Bybit Learn Series May 25 (What Are Nodes?)

Thank you for participating! This quiz will test your knowledge of nodes and their role in a blockchain. Use the following information, as well as general knowledge, to correctly answer the attached quiz.
Users that answer all 15 questions correctly will be eligible to split a prize pool of 100 USDT in bonus (pending risk review). MAKE SURE YOU ARE SUBSCRIBED TO r/BYBIT!!! Please take care when providing your UID, as this cannot be edited after submission, and failure to provide a correct UID will result in forfeiture of your prize.

What Are Nodes in Blockchain?

A node is a point in a network that either distributes data to other nodes in the network or is an endpoint of a network. A typical blockchain node may be interconnected to several other nodes in a network.

In a blockchain, the node is usually a device such as a computer, laptop or server. Blockchain nodes can perform a lot of different functions, such as validating or rejecting a block of transactions. A node can also save and store the transaction history inside a block. Similarly, it can distribute the transaction history to other nodes for safekeeping and future reference.

But what exactly is blockchain? 

How Does Blockchain Work?

Blockchain technology has become immensely popular because it is thought to be tamperproof. Besides offering a secure environment for financial transactions, a blockchain network is self-regulating, which prevents unauthorized intervention and manipulation.

Whenever a transaction takes place on a blockchain, the record of the transaction is recorded and distributed to every node in the network. The transaction is recorded on a block. A block can contain records of millions of different financial transactions.

Since a copy of the financial record is distributed to every node in a network, it’s almost impossible to manipulate the record of a financial transaction. This is because the person attempting the manipulation would need to change the record kept across thousands of nodes. In theory, the system will catch any manipulation because the unauthorized change will not correspond to the record kept across the network.

How Does a Financial Transaction Get Recorded in a Blockchain Network?

Due to the decentralized nature of a blockchain network, the system automatically authenticates a financial transaction. In the first step, the transaction is authenticated by the user, who employs a private and public key to access the network. In the second step, a block is created, representing the transaction. Subsequently, the record of the transaction is sent to every blockchain node in the network.

Once the transaction is agreed upon between the user, the node will validate the transaction. If a majority of nodes validate the transaction, it is added to the existing blockchain. Any updates are also distributed across the network, which completes the transaction cycle.

Why Do We Need Nodes on a Blockchain?

A blockchain node is a device on a blockchain network, which keeps a copy of the transaction on the network and may perform essential functions such as validating and authenticating a transaction.

Based on the specific role of a blockchain node, it can:

• Accept or reject a transaction.
• Validate and manage a transaction.
• Store and encrypt information in a block.
• Connect with other nodes by acting as a point of communication.

The role of a specific type of node may differ from that of another node. For instance, certain nodes are programmed to validate a transaction, while other nodes are only responsible for recording the transaction. Sometimes, a node also shares the data with other nodes.

Nodes are also classified based on their availability. An “online node” is one that continuously sends updates to the network. It is always active. In contrast, an “offline node” is not always connected to the network. When connected, these offline nodes are required to download and update a copy of the ledger in order to remain in sync with the network.

It’s also important to remember that each node has a unique identifier attached to its device. This unique ID allows users to identify a specific node in a network. As keepers of records, nodes ensure that everyone can access a transaction record without any type of restriction. Users can easily track a transaction on the blockchain using its ID.

Overall, nodes are critical to a blockchain network because without them the blockchain would cease to exist.

How Nodes Help Secure a Blockchain

Nodes help secure the blockchain by keeping the record in sync with the latest transactions. Due to a large number of nodes, it’s practically impossible for a hacker to make changes and remain undetected. The data is secure because a hacker cannot delete data copied across thousands of different nodes.

Power outages, hacks, and system crashes do not pose a threat because the data is not limited to any single node. In case of a problem, the availability of other nodes ensures that the network continues to operate as normal and users can access the required resources.

The blockchain network can also sustain itself in a global crisis. In fact, you only need one node to keep an entire blockchain operational. Even if every single node goes offline, you will need only one node to restore the entire network. From an operational perspective, nodes are the backbone of blockchain. Without a node, the network will not survive.

What Are the Types of Nodes on a Blockchain?

Blockchain networks may contain various types of nodes. These include full nodes, light nodes, supernodes and lightning nodes. (You will also come across other nodes, such as VeChain authority nodes, master nodes, pruned nodes and mining nodes.)

Here is a brief overview of some of the most important types of nodes:

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Full Nodes

Full nodes contain the complete history and information pertaining to every block since the first transaction took place on the platform. Full nodes form the backbone of a blockchain because they’re vital to completing the transaction. Whenever a transaction is initiated, every single node on the entire blockchain verifies and authenticates the block.

Needless to say, there is a lot of data on these nodes. To continually process such a vast amount of data, the node requires immense computing power. At any given time, a blockchain ecosystem may have thousands of full nodes working in tandem. These nodes have specific responsibilities that make them different from other nodes on the network.

One of their distinguishing features is validating the signature in each block transaction. To authenticate a transaction, the node verifies a digital signature. The digital signature is usually the private key used by the sender.

They also have the authority to accept or reject new blocks and transactions. There can be more than one reason to reject a transaction. Blocks that are incorrectly formatted will be rejected. Likewise, duplicate entries and manipulation in records are other reasons for rejection.

Running these nodes allows users to validate incoming transactions without waiting for others to validate them. In some cases, users validating incoming transactions are rewarded for their efforts.

Light Nodes

As the name suggests, light nodes contain light or limited information. Instead of storing complete information, a light node contains information related to a particular previous block to which it’s connected. The information is stored in a block header.

Unlike some other nodes, light nodes don’t need to run continuously. They are usually pieces of software that connect to full nodes to access the blockchain when required. In fact, light nodes use full nodes as intermediaries to access the network. They also use full nodes to get information, such as the account balance and requesting the latest headers.

Due to their lightweight operations, these nodes don’t require a lot of storage and resources to run. You can run a light node on your mobile, because 100MB of storage space with low computational power is enough to justify its operations. Most light nodes can sync with the network in a matter of seconds.

Supernodes

Supernodes connect full nodes and help spread information across the network to ensure that everyone has accurate data. Supernodes handle off-chain functionality. They offer validation, authorization, gateway services and support. Besides their normal operations, they also facilitate voting events, compliance with blockchain laws and execution of protocol events.

Supernodes are generally always online. Unlike other nodes, they also require much more power and resources to run. Running a master node means that you have to deal with maintenance, electricity, storage space and memory. As a result of all this overhead, operators of supernodes are compensated in the form of tokens and coins.

Not everyone can run a supernode. Running a supernode requires an upfront investment in equipment and the provision of collateral in the form of cryptocurrency. The security deposit receives interest, but the collateral may be confiscated if you violate the rules of the blockchain.

Lightning Nodes

A lightning node is a node on a lightning network. There are a few critical differences between traditional nodes and lightning nodes. Instead of verifying each transaction on the network, the lightning node validates the transaction by directly interacting with it.

Lightning nodes can also interact with other nodes on the peer-to-peer (P2P) network. The main function of this node is to exchange money with other lightning nodes.

What Are Mining Nodes?

Every transaction is added to the blockchain by a miner. Miners are also known as mining nodes. Every node on a blockchain has the option to become a miner.

There is a huge incentive to become a miner, by adding and verifying a transaction in a blockchain. For instance, any node that adds a transaction to the Bitcoin blockchain is rewarded with 6.25 bitcoins, valued at approximately $300,000 based on the Bitcoin rate of $48,000.

