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41  Other / Off-topic / PCI Compliance-SAQ on: August 25, 2012, 02:55:22 PM
If you're a CC accepting merchant your processor will charge you at least $30/mo (variable depending on your processor) if you don't complete this online questionnaire once each year so headsup!  Turns out I've been unnecessarily paying this $30/mo for years now (as long as the program has been in existence which I'm not sure how long at this point) as I wasn't aware of this mandatory requirement.  The processor claims they've been notifying me on the front of the monthly statement I get around July of each year (note how it's not a separate, easily identifiable notification letter).


Protecting Cardholder Data with PCI Security Standards

Occasionally, relaxed security by some merchants enables criminals to easily steal and use personal consumer financial information from payment card transactions and processing systems. As a merchant, you are at the center of payment card transactions so it is imperative that you use standard security procedures and technologies to discourage theft of cardholder data.

Merchant-based vulnerabilities may appear almost anywhere in the card-processing ecosystem including point-of-sale devices, personal computers or servers, Web shopping applications, in paper-based storage systems, and unsecured transmission of cardholder data to service providers. Compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) helps to alleviate these vulnerabilities and protect cardholder data.

PCI DSS follows common sense steps that mirror best security practices. PCI DSS and related security standards are administered by the PCI Security Standards Council which was founded by the various credit card associations and card brands. The standards apply to all organizations that store, process or transmit cardholder data. As a merchant who accepts and processes payment cards, you must comply with the PCI DSS.

To fulfill your obligation to become PCI DSS compliant, you are required to take the Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) and undergo scanning services of your payment network, if applicable. To access both of these services, please click on the link below. We have recently updated the website with a new, user-friendly, easy to use site to help aid you through the PCI process. Merchants that have accessed the website prior to 3/27/12, please log in using your current merchant account number as your Username and your current password. If you have forgotten your password, please click on the link below for assistance with resetting your account. If you are accessing this site for the first time, please follow the simple instructions below to obtain your login information.

If you have questions or need assistance during your compliance process, please contact us at (800) 324-9825 or pci@merchant-info.com.
42  Other / Off-topic / 31337 stands for "Elite" on: August 14, 2012, 06:09:23 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet

It appears I'm the first one to figure this out despite not being a coder/hacker. Cheesy

Congratulations to the top 30 or so addresses!
43  Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / The Very Best Place to Launder Money? Why, US Banks! on: August 11, 2012, 03:39:11 PM
http://blip.tv/stratfor/the-united-states-and-the-money-laundering-process-portfolio-6297171

Why use Bitcoin when you can use the USD-based US banking system?

Stratfor is well known and respected for it's "strategic advising".  Best follow what they recommend.
44  Bitcoin / Press / 2012-7-21 commodity watch radio on: July 23, 2012, 09:10:26 AM
http://commoditywatch.podbean.com/

I can't believe I've gotten something up here before julz who's always on top of the news before everyone else!

Good interview of Detlev Sclichter.

Bitcoin mentioned several times.
45  Other / Politics & Society / Who are the REAL money launderers? Seriously. on: July 17, 2012, 11:15:28 PM
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-16/hsbc-aided-money-laundering-by-iran-drug-cartels-probe-shows.html

Let us not forget that HSBC was not the only bank involved in this activity.  Wachovia was another prime example as well as many more...

And Schumer has the nerve to blame Bitcoin?
46  Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / George Selgin advocates Bitcoin AGAIN on: April 24, 2012, 07:32:40 PM
http://www.soundmoneyproject.org/?p=7368

see 27:10
47  Other / Meta / What happened to https://bitcointalk.org? on: April 09, 2012, 05:27:36 PM
https://?
48  Economy / Speculation / Financial Risk Analytics-Subscription Service on: March 29, 2012, 03:40:02 PM
kk
49  Economy / Speculation / Gold collapsing. Bitcoin UP. on: March 13, 2012, 07:36:55 PM
very good sign IMO.

