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Gabriel Dusil • Generation Crypto
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Author Gabriel Dusil
Adel ▲ Opinion ▲ 25 ▲ Will Pandemic Protocols Establish a Utopian Economy ▲ Cyber Principles
2019 October 17 2020 March 28 Gabriel Dusil	Leave a comment
The evolution of crypto can be analyzed from the essential components of design, development, and deployment. For modern systems to function, they require a combination of people, process and technology. These elements also set the foundations of innovation. The crypto sphere has created a radical redistribution of the social-economic power hierarchy. This power hierarchy is seemingly upside-down when compared to the "real-world". Process and technology have evolved to code-based governance, and people can be represented as virtual entities. What does this mean to blockchain innovation, and how will crypto evolve with a continued redistribution of power and wealth?
In this third and final part of this series, we explore the creation of the Virtual State™ fueled by crypto ideologies, and its underlying cryptoversification of Internet services.
Cyber Principles
The formation of the internet has evolved considerably over three decades. This infrastructure is now considered by UNESCO as a basic human right, symbolic of the air human's breath or access to freshwater. But the battle continues on the Net Neutrality[i] front with varying opinions depending on political or social precedence. In as much as water is not a free commodity, the internet has similar actors wanting control.
Multistakeholder governance continues to be a defendant on a world's stage of plaintiffs.
These principles that have driven the success of the internet to date, are just as important as its future goals[ii]:
Open Tech Opportunities
MultiStakeholder Engagement.
Bitcoin's introduction may be considered a radical shift in this vision or it may be an evolution of the ideology of cyberspace as a whole. It could be argued that crypto's overwhelming success has not been due to its underlying technology, but because of its ideology. For example, many technologies were groundbreaking innovations over the past decades, such as media streaming, social media, and peer-to-peer communications, but none have rivaled blockchain in crossing economic, social and geographic barriers. As with many revolutions, its origins evoke a chicken and egg debate: Did Satoshi Nakamoto[iii] awaken this crypto ideology, or did society already evolve along the path?
What is clear is that crypto takes the notion of openness, accessibility, and freedom to a new level. This includes the residence to centralization, big brother oversight, and proprietary systems. In this sense, crypto is often synonymous with Internet v2.0[iv]. Crypto may very well be a direct consequence of Net Neutrality, and the evolution of the Internet's multi-stakeholder governance.
▲ Down the Crypto Rabbit Hole
If you liked this article and would like to read all of them in this series, then please click on the links below:
▲ 17 ▲ Introduction
▲ 18 ▲ Defining Borders
▲ 19 ▲ Pandemic Protocols
▲ 20 ▲ State Enforcement
▲ 21 ▲ What's Next
▲ 22 ▲ Code Governance, But
▲ 23 ▲ System Essentials
▲ 24 ▲ MultiStakeholders in Crypto
▲ 25 ▲ Cyber Principles
▲ 26 ▲ Borderless Citizen™
▲ 27 ▲ Virtual State™
This series has also been published on Altcoin Magazine, in three parts:
▲ Borderless Citizens™ in the 21st Century
▲ What is Driving Crypto and the Creation of the Virtual State™?
▲ Will Pandemic Protocols Establish a Utopian Economy?
▲ Adel ▲ Opinions
If you liked this article and would like to read more in the series, then check them out here:
▲ 1 ▲ The Right Path to Funding Decentralized Organizations
▲ 2 ▲ The Next Evolution in Funding Innovation
▲ 3 ▲ A Philosophy for Blockchain Integrity
▲ 4 ▲ A Collaborative Blockchain Incubator
▲ 5 ▲ Blockchain Diversity & Passion
▲ 6 ▲ Blockchain Startup Expertise
▲ 7 ▲ Blockchain Portfolio Diversification
▲ 8 ▲ Blockchain Incubation to Employment
▲ 9 ▲ From Blockchain Innovation to Execution
▲ 10 ▲ Blockchain Will Transform Retail Lending
▲ 11 ▲ The Next Evolution in Crypto Trading
▲ 12 ▲ Crypto Trading for Everyone
▲ 13 ▲ Architecting Crypto Financial Instruments
▲ 14 ▲ Crypto, For the People, By the People
▲ 15 ▲ The Crypto Uprising
▲ 16 ▲ Blockchain's Disruption in 2020 & Beyond
Gabriel is the co-Founder and General Manager at Adel Ecosystem Ltd. He is a seasoned sales and marketing expert with over 25 years in senior positions at Motorola, VeriSign (acquired by Symantec in 2010), and SecureWorks (acquired by Dell in 2011), and Cognitive Security (acquired by Cisco in 2013). He is a blockchain entrepreneur, with strengths in international business strategy. Gabriel has a bachelor's degree in Engineering Physics from McMaster University in Canada and expert knowledge in blockchain incubation, cloud computing, IT security, and video streaming, and Over the Top Content (OTT). Gabriel also runs his own company, Euro Tech Startups s.r.o, creator of MyKoddi, and manages a professional blog.
LinkedIn ▲ linkedin.com/in/gabrieldusil/
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[i] Net Neutrality (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality)
[ii] United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, "What If We All Governed the Internet" (UNESCO Publishing, 2017, https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/ files/what_if_we_all_governed_internet_en.pdf) page 12
[iii] "Satoshi Nakamoto" (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto)
[iv] Sandeep Soni, "After Internet, it's Blockchain Internet 2.0" (entrepreneur.com, 5 February 2017, https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/288715)
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Adel ▲ Opinion ▲ 24 ▲ Will Pandemic Protocols Establish a Utopian Economy ▲ MultiStakeholders in Crypto
MultiStakeholders in Cyber
UNESCO continues to advocate a multistakeholder governance approach to the internet. This principle is based on the inclusion of several bodies cooperating to maintain a net neutrality approach to the Internet and cyberspace.
In contrast, the crypto community does not share this mindset and rather focuses on a tribal approach to governance. But the crypto community cannot evade the governance discussion for much longer. In these embryonic markets, the absence of standards leads to market fragmentation, a lack of consensus, and even chaos. In this scenario, all players of the power hierarchy suffer.
Evolving crypto to mainstream audiences will require a similar approach advocated by UNESCO, namely a multistakeholder governance. This will involve the participation of several private and public-sector stakeholders. Governance will be important in the standardization of technology and processes. Actors will have the freedom to follow or oppose governance. In any event, by establishing a consensus, the market has the potential to scale and mature. Standardizing technology requires convincing microbodies to follow an approach that is beneficial to all parties involved, as well as the markets they are trying to penetrate.
Initiatives will need to be built to invite appropriate parties to the table and establish a consensus. To crypto's benefit, an established mandate exists in cyberspace and may be an effective model for crypto as well. The challenge is to bring disparate parties representing the public sphere, to the same table as those representing private advocacy groups[i].
MultiStakeholders of Crypto
Thousands of computers hold copies of the bitcoin blockchain, making the infrastructure resilient and persistent. Blockchain technology is designed to be immune to shut down, even to those who created it. As previously discussed, this is the essence of Pandemic Protocols, and this technology is at the center of modern decentralized infrastructures. Another aspect playing out in the decentralized movement is more focused on the role that people play.
Components of the internet are owned and governed by different parties. In the same manner, nodes in a blockchain are globally owned and distributed. Collectively they represent the blockchain, but no single party owns the infrastructure. Distributed ownership is manageable within a single blockchain since code governance is the presiding medium of its rules. But scaling crypto to mainstream users requires a balanced engine of People, Process, and Technology, and this will require a dynamic shift in governance.
The central issue is that blockchain rules are established by "tribes". Meaning that they each have their own community and their own micro-governance, but other blockchains are considered rivals. This tribal nature may be a reflection of market immaturity, but this is no excuse. Tribal societies lack the unity needed for mass adoption. Even real-world competitors work to agree on standards to expand their market potential. With no consensus, the crypto community will not attract a mainstream audience and risks becoming a niche player, relegated to the depths of the darknet[ii]. For this reason, the crypto sphere is at the right market maturity to support Multistakeholder governance.
Globalization required consensus, and crypto is not immune to the prerequisite of standardization. Mature industries over the centuries have evolved globally because they accepted industry standards. The ITU is a testament to that success. We would be a different word if utilities such as electricity used a variant of voltages and frequencies in each city. The automotive industry would be very different if cars had fifty variants for petrol. A proven sales tactic states, "Give customers ten choices and they won't know which one to choose, but give them two, and they will choose one". When industry leaders agree on standards, then consumers have easier decisions. Industry leaders have a responsibility to harmonize the market and create the foundations for innovation and scalability. Competition still plays a role, but society typically embraces the simplicity and elegance of standards. For this reason, it is the responsibility of the infrastructure players to work towards the same goal.
The next evolution in crypto is standards and consensus through multistakeholder governance.
