GreatWhiteNorth

So, I came here to check on MIzz/ASU and holy sidetrack, Batman. I do have to ask. Malinois crossed with German Shepard maybe?

Just a guess, but I suspect it was an early and only minimally supported attempt at streaming. It wasn't great. It blew chunks. Video, clock & score on screen, timing of ads (if any), are NOT difficult problems at a major university. Seriously, students there are splitting genes and working on NASA projects. It has nothing to do with not being able to do it. It does, however, involve a certain level of commitment. If they want to get it done, it can be done easily. HS's do it. It does not require a 3rd party for-profit company to get it done. It just doesn't. But it does require a bit of commitment.

So, what if you techfall your opponent? A win by tech and a win by fall? But with only a single opponent. Hmmm. <scratches head>

Apparently, TexRef and Theo Brixton are Russian turd posters?

Whew, finally on common ground.

Yes, I do. I agree that your ATM, debit, and credit cards are not currency. Because they are tied to you and cannot be exchanged with others. My gift card has no bond to a specific person. It can be readily exchanged. It is accepted as payment within a limited group. It is therefore, by definition, "currency." Because my gift card is tied to a specific merchant/brand, it is considered "branded currency." Yes, it is indeed a real thing. The IRS considers employer given gift cards as "cash equivalent" and are taxed as wages. I would prefer a turkey, which is considered a fringe benefit and is untaxed. And is also sooo delicious:

Took some time, but we've gotten to common ground. Crypto allows Rokfin to skirt taxes, and content creators to take a bit of a gamble. It's hardly an example for someone to display as a testament to crypto legitimacy, but whatever floats their boat.

... oh wait, you were serious here? Thought you were joking around. Ionel makes it easy to know, he adds the little smiley faces. Nice of him. Good guy, that Ionel. Yes. The Target gift card is absolutely a form of currency. FIFY Just not a fiat currency, nor a Fiat currency...

Yes, I understand that. Yet my question still goes unanswered. It's not a difficult one. Traditional currency would work fine for Rokfin's financial transactions. Yet they choose to use RAE. Some seem to think that proves that RAE legitimizes the use of crypto. It doesn't. Again, "Why not use traditional currency?" The context of the question is important here - why choose to add risk (crypto) when a stable option (traditional) is readily available. My point is that crypto currency isn't solving any problems. It is, however, provably creating them. "Straight cash, homey."

Every "useful" application of crypto I've seen has been the criminal/shady/bloodsucker variety (aka scams/schemes.) At one time, after Bitcoin/Dogecoin and the like had gotten going, there was a group of banks & tech companies that was being formed to create a new type of digital currency. I don't recall who exactly was involved off hand, but something like Wells Fargo, Citi, US Bank, Google, Facebook, etc. Big companies with the potential to bring digital currency to the mainstream. Looked promising. Then, without warning or explanation, the group dissolved. Speculation at the time was that they came to the conclusion that there was no useful purpose to move forward because the digital currency risk exceeded any potential advantage. At the time, digital currency wasn't much of a solution because it didn't solve any legitimate problems. So - for these "legitimate" applications you speak of, that aren't shady. There is still a question that I have yet to see be well answered. Why not use traditional currency?

This size...

The same could be said for the B1G+ streams... they're still offering us the "illegal fist to the back" guys (and similar) as announcers. University kids, with tech as cheap as it is and using virtually unlimited campus bandwidth, can easily do everything B1G+, Flo, and Rokdudes do. YES - I said "easily". What they haven't shown any ability to do, though, is announce. Seems like an opportunity to partner for someone with a certain set of skills...

Wait... what? That was a gift from my niece. She's got some 'splainin to do. Ionel - what shoe shop? Maybe we can work a trade (never mind the "exposure" talk, you'll be fine, trust me)

I had heard that he may possibly not be back until Dec. or maybe even Jan. Then again, I guess nobody really knows with 100% certainty. We'll just have to wait and see. He may be downstairs drillin' right now.

To be fair, coming off a couple Gable years - anybody else is going to feel a little like a letdown. Big shoes to fill. I'm still pulling for Kluever.

Although, to be honest, "Hwt U" appears to be looking less than stellar in that particular weight class this year.

Good point. We haven't all given up on Cold Fusion yet either...

Mostly agree - except maybe my $25 Gift Card at Target. It is intrinsically worth $25 worth of stuff. It's not a national currency, but it is still a form of currency. Disagree. Crypto currency, being decentralized by design, doesn't rely on a trust of a central body. But it still requires a great deal of trust to work (just not on a central body - for better or worse.) Sort of, kind of disagree. Very hard to do globally, but there is no global government, right? The idea that a (national) government could shut it down is quite doable for their country. The ability for a country to cut itself off from the internet is standard procedure now. I may be wrong, but in the context of this discussion, it would seem that a government shutting it down for their own country was implied. Agree. The US sanctions countries that engage in criminal behavior (at least from the perspective of the US.) So - yes - crypto currency is useful for criminals. By far the most useful application of the technology is for criminal types to evade tracking and detection of their evil-doer-type transactions. That is the problem that crypto "solves." Other than that, it provides insignificant value to humanity in its present form. Some would consider it a net negative. (I'd put myself squarely in that camp.)

My opinion is that crypto currency is quite useful for parties who are willing to take significant risk in order to transfer money anonymously (aka criminals.) Another useful case would be those that want to take a percentage of that questionable money transacted in the form of fees in order to fill their own pockets (aka shady banker types.) The last group is the hype network who back it to get regular people in, so they can profit from valuation movement and/or fees that the regular people will be paying for (aka blood sucker brokers.) It is interesting. But only of actual real value to criminals, shady banker types, and blood sucker brokers. Everybody else loses. P.T. Barnum probably would have loved it. (This isn't to say that useful public non-centralized electronic currency isn't possible. It is. But what we have now isn't it and there are some enormous obstacles it would have to overcome to ever get there. The blockchain may even need to be reinvented by then if quantum computing matures and is able to hack it. It would likely look far different than it does now, but it is possible. So is nuclear fusion, which I find far more interesting.)

... yet

Consider that the crap so-called boxing match includes Paul paying them to "not win". To be clear, not paying them to take a fall or purposely lose - just to not try very hard to win. In the old days, things were simple. Win/lose. Succeed/fail. Plus/minus. Now, winning and losing is all gray area. As you've said, the losers also win. And they win big.

Very similar to the argument that occurs in high schools and bars throughout the country. Is Pro Wrestling real or fake? It's fake because it isn't a 'real' competition between roughly evenly matched competitors who both are actually motivated to win. It's entertainment rather than competition, it's simply a show. But the athletics and contact are real - guys hurt themselves badly and occasionally die in the ring. Doesn't get much more real than that. I suspect that argument will never be resolved.

I never really got into baseball, went to Twins games - got bored - and left. Good thing there were a lot of good bars nearby for tipping some pitchers...

Unfortunately, "Everyone" doesn't know he's not a real pro boxer. Posters on this very thread don't seem to know - and that sample trends heavily toward those that should probably know better. Image all those that don't know. He isn't a real pro boxer as he claims to be, he's a fake. A phony. A dbag.