Been a while but I've built up my sMerit and caught up on those who I missed.

Maybe start with pumping a few NFT collections from behind your keyboard before amassing an army and trying to takeover natural resources?  You might find that some things are a little more difficult in real life than on paper.  Hoping this is some form of satire, as you would almost certainly be killed trying to enact such a terrible plan.  Certainly there are easier ways to make a buck without risking human life?  How much money do you think it would take to realistically make a plan like this happen?  A hundred million dollars?  Not to mention where would you even get the equipment...  All ridiculous when you think about it.  I'll stick to looking for contributors to things that can benefit mankind.  This ain't it.

I know you said you don't want to comment on this specific case, but I think it's cases like this why the rule exists on an unofficial basis.  Sure, it's not the biggest deal in the world to answer multiple questions with multiple posts.  I'm sure many of us have made this mistake in the past causing a post to be deleted (when maybe merging it would be the right thing to do).  There are plenty of people who abuse this though and bump their own threads this way, which is why it exists.  It isn't that big of a deal to just edit your prior post and add information.  That's what the edit button is for. 

As far as other unofficial rules, I think a case by case basis is what makes them unofficial rules.

Not only did it surely provide some education to users, but it also had to have an effect on spam right?  Has anyone looked at posting statistics?  Sure, some people were probably posting a lot more than normal to get their IQ points up (which I find hilarious) but I'm guessing a lot of spammers probably took the day off as it was too much work for their reward.  I think if we replaced it with Bitcoin trivia and made it mandatory for lower member levels posting outside of the Beginners section it would be a welcomed addition to the forum.  Maybe even spur some more cheap membership buys.  Hell, make everyone wearing a signature do it at least occasionally (except Donators and VIPs, LOL)...

I think the main thing preventing adoption is that people are set in their ways and Bitcoin is new and scary.  A lot of people don't want the responsibility of having to safeguard their own coins, or even learn about the process.  They've heard horror stories about keeping funds on an exchange and don't trust themselves to store it themselves, so what are they to do?  Many people like this would likely only get exposure to Bitcoin through things like ETFs in their retirement accounts.  Over the years I've given friends quite a bit of BTC and it almost never fails that they lose their keys or some other thing that caused them to lose their Bitcoin.  The average person is definitely not ready to have their finances in their own hands...  There are still folks paying financial advisors to set their money in index funds...  People have a long way to go when it comes to financial knowledge and I don't see schools doing their part.  For this reason, I think it would realistically take generations before everyone got on board with cryptocurrencies. 

It gets tricky towards the end of the season when it comes to gambling predictions.  You never know which star is resting themselves to get ready for the playoffs and which teams are hungry to get meaningless wins.  There are always individual player goals that might motivate some guys without it being too well known.  Then you have guys like LeBron going for the scoring title.  It might not be a bad idea to take some long shots and hope for the best. 

I am curious if there is betting available anywhere on who will win the scoring title, or which teams will be included in the playoffs.  I'm tempted to bet against the Lakers and bet with LeBron in that scenario as I think his goal going forward is to score a lot of points and not lead his team into what would likely be a first round exit, if they won the play-in...

It's looking more and more like Conor McGregor might get a shot at Kamaru Usman as he tries to become the first champion in 3 different weight classes.  I understand his thinking...  He's been doing nothing but lifting weights and adding mass to his upper body since his last injury and he looks huge.  I don't think he stands a chance against Usman at 170 pounds though.  Likely that will be the loss that ends McGregor's ability to score super fights.  He's going to need another spectacle fight after that to keep his name in the news.  I suspect that's when a potential matchup with Jake Paul will be in the cards.  With each passing day it looks like McGregor is going to end his UFC career with a loss to Usman.  He'll have a punchers chance, but that's about it.

The floor continues it’s March upward. With Do Kwon still having more than 8 billion dollars worth of Bitcoin to buy, it feels a lot like we might be seeing an advance above $50K next week. This feels much more permanent than the other runs above $50K we’ve seen. For now, it’s all eyes on Terra while we ride this purchase up. The question will be what will demand look like once Do Kwon is done buying? Will other billionaires follow suit or will that be a good short term cash out point before things return to being supported by the market instead of one major player.

Westbrook really needs to shoot a higher percentage for them to win games. LeBron has been carrying them, and AD had an average game. It seems to me like LeBron is just going for the scoring title. He’s in the lead now and with a smaller and smaller chance at seeing the postseason it seems like he has his heart set on being the oldest player to ever win an NBA scoring title. With him currently in the lead and other stars likely to take their foot off the gas a little to prepare for the playoffs I think he’s got a pretty good shot at making it happen. A small silver lining in an otherwise frustrating season for the King of Akron.

LeBron and Anthony Davis are both in the lineup tonight. The game is about to rip off and sadly I can’t watch it, but I’ll be awaiting the highlights and keeping my fingers crossed. The playoffs without LeBron James would be a shame. Especially at this stage in his career when who knows how many seasons he has left in the tank. Hopefully AD comes back strong and gets them the W. Additionally, the Spurs won tonight so the pressure is on the Lakers. Hopefully the Spurs lose a few going forward to take some of the pressure off, because I don’t know if the Lakers have what it takes to make it into the postseason on their own.

