BC BITCOINHAZARD
Saved by @m4rc0v0nh4g3n

Today we’re going to talk about "the blockchain" and why it’s one of the dumbest most harmful faux innovations to ever come out of the tech industry. (1/) 🧵

 Last week we talked about #bitcoin climate change denialism, the fallacy of whataboutism, and comparisons to the financial services sector. (2/)
https://t.co/7tb04zSM5I
The common talking point among policy makers is that while bitcoin is boiling the oceans and is nothing but a predatory get rich quick scheme for siphoning money from fools—the underlying technology "the blockchain" is revolutionary tech that will transform global commerce. (3/)
This is however not tethered to the reality of the software industry. The overwhelming consensus among programmers and technologists is that blockchain is completely useless technology for anything but speculative digital gambling on tokens. (4/)
https://t.co/Ds2JMzxGZH
Ok, so what do we even mean when we say “blockchain”.

The answer is really that nobody knows, it’s not a term that has any precise definition and it really depends on who you talk to and the context. (5/)
https://t.co/PFJFoZObM4
It could mean anything from an Oracle Database to the bitcoin ledger data structure and will consistently be used in conversation to mean both those things simultaneously. Whatever serves the interest of whoever is using it. Blockchain is a semantically meaningless buzzword. (6/)
Now some introductions will tell you a blockchain is a data structure from computer science which consists of a linked list of blocks which are iteratively hashed so that subsequent blocks depend on the hashes of previous blocks. (7/)
However the utility of a term of art for any piece of software that includes two of the most common concepts in computer science (hashing, linked data structures) is just bad classification.

This includes such a vast category of software to make the term meaningless. (8/)
Sure, we can say the Git version control system or Postgres commit log is a “blockchain” if you squint hard enough, but what does this new term give us semantically? We’re just playing word games at this point. (9/)
For the last 10 years a whole cottage industry has arisen trying answer the question: Is blockchain useful for anything but gambling?

After about $30b in sunk investment and a 0% success rate the industry finally has the answer: NO. (10/)
https://t.co/Wly2mS6x6C
So why does this narrative persist? The answer is quite simple, it provides cover from scrutiny of regulators who are increasingly asking hard questions about public harm and systemic risk from increasingly what looks like a digital casino fleecing retail investors. (11/)
Upon this kind of scrutiny most advocates wrap themselves in the “innovators blanket” of tech and appeal to the empty cliche that regulation will stifle blockchain innovation and the US needs to be at the forefront of this new wave of innovation. (12/)
https://t.co/rKdqqMoVyR
To which most of us actually in the software industry puzzlingly ask … what innovation could you possibly be referring to?

Blockchain is completely useless. (13/)
https://t.co/EdiyzFb5FC
Blockchain is this weird postmodern phenomenon of inefficiency in the tech sector, where in the absence of actual progress people have tried to construct an illusion of innovation out of finalization, obscurantism and spin built around a technical fantasy. (14/)
Blockchain is not the endless parade of failed software and empty promises, but the invention of a new regime for cloaking fraud and graft in a perpetual mutating narrative of libertarian ideas whose single purpose is wealth transfer from the gullible to the greedy.

/fin

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श्रीमाली हितेश अवस्थी...
@HiteshAwasthi89
Sri Devi Karumariamman mandir, Chennai, Tamilnadu

Sri Devi Karumariamman mandir is in Thiruverkadu, a suburb of Chennai. It is said that God Muruga came here and obtained the 'Vel' (spear) from His mother, Goddess Karumari (an avatar of Parvathi) 1/n


to fight the demon Suran and hence this place was called as 'Vel kadu' and became as Verkadu. As per legend Devi Karumariamman once disguised as a soothsayer visited Bhagwan Surya, the Sun God, to predict His future. 2/n


Not realising that the soothsayer is none other than Sakthi Matha, Surya ignored Her. Angered by his indifference, Devi Karumariamman immediately retreated. Bhagwan Surya lost His glory and the earth plunged into darkness. 3/n


Bhagwan Surya then realised His folly and pleaded forgiveness from Devi Karumariamman. In order to pacify mother Karumariamman, Suryadev said that His rays would fall on Her directly twice in a year and touch her feet. (in the month of Panguni (March- April) & during (Sep - Oct)


