Trivial to whom?  They are not trivial to those who engage in free agency in order to earn an income.  And the addition of the Internet into the mix ultimately only makes free agency more efficient, otherwise it wouldn't happen.  Higher efficiency and effectiveness in the realm of using the Internet to match up individual desires with individuals willing to fill those desires (be it shippable products, or personal labor services) only increases the market share that free agency can effectively provide.  In the beginning, the new 'TaskRabbit' type people who can make a real living will be rare and annecdotal, but over time those jobs will increase with the increasing public awareness that such a system can satisfy their needs in less expensive or less frustrating ways than are presently possible.  A decade ago, anyone making a living from home via the Internet who wasn't an accomplished author was a news article.  Today most people know someone who does or could make a living solely from home via the Internet.  Craigslist is another example of the improvement of efficiency of the Internet altering an existing market, resulting in it's massive expansion compared to the prior model.  In the case of Craigslist, the local market of used goods is what changed.  Not only did Craigslist improve the advertising of yard sales, it permitted sellers of single used items to avoid the need for a yard sale or the purchase of a classified ad in a local newspaper.  Thus allowing those people looking for a deal on a used item that is impractical to ship (think used refrigerator) to find sellers locally.  I have an android app that scans Craigslist for me, looking for items that match keywords, so that I can be quick to reply to any such ad that I should be interested it within a few minutes.  I know that I'm not the only person to use such a thing, because I've been beaten to the item by a matter of minutes in the past.  Search Craigslist for refrigerators and you will find a number of ads that ask too much for what they are selling, because the good deals are claimed quickly and those ads are removed.


Sure, they are aware that stuff sells on Ebay, but that is only an example.  The second hand market is legally taxable, but let me know if you find anyone who sells stuff on Craigslist in November that will even consider reporting that to the IRS come April, assuming that they even remember the transaction while sitting down to do their tax forms.  If there wasn't a check or a credit transaction involved, something I would presume to be very rare with regard to Craigslist transactions, then it didn't happen as far as the IRS will ever know.  It's only because of the third party issue that Ebay transactions are more likely to be reported and taxed.  This is the killer consumer app for Bitcoin anyway.  Whether or not Bitcoin is used in a manner intended to be anonymous by both parties, it's going to be a lot of work for a agent to tie a particular transaction to a taxable event even after identifying both parties to a BTC transfer.

I can't watch this video, but if the general argument is that a "job" is a daily defined working arrangment with a legally established company, then the answer to the question posed in the title is "no".

The official metrics are flawed, in many notable ways.  But significantly in error as the "unoffical" grey market increases in relative size.  This has been the trend since the commercial explosion of the Internet since 1992.  For example, many people for the past decade or so have made a part time job out of Ebay dealings.  A minority of these people have lost their "offical" jobs in the recent recession, and are thus offically unemployed.  But if your side job was selling locally made knick-knacks on Ebay prior to the pink slip, what would you do?  I live in a city that has a local artist industry centered around glass, but for the most part the artists themselves don't sell their art on the Internet.  Several fans have filled that niche over the past several years, and I'd bet that more than a few have made a full time income out of their hobby. 

Another example is my nephew.  He recently turned 18, and like many his age have trouble finding "offical" work because they have to compete for those entry level labor jobs with older and more experienced adults who were laid off from higher skilled jobs.  That is not to say that he doesn't work.  He takes one off labor jobs from myself, neighbors, and strangers via a website called Taskrabbit.  It's not as easy or dependable as an "official" job, and he would prefer a regular scheduled job, as there are many advantages; but he doesn't go hungry and he manages to earn enough to pay for the things that he really wants, such as gas in his car, insurance, cell service and bowling fees.

Yes, but we have already seen some deflation, and attempts to "combat" same.  I would agree that the correction is not yet over, but to assume that we will see general signs in the overall economy (such as consumer price deflation) as opposed to deflation centered in particular industries (such as real estate and industrial commodities) is unsupportable, IMHO.


