https://twitter.com/pete_rizzo_/status/1704522067582894293
Topic: Bitcoin and me (Hal Finney) (Read 279707 times)
the user RIZZO posted a tweet today showing a 25 year old talk by Hal Finney. the title of the talk is: 'A Zero-Knowledge Proof of Possession of a Pre-Image of a SHA-1 Hash' and the whole video lasts 5:45 minutes
https://twitter.com/pete_rizzo_/status/1704522067582894293
https://twitter.com/pete_rizzo_/status/1704522067582894293
R.I.P Legend
I would like to put this out here about the double whitespace riddle:
Most people of the age of 45 (today) or so or older would have been taught to type on a typewriter or using typewriter technique: You put two spaces after a period. Word processors made this practice antiquated because their automated typesetting does it for you (technically putting a space and a half after a full stop). Many people who originally learned to put in two spaces stopped if they've spent a lot of time using MSFT word, which nags you for doing it. It's also not always clear when people are doing it because because common typesetting (including in browsers) doesn't render it as two spaces.But for those of us who learned the typewriter ways and haven't been heavy MS word users the practice continues.
Here are some random pre-2008 (to show that I didn't do it because of Satoshi) mailing list posts by me where you can see me using two spaces after periods:
https://lists.cypherpunks.ca/pipermail/otr-users/2007-November/001181.html
https://marc.info/?l=reiserfs-devel&m=110878382927801&w=2
My usage is a little less consistent than Satoshi's and has gone up and down over the years (I think mostly depending on which keyboards I was using, weirdly-- I think I most consistently an extra space when typing on a model M-- most similar to the keyboards I learned on, and do so less consistently on a laptop.) This is by no means unique to me-- scan around in other messages on those lists, mostly written by tech experts a little older than me and you'll see that many other people use two spaces after periods (even in some of the posts by others that I'm quoting). It's also possible that this was or wasn't Satoshi's native style, but he might have consistently used it in order to leave less of a stylometry signature. He was trying to conceal his identity after all (and it's not like stylometry was some unknown thing back then).
I think the fact that people keep talking about it like it's some kind of mystery shows the deep intellectual bankruptcy of the whole speculating-about-satoshi enterprise: the people doing it are too careless or too incompetent to sort out the simplest facts.
I would like to similarly point out that the occasional text editor *ahem* has to be explicitly told not to put two spaces after a period by enabling "French Spacing" for when you auto-reformat a paragraph.
This appears to me to be a generational disconnect between fashion and aesthetics, and typographic habit. I would fully expect that in the dark-ages of usenet as well, that the double-space after the period would have a histogram over time that just drops slowly as the old style fell out of .. fashion.
I find it irritating that anyone is focusing so much on this minor, completely arbitrary and capricious detail. To me, it is a very strong indicator of a weak mind who considers minor details in Satoshi's English output even relevant as a stylometric detail for fingerprinting in the first place.
I would like to put this out here about the double whitespace riddle:
Most people of the age of 45 (today) or so or older would have been taught to type on a typewriter or using typewriter technique: You put two spaces after a period. Word processors made this practice antiquated because their automated typesetting does it for you (technically putting a space and a half after a full stop). Many people who originally learned to put in two spaces stopped if they've spent a lot of time using MSFT word, which nags you for doing it. It's also not always clear when people are doing it because because common typesetting (including in browsers) doesn't render it as two spaces.But for those of us who learned the typewriter ways and haven't been heavy MS word users the practice continues.
Here are some random pre-2008 (to show that I didn't do it because of Satoshi) mailing list posts by me where you can see me using two spaces after periods:
https://lists.cypherpunks.ca/pipermail/otr-users/2007-November/001181.html
https://marc.info/?l=reiserfs-devel&m=110878382927801&w=2
My usage is a little less consistent than Satoshi's and has gone up and down over the years (I think mostly depending on which keyboards I was using, weirdly-- I think I most consistently an extra space when typing on a model M-- most similar to the keyboards I learned on, and do so less consistently on a laptop.) This is by no means unique to me-- scan around in other messages on those lists, mostly written by tech experts a little older than me and you'll see that many other people use two spaces after periods (even in some of the posts by others that I'm quoting). It's also possible that this was or wasn't Satoshi's native style, but he might have consistently used it in order to leave less of a stylometry signature. He was trying to conceal his identity after all (and it's not like stylometry was some unknown thing back then).
