#Possibilities of a Speculative Digital Rhetoric

[digitalrevolutions]

Being, Thinking, and Knowing in a Hypertext Age

The speculative rhetorical model posits that we can only know the world in ways bounded and contextualized by our own experience of being. For this reason, a speculative rhetoric approach tries to pay careful attention to the perspectives, roles, and experiences of nonhumans, since communication inevitably takes place among a vast array of nonhuman actants. Speculative rhetorician Andrew Reid asserts that “A speculative rhetoric begins with recognizing that language is nonhuman.” At first, I couldn’t begin to imagine what this must mean. Sure, animals communicate, but surely language—expressive, symbolic communication with defined rules—must be an exclusively human phenomenon.

I read Reid’s short list of scholars cited (Alexander Galloway, Richard Grusin, Bruno Latour, Alan Lui, and Quentin Meillasoux) aloud to GPT-4 and asked it to tell me what they were known for, in hopes that knowing the background Reid was drawing from would help me contextualize such a bizarre statement.

It confirmed that Bruno Latour is best known for actor-network theory, as I had thought. Meillasoux it introduced as a speculative realist philosopher. Lui it defined as a scholar of “language as a digital-cultural phenomenon, influenced by both human creativity and digital technology.” Grusin, it said, was known for proposing that new technologies “remediate” and refashion older ones. Galloway, it said, “explores how digital protocols, the rules and standards governing digital networks, shape interactions and communications.” A quick look at Google Scholar and the scholars’ university webpages confirmed that its characterizations were fairly accurate.

Altogether, I could only conclude that these scholars affirm language as a constructed, constantly evolving phenomenon, although I still couldn’t see how the ability to influence human actions would equate to an equal ownership of language. It may be old-fashioned, but at present I’m still prepared to embrace Kenneth Burke’s definition of man as “the symbol-using animal.” As far as I know, there’s no evidence that animals can grasp the abstract symbolism inherent in language as well as we can.

However, I do think Gunther Kress’s “Multimodality” afforded me with another avenue for making sense of Reid’s perspective, at least. Kress asserts that “all texts are multimodal”, where ‘text’ seems to be doing a great deal of heavy lifting to encompass practically anything into which meaning can be encoded and decoded. For him, the multimodality of verbal speech arises from its inclusion of “pitch variation; pace; stress; phonological units (produced by a complex of organs); lexis; sequencing (as syntax); etc.” In other words, any element which can have a role in imparting meaning is part of the mode (or means) of linguistic communication. Since some animals can intentionally adapt these facets of communication to a rhetorical context (i.e. cats having a less babyish meow around one another than humans), I can see the argument that many animals possess a kind of language in that way.

But since Kress’s many example pictures and diagrams stress the representational quality of human languages (in which he apparently includes visuals, which he says can develop a kind of grammar) even when it’s completely divorced from written or spoken words, I’m still inclined to say that animals have communicative skills but not language. I’m curious whether anyone knows of any animals capable of abstraction.

Similarly, I wonder at what point we could consider the product of generative AI to be language (or perhaps I should say a form of communication, period). There’s no conscious intent behind it, it’s an actant and not an actor, but it arguably works entirely in abstractions (it doesn’t have meaningful, individual experience of what anything is!) and it certainly considers its modal elements, as many generative AI models will show by displaying alternate response options.

[antoine-roquentin]

The truth is that Uber and Lyft exist largely as the embodiments of Wall Street-funded bets on automation, which have failed to come to fruition. These companies are trying to survive legal challenges to their illegal hiring practices, while waiting for driverless-car technologies to improve. The advent of the autonomous car would allow Uber and Lyft to fire their drivers. Having already acquired a position of dominance with the rideshare market, these companies would then reap major monopoly profits. There is simply no world in which paying drivers a living wage would become part of Uber and Lyft’s long-term business plans.

Only in a world where more profitable opportunities for investment are sorely lacking can such wild bets on far-flung futuristic technologies become massive multinational companies. Corporations and wealthy individuals have accumulated huge sums of money and cannot figure out where to put it because returns on investments are extremely low. The flip side of falling rates of business investment is a slackening pace of economic growth, which economists have termed “secular stagnation.” It’s this decades-long slowdown that has generated the insecure labour force on which Uber and Lyft rely.

In slow-growing economies, labour markets are weak. Older workers who lose their jobs have trouble finding equivalent forms of employment. Meanwhile, young people just starting out in their working lives are sending out hundreds of applications only to end up in dead-end retail jobs. Rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft feed off the insecurity that is omnipresent in the modern economy. When the alternative is working irregular shifts at coffee shops, driving for rideshare companies on one’s own schedule can seem like a dream. Management by algorithm appears similarly utopian compared with management by nasty bosses. In the early years of their operation, rideshare companies even offered rates of pay that were good relative to available alternatives.

Of course, Uber and Lyft were probably planning to have fired these workers by now and to have replaced them with robots. But like many promises of automation, driverless cars are still some way from becoming a reality. Uber and Lyft started squeezing these workers’ incomes to staunch their own bleeding of cash reserves. At this point, drivers started fighting back.

This fight for workers’ rights is grounded in a growing recognition that the expansion of the digital economy does not simply reflect the triumph of an unstoppable technological change. Behind Silicon Valley rhetoric, much of what appears to be technological innovation turns out to be a means of circumventing legal regulations, including minimum wage laws. By misclassifying its workers, Uber avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars into US state unemployment insurance schemes. Yet during the Covid-19 economic crisis, Uber lobbied the federal government to step in and pay its drivers’ unemployment benefits anyway.

Why should Uber be entitled to have it both ways? It makes sense to demand that companies hire workers in stable jobs, or not be allowed to hire them in the first place. Yet in an environment of weak economic growth, this demand will be insufficient to win economic security for all. Capitalist economies have been able to extend security to widening circles of workers only in periods of rapid economic growth, when low rates of unemployment made it possible for more and more workers to demand better wages and working conditions. The era of high-speed economic growth ended long ago and is not coming back.

High rates of economic growth in the mid-20th century – the reference point for any politics that seeks to restore economic growth in the present – were premised on a historically exceptional period. The restoration of stable international trade following two world wars made possible the largest growth of economic productive capacity in human history, not just in Europe and the United States, but worldwide. By the 1970s, rapid expansion had given way to worsening global overcapacity, resulting in rising competition and falling rates of investment in internationally traded goods. People were left scrambling for work in the growing service sector, where the potential for labour productivity growth, and hence economic growth, is significantly lower.

Workers’ inability to find stable employment is thus not the result of recent advances in automation technologies, which, like driverless cars, have mostly failed to pan out. Their plight results from an everyday reality of low profitability in economies saturated with capital, and insufficient opportunities for its reinvestment, such that dividends and share buybacks have increasingly become the norm for surplus cash holdings. With shrinking opportunities for investment, enormous pools of capital have rushed into highly speculative ventures such as Uber and Lyft that have little capacity for demonstrated profitability.

That governments turned a blind eye to Uber and Lyft’s misbehaviour for so long is no surprise. Governments are complicit in making workers more vulnerable. Facing persistently slow economic growth and high rates of unemployment, governments have spent decades trying to coax companies to invest by making it easier to deny workers’ benefits and to avoid paying taxes. Again, this bid to restore conditions of rapid economic growth, much like supply-side and trickle-down solutions that failed to produce generalised prosperity, was a failure. The Covid crisis has only made economic prospects less auspicious.

[arcticdementor]

It is appropriate to begin to understand yourself as a combatant in a war that you may only be dimly aware is being waged. You are in fact operating in the battlespace at this very moment. Consider the implications. Consider that you are marked.

Your self-identification as a combatant, or not, is irrelevant. You have been declared an adversary of the True and Just cause of Democracy. The adversary in this war is a floating signifier anyway, purposefully undefined. Don’t go searching for your name in any database (though you may find it there). The adversary can be anyone, at any time. He is a cipher. The territory under contestation is perhaps even less well-demarcated. As a matter of physical geography, it may be said to not exist at all. And yet we are in it. We are fighting it. The war is on.

…

The proclamations of those declaring this war leave vanishingly little room for uncertainty. Their rhetoric is becoming more explicit every day. No one can deny this. Even the soberest mind must acknowledge their increasing belligerence.

“In the aftermath of the insurrection on January 6th…” This is by now a common refrain. Oliver Stone also said — or maybe it was Homer — that every war must start with an event. No doubt they have been waiting a long time to declare their intentions, but now they have finally found their casus belli. When they say that January 6th is their 9/11, this is what they mean. It may seem that the incoherent, spontaneous nature of what happened at the Capitol might vitiate such lofty comparisons. But for the regime, all the better. The ambiguity allows for the widest possible net to be cast over their enemy, as John Brennan would have it, the “unholy alliance” of “religious extremists, authoritarians, fascists, bigots, racists, nativists, even libertarians.”

