This reminds me of the (encrypted) copy of Microsoft Bob shipping with every Windows XP CD ever https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/technet-...
Looking forward to the first serious attempt to decrypt that.
The Bitcoin whitepaper is hidden in every copy of macOS
81–90 of 451 posts
Re: The Bitcoin whitepaper is hidden in every copy of macOS
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
What harm was done with that photo? Was even one woman turned away from an industry bc of it? Absurd.
we don't know the harm, because we don't know how many women encountered this image and may have been made uncomfortable because of it. we also don't know how many men felt encouraged in their sexism upon encountering this image. while the image didn't make men sexist, it undoubtedly helped normalize that view among those coming across it during their work. context matters. if you read playboy at home, that's on you,…
"it undoubtedly helped normalize"
You state this as a fact but it's just your opinion.
Re: The Bitcoin whitepaper is hidden in every copy of macOS
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is a hidden file, that was just now stumbled upon 4+ years later, an endorsement?
It isn't hidden if it was found with a full path to file and now on full display. By adding it into the main macOS, a sentient being at Apple deliberately chose that file to place it into a major operating system. I consider it an blantant endorsement. I'm questioning Apple's review process because of this. At worst this is akin to malware.
> At worst this is akin to malware.
You just don't find this kind of insane overreaction over esoteric matters anywhere else. Love HN.
Re: The Bitcoin whitepaper is hidden in every copy of macOS
#84Honestly If i had to guess, I'd say the answer is as simple as: a freely distributable, easily verifiable document was needed for testing purposes, and some engineer thought it'd be a cheeky little easter egg to use that file as bitcoin was starting to gain back traction in 2019 after it's first big surge and fall the years prior.
Re: The Bitcoin whitepaper is hidden in every copy of macOS
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3942181 > For example, illegal transactions, scams and gambling together make up less than 3% of volume.
the other 97% is bots sending small amounts of bitcoins back and forth to each other for no reason whatsoever
In fairness, that kind of thing arguably happens with stocks as well, though algorithmic trading.
Though it’s not small amounts.
Re: The Bitcoin whitepaper is hidden in every copy of macOS
#86Honestly If i had to guess, I'd say the answer is as simple as: a freely distributable, easily verifiable document was needed for testing purposes, and some engineer thought it'd be a cheeky little easter egg to use that file as bitcoin was starting to gain back traction in 2019 after it's first big surge and fall the years prior.
Yeah my collection of test docs are pretty random, albeit often Futurama related.
Re: The Bitcoin whitepaper is hidden in every copy of macOS
#87Honestly If i had to guess, I'd say the answer is as simple as: a freely distributable, easily verifiable document was needed for testing purposes, and some engineer thought it'd be a cheeky little easter egg to use that file as bitcoin was starting to gain back traction in 2019 after it's first big surge and fall the years prior.
Yup. I can't even think of any other "famous PDF".
If you asked me for a famous modern formatted document generally, I might say the screenplay for The Godfather would be a good candidate. But there's no canonical PDF for that. :P Plus, copyright would prevent that.
Re: The Bitcoin whitepaper is hidden in every copy of macOS
#88This is like a slightly better version of https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/the-campaign-to-erase-th... someone wanted to pick an example PDF and picked the bitcoin one. Just like in the article above back in 1973 they didn't realize the harm in what they were selecting as the sample photo. And maybe there is no harm with this PDF selection? We'll know in 2073!
What harm was done with that photo? Was even one woman turned away from an industry bc of it? Absurd.
She felt violated and wanted people to stop [ETA: Or not, see below]. Why isn't that harm? Why would using pornography in a professional context (outside of the pornography industry or other edge cases) be considered appropriate? Of course it's off-putting to people, women and otherwise.
I just don't see your point at all.
Re: The Bitcoin whitepaper is hidden in every copy of macOS
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
Every iPhone ships with a bitcoin miner. It gets activated once your phone is over a year old.
I wonder if that would generate a financially significant amount of BTC. Would they ever actually mine a block with that little compute?
If nothing else, it'd generate a financially significant amount of USD for Apple :)
Re: The Bitcoin whitepaper is hidden in every copy of macOS
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
Really though? I’m confident there are 100 RFCs alone that were more impactful.
We’ve seen many instances of documents that weren’t highly thought of at the time of their publication, with that changing radically later. Vannevar Bush‘s essay “As We May Think” in 1945 is a visionary document that describes technologies we take for granted today more than 70 years ago. It’s possible the Bitcoin white paper will be looked at in similar ways, especially if Bitcoin ends up being one mankind’s most im…
Well, you could make the same argument for any document, including the RFCs.