That would be the 'stagflation' that I mentioned prior.  A condition of concurrent consumer price inflation and rising middle class unemployment rates that Keynseian economy theory insists is impossible.

There are natural counter-tendencies that limit how much deflation can occur within a given working economy.  One might argue that exceeding those limits are possible, and the results would be destruction of the working economy, but there are no cases that affirm this argument.  Deflation tends to be much milder than inflation, if only because the rate of inflation under a fiat currency is under the direct control of those who can legally (or even illegally) produce that currency, thus there is no practical limit to the inflation rate.  There is no case of deflation exceeding 10% APR under a gold standard, but there are several events of inflation exceeding 400% APR under fiat currencies.  A deflationary rate of 10% is very high, and would have some harsh effects; but an inflationary rate of 400% actually destroys the economy based upon the fiat currency.  The risks are not comparable.


You're view of praxelolgy is oversimplified.  You are not alone in this error.

http://www.fee.org/from-the-archives/the-importance-of-economic-theory/

<snip>
"Take, for just one example, Galbraith’s interpretation of Adam Smith’s notion of self-interest, an idea that is constantly misunderstood even today. Galbraith seems to believe that self-interest might not lead us to the socially optimal outcome, as the invisible-hand idea would suggest. This is a terrible misunderstanding of the role of self-interest in economics.

First, self-interest does not automatically equal greed in economic theory. It is not assumed that individuals are motivated solely by selfishness or material gain. Economics is not about the particular motivations individuals have but rather is a method of analysis. It assumes individuals attempt to maximize their welfare as they conceive it, which can be selfish, altruistic, spiteful, loyal, or even masochistic. Individuals are attempting to achieve their ends with the means they believe to be the best.

Second, institutional context matters. The rules we live under will determine whether Adam Smith’s invisible hand achieves socially beneficial outcomes or not. The invisible hand guides self-seeking individuals — people who are attempting to achieve their ends — to serve the public good, but only under the correct rules. Private property, freedom of contract, and competition are all necessary to achieve what Smith envisions with the invisible hand. As Sigler says in the review, “[T]o discuss Smith’s theory without mention of competition is to discuss Napoleon without mention of war.”

<snip>

Higher field densities are not required....

http://www.physicstoday.org/daily_edition/physics_update/water_s_response_to_ultralow_magnetic_fields_comes_as_a_surprise

<snip>
"Stefan Hartwig, Martin Burghoff, and colleagues at the National Metrology Institute of Germany have now discovered that in fields of 1 µT and lower, water responds to a magnetic perturbation even faster still. To see the increased relaxation rates, they had to measure water’s magnetization in fields less than 1/500 the intensity of Earth’s geomagnetic field—a feat made possible in part by a superconducting quantum interference device. Hartwig and company haven’t yet pinpointed the detailed mechanism underlying the fast spin dynamics, but they suspect that coupling between H+ and 17O nuclei plays a role."
<snip>

I understand this, but I disagree that this is the root source of any unexplained energies.  The breakdown of the magnets is certainly a drop in the potential energy of the magnet, but there is no explaination as to how the slow collapse of the magnetic field can transfer it's energy to the momentum of the device in a net positive way.  The individual molecules are equally likely to dump their magnetic energy in a net negative way, simply because when the molecules lose their magnetic alignment with the field, they can lose it in any direction whatever.  Said another way, the failure of the individual molecules that comprise the magnet are just as likely to oppose the overall flow of energy of the device as to contribute to it, and there is no way to bias the process in favor of the desired flow.


What use scenario are you referring to?  I offered a general explaination as to why we we will never see horizontal maglev flywheels used as storage devices for electric vehicles.  I never claimed that this effect was large enough to develop an over-parity "free energy" type of device.  I did imply that, should this ever be accomplished, men in black suits are going to kick the inventors' doors down and they are going to fully understand the term "extralegal enforcement".