Due to this potentially lucrative opportunity, many miners want to add a transaction. Therefore, Bitcoin blockchain software offers a mathematical puzzle for every mining node to solve. Whoever solves the puzzle gets the opportunity to add the transaction.

Of course, it’s not quite that simple. But this example should provide you an overview of what mining nodes are, and why miners spend considerable time and energy to add transactions to the blockchain. It’s also important to remember that mining rewards differ, depending on the type of blockchain platform.

Bitcoin Nodes vs. Ethereum Nodes vs. Cardano Nodes

A Bitcoin node is a part of the Bitcoin blockchain. According to recent data, there are more than 11,500 Bitcoin nodes — and the number is increasing every month.

It’s important to note that there is no definitive method of counting the exact number of Bitcoin nodes, because many nodes are inactive, and a lot of these operate privately. Running a Bitcoin node can enhance security and bolster privacy.

Ethereum nodes are very similar to Bitcoin nodes. Experts estimate that the number of Ethereum nodes has exceeded that of Bitcoin nodes. Running an Ethereum node requires certain administrative skills.

You can run the node in fast, full or light mode. To run an Ethereum client on HDD (hard disk drive), you must have at least 8MB bandwidth, 4GB RAM and a CPU with 2 cores. By comparison, you may need less power to run a full Bitcoin node.

Cardano nodes are also gaining in popularity. These are the top-level nodes that underpin the Cardano network, whose topology is slightly different from Ethereum and Bitcoin because it doesn’t store a copy of transactions on each node. Instead, the system appoints a leader among a collection of nodes, which ultimately verifies and validates a transaction.

How to Run a Node

As you may have already guessed, running a node on different platforms has different procedures and system requirements. To make things easier, here’s a brief overview of how to run a node on one of the most popular blockchain networks, Bitcoin. This example will give you some idea of how the node is run on such platforms.

To run a Bitcoin node, you’ll need a laptop or desktop that is running a recent version of Windows, Mac OS X or Linux. The computer must have at least 2 GB of free disk space and 2 GB RAM. The system should have access to a broadband Internet connection with a speed of at least 400KB. In addition, you should let your node run at least six hours per day.

You can run the Bitcoin Core on your local machine that has the minimum requirements specified above. To do this, you’ll need to configure the Bitcoin Core client. It can take some days to sync with the blockchain.

Another option is to run the node in the cloud. After setting up an account with Google Cloud or AWS, download the Bitcoin Core and configure the port setting on your computer. There are various other methods to run a Bitcoin node, such as pre-configuring Bitcoin nodes that you can connect to your computer.

What Is a Blockchain Node Provider?

You can install the node yourself but technical difficulties can hamper your progress. One way to solve the problem is by getting assistance from a blockchain node provider. These blockchain-as-a-service companies offer the necessary infrastructure, resources and technology to run your node across a variety of platforms.

The provider handles all the responsibilities of the node. Based on your requirements, you can select a network of your choice to run a node.

When selecting a blockchain node provider, it’s necessary to consider the price of outsourcing the operation of a node compared to doing it yourself. You should ensure that the provider offers some kind of security guarantee — because a lapse in security can have serious financial consequences. Also, pay attention to the track record of the node provider and make sure that the service nicely integrates with your product.

The Bottom Line

Running a blockchain node is perhaps the only way to ensure that you have full control of your node and that you’re following the blockchain rules.

While running a node, it’s easy to create and broadcast transactions without compromising private information. Users can also improve security by keeping their private keys separated from external connections. Beginners and people new to running a node can choose a blockchain node provider to ensure that the entire process is user-friendly and less time-consuming.

Means of Payment

Bitcoins are accepted almost nowhere, and some cryptocurrencies nowhere at all. Even where accepted, a currency whose value can swing 10 percent or more in a single day is useless as a means of payment.

Investors May Expect Downside For Bitcoin And Ethereum Market For The Next 3 Months

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The crypto markets have accepted the depegging of UST and the subsequent downward spiral of LUNA, both of which impacted the price of Bitcoin and the entire digital asset spectrum. According to a recent report by the Glassnode team, the Bitcoin market has been trading lower for eight weeks, making it the ‘longest continuous series of red weekly candles in history.’

Even Ethereum, the most popular altcoin, painted a similar picture. Bearish fluctuations damage returns and profit margins directly or indirectly.

To make matters worse, derivative markets forecast shows more declines in the coming three to six months.

Derivative Markets Hint At More Pain For Bitcoin According to derivative markets, the prognosis for the next three to six months remains fearful of further fall. On-chain, the report stated that blockspace demand for Ethereum and Bitcoin has dropped to multi-year lows, and the rate of ETH burning via EIP1559 has reached an all-time low.

Glassnode calculated that the demand side will continue to face headwinds due to poor price performance, uncertain derivatives pricing, and extremely low demand for block-space on both Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The report explains:

Looking on-chain, we can see that both Ethereum and Bitcoin blockspace demand has fallen to multi-year lows, and the rate of burning of ETH via EIP1559 is now at an all-time-low.

Coupling poor price performance, fearful derivatives pricing, and exceedingly lacklustre demand for block-space on both Bitcoin and Ethereum, we can deduce that the demand side is likely to continue seeing headwinds.

Both Bitcoin and Ethereum’s price performance over the last 12 months has been disappointing. Long-term CAGR rates for Bitcoin and Ethereum have been impacted as a result of this.

Source: Glassnode BTC, the largest cryptocurrency, moved in a roughly 4-year bull/bear cycle, which was frequently accompanied with halving events. When looking at long-term returns, the CAGR has dropped from almost 200 percent in 2015 to less than 50 percent as of this writing.

Related Reading | New Data Shows China Still Controls 21% Of The Global Bitcoin Mining Hashrate

Furthermore, Bitcoin had a negative 30% return over the short term, implying that it corrected by 1% every day on average. This negative return for Bitcoin is very similar to prior bear market cycles.

Source: Glassnode When it comes to ETH, the altcoin performed far worse than BTC. Ethereum’s monthly return profile revealed a depressing picture of -34.9 percent. Ethereum likewise appears to be seeing diminishing rewards in the long run.

Furthermore, during the previous 12 months, the 4-year CAGR for both assets has dropped from 100% to only 36% for BTC. Also, ETH is up 28 percent per year, emphasizing the severity of this bear.

To make matters worse, the derivative market warned of future market declines. Near-term uncertainty and downside risk continue to be priced into options markets, particularly over the next three to six months. In reality, during the market sell-off last week, implied volatility increased significantly.

Total crypto market cap stands at $1.2 Trillion. Source: TradingView The Glassnode analysis concluded by stating that the present bear market has taken its toll on crypto traders and investors. Furthermore, the Glassnode team emphasized that downturn markets frequently worsen before improving. However, ‘bear markets do have a tendency of ending’ and ‘bear markets author the bull that follows,’ so there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

Related Reading | TA: Bitcoin Price Stuck In Key Range, Why Dips Might Be Limited

Featured image from iStockPhoto, Charts from Glassnode, and TradingView.com

Did I waste a year of my life developing a WordPress theme? (5 Year Update)

5 years ago I created the most upvoted thread on r/wordpress entitled 'Did I waste a year of my life developing a WordPress theme?' https://www.reddit.com/r/Wordpress/comments/5mvz02/did_i_waste_a_year_of_my_life_developing_a/ and a cross post here https://www.reddit.com/r/startups/comments/5mw266/did_i_waste_a_year_of_my_life_developing_a/ in /r/startups

Quite a lot happened in that time, so let's get into it.

