hmmm, I'm always welcome to competition, but it seems more like they are positioning themselves as an intermediate for the Cryptocurrencies... hmmm, They're probably just trying to get a share of the payments business by incorporating it into ubiquitous devices/platforms like cell phones, browsers, merchants, etc this would explain why apple is shutting down all Bitcoin apps... they may have known what JPM was up too a long time ago.

It is possible; There are surgery simulators out there. So if we took Surgeon Simulator 2013 and upgraded it to have easier controls, more intuitive controls with very high detail simulations of surgery we could, by using machine learning, learn all the necessities of surgery from average users. Yes I know sounds crazy, but as more people successfully complete the surgery with a A.I. observing the best players it can learn what to do and by observing the unsuccessful players it will learn what not to do.

IN this way all players become genetic algorithms for the system, experimenting and learning on their own till they perfect their skills at the game, Open sourcing machine learning by using humans to do the learning for it. Plus with a detailed knowledge of all medical texts in all languages it can further improve itself... If it can successfully complete a perfect simulation, I think the A.I will be ready for it's first real surgery.

so... if we aimed all the Hashing power of the Bitcoin network on one address it would take 500 million years? Hey man It's only a matter of time before insane quantum computers just start cracking the codes by the second. I can imagine this will happen one day, when the Bitcoin network migrates to a new protocol based on quantum security. Those computers will tear Bitcoin apart when they finally are able to produce them in mass, and start migrating all the accounts to a new system like a block reward, Or just like the free market migrate by choice to something safer.

Who is John Galt?

Hey I got a question. My points on my F@H client say I earn 18k points each day on one card, yet when I go to the Folding stats page it appears as a 10x reduction in my points, otherwise I would already be at the half way point. Any chance that we simply need to accumulate 40,000 points on the stats page instead of 400,000?

and yeah sign me up, by the way!  jdbtracker is my ID: I've been fixing a few dead cards in the last few days to get to the jackpot, it's giving me a lot of incentive to fix my burned out cards.

You know if we really pushed it, we could automate every single job on the planet in the next year.

Lawyers: obsolete     Machine learning algorithms going through all the law books on the planet analyzing all case histories, looking for all viable avenues.
Doctors: obsolete      Watson supercomputer deployed across the planet.
Scientists: obsolete    Automated research centers, slicing dicing staining, robotic probes roaming the planet.
Police: obsolete         robots incapable of corruption patrolling the streets, running on machine algorithms to predict crime before it happens.
Teachers:obsolete     Online pre programmed courses teaching people whatever they wish to learn.
Military:obsolete       Robots control the battlefield stronger faster smarter, incapable of PTSD, emotionless cold machines assessing and dolling out the     appropriate             response to a threat.
Cooks:obsolete         Automated machinery designed to cook any meal you like is already available.
Government:obsolete The internet can already bring about world wide direct democracy.
Programmers:obsolete Machine learning algorithms and A.I. systems with neural chips on neural networks constructing any program required.

All we would have to do is learn everything these professions do and just script it into a program with machine learning algorithms to methodically improve their preformance.

If we can do it, I think we should. Go immediately straight into a Autonomous Corporation controlled  model or a resource based economy.

after all it is only a matter of time, we can do this now... It will only take one person scripting their entire profession into a database with machine learning to automate them.

Edit: here are a couple examples I've seen over the years.

A.I. Law

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21829175.900-ai-gets-involved-with-the-law.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/science/05legal.html?_r=0

Police

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2437206/Police-tackle-burglars-muggers-using-Minority-Report-style-technology-tackle-future-crime.html

Cooking

http://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/pop-culture/article/videos-of-robots-that-cook-pancakes-pizza-burgers-and-more

Military

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_robot

Doctors:

http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/22/4016888/ibm-watson-could-replace-doctors-disrupt-healthcare
http://www.it.bton.ac.uk/staff/lp22/cs237/cs237medicalxsys.html  and this one is from the 80's; The Golden age of A.I.

Programmers: Sorry man, they got an app for that too. I have no doubt... that those A.I. that are capable of programming are already out there, they're just classified.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVDd_MDP2Q
http://primaryobjects.com/CMS/Article150.aspx

Writers

http://allthingsd.com/20130605/the-c-i-a-invests-in-narrative-science-and-its-automated-writers/

Sorry man, you have to search for them the same way we do, through the clues left behind. No choice, it's just a fun topic to explore.
But hey if your lucky, tell us about it, It would be very cool to find out what they might have to say.

and yeah, it's a movement, no individual controls this anymore, we the collective source of wisdom decide our course from here.

