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Exploring applications of Web3 tech for the collective management of ‘real world’ cyber-physical infrastructure Web3 evangelists preach the promise of a new Internet of Value and multidimensional democratization where the first iterations of the Internet failed. They say blockchain and cryptocurrency technology offer new modes for economic expression and socio-political paradigms where people-powered organizations can create their own currencies, pool funding, collectively own and manage infrastructure, and self-govern. The vision is ambitious, to say the least, and 14 years after the introduction of Bitcoin, many question the “real world” impact of these technologies as ecological degradation accelerates, and with it, economic and political instability. A recent event, CyborgCamp, illustrated this criticism of Web3 in its memetic governance experiment with “Lamp DAO”. The project’s creators not only poke fun at the crypto space’s inability thus far to create the deep systemic shifts needed to tackle our planet’s most wicked problems, but ironically, what started as a meme may actually hold promise for that bigger change and possibility. This piece takes us underground (literally a basement) to the lesser-known pioneering edges of Web3 space exploration, where cyberpunk is making a comeback and creative solutions engineering is based in play. Here, the hope for a brighter future rests in the hands of a neuroversal group of multidisciplinarians whose greatest weapon of revolution just might be - a lamp. Enter the Lair: CyborgCamp & A World Beyond Techno Feudalism I'm in a basement painted bright primary green. There's a TV streaming fractal, psychedelic art, while high-intensity electronic dance music pulses in the background. There are lamps of varying shapes and computer chips strewn about on a long, polished wood table. On another desk nearby, electric engineering and soldering equipment rest on the table with a hand-drawn picture of a dead stick figure labeled "danger" in red permanent marker. Zargham: "Don't f@!* with that one, Isaac already soldered it! Use the fresh breadboards." Barton: "Breadboards - now that sounds like it's for the people!" Michael Zargham, Founder and Chief Engineer of - a pioneering operations research and complex systems engineering firm - and Barton Rhodes, co-founder of , a visionary research and development exploration simulating and building energy microgrid infrastructure - yell at each other excitedly over the music. They cross the room to a whiteboard, covered in system diagrams, ontology mappings, and new applications of lambda calculus. BlockScience Plurigrid "We just have to sniff our Bluetooth signals!" Zargham says loudly as he draws another diagram. Janita Chalam, a developer with an advanced tooling stack, tries not to get distracted from coding, but can’t help laughing. decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) DAO DAO This is , an event started by Cyborg Anthropologist, public speaker, author of Calm Technology Amber Case in 2008. This year, it found expression in a suburban Albany, New York neighborhood home. The area, known as Rensselaer, was named after a 17th-century and one of the original founders of the Dutch West India Company. CyborgCamp Dutch feudal lord It is only fitting that 20 engineers and researchers gathered here for CyborgCamp 2023 to discuss and the possibilities for global systemic change amidst increasing . The backdrop - economic, social, and political unrest around the world, aging and underfunded public infrastructure, the rise of AI, and the transition from Web2 to Web3 technologies. technological feudalism overshoot of planetary boundaries From Feudalism to Commons: Rebuilding the Internet for Resilience in an Era of Collapse As witnessed in the last few decades, the promise of a democratized and open internet was crushed by the conglomerization and in Web2. Some critics have likened the role of participants of social networks and ride-sharing platforms to feudal peasants, hooked to dopamine drips and the pittance of wage slave economies. While they toil, the feudal overlords of transnational corporate platforms harvest data and build psychometric profiles to profit from advertising. The system is underpinned by a vast substrate of computation in an accelerating feedback loop of black box algorithms with the power to turn geopolitical tides (heavily documented and outlined in documentary films like ). monopolization of internet platforms “The Great Hack” With the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009, there has been a foray into the possibilities of a new “Internet of Value.” Proponents envision not only increased agency and revenue sharing of platform participant’s data via and cooperative models, but more transparency and expanded collective governance of . Discussions across crypto communities range from more distributed ownership of network capital, assets, production, and infrastructure to greater resilience through more decentralized infrastructure, to improved pathways for fundraising, democracy, political action, and governance via new organizational structures and voting tools. data trusts algorithmic policy This drama is playing out within the four corners of our screens, but if we look up and out, we see another backdrop and frame - environmental and planetary collapse. With this, an even more important purpose of a new internet comes into view - systemic and paradigmatic shifts to reverse the extractive and destructive feedback loops we find ourselves in. A new iteration of the internet with enabling tools for the coordination of self-organized networks for local and global problem-solving, economic diversity and shelter, infrastructure with enhanced adaptive capacity, and overall greater resilience - . a regenaissance Cyborgers Unite! (Around a Lamp) The potential of Web3 and planetary collapse were just some of the countless discussions and impromptu talks at the un-conference style salon event. The grid of sticky notes on the living room wall displayed other topics like , , , , , and . Metaphysics: How do we formalize and apply it From Agents to Agency Xenomodernism: Dreams of a common language Macro Oriented Programming Exploring Post-Network Connectivity: Connectivity Fields Seizing the Memes of Production: A Memeathon In between bagels, sunset-watching breaks, and discussions on language models, the origins of the universe, and constitutions of science and truth, the Cyborgers were primarily focused on a hackathon experiment deemed “Lamp DAO.” The idea had been brewing for some weeks. Back in the basement, jokingly called “the lair" on the sticky note program grid, the experiment was taking shape. Jake Hartnell, __ __and DAO DAO co-founder was sitting on an office chair, bent over his computer wearing a blanket strung with LED lights around his shoulders like a cape. The  wires led to a Raspberry Pi, which he was using to test newly created voting tools. "So the lights on the blanket are blue now, but say we voted to change it to green - green's my favorite color - the vote would execute. I'll sign the transaction. I always love this part." Juno network Why Lamp DAO and What is it? Lamp DAO is a memetic-inspired demonstration, living art installation, and research and development project. The mission: To map, test and develop a DAO that can collectively control the brightness and hue of a