Commlink #44
Weekly Review
Happy New Year 2023 from the Community DAO! Wow, we now have almost 1 year exactly, under our belts as an emerging organization, and really beginning to move past the start-up phase. I invite all to review our progress as it has been meticulously logged and indexed on our website: https://commdao.org/ by myself and other active curators, especially Danoskie, our Marketing Captain, and Dr. Alina Okun, editor of Commlink and Head of Research. Commlink tells the story of this innovative experiment in worldwide community building using blockchain tech, from every possible angle for the past 44 weeks, an impressive record of consistency in reporting and development: https://commdao.org/commlink/
In some ways, Commlink is like a weekly “coming to order” for our DAO, as it requires timely reviews and updates from curators and contributors in an ongoing manner. This helps us stay sharp and ready for anything new that comes our way. It requires a lot of dedicated volunteer time and I want to thank all of those who continue to give of themselves as we continue to evolve marketable protocols so that these expenses of sincere work output can be defrayed fairly.
But enough of looking back, and though this is a review, we are definitely looking forward to this next year. We have SO many projects cooking on several different fronts. Such an exciting time of building, if we can weather the crypto storm and economy in recession, to survive and thrive on the new paradigm.
Just to summarize, we operate what we call a “Protocol Generator,” which is a type of process involving structured contests and rewards for designs and writings every week. This gets our marketing team incubating new ideas constantly as well as anyone who becomes a member of our Discord and chooses to participate. These are worldwide open calls for submissions that we do with usually around 2500 RVN giveaways as awards for meritorious contribution and general participation. From this core operation, many other projects begin to offshoot.
For instance, we have evolved from doing general theme designs and writings into personalized creations and reports intended to bolster a variety of NFT lines, encouraging our contributors to develop their own series of works to put up for sale in markets or auctions. We sponsor the minting of a certain number of NFTs each week as a service to our Community, enabling the team to receive payment from the public directly for their efforts. The C0MM/DAO Corral (https://www.ravenist.com/collections.php?seoid=c0mm-dao-corral) has been a unique success so far, already having sold 20 pieces and uploaded over 40 NFT assets. This is huge! We are proud of this accomplishment and it has lit a fire under our organization’s weekly output. We went from gathering anywhere from 20-50 meme designs each week to now receiving upwards of 300 submissions per week.
Follow this week’s results in the Week 44 Contest Design Document now curated predominantly by Evilra, a new curator at Community DAO. Evilra has improved the detail of the doc by implementing a spreadsheet into it containing more details and indexing components. See Evilra’s progress thus far, this week, here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W6ZeGibebCCck4XL56OhqaNjJvGoGLVT8H5K5SysGsQ/edit
Amazing kudos to our design team for logging another breaking record of 366 designs this week!!! Unbelievable!!!
It’s hard to say what is the most exciting new development currently at Community DAO. But the most recent news is that we can now say that we have officially entered the Virtual Real Estate Tokenization market with NFT listings for ownership of floors in the C0MM/TOWER:
https://www.ravenist.com/c0mm-tower-floors/20712
After months of speculation and grinding on different aspects of the project in so many different ways, we have finally manifested listings that can be scooped up by anyone in the world. For 50K Ravencoin, a slight discount from the official price of $1000 USD if paid in that currency, you can become an owner of a floor in a top new Metaverse World: Sky City, by Alterverse!
In addition, each floor comes with 50 C0MM/DAO/WHITEBALLs, our governance token.
There are 25 floors total. We are currently reserving 5 floors for internal development and showcasing, and 15 are now available for outright purchase for whatever economic purpose the buyer might have in mind. The other 5 will be awarded to those who earn 50 Whiteballs through other avenues like questing and exploration of various aspects of Sky City.
A coming development will be the listing of a variety of quests and tasks set inside Sky City like “Find the Commtower” or “Land an aircar on the top of Commtower and get on top of the roof without dying” or “Discover the 1 art work in the gallery that bears an artist signature” and so on. Each quest will be able to be purchased for a nominal sum and redeemed for various Whiteball rewards. Those that achieve 50 whiteballs or more in this manner may occupy a floor and become an owner of one of the floor NFTs. Coming soon!
All this in the midst of an absolute crackdown on crypto currently going on in the US due to massive bankruptcy fallout coming on top of the FTX debacle. From a recent article in the Charleston Post & Courier…
This is not a good harbinger. An economy drowning in bankruptcy claims resulting from crypto swindlers like Sam Bankman-Fried and others will call out reactive measures from official regulating bodies like the IRS and the SEC, threatening the already fragile state of the crypto economy. But we are ready because Ravencoin was built to survive these difficult phases of a new paradigm emerging and still having birth pangs.
