I didn't suffer too badly from it. It was a valuable learning experience. The most important lesson I learned was that even if everything does turn out to be legit, having drama in a company is actually very expensive for the investor--expensive enough that you really do want to avoid investing where there is drama. After a few times of poring through GAW's forum trying to sort out what was what in all the drama... well, let's just say that rediscovering CryptoMoms and DNotes (which up to that point had been kind of in the background for me) was a real breath of fresh air.

EDIT: For those who might be interested, I did write about my experience and what I learned in my blog. It's a bit OT, but since I mention DNotes as being a good solid no drama investment, I guess it's not entirely OT.

I hadn't thought of that, but I can see it working. Certain markets/exchanges would only be open to grade A businesses, while others might be open to C and D businesses. There's a demand for both, as we've seen with penny stocks. It's just that people buying penny stocks are prepared to take greater risks than those buying stocks of more established companies.

Ultimately, I think the goal of regulation or licensing or standardization should be to ensure that people are buying what they think they are buying. You want to avoid the situation where a consumer believes in good faith that he or she is buying stock of a well established company when he is actually buying something totally different, such as a high risk stock of an upstart company.

I don't know if anyone here has followed the whole GAW Miners story, which I got caught up in, but basically what happened to me was that I bought what I was led to believe was hosted mining equipment, which then morphed into some kind of glorified staking wallet. Regardless of how legitimate the staking wallet is/was, the problem I have is that I bought one thing that turned out to be an entirely different thing. I would have preferred to have bought what I intended to buy in the first place.

Regulation, in my opinion, can help consumers be clear on what they are buying by setting standards for such things. Once everything has been defined and put into its appropriate category, then the choice can be left up to the consumer. I may choose to buy a stock that's designated as high risk (and have to go to the special place to buy it). That is fine. I assume the risk and responsibility for that. What I hope the regulation does for me is help me avoid the scenario where I think I'm buying a stable and low risk S&P 500 stock but what I get instead is a penny stock (and then the stock goes belly up).

I'm not an expert, but here's how I would approach it.

1. Set up a set of standards related to website security, amount of funds backing up user accounts, insurance coverage (if there ever is such a thing), and various other reasonable precautions that large sites which hold user funds should be taking.
2. Next, set up a grading system of some sort. So an A rated company adheres to the strictest standards, whereas a C or D rated company adheres to more lenient standards.
3. The conditions which must be met for each grade are clearly and publicly posted so everyone knows.
4. Companies can post their grade based on what standards they are following. Potential users see it and can make an informed decision based on their own risk tolerance. Some consumers may choose to only deal with A and B companies. Others may be fine with doing some business with C and D companies.
5. Adhering to these standards is completely voluntary. No one forces any business to meet those standards. However, if they don't meet them, they don't get to advertise themselves as an A rated company. They may lose a lot of potential customers but most likely save on their up front costs. Companies can at any time "upgrade" to a higher grade by meeting that grade level's standards.
6. Standards would be determined by some sort of group of knowledgeable industry leaders and whoever else might make up these types of groups.
7. There is some sort of neutral auditing group whose job it is to review companies and determine which standards they are meeting and issue them their "grade." This auditing group also posts all participating companies and their grades on a website that anyone can read, so that companies claiming to have a certain grade can be checked against the auditing group's list. That site could also be educational about what the standards mean and why they are important, and can also warn people about certain types of sites which are plain never going to make the grade and why (Bitcoin doublers, for example).
8. Everything is done as transparently as possible.
9. A company that uses other companies (for example a retail site that has a 3rd party payment gateway) should have a page where all their third parties and their grades are posted as well.

The bottom line is that in my opinion, the kind of "regulation" that really serves the public is standardization which makes it very clear how a service measures up in terms of various conditions the general public would or should care about. A service can either make the grade or not but it has the right to exist and conduct business regardless. But the company making the grade is likely to attract more customers.

I'm not a huge fan of companies being "forced" to make a certain standardization grade, because I believe that potential customers have the right and ability to make an informed decision. I do believe that such criteria should be well known and it should be very transparent how grades are determined and given out and then the public decides which companies to patronize based on those grades. Basically, the government or some kind of regulatory body can really help everyone by setting and enforcing standards (or at least overseeing that process), and making it clear how businesses measure up. But then leave the choice to the consumer. Maybe I will only trade on an A rated exchange but someone else might be fine with a B rated exchange because the fees are lower. Startup businesses should have the freedom to exist and gradually "level up" on their grades so as not to be priced out of even starting. They would have to work harder to earn their customers' trust but at least they could be conducting business while raising funds to meet various criteria. A reputable online business is going to voluntarily take certain precautions to make sure their customers' accounts and funds are as secure as possible, but probably won't be able to start off using the absolute most state of the art security systems. That should be fine as long as what they do have (and don't have) is clearly disclosed, or at least what grade they have.

