You won't find reviews of Hike Your Own Hike or The Hidden Europe here (that's a lie: there's one review for The Hidden Europe). Instead, this section is for my review of other books, especially nonfiction books, which I comprise 95% of my reading. I occasionally review clothes, movies, a politician, a gadget, or anything else that looks promising.
I've put my best reviews here, but if it's not enough, then you'll find hundreds of reviews on Amazon. I am one of the top 10,000 reviewers on Amazon with over 1,500 helpful votes. And yes, I can review your product if you'd like. Just contact me to see if I'm interested.
Ballet Wallet could be used in conjunction with hardware wallets like the Ledger or Coldcard.
If you liked my unbiased review of the Ballet Wallet and you'd like to buy one or some other crypto wallet, please use the appropriate affiliate link below to help support this channel and get a discount.
Prices sometimes change after I made the video:
- Buy a Ballet wallet direct from the manufacturer & 5% off.
- Buy a Ballet wallet from Amazon in 1 unit ($35) or 3-pack ($80-100) or more.
BUY COINKITE'S COLDCARD or OPENDIME.
BUY A LEDGER.
Securing your cryptocurrency is paramount, but there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
QR Code sticker hasn’t been peeled off
The passphrase scratch-off has no scratches
All the serial numbers are on the top of the wallet
(Optional) Use a UV light to make sure the Ballet ‘B’ logo and the words ‘BITCOIN’ are shown on the top QR Code sticker
How to download the Ballet Crypto App
How to add the Ballet wallet into the Ballet Crypto App
Show how the app looks like
Show the ‘Buy Crypto’ and ‘Exchange’ functions
Show that you can add in different types of cryptocurrencies
Brief introduction of Ballet (when it started, who the founder is, etc.)
The most easy-to-use non-electronic, physical wallet
It has the same level of security as other wallets
The two components of the encrypted private key and the passphrase are created in two different locations and have never been interacted with each other
The actual unencrypted private key has never been revealed until the user signs and sends a transaction
Safe to use, easy to use, and great for gifting
No need to write down or memorize a 24-word mnemonic seed phrase
Great for long term cold storage
Additional info:
Follow Ballet on Twitter.
The Two-Factor Key Generation process.
The open-source decryption/verification website tool (recommended to use while disconnected from the internet).
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In the USA, trade crypto with Kraken
https://r.kraken.com/c/2226643/687189/10583
Outside the USA, trade crypto with Binance and get 5% off your trading fees!
One of the best things about cryptocurrency is that you can self-custody your assets.
One of the worst things about cryptocurrency is that self-custody is complicated.
Although it is much easier now than ever, it's still cumbersome and NOT user-friendly.
Opolo is changing that.
But is their hardware wallet solution worth $250 when you can buy a Ledger Nano X for less than half the price?
Watch the head-to-head matchup between the Opolo and Ledger and decide for yourself.
00:00 Intro
01:30 Randomized keyboard
02:45 Sharding backup cards
07:40 Passphrases
13:28 RFID backup issue
15:00 Security
17:48 Price
18:20 Two minor flaws
20:10 Verdict
Enjoy my comprehensive video review of Coinkite's SEEDPLATE.
It's a 3x5-inch metal plate with prefabricated etching so that you can stamp out your cryptocurrency wallet's 24-word seed phrase.
Having a hardware wallet is a fantastic way to manage your private bitcoin keys and sign transactions.
But what happens if your hardware wallet (or software wallet) breaks or gets lost or stolen?
You can recover it with your 24-word (or sometimes 12-word) seed phrase.
Experts urge you NOT to write those 24 words on ANY electronic device.
Paper can age, burn, or become unreadable if it gets wet in a flood.
What's the solution?
Etching your seed phrase on metal tough enough to survive most disastrous events.
You might want to buy 2-4 SEEDPLATES.
Why?
First, if you use a passphrase on your wallet for added security, then you'll need to back up those words just as securely as your 24-word seed phrase (assuming you've associated BTC with that passphrase).
Second, if you're super paranoid, you'll want to stamp out a pair of SEEDPLATES and place them in separate locations in case one place suffers a nuclear attack that pulverizes your SEEDPLATE.
Yeah, that's an extreme measure, but if you're worried about losing your bitcoin or crypto, then this is the ultimate prudent step.
Each SEEDPLATE costs less than $49 if you buy it using my affiliate link.
You can also buy an Automatic Center Punch for $9 at the Coinkite store.