[i] Advocacy group (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advocacy_group)
[ii] "Darknet (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darknet)
Adel ▲ Opinion ▲ 23 ▲ What is Driving Crypto and the Creation of the Virtual State™ ▲ System Essentials
2019 October 3 2020 March 28 Gabriel Dusil	Leave a comment
Crypto services undermine traditional forms of governance because its users are anonymous. This assumes impunity from government and central authorities. The collective consensus of crypto coders, miners, and anonymous micro actors in a growing subculture. To date, crypto has been relatively untouched by the authorities of the "real-world" and raises important questions on about how this space should be regulated. Techno-Libertarians envision utopian self-regulation, with codified rules that evolve with its technology. Crypto-anarchists envision a free-rule zone for autonomous businesses and unconstrained virtual currencies. Anyone who denies these programmatic rules essentially forfeits their right to participate.
In this second section, the crypto power hierarchy will be defined as a basis for understanding its governance in contrast to the real world.
System Essentials
Understanding crypto requires an analysis of the equation and makes these platforms happen. Modern systems are run by a combination of people, process, and technology: whether it be in government, companies, or our personal lives. Technology is foundational to enabling systems to function and grow efficiently.
Every industry requires rules and procedures that allow humans to collectively utilize resources in the most efficient way possible. In the System Essentials equation, this resides in Process. For example, a person may use software to develop a new car engine. But that goal requires a project plan, timeline, and the coordination of many individuals to achieve this goal. Harmony is achieved when People bring innovation and Technology is an effective instrument. The process is then used to scale the solution. The process is also used to govern the system in question, with the help of technology.
"People add vulnerability to a system
by their mere presence."
In the blockchain, it is generally agreed that the combination of Process and Technology establishes programmatic self-governance. Blockchain rules are implemented in code, for the system to be self-sustaining.
Smart Contracts is a blockchain application where terms are agreed and written in code. Settling contracts are programmatic, eliminating the need for a human arbitrator. In this example process and technology work in harmony to settle contracts, removing the subjectiveness of people.
The self-governing autonomy of blockchain breaks down when people are involved. Humans are the strongest and weakest links of the Systems Essentials equation. People leave vulnerabilities in code, intentionally or not, for others to exploit. For example, a system can have the best security in the world, but clever social engineering techniques such as, "I am the new admin, please send me your password", has led to massive security breaches[i]. The bottom line is that throughout blockchain's first decade, code-based governance has not been sufficient to protect the crypto ecosystem and its users. The crypto community can learn a few things from the banks they are trying to topple. Understanding the weakest links in the System Essentials equation helps to systematically mitigate vulnerabilities.
[i] "Meet Six of the Most Effective Social Engineering Techniques" (Mitnick Security, https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/site/news_item/meet-six-of-the-most-effective-social-engineering-techniques)
Adel ▲ Opinion ▲ 22 ▲ What is Driving Crypto and the Creation of the Virtual State™ ▲ Code Governance, But
2019 September 26 2020 March 28 Gabriel Dusil	Leave a comment
Code Governance, But…
One intention of blockchain is code-based governance, but the results to date have not been entirely positive. The crypto sphere is plagued with corruption, fraud, theft, and misappropriation. So how has this been possible in light of tight rules and high security in the bitcoin blockchain, designed to prevent fraud?
Criminals are often the first to recognize the potential of new technology to exploit human and technical vulnerabilities. The press helps to taint the industry with a rubber neck society more interested in bad news than good news. Proponents of blockchain consider this a temporary label while the technology matures. The inception of home computing in the 1980s had its own challenges when the industry lacked useful applications, and in the 1990's when the Internet lacked the "World Wide Web"[i] information space. Decades of development have evolved cyber into useful content and applications, and consumers automatically bypass the 99.9% percent of content that doesn't interest them.
Understanding blockchain's vulnerabilities require a breakdown of its weaknesses. With any new platform that has yet to be hardened[ii], nefarious parties look for a quick win. Criminals target a weakness in the technology, processes, or people – the latter representing a most vulnerable component of any system. In the business world, these security vulnerabilities are called, "low hanging fruits"[iii], and criminals run their empires similar to any legitimate business. Security issues do not necessarily reside in the blockchain itself, but within the service layers on top. It's analogous to building a house with the ground floor secured with the most sophisticated locks in the industry, but the second floor has yet to install a roof. Popular fraud involves phishing[iv] emails with a, "click on my link" approach, which installs a zero-day exploit kit[v], or some variant of a zero-pixel iframe with exploit code, when the victim clicks on a web link[vi].
In any case, targeting weaknesses in technology, process or people is the tip of the iceberg. The bitcoin blockchain wanted to remove traditional middlemen from the finance supply chain, and directly connect buyers and sellers. But this proved impractical for the same reason it's impractical for citizens to buy petrol directly from an oil drilling company. Middlemen connect big industries to the common person. Middlemen offer services that ease the complexity of the supplier and bring their product to the consumer's front door. The same has evolved in the blockchain. Services such as crypto trading exchanges began launching in 2013[vii], allowing a new wave of trading opportunities for millennials. The catch was users needing to give up their bitcoin private keys to the trading service. This immediately negated the benefits of blockchain's decentralized resilience and established a layer of vulnerability on top of the bitcoin blockchain. All private keys were now residing in a central repository. With improper security in place, a clever criminal realizes he can climb onto the second floor of a trading service with no roof – and steal everything.
Banks have decades of experience protecting their infrastructures. They utilize the ISO 27001 security best practices[viii]. They use the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)[ix] to protect their credit and debit cards. But many blockchain coders do not have data security at the top of their agenda, utilizing these common frameworks. This has led to a series of massive crypto heists[x]. These breaches continue to plague the industry. The graph above showcases a selection of the largest hacks. What is astonishing is when breaches are brought to the context of their current value. These samples alone represent loses of over 13 billion US$:
Systematic crypto fraud cannot be entirely blamed on their respective development code. People are the weakest link. Blockchain services created additional layers of middlemen to enhance service offerings and expand market potential. But each layer introduces a new set of weaknesses.
While Satoshi Nakamoto set out to negate the centralized power of governments and central banks, Bitcoin has reestablished new monopolies with five miners currently control 80 percent of the mining pool[xi]. Crypto-Anarchists may argue that this is completely fine because the open market decides on how everything plays out. But the counter-argument is that monopolies are not good for innovation and healthy market expansion. Monopolies lead to market manipulation, predatory pricing, and highway robbery. In brick and mortar, the crypto community views banks and governments as the puppet masters, but crypto has its own problems. Recent studies attribute the Bitcoin spike to 16000 Euros in December 2017 to manipulation[xii].
"The threat of monopolies leads to speculation that
all players in the crypto trading market are puppets to unseen, and omnipresent puppet masters"[xiii].
[i] World Wide Web, WWW (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web)
[ii] "Hardening" (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardening_(computing))
[iii] low hanging fruits (Wikipedia, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/low-hanging_fruit)
[iv] "Phishing" (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing)
[v] " Zero-day" {Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-day_(computing)}
[vi] "Invisible iFrame drive-by malware attacks explained: (Sophos, August 16, 2012, https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/08/16/invisible-iframe-drive-by-malware-attacks-explained-video/)
[vii] "History of bitcoin" (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_bitcoin)
[viii] "ISO/IEC 27001" (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/IEC_27001)
[ix] "Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard" (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment_Card_Industry_Data_Security_Standard)
[x] "Top Cryptocurrency Theft Hacks – List of Biggest Security Breaches?" (Bitcoin Exchange Guide, https://bitcoinexchangeguide.com/top-cryptocurrency-theft-hacks/)
[xi] Jon Martindale, "Bitcoin miners have extracted 80% of all the bitcoins there will ever be" (Digital Trends, January 15, 2018, https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/80-percent-bitcoins-mined/)
[xii] "Market manipulation by Tether created the 2017 Bitcoin spike" (Jun 15, 2018, Moneycontrol, https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/cryptocurrency/market-manipulation-by-tether-created-the-2017-bitcoin-spike-reports-2591591.html)
[xiii] "Is it just me or is the Bitcoin price nothing more than a puppet " (BitcoinTalk, https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3111282.0)
Adel ▲ Opinion ▲ 21 ▲ What is Driving Crypto and the Creation of the Virtual State™ ▲ What's Next
Crypto services undermine traditional forms of governance because its users are anonymous. This assumes impunity from government and central authorities. The collective consensus of crypto coders, miners, and anonymous micro actors in a growing subculture. To date, crypto has been relatively untouched by the authorities of the "real-world" and raises important questions about how this space should be regulated. Techno-Libertarians envision utopian self-regulation, with codified rules that evolve with its technology. Crypto-anarchists envision a free-rule zone for autonomous businesses and unconstrained virtual currencies. Anyone who denies these programmatic rules essentially forfeits their right to participate.
States have many legal challenges in cyberspace. The introduction of crypto has further complicated these efforts by orders of magnitude. Anonymity, Pandemic Protocols, and the over-arching removal of Big Brother's oversight have diminished state control of its citizens.
This poses three questions:
How far can crypto evolve? Will crypto services continue to be developed unabated?
