It isn't simply that you send me some bitcoin and I trust it or I trust the hash.
That's correct, but your post also implies is that you trust the system in its entirety, no different to people who trust government bonds, dollars, gold, banyans, or any other tradeable token. All currencies are based on trust, trust that the token will be accepted by others when it comes time to trade it for a commodity or a service. If you were the only person on the planet to trust the bitcoin system then by definition they would be worthless regardless of how difficult they are to forge in a technical sense. Like it or not it's a fact of life that human societies are based on emotional logic, trust is the cornerstone of all civilizations, it has nothing to do with reason. You don't have to take my word for that, just apply your geek super-powers of observation and reasoning to your own society.
In other words bitcoins are a great example of a clever technical solution to an imaginary social problem.
This is the direct equivalent of a company lawyer giving a go/nogo on a contract he hasn't read.
Not really. more akin to a board member who relies on the company lawyer to get it right. I do exactly the same thing when buying a house, I don't read the contract, I pay a lawyer to translate it into English. Politicians have a small army of qualified staff to ensure the bill meets their expectations, that's not negligence it's proper due diligence.
The real problem in the US system is that it is considered normal for politicians to blatantly represent the interests of their sponsors, not the national interest, not the interests of their constituency, and certainly not the interests of the other politicians constituencies.
Your wasting your breath, people (geeks or otherwise) tend to project their own weak principles onto others. The rich tend to bitch about environment and consumer laws, file sharers bitch about IP laws, I bitch about laws forbidding me to smoke weed. Nobody likes the law when it disagrees with them. Many people rationalize that by claiming judges must be for sale because deep down they know money is the only thing that will tempt them to break their own principles.
The law is the "alternative solution", SOE for human societies are warlords and demigods. And no "we" were not just fine without the law, wander outside your village and the kings men will kill you, stay inside the village and you will be counted as his property. Really mate, read some history or visit the Congo for fuck's sake because you have no idea what your world would be like without the rule of law.
Haven't RTFA, but I'm willing to bet wages comprise the bulk of that $60K. How much do they spend in wages for people to read slashdot, facebook, etc? Who among us does not read the internet at work? How many of us have been to a lame corporate party where a bunch of low ranking executives dress up and make a video for your "entertainment"?
Yeah, the US government just takes your money, the fact the US is the world's only superpower and has the largest economy on the planet is just a coincidence, and of course none of that directly benefits it's citizens anyway, right?
I would definitely be labeled a "liberal" in the US, which is kind of amusing to an Australian lefty. However, Stewart's critique of the US MSM is one of the most insightful I have ever heard, and I heard it on Fox. - go figure, huh?
Also kudos to Wallace in that link, an honorable Devil's advocate is a rare thing these days.
The current generation doesn't seem to know what journalism [is supposed] to be
FTFY - It's never actually been that way, sure there are some bright spots in it's history but they are few and far between. It's the fundamental reason why old media find it difficult to deal with the internet, they cannot control the content and their audience can shout back at them with equal volume. Everyone can publish (more or less) whatever they want. The "global village" is a reality in the west but in a way that people under 30 will have trouble understanding, it is a genuine communications "revolution". In a historical sense it started yesterday but it has already "changed everything".
Sinking the Rainbow warrior only scratched their already bad rep from their habit of nuking Pacific islands, I think the French Government will survive this "international incident".
Exactly, it's all love and peace while sitting inside the church, but the mood changes when trying to get out of the church car park. If we atheists had a church with a car park, I'm pretty sure the same phenomena would occur.
Religion is nothing more than a social club suffering from groupthink, most times the club acts like the RSL but on other occasions it acts like the KKK. The majority of people attend church services to socialize, few of them are really interested in all the detailed waffle of the die hard god botherers. The average church goer wears their god hat in pretty much the same way I wore my cowboy hat as a child in the 60's, there is simply no way John Wayne could be the bad guy and I will hurt you if you keep saying otherwise.
Both kinds have existed since CC became popular here in Oz, I got my first CC in the early 80's, it had no annual fee. I had one in the 90's that charged an annual fee but had a lower interest rate. Annual fees are rare (gone?) now, most likely due to all the complexities of middlemen in some common transactions (ATM networks, paypal, etc). Also the annual fee comes all at once so it tends to make the card holder scream "ouch" when it is due, "taxing" a small amount from every transaction is generally seen as less painful, even if it is more expensive in the long run.
Similar thing happened to me, I went to the corner store around 10:00pm, all the lights were off and the door was locked. Naturally I blame the cash in my wallet for not being able to handle that situation./sarcasm
You're not missing much with Reckless Kelly, but Young Eisenstein is indeed a national treasure and withholding it from it's people is a cultural travesty of the highest order.
Are you afraid of pursuing the truth because of what you might find?
What I may find by spying on a close friend or loved one, certainly, other than that, no.
Are you afraid of losing control?
Sometimes, especially when I feel I am being provoked beyond common decency, but in day to day life I'm not driven by fear, I'm driven by curiosity. On the rare occasions I have lost control as an adult, I have asked for forgiveness from those who I wronged, I do not have an "imaginary friend" to use as a surrogate.
