Yeah, that's true as much as we probably don't want to admit it. We as a community sort of boycott anyone that mentions merit, even though if we were in similar shoes, all exicted about being part of this community, we might've been asking the same questions. I understand that long term users are going to see these questions all the time, and get slightly annoyed, but that isn't really the fault of the new user asking that question.

Just think about when merit got first introduced, it was a new concept, and there was many questions asked by literally everyone on how it works, even though theymos explained it. Some additional clarification was needed, but generally the questions were pretty simple. Well, newbies are joining this forum, which is like almost completely different in terms of other forums out there, is running on some old software which doesn't always behave like other forums they might be used to, so even though the information is out there, they might not have the skills or know how on how to find it. Obviously, there's a bit of a middle ground that should be expected maybe, they should be doing as much research as possible.

However, if they have, and are still struggling I don't see the problem with asking for clarification on why. The responses they get might actually help them. What I find when I'm new to something is phrasing the question in a way that I understand, helps me understand better when someone answers it. So, getting tailor made answers on their posting habits, and why it isn't working, makes sense from a outside perspective.

Obviously, there's blatant cases, but I think we also have to remember this is a global forum, and therefore English isn't everyone's first language. Technically, it wasn't my first language, although it was the one we ended up using daily. Education in Wales, basically tries to teach you both at the same time, so in class you used to ask to go to the toilet in Welsh, instead of English. Probably why I still haven't grasped the English language perfectly in terms of grammar. Anyway, off on a bit of a tangent, but this is where users asking a way that they understand becomes even more beneficial since they might be hitting a language barrier.

I quite like what you've done OgNasty with some of your threads, and there's been others that have done similar things, even if they haven't always been executed perfectly, the general the impression I got was to give newbies a chance, which I believe is a good thing regardless of the execution. Obviously, not spoon feeding them, but giving them the opportunity to actually make a decent effort at gaining that merit, while getting the exposure they need. I know not everyone agrees with that perspective on this forum, but that's why I'm glad there's various different merit sources with different outlooks on the situation.

I do believe we've come a little bit too hostile at times to new users, and I do believe that's a problem at times. I absolutely understand why, especially when you've been here multiple years, and come across the same questions again, and again. However, I would like to see that attitude a little more relaxed, and not assume that everyone is here to abuse signature campaigns. I feel like at times the forum has become too associated with signature campaigns.

Everton have sat back a lot in recent years, and usually been on the receiving side of late goals. This time is different, their defense isn't all that great, and their strikers aren't strikers that can make something out of nothing. Honestly, this is probably the most confident I've been in a few years, apart from last season. However, we've obviously been in rather poor form as well. I do believe Nunez is available to be selected now, it'll be interesting to see what Klopp does.

My gut feeling is he benches him.

Yeah, I'll be making a cheeky little bet on Vettori just for his wrestling ability if can get Whittaker down, and down early I think he'll see a lot of success. Probably be a boring fight for those that want to see some striking action, but the best path to victory for Vettori would be the lay, and pray tactic, while doing occasional damage to really put a stamp on things.

Here's my predictions:

Ciryl Gane
Marvin Vettori
Roman Kopylov
John Makdessi
Jarno Errens
Charles Jourdain
Abusupiyan Magomedov
Nassourdine Imavov
Michal Figlak
Cristian Quiñonez
Ailin Perez

Seriously, there's a lot of fights here which is a toss up for me. I'll be staying away from a lot of these fights in terms of betting. My favourites to get the job done would be Gane, Vettori, Magomedov, and Nassourdine Imavov.

Woodley really wasn't an amateur. Plus, Anderson is literally legendary level when it comes to MMA, and as evidenced above Anderson is a proper striker, and while he was definitely known for his kicks in MMA, he's definitely better than a amateur in terms of striking ability.

I just feel Jake doesn't get the credit, because of how I initially thought of him. So, he's fighting a uphill battle because of his past history, but he has decent striking, and he has some power in those shots. None of the knockouts were staged, and it's hard to knock someone out like he did, especially in boxing. Usually, it takes a lot of punches, like a compounding effect. His knockouts were literally off the cuff, without much damage before hand. That's not something to ignore, that's skill, and he obviously has the right biological structure to generate the power he does.

