nickelndime

In this series, I recalled taking my wife and 9 month old on the worst vacation ever.

4) Politics... yeah, I'm going there.

I'm really proud this was well received. It gave me comfort knowing people felt the way I did about the political climate.

3) I Had a Stroke!!!

https://www.cinnamon.video/watch?v=320789112216880910

This article was very therapeutic. Writing it helped pass the time while I was in the hospital being poked and prodded.

2) Universal Humdrums (Podcast)

This was a project that I had been putting off for the longest time. It's has been an absolute blast to do this. I can *guarantee that you will at least smile when you listen to this podcast.

*not a guarantee

1) I'm Coding a Game (series)

https://nickelndime.net/games/

The, “I'm Coding a Game” series was such a great learning experience. While technically I finished the series, I will continue to work on this project by adding more and more features. The best part is I enabled Coil on my website so if people play the game, I make fat stacks of XRP.

You can try it out here:

A heads up, people complained that it was too easy. I'm working on that.

Honorable mentions:

I also did some cooking videos, blogs, and a couple cover tunes. Here's my favorites of those series.

Banana Smoothie

Sandra's Request, “Fiddler's Green”

During all of this, I was selected to be a member of the Coil Boost program.

How much did I make?

Through the Boost program, I earned a total of 15k in XRP. At the current market value, that would be about $3000.00 in USD. While that isn't enough to quit my day job, I'm still happy with it. I started writing just to test the technology out, and I really liked the concept of not seeing ads while at the same time supporting the content creator directly through the ILP. That is one amazing feature about Coil, no ads whatsoever. It reminds me of the early days of the internet. It's almost zen-like. Another great aspect is that while I'm getting compensated, all the content I create is still mine. If Coil fails, or I don't like their platform anymore, I still own everything I created.

For the cynics who say, “You're wasting your time.” my reply to that would be:

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” – Bertrand Russell

Future Plans

What I like most about this space is that it is new and exciting! There are so many options and avenues to explore. While I intend to continue blogging, and creating other content, I'm really looking forward to submitting an idea I have for, “Grant for the Web.” GftW is awarding grant money for ideas that innovate web monetization. I don't want to go into it in too much detail here, since I plan on blogging about the whole process as I go through it.

In Conclusion...

All in all, I would say my year using Coil has been a positive experience. I got to create content that was something I wanted to work on, all while being compensated for my time.

Now before all the Trolls come out of the wood work and screech, “But that's only because you're in the boost program!” before they scurry back into the dredges...

They really are adorable until they open their stupid little mouths.

I acknowledge this. The boost program will not be here forever, nor do I want it to be. Hopefully if the ecosystem grows, there will be no need to have boosts, the income would be earned from just subscribers viewing my work. I will say it's pretty fun watching my Cinnamon account when someone is viewing my videos. Watching the little ticker flickering a tenth of a penny makes me feel like such a big shot...

NickelNDime after he made 1.00 USD on Cinnamon.

Should I the reader get a Coil membership?

I can't answer that, because I'm not you. Also, to be honest, I've gone out of my way not to tell friends and family. The last thing I want to come across as is a MLM salesperson... I know what that's like. My only advice is don't join with the expectation of making tons and tons of money or cryptocurrency, you'll most likely burn out quickly and be very disappointed. However, if you want to share your content or creations to a new and for the most part supportive community, then saddle up partner!

Till we meet again,

Take it easy, but take it!

NickelNDime out!

Below this line is where the really cool content is. I'm not in any way overselling it when I claim that below this line is better than the VIP room from the famous Studio 54 disco club.

Wordless Wednesday – Charlevoix, MI

May 20, 2020

Ciabatta Rolls

May 15, 2020

Yesterday, @BurntEnds88 aka John, wrote a great blog on making a Steak Ciabatta Sandwich. When I finished the article I thought to myself, Not bad, John. Not bad at all. Like any rational person, the second thought I had after reading his article was, He probably thinks I can't make a ciabatta roll! Well he's about to find out how wrong he is!

After having this epiphany, I leapt to action. I flipped through the channels on T.V. until I found the most appropriate show I could find for my 3 year old and 8 month old.

