Token Daily

MaxVernon 48 mins ago

For me, this firmware results in 100% rejected/discarded shares.

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I haven’t tried it myself yet but I believe people were having trouble with pools like Slushpool. I’ve seen reports of it working on btc.com pool and I assume Antpool will probably work as well. Maybe try one of those to confirm if it is a pool issue.

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MaxVernon 28 mins ago

It certainly works with Bitmain's pools. Slushpool is working on a fix now.

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IGotThisYo 27 mins ago

Ok great that’s good to know. I prefer slushpool myself.

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MaxVernon 15 mins ago

Me toooooo

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bitspun 1 h ago

The new firmware works great on my S9s connected to the btc.com pool. PDUs reporting power consumption drop of between 10-15%. Hashrate reported at the pool is equal or slightly higher on all updated workers.

Note I accidentally flashed an S9i as well and it appears to be working fine but it’s probably best to wait for the ‘official’ S9i and S9j LPM firmware next week.

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reddit4485 2 hs ago

BTW, this is also good for segwit! Covert ASICBoost does not support segwit but overt does. If you want to see overt Segwit adoption here's a website! https://asicboost.dance/

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BTCMONSTER 2 hs ago

someone is being sneaky around.

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CosmicHemorroid 2 - 3 years account age. 150 - 300 comment karma. 2 hs ago

https://www.np.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/9qfic5/dear_miners_we_strongly_recommend_you_dont/?st=jnkj5mjj&sh=1f88f646

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CosmicHemorroid 2 hs ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/9qfic5/dear_miners_we_strongly_recommend_you_dont/?st=jnkj5mjj&sh=1f88f646

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jonezypls 3 hs ago

I'm having trouble getting Slush Pool to work after flashing the new firmware. Reverting to the older version makes everything work again. Something I set up wrong or....?

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IGotThisYo 2 hs ago

Are you flashing on the S9 or S9i / S9j? Reading the post it looks like firmware for the S9i and S9j will be released next week.

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jonezypls 2 hs ago

Tried it with one S9 and one S9i.

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IGotThisYo 2 hs ago

Maybe try Antpool and see if it makes a difference.

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chriswheeler 4 hs ago

Bitmain confirmed the existence of the circuitry for ASICBoost on April 7th, 2017.

Our ASIC chips, like those of some other manufacturers, have a circuit design that supports ASICBOOST. However, the ASICBOOST method has not been used by us on the mainnet.

Source: https://blog.bitmain.com/en/regarding-recent-allegations-smear-campaigns/

They even linked the above post in today's firmware announcement that you linked to...

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sQtWLgK 5 hs ago

This implies that all Bitmain patents are now open, right?

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Aruk19 3 hs ago

Yes! I cannot find them here : [https://blockchaindpl.org/users](https://blockchaindpl.org/users)

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Blazerfan503 5 hs ago

The only "controversial" part was them not releasing it.

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striderida1 Positive | 11290 karma | Karma CC: 5657 MIOTA: 137 4 hs ago

No it's actually the way it solves the blocks it goes against normal mining standards. Some say it's not safe to use but at this point it looks like everyone might be using it soon anyway.

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DesignerAccount 5 hs ago

And if you need anymore proof that Bitmain is effin their customers over, this should do it. The S9 had AB since it's launch, but you, as the customer, couldn't use it. They, in the other hand, do you think they used it???

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CatatonicMan 5 hs ago

It's *overt* ASICBoost, so in principle it should be obvious when they're using it.

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joinfish 5 hs ago

Bitcoin is an adversarial network.
This mofo is one of the main adversaries. He's not your friend, he's no one's friend.

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sudophant 1 h ago

Your post reminded me of a History of Russian Rulers podcast, Russian history from way back in the day all the way through to now, when he got to Stalin's time he talks about Stalin's various *friends* over the course of his career, and where they ended up. Definitely got the impression that Stalin at a very fundamental level didn't really understand friendship.

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uglymelt 6 hs ago

I thought about exactly the same as you op.

Braiins today revealed that they verified the existence of AsicBoost-functionality in Bitmain’s S9 ASICs. For unknown (but possibly patent-related) reasons, this feature is not made available to regular users, however. The Braiins team plans to unlock this feature with BraiinsOS, which would mean that Bitmain S9 owners will be able to increase the effectiveness of their machines by more than ten percent."

Bitmain would pretty fast lose dominance on their own firmware.

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/braiins-os-open-source-alternative-bitcoin-mining-firmware/

https://braiins-os.org/

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zluckdog 4 hs ago

previously, bitmain had a secret backdoor built into their firmware

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Bitcoin_21 redditor for 3 months 3 hs ago

Jihad Wu is a fucking criminal

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earringstud 7 hs ago

How long have you guys been running this on your machines? Now you decide to make it public?

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archetyp91 7 hs ago

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ABitcoinAllBot 7 hs ago

Here is the link to the original comment thread. Or you can comment here to start a discussion. Author: archetyp91

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ricardosnow 2 - 3 years account age. 25 - 75 comment karma. 25 mins ago

On IOTA you pay literally 0 fees

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SilverHoard 22700 karma | Karma CC: 2417 XVG: 624 42 mins ago

And Binance withdrawal fees are still 0.04 XMR. Shame!

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BTCMONSTER 48 mins ago

shouldn't be no fee applying for all coins. but great move!

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sexyama 1 h ago

Amazing, Monero is the real deal. Congrats to the devs.

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Biyamin Karma CC: 18 1 h ago

I am holding Monroe and I believe Monero will be there on top in 5 years

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nulsec123 7 months old | Karma CC: 257 BTC: 328 NANO: -64 2 hs ago

So what’s the point of NANO

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Confederate_Chad 2 hs ago

milking money from gullible people

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YummaySmoohie 3 hs ago

Or you can just use nano for 0 fees

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selsta 2 hs ago

and 0 privacy.

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YummaySmoohie 2 hs ago

Good point

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WoodenRoom 3 hs ago

Monero is a shitcoin make no mistake. First the software is very buggy and laggy. The leader is a 4chan troll that has been Repeatedly involved in insider trading and is said to hold 90 million dollar worth of monero. Despite that he let's the community pay for his trips to conferences and always uses top 5* hotels and sums up restaurant bills of to 4k dollars in a couple of day. He pays shit for his gf (air fares) from the community. I used to be one of the top developers of monero in late 2016 but quit after fights with the fat fuck fluffy. Monero has an infinite inflation. Fluffy was always keen and not shy to try to promote monero as a coin for criminal activities

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philkode 9 - 10 years account age. > 1000 comment karma. 2 hs ago

🤣

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InnovationV1 3 hs ago

We’ve been knowing this since the upgrade.

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Nileke 4 hs ago

Moon is very sure, fasten your seat belt

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Nileke 4 hs ago

Moon is very sure, fasten your belt

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SutekhThrowingSuckIt 3 hs ago

Is malfunctioning.

