Now that made me chuckle!  I had that thread in mind when I read franky1's post but I did not expect anyone else to remember it even existed, much less link to it.  Dang, I forgot I actually started it; I thought I recall just going off on a rant in a thread about bitcointalk's YT channel.

But you see what I mean, OP?  There's so much cookie-cutter BS that if you click on one of those videos you're probably just going to listen to some jackass promote his sponsor for 5 minutes and then ape some news story from Coindesk or wherever.  And that's the best case scenario--beware of all the YT morons straight-up trying to scam you.  It's a cesspool.

Ding ding ding!!!

Seriously OP, I think Youtube is the absolute worst place to research crypto.  Even if you search for a specific topic, all of the results that pop up are going to be from professional Youtubers who are most likely making their living from ad/sponsorship revenue rather than anything related to cryptocurrencies.

And since franky1 mentioned thumbnails (a personal pet peeve of mine), this is the shit you're going to get over and over:




Everyone is trying to out-hype the next guy, and they can basically only do that through these awful, awful thumbnails--most of which are clickbait anyway.

My advice?  Pick up a book and read it.

Uh, yeah.  Might as well say what I really think:  OP is posting about a milestone that plenty of shitposters have blown past in pursuit of whatever riches those bounties offer, and from reading the first line about him immediately being scared of breaking the rules....I'm betting this is an alt account of another one that got banned.

I also think all of those names were listed (in goddamn Twitter format) because they're mostly merit sources and are well-known in the Meta section and OP is trying to get some merits by creating another one of these let's-all-get-in-a-circle-and-jerk threads that, by this point, are starting to get under my skin.

I just un-ignored a bunch of sections and took a look at the first page of your post history.  Here's one of the first posts I came across (I snipped the quote you were replying to):

You're the kind of member whose English matters to me when I'm giving out merits.  It's one thing to not know the language but still make a reasonably coherent post that's constructive, and it's quite another to squat and squeeze out a bloated turd like the above.  That's horrible writing, not at all interesting, and I doubt other members would find it valuable in the least.

I'm going to withhold congratulations, as the act of making 1000 posts 1) isn't worth celebrating in and of itself, and 2) really doesn't merit a thread of its own.

Speaking of merit:

Did I encourage you via PM?  I had to go way back into my outbox to find this:

And I'd like to add that I've never given you a single merit since.  I had to check BPIP for that, so I spent more time in preparing to, and then writing this thread than you probably did patting yourself on the back.  Plus I don't sit on the board of bitcointalk.

'Cuz there ain't no board, y'ijit!!

To be fair, the Chipmixer campaign (and probably others as well) had the same rule and it's ambiguous.  Sure, a thread with thousands or even 100 pages is a mega-thread, but what about one that has 30 or so and is growing fast?  I'm not arguing against the rule, since even a 30-page thread probably isn't worth posting in unless it's a well-known one like the WO one, but it's definitely open to interpretation on the manager's part and confusion on the participants' part.

A good rule of thumb is that if you trust your campaign manager, don't keep protesting uncounted posts if there's a rule like this one.  Or maybe I'm being naive; there's always the possibility of that. 

Props to you, icopress!

Uh huh, yep, got it.  What does any of that have to do with what OP is talking about?

If FP91G weren't a Hero Member, I'd swear his post was AI-generated or something--and his rank doesn't even convince me 100%.

Anyway.  NFTs and the interest in them are dying off from what I hear, though I still keep seeing them mentioned everywhere.  But even if they remained hot, I seriously doubt Theymos would create a new section for them.  Maybe he would, but this has been proposed before (at least a few months ago) and so far he's shown no inclination to do so.  If it's interfering with general discussion in the altcoin section, maybe that's a valid argument, but every section and sub-section dealing with shitcoins is full of shitposts anyway.  There would be very little benefit IMO.

Considering you're a Jr. Member with way more posts than you have merits, I'm curious as to why you started up a thread asking this question.  Are you actually going to delete all of your posts without abandoning the forum?  That's the only reason I could see as to why you'd be concerned about keeping your rank, and if you were going to leave bitcointalk altogether it doesn't make sense why you'd care.

I think this question had been answered in similar threads, but I can't say I blame you for not trying to search through Meta looking for the answer.  The search function here is one of the things that really should be updated from the 2009 era.  Lol.

