9/2/23 - Mom's Basement

Steve Jobs built Apple in his parents' garage. Was this before or after the idea of "still" living with their parents becoming a bad thing? And bad for whom? American society? That everyone should go out and spend as much of their hard-earned money as possible in order for the economy to grow? I've never understood this idea in modern American society.

Living in mom's basement is only a bad thing if you aren't doing anything productive. By moving out and effectively doubling the family expenditure (2x the rent), you are essentially throwing money away for personal reasons. (can't stand living with parents, wanting your own space, etc.)

Many people move out of their parents' house and ruin themselves financially. Is that success?

Many people stay at home working on a personal project or business idea, and maybe eventually create their own success because they didn't have to worry about high costs of living. Is that failure?

Just something to think about. So do that. THINK

10/12/23

I thought of this today while watching Gigi's stream. She was watching a movie called The Invisible and it made me think of a different storyline for my Great Wealth Transfer screenplay.

An alternate storyline for my life could be like The Invisible in the sense that the main character dies but can watch how people's lives around him change after he's gone, starting with his mom who finds notes and clues in his journals, computers, etc.

Or it can be like Memento where the main character is alive but forgets what his mission is everyday when he wakes up, and has notes all over his room reminding him. He has to spend hours everyday just to remember before building on top of what he should already know.

10/14/23 - The Fourth Turning

I was listening to this talk about the so-called "Fourth Turning" from Bitcoin Magazine on their YouTube channel: Europe's 4th Turning, and they mentioned the quote about how hard times create strong men.

This made me think of earlier this week when I asked my mom if she ever told me we were poor growing up. She would say that when I would ask her to buy me the newest video game, but specifically when I asked for a new game console entirely. Since those consoles easily cost over four times more than a single video game, she would use the poor excuse as a logical way to say no.

Another time, my mom would tell me about how patients she had would say things like "I don't have high blood pressure" when they would be taking pills that reduced blood pressure daily. So in a sense, they were technically not sick because of the pills, but they were also sick which is why they were even taking pills in the first place.

My main point has to do with the economy and jobs. Are people rich or poor?

On one hand, by working for a paycheck, people are able to afford basic needs (food, shelter, clothes), as well as their wants (bigger houses, cars, friends, family). So...they're rich right?

On the other hand, if they were to lose their jobs and were unable to find a new one because of a second Great Depression, how long could they survive, given their current lifestyle?

So, yes, technically my mom was correct in saying that we were poor. Who knows what we would have had to do if she lost her job? The only solution for something like this worst case scenario is to create something of value that continues to grow even without your personal contribution.

DAO

• Start a business
• Write a book
• Build an Ark
• Escape the Matrix (and help other people do the same)

10/15/23 - Business as a Game

I remember when I was a senior in high school and was taking my first economics class ever. Before that, I'm not sure I even understood what economics was. It was 2008, and I was 17 years old. My teacher had the class play a game that would last all semester. It was a paper trading simulator.

Game Rules

1. You start with $100,000
2. You can choose what stocks to buy on an online platform that reflected real day-to-day prices
3. The winner is the person at the end of the semester who makes the most money

Results

I think I ended up somewhere in the top 3 at the end of the semester (3 months) with a ROI of around 10%, but I always had a feeling I could be #1 if I had enough time. In addition to this, I think if I had the rest of my life, I could further extend that lead so that no one in my class could ever catch up.

Side Note: This was similar to my skill ceiling against 90% of the players I played ping pong against in college. Beating my friends and anyone else in my dorm was simple and guaranteed enough, and the only players I had to really try against were the Chinese players who played the game very differently from my improvised tennis technique (pen grip, weird spin angles, etc.).

Reflection

Looking back, it wasn't so much hubris or arrogance or even delusion, but it felt like a mathematical projection in my mind. If you look at the wealth gap consistent throughout most of human civilization, money always lands in the hands of the few (top 1%).

Live Like You're Dying

Basically, instead of putting off what you want to do until retirement at 65, you do exactly what you were planning on doing decades from now today.

10/17/23 - Lenru Food Coop (DAO)

11/4/23 - Tennis Club or Tennis League?

Would you rather:

• spend anywhere from $500k-$2M building a nice tennis facility (which you'd have to maintain/monetize to keep open) or
• create an app for a digital/decentralized (Web3) tennis league (way less overhead and initial cost)

2/25/24 - Leap Year

I was thinking about leap year and realized this year will be the 8th one in my life. Eight cycles of four years. That doesn't sound like a lot. I'm still learning. I'm figuring out the things I want to work on and dedicate my life to. The world expects us to have it figure out by our 5th leap year, 6th max. Anyone who does it sooner is either a "genius" or athlete. And 7 cycles would just be unacceptable, let alone 8. That's where I am now.