Will crypto be controlled, be a free-rule zone or self-regulated? Regulators typically lag technology advancements, and crypto is the latest example. Their challenge is how to regulate a market with anonymous actors using technology that is decentralized.
Is a virtual existence a trend for the future? The cyber market has created a platform where actors can live almost entirely in the virtual space. Crypto enables these actors to now be anonymous.
We will attempt to answer these questions throughout the remainder of this paper.
Power Hierarchy
To explain the dynamics between the real-world and cyberspace, evaluating the power hierarchy of both systems puts the current state of play into perspective. From a socioeconomic and cultural perspective, real-world citizens are at the bottom of the pyramid. They are controlled by companies because they hire, pay and fire their employees. Companies are controlled by banks because they provide the finances to run companies. Banks are controlled by governments because they create the legislative, judicial and regulatory oversight that everyone needs to follow.
In crypto the power hierarchy is inverted. At the top, there are core developers who design blockchains. In this system, developers have unanimous control over the programmatic rules they implement. Miners have secondary decision-making powers since they collect the appropriate cryptocurrencies from their efforts in mining. Next, in line are services such as exchanges that facilitate trading. At the bottom are crypto traders. Omitted from this hierarchy is mainstream citizens. This is due to several reasons, starting with the technical learning curve barrier. This creates an artificial exclusionary zone because mainstream applications have yet to accommodate laymen consumers.
The market waits with anticipation for the likes of Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google (aka. FAANG[i], on Wall Street) to join the crypto party. In the meantime, crypto faces a ping-pong effect of good and bad news. Earlier in 2018 cryptocurrency took a few steps backward, with Twitter, Facebook, and Google banning advertising, due to market volatility[ii]. Services that connect mainstream users are in development, and their success is one of anticipation and speculation.
"Apps focused solely on the crypto community
risk solidifying virtual currencies to a niche market."
In developed countries, inclusiveness is driven by human rights, civil liberties, and freedom. In crypto, an unintentional exclusionary zone has been created accommodating techno-savvy individuals who can traverse a steep learning curve. To overcome these barriers, new services, middlemen and educational facilitators will be needed.
This exclusionary zone may not be purposeful, but it exists nonetheless. Traditional banks and governments are also excluded from the crypto power hierarchy. Financial institutions are being disrupted by volatile virtual currencies, while many governments reject crypto because of anonymity.
Crypto may look like a free-rule zone, but it still has governance on a micro-scale. In one sense, actors in crypto are treated as equals: No one knows their social, economic, political, or career status. All participants are members of a collective with respect earned by community dialog and crypto success. Despite an existing crypto social hierarchy, the pyramid is much flatter than in the real world. Actors at the top of the food chain are much more accessible. Judgments are not based on whether the user is sitting in a basement, or on a throne built from swords.
[i] Kenneth G. Winans, "Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google Are Too Hot. These Other Tech Names Look Better" (Forbes, November 16, 2017, https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kennethwinans/2017/11/16/facebook-apple-amazon-netflix-google-are-too-hot-these-other-tech-names-look-better/&refURL=https://www.google.at/&referrer=https://www.google.at/)
[ii] "Why Google, Facebook and Twitter Are Banning Cryptocurrency-Related Advertisements" (Coin Speaker, March 19, 2017, https://www.coinspeaker.com/2018/03/19/google-facebook-twitter-banning-cryptocurrency-related-advertisements/)
Adel ▲ Opinion ▲ 20 ▲ Borderless Citizens™ in the 21st Century ▲ State Enforcement
Thanks to the Internet and more recently, blockchain technology, the world is waking up to a political, economic, social and technological renaissance. The next two decades will result in a fundamental shift in human interaction, sharing, and freedom. All aspects of vertical and horizontal markets will be affected, including Finance & Banking, Healthcare, eGovernment, Communications, Information Technology (IT) and the Internet of things (IoT).
This series is presented in three parts and will analyze society's paradigm shift in behavior and present a vision for the future. In this first part, the creation of virtual communities is explored, fueled by blockchain innovation and explores the evolution of the crypto sphere.
State Enforcement
With the proliferation of Pandemic Protocols, what is the recourse for states to enforce their laws? Can actors in these spheres be subjected to controls, restrictions or shutdowns dictated by a state authority? In other words, how can a state enforce its laws in cyber? This is a very complicated issue in view of the borderless phenomena contravening traditional world order. Enforcement has been traditionally based on the juxtaposition of sovereign State territories. In cyber, there is no juxtaposition because there are no borders.
In the persisting absence of unified global rules, the courts are witnessing ongoing chaos where States wildly apply their territorial, personal and extraterritorial jurisdictions to subject the actions of perpetrators to their laws. This leads to diverse conflicts of laws between States. In legal proceedings, the reality is much more complex and continues to be challenged by various states and institutions. In an attempt to simplify, there are the three main considerations used by the States to target perpetrators in cyberspace:
Infrastructure States can enforce their authority when information technology and communication equipment reside in their country. This could mean complete shutdown, confiscation, or subpoena of equipment. In some countries, this means nation-wide censorship or other controls.
Corporations States have recourse against corporations or other legally registered in their jurisdiction.
Individuals Lawsuits may target citizens, whether they are resident in the country, or aboard, it could lead to extradition or deportation for legal proceedings.
State vs. Crypto
State control in crypto continues to be overwhelming. To disseminate this challenge let's begin with a definition of a Sovereign state. According to Wikipedia[i], Sovereign states can be defined as:
A defined territory
Having a permanent population
The capacity to enter relations with other states, and
Consisting of an effective government.
In cyberspace, the notion of sovereignty is more abstract. In the era of Pandemic Protocols, state enforcement presents significant challenges to lawmakers because:
There is no defined territory. The entire infrastructure in the cybersphere is virtual.
Within cyberspace, blockchain has created a new virtual layer called the crypto sphere. Within this space, actors can behave with impunity under the guise of anonymity. Despite the potential for privacy, this capability has also sparked new forms of fraud that have been orders of magnitude higher than in the real world. Anonymity has led to abuse, misappropriation, and a complete disregard for
The parallel to a state's international relations is blockchain's communities. They maintain their virtual debate and commentary on public forums such as Reddit[ii] or social networks such as Slack[iii] and Telegram[iv].
Governance is the most controversial in cyber; Techno-libertarians advocate minimizing the oversight of central control whereby Cyber-anarchists want complete removal of government oversight. This leads to the assumption that blockchain achieves self-governance through programmatic means – or "code-based governance". In other words, the underlying programming code is designed to eliminate the need for human intervention. Crypto popularized this approach by implementing programmatic rules to completely govern the system. With Bitcoin Nakamoto solved the double-spending[v] dilemma and this has since evolved into Smart Contract[vi] Code-based
governance has not been a silver-bullet[vii] in solving crypto fraud. In the following sections, we explain why.
Before proceeding further, it's worth defining several poignant terms integral to this discussion:
Blockchain ideologist is often associated with Techno-libertarians and Cyber-anarchists in the context of freedom and autonomy. They represent a strong undercurrent that resists centralized control, big brother surveillance, and authoritarian enforcement. Techno-libertarians and Cyber-anarchists may be split on whether crypto has a utopian or dystopian destiny. In the meantime, the-powers-that-be view cryptocurrency as a foe and blockchain as a friend. For this reason, there is a broader movement to support blockchain as a viable evolution to global information sharing.
Meanwhile, Governance and Sovereign State control bring a sour taste to those who resist central control. The cyber movement advocates self-governance and self-sustaining ecosystems. While this plays out, states are trying to appropriate their control. To Cyber-anarchists this is like a bully entering a playground. But the playground is full of geeks, and they are no longer afraid of the bully.
To cope with the bureaucracy of the real-world, Geeks are motivated to create an entirely new playground and flip the power hierarchy of society on its head. When it comes to virtual currencies maybe it is true that "the geeks have inherited the world"[viii].
"What may be tolerated today,
may become illegal in the future."
[i] Wikipedia, https://www.wikipedia.org/
[ii] Reddit, https://www.reddit.com/
[iii] Slack, https://slack.com/
[iv] Telegram, https://telegram.org/
[v] "Double Spending" (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-spending)
[vi] "Smart Contract" (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_contract)
[vii] "Silver Bullet" (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_bullet)
[viii] "The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth" (2009, Alexandra Robbins)
Adel ▲ Publications ▲ Press
2019 September 5 2020 March 28 Gabriel Dusil	1 Comment
Welcome to our Publications post.
You'll find a summary of articles, interviews, and features where we provided our expertise in the crypto and blockchain sphere. Enjoy!
Will Pandemic Protocols Establish a Utopian Economy? ▲ Altcoin Magazine
The evolution of crypto can be analyzed from the essential components of design, development, and deployment. For modern systems to function, they require a combination of people, process and technology. These elements also set the foundations of modern innovation.