I think the fact that people keep talking about it like it's some kind of mystery shows the deep intellectual bankruptcy of the whole speculating-about-satoshi enterprise: the people doing it are too careless or too incompetent to sort out the simplest facts.
https://twitter.com/BitcoinNewsCom/status/1696084162820661665
"On this day 9 years ago, the #Bitcoin community lost one of its initial contributors and the first person to receive a #Bitcoin transaction, Hal Finney.
May you forever be running #Bitcoin "
May the benefits provided to the people of this world by his work, help him to find peace in the other.💐💐💐 "On this day 9 years ago, the #Bitcoin community lost one of its initial contributors and the first person to receive a #Bitcoin transaction, Hal Finney.
May you forever be running #Bitcoin "
snip
I don't know about that shirt but something tells me it's not worth that much, as much as people consider it as a piece of history, I guess they should've created a more aesthetically pleasing uniform 
. Pretty awesome though that Hal's legacy is still there, I hope he had also given his wife the account to his forum account. 
https://twitter.com/BitcoinNewsCom/status/1696084162820661665
"On this day 9 years ago, the #Bitcoin community lost one of its initial contributors and the first person to receive a #Bitcoin transaction, Hal Finney.
May you forever be running #Bitcoin "
"On this day 9 years ago, the #Bitcoin community lost one of its initial contributors and the first person to receive a #Bitcoin transaction, Hal Finney.
May you forever be running #Bitcoin "
this is not necessarily about Hal, but since he was certainly closely involved with Satoshi
(if not with Satoshi Nakamoto Nakamoto, then at least with his close neighbour Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto)
I would like to put this out here about the double whitespace riddle:
https://vimhelp.org/options.txt.html#%27joinspaces%27
Quote
'joinspaces' 'js' 'nojoinspaces' 'nojs'
'joinspaces' 'js' boolean (default on)
global
Insert two spaces after a '.', '?' and '!' with a join command.
When 'cpoptions' includes the 'j' flag, only do this after a '.'.
Otherwise only one space is inserted.
NOTE: This option is set when 'compatible' is set.
'joinspaces' 'js' boolean (default on)
global
Insert two spaces after a '.', '?' and '!' with a join command.
When 'cpoptions' includes the 'j' flag, only do this after a '.'.
Otherwise only one space is inserted.
NOTE: This option is set when 'compatible' is set.
Could this be the explanation for this quirk in Satoshis writings?
I have recently just found out about Hal and I am blessed to know that this person lead the way for me to be here right now. You will be forever remembered!
I congratulate you for making such discovery because the bitcoin history is never complete without referring Hal Finney of a blessed memory, i will advise you go through this thread he has created from the first page down to the last to make more discoveries, also try to use the forum search engine to look into other threads created which talks about same Hal, i bet you will never regret having an encounter with his legacy he has left behind because he's a true legend.
ZK_Shark sent me!
I have recently just found out about Hal and I am blessed to know that this person lead the way for me to be here right now. You will be forever remembered!
I have recently just found out about Hal and I am blessed to know that this person lead the way for me to be here right now. You will be forever remembered!
Hal Finney's twitter came to life.
The account was revived by his wife and launched a fundraising marathon to find a cure for the illness that Hal died from. Donations are accepted in bitcoins.
The account was revived by his wife and launched a fundraising marathon to find a cure for the illness that Hal died from. Donations are accepted in bitcoins.
Generally, it would not be good to post from the account of a deceased person; however, it seems that this situation may well be an exception to such rule based on what Hal's wife Fran had said her intentions were to make sure that Hal's account was not deleted due to lack of activity due to some recent policies and/or algorithms that Elon seems to have been implementing at Twitter. So, therefore Fran had said that the reason that she was posting through Hal's account was to attempt to lessen the chances that Hal's Twitter account would be deleted. I cannot remember where I had heard that information, perhaps on a bitcoin-related podcast in which the topic of Hal's Twitter account was being discussed?
Quote
halfin @halfin
Replying to @lopp
This is @franfinney. I am tweeting for Hal (as @pavlenex thought) to avoid his account being purged by Elon.
https://twitter.com/halfin/status/1603847718039744512 Replying to @lopp
This is @franfinney. I am tweeting for Hal (as @pavlenex thought) to avoid his account being purged by Elon.
Hal Finney's twitter came to life.
