School Supplies for Puerto Rico

Children are the Future

During our efforts to help get Puerto Rico back on its feet, we learned a very important lesson about the future. Just like how a seedling turns into a powerful tree, so too does the education of children turn into a wide array of businesses, companies, organizations and efforts.

After Hurricane Maria, and even in many ways before it too; there was a lack of resources and support for children in these impoverished neighborhoods. When a call came out for help, we took it upon ourselves to raise some funds to help support these kids. A little bit goes a long way and we hope that this model can be an example for others to follow.

With only $800 from a PayPal transfer, we were able to put a smiling face on these kids and beyond when it came to their first day of school.

Sign a Petition for Public Sanitation Stations

In an effort to halt the tide of COVID-19 infections, we have created a petition for public sanitation stations inside the transportation system. The idea here, is that without a way for regular people to have easy access to sanitize at areas of intersecting high volumes of traffic, there is very little they can do to protect themselves unless they are already prepared. It honestly is a shock to me nobody thought of this before, can we at least get hand sanitizer on the trains?

Please sign and share if you agree – https://www.change.org/p/united-states-department-of-health-and-human-services-public-sanitation-stations-and-efforts-in-the-local-global-transportation-system – Thank-you!

Secure your Crypto

Securing your Cryptocurrency Wallet

One of the main tenets of Bitcoin is to be your own bank.  Putting this into practice in real life often requires some form of compromise when transitioning from the fiat system where we are so used to letting someone else take care of our financial security for us.  For example, many people have to at some point give their money to an exchange like Coinbase when they trade for BTC.  During this time their BTC is not under their control, and thus breaking this core tenet.  At any time a third party can choose not to give you your funds for whatever reason. Putting your funds into your own private wallet as soon as possible mitigates this risk.

Wallets are easy to set up. I recommend Samourai for Android, Electrum for desktop, and BreadWallet for iOS. Samourai is by far the best wallet out there employing privacy features far and above any other product right now. Their company is also partnering up with another company to release DOJO, an integrated lightning/full node that pairs with their wallet which is super sick and necessary if you truly want to be your own bank. Electrum is also great, has been around a long time and is packed with features for the advanced user. Sadly, iOS has few options as far as I know and BreadWallet is the easiest I’ve encountered.

The important part is security. How do you not screw yourself storing your digital gold? Or better yet, how DO you screw yourself? Understanding the game theory is important to understanding the potential implications of this new technology. The main way people lose bitcoin is they break their phone, or lose their PIN, or lose their backup seed.

The backup seed is given to you when you create your wallet, 12 to 24 words that can be typed in when starting any new wallet and will restore the wallet those words are linked to. Write down these words on a piece of paper, do not store them digitially. Hide a second copy in another trusted party’s house. Laser etch them on a pet tag and screw to a stud. You get it? If you’re buying a large amount of BTC, a Ledger or a Trezor hardware key is the way to go.  Always double check receiving addresses vocally with the party you’re transacting with if possible.

How to do a bitcoin transfer:

  1. Open the bitcoin wallet 
  2. Go to receive
  3. Copy the address
  4. Go to Coinbase (or whatever platform you’re sending it from)
  5. Go to send/withdraw
  6. Paste the receiving address
  7. Double check the beginning and end characters in the address in both places before hitting send.

That’s really about it. As long as you got your private wallet backed up, and you double checked the address you were having your bitcoin sent to, you’ll be good to start your foray into owning digital gold.

Welcome to VerdeLuz.eco

We are happy to welcome you to VerdeLuz.eco, a community based on self-sustainability and cooperation. Our goal is to inspire action through education. By aligning with the needs of the Planet we can create a world that is more green and safe for everyone.

Stay tuned, as we are just beginning. Expect to see topics ranging from security to food preparation and technology.

This is our blog.