What is Driving Crypto and the Creation of the Virtual State™? ▲ Altcoin Magazine
Crypto-anarchists envision a free-rule zone for autonomous businesses and unconstrained virtual currencies. Anyone who denies these programmatic rules essentially forfeits their right to participate. In this second article, the crypto power hierarchy will be defined as a basis for understanding its governance in contrast to the real world.
Borderless Citizens™ in the 21st Century ▲ Altcoin Magazine
This series is presented in three parts and will analyze society's paradigm shift in behavior and present a vision for the future. In this first article, the creation of virtual communities is explored, fueled by blockchain innovation and explores the evolution of the crypto sphere.
Too Soon for 'To the Moon': What the BTC Rally Really Means ▲ financemagnates.com
A number of different factors have contributed to Bitcoin's recent price run. Is the rally here to stay? Cryptocurrency markets took an unexpected turn for the better last week with an unexpected surge in prices across the board.
2019 Predictions: Smart contracts will take off in insurance ▲ cirmagazine.com
As we mark the ten year anniversary of Bitcoin's launch, there's no shortage of news and speculation related to the digital currency's value and potential applications. Articles related to blockchain overwhelming concentrate on an infrastructure underpinning digital currencies used for speculative investments. The reality is far more complex.
GlobalCoin Could Replace Tether, Disrupt Payments Industry ▲ financemagnates.com
Facebook's crypto project has received mixed reviews–but the project could be a good thing for the crypto ecosystem. Facebook's enigmatic blockchain project has become a little less mysterious; little by little, details about the project are coming into public view.
Adel Invigorates Ethical Communities in Cryptocurrency ▲ HostingAdvice.com
By combining the best of blockchain technology with business incubation, Adelbrings a community-based approach to discovering, evaluating, and building forward-thinking companies. Cryptocurrency replaces the more traditional venture capital funding, enabling organizations to methodically scale without losing the energy of a disconnected ownership group
New digital wallet could contain the solution for online payments security ▲ Euromoney.com
Data security company Krypti claims the microtoken exchange security system used in its new digital wallet for storing bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies offers the most sophisticated protection against hackers on the market.
Blockchain plus ▲ e-forex.net
Adel is a technology incubator for blockchain innovation. Not unusual these days, but there's a twist. Adel's approach seems to be pulling in the FX industry. "A majority of registered users in our ecosystem are FX and crypto traders," says Gabriel Dusil, general manager and co-founder, Adel. William Essex went to talk to him.
▲ The Crypto Uprising ▲ BlockTribune
The blockchain is the underlying technology behind all cryptocurrency. In its simplest form, it is a marketplace for digital payments and asset exchange. Rather than a central authority, a database of transactions is managed by a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network.
▲ Adel Featured in Forbes▲ Czech Alliance
The Blockchain Connect Association, a newly established Czech Alliance formed in the spring of 2018 with partners including IBM, PwC and a Prague-based fintech incubator for start-ups, has revealed plans to contribute to the development of blockchain technologies in the "economic and public spheres" within the Czech Republic.
▲ Architecting DCX ▲ Global Banking & Finance Review
Areas such as retail, trade, logistics and syndicated loans remain incredibly convoluted with many phases of verification and confirmations before transactions are completed. Blockchain tech can streamline these processes and bring similar value to what the internet did for the information age.
▲ Adel in the Press ▲ Irish Tech News
Mankind has been shaped by borders, whether physical, geographical, technological or financial. Societies have found ways to structure themselves into coherent and ordered blocks. Over the last few centuries empires have risen and fallen, wars have been waged and physical borders have moved.
▲ Fintech Futures ▲ Adel Opinions
One of the great surprises of the blockchain revolution is that banks continue to occupy a near monopolistic position within financial services, despite their obvious and much publicised inadequacies.
▲ Dusil on DCX ▲ What Investment
For centuries, the exchanges of London, New York, Frankfurt and Tokyo have dominated the buying and selling of equities, commodities and other asset classes. Although technology has improved over the years and people can engage with these markets from the comfort of their own home, the core premise of a centralised exchange has remained the same.
▲ Evolution in Crypto by Gabriel Dusil ▲ Decentralised Exchanges
In the revolution of emerging blockchain technologies, shifting from legacy models and habits to embrace this paradigm shift, occurs in iterations. Arguably, the most significant aspect of blockchain is decentralisation, which allows for programmable trust, distributed ownership, and removes the necessity for third party arbitration.
▲ Adel on the Evening News ▲ TVP3 Poland
Adel has been featured on the Polish evening news! Polish channel TVP3 covered the blockchain conference in Gdansk as well as bitcoin & other cryptocurrencies. Although the broadcast is in Polish, their footage shows Adel's co-founder Gabriel Dusil presenting with the Adel logo in the background, shown multiple times.
▲ Gabriel Dusil mentioned in Euromoney ▲ G20 Ministers
Finance ministers and central bankers at the G20 have called for greater global coordination in their approach to cryptocurrencies, but that looks a remote prospect when different regulatory bodies in the same country cannot agree a strategy.
▲ Euromoney Interviews Adel Co-Founder Gabriel Dusil on Bitcoin Gold
Cryptocurrency architects have unveiled Bitcoin Gold, a new currency based on the bitcoin network set to begin trading in December, which attempts to resolve what some see as the excessive influence miners have on the bitcoin network.
▲ Blockchain Tech Incubator Firm Could Spark Jobs
A technology business using cutting edge blockchain technology could ultimately help to bring jobs to the island, it has been claimed.
▲ "How to Pull Bitcoin out of Darknet Stigma: Blockchain Startup Expertise"
With most new technologies, it's rare that mainstream investors dive in and take risks with the unfamiliar and untested. Organized crime, on the other hand, will invest in cutting-edge technologies to drive their initiatives, just like any legitimate business.
▲ How Digital Currencies Help Create Real-World Solutions, Explained
The Blockchain is a distributed public ledger of all transactions that have ever been sent with Bitcoin. In fact, Bitcoin itself is nothing more than just records on this ledger, by tracing the history of each single coin in the network since its creation and to the latest owner, any user can tell who owns Bitcoins, and how many.
▲ Adel ▲ Why Fintech Incubator Launches ICO
Adel, a global cryptocurrency, community-based project funded platform, is aiming to create a decentralized and self-sustaining macroeconomic ecosystem for Blockchain innovation.
▲ ICO Report ▲ Adel
ICOs are a new paradigm of fundraising, in use with many young Blockchain-based startups. During one, the company in question releases a cryptocurrency token and sells a part of the total supply to its intended audience.
▲ Adel Co-Founder ▲ "Blockchain is a foreign concept for VCs"
Traditional venture capitalists don't understand blockchain, according to Adel Co-Founder Gabriel Dusil. In an interview with IBS Intelligence, he cited the lack of familiarisation with the technology as a reason why blockchain startups struggle to achieve funding.
▲ Creating Value with Cryptocurrency: White Paper
This white paper outlines Adel's advantages from three vantage points: a) Blockchain technology, b) the Nxt (and soon, Ardor) platforms on which Adel is built, and c) additional business processes Adel has introduced into its ecosystem to provide effective, community-based development and funding.
▲ In Nxter, Venture Beat, Fintech Finance, and more…
▲ In Forbes, The Economic Times, The Paypers, and more…
Adel ▲ Opinion ▲ 19 ▲ Borderless Citizens™ in the 21st Century ▲ Pandemic Protocols
2019 August 29 2020 March 28 Gabriel Dusil	Leave a comment
The borderless movement may be technology-led, but not all initiatives are thanks to cyber. For example, Global Positioning System[i] (GPS) technology was deployed by the USA military in 1973 to overcome limitations of navigation systems. This network was opened to citizens in 1980 and has since been integrated into virtually every communication device. Iridium was developed by Motorola and began deployment in 1993[ii]. It was designed to provide voice and data coverage over the Earth's entire surface. These technologies are borderless, but they are centralized in the sense that they are either state or private-owned, with restricted rights of usage and geographical limitations. Meaning, they could be shut down at any minute, leaving every GPS device or Iridium phone in the dark.
It was just a matter of time before such vulnerabilities were overcome. Throughout the 1980s the internet was conceived, notably with the adoption of TCP/IP[iii] in 1983. The Internet was different from preceding communication services, in that its foundation was to create a network that could not be brought down by an enemy force. The TCP/IP protocol was first implemented in the Advanced Research Projects Administration[iv] (ARPANET). The controversy lies in the origins of ARPANET as a means to survive a nuclear attack. Its goals were apparently much broader, in "robustness and survivability, including the capability to withstand losses of large portions of the underlying networks"[v]. In hindsight, TCP/IP may be considered the first inception of the Pandemic Protocol era; Protocols that are persistent, pervasive and omnipresent; Protocols that are incredibly resilient from the shutdown, due to their decentralized nature, even by the creators themselves.
"Iteration Overcomes Limitations of Its Predecessor."
