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~~ who ~~

Honestly? I don't know.

It no longer feels like it's my place to say.

I'll leave it for you to decide.

~~ communicate ~~

one-on-one moj@sdf.org
soapbox @moj@mastodon.sdf.org
hotline SDF Phone x2239

Web3 Magic!

Published: 25 Dec 2021

I watched a video about a Web3 thing. Technically, I watched a video from a guy who's always producing network tech videos who just happened to put out a Web3 video on his channel. The gist / flow?

SCENE BEGINS, Super-Enthusiastic Host doing his schtick:

I'm going to show how to make your own token! Give real money to coinbase! Maybe US$15 -- come on, it's nothing! Gloss over but do not hide that they take 10% off the top -- it's nothing! Do these steps to generate a public/private keypair. Do this step to create a token and these steps to mint some. Your balance drops by point-oh-oh-something -- practically nothing (in the cryptocurrency, where 1.000 -> US$190 or so)! Want to name your token and give it a picture? Follow these steps. Now, you want to sell your token? Ooof ~ that's complicated...

Anyway, now that you've got some of that currency in your wallet, wouldn't it be fun to mint and own some of my token? Go to this website... fill in how much you want to mint. The web plugin will pop open to confirm the transaction. Oh, look! The value went up 6% since I started working on this video! You're now the proud owner... BTW, I've got some ideas about how I might use those tokens to benefit my followers in the future...

[He did a follow up video demonstrating buying little cartoon sketches, which has them appear in your browser plugin gallery...]

SCENE ENDS

It wasn't a tech video. It was a walk-through of the tech's own tutorial, with at least one significant difference: There actually is a development network where you can do all the above without spending any actual money.

It seems everything about how any of anything works is right in there in front of our eyes. Nothing hidden per se -- just a lot of close-up stage magic, slight of hand. "Let me get a lot of you hyped and walk each of you through giving me a little money! Who knows, it might be worth your while!"