#different types of digital wallets

[earnmoneyonlinesworld]

Online money typically refers to digital currencies or digital forms of payment used for transactions conducted over the internet. There are several types of online money: 

online money free--https://tinyurl.com/yc6zxvay

1. Cryptocurrencies: Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others are decentralized digital currencies that use cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. They operate on blockchain technology and offer a decentralized and secure way of transferring value online. 

2. Digital Payment Systems: These systems enable electronic transactions between individuals or businesses. Examples include PayPal, Venmo, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and various other online payment platforms. These systems typically link to bank accounts or credit cards to facilitate transactions. 

3. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT): EFT refers to the transfer of funds between different bank accounts electronically. It allows individuals and businesses to send and receive money online directly from their bank accounts. 

4. Mobile Payment Apps: With the widespread use of smartphones, mobile payment apps have gained popularity. These apps, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay, enable users to make payments using their mobile devices by linking their bank accounts, credit cards, or other payment methods. 

When engaging in online money transactions, it is crucial to prioritize security by using reputable platforms, ensuring the legitimacy of sellers or recipients, and protecting personal and financial information. 

[majorsomethingdisorder]

Doing digital art after like four months of not doing it and I think. I don't like doing digital art anymore lol

[1lenii]

Jealous!Gojo x F!Reader x Platonic!Toji

Gojo being so cute at the end this is litterally gojo being picked on and at by toji!! Fluff!! Possibly messy!! Enjoy!!

Sorry for the unannounced hiatus, I’ve had some difficulties..!!

Gojo was the honored one. The best of the best, there’s no way his girl would leave him for *him*… right?

Gojo is a few feet away from Y/N, he had parked the car and next to her was a oddly familiar tuff of black hair

Gojo isn’t insecure yet that was the only way to describe what he felt.. hatred even and more or less disgust

He didn’t NOT trust his beloved but he’s a male the urges(bare with me)

Gojo kept watching what felt like hours was only a few minutes in the drivers seat of his girlfriends car

Scoffing gojo opens the car door exiting and strutting over to the pair hiding his presence in the process

Looming over Y/n, he stares the guy down, he’s not taller then himself yet the difference is barely noticeable due to the muscle mass

“Big…” gojo thinks to himself, only for his vibrant blue orbs to be met with dark blue ones.

Still not sensing the the tall man behind her Y/n brings her hand to her best friends face waving infront of him

“Earth to toji, you there?”

Not wanting to rat out the man behind his best friend, for his own amusements, he shoos the man always while grabbing Y/n by her waist leading her else where, along the cobble stone path down to ice cream parlor that was serving couples, children’s and many more ice cream, matching the flavor to the color of their clothing

Toji orders for two halting Y/n whos abt to pay and pays the man while leading her to a near by bench, giving the looming platinum blonde haired man a nice view of what was about to happen next.

“You still could have let me pay for mines you know?”

“A lady should never pay when with a man, even if you are a brat”

“And your any better?”

“Yea more stable”

“..oka mr I beef with my own 6 y/o”

The two kept throwing soft insults to one another not sensing the dark presence by the ice cream parlor, scaring and shooing away anyone who comes near..

“Uh that will be $3 sir..”

scowling gojo pats himself searching for his wallet only to find it gone..

‘Pickpocketed? There’s. There’s no way, I the Satoru gojo would get..’

Wronggg and pickpocketed he did he looks around the ground visually retracing his steps till his vibrant eyes meet the black leather from the man from earliers hand.

Trying to cover up the embarrassment gojo chuckles awkwardly “do you accept card”

Chuckling himself the ice cream man goes under the makeshift desk and pulls out digital register

“Thanks..” gojo mumbles walking away to the car deciding it’s Oka to leave the girl with her frd, feeling some type of defeat even if he got his wallet took, his gf isn’t slow, or if anything he’ll replace he is gojo after all

(5:45pm)

*** toji bonding time

It’s gotten a lil darker with the sun being clouded and Y/N and toji have been looking at a few stores some of which they came out with bags or food.

“THIS THE ONE. THISSS THEEES ONEE”

Y/n says grabbing Tojis built shoulders shaking him back and forth looking star eyes at the Big. Ass. Stuffy. Sitting on display in the window

Y/n rushes into the store toji grunts from the bags he’s being forced to carry yelling at the girl to slow down.

“What do you mean there’s no more..”

“I’m sorry ma’am, we ran out earlier this afternoon around 6:00”

“Oh.. well alright thank you! Do you know when you’ll b restocked”

“I’m sorry ma’am, we’ve terminated the sponsor due to some unknown activities, if you’d like we can hook you up with the smaller versions!”

Y/n physically slumps in her spot thanking the lady before turning to leave and go meet toji who’s been struggling at the many bags on his body

“So?”

“There all out”

“Karma”

“For?”

“Making carry all these bags like a servant”

“You are one you monkey.”

Toji give her a disgusted look continuing to walk ahead to soon drop her off at her apartment

“Thank you toji, tell lil baby gumi I said hi” y/n says babying her voice

“Like he’ll understand I’ll see you next week”

“Oh and toji” y/n says before letting the man walk away “you might wanna find a way to pay the money you used back—“

“Check your bags it’s in there somewhere”

With a final breath Y/n closes the door to find her boyfriend slumped over the stuffy she wanted from earlier with a blue card in his hand.

“I’m sorry if I did anything to upset you, making you feel like you had to see someone else to feel complete, I love you a lot y/n and I don’t wanna loose you, I hope you accept this :) having one customly made so we can match”

Y/n frowns at the thought of gojo being jealous let alone insecure, kneeling down beside him and gently waking him up

“Baby..?”

“Hi papa, im sorry,, I didn’t want you to feel like that”

Gojo Js grunts a hummed no and pulls her down onto the carpeted floor with him and hugs her tightly

“I’m never letting you go.”

“Ofc you won’t.. I won’t either”

[rebornologist]

♡ Misc. Kokuyo Gang Headcanons ✧

Ken is averse to showers for multiple reasons, but one of them is because his body has adjusted to a very... sparse shower routine. Anything heavily scented irritates his nose, and many soaps will even give him rashes. He would rather die than to admit that he can only stand using unscented baby soap.

He sleeps better with something pressed against him, like a wall to his back, while hugging a pillow, or with his face in the crevice of the couch. It might stem from him growing up sleeping in crowded accommodations… he would love one of those human-sized dog beds.

୨୧ ⁺˳₊ ♡ ₊˳⁺ ୨୧

Chikusa built his own signature weapons, and his hands are rather dexterous. Just think about all the yo-yo tricks he is capable of. He doesn’t enjoy using computers at all, the digital screen and blue light actually hurts his eyes, but his typing speed would be impressive if he had to use a keyboard. He learned to touch type fairly quickly and has good hand-eye coordination.

He enjoys working with rubik’s cubes and has gotten really good at it. He has red-green colourblindness, and he really didn’t like asking people for the difference between “this shade and that shade” when it came to the cheap cubes with stickers and paint that would chip and peel off. One day, he will get himself a nice colorblind-friendly cube, but he hates splurging so he just copes for now.

