How do you handle scammers in a non-police state? Just kill anyone you think is cheating for some reason? (That seems like it would end up with 1 person left standing eventually)

ED TRICE advertises custom cases and fast computers for the website he operates called LIQUID NITROGEN OVERCLOCKING. Recently he has gotten into bitcoin and decided to create custom hardware for bitcoiners, promising fast returns on their hardware investment (80 BTC a day!).  He showcases his designs on his facebook page as well as boasts his personal possessions purchased with money earned from his business. He calls himself the BILL GATES OF PENNSYLVANIA and pays for advertisements that look like articles to be run in papers to garner attention for his business.

The problem?

• None of the designs on his facebook were ED TRICE's, just the designs of an ex-employee who left out of disgust after witnessing embezzlement and fraud by ED TRICE last year
• ED TRICE doesn't know how to design an overclocked computer and his promises of bitcoin returns are most obviously false.
• His sports car was purchased with money embezzled from orders that he instructed his employees not to send out.
• His photos of personal belongings are stolen from random websites and simply used to boost his personal appearance to sucker in marks
• He has a long history in the chess community for scamming people and lost a related $2million dollar lawsuit
• He has screwed over everyone he brings in as a "partner" or "employee" by involving them into the scam and asking them to handle financials and shipping for him so that he has a patsy
• He creates faux personalities online to refute claims against him

ED TRICE labels himself the "STEVE JOBS OF PENNSYLVANIA". He is more like the STEVE JOBS OF FRAUD.

Watch out for this sociopath. He has recently scammed a forum member living in China of $47,000 USD on hardware he failed to deliver or provide evidence of.

Delaware county detectives are currently looking for ED TRICE. If you have any information on his whereabouts or have been scammed by him, please contact Delaware County (PA) Lt. Detective Charles List, 610-891-4700 and let him know.


EDWARD A TRICE
337 FARM LN, NORTH WALES, PA 19454 (Not his current address, confirmed by Upper Gweynedd detectives and ED TRICE's mother)
(215) 661-0276

LIQUID NITRGEN OVERCLOCKING INC
2711 CENTERVILLE RD, WILMINGTON, DE 19808 (New Castle COUNTY)
(610) 818-5063


ADDRESS HISTORY: (dates are approximate)
337 FARM LN, NORTH WALES, PA 19454-2349 (MONTGOMERY COUNTY) (02/1998 to 04/22/2013)
Owners: EDWARD J TRICE   &  PATRICIA R TRICE

164 ERVIN AVE, MARCUS HOOK, PA 19061-4314 (DELAWARE COUNTY) (04/2006 to 01/2013)
Owner: ELISA SLAUGHTERBECK

151 FRONEFIELD AVE, MARCUS HOOK, PA 19061-4317 (DELAWARE COUNTY) (08/17/2005 to 10/18/2012)
Owners: JOHN WOODALL  &  HEATHER WOODALL

804 VASSAR DR, HATFIELD, PA 19440-3472 (MONTGOMERY COUNTY) (12/13/2001 to 05/31/2011)
Owners: VENKATA BALACHANDRAN  &  RADHIKA RAGHURAMAN


CRIMINAL RECORD
Crime Details - 01/16/2007 - DELAWARE, PA
HARASSMENT - SUBJECT OTHER TO PHYSICAL CONTACT (2 counts)

Crime Details - 01/05/2007 - DELAWARE, PA
DISORDER CONDUCT HAZARDOUS/PHYSI OFF  (dismissed)

JUDGMENTS (5 FOUND)

Address: 804 VASSAR DR, HATFIELD, PA 19440-3472 (Montgomery COUNTY)
Filing Type: CIVIL NEW FILING
Plaintiff: JANSON D/B/A HOUSEINSPECT
Court Case Number: CV000030705
Total Judgment Amount: $505
Filing Date: 09/12/2005

Address: 151 FRONEFIELD AVE, MARCUS HOOK, PA 19061-4317 (Delaware COUNTY)
Filing County: DELAW
Filing Type: SMALL CLAIMS JUDGMENT
Plaintiff: LERMA C WOLFE
Court Case Number: LT000024105
Total Judgment Amount: $1,312
Filing Date: 06/30/2005

Address: 151 FRONEFIELD AVE, MARCUS HOOK, PA 19061-4317 (Delaware COUNTY)
Filing County: DELAW
Filing Type: CIVIL NEW FILING
Plaintiff: LERMA C WOLFE
Court Case Number: LT000024105
Total Judgment Amount: $0
Filing Date: 06/15/2005

