#002 Gratitude, Readl Competitions, Winning with class.
Writers Without Walls
Newsication # 002
Writers Without Walls
Proudly Sponsored by Zirkels
Welcome to the 2nd edition of Writers Without Walls Newsication. Wait, did we just say Newsication? Yes, yes we did. After a little brainstorming, we made up a word. We aren’t just a newsletter, and we aren’t just a publication. Publetter made JD thirsty, so Newsication was agreed upon.
Which you can access and share across three different platforms.
Obviously, here on Substack
Also, here on Zirkels
And here on Medium
Following on from the last issues announcements.
Readl had the Twitter space with guest speakers, our very own JD, and prolific web3 writer Edward. You can listen to the recording here.
The Nas.io community is now in Beta. Currently, we are only inviting our subscribers to join. Send an email to Admin or JD to request an invite. See previous issue #001 for the details.
Not your keys, not your crypto.
Well, what a few weeks it has been in crypto. Right? It’s still unravelling as we are working on this issue. As we are a writing newsication, we aren’t going to go into details. We just wanted to mention to anyone holding crypto or thinking about it that the safest place is in your own wallet. Such as MetaMask, Trust, Ledger Nano, and Trezor. These wallets can be mobile, desktop and hardware. Each has its pros and cons, but all are better than leaving your funds on any exchange. Our recommendation is, unless you plan to use the funds on the exchange within a few hours, get them off there and into your wallet.
The damage this does to crypto is yet to be fully felt. We are of the opinion that this isn't what crypto/web3 was meant to be. It is meant to be creating a better world for all. Not more of the same greed and corruption, replacing current billionaires with more of the same. Web 3 is about giving power back to the people. We need leaders in the space to stand up for what is fair and right and lead by example.
This brings us to a special mention. As you know, JD launched on Readl with a few other writers, including our very own David. You can view David’s collection here. Readl held a competition; whoever minted the most of a story won. 250 Matic. (Approx $200 USD at the time) In true JD form, he went about things the hard way and had all 10 short stories up, 9 during the competition, plus his “The Day I Died”, the true story about the day he died. He also bought Ed’s and David’s stories. Writers supporting writers.
The winner was Edward H Carpenter. Check out his story Tears In The Rain on Readl.co
It’s what he did next that we want to summarise briefly. He believes that everyone involved was the winner. So he got the data from Readl of everyone that had stories minted. Divided the winnings by that number and sent Matic to their account. It worked out at about 3 Matic per story minted. That’s a web3 leader right there.
You can read his full thread on Twitter here.
This is what we believe in, writers supporting writers. We aren’t in competition with other. Even when we are. By the way, Readl has a new competition going. Check it out here.
This issue, we thought we’d reflect on what we are thankful for.
From David’s Desk.
As we approach Thanksgiving here in the US, I like to take time to reflect on the things in my life that bring me joy; the things I’m thankful for.
Today, I was reminded of a 2-week road trip my wife and I took last Summer. Blogging about this trip is what officially launched my very first Substack newsletter, which I’m thankful for all on its own.
This first post is from the first day of our journey, and the topic is so fitting: gradual changes.
If you don’t take anything else from our road trip, take this:
There are no shortcuts in life like an airplane. The neat thing about flying is you can leave the green luscious hills of North Carolina and land in the dry rocky mountains in Colorado. It’s an instant environment change. When you drive you don’t get that. Every state blends into the next one and each has little remnants of the last as they slowly morph into a new landscape.
Isn’t life similar? In each stage, we carry remnants of the last as we slowly transform our character.
This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for life’s gradual changes.
Read David’s full article here.
From JDs Desk
There are many things I am grateful for, and like New Years' Eve and resolutions, I don’t believe these things should be kept to one day; great for highlighting it. Easy to fall into the trap of saving it for that one day. Every day we should start and finish the day with something we are grateful for. However you express that, it doesn’t matter. Verbally, internally, as a prayer, or writing it down. Whatever works for you is what matters.
Something I am eternally grateful for is the nurses, doctors and surgeons that saved my life, bringing me back to give me a fighting chance, even though they didn’t think I’d make it. I’m also grateful for my stubborn nature.
I see the truck bearing down on us out of the corner of my eye, I consider dropping our weight to my right, dropping down a few gears, and really opening that throttle up, red-lining the girl in an attempt to get away.
I had just gotten home from work, and my fiance of 10 days was almost ready. I’d said we would go somewhere for a drink and a bite to eat, as well as swing by one of my offsite warehouses. I didn’t want to though, I just wanted to lay down after a full-on day. I averaged 30 thousand steps a day at my job and it was physically demanding.
Today had been busier than usual and I was tired. Looking back I think it was my gut telling me to not go, but I knew she’d been looking forward to getting out of the house. So we geared up and jumped on my Hyosung 650cc and off we went.
