one of these days ill stop having The Most Obscure Blorbos In The Entire World

I couldn’t leave you all hanging after the last one so here you go. It’ll probably be a few days before I post the next part as I’m pretty sure my body is screaming at me to take a break XD

As always hope you enjoy :D

Part 1, 2, 3, 4

It’s just before sunrise when he leaves the roof, not having heard a single thing except the birds in the trees and the occasional car. Once again he manoeuvred his way through the streets, not even thinking about where he was going, instead trusting that his legs would take him where he needed to be.

After Luke had vanished and the cold stone of the roof had made his legs numb he returned to his bag, hugging it tight to try and derive any sort of comfort as he forced himself to relive the worst moment of his life. No matter how many times he played it through, no matter how painful it was he could only see one thing and it involved blood splattered glass and the man who was larger than life crumple to the floor.

He’s not sure what ‘Luke’ had meant last night, or why his mind was suddenly creating cryptic messages, the sound of a car horn brought him back to attention though. He went to gesture a sorry to the driver when he noticed who it was, Marcel and Scotty. As with Tyler they simply stared at each, as if trying to feel the other out, when in a split-second Ryan made a dash for it, hopping over a parked car as he darted down the pavement.

He could hear the car following behind him as he dipped through an alley, emerging and taking off in the other direction as they passed by him. He heard them turning, not looking back he kept sprinting as he made his way to the local park. He could hear gunfire behind him, quickly ducking his head in an attempt to shield it but not slowing down.

When he reached the park, the front gate was locked, being before dawn meant that it was closed to keep people out during the night. He leapt as he got close to the gate, making it about halfway up before climbing the rest. A brief look behind him showed that another car had joined Marcel and Scotty’s, it was in front of theirs and he could see Marcel hanging out the passenger window and shooting at it.

He didn’t have time to question why as he saw a gun emerge from the other car that was aimed towards him. He barely managed to scramble and fall to the other side of the gate before shots were being fired. He turned left, heading towards the small amount of tree cover as the first car crashed through the gate, swiftly followed by Scotty and Marcel. They managed to steer the front of their car into the others rear end, turning the car away from him. He didn’t look much longer; the sounds of gunfire tore through the quiet of morning as he climbed over the fence surrounding the park before he carried on running.

He came across a subway station, jumping over the railing and just about managing to land on the stairs before finishing the descent. He walked through the opened gate, sitting down on the nearest bench as he caught his breath.

If he didn’t know any better he’d say that Scotty and Marcel had saved him from who he assumed were a couple of goons from G’s gang sent to kill him. Yes, they’d saved him, but they had found him first, probably eager instead to get rid of the competition before taking him down. It was eerily quiet in the station, almost too quiet for his liking but he strangely felt at ease, he didn’t feel that twinge of dread he normally did when danger was around.

It wasn’t long before a train pulled up, he didn’t know where it went, hell he didn’t even know where he was going, he just collapsed into the nearest chair and felt all the energy drain out of him. He closed his eyes for a moment, just enjoying the peace at that moment, the gentle swaying of the carriage almost sending him to sleep before he heard a voice beside him that sent ice through his veins.

“So, figure it out yet?”

Ryan opened his eyes to see ‘Luke’ sitting casually beside him, a playful smile on his face.

“I’m really not in the mood for this right now so can you just say what you’re gonna say and go, I’ve got enough shit to deal with right now” He turned to face the man beside him noticing how his face turned into a playful pout.

“I thought you liked talkin’ to me” Ryan couldn’t help but scoff, yes he did like talking with Luke, but this Luke was nothing more than a poor carbon copy compared to the real thing. “How about I give you another hint then?”

As sarcastically as he could he replied “Go on then”

“Mind over body”

Ryan’s brows furrowed in confusion, he turned to ask ‘Luke’ what the hell he was talking about, but he was gone. Ryan stared in the space he had been sitting not a second ago before he rubbed his eyes in an attempt to clear his mind.

He got off the train at the next stop, he could see the sky starting to lighten up as he left the station on what looked to be the other side of town, a quick glance around him showed that apart from the odd early morning commuter, he was alone.

He carried on walking till he reached the edge of town, ducking under the nearby bridge to try and get what little sleep he could.