In my previous thread, I mentioned I had a British girlfriend at the time. Something that I did not mention in that thread was that I have been in the adult industry since 2004. To be honest, I sort of just fell into the business. I knew how to make websites, I watched porn frequently and I needed to make money fast without risk of wasting time on a business that wouldn't be profitable (You know, like I ended up doing in 2016). Getting involved in the adult industry is like drug dealing. The product sells itself and you have to be pretty dull to not make any money doing it.

Back in 2015, shortly after we first met, my 21-year-old girlfriend's mother found out about my adult business somehow. She even went as far as finding my mother on Facebook to question her about it. Being pretty annoyed by this situation and also generally losing interest in the adult industry as a business, I wanted to get back into mainstream (non-adult) business.

I decided to make a highly customizable WordPress theme to sell. You all now know how that went (sort of).

Since I had already developed a WordPress plugin called Tube Ace https://tubeace.com (NSFW obv) which imports embedded videos from all the biggest adult video tube sites such as Pornhub, RedTube, YouPorn, xHamster etc.. into WordPress, I had already made a very basic accompanying WP theme for the design layer of the tube site plugin.

Since it was difficult to get sales for the premium WordPress theme I spent a year developing, I decided to give away the theme for free in mid-2017 https://tubeace.com/themes and help boost plugin sales. That was probably the best thing I could have done with the theme. I have been financially coasting on the sales of the Tube Ace plugin for nearly 9 years now as I initially released it back in summer of 2013.

Anyway, I ended the relationship with my British girlfriend in September 2018 while digital nomading, three years after we met. I couldn't see myself with her any longer and I didn't want to waste either of our time. I'm not proud of how I handled the situation because I had to get wasted drinking to muster up the courage to dump her after never having an argument or any issues relationship-wise for that matter. She's a kind, honest, intelligent, hard-working soul and deserves someone great.

I went back home to New Orleans the following week and while playing poker at Harrah's casino at 3 am on a Wednesday (September 11, 2018 to be exact), I sat at table 11, 2 seats left of the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in the poker room. The night before, I watched Alfred Hitchcock's film Rear Window starring Grace Kelly. I was completely charmed and mesmerized by Miss Kelly's screen presence, charm and overall beauty. In nearly every scene I just kept saying to myself "Oh my God, I need to find a woman like that! They just don't make women like this anymore".

Back to poker... this young lady was a fairly skilled player, too. One of the best female poker players I've played against. But remember, poker is a liar's game. She bluffed me out of several descent-sized pots. As she was having her way with me at the card game, every time I would look at her while she scooped pots of my chips, she would smile and wink at me. Having this charming and charismatic lady flirt with me while taking my money definitely made the sting feel much less worse. During the course of the night, she ordered a few tequila and soda cocktails. As she stacks more of my chips with sunrise about an hour away, I jokingly ask if she gives poker lessons. She laughed. Feeling like I have nothing left to lose, I ask if she wants to get a drink. She obliges. It's nearly 6 AM and the casino is right outside the French Quarter which has several 24 hour bars.

We have a couple drinks at The Alibi bar. I kiss her. She invites me be back to her uncle's French Quarter condo which she impressively decorated herself as her profession as an interior designer. The next morning, on the coffee table sits a copy of LIFE Magazine, with no one other than Grace Kelly of the cover. A simultaneous feeling of shock and relief washed over me. Even though I'm not really a religious person, I took this as a sign from God. She's the one! I even took this photo of the magazine cover. https://i.imgur.com/HH425pm.jpg

Having just gotten out of a relationship for the past 3 years and breaking a young woman's heart, I wasn't looking for anything serious and I was starting to enjoy my freedom once again (sigma grindset). This wasn't the usual "hit it and quit it" type of chick. We hit it off right away and we were inseparables. She was like the female equivalent of myself, and she seemed like my soulmate. Tall, smart, blonde, ambitious, loved playing poker and drinking. What else could I ask for? It was the best. She was 28, and I was able to look past her being recently divorced, because she told me her husband had an affair. I felt like his loss was my gain and we were made for each other. I felt like the luckiest guy in the world. I was actually truly falling in love for the first time (at age 36) and thought she was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

A few days before Christmas at my girlfriend's apartment. I got up to shower as I usually woke up before my gf (who I never saw wake up before noon). After showering, I got back into bed with her as I left my clothes in the bathroom. All of a sudden, New Orleans police detectives come through the door as we lay in bed. Stacy (yeah, that's really her name) says to me "I'm terrified" as I can feel her thin modelesque frame shaking next to me. The police yell for me to come out of the bedroom first, with my hands up. Since my only set of clothes were still in the bathroom, I had to come out of the bedroom with my hands up, wearing only a towel. I didn't have my contact lenses in, so I couldn't even see if the detectives had their guns drawn at me.

I sit on the sofa as Stacy is instructed to exit the room. They inform her that she has an out-of-state warrant for her arrest from Nashville, Tennessee for felony theft of over $10,000. She's handcuffed and led away by a Louisiana State Trooper after I kiss her on the check and tell her I love her. I had known that she was accused of accepting funds for her interior design business and not delivering the good or services because I read a few bad reviews about her interior design business online. She convinced me that her ex-husband took the funds from their joint bank account or he wrote the bad reviews to discredit her for their ongoing divorce case.

I was absolutely devastated. I was in denial and believing her lies because I was in love. Of course, this put much strain on our relationship as more and more lies kept coming out. I was in love with a complete narcissistic sociopath. This is so me. I left back to Mexico to get away from everything a couple weeks later. She was arrested again for drunk driving after she told me she was going to sleep one night. While I'm in Cancun, she called me at 6 am from jail in New Orleans to ask I could get my lawyer friend to help get her out. She told me she was arrested for driving without a license and completely left out the DWI charge. I looked up her arrest in the online database and she was wearing a fancy low-cut dress, with her perfect breasts on display in her mugshot. That lying f'ing bitch. Now she's tearing my soul out internationally. I foolishly agree to go back with her in New Orleans after a month away in Mexico as I was still infatuated with her. We ended up seeing each other off and on for 6 months. It felt like years because there were so many ups and down in that time.

I never wanted to feel that way again, and realized every woman I ever dated (over a hundred) was damaged, some with severe mental issues. Probably has to do with the fact that I met them all while drinking in bars as I know I have also had battles with binge drinking for over a decade now. Stacy was the first girlfriend I had who had a good relationship with her father, a retired airline pilot. He even flew down from Pittsburg with $50,000 in cash to bail her out of jail for her out of state warrant.

Moving on and picking up the pieces, I was ready to start working on a new project while traveling around again. One of the most frustrating experiences when trying to sell my premium theme a few years prior was getting it listed in marketplaces such as themeforest, which was denied by many for whatever reasons. I always wanted to own a marketplace website and going through that made me want to build my own eCommerce platform even more. This story will end up being similar to how Ferruccio Lamborghini, a tractor company owner, started his car company out of frustration with Ferrari.

I started working on the new marketplace in April 2019 and figured I should have something ready to launch in a few months. In October 2019, I did a "soft launch" to get feedback and see if anyone would sign up and add their items to sell. The marketplace is like a vending machine for any digital product, so I named it VendBits https://vendbits.com

I made some posts about my new offering here on Reddit and a few discussion forums. A few people signed up and added their items, which looked promising. The first version of the site was very basic. The "Sell Item" page had fields for title, description, price, accept paypal/bitcoin, tags and a message field which instructed users to add a thank you message and link to the digital product hosted on another website. The first version didn't even have an upload form for the product. The seller would have to upload the product to a service such a Dropbox or Google Drive and reveal the download URL after purchase.

