Sweet. But I'm still cutting my consumption of proprietary music and movies by %50. It's not like Hollywood produces much worth stealing anyway.

The last 4 flights I took within other countries required me to take off my shoes twice! Once entering the airport and another entering the security zone. It may not be everywhere, but it is in a lot of countries.

So GW Bush creates the largest governmental organization in history. An entity dedicated to to fighting organizations that are expertly matched to resisting such entities.  Of coursed DHS is primarily staffed by people who wouldn't know a terrorist from shinola. How long could such an entity exist before they get bored of not finding terrorists? Solution? Make terrorists.
I think the problem is that the mindset of a terrorist is so different than the sophomoric, absolutist thinking of a TSA employee that they have no clue how to catch them. All they do is react to the last attack. For example, one incompetent jihadi puts a bomb in his shoe and every person on the planet now has to remove their shoes at the airport. These measures are laughable to people in the know. It is just a feeble attempt to help people feel safe. 

Interesting and thoughtful comments. Not withstanding the facts stated above, I do not trust Iran. They have been caught lying in the past and hold positions that are beyond the pale for a nation-state. They are an international pariah for a reason.
They do not want a war, as they will surely be among the looser. My opinion is that they are trying to play a dangerous game of brinkmanship.   

I was going to take a shot of whiskey every time they say Bitcoin. I watched it at a friends house and just before the show I remembered I had my CC weapon on me, so no drinking. 

I think they just thought it was an interesting topic. It could have use as a way to fund operational groups or individuals, but I doubt they have any specific plans. The CIA likes to stay on top of new thinking in all sorts of areas. Not really different than TED talks or Google's lecture series. One never knows where new, innovative ideas will end up. It's best to understand them before they surprise you.
It is likely that Gavin had to sign a non-disclosure agreement and cant comment much. I've had to sign them for work I have done for the Army. Even my wife had to, just in case she overhears something. The new paradigm is; "I could tell you, but then I would have to sue you".

I think fraud and abuse are big issues. I have never been scammed personally, but I have had bidders just decide to not pay. What then? My only recourse was to have him kicked out of the bidding site. Not much of a penalty.

Unfortunately I can tell you it has been canceled. Or at least the organizer sent me an email stating that he was not able to put together a panel. The event, "TechWeek", will still happen and he said that if I wanted to create a bitcoin session on my own it would likely be included. It comes during a crunch time for me and I don't think I will have time to do a quality job of organizing. If any one is interested in trying to get a panel together however, I would help. I know a few peers there who would also be part of it.
Here is a link to the website.

http://techweek.com/

Up, down, crash, bubble. It's all good. I believe that the fundamentals of bitcoin will provide long term growth.  Of course, I could be wrong.

I like this reasoning. Speaking as an American, the only time I see government get their collective ass moving is when they stand to gain. How do you make a state legalize drugs? Give them a cut. Want conceal carry in your state? Show them how much they can make from selling permits.
It's sad to say, but congress especially only acts on their own personal issues. That's why Wall Street can steal from you in the light of day, but if an airline makes some congressman wait on the tarmac for an hour we get a "Passengers' Bill of Rights".
They will never institute a system that takes away their ability to manipulate your money.  

Gentlemen, I also will be taking a shot for each mention of bitcoin. Let's go on line here during the show and post our drunkenness reports.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. You may have saved some people a lot of pain.
As a note on best practices, always reply to such emails by sending a private message at the website it claims to be from. Don't hit reply or follow any links within the email.

I have a friend coming into Chicago from LA. He has some bitcoins, so I sent him a link to this thread.


Hi M.U. See you in Shy-town.   

Hahahah. 2 funny.

Ok, my new strat is the "butterfly manipulation". I sell one bitcoin at below market value and like the butterfly who causes a hurricane, I tip the scale and begin the cascade down to $2... Oh s#!t, the price went back up!!. Can anyone link me to a thread on how to do a chargeback?

Next time you are going to sell based on the "science" of predicting the future let me know. I have made a lot of BTC from panic sellers. I say that because predicting what that ticker is going to do next is not possible. You can guess, and since it is a binary choice you will likely be right 50% of the time.
Even among professional financial analysts the statistics are appalling. Few ever do better than chance. That's a fact.   

I can understand wanting to mine just to check it out. However, you will want to consider the possible destruction of your computer into the cost. It is almost certain that you will not be profitable, and it may get expensive. 

I think this is interesting and I might buy some. At home we eat all organic and 90% vegetarian. A source for healthy meat is a good addition to the BTC economy.

Bitcoin is a type of electronic carrot used on the internet to buy drugs and socks for alpacas. 

Install the client on a machine. Do not start the client, instead find the folder where the wallet.dat file goes and place your backup there. You will see that there is no wallet.dat file there before yours. If you have started your client, it will have made a wallet.dat file that must be moved or deleted before placing your backup. Now start the client and let it update. There are your coins.

I have also noticed how hard it has become to make a buck at arbitrage. Could it just be competition? The more people and bots trying to take advantage of differing prices, the less opportunities there are. That was my guess.