Microsoft for Startups Application Accepted

Accepted! I am so very happy to announce that Microsoft for Startups has accepted my Founders Hub application! This is beyond exhilarating for me, as this is the first external validation I have received for my product. This process was very different from the previous one that I experienced with BizSpark. Whereas BizSpark seemed to allow anyone into their program, the Founders Hub application seemed more serious and discerning with its candidates. Continue reading

February 2022 Status Update

Welcome to the next installment of monthly starbeam.one updates. Playground Alpha Deployed to Azure In the last status update, I mentioned that my focus for January was getting the Playground Alpha deployed to Azure. I am pleased to announce that this was accomplished after much configuration and trial+error (and much more error!). The Playground Alpha is deployed to Azure, and I have been totally blown away by how relatively easy it was to do so, despite all the challenges and errors. Continue reading

December 2021 Status Update

Greetings and Happy Holidays. Here is your next installment of starbeam.one monthly updates. I feel the need to say this each time, but yes, I am still alive. 😊 I am also a bit late this time around, having skipped the November update. Originally, I was aiming for the middle of November, but the final feature task that I was working on took way longer than I anticipated… again. 😅😭 Continue reading

The Digital License Is a Relationship

There is something I have been thinking about lately, and I wanted to be sure to capture it here. With the whole NFT mania (quite literally what it is), we get the feeling it is more about what people want and desire rather than what is actually there. After all, an NFT in one blockchain isn’t exactly unique if it also exists in another. Let’s also not forget that any blockchain at any time can be forked, leading to an instant doubling (or worse, if other forks occur) to any “unique” instance contained within it. Continue reading

October 2021 Status Update

Goodness, has it been two months already? I have been in a total coding slog since the last checkin, having to battle two coding fronts that address technical debt concerns: Identity System (95% complete) Entity Framework Data Access Refactor (65% complete) The Entity Framework story is a bit further along than it suggests. Part of the issue is that currently all worker processes run in session scope, which makes sense. Continue reading

August 2021 Status Update

Well I am still kicking and coding here. I wanted to take a breath here and check in with progress. Not that there is much of any. 😅😭 While I have been plugging some insane hours lately, I have recently been ambushed by the identity system. It was basically like writing a whole new application. What I have built, however, is pretty neat and I am happy with it. Unfortunately, it has pushed my schedule out further, however, so I am trying to deal with the anxiety that goes along with it. Continue reading

July 2021 Status Update

Well it’s July, and as mentioned last time, it’s time to take a break. Except… I don’t want to take a break. 😅😭 I think I mentioned that I am working on the identity system. Indeed, I have taken a wrecking ball to this sucker and it is now officially wrecked. I’ve been picking up the pieces and putting them back together, but it’s been taking WAY longer than expected. Continue reading

Your Private Key Can Be Guessed

One final thought here and I’ll finish. I promise. 😁 In addition to some of the risks I outlined earlier in this article with regards to cryptocurrency, there’s one in particular that I feel needs extra mention. Namely, the private key that keeps your value safe is simply a number: a very very very large number. That conceivably means that if someone guesses that number, they have access to your wallet. Continue reading

Decentralization Is a Foreign Land

Continuing my spontaneous series here. 😁 I have been studying the decentralized space since late June 2017, so nearly four years now. If I was attending college then you could say that I am a graduate in such matters (assuming I acquired all my credits, something I failed to do in real live BUT I DIGRESS). There’s a certain quality or metric that has seemed elusive to decentralization during that time, and that is adoption. Continue reading

The Blockchain is Just an Application

The blockchain is just an application. Everyone is going nuts over blockchain now that they see it can be used for commerce, despite its awkwardness and efficiency concerns. In the hysteria, the whole premise of the blockchain has taken on a bigger concept than it actually is. But let’s keep in mind that a blockchain is basically an application. It’s an application that runs on one or more computers (nodes) that comprise a network. Continue reading