He was standing over the rooftops watching the sunset, although he was more out in the open up here, not many had the skills to get up and manoeuvre across the uneven roofs where he now stood. In the distance, he could barely make out the small warehouse where he used to live, where he knew the members of BBS would be in. He wished he could go to them, yes they were a gang, but they were also his friends, his friends who he missed a bit more each day, the only people to know what Luke’s’ death truly meant to him.

He kept watch of it until it faded into shadow at the dying sun, and even then he still watched, wondering if he’d ever return there.

He sat on the edge of the roof, legs dangling over the edge as he thought back to Lukes’ words, still having no idea what was meant by mind over body. Just as he thought it, he felt a presence beside him, and sure enough, a cold hand clasped over his own.

“It’s pretty up here ain’t it?”

Ryan simply hummed, still looking out at the hub of life before him, watching the lights start to light up the town.

“You’re so smart you know that?” Ryan could only turn to ‘Luke’ in confusion, wondering where the hell that had come from. “When you were working for G I had some of the guys tailing you for weeks and you never knew. Now though, you always know when something ain’t quite right and it’s because of that wonderful, beautiful mind you got”

Ryan wasn’t too sure how to answer that, could only keep staring at the man in front of him, waiting for him to continue. They kept staring at each other, ‘Luke’ appeared to be waiting for him to say something and when nothing came he sighed, grabbing one of Ryans’ legs and lifting it over the edge so that they were facing one another and straddling the edge.

Cold hands clasped his face and as much as he wanted to pull away, to push the other man away and tell him never to come back he simply couldn’t, Luke had always been his weakness and he decided this time he would indulge.

“When you were with G you had no control of your body right, only your mind” Ryan simply nodded, closing his eyes as he let himself be comforted by the thumbs now rubbing his cheeks. “Well your eyes are a part of your body aren’t they, meanin’ maybe they were somewhat obscured.”

Ryan opened his eyes at this, staring into Lukes dark brown eyes as he thought over those last few words.

“But your mind saw everythin’, even if you don’t remember, you just need to think”

Thoughts were passing through his mind a mile a minute, but no matter how hard he tried to imagine something else happen, he only saw Lukes’ death.

“How ‘bout this then, you didn’t seem surprised when I said I had guys tailing you for weeks, that’s because deep down you knew. Your mind will remember, you just need to think Ryan”

Ryan closed his eyes again, thinking through some of the last few memories he had of when he was little more than a machine.

He remembered entering a warehouse where they were going to be given weapons for a raid on another gang. At first, he saw nothing, simply replaying the same scene over and over again, however, despite seeing nothing new he couldn’t help but feel a small niggle in his mind that something should be there. It was the next time he replayed the scene that his eye caught sight of a figure across the street as he entered the warehouse, it was Kryoz, hood up in the shadows as he watched Ryan slip through the door.

Then the scenery changed, he was with the two henchmen who he’d killed a couple days prior, they were supposed to get some money from a guy who owed them, a man who one of the henchmen later killed because he couldn’t cough up the money. They’d met him at some run-down bar where they later paid the manager to take the guy out back to deal with. As before, the scene played over in his mind, he tried to see some of the patrons, but their faces just seemed to blur and merge together, and no matter how hard he thought the scene wouldn’t change.

‘Luke��� seemed to sense his distress, moving his hands to his shoulders and giving them a gentle squeeze, their coolness sending a shiver down Ryan’s spine.

The scene started again, he walked in and looked to the left, except this time he saw Brock and Brian sitting at a booth, drinks in hand whilst their heads were low in deep discussion. When he looked to the bar he saw Tyler sitting there, hunched over as he nursed his drink. As the scenario played out, he noticed Tyler cast his eyes on him every now and then, watching him. Finally, as they dragged the guy through the back door he looked back, seeing Brian somewhat restrain Tyler in the corner of his eye until he passed through the door.

Next, he was back on the rooftop, gun in hand as he waited for Lukes’ car to pull up. The scene plays out, he remembers trying to fight tooth and nail to knock his aim but still, the bullet was shot, and Luke collapsed.

