thanks for having a look. I updated the script, with something a bit more complicated, but perhaps better than filesize:
the wallet is decrypted one last time, and I check it is a fixed point before deleting it.

Thanks for the feedback. I updated the script following your suggestions (shm + symlink).
My machine is not a shared PC, it is a simple laptop. But these things sometimes get lost, stolen, or simply borrowed. I feel more comfortable with encryption.

Simple password encryption is a feature I would like to see built in the client, because other people than me have physical access to my machine.

Until then, here is a short script that does what I want:

http://sanescreen.org/wallet

I did not find a similar script on the forum or wiki, this is why I post it here.
I hope it will be useful to some; please send me your feedback.

see here my proposal for controlled inflation : https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Controlled_inflation

Donated 5BTC. Let's all do it. :-)

Perhaps you should consider joining the IRC discussion at #bitcoin-otc. You will get feedback from more people, and probably learn a few things.

I might show up as well, if you don't mind somebody trying to convince you that inflatacoin is what we need :-)

You are doing it wrong.

If you really want to buy 200k bitcoins without moving the market, you should not disclose that information. Use MtGox dark pools, take advantage of volatility, and buy your coins progressively. If you are lucky you might get 200k for less than 1$/BTC. And if you really want to post messages on the forum, then better spread FUD about the whole bitcoin thing, and predictions of an imminent crash.

OTOH if you are bluffing and trying to move prices up, then you are doing it right. :-)

FROM: Dr Altaka Yurmani
Central Bank of Nigeria
Lagos, Nigeria

Dear Sir:

I have been requested by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company to contact you for assistance in resolving a matter. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company has recently concluded a large contract with a major graphics card manufacturer, in order to mine for bitcoins. The contract has been producing bitcoins over a period of several months, for an amount equaling 400,000 BTC. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company is willing to use these coins in order to repay the graphics card company as requested by said contract, however, because of certain regulations of the Nigerian Government, it is unable to convert these coins on a Nigerian exchange.

You assistance is requested as a non-Nigerian citizen to assist the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, and also the Central Bank of Nigeria, in converting these funds to US dollars. If the funds can be transferred to your private Bitcoin address, then you can convert the funds to US dollars, as directed by the Nigerian National Mining Company. In exchange for your accommodating services, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company would agree to allow you to retain 10% of that amount, or 40,000 BTC.

However, to be a legitimate transferee of these bitcoins according to Nigerian law, you must be a depositor of at least 1000 BTC on a bitcoin address provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

If it will be possible for you to assist us, we would be most grateful. Please call me at your earliest convenience at 18-467-4975, and I will tell you how to proceed. Time is of the essence in this matter; very quickly the Nigerian Government will realize that the Central Bank is maintaining this amount on deposit, and attempt to levy certain depository taxes on it.

Yours truly,

Prince Alyusi Islassis

I think it would be too confusing to change the "bitcoin" name
to something else; in addition, it woud be difficult to find an
agreement on a new name.

When government issued currencies become worthless,
it is common to move the decimal point without changing
the name of the currency ; there is a transition period during
which the new currency is called "new ruble", "new franc", or
"new whatever". After a few months, people just drop the
"new" in the name.

we should just do that.

if one bitcoin becomes worth more than 10 usd, I suggest to
release a new version of the bitcoin client so that all amounts
are multiplied by 1000. That is, we move the decimal point so
that "new bitcoin" refers to 0.001 BTC. after a few months,
people will just say "bitcoin" instead of "new bitcoin", and
"old bitcoin" in order to refer to todays bitcoins.

why x1000 and not x100 ? First, because we do not want to do this
too often. it would be relatively easy to do this operation now, because
the community is small, but when the community becomes larger it will
become more difficult. Second, x1000 is probably more intuitive than x100 :
"21 million" becomes "21 billion", and so on.

I've come up with a very different solution :
A fully automated script that converts USD prices into BTC, based on the exchange rate at mtgox :

http://sanescreen.org/converter/

This is for sellers who do not want to / cannot use php

Note : My server is needed in order to fetch the JSON object returned by mtgox (getTrades.php).
It would be possible to bypass my server if mtgox was kind enough to provide a short javascript with a callback function.

Hey, I would like to join. I can make it to Barcelona on 13-14 March.

I can make it to BCN on March 13th or 14th. Later dates are more difficult.

indeed the site looks dead...

I guess you may want to use http://www.bitcoinjobs.com/ for this kind of announcements

I posted a similar proposal a few weeks ago : https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Controlled_inflation
However, I believe that it is way too early for such a thing to be created.
For the moment we should focus on how to expand the Bitcoin economy.