Lastly, are you looking for the BIP-39 word list that I referred to a couple of times in the video? Here you go:
https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt
It's the 2,048-word dictionary that you'll need to decode the 4-letter words on a SEEDPLATE.
For example: if your SEEDPLATE's first word is ABAN, then you look it up on the list, and it's ABANDON.
If it's PION, then you look for the only word on the BIP-39 list that starts with those 4 letters. Answer: PIONEER.
No word on the BIP-39 list shares the first 4 characters of another word on the list.
That's why you only need to write the first 4 letters.
You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my newsletter at http://wanderlearn.com.
If you like this podcast, subscribe and share!
On social media, my username is always ftapon. Follow me on:
My Patrons sponsored this show!
Claim your monthly reward by becoming a patron at http://Patreon.com/FTapon
Rewards start at just $2/month!
Yo-yoing the CDT without a pot or a stove was austere.
For 7 months, I never had warm food (except when I resupplied in town).
It was surprisingly easy to get used to uncooked food. I ate:
A few times, I would soak couscous overnight in a ziplock bag. I would eat the cold couscous in the morning, except that one morning when it was frozen solid.
I lacked the crazy cravings that I expected to have. Still, if I had to do it all over again, I would bring Gossamer Gear's Crotch Pot!
It's an incremental (and not a radical) upgrade from v3. Coinkite has improved Opendime's:
In the 2020s, more travelers will want to make bitcoin transactions anywhere on the planet. Most will use their smartphones, which is somewhat secure.
However, if you the best security, you should use a bitcoin hardware wallet.
In this faceoff, we'll review the two best hardware wallets: Coinkite's Coldcard MK3 versus Ledger's Nano S.
Since there is substantial information about the Ledger Nano S, we'll focus on the Coldcard MK3.
Because the Nano X is similar to the Nano S, much of what I say about the Nano S also applies to the Nano X.
If you're looking for the most bulletproof security to safeguard your bitcoins in cold storage, then Coldcard is the way to go.
Some people may want the Coldcard mainly for ergonomic reasons: they like that it has a screen that displays a QR code, as well as the buttons that are also larger than the Ledger Nano S or X. They could plug the Coldcard directly into their PC to make transactions and ignore Coldcard's air-gap feature.
Whether you use a Ledger or Coldcard, what matters more than anything else is protecting your 24-word seed phrase. Probably 99% of the lost/stolen bitcoins are due to someone putting their seed phrase in an insecure location (which a hacker or thief can access) or forgetting/misplacing the seed phrase (thereby permanently locking yourself out of your wallet).
Therefore, don't think that because you have a robust Coldcard that you're safe. All you've done is eliminate one of the 100 different ways that you can lose your bitcoins.
If this article was helpful, please use the affiliate links below to buy your hardware wallet. It costs you nothing, but the manufacturer gives a tiny bonus.
or
In 2019, Gossamer Gear launched its Ranger 35 Backpack.
I got lucky and was honored to go on a day hike with Glen Van Peski, Gossamer Gear's Founder.
Be sure to listen to our one-hour conversation on my podcast.
We paused to review the Ranger 35.
This book starts with a simple question: what would an alien think of humans?
We feel like we're pretty normal and rational, but Steve Stewart-Williams proves otherwise in The Ape that Understood the Universe.
We're a strange primate.
The author delves into many topics, including human sexuality.
As Bill Maher said:
"There are no such things as mutual fantasies! Yours bore us; ours offend you."
Today, Yuval Noah Harari launched his third book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. Although it’s weaker than his first two books (Sapiens and Homo Deus), it’s still excellent and worth reading.
It seems that no other historian spends more time talking about the future than Harari. He should change the Historian label for the Futurist title.
The 21 lessons are organized into 5 parts.
Instead of repeating the 21 chapter titles (which are coyer than descriptive), I’ll succinctly summarize the takeaway from the chapter.
Here’s a teaser of what Harari’s 21 lessons are:
I’ve read most of Michio Kaku’s books. I always enjoy them. His newest, The Future of Humanity, is his best. Still, there are parts that I disagree with.
He covers the topics that every futuristic geek loves to devour. The book is divided into 3 parts:
1) Leaving Earth
2) Voyage to the Stars
3) Life in the Universe
Each part has several chapters, covering topics like:
• Mining the heavens
• The challenges of terraforming Mars
• How the moons of gas giants and even comets can become gas stations of the future
• How robots can colonize the universe
• The pros and cons of various starships
• Transhumanism
• Advanced civilizations
• Time travel
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