lamp. cybernetics Chalam and Zeke Medley, another developer, are giggling wildly as they code JSON hue inputs generated from conversations with the conversational agent they build with . They query it about vibe preferences, referring to moods such as "dark and gloomy Japanese city in the rain," "bright, bold and glittery,” and “candy-colored hues” to generate a correlating number representing a light brightness and hue. OpenAI’s GPT-3 model "It sounds kind of stupid, I mean, it's a lamp. Why are we voting on the state of the lamp? The point is what it represents, a physical reality that's affecting all of us and we have a way to aggregate our preferences to change the physical reality. We can create a loop where we are reacting to that loop and continually updating it,” Chalam says excitedly. Event organizer, Case expands on the cybernetic aspects - human-machine assemblages and feedback loops of information and processes - emphasizing the importance of play in creativity and problem-solving. "By doing these things we create a temporary reality, a temporary autonomous zone, a liminal space betwixt and between the here and there in which people can come together and make something actually interesting. In this case, a socio-technical cybernetic assemblage that includes lamps, people, networks, DAOs, connectivity, voting, large language models like GPT-3, and other fun tools to demo out what we can do," Case explains. The lightbulb flicked on for Zargham when he was thinking about how to explain and demonstrate cyber infrastructure - socio-technical systems, with human and tech interfaces and feedback loops - and their power in shaping the "real world." Although cyber-physical infrastructure can include various layers of technology, the CyborgCamp group is well-versed in digital infrastructure design and systems engineering, including blockchain and cryptocurrency technology. Zargham discussed the idea with Case, Hartnell, colleagues at BlockScience, and the interdisciplinary research collective, - who all came to the quick and full consensus that Lamp DAO must happen. MetaGov Zargham explains his motivation in experimenting with Lamp DAO: "My dad was an engineer for the state of New York's Department of Transportation, so naturally I am versed in public infrastructure. What I do now involves a new technological substrate, but the same engineering and scientific principles apply.” “We must find ways to rewire our current systems to account for environmental, economic, and social externalities that have us in this incredibly destructive feedback loop. One challenge of working with young and smart, but all-too-often inexperienced builders in Web3 is, they're governing their governance to govern; at least " laughs Zargham. lamps are real, The BlockScience founder has a background in electrical and robotics engineering and is particularly interested to see Web3 capacities applied to enhance and control (in the sense) cyber-physical infrastructure. This could be especially useful in outdated systems - like national power grids - in need of upgrades in tech, as well as policies and governance tools that enable quicker response and adaptation to the increasing challenges of the . control theory polycrisis "It's a great time to apply this new technology to our existing physical systems, and at the same time create new digital public infrastructures – such as practical participatory governance for algorithms, especially in emerging technology like AI", Zargham added. How Does Lamp DAO Work? I get a notification from the Lamp DAO Signal chat with several people sending their Juno wallet addresses, and I follow suit. Without even speaking members reply with theirs, the signal that membership NFTs are being minted - the energy in the room - magnetic. The NFTs represent membership in Lamp DAO. From the DAO dashboard, the members can chat with the conversational agent using GPT-3 (built by Chalam and Medley) to set their preferred lighting aesthetic. The agent can translate between a Lamp DAO member’s preferred aesthetic and a JSON configuration. The DAO members can then stake tokens on their preference, while the back-end aggregates the preferences through a weighted average, and the JSON file feeds the chip wired to the lamp and adjusts the lamp accordingly. Chalam explains: “The point of this is to demonstrate a way for people to express their preferences in natural language without having to understand the underlying configuration format, thereby "democratizing" the configuration space. You can imagine using [AI] agents in similar ways to offer people more control and understanding of different governance levers.” Many aspects of the configuration are customizable (such as how to represent membership, token distribution and vote weighting) and Lamp DAO will continue experimenting with different aspects of the system and governance possibilities. I ask if the hue could be “rainbow disco” rather than one color. Within seconds, programmer Colten Jackson types a few lines of code, and the blanket - formerly worn by Hartnell now on the table in front of me - flashes wildly in an array of colors. From Lamp DAO to Energy Grids: Exploring “Real World” Applications After Jackson codes the disco for me, the hackers break from testing components for Lamp DAO to listen to a talk from one attendee’s father, Carl Paatka, on New York’s energy infrastructure. Energy grids are a fitting example (especially for Lamp DAO) of an infrastructure sector facing several challenges - increased demand from population shifts, global warming, and the switch to more electric vehicles to name a few. Patka is an energy and environmental lawyer working on climate change policy and tells me energy grids could employ decentralization and more distributed connectivity and supply to give the grid real-time capacity to load balance and respond to shifting needs. He tells me the intergenerational exchange was fruitful for both sides. “I gained insight from CyborgCamp on how blockchain and automated contracts can provide more tools to achieve climate change goals and actually enhance reliability and transparency of the power system for investors, operators, and customers. The ability to establish algorithmic markets and contracts will enable a two-way grid where the largest power lines are actively integrated in real-time with microgrids and small distributed energy resources and storage. The potential is huge,” said Patka. Lucas Chu, a former researcher at Harvard Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society’s metaLAB was especially interested in the grid talk. Chu wasn’t short on puns, but also sees the serious potential of the hackathon experiment as a potential solution to impending infrastructure crises. "Only at CyborgCamp would you have a room full of PhDs asking Chat GPT whether vanilla was the right vibe for an internet-controlled lamp. But what we're really asking is, ‘How do we change energy systems? How do we connect smart devices, wisely?’ We're at the door between data and oil, microgrids and markets, and elections and electrons, and we're just opening the door.” He continues, “Last September, over 1.5 trillion dollars was needed to keep energy trading just in Europe. Bitcoin was created in response to the Great Financial Crisis; we're building Plurigrid as a response to the Great Energy Crisis. Let there be light.” Seizing the “Memes of Production” While discussions of energy crises and AI continued, some of the hackers and I are making memes - like “I love lamp!” and “The future is bright” emulating a classic, cartoon-style propaganda poster. Lamp DAO is not only a cybernetics demonstration, playful experiment, and a , but it is also a chance for DAO DAO to build and battle-test new governance tooling. Medley and Zargham are at the whiteboard again, deriving algorithms for a new, DAO DAO version of a real-time voting tool called that allows people to continuously stream their preferences via a token staking mechanism. larp Conviction Voting While they work at the board, BlockScience researcher Jeff Emmett talks excitedly about the new voting tool and the need for better governance mechanisms in our existing political systems. "Right now in most countries, we vote once every four years. Imagine you touched a hot stove and it took four years for you to decide to move your hand. We need to upgrade our governance systems so they can be more responsive to the existential threats we face as a collective. We have new tools, that when used in the right context, can support more adaptive governance,” said Emmett. While discussions of governance continue, a new guest arrives - a prominent labor lawyer. She is exploring DAO technology for her organization - a network of unions, cooperatives, mutual aid groups, and faith-based institutions serving communities. Hartnell gives a walk-through of DAO DAO tooling for her on the TV in the house's child's playroom - the only vacant room in the house. Other Cyborgers join in and discuss various applications. Case participates in the discussion in between minting NFTs, using a Discord bot to blend AI-generated images. "The DAO tooling can be customized for anything - Delaware BCorps, clubs, coops, municipalities. We don't want to limit what people and DAOs can do with it. To illustrate the point, we have a pretty great larp going - there's a DAO in DAO DAO called 'The Corporation,'" Hartnell continues the walk-through. Hartnell demos the layers of the DAO, one-click smart contract deployments, and "The  Corporation's" sub-DAOs including "Non-Human Resources" and a board layer with an NFT membership profile of CEO, "Chairman Meow." The lawyer laughs and the group exchanges more experience, envisioning how and in what contexts this new tooling could be used. A Dimension Where the Future is Bright With the hackathon and event nearing an end, __ __is for now, a few smart contracts and 14 $LAMP tokens - one for each participant. The DAO managed to execute only one vote - changing the color of the LED blanket from blue to green. The group, however, has lofty dreams and plans to continue experimentation when possible amidst full-time work on projects and companies. Lamp DAO member and Research Fellow at Metagov, Isaac Patka, says running tests at graduated levels of risk is a must before actually deploying any of this tech with high-stakes infrastructure. Lamp DAO "Lamp DAO is a tangible experiment that will help us figure out how to design decentralized, resilient infrastructure. Think about the connection between the lamp and the internet, the internet and the state of the DAO, the DAO and the smart contracts that define the behavior, and the validators that run the nodes. There is counterparty risk everywhere. Before we can replace the lamp with real critical infrastructure we need to figure out how to manage this risk, and ideally without traditional centralized regulators," said Patka. The journey from hackathons and voting on LED lamp colors to power grid deployments and collective governance of major public infrastructure may be a long one, but as CyborgCamp attendees will remind you - the space between digital and physical worlds is shrinking and after all, space and time are relative. I pass various encampments of air mattresses as I head back to the lair. The basement has quieted as the CyborgCamp hackers had to tend to their “bio” needs (going out to dinner). The disco blanket, with its lights off, looks just like a regular blanket. Still on - Lamp DAO’s test lamp with the sticker "The future is bright" on its shade, with a "harmony contingent chill" hue, #42 glow. Acknowledgements Written by with edits and input from , , , , , and . Cover image generated with Stable Diffusion. Jessica Zartler Amber Case Michael Zargham Jeff Emmett Kelsie Nabben Janita Chalam Jakob Hackel Scott Moore

Lamp DAO: a Cybermemetic Experiment in Collective Governance

The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . GHEK PLAYS PRANKS GHEK PLAYS PRANKS While Tara of Helium was being led to The Towers of Jetan, Ghek was escorted to the pits beneath the palace where he was imprisoned in a dimly-lighted chamber. Here he found a bench and a table standing upon the dirt floor near the wall, and set in the wall several rings from which depended short lengths of chain. At the base of the walls were several holes in the dirt floor. These, alone, of the several things he saw, interested him. Ghek sat down upon the bench and waited in silence, listening. Presently the lights were extinguished. If Ghek could have smiled he would have then, for Ghek could see as well in the dark as in the light—better, perhaps. He watched the dark openings of the holes in the floor and waited. Presently he detected a change in the air about him—it grew heavy with a strange odor, and once again might Ghek have smiled, could he have smiled. Let them replace all the air in the chamber with their most deadly fumes; it would be all the same to Ghek, the kaldane, who, having no lungs, required no air. With the rykor it might be different. Deprived of air it would die; but if only a sufficient amount of the gas was introduced to stupefy an ordinary creature it would have no effect upon the rykor, who had no objective mind to overcome. So long as the excess of carbon dioxide in the blood was not sufficient to prevent heart action, the rykor would suffer only a diminution of vitality; but would still respond to the exciting agency of the kaldane's brain. Ghek caused the rykor to assume a sitting position with its back against the wall where it might remain without direction from his brain. Then he released his contact with its spinal cord; but remained in position upon its shoulders, waiting and watching, for the kaldane's curiosity was aroused. He had not long to wait before the lights were flashed on and one of the locked doors opened to admit a half-dozen warriors. They approached him rapidly and worked quickly. First they removed all his weapons and then, snapping a fetter about one of the rykor's ankles, secured him to the end of one of the chains hanging from the walls. Next they dragged the long table to a new position and there bolted it to the floor so that an end, instead of the middle, was directly before the prisoner. On the table before him they set food and water and upon the opposite end of the table they laid the key to the fetter. Then they unlocked and opened all the doors and departed. When Turan the panthan regained consciousness it was to the realization of a sharp pain in one of his forearms. The effects of the gas departed as rapidly as they had overcome him so that as he opened his eyes he was in full possession of all his faculties. The lights were on again and in their glow there was revealed to the man the figure of a giant Martian rat crouching upon the table and gnawing upon his arm. Snatching his arm away he reached for his short-sword, while the