I'm a big fan of comedy, whether it's sitcoms, stand up, panel shows or any other format. Here are some of my favourites, in no particular order, and I could list hundreds more than I have.

Sitcoms -
1. The IT Crowd (especially The Work Outing episode)
2. Modern Family
3. The Office (UK and US)

Stand Up Comedians -
1. Katherine Ryan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4paWOf1t5Q)
2. Jimmy Carr (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmfJdjy06xg)
3. Rhod Gilbert (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6afnyV8bf8)

Panel Shows -
1. Would I Lie To You
2. QI
3. Mock the Week

Movies -
1. Shaun of the Dead
2. Monty Python's Life of Brian
3. Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Children's Movies -
1. Shrek
2. Finding Nemo
3. Toy Story

A company did an interesting social media experiment on people's acceptance of cryptocurrency as a method of payment for salary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vcGUeDlnLU&t=30s

Looks as though it could possibly have been staged by the company (I don't think so??), but the results seemed similar to what I would expect if it was genuine. And I think it is actually a clever way of promoting their token sale, more potential to go viral than other promotional videos I've seen. Anyway, personally I think I would be happy to take cryptocurrency as at least part payment for salary, and depending on circumstances, the whole amount.

I was having a poke around the forum and noticed a really long detailed post, interesting and informative enough that I went to check out the user's other posts. I noticed that most, probably around 70%+ of posts were all sourced from various websites. These sources were always linked at the bottom of each post by the user, but he/she is earning merit for the posts (I'm guessing that the merit givers missed the source right at the bottom of the long posts). Just wanted to check if this was allowed or not, definitely seemed like a grey area anyway. I would think that if posting a full (virtually unedited) article, then the right thing to do would be to quote the source at the top of the post. I didn't take a note of the name, forgot, but should be able to find it if someone confirms this isn't allowed (will edit this post if and when that happens).

Just noticed a really interesting page that you can access right at the bottom of the landing page. It's the forum stats, makes for some fun reading. Here's the link directly to the page.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=stats

* First thing that caught my eye is that even though it originally started as a Bitcoin forum (I guess obviously), the top 3 boards are now all altcoin related, with Bitcoin Discussion creeping in at number 4.



* Second thing was that at the current rate of new registrations, the number of members will hit 2 million in just under a month's time!!



* And lastly, when the forum first started (or at least the stats were first recorded) back in November 2009, there were just 9 topics created (compared to 21,168 now), containing 37 posts (compared to 752,589), with 4 new members added (compared to 63,756). The latest figures available for these comparisons are December 2017 - presumably the figures are added on a semi regular basis, as the rest of the stats listed seem to be right up to date.




Loads of other interesting nuggets on there too. Got to say congratulations to the forum creators, and also ask what are we going to do to celebrate when the forum hits 2 million members?

NB. These snapshots were all taken just before the time of this post.

https://infogram.com/cryptocurrency-performance-2018-1hmr6gyepwzz6nl

A few visuals illustrating the performance of the top cryptocurrencies so far in 2018. First time using www.infogram.com, decent website for creating infographics, although the free version doesn't let you download images directly. Simple to use though, and would consider upgrading in the future.

What do you look for when selecting exchanges? Presumably most people will trade on multiple exchanges, but what criteria do you use to select exchanges if the cryptocurrency you want to trade is listed on more than one exchange? Personally I would put security, liquidity and number of trading pairs as my top 3 factors to consider.

Just randomly looking through projects and stumbled across this gem. Apparently 8 ICO 'experts' have rated it with top scores across the board. Makes you realise how important it is to do your own research and not rely on review platforms alone. What exactly qualifies someone to be an expert on the website? Maybe the scope of the categories for review are too narrow, or maybe the scores should be out of ten instead of five? Either way, I call foul, the name of the project makes it quite ironic too.

https://icobench.com/ico/eternal-trusts

NB. This was just a random project I came across, nothing against it, just don't trust perfect reviews.

