A Cryptocurrency for Everyone on the Planet

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Have you heard about Worldcoin? If not, buckle up, you're in for more madness!


Worldcoin

The technocrat, meglomaniac entrepreneur behind it for world enslavement with a little help from iris-scanning Orbs:


Sam Altman


“We see people waiting multiple hours to receive their Worldcoin and entrepreneurs building whole businesses around the Orb. This excitement and the resulting metrics make us optimistic that Worldcoin can soon connect the first billion users in one global network,” says Sam Altman, Co-Founder of Worldcoin and Former President of Y-Combinator.

I guess it makes sense when you know you’ll be shortly unleashing an artificial intelligence that will imitate people and try to get around robot identifying protocols any way it can.


Introducing World ID and SDK

Opening the Orb: A look inside Worldcoin’s biometric imaging device

We’ll now take you through some of the most important engineering details of the Orb, as well as how the imaging system works. For security purposes, we will only explicitly leave out tamper detection mechanisms that are meant to catch intrusion attempts.

Removing the Shell

When removing the shell, the mainboard, optical system and cooling system become visible. Most of the optical system is hidden in an enclosure that, together with the shell, forms a dust- and water-resistant environment to enable long-term use even in challenging environments.

What you see is a device that has been refined through multiple prototype and design for manufacturing (DFM) iterations.



Mechanics

Once the shell is removed, the Orb can be divided into four core parts:

    Front: The optical system
    Middle: The mainboard separates the device into two hemispheres (note: its inclination is exactly 23.5°, equivalent to the inclination of the rotational axis of the earth)
    Back: The main computing unit as well as the active cooling system
    Bottom: An exchangeable battery




Battery

No battery we tried would last for a full day on a single charge. So we built a custom exchangeable battery based on 18650 Li-Ion cells—the same form factor as the cells used in a Tesla Model S. The battery consists of 8 cells with 3.7V nominal voltage in a 4S2P configuration (14.8V) with a capacity of close to 100Wh, which is a limit imposed by regulations related to logistics. Now there’s no limit to Orb uptime.



How the Optical System Works

Our early field tests taught us that the verification experience needed to be even simpler than we had anticipated.

To do this, we first experimented with many approaches featuring mirrors that allowed people to use their reflection to align with the Orbs imaging system. However, designs that worked well in the lab quickly broke down in the real world.

We ended up building a two-camera system featuring a wide angle camera and a telephoto camera with an adjustable ~5° field of view by means of a 2D gimbal. This increased the spatial volume in which a signup can be successfully completed by several orders of magnitude, from a tiny box of 20x10x5mm for each eye to a large cone.



The wide angle camera captures the scene, and a neural network predicts the location of both eyes. Through geometrical inference, we steer the field of view of the telephoto camera to the location of an eye to capture a high resolution image of the iris, which is further processed by the Orb into a unique identifier.

The lens  is optimized for the near infrared spectrum and has an integrated custom liquid lens which allows for neural network controlled millisecond-autofocus. It is paired with a global shutter sensor to capture high resolution, distortion free images.



The camera and the corresponding pulsed infrared illumination are synchronized to minimize motion blur and suppress the influence of sunlight. This way, the Orb creates lab environment conditions for imaging, no matter its location. Needless to say, the infrared illumination is compliant with eye safe standards (such as EN 62471:2008).

Image quality was the one thing we never compromised no matter how difficult it was. In terms of resolution the Orb is orders of magnitude above the industry standard. This provides the basis for the lowest error rates possible to, in turn, maximize the inclusivity of the system.

[The back of the mainboard]


The mainboard acts as a custom carrier board for the Nvidia Jetson Xavier NX SoM powering the Orb. Apart from the Jetson, the other major “plugged-in” component is a 250GB M.2 SSD. The SSD can be used to buffer images for voluntary data custody and image data collection. Images are irreversibly encrypted with a public key from the server such that, in the unlikely event of a compromised Orb, no data would be exposed. The contribution of data is optional and data deletion can be requested at any point in time through the app.

Further, a STM32 microcontroller controls time-critical peripherals, sequences power, and boots the Jetson. The Orb is equipped with Wi-Fi 6 and optional LTE to enable seamless connectivity as well as a GPS module to locate the Orb and prevent misuse. Finally, a 12 bit liquid lens driver allows for controlling the focus of the telephoto lens with a precision of 0.4mm.

The most densely packed PCB of the Orb is the front PCB. It mainly consists of LEDs. The outermost RGB LEDs power the “UX LED ring.” Further inside, there are 79 near infrared LEDs of different wavelengths. The Orb uses 740nm, 850nm and 940nm LEDs to capture a multispectral image of the iris to make the uniqueness algorithm more accurate and detect fraud.

Manufacturing of the latest generation of Orbs is already well underway in Germany, as well as their distribution to new Worldcoin Operators in cities around the world. In fact, they’ve already helped Worldcoin pass more than one million sign-ups—an important milestone on the way to providing universal access to the global economy.