rat, growling, sought to seize his arm again. It was then that Turan discovered that his weapons had been removed—short-sword, long-sword, dagger, and pistol. The rat charged him then and striking the creature away with his hand the man rose and backed off, searching for something with which to strike a harder blow. Again the rat charged and as Turan stepped quickly back to avoid the menacing jaws, something seemed to jerk suddenly upon his right ankle, and as he drew his left foot back to regain his equilibrium his heel caught upon a taut chain and he fell heavily backward to the floor just as the rat leaped upon his breast and sought his throat. The Martian rat is a fierce and unlovely thing. It is many-legged and hairless, its hide resembling that of a newborn mouse in repulsiveness. In size and weight it is comparable to a large Airedale terrier. Its eyes are small and close-set, and almost hidden in deep, fleshy apertures. But its most ferocious and repulsive feature is its jaws, the entire bony structure of which protrudes several inches beyond the flesh, revealing five sharp, spadelike teeth in the upper jaw and the same number of similar teeth in the lower, the whole suggesting the appearance of a rotting face from which much of the flesh has sloughed away. It was such a thing that leaped upon the breast of the panthan to tear at his jugular. Twice Turan struck it away as he sought to regain his feet, but both times it returned with increased ferocity to renew the attack. Its only weapons are its jaws since its broad, splay feet are armed with blunt talons. With its protruding jaws it excavates its winding burrows and with its broad feet it pushes the dirt behind it. To keep the jaws from his flesh then was Turan's only concern and this he succeeded in doing until chance gave him a hold upon the creature's throat. After that the end was but a matter of moments. Rising at last he flung the lifeless thing from him with a shudder of disgust. Now he turned his attention to a hurried inventory of the new conditions which surrounded him since the moment of his incarceration. He realized vaguely what had happened. He had been anaesthetized and stripped of his weapons, and as he rose to his feet he saw that one ankle was fettered to a chain in the wall. He looked about the room. All the doors swung wide open! His captors would render his imprisonment the more cruel by leaving ever before him tempting glimpses of open aisles to the freedom he could not attain. Upon the end of the table and within easy reach was food and drink. This at least was attainable and at sight of it his starved stomach seemed almost to cry aloud for sustenance. It was with difficulty that he ate and drank in moderation. As he devoured the food his eyes wandered about the confines of his prison until suddenly they seized upon a thing that lay on the table at the end farthest from him. It was a key. He raised his fettered ankle and examined the lock. There could be no doubt of it! The key that lay there on the table before him was the key to that very lock. A careless warrior had laid it there and departed, forgetting. Hope surged high in the breast of Gahan of Gathol, of Turan the panthan. Furtively his eyes sought the open doorways. There was no one in sight. Ah, if he could but gain his freedom! He would find some way from this odious city back to her side and never again would he leave her until he had won safety for her or death for himself. He rose and moved cautiously toward the opposite end of the table where lay the coveted key. The fettered ankle halted his first step, but he stretched at full length along the table, extending eager fingers toward the prize. They almost laid hold upon it—a little more and they would touch it. He strained and stretched, but still the thing lay just beyond his reach. He hurled himself forward until the iron fetter bit deep into his flesh, but all futilely. He sat back upon the bench then and glared at the open doors and the key, realizing now that they were part of a well-laid scheme of refined torture, none the less demoralizing because it inflicted no physical suffering. For just a moment the man gave way to useless regret and foreboding, then he gathered himself together, his brows cleared, and he returned to his unfinished meal. At least they should not have the satisfaction of knowing how sorely they had hit him. As he ate it occurred to him that by dragging the table along the floor he could bring the key within his reach, but when he essayed to do so, he found that the table had been securely bolted to the floor during the period of his unconsciousness. Again Gahan smiled and shrugged and resumed his eating. When the warriors had departed from the prison in which Ghek was confined, the kaldane crawled from the shoulders of the rykor to the table. Here he drank a little water and then directed the hands of the rykor to the balance of it and to the food, upon which the brainless thing fell with avidity. While it was thus engaged Ghek took his spider-like way along the table to the opposite end where lay the key to the fetter. Seizing it in a chela he leaped to the floor and scurried rapidly toward the mouth of one of the burrows against the wall, into which he disappeared. For long had the brain been contemplating these burrow entrances. They appealed to his kaldanean tastes, and further, they pointed a hiding place for the key and a lair for the only kind of food that the kaldane relished—flesh and blood. Ghek had never seen an ulsio, since these great Martian rats had long ago disappeared from Bantoom, their flesh and blood having been greatly relished by the kaldanes; but Ghek had inherited, almost unimpaired, every memory of every ancestor, and so he knew that ulsio inhabited these lairs and that ulsio was good to eat, and he knew what ulsio looked like and what his habits were, though he had never seen him nor any picture of him. As we breed animals for the transmission of physical attributes, so the Kaldanes breed themselves for the transmission of attributes of the mind, including memory and the power of recollection, and thus have they raised what we term instinct, above the level of the threshold of the objective mind where it may be commanded and utilized by recollection. Doubtless in our own subjective minds lie many of the impressions and experiences of our forebears. These may impinge upon our consciousness in dreams only, or in vague, haunting suggestions that we have before experienced some transient phase of our present existence. Ah, if we had but the power to recall them! Before us would unfold the forgotten story of the lost eons that have preceded us. We might even walk with God in the garden of His stars while man was still but a budding idea within His mind. Ghek descended into the burrow at a steep incline for some ten feet, when he found himself in an elaborate and delightful network of burrows! The kaldane was elated. This indeed was life! He moved rapidly and fearlessly and he went as straight to his goal as you could to the kitchen of your own home. This goal lay at a low level in a spheroidal cavity about the size of a large barrel. Here, in a nest of torn bits of silk and fur lay six baby ulsios. When the mother returned there were but five babies and a great spider-like creature, which she immediately sprang to attack only to be met by powerful chelae which seized and held her so that she could not move. Slowly they dragged her throat