The account was revived by his wife and launched a fundraising marathon to find a cure for the illness that Hal died from. Donations are accepted in bitcoins.
The account was revived by his wife and launched a fundraising marathon to find a cure for the illness that Hal died from. Donations are accepted in bitcoins.
Generally, it would not be good to post from the account of a deceased person; however, it seems that this situation may well be an exception to such rule based on what Hal's wife Fran had said her intentions were to make sure that Hal's account was not deleted due to lack of activity due to some recent policies and/or algorithms that Elon seems to have been implementing at Twitter. So, therefore Fran had said that the reason that she was posting through Hal's account was to attempt to lessen the chances that Hal's Twitter account would be deleted. I cannot remember where I had heard that information, perhaps on a bitcoin-related podcast in which the topic of Hal's Twitter account was being discussed?
Thank you sir for this detailed and well analysed story of yours. Some of us have picked one or two information from it.
Thanks for sharing your story to is,there is a lot to learn from it.Congratulations to you once again.
The account was revived by his wife and launched a fundraising marathon to find a cure for the illness that Hal died from. Donations are accepted in bitcoins.
That is a very good opportunity to raise money, since there are still so many illnesses that can not be cured, simply because there is not to much profit to be made with inventing the medicine. Lets see if this is a success and lets hope that bitcoiners will support this cause.
I thought I'd write about the last four years, an eventful time for Bitcoin and me.
For those who don't know me, I'm Hal Finney. I got my start in crypto working on an early version of PGP, working closely with Phil Zimmermann. When Phil decided to start PGP Corporation, I was one of the first hires. I would work on PGP until my retirement. At the same time, I got involved with the Cypherpunks. I ran the first cryptographically based anonymous remailer, among other activities.
Fast forward to late 2008 and the announcement of Bitcoin. I've noticed that cryptographic graybeards (I was in my mid 50's) tend to get cynical. I was more idealistic; I have always loved crypto, the mystery and the paradox of it.
When Satoshi announced Bitcoin on the cryptography mailing list, he got a skeptical reception at best. Cryptographers have seen too many grand schemes by clueless noobs. They tend to have a knee jerk reaction.
I was more positive. I had long been interested in cryptographic payment schemes. Plus I was lucky enough to meet and extensively correspond with both Wei Dai and Nick Szabo, generally acknowledged to have created ideas that would be realized with Bitcoin. I had made an attempt to create my own proof of work based currency, called RPOW. So I found Bitcoin facinating.
When Satoshi announced the first release of the software, I grabbed it right away. I think I was the first person besides Satoshi to run bitcoin. I mined block 70-something, and I was the recipient of the first bitcoin transaction, when Satoshi sent ten coins to me as a test. I carried on an email conversation with Satoshi over the next few days, mostly me reporting bugs and him fixing them.
Today, Satoshi's true identity has become a mystery. But at the time, I thought I was dealing with a young man of Japanese ancestry who was very smart and sincere. I've had the good fortune to know many brilliant people over the course of my life, so I recognize the signs.
After a few days, bitcoin was running pretty stably, so I left it running. Those were the days when difficulty was 1, and you could find blocks with a CPU, not even a GPU. I mined several blocks over the next days. But I turned it off because it made my computer run hot, and the fan noise bothered me. In retrospect, I wish I had kept it up longer, but on the other hand I was extraordinarily lucky to be there at the beginning. It's one of those glass half full half empty things.
The next I heard of Bitcoin was late 2010, when I was surprised to find that it was not only still going, bitcoins actually had monetary value. I dusted off my old wallet, and was relieved to discover that my bitcoins were still there. As the price climbed up to real money, I transferred the coins into an offline wallet, where hopefully they'll be worth something to my heirs.
Speaking of heirs, I got a surprise in 2009, when I was suddenly diagnosed with a fatal disease. I was in the best shape of my life at the start of that year, I'd lost a lot of weight and taken up distance running. I'd run several half marathons, and I was starting to train for a full marathon. I worked my way up to 20+ mile runs, and I thought I was all set. That's when everything went wrong.
My body began to fail. I slurred my speech, lost strength in my hands, and my legs were slow to recover. In August, 2009, I was given the diagnosis of ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, after the famous baseball player who got it.
ALS is a disease that kills moter neurons, which carry signals from the brain to the muscles. It causes first weakness, then gradually increasing paralysis. It is usually fatal in 2 to 5 years. My symptoms were mild at first and I continued to work, but fatigue and voice problems forced me to retire in early 2011. Since then the disease has continued its inexorable progression.