Edit : this thread is an extension of this original thread:

Gold: I Smell a Trap

i've been telling ppl for quite some time now that i've been selling my bullion for btc for several months now.  and its true, i've liquidated lots of the stuff since April that i first bought in 2005-2007.  i'm an ardent suporter of btc for the longest time.  i've also been warning ppl about divergences in the PM market i've been exploiting via shorts such as the divergence in silver, miners, and the gold price.  i understand what gold is all about and i love the stuff but when btc came along my allegiance switched.

the basis of my thinking has been and always will be that its all about the USD.  the Fed controls the issuance of the USD and its its only franchise.  i don't think they want to relinquish that control of the worlds reserve currency.  the USD is also how most billionaires wealth is stored in this country.  most of the debt in the world is denominated in USD (60%).  there was a great article someone posted about how the bankers have been complaining to Ben that they're being hurt by the weak USD.  Duh.

let me list the warnings i see:

1. silver has broken down badly from $50. it continues to this am.
2. silver stocks are in an obvious decline and got hit yesterday hard.
3. gold stocks are no better.  they usually lead.
4. we're at 11 yrs of the bull.  some ppl say theres an extended 9 yr cycle going on.
5. asset classes don't all break down simultaneously.  it took gold and miners several months to break down after the Dow in 2007 so i don't expect them to have followed the Dow down since May 2011.
6. gold is trying to or has, depending on how you look at it, entered a parabola.  do you really want to buy a parabola now if we're entering a major deflationary phase when cash is King?
7. its debatable how widespread the evangelism about gold has spread but everywhere i turn, on street corner stores, tv ads, and my secretary everyone's buying gold.

ok, now for the tinfoil hat stuff.  stop right here if you want to stick with the technical trading stuff above.  over many years of trading i've learned to think like a criminal and this is what i see happening.

1. GS and JPM have huge short positions in the metals.  do you think they will let them double, triple from here even if they represent hedges?  i think thats the last thing they want to see.
2. gold has acted very strange the last coupla weeks to me ramping in the face of a severe selloff in the Dow and the clear threat of deflation.
3. altho GS & JPM probably never saw the bull in PM's they aren't stupid and know how to handle them.  so how do you handle a losing situation?  Buy into it. Profit as well.  create a huge parabola. Build up an even greater short position. Get Ben to squelch liquidity. Then sell it off at the top when everyone's in and short the crap out of it. this is what happened in silver.
4. why is btc rallying all of a sudden?  could it be that its exerting itself in the economic scene based on the virtues of what we all know?  it also could be that Wall St is rotating out of stocks and soon pm's into btc. Cheesy
5. when would the trap go off?  i think todays FOMC meeting with lack of any further QE would be the perfect timing for a gold selloff.

so guys, just give me a few hours to see if my theory proves correct.  if it doesn't work by all means buy the parabola.  personally i'm going to give it a few days from today to let it work but you can all call me a tinfoiler if gold doesn't start going down after the announcement.

Disclosure:  i do have a huge short position in bullion in place.
50  Economy / Speculation / Bye Bye $4's on: March 13, 2012, 04:46:34 PM
nice knowin ya.
51  Economy / Speculation / Thunderclap! on: March 13, 2012, 03:47:23 PM
Kaboom!!!

the McClellan Oscillator had been narrowing for weeks.  sure sign of a pending breakout.
52  Economy / Speculation / $4 is the new $2 on: March 11, 2012, 04:59:30 PM
i believe this to be the case.  

in fact, the move down from $7.20 to $4 magically represents a 61.8% Fibonacci retrace, a good place to bottom.

so would you be wise to be buying in the $4's or selling/shorting in the $4's?
53  Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Google Wallet Needs Bitcoin on: February 29, 2012, 05:57:45 PM
Schmidt has gone on record as saying that implementing NFC is complicated because of all the players involved.  don't ask me to link that video interview right now.  I'm on my phone.

Heres a list of all the players with their hands in the pie so far which obviously drives up the costs; first data, Citigroup, mastercard, visa, verifone, sprint for starters.