Address: 2190 SUNRISE WAY, JAMISON, PA 18929-1347 (Bucks COUNTY)
Filing County: BUCKS
Filing Type: SMALL CLAIMS JUDGMENT
Plaintiff: ERIC PELLEGRINO
Court Case Number: LT000053104
Total Judgment Amount: $5,532
Filing Date: 01/18/2005

Address: 2190 SUNRISE WAY, JAMISON, PA 18929-1347 (Bucks COUNTY)
Filing County: BUCKS
Filing Type: CIVIL NEW FILING
Plaintiff: ERIC PELLEGRINO
Court Case Number: LT000053104
Total Judgment Amount: $5,400



For more information on ED TRICE and who he has scammed, see this thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=179747

Sit up properly in your computer chairs with your back straight you hunchbacked freaks!

(No really, you're going to regret it when you get old)

This has been a public service announcement sponsored by free time.

Vote above!

David Lory VanDerBeek is the Ron Paul of Nevada apparently.

Context: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=182046.0

I'm considering setting up several webcams and Arduino controllers in a room with my big dogs so that bitcoiners can go to a page and basically feed and play with them by simply sending bitcents to certain addresses. I realize it's kind of corny, but I've shared this idea since 2010 on Skype and no one has done it since then, so I figure someone's waiting on me to pave the way.

To tell you the honest truth, the reason I haven't come out publicly with this idea is because I was afraid of people taking the idea and modifying it to abuse animals and eventually torture or kill humans ("To vote for death, send BTC here, to vote for life, send here!", etc anyone else see that movie?).

Anyway, would this project be worth my time? Would anyone be willing to help out who knows what they're doing with Arduinos? Somehow I feel this will be the future of internet entertainment (I've previously discussed with Maagus Iverson back in 2007 about starting a physical tank paintball game controllable online for example, controlling RC helicopters with webcams online, and controlling a human being with a wecamhat, all online, but didn't know about Bitcoin at the time).

I understand this will potentially make no money, I understand this will definitely cost money, I understand this will distract me from other work, but everyone needs a hobby, and it would make feeding my dogs a simple task.

P.S. If I go ahead with this project, I bet some asshole later on is going to pay like 3 BTC and dump a whole container of food on my dogs' heads, ultimately filling the entire room up with dog poop.

Newbies,

First and foremost welcome to the forums (unless you're a spambot in which case IPSUM LORUM IST RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE),

I had previously sold half of my Avalon Batch 3 ASIC here, but is my understanding that newbies (at least those in newbie jail) cannot participate in that auction. Due to a somewhat medical emergency for me here in Korea (no, I didn't get into a fight with Kim Jung un), there is a need to let go of up to 10% more of my ASIC.

In fairness, I have already contacted both current shareholders and previous auction bidders, and their offers will take priority, but if there is someone here who thinks they missed out on participating in ASIC mining or wanted to give it a shot, the offer stands.

I'm offering 10 units worth 1% of profit sharing each. You can purchase 1%~10%, it's up to you. I am offering the units for 2 BTC per 1% profit sharing. Feel free to ask your questions here or PM me although most questions have already been asked and answered in the above linked auction thread.

Also, please understand that there never have and never will be any guarantees when it comes to ROI for mining. Bitcoin may crash and burn tomorrow and it might also go back to $250/BTC. Understand the risks before bothering, or else don't participate!

This offer is for the next 24 hours only.

Timer removed. End time: 2013-04-21+22:11:00

In light of recent implementation of BTC prices on some sites such as CNBC, I think it's time we follow the ISO 4217 currency code standard in preparation of larger organizations.

Yes, there are a plethora of threads just like this one, one posted even last month and some 2 years ago. That doesn't change the fact that it's an important topic that needs attention.

This standard is created by the International Organization for Standardization and is published as a list of standard currency codes referred to as the ISO 4217 code list.

Currency codes are composed of a country's two-character Internet country code plus a third character denoting the currency unit. For example, the Canadian Dollar code (CAD) is made up of Canada's Internet code ("CA") plus a currency designator ("D").