Wait, so did you actually buy Apple stock or not?  I used to follow how their business was doing, but they dropped off my radar a few years ago when I sold the share or two that I owned.  If you didn't, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to do so because you're spot-on in your assessment that what they sell as far as phones go are prestige items.  Not that I actually think iPhones are complete garbage, but the main reason I never owned one was because years ago you weren't able to put mp3 or other audio files on them, only Apple's proprietary MP4 ones.

That might have changed, but I'm not the kind of person who uses their smartphone for a lot of things and I absolutely wouldn't buy one to show off to idiots I don't know and don't care to impress anyway.  I can whip out other things to do that job, lol.  Right now I've got an incredibly cheap Android that I wouldn't even be able to sell for $1 on eBay or wherever, and it does what I need it to just fine.

Apple products have always been overpriced, going back to before the days of the iMac (yep, I owned one of those with the stupid circular mouse and everything).  As long as people keep seeing those products as goods to show off, they'll keep raking in the money.  And if their stock's P/E isn't through the roof, it might be a decent long-term investment even now.

Whooop!  That was a damn good catch by FatFork--and when I opened this thread I thought it was a new one with an accusation that I'd heard before.  But nope, it was the same one and was also a very good catch.  If you're really looking to catch alt accounts for whatever reason, it's these little quirks of writing that give them away sometimes.

And now when I think of AI-generated posts and such, I wonder if all that's going to change (or if it's already started).  Frightening prospect, no?

I think it's a horrible system all around, and I might be inclined to think "Who cares? This is China we're talking about, not the US" but China seems to be exerting its influence all around the world these days and shit like this might well spread to Europe, the states, and who knows where else.

Even in the US, we've already got a credit rating system that screws people over on the regular--and that's in addition to standard background checks that any employer or anyone with enough dough to afford to get one can do.  That's pretty damn close to a social ranking system if you ask me, and it's been aided and abetted by technology.  I can't imagine things getting any better with respect to that.

Weather forecast:  gloomy and little to no chance of sunshine.  Ever.

OP, I'm not sure how many people have the kind of 'addiction' you referenced, but I know for a fact that it's a real phenomenon because I've been afflicted with it myself--not with crypto, but in the stock market.  I wouldn't consider it a true addiction, though.  More of an obsession that might leave a person having to sell whatever it is they invested in (and this is assuming the problem isn't trading with leverage, because that could leave said person wiped out).

Fortunately for me, that stock market obsession has kind of fizzled out over the years, and I no longer invest irresponsibly.  Lucky me, eh?  If I weren't already broke, it'd probably come back again, full-force.

Yep, and I probably didn't convey that sentiment in my previous post, but it's quite true.  Your posts might still be of the same quality, but many members with merits to give away (including me, which I did say) do look at someone's merit count when they're deciding whether they're going to give someone merits.

That's just the way it is, and I think it's a good way to use the merit system.  Merits are more than just a thumbs-up or a like; they're the mechanism by which people rank up here, so giving them to someone who already has enough to make Legendary might be considered to be squandering those sMerits.

Note: I'm totally guilty of violating what I just wrote, many times over.  But as a merit source I've usually got plenty of sMerits to hand out.  *And speaking of that, I think I'll now get back to my extensive waiting list of members wanting post reviews*

Edit: Shitsky!!  I didn't realize how low I was running on sMerits, and I just handed out my last one while doing reviews.  If anyone who's still waiting for a review sees this, please be patient as I have to wait until my source allocation gets re-upped.   *eeek!*

If I'm not mistaken (I haven't checked BPIP), I've given you a number of merits over the past couple of years.  If you didn't already have enough merits to reach Legendary rank, I'd be happy to do a post history review for you--although there's a long waiting list and I'm still short on sMerits.  I can only speak for myself, but I try to reserve my merit-giving for those members who need them in order to rank up.  Not everyone agrees with that style, but perhaps some do, which would explain why you haven't been receiving as many as you usually do.

And I also have to add: since you do indeed have enough merits to get to the last rank, why fret about it?  We've all got different perspectives on the merit system, but I'd suggest not using it as a yardstick for your value to the forum.  I haven't been getting nearly the number of merits I used to get, but that's A-OK with me, as I don't need them and it's not a competition for me.

Also, if you're a high-ranking member such as yourself you probably don't want to be starting up threads like this.  It just doesn't feel right IMO.

