That's how they started on windows, right?

I know that solution is not always practical. But Ubuntu on the Thinkpad I'm working from now shows more about my hardware than win ever did. I can find out way more about my battery, for example.

+1

Also dump windows and switch to linux. I never have to think about that stuff anymore. When you think about it, the real problem is windows.

I am. I have been waiting for the crash that happened yesterday. Finally a buy moment.

I think this is a reasonable measure of value, independent of other currencies.
I'll edit when I find out what a chicken costs here.

EDIT: I can't find anyone who will sell me a chicken for bitcoin. Weird since this is a free thinking city and lots of people have backyard chickens.

Another thing to consider in your security regime is silence. If you are using cloud storage for a wallet, for example, don't mention that online. Or don't say "my coins are safe because I put them on a flash drive and buried it in my back yard." Shhh. 

They would use latin numbers and letters, like we see here. If you tried using Chinese characters it would become a different addy. I think?

Yikes! I may pay to stop you from eating that stuff. 

I used to think that. But I'm not so sure anymore. It would hurt prices, but I would continue to use them. Besides, by government you only mean the local authority. Bitcoin is global and in the hands of people. "shutting it down" may be as effective as shutting down music sharing has been.

A confirmation means that your transaction has been included in a block. More confirmations means that the transaction is being buried deeper in the block chain. Because it is possible to create a fake block chain more than one confirmation is needed. If the block was fake, it will be rejected before a few confirmations.

[/attempt at non-technical explanation]

It's situational. If it's a pack of gum... na.   If it's a car, I would wait for 5 or 6.

I think as long as your not the low hanging fruit you have some protection.
Like the two hikers. One takes off his hiking boots and puts on tennis shoes. The other asks "why no boots?, You may need ankle support." The first hiker replies that he wants to be able to run fast in case of bears. "Well, even in tennis shoes you will never outrun the bear," said the other.  "I don't have to outrun the bear, just you." he replied.

What government? Bitcoin does not need any government support or permission.

Prices are up again and risk should also be rising. For those who remember the crash from last year, these are scary times. Many users use the same standard of protection for their BTC as their face book account. Since bitcoins are money, and big money brings out the serious criminals, you will need o be prepared for a surge in hacktivity.

There are lots of threads here about keeping your bitwealth safe, you can choose for yourself. But why not make today the day you back up your wallet and clean out any scraps of old wallets. Or change your password from "god" to something robust.

Just sayin.

Maybe he is just antisocial. You know, a loner?

But seriously, I don't know? It's crazy but people do it all the time. Then they come here and complain about how bitcoin scammed them. 

Would it put your mind at ease to know that we are talking about unsubstantiated hearsay? 

Grandpa, Is it true that you own a whole bitcoin?!? 

Considering how much activity there has been recently in bitcoin. It seems weird that they would run out of money. They must surely be as profitable as ever.

Welcome fellow peer! I'm excited also. 

It is worth mentioning that many peers use this service all the time without problems. I doubt they would be "scammers", as they have a profitable and legitimate business model now.