Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

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Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

I keep looking for the part that shows that this dumb fad isn't colossally moronic. Haven't found it yet. I'll post an article describing it later, but if you see it in the news and think it's dumb, you are correct.
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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by pinback »

Still. What exactly do you get when you buy an NFT?

This question unleashes a fury of debate among NFT enthusiasts.
NFT enthusiasts.

BAAahahahaha.
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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by AArdvark »

I just now looked this up. It reaffirmed my belief that people are dumb.

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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

This came to my attention when my wife told me that people were "bidding" over 2.5 million dollars for the "non-fungible token" rights to the fortunate idiot that made Twitter.

(There is another thread active at this exact time regarding how awful Twitter is and it's important to note that everyone involved with Twitter got lucky and to think they are any kind of visionaries draws the wrong conclusion about luck.)

My understanding is that an artist is able to create "tokens" and everyone just sort of agrees that they have something to do with something completely separate. But it doesn't mean anything. If it's just a money laundering thing, then cool, that's entirely legitimate! Well, not entirel-- you know what I mean.
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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by AArdvark »

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-56368868

Someone really paid 69 million for a jpeg?

Dis whole darn world gone crazy!

Imagine how much a cheese themed Crazy Doodle is worth!

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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by AArdvark »

as soon as the rap started it got muted, too bad, I wanted it to be funny

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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by Casual Observer »

Too bad for you. It was funny and explained NFT's pretty well. Is there any rap you'll listen to? Beastie Boys? Anything?

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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by AArdvark »

Rap is a simple music for a simple people

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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by Flack »

On this week's episode of Penn's Sunday School, Penn (from Penn & Teller) was talking about selling the rights to one of their tricks as an NFT. Based on the banter, I don't think he understands NFTs. He compared it to an original painting vs. a picture of a painting, and that part's true. But I don't think you can sell an NFT of how a magic trick is done. What you can sell, I think, is a digital representation of that. I don't think owning the picture means you own the trick or the secret.
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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by Jizaboz »

AArdvark wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 1:54 pm Rap is a simple music for a simple people
That would be country, sir. A select few of rap groups in the late 80s through the 1990s were cool yet I found "simple people" didn't get it.
Flack wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:06 pm On this week's episode of Penn's Sunday School, Penn (from Penn & Teller) was talking about selling the rights to one of their tricks as an NFT. Based on the banter, I don't think he understands NFTs. He compared it to an original painting vs. a picture of a painting, and that part's true. But I don't think you can sell an NFT of how a magic trick is done. What you can sell, I think, is a digital representation of that. I don't think owning the picture means you own the trick or the secret.
Yeah like from what I understand this is a digital thing with a crypto backing. People are getting into these uh.. "virtual" NBA cards now I think? One of them is already up to over 200$ in value somehow. Maybe if you could convince me what I am buying for USD is also worth some alt coins or something? Even then, like I would pay more than 100$ for an alt coin.. ah shit, nevermind I have and don't even have a cool sports hologram card to show for it lol. Like with cryptocurrency, I can exchange it to build on other things ultimately for stuff I would buy anyway or fees towards USD. I really don't get this "art" thing though.
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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by Flack »

Here's the way I see it. Let's say you bought a CD, ripped its tracks to mp3 files, and threw away the CD. At some point, you lose those mp3s and so you download replacements of identical quality from the internet. The concept behind NFTs is that the two sets of mp3s have different value; that the ones you ripped are somehow different than the ones you downloaded.

When I finished the cover of my first book I emailed copies of the file to a few friends to get feedback. After that, all of us had copies of the jpg. And after I released the book as an eBook, everybody who bought a digital copy of the book had the cover. But in theory, I could take that original file into an NFT and mark it as the original and then sell it. So you could own a copy of the jpg for free, or you could own the "original" of the file as an NFT and say, "I own the original."

This makes sense with physical objects. A painting by Picasso is worth infinitely more than a print of that same painting. So NFTs are a way to say, okay, this one print is the original, and all other prints are copies. Or, you know, these 10 prints are original, and then you sell 10 NFT copies. And at that point you have the print on your phone and I have a copy of the print on my phone and even through they look identical, one or worth money and one is not.
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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by AArdvark »

How much of this is a mindset? Thinking or believing that with identical copies of something one is worth more than the others.

I kind of get how it works but can't wrap my head around spending those dollar amounts for something that is, in essence, ones and zeros

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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by Flack »

Atari made $100,000 in one day by selling NFT digital renders of Atari 2600 Centipede cartridges.

A real Centipede cartridge for the Atari 2600 is worth about fifty cents.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/04/ ... pede-nfts/
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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

I'm delighted that I can hate this and it is not because of my age. I'm not out of touch, I'm not a fuddy duddy. NFTs are just that stupid.

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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

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AArdvark wrote: Fri Apr 02, 2021 7:28 am How much of this is a mindset? Thinking or believing that with identical copies of something one is worth more than the others.

I kind of get how it works but can't wrap my head around spending those dollar amounts for something that is, in essence, ones and zeros
There are companies spending over six figures a year (or more) for a copy of Oracle or IBM DB2 databases. They are paying big bucks for ones and zeroes.

Actually though, consider this. Your employer pays you either by direct deposit or check, and if the latter, you deposit the check and the bank increases the balance in your account, while sending an image of the check and the request for payment to the issuing bank. You go to the grocery store and use your credit card. You purchase stuff on Amazon, paying by credit card. Comcast send you a bill every month but you don't pay it because you agreed to let them send a message each month to your bank lowering your balance and increasing theirs, You pay your credit card bill by either authorizing the credit card company to make a withdrawal, or you have your bank send them an electronic payment. Or you write a check, which is scanned and electronically transmitted.

In all of this, how much money was moved? None.

The payments to your Supermarket or Amazon were done by sending electronic messages to their bank from the credit card acquirer telling them to increase the number in the account. The credit card acquirer sent your credit card issuer electronic messages to request payment. Your issuer sent the acquirer's bank messges paying them. Your issuer then increased the number representing the amount that you owed them. Then either they sent a message to your bank requesting a withdrawal of the amount you authorized , and your bank authorized payment, reducing the number in your bank account, or your bank reduced the amount in your account then sent the card issuer a message giving them a certain amount to be credited to reduce the number of the amount owed on your account. All of this is being done by changing ones and zeroes in various company's computers. No money ever changed hands.

If you don't think ones and zeroes can be valuable, how long could you manage if you could not use the ones and zeroes at your credit card issuer's computer or your bank's computer?
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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by Casual Observer »

Tdarcos wrote: Sat Apr 03, 2021 6:59 pm There are companies spending over six figures a year (or more) for a copy of Oracle or IBM DB2 databases. They are paying big bucks for ones and zeroes.
Really? This is what your broken mind equated to Vark's statement? Guess you completely missed the topic. There's a difference between paying for a solution to a problem so your company can earn money versus speculating on digital pieces of art(?) that may have value due to being the first or of a limited edition that is verified by the blockchain. Autism alert!

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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by AArdvark »

At a guess, he saw the words spending, ones and zeros and nothing else

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Re: Non-Fungible Tokens is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of

Post by AArdvark »

So the 'Disaster Girl' photo nft is selling for a shit ton of money. I'd link to it but, touch screen. I have a meme of this photo on a download pc at work and display it whenever someone has Girl Scout cookies for sale. I feel the nft thing is a cash grab

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