I don't think I would trust anything I read from anyone today.  That being said, I doubt casinos will be making fake offers and then claiming April Fools.  People are pretty particular when it comes to their money and in an industry like gambling I could only imagine the uproar from users if a fake offer was presented as a joke.  While it's best to take anything you read today with a grain of salt, I especially wouldn't be making financial decisions based on anything you see.  My advice is to just go about your business as normal and refrain from getting excited about any special offers that appear too good to be true.  Some people have pretty bad taste when it comes to things like this.

I would agree that I don't think it was staged.  There is just too much backlash and I don't think Will Smith's reputation in Hollywood will be the same after this.  They're talking about expelling him from the Academy, and while they most likely won't be taking back his Oscar, you can bet he won't be winning another one in his career.  I'm guessing he'll probably be missing out on a few invites and likely be blackballed from a few production companies.  You can't disrupt the Academy Awards and then think your movie career is going to keep going strong, but what do I know...  Hollywood is changing.  For me it's the double standard that bothers me.  What exactly do you call the sort of privilege that kept Will Smith out of jail? 

That's a lot of posting on April Fool's Day...  Congrats to those having fun and displaying their vast intellect with the rest of the forum.  This is one of the more fun April Fool's Day activities we've had and after all the uproar with the covid pandemic stuff in the past, it's nice to see something less controversial.  While I may not have time to make it into the High IQ Gang today, there is always hope for the future.  LOL

Now go make those posts and answer those trivia questions!  An IQ test this may be after all. 

Happy April Fools Day to my fellow fools.  WAGMI!

I think having Nunn out all season wasn't expected either.  He was going to fill a much needed role for them and with all they gave up to assemble their Big 3, not having him did more harm than most people think.  Carmelo has done great this year.  I expected him to retire after this season but with how good he has been, it wouldn't surprise me if he came back to do it one more time.

Tonight's game against the Pelicans is a fairly important one for them.  I guess every game is important now that they're coming to the end of the season and their postseason status is still in the air.  With how tough their remaining schedule is though, tonight is a must win for them against a team they are capable of beating.

That was a scary moment. Same with Durant getting his ankle kicked at the end there. The Bucks held on and won in overtime without Middleton. Giannis was just too much. That three to put them into overtime was something that he’s added to his game recently. I think Giannis might have shown himself to be the MVP with that performance. They just gave him the ball and got out of the way for that last play. Then he showed he could not only hit 3s, but he can bury his free throws as well. Good game for the Bucks. We’ll see this matchup again in the playoffs I’m sure. Hopefully with Ben Simmons in the game.

What happens if you answer incorrectly? I may never know. LOL

I almost thought for sure that this year’s April Fools joke would be some announcement that Bitcoin was moving to proof of stake, or perhaps an announcement that bitcointalk would be distributing free NFTs to everyone. Perhaps that humor might be a little too controversial although nothing could be more controversial than the covid joke. LOL. Have fun with your trivia folks. Hope people are smarter as a result.

This Bucks vs Nets game is turning out to be a nailbiter. Giannis is having an impressive game and just managed to get his team a small lead. Durant is getting swarmed every time he touches the ball. You can see how Ben Simmons would be useful for bringing the ball up the floor. Watching this game it seems like the Nets are totally dependent on Durant collapsing the defense and then finding the open man. This feels like a playoff matchup and you can see that Durant and Giannis are a level above everyone else. I wish we got to see Ben Simmons in this game.

There was a time when ASICs were new and Bitcoin mining profitability was off the charts, where you could setup air conditioning units to keep your miners cool.  I remember I had one of the early ASICs and it was producing a TON of Bitcoin, but was so hot (even at room temperature) that it was constantly throttling.  I had to setup a dedicated air conditioning unit in order to get it mining full speed, which made a massive difference in the amount of BTC it was producing.  Nowadays this isn't a smart setup though.  As others have stated the cost of running the AC unit would destroy any chance at turning a profit.  Therefore you need to focus on removing heat, not cooling the miners.  Think of them like a fire, you wouldn't point an air conditioner at a fire to keep it cool, you would vent the heat away from where you are. 

I don't think this is true at all.  Bitcoin is actually based on greed and without could not function.  Some might call it Game Theory which powers the beauty of Bitcoin's security model.  Miners are counted on to act in the most greedy way possible (using the most high value transactions from the mempool and as many as they can fit in a block) in order to earn rewards for their effort in security the blockchain.  Without the greed of miners, Bitcoin's security model would be severely flawed.  So while you say satoshi miscalculated the greed of the average person, I would say that he not only did not do that, he counted on their greed surpassing attempts by others to bring the transaction processing to a halt. 

I don't think the Suns match up well against the Lakers.  If I were them, I'd be hoping that the Spurs end up in that play-in tournament.  Nobody wants to come across LeBron and AD in the playoffs...

Every game is becoming more and more important as the Lakers are now back in the play-in with the Spurs loss last night.  The Lakers are playing the Jazz tonight, and you can bet they'll be bringing their A game as they have the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA.  You can watch the game on TNT (like I will be) and it's the second of a doubleheader featuring the Bucks and Nets in the first game.  A good night for basketball...  I hope LeBron is back.