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      "body": "Congratulations @captainpicard! You received a personal award!\n\n<table><tr><td>https://steemitimages.com/70x70/http://steemitboard.com/@captainpicard/birthday3.png</td><td>Happy Birthday! - You are on the Steem blockchain for 3 years!</td></tr></table>\n\n<sub>_You can view [your badges on your Steem Board](https://steemitboard.com/@captainpicard) and compare to others on the [Steem Ranking](https://steemitboard.com/ranking/index.php?name=captainpicard)_</sub>\n\n\n###### [Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness](https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/account-witness-vote?witness=steemitboard&approve=1) to get one more award and increased upvotes!",
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      "body": "Congratulations @captainpicard! You have received a personal award!\n\n[![](https://steemitimages.com/70x70/http://steemitboard.com/@captainpicard/birthday2.png)](http://steemitboard.com/@captainpicard)  2 Years on Steemit\n<sub>_Click on the badge to view your Board of Honor._</sub>\n\n\n**Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:**\n[SteemitBoard World Cup Contest - Home stretch to the finals. Do not miss them!](https://steemit.com/steemitboard/@steemitboard/steemitboard-world-cup-contest-home-stretch-to-the-finals-do-not-miss-them)\n\n---\n**Participate in the [SteemitBoard World Cup Contest](https://steemit.com/steemitboard/@steemitboard/steemitboard-world-cup-contest-collect-badges-and-win-free-sbd)!**\nCollect World Cup badges and win free SBD\nSupport the Gold Sponsors of the contest: [@good-karma](https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/account-witness-vote?witness=good-karma&approve=1) and [@lukestokes](https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/account-witness-vote?witness=lukestokes.mhth&approve=1)\n\n---\n\n> Do you like [SteemitBoard's project](https://steemit.com/@steemitboard)? Then **[Vote for its witness](https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/account-witness-vote?witness=steemitboard&approve=1)** and **get one more award**!",
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      "body": "Interesting post.  I'm sure a lot of people are asking the same power up/power down question. This is a nice problem to have (what to do with $11,000 of fairly easy money earned in a short period of time).  \n\nBut most of us who joined Steemit are not faced with this \"tough choice\".\n\nMost of us have little to no Steem Dollars so our choice is different: should we continue to post on Steem, hoping to get noticed by a whale, should we invest in Steem tokens and buy ourselves some weight on the network, or should we abandon the network altogether? \n\nOne factor that was not addressed in your thoughts was if you or anyone should be buying Steem with \"real money\" (fiat, bitcoin or other).  Are the Founders buying Steem with real money?  Likely not.  \n\nI'm assuming you are not buying more Steem but content to either power up or power down the Steem Dollars you have.  This is totally fine, but I wonder if or why you would consider buying Steem with whatever savings you might have.\n\nAnd so the important question follows - who would buy Steem now and why?  Doesn't the overall value of the network depend on the underlying value of Steem?  If the Steem price continues to drop does it not effect the eventual value/peg of Steem Dollars?\n\nI'm an invested minded person when it comes to crypto and I initially thought about dumping some serious coin into Steem.  The reason I didn't is due to the chart you shared that shows the extreme concentration of all Steem in a few hands.  It appeared to me that investing several thousand dollars of real money to buy Steem seemed like a foolish investment if a travel babe can earn several grand in a few posts.  I'm not saying she doesn't deserve it, but if she can (or if someone like you can), I have effectively paid for it with my investment capital.  I'm not saying nobody should do this, I am just looking at the reality and asking why would someone do this? \"Beleiving in the network\" is not enough to fork over real money, in my view. \n\nNow that the price of Steem is falling and the early frenzy is dissipating, the better question to be asking is not \"power up vs. power down\" but \" should one buy steem or sell steem\"?  \n\nIf you want to do a cool follow up to your article, address this question and argue the merits for buying steem vs not buying (or selling).",
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      "body": "Hey Charles, \n\nYou and I met at the Toronto conference in 2014. Do you think Steemit has made a fundamental shift in the way new adopters are brought into a blockchain based ecosystem?  \n\nI mean, the fundamental barrier to entry into Bitcoin or any other crypto up to this point has been the cost.  Most of my \"normal\" friends still don't understand why they would trade fiat for Bitcoin for any reason other than to speculate on the price of Bitcoin.  \n\nSteemit offers a different proposition - \"earn free coins when you use our app\".  If every dapp took this approach, do you not think those dapps would attract users more quickly?  \n\nI agree with you in the sense that I don't have the economics of Steemit figured out well enough to know if it is sustainable (I've made suggestions about how to improve the network by making Steem more  valuable but those have so far gone unanswered).  However, perhaps the most important \"innovation\" behind Steemit is they gave out free coins to everyone who joined and lots of extra free coins to early adopters.  Is this not a superior mechanism to grow any crypto community going forward?  \n\nIf we've learned anything from the last 25 years of Internet, networks that are free to join grow faster than those that are not free.  In a way, most of Bitcoin was earned early on \"for free\" by miners who lent their computing power.  Steemit has put value on people's time instead, and in my view, this is a more attractive entry point for the 99% of people who are still not interested in crypto.  Thoughts?",
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      "author": "captainpicard",
