The STEEM Engine Express Episode 2
Welcome to Episode 2 of The STEEM Engine Express podcast
I've decided to make it easier than ever to listen to the podcast, so listen via any of the following methods:
► Listen on DSound
► Listen from source (IPFS)
►Download mp3 Version
Listen on Youtube:
Intro music is "Biking in the Park" by Lee Rosevere used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Background track is "Crushin'" by Jason Shaw. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Other audio clips obtained via the Internet Archive and also used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Read more about the making of the intro HERE.
Full transcript:
I'm Ethan Smith, and this is the STEEM Engine Express
We begin today with a visit to the Isle of Man. Steemit user @donovanpage recounts what life is like on an island featured prominently in the recent Paradise Papers for its identity as a corporate tax shelter. Located between England and Northern Ireland, the post outlines the oddities of living in a place with apparent wealth, but few full-time residents.
In addition to, "The Isle of Man: Tax Haven" @donovanpage has promised more posts about life on the Isle of Man, so stay tuned to his blog to read about motorcycle races, strange animals, and just how the Isle became infamous for tax evasion.
A slight rotation of the globe leads us to Malaysia, where @elizacheng recounts an exciting lunch date funded by STEEM. In her post, "Lunch Paid with SBD," Eliza includes a photo of her grilled pork belly with kimchi set lunch, which was paid for by her friend and Steemian @littlenewthings and reimbursed later on the STEEM blockchain with Steem-backed dollars.
Eliza's post reminds us that STEEM may be used across the globe in many ways, even if it isn't directly accepted as payment by a merchant. So the next time you and a friend go to lunch or to a movie and one person picks up the check, consider paying them back with STEEM and share the experience with the community!
Over the past few weeks, I've used my personal account to support the efforts of Steemian and STEEM Engine passenger @mitneb. Her curation project seeks out new Steemians whose first language is not English.
Today, we take a look at the latest edition of "The @mitneb Curation Trail Project Daily Report " for January 4th. The report features introduction posts by Steemians from Venezuela, Nigeria, and more who are just getting started on the platform. I encourage you to visit @mitneb's blog and support her efforts by upvoting and commenting on these new Steemians' posts with encouragement and helpful comments.
User retention is an issue everyone should care about, so I hope you'll take the time to welcome other users and support invaluable curation efforts like the @mitneb Curation Trail.
It may be game night soon for the readers of @tj5553's latest blog. In this third post in his game review series, TJ recounts his experiences playing "BEARS vs BABIES!!!," a card-based game published by the creators of "Exploding Kittens." Building monsters to fend off droves of evil babies may sound peculiar, but you may soon find yourself oddly entertained by the game as you collect cards to assemble bizarre monsters.
An excellent review by TJ will make you want to check out this game, even if the title sounds completely absurd. But don't take my word for it, go read his review, and while you're there, check out the rest of the posts in his game review series. You'll be hosting game night in no time.
Finally today, let's take a moment to think about Steemit itself. In a blog entitled, "Steemit’s UX is “Poor” by Design and That’s an Awesome Thing for Steem," passenger @FknMayhem writes a compelling editorial about the state of Steemit's user experience design. If you've been on the platform any time at all, you'll know that Steemit has its quirks. Mayhem uses this blog to remind us that the creators of Steemit intended for Steemit.com to be just the beginning of interfaces designed to access the STEEM blockchain. He argues that this perspective gave rise to current projects such as Busy.org, DTube, and DSound and challenges other developers to explore new ways to access the blockchain.
For those of us who aren't developers, Mayhem's thoughts are a reminder to look deeper before criticizing, because the full picture might just inspire even more creativity across the platform.
The STEEM Engine Express features five of the best posts curated by the STEEM Engine each week across the Steemit platform. The Express is produced by Ethan D. Smith exclusively for The STEEM Engine initiative on Steemit.com
That's all for this week's episode! To read posts mentioned in today's Express or to listen to past episodes, visit steemit.com/@ethandsmith. I hope you'll catch the next Express!