Tag yourself. Not that any of these terms matter. Again, they are floating signifiers. They mean everything and nothing. Importantly, they mean you. They mean me.

Brennan of course is not alone. Just days after he delivered his ominous remarks, his CIA colleague Robert Grenier wrote an op-ed for the New York Times declaring the forces responsible for January 6th — again, never clearly defined — to be regarded in the same terms as ISIS and Al-Qaeda. He spoke of an ongoing “domestic insurgency” and the need to put it down with the same degree of force as his own Counterrorism division applied to jihadists in Afghanistan and Iraq. Stanley McChrystal echoed nearly identical sentiments within the week. Javed Ali, whose bio reads less like a human being’s than the formless node of the Foreign Policy blob that he is, writing for the Security State rag the Cipher Brief, in an article indicative of the borg-like mass to which he belongs, suggested the “New Right,” which includes the usual litany of conservative bogeymen all the way up to those with such alarming views as, for example, being “pro-2nd amendment,” warrants the creation of Domestic Terrorism laws that would include a domestic surveillance program mirroring the British Security Service to monitor online speech and circumvent Constitutional protections against prior restraint.

…

But beyond the morality play, and the heady drama of the fate of Western man, it’s Lind’s attention to the form and processes of war that are most relevant here. In the 4th Generation war everything is muddled and inexact. Military and civilian life merge into a fluid, indivisible state of mind and being. Everywhere is a potential target. There is a kind of atemporality to it, too. Individual battles never clearly begin or end. Much of it is fought in the digital ether. Fixed points of planning and operation become obsolete, too easily identified and subverted. There are questions about the status of the war itself, and it is often an advantage of the stronger side to plausibly deny there is any war at all.

In the end, Lind resolves these ambiguities in no uncertain terms. His 4th Generation civil war, however abstract and indistinct, eventually reverts to the classic mode. Its wages are measured in lives lost and territory gained. His heroes shoulder their rifles and vanquish their enemies in pools of their own blood. A Christian nation of local, artisanal economies blooms in a Jeffersonian spirit of revitalization. It’s a chilling read, the Minecraft meme brought to life.

But it is in this latter reversion to classic military confrontation where Lind’s map loses touch with the territory we are actually living in. We are not in a war that accommodates armed conflict, nor should we want it to. Let me repeat that for the minders reading this: violence, kids, is not the answer to our current problems.

Rather, some have speculated that what we are living through now is better described as 5th Generation war. A fifth-generation war is one where the ambiguity stands, even more so, but is never quite so manifestly resolved. (This Twitter thread from last October by anon user Reality Gamer provides a useful summary of the concept.)

This war, if we are to adopt the model, which I believe we should — and for which there is much compelling evidence — is fought almost exclusively over ideas. As in Lind’s concept, everything is indistinct, everything is abstracted right up to the point of nonexistence. War and peace, civilian and combatant, battlefield and neutral territory all collapse in a morass of ever-present meta-conflict. The conceptual boundaries between debate, activism, and terrorism are themselves the site of primary engagement. What matters is not who controls the streets in the wake of a clash of forces, but he who decides that the clashes are “mostly peaceful” and their own soldiers just an “idea.”

That is, it is a war over narrative control. Instead of armed battalions, it’s a loose affiliation of entrenched interests — deep-state operatives, media conglomerates, NGOs, lawfare apparatchiks, academics, the many-sided face of globohomo — controlling information networks to shore up their resources and guard against whoever they identify as a threat. These threats and the methods to neutralize them never have to be explicitly stated or shared across the network. In fact, it is better if they aren’t. It obviates the problem of what Edward Luttwack calls the “paradoxical logic of strategy.” Instead, the system, like a black box AI, manages its agenda according to its own hidden processes.

And what is this agenda exactly? To enforce the conditions of consent.

…

What we are experiencing now is something quite different, the regime on war-footing, no longer confident enough in its own legitimacy to dare put that legitimacy to test. And as is the case for all regimes in such a weakened, sclerotic state, though the strategies and tactics are more diffuse and perhaps less blunt than in eras past, we are treated to the same predictable response: crush dissent, flatten and homogenize the culture, divide and alienate the population from one another, declare a monopoly not just on knowledge and belief, but on the asking of questions themselves. Vaclav Havel, writing on the withering Communist regime of his native Czechoslovakia, described this final desperate effort to coerce the population into consent as the “nihilization of life.” 

…

When vast swaths of non-compliant Americans are declared domestic insurgents, it behooves us to conduct ourselves accordingly. This is not to say that whatever might broadly be called the ‘Dissident Right’ ought to assume a defensive crouch, or retreat into passive quietism until the regime exhausts itself. Though we may be in the midst of a 5th Generation war, some of the old rules still apply, and the insurgent, however diminished, however outgunned — metaphorically, of course — has certain advantages he can make use of.

Another war historian, David Gallula, describing the Cold War spasms breaking apart and reforming the global map after World War II, wrote in 1965 what has become the textbook on the nature of insurgencies. Gallula was a man of his time, and most of his examples are superficially outdated, Communist rebels from Greece to North Africa to Southeast Asia asserting themselves with greater and lesser effectiveness throughout the Third World. We are not Communists, and this is not the Cold War, no matter how much our State Department might wish it were so. Nonetheless, Gallula provides a few key insights that broadly apply to our fight, and that we ought to keep in mind as we ask the question of what comes next.

To begin, the site of contestation in the 5th Generation war against our decrepit regime is not firstly the halls of power, certainly not the Capitol building, and not even really the formal political arena at all. Borrowing from Yarvin, I’d echo that Republican electoral victories are not sufficient for breaking the regime until the Republican candidate sees himself as an outsider prepared to tell the regime that it must submit. Still, contra Yarvin, winning political fights is good, where we can get them, and there are ways of engaging in local politics, especially, that may achieve certain desired effects. But ultimately, political victories are downstream of a more fundamental fight, which is winning the support of what Gullala coarsely calls “the population.”

…

That is, the normie must be given a cause. This cause must exist outside the political paradigm within which he has been accustomed to understanding these conflicts. Scott Alexander is not entirely wrong to propose that Republicans wage a “class conflict” against the strata of elite sense-makers who despise them. It is indeed a righteous cause, and an effective message. He is wrong however that Republicans, as such, ought to do this. No. This is not a partisan conflict against Democrats, though there is much overlap. This is a conflict of insurgents against a failing regime. That is the way it must be framed and its campaigns prosecuted.

I am cautiously optimistic that Americans understand this cause and the nature of their enemy instinctively. There is no denying the rot at the heart of American life, of Western life. There is no denying the ever-presence of the bugman and his sickly designs for us. The energy leaking out against this is everywhere in sight. However misdirected, however frenetic and decoupled from meaningful objectives, a spirit of disobedience obtains. They feel the quickening incursion of the public life into the private, no doubt accelerated by Zoom World and the bright eye of our screens watching and recording our every thought. Americans can feel caught in a straightjacket of preference falsification and coercive moral decrees, the stiltifying HRization of their inner universe. What a bleak and limited existence!

…

Finally, as Gullala observes, an insurgent movement in its infancy is necessarily small. It is necessarily weak. It needs time to build. It cannot on day one confront the regime on its turf and presume to use the regime’s own weapons against it. Again, this is not to advocate for quietism, but rather to recognize the limited usefulness of operating within the domains of social and political activity the regime already controls. You are not going to take back the universities or Hollywood or the news desk. Infiltrate these places and expose them for what they are, but to destroy them rather than to save them.

Before anything else, we must build a culture of our own. Any meaningful insurgency will be downstream from its capacity to imagine. Direct action politics will flail and follow, rather than lead, if it is not tethered to the kind of self-understanding that can only be achieved through art. The regime understands this, if only intuitively, and the ban waves and censorship are an attempt to tear apart the communities where this art can be cultivated and shared. But they are not yet omnipresent. They have not yet, as in Havel’s Czechoslovakia, managed to altogether “nihilize life.” There are cracks still to penetrate. There is, deep in the American soul, a resilience that is not yet extinguished. Build the communities, forge the relationships, online and off, where this resilience can manifest and triumph over the enemy and its machines.