I can't contest anything you say above, but I think that the price inflation will not be truly felt until a recovery is in the works for real.  Most of that QE money, as you said, is sitting in bank reserves because they can't or won't lend right now.  Once that sentiment changes back into a 'boom' mentality, M3 will shoot for the Moon like never before, and that is when the majority of the price inflation is going to be noticable.  In the meantime, deflation is the dominate theme, due to the contraction of M3 outpacing the expansion of M0 and M1.  I'm still not ruling out a 'stagflationary' period in the near term, however.


I don't even think hyperinflation is in the US's distant future, because as much as I like Ron Paul as a candidate I consider the odds of his success (or anyone else's) at forcing meaningful reform or control upon the FedReserve to be on par with the odds that the world will actually end precisely on December 21st, 2012.  Which is to say, not very good.  The last actual president who tried to reform the monetary system was assassinated about a month after the attempt.  Corrolation is not causation, and I'm sceptical of a connection anyway, but I'm never going to rule it out either.

Not so.  The MadHatter was logged in one week ago, but is not in the habit of posting anymore and may not respond to PM's.  He doesn't send cash through the mail because he has been burned doing so.  Basicly, you can trust him to honor his agreements, or bugger off if he doesn't know you.  I'm sure if you could meet him in person, he would consider buying your bitcoins for cash. 

We are likely to have some pretty strong price inflation in the next couple of years, if the economy actually starts to recover and people go back to work and pay off those debts without defaulting.  Then there will be a large increase of currency in the market due to QE1 & QE2.  However, hyperinflation is something altogether different.  A currency can, and many have, suffered very large annual inflation rates for a couple of years without imploding; but hyperinflation is always and everywhere a political event.  The Federal Reserve exists for the benefit of the member banks, not for the benefit of the US government or the public.  So long as the Fed exists, and continues to manage monetary policy independently of Congress, then hyperinflation simply isn't in the cards.  That would destroy the golden goose, as far as the bankers are concerned.  The banks would rather see an inflation rate of 20% for a few years and crush the market economy than surrender the power of control over monetary policy.  Congress will have to take it by force, and it won't prove easy.  Still, things don't look secure for the Fed's charter considering how well Ron Paul's retoric has infultrated the Republican base this year.  If Congress cancels the Fed's charter, or takes over monetary policy in some other manner, then hyperinflation is a possibility.  Otherwise, forget it.  And even as bad as inflation could get in the US, it's likely to not be as bad as inflation might be under the Euro or in China.  The US FRN is the safe haven of soverign wealth funds and unscrupulous political officials the world over, and any net influx of captial to the US FRN is going to support it's buying power until such time as the influx tapers off.  But sooner or later, significant price inflation in the US is already a certainty.


No, we do not agree.  Monetary base deflation discourages imprudent capital investments.  Capital investments that deserve funding will always find it.

Some of us, yes.  Bear in mind, we are dealing with real value here; the value of intellectual property is theoretical and not relevant to the torrentors themselves.

You can try with the -connect flag.  If you know the pool's ip address and they are accepting inbound connections.

When I was a Junior in high school, I had a friend of mine who was notorious for bad ideas.  His father traveled for his work, and brought some of these bastards home with him.  My friend brought them to school, and tried to tell everyone that they were "only a little hotter than a halapeno".  Everyone else just said, "I'll try one after you do".  However, I was a bit crazier.

So I grabbed one, popped it into my mouth and started chewing it before he had a chance to stop me.  I chewed it up, and swallowed it.  I then looked at his shocked face, shrugged my shoulders and said, "it's sweet".  Then it hits me, and I screamed like a little girl.  It was oilly, and sticks to the inside surfaces so that once it got going I could literally feel my mouth and all the way down into my stomach.  I ended up comandeering a water fountain, and the principal forced my buddy to go down to the cafeteria and buy me every milk that he could afford.  I slowly drank about a half gallon of milk over the next two hours, and I had blisters on the inside of my mouth for a week.  And I still suspect that I lost some hearing in my left ear that day.