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Nileke 4 hs ago

I say moon

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Nileke 4 hs ago

Moon

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SutekhThrowingSuckIt 3 hs ago

This bot

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cryptomilbz Redditor for 12 months. 4 hs ago

Team XMR are doing a fantastic job.

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piceto 4 hs ago

Summary:

- Average monero fees fell from about $0.54 cents to roughly $0.021 cents, a 96 percent drop
- Reduction of the fees happened after "Bulletproof" hard-fork that was introduced to the network
- The upgrade was "definitely making the notion of micropayments more palatable again."

More summaries: piceto.com

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ministroni 1 h ago

Is this supposed to be $0.54, or 0.54 cents? Maybe I'm wrong, but "$0.54 cents" seems like a confusing and invalid amount.

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BifocalComb 1 h ago

Yea it's actually $0.0002 or 0.02¢ now and was $0.50 or 50¢

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ministroni 52 mins ago

That would be an insane drop, and you almost had me fooled. monero.how lists current fees around 2 cents, and I assume they used to be 50 cents. One article I saw said "0.019 cents", and also quoted a tweet that said "2 cents". That's a pretty serious discrepancy...

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BifocalComb 46 mins ago

Oh damn.. I haven't actually send any xmr in like 2 weeks. Yea looking at the charts it looks like average fee recently is about $0.02 which is 2 cents.

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ministroni 35 mins ago

Which is amazing! Last I remember looking it was like $1.50 or something. At 2 cents it's lower than LTC, for crisp steak!

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BifocalComb 27 mins ago

Yea and you can even use the half cent fee option and your TX will probably be included in the next block anyway, so it's pretty dang good.

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Redditridder 8 months old | Karma CC: 240 4 hs ago

Monero is the best privacy coin out there, but it's not good as a long term investment. Even if you believe that crypto will gain mass adoption, privacy coins will stay fringe, used mostly by criminals, for one simple reason - you can't and won't be able to legally pay salary in monero (exactly because there is no tracking of that money) or settle debts between companies - for tax and other audit reasons. Same with buying stuff in stores - stores won't be legally allowed to accept privacy crypto because regulators can't trace it.

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kaitje 4 - 5 years account age. 125 - 250 comment karma. 51 mins ago

Pffff, this argument again. Monero is not only private, but also FUNGIBLE which is an absolute necessary feature to ensure that every Monero is worth exactly the same as another Monero. No one can know where a specific Monero came from. Seems trivial, but all open ledger coins are not fungible since governments can decide that your coins were once used for ilicit purposes and should be blocked by exchanges. This could even be without you wrongdoing, but simply because somewhere in the chain your coins were tainted. Just wait until we have block explorer where adresses are labeled with anyone’s name and see how quickly people will flock towards privacy coins. By the way, do you think governments want people to see their spendings on weapons? I don’t think so.

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OsrsNeedsF2P 106178 karma | Karma CC: 11945 XMR: 4504 3 hs ago

You can publish Monero transaction view keys. Also, I 100% disagree that it would be used only by criminals. Imagine going on a date and paying the bill with Bitcoin - she goes home after and searches up your TX on the blockchain. "Ooh, RedditRider makes this much a week.. Oh he spends a lot of money on his car.. Hmm.. Oh wow look at that balance!". I pretty much do all of my transactions in Monero, except for those with my close friends who idc if they know my financial status. You should really be weary of the permanent nature of a blockchain...

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Raj9224 Monero fan 1 h ago

The criminals argument is moot. I mean 100% of the criminals use cash, does that mean cash is bad ? No. Monero brings cash to the digital realm.

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OsrsNeedsF2P 106178 karma | Karma CC: 11945 XMR: 4504 1 h ago

Can't snort coke with XMR. I can think of more illegal uses of cash than Monero

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Raj9224 Monero fan 1 h ago

OMG. Cash is bad, it will never be adopted by the masses. Government will never allow it. People will never touch it.

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SamsungGalaxyPlayer 28421 karma | Karma CC: 3278 XMR: 9323 3 hs ago

> you can't and won't be able to legally pay salary in monero (exactly because there is no tracking of that money) or settle debts between companies MRL researchers receive payment in Monero and legally report their income for taxes. Cypher Market accepts Monero for setting a business payment. Cash is private and is used for wages in some cases. This argument doesn't hold up imo.

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Redditridder 8 months old | Karma CC: 240 3 hs ago

I'm talking about real companies, big corporations with European/US legislation.

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SamsungGalaxyPlayer 28421 karma | Karma CC: 3278 XMR: 9323 3 hs ago

Circle is a large US company that processes Monero for exchange.

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Redditridder 8 months old | Karma CC: 240 3 hs ago

Ok, you seriously think that companies not dealing with monero in their business will stay using money for payroll and debt settlements? There is no reason for that, like zero. Nada. If in some future companies decide to use crypto for inter-company payments, they will probably use Stellar. For salaries - maybe nano or another feeless crypto. For accepting payments in stores - some instance crypto, probably also nano. There is nothing that monero does outside of privacy that no other crypto does better.

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philkode 9 - 10 years account age. > 1000 comment karma. 2 hs ago

Man that is such a great idea! When companies all do salary payments on transparent blockchain it will be so easy to snoop on competitors, see how much they are paying some of their key employees (by following the transactions) and offer them a higher salary! Transparent blockchain are fundamentally broken for corporate finance use as far as secrecy is concerned. It’s impossible to keep things private (e.g supplier relations, sale volumes, turnover etc). Not all companies want everyone (including competitors) to be able to audit their books at the drop of a hat. Imagine company X is secretly working on a product Y, which is utilizing some proprietary technology that is the main product of company Z. If people see that X are paying lots of money to Z, they can infer that they will be incorporating their tech into an upcoming product, Y. Supply chain analysts try to do this to companies like Apple all the time. Transparent financial ledgers would make it laughably easy.

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Redditridder 8 months old | Karma CC: 240 2 hs ago

Yeah, the simplest solution to all that, which will be free to implement is to keep using fiat. My overall point was that crypto will not get mass adoption as it's not needed, monero is just one case.

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philkode 9 - 10 years account age. > 1000 comment karma. 2 hs ago

I thought we were discussing a future where some companies use crypto for inter company payments, or salaries, or point-of-sale payments? It’s a scene you set up in your original post. You’re changing the goalposts on a discussion which you initiated. Pretty amateur tactics. Regardless, if one sticks with your scenario of such a future, transparent blockchain are a dumb idea if companies value their secrecy (which, FYI, almost all do). In which case, Monero’s privacy features seem pretty strong.

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Redditridder 8 months old | Karma CC: 240 2 hs ago

I actually realized that using transparent blockchain for salaries is a bad idea, so I'm not moving goal posts but adjusting. But I also don't see companies using monero for payroll. Crypto may have some business use cases, like XLM for moving large sums of money around the world by corps, but common folk doesn't need crypto.

