BC TECH
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1/ *Centralized* apps building atop decentralized protocols may be the winning combination, each furthering the adoption of the other.

 2/ As many have pointed out, “decentralize all the things” is a mistake. Decentralize the things that benefit from decentralization.
3/ Starting with centralized apps (think @coinbase @circlepay etc), if you’ve been paying attention, they are utilizing an increasing amount of decentralized protocols & open-source crypto infrastructure, to the benefit of their end users.
4/ The realization this week that @coinbase and @circlepay built their #stablecoin on top of @zeppelin_os was another tick in this trend. https://t.co/rpgyQJ8Sdo
5/ Centralized #crypto apps that build upon decentralized protocols have:

-Global capabilities from day one
-Lower costs due to the on-demand and perfect-competition nature of protocol services
-More rapid innovation as they build upon others’ open source building blocks.
6/ Long term, centralized #crypto apps that build atop decentralized infrastructure will find it the key to what allows them to scale beyond, and outcompete, incumbents that fear public networks & cling to owning their infrastructure.
7/ Having covered cloud companies for 3 years & seeing how long it took big incumbents to embrace the public cloud (and some still haven’t), I have a hard time seeing these incumbents embrace decentralized protocols before it’s too late. Their loss.
8/ All of this leaves decentralized apps (#dapps) in hot water. As many have been pointing out, pure-play dapps are not getting much use.
9/ Connection points to end users need to be hyper-responsive, and due to the laws of physics, #dapps are fighting an uphill battle against centralized apps in response times.
10/ Projects like @graphprotocol or Picolo Network (https://t.co/hd1aN5nO0s) are aiming to help #dapps with their response times, but it remains TBD if it will ever be good enough for a human to not discern the lag.
11/ I also think customer service via #dapps is going to be a hard problem to solve, as customer service is high-touch and doesn’t come for free.
12/ Centralized apps in #crypto also currently have the vast majority of *distribution* to the end user, which so long as they continue to remain technologically relevant I have a hard time seeing them cede to #dapps.
13/ For these reasons, if you’re focusing on investing in #cryptoassets (as @placeholdervc is), I recommend focusing on layer 1 protocols, and important middleware protocols atop the layer 1’s.
14/ Look at what protocols the centralized apps are building atop, and getting real utility out of.

Those will have fundamental value, regardless of how much some obsess over “economic abstraction” and “infinite velocity.”
15/ As always, I’m open to being proved wrong, but I feel reasonably confident that in the short-to-medium term it will be the centralized apps that continue to capture most all of the users — longer term, as people work to make dapps more responsive, we’ll see.

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The 2018 State of JavaScript survey is out. They got 20,000 responses and have some delicious, delicious data. I'mma thread in some highlights:

First up: JavaScript flavors. There's TypeScript at 47% adoption, a tad higher than npm's own survey results (which said 46%). npm's survey is coming up again soon and will ask about TypeScript in a lot more detail.


I really, *really* like SoJ's "would not use again" question, which lets people who've abandoned a tech self-identify. This is noticeable in the graph above with Flow users -- 41% of people who've used Flow say they wouldn't use it again.

Now JavaScript frameworks. It's been a full year since npm's survey, so these numbers differ from ours in the directions I expected:
React 65% (vs. 60%)
Vue 29% (vs. 24%)
Ember 5% (vs 4%, I was expecting a bigger rise)

But there's a shocker in here: Angular.


npm's survey had Angular at 40% last year and SoJ has it at either:
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- 24% (if you count only those who like it)
Since npm's question didn't ask if they intend to *continue* using it I think that might explain this.
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Jared Spool
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A common misunderstanding about Agile and “Big Design Up Front”:

There’s nothing in the Agile Manifesto or Principles that states you should never have any idea what you’re trying to build.

You’re allowed to think about a desired outcome from the beginning.

It’s not Big Design Up Front if you do in-depth research to understand the user’s problem.

It’s not BDUF if you spend detailed time learning who needs this thing and why they need it.

It’s not BDUF if you help every team member know what success looks like.

Agile is about reducing risk.

It’s not Agile if you increase risk by starting your sprints with complete ignorance.

It’s not Agile if you don’t research.

Don’t make the mistake of shutting down critical understanding by labeling it Bg Design Up Front.