He’s not sure how many times the scene played out, doesn’t even know he’d started crying until Lukes’ cold hand returned to his face, thumbs wiping them away. The next thing he felt cold lips touch his forehead “You can do this Ry, you’re almost there” he then felt ‘Luke’ pull him close, almost as if he was acting like his shield before once again the scene started.

He was fighting just as aggressively before, but he still feels his finger pull the trigger, watches the bullet chase its target. Only this time there seemed to be a delay, he saw the bullet break through the window, but it was a split second later he saw blood, and before he turned away he swears he sees Lukes’ hand twitch, almost as if he quickly grabbed something that was on the floor beside him.

Ryan quickly opened his eyes, taking in a deep breath as if it’s his first one in weeks, his heart pumping a mile a minute in his chest. He notices that ‘Luke’ is no longer in front of him, instead, he was standing a bit further along the roof, smiling softly at Ryan.

Ryan hopped off of the edge and ran towards ‘Luke’ almost bouncing from excitement, he was breathless, the sudden realisation that somehow Luke was alive being all he could comprehend.

“You’re alive, no, Luke’s alive, he faked his death didn’t he”

“You did good, also helped that you missed your shot”

“What?” He’d expected some sage advice his mind could conjure up, not some sort of insult.

Luke simply smiled at him, raising his hands to once again cup Ryans’ face. “For the first time in your life you missed, and I couldn’t be happier or more proud about it”

Ryan could only stare at the man before him, confused about the entire situation until he truly felt the hands on his face, felt their warmth seep into his skin and drive away the cold that had made its home there. He kept staring into Lukes’ eyes as he raised his hands to grasp Lukes’ wrists, they were warm and more importantly he felt a pulse, it was strong against his fingertips, leaving little doubt about the man that was in front of him.

“Luke?” His voice cracked, hating how he sounded like a lost little child as he once again felt tears start to fall down his face.

Luke gave him a soft smile, he noticed the tears falling down his face as the grip on his face got tighter as if Luke couldn’t believe he was there either.

“Hey Ry”

They crashed together, arms curling tight around the other as if no force on earth could tear them apart, faces pressed into the other's neck as tears streamed down their faces. All they could do was hold onto each other, the thought running through both their heads that they were safe and they were home.

Humans Are Weird: Women’s Edition Part XIV

This update has been a long time coming, guys. My sincerest apologies for the delay. I hope you can forgive me. In the meantime, please enjoy this long, drawn-out post that is painfully slow and agonizing post. I guess I want everyone to suffer with the characters.

Part I >> Part II >> Part III >> Part IV >> Part V >> Part VI >> Part VII >> Part VIII >> Part IX >> Part X >> Part XI >> Part XII >> Part XIII

The escape plan had proceeded so smoothly until now. Balogh and her team freed a few dozen other prisoners along the way to the hangar and took down a few more Pollikons. Her group was feeling good. They had momentum. Things were looking up. And, as Balogh and the others got closer to the hangar, they kept in communication with Murakami’s, Vallion’s, and Jay’va’s groups for their escape. They were to search for the Frek’jon’s escape pods once they arrived in the hangar and to locate a habitable planet where they would lay low until they could contact the A.F. and go home.

After that, Balogh was not sure of what the A.F. would do, but she was sure she would fight for more A.F. vessels to return to this area of the universe. More victims―human, H’hish, and many more races―were likely enslaved and in need of emancipation.

Or we can just start some sort of rebellion like late twentieth and early twenty-first century movies did. Whichever comes first.

Balogh honestly believed things would change. Unfortunately, life never goes as planned.

Why? Because right now, she was splayed out on the ground, unable to move, nearly lifeless.

Balogh struggled to breathe, every single one of her muscles burned like she ran a 3K marathon in a New Harlem Province winter. Black spots danced in her vision; she could barely see. And of what she could still see? Mayhem. H’hish hunched over humans, desperately calling out their names, performing CPR. Riel’on, Kiel’ish, Jaja’ion, someone, was performing chest compressions on her. Everything she saw was a blur. Everything she heard was white noise. Everything she thought was a jumbled mess. For the first time in her life, Balogh thought for sure this moment was her death. Her frustrations and regrets; satisfactions and joys; her family and friends; all of them came to mind.

I. WON’T. DIE. I. WON’T. DIE. I WON’T DIE. I WON’T DIE. She chanted the words as she struggled for another breath, the last of her vision fading.

