Kim Dotcom Mansion: Press conference 2013-01-19 GMT

[giszmo]

Hmm, so now uploading small files works but uploading blk0001.dat kind of has issues. It got to 50% at 1.2MB/s before but now I checked and it is at 43% again. This is not good for their servers if they have to receive many bytes double.

Edit: Now I definitely saw it reach 100% for the blk file and I couldn't wait for anything to happen, so I coded. Next time I checked it was at 42% again and my machine is at its limits all the time.

[1713485543]

1713485543

[1713485543]

1713485543

[MineForeman.com]

Managed to get a 'somewhat' large file uploaded at about 319KB/s into a hack about account.  If anyone wants to have a go at downloading it here is the link;-

MinePeon-2013-01-22.zip (317.2 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!cNYxgRLb!PGTQEXIFiwVc9Im118YSYQqxCDw1hpFjLtbLPKEVadA

I promice the file is safe, it is a Raspberry PI image with cgminer installed on it that I am playing with getting ready for ASIC's. ( http://mineforeman.com/minepeon/ )

[tvbcof]

...

I promice the file is safe, it is a Raspberry PI image with cgminer installed on it that I am playing with getting ready for ASIC's. ( http://mineforeman.com/minepeon/ )

You da man!  I am dying to see what Avalon used for a chipset and am quite interested in a fully auditable OS and flexible mining image in case I (or someone more competent) wish to undertake work along these lines.

I guess I should look at your link real quick...yup, looking good.

[MineForeman.com]

You da man!

Your making me blush, I only released it yesterday though so it is still very alpha go over to mining ( https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=137934.0 ) if you want to help testing.

Anyway, back on topic, did you manage to use the mega download link?

[giszmo]

You da man!

Your making me blush, I only released it yesterday though so it is still very alpha go over to mining ( https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=137934.0 ) if you want to help testing.

Anyway, back on topic, did you manage to use the mega download link?

I did. 5MB/s for the first 10%, then pause and finished with an average of 3.8MB/s.

[World]

I would also add that Mega did not send the link.  I did.  The decryption key (again, NOT public/private keypair or 'asymetric' crypto) was generated by me on my own computer using javascript code which Mega delivered to me when I logged on.  Part of the input that this code needed was my password.  Mega could not have generated that key because they don't know my password.

Thanks, now i have understood!

I might mention to anyone thinking about creating a Mega account to put more thought than normal into the password.  It is not just a typical web-site access thing (like bitcointalk.org, for instance.)

The password one chooses becomes an integral part of how access to all files that one stores.  I read somewhere that there is some protection against guessing attacks, but I don't know how it works and I am pretty sure that if one choose 'test123' that would render one's files readable by many many parties.

Currently the ability to change passwords is not implemented.  What one chooses one is stuck with.  I usually default to a non-trivial and unique password for anything I sign up for and did in this case, but had I realized how critical it was I would have been much more careful in choosing the Mega one.

That said, until the service becomes vaguely usable it's a bit of a moot point (unless one is silly enough to upload critical or important data in this early period where there are so many questions swirling around.)

http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/01/cracking-tool-milks-weakness-to-reveal-some-mega-passwords/

[constitution]

Encryption 4 lyfe 

[tvbcof]

You da man!

Your making me blush, I only released it yesterday though so it is still very alpha go over to mining ( https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=137934.0 ) if you want to help testing.

Thx for the pointer.  I'll be keeping my eye on this work!

I don't have any RasPI stuff.  I've got a boatload of old Soekris 4801's that I got off e-bay some time ago with some vague intent of using them for Bitcoin related work.  I used to run bitcoind off my router and it worked beautifully but that was back in the old days when it was still a P2P solution.  Suffice it to say, I've given up on hoping for a peer to be much less than a state-of-the-art server class piece of equipment as time goes by.  Probably even IF blockchain pruning proves to be workable. </snark>

Anyway, back on topic, did you manage to use the mega download link?

I've never been able to download my sub-MB .png after multiple attempts.

I started downloading your image, then went outdoors to do some other stuff.  When I got back the download screen reports 100% and 581.2 Kbps, but I cannot find the file anywhere on my system.

I am on Viasat/Exede satellite which may have something to do with my generally poor results.  High latency connections tend to be poorly tested by developers and network engineers and put extra strain on load balancers and that sort of thing.  My other option is a modem.  I'm pretty used to sucking hind teat out here in the boonies.  Just thankful that I can work at all in the rare instances when I feel inclined to do so.

Another hypothesis is that the evil government is fucking with my network connection.  Fun to ponder, but I kinda doubt it.

[tvbcof]

I might mention to anyone thinking about creating a Mega account to put more thought than normal into the password.  It is not just a typical web-site access thing (like bitcointalk.org, for instance.)

The password one chooses becomes an integral part of how access to all files that one stores.  I read somewhere that there is some protection against guessing attacks, but I don't know how it works and I am pretty sure that if one choose 'test123' that would render one's files readable by many many parties.

