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Why Smart Committed Couples Have an "Open Phone" Policy

In my last post, I discussed the issue of getting people to care about security, and how it’s largely due to a focus on security behaviors rather than security outcomes. In this post, I’m picking up where I left off, and will talk about… Forging a Path Forward Obviously, the point of sharing this post (and the last one) is to do more than just complain about the situation. This will only be useful if it offers ideas and suggestions for approaching the problem differently and moving past it to a more successful outcome. So, what actionable advice do I have? Speaking the Language of Business I’ve written about this before, but it’s worth reiterating here: We IT practitioners need to learn what matters to the business and then frame our goals and needs in those terms. No matter how different we wished it was, nobody ever got a PO approved by describing the technical capabilities of a new firewall to the CFO. If it bothers you, having to learn to couch your critical technical and security needs in business terms, consider this quote from Bob Lewis, which holds as true today as it did when he first said it back in 2004: “There’s no such thing as an IT project. There are only business projects with an IT component.” What does that mean from a functional perspective? Lesson 1: The only two things that make people buy a product are “discomfort” and “convenience.” Discomfort will win every time. Lesson 2: There are only three things a business cares about: Increasing revenue, reducing cost, and removing risk. You need to speak to (at least) one of those things to make your case. Lesson 3: Know what’s important. Which systems does the business consider critical to its continued financial success? Those are the ones you’ll want to focus on in terms of risk assessments. One of the InfoSec experts I spoke to in preparing this blog put it this way: “In my firm, the biggest financial risk is reputational damage, so the CISO’s pitch to the board is framed in terms of how it affects that.” If that angle works for you at your company, you should absolutely pursue it. In many companies, the concern about ransomware remains that it interrupts services, which in turn stops the money-making machine. That, in addition to the cost to recover, is concerning enough to catch many executives’ attention. Lesson 4: Know when it’s important. While it might be true that some systems are critical all the time, some times are more critical than others. For some businesses, it might be Black Friday, while for others, it might be the end of the year, tax season, or summer break. Whatever it is, you need to understand your organization’s financial rhythms to time your messaging (and your work). As an IT practitioner who cares about information security, you’re probably familiar with the concept of “situational awareness.” This is equally true for an IT practitioner who wants the business to approve their work, initiatives, and budget. You will only be effective in executing a plan by first understanding the pre-existing opinions, pain points, needs, and timelines of the people you’re trying to convince. Say it With Flowers Data IT folks should appreciate that data is your business’s love language. Infosec professionals must bring facts to make a compelling argument. Let’s start by using data to refute some of the commonly held beliefs I mentioned earlier in this post: Contrary to what many managers believe, reputational damage resulting from a breach DOES have negative impacts. In discussing this topic with Zatik Security CEO Kymberlee Price, she pointed me to a post by Dr. Erdal Ozkaya. According to Dr. Ozkaya, business impacts of security breaches include: An immediate 3-5% drop in stock price, typically driven by investor concerns.
Underperforming in the market for several years afterward.
Eroded investor confidence, leading to long-term lower stock valuations.
In some cases, a credit rating downgrade. Any one of those things should be enough to grab the attention of the C-suite. Taken together, they become a compelling argument for an improved security posture. Ms. Price also let the air out of the tires of the whole “it’s cheaper to pay for insurance than for security” myth. She points out that various new laws coming into effect in Europe call for fines of 2% to 7% of an enterprise’s global annual revenue for violations of each law. This means that a single incident leading to a data breach may trigger multiple instances of revenue-based fines — and that’s just in Europe. When you consider other jurisdictions that are following the EU’s Brussels lead, this adds up fast. Samuel Svarc, owner of CompuMedic Solution, echos and extends this thought: “Cyber liability insurers, due to the complex realities and prevalence of hacking, are mandating that companies certify that they are mitigating their risk and reject claims where these were falsely attested to.” There are many other reports, sources, and data points you can bring to bear in your discussions. The problem with my listing them here is that they aren’t guaranteed to be specific to your circumstances, industry, or even the point you’re trying to make. Instead, I suggest you structure your discussion points using the guidelines in “Integrating Cybersecurity and Enterprise Risk Management” from NIST. In that document, it suggests you develop a formal “risk profile,” use it to identify risks and assign impact estimates, and then build a risk management plan (including cybersecurity) with the intent of having the business decide whether (and how) they will mitigate, avoid, transfer, or accept those risks. As a final thought on this topic, look for places where your goals and interests align with other teams. A great example of that is automation, a beloved topic among your DevOps and SRE teams. Putting your weight behind their efforts to automate can help get more automation rolled out – reducing risks associated with human error while increasing efficiency- and creating a powerful organizational alliance. Another is metrics and telemetry – something your monitoring and observability folks will happily discuss at length. There’s Still More Ground to Cover. I’ve started to identify the things you can do to encourage and promote healthy infosec behaviors, but there’s still more. Stick with me until the next post, where I lay it all out. And if you have any questions, corrections, or kudos to share in the meantime, I’d love to hear them in the comments below. In my last post , I discussed the issue of getting people to care about security, and how it’s largely due to a focus on security behaviors rather than security outcomes. In this post, I’m picking up where I left off, and will talk about… In my last post Forging a Path Forward Obviously, the point of sharing this post (and the last one) is to do more than just complain about the situation. This will only be useful if it offers ideas and suggestions for approaching the problem differently and moving past it to a more successful outcome. So, what actionable advice do I have? actionable Speaking the Language of Business I’ve written about this before , but it’s worth reiterating here: We IT practitioners need to learn what matters to the business and then frame our goals and needs in those terms. No matter how different we wished it was, nobody ever got a PO approved by describing the technical capabilities of a new firewall to the CFO. written about this before If it bothers you, having to learn to couch your critical technical and security needs in business terms, consider this quote from Bob Lewis, which holds as true today as it did when he first said it back in 2004 : “There’s no such thing as an IT project. There are only business projects with an IT component.” he first said it back in 2004 What does that mean from a functional perspective? Lesson 1 : The only two things that make people buy a product are “discomfort” and “convenience.” Discomfort will win every time. Lesson 1 Lesson 2 : There are only three things a business cares about: Increasing revenue, reducing cost, and removing risk. You need to speak to (at least) one of those things to make your case. Lesson 2 Lesson 3 : Know what’s important. Which systems does the business consider critical to its continued financial success? Those are the ones you’ll want to focus on in terms of risk assessments. Lesson 3 One of the InfoSec experts I spoke to in preparing this blog put it this way: “In my firm, the biggest financial risk is reputational damage, so the CISO’s pitch to the board is framed in terms of how it affects that.” If that angle works for you at your company, you should absolutely pursue it. In many companies, the concern about ransomware remains that it interrupts services, which in turn stops the money-making machine. That, in addition to the cost to recover, is concerning enough to catch many executives’ attention. Lesson 4 : Know when it’s important. While it might be true that some systems are critical all the time, some times are more critical than others. For some businesses, it might be Black Friday, while for others, it might be the end of the year, tax season, or summer break. Whatever it is, you need to understand your organization’s financial rhythms to time your messaging (and your work). Lesson 4 As an IT practitioner who cares about information security, you’re probably familiar with the concept of “ situational awareness .” This is equally true for an IT practitioner who wants the business to approve their work, initiatives, and budget. You will only be effective in executing a plan by first understanding the pre-existing opinions, pain points, needs, and timelines of the people you’re trying to convince. situational awareness Say it With Flowers Data IT folks should appreciate that data is your business’s love language. Infosec professionals must bring facts to make a compelling argument. Let’s start by using data to refute some of the commonly held beliefs I mentioned earlier in this post: Contrary to what many managers believe, reputational damage resulting from a breach DOES have negative impacts. In discussing this topic with Zatik Security CEO Kymberlee Price , she pointed me to a post by Dr. Erdal Ozkaya. According to Dr. Ozkaya , business impacts of security breaches include: Zatik Security CEO Kymberlee Price According to Dr. Ozkaya An immediate 3-5% drop in stock price, typically driven by investor concerns. Underperforming in the market for several years afterward. Eroded investor confidence, leading to long-term lower stock valuations. In some cases, a credit rating downgrade. An immediate 3-5% drop in stock price, typically driven by investor concerns. Underperforming in the market for several years afterward. Eroded investor confidence, leading to long-term lower stock valuations. In some cases, a credit rating downgrade. Any one of those things should be enough to grab the attention of the C-suite. Taken together, they become a compelling argument for an improved security posture. Ms. Price also let the air out of the tires of the whole “it’s cheaper to pay for insurance than for security” myth. She points out that various new laws coming into effect in Europe call for fines of 2% to 7% of an enterprise’s global annual revenue for violations of each law. This means that a single incident leading to a data breach may trigger multiple instances of revenue-based fines — and that’s just in Europe. new laws coming into effect in Europe call for fines of 2% to 7% of an enterprise’s global annual revenue for violations of each law. When you consider other jurisdictions that are following the EU’s Brussels lead, this adds up fast. Samuel Svarc, owner of CompuMedic Solution , echos and extends this thought: “Cyber liability insurers, due to the complex realities and prevalence of hacking, are mandating that companies certify that they are mitigating their risk and reject claims where these were falsely attested to.” CompuMedic Solution There are many other reports, sources, and data points you can bring to bear in your discussions. The problem with my listing them here is that they aren’t guaranteed to be specific to your circumstances, industry, or even the point you’re trying to make. Instead, I suggest you structure your discussion points using the guidelines in “ Integrating Cybersecurity and Enterprise Risk Management ” from NIST. Integrating Cybersecurity and Enterprise Risk Management In that document, it suggests you develop a formal “risk profile,” use it to identify risks and assign impact estimates, and then build a risk management plan (including cybersecurity) with the intent of having the business decide whether (and how) they will mitigate, avoid, transfer, or accept those risks. As a final thought on this topic, look for places where your goals and interests align with other teams. A great example of that is automation, a beloved topic among your DevOps and SRE teams. Putting your weight behind their efforts to automate can help get more automation rolled out – reducing risks associated with human error while increasing efficiency- and creating a powerful organizational alliance. Another is metrics and telemetry – something your monitoring and observability folks will happily discuss at length. monitoring and observability There’s Still More Ground to Cover. I’ve started to identify the things you can do to encourage and promote healthy infosec behaviors, but there’s still more. Stick with me until the next post, where I lay it all out. And if you have any questions, corrections, or kudos to share in the meantime, I’d love to hear them in the comments below.

