ESPN's playoff machine is up and running: http://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs/machine

My prediction for the playoffs:

All things considered, he did look pretty good, particularly in the 4th quarter.  No experience with the Rams' playbook or their receivers, but he was able to come out and play street ball anyway.  There's a reason he was the number 1 draft pick, and I don't think he's nearly as bad as his detractors claim.  But he's been streaky, for sure.  Sometimes he looks amazing, and other times he looks horrible.


Lol, incentive based bets are for real.  Anyway, I figure since I've been abstaining from betting on football for most of the year I'll give myself a chance to make up for lost time.  Win or lose, lol



One game that really has me intrigued from a gambling perspective is the Ravens @ Pittsburg.  Baltimore is the underdog, with 2.10 odds at the moment.  Lamar is out for the week, but Huntly has been a decent backup in the past.  That seems like a bargain, especially with a small handicap.

Congrats to Morocco for the win.  They looked amazing today, and in retrospect have been incredible on defense throughout the competition.  Incredible and historic job making it to the semifinals, and I'm sure they'll be a force for either England or France to deal with.  I was thinking that Croatia was the darkhorse this time around, it may be actually be Morocco.


I can only imagine his disappointment, and the disappointment of a whole nation.  Obviously this was his last opportunity ro bring the trophy home to Portugal, and I'm sure most of his countrymen thought this one of the best chances they've had in a long time.

As for Cristiano, I wonder if he'll play again.  I'm sure he wants to, but he certainly doesn't have to from a financial perspective.  The other, and more significant part of the question is who'll take him?  


Fixed it for you.  Morocco is in Africa, and obviously European teams have made it to the semifinals numerous times.

What an amazing match!  So much awesome defense in the first 90, two incredible goals in OT, and to finish it off on penalty kicks against Allison Becker!  Hats off to Croatia, I had Brazil going all the way at the start, but I suspected that Croatia wouldn't make it easy for anyone they faced.

No, it doesn't have a camera, but it does generate QR codes for addresses and signed transactions.


To use USB connectivity you need to enable a setting on the device, that's all.  It'll work just like any typical wallet with Electrum.  With the default setting the USB port only provides power.  I tend to forget that it also has NFC capability, but I don't know of an app that I would want to use with the feature.



 



Okay, now I get it, I must have misunderstood your previous post.  That's actually a much better system, and what I would have expected from the device.  

Not that I know of, just wishful thinking.  But you know what they say about being in business for yourself; if you're not growing your business your actually shrinking it.  There's no such thing as being stagnant. 


Absolutely.  As has been demonstrated by new arrivals like the Foundation Passport, the market is ready for upgrades and new innovation, and accommodating of higher prices than we've seen so far.  I really like my ColdCard but to remain relevant they need to add features to their devices that make them easier to use.  A camera would fit right to their original philosophy of keeping the device air-gapped, as well.

Agreed, but I'll counter with saying that Shanahan is one sneaky bugger.  He may have feigned interest just to get McVey to jump on Baker, lol.  I'm just kidding, I have no evidence to suggest that happened, but the local media ran with speculation about the 9ers picking up Baker just because of the timing with Garoppolo going out for the season.  Again.

Watching Brock Purdy on Sunday was fun.  Obviously it's way to too early to tell how good of a quarterback he'll be, but honestly his athleticism and accuracy looked worlds better than anything I've seen from Trey Lance so far.  Not to mention, I always love rooting for an underdog player and you don't get more "underdog" than being labeled Mr. Irrelevant.

Of course now I need to be concerned about a backup for the backup's backup.


I haven't had much interest in gambling on real football games so far this season either, but you might be onto something there.  Adams is still Adams, but the Rams secondary has really slipped form last season.  We all know it was going to happen, but I certainly didn't expect it to happen to this degree.

Although I was speaking from personal experience, you're not quite right.  I do like Windows, and being a mechanical engineer leaves me little choice but to have my workstation set up with Windows regardless of my feelings.  But I can't recall ever promoting or suggesting that I like Ledger, and I've certainly never bashed ChipMixer.  So you're one out of three so far.


