It is superior to Windows, because it comes with main languages preinstalled, which is very important for begginers. I'll admit - Linux is more suitable for programming for advanced users. At a second thought mac can probably do everything linux can, but the price tag renders it less desirable
What concerns audio/video editing, "media people" are major apple target audience. Laptops come with Firewire interface, which is vital in large file transfer and network colaboration projects. Most proffesional software is designed for OS X. For example Pro Tools, Avid, Affter effects, Photoshop - if I'm not mistaken, native platform for all these products is OS X. You can run them on Windows, but its a nightmare. Majority of post productions houses run OS X

If you still want it, I can lend it to you

Well, maybe you are just very lucky to live in a place where you can converse with a wide variety of minds. I personally lived in few countries over the years but where ever I went, I met the same people over and over again. They all repeat what they've heard on TV or radio, but if you question them for the real reasons why they think that way, they can not answer you. The only response you'll ever get is an emotional one and usually then debate turns personal - "I am better than you, and you are not better than me".

In fact, lets try simple example. If you think you can make your own mind up and have freedom of choice, tell me, why can't you drink beer in public places. My guess would be, that you'd like to, or even if I am wrong, I know most people would like that. So why is it that it is against the law?



You are very much like me in some respects. We both have a curious mind which is constantly questioning things. What I wanted to say was that we can not have one group deciding everything as it is simply not possible for it to be knowledgeable on every subject. My proposal is that if someone feels strongly about something they should be able to go and learn about it and participate in debates where majority of that specific group decides the way forward.
In other words, I hope one day all information will be free and accessible to everybody. And anybody who wants and has the knowledge to do so will be able to influence things directly.


Again we are getting lost in translation. By saying "It's a shame" I wanted to express my disappointment. In my opinion we, as a race, are capable of so much, but current state of our world is a very sad reflection on that wasted potential. You see, I think that "what feels good" usually leads to destruction. We are savages by nature. The only thing that separates us from animals is that we are capable of rational thought. We just should exercise it more often.

As to myself, your guess was pretty accurate. I am misanthropic and socially inept, but I would not call myself arrogant - stating something obvious does not make me arrogant. In fact, I think I am quite on the opposite side of arrogant - I don't feel important, nor do I think that anybody, as an individual is important. But then again, this has no relevance whatsoever to the subject at hand. That is what I was trying to get across all along. People's opinions should not be judged by their personal belief, appearance, value system or any other subjective criteria. If someone has an in depth understanding on a subject and presents a rational argument, it should be taken as such.

Couple years back I switched to mac. Not by choice - I had a need for one and opportunity came up to get a MacBook Pro 15" top of the range for £800. Now, I would never buy a windows/linux laptop again. It is powerfull, robust, great for programming and audio/video editing. I also have vmware on it with 2x win 7 machines and one linux. You can play with it and test things out. It takes just minutes to revert changes.

As for Desktops and everyday use, I have to agree with vladimir windows must be the one to go for. I have one at home and it's great for checking emails, browsing net, etc.

Also, I have few headless servers out there in the wild and am running CentOS on them. I had some experience with Windows Servers, but you'd have to shoot me before I touch them again.

In all, I think different operating systems are good for different things. There isn't a one fits all solution

Thanks hippich.
I can confirm that I have no affiliation with hippich. After my first win I was just lucky in guessing what he is using these videos for.

This is the one for tonight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj7VFh7FWkE

Bitcoin address in the signature

yes, just checked. my mistake.

maybe it should be 40/2 weeks then

mndrix, in my opinion your service is vital to the expansion of this community. I recently come back to Bitcoins after about a year out of touch and only stayed here because I was able to purchase some Bitcoins via CoinPal. I am sure morpheus' service is a viable option, but instantanious transactions is what today's public is expecting

One idea I had was - you could limit number of transactions/time period. I know you already have 40/a day, but I think it should be more restrictive. The amount could stay the same but lets say you only do 40/week/person. This would limit the damage in case of fraud while still allowing legit users to get their initial 40 Bitcoins and participate in the community, playing bitlotto or whatever. With time restriction could be lifted

I also introduced my friend to Bitcoins. He was particularly interested in playing  some poker, but the room was empty so he left. Hippich maybe it would be a good idea to keep those bots in the room until it gets more popular

From what I managed to find out Mental Gassi is the name of art collective that is responsible for these fascinating paintings. This is the blog I found: http://mentalgassi.blogspot.com/

abstraction I see from your answers to few of my points that you did not understand what I wanted to say, but that is probably my fault. I apologize for my poor English.

I'll reiterate few of my and address few of your point:

Politicians are just a bunch of jokers put there so you can think you have choice. You do not!
As to people "explaining stuff" - all I wanted to say was that most knowledgeable people on a specific subject should be leading the way. Politicians or any other group do not have the means nor the capacity to comprehend everything.

Education was marvelous when it was moving us forward in a quest to understand more. Now it is merely accumulation of knowledge and conditioning us to do some specific task without understanding why. Current system even punishes us for independent thinking.

I don't know what free-market capitalism is. My statement is an idea. It does not have to be boxed into some "free-market capitalism" term. As everything else in nature, it can evolve. Only us, humans, have the need to quantify everything. It helps us to comprehend and assign meaning to it for a specific period of time, but it also restricts it. If you study nature, you'll see that nothing is static - everything is moving and constantly evolving. So should our societies.