      "body": "I wrote an article on the same topic a day or so ago, but with a different proposed solution.  Perhaps it is way off-base or perhaps it may spark some new idea:  https://steemit.com/steemit/@captainpicard/a-controversial-way-to-fix-steemit-whales-will-hate-this",
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      "author": "captainpicard",
      "body": "I have read the white paper.  I don't doubt the intelligence of the devs or the whales.  They have done a fantastic job to bootstrap Steemit to where it is.  I also helped strategize early on with the LTBcoin project which is around two years old now so I have spent hundreds of hours thinking on this concept.  \n\nDevelopments in crypto can start off with a bang and end in a whimper very quickly.  I'd like to see Steemit be the exception rather than the rule.\n\nAs brilliant as the idea behind Steemit is, sometimes as a start up, you have to pivot.  When you reach certain stages of growth, you have to make adjustments on the fly.   As you say, often people are so vested in their way of doing, it takes a real visionary to catch the wake up call... perhaps this same concept applies to Steemit right now. \n\nThe question is whether or not Steemit will continue to grow under the current framework, or do we have to re-invent the vision as we go, based on what is working and what isn't?\n\nI am just pointing out where I see clear weaknesses in this model going forward and I don't think I am alone in this observation (I'm sure a quick vote of all users would quickly demonstrate my point).  \n\nI think Steemit has worked far better than the devs ever expected, which is why I think the reward system needs to be reworked based on this success.",
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      "author": "captainpicard",
      "body": "Before you slay me with downvotes, hear me out.  \n\nI like the idea of Steem and Steemit.  I have great respect for @dan and have been following his work since Protoshares. \n\nBut let’s be honest with ourselves.  According to this https://steemd.com/distribution 88% of all Steemit stake is in the hands of 0.39% of all user accounts and 96% of all Steemit stake is the hands of 1.39% of all user accounts.  That means approximately 98.6% of the users have only 4% of the stake.  While it’s nice to see people like Jeff Berwick earn $15,000 for an introductory post, it leaves the remaining 99% of everyone else feeling marginalized.\n\n**The Problem With Whale Power**\n\nWe all know that “Whales” make or break a post, regardless of whether or not it is “quality content”.  While I am a 100% pro free market voluntaryist, the current system feels more like fascism than anarcho capitalism.  As Jeff Berwick quickly found out, your efforts can be rewarded one day and punished the next, simply due to the whims of a handful of whales.\n\nI am not saying the Whales don’t deserve their outsized (dare I say “centralized”) control over whose posts are valued on this site and whose aren’t.  The problem is, this massive power disparity appears to have no way to adjust over time.  It appears that from this day forward, whales will remain whales and minnows will remain minnows, apart from the occasional lottery-style voting mechanism whereby one minnow magically gets bestowed with dolphin status by a few whales to everyone else’s chagrin.  \n\nIf new users join, post quality content and receive $0.00, while a travel babe with a Steemit sign earns $3000, they will stop posting and move on (no offense travel babes, we still love you).  Even a somewhat wealthy person would have to put up tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to match the power of a single whale.\n\nIn addition, there is no incentive for whales to continue to contribute quality content (or contribute at all) to the network in order to maintain their dominant status.  Some whale accounts are not even active and are probably bots.\n\n**The Risks To Steemit**\n\nI am not writing this to whine like a baby because my top post only earned $2.00.  I believe there are systemic risks to Steemit going forward if something is not done to fix the structure of the reward mechanism. \n\nThe main risk I see is that someone will fork Steemit, tweak the algorithm to give newbies a chance to become a whale, and Steemit will lose steam, fast.  People will join the new platform and put their energy there and Steemit will lose its chance to scale to the size of Reddit or bigger.  I don’t want to see this happen but we would be fools to think that it couldn’t.  There is a $200 million reward for a potential competitor to Steemit.  If you think I am blowing our cover, think again, there is no way there aren’t groups forming right now to build something similar to Steemit.  In this sense, whales themselves are also at risk.\n\n**The “Fix”**\n\nSo, in my willful ignorance, I propose the following “fix”.  This may or may not be technically feasible but here goes...\n\nSteem Power should be auto-converted into Steem at the end of each month.  This means at the beginning of each month, everyone starts back at zero Steem Power and Steem cannot be used to purchase Steem Power.  This would give newbies and everyone else a level playing field at the beginning of each month.  It would make it more exciting to see which posts get upvoted since everyone would start out with equal “power”. The most likely result is that Steem Power earned per post would be much more broadly distributed rather than highly concentrated as it is now.  \n\nBasically what this change would do is “cash everyone out” each month - not just the whales but everyone with a Steem Power balance.  Under this scenario, those users who are currently “whales” would not “lose out” since the Steem Power they have earned up to this point would all be converted to Steem which could be converted into real money. \n\nUnder this scenario, at the beginning of the month, one vote would be worth the same no matter who voted.  However, some votes would start to matter more than others as successful posters started to amass Steem Power.  It would all work very similar as it does today, except the whole process would start over every month.  \n\n**Possible Benefits of Buying/Holding Steem**\n\nTo make this scenario work, there would have to be some benefit to buying/holding Steem rather cashing out into Bitcoin or fiat.  I know that was the original idea with Steem Power. I have no objection to the idea that it is better if people remain invested in a native token for the long term benefit of the network, I object to the idea that the chosen few should and always will remain the gods of Steemit.  \n\nHere are some possible benefits to buying/holding Steem:\n\n- It should cost a certain amount of Steem to publish a post (although there doesn’t have to be any transaction fees in order to transfer Steem to another user). New users would still get enough free Steem to start publishing for free but would “run out” at some point unless they earned it back through up votes and pay outs.\n\n- Steem could be used to “boost” a post to the top of a category or tag feed. In this way, sponsors could end up being net buyers of Steem and this would help ensure there is enough value and liquidity for users to cash out of their Steem each month.\n\n- Steem would still be a way to transfer value between users without paying transaction fees\n\n- Steem balances could grow over time if held (as Steem Power balances currently do)\n\n**The Poker Tournament Analogy**\n\nPerhaps there could also be bonuses whereby the “winning” posts for each month get a bonus amount of Steem Power on top of what they earned from upvotes, thus maintaining some of the hopeful “strike it rich quick” reward mechanism that Steemit currently enjoys.  This would make Steemit work sort of like a poker tournament where the top performers win an outsized amount of the pot (except in our case, everyone with upvotes would earn some amount of Steem Power by default).  \n\nTo continue the poker analogy, the problem with the current setup is that new players in the tournament are way, way, WAY short stacked, and since the tournament never ends, the big stack player’s advantage is perpetual!  Obviously, this structure deters new players from joining.\n\n**Proof of Humanity**\n\nUsers should also have to “prove their humanity” each month before qualifying to earn Steem Power, so bots could not so easily gain the upperhand. \n\n**Niche Power**\n\nThis strategy will also encourage users to vote for those users they follow and publish their posts mostly in their niches rather than simply trying to appease the whales.  Part of what makes Reddit so successful is that people in one subreddit couldn’t care less what people in another subreddit are talking about.   The way Steemit is currently setup, if your niche is off the whale radar you are a nobody and always will be.\n\n**Summary**\n\nI think a monthly reset in Steem Power would make real quality content rise to the top across a broader range of topics, and result in a broader distribution of value overall.  I believe this strategy will make the whole “game” of Steemit more exciting, since newbies and minnows will not feel so defeated before they even start.  Every month would be a new chance to prove your value to the community.\n\n**Feedback or Blowback?**\n\nI am sure this proposal is littered with holes and impossibilities, not to mention outrage on the part of the “immutability crowd” who believe Steemit should never change the rules.  I can already feel people throwing spit wads at me.  But this project is still an experiment and it can still fail.  I think we are in a position to prevent this failure before it is too late. Maybe my idea is way off base but maybe it will spark another more feasible solution.  Anyway, let me know what y’all think, or better yet, forward your feedback to the devs who are behind this project. \n\n**Final Comment**\n\nPerhaps the success of this post (or lack of success) will tell us everything we need to know about the problem and willingness (or not) among whales to support a solution. One thing is for sure, I wouldn’t have sat down to write this if I didn’t care about the long term health of Steemit.",
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      "body": "You have to realize - the \"whales\" have spent a lot more time than you have, thinking about this. Have you read the whitepapers and the other discussions? Do you have good market data that they don't have? \n\nI certainly haven't had the time. Just my first comment re: \"Steem Power should be auto-converted into Steem at the end of each month.\" - that will just be easier to game and harder to curate, and it's already mimicked on a 24-hour basis with your actual voting power. \n\nI think Steem is a work in progress - and you have to start somewhere and wage certain guesses. While it might be easy to copy, the irony is that usually competitors are so vested in their way of doing, it takes a real visionary to catch the wake-up call that is usually given by someone else... and then it's usually chaper or easier for them to just buy out the guys who have already done it, so they can do it for them.",
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      "body": "Before you slay me with downvotes, hear me out.  \n\nI like the idea of Steem and Steemit.  I have great respect for @dan and have been following his work since Protoshares. \n\nBut let’s be honest with ourselves.  According to this https://steemd.com/distribution 88% of all Steemit stake is in the hands of 0.39% of all user accounts and 96% of all Steemit stake is the hands of 1.39% of all user accounts.  That means approximately 98.6% of the users have only 4% of the stake.  While it’s nice to see people like Jeff Berwick earn $15,000 for an introductory post, it leaves the remaining 99% of everyone else feeling marginalized.\n\n**The Problem With Whale Power**\n\nWe all know that “Whales” make or break a post, regardless of whether or not it is “quality content”.  While I am a 100% pro free market voluntaryist, the current system feels more like fascism than anarcho capitalism.  As Jeff Berwick quickly found out, your efforts can be rewarded one day and punished the next, simply due to the whims of a handful of whales.\n\nI am not saying the Whales don’t deserve their outsized (dare I say “centralized”) control over whose posts are valued on this site and whose aren’t.  