I can’t die...

Can’t die...

Won’t die.

No.

No...

.

.

.

“BALOGH!”

Vallion knelt over Fatima, helpless as she and the other humans collapsed one by one, going into various levels of muscle spasms and unconsciousness. CPR was attempted on the humans, but Vallion decided the chest compressions made the situation worse. Why does it feel like my chest is the one being compressed? Fatima is the one dying right in front of me. Fatima, Romano, Freshwater, Wong... All of them are the ones dying, so why do I feel this pain in my chest? What’s going on? Why can’t I stop this? How can I be so selfish? I need to fix this. Save them.

I am their superior. I need to lead them.

Vallion gripped their head, focusing their thoughts into actions. Think. Think. Think. You can’t let her die. You and her just reunited.

No.

Wait.

You can’t let anyone die. They are all your responsibility. You are their protector. Their leader. Their friend. Think, Vallion. Think.

As Vallion wracked their brain, a thought suddenly occurred to them. The humans were having difficulty breathing...but the H’hish were not. “Jon’kon, check the oxygen-carbon dioxide ratio of the air. Now.”

Startled, Jon’kon fumbled with her stolen Port Dev before she went to work checking the air composition of the ship. A heartbeat stretched into several when Jon’kon released a startled “Ah-ha!” and gave Vallion a knowing look. Soon, Jon’kon was hacking into the Frek’jon’s ventilation system and they all could hear the results of her efforts.

However, Vallion knew damage must have surely been done on all the humans and simply escaping from the Frek’jon was no longer a viable option. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Vallion looked at Jon’kon once again. “Patch me through to Murakami, Balogh, and Jay’va’s groups. We have a change of plans.”

Jay’va checked Thompson’s pulse and growled in frustration. Gone. First Pérez, then Ivanenko, and now Thompson. The other humans were down and out, suffering from whatever took Thompson and the others, but the H’hish were perfectly fine. Physically that is. A little winded, but physically fine.

Mentally...

Mentally, we’re fucked. We’re falling apart at the seams, as the human idiom goes. I’m not even over Cyborg’s death, and now I’m losing my whole team. Jay’va felt the energy of the universe crashing down on her and sweeping her along in a tidal wave.

Jay’va buried her head in her hands, feeling the hopelessness and grief pile up on right after the other because she was just that fucking lucky of a H’hish—

“ —va...”

And not to mention, she also had to deal with that thing that happened back in her cell. From that odd smell. Her head was a mess afterwards and now her memories would forever be scarred by these events—

“—COLONEL JAY’VA!”

Startled, Jay’va whipped her head around, searching for the H’hish shouting her name. “WHAT?! What could you possibly want?!” she snapped.

Gigi’ish did not flinch at her harsh words. He just held out the stolen Port Dev for her and said one name: “Vallion.”

Yeu’ish was helping Fuku’kon tend to Lt. Gen. Murakami when a Comm came in from Maj. Gen. Vallion. The escape plan was changing. Seize control of the ship. Kill all the guards. Kill anyone who stood in their way.

Then.

Then.

Then they would put the humans into the infirmary. Heal them while making their escape back to the A.F. Made sense, for the still living humans, but Yeu’ish knew as Murakami’s pulse ceased, the dead had little chance of revival. But who knows? she thought, humans always prove to be more resilient than they seem.

Krellion leaned against the central control console, watching as the ship’s security droids and feeds went down; listening as communications between guards decreased. The humans and dulgo arrogantly thought they would escape. Their little jailbreak could not succeed.

“The filth moved exactly as you predicted, Captain,” said Krellion as he pushed himself off the console. “However, I am hesitant about the extent of the neurological damages this experiment of yours could cause to the cargo.” As he spoke, Krellion pulled up the vital charts of the human cargo, assessing the current oxygen saturation levels.

Zeelot did not spare Krellion a glance as they pulled the charts towards their position. “These dulgo are as weak as the humans with whom they cohabitate. Once enough of the humans become ill, the dulgo will panic and be at our mercy. The fondness they carry for the humans will lead to their surrender.” Zeelot was correct. Already, more of the humans began showing symptoms of oxygen oversaturation and the duglo were becoming increasingly concerned for their human companions’ welfare.

