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@Patch

Joined 26 April 2022 · 236 posts

I am a patchy reader and writer...

120 KT

0 KT · $5.79 received · 0 KT · $5.05 given

Posts

@Patch

Got to go through the emails over at Listnerds, or they will pile up. It is also good to get the number of mails you can send up.

@Patch

Gods Unchained - Casual mode, do we need it? Gods Unchained unveiled their latest change earlier this week by adding the option to now play casual mode. This is on top of the previously available game modes of ranked, challenge, and vs AI. Let us take a look at what it offers and see if we can find an answer to the question, do we need it? Playing casual mode After having a few games of casual, to try it out. I was surprised to find that on top of being able to farm Flux from the daily Gauntlet of the Gods. You also get Stars to buy more cards with, in the stars store. But perhaps most importantly you get experience points, just like you do when playing ranked. And these you get with every game, no matter if you win or if you lose. *Casual joins the other game mode, but does it hold up?* In all of these instances playing casual is exactly the same as playing ranked. And that, to me, was a surprise. Normally games like to skimp out on what the players "get" when playing casually. To me, this was yet another good sign that the devs have a finger on the pulse of the gamers. And actually, make decisions that are good for the game and the gamer. Not necessarily their bottom line. Something that you should be aware of, however, is that you will get paired up with any player of any rank. But then again that also is part of playing casually. No pressure to maintain your rank. The potential of casual play This now opens up a new avenue for people to be able to experiment with new decks. Test out combos and synergies. But perhaps more importantly, now you can play your meme decks without worrying that you will end up losing too much rank trying to get that clip for youtube. Where you play Jason, into Jason, into Jason, into Jason... You get my point. =) *This might be something you would want to try in one of your casual games. Getting actual use out of the explosive barrels. And believe it or not, this is a ranked game from this weekend, and of course, I lost it. =(* Also, it can, potentially, allow more players who simply want to play casually to enter the game. Players who do not care for the ranked play and everything that companies it. And a bigger player base means a healthier game. And that is something I am all for. But I will be remiss if I do not also mention where I think casual play falls short. And that is in the area of testing new decks. But wait a minute. Did I not say above that casual play was a good place to test new decks? Yes, yes I did. So let me explain what I mean. If you are a high-level player. Testing your deck in the casual game mode will not be enough. In order to fully test these decks you need to play them against other top decks. And while there is still a chance you will meet up against these decks, the odds of it are far greater if you play them in ranked. While you can do your initial testing in casual, or for players like me, testing our decks in casual will work perfectly fine for our needs. But in order to make sure your high-level deck is just that, high-level. You simply need to test it against other high-level decks. That is where the proof in the pudding is, as they say. If you think that this sounds like an interesting game that you would like to check out. I would greatly appreciate it if you would consider signing up using my referral code. **https://godsunchained.com/account/register?referral=UMNIcMwQdC** If you do, we both get 10 $GODS when you reach rank 6 and have verified your wallet. What is your thought on the casual mode, do you think we need it? Or does it merely clutter things? Please share your thought on the casual game mode in the chat. If you would like to support me and the content I make, please consider following me, reading my other posts, or why not do both instead. See you on the interwebs!     Picture provided by: Screenshots from Gods Unchained, Gods Unchained media

@Patch

Elon Stank is continuing his twatty behavior on Twitter. Sett to fire a ton of people today. They will be notified by mail apparently. So happy weekend Mr. Twat CEO of Twitter.

@Patch

Good morning Nois-appers? Is that what people are called here? Or is it Noisers? Or maybe just Appers? What is the proper name for a noise.app user? Is there one? Please sound off in the comment section, I would love to hear your suggestions.

@Patch

What are your sleeping habits? I like to have one arm under my pillow, which is a nice way to go to sleep. But can be annoying if you wake up and your arm is still asleep and won't move as you want it to. =)

@Patch

Anyone got a good tip for a Crypto Wallet, that is universal? Or as close to it as possible? Looking to branch out from Metamask.

@Patch

Crypto is the way of the future, Democrats and Republicans can even agree on this According to a survey done in the US crypto is the way of the future. Who could have guessed, praise the lord all mighty RNGesus. Or whatever deity you praise. What does the survey say? A total of 2029 adults of voting age were asked several questions. One of them was about whether they thought that cryptocurrency was the future of finance or not. And more than half, 53% to be exact, said they believed so. And what is more interesting is that voters from both parties actually agreed on this, as they both had over 50%. And if you have followed American politics you know how big a deal that is. They usually can not agree on anything. 44% of the people also said they believed that they will have crypto among their investments in one way or another in the future.  When asked about regulation 81% agree there should be clearer cryptocurrency industry regulation, including 88% of Democrats and 77% of Republicans. They then were asked about the type of regulation, and again both parties were in agreement. Republicans (81%) and Democrats (82%) feel it is important to take a consumer-first approach to regulation. That means “allowing consumers (not the government) to decide how to invest in cryptocurrencies by providing necessary information about various products,” the company clarified. Nearly half of Americans are familiar with cryptocurrency (49%). And the % rises as you go down in ages. 70% of those aged 18-34 and 62% of those aged 35-44. Familiarity is also higher among minorities, including 60% of Black and 62% of Hispanic Americans, compared to 43% of White Americans. The survey was carried out on behalf of Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital currency asset manager.  I hope that you found the post interesting. And I would like to know what questions you would have asked on a survey such as this. Please share them in the comment section down below. If you would like to support me and the content I make, please consider following me, reading my other posts, or why not do both instead.     See you on the interwebs!       Picture provided by: **https://grayscale.com/media-resources/**, https://www.pexels.com/

