Topic: Pattaya - page 7. (Read 34066 times)

I would like to hear from Bruce *why* he wants to go to Pattaya so badly. There must be some reason that is not bitcoin related. That wouldn't be such a big deal if he just shared the reason with us. If there was no such reason, then I'm sure he would have said:

"Ok fine, if so many people seem to get upset over Pattaya as a location, then lets pick CityX in Thailand, what do I care."

But he doesn't. Rather than just listing to the arguments he stubbornly defends Pattaya. There's a motive behind that, so come on Bruce, let's hear it. What personal motive do you have for Pattaya as a location?

A number of countries including my own introduced laws enabling them to prosecute their citizens for sexual offences against children committed abroad precisely because sexual tourism to countries where child prostitution is endemic and the local authorities either turn a blind eye to or are actively involved in the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

Perhaps Bruce was so dazzled by the limo service provided by the hotel (something which is pretty standard throughout SE Asia and not unusual elsewhere either) that he was blind to everything else around him in Pattaya when he visited.  Given how impressed he seems to be that food and alcohol will be provided on the "world cruise", I wonder what he'll fail to notice going on around him on that adventure.

I'm a keen BitCoiner and miner too.
And still I feel this way a lot when reading the forum posts here.
BitCoin is a great idea that right now is being held back by lack of cohesion and by Yo-Yos.
Which reminds me that there is a reason why large corporations control the world...

As I said above, I've lived in Thailand for more than 8 years. And I'm not 13... I'm almost 50 now and retired. And I certainly don't base my idea of Pattaya off Hollywood movies. They may hold conferences there sometimes but it's certainly not a top conference spot and the post above that lists some conferences that happened isn't very encouraging either judging from the slim list of past ones held there.

Anyone pushing for holding the conference there must have some other agenda because it's very obviously not based on what's best or most suitable for the Bitcoin image.

I recall now a few years back when I lived near Hua Hin. There was two Russian girls who got shot dead on the beach apparently related to some hit or mafia involvement. Most of the stuff that goes on there doesn't even make the news due to corruption. Yech.

You know, it took me a while to actually figure out what my real problem with all of this was. But now that I have figured it out? I'm going to lay it out in detail.

I have some very serious issues with Bruce trying to style himself as the big loud public voice of Bitcoin.

Now, the vast majority of the time, I'd consider my sexuality to be completely irrelevant in any sort of online discussion. However, in light of Bruce labeling the forum users as "overrun by 98% 13-year-old children" and me suspecting he may have persecution issues because of that, I'm going to head this right off at the pass and eliminate any chance I get lumped as a "child" because of some thought that I'm only "trolling" because I'm a homophobe or something.

When I first saw the Bitcoin show, one of my first impressions? Hey, Bruce is pretty cute. Nice calves, by the way. Yeah, I'm a leg guy. Shame I couldn't see higher than I could in the video. I'd describe some of the outfits I wouldn't mind seeing you wear, actually, but I fear if I actually get going I'm gonna get banned from the forum... I do have a pretty dirty mind when it comes right down to it.

Not, however, so dirty that I look at Pattaya as a conference location and don't have a fair bit of trepidation. I wouldn't want to go there. I've known people who have gone there, including an ex-boyfriend of mine. The kind of stuff we did behind locked doors? The fact Pattaya made him uncomfortable means I ain't going there.

All of which is besides the point entirely. Who gets turned on by what isn't even the issue. The issue is that Pattaya has a reputation that makes a great many people uncomfortable. The issue is that Pattaya is making some of your actual potential audience uncomfortable. I honestly don't care what you or anyone else does there: you cannot demand that everyone else be comfortable.

Your thinking that you can be the voice of Bitcoin, while ignoring the concerns of a large number of bitcoin users actually commenting on the subject, is pretty arrogant. It's also, sadly, about what we've come to expect from you when it comes right down to it.

There's another thread opened about collecting ten thousand dollars worth of Bitcoins to hold in escrow so that it can be donated to a charity if they agree to accept Bitcoin. Guess who's going to escrow them? Oh, that's right. Bruce Wagner was volunteered for that.

On the one hand, I think the very notion of trusting someone who lost 25,000 bitcoins to the mybitcoin fiasco is pretty stupid. On the other hand...

Hey, Bruce, pull your head out of what going by the rest of you I'm assuming is a pretty nice butt.

If a bunch of "13-year-old children" are concerned about a Bitcoin association with Pattaya, what do you think the United Way would think of it? Do you think they're going to want Bitcoins if that's the public association?

So we have a Bitcoin spokesman who on the one hand cannot figure out how to secure a Bitcoin, and on the other hand clearly thinks he's smarter than ... um, well, I guess I'm a 13 year old because I think the idea of Pattaya as a conference location is a bad one.

I guess at least one thirteen year old knows how to secure a wallet and didn't lose all his coins (or, in fact, any of his coins ever) then.

(Oh, by the way, Bruce, I'm just going by visuals here, but I'm pretty sure I'm older than you are...)

Then there's the fact that, well... I watched the bitcoin show Bruce does. It was the one where he was interviewing MagicalTux about the Mt.Gox hack. I'm sitting there on IRC trying to pose a bunch of questions. A whole bunch of people at one point were copy-pasting one of my questions over and over, because I apparently asked something everyone wanted to know. Bruce, of course, tried to evade the question -- guess he didn't want to lose a sponsor. Come to think of it, I recall a ton of public calls asking him to stop endorsing mybitcoin at the early signs of trouble...

