Or a proposed new cryptocurrency called Scotcoin anyhow. This CoinTelegraph interview makes majority stakeholder Temple Melville sound rather optimistic, but at least she recognizes that there could be obstacles to surmount.

[Ethereum Blockchain-based election platform]

Ukraine plans to trial an Ethereum Blockchain-based election platform. I hate to gloat, but maybe Ethereum isn't the useless shitcoin that people here have been calling it?

The Mars Society is going to be putting out its call for presentations for its annual conference in the near future and one thing I thought I might do for a topic is how cryptocurrencies could fit into an interplanetary economy. I know the speed of light will likely be a concern for confirming transactions, but that's about the only weakness I can think of. What do you guys think?

Ethereum's sticking around and so is BitNation. Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9UR7aVlF1A

Now that I've gotten your attention, I promise there's a method to my madness. We've all been arguing over Bitcoin XT and (now) Bitcoin Classic while ignoring that there's a real world outside of Bitcointalk and the endless schemes to get more Bitcoin. In the grand scheme of things, it's not even really all that important whether Bitcoin stands a chance of destroying traditional banks as long as Bitcoin or whatever replaces Bitcoin if it stumbles can carve out its own niche. But we're marching toward a world where things are going to be moving pretty fast in matters that don't necessarily have to do with economics and finances, except for maybe who's going to be holding the moneybags. Is it going to be us, or is it going to be the big banks, or is it going to be some Third World tyrant who may have gotten a little too big for his britches and doesn't have a graceful way out? What I'm getting at here is, are we absolutely sure we're making all the right strategic moves to make sure cryptocurrencies have a meaningful, sustainable future instead of just being seen as a funny little gimmick that went the way of Beanie Babies in a few decades? Should we be making alliances with other up-and-coming, innovative technologies to make sure we can achieve our long-term goals? This is something we'll have to consider if we want Bitcoin to have any kind of a future.

[this CryptoCoinNews article]

According to this CryptoCoinNews article, anyhow. This is something that the few remaining Bitcoin XT supporters (if any) and Bitcoin Classic supporters will need to think about.

I had an idea for something we could shoot for over the next month or two. What do you think of having a meetup / "community garage sale" kind of thing that we could use to educate people in the Legoland area about Bitcoin? I think I could find us a venue if it's not too big.

[how to spot and avoid credit card skimmers]

Bitcoin debit cards always seemed like a step backwards to me, especially since most of them seem to just sit on top of existing plastic card carriers like Visa. But somebody on my Facebook friends list says their credit card was recently "skimmed" to the tune of $2,000 and it occurred to me that this might be something to at least think about. So before you swipe that Bitcoin debit card, it might help to learn something about how to spot and avoid credit card skimmers.

[UN Paper: Pushing Bitcoin for Third World Issues is 'Techno Colonialism']

UN Paper: Pushing Bitcoin for Third World Issues is 'Techno Colonialism' Well, what the heck do you expect when banks ignore something like 40% of the human population when they aren't charging outrageous fees for the "convenience" of accessing their services? Something's gonna have to fill that market.

[This is one I just did of a new site called Bitfortip.]

This is one I just did of a new site called Bitfortip. My one rule is that I don't do gambling or porn at this time for reasons I'd rather not get into right now, but trust me, I won't be doing you a favor if I have to cancel an order. Otherwise, I'm wide open to doing a website review if you want to place an order.

I mean email, chat, etc. -- I know about nxtty but am having trouble finding out whether there's anything else out there or if someone's working on a Blockchain-based communications app.

[Link to the CoinTelegraph article]

The short version is that maybe we had it all wrong and Ether was never really meant to work as a currency, but as a way to power Ethereum's primary application as Smart Contracts. Link to the CoinTelegraph article, where Mike Vine talks about appcoins.

The battle here is not just over Bitcoin and the Blockchain. It's about who's going to control the economy. The question isn't just what we can use Bitcoin for, it's also what we can do to support other up-and-coming technologies that could wrest control away from centralized authorities. I mean stuff like Uber and AirBnB as opposed to yellow taxis and large hotel chains that have a stake in maintaining their current effective monopolies. It might require cashing out a little Bitcoin to pay for a ride (or, business idea, start a "ride sharing for Bitcoin" service), but if you choose Uber over a yellow taxi when you absolutely, positively need a ride someplace, you're steering money away from the monopoly that yellow taxis have enjoyed and toward a more decentralized model that they've called the "sharing economy". That helps a potential future ally and gives the "sharing economy" more of what it needs to thrive, and you get the benefit of a chance to tell an Uber driver about this cool new way to accept payments for his "ride sharing" side gig.

[This CCN article]

Quite frankly, this is something we need to be doing if we want to get the government off the backs of any new way of doing things like Bitcoin and Uber. This CCN article explains how to use Bitcoin for an Uber ride, though you may want to consider alternatives to the Shift card that don't cost as much.

...At least enough to recommend using it as collateral for trading stocks and ETFs. I suppose it's no coincidence that you could do exactly that on the First Global Credit website. http://investingnews.com/daily/tech-investing/bitcoin-investing/make-money-with-bitcoin/

Just out of curiosity. I have an idea for something I could do with smart contracts but I'd like to know exactly where the "state of the art" is before I do.

Or at least "not possible" at the crazy-shit levels that Liberty Reserve handled. Though to be honest, if I was into money laundering, I probably wouldn't be using Bitcoin anyhow. http://www.newsbtc.com/2016/02/01/liberty-reserve-level-of-money-laundering-is-not-possible-with-bitcoin/

Here's a link to the account if you'd like to take a look. Been several months since I really did anything with it, but it's got 5,874 link karma and 1,024 comment karma.

Starting bid: 0.01 BTC
Bid increments: 0.001 BTC

I'll check back in a week to see where we're at here.

Well, that's...unfortunate. It's good that the New Hampshire legislature was willing to at least consider it, though. Maybe next time. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2016/01/28/legislature-says-no-to-bitcoin-tax-payments/#502b6759b6ad

[unknown number of credit cards]

Wendy's was just hacked and the hackers made off with an unknown number of credit cards. But noooo, Bitcoin is the preferred currency of criminal financial activity, amirite?