No matter how much you try to restrict the caged animal, the animal will try, and escape. China has many restrictions on its citizens, it isn't just Bitcoin. They don't allow certain news sources, social medias or communication platforms. However, their citizens still look for ways to get around it. I know quite a few that use VPNs to get around the social media ban for example, and its exactly the same for Bitcoin. They are likely using VPNs, and connecting their mining gear up, and mining it. Probably, hoping they can make enough money, to move out of the country that's restricting them so much.

Honestly, for the way Holland acted in his last fight I'm really hoping that his hype train is truly derailed in a dominant fashion. I understand that's part of his fight plan, and he doesn't take it seriously, but that's frustrating for any fans of MMA. He made a mockery of it the other night, he had no idea how to counter his opponent, and the way he walked away in the last 10 seconds instead of going for the knockout, which he was very capable of doing against Brunson as he had him rocked a few times in the fight. I also saw in a clinch situation he was just chilling, arms down wasn't even resisting. I just can't support or route for a guy who takes it to that extreme. He might not take it seriously, and that's his decision, but the fans take it seriously, and the UFC should be taking it seriously. I don't care how much money he brings in because he runs his mouth, if he isn't actually going to try when hes being beat, then that's just going to annoy a lot of fans.

Only theymos could answer that accurately, the rest of us can only speculate. Although, concerning changing the password frequently; This is something that's been recommended for years, in fact many years ago I think the standard was to recommend you change your password every 2 weeks. Although, if you have a strong password in the first place, and you are sure that is hasn't been compromised then you probably don't need to change your password frequently. Most passwords are gathered via database breaches, and malware. You can't really do anything about databases being breached, and therefore you just need to monitor various resources which provide information about what site has been breached, and change your password accordingly. Of course, you will always have the risk of a website being breached, without yours, the owners or the various organizations providing news about breaches actually knowing about it, well at least quick enough to prevent you from being compromised.

If your system is compromised then changing your password wouldn't have any effect, because if they have compromised your system via a keylogger or whatever method, and they are able to retrieve what you are putting into a website, then you are at risk whether you are entering your password or changing it. It might be advisable, if you suspect that you could be compromised locally, that keeping the "remember" me option on websites so you don't have to log in with your password each time. It would take a more sophisticated approach of gathering the password then.

I was also fancying Sam Alves this week, but I'm not so sure looking at his previous fights. He tends to get knocked out against some of the bigger fighters. The man definitely has a lot of heart though, and his opponent definitely hasn't covered himself with glory recently.

I'm also fancying Jack Shore, and Arnold Allen this week. I'll look at the rest of the fights in more detail in the next few days.

The reason this appears so, is people are stubborn, but also don't like change. So, whenever there's a new technology, or concept especially when it introduces evidence that their current belief system, or technology or whatever they are following is doing it wrong, or at least inefficiently they can become somewhat defensive of it. For example, I know a lot of people who complain about the fiat money system, but are completely hostile to Bitcoin simply because they don't understand it, and its trying to change what they are currently using.

This is why we have pioneers in almost every department. they are the ones that take on the challenge of furthering the development of these alien ideas, and in time make it simpler, and easier to understand, which in return increases adoption rates.

Bitcointalk has converted to a WOW auction house for the day, with users desperately trying to discard their tiered equipment, who would have thought?

See the video above this post for an in depth tutorial on how to do so.

Don't focus on learning specifically Blockchain related programming. What I mean by that is, don't go looking for courses which are Bitcoin or Blockchain related since they will likely focus on that element too much, and miss the important fundamentals that you absolutely should learn first, but also understand. Anyone can program, and to some extent most developers can create something functional, however far too many developers don't focus on scalability, and efficient programming. When you are programming you aren't programming for you solely generally, you need to design your program so that its accessible to anyone, and make it read as cleanly as possible. The best place that taught the fundamentals like this has been a combination of University (especially for OOP concepts), and Udemy courses delivered by actual professional lecturer's (usually from a teaching background).

