Mondays on Tuesday - Compare Basic

In the age of pillaging and stealing, having a healthy economy to steal from was a requirement. Now the requirement is the talent to transform and innovate. I talk a lot about personal experience and why I have compassion and also what is wrong with the idea of status driving so much of our economy. Note: The second band that I forgot to mention who released a great able a decade after the single they were known for is Three Days Grace. You may now them from the song I Hate Everything About You. Links: What Happend Last Decade - Matt Arnold of Spark Consulting (The Blink 182 reference): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGisU8e7jv8 Blink 182 - Black Rain (2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHQ_xMJ6SdQ Three Days Grace - I Am Machine (2015) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zx6RXGNISk Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

Unpacking what of a whole human could grow at work personally to grow a business and how effort-intensive leisure activities may be a window into a better work experience. I talk about the difference between proffesionalism and a hobbyist. I also make fun of what people think money can buy: the ability to treat people however you want to. And conclude that work life-balance is not up for debate. If you think it is: next time your phone has a low battery give it a pep talk instead of a phone charger! Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

This week I go over the parts of Agile development that I miss, in an effort to reframe what has happened with my soloprenuer journey over the last two and a half years. The title is modeled on a book by Douglas Crawford titled JavaScript the Good Parts. I also go into why LLM based AI may be the wrong answer to the right question: how to make programming more responsive, and how to make user interfaces smoother. My answer is that visual scripting, such as what is found in game engines or 3D modeling and rendering software, is a better option to delivering high quality software than the impersonation aspects of LLM AI. Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

Jav joins me today as a special guest! Our discussion winds from idating on society setups through a role playing game that he has run through a few groups for two year long games at times. And our speculation on the reason small online projects, sports teams, and marriages all share the same need to work on a more perfect union. A recent debate about the definition of genocide resulted in some advice that was very helpful to me from Jav last week. We talk about how defining what it means to destroy a group of people sheds light on the meaning of humans in society. Links: Anarchists Without Borders (bluesky): https://bsky.app/profile/anarchswoborders.bsky.social Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

Two conventions that have overstayed their welcome: being first as a means of business value, and education through memorization. I reflect these insights through two events from 100 and 200 years ago. I also make a case for what could be done differently, by treating the concept of "first" as the begining of the journey not the goal, and using existing material as the jump-off point for investigation instead of the destination. Somewhere in these topics I also cast dought on the accuracy of factial-recognition and talk a little bit about why, from a computer science perspective. Correction: The ITBS tests predate the company I mentioned, Pearson was an education company in the Cedar Rapids area, but ITBS tests started in 1939 from the University of Iowa: https://www.iowapbs.org/iowapathways/mypath/2701/standardized-testing-begins-iowa Logical Falicies Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYwwNhLvQQI Rothschild Pump and Dump of 1815: https://www.artometrics.com/rothschild-the-bankers-who-beat-napoleon/ Differential Equations Paper: https://tomrocksmaths.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/the-differing-impacts-of-differential-equations-on-the-economy.pdf Efficient Market Hypothesis: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/efficientmarkethypothesis.asp Overly-confident Facial Recognition Article: https://www.securityindustry.org/2022/07/23/what-science-really-says-about-facial-recognition-accuracy-and-bias-concerns/ Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

The age-old question of the chicken or the egg... contextually relevant to both job-hunting, basic operational economics, and the question that keeps me pondering: how do we get the experience we need to get the jobs that need that experience? Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

The next forest is a concept about how to re-build the vibrant economic and social society that we want after the world burns down. I talk about my perspective on what has caused this. A lack of modernization as we moved from a manufacturing economy to a services economy. Our memorization based education system has re-inforced the wrong skills, and our delegated decision structure in business culture has created a large mismatch between effective work and company functions. What we are seeing are ruptures not cracks. The episode is inspired by the permaculture strategies I studied in the 90's. I talk about co-operative biological systems in forests and how that may provide a model for rebuilding our economy. Note: I recorded this with the wrong microphone, it used my computer's microphone instead of the headset. Upon review, I liked the content enough to publish it, but you'll notice a bit of background sounds and a difference from the other episodes. Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

This one is a bitter series of topics. Uplifting only if you are looking for the answers about the fleeting small business and entrepreneurial communities, declining industry in the United States, and potentially balanced look at the history of creating something that is ahead of the curve. "I am, today, signing into law H.R. 6971, which will make it illegal for manufacturers to fix the prices of consumer products sold by retailers. [...] The so-called fair trade laws were a response to the unique economic conditions of the Depression. These State laws require all retail merchants to sell brand name merchandise at a price set by the manufacturer if the manufacturer wanted his product to be labeled a fair trade item. [...] In today's economy, these restraints on competition no longer make sense." - President Gerald Ford, December 12th, 1975 President Fords Address is on page 38 of this document: https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/sites/default/files/pdf_documents/library/document/0055/1669141.pdf Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