Starting to Care About Security: The Path Ahead

Sometimes, transferring cryptocurrency funds or using certain applications could have a steep learning curve. That’s partly because there aren’t only one or three cryptocurrencies around these days, but thousands of them. Besides, it isn’t uncommon anymore to handle funds across several crypto platforms, using different coins. That’s why all crypto users need to know the difference between networks, tokens, and coins before sending or locking money into the wrong address. Another solid reason to try and use different platforms is for the involved fees. Using the same token in one network may be cheaper and faster than in another, so learning how to choose the most convenient option doesn’t hurt.  Let’s check how that works. Networks, Ledgers, or Chains Maybe the first thing that comes to your mind when trading cryptocurrencies is that you’re using X currency (namely BTC, ETH, GBYTE, etc.), and that’s it. But actually, that’s not it. There’s a layer beneath what you can see: the infrastructure in which that coin, token, or contract inhabit and whose rules that transaction can’t but obey. That’s the network, distributed ledger, or chain involved. A crypto network, distributed ledger, or chain refers to a decentralized system that securely records transactions across multiple computers and has its own set of rules and features. The terms aren’t equivalent in all contexts, but for final users, they all describe the same underlying technology. The fundamental layer, or the system (rules and fees included) you’re using to transact, and that’s different from the coin you selected. Let’s use an example here with the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC). Originally, this was a token that worked on Ethereum only (the network, not the ETH coin), but nowit’s available in at least 16 more chains, including Avalanche, Celo, Flow, Polygon, and Obyte. Each one of these networks has its own version of USDC with its own address type. This occurs because USDC aims to be interoperable instead of working on just one network, and ledgers don’t natively connect with each other. Besides, trading USDC on Ethereum is different from trading USDC on Obyte, for instance. Same token, but different networks, which implies different rules and costs. Ethereum average transaction fee (for ETH and all tokens) is currently at around $3.4. On the other hand, a transaction on Obyte often costs $0.00001. Therefore, in that case, trading USDC on Obyte would be cheaper than on Ethereum. Because again, same token, but different ledgers. Tokens vs. Native Coins The main distinction between these two types of coins is simple enough. Native coins, like ETH or GBYTE, are necessary for the respective network’s (Ethereum or Obyte) operation, while tokens are not. Native coins depend on the network and the network depends on them too, while for tokens, like the aforementioned USDC, the dependence is one-sided: they depend on the network, but not the other way around. Usability is another factor. So, for instance, on Ethereum and similar networks, sending a native coin to a contract immediately triggers contract execution. However, to achieve the same effect with tokens, users first have to approve the contract to spend their tokens, then call the contract. That's two steps — a bit complicated. On the contrary, in Obyte, sending both native coins and tokens to an Autonomous Agent (AA) triggers its execution. Always one step and the same flow for both native coins and tokens. This is an exception among networks and not the rule, though. Other than the mentioned differences, ‘native coins’ and ‘tokens’ can be identical things: coins built with cryptography within a distributed network. However, how a certain asset is perceived in the crypto world could be important for its value and trading methods. Tokens, like stablecoins, are considered the same across different networks because they represent the same underlying value or asset, no matter where they are issued. For instance, a stablecoin like USDC on Ethereum and USDC on TRON both represent the same thing: a token backed by the U.S. dollar with the same price and purpose. These tokens are created following specific standards, which makes them function similarly across different networks, even though they exist in separate environments. Native coins, like ETH on Ethereum or BTC on Bitcoin, are deeply tied to their respective chains, and their functionality is specific to that network. Its value also comes from that network and its features, and not from an external asset or platform. When these native coins are used on a different network, they become "wrapped" versions (like Wrapped ETH or Wrapped BTC). This means the original coin is locked in a contract, and a tokenized version is created on another network. Wrapped tokens act as placeholders, but they aren’t the actual native asset—they’re representations of them. That’s why they’re treated differently, and traded separately on exchanges. Non-native tokens can also be wrapped to port them into different networks, but they’re often still treated and traded as the same thing, as we mentioned before. Cross-chain Bridges These are handy tools that allow users to transfer assets and data between different crypto networks. They work by locking assets on one chain and minting equivalent assets on another, enabling users to interact with multiple ecosystems seamlessly. This way you could, for instance, exchange USDC on the Ethereum network for the same amount on the Obyte network. We have the Counterstake Bridge for that. In any case, if you’re using a token, remember to pick the network wisely. Fees and features will change accordingly. If you’re using a native coin, you may be already on their network, or explicitly using a wrapped version of it –and its ticker may give you a good clue (WBTC, for example). There are numerous multi-chain wallets, such as MetaMask, that will allow you to handle a diverse portfolio. Featured Vector Image by Freepik Sometimes, transferring cryptocurrency funds or using certain applications could have a steep learning curve. That’s partly because there aren’t only one or three cryptocurrencies around these days, but thousands of them. Besides, it isn’t uncommon anymore to handle funds across several crypto platforms, using different coins. That’s why all crypto users need to know the difference between networks, tokens, and coins before sending or locking money into the wrong address. Another solid reason to try and use different platforms is for the involved fees. Using the same token in one network may be cheaper and faster than in another, so learning how to choose the most convenient option doesn’t hurt.  Let’s check how that works. Networks, Ledgers, or Chains Maybe the first thing that comes to your mind when trading cryptocurrencies is that you’re using X currency (namely BTC, ETH, GBYTE, etc.), and that’s it. But actually, that’s not it. There’s a layer beneath what you can see: the infrastructure in which that coin, token, or contract inhabit and whose rules that transaction can’t but obey. That’s the network, distributed ledger, or chain involved. A crypto network, distributed ledger, or chain refers to a decentralized system that securely records transactions across multiple computers and has its own set of rules and features. The terms aren’t equivalent in all contexts, but for final users, they all describe the same underlying technology. The fundamental layer, or the system (rules and fees included) you’re using to transact, and that’s different from the coin you selected. A crypto network, distributed ledger, or chain refers to a decentralized system that securely records transactions across multiple computers and has its own set of rules and features. Let’s use an example here with the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC). Originally, this was a token that worked on Ethereum only (the network, not the ETH coin), but now it’s available in at least 16 more chains, including Avalanche, Celo, Flow, Polygon, and Obyte . Each one of these networks has its own version of USDC with its own address type. This occurs because USDC aims to be interoperable instead of working on just one network, and ledgers don’t natively connect with each other. it’s available it’s available Obyte Obyte Besides, trading USDC on Ethereum is different from trading USDC on Obyte, for instance. Same token, but different networks, which implies different rules and costs. Ethereum average transaction fee (for ETH and all tokens) is currently at around $3.4. On the other hand, a transaction on Obyte often costs $0.00001. Therefore, in that case, trading USDC on Obyte would be cheaper than on Ethereum. Because again, same token, but different ledgers. is currently is currently Tokens vs. Native Coins The main distinction between these two types of coins is simple enough . Native coins, like ETH or GBYTE, are necessary for the respective network’s (Ethereum or Obyte) operation, while tokens are not. Native coins depend on the network and the network depends on them too, while for tokens, like the aforementioned USDC, the dependence is one-sided: they depend on the network, but not the other way around. simple enough simple enough Native coins, like ETH or GBYTE, are necessary for the respective network’s (Ethereum or Obyte) operation, while tokens are not. Usability is another factor. So, for instance, on Ethereum and similar networks, sending a native coin to a contract immediately triggers contract execution. However, to achieve the same effect with tokens, users first have to approve the contract to spend their tokens, then call the contract. That's two steps — a bit complicated. On the contrary, in Obyte , sending both native coins and tokens to an Autonomous Agent (AA) triggers its execution. Always one step and the same flow for both native coins and tokens. This is an exception among networks and not the rule, though. in Obyte Other than the mentioned differences, ‘native coins’ and ‘tokens’ can be identical things: coins built with cryptography within a distributed network. However, how a certain asset is perceived in the crypto world could be important for its value and trading methods. Tokens, like stablecoins, are considered the same across different networks because they represent the same underlying value or asset, no matter where they are issued. For instance, a stablecoin like USDC on Ethereum and USDC on TRON both represent the same thing: a token backed by the U.S. dollar with the same price and purpose. These tokens are created following specific standards, which makes them function similarly across different networks, even though they exist in separate environments. Tokens, like stablecoins, are considered the same across different networks because they represent the same underlying value or asset, no matter where they are issued. Native coins, like ETH on Ethereum or BTC on Bitcoin, are deeply tied to their respective chains, and their functionality is specific to that network. Its value also comes from that network and its features, and not from an external asset or platform. When these native coins are used on a different network, they become "wrapped" versions (like Wrapped ETH or Wrapped BTC). This means the original coin is locked in a contract, and a tokenized version is created on another network. Wrapped tokens act as placeholders, but they aren’t the actual native asset—they’re representations of them. That’s why they’re treated differently, and traded separately on exchanges. Non-native tokens can also be wrapped to port them into different networks, but they’re often still treated and traded as the same thing, as we mentioned before. Cross-chain Bridges These are handy tools that allow users to transfer assets and data between different crypto networks. They work by locking assets on one chain and minting equivalent assets on another, enabling users to interact with multiple ecosystems seamlessly. This way you could, for instance, exchange USDC on the Ethereum network for the same amount on the Obyte network. We have the Counterstake Bridge for that. They work by locking assets on one chain and minting equivalent assets on another, enabling users to interact with multiple ecosystems seamlessly. Counterstake Bridge Counterstake Bridge In any case, if you’re using a token, remember to pick the network wisely. Fees and features will change accordingly. If you’re using a native coin, you may be already on their network, or explicitly using a wrapped version of it –and its ticker may give you a good clue (WBTC, for example). There are numerous multi-chain wallets, such as MetaMask, that will allow you to handle a diverse portfolio. Featured Vector Image by Freepik Featured Vector Image by Freepik Freepik Freepik