[transformativeworksandcultures]

TWC No.28: The Future of Fandom

Editorial TWC Editor, TWC, past and future

Theory Paul Booth, Framing alterity: Reclaiming fandom’s marginality David Peyron, Fandom names and collective identities in contemporary popular culture Bonnie Ruberg, Straight-washing "Undertale": Video games and the limits of LGBTQ representation Eric Andrew James, Using rhetorical criticism to track Twitch Plays Pokémon fans' attachment to sacrifice Sarah Elizabeth Lerner, Fan film on the final frontier: Axanar Productions and the limits of fair use in the digital age

Praxis

Naomi Jacobs, Live streaming as participation: A case study of conflict in the digital and physical spaces of "Supernatural" conventionsSky LaRell Anderson, Extraludic narratives: Online communities and video games Melissa A. Hofmann, Johnlock meta and authorial intent in Sherlock fandom: Affirmational or transformational? Dorothy Lau, Donnie Yen's star persona in amateur-produced videos on YouTube

Symposium Casey Fiesler, Owning the servers: A design fiction exploring the transformation of fandom into "our own" Nicolle Lamerichs, The next wave in participatory culture: Mixing human and nonhuman entities in creative practices and fandom Bridget Kies, The ex-fan's place in fan studies Brianna Dym, Casey Fiesler, Generations, migrations, and the future of fandom's private spaces Shannon K. Farley, Further future fandom: A conversation with middle school-age fans Robin S. Rosenberg, Andrea M. Letamendi, Personality, behavioral, and social heterogeneity within the cosplay community Bri Mattia, Rainbow Direction and fan-based citizenship performance Megan Vaughan, Theater criticism, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," and online community Deborah Krieger, Jewish identity, fan representation, and Yehuda Goldstein in the Potterverse Cody T. Havard, The impact of the phenomenon of sport rivalry on fans

Review Melanie E.S. Kohnen, "Old futures: Speculative fiction and queer possibility," by Alexis Lothian Lorraine M. Dubuisson, "The fanfiction reader: Folk tales for the digital age," by Francesca Coppa J. Caroline Toy, "Participatory memory: Fandom experiences across time and space," by Liza Potts et al. Louisa Ellen Stein, Roundtable with Paul Booth, Melissa A. Click, and Suzanne Scott

[bitcofun]

Axie Infinity ( AXS) has actually stopped by approximately 90% after peaking out at $172 in November 2021. AXS's sharp correction has actually made it among the worst carrying out digital possessions amongst the top-level cryptocurrencies. It might go through more decreases in the coming months, according to a mix of technical and basic drivers noted below. Low gamer count moistens AXS need To wrap up, AXS acts as a settlement token within the Axie Infinity's video gaming community, permitting gamers to buy native nonfungible tokens(NFT), a flurry of digital animals called "Axies." It likewise functions as a work token that gamers can invest to reproduce brand-new Axies. New users that go into the Axie Infinity community require Axies to pit them in a fight versus other Axies. When they win, the platform rewards them with another native token, called Smooth Love Potion ( SLP) while winning bigger competitions grants them AXS. Axie Infinity's working schematic. Source: Decentralised.co As an outcome, old Axie Infinity gamers count on brand-new ones to keep need for Axies. Otherwise, they might run the risk of old gamers offering their SLP and AXS revenues in markets (for instance, crypto exchanges), hence including drawback pressure to their rates. But when the appraisals of Axie Infinity's native tokens drop, it likewise makes the video game less attractive to brand-new gamers, who would still require to spend for Axies to be able to make lower-valued SLP and AXS systems. The Axie Infinity environment has actually gone through the phases, as pointed out above, in 2022, with its gamer count dropping to 8,950 in June from 63,240 in January-- a practically 85% decrease, according to information supplied by Dapp Radar. Remarkably, that accompanies AXS's 80% rate drop in the very same duration. Axie Infinity stats considering that March2021 Source: Dapp Radar Simultaneously, Axie Infinity's in-platform volume, determined after evaluating its Ronin chain information, has actually dropped from $300 million in September 2021 to a simple $2.12 million in June2022 At the exact same time, the task's magnates have actually silently altered their "play-to-earn" objective declaration to "play-and-earn," with its brand-new head of item, Philip La, confessing in his August 2021 post that "Axie Infinity initially requires to be a video game." Axie's issue is that it's constantly been a speculative tool covered in rhetoric about enjoyable and neighborhood. The designers desire it to return to being simply a video game, when most gamers never ever saw it as a video game in the very first location. When the making stops, the playing stops. 12/12-- Joshua Brustein (@joshuabrustein) June 10, 2022 Inflation increases Fresh inflation information has even more moistened upside beliefs throughout the top-level cryptocurrencies, which, in one method or another, increases AXS's bearish outlook. Notably, the U.S. customer rate index (CPI) increased by a yearly speed of 8.6% in May versus 8.3% in the previous month, increasing financiers' worries that the Federal Reserve will be required to trek rates of interest strongly in the coming months, which would press riskier possessions lower throughout the board. AXS/USD versus BTC/USD versus SPX everyday cost chart. Source: TradingView AXS dropped 7.5% after the report came out on June 10, and fell by another 7% on June 11 to reach its three-week low of $1679 The possibility of lower money liquidity, led by the Fed's hawkish policies, might lead to more losses for the Axie Infinity token. AXS rate slips listed below essential assistance The multitude of unfavorable basics has actually sent out AXS's rate listed below a crucial assistance level, which might cause prolonged drawback relocations in the coming weeks. AXS plunged listed below $18-$19 assistance variety today, which contributed in topping its drawback tries considering that the start of May. Evaluating the variety as assistance had actually

followed up with a circa 800% bull run in between July 2021 and November 2021, as revealed listed below. AXS/USD weekly rate chart. Source: TradingView Now, the course of least resistance for AXS looks manipulated to the disadvantage with the next drawback target at around $9 by September 2022, more than 50% lower than today's cost. Significantly, the $9-level functioned as resistance throughout the April-June 2021 session. Conversely, a bullish hint originates from AXS's prospective "coming down widening wedge" (DBW) pattern on the weekly timeframe, verified by the token's change in between 2 diverging, falling trendlines. Related: Metaverse tokens up 400% year on year regardless of altcoin bloodbath Traditional experts think about DBW as a bullish turnaround pattern, which, as a guideline of technical analysis, deals with after the cost breaks above the structure's upper trendline and rallies by as much as the pattern's optimum height, as displayed in the chart below. AXS/USD weekly rate chart including "coming down expanding wedge" setup. Source: TradingView If the pattern is verified, AXS would rebound on the course towards $465 within an unspecific timeframe, almost a 2,500% boost from today's rate. The views and viewpoints revealed here are entirely those of the author and do not always show the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every financial investment and trading relocation includes threat, you must perform your own research study when deciding. Read More

[sycriptouk]

Speculations Indicate Bitcoin To Face Intensified Government Conspired Opposition  https://bitcoinist.com/speculations-indicate-bitcoin-to-face-intensified-government-conspired-opposition/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=speculations-indicate-bitcoin-to-face-intensified-government-conspired-opposition

Emerging ‘conspiracy theories’ on possible stiffer conspired hostility on Bitcoin are beginning to be volleyed by crypto experts into their online channels. The alarms raise caution and discomfort over Bitcoin and the ecosystem’s future.

As suggested by the Chief Strategy Officer of CoinShares, Meltem Demirors, the attacks are as imminent as a few months from now. However, she boldly indicated they are different from those ever witnessed: contrived and “much more aggressive.”

in the coming months, attacks on bitcoin and to some degree, the broader crypto ecosystem, will become much more aggressive

elites and their institutions are preparing for hyperinflation, and they will crush the middle class to own all productive assets

21st century feudalism

— Meltem Demir◎rs (@Melt_Dem) July 10, 2021

A close observation of the trends of over-regulation lately, to some extent, gives these conspiracies some benefit of the doubt.

However, some tempting traces cannot make many observers write off a possible gang-up between elites or their institutions over increasing animosity against Bitcoin.

Related Reading | Binance Bitcoin Open Interest Surges Despite Legal Scrutiny

Government institutions have economic reasons to decide to wage war on Bitcoin (BTC). And derail this asset whose rise in the past few months has been nothing short of meteoric.

Bitcoin-One Potent Threat

Bitcoin and other unregulated, decentralized digital money are revolutionizing financial markets. These, resultantly as expected, have posed threats to the government.

Thus, governments are skeptical, and banks are looking to control the flow of capital and profit from the blockchain. 

The daily chart shows Bitcoin fails to remain above the 35k mark | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView

The focus of this piece is to examine the truths present in these conspiracy theories. Particularly concerning the indices showing how or why governments are attempting to limit, control, and inflate cryptocurrency.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Mining Energy Consumption Becomes A Blockchain Heated Debate

Described as 21st-century neo-feudalism by Meltom and some crypto commentators. However, the increasing global coordinated regulatory actions against crypto give credence to the alarm as possible intensified efforts against it may be pitched against the industry in the few months to come. 