And what you don’t see mentioned here is that ALL of the non-custodial exchanges with operations in the US have been restricted severely. Many decentralized coins like RVN have either been delisted or made temporarily unavailable. Either that or they are forcing customers to go through stringent and coercive measures like having one’s face scanned or requiring the uploading of photo images of one’s bank or credit card. I speak from personal experience as we were obtaining most of our crypto to disburse in weekly payouts to our organization through non-custodial exchanges like Changelly, ChangeNOW, and ChangeAngel. All of them have new restrictive measures or are unavailable in the US. We were essentially forced to register at new Custodial exchanges like Bittrex. And, as a result, are also having to be penalized by waiting in a 10-14 day holding call as they review personal information, and I imagine, run it by the government. Wasn’t this the very reason we have embarked on the crypto-economy, to avoid that oversight? Hmmm….
I won’t dwell on it further, as I want to remain positive. As a final thought, here is a photo that I took in downtown Charleston of a “chamber of light” in front of a new apartment complex near the Cooper River off E. Bay St on New Year’s Eve…
Funny. It reminds me of the image of a “Decentralized Super Intelligence” that Alina posted way back in Commlink #3 in analyzing Swarm DAOs then new consensus mechanism being prototyped as symbolic of the emerging web3 paradigm…
Amazing identity there!!! Don’t forget that the core principle in this entire movement is Decentralization. If the blockchain you are developing on or working for is funneling back to some founding group that has centralized control powers, then you have missed the point of the entire crypto saga, which is to truly break from the older model, for something better, for self-empowerment and COMMUNITY!
And just remember that this does not even cover all of the surprises we have in store for you in 2023! Get ya’ peanuts! Get ya’ popcorn! And stay tuned…
Enjoy the rest of the show and let’s let the rest of the Community speak! Check some reports from our most consistent contributors as well as some previously unpublished memory essays selected by Alina.
Happy New Year, Universe!!! Grateful for this blessed life!
Best,
Dow
1/01/23
Stats
Twitter Followers: 1,359
Discord Members: 483
Baking cutout cookies with my mom
Christmas. There is no disputing that this is a very unique time of year. While some may not understand the fuss, it is reasonable to say that a significant portion enjoys the celebrations. It's not every day that such a wonderful mix occurs—being surrounded by family, mouthwatering food, and, if that's your thing, presents. Everyone has pleasant recollections of growing up with family customs around Christmas. Donah Mbabazi of Ladies Today spoke with several women who revealed their favorite moments from the day.
We didn't do cookie baking very often. Since my mother worked the second shift from when I was five years old until she turned 40 last year (I'm not even joking), this was a unique and treasured experience. When my mother would bring out the bag of cookie cutters, which I would only see once a year, I can still remember how thrilled I used to be. I recall the four-layer metal cookie tin mother used to store all of our holiday treats. And I still recall how pleased I was to leave those cookies out for Santa, knowing that I had contributed to their creation.
Reflections on my hometown's end-of-year traditions elicit indelible holiday memories
The holidays have additional significance with age. You begin to recall the good memories associated with your childhood traditions.
This involves spending time with my family, indulging in my mother's exquisite cooking, and exchanging gifts on Christmas morning. I keep these cherished recollections in the highest regard.
However, as I become older, I am beginning to understand that these traditions may not last forever. My hometown is changing, and the traditions with which I grew up are diminishing. It's sad to see them depart, but I'm grateful for the time we shared together.
I am positive that I will always hold these memories dear.
Conclusion
Regarding holidays, we each have cherished memories of our own. Whether it's the food, the meetings, or the particular traditions, these are what make the holidays so unique for us.
For you, the holidays may be all about spending time with family or the excitement of exchanging gifts. We all like recalling our favorite experiences annually, regardless of their nature.
So, set aside some time throughout the holiday season to reflect on the past. Make fresh, long-lasting memories with your loved ones.
MY MEMORIES OF HOMETOWN
My hometown is a place behind the big city of Umuahia, the capital city of Abia state located at the Southeastern part of Nigeria. The southeastern people of Nigeria are known for being business oriented and skillful in diverse ways.
We have many sub-tribes, and each tribe is closely related to the neighboring tribe. We speak a general language (Igbo) and can relate with anyone in Nigeria and beyond. The Igbo tribe is also known as the great explorers of Africa. Any country that lacks Igbo people is missing out on a lot of business.
