OK, this would sound noobish but I'm interested to know how other people keep the mnemonic phrase generated by the wallet. I do have the wallets secured with a pw and backed up (still not enough to warrant a hardware wallet) but I also have the passphrases handwritten in paper (someone said be wary of printers) and stashed somewhere but I'm wondering if there's a better way to keep them.

I don't know any cryptography but I'm thinking of shuffling the words rather than writing them down in order. Like a 12x12 grid where I'd spread them out in certain patterns and then finished with filler words. Since it's no longer as straight-forward should anyone get their hands on it, I think it would finally be safer to keep digital copies of it. Any suggestions?

Well another of those scams that give bitcoins the bad rap in the media. It's plain to see that this is a Ponzi but I believe one of the reasons it fooled people was because it was using a technology they are not familiar with. Do you think there are more that people who are more knowledgeable with cryptocurrencies can help prevent other people from getting fleeced?

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/04/10/bitcoin-scam-pnp.html

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10) - The Philippine National Police (PNP) arrested a couple who allegedly amassed wealth worth nearly P1 billion through popular digital currency Bitcoin.

Arnel Ordonio, 27, and his wife Leonady, were presented before some 50 victims in Camp Crame on Tuesday, all demanding for the return of their money. The suspects were captured in an entrapment operation on April 4 in Vigan City,

Police said the couple lured people to to invest in the Ordonios' business, promising investors easy money, while riding on the popularity of Bitcoin.

Valued at USD$168 billion, Bitcoin has dominated headlines on investment. Bitcoin is a digital currency used as a payment system that works without a central bank or single administrator.

PNP described the scam as similar to the pyramid scheme, but with the use of electronic money.

Under the scheme, investors were promised of at least 30 percent profit in about half a month for a minimum bankrolled capital of P90 thousand. Some of the investments went as a high as P29 million.

Speaking from experience, PNP chief Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa urged the public to refrain from putting their money on questionable businesses, saying that "If it's too good to be true, it probably is."

"Alam ko 'yan, dahil biktima din ako nyan noon (I know that scam because of I was also a victim of it," said Dela Rose while bursting into laughter.

The PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group filed syndicated estafa charges against the couple before the Department of Justice. CIDG said they studying of raising the charges to economic sabotage.

With all the news coming out of China, like Xi being able to rule without term limits, this is one that didn't surprised me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqeg8vLlx7c

Do you agree with this? Should the state regulate religion as strictly as China does? For example, they screen people before allowing them to go an the haj to Mecca.

Saw this first thing when I opened my browser. http://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/bitcoin-miners-ditch-china-as-crackdown-on-cryptocurrencies-continues-2018-1-1012533774

Bitcoin miners are reportedly fleeing China because it is cracking down on cryptocurrencies

Two of China's largest bitcoin mining operations are looking to set up shop elsewhere as the country expands its clampdown on cryptocurrencies to mining operations, Bloomberg news reported Friday.

Bitmain, which runs two exchanges, has set up a regional office in Singapore, as well as mining operations in the US and Canada, CEO Wu Jihan told the news channel in an interview. News of the impending crackdown was first reported Wednesday.

China banned wildly popular initial coin offerings - or ICO's - last year, as well as banning trading of the digital assets on local exchanges. The country had initially been popular for cryptocurrency mining because of cheap energy costs.

The policy shift could drastically affect the bitcoin mining landscape, which is already struggling with transaction times that can exceed 10 minutes.

The price of bitcoin has tapered slightly from its intraday highs, but is still trading up more than 7% at $16,471 per coin.

OK, we all know China is trying to make its own digital fiat and we kinda expected it would clamp down on competition. Do you think mining would still remain stable? I mean, there are probably miners there that might not be able afford to quickly move out. Would this be for the better (mining become more widely spread out) or can this cause transactions to come to a halt?

Well, it looks like we have another new player. I don't know how this would end but the project sounds interesting. It sort of reminded me of what Piratebay did.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bittorrent-creators-chia-could-fix-bitcoin-with-own-altcoin-by-late-2018

BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen has debuted his “solution” to Bitcoin which he says resolves “centralization problems” with the virtual currency.

Speaking to TechCrunch Wednesday, Cohen explained his Chia Network would offer more reliable, eco-friendly mining and security measures.

The developer has been famously critical of Bitcoin this year as the network suffers slow and expensive transaction processing.

“The idea is to make a better Bitcoin, to fix the centralization problems,” Cohen told the publication.

Employing a concept called proof-of-time, as opposed to proof-of-work, Chia relies on a two-step block authentication method.