Educational Byte: Using Coins and Tokens in Different Crypto Networks

Навучальны байт: выкарыстанне манет і токенаў у розных крыптасетках

Vzdělávací bajt: Používání mincí a tokenů v různých krypto sítích

Byte educativo: uso de monedas y tokens en diferentes redes criptográficas

Byte éducatif : Utilisation des pièces et des jetons dans différents réseaux cryptographiques

Byte educativo: Usando moedas e fichas en diferentes redes criptográficas

教育バイト: さまざまな暗号ネットワークでのコインとトークンの使用

Боловсролын байт: Төрөл бүрийн крипто сүлжээнд зоос ба жетон ашиглах

शैक्षिक बाइट: विभिन्न क्रिप्टो नेटवर्कहरूमा सिक्का र टोकनहरू प्रयोग गर्दै

Байти таълимӣ: Истифодаи тангаҳо ва токенҳо дар шабакаҳои гуногуни крипто

Навчальний байт: використання монет і токенів у різних криптомережах

تعلیمی بائٹ: مختلف کرپٹو نیٹ ورکس میں سکے اور ٹوکن کا استعمال

Ta'lim bayti: turli kripto tarmoqlarida tangalar va tokenlardan foydalanish

I fell down a rabbit hole last week, and it led to unexpected results. Now would like to take you through that whole fall with me, so you too can learn everything I did as a result. The Original Trigger It all started when KnownOrigin announced it was going to shut down soon. I had minted 2 NFTs there, so I was trying to understand what would happen once the platform was gone. So, KO is shutting down….What does it actually mean for KO artists and collectors though… The art is on the blockchain and is gonna exist forever, whether or not KnownOrigin is still around, right? In the past week, while we were building something, Rick walked me through what was actually happening behind the scenes. So, let me try to explain it to you now. Behind the Curtains When you mint your art on KO, its smart contract creates a token (KODA) on the blockchain and sends it to your wallet. That is the ONLY thing that is on the chain. Everything else beyond this point is not… So, for example, if you wanna check my KO unsold art KODA token on Etherscan, this is all you see. Looking at it makes my soul cry for help. Where is the art name? The artist’s name? The image FFS… They are in your art files, which are stored on IPFS. And the Koda token links to it. Basically, it points to where you can see what it represents. Ok… So now, we need to figure out where it points to, and we’ll see what it is… Probably just a link to click and go and check those out yeah?... Nope At this point - honestly, I didn’t even wanna know… In short, it’s not straightforward - and to a non-techie brain, it makes no sense at all… But once we could get there what would those art files be? Your Art (image, video, gif, music - whatever it is that you created and “minted”)
Metadata File (title, your name, description, etc.)
Cover Image/gif (if applicable) IPFS??? Now, we need to understand what IPFS is and how it works. Basically, it’s a distributed file storage, and it’s kind of cool (old enough to remember Napster?) Guess what? It’s decentralized and distributed across a network of nodes. Fine… so although the art is not on the blockchain, it will still live forever, but on IPFS, right? Hmmmmm kind of. Files to remain accessible must be "pinned" by one or more of these nodes. Pinning is the process of keeping a copy of the file available on the network. So, what happens if a file is not pinned by anyone? If no one pins the file and it is not frequently accessed, it could eventually disappear from the network. For NFTs, if the files associated with the tokens are not pinned, the NFT will lose its associated art and metadata. This could lead to broken links or missing content in wallets and marketplaces. The Future… So imagine - no more pinning, no more art… and the only thing everyone sees is a KODA token with its unique number and a blockchain registry that x number of days ago it was minted. Collectors scratching their heads…. Which Koda token was which art… Artists panicking cause they feel like they lost their “immutable record on the blockchain”… Damn! Good news: there are many pinning services and by using them you yourself can pin those files and not worry about when KO goes away or for how much longer they would be pinning those files for you. Announcement!? All this was a long story to give you more context before making a “launch announcement” I guess… And yes I know it feels so counterintuitive to mention it only at the end - and many marketers might not approve… But hey I don’t care… Welcome SoulKeeper! What the hell is SoulKeeper? Well, it’s a tool Rick and I built for all KO artists and collectors. For it, you don’t have to know any of the tech stuff - all you have to know is your KO wallet address (you don’t even have to connect it to the tool), and it’s very easy to use. What it basically does is it finds all KnownOrigin art files that your KODA token links to and either you can download those and go and use any pinning service you prefer - or SoulKeeper will help you pin them through Pinata (the one we’re using for my Knownorigin NFTs at the moment). All that wouldn’t take you more than 10-15 minutes. SoulKeeper is free to use. We genuinely wanted to help artists and collectors to make sure their art stays alive! Try it out, and let us know what you think. If you know artists and collectors who might need it - please feel free to share it with them too. I fell down a rabbit hole last week, and it led to unexpected results. Now would like to take you through that whole fall with me, so you too can learn everything I did as a result. The Original Trigger It all started when KnownOrigin announced it was going to shut down soon. KnownOrigin announced it was going to shut down soon . KnownOrigin KnownOrigin shut down soon I had minted 2 NFTs there, so I was trying to understand what would happen once the platform was gone. So, KO is shutting down….What does it actually mean for KO artists and collectors though… The art is on the blockchain and is gonna exist forever, whether or not KnownOrigin is still around, right? In the past week, while we were building something, Rick walked me through what was actually happening behind the scenes. So, let me try to explain it to you now. Rick Behind the Curtains When you mint your art on KO, its smart contract creates a token (KODA) on the blockchain and sends it to your wallet. That is the ONLY thing that is on the chain. Everything else beyond this point is not… So, for example, if you wanna check my KO unsold art KODA token on Etherscan, this is all you see. Looking at it makes my soul cry for help. Where is the art name? The artist’s name? The image FFS… They are in your art files, which are stored on IPFS. And the Koda token links to it. Basically, it points to where you can see what it represents. Ok… So now, we need to figure out where it points to, and we’ll see what it is… Probably just a link to click and go and check those out yeah?... Nope At this point - honestly, I didn’t even wanna know… In short, it’s not straightforward - and to a non-techie brain, it makes no sense at all… But once we could get there what would those art files be? Your Art (image, video, gif, music - whatever it is that you created and “minted”) Metadata File (title, your name, description, etc.) Cover Image/gif (if applicable) Your Art (image, video, gif, music - whatever it is that you created and “minted”) Metadata File (title, your name, description, etc.) Cover Image/gif (if applicable) IPFS??? Now, we need to understand what IPFS is and how it works. Basically, it’s a distributed file storage, and it’s kind of cool (old enough to remember Napster?) Guess what? It’s decentralized and distributed across a network of nodes. Fine… so although the art is not on the blockchain, it will still live forever, but on IPFS, right? Hmmmmm kind of. Files to remain accessible must be "pinned" by one or more of these nodes. Pinning is the process of keeping a copy of the file available on the network. So, what happens if a file is not pinned by anyone? If no one pins the file and it is not frequently accessed, it could eventually disappear from the network. For NFTs, if the files associated with the tokens are not pinned, the NFT will lose its associated art and metadata. This could lead to broken links or missing content in wallets and marketplaces. The Future… So imagine - no more pinning, no more art… and the only thing everyone sees is a KODA token with its unique number and a blockchain registry that x number of days ago it was minted. Collectors scratching their heads…. Which Koda token was which art… Artists panicking cause they feel like they lost their “immutable record on the blockchain”… Damn! Good news: there are many pinning services and by using them you yourself can pin those files and not worry about when KO goes away or for how much longer they would be pinning those files for you. Announcement!? All this was a long story to give you more context before making a “launch announcement” I guess… And yes I know it feels so counterintuitive to mention it only at the end - and many marketers might not approve… But hey I don’t care… Welcome SoulKeeper! What the hell is SoulKeeper ? SoulKeeper Well, it’s a tool Rick and I built for all KO artists and collectors. For it, you don’t have to know any of the tech stuff - all you have to know is your KO wallet address (you don’t even have to connect it to the tool), and it’s very easy to use. What it basically does is it finds all KnownOrigin art files that your KODA token links to and either you can download those and go and use any pinning service you prefer - or SoulKeeper will help you pin them through Pinata (the one we’re using for my Knownorigin NFTs at the moment). All that wouldn’t take you more than 10-15 minutes. SoulKeeper is free to use. We genuinely wanted to help artists and collectors to make sure their art stays alive! Try it out, and let us know what you think. If you know artists and collectors who might need it - please feel free to share it with them too.