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philkode 9 - 10 years account age. > 1000 comment karma. 2 hs ago

Ok so you’re just anti-crypto in general and not specifically anti-monero? Cool. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

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SamsungGalaxyPlayer 28421 karma | Karma CC: 3278 XMR: 9323 2 hs ago

I strongly disagree. Do companies want to make the salaries paid to their employees public? The list of all their customers and suppliers and the amount transacted? Absolutely not. It would be an incredibly stupid strategic decision that would lead to the end of business. Businesses have the *most* incentive to use private solutions. Their whole business is at stake.

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selsta Redditor for 10 months. 4 hs ago

Monero can be made optionally public for tax and other reasons. Also stores accept cash right now, which can’t be traced.

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clownonabike 57 mins ago

Do you think the fact that it *technically* can be made optionally public is good enough for it to achieve *mass adoption*? Crypto is 10 years old and not even Bitcoin has acheieved mass adoption or anywhere close to it.

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Redditridder 8 months old | Karma CC: 240 3 hs ago

Public monero doesn't make sense, it's only advantage is privacy. Otherwise it's just one of hundreds crypto coins, not the fastest nor the cheapest to transfer.

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pblokhout 18166 karma | Karma CC: 317 2 hs ago

Optional public transactions could make sure that some tx are traceable at a certain point in time, but not outside of that single transaction. Good for tx that need outside confirmation, but still private enough that nobody can track what you're doing with the money you received.

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UnknownEssence 14186 karma | Karma CC: 2208 ETH: 3024 4 hs ago

Okay, Ill just keep everything in Monero and atomic swap it to Bitcoin at the time of purchase.

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Redditridder 8 months old | Karma CC: 240 4 hs ago

Huh?

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Throeplith 4 hs ago

that is fuck*ng finally about time, wasted so much on xmr fees

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ZestycloseHat 5 hs ago

Is it worth it to invest?

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ShinyBike Karma CC: 1280 1 h ago

I can imagine that in the future it will be risky to own, but incredibly valuable.

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z3rAHvzMxZ54fZmJmxaI 4 hs ago

invest no, gamble maybe

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Light_of_Lucifer 17373 karma 4 hs ago

I believe monero is a worthwhile investment. I would at least hold a certain % position in it. I think true fungibility/privacy will always be valuable.

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OsrsNeedsF2P 106178 karma | Karma CC: 11945 XMR: 4504 4 hs ago

Monero always does these silent pumps. Right now you might have missed it, but in like a month buy some and just sit on it for the next bull. You need some patience, but imo it's one of the must reliable

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SamsungGalaxyPlayer 28421 karma | Karma CC: 3278 XMR: 9323 4 hs ago

No one has any idea.

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PrivacyToTheTop777 5 hs ago

This is fantastic, but nobody will be able to see if anyone made a $184 million Monero transfer for half a cent and make a reddit post about it.

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weekev Karma CC: 13 5 hs ago

I think you can publish your end of the transaction key and it'll be visible to all

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DaveyJonesXMR Positive | Karma CC: 638 XMR: 2279 16 mins ago

I think he wanted to point out the obvious flaw a open ledgers... that people brag about $xxxx being moved... honestly the flaw is in the eye of the people yet they cannot see or grasp the point of why open ledgers are Orwellian Dystopia becoming real.

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SamsungGalaxyPlayer 28421 karma | Karma CC: 3278 XMR: 9323 4 hs ago

Yeah, you could do this if desired.

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BTCMONSTER 5 hs ago

so it's soon to be one of the best coins out there. no doubt

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TheFolksOnMars Positive | Karma CC: 105 FCT: 596 BTC: 316 5 hs ago

Already is friend :)

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TheQuantumPhysicist 6 hs ago

Someone explain something to me please. Doesn't reducing fees this much invite spam? How does Monero protect against spam?

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FlailingBorg 45 mins ago

While the price per transaction went down, this is only due to the reduced size of transactions. The price per byte is still the same, so a spam attack that tries to bloat the blockchain would have the same cost.

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TheQuantumPhysicist 42 mins ago

That's a very good point and makes sense. The first reasonable answer. I have to think about it for some time to see whether this would have any holes if only the size matters. Thanks.

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ravend13 57 mins ago

A fee paying transaction cannot be spam by definition.

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TheQuantumPhysicist 44 mins ago

This is not true. I just mentioned how the shit coin electroneum, which is a monero fork, was spammed because they had a low fee. This was extensively discussed back then.

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blurpesec 3 hs ago

Normally, significant spam will only occur if there is an incentive to do so. For instance, on Ethereum, spammers were willing to spend $0.13 in fees per transaction for hundreds of thousands of transactions in order to get a token listed on a new exchange. Generally, people can be trusted to act in their own best interest.

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isrly_eder 1 h ago

great point. the fcoin exchange mining stuff was insane. classic case of the tragedy of the commons

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TheQuantumPhysicist 3 hs ago

How about malicious intent? Like, say, holding the blockchain hostage for ransom? This happened more than you think.

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physalisx 1 h ago

It doesn't really work with Monero, since the dynamic blocksize will make sure that a backlog is eventually cleared. Even with low fees like we have now, it would be really expensive to clog the network, and it would get exponentially more expensive over time.

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TheQuantumPhysicist 1 h ago

The dynamic block size is not infinitely scalable in short times. It has a cap per unit time (I think that's even part of the cryptonote white paper IIRC). Look at the shit coin called "electroneum", which forked from monero and set a low fee. It was very heavily attacked and the network was clogged. Of course assuming that clogging is the only issue means that we ignore the bloating of the blockchain with meaningless transactions.

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ZaiRoX 2 hs ago

Then the users will raise their reward accordingly until the transactions are included in a timely fashion. This continues until the malicious actor gives up or runs out of funds.  

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TheQuantumPhysicist 2 hs ago

It can be done in batches.

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travis- 4 hs ago

Given the dynamic blocksize I don't think spam is really an issue, its just network usage. I think the worry would be a 'spam attack' thats sole purpose is to grow the size of the blockchain. But im sure someone smarter has an answer.

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CCZone 5 hs ago

The fee dropped from $0.54 to $0.021 but still the fee in the XRP network is 0.00001 XRP. I think the fee must be very close to zero to initiate spam in a large scale.

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TheQuantumPhysicist 5 hs ago

Xrp is centralized and addresses initiating spam can be easily censored, hence the comparison is not fair. Not that I agree or disagree with your answer. But if you find more of a decentralized example of a cryptocurrency with the same scale of Monero that'd be more helpful.

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CCZone 5 hs ago

The XLM transfer base fee is 0.00001 XLM.

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TheQuantumPhysicist 5 hs ago

Dude... Xlm is also centralized :D

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CCZone 5 hs ago

Doesnt Nano and IOTA have zero fee, but they are based on other protocols...

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TheQuantumPhysicist 5 hs ago

IOTA is a piece of garbage that doesn't even work properly (my opinion, feel free to discuss this on another thread) and it's also super centralized, way more than xrp and xlm, with their coordinator that's closed-source. No one knows what's going on in there. Nano is very different and is not exactly a blockchain. They call it a block lattice, as references to individual blockchains are stored in it. I personally don't fully understand it, but their own white paper (IIRC) references a "penny attack", which is basically what I'm asking about for monero.

