Even many of its members acknowledge Bitcoin Core has had a communication problem.

The largely volunteer development team, which provides peer review and testing for the bitcoin network's underlying code, has been on the defensive following the decision by a former member to criticize the project for failing to take what he considered to be adequate measures to handle a greater volume of transactions.

From there, the problem has only escalated.

Feeling the pressure from a particularly negative news cycle, bitcoin businesses soon began looking to support proposals that offered what they believed were solutions that would prove faster than Bitcoin Core’s development roadmap. One alternative, named Bitcoin Classic, has served as a rallying point for those who want to institute a 2MB block size, up from 1MB today.

Less publicized has been the 7th December roadmap penned by Blockstream co-founder and Bitcoin Core developer Greg Maxwell.


http://www.coindesk.com/scaling-debate-bitcoin-core-outreach/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CoinDesk+%28CoinDesk+-+The+Voice+of+Digital+Currency%29

Various companies all over the world are looking to come up with new methods to prevent fraud from taking place in the financial industry. While plastic card payments are a major threat when it comes to fraud, there are other factors to take into consideration as well. Social engineering is playing an ever-increasing role of importance these days, and Pindrop wants to prevent companies from being scammed over the phone. Bitcoin users can benefit from these efforts as well.

Pindrop Raises Another US$75m in Funding


Preventing individuals and companies from falling victim to fraud and scamming attempts is important in the world today. Whereas most people think of hacking attempts as an online threat, the scope of this word is much broader than anticipated. Social engineering, for example, is also considering as a form of hacking, although it is quite different in nature.

Whenever somebody receives a phone call from an individual or company, it is nearly impossible to tell whether or not they are legitimate. Unlike peer-to-peer meetings with people, a phone call is making it so much harder to distinguish between a legitimate outreach or someone trying to take advantage of a certain person.

Pindrop wants to address this issue, as it analyzes both the caller metadata and audio of every conversation taking place. Thanks to its in-house technology, the screening process is yielding good results in distinguishing hacking attempts from legitimate calls by a service provider. It goes without saying such a technology would be of great value to a lot of financial players.

So far, various insurance companies, retailers, and even three of the major US banks are using the Pindrop technology. Over 360 million calls have been screened so far, as the technology verified the phone number used to make the call, and evidence of filters or packet loss.  While each of these things could occur during a legitimate call as well, such details point towards a fraudulent call in most of the cases.

It is important to note Pindrop will not reject any calls flagged as potentially fraudulent, but it will notify the operator about the risk and give them a chance to ask additional questions. With this additional round of funding, Pindrop wants to expand on an international scale and develop new products in the future.

Interesting Technology For Bitcoin Companies


The security of any company can only be guaranteed if the support staff is doing an excellent job. Unfortunately, humans will not be able to work at 100% of their potential at all times. This is where solutions such as Pindrop will be of great help as it automates the process of identifying potentially fraudulent calls.

Bitcoin companies could make use of this technology as well. Especially when considering how Bitcoin puts the end user in full control of their finances at all times, making sure funds is not misspent should be at the top of the priority list. Plus, Bitcoin companies would be among the frontrunners to embrace such call-screening technology, which will bring more legitimacy to the digital currency ecosystem.

http://bitcoinist.net/bitcoin-companies-can-fight-social-engineering-attempts-pindrop/

If the European Commission confirms the requests France and Germany to regulate digital currencies, bitcoin startups and investors will be negatively affected, and may possibly be required to provide sensitive financial and user data to government agencies for inspection.

French Federal Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and former minister of social affairs Michel Sapin have proposed a set of financial measures to the European Commission, to urge the control of bank accounts and digital currencies.

Over the past few months, European nations including Germany and France have begun to express their concerns towards the “anonymity” of digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ripple, and their involvement in “financing of terrorism.”

Due to the increase in the use of bitcoin in purchasing illicit goods on the dark web and hacking attacks, Germany and France have been pressuring the EU Commission to implement improvised policies to control electronic and anonymous payment systems.

“Although much of the evidence is still anecdotal, concerns have been expressed by LE and financial experts in the wider international environment that commercial CSE online, among other criminal activities, is moving to a new unregulated, unbanked digital economy. Payment mechanisms providing a certain degree of anonymity are always open to abuse by those with criminal intentions, as developments in the use of Bitcoin show,” reads a section from a report of the European Commission.

