Today's Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

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#3120723 27-Aug-2023 09:41

Behodar:

Absurd, isn't it? I saw a thing the other day about web pages that mine bitcoins in the background. The comment was that the very fact that it was possible for this to happen in the first place - inside a glorified document viewer (web browser) - shows that the companies making these browsers don't care one whit about user privacy/security/energy usage etc.

At first I thought 1.4 million on the block list were exaggerated, after all, I'm not on every homepage in the world. But these tricky things are now also internationally networked, so it makes perfect sense to block globally. Nationally/European-wide, I have an additional list that is much smaller.

This is my main reference: firebog.net

Qui nihil scit, omnia credere debet.
Firewalls do NOT stop dragons.
In effect we have everything to hide from someone, and no idea who someone is.

frankv

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#3121141 28-Aug-2023 12:47

Behodar:

Absurd, isn't it? I saw a thing the other day about web pages that mine bitcoins in the background. The comment was that the very fact that it was possible for this to happen in the first place - inside a glorified document viewer (web browser) - shows that the companies making these browsers don't care one whit about user privacy/security/energy usage etc.

The very concept of bitcoin mining in the way you describe is absurd. Gone are the days when you could use a RPi to mine. You need super grunty processors. Mining using some random person's laptop would be futile.

neb

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#3121218 28-Aug-2023 14:15

frankv:
The very concept of bitcoin mining in the way you describe is absurd. Gone are the days when you could use a RPi to mine. You need super grunty processors. Mining using some random person's laptop would be futile.

Mining using one person's laptop is futile. Mining using ten million random people's laptops isn't.

Tinkerisk

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#3121344 28-Aug-2023 18:14

frankv:

The very concept of bitcoin mining in the way you describe is absurd. Gone are the days when you could use a RPi to mine. You need super grunty processors. Mining using some random person's laptop would be futile.

The comment was now not purposeful ... or the coverage too small. If you want to take a closer look ... [click].

Qui nihil scit, omnia credere debet.
Firewalls do NOT stop dragons.
In effect we have everything to hide from someone, and no idea who someone is.

msukiwi

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#3123613 4-Sep-2023 17:27

I know the weather is weird....but w... t.. f....:

My Feijoa plants are flowering! (In Christchurch)

eracode

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#3125182 9-Sep-2023 03:29

eracode:

eracode:

Just saw this story about a local crypto-exchange on the NZH website:

“Furious customers of Auckland-based cryptocurrency exchange Dasset say they are unable to access their funds - and the firm is not responding to complaints.

Its 16 members (and counting) say they have been locked out of accounts holding between $3,000 and $40,000.

One customer who has been unable to withdraw $40,000 after three months of trying told the Herald she was the mother of two young boys.

“This was our entire life savings, [which] we were counting on, and now we are facing a very dire situation,” she said.”

My Whiskey Tango on this is “what was this one customer thinking?”. If her story is true, why on earth would you 1. put your entire life savings into crypto and 2. entrust the crypto to a very small exchange in 3. a very small country?

Fools and their money …..

Here’s an update on this story in the NZH. Liquidators appointed and report a $6.3m deficit - liabilities $6.9m, assets $0.6m.

Serious Fraud Office called in. Looks like fraud combined with likely Ponzi Scheme.

A further update.

One ‘shocked’ investor, age 60, has lost $5m and is effectively broke - he’s moving in with his in-laws so that he can rent out his house. “He said he was a sophisticated investor who spent decades working in investment banking.”

Literally incredible. ‘Sophisticated investor’? - apparently he didn’t learn much about eggs and baskets during his career. Another candidate for the Financial Darwin Awards.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

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johno1234

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#3125185 9-Sep-2023 06:23

It’s what happens when greed overpowers common sense

cddt

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#3125260 9-Sep-2023 10:25

eracode:

A further update.

One ‘shocked’ investor, age 60, has lost $5m and is effectively broke - he’s moving in with his in-laws so that he can rent out his house. “He said he was a sophisticated investor who spent decades working in investment banking.”

Literally incredible. ‘Sophisticated investor’? - apparently he didn’t learn much about eggs and baskets during his career. Another candidate for the Financial Darwin Awards.

With all due respect to my elders, either you lose a lot of grey matter as you age or the thresholds for being a sophisticated investor and working in investment banking were lower back in the day.

eracode

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#3125271 9-Sep-2023 11:16

cddt:

With all due respect to my elders, either you lose a lot of grey matter as you age or the thresholds for being a sophisticated investor and working in investment banking were lower back in the day.

Nah - I’m 12 years his senior and also worked in investment banking for decades - and even I know not to do what he did.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Bung

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#3125274 9-Sep-2023 11:33

We only have his word that he was a sophisticated investor and working in banking covers a lot of things. I've known several bankers who were as sharp in old age as they ever were and had an integrity that is often missing today.

eracode

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#3125296 9-Sep-2023 12:35

Bung: We only have his word that he was a sophisticated investor and working in banking covers a lot of things. I've known several bankers who were as sharp in old age as they ever were and had an integrity that is often missing today.

Of course I’m going to agree with you. 😀 However he is quoted as saying ‘investment banking’ - not just ‘banking’.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

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Bung

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#3125302 9-Sep-2023 13:05

When I met Statler & Waldorf they were retired from whatever they did but were on the board of a super fund that my wife worked for.

geoffwnz

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#3125307 9-Sep-2023 13:58

Sophisicated: having, revealing, or involving a great deal of worldly experience and knowledge of fashion and culture.

So he was able to dress well for his job then?

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ezbee

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#3125309 9-Sep-2023 14:10

Then there are Bank Executives.
Classic Nigerian scam no less from a few decades ago.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/pals-promised-riches-from-deal-court-told/T2IYRJDEIENSEGQYPYY4ZTBAFM/

""
A former Citibank executive who it is claimed fell for a Nigerian investment scam will stand trial for allegedly defrauding his friends of millions to sink into the scheme.
""
Among them were a man Rutherford had known since primary school, John Molloy, an Auckland businessman, who lost about $2.5 million, and John Burton, toastmaster at Rutherford's wedding, who lost $670,000.

A Tauranga company director, Paul Adams, invested $2.68 million in what he thought were funds controlled through a European bank.

Rutherford sent about $250,000 via Western Union from Auckland to various individuals in Lagos, Nigeria, last year.
""

eracode

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#3125363 9-Sep-2023 14:44

geoffwnz:

Sophisicated: having, revealing, or involving a great deal of worldly experience and knowledge of fashion and culture.

So he was able to dress well for his job then?

Ha - or maybe he dressed well when investing.

However ‘sophisticated investor’ has a more specific definition than the word ‘sophisticated’ alone. It is sometimes used to regulate who can invest in certain types of securities where advanced investment knowledge is deemed necessary - based on criteria which differ from country to country. The term isn’t used in this way in NZ - same concept but the terms used here are ‘wholesale’ and/or ‘eligible’ investors.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

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