The three “weightiest histories” found by full nodes are relayed to “farmers,” not miners. These find “the best proof of space they have,” after which proof-of-time servers begin validation and publish a verified block to the network.

This procedure should take away mining power from a select few miners, as occurs with Bitcoin, Cohen says.

“It’s technically ambitious and there’s a big meaty chunk of work to do. I’ve done enough raising money and recruiting. Now for the real work,” he added.

While Bitcoin continues to find stability after its latest hard fork was canceled by developers this week, Cohen maintains a late-2018 or later release for his altcoin will still be timely.

He is not alone in his plans, with MegaUpload creator Kim Dotcom likely to beat him to issuing a cryptocurrency, this time for his own decentralized file sharing network. Dotcom’s Bitcache will be 100 percent Bitcoin-supportive, however, having an integrated wallet for users.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue9mClXE-ZY

China has apparently been collecting voice samples of their citizens to make a database that can be used to identify people in calls, etc. How they managed to acquire this was not mentioned. What do you think would be the implications of this in a country already known for tight censorship?

You think some other countries are already using similar technologies, maybe US and Russia? And how likely is this to become a trend among governments?

Just reading this article from the Economist. https://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21725751-new-book-looks-how-expenditure-has-changed-among-americas-affluent-modern-american

Do you think this is a good thing, that they are spending more on experiential "goods" and spending less on luxury items? And why is it that the rich seem to be heading this way while the working class seem to be heading the opposite, spending more and more on goods?

This article was about America and I don't live there but the part about the working class was spot on. How would you know someone finally bought that coveted iPhone? They'll post a photo of it on Facebook. I wonder if these trends are the same worldwide.

I'm also wondering what gave rise to the change in the elite's taste. The fear that the "great unwashed" would turn an envious eye? The realization that material belongings are not what gives happiness?

STATUS symbols are as old as humanity itself. It was only once ancient Rome became rich enough for plebeians to decorate their homes that elites sought to do one better by installing mosaics in their villas; in Victorian England working-class women began to don worsted stockings to mimic the silk hosiery of the 1%. At the end of the 19th century Thorstein Veblen, an American sociologist, decried the “conspicuous leisure” of the robber barons of his age, who set themselves apart through their ability to avoid labour; he went on to bemoan the “conspicuous consumption” of the working classes seeking to imitate the wealthy’s access to luxury goods.

Conspicuous consumption persists today. But just as the patricians of classical times changed their habits once the masses gained the ability to copy them, so too have modern American elites recoiled from accumulating mere goods now that globalisation has made them affordable to the middle class. Instead, argues Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, a professor at the University of Southern California, in “The Sum of Small Things”, they have begun consuming the fruits of “conspicuous production”:socially worthy things like fair-trade coffee. They also emphasise “inconspicuous consumption”, of services like education. Far from making the world more egalitarian, this shift, in particular, threatens to entrench modern elites’ privileged position more effectively than the habits of their predecessors ever did.

As inequality has increased over the years, so have researchers’ attempts to grapple with its causes and consequences. Ms Currid-Halkett distinguishes herself by bridging the divide between qualitative and quantitative approaches. Her book has no shortage of anecdotes to illustrate cultural trends and it digs deep into the detail of the Consumer Expenditure Survey, administered by the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Using the survey’s data from thousands of respondents, she paints a remarkably fine-grained portrait of how the spending habits of Americans have evolved over the decades.

Defining “conspicuous consumption” as “apparel, watches, jewellery, cars and other socially visible goods”, she finds that even though the poor must dedicate much of their income to basic necessities, they devote a higher share of their total spending to conspicuous consumption than the rich do. And the trend is gaining steam. Between 1996 and 2014 the richest 1% fell further behind the national average in the percentage of their spending dedicated to bling. The middle income quintile went the other way: by 2014 they spent 35% more than the average as a percentage of their annual expenditure.

Rather than filling garages with flashy cars, the data show, today’s rich devote their budgets to less visible but more valuable ends. Chief among them is education for their children: the top 10% now allocate almost four times as much of their spending to school and university as they did in 1996, whereas for other groups the figure has hardly budged. They also invest heavily in domestic services such as housekeepers, freeing up time that the less fortunate must spend on chores.

Rather than frittering away that precious leisure time on frivolities, as Veblen’s leisure class did, they devote it to enriching experiences, like attending the opera, holidaying in far-off lands and working out at fancy gyms. Their children, by tagging along and thus absorbing this “cultural capital”, develop the sophistication needed to win admission to selective universities, vastly increasing the odds that they will form the next generation’s elite. The modern equivalent of Victorian worsted-stocking wearers are hipsters, who imitate the wealthy’s penchant for farmers’ markets and fair-trade lattes, even if they cannot afford a cruise to Antarctica.