The federal government of Germany has already taken the necessary procedures to file an official proposal regarding the reform of the Customs Administration Act, to allow the customs to monitor cross-border cash movements and electronic money such as bitcoin transactions.

However, government officials of Germany haven’t disclosed the methods that will be implemented in revealing digital transactions and settlement of electronic money. In essence, the German government is attempting to regulate bitcoin transactions by classifying them as a form of cash movement and possibly demand tax payments per each transaction.

Regardless of Germany’s strategy to regulate bitcoin transactions, president of the committee on finance of the French Senate Philippe Marini and the rest of the committee on finance of the French Senate classify bitcoin as an anonymous payment system, which provides big opportunity for money laundering.

“Most importantly, the fact that bitcoin transactions are anonymous makes the system a big opportunity for cybercrime and money laundering. On the 15th January public hearing, we were told that the Customs had arrested a drug trafficker who asked for payments in bitcoins. Of course, the website The Silk Road, the biggest online shopping center for drug dealers and weapon seekers, was shut down by the FBI at the end of 2013. But closing the website does not eliminate the risk: on 28th January 2014, the vice-president of the Bitcoin Foundation was arrested in New York and charged on money laundering.” said Marini.

It is still difficult to speculate whether the improvised draft of the Customs Administration Act and France’s proposal to implement heavier regulations on digital currencies will be processed. If the European Commission confirms the requests of these two nations, bitcoin startups and investors will be negatively affected, and may possibly be required to provide sensitive financial and user data to government agencies for inspection.

http://www.newsbtc.com/2016/01/28/france-and-germany-to-strengthen-control-on-bitcoin-and-ripple/

6S is the best option and when you have it, all hardware on new versions is better then an older version,if just taking normal pics though then all pictures are great so its not going to matter much for that.

The United States is a secular country with the majority of their populace being practicing Christians. The country was not founded on Christian values, but on secular and humanist values. Since its inception however, Christianity has bullied its way further into government in direct opposition to the first amendment to their constitution

TransferWise on Bitcoin and the Battle for International Money Transfers

Everyone from Nick Szabo, who developed the concept of smart contracts, to Blockchain Capital Managing Partner Brock Pierce has been touting Bitcoin’s value as a vehicle for international money transfers lately, but it appears that TransferWise CEO Taavet Hinrikus has not received the memo. Hinrikus was recently on a panel with MasterCard President of International Markets Ann Cairns at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and he did not seem threatened when asked about the new Bitcoin-based alternatives to his service, such as Align Commerce, that have popped up over the past year.

Although Hinrikus appeared to be bullish on blockchain technology, he said the Bitcoin experiment is nearly over.
Bitcoin Is “Becoming Dead”
When asked directly for his thoughts on using Bitcoin for international money transfers, Hinrikus conceded that the idea sounds exciting in theory; however, the TransferWise CEO believes this digital peer-to-peer cash system will work only if more people have bitcoin wallets. He explained:


When viewing Bitcoin as a system for money transfers, Hinrikus noted the costs associated with each end of the process. In his view, these added costs make the idea more expensive than originally thought. He stated:
“If you think about it today, getting money into Bitcoin is a pain in the ass. Getting money out of Bitcoin is similarly a huge pain. You end up paying typically half a percent or one percent on both ends. It’s a process which takes multiple days, so I think Bitcoin – I’m kind of sorry to say it but – it seems that experiment is becoming dead pretty quickly.”
This response from the TransferWise CEO does not sound dissimilar from a Medium post made by former Rebit.ph Head of Product Luis Buenaventura. After co-founding and working at Rebit.ph for over a year, Buenaventura came to the conclusion that Bitcoin does not make international remittances cheaper due to the costs associated with the “last mile” on the recipient’s end.

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/transferwise-on-bitcoin-and-the-battle-for-international-money-transfers-1453996516

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is studying the prospect of issuing its own digital currency and is aiming to roll out a product as soon as possible, Bloomberg Business reports. PBOC, China’s central bank, is persuaded that a state-backed digital currency could reduce capital outflow, money laundering and tax evasion, make economic activity more transparent and improve the efficiency of global transactions.

