Because without transactions themselves occurring... (eg, money being exchanged for coin, and coin being exchanged for money, and coin being exchanged for coin... there is no value.)

Thus, had he mined them himself, with his own computer, he would have just wasted power, not had any transactions (because he could not have processed the trillions of transactions himself), and the coins would have no value, except to him, as debit.

The market is self regulating....

The ASIC creators ARE mining themselves... they are getting the money from OUR SALES of PREORDERS, to build the machines. I am sure they are building ONE for themselves, for every ONE being sold. Create two, keep the best for yourself, sell the other, create another, keep the best for yourself, create another... In the end, they will have a horde of mammoth machines, selling us the mini-machines, spread-out all over the place. The market will regulate itself, and then there will be no more "new coins" to be found, only "transactions to process" which we simply "reject" if they don't start adding a "process fee" to the transactions. (A fee that covers expenses of these super machines.)

Who the hell still uses twitter?

It is all just spam... You really need to spam the spammers and bots with more junk-ads they don't even read themselves? That will help bitcoins how? By associating it with spam, as it is already associated with viruses and fraud and hackers... Sure, just add one more thing to the list... Hey, did you hear about this thing called e-mail... you should make a mail-bot and tell the world that way... That will really build trust!

Why not just advertise like the rest of the trusted world... with paid ads on legitimate sites? Are you actually that cheap of a person? What that shows is you are already a failure, and talking to other failures. What "customer base" will you actually attract with that crap? More bots!

I just report all ebay items as fraud. They have already confirmed that all those listings are fraudulent.

That is not an "allowed" sale-item, since there is nothing being sold. Report every one you see, so it stops fueling the "scam" fire.

I think I saw ONE honest listing related to an ASIC, and even that was, "questionable", but seemed legitimate, for the most-part. (Not worthy of a second look, because he was more greedy than those listings. lol.)

check your host file, dump your DNS cache (turn off that windows service if it exists)...

Do a full system scan, I suspect you may have a plugin on your browser or root, that is hijacking your page. Eg, you are actually on site A but site A shows site B in an overlay frame, and the "java" or "javascript" or whatever, is not functioning because of that.

They do that to capture your keyboard typing, as you "think" you are entering it into site A, but you are just seeing site A and site B is reading your keystrokes.

Thus, not letting you get inside the actual site.

If you are in REAL deep stuff... try the bleepingcomputer website. They will walk you through a good mbam scan. That finds most things that virus scanners just can't. If nothing still, use microsofts tool for scanning. (That is a "download every time you need to use it" tool.) I forget what it is called, but if something nested itself into a part of windows itself, where mbam can't go, or virus scanners can't go... that will usually get it.

If it happened that fast, I imagine you were infected WAAAY before you visited that site. They watched you create an account, and then waited for your deposit. Purposely canceled it, and got that ticket for the refund, and cashed it out.

Or it is the server itself that has been compromised, which would only affect 'new transactions", such as yours. They need to check the code, php, asp, javascript, etc, for injected code that keeps injecting itself into the server. Usually hidden in cron-jobs, or auto-backups, or auto-updates on the server itself.

In any event, it is THEM who has to do the legal footwork to get the money back for the thieves. It is you who has to do the legal footwork for you, to get it back from them. Hard part will be proof of "them" being the compromised source. (Unless you find others who are having this issue, and your saved scan logs show no related virus results on your PC.)

If they are wise, and I am sure they are... they will bite the loss, repaying you, then try to fight for the hunting of the thief. I am sure they have some form of "allowable losses" to accommodate for that. One would hope, or that is how you loose all your business.

As long as they are encrypted, you can move them anywhere...

If you really want more protection... you can zip and lock them up in a "zip folder", or with 7zip, or win-zip, or win-rar, etc... (Gotta add password in the options)

Even more protection... hide them in an image, as an image of your key. (the letters in paint) lol, low-tech for high-tech...

They will never think to open "secret.jpg", and actually know what it is for. Unless you write that in text too... "This is my private key for bitcoins"

Um, make a recording of your key as a wav or mp3...

You will have them stumped!

