Ponder's Blog

Definitely not going to spam this. Let’s see how much attention it gets from ambient visibility 😉

https://www.ko-fi.com/ponder

Thanks to Dave Jones of EEVBlog I discovered the blockchain based content platform, LBRY so have been giving it a try. I signed up and went through the verification process for the rewards programme. The reason for this was because I like to give credit to YouTube creators and this seems like a viable way to do so without policy getting in the way, and without having to commit to every channel I want to support via Patreon, which can become expensive.

Verification took a few hours, but in that time I joined the Discord server, and got a feel for the territory. I read the rules so didn’t piss off admin by asking how long verification would take, I was just patient. This is the key for this service at the moment… not in a bad way, just something to be aware of due to the way it works.

Once I was verified I started claiming the starter rewards. Maximum 5 per day but patience… I currently have over 130 LBC. Not a fantastic amount (just over £4,50 at the time of posting) but not bad since I’m not even trying!

Next I decided to dip my toes into the cryptocurrency arena. More of that after I’ve finished with LBRY.

I then discovered how to sync my YouTube channels. Patience again, this took several days, but all videos synced well enough, and I’m now in the process of moving my main channel videos into a slightly more structured channel format.

The channels I currently have are:
Sync from YouTube Main Channel – This is a holding channel.
Ponder’s Random Channel – Videos that don’t fit my main two categories.
Cycling With Ponder – Cycling related videos.
Ponder’s Retro Goodness – Retro related videos.

I can also gain 20 LBC from people who join and verify via my referral link. It’s not a pyramid scheme nor is it a heavy referral scheme (I hate both) and it’s limited to 10 referrals maximum, so it’s not a get rich scheme either (200 LBC max). I’m not going to spam it so this is my one and only public mention of my referral link which you’ll find
>> here. <<

Now on to cryptocurrency, and boy what a steep learning curve this is without help!

It’s not my intention to invest in it, nor do I expect to make loadsamoney with it, but it opens my options and gives me more freedom, so here’s my trip so far:

I started with Biitrex, then discovered I couldn’t buy crypto, only exchange.
I found out the quickest way to buy crypto was through a Coinbase account. Now one thing to take into account with all these services is that they’re registered financial institutions and as such need ID such as passport or driving licence to prove identity. I didn’t take this step lightly so researched first and found no cause for concern.

I bought a small amount of Bitcoin, there is conversion fee to and from crypto which is something else that needs to be taken into consideration. As I said, it’s not for investing, it’s for open options. I sent some Bitcoin to my Bittrex wallet, and some to a wallet I set up on my computer as tests. Both worked without a hitch. Note: there is a fee for all transactions; not excessive and you can pay less if you’re willing to wait longer for the transaction to complete (and more if you’re in a hurry). This is when I discovered the problem with Bittrex… it’s not for small amounts. If I want to convert BTC to LBC, as I understand it I’d need to bit on an offer. The smallest offer I could find amounted to roughly £65 worth of currency, and I’m not going anywhere near that amount! I can’t even transfer my Bitcoin out because their fee eats up more than I have in that wallet, so my advice here is avoid Bittrex unless you’re going to trade big.

So now I’m in. The learning curve was so steep I needed mountaineering gear, but now I feel like I’m on the second shelf. I also have some BAT from Brave Browser Rewards so that’s another wallet of crypto at my disposal.

In summary, the simplest way to get into that arena is to sign up for a Coinbase account and work it from there. I hope this post is helpful and informative for those interested. I’ve wasted enough of your time reading this now you can get back to your normal schedule 😉

I can’t believe how smoothly this build went. The component board was almost problem free, just the usual socket/IC pin alignment issues but of course untested so I completed one grid, as shown in the previous post, to test and it was working. Good sign so far!

After that I got to work on the grids. Each took about an hour to complete and test, and that was with interruptions. There was momentum involved, once I got into the rhythm it was straightforward, but after the third of the day, fourth in total, I ran out of solder. I had planned to take a break at this point though so that wasn’t a problem. New solder ordered using Amazon Prime.

Solder arrived at a decent time (on a Sunday) so I got to work with the remaining grids. Once all were installed it was time to connect them all together, which meant another 64 joints (don’t get too excited, not that sort of joint) to solder, along with 8 connecting wires. Once connected I tested and noticed a few LEDs not lighting but that took seconds to find and fix the loose solder joint. The result is in the video below. Well worth it and I feel a job well done 🙂

My Christmas present from my good lady wife this year was a Hobby Components 8x8x8 LED Cube Kit.

Today I started to build it. I was originally going to live stream on Twitch but had a feeling I’d be interrupted a few times during the build and I wasn’t disappointed 😉

I started with the component board according to the instructions here and once that was complete I started on the first of the grids. The build for this was slightly different due to using a supplied 2 row template, but the end result is the same.

Here’s what I have so far:

I’m giving it a rest for today, but will continue to build the remaining 7 grids over the next few days. I’ll post again once complete 🙂