Has he demonstrated anything other than being a reasonable guy in your opinion?  Just because you and I disagree with him about one specific subject (or more) doesn't necessarily make him unreasonable.  And, I can assure you that my business dealings with him have had zero affect on my opinion regarding this subject, or any other that he and I may agree or disagree on.

What I do see is you starting to become unreasonable yourself, as you often do when people disagree with you.  Don't take things so personally when people express opinions that differ from yours.  It's a very common thing to happen, and getting worked up over it isn't healthy.  Not to mention, when you do take on those "harsh tones" people are likely to tune you out, and your message ends up having the opposite of it's intended affect.  In this case it's probably contributed to derailing a discussion that is actually healthy to have.

Anyway, I apologize to all who had to read these two off-topic posts.  I won't engage in this here anymore.  @dkbit98, if you choose to respond to this post please do so in the Reputation board or feel free to send me a PM.

Wasabi won't provide you with anonymity, no centralized service can guaranty that.  Not to mention that Wasabi has announced that they plan to actively spy on there clients to pick and chose which UTXOs qualify for their service.  You can read more about that here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5405325.0

At the risk of going off-topic I think there are a lot of complex reasons why the Mini-Madoff hasn't been charged with any crimes, not the least of which is that this particular megascammer is a megadoner to the megascam more commonly known as the Democratic Party.

Of course, we would love to have a fresh lamb for the slaughter new member join our league.  Last year we started with 8 players, this year we had 10, and I think everybody would like to expand to 12 next year.  Keep an eye on this thread next year during the NFL's pre-season, that's when things are usually getting finalized.

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In other news, the Rams picking up Baker Mayfield is kind of funny.  I think they pursued him just to keep the 9ers from picking him up.  To be honest, I think we have a better chance of reaching the playoffs with Mr. Irrelevant.  The kid looked good against the Fins last week, there was one broken play where he rolled out to the right and threw a dart to the sideline looking a lot like Josh Allen.  He become relevant after all.


That's scary for the 9ers also, CMC has made a huge impact on our offensive scheme.  He even made Garoppolo look like a decent quarterback.

Yes, to your first question, kinda sorta.  The Mk3 works as you describe and so can the Mk4, but all it really needs is a power source.  With the adequate cable you can power it up from a phone, or a small usb battery.

I only own a Mk4, which again, can work the same way, but it has the ability to generate QR codes (not sure if the Mk3 can or not.)  The Mk4 can also work as a typical USB-connected hardware wallet if one chooses.  I prefer to keep mine on the default setting of using the mSD card.  

As for the ColdCard's QR codes; I can't read them with the cheap webcam I have on my desktop, but the laptop camera can read them.  I haven't tried on the phone, I only have hot wallets on that device, but I doubt that it's cameras would have any trouble.  The addition of a camera and a larger screen would be a worthwhile improvement for the Mk5.  


If I'm understanding you correctly.  There are two dedicated keys to scroll through the alphabet, you can switch between caps without losing your place and a setting to scroll through special characters.

One would think, but in some countries (the USA for sure) that would render any evidence collected by an undercover agent inadmissible in a court of law.  If the undercover agent had no intention of using evidence he collects for prosecution, then they can lie through their teeth about LE affiliation and use the evidence to justify further investigations that collect evidence in an admissible manner.  I'm not so naive as to think that hasn't happened.

Regardless, your point is clear.  Any denial by ChipMixer wouldn't change the minds of those who are convinced.



That was the point I tried to make in a previous post; even disclosing the amount of their startup budget could narrow the pool suspected affiliates.  Disclosing the source of the funds would narrow the pool even more.  The best advice to give to folks who run a mixer is to disclose as little as possible about themselves, or their funding.



And that's the best way to sum it up.  If ChipMixer wants to stay in business they're best course of action is not to try to disprove FatMan's allegations.  Any attempt is likely to disclose sensitive information that will eventually cause the demise of the service, and more than likely, indictments for those behind it.



Lol, we do love dkbit98 just as he is, harsh tones and all.  To avoid those harsh tones don't shill for Microsoft or Ledger, and don't bash on ChipMixer.  If you can avoid those missteps, he can be a real sweetheart.  