Please add to this list if you know others.
54  Bitcoin / Development & Technical Discussion / Review of Etotheipi's Cryptography Seminar-Highly Recommended on: February 26, 2012, 09:25:26 PM
after the first review using Normal view in Open Office, i thought the seminar was excellent altho the math was over my head especially the parts about the modulus operator.  it also clarified several principles of cryptography and quantum computing that i had been confused about.  

this is an excellent historical review of internet communication/cryptography from its beginnings and the motivations for privacy.  

i went over the seminar a 2nd time, this time in OpenOffice with the Slideshow turned on.

i hadn't realized eto had transitions built into the slides and it made a huge difference in illustrating what is going on with the diagrams mapping out the messaging protocols.  the step by step build-ons illustrate the principles nicely.  this was extremely helpful information that i have never seen presented like this before.  the presentation ties the history of different forms of cryptography, RSA/PGP/AES, symmetric vs asymmetric algorithms, quantum computing, ECDSA, hashing and Bitcoin all together in one place.  

he also talks about various Cryptanalysis Techniques or Attacks such as man in the middle, timing, tempest, probing, social engineering, and rubber hose techinques.

other topics included one-time pad encryption, stream ciphers, and ECC.

there is a table in the presentation which  illustrates the problem of trying to crack RSA as the key lengthens.  one can gain comfort knowing that it will be quite a while before we're threatened by hostile entities.

he also gets practical for us non technical folks and talks about the role of Certificate Authorities, SSL, and TSL for website security and cellphones as well as our beloved Truecrypt.

all in all its comprehensive and there's something in there for everyone.

when i read Wikipedia on these subjects i continually get lost in the trees moving from one page to another thru all the hyperlinks.  personally when i view presentations in slide format such as this, it helps both at the beginning and at the end to put the settings on Slide Sorter to get a 30,000 ft view of the forest from above tying everything together.

this pic is from one of his slides.  1 BTC to the person who can make me a satisfactory and realistic moving gif file of that P, Q line and resulting R value for my avatar using this pic  Cheesy:



i would encourage everyone to contribute to eto's crowdfunding campaign to get his Armory project up and running.  at least get the slideshow which is easily worth the $10!  you'll understand Bitcoin much better!

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=64449;all
55  Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Who's REALLY in charge of this country? on: February 15, 2012, 01:26:51 PM
i don't think there is any question about the answer; the Technology Industry.

no, not the banks and not the gov't.  its clearly the technology giants.  as evidence i point to the following 2 daily charts of the Nasdaq and financials over the last 4 years since turmoil struck. the Nasdaq is the leading stock sector performer.  here are the sickly financials:



and here is the strength of the tech giants as evidenced by the Nasdaq:



the price chart says it all.  

i also think that what Google did along with other tech companies in derailing SOPA was a significant demonstration of their power over the politicians and the media industries, both considered by many as power brokers.

why do i bring this up?  because i think it may be possible to exploit what should be a natural wedge btwn these industries.

the more pessimistic way to view these arguments would be to say that technologies ascendancy has been allowed or driven by inflation facilitated by the banks/gov't and w/o it they wouldn't be thriving as much as they are.  that certainly would be a valid argument but i prefer to look at it from a more optimistic standpoint.

the human condition is to innovate, thrive, develop and i argue that what is happening in our society with technology would happen with or w/o the banks and inflationary tendencies.  the banks and Wall Street are just riding along on the backs tech stocks and the real economy and would w/o them just shrivel away and die the death they deserve.

why am i bringing this up in regards to Bitcoin?  b/c i see alot of confusion around on the Forums about what the best direction is for us to take our economy in wake of whats happened with Tradehill and Paxum.  while many good ideas have been introduced i would like to advance another strategy which would be just as valid and i think easier.  

if one of the tech giants could be convinced to invest in Bitcoin this would ensure its success.  the best way IMO would be for a company like Google to buy a stake in MtGox.  this would solidify mtgox's future, create a windfall for Mag Tux, and Bitcoin would be off to the races.   obviously another alternative would be for a tech giant to start their own exchange but that wouldn't be the most direct route to what we would like to accomplish.  if Mag Tux could be convinced to offer up a large stake to a tech giant we should encourage this.  

why would any of these companies want to do this?  b/c there is also no doubt that the financial system based on debt is in trouble.  we are in the process of forming another bubble which is even more dangerous than what we built up to 2007-8.  as evidence to this i point to Europe.  yes we could debate forever whether or not the US, who owns the reserve currency, will somehow be immune to all this but lets assume for the moment we're not and that our national debt will eventually drag us down as well.  the last thing these tech giants want to have happen is to be dragged down by the financial industry once again into the abyss.

