Yep! That's right, today I'm a Twitter birthday boy 🍻! Officially, I've been on Twitter for a decade now! Yes, a full 10 years in this madness...voluntarily. (Just kidding! Actually I find Twitter fascinating. It's actually my go-to social media platform).

https://twitter.com/rramentoll/status/1246328504196780033?s=20

So many things have happened in a decade. On the personal side, I moved to a different continent twice, got married, got 2 kids and stumbled upon crypto. Also, a lot has happened in the world too since my first tweet! Let's have a look:

◽️ Apple's 1st gen iPad had just been released a couple of days before (April 3rd 2010).

◽️ Instagram launched! (October 6th 2010)

◽️ Steve Jobs, who led the incredible rise of Apple passed away (October 2011)

◽️ One for baseball fans: The Chicago Cubs won the World Series in 2016, ending the longest drought in the game (They hadn't won it since 1908!)

◽️ The Arab Spring

◽️ SpaceX, led by Elon Musk managed to vertically land a rocket (the Falcon 9) after space flight for the first time.

◽️ Brexit

◽️ In 2010, Donald Trump was hosting the 10th season of The Apprentice (which happened to be the last from the original format), one term and a half away from becoming POTUS.

My Twitter Journey

I would say from the moment I stated tweeting until now, there have been three major stages in my Twitter life. It is pretty funny (and in my case a bit embarrassing even) to go and look what your first tweets. For the first months I was tweeting like I was speaking to myself the whole time! But then again there was a different vibe to Twitter compared to what it is today.

The Footy Stage ⚽️

For most of my life, I have been a big football fan. FC Barcelona, Diego Maradona, El Salvador National Team, Club Deportivo FAS, you name it, and this shows right from my first tweet:

https://twitter.com/rramentoll/status/11619780841?s=20

In my first tweet I was letting the world know I was watching football!! The Mexican football classic between Guadalajara and America with the phantom (a super slow motion camera used by the TV channel I was watching to show pretty cool replays) concluding with a “oh and BTW I have Twitter now”, duh 😬!

With the South Africa 2010 World Cup around the corner, my timeline caught up with the football fever and I started following every football related account I could think of and would tweet my opinion on what was going on with the World Cup and so on.

Once Spain won the title and things returned to normal, I continued to follow all things football but the void made me start following different accounts that would bring news, inspiration and humor to my TL, while continuing to narrate my intentions to the world:

https://twitter.com/rramentoll/status/20404641281?s=20

“Back to the Twitter football fields. I field like continuing to put my blog together” was one of my tweets in August 2010. I happened to be blogging on WordPress at the time. An effort that never really took off.

The Lockup 🔒

I don't remember exactly when it happened, but at some point I decided to lock my account to only allow my followers to see what I was tweeting and to approve any new followers, as if I was tweeting out nuclear codes or something...I have no clue why I did it as I wasn't tweeting that much anyway.

Over time I stopped following most of the footy related accounts, as over the years I really lost interest about the sport. I think football has slowly been reduced from being a really cool sport played by footballers into a show business ran by spoiled influencers. Also, I think the salaries of football players (and most professional athletes) have gotten out of hand over the last year to the point of being outrageous, not to mention the corruption system set up by FIFA.

So out of football, not really interested in fighting over politics (or about anything really) with strangers, what to do? 🤷‍♂️

Crypto Twitter 💸

My third (and current) stage happened as I stumbled upon crypto and became a bag holder, (ahem, crypto enthusiast).

Actually, my transition into CT ended my account lockup, as after seeing that my XRP Tip Bot wasn't working I reached out to Wietse Wind and he told me that the Tip Bot could not read tweets from private accounts so no tips would go through.

Since then, I became far more active within the XRP Community (and to start tweeting in English...notice how I used to tweet only in Spanish, my mother tongue) to the point of joining the Good Souls Group in January 2019, which is my main reason to be here.

What's Next?

I really like Twitter. The feeling of being able to connect with anyone (even to have your words read by world leaders) makes this social platform unique and my favorite one.

Over the next years, Twitter will most likely be the only social platform I'll be using, in fact it's the only social media platform I am currently logged in and checking from my phone (I haven't even downloaded Facebook, it already was installed into my phone which is pretty annoying).

So with that said, my friends, I think you will have Moncho on Twitter for a long time and I am thrilled about another decade in this journey.