Currently the ability to change passwords is not implemented.  What one chooses one is stuck with.  I usually default to a non-trivial and unique password for anything I sign up for and did in this case, but had I realized how critical it was I would have been much more careful in choosing the Mega one.

That said, until the service becomes vaguely usable it's a bit of a moot point (unless one is silly enough to upload critical or important data in this early period where there are so many questions swirling around.)

http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/01/cracking-tool-milks-weakness-to-reveal-some-mega-passwords/

Wow!  Trivial passwords are easy to crack.  Who'd ah thunk it???

The author of this Ars (who I generally respect) article didn't really delve into why the hashed password might or might not need to be in the initial e-mail, but did seem to blithely compare Mega to other services where the vendor has all of the user's data in clear text without analyzing whether that might be a factor.  Kinda questionable.

To paraphrase the old guy in the first star wars movie, 'The FUD is strong with this one.'  That observation itself lends strength to my gut feeling that Mega may have started work on a trail to something pretty big.  We can hope.

[CIYAM]

This is a "peek" at the "sign up" page I will be adding to CIYAM Open very soon (perhaps just a few hours away after I've finished testing).

http://ciyam.org/sign_up_example.png

[MineForeman.com]

I've got a boatload of old Soekris 4801's

Send me one and I will make a build target for you :p .

[tvbcof]

I've got a boatload of old Soekris 4801's

Send me one and I will make a build target for you :p .

If you have the bandwidth to do x86 stuff and think you can make something worthwhile of it, I'd be happy to send you one (other than the fact that I hate screwing with mail.)  It would be just the board.  No case.  I missed a shot at getting a lot of cases for the boards unfortunately since they came up before I got the boards.  Anyway, if pentium-class and 128MB is sufficient, they are nice because they use about as much energy as a night-light and have 3 NICs.  PM me.

[dserrano5]

Managed to get a 'somewhat' large file uploaded at about 319KB/s into a hack about account.  If anyone wants to have a go at downloading it here is the link;-

Downloaded at 4.6 Mb/s steady.

[phantastisch]

http://stopfilelockers.com/mega-piracy-its-just-the-beginning/#more-1051

[Gabi]

Lololol

[HostFat]

http://torrentfreak.com/mega-resellers-take-down-paypal-payment-option-130127/

[cedivad]

http://torrentfreak.com/mega-resellers-take-down-paypal-payment-option-130127/

Like hell. BTC is not only not normal currency, but it is also extremaly hard to use. I've tried to use that piece of $#17 so I know.

[tvbcof]

http://torrentfreak.com/mega-resellers-take-down-paypal-payment-option-130127/

Like hell. BTC is not only not normal currency, but it is also extremaly hard to use. I've tried to use that piece of $#17 so I know.

I would not argue against that.  I finally got a friend of mine to mess around with it.  Even at this early stage, one needs a pretty decent computer...at least for the initial block download which he gave up on after a few days.  How it would be in steady-state, I don't know.

There was really not much choice but to either forget about Bitcoin or just go ahead and have someone else hold his wallet which is, I feel, a much less reliable way of holding value than just using a mainstream bank and USD (currently.)  On top of that, getting BTC in the first place is kind of an expensive hassle which opens one up to massive surveillance unless one is very careful and knowledgeable.

To me Bitcoin is a hugely interesting and important experiment, but it's not real applicable as an every day currency.  The only practical way to obtain them is in bulk due to overhead, but then one must trust other parties with significant value and/or deal with huge volatility.

I feel as strongly as ever that Bitcoin's main hope in terms gaining traction for general use is for it's competition to fail which would make it more compelling in a relative sense.

[Gabi]

I would not argue against that.  I finally got a friend of mine to mess around with it.  Even at this early stage, one needs a pretty decent computer...at least for the initial block download which he gave up on after a few days.  How it would be in steady-state, I don't know.

Never heard about lightweight client? Seriously why the hell did you tell to your friend to use the qt client? Tell him to use Multibit or Electrum, you start it and it's ready to use!

[tvbcof]

I would not argue against that.  I finally got a friend of mine to mess around with it.  Even at this early stage, one needs a pretty decent computer...at least for the initial block download which he gave up on after a few days.  How it would be in steady-state, I don't know.

Never heard about lightweight client? Seriously why the hell did you tell to your friend to use the qt client? Tell him to use Multibit or Electrum, you start it and it's ready to use!

It was a good opportunity to find out whether or not Bitcoin was still workable as P2P.  As I expected: Nope.  Armory seemed to have a decent feature set if it had turned out to be practical to be a peer, and he would have liked to help support the network if possible.  Electrum looks like SWIFT without legal protection (and possibly the opposite at some point) to me.

We just used instawallet to get him a few coins to play around with.  This isn't your granddad's Bitcoin.  I anticipated the scenerio, but I imagine that some of those who bought the P2P hype a year ago might be down-faced about things.