Comments

Episode-2044- Listener Feedback for 7-17-17 — 17 Comments

  1. Jack,
    Just a query re bit coin. I understand that each transaction creates a trail that is stored on the many bkitcoin servers and is also anonomous. But I was told that when you want to convert bitcoin to real cash, then the transaction code created can be followed through the internal bit coin transactions and you lose the benifit of annonomity that bit coin gav you. Could you please explain if this is so or not ?

    Yours from Australia

    Dick Powell

    You can use my name and e-mail adress.

    • It depends on how and where you do it, but BTC doesn’t do anything to record such a thing. The blockchain just say, this btc went from this address to that address nothing more. But if you sell BTC in say coin base there is of course a record of that transaction. But if you sell BTC to Bob and simply he hands you 3K and you send him 3K worth of BTC there is not “cash conversion identifier” such a thing doesn’t exist.

  2. You asked on this episode if Wall Street Journal has ads displayed on the web site (behind the pay wall). They do not.

  3. Regarding net neutrality. I’m not what I would consider a heavy user but when my kids are added on I may be. I understand that there is a limit to bandwidth but what is your take on comcast? If you rent a Comcast router your wireless network comes with a “guest” network that is by default turned on. You can go in to your settings and turn it off but it’s not advertised. Comcast claims it is for your friends and family that come to visit so you don’t need to give them your WiFi password or set up a guest network yourself. In my experience the vast majority of people don’t even know about it and those that do don’t turn it off. If I didn’t know about this my neighbors and their family and friends could use my guest network and then all of a sudden I’m a heavy user.

    • That is really a user level issue. I mean when you access the net you see all networks in range.

      Guest networks are usually a great idea though I run one. I would also never and I mean never rent a router, great ones you fully control are inexpensive and far better and pay once and done.

      Regardless this really doesn’t have anything to do with net neutrality but even a guest network should have a password.

    • Its actually worse, while Obamacare did make insurance worse, at least there was a problem with it before they tried to fix it.

      Net Neutrality is literally like Obamacare if we already had great health insurance for 50 dollars a month when they decided to try to “fix it”. The internet isn’t broken and the shit people keep bringing up like Comcast and Netflix, that was handled under ANTI TRUST there were no net neutrality laws or rules in effect when that was handled.

  4. Just some informational info on the subject. I found it interesting that states could block this VISA thing.

    https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/legal-tender.aspx

    >> no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an
    >> organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods
    >> and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own
    >> policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law
    >> which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of
    >> fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters,
    >> convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large
    >> denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of
    >> policy.

    MA as rare example:

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/08/03/paying-cash-some-stores-say-thanks-greenbacks-credit-only/a4EvjwgTpI7r4lD3xVOENO/amp.html

    Visa story:

    >> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/13/exclusive-visa-declares-wa
    >> r-cash-plan-pay-british-businesses/
    >>
    >> The Daily Telegraph can reveal that the payments giant will soon
    >> attempt to strike cashless agreements with British shops and
    >> restaurants, which will see them offered lump sums worth thousands of
    >> pounds and free contactless technology upgrades.
    >>
    >> In return they must agree to ban customers from paying with cash and
    >> ensure that every item is bought using a debit card, credit card or
    >> digital payment like Apple Pay.
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-future-of-payments-visa-incs-
    >> jack-forestell_us_5967937be4b0524d8fa7fb85
    >>
    >> RI: What is Visa doing specifically to advance this cashless culture?
    >>
    >> JF: We are focused not just on putting cash out of business, but on
    >> making it easier for consumers to pay and for merchants to accept
    >> payments in more ways than ever. The desire from consumers is there,
    >> adoption is already happening. Going cashless is going to mean
    >> freedom for not just consumers and merchants but also for banks, and
    >> cities too.
    >>
    >> We are launching a challenge to merchants called the Visa Cashless
    >> Challenge where fifty businesses can win $10,000 each by going
    >> cashless. Visa is putting a call to businesses across the U.S. to
    >> tell us why they want to go completely cashless.
    >> https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/cashless.html
    >>
    >>
    >> RI: How can cashless be used to do good and how can it serve those in
    >> developing countries?
    >>
    >> JF: There are roughly twenty governments across the world that are
    >> actively putting incentives in place to help reduce the dependency on
    >> cash. Over the past two decades, India has pushed hard to become a
    >> less-cash society versus a cash-dependent society, and Visa has
    >> stepped in to provide digital payment solutions.

    • Yes merchants can refuse cash, as long as it is stated as policy before exchanging goods and services.

  5. Hi Jack,

    Thanks for reading my e-mail and thanks specially for the way you presented it.
    I really did not mean to sound pretentious.