1. First cycle: Age 0-4

   • Philippines and USA

2. Second cycle: Age 4-8

   • ESL/assimilate into American culture/childhood

3. Third cycle: Age 8-12

   • FF7 (core dystopian world view)
   • Windwaker (solo games)

4. Fourth cycle: Age 12-16

   • Cotillion Crew
   • Friendship
   • Runescape/Maple Story (online games)

5. Fifth cycle: Age 16-20

   • Tennis
   • Love

6. Sixth cycle: Age 20-24

   • Actuary/"real job" phase
   • Should I do what the world wants?

7. Seventh cycle: Age 24-28

   • Relationships and loss
   • Should I do what's best for the people I love?
   • Built first PC
   • Start learning to code (for a job)
   • Freelance (Web Dev/Tutor)
   • DNM/Crypto (beginner)

8. Eighth cycle: Age 28-32

   • Start learning to code (for me)
   • DNM/Crypto (intermediate)
   • Let go your earthly tether
   • Enter the Void

9. Ninth cycle: 32-36

   • Empty and become wind
   • Do what's best for me

2/29/24 - What do I do?

I was talking with my mom earlier and she asked what she should tell people when they ask about me. Here's how I think it should go:

Q: Hey! how's your son? What's he been up to? A: Oh he's good. He's been working on some kind of new project/idea for a business. He thinks that, by using new technologies like crypto and AI (since he majored in applied math and these field are basically that), he can help fix other businesses' outdated business models (e.g. USTA, PayPal, Etsy, DoorDash, etc.)

Q: Does he "invest" in Bitcoin or trade them? A: Something like that, except he says there's a better use for this technology than just treating it as a passive investment or get rich quick type of gamble. He has a new startup idea and wants to give it a try before crypto really gets big.

Q: Hm...I still don't get it. A: It's probably just too early to understand right now. Think of it like dreaming of building Netflix in the early 90's. The founders started the business in 1997, and for 10 years did business by mailing DVDs and renting them out before transitioning to streaming servies later.

Q: ? A: "I wanna start my own business, not work for someone else's. I can't even imagine working for the 'next' Steve Jobs. I'll always eventually start thinking/computing that I could eventually do a better job at leading the company. I'm building one of the first new kinds of business: Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) "

Q: leaves A: "I'm a computer scientist working on a business idea/project. My startup/venture is in its v.0/alpha/incubation/cocoon phase."

And if that isn't enough, "human computer", "consultant", "advisor", or even "assistant" works.

What I Want

What I actually want to do is: Be Free so I can go after my "One Piece" in the New World: Web3 (since the internet was the "World" Wide Web - since hackers in this world would basically be Spider-Man).

I want to help solve as many of these 17 world problems as possible: 17 Global Goals

1. No poverty
2. Zero hunger
3. Good health and well-being
4. Quality education
5. Decent work and economic growth
6. Industry, innovation, and infrastructure
7. Sustainable cities and communities
8. Responsible consumption and production

DAO - Decentralized Autonomous Organzation

1. RICO.work - Decentralized Marketplace, Crypto Hedge Fund
2. LeagueMatch.US - Blockchain Tennis Leagues, NFT Battle Pass
3. OASIS - free online tech/business school
4. Project Actuary - Electronic health records

6/28/24

Write a Book

• Game Theory/Economics
• Conversations with AI (God)
• The Matrix
• Philosophy

Game Theory

• ChatGPT conversation

My 1v1 matchup is the same as Cloud, Luffy, and Zero's crews: Big Banks, Corporations, Governments

• Avalanche vs. Shinra Corp. (FF7)
• The Straw Hats vs. The World Government (One Piece)
• The Black Knights vs. The Holy Britannian Empire (Code Geass)
• The Humans vs. the Heavens (Gurren Lagaan)

Technology allows people to create things that have never been thought of before. Who would have thought (besides small groups of people in the 1980's and 1990's - cypherpunks, crypto-anarchists, etc.) that Bitcoin would revolutionize/decentralize money? And why is it that most of the world is still unaware of this fact over 15 years later? I mean, I didn't even know what it was until 2017, so is it only in its infancy? Are we just beginning to see or fathom a future where power is taken back from the 1%? Will this be the beginning of The Great Wealth Transfer? (i.e. the opposite of The Great Depression of 1929 and the opposite of the Nixon/Reagan Eras)

7/8/24

I was thinking of quants who work for investment banks and basically trade their mathematical ability for a lot of money. Maybe code a HFT (High Frequency Trading) algorithm while giving 100% of all the rights to use that code to some greedy bank.

"Give a man a gun, and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world."