The problem is, this massive power disparity appears to have no way to adjust over time.  It appears that from this day forward, whales will remain whales and minnows will remain minnows, apart from the occasional lottery-style voting mechanism whereby one minnow magically gets bestowed with dolphin status by a few whales to everyone else’s chagrin.  \n\nIf new users join, post quality content and receive $0.00, while a travel babe with a Steemit sign earns $3000, they will stop posting and move on (no offense travel babes, we still love you).  Even a somewhat wealthy person would have to put up tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to match the power of a single whale.\n\nIn addition, there is no incentive for whales to continue to contribute quality content (or contribute at all) to the network in order to maintain their dominant status.  Some whale accounts are not even active and are probably bots.\n\n**The Risks To Steemit**\n\nI am not writing this to whine like a baby because my top post only earned $2.00.  I believe there are systemic risks to Steemit going forward if something is not done to fix the structure of the reward mechanism. \n\nThe main risk I see is that someone will fork Steemit, tweak the algorithm to give newbies a chance to become a whale, and Steemit will lose steam, fast.  People will join the new platform and put their energy there and Steemit will lose its chance to scale to the size of Reddit or bigger.  I don’t want to see this happen but we would be fools to think that it couldn’t.  There is a $200 million reward for a potential competitor to Steemit.  If you think I am blowing our cover, think again, there is no way there aren’t groups forming right now to build something similar to Steemit.  In this sense, whales themselves are also at risk.\n\n**The “Fix”**\n\nSo, in my willful ignorance, I propose the following “fix”.  This may or may not be technically feasible but here goes...\n\nSteem Power should be auto-converted into Steem at the end of each month.  This means at the beginning of each month, everyone starts back at zero Steem Power and Steem cannot be used to purchase Steem Power.  This would give newbies and everyone else a level playing field at the beginning of each month.  It would make it more exciting to see which posts get upvoted since everyone would start out with equal “power”. The most likely result is that Steem Power earned per post would be much more broadly distributed rather than highly concentrated as it is now.  \n\nBasically what this change would do is “cash everyone out” each month - not just the whales but everyone with a Steem Power balance.  Under this scenario, those users who are currently “whales” would not “lose out” since the Steem Power they have earned up to this point would all be converted to Steem which could be converted into real money. \n\nUnder this scenario, at the beginning of the month, one vote would be worth the same no matter who voted.  However, some votes would start to matter more than others as successful posters started to amass Steem Power.  It would all work very similar as it does today, except the whole process would start over every month.  \n\n**Possible Benefits of Buying/Holding Steem**\n\nTo make this scenario work, there would have to be some benefit to buying/holding Steem rather cashing out into Bitcoin or fiat.  I know that was the original idea with Steem Power. I have no objection to the idea that it is better if people remain invested in a native token for the long term benefit of the network, I object to the idea that the chosen few should and always will remain the gods of Steemit.  \n\nHere are some possible benefits to buying/holding Steem:\n\n- It should cost a certain amount of Steem to publish a post (although there doesn’t have to be any transaction fees in order to transfer Steem to another user). New users would still get enough free Steem to start publishing for free but would “run out” at some point unless they earned it back through up votes and pay outs.\n\n- Steem could be used to “boost” a post to the top of a category or tag feed. In this way, sponsors could end up being net buyers of Steem and this would help ensure there is enough value and liquidity for users to cash out of their Steem each month.\n\n- Steem would still be a way to transfer value between users without paying transaction fees\n\n- Steem balances could grow over time if held (as Steem Power balances currently do)\n\n**The Poker Tournament Analogy**\n\nPerhaps there could also be bonuses whereby the “winning” posts for each month get a bonus amount of Steem Power on top of what they earned from upvotes, thus maintaining some of the hopeful “strike it rich quick” reward mechanism that Steemit currently enjoys.  This would make Steemit work sort of like a poker tournament where the top performers win an outsized amount of the pot (except in our case, everyone with upvotes would earn some amount of Steem Power by default).  \n\nTo continue the poker analogy, the problem with the current setup is that new players in the tournament are way, way, WAY short stacked, and since the tournament never ends, the big stack player’s advantage is perpetual!  Obviously, this structure deters new players from joining.\n\n**Proof of Humanity**\n\nUsers should also have to “prove their humanity” each month before qualifying to earn Steem Power, so bots could not so easily gain the upperhand. \n\n**Niche Power**\n\nThis strategy will also encourage users to vote for those users they follow and publish their posts mostly in their niches rather than simply trying to appease the whales.  Part of what makes Reddit so successful is that people in one subreddit couldn’t care less what people in another subreddit are talking about.   The way Steemit is currently setup, if your niche is off the whale radar you are a nobody and always will be.\n\n**Summary**\n\nI think a monthly reset in Steem Power would make real quality content rise to the top across a broader range of topics, and result in a broader distribution of value overall.  I believe this strategy will make the whole “game” of Steemit more exciting, since newbies and minnows will not feel so defeated before they even start.  