Category: Travel

  • Alchemy is that developer platform layer for Web3

    Alchemy cofounders Nikil and JoeAlchemy

    With the launch of a zillion NFT projects and other crypto experiments (DeFi apps, DAOs, etc.), the blockchain space is as wild as one of those giant inflatables at the car dealership. But there’s a company giving it a backbone: Alchemy. Founded in August 2017, the startup hit a $10+ billion valuation this February and has been heralded by some investors as the “Amazon Web Services of crypto.”

    Morning Brew chatted with Alchemy’s co-founders, Nikil Viswanathan and Joe Lau, to learn about the hot term of the moment, “Web3,” and what the company, well, does exactly.

    So, what does Alchemy do, for the uninitiated?

    Nikil: When you think about the big shifts in technology in the last 100 years, there’s three: personal computers, the internet, and now there’s blockchain or web3. They each had this developer platform that enabled people to build apps. For the computer, that’s your operating system, so Windows or iOS, which lets you build apps on top of it, like Excel or Chrome. The way it does that is by abstracting the underlying technology and making it really easy for people to build.

    Alchemy is that developer platform layer for Web3, for blockchain. So we make it easy for people to build applications [like NFTs].

    You mentioned the term “Web3.” Can you explain what that means?

    Nikil: Computers came along with the idea that machines could follow human instructions. And then the internet gave it this new capability: Two machines could now exchange information between each other, they could talk to each other.

    Web3 is giving a new building block: Now, machines can transact—meaning they can have commerce, they can send money to and from each other. And I know there’s some confusion here because we have PayPal and Venmo, but, without going into technical details, that’s not really being able to transact. That’s just an application built on there. Now, you can take money and put it into code, which was never possible before.

    With all this breakneck growth, do you think blockchain will experience a shakeout similar to what happened following the dot-com boom?

    Nikil: There were a lot of companies that ended up dying in 1999. But it didn’t mean the internet was dead, right? Certain ideas might not have worked out or they might have been too early. And when you look at crypto, there are a lot of people playing with experiments, and “experiment” doesn’t mean it’s going to work. But what it means is there’s a lot of new ideas, new ingenuity, and new products coming into the space. And fundamentally, the reason that Web3 and blockchain is interesting and useful is not because of the technology—it’s because it enables new types of products that were never possible before. Like when you think about NFTs…actually funny story: Now, we do $100+ billion in transactions annually. But our very first user was this guy who built a side project that we thought no one was ever going to use. He built CryptoPunks.

    Do you have any advice for co-founder duos like yourselves?

    Joe: One lesson is just to work with friends and pick them carefully.

    Nikil: This is how we think about hiring and also how we tell people to think about product⁠–market fit, which is the hardest thing to get [right] in an early stage startup. If you’re asking, “Is this the right co-founder fit or do we have product⁠–market fit?”—the answer is no. If you have to ask that question, then you’re not there.

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  • The Battle to Save Waikiki Beach – POLITICO

    HONOLULU — Waikiki might be one of the most famous beaches in the world, a synonym for surfing and sun-soaked vacations that draw millions of people annually. But for years, Honolulu and the State of Hawaii have been reckoning with a very uncomfortable fact: The beach is vanishing. Just below the infinity pool at the Sheraton Waikiki, an advancing shoreline claimed a walkway and set of concrete stairs, which now dangle above the water. At the Outrigger Reef hotel, ocean water laps directly against the wall of the new Monkeypod Kitchen restaurant, still under renovation.Like many places buffeted by the ocean, Waikiki has swung into action — to a point. The hotels along the beach are worth north of a billion dollars, and to preserve that investment, hotel owners and other businesses fund the Waikiki Beach Special Improvement District Association as a kind of coastline-repair department. Near the pink, 94-year-old Royal Hawaiian hotel, the association (in partnership with the state) recently built a $1.8 million groin — an L-shaped finger of rock and concrete that juts into the water and holds sand in place — in addition to widening the beach by 30 feet with 20,000 cubic yards of sand vacuumed up from the bottom of the sea. The group’s next phase of work calls for more of the same: Spending at least $50 million, much of it likely from state and perhaps federal funding, on four more groins and the construction of an entirely new beach in the area fronting the Sheraton, Outrigger Reef and Halekulani hotels.

