What You've Done Today - But you… have elected… the way of… pain!

[BruceVC]

8 hours ago, Bokishi said:

Depends on what crypto you go for tbh, yes plenty of scams but also plenty of diamonds if you do the research. Trading a token called Saitama made me $30K last month, and that token is still only getting started. With stocks if you make %15 returns in a year, it's considered a success. But in crypto you can get %100+ returns in an hour, and possibly %1000 in a good week

However the philosophy remains "only invest what you can afford to lose" 

I hear you, I am not saying you cant make money from Crypto

But it has much more risk compared to normal investments for several reasons because the history and proven understanding of positive return is nebulous and lastly where is your recourse if the value of a particular Crypto drops? Who takes responsibility if no one really is accountable for the fluctuation  of price ?

[Raithe]

Breaking down what they ask for in that presentation for the interview, and I'm realising that it would basically be a day or two actual work if it was happening in a professional office / project situation.

You're talking a good day of data cleansing and processing from raw data set, to something workable, and then a second day of transforming and figuring out what sort of story it tells and visualising it. At a minimum. Before even starting on putting it into a 10 minute presentation that makes sense.

At home. With only open source software.

Snark. Grumble.

 

[Bokishi]

8 hours ago, BruceVC said:

I hear you, I am not saying you cant make money from Crypto

But it has much more risk compared to normal investments for several reasons because the history and proven understanding of positive return is nebulous and lastly where is your recourse if the value of a particular Crypto drops? Who takes responsibility if no one really is accountable for the fluctuation  of price ?

My only recourse is that it is money I had no problem losing. Last August I had $3000 invested in a project and I watched its value dwindle to $1000. I saw another project (Saitama) that was about to take off as all the signs looked good (doxxed developers, big list of upcoming milestones, and great community). I moved that remaining $1000 (as well as some money from other tokens I recently sold) over to the other project and it 10x in September, making back my losses and way more. So yes you can easily lose money, but also easily gain it back if you time your moves right

[Gromnir]

the last three years for us is illustrative o' the income disparity problem in the US. retired, sitting on our arse and doing nothing save watch high conservative ira growth, have made enough money in that span alone for most people to retire. as such crypto makes no sense for us. 

am nevertheless concerned 'bout the next decade. am not far removed from considering a smaug portfolio dedicated to building and hoarding a big pile o' gold.

HA! Good Fun!

[Guard Dog]

22 hours ago, Bokishi said:

Been making massive amounts of money on cryptocurrencies. Anyone else buying into this stuff? It's been my new hobby this year

Two years ago I read a book about Blockchain and was watching it a little bit. At the time bitcoin was selling for around $7200. So I bought one. I sold it a few months ago and made some nice money on it but I was no word the ceiling that it ended up hitting. Oh well. I’m going to have to agree with Bruce, crypto is literally buying air. How much can air really be worth? But I read a great article in Forbes a few weeks ago. Crypto, bitcoin specifically, Will likely be undermined by the fact that people are treating it as an asset and not as a currency. As a currency it enjoys a number of advantages in that there is a finite number that can exist so it is relatively immune from things like inflation. However, as an asset it has very little going forward in that it is not worth anything if it is not a currency. Since it has no intrinsic value it has no bottom price. So it can go all the way to zero.

you can definitely make a lot of money on crypto and it is certainly a fad right now. But I’ve decided it’s not for me. My risk tolerance where my money is concerned is pretty minimal. I prefer to invest in things that can never be worthless even if they will never match the yields.

[Guard Dog]

3 minutes ago, Gromnir said:

 am not far removed from considering a smaug portfolio dedicated to building and hoarding a big pile o' gold.

HA! Good Fun!

Oh I am so stealing this line!

