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1861  Bitcoin / Hardware / Re: Anybody recognize this? on: February 07, 2013, 11:28:06 AM
Sorry ... have to call for the SCAMMER tag.
not because he failed to deliver product but because:

1. He has NOT paid back the bitcoins
2. He continued to state March Guaranteed, you had his word on it
3. Disappeared and has not attempted to justify why it failed.
4. Shown complete disrespect for the community... with blatant lies.
5. The current bitcoinasic site appears to be a complete fabrication and a scam.... Using fake details and addresses....

if the community is unable to police itself and weed out scammers BEFORE the damage is done, then how the hell can we expect bit-coin to accomplish anything other than become a haven for criminals and scammers.


Was this posted in the right thread? I'm confused.
1862  Other / Beginners & Help / Re: Hello Everybody on: February 07, 2013, 11:26:36 AM
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088247/quotes

I couldn't find any of the above quotes, but I am certain Skynet built them!
1863  Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: My response to the community on: February 07, 2013, 11:17:38 AM
Only speculation suggests Matt made a single Satoshi from his prank, but he is shunned and labeled a scammer.

Something is rotten here, and we can't be the only ones smelling it.

He labeled himself a scammer, it was a clause of his bet. Even without that clause, willful deceit and not honoring a financial agreement  should give anyone a scammer tag, particularly when we are talking 10s of 1000s of BTC.

As for PPTs, I too think they should be labeled as scammer, but at least you can argue for most of them that they did honor their agreements.

This is true. I agree completely that I asked for a scammer tag plain as day. The point about some others not getting them to me says that there is a need for an additional tag (which Theymos has already declined to make on numerous occasions). It just simply isn't so easy to say someone is a scammer. Deadbeat tag FTW.
1864  Other / Beginners & Help / Re: what is your primary purpose of using bitcoin? on: February 06, 2013, 12:24:57 PM
Primary purpose: The instant, cheap transfer of money across the world. Everything else is just a bonus.
1865  Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: Potential fix for Apple Bitcoin ban on: February 06, 2013, 12:03:34 PM
I appreciate the push in the right direction. I ran this idea by a friend and he said the same thing basically. "Why bother? This community only cares about freedom.". You guys proved him right and I'll remember it!
1866  Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: My response to the community on: February 06, 2013, 09:12:47 AM
You're misunderstanding what happened.  Matthew didn't take anyone's money.  He made a bet which he didn't honour - he didn't "become rich" because of that bet.
You don't know that. There are any number of ways he could have taken people's money and made himself money because of the bet.

For example, Matthew's bet propped up the price of Pirate debt because people who expected Matthew to honor the debt believed Matthew had reason to think Pirate would pay his debts -- otherwise, why make the bet at even odds? Matthew could have taken advantage of this personally to unload Pirate debt.

There are a number of other possible scenarios.


Hi everyone. I noticed some conversation this month about this, that some people were still fueling speculation, and although I realize some people may wish to consider my word "worthless" because of a single incident, I still feel it is my duty to at least make a statement about it here as a matter of public record.

This bet was a product of my immaturity in handling personal, work, social and performance stress. Long story short, I kind of snapped, let my ego and mouth write a check my ass couldn't cash, and then didn't know what to do and freaked out. I'll be honest, the entire time I was gone thinking about what to do with my life I couldn't stop thinking about what I had thrown away, how stupid the entire bet was, how many people were absolutely right about how pointless and avoidable this situation was, and about how screwed I was as a result.

This poor judgement lost my year's earnings of over $70,000 in cash, salaries, equity, active work contracts and not to mention reputation (to which I embarrassingly admit I didn't really grasp that I even had one to lose at the time). Looking back I can't believe I did it and I want to crawl into a hole and die, but that won't make things right and it would only serve to make numerous incorrect shortsighted opinions of me a reality.

I returned because I felt responsible. I hadn't intended on returning, not because I didn't feel guilty, but because I didn't think I had a place. It wasn't until I witnessed Roger Ver's recent PR goof of arguing on a public forum over a tiny bitcoin balance, embarrassing himself, his partners, blockchain.info and causing a miniature uprising against him that it finally snapped in my head that absolutely anyone can make a lapse of judgement, life is not over, and you can make it up to people.

I'll be honest, financially speaking there is never going to be a way to make it 100% right because I literally promised the world on a silver platter. Luckily for me, the kind, honest and wiser betters involved in all of this have (mostly) all agreed to much more realistic settlements that can be paid off within 3 years (note to others: never bet in BTC because the price increase will probably make a slave to debt for the rest of your life  Undecided).