    Source: The Battle to Save Waikiki Beach – POLITICO

  • Right-Wing Populist Parties Are Bad for Climate Action, Study Finds – EcoWatch

    From Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil to Donald Trump in the U.S., the past five years have offered prominent examples of right-wing leaders who set back collective action against the climate crisis. Now, a study published in Global Environmental Politics this month shows that the issue is much larger than a few high-profile leaders.

    Source: Right-Wing Populist Parties Are Bad for Climate Action, Study Finds – EcoWatch

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  • The Best Chef In The World: 18 Famous Michelin Star Chefs

    There are many talented chefs in the world, but only a select few have been awarded multiple Michelin stars. These prestigious stars are awarded to restaurants that serve exceptional food and provide an unforgettable dining experience. In this article, we will be taking a look at some of the most awarded Michelin star chefs in the world.Who Is The Best Chef in the World?Michelin stars are coveted awards given to restaurants who meet certain criteria set by the Michelin guide. These Michelin star rating criteria include factors such as the quality of the food, the use of fresh ingredients, the creativity of the dishes, and more.There are three levels of Michelin stars: one star, two stars, and three stars. Three-star restaurants are considered to be the best in the world and are very rare. In fact, there are currently only 135 three-star Michelin restaurants in the world.In this article, we have focused on current Michelin star holders. We haven’t included previous Michelin star holders, like the late Joël Robuchon. Named Chef of the Century by foodie guide Gault & Millau, Robuchon held 32 Michelin stars, more than any other chef in history.

    Source: The Best Chef In The World: 18 Famous Michelin Star Chefs

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  • The people using YouTube to pay for their French chateau – BBC News

    Stephanie Jarvis credits YouTube with saving her vast French chateau.She had bought the 40-room, 16th Century home back in 2005 after pooling resources with a friend.Such French castles were relatively cheap at the time, so between them they were able to buy one for £590,000, raising the money by selling both of their two-bedroom London flats.The plan was to turn the property – Chateau de Lalande, in the Centre-Val de Loire region of northern France – into a bed and breakfast, and hire it out for events.However, Ms Jarvis admits that she didn’t factor in just how expensive it would be to pay for the upkeep of such a huge, old building. “I didn’t realise how much money it would take to run,” says the 50-year-old.So, by the start of 2020, the chateau business had yet to make a profit. And then the Covid-19 pandemic arrived, and France went into lockdown.

    Source: The people using YouTube to pay for their French chateau – BBC News

  • All of the new things coming to Disney World in 2022

    This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page.The last two years have been filled with dizzying changes at the Walt Disney World theme parks. While some of the changes were of the pandemic protocol variety, others were genuinely exciting new offerings in and around the parks.At Disney World, 2021 brought us Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure attraction along with the La Crêperie de Paris and Space: 220 restaurants, all within Epcot, which is undergoing its own transformation. There were also new nighttime shows at both Epcot and the Magic Kingdom, a fresh look for multiple iconic monorail hotels — including The Polynesian and Contemporary Resort — and the opening of the Swan Reserve Hotel.Also in 2021 was the debut of the replacement program for FastPass, known as Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. This is a paid service that changes how you’ll need to approach future trips to Disney.But, some other attractions and restaurants we’d hoped to see in 2021 suffered delays that will push them into 2022. Couple that with Disney World stretching out its 50th-anniversary celebration that kicked off in October 2021 for 18 months, and some marque new attractions and experiences await Disney guests in 2022.