back to why they should invest in Bitcoin.  i think there is a general feeling in this country and worldwide that wealth preservation right now is paramount.  forget about 8% stock market returns in perpetuity that was the prevailing wisdom when i grew up.  if those of us who have anything can hold onto it, that would be a victory.  yes, they could invest in gold but seriously, how can a global economy as fluid as what we have now be based on an inanimate object (gold bugs stay away)?

the argument to take to a Google or whoever in the industry is that NOW is the time time to invest in a currency that will hold its value.  yes we still have whipsaws in the price but we are still young and this should be expected.  the key point is the fixed supply, known distribution rate, and longevity (yes i think over 3 yrs is longevity). this is why gold and silver have done so well to this point.  while the Nasdaq stocks are flying and near a peak is the optimum time to start looking for alternatives; before the next Crash which we know is coming somewhere along the line here.

the reason i emphasize Google is b/c they of all tech giants have a vested interest in a free and open Internet b/c of Search.  users need to know what they search is free and unfiltered.  this meshes so well with a free and open currency that is based on the Internet.  Mike Hearns is one of us as well.

we are now over 3 yrs into this project and IMO we are here to stay.  hanging out in the Mining forum over the last couple of months has me even more convinced of the strength of this movement.  anyone can buy a computer and support the network.  there is big money being thrown at gpu and fpga power (by little guys) right now and this is where the "backing" of Bitcoin comes from.  fpga is developing at a fast pace and it will get even easier for the average person to buy megahashes.

its been said that Satoshi might have been a consortium of individuals from the tech industry who planted this seed in the wild to let grow and eventually adopt.  whether this is true or not, who knows.  its besides the point.  i think any of us who has any connection to Silicon Valley or any of these companies need to be pounding the turf and pushing the concepts and fundamentals of Bitcoin to the thought leaders there.  they of all people will understand what Bitcoin is all about; especially if it came from them. they should realize that they are the ones who are really in charge of this country and economy and should want to take pre-emptive steps to insure the value of their money while they still have it.  

Before the next Crash which is when Wall St will take it all away.
56  Bitcoin / Mining support / How do I cut memclock in Win 7 from 685 to 340 on 6970 card/cgminer? on: February 04, 2012, 04:48:48 PM
sveetsnelda has shown me how to get it down from 1375 to 685 using MSI Afterburner and modifying the .cfg file.  it won't work using cgminer.

he claims on his copy of Afterburner that when you move the slider all the way to the left to 685, click apply, close program, reopen, you will then be able to move the slider now in the middle to the far left to 340. 

this doesn't work for me.
57  Bitcoin / Mining support / 6970's on: January 21, 2012, 09:16:22 PM
i'm new to mining but have 2 machines each with 3 Radeon cards, one with Sapphire 6970's, and the other with Powercolor 6970's.

the Powercolors run consistently lower Mh/s than Sapphires.  the only difference i can see physically is the 2 fans vs. one fan.  am getting in the high 200's for Powercolors vs. the low 300's for Sapphires.

what Mh/s should i expect optimally from these cards?  optimal temp? (they're currrently below 90 C).  memory at lowest setting.

using GUI miner, Win7 Ultimate.

am using the recently updated ATI Control Center with Overdrive.  any suggestions?
58  Other / Politics & Society / PIPA & SOPA Delayed! on: January 20, 2012, 05:20:26 PM
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120120/08335717489/internet-wins-pipa-sopa-delayed.shtml

Way to go guys!
59  Economy / Speculation / Rally starting at 4 pm EST on: January 19, 2012, 08:21:40 PM
if the Dow ends up, like it looks like it will, it seems to me that i've noticed small rallies beginning right after the close.  

Wall St. traders rotating to the Bitcoin markets?  Cheesy

no guarantees of course.
60  Economy / Speculation / Time to Head Back UP on: January 18, 2012, 07:33:02 PM
http://financialriskanalytics.weebly.com/daily-blog.html
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