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Bitcoin-Stealing OS X Trojan Now Masquerading as 'Angry Birds' and Other Popular Mac Apps
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Releasing a bitcoin stealing Trojan just when they're about to be rendered worthless. Good timing there, well done. Have a million Zimbabwe dollars.
in rough termsI must be old because I really don't get bitcoin and why I should care about it. If someone would explain this to me I would be greatly appreciative. As of right now is is so far off my radar that it isn't even funny.
its an electric, digital only "crypto currency" that works in a peer 2 peer unregulated digital environment.
the Coin's themselves only have value as much as people are willing to pay for them. They share more in common with Commodities than currency.
Bitcoins are stored in a "digital wallet" that can be housed either on a users local computer (or mobile device), or on an online "bank" / "exchange". your Wallet is given a unique address on the peer2peer bitcoin "network" in which all your own transactions are done via that address (similar to an email/ip).
contained in a wallet is block chain. Basically a complete digital representation of the entire bitcoin network. Security of bitcoin is done via peer 2 Peer checking of this block chain as mining is the act of constantly checking the hashes of the public block chain to ensure its accuracy. In reward, Bitcoins are awarded for this act. However, As the blockchain has grown due to popularity of bitcoin, Mining has required more and more expensive machinery to find free coins in the blockchain. remember, Bitcoin can only have a maximum of 21 Million bitcoins actually trade able.
Those "coins", can be traded just like any commodity on any market. All that is required is setting up your own wallet.
just remember if you chose to jump aboard the Bitcoin bandwagon. it is an unregulated, uninsured and un-earnable commodity at this point with a very volitile price.
No one said that. What they said is there are no virus for the Mac. This is not a virus. The only way you would need to worry is if you are a thief.
First off, as many have already stated but I will paraphrase - anything with the word cracked in it is never a great idea.
Secondly, I am just starting to use paypal as a way to pay things electronically. The whole bitcon (see what i just did there) is still too much for me. I was an early jumper on electronic payments, but doing so through a credit card or other party that both insulates you and protects you (through a limit on liability; usually about $50). With this bitcon, there seems to be no insulation (since it is peer to peer) and there is no protection. I am certainly not ready to pay for the mortgage or anything else using this approach.
Secondly, I am just starting to use paypal as a way to pay things electronically. The whole bitcon (see what i just did there) is still too much for me. I was an early jumper on electronic payments, but doing so through a credit card or other party that both insulates you and protects you (through a limit on liability; usually about $50). With this bitcon, there seems to be no insulation (since it is peer to peer) and there is no protection. I am certainly not ready to pay for the mortgage or anything else using this approach.
So, apparently is making a point! I haven't found yours yet.
I think what the person you were mocking was trying to say, is that with an underground currency, the chances of it vanishing are much higher than even investing in the stock market. Several 'wallet' services have either closed up shop without transferring peoples' wealth back to them or been outright criminal honeypots in the first place. Or you could be that guy that threw out a hard drive with hundreds of thousands worth of bitcoins stored on it.
This was exactly the type of response I was hoping for. Thank you very very much. I learned something new today. It is appreciated.
What, are you crazy? That coin costs more than $20 and my local convenience story tells me they don't accept these.
Which I guess would make them pretty good guys.
Which I guess would make them pretty good guys.
I don't understand. I thought Apple users aren't cheap and don't download cracked apps
I'm amazed that people will actually take this much risk to avoid paying $4.99 for an app on a $2000 computer.
Cripes, that's cheaper than 1 lunch!
I disagree the dollar is all that great, I would prefer a Euro any day over it. But I agree about Bitcoin, its only relevant as long as people care and once they stop caring its worth nothing.
Indeed.
Now - back in the old days when Adobe charged $2K for their software....
That generally what piracy comes down too of most digital content these days.
a combination of Price and ease of acquisition.
if the program you want to use is ridiculously expensive that the average use cannot afford it. They will likely pirate it.
if the program you want to use is ridiculously hard to acquire due to location of availability (not available in your region, must wait ridiculously long times for shipping of media..), People will tend to pirate.
if the thing has a negative experience when purchased legitimately due to overbearing DRM. people tend to pirate it (Bioshock 1 from 2k games with rootkit is a great example of people opting to pirate instead of buy because of bad corporate decision).
if on the other hand you make the software title available for a fair price, easy to get, without the need to jump through DRM hell hoops. Piracy goes down.
Things like the App store and Steam for example get it right. its simple, easy and relatively cheap to get titles, almost instantly, without jumping through any hoops.
And yet people balk at even .99 apps (vs free) and on up. And piracy exists (probably not as great as the aforementioned) - but enough that it's an issue. And sad. People pay for their phones and computers buy take money away from developers because they don't want to pay 1.99 for an app that keeps getting updated (new features, levels, etc).
One of the problems was due to the race to the bottom to score visibility in the App store. And I don't blame "Apple" per se - but they do have the most widely known/used App Store. People got so used to things being free/or under a buck than if you charged anything over .99 - it seems ridiculous.
Which is funny because .99 hardly buys ANYTHING in the real world.
Darn good post. I actually learned something. But apparently you haven't.
Need less facts. More flame. I'm going to PM you Kenny Loggins phone number to call cuz you're in the Danger Zone.Srsly. Nice post. Good basic explanation. Even I understood.
The "race to the bottom" is also what's getting us into this new annoying IAP-based business model.
I would rather just pay $20 for a good game, vs. paying $0 for one that's "free to play" but requires IAP just to make the game not so annoying. People wind up paying hundreds of dollars over time just to get a "normal" gameplay experience.
Darn good post. I actually learned something. But apparently you haven't.
Srsly. Nice post. Good basic explanation. Even I understood.
Thats twice you've given me a good chuckle today
