never mind

EDIT: I have since learned that most these accounts are hacked/stolen, and want no part of it. I would like one, but not worth it if it was stolen from somebody

I use 2FA whenever I can and sometimes fear I'm relying too much on it. For example, I don't really care too much about my password being found out since it's not going to get a person access without the secondary auth, so I use fairly easy passwords for the sites that have 2FA and stronger passwords for those without. But there is a way in with just the password: through the use of my own devices in some way, either through hacking in or through interception of an sms. Still, it would be tough to do, so I can't help myself to not worry about it.

What I worry most about is losing the device itself or losing the data on it that allows 2FA to work in the first place. My phone. I have 17 accounts in Google Authenticator so if I lost those I'd be so screwed. If I lost them, I wouldn't have access to any of the accounts anymore without the serious headache of trying to get access to them again. I never realized this until I decided to upgrade to Android L on my Nexus 5, my only phone.

I didn't realize how hard it was to backup the Authenticator codes until I tried to do it. There's no way to back them up after closing out the page with the secret Authenticator code and QR barcode. You have to write that code down or store it somewhere, or be rooted and extract the Authenticator database. By the way, those secret codes are stored in plaintext so if you're rooted and install a rogue program - good luck.

I came across a Straight Talk phone at Walmart called the Optimus Fuel for $29 with Android 4.4 and a dual-core processor. I thought, this would be perfect as an offline device for storing Authenticator codes, but also for taking pictures of other important information such as backup login codes and Bitcoin Armory paper backups. Obviously, airplane mode would be activated as soon as it's turned on for the first time, followed by encrypting the phone itself. So the idea is every time I added an account to Authenticator, I'd use the backup phone's camera to securely and easily backup the 2FA information.

After playing with the phone for several days, it's actually a really great phone for the price, so I decided to just use it as an audio streamer and portable speaker. Today I bought a second one, that I'll be keeping totally offline and do just as I described above to store sensitive information on.

So am I stupid for doing this or is it a good idea? How do you backup your 2FA codes? I haven't opened the second one yet.

http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1404497/bitcoin-bubble-wont-last-without-beijings-approval

Bitcoin is a bubble that foreigners cooked up and, by all appearances, is designed to rob the credulous Chinese masses. When the bubble bursts, the Chinese government won't be able to arrest these foreigners and get the money back. The bubble is not under Chinese government control. Hence, it cannot be tolerated.

There's Chinese propaganda in this one, but I think it's important to read.

Deleted by poster.

Deleted by poster.

Maybe this is why Bitcoin rose yesterday.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wpcs-shares-surge-on-bitcoin-trading-platform-release-2013-12-26

Edit;

That article sucks. Here's a better one:

http://www.smallcapnetwork.com/WPCS-International-Inc-Nasdaq-WPCS-BTX-Bitcoin-Trading-Platform-Could-Change-Its-Trading-Levels/s/via/26106/article/view/p/mid/1/id/95/

After closing bell, WPCS reported that its wholly-owned subsidiary BTX Trader, LLC has released a beta version of its Windows-based trading platform that is now available to the public at www.btxtrader.com.

WPCS' BTX Trader is the first trading platform to enable Bitcoin traders and industry researchers to access market data and execute orders on the five most popular Bitcoin exchanges in a single application.

According to the company, it is on schedule to release both web and mobile versions of its platform by early 2014.

Another edit;

Here's an article from December 17, 2013 that talks about WPCS acquiring BTX Trader. This one is much more detailed.

http://www.smallcapnetwork.com/WPCS-International-Acquires-Bitcoin-Trading-Platform-BTX-Trader/s/via/24047/article/view/p/mid/1/id/11/

The first and only stock for investing in the Bitcoin sector is officially WPCS International (NASDAQ: WPCS). Executives from WPCS International announced today that they have signed initial documentation for a partnership with the leading multi-exchange Bitcoin trading platform, BTXtrader. By owning WPCS International stock, investors now receive concentrated exposure to the Bitcoin services market backed by a fully-reporting U.S. company and the continuous liquidity of NASDAQ.

Despite the parabolic growth of Bitcoins during recent months, the only investment option has been to purchase Bitcoins- a laborious and risky process. Plagued by lengthy application forms, complicated banking requirements, offshore accounting arrangements, background identity checks, withdrawal delays often lasting weeks, and intra-day fluctuations exceeding 50%, most U.S. investors have been understandably hesitant to buy Bitcoins directly. To bridge the gap between investor interest and poor accessibility, WPCS International has decided to offer Americans a simple form of exposure through its own NASDAQ listing.

[waiting to be shredded]

But after hours of trying to remember the passphrase I used, it was a big FAT FAIL. Devastated...

That's when I remembered creating a backup paper wallet out of curiosity two months ago. It was thrown in the shredder pile, waiting to be shredded. I pulled the paper wallet out from the bottom of the pile and ran to my computer to enter in the root key.

I created the paper wallet way before I ever received any BTC, so I had lots of new receiver addresses that received BTC long after the paper wallet was made. What surprised me is that both old and new generated public/private addresses are recoverable regardless of when the backup is made since the addresses are created based on a seed for that particular wallet. And the paper backup recovers just the wallet, not the public/private keys directly. Very cool.

Armory scanned the transaction database and recovered all my addresses and BTC. OMFG.

Now I know the importance of keeping paper wallets and a lot more about how they work. I got lucky, though. I know it was pretty dumb of me to throw away my paper wallet like it was nothing, but I honestly didn't know how it worked exactly or that I'd need it later. Anyone else experience something similar?

Please lock/remove topic.

How is it possible to "counterfeit" Bitcoin? "Illegally generating"? Hmm.

German police have arrested two people suspected of illegally generating Bitcoins worth nearly $1 million.

...

Prosecutors in the German town of Kempten said they are investigating whether people used software to create digital Bitcoins worth 700,000 euros, about $950,000, Bloomberg News reported.

Wth?
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-bitcoin-counterfeit-germany-arrest-20131204,0,7896369.story

Will the following cards work together in the same rig?

2x - MSI R9 290 - http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MSI-R929G4
1x - Saphire R9 290 - http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-R9-29_4

I read that as long as they're the same series then it doesn't matter who makes them, but I want to confirm since I'm spending $2,000 on this thing.

I'll be using a Rosewell 1300w Gold PSU.