Every month would be a new chance to prove your value to the community.\n\n**Feedback or Blowback?**\n\nI am sure this proposal is littered with holes and impossibilities, not to mention outrage on the part of the “immutability crowd” who believe Steemit should never change the rules.  I can already feel people throwing spit wads at me.  But this project is still an experiment and it can still fail.  I think we are in a position to prevent this failure before it is too late. Maybe my idea is way off base but maybe it will spark another more feasible solution.  Anyway, let me know what y’all think, or better yet, forward your feedback to the devs who are behind this project. \n\n**Final Comment**\n\nPerhaps the success of this post (or lack of success) will tell us everything we need to know about the problem and willingness (or not) among whales to support a solution. One thing is for sure, I wouldn’t have sat down to write this if I didn’t care about the long term health of Steemit.",
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      "body": "http://images.freeimages.com/images/previews/3f9/money-money-1518532.jpg\n\nWelcome To The Dis-Empowerment Life Cycle, This Is How It Works:\n\nGraduate High School -> Car Loan -> College Loan -> Credit Card Debt -> Home Mortgage\n\nNow that you are up to your neck in debt, get married and have some kids with that.  Soon you will be over your head in debt and chained to a job you hate for the rest of your life because your top priority is to pay bills.  \n\nThis is the debt cycle, but it should be called the death cycle, because our system is designed to keep you in debt for as long as possible and keep those interest payments flowing to the top of the pyramid.  The Matrix works through energy control, and money is simply stored energy.  So money plays a big factor in how The Matrix works to harness your energy.\n\nDebt is a parasitical appendage on your soul that will suck your life from you until you end up becoming a burden on the system yourself, ensuring that some poor soul after you will have to sacrifice their soul to pay for your social entitlements, and the cycle repeats.  \n\nNow that Americans and Europeans are fully saddled with debt, the greedy bankers are going after Asia, Africa and the rest of the world.  This is what is meant by “emerging market”, millions of new people who will take on more debt to pay more interest on money that was never earned but lent into existence.  Our entire economy depends on debt growth, or as the bankers prefer to call it, "credit growth".\n\nWhy Are We Never Taught About Debt?\n\nIronically, through all of the 12 years of grade school we never learned a single thing about debt, personal finance, or wealth management.  Even after I completed a four year business management degree at a top University, there wasn’t any discussion of personal finance.  Sure, we learned about GAAP accounting, balance sheets, assets and liabilities, but there was no practical advice about how to manage one’s own money.  For that, I had to turn to books and the school of hard knocks - the school of life.  \n\nUnfortunately, most people become saddled with so much debt right out of the gates they never get the chance to achieve escape velocity and build real wealth.  In this series of guides, I’d like to give anyone who cares about their financial future a quick lesson on personal finance and building wealth, learned after years of real world experience.\n\nUnderstanding Debt\n\nIf there is one lesson every kid should learn about building wealth, it would be to avoid debt like it's a toxic chemical (only to be used in extreme circumstances).  From the moment we graduate from high school, the peddlers of debt show up at our doors (malls, high schools, college campuses) like used car salesmen with cheap suits and free coffee.  They want to give you a credit card and, if you’ll take the bait, a student loan and a car loan.  They want to give you what sounds a lot like “free money” and many people cannot resist the temptation.  After all, everybody else is doing it.\n\nSociety has convinced us that the first thing we should do if we want to “get ahead” in life is to take out a loan, not just any loan, but a big loan, a five figure loan, so we can go to college.  This is false.  This is not how to build wealth.  The way to get ahead in life is to avoid debt, except in very specific circumstances (which I will outline in a future lesson).  I am sorry but I have to say it, if you can’t get through college without taking a loan, you are better off not going!  \n\nHow To Get Through College Debt Free\n\nThe way I did it was pretty simple.  I didn’t want a student loan, but I had no money, and neither did my parents.  I got through college by living in my grandma’s basement suite paying $150/month in rent (that was back in the early 90s when the minimum wage was $4/hour).  Instead of planning to finish my degree in four years, I planned to finish in six.  I lowered my study load from 5 courses per semester down to 3 courses per semester.  This strategy lowered the cost of my books and tuition each year by 40%.  This plan also freed up time so I could hold down a part-time job while going to school.  It worked, I graduated six years later debt free.  I even took a semester off halfway through to save up for a 2 month trip to Europe, albeit on a tiny shoestring budget. Only later would I learn my degree was worthless, but that's beside the point.\n\nI also knew credit cards were a scam - 18% interest are you nuts?  While I did get my first credit card around the age of 19 or 20, I was very tight about how I used it.  My summer job left me with some savings that I would gradually deplete through the school year.  I would start to put some expenses on my credit card in the Spring knowing I could pay them off once I started working in the summer.  I actually held two jobs in the summer, the part-time job which I worked year round plus an additional full time job all summer.  While the “easy way” would seem to be to simply take out a student loan and party during my free time, this is not the easy way.  I still did more than my fair share of partying, but I made a few sacrifices, for example, working late every Friday night so I could go out Saturday. \n\nSo Lesson #1 is avoid debt and don’t take out any student loans.  If you get into debt early, you are setting yourself up for a much more difficult lifestyle going forward.   Frankly, if I could do it again, I don’t think I would go to college at all, but that’s another story. Stay tuned for more financial lessons from the school of hard knocks.",