Split it, so it is three seporate files... one JPG, one ZIP, one MP3, all have part of the code... lol

Not a scam, just "not good with PR and forecasting".

They do manufacture, they do deliver, they are just having some "serious" issues that are unavoidable, at the moment. Just like AMD, INTEL, NVIDIA, ASUS, and every other real company.

If they never delivered a single item, I would think they were a scam. But the truth of the matter is, they have delivered items previously, and still. Thus, 99% of the "frustration" you are reading about is just that... "frustration", resulting in back-lashing.

Not to mention half the "it is a scam" posts are from people who never even made a purchase, or are competitors, or are "white knights" who are about to loose-out because the $5000 they spent on the 400MH/s rig they just built, is about to become a technology dinosaur. Welcome to reality. Too little, too late. You snooze, you loose. Wrong dollar, wrong day.

Then there are the posts from people just looking for conformation, simply yelling "its a scam" just to get reassurance from others, that it is not.

It is not.

They were clear that this was, "preordering", they were clear that the "delivery date was not set in stone", they are still being clear about "delays"... (Or as some say, excuses. Hippocrates. They ask for clarity and explanations, and get it, then cry "excuses". Grow-up. You made an investment, knowingly, with unexpected return circumstances, same as everyone else, and had/have every chance to "get a refund". ADD is such an annoying thing to have, and broadcast, and only ensures further delays. Go-ahead, keep biting the hand that is going to feed you. It is your loss, not ours. We still have our place in line, and will gladly take your place in line, when you get a refund. No losses, they have thousands and thousands of sales ready to place an order.)

I would love to handle the PR and advertising for them. Since that is the only flaw I can find about them. Trust me, I have looked all over for anything real, that was negative, about them. Only thing I found was ill-informed rants and conspiracy theories from ADD children.

You could just use an online account... no waiting, just start sending and receiving... (They even offer offline storage, so you have the same "protections", as long as you secure your data.)

It is only unsecured accounts that can be "taken". Secured accounts, if not backed-up, just get "lost"...

I imagine many of the blocks are just that... "lost" transactions, stuck in limbo... lol.

There is always the old-fashioned way...

Ask around, spend bitcoins on services or things you need that you already pay money for, post ads on craigslist, look for an American exchange and stop trying to go to a foreign exchange...

or just wait... What is your rush? Once confirmed, you are good to go for more transactions.

Goolge, "accepts bitcoins" or "pay with bitcoins", etc...

They can only do that if they have your pass-key...

Yes, if they had the key to your house, and no-one saw them, they would "get away" with it.

That isn't fraud, that is just an unapproved transaction.

Fraud is "fake"... You can't fake a transaction. That transaction has to actually occur, physically.

No, there is no "buyer/seller" protection. This is just like handing someone CASH, without a RECIEPT... However, some places DO offer "secure" and "safe" transactions, to "trusted" sources. They even offer "protections", but that is not "part of bitcoin", that is a third-party, which is essentially turning it into "paypal" or "bank" or "credit-card", and has more limitations and added expenses, and "warrants as legal grounds of records for taxation and identification", if that is what you are looking for. (eg, protection)

No...

All "coins" are accounted for... they had to be "found", and only exist because they were "found", to begin with.

Finding a coin is not "fraud", it is called "reward" for "mining", and for tracking/encoding/decoding the billions of individual transactions along the way...

You can't "inject" coins into any transaction that didn't "come" from somewhere... Besides altering the other people's data, which would fail that altered block, you would still have to have that "found" bitcoin to inject... and if you "found it", then it isn't fraud... (It's a loop!)

There is a fixed number of coins that can EVER be found, and they are self-regulated by the discovery process itself. The faster we find them, the harder they get to find. The more of them there are that are found, the less of them there are to find...

Once ALL are found... there will HAVE to be a transaction-fee demanded for all transactions, otherwise no-one will have incentive to run the system that delivers transactions. Again, that is a self-regulating system.***

***Or they have to change the "code" to allow "111111111111djsljfsdfosduf8sd7f98" instead of the "000000000000000dfssd897f69s" hashes we find now. (Zero's lead-in to all hashes, that is what makes them difficult to find, and unique.)

