Unfortunately bitcoiners have so far shown themselves to be very poor at actually getting in there and luring other players into using bitcoins, so out of the numerous virtual game-currencies players are exchanging among themselves bitcoins are one of the least-used varieties.
-MarkM-
Maybe people just try too hard? Everyone's so busy trying to convince the world that it's real, that a) they forget to play with it and b) the hard-sell sounds scammy.  |
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Hmm, I've seen those wikipedia articles before and it still gives me the same suspicions as before. It seems there's a lot of money being made by the US medical industry for coming up with huge lists of vague symptoms where 1) there's "something for everyone", 2) it's basically incurable, but 3) some symptoms can sort-of be managed on an ongoing basis, and 4) everyone else better watch out because the nearest one is probably in YOUR neighbourhood!  |
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Problem is: how could they buy bitcoins? With their funny money?
Maybe they could try to sell some oil for BTC.
Anyone on the BTC market for a tanker or two of oil?
Why buy bitcoins when you've got cheap electricity from the ground, and computers from China? |
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So what is the impact to the BTC community? Are we about to see mainstream software companies accepting BTC as payments?
No way. Even if they wanted to they wouldn't because the market cap of Bitcoin is too low and the liquidity is just not there. These companies deal in billions, not thousands. Yeah, yeah... The liquidity is not there because large companies are not yet using it. If they can't liquidate millions of dollars worth of BTC on a moments notice they won't touch it. Unless they wanted to use Bitcoin for some niche product/service. Interesting... What do you mean by "liquidating" millions of dollars at a moment's notice? Hiding profits from auditors? Many companies deal with commodities that are far slower than Bitcoin, yet they somehow manage to work around that. For example, shipping companies cannot just magically liquidate their stock at a moment's notice. On the other hand, if large companies are unable to use Bitcoin because of some fear that they'll be like an elephant in a china shop, that's their problem. Their incompetence is another's advantage. |
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LaRouche is controlled opposition. He's being funded by the Feds and in turn, his group gathers intel on radicals, upstarts and others.
My advice is to stay away but make up your own mind.
Similar labels could apply to Ron Paul though, right? I guess any opposition could be called controlled, as long as it's being watched. I wonder how many times an alphabet agency secretly intervened to protect Bitcoin because they considered it an 'asset' of theirs. |
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I came across this guy a little while ago and don't really know what to make of him. http://larouchepac.com/I'm not promoting or opposing him, just need a 'sanity check'  My impression thus far: He seems like a gentlemanly old geezer who never got the memo about the Cold War ending. Always harping on about the possibility of a thermonuclear war erupting between the big three (Russia, China, and USA). He seems so opposed to Obama, you'd think it was old-fashioned racism or prejudice. However, he also seems well educated and claims to base his opinions on Obama's track record and facts on the ground. He's convinced that a war with Iran would lead to a devastating nuclear conflict, and basically "the end of humanity" and all that. Apparently all the chess pieces are slowly coming together with the US encircling Russia and China and preparing for a giant conflict, using the Middle East as the starting point. However, unlike all the youtube "crazies" who are easily dismissed as conspiracy nutters, he's an elderly statesman who apparently ran for the US presidential office a number of times. Hence my confusion. What do you people all think? Surely it's not that bad? I don't want to start stockpiling canned food and dust masks just because a paranoid guy managed to spread fear! |
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If you were so logically superior, you would be drinking pina coladas on a beach somewhere with all the money you've made from anti-pirate bets,
Got good wifi here So glad I was lucky rich smart enough to take the other side of the bet and win big! instead of littering this forum with spam posts. No? One man's trash is another's treasure. |
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Factors in our favour this year:
- In London, not the remote location of Prague.
...
Ouch. harsh! People have borderless access to Prague via car, bus or train from several adjacent countries. And it's not so far from some of the Eastern European countries either. Whereas London is not only on an island, it's not really known as a "low cost" destination either. |
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None of the news sources causing the trend have anything to do with MNW. In fact, no one has written about it except for these forums. Let's move on. Be honest. You didn't bother reading anything at all before replying? |
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[meh...]
...
How many people would buy this bridge I've got to sell?
Sweet!! Does it have pillars? I really like the ones with those old-school arches made with stone bricks. Oh boy! |
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So many people seem absolutely convinced that MNW has gone over to the Dark Side. However, I saw his "facebook" youtube video, and it reinforces my conviction that he was just doing an epic prank for the betterment of the community. How does some video he made over a year ago any indication to his motivation for starting a pirate "bet"?... The same way that others claim they can divine his true intentions from words on the Internet. If it were that easy, why did they get it wrong the first time? MNW knows how to signal when he's trolling and when he's not. Most of the time he's trolling. Occasionally he gets serious, eg when he accepted pre-orders for the magazine. During his bet, he made every attempt to signal that it was a genuine offer. Furthermore, if it was a prank there was nobody but himself to enjoy it (pranks are funny because you can laugh with witnesses who were in on the joke). It only started to seem like a bad joke in the third week after it was clear pirate wasn't going to pay, and he started accepting more bets way beyond the original 10k cap. Even at that point, MNW was very quiet and any signs that it was prank were extremely muted.
Clearly the prank wouldn't have worked if it had been all "wink wink, nudge nudge" and with loopholes that were more obvious. No fun in that. And then what? Next week, on the Bitcoin show... Ex-secret service guy who used to work for the CIA has a HYIP, possibly involving drug-running. Obviously he can't reveal any details as that could compromise his buddies in war-torn Afghanisnam. Watch as the Pirate victims fall prey once more! |
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I have a theory about this bet which I'm not sure others have stated yet. I don't think Matthew ever intended to pay out if he lost, but I think as time went on and it became more apparent that he was going to lose the bet, he kept increasing the bets more and more to make the whole thing look like a ridiculous prank. Look at all the people now saying 'But all of you KNEW he wasn't going to pay out 80,000 BTC'... The bet increases were a ploy to make the whole thing so absurd that only a 'fool' would have expected him to pay out.
