ABC 008: Ethereum Classic with Zachary Belfordr

The MaxCoders Guide To Finding Your Dream Developer Job

"The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job" by Charles Max Wood is available on Amazon. Get your copy here today only for $2.99!

ABC 012: Sustaining Open Source with Eric Berry & Kevin Owocki

In this week's episode of Adventures in Blockchain, Charles Max Wood interviews Eric Berry and Kevin Owocki, discussing open source sustainability using blockchain. Eric Berry is a panelist on Sustain Our Software podcast and runs Codefund. Kevin is the co-founder of Gitcoin. Our guests start by explaining what each of their companies does and how they help sustain open source.

Kevin explains that Gitcoin is a place you can get coin if you are a software engineer working in open source. Their mission is to support open source software. Kevin discusses how blockchain creates new hope for open source sustainability. One project Kevin introduces that helps move them towards their goal is called bounties. Bounties allow engineers to collect cryptocurrency for work they do in opensource.

Codefund is an ethical advertising platform that is specifically run to grow and sustain open source. Eric shares how they do this by inviting bloggers, application builders, and other maintainers, to put a small bit of code on their sites that specifically advertise what they are doing. This allows them to receive passive revenue constantly without having to spend time marketing.

Gitcoin and Codefund are related, Kevin and Eric share the story of how they started helping one another. When Kevin was building Gitcoin he met Joseph Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and was invited to join ConsenSys. Using his work with ConsenSys as a stepping stone Gitcoin was able to level up. At this point, Eric reached out to Kevin because he was looking for a way to more easily distribute funds.

Next, the panel considers how sustaining open source is made easier through open source. In the blockchain ecosystem, there is a lot more liquidity and a lot less bureaucracy. Kevin explains that when people think of blockchain they only see bitcoin prices and miss all the potential that the blockchain has.

There are many problems paying people with “real” currency. For example, credit card companies take fees, transfer money across borders is difficult and worst of all there are knowledge workers that don’t have access to a stable financial system like in parts of Africa. By using the blockchain to pay these great developers can work for western companies and in open source.

Eric shares how he uses the blockchain to pay maintainers and advertisers. The inbound advertisers at Codefund are already using eth and dai, which is easily turned around to pay their publishers. Currently, it is not all done on the blockchain, Eric explains what it looks like paying everyone. Codefund's goal is to eventually be completely on the blockchain and to be constantly paying their maintainers.

Taxation is something discussed on this weeks Sustain Our Software, Eric brings it up in hopes of hearing Kevin’s take on taxation in the blockchain. Kevin explains that he wrote an EIP or Ethereum improvement proposal, block reward funding for open source maintainers. The blockchain has miners who receive coin for the work they do. Those miners use an algorithm to show proof of work. Open source maintainers do work for the blockchain as well and his proposal says that maintainers should receive coin for what they do for the blockchain. The problem that some have with this idea is that it is hard to prove the software they are writing will directly impact the blockchain or that it even got done.

The panel considers ways to prove the value created by maintainers and how paying maintainers show them they are valued. Burn out is a big obstacle for the maintainability of open source. Everyone has responsibilities, to family and other things and its a shame when those doing open source have to quit because they can’t meet those responsibilities. The panel discusses ways that we can help maintainers not burn out. They also talk briefly about entitlement in open source, Kevin introduces his no asshole policy.

Charles asks Kevin to explain how Gitcoin’s bounty network works. The architecture of Gitcoin’s bounty network uses the smart contract in Ethereum called standard bounties, which acts as an escrow function. When an issue is posted it goes into standard bounties which holds the eth. When someone starts the work they are put in contact with the funder and when they submit their work they get paid.

Kevin explains the rules of social etiquette in the network that keeps everyone happy. He shares some of their results and statistics and explains how disputes are handled. They will be launching a new service called Gitcoin grants, which uses CLR matching. Kevin also explains how they use monthly hackathons to help the open source community.

Eric takes a turn to explain what Codefund is doing to help in open source. They will be releasing a Codefund sponsorship service, this will help open source projects to find the right sponsors. He tried something similar in 2017 with some promising results but was shut down Github. Now that they have worked it out with Github they will be trying again. Charles having remembered their first attempt shares some of his feelings about Codesponsor and his excitement that they will be trying again.

To end the episode the panel reiterates how blockchain could change the financial world. Kevin compares it to how the internet changed the world, at first it was slow but it grew and changed. Charles compares it to the discovery and growth of the radio. The panel considers how the blockchain will evolve and what it could mean for the future of the world.

