Posts

re: ZeroEyes

  Two years ago I left active duty. I was a little lost, wandering up and down the west coast and seeking refuge in our great national parks. On some of the longer drives I would call old friends, seeking connection and a sense of normalcy amidst a global pandemic. It was in on one of those calls that I reconnected with a fellow Marine Mike Lowinger , and he told me about a tiny little start-up in Philadelphia. Crammed into a 500 sq ft office in the Pennovation Center, there was ZeroEyes . A group of veterans like me, trying to make a difference in the world. I didn't know how I could help or what I could do, but I jumped at the opportunity. An opportunity to continue to feel a sense of service to a country where I've been so lucky and fortunate to have been born in this lottery called life. And yet, gun violence in that same country has regretfully become ubiquitous, and considered a "cost of doing business" in school districts across its 50 states and in countless F

re: digital ownership

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  The year is 2000.  It's Thursday Night. Brad Pitt and Jen Aniston just got married. You're dying to watch your new favorite show come on, it's called SURVIVOR. Everyone at work is playing snake on their nokia cell phone. Life is good.  What you may have missed in all of that pop cultural bliss is the birth of a tiny company called Habbo, which will end up changing the world forever. Habbo Hotel  was (still kinda is, 800k monthly active users) an online community aimed at young adults and teens. In this game players created avatars, met new people, and hung out in "virtual rooms." **most importantly, they exchanged real-world cash for in-game credits; unlocking status and virtual furniture to pimp out their rooms** Without knowing it,  20 years ago  Habbo created one of the first digital economies. e-furniture and rug prices moved as a function of supply and demand. --at it's peak in 2008, Habbo had 15 million unique log-ins per month and did >$60m a year
("Hello World")