Blockchain.info is just someone's web site.  

Looks like 9+ confirmations now, so Onkel Paul is right...it all looks good.  ;-)

"script-based"?  Really? ? ?  Ah, no, it is not "script" based, but "scrypt".

"the amount of mining activity keeps increasing"

Which does not change the amount of coins available, at most it slightly increases the speed at which they become available.  As aigeezer said, the "crisis of the moment" is nothing.  The "degree of difficulty" has been increasing forever, just varying in the amount (with only a few times where it actually dropped slightly).

This is just a WSJ Blog, so pretty meaningless IMO.

You should move any remaining balance to a new address to be safe ASAP.

If citi's statement about oversupply from miners is true, It will be interesting to see what happens now that we are less than two years to the next halving (perhaps 20-22 months even - but it is all a guess) what happens as we approach it and people realize the supply of new coins will drop then.  

The best thing is cold storage for any large number of coins, or a PC (as 1Referee accurately states) that you only use for bitcoin and it not connected to the internet.

You should not rely on anti-virus programs. Some say some antivirus programs detect 90% or even 95%, but 5% or 10% missed is enough for you to lose your coins.  Likewise, you may have spyware and that is often missed too.  e.g.  See this, where anti-virus software was only detecting about 40% of some malware:
http://www.bankinfosecurity.eu/banking-malware-new-challenger-to-zeus-a-7006/op-1

You will have a hard time getting your coins back.  It isn't that "bitcoin people" are greedy, it is that there are dishonest people out there who will take you whenever and wherever they can if you give them the chance.

It seems people don't ever learn: don't use exchanges or marketplaces as banks.

Excellent points. Anyone who thinks pbs or the nytimes is not a government authoritarian mouthpiece hasn't been paying attention.

I'm sure we all look forward to seeing this alt FedCoin once it is forked from bitcoin. It will be an interesting experiment and demonstration to show what people prefer when they have a choice.

It looks like it confirmed. As was stated above, not every transaction needs a fee. In general, the larger amount transferred and older the better. :-)

The problem with a gold-backed coin is that it has to be stored somewhere centralized making it open to seizure like Liberty Dollar was.  As such it is somewhat at odds with the distributed nature of bitcoin and other cryptos.  ;-)


(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Dollar)

I've been running a similar node too and just moved it to a new server. I didn't see that with or without screen (just as a datapoint -ubuntu 14.04). 

Yes, running with screen should help.

I think you hit the nail on the head: vague-enough laws that some bureaucracy can be hired to fill it to make some rules that are vague enough to be thrown at someone who is the current target.

TL;DR:

I would have to agree.  30% is terrible.  I helped start two charities - one end of 1998 into early 1999 that I stayed on the Board for 5 years - and has as of 2014 now donated more than $25 million for cancer research.  The people who started it were volunteers and yes, we paid a few professionals (attorneys and accountants, but many donated time) but nothing like 70% overhead, maybe 1% for filing fees and the like. 

ALS is a terrible disease and donating to it is very worthwhile, but using only 30% for research is, as 1CoolNewb said, a travesty.  If this guy really cared, he'd be taking 1/5th or 1/4th of what he is getting paid.

The other way to donate is to look at researchers at Universities who are actually doing research, and donating directly to the University for that department or researcher.  Then there is no overhead and you do more good.

Sound - if you missed what has gone on in the world the last 100 years with regard to the value of money, recessions and the like. 

It depends where you are.  It depends what tax you are talking about.  It depends what you are doing with bitcoin, being paid in it, trading etc.  "Bitcoin" itself is not taxable, it is a protocol, a client, and the blockchain etc.  Its uses may be taxable as above.  

As for just not mentioning it as someone said above, it really depends on your appetite for risk.

Just to be clear, no one was "excluded from early investments".  Bitcoin has been open to everyone since it launched.  Just like investing in Intel in the 1970s-1980s would've paid off.  Or Google in the early 2000s, or Apple in the 1990s or 1980s.  Or IBM in the 1930s etc. 

As far as "investments" goes, it seems like only during the last year or so have many people been calling buying and using the currency an "investment". 

:-)