Still, waiting was tedious and Krellion had no interest in toying with the cargo as Zeelot did. “As you say. Oh, these humans will do well as servants of kulgo. They are exhibiting better resistance to oxygen toxicity than the other humans,” he noted.

“Add that to their profiles,” Zeelot ordered before seating themselves down to watch the carnage.

Carnage of all Krellion’s hard work. His hard work in fixing all the neurological and physiological issues with which the humans were prone, yet Zeelot wanted to test Murakami’s loyalty and the abilities of her crew.

But my opinion does not matter. All that matters if my work wasted for a needless experiment or two. Aaaannnnd I must revive Snell again.

But whatever, Krellion truly had no say in the matter, so he just stood and watched as the cargo neared the hangar and the humans began collapsing. A few humans even fell into seizures. Krellion spoke in hushed tones to his fellow kulgo as they all became increasingly worried about the health of their cargo. The amount of overtime they all had to put forth into fixing the damages Zeelot’s experiment was causing became a headache, especially when they were due to arrive at the Market any gulkib from now. If I have to revive a single human or dulgo, I swear by the mighty reign of Ghayz Tadmir’lis, I will leave this vessel and take my team with me...

As Krellion fumed, the overhead lights dimmed and a odd chill ran down his back. He glanced at the other kulgo and they appeared as confused as he did.

However, the confusion was over within a heartbeat because within that heartbeat, the emergency lights began to flash and the alarms blared. Warnings flashed on the ship’s control console about oxygen levels increasing in the room. For Krellion, he only needed less than a qulib to understand the events that were transpiring.

The dulgo figured out the cause of the humans’ collapsing, but they were foolish to think they could kill a kulgo so easily. H’hish had higher oxygen tolerance than any humans, and kulgo as fine as Krellion and his team more so. Even the Pollikon had high oxygen tolerance. And whatever creature Captain Zeelot was, they would not fall to such a lowly and pitiful revenge tactic. Already, the room was filled with twice the oxygen levels needed for a kulgo to comfortably breathe in air and already Krellion’s team worked on combating the increased oxygen levels. “These dulgo are simpletons,” one of his team said with a laugh. Another kulgo added, “They are as clever as the humans.” Krellion could only agree with his team. The dulgo were as slow witted and unimpressive as the humans.

So that brought to question why Captain Zeelot remained so calm, and why they had such a smug look on their face. Just as Krellion opened their mouth to ask, Zeelot spoke first. “I will be returning to my quarters. And do not disturb me.” Their warning carried an additional meaning, one of which Krellion did not wish to invoke.

Swallowing his trepidation, Krellion refocused on the monitors, tracking the remaining guards and the locations of all the escaped cargo, but they were gone. The Pollikons, the ones he could see on the vids, deceased. Brutally so. The humans, remained were he last saw them, but he could see most of their life signs were gone. He and his team had their work cut out for them to revive all the worthless filth. The dulgo and other cargo were nowhere to be seen, as could be said for the escape pods. None of them showed up on the life signs monitor. They were out of range of the transmission. They jumped ship.

Murakami talked big about the loyalty of her crew, but the dulgo escaped the first chance they got. Pathetic. Dulgo are as cowardly and weak as those humans.

Krellion was so lost in his superiority that he never heard the knocking.

Only the sound of the room engulfing in flames.

After that, he only felt the searing pain of his death.

Building for Bulls, Bears, and the Crypto Revolution

Taylor Monahan is the founder and CEO of MyCrypto, a free, open-source interface for interacting with the blockchain.

The following is an exclusive contribution to CoinDesk’s 2018 Year in Review. 

Last year, I ended my 2017 Year in Review piece with the following statement:

“Those who change the world don’t always set out to do so. All it takes is a decision to do something today, do it better tomorrow, and to not stop doing it…ever. One day, you’ll lean back, zoom out and realize the peaks and valleys that have consumed you were just the runway and the real lift-off has yet to occur.”

It seems fitting to start my review this year with the same statement and observe how its meaning kaleidoscopes in the new light of 2018.