Ahh, I was wondering why the thread referred to 10kBTC, yet everyone was talking about 80kBTC. Whatever his "real intentions" were, this lynching just keeps getting sadder. I don't even know the guy, but I sure hope he's OK. |
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I don't think scamming is ok. However, scamming is not a matter of my opinion nor a matter of morality. People just get scammed. Scammers don't contemplate whether their victims deserve to lose their money or not. It is inevitable that gullible people get scammed. Now, Bitcoin is in its infancy. It is very vulnerable in various ways. Personally, I don't care about victims of scams. But the market gets fucked in the ass everytime you fall for someone like Pirate. If we want Bitcoin to survive, the members of its core community MUST change their approach. Otherwise this wonderful project is doomed. I agree completely, but some people seem to make this "zap" connection in their minds to equate the fact that it will happen, with the conclusion that it doesn't matter and that one shouldn't even try to do anything about it. Others take an extra step and join the criminal ranks.... So many people seem absolutely convinced that MNW has gone over to the Dark Side. However, I saw his "facebook" youtube video, and it reinforces my conviction that he was just doing an epic prank for the betterment of the community. Even if he was being immature, reckless, thoughtless, or whatever, my gut tells me he's got a good soul - hence the net benefit that this debacle will result in. Besides, if you've got a community with a gambling addiction as bad as this one has, mere 'talking' won't help. |
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I bet 9 Zillion Bitcoins that nobody will learn a damn thing from being the butt of Matt's successful epic trolling.
Haa! I accept your wager and raise you ten hundred Satoshis on what you said earlier about them not learning anything! Man, I'm gonna be so rich! *applies baby powder to diaper rash*"
You'll be needing a lot more of that after I win this bet! Especially when their refusal to take personal responsibility is endorsed by Management.
I guess it keeps the Proles happy. Otherwise they'd find some other way to satisfy their blood-lust. I take the Inner Party's special tags with a grain of salt anyway. |
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On a slightly more serious note, it's getting embarrassing to read so many sob stories about people who got "scammed" by MNW.
It certainly is, but I didn't come to the conclusion that starting yet another thread about it was a good idea. Somehow, you did.  This one seems to have the unique property of not demonizing MNW, even trying to see the bright side. There's so much whinging from self-professed victims, yet he seems to be the only one who actually lost anything. |
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Oops, I meant to say bullish. Check this out!: google trends for bitcoin, last 30 daysTold you it was skyrocketing! Never said it had anything to do with Matthew N. Wright, though. Why, what were you thinking? Can I plz has a SCA/\/\_/\/\3R tag now? On a slightly more serious note, it's getting embarrassing to read so many sob stories about people who got "scammed" by MNW. I can only hope that these people will eventually learn their lesson, go to Gambler's Anonymous, or do whatever it takes to wean themselves off that urge to make retarded bets. I mean seriously, first they get taken for a ride by that Sea-man dude/tte, then they try to 'hedge' their losses by taking another gamble? Seriously? I don't know how they do it... There's gotta be money in it somewhere... It's my view that MNW has done a huge favour to the community with his prank. Think about it, what's worse: A)The Sea-man or some other opportunist collects money from 100s, perhaps 1000s of people who quietly end up bitter and feel disillusioned about Bitcoin because they know they've been outsmarted. They either don't tell anyone about it because of shame, or they warn people to stay away. B)Matthew N. Wright puts on a big show. Goddam... he even timed it for Sunday/Monday, clever prick... and maybe, just maybe people start being a bit more careful round here? For once, a scam is associated with a reasonably well-known on-line personality, so it's less likely to be passed off as a Bitcoin problem. |
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I think Romney could easily have gotten it paid without anything tying him to it. Just because some BTC are sent doesn't prove it was him. I feel like if he thought they had it, and there was some not great stuff in there, he'd have paid by now.
I think they're going for the "ignore and hope for the best" strategy. 4 weeks is a long time. The hackers should've made it Sept 14th or something like that. Just in time for the Bitcoin 2012 conference |
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I think that you did really harm some people with your actions. The internal strife that your bet created is terrible.
Wait wait wait, how is his dumb bet possibly worse than the scammers who actually STOLE money like Bitcoinica/Intersango, Pirate, and every other fake exchange "hack"? I don't know, man. Lead salts in the water supply? I'm thinking of ditching this forum. Too many retards crying: poor me! I got teh scammed by teh Matt Bad Wolf Wright. He stole all my moneys! We must banned together and lynch the basterd before he scams anyone alse.
Maybe there's some kind of biological/environmental explanation for the mass hysteria?  |
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Perhaps the sincerity I read is entirely fake. I now emphatically think Matthew should seek some professional psychological help. ... Lol. Always the US' of A way! Want moral support and guidance? Go pay someone for it! I say give the guy a break. People make mistakes, he underestimated people's stupidity, get over it. Maybe the gamble-aholics who are baying for blood should take a look at themselves? If Matt is such a well-known prankster/troll/clown/whatever, what were you thinking engaging in a bet? Of course you were going to lose by not getting your free winnings. I reckon MNW should stay if he wants to, the site feature of "scammer" tags is childish, and besides, if he's not here, who will educate the n00bs about the dangers of Nigerian scams? |
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