Today, I am essentially paralyzed. I am fed through a tube, and my breathing is assisted through another tube. I operate the computer using a commercial eyetracker system. It also has a speech synthesizer, so this is my voice now. I spend all day in my power wheelchair. I worked up an interface using an arduino so that I can adjust my wheelchair's position using my eyes.
It has been an adjustment, but my life is not too bad. I can still read, listen to music, and watch TV and movies. I recently discovered that I can even write code. It's very slow, probably 50 times slower than I was before. But I still love programming and it gives me goals. Currently I'm working on something Mike Hearn suggested, using the security features of modern processors, designed to support "Trusted Computing", to harden Bitcoin wallets. It's almost ready to release. I just have to do the documentation.
And of course the price gyrations of bitcoins are entertaining to me. I have skin in the game. But I came by my bitcoins through luck, with little credit to me. I lived through the crash of 2011. So I've seen it before. Easy come, easy go.
That's my story. I'm pretty lucky overall. Even with the ALS, my life is very satisfying. But my life expectancy is limited. Those discussions about inheriting your bitcoins are of more than academic interest. My bitcoins are stored in our safe deposit box, and my son and daughter are tech savvy. I think they're safe enough. I'm comfortable with my legacy.
[edited slightly]
For those who don't know me, I'm Hal Finney. I got my start in crypto working on an early version of PGP, working closely with Phil Zimmermann. When Phil decided to start PGP Corporation, I was one of the first hires. I would work on PGP until my retirement. At the same time, I got involved with the Cypherpunks. I ran the first cryptographically based anonymous remailer, among other activities.
Fast forward to late 2008 and the announcement of Bitcoin. I've noticed that cryptographic graybeards (I was in my mid 50's) tend to get cynical. I was more idealistic; I have always loved crypto, the mystery and the paradox of it.
When Satoshi announced Bitcoin on the cryptography mailing list, he got a skeptical reception at best. Cryptographers have seen too many grand schemes by clueless noobs. They tend to have a knee jerk reaction.
I was more positive. I had long been interested in cryptographic payment schemes. Plus I was lucky enough to meet and extensively correspond with both Wei Dai and Nick Szabo, generally acknowledged to have created ideas that would be realized with Bitcoin. I had made an attempt to create my own proof of work based currency, called RPOW. So I found Bitcoin facinating.
When Satoshi announced the first release of the software, I grabbed it right away. I think I was the first person besides Satoshi to run bitcoin. I mined block 70-something, and I was the recipient of the first bitcoin transaction, when Satoshi sent ten coins to me as a test. I carried on an email conversation with Satoshi over the next few days, mostly me reporting bugs and him fixing them.
Today, Satoshi's true identity has become a mystery. But at the time, I thought I was dealing with a young man of Japanese ancestry who was very smart and sincere. I've had the good fortune to know many brilliant people over the course of my life, so I recognize the signs.
After a few days, bitcoin was running pretty stably, so I left it running. Those were the days when difficulty was 1, and you could find blocks with a CPU, not even a GPU. I mined several blocks over the next days. But I turned it off because it made my computer run hot, and the fan noise bothered me. In retrospect, I wish I had kept it up longer, but on the other hand I was extraordinarily lucky to be there at the beginning. It's one of those glass half full half empty things.
The next I heard of Bitcoin was late 2010, when I was surprised to find that it was not only still going, bitcoins actually had monetary value. I dusted off my old wallet, and was relieved to discover that my bitcoins were still there. As the price climbed up to real money, I transferred the coins into an offline wallet, where hopefully they'll be worth something to my heirs.
Speaking of heirs, I got a surprise in 2009, when I was suddenly diagnosed with a fatal disease. I was in the best shape of my life at the start of that year, I'd lost a lot of weight and taken up distance running. I'd run several half marathons, and I was starting to train for a full marathon. I worked my way up to 20+ mile runs, and I thought I was all set. That's when everything went wrong.
My body began to fail. I slurred my speech, lost strength in my hands, and my legs were slow to recover. In August, 2009, I was given the diagnosis of ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, after the famous baseball player who got it.
ALS is a disease that kills moter neurons, which carry signals from the brain to the muscles. It causes first weakness, then gradually increasing paralysis. It is usually fatal in 2 to 5 years. My symptoms were mild at first and I continued to work, but fatigue and voice problems forced me to retire in early 2011. Since then the disease has continued its inexorable progression.