Try not to learn from a developer, since learning from a developer at the start means that they have their ways of doing things, and will likely skip things because they aren't familiar with teaching someone who's completely new. So, they use jargon, and teach inefficiently. So, try to avoid that, and learn from someone who explains concepts well, but also understands that you are new to the subject.

We all have ideas, but our ideas are usually ambitious, and for them to be created effectively we need to put the building blocks in place first. If you were to implement your idea along the way of learning, it would likely be inefficient, and not done correctly, and as a result less likely to take to people. Instead, focus on becoming a good programmer, and get quite a few other projects under your belt before tackling your grand idea. Unless, your idea is actually a fairgly simple one of course, but from being in the industry I've definitely seen most peoples first ideas, although sound simple in nature aren't.

Literally the opposite of what you should be advocating. If I listened to the rich of the world, I'd be even poorer than I am now. The rich usually look out for themselves, and make money off those less fortunate, I mean its the reason they are rich after all. They are more likely to give bias opinions, simply because it benefits them. Imagine, asking a whale what should I do when Bitcoin reaches x amount. They'll give the answer that mostly benefits them.

I'm obviously making a generalization. There are rich fellows out there, which have got their scoop of the pot, and don't look to exploit their ways to more gains, simply because they can.

If you know most of the password, or at least have a text file that suggests that it was the password, it might be a good idea of bruteforcing the remaining characters, or what usually is the case someone has made a slight typo. There's a lot of software out there depending on the way you want to go about it. BTCRecover used to be a program used by many, and is free. Whether or not it would work with LTC I don't exactly know or remember.

Obviously, if you are going to use it you might want to check its Github, and decide whether you want to take the risk or not. Its the only open source software which I know of. There's several other closed source, but its probably best go with a open source software that you can verify the code yourself, or get someone else who is more adept at programming.

If the structure of LTC is similar to that of Bitcoin, and the wallet functions the same I'm sure the program could be adapted to work, even if it didn't work out of the box. I'm not familiar enough with LTC, or looked at BTCRecover recently enough.

What do I think of your "crazy" conspiracy? Crazy. I'm kidding, although it is a little crazy, however I've definitely seen more far fetched conspiracies when it comes to Satoshi being x person. You'd probably consider Elon to be in a similar type of industry I guess, and he does have the brain for it. Although, I definitely don't agree with your conspiracy for many reasons, but I won't go into that.

However, I'd like to bring up the fact that Satoshi used British dialect within his writing. As far as I can remember, he actually switched between American, and British writing patterns, which would suggest that Satoshi was actually aware of their writing style, and therefore changed it or Satoshi isn't a singular entity, and instead consists of multiple people i.e a group.

I'm not sure what you mean by destroying the economy, but I think you are trying to say that Bitcoin was implemented to bring down the current money systems, but further than that; Satoshi purposely is hoarding his Bitcoin, to keep a certain share of the market to effectively crash Bitcoin, and destroy everything we've come to know as "money". This would be somewhat plausible, if the idea wasn't flawed. It would probably make a good money, but the idea of it is flawed. We as a civilization have become money oriented, and even if we were to destroy everything that could be considered money (which we can't) it would still rear its head sooner rather than later. We have simply relied on money for so long, even if it was destroyed, new systems with similar functions would soon return.

So, bearing this in mind lets assume  that Satoshi is keeping their Bitcoin stored to crash the Bitcoin market in an attempt to eradicate any sort of money system, including Bitcoin. Then, all of this hard work of creating a decentralized currency would have been for nothing, because you know for sure the powers of the world would create a centralized currency, rather than a decentralized when it comes to resurrecting the concept of money.

