@pre@boing.world2025-11-22 10:39:50
Despite much opinion to the contrary, the government money we use is crappy.
I'm at bitfest in Manchester to find out if Bitcoin could be a better money.
It could hardly be worse.
The mood is still good, people are joking about recent devaluation rather than crying. Those who aren't all in are trying to buy more at the discount.
After an introduction by Mad Bitcoins, Joe Bryan explains the problem with government money.
He imagines an island on which two types of money are tried, with a dividing wall between them.
When economic problems hit, government can just print more money on the fiat side. Everyone now using money which is worth less. Distorting prices, inflating asset prices, making the rich (who hold assets) richer and the poor (who have to pay inflated prices) poorer. Driving wealth inequality.
On the hard money side, government must tax properly. Take in more from the rich rather than inflating to take it from the poor. Reducing wealth inequality.
On the government money side, the wealthy monitize houses, stocks, resources. Saving in money is impossible, its inflated away. So they save in assets and hording resources. Capital is misallocated. The youth can't afford houses. Poverty traps are caused. The only way out is printing more for benefits. Making it all worse. More economic crises, more printing. More government debt.
Eventually, the wall is broken. Government money people can save in the hard money instead. It reduces the value of government money further. More printing. More inflation.
Eventually, war. Funded by printed money.
The dollar is the best of a bad bunch all other government money is falling in value even faster.
I wonder, is bitcoin really this better money though? It's limited, hard, and can't be printed without energy investment.
I'm still unsure that fixing money fixes the world.
--
Note: "crypto" is mostly more like government money than bitcoin. It can be printed indefinitely by it's makers, does not cost it's makers to print. Crypto is usually just a scam people to get more bitcoin. Bitcoin is not crypto.
#bitfest #bitcoin
@hex@kolektiva.social2025-11-21 10:08:16
It's Interesting today that the popularization of @…'s concept of "enshittification" is leading us to really think hard about how various methods of vendor lock-in enable corporations to abuse users. We see how first there's lock-in then quickly abuse follows, and recognize that the only way out of this trap is to build systems where users can leave at will.
But it's interesting that in this time of rising fascism no one is making the connection to fascism, as both increased lock in and enshittification of government. And no one is making the connection between the need to make systems optional to avoid enshittification, and libertarian socialist arguments against the systemic lock-in (and following abuse) of capitalism and the state.
@ruth_mottram@fediscience.org2025-11-21 10:34:41
An evening discussing falling enrollment in #STEM courses at universities across Europe, especially traditional studies like chemistry, geology and meteorology. I wonder if young people are unaware of just how interesting #STEM careers to be? Or do they have the perception it's "too hard" compared to other subjects where easier grades may be had? Or is it simply they think they can have "better"* jobs in other fields?
#AcademicChatter
*Where better might mean higher paid, more prestigious, more certain of employment, or less workload or some combination of all of these... ?
@Techmeme@techhub.social2025-12-22 13:01:18
Investigation: in 22 US states, Uber approves drivers with many types of convictions, such as violent felonies, that are over seven years old to keep costs low (Emily Steel/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/business/uber-background-chec…
@mariyadelano@hachyderm.io2025-10-20 21:41:39
A paradox I think about:
If advertising doesn’t work - why is that the business model nearly every internet business defaults to?
If advertising online is so lucrative, why are marketing departments all over failing to meet targets and struggling to show any results?
Everything is ads and none of it is working. And I’m just a lone marketer screaming in this forest of nonsense hoping some tree falls and hears me.
@raiders@darktundra.xyz2025-10-20 19:57:17
Raiders Receive Clear Words on Chip Kelly After Losing to Chiefs https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/las-vegas-raiders/clear-words-chip-kelly-losing-chiefs/?adt_ei=[email]
@zack@mamot.fr2025-11-21 00:07:33
On ne pourra pas toujours compter sur l'incompétence des méchants et la méticulosité de certaines vigies pour sauver l'Etat de Droit.
On ne sera peut-être pas aussi chanceu.x.ses que les Tazunien.ne.s sur ce point. Parce que niveau incompétence des damnés de la méchanceté, ils posent la barre super haut.
@blakes7bot@mas.torpidity.net2025-11-21 13:10:01
Series B, Episode 04 - Horizon
AVON: Has anybody else picked it up?
ZEN: Negative. [More beeps come in]
AVON: Decode.
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/204/530 B7B3
@arXiv_csRO_bot@mastoxiv.page2025-09-22 10:05:01
Right-Side-Out: Learning Zero-Shot Sim-to-Real Garment Reversal
Chang Yu, Siyu Ma, Wenxin Du, Zeshun Zong, Han Xue, Wendi Chen, Cewu Lu, Yin Yang, Xuchen Han, Joseph Masterjohn, Alejandro Castro, Chenfanfu Jiang
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.15953
@Techmeme@techhub.social2025-12-22 11:45:40
Investigation: internal Binance files show it failed to stop hundreds of millions in crypto from flowing through suspicious accounts, even after a 2023 US deal (Financial Times)
https://www.ft.com/content/5d8af345-d593-47b1-85ae-758ee60e9a89
