Since the time of Adam Smith, man has grappled with the problem of fiat currency. Finally, in 2009 this was solved with Satashi Nakamoto's bitcoin.  We can all agree that bitcoin is the currency of the FUTURE, or at least that it is at least a great improvement FLAWED currencies of the past.

So, here is my idea. Bitcoin on its own has the potential to be REVOLUTIONARY. But why stop there? Why can't we apply the bitcoin paradigm of decentralised cryptographically secure authority to other aspects of society, and reap the benefits? This thread is partly just to toss around some of my ideas (I'm sure there are people reading with the technical know-how, these guys will get this stuff on the ground)

Idea number one (I will only post one at a time to prevent clogging this topic up)
1. Crypto-healthcare. Participants publically post their symptoms and a "health address". Anyone can submit a diagnosis and treatment plan (there would need to be a system of codes to denote these) to this address, which is then checked by other peers on the network to make sure it is valid. When it is verified, your address, diagnosis and treatment plan are added to the "health chain". Then you can simply drop into any pharmacist who has a copy of the "health chain" and pick up the required drugs.

Please add your own ideas or critique mine, thanks

Slight correction: You would have to return it, because you are a snivelling weakling slave collaborator to the nanny state. If anything of value landed on my property, you can be damn sure the feds would have to wrench it from my bullet-ridden corpse. This is an issue of FREEDOM. Have you ever even read Atlas Shrugged?

So quick to point out problems and so slow to offer solutions! Here is one possibility:

At present, as I understand it for each bitcoin transaction a small fee is paid to the minors. Bitcoin could add an additional small fee to each transaction, paid to an account owned by the Bitcourt. The Bitcourt could then use this money to hire local "judgement enforcement officers", who would collect the money from those criminals who had fled the internet and withdrawn their cash in non-cryptocurrency.

I agree sir. With the numerous scams and claims occuring these days, I propose we set up a sortof "BitCourt" where these cases can be heard... the judges could be trusted members of the community who are elected every few years or so, that way if there is any corruption the MARKET will move to eliminate it. The bitcoin client will have to be modified to enforce their decisions, but this is a small price to pay to ensure that values like honour and integrity are upheld and our currency flourishes.

I have solved it! It was most puzzling to me why people are insistent about Bruce Wagner being a huge bitcoin scammer man when clearly he denies any wrongdoing. It is clearly case of misunderstanding of mistaken identity. If you go to facebook.com and search for "Bruce Wagner" (I believe you need an account for this. But I am not sure.)... You will see that there are many "Bruce Wagners" living in the United States. This leads me to believe that Bruce Wagner is a common name. Perhaps you are confusing him with another gentleman?

All this technology... none of it is proven to last as well as a physical book does. Think about the earliest computers from the 1930s... Even though that was only 60 years ago there are now hardly any working ones, and even fewer people who know how to use them. Compare that to books: Libraries and museums have books that are literally centuries old, and everyone on the planet would know how to use them without special training.

As for security, to prevent copying you would obviously need a secure or secret location to stash them. I am thinking of a set of volumes, like encyclopaedia brittanica but with the blockchain as the content. Maybe you could also encrypt the text so its not obvious what it is. Anyway the advantage of seperate volumes is that way for most days you would only need to use the last volume and the rest could stay safe at home.

What will happen to the blockchain in case of some global catastrophe that knocked off the power grid? Or even just a lot of the miners internet access?

Does anyone think there would be any interest in printed copies, so we can continue to use bitcoin after such an event? I have begun experimenting with this on my home printer. The optimum result seems to be using hexadecimal in size 6 font to save space.... I'm out of ink now, so can't continue optimising till tomorrow, but I believe if it was printed professionally the whole thing could fit on a few modest sized volumes. When you have a physical copy, you can keep it in a safe in case something does happen.

If you would be interested in purchasing a copy please message me... If we get enough people together we should be able to involve a publisher for cheap.

