The Dann Chronicles: September 🍂
Your favorite internet stigma, gay tattoo artists, movie diaries, memories, and a senseless violent act.
September 2021
Hey all,
I don’t know about you, but it feels like everywhere I turn people are talking about web3. Since I can't seem to escape it, I’m going to officially join the chorus. It feels like we're on the precipice of something new and exciting in the tech world.
Web 1 (approximately 1990 til ~2005) was all about open and decentralized protocols. The Internet was largely HTML and CSS. Your Internet browser downloaded this code from a server and displayed it to you.
Web 2.0 came next, and brought extreme power to the Internet, and with it centralization. Websites added advanced Javascript and complex backends. Websites started running more like fully-functioning applications than simple displays of information. Companies such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook rose to the forefront.
We are now at the beginning of the web3 era, which is bringing together the best of both worlds: decentralized projects with the power of Web 2.0.
What does this mean for you? As with any time of great change, it means that there are opportunities to be had if you're both lucky enough and know where to look. Consider this your official heads up. I don't have all the answers yet, but I'm definitely watching this space. And I think you should, too.
-Dann
💎 Digital Immutability
Many of you are old enough to remember when the Internet was new, and had a huge stigma around it. "You have friends you've never met in person?" "You met your significant other online?" "You left your real job for an internet company??"
There's a new technology that exists today that has the same stigma as the Internet in the early days. That technology is...crypto.
I know, I know. People just won’t shut up about crypto. But please stick with me. Lean into that visceral reaction you had when you read the word "crypto." I still get it myself. But push past that feeling in the same way you'd urge your younger self to do with the Internet.
I'm not here to say that you should "invest" in crypto (unless you want to, of course). In fact, I think the price of Bitcoin (or any other coin for that matter) is a distraction. It's the underlying technology, specifically blockchain technology, that I believe is going to have a big and lasting impact on the world.
Take a look at how the Internet revolutionized the world. Selling books is nothing new. Selling books online created Amazon. Hailing a taxi online created Uber. Banking online created Paypal.
We're now in the early days of seeing that exact same trend, but on the blockchain. People are not just creating new coins and minting NFTs. They're re-building entire industries on top of that same technology.
As we speak, there are new companies building new, complex, financial instruments that are transparent, secure, and (most importantly) making banking accessible to everyone. According to The World Bank, there are 1.7 billion adults in the world who are unbanked, and a good portion of them are about to get access to economic potentials never before available.
If you're interested in pushing past the "crypto" stigma and want to learn more, I highly recommend Coingecko's book How to DeFi (Beginner) as a solid starting place. If that doesn't interest you, then there's no further action you need to take. Just know that the blockchain is coming to upend a world near you.
🪡 Pins & Needles
I only subscribe to two Patreon accounts: one for my favorite podcast, and the second is an account called Sacred Debris (NSFW).
Shawn Porter, the man behind Sacred Debris, can best be described as a prolific body art historian. At a young age, he became friends with some of the founding fathers of the modern tattoo and body modification subculture. As a result, he has boxes upon boxes of old pictures, videos, and correspondence from the people who built the foundation that allows tattoos and non-earlobe piercings to be socially acceptable today.
The history is insanely interesting, the commentary insightful and funny, and the photos/videos are fantastically restored and presented. There are also a ton of pictures of naked men, because the modern movement was started by a ton of naked men. So be warned.
This content might not be for everyone, but if that does sound interesting to you: walk don't run to support his efforts. And if you want a more SFW perspective, check out the Instagram.
📒 Tale as old as time
I finally took the time and import my movie-watching activity into Letterboxd, a "social network" for film lovers that's more like a movie diary on steroids. I'm excited to have my complete history all in one place.
Are you there, too? If so, we should be friends.
🔫 Mmm Whatcha' Say
You've probably seen this SNL digital short before, but you should watch it again.
Some people might be interested in the creative process, and would enjoy the oral history exploring the creation of "The Shooting AKA Dear Sister." Others still might argue that is one of the most influential skits of our time, a foundational lodestar upon which modern "absurdist" comedy is built.
But as for me, I just think it's funny.
⏳ Tripping through time
One of my favorite mobile applications is called TimeHop. I know that it's one of my favorites because I currently have a 1,762-day streak of checking it every day.
TimeHop allows you to connect all your social media accounts and photo sources, and each day will show you content you created on that day in years past. You can see exactly what you were doing one year ago, two years ago, however many years ago you have history to pull in.
It's changed my habits around taking pictures and sharing online. I'm no longer capturing moments that will disappear into the void — I'm deliberately sending messages to my future self. If there's an activity that I'm particularly enjoying, I know that I can snap a few pictures and be able to re-live that moment for years to come.
I think that's pretty cool.
End note
If you've enjoyed this, I'd love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.
I'll be sending out these emails once per month, and I'm happy you're along for the ride. I'm trying to make it one of the best things that arrives in your inbox each month, so thoughts and feedback are always appreciated. You can just reply to this email.
Also, if you find anything interesting, send it my way.
Thanks for reading. Until next time,
Dann