• Mr. Robot S1E2

If anyone's going to profit off of my love of math or my ability to solve problems, it's not going to be some guy who pays me a salary; it has to be me. Isn't that the most logical choice?

7/11/24

Windwaker/Alchemist/Dark Magician

Over the last 5 years, since Kobe Bryant died (Jan. 2020) and Covid took over the world, then global proxy wars, it felt like the Hero's Journey concept of the hero diving deep into the psyche to explore their inner world. It feels like Superman's fortress of solitude or the hyperbolic time chamber in DBZ. Or even like Dr. Strange seeing all the possible scenarios where they fight Thanos, with only one path forward leading success out of billions of alternate realities. Like Wraith from Apex Legends, I know where these paths lead and only see one viable way forward.

Experiencing loss over and over again (I've had 19 rats in the last 7 years - only 4 are left), you slowly free yourself from future pain. Maybe not completely but you learn more about how life works and how to protect yourself in the future.

And now it feels as if another phase is just getting started, darkness to light. No matter how impossible a scenario or boss fight or world crisis, there is ALWAYS hope. That's just a fact. Life is drama. Maya. An illusion. A grand play or game. And good ALWAYS wins in the end, even if sometimes it takes an eternity for the good guys to win.

My core ideas seem to be slowly merging over time, with related and non-related ideas converging. For example, my idea to 10x my mom's estate, (RICO), involves blockchain and crypto because they're the most important applied math projects in the world.

League Match/Battle City

Then I also have my other project, and I want to build it so I can play tennis whenever I want. It was always crazy to me how if people asked you to go on a 3-5 hour hike (which would usually take up most, if not all, of your time for that day), most people would go along with it (in my experience anyway), but if someone asked you to play tennis all day (or at least the same amount, 3-5 hours) you would probably say no. (again, in my own experience)

That's why I want to build the best solution for people like me who want to play tennis all day - in a more organized and affordable way. (blockchain + crypto + smart contracts + AI/VR)

There is a way to improve on so many existing technologies using Web3 that have been awful for as long as I can remember:

• Tennis matchmaking (USTA) - VR Tennis with AI RF
• Online Matchmaking (LoL, Apex Legends)
• Game Design
• Monetization (EA, Lost Ark)

Game Design (Tennis)

• 3 players, first to 3 points
• rally/practice with rotations whenever person playing 1v2 gets tired
• pickleball serve (underhand past service line diagonally)
• can only score points on serve
• first to 3 service game wins
• rock, paper, scissors to determine serve order

12/15/24

Web3 Game Development

Q: What would you want to do if you had 5-10 years left to live? How would you spend your time left? A: Make my own games

1. LeagueMatch/BattleCity

   • blockchain tennis league
   • solo ranked ladder
   • NFT battle pass
   • Web 3 Olympics (for all solo recreational sports and games)

2. RICO/OASIS (onboard users through #1 before moving on to #2)

   • stock market game/VC (for small business and entrepreneurs)

12/31/24

Yesterday I told my mom how she's the only person I don't mind spending money on me, in fact I encourage it and think of it as my inheritance/birthright since she always wanted kids because she "had so much love to give".

Right after saying it out loud to her and seeing her reaction, it made me think of it some more, until today in the shower. I realized that what I meant was that when she dies, knowing her and how much she saves and plans, she'll have a decent amount left over after passing away. Where does it all go?

The STATE. That is, it would go to the government if she has no kids who outlive her or if she didn't leave behind a will stating something like "give all my money to the church" (or animal shelters, or whatever mix of nonprofits). These same "nonprofits" are infamous for not making the best use of the money they're entrusted with, maybe just paying off high executive managers or using valuable resources so frivolously. The US government gets audited every year and trillions have gone missing, so I'm not sure if they're the best people to be spending that money.

My belief is that I can spend it better than any nonprofit (including the church, archdiocese, and government), and my mom should entrust it to me, not them. I'm the one who can most effectively AND efficiently carry out her WILL. Who else should you put your trust in entirely, if not your own children?

1/3/25 - Book Writing and Freelance

I'm writing a book. Actually, this time. I mean, it's just hard trying to explain every little step of my plan to everyone I meet. It's tiring having to explain myself when I'm figuring most of it out on the fly to begin with. Easier to do now, explain later.

Imagine having to explain everything you're doing in a tennis point AS you're playing. Impossible, or at the very least, impossibly hard to do well while still controlling and dominating every point.

Whenever I play tennis with someone is the only time I don't want to talk at all and instead, just focus on what I'm doing. In almost every other thing I do, I find a way to talk: walking, driving, playing basketball, gym etc. (because it generally improves the otherwise empty space in between sets of a workout or points in a game).

