I've been using Bitcoins for about 2 weeks now... it only took me about 1 week to realise that online wallets are a "Bad Idea"™

It is mentioned in quiet a few places, including the description of this sub-board:


Without access to your private keys, you don't own anything. Essentially, you have an account with a 3rd party who let you move some of 'their' bitcoins around, based on how much you have 'given' to them to hold for you. You have no real control and no real comeback should they get hacked/disappear/freeze your account/take your coins/have technical issues/go on holiday...

Like a lot of things in life, prior results are not an indication of future performance. Just because you haven't had issues with a service for the last X days/months/years... does not mean that everything will be working tomorrow (or this afternoon). Look at how long HashOcean was 'running'... long enough for 700,000 people to cash in. How long did it take to disappear? A few mouse clicks.

In my view, online wallets, who don't provide private keys, are just as risky as handing over your bitcoins to any given cloudmining/HYIP/<insert bitcoin investment here> provider. You are essentially giving your money to a 3rd party and trusting that they will not run off with it.

Ahhhh, I see... I did not realise that the current version was not under active development and we were expecting a shiny new version

Anyway, I had a bit of browse around the Mycelium github (I have some limited Android coding experience from working on a Custom ROM a year or so ago) and it seems like the sort of thing that could be easily integrated. I suspect the true issue will be working it into the Android application lifecycle... A quick google search yielded about 7349867321652146 threads on StackExchange asking how to detect application backgrounding/foregrounding 

It seems like Android doesn't really offer any native solution, that is 'reliable', for determining when your application is going to the background and when it has been pulled up to the foreground. There are the methods like onPause(), onResume(), onStart() and onStop() methods, but they can get called when you switch from one activity to another within your app, show a dialog, in 'unexpected' orders or even when you rotate the device!

Obviously it is possible, because plenty of apps do it, so maybe some investigation into an open source app that has this feature would be worthwhile... after I find the motivation to download the Android SDK and setup a dev environment again 

Fingers crossed this address thing makes it to the top of the list soon

As for the lock, is it possible to implement a timeout of some sort, so that if the app is backgrounded for longer than X minutes it "locks" and needs the PIN again?

I know my banks internet banking app has this feature. If the app spends more than a few minutes in the background, when you go back to it, it shows the PIN entry screen again. It isn't instant, so you can switch backwards and forwards from different apps (like to copy a persons name and account number from an email etc if you're making a payment etc), without having to unlock the app every time you switch back to it, but it isn't more than 2-3 minutes before it automatically locks.

I think this would be a great addition to the security features of Mycelium.

^---THIS!

When I first started looking at signature campaigns, I was thinking "OMG, need to post stuff to get my ranking up so I can join"... However, after reading pretty much every campaign thread^*, one of the common things I kept reading was people being rejected, kicked out or not paid because their post quality was poor. Almost every campaign specifies that +1, Me too!, "Thanks", one liner type posts will not count.

People need to realise that by promoting a brand, and that is what you are doing by having their advertising in your sig, means you are acting as an ambassador for that brand. So, the campaign managers want people who are going to present the brand in a positive manner by being helpful, participating in a constructive and friendly manner etc. They don't want hit and run posters, people who shitpost or spammers. It reflects badly on their brands and on the campaign managers who are no doubt wanting to maintain a good reputation.

Likewise, you are tacitly endorsing that brand. So you will want to make sure that the brand you choose reflects your own personal beliefs etc. Maybe promoting that slightly dodgy cloudmining site from Elbonia isn't something you feel comfortable with

In any case, your focus should most definitely be on quality and not quantity.



* after my slightly OCD nature got the better of me and I took on the task of trying to provide an update for the Sig Campaign Overview thread

As someone has already mentioned, there generally isn't a lot of negative sides for the individual with regards to being in a signature campaign. However, for the forum as a whole, there is the possibility that the overall quality of posts suffer, because people get desperate for BTC and so just post useless/unhelpful/"spammy"/unnecessary posts to get their count up so they can get paid.

I think the issue stems from people trying to use sig campaigns as a means of 'primary' income, rather than as a method to passively earn some spare BTC with little effort by just doing what you would normally do, while contributing to the community. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand that there are folks from poorer countries, for whom making USD$10/week is a big deal and being able to make that kind of money by just posting on an online forum must seem like a golden opportunity.