For context, in December 2017, the price of bitcoin had just hit its all-time high of $19,783.06. The price of ether was about to hit its all-time high of $1,417.38. CryptoKitties were running rampant all over the ethereum network, thousands of ICOs had launched in 2017 and hundreds of dedicated crypto funds opened their doors.

Today, the environment is a bit different. Those crypto funds are starting to shut down. ICOs that raised capital in crypto in 2017 have seen their runways halved and halved again. The price of bitcoin hovers around $3,500 and the price of ether plummeted below $100. CryptoKitties has a meager 378 daily active users, down from over 15,000 daily active users this time last year. Ouch.

What I failed to mention with last year’s statement is that the runway isn’t always smooth and it isn’t going to be at a constant incline.

As Meltem Demirors so gracefully put it, “Tech that changes industries and markets doesn’t get built overnight. There are fits, starts, and failures.” Obviously, this market is throwing a fit. Furthermore, us builders should talk about it.

But Builders Don’t Talk About Price

For as long as I can remember, it’s been a significant taboo for builders in the space to talk about price. The market conditions shouldn’t affect our attitudes or how we build. We actively avoid getting caught in the hype on the way up and avoid falling into depression on the way down.

We transformed “HODL” into “BUIDL,” and there was also short-lived talk of “SHIPL.”

However, refusing to engage in “price talk” doesn’t mean we can, or should, ignore the swings of the market. This ecosystem is highly speculative and our roadmaps, runways and design choices are affected by larger macroeconomic conditions. Denying that the market conditions affect your work, company, financials, and culture is willful ignorance and is dangerous in the short and long term.

2017: Unprecedented Hype

As we saw in 2017, the bull market garnered previously-unseen hype, which led to new, inexperienced users entering the space en masse. Coinbase was adding hundreds of thousands of new users per day. Companies were hiring support teams by the dozens in an attempt to tread overflowing inboxes.

The things we did in 2017 were reactionary. Building for the short term was prioritized over the long term.

We didn’t have refined processes or roadmaps — we had fires that needed to be put out yesterday. We hired those who were willing to wear many hats and didn’t require much sleep. We put band-aids on the most glaring user experience issues as they cropped up, and we promised to iterate later. The market’s ambitious upswing wasn’t tied to the technology and experience being delivered.

2018: The Downward Spiral

2018 was a whole new world. The number of support tickets dropped as fewer new users entered the space. The types of questions we fielded about ICOs plummeted and more technical questions emerged once again.

The members of my team who were solely fueled by the adrenaline of 2017 had to evolve or move on to different projects. Some even left the crypto-space entirely. Our hiring and recruiting practices evolved, and the skills and personality traits we looked for became more refined.

The actions users are taking in 2018 have changed as well.

Whether it was taxes, the SEC, a more bearish market or the realization that the scope of blockchain use cases is still limited, people aren’t doing much these days. Even when we look beyond the trading and investment activity via DappRadar and Dapp.com, we can see just how little activity is happening.

The market is questioning how “decentralized” applies to a world beyond us cypherpunks and early adopters. It’s a valid question that us builders should ask too.

2019: Blood in the Streets?

To steal from Anthony Pompliano (who likely stole it from someone else), there is no “blood in the streets” yet. The blood is coming, but it isn’t only from the individuals who have portfolios that are down more than 100 percent.

It is from anyone and everyone who failed to anticipate just how long this revolution would take. It is from people who didn’t believe in the possibility of a market crash or a long winter. It is the ICOs that had all their holdings in crypto. It’s from those who measure growth and value in terms of months, not years or decades.

More robust companies can reduce the sizes of their teams and cease throwing extravagant parties to lengthen their runways.

Less seasoned companies will have no choice but to shut down. And the most important companies are likely the ones you haven’t yet heard of or are yet to be created.

2019 & Beyond

The coming years have the potential for people to create real, revolutionary value. This will not be the short-term capital creation that ICOs brought in 2017. It will be significantly deeper, take significantly longer and it will spawn from unlikely sources.

Reacting to new users and irrational exuberance is a different ball game than building products that break down the barriers of cryptocurrencies. In order to be relevant and stay relevant, you have to do more.

Those that will have a lasting impact and create the most value will be those who can build for both the bull market, the bear market and beyond the market. They will have the foresight to expect the unexpected, the hindsight to learn from the past and the insight to solve problems in unprecedented ways.