୨୧ ⁺˳₊ ♡ ₊˳⁺ ୨୧

M.M. is quite extroverted and loves to pick people’s brains. She especially loves dressing up in her best outfits to go to jazz bars and gather all sorts of intel (and coins) from the patrons there. It has a mix of her favourite things: dancing, a classy atmosphere, rich people that she can chat up to charm their wallets open, and she occasionally actually plays her clarinet for people.

She doesn’t like the way that Fran speaks French and finds his regional accent atrocious. To that, he speaks French just to annoy her, even when she replies in Italian or Japanese as a way to say “that’s enough, please use literally any other language that we both know please.”

୨୧ ⁺˳₊ ♡ ₊˳⁺ ୨୧

Chrome has befriended the local stray cat colony and a murder of crows. They all leave little gifts on the doorstep for her, ranging from small coins to dead mice. She gets more than a little flustered at the latter but understands that it’s just in their nature.

She is not an adventurous eater and has her safe foods that she will turn to just to curb her hunger. She used to run purely on being in survival mode but has since learned to keep snacks in her bag just in case. The few things that she does make for herself, she has gotten really good at.

୨୧ ⁺˳₊ ♡ ₊˳⁺ ୨୧

Fran tends to zone out, and usually no one can tell because his face looks exactly the same as when he’s completely present and aware of the current moment. The only way you can tell is that sometimes, at the end of a mission debrief, his eyebrows raise slightly, and that’s him realizing that he absolutely wasn’t listening and has no idea what they’re doing now.

When it comes to social deduction games, he’s the best one out of the gang. Mukuro used to be the reigning champion of Kokuyo gang board game nights, until Fran came along.

୨୧ ⁺˳₊ ♡ ₊˳⁺ ୨୧

Mukuro enjoys browsing vintage and oddity stores and collecting unique jewelry. He has pieces that incorporate teeth, bones, furs, and hides of various animals.

He’s fairly adventurous in almost every aspect of the human experience and is open to trying any food at least once (granted it doesn't.. kill him, but he’d probably find a way to come back from it anyway), trying different crafts, and consuming different media. However, he’s learned that he doesn’t particularly enjoy most craft-related hobbies, and rarely has the free time to read or watch anything to the end unless it’s fairly short (but he would tear through a good book if given some leisure time).

୨୧ ⁺˳₊ ♡ ₊˳⁺ ୨୧

Chrome, Fran, and Mukuro all run cold. They’re the ones always turning the heat up in their shared spaces, while Ken, Chikusa, and M.M. complain about it being too hot and to mind the energy bill.

[gryficowa]

Someone from the Internet (Internet connections) wrote to me that I shouldn't get involved in politics, and then that I only talk about Palestine all the time and that I should find another hobby...

Sometimes you want to believe you know someone, but as this song said:

You just feel disappointed, because it's a different disappointment than when you find out that your favorite creator is a terrible person, and secondly, when this happens

Since 2020, many of my relationships (Even on the Internet, unfortunately ASD and social phobia take their toll, in short, I'm not good at relationships, I often feel more like a burden to someone, on the Internet you don't have such a burden as in real life) have ended in various ways. way, in short, I started to notice a lot of toxicity in these relationships (In short, I was always guilty of reacting badly to jokes and various words, and creating another group to laugh at me… Eh…), or a certain person (With whom I had the longest relationship, and we met on Facebook, mainly in a group with cartoons of a certain YouTuber, well, he was fucking up content from abroad, but, well, it's less important) she treated two people badly and I beat that person for what they did, blocking me…

Unfortunately, life isn't fair, but to come back to it, just another disappointment with someone I have any relationship with

I guess relationships with people are not meant for me, it's easier to get along with animals when people only disappoint you, and that's the worst

I know, it's a first world problem, it means nothing when we live in times when there is war, when genocide is happening before our eyes, but you just see how many terrible people have support, how many terrible people have any relationships, when you can't even in interpersonal contacts, it is not jealousy, but the realization that that you probably have nothing to count on, you have no friends, you don't have a job (second degree of disability and fucked up rules in your country), because of social phobia you can't take part in any strikes, even if you find something that interests you, the disadvantage is communication, because you can't play it, so what? that you overcame your fucking mutism a year ago, since you're not making as much progress as others?

I'm the type of person who gets involved too much, that people get fed up with it, and yet I feel like I'm not doing enough, and you just see that others can donate to fundraisers, and you don't even have a bank account because you don't earn money and nothing, so that it doesn't work out, and you can't give money from your wallet because you don't even know how to do it in a non-digital way, because despite being a zoomer, I don't understand things that are obvious to other zoomers

I have the impression that even in my old age I won't be independent enough, so what's the point of walking if it doesn't change much in my life anyway? Because I will still get a rejection about the lack of conditions, so I can't count on a job, and I don't even come from a rich family

I know, I can't stick to one topic...

[heropaws]

🚨EMERGENCY FUNDS 🚨

I really hate to do this, but unfortunately I don’t have many options. I’m in big need of help, my student loans are through the roof and I’m struggling to have enough to cover them this month. I’ve tried asking to get paid early, but it’s out of mine and my boss’s hands since payroll is handled by someone completely different.

My bills auto-pay on TUESDAY 11/8 and I’m short about 500USD. I don’t get paid til 11/14.

anything at all will help, even just a simple reblog! I’ll be drawing everyone who sends in something a drawing or doodle, etc! I also will link my Toyhouse below if there are any designs that catch your eyes please hmu and we can discuss a price!

Thank you all for reading!

780.21 / 1,155.68

[marveltrumpshate]

Want to participate in Marvel Trumps Hate, but don't know what to offer? Think outside the box!

Stumped on what to offer because you don't write fic or draw? Marvel Trumps Hate welcomes a huge variety of fanworks and fan labor (see our sign-up post) so there are different ways you can contribute. You'll be amazed by the breadth of skills, talents, knowledge, and types of creative expression found in fandom!

Here's a smorgasbord of offers that we've either had before or seen people discuss as possibilities for MTH 2023 or future years to help inspire you.

ART (VISUAL/ILLUSTRATIVE)

Single-page and multi-page comics

Paintings (oil, acrylic, gouache, watercolor)

Stained glass/suncatcher

Mixed-media artwork on canvas

Ink-on-bristol art

Embroidery on canvas

Pour paint/spin art

AUDIOVISUAL WORKS

Podfics

Videos (fic trailers, themed edits, vids set to songs)

BETA SERVICES

Editing

Cheer reading

Soundboarding/planning

Fact-checking

Culture-picking

Sensitivity reading

Knowledge about specific topics or experiences (e.g., identities, lifestyles, professions, interests, fields of study)

CRAFTS & MERCH

Candles

Lip balms

Soaps

Scented beanbag-style sachets

Candy/chocolate/baked goods

Pins, magnets, patches, charms, standees, key chains, ring holders, calendars, stickers, bookmarks

Sculptures

Ceramic mugs and other items

Apparel/wearable accessories (shirts, jackets, scarves, gloves/mittens, hats, face masks, regular masks, cowls)

Tote bags, itabags with custom window shapes, leather dice bags, wallets, pouches/pencil cases