“The Sum of Small Things” both unearths evocative differences between big American cities—for example, Los Angeles leads in bottled-water consumption, while New York does in spending on shoes—and makes clear that the “aspirational class” Ms Currid-Halkett profiles is almost exclusively coastal and urban. However, that may yield a lopsided portrait of the top of the income pile: largely absent from her tale are the business-minded rich in politically conservative states.

The reader learns that residents of Dallas and Houston dedicate unusually low shares of spending to housing costs and to fresh fruit, and a relatively high portion to textiles, furniture and beauty products such as wigs—but not whether the rich among them mimic their blue-state counterparts in seeking to project virtue via heirloom tomatoes and the like. Perhaps a sequel might explore the values of Sun Belt suburbanites, and how this other half of privileged Americans signal status through their spending.

Okay, so I was running through my subbed Youtube channels and came upon this video by Scott Galloway and it got me thinking. Should the taxes really be increased for these companies? I mean, many of them are not even creating content and making money out of our data and they still get taxed less than most other type of businesses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auydnF-Qu_w

Hi guys, meron din ba sa inyo na nagkakaroon ng problems sa Polo? Bale nagsesell sana ako ng LBC kagabi noong 0.00017 yung price nya. So nagclick ako ng apppropriate amount and then sell. Hindi nadadagdag sa btc balance ko, so inisip ko may delay lang.

Nung nagcheck ako ngayon nagulat ako na yung laman na btc lang eh yung galing sa Waves campaign ko na kakapadala lang (inilabas ko na lahat nung ibang btc before Aug 1 at naiwan lang yung mga alts).

Then dun ko nalaman na hindi ata nagsell yung LBC. Kapag tiningnan dun sa Deposits and Withdrawals, nandun pa rin yung LBC na akala ko naibenta na. Pero kung ioopen ko naman yung Exchange, nakalagay na I have 0 LBC daw. 0.00015 na lang yung palitan ngayon, nakakainis.   

Hi, magtatanong na naman po uli tungkol sa negosyo. Meron po ba dito na nag-loading business na gamit yung coins.ph? Kamusta naman siya?

Kasi hindi ba regular load lang siya, hindi ba isyu yun? May sinubukan akong loadan dati na paexpire na yung backup SIM, nag expire pa rin kahit naloadan ko na. Wala namang sagot si coins.ph nung tinatanong.

Paano pala ang presyohan nyo, magkano pinapatong nyo? Kasi diba, 5% lang yung rebate, masyado naman mababa. Per transaction ba patong nyo? Yung pinapaloadan ko kasi ng phone ko dati, 2 yung patong sa 20 pesos na pa-load. Kasi ang iniisip ko naman, kung sobrang baba nung tubo, sayang lang na ipaconvert ko yung ibang coins ko na pampuhunan.

And paano paiikutin yung pera? Kasi diba yung rebate dederetso sa PHP wallet, so paano ko ibabalik yung puhunan dun sa wallet? Medyo malaki kasi fee pag-cash-in. Wala namang malapit na 7-11 sa amin para 1 lang yung dagdag kapag nag-cash in. At yung "perk" na yun eh limited lang sa transactions 100 pesos and below. Ayoko naman maya-maya pa-convert ng btc para panibagong puhunan, sayang kasi pwede pa tumaas yung exchange rate.

While someone was trying to explode himself on a building full of teens in Manchester, a terrorist group claiming to be an ISIS affiliate attacked a city in southern Philippines. The Philippine president has already declared martial law on the whole Mindanao (second largest island where Marawi city is located) while in Russia.

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/05/23/marawi-city-clash.html

OK, bale hanggang ngayon hindi pa ako nakapagpapalit ng phone. November 2015 pa tong Starmobile D1 ko at ginagamit ko pa rin kasi maliban dun sa unting chip sa case (wala akong mabili na protective case para sa kanya) eh ok pa naman siya.

Ang problema ko eh yung sa system. Naka-split kasi yung Internal Storage nya sa dalawa noon. Dumating dun sa point na nagi-storage full na siya kahit ang laki pa nung bakante sa SD (8gb yung gamit ko). So niroot ko siya para i-merge yun at hindi na siya nagkaroon uli ng ganung problem - hanggang ngayon lang.  