@Patch

Do you like to watch streams on twitch.tv? Have you ever thought of what would happen if you crossed that with crypto? Well, now you don't have to wonder anymore. https://www.twitch.tv/goldmemberarcade If you are on Hive, play Splinterland or Rising Star. This stream is for you. It is on 24/7 and you can turn your channel pints into crypto and will stuff in the daily raffles. But be warned, the content can be a bit lewd and borderline childish. Just be aware. =)

@Patch

Gods Unchained - how are ties decided in the game? If you are playing the game as I do, this is a question that I think most players have asked themselves at least once. But do you know the answer? If you do not then I got the post for you: https://ecency.com/hive-173286/@daje10/gods-unchained-how-are-ties I take a look at exactly this, and it might surprise you to learn the full answer.

@Patch

A look at the global state of CBDCs As I recently found an excellent resource, The Atlantic Council’s Geoeconomic Centre, for looking at the global progress of CBDCs I thought it was time to take a more global look and see what the trends are. CBDC progress across the globe The data available on the site had, as far as I can tell, its last major update in May this year. This means the date is not so fresh it is still moving, but on the other hand, it has also not started to smell. I do see there have been some updates done after May as well. There are 112 countries out of the total of 195 that have looked into a CBDC in one way or another. These 112 countries, together, equate to around 95% of the global GDP. To me, this paints a clear picture. If the country has any GP to speak of, they have at least looked to see what the CBDC is all about. I have to confess I was quite taken aback by this number. I knew that there were countries exploring the BDCD as an option, and several pilots started in recent times. But I never thought that there would be so many of them. All aboard the CBDC train Of the 112 countries, there are only two that officially have canceled their CBDC project. They are Ecuador and Senegal. While there are several differences between both of the country's projects, both had the use case listed as "retail". Both Ecuador and Senegal have "only" a GDP of 106.2 billion respectively 27.63 billion. Or in relation to the world GDP 0.111% respectively 0,029%. This puts them both well below the global average GDP of 493 billion. This tells me that they both have economies that are on the smaller side, and that is most likely the main reason for the projects getting canceled. There are also 10 countries that are listed as inactive currently. Most of these also have fairly small economies, all coming in below the global average. Of these, perhaps the most noteworthy country is North Korea. A country I would have bet money on would love the idea of a CBDC. But then I realized that if the population constantly is starving, who would ever use the CBDC? And not I just think it is strange they even started to look into it in the first place. What is in store for the near future There are currently 11 countries with launched CBDS and 15 counties that are running pilot projects. Given the alarmingly small number of countries that have canceled their CBDC project, or even just are inactive. I think it is only a question of time before more countries move out of the pilot stage and into the launching stage. And of course, new countries filing into the pilot stage. If we look at the "biggest" countries, the G7, of them there are two that are clearly standouts. The US and The UK. Both of them are far behind the other 5 countries when it comes to their own CBDC project. It will be interesting to see if this means they will try and cut some corners to try and catch up, or if it just means they either don't really take the CBDC thing as super important. Or they might have something else planned. If we look at the G20, 16 of them are already in the planning or pilot stages.   I do think that with so many countries seeing racing to be the first ones to adopt a CBDC into wider circulation. I think that they might be overlooking a fairly big issue. International trade and transactions.  When I look around at the map I can see a lot of different underlying technologies for these projects. And if there is one thing I know for a fact, that is that tech does not always play nice with other tech. And this might end up becoming a bigger issue than they initially thought. How global trade only seems to go up and up.  If we look back at history we can see similar things have played out in the past. As an example the different rail standards in EU. There were a lot of different standards used there and this has greatly increased the problem of efficiently using railways as a means of international transportation in the EU. This led to a completely new industry popping up in its place, low-budget international flights. And for the slightly older people, there was the battle between Betamax and VHS, or Laserdisc and DVD. And we might very well be in for a surprise both in how countries chose to play ball with each other. Or we might be in store for something completely new popping up. And it might very well be this the US or/and the UK is working on. Not to mention the fact that China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia seem to be looking into creating a reserve currency of their own. This might also be something that players into events in the near future. So whether you are a fan of CBDC, which I assume most of us are not, I do think we are in for some interesting times. Note: I chose to only look at GDB and not GDP per capita or something else. Mostly because GDP tracks goods and services in a country and while those do not necessarily translate 1 to 1. I still think it offers one of the better comparisons and gauges of the potential use of a CBDC. I think the population size, while it can factor in, it is only a small piece of the larger puzzle. Link to The Atlantic Council’s Geoeconomic Centre where I pulled the data is down below. What are your thoughts on the rice of CBDC? Do you see any potential issues, other than privacy-related ones? Or do you think it will be fairly smooth sailing adopting and implementing them? Please share your thoughts on the CBDC topic in the comment section down below. If you would like to support me and the content I make, please consider following me, reading my other posts, or why not do both instead.   See you on the interwebs!     Picture provided by: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org, https://pixabay.com/  Resources https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/cbdctracker/