Ok, so the current top ten are as follows (approx. market cap):

1. Bitcoin ($116.8 billion)
2. Ethereum ($37.1 billion)
3. Ripple ($19.4 billion)
4. Bitcoin Cash ($12.1 billion)
5. Litecoin ($6.3 billion)
6. EOS ($4.5 billion)
7. Cardano ($3.6 billion)
8. Stellar ($3.4 billion)
9. NEO ($3.2 billion)
10. IOTA ($2.9 billion)

Another seven of the top 20 are above the $1 billion plus market cap (excluding USDT).

Can't see any outsiders from the top 30 breaking in to the top ten over the next six months, but maybe a bit of movement could see some of those make a bid for top ten status  - Icon, Qtum, Monero, OmiseGo, Binance? (wouldn't be surprised to see Stratis up there too as an outside bet).

Why are so many people advertising marinecoin? I don't get it. It doesn't seem to have anything to offer. If anyone can offer any insight on why everyone is spamming threads with adverts, then please tell me why? They don't appear to be referral links, but I could be wrong? Just another sh*tcoin?

All the established crypto channels/advisers keep telling everyone to buy the dip and sell the highs. What they don't (and can't!) tell you is where those points are. I have bought the dip continuously for the last two months, and am slowly running out of money. If the dip doesn't stop dipping, I'm gonna run out of money soon. All fun and games, until the bank takes my house.

So the 'people's exchange' is moving to Malta. If it means they can start offering fiat exchange I'm all for it, that opens the door to a multitude of new investors. Bring it on.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-23/the-world-s-biggest-cryptocurrency-exchange-is-moving-to-malta

Waiting for news on the progress on their decentralized exchange too...

'Binance is also planning to launch a decentralized exchange in the coming months' - from the same article

Another big pump and dump on hitBTC today with Useless Ethereum Token jumping up over 1000% before diving straight back down again in less than half an hour. From virtually no daily volume to over $200,000, for the first time since - you guessed it - the last pump and dump back in January. Currently around 70% up on where it started, but guessing it will drop even further over the next few hours, more than likely back to where it started.



Never worth getting in on pumps like this, anyone that bought at the top is now stuck waiting and hoping that another organised pump and dump happens. Or just write it off as lesson learned.

Bittrex have announced that they will be delisting over 80 coins by March 30th. If you hold any of the coins listed in the link, make sure to transfer them to your private wallet or another exchange before then, otherwise you will lose your coins.

https://support.bittrex.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001609031

Some of the coins have already been delisted for a while, but transfers will no longer be possible after the deadline.

I am looking at privacy coins at the moment because I think they will benefit more than other categories this year. Particularly interested in Pivx as I think it has plenty of room to grow, especially with the reasonably low supply. Also like projects involved in AR/VR, whether they can live up to expectations is another matter; but I like Cappasity, even though it has performed shockingly since the turn of the year, and especially since their second phase of the ICO started. Confident it will bounce back though, time will tell. Any other categories worth looking at?

It's been a tough few months for Bitcoin since the beginning of the year. Where do you see it going over the next few months? My money says it will be around $13,500. The market in general is still tied to Bitcoin, so a rise in Bitcoin's price will see it move up overall. I am hoping within the next couple of years (preferably sooner) that the market will start to move independently, but the fact remains that (like it or lump it) Bitcoin rules the waves for the moment.

So who created Bitcoin? I believe I have found the answer due to the following reasons.



1. Nobody has seen the creator of Bitcoin
2. Millions of people place their faith in Bitcoin
3. Lots of people claim to be the creator of Bitcoin
4. There are increasing numbers of alternatives available to Bitcoin
5. Bitcoin has followers all over the world, although some countries have banned it
6. Nobody believes anyone claiming to be the creator of Bitcoin unless they provide tangible proof

I am a believer.

This guy must be the undisputed king of copy pasting, over 300 posts with one post copy pasted on different threads over a hundred times (and another over 50 times). Not sure what the benefit is, but guessing there's payment somewhere. Don't know if there's a rule against this, but it definitely doesn't add anything to any discussion.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1221412

They haven't earned any merit for it, so no abuse accusation, just a lack of overall standards.

