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Showing content with the highest reputation on 05/28/21 in all areas

  1. It's not just that China as a whole controls the vast majority of the mining. It's also that the top four Chinese mining pools control over 60% of the bitcoin hashrate, and have done so ever since I started tracking it several years ago. https://btc.com/stats/pool Basically, the conditions for a so-called 51% attack already exist and have always existed. These mining pools can wake up any morning they like and steal everyone's bitcoin. The only reason it hasn't happened yet is that they haven't done it. Not because they can't. ps -- Just to clarify what a 51% attack is, the idea is that the bitcoin protocol works by consensus. If most miners verify a block, the the block is good. If a bad actor inserts a bad block (containing, say, a transaction to transfer a thousand of your bitcoins to me), the majority of legitimate miners will reject that block and the bad transaction will fail. Now if bad actors take over more than half of the hashrate, they can collude to verify bad blocks and verify fraudulent transactions. Satoshi's original idea was that mining would be done by millions of individuals running PCs in their spare bedrooms, making collusion difficult and control of more than half of the network by bad actors, impossible. What Satoshi did not foresee was the processor arms race in which individuals with PCs have no hope of competing with huge miners who own highly specialized mining rigs. Only the big players can mine bitcoin now, and this has led to centralization. Remember that the entire mythos of bitcoin is that there is no central control. Well as it's turned out in real life, bitcoin is highly centralized after all, and collusion among bad actors is a real possibility. Finally I should mention that mining pools are associations of many independent miners, and it's not clear what kind of centralized control the operators of a pool have over their individual miner participants. So things are not quite as dire as I'm describing, but far more dire than you'd know if you only listened to the claims that bitcoin is decentralized. The publicly available hashrate distribution statistics bear that out.
    3 points
  2. There is a useful article here about the care needed when interpreting raw numbers from VAERS: https://www.ibtimes.com/over-900-died-after-receiving-covid-19-vaccine-experts-say-data-misinterpreted-3153820 So the answer I think is no, they have not been investigated for possible causality, nor are there necessarily grounds for doing so. By the look of it, it may be the old post hoc ergo propter hoc trap. It seems quite hard to find the data you are looking for viz. the risk of fatal side effects of the vaccine in fit and healthy under 30yr olds. I have been able to find the relative risk due to the virus of death, hospitalisation by age bands in the US, but this does not filter out the fit and healthy from the others: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/investigations-discovery/hospitalization-death-by-age.html I suspect that, for the cohort you are interested in, the main issues will be (i) the risk to them of Long Covid from the virus, and (ii) the increased spreading of the virus in the population by this group if they are not vaccinated - and hence the potential for further variants to arise. I also suspect we simply do not have data on all this, given that the disease has only been with us for 18 months and given the huge number of variables, e.g. there are more than 5 vaccines in widespread use, there are half a dozen variants of the virus, all with their own characteristics, etc. The only further thing I can contribute is that, in the UK, people under 30 are recommended not to have the Astra/Zeneca vaccine but one of the others, due to the low but finite risk of blood clots. I would think the same applies to the Johnson & Johnson one, as that, I gather, uses similar technology. So Pfizer and Moderna seem to be fine for younger people. And by being vaccinated you do your bit for society by stopping the spread and reducing the chance of further lockdowns due to new variants. Plus you avoid the risk of long Covid, like my 25yr old nephew, and which I myself have had a brush with, as a fittish 65yr old.
    2 points
  3. Ok, I'll try to summarize. I must confess that in my youth I was prey to many outlandish ideas which I have now rejected. I accept the conventional Egyptological account and dating. But in one regard I do not - Egyptologists write as if each king built (designed?) his own pyramid. After first visiting Giza in 1979 I noticed something that set me thinking. Looking at plans of Giza I noticed a pattern related to the central pyramid – the prominent satellite pyramids of Khufu and Menkaure being so placed that they appeared to form parallel alignments to the centre and corners of Khafre – as shown in the first attachment. These alignments are by no means perfect but appear to form a pattern of roots (second attachment). Red 26.5 (diagonal of double square) and 30, blue 45 degrees. The definitive Giza survey was made by Petrie (Petrie, W. M. F. [1883] 2002. The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh. London: Kegan Paul. https://www.ronaldbirdsall.com/gizeh/petrie/index.htm). Legon (http://www.legon.uk) converted Petrie's measurements into native units of measure and discovered a plan based on the very same three roots (third attachment). Unfortunately his findings have largely been ignored by Egyptologists. Nevertheless I remained convinced that the central and most dominating pyramid at Giza sitting on prime real estate, Khafre, appeared to act as a reference, or 'mediator', between the other two pyramids, Khufu and Menkaure, which share certain design similarities to each other. (Perhaps evoking the theme of duality said to pervade Egyptian thinking. ) Other geometric elements appear non-coincidentally, like Phi and the Fibonacci series. As with the ability of the Egyptians to assimilate seemingly contradictory mythologies, the Giza architects appear to have assembled a collection of geometrical and numerical ideas and given them a kind of metaphorical meaning. (Perhaps the mystery so commonly associated with the pyramids is but a distant echo of a hidden tradition.) But did the builders really believe that this edifice of geometry and cut stone would launch the king to a stellar afterlife? Or is it possible that shrewder minds existed within the priesthood that we might perhaps identify as philosophers or scientists? A picture is worth a thousand words. My work is visual, containing over a hundred illustrations, and it would be a pointless chore to try to describe them in words. But here is a final diagram showing arcs which can be drawn to the corners of Khafre (fourth attachment). Serendipity? I hope this brief summary will help to answer your question. In the fullness of time my site may become more accessible and only then will a real discussion become possible. Robin
    1 point
  4. ! Moderator Note Attack the ideas, attack the behavior, leave the people alone. Keep it civil, avoid the personal.