Feeling like I could improve the user-friendliness (especially for the sellers), I went back to focusing on the development of the marketplace functionality, instead of the marketing.

Having been addicted to YouTube for years now, I wanted to have video uploading and streaming playback along with the vended product file download options. This meant I had to convert any uploaded video to mp4, generate multiple resolutions of video, thumbnail frame, all while extracting and storing the metadata (duration, filesize, bitrate, resolution, frame rate, aspect ratio, audio codec, video codec, GPS coordinates, Phone/camera make and model etc..) for each video.

In addition to video, I wanted audio uploading for music, audiobooks, sound effects, etc.. This would take more time, of course - delaying the re-launch by months for every set of new features I added. It was like the theme development over again.

Having always been a solo entrepreneur and battling feelings of loneliness and solitude would fuel my desires to binge drink alcohol for a couple consecutive days at a time every couple weeks. This behavior was always my worst as an adult and the root cause of many of my issues financially, socially and professionally. The feeling of possibly being in denial and having no control over this always depressed me for days after my drinking sessions. I would be either hungover or physically and mentally depleted each and every time with feeling of hopelessness in finding friendship and love as I'm in my late 30s.

I decided to make a stand and finally quit drinking on Christmas Eve in 2019 so I can improve my social circle and dating opportunities. A couple months into quitting drinking, COVID starts in early 2020. At a socially-distanced gathering I was invited to by some friends I met over a year prior with Stacy, I was talking to a newly-recruited female FBI agent and told her I don't date women who date alcohol. Without hesitation, she says "Utah". I immediately reject her idea and tell her Utah is full of Mormons and how my father is coincidentally Mormon while owing the third-highest amount of child support in the state of Louisiana.

I pondered this suggestion for a few weeks and realized it makes complete sense for me to go to Utah. I love the outdoors, I'm desperate for a change and new hope in social and love life and I recalled how I met some extremely friendly Mormon missionaries while playing basketball in Play del Carmen, Mexico back in 2018 who really embraced me and made me feel part of a community. Only the gay community has embraced and attempted to recruit me to this degree before.

I booked a room on Airbnb in a house in Provo, Utah in June 2020. Utah and Louisiana may as well be polar opposites. Utah has no state lottery and very few bars as Mormons don't drink, gamble or have pre-marital sex. Nearly everyday I would visit the Rec center to workout and play basketball, again never feeling so embraced by a community before. At this point, I'm 7 months sober from alcohol and finally feel like I have full control of my life for the first time as I have no desire to drink any longer. Utah is full of many great National Parks including Zion https://i.imgur.com/sH481jj.jpg and Bryce Canyon https://i.imgur.com/aq2kskZ.jpg

I have also taken a vow of celibacy and want the next woman that I'm with to be my wife and the mother of my children. Everyone I met was so kind, honest and wholesome. I'm convinced this is where I need to move and I plan to come back here after I get my finances finally in order after I launch VendBits in a month or two.

I plan to head back to Mexico for a few months while I live in "monk mode", working everyday and avoiding a hedonistic lifestyle. But before that, I took $49 flights to Las Vegas and San Francisco. I had been to Vegas 15 years before in 2005 and won at 9 out of 12 casinos playing blackjack, but San Francisco was the US city I had been wanting to visit the most. This was during pandemic, and being the extremely liberal city that SF is, many places still weren't re-opened. I walked the hilly streets of SF for a couple days, seeing countless homeless people shooting and doing drugs openly on the sidewalks, miserable looking purpled-haired feminist women, one with "Smash The Patriarchy" painted on her purse who leered at me while I tried to read it. I've been wanting to come here for 20 years. It was the most disappointing travel experience ever. I'm now absolutely convinced Utah is the place for me, but I have to get VendBits done first.

Back in Playa del Carmen, I'm back on the grind coding nearly everyday as much as I can, "balanced" by crappy Mexican weed and modafinil. At this point, I'm 9 months sober from booze, but I'm getting lonely again.

In September 2020, I go to Fat Tuesday's, a daiquiri bar on 5th Ave. I have a couple beers, but I don't let myself have more and get drunk. A table of 3 young Mexicans folks, two guys and a girl invite me over to play a drinking dice game. We're having a great time. Suddenly, a tall, seductively-dressed American woman a couple years younger than me asks to use my cigarette lighter. She's wearing a short, tight, bright colored dress, showing off her busty, curvy figure and long legs. We start talking, I say so long to my new Mexican buddies and the two of us head off to a nightclub to do whatever.

I had a couple drinks already, and I don't want to get drunk, so I start drinking ice water. We're sitting at the table in the loud dance club, then she begins dancing with my left knee between her now standing legs, rubbing my leg between her soft thighs. This was the most physical contact I've had with a woman in 9 months and I'm beginning to become extremely aroused. I decided, F it.. I'll totally go home with this chick if she wants to, breaking my celibacy streak. Next thing I know, I see her crumbling a white pill wrapped in tin foil with her fingers into my ice water cup.

She says "it's just ecstacy". I not a stranger to the drug, but it's been over 15 years since I've done it. Not wanting to spoil my chances with her, I drink the water with the X in it anyway. Feeling anxiety and all that, I just want to get back to one of our places to relax. She finally brings me to her hotel room after much teasing and filibustering. When I come out of the bathroom, she's laying in a hammock, wearing only her bra and panties. I walk over and start stroking her long legs with my hand as I kiss her. We end up in bed very shortly after.

She's in town for the next 9 days, so naturally it seems we'll have a fling during this time. The first few days together, it was actually nice to take a break from work and enjoy the company of a sexy lady while we dine at many restaurants and lounge at beach clubs in the daytime with passionate, intimate nights. https://i.imgur.com/d0EV7b2.jpg

She extended her trip a few days as I agreed she could stay with me at my apartment. She tells me she is moving to Miami in a few weeks and she asks if I want to meet her there. I agree to do so.

As days in sunny beach town paradise go on, I have a drink here and there (but not getting drunk), while she drinks hers and she uses cocaine quite frequently everyday. I get practically no work done, and it's stating to make me anxious again.

On the night before she flies back home to Minneapolis, we have dinner at a fancy restaurant located inside a cenote (a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock). We had a bottle of wine with dinner, and after we head to a hookah bar as she suggests. As we're sitting outside, taking turns on the hookah, several rose flower sellers start hounding me to buy her roses. I decline as I'm annoyed by the sellers and vendors constant pressuring to go into their shops and buy their crap souvenirs. It's also at this pint I am feeling the effects from the glasses of wine, which is the most I've felt in 9 months which made me feel disappointed in myself for giving into the temptation.

I get fed up and tell her I want to go home and relax with her. She says she's not ready yet. I patiently wait with her another half hour as a constant barrage of rose sellers keep bothering us. I finally have enough and tell her I'm going back to my apartment after the long, expensive, exhausting week. She say's she going to stay out without me.

Fine, fuck it. I head back to my place without her and decide this relationship can never work. After an hour or so, I tell her she needs to come back to get her luggage because I need to sleep so I can get back to work the following day. After much texting and phone calls she finally comes back, but I tell her I want her out of my apartment immediately. She refused and proceeds to lay down in the other bedroom. I tell her I want her out, but she refuses to get out of bed. I start packing her things in her suitcase, to send her on her way.

After packing her things for her, she still refuses to leave. I tell her I'll get the doorman/security guy to call the police if I must. When I return from seeing the doorman downstairs, we begin arguing as she starts to smash her own face with the bottom of a Zippo lighter fluid container. She actually bought it for me as a gift, as well as a bottle of cologne. https://i.imgur.com/bAYuaL4.jpg

She gave herself a cut under her left eye with the can of lighter fluid, knowing she would try to tell the police I did it to her. The doorman shows up to escort her outside. Finally, she's gone and I begin to feel a little relief even though I cannot get back to sleep after getting so riled up.