Detroit was a safer place when John Murphy was policing it's streets.

After I got the two little ones situated, I ran to the kitchen as giddy as a girl who just got asked out by the captain of the football team.

“I'M FREAKIN' MAKING CIABATTA ROLLS!!!” – NickelNDime 60 – 90 days into quarantine.

No Knead Ciabatta Rolls:

What makes this recipe so easy is it is a no kneading dough. Even without kneading the bread it still comes out so light and fluffy, you could use it as a pillow!

* Please don't use this bread as a substitution for your pillow.

The ingredients:

280 g of water (room temperature)

350 g of flour

1 packet of fast acting yeast

1 tsp salt

2 tsp of garlic powder (optional)

I have discovered that it is best to weigh the flour and water. The problem with using measuring cups, is it's very easy to pack too much flour in a measuring cup, making the mixture slightly off.

1) Add yeast to water

Have the water be at room temperature and then add the packet of yeast. Wait until the yeast looks like it is activated, about 10 mins.

2) Combine all the dry ingredients

In a separate bowl, add the flour, salt, and garlic powder together.

3) Combine wet and dry ingredients

Next, slowly pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the water and yeast mixture. Mix the two with a wooden spoon.

It must be a wooden spoon, because if not, what's the point? After the two mixtures are done, you should have something that looks like this:

Once the dough is all mixed up, cover the bowl and wait 30 minutes. When you pull it out it should look like this:

4) Fold the dough

This is the hardest part of the whole recipe. Since we are not kneading the dough, we have to 'fold' it. That's where we grab one side of the dough and fold it over the other half. Be sure to wet the tips of your fingers so the dough doesn't stick to them. When you finish you should have something that looks like this:

5) Rotate and repeat

Now that you've folded it, rotate the bowl by 90 degrees and fold it again. Since it's the first folding session, you want to fold it a total of 8 times. Cover and place back in a dark area for 60 minutes.

When the 60 minutes complete, take out and fold 4 more times. Cover and place back in a dark area for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes take out and fold 4 more times. That's the last time you'll fold this dough. Let it proof for another 45 minutes.

6) Shape and Place

Heavily flour a work surface, and place the dough onto floured surface. Flour the top of the dough, as well as your hands. Shape the dough into a rectangle like so:

Next roll into a cylinder. Be careful not to pop any bubbles in the dough. When completed you should have something that looks like this:

Next, cut the dough into 3 equal pieces and place on a pan. Place into an oven at 450 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes:

It's also very important to fill a dish of water, or have a spray bottle of water at this step. You want the inside of your oven like a sauna. I put a dish of water in the oven after this picture.

When the bread is done cooking, you should have something that looks like this:

I was going to make the steak sandwich from BurntEnds88's blog, but I was too tired to cook up a steak. So instead I grabbed some Prosciutto, Provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, and Italian dressing I had lying around my kitchen, and made an Italian Ciabatta Sandwich.

This was the beer I had with it:

Short's is so hit or miss with their beers. This beer was definitely a miss, or maybe an IPA doesn't compliment this sandwich. Either way the bread is some of the lightest, fluffiest bread I've ever made. Try it out!

NickelNDime, out!

With a subscription to Coil, you can read below this line. I'm not overselling it when I say that below this line is written word so amazing, that it would amuse your average reader. I know, I tend to brag a lot. It's something I need to work on.

Wordless Wednesday-Gatlinburg,

Tennesse May 13, 2020

Open for Business!!!

May 8, 2020

Hello my fellow Coilers, you've probably missed me and have been wondering where I've been...

Okay well then, no worries. I bet you were at least wondering what I've been doing...

That's the spirit!

Okay, I won't keep you in suspense any longer. Over the last couple weeks...

I've been hard at work...

building...

wait for it.....

I built......

A website!

Now I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, “But NickelNDime, does that mean you're leaving Coil?” It's okay to have those thoughts and feelings of anxiety, because I'm a very important person. The answer is 'no,' I'm not leaving Coil. I built the website to compliment my Coil account. I know, it sounds confusing, doesn't it?