Yes, you may have heard this before. It is called cynicism.

Yes, and it is a shame. In my opinion rational thought should be the one to induce action.

You see abstraction, we don't agree on everything, but now we are having a civilized conversation and learning from each other without imposing our value systems on each other

If you don't mind a small investment, Alfa network adapters are good choice.
For the b/g network I'd recommend: http://www.data-alliance.net/-strse-73/Alfa-AWUS036H-1000mW-USB/Detail.bok
and for the n network : http://www.data-alliance.net/-strse-158/Alfa-AWUS036NH-2000mW-1000mW/Detail.bok

These adapters should be plenty, but in case you still find yourself out of range, there's a cheap and cheerful 9dB antenna for $9.99: http://www.data-alliance.net/-strse-63/Antenna-9dbi-Alfa-RP-dsh-SMA/Detail.bok

thank you hippich

here's my video for today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnSedIz2vlQ

Bitcoin address in the signature

nphard, you are the winner. Coins on the way





http://vimeo.com/11875990

First one to guess what's painted here gets 1 Bitcoin

Wouldn't legal risk be the same for both. Cyberspace can be equaly dangerous place
Also, mule is already engaging in this activity and what this would do is reduce the risk of getting cought as it eliminates the need to interact with a buyer. In this model a buyer would never know who the seller was and vice versa.

It all depends what the target audience is, I guess.
To read articles at your site kiba, it will probably be next to impossible for people like me, who mostly use computers at night.

One more thing - the title of the page should be centred. I think your "Home" and "Submission" buttons pushed it to the right

I knew I had something on the subject

doood, thanx for the coins. do you want more of these?

Your point is invalid.
As any other group of individuals(or any living beings for that matter), they are looking out just for themselves. That is why as long as we have a centralized system which is in control of one group, other group will suffer.
Also, have you ever considered that if someone constantly has to "explain" what to do, maybe the one who is explaining should be doing the job?
"Outlaw Bitcoin"? Well, maybe.. But idea is alive and I don't think it can be stopped. I am glad this is happening now and there is enough talent around the globe to pull this off. 10-20 more years of the crap they call education these days and we'd be doomed as a race.

As to your advice, I don't want to know people in my local community at least not what has become of communities. Majority of them are nothing but ignorant oxygen wasters and the quicker we stop pretending that everyone is equal, the quicker things start getting better. Everybody should get the same opportunity at succeeding, but that's a whole different discussion.

We are here for different reasons and have different visions where Bitcoin could take us, so my advice is to keep your emotional outbursts to yourself - they aren't helpful. We have one common goal - we want Bitcoin to succeed, so lets help each other out where we can and keep out of each other’s way where we can't.
Bitcoin has it's good and bad sides, but it is not for you nor me, nor polititians to decide what is good and what is bad. It is for people to decide.

Have a nice evening

Hello everyone!

I am not into drugs, but I like puzzles, especially the ones that involve people. Here's my hypothetical scenario.
There is an initial investment and some risk you are never going to see it, but I assume this kind of business is quite profitable so it shouldn't be a problem. I read through this thread and the one about silk road. I think that delivery to real addresses is the weak point. But this is how it could be solved:

1. Bob is a computer expert and sets up a website in Tor or I2P, just like silk road.
2. Bob buys a cheap laptop and a small GPS device. He secures it(encrypting hdds, removing cd-roms, disabling usb ports, etc) and prepares it for anonymous communications with himself via (for example)I2P anonymous email. Also some automation would be required to make this laptop simple to use by less technically inclined.
3. Then Bob goes out and finds Alice, who is a drug dealer. Alice is not a street type - she is smart and has a vehicle. They never meet or even if they do Bob never reveals his cunning plan face to face. Then Bob with some determination finds out where Alice lives.
4. Bob sends the Laptop and GPS to Alice anonymously with a (carefully written)letter explaining how it would work.

In the letter, amongst other things like "this computer can not be used for any other purpose and no additional software can be installed, etc", Bob would specify hour of the day for the communication.

The transaction.
1. John comes to Bob's website and orders the desired goods. He pays with Bitcoins and the only thing he has to reveal about himself is area where he lives or is willing to travel.
2. Bob receives this and any other orders and at the end of the day, just before the specified communication time, he sends the details to Alice
3. Alice takes the goods, drops it off in the desired areas and notes GPS coordinates.
4. Alice returns home, sends Bob the GPS coordinates and Bob reveals these coordinates on his site to his customers.
5. Next day goods are retrieved by the customers.

There are some limitation to this, like small area, but I think after a period of successful partnership, it should be scalable as Alice could introduce her friends to Bob. Also, Bob could find some friends on anonymous networks, who could implement this model in other countries
This is a very paranoid version where Bob has the most anonymity, but to kick start the whole venture this could be changed and Bob and Alice could know each other or even be one person. This is a much higher risk scenario. If Alice's or Bob's side of business gets compromised the whole operation goes down. While in the paranoid version, especially after Alice introduced her friends to Bob and Bob found friends in other countries, the show would go on.

Let me know what you think