I agree with those who've said there's nothing for which you need to apologize.  This forum can be a pretty harsh environment, and anyone doing business here needs to be armored with the thickest of skins.  And realistically the discussion is perfectly welcome here.  A lot of us have had experience with ChipMixer, and we're more than happy to engage with their detractors.  It's also beneficial that you've given ChipMixer himself the opportunity to respond to your allegations by posting here.  It reminds me of that old saying; there's no such thing as bad press.

Croatia doesn't seem as strong as they were four years ago, but they could be the dark horse in this one.  I would normally have no trouble taking Brazil, but if there's an upset to be had in the Quarterfinals, Croatia would make the best story to tell your grandkids about.

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I haven't had a lot of time to discuss the WC (or much of anything else) the last few weeks, and unfortunately I haven't had any time to gamble on the games.  But yesterday I had to take time away from my busy schedule because... Portugal.  I found I had a few sats lingering in my SB wallet, so I went all in!  

13. Magomed Ankalaev
12. Paddy Pimblett
11. Santiago Ponzinibbio
10. Dricus Du Plessis
09. Ilia Topuria
08. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
07. Raul Rosas
06. Edmen Shahbazyan
05. Joaquin Buckley
04. Billy Quarantillo
03. Erik Silva
02. Vinicius Salvador
01. Cameron Saaiman

Match 13 winner Total Strikes: 35

We're talking about $40 million dollars here, and you're concerned about the rental fee for a forklift? 

Besides, think about how much cocaine you can clean off of all those bills, that's got to be worth a few hundred thousand more.  Kinda like buying a used car and finding the ashtray full of coins.

No problem, I wasn't in a hurry anyway.  I'll be ordering one this month, but realistically I don't need it.  I've been really pleased with my ColdCard which I purchased the past summer, and I also have both flavors of Trezor's wallets, so I feel pretty confident in my security.  The Passport does have some features which I would appreciate and can easily see replacing the ColdCard as my daily driver.



Sounds like the same way passphrases are entered into the ColdCard.  It's not the worst thing, but I do have some long, complex passphrases and I am prone to making errors. 



That makes sense.  meerabhai's comment about account limits had me confused since I expected accounts to be handled by derivation paths.



That also makes sense and it's what I would expect since passphrases aren't (or shouldn't be) stored in persistent memory.

That's all great advice.  I do use a PO box and an email address exclusively set up for these types of purchases, but I didn't use a fake name.  I don't know how risky it is to expose my real name along with a PO box, but if things go sideways having a real name makes it much easier to get compensated.


Yeah, I mean an official resellers, but even a trusted, locally owned small electronics store would be acceptable.  There's a guy in town who does cellphone repair who stocks Ledgers, but he's not into cyrpto himself.  A couple of years ago I wanted a few Trezor Ones as stocking stuffers for my kids so I asked if he would source them for me, but he wasn't interested.  I wouldn't have any issue buying a hardware wallet from a local mom-&-pop store like that.

Ledger has been good about marketing in general, which is probably why their products are available locally, but even Trezor which seems to be nearly as popular are as rare as hens teeth at local retailers.

Unfortunately people are very impressionable by marketing and media, and critical thinking skills are becoming extinct.  Being skeptical is no longer taught in schools and those who follow the lemming mob off the cliff are commended and revered as "good citizens."



Lol, good catch.  I missed that when looking it over.  *Check out our awesome new hardware wallet, but it's not really a hardware wallet just yet!  

When are they going to know if it passes certification, who's certifying it, and who certifies the certifiers?

Thanks, n0nce.  I've been waiting for your review of Batch 2, and you did a great job.


It's been over a month since I played with the simulator, and I don't remember if I messed around with passphrases.  Is entering passphrases similar to typing on a keypad the way we used to when texting on flip phones?  I know there's a "predictive" text feature for entering seed phrases, but those words are drawn from a list so I don't imagine that would work for passphrases with dispersed capital letters and special characters.

This is actually one of the few complaints I have about the ColdCard; to type in passphrases you need to scroll through the whole alphabet, numbers, and the list of special characters to get a passphrase entered.  It can take several minutes to do so carefully with my more complex phrases.


This is weird, but it begs the question: What constitutes an "Account?"  Most software and hardware wallets create accounts by taking the next derivation path in the sequence, but then later you mentioned that the Passport allows custom derivation paths.  Is there a limit to the number of passphrases you can use?