I think I understand now. I am pretty sure you are in the second category of investors... I have read almost every "investors guide" which is available and frankly I have never even heard of this Douglas Adams...  I suggest you take some time to research better advice and read a few more books before making your mind up... In particular I would recommend http://www.amazon.com/4-Easy-Steps-Successful-Investing/dp/038097472X/, this is a good all-round introduction for novices, and it has served me well.

There may not be any evidence of God or beating the odds at a casino or astronomy, but there are THOUSANDS of pieces of evidence for the effects of intelligent investing. These pieces of intelligence are in my banks vault. Actually banking is a good point. I let the bank look after some of my money. They invest it and GUARANTEE a modest interest rate of a few percent a year. Banks around the world all work the same way. How is that not PROOF? If it was all "random chance", these banks could offer no interest at all.

Again, there are A LOT of dummies out there who play but don't UNDERSTAND like some do. Perhaps the losses of these dummies means cancel out the profits of the more shrewd investors. That does NOT make investing a "random" process.

This is not true, you are being misleading with trivial semantics. Because there EXISTS a cap, bitcoins are DEFLATIONARY. It does not matter that the cap has not yet been reached, because everyone in the market has KNOWLEDGE of the caps inevitable existence. Therefore the market will treat the currency in a deflationary manner. You can read about deflation at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deflation.

This is a ridiculous claim. I make thousands of dollars EVERY WEEK simply by playing the stock market, not to mention the fortune I will make on bitcoin. I'm obviously not going to disclose my methods ( ), but I can assure you that it has nothing to do with "random chance". Go into any bookshop and you wil find many books on how to invest... I myself am thinking of writing one. Why would there be so many books on this topic it if it wasn't possible?

There are two sorts of people... Smart guys, who know the system after years of study. And then there's the primitive guys that don't quite follow what's going on. They look at the economy, but it is too complicated for them, so they just think everything happens randomly...

I think it is you who needs to read the economics textbook. It is very basic:

Bitcoin is inherently DEFLATIONARY. This means that, in the long term, the value of Bitcoins will only go UP. Depressions in other currencies are always caused by governments trying to overrule the markets printing more money... For example, the USA in the 1920s and Zimbabwe recently.  There is NO CENTRAL AUTHORITY in bitcoin to issue such an order, and therefore 'depressions', as the word is commonly understood, are impossible.

As far as I can tell there have been three allegations
1. That Bruce had something to do with mortgage fraud. He has explained that this was a misunderstanding.
2. That Bruce is involved with sex tourism. He has also said that this is not true.
3. That Bruce is involved with the mybitcoin.com hacking. He has also explained this, they were his SPONSORS and he lost money too.

I am a very good judge of character. Listening to Bruce it is clear he is honest, INNOCENT and pure of heart. These allegations are despicable, and it all seems very co-ordinated. I bet all you are secretly swapping advice on the best way to continue this horrible, unethical three-edged assault on a poor innocent man of undefiled character.

Wow, that game looks great! You should get some celebrity endorsement, it will make it much more attractive to investors and customers.

Simon Weston's Thunderworks. For some markets you may need to use an Argentinian war hero instead, e.g. Diego Maradonna's Thunderworks

I see what this is about, it is obvious. Some of you are very jealous of Mr. Wagner because he had the FORESIGHT to jump into Bitcoin when the price was very low. I may not be an early adopter either but at least I'm not bitter about it! If you are patient you can also make some good money from Bitcoin, this is inevitable fact (Bitcoin is DEFLATIONARY)

What was that about low-content posts?

Or you could wait until registrations open again.

Or you could get an account the millions of people online who will give them away for free. Demonoid is hardly an exclusive site, definitely not worth $15 (or 2 BTC) to join.

e: I am selling demonoid accounts for $14

Price is HIGH at the moment because of speculators and other people with no interest in Bitcoin as a currency. They just want to make a quick buck then disappear... Hopefully they will all disappear soon, and we can get down to business of moving Bitcoin into the mainstream as a competitor to the US dollar.

I've talked to Bruce and watched his show several times, and he is a really nice guy.... From my personal experience, it seems unlikely that he is the conman everyone is claiming him to be. He has a very open and honest character... Not at all 'shady' IMO.