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      "body": "https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8498/27869062054_6daca13fd4_o.jpg\n\nThese are photos I took on my way to the summit of Volcan Villarrica near Pucon, Chile.\n\nVolcan Villarrica from the town of Pucon in Chile... as you can see, it was VERY active! \n\nhttps://c6.staticflickr.com/4/3458/3774900045_d772890d6d_o.jpg\n\nOur group preparing to make the ascent!\n\nhttps://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3517/3774897411_ab3c929ddb_o.jpg\n\nTaking a rest about half way up...\n\nhttps://c6.staticflickr.com/3/2456/3774898325_db3649d2e7_o.jpg\n\nThe Andes in the distance...\n\nhttps://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3422/3774895497_b78f40ff7e_o.jpg\n\nYou can see other groups starting their climb at the base...\n\nhttps://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3593/3775703768_6d6efc6fd3_o.jpg\n\nMajestic views\n\nhttps://c4.staticflickr.com/3/2575/3774898003_49fdaaff2b_o.jpg\n\nhttps://c7.staticflickr.com/4/3599/3775702062_aa712079e5_o.jpg\n\nLake Villarica \n\nhttps://c7.staticflickr.com/4/3519/3775702830_7faa749b50_o.jpg\n\nFumes coming out of the top of the Volcano!\n\nhttps://c6.staticflickr.com/3/2519/3774899261_c2588fb3f8_o.jpg\n\nA fellow adventurer at the summit...\n\nhttps://c6.staticflickr.com/4/3507/3774899781_8a0451522e_o.jpg\n\nAll  in all it only took about 4 hours to reach the top and about 1.5 hours down.  \n\nGoing down was the most fun, we slid on our ass down narrow grooves in the snow using our ice axe as a brake!\n\nIf you want to do this adventure yourself, just show up in Pucon, Chile.  There are outfitters who will guide you and rent you all of the equipment.  Best time to go is in their summer (December-March).",
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      "body": "<html>\n<p>https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8573/27793013354_a6a18ae4c4_z.jpg</p>\n<p>Ah yes, my “yoga retreat”. &nbsp;I had visions of me stretching, beachside, into bliss while the sun sets. &nbsp;I would lift my spirits above the clouds to a new level. &nbsp;I would join a one week yoga retreat in Croatia that would change my life forever, or so I thought...</p>\n<p>First, I had to push through the Pay Wall.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><strong>The Pay Wall</strong></p>\n<p>As I stared at the “Pay Now” button on the screen that would confirm my online reservation, I deliberated as I think we all do before making a four figure purchase decision. &nbsp;I was by no means “in” to yoga. &nbsp;My current yoga regimen consisted of “rarely, if ever”. &nbsp;This was a big step for me.</p>\n<p>Was I ready to spend 5 hours per day for an entire week doing yoga? &nbsp;Wouldn’t it be easier to just hang out on a beach? Why force this challenge on myself? &nbsp;And finally, was I willing to spend the money? &nbsp;But I knew the answer even as my mouse finger quivered ever so slightly. &nbsp;</p>\n<p>Finally, before the imaginary hacker who might be lurking around the cyber corner, waiting for me to pause just one moment longer so he could lift my sensitive credit card data, I clicked Pay Now. &nbsp;Then I waited those agonizing few seconds while the Interweb moves my digital fiat and Visa takes their 3%. &nbsp;And then it was “confirmed”. I was booked, or so I thought.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><strong>The Stone Wall</strong></p>\n<p>Strangely, the communication with my future yoga “instructor” stopped rather abruptly after my payment had been processed. &nbsp;I had expected the typical things one might expect after dropping more than a grand on my credit card. And I’ll admit the online payment page looked a few shades more dodgy than most I’ve seen in my years of online purchasing. &nbsp;</p>\n<p>I expected a formal receipt, a detailed itinerary, the name and address of where I would be staying, and other basic details. &nbsp;But alas, I received none of this. All I received was a brief email that said “thank you, your space on the retreat has been reserved”. &nbsp;The email was from the “Founder” of my yoga retreat organizer. &nbsp;I relaxed and waited for the additional details that would surely be forthcoming.</p>\n<p>But forthcoming they were not. &nbsp;After a few days I inquired politely via email, “please send details about the retreat when convenient, thank you”, I wrote. &nbsp;Days passed with no reply. &nbsp;</p>\n<p>About a week later, I received a twitter sized reply indicating only the name of the city where the retreat would be held and nothing further. I replied with a simple question so as not to confuse: “Please send the address of where the event will be held so I can plan my transport and subsequent accommodations, thank you”. After several days with no reply, every bone in my body screamed “scam”.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><strong>Be Still and Stay Calm</strong></p>\n<p>I tried not to worry, but I followed up a few days later with a modestly scathing email to the website that had listed this particular yoga retreat. &nbsp;Within my detailed complaint, I asked them if they could “vouch” for the service they had listed. &nbsp;I promptly received a reply from the reservation site and the instructor once again, but not with any further details, only an excuse from the Founder that she had been busy instructing another retreat and had limited internet, instructing me simply: “don’t worry”.