This is pretty cool, @ethandsmith! It's a great idea, and I really appreciate your commentary about my curation trail project, and all of the support you have been to me personally, and the people I am curating on my trail. It has been really helpful to have you following my trail.
I've upvoted and resteemed this article as one of my daily post promotions on the @mitneb Curation Trail. It will be featured in my daily curation report on 07 JAN 2018. (Because even though I just finished publishing today's report, I'm going to go back and add today rather than wait for tomorrow's report.) :D
Cheers!
These podcasts have been much fun to put together. The only downfall is that I said it was the most recent version of your curation trail, when in fact, it was outdated when I shared the podcast. I suppose that's a negative of working ahead. Anyhow, I hope this helps draw some more attention to your work on the platform!
I appreciate your support and inclusion of this post in your future blogs. I hope your efforts continue to go well!
Love what you're doing with this audio curation for the group. More members need to come over and check this out. I also liked @donovanpage's perspective on the isle of Mann, interesting how there can be so much money tied to one place and yet so few people actually residing there. Keep up the great work bud
Thanks, Jason!
I originally thought of sharing this on our group account, but since we have been doing daily curation posts, I didn't want to stretch everyone's auto-voting rules and drain more voting power.
I have very much enjoyed producing these segments. They're probably some of the most fun posts I've made on Steemit since I've been active. I hope that future installments will be just as fun. Thanks for your support and your comment!
I think it is a great addition and should be included alongside or even rotate with the daily curation. Doing a great job, keep it up
Love these podcasts Ethan! They give a great introduction to the STEEM Engine group and its members and for those that don't want to listen to your dulcet tones, the transcript is nice touch with links to the various blog posts :)
Why thank you! I've very much enjoyed putting these posts together. I had not ever done anything quite like this before, so I really have enjoyed writing blurbs about the posts and actually getting to speak them for people to hear! I appreciate you stopping by and listening!
Another great podcast and a good selection of posts to feature excellent work my friend
Much appreciated, Jay! Thanks for taking the time to listen!
Always a pleasure to visit and listen in
Thanks, Ethan! These are fun to listen to! Another great one!
Upped and steemed
It is much appreciated, @dswigle! Thank you for taking the time to stop by and listen!
These are really fun to listen to. I like the written script as well since it provides the direct link to the article and user. Super helpful!
I'm glad you've enjoyed them! I decided a transcript would be useful, especially so that people could follow through and read the posts if they are interested in how I present them. I'm glad you like it!
Thanks for your comment!
What a surprise!!! Thanks for choosing and featuring my post here! Honored and blessed! Thank you Thank you Thank you! @ethandsmith
You are very welcome! It was an enjoyable post, and I hope I pronounced your name and the name of the dish correctly haha
Yup. You pronounced my name perfectly correct! Thanks again!
This is so so cool 😇😇😇 And when you talking of express this is one lol. Nice sound
Thanks, @tfame3865! Glad you dropped by to hear the Express!
I really appreciate that you put the full script and I think it's a great idea. However your voice is clear. So, simple titles with pictures would be sufficient & easy to follow along with the audio
Great work
I suppose that's something to consider in the future. I actually implemented the audio on YouTube because several people had issues with DSound during Episode 1. I never thought of making it more of a video series and using Dtube along with images from the posts, but that's certainly within the realm of possibility.
Thanks for your comment!
Pretty amazing job and it needs really hard job to make it, not only we can hear it and you have made it possible basically for everyone to check it out either by Dsound or Youtube but you took the time to write it down too!
Hi @filotasriza3! I'm glad you took the time to come listen to the podcast!
I wanted it to be available to everyone, because I know some users experience issues getting DSound to load. I'm glad it worked out. It's a bit of extra effort, but I'll let you in on a secret. I actually type out exactly what I plan to say beforehand, so the transcript part of each post is already written. It's reverse of what you might think, but it works better.
I find that I'm able to write more eloquent summaries of the posts than I would be able to come up with by thinking on the spot. It works out nicely, though in case people want to read the podcast instead of listen!
They will miss out on the intro, though! Thanks again for taking the time to read my post!