Iron, How Did They Make It, Addendum: Crucible Steel and Cast Iron | Hacker News Reader

Iron, How Did They Make It, Addendum: Crucible Steel and Cast Iron

acoup.blog

281 pointsjrott25 comments

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OP8PCkcBZU4

Here is a documentary on wootz produced by al pendray and how they think vanadium from one mine was the key.

Vikings managed to get some crucible steel and made the best blades of the day with it:

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/02/21/ulfberht-viking/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulfberht_swords

I would happily pay for the entire collection of ACOUP posts in book form. This is the kind of history I wish they had taught me in school but didn't.

It's great isn't it?

FYI, in the contact page one is invited to suppport the project via Patreon.

https://www.patreon.com/user?u=20122096

I definitely encourage everyone to donate (just $3.50!) if you want to support academics doing great public service aside from their main job (he is an adjunct).

I wish people would provide not just a Patreon link but also a direct payment option. I would love to support this effort, but I do not want to sign up for a Patreon account or a monthly subscription. I'd much rather just make a one-time donation.

Same here! There are plenty of people I would happily give a one time donation to, but signing up on Patroen or giving up details beyond my email address are too big of a step. I’d even settle for a Venmo address.

How would you send someone a Venmo payment without giving out any personal information?

btc wallet address (or another coin of your choosing)?

The sad news is that the credit card scammers have ruined this - automated credit card testing often looks for small donation pages like you're suggesting, then uses them to check if stolen card numbers are valid. This leads to chargebacks, loss of reputation by the donatee in the eyes of the card processor, and a whole bunch of wasted time. One of the "services" that organizations like Patreon actually perform is to take on this risk on behalf of their clients.

I guess bitcoin/etc payments are still OK, but except in some small niche subject areas, aren't generally accepted enough to make the direct donation setup worthwhile.

A paypal link would be fine. As would a physical mailing address where I can send a paper check.

Im 28 and have a vague recollection of cheque books. I can assure you no person under 21 in my country can say they have actually seen one. Do they still exist?

They are quite common in the U.S. Vast swaths of our financial system are still stuck in the mid-20th century or earlier. A check is the only way (besides cash) to transfer money in the U.S. without incurring some sort of fee or other overhead.

Jesus!

It must be because I live in a developing country or maybe the lack of infrastructure 30 years ago means we can hop and skip straight to almost fully digital. These days going to the bank is akin to corporal punishment. Just give me an app or you're dead to me.

I know, right? It never ceases to amaze me that the U.S. financial system hasn't collapsed under the weight of its historical baggage a long time ago.

this. in one of the projects I am working on, we have this problem exactly. automated credit card testing problem for small donations.

we use Stripe API there. And Stripe is just suggesting to pay more for their radar check, which in our opinion, put more burden on both donors and the organization.

EU has SEPA payments, where you can just send money to an account, usually for no or negligible fee.

Weird how a similar arrangement is not available in so many countries.

Put some money on a Visa/AmEX/etc. debit card and drop it in the mail.

A paper check is probably a better idea since a prepaid card is effectively the same as cash. But either way I still need a mailing address.

Getting a mailing address is, to a first approximation, a challenge in inverse proportion to the importance of sending money.

An advantage of prepaid card is that the recipient can pass it along easily. Anonymity (not privacy) is another advantage.

Patreon is garbage. Would happily kick this guy a few bucks via Apple Pay or whatever though.

If you'd really be happy about supporting the guy, you wouldn't get hung up on the payment processor he chose to use. Seriously.

It’s my money. If he chooses a payment processor I don’t like, I get to decide whether or not that’s sufficient disincentive.

Given the number and variety of services I've signed up for online, handing over all sorts of PII, the odds that Patreon in particular ends up being the data- breach / misuse that causes me significant annoyance seems ... minuscule.

I've paid quite a few people small amounts by limiting the number of months I'm subscribed.

YouTube creator AvE is a good example, I pay him a few tens of dollars every couple of years, but never stay subscribed via Patreon very long as I derive no extra benefit personal for doing so.

I’ve spent three hours this morning reading the whole series and following a few links here and there. Good stuff!

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