The politics of human capital, It works on economics as well. People tend to game the system as best they can, according to their morals, I would most definitely see people gravitating toward policies that make it easier for them; This is a trend that will continue because of automation, unemployment, the government has no choice but to maintain the masses, they are the source of a nations wealth, it is their obligation. I would put this into consideration to see which technologies would be most advantageous to implement...

Of course it is inevitable, the redistribution of wealth will resettle to those with the most connections or access to prime information and knowledge for that reason other system would need to be put in place, to balance the system, it will be evolved out of our current system. We cannot forget that evolution happens in cycles, those on top will shed their place to those who can outresource them, the never ending cycle... cycles within cycles within cycles.

What is knowledge worth after all... what if you knew exactly what you know and don't know? The automated factories have neural networks and Machine learning algorithms finding the best choices... who do you think will take those choices if projects like Mahout(machine learning algorithms) are open source? All economics would be automated as well. The algorithms place each person in the best place for investment and not only that, what about the social good? sometimes the value of something can be measured in far greater terms than monetary returns, sometimes it's efficiency gained, costs reduced, endevours achieved.
  No one would work, but still there would be compensation schemes to use all unused human capital, even though everything can be automated, knowledge will be the new industry, driving costs further down... Bitcoin is the perfect currency for this economy a deflationary currency for a logarithmically efficiency increasing, cost reducing society. no one likes to get less than what they wanted, too many external unknowns to justify deflation... unless efficiency is as well exponentially increasing to produce more goods and services for the rest of society; This creates a price balance between technological development and the economy, no more waiting for the economic conditions to be right to unleash key technologies... just release as soon as available.

All systems are trying to balance to equilibrium, 100% efficiency,driving all costs down to 0. Anyone in this society can afford all quality of life improvements. Think of the open source movement... If you gotta change the world, all the tools are available to create anything you want right now, we just don't have the right network to efficiently link all free resources to everyone, but more free resources are being added to the world every day. It is just a matter of time before all these free services reach the even horizon point of no return... who will want to pay for things if everything is freely available?

Yes... Automation is expanding beyond the individuals capability to form new employment oportunities or gain the knowledge necessary for it ... this is growing worse. We need to prepare now for this future. Jobs are being automated faster than individuals can adapt, a four year degree now takes 2 years because of this, It's only a matter of time, we cannot train ourselves out of this, we need to adapt now.

I'm still looking forward to the fully automated factories that only accept as income what they need to operate productively for the betterment of mankind. Just spread the shares to the people who invest well, the best investors in what Humanity needs will be rewarded by increased production, higher prices and lower costs, investment would be the only way for the autonomous corporation to grow.

or maybe even a one off production economy based on resources... resource based economy. You need shoes? Have a design you want? go order it to be manufactured custom for you, the cost? A portion of the total recyclable, renewable resources within the community... if you got 10 shoes, and everyone else has 5, you have to return some of the resources you took to be able to make those new shoes.

I believe in it because if can change the social order if the right people hold it.
The network effect will change everything, those who accept Bitcoin are at the bottom, with limited capital to invest, but as they hold Bitcoin they will grow in capital power.

We start off with the small businesses with visionary entrepeneurs, because more than likely everyone on this forum are of a type of people who have an open mind and care about the world in one way or another... they can now change the world. Think of the Organic farmers whose methods and ideas will be accelerated because of BTC they can expand their business, Small producers in Third world countries... BTC will change the order of things if we can only get them in the hands of the poorest people on earth, give the chance for once of the smartest among the poorest to reach out and change their community by simply holding on to this Halcyon of change called Bitcoin.

Make sure to hold at least some of your Bitcoin, it will provide unexpected income when you need it to expand. When it's high, sell your BTC for fiat to expand your business, when it's low, find suppliers that are willing to accept Bitcoin or help your current suppliers use Bitpay until they feel comfortable holding some themselves, It'll increase capitalization and growth of the currency in your favour.

Indeed, the man does not understand Bitcoin.

I agree with the statement above, that it is like saying you have to convert money to function from one economy to the next... which is what he is saying... the hypocrisy and confusion of his argument is amazing. If I want to buy stuff in Japan I have to convert to Yen, but they will accept any easily convertible currency in a limited amount through that territory. Bitcoin's territory is the internet... and denying it's adoption is claiming that all things must be done by force by that of a government dictating what is and what is not by the threat of force... Force... how can he have a say in his government if he denies his own freedom of choice, is government not for the people by the people?... but wait, government dictates what we are all thinking and is the final arbiter of what we collectively believe and disbelieve.

The banking system has not changed in thousands of years... why would they want to change? It's filled with people who just want to get paid and go home, they have no incentive to change the system. In that system only the ceo s have the right to dream and change, what incentive does the common person have to support the advancement of a institution it has no interest in beyond a paycheck? We are a collective of millions of people, encouraged to think, talk change and advance the system, survival of the fittest favours those capable of adapting.