Registered in August in 2017--to me, that's a red flag even if it isn't to anyone else.  There were tons of accounts created in mid- to late-2017 to participate in bounties and/or otherwise spam the forum to earn money, because bitcoin was booming.  That was also around the time when I was tracking a lot of these idiots down and reporting or tagging them.

So yeah, while there may be some questions in people's minds as to whether the account changed hands, I'm not doubting it for a second.  Hell, the language change alone is a dead giveaway.  Props to OP for sniffing this guy out.

....and Google's motto used to be "Don't be evil".  Take that to mean companies have been known to do things that turn out to be very much against their interest--kind of like BTX, you know?  I wouldn't make any assumptions about what Binance would or wouldn't do based on the consequences they'd face if they got caught doing it, and that's true for any other business. 

Enron, anyone?

WTF are you blabbering on about, dude?  Please tell me you're not a legal adult, because your line of thinking is so immature that if you aren't I'm picturing some slovenly-suited slob sitting in an internet cafe somewhere in Asia, breathing through his mouth and probably leaving boogers on the damn keyboard.

Let me tell ya, bro man, some people are quite happy being "foreveralone" if that's what you want to call it.  Not everyone wants to live a traditional life with a husband/wife, kids, a house and at least one parent working.  Hell, the new generation is blowing that lifestyle out of the water as we speak--I've heard that the youth of today are much less interested in sex than previous generations.  I don't understand that at all, but I'm guessing that technology has a lot to do with it.  Kids and young adults are accustomed to communicating with each other via screens rather than face-to-face interaction.  I weep for all the debauchery they're going to miss, and it makes me sad.

But you don't make me sad, OP.  I'd hoped you disappeared for good, but here you are with another crazy, balls-nailed-to-the-ceiling thread that defies logic.  Keep 'em coming, eh?

Uh.....yeah.  This is as far as I've gotten in reading this thread, but I'm going to be consistent and reply before I finish.

Not only would I not want to see replies automatically generated in response to idiotic or just plain common questions, but I also don't think it's going to do anything to reduce the number of sig/bounty shitposters chiming in with equally idiotic replies.  If you have a thread started with a question like "what's the best hardware wallet?" and and the first response from a member is the most comprehensive comparison of all the hardware wallets out there with a detailed description of each one, there's no question in my mind that the following replies will be half garbage and half commenting on whatever.  AI isn't going to solve any of this forum's problems.

WORD UP.

I've been watching some videos about this stuff lately, and sweet satan is it scary as hell.  I think we're all fucked in about five years.

Guess you guys tapped out, as I don't see you listed anymore on miningpoolstats. 

Ugh.  I can't stand his videos, his obvious lack of intelligence, and pretty much every other thing about his videos.  Then again, most GPU mining Youtubers probably shouldn't have the influence that they do.

Oddly enough, for such a shitty CPU-mineable altcoin bitoreum is the most profitable for a lot of CPUs.  It feels almost like there's no justice in the land of CPU mining.  Monero should rule over all, but I'm sure a lot of people are mining this crap coin simply because it's profitable and XMR isn't.  Grrrr.

It would certainly be appropriate to give all those fucks neutral feedback, but I think it'd be a waste of time.  From a quick glance, most of them are very low-ranked members and probably don't participate on the forum other than to do whatever bounty work they can find (or they're just shill accounts).  On top of that, neutral feedback is practically meaningless when it comes to limiting spam and shitposting.  I don't think many bounty managers would even notice a neutral, and if I'm not mistaken some even accept members with red trust.

This shit has been a plague to bitcointalk for years now, for all of you who might be new here.  Trying to fight idiots like Jr BM is like playing whack-a-mole, especially when you can create as many accounts as you want.

Good point--length of membership is not even close in terms of importance as activity (at least on this forum; and then there's also the yardstick of merits).  Good 'ol joker_josue making just over 10k posts is pretty damn impressive.  I just checked BPIP and he ranks 137th for most posts, and if you consider the mind-blowing number of members bitcointalk has, that's something to brag about in a bar....where nobody will know what the hell he's talking about.  Lol.

Congrats on 10 years, OP!  I think 2013 is when bitcointalk first came on my radar, and I wish I'd been more aware of it back then--and bought a lot of it.  Here's hoping you backed up the truck in those days that were long before lockdowns, inflation, and a generally more miserable world.  If you did, I'm sitting hunched over at the keyboard in the greenest envy.