Today, I am essentially paralyzed. I am fed through a tube, and my breathing is assisted through another tube. I operate the computer using a commercial eyetracker system. It also has a speech synthesizer, so this is my voice now. I spend all day in my power wheelchair. I worked up an interface using an arduino so that I can adjust my wheelchair's position using my eyes.
It has been an adjustment, but my life is not too bad. I can still read, listen to music, and watch TV and movies. I recently discovered that I can even write code. It's very slow, probably 50 times slower than I was before. But I still love programming and it gives me goals. Currently I'm working on something Mike Hearn suggested, using the security features of modern processors, designed to support "Trusted Computing", to harden Bitcoin wallets. It's almost ready to release. I just have to do the documentation.
And of course the price gyrations of bitcoins are entertaining to me. I have skin in the game. But I came by my bitcoins through luck, with little credit to me. I lived through the crash of 2011. So I've seen it before. Easy come, easy go.
That's my story. I'm pretty lucky overall. Even with the ALS, my life is very satisfying. But my life expectancy is limited. Those discussions about inheriting your bitcoins are of more than academic interest. My bitcoins are stored in our safe deposit box, and my son and daughter are tech savvy. I think they're safe enough. I'm comfortable with my legacy.
[edited slightly]
No words but I’m happy for you total stranger that you kept up your optimism through it all. It’s also good to know that you’re doing what you love and doing what you’ve always done.
I hope you get well soon. And one more thing, you mentioned the documentation of your release, if you need help with that, you can reach out to me. [email protected]
RIP Hal, thanks for everything you did in the early days. Your legacy will never be forgotten, people will read about you in decades to come. What a legend, your family will forever be proud.
I remember most of the early days when bitcoin was just a getting started myself. I remember someone telling me bitcoin was going to be huge in 2009. It caught my eye, but I failed to really understand So didn't get involved or make my first purchase back in the days of buying from the forum in 27$ batches until around 2011 when i started mining using usb Asics. Which was a good 2 years after you were first involved in minting the first blocks and the lives of the many people it touched. Whilst there are people that still doubt bitcoin and many others like Cardano and Ethereum, I can see a day when everyone will look back and thank you guys for the work you put in to really change people's lives forever and for the good. Rest in peace, my friend.
May Satoshi shine through when we need their presence most.
I may be a small part of this journey but will be here until the days pass.
Legend, R.I.P
May Satoshi shine through when we need their presence most.
I may be a small part of this journey but will be here until the days pass.
Legend, R.I.P
Hi Mr. hal finney its so sad seeing you not alive here among us but i m happy to read that you passed your body to a alcor life to freeze your body so you can see the world using bitcoin i wanna say to you that now we are in the mid or almost not the mid we are in the beginning of that infact el Salvador its the first country to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender and central Africa republic its just the beginning.
but my goal of writing my reply is that when i was reading about you i was feeling that you are a true bitcoiner like you can sell the most expensive thing you have and exchange it in bitcoin. And besides that you was suffering from that disease and you till happy and thankful for life that's amazing.
again nice to meet you sir HALL FINNEY
but my goal of writing my reply is that when i was reading about you i was feeling that you are a true bitcoiner like you can sell the most expensive thing you have and exchange it in bitcoin. And besides that you was suffering from that disease and you till happy and thankful for life that's amazing.
again nice to meet you sir HALL FINNEY
Absolute legend! Rest in peace, Hal Finney.
BTC
Hi Mr. hal finney its so sad seeing you not alive here among us but i m happy to read that you passed your body to a alcor life to freeze your body so you can see the world using bitcoin i wanna say to you that now we are in the mid or almost not the mid we are in the beginning of that infact el Salvador its the first country to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender and central Africa republic its just the beginning.
but my goal of writing my reply is that when i was reading about you i was feeling that you are a true bitcoiner like you can sell the most expensive thing you have and exchange it in bitcoin. And besides that you was suffering from that disease and you till happy and thankful for life that's amazing.
again nice to meet you sir HALL FINNEY
but my goal of writing my reply is that when i was reading about you i was feeling that you are a true bitcoiner like you can sell the most expensive thing you have and exchange it in bitcoin. And besides that you was suffering from that disease and you till happy and thankful for life that's amazing.
again nice to meet you sir HALL FINNEY
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