KnownOrigin Will Disappear Soon - Now What?

CBDCs have been discussed quite a bit in recent years, and various countries are exploring the possibilities of implementation. You may have heard or read about this digital currency, but do you have a good understanding of how CBDC is structured, how it can be used, and what impact central bank digital currency will have on the future of finance? Welcome to my Now You Understand article series, where I share my expertise to explain the most complicated blockchain and web3 topics. This is the first part of my article on CBDC, where I will cover what it is, the use cases, and the solutions used to implement it. What is CBDC? Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) - a digital form of national bank money that is created, controlled, and maintained by the central bank. It is legal tender and is the same central bank debenture as ordinary bank notes. CBDC is operated by a digital ledger that might or might not be a blockchain. This provides faster and more secure transactions between banks, institutions, and individuals. Central banks control the issuance of CBDCs and stand as guarantors of this form of money as compared to cryptocurrencies. CBDCs now can take the following forms: Retail is used for settlements between individuals and legal entities, is designed for simple payments, and represents a digital form of currency. Wholesale is used for interbank payments as a new infrastructural solution. CBDCs can also represent digital assets, they are also registered in a digital registry, which can be distributed or not distributed. CBDC is a major step forward in the digitalization of money and the economy as a whole,  increasing its transparency, security, and efficiency, including the automation of many processes and the reduction of transaction costs. CBDC: Use Cases CBDC is implemented mainly on platforms based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) with support for smart contracts (applications). That gives us many areas of usage and makes this implementation of a digital form of currency really useful for the financial system. Due to the platform’s support for smart contracts, it extends CBDC beyond just digital currency to a programmable form of currency. Smart contract support allows you to deploy programs that interact and operate with digital currency. For example, when we execute a property deal, we need someone to check the deal for compliance, approve it, and register it. In the case of CBDC, we do not need a third party to do this, we can just implement a smart contract, the logic of which will be similar to the logic of the deal. For instance, to control that one side owns the property, the other side has paid the declared value, and then makes the transfer of this property, as an option in the form of a token. In this way, we can automate the majority of transactions with almost any property, which significantly increases their availability, speed and performance. It also removes the workload from the infrastructure that is created for deals, cutting out the need for intermediaries and thereby reducing transaction costs. Tokenization is the process of converting rights to assets or property into digital tokens. Exactly it allows to be fully digital and automated with the use of smart contracts. It has been researched that the cost of clearing and settlement of securities for the Central Banks of the G7 countries is more than $50 billion per year, due to the resource costs of asset transfers and account reconciliation. A DLT-based CBDC successfully solves the problem of inefficiencies and vulnerabilities compared to the current infrastructure. CBDC is natively digital and does not demand the expensive and labor-intensive reconciliation currently required for e-commerce and cross-border payments. It also allows to optimization of the operation of any registry that is responsible for storing records of rights to property or assets. For example, DLT technology can replace and improve the work of registries of movable and immovable property, securities such as stocks, bonds, etc. It also makes it possible to make deals available 24/7 by eliminating the need for a third party to determine the availability of transactions. Digital property/asset transactions increase the accuracy and security of transactions. Offline payment technology, which provides access to the financial system in areas not covered by banking services and allows transactions to be made without access to the Internet, is currently being actively researched and realized. We can see that CBDCs move the financial system into a digital form, which opens up many possibilities and optimizes the operation of the system as a whole. Thanks to this, CBDC has direct control over the money supply, simplifying the distribution of state benefits, and improving the control over transactions for tax control. Thus, timely payment of taxes or payment of bond coupons can be automated. The implementation of CBDC also allows for reduced costs and increased availability of cross-border payments, including reducing credit risks by providing payment versus payment settlement. CBDC vs Stablecoins: what’s the difference? There are several types of : fiat-backed, cryptocurrency-backed, commodity-backed and algorithmic. In this comparison, we will focus on the first type - fiat-backed ones, because they have more in common with CBDCs and are the most popular. Examples of this type of stablecoins are Tether ( ) and USD Coin ( ). stablecoins USDT USDC The principle of Stablecoins is that organizations issue tokens based on the reserves of traditional money in their accounts. That is, in this case the issuance and control of such tokens remain with private institutions and they are not directly controlled by Central Banks. While CBDC is a form of national currency, their issuance and control is owned by Central Banks, which provides higher security. Due to such regulation CBDC can ensure compliance with tax policy, while in stablecoins do not. It is also important to note that stablecoins use private money as collateral, while CBDCs are backed by government-issued money. What is the difference between private solutions and public blockchains ? Public blockchains are primarily defined by the fact that they are open to the public. That means anyone can join and participate in the network. A popular example of public blockchains is Ethereum. The consensus mechanism means that such a network is managed by the majority. In particular, transactions are verified and included in new blocks. They are completely open and transparent, everyone can see all transactions and balances of any accounts. In order to complete a transaction in a public network, it is necessary to verify and confirm the agreement of the majority of participants, which involves commissions, which are the motivation, as well as a longer waiting time due to the fact that it is necessary for the majority of nodes to reach an agreement. Among the advantages of this solution, we have full transparency and no need to rely on a single control structure due to the high decentralization of the network, which ensures that no single entity controls the network. A private network is closed and restricted to authorized participants who have full control over the network and transactions on it. Private solutions allow centralized control over the network and also enable private transactions and private smart contracts. This solves privacy challenges that are very important for governments and corporations. Private solutions consensus mechanisms involve a very limited number of participants who verify and approve transactions, so transactions are much faster because they do not require majority verification. They also do not need such a concept as native currency and there are no transaction fees. These solutions appeal to governments and companies because of their centralized control and confidentiality solutions that also allow them to control the legality of their operations. Guarantee of this network are their participants, for example, governments and corporations. Examples of this type of solutions are Quorum, Corda, Hyperledger Besu etc. CBDC: Why use private solutions? There are several key reasons why public solutions are not suitable for CBDC implementation. Public cryptocurrencies mean an open market and they are subject to significant price movements, which entails heavy risks for both the government and ordinary users. High volatility: This makes it difficult to use as a payment method, as changes in value can be in the tens of percent. In the case with private solutions, the Central Bank is the guarantor and has full control over the digital currency. CBDC is a form of currency rather than a cryptocurrency in its traditional meaning. In public solutions, all data is publicly available. Open data potentially brings risks for directions in which this is a key factor. In private solutions, it is possible to control privacy issues through private smart contracts, private transactions, and restrictions on network participants. Privacy considerations: With public solutions, accounts and funds are under the control of the users themselves or organizations to which the users have delegated control.  In the case of private solutions, account control is usually performed by authorized entities. Account control:

Now You Understand: Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Explanation and Usage - Part I