Plushie animal or Tsum Tsum versions of Marvel characters

Dolls (crochet, needle felt, matte board, hand-sewn)

Embroidery hoops/wall art and cross stitch pieces

Jewelry (diamond painting, macrame, metal, crochet, wire, beads)

Woodwork/wood burning (cheese board, box/chest, USB stick, coasters, photo frame, alphabet blocks)

Glasswork

Custom Funko Pops

Paper cut light boxes

Pillow cases, quilted pillows, baby blankets, dishcloth/washcloths, potholders

Handmade leather journals

Linoleum stamps

Dog toys

Artbooks and paper doll books

Hand dyed yarn skeins

DIGITAL

Gifsets

Graphics/edits

Mood boards

Photo manips

Fic covers/posters/banners

Icons and headers

Webweaving

Tumblr layouts

FAN LABOR & TRANSLATION

Typesetting

Bookbinding

Names, tags, and summaries for fics

Audio/sound editing for podfics

Book cover design and printing

Art/comic/fic translation

Website/game coding

WRITING

Poetry

Meta posts

Social media AUs

Whether you can do something on this list or something else altogether (we're sure there are a lot of other things that you can do that we haven't thought about or seen before), we hope you'll consider signing up before the deadline: September 30, 11:59 PM ET.

[quinndae]

A Small Look Into 0xEmpress

Alright so I was a little bit bored so I did a dive into a figure I thought was... interesting, to say the least. If you know the name 0xEmpress, you probably already know what you’re in for, but for those that don’t:

CONTENT WARNING: A LOT OF TRANSPHOBIA/HOMOPHOBIA AND SLURS

OVERVIEW

Alright so recently Hogwarts Legacy was cracked by a pretty infamous figure in video game piracy, 0xEmpress (Empress for short).

Empress is a Russian games cracker (as in they crack video games, I'm not sure if there's a better operative for this, sorry) who accrued attention in the games piracy scene for their specialty; routinely bypassing Denuvo DRM. A feat which no one had been capable of doing until, or since, Empress.

A DRM (Short for Digital Rights Management) is something added to a piece of software to prevent or restrict unauthorized redistribution. This is usually in pieces of code which check digital certificates which, if not present, will prevent the software from operating.

DRM is known for being annoying, even to players who play games legitimately. To pirates, though, it is the major obstacle they need to overcome when cracking a game. And with how often DRMs are updated, this makes the challenge an active battle between the creator and the pirate.

Cracking is simply the act of making the game not limited by this DRM and putting it into a state which allows it to be pirated and distributed.

Empress is known amongst video game pirates specifically for her ability to bypass Denuvo.

Denuvo Anti-Tamper is a DRM developed by Denuvo Software Solutions and is notoriously the toughest DRM to bypass for most pirates. 

This is due to the methods Denuvo used, being “integrated into the games code” and “assigning a unique authentication token to each copy of the game” according to Empress. That, coupled with just how frequent Denuvo updated made any attempt at bypassing the DRM hopeless.

Very few had cracked Denuvo games, and none did so frequently. Until Empress.

Every game she cracks uses Denuvo. Her refusal to share her methods also means she practically owns the market when it comes to cracking those games.

Other than being free copies of otherwise expensive games, Empress’ cracks of Denuvo games have been reported to actually speed up the performance, as the DRM seems to be rather CPU intensive on games it is installed on. 

Her ability to crack impossible DRM quickly and efficiently has given Empress a reputation as a one-of-a-kind legend in video game piracy circles.

So Empress is, in short, incredibly good at cracking games. She's gotten past the worst of the worst when it comes to DRM and publishes her cracks online for the masses.

Except, like many of history's greats, Empress is fucking insane.

NFOS

Within a lot of pirated games are included specific types of files, .nfo files. NFO, short for info, is a type of text file created by a videogame cracker which contains information about the game and the specific pirated copy, such as language changing options.

Like many text-only formats, the users of NFO files have gotten creative, drawing elaborate ascii art within the files as a way to distinguish themselves. Empress is no different.

Empress' NFOs include her name in giant bold letters, held up by pillars which stretch the entire length of the file. Additionally, she includes boxes of text with a distinguishing calling card.

--EXPRESSES--

ALL HATE & INSULTS

--DEPRESSES--

ALL DENUVO SCUM

--IMPRESSES--

ALL PIRATES ACROSS THE SEA

This is followed by a mention of the game's title, the type of DRM the game had/has (For example, Denuvo v10, Steam, Epic, VMProtect), as well as the emulator a game may be using.

Below the info are Empress' donation links to various cryptocurrency wallets, such as BTC, ETH, and Monero. These donations are said to "fund further DRM research and cover living costs."

Donators of $500 or more are able to request any game they want a crack for, so long as it has Denuvo DRM.

Further are contact links, including e-mail (notably protonmail), qTox (a secure instant messaging service), as well as her subreddit link.

The penultimate section of the NFO are the ~Release Notes~ and ~Install Notes~, which detail methods for installing the game onto a machine, as well as what DLC or edition of the game is included.

The final section, however, is the reason her NFOs are special. Aptly titled ~Special Notes~, this section is for any personal messages Empress wishes to send out to readers.

~SPECIAL NOTES~

Empress uses this ~Special Notes~ section to communicate with her audience, wax philosophical, and generally ramble to a non-specific audience. Often, these are related to videogame drama and events.

This section of the NFO is where Empress will break formality, switching to her signature typing style. Her RANDOM capitalization of WORDS she uses for either EMPHASIS or just GENERAL SHOUTING, her fondness of profanity, the creativity in her insults, ending a large amount of her statements with (middle finger), "quotations, both for emphasis and to actually quote general statements."

This typing style truly makes the ~SPECIAL NOTES~ stand out, especially since a lot of her rambles are utter nonsense.

It is comprehensible, yes. It has a point it is trying to make, yes. It is not as if she is being silly for the sake of it. She is unhinged.

Many of the NFOs are, to put it lightly, mean. Within a good amount of her NFOs, she includes messages to the companies who created the games, as well as Denuvo.

For example, the following was included within the Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak crack.

"Message to capcom:

How dare you charge $430 for 98% worthless DLC

How dare you even charge to make edit to the

main character in the game?

FUCK YOU A THOUSAND TIMES YOU GREEDY FUCEKRS.

It didn't really help paying like little SLUTS

to denuvo to protect your DLCs, did it?...

It also didn't help that you made retarded DRM

of your own on top either, did it?...

Next time, please don't waste more of your

money and don't shame yourselves - focus on the

actual game instead, FAGGOTS.

Message to denuvo:

With this release, I have just proven that I 

CAN and I WILL destroy your pathetic protection 

no matter what you do. And now you can kindly 

go fuck yourselves because your "Anti-Tamper" 

has been TAMPERED with by me once again, and 

is completely destroyed, LOSERS (middle finger)."

You may have noticed how she ended the statement to CAPCOM. Empress seems to hold many of the same opinions as the far-right gamergate crowd (i.e TheQuartering, Rags, etc.), bashing newer games with representation as "gay garbage".

"Games like: 'Gays Gone, Spidershit, Gay of War" get very high scores. Every fucking gay garbage comes out and you all love it..."