Your "self-control" is an illusion.
Agree, but I have the same attitude to that illusion as you do to your illusory God, ie: I stubbornly refuse to part with it.
You are a slave to your desires.
Agree. Being a social mammal, one of my primordial desires is to moderate my own base desires for the benefit of other members of my species, especially those individuals who happen to belong to my tribe (extended family). Some people are born without that desire and fall under the heading of "sociopaths", sociopaths can be trained to behave normally if they believe a supernatural being is constantly watching their every move and will crush them like a grape if they misbehave.
Now riddle me this God man...
The ultimate test of moral fiber has always been "doing the right thing when nobody is watching", how is it possible for someone who believes in an omnipresent god to take that test?
Trying to defend the bible on the back of [N]ewton is a little insulting.
To whom? Among the many hats he wore in public Newton was a respected theologian, he wrote more words on the subject of religion than any other subject, for example he wrote close to a million words on the numerology of 666. He also claimed "Jesus was sent to Earth to operate the levers of gravity". Religion was a major force in his life, He approached both religion and science as if the same subject, to him God was more than a mere assumption, he "knew" God existed because like modern day worshipers he had "conversations with God" (the copious amounts of Mercury he breathed most likely helped with that). History tends to ignore his bullshit and concentrate on what he wrote in what (from a modern POV) is arguably the most important book ever published. However, also from a modern POV, the bulk of his other writings are widely seen as batshit crazy.
Disclaimer(s): I don't think the OP was defending the bible. I've been an atheist for at least 50yrs. I don't believe in God but some of the smartest people who ever lived certainly did. The claims about Newton come from my memory of two biographies I read long ago (don't recall which ones)
PS: If anyone is looking for an interesting programming exercise. Write a program or heuristic to find a 6X6 magic square where the columns, rows, and diagonals all add up to 666, no number is repeated and all numbers must be prime. When you have discovered how difficult that is to do from scratch, know that Newton found one in his head!
Slashdot Mirror
It isn't simply that you send me some bitcoin and I trust it or I trust the hash.
That's correct, but your post also implies is that you trust the system in its entirety, no different to people who trust government bonds, dollars, gold, banyans, or any other tradeable token. All currencies are based on trust, trust that the token will be accepted by others when it comes time to trade it for a commodity or a service. If you were the only person on the planet to trust the bitcoin system then by definition they would be worthless regardless of how difficult they are to forge in a technical sense. Like it or not it's a fact of life that human societies are based on emotional logic, trust is the cornerstone of all civilizations, it has nothing to do with reason. You don't have to take my word for that, just apply your geek super-powers of observation and reasoning to your own society.
In other words bitcoins are a great example of a clever technical solution to an imaginary social problem.
This is the direct equivalent of a company lawyer giving a go/nogo on a contract he hasn't read.
Not really. more akin to a board member who relies on the company lawyer to get it right. I do exactly the same thing when buying a house, I don't read the contract, I pay a lawyer to translate it into English. Politicians have a small army of qualified staff to ensure the bill meets their expectations, that's not negligence it's proper due diligence.
The real problem in the US system is that it is considered normal for politicians to blatantly represent the interests of their sponsors, not the national interest, not the interests of their constituency, and certainly not the interests of the other politicians constituencies.
Your wasting your breath, people (geeks or otherwise) tend to project their own weak principles onto others. The rich tend to bitch about environment and consumer laws, file sharers bitch about IP laws, I bitch about laws forbidding me to smoke weed. Nobody likes the law when it disagrees with them. Many people rationalize that by claiming judges must be for sale because deep down they know money is the only thing that will tempt them to break their own principles.
Yes, a long time since it wasn't called the internet and was government funded.
The law is the "alternative solution", SOE for human societies are warlords and demigods. And no "we" were not just fine without the law, wander outside your village and the kings men will kill you, stay inside the village and you will be counted as his property. Really mate, read some history or visit the Congo for fuck's sake because you have no idea what your world would be like without the rule of law.
Haven't RTFA, but I'm willing to bet wages comprise the bulk of that $60K. How much do they spend in wages for people to read slashdot, facebook, etc? Who among us does not read the internet at work? How many of us have been to a lame corporate party where a bunch of low ranking executives dress up and make a video for your "entertainment"?
Yeah, the US government just takes your money, the fact the US is the world's only superpower and has the largest economy on the planet is just a coincidence, and of course none of that directly benefits it's citizens anyway, right?
Pfft - A hippie chick made that very claim to me this afternoon.
I would definitely be labeled a "liberal" in the US, which is kind of amusing to an Australian lefty. However, Stewart's critique of the US MSM is one of the most insightful I have ever heard, and I heard it on Fox. - go figure, huh?
Also kudos to Wallace in that link, an honorable Devil's advocate is a rare thing these days.