On the Effect of Taxes and of Legal Restrictions upon Manufactures

In many years of writing and reviewing code, I learned a few secrets to craft better pull requests and review code more efficiently. I poured all these secrets into my new book , but you’ll find here a preview with these 13 tips, that you can already use in your developer activity. Pull Requests and Code Review Can you think of more tips? Share them in comments 😉 1. Create your PR before the code is ready for review A PR draft helps you organize your ideas and document your progress, while you’re still working on your feature. 2. Make people want to review your PR The best way to get a quick and efficient review is to keep your PR small and well documented (with all the necessary context). You’ll also increase you chances for future PRs by delivering great code now! Find all these tips with and more, with more real-life examples and actionable insights in my free book . Pull Requests and Code Review: Best Practices for Developers, from Junior to Team Lead 3. Be your PR’s first reviewer Put yourself in the shoes of your reviewer, anticipate questions and use comment your own code when you think it can help them. 4. Assign the right reviewers to your PR Don’t assign your PR to the entire world. Choose your reviewers carefully to get a relevant review, without waiting too long for approval. 5. Be responsive to comments Be open to feedback, ask for clarification, say when you disagree (with respect), and always respond to comments. 6. If you want people to review your PRs, you have to review theirs Everybody has many PRs to review and little free time to. If you review other PRs, you increase the chances of getting yours reviewed too. 7. You can review code even if you are a junior developer As a junior developer, you can let others know when you don’t understand part of the code, as it should be understandable by any developer in the team. More about it in my post . How to give code review as a junior developer? 8. Check the right things during code review Code review’s goal is to check for bugs and edge cases, and challenge the implementation. It should neither be used to nitpick about minor formatting or styling preferences, nor for large-scale architectural discussions. 9. Use the right tone in your comments Use “why not” instead of “you should”, be open and positive and always suggest an alternative when you ask for a change. 10. Be clear about whether a change is required for you to approve the PR or not Not all comments require a change, and not all asked changes are required for the PR to be approved. Be clear in your comment if the change isn’t urgent. 11. Review your review before submitting it Before making your review public, re-read each comment: check for the tone you use and ensure you provide all the context to help the PR submitter. 12. Approve the PR when the submitter made all the changes you asked You don’t want the reviewer to wait for your approval two days after they made all the changes you asked. When you review it, assume you’ll approve it as soon as all the fixes are made. 13. Some conflicts can’t be solved in comments When a comment thread becomes a debate in your PR, you’d better cut it off and suggest to continue the discussion elsewhere, e.g. in a Slack thread. If necessary, dedicate a meeting to it, and/or involve a third-party. That’s it! What did you think of these tips? Can you think of one tip you’d like to give other developers? Share them here in comments 👇 If you liked these tips and want to learn some more, check out my book , it’s free! Pull Requests and Code Review Also published . here

