The pain from Joe the Cyber guy

Well well well well: it has its benefits

I am disappointed but relieved this afternoon. As most of you know, I am obsessed with photography, particularly macro shots of flowers and Annapolitan sunrises. They kept me sane through the pandemic and continue appealing. I also enjoy sharing them as the world has so little joy too many days.

I was sitting through the final day of our Seattle visit, having finished moderating a panel several hours earlier, when this lovely Direct Message popped up on Twitter.

‘Hello. Your works are amazing. Are they for sale? I would love working with you on these.’

I have as big an ego as anyone else so it was nice that someone noted my pictures. I most definitely am not Ansel Adam’s but I have learned a lot over the years, with way more still in progress. I think colour is good for the soul so I tend to post brightly coloured shots from any and everywhere.

My ego said, be serious. What kind of scam is this?

Whomever contact me, allegedly a she, provided the three pictures below, offering to pay thousands of dollars for the trio.

She explained it was through something called an NFT (non-fungible token) of which I know less than little. She recommended one I could use, of course, and assured me it was safe. This would allow her to resell my photographs elsewhere.

I asked if I had to use bitcoin but she assured me it was through something else called ethereum which was also news to me.

I then went down the rate hole I love so well, the internet, to find this company since I suffered through too many hours of Department of Defense cyber training click on a link I did not know from some person I did not know. In fact, had I known the link I still would not click on something from someone I had never heard of. I looked at her Twitter profile but what does that a really tell me?

An hour later, I am happy I had my friend the internet to assure me it is overwhelmingly likely a scam as I originally thought. I find absolutely no evidence of this alleged company though I know now boatloads about something called NFT photography options.

NFTs are real and unleash profound passion. They generate dedication for so many who support and disdain from those who abhor the idea (I also asked my brother who I could tell thought this an unseemly discussion since he said he had never considered an NFT because he is a photographer for the aesthetics). Turns out people do indeed resell photographs bought this through format so that part was probably legit.

But this online activity incites virtual riots in the eyes of those finding this an environmental travesty, this is about as bad as it gets. One opinion writer could not see using more energy to put something online, then to search for it online, then download it. (I did not answer that entry but immediately thought back to when I spent a few afternoons with a former spouse in a darkroom thirty plus years ago we used absolutely gallons of water to rinse photographs as we printed them. I had to drop traditional photography out of guilt about water consumption alone, especially now that water is at least as precious as energy). Since this was an energy conference I was attending today, it was all the more poignant that I found this screed about NFTs this afternoon.

Of course it was a lovely tease that someone wanted to fork over a substantial amount of money for photographs; someone doing that legitimately probably could clear four figures off the process but I really didn’t expect it to be me off these three. Whatever my ego, I am at heart realistic about money.

The moral of the story is that all that time I whined and whined and whined about watching that required ‘Joe the Cyber guy’ for DoD prepared me quite well to see a trap. Sounds obvious to a MIssouri mule that something looking too good must be too good but our society operates on vaster scales these days than it used to so it was a possibility I legitimately could explore.

And hope does reign eternal, doesn’t it?

This action creates consequences moment also opened the door to considering a methodology for selling my intellectual property that I had never heard of this morning. I had seen the NFT reference on a couple of people’s profiles but never bothered to look it up. I now know a fair amount about it, can identify some options, some drawbacks, and may pursue it as I have been trying to get my work out for others to see and hopefully enjoy.

But had this person not contacted me, I would not have explored. It was a pretty cost-free way to spend an hour of my precious time because I did my diligence.

This all probably sounds pretty naive and silly but it proves that breaking patterns to explore options has its value. And the internet can be a wonderful place sometimes.FIN