In addition to the well-known features of Africa, we also excel in all that we do. For instance, the Nollywood movies industry is highly dominated by the Igbos. The entire business strength of Nigeria is nursed and groomed by the Igbos.
Culture and traditions
Every Igbo man or woman has a specific season when he/she must return home for one or more cultural celebrations. During these periods of the year, people who have stayed for a long while outside their fatherland usually return back home to reunite with their home-based businessmen and women, same as with their families, friends and well-wishers.
I was fortunate to live in the village for several years before moving out to another tribe entirely in search of better opportunities. I then recorded all my actions and communicated with my friends in diaspora.
The last Ekpe cultural carnival of the year
Every Igbo subtribe has their specific market day, which is a day when they organize their household and town hall meetings, and carnival celebration. Other special events are held on the market day too.
In the Igbo tribe, the Western number of weeks is different from what we observe. We have eight market days which are Ekeukwu, Orieukwu, Afoukwu, Nwkoukwu, Ekenta, Orienta, Afounta and Nwkonta.
My subtribe's market day is Ekenta, the fifth day of the week. This is when our market is filled with many people from the neighboring villages, buying and selling at wholesale prices. Going to market on this day is always great since most people are selling at wholesale and auction prices.
On the first day of Ekenta in a new year, our village made it mandatory that everyone must observe the Ekpe cultural carnival since it's the history that defines us.
I've witnessed many Ekpe, but last year's Ekpe cultural carnival was one of a kind.
COVID-19 and the lockdown that accompanied it made me wonder how much it would cost to travel back home for the celebration. After some hustling and bustling, I managed to raise some cash for my journey. My uncle, who wanted to celebrate his marriage anniversary on the fourth of January, gave me the rest of the money.
I made good use of the wonderful opportunity I was given, traveling back home with a digital camera and an external OTG flash drive so that I could record everything that was happening in my village.
Our first market day happened to be on the fifth of January, the next day after my uncle's marriage anniversary celebration. I was so excited to be around man of honor and the extended family. My grandfather was a wealthy man in those days.
I was the paparazzi and the DJ of the inhouse celebration, which lasted for about 4 hours. The party had lots of drinks and food. I was in the middle of everything because I'm the youngest of my grandfather's grandchildren.
While I was working on the house, my digital camera was exploring a bowl of hot pepper soup.
Damn!
I was so disappointed to have to say goodbye to my most cherished electronic device.
I sat outside our family house, sadly listening to the sounds of Ekpe preparation dance done by some ordained members of the village vigilante groups. It sounded lovely, and I could hear the resonance of the drums now.
After about two hours of the spirit-like sounds, the young men came to our house to entertain us while we threw some money on them for their consistent and creative drumming.
The next morning, my dad took us to the bush to gather palm fronds for decorating our general parlor, which is used to welcome the Ekpo bearer (the person who wears the Ekpe costume).
At first, I didn't want to do it because I thought the Ekpo ceremony was diabolical, but my dad said we had to carry on our grandfather's traditions or else we'd be fined by the community.
After the tedious time of decorating the house, I went inside to wait for the masquerades—long lines of supervisors who were making sure that wherever the Ekpe went, it would be sanctified and safe.
Those guys are really ugly and dangerous looking. One of them swings swords like Sumarai with a big X. History has it that it usually goes home with a human head for the gods.
I just sat around for a few hours until the Ekpo arrived. The Ekpo bearer danced around the compound for some time while the keepers chased every lady away from the scene.
The Ekpo later went inside my grandfather's parlor and stayed for about 10 minutes before leaving. My father told me that they did some incantations, fed him with dog meat prepared with alcohol and a cup of freshly prepared palm wine. On leaving the compound, we followed the Ekpo straight to the market where it finally beheaded a mature goat to prove himself worthy of the title *Ogbu Pam* (Slayer).
The next morning, I packed my things and headed back to the city to continue my hustling.
MEMORIES OF THE FUTURE
What are memories? What is their purpose? Memories are our past experiences that have been encoded in our brains. They help us recall what has happened in our lives and give us a sense of continuity. Sometimes, however, our memories can be false or inaccurate. This is especially true for memories of the future, which are often based on predictions or expectations rather than actual experiences.
Why do we have memories of the future? Some scientists believe that these memories serve an adaptive purpose, helping us to plan for and anticipate future events. Others argue that they may be nothing more than false memories, created by our brains in an attempt to make sense of the present.