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753UDKM 6 hs ago

Now exchange withdrawal fees should be adjusted accordingly

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B1ackCrypto 10 months old | Karma CC: 1591 MIOTA: 1964 2 hs ago

lol I doubt this. Exchanges never absorbed the network fees anyway other than GDAX. It came from your holdings far as I could tell.

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Cockatiel 22015 karma | Karma CC: 2389 NANO: 757 3 hs ago

Good one!

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josephbeadles 4 hs ago

Binance will still charge you $10 per withdrawal

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Coin_Shill 18 mins ago

profits are safu

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5eyesNewAxisofEvil 5 hs ago

Ahahahahah...

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ABitcoinAllBot 6 hs ago

Here is the link to the original comment thread. Or you can comment here to start a discussion. Author: unitedstatian

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rgliberty Ethereum fan 6 hs ago

Now it won’t cost any fees when someone decides to buy that coin...

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Bruno-C 6 hs ago

Great but i'm wondering how it could be still profitable to miners

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SamsungGalaxyPlayer 28421 karma | Karma CC: 3278 XMR: 9323 4 hs ago

Fees are currently still a small proportion of the total block reward. Even if total per-block fees were completely removed, the total block reward would only fall a couple percent.

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DaveyJonesXMR Positive | Karma CC: 638 XMR: 2279 14 mins ago

because of the forever on-going tail-emission of 0.6XMR per block when it kicks in.

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Buttoshi Redditor for less than 60 days 3 hs ago

Go ahead and try to send bitcoin cash to them.

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cryptoglia 2 hs ago

[Check this out.](https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/9mzybo/bitcoin_cash_stickers_at_bettys_place/)

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zcc0nonA 24 mins ago

Do they have a payment QR code?

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Lumi_wallet 3 hs ago

Speaking of mass adoption... Do you think introducing crypto to the developing countries makes sense?

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SaltyPockets 7 hs ago

Ms Wambugu started trading in Bitcoin two years ago and and within a year she made enough money to buy the two-storey Nyeri hotel, which she converted to Betty's Place.

...

However, her payments in Bitcoin have been modest - about 30,000 Kenyan shillings (£230, $300) in sales from about 20 people.

To encourage more take up, she holds classes in how to trade in Bitcoin every Sunday at her restaurant.

So... she rode the insanity of the last couple of years for a profit, and is now encouraging people to chuck their money down the bit hole. Likely for a fee.

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thehoesmaketheman 3 hs ago

I really want follow up stories on all these morons who started up 'crypto consulting' businesses in their own communities and roped in their neighbors and shit. There was an article about a dude in the Midwest who cashed out last November and bought a big truck and a big house and started being like a crypto financial advisor. He had a small room without like 15 farmer looking adults in there. I would love to have a hidden camera these past 10 months just watching each excruciating conversation during this downside.

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NonnoBomba 5 hs ago

That's the textbook definition of a True Captain of Industry.

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AppropriateLeg3 8 hs ago

Everyone can make money with Bitcoin, the others just need to know the strategies in investing on this kind of market.

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piceto redditor for 2 weeks 10 hs ago

Summary:

- Betty's Place specialises in "nyama choma", a lip-smacking goat meat barbeque
- She allows customers to pay in Bitcoin and Dash, which she started trading 2 years ago
- So far only 20 people have paid in BTC with a sum worth $300
- Whoever asks about crypto-currencies: 'How does it work? What is Bitcoin?' I train them,"
- Africa may once again bypass traditional banking much like it did with the fixed-line telephone.
More summaries: piceto.com

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cointastical 10 hs ago

And if you won't be making your way to Nyeri (Kenya) any time soon, you can prepare Nyama Choma ya Mbuzi (roast goat) yourself on an awesome grill, paid for with Bitcoin and shipped to anywhere in the world.

Other bitcoin-accepting merchants and crypto companies in Kenya:

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alexmma777 redditor for 3 months 11 hs ago

very nice! tasty roast meat and booty at night

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PatrickBitmain 11 hs ago

Stupid unquestioning article. This is how the BBC typically covers creepto.

Aside from not questioning how improbable and technically impossible this story is they have simply looked for someone ‘poor’ ‘ethnic’ and ‘female’ to divert from the typical narrative that bitcoin is massively controlled by white or Chinese rich males and their online stooges.

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mrmishmashmix 12 hs ago

Nice one Betty

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SnapshillBot Yesterday

Days since last Bitcoin-related hack and/or theft: [0]

Snapshots:

This Post - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

^(I am a bot.) ^([Info](/r/SnapshillBot) ^/ ^[Contact](/message/compose?to=\/r\/SnapshillBot))

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ABitcoinAllBot Yesterday

Here is the link to the original comment thread. Or you can comment here to start a discussion. Author: EnvironmentalDirt1

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jontroop Karma CC: 313 6 hs ago

I think the point of this article is that central-bank issued cryptocurrencies are ineffective. If people have a choice between a free, open, permissionless system vs an opaque permissioned system where your assets can be controlled by a government, it is clear that they wouldn't choose the government coin -- unless forced.

Also, a lot of countries (not necessarily Japan) companies, and individuals cook the books, which is easiest when using cash. If every transaction were public, it would be much easier to expose shoddy accounting practice.

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FlyTheElephant Trader Yesterday

Did the bank of Japan just claim that their own currency is not an effective tool?

Or did the bank of Japan just claim that they don't understand how their own system works?

I am not sure which, but it must be one of the two.

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Teslainfiltrated Positive | Karma CC: 201 NANO: 652 Yesterday

Maybe it's consistent with the theory that they feel the Yen is ultimately doomed and are allowing their population to hedge with BTC

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HeadShot305 16585 karma | Karma CC: 974 Yesterday

Ironic considering the BoJ is the hallmark example when it comes to showing that it's the central bank which controls all points on the yield curve, and not the bond markets.

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tsevniotyprc Karma CC: 159 NEO: 496 Yesterday

The only ones losing when the Crypto becomes popular is the people who are rich with money and power. Illegal activity will almost be impossible with digital identity and a nice consensus mechanism.

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HelpNickTheBaller 1 month old | Karma CC: 67 Yesterday

Lol you want crypto to be tracked and everyone to have the identities tied to their crpyto? You are the anti crpyto anarchist.

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FlyTheElephant Trader 7 hs ago

Bitcoin is already like this.

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icyboy89 Karma CC: 1829 Yesterday

Criminals can use privacy coins for illegal stuff

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HelpNickTheBaller 1 month old | Karma CC: 67 Yesterday

Lol criminals use drugs, cash, diamonds, art, weapons, metals, oil and humans as goods and money, crypto is great but when u have to come back into fiat ur fucked. Unless you can get cold hard cash, cashing out a good amount of money will get u on a radar.

