56 votes

Tildes can now receive Basic Attention Tokens (from the Brave browser or BATify extension)

Tags: donations, bat

We've had a few topics related to the Brave browser lately, and at some users' urging, I've now set up and verified Tildes to be able to receive the Basic Attention Token that it allows you to allocate to sites that you visit often. Outside of Brave itself, there's also an extension called BATify that seems to allow you to use BAT from Chrome or Firefox.

I'm not sure if this will ever be a significant source of donations for the site, but it's probably good to have it as an option anyway.

I haven't tried Brave myself yet, so I can't endorse it personally, but quite a few people seem to like it and it just had a major update last week that made it Chromium-based. If you're thinking about trying it out, I'd appreciate it if you could download it through this referral link:

https://brave.com/til524

I don't know the exact details, but it should give Tildes about $5 USD in BAT for each user who "downloads the Brave browser using the promo link specific to your web site and uses the browser (minimally) over a 30 day period".

I'll add some info about this to the Donate page on the docs site as well, and if anyone that knows more about Brave/BAT than me (which is a very low bar) notices anything wrong or that I should change, please let me know.

24 comments

  1. [5]
    tomf
    Link
    Prior to reading about how the human-side of Brave is sketchy and / or awful, I decided to finally check the browser out. Everything but the extensions imports nicely, and the overall process is...

    Prior to reading about how the human-side of Brave is sketchy and / or awful, I decided to finally check the browser out. Everything but the extensions imports nicely, and the overall process is basically seamless.

    I often struggle with this sort of thing. While I agree with the idea of Brave as privacy focused browser, I don't agree with some of the views of the leadership. Same goes for musicians, actors, etc -- is it ethical to enjoy / consume / use something that shares a similar belief / passion when the creator of the other thing isn't 100% in sync with my own views?

    As I've mentioned before, I like the idea that creators can get paid by usage, and this is something I've been waiting for for years. I'm still unsure where I sit with this sort of thing, though. Regardless, I'll try it out for a month to give the product a fair shot.

    19 votes
    1. Wayfarer
      Link Parent
      I definitely think you can - and frequently are required to - separate the art from the artist. Sometimes a shitty person still makes a good product. Giving them money for that product is a...

      I definitely think you can - and frequently are required to - separate the art from the artist. Sometimes a shitty person still makes a good product.

      Giving them money for that product is a different matter; I have a very hard time giving any sort of financial support to people whose views I strongly disagree with. My own personal ethics are such that I feel perfectly okay with pirating a piece of software in that case.

      All that being said, if it is something that I truly, strongly disagree with, it's very difficult for me to look at the thing, or especially hear music from someone with a view I find deplorable. All too frequently, it just reminds me of their view and gets me angry again.

      9 votes
    2. [3]
      whisper
      Link Parent
      Can you share corroborating info about the "sketchy" "human-side of Brave"? Are you just referencing Brendan Eich's personal views on sexual identity?

      Can you share corroborating info about the "sketchy" "human-side of Brave"? Are you just referencing Brendan Eich's personal views on sexual identity?

      3 votes
      1. [3]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. SleepyGary
          Link Parent
          Not just opposing as in having an opinion, but donating money to the cause to remove gay rights.

          Not just opposing as in having an opinion, but donating money to the cause to remove gay rights.

          11 votes
        2. 0F0_Simplex
          Link Parent
          Ah. That's... pretty much a dealbreaker for me. I can't support that.

          Ah. That's... pretty much a dealbreaker for me. I can't support that.

          10 votes
  2. [8]
    Abrown
    Link
    Brave has been paying various crypto-promo rings to spam reddit and vote manipulate their content to rank higher for the past several months now and their employees (and their sockpuppet accounts)...

    Brave has been paying various crypto-promo rings to spam reddit and vote manipulate their content to rank higher for the past several months now and their employees (and their sockpuppet accounts) regularly target my subs. If they make a good product then they shouldnt need to engage in such unethical and scummy behavior for it to do well.