It is a digital-currency that is controlled by the people, for the people...

Easy to obtain, hard to get-rid-of, mostly free to exchange-hands from peer-to-peer, but seems to have a high tax for extraction to a currency... (Or just major complication or sacrafice of value, thus, loss of value.)

Potentially untraceable, mostly anonymous, potentially untaxable (If you earn income, that is legally taxable, if you claim it. EG, not nontaxable.)

Used to purchase a lot of disposable items... Food, digital-media, services...
Used to purchase "questionable" material... Porn, gambling, drugs, weapons...
Used to purchase major things... Furniture, Computers, Clothing...

What makes it unique?
 - No records of transactions. (Thus, also no chargebacks or refunds or legal-proof of purchase.)
 - Peer-assisted-transactions. (Thus, no one central bank to "control it", or "loose it".)
 - Offers online and offline storage. (Like a bank does, using currency. But no e-currancy does.)
 - Natively super secure, on and offline. (As opposed to being an afterthought, and your "dollars" from a bank are not "secured" in your pocket. People can spend those, but not secured bitcoins taken from your computer.)
 - YOU have to FIND trust. (Thus, you do more digging and research before making a purchase, unlike spending e-currency or dollars, where you often "assume" you are protected.)

It is hosted on every person's computer that is "mining" for bitcoins, and on your computer, as your wallet. (But that is just one of the end-points, not actually a host, but it is... You save blocks, and if needed on the network, you send those blocks back to us, who are mining.)

Thus, if miners go, then no more bitcoin, and no more bitcoin-transactions... Even if everyone has a wallet.

Came from my website, which started out as a "journey log", which....

"Was a whim"... Thus, "Is A Whim", and because that journey was on a 50cc scooter, driving across half the US... I knew people would see me, and notice me in my "rig"... so, it is also "I Saw Him"...

Thus...

I saw him, is a whim!

And it continues!

Depends on the unit...

Most small units have to be connected to a computer, due to the lack of "wifi" or "network-cable" (which would only have to talk to a router.)

Some of the larger ones, and new ones, have WiFi and/or network-ports, for "hive" style setups.

The BFI ones that are NOT the TH/s models, all require USB connection to a network-connected computer. A mini-itx would suffice. No need to hook it up to a power-hungry gaming rig, when a 20w mini-itx will suffice. It is just using the USB-Serial port as a gateway to the internet.

Keep your active-scanner on "paranoid" mode... whenever you are going into the "unknown"... (Same settings as a full-scan, scan read, scan write, scan access, scan all files/types...) Setup a "Paranoid" profile, just for that... )

Um, It could have come from an AD on any website, related to bitcoins, or bitcoin-mining... Or any other legitimate website.

But I digress...

Yes, everyone should be careful on the internet. Browsing is more dangerous than "installing" programs, because you do that more, and "assume", it is safer. (Especially if you use a virus scanner, and non MSIE browser, thus, assuming even more, and being more vulnerable with multiple ways to get infected now.)

Every legitimate program you add, with false security promises, and open ports... is simply another way for a virus to get inside. (Look at a port monitor, and you will see you have about three dozen open ports, from about 12 programs, at any one time.)

But it MUST be the bitcoin programs, because that is what you "knowingly" installed... (Um, ironic that you just confessed to doing something that you, in hind-sight, know leads to infections. )

Good luck with your scans... Make sure you change the "default" settings of your scanner to... "Scan all files", and "Include common files", and "deflate all zipped files", and "Do not exclude ____ type of file". The "default" settings, even for a "Full scan" does not scan all files. It only focuses on the most potential files, and often skips the majority of actual infected files, because they hide as somevirus.txt, somevirus.jpg, somevirus.mp3, etc...

Helps if you do a boot-scan too, without being online, where more viruses can just drop in, after the dropper has detected you "just scanned this folder", dropping a backup-dropper. That also allows system files to be scanned, before they start. Since viruses usually start there. (They crash a system file, infect it quickly, then the file restarts after it sees it has crashed, and now it infects every other system along the way.)

I am just here to expand my mind, corrupt it a little, and then sell it to the highest bitcoin bidder...