A China-America United Attack

Government-backed institutions of different states, in turn, over the weeks, have been assassinating Bitcoin with weak-narrative. And self-serving seeming fear-mongering, which had seen cryptocurrencies plummeting overnight.

Related Reading | PM Of Vietnam Orders Central Bank To Conduct Cryptocurrency Pilot Implementation

The first was an impending announcement by China, followed by a continuous drip of smear by the US Treasury Secretary-Janet Yellen, with other states’ institutions the following suit on a similar line of action.

The Communist government of China, on its part, banned financial institutions and payment companies from providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions.

The ulterior-motive proclamation warned investors against speculative crypto trading. Thus, leading to a fall in the digital coin price before recovering a bit below the $40,000 mark.

Elon’s Rhetorics And Yellen’s Warning

Bitcoin has also seen some hostile visits on it by Elites such as Tesla boss-Elon Musk. His avalanche of misleading Twitter rhetorics has been significant pressure on bitcoin.

As rightly said by Meltem Demirors, some indices such as that of US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s unjustifiable warning about the dangers of Bitcoin show there are attempts to hyperinflate the price to discourage investors.

Featured Image by Pixabay - Chart by TradingView

[izzydigicom]

Week 5: Digital Citizenship

“A good digital citizen is a person with the skills and knowledge to effectively use digital technologies in a positive way to participate in society, communicate with others, and create and consume digital content” –Office of the eSafety Commissioner, NSW Department of Education

Digital citizenship, in basic terms, refers to an individual’s public participation online. In the way that a traditional citizenship grants its holder to contribute to society, digital citizens make use of the web to build communities, contribute to social change, and even climb social ladders.

Political engagement is increasingly enabled via these dynamics- almost like in physical society, it’s widely seen as shameful, to take up digital space without putting energy towards your beliefs and social justice values.

With over 26k posts, the Instagram hashtag SilenceIsCompliance is an example of how popular this rhetoric is among users. This message was pushed greatly in the recent resurgence of the Black Lives Mattermovement in 2020.

The following post is an example of the kinds of things I saw on my feed daily, in the period closely following the murder of George Floyd:

Alex Tran via Instagram

During this time, I also noticed a huge increase in the amount of people I follow, posting political content. My feed was flooded with information passed down from activism accounts, organisations, and popular black public figures. Whilst this helped me find my way to reliable resources to educate myself on important topics, and sent me to trustworthy organisations, the same methods of sharing can have harmful effects.

The pressure to break one’s silence affected many inadequately educated public figures and microcelebrities, resulting in huge sections of the internet participating in an insidious spread of misinformation, harmful advice, or offensive ‘trends’ designed to show support, which ended up neutralising important black voices. Not to mention how one wrong click could lead millions to donate to a fake fundraiser, or sign a petition they do not know enough about.

Vromen observes that ad hoc involvement in politics has increased as a result of digital engagement (2017). Scrolling through newsfeeds where we are overloaded with information from all sides, it’s easier for many, particularly younger users, to engage in politics in individualised ways rather than as ‘committed members of formal groups’ (Vromen, 2017).

A shift to this individualised approach facilitates populous and enthusiastic action towards single campaigns, from people with varied levels of political involvement. Pressing issues (especially for young people), find a sound platform via social media, its fast-acting participants spreading anything from educational texts to fundraising efforts. Take Greta Thunberg, whose trending hashtag spread so far to strike back up conversation among world leaders regarding climate change.

Sean Gallup for Getty Images

Whilst hashtag publics have proven to be beneficial to many movements (see above for the result of #schoolstrikeforclimatechange), the lack of boundaries within certain platforms make them chaotic places for engagement. Take #auspol, for example, described by Axel Bruns as a place “where there is a lot of very spirited debate ... which can sometimes be very strong in tone, possibly abusive."

media platforms are increasingly used as direct news sources, ‘bypassing the editorial media’ (Pew Report, 2016). Considering this, what effect will heated discussions on these same platforms, often with ill-informed or extreme biased opinions, have on digital speculators? Within a single hashtag like #Auspol, one may find anything from direct news reports to niche debates– so where can we draw the line on what is trustworthy, or beneficial, on such free-reign platforms?

Further, what does this mean for politicians? Will their campaigning over social media, designed to appeal to young people through digital literacy, authenticity, and personality, obscure our vision of their true intentions?

Sources

Bogle, A, 2018, #auspol: The Twitter tag that Australia can't do without, Mashable, https://mashable.com/2016/03/21/twitter-australia-auspol/#4tvfXtsZUEqV

Hockenos, P, 2019, The Kids Are Taking Charge of Climate Change, Foreign Policy, https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/10/the-kids-are-taking-charge-of-climate-change/

Tran A, 2021, Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/fucktheabuser/

Vromen, A, 2017, Digital Citizenship and Political Engagement The Challenge from Online Campaigning and Advocacy Organisations, London : Palgrave Macmillan

[digitalrevolutions]

Multimedia and RhetComp Apologetics

One of the most striking aspects of my arrival at Florida State University was a kind of speech I heard Michael Neal, the Rhetoric and Composition director, give to varied groups of graduate “English majors”—creative writers, literary scholars, and rhetoricians—several times during my first month there. It always began along these lines: “Hi, I’m Michael Neal, the RhetComp director. I know those of you in other specialties might not think RhetComp is very important, or even have heard of us, but…” Although my brief encounters with composition pedagogy had alluded to some controversy, I had never imagined an academic introducing himself to other academics with such a disclaimer. As I’ve settled into graduate school and begun to explore Rhetoric and Composition in more depth, I’ve come to understand Michael’s introduction not as a form of self-disparagement but as a reaction to narratives of place and purpose that have been with our discipline since its inception.

In The Origins of Composition Studies in the American College, 1875–1925, John Brererton reports that just a few years after their inception in the 1870s, composition courses were already being criticized for “not making a difference in studentwriting, for being expensive in terms of a teacher's time and energy, and for distracting faculty efforts from more important things.” I couldn’t help but laugh when I read those words. I heard in them the echo of Blake Smith’s January 2023 article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, in which he indignantly asserts that students who visit college writing centers, traditionally run by composition scholars, “ought to demonstrate a guaranteed minimum level of writing ability, leaving instructors in other courses free to focus on teaching their discipline-specific content without having to explain, yet again, the purpose of topic sentences.” More than a century on, composition is surrounded by the same narratives. The teaching of writing, we are told, is busywork—a simple skill to be acquired, not one that serious scholars should concern themselves with. And yet somehow we have spent nearly 150 years failing to pass along this skill and prepare students for “real work”.

In many ways, we’ve internalized this criticism and come to direct it at our own efforts in teaching, composing, and rhetorical analysis. Kathleen Blake Yancey argues that the traditional “neo-Platonian” model of composition instruction through individual relationships with the student “is doomed”, and has been for 100 years. Similarly, Alexander Reid posits that the “traditional humanistic paradigms” at the foundation of rhetoric are no longer suitable for the post-industrial age. In both cases, they offer digital rhetorics as the solution. For Yancey, digital rhetorics manifest as a multimodal composition curriculum which supplants writing for the instructor with writing for the “real world” in a variety of digital genres. For Reid, the exploration of digital rhetorics allows for a speculative rhetoric that privileges our relationships with nonhumans over purely human perspectives. In so doing, he argues, it can address concerns of the digital age that humanism isn’t equipped to deal with and restore the relevance of the English department. Both speak to RhetComp’s urge to discard our humanistic roots in favor of computational, algorithmic methods that we hope will win us recognition as a “real” discipline. Otherwise, we worry about being seen as anti-science or, in Yancey’s words, “as irrelevant as faculty professing in Latin.”

On the other hand, there are figures like Douglas Eyman, who sees digital rhetorics as an analytical method firmly rooted in public, dynamic, interactive conceptions of classical humanist rhetorics. A digital rhetoric framed in terms of computation and scientific/mathematical analysis, he argues, would reduce rhetoricians to technicians applying technique to a representation of discourse that doesn’t come close to the complexity of the real world. As Jonathan Alexander and Jacqueline Rhodes argue, much thought is required to bring multimodal, digital composition into the world of rhetoric without forcing it into the mold of traditional textual analysis. In the process, I would add, we turn ourselves into mere tool-users, applying universal principles of writing to some object.

