Go to a Hackathon? But we’re not Devs you say! For those of you who are interested in the Holochain Ecosystem you’ll have seen various Hackathons and in-person meet-ups happening in the last few months. The Holochain team are out and about in the community showing what their framework is capable of!
I’m not a developer: code makes my head hurt! So why was I going to a Hackathon, where the Devs live on energy drinks, don’t sleep and bash at their boards until some magical, but unfathomable, app arises from their bleary endeavours?
Well, my interest in the ecosystem is from the philosophical perspective; the new ways we can collaborate, experimenting with technology where the emphasis is on it assisting us, rather than us as users, being forced to fit in with it. The thing that really excites me is the potential for Holochain to fundamentally change the way we tackle the previously unaccounted externalities of our existing systems. Holochain gives an opportunity to identify all of the value in a system, and use that data to create more rigorous feedback loops, helping to counteract the momentum of existing extractive structures.
Arriving at the venue in Central London a little early I bumped into Mary Camacho, Holo Hosting’s CEO as she was on her way out. From Holochain there were: Arthur Brock, Carolyn Beer, Eric Harris-Braun, Gregory - a Holochain Core Dev, and Mark Franks. As we arrived, Carolyn met us with a warm welcome, pointing out the refreshments and introducing people.
The group was made up of a mix of social entrepreneurs, designers, devs and decentralising technologists.
By 7pm there were 10 of us sitting at desks, laptops at the ready, with Art and Eric welcoming us to the hackathon and explaining the format. Art explained they like to use Kanban boards, moving task notes as we achieve them, along a whiteboard from ‘To-Do’, to ‘Doing’ and finally to ‘Done’.
Using Holochain Launcher we all joined a London ‘Talking Stickies’ instance, a simple Kanban hApp. Mirroring the physical whiteboard in front of us, the near instantaneous speed of the peer-to-peer network was startling. It updated in real-time while Art attempted to keep up by moving the post-it notes as quickly we were with Talking Stickies!
Following introductions we went around the group explaining what we hoped to achieve and what ideas we had for a project to tackle during the weekend long event. Each of us was given time to explain and answer clarifying questions from Art, Eric and the rest of the group.
Initially two projects stood out; the first was from two attendees from Dark Matter Labs about identifying the whole value of bioregions and civic economies and how that can be used to reward those who are positively contributing to them. The second was a picture sharing app which would allow users, such as the designer and photographer suggesting it, to share images with his friends and family without having to use a centralised service like Google Photos or Instagram.
These proposals led to discussions around making current-sees visible, identifying the flows of value which allow us see the real benefits, costs and the unintended consequences of a system. We also discussed the benefits of peer-to-peer networks, agent-centric design principles and data sovereignty.
The following day the attendees split into three groups, one working on Dark Matter’s bioregional project, another working on a lightweight Holochain version of a picture sharing app and the final one with a new attendee who had just arrived that morning from Canada. Representing WADA, she told us that across Africa, and particularly in Central and West Africa, hubs had been started to help share skills in the community which would allow the local population to benefit from these new technologies.
The group listened deeply to WADA’s needs, brain storming ideas and asking clarifying questions. Art suggested a fork of Mewsfeed which would allow users to; offer promises, make requests and acknowledge each other with thanks when a transaction had been completed.
WADAfeed’s main feature difference to Mewsfeed is what Art offered as the interaction mechanism that he named <Flow>
.
He suggested that we determine a shared vocabulary, <Flow
>, when using the social network Mewsfeed, but within a private DHT. Users would ‘mew’ posts following a set format which would be recognised by the community and allow WADA to track exchanges. This data could be used to show the impact of the project to support their funding raising initiatives.
<Flow
> could be used for any type of turn based process, from economic and gift economies to games and supply chains. Adding a mutual credit currency and Trust Atoms could help to build social trust.
Adapting to the circumstances presented to the group at the event, Art and Eric, both helped to identify deliverable solutions to novel problems within a day-and-a-half! Even I understood some of the <Flow
> code after Gregory and Art took the time to explain it to the group in ways we could all engage with.
More work is needed to get Mewsfeed fully operational on mobile devices as Holochain’s gossip processes can be data and energy intensive meaning Mobile OS’s tend to throttle it. Work is in progress to develop Holochain’s mobile functionality. Holo Hosting could be a big step in that direction!
From start to finish everyone was welcoming, engaging and open minded. There were laughs and we found connection in our shared desire to develop solutions with real world impact. The most striking thing for me is the adaptability of the Holochain framework.
Art and Eric repeatedly showed how it could be used in highly advanced, well-funded experimental situations and also in simple, resilient, local-first circumstances too.
The Holochain staff, by offering expert guidance and support, helped the groups to build working, lightweight hApps! Sure, there’s polish to apply and functionality to add in the future, but they worked as MVPs!