@Patch

India is trying to cause a paradigm shift in crypto There are several news items coming from India in recent days. This despite India still, in my opinion, should be considered a very crypto-hostile country. Just because their courts overturned the crypto ban earlier, does not mean the politicians have changed their opinions on crypto. CBDC news, first pilot test done India's Central Bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), have yesterday started the first pilot test for the digital Rupee. The test appears to be a fairly small test as it only involves nine banks. *It looks like Indians will get to keep their normal rupees even if the pilot test is successful* Nine banks, viz., State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank, and HSBC have been identified for participation in the pilot. One of the goals of the digital Rupee is to reduce the transaction cost. The next step of the pilot is to include small closed groups of both merchants and customers. They have said before that they are only looking to use the digital Rupee in special cases. Meaning I do not think we will see a country-wide roll out even if these initial pilot tests result in a positive outcome. India's tax office is looking into crypto taxation India’s Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) have asked the major Indian crypto exchanges to provide them with data pertaining to the crypto being traded on their platforms. One of the reasons behind this is for the CBIC to try and figure if the goods and services tax (GST) can be applied to these type of transactions. The CBIC is also said to be looking into defining and classifying these crypto assets. I assume in an effort to better be able to tax them in accordance with what asset type they would belong to. Currently, an 18% GST is levied on services provided by crypto exchanges. The Indian government began taxing cryptocurrency income at 30% in April and a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) for crypto transactions went into effect in July. I guess that means that they see the need to refine their current taxes that are being applied to crypto and crypto-related services. India's finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has also said that he is planning to bring up the topic of crypto regulations during its G20 Presidency. The goal here is to try and get a technology-driven regulatory framework. Or, I assume, at least start the work on one. I think it will be interesting g to see what comes out of both the digital Rupee pilot test and the G20 summit. The pilot test because I have not heard another country say they are only looking at a CBDC in a limited way. So it will be interesting to follow and see the result of the tests and how they proceed. In a similar fashion, it will be interesting to see what comes out of India's presidency in the G20. Will they be able to get a regulatory framework in place? Or are there too many wills involved? Depending on how successful they are during their presidency it might actually have more of an impact than we realize. Getting all G20 countries to agree on a regulatory framework for crypto. It might very well mean that crypto will largely never be the same if they succeed. It will be interesting to follow what will happen in the G20 in the coming year. Mostly because among the countries there is every type, related to crypto, represented. We have countries that are at the forefront of crypto adoption like Argentina, Brazil, and Indonesia. Then we have the EU and the US as their own block. And we have China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia as a sort of block of their own. Hopefully, this means that their outlook is too far apart for them to agree on anything other than to disagree. *Red = Members, Purple = Represented by EU, Yellow = Permanently invited. Source: Wikipedia* *CC BY-SA 4.0* https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 India's presidency starts December 1st and lasts a year. In case you're wondering the countries in the G20 is as follows: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. I like how several of the countries in EU are listed individually and I assume under EU. =) What are your thoughts on the crypto news coming out of India? Are you excited or perhaps weary as neither news is the type of news generally considered "good" for crypto? Please sound off in the comment section down below. If you would like to support me and the content I make, please consider following me, reading my other posts, or why not do both instead.     See you on the interwebs!       Picture provided by: https://pixabay.com/

@Patch

So I have been trying Medium out for a little time, and so far I have been able to get a whopping 0 views on my posts. Any one know the magic recipe to get people reading there?