There's something special about memories of the future. They're like a window into what could be, and they can be a source of hope and inspiration. For some people, memories of the future are a way to connect with loved ones who have passed away. Others use memories of the future as a way to motivate themselves to achieve their goals.
Whatever their cause, memories of the future can be fascinating and sometimes even useful. Here, I explore some of the most intriguing examples of this by writing down three fantastic memories of the future.
How I Thought Of The Future As A Child
I remember vividly what it was like to think about the future as a child. It was always a time of excitement and possibility. The future felt like an infinite expanse of time that I could fill with anything I wanted. And so, naturally, I dreamed big.
As a child I thought of the future as something I could do and undo, I always thought of it as all good and no sad moments, only good things happen and that I could get all I wanted at the tip of my finger just by mentioning it. I thought of being the richest man on earth, I thought of being invincible, super human, commanding things and building things that never exist while also fighting for people who do not have power to fight for themselves.
At one point, I wanted to be an electrical engineer, this was because of my uncle who is an electrical engineer. He used to visit us every Christmas and most holidays I would spend in his house. He would buy me lots of toys, new clothes, and ice cream. I really admired him because he was very rich and nice. My thought was that if I became an electrical engineer just like my uncle, then in my future, I would also be rich and nice.
At another point, I wanted to be a pilot, then an astronaut. I wanted to fly an airplane and somehow stop by the sky and check the moon and stars. I wanted to be the first person to walk on Mars. I wanted to discover new worlds and meet new life forms. The possibilities were endless, and my imagination ran wild.
It's funny how our perspective changes as we grow older. The future becomes shorter and shorter, until it's almost impossible to imagine what lies beyond the next few years. But even though my childhood dreams may never be realized, it's nice to know that they're still out there, waiting for me to reach for them once again.
What I Wanted to Be
Everyone dreams about something in the process of growing up. We all have ambitions from an early age that change as we get older. Ambition guides us towards a specific goal in life. Plus, they help us stay focused on our goals at all costs. It drives us to make our lives better. People have different ambitions but what often happens is that over time, most people change their ambitions to something different than what they wanted when they were young.
I wanted to be an astronaut. I wanted to be a pilot. I also wanted to become a football player because of the love I had for my favorite player, Austin Jay Jay Okocha. I never wanted to become a doctor, because I was scared of wounds, blood and the smell of drugs. Moreover, that was what my parents wanted me to become. They wanted to have a doctor in the family.
I just wanted to live the life of my dream, work hard, retire early, and travel the world with my family. But most of all, I just wanted to be happy and have a good life. And now, looking back, I can say that there's a twist of fate and sometimes life does not give us what we desire as a child. I never became one of those things and neither what my parents wanted me to become. But still, I make it through in a different way. I see myself in the entertainment world and have a good life with peace while pressing toward a new world of technology that has become my new found love. It doesn't happen overnight or without hard work or without making some sacrifices along the way. I press on every day to reach the ultimate goal.
So if you're wondering what you should do with your life, don't worry, just do what makes you happy and the rest will fall into place.
How I See The Future
The future is a blank slate, waiting to be written. I see the future as a time of great possibility, a time when we can achieve anything we set our minds to. I believe that the future holds the key to solving many of the world's problems. I also believe that the future will be a time of great advances in technology and science. I see the Community DAO rising to the top of the world, and CommToken being universally accepted as a major voice on the blockchain. I see Ravencoin taking its rightful place in blockchain as the chief of all chiefs. I see a new world of amazing technologies, a new world of great possibilities. I am excited about the prospects for the future, and I hope to be able to contribute to making it a better place for all of us.
Conclusion
The future is always uncertain, but our memories can give us a glimpse of what's to come. Sometimes our memories can be so vivid that they seem like they're actually happening in the present. Other times, they can be more like visions or dreams, giving us a hint of what might be waiting for us down the road.
No matter what form our memories take, they are always worth cherishing. They remind us of the good times we've had and the people we've shared them with. They also give us hope for the future, reminding us that no matter what happens, we'll always have our memories to fall back on.
Ambassador Report
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone at CommDAO. Our marketing team members have continually surprised the entire crypto community on Twitter and other social media platforms with lots of great and unique designs generated at their best and utmost appearances. As of last week, they produced over 240 designs, with a good number of those designs queued up for minting. This week (week 44), we are experiencing another massive output of designs with different ideas and thoughts. What more can I say other than thank our ever-committed team members whose design spirit is ever shining? Below is the summary of all the designs created and published by the team members in a Leaderboard system.