13 Tips for Better Pull Requests and Code Review

13টি টিপস ভাল টান অনুরোধ এবং কোড পর্যালোচনা

13 Tipps für bessere Pull-Anfragen und Codeüberprüfung

13 consejos para mejorar las solicitudes de extracción y la revisión del código

13 conseils pour de meilleures demandes d'extraction et révision du code

बेहतर पुल अनुरोध और कोड समीक्षा के लिए 13 युक्तियाँ

より良いプルリクエストとコードレビューのための 13 のヒント

더 나은 Pull Request와 코드 검토를 위한 13가지 팁

13 dicas para melhores solicitações pull e revisão de código

13 советов по улучшению запросов на включение и ревью кода

Daha İyi Çekme İstekleri ve Kod İncelemesi için 13 İpucu

13 mẹo để có yêu cầu kéo và đánh giá mã tốt hơn

更好的 Pull 请求和代码审查的 13 个技巧

Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . Containing an Answer to the Love Letter here Containing an Answer to the Love Letter. Alice had had a week allowed to her to write her answer; but she sent it off before the full week was past. "Why should I keep him in suspense?" she said. "If it is to be so, there can be no good in not saying so at once." Then she thought, also, that if this were to be her destiny it might be well for Mr. Grey that all his doubts on the matter should be dispelled. She had treated him badly,—very badly. She had so injured him that the remembrance of the injury must always be a source of misery to her; but she owed to him above everything to let him know what were her intentions as soon as they were settled. She tried to console herself by thinking that the wound to him would be easy to cure. "He also is not passionate," she said. But in so saying she deceived herself. He was a man in whom Love could be very passionate;—and was, moreover, one in whom Love could hardly be renewed. Each morning Kate asked her whether her answer was written; and on the third day after Christmas, just before dinner, Alice said that she had written it, and that it was gone. "But it isn't post-day," said Kate;—for the post illuminated Vavasor but three days a week. "I have given a boy sixpence to take it to Shap," said Alice, blushing. "And what have you said?" asked Kate, taking hold of the other's arm. "I have kept my promise," said Alice; "and do you keep yours by asking no further questions." "My sister,—my own sister," said Kate. And then, as Alice met her embrace, there was no longer any doubt as to the nature of the reply. After this there was of course much close discussion between them as to what other steps should now be taken. Kate wanted her cousin to write immediately to Mr. Grey, and was somewhat frightened when Alice declined to do so till she had received a further letter from George. "You have not proposed any horrid stipulations to him?" exclaimed Kate. "I don't know what you may call horrid stipulations," said Alice, gravely. "My conditions have not been very hard, and I do not think you would have disapproved them." "But he!—He is so impetuous! Will he disapprove them?" "I have told him— But, Kate, this is just what I did not mean to tell you." "Why should there be secrets between us?" said Kate. "There shall be none, then. I have told him that I cannot bring myself to marry him instantly;—that he must allow me twelve months to wear off, if I can in that time, much of sadness and of self-reproach which has fallen to my lot." "Twelve months, Alice?" "Listen to me. I have said so. But I have told him also that if he wishes it still, I will at once tell papa and grandpapa that I hold myself as engaged to him, so that he may know that I bind myself to him as far as it is possible that I should do so. And I have added something else, Kate," she continued to say after a slight pause,—"something else which I can tell you, though I could tell it to no other person. I can tell you because you would do, and will do the same. I have told him that any portion of my money is at his service which may be needed for his purposes before that twelve months is over." "Oh, Alice! No;—no. You shall not do that. It is too generous." And Kate perhaps felt at the moment that her brother was a man to whom such an offer could hardly be made with safety. "But I have done it. Mercury, with sixpence in his pocket, is already posting my generosity at Shap. And, to tell the truth, Kate, it is no more than fair. He has honestly told me that while the old Squire lives he will want my money to assist him in a career of which I do much more than approve. It has been my earnest wish to see him in Parliament. It will now be the most earnest desire of my heart;—the one thing as to which I shall feel an intense anxiety. How then can I have the face to bid him wait twelve months for that which is specially needed in six months' time? It would be like the workhouses which are so long in giving bread, that in the mean time the wretches starve." "But the wretch shan't starve," said Kate. "My money, small as it is, will carry him over this bout. I have told him that he shall have it, and that I expect him to spend it. Moreover, I have no doubt that Aunt Greenow would lend me what he wants." "But I should not wish him to borrow from Aunt Greenow. She would advance him the money, as you say, upon stamped paper, and then talk of it." "He shall have mine," said Kate. "And who are you?" said Alice, laughing. "You are not going to be his wife?" "He shall not touch your money till you are his wife," said Kate, very seriously. "I wish you would consent to change your mind about this stupid tedious year, and then you might do as you pleased. I have no doubt such a settlement might be made as to the property here, when my grandfather hears of it, as would make you ultimately safe." "And do you think I care to be ultimately safe, as you call it? Kate, my dear, you do not understand me." "I suppose not. And yet I thought that I had known something about you." "It is because I do not care for the safety of which you speak that I am now going to become your brother's wife. Do you suppose that I do not see that I must run much risk?" "You prefer the excitement of London to the tranquillity, may I say, of Cambridgeshire." "Exactly;—and therefore I have told George that he shall have my money whenever he wants it." Kate was very persistent in her objection to this scheme till George's answer came. His answer to Alice was accompanied by a letter to his sister, and after that Kate said nothing more about the money question. She said no more then; but it must not therefore be supposed that she was less determined than she had been that no part of Alice's fortune should be sacrificed to her brother's wants;—at any rate before Alice should become her brother's wife. But her brother's letter for the moment stopped her mouth. It would be necessary that she should speak to him before she again spoke to Alice. In what words Alice had written her assent it will be necessary that the reader should know, in order that something may be understood of the struggle which she made upon the occasion; but they shall be given presently, when I come to speak of George Vavasor's position as he received them. George's reply was very short and apparently very frank. He deprecated the delay of twelve months, and still hoped to be able to induce her to be more lenient to him. He advised her to write to Mr. Grey at once,—and as regarded the Squire he gave her to act as she pleased. If the Squire required any kind of apology, expression of sorrow,—and asking for pardon, or such like, he, George, would, under the circumstances as they now existed, comply with the requisition most willingly. He would regard it as a simple form, made necessary by his coming marriage. As to Alice's money, he thanked her heartily for her confidence. If the nature of his coming contest at Chelsea should make it necessary, he would use her offer as frankly as it had been made. Such was his letter to Alice. What was contained in his letter to Kate, Alice never knew. carte blanche Then came the business of telling this new love tale,—the third which poor Alice had been forced to tell her father and grandfather;—and a grievous task it was. In this matter she feared her father much more than her grandfather, and therefore she resolved to tell her grandfather first;—or, rather, she determined that she would tell the Squire, and that in the mean time Kate should talk to her father. "Grandpapa," she said to him the morning after she had received her cousin's second letter.—The old man was in the habit of breakfasting alone in a closet of his own, which was called his dressing-room, but in which he kept no appurtenances for dressing, but in lieu of them a large collection of old spuds and sticks and horse's-bits. There was a broken spade here, and a hoe or two; and a small table in the corner was covered with the debris of tradesmen's bills from Penrith, and dirty scraps which he was wont to call his farm accounts.—"Grandpapa," said Alice, rushing away at once into the middle of her subject, "you told me the other day that you thought I ought to be—married." "Did I, my dear? Well, yes; so I did. And so you ought;—I mean to that Mr. Grey." "That is impossible, sir." "Then what's the use of your coming and talking to me about it?" This made Alice's task not very easy; but, nevertheless, she persevered. "I am come, grandpapa, to tell you of another engagement." "Another!" said he. And by the tone of his voice he accused his granddaughter of having a larger number of favoured suitors than ought to fall to the lot of any young lady. It was very hard upon her, but still she went on. "You know," said she, "that some years ago I was to have been married to my cousin George;"—and then she paused. "Well," said the old man. "And I remember you told me then that you were much pleased." "So I was. George was doing well then; or,—which is more likely,—had made us believe that he was doing well. Have you made it up with him again?" "Yes, sir." "And that's the meaning of your jilting Mr. Grey, is it?" Poor Alice! It is hard to explain how heavy a blow fell upon her from the open utterance of that word! Of all words in the language it was the one which she now most dreaded. She had called herself a jilt, with that inaudible voice which one uses in making self-accusations;—but hitherto no lips had pronounced the odious word to her ears. Poor Alice! She was a jilt; and perhaps it may have been well that the old man should tell her so. "Grandpapa!" she said; and there was that in the tone of her voice which somewhat softened the Squire's heart. "Well, my dear, I don't want to be ill-natured. So you are going at last to marry George, are you? I hope he'll treat you well; that's all. Does your father approve of it?" "I have told you first, sir;—because I wish to obtain your consent to seeing George again here as your grandson." "Never," said the old man, snarling;—"never!" "If he has been wrong, he will beg your pardon." "If he has been wrong! Didn't he want to squander every shilling of the property,—property which has never belonged to him;—property which I could give to Tom, Dick, or Harry to-morrow, if I liked?—If he has been wrong!" "I am not defending him, sir;—but I thought that, perhaps, on such an occasion as this—" "A Tom Fool's occasion! You've got money of your own. He'll spend all that now." "He will be less likely to do so if you will recognise him as your heir. Pray believe, sir, that he is not the sort of man that he was." "He must be a very clever sort of man, I think, when he has talked you out of such a husband as John Grey. It's astounding to me,—with that ugly mug of his! Well, my dear, if your father approves of it, and if George will ask my pardon,—but I don't think he ever will—" "He will, sir. I am his messenger for as much as that." "Oh, you are, are you? Then you may also be my messenger to him, and tell him that, for your sake, I will let him come back here. I know he'll insult me the first day; but I'll try and put up with it,—for your sake, my dear. Of course I must know what your father thinks about it." It may be imagined that Kate's success was even less than that which Alice achieved. "I knew it would be so," said John Vavasor, when his niece first told him;—and as he spoke he struck his hand upon the table. "I knew all along how it would be." "And why should it not be so, Uncle John?" "He is your brother, and I will not tell you why." "You think that he is a spendthrift?" "I think that he is as unsafe a man as ever I knew to be intrusted with the happiness of any young woman. That is all." "You are hard upon him, uncle." "Perhaps so. Tell Alice this from me,—that as I have never yet been able to get her to think anything of my opinion, I do not at all expect that I shall be able to induce her to do so now. I will not even make the attempt. As my son-in-law I will not receive George Vavasor. Tell Alice that." Alice was told her father's message; but Kate in telling it felt no deep regret. She well knew that Alice would not be turned back from her present intention by her father's wishes. Nor would it have been very reasonable that she should. Her father had for many years relieved himself from the burden of a father's cares, and now had hardly the right to claim a father's privileges. We will now go once again to George Vavasor's room in Cecil Street, in which he received Alice's letter. He was dressing when it was first brought to him; and when he recognised the handwriting he put it down on his toilet table unopened. He put it down, and went on brushing his hair, as though he were determined to prove to himself that he was indifferent as to the tidings which it might contain. He went on brushing his hair, and cleaning his teeth, and tying his cravat carefully over his turned-down collar, while the unopened letter lay close to his hand. Of course he was thinking of it,—of course he was anxious,—of course his eye went to it from moment to moment. But he carried it with him into the sitting-room still unopened, and so it remained until after the girl had brought him his tea and his toast. "And now," said he, as he threw himself into his arm-chair, "let us see what the girl of my heart says to me." The girl of his heart said to him as follows:— My dear George, I feel great difficulty in answering your letter. Could I have my own way, I should make no answer to it at present, but leave it for the next six months, so that then such answer might hereafter be made as circumstances should seem to require. This will be little flattering to you, but it is less flattering to myself. Whatever answer I may make, how can anything in this affair be flattering either to you or to me? We have been like children who have quarrelled over our game of play, till now, at the close of our little day of pleasure, we are fain to meet each other in tears, and acknowledge that we have looked for delights where no delights were to be found. Kate, who is here, talks to me of passionate love. There is no such passion left to me;—nor, as I think, to you either. It would not now be possible that you and I should come together on such terms as that. We could not stand up together as man and wife with any hope of a happy marriage, unless we had both agreed that such happiness might be had without passionate love. You will see from all this that I do not refuse your offer. Without passion, I have for you a warm affection, which enables me to take a livelier interest in your career than in any other of the matters which are around me. Of course, if I become your wife that interest will be still closer and dearer, and I do feel that I can take in it that concern which a wife should have in her husband's affairs. If it suits you, I will become your wife;—but it cannot be quite at once. I have suffered much from the past conflicts of my life, and there has been very much with which I must reproach myself. I know that I have behaved badly. Sometimes I have to undergo the doubly bitter self-accusation of having behaved in a manner which the world will call unfeminine. You must understand that I have not passed through this unscathed, and I must beg you to allow me some time for a cure. A perfect cure I may never expect, but I think that in twelve months from this time I may so far have recovered my usual spirit and ease of mind as to enable me to devote myself to your happiness. Dear George, if you will accept me under such circumstances, I will be your wife, and will endeavour to do my duty by you faithfully. I have said that even now, as your cousin, I take a lively interest in your career,—of course I mean your career as a politician,—and especially in your hopes of entering Parliament. I understand, accurately as I think, what you have said about my fortune, and I perfectly appreciate your truth and frankness. If I had nothing of my own you, in your circumstances, could not possibly take me as your wife. I know, moreover, that your need of assistance from my means is immediate rather than prospective. My money may be absolutely necessary to you within this year, during which, as I tell you most truly, I cannot bring myself to become a married woman. But my money shall be less cross-grained than myself. You will take it as frankly as I mean it when I say, that whatever you want for your political purposes shall be forthcoming at your slightest wish. Dear George, let me have the honour and glory of marrying a man who has gained a seat in the Parliament of Great Britain! Of all positions which a man may attain that, to me, is the grandest. I shall wait for a further letter from you before I speak either to my father or to my grandfather. If you can tell me that you accede to my views, I will at once try to bring about a reconciliation between you and the Squire. I think that that will be almost easier than inducing my father to look with favour upon our marriage. But I need hardly say that should either one or the other oppose it,—or should both do so,—that would not turn me from my purpose. I also wait for your answer to write a last line to Mr. Grey. Your affectionate cousin, Alice Vavasor. George Vavasor when he had read the letter threw it carelessly from him on to the breakfast table, and began to munch his toast. He threw it carelessly from him, as though taking a certain pride in his carelessness. "Very well," said he; "so be it. It is probably the best thing that I could do, whatever the effect may be on her." Then he took up his newspaper. But before the day was over he had made many plans,—plans made almost unconsciously,—as to the benefit which might accrue to him from the offer which she had made of her money. And before night he had written that reply to her of which we have heard the contents; and had written also to his sister Kate a letter, of which Kate had kept the contents to herself. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Anthony Trollope (2006). Can You Forgive Her?. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19500/pg19500-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