They will use their teams, tools, knowledge and communities to not only build for the next wave of users, but also help bring in the next wave of users. They will not build “on the blockchain” or “for the blockchain.” They will build better solutions that happen to utilize the blockchain.

It’s easier to build products for your existing environment and existing users, but it is shortsighted and will leave you straggling in the long term. Look outside this space for inspiration. Learn from traditional companies who have been around for decades or even centuries. Take the time to understand the motivations and needs of people around the globe. Don’t make product decisions based on the graveyard of activity today. Don’t create personas based on a Twitter poll you spun up yesterday.

Look to the future and anticipate. Your job is no longer to react to the current conditions. It’s to be a fortune teller of tomorrow’s landscape.

Sparking the Revolution

Many point to the dot-com bubble when analyzing the cryptocurrency markets in 2017.

Both saw 1,000 percent returns, rampant day-trading, fraud, capital flowing to any company with “.com” or “blockchain” in its name, and the creation of overnight millionaires even when those millionaires had neither delivered products nor profits. It’s an easy comparison. But it’s only one slice of history.

The repetition of history won’t manifest as a carbon copy of itself, so it’s hard to know exactly how this decentralized revolution will play out in totality. The revolution will be simultaneously subtle and profound. What we are building cannot be measured in months or judged by the hype cycles. We are aiming to transform nearly every industry that exists, starting with the financial industry.

The blockchain has come a long way since Satoshi’s white paper and it will take at least that long to disrupt life in a meaningful way.

We have to keep zooming out to keep our perspective wide. The dot-com bubble isn’t what transformed the internet, nor will the last two years be what transforms the blockchain. We need to look at the entire history of the internet and watch how it evolved over time. We need to examine how the Industrial Revolution managed to touch almost every aspect of daily life. We need to remember The Renaissance’s lasting influence on intellectual inquiry.

And, as we do, we should be intimidated by what we have yet to accomplish and inspired by the opportunity to forge the runway ahead. Remember, the real lift off has yet to occur.

Have a strong take on 2018? Email news [at] coindesk.com to submit an opinion to our Year in Review.

Hard hat via Shutterstock

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Top 10 New Car Debuts and Best Concept Cars: Pebble Beach 2017