It would be a mistake to assume this research should only be done by designers and researchers.

Product management and developers also need to be out with the team, conducting the research.

Shared Understanding is the key objective


Big Design Up Front is a thing to avoid.

Defining all the functionality before coding is BDUF.

Drawing every screen and every pixel is BDUF.

Promising functionality (or delivery dates) to customers before development starts is BDUF.

These things shouldn’t happen in Agile.
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Twitter: ok sure, we've changed the stars to hearts for likes

Users: no no, zero Nazis please

Twitter: yep we're getting rid of Vine

Users: nah hey, what about the Nazis

Twitter: ok ok fine, no more likes

Really though, if you had to ask any average user what were the main things leading to a bad "quality of debate" on this bad website, the tiny little heart symbols would not exactly be at the top of most people's lists
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Steve Schoger
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How to make a "Briefcase" icon in @figmadesign.

🧵 thread 👇


In a 24 x 24 pixel artboard, use the rectangle tool (R) to draw a 18 x 10 pixel rectangle positioned horizontally centered and 6 pixels from the top of the artboard.


Using the ellipse tool (O), draw a 96 x 96 pixel circle and align the top to the center/top of the rectangle. Select both shapes and use the boolean tool to intersect the group.


Using the ellipse tool (O), draw a 48 x 48 pixel circle and align the bottom to the center/bottom of the rectangle. Select both shapes and use the boolean tool to intersect the group.


Flatten the shape (command + E) and double click it to make it editable. Select the top left and right points and give them a 2 pixel corner radius. Select the bottom left and right points and give them a 1 pixel corner radius.
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El Sandifer, Rationality Expert to the Stars
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I’m quoted in this, which does about as good a job overviewing the topic as a New York Times profile can be expected to.

Major oversights in it as I see.

First, It does not acknowledge the fact that Yudkowsky is, at heart, a complete crank. This remains, to my mind, crucial to understanding the rationalist community’s influence on the world: they’re sci-fi writers being mistaken for scientists.

You can’t really understand the harmful effects of SSC until you realize that it’s part of a larger movement of bullshit artists serving as cult leaders to the techbros.

Second, and more importantly, it never really explains the harm that’s being done by Scott Siskind and his followers. It comes close, noting that “SJWs” were the only group not welcome in SSC, but it doesn’t capture the harm of that because it doesn’t unpack the term.

What is meant in practice when “SJWs” aren’t welcome in a space is that marginalized people speaking of the harm they experience are silenced.

That’s it. That’s the meaning.
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SRI CHAMPAKADHAMA SWAMY, BANNERGHATTA HILL, BENGALURU (KAR)
#bharatmandir

The shrine is dedicated to Sri Vishnu along with Devi Lakshmi and Bhoodevi.
It is built in an area full of Champaka trees.
As champaka flowers are offered to Sri Vishnu here, it is called Champakadhama.


It is believed that King Janmejaya had sarpa-dosha. To get rid of it, he took bath in the nearby pond. He emerged with a golden body and sarpa-dosha was also removed. The pond is called Swarnamukhi and believed to have curative powers.
Sri Vishnu murti was consecrated by him.


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The first ever world map was sketched thousands of years ago by Indian saint
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Dhritarashtra's charioteer so that he could describe him the events of the upcoming war.

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This is how he described the face of the world:

सुदर्शनं प्रवक्ष्यामि द्वीपं तु कुरुनन्दन। परिमण्डलो महाराज द्वीपोऽसौ चक्रसंस्थितः॥
यथा हि पुरुषः पश्येदादर्शे मुखमात्मनः। एवं सुदर्शनद्वीपो दृश्यते चन्द्रमण्डले॥ द्विरंशे पिप्पलस्तत्र द्विरंशे च शशो महान्।

—वेद व्यास, भीष्म पर्व, महाभारत


Meaning:-

हे कुरुनन्दन ! सुदर्शन नामक यह द्वीप चक्र की भाँति गोलाकार स्थित है, जैसे पुरुष दर्पण में अपना मुख देखता है, उसी प्रकार यह द्वीप चन्द्रमण्डल में दिखायी देता है। इसके दो अंशो मे पीपल और दो अंशो मे विशाल शश (खरगोश) दिखायी देता है।


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