The current generation doesn't seem to know what journalism [is supposed] to be
FTFY - It's never actually been that way, sure there are some bright spots in it's history but they are few and far between. It's the fundamental reason why old media find it difficult to deal with the internet, they cannot control the content and their audience can shout back at them with equal volume. Everyone can publish (more or less) whatever they want. The "global village" is a reality in the west but in a way that people under 30 will have trouble understanding, it is a genuine communications "revolution". In a historical sense it started yesterday but it has already "changed everything".
Showing my age, but I actually remember when that was a hit on the radio.
Anything by Cooks should be regarded as well done
Great, I hate finding blood in my steak after ordering it well done.
Sinking the Rainbow warrior only scratched their already bad rep from their habit of nuking Pacific islands, I think the French Government will survive this "international incident".
Exactly, it's all love and peace while sitting inside the church, but the mood changes when trying to get out of the church car park. If we atheists had a church with a car park, I'm pretty sure the same phenomena would occur.
Religion is nothing more than a social club suffering from groupthink, most times the club acts like the RSL but on other occasions it acts like the KKK. The majority of people attend church services to socialize, few of them are really interested in all the detailed waffle of the die hard god botherers. The average church goer wears their god hat in pretty much the same way I wore my cowboy hat as a child in the 60's, there is simply no way John Wayne could be the bad guy and I will hurt you if you keep saying otherwise.
Both kinds have existed since CC became popular here in Oz, I got my first CC in the early 80's, it had no annual fee. I had one in the 90's that charged an annual fee but had a lower interest rate. Annual fees are rare (gone?) now, most likely due to all the complexities of middlemen in some common transactions (ATM networks, paypal, etc). Also the annual fee comes all at once so it tends to make the card holder scream "ouch" when it is due, "taxing" a small amount from every transaction is generally seen as less painful, even if it is more expensive in the long run.
Similar thing happened to me, I went to the corner store around 10:00pm, all the lights were off and the door was locked. Naturally I blame the cash in my wallet for not being able to handle that situation. /sarcasm
I'd say its a coin flip as to which one your money is safest in
That's because you don't have any money. People with serious money will stick with the USD because historically it is safer than gold.
Thanks, my words but credit belongs to Christopher Hitchens.
You're not missing much with Reckless Kelly, but Young Eisenstein is indeed a national treasure and withholding it from it's people is a cultural travesty of the highest order.
Are you afraid of pursuing the truth because of what you might find?
What I may find by spying on a close friend or loved one, certainly, other than that, no.
Are you afraid of losing control?
Sometimes, especially when I feel I am being provoked beyond common decency, but in day to day life I'm not driven by fear, I'm driven by curiosity. On the rare occasions I have lost control as an adult, I have asked for forgiveness from those who I wronged, I do not have an "imaginary friend" to use as a surrogate.
Your "self-control" is an illusion.
Agree, but I have the same attitude to that illusion as you do to your illusory God, ie: I stubbornly refuse to part with it.
You are a slave to your desires.
Agree. Being a social mammal, one of my primordial desires is to moderate my own base desires for the benefit of other members of my species, especially those individuals who happen to belong to my tribe (extended family). Some people are born without that desire and fall under the heading of "sociopaths", sociopaths can be trained to behave normally if they believe a supernatural being is constantly watching their every move and will crush them like a grape if they misbehave.
Now riddle me this God man...
The ultimate test of moral fiber has always been "doing the right thing when nobody is watching", how is it possible for someone who believes in an omnipresent god to take that test?
Is Slashdot's sarcasm meter broken again today?
It a US site, it doesn't have a sarcasm meter! /ducks
Trying to defend the bible on the back of [N]ewton is a little insulting.
To whom? Among the many hats he wore in public Newton was a respected theologian, he wrote more words on the subject of religion than any other subject, for example he wrote close to a million words on the numerology of 666. He also claimed "Jesus was sent to Earth to operate the levers of gravity". Religion was a major force in his life, He approached both religion and science as if the same subject, to him God was more than a mere assumption, he "knew" God existed because like modern day worshipers he had "conversations with God" (the copious amounts of Mercury he breathed most likely helped with that). History tends to ignore his bullshit and concentrate on what he wrote in what (from a modern POV) is arguably the most important book ever published. However, also from a modern POV, the bulk of his other writings are widely seen as batshit crazy.
Disclaimer(s): I don't think the OP was defending the bible. I've been an atheist for at least 50yrs. I don't believe in God but some of the smartest people who ever lived certainly did. The claims about Newton come from my memory of two biographies I read long ago (don't recall which ones)
PS: If anyone is looking for an interesting programming exercise. Write a program or heuristic to find a 6X6 magic square where the columns, rows, and diagonals all add up to 666, no number is repeated and all numbers must be prime. When you have discovered how difficult that is to do from scratch, know that Newton found one in his head!
It's the UK, a similar but different culture where talking to a lawyer is often the last resort, not the first.
I hear what you're saying old man, some of my favorite people are Americans. ;)
We don't have kids b/c it does not make financial sense.
Yawn, just another self-righteous post from an armchair parent.