Except, seemingly, female representation. In her Dying Light 2 NFO, she states:

"STOP COMPARING 'SR' to 'GTA' you 

DUMB PIECES OF SHIT. And I am 

already aware of the "pre-hate" on 

GTA 6, just cause people learnt it 

will feature a 'female' character. 

What the HELL is WRONG with that, 

you sexist motherfuckers?"

Additionally, within the NFO for Dying Light 2, she praises the Saints Row reboot, stating it "is the BEST saints row game made." Saints Row, of course, being a series known for featuring gay relationships.

Despite this, Empress claims to be "bi-sexual and fully lesbian." The following statement was also included in her NFO for Maneater:

"3-Yes, I think any game without a female protagonist to be either gay or garbage. And YES,

I fucking hate most female characters in games whom are skinny and skeleton figure.

Big 'FUCK YOU' to every developer who thinks a skinny female is beautiful."

From these details, it can be inferred that Empress is a person with complicated and downright bizarre political views.

Though, this does not compare to her stance on trans people. A stance which has garnered her a bit of attention as of late.

FITGIRL

Fitgirl is a Russian-born repacker, responsible for repacking and distributing a large number of pirated games.

Repacking is the act of taking a game's files and compressing them down into something smaller, while still playing as normal. Repacking can be done to legitimate versions of games, however within the pirating community repacking is an essential practice as it reduces file sizes of cracked games for easy internet transfer.

So while repackers are distributors and do work with cracked games, they are not the ones to crack the game. This is a common misconception, many people believing Fitgirl is the one to crack the games. This results in a lot of people thinking Fitgirl is behind the cracks, thanking her specifically for the game.

Empress does not enjoy this fact. At one point during 2021, Empress got into a feud with Fitgirl. She intentionally limited the download rate of her crack to 200kb/s in an attempt to stop Fitgirl and other repackers from accessing it.

This was under the belief that repackers "steal the spotlight" from her work. After this, Fitgirl made a statement saying she would not be repacking any more Empress cracks.

The drama did not end here.

In 2023, the developer build of Atomic Heart was leaked, a developer build which used Denuvo as its DRM. As such, Fitgirl made a statement that, since Empress is the only person who knows how to crack Denuvo, she would not be repacking the build.

In a post on the r/piratedgames subreddit, a user posted a screenshot of Fitgirl's statement and asked why "Fitgirl is butthurt." A comment on this post, notably with more upvotes than the original post, stated:

R-Slur warning:

"FG (Fitgirl) is not ,butthurt'

Empress was the one who got butthurt and went full retard."

Empress, in a move which probably didn't help to clear the "butthurt" label, responded to this comment in a 436 word reddit post on her subreddit r/EMPRESSEVOLUTION. The full post is quite long but contains quite a few accusations against Fitgirl, as well as the typical flavorings of Empress ranting. Notably, Empress does not capitalize the start of her sentences like in her NFOs.

To summarize, Empress claims:

Fitgirl was pretending to have actually cracked the games that Empress herself had done as a way to boost her image.

That Fitgirl is actually a man, along with some transphobic language around that (Sissy and faggot, specifically). (This claim is difficult to prove as no proof was given. Fitgirl uses a picture of a french actress to represent herself online. As I cannot validate the claim, I will stick to she/her pronouns for fitgirl.)

Fitgirl was locking any post about Empress. (I am assuming she meant reddit posts on r/piratedgames, but Fitgirl does not seem to be a moderator so it's unclear if that is what she meant)

Fitgirl was begging for money, including a screenshot of Fitgirl's donation page. (A notably hypocritical statement)

The second point is particularly important because it leads into-

RECENT EVENTS

Her latest crack, Hogwarts Legacy, is a divisive game. To say even that much would be an understatement. It also includes Denuvo DRM, which made Empress the only one with a method of cracking it. Coupled with the fact that it is a popular triple-A release, there was no doubt it would be Empress' next target.

Less than two weeks after the game's official release, Empress announced the game had been cracked. The crack, which was quickly distributed across the internet, contained another one of Empress' rants in its NFO.

This ~SPECIAL MESSAGE~, which is 549 words long, details Empress' support of JK Rowling and virulent hatred of trans/WOKE people, though is surprisingly more legible than most of her other rants. This is not to say that the words she said had any actual weight to them.

The rant contains all the workings of an Empress NFO. Unhinged, half-baked philosophy wrapped with a bow of profanity. The only thing lacking compared to most of her other NFOs is a particular anti-corporate sentiment. Empress even tried her hand at poetry towards the end. It isn't good.

Not long before the Hogwarts Legacy crack was released, Empress made a certain post to Reddit, seemingly trying to “call out” trans people as well as a generalized leftist sentiment. The whole thing is full of logical fallacies and blatant bigotry. Unsurprisingly for Reddit, this had consequences. If you have paused reading this at any point to look up r/EmpressEvolution, you may have noticed a little notice.

"r/EmpressEvolution has been banned from Reddit.

This community was banned for repeatedly violating Reddit's Moderator Code of Conduct."

Her reddit account, unsurprisingly, got the same treatment.

In what I assume was a revised version of the NFO for the latest update of Hogwarts Legacy (And thus the latest crack of the game), she added:

"To reddit admins: hey, keep collecting TRASH and

don't be ashamed whenever you drop yours pants in

a BACKLASH.

To reddit slaves: suck it harder bitches, you are

not doing good ENOUGH. Keep on it and do try to

forget the CUFF."

DENOUEMENT

Honestly, I can't think of a great way to conclude this. It's like stopping a story half-way through, since Empress seems to be going strong, as well as how much I glossed over in just trying to get this much out.

There were a lot of details I could have gone into, such as,

Empress' Dark Souls 2 fever dream which got her into cracking games.

Empress' self-proclaimed cult.

Her weird obsession with calling DRM a "Cancer" (which might relate back to her Dark Souls 2 fever dream)

Whoever the fuck Mr_Goldberg is.

The true extent of Empress' weird philosophy. I glazed over it a lot but she's really into pretending to be a philosopher.

Her hatred for Stray. Like she really fucking hates that game.

Her "cult" having a $10k entry fee (I think it's a bit weird in how she words it)

People think she's actually a guy a lot and that infuriates her.

Empress got arrested at some point??? and she blamed Fitgirl??? This one is pretty hard to verify for a number of reasons.

The Sergiu situation

She might possibly include viruses and mining code in her cracks? Difficult to verify as I only saw it from a single source.

Is Empress real? Is this a persona she puts on to attract a cult of personality so people notice her more? Or is this truly how she is, a one-of-a-kind video game piracy expert with incredibly strange worldviews? Either way, she's become an icon, not just because of her skill, but also due to her controversy and unordinary but enrapturing personality.

I would like to say that, while I did write all 2655 words of this document, I do not in any way support Empress. I mean don't get me wrong, piracy is ballin'. But Empress as a person is just... gross. Her views and ideologies would make even some alt-right pundits look meek. However, I think you can admire a person for being strange and bizarre, as well as captivating, while also acknowledging their many, many flaws.