@Patch

Gods Unchained - Playing in my first tournament As the very humble man I am, I had of course already written my victory speech. And rehearsed it in front of the bathroom mirror countless times. But all jokes aside. I thought I would share my experience from my first tournament for Gods Unchained. Battle for the Light That's what it is called. It ran for two days, from October 8 to the 9th. And they had 512 players in the EU region as well as in the NA. The format of the tournament was a "best out of three games" single-elimination tournament. Meaning If you lose you are knocked out and if you win you move on to the next round. *The Tournament had a prize pool worth a whopping 50,000 somethings. It appeared this something was USD.* We had all submitted their decklists in advance. And we were not allowed to duplicate any god. So three different gods and each with their own deck. I decided to go for where Deception, War and Light. And if you are curious about the exact decks I ran here are the links to them: Deception: https://gudecks.com/decks/45948  War: https://gudecks.com/decks/45940  Light: https://gudecks.com/decks/45945  Day 1 of the tournament I woke up extra early and went for my normal 100 situps, 100 pushups, and 100 squats, and a 10-km run. Bonus points for everyone who got that one. ;) I signed in on the website. And we had to confirm our spot one hour before the starting time. This is so any reserve player would have time in case they were needed. Needless to say, they were not needed in my case.  When the hour was up, we were put in a chatroom on the website. There we each got to ban one deck from play, picking one of the three each player submitted. My opponent, the very nice SCOUBI17, choose to ban my War deck. Wich was my second-best deck. So that was fine. I then decided to ban their Death deck.  The games were fun, friendly and very nice. Except for my game launcher problem kept rearing its ugly head before every game. Meaning my sessions bug out and I have to wait a while before I am able to log in again. =( The games themself were played in the direct challenge mode, so I proposed we used their nick as a passphrase, and off we went. *Yes, yes I was.* I of course picked my Deception deck, the one I consider to be my strongest deck. And my opponent also picked their Deception deck. So we went head to head with the same god. In what later became known as the battle of the ages. And as the clouds disperse and the first light managed to shine down on the battlefield. There I was in all my glory. Standing victorious over the body of my fallen enemy. This was great news and it meant I far exceeded my expectations. Because going into the tournament I very much expected to get to play 1 game only. And now on this day, not only did I learn, by reading the rules just before the first game, that it was a best of 3 game series. Meaning I get to play 2 games. And now winning the first game it meant I get to play at least 3 games. In a matter of about 30 min, I had just 3x:ed my total tournament games. *The final moment for me in my very first tournament* Being the consumer professional I am at blogging and writing, I of course forgot to take screenshots of all my games except for the final moment of my last game. A bit fitting in a way. =/ I sadly lost the second game, but I did give them a run for their money. And then I was left with my Light deck. That was by far my weakest one. Meaning it was more or less a foregone conclusion that I would loos the third and final game as well. Especially as I already know some of the deck my opponent had. *The final result of my first-ever Gods Unchained tournament* After reporting the result. There was little left for me to do other than wish my opponent a GG and the best of luck in their next round. Overall I am happy with the result. This means that people do have a chance to beat more expensive decks. Even as a free-to-play player. And that gives me hope for future tournaments. But what would one of my posts be without a nice twist at the end. When I looked at the result to try and see how my opponent did. Lo and behold who showed up 2 more times with a 0-3 result? Yep, that is right, yours truly. So it appears that what I thought was a one-and-done thing was in fact not a one-and-done thing. And by the looks of it, I messed up badly. Well, at least my opponents will probably not complain. *sigh* If you think that this sounds like an interesting game that you would like to check out yourself, and maybe participate in an upcoming tournament. I would greatly appreciate it if you would consider signing up using my referral code. **https://godsunchained.com/account/register?referral=UMNIcMwQdC** If you do, we both get 10 $GODS when you reach rank 6 and have verified your wallet. I hope that you found this post either entertaining or informative, in case you were thinking about joining up for one of them in the future. And if you have played in a tournament before, please share your experience with me and the others in the comment section down below. If you would like to support me and the content I make, please consider following me, reading my other posts, or why not do both instead.    See you on the interwebs!      Picture provided by: Screenshots by me, Gods Unchained and https://www.communitygaming.io/

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@Patch

Pumped for the new Casual game mode added in Gods Unchained? I know I am looking forward to giving it a spin. I will have more Gods Unchained posts for you in the near future. Be on the lookout for those. #play2earn #godsunchained

@Patch

PayPal and Western Union join VISA in filing crypto related trademarks As I predicted more companies are joining the conga line to the trademarks office. I am still surprised that Mastercard is staying quiet. But it might very well be they are just biding their time. PayPal filing for... PayPal has slowly been rolling out crypto transactions for its US users. Something I reported on earlier this year when they started doing it. It was rolled out around June this year. At the same time as PayPal got their temporary BitLicence in New York permanent. Judging by the trademark filings from PayPal: "downloadable software for sending, receiving, accepting, buying, selling, storing, transmitting, trading and exchanging digital currency, virtual currency, cryptocurrency, stablecoins, digital and blockchain assets, digitized assets, digital tokens, crypto tokens and utility tokens". It is looking like they are adding to and expanding the services they already offer. Currently, US users can buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC), and send them to external wallets. Western Union will not be outdone If we look at Western Union and their trademark filing: "downloadable software for generating cryptographic keys for receiving and spending cryptocurrency". It looks like they have very high aspirations. Or they are just good with words. =) It will be interesting to see what comes of it. If anything. October has far seems to be a very busy month for trademark filing. Above the already mentioned companies, they are joined by, instrument maker Fender, food giants Del Monte and Kraft (regarding its iconic Wienermobile), burger chain Inn-N-Out, snack maker Takis, wine and spirits company Moët Hennessy, auto racing firm Formula One, online betting platform DraftKings, and singer Lizzo. These trademarks range from Web3 and NFT filing. *Source: Mike Kondoudis (@kondoudislaw)* And it looks like the overall number of crypto trademarked is ramping up at the end of the year.  What are your thoughts on this? will we see all these big companies churning out crypto, NFT, and Web3 projects like crazy soon? Or is it just indications of things they are looking into and maybe I am reading too much into it? Please share your thoughts in the comment section down below. If you would like to support me and the content I make, please consider following me, reading my other posts, or why not do both instead.     See you on the interwebs!       Picture provided by: PayPal media, Western Union Media