In the event a code is not sponsored by a government or country in specific (Bitcoin), it is preceded with an "X". If Bitcoin is ever to be added to the ISO 4217 currency code list, it is the belief of many including myself, that this will happen as XBC or XBT (edit: XBC being unlikely since the EU has used it to refer to a bond). To facilitate this transition, from this day forward I will be referring to bitcoin as either XBC or XBT in all of my projects, writings, and work. I ask that those interested in the standardization and mainstream adoption of Bitcoin do the same, or in the very least explore and share their opinions on what we can do to make the code more standardized.

I couldn't find a consolidated and up-to-date list of all the physical storage mediums available on the market for bitcoin, so I hope with everyone's help we can make this thread into one. This would include Casascius coins, BitPay cards, Bitbills, Paper wallets, Ron Paul checks, etc. Just spit out anything that comes to mind if you see one missing.

• Casascius Coins - Metal rounds
• BitBills - PVC Cards
• PrintCoins - Paper Cheques
• BitAddress - Paper Wallet

[principles of bitcoin]

The following post was an emotional blog entry by me but the topic has been redefined by post #5 below, so you know, just go with it.


Dear cultists,

Please stop fleecing newbies and preaching bitcoin's salvation, claiming it will destroy governments, cripple banks and lead us to libertarian heaven. Bitcoin is an experimental proof of concept that does not need spokespeople to sell it like a pump-and-dump scam, nor extremists who use their position in the community to get rich off of everyone else (honestly, 99% of bitcoin businesses are shovel manufacturers-- 50% of which are scams).

Because you surround the topic of bitcoin with your hyperbole and irrational behavior, I am forced to defend against you; to alert those around me the dangers of following a group that actually believes bitcoin is decentralized and snidely creates memes to mock those "non-believers" around them as "missing out on an investment opportunity".

               

Bitcoin is not decentralized because money is a social construct, not a mathematical one. People will always join together in large groups for safety and transparency. It is an inevitable part of human history, anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you something, probably bitcoin (so that theirs is worth more).

Bitcoin is not a currency because it is absolutely undependable as a currency and has no stability whatsoever. It is also backed by *nothing* other than the USD, the very currency BTC is supposedly intended to "replace", brought in by followers of said cultist leaders to make their own investment "worth more".

If you want the principles of bitcoin to succeed, stop participating in these forums run by corrupt individuals who make promises in order to receive funds and then do nothing with them; you only serve to give it legitimacy and bring more sheep here for the slaughter.

If you want the principles of bitcoin to succeed, stop creating fan-boy products for other bitcoiners and start providing an actual service or product that people can use (Coffeepress is not a viable product, asshole).

If you want the principles of bitcoin to succeed, treat exchanges just like you would mining pools and never let an exchange get 51% of the volume, no matter how hard it is for you personally.

Stick up for your beliefs, ignore the talking heads on these forums.

I am an anti-cultist and I back bitcoin, only while it makes sense to.

[7 days]

I'm tired of using exchanges that are laggy and take forever to process orders. I'm going to try selling 10 BTC here instead.

• This auction will last for exactly 7 days from post
• Payment can only be made in BitStamp USD codes
• Bidding starts at $1.00 USD
• Bids must be placed in increments of $0.50 USD or they will be ignored
• Payment will be due within 12 hours of auction end.

[7 days]

I'm tired of using exchanges that are laggy and take forever to process orders. I'm going to try selling 5 BTC here instead.

• This auction will last for exactly 7 days from post
• Payment can only be made in BitStamp USD codes
• Bidding starts at $0.50 USD
• Bids must be placed in increments of $0.50 USD or they will be ignored
• Payment will be due within 12 hours of auction end.

[7 days]

I'm tired of using exchanges that are laggy and take forever to process orders. I'm going to try selling 1 BTC here instead.

• This auction will last for exactly 7 days from post
• Payment can only be made in BitStamp USD codes
• Bidding starts at $0.01 USD
• Bids must be placed in increments of $0.50 USD or they will be ignored
• Payment will be due within 12 hours of auction end.

Looking for anywhere between $10~100

Mining pools do it. They spread the risk of mining across multiple individuals and their hardware and share the rewards.

Why not a pool of people who deposit bitcoins for betting on SatoshiDice where the shares are determined by how many multiples of 0.01 BTC are deposited, and if let's say a jackpot of 640 BTC is won, it would be split across those shareholders?

This shit makes me sick https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=169827.0

Not the scammer, which we are all used to, but the constant influx of idiots being suckered by them.

Please put a clearly visible warning on each-and-every-page like Craigslist does.

If you refuse to, you're compliant in the crime.