Header Photo [Source](https://stocksnap.io/photo/MH46O0ISCF)

Today, I want to share a few ideas about how to make the most out of the spare time you may have suddenly found in your daily life, as pretty much the whole world has gone on quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

I think it's really important not only to use the spare time in something useful that will allow us to improve ourselves while social distancing measures are in place, but also to save as much money as possible during this time, as the extent of an economic downturn, although considered already as severe, is still unknown (All the ideas shared here can be pursued for free).

Develop Yourself

Depending on your situation, your excuse of not having enough time to work on developing yourself may have just jumped out the window. Have you always wanted to learn Python, or perhaps work on your soft skills and now you have the time to do it?

With no excuses left, how about enrolling in an Ivy League course for free from any of the following categories?

◾️ Computer Science

◾️ Data Science

◾️ Programming

◾️ Humanities

◾️ Business

◾️ Art & Design

◾️ Science

◾️ Social Sciences

◾️ Health & Medicine

◾️ Engineering

◾️ Mathematics

◾️ Education & Teaching

◾️ Personal Development

Here is the link to the courses:

https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/ivy-league-free-online-courses-a0d7ae675869/

If you don't find anything interesting (I really doubt it), here's also a list of the most popular free courses from coursera.org.

To give you some inspiration, here are some of the most sought after soft and hard skills by employers in 2020:

https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/blog/trends-and-research/2020/most-in-demand-hard-and-soft-skills

Explore a New Podcast

I was not really a big fan of podcasts until recently, but I'm really starting to get a hang of it. Podcasts can be great to get insight from brilliant individuals, to help you look at life in new ways (I am sure we will require some adjustment after this crisis) or to find out about the latest trends in your topics of interest. Here are some suggestions from my side...

The $100 MBA Show

Considered a must-listen business podcast by reputable publications like Inc. magazine, The $100 MBA Show offers you the possibility of getting better at hustling with real life, actionable advice.

https://100mba.net/show/

The Happiness Lab

Based on The Science of Well-being, the course she created at Yale University, this podcast by Dr. Laurie Santos sets the record straight on what it is that actually helps us live a happier life.

https://podcasts.pushkin.fm/happiness-lab?sid=coursera-intro

Stuck @ OM

In his new podcast series, Stuck @ Om, tech blogger and investor OM Malik jumps into Zoom to have “casual but candid conversations” with his guests. OM's new podcast series focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,

https://om.co/category/work/podcast/

Get Fitter

No gym? No problem. I'd like to recommend you this outstanding program from Livestrong called Stronger. It's an 8 week workout plan where you do a 30-40 minute workout session 6 days a week and take a rest day.

Regardless of your current fitness level, the video shows different exercise variations for you to adapt and work progressively towards more difficult ones. Each day is divided by HIIT, strength, recovery, plyometrics and one combination of all of these.

In combination with a good meal plan, this workout if done with consistency can give great results. I did it completely and lost about 20 Kg! (40 Lb).

https://www.livestrong.com/article/1012121-10-workouts-fitter-stronger/

Start a Blog, VIog or your own Podcast

Writing a blog or creating content can help you cope with the uncertainty of the pandemics, not only because it can help you keep your mind busy when you want to take a step back from the news, but also because it can be an additional income source, something that is always part of a sound emergency plan in times of crisis.

Hard to find a topic for your content? How about reviewing and recommending your favorite podcasts? Or letting us know about the progress of your Stronger workout if you go for it? Before you know it you will find yourself with lots of topics to write about.

Photo by Filip Mishevski on Unsplash

In view of the unprecedented crisis we are facing, I'd like to write this month's update a little differently and take the opportunity to dwell on the double threat that this pandemic poses for millions of families worldwide.

COVID-19 has put millions of families who are already in distress against the ropes. On the one hand, a new ruthless invisible enemy threatening to take their lives and that of their loved ones, and on the other, the desperate need to go out amid strict lock downs in place worldwide to bring the daily bread to the table and fend off an old but equally ruthless enemy: hunger.

Like me, perhaps you have felt the stress of having to do social distancing, go into isolation and worry about how this will end, while knowingly building up your anxiety by scrolling through social media. Meanwhile, millions of people living in the endless cycle of extreme poverty have been permanently suffering a different kind of stress, way before the pandemic, as they depend on their daily income to feed their families. For them, there's nothing left from yesterday and nothing can be saved for tomorrow, so placing them on lock down for weeks without any alternative is pretty much serving them a death sentence.

