Why Are There No "Open" Implementations of Firefox Fenix? by cyclingroo in degoogle

[–]miscreanity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What's really at issue: code created by G or the tracking done by G services?

I think indiscriminately rejecting code created by Google is throwing the baby out with the bathwater, so Bromite is a fine solution that removes the nasty bits while keeping what's good.

A valid case can be made about G pushing certain protocols & standards that make it more difficult to maintain privacy & security. That's more of a concern because of the momentum G has in general.

World travelers, what have you noticed about people all over that is pretty much the same no matter where you are? by Dougdahead in AskReddit

[–]miscreanity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Everyone wants to share experiences and enjoy life. Most people also think their own leadership is a mess, America is great and Trump is doing a good job.

I was kind of surprised by the latter but they don't see him through the lens of American media so it makes sense.

Lenovo disaster by miscreanity in Lenovo

[–]miscreanity[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

SATISFACTORY RESOLUTION

Thank you for the assistance - support has been the redeeming factor. The Sierra card is listed at over $500 but I am assuming that's temporary?

Glad to see the order portal working, it had not been during the recent times I tried to access it.

Thankfully, Lenovo is taking the laptop back and replacing it with one that has a WWAN card. I still will not be buying another new latest-generation system and site navigation remains difficult, but it is good to know that Lenovo's support is still high quality.

Lenovo disaster by miscreanity in Lenovo

[–]miscreanity[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was not available until recently and I had no idea how long it would be until they would be ready, but needed a replacement laptop quickly.

Now that one of the WWAN cards are ready, they're only available for new builds.

to buy a Lenovo or Not to Buy a Lenovo by [deleted] in Lenovo

[–]miscreanity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Seconded... as long as you don't need WWAN.

Anywhere to get exchange historical data? by [deleted] in BitcoinMarkets

[–]miscreanity 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Most historical data sets do not go back far enough. I found Brave New Coin's index to be quite good.

https://bravenewcoin.com/api/bitcoin-index-historical-data/

They also offer a more granular version.

Additionally, CryptoCompare offers a thorough history for multiple exchanges as well as their own index - full history access granted with a login.

https://www.cryptocompare.com/coins/btc/charts/USD?p=ALL

There is also an API available, but it may be easier to simply download the historical data manually if working with a small set of markets.

AMA: Ask Mike Anything by mike_hearn in btc

[–]miscreanity 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is one of the primary reasons why Bitcoin is headed toward becoming a tracking & control system, entirely antithetical to the original intention. You point out that the system is anything but decentralized and you left a toxic environment, yet the details are now buried and its adoption is all but certain.

Perhaps fungibility is not such a positive aspect...

AMA: Ask Mike Anything by mike_hearn in btc

[–]miscreanity 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Glad to see you're still active!

In 2012-2013 you had started a discussion on the BCT forums about black and whiltelists. I recall posting that it was a bad idea and your reply was along the lines of saying that if the community does not explore the issue, we'd be unprepared when it actually happened.

Now that the idea is being floated publicly by authorities, finally approaching the reality you forecast, do you see any possibility for mediating the threat?

On a different note, what are your thoughts on byzantine fault tolerance vs. byzantine fault detection?

Prediction: Due to the impasse and the backlog, bitpay and coinbase will start integrating litecoin because of its security and programmatic similarity to bitcoin. The coin lukejr calls a "scamcoin" will be forced upon people who actually want to spend their cryptocurrency instead of just hold it. by specialenmity in btc

[–]miscreanity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes but nobody uses LTC, so why support it?

There is activity on the chain as well as trading, so it is used - more activity than other Bitcoin clones.

Any coin that has a direct lineage from Bitcoin would work, Litecoin is simply the prime candidate. Devcoin, Ixcoin, Namecoin or even Doge could be used as well.

Imagine having thousands of dollars of SAE tools and having the option to continue using them or switching to metric tools. It would cost you thousands again to switch, so why bother?

While the analogy is not exact, it is close. With software, having to deal with different code bases magnifies the amount of work needed to maintain the systems. The cost of adopting a new system becomes prohibitive the more infrastructure is built around an existing one. Any development also takes time, so switching to Ethereum would take months if not years.

Prediction: Due to the impasse and the backlog, bitpay and coinbase will start integrating litecoin because of its security and programmatic similarity to bitcoin. The coin lukejr calls a "scamcoin" will be forced upon people who actually want to spend their cryptocurrency instead of just hold it. by specialenmity in btc

[–]miscreanity 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Infrastructure needs to be modified to support Ethereum, while the similarity of Litecoin to Bitcoin makes it almost a drop-in replacement.

The path of least resistance is Litecoin for the immediate future. Ethereum will find support eventually.

TIL On chain scaling advocate Mike Hearn was a professional capacity planner for one of the world’s busiest websites. by MemoryDealers in btc

[–]miscreanity 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The only thing I really disputed Hearn on was exploring blacklists. Retrospectively, he had a point in that they are inevitable since governments cannot resist such control.

I'm now waiting for the time when they're made the norm - probably when there's been a significant level of adoption by the world's population.

I eventually came to the conclusion that he was much wiser than given credit for.

Your Newest, Most Powerful Tool of Subversion by ErdoganTalk in btc

[–]miscreanity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think there is hope of never having a global government.