Links (CONTENT WARNING: SLURS, TRANSPHOBIA, HOMOPHOBIA):

A github of all of Empress' NFOs.

https://model-map.github.io/EmpressNfo/

A timeline on the CrackWatch subreddit of Empress. I actually didn't find this until I finished writing this (and tbh cannot be bothered to verify most of the stuff I've said through it) but if you want to do more reading, here it is.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CrackWatch/comments/lqibnh/empress_there_and_back_again/

Fitgirl's statement about Empress.

https://fitgirl-repacks.site/my-statement-about-empress/

The post/comment of Empress and Fitgirl being called butthurt.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PiratedGames/comments/1171usf/comment/j99oueq/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Empress' response to being called butthurt.

https://www.unddit.com/r/EmpressEvolution/comments/117e8tz/important_message_to_rpiratedgames_moderators/

The post allegedly by Empress claiming to have been arrested. Again, this is pretty unverifiable.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CrackWatch/comments/lqs91b/finally_caught_by_the_police_goodjob_everyone/

List of a bunch of recently archived Empress activity. https://justpaste.it/8c1w0

Same thing as above. https://pastebin.com/uhF3JiWu

The reddit post she made that got her banned off the site.

https://www.unddit.com/r/EmpressEvolution/comments/117ywff/the_top_tier_contradiction_hypocrisy_of_the_human/ https://archive.vn/856Do

Wiki page for Denuvo, featuring a little mention of our problematic fave.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denuvo

Wired article about Empress.

https://www.wired.com/story/empress-drm-cracking-denuvo-video-game-piracy/

[eg4mccc]

Let's Help Some Huskies!

Hello!

This post is about something near and dear to my heart, saving dogs. Most of us like or have pets, right?

I decided I wanted to give you the opportunity to help a woman in Oklahoma who is making a huge difference to the Husky population.

Husky Halfway House is a 5-star rated 501c3 charitable organization. They have over 120 Huskies they've saved from kill shelters and other bad situations. They're currently recovering from a nasty round of K9 flu/strep zoo that quickly ended the lives of 4 of their dogs, including the family's pet Husky. Two of the dogs died on the way to their vet, 2 hours away.

To keep this sort of tragedy from happening again, they have closed their doors to intakes for the time being, and are shifting their focus toward adding an on-site vet clinic to their property. They need both supplies and money, to make things happen. Supplies for the dogs they currently have, and money for both their current vet bills reaching upwards of $10,000, and an estimated $200,000 to install the clinic. They need to get this done, so they can get back to pulling at-risk dogs out of shelters, puppy mills, and so on.

In their first day of asking for help, donations reached over $5000 on Facebook, and more through their Paypal and Venmo links. The only number I can see is the FB amount. I don't work for H3, but it's broken my heart, seeing how hard this week has been on the people giving their all for these dogs.

Please visit their Facebook page and website, you'll see they are the real deal. Truly worth supporting!!

Amazon wish list:

If you would like to donate toward supplies/ vet bills:

PayPal

Venmo

If you're able to help this cause, please do... if you aren't, please just move on with your day without trying to negatively affect mine. Thank you.

[skippyv20]

It is NOT "ART" Mr. West

Hi Skippy & Friends-Pilgrim here just disgusted with what Con-ye West gets away with and has for many years. I looked up the USA’s laws and it seems to me he is breaking them with every filthy photo he posts. I also ask why the newspapers are allowed to show this smut as well? Where are the editors and publishers keeping things on an even keel? How many big, female bottoms do we have to see with our morning coffee?

Freedom of Speech does come with rules and regulations and adult material aka obscenity and those who sell it are under scrutiny. The covers of adult magazines are covered, kept behind the counters and not sold to minors…so how is this same type of imagery allowed on the front pages of newspapers? The unnecessary garbage thrown in our faces every day, all day, is pitiful and I think breaks the law-certainly it is immoral. As for our society, it seems we are in a race to the bottom-if we allow it! All of our countries should start demanding standards or let we let our wallets to the talking. I am not a legal Beagle, but this list seems to have a few for consideration. From the Criminal Division U.S. Department of Justice website:Citizen’s Guide To U.S. Federal Law On ObscenityShareright caret18 U.S.C. § 1460- Possession with intent to sell, and sale, of obscene matter on Federal property18 U.S.C. § 1461- Mailing obscene or crime-inciting matter18 U.S.C. § 1462- Importation or transportation of obscene matters18 U.S.C. § 1463- Mailing indecent matter on wrappers or envelopes18 U.S.C. § 1464- Broadcasting obscene language18 U.S.C. § 1465- Transportation of obscene matters for sale or distribution18 U.S.C. § 1466- Engaging in the business of selling or transferring obscene matter18 U.S.C. § 1466A- Obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children18 U.S.C. § 1467- Criminal forfeiture18 U.S.C. § 1468- Distributing obscene material by cable or subscription television18 U.S.C. § 1469- Presumptions18 U.S.C. § 1470- Transfer of obscene material to minors18 U.S.C. § 2252B Misleading domain names on the Internet18 U.S.C. § 2252C Misleading words or digital images on the InternetI have pulled out these 2 sections for consideration…there are many more. *****There are also laws to protect children from obscene or harmful material on the Internet. For one, federal law prohibits the use of misleading domain names, words, or digital images on the Internet with intent to deceive a minor into viewing harmful or obscene material (See 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252B, 2252C). It is illegal for an individual to knowingly use interactive computer services to display obscenity in a manner that makes it available to a minor less than 18 years of age (See 47 U.S.C. § 223(d) –Communications Decency Act of 1996, as amended by the PROTECT Act of 2003). It is also illegal to knowingly make a commercial communication via the Internet that includes obscenity and is available to any minor less than 17 years of age (See 47 U.S.C. § 231 –Child Online Protection Act of 1998).

***** The standard of what is harmful to minors may differ from the standard applied to adults. Harmful materials for minors include any communication consisting of nudity, sex or excretion that (i) appeals to the prurient interest of minors, (ii) is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable material for minors, (iii) and lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.

Over and out for now…from a lovely day on Cape Cod.

Thank you!  Great research!  Much appreciated!❤️

[bachmannpovlsen41]

