http://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=window+decals&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

...or are you looking for someone on the forum who might accept bitcoins as payment?

Any copyrights still in effect from the year twenty five and a half?

That ⓑ doesn't show properly for everyone bugs me, but for what it's worth, the symbol displays fine on four out of the five of the computers I use, although three of those run Ubuntu and one runs OS X. Anyone come up for a quick fix for getting unicode symbols to display properly on Windows computers?

Edit: Apparently, the issue only affects those who use fonts that don't support such characters. According to this page, that's basically anyone running Windows XP or earlier. Here's a list of fonts that support the enclosed alphanumeric range. I'll tell my browser on the offending computer to use one of them. Hopefully ⓑ will start displaying properly.

But if you send something tangible to the billing address, you give the real credit card owner a chance to let you know if he really wants the bitcoins or if someone compromised his card. Should cut down on the part of the problem presented by credit card thieves, no?

Yeah . I just really don't like the Bhat symbol.

I like the idea of having a bitcoin card. It would interface with an online bitcoin account and one would use it as a gift card. One could deposit or withdraw bitcoins from the account wherever he had internet access. The cards would bare a bar code, QR code, and/or magnetic strip that would have the necessary info for the merchant to withdraw funds. One would have to treat the card like cash, but if it ever got compromised, the user would have a chance to withdraw his funds before anyone else. The account would keep a record of transactions so one could catch malicious merchants trying to conduct unauthorized withdrawals. One could also link the card to his smartphone's location thereby preventing the card's use if it became separated from the smartphone.

Just ideas.

Bruce, kudos for getting on the air to explain Bitcoin. Unfortunately, I found your introduction a bit excruciating and had to turn it off. You didn't have to go into Linux, Sourceforge, or bittorrent because the host didn't ask. A simple question, "what is Bitcoin", doesn't require any background unless your listener specifically asks for it. You surprised me because BitcoinMe.com, which I presume belongs to you, explains the currency relatively concisely.

I don't want to make you feel bad. Rather, I hope that we can all learn a lesson from your experience. When you tell people what Bitcoin is, tell them that it's simply a new, digital currency with advantages over other types of payment. Your listeners' will obviously have questions, but that allows for a nice, interesting conversation. If you just talk, then it turns into either a sales pitch or a lecture and most listeners, or at least the ones that matter, will just drop out.

The only standard we can reasonably hope for is a de facto one.

To my understanding, a merchant can only qualify for chargeback protection from Paypal or Google Checkout if they sell tangible goods because shipping services can establish proof of delivery. Therefore, to sell bitcoin with the help of something like Paypal, the merchant could mail a trackable envelope containing a certificate to the buyer. Such a method would deter credit card thieves and satisfy the tangible goods requirement for chargeback protection.

On my computer running Ubuntu at home, ⓑ displays just fine. However, on my Windows computer at work, it looks like a box with "24D1" inside. The information at alanwood.net is a little confusing. Does anyone have a quick guide to get ⓑ to display properly?

I prefer ⓑ ('b in a circle' for whom Unicode won't display properly). It combines the notions of bits with the lower case b and coins with the circle. Furthermore, I find it simple, distinct, and easy to write by hand. Although the Bhat symbol, ฿, is also simple and easy to write, it is neither distinct nor clever. Bitcoin deserves a trademark befitting of its characteristics.

Keep in mind, the use of such a symbol will not preclude the use of the currency code BTC.