toward a hideous mouth and in a little moment she was dead. Ghek might have remained in the nest for a long time, since there was ample food for many days; but he did not do so. Instead he explored the burrows. He followed them into many subterranean chambers of the city of Manator, and upward through walls to rooms above the ground. He found many ingeniously devised traps, and he found poisoned food and other signs of the constant battle that the inhabitants of Manator waged against these repulsive creatures that dwelt beneath their homes and public buildings. His exploration revealed not only the vast proportions of the network of runways that apparently traversed every portion of the city, but the great antiquity of the majority of them. Tons upon tons of dirt must have been removed, and for a long time he wondered where it had been deposited, until in following downward a tunnel of great size and length he sensed before him the thunderous rush of subterranean waters, and presently came to the bank of a great, underground river, tumbling onward, no doubt, the length of a world to the buried sea of Omean. Into this torrential sewer had unthinkable generations of ulsios pushed their few handsful of dirt in the excavating of their vast labyrinth. For only a moment did Ghek tarry by the river, for his seemingly aimless wanderings were in reality prompted by a definite purpose, and this he pursued with vigor and singleness of design. He followed such runways as appeared to terminate in the pits or other chambers of the inhabitants of the city, and these he explored, usually from the safety of a burrow's mouth, until satisfied that what he sought was not there. He moved swiftly upon his spider legs and covered remarkable distances in short periods of time. His search not being rewarded with immediate success, he decided to return to the pit where his rykor lay chained and look to its wants. As he approached the end of the burrow that terminated in the pit he slackened his pace, stopping just within the entrance of the runway that he might scan the interior of the chamber before entering it. As he did so he saw the figure of a warrior appear suddenly in an opposite doorway. The rykor sprawled upon the table, his hands groping blindly for more food. Ghek saw the warrior pause and gaze in sudden astonishment at the rykor; he saw the fellow's eyes go wide and an ashen hue replace the copper bronze of his cheek. He stepped back as though someone had struck him in the face. For an instant only he stood thus as in a paralysis of fear, then he uttered a smothered shriek and turned and fled. Again was it a catastrophe that Ghek, the kaldane, could not smile. Quickly entering the room he crawled to the table top and affixed himself to the shoulders of his rykor, and there he waited; and who may say that Ghek, though he could not smile, possessed not a sense of humor? For a half-hour he sat there, and then there came to him the sound of men approaching along corridors of stone. He could hear their arms clank against the rocky walls and he knew that they came at a rapid pace; but just before they reached the entrance to his prison they paused and advanced more slowly. In the lead was an officer, and just behind him, wide-eyed and perhaps still a little ashen, the warrior who had so recently departed in haste. At the doorway they halted and the officer turned sternly upon the warrior. With upraised finger he pointed at Ghek. "There sits the creature! Didst thou dare lie, then, to thy dwar?" "I swear," cried the warrior, "that I spoke the truth. But a moment since the thing groveled, headless, upon this very table! And may my first ancestor strike me dead upon the spot if I speak other than a true word!" The officer looked puzzled. The men of Mars seldom if ever lie. He scratched his head. Then he addressed Ghek. "How long have you been here?" he asked. "Who knows better than those who placed me here and chained me to a wall?" he returned in reply. "Saw you this warrior enter here a few minutes since?" "I saw him," replied Ghek. "And you sat there where you sit now?" continued the officer. "Look thou to my chain and tell me then where else might I sit!" cried Ghek. "Art the people of thy city all fools?" Three other warriors pressed behind the two in front, craning their necks to view the prisoner while they grinned at the discomfiture of their fellow. The officer scowled at Ghek. "Thy tongue is as venomous as that of the she-banth O-Tar sent to The Towers of Jetan," he said. "You speak of the young woman who was captured with me?" asked Ghek, his expressionless monotone and face revealing naught of the interest he felt. "I speak of her," replied the dwar, and then turning to the warrior who had summoned him: "return to thy quarters and remain there until the next games. Perhaps by that time thy eyes may have learned not to deceive thee." The fellow cast a venomous glance at Ghek and turned away. The officer shook his head. "I do not understand it," he muttered. "Always has U-Van been a true and dependable warrior. Could it be—?" he glanced piercingly at Ghek. "Thou hast a strange head that misfits thy body, fellow," he cried. "Our legends tell us of those ancient creatures that placed hallucinations upon the mind of their fellows. If thou be such then maybe U-Van suffered from thy forbidden powers. If thou be such O-Tar will know well how to deal with thee." He wheeled about and motioned his warriors to follow him. "Wait!" cried Ghek. "Unless I am to be starved, send me food." "You have had food," replied the warrior. "Am I to be fed but once a day?" asked Ghek. "I require food oftener than that. Send me food." "You shall have food," replied the officer. "None may say that the prisoners of Manator are ill-fed. Just are the laws of Manator," and he departed. No sooner had the sounds of their passing died away in the distance than Ghek clambered from the shoulders of his rykor, and scurried to the burrow where he had hidden the key. Fetching it he unlocked the fetter from about the creature's ankle, locked it empty and carried the key farther down into the burrow. Then he returned to his place upon his brainless servitor. After a while he heard footsteps approaching, whereupon he rose and passed into another corridor from that down which he knew the warrior was coming. Here he waited out of sight, listening. He heard the man enter the chamber and halt. He heard a muttered exclamation, followed by the jangle of metal dishes as a salver was slammed upon a table; then rapidly retreating footsteps, which quickly died away in the distance. Ghek lost no time in returning to the chamber, recovering the key, relocking the rykor to his chain. Then he replaced the key in the burrow and squatting on the table beside his headless body, directed its hands toward the food. While the rykor ate Ghek sat listening for the scraping sandals and clattering arms that he knew soon would come. Nor had he long to wait. Ghek scrambled to the shoulders of his rykor as he heard them coming. Again it was the officer who had been summoned by U-Van and with him were three warriors. The one directly behind him was evidently the same who had brought the food, for his eyes went wide when he saw Ghek sitting at the table and he looked very foolish as the dwar turned his stern glance upon him. "It is even as I said," he cried. "He was not here when I brought his food." "But he is here now," said the officer grimly, "and