Welcome to Pandemic Protocols. In 1999 Peer to Peer[vi] (P2P networks) were introduced. This evolved the notion of client-server architectures with more emphasis on client-to-client communications. But the first interactions of P2P, such as Napster still involved a server. Shutting down this device at the center of the entire system meant that all nodes were disconnected for each other. This vulnerability was soon overcome by Bram Cohen in 2001, through the introduction of BitTorrent[vii]. Cohen took the resilience of P2P to a new level, by removing the vulnerability of the server. The concept of Pandemic Protocols took on new resilience because torrents were now pervasive and omnipresent. Clients could swarm to a torrent, and maintain a presence, as long as there were seeders and leeches exceeding a single copy of the content.
Today's Pandemic Protocol trend consists of technologies that are resilient to any centralized interference, meaning they cannot be shut down without considerable effort. In fact, they are so pervasive that shutting down these protocols means a complete shutdown of the internet – which itself is pandemic.
[i] "Global Positioning System" (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System)
[ii] "Iridium Satellite Constellation" (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_satellite_constellation)
[iii] "Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol" (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_protocol_suite)
[iv] "ARPANET" (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARPANET)
[v] Barry M. Leiner, Vinton G. Cerf, David D. Clark, Robert E. Kahn, Leonard Kleinrock, Daniel C. Lynch, Jon Postel, Larry G. Roberts, Stephen Wolff, "Brief History of the Internet" (Internet Society, 1997, https://www.internetsociety.org/internet/history-internet/brief-history-internet/#f5)
[vi] "Peer to Peer" (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peer)
[vii] "BitTorrent" (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent)
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Robinhood's commission-free crypto trading service got a rolling launch on 22 Feb 2018, with support for buy/selling only Bitcoin and Ethereum, and availability in only five U.S. states (California, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, and New Hampshire). With yesterday's announcement, the service now supports trading of five cryptocurrencies. Also, over the fast few months, the number of states the service has expanded to has increased to seventeen.
"Why doesn't Ripple get a higher grade? Like Bitcoin, it gets an A for fundamentals, but it scores poorly on our Risk Index due to repeated price crashes. Its Technology Index gets clipped due to heavy centralization and control by its creators. How come Dogecoin is rated on par with the likes of Ripple? This is indeed surprising. But the numbers are the numbers, and they include surprising facts: Dogecoin's usage is greater than that of Bitcoin Cash. Its usage is also greater than that of Dash and ZCash combined. Of course, that alone is not enough to bump it up above a C. But it certainly does pull it up from the D range."
Finally, perhaps, the addition of Dogeoin, the most light-hearted cryptocurrency out there, to the Robinhood app is not as surprising as it might appear at first given the popularity of the app with U.S. millennials.
As of press time, according to CryptoCompare, Dogecoin had a market cap of $328.63 million, and was trading at $ 0.002850, up 14.23% in the past 24-hour period.


text:
Bryan Dobson to co-anchor his final Six One News bulletin this evening
Tonight, television viewers across Ireland will tune in to see Bryan Dobson deliver the Six One News headlines one last time.
After 21 years as co-anchor, the legendary broadcaster has set his sights on Ireland's radio waves where he will join co-presenters Rachael English, Dr Gavin Jennings and Audrey Carville as a main anchor of RTÉ Radio One's Morning Ireland from next week.
Not one to make a "big fuss", Bryan has said he will celebrate his new career move by heading out for a meal with co-presenter Sharon Ni Bheoláin, followed by a "few drinks" with their colleagues.
According to reports, an RTÉ insider said: "Bryan was reluctant to make a big deal about leaving because, the way he sees it, he's only moving across the room."
"He would be happy enough with a low-key affair."
Bryan's replacement is expected to be announced in the coming weeks, but in the meantime it's understood a rotating schedule of news presenters will fill the role.
A number of presenters have already been tipped to succeed Dobson, including Ray Kennedy, David McCullough and Keelin Shanley.
Farewell Dobbo, you'll be missed.
Oh, and one more thing while we have you! Don't forget that you can catch up on all your favourite shows for free for a month right here, so sign up now!
bryan dobson
six one
Love Island's Ekin-Su admits she has lost friends since show

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Getting a degree in finance can be a great way to further am education that has the potential for career mobility, advancement opportunities, and high rates of pay. While the coursework can be difficult and the work environment high stress at times, the financial rewards you might receive in return could be well worth the effort. Here are a few of the classes you're likely to encounter in many finance degree programs.
While you may not plan to be managing a brokerage firm or running the daily operations of a financial business or firm, a financial management course can still be a valuable addition to your finance degree curriculum. There may be more to this coursework than you might expect. You could find yourself touching upon such subject matter as the goals of investors, interest rates, stock valuation, financial information, as well as how a financial office budgets, plans, makes decisions, and evaluates risk.
From currencies to stocks, investing worldwide has probably never been easier or more prevalent. Therefore, a course in international finance is just about bound to turn up in your finance degree coursework.
There are a variety of financial aspects you might encounter in your international finance class. From international cash management and economic growth to country risk and tax considerations, you may expect that your international finance class can help to prepare you for dealing with both the investments as well as the management of a company or firm dealing in multinational business.
From stocks and bonds to the exchanges they are traded upon, knowing and understanding securities and markets can be an instrumental part of your finance education. Investing can be a dangerous game though, so expect part of your class work to revolve about regulatory policies, market volatility, and risk analysis. Trading strategies, investment opportunities, and how trading actually takes place at various exchanges worldwide, may also be discussed. Learning how to create portfolios that maximize return while minimizing risk, could also be important aspects in your securities and markets subject matter. You might even get to conduct some in-class practice trading or do a project in which you get to simulate buying and selling stocks with trading software.
The ability to properly and safely manage investments and portfolios can be an integral part of your finance job once you've graduated. Keeping investors' money safe while at that same time earning them a reasonable return can be a difficult and delicate balancing act. In an investment management or portfolio management course, you may deal with subjects such as asset allocation, investment strategies, how to evaluate various investment choices, how individuals may be influenced in their investment selections, and market anomalies.
If this sounds interesting, find out more about how you can get a finance degree online. Check out the Online Finance Schools directory today!


text:
Moore Institute visits Astoria for a Nutrition Consortium Forum
12/26/2018 By Sue Cody
Heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and other chronic diseases are on the rise in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control. And healthy nutrition plays a key role in reducing the prevalence these diseases.
An OHSU institute is conducting a free local event about how organizations can work together toward healthier communities by focusing on what we eat.
Representatives from the OHSU Bob and Charlee Moore Institute for Nutrition & Wellness. will be in Astoria for a free Nutrition Consortium Forum Jan. 15. Partnering to sponsor the event are Clatsop County Public Health, the Community Health Advocacy and Resource Team (CHART), North Coast Food Web and the OSU SNAP-Education Program through the Clatsop County Extension Service.
Moore Institute reports science now shows poor nutrition during pregnancy leads to poor fetal development and is the "most powerful determinant of chronic disease in an adult."
To learn more about local nutrition access and health in Oregon, the Moore Institute is joining with groups across the state in these forums.
The goal is to get people together, make connections and see how people can work together and push forward to improve health in their communities, says Liana Haywood, communications director for the Moore Institute.
Institute members will share the latest research on health and disease and local presenters will share information about food access and nutrition programs. Addressing gaps in services, participants will be able to identify issues that need addressing and see how they can work with the Moore Institute.
Haywood says the forum is of interest to people involved in food and nutrition issues, such as public health, school, health care providers and those interested in social justice.
The Astoria Nutrition Consortium Forum will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 15 at Columbia Hall, Room 219, Clatsop Community College, 1651 Lexington Ave., Astoria. There is no charge for the event, but registration is required. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided. To register, go to http://bit.ly/W2Wnutforum.
More about the Moore Institute
The Moore Institute was established to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases by promoting healthy, nutrient-rich diets before conception, during pregnancy, infancy and early childhood.
Focusing on nutrition in a child's early years affects long-term health, Haywood says. Good nutrition can reduce chronic disease.
"It is important for educators to know the science, and make sure kids have good nutrition so they are ready to learn," says Haywood. The institute offers community resources on science and nutrition education.
"It is great to go into a community, get people together, make connections and see how people can work together and push forward to improve health," Haywood says.
The Way to Wellville and its sponsor, Columbia Pacific Coordinated Care Organization support healthy activities and education.


The road to diagnosis is not always straight forward, even today. Each family that shared stories for my book, brought up the process that resulted in their child being labeled autistic. Their experiences were varied. So were their reactions to the assessment process and the eventual diagnosis.
Some families were shocked when their child was diagnosed, others were relieved when they finally had answers.
Obviously, the story shared by the mother of a child born in 1964 was different from that of the child born in 2006. There was, surprisingly, one thing similar between the stories shared by these two women. Each of them believed their child had autism long before the doctors diagnosed them. Their journeys were both long and frustrating.
The first mother can't remember the title of the fascinating book she read forty years ago, but it perfectly described her son's characteristics and struggles. The doctor who wrote the book called the disorder autism, and blamed it on unfeeling mothers, whom he called "refrigerator moms." Her child's doctor, on the other hand, named her son's condition childhood neurosis. She asked him why he was not saying her son was autistic. This doctor responded that he did not want to give the little boy a label that would follow him the rest of his life.
