War sims and "serious" games. Like my favorite VBS 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFrGF54B0r0

It is also available in civilian form via the game Arma 3

Does any central authority have control over production, distribution, price, use, ownership? No. That is why it is called a "Decentralized" system. Banks are welcome to get involved. However they will have to play by the same rules as you and I. If they build additional layers of finance on top of the protocol they may be able to leverage greater control over your coins. But you will have to let them by signing contracts with them. For example, many people keep a balance at an online exchange or storage. Those coins are not under their control and they must trust the business that holds them. But that is by their choice.

The risks they outline are basically correct. However, they seem to forget that most of these threats are threats to cash also. I see no warning about cash?

Cash is like the wild west. Threats to cash include thieves who will try to steal your wallet. Cash is not federally insured, so if you lose your cash you are on your own. While it is not illegal to use cash, it it not advisable and should only be used by the most sophisticated financiers. Additionally, businesses that use cash may not be trustworthy. They may charge outrageous fees or even be ponzi schemes.  Worst of all, cash is backed by nothing more than the government! Unlike say... Bitcoin which is backed by math.

Moral of the story? Using cash may have its benefits, but don’t let it be your fool’s gold. Because “if it’s too good to be true,” the report said, “it just may be.”

No one can. Of course, many will tell you they know the answer. You may notice that their assessments disagree. That is because they are often baseless guesses. The only thing that can be said with certainty is that when the price is going down supply is outpacing demand. 

I didn't know about him. I had to google it. 

Hey Meni,
I don't want to hijack your thread, but I have a quick question. I can't make it in Oct., however I will be in the region in Dec. Do you guys have regular meetings somewhere? I would love to meet up with some bitcoin peers in Jerusalem when I visit.

-Cheers

Oh, I thought we were talking about Mithra. What god are you guys on about? There are so many.

Siting on my ass in front of a monitor has made me a legend!    Wait, ...what?  

There is no such group as ISIS or ISIL. They are now just IS.
In any case, it should not be a surprise to anyone. We lost the war in Iraq then refused to help in Syria.  Now the the civil war is underway to determine the future of the region. Airstrikes are not going to do anything without trained and motivated ground fighters.
This should concern us. Members of IS have aspirations of a global caliphate base in Raqqa. It's not going to work, but they are going to hurt a lot of people before they lose.

No evidence, no documentation, just a random made up musing. Ahh, you can't blame them. They need to write something to bring in the traffic. 

Ahahah. Comedy gold! 

I think your concern is well founded. many have come here to announce that they have been "hacked" via a key logger. The good news is that there are many things you can do to offset the risk. Besides anti-malware software and avoiding installing anything suspicious, it is important to keep any large-ish balance offline. You can create a wallet offline and then print out the private key. Then delete the wallet and your good. The attacker has no path to your coins.

Retail adoption is the only thing that will ensure there will be a bitcoin in the future. It is bitcoins utility that makes it attractive. If no one is using it to make purchases, well... this will not work out.

Is the bosphorus flooding? It looks like the shore near the bridge on the Egyptian market side. Maybe?

That's what I got out of his saying. The crime itself is not the motive for a thief. But rapists and pedophiles have no other motive than the crime that they have a compulsion to commit. 

Sexual predators creep me out. My Dad was a cop and I remember his take on them. He would say something like "A thief steals because that is what he does. A rapist rapes because that is who he is."

Added color and increased font size for even more truth. Anyone, rich or poor, has the same rights and ability to convert some of their wealth to bitcoin. You may not be able to afford as much as someone else, but what you own is yours and no one can screw with it.

There are ways to mitigate the risk of taking bitcoin without full confirmation. One is scale. Just like when you use your credit/debit card at McDonald's. They aren't really worried about fraud because it would cost more to commit bank fraud than the value of your purchase.  the same could be done for small bitcoin purchases. If I were selling a $5 item, I would be ok with 0 confirmations. If I were selling a $50 item I would want at least 1. If I were selling a car, I would want 6. It should not be inconvenient to wait an hour for a car. One could also use a payment processor like bitpay. They will take on the risk for a fee. In the future I bet there will be even more options.

It makes sense to me that the rate depends on how much you are buying. For example, if a person wants 2 grams of silver, I would want a higher price over spot than a person who wants 10oz.

Hahaha! Funny stuff.