his fetter is locked about his ankle. Look! it has not been opened—but where is the key? It should be upon the table at the end opposite him. Where is the key, creature?" he shouted at Ghek. "How should I, a prisoner, know better than my jailer the whereabouts of the key to my fetters?" he retorted. "But it lay here," cried the officer, pointing to the other end of the table. "Did you see it?" asked Ghek. The officer hesitated. "No but it must have been there," he parried. "Did you see the key lying there?" asked Ghek, pointing to another warrior. The fellow shook his head negatively. "And you? and you?" continued the kaldane addressing the others. They both admitted that they never had seen the key. "And if it had been there how could I have reached it?" he continued. "No, he could not have reached it," admitted the officer; "but there shall be no more of this! I-Zav, you will remain here on guard with this prisoner until you are relieved." I-Zav looked anything but happy as this intelligence was transmitted to him, and he eyed Ghek suspiciously as the dwar and the other warriors turned and left him to his unhappy lot. 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. Edgar Rice Burroughs (1998). The Chessmen of Mars. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1153/pg1153-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 www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

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Top Web Development Companies in 2018

Have you ever been on an agile project where the sprint goals, deadlines, and the pressure of completing tasks, took over the opportunity to make some wiser decisions? If you are a developer, you’ve probably seen the quality of your code being affected by that. This is what this blog post is going to help you fight against. I need to mention that the company you work for needs to have the will to apply the actions that lead to building products with a high code quality underneath. In opposition to, for example, the business model of a high-speed delivery software factory is generally based on offering cheap development services and building simple apps with the hope to catch some attention to skyrocket investments. Moving on, if you already have a suspicion that focusing too much on delivery could negatively affect your project and you want to start the ride towards a solid eye-catching codebase, put on your armor and keep scrolling down. Why aim for code quality in agile? Save your team from hell There is something very important we say at - It won’t be long until you find yourself facing an awful code without really realizing how you’ve got there. Once you are in that situation, it will become increasingly harder to understand what’s going on, and as a consequence, it becomes painful and stressful to work on that project. LoopStudio You are in an industry where you can get creative and enjoy what you do. Not many people can say that, so don’t waste that opportunity by turning your job into a nightmare! Bad code, bad results… As much as someone wants to detach how code is written from the ability to produce successful results, it’s just not possible. Everyone makes mistakes, so bugs and other issues are expected to appear in your app at some point. However, if your team doesn’t feel comfortable around the code, it’s quite likely that more stuff will go wrong. Being in a constant state of uncertainty, stress, and uneasiness will fall into making rushed decisions that lacked a proper analysis, and probably a poor review too. Do it for yourself As a developer, you want to grow constantly and in many ways. One of the main growth areas is strengthening your technical skills. Even though creating robust pieces of code may require you to be in a partially structured environment, once you are there, you depend on yourself to walk in that direction. It’s an efficient career path. Hold on… What is code quality anyway? So far, so good, right? But we haven’t defined what code quality is, and the reason is that it’s not easy to come up with a definition. If you put 10 tech leads of the most resounding companies out there and ask them how a piece of code is supposed to look, they will probably have many disagreements, so why would I know better? The thing here is that . It’s up to every development team to establish and perform around what they're committed to. However, I can give you the tools to identify if your code fulfills that objective and therefore, make it shine. Fair enough? you have to figure out the real meaning Awesome! So this is the picture you are looking for: Everyone on the team has to understand and back up how it looks, to keep building in the same fashion. The maintainability of your project can’t decrease . Your codebase should be just as clean, understandable, and maintainable in every phase of the project. unless in certain situations or emergencies, of course The cold translation is that the team has to be aware of every single line of code that went into the repo, which can mean one of two things: either the current state of that code is the desired one, or it’s tracked as technical debt. Too harsh? Out of reach? Don’t panic, you are one step closer to pulling it off… Unveiling the tactics: How to do it You don’t get what you don’t seek Overall . Whether we are talking about a pretty design, a performant app, or a solid architecture, you will make it just if the team is focusing its effort there. However, the first person to determine the nature of all this is the PO (Product Owner). If the app you’ve been building has a very poor UX because of the rush to get features working at their most elementary level into production, the designers and developers are not to be blamed for this. They did what was asked in the short time they had. quality is an attitude Basically, you can’t go further than what your context allows you. This could even mean that you should switch projects or your job if you’re sure it’s what you want. Anyhow this turns out to be, the first step to accomplishing any kind of results is to identify the goals of the project and push in that direction. Conquer, or die… Once established that you are creating a high-caliber product, you’ll enter one of the hardest parts of this journey: selling your programming standards. How can you justify to the PO that your development approach will add up some points to the sprints? No one will be able to tell any difference by using the app… Well, this is where we have to re-visit our driving force to start this whole case, and that is the ability to build a framework where everybody is sailing in the same boat, supporting each other and taking care of what they’ve created. If they can see that, they’ll see why the translation is a more solid and less problematic project. On the other hand, if you don’t get this reaction, . this game is over Preparing for the game The time has come for the development teams to gather their ideas and start getting on the same page. This is a process that never needs to end and it changes depending on what stage of the project you are in. It’s always easier if you get to be one of the team’s first members and set the ground for the whole journey, but if you’re not, that doesn’t mean you can’t re-evaluate some previously taken decisions and change them for the better. That said, assuming the team can get a foot in the door on day one, you’ll want to have this: A that has to be able to keep up