I am setting up a shopping cart with ZenCart and I wanted to make some additions:

• Items in database hold USD pricing but are *always* displayed in BTC using MtGox last price
• Checkout needs to update at last minute to make sure price has not change dramatically since adding items to cart

There are far too many items in the catalog to bother updating things manually, so I don't see many options other than doing this. Open to other suggestions!

When technology is involved, things get sloppier and inhuman on the large scale and that's exactly what happens when you make a fixed time and post count requirement for newbies.

It confuses them, pushes them to make meaningless posts to meet a quota, and creates an abusive and aggressive atmosphere that moderators are then left to clean up for the life of said member.

I don't know how others feel about this policy, but personally I think it's one of the most bizarre and backwards policies ever. We don't want trolls, we don't want spambots, and we don't want people who are here just to spread verbal diarrhea, yet that's exactly what we get when we place barriers that can be broken by a GreaseMonkey script.

I propose that the time and post requirements be removed for newbies and replaced with the following:

• Newbie accounts are created, along with a BTC address previously generated in bulk offline
• The balance of this address is controlled and owned by the forum and is used in place of donations
• When this balance reaches a certain threshold, the user will be automatically whitelisted and the balance dumped into the forum's funds, with the address removed from the profile of the user.

This makes it costly to make new accounts and shit-post or spam, and it also makes it so that people with abusive attitudes and nothing meaningful to say stay where they belong.

This would be the equivalent of using Reddit gold or the Reddit tip bot, but as a form of quality control and whitelisting instead.

Thoughts?

[This auction will end in:]

This auction will end in:
Timer removed. End time: 2013-04-08+11:00:00

Avalons all-out, first batch botched, seeking security?

There seems to be an influx of newbies trying to "group-buy" an Avalon (something I personally think will not end well for many just as most mining investments never did due to infighting, theft, etc). The point of these group-buys is that they allow multiple individuals to share in the cost and rewards, but entrust a complete stranger (and in these cases, a newbie with no reputation at all). The downside is that there are no guarantees that the individual will not just run out on them.

If you're actually interested in paying money now (BTC) to get shared profits in an Avalon miner for the future, I have a proposition that can help you achieve your goals while helping me build a trustworthy reputation here again after 2 years of trolling (and serious business endeavors).

A single Avalon ASIC, 85Gh/s (4 modules) will be sent from China to Korea in May (Batch 3). It has already been purchased free and clear, with funds that are mine and not loaned from others. I am auctioning off up to 50% of the profits of this device in the form of shares. To clarify, there will be 100 shares, 50 shares of which will be owned by me, the rest are to be auctioned here.

Please read these two pages of information carefully before making a decision so that you are well informed before placing your bid.

Please understand that with these new ASIC rollouts, GPUs will be less and less profitable, and as far as I am aware, there are no other serious competitors to Avalon at this time in terms of performance and delivery. I may be biased since I am an Avalon owner, but I feel that if you don't have an Avalon, you'll be the only one left out.

For those familiar with the forum's advertising space auctions, this auction will be very familiar to you.

Auction rules

Post your bids in this thread. Prices must be stated in BTC per slot. You must state the max number of slots you want. When the auction ends, the highest bidders will have their slots filled until all eight slots are filled.

So if someone bids for 7 slots @ 5 BTC and this is the highest bid, then he'll get all 7 slots. If the two highest bids are 7 slots @ 4 BTC and 1 slot @ 5 BTC, then the first person will get 6 slots and the second person will get 1 slot.

The notation "2 @ 5" means 2 slots for 5 BTC each. Not 2 slots for 5 BTC total.

- When you post a bid, the bids in your previous posts are considered to be automatically canceled. You can put multiple bids in one post, however.
- All bid prices must be evenly divisible by 0.25.
- The bidding starts at 0.5.
- I will end the auction at an arbitrary time no more than 12 days from now. (I will probably end the auction 1-3 days before the ads are scheduled to go up.)
- If two people bid at the same price, the person who bid first will have his slots filled first.
- Bids are considered invalid and will be ignored if they do not specify both a price and a max quantity, or if they could not possibly win any slots

If these rules are confusing, look at some of the past forum ad auctions to see how it's done. I also post periodic status updates which should help make things clear.

You must pay for your slots within 24 hours of receiving the payment address. Otherwise your slots may be sold to someone else.