[Gorth]

I never had the nerves for Ponzi schemes. Which is really what crypto currencies are. As long as you can get someone else to join the bandwagon, you make a profit. Eventually, when reality knocks on the door and it collapses, there are no gold or currency reserves to support it and those at the end of the food chain are left penniless. In the meantime, it's great for money laundering and tax avoidance (the last big hit Bitcoin took was when China outlawed crypto currencies and a number of wealthy Chinese suddenly had to either pay bribes tax or divert their income to overseas trust accounts

[Azdeus]

2 hours ago, Gorth said:

I never had the nerves for Ponzi schemes. Which is really what crypto currencies are. As long as you can get someone else to join the bandwagon, you make a profit. Eventually, when reality knocks on the door and it collapses, there are no gold or currency reserves to support it and those at the end of the food chain are left penniless. In the meantime, it's great for money laundering and tax avoidance (the last big hit Bitcoin took was when China outlawed crypto currencies and a number of wealthy Chinese suddenly had to either pay bribes tax or divert their income to overseas trust accounts

A vast number of online blackmail is handled with cryptocurrencies too, so it's a big enabler there.

[BruceVC]

6 hours ago, Gorth said:

I never had the nerves for Ponzi schemes. Which is really what crypto currencies are. As long as you can get someone else to join the bandwagon, you make a profit. Eventually, when reality knocks on the door and it collapses, there are no gold or currency reserves to support it and those at the end of the food chain are left penniless. In the meantime, it's great for money laundering and tax avoidance (the last big hit Bitcoin took was when China outlawed crypto currencies and a number of wealthy Chinese suddenly had to either pay bribes tax or divert their income to overseas trust accounts

Their are very few things I like  about how the CCP runs their  country but I do admire some of the economic advantages a one party state provides....of course I would never change our government systems  to become like China but you can still respect the Chinese efficiency if you are looking at economic metrics like  productivity

But because China has become so proficient at " legitimately " keeping their own currency competitive when they started clamping down on Crypto because of tax evasion and other systemic problems with Crypto it was another reason  to be wary of this new type of investment  

So sometimes we can really learn from why the CCP do certain things as these policies would also benefit our societies ?

[BruceVC]

4 hours ago, Azdeus said:

A vast number of online blackmail is handled with cryptocurrencies too, so it's a big enabler there.

This should be a huge concern to all of us, Crypto has become the default currency of the dark web and basically all illicit activity on the Internet and it makes it much harder for global law enforcement agencies to track  this behavior and prosecute people because the money trail is almost impossible to understand using normal financial auditing  

But its also unfair to blame Crypto for the abuse of its creation, in other words its criminals that abuse the Internet and Crypto and even if it vanished you would still have the likes of the Dark Web which is not all about illegal behavior and does have some real legitimate purpose

[Gorth]

30 minutes ago, BruceVC said:

So sometimes we can really learn from why the CCP do certain things as these policies would also benefit our societies ?

Live long enough and you might eventually arrive at the conclusion, that the world isn't all black or white. Just extremes and everything in between... /wisdom of an old man (me)

just like there is no truth or "right way" of doing things. Depending on your personality (part genes, part environment, optionally whatever your spiritual beliefs adds to it), we can try to do the best we can to achieve what we want in life. Sometimes the means to the end doesn't justify the means according to our own values. Sometimes, the end justifies any and all means. My way of saying there is no right or wrong answer to your question (crap, I really should've gotten into politics! ). If you asked me specifically, I would say yes, there are things people could learn from a unified society, but then I grew up in one. Denmark may be small by today's world standards, but it was a homogeneous society at the time with a very strong "social contract", compelling people to do what was right (according to the values of society back then). My inner anarchist want's to dismantle large and powerful political systems however, so a bit of conflict of interest there. Maybe it's all about the scale of things.

 

 

[BruceVC]

9 minutes ago, Gorth said:

Live long enough and you might eventually arrive at the conclusion, that the world isn't all black or white. Just extremes and everything in between... /wisdom of an old man (me)

just like there is no truth or "right way" of doing things. Depending on your personality (part genes, part environment, optionally whatever your spiritual beliefs adds to it), we can try to do the best we can to achieve what we want in life. Sometimes the means to the end doesn't justify the means according to our own values. Sometimes, the end justifies any and all means. My way of saying there is no right or wrong answer to your question (crap, I really should've gotten into politics! ). If you asked me specifically, I would say yes, there are things people could learn from a unified society, but then I grew up in one. Denmark may be small by today's world standards, but it was a homogeneous society at the time with a very strong "social contract", compelling people to do what was right (according to the values of society back then). My inner anarchist want's to dismantle large and powerful political systems however, so a bit of conflict of interest there. Maybe it's all about the scale of things.