Like I said, I was also a doubter, and thought it was ridiculous, but this is a young fighter who's looking to make a career, and he's got a better record, against better fighters than most champions had. Despite them being MMA fighters, they were literally champions. Woodley being the most impressive due to him being somewhat known for his power, and chin.

Yeah, while it's hard to defend certain things he's done, mental health does sort of push you into these things. So, I can somewhat understand why we was using some of the drugs he was using. He was in a dark place, he talks about one day where he was literally planning on crashing his car into a bridge I believe it was. His wife, Paris also says she was scared every single day that he wouldn't come home. So, while it's easy to critise, we don't actually know how bad it was, but from what they've claimed, he was in a very dark place, and the cocaine, and heavy drinking, as well as not wanting the rematch due to the fact he's pretty much in the gutter, all makes sense. I wouldn't call it ducking either.

Fury has never been someone to duck fights. He would've beaten Klitschko again, and his reasoning actually makes sense. All this time he's been wanting to be champion, he finally realises that dream, and then you've lost your goal, you've lost your motivation, and therefore you kind of lose your way. We've seen it multiple times, and some people might be unfortunate enough to see friends go through similar things.

The failed drug test is hard to defend though. That's something that's definitely he blemish on his career, and it's unfortunate that he went that far. However, and by no means am I saying it's alright because of this; but most boxers, in fact most athletes are using substances to gain the marginal differences that they give. That's been proven over the years. In fact, many great legends have been caught abusing steroids to gain an advantage. Again, that's not excusing it's use.

Anderson was pretty damn good, alright he's a mixed martial artist, and obviously his kicks were his highlight reels, but he's got a decent punch on him, and the ability to evade. I remember watching some of the highlights of that boxing match, and he performed pretty damn good. Looks pretty slick, not as slick as he did in the UFC, but still very decent.

Obviously, Jake goes into MMA that's a whole different story. If he went against any of his MMA opponents in MMA he'd likely get absolutely destroyed. However, I find boxing tends to even up the fight a little bit, and usually it's technique that wins, which isn't always the case with MMA.

So, it's 2022, and I'm making a thread about Jake Paul. Who would've thought, especially to talk about his boxing career. I'll be honest intiially the whole Youtube boxing stuff I wasn't a massive fan of it. I actually somewhat enjoyed the KSI, and Logan Paul events, but Jake Paul was always the odd one out for me. Anything he did pretty much annoyed me. However, I've come to realise, and respect someone that initially I didn't. He knows business, and he knows how to promote himself.

He basically setups up his own events, and you've got to respect someone putting in the graft. For the last few years he's basically dedicated his life to boxing, despite having all the money, and fame in the world. That's also quite admirable.

Now, there's currently some rumours floating around about him fighting Anderson Silva, and say what you like about his previous opponents, Anderson Silva who don't get wrong is getting on a bit now, is still a very dangerous opponent, and I do believe he's won previously in a boxing match, so has experience against a decent level opponent I do believe.

So, what do we all think about this being made? Is this the fight, that if it does happen you'll change your mind about Jake cherry picking his opponents? Honestly, I already have; even though he might cherry pick his opponents, he does it for a reason, and lets be quite honest with ourselves what boxer with any kind of success doesn't cherry pick fights early on in their careers? Joshua, Fury, Wilder, and even Chisora, and Loma have cherry picked fights in the past. However, with Jake it actually makes sense. The guy is all about business, and he's cherry picked these fights because he's trying to become the biggest PPV fighter. So, he's brought in Youtube supporters via his presence on there, he's brought in the MMA audience through fighting, and knocking out MMA legends, and he tried to dip his toes into mainstream boxing with two opponents that pulled out.

He's basically building the foundations of something very, very successful, and I've got to put my hands together for that. Jake's won my respect, very much like his older brother, but for different reasons.