But how did we get here? The inequality that has allowed destiny(?) to serve either pleasant or cruel roadmaps to everyone as if it was some kind of perverse draw is man-made. We have created an insatiable monster of a system where if nothing really changes, the gap between those who have enough money to live well for generations and those in survival mode will only get wider apart after we have defeated the virus.

The change starts with us.

In this unprecedented crisis, we cannot allow ourselves to hold back on empathy and solidarity towards those who are really impacted. If we can afford it, now is the time to do our part to defuse this ruthless system and help those who need it the most because no one else will. The attention of those calling the shots is centered in defeating this virus and avoiding the collapse of our health systems, all of this while an equally lethal crisis is brewing in the developing world as the economy shuts down.

Understandably, charity donation streams will also be severely impacted during the next months as we are all trying to secure the well-being of our families first during these times of uncertainty. However, if you have the blessing of going through this crisis being well-off financially, I would like to encourage you to not forget about those who need it the most and offer a helping hand to the most vulnerable by supporting your preferred charity that tends to the most basic needs. Specially now, every contribution counts. There are no small amounts when you are literally saving lives and remember...

The Update

March has not been a good month for the One More Home project, as the price of XRP against the US Dollar has decreased significantly, reducing the potential positive impact of the XRP raised so far. While the $10000 for the 2020 home to be built in El Salvador is secured, the behavior of the market will be closely monitored to make sure the best possible XRP price is reached prior to funding the home, for which the target funding date is October.

The good news is that on top of the effort to fund one home this year, the One More Home project remains a long-term initiative aiming to leverage on the adoption of digital assets in the long run. In fact, for charitable efforts, raising digital assets during this crisis offers an opportunity to benefit from better conditions down the road, maximizing their potential.

One More Home in Figures

Here are some interesting facts and figures around the progress of the One More Home campaign so far as we approach the micro-donations milestone!

Micro-donations:

XRP via micro-donations and direct deposits:

XRP via ILP deposits (Coil streams and boosts):

Current XRP Balance: 50907.130827 (US$8777.51)‬

Total XRP converted to USD:

USD via campaign page:

Total raised up to date worth

Which means, the goal of the project US$30000 is currently 40.67% funded.

The current balance of the One More Home XRP Fundraiser can be checked here:

https://www.xrptipbot.com/u:onemorehome/n:twitter

New Story Charity's Q2 Internal Letter

Personally, I have always been impressed by the drive, professionalism and passion New Story Charity puts into what they do best: Helping others.

Recently I have come across an internal letter by Brett Hagler, New Story's CEO wrote to the New Story team in preparation of the 2nd quarter of this year. I highly recommend you to read it to get a feeling of how this amazing organization is embracing the challenges of continuing to give to others in the midst of economic turmoil.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/who-were-becoming-q2-2020-brett-hagler/

Header Photo by New Story Charity

The XRP Community hardly ever unanimously agrees on something. Perhaps we can all agree that “XRP is the greatest digital asset ever created”, and that's about it. Well today I have another notion where we can all reach consensus (no pun intended): No proper blog series highlighting XRPL projects can ever be complete if it doesn't include Bithomp, the go-to XRP Ledger explorer...

And while the words of Wietse Wind on all things XRP course carry weight, Bithomp has an impressive list of accomplishments that show its essential role in the XRP Ledger:

• The first user-friendly XRPL explorer, operating
since 2015

• One of the first non-Ripple validators added in the UNL

• Running its validator since September 2017

• One of the first XRP paper wallets.

• The first browser based XRP wallet supporting
mnemonics, offline mode and multi-sig

• The first XRPL explorer with hardware wallets support (An open sourced library was developed to use with ledger, ellipal, secalot)

• The first Testnet explorer for XRPL (also testnet tools).

Bithomp stands at 3425 followers today, let's show them some follow love on Twitter: @bithomp

Alright, let's get to it by first going over Bithomp's most widely used application: It's XRPL explorer, which you can access directly from their homepage by entering either a Ripple address, username or transaction hash in the search bar above the main menu:

Addresses or Usernames

Let's start with an address. And as with all examples in XRPLORE, let's also try out Bithomp's explorer using XRPLApps' address used to tip XRPL validators, which is

From left to right, the first information appearing is related to the account, including whether it has been claimed (in this case it has been registered by xrplapps.), date of activation, method of activation -meaning where did the activation funds proceed from, in this case the XRP Tip Bot- and Bithomp username if applicable (you can create a username in Bithomp, which we'll also check out).