Mother Karumari Amman is worshipped here in two forms.A swayambu (self manifested) with only head visible above the ground and another one in a graceful sitting posture with all Parasakthi features,with four arms holding skull, sword, trishul, udukkai (damru). 5/n
ALL
Danielle \U0001f1e7\U0001f1f4
Danielle 🇧🇴...
@dinkydani21
❤✈️🌎 2 years ago today @JamesIvings and I sold all our belongings and left the UK to travel for a year. We've never been happier and we have no plans to ever return there 🙂

Thread 👇

Since then we've started a remote web dev company @SquarecatWebDev and been lucky enough to have completed several freelance projects 💻 that have kept us on the road.

In the last few months we've become a huge part of this amazing new Maker community and have found so many new friends from @makerskitchen, @women_make_ and several others! 🥰

We love travelling together (even if I'm only a glorified laptop watcher 😒) but we're both much happier being able to share our ideas outside of our own little bubble and our products have benefitted too!

Here's to another year of nomading with my favourite person and to the Maker community continuing to grow with our help! Maybe one day we'll all get to meet each other ✌️ 💛
LIFE
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Peter McCormack [Jan/3\u279e\u20bf \U0001f511\u220e]
Peter McCormack [Jan/3...
@PeterMcCormack
1/ So here is a thread on how I turned $32,000 into $1.2m and back to pretty much zero (once taxes are paid).

Just note, I am not bitter or salty in any way at all, the last 2 years have been an amazing ride - travelled the world, been wealthy, been poor.

2/ Dec '16, my advertising agency folded, I had a little bit of money left and I put $32k into Bitcoin and Ether. As it started to go up I diversified into everything, Monero, Dash, this that, any crap - even Ripplecoin. Everything just kept going up.

3/ By March I think I had around $300k and $500k by the summer. I used to take 25% out but towards the end of the summer I got greedy and put it all back in and by December it was $1.2m.

4/ Thinking I was an absolute genius I decided to start a bunch of businesses. As silly as it sounds I had this goal of making $5m as I wanted to buy Bedford Town Football Club and get them in the league, and as Crypto was going up forever I needed 6 months.

5/ So:
- Trading (income 1)
- Podcast (income 2)
- Mining (income 3)
- Mining pool (income 4)
- Consulting (income 5)

Yes - all of the above as a one-man army :)
LIFE
Nick Kapur
Nick Kapur
@nick_kapur
A thread of images from a Japanese illustrated history of America from 1861.

Here is George Washington (with bow and arrow) pictured alongside the Goddess of America. 1/


Here is Christopher Columbus (seated at center) reporting his discovery of America to Queen Isabella of Spain.

So far, kinda normal, but wait for it.... 2/


Now it's the American Revolution. Here is George Washington defending his wife "Carol" from a British official named "Asura" (same characters as the Buddhist deity). 3/


And here is Washington's "second-in-command" John Adams battling an enormous snake. 4/


Here is Washington and his wife "Carol" meeting an extremely youthful Benjamin Franklin, who has an impressive squat. 5/
CULTURE
Lindsey Simmons
Lindsey Simmons
@LynzforCongress
Joshua Hawley, Missouri's Junior Senator, is an autocrat in waiting.

His arrogance and ambition prohibit any allegiance to morality or character.

Thus far, his plan to seize the presidency has fallen into place.

An explanation in photographs.

🧵

Joshua grew up in the next town over from mine, in Lexington, Missouri. A a teenager he wrote a column for the local paper, where he perfected his political condescension.

2/


By the time he reached high-school, however, he attended an elite private high-school 60 miles away in Kansas City.

This is a piece of his history he works to erase as he builds up his counterfeit image as a rural farm boy from a small town who grew up farming.

3/


After graduating from Rockhurst High School, he attended Stanford University where he wrote for the Stanford Review--a libertarian publication founded by Peter Thiel..

4/

(Full Link: https://t.co/zixs1HazLk)


Hawley's writing during his early 20s reveals that he wished for the curriculum at Stanford and other "liberal institutions" to change and to incorporate more conservative moral values.

This led him to create the "Freedom Forum."

5/
HISTORY