Please do not drive up for the $0.20 I left here in Austin.  I want to fund many other caches but I don't see myself dropping anything large into a cache unless it is through some organized promotion.  I would definitely appreciate you starting some caches in San Antonio .

I agree that this project will depend on a lot of enthusiasts donating small bitcents.  I am hoping that the game is easy enough to use and engaging enough so that people will use it.  Lots of flexibility in a small amount of options.  I have my fingers crossed that I executed correctly on this concept.

I made a post in the Project Development section of this forum.  I am not doing an open Alpha of my Bitcoin geocaching game.  Its is called BitScavenger and can be found at http://bitscavenger.net.

Here is the post from the other forum:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=182212.0

I have been in crunch mode trying to work out all the bugs that I completely forgot that it would be a good idea to have some geocaches set up before announcing the game.  I will try to get some set up in my home town of Austin TX so you can see that the app works.  There is so much I want to do with this, but before I get ahead of myself, please give me feedback on how well the core concept works.

First feedback, hooray!  This is all stored in a centralized wallet, you are correct.  I thought the centralized wallet would allow me to abstract the bitcoin concept and make it more user friendly for people who are new to bitcoin.  Also, for the speed and ease of use of the game I wanted any scannable QR code in the world to be convertible into a cache and not require users to print out QR codes and leave them places.  That way most of the work is already done by people who have placed QR codes around for their own purposes.  I think that is what you were getting at with your feedback.

Hello everyone!  I wanted to invite people to participate in the open Alpha of BitScavenger.net at http://bitscavenger.net.  This is a project that combines my two passions, Bitcoin and QR Codes.  Before delving into a description of the project, here are some warnings:

- This game is currently Android only.  I am working with someone to make an iPhone client and I hope it passes certification.
- This project is in Alpha.  I have done as thorough a job testing this as I can but there may still be bugs or safety features I am missing.  Do not place more bitcoin in your account than you are comfortable losing.  I have taken every safety precaution I can think of, but stuff happens and you have been warned.
- The URL is bitscavenger.NET.  The .com address is a squatter but if they change content don't be fooled.  It is not me.
- Things currently look a little rough.  I am open to feedback but I am also actively developing and I wanted to get something out there.
- When you create an account make sure that you use an email address you can check.  The website is where you can do some of the better stuff like withdrawing your bitcoin and I send a confirmation code to unlock your use of the website.


SO...  BitScavenger is a Bitcoin GeoCaching game.  You can re-purpose any QR code you see around you to become a bitcoin cache.  The game will couple the contents of the QR code with your current location to generate a cache where you can then store bitcoin.  At this time it is advisable that you leave a clue about the QR code you scanned because just going off geo location it may still be difficult to find the QR code.  The only other option you have is to make the QR cache hidden on the map so it does not show up on the game client map view.  You can use this option to leave chains of clues and leave larger amounts of bitcoin in hidden caches.

If you are hunting for bitcoin you will be using the default map view.  QR caches that are currently charged with bitcoin will show up as a marker on the map.  You can click the marker and it will let you know the bitcoin amount as well as the clue for finding the QR code.  You must scan the correct QR code while standing in the correct location to claim the bitcoin to your account.  Once you have claimed the bitcoin that cache will disappear.

I am hoping that this game is a tool to introduce a bigger audience into the world of bitcoin.  For people who are interested in bitcoin but are not yet part of the community this is a way for them to get a couple thousand Satoshi and have fun doing it.  For enthusiasts who want to spread the word you can advertise for mBTC at a time.  I also think that there are really creative puzzles that you can create using the app.  My webpage has a QR code generator you can use.  Maybe the QR cache has a clue in the contents of the QR code.  Or have someone go to a library and enter the clue into a computer to generate the QR version of the clue text.  Scan a moving QR code like something on the side of a bus and put the bus schedule in the clue.  I think a lot of creative puzzle can be created.

To help out the people charging QR codes with bitcoin, the web tools also provide a way to manage all the QR caches you own.  Recharge them without having to go back, redeem them yourself at the click of a button, change the clue, toggle the hidden state.


I love feedback and I would really love if people validated my run at the concept.  PM me with comments/suggestion or hit me up at jake (at) bitscavenger -dot- net.

- edit1 -
I should have done this earlier, but I was caught up in ironing out bugs for this launch.  I created the first Bitcoin cache in the game.  You can find it in my home town of Austin Texas.