@Patch

Do "Run, Run" Kwon in more legal trouble Yet another lawsuit has been filed against our favorite fugitive, Do "Run, Run" Kwon. Let us see what it is about this time. The lawsuit The lawsuit is a 57 million-dollar lawsuit. It is targeting "Run, Run" but also the Luna Foundation Guard, LFG as well as Terra founding member Nicholas Platias. The interesting wrinkle this time is the fact that the lawsuit was filed in Singapore. The last known address of "Run, Run". Meaning that if he is still at home "coding" as he has previously claimed, he has no way of avoiding facing these charges. But that is a big if.  In the suite, 359 individuals are allegedly claiming that the three plaintiffs have made fraudulent claims regarding TerraUSD $UST), now known as TerraUSD Classic $USTC. They have estimated their losses and damage to be roughly 57 million dollars.  *"Run, Run" is as active on twitter, and as charming as ever, glad to see some things don't change, source:* *https://twitter.com/stablekwon/status/1584617124550438912* If this is enough to shake loose "Run, Run" I guess we will find out. But I think it is pretty safe to assume he is no longer in Singapore. But hopefully, this will increase the odds of finding him. As this should effectively rule out Singapore as a safe haven for him. As I think it is more likely that they will share a criminal with the world rather than a rich citizen. But what are your thoughts on this, will we see an end to the "Run, Run" saga soon? Or is this just another chapter? Please sound off in the comment section down below. If you would like to support me and the content I make, please consider following me, reading my other posts, or why not do both instead.     See you on the interwebs!       Picture provided by: https://pixabay.com/

@Patch

VISA files several crypto and crypto related trademarks VISA is the latest of the ever-growing list of companies looking like they are finally taking notice of the crypto market. They have recently filed a couple of new trademarks relating to this. New trademarks for VISA VISA has filed two new trademarks relating to crypto wallets, NFTs, and the Metaverse. I assume this means that they are currently looking to develop new services at the very least. If they will pull the trigger and bring them to market. That I guess is still up for debate.  If we look at the trademark filing we see that the trademark in question are filed for the following use: "management of digital transactions; use as a digital currency wallet and storage services software; use as a cryptocurrency wallet; and managing and verifying cryptocurrency transactions using blockchain technology,". The second trademark is filed for this: "providing temporary use of non-downloadable software for users to view, access, store, monitor, manage, trade, send, receive, transmit, and exchange digital currency, virtual currency, cryptocurrency, digital and blockchain assets, and non-fungible tokens (NFT)". But I think we will see more and more trademarks like this in the near future. Ans American Express has indeed already filed its own trademarks as well. So this leaves the odd one out Mastercard.  Hopefully, this will lead to more mainstream attention if VISA actually pulls the trigger and put out a product. And if they do it then that basically forces the hand of the others.  What is your thought on this, do you think it is good that VISA is dipping its toes into the crypto waters? Or would you rather everything crypto be handled by crypto-only companies? Please sound off in the comments section down below. If you would like to support me and the content I make, please consider following me, reading my other posts, or why not do both instead.     See you on the interwebs!       Picture provided by: https://usa.visa.com/

@Patch

Chinas GDP might actually be 60% smaller then what they are reporting As this news is only crypto-adjacent, I still think it is very interesting and worth sharing. China along with other autocratic countries looks to be inflating their GDP numbers, for the normal reasons. The research In a recently published research paper by Professor Luis Martinez from the University of Chicago. He has looked at satellite data from 1992 to 2008. Compared their announced GDP numbers with the growth of night lights seen from space.  The idea behind this is that numbers can be fudged, especially when it comes to autocratic states who control all the instances that repost and check the numbers. But what cant be fudged is independently verifiable data. Such as the night lights or the electricity used. Using that data he managed to see in this period that the autocratic countries on average reported 35% higher GDP than the night lights supported. The Youtube channel Money & Macro then took these numbers and took China into the present day. And what they find then is the size of China's economy, while still the second largest. Is vastly smaller than the official numbers. In fact, it is 60% smaller than reported. And why does this matter? Well, for starters the financial trouble China is in at the current moment, with their building bubble on the verge of bursting. And their banks have nationwide problems. These problems just got larger. Because if China's GDP is much smaller that means its ability to handle the financial and economical blowback of these is severely weaker than anticipated.  *China's economic mussels might sound scary, but when you see them in real life, not so much* *Source:* *https://caliberstrong.com/blog/what-is-synthol/* And China is still the second-largest economy. But this also means their economic muscles they have been flexing are more and more looking like Synthol muscles than something you would get at the gym.  If you want to take a closer look at the research the link to the official paper is down below. And in Money & Macro´s video, they cover the data and why it looks like it holds up. Also, they link to their calculations of China's current GDP. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5A5Eu0ra3I Let me know what you think of this, and what possible ways you think this can affect crypto. As always the comment section is open to you guys and gals. If you would like to support me and the content I make, please consider following me, reading my other posts, or why not do both instead.     See you on the interwebs!       Picture provided by: https://pixabay.com/ Resources https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/720458