And then there's the last Bitcoin conference Bruce played a big part of. I seem to recall a lot of public commentary about what a letdown that was, that nothing came out of it in terms of information and the like... Now, as I understand it there were some mitigating circumstances, but...

Bruce? You remind me of my first boyfriend. Cute, eager to be the center of attention, and didn't know what the hell he was doing. Start listening to your partners, which in this case is the entire bitcoin community, or we're all going to end up with a figurative scar just like the one I still have on my, well.

No, not there, but you know what I mean. That is, at least, if you actually stopped to consider any of this instead of just assuming that if I don't agree with you, I'm a 13 year old troll who is obviously wrong.

Everyone else? Let's just keep our eyes open for a spokesman who understands the technology he or she is talking about, instead of losing his coins and those of many of his friends and audience because it was easier to trust an unknown party than figure out backing up a wallet.dat ...

The public mass that we are trying to reach has never even heard of thailands first bank. So when they hear "bitcoin in pattaya" they will not think "wow, bitcoin ... money... big bank... financial prowess".
The public mass knows pattaya for different things and they will think "omfg, bitcoin... pedophiles... child prostition" and couple it to the bad image of drugs and money laundering it already has now. You need to realise that in the public opinion what is truth and what is perceived truth are two very different things. You can look at it as we do to anything Brace Wagner says. We know it comes out of his mouth, but we understand that only 2% of it is... actually... true

I'm now wondering if I interrupted a man's holiday plans.

Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending

Hmmm.... Unbiased disagreement disagrees.




Yeah, like a Thai resort with an "anything goes" attitude! If your goal is to increase bitcoin's negative stigma, congrats.

“He liked to observe emotions; they were like red lanterns strung along the dark unknown of another's personality, marking vulnerable points.”

Ayn Rand

I started this thread to hopefully discuss Pattaya as being a bad choice as far as the betterment for Bitcoin is concerned. That was all! It may have proved to be the tipping point for Bruce to remove his avatar and declare his leaving of this forum to start up two new Bitcoin forums.

Upon seeing a Bitcoin leader act this why:

If I were an investor in Bitcoin, I would now sell, sell, sell.
If I were a troll, I would say, "Good."

But, I'm neither. All I have to say is, "This sucks!"

Anybody now reading this from the outside who's considering Bitcoin is saying to themselves, "What a bunch of Yo-Yos."



Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending

If you can't see the difference between traditional banks and the well established, status quo, of current monetary systems and what they would be wanting to do at a conference and this new Bitcoin stuff and what we would/should (imo) want to be doing with Bitcoin conferences then I can't help you... sorry. 

From what I can see there are still no comments on how the above can be true yet Thailand's biggest financial institution and first official bank held an expo on money there in 2009.

But why discuss something that would be relevant?

Yes I did and like I said I am not surprised you would find support for your own views in it, even though it overall just confirms what a bad choice that place is for a conference, which would promote Bitcoin in the public mind, as opposed to some other kind of conference.


I have read most if not all of Gibson's books as well as Neal Stephenson's books and many other "cyberpunk" authors. And as I said I am fairly familiar with the "Cypherpunks" although I don't know the names of all who choose to call themselves that.  And it is so unusual to call people sharing a similar ideology a group isn't it? In any case I don't see how it changes the theory I pondered in any way.  It's just something I found interesting. Nothing to argue about is it? But then you just like being argumentative don't you? Disagreeing solely for the sake of showing you are smarter than another or something.  You are really helpful to this Bitcoin community aren't you? 

*sigh*

vs


makes no sense.

Anyway, since you wanted to talk about the wikileaks cable. Did you read it?


For comparison: First time I stayed in San Francisco (Marriott next to the Moscone center) the hotel concierge drew a line on the map, touching the hotel location, saying "don't cross this line after dark".


Anyways. I have a book suggestion for you. Neuromancer, by Gibson. Cypherpunk (most definitely not a group) was coined much later, but is partly based on that world view.

Yes!   

Yes. So is everyone else who got into computers in that era. Myself included.

That "the same" group would be behind the completely different projects you listed isn't any more plausable though, especially since we know the identities of everyone except Satoshi.

After listening to this song I'm all in!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQjmLaqUmn4

Oh and "cypherpunk" is an ideology, not a fixed group of people or an asssociation.

Maybe if you spend more than two seconds you might find something like this:

Making Money - Gavin Andresen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f3E_jddoq0

( I already saw it before which is why I remember the cypherpunk reference. )
Where Gavin talks about Satoshi being "definitely inspired by The Cypherpunks." Who knows if Satoshi was directed linked to them or just inspired. They are of course of a common mind it seems to me. 

Btw, did your google searches find that wikileak thing just recently posted? 

Does that change your mind in any way? 

No, I didn't think it would.

Run away little troll. Run away. 

Or stay and keep trying to disrupt things. You're choice. 

Two seconds with Google would be the average time needed to disprove that hypothesis.

I think at the very least he be asked to change the name of his online show from "The Bitcoin Show" to something that doesn't suggest he is some kind of official spokesman for Bitcoin, just as he should use appropriate labels for these "conferences" he is organizing.