Next thing I know, I see police lights flashing though the windows from a police truck on the street downstairs below and the crazy bitch is talking to the cop in the driver's seat. https://i.imgur.com/aAfXkyX.jpg

After a few minutes, around 4 am, there's a knock on the door. Of course, I know who it is. It's her and 3 Mexican police officers. They don't speak any English and are communicating with me through the Google translator mobile app. They ask about what happened to her eye. I tell them I have never hit a woman in my life and that she did it to herself as I point to the can of Zippo fluid. She told then I have marijuana, but I had smoked my last joint earlier in the day. The police didn't bother searching around or questioning me much further. I believe they could tell she was coked up as she acted erratically and kept sniffling with her dilated eyes on top of her fake crying.

With her gone, along with a couple Percocet pills purchased over the counter at a pharmacy, a tropical storm passed over helping wash away the distraught feelings I was experiencing.

A few days after that, I switched towns to Campeche and then Vera Cruz on the north, Gulf of Mexico side of the Yucatan Peninsula. Along my bus ride to Campeche, I saw this vending machine along side the road. https://i.imgur.com/o1cmpGm.jpg I was humored by how the logo had nearly the same colors and font I had already designed for VendBits. Was this a sign to keep working or was I too late, I wondered.

As another year goes by as I spend a month in several Mexican towns from coast to coast, Cancun to Cabo. I have now visited 22 of the 32 states in Mexico, but unfortunately not without more unfortunate incidents.

In late February 2021 while staying in San Luis Potosi for two months, my luck run out again. I was crossing a pedestrian bridge one evening as I was robbed for my iPhone 11. I escaped unscathed even though a gun was shown to me before I threw my phone on the ground and took off running to the other side of the bridge. The $950 iPhone is nearly 2 months rent in Mexico and losing it makes it counter-intuitive as I'm mostly staying in Mexico for the low cost of living and staying focused. Having traumatic events is not exactly conducive to productivity. I experienced memory loss for a few days after this. For instance, I would find myself repeating the same tasks over and over such as putting a trash bag in the container after a new one was already there. It's like my mind would not register certain events.

San Luis Potosi isn't a touristic city, and was my least favorite due to the extremely dry climate and feeling of unwelcomeness there as many locals would spit on the ground as I walked by, meaning they don't want me there.

I came back to Playa Del Carmen in May 2021 and have been here a year now. This is the longest amount of time I have stayed in the same place since I got my passport in 2016 and started traveling.

After 19 months without getting wasted on drink, one night in late August 2021, I went out and I met a very cute, petite girl from South America at a night club. After a few tequila shots, I left my phone on the sofa and I went to the bathroom. That was the last time I saw the phone. I dated the young lady a few times after that, but I don't think she took my phone.

Three days after replacing the new phone I lost, I foolishly went out drinking yet again. As I was walking home at 3 am, I was jumped by 4 young Mexican guys on the street. While being kicked in the back and head on the ground, I was robbed for my nearly thousand dollar phone once again. Every single time I've drank again since quitting for 19 months, something terrible has happened to me.

Never being one to easily give up, I remind myself daily of the "burn the boats" story of the conqueror Hernando Cortez which occurred here on the Yucatan Peninsula 500 years ago. I had been prepared to achieve my goal of launching VendBits successfully or die here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlNngcDNFS0

The good news is, I haven't drank since and I'm back on my path to success. Over the past few years, I have become a distance runner, running over 20 marathons. I ran 40 miles on my 40th birthday 2 month ago in March. I plan on competing in my first Ironman triathlon in the next year or so. I'm in the best shape of my life now and have hit peak level attractiveness. I know this because everyday I hear women moaning and grunting as I run by shirtless, like a thoroughbred stallion as one young woman in the group asks who the hell I am as another answers her with "my baby daddy."

I've got my self-diagnosed ADHD under control with the help of Ritalin purchased over the counter here in Mexico. Something that I have struggled with for a long time.

The great news is, I re-launched VendBits today. I'm extremely optimistic about it. It should keep me busy for at least the next 10 years while becoming ridiculously wealthy. I have seeded the site with photos and videos from my journey while developing the site. Here is my profile page https://vendbits.com/chris

I would like to take the time now to thank the lovely people of Mexico (those who didn't rob me) for welcoming me to their beautiful country and hosting me while I build my online empire.

So, in closing, the next chapter of my life will be building this new business (API and mobile apps coming next) and exiting the porn business while searching for my young, non-crazy, virgin wife in Utah and starting a family while continuing to travel the world. See you in a few years! ;)

Did I waste a year of my life developing a WordPress theme? (5 Year Update)

5 years ago I created the most upvoted thread on r/wordpress entitled 'Did I waste a year of my life developing a WordPress theme?' https://www.reddit.com/r/Wordpress/comments/5mvz02/did_i_waste_a_year_of_my_life_developing_a/ and a cross post here https://www.reddit.com/r/digitalnomad/comments/5mw0is/did_i_waste_a_year_of_my_life_developing_a/ in /r/digitalnomad

Quite a lot happened in that time, so let's get into it.

In my previous thread, I mentioned I had a British girlfriend at the time. Something that I did not mention in that thread was that I have been in the adult industry since 2004. To be honest, I sort of just fell into the business. I knew how to make websites, I watched porn frequently and I needed to make money fast without risk of wasting time on a business that wouldn't be profitable (You know, like I ended up doing in 2016). Getting involved in the adult industry is like drug dealing. The product sells itself and you have to be pretty dull to not make any money doing it.

Back in 2015, shortly after we first met, my 21-year-old girlfriend's mother found out about my adult business somehow. She even went as far as finding my mother on Facebook to question her about it. Being pretty annoyed by this situation and also generally losing interest in the adult industry as a business, I wanted to get back into mainstream (non-adult) business.

I decided to make a highly customizable WordPress theme to sell. You all now know how that went (sort of).

Since I had already developed a WordPress plugin called Tube Ace https://tubeace.com (NSFW obv) which imports embedded videos from all the biggest adult video tube sites such as Pornhub, RedTube, YouPorn, xHamster etc.. into WordPress, I had already made a very basic accompanying WP theme for the design layer of the tube site plugin.

Since it was difficult to get sales for the premium WordPress theme I spent a year developing, I decided to give away the theme for free in mid-2017 https://tubeace.com/themes and help boost plugin sales. That was probably the best thing I could have done with the theme. I have been financially coasting on the sales of the Tube Ace plugin for nearly 9 years now as I initially released it back in summer of 2013.

Anyway, I ended the relationship with my British girlfriend in September 2018 while digital nomading, three years after we met. I couldn't see myself with her any longer and I didn't want to waste either of our time. I'm not proud of how I handled the situation because I had to get wasted drinking to muster up the courage to dump her after never having an argument or any issues relationship-wise for that matter. She's a kind, honest, intelligent, hard-working soul and deserves someone great.

I went back home to New Orleans the following week and while playing poker at Harrah's casino at 3 am on a Wednesday (September 11, 2018 to be exact), I sat at table 11, 2 seats left of the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in the poker room. The night before, I watched Alfred Hitchcock's film Rear Window starring Grace Kelly. I was completely charmed and mesmerized by Miss Kelly's screen presence, charm and overall beauty. In nearly every scene I just kept saying to myself "Oh my God, I need to find a woman like that! They just don't make women like this anymore".

