also. The start of the game forcing u into the genesis comic feels. Very silly. its a tonal jump from the death to like have sudden narration. It shouldve been framed differently idk. Or just. Not inserted into the story. Anyways.

Love the beginning of this game. Setup is so good. I love Jacob and Mirandas intros. Jacob as the one who tells you the truth, who has a moral compass vs Mirandas sole purpose and drive for two years being to bring you back to life regardless of her impression or opinion of you personally.

Podcast #386: The Rise & Fall of the American Heavyweight Boxer

With boxing on the wane in America for the past twenty some odd years, it’s easy to forget how much of a cultural juggernaut it was for much of the 20th century. Boxing was not only a common recreational pastime and athletic pursuit for young men, and a wildly popular spectator sport, it was a metaphor for manhood and other American cultural struggles as well. When two men stepped in the ring, it wasn’t just two men fighting. The bout could become a battle of white vs. black, nativist vs. immigrant, or democracy vs. fascism.  My guest today, Paul Beston, explores the cultural history of the heavyweight boxer in his latest book: The Boxing Kings: When American Heavyweights Ruled the Ring. Paul and I begin our conversation discussing the man who created the archetype of the American heavyweight boxer, John L. Sullivan. From there, Paul takes us on a vivid historical tour of many of boxing’s all-time greats, including Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, James Braddock, Joe Lewis, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson. Along the way Paul provides insights how each of these heavyweight greats became conflicted symbols of masculinity in America. We end our conversation discussing why boxing has declined in America and what Paul has learned about being a man from writing about boxing.  Even if you think you’re not interested in boxing, you’re going to find this show fascinating. Show Highlights * How did John L. Sullivan set the archetype of the American heavyweight boxer? What was Sullivan like as a fighter and sports hero?  * How is the heavyweight champ determined? How has that changed over the decades? * The complex history of black boxers   * The crossover of literature, music, and theater with boxing and famed boxers   * How does this showmanship connection influence their boxing? * Why Jack Dempsey was a character “straight out of a Jack London novel” * How the Great Depression affected boxing, and why it in fact became a golden age for the sport   * Joe Louis’s rise, and how he came to symbolize democracy during WWII * The ways in which Muhammad Ali fulfilled the Sullivan archetype, but in an even bigger way  * How Ali changed sport and celebrity in America  * The last truly great American heavyweight  * The aspects of Mike Tyson that people don’t know about, including his love of boxing history  * What led to the demise of the heavyweight boxer in American culture? * What Beston learned about being a man while writing about the lives of these complex masculine figures  Resources/People/Articles Mentioned in Podcast * AoM’s “Boxing for Beginners” series  * AoM’s “Boxing Basics” series * 14 Best Boxing Movies * On Taking a Punch * Boxing: A Manly History of the Sweet Science * Podcast: The Life of John L. Sullivan * James J. Corbett * Jack Johnson * The Great White Hope * Max Baer * The Prizefighter and The Lady * Cinderella Man * Joe Louis * Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling * Sonny Liston * Larry Holmes * Mike Tyson  * Klitschko brothers * On Boxing by Joyce Carol Oates * My podcast with heavyweight boxer Ed Latimore Connect With Paul  Paul on Twitter Paul’s website Paul on Facebook Listen to the Podcast! (And don’t forget to leave us a review!) Listen to the episode on a separate page. Download this episode. Subscribe to the podcast in the media player of your choice. Podcast Sponsors Big Questions with Cal Fussman Podcast. Best-selling author and Esquire columnist Cal Fussman talks to people who have lived extraordinary lives, from Kobe to Dr. Oz to Tim Ferriss. These are really deep, thoughtful conversations, and you’ll end up with burning questions answered, and a few new ones to think about. Subscribe to Big Questions with Cal Fussman now in your favorite podcast app, like Stitcher or Apple Podcasts. Proper Cloth. Stop wearing shirts that don’t fit. Start looking your best with a custom fitted shirt. Go to propercloth.com/MANLINESS, and enter gift code MANLINESS to save $20 on your first shirt. YourMechanic.com sends the mechanic right to your home or office. Get a quote up front, and pay that price. Visit yourmechanic.com/manliness to get $20 off your first service.  Click here to see a full list of our podcast sponsors. Recorded with ClearCast.io. Read the Transcript Coming soon! The post Podcast #386: The Rise & Fall of the American Heavyweight Boxer appeared first on The Art of Manliness. http://dlvr.it/QKHs9J

June 19, 2020

1:12am

I was talking to my therapist today and something she said lingered. Well, obviously, I wrote it down of course it lingered.