Panelists

• Charles Max Wood

Guests

• Eric Berry

• Kevin Owocki

Sponsors

• React Native Radio

• Adventures in DevOps

• The Freelancers Show

• CacheFly

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"The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job" by Charles Max Wood will be out on November 20th on Amazon. Get your copy on that date only for $1.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Links

• Disrupting Open Source Sustainability

• Sustain Our Software

• CodeFund

• GitCoin Results

• Gitcoin

• OSCoin

• The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires

• Join The Blockchain Developer Bootcamp

• https://www.facebook.com/Adventures-in-Blockchain-1180850735452512/

Picks

Charles Max Wood:

• MaxCoders.io

• The United States of Trump: How the President Really Sees America

Eric Berry:

• AirPods Case

• Open Collective badge project

Kevin Owocki:

• Sustain Web3 Conference in Boulder, Colorado, Feb 2020

ABC 011: Arbitration in the Blockchain with Clement Lesaege

In this episode of Adventures in Blockchain our panel is joined by a special guest. Clément Lesaege is a blockchain developer working at Kleros. Kleros resolves disputes using a decentralized arbitration system and smart contracts. Clément shares some examples of how their smart contracts work with outside data.

Gregory McCubbin, ever the teacher, breaks down what Clément means when he is talking out how Kleros is using smart contracts. Smart contracts are an agreement when something happens it there is a specific outcome, all of which happens in a trustless and decentralized way. ICO or Initial Coin Offering is the example Gregory shares as a very simple use case for smart contracts handled within the chain.

Kleros is solving a problem when a source outside of the blockchain is used such as an escrow service. Clément explains how a disputation is handled. Jurors are chosen at random, they then vote on the dispute and the smart contract carries out the verdict. The panel discusses how the blockchain handles all this in a decentralized way. Charles Max Wood expresses how wonderful this would have been back in his freelancing days.

While Charles can see how this would all be very useful he needs help understanding how all this happens in a blockchain and asks Clément why they chose to build this in a blockchain. Clément explains that in the blockchain everything is transparent which helps avoid bribery by the parties involved. Also, the smart contracts carry out the sentence automatically, the cryptocurrency is moved around a soon as a verdict has been reached by the jurors. This is a lot less complicated than in the real world, where receiving money after a verdict has been reached in a real court can take a while and get messy.

Kleros works as a plugin and can be adapted to the needs of the users. The panel discusses the various use cases including escrow and freelancer fees. Clément shares some of the projects currently using Kleros. Kleros is used in token registries to keep people from making fake tokens and scamming others out of their cryptocurrency.

The panel expounds on the possibilities blockchain provides for escrow services. Escrow can be locked away for months at a time not earning any interest, Gregory considers the benefits if instead of doing that, people put that money into a stable cryptocurrency that is gaining in APR. The panel considers how this would improve the escrow model and incentivize the adoption of blockchain in escrow services.

Clément finishes this week’s episode by introducing the two new exciting apps they are currently working on at Kleros. He shares resources for learning more about kleros, how to become a juror and how to learn more about token registries.

Panelists

• Gregory McCubbin

• Charles Max Wood

Guest

• Clément Lesaege

Sponsors

• Adventures in DevOps

• The Freelancers Show

• React Round Up

• CacheFly

Links

• https://tokens.kleros.io/tokens

• https://kleros.io

• https://twitter.com/clesaege?lang=en

• EthCC 2: Clément Lesaege

• uniswap.ninja

• Cryptounlocked.wetrust.io

• https://court.kleros.io/

• https://escrow.kleros.io/

• https://realit.io/

• Join The Blockchain Developer Bootcamp

• https://www.facebook.com/Adventures-in-Blockchain-1180850735452512/

Picks

Charles Max Wood

• All In

• The Blacklist

Gregory McCubbin

• Sleep

• Hiring a Moving Company

• The Office

Clément Lesaege

• The 100

ABC 011: Arbitration in the Blockchain with Clement Lesaege

In this episode of Adventures in Blockchain our panel is joined by a special guest. Clément Lesaege is a blockchain developer working at Kleros. Kleros resolves disputes using a decentralized arbitration system and smart contracts. Clément shares some examples of how their smart contracts work with outside data.

Gregory McCubbin, ever the teacher, breaks down what Clément means when he is talking out how Kleros is using smart contracts. Smart contracts are an agreement when something happens it there is a specific outcome, all of which happens in a trustless and decentralized way. ICO or Initial Coin Offering is the example Gregory shares as a very simple use case for smart contracts handled within the chain.

Kleros is solving a problem when a source outside of the blockchain is used such as an escrow service. Clément explains how a disputation is handled. Jurors are chosen at random, they then vote on the dispute and the smart contract carries out the verdict. The panel discusses how the blockchain handles all this in a decentralized way. Charles Max Wood expresses how wonderful this would have been back in his freelancing days.

While Charles can see how this would all be very useful he needs help understanding how all this happens in a blockchain and asks Clément why they chose to build this in a blockchain. Clément explains that in the blockchain everything is transparent which helps avoid bribery by the parties involved. Also, the smart contracts carry out the sentence automatically, the cryptocurrency is moved around a soon as a verdict has been reached by the jurors. This is a lot less complicated than in the real world, where receiving money after a verdict has been reached in a real court can take a while and get messy.