    Source: All of the new things coming to Disney World in 2022

  • Why Blended Whiskey Makers Are Now Openly Discussing Their Spirits – Robb Report

    Joe Beatrice spends his day tasting whiskey, assessing the character of the contents of barrel after barrel throughout his multiple maturation warehouses. It’s one of his jobs, along with his two full-time blenders, to know the flavor profiles of the over 10,000 casks of bourbon and rye they own. But while this is standard work at a distillery, what’s different about Barrell Craft Spirits, the company Beatrice founded in 2013, is that it’s never distilled a drop.Barrell is one of the most celebrated of the new wave of non-distilling producers, or NDPs. In and of themselves, NDPs are nothing new; if you drink American whiskey, you’ve probably enjoyed many of them over the years, perhaps without even knowing it. Bulleit, for example. Or Redemption Rye, Templeton or Angel’s Envy. The list goes on.

    Source: Why Blended Whiskey Makers Are Now Openly Discussing Their Spirits – Robb Report

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  • France’s Most Medieval Towns Are Ready To Take You Back In Time

    France is a country of many wonders: the exciting seaside romps of St. Tropez and Nice, the glittering lights of Paris, and the beautiful cobblestones of Lyon have long attracted visitors from all over the globe – but even its provincial spots hold wonders the most history-loving adventurers would love to uncover.France’s roots can be traced back to the Germanic-Franc Kingdom of Francia, the heart of the Carolingian Empire in the 4th century. Throughout the Middle Ages France was powerful, if divided, territory, surviving and even thriving through complicated periods like the Hundred Years War with England and even the Black Death.Though many cities, most famously Paris, had their medieval winding roads thorn down for a 19th-century urbanscape, many towns and villages spread across the country maintain their medieval roots intact.To visit some of these French medieval relics is to go back in time and catch a glimpse of a time in human history that was, despite common belief otherwise, a vibrant time, with many interesting developments – and what may be most relevant to us today, beautiful architecture and cities.

    Source: France’s Most Medieval Towns Are Ready To Take You Back In Time

  • Green Chartreuse – Gastro Obscura

    In 1084 AD, St. Bruno of Cologne formed an order of silent monks called the Carthusians. They resided in a valley of the Chartreuse Mountains, a region of the French Alps, near Voiron. By 1605, they were a large, well-respected order, and King Henri IV’s Marshal of Artillery presented the Carthusians with an ancient alchemical manuscript. It contained a recipe for an elixir that would prolong life.But after looking over the document, even the most learned of monks were at a loss. The concoction called for 130 different plants. It required advanced distillation, infusion, and maceration techniques. No one could even decode the recipe until 1737, when the monastery’s apothecary finally produced a liqueur following the ancient text. Even then, it’s assumed he took creative liberties.A lone monk delivered the first bottles of potent herbal tonic (which was 69 percent alcohol) to surrounding villages by mule. But it didn’t end there: In 1764, the Carthusians adapted the recipe into a milder liqueur called Green Chartreuse. The update, which was still potent at 55 percent alcohol, is the version we consume today. Some tasters describe it as an herbaceous, sinus-clearing drink that’s “almost mentholated in its immediate heat.” The monks themselves recommend serving it cold, either chilled or on the rocks.Despite increasing demand, the order has continued the tradition of having just two monks handle the entire process. Only Dom Benoît and Brother Jean-Jacques know all the ingredients and how to turn them into the beloved, moss-toned liqueur. Once they’ve readied a batch, they age it in huge oak casks inside the world’s longest liqueur cellar. Several years later, the same men test the product and decide if it’s ready for bottling. That’s where their work ends, as all subsequent phases of production are handled by other parties.The liqueur is now sold all over the world, with funds going toward the monastery. Buying alcohol lauded for longevity and a righteous cause? You’d be a sinner not to drink to that.

    Source: Green Chartreuse – Gastro Obscura

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  • Web3 explained: What is it and why do we need it? | ZDNet

    Suddenly, talk of cryptocurrencies and NFTs has turned into a proposed revamp of the entire internet. Here’s what you need to understand.

    Source: Web3 explained: What is it and why do we need it? | ZDNet

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