1

Sulack Yesterday

Don't forget that the rich are also competent. Those who are rich through competency will remain rich when crypto is everywhere.

3

SuperNewk Karma CC: 1427 XLM: 416 VTC: -11 Yesterday

this is really interesting. Getting rid of cash would = impossible for Illegal immigrants to live in Developed countries, drug dealers abolished, tax revenue would increase because you would have to use a tracked digital currency vs trying to live off the grid with cash.

I know they tried to outlaw the 100 dollar bill..younger generation would like a cashless society

8

25 1 2

avocadoenthusiast1 9 hs ago

A key issue in most of the comments below: this sentiment analysis was conducted for internal use exclusively (presumably as a way to demonstrate the type of analysis) at no request of any client.

McKinsey wasn’t solicited nor paid for this report. It appears as though someone inside leaked the report in some unofficial way, hence it becoming public. The leaking itself is problematic and I’m sure they’re trying to figure out how that happened, but this clearly wasn’t official work in any capacity.

Source: their press release

0

McKennaJames 6 hs ago

It doesn’t matter if they were paid for the report or not. “Internal use only” doesn’t excuse them of having pinpointed enemies of the Saudi monarchy. Surely they could have expected some kind of response by the monarchy had they gotten their hands on the report. What do they expect would happen? Their lack of ethics is disturbing.

1

lawblogz Yesterday

The actual headline printed on the New York Times reads so edging like, "Saudis Unleash Troll Army..." This is the saddest day for the news media. This article and that headline were actually printed above the cut line on A1. The New York Times has become nothing more than a propaganda tool for our sweaty, overpaid, undereducated, corrupt government.

This is the exact same shit Obama did several years ago in the middle east! Whip the public up into a frenzy by inciting violence, starting flame wars, and getting idiots in the public and online to fight for them -- without actually enlisting members of the public, training them, or paying them! So they don't know what they're doing and start attacking web proxies and people they mistaken believe to be Saudis, and innocent people get hurt. I'm boycotting The New York Times, this is NOT responsible journalism.

0

lonbordin Yesterday

Disgusting behavior.

2

speakhyroglyphically Yesterday

Swarming and Stifling Critics on Twitter

One arm of the crackdown on dissidents originates from offices and homes in and around Riyadh, where hundreds of young men hunt on Twitter for voices and conversations to silence. This is the troll farm, described by three people briefed on the project and the messages among group members.

Its directors routinely discuss ways to combat dissent, settling on sensitive themes like the war in Yemen or women’s rights. They then turn to their well-organized army of “social media specialists” via group chats in apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, sending them lists of people to threaten, insult and intimidate; daily tweet quotas to fill; and pro-government messages to augment.

The bosses also send memes that their employees can use to mock dissenters, like an image of Crown Prince Mohammed dancing with a sword, akin to the cartoons of Pepe the Frog that supporters of President Trump used to undermine opponents.

The specialists scour Twitter for conversations on the assigned topics and post messages from the several accounts they each run. Sometimes, when contentious discussions take off, they publish pornographic images to goose engagement with their own posts and distract users from more relevant conversations.

Other times, if one account is blocked by too many other users, they simply close it and open a new one.

In one conversation viewed by The Times, dozens of leaders decided to mute critics of Saudi Arabia’s military attacks on Yemen by reporting the messages to Twitter as “sensitive.” Such reported posts are one of the things Twitter considers as signals when it decides to hide content from other users, blunting its impact.

Twitter has had difficulty combating the trolls. The company can detect and disable the machine-like behaviors of bot accounts, but it has a harder time picking up on the humans tweeting on behalf of the Saudi government.

The specialists found the jobs through Twitter itself, responding to ads that said only that an employer sought young men willing to tweet for about 10,000 Saudi riyals a month, equivalent to about $3,000.

The political nature of the work was revealed only after they were ...

all credit..(with respect) NYT

2

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1

speakhyroglyphically Yesterday

Thank you u/AutoModerator. >other discussions 14 When paywall becomes an issue

1

Sea_Still Yesterday

Posted by the dumbest NPC troll on the internet

2

thewholedamnplanet Yesterday

Oh. I am dumb because why? I say bad things about Trump Leader?

1

AS76RL76 Greg Mankiw Yesterday

In a nine-page report, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, McKinsey found that the measures received twice as much coverage on Twitter than in the country’s traditional news media or blogs, and that negative sentiment far outweighed positive reactions on social media.

Three people were driving the conversation on Twitter, the firm found: the writer Khalid al-Alkami; Mr. Abdulaziz, the young dissident living in Canada; and an anonymous user who went by Ahmad.

After the report was issued, Mr. Alkami was arrested, the human rights group ALQST said. Mr. Abdulaziz said that Saudi government officials imprisoned two of his brothers and hacked his cellphone, an account supported by a researcher at Citizen Lab. Ahmad, the anonymous account, was shut down.

McKinsey said the austerity report was an internal document based on publicly available information and not prepared for any government entity.

2

NukeMagnet Hezbollah Yesterday

Where is the Pentagon troll farm? Is there a troll farm gap?

2

Ulysses89 Houthis Yesterday

Why would they need a troll farm when the US Media just regurgitates their talking points?

2

omarshamshoon1 Canada Yesterday

In one conversation viewed by The Times, dozens of leaders decided to mute critics of Saudi Arabia’s military attacks on Yemen by reporting the messages to Twitter as “sensitive.” Such reported posts are one of the things Twitter considers as signals when it decides to hide content from other users, blunting its impact.

2

acervision Houthis Yesterday

The Saudi Twitter police had my account banned for making a anti Saudi comment. Twitter is compromised and owned by Saudi propoganda anyways. Give them a month and Twitter will turn on the bots again

2

AreneIdler Yesterday

Btw they just added a bit in the original nyt article saying:

"McKinsey said the austerity report was an internal document based on publicly available information and not prepared for any government entity.

“We are horrified by the possibility, however remote, that it could have been misused,” a McKinsey spokesman said in a statement. “We have seen no evidence to suggest that it was misused, but we are urgently investigating how and with whom the document was shared.”"

official statement: https://mobile.twitter.com/McKinsey/status/1053838356826808320?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

5

Donnerholz IT-Consultant (DROP TABLE client_database) Yesterday

Okay. One more reason not to join McKinsey.

0

Karmoon 1 day ago

They tried to learn from their masters, but their execution was unsubtle.

2

sulaymanf 1 day ago

It’s like a sequel to 1984, if Ministry of Truth had a Twitter policy.

7

Da7mii 1 day ago

Ha, 1984 is one of the most horrific pieces of literature I've ever read. Mostly because all I could think about while reading it was: "this man isn't describing some distant avoidable future. He's talking about Saudi Arabia!". Especially that damn ending. That IS the Saudi way. To break the opposition, not hit squads and bonesaws.

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sulaymanf 1 day ago

It’s like a sequel to 1984, if Ministry of Truth had a Twitter policy.

2

tacotuesda 1 day ago

Confirming M has no morals. Anything new?

