine restaurants that had previously been awarded one-star status fall from Michelin’s good graces. Gone were Ai Fiori and Marea, as well as venerated Viennese schnitzel spot Wallsé. But of all the restaurants that got the Michelin Man’s pillo...

By most standards (or simply any that disregard Tokyo) New York is a city awash in Michelin stars. Still, when a few famous places get stripped of their status, people tend to notice…or do they? We’ll get to that. But first, last month’s list, which saw nine restaurants that had previously been awarded one-star status fall from Michelin’s good graces. Gone were Ai Fiori and Marea, as well as venerated Viennese schnitzel spot Wallsé. But of all the restaurants that got the Michelin Man’s pillo...

Thanksgiving ranks as America’s most popular holiday, with 81 percent of the country celebrating — take that, Christmas. And, as we know, it’s a day stuffed with traditions: turkey, travel, family drama, and a smorgasbord of side dishes we hardly touch any other time of year (unless canned cranberry sauce is your jam). It’s also a holiday predominantly celebrated at home. Yet, in recent years, the tide has turned ever so slightly on that last data point. According to a 2011 National Restauran...

Thanksgiving ranks as America’s most popular holiday, with 81 percent of the country celebrating — take that, Christmas. And, as we know, it’s a day stuffed with traditions: turkey, travel, family drama, and a smorgasbord of side dishes we hardly touch any other time of year (unless canned cranberry sauce is your jam). It’s also a holiday predominantly celebrated at home. Yet, in recent years, the tide has turned ever so slightly on that last data point. According to a 2011 National Restauran...

Whether or not this decade will pan out to be the Roaring Twenties 2.0 is still up for debate. That said, if 2022 proved anything for hospitality it was that people are champing at the bit to cut loose. All manners of Martinis and Negronis were sipped. Whole fish finally became a trend here in America. We TikTok’d our pasta chips and Birria tacos. Restaurants were packed. Reservation systems slammed. It was, given our perpetually tempered expectations in this post (post-post?) pandemic world,...

Whether or not this decade will pan out to be the Roaring Twenties 2.0 is still up for debate. That said, if 2022 proved anything for hospitality it was that people are champing at the bit to cut loose. All manners of Martinis and Negronis were sipped. Whole fish finally became a trend here in America. We TikTok’d our pasta chips and Birria tacos. Restaurants were packed. Reservation systems slammed. It was, given our perpetually tempered expectations in this post (post-post?) pandemic world,...

*Today’s post comes to you courtesy of Jake Schlessinger, a product manager here at Blackbird Labs, Inc. Jake will be using the space below to discuss NFT royalties, subscription models, and how the utility of the latter might be able to fix the inherent problems with the former. We hope you enjoy it and, as ever, we’d love to hear from you: either in the comments below, on Twitter, or by dropping us a line at hello@blackbird.xyz. *We spend a lot of our time thinking about web3 applications a...

*Today’s post comes to you courtesy of Jake Schlessinger, a product manager here at Blackbird Labs, Inc. Jake will be using the space below to discuss NFT royalties, subscription models, and how the utility of the latter might be able to fix the inherent problems with the former. We hope you enjoy it and, as ever, we’d love to hear from you: either in the comments below, on Twitter, or by dropping us a line at hello@blackbird.xyz. *We spend a lot of our time thinking about web3 applications a...

Today, in honor of the first day of the first month of winter, I want to talk about two subjects near and dear to me: skiing and web3. Or! More specifically, how the former is analogous to the latter. Bear with me… For the sake of this post, when I talk about skiing, I’m talking about the resorts of the Austrian Alps. My father grew up in the Tirol, the Austrian state with the most skiing, and from 2018 through 2020 (while living in neighboring Switzerland) I explored much of region’s resorts...

Today, in honor of the first day of the first month of winter, I want to talk about two subjects near and dear to me: skiing and web3. Or! More specifically, how the former is analogous to the latter. Bear with me… For the sake of this post, when I talk about skiing, I’m talking about the resorts of the Austrian Alps. My father grew up in the Tirol, the Austrian state with the most skiing, and from 2018 through 2020 (while living in neighboring Switzerland) I explored much of region’s resorts...