4 ms·

The quest to liberate $300k of Bitcoin from an old zip file

66 points by mod50ack 6y ago

1f60c 6y ago
https://www.wired.com/story/quest-to-liberate-bitcoin-from-old-zip-file/ https://www.wired.com/story/quest-to-liberate-bitcoin-from-o... is the original source
superasn 6y ago
> The Guy paid about a quarter of the original price tag. Cool story but this line doesn't make sense to me? So did he just pay them $25k instead of $100k as agreed. Am i missing or misunderstanding something?
- mosselman 6y ago
  The line read something like 'he thought he'd have to charge 100k' so he made an estimation of the required costs of infrastructure and hours worked I think. He probably communicated the 100k more as a 'I cost this per hour and the machines would likely cost so-and-so would you agree to pay this or can we call it off?'.
  - superasn 6y ago
    Oh okay. That does make sense. I got the idea that the 100k was a flat fee for decrypting, like 1/3rd of the bitcoin if he could do it. For someone who is about to lose all the moeny that too doesn't sound like a bad deal.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
XiS 6y ago
Completely unrelated to this article. But can anyone explain why my WH-1000MX3's (Bluetooth on Android) volume lowers for a few seconds loading this article? Seems to restore to normal volume after the cookie wall disappears.
- ta17711771 6y ago
  Probably because it's trying to play a video ad.
- Nextgrid 6y ago
  Could it be accessing the microphone which causes a switch to the Bluetooth HSP profile?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- csande17 6y ago
  Fingerprinting scripts often use the Web Audio API (see https://audiofingerprint.openwpm.com/ https://audiofingerprint.openwpm.com/). Sometimes, they use enough of the Web Audio API that the OS thinks they're trying to play audio, and it temporarily reduces the volume of other audio sources, sort of like when it makes your music quieter so you can hear GPS directions more clearly.
ergwwrt 6y ago
How did the bug originate and what about the timestamp fixed the problem?
guiambros 6y ago
Duplicate: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22774057 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22774057 The original article has a lot more technical details. Also here's the firsthand account by the author in April: https://twitter.com/metaweta/status/1246166302688808960 https://twitter.com/metaweta/status/1246166302688808960

66 points by mod50ack 6y ago

https://www.wired.com/story/quest-to-liberate-bitcoin-from-old-zip-file/ https://www.wired.com/story/quest-to-liberate-bitcoin-from-o... is the original source

superasn 6y ago

> The Guy paid about a quarter of the original price tag. Cool story but this line doesn't make sense to me? So did he just pay them $25k instead of $100k as agreed. Am i missing or misunderstanding something?

mosselman 6y ago
The line read something like 'he thought he'd have to charge 100k' so he made an estimation of the required costs of infrastructure and hours worked I think. He probably communicated the 100k more as a 'I cost this per hour and the machines would likely cost so-and-so would you agree to pay this or can we call it off?'.
- superasn 6y ago
  Oh okay. That does make sense. I got the idea that the 100k was a flat fee for decrypting, like 1/3rd of the bitcoin if he could do it. For someone who is about to lose all the moeny that too doesn't sound like a bad deal.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

XiS 6y ago

Completely unrelated to this article. But can anyone explain why my WH-1000MX3's (Bluetooth on Android) volume lowers for a few seconds loading this article? Seems to restore to normal volume after the cookie wall disappears.

ta17711771 6y ago
Probably because it's trying to play a video ad.
Nextgrid 6y ago
Could it be accessing the microphone which causes a switch to the Bluetooth HSP profile?
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
csande17 6y ago
Fingerprinting scripts often use the Web Audio API (see https://audiofingerprint.openwpm.com/ https://audiofingerprint.openwpm.com/). Sometimes, they use enough of the Web Audio API that the OS thinks they're trying to play audio, and it temporarily reduces the volume of other audio sources, sort of like when it makes your music quieter so you can hear GPS directions more clearly.

ergwwrt 6y ago

How did the bug originate and what about the timestamp fixed the problem?

guiambros 6y ago

Duplicate: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22774057 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22774057 The original article has a lot more technical details. Also here's the firsthand account by the author in April: https://twitter.com/metaweta/status/1246166302688808960 https://twitter.com/metaweta/status/1246166302688808960