    1 point
  5. Over 3,000 unvaccinated people have died in the US in the last 7 days. Their concerns about the safety of vaccines and/or their political position on the vaccine appears to have been a bad choice. It certainly looks like the anti-vaxer and Trumpian population in the US is dropping. Sad and ironic....
    1 point
  6. The purpose of the WM is to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy to charge a battery. A bit ironic to need a battery and motor to provide the mechanical drive ? Obviously you would get back less than you put in. Sorry, missed the reference again. Electricity and Magnetism for Degree Students by Starling and Woodall. First published 1912. eight edition 1953
    1 point
  7. I recommend watching a great movie about the pyramids " revelations of the pyramids" What is interesting to pay attention to. Pyramids are not tetrahedra. At their base is an octagon, so that on the days of the equinox at sunrise, half of the faces of the pyramids are illuminated and the other half remains in shadow. And now about choosing a place to build pyramids. The film says that if you build a straight line from Giza at an angle of 30 degrees to the parallel, then the idols from Easter Island and Machu Picchu will be on this straight line. And the Mayan pyramids are on the same parallel as Giza. I wanted to see what was on the same meridian as Giza. And it turned out that if you go from Giza to the North, you will pass through the capital of the Byzantine and later Ottoman Empire, Constantinople (Istanbul), then through the capital of Kievan Rus, Kiev, the capital of Novgorod Rus, Novgorod, and finally come to the capital of the Russian Romanov Empire, St. Petersburg.
    1 point
  8. I work from home too, very ignorant about the whole ordeal because I've never opened my blinds or even went down for the mail when this first happened and was tired of seeing all the political warfare used in mainstream media to distract us from real issues. Reading more and more about what it could mean if I didn't get vaccinated or simply believing the government is testing to see whom could survive this vaccination as a means to spread fear on those whom didn't is way out there in the solar system and so fourth lol. People whom have no data to present to me tell me all sorts of things I try to understand where the logic comes from and to my surprise its motivated reasoning... Get the vaccination as a means to fight off future mutations at least if you want to survive.
    1 point
  9. There was nothing self righteous about my attitude, nor anything that justified the hostility with which you responded. There are plenty people who responded here and save for one other person, you were the only one who couldn't do it in civil fashion. But anyway, let's drop it, I would rather get more good information than debate whether you should respond to people politely on internet forums.
    1 point
  10. I'm genuinely curious as to what the cause is for the hostility? I've asked for information in the interest of educating myself, am I not allowed to hear all the evidence before making a decision?
    1 point
  11. Only 7 ? I missed one then because you are even lucky enough to still have a job, unlike all those 32 year olds whose jobs have been trashed by covid, or just never had one. In the 1950s there was a saying about this attitude. "I'm all right Jack" There was even a film (sorry movie) about it.
    0 points
  12. Well following the same logic, (using a sample size of one) I could judge all Americans as rude and ignorant. You are lucky enough to have the right and the resources (unlike many in this world) to receive the vaccine or to reject it. Make your choice and shut the f up about it.
    0 points
  13. 0 points
  14. 0 points
  15. @Alfred001If I may express what is implicit in the foregoing responses in a much more vigorous form: go ahead. Don't take the vaccine. Let people know you have not taken the vaccine. Wear a badge clearly stating you have not taken the vaccine. This will allow the rest of us to identify you as ignorant and anti-social. We can then respond accordingly. Alternatively, take the vaccine, thereby improving your chances of avoiding problems, showing your grasp of reality and making an important contribution to community welfare.
    -1 points
  16. The self righteous attitude you seemed to have adopted focused entirely on the risk to you and completely ignored the benefit to the community at large that was not something I found attractive. My post placed the option you seemed to be leaning to wards in stark terms in an effort to make clear to you, what you seemed to be finding obscure in the hope you would see your error. The second part of my post suggested what action I thought you should take. It was the one I was 95% certain you would take once oyu had refelcted. If the structure of my post was not clear I'll try harder next time, however, I won't apologise for using strong wording to get your attention. You seemed to need it. I'm not in a position to say if the neg rep you seemingly gave me was warranted. I'm sure the one to @MigL was not, so I've cancelled that out with a Like. Neg rep this post if it makes you feel better.
    -1 points
  17. That seems a bit harsh. I am extremely interested in 'an objective discussion of known facts to sort the supposition from the supportable' (aye, back in the ghetto we used to talk of little else). But first the 'known facts' must be presented - which I have tried to do on my website. But since forum rules ban presentation of websites what am I expected to do? Answer piecemeal questions like on a game show? The moderators here will have access to my site and therefore in a position to assimilate the data and be able to answer their own questions if they want to. Anyone else must guess what I'm talking about, even though I have tried to answer queries as best I can. Your comment comes across as a getout dressed up in fancy language. If you are not interested in pyramids, just say so. What contradictory claims? could you be more explicit in your responses?
    -1 points
  18. -1 points
  19. Are you crazy? Your post is right there for everyone to see. Let me repeat it You bet the numbers of AE for non-vaccinated people are comparable to vaccinated. In other words, you don't know. But... You're literally making stuff up. Not to mention that you accuse me of "continuing to misread" the math, meanwhile I didn't bring any math up. I named the number of AE that have been reported for the vaccines. What math am I misreading? You're talking about things that don't exist in the thread.
    -3 points
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