The boy was not diagnosed with autism until he was in his late teens, his mother can't remember what year. My guess is probably after 1980, when autism became an official medical diagnosis. By this time the child had been in and out of various educational settings, both at home and away, as his mother tried to find a way to keep him safe from his own self-injurious behaviors. Now, as a middle-aged adult, he is able to live with his mother and attend and enjoy an adult day program geared to his needs. Having that "label" allowed him access to this program.
What about the mom whose child was born in 2006? Surely, I thought that her child's path to diagnosis would be simple, but that was not the case.
Her son struggled academically, behaviorally, and socially from the time he entered preschool and through three years of elementary school. He had severe ADHD, sensory issues, and concerns with expressive language. He eventually began to show delays in receptive language.
Now this child is getting the educational support he needs. His parents moved to a school district that they felt would best provide the services that would benefit their son., services that would not be available without the diagnosis.
Several parents explained that the post 2000 autism diagnosis for other children came quite easily. Other parents shared a different story of their experiences, even in this century. I wondered how this could be.
Why can autism diagnosis be so complicated?
After my conversations with various families for my book, I developed a greater appreciation for the differences in children on the spectrum that led to a more challenging diagnosis process. The signs that educators or doctors might consider indicators of autism might be displayed earlier or later in a child's life. Some of these characteristics may never appear in a particular child on the spectrum. Sometimes strengths in one area may mask deficits in another area.
I also developed a much greater understanding of the many other conditions that are often prevalent in children with autism that can complicate the process. Children with autism might also have severe ADHD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Doctors sometimes diagnosis these conditions without seeing the autism.
Straightforward or challenging? How did the diagnosis go for your loved one with autism?
It seems that I am not a very decisive person lately. Even as my beta readers are reading my manuscript, I am considering what I should have done differently. Did I include the right chapters in this book? How could a retired teacher not include the chapter on education in my first book on autism? Should I go back to the drawing board? Of course, I could revise forever and never finish the book. That's how I operate.
Maybe I need to back up a little to clarify why I am having this problem. It really began with a conversation last summer with someone who verbally cracked the whip and basically told me to stop talking and get the book out there where it can do some good. This woman, who was diagnosed with a seizure disorder as an adult, explained that when she was first trying to understand what was happening within her brain, she really wanted to read pamphlets, not an encyclopedia. She convinced me that I was going for the encyclopedia. At that point, I had already had conversations about autism with people from thirteen families who were sharing for my book. I had actually hoped to include twenty-five families! I loved listening to the people tell their stories. I enjoyed hearing their experiences repeatedly as I transcribed their conversations into print. It was interesting to see how their stories sometimes overlapped, and topics for chapters bubbled to the surface. I really didn't want to stop all of this and get into the real work of writing and publishing.
Thankfully, I followed this woman's advice and prepared to bring the book to a close. I had already arranged many of the quotes into chapters about various topics relating to autism. Each chapter had several subsections. Two friends had each read a few incomplete chapters over the months to see if the book was readable and useful. One of the women, whose son is on the spectrum, told me that she felt the book would be useful not just to parents but to educators, coaches, and doctors. With this thought in my mind, I plugged the remaining quotes into the appropriate chapters and began adding the rest of the stories. I was still sketching out chapter introductions, which are my own narrative regarding the topics such as sensory differences, parent advice, awareness, etc.
At this point in the process, I had the opportunity to attend a publishing event, carrying a crumpled chapter in my hand, to get professional advice. It had never occurred to me that my typed pages were not as small as the pages of a book. I personally felt, going into this event, like the book might be a little skimpy. There were so many topics to cover. I was utterly surprised when, after telling professionals how many words were in my document, I found out that my book would be well over four hundred pages long! What person in their right mind would read a non-fiction book that long? More importantly, what parent whose child had just been diagnosed with autism would even consider reading a book that long? Who knew? I had written an encyclopedia.
I began the hard work of choosing my chapter topics. Which chapters should I include in this book, and which will go into a later book? I began rearranging some quotes that could have gone into multiple chapters and rewriting introductions. I finally came up with a finished manuscript that seemed right. I proofread it repeatedly, and recruited the help of my beta readers. What a relief! My rough draft was complete!
Now, I can take care of some real-life things that have been stacking up and be ready to revise and proofread when I get feedback in April. I made the right choices for the first book. Or did I? I continue to second guess myself. Maybe I should put everything back in and just publish the encyclopedia.
Am I retired? When I began this blog in 2014, I adopted the theme of "Retirement – My New Reality" and somewhere along the way, retirement does not seem like my reality. I am……. Hmm. Who am I? When I think about who I am, the word retired doesn't pop into my brain as readily as it once did. I am busy, but have plenty of time to relax, frequently. I am a grandmother, enjoying a three-month-old without the pressure of parenting. I am a somewhat lazy gardener who still manages to grow enough kale to make smoothies all summer and enough lettuce to make a big salad almost every night for most of the summer. We won't talk about the tomatoes that were ravaged by the deer last year. I volunteer as conversation tutor for adults learning to speak English. I am a college instructor, teaching one class only in the fall, my own time schedule. And oddly, I teach MATH, yet I am a writer!
Yes, I am a writer who now thinks of herself as an author. I have finished my manuscript of a book that shares the experiences of families that have children with autism. Publishing is right around the corner, or maybe a mile away. I am not sure how long the time will seem.
For two years I have had conversations about autism with mothers and fathers of children on the spectrum. I have also spoken with four individuals who have autism. All of these amazing people have shared stories of their experiences for me to pass on to others who are on the same journey. I was energized when I first heard them talk about their lives, as they explained details of their days, months, and years. I was re-energized every time I listened again to their words, transcribing these events for the chapters of the book. Then, with their words still resounding poignantly in my ears, I was forced to rediscover my own writer's voice as I wrote introductions for each chapter. Now, my manuscript is finished! I am in the process of preparing for publication.
Currently my manuscript is out of my hands, figuratively and mentally. I told my six beta readers that they have until mid-April to read and report back to me their initial thoughts and reactions to my book. Meanwhile I am pretending that they have the only copies of my book and that the whole file in not on the desktop of my computer and backed up in about three places. The suspense is killing me, but I needed to distance myself from my writing for a while so that, when I pick it up again, I will see mistakes I might have missed or thoughts that need clarification.
In April, I will make any revisions that I feel necessary after getting input from my beta readers. Then I will proofread my book a few more times before passing it on to the editor. I am sure that I will have more revisions to make after professional editing. Writing a book is not for the fainthearted or the thin skinned. Then on to graphic and layout designers, etc.
Am I retired? I don't think so. I now see myself as an author. I know I have enough compelling material to publish a second book. I have other ideas floating around in my brain as to how I can use my newly activated Facebook author page and an eventual author website to spread information about resources available in my local (St. Louis, Missouri) autism community and maybe to provide connections for people who are looking for support. I think what started out as a "project that I hope will turn into a book" has turned into a new mission. I am not sure how or where I will end up with this extended project.
Reach out if you have any thoughts about what I could do next. What would be important to you if you have a child on the spectrum?
If you are interested in writing or autism please follow my new Facebook Author page – "Debbie Frick Author".
Throughout my years teaching in a public elementary school, I had various students with autism in my classroom. During the early years, it was difficult for me to find helpful information on how to best reach these children or to provide me with any insight into what autism even is. I could find dry lists of "characteristics" and equally dry lists and articles of techniques. Books, also, seemed to lack what I might call a human element. Once I discovered "Thinking in Pictures" by Temple Grandin, I realized that memoirs about individuals with autism could be much more revealing and interesting. I was hooked.
About fourteen years ago (who knows, life flies), I was taking some graduate level school counseling classes. Each of my required research papers provided me with another opportunity to learn more about autism, as I blended research from professional journals with insights from memoirs to try to present a realistic yet practical approach. By this point, I even found professional articles interesting. I was hooked.
So fast forward to 2014, my retirement. My "Things I Want to Do When I Retire" list included possibly writing a book, probably a children's book or a book full of teaching anecdotes. I had been working on ideas for several years, and had a writer's notebook with several first chapters of children's fiction, a list of other possible topics, and thoughts of children's nonfiction books.
After retirement, I began to write down some of the funny and interesting little stories of life with elementary children. Once I had several stories written down I realized two things. Many of my most memorable stories were about children with autism and what I learned from them. More importantly, I realized that I really didn't want to write a book about me or my experiences, but I wanted to write a book about the children themselves.
What would I do and how would I begin? I called a friend whose life path had crossed mine at opportune times in the past (long story also connected to autism). She is very tuned into the local autism community both because she has a son on the spectrum and because her work for many years has been connected to autism. She thought a book was a wonderful idea. She explained that the board at the organization for which she works had considered trying to gather and share stories, but didn't quite know where to begin. Well neither did I! But my "Project that I Hope Will Become a Book about Autism" began.