with the requirements in an efficient way, and also be familiar or easy to learn to all the developers stack An that will determine how all the pieces will be connected. architecture A defined that will make sure everyone is coding in the same fashion . style guide - the more detailed and rigid it is, the better, but at least have clean documentation with examples- Communication is everything at this stage. Creating spaces for open discussions about these topics will dictate the outcome of the decisions. Having that in mind, if you are not finding yourself in 2 hours-long meetings with a lot of back and forth, you might not be giving the discussion the importance that it needs. Have all that sorted out and you will be ahead in the game. Although arriving at this scenario is not cheap at the beginning, having enough transparency around it, the PO will understand the impact this will have on the product, let alone the huge improvement you’ll be setting up for the devs’ experience throughout the project. Mastering your code writing Okay, time to type. But wait! There is only one question left to be answered, and it’s one you need to ask yourself: That’s it, truthfully. If no one has the perfect answer, why not give it your shot? “How can I do this better?” Only by challenging your convictions, you’ll grow. What’s more, I would strongly suggest using this question as a kick-off for digging into a source of new information. Instead of devouring 10 courses that you will forget before over a couple of beers, There is no article, course, or degree that will get you further than questioning yourself. face the real world first, and go get what you need to survive in it. The ultimate Battlefield: Code review Working alongside other developers is a challenge on its own, let alone doing it in high-quality terms when being on the same page at all times is of extreme importance. Needless to say, here , which means that everyone is responsible for calling out any inconsistencies there may be with the best practices they have previously defined. ignorance is not a valid consensus mechanism At this stage, . If you have to leave 20 comments in a single Pull Request, , and yes, the field can get dirty sometimes, with strong contrasting technical opinions, different mindsets, and divergent priorities. Nevertheless, if done professionally, these are milestones towards building a shared concept of your work. Remember: , so apply that and it’s better to be annoying than silent leave them questioning yourself is what will get you further bring your team with you. There’s an internal and external purpose to this process. The is that the PR under review is clean and matches the team’s standards (functionality and performance are a given for the entirety of this article). On the other hand, the is the overall vision of how that integration might be affecting the rest of the code, as well as a place for coming up with new ideas, re-evaluation of what you are doing, and most importantly, the opportunity to teach and learn from your teammates. Not because you need to move a ticket or achieve the sprint’s goal, . internal purpose external purpose but because you are growing together Loose the arrow: What to avoid I have three very important pieces of advice for this final stage: Nock, draw, loose! We’ve been talking about how to nock and draw the bow to shoot the perfect arrow throughout this post, yet you need to shoot at some time. In other words, . In the end, that’s what we’re expected to do. Clients pay for results, not for how pretty our code is. Since that’s the case, . As perfection does not exist, flexibility is required. you need to deliver value you can’t be the enemy of the product With that said, let’s straighten this out: There is a huge difference between taking a delivery-focused decision and cutting out corners. . In this framework, if you have to rush a decision, its resulting code should be tracked as tech debt. Take note of that one Don’t be ruthless Even if your team is not keeping up with the established guidelines, you have to communicate in the most collaborative manner possible and try to understand them. For that reason, you also have to learn to define priorities to reach the objectives. If you have to make 20 comments on every PR you see, start by getting the core concepts right. Lowering the bar is not that dramatic as long as the team is always pushing to level up. A good idea for overcoming these challenges is to start adding tech debt in parallel with user stories to the sprint as the team gains experience. Never think you know better, even if you might You are part of a team, despite your seniority, knowledge of the project, or whatever advantage you may have over another teammate, so every meaningful decision you make has to be validated by them. Communicate as much as possible, ask for opinions and encourage them to give you feedback. A great benefit of the quality-focused mindset is the proactive approach it generates around every aspect of the project. If you get that part right, team bonding should increase progressively, creating a virtuous circle of mutual growth. Conclusion Hard work pays off, regardless of what you are doing. Crafting quality code is just one way more of trying to get the best out of the time you spend developing. You are undoubtedly setting your team up for an uphill battle, but you are preventing dreadful issues down the road. Even if mistakes and wrong decisions jump the queue, you will notice them faster and take wiser actions. Plus, as the team strives to upgrade their technical game, that drive will lead to paying more attention to other project details, making room for greater involvement, exceeding average expectations, and enhancing the final product. In the end, . you’ve won the battle Also Published here

How to Super Charge Your Web Design Skills This Year

Dubai is the most populated city of UAE and is home to many ethnicities. Attracting all these people with different tastes to your specific business is not a piece of cake. Having a user-friendly and appealing website plays an integral role in taking your business to heights. With 1.94 billion active websites in the world, how can you make yourself unique and better than the others? 48% of people believe that a website’s design is the foremost factor in considering the credibility of a business. Unfortunately, websites lack a proper CTA and 64% don’t even have a website. Can you calculate the loss incurred by a vast majority of businesses just because their website couldn’t generate conversions? 