Tim was pretty much why I got interested in crypto. I'm glad I got to meet him in person once a few years ago, but lots of great interactions online over the years.
Tell HN: Tim May, Author of “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto”, Has Died
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Re: Tell HN: Tim May, Author of “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto”, Has Died
#12When May worked at Intel, the IC's would encounter unexplained state changes from time to time.
He looked into it - and eventually realized the problem was the ceramic/clay semiconductor packaging was slightly radioactive, causing single event upsets. Intel switched to less alpha-heavy packaging, plastic, and the problem went away. That's impressive debugging!
I knew him more from his cryptography and privacy work (and his curmudgeonly Usenet posts on how downtown Santa Cruz was going down the drain, in his opinion), but this feat always impressed me.
Re: Tell HN: Tim May, Author of “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto”, Has Died
#13These early documents are really interesting in that they often NAIL the future but underestimate the technical challenges required.
Onion routing being a good example... it's taken longer to get there and it's still not going to be the default for a long long long time.
Re: Tell HN: Tim May, Author of “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto”, Has Died
#14imagine you died and your biggest contribution was to a ponzi scheme
Re: Tell HN: Tim May, Author of “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto”, Has Died
#15imagine you died and your biggest contribution was to a ponzi scheme
Lmao based and redpilled
Re: Tell HN: Tim May, Author of “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto”, Has Died
#16imagine you died and your biggest contribution was to a ponzi scheme
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Re: Tell HN: Tim May, Author of “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto”, Has Died
#17> Just as the technology of printing altered and reduced the power of medieval guilds and the social power structure, so too will cryptologic methods fundamentally alter the nature of corporations and of government interference in economic transactions. Combined with emerging information markets, crypto anarchy will create a liquid market for any and all material which can be put into words and pictures. And just as…
The ability that the blockchain gives to economically coordinate across great spaces and at massive scale without a central authority may make Tim May's predictions come true.
"Crypto anarchy will alter completely the nature of government regulation, the ability to tax and control economic interactions, the ability to keep information secret, and will even alter the nature of trust and reputation." -Tim May, 1988
I would add that limiting the ability of the govermment to tax and control economic interactions does not imply eliminating the government's ability to collect taxes. It would instead mean governments shifting from taxing people's private transactions, which properly belong in the private sphere, to taxing immovable property within their jurisdictions, like land, which properly belongs in the public sphere.
Re: Tell HN: Tim May, Author of “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto”, Has Died
#18[deleted]
Re: Tell HN: Tim May, Author of “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto”, Has Died
#19R.I.P. He and John Perry Barlow are true hero's.
Re: Tell HN: Tim May, Author of “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto”, Has Died
#20[deleted]