However, it would appear that your level of english may not be of a sufficient level to be able to post 'decent' content that contributes in a meaningful way. This is likely to lead to most campaign managers rejecting your application, because your post quality is not sufficient to promote their service in a good light, or for it will cause other members to get annoyed with you posting "low quality" posts that just clutter up threads so you can get paid.

Good luck with your search for a signature campaign that fits your needs.

If this was directed at me... I haven't said it is not recommended? The only ones marked that way are Bitvest, 777coin and the Bit-x/Coinsbank ones. Looking at their threads, there seems to be some ongoing issues with these campaigns, so I assume that is why they were *'d in the first place. It was not something I did.

To be honest, I mostly just copy+pasted what was already in the OP and moved things around a little... I'm certainly not going to claim that the information is 100% accurate. <insert standard disclaimers here>

You will want to make sure that you check out the applicable thread for any campaign you are considering joining and making sure that it meets your requirements (and that you meet theirs!).

Yes it is certainly an issue. And one that I stumbled across in my first week of "bitcoining" 

I noticed that in the blockchain.info (beta) wallet... when i go to addresses, they have a "next address" button... you can just click that and it generates the next address for you... it looks like it can generate as many as you want. I made 4 or 5.

I can see their issue with the scanning... you have to have some way of stopping without continuing to infinity... So they'd have to have some way of tracking addresses generated... I wonder if it is possible to have a counter stored? So every time an address is generated, either manually or via receiving a transaction to address in the list position X, where X = counter, it increments the counter.

To be ultra safe, you could scan to counter+5 or counter+10 maybe? Or maybe a manual button to scan another 5 or 10 ahead if a user is not getting transactions/addresses showing up.

This, and the fact that sometimes it seems to sit in my phone memory and not require my PIN number are probably the biggest issues I have with Mycelium at the moment. The PIN one is particularly disturbing. Like just now, I picked up my phone which I haven't touched for a good 2 hours, turned on the screen, swiped away the lock screen, went into the App Drawer, tapped Mycelium and it went straight into my account listing??? 

Actually, you can't do it "just fine".

The sign feature only applies to IMPORTED SPENDABLE addresses. This option is not available for any addresses that are created in the new wallet, you cannot sign anything. Granted you can still use the verify option, but unless you create addresses outside of Blockchain.info wallet and import them in, you cannot sign using the new beta wallet.

I have no idea if blockchain.info are planning on adding this feature in the future and/or providing the private keys for new addresses created in the beta wallet. Either way, at the moment, I would say that this feature is only really half implemented.

I think it is important to note that this only works for IMPORTED SPENDABLEaddresses... You cannot sign messages with addresses created in the new beta wallet and, for obvious reasons, you cannot sign messages with addresses that you don't have the private keys for.

As you can't (yet?) access the private keys for the addresses created in the new wallet (I'm not sure if Blockchain.info are going to add this feature in the future or if it is gone for good), you cannot sign messages with any new addresses created.

So, the feature seems to be only half-implemented at present.

@CoinBucks.IO

What is the current state of this service? I've managed to get 5 payments... out of about 10-15 offers attempted.

The successful completion were 25, 26 and 27 June. Since then, I have attempted to install and use several apps (coin dozer, bubble witch, bingo etc) and the system hasn't detected the completion of the offers despite having the apps installed for several days and hours of usage.

I'd really like to continue using and recommending coinbucks, as the payouts are decent and relatively fair.

However the system seems to be very unstable and nonfunctional.

An update here from the OP would be appreciated.

Hi,

I installed Mycelium yesterday after finally realising how insecure Hot wallets like Xapo actually are (ie. no private keys). I have also been reading that one should use a new address for each transaction to help improve anonymity for all parties concerned. What I want to know is, is it possible to get Mycelium to generate a new address without 1. creating a new HD account or 2. receiving a new transaction?

The scenario I am thinking of is:

1. You send address ABC to person 1.
2. While waiting for person 1 to make a payment, person 2 asks for your address for payment, but I don't want to send them address ABC.

However, until person 1 sends the transaction and Mycelium receives it, you are stuck with the "old" address(es), which means you have to receive multiple payments to the same address or wait for payments to arrive to get a new address.