On the plus side, my head cold was gone.

The Pauls may not be as familiar with Bitcoin as some, but they are aware of it.  But they don't need to really grok it, they have aides for that stuff.  They don't update their own blogs, either; and I seriously doubt that either one tweets.

Thank God!  A forum member who actually takes the time to completely understand a subject before answering questions!  As oppossed to the majority that takes a look at a truncated visual aid, never noticing that it's truncated.

It will never pass because it would work.  It wouldn't make the US FRN worthless, it would simply expose the present reality.  The US FRN is already worthless.  It wouldn't be chosen by a market economy once the threat of force that 'legal tender' laws imply are removed.  Bitcoin would not likely be the dominate alternative, however.  Bitcoin exists in a niche because of coercive legal tender laws.  Digital gold or silver certs would almost certainly dominate.  There would be no practical reason for Bitcoin to exist.

NOW YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR!

The title of this thread is akin to asking, "why don't Jews us the Internet?"

If you just thought, "Wait, What!?  How the hell would you know that?" then you just got my point.

I'd bet that Mars had life on it at one point, but I have no opinion about the intelligent part.  I'm still not sure that there is intelligent life on Earth.  As a aside, what if humanity evolved on Mars, and we are refugees.  That would explain the missing link issue.  I have no idea, just speculating.

The atmosphere of Mars was most likely lost because the molten (reactor) core failed criticality, and thus plate technonics failed.  The Earth wouldn't have an atmostphere to speak of either without the replacement effects of volcanos.  Given enough time, the vast majority of gases would be absorbed into chemical molecules until the pressure was no longer sufficient to maintain liquid water, at which point the oceans would slowly boil away into near space.  This would have occurred over millinia, and can't reasonablely be called a catastrophe, as it would have been long forseeable by intelligent creatures.  Can't be stopped, can be avoided.  It's possible that the life cycles plants and animals could slow down this process of atmostphere loss, but I'd doubt it.

To say that Tesla was a mad genius was an understatement.  The idea of turning the entire Earth into a tesla coil begs the question, what then is your low-energy sink?  In the case of a normal Tesla coil, it's the Earth and the energy source is the ambiant electromagnetic spectrum.  As far as the Earth as a whole, there is a substantial ambiant electromagnetic specturm to draw from, but where then would it go?  You still need a flow of energy in order to draw useful work.

The story about the explosion in siberia that destroyed his massive attempt to build a tesla coil, although plausible considering we now know that there is a great deal of natural gas in Siberia, still sounds like a cover story to myself.  The tower was destroyed, but it was more likely that it was destroyed by actual explosives.  There were many people who were afraid of Tesla actually succeeding, in much the same way that people today are afraid of the supercollider succeeding in creating a naked singularity.  Silly, to be sure, but fear of the unknown is a powerful motivator; and Tesla had some well heeled enemies anyway.  Not the least of which was the founder of General Electic.

And natural gas doesn't explode while in the ground, because there is no oxygen.  If there were enough oxygen to burn it, then the natural gas wouldn't have formed as it did.

I'm about to burst the bubble of both the original poster and of those who are trolling the original poster due to the abject impossibility of conservation of energy.  If this is what I think that it is, 1) it's not a 'free energy' or over parity device and 2) it's already patented, but the details of how to do it is considered so dangerous that it's been redacted long ago.  Hardcore government types, who wouldn't give a moments thought to the risks involved with global warming, will be more than happy to burn you at the stake should  they discover you know how this device works.  This is because, once I explain the device, the risks to life on Earth should be obvious to any rational person.

As the scientificly educated here have already pointed out, a closed system cannot produce more energy than it requires to operate.  These are the two laws of thermodynamics that prohibit 'free energy' devices from working, as there must be a higher energy state to lower energy state even occuring in order for (useful) energy to be harnessed.  Said another way, there must be an energy flow from a condition of high energy into a lower energy state sink.  Once the two states are of equal potential, the ability to harness useful energy is lost.