I think I drank the most coffee and there wasn’t an energy drink in sight! So, if you have the chance to go to a Holochain Hackathon or meet-up I really recommend it, even if you’re not a dev!
Check out the Holochain Events page for future Hackathons and meet-ups!
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Check out this great blog from Dark Matter Labs
A Smart Commons, A New Model for Investing in the Commons - Dark Matter Labs Blog - “If our cities are going to be the main sites for public investment in carbon-free sustainable infrastructure, we’re going to need to rethink how the economics behind those investments work”
🌟 Latest News from hAppenings.community
Coming Soon! On Thursday, October 12th, Anita and Sam will be interviewed by David Atkinson, Commercial Director at Holo.host, for an Ecosystem Session! We’ll be giving a tour of our website, databases, and the newsletter…as well as giving updates our “Requests & Offers - HC/MVP”! We’ll post it when it’s out of post-production! We’re so excited!
🌟 Latest Official News from Holochain and Holo
Holo Hosting and HoloFuel Demo Video - “Join us in the Alpha environment as Rob and Alaistair, Holo’s Product Owner and Director of Product Development, demo Holo Hosting and HoloFuel. See how hosts earn, exchange HoloFuel, and navigate the Cloud Console.”
Fractal Tribute - an NFT Art game prototype that Mary Camacho, CEO of Holo Ltd, is showcasing at ZebuLive. The game is open through Saturday 10/07 with claims available on Sunday.
“We’re showcasing a prototype game and we invite all our community to play!
Start playing and creating with us now!
🎨 Use patterns and colors to create collaboratively — then mint your moves and build an NFT series that is completely peer-to-peer and validated.”
🌟 Upcoming Events:
DazzleCon 2023 - October 20-21, 2023, Washington D.C., USA
“Building the new economy together. Art Brock and Mary Camacho join Zebras Unite for 2 days of inspiring and educational content, and collaborative design sessions to co-create the business ecosystem we all need to thrive. Participants will experience collaborative hands-on sessions, actionable talks, meet interdisciplinary practitioners, and have ample time for intimate discussion, collective problem-solving, and networking.”
For a complete listing of all of the Holo Ltd and Holochain Foundation events go to their ‘Upcoming Events’ page!
🌟Latest News from the Holoverse:
MewsFeed SetUp Party - Wednesday October 11th @ 7pm CEST, Discord
“Come and join us to try out the latest version of MewsFeed, troubleshoot issues, provide user feedback, and have a fun time!”
Blog: HummHive September Equinox 2023 Update
Welcome to Humm's Equinox update! We're thrilled to bring you the latest advancements, particularly focusing on Holochain reintegration. This update serves as a detailed account of our journey, the challenges we've overcome, and the milestones we've achieved.
The September Connectathon 2023 | Hour 4 Video - “In the fourth hour themed "Living Economies", our Host Roberto Valenti along with our Speaker Arthur Brock took us through the "Holochain". In this session, we dug deeper into the question, how does Holochain connect to a new economy?”
Do You Have News & Updates?
If you are a team member of a Holochain Project and would like to let us know your latest news and updates, please contact us here!
🌟Other Related News & Events
Toys and Tools for Co-creation, with Dr. Alli Edwards Podcast by Amble Studio, hosted by Hailey Cooperrider - “Exploring how our context and surroundings have more impact than we might think, and how we can consciously tap into that.” (Note: Hailey has been very active in the Holochain Game Incubator on Dev.hc in Discord!)
Note: Mewsfeed is competing!
If you are interested…Register for the NEWFORUM.xyz and partners Identity Hackathon! 250k+ in tokens and cash prizes! You can sign up anytime before the submissions deadline on 17th October!
More info: https://www.newforum.xyz/identity-summer-hackathon-2023 https://www.newforum.xyz/challenge-details (find bounties here)
Center For Purposeful Leadership 2023 Program - Starts November 16th for 6 weeks, Virtual (Zoom)
“This course is designed to help you develop your convening skills through 6 live sessions in a collaborative learning community of other professionals. You’ll be supported by a robust learning platform and between-session assignments.”
“All Tech Is Human is coming to London on 5 December 2023. We will be back in London on 5 December 2023 and we will be going bigger as we aim to unite 400 people to learn from each other, understand values and competing tensions with complex tech & society issues, and share resources and best practices.”
🌟 And, find more at hAppenings.community!
Are you Curious? Click here to learn more!
Are you an Advocate for Holochain and the projects being built on it? Click here to explore!
Are you a Creator of Holochain Projects? Whether you are a developer, designer or have just a GREAT idea, this would be your place to begin. Explore our Holochain Project Database. Click here to check it all out!
And be sure explore ways to Support the Ecosystem!
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