Containing an Answer to the Love Letter

Heyo Hackers. HackerNoon and IONOS bring you the finalists of Round 2 of the . We are happy to share that we have published #web-development stories so far, generating for the contest submissions! Kudos to our writers and readers for making this contest a success. Web Development Writing Contest 208 45 days of reading time With writing contests, HackerNoon shares a part of its revenue with our community, rewarding the best stories. So far, we have distributed almost $300,000 in our community via these contests. We aim to get all our top tags sponsored for our writers as it encourages the tech community to share high-quality educational content, making learning accessible to everyone. We thank IONOS for supporting the web development tag and sharing the same sentiments of appreciating original and educational content by technologists, for technologists. Here’s the message from Annabelle Atchison, Head of Communications and Product Marketing at IONOS. "We're thrilled to partner with HackerNoon for this web development writing competition. Recognizing the passion developers share for community-driven content, it's a fantastic opportunity to connect with fellow enthusiasts and showcase the collective talent in the field." How to Qualify for the Third Round of the ? Web Development Writing Contest We have now entered the third round of the web development writing contest. This is your chance to showcase your expertise in web app development and win a from $6,000 prize pool! All you have to do is submit a web development story before September 15th, and if our editors approve it, you’ll enter the contest's final round. Here are some ideas shared by our sponsor: - we would love to see how you have developed your web apps and what challenges you faced during development. Write anything about web app development and choose a relevant topic that interests you. IONOS Cloud cubes are powerful KVM-based virtual servers designed for maximum flexibility and on-demand scalability. You can also explore the services, features, and use cases offers IONOS Cloud Cubes in web app development Data security, backup, and recovery challenges Creating instances for web apps Web dev environment automation Test automation for web apps You can use to enter the web development writing contest. this template This contest is different. We have decided to further gamify this contest and factor in the feedback of our fantastic community. If you are one of the finalists or rooting for one of these to win, you have a chance to convince the judges by commenting on this announcement why they should win. You can share this announcement on social media with your followers to add more comments to convince the editorial! We will feature the best comments in our winners’ announcement. Now, without further ado - here’s the list of round 2 finalists. The Web Development Writing Contest Round 2: Top 10 Nominations We have shortlisted the top 10 stories on the following factors: Content relevancy and quality Originality - only those stories have been shortlisted that are published first on HackerNoon Total number of reads proportionate to the reading time. (We monitor bot traffic, so a higher number of reads doesn’t automatically qualify your story to be in the top 10). Here are the top 10 finalists: by Mastering JavaScript Shorthands @leandronnz by Unleashing the Power of TypeScript: Improving Standard Library Types @nodge by Build a Document Analyzer with ChatGPT, Google Cloud, and Python @shanglun by Over 40, With no Technical Background, This is How I Learned a Frontend Framework in 2 Weeks @codingjourneyfromunemployment by Understanding React's useEffect Hook: A Deep Dive @lastcallofsummer by Over 40, With No Technical Background, This Is How I Learned Javascript in 2 Weeks @codingjourneyfromunemployment by Is AI Eavesdropping on You?: Defend Your Passwords From AI Keystroke Pattern Detection @induction by Is Migrating From Java 11 to Java 17 Worth It? @sergeidzeboev by How to Create a Blackjack Game With Alpine.js and the Deck of Cards API @raymondcamden by Boosting Website Performance: Leveraging Webpack for File Compression and Optimization @fed4wet Congratulations to the top 10 finalists because two of you will win from $2000! What will happen next? Our Editors will vote on these stories, and the winner will be announced in October. The top two stories with the most votes by editorial will win $1000 each! Share this announcement with your support circle, and comment below why your story should win. We invite all our readers to share their favorite stories in the comments section. Our editors will be reading all the comments. Read the announcement of . The Web Development Writing Contest, Round 1, here The primary purpose of these contests is to celebrate quality and recruit educational content for our community. We congratulate all the finalists. However, the Editorial team can disqualify a writer or a story if we find any misconduct like plagiarism, copyright infringement, or disinformation.

The Web Development Writing Contest: Round 2 Finalists Announced!

ওয়েব ডেভেলপমেন্ট রাইটিং কনটেস্ট: রাউন্ড 2 ফাইনালিস্ট ঘোষণা করা হয়েছে!

Der Webentwicklungs-Schreibwettbewerb: Finalisten der zweiten Runde bekannt gegeben!

Concurso de redacción sobre desarrollo web: ¡Se anunciaron los finalistas de la segunda ronda!

Le concours de rédaction pour le développement Web : les finalistes de la deuxième ronde sont annoncés !

वेब विकास लेखन प्रतियोगिता: दूसरे चरण के फाइनलिस्ट की घोषणा!

Web 開発ライティング コンテスト: 第 2 ラウンドのファイナリストが発表されました!

웹 개발 글쓰기 콘테스트: 2차 결선 진출자가 발표되었습니다!

Concurso de redação para desenvolvimento da Web: anunciados os finalistas da segunda rodada!

Web Geliştirme Yazma Yarışması: 2. Tur Finalistleri Açıklandı!

Cuộc thi viết về phát triển web: Công bố những người lọt vào vòng chung kết vòng 2!