Asic Monitoring Software Program Asic Hub

In this listing of some of the prime ASIC miners at present, we now have discussed 19 ASIC miners that can be utilized for ASIC crypto mining. We do hope this submit provides you some perception concerning one of the best ASIC miners right now. One of the primary advantages of the Jasminer X4-1U is its excessive efficiency, allowing it to mine Bitcoin at a lower value than different ASIC miners. There are a lot of digital property out there, so it could be exhausting to decide which one you want to mine. As you probably can see from our guide, there isn't any one “best” cryptocurrency to mine. Some are higher, some are worse when it comes to mining or profitability. Fortunately, when you have access to an inexpensive supply of electricity, you'll easily make profit with the Canaan AvalonMiner 1246. With the median value of power within the USA, at $0.12/kWh, AvalonMiner 1246 would allow you to repay your initial investment in simply two years. The S19 Pro is set up in the identical means because the S19, which signifies that it's extremely straightforward to configure and keep. Antminer's MinerLink GUI is exceptionally easy, and all you'll need to do to configure the ASIC is to kind in your mining pool credentials. This permits miners to have extra probabilities of discovering the correct hash for a block they've prepared. Find more information are not miners however mining operating systems and administration softwares which have built-in help for various miners just like the one listed above. While mining software program is what controllers your GPU; these specialised mining OS allows you to mine, monitor and management rigs remotely via an online GUI. ASICs provide important efficiency enhance in comparability with graphic playing cards. For example the upcoming Ethash ASIC miner from Bitmain Ant Miner E9 Ethereum Miner is claimed to offer three GH/s mining hashrate with simply 2556 watts of energy. Cryptopedia doesn't assure the reliability of the Site content material and shall not be held responsible for any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies. The opinions and views expressed in any Cryptopedia article are solely those of the author(s) and do not replicate the opinions of Gemini or its administration. A qualified skilled should be consulted prior to creating monetary decisions. Expressed in hashes per second, it denotes how many calculations a miner can execute each second. If you may be an individual looking to mine in exchange for money from the comfort of your own house, you will want to buy an ASIC miner. Soon after Canaan Creative, firms such as Bitman, Bitwats, and MicroBT started manufacturing ASIC miners. You’re seeing this ad primarily based on the product’s relevance to your search question. Make certain to rely on well-known sellers with a higher number of feedback ratings and an total optimistic rating. EBay normally provides some type of buyer protection (always check the conditions), making it a great platform to find second-hand miners. It is recommended that you simply reinstall the ASIC miner’s firmware earlier than using a second-hand ASIC miner.

ASIC Jungle does not operate a market or have listings available on their website. To inquire about sales, patrons and sellers should fill out a form on ASIC Jungle’s web site to state their needs and then ASIC Jungle calls them to work on a particular order. Kaboomracks is certainly one of the older brokers within the North America Bitcoin miner market. US Bitcoin mining firm Blockware offers an array of Bitcoin mining providers, including hosting and ASIC miner brokerage. The first time you run EasyMiner, it enters 'MoneyMaker' mode which allows you to mechanically create a paper Litecoin wallet and begin mining right away with a non-public pool. While convenient, it's not more probably to generate excessive income at the current difficulty rate. Still, as evidenced by the E9 and different crypto ASICs, manufacturers have discovered ways around these limitations. With such vitality bills, the device’s every day operational price is projected at simply $7.80, whereas its daily earnings reach $37.23.

[merchantaccounts1]

Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) for Online Transactions

‍‍In the past decade, the world of online payments has witnessed a significant transformation. With the rise of e-commerce and the increasing preference for mobile shopping, customers now have more choices than ever when it comes to payment methods. This shift has led to the emergence of alternative payment methods (APMs) that offer customers greater convenience and flexibility. In this article, we will explore the different types of APMs, their popularity across the globe, the benefits of accepting these methods for businesses, and how to choose the best APMs for your business.

Understanding Alternative Payment Methods

Alternative payment methods refer to any form of payment that does not involve cash or traditional credit card systems like Visa, Mastercard, or American Express. These methods include domestic cards, digital wallets, bank transfers, prepaid cards, and more. Unlike traditional payment methods, APMs offer unique advantages such as enhanced security, faster processing times, and ease of use. They have become particularly popular for online transactions, with many countries seeing a significant shift towards APM usage.

Types of Alternative Payment Methods

Prepaid cards: Prepaid cards are loaded with funds by consumers and can be used for purchases until the balance is depleted. They are not directly linked to a bank account and are a popular choice for individuals who want to control their spending.

Cash-based payments: Cash-based payment methods allow customers to generate a barcode or unique reference number for their payment and then complete the transaction by paying in cash at a participating retail location. This method is particularly popular in regions with a large unbanked population.

Real-time bank transfers: Real-time bank transfers enable customers to make online payments directly from their bank accounts. This method offers instant settlement and minimal friction for customers, making it a convenient choice for many.

Direct Debit: Direct debit allows merchants to pull funds directly from customers' bank accounts for recurring payments. This method is commonly used for subscription-based services and offers a seamless and automated payment experience.

Domestic card schemes: Domestic card schemes operate similarly to global card schemes but are limited to specific markets. These schemes cater to the unique needs of consumers in their respective markets and often provide lower processing costs for merchants.

Electronic wallets (e-wallets): E-wallets allow customers to store funds digitally and use them for various transactions, both online and offline. They offer convenience, security, and often provide additional features like peer-to-peer transfers and cross-border payments.

Mobile wallets: Mobile wallets are digital wallets that are specifically designed to be used on mobile devices. Customers can load funds into their mobile wallets through various methods and make payments conveniently through their smartphones.

Digital wallets: Digital wallets are used to store payment card information securely and generate tokenized card numbers for each transaction. They offer a convenient and secure way to shop online without the need to enter card details repeatedly.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL): BNPL services allow customers to defer payments or split the cost of a purchase into installments. This method is gaining popularity for its flexibility and convenience, particularly for high-value purchases.

Cryptocurrencies and stablecoins: Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have gained attention in recent years, offering an alternative form of payment. Stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies linked to fiat currencies or government bonds, aim to reduce volatility and make transactions easier.

Popular APMs Worldwide

The popularity of APMs varies across different regions and countries. Here are some notable trends:

North America

In North America, digital wallets have become the most popular payment method, surpassing credit and debit cards. Apple Pay and Google Pay are widely used, while services like PayPal and Venmo are gaining traction among the younger generation. APMs account for a significant portion of e-commerce transactions in the region.

South America

APMs are gaining ground in South America, with a projected increase in their usage for digital commerce transactions. Credit cards still dominate, but alternative online payment solutions, such as e-cash methods, are becoming more widespread. Cash on delivery is also popular, especially in countries with a large unbanked population.

Europe

In Europe, digital wallets have surpassed credit and debit cards as the preferred online payment method. Domestic debit cards, like Bancontact in Belgium and Cartes Bancaires in France, are popular alongside global card schemes. Bank transfer methods, such as iDEAL in the Netherlands and Przelewy24 in Poland, are also preferred by a significant number of consumers.

Africa

In Africa, mobile wallets have gained popularity due to the lack of bank branch infrastructure and a large rural population. Cash on delivery remains the preferred method, especially in Nigeria and South Africa. Digital wallets are also seeing growth, particularly in Kenya and Nigeria.

Middle East

Cash has traditionally been the dominant payment method in the Middle East. However, the region is experiencing a shift towards mobile wallets due to increased smartphone penetration and concerns over the transmission of cash during the pandemic. Mobile wallet adoption is supported by the expansion of international brands and government-backed payment networks.

Asia Pacific

China has its own domestic card scheme, UnionPay, which accounts for a significant portion of global card spending. Mobile payments, particularly through Alipay and WeChat Pay, are widely used in China. Other countries in the region, such as Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand, have their own popular alternative payment methods, including GrabPay and OVO Wallet.

The Benefits of Accepting APMs for Businesses

Not accepting customers' preferred payment methods can have a negative impact on conversion rates and lead to shopping cart abandonment. Research shows that a significant percentage of consumers are deterred from completing a purchase if their preferred payment method is not available. By accepting a variety of APMs, businesses can improve customer satisfaction, increase conversion rates, and stay ahead of their competitors.