Anyway, I'll update this thread as the news comes out, but it seems the word going around it'll be Anderson. What do we think of that particular match up? Still cherry picked?

P.S I'm not sure I could take another MMA legend getting knocked out by a boxer, though. There's some sort of silly rivalry with boxing, and MMA.

I don't know if it will be Bitcoin, but I do believe that a cryptocurrency will be incorporated within our lives quite significantly. I mean, the digital money era is upon us, and depending on how bad the banks mess up that switch over from fiat to digital money, it might push more people to the likes of Bitcoin.

Plus, many people might see that banks aren't needed as much once the physical element has been removed. We'll see. Also, with the recession we've got coming up, you don't know if there's going to be any more bank bail outs or potentially them going under, which could mean people lose money or trust in the banks, or both.

Bitcoin will likely be more adopted, and widely used once block rewards are significantly reduced, or non existent, and therefore volatility has also came down, and is a thing of the past. That's likely when you'll see mass adoption.

While I ain't going to dispute that it would likely have an effect, and a big one. the FED aren't worldwide, and only regulate within the United States, Bitcoin is a global currency. The real concern would be if other countries follow suit in a relatively short time, that's when you'll see a real panic. This figure of 10k is just being plucked out of the air, rather than having solid reasoning behind it. Will we see a drop? Probably. However, predicting that accurately isn't going to be an easy job. Although, I will say that I think it's coming at a good time, pretty much when we're already down, they're going to give us another kick, but also the interest in Bitcoin right now isn't that big due to people being a little more concerned about other things happening in the world, like the war, and the rising living costs. So, this news might not have as big of an impact that we would like to think it would.

I'm not too bothered of Bitcoin dropping a bit more, and anyone that's in it for the medium or long term shouldn't be either. Just see it as a opportunity to gather a bit more Bitcoin.

Altcoins were also getting pushed by a lot of Youtubers, and what not which caused a mass influx of new miners. That's obviously dropped off now, and Bitcoin hasn't really had too much to do with any of the increases or decreases of hardware available.

I mean with everyone off school, and off work there was probably a lot more people playing games, and therefore paying for computers with the latest hardware. That probably drove up the prices. To be honest, I'm having a hard time believing that Nvidia are struggling at all. I imagine they've seen record sales, right? Or at the very least record profits, due to the pandemic pushing everyone into their homes, and therefore looking for things to do, one of which would be gaming, especially since most people couldn't visit friends.

I'm not sure it's 50/50 I would fancy Whittaker, as I do believe he's got the best skill set, I just know Vettori is a determined fighter, and he isn't going to let up. If he gets it to the ground I think it'll stay on ground. Bobby doesn't really have the strength or technique on the ground to stand up from someone like Vettori when he's being mounted or side controlled. Although, like I said Bobby does have decent takedown defense, a bit like Izzy in that regard, and has decent pressure from his kicks. If he can use is kicks for his distance, and he could well put on a vintage display.

Nah, it's the injuries. Diaz, and Elliott as you mention have actually stepped up. Currently Salah is struggling to be at his best because he's getting marked out of the game. Of course, I miss Mane, but I think we have good enough players to replace him. I'll always have fond memories of Mane though.

I doubt we'll get anyone in the winter transfer window, unless the right player comes up on the market, which doesn't look likely at this point in the season.

I'll be posting my predictions shortly. I'll be going for a win for Gane, but won't be going for a method so obviously I wouldn't recommend putting that on your betting slip, just isn't worth the risk when Tai can bang like he does.

What do you guys think about the Robert Whittaker vs Marvin Vettori fight? I'm obviously a bobby knuckles fan, despite him probably being the biggest long time rival of Izzy, but I just feel like this has a boring Vettori win all over it. Probably a decision win. That's my gut feeling anyway, feel like he'll know the threat of Bobby, and will look to take him down, and basically go the lay, and pray route. It's whether or not Bobby has the takedown defense for him, which I'll be honest I do believe he might.