Hosting of the ASIC will of course be provided by me, and electricity costs will be deducted before profits are paid. Profits will be paid out on a weekly basis. This is not a business, there are no "voting shares" or any nonsense like that. Just profit sharing based on the percentage you purchased.

Please click the link in my signature to decide on your own if I am trustworthy enough to do business with, and as always, never put more money into bitcoin that you can't afford to lose. I feel that even at a potential loss for myself, this will be an important step in restoring a trustworthy reputation on this forum and allowing people to see that I am seriously committed to changing my odd behavior of the past.

Thank you for reading and let the bidding begin at 0.5BTC x 50 shares!

Note: Moderators please quote this for later evidence against tampering.

show us proof, like the email receipt.

Please read this: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=163795.0

I'll share it with Tysat since he's a moderator here and he can either confirm or deny my claim of receiving one here in Korea.

I can confirm that he has an order for a batch 3 Avalon that's been paid.

No need to worry about there not being a unit.

[Please be advised that any post that is not related to a specific transaction (e.g. off-topic posts, trolling, posts related to working relationships, personal opinions, requests for a date, etc) will not be allowed and will promptly be removed by moderators.]

You're probably here because you want to get an idea about who I am. To put it simply, I learn from my mistakes and I've learned quite a lot that way (read: I've made plenty of mistakes).

I've founded companies, been on boards, handled hundreds of thousands of dollars in bitcoins, but always had a problem with the lack of quality and overly serious tone of people on these forums (read: I trolled quite a lot until one prank in particular went too far and it forced me to grow up).

The following is a condensed history of my involvement in the community.

2011

	STATUS	STORY
I made a game _____________________	Gifted to "BitOver"  _____________________	I spent a month developing a game (called BIT-FU) loosely based on the cult-classic "KungFuMadness". Bitcoins were wagered on the winner of a rock-scissors-paper style matchup. Unfortunately, at the time I chose to connect the backend to MyBitcoin to handle payments and that's when they ran off with everyone's money. The game hadn't caught on yet (thankfully) so no one lost anything and I learned that wallet services are not a solution.
I stood up for myself _____________________	Resolved  _____________________	Somebody didn't like waiting for their bitcoin and went on a libel campaign against me, releasing my commissioned (private) artwork to the community and instructing them to "abuse it freely". Not realizing that there were mods specifically to resolve problems like these I took it upon myself to "teach him a lesson" by not paying. Theymos blackmailed me to pay the fee for a product that was now worthless to me in order to have the scammer tag removed.
I promoted a bitcoin BBB (in an arrogant and know-it-all way) _____________________	Gifted to Bitcoin Police  _____________________	Fresh off of an illegitimate "Scammer tag", I figured a much better system for reputation needed to exist and ran an ill-conceived BBB idea by a moderator here before posting it to the community. Despite the good merits of the idea (eBay style feedback, ratings, public dispute resolutions, etc), the "accreditation" aspect and my arrogant attitude garnered a massive amount of opposition, ultimately causing me to abandon the idea for the time being. I subsequently became a popular target for massive trolling and harassment.

I'm not from a highly academic background _____________________	Still subject to occasional (misguided) trolling  _____________________	For religious reasons, my parents tried their best to keep me away from the real world through homeschooling and various restrictions (no girlfriends, jobs or friends until 18!). That never stopped me from participating actively in business from as young as 13 and while most kids were worrying about what their friends were doing, I was worried about memorizing the TCP/IP protocol and making games. I've had to make a lot of sacrifices in my life, one of them was the sacrifice to not go through 20 years of school and just rely on my own instincts and abilities. In order to meet the minimum rough standards of the world, I graduated a handful of crappy, quick, cheap online schools. Ironically, I would later become an ESL teacher in South Korea, find a passion for education and go on to found my own college prep school responsible for Korean student matriculation to American universities. While working on my TEFL certificate I learned one of the online schools I graduated was widely referred to as a "degree mill". For transparency, I kept a wiki user page about myself and decided to add that fact. It was later found by trolls who have attempted to use it as a means of character assassination (and failed on the very premise that I provided said information of my own accord long before entering bitcoin). Interestingly enough, my fascination with the legal and education systems led me to meet with Korean law enforcement officials. I presented my degree and after further meetings, they brought me on to help stamp out diploma forgeries in the country (a huge issue at the time, before immigration required Board of Education appostiles on documents). Since then I have worked closely with the same Foreign Affairs Division of the Korean National Police Agency on hundreds of cases of outright academic fraud. I am now retired from this.