APMs offer several benefits for businesses:

Increased conversion rates: By offering a wide range of payment methods, businesses can cater to the preferences of different customer segments, leading to higher conversion rates and reduced shopping cart abandonment.

Improved customer experience: APMs provide convenience and flexibility for customers, allowing them to choose the payment method that suits their needs and preferences. This enhances the overall customer experience and fosters loyalty.

Expanded customer base: Accepting popular local and global APMs enables businesses to reach a wider customer base, including those who prefer alternative payment methods over traditional options.

Reduced fraud and chargebacks: Many APMs incorporate advanced security features, such as biometric authentication and tokenization, which help reduce the risk of fraud and chargebacks for businesses.

Access to valuable insights: APM providers often offer detailed transaction data and analytics, providing businesses with valuable insights into consumer behavior and preferences. This data can be leveraged to optimize marketing strategies and improve customer targeting.

Choosing the Best APMs for Your Business

Selecting the right APMs for your business requires a thorough understanding of your target market, customer preferences, and business requirements. Here are some steps to guide you in choosing the best APMs:

Research customer preferences: Conduct market research to identify the most popular payment methods among your target audience. Consider factors such as geography, demographics, and shopping habits to determine the most relevant APMs for your business.

Evaluate business needs: Assess your business requirements, including cost per transaction, setup and management complexity, regulatory compliance, and compatibility with your existing payment infrastructure. Choose APMs that align with your business goals and objectives.

Partner with the right providers: Work with payment service providers that offer comprehensive coverage of the APMs you wish to integrate. Ensure they have the necessary capabilities to support your business's growth and adapt to evolving customer preferences.

Test and optimize: Implement APMs in a phased approach and continuously monitor their performance. Analyze transaction data and customer feedback to identify any pain points or areas for improvement. Regularly optimize your APM strategy to maximize conversions and customer satisfaction.

By embracing the growing trend of APMs and selecting the right mix of payment methods for your business, you can enhance the payment experience for your customers and drive growth in your online sales.

Conclusion

Alternative payment methods have revolutionized the world of online transactions, offering customers greater convenience and flexibility. From digital wallets and mobile payments to real-time bank transfers and buy now, pay later services, APMs cater to a wide range of customer preferences. Businesses that embrace APMs can benefit from increased conversion rates, improved customer experience, and access to valuable insights. By understanding customer preferences, evaluating business needs, and partnering with the right providers, businesses can choose the best APMs to drive growth and success in the digital marketplace. Stay ahead of the competition by embracing the changing landscape of online payments and offering customers the payment methods they prefer.

[tech-news-hub]

Storing And Securing Your Bitcoins: The Role of Wallets

Bitcoin wallets, also known as cryptocurrency wallets, are digital wallets that store your private and public keys, which are used to access your Bitcoins. As a decentralized digital currency, Bitcoin operates on a peer-to-peer network and transactions are made directly between users. A Bitcoin wallet is an essential tool for buying, selling, and storing Bitcoins. In this article, we will explore the basics of Bitcoin wallets and the different types available.

Read More...

[fblauer01]

How NFT’s and AI tools complement Web3 Social Media

Introduction

NFT’s and AI complement web3 social media. For example NFT’s can be used for access to exclusive content, voting rights, raising money to fund projects, the ability to create and own digital art, and trade with other users for collectibles, ticketing etc. When you combine this with social media and AI, it is even more powerful. With AI tools for creating images and blogging for example, almost anyone can be more productive and creative. So far the AI is mostly being used for text content and images, but will soon we will be able to use it for videos, sound and music as well. People are experimenting with new types of creative expression, and value based social interactions which were not possible before. I will give you some examples of “nextgen” social platforms that I have been using and evaluating.

Platforms

Deso/Diamond app, NFTz etc.

Here is a high level summary of the Deso platform. Onboarding is pretty easy, and you don’t require a special invitation. You will need a tiny bit of Deso for gas, but it will go a long way. You can buy a few dollars worth with fiat currency, and that will be more than enough to get going. You can always earn more. Deso is the least expensive platform that I have seen. Compute and storage is very cheap (see summary above). There are lots of different dapps and new ones appearing all the time. They all integrate and share the same social feeds, identity and social graph (followers etc). So for example you can have a discussion about a particular NFT on NFTz, where you can mint, display and sell NFT’s. The NFT can also have a social feed with likes, microtips and comments. The social feed will show up in other Deso dapps. You don’t have to login again to other Deso dapps since they share the identity.

There are also ways of monetizing popularity or influence with creator coins. So, you can invest in creators who you think have a lot of potential, or buy your own coins to push up the price. This social platform is more mature than most of the other ones, and most of the important elements are in place like NFTz market that also does streaming music NFT’s, streaming music and video apps, online video (like a decentralized zoom), blogging platforms, group conversations etc.

The deso blockchain has a lot of features planned, and is moving to “proof of stake” consensus in the new year. According to the stats, Deso has the most adoption for Web3 social media which makes sense since they are the oldest and they don’t limit users with required invitations.

Polygon/Lens, Opensea etc.

Most people are familiar with the polygon sidechain, if you have used Defi for example. It uses the Ethereum EVM, and Matic tokens for gas. This is the platform on which Aave has chosen to build Lens. You will need an invitation, and the Metamask wallet to onboard. Your identity will be minted as an NFT. The UI is pretty nice and reminds me of tumblr. The various dapps are compose-able with one another and share social feeds, identity and social graph. There is a rudimentary NFT platform called Lensport, but you will have to use Opensea to mint your NFT’s. You can also monetize posts by selling the content as NFT’s. There is an interesting dapp on the Gallerydao which makes it easy to create NFT’s with some Dall-E AI themes and then allows you to mint them directly. There is a good aggregator of music NFT’s called Ooh La La, which will also work with many other EVM platforms. There is also a youtube like video platform, and various other dapps for mobile and desktop. They all share common feeds. Lens has some good integration partners on polygon, and I have heard some talk of them moving to the new polygon ZKEVM platform for further scalability.

Solana/Solcial, Magic Eden etc

Solcial came out recently, and is already gaining a good following. The UI is very nice, and it is pretty easy to use, especially if you are familiar with Solana. The chain is fast, inexpensive and there is a lot of development going on. The social feeds are pretty straight forward. You can chose who to follow, you can vote posts up and down, it shows you popular posts etc. You also get to monetize contributions with a creator coin, and tier 2 access level . Each user can create and sell premium content, which can be blog posts or free NFT’s for example. The profile section will allow you to mint NFT’s directly to the blockchain, and they will show up on Magic Eden NFT market. But you have to get permission from Magic Eden to list them for sale. There are many improvements planned for the new year. There aren’t many integrated dapps yet, but I expect them to partner up with other solana dapps and developers, like NFT markets, gaming etc.

Near/Near.social, Paras etc.

The Near chain is pretty fast and inexpensive. It also has a sister EVM chain called Aurora. There are 2 social dapps on native Near. One is called Myriad and the other is near.social. Near users will find them both pretty easy to use. The second one is newer, and I have been spending more time with that one. You can mint NFT’s on Paras, and they will show up on the Near blockchain and near.social. The social feed is similar to the one on solcial, but not as extensive yet. There isn’t a lot of content yet, but I expect it come as more people find out about it.