    14 votes
    1. [2]
      cfabbro
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      I am not a fan of Brave simply because I despise its CEO, Brendan Eich, who is a homophobic asshole that supported Prop 8 in California... but even so, regarding what you just said I feel the need...

      I am not a fan of Brave simply because I despise its CEO, Brendan Eich, who is a homophobic asshole that supported Prop 8 in California... but even so, regarding what you just said I feel the need to add:
      [citation needed]

      12 votes
      1. Abrown
        Link Parent
        Wow, thanks, didn't know that. As if I needed another reason to dislike them...

        Wow, thanks, didn't know that. As if I needed another reason to dislike them...

        2 votes
    2. [2]
      Wayfarer
      Link Parent
      No horse in this race, but I'd love to see some sort of actual evidence for a claim like that.

      No horse in this race, but I'd love to see some sort of actual evidence for a claim like that.

      8 votes
      1. Abrown
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        Hey sorry I'm not on Tidles too frequently. Sure, it'll require a bit of explanation though, this is rather arcane. There's a "Growth hacker" / "advertise on reddit" asshole that controls tens of...

        Hey sorry I'm not on Tidles too frequently. Sure, it'll require a bit of explanation though, this is rather arcane.

        There's a "Growth hacker" / "advertise on reddit" asshole that controls tens of thousands of accounts and primarily promotes/manipulates cryptos and other products (seen here: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheseFuckingAccounts/comments/9f9hnd/)

        He will often be paid to help new crypto blogs get off the ground, like: https://www.reddit.com/domain/investinblockchain.com/ -- if you go through and filter out the bots (bitcoinallbot, trendsproject, etc) and tag the remaining users, youll see there's only a handful that post it -- his bot accounts... Scan those accounts and youll see that they all sockpuppet with eachother and are stolen/hacked... These accounts/this guy ONLY do paid promos -- he doesn't promote random coins he likes or whatever, it's 100% pure paid advertising and here he is with a few accounts vote manipulating BAT: https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/933u48/4_reasons_to_invest_in_bat_an_iconic_founder_the/e3aod65/ -- the bots being the OP and /u/jbuuuush

        In the /r/batproject thread for the same post, the OP is another: https://www.reddit.com/r/BATProject/comments/92vd3i/4_reasons_to_invest_in_bat_an_iconic_founder_the/

        Have you reported this?

        Yes, the admins are unreliable with dealing with spam despite having sent in more than 5000 names of accounts of his that are CLEARLY stolen or follow a name-formula w/ identical creation dates and were made in batches. Poke Sporkicide and reference me or the "Tshirt/crypto gang Abrown keeps yammering about" if you really don't believe me and want it straight from a Reddit employee.

        Ninja edit for clarification: I did say blog-promos in addition to crypto-promos -- posting content to the project's sub alone and posting it to the big few (/r/cryptocurrencies, /r/Ethereum, etc) plus sockpuppeting with pre-scripted material/conversations are always sold as separate "services" on these kinds of sites and usually require a level of coordination with the blog and the crypto team to pass them the content to be hosted on the blog and to be used in the sockpuppeting.

        7 votes
    3. [2]
      Deimos
      Link Parent
      Huh, that's interesting. It's definitely employees or people officially associated with Brave, and not just random people trying to do a pump-and-dump with the BAT currency? Pump-and-dump behavior...

      Huh, that's interesting. It's definitely employees or people officially associated with Brave, and not just random people trying to do a pump-and-dump with the BAT currency? Pump-and-dump behavior is common with... pretty much all cryptocurrencies, so I'd be more surprised if there weren't people trying to do it with BAT too.

      6 votes
      1. Abrown
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        110% sure. I track a few of the larger promo rings that control tens of thousands accounts each and several have been paid by Brave/BAT to promote the project. Plus, the project's social media...

        110% sure. I track a few of the larger promo rings that control tens of thousands accounts each and several have been paid by Brave/BAT to promote the project. Plus, the project's social media manager (Crypto_Jennie) is extremely rude and combative if you even insinuate that that's whats happening, despite her repeatedly "randomly showing up" in those promoted/manipulated threads with more votes than views w/ a dozen+ sockpuppets as the only comments.

        edit 21 days later w/ another example: https://archive.is/Ln1FK -- post automatically removed by automod, but has karma and 18 comments, all praising BAT -- this ties directly back to that one specific crypto marketing ring that promoted them last time too.

