My Steemit Musical Adventure

A little over a week ago while randomly roaming the latest posts steemit.com had to offer for my reading pleasure I came across a post by @transhuman.

Photo Source: steemit.com

Getting a steem payment for a microtask seemed like a good deal and it did turn out to be a great deal. I listened to the music that was linked in the post and I took a screencap at the end of the tune. For this microtask I was sent 0.1 SBD. In the wallet transaction was a memo that there was another microtask. The microtask was posted on the @transhuman blog written in ROT47 code.

Photo Source: steemit.com

Why Rot47 code? At first I didn't know. I hadn't seen that done before and since creative artists often have an eccentricity or two so I incorrectly deduced that was the reason. @transhuman was treating me kindly and paying me a fair price for my microtask work. It doesn't take that much effort on my part to play along with what I perceived to be an artist's eccentricity as part of the service I am providing for steem.

It did seem a little like Cicada 3301. I commented on that in one of the encoded posts and got a response from @transhuman that read:

Photo Source: steemit.com

According to rot47.net the message from @transhuman when deciphered reads: "We can neither confirm nor deny."

Writing an entire post in code describing my next microactivity might seem a little shady but it's not like I am helping to bury bodies in the middle of a forest for $500 and being told that the trees will be torn down later for a new cemetery. After standing in an Ohio courtroom and being lectured to by an irate judge I know I won't be falling for that one again.

I found out after a little research that ROT47 (which is a derivative of ROT13) is a part of net culture I had missed seeing before somehow.

There was a problem at first starting to work on the microtask. When I copied the text from the blog post and pasted it into rot47.net for decryption the site address for my next microtask was given as https://musicoin.org/nav/artist/0x2a7bc79ca48ccdea4354c11c8d8e3beac5fc. That was obviously wrong because that leads to an error page. I could see from the address it looked like 0x2a... was an ethereum address but was short by a few characters. I later figured out the correct link must be the similar looking link in the @transhuman profile. So I was communicating in code and had to deduce what the next step to proceed was. I knew this was just like Cicada 3301!

Photo Source: steemit.com

After figuring out the right address I was able to see the playlist for Transhumanity. I got 1.0 SBD sent to me later for clicking the "play all" button and listening to the music. I took a screencap as required by the microtask guidelines to verify I had completed the task.

Photo Source: steemit.com

I wasn't required to give feedback but as I was listening I wrote an honest synopsis for each piece of music. I know as an artist @transhuman appreciates feedback from the audience and writing about the music I heard would be fodder for this blog post I am now writing. Below is a copy of my review for the playlist. I invite the reader to click on this link for the playlist and to listen to the music. The reader can judge for themselves how well I reviewed this music. Also, on the playlist page it states, "... Each time you listen to my work, I am paid 1 $MUSIC (MC) of cryptocurrency. ..." I believe based on the pattern I see on DTube that steemians will often help to support original music artists with upvotes. Playing the Transhumanity playlist on musicoin.org is similar to upvoting because @transhuman is rewarded in crypto tokens.

That's where this adventure ends breaking codes and listening to music. Either @transhuman ran out of SBD for me to do more microtasks or the people @transhuman represents finally got around to looking at my government file and decided that my past involvement in secret projects wasn't exactly what they were looking for. Either way I got a total of 1.1 SBD from this adventure. That's a lot more than I got posting about that stupid public domain Superman episode.


My review of @transhuman music playlist:

  • Who Cares? - As I listen I am imagining some sort of a 1980s TV show theme. Maybe a situational best buddies comedy would fit best with this tune.
  • Bossa Futuro - It's neither good or bad. For me it's neutral. It's not quite lobby or elevator music but it sort of is. That's the best way I can explain how this music makes me feel.
  • Death Cometh - I really don't like the breathing sound effect. Maybe if it was varied a little bit and didn't sound loooped it might be better. The breathing seems to take away from the background music which is good by itself. Maybe if the background music was foreground and the breathing was light in the background I would enjoy this.
  • Sleeping Beauty Waltz - So far the best music on this list. Listening makes me imagine this being played in a ballroom in 1880s New York City. Very elegant sound.
  • Drifting - Just like Bossa Futuro I really don't have any feelings either way. I think this might slightly be a little more better than Bossa Futuro.
  • Aloha 'Oe - If I didn't know what this was I wouldn't connect it to Hawaii. I would have guessed this was more like some kind of folk music. Maybe Hollywood has given me a bad stereotype of what Hawaiian music is. I can honestly say this tune made me reevaluate what I thought about Hawaiian culture.
  • La Paloma - I've heard this tune several times before but didn't know the title. It makes me remember seeing street dancers on Olvera Street in Los Angeles.
  • Ave Maria - I really shouldn't be listening to this at 1:30 in the morning. It's far too relaxing when there are still a few songs left on this list to listen to.
  • Another Hot Sticky Summer Day - I remember hearing this before! I take back how I described Ave Maria. This is the one that is too relaxing at 1:30 in the morning. Ave Maria had that little drum sound or whatever that was that would keep me focused. This tune is smooth and peaceful.
  • Danny Boy - Is this the same as the Irish melody? It somehow sounds different to me. More ethereal.
  • Jazz Caprice - Thank goodness we're back to something upbeat. I almost fell asleep at the keyboard. Very nice tune.
  • Testing X2 - When I hear this I am imagining a game show. Maybe a parody of what someone in the 1960s would think a game show being made in the future would be or maybe this would be what the theme would be if Elon Musk made his own version of Double Dare.
  • Sounds of The Singularity - SSorry but in my mind as I listen this is more like the astounding mystery of whether other intelligent life in the Universe exists. For something that would make me think of the mystery of a black hole's singularity the tune would need to make me feel a sense of existential angst. Listening to this is too comforting for me to associate this with anything about a black hole's singularity.