Revisiting Cryptocurrencies

[Chipotle]

Engineers design and build things. At least the type of "engineer" we're talking about here; I don't think a train engineer builds his own locomotive. I always differentiated hardware engineers from software engineers; I'm the latter. But we still build very complicated (virtual) things that have to be designed appropriately for the task.

Which does remind me of the old joke: if engineers constructed buildings the way programmers make software, a single woodpecker could destroy civilization.

We call the people who run a studio or do live sound reinforcement audio engineers. They "design and build" systems for creating sound.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

Engineers design and build things. At least the type of "engineer" we're talking about here; I don't think a train engineer builds his own locomotive. I always differentiated hardware engineers from software engineers; I'm the latter. But we still build very complicated (virtual) things that have to be designed appropriately for the task.

Which does remind me of the old joke: if engineers constructed buildings the way programmers make software, a single woodpecker could destroy civilization.

We call the people who run a studio or do live sound reinforcement audio engineers. They "design and build" systems for creating sound.

Good points. At the level of software engineer that I have been describing, things are really pretty cut and dried. The hardware works a certain way (dictated by data sheets and the like), and the code has to do that. The farther away from the hardware you go, the more ambiguity in design there can be. The joke would typically address programmers as you stated.

So, to get the thread back toward the OP, are those who write the Bitcoin environment (i.e. block chains, the cryptography, etc.) software engineers or programmers?

Tony

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

So, to get the thread back toward the OP, are those who write the Bitcoin environment (i.e. block chains, the cryptography, etc.) software engineers or programmers?

Tony

Both. Engineers tend to design and architect the system, while programmers tend to write the code which makes those plans run.

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

Both. Engineers tend to design and architect the system, while programmers tend to write the code which makes those plans run.

Sometimes they are the same person. But I do often (too often!) see software that was clearly just "coded" and not actually designed and architected. IMO there's a big difference, and an actual software engineer will make a far better application. Blockchain had to be engineered, but you can probably write some pretty sloppy code around it.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

Sometimes they are the same person. But I do often (too often!) see software that was clearly just "coded" and not actually designed and architected. IMO there's a big difference, and an actual software engineer will make a far better application. Blockchain had to be engineered, but you can probably write some pretty sloppy code around it.

Very good comments from both you and Dirk. Thank you.

Tony

[tinnitus]

My Shiba is currently worth half what I paid for it several months ago. No big deal if it disappears altogether, it came from free money (a meager profit pulled from Bitcoin on a good week).

Thus, 7,500,000 shares of Shiba is merely entertainment for me watch and read articles about what (maybe) to expect next.

Seems if things ever go crazy and it magically shoots up to a dollar a share, my shares will be worth $7.5 million bucks! Even a dime a share would net me $750,000 - still nothing to snarf at. So I'll ride that wispy (free) fantasy out to the end no matter what happens.

As long as we're dreaming, let's say it goes to "just" a penny a share ($75,000, which would also be great). But aside from pulling US dollars back into my debit account, I'm abjectly naive about how to use/spend crypto.

And what if things really go sideways? Even just for a day? Would I be able to use a laptop or cell phone to make a transaction? For anything? What if the power is out?

For that dire scenario, I've seen folks recommend investing in good old-fashioned gold. But with one ounce supposedly worth $1800 right this second, is a one-ounce gold coin something I want to fork over for 10 gallons of petrol (battery-pumped by thugs - allegiance unspecified - in charge of the looted local ARCO), and a cup of coffee? I think not.

Perhaps one-ounce silver rounds might prove to be a more versatile, negotiable tender du jour than crypto or gold? Just sayin'.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by tinnitus

My Shiba is currently worth half what I paid for it several months ago. No big deal if it disappears altogether, it came from free money (a meager profit pulled from Bitcoin on a good week).

Thus, 7,500,000 shares of Shiba is merely entertainment for me watch and read articles about what (maybe) to expect next.

Seems if things ever go crazy and it magically shoots up to a dollar a share, my shares will be worth $7.5 million bucks! Even a dime a share would net me $750,000 - still nothing to snarf at. So I'll ride that wispy (free) fantasy out to the end no matter what happens.

As long as we're dreaming, let's say it goes to "just" a penny a share ($75,000, which would also be great). But aside from pulling US dollars back into my debit account, I'm abjectly naive about how to use/spend crypto.

And what if things really go sideways? Even just for a day? Would I be able to use a laptop or cell phone to make a transaction? For anything? What if the power is out?

For that dire scenario, I've seen folks recommend investing in good old-fashioned gold. But with one ounce supposedly worth $1800 right this second, is a one-ounce gold coin something I want to fork over for 10 gallons of petrol (battery-pumped by thugs - allegiance unspecified - in charge of the looted local ARCO), and a cup of coffee? I think not.

Perhaps one-ounce silver rounds might prove to be a more versatile, negotiable tender du jour than crypto or gold? Just sayin'.

There is that aspect of speculative investing - the "what if" dream scenario, which can be very entertaining.

Reading the first part of your post reminds me of the one time that I bought into a group of folks at work buying a batch of lottery tickets. This was way back when a $40 million prize was a huge deal. The fun part was listening to some of these folks speculating on what they would do with the winnings, how it would change their lives for the better. It was a fun social activity, though we didn't win. As I recall the cost of that little venture was $5 per person and the organizer made photocopies of the purchased lottery tickets for all who bought in. There were probably 8 or 10 of us at most.

Tony

[dnf777]

From my admittedly feeble understanding of cryptocurrencies, I say they are to traditional currency, as fantasy leagues are to major league sports. They take a complex, highly regulated system, and create an easily manipulatable, relatively unregulated alternative to support massive profit-taking by a select few.

[tinnitus]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

There is that aspect of speculative investing - the "what if" dream scenario, which can be very entertaining.

Reading the first part of your post reminds me of the one time that I bought into a group of folks at work buying a batch of lottery tickets. This was way back when a $40 million prize was a huge deal. The fun part was listening to some of these folks speculating on what they would do with the winnings, how it would change their lives for the better. It was a fun social activity, though we didn't win. As I recall the cost of that little venture was $5 per person and the organizer made photocopies of the purchased lottery tickets for all who bought in. There were probably 8 or 10 of us at most.

Tony

I buy a Powerball ticket and Oregon Megabucks probably once a week (can't win if you don't play). Do I think for a fraction of a second that I might win any prize? Absolutely not. But it's $3 worth of entertainment to imagine for a couple minutes what I might do with the proceeds if I did.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by tinnitus

I buy a Powerball ticket and Oregon Megabucks probably once a week (can't win if you don't play). Do I think for a fraction of a second that I might win any prize? Absolutely not. But it's $3 worth of entertainment to imagine for a couple minutes what I might do with the proceeds if I did.

The coolest lottery winning story I have heard locally was a woman who stopped in at a gas station/convenience store on the way to work. She wanted to buy a snack, but needed to write a check since she didn't have enough cash on hand. There was a minimum amount that the check needed to be written for (store policy ?) so she just threw in a lottery ticket, which was something she never otherwise bothered with. She won. I don't recall which lottery it was since Minnesota has a bunch of them too. I think she won around $5 million. That was back in the early 2000s as I recall.

Tony