        4 votes
  3. [3]
    666
    Link
    Does this have to be at least once a day? And can it be any website or does it have to be Tildes? Last time I tried Brave it was very slow, the whole UI would freeze or run very slow while...

    downloads the Brave browser using the promo link specific to your web site and uses the browser (minimally) over a 30 day period

    Does this have to be at least once a day? And can it be any website or does it have to be Tildes? Last time I tried Brave it was very slow, the whole UI would freeze or run very slow while performing basic actions such as opening the settings page or a menu. I may give it another (third) try and if it works well enough I'll keep it.

    Edit: the download link is not working for me, I get a blank page with this error message: "unknown platform". This is the link it generated for me: https://laptop-updates.brave.com/latest/linux64 You may want to report that to the Brave authors.

    10 votes
    1. [2]
      Deimos
      Link Parent
      I have no idea. That quote is all the info I have too. I'd assume you can use it for any sites though. And thanks, I'll make a post on their support forums about the "unknown platform" error.

      Does this have to be at least once a day? And can it be any website or does it have to be Tildes?

      I have no idea. That quote is all the info I have too. I'd assume you can use it for any sites though.

      And thanks, I'll make a post on their support forums about the "unknown platform" error.

      9 votes
      1. 666
        Link Parent
        Let me know when the error is fixed so I can download Brave using your link, this is an easy way to help Tildes and I'd like to help.

        Let me know when the error is fixed so I can download Brave using your link, this is an easy way to help Tildes and I'd like to help.

        5 votes
  4. [2]
    EightRoundsRapid
    Link
    On Firefox mobile it took me to the Brave website and clicking the download button opened the Play Store. I assume the link is still valid for installation of the mobile app, seeing as it's from...

    On Firefox mobile it took me to the Brave website and clicking the download button opened the Play Store. I assume the link is still valid for installation of the mobile app, seeing as it's from the link provided.

    7 votes
    1. unknown user
      Link Parent
      This is what I am wondering as well. If I download Brave from mobile, is there an input somewhere to write "I did it for @Deimos!" in?

      This is what I am wondering as well. If I download Brave from mobile, is there an input somewhere to write "I did it for @Deimos!" in?

      5 votes
  5. [5]
    hook
    (edited )
    Link
    How are these different from Flattr?

    How are these different from Flattr?

    5 votes
    1. [3]
      talklittle
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Flattr's model is: User pays content publisher via Flattr, Flattr tracks your browsing habits to determine payments, Flattr takes fee. Note that Flattr has your real identity via financial info....

      Flattr's model is: User pays content publisher via Flattr, Flattr tracks your browsing habits to determine payments, Flattr takes fee. Note that Flattr has your real identity via financial info.

      BAT according to their How It Works is Advertiser pays, user watches ads, user and publisher both get paid BAT when user watches ads. Theoretically the user's identity does not need to be shared with the Brave company, although I don't know how they could possibly avoid massive abuse if they don't do some form of tracking.

      8 votes
      1. Deimos
        Link Parent
        Note that as far as I can tell, all of the advertising-related pieces don't exist yet. At this point, there doesn't seem to be any way for users to get BAT except buying them or being granted them...

        Note that as far as I can tell, all of the advertising-related pieces don't exist yet. At this point, there doesn't seem to be any way for users to get BAT except buying them or being granted them by the company (from their "User Growth Pool" of tokens).

        6 votes
      2. hook
        Link Parent
        Thanks to both you and @Diff for explaining.

        Thanks to both you and @Diff for explaining.

        5 votes
    2. Diff
      Link Parent
      "It uses cryptocurrency" is the only difference I can tell.

      "It uses cryptocurrency" is the only difference I can tell.

      5 votes
  6. PopeRigby
    Link
    Damn. That was fast Deimos!

    Damn. That was fast Deimos!

    1 vote