Automakers are continuing to shun traditional auto shows for other consumer-focused events. Monterey Car Week doesn’t feature the usual suspects of regular car buyers, but the folks who attend have full pockets and are willing to part with a lot of money to get something high-powered or crazy unique. The whole week is full of one-off models, limited editions, classics, and other fancy cars. It’s like the red carpet at the Oscars, except with cars. Here are 10 of the coolest new car debuts and concept cars from this year’s event and don’t forget to check out our full coverage of all the week’s festivities. 2017 Monterey Car Week and Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Coverage 10. Lucid Air Lucid made quite the statement at Monterey Car Week by displaying a new prototype vehicle to potential buyers. This all-electric luxury car is going after Tesla and it helps that the company had one prototype hit a top speed of 235 miles per hour. The company is currently taking pre-orders on the sedan and is pretty happy with how people are responding to the vehicle. Customers have to wait until 2019 to get their hands on the car and prices range from $60,000 for a 400-hp model with 240 miles of range, to a 1,000-hp model with 400 miles of range that will cost more than $100,000. 9. Ken Okuyama Code o-Zero Ken Okuyama is the mind behind the design of the epic Ferrari Enzo and he’s been showing off some pretty interesting vehicles at Pebble Beach car shows. This year, he’s brought the Kode o-Zero, a car that looks distinctly like a Lamborghini. Its bold wedge shape also hides a mid-mounted Lamborghini V12, and I absolutely love the green accents found on this vehicle. This one-off model is being described as the antithesis to modern sports car design and we can’t disagree with that, as it reminds us of all the old supercars from the 1970s and ’80s. See Also: Ken Okuyama Unveils One Off, Coachbuilt Kode 0 Supercar 8. Rimac Concept_One Unlike the Lucid Air, we actually spotted one of these Rimac Concept_Ones on the road and it was really striking to see in motion. What’s crazier is that this million-dollar electric hypercar is apparently limited to just eight units. It makes more than 1,000 horsepower thanks to four electric motors and will hit highway speeds in under three seconds. The car has become a bit of a sensation since Richard Hammond from The Grand Tour recently had one in a pretty serious crash. 7. Jaguar XE SV Project 8 What’s not to love about this limited-run Jaguar XE SV that makes almost 600 horsepower from its supercharged V8? Only 300 of these super sedans will be sold and they look ready to hit the track thanks to its amazing aerodynamic bodywork. It also rocks all-wheel drive to keep things moving instead of slipping and an adaptive suspension setup and carbon ceramic brakes should help the car’s performance as well. It all sounds too good to be true, and it might be a bit late for you to make a move on one of these $190,000 sedans because with such limited numbers, it’s likely they’ve all been snatched up. See Also: Limited-Run Jaguar XE SV Project 8 Fits Right in at Pebble Beach 6. Pagani Huayra Roadster No list at Pebble Beach would be complete without Pagani. This week marked the North American debut of the Huayra Roadster and, naturally, the $2.4-million car still looks as good as it does when we first saw it back in March for the Geneva Motor Show. Weighing less than the coupe, this hypercar is fast, too, using its 7.0-liter AMG V12 to hit highway speeds in less than three seconds.  Mr. Pagani also revealed his pet project, the Zonda HP Barchetta. See Also: Pagani Zonda HP Barchetta is truly the Ultimate Zonda 5. Acura ARX-05 Race Car Acura is going to the endurance racing championship and to do that, it needs a whole new prototype race car. That’s what the ARX-05 is all about and it will be run by team Penske and feature Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya at the wheel. Powering this vehicle is a turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 that’s not far from what you’d find in various other Acura vehicles. Expect this mean-looking race car to make its competition debut at the Rolex 24 in Daytona. See Also: Acura Returns to 24-Hour Endurance Racing With This Mean Race Car 4. BMW Z4 Concept Maybe the California sun is getting to us, but we just had to include more convertibles on this list, so here’s the BMW Z4 Concept. This car really helps us imagine how nice it’d be to have a BMW Z4 in our garages in the near future, but we wish there were more details like how much it’ll cost and what will be under the hood. There’s likely more information to be coming from BMW in the coming months and we might see something very similar from Toyota, which will be also be using this platform for a new Supra. See Also: This is the Beautiful New BMW Z4 Concept 3. Mercedes-Maybach Vision 6 Cabriolet What’s that? Another convertible? OK! This is the Mercedes-Maybach Vision 6 Cabriolet, a high-power, ultra-luxurious electric droptop. Making 750 horsepower, this car features a range of 200 miles, which isn’t shabby at all. In case you forgot what the 6 in this car’s name means, it represents how long the car is in meters. That’s nearly 20 feet long in case you forgot your metric conversions, which is to say this car is simply huge. The gorgeous blue paint finish and eye-catching wheels help it stand out, but the interior has to also be the most lavish I’ve ever seen on a car, concept or otherwise. See Also: Mercedes-Maybach Unveils Super Swanky 750-HP Electric Convertible 2. BMW 8 Series Concept The BMW Concept 8 Series is simply stunning. The folks at the office have all pretty much agreed that the new Lexus LC is one of the prettier luxury coupes out there, but this BMW is helping change some of our minds. Big, bold and beautiful, this concept paints a pretty future for the German automaker’s upcoming flagship coupe. See also: BMW 8 Series Concept Stands Out Among Sea of Supercars 1. Infiniti Prototype 9 We have to give Infiniti the top spot for coolest debut at this year’s Monterey Car Week. The Japanese brand simply stole the show with this pre-war race car-inspired concept car. There are a lot of interesting design cues found in the car, but maybe the most interesting is that somehow the company stashed an electric powertrain in that relatively small body. The bare sheetmetal is such an awesome throwback and the entire thing weighs less than 2,000 lbs, which means this thing should be super fast if it were real. I love wild, pie-in-the-sky ideas and Infiniti really knocked it out of the park with this Prototype 9. See Also: Infiniti Prototype 9 Blends Old and New With Stunning Results The post Top 10 New Car Debuts and Best Concept Cars: Pebble Beach 2017 appeared first on AutoGuide.com News.

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