From warriors to caregivers this podcasts examines the lens of emerging strength in male archetypes through the lens of a few movies: Blade Runner, Wall Street, Zoe And The Astronaut, The Walterweight, The American Revolution, Margin Call. Strength has historically been associated with war, physical power, or the business-shark hard-hitting business-man. In light of recent events, with the murder of Alex Pretti, the role of admirable hero goes to a male nurse, while the role of coward goes to the federal agents with guns. This reversal of classical male stereotypes inspired a contemplation of how valuable care giving is in our society by reflecting on plots in the above movies. Links: Zoe And The Austronaut trailer: https://youtu.be/W-IGjtXayiM?si=rd7zXeYWIBFcLWie The Welterweight teaser promo: https://youtu.be/KKuAoaxklgI?si=3UroPk0JwLVGdIP9 Nurse Liz Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OORzVGLDdvg&t=13s Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

The small pigeon gets bigger by finding crumbs that have bounced far away, while the other pidgins fight over the larges piece of bread. I talk in this episode about how the economy of scale has shaped consolidation, and how small or emerging companies have a huge opportunity by chasing anything nuanced, high quality, or at a premium price. Full of reflection about how scheduling using software is killing retail and restaurant staff's way of life. It's a hopefully cynical episode. Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

Advocating for starting over is tough in a world that is holding on to a business culture that is bleeding out. I outline three things I think the small business world can do to catch the falling pieces of the American big business world. #1 A skills marketplace that goes beyond a traditional resume. #2 A way to let bottom-up decision making balance participation and trust. #3 An accounting model that can track intangible assets to re-balance company value away from salary being a cost without financial benefit. Article referenced in the podcast: Why are Amazon, Intel, Microsoft and 17 others cutting 165,000 jobs now? A massive structural shift is hitting the U.S. corporate workforce in 2026 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/why-are-amazon-intel-microsoft-and-17-others-cutting-165000-jobs-now-a-massive-structural-shift-is-hitting-the-u-s-corporate-workforce-in-2026/articleshow/127160433.cms Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

Live you're values is better than lecturing your values. Lecture your values and walk away with nothing or live your values and have the satisfaction of incremental progress. This episode focuses on the role of patience in knowledge transfer, and how that forms a background for composable software and usable user interfaces. Book mentioned on the podcast: Atomic Habbits by James Clear https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

Seriously Human is the employment framework from Compare Basic. This podcast outlines the ideas of how a hybrid worker-collective corporation could be structured and run. And what project-management steps would need to happen for that to be the case. I also outline a little bit about the business model in comparison to a restaurant. We have open source tools, restaurants use the same ingredients you can buy at the store, you pay both of us for out service. Read more about Seriously Human at https://comparebasic.com/seriously_human.html Correction: my update was inaccurate, I recorded early last week, but then skipped the Tuesday, so my predicted progress was a week late but still awesome. Film referenced in the podcast: A New Economy, Written and directed by Trevor Meier, https://filmsfortheplanet.com/a-new-economy/ Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

In a bit of a technical mood, I talk extensively in this episode about the cornerstone of the Caneka system I am building with Compare Basic. If your alergic to tech-jargon, best to skip to the next episode! I do explain in metaphorical terms some of the struggles that modeling the world using existing assumptions has created. As inspriation struck I recorded this podcast early: It's Mondays on Tuesday (on Friday!). Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

This week it's all about explaining how the business world has eroded from a lack of modern accounting practices. But it's not all sad, there is a lot of hope from explaining how the physical world of manufacturing equipment was easier on business leader egos, but also shines a light into what could be the financial and decision making opportunity to repair a lot of the damage to the working world of today. Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

Let's stop ignoring things until they are complete, and take notice of the developmental phases of 0.1, 0.3 0.2 etc... I do a shallow dive into some examples of amazingly successful things (Dyson Vacumes, Godsmack the band) and the sad light their struggles cast on how developing value is recognized by the business community. I go into a deep explanation of what Compare Basic is working on, through an explanation of our three phases: R&D, Products, Teams. And generally ramble about what incremental innovation could be in the American software industry for improvements in every day products. Links from this episode: The Story of Dyson: From Bag-less Idea to Global Brand https://atouchofbusiness.com/companies/dyson-limited/ Godsmack: The Music Museum of New England https://www.mmone.org/godsmack/ Better Offline - Ed Zitron (Episode: Part One NVIDIA Isn't Enron - So What Is It?) https://www.betteroffline.com/ Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