I use a number of different review sites to find ICOs that I find interesting. The ones I have found to be most useful are the following.

https://icobench.com/

A useful site, with an added 'expert review' on most projects. These reviews are helpful, but should be taken with a pinch of salt as the definition of expert can be fairly loose (they do operate a weighting system which balances the reviews slightly). Filters on offer here are great, you can select based on category, restricted areas, documentation required, accepted currencies, platform and more. More involved info available once clicking on the project. Ratings calculated from the expert reviews and based on ICO profile, team, vision and product.

https://foundico.com/

Another decent site with some helpful filters (category, country and platform), as well as the usual ongoing, upcoming, past and an additional scam option. Sponsored links at the top (standard for all the ICO review sites), easy to navigate to projects you are interested in. Both pre-ICO and ICOs listed, plus a percentage completion count to the end date of the ICO. Rated on main info, finance, product, team and marketing. Also have a section to check on performance of completed ICOs.


https://icodrops.com/

Popular ICO review site, with an active whitelist addition (direct link to join the whitelist of projects listed). Keeps a running total of projects' funds raised against target figure as an indicator for popularity. Organised by finish time (for ongoing ICOs) and start time (for upcoming ICOs), helpful if you like to see progress and don't want to wait around for projects, or if you want to get in early when bonuses are likely to be higher. Rating system slightly different to other sites, focus on hype, risk and ROI (return on investment). Not sure how these ratings are calculated, presumably by site team, who then give an overall score.

There are loads more sites out there, but these are the three I currently find to be most helpful. Any other recommendations?

[1. Monetha (MTH)]

After the astronomical rise of the cryptocurrency market, especially towards the end of last year, and the subsequent drop over the last couple of months, which projects have the potential to make big moves in 2018? Outside of the top 20, these are some (in my personal opinion) that will be hitting the headlines (and hopefully new ATH) throughout the year. This is not to say that they will be the biggest gainers, just that the projects are solid and their prices have plenty of room to grow.

In no particular order:

1. Monetha (MTH)

E-commerce platform with their first product release due on March 31st 2018 (Beta release)

* Current price on Binance 0.00001241 BTC
* https://www.monetha.io/
* https://twitter.com/Monetha_io
* ATH = 0.00008805 BTC (September 7th 2017 as per coinmarketcap)
* https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/monetha/

2. Divi (DIVX)

Simplified decentralized cryptocurency market launching their blockchain in Q2 2018

* Current price on Cryptopia 0.00028407 BTC
* https://www.diviproject.org/
* https://twitter.com/DiviProject
* ATH = 0.00095207 BTC (January 11th 2018 as per coinmarketcap)
* https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/divi/

3. ICON (ICX)

Decentralized network that allows anyone to create their own blockchain and join while maintaining their independency

* Current price on Binance 0.0002742 BTC
* https://www.icon.foundation/?lang=en
* https://twitter.com/helloiconworld
* ATH = 0.00091390 BTC (January 30th 2018 as per coinmarketcap)
* https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/icon/

4. ChainLink (LINK)

Connects smart contracts with external systems and APIs, including bank/retail payments, market and event data, and backend systems

* Current price on Binance 0.00005210 BTC
* https://www.smartcontract.com/
* https://twitter.com/chainlink
* ATH = 0.00011147 BTC (October 6th 2017 as per coinmarketcap)
* https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/chainlink/

Time will tell if these projects deliver on their roadmaps as planned, but I will definitely be paying close attention to their progress.

Just a tip for anyone trying to spot the next big thing.

The first thing you should do is check the top 10 (or even the top 20 coins).

* Read through their whitepapers, learn about the projects and their vision, and see if you can work out what made them break into the top 10. Doing this groundwork will not only teach you about why these projects have managed to succeed when others are stalling and/or failing, but will in turn then lead you towards what to look for in upcoming projects.

* Do they offer something truly original (and ideally inimitable), or at the very least, do they have the skills within their team to deliver on the vision. If it is not an original idea, what are they bringing to the table that will put them one up on the competition?

* Is the target market big enough to grow into, or is it more of a niche project? If so, how do they compare to successful projects in the same field? Is the coin supply an issue, if the coin supply is large, why? Same question if it is a low supply.

Bottom line is to find a successful project, look at projects that are already successful and find out what makes them tick.