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Dick Powell
Dick Powell
7 years ago

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.

Jesse
Jesse
7 years ago

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

Mike
Mike
7 years ago

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.

Jesse
Jesse
7 years ago

Net neutrality is like obamacare for the internet…Ted had it right

Paleo Prepper Rex
Paleo Prepper Rex
7 years ago

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.

Renato
7 years ago

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.

Nick in Mongolia
7 years ago
Reply to  Renato

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.

Renato
7 years ago

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

lasttexascowboy
lasttexascowboy
7 years ago

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.

SusanG
SusanG
7 years ago

Suggestion for a blackout kit headlamp: https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Divide-Headlamp-Battery-Lock/dp/B01C7HF5J4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500652449&sr=8-1&keywords=coleman+divide+headlamp
The battery lock feature allows you to store the headlamp without worrying about the batteries draining before you need it, but it is always ready to go. It’s my new favorite. Coleman also makes a lantern with the battery lock feature.

Sarah in IN
7 years ago

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.