14

JohnDoe_John 1 day ago

Death.

3

QiuYiDio Frequent Flyer 1 day ago

EDIT: This is obviously a PR issue for McKinsey and potentially much more, but I would say that doing sentiment analysis is very common nowadays.

7

BothWaysItGoes Yesterday

This should be a PR issue for the US and the EU and their laws, but everyone loves oil money and their middle class lifestyle that they enjoy. Anyone who thinks that McKinsey is doing something extraordinary is either stupid or a hypocrite.

1

McKennaJames 1 day ago

lol just looked at your history and it’s 100% consulting posts you sold your soul son, if “PR issue” is your response!

0

natedawg247 1 day ago

you're probably new around here "son", /u/QiuYiDio is the king of this sub and has everyone's respect

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h4rdlyf3 Yesterday

He does not have literally everyone’s respect. Some people find him smug and condescending tbh

0

Undergrad26 Yesterday

Lol wut. QYD is so nice and patient it's infuriarating. Who else feels this way?

3

QiuYiDio Frequent Flyer Yesterday

I’m sorry to hear that and would be happy to chat on messages as to why I’ve come across that way to you.

4

BCGeez MBBeYourself 1 day ago

To me, calling out OP's lack of awareness of /u/QiuYiDio's role in /r/consulting is focusing in on the least important part of the comment. OP, I agree, I do find it problematic to focus in on this issue in terms of "PR issue". Yes, sentiment analysis and policy perception is a legitimate piece of work, but seriously? I do not buy that the people who work at McK, or any of the other big consulting firms, are so blitheringly ignorant that they couldn't conceive of the idea that identifying specific policy dissenters for a famously brutal regime may be...problematic? Willfully ignorant? Grotesque? This is far beyond a PR issue.

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WithMyHoodieOn Digitidoo Yesterday

The obvious question would be of cause: Can you compile a list of countries / organizations / political candidates for which sentiment analysis of social media posts is ethically ok?

1

BCGeez MBBeYourself Yesterday

It is a legitimate line of inquiry; we did a piece of work that leveraged third party analysis of how energy policy was received in Spain. The analysis however did not make a point of naming dissenting individuals and sharing those names with a regime that condones beheading people for crimes like apostasy.

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Undergrad26 Yesterday

Can't you figure this shit out pretty easily? I mean, people post under their real names. Did they really need McK to figure out these people were disisdents?

1

BCGeez MBBeYourself 6 hs ago

The "dissident" analysis was the nice-to-have. If you've already got a premier consulting firm on top of your sentiment analysis, why not throw in the veritable tyranny cherry while they're at it.

1

QiuYiDio Frequent Flyer 1 day ago

I don't disagree. As I mentioned in another comment, as a US-based tech guy who doesn't pay a huge amount of attention to Middle Eastern governments, I just don't know enough to make a determination on whether or not the consultants should have known better. I do know for a fact that it will be a black eye for McKinsey, which is why I wrote that - but I did not mean to state that it was *only* a PR issue - there are obviously major ethical red flags here, such as what McKinsey did *after* finding out about Saudi Arabia's actions. I do want to read the report that the NYT references.

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JohnDoe_John Yesterday

> there are obviously major ethical red flags here, such as what McKinsey did after finding out about Saudi Arabia's actions. Well, they have been doing such actions for an extended period (I guess). Are there any major differences in values between them and isis/daesh? Things were not ok before.

1

BCGeez MBBeYourself 1 day ago

Yes, understood, I've read your comment through. > there are obviously major ethical red flags here, such as what McKinsey did after finding out about Saudi Arabia's actions. BAU, apparently

4

QiuYiDio Frequent Flyer 1 day ago

Well, it's 100% consulting posts because this is an account dedicated to modding /r/consulting. All I'm saying is that sentiment analysis is an extremely common tool in business nowadays. It's used in projects big and small with private and public clients both internally (e.g., communication or marketing departments) and externally (e.g., consulting firms, advertising agencies). I've used with numerous clients for product launches, competitive positioning, and more. I'm not surprised McKinsey did this for Saudi Arabia, and I'm sure other firms in the same position would have did the same as a supplemental analysis. In this case, the question is whether or not McKinsey knew that their work on economic austerity would directly lead to people being harmed. I don't know enough about the Middle East / Saudi Arabia to have a sense for that or to make any other judgments. That said, were I McKinsey and I realized that my work led to the consequences mentioned in the article, I certainly would terminate that relationship immediately.

12

virtu333 1 day ago

McKinsey consultants are probably smart enough to imagine IDing specific individuals for a regime could lead to trouble. But indeed what happened after is the major ethics question when they saw what happened.

5

albmrbo 1 day ago

Starting final round interviews with McK next week and considering pulling out because of this story...

Thoughts?

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Undergrad26 Yesterday

Yeah totally pull out. That'll show 'em.

0

albmrbo Yesterday

Not really about showing them. More about not working for a company with ethics that apparently differ from my own.

2

Undergrad26 Yesterday

http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/529657/BUSINESS/Deloitte-sets-up-Digital-Delivery-Center-in-Saudi-Arabia https://www.consultancy-me.com/news/196/bcg-to-help-saudi-arabia-with-opening-of-landmark-public-cinemas https://www.ft.com/content/17520ed0-d365-11e6-b06b-680c49b4b4c0 Yeah. Everybody.

2

albmrbo Yesterday

I know.

1

Undergrad26 Yesterday

You know every consulting firm works with Saudi Arabia right.

0

albmrbo Yesterday

Yeah, this is painfully apparent from the [FII partners page](http://www.futureinvestmentinitiative.com/en/partners). Maybe you're right and consulting isn't really the line of work I should be in. I'm not a business major, and consulting isn't exactly the career I always had in mind. It only became an attractive choice over the past year.

2

Undergrad26 Yesterday

Doesn't sound like business is for you.

0

albmrbo Yesterday

I'm interviewing for McK's public sector practice, which tends to focus on making public institutions more efficient. Regional development interests me, helping companies make a profit doesn't. McKinsey just happens to do both.

1

Undergrad26 Yesterday

You can join BCG and support Trump. Or Bain to help destroy SA.

1

BothWaysItGoes Yesterday

You might as well cancel your citizenship and move to a small island that doesn't do business with Saudis.

1

albmrbo Yesterday

Thankfully not American

1

Martegy Yesterday

IMHO, this is going to hurt McK's business substantially. Last in, first out. Go elsewhere.

2

Undergrad26 Yesterday

People are going to forget this happened in like two weeks.

0

Martegy Yesterday

Yes, the general public, but not McK's clients.

2

Undergrad26 Yesterday

You think some CEO in Minneapolis or Dallas or Hong Kong is going to fire the mcKinsey team he likes just because of this? I doubt it. My client was super liberal in maybe the most liberal city in the states when the news broke that our CEO was advising Trump. No one gave a shit. Hear we have even more work there now.