When the timeline for the Coinlab US account takeover was close I moved everything out of Gox.  I don't think anything malicious was going to happen, but I do think that Coinlab was absolutely going to screw up the migration on a technical level.  Now it has been 11 days since "everyone was supposed to be in Coinlab."  They have made none of their deadlines and they don't update anything.  Despite the current "hate Gox because their trading engine could not withstand attack" the real reason I don't trust Gox is because of Coinlab.  I don't want them holding my assets during the transition.  I have not had my painfully set up route from my bank account to an exchange in a couple of weeks and it is starting to bug me.

Does anyone know if Coinlab is full of crap?  Does anyone have an update on their new expected timeline?  These exchanges love to "surprise" their customers with stupid unannounced migrations and I don't want my funds to be caught in the middle of it.

I bid 32.2 for any available roll.

2wieX, I find your table to be off regarding the Any Roll portion.  For instance, j_gillard nixed his bid of 32.2 and you did not bid 32.2, you only bid 32 so there should not be any 32.2 bids and you should be down for 32 @ 2 rolls.  I can see where mistakes are easy to make, this thread is pretty difficult to follow.  Thanks for your effort to try to even make a table out of this.

I have gone from scratch several times and have even grabbed the torrent of the blockchain to see if it would load more smoothly pulling transactions from the .dat file instead of downloading from peers.  I get a checksum error every single time and it is never in the same place so I know that it isn't like there is some embedded corruption.  I do appreciate that the blockchain loads significantly faster than in 0.7 days but I would prefer it loading correctly as well.

As an update, in the debug.log when it complains about a database corruption I am getting a lot of this:
ERROR: ProcessBlock() : already have block 187258 0000000000000735aaf7e4de10cf454f04442d1e5a86cddc091ba859d9d9c3a8
Misbehaving: XXX.XX.XXX.XX:14136 (0 -> 0)  // X's are numbers in the IP


And it finally errors out like this:

Committing 40490 changed transactions to coin database...
SetBestChain: new best=00000000000004e1baaff1b6c1430baf74a218d75227dc94d5ba1cf8feb5cf3a  height=188036  work=380091309209972119197  tx=4766050  date=2012-07-08 00:48:20
SetBestChain: new best=0000000000000919b1658c09ddd7af8af1218c1221f159aae690371ed908e842  height=188037  work=380098831764706914198  tx=4766255  date=2012-07-08 00:51:17
SetBestChain: new best=00000000000003be2289dba3c533a541dcb4562ec23716d56603e2a35e7dffc7  height=188038  work=380106354319441709199  tx=4766266  date=2012-07-08 00:54:53
SetBestChain: new best=0000000000000085a65e20a0a91adafde994c279cef42b2106d3d56ae7f406b0  height=188039  work=380113876874176504200  tx=4766584  date=2012-07-08 01:10:17
SetBestChain: new best=0000000000000585d4af1ab38da9d1679b03325e86b6524cb920342c50f479d5  height=188040  work=380121399428911299201  tx=4766590  date=2012-07-08 01:26:24
SetBestChain: new best=0000000000000006b58950e297614ab1b0f1f43f752b85fbd19fe0859776ca78  height=188041  work=380128921983646094202  tx=4766865  date=2012-07-08 01:26:10
SetBestChain: new best=00000000000008661c6208e374d0551c08b7c33e75206ea78b5e6d628b9b1769  height=188042  work=380136444538380889203  tx=4766985  date=2012-07-08 01:40:23
SetBestChain: new best=000000000000080d6faa549e70107002bd800462082b4a57bf41d2ed4a48ecf3  height=188043  work=380143967093115684204  tx=4767238  date=2012-07-08 01:43:52
SetBestChain: new best=00000000000007aed8a162c27163dd3a0343ed3e9a027280e4c848178787f2e0  height=188044  work=380151489647850479205  tx=4767246  date=2012-07-08 01:44:50
SetBestChain: new best=00000000000007726f45fa442aec9a095f8aef41bd32df8d4732cefbe5059fa9  height=188045  work=380159012202585274206  tx=4767280  date=2012-07-08 01:52:58
LevelDB read failure: Corruption: block checksum mismatch
*** System error: Database corrupted
socket recv flood control disconnect (5003435 bytes)
disconnecting node XX.XX.XX.XX:49228
Flushed 13782 addresses to peers.dat  51ms
socket recv flood control disconnect (5003362 bytes)

Ever since I upgraded to 0.8.1 (currently the latest) I have not been able to run the app.  I have gotten everything from database corruption errors to messages saying either me or my peers need to upgrade to claims of wallet corruption to errors saying Bitcoin-QT needs to stop without any other messages.  The debug log is not much help.  I have cleaned out the Appdata bitcoin directory (Windows 7) so that it can start from scratch and it always reaches some error 100k or so blocks in.  It is never the same place.