</p>\n<p>I let the whole thing rest for more than a week with no further communication while silently considering “Plan B”. &nbsp;I had already flown halfway across the world, so Plan B was to fill the week doing something else, and initiate a chargeback through my credit card company in hopes of getting a refund. Yes, it crossed my mind that if I had paid with Bitcoin, my chances of a refund would have surely diminished. &nbsp;At the same time, I felt like I was being tested - as I have so many times in recent years - to simply trust, go with the flow, and not allow mental anguish to entire my personal biosphere under any circumstances. &nbsp;</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><strong>Game On</strong></p>\n<p>Then, with only three days left until the retreat start date - and just as I began to believe the retreat was not going to happen - a more formal email finally arrived, including the mysterious address I had been waiting nearly a month to receive.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Needless to say, I was still concerned. &nbsp;Since the communication with my instructor was so dodgy, would the retreat equally suck? &nbsp;Had I signed up for some sort of National Lampoon’s Yoga Vacation?</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><strong>The Goddess Emerges</strong></p>\n<p>My concerns were immediately dismissed upon meeting my instructor face to face on a narrow, flower-lined street on the Croatian “Island of Vitality” (Losinj) in the Adriatic Sea. &nbsp;Her white robes, gleaming eyes, and genuine smile were all I needed to know. She was the real deal. Ganga Devi, as she called herself, was probably in her early 60s and had more than 30 years experience teaching yoga. &nbsp;As I would soon learn by watching her move, she was in better shape than most athletes in their 20s. &nbsp;She showed me to my room in the modest 3 bedroom guest house that would be home for the next week. As I began to unpack, I became truly excited about the adventure to follow. &nbsp;I breathed a sigh of relief, for as far as I could tell, I had not been “scammed”.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><strong>Team Yoga</strong></p>\n<p>Shortly thereafter my new “roommates” showed up. As I would soon realize, my roommates would also be my teachers in ways I hadn’t imagined.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8573/27793013354_a6a18ae4c4_z.jpg</p>\n<p>Caption: My two yoga mates, perfectly designed to test my limits (in a good way).</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Liz, early 40s, was from London. Sabrina, late 20s, was from Zurich. &nbsp;Both were friendly, and each had different reasons for joining the retreat. I soon realized that to some degree, one doesn’t embark on a yoga retreat if “everything is awesome”. &nbsp;One embarks on a yoga retreat for a reason, and that reason is a form of “searching”, searching for a “better way”, a “healthier path”, or even “enlightenment”. &nbsp;I wasn’t sure what I was searching for, probably all of the above.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7535/27794247603_31365b37a5_z.jpg</p>\n<p>Caption: The whole gang of us including our instructor. &nbsp;That’s me on the far right.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>What made my roommates “quirky?” &nbsp;</p>\n<p>Sabrina, by her own admission, did not like “nature”. She was terrified of insects (including butterflies), didn’t really enjoy going to the beach, and wore a $700 scarf. &nbsp;She belonged in a five star resort, not the “rustic outdoor setting” which described the setting of our yoga retreat.</p>\n<p>Liz, by her own admission, was “a bit lost”. As a proper Brit, Liz liked to gossip and complain and had even worked for a London tabloid choosing the most controversial celebrity pictures.</p>\n<p>Between the two of them, there was a lot of complaining - and many of those complaints were valid... like the incessant mosquitoes in our rooms that left bites all over Sabrina’s face, and the stifling heat that prevented Liz from getting a good night’s sleep. &nbsp;</p>\n<p>I did my best to dismiss these annoyances, and focus on the main course, which would be more than 5 hours of yoga and meditation per day, with no meat, no alcohol, and no coffee for a full week. &nbsp;&nbsp;However, on many occasions, I felt like Chevy Chase did in the movie “Vacation”... like I was driving a broken down stationwagon with people who weren’t enjoying themselves, to a destination we might never find, while dozens of obstacles unknown to me lurked in the future.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><strong>Pretzels, Anyone?</strong></p>\n<p>Luckily, our instructor was a true yogi and did not disappoint. &nbsp;She could twist and bend like a pretzel. Unluckily, we would also be asked to bend and twist like a pretzel. After the first session, I realized this was not going to be easy. &nbsp;</p>\n<p>For example, during the opening meditation, my feet and calves were completely numb after five minutes of sitting cross legged. &nbsp;While Ganga floated away for 30 minutes in half lotus without flinching, I was wondering how I could find enlightenment if I was worried about the consequences of blood not circulating to the lower half of my body.</p>\n<p>With the average yoga pose requiring only about 15 seconds, 2 hours is A LOT of yoga. &nbsp;At five hours per day, we were striking and holding hundreds of poses every single day. &nbsp;As easy as they look, each yoga pose hurts a little bit somewhere. &nbsp;By the end of day one, I was hurting a little bit everywhere.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>But it was good pain, and I knew on a deep level that this was exactly the type of exercise (or “innercise” as Ganga accurately called it) I had been yearning for. I also felt a great connection with Ganga, maybe because she complimented my postures, and maybe because she gave me this endearing smile that penetrated me to an almost embarrassing degree as though she knew me better than I knew myself. &nbsp;To me, Ganga was the proverbial Christie Brinkley waving back at me as she zoomed off in a Ferrari. The “Ferrari” was her near permanent smile and peaceful demeanor.