0

Martegy 6 hs ago

I think many CEOs will care, not least because half of their employees will care. McKinsey depends on the magic of their brand. There is an evil pox upon their brand, now, and well deserved. This may even become a B School lesson on brand management.

1

Undergrad26 4 hs ago

Like that other guy posted... South Africa, Enron, Rajat Gupta, child detention, etc, etc. No one cared. Rcord growths.

1

mbillion 1 day ago

Social Media analysis is a totally normal thing for a government, company or large entity to do in 2018. If you think McK went into this with the intention of helping SA murder people - then pull out. If you accept that this is totally vanilla analysis that any large entity does which McK is adept at staffing then I wouldnt exactly worry about it. Its up to you, but I would consider that McK is pretty much just doing analysis that lots of people can do and analysis that is very mundane in 99.999999999999% of circumstances and they didnt expect this would be the result.

2

albmrbo Yesterday

They willfully engaged in business with a government known for human rights abuses. Like another person said in this thread, McKinsey doesn’t hire stupid people. The team involved in this either knew what could happen, or figured it out after the fact. Regardless, SA is still a client and McK hasn’t pulled out from the « Davos in the Desert » or done anything to distance itself after realizing its investigation was used to crush dissent. I haven’t decided whether to pull out yet, but you’re fooling yourself if you think doing nothing about this is business as usual.

3

mbillion Yesterday

I mean its a personal choice if you pull out. I might be biased. But in my mind I do not think McK did this thinking it would result in murder. The not pulling out of the deal is a whole different more troubling issue. Knowing what they know now it seems like you would pull out of the deal. But truly I mean it when I say it, McK or its people did not go into it thinking they were helping a regime murder people

1

virtu333 1 day ago

False equivalence - social media sentiment for Pepsi or the UK is going to seem different from this kind of analysis, that ended up IDing specific people, for Saudi Arabia.

7

mbillion 1 day ago

When you crawl internet analytics are your suggesting to me you're not tracking ids and building personal profiles?

0

Who-did-that-to-you Yesterday

It’s obviously wildly different to identify influential individuals or demographics for marketing purposes and identifying important dissidents for a famously repressive regime.

1

natedawg247 1 day ago

lol

0

albmrbo 1 day ago

?

3

2nd_class_citizen 1 day ago

Values violations have become more and more frequent at M.... if you have the option to work at BB i would go for that instead. Otherwise, just join and be firm on not joining projects that have ethical concerns.

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JohnDoe_John 1 day ago

> not joining projects that have ethical concerns Some objections/adds: - we do not know every possible option before joining - generally, we do not notice own stuff as good as others - every project has some ethical concerns > Values violations have become more and more frequent at M Not only there. M just got more publicity.

4

samdman 1 day ago

It will probably be more impactful if you get the offer and then decline due to the story

39

SisyphusAmericanus Author, "The Airport Diet" 1 day ago

Agreed. My MBB did analyses of the reasons we won and lost cross-offers, so you’d only be influencing the data if you got offers from multiple firms and then declined McKinsey for this reason.

21

albmrbo 1 day ago

This is reasonable. Guess I'll finish the process and then make a decision if I get an offer.

7

autotldr 1 day ago

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 93%. (I'm a bot)

The vigorous push also appears to include the grooming - not previously reported - of a Saudi employee at Twitter whom Western intelligence officials suspected of spying on user accounts to help the Saudi leadership.

Many Saudis had hoped that Twitter would democratize discourse by giving everyday citizens a voice, but Saudi Arabia has instead become an illustration of how authoritarian governments can manipulate social media to silence or drown out critical voices while spreading its own version of reality.

Twitter executives first became aware of a possible plot to infiltrate user accounts at the end of 2015, when Western intelligence officials told them that the Saudis were grooming an employee, Ali Alzabarah, to spy on the accounts of dissidents and others, according to five people briefed on the matter.

Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: Saudi^#1 Twitter^#2 account^#3 government^#4 Khashoggi^#5

1

autotldr 1 day ago

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 93%. (I'm a bot)

The vigorous push also appears to include the grooming - not previously reported - of a Saudi employee at Twitter whom Western intelligence officials suspected of spying on user accounts to help the Saudi leadership.

Many Saudis had hoped that Twitter would democratize discourse by giving everyday citizens a voice, but Saudi Arabia has instead become an illustration of how authoritarian governments can manipulate social media to silence or drown out critical voices while spreading its own version of reality.

Twitter executives first became aware of a possible plot to infiltrate user accounts at the end of 2015, when Western intelligence officials told them that the Saudis were grooming an employee, Ali Alzabarah, to spy on the accounts of dissidents and others, according to five people briefed on the matter.

Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: Saudi^#1 Twitter^#2 account^#3 government^#4 Khashoggi^#5

3

autotldr 1 day ago

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 93%. (I'm a bot)

The vigorous push also appears to include the grooming - not previously reported - of a Saudi employee at Twitter whom Western intelligence officials suspected of spying on user accounts to help the Saudi leadership.

Many Saudis had hoped that Twitter would democratize discourse by giving everyday citizens a voice, but Saudi Arabia has instead become an illustration of how authoritarian governments can manipulate social media to silence or drown out critical voices while spreading its own version of reality.

Twitter executives first became aware of a possible plot to infiltrate user accounts at the end of 2015, when Western intelligence officials told them that the Saudis were grooming an employee, Ali Alzabarah, to spy on the accounts of dissidents and others, according to five people briefed on the matter.

Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: Saudi^#1 Twitter^#2 account^#3 government^#4 Khashoggi^#5

1

iwilldefendthehouse 1 day ago

Consultants beware, the following is not a concise nor a conclusive analysis, because this problem doesn't have a concise and conclusive solution. That being said, I'll do my best to limit scope.

This is one ugly facet of a difficult conundrum in the Middle East. McKinsey is a big name there, like it is everywhere, and recently they've been winning (what one can assume to be) gargantuan contracts from different Arab nations trying desperately to diversify and revitalize their economies. Just this past summer, they completed a comprehensive evaluation and made a 5-year-plan for the Lebanese economy, link here. Assuming the dysfunctional government ever gets around to actually implementing it, the effects of their work in that report could provide incredible economic relief to a nation beset by rampant corruption, decaying democracy, horrifying pollution, and unsustainable levels of migration and unemployment; in this isolated instance, McKinsey's work could greatly improve the quality of life of millions.

The account the Times gives of this particular project is damning. McKinsey consultants are not stupid, and they undoubtedly understood (at the time) the consequences of the report mentioned in the article. Their analysis led to the arrests of at least three people, two of whom (the brothers of Omar Abdulaziz, a Saudi dissident and activist) are merely victims of a family connection. So, McKinsey collects their exorbitant fees, the dominant arm of the House of Saud protects its most vital interest in economic reform, and three men are dragged from their homes and their families and disappear into silence at the hands of one of the most restrictive regimes in the world. In this isolated instance, McKinsey is either negligent or indifferent to the human price of its contracts.