The creation of China’s state digital currency was discussed at a meeting in Beijing, attended by digital fintech experts and high level authorities including PBOC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan and Deputy Governor Chair Fan Yifei. The PBOC’s official statement is in Chinese only, but Chinese speakers have confirmed that the automatic translation provided by Google is reasonably accurate and understandable.

A research team including experts from Citigroup and Deloitte has been looking into digital currencies since 2014 and has achieved some encouraging initial results. This team is now expected to “set up clear strategic objectives for digital currencies issued by the central bank, and develop key technologies and applications aimed at an early launch of a digital currency issued by the central bank.”

Hao Hong, chief China strategist at the Bank of Communications, said China’s attitude toward digital currency had been shifting, South China Morning Post reports. In 2013, the central government issued negative statements on Bitcoin and limited its use by banks and payment service providers, but now it seems that the wind is changing.

“The attitude toward digital currency in China has been shifting, it has been surprising,” said Hong. “Back then it was quite hostile. Now, facing capital outflow pressure, a digital currency would make it easier to check the capital flow.”

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/chinacoin-people-s-bank-of-china-plans-national-digital-currency-1453995450

Yes, my friend, I do!
I really like Madvillain, MF Doom, Viktor Vaughn, Jurrasic 5, Outkast, Dalek, Tricky, Eminem is pretty good, Busta Rhymes. etc.

Marriage is good. Family security. You never have to go home alone. It does take a lot of work though. BE SURE

Pay up, Lincolnshire, or your data gets it. Systems still down after Cryptolocker hits

Council has shut down entire IT network to prevent spread of ransomware
Exclusive The Register has learned that Licolnshire County Council has been hit by "CryptoLocker" ransomware, leading it to turn off all of its networks' computers yesterday.

As reported yesterday, Lincolnshire County Council shut down all of its computers after an alleged 0-day attack began to spread throughout its systems.

The Register has now learned that the malware infecting the council's systems was CryptoLocker, a malicious program which takes hold of a computer and encrypts its contents rendering them inaccessible to the user.

This form of malware, known as ransomware, then demands a ransom from the user - often to be paid in virtual currency Bitcoin - in order to decrypt and make accessible the computer's files.

CryptoLocker does not use 0-day vulnerabilities (previously undisclosed vulnerabilities in software which the software's authors have "0 days" to patch), as it first reared its head in September 2013.

Similarly named malware has been spotted since then, however, with newer vulnerabilities exploited. Many of these have utilised a insecure encryption algorithm. Security companies have often provided decryption utilities for those affected by such malicious software.

It is understood that the ransomware took root in Lincolnshire's systems after a staff member opened a dodgy email attachment - the most common attack vector for cybercriminals.

A spokesperson from the council told The Register that 300 computers belonging to staff had been hit by the ransomware, though it is unclear whether servers or data stores had been affected.

The council's networks are still down, and it is suggested they will not be back up until next week. The Register has been unable to contact the IT provider Serco regarding the outage

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/01/28/lincolnshire_council/

To love, even if you don't feel it all the time, to give love out. To keep running till you cross the finish line. To try to make others happy, even if you are not always happy. To try hard even if you don't always feel like trying. To be good even if you don't always feel like being good. To help even if you don't always feel like helping. And, at the most basic, to just live. Life is hard, but life is life

Bitcoin’s Capital Controls Resistance a Concern says IMF as $1 Trillion Leaves China

Fiat currencies and commodities have been sliding downwards against the US dollar for some time as investors are closely watching China and its floundering economy. With the Shanghai Composite Index in a downward spiral, reports of rumored tighter capital controls in China continue to build. In result, Bitcoin may once again experience a windfall as Beijing tightens its grip to prevent capital from fleeing offshore. However, authorities are well aware of cryptocurrencies, and the subject has come up in certain think tank reports, the IMF, and during the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

IMF: Bitcoin a ‘Powerful Tool’



At the WEF conference in Switzerland, executives, government representatives, innovators, and economists met at the annual meeting to discuss the global economy. Discussions at the event revolved around new economic emergents and concepts that are transforming global trade. In addition, innovations in fintech such as distributed ledgers were discussed a great deal. One aspect in some of these conversations was China’s economy and how capital outflow is becoming a real concern. Bloomberg reports that almost $1 trillion USD in wealth has left the country already in recent months.