I learned to not feed trolls _____________________	Still subject to occasional (misguided) trolling  _____________________	During my stint in Korea I have run many businesses including a private school. While the school itself was accredited in Korea by the Ministry of Education, the curriculum and diplomas for completion of such were accredited by American schools. Many trolls have claimed that this translates to a lack of integrity on my part by claiming that our diploma programs were "American accredited". Neither I nor our students see the issue, especially since they were able to attend universities in the US without TOEFL or SAT requirements (possible only with accredited US diplomas). (Read: Trolls grasping at straws)

I founded an incubator _____________________	Dissolved  _____________________	The first "Bitcoin Association", and probably one of the most entertaining groups of producers in the Bitcoin community was a group called the Digital Commerce Advancement Organization. In it's nearly 2 years of operation, it brought together over 50+ of our most active players in bitcoin (including names such as Roger Ver, Charlie Shrem, Erik Voorhees, Arthur Britto, Adam Harding, Vladimir Marchenko, Jim Lowry, Jon Holmquist, Andrew Lee, Eric Lombrozo, Jon Matonis, Yifu Guo, and dozens more) and facilitated the creation of dozens of useful and still existent services in the Bitcoin economy. Numerous currently active businesses were started by DCAO members directly as a result of discussions from inside the group's Skype chats. As the founder of this group, I was trusted to lead it with topics and issues and did so for the entire duration of the group's life. The DCAO began to split up as a result of aggressively conflicting opinions in relation to PirateAt40's then active ponzi. My childish prank only made things worse and I eventually resigned from the Board there in an effort to keep the place from being torn apart. Unsurprisingly to those who know me, after leaving it was reported that activity fell to almost nothing and eventually the group was dissolved.

I co-founded a payment services company _____________________	Dissolved  _____________________	DialCoin was one of my favorite projects, and arguably one of my biggest lessons in fraud. After co-founding the site with Vladimir Marchenko (UK CTO), Vicente S. (CWO), and Jim Lowry/BigTimeCoin (US CEO), I managed the site design, front-end coding and branding myself (I even designed Vladimir's "VLADIMIR SECURE" avatar he uses right now!). I also personally secured a business loan for the company to create liquidity. It was shortly after defrauded of every single penny through a combination of SIM stuffing in the UK by an untrackable party. The reserves were also stolen during the first Bitcoinica hack as we had used Bitcoinica as a hot wallet for reasons of short-term liquidity loans (something many exchanges including MtGox also provided to select businesses at the time). I later privately recommended to Piuk to remove his SMS charging functionality from Blockchain.info as a result.

I'm a donator _____________________	Standing  _____________________	I was one of the earlier donators to the forum and despite my feelings that there were some issues with moderation (and fair administration), I donated to the forum when it was made known that they were attempting to upgrade the forum software. There are now millions of dollars in bitcoins not being used and a year later we're still using the same forum software. I somewhat regret donating now. (I don't however being owner of one of the factiods shown in the advertising space). (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

I entertained people through videos _____________________	Undecided  _____________________	I enjoy entertaining people almost as much as I enjoy creating things, and I simply can't stand dry, boring and unimaginative media. As a direct result of watching a few boring episodes of "The Bitcoin Show with Bruce Wagner", I decided to mock it at first with BitTalk.TV (previously known for podcasts under another owner) and created a few just-for-fun videos, later producing a 45-minute arrangement of absolute nonsense mixed with serious interviews called the "Bittalk.TV Christmas Special". At this time I was widely known for spending my time on the forums trolling and shaking-up scammers and idiots. I was banned quite often.

I co-started a magazine _____________________	Active  _____________________	After dicking around with BitTalk.TV, I decided to listen to Mihai Alisie and get serious with an actual magazine. We founded the corporation through Vladimir Marchenko in the UK and started taking money for pre-orders in December 2011 for the future endeavor, garnering quite a lot of criticism and trolling for being late. We printed our first issue in May 2012. After designing and editing the first issue, I was shoehorned into the position of Editor-in-Chief (completely unfitting for me) and was constantly looking for a more serious and well rounded replacement. I later went on to create articles and edit for the next few issues before resigning at the request of Vladimir Marchenko. Shortly after resigning, there was a falling out between the remaining directors which inevitably led to further resignations, lawsuits, infighting between directors and the company being in the process of liquidation, while a new company run by Tony Gallippi (Bit-Pay) continues to produce the magazine with the same general staff. In hindsight, I should never have agreed to resign without first assigning a replacement director, as Vladimir himself said "you [were] a heart and soul of the company and it turned out a voice of wisdom".