While I disagree with Eyman—I think there can be a place for computational analytics in rhetoric—I’m also reluctant to cosign Reid’s dismissal of our roots. It seems to me that these tensions are driven by a constant quest for visibility, to justify our presence alongside what is relevant, impactful, and highly visible elsewhere. I find myself wondering if it’s possible to make peace with our relative invisibility—to say “We’re RhetComp, and you probably haven’t heard of us because we’re so deeply embedded in everything you do that it’s hard to see us. Let us show you how to recognize the context, considerations, and possibilities driving the way you communicate, so that you can decide how a text ‘works’ and what it needs to do next.” In other words, we could claim our mundanity and humanistic origins proudly, positioning ourselves as a conduit by which people can both come to understand individual artifacts and composing processes and learn apply that knowledge to the wider world. I’m sure someone else has proposed it before me, but I’m curious how the individual perspectives embedded in multimodal compositions have been considered by theorists so far.

[bestseopackage56-blog]

Inside Bitcoin We Trust?

Throughout Bitcoin We Trust?

bitcoin revolution software Now you have probably noticed of Bitcoin, although can you define it? Generally it is described as a nongovernment digital foreign money. Bitcoin is additionally sometimes referred to as a cybercurrency or perhaps, in a nod to their encrypted origins, a cryptocurrency. Those descriptions are precise enough, but they skip the purpose. It's like describing the particular U. S. buck being a green piece connected with paper with photos upon it. bitcoin revolution I have the own methods of describing Bitcoin. I think of the usb ports while store credit minus the shop. A prepaid mobile phone without having the phone. Precious material minus the metal. Legal soft for simply no debts, general public or exclusive, unless typically the party to whom it is usually tendered wishes to receive it. An instrument backed through the complete faith and credit rating merely of its private creators, in whom I actually as a result place no faith, and also to whom I give not any credit except regarding ingenuity. My partner and i wouldn't touch a bitcoin with some sort of 10-foot USB cable. However a fair number associated with people have already got, and quite a few more before long may. This is partly simply because entrepreneurs Cameron as well as Tyler Winklevoss, best acknowledged for their position in the origins of Facebook, are now seeking for you to use their technological informed, and cash, to provide Bitcoin into the mainstream. The Winklevosses hope to get started an exchange-traded account with regard to bitcoins. An ETF tends to make Bitcoin more widely available to people who also lack the manufacturing skills to purchase the a digital currency directly. As of The spring, the Winklevosses tend to be said to have held all-around just one percent of almost all existent bitcoins. Created throughout 2009 by an unknown cryptographer, Bitcoin works upon the premise that something, even intangible bits connected with code, can have worth so long as sufficient people decide to take care of it as valuable. Bitcoins exist only as electronic digital representations and they are not pegged to any regular currency exchange. According to the Bitcoin web page, "Bitcoin is intended around the perception of some sort of new form of dollars that uses cryptography in order to control the creation and also transactions, rather then relying in central authorities. inch (1) New bitcoins usually are "mined" by users who all remedy computer algorithms to find out electronic coins. Bitcoins' proposed creators have said that typically the unmistakable supply of bitcoins will be limited to twenty-one million. While Bitcoin stimulates itself as "a really secure and inexpensive strategy to handle payments, " (2) in reality few firms have made the move for you to accept bitcoins. Of individuals that have, a sizable variety operate in typically the black marketplace. Bitcoins are traded anonymously over often the Internet, without any engaging from established financial corporations. As of this, gross sales of drugs and other black-market goods accounted intended for an believed 20 % of exchanges by bitcoins to U. H. bucks on the main Bitcoin exchange, called Mt. Gox. The Drug Enforcement Organization not long ago conducted its first-ever Bitcoin seizure, after apparently tying a transaction on the unknown Bitcoin-only marketplace Silk Highway to the sale of prescribed as well as illegal drugs. Many Bitcoin users have also advised that the currency may serve as a method to steer clear of taxes. That may always be real, but only throughout the sense that will bitcoins aid illegal income tax evasion, not in the feeling they will actually serve virtually any role in genuine taxation arranging. Under federal taxation law, no cash needs to alter hands inside order for a taxable transaction to occur. Barter as well as other noncash exchanges tend to be still thoroughly taxable. At this time there is no reason which transactions involving bitcoins will be treated differently. Outside involving the offender element, Bitcoin's main enthusiasts are speculators, who have no objective of using bitcoins for you to buy anything. These shareholders are convinced that the limited supply of bitcoins can force their own value to help follow a continual up trajectory. Bitcoin has certainly seen some significant improves in value. But that in addition has experienced major cutbacks, which include an 80 % decline around 24 hours in April. In the beginning connected with this month, bitcoins have been down to around $90, originating from a high of $266 before the February collision. They were trading close to $97 earlier this full week, as per mtgox. com. The actual Winklevosses would make Bitcoin investing easier by allowing smaller-scale traders to benefit, or reduce, as the particular case may be, minus the hassle of actually buying and storing the electronic digital gold coins. Despite claims regarding protection, Bitcoin storage provides shown problematic. In 2011, an assault on often the Mt. Gox swap obligated it to in the short term shut down and caused the price of bitcoins to briefly tumble to nearly zero. Since Bitcoin transactions are just about all private, there is tiny chance of discovering the culprits if you instantly find your electronic finances empty. If the Winklevosses find regulatory approval, all their ETF would help face shield traders from the menace of personal theft. Typically the ETF, however , would carry out nothing to address the condition of volatility caused through large-scale thefts elsewhere with the Bitcoin market. While Bitcoin occurs wrapped inside a high-tech veneer, that newest of currencies possesses a surprising amount in common with one of the particular oldest foreign currencies: gold. Bitcoin's own vocabulary, particularly the particular term "mining, " highlights this connection, along with blatantly so. The mining practice is designed to possibly be difficult like a control with supply, mimicking the extraction of much more conventional assets from the ground. Faraway from providing a sense connected with safety measures, however, this rhetoric want serve as the word of extreme caution. Precious metal is an investment of last resort. It possesses little intrinsic value. That does not generate interest. But because its deliver is finite, it will be known as being more stable in comparison with forms of cash that can be imprinted at will. The challenge with precious metal is that will it doesn't do anything at all. Because gold coins get fallen away from use, most of the world's rare metal now sits in the actual vaults of central banking institutions and other loan companies. Seeing that a result, gold offers little connection to the real economy. That may seem to be like a good point when the real economic system feels like a intimidating place to be. Yet as shortly as different attractive investment options look, gold manages to lose its glow. That is what we should have seen with the new is reduced in gold prices. Into their push to bring Bitcoin towards the mainstream, the promoters include accepted, and, in some cases looked for, increased regulation. Last 30 days Mt. Gox registered themselves being a money services company using the Treasury Department's Economical Violations Enforcement Network. The idea has furthermore increased customer verification procedures. The adjustments came in response to the March directive from Economical Crimes Enforcement Network clarifying the application associated with its rules to help virtual currencies. The Winklevosses' consist of ETF would bring the new level of liability. In the end, however, I count on that will Bitcoin will fade into the shadows of the african american market. All those who want a controlled, secure currency that that they can work with for reliable business transactions will decide on from one of the actual many various currencies already paid by a state government equipped with ample sources, a real-world economy and far more transparency and safety measures than the Bitcoin universe will offer.

[accidentaldeath3-blog]

Inside Bitcoin We Trust?

With Bitcoin We Trust?