I can't quite remember, but there was one point where I was a little bit worried about how they were putting things together. They signed James Rodriguez, and a few other players that really did stamp down some authority. The only problem with that was it was mismanaged from the get go, and they never really gained much from spending all that money. Obviously, they've paid the price of a massive outlay like that, and are probably still somewhat recovering from it.

I still think Everton will be playing for their survival in the Premier League at the end of the season. They might be lucky because teams like Bournemouth at the moment look absolutely shocking. As well as Leeds, and Leicester.

Probably. Although, dare I say it from a community perspective I'd imagine theymos would be more influential. I mean the probability of Satoshi returning after all these years is probably close to zero, but if they did it'd be interesting to know what sort of influence they would have not only on this community, but the general Bitcoin community. Bitcoin's changed so much, it's almost like when you were a child, and now you're an adult you're completely different to what you were back then. Bitcoin has similarly matured, and taken a path that's probably a little bit different to what Satoshi had in mind.

It'd be interesting to think about what sort of role they'd take if they did every come back too. I imagine we'd have the demographic that worships them like a god, but ultimately the question is has Bitcoin veered off too much from their original vision? And would people be more willing to follow Satoshi simply because they were the creator or would they listen to reason to the other developers which have been working their socks off for the last decade.

Yeah, just seeing it now. Loan. Probably to plug the gap with the injuries, and see if he does rediscover some of his previous form. I do believe he was quite promising at some point in his career, I can't say I've seen much of him though.

Yeah, I'm quite confident we'll beat Everton. They don't have the players they had last season, and they were god awful last season. We might be absolutely awful right about now, but I'm still confident of winning by at least two goals, and keeping a clean sheet. I'd like to see Matip start to better our chances of a clean sheet though, and hopefully get him match fit with a relatively easy opponent. Of course though, stranger things have happened.

Depends what you mean by fight IQ. Gane has very good movement so in those terms he's quite exceptional given his weight class. However, that Ngannou fight he didn't display all that much fight IQ, especially when it comes to versatility. I mean, I still can't get over how he basically got dominated on the ground, when a lot of us before that fight would've had Gane being the better of the two on the ground. Simply, since Ngannou doesn't have a long history of mixed martial arts, in fact he's relatively new to MMA.

I have my doubts about Gane, and I think Ngannou exposed that side of him. Whether or not he has the heart too when the going gets tough. Tai will bring the heat, but Tai is relatively slow, and quite hittable, which suits Gane down to the ground if you ask me.

There's open source alternatives so you could potentially review the code, it would still require these permissions though, as mentioned above since it needs to cover a very broad spectrum of scripts.

However, it's worth mentioning that the open source alternatives aren't as popular, and therefore haven't had as much development put into them, and therefore they're either lacking the UX/UI or they're missing some functionality that other closed sourced alternatives have.

Generally, most addons/extensions are terribly invasive with the permissions they require, even more so for a script manager that needs to cover a whole lot of angles for the maximum amount of compatibility with userscripts.

Most companies are taking a hit this time of the year. Apart from energy companies, and the like I'd go as far to say that the vast majority >95% are taking hits due to the recessions caused by either war, the pandemic or a combination of the two. Plus, we're very likely still feeling the effects of the 2008/2009 recession also.

Honestly, the competitiveness of Bitcoin miner actually helps the average consumer since graphics cards have become less beneficial to mine with over the years, and therefore less competition, and lower prices for everyone. I do believe the current prices are from miners somewhat, but I'm also pretty sure there's been global shortages in certain materials. Wasn't it something to do with the conductors?

Plus, it's very likely that the general Bitcoin user will also rely on Altcoins for specific needs. For example, as a way of transacting quicker, but with less security or a way of contributing to projects which are testing the boundaries, and new technologies which could potentially either be introduced to Bitcoin once proven or used alongside it on a side chain. I'm only invested in Bitcoin, however I don't disagree that we'll likely need other cryptocurrencies to fill the gap, that Bitcoin either won't ever fill or doesn't want too for the time being.

There's plenty of interesting ideas out there. However, most of the time the execution is rather lacking.