Next, we have the balances, showing real time balance of XRP both reserved and available (and other currencies or IOUs that may be also held by the account), the detailed list of transactions with the possibility of loading additional 100 transactions each time in order to view them, and finally any further accounts activated by the entered account.

Transaction Hash

In the same search bar where we entered the address or Bithomp username we wanted to check, we can also look at XRPL transactions by entering the transaction hash:

which shows a detailed overview of the entered transaction, including its type, time and date and also its source and destination addresses, in addition to further details like memos in the transaction, its amount and its related fee.

Going back to the homepage, it also displays a series of key figures on XRP and the Network: Its price in various denominations (USD, EUR, CNY and BTC), and also the number of activated accounts along with active nodes and validators in the XRPL:

Bithomp Services

Even if you are a relatively new in XRP, chances are that you had already come across the Bithomp Explorer, for example it is the default explorer to check XRPL transactions in Ledger Live, the application for your Nano Ledger hardware wallets.

But in addition to its legacy explorer, Bithomp offers many more functionalities (which I'd like to cover more in-depth in a dedicated post)

Login

The login page allows supported hardware wallets and apps from the following to leverage on the wide range of features offered by Bithomp Tools. Bithomp currently supports:

Username Creation

Through the username creation feature, you can assign a username to your XRP address:

Which comes in handy to conveniently send send funds when you log in on Bithomp via Xumm, hardware wallet (Trezor, Ellipal, Secalot, Nano Ledger) or to quickly check the account activity in the explorer (by just typing the username instead of typing or copy/pasting the XRPL address):

One example of XRP accounts with an assigned username in Bithomp is the XRP Tip Bot:

XRP Tools

Bithomp Tools

Bithomp Tools offers the possibility of working in online or offline (recommended) modes and works with secret key, mnemonic and Ledger Hardware Wallet. Some of its main features allow you to unlock the many possibilities of the XRPL including:

◽️ Multisignature signing (Offline mode).
◽️ Send a Payment: XRP or any IOU.
◽️ Add or Remove a Trustline.
◽️ Place or Cancel Buy/Sell trade orders.
◽️ Add a Gravatar to your XRP account.
◽️ Assign a Domain to your XRP account.
◽️ Create, Execute or Cancel Escrow.
◽️ Add a regular key.
◽️ Add a list of signers (multisig).
◽️ Add a message key.
◽️ Set a flag to Require destination tag.
◽️ Disallow Incoming XRP.
◽️ Enable default rippling.
◽️ Disable Master Key.

Submitting a Transaction

The Submit transaction functionality allows you to submit a signed transaction by entering the signed transaction blob (or blobs if it is a multisig transaction).

To learn more about transaction blobs, you can visit the Transaction Basics page in XRPL.org

Generating a Wallet

Another convenient XRP tool offered by Bithomp allows you to quickly generate XRP wallets (which then you would need to activate by depositing at least the reserve amount of 20 XRP):

As pointed out, never share your secret key with anyone!

Testnet

Also, as mentioned, Bithomp offers the first Testnet explorer (and tools) for the XRPL, which you can freely use to learn more about the functionalities of Bithomp and the XRPL in general before jumping with both feet to the real deal:

Wallets

Back in the homepage, in the Wallets section, Bithomp walks you through the different options to own a Ripple wallet from:

◾️ Hardware wallet (A review of different options in the market)

◾️ Desktop wallet (Not originally developed by Bithomp, although Bithomp offers the possibility to download)

◾️ Paper Wallet (Which Bithomp also offers, and can be a great method to gift XRP to friends and family or as cold storage). Example:

◾️ Web wallet (Wallets that can be accessed via web browser, Bithomp Tools falls within this category and can be used both online and offline).

Instant XRP account Activation

In the early (the really early) days when there were not so many exchanges having listed XRP (and the ones that did had cumbersome KYC processes), it was tricky to buy XRP to quickly activate your own new XRP addresses. Bithomp identified this need and established one of its legacy services, the instant XRP account activation which is offered still today (Via PayPal and PerfectMoney):

With this service you don't need to buy XRP in an exchange to have your new XRP address activated.

XRPL Info

Last but not least, Bithomp dedicates a section to XRPL data, including information about the last ledger closed, account and trust line reserve requirements in place and XRP distribution key figures.