Kleros works as a plugin and can be adapted to the needs of the users. The panel discusses the various use cases including escrow and freelancer fees. Clément shares some of the projects currently using Kleros. Kleros is used in token registries to keep people from making fake tokens and scamming others out of their cryptocurrency.

The panel expounds on the possibilities blockchain provides for escrow services. Escrow can be locked away for months at a time not earning any interest, Gregory considers the benefits if instead of doing that, people put that money into a stable cryptocurrency that is gaining in APR. The panel considers how this would improve the escrow model and incentivize the adoption of blockchain in escrow services.

Clément finishes this week’s episode by introducing the two new exciting apps they are currently working on at Kleros. He shares resources for learning more about kleros, how to become a juror and how to learn more about token registries.

Panelists

• Gregory McCubbin

• Charles Max Wood

Guest

• Clément Lesaege

Sponsors

• Adventures in DevOps

• The Freelancers Show

• React Round Up

• CacheFly

Links

• https://tokens.kleros.io/tokens

• https://kleros.io

• https://twitter.com/clesaege?lang=en

• EthCC 2: Clément Lesaege

• uniswap.ninja

• Cryptounlocked.wetrust.io

• https://court.kleros.io/

• https://escrow.kleros.io/

• https://realit.io/

• Join The Blockchain Developer Bootcamp

• https://www.facebook.com/Adventures-in-Blockchain-1180850735452512/

Picks

Charles Max Wood

• All In

• The Blacklist

Gregory McCubbin

• Sleep

• Hiring a Moving Company

• The Office

Clément Lesaege

• The 100

ABC 010: Privacy in Blockchain

Episode Summary

In this episode of Adventures in Blockchain the panel discusses privacy in the blockchain. Privacy is a hot topic right now in the blockchain world and is an issue that a lot of people are trying to solve. This is a problem in both public and private blockchains.

Bruno starts by addressing the misconception that private blockchains mean that your data is private. He explains that that private means that you are taking control of the infrastructure and maintenance of the blockchain. Privacy is possible in public and private blockchains. Bruno corrects these misconceptions by describing the blockchain as a large database and just like in any other database you need to be careful in securing your data.

The main problem in the blockchain is that anyone on the network can see what you are doing. Bruno explains how zero-knowledge proofs can help. Zk-SNARK’s or Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge help you know when you have a valid transaction without actually having to run it. The panel talks about what this means for privacy.

The panel takes a step back to define public and private blockchains. Public blockchains, such as Ethereum and Bitcoin are run and maintained by the public. Public blockchains are not ideal for business who need to keep certain data secure. Private blockchains work better for business because a large corporation can run and maintain its own blockchain. They use permissions to control who in their corporation can see what in their blockchain, while the public has no access to their blockchain.

The panel gives advice on how to know if a blockchain is the best solution for your needs. They warn that even those blockchain is new and shiny is not everything should be put on a blockchain. Start by deciding if you need a blockchain and then what you want from your blockchain.

The pros and cons of blockchain implementation are considered. The centralized element of private blockchains makes them less secure while public blockchains are very secure. Private blockchains don’t have the same monetary incentive for maintenance. Privacy and throughput of public blockchains are cons that are seeing some improvement.

The issue of sending digital currency privately is getting close to being solved. Roman Storm built a dapp, tornado cash, that allows a roundabout way to achieve that anonymity in achieving private cryptocurrency transactions. It allows cryptocurrency to be placed in a mixer, a type of smart contract, along with other users that when pulled back out is no longer traceable back to the user.

The panel gets a little sidetracked off of privacy for a minute as they discuss experimenting with new use cases for blockchain. They discuss the Dubai smart city project. The implications the blockchains may have in the voting systems or medical records. With blockchain still being young, there are a lot of unexplored avenues that could benefit from the blockchain.

Gregory considers the adoption rate of the blockchain and cryptocurrency’s effect on the world. People are using cryptocurrency to send funds internationally. The financial world is working hard to keep up by lowering wire transfer rates. The panel wonders what killer app needs to be made to drive adoption forward. Gregory talks about decentralized finance apps that get users competitive interest rate on cryptocurrency, better privacy, and faster transfer speed. Bruno considers how regulations that prevent testing are slowing progress in blockchain experimentation.

Panelists

• Gregory McCubbin

• Bruno Duarte Brito

• Charles Max Wood

Sponsors

• The Freelancers Show

• Views on Vue

• My JavaScript Story

• CacheFly

Links

• https://www.stateofthedapps.com/dapps/tornado-cash

• Join The Blockchain Developer Bootcamp

• https://www.facebook.com/Adventures-in-Blockchain-1180850735452512/