Web2/Twitter/Mask

Twitter has been losing a lot of users since Musk took over, but I won’t get into the politics of censorship and the like. Suffice it to say that they still have a lot of users, and its a pretty good platform despite all the complaints. They may be able to resolve the current problems and turn it around. In the mean time Mask.io has various “nextgen” features like Web3 wallet support, NFT support, encrypted direct messages, Mask profile/ID, fundraising, token swapping, decentralized file storage, fiat on-ramp, decentralized governance etc.

Web2/Post.news

A very easy to use and well designed twitter replacement, but it does have a waitlist and requires an invitation. It does have tipping for content. But it is centralized, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of info available about how it works on the back-end, governance, and plans for the future, like web3 support etc. So, it works well for people fleeing twitter, but I don’t know enough about the long term.

Web2/Meta/Instagram

Facebook (Meta) and Instagram have the same owners. They have started introducing NFT’s on Instagram in some regions and are slowly rolling it out. Facebook has been working on its metaverse platform, and I assume that it will incorporate blockchain and NFT’s in some way. In the mean time, they still have a lot of users, but many of them are looking at moving away from centralized control, lack of privacy etc. I won’t get into the controversial topics here.

Tools

app.yup.io - combines feeds form various sources (Farcaster, Lens, Mirror blogs)

Conclusion

NFT’s are a new way of monetizing culture. Here is an example of my Rockstarz collection on Opensea. Here is a similar collection of mine on NFTz. It contains a series of images of famous musicians which I created with an AI tool called Stable Diffusion: https://opensea.io/account?tab=created My intention was not to make money per se, but to see what could be done with some of the new AI tools, NFT markets and social media. The various new technologies are converging and will be more powerful than the sum of the parts when they seamlessly work together. We are already starting to see 3D virtual art galleries which add another new dimension.

But for now, the various platforms are only compo-sable within the same blockchain, so those barriers need to be broken down. We are going to have to see co-operation between the different Web3 platforms for truly mainstream adoption. It will also have to get less complicated to use. For example you shouldn’t have to know or worry about what an EVM (Ethereum Virtual machine) compatible chain is. This should be abstracted for the user and be simple and straight forward to onboard and use. As an analogy, when you switch from one automobile brand to another, you don’t have to know what kind of engine it is. Most people just to get into the car and drive. When it breaks down, they take it to a mechanic (technical support). Most of the tech support for now is done by the community discord forums, which is still web2 based.

There are probably too many social media alternatives right now. Between Web2 and Web3, they can’t all survive. They will be too fragmented unless they can all connect to each other. That won’t happen in the web2 world since there are proprietary interests involved. Web3 has a different business model which is community based. For now, each platform offers its own set of features, strengths, and weaknesses. Users will have to evaluate their needs and preferences and decide which platform is best for them in the short to medium term. Its hard to know now how things will play out in the long run.

In the mean time, the space is evolving very fast, and I am already getting some good value from using the dapps. I am gaining experience with AI tools and applying them to practical social situations like creating images and blogging. The content will only improve as more users join in, and the features will also improve as we attract more quality developers, and when we see more dapps that can span multiple chains, and work together.

Personally I prefer organic growth rather than hype and promotion but that is what attracts the users and the funding. From my testing and kicking the tires, I have no doubt that Web3 will be a quantum leap forward from what we have now in Web2. Its already happening. Start off with post.news , and then get your feet wet with Deso. Go down the rabbit hole. You won’t look back.

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." ~ Alvin Toffler

Short Summary

NFT's are a new way to monetize culture. Platforms like Twitter and Facebook have slowly been introducing NFT's, but many users are searching for alternatives in decentralized and censorship-resistant networks. Web3 alternatives like Deso and Post.news offer NFT's and other features, but the space is fragmented and still in development. To truly maximize the potential of NFT's and Web3, platforms will have to cooperate, and work together. and support information flow.

[fultocks]

Cryptocurrency: What is it and How Does it Work?

Cryptocurrency is a virtual or digital currency that utilizes cryptography for the security and validation of its trades. This form of money does not rely on a central bank, thus, is a decentralized medium of exchange. The entire history of cryptocurrency transactions is publically kept on a blockchain ledger and is maintained by numerous computers across the world.

This digital asset has a range of remarkable traits, such as heightened security, quick transfers, and a limited quantity, that make it a desirable option for investments. In addition to this, the decentralized and virtual aspect of cryptocurrency could transform global banking and payments. In this blog, we will delve into the definition of cryptocurrency, it’s functioning, its advantages, prospects of the future, and a conclusion.

What is Cryptocurrency?

How Does it Work?

Transactions are conducted on a decentralized network of computers and verified with a public ledger known as a blockchain. This peer-to-peer system bypasses the need for any centralized authority or intermediary. Subsequently, cryptocurrency users can transfer and acquire currency directly from their digital wallets. cryptocurrency directly to each other via digital wallets.

The blockchain is a publicly accessible register of every single transaction to ever be conducted over the network. All exchanges are validated by multiple computing nodes on the network and once ratified, the transaction is incorporated into the blockchain, guaranteeing the safety, clarity, and inalterability of every single network transaction.

Features of Cryptocurrency

Decentralization: Cryptocurrency is decentralized, This means clearly that the government does not regulate it.

Security: Cryptography ensures the integrity of cryptocurrency transactions, making them nearly invulnerable to unauthorized intrusion or duplication.

Transparency: All transactions on the blockchain are transparent and publicly accessible.

Anonymity: The privacy of cryptocurrency transactions allows users to carry out transactions without needing to disclose their personal information. Anonymity is thus provided by these virtual currencies.

Global Reach: Cryptocurrency facilitates the facilitation of international payments without the burden of having to exchange different types of currency. This increases its reach to a global level.

Potential for the Future

Cryptocurrency is poised to disrupt the financial sector, with its promise of heightened security, transparency, and expedited financial transactions. As technology progresses and cryptocurrency acceptance rises, it is increasingly likely to be recognized as a bona fide payment option.

Predictions by experts state that cryptocurrency may eventually be favored over traditional money as a method of payment. This would potentially cause a considerable alteration in how monetary transactions are done and the role that cryptocurrency would play in the world’s economic system.

It currently has more than 4000 cryptocurrencies in operation, with a total market capitalization of over $2 trillion. Some of the most popular cryptocurrencies include bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.

Conclusion:

To summarize, cryptocurrency is a decentralized digital or virtual currency that uses advanced blockchain technology for protection. Its various benefits such as decentralization, security, transparency, anonymity, and worldwide availability make it particularly attractive.

The application of cryptocurrency to the financial industry promises to revolutionize it through increased security, transparency, and efficiency in financial operations. Yet, before it can gain broad acceptance, its potential needs to be acknowledged by legislators and governed through suitable regulations.

Cryptocurrency presents an opportunity for dramatic transformation in how money and finances are conducted. Its evolving potential has the power to revolutionize our lives and shape the global economy. The future is sure to be enthralling as this new technology continues to grow.