Back to poker... this young lady was a fairly skilled player, too. One of the best female poker players I've played against. But remember, poker is a liar's game. She bluffed me out of several descent-sized pots. As she was having her way with me at the card game, every time I would look at her while she scooped pots of my chips, she would smile and wink at me. Having this charming and charismatic lady flirt with me while taking my money definitely made the sting feel much less worse. During the course of the night, she ordered a few tequila and soda cocktails. As she stacks more of my chips with sunrise about an hour away, I jokingly ask if she gives poker lessons. She laughed. Feeling like I have nothing left to lose, I ask if she wants to get a drink. She obliges. It's nearly 6 AM and the casino is right outside the French Quarter which has several 24 hour bars.

We have a couple drinks at The Alibi bar. I kiss her. She invites me be back to her uncle's French Quarter condo which she impressively decorated herself as her profession as an interior designer. The next morning, on the coffee table sits a copy of LIFE Magazine, with no one other than Grace Kelly of the cover. A simultaneous feeling of shock and relief washed over me. Even though I'm not really a religious person, I took this as a sign from God. She's the one! I even took this photo of the magazine cover. https://i.imgur.com/HH425pm.jpg

Having just gotten out of a relationship for the past 3 years and breaking a young woman's heart, I wasn't looking for anything serious and I was starting to enjoy my freedom once again (sigma grindset). This wasn't the usual "hit it and quit it" type of chick. We hit it off right away and we were inseparables. She was like the female equivalent of myself, and she seemed like my soulmate. Tall, smart, blonde, ambitious, loved playing poker and drinking. What else could I ask for? It was the best. She was 28, and I was able to look past her being recently divorced, because she told me her husband had an affair. I felt like his loss was my gain and we were made for each other. I felt like the luckiest guy in the world. I was actually truly falling in love for the first time (at age 36) and thought she was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

A few days before Christmas at my girlfriend's apartment. I got up to shower as I usually woke up before my gf (who I never saw wake up before noon). After showering, I got back into bed with her as I left my clothes in the bathroom. All of a sudden, New Orleans police detectives come through the door as we lay in bed. Stacy (yeah, that's really her name) says to me "I'm terrified" as I can feel her thin modelesque frame shaking next to me. The police yell for me to come out of the bedroom first, with my hands up. Since my only set of clothes were still in the bathroom, I had to come out of the bedroom with my hands up, wearing only a towel. I didn't have my contact lenses in, so I couldn't even see if the detectives had their guns drawn at me.

I sit on the sofa as Stacy is instructed to exit the room. They inform her that she has an out-of-state warrant for her arrest from Nashville, Tennessee for felony theft of over $10,000. She's handcuffed and led away by a Louisiana State Trooper after I kiss her on the check and tell her I love her. I had known that she was accused of accepting funds for her interior design business and not delivering the good or services because I read a few bad reviews about her interior design business online. She convinced me that her ex-husband took the funds from their joint bank account or he wrote the bad reviews to discredit her for their ongoing divorce case.

I was absolutely devastated. I was in denial and believing her lies because I was in love. Of course, this put much strain on our relationship as more and more lies kept coming out. I was in love with a complete narcissistic sociopath. This is so me. I left back to Mexico to get away from everything a couple weeks later. She was arrested again for drunk driving after she told me she was going to sleep one night. While I'm in Cancun, she called me at 6 am from jail in New Orleans to ask I could get my lawyer friend to help get her out. She told me she was arrested for driving without a license and completely left out the DWI charge. I looked up her arrest in the online database and she was wearing a fancy low-cut dress, with her perfect breasts on display in her mugshot. That lying f'ing bitch. Now she's tearing my soul out internationally. I foolishly agree to go back with her in New Orleans after a month away in Mexico as I was still infatuated with her. We ended up seeing each other off and on for 6 months. It felt like years because there were so many ups and down in that time.

I never wanted to feel that way again, and realized every woman I ever dated (over a hundred) was damaged, some with severe mental issues. Probably has to do with the fact that I met them all while drinking in bars as I know I have also had battles with binge drinking for over a decade now. Stacy was the first girlfriend I had who had a good relationship with her father, a retired airline pilot. He even flew down from Pittsburg with $50,000 in cash to bail her out of jail for her out of state warrant.

Moving on and picking up the pieces, I was ready to start working on a new project while traveling around again. One of the most frustrating experiences when trying to sell my premium theme a few years prior was getting it listed in marketplaces such as themeforest, which was denied by many for whatever reasons. I always wanted to own a marketplace website and going through that made me want to build my own eCommerce platform even more. This story will end up being similar to how Ferruccio Lamborghini, a tractor company owner, started his car company out of frustration with Ferrari.

I started working on the new marketplace in April 2019 and figured I should have something ready to launch in a few months. In October 2019, I did a "soft launch" to get feedback and see if anyone would sign up and add their items to sell. The marketplace is like a vending machine for any digital product, so I named it VendBits https://vendbits.com

I made some posts about my new offering here on Reddit and a few discussion forums. A few people signed up and added their items, which looked promising. The first version of the site was very basic. The "Sell Item" page had fields for title, description, price, accept paypal/bitcoin, tags and a message field which instructed users to add a thank you message and link to the digital product hosted on another website. The first version didn't even have an upload form for the product. The seller would have to upload the product to a service such a Dropbox or Google Drive and reveal the download URL after purchase.

Feeling like I could improve the user-friendliness (especially for the sellers), I went back to focusing on the development of the marketplace functionality, instead of the marketing.

Having been addicted to YouTube for years now, I wanted to have video uploading and streaming playback along with the vended product file download options. This meant I had to convert any uploaded video to mp4, generate multiple resolutions of video, thumbnail frame, all while extracting and storing the metadata (duration, filesize, bitrate, resolution, frame rate, aspect ratio, audio codec, video codec, GPS coordinates, Phone/camera make and model etc..) for each video.

In addition to video, I wanted audio uploading for music, audiobooks, sound effects, etc.. This would take more time, of course - delaying the re-launch by months for every set of new features I added. It was like the theme development over again.

Having always been a solo entrepreneur and battling feelings of loneliness and solitude would fuel my desires to binge drink alcohol for a couple consecutive days at a time every couple weeks. This behavior was always my worst as an adult and the root cause of many of my issues financially, socially and professionally. The feeling of possibly being in denial and having no control over this always depressed me for days after my drinking sessions. I would be either hungover or physically and mentally depleted each and every time with feeling of hopelessness in finding friendship and love as I'm in my late 30s.

I decided to make a stand and finally quit drinking on Christmas Eve in 2019 so I can improve my social circle and dating opportunities. A couple months into quitting drinking, COVID starts in early 2020. At a socially-distanced gathering I was invited to by some friends I met over a year prior with Stacy, I was talking to a newly-recruited female FBI agent and told her I don't date women who date alcohol. Without hesitation, she says "Utah". I immediately reject her idea and tell her Utah is full of Mormons and how my father is coincidentally Mormon while owing the third-highest amount of child support in the state of Louisiana.

I pondered this suggestion for a few weeks and realized it makes complete sense for me to go to Utah. I love the outdoors, I'm desperate for a change and new hope in social and love life and I recalled how I met some extremely friendly Mormon missionaries while playing basketball in Play del Carmen, Mexico back in 2018 who really embraced me and made me feel part of a community. Only the gay community has embraced and attempted to recruit me to this degree before.