I know I could create a new HD account. As I understand it, it is based off the same seed so should be easy to recover etc, but I don't want to do this as this will mean my BTC balances are split across different accounts and will mean a new account every time I have multiple transactions that overlap time wise won't it?

So, how do you provide a new address to each person?


I am relatively new to BTC, so forgive me if this is a stupid question. I have tried to search for the answer but haven't found anything that answers this specific query.

Awesome!

Thank you very much for that. I had read that the preferred method was to put it on pastebin, but couldn't find it! So I just pressed the quote button on the OP and it actually provided all of that in a nice edit window with all the BBCode etc

Anyway, I have merged my edits into that Pastebin and updated the details section while I was at it I have saved the results here: http://pastebin.com/rBcuDZXs http://pastebin.com/1akHCGMx

Hopefully, someone can update the OP soon.

Ok, thanks for the heads up. I will go and move the campaign into the Active list

@yabctl,

Hi, I apologise in advance if you get an influx of people applying... I updated the table of signature campaigns in the Overview of Bitcoin Signature Campaign thread as it was a bit outdated. Then someone mentioned that there was a new campaign for YABTCL.com, so I added it in, I hope you don't mind.

Hopefully, I'll be a Jr. Member soon and there might be a space for me


regards,
HCP

Thanks for the tips.

I've seen the Jetwin has been paused and I see the Luckybtc one is now closed. I assume that means that they are no longer paying? I've created a "STOP" section for ones on Pause.

I've seen the LIR campaign, but as mentioned at the beginning of the OP (and my quote), this "is for Bitcoin paying campaigns only".

I have also added the YABTCL.com campaign.

@Xiaoxiao

Hi, I've just done a wee update on the "Overview of Bitcointalk Signature Campaign" thread...

You removed the Full member and Member rates before I had a chance to copy them... did you want these added in or would you prefer they were left out for now seeing as how you're only accepting Snr Member and above? If you want them added in, can you let me know what the base rates are.

Are the payments escrowed? I've just put that as "?" because I don't know.

Finally, I've only put the campaign in the "PNYC" section because it is brand new, and no-one has actually been paid as yet. When the first lot of payments go out, I'll update it


cheers,
HCP

Ok, because I am interested in joining a campaign when I make it out of newbie status (and/or 777coin and Bitvest get sorted)... I have tried to update the table from the OP since the OP and helpers seem to be busy with "RealLife"™ at the moment... I haven't updated the "detail" section, because I just don't have the time and tbh, all the important info is in each campaigns thread, which you definitely need to read to see all the rules and requirements. These are all linked in the table.

Quick summary of changes:

Hopefully this will help some folks out. If I've missed anything obvious or made any mistakes, let me know and I'll update it


cheers,
HCP

ps. I'll gladly accept tips and donations, PM for an address if you're feeling super generous.... OR you can send them to the OPs links... seeing as they did all the previous work


-EDIT: updated table and full pastebin is now here

Thanks, I have checked and the payment is confirmed. I have left you some positive feedback

Best of luck with your app.

Thanks for the clarifications and warnings. It does indeed seem like one needs to have an awful lot of trust in Xapo and that they will no abscond with your coins.

Which is fine when you are talking about a few satoshis when you're just playing around with bitcoin to figure out how it all works.

If they choose to take it all or block the account I stand to lose like 0.02¢ or something equally insignificant.

However, when you start talking about 'real' amounts >0.01BTC etc, why on earth would anyone use a system like Xapo?

The risks clearly outweigh the benefits... as I've learned in the last week or so since starting with BTC, if you dont have the private keys, you don't own anything. Even the new block chain.info doesn't provide private keys anymore, so that is a no go.

Looks like the desktop, paper and hardware wallets are going to be the way to go as I get 'serious' about BTC

And maybe a 'hot' wallet with some scraps in it for quick, easy access.

I especially love the part about how their mining system is irreversibly damaged... 

I mean, I'm new around here, but even I know that unless the hackers managed to physically break into the mining data centre and go crazy with an axe or C4 or something... how can the mining equipment can be damaged??!?

So, either this is HashOcean running one last scam on the 700,000 people it has already ripped off and they never actually had proper mining equipment... or, most likely, it is some 3rd party trying to cash in on the desperation of 700,000 people who got scammed by HashOcean.

Either way... DO NOT send any coin anywhere and do not reply to the email.