The warehouse was going to be the first stop. 15 minutes away, at the most. I slowed down as we approached the roundabout, a bus was going straight through, across our path. Bear in mind, that we are in Australia, and we drive on the left-hand side. I looked to my right, nothing was coming at all. Glanced to my left as I started opening up the throttle and leaning, as we entered the roundabout, I saw the truck approaching and dismissed it as I went to open her up further, I’ve got right of way, he’s not even at the roundabout as I’ve entered. Halfway through, a split second in time, I see the truck bearing down on us out of the corner of my eye, I consider dropping our weight to my right, dropping down a few gears and really opening that throttle up, red-lining the girl in an attempt to get away. Instantly I realise, there’s no getting away from this. I sit upright, turning my body, putting my left arm behind me in an attempt to shield my fiance. It all seemed to happen so fast, yet I remember considering two courses of action, dismissing the first, which was flight, trying to get us away from the danger.
This issue’s guest writer is CD Damitio
𝘎𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘛&𝘊𝘴.
CD Damitio is a lifelong storyteller and Web3 publishing pioneer. He is the founder and editor of Vagobond Magazine and the author of at least a baker’s dozen books. He lives in Honolulu, Hawaii and enjoys writing, travel, and time spent with family and friends.
Feel free to join his discord community here
Web3 Community and Web3 Publishing: An Introduction
By CD Damitio
“Web3? What is that? Community? You mean like a neighbourhood?”
These are questions I frequently hear when I mention Web3 Community - which I often do. I think it’s really important for everyone to have a clear understanding of what we’re talking about when we say ‘Web3 Community’.
When we talk about Web3 Community we are not referencing a geographical definition, instead we are more closely talking about what the Oxford Dictionary defines as ‘a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals’ and also what Merriam-Webster defines as a group of people sharing a common history or having a shared ownership interest. For our purposes, I would combine these definitions to something like: a group of people sharing a common history in specific Web3 projects that may also include shared ownership and project specific goals.
The trickier definition is Web3. Web3 is the next (some would say future, some would say present) iteration of electronic data connectivity. In layman’s terms: the internet.
Web1 is the internet of the 1990s and 2000s – a world wide web of interconnected sites and data connected with http://www – that is hypertext transfer protocol world wide web.
Web2 is the mobile, social media, and walled garden internet born with the advent and domination of Facebook, Apple, Google, and other mega-sites that utilised data-mining and user generated content to create massive capitalistic systems that exploit users without giving them ownership of the platforms of even their own user-generated data.
Web3 is the expected next iteration of the internet and there is no solid definition of it yet because it is largely still a vision that communities are striving for. The key concepts of Web3 are decentralisation i.e. not controlled or dominated by Wall Street, Silicon Valley, or governments), blockchain governance, and to some extent user ownership and control of the platforms and individual user data. All of this is an ideal but currently, the reality of Web3 is that the decentralisation is largely an illusion and venture capitalists, project ‘whales’, and large companies/projects/exchanges hold far more power than Web1 or Web2 companies ever did.
So, when we say Web3 Community – what are we actually saying? The truth is – it’s not at all clear. I would posit though, that the following is a pretty good working definition that encompasses what we are talking about and believe.
A Web3 Community = a group of people sharing a common history in specific projects with goals that include decentralisation of ownership, community governance, and/or the elimination of walls between platform/project developers/creators and users/asset owners.
Next we’ll dive into the idea of books and publishing. Not so long ago in societal terms there was no such thing as e-publishing or even publishing a website. Publishing meant one thing. The printed word.
So, what is a book? Does a scroll count? An ebook? An audio book? What about a stone carved tablet? The Epic of Gilgamesh in Cuneiform – the first book? Does that count? Of course. They all do. What is a book but a story, created and written to be shared through time. Books were the original ledgers and time machines.
We are at an interesting point in time where books are evolving, just as they always have – from stone to vellum to paper to digital. Once again, we have to ask, ‘What is a book?’ Does it include links? Does it have sound? Does it have embedded video? Does it have to be ownable? Sellable? Should books be able to evolve and change over time from interaction with the owners?
Since it’s 2022, you probably know what an NFT is. Just in case – An NFT is a non-fungible-token, a digital item that gives a unique digital identifier used to certify authenticity and ownership. As a writer and bibliophile, when I first encountered NFTs, I thought “NFTs are the perfect vehicle for books. NFTs make it possible to collect scarce digital books, for authors to collect royalties from secondary sales, and for story enthusiasts to band together – whether behind a writer or in front of one.”
What do Web3 Community and Web3 Books have in common? Why should you care about either of them?
The long and short of it is this - as humans the way we interact with one another and the ways which we share and disseminate information are changing rapidly. Web3 Community and Web3 Publishing are here already - and the sooner you know about them, the sooner you can benefit from that knowledge.
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Tony chats about this -> Watch it here
Watch out for the Demogorgon!
Or, if you prefer, you can read the article by Dennis.
From Zirkels.com
It doesn’t matter how rich or poor you are. It doesn’t matter how many degrees you have. It doesn’t matter which side of the political spectrum you inhabit.
Once you acquire a belief, it’s almost impossible for someone else to change your mind.
Psychologists call this Confirmation Bias, or the tendency to interpret new information as confirmation of your preexisting beliefs and opinions. It’s just a part of human nature, and we’re all guilty of letting this and other cognitive biases affect our decision making.
Read the full article here.
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