161–170 of 239 posts
I don't understand the high horse. Accept the offer, rake in the cash, move on. Whether or not the company eventually becomes a success does not affect the money you have raked in. Be greedy, the investors are. If you're an engineer, you're the needed fuel they need for their fire.
While turning down the job is just fine, here's what happened instead: - Someone else with similar capabilities as OP's probably took the job. - This person will make significantly more money than what OP will be making (as OP points out) - This person will have learned way more about the implication of the technology, whether it actually is as bad as what mainstream media says or if those are all coming from ignoran…
I spent most of last year working on a high-paying project for a huge company that was the dumbest shit imaginable and everyone on this thread would heap scorn if they saw it. I earn more than I know what to do with and would love to work on something actually useful for a change even if it meant less money and 10 year old tech.
The danger in a space like this is throwing the baby out with the bath water. - Yes, there are an insane amount of scams, and lots of dumb money flowing in - Yes, many use cases of blockchains should really be databases - Yes, many blockchain job posts are just PR initiatives for companies who want to differentiate themselves That said, it's an early time to have a tremendous amount of impact. Don't like "proof of wo…
> Don't like "proof of work"? Go hack on various other implementations. If this strikes you as reasonable advice or as a reasonable way to think about cryptosystems, it is probably best if you don’t attempt to work on blockchain tech.
I don't necessarily disagree with the author here, but I would be genuinely curious if the job offer was for one of the "scammy cryptocurrency ICOs" or for one of the industry use case that seem to be destined to survive after the current round of scamminess passes.
His reasons seemed really strange to me. If I was considering such an offer, my decision would be based in large part on what exactly the company was doing in the space and whether I felt it was good or bad. It's like turning down a job with government just because governments sometimes do bad things.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Get angry at banks? My response to anyone serious about competing with banks: go work for one. Banks are often portrayed as these evil faceless entities that act completely in their self interest. In reality, most banks that matter are simply too large to act as one – and not in the sense that they are too big to fail (although, that's probably true as well) but that they are huge organizations with thousands upon…
If you want to spend your time on earth helping to destroy the lives of poor people, work at a bank like Bank of America or Wells Fargo. They've got evil corruption down to a science. > A 2014 CFPB study showed that about 8 percent of bank customers pay about 75 percent of all overdraft fees. And much of the time, the purchases that trigger overdraft fees are minor. The median debit card transaction that ends in an o…
Best estimates are that there are about one million
holders of Bitcoin; 47 individuals hold about 30 percent,
another 900 hold a further 20 percent, the next 10,000
about 25% and another million about 20%, with 5% being
lost. So 1/10th of one percent represent about half the
holdings of Bitcoin and 1 percent close to 80 percent
(http://www.businessinsider.com/927-people-own-half-
of-the-bitcoins-2013-12). The concentration of Litecoin
ownership is similar
(http://litecoin-rich-list.blogspot.com).
Most of the big wallets have been in place from early on,
so sitting back and watching your capital grow has been a
very successful strategy.
The distribution of Bitcoin holdings looks much like the
distribution of wealth in North Korea and makes the
China’s and even the US’ wealth distribution look like
that of a workers’ paradise [1]
Both Bitcoin and Ethereum mining are very centralized,
with the top four miners in Bitcoin and the top three
miners in Ethereum controlling more than 50% of the hash rate. [2]
[1] http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-inequality-2014-1
[2] http://hackingdistributed.com/2018/01/15/decentralization-bi...
[3] https://medium.com/@BambouClub/are-you-in-the-bitcoin-1-a-ne...
* Proof of Stake will exacerbate wealth centralization, due to statistical probability of block rewards going to the wealthiest, perpetually increasing their odds of further newly minted coins.
> Everyone who is talking positively about cryptocurrencies and making hyperbolic claims seems to have invested in them. I thought this was an interesting claim to use as a disqualifier. If you see the promise of blockchain, why wouldn't you invest in them?
> If you see the promise of blockchain, why wouldn't you invest in them?
There’s a delicate difference between investing vs. investing and telling strangers how they could invest into the same thing.
The former indicates you believe something has merit. The latter indicates you want something to appreciate in price.
Perhaps those aren’t mutually exclusive, you might also believe it has merit, but others will take your words with a grain of salt because you maybe, just maybe, are trying to speculate in it short-term. (Otherwise wouldn’t you try to keep it quiet and invest more and more into it while the majority is unaware?)
There’s the third case, though, and it’s the worst: you invest, frequently praise the thing you’ve invested into, and consistently forget to mention the fact that you’ve invested into that thing.
This would read as: you believed into something enough to invest, you’re eager for it to go up, and you also don’t want your audience to discount your acclaim on the basis that you’re an investor. In other words, lack of investment disclosure (where it’s due) advertises a degree of insecurity about true merits of the thing someone’s endorsing, so those two cancel out, which leaves the speculation motive. The whole field seems to send this sort of a mixed signal, and it leaves an unpleasant residue. The hype is, perhaps paradoxically, discrediting the technology.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you want to spend your time on earth helping to destroy the lives of poor people, work at a bank like Bank of America or Wells Fargo. They've got evil corruption down to a science. > A 2014 CFPB study showed that about 8 percent of bank customers pay about 75 percent of all overdraft fees. And much of the time, the purchases that trigger overdraft fees are minor. The median debit card transaction that ends in an o…
I was once hit with a $35 overdraft fee three days in a row for buying a cup of coffee at Starbucks. I was really pissed off... at myself, for not staying on top of my bank balance. I don't consider the bank evil for enforcing terms I agreed to.
http://www.wisebread.com/banks-manipulate-your-transactions-...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you want to spend your time on earth helping to destroy the lives of poor people, work at a bank like Bank of America or Wells Fargo. They've got evil corruption down to a science. > A 2014 CFPB study showed that about 8 percent of bank customers pay about 75 percent of all overdraft fees. And much of the time, the purchases that trigger overdraft fees are minor. The median debit card transaction that ends in an o…
I was once hit with a $35 overdraft fee three days in a row for buying a cup of coffee at Starbucks. I was really pissed off... at myself, for not staying on top of my bank balance. I don't consider the bank evil for enforcing terms I agreed to.
This is more of a debate about society than the specific products a bank offers, but you being daft enough to pay $35 for a Starbucks coffee isn't really comparable to the lives these people live, and the vicious cycle things like overdraft fees can land them in.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've found in many fields that are as complex as finance, that when I think something in that field is stupid, unnecessary, or onerous, it is I that am wrong because I simply didn't understand the why of how that thing came about. Someone else has already brought up Chesterton's Fence, but long before I heard about the fence of Mr. Chesterton, I learned that every warning sticker on your ladder, every regulation you…
I wasinformed recently that there's something similar behind most of the speed cameras in the UK - if you see one (other than on a motorway) it means that somebody died there, probably more than one somebody. There's a debate to be had about whether they are the most effective means of slowing down traffic, but it changed my view a little.
While turning down the job is just fine, here's what happened instead: - Someone else with similar capabilities as OP's probably took the job. - This person will make significantly more money than what OP will be making (as OP points out) - This person will have learned way more about the implication of the technology, whether it actually is as bad as what mainstream media says or if those are all coming from ignoran…