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Google bans cryptocurrency ads

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Re: Google bans cryptocurrency ads

#371

Post by lambda »

Erlich_Bachman wrote: post #358
lambda wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Crypto" is short for "cryptography" (or related words like "cryptographic"). Using "crypto" to abbreviate "cryptocurrency" causes a lot of confusion, as the "crypto" in "cryptocurrency" was already an abbreviation; "cryptocurrency" is short for "cryptographic currency." People who know nothing about cryptography or even that cryptocurrency uses cryptography get confused if they are looking for information about cryp…

> "Crypto" is short for "cryptography" (or related words like "cryptographic"). You know who decided that? The population that was using these terms. Now a similar population at large has decided the new usage rules. It's normal, it's just evolution of the English language. By this point, "crypto" is indeed widely used as a short term for Cryptocurrencies also. People who know nothing about things are going to get co…

> Now a similar population at large has decided the new usage rules. It's normal, it's just evolution of the English language. By this point, "crypto" is indeed widely used as a short term for Cryptocurrencies also.

Yes, this is why I say that I know this is a losing battle.

I mostly care about it in the context of technical forums like Hacker News. While the word may have a different meaning for the population at large, when you're having a discussion on a technical forum you should generally try to learn how words are used in that context.

This is somewhat like the different meanings for the word "theory" in a scientific context and in general use. In general use, "theory" means an idea that may not yet have been tested or proven, somewhere around the meaning of "idea", "hunch", or "hypothesis", while in a scientific context "theory" indicates something that has been tested successfully and is well accepted.

While the use of "theory" in the broader sense is well accepted in general use, using it in that sense in a discussion about scientific theories is confusing; so if someone does that in such a discussion, I am likely to point out the stronger meaning of the word in scientific usage.

So likewise, while "crypto" as an abbreviation of "cryptocurrency" is already fairly widespread (though I think still niche enough that there's a tiny chance a concerted effort could change usage patterns), I at least want to make sure that folks getting involved in technical discussions are made aware of the earlier definition of "crypto" and are made aware of the confusion that can be caused.

Re: Google bans cryptocurrency ads

#372

Post by coatmatter »

asdsa5325 wrote: post #291
coatmatter wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Going off-topic, but I want to ask whether writing "ELI5" is really necessary? I find it too much of a redditism and while it doesn't seem to contravene any hn guidelines, I get the feeling that "simple" questions would garner a better audience without the ELI5 prefix. There's perhaps also the problem of it being an unnecessary abbreviation, specific to another community. Alternatives (even though it takes more keyst…

I think you are overthinking it entirely

That could well be true, so I thought I'd throw it out there to check if I was (comparatively) the only one who isn't really a fan of "ELI5".

So the other alternative is to have more ELI5 prefixes for questions. It's something I never question on reddit since that's where it has orginated and flourished, but since this is hacker news I figured it'd be safer to overthink than underthink.

Re: Google bans cryptocurrency ads

#373

Post by joyeuse6701 »

Mithorium wrote: post #233
chx wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the best tweetstorm ever on topic by Sarah Jeong: https://twitter.com/sarahjeong/status/953464303960469504 > All of this has gone too far!!!!! It was fine when you paranoid dorks were out there scamming each other, please leave the normies alone!!!!!!!!!!!

All her tweets on the subject are great >Internet rando 2: What about people who live under oppressed governments with unsound currency >Me: Only if the problem with their currency is that it's not volatile enough and the transaction speeds are too fast >"People are sick of the Federal Reserve, sick of bailouts, sick of inflation. You know what we need? Internet money with the usability of PGP and the stability of BA…

Really? Her posts strike me as sophomoric at best. Just enough knowledge to seem rather than to be.