So how does one reconcile McKinsey's evident complacency in the face of political violence with its capacity to generate potentially life-changing economic progress? Some would likely find it impossible--after all, how can a private company justify endangering innocent human life for profit? An industry leader such as McKinsey can surely afford ethical discretion on which projects it accepts and which it declines. In my opinion, the fundamental question is, is it unethical on McKinsey's part to accept hefty contracts from autocratic regimes? Context: Freedom House’s 2018 Rankings rank Saudi Arabia among the worst of Middle Eastern states with a dismal aggregate score of 7/100. Only Syria ranks lower with a score of -1/100 (lol). By contrast, Lebanon is classified as "Partly Free" with a score of 43/100, trailing only Israel and Tunisia, which both are classified as "Free." The point isn’t that Lebanon is a bastion of freedom and democracy, but their are significant differences between the activities of the respective governments.

To make matters more complicated, some of you may recall that, in the wake of Jamal Khashoggi's murder, various companies and national representatives have recused themselves from the Foreign Investment Initiative conference, scheduled to occur October 23-25 in Riyadh, as a symbolic condemnation of the regime's brutality. You won't find McKinsey among the names of those who have pulled out--in fact, you'll find them listed as a partner, likely along with your own firm. McKinsey is but one cog in the machine of shady consulting in the Arab world.

So if unemployment is curbed in Lebanon, is that worth a few unfortunate imprisonments in Riyadh? Is the diversification and liberalization of the Saudi economy worth cementing the position of a volatile tyrant with an appetite for gruesome violence beyond his own borders, in Yemen and Turkey? If their actions are any guide, McKinsey and their peers seem to think so. And to take it a step further, if we set these standards for businesses, should we have the same standards for governments? More than 50% of Saudi Arabia’s arms imports come from the US government.

In discussing these questions, I want to clarify that these issues are by no means settled, and even questions that seem basic are valid.

Happy to discuss this further, and just to be forthcoming about any conflicts of interest--I'm applying to several ME branches of large consulting firms.

62

Martegy Yesterday

You assume that McKinsey's work in Lebanon was good. It may or may not have been good, and part of the answer to that is whether it was implemented. Of course, it is common for consultants, and esp. McK, to recommended whatever their clients want to do anyway.

3

standardnameline Billin straight eights Yesterday

Can I get a TLDR

1

iwilldefendthehouse Yesterday

Yeah uhhhhhh Your fav firm is accepting contracts while either being negligent or indifferent to the consequences of their actions. And even if they’re not your fav firm, pretty much every top consultancy is in deep with the Saudis and has no intention of going anywhere (see links in my post)

3

Schump97 Yesterday

Are you assuming that, in order to do the 'good' work, firms have to do the 'bad' work? I feel like a firm of McKinsey's standing should be able to 'pick and choose' their projects based partly on their social worth.

8

michapman2 Yesterday

I think it likely depends on what kind of presence they would want to have in these types of countries. While I think that McKinsey likely has the prestige to be able to pick and choose its projects to a large extent, if they want to work in countries like Saudi Arabia it probably isn’t possible to be as choosy given how closely fused the government and the private sector are there. I think it’s worth trying though, because I doubt that most consultants who take these jobs want to be complicit in forced disappearances or murders.

3

JohnDoe_John 1 day ago

Great Thanks! You wrote it pretty accurately and mildly.

1

virtu333 1 day ago

Thanks for this post, a lot to digest. But after the death of Khashoggi and these events, they probably have a hard decision to make, if at least to offer some apology.

16

JohnDoe_John 1 day ago

> they probably have a hard decision to make, if at least to offer some apology. And come to the funeral.

1

iwilldefendthehouse 1 day ago

I agree, it is a lot to digest, and there are many elements to it that I haven’t discussed here. In response to your point, I personally would guess that they’ve already made their decision—the crowd leading FII is composed of their direct competitors, and they don’t want to lose their relationship with the Saudi cash cow (because someone else who isn’t mentioned in the New York Times will swoop it up without a second thought). In my opinion, there’s a need for a much broader critique of the activities of US services firms abroad, especially in these repressive countries. But I could be wrong, and we’ll see if some heads do indeed roll in the coming days.

3

WithMyHoodieOn Digitidoo Yesterday

> In my opinion, there’s a need for a much broader critique of the activities of US services firms abroad Just look at the consequences of China letting the INTERPOL chief disappear. There are none.

6

usiqlo 1 day ago

احس محمد بن سلمان جايب العيد ولا لا؟

ماني قايلكم ان ثقافته حق افلام ومسلسلات والله العظيم احسه عايش الدور وفال امها على قفانا

13

fhdjdikdjd Yesterday

بدري تستوعب

6

AutoModerator 1 day ago

Hi dnowitzki41. Your submission from nytimes.com is behind a metered paywall. A metered paywall allows users to view a specific number of articles before requiring paid subscription. Articles posted to /r/worldnews should be accessible to everyone. While your submission was not removed, it has been flaired and users are discouraged from upvoting it or commenting on it. For more information see our wiki page on paywalls. Please try to find another source. If there is no other news site reporting on the story, contact the moderators.

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0

EarthAcid 1 day ago

This is false. Read the article: they did some sentiment measurement. That’s it.

0

virtu333 1 day ago

Even if they didn't expect the Saudis to go after who they ID'd, they very likely saw what happened after their report. And they've probably kept doing work (correct me if I'm wrong) for the govt. Hard to see much benefit of the doubt can be given.

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EarthAcid 1 day ago

I have no idea if McK is still doing the work or when they might have learned about the outcome. All I’m saying is the article and the title of OPs post don’t match. McKinsey did not help anyone ID/dox any Twitter users. It reads like they did a sentiment analysis and found cliusters of influencers driving various key sentiment driving messages that are later picked up by other users, which is a very common marketing analytics report that comes out of the box in tools like Radian6/Salesforce Social Studio.

0

QiuYiDio Frequent Flyer 1 day ago

I'm not sure I agree that they didn't identify anyone, at least based on the article. The Times says: >Three people were driving the conversation on Twitter, [McKinsey] found: the writer Khalid al-Alkami; Mr. Abdulaziz, the young dissident living in Canada; and an anonymous user who went by Ahmad.

6

McKennaJames 1 day ago

lol mckinsey shill spotted did you even read the entire research report that the NYT had access to?

24

QiuYiDio Frequent Flyer 1 day ago

Where is the link to the McKinsey report?

1

JohnDoe_John 1 day ago

I wish this to be publicly available.

2

QiuYiDio Frequent Flyer 1 day ago

Me as well. It sounds like /u/mckennajames found a copy?

3

JohnDoe_John 1 day ago

I bet it will be leaked, even from several different other sources. Prosecutor's office may become interested in reading.

3

virtu333 1 day ago

Fact that it was 3 years ago and McKinsey probably saw what happened, and kept doing business since, is particularly disturbing but also not a huge surprise tbh.

54

shemp33 Beer Warrior in Training 1 day ago

When you have a paying customer that is happy with the performance...

17

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