A month in

A little back story

For most of my adult life I have striven to create software that helps others. Whether it was a photo sharing application that allowed the users to connect their posts to Flattr and Patreon, or a social networking platform that is geared around the idea of connecting you with the world through REAL events and places. It was always about rewarding the content creators for their posts, or in the case of CafeSync (the social networking platform) helping creators connect with would be patrons, and like wise helping would be patrons find new creators to do commerce with. I have always believed that the world has been flipped upside down when it comes to content creation and distribution. Where we generate all of the content, yet the businesses that host the servers get all the gain. I don't begrudge them, its a wonderful model, and most posts on Twitter and Facebook aren't worth the network traffic they generate, but that's not the point, I create something, I share it, and where I might get the morale boost from the likes I have nothing to show for my hard work but a few shifted bits when the thumb turns blue or the heart beats red.

As was hinted before, I am a software engineer and developer, and as my bio states I am an advocate of the ideals set by the FOSS and Creative Commons communities. All my software is free; free to download, free to contribute to, free to bash. Before you judge me understand that I see my software, my work, as a part of me. Like many artists or writers what I make is driven by passion and the desire to create more than any financial gain I may reap from the work. I seek recognition, community, and connection just as any musician or artist do. However, we do not live in the world dreamt of by Jacque Fresco, we live in a world where we must make money to live, and must spend money to survive.

Utopia

I found out about @utopian-io through a show called "Linux Action News" which is a podcast hosted by a geek centric broadcasting company called Jupiter Broadcasting. It was not in the main show, but a comment in the pre-show warm ups, something about funding options for Open Source developers and projects.... I had heard of similar projects, most require the developer to put up their own money in hopes that some code mercenary will come by and fix an issue for a fee, but as my last paying gig had been over a year ago I decided now was a time to become one of those code mercs. This lead me here, and to a network that seems to be exactly what I have been trying to create, unsuccessfully, for so long.

@Steem and the entire ecosystem around it has changed the way I work. The way I think about my projects, and how I think about the world. Here, I have found the missing piece of the crypto-currency puzzle, and now that I've found it I see so much potential. I look forward to finding new people to follow, like the musician @lillywilton or the artists @drawingly, @anritco and the photographer @rizasukma, and I am not working toward making CafeSync a citizen of this network allowing those I mentioned and the countless others reach larger audiences by breaking out of the web and into the world.

Going forward

Along with CafeSync, and WayFinder, I have plans for a new software, called Edusteem, it will be a way for non-traditional schools to manage and reward their students through posts generated by the students. The steem generated by the posts would be split between the child and a education fund that, I hope, will encourage the student to create meaningful content so as to have the money to go to college when they complete their k-12 schooling.