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My First Impressions of Web3

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Re: My First Impressions of Web3

#931
post #534

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who has run nodes, no it is hard and expensive. Every time a geth node dies it has to resync and no persistent volume mounts and stateful sets are not solutions. They are problems. If you need to scale horizontally you get strange consistency issues with the API. All of this makes for a very unpleasant experience. It's built for TLC on a beefy box not a herd.

What version of geth were you using? How many CPUs? When one of my geth nodes dies, another spawn without issue.

And that's the rub. The new node doesn't have the same state as the old one. So clients making requests assuming that latest is the same start having problems. If you haven't seen them you just haven't been running a production quality service.

Re: My First Impressions of Web3

#932
I don't this part. Oh the NFT is just the URL and the image served by the server can be changed .. can't the URL include the hash like ?h=HASH_OF_IMAGE .. a compromised server can send any image, but the end user can verify its fake as they have the hash ???

Re: My First Impressions of Web3

#933
post #495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not a problem with crypto, because there are solutions to this, it's a problem with how people use it. The real danger is that people get too comfortable with this way of doing things and we never switch to more secure solutions.

If one person uses your tool incorrectly, it's a problem with that person. If nearly everyone uses your tool incorrectly, it's a problem with your tool.

As the person said, it is not a problem with crypto because there are indeed solutions to the problem. The tool you are referring to are the set of crypto currencies, of which there are many, which do not compensate data handling.

Re: My First Impressions of Web3

#934

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't buy the early part. 3 years into the internet we already had emails and tcp. 13 years into blockchains we have nothing.

I don't buy the early part either, but "3 years into the internet we had emails and tcp" is the wrong way to critique it IMO. The "Internet" meaning IP was already the 3rd or 4th (or more) attempt at trying to create a computer networking standard. Predecessors to the internet include: ARPANET, Usenet, FidoNet, BBSes, and CYCLADES, if not more. By the way, Email existed on _all_ of these platforms before TCP or even…

"3 years into the internet we already had emails and TCP", but the seeds for these things had been in the works for a decade plus

I'm not sure what you mean. Nothing has been in the works for a decade plus in 1971 when the first email was sent - it just two years after the very first internet connection was made. In contrast, it's been 13 years since bitcoins appeared, and aside from a potentially easier way to pay for illegal goods, I don't see any useful applications of crypto technology.

Re: My First Impressions of Web3

#935

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you transparently see all the code and databases for the websites you use and all the bank code and transactions?

The average user (the same user that doesn't want to be bothered with running a server at home) doesn't care about this, I don't think. Most people would prefer to rely on a trusted authority or expert for this sort of thing. When talking about democratization, the average user is probably the only user that matters.

Yes but the fact that the user will do what's convenient does not mean it is better. The thing about Bitcoin (as an example) is that 99% of people using can't parse the source code, but they all know that if there was an issue in it the alarm would have been sounded by now by someone who could.

Re: My First Impressions of Web3

#936

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If people want banks, they can have them. At this point exchanges have become the banks of the cryptocurrency space. Lots of people just leave their coins in the exchanges, they even have savings accounts. The ability to withdraw the money and use it directly with no third party involved is still important. Especially since governments are already implementing digital currencies that will be fully under their control…

How is withdrawing your crypto keys from an exchange functionally different from hiding jewellery around the house? At least the value of the jewellery is far less volatile, plus you can wear and enjoy it, which makes you less likely to lose it. Yes yes you can memorise some encryption key, but that poses its own problems - what happens to your money if you die or become non-compos mentis? Ultimately any sane person…

I'm not gonna claim it's different. It's not. Holding funds in a paper wallet means you have a piece of paper that's worth thousands, millions. It's a fact that there are inherent risks to holding that paper.

At some point this becomes about principles. Even if you have banks, even if banks manage to provide a good service without screwing up the economy in the process, you always have the choice to simply opt out of it. You can withdraw all of your money if you want and still maintain the ability to transact with anyone in the world. Now banking is no longer something that's imposed on everyone, it's an individual choice. It's a lot like the right to bear arms.

Your question about what happens to the money if you die is extremely relevant. My father asked me that exact question about cryptocurrencies. I came to the conclusion that if we own crypto then we must somehow make these arrangements ourselves because we can't depend on some government or bank to do it and certainly not some exchange that doesn't even answer emails. It should be possible for family to inherit a physical paperkey but I have to admit I know of no concrete examples of such a thing happening.

Re: My First Impressions of Web3

#937

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It requires a change in mindset from “efficiency first” to “robust first”. That’s a tough learning curve for trad web devs, the best web3 dev I know comes from aerospace engineering where resilience and redundancy are part of the process. But ultimately succeeding in making something that can live in the sometimes hostile environment on chain means you make something that can last and is reliable. There can be awkwar…

In conventional web wasn't the same war fought as 'net neutrality' ? All packets are equal. Pardon me if I am wrong, I don't understand web3 or crypto much but what you describe looks like a capitalist version of Internet where processing of every request depends on one's ability to pay. If this is the future, history has already taught us that it is bound to fail.

Strong claim and no evidence.

Re: My First Impressions of Web3

#938
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Algorand is carbon-negative. The inventor is a Turing-award winning MIT professor.

Nope. Still worse than status quo + planting trees via partners, which is exactly what alogrand does...

You can install an algorand server on a desktop and measure it yourself. Try doing that with Visa, or Venmo, or [choose your own black box].

Re: My First Impressions of Web3

#939

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If one person uses your tool incorrectly, it's a problem with that person. If nearly everyone uses your tool incorrectly, it's a problem with your tool.

As the person said, it is not a problem with crypto because there are indeed solutions to the problem. The tool you are referring to are the set of crypto currencies, of which there are many, which do not compensate data handling.

The point I'm trying (and failing) to make is that if a solution to a problem is reliably mis-used by its users, then it's not actually a solution in practical terms. The problems in this space are ultimately social, not technical. Success is measured by usage, not passing tests.

Re: My First Impressions of Web3

#940
post #797

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is where it falls apart for me too, people are paying huge sums for artificially scarce links to someone else’s server? I keep feeling like I’m missing something.

Yes you are missing incoming money transfers to your account. People that earn money on NFT don't have feeling that they miss something.

as long as they’re the ones not holding the bag
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