This might have been the best sketch these three were in together.

Let me explain. I've been blogging about coding my own PC game since October of last year. To the readers that have followed me along on that journey I would like to thank you all for your support. That's why it was bitter sweet when I finished. On one hand, I had finished a game that was pretty cool to play. On the other, none of my readers could play it. Rather than fall into despair, I got to thinking, and I remembered reading about a feature Gamemaker Studio 2 had.

The coding software had an add-on for purchase that would allow me to compile my game down to a HTML file! My brain went into overdrive as it tried to solve my dilemma...

If only my brain was this productive.

It finally came to me that if I designed a web page, complied my game to a HTML file, then my readers could play my game! However, what started as a simple 5 minute project, turned into a month long ordeal that consumed my ever waking moment.

What was the hold up?

When I first compiled the game for HTML, it was unplayable. I had to go back and re-code certain sections. Next, I coded the website using WordPress, which was a steep learning curve for me. Then after that, the game was not syncing with the website. Lastly I hooked my Coil account up to it, so if any Coil subscribers go to my page, I make phat XRP!!!

Does anyone else hear Ric Flair's voice when you see this meme?

What's on the site?

That was another reason for the delay. I didn't want a, 'one page website' with my game on it, so I designed it with some room to grow. A lot of my favorite blogs I've written on Coil will be put in the BLOG section. As of right now, there's just the, “I'm Coding a Game” series in that section. Next, I made a podcast! I'm being very humble when I say this, but it's the greatest podcast in the history of podcasts...ever! Finally, there's a section for my game and hopefully, room for future games.

One drawback...

As of right now, the game only plays on a desktop or laptop. There are plans in the future to make a mobile version, but as of right now, it only runs on a basic computer.

Anyway I should quit stalling...

https://nickelndime.net/

Hope you dig it!

NickelNDime

Below this line, is a bunch of important stuff, like really important stuff. To read below this line, subscribe to Coil today!

The Most Influential Man You've Never Heard of

May 1, 2020

If you and I were having a debate on who the most influential person over the last 100 years was, you might name a world leader, human rights activist, or possibly a famous celebrity. My answer would be a man who's name you've probably never heard before.

Edward Burnays

I swear I did not Photoshop that mustache. That thing is 100 percent legit.

He single handily shaped almost every facit of modern society. From the clothes you wear, to the political party you support, Edward Burnays worked behind the scenes to create the illusion of choice. To understand more first we must go over who he was, and where he came from.

Who was he?

Edward Burnays was born in Vienna on November 22, 1891. As a young adult, he immigrated to the United States looking for a better life and opportunity. Not uncommon for a lot of people of that time. However, Edward had a something most immigrates of that time did not, a famous uncle. His uncle was this guy:

This is Sigmund Freud, founder of Psychoanalysis. Also smoker of many cigars, which he assured everybody that, “They are just cigars!”

Burnays would use his uncle's teachings to shape and mold society like it was a lump of clay, all while the population was completely unaware they were being manipulated. For those who don't know of Freud's work, it was the belief that people were controlled by their subconsciousness, or hidden desires. People acted not out of logic or reason, but from emotions that they're not even aware of. When Burnays came to the US, he put his uncle's teachings to good use... by helping the tobacco companies.

Torches of Freedom

Tobacco companies at the time had a huge problem that they couldn't solve. Women did not smoke cigarettes. Ad campaign after ad campaign failed to succeed in getting women to pick up such a lovely habit. So, a tobacco company hired Burnays to help solve their problem, and he did it by organizing one event. That's right, he got half of the population to start smoking by one event.

During the 1929 Easter Parade in New York, Burnays staged an event. He hired a bunch of prominent woman at the time to light up cigarettes and have the newspapers capture the event. The event was then seen as part of the woman's lib movement, and the cigarettes the women held were referred to as, “Torches of Freedom.” After that one event, women smoking was no longer considered taboo, but empowering.

Other companies soon took notice of Burnays handiwork and soon hired him. Even political and governments consulted Burnays to advise in campaigns and public relations. He would help transform in the way people viewed themselves, and how they viewed others.