    Hearing the email back it did sound very dramatic, it is not like we walk around looking over our shoulders, it is possible to have a good life over all here in the third world and it is possible to relocate to Brazil and make it. It is hard, harder then in the US, and even harder if the goal is to homestead. But you have to know what you are looking for. If you are looking for cheap land where you can build and freedom there is no better place to find it then America.

    Best Regards,

    Renato
    MSB Member from Brazil.

    • Here in Mongolia the violent crime is not as bad as in some parts of the third/emerging world (or even parts of the U.S.), but theft and property crime sure is. And even with family here to help us adapt it is still much harder than the U.S. to do many things. It may be worth it in our case, but there’s no denying it’s harder. Homesteading would be harder still. We’re here for the business opportunities primarily, but if we were to ever pursue a dedicated homesteading lifestyle I’d prefer to do it in certain parts of the U.S. Better infrastructure, better availability of goods & services, better gun rights (here it’s legal to have rifles and shotguns but not handguns, plus ammo is expensive), less government interference in some cases, less relative risk of people stealing from your homestead property… it is hard to beat the U.S. (or at least parts of it) for OVERALL homesteading suitability. I’m sure there are some places that match it or come close, but I’d bet such places are relatively few.

      • Hi Nick,
        Great feedback.
        Good luck in Mongolia. You said it well.
        But we have to remember that theft and property crime is also a type of violence

  6. Thanks for giving the insight on making wine. I know it is highly unlikely for TEOTWAWKI type situation. The main reason for wanting clarification is that I want to pass the knowledge on to my children. You never know what the future may bring.

  7. Jack,

    I’m still a little behind on shows after being at a Civil Air Patrol encampment for a week, sooo….

    I talked with my husband after listening to your first input regarding net neutrality. (He’s a systems administrator for a service provider, and like you, he has a lot of experience with the networking and the telco stuff.) Anyway, when I tried to pick his brain, he told me that what really started the newer discussion over net neutrality was AT&T’s attempts to charge Netflix for the data that their customers streamed on the AT&T network.

    While I agree that getting the government involved is just a bad idea, what say you about an issue like this? Also, what say you about providers like Comcast giving preferrential treatment to Comcast VoIP packets and actively sabotaging VoIP packets for Ooma or Vonage traffic?

    As an end user, I understand that if I want a less crowded highway as you put it, I have ot pay for the less congested road. But if I’m paying for the less congested road and my provider is being picky about which cars I can take on that road (Vonage VoIP vs. Comcast VoIP, for instance), what’s the solution there? I’m just curious what you think.

    • I say that happened before any net neutrality rules were put in place, and that those two companies worked their shit out without government, so why do you want government to fix it?

      Further if that is the real concern as people keep saying why does net neutrality rules under title two forbid throttling users?

      But yes let us allow just the nose of the camel in the tent, I am sure he will stop there right?

      In the end ISPs want the best user experience for their customers no matter what they are using. All of these things including charging a company that accounted for 70+ percent of all the traffic on comcast’s network are ways that is done.

      Additionally if one company say degrades the service of another with simply the intent to do harm to their business, that is already covered under anti trust laws, which apply universally to any business practice internet or no internet.

      Say GM bought Firestone and then started tuning suspensions so they are optimized for Firestone tires. This is fine. Now law is broken.

      But say GM altered Firestone tread patterns so they can not only tune suspensions to them but specifically so it would rapidly wear out Good Year tires. That is anti trust action and it would be subject to lawsuit and frankly fines by not the FCC but rather the FTC.

      Again Net Neutrality (the weak bit of it we have had for 18 months) is about to go down in flames, say on Sept 1st, ask him why your internet is still working just fine.

      Also again NetFlix and Comcast worked out their shit, no problem and yea NetFilx paid Comcast money to get it done. Comcast then used said money to upgrade their network to handle say 5 million families sitting down to watch movie night on NetFlix.

      People always say well NetFlix can afford what about when Joe Bob sets up Job Bob’s video and they do it to him.

      First before you say that, you have to show me a Joe Bob doing it, and a Joe Bob that was harmed by and evil ISP and you can’t.

      Second when Job Bob has a few thousand customers he isn’t even on the ISPs radar, they don’t care, because it doesn’t harm their network.

      Third if Joe Bob ever becomes successful enough to hear from Comcast or Spectrum about needing to make a deal to cover his impact on their network, you can STOP WORRYING ABOUT JOE BOB at that point! As his annual champagne and caviar budget will be greater than the sum of your retirement account.

      Again there is NO PROBLEM currently and the market has solved every problem that has popped up. Tech will continue to improve and problems will get easier to solve.