&nbsp;</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><strong>My Head Hurts</strong></p>\n<p>We had a 4 - 5 hour break each afternoon in between meals and sessions, which left lots of time to rest, swim, tour the island, and discuss our “real life” problems and issues. &nbsp;I found these breaks were also like therapy “sessions” as I tried to balance the dynamics between our small group of three without getting a headache. &nbsp;And headaches I did get - whether it was coffee withdrawal symptoms, a change in diet, or from hearing yet another complaint about everything that “wasn’t perfect”, I am not sure. &nbsp;I was trying to see the comedy in the whole experience, even though I knew the joke was on me.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><strong>Manifesting Dolphins</strong></p>\n<p>The island itself was very beautiful. &nbsp;Crystal clear water, warm sunny days, vibrant green forest. &nbsp;We even saw dolphins - as I promised we would - during our boating adventure on day 3. &nbsp;I had joked with the girls about intending to see dolphins and that I had been working on my “dolphin call”. &nbsp;As we motored along in the boat, I was watching the water... keenly at first, then with a more relaxed gaze. &nbsp;Suddenly I received the magical impulse, the flash of insight as I felt more than thought “here would be a good place to see dolphins”. &nbsp;I raised my head a little and immediately saw and pointed out the first dolphin to the group. &nbsp;It was gone in an instant, but then it returned - leaping closer to us than before. &nbsp;Then a second dolphin appeared, and we admired their beauty and grace as they dipped and dove for several minutes. &nbsp;I honestly felt I had “summoned” them, as I deeply thanked them for granting my wish.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><strong>Discovering My Inner Yogi</strong></p>\n<p>As the days wore on, I started to sense the improvements in my body. &nbsp;Like wringing the dirt out of a wet towel - I felt like my body was being wrung free of toxins, misalignments, and stagnant energy. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Meanwhile, my roommates continued to “push my buttons”, asking me the questions I didn’t want to answer and making comments I didn’t want to hear. &nbsp;They were probing my sore spots like a well trained massage therapist. &nbsp;Whether intentional or not, they continued to stir up doubts, annoyances, and challenges. &nbsp;Having seen this movie before, I knew the lesson was to love and be grateful for them as though they were a part of me. &nbsp;I saw them as though they were appendages of my own mind, or parts of myself that I needed to face and make peace with. &nbsp;</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><strong>Final Insights</strong></p>\n<p>By the end of the retreat I could sense that yoga and meditation were indeed very powerful tools, one that my higher self had been craving for some time. &nbsp;I also realized that one does not “become” a yogi after completing such and such a course, instead, every single day is challenge to apply what you have learned. &nbsp;I realized that true enlightenment was not something achieved during meditation but something expressed on a moment by moment basis. &nbsp;That expression was inner peace and outward love, and it would be a continuous exercise to maintain that state.</p>\n<p>After a solid week of yoga and meditation under the guidance of a true master, I realized I had not completed anything, rather, I had just begun. &nbsp;As I said goodbye to the group and thanked them for their presence at the end of the retreat, I knew, more deeply than ever, that every breath is a new beginning, every movement a new opportunity to feel alive.</p>\n<p>Written By @captainpicard</p>\n<p>Here are more pics from the island of Losijn and the village of Mali Losijn in Croatia where the yoga retreat was held...</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Three Amigos And A Donkey</p>\n<p>https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8705/28376794856_04d380b82b_z.jpg</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>@donkeypong</p>\n<p>https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8780/28127051920_a06a922e88_z.jpg</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Mali Losinj</p>\n<p>https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8497/28376741716_6ab6c86ddf_z.jpg</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Rocky Shores</p>\n<p>https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8368/28410162075_7c4b11a394_z.jpg</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Shops and Eats</p>\n<p>https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8606/28331126611_87196e56d1_z.jpg</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Hats Flirting On A Boat</p>\n<p>https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8843/27794237593_05706c71e5_z.jpg</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Pristine Splendor</p>\n<p>https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8880/28331191081_f17126cfe0_z.jpg</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Sparkling Water</p>\n<p>https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7753/28376869756_8b17461be8_z.jpg</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Stairway To Heaven</p>\n<p>https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8874/28305347522_174e21a6b0_z.jpg</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Full Album</p>\n<p>https://www.flickr.com/photos/40770942@N05/albums</p>\n</html>",
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  "trx_in_block": 4294967295,
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}

{
  "block": 3267235,
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "author": "captainpicard",
      "body": "I have the same issue.  Cannot log-in with owner credentials, only posting credentials!",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"the-hack\"]}",
      "parent_author": "gagecolton",
      "parent_permlink": "re-complexring-how-i-could-have-prevented-my-account-from-being-hacked-20160717t055348907z",
      "permlink": "re-gagecolton-re-complexring-how-i-could-have-prevented-my-account-from-being-hacked-20160717t064847404z",
      "title": ""
    }
  ],
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "timestamp": "2016-07-17T06:48:45",
  "trx_id": "eac95a26b1d5275425b621076be19a886ce52e52",
  "trx_in_block": 4,
  "virtual_op": 0
}