Since I see there is still some unclarity about my actions, I feel the need to repeat it. Despite my admitting that I flip flopped on my original intentions in the face of greed and ego, I did not initially intend to "scam" anyone. I was absolutely going to pay up to 1000BTC, but I stayed up late one night after a fight with Bitcoin Magazine staff and for some reason...that night I just couldn't shut up. I lost control and learned a horrible lesson about self discipline and personal image management-- I did something I could never undo, and knowing I had no way of undoing it, I kept going, like a madman. It is true that there was a good majority of entertainment involved (for many!) and that was the most of the fuel, but I will not deny that deep down there was a fear of what I was doing would ruin my life. I had hoped, like always, that I could just walk away from a bad decision and start over. This is when I learned a lesson I had never had first hand experience with until now: *never fuck with other people's money*.

I felt like the world was out to get me. I became paranoid, I became defensive, and in the end I had lost more friends than I even realized I had. Organizations dissolved, passions and previous work vanished, companies went bankrupt and all sorts of legal action started to fly (not related to the bet, related to companies closing as a result of sudden managerial changes, investor issues, etc). Basically, I proved on a larger stage than I really realized I was on, that I was too immature for the amount of trust that was given to me.

This is where it gets interesting people. I have heard some trolls sniffing around saying hateful things like "Look, he thinks we'll trust him again" or "You'll never earn that trust back, get lost". Well, I don't mean to be rude (I am not in a position to be rude I think), but I am not interested in that trust. I want to function trustless, to do what I do *best*-- making major mistakes, learn from them, grow from them, and as I grow from said mistakes, profit from the experience and share that profit. This bet caused all sorts of growing pains, and not just for me. For that, I'm terribly sorry. I don't want to be the CEO of a service company that handles billions of dollars. But when I left, the break from the forums and chatter calmed my senses and I realized just how much of bitcoin's economic theories and political principles I was completely missing. I came back because there is no life for me without bitcoin. Sure, there's life for me without bitcoiners or these forums, but bitcoin is the future. It may not be the future forever, but it's the next logical step, and I get that. I returned because I wanted to tell everyone that they deserve better than what I showed last year (a net negative) and that I deserve to be a part of a movement despite having made a grave mistake.

I realize that in these social and moral situations the only way to make things right is to pay the price, and I am paying it dearly, and have been paying it dearly since those days. For that, I ask that the conspiracy theories try their best to at least hear me out when I make the following statement in all honesty:

I have never had the intent to rip off or damage the community, just foolishly and selfishly attack, pester and troll certain minorities that I felt at the time were "up against me". I have never been knowingly or willingly apart of anything I believed was a "scam", but I admit that my over eagerness to join in projects, prove my worth, be important, be useful, whatever you want to call it, has been stronger than my sensibilities in dealing with other humans, risks, and commonalities that may seem so obvious to most of you.

And finally, I have never known Pirate, made any deals with him, intended to profit from him, owned any of his debt, stocks, bonds, shares, passthrus, etc. (I simply didn't think that far into what I was doing last year to pull that off anyway). I was in it for the "trololol" entertainment but didn't have the sense to know how many I'd actually be hurting (including my friends) and didn't know when to fucking stop. It's as simple as that.

I'm sorry for letting my friends, colleagues and the general community down (at least the part that may have been entertained and then disappointed later when they found out it was a failure on my part). I hope to make it up to you guys in the coming years as my attitude and personality continues to go through a serious change. Thanks everyone for understanding, and those who don't understand, refuse to forgive/forget and want to follow me around the rest of my life posting responses to everything I say as "didn't you once _____", I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate the help you guys have always given me (even if your original intention was to mock) and I've been soaking up criticisms like a sponge for quite some time, I just needed this very long break from this place to let it get to work on me. I feel the need to put down my manchild toys and join the -actually- productive society I pretended to live in before.

Keep it real bitcoiners.

Matthew
1867  Economy / Scam Accusations / Re: SCAMMER: Cablepair (Tom) from BTCFPGA.com/bitcoinasic.net on: February 06, 2013, 08:34:52 AM
It's now been confirmed by Ari Asmar - owner of the real Can Electric - that they have no association with the re-branded bASIC.  A scammer tag needs to be applied right now, IMO.