This week is burnout week, as I talk about the separation and boundaries of software and every day life. My hope that we will emerge from this winter in the software industry, with patterns and conventions that empower users rather than rely on extractive media remains strong. Have a good holiday, and join me at https://comparebasic.com, I'd love to hear from you. Your host, Firecrow Silvernight, founder Compare Basic, https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html For clarification, NaCl is used in libSodium, but not OpenSSL, the phraseology of the recording made that statement ambiguous. My intention was to clarify that Caneka can work with NaCl or OpenSSL not an indication that there is a relationship between those two entirely separate cryptography libraries. Software mentioned on the podcast: Caneka: https://caneka.org NaCl Daniel J. Bernstein, Tanja Lange, and Peter Schwabe: https://nacl.cr.yp.to/ OpenSSL: https://openssl-library.org/ Your host, Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

Innovation big and small. Matt Arnold of Spark Consulting Group joins your host Firecrow Silvernight on the podcast today as we discuss innovation and how large and small companies come to terms with fundamental themes in their business more effectively than conducting "innovation theater". It was a lively conversation that touched on accounting methods and conversational strategy. The book Innovation Accounting by Dan Toma and Esther Gons was mentioned. And a shout out to Patriot Software for helping run payroll for Compare Basic. I mention briefly what the setup experience was, and even though it's small this is a big step for us. Along the way we mention the "Adoption Papers" , which is my funny name for the Diffusion of Innovation page on Wikipedia. Matt was one of the early crowd-funders for us and it's always great to catch up and hear stories and insights from him. His experience ranges from large name-brand insurance companies to small boutique startups. I thought it was a lively conversation and I hope you enjoy the podcast. Links: Spark Consulting: https://inspiredbyspark.com Compare Basic: Compare Basic Firecrow Silvernight: https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html Innovation Accounting (book): https://innovationaccountingbook.com/ Patriot Software: https://patriotsoftware.com Adoption Papers (WikiPedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations

A little trip down memory lane, and how software could bridge the best of the past and the future. The update this week is about stepping back, to supplement my income with a day-job, while I re-tool the system to break through the noise of convention. I talk a little bit about the resistance I've faced in the software industry around my conclusion that the existing tooling in software development is not sufficient. You Host Firecrow Silvernight from Compare Basic.

This podcast compares the reliability of classical data-science techniques (NGram, MapReduce, Co-ocurrenceMatrix) vs LLM based AI's. It's a shallow dive full of metaphors and humor, or at-least I laughed a lot while recording it. Your host Firecrow Silvernight

Identity issues rule the world, and our login portal is almost functioning, the symphony of components is doing well. In this episode I give an explanation for how in-human behavior can come from Humans. Through the lens of a fictional scenario, at a fictional company that manufactures screws. Your host Firecrow Silvernight

This podcast focuses on the economy of the US and Compare Basic. After an exhausting week it may be a lot to take in. But your host Firecrow Silvernight lays out the motivations and plan for how the Caneka system can build a better business and technology industry. These references are generally framed, my views do not represent theirs entirely. But they have informed what I present in the podcast and I encourage people to watch them if they have interest. Links: Finding The Money/Tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/100041836/finding-the-money UNFTR/Youtube: https://youtu.be/UvAjAOdmzBw?si=GRX9JL6mx7AkMCKc Why Banks Don't Need Your Money to Make Loans (Investopedia): https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/022416/why-banks-dont-need-your-money-make-loans.asp Evolving Perspectives on Bank Deposits (Lexology): https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=1f478ea9-0937-4979-9b09-96cb944312cd Your host, Firecrow Silvernight, https://comparebasic.com/team/firecrow.html

Our third episode focuses on the overlap of marketing that can be combative or competitive. Along with this difference I talk a bit about the seeds of hatred in the modern economy and why some people would seek to find a way out of contributing in a fair way. Your host Firecrow Silvernight, founder comparebasic.com

Our second episode focuses on conventions in cryptography and how the resume could be repositioned to help skills-based hiring. Your host Firecrow Silvernight, founder comparebasic.com

This week is our first episode, it starts with some music I made in my bedroom when I was 17. Then I reflect on what it means to face massive projects. Towards the end, I reflect on an experience I had while hiking in Colorado as a teenager. Psychology comes up throughout the episode as I reflect about the mental health challenges that helped me think deeply about habits that balance short-term and long-term solutions. Your host Firecrow Silvernight, founder comparebasic.com