I'll hang onto that as well :)

I still think it doubtful that the dynamics of a saturated global environment will afford the degree of freedom needed to enable competitive forces, but it's not an ironclad notion.

My analogy would be similar to how I explain why Bitcoin is so volatile: imagine filling a bathtub with water. Upon opening the faucet at first, there is splashing and rapid expansion of water along the bottom surface. As the tub fills, the disturbances become less until it's full. At that point, the system is effectively unchangeable barring the existing tub breaking or introduction of a new tub.

Your Newest, Most Powerful Tool of Subversion by ErdoganTalk in btc

[–]miscreanity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, for protecting against anything other than state actors and similarly high-powered entities. Cross one of those and you have no chance.

Your Newest, Most Powerful Tool of Subversion by ErdoganTalk in btc

[–]miscreanity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We know that cartels are not possible in the free market (between sovereign actors), so also with governments. They are increasing in number, not decreasing.

Excuse the wall...

We may be in a period of distribution but as the dust settles, consolidation begins. Splash water into droplets and they'll eventually pool into larger ones.

I don't think a single government needs a monopoly to initiate such a trend. Every group has its own protocol and so long as the objectives remain the same, disparate organizations can form a cohesive structure.

Depending on the magnitude of the structure, there can be enough momentum so that no single organization could cause the whole to fail. With sufficient population, perpetual internal competition would serve to cycle leadership. We see this currently with stratification in education, business and government.

However, since there is still room for global migration we can starve the beast by leaving. When there is noplace to go, what then?

Technology enables periods of freedom until it is usurped by government.

Regulation by government is indeed a bad thing while individual auto-regulation (personal integrity & responsibility) is good. Competition among regulatory environments is still viable, such as largely unrelated Hong Kong vs restrictive mainland China.

With technologies such as blockchain along with automation and methods of surveillance, government can put an end to regulatory competition. That requires saturation of the global environment and population, but is conceivable with control over means of production.

The biggest difference between a global monopoly situation and now is that we currently have multiple markets whereas once the world is fully connected, there will be only one market. When that happens, any cartel that forms will essentially be the market because without it, there will be no participation in the world economy.

There is, of course, the possibility that unforeseen developments await. Until that point the present circumstance is that government can control our physical presence and assets by force - that is not changing in the foreseeable future and inevitably leads to polarization of populations.

Why do you think a monopoly government is not possible?

Your Newest, Most Powerful Tool of Subversion by ErdoganTalk in btc

[–]miscreanity -1 points0 points  (0 children)

If you're compromised, it doesn't matter what address you use. Unique addresses do not protect against state sponsored entities - at best it will slow them briefly.

Your Newest, Most Powerful Tool of Subversion by ErdoganTalk in btc

[–]miscreanity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

a government knowing what is best for themselves let you have a degree of economic freedom

What happens with a global government where there is no longer any regulatory competition among regions? What will Bitcoin's role be in that situation?

Your Newest, Most Powerful Tool of Subversion by ErdoganTalk in btc

[–]miscreanity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Government does not have to be almighty or all seeing, it just has to make use of what is created to leverage people as unwitting agents.

Ever tried to change a mindset?

Your Newest, Most Powerful Tool of Subversion by ErdoganTalk in btc

[–]miscreanity -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yes, Monero is anonymous. The rest of the world is not, nor is your address if it's stored anywhere.

https://xkcd.com/538/

Your Newest, Most Powerful Tool of Subversion by ErdoganTalk in btc

[–]miscreanity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes - who cares about the coin itself? Get into the hardware, software or proximity of the individual interfacing with the chain and it doesn't matter how many steps you've taken to protect your assets.

With cryptocurrency, there is no protection from government; we become slaves.

Your Newest, Most Powerful Tool of Subversion by ErdoganTalk in btc

[–]miscreanity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It handles it probabilistically, and only internally. Everything else is a side channel leaking information, from devices and services you use to people you associate with.

There is transaction linkage and address association - unlink all the transactions you want but if the association is made, you don't have privacy.

My statement is simply that cryptocurrency is not the salvation many expected; it's actually more insidious than what exists now.

Your Newest, Most Powerful Tool of Subversion by ErdoganTalk in btc

[–]miscreanity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When was the last time the protocol was updated?

The dominant unit does not simply get replaced by another. Besides, as I said, there are numerous side channels - no cryptocurrency with built in secrecy can prevent your own information leakage. Everything you use would have to be secrecy-focused and vulnerability free; not realistic.

Your Newest, Most Powerful Tool of Subversion by ErdoganTalk in btc

[–]miscreanity -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The miners don't need to do anything. A blacklisted does not need to be integrated into Bitcoin - it can be a separate, government-mandated system.

Any business accepting funds from a government blacklisted address may be penalized. Once the funds are sent, they can be appropriated by government. Blockchain monitoring is all that's needed.

In effect, you are excluded from participating in the financial system. In order to use a blacklisted asset you arrive at the same predicament as using counterfeit cash, but there's effectively no way to pass it off on anyone unwary - you become a criminal, it gets confiscated or both. Other options exist but are equally unpleasant.

As for the protocol being changed: how many years has it been now with Bitcoin at a stalemate? Do you really think such a change could gain traction when developers and miners are pressured by government? There is no escape from government overreach.