@Patch

Gods Unchained - Terminology, what to call things As you, like me, hopefully, have started to get better and better at the game. I thought I would take the opportunity to go over some of the terms that tend to be universally used for these types of games. Some of them you have already come across in my previous posts. Hopefully, they did not cause too much of an issue for you. And you were able to absorb the content anyway. =) Note: the terms are what I have learned from Gods, Hearthstone, Magic, and a few other card game of a similar style. And I find that most of them are universal. Even if the maker of a game "uses" another name. As an example, in Gods Unchained the weapons are not called weapons but Relics. Maybe this is because there are a lot of them that you do not necessarily hit your opponent with. But either way, for me they will always be weapons. Board Control This term is used to describe the playing area if you have one or more creatures in play. And, the important part, your opponent has non. No creature in play. This means that you have Board Control. And the opposite is also true. I guess technically you still have Board Control even if your opponent has a weapon equipped.  *At this stage of the game, I have Board Controle. My opponent has no creatures in play.* Board Presence This team is similar to Board Controle, in that it is used to describe the state of the playing area. This term is used if both you and your opponent have creatures in play. Then both of you have Board Presence. *At this stage of the game, both I and my opponent have Board Presence. Because both of us have creatures in play.* Ping Damage This is used to describe anything that does 1 damage. Be it a god power, creature, weapon, or spell. And you probably have guessed it. The name comes from a small pebble hitting armor, making a pinging sound. At least that is what everyone says where it comes from. But unlike its name suggest, this ability can be one of the most powerful in the game. Allowing you to kill that annoying creature that otherwise would have stayed alive and possibly killed you. The X/Y This is a shorthand for saying the stats of a creature. X/Y where X means the attack value and Y means the number of hitpoints the creature has. Because it gets tedious pretty fast to have to type attack and hitpoints over and over. At least that's why I believe they came up with it. =) And people use it in speech as well, where they simply go the Troll was a 5 5.  X/X Tokens This is a term that originated in Magic, where it was very common to have the ability to make 1/1 creatures. Meaning a creature with 1 attack and 1 hitpoint. People quickly started to stop using the names given to the tokens on the cards that made them. And simply refers to them as 1/1 Tokens. This course work with any attack and hitpoint number. But by far the most common is the 1/1 token. This can also course be used for X/Y tokens as well.  Hitting Face This means simply attacking the opponent's God directly. Doing damage to them, lowering their hitpoints. Agro "Something" This is a term that refers to a type of playstyle. In it, the goal of the player is to swarm the other player with creatures. And basically always Hitting Face. Letting your opponent worry about Board Presence, Board Control, and trading their creatures. The something part usually refers to the type of deck or God. As an example, you can have a War Agro deck. But you could also have a War Agro Weapon deck.  Control "Something" Just like with Agro, Control is a type of playstyle. It refers to Controlling your opponent. In reality, it means you kill every creature they put into play. Wait until you draw your powerful winning hand, play it, and win. At least that is the general theory behind it. And just like with Agro, the Something refers to the type of deck. As an example Mage Controle. Or Controle Druid.  AoE or Area of Effect An AoE effect is something that affects either everything on the board or one side only. This is usually used to describe things that apply damage. This card has a 2-damage AoE. That means it does 2 damage to all enemy creatures. But be aware that many AoE effects in Gods Unchained are full board effects. Meaning they will affect your creatures as well as your enemies. So read how they work carefully before playing them. If you want to know what a specific thing or ability is called in the game. The wiki is a great place to start: https://godsunchained.fandom.com/wiki/Terminology  I hope that this post has been useful to you in your journey in Gods Unchained. My goal with these posts is to try and level up everyone who reads them, and I try and to provide uses even for more experienced players. At least down the line. As my goal is to progress with the posts.  If you think that this sounds like an interesting game that you would like to check out. I would greatly appreciate it if you would consider signing up using my referral code. **https://godsunchained.com/account/register?referral=UMNIcMwQdC** If you do, we both get 10 $GODS when you reach rank 6 and have verified your wallet. If you find any mistakes or have a topic you would like me to cover, please let me know in the comment section. If you would like to support me and the content I make, please consider following me, reading my other posts, or why not do both instead.   See you on the interwebs!     Picture provided by: Screenshots from Gods Unchained, Gods Unchained media

@Patch

Tired of Crypto Winter? Listen to an interview with a financial expert, get his take Cointelegraph has done an interview with Mark Yusko. In it, they talk about a few different things but the main point I thought was most interesting was his take on Bitcoin and when he foresees the winter to end and summer to start. Who is Mark Yusko? He is the founder and CEO of Morgan Creek Capital Management. They are an investment firm that also provides financial consulting. Ar in plain talk, they either tell rich people what to do with their money, or they do it for them. But it does add some credibility to his opinions. Either way, it is an interesting and fairly short watch. =) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQSNP0Ttmc8 Let me know what you thought about the video in the comment section down below. And what are your thoughts on when the bear market will end? If you would like to support me and the content I make, please consider following me, reading my other posts, or why not do both instead.     See you on the interwebs!       Picture provided by: https://unsplash.com/

