Of all the things to work on in blockchain that are more interesting than an IOU coin, the best you could come up with was wallet UX and hardware wallet design?
This is cool! I work at MakerDao, we are working on formal verification as well. Congrats on YC (again)-look forward to seeing how this project shapes up.
Don't forsee the cooking enjoyment thing, particularly with travel schedule, lack of dishwasher, excess of stairs (5th floor walkup + grocery bags=sad), and the fact that I literally can only make scrambled eggs, but maybe you're right.
I think the lifestyle is definitely related to minimalism--I'm not outsourcing all of these things because I don't have time, but I also wouldn't consider myself a particularly lazy person. I simply like the feeling that my life is a well-oiled machine--everything is handled, no laundry folding necessary. It gives me less things to worry about so I can spend more time working, reading, exercising, writing... (and yes, sometimes, watching netflix).
I think my point was that the concept of minimalism (owning less things, being responsible for less choice, etc) has led to a bevy of innovations that are actively freeing up time for me to use my brain more, if I so choose--and isn't that the dream of technology, in the first place?
3. Laundry: ~$40 a month + Dry cleaning (can be the in 100s)
4. Water is payed for by the building, electricity averages $100 a month.
5. Food: This one is tougher. If I order pad thai, I can eat it for two days and its $6 a day. If I order lobster pasta, its $40 and I eat it all right then! According to mint I spend $500 a month on average. But some of what I pay for is in cash so it could be more.
It's definitely not cheaper to live like this but it's much less friction! :)
I am a millenial that makes decent money and lives in manhattan. The following are true of me:
1) I sold my car when I moved here, and I usually walk or take Uber.
2) I sold many of my clothes when I got here (because my closet is small) and now use Rent the Runway Unlimited to have a revolving supply of designer clothes.
3) I do not have a washer or dryer so I use an app called Cleanly to pick up my clothes, wash, and return them.
4) I do not have a dishwasher or a microwave, so I never bought many dishes/utensils, and I order most meals I eat at home from seamless or PostMates.
5) I don't have a vaccum, a broom, a mop, a dustpan, cleaning supplies, etc so I use an app called Handy that sends a cleaner that has these things to my apartment every two weeks.
So, technically I own less things. But only because I can afford to pay to rent them (uber, rent the runway) or pay someone else to make up for not owning them (postmates/cleanly/handy). I imagine that the same is true for many of the people who live the lifestyle the author is describing. So in a way, I can see her point: we're not really minimalist, we're just rich enough to not have to own stuff.
But on the other hand, isn't it cool that technology has created a world where I don't have to own all this stuff to have a convenient, clean, fashionable life? I am not even a minimalist but I do think that the aesthetic idea of minimalism has influenced some of the technological advances that have led to some of the most innovative "shared economy" and peer to peer service companies. And if the people who came up with the ideas for these apps want to live in a white apartment with succulents, who cares?
They don't appear to have a website. I tried to look them up after the techcrunch event here in NY and it seems that that was the first time anyone had ever heard of them.
That said, I actually disagree with hagbardgroup. If Choi can pull this off, I think it would open up the world of custom makeup to a huge market of people far beyond the "home-brew" makeup hobbyists. The idea of putting on a fall outfit and being able to print out the perfect shade of mauve without getting in my car and going to Walgreens and spending $12 is pretty incredible. I think a lot of women, even those outside the target age bracket, would find this product useful.
Rick Perry always has a lot of brave things to say when the legislature isn't in session. Funny that the only time he has come out in support of an environmentally friendly industry is when he stands to gain a 6500 job windfall at the end of his term...
The simplest version of this is to purchase bitcoins on the "cheapest" exchange, and sell them on localbitcoins for MtGox prices. Only problem here is that if you're in the US, it takes 2-5 days to get your coins, so you'd have to have a decent stash/revolving money flow.
I began reading his article hoping to have him talk a little bit more about smartphones in emerging markets, but he barely touched on it. Africa has arguably the fastest growing middle class in the world right now. They're also poised to make a cultural leap far greater than that of China's in the 90s. I read that 60% of Africans will have smartphones in 2019. The continent is already using smart technology in innovative/cost saving ways (i.e. sending funds via sms).
It seems to me that if I am looking to join the smartphone industry, I make myself indispensable to Africa. I think Africans are less likely to care for features like Siri or luxury components. My thought is that developers for devices in that part of the world will have the freedom to think outside the box--what will a smart phone look like on a continent with minimal financial resources, but avid interest in quick data and communication? What do people want from their phone when they don't have necessarily have a computer or strong infrastructure?
I think you've got the tone right. Also... I hope you're right about Neural implants! I've wanted one ever since I read that MT Anderson book in JR high school (minus the dystopian homogeneity and fields of filet mignon).
Maybe Amazon will debut them on 60 Minutes prior to cyber monday 2014!
I can't decide if this is happy or sad. On the one hand, it's great that a country that was once dominated by a totalitarian regime is a hub of new ideas about freedom of information and what government responsibility really means. On the other hand, it's really sad that one of the countries who fought so hard against that totalitarianism is no longer considered safe for these people.
If we weren't fighting for a world where citizens can speak up about the crimes of their governments, what were we fighting for?
That's an idea. It made me think of philosopher John Rawls' concept of the Veil of Ignorance: what would we all want the world to look like if our place in it was up to chance? How would we write the law of society if we had no way of knowing our place in it?
The craziest part is that the three brothers were so sure that their oldest brother didn't belong that they travelled back 60 years in time to uncover the truth... can you imagine being so convinced someone in your family was an outsider?
I take smart drugs and supplement with a product called Alleradd which replenishes my neurotransmitters and helps avoid the comedown.
What I will say is that everything I've ever gotten excited about became less exciting as soon as it became my job. The main way to combat this is in your own mind. The thing that makes a job suck is the inane task you have to do as part of of a whole. The way to combat that is to remember what you're really in it for. To think about the big picture. Remember that what you're coding now is training for the big idea that you have that's going to change everything. For me, it's really important to think of the things I'm doing in abstract terms, otherwise I get bogged down in the details. I have to feel like I'm doing something that's part of something bigger!
Good luck, man. I know what you're feeling. Also, exercise never helped me...sorry.
I couldn't agree more. I took a cool seminar in college about web security, in which a former senior security specialist for a government agency said that there is no such thing as full security, just varying levels of insecurity. Scary thought...