Web 开发写作大赛：第二轮决赛入围名单公布！

Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . CACHALOTS AND WHALES here CHAPTER XII: CACHALOTS AND WHALES During the nights of the 13th and 14th of March, the returned to its southerly course. I fancied that, when on a level with Cape Horn, he would turn the helm westward, in order to beat the Pacific seas, and so complete the tour of the world. He did nothing of the kind, but continued on his way to the southern regions. Where was he going to? To the pole? It was madness! I began to think that the Captain’s temerity justified Ned Land’s fears. For some time past the Canadian had not spoken to me of his projects of flight; he was less communicative, almost silent. I could see that this lengthened imprisonment was weighing upon him, and I felt that rage was burning within him. When he met the Captain, his eyes lit up with suppressed anger; and I feared that his natural violence would lead him into some extreme. That day, the 14th of March, Conseil and he came to me in my room. I inquired the cause of their visit. Nautilus “A simple question to ask you, sir,” replied the Canadian. “Speak, Ned.” “How many men are there on board the , do you think?” Nautilus “I cannot tell, my friend.” “I should say that its working does not require a large crew.” “Certainly, under existing conditions, ten men, at the most, ought to be enough.” “Well, why should there be any more?” “Why?” I replied, looking fixedly at Ned Land, whose meaning was easy to guess. “Because,” I added, “if my surmises are correct, and if I have well understood the Captain’s existence, the is not only a vessel: it is also a place of refuge for those who, like its commander, have broken every tie upon earth.” Nautilus “Perhaps so,” said Conseil; “but, in any case, the can only contain a certain number of men. Could not you, sir, estimate their maximum?” Nautilus “How, Conseil?” “By calculation; given the size of the vessel, which you know, sir, and consequently the quantity of air it contains, knowing also how much each man expends at a breath, and comparing these results with the fact that the is obliged to go to the surface every twenty-four hours.” Nautilus Conseil had not finished the sentence before I saw what he was driving at. “I understand,” said I; “but that calculation, though simple enough, can give but a very uncertain result.” “Never mind,” said Ned Land urgently. “Here it is, then,” said I. “In one hour each man consumes the oxygen contained in twenty gallons of air; and in twenty-four, that contained in 480 gallons. We must, therefore find how many times 480 gallons of air the contains.” Nautilus “Just so,” said Conseil. “Or,” I continued, “the size of the being 1,500 tons; and one ton holding 200 gallons, it contains 300,000 gallons of air, which, divided by 480, gives a quotient of 625. Which means to say, strictly speaking, that the air contained in the would suffice for 625 men for twenty-four hours.” Nautilus Nautilus “Six hundred and twenty-five!” repeated Ned. “But remember that all of us, passengers, sailors, and officers included, would not form a tenth part of that number.” “Still too many for three men,” murmured Conseil. The Canadian shook his head, passed his hand across his forehead, and left the room without answering. “Will you allow me to make one observation, sir?” said Conseil. “Poor Ned is longing for everything that he can not have. His past life is always present to him; everything that we are forbidden he regrets. His head is full of old recollections. And we must understand him. What has he to do here? Nothing; he is not learned like you, sir; and has not the same taste for the beauties of the sea that we have. He would risk everything to be able to go once more into a tavern in his own country.” Certainly the monotony on board must seem intolerable to the Canadian, accustomed as he was to a life of liberty and activity. Events were rare which could rouse him to any show of spirit; but that day an event did happen which recalled the bright days of the harpooner. About eleven in the morning, being on the surface of the ocean, the fell in with a troop of whales—an encounter which did not astonish me, knowing that these creatures, hunted to death, had taken refuge in high latitudes. Nautilus We were seated on the platform, with a quiet sea. The month of October in those latitudes gave us some lovely autumnal days. It was the Canadian—he could not be mistaken—who signalled a whale on the eastern horizon. Looking attentively, one might see its black back rise and fall with the waves five miles from the . Nautilus “Ah!” exclaimed Ned Land, “if I was on board a whaler, now such a meeting would give me pleasure. It is one of large size. See with what strength its blow-holes throw up columns of air an steam! Confound it, why am I bound to these steel plates?” “What, Ned,” said I, “you have not forgotten your old ideas of fishing?” “Can a whale-fisher ever forget his old trade, sir? Can he ever tire of the emotions caused by such a chase?” “You have never fished in these seas, Ned?” “Never, sir; in the northern only, and as much in Behring as in Davis Straits.” “Then the southern whale is still unknown to you. It is the Greenland whale you have hunted up to this time, and that would not risk passing through the warm waters of the equator. Whales are localised, according to their kinds, in certain seas which they never leave. And if one of these creatures went from Behring to Davis Straits, it must be simply because there is a passage from one sea to the other, either on the American or the Asiatic side.” “In that case, as I have never fished in these seas, I do not know the kind of whale frequenting them!” “I have told you, Ned.” “A greater reason for making their acquaintance,” said Conseil. “Look! look!” exclaimed the Canadian, “they approach: they aggravate me; they know that I cannot get at them!” Ned stamped his feet. His hand trembled, as he grasped an imaginary harpoon. “Are these cetaceans as large as those of the northern seas?” asked he. “Very nearly, Ned.” “Because I have seen large whales, sir, whales measuring a hundred feet. I have even been told that those of Hullamoch and Umgallick, of the Aleutian Islands, are sometimes a hundred and fifty feet long.” “That seems to me exaggeration. These creatures are only balaeaopterons, provided with dorsal fins; and, like the cachalots, are generally much smaller than the Greenland whale.” “Ah!” exclaimed the Canadian, whose eyes had never left the ocean, “they are coming nearer; they are in the same water as the .” Nautilus Then, returning to the conversation, he said: “You spoke of the cachalot as a small creature. I have heard of gigantic ones. They are intelligent cetacea. It is said of some that they cover themselves with seaweed and fucus, and then are taken for islands. People encamp upon them, and settle there; lights a fire——” “And build houses,” said Conseil. “Yes, joker,” said Ned Land. “And one fine day the creature plunges, carrying with it all the inhabitants to the bottom of the sea.” “Something like the travels of Sinbad the Sailor,” I replied, laughing. “Ah!” suddenly exclaimed Ned Land, “it is not one whale; there are ten—there are twenty—it is a whole troop! And I not able to do anything! hands and feet tied!” “But, friend Ned,” said Conseil, “why do you not ask Captain Nemo’s permission to chase them?” Conseil had not finished his sentence when Ned Land had lowered himself through the panel to seek the Captain. A few minutes afterwards the two appeared together on the platform. Captain Nemo watched the troop of cetacea playing on the waters about a mile from the . Nautilus “They are southern whales,” said he; “there goes the fortune of a whole fleet of whalers.” “Well, sir,” asked the Canadian, “can I not chase them, if only to remind me of my old trade of harpooner?” “And to what purpose?” replied Captain Nemo; “only to destroy! We have nothing to do with the whale-oil on board.” “But, sir,” continued the Canadian, “in the Red Sea you allowed us to follow the dugong.” “Then it was to procure fresh meat for my crew. Here it would be killing for killing’s sake. I know that is a privilege reserved for man, but I do not approve of such murderous pastime. In destroying the southern whale (like the Greenland whale, an inoffensive creature), your traders do a culpable action, Master Land. They have already depopulated the whole of Baffin’s Bay, and are annihilating a class of useful animals. Leave the unfortunate cetacea alone. They have plenty of natural enemies—cachalots, swordfish, and sawfish—without you troubling them.” The Captain was right. The barbarous and inconsiderate greed of these fishermen will one day cause the disappearance of the last whale in the ocean. Ned Land whistled “Yankee-doodle” between his teeth, thrust his hands into his pockets, and turned his back upon us. But Captain Nemo watched the troop of cetacea, and, addressing me, said: “I was right in saying that whales had natural enemies enough, without counting man. These will have plenty to do before long. Do you see, M. Aronnax, about eight miles to leeward, those blackish moving points?” “Yes, Captain,” I replied. “Those are cachalots—terrible animals, which I have met in troops of two or three hundred. As to those, they are cruel, mischievous creatures; they would be right in exterminating them.” The Canadian turned quickly at the last words. “Well, Captain,” said he, “it is still time, in the interest of the whales.” “It is useless to expose one’s self, Professor. The will disperse them. It is armed with a steel spur as good as Master Land’s harpoon, I imagine.” Nautilus The Canadian did not put himself out enough to shrug his shoulders. Attack cetacea with blows of a spur! Who had ever heard of such a thing? “Wait, M. Aronnax,” said Captain Nemo. “We will show you something you have never yet seen. We have no pity for these ferocious creatures. They are nothing but mouth and teeth.” Mouth and teeth! No one could better describe the macrocephalous cachalot, which is sometimes more than seventy-five feet long. Its enormous head occupies one-third of its entire body. Better armed than the whale, whose upper jaw is furnished only with whalebone, it is supplied with twenty-five large tusks, about eight inches long, cylindrical and conical at the top, each weighing two pounds. It is in the upper part of this enormous head, in great cavities divided by cartilages, that is to be found from six to eight hundred pounds of that precious oil called spermaceti. The cachalot is a disagreeable creature, more tadpole than fish, according to Fredol’s description. It is badly formed, the whole of its left side being (if we may say it), a “failure,” and being only able to see with its right eye. But the formidable troop was nearing us. They had seen the whales and were preparing to attack them. One could judge beforehand that the cachalots would be victorious, not only because they were better built for attack than their inoffensive adversaries, but also because they could remain longer under water without coming to the surface. There was only just time to go to the help of the whales. The went under water. Conseil, Ned Land, and I took our places before the window in the saloon, and Captain Nemo joined the pilot in his cage to work his apparatus as an engine of destruction. Soon I felt the beatings of the screw quicken, and our speed increased. The battle between the cachalots and the whales had already begun when the arrived. They did not at first show any fear at the sight of this new monster joining in the conflict. But they soon had to guard against its blows. What a battle! The was nothing but a formidable harpoon, brandished by the hand of its Captain. It hurled itself against the fleshy mass, passing through from one part to the other, leaving behind it two quivering halves of the animal. It could not feel the formidable blows from their tails upon its sides, nor the shock which it produced itself, much more. One cachalot killed, it ran at the next, tacked on the spot that it might not miss its prey, going forwards and backwards, answering to its helm, plunging when the cetacean dived into the deep waters, coming up with it when it returned to the surface, striking it front or sideways, cutting or tearing in all directions and at any pace, piercing it with its terrible spur. What carnage! What a noise on the surface of the waves! What sharp hissing, and what snorting peculiar to these enraged animals! In the midst of these waters, generally so peaceful, their tails made perfect billows. For one hour this wholesale massacre continued, from which the cachalots could not escape. Several times ten or twelve united tried to crush the by their weight. From the window we could see their enormous mouths, studded with tusks, and their formidable eyes. Ned Land could not contain himself; he threatened and swore at them. We could feel them clinging to our vessel like dogs worrying a wild boar in a copse. But the , working its screw, carried them here and there, or to the upper levels of the ocean, without caring for their enormous weight, nor the powerful strain on the vessel. At length the mass of cachalots broke up, the waves became quiet, and I felt that we were rising to the surface. The panel opened, and we hurried on to the platform. The sea was covered with mutilated bodies. A formidable explosion could not have divided and torn this fleshy mass with more violence. We were floating amid gigantic bodies, bluish on the back and white underneath, covered with enormous protuberances. Some terrified cachalots were flying towards the horizon. The waves were dyed red for several miles, and the floated in a sea of blood: Captain Nemo joined us. Nautilus Nautilus Nautilus Nautilus Nautilus Nautilus “Well, Master Land?” said he. “Well, sir,” replied the Canadian, whose enthusiasm had somewhat calmed; “it is a terrible spectacle, certainly. But I am not a butcher. I am a hunter, and I call this a butchery.” “It is a massacre of mischievous creatures,” replied the Captain; “and the is not a butcher’s knife.” Nautilus “I like my harpoon better,” said the Canadian. “Every one to his own,” answered the Captain, looking fixedly at Ned Land. I feared he would commit some act of violence, which would end in sad consequences. But his anger was turned by the sight of a whale which the had just come up with. The creature had not quite escaped from the cachalot’s teeth. I recognised the southern whale by its flat head, which is entirely black. Anatomically, it is distinguished from the white whale and the North Cape whale by the seven cervical vertebrae, and it has two more ribs than its congeners. The unfortunate cetacean was lying on its side, riddled with holes from the bites, and quite dead. From its mutilated fin still hung a young whale which it could not save from the massacre. Its open mouth let the water flow in and out, murmuring like the waves breaking on the shore. Captain Nemo steered close to the corpse of the creature. Two of his men mounted its side, and I saw, not without surprise, that they were drawing from its breasts all the milk which they contained, that is to say, about two or three tons. The Captain offered me a cup of the milk, which was still warm. I could not help showing my repugnance to the drink; but he assured me that it was excellent, and not to be distinguished from cow’s milk. I tasted it, and was of his opinion. It was a useful reserve to us, for in the shape of salt butter or cheese it would form an agreeable variety from our ordinary food. From that day I noticed with uneasiness that Ned Land’s ill-will towards Captain Nemo increased, and I resolved to watch the Canadian’s gestures closely. Nautilus About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Jules Verne (1994). Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/164/164-h/164-h.htm This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

CACHALOTS AND WHALES

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