From a 'needs' to 'wants' society

Before Burnays entered advertisement and PR, Americans were a 'need' based economy. What that means is people would only purchase goods if they were absolutely necessary. A person wasn't concerned how an item of clothing looked, they cared about how long that item of clothing would last for. Edward changed society into a 'want' based economy, the consumer now cared how that piece of clothing looked, but more importantly, how it made them feel.

To illustrate this point more I'll use the example of cake mixes. When instant cake mixes came out, they were not selling. Food manufactures were banging their heads against the wall because they tasted just as good as making them from scratch and took a fraction of the time. The food manufactures once again turned to Burnays to help them out, and he did. He had several housewives fill out questionnaires about how they felt about the product. What he concluded was that wives felt guilty about the instant cake mix being too easy to make. They felt that they were being negligent or cheating at being a homemaker. Burnays told the food manufactures to add one more direction to the instant cake mix. The direction required the person add one extra item...

I would never eat another egg again if I ever saw a yolk smiling at me.

Yep, add one egg. This eliminated the guilt women felt about using the instant cake mix. Like clock work, once this change was made to the directions, instant cake mixes flew off the shelves.

What Burnays proved with these types of marketing techniques which are still used til this very day is that people care more about how the product makes them feel over it's actual intended propose. This is used all the time in advertisement today. Burnays also discovered a concept that would later be defined as product loyalty. Humans, he discovered, where a trusting species. If a company could win them over, they would most likely stay with that brand forever.

All of these experiments and discoveries would be used in his next foray... politics.

Coolidge wins election with help from Burnays

This was Calvin Coolidge, he was 30th President of the United States. I know this because the elementary school I went to was named after him. Our school mascot was the cougar, and the teachers would also refer to themselves as cougars... something that still brings a smile to my face to this day.

Calvin Coolidge had a big problem when he was running in the Presidential election of 1929. That problem was he was very quiet which earned him the nickname, “Silent Cal.” This personality trait made it very hard for the commoner to relate to the candidate. That's when Calvin hired Burnays as a consultant for his campaign.

Burnays organized a pancake breakfast and hired some of the biggest celebrities of the time. He enlisted the star power of Al Johnson, Raymond Hitchcock, and the Dolly Sisters to attend. Burnays then let newspapers take photos of the President having breakfast with all these stars like it was a casual occurrence at the White House.

Calvin won the electoral college with 382 votes, and the won the popular vote by 2.5 million. Burnays proved the people cared little on what Coolidge stood for, but it was how they precieved him that mattered. We can see that this type of campaigning is still used in today's elections. Today, pundits will debate over a candidates 'likability,' while glossing over their views on major issues.

With all the success Edward Burnays achieved with his uncle's teachings, you'd think his uncle would be happy...

Furious Uncle Freud

When Sigmund Freud learned of his nephew's actions, he was mortified. He believed that Psychoanalysis and his work should be for the benefit of mankind, and not to manipulate and control the masses. Edward did not share his uncle's view. He once remarked:

Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. – Edward Burnays

Edward didn't believe much into free thought, or free will. He believed that only a select few should control the masses, and that the masses should be controlled like a herd of cattle.

Regardless of how you feel about him, you have to admit, Edward Burnays was an extremely influential person in the last hundred years. Maybe even the most influential.

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Wordless Wednesday Northport, Michigan

April 30, 2020

Follow me on:

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Music Videos by Famous People That Broke my Brain.

April 18, 2020

I've been meaning to put this blog together for awhile and seeing as I just got done with coding my game, I figured why not do something light and humorous . The videos I've selected cover such a wide array of genres. Some are obscure, while others were done by well known artists. The only commonality to them is that they still make me scratch my head in confusion when I watch them. Enjoy!

Johnny Cash – The Chicken in Black

I'd like to start by saying I'm a huge fan of the Man in Black. Once on a date in my teenage years, I proceeded to play, “Live From San Quienten” for my date over and over as we drove around for hours. I did this because she informed me she wasn't really into Johnny Cash's music. I still cringe at the memory of my date asking me where we were going while a teenage NickelNDime continued to drive around aimlessly for hours muttering, “Shhh, you really need to listen to his music, then you'll get it.”