Not really. an investment although a gamble isn't exactly gambling. Slot machines, although there might be techniques of timing it to get the payouts, still isn't anything like an investment, and comes down to a lot of luck. Bitcoin, if you believe in the currency, you could argue doesn't have much luck associated with it, because you believe in the technology. Of course, to be able to trade effectively in any market, and any investment for that matter you need to time it correctly, have a bit of luck, and read the signs. However, comparing it too a slot machine, is a bit far fetched for me. They operate completely different, and are influenced by different things.

I was very impressed with Abubakar Nurmagomedov last weekend. As you guys probably know, hes known for his ground game, and hasn't really had a chance to show off his striking. Well, I thought he looked pretty sharp last Saturday, and had a real pop to his shots. Obviously, I think most of us had him winning the fight, but I doubt many of us had it in that fashion, I most entertainingly didn't think the fight would stay on the feet as long as it did.

As for Ngannou, and Stipe; I'm glad Francis' did it in the end, I do feel for Stipe as hes been a brilliant champion. I'm think there will be a third fight in the near future, and I'm not sure who takes it. Stipe does seem to really come back stronger each time, and it'll be an interesting fight.

Unlike the Connor vs Poirier fight which I'll be honest not looking forward to it like the first or second.I just don't know where Conor is at right now, and I'm starting to think that nice guy conor doesn't help his cause. Poirer talked about how the war of words can throw a fighter off on The Joe Rogan podcast.

Personally, I don't think I couldn't name any country which has not got very skewed economics, and how they treat money. The very fact that you can print money is flawed. Although, decentralization isn't what makes Bitcoin a currency, but its certainly the most appealing factor of the currency, that I think most people who use it as a currency value highly.

If we were to look at why Bitcoin is a good currency, then I think most of the reasons you listed are valid. I don't think this is an argument on Bitcoin being a currency, but how the original posters friend views the currency as a more investment, than its usefulness as a currency. Which in its current state I can understand that viewpoint. Many people who are involved in Bitcoin, are treating it as an investment opportunity in which they cash out for fiat currencies at their desired price. This influx of investors has been impacted by mainstream news talking about the recent surges in prices of Bitcoin which as a result has created this mindset which I don't completely blame them for. However, as we know many people use Bitcoin as a currency , and exchange it for goods, and services. Its been doing that for years, and we are seeing more, and more mainstream companies adopt the currency.

Blank is probably the way to go. By displaying any number at all, you're effectively already planting a seed that this is the expected amount, or the amount that they should award, which ideally isn't something you want to do. Especially as it is currently,  we probably want more people meriting more than a single merit to each post. 

The only issue I see with leaving it blank, and this probably isn't a big problem is that to someone that isn't familiar with the merit system, and most critically how to give merit to a post, while it is blank they might assume that clicking "merit, is enough to merit the post. Obviously, we have an error if you were to attempt that which states "invalid amount", however it might not appear immediately obvious where they should put the amount. Well, I say that it should be pretty damn obvious, but that all depends on the end user. I was taught, as many of you were probably too that you should make your UI as intuitive as possible, that even a drunk person could navigate it. This is often ignored, and sometimes it can be frustrating. Personally, the current system with a blank box instead of its current implementation sounds pretty self explanatory to me, but its hard to think if I wasn't as technically minded, and I wasn't familiar with the system, maybe it wouldn't be.

You could just point them over to the marketplace section of this forum, to demonstrate that Bitcoin can be used as a currency, and isn't just a "investment currency". Besides, these days you can pay for almost anything in Bitcoin with payment gateways like BitPay, and the like. If you want some examples of mainstream companies that are accepting Bitcoin, take Namecheap, Microsoft, and once upon a time Steam did.

There's also jobs which pay in Bitcoin. You can find some of them listed on Angel list, and probably elsewhere. If you've taken a look at the marketplace section, you've likely found a lot of things which Bitcoin can be used to purchase.

The only really thing that Bitcoin hasn't touched upon, at least in the mainstream is groceries, and property. There are ways to use your Bitcoin to purchase these, but no real direct, and within the mainstream scope.