Bumalik na si "Uninstall appliactions" dialog. Nagulat nga ako na pati pala yung contents nung SD ginalaw. Nawala yung ibang apps, binura yung contents ng Downloads at Ebooks folders.  

Wala po bang pang-matagalang solution sa ganitong problem sa Android? Bale nung nagroot ako, JB yung OS at hindi ko na na-update kasi nga maa-unroot siya.

May mga nabasa ako na yung mga OS Marsmallow and up, pwede daw i-merge yung SD sa internal pero hindi ko gets kung paano gagawin yun.   Saka parang hindi na ata magiging accessible yung SD, di tulad sa set-up ngayon na pwede ko siya i-connect sa laptop at magtransfer ng files.

Ito yung isang rason kung bakit hindi pa ko gumagamit ng software wallet. Nagdududa ako sa gadgets ko. Sabi kasi nung pinsan ko kapag nasira tong phone at laptop ko, goodbye btc. May isa akong tito, Raiblock naman yung mina-mine nya, bumigay yung hdd nya, ayun nawala lahat laman ng wallet nya.  

Hi, a few weeks ago humingi ako ng suggestions dito sa Philippines section kung magandang idea na gamitin ko yung ipon ko para kumuha ng CAD seminar at mag-freelance and based dun sa replies mukhang mas OK kung sa iba ko na lang gamitin yung pera. So ito manghihingi uli ako ng suggestion kung anong magandang gawin dito sa ipon ko.

Parang wala akong nakitang thread dito sa Philippines section tungkol sa mga IRL business so naisip ko baka maganda na meron place kung saan tayo pwede mag-post ng ideas para humingi ng suggestions galing sa ibang Pinoy members.

Hindi ko alam kung paano mas i-organize tong thread so siguro ang gawin na lang natin eh tuwing meron tayong ipopost na bagong business idea, bigyan na lang natin yung negosyo ng pangalan at lagayan ng glow yung business name. That way siguro pwedeng maglagay ng reviews sa multiple businesses ng hindi na gagamit ng maraming quotes. Anyway, I'll start..



merchantofzeny's Iced Delights

OK, summer ngayon at nagplaplano ako maglagay ng maliit na stall ng halo-halo at shakes dito sa gilid ng bahay. Nag-canvas ako ng equipments sa Lazada at meron sila 1L ice crusher for 1,700 at 4-speed blender for 1k. Hindi ko pa nasusubukan bumili ng items online, safe ba dito sa Lazada? Yung ice crusher kasi, wala akong makita sa mall.

Good idea na rin ba tong ice crusher to begin with? Ang reason ko kasi eh kapag summer medyo pahirapan bumili ng crushed ice. Meron akong tita dati na reseller ng tube ice. 1-2 sacks naman binibili nya palagi pero kapag summer minsan hindi na siya nadi-deliver-an. Siguro inuuna nila i-fill yung large orders kaya nawawalan yung tingi.

Kinwento ko sa family ko tong plan ko, ok naman sila pero nung una sabi nila blender lang daw bilhin ko, and then de kaskas na ice shaver na lang kaso parang nakakadiri naman yung block ice nila sa palengke. Palagay nyo guys? Bilhin ko na ba pareho?

Anyway regarding yung products, bale ang ang iniisip ko eh halo-halo and then yung mga hielo dessert variant gamit yung ibang ingredients, so may kasamang mais con hielo, saba con hielo at ube-keso (yung ube tapos may cheese shreds na binuhusan ng condesada  ). Yung shakes bibili na lang ako nung powder sa palengke and then siguro haluan ko na lang ng sago or gulaman. Kapag gumaya yung kapit-bahay saka na lang ako magdadagdag ng buko pandan at coffee jelly pero imbis na puro jelly yung serving, bale gagawin na lang silang topping sa shaved ice.

Speaking of shaved ice, may kilala ba kayong distributor ng snow cone syups? Yung dito lang sana sa QC na nagbebenta ng kahit small orders lang.

Hi, bale ganito kasi problema ko.. so college drop out ako at matagal na kong walang trabaho. May naiipon naman ako paunti-unti at ngayon sapat na yun pangkuha ng AutoCAD seminar. Maigsi lang sya, mga 70 hours lang total.

Iniisip ko sana na baka kahit hindi ako makahanap ng regular na trabaho pede ako mag-freelance. Ang pagkakabalita ko dati at least 2k daw ang bayad per project. Kinwento ko to sa pinsan ko kaso ang sinasabi nya sayang lang daw yung 8k na gagastusin ko.

So ano palagay nyo? May idea ba dito sa skill na to? May demand pa ba?