The reason why is because it's different during tennis is because it takes me so much longer to focus and play well, unless I'm actively shutting everything else out. I can obviously make a few remarks here and there (i.e. warming up, good point, nice shot, score check, etc.), but to really focus and play well is my favorite part of the game (tennis), and in order to play at my best, I have to give it 100% of my focus. There's a reason trash talk is common and part of other games like basketball, but in tennis, you would ideally want your opponent to be at their best as well, which would result in the best possible match you could play in or watch.

The Web3 Economy

Idea: Eventually the majority of the population will be FREELANCE and the people who make the most money (the ones who pay 0% TAX) will need their own Web3 platforms. Similar to how I believe that every person should have/invest in their own business(es) and, more importantly, run these businesses on a Web3 platform : Decentralized Apps (dApps) and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)

Game Development

I'm also making my own game(s). Indie game developers are usually the game devs who build cool and unique games, as opposed to AAA studios who basically make the same copy-paste games whenever new games come out. (Battle Royale, Hero Shooter, etc.)

The BEST indie game genre by far (easiest to make and most fun) is the horror game genre. For whatever combination of reasons, it's just much easier to build unique experiences in relatively simpler games or single or multiplayer "experiences" within horror games.

Think of all the simple horror game concepts like Gift Collector (2025), MiSide (2024), Lethal Company, etc. that xQc and other streamers played - not many are from AAA developers. (exceptions: Resident Evil, Silent Hill 2 REMAKE)

OASIS

The combination of my ideas in Web3, business, and game development is something I've been working on and working towards for a while now. I am only recently starting to write everything down, so it's hard to say where exactly I am on it.

Long term, basically, I'm working on my own version of the "Oasis" in Ready Player One. Instead of a VR world, I want to make it an augmented reality layer for interfacing with the Web3 ecosystem: buy things with crypto, invest in crypto startups (companies who pay 0% tax), etc.

Summary: digital world (like the internet) and intangible (like the wind), just with fewer (or zero) middlemen. Control goes back to the people. Whichever DAO users do business with will transact direct with the business itself and not have to worry about additional fees, invisible or otherwise, added on by banks or governments.

1/10/25

When it comes to my 2 main ideas (LeagueMatch and RICO), it feels so hard to make progress because it feels like the timing isn't quite right for the vision I have. That vision is Web3 focused, but it feels like we're barely in the dial-up equivalent era of the internet for crypto and blockchain. If you're too early and even say "NFT" or "crypto" to people, they'll associate it with all these poser tech enthusiasts in the current Web3 space just looking to make fast money, not even seeing the true use for the technology. It's like giving the philosopher's stone or the one ring in LoTR to a random person with no money or power or status. It's literally the start of their villain arc.

Netflix was formed in 1997, but it didn't stop it's original business model (mailing physical DVDs) until 2007-2012. Imagine if you had the idea for Netflix (how it currently is in 2025) in 1990. The infrastructure wasn't even available for you to start offering video streaming services. Dial-up was too slow and Amazon probably didn't even have the idea for AWS yet, which would be necessary for high quality video streaming.

It feels like I've been starting with my original ideas (30-50 years from now), and I have to always work backwards from those "moonshot" ideas:

• LeagueMatch: fully immersive AR/VR tennis simulation with AI tennis players (Roger Federer) who were trained with actual player data, meaning you could play with the best tennis players ever in virtual/augmented reality settings, and perfectly blend video games and sports into a unique player experience (can also adjust difficulty of bots to suit every player or adjust ball physics to make it easier to play - similar to AI difficulty in Super Smash Bros.)

• RICO: fully decentralized economy/TAX HAVEN for the bottom 99%

1/16/25

Relationships and Probability: Compatibility Quotient

I always considered friends and people I would meet to AT MOST have 10% of shared interests with me. My "soulmate" might be 20%, but for the most part, at best people would have 10%, and I could consider them good friends. However, this meant that after a while, ESPECIALLY if we were doing something other than the 10% of things we had in common, I would get uninterested in doing any of those remaining 90% of things with them. It would be more efficient to find someone who had that thing we were doing and it lined up perfectly with my 10% passion for it as well. Let's call this number the Compatability Quotient (CQ).

Now when it comes to relationships, particularly other people's relationships and how compatible they are with me, the probability gets even lower. Even if a friend of mine and I had a 10% CQ and their CQ with their partner was at 10%, the odds that I would enjoy spending time with BOTH of them would be (1/10)*(1/10) = 1/100 => 1% CQ.

Could this quotient idea potentially work for matchmaking, whether for love or anything else? That's what I want to find out, starting with Tennis:

• Find everyone's Elo/MMR
• AI Matchmaking
• Blockchain Tennis Leagues