I booked a room on Airbnb in a house in Provo, Utah in June 2020. Utah and Louisiana may as well be polar opposites. Utah has no state lottery and very few bars as Mormons don't drink, gamble or have pre-marital sex. Nearly everyday I would visit the Rec center to workout and play basketball, again never feeling so embraced by a community before. At this point, I'm 7 months sober from alcohol and finally feel like I have full control of my life for the first time as I have no desire to drink any longer. Utah is full of many great National Parks including Zion https://i.imgur.com/sH481jj.jpg and Bryce Canyon https://i.imgur.com/aq2kskZ.jpg

I have also taken a vow of celibacy and want the next woman that I'm with to be my wife and the mother of my children. Everyone I met was so kind, honest and wholesome. I'm convinced this is where I need to move and I plan to come back here after I get my finances finally in order after I launch VendBits in a month or two.

I plan to head back to Mexico for a few months while I live in "monk mode", working everyday and avoiding a hedonistic lifestyle. But before that, I took $49 flights to Las Vegas and San Francisco. I had been to Vegas 15 years before in 2005 and won at 9 out of 12 casinos playing blackjack, but San Francisco was the US city I had been wanting to visit the most. This was during pandemic, and being the extremely liberal city that SF is, many places still weren't re-opened. I walked the hilly streets of SF for a couple days, seeing countless homeless people shooting and doing drugs openly on the sidewalks, miserable looking purpled-haired feminist women, one with "Smash The Patriarchy" painted on her purse who leered at me while I tried to read it. I've been wanting to come here for 20 years. It was the most disappointing travel experience ever. I'm now absolutely convinced Utah is the place for me, but I have to get VendBits done first.

Back in Playa del Carmen, I'm back on the grind coding nearly everyday as much as I can, "balanced" by crappy Mexican weed and modafinil. At this point, I'm 9 months sober from booze, but I'm getting lonely again.

In September 2020, I go to Fat Tuesday's, a daiquiri bar on 5th Ave. I have a couple beers, but I don't let myself have more and get drunk. A table of 3 young Mexicans folks, two guys and a girl invite me over to play a drinking dice game. We're having a great time. Suddenly, a tall, seductively-dressed American woman a couple years younger than me asks to use my cigarette lighter. She's wearing a short, tight, bright colored dress, showing off her busty, curvy figure and long legs. We start talking, I say so long to my new Mexican buddies and the two of us head off to a nightclub to do whatever.

I had a couple drinks already, and I don't want to get drunk, so I start drinking ice water. We're sitting at the table in the loud dance club, then she begins dancing with my left knee between her now standing legs, rubbing my leg between her soft thighs. This was the most physical contact I've had with a woman in 9 months and I'm beginning to become extremely aroused. I decided, F it.. I'll totally go home with this chick if she wants to, breaking my celibacy streak. Next thing I know, I see her crumbling a white pill wrapped in tin foil with her fingers into my ice water cup.

She says "it's just ecstacy". I not a stranger to the drug, but it's been over 15 years since I've done it. Not wanting to spoil my chances with her, I drink the water with the X in it anyway. Feeling anxiety and all that, I just want to get back to one of our places to relax. She finally brings me to her hotel room after much teasing and filibustering. When I come out of the bathroom, she's laying in a hammock, wearing only her bra and panties. I walk over and start stroking her long legs with my hand as I kiss her. We end up in bed very shortly after.

She's in town for the next 9 days, so naturally it seems we'll have a fling during this time. The first few days together, it was actually nice to take a break from work and enjoy the company of a sexy lady while we dine at many restaurants and lounge at beach clubs in the daytime with passionate, intimate nights. https://i.imgur.com/d0EV7b2.jpg

She extended her trip a few days as I agreed she could stay with me at my apartment. She tells me she is moving to Miami in a few weeks and she asks if I want to meet her there. I agree to do so.

As days in sunny beach town paradise go on, I have a drink here and there (but not getting drunk), while she drinks hers and she uses cocaine quite frequently everyday. I get practically no work done, and it's stating to make me anxious again.

On the night before she flies back home to Minneapolis, we have dinner at a fancy restaurant located inside a cenote (a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock). We had a bottle of wine with dinner, and after we head to a hookah bar as she suggests. As we're sitting outside, taking turns on the hookah, several rose flower sellers start hounding me to buy her roses. I decline as I'm annoyed by the sellers and vendors constant pressuring to go into their shops and buy their crap souvenirs. It's also at this pint I am feeling the effects from the glasses of wine, which is the most I've felt in 9 months which made me feel disappointed in myself for giving into the temptation.

I get fed up and tell her I want to go home and relax with her. She says she's not ready yet. I patiently wait with her another half hour as a constant barrage of rose sellers keep bothering us. I finally have enough and tell her I'm going back to my apartment after the long, expensive, exhausting week. She say's she going to stay out without me.

Fine, fuck it. I head back to my place without her and decide this relationship can never work. After an hour or so, I tell her she needs to come back to get her luggage because I need to sleep so I can get back to work the following day. After much texting and phone calls she finally comes back, but I tell her I want her out of my apartment immediately. She refused and proceeds to lay down in the other bedroom. I tell her I want her out, but she refuses to get out of bed. I start packing her things in her suitcase, to send her on her way.

After packng her things for her, she still refuses to leave. I tell her I'll get the doorman/security guy to call the police if I must. When I return from seeing the doorman downstairs, we begin arguing as she starts to smash her own face with the bottom of a Zippo lighter fluid container. She actually bought it for me as a gift, as well as a bottle of cologne. https://i.imgur.com/bAYuaL4.jpg

She gave herself a cut under her left eye with the can of lighter fluid, knowing she would try to tell the police I did it to her. The doorman shows up to escort her outside. Finally, she's gone and I begin to feel a little relief even though I cannot get back to sleep after getting so riled up.

Next thing I know, I see police lights flashing though the windows from a police truck on the street downstairs below and the crazy bitch is talking to the cop in the driver's seat. https://i.imgur.com/aAfXkyX.jpg

After a few minutes, around 4 am, there's a knock on the door. Of course, I know who it is. It's her and 3 Mexican police officers. They don't speak any English and are communicating with me through the Google translator mobile app. They ask about what happened to her eye. I tell them I have never hit a woman in my life and that she did it to herself as I point to the can of Zippo fluid. She told then I have marijuana, but I had smoked my last joint earlier in the day. The police didn't bother searching around or questioning me much further. I believe they could tell she was coked up as she acted erratically and kept sniffling with her dilated eyes on top of her fake crying.

With her gone, along with a couple Percocet pills purchased over the counter at a pharmacy, a tropical storm passed over helping wash away the distraught feelings I was experiencing.

A few days after that, I switched towns to Campeche and then Vera Cruz on the north, Gulf of Mexico side of the Yucatan Peninsula. Along my bus ride to Campeche, I saw this vending machine along side the road. https://i.imgur.com/o1cmpGm.jpg I was humored by how the logo had nearly the same colors and font I had already designed for VendBits. Was this a sign to keep working or was I too late, I wondered.

As another year goes by as I spend a month in several Mexican towns from coast to coast, Cancun to Cabo. I have now visited 22 of the 32 states in Mexico, but unfortunately not without more unfortunate incidents.

In late February 2021 while staying in San Luis Potosi for two months, my luck run out again. I was crossing a pedestrian bridge one evening as I was robbed for my iPhone 11. I escaped unscathed even though a gun was shown to me before I threw my phone on the ground and took off running to the other side of the bridge. The $950 iPhone is nearly 2 months rent in Mexico and losing it makes it counter-intuitive as I'm mostly staying in Mexico for the low cost of living and staying focused. Having traumatic events is not exactly conducive to productivity. I experienced memory loss for a few days after this. For instance, I would find myself repeating the same tasks over and over such as putting a trash bag in the container after a new one was already there. It's like my mind would not register certain events.

