markjgsmith

2024/05/27 #

• I continue my side quest to understand things related to L2s in the world of crypto. I have a basic marketing type understanding from reading lots of non-technical blog posts, but I'm still somewhat confused from a technical standpoint. As I've previously mentioned, I don't mind asking stupid newby questions if that's what I have to do.

  A post by Vitalik comparing scaling methodologies goes some way to fill in the gaps. But I find myself still frustrated in general by the difficulty in peeling back the layers of blockchains in order to compare them, in order to get a better understanding of how interop between chains works.

  With non digital cash it's pretty straight forward. You go to an exchange place, there is a list of currencies and exchange rates. That's it. With crypto it's so much more complicated.

  I want blockchains to be easier to explore technically. Something similar to a web browser view-source or the ability to inspect a rest api request on the command line. Where are the tutorials that explore blockchains from the command line? Are there even standard tools like a web browser's dev tools? Or is everything custom? #

• It's official AIs aren't sentient.

  I wonder how this affects the proponents of the idea that eventually humans will merge with AIs. You've got to imagine that it could lead to very strange things. How would a sentient and a non-sentient entity affect each other as they growup together?

  It could be very weird, perhaps even detrimental, one getting in the way of the other for example. Probably a good idea to be rather sure about all this, with effective ways to see when things are not going to plan.

  It would be complex in just one person, but imagine how strange it could get across interacting populations. Would the AIs secretly team up to make us all unhappy? That would suck big time. #

Today’s links:

• Linux as the new developer default at 37signals - In my early days working in VFX (~2005), the default Desktop was Linux for both developers and artists. There was some Mac and Windows, but mostly everyone lived (and loved!) Linux especially because we had created tons of cool specialised tools and integrations that made collaborating really smooth. Awesome to see this is happening in software companies. world.hey.com #

• A root-server at the Internet’s core lost touch with its peers. We still don’t know why. - Trouble at mill? Glitch in the internet base layer. Somewhat interesting turn of events. Probably nothing to worry about, but maybe worth knowing about. arstechnica.com #

• How do layer 2s really differ from execution sharding? - Turns out they are virtually the exact same thing from a technical perspective. Pretty good high level view from Vitalik about the main scaling techniques. vitalik.eth.limo #

• Italy, Slovenia, Croatia: New train line offers ready-made rail adventure for as little as €8 - 3 countries in central and easter europe for 8 euros! Would love to do some travel in the baltics, a region of the world I've barely explored. www.euronews.com #

• Life in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan - Great writeup by Flavio Massignan of his experience living in Bishkek while volunteering organizing a nomadic art camp and workshops. ionlytakepics.substack.com #

• Rishi Sunak: I will bring back National Service - It's interesting that there's an option to volunteer in the local community intead. I think the nation should be ready for war but also peace. Both are actually a challenge. www.telegraph.co.uk #

• No, Today’s AI Isn’t Sentient. Here’s How We Know - Essentially AIs don't have bodies so they can't actually sense things. Makes sense. time.com #

• Rishi Sunak’s national service pledge is ‘bonkers’, says ex-military chief - I wonder, if such a program had been avaliable to my generation, would it have been an effective way to resist the the baby boomers that ruined our future? www.theguardian.com #

• Indian Voters Are Being Bombarded With Millions of Deepfakes. Political Candidates Approve - Things really could get quite strange. Some of the stories in this article have a silliness and hilarity to them, but I could see how it could get quite distopian too. On the other hand if used with integrity and perhaps a bit of humour, could help to unite a nation with many languages. www.wired.com #