Updating your wallets frequently on an airgapped device is not necessary, unless there is a serious security flaw, you can use the older versions for along time. Furthermore the risks in getting a updated version is nothing compared to having your wallet on your regular device.

Ledger is not an open source wallet, I recommended you use that for more security.
Getting scammed by fake stores is a whole 'nother discussion which is unrelated to my initial comment.

Bitcointalk is not in competition with any other crypto related forum, so it's perfectly fine to discuss other forums.

The one time the admin banned a forum from being advertised here was one some yes back that was paying members to spam posts here on the forum. I can't remember the name now, but the spams we're getting out of hand and needed to be regulated.

That's correct. AFAIK, all mods can also whitelist users, but they do not have a puvlucly available email where proxybanned members can reach out to them to request a whitelist.
Welsh is a mod so should always have had the ability to whitelist since they were appointed.

I didn't say a hardware wallet is the solution to all problems, there's isn't a singular security advice that offers 100% security neither is there a best advice, rather we have an application of several precautions and security tips which we are constantly learning and improving.

Combining a hardware wallet and a airgapped device deters majority of online threats like clipboard malwares or seed stealers.

As a crypto investor, you should invest in a good open source hardware wallet or keep your coins on an airgapped device. This way you don't have to worry about what you download on your mobile or desktop cause it's not linked to your holdings.

If you have to use a regular mobile device, you have to take necessary precautionary measures.
• Don't use third party keyboards,
• Don't use closed source wallets like trustwallet,
• Don't store passwords or seed phrases on the device,
• Don't click on unsolicited links.

Certainly. I'm certain most of the members who stumble on the forum without any guidance from an already registered member will abandon it once they see a big red banner telling them they have been banned and need to pay a token to get unbanned, no matter how small that token is.

Most of the members who use that option are ban evaders (this of course is down to personal perception),  so we still are not getting through to target audience.

Discontinuing the evil fee penalty all together is a solution. It is long overdue and has not had the desired effects to prevents account farming and ban evasions.

A huge percentage of those who scam get away with it. Very few cases gets global attention which attracts lots of chai analysis and tracking of the path of the funds.

There exists some safe havens where those whk want to live privately using Bitcoin without being tracked or forced to give up their privacy, this fortunately does not provide security for scammers.

There's no secret advise to navigate the forum. Just keep to the rules, find a niche that interests you, build knowledge on that and join conversations here.
Doing more of reading means you do more of learning and can apply that to your practical Bitcoin journey.

Use the search option. The forum has tons of information on every topic you are interested in.

Being indexed on Google does not mean a website is safe and there are so many reasons why someone would put a malicious website on Google.

Include your links in code tags when you're not certain of its authenticity.

If fees are on the low side and you plan to use the channel for an extended period of time, opening the channel would not be a barrier at all . What complicates it is when users expect they can use LN to perform a single transaction and pay cheaper fees.

The examples you highlighted are instances of when it is used in relation to cryptocurrency, but the possibilities extend far beyond this, making simple searches for gyms around you or a shipping order can pick up very relevant and accurate information about you.

Social media is a good tool for this, which has been used for a very long time now, and as long as the companies can lobby their way out of any legal issues they would not face any problem at all

With crypto using open sourced tools would go a long way to protect you from websites that track different levels of information.

They have been for a very long time now. Governments use them to track us, websites use them to do the same and have more detailed information about us then we know of ourselves.

What's ironic is that even if the government data pull requests become public, the public would not care much about it.

These are the type of discussions that need to be considered on a case by case basis. You can't lump all high rankings members into one group who attack and can't lump all newbies into a bunch of well meaning but ill adviced individuals.

More importantly, it's much easier to grow a tougher skin to the comments of others than to get them to change the way they communicate. The internet is an uncensored cesspool and I find here to contain mostly cultured member when compared to the rest.

The top Bitcoin competitor is centralization and anti privacy activities by Bitcoin holders. Giving your Bitcoin to the government to help keep safe is one way to indirectly centralize/regulate the network.

The government does not own anyone.

You can build a coin on a blockchain you created, nothing is stopping you from doing that, but you cannot make it bypass the sum of Bitcoin users. People would use your design if it offers the values they need.

Your journey is not easier without a source of income, it doesn't exist.

Without cahs flow, you do not have any means of putting money into Bitcoin, even if all your needs are catered for. Anyone joining Bitcoin now to get rich should realize also that the ROI is no where near what it was ten years ago. They would not get lambos with Bitcoin, except they already had a very good source of income.

If you want to get rich, build your income and reduce your expenditures and liabilities, then invest.

Even hot wallets with very little amounts should be secured adequately. Your address is a digital footprint and you should be careful with how you protect that and prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.

As a second point, storing your backup phrase like that sometimes can make one complacent and use that same method at other times.

Lightening network would have been a great option to add, and it makes lots of sense for a bicoin discussion forum to promote LN advancement globally, but I personally do not think the target audience would be as savvy in using LN, if it comes with a guide on how to make payments through channels it can increase usage, but majority would freak out and think this forum is a scam.

This is an odd way to quote someone and without context, no one would have an idea what I was talking about. Best to link the reply, or part of the reply you're referring to.

Removing signatures would not results in more quality topics and replies, it would be an overall drop you in almost every metric, a lot of that would be spam posts, but we would also lose a lot of quality posts and quality posters. This doesn't mean that they are here simply for the reward, but it most likely keeps most of the members more active, and sharing quality content.

No the bitcoins are not yours, they belong to the exchange that holds the private keys and that exchange allows you use it till they don't.

Yes there are ways, do not keep your bitcoins on an exchange, use a non custodian wallet that gives you access to the private keys.

There are decentralized exchanges that never have access to your bitcoins during an exchange.

The knowledge you gain from joining conversations on the forum is the benefit you get for the time spent here, merits is a by product of joining conversations and dropping valuable and quality posts. As a newbie the focus should be on what to learn. The focus is the same for all ranks up to legendary as well.

You need a thicker skin and a finer filter. Not all comments should matter to you.