Good grief.
1868  Economy / Invites & Accounts / Re: 83145 Points Lockerz account sell (10 BTC) on: February 06, 2013, 08:30:54 AM
Ahh Lockerz. The ultimate PR scam by Californian get rich quickers making a quick advertising buck off of silly children. Wish I could say I didn't fall for it at 12. People shouldn't be reselling this stuff though, they should be making a Lockerz site for Bitcoin (as if that were even possible).
1869  Economy / Services / Re: Looking for people to store some of the forum's money on: February 06, 2013, 07:07:18 AM
I agree the sentiment on split-keys and find it silly that it wouldn't be done that way first and foremost.
1870  Economy / Services / Re: Proxy to order Dominos Pizza with BTC on: February 06, 2013, 07:03:32 AM
Hey Matthew, my partner and I read your PM and we're discussing what to do regarding that. We'll get back to you but for now we're just going to stabilize the site a bit so it's not so hectic during the day. We'll definitely keep in touch though. Maybe over the weekend we can talk?

As for the Korea and other countries... we're not expanding yet into other currencies because we haven't found a solid way of doing so. It's still on the burner though and we're always brainstorming daily.

Great! If you get Korea working, I may be your only customer, but I'll order at least once a week ^_^
1871  Economy / Services / Re: Proxy to order Dominos Pizza with BTC on: February 06, 2013, 06:47:18 AM
Thanks!

It took about 8 minutes for bitpay to notice my transaction payment and was starting to get a bit worried.
Then about 15min to get a confirmation.
Pizza was good, order was correct. Smiley

Good job! Smiley

Thanks very much for your comment! I'm glad everything worked out well Smiley

I hope you enjoyed the pizza!

When will you be adding Korea? The Korean website for Papajohns is absolutely pathetic and doesn't work, and their app can't find my address!

Also, PM!
1872  Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: Potential fix for Apple Bitcoin ban on: February 06, 2013, 06:42:59 AM
We're all well aware that Apple has a disgust for anything that competes with iTunes credits, and thus bitcoin accepting apps (especially wallets) are not allowed. There is a potential fix for this though in the realm of games.

For those curious as to what I mean, ask yourselves-- didn't you grow up with a certain game related to money and property trading? Monopoly! What is those properties were actually representative of something else like a trade of value between another "player"?

Do you remember another little game called DIGIMON where you traded monsters? What if those monsters were just a representation of value? Do you remember being able to create said monster by insterting a CD into your drive and having an algorithm create one from the checksum/hash? Who's to stop you from creating monopoly money from a QR code?

Furthermore, with the Apple Game Center giving you all the tools (free API) for multiplayer games, what's to stop one talented coder from making an 'exchange game', or basically forex simulator? Desperate users could even buy fake bux (iTunes credits) in-app at a huge markup (30%+ for iTunes fees + risk of chargeback).

No, I'm not saying I'm making this right now (why would I ever admit that?), what I'm asking is, why isn't this avenue being tried by everyone else? Is the threat of eventually finding out and bashing it down too great?

Discuss  Smiley

The best fixes I can see for the Apple Bitcoin ban is:
1) Android
2) Even better when it comes out: Ubuntu Phone
3) Jailbreak

Well, that's not really a fix is it, it's more of a list of alternatives. (I use Android myself for that very reason!)
1873  Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Potential fix for Apple Bitcoin ban on: February 06, 2013, 06:36:18 AM
We're all well aware that Apple has a disgust for anything that competes with iTunes credits, and thus bitcoin accepting apps (especially wallets) are not allowed. There is a potential fix for this though in the realm of games.

For those curious as to what I mean, ask yourselves-- didn't you grow up with a certain game related to money and property trading? Monopoly! What is those properties were actually representative of something else like a trade of value between another "player"?

Do you remember another little game called DIGIMON where you traded monsters? What if those monsters were just a representation of value? Do you remember being able to create said monster by insterting a CD into your drive and having an algorithm create one from the checksum/hash? Who's to stop you from creating monopoly money from a QR code?

Furthermore, with the Apple Game Center giving you all the tools (free API) for multiplayer games, what's to stop one talented coder from making an 'exchange game', or basically forex simulator? Desperate users could even buy fake bux (iTunes credits) in-app at a huge markup (30%+ for iTunes fees + risk of chargeback).

No, I'm not saying I'm making this right now (why would I ever admit that?), what I'm asking is, why isn't this avenue being tried by everyone else? Is the threat of eventually finding out and bashing it down too great?