That's a fantastic article!

I've noted what you call the culture of destruction in the cryptosphere--experienced it more than once--but never could put my finger on it until after several months of being involved with DNotes and noting its absence. This "culture" is actually a serious liability for many otherwise promising altcoins.

I appreciate how DNotes is positioned to welcome and work with everyone and not label anyone as "bad guys." It may be a bit challenging to those inclined to conspiracy theories (ahem!), but in the end it's a far better mentality.

Great job!

Mining Bitcoin doesn't sound like a good option for them, but considering what their national currency is worth (100 trillion Zimbabwe Dollars = 40 cents in US Dollars), encouraging everyone with either a smart phone or any other kind of Internet access to collect Bitcoin from faucets might actually do some good.

They could either trade those Bitcoins for DNotes and hold onto them for the future, or they could sell the Bitcoin for US Dollars using Coinbase or similar, or they could keep them as Bitcoin and grow them by lending to margin traders on Poloniex.

Some relevant links with more details on either option:

My faucet retirement thread on CryptoMoms
My blog thread on CryptoMoms
Overview of guides on CryptoMoms

Now, to get the word out to people in Zimbabwe. I don't know anyone over there...

EDIT: At this point they'd be getting a better deal to sell their Zimbabwe Dollars on eBay rather than trade them in at the bank.

Welcome

Are there any live nodes today that I could connect to?

I downloaded the wallet because the exchange is dropping NTR and I need someplace to withdraw mine to. But the wallet says there is no block source available.

You were right. I don't have a conf file. Sorry. I've seen that type of file before--I believe it's automatically added with other wallets I have, but not Devcoin. My client is working fine but I haven't updated it, so it may not be the latest version. I think I'll leave well enough alone for now.

If you can tell me where I'm likely to find it, I'll be happy to share mine with you. I do the default windows installation. I always struggle to find wallet related files because they go into hidden files so I need to know the likely direct path (or how to unhide).

I got it figured out, thanks to the Telegram chat.

when the NEM program opens up a tab on your browser, the portal to get into your wallet, on that page is a settings tab at the top. Click on it and it will allow you to change the host to "localhost." That should usually do it. Alternatively, you can go to http://www.nodeexplorer.com/ and pick one of the IP addresses there. Go through until you find one that works. That will save you from having to download the blockchain to your PC. If the first IP address doesn't work, pick a different one.

Those are also nodes you can try for delegated harvesting. Since I don't have my own node yet I try to harvest off one on the list. I usually go to somewhere in the middle, then try a few nodes until I find one that isn't full.

Anyway, it seems I forget this every time... Hopefully writing it here will help me remember next time.

I just downloaded and installed 0.6.31. I'm trying to run it but I can't open my wallet because NIS is not available. Any ideas? I just wanted to check my balance and check to see if my remote account was still doing delegated harvesting since I last checked. I got the NIS is not available message under the old version I was running so I upgraded, but that didn't solve the problem. I may try the telegram chat later, but wanted to put this message out for now.

So then what would happen if a block chain based currency which wasn't so volatile came along? Would that one be a threat?

Thank you!

I can't be the one to write that article right now because I'm not in the know. Not anymore I know I've been involved in discussions before, but I do not know what the current state of affairs is. I'm trying to find out. But no one else here seems to know, or if they know, they're not sharing.

I figured out what happened. When the changes came I did get sent a PM through CoinZen, but it never forwarded to my email so I never saw it. And I wasn't active on the forum to see that I had a message there. It looks like everything has moved over to CoinZen, so I'm going to have to dig through there to figure things out--unless you'd like to fill me in. My current admin duties do not necessarily require me to know the latest developments in order to do my duties.