Any tips on getting the Bitcoin-Qt client to work again?  Is there some setting I need to try in bitcoin.conf?

I saw this kind of crap pop up on the recent Slashdot Bitcoin article.  (but what can you expect from commenters on Slashdot).  The funny thing about it is that one of the reasons that gold is such a good medium for storage of value is because of how limited its utility actually is.  There is certainly argument that it would be used more if it were cheaper, but the fact that it is not used and held up or otherwise "destroyed" from the perspective of gold supply is what keeps the supply more stable and makes it a good means of wealth storage.  Gold has more value as a currency than it does as a material of industry.

Bitcoin is the same way just to a more extreme degree.  Its utility as a currency far exceeds its utility as anything else.  I think people underestimate the importance of currency utility and I think people really overestimate the value of the non-currency properties of gold.  For instance, jewelry isn't worth crap beyond its melt value and that statement gets more and more true when people have to part with luxuries.

Having trouble understanding the point of this but here:

Date Paid      Order Number     Trade-In (Y/N)     Qty SC Jalapeno     Qty SC Little Single     Qty SC Single     Qty SC Mini Rig

Jan 21 2013      17063                     N                          0                    1                             0                      0

Squeaky wheel I guess.  My payment just made it through.  It took 10 hours and the reply was short (probably because they are sending a ton of them) but once again I have not been ripped off.

It seems like Bitinstant is having problems still.  I was trying to fund with a Bitstamp coupon.  They cashed it in and did not send the funds where they were supposed to.  Instead it sent back something saying that the Bitstamp code I entered was invalid.  Bitstamp confirmed with me that Bitinstant redeemed the coupon when I sent it.

I have tried all methods of contacting Bitinstant today including livechat, support@bitinstant.com, their web form, and calling their number to leave a message.  I have not heard anything from them.  I would not be surprised if they were having some issues stemming from the DNS social engineering attack they sustained over the weekend.  But still, they should shut down their site functionality if they cannot answer support question about their failed fund transfers.  In the past I their support has been lightning quick so I am surprised at the poor support on this issue.  It does strike me as odd that of the 5 times I have used Bitinstant I have needed to contact support 3 times to get my funds where they needed to go.

It is a good service but I wish it worked better.  I just want people to know because you should probably stop using their service until they get stuff situated.  From the support request open with Bitstamp they claim that I am not alone with this issue today and they are having trouble contacting Bitinstant as well.

Good luck getting things fixed Bitinstant.  You are a service that the community needs so get your shit together.

I had a successful one early last week.  I have other problems with them right now though and it has nothing to do with BTC-e.

That will do you absolutely no good if the business you buy healthy stuff from goes out of business because you are their only customer.  Again it is the Walmart effect.  Individuals think they have so much influence over their lifestyle.  You have to be pretty wealthy or convince a lot of other people to your cause if you want to be able to afford the lifestyle you desire.

It is not in the interest of corporations to add carcinogens.  It is in their interest to be cheap and lazy (or efficient if that is what you want to call it).  It just happens that sometimes being efficient causes cancer.  If they can improve the shelf life of weed with additives (boosting their margins) and it also happens to increase your risk of cancer then expect your risk of cancer to go up.

As soon as I read the subject I immediately replaced the lyrics for "If I were a rich man" from Fiddler on the Roof.

If I had a Bitcoin...  Yubby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl7BVr36bbs

I think there is something about either the politics or the culture of those places that does not gel with the way the US treats things.  We are a bunch of hill billy fat asses that shop at Walmart to the detriment of our very well being.  As for California and Colorado, I think the shaky legality is the only thing from keeping these monster corps from ruining their market.

I bring up Walmart on purpose because they have a very long track record of proving that monopoly capitalism can be used to bring down the quality of an entire industry.  I bring up the fact that we are fat asses because we have proven that something in our culture allows us to accept low quality in exchange for the idea of a deal even though we know it is killing whatever is good about the original product.

My friend just had a really interesting perspective on one major downside to legalizing weed.  He supposes that illegal weed would actually be healthier than legal corporate produced weed.

Think about it.  If weed is legalized and regulated then suddenly you have a legal market for businesses to enter with a bunch of money hungry sharks at the helm of the market.  With the purpose of profits in mind, they will probably be adding FDA approved "additives" that will actually make it more carcinogenic, addictive, and give you less THC per unit consumed.  Weed will become cigarettes and coca-cola.

I think the real "mind blown" moment of the conversation was when I agreed that corporate America was probably more willing to harm people than local drug dealers are.

Am I late to the game on this line of reasoning?  Is there anyone who thinks that my perspective is off base?