“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.”
― Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man

The article denies the effects of social networks and their ability to grow and expand, if there is a place cryptocurrencies cannot go, we will modify it to go where it has not gone before.

The ability of cryptocurrencies to move in ways that traditional money cannot is what will benefit it's adoption of more goods and services, when is the last time you looked at how different banks around the world convert local money to buy international goods? They have to wire transfer the amounts, convert to dollars if necessary, confirm the transaction, keep a ledger of foreign banks national currency reserves compared to dollars. It all takes time, weeks, months even... the Normal Banking system is magnitudes more complex and inefficient compared to all Cryptocurrencies to be able to buy goods abroad... With Bitcoin the transaction is universal any currency anytime at a moments notice and it is global.

and no courts, contracts? Man, the guy has clearly not seen BitcoinJ or the unfinished contract code inside Bitcoin for irrefutable, undeniable, enforcement of contracts... enforcing contracts by mathematics. What do we need Courts for when the code for contracts is built in such a way that you simply cannot willingly forfeit it's clauses? All you can do is default and be given the automatic penalty dictated by the contract for defaulting on it's terms. If the system is broken then yeah we need courts... but it's software so we just write better algorithms and code. We live we learn.

If key components of an economy are accepted for Bitcoin everything will change, start at the bottom Farmers willing to earn Bitcoin and the greater support of the community to advance agriculture is a fair trade, from that foundation is required shipping companies to accept Bitcoin to move the crops, people willing to accept payment in Bitcoin to transport these goods, stores willing to accept BTC in payment for these few goods, which in time they will use to buy other goods that they can purchase for Bitcoins.

We must not forget the network effect ever! The more people buy into Bitcoin means that the companies that Hold onto bitcoins will grow in size faster as they make connections, traditional companies that do not accept and hold BTC will shrink in size while BTC companies worth increases not just by their economic worth but by their stake in Bitcoin... they will get richer faster, bigger growth potential! If it is done right, we can eat every single other company on the planet within a few years.

This is going to be big my friends, the way we are connecting our ideas, projects together is huge... traditional companies are not built to leverage this technology! they still rely on having centralized thinkers, CEOs to do all the change for the corporation... they are too indoctrinated by the traditional system to understand... this is a grass roots movement, it'll be the organic farmers, little mom and pops with more decentralized independent ways of thinking that will move this forward... they will be the winners.

My brothers and sisters, are you ready to use this technology to change the world? Who can change it but us? In the social order of things there are only a few government officials making decisions, compared to the billions of us who live our lives choosing our fate everyday.

You are the first! Now where do you ship? How can we procure your services?

I was also thinking that there are BTC giftcards you could use, BTC credit cards as well, Bitpay of course, escrow services, etc lots of different methods to mitigate the risk of a double spend.

There is a method for spreading locked pre-sized BTC amounts described by Adam3us, the original creator of hashcash. Check out some of his posts, very interesting stuff.

Gotta get out of the rut, really. In Academia yes, lots of Socratic rhetoric with little proof, but in the scientific community... you gotta build your own project and prove it works, submit it to others to reproduce the results and confirm the findings.

I don't know what Satoshi would get, probably a PhD for the work, but for that white paper... It's readable, It was no doubt written for the masses, an excellent work of advertisement.

I have always wondered though, can we find others work by Satoshi from simply examining their writing style and coding methods? Off topic but, it would be nice to see if we could find examples of their work elsewhere.

Don't forget that the transactions are instant... and I also hope that the Mining farms somehow start implementing a system that uses the fees to trigger the full strength of their cluster to be active. Once the transactions get saturated and fees start increasing rev up the farm; With this method, 2016 blocks wouldn't move the difficulty much if for only 2 hours a day the ASIC farms are roaring at full force, it could drop the transaction confirmation time from 10 minutes to under a minute when needed.
But of course this is difficult to implement when everyone is fighting for a piece of the pie.

Whatever Satoshi did, you cannot deny that must have been a blazzing fast computer! Powerful computer denotes resources, resources denotes connections.... either that or they GPU mined just for fun!

I agree with the above quote... can't spend them, they have to show integrity... though I sure hope they plan something big for those Satoshi coins... Off topic but, wow just imagine how much good they could do if they unleashed that torrent to charities and organizations around the world: If everyone accepts BTC by then, it will change the world. 16 trillion global trade cap divided by amount of coins = 2 Trillion dollars of globe changing power.

Mind blowing! A Hadoop based merge folding pool? But can it be done before the launch?

We have no choice! we must fold! all I have is a 5870 and a 9600gt but i'm going to crank tham full force for the chance!
but 400,000 is a big number.