On the last day of the WEF event, the Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda suggested that the country’s leaders exercise curbing the wealth leaving China. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde was asked about the Japanese Governor’s statement. “The massive use of reserves would not be a particularly good idea,” she explained.

More https://news.bitcoin.com/bitcoins-capital-controls-resistance-concern-says-imf-1-trillion-leaves-china/

Blythe Masters, formerly of JP Morgan, has raised $54M for her company Digital Asset Holdings.

Apparently she changed some of the naysayer’s minds about Digital Asset Holdings. The group focuses on blockchain solutions that address, in Masters’ words, “real world financial problems including settlement latency, risk, managing down operational costs, reducing the need for capital requirements” et cetera. It seems that the financial giants finally have one of their own ready to take aim at, arguably, one of the most exciting and wide reaching developments in finance since….well maybe ever.

Masters is quick to delineate between Bitcoin and the underlying technology. In fact, she distills the concept of the blockchain down to a database technology that allows for a distributed ledger to take the place of a third party. (Basically, all of the reasons that those from the original cypherpunks to Wences Casares and beyond have detailed since the emergence and initial adoption of the technology.) What is most compelling is that Digital Asset Holdings is now taking this technology mainstream, including a formal relationship with the Australian exchange ASX.

Let’s recall. 2015 was quite the year for Masters as Digital Asset Holdings was party to some noteworthy acquisitions, priming the pump for today’s news. With an insider at the helm and no lack of talent interested in getting in on the delivery of blockchain to the giants of finance,  the announcement of today’s round just might be a banner day in terms of momentum.

13 major financial institutions took part in the round and it sounds as if many more wanted. Masters states that those investors were strategic in that they play a variety of roles in financial services that will accelerate the roll out and adoption of blockchain tech. Those 13 include JP Morgan Chase, CitiGroup, BNP Paribas, ABN Amro, PNC, CME, ASX, Accenture, Broadridge Financial Solutions, ICAP, among others. Clearly the “who’s who” of financial institutions.

As Masters continues to speak of use case after use case for Digital Asset Holdings and the blockchain tech that will power her company, one cannot help but feel that those who know blockchain could have deduced most of them. However, that isn’t the point. Historically financial institutions have been slow and messy on the uptake of new tech. Masters’ Digital Asset Holdings is well positioned to bring the blockchain into the limelight. With a new war chest of $54M and all the connectivity that a fintech company could ever ask for, Masters may be positioned to do just that.

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/blythe-masters-takes-blockchain-primetime/

Consensus and governance have been two main topics of conversation in the Bitcoin community over the past year. While making changes to Bitcoin Core may seem trivial to some, the politics associated with certain proposals have caused major issues for the development process.

Bitcoin Developer and Ciphrex CEO Eric Lombrozo gave a talk that mainly focused on potential options for scaling Bitcoin at the Blockchain Agenda Conference in San Diego, and he dedicated a portion of his presentation to the current issues surrounding possible changes to Bitcoin’s consensus rules. Lombrozo covered soft forks, hard forks and a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) that could eventually make it easier to deploy soft forks on the network

Problems with Changing Bitcoin’s Consensus Rules


Before getting into possible solutions, Lombrozo first discussed the current issues with coming to consensus on new rules for the Bitcoin network. Although Bitcoin’s decentralization is what makes the network valuable to its users, the lack of a central decider who can dictate the rules of the network has been an issue. Lombrozo explained:


Some have stated a benevolent dictator is needed for Bitcoin, and former Bitcoin Developer Mike Hearn intended to take on that role for the alternative implementation of the Bitcoin protocol known as Bitcoin XT. While Bitcoin software clients are able to have benevolent dictators behind the code, the ability for users to choose which code to run on their own computers makes the idea of a benevolent dictator of the Bitcoin protocol an impractical notion.

Read more https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/bip-enabling-easier-changes-and-upgrades-to-bitcoin-1453929816

Why has science not been able to disprove what's written in the Bible?

Mine are Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Allen Iverson. (Not in order)

Are you a Republican or Democrat. why and do you intend to change parties?

No. There shouldn't even be a debate about this. That would be the most blatant violation of the 1st Amendment. If Christians can't have a cross in the public square, Sharia law most definitely can't be imposed anywhere on U.S.

People hate islam for the same reasons they hate black people. Ignorance