Proof of "Person", "Personhood"? Are you kidding me?



Futurism


One of the greatest word-magick triumphs of the corporate sorcerer class was to relabel the *personnel department* as "human resources."

This cannily reduces **personhood** to a mere "resource," meaning corporate property to be exploited, directed and discarded at will.

When I worked for big corporate America a former H.R. dept minion once told me that their prime directive is the protection of the corporation by any means necessary from people like me. He was dead serious. We're here to help you with corporate indoctrination while at same time assessing if you're going to be a problem. Then they send a courtesy email to your manager saying you came to visit them. Right next door to HR was legal services with an army of lawyers.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Interesting how "person" as in "human" is not stated till #3 entry and then again at bottom for Law:



Webster's New international dictionary of the English language (Based on the International Dictionary of 1890 and 1900)

"Here's my conversation with Sam Altman (@sama), CEO of OpenAI, the creator of GPT-4, ChatGPT, DALL-E, Codex, and other incredible AI systems that are transforming human civilization. This conversation was truly fascinating, challenging, and eye-opening." -Lex Fridman


0:00 - Introduction
4:36 - GPT-4
16:02 - Political bias
23:03 - AI safety
43:43 - Neural network size
47:36 - AGI
1:09:05 - Fear
1:11:14 - Competition
1:13:33 - From non-profit to capped-profit
1:16:54 - Power
1:22:06 - Elon Musk
1:30:32 - Political pressure
1:48:46 - Truth and misinformation
2:01:09 - Microsoft
2:05:09 - SVB bank collapse
2:10:00 - Anthropomorphism
2:14:03 - Future applications
2:17:54 - Advice for young people
2:20:33 - Meaning of life

Around 1:40 in, they have brief discussion about AI driving the need for UBI — and about Worldcoin’s potential to make that possible. Only the beginning.



The Age of AI has begun


The day will come where YOU will need a biometric digital ID just to use the Internet and they will track everything you say, post, purchase, every website, every keystroke, including your thoughts! Welcome to the brave new world. Course, I'm betting it won't fully go according to their technocrat dystopian dream.

[Ninurta]

How quaint.

If "Worldcoin paused it work in multiple countries after local contractors departed or regulations made doing business impossible" then how can they call it "WORLDcoin" with a straight face? How can they make the claim that "Worldcoin is the first token to be globally distributed" if it is not, in fact, being distributed globally? Since it is clearly not being distributed globally, how can they expect me to believe the claim that it is also being "freely distributed"? Just another batch of charlatans and snake oil salesmen. Ain't NOTHING in this life actually "free".

Why would I care if they claim to be "expanding participation in and access to the global economy"? I don't participate in globalism, including any illusory "global economy", so I don't care what they do with their silly made-up "Worldcoin". It's as fake as paper money - more fake, really, given that it doesn't even have the substance, reality, or durability of paper.

If I walked up to them and gave them a pop in the yap, I think that would be solid and substantial enough to prove I am a "person", without all their silly eye-scanning gadgetry.

I don't even know what a "UBI" is, and so have no idea why i would want one. I generally and invariably come to the conclusion that if I don't know what something is, then I don't need it. Otherwise, I would have a house full of gadgets that I did not know the purpose of, and I don't see any percentages in that. If they truly wanted me to have a "UBI", then they'd make it accessible enough to figure out what it was, and how it's used. Basic initials tell me nothing about it. Might as well try to sell me an "XYZ".

AI will never become conscious. It can, at best, simulate consciousness, but can never actually posses consciousness. It does not have the physical machinery nor the data connections to support any actual consciousness, as consciousness does not depend on wires, and wires cannot be made to interact with the areas where consciousness resides. 

Likewise, AI does not and cannot ever posses a "soul", because "soul" is the life force that animates our meat-puppets. The closest AI can come to having a soul is electricity, and it only takes one solar flare to take care of that.

So even AI doesn't scare me - I can go places AI cannot hope to follow me into, because our existences are fundamentally different, with fundamentally different foundations, and fundamentally different limitations and abilities.

.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

UBI - I think you've heard the term before, but due to all the silly acronyms floating about in cyberspace it's confusing and easily forgotten.

Quick wiki entry:

Universal basic income (UBI) [note 1] is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive a guaranteed income in the form of an unconditional transfer payment (i.e., without a means test or need to work). It would be received independently of any other income. If the level is sufficient to meet a person's basic needs (i.e., at or above the poverty line), it is sometimes called a full basic income; if it is less than that amount, it may be called a partial basic income. No country has yet introduced either, although there have been numerous pilot projects and the idea is discussed in many countries. Some have labelled UBI as utopian due to its historical origin.

1. Also variously known as unconditional basic income, citizen's basic income, basic income guarantee, basic living stipend, guaranteed annual income, universal income security program, or universal demogrant

Many countries have been rejecting their utopian socialist UBI models so will probably churn & burn for next several years and morph into something else.