Thus began yet another "new reality" in retirement and I jumped in with both feet. That's a scary thought, because of the water analogy and the fact that I don't swim and am petrified of water higher than my knees!
When I tell people that I am writing a book about families who have children with autism, I am invariably asked, "Why autism?" The answer is long and complicated. It's hard to explain, because my interest in autism goes back to 1994. It reads like the introductory scenes of a movie, the part before the opening credits and title.
The room was crowded. Some people stood clustered in groups talking to new or old friends. Others hunkered down in kindergarten chairs not meant to accommodate their height or width. The air was charged with anticipation, excitement, uncertainty and nervousness, this latter mostly emanating from me. About the time I invited everyone to have a seat, in strode a woman and a child of about five. The child's hair had not been combed and he wore no shoes. Neither he or the woman seemed concerned by the fact that he was the only child in the room, nor by his dirty bare feet. Some of the other visitors seemed a little hesitant. Some seemed curious. Myself, I was a little unsure but welcomed all my guests, introduced myself, and began the Open House for the parents of kindergarteners who would be entering my classroom the following week. I was reentering the teaching profession after having pursued other paths for twenty years, and who was this boy without shoes at a parents' only event?
I can't recall a word I said that night of my kindergarten open house. I do remember that I was constantly wondering about this woman and her child. Smiling parents said their goodbyes before leaving. Soon I was left with the woman and her barefoot son. While I may not remember what I said, she was evidently encouraged by my words. She informed me that her son had autism and she had heard that our school was very welcoming to children with special needs. She was at the open house to check us out and after listening to my presentation she was going to ask that her son be enrolled in my kindergarten class.
She left and I thought, "Autism?" I remembered a neighbor telling me she believed a neighbor's preschooler had autism because he walked on his toes. That's all I "knew" about autism, even having earned both a general education and special education certification almost 25 years earlier. (Maybe I should say because I had earned my special education certification in the dinosaur age!) This boy was not walking on his barefoot toes like my neighbor's child. The term had never come up in all of the special education classes I took in the early seventies. It had not been mentioned at the school at which I taught nor did we discuss it in the graduate education and Gifted education classes in which I was currently enrolled. I hadn't even watched Rainman. I wondered, "What on earth is autism?" I knew that I better figure it out quickly.
That is why I began to read everything I could about autism, and didn't stop reading for the next twenty years.
One of my top strengths, according to an assessment I took many years ago, is something the program called "Woo." Most people I know who have this strength are extroverted individuals who love to socialize and party. Well that description does not fit me! I am an introvert who prefers one on one conversations rather than large crowds.
I remember that for many years I jokingly told my husband that I must wear two signs that many people can't see. The first sign said, "I am a Kindergarten teacher, so if you are under 6 and see me in the store come and talk to me. I am not a stranger." I would just smile at a kiddo and he or she would start talking to me, leaving parents worried, I'm sure, that I was a kidnapper in disguise! My second sign said, "Tell me all your problems, especially those that others would consider TMI." There was a time I knew more about mere acquaintances than seemed appropriate. Really, why are you telling me this?! Yet, I always tried to provide an understanding ear.
I realize, now, that I actually wore and still wear a third sign. It reads, "It doesn't matter if you never saw me before, strike up a conversation with me and we will find something in common." I can encounter someone in the grocery line or shopping over a pair of pants and walk away knowing her life story, through asking curiously strategic or strategically curious questions, and then just listening. Once I even had lunch with a lady who was buying the same jacket as I was! This is what Woo looks like in me.
I guess it is this same talent, if you want to call it that, which enabled me to call mothers of children with autism and ask them to share their stories for what I identified as "a project I hope will turn into a book." With each of ladies, some of whom were mere acquaintances and others total strangers, I put a recorder on the table between us as I asked her to tell her story. Each of these women talked for well over an hour, with few prompts from me, sharing events and realities from her daily life as a parent of a child or children on the spectrum. Only then, did I begin to ask a few interview-like questions.
When I first began the writing portion of my autism project, I shared the stories as they were told to me, adding my own narrative to fill in background and describe the emotions that these women showed as they opened their lives to me. I loved so many aspects of the way these accounts unfolded and could imagine how these stories would benefit other families who were just beginning their journey.
I changed the names of the children and the schools in an attempt at providing privacy, however, my stomach literally churned when I realized that this was not enough to protect the anonymity of the families. I know that in my city, the community of families of children with autism is interconnected in many ways. Some of the families who shared their stories knew each other. Although all the parents told me that I could share everything they said, I quickly realized that some details of their stories made them readily identifiable. Someone might easily recognize a family through some of the innocuous details of their road to diagnosis, the family make-up, or a particular path through the educational system. That seemed pretty harmless. Once I got to details in the story that shared more personal information about how parenting a child with autism challenges a marriage, or how family finances are affected by having a child with autism, or about a time the family had to call the police to help them manage their older child in melt-down mode, I knew that I was not comfortable with the way in which I was reporting these personal details.
I eventually decided to divide the stories by topics, such as funding, marriage, education, and meltdowns. The first rewrite began. The rewrites continue.
My last blog post was over 2 years ago! Amazingly, I still have a few hits on this blog almost every day, so I thought I would take it in a slightly new direction. Or, maybe it's not really a new direction as much as a "settling in" for me. I spent the first few years of retirement trying things, "exploring my new reality." Don't get me wrong, I am still constantly discovering new things to do, but I have settled in somewhat to 2 undertakings. These are the tasks that I feel are beginning to define me in my new reality. It is interesting that I never thought of it this way, defining me, until just now, but these are the things I talk about to my friends and family. These are the activities over which I stew and rejoice, the activities about which I complain and brag, activities which make me feel productive and alive.
This is the beginning of my fourth fall teaching at a local university. I teach only in the fall. As I tell everyone, "I did not retire from teaching full time to teach full time." I teach what are known as methods math classes to students studying to be elementary school teachers. Teaching college students how to teach math, a subject that many despise(d), has its own set of rewards and challenges. Some years one outweighs the other.
The role that most lights up my life nowadays, is my new role as author. In my last post, I was beginning to focus more on writing, and I left you, my virtual audience, hanging in the air as to what direction my writing might take. I was as yet uncertain about what that direction would be. I mentioned in that post that I had begun jotting down anecdotes about my experiences as an elementary classroom teacher. Just as writing blogs for a virtual audience did not spark my creative juices or light any fires in me, neither did my stories about my own personal experiences. I did not have enough interesting material to fuel my writing. I realized that many of my short pieces were actually about my interactions with children on the autism spectrum and what I learned from having those special children in my classroom. The stories were, however, about me, not about the children. Boring. Suddenly, it hit me! I would share, not my own stories, but the stories of families who have children with autism.
For the last year and a half, I have listened to more than a dozen mothers pour out stories about their lives as they share examples of how having a child with autism has impacted all aspects of their daily living. This is what I am chronicling, not my story, but theirs. For me, it is a remarkable journey, a journey that finds me humbled by how open these women were in their conversations with me. For some of them, the experience was therapeutic, as we cried and laughed together over events they revealed. Most of these women seemed motivated by the desire to help other families feel less alone in their own journey. A few of these women knew me slightly, some I had never met, yet all were willing to share their hearts and their lives. I have met some of the most remarkable families during this time and have found a new mission and passion in my retirement.
When nearing retirement age most people begin to consider what life will look like post-retirement. For some, sadly, retirement only means escape from a job that requires more energy and mental stamina than they can muster. They do not think of what comes next, of what they may enjoy doing. For many, retirement means an opportunity to try new things or to travel. There are those who think about things they have been wanting to do for years but couldn't fit into their working schedule. Some people begin to think about their "bucket list"*. Several months before I retired I found a little metal sign in one of the dollar bins at a craft store. The message "Follow your dreams and explore your new reality" became my retirement motto and was even written on the sheet cake at my retirement party. Long before I retired I had many ideas about what I might want to try in retirement. I will share a few of the more ambitious thoughts.
For years before I had a retirement date in mind I began to consider retirement possibilities. One of the things I considered was opening a teashop. When I was in my twenties I developed a taste for tea and began searching out stores where I could be buy assorted loose teas. I recently subscribed to a tea magazine. I felt I could almost open a tea store with the variety of teas that filled two shelves of my cabinet, with overflow of my daily favorites on my counter top. I began to research tea organizations, suppliers, and conventions. Several years ago I even considered going to the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas to learn more about tea. When I finally retired several of my friends asked me if I was going to open that tea shop I had talked about it so frequently. It seems I had customers lined up and waiting! By then, however, I realized that having my own retail business involved more hours and weekends then I was prepared to invest. I knew I wanted more freedom in retirement.