70% of SMB Let us share with you the power of strong website design and its ability to reap immense profits through proper CTA: Creating a Remarkable CTA Button by Focusing on Web Design Elements When you want your audience to act, the elements and practices of web design become extremely important. Once your website succeeds in luring leads, your next target is to convert them. 90% of users, who read your headline, will also read the CTA, and only a well-designed CTA button can proceed them to the next step. No matter how strong your CTA appears to be, if the clutter around it makes it impossible for the users to notice it immediately, it will not do any good to you. The negative space on your website gives the on-screen elements room to breathe and removes the risk of overwhelming visitors. By making CTAs look like buttons, the debating forum CreateDebate got a 45% boost in clicks. USA’s online logistics service, Open Mile, found that reducing the clutter around the CTA button increased . conversion rate by 232% Sell the Free Trial by Applying the Rule of Thirds The rule of thirds doesn’t just apply to photography and fine arts but is also an integral element in website design. By placing the free-trial CTAs at points where the eyes drift naturally, you can make them more noticeable. You need to ensure that the rest of the design must flow naturally around it. Around 84% of the users will bounce off if you ask them to buy your product in the first encounter, but a free trial will increase conversions by 328%. The “free trial” tactic works best for SaaS companies and is an interesting new feature enjoyed by Dubai-based firms. The 14-day trial policy of Shopify helped it grow its revenue 3 times and currently, it boasts over 175,000 users. Gain Familiarity with Users and Give them a Value-Oriented CTA People immediately feel connected when they see human faces on the . If you are the face of your brand, the deed becomes simple. But, you can also hire models to represent your company. The only thing to keep in mind is that these faces should resonate with your brand. website design Your click-through rate is going to suffer if your doesn’t offer any benefit to the users. Feeling connected or understood is not enough for any prospect to give you leads without gaining anything beneficial in return. CTA A fine example is of , which has its CTA button stating “double your traffic in 30 days”. hiked its signups by 34% by stating all the key benefits next to their CTA button and surrounding it by anxiety-free content. QuickSprout FriendBuy The Bottom Line To create an effective CTA, it is important that your website can draw and retain traffic. There are plenty of strategies but not all of them can deliver. Understanding the ever-changing underlying trends of website designing and lead generation are essential to generating higher revenue. From making your CTAs personalized, which convert 42% more users, to creating the perfect anchor text, which increases conversion by 121%, a reputable will have it all covered for you. If you want to stay on top in search engine rankings, you need to produce quality because Google only ranks superior content higher. website design agency

Website Design Strategies for a Worthwhile “Call to Action”

Growth Paradox We work with CEOs every day, developing strategy and helping leaders position their businesses to meet their growth goals. From small, young start-ups, to well-established, global enterprise businesses, CEOs have a tough role — and being the visionary for the business amidst the need for high growth is a challenge we see again and again. Today’s companies are scaling faster than ever before — even in the middle of increased competition, market pressures, and the stress of solving problems faster and faster. It’s no surprise that the average lifecycle of organizations is getting shorter and shorter. The paradox of growth is a problem that plagues many of our clients. Companies start experiencing growth and greater success in the market, but with this initial high-growth comes complexity. And eventually, this complexity stunts growth. CEOs come to us feeling disconnected from a clear purpose with a slow, fuzzy vision of how to proceed. Changing Mindsets: A Founder’s Mentality In high-growth periods, it’s a challenge to continue to establish credibility, , live the brand’s values, rally employees, satisfy customers, and act as the head decision maker and strategic lead. build trust We’ve found adopting a founders’ mentality — thinking, acting, and leading like you founded the company — can ensure you grow business sustainably and successfully. Here’s what leading like a founder looks like: 1. See Beyond Today Founders of companies are excited by the future, and driven by it. They aren’t just thinking about today, but years down the road. And for any CEO today, long-term thinking is critical to successful growth. Your vision for the future should define and guide how you grow today, tomorrow, and for years down the line. Re-evaluate and ask yourself where you see the company in one year, 3 years, 5 years, even 10 years. Get clear about your growth goals and how they align to your business and brand goals. Your job is to evaluate the whole picture and lead from there. 2. Obsess Over Customer Satisfaction Think about a founder’s first customers. That founder works tirelessly to create the best experiences and foster the most meaningful relationships with those customers — because they are key to the businesses’ success moving forward. Every customer should be approached with this kind of intent. As businesses grow their customer bases, it’s easy to lose sight of customer satisfaction. But it still matters — and arguably, even more. Your customers have the chance to be you biggest advocates or your largest hurdles. Obsess over their experiences, and grow a brand that people will continue to love. 3. Foster Loyal and Energized Employees Now think about a founder’s first employees. They have to be the brand’s biggest advocates. The founder has to inspire and motivate them to rally behind his or her vision for the company and what the brand promises. There’s a reason why a company’s first employees are usually its most loyal employees. They take a risk joining a new business and are motivated to make sure it succeeds. You can make new employees — years and decades down the road — behave like your first. But to do so, you have to bring them along on the journey. Make them feel valued. Focus attention on inspiring and motivating them. Share your vision with them and support them in helping you make it a reality. 4. Say Bye to Bureaucracy As businesses grow, bureaucracy can be one of the biggest growth hurdles. Red tape stunts innovation, creativity, collaboration, agility, and ultimately, growth. Adopting a founder’s mentality means you act as the key decision maker. Trust your gut, be strategic, ask for help when you need it, but don’t lose sight of your role as head decision maker. Take charge, take ownership, and take accountability for the decisions you make — that is your job. 5. Adopt an Owner’s Mindset: Be Bold Founding a company takes guts. We know. When Bella and I started Emotive Brand, we wanted to be a different kind of agency. We wanted to focus solely on B2B brands. We stepped out on a limb and started our agency in a very down market. Some said the absolute worse time to start a company. But we did. We launched almost 10 years ago with the attitude of go big or go home! We had unwavering confidence. A clear purpose. We were willing to go against the grain. And it paid off. We are now a well known, “go to agency” for high-growth technology and B2B companies looking to grow their business, build a stronger brand, and ensure their employees are aligned and understand what is needed from them. Embrace change, think differently, welcome uncertainty — growth won’t be possible without that kind of mindset. Whether you’re a founder or not, adopting a founders’ mentality might be the difference between performing and outperforming your competitors. If you’re running into challenges with growth, or are just curious about how to approach leading your business during a period of high-growth, please reach out. Emotive Brand is a San Francisco brand strategy and design agency.

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