Globalist dream progression:
Covid planscamdemic > vaccine > vaccine passport > digital identity (ID2020) > surveillance up the wazoo > social credit monitoring > separation of people in Cyber-space > 5G/6G Smart AI grid-Smart Cities > Centralized digital currency (CBDC) > Universal Basic Income (UBI) > Breakup of the USA = Total control. Mission Accomplished.

I just don't see this techno feudalism UBI/crypto-blockchain/CBDC's working out that well for them. Least not this era.
It might work in small countries/smaller populations, but I just don't see it working in the USA.

[Ninurta]

In regards to UBI, I was right - if I don't know what it is, I don't want it. When I didn't know what it was, I didn't want it, and now that I do know what it is, I still don't want it. Kinda like a broken arm - I know what they are, but I still don't want one. Besides that, I don't even want the government to promise me one. I'm getting sort of tired of having the government lie to me by promising one thing and then never delivering on that promise. For example, I'm STILL waiting on the promised "stimulus" payments. All of them. I've never gotten a single one, going all the way back to the one promised in 2008. None of them. Not a dime of any of them. At this point, I consider a government "promise" in the same way I'd consider them pissing down my back while telling me it's raining - except in that case, they'd probably at least be pissing down my back, just trying to gaslight me as to what they were actually doing. In the case of the government promising me any money, it's gaslighting with NO action, not even trying to cover something up. Just lying in order to lie, no purpose in it.

I'm with you on not seeing any possibility for the success of their technofeudalism in modern America. That's a pipe dream of folks that live in cities, because it would only work in cities and they can't fathom how life is outside their urban enclaves. 

Now, I think it's fact that most Americans live in a city, and I know it's fact that half of all Americans live within 100 miles of a coastline. That means that half or a little more of all Americans COULD be locked down, but out here in the hinterlands they'd have no prayer of getting it done. Too much territory to control, and not enough troops on Earth to control it, even if they pulled in all the armies of the world to try to do it.


.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

The Worldcoin project is initiating an open and permissionless identity protocol called World ID. It empowers individuals to verify their humanness online while maintaining their anonymity through zero-knowledge proofs. Advancements in AI make it difficult to distinguish between AI and humans on the internet, highlighting a need for authentic human recognition and verification. To help address this, individuals can receive a future-proof unique human credential through a secure biometric device in a privacy-preserving manner. Importantly, this enables a path to AI-funded non-state UBI and the equitable global distribution of digital currencies. The project's early contributors have developed initial versions of a hardware device, a mobile client, and a deployment mechanism—all of which will gradually become decentralized. World ID will ultimately enable the protocol to be governed by the people, ensuring that the protocol benefits everyone.

The capabilities of AI are rapidly approaching those of humans and have already surpassed them in many niche areas. While the recent rise of Large Language Models (LLMs) demonstrates that these models are becoming increasingly versatile and seemingly also more “generally intelligent”, they feel a lot more intelligent because they perfected learning the primary interface with humans: language. Although it’s not immediately evident that this breakthrough will lead to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) in the short-term, we now have models that are trained to perfectly mimic highly capable humans in digital interactions[1]. Some might argue that the age of AI has begun.

...
Redistribute wealth created by systems in the age of AI: As AI advances, fairly distributing access and some of the created value through UBI will play an increasingly vital role in counteracting the concentration of economic power[7]. To ensure that each individual registers only once and to guarantee equitable distribution, a global proof of personhood protocol is needed.

Humanness in the Age of AI

Long article with charts & graphics. Biometric hackers will be the new rage and I don't want any of it attached to me nor inside me, nor any Minority Report scanning of me.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

The new Sam Altman shitcoin has launched. Scan your eyeball to prove personhood and be put in a central registry. As a reward you get free crypto printed out of thin air by a bunch of technocrats in San Francisco.


Introducing Worldcoin

Perhaps the point is to create an environment of rampant out of control AI programs and chaos, the breakdown of social order and identity, with synthetic people and mass impersonation to drive governments and businesses to the projects funded by those who fund AI & hide behind each other.



Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

[Ninurta]

We'll see how big it goes here. They've yet to provide a convincing explanation of just how placing one's iris scan data in a repository under someone else's control can possibly be classified as "private". I believe the reason they've not done that is because it can't be done. "Private" kinda means "under my control, not someone else's" by definition, and if it's under my control, why bother with the scan at all?

Nope, I ain't about to jump into this crazy shit. It's just a super-scam to get your biodata, then the government will take it over and add it - both the biodata and the cryptocurrency - to their "cryptodiollar" scheme.

.

[Kenzo]

Amazon is allready pushing palm hand readers as biometric technology for payment. Not long ago i saw youtube videos how that is in use in China and bang ....then it starts is US .


Amazon one service palm readers