At the moment you might consider Bitcoin to be more an investment opportunity, than its usefulness as a currency. However, I'm not sure why that would be a bad thing, and doesn't change the fact that many people use it as a currency just fine, but specifically to you or your friend it might serve better as an investment. The best thing you could do, is ask your friend what he would like to purchase with Bitcoin for it to be deemed a currency to him. I would wager whatever his answer is there's a way of going about it, maybe not directly in the mainstream companies, but there will be an alternative.

This would be hard to survey, at least accurately. If you think about any type of invest, and you consider the Gamestop, and various other movements recently, there's always a wide range of people who get into investing. Bitcoin, at the very start was certainly for those that were more tech savvy, and its evolved as a more open minded currency. I still think its not on the mainstream consumers level, but those that are either willing to take risks, in order to earn a lot or those that believe in the technology. Now, those that are willing to risk a lot, to earn a lot could be from either background. However, from my observations those that come from poor backgrounds are more likely to risk higher amounts of their income for possible returns. As opposed, to those that come from rich backgrounds, who carefully invest, and when they do invest its usually not a large portion of their net worth.

Lets just pretend that we could survey the general population of Bitcoin accurately, I would expect to see more people from poorer backgrounds than I did in 2011. I would also expect more consumer level, as opposed to tech savvy people back in 2011. If we were to compare Bitcoin to altcoins, then I would expect the altcoins industry to have more people from poorer backgrounds hoping that they can catch the "next Bitcoin".

I'm only really going with Ngannou, because I like his personal story, and like him as a fighter. To be honest, my betting head probably tells me Stipe, especially because of the first fight between them. However, I'm hoping Ngannou has adapted, and learned from that first fight. At the end of the day, I'm expecting it to be a good fight, I think it'll last some rounds, as Stipe is way too smart to get caught early, but I can't see Ngannou winning this fight if it goes into the championship rounds. Hes a big man, carrying a lot of muscle weight which will make him tire in those later rounds.

My prediction would be; If Ngannou is going to win this fight it has to be inside 3 rounds, otherwise Stipe gets the win. Stipe has the advantage being the slicker, more endurance focused fighter. He could probably effectively avoid most of the danger early on, and tire Ngannou out with his footwork.

I'll probably be going with Ngannou on the night though by TKO.

Basically,

if the wallet software does not give you your private key, then you never use them for storing coins. The only instances you should consider using a wallet which doesn't give you the private key, is if its an exchange, and if you don't intend to keep your coins in it for long. That's the only reason.

Otherwise, when it comes to those that give you complete access, and doesn't share your private key with themselves or anyone else, but you it comes down to preference. Most wallet software out there today have the same functionality. However, I only ever really recommend using the following:

- Bitcoin Core
If you don't mind downloading the whole Blockchain. Essential, if you intend on contributing to the Bitcoin network by running a Bitcoin node.

- Electrum
If you don't want to download the Blockchain, and want quick access to your coins.


Another noteworthy mention would be a hardware wallet which does require a little investment to acquire. I would probably recommend Trezor over Ledger personally.

Also, bearing in mind that 1000 sample size from similar backgrounds, which is usually the case if they live in the area that the survey was conducted, isn't as good as multiple 1000 sample sizes from various different backgrounds. Unfortunately, a survey is never really a great example of integrity, as there will be those that lie, and bend the truth, or if English isn't their primary language, and the survey is conducted in English then that itself can lead to interpretation issues, which might skew the results.

However, despite the issues outlined by yourself, and I there definitely is some merit to higher sample size since it tries to mitigate these issues. Really, 1000 is my minimum to even consider looking at the results in any depth, of course ideally you would want far more than that to start drawing accurate conclusions from.

I'll be honest I'm not very familiar with the way FaucetPay operates, but if you are using their services for storing cryptocurrency, then I would recommend against that, especially since they've already blocked you from retrieving coins once. Only use wallets in which you, and only you control the private key. Otherwise, that in itself is a security risk.