Also information on the first accounts (aka genesis) which includes their genesis XRP balance, their current balance and the nickname, some times indicating to who the account belongs:

XRPL Validators including rating and UNL rating (if listed):

and XRPL nodes:

Bithomp on Social Media

To stay up to date on what Bithomp is up to, you can always follow Bithomp's official account on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/bithomp

And a pro tip, if you want to stay up to date on what the price of XRP is up to, follow @bithompAlerts and turn notifications on to keep a finger in the pulse of the price of XRP:

https://twitter.com/BithompAlerts

As with the rest of the XRPLORE series, this piece on Bithomp is not meant to be an exhaustive review. I would really like to invite you to discover Bithomp by yourself. This will help you learn more about the XRPL, specially these days where you may be finding yourself with additional time which can always be used to learn new things.

I'd like to wrap up by thanking Viacheslav Bakshaev, founder of Bithomp for such an in-depth insight of this XRPL powerhouse and for the exclusive interview he has given me for our Coil subscribers.

Header Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

https://media.giphy.com/media/lgRNj0m1oORfW/giphy.gif

So, I am very grateful with the folks over at Coil for having made it once again to their Boosting Pilot for Content Creators.

As you may know, since I became part of the program, all my payouts have been sent to the One More Home XRP fundraiser to help New Story Charity build homes for families in need. Even with the downturn in XRP prices, I am really happy and thankful with the progress so far...

...so for this month I decided to do something different.

Instead of having the boost donated directly to One More Home, I want to use the boost payout in a much more fun and engaging way, specially now that we are all facing difficulties in our daily lives one way or another due to COVID-19.

Introducing the #Hashtags4Good challenge!

We all could use some fun right now, and why not have some fun while helping others. From today onwards, I will post on my Twitter account a funny hashtag every day for the next days and donate 5 XRP to @GoodXRP charities for every tweet from the community using the hashtag, up until we reach a total of 1000 XRP.

It's been a tough couple of weeks right? But let's not forget that for many, life has been this stressful or even more for years, many even for their entire lives, end for them things are likely to get even worse.

Even though we are facing difficulties ourselves, let's not forget that there are many others facing much more difficult situations.

We have been asked to wash our hands regularly, but how are those without access to clean water supposed to do that? How are you supposed to stay home if you don't have a home? Spain is bracing for the worst of the pandemic, chances are we will sadly see more dogs being abandoned and sent to kill stations. As the economies worldwide take a hit, the need for care, health and education for children at risk become even more important, as so does our environment and our solidarity to those who are vulnerable, like senior and veteran citizens.

You can help! Just post a funny tweet in response to the Hashtags4Good and you will be helping address each one of these issues by having 5 XRP donated to the 9 member charities of the Good Souls Group!

So let the fun begin, let's be kind to one another and #StayHome!

https://media.giphy.com/media/xT0GqIsBdw6mkKbq0g/giphy.gif

Vagabonding: (adj.) wandering from place to place without any settled home; nomadic.

Due to life circumstances, mostly work related, I got my fair share of vagabonding over the last few years. And due to life circumstances, mostly family related, I'm not vagabonding anymore, or at least not that often and not alone, hence proclaiming myself a “Retired Nomad”.

Also because of life circumstances (staying at home for the next two weeks or so to fight the COVID-19 global pandemic), I've decided to write a blog about my travel memories here in Coil.

Perhaps what I'm doing here is the result of a nostalgia attack caused by the new coronavirus as it will most probably keep us from going to visit our family as we had planned in the next months. Maybe writing this blog is my way to cope with these difficult times. Or probably neither (Truth is I had been planning to write this blog for a long time) and this virus was just the final push to get this blog out.

Anyway, as cliché as it sounds, I believe when you travel somewhere, you inevitably create a bond with the place you visit. Just like a little part of you stays at every place you go and you always bring something with you: The impression you leave on the people you meet on your way, a hilarious story, a plethora of cool pictures, or an epic street food feast. These are all memories that make wandering around more than a lifestyle, an addiction.

As we go into this blog you will soon discover that the bonds I've created with the places I've visited are through food, drinks, taking pictures (nothing wrong with any of that in my book) and the occasional anecdotes which I hope you find entertaining.

I must confess, this is not my first attempt to write a travel blog. A few years ago, I miserably failed to put up together a similar effort in WordPress (I won't even bother to post the link here). I'm way more comfortable to put this blog up in Coil, so I'm pretty sure things will work out this time around.

The whole World is going on lock down as we speak. Flights are being cancelled from everywhere to everywhere as we all team up to fight this virus (by staying home!), so I'm guessing you're not traveling anywhere any time soon either. You know what they say: “To remember is to live again” and while we can't travel, I'm more than happy to invite you to this throwback blog and relive my journeys with me.

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