 

 

Good post Gothfuscious and much of what you say resonates with me and especially when you get older and  you have the advantage of lived experience and being able to see what works and what doesnt work 

And sometimes very successful government and societal systems I can definitely admire and wish in SA we could achieve the same, like the  Nordic countries which I really believe overall offer effective and sustainable governmental  systems  that offer an excellent quality of life to their citizens

But sadly I have also realized that most countries wont be able to implement what the Nordic countries have for several reasons and you have touched on one of them. The Nordic countries work because most citizens do support, accept and contribute towards the system. Its not all about " me and addressing my own definition of inequality" .....its more about the greater societal good and how if everyone accepts the high taxes and prudent government influence then it  becomes better for everyone 

Also you need to have relatively low levels of corruption and real accountability and governance in both the public and private sector to ensure success in the Nordic models of government 

[Guard Dog]

21 hours ago, Gromnir said:

the last three years for us is illustrative o' the income disparity problem in the US. retired, sitting on our arse and doing nothing save watch high conservative ira growth, have made enough money in that span alone for most people to retire. as such crypto makes no sense for us. 

am nevertheless concerned 'bout the next decade. am not far removed from considering a smaug portfolio dedicated to building and hoarding a big pile o' gold.

HA! Good Fun!

 

The reality is never quite what you dreamt!

[Guard Dog]

3 days to go….

[Gromnir]

On 10/12/2021 at 5:40 AM, Guard Dog said:

image
 

The reality is never quite what you dreamt!

every great wyrm of middle earth started off relative humble. and sure, what lizard with dreams o' a big pile of gold hasn't had a momentary fling with soybean investments or the like? even so, all it takes is a roll o' dirty twenties, hard work, a dream... and a bit o' luck along the way.

that or you can inherit. we highly recommend inheriting. 

HA! Good Fun!

[melkathi]

I went to the airport yesterday.

While the taxi was driving down the motorway, suddenly the hood flipped up and smashed against the windshield.

---------

I was in a plane yesterday. As we were landing the pilot suddenly pulled the plane up sharply. We heard him breathe sharply into the mic. After a moment a flight attendant came on and said: "Dear passengers, we had to abort the landing. An explanation will follow shortly."

The pilot came on: "Dear passengers, a plane taxied onto our runway so we had to abort the landing. We'll make a U-turn and try again..." Exasperated breathing.

-------

I took the subway yesterday.

Nothing exciting happened.

I like the subway.

Edited October 13, 2021 by melkathi

[Amentep]

43 minutes ago, melkathi said:

I took the subway yesterday.

Nothing exciting happened.

Or did it?

 

[Malcador]

Final Destination was on TV yesterday. 

[melkathi]

That feels like a documentary.

[Malcador]

5 hours ago, melkathi said:

That feels like a documentary.

One of the most unexpectedly upsetting things I've seen was from a documentary on TWA 800. Showed a Mickey Mouse doll floating face down in the water. 

[melkathi]

I think seeing bad things happen to toys is upsetting because they imply bad things having happened to a child without telling you what. So your imagination goes into overdrive.

[LadyCrimson]

I do not have the patience, know-how (or desire to get the know-how), or gambling nature for any kind of "higher risk" make your money grow fast ventures. I like my money under my mattress or invested in something like real estate for long haul gains.

But I/we have the perspective where, even if we're not filthy rich, we are already quite comfy/safe enough where high risk (or high maintenance) ventures just to make some extra funds does not seem worth the bother vs. our desired modest lifestyle. Even if that wasn't true, I don't think cryptocurrency would be for me/us.

Edited October 14, 2021 by LadyCrimson

[Guard Dog]

Money is too hard to come by to be reckless with in investments. Purely my opinion. A bloop single is more effective than a home run if you strike out while trying to hit a home run.

[Raithe]

Had one of those days where I couldn't really seem to focus on any one task for longer than 10 minutes. It was very.. bitty.  A bit of doing this, then a bit of doing that, some doing another, then back to the first bit, all on a loop.

[Guard Dog]

I was up half the night talking to G via FaceTime. It was fun. She will be here tomorrow morning. Very happy about that. 
 

I have more than a suspicion that she has a jealous/insecure streak. That is the reason she calls late at night. She has nothing to worry about.