So, in general, let me explain how this device "works".  (Full disclaimer, I've never seen this device actually produce over parity, only the credible theory on how it could, and why it would be bad even if it never achieves over parity)  The device is basicly a magneticly levitated flywheel, of mostly non-ferrous construction, with an array of magnets embedded into it's outer ring.  The array of magnets are aligned in all three axis.  Some of these magnets are used to keep the device leviated and centered, while others are used as an inverted brushless motor armature.  The entire device needs to be in a near total vacuum to reduce friction, for it needs to spin very fast.  Now, I've just described a magneticly levitated energy storage device, and one that has been invented and reinvented by multiple people, but has not and will not ever reach mass production.  Not because it doesn't work well for that use, but because of the (largely unintentional, and theoretical) side effects of large number of these fast spinning magnetic disks on the surface of the Earth. 

Here's the problem in a nutshell, the only way to build such a maglev flywheel is to have it spinning parrallel with the surface of the Earth, as there are many reason why any other oriantation is difficult to build.  The disk, being basicly a flat, spinning magnet can and does, however small the effect might be, interact with the magnesphere of the Earth itself.  This fact, taken alone, means that the magnetic field of the Earth is a drag on the motion of the spinning disk, as the disk is a moving magnet inside another stationary magnetic field.  Relative motion is what creates electomagnetic current.  This is how most people would look at this.

However, the magnesphere isn't the only magnetic field of concern.  The Sun also produces a magnesphere, which interacts with the Earth's.  It is thus theoreticly possible for such a disk, of the perfect set of size and rpm's, at an unknown resonate frequency, to draw an incrediblely small amount of momentum from the relative motion of the Earth's field spinning inside of the Sun's, even while itself sitting on the face of the Earth and not in any real motion relative to that field from a macro viewpoint.  This would be akin to those quantum level 'eddys' that plague researchers trying to develop room temp superconductors.  This would be a rare and unlikely event if the device was not tuned specifily to do so, but if tens of thousands were built for electic vehicles, or any other reason, the odds that someone will, by accident or intent, stumble across the perfect resonate frequency required to draw off large amounts of 'free energy' from unkonw sources increases.  That source would then be the spinning of the Earth itself.  Obviously, this occurs naturally, and the spinning of the Earth does gradually slow down on it's own.  Ever wonder how the Earth's spin could slow, even though it's an object spinning in open vacuum?  This is how.  The observation is known as the Corrillus (sp?) effect.  Taken to it's logical conclusion, such magnetic objects spinning in open space eventually 'lock' their spin to their orbit, thus presenting only one face to their host object.  We have a number of celestial examples of 'locked' moons in our solar system, not limited to out own.

Now, obviously, drawing momentum off of the rotation of the Earth itself would be a very bad thing, if it were to ever to occur as a matter of course.  A collection of tens of thousands of such devices, used over generations, and the slowing of the Earth could become considerable.  Granted, the momentum of the Earth is astronomical compared to the energy needs of humankind, but once this kind of tech were loose, there is no way to know for certain if it can be used to spin up the Earth later on.  The long term effects on terrestial life would be unpredictable at best.

Then again, an extra hour each day might help me to get things done.

http://www.raspberrypi.org/

I think that a raspberry pi is a better platform for a dedicated wallet device.  Add wifi, Dash7, NFC and (maybe) a 3/4G radio to the device; a touchscreen, and a secured wallet.dat.  Allow it to use Dash7 continuously to locate both wifi hotspots to automaticly use by turning on and off the wifi radio at it's own need as well as locate other such devices to either sync blockchains with or to perform wireless transactions with in meatspace.

Even without the ability to use Bitcoin, a Raspberry Pi in a portable format with a Dash7 radio and either wifi or 3/4G would be a wicked mobile pc.  I can think of a half dozen things that I would do with it right now.

No.