bitcoin revolution app By now you have probably read of Bitcoin, nevertheless may you define it? Generally it is described as a non-government digital money. Bitcoin is additionally sometimes called a cybercurrency or perhaps, in a nod to it has the encrypted origins, a cryptocurrency. Those descriptions are accurate enough, but they overlook the idea. It's like describing the actual U. S. buck for a green piece involving paper with photographs in it. bitcoin revolution app I have the own means of describing Bitcoin. I think of the usb ports as store credit but without the retail store. A prepaid phone without having the phone. Precious metallic devoid of the metal. Legal sensitive for not any debts, open or non-public, unless the actual party to whom it is definitely tendered wishes to take the item. An instrument backed by simply the full faith and credit score only of its anonymous designers, in whom I consequently place no religious beliefs, and to whom I supply not any credit except with regard to ingenuity. I wouldn't contact a bitcoin with a new 10-foot USB cable connection. But a fair number of people have already got, and really a few more before long may. This is partially mainly because entrepreneurs Cameron as well as Tyler Winklevoss, best well-known for their function inside the origins of Facebook or myspace, are now seeking to use all their technological informed, and cash, to get Bitcoin into the core. The Winklevosses hope to be able to start an exchange-traded finance to get bitcoins. An ETF tends to make Bitcoin more generally available to buyers who lack the technological information to purchase the digital camera currency directly. As of February, the Winklevosses are usually thought to have held all around one percent of all of existent bitcoins. Created inside 2009 by an confidential cryptographer, Bitcoin performs in the premise that whatever, even intangible bits associated with code, can have benefit so long as ample people decide to cure it because valuable. Bitcoins exist only as electronic digital representations and therefore are not pegged to any traditional money. According to the Bitcoin web page, "Bitcoin is intended around the concept of any new form of money which uses cryptography for you to control its creation and also transactions, instead of relying about central authorities. inches (1) New bitcoins usually are "mined" by users who have solve computer algorithms to learn internet coins. Bitcoins' supposed inventors have said that the supreme supply of bitcoins will be limited to 21 years old million. While Bitcoin stimulates itself as "a really secure and inexpensive method to handle payments, " (2) in reality few organizations made the move to help accept bitcoins. Of those that have, a substantial range operate in typically the black sector. Bitcoins usually are traded anonymously over often the Internet, without any engaging for established financial establishments. As of this, gross sales of drugs and various other black-market goods accounted to get an predicted 20 per cent of exchanges via bitcoins to U. T. dollars on the main Bitcoin exchange, called Mt. Gox. The Drug Enforcement Firm not too long ago conducted its first-ever Bitcoin seizure, after reportedly attaching a transaction about the anonymous Bitcoin-only marketplace Silk Road to the actual sale of pharmaceutical drugs as well as illegal drugs. A number of Bitcoin users have also proposed that the currency can easily serve as a means to prevent taxes. That may possibly be true, but only throughout the sense that bitcoins aid illegal taxation evasion, not in the impression that they can actually serve any position in genuine tax preparation. Under federal taxation law, no cash needs to transform hands throughout order for a taxable transaction to occur. Barter and also other non-cash exchanges are still totally taxable. At this time there is no reason in which transactions involving bitcoins could well be treated differently. Outside involving the offender element, Bitcoin's main supporters are speculators, who have not any intention of using bitcoins to be able to buy anything. These shareholders are convinced that the particular limited availability of bitcoins may force all their value in order to follow a continual up trajectory. Bitcoin has without a doubt seen some significant spikes in value. But that has experienced major failures, including an 80 percent decline above 24 hrs in April. At the beginning involving this month, bitcoins ended up down to around $90, from the high of $266 before the The spring drive. They were trading close to $97 earlier this few days, according to mtgox. com. The Winklevosses would make Bitcoin investing simpler by allowing smaller-scale buyers to revenue, or drop, as the actual case may be, but without the hassle of actually getting as well as storing the electric silver and gold coins. Despite claims regarding safety measures, Bitcoin storage offers shown problematic. In 2011, an attack on the particular Mt. Gox alternate pushed it to momentarily turn down and caused the cost of bitcoins to briefly drop to nearly zero. Given that Bitcoin transactions are almost all nameless, there is very little chance of discovering typically the culprits if you suddenly find your electronic wallet empty. If the Winklevosses acquire regulatory approval, their very own ETF would help shield traders from the threat of specific theft. Often the ETF, but would complete nothing to address the situation of volatility caused by means of large-scale thefts elsewhere within the Bitcoin market. When Bitcoin arrives wrapped with a high-tech veneer, this specific newest of foreign currencies provides a surprising amount in keeping with one of typically the oldest stock markets: gold. Bitcoin's own vocab, particularly the particular term "mining, very well best parts this connection, and blatantly so. The mining method is designed to become difficult being a control in supply, mimicking the extraction of a lot more conventional information from the ground. Far from providing a sense associated with safety measures, however, this rhetoric should always serve as some sort of word of care. Rare metal is an investment of last resort. It features little intrinsic value. That does not generate attention. But because its source is finite, it is actually viewed as being more steady than forms of funds that can be published at will. The difficulty with gold is that will it doesn't do everything. Due to the fact gold coins get fallen outside of use, nearly all of the world's rare metal now sits in often the vaults of central financial institutions and other financial institutions. Because a result, gold offers minor connection to the actual real economy. Which could appear like a good point when the real economy feels like a terrifying place to be. Yet as rapidly as various other attractive purchase options look, gold will lose its shine. That is what we possess seen with the latest diminishes in gold selling prices. Within their push to get Bitcoin into the mainstream, it has the promoters possess accepted, along with, in some cases sought after, increased regulation. Last calendar month Mt. Gox registered themselves as a money services enterprise together with the Treasury Department's Monetary Violations Enforcement Network. The idea has also increased consumer verification methods. The improvements came in response in order to any March directive through Economic Crimes Enforcement Networking making clear the application associated with its rules to internet currencies. The Winklevosses' recommended ETF would deliver some sort of new level of burden. In the long run, however, I anticipate this Bitcoin will disappear back in the shadows involving the black market. These who want a regulated, secure currency that they will can make use of for reputable business dealings will decide on from one of the actual many values already sponsored by a state authorities equipped with ample sources, a real-world economy and much more transparency and protection than the Bitcoin planet can offer.

[yogaburn5-blog]

Within Bitcoin We Trust?

Within Bitcoin We Trust?

bitcoin revolution app Now you have probably noticed of Bitcoin, although can you define it? Usually it is described as a non-government digital currency. Bitcoin is also sometimes referred to as a cybercurrency or, in a nod to its encrypted origins, a cryptocurrency. Those descriptions are appropriate enough, but they skip the. It's like describing the particular U. S. buck like a green piece regarding paper with images about it. bitcoinrevolutionapp I have this own methods of describing Bitcoin. I think from it since store credit devoid of the retail store. A prepaid telephone with out the phone. Precious steel with no metal. Legal sore for not any debts, open public or non-public, unless the actual party who it is usually tendered wishes to simply accept it. An instrument backed simply by the total faith and consumer credit simply of its private makers, in whom I as a result place no religious beliefs, and to whom I give no credit except regarding ingenuity. My spouse and i wouldn't touching a bitcoin with the 10-foot USB wire. Although a fair number involving people curently have, and very a few more soon may. This is to some extent since entrepreneurs Cameron along with Tyler Winklevoss, best known for their purpose within the origins of Myspace, are now seeking to use their own technological knowledgeable, and money, to provide Bitcoin into the mainstream. The Winklevosses hope in order to start off an exchange-traded account intended for bitcoins. An ETF would make Bitcoin more extensively available to traders who also lack the engineering information to purchase the electronic currency directly. As of Apr, the Winklevosses usually are told have held all-around 1 percent of all existent bitcoins. Created with 2009 by the private cryptographer, Bitcoin works upon the premise that everything, even intangible bits associated with codes, can have valuation so long as enough people decide to cure it while valuable. Bitcoins exist merely as digital camera representations and are not pegged to any classic foreign money. According to the Bitcoin internet site, "Bitcoin is designed around the idea of any new form of dollars this uses cryptography for you to control their creation and also transactions, as opposed to relying with central authorities. inch (1) New bitcoins tend to be "mined" by users who all resolve computer algorithms to find out digital coins. Bitcoins' proposed designers have said that typically the ultimate supply of bitcoins will be limited to twenty-one million. While Bitcoin encourages itself as "a really secure and inexpensive approach to handle payments, " (2) in reality few companies made the move to help accept bitcoins. Of individuals that have, a large number operate in typically the black industry. Bitcoins usually are traded anonymously over typically the Internet, without any engaging from established financial institutions. As of 2012, income of drugs and additional black-market goods accounted intended for an approximated 20 per cent of exchanges coming from bitcoins to U. T. bucks on the main Bitcoin exchange, called Mt. Gox. The Drug Enforcement Organization just lately conducted its first-ever Bitcoin seizure, after reportedly binding a transaction about the anonymous Bitcoin-only market place Silk Road to the particular sale of pharmaceutical drugs and illegal drugs. Some Bitcoin users have also proposed that the currency can serve as an effective way to keep away from taxes. That may possibly be accurate, but only throughout the sense this bitcoins aid illegal tax forestalling, not in the feeling they will actually serve any kind of part in genuine income tax organizing. Under federal taxation legislation, no cash desires to adjust hands in order for a taxable transaction to occur. Dicker along with other non-cash exchanges tend to be still thoroughly taxable. Generally there is no reason in which transactions involving bitcoins would be treated differently. Outside involving the criminal element, Bitcoin's main supporters are speculators, who have not any objective of using bitcoins for you to buy anything. These shareholders are convinced that often the limited availability of bitcoins may force all their value for you to follow a continual upwards trajectory. Bitcoin has in fact seen some significant spikes in value. But that has also experienced major deficits, including an 80 pct decline more than 24 hrs in April. At first associated with this month, bitcoins were down to around $90, coming from a high of $266 before the February accident. They were trading around $97 earlier this 1 week, in accordance with mtgox. com. Often the Winklevosses would make Bitcoin investing much easier by permitting smaller-scale buyers to profit, or drop, as the actual case may be, but without the hassle of actually purchasing in addition to storing the electronic digital gold coins. Despite claims regarding security, Bitcoin storage offers turned out problematic. In the year of 2011, an assault on often the Mt. Gox alternate forced it to momentarily closed down and caused the cost of bitcoins to briefly autumn to nearly zero. Given that Bitcoin transactions are all nameless, there is very little chance of discovering the actual culprits if you all of a sudden find your electronic finances empty. If the Winklevosses find regulatory approval, all their ETF would help shield people from the threat of individual theft. Often the ETF, nevertheless , would carry out nothing to address the challenge of volatility caused by means of large-scale thefts elsewhere throughout the Bitcoin market. Although Bitcoin arrives wrapped in a high-tech veneer, this kind of newest of currencies offers a surprising amount in common with one of typically the oldest currencies: gold. Bitcoin's own words, particularly the particular term "mining, inch shows this connection, along with purposefully so. The mining or prospecting method is designed to become difficult like a control about supply, mimicking the extraction of a lot more conventional assets from the ground. Definately not providing a sense associated with safety measures, however, this rhetoric ought to serve as a new word of caution. Platinum is an investment involving last resort. It provides little built-in value. That does not generate interest. But because its deliver is finite, it is actually known as being more secure than forms of dollars that can be imprinted at will. The trouble with rare metal is this it doesn't do anything. Because gold coins have got fallen from use, the majority of of the world's gold now sits in the particular vaults of central banking institutions and other banking institutions. As a result, gold features minor connection to the particular real economy. That will appear to be like a good thing when the authentic economy feels like a daunting place to be. Nevertheless as rapidly as some other attractive investment decision options look, gold will lose its sparkle. That is whatever you get seen with the latest is reduced in gold prices. Of their push to get Bitcoin towards the mainstream, their promoters have accepted, and also, in some cases searched for, increased regulation. Last thirty day period Mt. Gox registered alone as a money services company with all the Treasury Department's Economic Crimes Enforcement Network. The item has likewise increased customer verification procedures. The changes came in response for you to a March directive via Economical Crimes Enforcement Network making clear the application of its rules to help electronic currencies. The Winklevosses' proposed ETF would deliver a new new level of reputation. In the long run, however, I be expecting this Bitcoin will fade back into the shadows connected with the black color market. These who want a governed, secure currency that they will can make use of for legit business purchases will decide on from one of often the many stock markets already subsidized by a countrywide govt equipped with ample resources, a real-world economy and far more transparency and security than the Bitcoin world can provide.