San Luis Potosi isn't a touristic city, and was my least favorite due to the extremely dry climate and feeling of unwelcomeness there as many locals would spit on the ground as I walked by, meaning they don't want me there.

I came back to Playa Del Carmen in May 2021 and have been here a year now. This is the longest amount of time I have stayed in the same place since I got my passport in 2016 and started traveling.

After 19 months without getting wasted on drink, one night in late August 2021, I went out and I met a very cute, petite girl from South America at a night club. After a few tequila shots, I left my phone on the sofa and I went to the bathroom. That was the last time I saw the phone. I dated the young lady a few times after that, but I don't think she took my phone.

Three days after replacing the new phone I lost, I foolishly went out drinking yet again. As I was walking home at 3 am, I was jumped by 4 young Mexican guys on the street. While being kicked in the back and head on the ground, I was robbed for my nearly thousand dollar phone once again. Every single time I've drank again since quitting for 19 months, something terrible has happened to me.

Never being one to easily give up, I remind myself daily of the "burn the boats" story of the conqueror Hernando Cortez which occurred here on the Yucatan Peninsula 500 years ago. I had been prepared to achieve my goal of launching VendBits successfully or die here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlNngcDNFS0

The good news is, I haven't drank since and I'm back on my path to success. Over the past few years, I have become a distance runner, running over 20 marathons. I ran 40 miles on my 40th birthday 2 month ago in March. I plan on competing in my first Ironman triathlon in the next year or so. I'm in the best shape of my life now and have hit peak level attractiveness. I know this because everyday I hear women moaning and grunting as I run by shirtless, like a thoroughbred stallion as one young woman in the group asks who the hell I am as another answers her with "my baby daddy."

I've got my self-diagnosed ADHD under control with the help of Ritalin purchased over the counter here in Mexico. Something that I have struggled with for a long time.

The great news is, I re-launched VendBits today. I'm extremely optimistic about it. It should keep me busy for at least the next 10 years while becoming ridiculously wealthy. I have seeded the site with photos and videos from my journey while developing the site. Here is my profile page https://vendbits.com/chris

I would like to take the time now to thank the lovely people of Mexico (those who didn't rob me) for welcoming me to their beautiful country and hosting me while I build my online empire.

So, in closing, the next chapter of my life will be building this new business (API and mobile apps coming next) and exiting the porn business while searching for my young, non-crazy, virgin wife in Utah and starting a family while continuing to travel the world. See you in a few years! ;)

Terra crash not a risk to the broader crypto ecosystem, says Huobi Global co-founder

Jun Du, co-founder of Huobi Global, told Cointelegraph that the Terra crash will slow down investor enthusiasm in the short term, but in the long term, the demand will recover.

As the fall of Terra (LUNA) and TerraUSD (UST) may have a noticeable short-term impact on the decision-making of both retail and institutional investors, it doesn’t pose a risk to the larger crypto ecosystem, according to Jun Du, co-founder of Huobi Global.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Du explained that the collapse of Terra will affect the ecosystem by slowing down investor interest in crypto as an asset class. However, Du noted that this will only be a short-term effect. In the long term, the exchange co-founder explained that crypto like Bitcoin’s (BTC) demand as a hedge against fiat inflation will grow along with the advent of new applications for blockchain:

“In the long term, demand for cryptocurrencies as a hedge against fiat inflation will continue to grow, as well as for applications of blockchain technology.” When asked about critics who are using the Terra collapse as an opportunity to take a dig at the entire crypto market, Du highlighted that crashes like Terra also happen in many other industries.

“Market crashes and coordinated attacks are not unique to crypto,” said Du. Citing the Lehman Brothers collapse and the housing market crash, Du mentioned that “every industry will see its fair share of toppled players.” He further explained that the long-term endurance of an industry always depends on the demand for its services:

“Crypto as a technology and asset class introduces value and innovation that are unique and irreplaceable, and we believe that one bad apple in the short run will not affect long-term demand for crypto assets and the industry as a whole.” Du is also optimistic and believes that when the price of BTC recovers, confidence in the market will return and it will lead to more investments coming into the space. Despite the bumps in the road, the co-founder of Huobi trusts that the broader crypto industry will grow continuously.

Also, Du noted that there are flaws exposed by the Terra crash. “The takeaway is that in the future, stablecoins should be backed by less volatile tokens,” he said. He underscored that collateral must be “rebalanced with less volatile tokens.”

Lastly, the Huobi Global co-founder said that in summary that “decentralized stablecoins are vital to the development of the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem.” He shared that the community can turn this loss into a win by innovating so that tragic incidents like the Terra crash do not repeat.

Earlier this month, the UST dollar peg crumbled as a whale started to dump UST. This lowered LUNA’s price by 20% only one day after the initial dump. The event then snowballed even as Terra founder Do Kwon shared plans for Terra’s recovery. In the end, the Terra debacle became one of the biggest price meltdowns in the history of crypto.

𝗨𝗦 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲; 𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝟭𝟬𝘆𝗿 𝟮.𝟳𝟲%; 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗶𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲; 𝗡𝗭$𝟭 = 𝟲𝟰.𝟱 𝗨𝗦𝗰; 𝗧𝗪𝗜-𝟱 = 𝟳𝟭.𝟯

US factories are expanding less quickly. And their services sector's expansion is slowing too. However, both are still expanding at quite good levels.

That slowdown is also noticeable in the latest Richmond Fed factory survey for May. That same survey showed cost pressures hit a record high.

New home sales in the US actually slumped in April. This was quite a big miss, the level of retreat quite unexpected.

The good year-on-year gains in retail sales also look like they are coming to an end.

There was another very well supported US Treasury auction for their 2 year bond. But investors are now prepared to offer lower yields as the general theme of risk aversion grows. This time the median yield was 2.45%, down from the 2.53% yield achieved a month ago at the prior equivalent event.

https://preview.redd.it/2nzwrj2efh191.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=13cb56cf7ab7ae19041d14585ed8481446620f37

The UST 10yr yield will start today at 2.76% and down -12 bps. The UST 2-10 rate curve has steepened to +27 bps and their 1-5 curve is flatter at +75 bps. Their 30 day-10yr curve is also flatter at +222 bps. The Australian ten year bond is now at 3.24% and down -8 bps. The China Govt ten year bond is marginally softer at 2.81%. And the New Zealand Govt ten year is down +3 bps at 3.49%.

Wall Street has resumed its repricing lower and the S&P500 is down -1.4% in late Tuesday trade today. Tech stocks are taking a battering with the NASDAQ down -2.8%. Overnight, European markets were all down about -1.7% except London which fell only -0.4%. Yesterday, Tokyo was down -0.9%, but Hong Kong fell -1.8%. Shanghai closed down -2.4% with a late fade. The ASX200 ended its Tuesday session down -0.3%, while the NZX50 fell -0.6% on the day.

The price of gold is quite a bit firmer today, up +US$13 since this time yesterday at US$1865/oz.

And oil prices are virtually unchanged today and now just under US$109.50/bbl in the US, while the international Brent price is up about +US$1 at just under US$111.50/bbl.

The Kiwi dollar will open today little-changed against the US dollar, now at 64.5 USc. Against the Australian dollar we are also little-changed at 91 AUc. Against the euro we are soft at 60.1 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at 71.3 which is down -20 bps from this time yesterday.

The bitcoin price has fallen -2.8% from this time yesterday and is now at US$29,301. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been moderate at +/- 2.6%.

Source: Interest .co .nz