Hey there!

We're back with the 11th edition of our weekly digest, highlighting a few hand-selected pieces of writing over the past week or so.

Check them out below & let us know which was your favorite!

Onchain pictures

@tomu.eth dives into each of the trending apps for sharing photos onchain — Moshi Cam, Rodeo, Zora — describing each app's unique features and rewards mechanism, and how he believes they’re shaping a new social behavior towards content.

We've shifted our perception of NFTs from being scarce assets created by specific artists to something we mint just for the fun of it.

Daniel Friedman: Drawing Decentralized Beauty From Biology

@MyCurioCards writes about artist Daniel Friedman, who has a Stanford Ph.D. in Biology and combines his expertise in ant colonies and decentralization with his passion for art, creating intricate pen-based drawings that have gained recognition in the NFT world.

Noting his process, Friedman says it’s just about “repeating motifs, and making it kind of elusive of a large whole, a part that’s not on the page, which indicates a broader sense of challenge and complexity — [a] complexity on and off the page [which] is part of one’s relation with the stimuli.”

Toward a social theory of venture

@gracekcarney explores how using ideas from social theory can help investors understand technological changes and potentially predict future changes.

During times [of intense technological innovation], there’s value to be had in leaning on disciplines like social theory to gain a more human, and therefore more holistic, view of the world changing around us.

IN CONVERSATION WITH: Maya Man

@katiewav interviews artist Maya Man, discussing her exploration of online identity, femininity, and the role of software in art, while also reflecting on her journey into digital art.

I find a lot of fun and joy in being online, and I want to follow that, while also engaging with the part of me that’s hyper-critical of the many detrimental aspects of online culture.

"Casino Killed the Computer Star"

@mazmhussain shines a light on how speculation and the "casino", marked by grifters, scam artists, and opportunists, often harm the general public's perception of cryptocurrency and blockchain-based platforms & products.

But if anyone is really serious about decentralization, disintermediation, anti-censorship, and many other lofty ideals, the clamor of the casino needs to flicker off for awhile, until the computer can make something worthwhile to society.

Blockchains as Worlds for Fun and Play

@pet3rpan suggests the true value of blockchains lies in their potential to create immersive, playful online worlds where people can explore new identities, build communities, and experience entertainment in ways that blur the lines between reality and fantasy.

Blockchains act as blank canvases for experiences that break all our preconceived notions of what is possible as entertainment, finance, and computing systems.

That's all we have this week — what did we miss?

Let us know what you think!