Re: Google bans cryptocurrency ads

#375

Post by arisAlexis »

robotbikes wrote: post #14

I was listening to terrestrial radio the other day and was surprised to hear a radio advertisement beckoning retirees to cash in their 401ks to join the cryptocurrency future of Bitcoin and Ethereum. The bubble is too big for Google to slow it down and it has grown beyond the realm of tech savvy geeks into something fueled by hype and hubris.

unless its not a bubble anf the bubble is when you look at the stock market and america's debt

Re: Google bans cryptocurrency ads

#376

Post by CryptoPunk »

acdha wrote: post #367
CryptoPunk wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My point is that the Tweet implies that being motivated by concerns over the government's control over our financial transactions is objectionable. It makes someone a "paranoid dork". That's a terribly derisive attitude toward something that can be an extremely reasonable concern. And since we're on the subject, Bitcoin allowed individuals to get around the financial blockade against Wikileaks a few years ago. It has…

The problem is that using Bitcoin doesn't change the government's control over your transactions: you're just spending a lot of effort elaborately dancing around the issue. This shows up in both examples you cited: if the Venezuelan government wants to enforce capital controls, the people who used Bitcoin are going to wish they'd smuggled suitcases of cash out of the country instead because they've left a durable pap…

The tweet author is not ridiculing them because Bitcoin has poor privacy and they think it doesn't. She's ridiculing them for wanting a censorship resistant form of money. It's the derisive attitude toward a reasonable desire that I'm criticising.

>>This shows up in both examples you cited: if the Venezuelan government wants to enforce capital controls, the people who used Bitcoin are going to wish they'd smuggled suitcases of cash out of the country instead because they've left a durable paper-trail of their transactions behind.

It does want to enforce capital controls but it is far more costly and difficult to do so against users of Bitcoin than users of against traditional trusted third party controlled intermediaries.

It's not a simple matter for the Venezuelan government to determine which pseudonymous transactions on a cryptocurrency blockchain belong to which Venezuelan resident. It is also much more costly to enforce a law against many thousands of end users versus a handful of large intermediaries operating in the country.

Do you really think it's equally easy for the Venezuelan government to enforce capital controls with the traditional financial system and with cryptocurrency?

>>even if the technology eventually delivers they'll have the same problem that almost everyone needs to get real money out of the system and that's where the normal banking laws kick in.

Yes it won't be perfect but it will increase the cost/difficulty of mass surveillance of financial transactions. Many of the measures that would be needed for a government to prevent private use of cryptocurrency would be politically unpalatable.

Re: Google bans cryptocurrency ads

#377

Post by latencyloser »

nkrisc wrote: post #283
latencyloser wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotal, but I have an uncle who, is a very good man but completely illiterate in terms of technology and closely resembles a "Larry the cable guy" stereotype, bought a surprising amount of bitcoin and then called me to ask how it worked, what make the price change, etc. It seems shoe shiners can come in many forms. But that was the particular one for me to unload all of my bitcoin and other crypto and get out whil…

He bought it and then asked you what he'd just spent all this money on?

Yes, essentially. He understood it was some kind of currency. But wasn't sure _why_ people used it, _what_ they really used it for or what all the hype was about. He bought mostly due to fear of missing out.

Re: Google bans cryptocurrency ads

#378

Post by samstave »

coatmatter wrote: post #372
asdsa5325 wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are overthinking it entirely

That could well be true, so I thought I'd throw it out there to check if I was (comparatively) the only one who isn't really a fan of "ELI5". So the other alternative is to have more ELI5 prefixes for questions. It's something I never question on reddit since that's where it has orginated and flourished, but since this is hacker news I figured it'd be safer to overthink than underthink.

Y’all motherfuckers best overthink on hack her news

That’s what I always say...

But seriously - we need a method for which is accepted where individuals can ask elementary questions for topics they have less knowledge than an expert in the field.

Thus, I think that “ELI5” encapsulates this.

What I am opposed to is suppression of sharing knowledge. So don’t shut people who use a moniker/meme from gaining the info they seek. Educate them and expand.

So, if you have some better way of expressing “Hey I don’t know anything about this subject, please give me some simple pointers, thanks”+

Edit: I just realized we said the same thing

Re: Google bans cryptocurrency ads

#379

Post by ojr »

asdsa5325 wrote: post #290
ojr wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why does the world need a large number of gift cards vs fewer/one instead? It is because of the perceived benefits of being a gift card holder/token holder.

It doesn't need a large number of gift cards, hence why debit/credit cards exist.

gift cards are a tool to use to engage the user and almost every store in a common mall will have one
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