[joshuajacksonlyblog]

Will Post-Brexit London See Crypto Replace the Pound? These Game Designers Think It Might

As the years pass by, Bitcoin and crypto assets continue to take a more dominant place within popular culture. In recent years, we’ve seen supernatural Netflix originals in which ETH usage is an accepted part of life, the topic of crypto come to the attention of mainstream media personalities such as Ellen DeGeneres, and even international rappers lamenting the fintech innovation on record.

The latest reference to crypto in mainstream popular culture comes from the video game industry. The forthcoming instalment of the Watch Dogs series is reportedly based in a post-Brexit London in which a crypto asset has replaced pound sterling as the currency in dominant use.

Another Big Media Appearance for Crypto

Many crypto advocates like to speculate on possible drivers for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mass adoption. One of the most often-repeated potential catalysts for such a move away from fiat is political instability.

The creators of the Watch Dogs video games explore this concept in the third and latest instalment of the series: Watch Dogs Legion. The game was announced at this year’s E3 gaming expo, during the Ubisoft press conference.

However, rather than base the action in Venezuela, Turkey, or some other nation in which the population is already rumoured to be toying with the idea of a crypto assets to escape from desecrated national economies, the Ubisoft team have instead opted to set Legion in post-Brexit Britain.

According to GameInformer, a news publication covering the video game industry in depth, the title’s director of game design, Kent Hudson, stated of the latest release:

“We have created a near future version of the city where technology has taken a dark turn and society is on the brink of collapse. In short, London is seeing her downfall. It’s a time of social crisis: AI is devastating the economy, the pound has collapsed and is being replaced by cryptocurrency, organized crime has taken a resurgence.”

According to a report in UK news publication The Telegraph, the action follows a group of hackers, known as Dead Sec, who have formed a resistance movement against the military leadership that has taken control of British government.

Interestingly, like within the crypto asset space, decentralisation seems to be one of the central themes of the new title. Rather than play as a single member of the hacktivist group, you can swap and change them at leisure. This removes any central character from the efforts of the “good guys”.

The creative lead on Legion, Clint Hocking explains:

 “It’s not about the hero who’s going to come down from the mountain and save us all. We really wanted to abdicate that notion that there’s someone in the end who’s going to be responsible for it all. It’s not – it’s going to be us… It was really tough to give up on the things we could achieve with the ease of having a core protagonist. But then again all of the innovation is driven towards making it so that anyone you pick off the street can be that protagonist for you.”

Unfortunately, there is little information about how the cryptocurrency is used in the society portrayed in Watch Dogs Legion yet. However, from clues to the game’s plot divulged at E3, it sounds like crypto asset use has become a matter of necessity thanks to the crashed economy, rather than free choice or one that has been forced on the population from above. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until March 6, 2020 to see for yourself how the concept of digital currency works within the game narrative though.

Although this detail is unclear, for now, it’s certain that the more crypto assets receive such mainstream attention, the more they are normalised in society, and the further the public perception gets from tried old “drug dealer” and “money launderer” rhetoric of yesteryear. This can only be good for long-term crypto and Bitcoin adoption.

To get you in the mood for Watch Dogs Legion, here’s the trailer.

  Related Reading: Pop Culture Shift: Nike Forays into Crypto as Technology Continues Going Mainstream

Featured Image from Shutterstock.

The post Will Post-Brexit London See Crypto Replace the Pound? These Game Designers Think It Might appeared first on NewsBTC.

from Cryptocracken Tumblr http://bit.ly/2IcEiGo via IFTTT

[brettzjacksonblog]

Will Post-Brexit London See Crypto Replace the Pound? These Game Designers Think It Might

As the years pass by, Bitcoin and crypto assets continue to take a more dominant place within popular culture. In recent years, we’ve seen supernatural Netflix originals in which ETH usage is an accepted part of life, the topic of crypto come to the attention of mainstream media personalities such as Ellen DeGeneres, and even international rappers lamenting the fintech innovation on record.

The latest reference to crypto in mainstream popular culture comes from the video game industry. The forthcoming instalment of the Watch Dogs series is reportedly based in a post-Brexit London in which a crypto asset has replaced pound sterling as the currency in dominant use.

Another Big Media Appearance for Crypto

Many crypto advocates like to speculate on possible drivers for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mass adoption. One of the most often-repeated potential catalysts for such a move away from fiat is political instability.

The creators of the Watch Dogs video games explore this concept in the third and latest instalment of the series: Watch Dogs Legion. The game was announced at this year’s E3 gaming expo, during the Ubisoft press conference.

However, rather than base the action in Venezuela, Turkey, or some other nation in which the population is already rumoured to be toying with the idea of a crypto assets to escape from desecrated national economies, the Ubisoft team have instead opted to set Legion in post-Brexit Britain.

According to GameInformer, a news publication covering the video game industry in depth, the title’s director of game design, Kent Hudson, stated of the latest release:

“We have created a near future version of the city where technology has taken a dark turn and society is on the brink of collapse. In short, London is seeing her downfall. It’s a time of social crisis: AI is devastating the economy, the pound has collapsed and is being replaced by cryptocurrency, organized crime has taken a resurgence.”

According to a report in UK news publication The Telegraph, the action follows a group of hackers, known as Dead Sec, who have formed a resistance movement against the military leadership that has taken control of British government.

Interestingly, like within the crypto asset space, decentralisation seems to be one of the central themes of the new title. Rather than play as a single member of the hacktivist group, you can swap and change them at leisure. This removes any central character from the efforts of the “good guys”.

The creative lead on Legion, Clint Hocking explains:

 “It’s not about the hero who’s going to come down from the mountain and save us all. We really wanted to abdicate that notion that there’s someone in the end who’s going to be responsible for it all. It’s not – it’s going to be us… It was really tough to give up on the things we could achieve with the ease of having a core protagonist. But then again all of the innovation is driven towards making it so that anyone you pick off the street can be that protagonist for you.”