2012

	STATUS	STORY
I enjoy helping others _____________________	Resolved _____________________	I was the only one on our team at Bitcoin Magazine who could make advertisements for clients in the beginning (this is before we had a full team of paid designers). I agreed to make one for Chaang Noi (Fussy Prick), but he didn't bother to tell me until after I accepted, that he hadn't even bothered to make a website yet (one of the clearly listed requirements for placing an ad). Out of desperation he asked me to make a site for him, to which I advised him strongly against (I was just too busy to be reliable). He insisted and I agreed, not wanting to jeopardize Bitcoin Magazine revenue but he eventually got impatient despite never even providing me information to put on the site itself (something I requested repeatedly). I provided him a 100% refund, in addition to the nearly completed site and a year's worth of hosting (out of my pocket). His plan to argue "wrongdoing" publicly backfired though as everyone pretty much agreed he's just an impossible person to work with. This has earned him the well deserved title Fussy Prick.
I stood up for a minor against an angry mob threatening violence _____________________	Lesson learned _____________________	Zhou Tong, a then member of the DCAO, seemed like a smart enough kid. He was busy making money hand over fist of greedy people throwing all their money into his Ruby on Rails website. Even Roger Ver, the owner of Bitcoinstore had a reported several hundred thousand dollars worth of bitcoins sitting in Bitcoinica. When someone came by wanting to buy the site from him, I mentioned to him that it would probably be a good idea to sell while people still cared about his site. Later, without understanding all of the details of Bitcoinica's hacks and thefts, I had defended him publicly when the raging masses accused him of everything wrong with their lives (this is the part where I learned not to whitenight). Since then I'm not quite sure what to believe, except that Bitcoinica still owes me money.
I continued to stand up for a minor _____________________	Resolved _____________________	As part of the witchhunt for Zhou Tong, AurumXChange joined in by illegally seizing large amounts of money from Zhou Tong (which have not been released to this day), as well as releasing private customer information, based on their personal opinion of what they thought he was doing. Although I agree that there are questions that need to be answered, I did not agree with AurumXChange's actions towards their own customer accounts (against their own TOS) and called them out on this publicly. Instead of explaining themselves and providing evidence, they threatened to sue me and others at Bitcoin Magazine (who are completely unrelated to the event). For what it's worth, I'm positive I could have handled that whole situation better.
I got caught up in a mess _____________________	Resolved _____________________	A project intended to provide liquidity by protecting against double spending, ZipConf's crew wanted me to do a quick front-end site design for them, then later asked me to be a "personnel manager" given my well known connections in the bitcoin business community. After requesting documents of who was working for the company, I found out Alberto Armandi (BitScalper/BitDayTrade) was involved in it and reported it immediately to the owner. Before he could remove him, Armandi stole thousands of bitcoins from the hot wallet. I have since learned not to publicly announce involvement in projects until after I've met every single last employee myself.
I created a bitcoin wallet device _____________________	Suspended _____________________	Before the Bitcoincard ever made a grab for attention, I had been working on a handheld bitcoin wallet device. Charlie Shrem of BitInstant agreed to help us find investments but was later removed from the project when it was discovered he was meeting with the Bitcoincard's developers without our knowledge. Despite the funding issues, I managed to secure personal loans of tens of thousands of dollars to facilitate development. We had 2 first prototypes but the final PCBs would cost up to a million. Vladimir Marchenko was also attempting to assist with investments in the UK, but before we could proceed, our French connection to Shenzen  (someone affiliated with Alberto Armandi / Bitscalper / BitDayTrade) defrauded us of our design budget. Since then I have put the project on hold and paid back all but one of the initial investors out of my own pocket. The project is currently seeking a slightly less costly direction (and better management).
I helped a girl accept bitcoins for modeling _____________________	Still subject to occasional (misguided) trolling _____________________	During my job as an extra in Korea, I ran into a young Korean model who wanted to learn more about Bitcoin. She hired a photography studio to do multiple shoots of her, had a developer from the bitcoin community make a site for her, and asked me for my advice on some shoots (not knowing how to participate in the community herself at the time). Giddy about a Korean wanting to use Bitcoins and thinking she might be appreciated, I supported this site by telling others about it. Despite my honest intentions, some people made leaps and bounds to claim the photos were inappropriate and claimed that by supporting her I was somehow a sexual pervert. I understand the concerns and in hindsight see what made them think that way. I'll be sure to be more cautious about how and what I promote in the future.
I was too quick to the draw _____________________	Resolved _____________________	Much like BFL, Bitcoin Magazine's staff didn't know much of what they were doing (new career for most of us), but we did know we wanted to make something fun to read that could tingle everyone as much as 2600 magazine does for hackers. We succeeded, but not before failing for 6 months to deliver the first issue after I made a public announcement about the magazine. This lesson has been learned by many, including BitInstant's Charlie Shrem when he inappropriately announced the BitInstant credit card and was met with immediately opposition from the card companies quite publicly. We all make mistakes. We all learn from them. I later resigned from Bitcoin Magazine in an effort to help support it better due to my then unfavorable "prankster" reputation.
I trolled too much _____________________	Resolution in Progress _____________________	I made a huge bet with money I would never have had to give away if I lost to intentionally prove a point about people's insane amount of trust to strangers (no escrow? millions of dollars?), that Pirate was not a scammer (which he is) and continued to increase that amount for the pure comedy of it. What started as a horrible prank soon ended up a sad display of people's greed and desperation. I have since realized that almost any prank is acceptable, except ones that involve people's money. Despite the numerous individuals pleading for me not to pay those who would not have paid if they lost, I had decided to settle with all of the betters anyway and as of writing this have settled with almost all of them, the rest being paid slowly as I am able to.

