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hmrtn's comments

hmrtn | 4 years ago | on: Something New Is Brewing

Turns out cryptocurrency and blockchain tech is a big deal and can really pave the way for open source creation. Who knew?

hmrtn | 4 years ago | on: Wikipedia cofounder: I no longer trust the website I created

Wikipedia was never intended to be a be an arbitrator of truth. It is an encyclopedia that anyone can edit and it's only purpose is to serve as a repository for information on many subjects or on many aspects of one subject.

Opinions aside, it does an excellent job of that.

hmrtn | 4 years ago | on: Ask HN: Have you found a good desk chair?

I actually do not use a chair, or if I do, it is for short periods of time. I recommend a standing desk. A standing desk has really been great for my back, and fatigue for long periods of working.

hmrtn | 4 years ago | on: It's time for us in the tech world to speak out about cryptocurrency

I think it's time for us in the tech world to speak out and make it clear the emperor has no clothes here. _Gold_ is sustained by a mix of money laundering, human slavery, fraud, ransom, gambling, and delusion. It has no social benefit except helping end first dates fast.

What we especially need to stress to regulators is that there's no relationship between the claims of _gold_ and our now thousands of years of experience. It's not decentralized, it's not a currency, it's not a store of value, and it's not a promising element.

_Gold_ solves no problems that it didn't first create, and most of those it doesn't solve. Banks are neither of those things—at worst they're an API for fraud, or as I put it, self-funding institutional greed.

I think most of us in the industry gave gold a long leash because it's full of cleverness and seemed innovative just on those terms. But it's time we recognize that cleverness is being used as bait to defraud more people and perpetuate a con. Enough is enough.

The two things people need to know about gold are completely non-technical:

1. If it isn't backed by self-perpetuating value, it isn't worth anything outside of industry process (electronics, etc.)

2. If it works, it creates an end run around all financial regulation, and will be dominated by uses those regulations try to stop

And the list goes on. I am not equating cryptocurrency to gold, I am just trying to point out the absurdity of the authors statements.

hmrtn | 5 years ago | on: Children Playing Blockchain

Unfortunately this article provides almost no substance on blockchain or it's related technology. HN does not seem to mind as long as it is even remotely critical of anything crypto-related.

It would be nice to discuss the actual implications of the technology, critical or not, without such strong opinions interfering.

hansmrtn | 5 years ago | on: Bill Gates Calls Microsoft's TikTok Deal a Poisoned Chalice

Microsoft would enter a whole new market with the acquisition of TikTok and one that I think it is wholly unprepared for. Additionally, with the added complexity of working closely with the United States Government it is pretty clear the sort of gamble Microsoft would be taking with TikTok.
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