Because if there was one thing I knew about women at the time, it was that they loved being told what to like. Dinner did not fare much better, I'm afraid...

This is exactly the same look my date gave me after I casually let it slip that I could play, “Walk the Line” on the guitar with my eyes closed. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTP9__vi3d4&t=4s

I'm not recalling this story to impress you with my Don Juan persona from my high school days, but to illustrate how much I dug Johnny Cash. He was just so cool! Everything about him just worked. The haggard look and the baritone voice worked perfectly for songs like, “Sunday Morning Coming Down” or, “A Boy Named Sue.” To me, Johnny Cash was the living embodiment of the word, 'cool'.

..which is why I was so confused when I saw this video late one night on TV, while I was in my early twenties.

I can still recall the sinking feeling I had when I watched this video for the first time. It was like finding out about Santa Clause, or that professional wrestling is just beefy men pretending to fight. Keep in mind, I first saw this in the late 90's when internet wasn't readily available. It wasn't like I could pull out my phone and search for a story behind this nightmare of a song.

It's not that I don't like funny or humorous songs, I think those are great. However, this song was neither funny or humorous. Something about the way the music was recorded just didn't sit well with me. It sounded like an 80's over-compressed type sound, where all the tones are removed, and what's left is something very hollow. The lyrics feel like they were written in the span of twenty minutes and there was no rewrites. Well, I remember thinking to myself, every great is allowed one stinker. I chalked it up to that, and totally forgot about it.

The story behind this song.

It was a year or two later that I was having a conversation with somebody that was a bigger Johnny Cash fan than I was. Somehow this song came up and I voiced my disappointment towards Cash and confused on why he would release such an awful song. The person that I was conversing with told me a rumor about that song.

Apparently Cash's record label at the time was ending its 25 year partnership with Cash but still wanted one more album from him. Cash knowing this wrote the most ridiculous idea he could think of, and that's how we ended up with, “Chicken in Black.” Classic Johnny Cash, giving the middle finger to the record labels.

The Jacksons – Torture

Yes, it's the same Jacksons from the “Jackson 5.” However, this video and song was from the mid 80's, way past their, “ABC 123” and, “I Want You Back” days. This video features all kinds of crazy! I would like to tell you about it, but just have to look for yourself...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxSfQeCoFUM

This video has everything! It has a space setting, aliens, giant spiders, keytare, a story line that makes absolutely no sense, and stop motion skeletons. There is however, one thing it does not have, and that is a Michael Jackson. You see, by this time, Michael was at the height of his super-stardom and probably didn't want to commit to this video. I'm guessing he recorded the song and album out of a sense of loyalty. However, not wanting to retain any sense of dignity for themselves, the brothers found a way to still capitalize off Michael's stardom. If you didn't catch it the first time you watched, go to 6:05 of the video.

If you're wondering why Michael seems a little lifeless in the shot, it's because they used a wax statue of the King of Pop as a stand in.

Okay, a fair warning to the viewer, once you watch this video, you cannot un-watch it. You can turn back now, and nobody would view you any differently. I would like to give you a synopses of what you're about to see, but it's best if you just watch it with no context... because I don't think there is a context.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chlxpPAbIqE

So, I wan't to make it crystal clear that I find nothing of value about this video and/or song. Why I'm so fascinated by it is I wonder about its inception. Howie Mandel was a funny comedian in the 80's. He wasn't the best, and he surly wasn't the worst. That's what makes this video even more perplexing. I wonder if at anytime during the making of this, did he ask, “Is this even funny?” My guess is, he probably did not. Or what about the director, or producer who green lit this abomination? Did anyone at any time utter the phrase, “Wait a minute, this isn't funny...” My guess is no, no they did not. The only explanation I've come up so far for the creation of this video is: it was the 80's and people were doing tons of cocaine during that decade so everything must've seemed like a good idea at the time.

The final cherry on top, or ironic part of this, is this man now judges other people on their talent on a national TV show.

NickelNDime, out!