2013

After being knocked down a notch and realizing my shortcomings, I've changed my attitude and habits quite a lot this year. I recognize lost opportunities from the past 2 years as a result of my own mismanagement and lack of focus, but most importantly I have better channels for my creative energy now outside of the forum (music production, acting, mobile development).

Despite my continued interest in doing business and creating valuable services and products, I'd like to take things slower this year and do only what I can be sure of managing properly. The following are endeavors I am publicly involved in this year:

• I'm hosting an Avalon mining rig for 19 individuals
• I coined the term "Bear Toss"¹
• I started the "countdown GIF" trend used on most auctions now
• I'm assisting organizing the Bitcoin EU Convention 2013 (Amsterdam, Netherlands September 27th~29th)
• I sold a pre-order for an Avalon mining rig at a 38% discount

So you've read of all of this and you're still wondering...

• "Why is your ignore color so dark!?". In short, because I am great at inflicting butthurt on forums. The literal explanation is that I enjoy doing entertaining things for others, including paying 5 BTC to Theymos to make the colors change based on ignores received. I accept my fate and my color as a sign that I bother people who needed bothering at one time or another.
• "Okay, but aren't you a scammer?" No, I've never scammed anyone and I have a lengthy history of business with hundreds of individuals in the community as proof. The people who would say I am a scammer are either trolls, parroting what they heard from trolls, or are newbies who don't know me.
  
• "Okay so you're not a scammer, but what about that pirate bet? Aren't you a deadbeat who doesn't pay loans or debts?" Well, as it says above, I have settled with almost everyone now and the progress on that can be viewed at https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=140654 and any loans I've ever taken out in the bitcoin community are either paid or being paid regularly.

Thanks for reading!



Below you will find feedback left by members of this community whom I have made loans with or done specific transactions with that required trust.

Please be advised that any post that is not related to a specific transaction (e.g. off-topic posts, trolling, posts related to working relationships, personal opinions, requests for a date, etc) will not be allowed and will promptly be removed by moderators.[/list]

Having returned to the community to make good on a promise that in hindsight was dumb to make, I realized that there isn't a whole lot of positive information out there about me. I've done a pretty good job of acting like a dick on the surface just for the comedic factor of it, while helping people genuinely in the background. That admittedly makes it difficult for newcomers to gauge trustworthiness of someone, whether it be a $1 transfer or a $10,000 one.

This thread is for those who know me to post our transactions. I've failed at some businesses, I've succeeded at some. I've made loans before and been very late, but never once have I either not intended to pay nor not come through with payment, and I never intend to. I am a man of my word, but I recognize that I've done so much joking around this past year that nobody is exactly sure of what my real word is. It is my perhaps naive intention to have this thread for that very purpose. If you have done a transaction with me, please message "Johnthedong" with the amount and purpose of the transaction and it will be added here.

Best wishes for 2013 to everyone.