Thursday Thoughts - 01/04/2024
Here are my Thursday Thoughts, a short list of the most interesting things that I’ve read, heard, and/or watched over the past week.
cypherpunk coffee by Stable Diffusion Dream Studio SDXL 1.0
What I Read:
Make Ethereum Cypherphunk Again
In his latest blog post, Vitalik Buterin details the origins of Ethereum and reminds readers of its ideals. He argues Ethereum is an extension of the free and open source software movement from the 1980’s and 1990’s. Ethereum, and blockchain technology overall, has moved away from these ideals and towards a way to get rich quick.
I have been thinking about decentralization lately. I created my own private server last year. I used it to host my own email, contacts, and calendars. This allowed me to own my data and move move it off the cloud. So I enjoyed this broader view on how cryptocurrencies fit into the decentralization movement.
What I Heard:
The Tim Ferriss Show #712 - The Random Show
Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose sit down for another Random Show at the end of 2023. In this episode, they discuss a wide range of topics including goals for the new year, Ketamine therapy, new tattoo technology, and cybersecurity.
Several things I’ve consiered since listening to the episode:
- Switching to Obsidian from Roam Research
- Purchasing a Google Titan security key
- Running short experiments where I don’t use caffeine, Twitter, or Discord for 2 to 4 weeks
What I Watched:
James Hoffman YouTube Videos
I received wonderful bag of light roasted coffee for Christmas. But I couldn’t remember how to properly brew a good cup of coffee. So I reached out to my friend, who’s a coffee enthusiast, for advice. He recommended watching the videos on James Hoffman’s channel.
I’m glad he did.
Hoffman does an excellent job explaining the nuances of coffee without being too technical. He incorporates smooth music and fancy slow motion shots into his videos. My favorite videos are on how to use a French Press and how to determine how much coffee and water to use. I was able to make myself a decent cup after watching these two videos.