Unfortunately, there is little information about how the cryptocurrency is used in the society portrayed in Watch Dogs Legion yet. However, from clues to the game’s plot divulged at E3, it sounds like crypto asset use has become a matter of necessity thanks to the crashed economy, rather than free choice or one that has been forced on the population from above. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until March 6, 2020 to see for yourself how the concept of digital currency works within the game narrative though.

Although this detail is unclear, for now, it’s certain that the more crypto assets receive such mainstream attention, the more they are normalised in society, and the further the public perception gets from tried old “drug dealer” and “money launderer” rhetoric of yesteryear. This can only be good for long-term crypto and Bitcoin adoption.

To get you in the mood for Watch Dogs Legion, here’s the trailer.

  Related Reading: Pop Culture Shift: Nike Forays into Crypto as Technology Continues Going Mainstream

Featured Image from Shutterstock.

The post Will Post-Brexit London See Crypto Replace the Pound? These Game Designers Think It Might appeared first on NewsBTC.

from CryptoCracken SMFeed http://bit.ly/2IcEiGo via IFTTT

[michaelbennettcrypto]

Will Post-Brexit London See Crypto Replace the Pound? These Game Designers Think It Might

As the years pass by, Bitcoin and crypto assets continue to take a more dominant place within popular culture. In recent years, we’ve seen supernatural Netflix originals in which ETH usage is an accepted part of life, the topic of crypto come to the attention of mainstream media personalities such as Ellen DeGeneres, and even international rappers lamenting the fintech innovation on record.

The latest reference to crypto in mainstream popular culture comes from the video game industry. The forthcoming instalment of the Watch Dogs series is reportedly based in a post-Brexit London in which a crypto asset has replaced pound sterling as the currency in dominant use.

Another Big Media Appearance for Crypto

Many crypto advocates like to speculate on possible drivers for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mass adoption. One of the most often-repeated potential catalysts for such a move away from fiat is political instability.

The creators of the Watch Dogs video games explore this concept in the third and latest instalment of the series: Watch Dogs Legion. The game was announced at this year’s E3 gaming expo, during the Ubisoft press conference.

However, rather than base the action in Venezuela, Turkey, or some other nation in which the population is already rumoured to be toying with the idea of a crypto assets to escape from desecrated national economies, the Ubisoft team have instead opted to set Legion in post-Brexit Britain.

According to GameInformer, a news publication covering the video game industry in depth, the title’s director of game design, Kent Hudson, stated of the latest release:

“We have created a near future version of the city where technology has taken a dark turn and society is on the brink of collapse. In short, London is seeing her downfall. It’s a time of social crisis: AI is devastating the economy, the pound has collapsed and is being replaced by cryptocurrency, organized crime has taken a resurgence.”

According to a report in UK news publication The Telegraph, the action follows a group of hackers, known as Dead Sec, who have formed a resistance movement against the military leadership that has taken control of British government.

Interestingly, like within the crypto asset space, decentralisation seems to be one of the central themes of the new title. Rather than play as a single member of the hacktivist group, you can swap and change them at leisure. This removes any central character from the efforts of the “good guys”.

The creative lead on Legion, Clint Hocking explains:

 “It’s not about the hero who’s going to come down from the mountain and save us all. We really wanted to abdicate that notion that there’s someone in the end who’s going to be responsible for it all. It’s not – it’s going to be us… It was really tough to give up on the things we could achieve with the ease of having a core protagonist. But then again all of the innovation is driven towards making it so that anyone you pick off the street can be that protagonist for you.”

Unfortunately, there is little information about how the cryptocurrency is used in the society portrayed in Watch Dogs Legion yet. However, from clues to the game’s plot divulged at E3, it sounds like crypto asset use has become a matter of necessity thanks to the crashed economy, rather than free choice or one that has been forced on the population from above. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until March 6, 2020 to see for yourself how the concept of digital currency works within the game narrative though.

Although this detail is unclear, for now, it’s certain that the more crypto assets receive such mainstream attention, the more they are normalised in society, and the further the public perception gets from tried old “drug dealer” and “money launderer” rhetoric of yesteryear. This can only be good for long-term crypto and Bitcoin adoption.

To get you in the mood for Watch Dogs Legion, here’s the trailer.

  Related Reading: Pop Culture Shift: Nike Forays into Crypto as Technology Continues Going Mainstream

Featured Image from Shutterstock.

The post Will Post-Brexit London See Crypto Replace the Pound? These Game Designers Think It Might appeared first on NewsBTC.

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[verycybercyber]

Final decisions and thinking about discursive design

Ice cream is part of the summertime vacation experience: hot summer days call for an easy refreshment, especially in the backdrop of global warming and ever more present heat waves. With our speculative product landing page, we aimed to show users the story of a new kind of beach experience; one enriched by an inter-species snack that makes for a somewhat estranged entertainment.

After the supervision we were encouraged to be less polished in our product website: through our design and aiming for a playful look the twist and dissonance of artifact and scenario became less direct. As suggested in the supervision, went with changing our product from containing nourishment to containing dye for corals to be colored. 

My role in this process was mainly overlooking the roles we have in the group and adding to the initial design steps of the website before this turning point in the supervision. This week i stepped back from visuals and focused on starting the report portfolio page and wrote the initial draft of a coherent text that follows our process. This I did by working through the notes from our meetings and supervisions. I then moved on to picking out shorter paragraphs and visuals to be used for the report website. Together with that I started looking more into contextualizing our concept and design work in relation to discursive design.

Contextualizing our design in relation of Tharp & Tharp (2013, 2019)

Our design project presents itself as discursive design: it is to be understood as a possible utility that could very likely function in the everyday, yet the discourse it carries is our main concern (p. 407, Tharp & Tharp, 2013). 

Our design is centered around digital renderings, not an artefact per se. We communicate a speculative scenario of a different culture around beach tourism activity, not the packaging as such. Visuals and packaging are diegetic prototypes that present the user with a specific message / discourse / rhetoric that our project aims to get across

Principal artefact: ice cream

Depictive artefacts: visuals

Explanatory artifacts: the text, copy  and infographics

Tharp, B. M., & Tharp, S. M. (2013). Discursive design basics: Mode and audience. Nordes, 1(5).

Tharp, B. M., & Tharp, S. M. (2019). Discursive Design: Critical, Speculative, and Alternative Things. Design Thinking, Design Theory.

[noshitshakespeare]

Good morning / evening / whenever you happen to read this! I've heard that some parts of "Sejanus" might have been written by Shakespeare. Is it true? This also makes me wonder how it's possible to know which parts were written by which author in collaborative plays?

Good afternoon! 

Authorship studies is a pretty big branch of historical literary studies, and the authorship of plays (and the sections of collaborative plays) is determined mainly through a technique called stylistic analysis. Basically, one collects together a dataset of an author’s vocabulary, common collocations, phraseology and word combinations, as well as particularities like enjambment and particular rhetorical techniques that an author commonly uses. The debated plays and/or plays are then scrutinised at word level to determine whether what author the style bears the closest resemblance to. In the old days this was the kind of nerdy thing people spent painstaking hours on, but these days it’s mostly a field of digital humanities and computational stylistics. Although one can never be downright about the results even then, given the amount of data one can compare and collect these days, it’s becoming pretty accurate. 

The idea that Shakespeare might have contributed to Sejanus His Fall  is speculation based on a number of things and actually has nothing to do with stylistic analysis.

The first thing to remember is that Sejanus was performed by the King’s Men twice, and that Shakespeare is listed as part of the cast. The speculation is that he played the part of Tiberius, based on a contemporary poem called The Scourge of Folly by John Davies of Hereford that praises Shakespeare for the ‘Kingly Parts’ played by him, and also based on his location in the cast list in Jonson’s Folio. 

In the front matter of the published version Ben Jonson’s ‘To the Reader’ ends with the words ‘this book, in all numbers, is not the same with that which was acted on the public stage, wherein a second pen had good share; in place of which, I have rather chosen to put weaker (and no doubt less pleasing) of mine own, than to defraud so happy a genius of his right by my loathed usurpation’. So the performed version was co-written, and Jonson rewrote the co-written sections for the published version. 

We no longer have the version which was acted on stage, so it’s impossible to do a proper authorship analysis, but because Shakespeare performed in the play, there has been some speculation that this ‘happy genius’ was Shakespeare. Then again the next play by Jonson, Eastward Ho! was a collaboration with George Chapman, which suggests that the earlier work might also have been the result of a collaboration with Chapman, especially since Chapman wrote a poem praising Sejanus. 

In any case, the version we have today wouldn’t contain any sections by the collaborator, and there isn’t enough evidence to make any definitive claims on. Essentially, we can’t know.