Notices by Michaël Ball (michaelball@mastodon.social), page 7

I've just installed vim-orgmode and it feels "good enough" for me.

Don't get me wrong, I think #Emacs is great, but I'm just more productive in (neo)vim.

@grimmware @ekaitz_zarraga that's interesting. If I see an interstitial I'm more likely to exit there and then.

I'm probably not representative of the majority of casual content consumers though.

@vfrmedia @ekaitz_zarraga ugh I'm sorry :( yeah I know of a few people who took risks with buying drugs using bitcoin because they thought it wouldn't be traceable.

It just goes to show that whatever the strengths/guarantees of a cryptocurrency (or fiat currency for that matter) you can't rely on everyone to understand and use them rationally.

@superruserr /bin/true ;p

@ekaitz_zarraga @vfrmedia there was also that thing with Ethereum where an oversight in the design lead to a legal transaction which was then reverted by committee. Kind of goes against the ideal of the blockchain being the only authority necessary.

@vfrmedia @ekaitz_zarraga I remember reading about this case. Tracing that currency is going to be (nearly) impossible too.

That's what I mean when I say I'm concerned that most people don't understand the guarantees the currency makes.

@ekaitz_zarraga
@vfrmedia oh yeah I'm definitely put off using bitcoin if it means I'm going to make a speculator richer.

@vfrmedia @ekaitz_zarraga

Umm I think I meant inter-exchange. Whatever the Latin prefix is for "inside", I meant that one :)

@ekaitz_zarraga @vfrmedia oh I agree you don't need to use cryptocurrency to avoid taxes, but that doesn't mean there aren't people or corporations who will want to use cryptocurrencies for that reason.

For example, it's difficult to audit inter-exchange transactions that don't make it on the global ledger, and I'm sure there are actors who use that fact to their advantage.

@vfrmedia an electric fan heater would probably save you more money than you made mining :p

@vfrmedia

I'm not that bothered about what the currency is used to buy/sell, but I am bothered about people using it to avoid taxation.

I also have a more general concern with the fact that most people using cryptocurrencies don't fully understand the guarantees they do and don't make. I don't think their rise in popularity is necessarily a positive thing.

@ekaitz_zarraga

@ekaitz_zarraga fully agree. I'll whitelist ads if they don't track, pop over text or play audio/video. But those types of ads are few and far between.

@ekaitz_zarraga see the problem I have with crypto-mining is that it's incredibly energy-inefficient. I can't say that that's equal to - or worse than - tracking people, because they feel like different ethical problems.

My misgivings about cryptocurrencies aside, I'm interested in seeing how this practice evolves. I just hope it doesn't replace ad networks with something that ends up being as harmful.

@generica to be honest I'm still surprised he's not in prison

@ekaitz_zarraga I don't know enough about the legal issues to be able to comment on the "unlawful" accusation, but that feels like an editorial opinion.

I agree that ad networks are deeply problematic, but I'm not convinced yet that companies using services like Coinhive are any better in the long run. The fact that they're using DGA's to get around user-level blocking doesn't encourage me to trust them.

Ad network uses advanced malware technique to conceal CPU-draining mining ads

Domain generation algorithm allows scripts to bypass ad blockers.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/02/ad-network-uses-advanced-malware-technique-to-conceal-cpu-draining-mining-ads/

@publicvoit I've been using WSL for a few months and I've still got some issues with it (anything involving i/o seems to be very slow), but it feels like it's getting there.

This is a "satirical" drawing published in one of the biggest right-leaning weekly magazines in Poland.

I can't even start to describe how livid I am.

What kind of person do you have to be to come up with something like that? What kind of person would conflate and try to muddy the waters between victims of the biggest atrocity in human history, and those who committed it?

I am ashamed to live on the same planet as the author.

https://mastodon.social/media/cgjJRpscoJcpx4E_VP0

I've left my headphones at home. How am I supposed to work without music?