* Posts by El Gordo

3 publicly visible posts • joined 5 May 2010

Bitcoin value plunges as Mt.Gox halts withdrawals and Russia says 'nyet'

El Gordo

Re: Aren't transactions rather slow?

When a client makes a transaction it is broadcast onto the network and takes just a few seconds to reach most of the network. At this point the transaction is not confirmed but the payment processor the vendor is integrated with will check for other unconfirmed transactions on the network that would indicate a double spend.

The vendor can decide whether this is sufficient security and for low value transactions like taxi fares and restaurant tabs it probably is.

For larger value transactions one confirmation is targeted to take approximately ten minutes, it can vary significantly though sometimes it can be much longer. The vendor decides how many confirmations are required before considering the transaction irreversible and thus accepted.

Virgin Media flushes pipes clogged by piles of Spotify fans

El Gordo
FAIL

Network Monitoring

I'm sure Virgin use customer complaints as their network monitoring.

Ringing them up to be told that the local network is over capacity but that I am the first person to report it and this they haven't done anything about it is just a joke (it had been going on for months). I guess waiting for complaints is cheaper than proactively monitoring and upgrading stuff.

Election 2010: The sillier options

El Gordo

Swinging three ways

Those who like to swing three ways should check out the Guardian swingometer

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/interactive/2010/apr/05/general-election-map-swingometer