There are times I’m done with my day and I’m like, “dear God to tits now I have to do all that other shit that I said I would do”. Some days, get it done gritting my teeth, sometimes it’s fun, sometimes it’s God awful and I don’t even want to think about it.

Ultimately this all stems from the fact that in some ways I feel shitty -- why do I have to do this on such low energy? Why can’t it be easy? Why can’t I have more time to dedicate to these things, if only I had invested in Ethereum back in 2015 (lol).

An affirmation she mentioned I should add to the ones I read and ponder in the morning is that I deserve to feel good about pursuing my desires and dreams. Obviously that’s true, and actually I knew this, but it didn’t hit me that doing the opposite is exactly what I’ve been doing.

Ultimately, pursuits are neverending -- that’s why they’re pursuits. Those who enjoy pursuing will enjoy their lives pursuing more than those who don’t like pursuing. That’s a truism if I ever heard one.

When I get out of my way, it’s dope to make music and dope to program. I just refactored the login mechanism for my app to use websockets, My chord changes are getting smoother. Why fight against that? It’s unnatural.

I remember I was reading Atomic Habits by James Clear (or was I listening to Tim Ferriss?) and in any case one of the two were interviewing this bodybuilding coach and the question was what separates those who are good at bodybuilding from those who are great at it. The coach went into the nuts and bolts about body types and lifts but ended the analysis with, “ultimately, those who are successful simply like doing the lifts every day”. Isn’t that the truth about basically everything?

The adversarial relationship that we have with the things that interest us is unnatural. Anything can be fun, cool, dope as fuck.

However you feel about it, you deserve to feel good about your desires

What is Bancor (BNT)? | Beginner’s Guide

What is Bancor (BNT)? | Beginner’s Guide

What is Bancor?

Bancor is a blockchain protocol that allows users to convert between different tokens directly as opposed to exchanging them on cryptocurrency markets.

  The project offers a network, which we’ll discuss soon, that works to bring liquidity to the majority of tokens that lack a consistent supply/demand in exchanges. That network is built on smart contracts and a new class of cryptocurrencies that the team calls “Smart Tokens.”

What Problem Does Bancor Aim to Solve?

Bancor is looking to provide support to the illiquidity that currently exists within the cryptocurrency market. Illiquidity isn’t so much an issue for top coins like Bitcoin or Ethereum because there are always buyers and sellers looking to exchange those coins. It is definitely an issue, however, for the thousands of other tokens that may serve legitimate decentralized purposes but haven’t attracted enough attention in the market to be liquid.

The liquidity of a token is determined by its consistent presence of buyers and sellers. A token with high liquidity is one that you can easily acquire or sell at any particular moment in time. The opposite is true for tokens with low liquidity. 

The Bancor team argues that, since a majority of tokens are difficult to exchange, they’re excluded from the internet of value. Their protocol aims to integrate those tokens by helping to establish their liquidity. 

The team envisions a future that involves millions of tokens that are highly effective locally, yet tradeable globally.

Smart Tokens and the Bancor Protocol

Bancor’s protocol uses smart contracts to create Smart Tokens, which serve as an alternative mechanism for trading. A key characteristic of the protocol is that it doesn’t call for an exchange of tokens with a second party, as in the case of cryptocurrency exchanges. Rather, it employs Smart Tokens to convert between different ERC-20 tokens internally. These conversions take place through the blockchain’s protocol and completely outside of cryptocurrency exchanges.

Smart Tokens process token conversions internally by holding reserves of other ERC20 tokens within their Smart Contract. They can then convert back and forth between those reserves as users request it.

You can think of Smart Tokens as money that holds money. They hold reserves similar to how a central bank holds foreign currency reserves and converts between them.

The Bancor protocol supports all tokens following Ethereum’s ERC-20 standard. Every Smart Token created is ERC-20 compliant and therefore compatible with all other ERC-20 tokens. We already know that a Smart Token can be instantly converted to any of its connected tokens (reserves). But, it can also be converted to any of its connected token’s connected tokens, and so on. This creates a network of linked tokens that makes for quick and automated conversions.

Bancor Network Token (BNT)

The Bancor protocol has its own native currency, BNT. BNT is the first-ever Smart Token on the Bancor Network and is held as a reserve by all other Smart Tokens. This connectivity allows BNT to significantly reduce the number of conversions needed to arrive at the end token.