@Patch

Another fed interest hike in November This inflation just does not seem to be willing to let go of its stranglehold on the world economy. And we might be in for some more turbulence come to the end of the year. The talk is that the def is eying another 75-point rate hike The talk as of late is that the fed is looking to make yet another 75-point rate hike come November. The idea behind it is the same as with the previous ones, cool down the economy and try to wrestle inflation back under control. But I have to say it is starting to feel more and more like we are on Santa's naughty list and these rate hikes are the lumps of coal we get in our Christmas stockings.  This will mark the fourth consecutive rate hike of 75 points, which is 0.75% for us normal people, are anything to judge things by. Things will get rather turbulent at the time of the announcement. So be prepared that there might be a crypto-wide drop coming.  *At this point, these rate hikes are starting to feel like upgrading Windows, takes forever and the % keeps increasing ever so slightly* The crypto markets have however tried to price in these rate hikes, and it might be the market is getting better and better in doing so. Meaning the drops hopefully will be smaller than the previous ones. Hopefully, the feds will not overdo these rate hikes. In the same way, they overdid the stimulus package during the pandemic. Of course, the stimuli pack was only one part of the puzzle. But these things sometimes take time to show their full effect. And if the government officials are impatient they can stack another rate hike on top of one that has not had its full effect. Meaning they might overdo it, and that of course will have an adverse effect too. The "experts" say that the fed should stop hiking the interest when the inflation is halved. But again, easy to get carried away. What are your thoughts on these rate hikes, are the fed overdoing it, or are they on the money? Please sound off in the comments down below. If you would like to support me and the content I make, please consider following me, reading my other posts, or why not do both instead. See you on the interwebs! Picture provided by: https://pixabay.com/ **Resources** 1. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/fed-hike-by-75-bps-again-nov-2-should-pause-when-inflation-halves-economists-2022-10-25/

@Patch

Hackers' newest weapon is your typos It appears that hackers have weaponized our inability to type the correct web address.  And they are using this as a way to introduce malware onto Android phones and PC. What are the Hackers doing? A group of hackers has started to register domains that are very similar to official websites for companies or apps. So if we slightly misspell the address we might end up on their site instead of the proper one. This type of hacking is called typosquatting. *Example of addresses used for typosquatting* This can allow hackers to get personal data and private keys from unsuspecting users. They do this by bombarding anyone visiting these sites will malware. This comes in the form of the app you are looking to install from the original site. An investigation into this has shown that at least 27 brands and app names are being targeted by this kind of attack. Among these are Tiktok Vidmate, Snapchat, Paypal, and even more dev-focused apps like Notepad+ and the Tor Browser. Take an extra look and make sure that the address you typed is the correct one. And that the app you are looking to download is properly spelled and has many downloads and reviews. It at least looks to be the best and only way to protect ourselves from this type of attack. Do you perhaps have any experience with this type of attack, typosquatting? If so please share your experience with us so that we all can learn from it. If you would like to support me and the content I make, please consider following me, reading my other posts, or why not do both instead.   See you on the interwebs!     Picture provided by: https://pixabay.com/    Resources **https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/typosquat-campaign-mimics-27-brands-to-push-windows-android-malware/**