When I was teaching, I took a "writing workshop for teachers" class offered by my school district. As a result of that class I have several partial or completed drafts of children's books that I considered editing and trying to get published someday. I felt particularly interested in writing chapter books for children who are early readers or a children's story about selected events of my childhood. (My author mentors are Donald Crews and Cynthia Rylant for those of you who know about such things or such people.) After taking part in a three- year history grant which included traveling with peers to the Smithsonian Institute and following the Civil Rights trail through Memphis, Birmingham, and Atlanta, I also thought it might be interesting to write biographies for children.
When I first retired I dabbled in writing. I began a collection of some short anecdotes of teaching experiences that I felt might make interesting reading for adults. I started this blog because writing a blog for adults was something I wanted to try. I purchased a text and DVD from the "Great Courses" series and did some writing for that. I found this challenging as the course assigned writing tasks for no audience but myself and I craved some feedback on the pieces I wrote. Writing is still on my list of things to pursue. I need to decide which genre I really want to pursue first.
For each of the last eight years of my teaching career, I hosted a student teacher in my classroom. I enjoyed mentoring these young people and learned from them as well. It seemed like a natural move for me to work with students in the university setting. About three years before I actually retired, with no certain retirement year in mind, I began networking with people at the universities attended by my student teachers. I updated my resume and sent it to my Alma Mater after talking with the Dean of the School of Education. The universities prefer hiring experienced teachers who are newly retired as adjuncts in their education departments and people who secure these positions keep them for years. There were no openings available before or after I retired but I had so many projects and activities to keep me occupied the first year that I set the idea aside to think about at a later time. Spoiler alert…I received an unexpected call late last summer regarding an adjunct position. I taught last fall and will again this fall.
At, this point, two years into my retirement, I still embrace some of the same large and small goals that I set for myself. Now that the wedding is behind me and the basement on the path to recovery I am feeling motivated to once again tackle writing. Hence, I am once again posting to the blog. I also began a short course on writing memoirs at the local community college. We will see how that progresses.
*In case you've wondered, according to the Wallstreet Journal (http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-origins-of-bucket-list-1432909572) the term "bucket list" was coined by screenwriter Justin Zackham in 1999. He composed a list of things that he wanted to do before he "kicked the bucket." Looking for a shorter title he called it "Justin's Bucket List" which eventually led him to write the screenplay that starred Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. The term has become a part of our language and now represents any list of things that someone wants to do, without the thought of dying even considered.
December 2015 brought us record setting rains which caused our basement to flood. The carpet soaked up much of the rain and kept the water from moving swiftly to the sewer on the other side of the basement. While the majority of the finished area of the basement was affected, there were areas that remained water free because of diligence on our part. When he discovered the water at 10 AM, my husband immediately started the shop vac roaring. At some point family members lent their shop vacs and hands and by the time the rain finally stopped at 8 PM we had three vacs and five people working frantically. The water came in as quickly as we vacuumed it up. Furniture was put on plastic lids and books were carried upstairs. Our insurance company informed us nothing was covered since it wasn't sewer water. (Thank goodness it wasn't.) Water mitigation companies were called. We were placed on waiting lists because they had more calls than they could handle. By the time we dropped to bed in exhaustion that night every fan we owned was running in our basement and the water was no longer flowing.
The enormity of trying to prevent mold and trying to take care of our belongings seemed paralyzing. For days we moved things up, down, and around. Our double garage was filled with things from the basement. Every room of the house had (and still has) extra books, chairs, and other belongings. The main plan was to get things off the damp carpet but we had no place to put all of the things we had accumulated through the years. We knew it would take months to get the basement repaired and things put back in place.
Some of our "stuff" began to lose its importance. We started purging those items we could easily decide were unimportant. These we piled in boxes and took to a local thrift store. Purging became a little more of a challenge after the first few times we filled the minivan with donations. But when we waited several days between our assaults and trekked things immediately to the thrift store we began to throw caution to the wind. Some unidentified containers and containers full of needed items are buried so deeply in the depths of our garage that we won't be able to tackle those for months. After nine or ten trips to the thrift store, one thrift store pick up of furniture and larger items, and many weekly bags of trash, we were finally able to get one car in the garage and find the lawn mower. Of course the other half of the garage is stacked about five feet high. My husband and I made a pact that nothing goes back in the basement without the approval of both of us.
Probably my own personal biggest "collection" was books, both adult and children's books. I had books I had never read, books I knew I'd read again, books I thought I'd read again. The PTO at my old school held used book sales every year and I always walked out with bags of books, some of which sounded only mildly interesting. For years I have used my Nook Glow for most of my reading as I can check out books online from the library and don't have to remember to return them to avoid hefty fines. I can also carry many books with me on one small device, which is great for traveling. My first book purge was pretty simple. If I hadn't read or thought about reading a book in the last five years it would go. It became a little more difficult when I started perusing my shelves full of beautiful gardening books. I kept my dog-eared favorites of course, including my first gardening book which is honest about which plants are aggressive or health hazards to dogs or people. Several of my books were printed in England and had information on plants that are difficult to find here. Although beautifully illustrated, these books were big and bulky and out the door. I use the Kemper Plant Finder site to research my plants now so I haven't opened these books in years. My children's books, left over from my teaching days, were mostly in rubber containers and they got carried out and buried in the garage some place. Those I may use some day if I ever decided to tutor or if I have grandchildren. (I know purging means parting with things you might use "some day"… but children's books don't count.) I purged more than 50% of my adult books.
My husband's biggest collection was old paint. It's not easy to dispose of used paint and so it has accumulated. He has spent months drying out paint in every way he can so that it can be discarded. It's a process!
Meanwhile, the actual basement has been partially taken apart and is still in the process of being rebuilt. The mitigation company sent a team a few days after the event. Drywall was cut and fans and dehumidifiers ran for days. We decided to have drain tile and a sump pump installed, which involved research, bids, a wait time, and six days of construction. The remodeling company has rebuilt the drywall. We are currently making decisions about carpeting and looking for sturdy shelving as the wooden storage shelves were torn out when the drain tile was laid. It's been a process that has been all consuming and keeps us tied to the house.
I saw the quote below one day and immediately thought about all of the old energy being removed from our house. I am patiently waiting to see what new energy will now enter.
December 2015 marked the end of our 29th year in this house. When we first moved into our home, we had some cracks in the foundation in the laundry and storage area that leaked a bit during heavy rains. A professional company used epoxy injection to alleviate that problem and we lived with a dry basement after that. Years later, when we decided to have our basement refinished, the repaired area was not even part of the living area so we had no concerns.
Our basement has gone through an evolutionary process over the years. Our children, three in number at the time our basement was remodeled, used the space to entertain friends. Our son's bedroom was also down there. Because our stairs enter the basement at an inconvenient place, the living spaces are separated. Through the years, various sections of the basement have included a foosball table, a television viewing area, a dart board, two desktop computer stations, a treadmill, a weight machine, a fairly extensive library of books and several old tables used for a variety of activities. The storage area near the laundry space held whatever we needed to store. The closet under the stairs was home to off season clothes, luggage, and Christmas decorations.
The college years arrived. Each year of their college career our children brought home their belongings "for the summer." After the freshman dorm experience, they each moved to new apartments every year. Many of the belongings that came home in the spring did not go back with them in the fall.
Our son and daughters graduated and left us with a "not so empty" nest. After college my oldest, our only son, moved into an apartment with a friend. His collection of Legos, Playmobile sets, photography magazines, Pinewood Derby cars, model cars, rocket sets, shop class projects and foosball table stayed behind. Eventually the foosball table found its way to his flat, but the other sadly abandoned items seemed to multiply. My second child left college and moved to another city. She bought new things for her apartment, took some of her belongings from her younger years, and left others behind, including a fragile 4 cubic foot dollhouse that my husband had constructed from a kit. After several years away she decided to move back home and work on her Master's Degree, asking to stay with us for six months. At this point she brought with her an extensive collection of furniture, home décor items, kitchen appliances, and clothing. When she moved out two and a half years later, she left behind things that somehow would not fit into her new apartment because her roommate had duplicates. These items, too, seemed to produce progeny. Then my youngest moved to another city. She left behind drawers full of scrapbooking materials, a guitar, a keyboard, juggling equipment, and prom dresses. Of course all three of them left behind shelves full of textbooks that they knew they would use again!
By 2013 all of the children were gone from the nest, but it was far from empty. The foosball area gave way to stacks of plastic containers and the bedroom became a walk-in closet. The wardrobes that were meant to hold desktop computers now were used for storage as my husband and I had graduated to laptops. The basement that had been crowded but seemed to provide sufficient storage when the children were home was now packed with bits and pieces of the lives of five people because, of course, my husband and I had also accumulated new things. My children occasionally took things that they realized they wanted, but that didn't seem to make a difference. I think they were secretly adding other things to the collection.
So….December 2015 marked the end of our 29th year in our house. Then the rains came. This is what the National Weather Service reports about our St. Louis precipitation for that month.
The week after Christmas my husband went to the basement one morning and found puddles about an inch deep at the bottom of the basement steps.
Musings about my journey into retirement and third phase of life: My journey as a writer, charitable estate planner and semi-retiree.


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