Bancor’s Liquidity

Bancor brings liquidity to tokens by removing the need for buyers and sellers to match in order for an exchange to take place (as in the case of cryptocurrency exchanges). Instead, you can make conversions at any time directly through smart contracts on the network.

Bancor’s Protocol guarantees that liquidity by programming a Constant Reserve Ratio (CRR) in all Smart Token contracts. The CRR effectively prevents Smart Tokens from depleting their reserves.

As tokens work their way through different smart contracts, the prices of conversion are calculated by a collection of formulas and algorithms (made available in the project’s whitepaper). These formulas are specifically designed to help ensure conversion rates while avoiding depletion.

Converting Tokens on the Bancor Network

You can access the network and convert between its supported tokens through Bancor’s web application.

Let’s walk through what a token conversion might look like. Say you want to convert an ERC-20 token like DragonChain to another, say, EOS. 

On the web app, you would just need to select these two tokens and click “convert” (assuming you’ve attached a wallet that provides you with some DRGN token to exchange). After you click “convert”, the Bancor protocol initiates a series of requests to different smart contracts. The first request converts your DRGN to a Smart Token that holds DRGN in its reserves. That Smart Token is then liquidated for another Smart Token that holds EOS in its reserve. Once the chain of conversions is complete, you receive the EOS.

Conceptual Real World Use-Case

Say, for example, Dutch Airlines and American Airlines both start using crypto and their respective air mile credits are modeled as ERC-20 tokens. The Bancor protocol, then, would work to allow a user to exchange Dutch Air miles for American Airline Loyalty points without the need for someone wanting to do the exact opposite trade at that moment.

Bancor Team

The Bancor team consists of a core Foundation Council and their Advisory Board. The Foundation Council includes four individuals based out of Zug, Switzerland.

Bernard Lietaer is a Belgian civil engineer, economist, author, and professor. Lietaer specialized in monetary systems and promotes the notion of communities creating their own local currencies.

Eyal Hertzog is the project’s product architect and is noted for co-founding the video-sharing company, Metacafe. Hertzog also co-founded Appcoin, a project similar to Bancor that makes use of user-generated marketplaces and private currencies.

Guy Benartzi serves as co-founder and is recognized for founding the gaming company, Mytopia. Benartzi also co-founded Particle Code, a development studio based in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Guido Schmitz-Krummacher is an executive of the Bancor Protocol foundation that’s involved with a variety of commercial entrepreneurial ventures in Switzerland. His involvement in the crypto space includes that of Bancor as well as an executive position in crowdfunding network, Tezos (XTZ)

Tim Draper, well-known venture capitalist and founder of Draper Associates, sits on the advisory board along with 9 other individuals.

Coin supply and sustainability

Smart Tokens can be created or liquidated at any time, adding or removing from the total supply in circulation. Therefore, the token supply fluctuates relative to the conversions taking place on the Bancor network.

As mentioned, BNT is Bancor’s native currency and the first Bancor protocol-powered Smart Token. BNT has a total supply of 74,319,827, but since it’s a Smart Token, the amount of BNT in circulation fluctuates as well.

Transactions of BNT are processed on a level separate to the primary layer of Ethereum’s Casper Proof-of-Stake protocol.

Where Can You Buy and Store BNT?

You can obtain BNT tokens directly through Bancor’s smart contract by converting from any other supported ERC-20 token on the Bancor web app.

Otherwise, you can find BNT on the following exchanges: Binance, Bittrex, Gate.io, HitBTC, OKEx, Liqui, Upbit, LATOKEN, COSS, AEX, and Tidex.

You can also store BNT on most popular wallets such as MyEtherWallet, Parity, and imToken.

Final Thoughts

The Bancor Protocol ultimately exists to bring liquidity to niche tokens so that they may have a place in global markets. Bancor makes it easier to acquire or liquidate tokens that have low trading volumes while helping them establish a market price.

If the cryptocurrency space does progress towards a system involving a large number of locally-effective tokens, Bancor could very well be a central figure for exchanging those currencies.

Key Takeaways

Smart Tokens are user-generated assets created by smart contracts on the Bancor Network.

Smart Tokens serve as a medium for converting between different ERC-20 tokens

Bancor converts tokens through smart contracts rather than exchanging them with a second party.

The mechanism of converting through Smart Tokens was introduced to help bring liquidity to under-represented tokens.

The post What is Bancor (BNT)? | Beginner’s Guide appeared first on CoinCentral.

  source: https://coincentral.com/bancor-bnt-beginners-guide/

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