Starting offer is 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000002 BTC

OBO

GO!

Seriously though, I am just poking around, trying to filter out all the BS information and hypothetical junk, from the actual legitimate information and factual stuff. There is a wide range of misinformation and real good information, all wrapped-up in this place. It's just like a WiKi! lol.

I still find it interesting that this whole setup even functions. Seems to depend a great deal on trust, where trustworthiness just isn't abundant. Yet, it thrives... Governments should really take interest in, and support this more. If only just so they can actually learn from it. No, wait, that is the last thing we want them doing... Learning from criminals... Wait, that is how they learned everything they know now!

JK, I know everyone on here isn't a criminal... Or are they!

So, anyone here, besides me, wish they had some kind of "receipt" system, for those of us who actually might use it? (Even if it was only to add notes to the recipient, or attach "this payment is for _______ item.") Simply returning back with a, "Transaction delivered safely". For those of us who, also, would honor a "refund" or have "accidentally" gotten a wrong transaction, due to a type-o, or bad-scan, or theft.

That, and some form of, "confirmed recipient"... again, for those wishing to "limit" participation to only those individuals, for certain transactions. (Eg, one who might be able to potentially be held accountable for losses, through appropriate channels.) Also, to help reduce losses, which helps stabilize value... (By simply creating a "only confirmed recipients", delivery accounts. Thus, unconfirmed "anonymous hackers", couldn't extract money out of "those accounts"... Well, unless they somehow compromised a confirmed recipient, which would still be potentially traceable.)

The thing is this...

You CAN NOT "estimate" the "returns" of a GH/s machine compared to a MH/s machine. In the end, the system "balances-out", leaving the GH/s machines making the same/less money than the MH/s machines.

How? (Glad you asked!)

Only X number of bitcoins are "allowed to be found" per time-period. EG, if you mine with a kH/s machine, you would find 1 per year (solo). If you mined with a MH/s machine, it would adjust until it only allowed 1 per year (solo). If you mined with a GH/s machine, it will adjust until it only found 1 per year... etc...

Now... The issue is this...

The "adjustment" takes a little time. The first hundred machines will reap, only for a few days, then the rates will change, and they will be exactly where we are now, with MH/s machines. But, they will be using less electricity, potentially. And..... AND.... all the MH/s machines will be making 1/1000 of what they make now, since, the bump-up value will HAVE TO DEGRADE by 1000, to compensate for the 1000x faster machines.

This will essentially kill all the WASTEFUL machines/rigs, making them unprofitable.

Here is the kicker...

If no more transactions are created, those GH/s machines will spend 90% of the time doing nothing. No work, not generating coins. Because they will finish all transactions and have nothing to hash. Transactions would have to be 1000x more, for them to "be equal to the MH/s machines now". Thus, they will actually make exactly the same as we make now, but it will just cut us out of the equation.

Why sell them? Because they know this. Also, because I am SURE, for every ONE they sell to us, they are building TWO for themselves. Thus, ensuring that WE never surpass them. If they are even building any for us at all. (I have only heard of a couple dozen being sent, for the millions they collected. Some still collecting, and have not sent anything in over a year. With lame excuses after excuses after excuses... even the chinese!)

In the end, generating MORE makes you LESS, because that degrades the value of the coins. If "Everyone" has Gh/s machines, and makes millions of coins... then the coins are worth less than $1.00 at the end of the day. (Which is why the system has a higher difficulty adjustment and a max-cap.)

The "failures" and "error-rates" and "stale" creations will rise also, naturally, as the end of the last minted coins come into creation. That will be about 90% wasted hashing, with 90% down-time due to "no one buying coins", because everyone is trying to "sell created coins", which they are trying to "sell for what they lost", and thus, "have no monetary value we can ever use."

By that time, the 512-hash Byte-Coin market will emerge, and make all these ASIC systems useless, since they only do 256-hashing... Then we crank out our old GPU's and start all over again! Let the vultures with billions in unsellable pennycoins, whine and cry about it, while we move on to new scams and confusingly over-technical money laundering methods that only hackers know how to use!

The worst thing these morons are doing is DDOSing their own lifesupport... That is like pulling the plug yourself.