Discuss  Smiley
1874  Economy / Web Wallets / Re: Blockchain.info - Bitcoin Block explorer & Currency Statistics on: February 06, 2013, 03:37:48 AM
No password box in the login field at the moment. Must be doing some updates.
1875  Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: Bitcoin Video Series Available on: February 06, 2013, 02:05:46 AM
Thank you for clarifying further, I do agree with your sentiments entirely and now that I understand the bigger picture of your response I suppose I support it. Just out of curiousity, if the employee has been reprimanded and is no longer able to make such a mistake, would there still be grounds enough to avoid this particular video for you for any reason other than personal taste or message content?
The fact that the Mr. Pike has explained that he was acting on his own without permission of the company goes a long way toward rebuilding trust in the company.  There isn't much more that the company can do to rebuild trust quickly.  To publicly state that Mr. Pike has been reprimanded would be a bit like a child apologizing after they are caught with their hand in the cookie jar.  There is no way to know if they are just posturing to appease or if they are sincere.

As long as there aren't future actions from other representatives of the company that indicate a systemic problem within the company, over time trust will be restored.  If this is the first time the Mr. Pike has found himself involved in a situation like this, then the best thing the company can do is probably to explain their policy clearly to him and let him know that while one time is a mistake, a second similar event would require significant consequences (and make it clear to him what those consequences would be).  Then leave it up to the social media team to figure out how best to handle the situation.

At this point, assuming I don't see any further indications that the company is untrustworthy, given Mr. Pike's explanation and apology, I don't expect to "be letting [people] know that I find the company to be deceptive and untrustworthy".  I probably won't go out of my way to tell people about the videos, and I probably won't bother watching them right now.  If the company continues to put out a quality product, and I hear others talking about them I'd be willing to give it another look in a few months.



Let's not forget that they don't appear to be selling a product and that this is a free video for the benefit of educating outsiders on bitcoin. Seems like that should also count for something positive!
1876  Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: Bitcoin Video Series Available on: February 06, 2013, 01:26:44 AM
Isn't that how the free market is supposed to work.  Businesses are supposed to behave in an ethical manner because if they don't they'll lose customers and profits.  By engaging in business with businesses that are known to behave unethically just because we think it would result in something good for us personally, we eventually break down the feedback loop and end up with companies like Enron.

I'd like to think that true free markets are run at least in part by logic, not emotion.
My response isn't emotional.  It is logical.  I'm not acting the way I am out of spite because they "hurt my feelings" or "offended me".  I choose my actions logically and intentionally to influence behavior.  If a company is known to let ethics slide in one area, then there is reason enough to believe that they do so in other areas as well.

I see that Mr. Pike has expressed regret and has indicated that he took it upon himself to attempt this advertisement without the permission or knowledge of the company he is representing.  If so, and if the company culture provides a reasonable expectation of ethical trustworthy behavior of their employees, then his employer will probably be making it clear to Mr. Pike that his actions were unacceptable.

Social media can be a powerful advertising medium, but when not handled properly it can be a P.R. train wreck. For a great example of how not to handle P.R. via social media see here:

http://rlstollar.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/applebees-overnight-social-media-meltdown-a-photo-essay/


Thank you for clarifying further, I do agree with your sentiments entirely and now that I understand the bigger picture of your response I suppose I support it. Just out of curiousity, if the employee has been reprimanded and is no longer able to make such a mistake, would there still be grounds enough to avoid this particular video for you for any reason other than personal taste or message content?
1877  Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: Bitcoin Video Series Available on: February 06, 2013, 01:17:06 AM
TL/DR on my previous post:  These posts were from me as an individual "going rogue" and not official company posts.  The social team will hang me by my tendons when they see all this, but don't blame them or the company. 

For what it's worth, the opinions are correct and it was a big mistake. On the other hand, I enjoyed the video and I would have enjoyed it even if it were later found to be done by Tom Williams. Many of us are used to the superficiality of content over the function, and perhaps that makes us better at marketing consultants, but your video will live on despite the feelings in this thread. Try not to let it get you down and I'd say just avoid any such mistakes in the future.  Cry
1878  Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: Bitcoin Video Series Available on: February 06, 2013, 01:13:35 AM
Isn't that how the free market is supposed to work.  Businesses are supposed to behave in an ethical manner because if they don't they'll lose customers and profits.  By engaging in business with businesses that are known to behave unethically just because we think it would result in something good for us personally, we eventually break down the feedback loop and end up with companies like Enron.

I'd like to think that true free markets are run at least in part by logic, not emotion.
1879  Other / Beginners & Help / Re: Stop Sending Me Bitcoins! on: February 06, 2013, 12:44:29 AM
Were you constantly receiving/currently expecting any transactions?
1880  Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: Blockchain rollback limit? on: February 06, 2013, 12:37:22 AM
I'd probably abandon bitcoin and look for something else.
(Start by getting into Ripple just in case!)
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