I agree with you that there is no benefit to getting personal here. This thread is going to be someone's first impression of Devcoin, because Bitcoin Talk is still considered the go to forum for all things crypto including alt coins. For this reason, (and this is a general recommendation) despite how one might feel about whether an admin who asks a question should have done homework or is motivated by greed or whatever, it's still more professional to just answer a question that someone asks. And the answer can include pointing to a link (a CoinZen thread, even) where the answer is posted so as not to repeat things too much. But there should be a straight answer. I was really speaking to that when I gave my feedback and suggestion.

I just wanted to give a shout out to what a great job you all are doing on the community dynamics aspect. I've seen how the various DNotes founders and established team members have patiently answered questions posed by people new to the thread (or even people who have been out of the loop for a while), even when those same questions have been answered more than once in the past. Answers to those questions always come with a warm welcome. It's like you're just happy to have people on board in whatever way they are comfortable with, whether it be inquiring, participating, or even challenging. This graciousness really sets DNotes apart. Great job, DNotes team! And thank you. I really enjoy hanging out here. It's also been a joy to contribute where I've been able.

I missed all that. Life got in the way. As far as I know I was merely asking questions. I'd be happy to be pointed to a summary article (on the Devtome?) outlining all the changes and plans for the future.


The only people I've heard "moaning" were people who continued to work as admins and who for whatever reason stopped getting paid. That seems reasonable. I know I "moaned" about not being informed of those changes via PM which would affect my role as admin even though I was receiving PM correspondence in relation to specific admin duties. That seems reasonable too, imo.

Just some feedback: throwing out a blanket statement about "admins, recipients and writers who take little interest beyond their own benefit or input" is a real turnoff. I'm assuming it wasn't directed at me personally, but it's hard to not feel accused nonetheless. I can't imagine that is very good for what Devcoin stands for and is trying to accomplish in the world.

A suggestion: if someone asks a question, please just answer it. If the answer is buried earlier in the thread and people are still asking about it, that means an FAQ article needs to be written and the link posted on a regular basis as well as the front page of the Devtome. There's a built in incentive for someone in the know to write that article, invoice it, and post it.

If you had asked me this a week ago I would have said Unthinkingbit. But there's been some talk here that UTB has stepped down or passed the torch to someone else. HunterBunter's name has been thrown around as the current lead dev, but I haven't seen him confirm it himself.

So yes, despite how long I've been around with Devcoin, I am currently not sure who the current lead developer is. If you happen to know, then please say who it is. Thanks.

They're easy to earn by writing content. That's how most of us got started. But yes, that falls apart if the work we do doesn't trigger the expected payout. As far as I can tell there's nothing wrong with the script that pays for writing. The script to pay admins needs some work.

And I'll echo the sentiment that has been hinted at here, which is that whoever the Devcoin developers are now, can you please "stand up?" I realize devs have better things to do than spend a lot of time on forums, but... a brief update post once or twice a week goes a long way.

I totally get that this forum has issues and seems to produce new trolls every day. I've complained about it myself.

Having said that, I still do check this thread for updates. I'm involved in a number of alt coins, each of which has its own forum. I honestly cannot keep up with ten or fifteen different forums, not to mention chat groups, Slack groups, Supernet groups and more. For all its problems, BTT is a good hub for all the topics of interest. The "Show new replies to your posts" link at the top is a great tool which I use heavily. I understand that NEM devs have far better things to do than plow through a bunch of FUD posts to answer someone's question. If I have a burning question I will go to the NEM forum or the Telegram chat to get it answered if I don't get an answer here as quickly as I'd like. So no, I understand if my questions don't get answered here. However, can the devs please keep posting updates here, even if they are links to more detailed updates elsewhere? That way I can keep up even if this is the only place I have time to look for a while. Just post the updates--don't even worry about commenting further about them if you don't want to. And don't be afraid to use the IGNORE button. It's another great tool this forum provides.

I can't tell you how much of a turnoff seeing porn on sites or even people's tasteless pictures in forum posts is. When I see inappropriate stuff posted, I post a reminder to people that if they truly want their coin to go mainstream, they are going to have to eliminate that banter. All it takes to turn off a potential adopter is for them to be reading through a thread and have one of their children start looking at the screen at the wrong moment. I don't even have to go into the moral issues I have with porn--it's plain bad business if you actually want people to adopt your hot alt coin. I find the lack of awareness of this and the assumption that everyone reading a given thread is going to be thrilled (not offended) by the pictures to be astounding.

OK, rant over.

I'm very thankful that among other things, the DNotes team is very professional I can read the DNotes thread or CryptoMoms forum all I want and not worry if my children happen to be reading over my shoulder.