Hello Steem World...

I'm here!

(I kid) But, I do hope I will be able to become a strong contributor and promotor of this community and its aspirations.

Just about a week and a half ago I was completely in the dark about cryptocurrencies and more importantly the key elements that power them. I've been researching my butt off and trying to piece it all together so I at least have a good outline of how things work. I had been introduced to the Open Source / Free Software / Linux world years ago. The person who introduced me to all of that was very adamant about conveying the moral implications of 'licensed' black box software and the monopolistic practices behind a lack of choice when buying hardware with pre-selected software and OS. Basically, computing by someone else's (arguably convenient) design but with no real individual ownership or audit trail. I am in no way a Linux wizard but I have an appreciation for decentralization and transparency.

As for social media, I've been sort of over it, for a while now. I hate Facebook, I was active on Twitter last year due to the election cycle and now my account has been dormant for the better part of this year. So I was not looking for some new social media platform. I am aware however of the censorship that has been taking place on the old guard platforms and suppression of certain view points, shadow banning, demonetization and the rest of it. All of which obviously can flourish because of - again - the black box syndrome. That being said I don't hold the whole social aspect against Steemit. I am excited to engage in a more open community and hope to learn along the way!

I have varying interests and it's hard to say from day to day what I will share. Hopefully I'll be able to articulate any epiphanies I have along the way related to Steemit that can maybe help others who are also brand new to it. Otherwise there may be some commentary on current events and input about other things like nutrition or travel.

Thanks for reading!