@Patch

Play 2 Earn games, are they always doomed to fail? What exactly are play-to-earn games, or more exactly how do they work. Let us try and find out, shall we? **It starts off with a bang** Most of these type of games starts off with a big bang and fanfare. There are usually a lot of people who are looking to get in early and start to earn. And this is very similar to how most normal computer or console games work. They usually have their peak of players at the launch or close the launcher. For it to then taper off over time. And eventually, the game will be declared "dead" if it is a PvP-focused type of game. Because if the player base drop below a critical mass it is no longer profitable for them to keep the game running. Not to mention that cue times tend to be horrendous for the few players that remain. And it is also very likely that most play-to-earn games will have a similar trajectory of players as "normal" games have. But they probably will have a much more prolonged curve. This is due to the allure of "earning money". This will keep the influx of new players last much longer than with a normal game. And because of that prolong the curve and postpone the inevitable downturn. At least in my humble opinion. **But ends with a whimper** One more thing that will lead most of these games to fail as well, is the fact that most of them are built on a Ponzie-like payment scheme. And what I mean by that is that unlike they are an external source of funds put into the project. The players can only ever take out what the players put in. Well minus the dev fees of course. So as soon as the first batch of players starts to withdraw their earnings this will start to deplete the available funds for other players to earn. And with an ever-decreasing influx of new players, that brings new money with them. The system will eventually shut down. And no longer be able to sustain itself. This is the exact same "problem" you run into with a Ponzi Scheme. Eventually, you run out of new money to pay the old investors. And when the new investors want their pay, it all comes tumbling down like a house of cards. **Are all play-to-earn doomed then?** Well in a sense yes. There are however mitigating factors that can prolong the life of a game. And that is if the gameplay is soo good that people will want to continue to play the game. Despite having the option to cash out. But so far I have yet to see any game getting anywhere close to this. There are also other types of play-to-earn games. And that is games that get external funding, either completely or as a supplement to player-based funding. An example of this is RollerCoin. I would guess they earn a fair bit of their income from external sources like banner ads and from the offer wall. And with those funds added on top of the funds the player puts into the game. It can, if not indefinitely, at least sustain the game for much much longer. The drawback to these types of play-to-earn however if the odds of you getting rich by playing them is so slim it is virtually impossible. **The conclusion** The most important thing I would say is to do your research and figure out what type of play-to-earn project it is you're dealing with. How long has it been up and running? Is the game popular, and is there still a high influx of new players *Is the player base increasing or decreasing, very important to keep track of for considering the viability of a play 2 earn game* Al of these is factor you need to take into consideration before deciding to invest your time and money. So in a sense, it is just like any other investment. But this one probably will take up more of your time. As it often is a correlation between spending time or money to reach goals in these games. Well the conclusion would be if you plan to play a pay-to-earn game. And have the goal of using it to earn rather than as entertainment or a time sink. Then you need to get in as early as possible in order to maximize your chances of being able to cash out. Preferably you get in from day one. Just as will all Ponzi type of projects. And please do not get lured by other players saying they have earned X or Y. As if they already have been able to cash out, this is rapidly diminishing your odds of repeating the same feat. These are just my thoughts on this topic, and yours may vary. Please do share your thoughts on it, do you have any good or bad experiences with play-to-earn games? Please share them and your thoughts on this topic in the comment section down below. And do not take this as financial advice in any way, it is just the ramblings of an internet madman. ^^ I hope you have found this look into play-to-earn games informative or at the very least entertaining. And if you have please consider following me, reading some of my other posts or why not do both. See you on the interwebs! Picture provided by: https://unsplash.com/

@Patch

Gods Unchained - Gauntlet of the Gods and how to get the most Flux wile playing In this post, I will go over the mechanisms surrounding getting Flux. The in-game currency used for Forging cards along with $GODS. As it is an intregal part of both the late game and the way you are able to maximize your $GODS earning I think it deserves its own post. How does the Gauntlet of the Gods work? There is only one way to get Flux in-game. And that is to play Gauntlet of the Gods. You will find the daily Gauntlet in the lower left corner as soon as you have opened up the game. After you press it you will be taken to the daily Gauntlet. The Gauntlet of the Gods changes daily and resets. What it is is a challenge for you. After you get your first win of the day. Your starting god will be locked in. After that, you can switch to one of the two adjacent gods. Or Keep playing the same god. As you score wins with more and more gods, their adjacent gods keep unlocking. Until after you have scored wins with 4 different gods. After that, all 6 gods are opened up to you to be played. After each win, you will get an amount of Flux. But do not you can only get Flux for the first three wins with the same god. You will need to play another god and win if you want to earn more Flux. Scoring more than one win also gives you a bonus. And that bonus is both for each win of the same god, and for each new god. The values are shown below. The amount of Flux you can earn do also depend on your rank. The max will range from 65.5 Flux for completing the Gauntlet in Bronze rank. To a massive 1,310 Flux for completing it in Mythic rank. How to maximize your Flux daily earning What I find works best for me is to start playing the deck I have that I think is my strongest. This is for two reasons. It will earn me Flux on a win. But it will also give me Daily Fragments for each win I get in my first 10 games.  After that first win, I look at the Gauntlet to see what adjacent gods there are. If I have any good decks with them, then I usually switch to them. I do this until I get a win. Then I repeat the same procedure again. Until I played my 10 games. I do go back and forth between decks I think are my stronger, simply to vary the gameplay, as well as learn how to play them better. To know their weaknesses and strengths. *Currently, I think War is my strongest deck, so almost all the time that is where I start.* After the first 10 games, if I decide to play more. I feel free to swap to the other gods, whose decks I am less comfortable with. And so far I have not tried to farm an insane amount of Flux, but I try and replenish what I use when I craft cards. And hopefully earn more than I started out with as well.  So far I have been able to complete a full Gauntlet 2 times if I remember correctly. Meaning 3 wins with each of the 6 gods. As Flux only is an in-game currency. My best advice to you is to farm it as long as it is fun. As soon as I get tired or annoyed I stop immediately. I see no reason to push myself and maybe get frustrated with the game. If you think that this sounds like an interesting game that you would like to check out. I would greatly appreciate it if you would consider signing up using my referral code. **https://godsunchained.com/account/register?referral=UMNIcMwQdC** If you do, we both get 10 $GODS when you reach rank 6 and have verified your wallet. Hopefully, you will now be in a good position to start earning as much Flux as possible. If you have any questions or found any errors in my text, please let me know. The same goes if you have any other topic you would like me to cover in the future. If you would like to support me and the content I make, please consider following me, reading my other posts, or why not do both instead.   See you on the interwebs!       Picture provided by: Screenshots from Gods Unchained, Gods Unchained media Resources https://godsunchained.com/account/register